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T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
Tke Chosen People, the Land, and the Book JEW ISH NEWS NOTES Compiled by Jam es A. Vans, Supt. of Jew ish W ork Bible In stitu te of Eos Angeles
We found some charm ing houses being built, a few com pleted, in th is settlem en t on the hillside above the blue sea of Chinnereth, and attracted by sounds, found a room well filled w ith Jews, young and old, a t a synagogue service, while th e women w ith th e ir prayer books and th è ir chil dren were seated outside in th e shade. Our companion of yesterday had no praying shawl and came out to g reet us, and leaving th e others to pray, went away. Another a t tractive young Jew, making his way to th e same spot, was glad to take our Gospel literatu re. I praise God for th e opening He gave me for w itness a t th e table a t th e Jew ish re sta u ra n t w ith th e fam ily of th e pious proprietor. An earnest statem en t was given of Mes siah’s claims, and the value of th e whole Bible, Old and New Testam ent alike. A copy in th e Hebrew was accepted by the son-in-law, th e unm arried d aughter having already tak en a Hebrew Psalm book, and a Yiddish volume en titled “The Prom ised Messiah.” The journey from T iberias to Safed, which used to take practically a day on horseback, we did in about an hour, speeding over th e fine carriage road most of the way. Safed, or Seph, is believed to be “th e city set on a hill which cannot be hid,” which our Lord used as an illu stra tion of a tru e disciple in Matthew 5:14. I t has a ruined castle, fortified by Josephus, and was an im po rtan t fortress in C rusader times, and suffered from a terrib le earthquake in 1837. H ere we visited Miss F o rd of th e H auran Mis sion, and met a Syrian gentlem an who was very b itter against th e Government and the Jews; she was glad we could speak to him , and we gave him , both by lip and literatu re , a message pointing to th e only real solution of th e problems of P alestine and th e world unrest, viz., the blessed hope of our Lord’s speedy retu rn , and th e u rgen t call to be watchful and ready. In th e Jewish hotel a t supper tim e we had some useful conversation w ith two in telligen t young Hebrews wbo looked th e p ictu re of health, and who shared w ith us our four-bedded room. The next day we were surprised a t the joy w ith which they received our Gospel messages; one was ready to pay for any literatu re , and said he had long wished to come in touch w ith m issionary teaching. The boys, too, of the house, were perm itted to read anything we offered them , and watched our personal devotions most in ten tly ; I was deeply moved, even to em barassment, as th ree of them w ith th e ir beautiful longing eyes fixed upon me, listened eagerly to every word I spoke in Yiddish about the Godhead, and th e plan and work of our Lord Jesus Christ in saving th e souls of sinful men. Oh, how we value prayer th a t such testim ony may bear abund an t fru it in such a fanatic city of Orthodox Jew ry as Safed, once almost th e most sacred theological cehter of the Jew ish world, where it was believed th e Messiah would appear. A very strik ing personality, a judge who had known B rother Jacobs, was also kindly disposed to our message. We had in th e afternoon of September 12th a long, rough, rocky and dusty ride on ra th e r poor horses to a form er Jew ish center, now only a Maronite village entitled K afr B irim (th e village of buds or blossoms>. On the journey one sees away on th e left on th e hillside, below the highest mountain th is side Jordan, viz: Jerm ag, (3,934 feet) Meron, where on th e night of Omer Day, afte r Pass- over, th è Jews gath er from all p arts of the world for a g reat fanatic fire festival, in commemoration of Simeon ben Jochai, th e w riter of the most enlightened book of th e Talmud known as th e Zohar, which contains really rem ark able Messianic tru th , and teaching concerning th e T rinity. We saw Kish about half way on our righ t, said to be the birthplace of the paren ts of St. Paul. On F riday, a very blessed season of testimony to th e saving power of God’s grace was experienced when we bap tized the eldest son of Mr. Eglitsky, who has suffered so much persecution from the Rabbis of Jerusalem for his faith in Christ. This boy was taken from his fath e r, put in a Jew ish house and made to work for a Jewish firm, to prevent him being influenced by his fa th e r’s conversion to Christianity. But he was only driven to seek the Saviour for him self by th is experience, and I have been giving him Bible studies and baptismal classes for some tim e.”
The T u rk s and P alestine. It was officially stated in th e House of Commons the o ther day, th a t by the very recen t tre a ty of Lausanne, “Turkish righ ts over P alestine have come finally to an end.” . Christians who love th e Land, the Book and th e People, will th a n k God for th is piece of good news w ith regard to th e Holy Land.— Jew ish M issionary Herald. Jews in Soviet Russia. A well-informed correspondent of “The Jew ish Vorw ärts” w rites, (so th e “ Jew ish W orld” sa y s): “The general ppsi- tion of th e Jews in Russia is daily becoming more serious.” W hat w ith the wave of anti-Sem itism th a t is now pass ing over C entral and N ortheastern Europe (in Germany in p articu lar) th e cup of exiled Israel is still full of sorrow and bitterness. May it please our Heavenly F a th e r to nullify th e designs of Israel’s enemies in Russia, Germany and elsewhere.— P alestine’s Many Languages. One in teresting item of inform ation arises ou t of those articles in the Daily Telegraph,— th a t whilst th e re is “ a bare th ree-qu arters of a m illion” souls in Palestine (a land th a t in ancient times supported about four tim es th a t num ber of hum an beings) th e re are not less th a n forty-two languages spoken by th e peoples in th a t land, no t to men tion th e “many rival faith s” th a t are professed, more or less, by the various religious groups in th a t same country. — Jew ish M issionary H erald. A Missionary Jou rney in Galilee. Rev. S. B. Rohold, lately retu rn ed to Palestine, encloses a copy of a le tte r from Rev. A. W. Payne, of the B ritish Society for th e P ropagation of th e Gospel Among th e Jews. Extracts from th a t le tte r follow: “A fter having comm itted our way to th e Lord, B rother P aul Doany and I sta rted out on the eve of th e Jew ish Rosh H ashana (New T ear) Monday, September 10th, for a m issionary journey in N orthern Galilee. There was a delay a t th e garage of one and a h alf hours, so we gave some Jew ish men literatu re , and eventually we travelled by th e Baifa-T iberias omnibus a t a very, reasonable price and rapid rate. A young Jew who sa t between us was only journeying as far as the rapidly growing Jew ish colony a t N ahalal, on th e P lain of Jezreel. He had been in touch w ith th e Mount Carmel Bible Mission Reading Room, and took Scriptures when he alighted, and ano ther Hebrew man took his place who also knew us and w anted to ta lk only in Hebrew on religious subjects. He read, while riding, a Hebrew m is sionary pam phlet on th e history o f Israel which we gave him. L ite ra tu re was given out by B rother Paul, and we found our way th ro u g h th e streets lighted by electric lights into th e d ark er courts and alleys till we came to th e Ashkenazim Synagogue, where we heard th e closing p a rt of th e service, w ith its repeated “Amens,” and then th e greetings of Yom Tov, “ a good day,” as th e congregation broke up. A young man w ith prayer book in hand, whom we followed, spoke to us, and gladly received our tracts. E arly in th e morning of the New Year’s Day, we walked down to th e Lake of T iberias for a bath. A friendly Jewish lad, who led us to a suitable spot, was in terested to ta lk on Christian topics. I spoke of th e sacred in te rest of th is piece of w ater because of th e New T estam ent references to Andrew, P eter, John, N athaniel, and the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. A fter b reak fast we walked out towards th e new colony, named afte r th e H igh Commissioner, Sir H erbert Samuel, giving out lite ra tu re to young men gay in th e ir New Year’s attire. W e found two sitting playing checkers in a newly laid ou t path, and they gladly accepted pamphlets, while th e Moslem re sta u ra n t keeper took a copy in Arabic of “ Jesus is Coming,” by Rev. W. E. Blackstone.
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