Passover 2008

It's Shabbat, a day of rest and tonight is Pesach, a day to remember the deliverance, the lambs, and our exodus from Egypt. What a great weekend. The Ten Commandments tell us to remember the Sabbath day (for two reasons). First, in Exodus chapter 20, we read to keep Shabbat “For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day and made it holy. " OK, so every week we remember the Creation of the World and we remember The Creator.

And we rest and don't do the ordinary things.

But in Deuteronomy we read the reiteration of the Ten Commandments and are told, in chapter 5, "the seventh day is a sabbath of the LORD your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter or your male servant or your female servant or your ox or your donkey or any of your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you, so that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. And you shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out of there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore the LORD your God commanded you to observe the sabbath day. "

In other words we have two reasons to remember and observe and keep Shabbat.

First God is Creator.
Second God is Redeemer.

Excellent ideas to ponder.

These are not contradictory remarks; they are conjoined. God as Creator made the world and in the Exodus of the Jewish people in about 1500 BCE, we see His involvement to redeem the world. This culminated in Jerusalem about a millenium and a half later, in the person of Y'shua.

Now get this. Y'shua showed He was Creator over and over in his earthly ministry. He healed the lame man (Matthew chapter 9) by declaring him forgiven and only God can forgive sins. Y'shua healed the blind man (John 9) by bending down and making mud and putting it on the blind man's eye sockets. He was demonstrating his own nature as Creator (see Genesis 2) when God made man out of the dust of the earth. He taught the angry crowd about His being God (John 8) when again he bent down and wrote in the dust the sins of the accusers of the adulteress. (Jeremiah 17, Exodus 31, 32).

Y'shua is Creator, the Banger behind the Big Bang, and the Uncause Cause of the Universes.

He also is the Passover Redeemer who delivered all Israel from Pharaoh and all people from Satan and the Curse of the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3). The House of Bondage is broken open. He was announced as the Lamb of God by his cousin John (John 1.35) and died for our sins, to save us from the slavery of sin.

No wonder this will be a great weekend for us. Shabbat reminding us of Creation and Redemption, and Passover on its heels. Enjoy. Celebrate. Remember. Rest. God has done great things for us. All.

KU winning was not a miracle

I so enjoy the newscasters here in the US, especially here from where I'm writing in Kansas City. They inserted an entire section into the Kansas City Star this morning about the Jayhawks, as they should. The KU basketball team won the men's national championship in an overtime victory last night in San Antonio. It was a great game, with the best two teams in the tournament performing well, and giving the crowd, both there in the Alamodome and around the globe watching on television, a series of thrills.

Unfortunately, the Star's headlines editors entitled the insert section, "Miracle II." Throughout the articles writers sprinkled the reports with "miracle three-pointer" and KU was "in need of several miracles."

Now I'm a die-hard fan. And proud of it. I still have the 1988 final game between KU and Oklahoma, the game that never stopped, on video tape at home in Sydney. But let's get our terms right. The last shot by Mario Chalmers with 4 or 5 seconds left in regulation was not a miracle. It was a great shot, a terrific shot, an unlikely shot, but not a miracle.

You see, if you throw the ball at a certain angle, with the right speed, and the right length, it will go in. That's what science tells us. It's all about repeatability. That's why the Memphis fans should be upset at their Tigers for failing to hit the repeatable free throws at the end of regulation.

A miracle, let' see. What would a miracle have been for KU? Perhaps the appearing of a 6th man on the court, unseen to the referees, or even to the TV audience, but one who body blocked the Tiger big men and as a result allowed easy lay-ups for the Jayhawks. Or how about a time when the ball was physically going out of bounds, bouncing clearly off a Jayhawk, and for no apparent reason, the ball changes directions 180 degrees, increases speed, and kicks off a Tiger. Now that would be a candidate for 'miracle.' See? It's the unexplainable; it's the unrepeatable; it's the invisible.

I guess I'm a bit guarding of the term because, and get this, I DO BELIEVE in miracles. But every day is not another miracle. Every sunrise is not a miracle. Having a baby is not a miracle. It's the natural; it's the ordinary; it's the repeatable.

So when I read about people having cancer and being healed without a drug or battery of radiation, I sit up and listen. When I hear about Red Seas parting or manna falling from heaven in the Passover story, I take notice. God is the author of miracles, and He loves to shake things up a bit. And He will do things for you, as well.

Do you trust Him? Why not ask Him for help today?

Nomophobia

I'd never heard this word before. On the radio the other morning, they commented on this. My first guess was 'fear of the law.' And that would make sense in that I often take my foot off the accelerator when I see a policeman. But that's not what they meant.

They described this new phobia as "Fear of Being Out of Range on your cell (Mobile) phone." (No Mobile Phobia) No doubt this word is not American as US people title their mobile phones, "cell phones." Maybe it's an Aussie word. We'll see.

And I've certainly experienced this phenomenon. What if, when I'm driving here in the US, or between Tamworth and Armidale, someone tries to ring me and they get a 'out of range' commentary from the telecom provider. Oy! Oy vey! This would be so bad, as I spend a lot of time in my car or in the train or ... such.

So I immediately understood their 'new' word of the day. Nomophobia. May it not happen to you.

But what may be more significant, and more of a worry, is NoGophobia. That is the fear of not being able to hear from God. (French: you may need to call it NoDophobia, obviously) After all, when we cannot get a signal to Telstra or AT & T, no worries, God can always get through. I'm sure Billy Ray Cyrus has written something about that. But what if He couldn't? What if we had done something to prevent His communication with us?

Ouch, that wouldn't be good, at all.

So, this April, think about God getting through to you, let Him speak to you. Let His word dwell in you richly, and don't worry about being out of range. He knows where you are.

After all, that's a great comfort.

Israelis and Messianic Jews

Of note today was the visit of the mayor of Ariel to young Ami Ortiz. The story follows from Jerusalem Post online edition.

Anti-missionaries suspected in attack
Yaakov Lappin , THE JERUSALEM POST Mar. 23, 2008

Police investigating the sending of a package which exploded in the home of a Christian pastor in Ariel are leaning toward the theory that a Jewish anti-missionary was behind the attack, the preacher told The Jerusalem Post on Sunday.

David Ortiz's 16-year-old son, Ami, sustained serious injuries in the blast, after opening the package, which was made to look like a Purim gift.

"They [the police], as far as I understand, do not suspect Palestinian terrorism. They suspect a Jewish anti-missionary motive," Ortiz told the Post by phone from his Ariel home, minutes after returning from the hospital.

"At the start of the investigation, they went in the direction of Palestinian terrorism. Now they're going in the other direction," he added.

Judea and Samaria Police spokesman Ch.-Supt. Dani Poleg said he could not comment on the investigation due to a court-imposed media blackout, in force since Friday.

Ami's life was no longer in danger, his father said, but he was still suffering from serious injuries all over his body.

"His neck had an eight-inch [20-cm.] gash like someone slit his throat. He has a ruptured lung. Doctors had to operate on his tongue. He has second-degree burns to his chest and arms, and there is no flesh on the thighs," Ortiz said, adding that doctors were forced to amputate two toes. "They're trying to continue to make sure that he won't lose his arms and legs. His whole body is full of fragments of shrapnel," he said.

Ortiz described the moments after the explosion when the teenager's mother, Leah, "saw flames coming out of the windows after going downstairs to throw out the garbage." After running upstairs, Leah saw "her son on the floor. She held his neck and she kept the wound closed with her hands." Using her paramedic training, "she made a hole so he could breathe. Then the ambulance driver who arrived kept him alive. When we got to hospital, he was operated on in five places," Ortiz said, adding that he considered his son's recovery to be "a miracle." Ortiz's Jewish-born wife, Leah, is a member of Jews for Jesus. The pastor says dozens of families in Ariel have been influenced by his teachings. "We have about 50 families," he declared.

He described a long history of tensions with anti-missionary activists in Ariel, which included flyers and a petition calling for the family to leave the city.

"My neighbor said he had been told by religious Jews that if we were the only ones living in this building, they would have bombed it," Ortiz said. "When we first came into this town, the rabbi visited us and told me I was not allowed to talk about Yeshua [Jesus] outside of my apartment. I told him that as far I know, this is not a crime in this country. This is a democratic country, people can say whatever they want outside their house," Oritz said.

"They put posters all over town warning residents to keep away from us and calling for us to be excommunicated, and there was a demonstration in front of our house. If all my neighbors had signed the petition calling on us to leave, I would have to leave by law. Some of my neighbors refused to sign," he added.

Four of Oritz's children have completed their military service in the IDF, he said. "I have served in the reserves for 15 years. I was shot at and stoned in Nablus. All of my children went to school here, they are normal children, we are normal people. Ami is the captain of his school basketball team."

Rabbi Dov Lifshitz, chairman of the Yad L'Achim anti-missionary organization, said he doubted that Jews were behind the bombing.

"Someone who thinks logically will not do this. It just harms the struggle. I'm sure this is not connected to the anti-missionary cause," he told the Post.

If the culprit is Jewish, the bomber "is either crazy or does not understand the struggle," Lifshitz added.

He estimated that Christian missionaries have succeeded in converting around 15,000 Jews to Christianity in Israel, adding that the missionaries target those "without defense - people ignorant of Judaism, such as Russian immigrants, and the lonely. This is why they succeeded, in a Jewish state, unbelievably. They have 120 branches in Israel," he said, blaming the Jewish Agency and the government for failing to provide a Jewish education to new immigrants.

"We are now pushing for legislation that would make it illegal for members of any religion to try and convert others to their faith," Lifshitz said. "Our struggle isn't against anyone. What we're saying is, we are Jews. Let us be Jews. Christians should remain Christians. In our 50 years of activity, we've never had any violence. We have a big argument with messianic Jews, but that doesn't include violence," Lifshitz said.



And this article is also part of Jerusalem Post online edition in another sector...
Members of the Messianic community in Israel said Monday that while the near-fatal attack last week on 15-year-old Ami Ortiz of Ariel marks a major escalation, it comes after years of anti-missionary violence directed at the community by both Jews and Muslims.


"We get the feeling that nobody in Israel is willing to take a strong stand against violent anti-missionary activity," said Pastor Howard Bass, head of the Nahalat Yeshua [Jesus's Inheritance] Congregation in Beersheba.

"We have experienced numerous attacks on the Messianic communities by haredim over the years," said Bass. "But there is very little sympathy for our plight."

Ortiz was seriously wounded after a parcel bomb in the form of a Purim gift blew up in his face. Ortiz is the son of David Ortiz, a prominent Messianic Christian pastor.


This was the most serious attack against the embattled Messianic community in Israel. Both Muslims and Orthodox Jews, who are vehemently opposed to Christian missionary activity, are suspected of sending the bomb.

The Messianic community in Israel numbers about 15,000, spread out in roughly 120 congregations across the nation. The community members, who believe there is no contradiction between being Jewish and believing Jesus to have been the Savior and the Son of God, has been steadily growing, in large part due to proselytizing activities. About half of the community's membership was born Jewish.

Bass, who was born Jewish, said that he saw the growth of the community of "believers" as another sign of the imminent second resurrection of the Messiah. He admitted that he shared his beliefs with his neighbors in the hope that he would influence them.

"When I was involved with politics I tried to influence people's political views. Now I do the same thing with religion."

Just this week Bass said that two surveillance cameras that monitor his house of prayer were stolen. Last Saturday, during prayers at the 100-strong congregation, a group of haredim stood outside and shouted, temporarily stopping the prayers.

Beersheba has a history of tension between haredim and the Messianic community.

In December 2005, just before Christmas, Bass's congregation was attacked by hundreds of haredi demonstrators who received the backing of the local rabbinic leadership. The demonstrators had heard rumors that busloads of Jewish children were to be baptized by the community.

Calev Myers, founder and chief counsel of the Jerusalem Institute of Justice, an advocacy group that represents members of the Messianic community, said that the police did not press charges against the assailants who forced their way into the church and forcibly stopped the baptism of two Israelis. The intruders threw chairs around and pushed Bass into the baptismal pool, according to Myers.

In Arad, another flashpoint for tension between the Messianic community and Orthodox Jews, the Chasdei Yeshua [Jesus's Loving-Kindness] Congregation, a tiny community of about 30, has been harassed repeatedly by the local Ger Hassidic community.

Lura Beckford, a Chasdei Yeshua member whose husband Edwin is presently under house arrest for attacking an anti-missionary activist in Arad last month during a confrontation, said that there had been numerous confrontations over the years.

"They've verbally attacked us on a regular basis and they even tried to burn down our chess club last February," said Beckford.

Meanwhile, Pastor David Ortiz, speaking to The Jerusalem Post from Schneider Medical Center, where his son Ami is hospitalized in serious condition, said that since he came to Israel over 20 years ago he has been the target of violence, mostly by Muslims.

"In the past, I have traveled into the neighboring Arab villages, which are all 100% Muslim, to distribute the whole Bible [Old and New Testament]," said Ortiz.

"Recently, with the deterioration of the security situation I stand outside the villages explaining to people about Jesus. Or I pick up local Arabs who hitchhike and I give them a Bible. I tell them 'This is the history of your people.'"

Ortiz said that he has been beaten up on at least one occasion by Palestinians from a neighboring village while distributing Bibles, and that a Molotov cocktail was once thrown at his car.

In the mid-1990's the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Ekrima Said Sabri, issued a fatwa [religious order] calling to kill Ortiz.

"The fatwa was even published in the Al Quds newspaper. I got a call from the US Embassy asking me to keep a low profile.

"Luckily, I am still here, still ticking. But I live my life as if every day could be my last."

Last November Isa Bajalia, an Arab-American evangelical pastor who works with Ortiz in proselytizing among Palestinians, told the Post that he was forced to flee his hometown of Ramallah after being threatened by a Palestinian security official.

Bajalia, who was born in Birmingham, Alabama, was ministering to a group of 30 to 35 people in Ramallah and carrying out missionary work there.

Ortiz said that he has also been exposed to mild anti-missionary campaigns initiated by Jews. Over the years pamphlets have been distributed in Ariel with his picture on them warning that Ortiz and others that belong to the Messianic community are "masquerading as Jews." But in general, Ortiz, who has brought significant Evangelical Christian financial support to Ariel, enjoys the backing of Ariel Mayor Ron Nachman.

Rabbi Shalom Lipshitz, head of Yad Le'achim, the largest anti-missionary organization in Israel, said that he opposed all violent anti-missionary action. But he added that he saw the Messianic community as an enemy to the Jewish people.

"There is no one who hates Jews more than they do," said Lipshitz. "They are trying to uproot Jewish faith, just like the Spanish did in the Inquisition. The only thing different is that these people cannot use physical force like the Spanish did. But they try to take advantage of the poor. They prey on Jews who do not know anything about Jewish heritage.

"We try to explain the 'truth.' We try to tell people that you cannot be Jewish and believe in Jesus at the same time. It just doesn't go together.

"Our job at Yad Le'achim is to make sure the Jewish people gets bigger, and fight people.”

Threats... deal with it!

Threats and resultant damage
(Paddo Robbery, Air New Zealand hijacking, Bondi slashing)

Where will it all end? Some stories from the wires today are blood and danger. First, yesterday arvo an armed bandit held up a central Sydney post office. The man walked into the building on Oxford Street, Paddington, just before 5pm yesterday.

"(He) demanded money while threatening staff with what appeared to be a small firearm," police said in a statement today. "The staff complied with the man and he left the premises with an amount of cash.

The man is described as being of white appearance, between 163cm and 173cm tall. He has a thin build, with stubble around his mouth. At the time of the robbery he was wearing gold-framed glasses and a black and white track-suit jacket.

Across the Tasman
A woman charged with hijacking a small commuter plane in New Zealand was committed to a psychiatric hospital when she appeared in court on Saturday.

Asha Abdille, 33, a Somali immigrant, was committed after a brief appearance at the Christchurch District Court, Radio New Zealand reported. She also faced charges of wounding the two pilots on the 19-seater aircraft which was on a scheduled domestic flight from Blenheim to Christchurch on Friday when she attacked them with two knives.

She also injured a woman who was one of the six other passengers on the Air New Zealand flight.

Bondi Attacks
Back in Australia, Three men were slashed by broken bottles in an attack by a group of teenagers in Sydney's east on Friday night.

A group of Pacific Island teenagers were throwing bottles at a house in Hastings Parade at Bondi. "Three men who lived in the premises approached the group and spoke with them about the bottle-throwing," a police statement said. "The group then assaulted the men, using broken bottles as weapons."

Seems Good Samaritans ended up getting hurt but thankfully, not critically.

So what about threats?
And threats are nothing to take lightly. As a shopkeeper, I’m reminded of significant police recommendations about giving money to possible robbers. Standard Operating Procedures, they say.

Threats are often breathed out by thugs against people whom they consider lesser, easier, dominable. But really the threatener is the lesser person. A group or mob take on a house, and three stand-up-for-good men from inside. A Blenheim passenger takes on two pilots. An armed man took on a postie on duty at a counter.

The Bible tells us several times about threats:
• King David in the Psalms says, “Those who seek my life lay snares for me; and those who seek to injure me have threatened destruction, and they devise treachery all day long.” (38th Psalm verse 12)
• “Save me, O God, for the waters have threatened my life. “(David again, in Psalm 69.1)
• Finally in the book of history of the early community of faith, Acts of the Apostles, chapter four, we read, “And when they had threatened them further, they let them go (finding no basis on which they might punish them) on account of the people, because they were all glorifying God for what had happened.”

Threats without warrant are not only unjustified, they rarely are successful in any sense of the word with God-followers. People of good will and people of good hope don’t cow to such demeanour by the lesser threat-breathers.

Consider Y’shua, the Great One, of whom we read in the letter by his friend and follower Peter,

(Jesus was) being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously. (1Pet. 2.23)

Let’s speak well to each other. Let’s get along peaceably in these days. Taunts and threats are juvenile at best and illegal in most cases (certainly these cases listed) at worst. And let’s let the Bible teach us more things of right and wrong in a world gone mad by dismissing it.

This is not a threat… it’s good advise!

The hourglass bridge

I’m in the basement of my rented house in Sydney’s northern suburbs and it’s 9 in the morning. Last night was another gorgeous night in Sydney with 70-degree temperatures at 1 a.m. as Patty and I along with another couple made our way home from a night on the town. We had eaten dinner at 9, and then walked down to the foreshore to see the fireworks display, which was very much worth seeing.

Now today is Patty’s and my 31st anniversary. I look older, but she doesn’t, and we have three children who still take up a lot of our time, and they are very much worth all we can give. We couldn’t be prouder of our kids.

On the bridge stretching across the harbour the designers of the New Year’s show often put a symbol. We’ve seen a coat hanger (the nickname of the bridge itself), a diamond (for the 75th anniversary of the bridge) and even the word “Eternity”. This year the designers attached an hourglass as the symbol to remember. It makes a good reminder of time running out.

A la the ball in New York’s Times Square, the hourglass made sense. Slowly the electronic balls made their way from top to bottom and finally the top was empty… Happy New Year! And revelry ensued. Actually revelry had been the word of the day all day already. From early morning, men and women staked unmarked sites near the shore, with tents and blankets, with full eskies and radios, readying themselves to welcome friends and frolickers to a fun-filled day and night. The dictionary tells us that revelry is “lively enjoyment or celebration, usually involving eating, drinking, dancing, and noise.” Sydneysiders join in this revelry with fervour and great energy.

According to this morning’s Sydney Morning Herald, “Ninety-four arrests were made across Sydney during the course of the night and the early hours of the morning, resulting in 92 charges - mostly for offences relating to anti-social behaviour.”

Walking down to get a good view of the fireworks, our friends and we noticed the thick blanket of discarded bottles and cans along the roads. Sounds of revelry filled our ears as drunken teens shouted and sang songs with great gusto. And across the way, the hourglass stood as a beacon.

Hourglasses are usually filled with sand not light bulbs. Last August, I walked next to one in Budapest near the National Monuments. The Time Wheel opened in 2004, when Hungary joined the European Union. It is an 8-meter-tall hourglass embedded in a granite and steel wheel. The sand goes down in exactly one year.
It’s very impressive.

When I grew up time was much more limited, not a year, but minutes. During games like Boggle and Yahtzee, we used those egg timers, plastic, still filled with sand, but less impressive.


So here I am, hours later, well-rested and happy to be celebrating with my wife another year. But the image of the hourglass stays fresh. Its impression is not its grandeur or even its location on the bridge. What impresses me this morning, and hopefully throughout 2008, will be the question. The question is begged by the time-reminder and stands firm, long after the glow of the bridge has dimmed. What will I do with time in 2008? Since time is running out, what will I do to make the world a better place? Since my time is running out, what will I make of my life?

Will I waste time in revelry and police lock-ups? Will I waste it on meaninglessness, or will I spend it with family and friends? Will I spend my time on bringing good news to people? Will I seek to benefit the world as its time is ending, or will I spend it on myself?

Good questions to ponder as the New Year begins. Won’t you join me in this pondering?


This is the ending of this blog for us in the South.







For those up north, in New York and London and Tokyo, it’s seriously winter. So maybe for them the words of Paul Simon’s song will help. As time is such a serious part of the thinking of New Year’s Eve folks.

Sidebar: Words by Paul Simon. Song is “Hazy shade of winter”
Time, time, time, see what's become of me

Time, time, time, see what's become of me
While I looked around for my possibilities
I was so hard to please

Look around, leaves are brown
And the sky is a hazy shade of winter

Hear the Salvation Army Band
Down by the riverside, it's bound to be a better ride
Than what you've got planned, carry a cup in your hand

Look around, leaves are brown
And the sky is a hazy shade of winter

Hang onto your hopes my friend
That's an easy thing to say
But if your hopes should pass away
Simply pretend that you can build them again

Look around, grass is high
Fields are ripe, it's the springtime of my life

Seasons change with their scenery
Weaving time in a tapestry
Won't you stop and remember me

Look around, leaves are brown
And the sky is a hazy shade of winter
Look around, leaves are brown
There's a patch of snow on the ground
Look around, leaves are brown
There's a patch of snow on the ground
Look around, leaves are brown
There's a patch of snow on the ground

Also for history, check out: http://wilstar.com/holidays/newyear.htm

Christmas and the Jewish People

WestfieldXMas2.jpg
Originally uploaded by bobmendo

The Jews and Jesus… Christmas concerns

Jews and Jesus seem to live in two different worlds. They appear to be representing two different religions. Melbourne’s Darren Levin, writing in last week’s Australian Jewish News, thinks this. “Jews don't believe in Jesus. How do I know this? I am one - and I can't recall any glow-in-the-dark crucifixes or fibre-optic Mother Marys in my parents' Caulfield South home...Being a Jew who doesn't believe in Jesus - I find it difficult to believe in Christmas.”

Separation of religions makes sense to Levin and to most people. Levin wants Jews who believe in Jesus to be ‘over there’ and Jews who don’t believe to be ‘over here.’ Some aver that it’s better to separate all religion from us. Keep religion over there and secular information over here. But with Christmas strewn all over our diaries and across our shopping malls, it’s increasingly difficult. The news media highlight this with cases in point this month.

First the shocking tale of the British primary school teacher in Sudan who was forced into exile for allowing her year-two students the privilege to name their stuffed teddy bear after the wrong person. Fair enough, it’s their country and they can do what they want, but fanaticism gone mad almost cost Gillian Gibbons more than a few days in jail. The word got out about her negligence and offending behaviour, and immediately the television broadcast hundreds of protestors on the streets in Khartoum screaming for her head. That must have given her pause. Why? She offended the religionists in Sudan who thought she was mocking their founder. Obviously this was an innocent mistake, and we saw a story of political correctness gone mad.

But it’s not only mad in Sudan; look at Bondi Junction in Sydney’s east. Outside Borders Books is the generous holiday display with Santa and sleigh and everyone’s digital Kodak opportunity (for $50 a shot). The glittery balls and silver decorations remind shoppers of Northern Hemispheric holidays of Dickens and Bing Crosby’s “White Christmas.” The massive decorations rise from 4th to 6th floors. Along the side on the 6th floor, tucked away between a restaurant and a travel Mountain Design store (was that planned to represent the family’s travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem?) is the manger panorama including the three wise men. It might reach 5 foot high. Religion gets a hearing, barely visibly--it’s there, but it’s being pushed to the apparent side is a slur at best.

Over in the USA, Sears, a large retailer similar to our Myer, has changed the names of their Christmas trees. They say, “The reason for our use of holiday tree is due to [our being a] very diverse company, we do not want to offend any of our associates, but also our valued customers. We decided to call them holiday trees because even if Christians are the only religion that uses a Christmas tree we still do not want complaints from other customers of different religions complaining about our use of Christmas.”

Something appears to be happening in the religio-pc world today. If I understand it correctly, here in Australia, Christmas is a national holiday. Everywhere else in the globe, the green trees people decorate in December are called Christmas trees. What is the fear of the use of the proper name of the holiday?

I’m not sure why anyone would be offended because a store has a display that highlights a holiday of someone in particular. Do unattached people protest Valentine displays sold from the local Target outlet? In Indian neighbourhoods, do people who are not from India protest the display of Diwali activities? Of course not!

People who do not celebrate Christmas are not offended by its celebration by others, are they? Back in 2005, Sears did the same thing. They pulled the word Christmas from their stores, and told employees to wish customers “Happy Holidays.” Sears received so much pressure from the people that year, that it reprinted its ads to include Christmas and rushed “Merry Christmas” signs to all of its retail outlets.

Ben Stein, the American Jewish actor/comedian, wrote in his commentary, “I am a Jew, and it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit-up, be-jeweled trees, Christmas trees. I don't feel threatened. I don't feel discriminated against. That's what they are: Christmas trees.”

title="photo sharing">
MangerwKid2.jpg
Originally uploaded by bobmendo

“It doesn't bother me a bit when people say, 'Merry Christmas' to me. I don't think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it. It doesn't bother me at all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu. If people want a crèche, it's just as fine with me.”

There are still many Jewish people who want to avoid any mention of the holiday. Some like Levin want to keep things separate. They prefer not knowing that the little boy was in fact a Jewish baby born in the Bethlehem village stable. Maybe they don't want to know that Y’shua (that’s the Jewish way to say Jesus) was born in fulfilment of biblical prophecy from previous generations. Maybe they don’t want to know that Y’shua lived his entire life in Israel and gave himself for Jewish people throughout his days. Yet he did. He even died in Jerusalem, and rose from the dead there on the third day. But that’s another season, isn’t it?

So what do we make of the pushing of the manger scene to the side of an escalator on the 6th floor in Westfields? What of political correctness? Will I be allowed to wish people Happy Anzac Day in due course, even though some fought against our troops at Gallipoli? Can’t we let others have their religion and let this truly be a multi-cultural country, not a monolith of sameness?

Here, or in your neighbourhood, or in your life, maybe the word of the Christmas carol writer should ring again: “Joy to the world! The Lord has come, let earth receive her king, let every heart prepare him room.”

On the panorama in Westfield are the words of the carol “The First Noel”-- “And by the light of that same star three wise men came from country far.” Perhaps, more important is the song’s chorus which lifts us with the repeated “Noel, noel… born is the king of Israel.” He is our King, oh Jewish people. He is our Messiah. He is our Saviour, and we would do well to give him place this year and throughout our years.

Give him proper place or pull the plug entirely. He’s not a sideshow; He’s the host!

But that’s the problem with religion and separation, isn’t it? Some want religion to be ‘over there’ and leave us alone ‘over here.’ God wants us all to know him personally and let over there come over here. Let your heart prepare him room.


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Bob Mendelsohn is the national director of Jews for Jesus Australia. He and his family moved from the US in 1998 to found the organization in Sydney. He can be reached on bob@jewsforjesus.org.au or 1.800.988.077 in Australia.