Lunch with a Messianic

“It’s great to sit outside and have lunch isn’t it, Joe.” 

“Dov, you’re the man.” 

“Hey, how was your weekend.” 

“I spent it in Bethlehem.” 

“Wonderful. Did you pray at Rachel’s tomb?” 

“No. I was doing other things.” 

“I don’t understand. What else is there to do in Bethlehem other than dodge rocks from Palestinians?” 

“Dov, I am a messianic Jew. For me, there is plenty to do there.” 

“I didn’t know.” 

“Yeah. But I love Jews, and I love learning your religion. Tell me, what Rabbi would you suggest I learn from?” 

“Joe, I got a great one for you. His name is Rabbi Tovia Singer.” 

Smiling, “You mean the Rabbi who is world renowned for deprogramming Christian missionaries? Try again.” 

“How about Rabbi Yossi Mizrachi?” 

“The Rabbi who debated a priest for three hours, and then got 100 emails from Christians asking to convert?”

It would be so easy if Joe was a jerk. I could tell him what I thought of Christians parading around as Jews trying to tear them away from their own soul. It would so easy if he just called himself a Christian.  Part of me wants to scream at him, but we are at work. If our conversation escalates into a religious argument we could both get into a lot of trouble. Joe feels the same way. Our discussions are guarded.

I only found out about his ideology after we got to know each other. What is G-d telling me?

I did a lot of soul searching.

It’s not for me to argue with him. It’s not for me to prove I am right. All we will do is wind up screaming at each other in an argument that can cost us both dearly. Joe can be a European liberal championing his version of human rights. Joe can be a supporter of the Palestinian People and their “right” to a country in our country. Joe can be a journalist spreading propaganda against us claiming it to be “unbiased.”

In all cases it doesn’t matter. Arguing is the lesser battle. Screaming is the easy way out.

As Rabbi Zechariah Wallerstein, a”h states, “It’s deflection.”

Fighting the world deflects our attention from the real battle. It turns us away from the battle the Jewish People were directed to fight. A battle that once we win, all of our problems go away. The Satan knows this. He is a hardened general, and knows how to fight. According to the master of war Sun Tzu, a good general will win a battle before it is even waged. He will set up a decoy to lure his enemy into a battlefield that is in reality a trap.

Satan’s emissary, the Evil Inclination, is a master of war. He sets traps for us to fall into morning, day, and night. To defeat him we must ignore these tempting standoffs and go where the enemy is really hiding. Then we fight the battles we can win.

What are these battles?

•  The battle for personal holiness.
• The battle for baseless love.
• The battle for clean speech.
• The battle for honesty in business.

The battle for choosing right over wrong in every situation because Hashem is watching over us at every minute of every day and we are commanded to maintain faith that He will always reward the good we do in this world. In short: the battle for emuna. 

These battles are where we are commanded to dedicate all of our physical, emotional, and spiritual strength.

I can tell Joe what I think about masking Christianity in Judaism, but that won’t make me want to guard my eyes. In fact, if I do sound off on Joe, I might make the mistake of feeling that I did “my job for the day,” and become complacent.

Hashem promises us that if we guard the mitzvot nobody can hurt us. Our enemies will become our friends, and those who want to kill us will be vanquished.

We will be united. We will be strong. We will be holy.

Keep your eyes on the prize. The real battle is with the Evil Inclination. Forget about his tactical diversions.