How do you survive and thrive living far away from a Jewish cultural center, like my family does in Southern Indiana? In our town, there is a very small Jewish population, and we are the only Messianic Jews that I know of. But nurturing my own identity—and building up...
I take comfort in Jesus’ words: “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not receive many times more in this time, and in the age to come eternal life” (Luke 18:29–30).
Although my faith made for some uncomfortable times with my parents, it also led to some thoughtful and fruitful discussions. And, much to their credit, they never allowed it to rupture our relationship.
The dictionary defines Sephardic (pronounced seh-far-dik) Jews as members of the occidental branch of European Jews settling in Spain and Portugal…”1 That dictionary definition however, does not provide the more common understanding of the term. In North America...
From Generation to Generation: A Jewish Family Finds Their Way Home My name is Steven Peter Wertheim. I was born August 3, 1951 in the Bronx, New York—but our family actually lived in the upper west side of Manhattan, where it seemed like everyone was either Jewish or...
Some claim that Jesus taught his followers to hate their mother and father. If true, that would obviously make Jesus an immoral and unethical teacher, since one of the Ten Commandments is to honor one’s parents. “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you,” the Torah says in Exodus 20:12.
“I remember they had us lined up. The Germans were talking among themselves, loud enough for me to hear. Some of my buddies started asking me, ‘What’s happening? How come you’re ready to pass out?’ I told them, ‘This is the way it’s going to be. They don’t know what to do with us and so they’re going to shoot us.’ ”