Messiah?

I think that the first time I ever heard the word "Messiah" used was when I was about seven and America was in the midst of the Depression. I asked my mother for a new bike, something we could definitely not afford. She laughingly told me that I could have it "Ven de Meshiach kumt" (when the Messiah comes). I wasn't sure what that meant, but I knew that I would not be getting the bike I had asked for.

The next time I heard the word "Messiah" used was when the news of the Holocaust exploded in our midst. I was about 16, when I heard my mother praying and asking God to send the Messiah to deliver us from the hatred of the world

Though my grandparents were ultra-orthodox, my parents were more conservative in their observance of Jewish customs and rituals. As I think back over the years of my childhood, I know that we often went to the synagogue, but I can't remember my parents ever really talking with me about God. And we never talked about the Messiah. We talked about what we could and could not do.

And there was always the hatred ...

As I've already pointed out, I experienced a great deal of antisemitism when I was growing up. And I was continually reminded that there was "us" and there was "them" - "us", the Jewish people and "them," the Christians. You see we thought that anyone who wasn't Jewish was automatically "Christian". I learned at a very early age that the farther I stayed away from "them," the easier my life would be. And so I stayed away from them as much as I could and as long as I could.

Meet the Love Of My Life

Now let me tell you about my wife Ethel. I first met her when she became a student at Montauk Junior High School which was located on 16th Avenue between 42nd and 43d Street in Brooklyn. I was in the eighth grade. She was a brand new seventh grader. While we weren't really friends in school we did have similar interests. We worked on the newspaper together. We were also in the band. I played the trumpet and she played a flute. While we came to know each other we weren't really close friends.

Later, we went to different high schools and didn't see much of each other during those later school years. Then came the army.

In December 1944, just before I went overseas in World War II, I was home on furlough and went to visit Helen, a good friend of mine whose husband was in the service too.

I had only been there for about an hour when the doorbell rang. It was Ethel. She had also come to visit Helen. Later, as we were leaving Helen's apartment I asked her if I could walk her home. We walked and walked, and talked and talked. Then as we were parting, Ethel asked me if I wanted her to write to me. "What a question", I replied. "Good! And I'll send you some packages."

Fifteen months later, when the war was over and I was finally discharged, I went to Ethel's house to thank her for her letters and packages. She looked wonderful to me! We had our first date the very next day and two years later, on May 26th, 1948 we married.

Our Lives Together and Our Family

Ethel is a very special lady and we have had an exceptionally happy marriage over these many years. We have also been blessed with two beautiful daughters, Judy and Ann. Then there were the material hings. Twenty six years into our marriage we had a very large home complete with swimming pool, four BMW's and a full-time housekeeper. I was very successful financially.

Then, just months later, my world felt like it has suddenly come apart. Here is what happened. Judy: who was then a student at Boston University called me one Sunday evening. I sensed that something was. wrong from the very moment I picked up the phone. In a forty-five minute telephone conversation Judy explained that she had come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah! I was almost speechless. I was outraged. I felt betrayed. How could a child of mine join the enemy?

As the conversation continued, I realized I had two options: l could disown her immediately for this terrible act or I could love her through it. I decided on the second option. Two weeks later Judy came home for her spring vacation. We talked and talked and talked. I don't remember much of what Judy said, but I remember that I kept saying "But Judy, you are Jewish! You can't believe in Jesus! You can't be Jewish and believe in Jesus!" to which she would reply, "Daddy, that isn't true. Some Jews have always believed in Jesus!"

Just before she left to retum to school, Judy challenged me to do something I had never done. "Daddy, you are an educated man. You have all sorts of degrees. Read the Bible for yourself and make up your own mind. It is either true or it is false. And if you read it carefully and ask God to reveal the truth to you, He will." I understood what Judy wanted to accomplish by that challenge, but I saw it as a way to disprove what she believed. Immediately I decided to read the Bible and from it I planned to gather enough information to prove that Jesus is NOT the Messiah. By doing so, I would win her back!