Our guest is the rabbi of a Messianic Jewish synagogue and a
Messianic Jewish ministry Menorah Ministries (http://menorahministries.com)
Dr. John
Fischer
Dear Dr. John, tell me
please, about your ministry a little. - There are several aspects of
the purpose of Menorah Ministries. 1) To share with Jewish people the message
of Yeshua and the reality that He is the Jewish Messiah, to see them involved in
Messianic Jewish synagogues, and to see those synagogues grow. 2) To teach
Gentile Christians and churches about the Jewish foundations of the Scriptures
and their faith. 3) To develop literature that helps accomplish purposes 1]
& 2]. 4) To train people for leadership in Messianic Jewish synagogues
and ministries; we do this through a Messianic yeshiva.
Have you some statistics, how many Jews believe in Yeshua(Jesus)
are in the world now? - The Jewish community has in the past estimated
that there are 250,000 - 350,000 Jewish believers in the United
States. There are perhaps 30,000 in Israel, and large numbers in the
former Soviet republics and in Latin America.
How
many messianic congregations are in USA at present? - It has been estimated
that there are 250-300.
Have you contacts with
Christian organizations? - As part of our second ministry purpose, we
have a relatively large number of contacts in the Christian community. For
example, in November I presented a paper at the annual convention of the
Evangelical Theological Society.
Have you some
contacts with Jewish organizations? - The local and national Jewish
organizations do not at this point have formal contacts with us, although there
are some informal ones.
January 11 in Tel-Aviv in
Israel crowded demonstration took place in support Jewish settlements of Judea,
Samaria and Gaza District(YESHA). Do American Messianic communities help to
Jewish people living in YESHA? - A number of Messianic communities do
offer help on a personal and informal basis.
How
do you understand these lines from Bible: "For I would not, brethren, that ye
should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits;
that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles
be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved..." Romans 11:25,
26 - The blindness is both very partial and temporary. For
example, in the book of Acts we learn that close to half of the people of
Jerusalem were Messianic. By the end of the first century, there were over
one million Messianic Jews in Israel alone (30% or more of the population).
Further, the "blindness" is not different than that which is on the Gentiles
according to 2 Corinthians 4:4. In the future - probably the very near future -
as part of Yeshua's return, there will come a time when all of the
Jewish people will accept Him as their Messiah. In the meantime,
increasingly more Jewish people will accept Him.
And finally. Tell me please about your family a
little. - My wife Patrice (whose grandparents came from the
Ukraine) works at a local college and teaches at the yeshiva. Our daughter
Eve recently graduated from university and lives in Chicago. Our son Seth
is in university in Atlanta. (Our cat Vashti is 18 years old! :-))) )