Something Was Missing from My Jewish Heritage
“JEWS—go back to your synagogue.” As we entered the locker room, those words were written all over our lockers. During the basketball game against a “Christian” team, we were repeatedly pushed, shoved and tripped. All we wanted to do was play ball. But our Jewish team could not escape religious bigotry.
I was about 12 years old at the time. But even before that I had learned about the oppression that my parents and other Jews had experienced in Europe under the rule of Czar Nicholas II. The Cossack hunters, the forces of the Czar, searched towns and villages to plunder, rape and murder Jews. My parents had escaped extermination by immigrating to America during the early 1900’s.
Then I learned about the millions of Jews massacred during the German Third Reich. All of this made deep impressions upon me as a child. Often I wondered, ‘Why does God allow a minority to suffer such injustices?’ Eventually I began to have doubts as to what God is really like. Does he have feelings, or is he an abstract, impersonal force? Does he approve of war? Is he offended by the immorality, vulgarity and dishonesty so prevalent in the world? I wanted to know.
While I was attracted by the traditions and symbols that were part of Judaism, these did not answer my questions. There seemed to be a void in my faith. Something was missing from my Jewish heritage.
In 1956 I graduated from Boston University. Rather than having attained any solidarity in my convictions, my uncertainty about what is truthful regarding life and its purpose had been increased by such courses as cultural anthropology (the study of evolution).
By this time I had found a wife who would be faithful to me and support my secular endeavors. Her orthodox Jewish training revived in me the desire to go to the synagogue. However, as a result of something that happened during the high holiday services of Rosh Hashanah, we both stopped going.
We had entered the synagogue, but since we could not afford to purchase tickets to be seated, we decided to stand and listen to the services. We had not been there more than a few minutes when an attendant came up and told us that we would have to purchase tickets or we would have to leave.
“Well, if that’s our choice, then we’ll just leave,” I replied. And that’s what we did. How empty and disappointed we felt to realize that discrimination existed within the professed temple of God! Nevertheless, because we took pride in our Jewish heritage, we continued to cling to the basic tenets of Judaism. But there was still something missing—the questions that inwardly disturbed me were as yet unanswered.
A Turning Point
Our firstborn was a son, a special blessing to the typical Jewish family. What a shock when an accident threatened his life! Anxiety and mental anguish prevailed during the hours that we awaited what was expected to be an adverse report on his condition. From my lips came a fervent prayer to an unknown God—if our son would live, I would know that God existed and was concerned with my plea. Our son recovered!
The very next morning one of Jehovah’s Witnesses called at my place of business. Shortly thereafter my wife and I began studying with him in the Hebrew Scriptures according to the Masoretic text.
I recall vividly an incident that took place one evening during our Bible discussion with the Witness. He pointed out to us that man was a direct creation of God. (Gen. 2:7) “But man is the end result in a chain of evolutionary events,” I contended, “and there is ample evidence available to prove this, including the uncovered forms of primitive man.” Scanning the pages of my college textbook Cultural Anthropology, by Melville Herskovits, I found a series of photographs on page 15 illustrating the reconstruction of a few bones that were unearthed. “Is this not convincing evidence that ‘Pithecanthropus erectus’ is one of the missing links to modern man?” I insisted.
But later, when I reviewed the material, I noticed that the preceding page referring to that reconstructed figure stated: “No branch of Anthropology requires more exercise of the scientific imagination.” I was dumbfounded. I read it several times. Evidence? Not at all! Imagination! Theories of men!
Soon efforts at defending my beliefs, even with the use of college textbooks, gave way to the convincing arguments presented from the Bible and Bible literature that we studied. In particular was I convinced by the booklet Evolution versus The New World. What impressed me was how the arguments in support of creation and of a Supreme Creator consistently harmonized with true science.
Accepting Jesus
The name “Jesus” had never been used in our household as I was growing up, except in a derogatory manner. This was also true of my wife’s family. Why, on one occasion she had her mouth washed out with soap merely for mentioning the name “Jesus”!
“The Messiah has not come yet,” I was told by my religious instructors. “God does not have a son,” my Jewish associates asserted. “Jesus was an illegitimate child,” was the common viewpoint among my relatives.
So when we first discussed the prophecy about the Messiah at Daniel 9:24-27, I objected: “How could this pertain to Jesus Christ? The Messiah is yet to come, and this one called Jesus has already come and gone.”
But as we studied that prophecy and others, we began to accumulate revealing facts. Why, the prophecy in Daniel pinpointed the year of the Messiah’s arrival, 29 C.E.! Details identifying him were carefully outlined in the 53rd chapter of Isaiah. And the prophecy at Genesis 49:10 even specified what tribe he would come from. “The Messiah has to have come already,” I concluded, “otherwise, since the genealogical records are gone, he could not even be identified if he were to come now!”
That God truly had a son was a startling revelation to us, but became undeniably evident as we read from our copy of the Hebrew writings at Proverbs 30:4: “Who hath established all the ends of the earth? What is his name, and what is his son’s name, if thou knowest?” (The Holy Scriptures, Jewish Publication Society of America) We learned that his birth from a maiden or young woman was legitimate, according to God’s will, as prophesied in Isaiah 7:14 and Isa 9:6, 7.
Thus, our study of the Hebrew Scriptures convinced us that Jesus was the Messiah, or Christ, the Son of God. He fit the pattern outlined in the Scriptures.
Finding What Was Missing
As I continued to study, the questions that had long disturbed me began to be answered, one by one. I was finding what had been missing from my Jewish heritage.
“What about wars?” I asked the Witness. “Shouldn’t all good citizens defend their country?” This I asked, not because I believed in wars, but because I wanted to know if God approved of them.
“In times of war,” he answered, “Catholics kill Catholics, Protestants kill Protestants, and Jews kill Jews. How could God approve of war or of an organization that approves of its members killing one another?”
This made sense to me. I was really happy to learn that God has no part in the wars of the nations. How gratifying it was to discover that he has a code of morality, clean speech and honesty so different from that which is accepted by people both religious and otherwise! It wasn’t just reading the Bible that convinced us of this; it was seeing living evidence in the Witnesses we met and with whom we associated. I was so happy to learn that God has a purpose for his people and that working in harmony with that purpose can result in everlasting life in a perfect environment. (Isa. 25:6-9) In my mind I reasoned, ‘How could such a loving God be an abstract or impersonal force?’
Family Opposition
By this time we became the targets of extreme family opposition. In addition to being disowned and ridiculed, we received threats that our son would be taken away from us. We were cut off from communicating with my younger brother, Marvin, who had been sitting in on our Bible discussions with the Witnesses.
A showdown came after my grandmother’s death. My family arranged for a meeting with one of the most prominent Jewish clergymen in the Boston area. They wanted to humiliate me and, in so doing, discourage my brother Marvin from listening to me. As matters turned out, however, it was this rabbi who was humiliated.
Since my grandmother had just died, I asked the rabbi: “Would you please show my family where in the Bible it supports the Judaic teaching on the immortality of the soul?” He avoided my question, suggesting that I was confused because I did not understand the Hebrew language. “It would be a lot more convincing if you would just open the Bible and show us the Scriptural support of the immortality of the soul,” I replied. He still avoided the question.
As the discussion continued, reference was made to the Ten Commandments. So I asked him, “Where in the Bible are the Ten Commandments found?” He didn’t know! He said something in Hebrew to my cousin, and, after about 10 minutes of looking through a reference book, my cousin told him in Hebrew where they were found. Realizing what had happened, I asked the rabbi: “If you have taken that effort to find the Ten Commandments, then why don’t you show us, if you know, the Scriptural support of the immortality of the soul?”
When he kept referring to the Talmud (the oral law or tradition according to Jewish belief) and other writings in answering me, I stressed the need to accept the Bible as truth and began reading the prophecy of Jeremiah 31:31-34.
“If you want truth, there is truth in everything, including Satan the Devil!” the rabbi interrupted, as he slammed the Bible closed on my fingers.
“If you are a true shepherd of God’s flock and I am a straying sheep, why don’t you direct me back to the pen by answering my questions from God’s written Word?” I responded.
When I persisted, he lost his composure and called me an ignoramus. At that point one of my relatives turned to another and said, “Why doesn’t he just answer his questions?” They were disappointed that he was unable to prove me wrong. Such behavior on the part of one who was supposed to be a vital support of my Jewish heritage seemed so inconsistent to me.
More Questions Answered
So many of my questions went unanswered by the religious teachers of the Judaic way of life! If the Jews are God’s chosen people, still under the law of Moses, where is the holy temple of Jerusalem? Where is the ark of the covenant? Where is the Aaronic priesthood? Where are the animal sacrifices? Where are the genealogical records establishing tribal origin? If the sabbath is to be celebrated, where are the seventh-year sabbaths, the 50th- or Jubilee-year sabbaths? On all these issues, the Jewish clergy I talked to were either evasive or silent.
“From my study of the Bible, I have concluded that the Messiah has already come,” I told another rabbi.
“That’s impossible,” he said.
“Well, then, how would you identify him, since the Scripture at Genesis 49:10 indicates that the Messiah would come from the tribe of Judah?” I asked.
“Well, you have me at a disadvantage,” the rabbi confessed. “My training was concentrated on the Talmud. In order to be qualified to discuss this issue with you, I would have to study the Bible.”
On another occasion my father had a rabbi telephone the house. “If you’re prepared to prove to me Scripturally that Jesus is not the Messiah, and that the Messiah is yet to come, and that all the Jewish traditions are based on the Scriptures, then by all means let me know when you would like to come to talk to me.”
“Well, I’ll call you,” he told me. He never called.
However, with the assistance of the Witnesses, we did much research at our home Bible study. We discovered that the Hebrew writings were clear on all these religious matters and revealed to us the real reason for the disappearance of the original Jewish system.
The priestly and governmental system that was originated by God and given to the Israelites was blessed by him only as long as they honored him and upheld his laws. But due to their man-made traditions, they invalidated these commandments and flagrantly supported a system of injustice that lasted until 70 C.E., when it was destroyed by the Romans. The genealogical records establishing priestly and tribal identification were destroyed with the devastation of the temple. In its place, to this day, stands the Moslem shrine, the Dome of the Rock.
This, we learned, did not prevent the Grand Maker of time and events from moving ahead with a new arrangement that would bless not just one nation but people from every nation. (Gen. 22:18) From its beginning in the first century C.E., a God-ruled international organization has flourished. By means of his holy spirit, God has provided for people of all kinds an education in his Word, the Bible. (Isa. 54:13) How glad we were to get the answers to these questions!
Since that day in 1956, when we opened our minds and hearts to the truth of God’s Word, Lorrie and I have grown in love and appreciation for the One who has manifested such tender feelings and concern for us. Yes, we and our three children—Joel, Julie and Mark, and his wife Marjorie—happily have come to know Jehovah, the Originator of life and hope.
Within the last few years I have had the joy of being reunited with my brother, Marvin, estranged for 18 years. I am happy to say that now he and his family have also become Jehovah’s Witnesses.
Yes, I can truly say that I found the something that had been missing from my Jewish heritage—the worship of the true God, Jehovah. I have also found a loving family united in true worship and the intimate association of those faithful to the laws and principles of the Holy Scriptures. Here, among men and women of all backgrounds, persons both young and old, I have found a deep respect for the Bible’s high moral code, clean and upbuilding speech and an atmosphere of honesty and forthrightness.—Contributed.
[Picture on page 17]
As a family, we have found what brings happiness