AN IMPORTANT WORD FROM MY HEART

Dave McGarrah   -  

To My Deer Flat Family,

Got a minute?  I’d like to share something that God has done in me over the past 30 years.  He’s instilled in me a love for people, but in particular a love for the Jewish people. It came as a result of reading His Word, and then making a trip to Israel. Since then, I have dedicated my life to create awareness about the role of Israel and the Jewish people, through teaching and preaching the Bible, and making history an important part of the process.

I have to admit, I’m deeply taken by the continual attitude towards Israel by much of the world. Here’s a recent headline from the news: Antisemitism in 2022 is rising at a rate unprecedented since the 1930s.

Today, we are witnessing an unprecedented rise in antisemitism the likes of which we have not seen since the 1930s. No longer solely “hidden” under the guise of anti-Zionism, we are witnessing a world where attacks on Jews and synagogues throughout the world are becoming more common place, including here in the US. Social media, reaching every corner of the world, spouts antisemitism on a daily basis to the young and old alike.

A new report by the Woolf Institute, a global leader on interfaith relations, estimates almost half a million explicitly antisemitic tweets per year – between 100 and 1,350 every day.

The Community Security Trust, a UK charity that monitors antisemitism and provides security for the Jewish community in Britain, released last week a comprehensive, detailed and alarming report on antisemitism in 2021 when 2,255 anti-Jewish hate incidents nationwide were recorded.

This is the highest annual total that CST has ever recorded and is a 34% increase from the 1,684 incidents in 2020. These are what are called, “Hate Crimes.” It continues to trigger events in the Middle East and impact the scattered Jewish communities across the world. One of the hotbeds of antisemitism here in the States is our University and College campus’.

To host a pro Israel event or to bring in a speaker who is Jewish, it will be met with significant protest and usually shouting down the speaker.  This is witnessed time and again.

The very UN that passed a resolution in 1947 for Israel’s rebirth is the very UN whose General Assembly, since 2015, has passed 115 condemnatory resolutions against Israel, with only 45 against the rest of the world.

Iran’s leaders use the UN as a platform to consistently call for the annihilation of Israel – a statement that appears to have little (if any) impact on the vast majority of member nations. We can but wonder how these countries would respond if Iran’s President would mount the UN podium and talk about the annihilation of the US or any other country. For sure it would be difficult to imagine that the current talks between Iran, the Europeans and the US would actually be happening.

What we do see is that the UN appears to be okay with dead Jews. Two days following International Holocaust Remembrance Day earlier this year, antisemitic rallies in Orlando saw 24 Nazi gear-wearing individuals waving swastikas and yelling “Heil Hitler.” Epithets such as “The Jew is the devil,” “Jews rape children and drink their blood,” and “Jews brought slaves here,” were shouted at passersby a number of times.

This event took place close to the campus of the University of Central Florida, where there is a large number of Jewish students. And the stories go on, including here in our own Idaho. An item on the evening news this week highlighted the efforts of a group of Idahoans who were remodeling the tunnel at the Anne Frank Memorial in Boise.  They were endeavoring to cover up antisemitic graffiti and call attention to the distasteful acts committed by people who hate the Jews.

Years ago, before Israel was reborn, a very influential leader in the Jewish world, Theodore Herzl, believed that having a Jewish state would end antisemitism.  That miracle happened on May 14, 1948. Israel was born in a day. However, Herzl was wrong in his assumption that it would end antisemitism or that Jews would no longer be scattered all over the world.

There are some things we can do, and must do.  We can be informed about this issue, and speak about it, especially when we see these incidents happen. We can continue to pray for Israel and the Jewish people. Believe it or not, they have contributed heavily to our Christianity. Christianity was birthed through the Jews. Our own Messiah was a Jew.

I’ll close with this. There’s an opportunity that is worth our consideration.  The public is being invited to a special in person program: Responding & Speaking Out Against Hate. A Program on Monday, Oct. 24 from 6:30-8:30 at Boise State’s Student Union Building in the Forum Room. This is being sponsored by the Synagogues of Boise, along with the Anti Defamation League.  There is no cost, however you need to register. Please register by Friday, October 21

Wouldn’t it be great to have a significant turn out of Christians attending.  What a statement it would make, and what a smile it would put on God’s face.  Thank you for taking the time to read this.  Thank you for your consideration to attend this event.  Thank you for being part of Deer Flat Church.  I can’t wait to see you this Sunday.

From the heart,

Pastor Dave