"What Really Happened"

This is a link to a very well put together slide show on the History of Israel and terrorism. Worth watching, even though many of us know these facts.
Video on Israel and the Jews

this is from the Terrorism Awareness Project web site.

And : This link is to a fair and well written article on Messianic Jews in Israel. It is one of the few truly accurate articles I have seen and presents a good picture of what is going on there for the 100 or so Messianic congregations. Kudos to the author for his work here.
Messianic Judaism in Israel

Hag Purim

Purim the holiday that celebrates the triumph of Ester and Mordecai for the Jewish people over a ruthless King and his dangerous henchman Haman is this week. We celebrate with costume parties, music and dance and of course food. The hamantashen or three pointed filled cookie, which is styled after the three pointed hat of Haman is a treat special to this holiday.
At CBH we will host a Purim party for all to attend Tuesday March 10 starting at 6PM with Israeli type dinner available. Should be fun for all!
Our next service that we provide worship music for is Saturday March 14 at 11 am.

After Life

I have heard people say that the after-life is a Christian concept. How untrue. Here is a quote from a Chabad ( Orthodox Jewish) web post.

"The conception of an after-life is fundamental to the Jewish religion; it is an article of faith in the Jews' creed. The denial of the after-life constitutes a denial of the cornerstone of the faith. This concept is not merely an added detail that may lose its significance in some advanced age. It is an essential and enduring principle.
Indeed, the Mishnah (Sanhedrin X, 1) expressly excludes from the reward of the "world beyond" he who holds that the resurrection of the dead is without biblical warrant. Maimonides considers this belief one of the 13 basic truths which every Jew is commanded to hold."

So true for Messianic Jews of course, who believe we will one day dwell with Messiah in HIS Kingdom. Hallelujah.

Two Big Events Coming

I am happy and thankful to God for providing two more great events to be added to my schedule.
Details to follow...but i will be leading Praise in Charlotte, NC on March 28....also in the UK in early May.
It is terrific to get the opportunity to share Messianic - Jewish music with more people in more new places!

Pray for Israel

I was fortunate to be able to attend the pro Israel rally here in Atlanta last week. Hundreds of Jews and Christians came out to an Orthodox synagogue to join together in support.
It was uplifting and informative!
Other rallys are planned.

We at Beth Hallel had a prayer session as part of our men's breakfast program. 50 or more men left the breakfast to move over to the synagogue to pray individually and corporately for this situation and for the IDF, the civilians in nearby towns, and for the salvation of the non-believing arabs.


No matter how many rockets the terrorists shoot into the Land when unprovoked, they will not be condemned by the world and it's UN.
Israel responds after years of tolerating this abuse, and the world comes out against her.
So what else is new? The Israelis will never been seen by the world as being correct. Even when they call thousands of Gaza residents to warn them of coming attacks, to let them know that being near a Hamas rocket storage site is a bad idea, and so on.

We all should pray often and loudly to our God for His solution to come to the crisis there.

A joyous Chanukah party was held at Beth Hallel last night, the 7th night of this Festival.
Children and adults were singing and dancing, the Rabbi and Rebetsen giving out "gelt" to the kids, and of course terrific food including many traditional dishes- latkes, kugel, falafel, hummus and more.

My evening was made even better by a visit from a lovely couple I met in Jerusalem, who are in our area to visit relatives. They are Messianic Jews, originally from the UK who have ahealing ministry in Jerusalem. We had a great reunion and they enjoyed seeing our Synagogue and the mischpucha there having so much fun.
I also had the pleasure of playing music with my own children on guitar & clarinet and drums, as well as some other talented additions to the group.
Happy Chaukah, and a Joyous New Year to all.

ARIEL KEREN OR

While in Jerusalem I met a wonderful man who travels throughout the world teaching the Jewish Roots of Christianity to the churches, and the need to support Israel. I hope that I will be able to join up with him at some point to add some praise music to his teaching ministry events.
Here is a link to his testimony and story.

Ariel Keren Or