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"Praise the Lord, all you nations; extol Him, all you peoples. For great is His love toward us, and the faithfulness of the LORD endures forever."
- Psalm 117, NIV

Falling Away

by Hannah Rychlik
Many Messianic Gentiles wonder if they should convert to Judaism. Hannah Rychlik explains why conversion is not necessary to fulfill the LORD's Torah, as well as the dangers of falling away from Yeshua.

I wish that we always had good news to report, of Jewish people flocking to faith in God and salvation through Yeshua. But sometimes we experience what seem like failures. And yet, in spite of it all, God promises to work all things for good for those who love Him and are called to His purpose. I have previously mentioned a couple in our neighborhood that the Lord has connected us with, who appeared to have been ‘strong believers. By that, I mean that they were committed and involved in the leadership of organized prayer, praise and worship of a segment of the Believing community of Jerusalem. In any event, they now openly deny faith in Yeshua, and so we determined to speak with them in an attempt to ‘draw these lost sheep back into the sheepfold’. It soon became obvious, however, that despite all our prayers and persuasive arguments, they were not about to be swayed. They simply ‘do not believe anymore’. We went away somewhat discouraged by the depth of the blindness that had seemingly come over them with regards to Yeshua. But the Lord showed me the following scripture:

"For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame." (Hebrews 6:4-6)

This is a hard word. But it is a fulfillment of Yeshua’s prophetic word that in the last days many would fall away from faith. It also gives opportunity to share what I believe to be a major tactic that the enemy is using against God’s people today. We see something happening over and over again amongst Believers in Yeshua today – that is, their ‘rediscovery of their Jewish roots’ leads them into a denial of Yeshua Himself. This may sound strange coming from one who teaches people about their Jewish roots and advocates Christians becoming re-connected with their Hebraic root, and disconnecting themselves from any pagan/Greek/Roman root. But it is precisely for this reason – because teachers will be judged more strictly – that I feel I must warn people against this snare set for them by the enemy. There is a significant difference between Judaism as practiced today, and the Biblical faith of our forefathers, Avraham, Yitzchak (Isaac) and Yaacov (Jacob). Today’s form of Judaism consists, as it did to a large extent in the time of Yeshua, of Biblical teachings (Tanach) mixed with man-made rules and interpretation of the rabbis (Talmud) "taught as if they were doctrines of God." This can account for a great deal of confusion and misconceptions, for those who do not know enough to distinguish between the two – which is from God ? and which is simply an interpretation of a particular rabbi? When I grew up in an Orthodox Jewish home, not having read the Bible for myself, I also didn’t know that there exists a difference; and so I concluded that the whole thing was a bunch of nonsense (until I read the Bible for myself after coming to faith in Yeshua).

It seems that a particular danger exists among non-Jewish, Christian Believers who suddenly discover that they have some Jewish ancestry. Not having grown up in an observant Jewish home, they begin to seek after anything ‘Jewish’, in order to make up for everything that they had lost through assimilation or ignorance. Rather than finding their significance and acceptance in God alone, His everlasting love for us in Messiah Yeshua, their identity crisis leads them to seek acceptance in the traditional Jewish community (those who do not believe Yeshua is the Messiah). Unfortunately, Christian brothers and sisters in the Church may openly reject and criticize these ‘seekers’ for becoming ‘too Jewish’, which only leads to further alienation from fellowship and connection with Believers in Yeshua. We have seen a tragic scenario where this happened, and after joining the Orthodox synagogue, they were later expelled from there as well for being ‘Christian’. This left the family broken and isolated, prime targets for the enemy. We cannot allow ourselves to be ignorant of the schemes of the enemy and we are obligated to help rescue those being led to the slaughter.

It can also happen to those who do not, to their knowledge, have any ‘Jewish blood’, but simply feel a keen sense of affinity with Israel and the Jewish people. This legitimate sense of kinship, however, sometimes crosses the line from love to adoration. Judaism is nothing to be adored. Only the God of Judaism is worthy of such love. Israel is not to be exalted. Only the God of Israel can hold that position.

THROWING OUT THE BABY WITH THE BATH WATER

An alienation from Yeshua can begin subtly. Sometimes it begins when a Christian is horrified to learn of the historical, bloody, blot of anti-Semitism on the Christian Church. Understandably contrite and broken-hearted for the vile acts perpetrated against the Jewish people ‘in the name of Christ’, some want to distance themselves from anything ‘Christian’, and even in some cases from the Messiah Himself. This problem compounds when the Christian then discovers, by studying their Jewish roots, and through Biblical revelation, that some of what is practiced today in mainstream Christianity is anti-Biblical and actually pagan in origin. Once again, it is a case of "throwing the baby out with the bath water." Just because there are elements of error in one form of religion, this gives no justification for transferring one’s faith to another form of religion, equally in error. It is only Biblical faith, resting on a solid foundation of the written word of God, which will endure this tendency to fall away . . .

THE ANTI-MISSIONARY INFLUENCE

Another factor that enters into this issue is that of an organized and active anti-missionary force. Jewish individuals and organizations, committed to preventing the spread of the gospel amongst the Jewish people have published much information and material in an attempt to discredit the Christian Faith. They keep a watchful eye, in Israel, and around the world, on any ‘missionary activity’ directed towards the Jewish people. They are financially well funded, and making some headway. Ads in Jewish newspapers offer free advice on "how to counteract the attempts of Christian missionaries to ‘steal Jewish souls’." These organizations and individuals will even scour the internet looking for ‘lost sheep’ of Israel, who have been led into the clutches of the hated ‘Messianic deceivers’. They begin a correspondence, hoping to bring the wayward Jew back to the ‘true faith’. These groups give seminars and actively recruit secular Jews into rabbinically observant Judaism. A support group even exists in Jerusalem for parents of children who have been ‘accosted’ by Christian missionaries.

How does this relate to us as Believers (Jewish or non-Jewish)? It is easy enough to obtain these anti-Christian materials. If one is not well-versed in scripture, their arguments can sound convincing. Doubts begin to form in one’s mind and answers seemingly cannot be found. As the Believer opens him or herself more and more to rabbinically Jewish teachings, including kabbalah and Zohar (Jewish mysticism), it seems as if the blindness begins once again to descend. Finally, the veil is firmly back in place over the eyes of the Believer and he or she is no longer able to ‘see’ the Light.

SERVING TWO MASTERS

We have seen over and over again, Believers who begin to study under Orthodox Jewish rabbis and in their study groups, who, when warned vehemently declare that they would NEVER deny Yeshua. Sadly, these same people soon do that very thing they had only a short time before considered unthinkable. How does this happen? I have come to the conclusion that the reason is due to a spiritual double loyalty. Those of various Jewish sects: Orthodox, Ultra-Orthodox, Lubavitch, Chassidic, Conservative, and Reform, as diverse as they may be all unite in this one commonly held point of view – "Jesus is not for Jews!" Most, (with some exceptions) even the most liberal of them all – the Reform Jews – openly hate anything and anyone Messianic, considering it an apostasy to the Jewish faith. One Reform (female) rabbi said this, "True Jews do not believe that Jesus of Nazareth was the messiah…they (Messianic ‘former’ Jews) are, at the very least, misguided. At the very worst they are apostates…" During our struggle to make aliyah, we contacted a free legal service who content for the rights of ‘all Jews’, regardless of whether or not they affiliate themselves with Orthodox Judaism. (Much of Israeli law is controlled by the Orthodox religious sector.) Our lawyer concluded by telling us that, although I had more documents proving my ‘Jewishness’ than any client he had ever represented, he could defend the rights of any Jew except those who believe that Yeshua is the Messiah. One noted Israeli-American Orthodox Jewish writer of a regular e-mail column to thousands of subscribers, (many of them Christian), and who collects sizable sums of money for their ‘ministry’ from Christian Zionists as well as Jewish supporters, refused to speak to any ‘Messianic congregations’ while on a recent U.S. speaking tour.

I realize that I will mostly likely offend many people by what I am saying. I am not an anti-Semite. I grew up in an Orthodox Jewish home and love my own Jewish people. I live in Israel and am committed to this land and people, as is my God. I encourage both Jewish and non-Jewish Believers to love and support Israel and the Jewish people. But there is a danger here that needs to be exposed. Ruth, when pledging her allegiance, declared, Your people will be my people and your God my God. Her allegiance stood fast, not only to the people of Israel, but also to their God.

I would like to illustrate the process of ‘falling away’ with some examples and discuss a related issue from our own personal experience, in order to bring more Light onto this subject.

One Messianic Jewish family (David and Rina) emigrated from Russia and lived in Israel for a period of time, but found life too difficult there, so they moved to Canada. We met them at a Messianic Congregation there, but at this time, they also attended a Slavic Church. The husband was Jewish, but the wife a non-Jew. Both were very interested to learn more about their Jewish roots as neither grew up in an observant Jewish home. And so the husband joined a ‘kollel’ – an Orthodox Jewish study group. At the same time, he felt it important to have his sons circumcised, something for which he was soundly rebuked for in their Church. This led them to feel alienated from their brothers and sisters in the Lord. They soon stopped going to the church altogether, but continued in the Messianic Congregation. Radek visited the kollel as well and shared Yeshua with them, but this man sort of hid in the corner, pretending he didn’t know Radek and not wanting anyone in the study group to know that he is a Believer. Soon he stopped going to the Messianic congregation as well. Why? Because the services were held on Shabbat and he decided he couldn’t drive on Shabbat anymore (a rabbinic ruling). We felt strongly that we should warn him of the dangerous direction he was pursuing, but he argued that he would never, never deny Yeshua. He only wanted to live a life more pleasing to God; more according to the Torah. Soon, they stopped coming to our home fellowship as well, stopped returning our calls, and when we called them from Israel, they admitted that they no longer believe in Yeshua as Messiah.

Another tragic case if that of a woman who God used mightily for His kingdom, and who was a tremendous blessing and help to us in our aliyah. When this woman (Roni) heard my testimony at the Bead Chaim (pro-life Israel) conference on our first day in the Land, she approached us and asked if we had anywhere to stay. We replied that we hadn’t, since we had come like Abraham, not knowing even where we were going, but just obeying God’s call to return to the Land of Promise. She then most graciously held up a generous offer that most likely ‘saved us’ from having to return into exile. She allowed us to live, rent free, in her apartment in Netanya for three months while we processed our immigration application. She herself lived in the Old City of Jerusalem. But she said that the Lord had given her a great burden to provide accommodation to Believers trying to make aliyah. (although the longest she had felt led to lend out her apt before was 3 days, not 3 months!) PTL! If not for this woman’s generosity, we would have run out of funds long before the time was up. Roni was also a committed and faithful member of the pro-life ministry and served on its board. One thing we found curious is that anytime we wanted to talk about Yeshua, Roni ‘shushed us’, warning us not to speak about Him or anything Messianic in public places. It was even worse in her home apartment, as she lived in a religious neighborhood and didn’t want anyone to find out that she is a Believer. We were not to mail anything Messianic to her in case they checked her mailbox. We thought this a bit paranoid, but since we were the ‘new kids on the block’, we figured, ‘who are we to question?" Roni also had some Jewish background, with which she made aliyah (immigrated to Israel), but knew little about the practice of Judaism. And so she joined some Orthodox study groups in the Old City and frequented a shop owned by some ‘Jews for Judaism’ (anti-missionaries), who often ‘answered her questions.’ Roni resigned from the board of the pro-life Israel ministry. In our last phone conversation, she no longer wanted to see us or talk to us, nor anyone Messianic or Christian. And about Yeshua? She replied, "He is no longer relevant to my life." Roni had decided to convert to Orthodox Judaism.

These are sad stories for us to describe. But we must be prepared to counter the tactics of the enemy. We must be armed with good answers for those who are beginning to doubt their faith due to anti-missionary arguments or teachings. One resource I would like to recommend is Dr. Michael Brown’s 12 set teaching tapes, Answering Jewish Objections to Jesus. I’m not sure where they can be obtained specifically, but probably any Messianic distributor. (By the way, if anyone has a set that they want to donate, we would be very happy to receive it for our use here in Israel.)

I would like to specifically relate a difficult personal experience that my husband, Radek, and I went through with regards to the issue of conversion.

TO CONVERT OR NOT TO CONVERT

To live in Israel as a non-Jew can be hard. It can prove especially difficult if one is the husband of a Jew, and even more so, of a Jewish Believer. Because Israel has been founded as a safe haven for Jews, and a nation who can determine her own destiny, without the threat of Gentile or foreign domination and control, the immigration and rights of non-Jews are limited. In the past, non-Jewish spouses would automatically obtain citizenship with their Jewish partner, along with their children. But the practice of the law, if not the letter, has changed dramatically. With the massive Russian and Eastern European immigration (aliyah), and the sheer numbers of non-Jews who immigrated along with someone in the family who qualified for the ‘right of return’ due to some Jewish ancestry through a grandparent along the line, Israel has become cautious. Israel also does not welcome Messianic Jews home, but does everything to prevent their return, in order that the character of Israel does not change into a ‘Christian, Gentile state.’ Because of these factors, the Ministry of Interior did not grant my husband, Radek, citizenship because he had no documents to prove any Jewish background. In Poland, where he was born and grew up, papers, geneologies, and details of their family history was ‘lost’ or hushed up during WWII, when anti-Semitism hit a peak. Radek’s mother passed away and his grandmother wouldn’t talk. And so in Israel, he is considered a non-Jew and was only given a tourist visa. This created many difficulties for us. We found simple things, like opening an account, renting a cell phone, or even picking up a registered parcel at the post office difficult if not impossible without the blue identity card of a citizen of Israel. After a period of time, this began to wear away my husband’s self-confidence and esteem. Intermarriage with a ‘Gentile’ still carried with it a ‘stigma’ in Israel, just as in ancient time, the people of Israel were forbidden to give their sons or daughters in marriage with the pagan nations around them. Of course, we are united and one in the Messiah, but the traditional Israeli Jewish society doesn’t adopt this view. We missed out on many financial benefits and incentives, not only because we immigrated from Canada, but also because we were not both citizens. But God works all things for good… and we continued to trust in God for our provision. And He is faithful.

All these factors, combined to lead us to consider the option of conversion. Also, a secret desire of my heart has always been to have a Jewish wedding under the chuppah where my parents and family could rejoice with me and my husband united in marriage. If my husband converted, we thought, we could invite my parents to our wedding in Jerusalem and what a joyous day that would be! We prayed about it, and were led to meet a conservative rabbi who lived just down our street. He seemed very kind, sympathetic, and intelligent. At no point did he ask us about our faith. A study group was underway with another couple (the one I mentioned earlier), which we joined. Each week, we met to discuss the Jewish holidays, customs, and beliefs. It was interesting and enjoyable. There was only one problem – the necessity of hiding the fact that we are Believers. The ‘For God so Loved the World…" poster had to come down off the wall. And I would quickly scour the house each week before they arrived in case I had left some Messianic reading material or New Testaments around.

But I noticed something else happening. Our lives together, our marriage relationship, and our relationship with God seemed to be drying out. Peace, love and joy had flown out the window somewhere and we couldn’t seem to recover these wonderful gifts no matter how much we beckoned. We still prayed, still read our Bibles, but we were out of fellowship with any Messianic Congregation of Believers. Radek seemed more affected than I. (I am sharing this personal information with his full consent and knowledge in the hopes that is will minister to others). The loving, kind, patient, gentle husband that I had known seemed almost overnight transformed into a hard-hearted, selfish, impatient, harsh, and critical man. I felt almost as if I was married to a ‘non-Believer’. No matter how much I tried to share what I felt about this change with my husband, it fell on deaf ears. I went into much prayer and fasting. Radek did not want to fast; he practically stopped reading his Bible or praying; and he found going to Church ‘boring’.

This was a desperate time of my life. One day, I felt the Lord speak to me that the change in my husband was due to his entering into conversion to Judaism. I shared this with him, and he (thankfully) agreed that this could be the cause. The next day, we went to the couple we studied with and confessed openly that we are Believers in Yeshua. Radek also made an appointment with the rabbi to explain why he had decided to cancel his classes and to openly confess his faith in Yeshua to the rabbi as well. The rabbi’s reaction was favorable, while the couple’s was less so. Radek had, during the time of his 'conversion', grown more and more critical of everyone, especially Christian ministries and organizations. He seemed bitter against those laboring in the Christian repentence movement, saying that repentence was not enough if unaccompanied by restitution. Shortly after cancelling his conversion classes, a Christian repentence conference convened in Jerusalem. My husband remarked, "You know, we really shouldn't criticize them. At least they are doing something to show their love and concern for Israel and the Jews." I knew that we were finally on the road to recovery.

We believe that God led us down this hard and rocky path and through this difficult experience for His greater purposes – not for Radek's conversion as we had thought at first, but for other reasons:

1. In order to connect us with these specific people
2. To openly testify and confess Yeshua before this particular rabbi
3. To give this couple an opportunity to repent and return to their first love
4. To give us knowledge, wisdom and practical experience with this issue of conversion

This is a volatile issue today, as awareness of the Jewish roots of Christianity grows and deepens in the Christian Church. Some Messianic congregations even encourage their members to convert to Judaism. And others so desperately want to live in Israel that they convert to Judaism in order to make aliyah. Some Believers that we met in Israel, also a ‘mixed marriage’ tried to convert as well, and were also suddenly stopped halfway through the process. They told us that since this time, they have met many Messianic Believers in the Land who have converted and each one of them seems confused and lost. Now I will probably receive a flood of e-mails from Believers who have converted to Judaism and are neither lost nor confused. This particular woman who was studying with us in the conversion classes, believes that there is no difference in her power or anointing since she denied Yeshua. But the question is, where is the source of her power? It seems to me and from our personal experience that formal conversion to Rabbinic Judaism of any form is willingly placing oneself under the spiritual authority of an anti-Yeshua principality and power, and creates a slippery slope downward into darkness.

The following is a letter submitted to Gates of Eden magazine:

"…I have changed some of my beliefs about who Jesus/Yeshua is and what he did. Primarily, I no longer believe that he is God. I also have doubts about his pre-existence, virgin birth and vicarious atonement…I am presently in the process of converting to traditional Judaism. Because of these developments, I ask that you cancel my subscription." (name withheld by editor)

The editor (Daniel Botkin) replies:

"Like some others have done, this woman has made an idol out of man-made, rabbinical Judaism. She has chosen to forfeit eternal life in order to be accepted as a Jewess in the eyes of men for a few brief years on earth."

May I add in conclusion, that I am overjoyed to have my, Spirit filled, on-fire-for-the- Lord, Bible-reading, fervently-praying husband back, as well as love, peace, and joy in our lives. And I look forward to the day that we will be joined under the chuppah with our bridegroom at the marriage supper of the Lamb of God. Halleluyah! God is faithful, but sin crouches at the door, and its desire is to destroy us, but we must overcome it. For the adversary is like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. May the Spirit of God give His people wisdom in this day,"...lest satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices." (2Cor 2:11)

Hannah and her husband Radek made Aliyah (immigrated to Israel) in December of 1998, and now live in Jerusalem. Their ministry has grown out the desire of so many, (mostly non-Jewish) people to reconnect with their truly Biblical roots in the Jewish Messiah, Yeshua. You can find out more about D'var Emet Ministries at http://www.outofzion.com/.

" . . . it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile."
- Romans 1:16, NIV