Surviving in the Desert
The Valley of the Shadow of Death
by Monica Obreja
After a month-long battle with covid on February 26th of last year, my husband Aurel went home to be with the Lord. When Aurel was in the hospital fighting for his life, I did the only thing I knew how: fight for him in prayer. I asked friends and family here in Israel and all over the world to pray. We had zoom prayer meetings at our congregation devoted to interceding for him. When the Lord finally took him home, surprisingly I did not feel angry at God or confused. Instead, God gave me a supernatural peace that we had done all we could to petition heaven for Aurel’s life and that, even though we may not understand it, this was God’s perfect will. Despite the shock and incredible loss, God gave me strength and grace to worship Him and even to encourage everyone there at my husband’s graveside after my sons and the men present had filled the grave. You see, in Israel it is the Jewish custom that the family and close friends lower the casket into the earth and then fill the grave with dirt. Burying your loved one yourself is an important Jewish tradition.
Aurel and Monica with their children in January 2020
The Battle
However, that was just the beginning. After we buried Aurel, I went home a widow with nine children. My youngest son was just four. While I was never so thankful I had so many children—we were an amazing support for each other in the first difficult months—I also felt the crushing weight of the grief of losing the love of my life and life-partner, the man who had led me to the Lord, and of the huge responsibility for my children’s physical and spiritual wellbeing now resting solely on me. Before Aurel passed away, I fought for his life in prayer. And now, I knew I had another battle on my hands: to overcome the all-consuming grief to be able to lead my family forward.
The Weapons of our Warfare
In the first months after Aurel died, I felt like I had to fight not to fall into a pit of grief that would consume me. Again, the only thing I knew how to do is pray—but I was so broken and disoriented by grief and the shock of losing Aurel that I did not know what to pray. So I prayed in the Spirit. Constantly! The Apostle Paul says, “I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you.” (I Cor. 14:18) During that time, I prayed in the Spirit, sometimes for hours, perhaps just as much as Paul did, if not more. The Word says that the Holy Spirit helps us in our weaknesses and expresses the inexpressible groanings of our spirits (Romans 8:26). The Holy Spirit was expressing my inexpressible grief and my deep cry for help to the Father.
As time passed, I felt like I had peace in the middle of a storm. God was strengthening me and His clarity guided me more and more. Prayer became the one thing I could “do” that consistently filled me and strengthened me – I was putting to the test all the spiritual truths I have learned from a life of walking with the Lord and reading His Word: He is a faithful rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. He comforts the brokenhearted. He gives us beauty for ashes, a garment of praise for a heavy spirit. He hears our prayers and answers. I know because I am the widow who came before her God and Judge again and again, and He has never once disappointed me. He gives me strength and wisdom to intercede for each of my children, to speak into their lives and to raise them in the knowledge and fear of the Lord. God is also speaking to me: He told me not to look back, not to cling to the past, like what He said to Lot’s wife: there was no longer a strong, supportive pillar for me in the past. Now it was just me and God in the present.
Another thing has happened in this process: my spiritual hunger for God keeps increasing. I sought Him constantly in the beginning to save me from falling into consuming grief. Now I am seeking not just because I cannot survive without Him but because I love His presence, I love His Word and I earnestly desire the spiritual gifts (I Corinthians 14). He is my exceedingly great reward!
A Revelation of Prayer
One day while washing dishes, I was pondering a passage I had been reading in 2 Kings that describes how Yoram King of Israel and Jehoshaphat King of Judah had gone out to fight the king of Moab: they got into trouble along the way when they could not find water for their troops and livestock. So, they sought out the prophet Elisha who told them:
…the LORD says, ‘Make this valley full of ditches. For the LORD says, ‘You will not see wind or rain, but the valley will be filled with water, and you will drink—you and your cattle and your animals. (2 Kings 3:16-17 Berean Study Bible)
I imagined those parched troops digging ditches in the hot Middle Eastern sun in a dry valley, how it must have seemed like pointless drudgery when they were already dying of thirst. But they still did their part. And then God did His miraculous part: He filled those ditches with water, providing for their immediate physical needs and then using those shimmering pools of water to throw the Moabites into confusion and give Israel the victory. God showed me that prayer is just like that: we are digging ditches in the dry ground when we pray. I see places of “dry ground” around me, but I do not let the dry ground determine the reality. I stand on God’s Word and promises in prayer, digging ditches in that dry ground, and then He will fill them with His miraculous water!
I AM THANKFUL
A year after losing my husband, I can say I am so thankful for God’s faithfulness and goodness to me and my family. I am also thankful for my brothers and sisters in faith: from the beginning of Aurel’s hospitalization and throughout this first year after his death, my home congregation, Tiferet Yeshua, believers from all over the body of Messiah in Israel, and even Christian friends in the nations, have surrounded me and my family with love and support in so many ways. My family and I could not stand without my brothers and sisters supporting me and my family.
Monica and her children May 2021
What Child is This? Reflections of a Messianic Jew on Christmas
Growing up in Israel in the seventies and eighties, Christmas was a far-off Christian holiday that I had no idea about other than the images of the beautiful lights, Christmas trees and decorations we saw in pictures and movies from America and Europe. Today, many Israelis visit Arab Christian villages and neighborhoods during the Christmas season to enjoy the lights and the Christmas cheer. But, for the most part, no one would know it is Christmas in Israel on December 25th—it’s just like any other day.
Experiencing Christmas for the First Time
In my early twenties, after I came to faith in Yeshua, my wife and I moved to the United States. It was then that I had my first taste of this Christmas holiday that I as a Jew had never personally seen or celebrated. I have to say that the beautiful lights and decorations, the holiday parties and get-togethers made that dark and cold time of the year truly joyful and beautiful —which is saying a lot for me as an Israeli who loves sunshine and has a hard time with the cold. It was special being together with fellow believers during Christmas church services worshiping the “King of Israel”, and the words of many Christmas songs celebrating the birth of the Jewish Messiah in my homeland, Israel, touched me deeply.
Little Baby Jesus
Of course, beyond the secular consumerism and materialism that infiltrates much of the Christmas season in the US—there was one thing about the holiday that felt a little strange to me: the widespread Christmas focus on Yeshua as a baby. I was already a believer, but I had not spent time thinking of Him as a baby. Other than His birth, the New Testament offers no information about Yeshua’s infancy or childhood before his 12th year. However, as I thought more about this “baby Jesus” focus during Christmas, I realized that Isaiah the prophet spoke of the child Messiah and described Him in terms that we rarely, if at all, hear during Christmas. The terms Isaiah uses to describe this special Child are a majestic description of His mighty and awesome character and calling.
What Child is This?
Isaiah 9:6 describes the Child who will carry the government on His shoulders: God’s juxtaposing the smallness and weakness of a human child with the weight of this mighty calling on His shoulders highlights the incomprehensible plan of salvation in such an astounding way.
Next come the heavy titles this Child carries: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God , Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. If we focus on each title, it reveals who Yeshua is, His calling and identity. Usually knowledge of Hebrew does not give any “hands up” in understanding the Bible—the Spirit of God ensured that there are accurate and true translations in every language. There are times, however, where nuances in the Hebrew open up different levels of meaning and connections which are otherwise lost in translation.
Pele Yoetz (Wonderful Counselor) – if we allow Yeshua to be our personal counselor, He will do wonders in our lives! “Pele” is the Hebrew word for “wonder”, and Messiah’s name as “Wonderful” recalls a scene in the Torah where the “Man God” in the form of the Angel of YHVH describes Himself to the father of Samson in Judges 13:18, saying: “My name is wonderful (pelee)”.
El Geebor (Mighty God) – this title makes absolutely clear that the Messiah who is born a human child is the Mighty God himself!
Avi Ad (Everlasting Father, or…?) – this title can be a little confusing because Yeshua is God the Son, but He is not God the Father. So, what does this mean? Here, understanding the Hebrew can be helpful; looking at the Hebrew grammar, “Avi Ad’ can just as easily be translated as “Father of Eternity” which makes much more sense: it is only through Yeshua that we have eternal life. He is the Father of our eternal life.
Sar Shalom (Prince of Peace) – this Child is the bringer of peace: first in our hearts in this age, and, in the Messianic age, He will be the one who brings global peace—a great task indeed!
To all of those who are celebrating the birth of our Messiah this Christmas season, I pray that the deep and awesome revelation of the Child who is Mighty God fills yours hearts with wonder and light!
Salvation Stories
A young man asks: “If Yeshua really is the Messiah, then what should I do?”
Recently a young man reached out to us through our Hebrew website and asked if we could get in touch with him. After several phone conversations, we understood that he had been reading the New Testament and was interested in studying with someone to learn more. Kosta, who devotes his time to outreach and discipling new believers, scheduled a meeting with him to start studying the foundations of the faith. During their meetings, Kosta felt the need to focus on the love of God and how it is that the Messiah could atone for sins. This young man was open, eager and, after studying together with Kosta, he said it was clear that Yeshua is the Messiah promised Israel in the Hebrew Scriptures. “What should I do then?” he asked.
As Jews, our spiritual reference is orthodox Judaism, and the idea of becoming more “religious” or seeking God means doing certain things like keeping the Sabbath, wearing a kippa, and praying certain prayers and blessings every day.
When he asked, “What am I required to do?” Kosta told him that the first action he needed to take was in his heart: “Receive Yeshua into your heart as Lord and Savior and ask Him to be Lord over your life.” On that same day, he prayed to receive Yeshua as His Lord and Savior.
Kosta stays in touch with this young man on a regular basis (due to his work schedule, it is hard for him to make it to our Friday services): he loves spending time reading and searching the Scripture. While reading the New Testament, he came across passages describing the need to immerse in water in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. During discipleship at Tiferet Yeshua, we do not rush to water immersion: we want to make sure people understand the foundations of their faith and know what it means to surrender their lives to the Lord. However, this young man was so anxious to follow through with the requirements of his faith that he decided to baptize himself in a spring of water while on a tour visiting springs and rivers in the north of Israel!
Jordan river springs in the north of Israel
It is amazing to see how he truly loves Yeshua and is growing in his faith through God’s wonderful grace on him.
Falling in love with a believer, then falling in love with her Savior
This is a love story in every way. D. grew up friends with a family of believers from Tiferet Yeshua. Since a young age, he knew about his friends’ faith and that they attended a Messianic congregation every week. For him, their faith was something that didn’t bother him, but it didn’t interest him either. While D. was best friends with the son, and he enjoyed spending time with their family, he eventually fell in love with his friend’s sister, a strong believer. After his army service, he mustered the courage to tell her. She and her family made clear that if he was serious about his feelings for her, he would have to be open to seriously learning about her faith.
Because he wanted to show the love of his life that he was serious, he began attending services with her and her family at Tiferet Yeshua—as far as he was concerned, he was there for her, the girl he loves and wants to marry. However, it was clear that D. was not terribly interested in or connecting with what was happening around him in the congregation—during worship he would be in the fellowship hall, and during the message he would be distracted on his phone. Kosta reached out to him to schedule a meeting with him, thinking maybe time one-on-one would be the best way to connect with him. During the meeting, Kosta went through the main Messianic prophesies in the Hebrew Scriptures with D., particularly Isaiah 53. Overall, their time together was positive and eye-opening for him, but it was clear that D. was still not interested in making any serious spiritual commitments. He comes from a religious family where “religious requirements” were forced on him.
But for the love of his life, D. continued coming to services at Tiferet Yeshua. Then something happened: during one service, he decided to put his phone down and listen to the message. On that day, our friend Yuval Yanai gave a powerful message, and God used it to unlock this young man’s heart. It touched him in such a powerful and special way, we could see just by looking at him that something was happening. A week later, someone shared a word of knowledge during the service that someone suffering pain in their shoulder should come forward for healing. The word was for D.: he came forward and was healed on the spot.
The following week, D. was back in the service. This time, he participated in the worship, clearly experiencing the Lord, and he listened intently to the message. After the service, Gil prayed with him to receive Yeshua as his Lord and Savior. Some of us who didn’t know that he had just prayed to receive the Lord saw him later that evening, and told him, “Your face is shining!” Since then, the change in this young man is visible, and he is on fire for the Lord. He is studying with Kosta, reading the Bible daily on his own and already wants to commit his life publicly through water immersion.
Going Deeper Together
by Kosta Bikesh
Several months ago, we were brainstorming on our leadership team about ways to encourage people to read the Word regularly. Sometimes it makes things easier if you do them together with others: we realized that perhaps offering a more interactive and collaborative approach could help people who are struggling to making reading the Word a way of life. God put it on my heart to start a weekly group that would facilitate studying the Word together and help encourage a lifestyle of reading the Bible in order to get to know Him better.
After the High holy days, I started weekly “P’nima” meetings at Tiferet Yeshua: in Hebrew p’nima means to go inside or enter deeply into something. My vision and prayer for these “Going Deeper” meetings was that God would draw all of us deeper into His Word, closer to His heart, and knit us closer to one another. As each week passed, more people started showing up to our meetings: new believers, mature believers and seekers too. God was bringing people to our meetings who were serious about drawing nearer to Him through His Word and discovering more of the depths of His love for us. Each week I am touched and amazed by the spiritual hunger and sincerity people bring with them and how beautifully God is revealing Himself to us through our studying and meditating on His Word together and praying for one another. All of us are also greatly blessed by the insights and revelations of God’ Word different people are sharing. Our meetings are lively, interesting, and new people are showing up every week!
Each week at “P’nima”, something special happens. We are also witness to the fact that God is doing miracles in our midst. I would like to share one such story about a special woman named Florin who has been regularly attending our meetings. Florin was not a believer, but she heard about Yeshua through her husband, Hilik, who came to faith and was baptized at Tiferet Yeshua a year ago at the beginning of the pandemic. Several months ago we shared Hilik’s amazing testimony. Since he came to faith, Hilik attends services regularly, serves in the congregation, and joins Moti every week serving the poor with Feed Tel Aviv. Once we started our “P’nima” meetings, Hilik came every week.
While Hilik was sharing his testimony with the congregation, he mentioned his “amazing wife Florin” and his hope and prayer that she would soon become a part of the Tiferet Yeshua family. While Florin would not come to our main service, she began attending the weekly “P’nima” meetings with Hilik and became one of the regulars in the group. One week, Florin started feeling sick in the middle of the meeting and went to lay down on a sofa. At the end of the meeting, we prayed for Florin and she instantly felt better. Two weeks later, Florin prayed with us to accept the Lord Yeshua as her savior! What an amazing blessing to be a part of God’s marvelous works.
Surrounding Florin with love at P’nima
—Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened that it cannot save; nor His ear heavy that it cannot hear. (Isaiah 59:1)
We are excited and expectantly praying about the things God will continue doing in our “Going Deeper” meetings! Please keep these meetings in your prayers, that God would continue doing miracles in our midst, that He would use these meetings to draw all of us deeper into His Word, closer to His heart, and knit us closer together to one another.
The culture came in first…
…and then the foreign gods followed.
by Gil Afriat
While our focus during Hanukkah is on the miracle of the Maccabee’s victory over the greatest army in the world at that time and on their spiritual dedication in the face of overwhelming odds, this holiday offers us some sobering insights if we ask the right questions. Nothing happens in a vacuum. A good question to ask might be, “What led up to the Greek attack and takeover of the Temple in Jerusalem?
Hanukkah in a Nutshell
For those who are not familiar with the Hanukkah story, it commemorates the miraculous victory of the Maccabees, a band of devout Jews, over the Greek armies led by Antiochus IV, Greek King of the Seleucid empire, in 168 BC. Antiochus had outlawed Jewish worship and defiled the Holy Temple with idol worship (pigs were sacrificed on the altars and a statue of Zeus was placed in the Temple).
What Led to the Greek Invasion?
In getting to our original question, we need only to look at the generation before Antiochus IV did his dirty deeds in Jerusalem. The stage had already been set by a pervasive Greek cultural influence that had been adopted by many Jews at that time. The conquests of Alexander the Great in the 4th century BC had spread Greek culture all throughout the ancient Middle East. In the Greek culture, man is the measure of all things, and individual intellect and physical strength and beauty were its ideals, which are diametrically opposed to biblical ideals.
The Greek culture infiltrates the priesthood
To the Jews living in Jerusalem\Judea during the 2nd century BC, the world culture was Greek. To adopt Greek culture was to gain more access and influence in the Greek world system. It affected the way they dressed, spoke, the way they did business and government. Jerusalem actually prospered under Antiochus the III. Greek influence had even reached members of the priesthood who had adopted Greek culture alongside their service of God in the Temple.
By the time Antiochus IV showed up, he was able to install a man from the priesthood who was friendly and open to Greek culture. With help from the High Priest, Antiochus built a Greek gymnasium, a place where men practiced nude sports, just a stones throw from the Temple. For all the observant Jews, a line had been crossed, and they threw out the Hellenized High Priest. That is when Antiochus IV got heavy-handed and decided to teach the Jews a lesson for messing with his setup. The mask came off and his real agenda became clear: total takeover.
Hanukkah Lessons
Antiochus did not come out of nowhere. He came after the Jews in Jerusalem\Judea went through a process of adopting the mindset and worldview of the Greeks. Today, we each are the temples of God, and we live in a world culture that is still very much Greek: self-centered, intellectual, and obsessed with physical beauty. We all struggle with renewing our minds with the Word of God and putting on the Mind of Messiah in the face of the culture that surrounds us. The Hanukkah story shows us that adopting the ways and mindset of the world can lead us to a point of erecting idols in our hearts, making us weak and vulnerable to succumbing to the enemy.
A sad note on the amazing Maccabee victory is that within a generation the Maccabees had themselves become power-hungry and adopted Greek culture alongside their Temple worship. It is not surprising that less than a hundred years later, the Messiah would be born who is the answer for our constant struggle with the outside world: being born again within so we can shine His light without.
May we all know Yeshua’s grace and blessings to be able to shine His light this holiday season!
A Powerful Testimony: Raised from the Ruins
This is a story about Menny, a very special person who joined Tiferet Yeshua over the summer. Recently after one of our services, Menny walked up to Debby, Tiferet Yeshua secretary, and asked her, “Debby, how do you know Yeshua is alive? I know He is alive because He raised me from the dead. But how do you know He’s alive?”
Over the summer we shared the amazing story of how Menny first reached out to us. He was looking for a specific English-speaking church in the area, but somehow God led him to us, a Hebrew-speaking congregation of Jewish believers instead. When Menny first showed up at Tiferet Yeshua, he told Kosta in Hebrew, “I am a Christian now because I believe in Yeshu the Christian”. The name “Yeshu” in Hebrew is a derogatory one given to Him by the rabbis. Menny had never heard His real Hebrew name. He also did not know that there were other Jewish followers of Yeshua. Since he first reached out to us, we have had the privilege of getting to know Menny and to hear his amazing testimony. Menny often says, “What happened to me is not normal.” We agree, but we serve an amazing God who sometimes uses extraordinary circumstances and experiences to reveal Himself to us, like he did with Menny.
The day Menny died:
After his military service in the IDF, Menny took a trip to the US and ended up staying for good. In November 2014, Menny was a married father of five children, working in real estate and construction when he started renovations on an old Victorian building he had bought. The building had been damaged in a fire, but inspections had found the building structurally sound for renovation. While Menny was working over a high gable on the second floor, that section of the building collapsed, and Menny plummeted 30 feet and was then buried under the building debris. After being airlifted to a nearby hospital, his medical records show that he had no signs of life upon arrival. After they succeeded to resuscitate him, they began the fight for his life.
The corner of the building that collapsed, burying Menny. Photo credit: Joseph Nocito
For over a year Menny was in a coma. The way Menny describes it: “My head was smashed apart. My whole right side is filled with titanium becuase my bones shattered from the fall.” Menny woke up from the coma after a year and a half and had to begin intensive physiotherapy to relearn how to do everything. At least, that is what they told him, because he barely remembers those first couple years after he woke up from the coma. During that time, Menny could not speak. He was relearning how to swallow, feed himself, to walk. Eventually, the doctors determined that Menny had significant brain damage and sent him to a nursing home. Somewhere along the line Menny started speaking again. It was then he started to share his experience, where he had gone and the person he had met—the reason why he was still alive.
“Your name is not in this book”
When Menny tells his story, he starts with a caveat: “Listen, I know I have problems.” What he means is that it not as easy for him to speak as it used to be, and sometimes he can’t find the right word. But one thing is for sure: his memory is crystal clear. We found local newspaper accounts of the building collapse which mention Menny by name and his injury, and all the details he remembers are exact. While Menny was in the nursing home, a woman minister from a local church who volunteered there started taking walks with Menny as part of his physical therapy routine. She told him it was a miracle that he was still alive. He then told her the real story of his miracle:
“When I died, I went up into the universe, into the next world. It wasn’t a dream. I came to a man who had an open book on a stand in front of him. I approached him and told him, ‘My name is Menny Mor. Where do I go?’ The man just looked at me. I knew he was the one who was supposed to tell me where to go. So, I ask him again, ‘Where do I go? To the left or to the right?’ Then he said to me, ‘You are not written in this book. I am sending you back to where you came from.’”
Menny thought that the man he saw could not be God because no one can see God and live. But he also knew that the man he interacted with had authority and that he saved Menny’s earthly life by sending him back again. The minister who accompanied Menny on these walks told him the identity of the man he had met: Jesus, the Son of God. The Messiah. The way, the truth and the life. To Menny it made perfect sense: if anyone wants to go the Father, they must go through this man, Jesus, to whom was given all authority. As the minister continued to share about this Jesus with Menny, that He was a personal friend and savior, Menny gave his heart to Him and discovered that His presence was with him all the time.
A Miraculous Recovery and Call back to Israel
Despite the doctor’s assessment that Menny had serious brain damage, he kept improving and he was able to speak again. Before long, Menny’s son who had come to visit him said, “Abba, we have to get you out of here! You don’t belong here.” Menny left the nursing home and continued improving. He started driving again after passing a three-hour test of his mental fitness. His faith in the Jesus who had saved him continued strong too, and he told his family all about it. Needless to say, they told him to stop talking nonsense. They told him, “That’s your brain damage talking!” Menny stayed in touch with the Christian minister who volunteered at the nursing home, and she encouraged Menny to go back to Israel: “God gave the Land to your people. That is where you belong.” So, after forty years in America, Menny returned to Israel a very different man.
Learning the Hebrew Name of His Savior
After Menny returned to Israel, his minister friend continued to stay in touch and disciple him. After the covid restrictions in Israel were eased, she encouraged him to get connected with a local church. She sent him the name of an English-speaking Lutheran church in the area, but the number she sent him was our number instead. It seems that God wanted Menny to get to know the Jewish identity of His Savior and to learn His Hebrew name, Yeshua.
Menny and Kosta reading through biblical prophesies about the Messiah
I talk to Yeshua all the time
For someone who has gone through so much suffering, you would never know from Menny’s attitude. He is happy, has a great sense of humor, is outgoing and is full of life. He also shines the light of Yeshua. “I talk to Yeshua all the time,” he says, “When I’m walking, at night when I can’t sleep. I talk to Him and ask Him to help me.” It is clear that Menny has a very special and deep connection with the Lord Yeshua through his experience after the accident, but Menny is also growing in the depth and understanding of His faith, getting to know the Jewish side of His Savior by reading the New Testament. Last week Menny decided that he wanted to make a declaration of his faith in water immersion, accompanied by pastors from Tiferet Yeshua leadership team and other friends. A week later, we asked him how he feels: “I feel new, like if I think about the future there is nothing that upsets me. Just peace.”
Moti and Kosta with Menny, a new creation in Yeshua
by Tamar Afriat
Honoring the Founders of Tiferet Yeshua
Last month, we had the opportunity to celebrate and honor Tiferet Yeshua’s founders, Ari and Shira Sorko-Ram, for the occasion of Ari’s 80th birthday. Ari and Shira founded Tiferet Yeshua congregation twenty-five years ago in their basement in Ramat HaSharon. Under their leadership, Tiferet Yeshua became what it is today: a thriving, Hebrew-speaking congregation in the heart of Tel Aviv, committed to discipleship and evangelism and a light to our city. Several of us gave tributes to Ari and Shira during the celebration, and we wanted to share them with you. It turned out that we all focused of the same special things about Ari and Shira: their priceless investment into who we are today as a congregation.
Moti Cohen – associate pastor
I would like to share a little bit about the beginning of Tiferet Yeshua congregation which started out in Ari and Shira’s house. That simply means that Ari and Shira opened their house in order to build the congregation, which says a lot: today when I host people at my house, be it ten, twenty people, I know how much work goes into preparing and then cleaning up afterwards. Back then in the beginning days of Tiferet Yeshua, week after week, Ari and Shira hosted the whole congregation at their house. And from that place of opening their home to everyone, just like Abraham our father opened up his tent, the gift of warmth and hospitality have become an important ingredient of our congregation. Today at Tiferet Yeshua, when our Friday meeting ends, it does not actually end because people stay on for much longer to talk, eat, and spend time together, just like family. These are the roots that Ari and Shira put down for the congregation back in those days when they hosted the congregation at their home.
What was the congregation like back then in the Sorko-Ram’s basement in Ramat HaSharon? Who was on the worship team? Ari and Shira. Who would pick up and drop people off at their homes late in the evening after gatherings? Ari and Shira. Who would preach and teach? Ari, Shira, and later on, Asher. Today Asher is a regular teacher here at Tiferet Yeshua. Back in the beginning days of Tiferet Yeshua, right after Asher arrived to Israel as a new immigrant with broken Hebrew, Ari recognized that he had a teaching gift and would encourage Asher to give messages in the congregation. With his typical family warmth and acceptance, Ari gave Asher a place to teach in this congregation of native Israelis, even with his beginner’s Hebrew.
Ari and Shira had a vision that Tiferet Yeshua congregation would be Hebrew-speaking only – no translation to other languages. The worship, preaching and fellowship would all be in Hebrew. We see the fruit of that today in that our congregation is still one of few congregations in Israel that is Hebrew only and does not have translation into other languages. Ari and Shira also made Tiferet Yeshua a place where teachers, evangelists and leaders have a place to grow and mature. Tiferet Yeshua has produced much fruit, and not just here in our midst. When I have the opportunity to visit other congregations throughout the Land, I see people there in leadership positions, people who are an integral part of congregations who started out here in Tiferet Yeshua.
On the occasion of Ari’s 80th birthday celebration, we want to thank both Ari and Shira for their loving and generous hearts. Ari and Shira are a spiritual father and mother for me. And I am not the only one. For many people, Ari is a father figure, and many have been welcomed into his and Shira’s spiritual family. That is especially amazing considering the fact that Ari grew up as an orphan, without a father and mother. Despite that, God has made him into a loving father figure to so many people. We are so grateful for Ari’s life and that he continues to be a father and grandfather here at Tiferet Yeshua.
Shosh Navon – beloved grandmother of Tiferet Yeshua
First of all, as Ari’s “older sister”, I can say from the grand heights of my 89 years, that fountains of youth still flow in you Ari at your young age of 80!
Dear, beloved Ari: at your arrival of this age of honor, you are not just a hero, you are the crown of this congregation, and Shira is the diamond in it. I remember those days of meeting in the “cave” in Ramat HaSharon, your warm and pleasant home that you opened for a gathering of believers. I say “cave” because when I came for the first time, I naively thought, “This must be the cave of the Rashbi!” I searched the for the ‘carob tree’, but I did not find it. Instead, I found the cave of Yeshua and His abundant love that has accompanied me to this day. Since then, as they say, ‘much water has flowed’ in the Yarkon River, and, after several incarnations, congregation Tiferet Yeshua arrived at this our permanent address here in Tel Aviv, thanks to Ari’s initiative. Today we are so proud of you, Ari and Shira, and of this our “palace of prayer”, where Yeshua, Beloved of our hearts, shines forth from every corner. We wish you and us many more years of love and togetherness as the Tiferet Yeshua family.
Tamar Afriat – worship pastor and media director
When I first arrived at Tiferet Yeshua congregation over fifteen years ago, I came as a sheep wounded by a pastor from another congregation. Back then, I had made the cynical decision not to trust a spiritual leader again. I had been so hurt and disappointed by my former pastor that I mistakenly thought that was the way to manage any future hurt. However, God had so much grace on me, despite my immature decision, and within a matter of years, I realized that I was healed from that “pastor” wound and from my own rash vow. The means that God had used to heal me were none other than Ari himself.
With Ari as my pastor, I got to know a man who was open, honest, and loving. And I could see that he was doing his absolute best to serve God and pastor His flock. Like Paul tells the Corinthians that they did not have many spiritual fathers, I know well that true spiritual fathers are rare. God has given Ari the special gift of being a spiritual father, and there are quite a few of us here at Tiferet Yeshua for whom Ari is a real spiritual father. With Ari as my pastor, I felt seen, appreciated, encouraged, supported and safe. Today I know how rare and special it is to have someone like that in your life.
When Gil and I stepped into the pastoral role here at Tiferet Yeshua six years ago, we knew that we were stepping up to serve a congregation with a deep and enduring spiritual heritage: first and foremost, Yeshua as the center, anointed teaching and worship, evangelism, and a sincere family openness and warmth. These are the foundations established by Ari and Shira. Even though I am in the pastoral role today, I still feel the support and encouragement from my pastor, Ari, and I continue to be inspired by Shira, by her work ethic, her positive outlook and vision, and by her enduring passion for God and advancing His kingdom here in Israel. What a wonderful heritage we have received from them!
First Aid Certified – the medical side of Feed Tel Aviv
By Moti Cohen
This last week, Tiferet Yeshua hosted a first aid certification course, organized by Tiferet Yeshua youth leader, Halel, for the volunteers who work on the streets of south Tel Aviv. Most of the volunteers who work with Feed Tel Aviv are first aid certified, but this course offered newer volunteers a chance to become certified and was a great refresher for those who are already.
You may be asking, “Why would volunteers in a food outreach program need to be first aid certified?” It is a great question. The answer is with the homeless we serve in south Tel Aviv: people living on the streets are more than hungry: they are extremely vulnerable to violence, sickness and disease. Because the need for first aid is so great among the homeless, one of our volunteers always focuses solely on first aid each time we go out to serve food.
It Begins and Ends with Drugs:
The common denominator for everyone on the streets is drugs. Because of the proliferation of cheap, highly addictive synthetic drugs, many vulnerable people become hopelessly addicted after one hit. Addiction takes over their lives, they lose everything and end up on the streets, and many fall into crime and prostitution to support their habit. These drugs are a powerful tool of the enemy to quickly destroy people. We have witnessed it time and again how, in a matter of weeks and months, people who look healthy become weak and frail, their teeth fall out, they look years beyond their actual age, and all the life goes out of their eyes.
Afraid to seek professional medical care:
In serious cases where we see that people need professional medical care, we always try to get them to a hospital, and sometimes we succeed. However, because the people we are trying to help often have been involved in crime and prostitution to fund their addiction, they are afraid of going to the hospital for fear that the police will be called to deal with them, and they are usually unwilling to let us call an ambulance or bring them to the ER. This means that, very often, the help we offer is the only help they are willing to accept.
(Feed Tel Aviv volunteers caring for the homless with food and first aid)
Violence at the hands of powerful drug dealers:
Since drugs is the powerful force dominating what happens in south Tel Aviv, it is not surprising that the ones controlling this area are the drug dealers. The worst wounds we see in the homeless are from violence at the hands of drug dealers. Many of the homeless drug addicts become “cups”, or middlemen, for the drug dealers to collect money owed them. If the “cups” don’t come up with the money, for whatever reason, the drug dealers will make a point to leave people with horrific facial scars in order to send a message to the others on the street.
Bodies weakened by drug use and attack:
The most common first aid that we give is disinfecting wounds— in the hands, arms, legs and feet. Because people’s systems are so weakened by the drug use and they are living in unsanitary conditions, festering wounds become a persistent problem. The homeless often have wounds from being attacked by animals, be it rats, dogs or cats. Whenever someone it bitten by an animal, we try to get them to the hospital for shots against animal-born illnesses. However, usually the only help they are willing to accept is that which we are giving them.
Building trust takes time but opens doors to the heart:
Our motto at Feed Tel Aviv is: share the love of God, hope, and the gospel of salvation with the homeless in our city. Firstly, meeting people’s immediate physical needs in a caring and compassionate way—this is bringing them the love of God. We tell them about drug rehabilitation centers run by believers and actively connect any who are interested—bringing them hope. When we are meeting their physical needs, we ask if they would like prayer, opening the door to share who we are and in in whose name we pray—to share the gospel of salvation. Some do and some don’t.
But I don’t lose hope for those who refuse prayer at first: over time, seeing us there month after month, year after year, many begin to open up to us. And they often point out that they received the food and first aid from us for a long time before they felt comfortable sharing their stories with us and being willing to hear about what brings us to the streets to serve them—the love of God and the message of salvation!
We can continue this very important outreach to the homeless in Tel Aviv thanks to the generous support of our friends in the nations. Thank you!
A Cry for Deliverance!
“…He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease.”
~Matthew 10:1
By Deborah Luquer
At congregation Tiferet Yeshua, Friday is our busiest day: our services begin at four in the afternoon and fellowship after the main service goes until after eight in the evening. On Fridays, I arrive at the congregation in the morning to make sure things are ready for the service. On the afternoon of Friday September the 10th, just two hours before our service starts, our office phone rang – something that doesn’t happen very often, especially Fridays. On the line was a young man who said he had already called and sent messages to two other congregations that day and that no one was available. I wasn’t surprised: here in Israel, Fridays are when families and businesses are busy getting ready for the Sabbath and many congregations are preparing for their services. On Fridays in particular, I am usually not in the office right next to the phone. It was God’s perfect timing that I was there to answer his call!
Deliverance or a Psychiatrist
The man on the line with me told me that he was in a crisis and needed deliverance from demonic oppression ASAP. He wanted to come that day to our services so he could be delivered. While I was thinking to myself, “Ok, deliverance in our main service with all the people here…that could be messy,” I told him, “Of course we can minister to you, and we will be happy to do it after the service if you can make it here today.” He proceeded to tell me that his mother and older brother who are believers led him to the Lord several months ago. Since then, he had been trying to grow in his faith but was unable to get free from addictive behaviors. The more he tried, the more he felt oppressed by darkness and confusion. The small fellowship they were a part of in their town was supporting him in prayer but were unequipped to delve into the spiritual side of the issues he was facing. Finally, his brother told him, “You either need to find a pastor who can deliver you or go to a psychiatrist!”
Desperate for Help
When I understood that he lived in a town in the south of Israel, a tw0-hour drive away, I asked him if he had a way to make it all the way to Tel Aviv. “I work until four in the afternoon, and I don’t know if I can get access to a car from a friend or family member to drive,” he told me. He would not be able to take public transportation because all public transportation in Israel stops in the early afternoon on Fridays for the Sabbath. I immediately shared with the leadership team about him and asked them to be praying for this young man who was desperate for help and needed to find a way to get to us from the South. After the service that evening, at six thirty, the young man from the South showed up: he had paid a taxi 1,000 shekels to drive him all the way to Tel Aviv after he got off work!
A Powerful Anointing for Deliverance
It was close to seven when I sat down with him in our sanctuary together with Kosta from our ministry team. Many people were heading home, and those that remained were in our fellowship area on the other side of the building. The young man shared with us more of his story, and we began praying for him. As we were praying for him, it was clear that he needed deliverance: he felt sick and was having a hard time breathing. As Kosta continued to pray for him, I went to find Pastor Gil who was taking with someone in the fellowship area. Gil joined us, and for the next several hours this young man experienced a powerful and dramatic deliverance. By God’s grace, very few people were left in the building, and those who were, it was God’s perfect plan that they were there: at one point, someone thought they smelled sulphur coming from the sanctuary and came to investigate. When they came in, they began experiencing spiritual deliverance themselves as well! Praise God that we were there as a team so that we could minister to those dear souls as the power of the Lord’s Spirit and love were touching them to set them free!
A Sign of Blessing
Late that evening, the Lord put it on my heart to drive this young man back home: he had just been through a dramatic and exhausting deliverance and had made such an effort to come. On the way to bring him home, the very first rain of the season began to fall: we both took it as a beautiful sign of blessing for him. In Israel, it does not rain from June until September or October, and when the rains finally come after the long hot summer, it is a great blessing indeed!
Light in his Face
The young man stayed in touch with us the following week, and Kosta and I met with him again to strengthen and encourage him. The following Friday he returned with his mother and brother. All of us were shocked: he looked like a completely different person and his face was filled with light! Even though he lives two hours away, he is committed to coming to Tiferet Yeshua and is looking into getting a car so that he can manage the commute. I am so honored that God allowed us to be a part of this wonderful young man’s journey to freedom in Yeshua, and I am so excited how the Lord is moving in our midst and working through us together as one on our ministry team for His kingdom!
“Thanks be to God who gives us victory through our Lord Jesus the Messiah.” ~Corinthians 15:57
***A Word on demonic oppression in the lives of believers*** When we are born again, our spirits are born again, the Holy Spirit indwells our spirits, and we are sealed by the Holy Spirit. However, in our souls (thoughts and emotions) and in our flesh, we continue our struggle with sin with increasing victory through the empowering of the Holy Spirit. In those areas we still struggle (the soul and flesh), we can indeed experience demonic oppression.
If you are unsure whether or not you believe that the born-again believer can experience demonic oppression, if you are struggling with fear, anxiety, depression, or persistent sinful behaviors you cannot seem to get free from, we highly suggest this this powerful teaching by Derek Prince on deliverance from demonic oppression. We also highly recommend this excellent book on the subject: Deliver Us from Evil by Don Basham
Though the Fire Rages, God Surrounds His People
On Sunday, August 15th Tiferet Yeshua’s WhatsApp women’s group exploded with messages: a fire was raging out of control in the Jerusalem hills and a dear family from Tiferet Yeshua with five children, plus grandparents living with them, was stranded in their village because the fire had cut off all access roads. The wife was in Jerusalem when the fire broke out and her husband was at home with all five children and the grandparents. “They are waiting for the rescue services to evacuate them by helicopter,” was the voice message she sent in the WhatsApp group. You could hear in her voice the shock of the reality that she as a mother and wife was facing at that moment: everything most precious to her in the world was surrounded by flames with no way out. She was in constant contact with her husband, but there was no way for her reach them. All she could do was pray and wait.
In the meantime, people were sharing pictures of eerily smoke-darkened skies from Jerusalem all the way to the Jordan River Valley near the Dead Sea. Another hour went by and still the family had not been evacuated.
Smoke fills the skies over Jerusalem and the Jordan River Valley
Finally later in the evening we got word that the family had been successfully rescued by helicopter. It’s hard to imagine your children from ages one to fourteen are being evacuated by helicopter from a fire that’s burning out of control. Hours after the whole ordeal began, at midnight, the children were finally reunited with their mother. The father stayed behind because he is a volunteer firefighter with their village fire brigade. He said that when they left their village, the fire was a meter from their house and shrubs in their yard were starting to catch fire. “In ten minutes,” he thought, “we won’t have a house left.”
(scenes of devastation around the family’s village)
The next day the Lord put on our hearts this verse from Psalm 125:2
יְרוּשָׁלִַם הָרִים סָבִיב לָהּ וַיהוָה סָבִיב לְעַמּוֹ מֵעַתָּה וְעַד-עוֹלָם
As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds His people,
both now and forevermore.
As we were standing in prayer for this family and all the people having to flee for their lives from the flames, this verse encouraged us that God would surround them in protection, just as the mountains around Jerusalem, where this fire was raging, surround her. This family is beloved in Tiferet Yeshua and has the gift of “bringing in guests” to their home: many of us have been graciously and warmly hosted for wonderful Shabbat and holiday dinners. Their village is nestled on the top of forested rise in the Jerusalem Hills, and the views from their home are breathtaking – pine covered hills in every direction.
The next day after their dramatic rescue from the fire, the father sent word that not only had their house survived, but the trees surrounding their home were not touched by the fire. When they look out from their windows, they still see green. Another family of believers in their neighborhood experienced the same thing.
The family’s village which was miraculously protected
The wife said she felt God’s grace surrounding her in the moments of sheer terror over her family, and that grace upon grace has been been carrying them through the whole ordeal day by day. While they have not been allowed back into their home, they asked us to share the story of the amazing grace the Lord has been pouring out on them during this whole ordeal – that even when flames of terror are surrounding us, the Lord surrounds us with His protection and grace.