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ARCHIVE: DECEMBER 2001

Tevet 5762

REFLECTIONS FROM THE GERMAN COUNTRYSIDE

As I'm writing this letter, I can look out at the scenic landscape outside my window. I can see the rolling hills and the rooftops of quaint old villages. The colors of houses mix with the colors of their natural setting. I'm in a third-story room in a medieval German castle not too far from Frankfurt, Germany.

But, as delightful and scenic as this is, I'm here for a very significant purpose. I was invited by a Christian community Â with whom we've been friends for ten years Â for an historic conference. Patrice and I have taught here several times on the Jewish roots of a biblical faith. As a result, we led 25 German believers on a trip to Israel in 1997. Now this influential group had sponsored a conference called: "Jews, Christians and Messianic Jews."

For years, both in Europe and America, there has been an ongoing dialogue between Christian and Jewish leaders. However, Messianic Jews have always been intentionally excluded. This was the very first time any Messianic Jew had been invited to participate in these important discussions of mutual concern, making this a true "trialogue." Our German friends encountered a great deal of opposition, but they persisted; and, in the end, they had to turn people away because they ran out of space for conferees.

There were a number of speakers, including key church leaders from Germany and a Testament professor from Norway as well. One of the speakers was an important Jewish university professor who had been a key figure in previous dialogues. A number of his colleagues had urged him not to participate, but he came to the conference nevertheless. In the evening after the first day's sessions, he and I and several others sat around and talked in the castle's caf?. Although he originally was very opposed to Messianic Jews, he was full of questions about what we did and how we lived as Jews, and what we believed messianically. It was a friendly, lively discussion. Toward the end he said he had come to understand that we were truly Jews, Jews who simply had accepted Yeshua as Messiah. And, he said as much in his session the next morning. There is a real possibility that this contact and conversation will continue. Pray that it does, and that the professors curiosity turns into genuine personal interest. This is the conference organizer's hope as well. In fact, Ralph Peckman, the conference organizer, feels the inroads that were made with this Jewish professor will have a ripple effect throughout Germany and should impact future discussions due to this man's influence and reputation in Germany.

I was asked to give two lectures. The first was on Yeshua as a Jewish rabbi and as the Jewish Messiah. Afterwards, one of the conference participants said, in his broken English, that before he came he was opposed to what we believe as Messianic Jews, but now he had accepted it for himself. The other lecture was on the ongoing validity of the biblical covenants between God and on the continuity of the Jewish people as God's chosen people. This has significant implications for the Jewish right to the land of Israel and for the Middle East conflict as well. Since there is considerable sympathy for the Palestinian position in Europe, these implications were vigorously discussed in the question-and-answer sessions which followed. I learned from conversations afterward that we made significant progress on these issues as well, as a result of the sessions.

Another exciting possibility developed from this conference. There was some discussion about launching a small journal dealing with the Messianic perspective on theological issues as well as elaborating on the Jewish roots and backgrounds of the biblical texts. The desire is to translate into German the articles Patrice and I have written and use them as a foundation for various issues of the proposed journal.

I also want to share an experience from my flight on the way to the conference. The man across the aisle began a conversation with me when he noticed my yarmulke. As it turned out, he was on the board of a synagogue not far from our house, and he lived nearby. We talked about a number of topics related to Judaism and Israel as well as the attacks of September 11. When he found out I was the rabbi of a Messianic synagogue, he became more animated. As we talked further, he repeatedly pointed out that he accepted Messianic Judaism as a legitimate part of the Jewish community, and he wanted to know more about us. In fact, in the end, he even invited himself to our synagogue! Pray that he visits and finds himself drawn to Yeshua.

All in all it was a wonderful conference with old and friends talking about things set in motion by that cosmic event 2000 years ago which we celebrate at this season. It was the invasion of God himself into human history, an event made secure by another event in Jewish history which we celebrate as well at this season, Hanukkah.

Thank you for being part of our team and making possible the ongoing activities of this ministry by your encouragement, your praying and your giving at this crucial time in our history and a very critical time for our ministry financially. From our entire family we wish you a most significant holiday season!

Warmly in Yeshua our Messiah,

John and Patrice Fischer

NOTE: Though this was written in Germany, I'm now back in Florida.

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