Democracy in Taipei, Tel Aviv, and DC
Gretchen Smith: How did you become to know Christ? What is your Testimony?
My answer:
I was born an Orthodox Jew. The rabbis taught that God’s promises contained blessings and curses, but disobedient Israel chose the curse. One day he officially titled me as an “ilui”, and named me “Yisroel”, saying that I was the son of Issachar, a man who understood the times, with knowledge of what Israel should do.
But due to the influence of my paternal grandfather and paternal aunt, I am no stranger to Christianity and have been to several churches, all of which are American-evangelical churches in Taiwan such as Mennonite. After a surfing trip, a pair of German sisters introduced me to their parents. The next day their German father gave me a second Western name, Rudiger, encouraging me to become like a German warrior for good fight, and invited me to their church.
Taiwanese men must serve in the military after graduating from college. When I was in the military, I was studying the Talmud, the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament. The more I study, the more depressed I became about the sin in this world. After I was discharged from the army, my girlfriend wanted to marry me, but her father didn’t like me. She wanted me to get her pregnant so that her father would have no reason to refuse her marriage to me, but I was avoiding it. Later, she became interested in Islam and joked that I should marry four wives like Jacob and give birth to 12 tribes. I was so angry that I began to study the New Testament seriously and determined to be baptized and become a Christian. After I was baptized, I prayed to be used by God. God told me to get married, that the firstborn would be the one to lead the human world from war and destruction to peace and prosperity, and that I had to leave my Father’s house and go to my Promised Land. I wonder where my promised land is? Israel, Tel Aviv? Belgium, Leuven? Or USA, Colorado Springs? The Holy Spirit then led me to move near to my aunt in Colorado Springs because my uncle had served at NORAD headquarters in Colorado Springs.
But after I moved, I see more sin among American Christians, and I become more prone to sin along with them. The most drunk and most angry people I have ever seen in my life were all Christians. The people who framed me are also Christians. They have sinned against me and I have sinned against them. After a few years, I felt that Christianity was not the answer for me. Because: In recent years, I have discovered that American Christians do not value life very much. Half of American Christians believe that abortion is a complex issue and that everyone has the choice to end the life of a pre-born baby without violating God’s law. Half of American Christians believe that the secular State of Israel is God’s chosen people, and that those who stand in the way of the Israeli government are God’s enemies, and that the Israeli government has the choice to end the lives of these people. Sometimes people from these two groups even overlap and become pro-choice and murder Arabs like Meir Kahane. So I should be considered to have left the church, right?
Orthodox rabbis teach that life should not be terminated, so they call secular, reform, religious Zionist “jews” are golden calf worshipers who are worse than Christian Gentiles. Orthodox rabbis teach that Zionism is golden calf that tries to destroy Judaism. The Third Temple will only be built when the Messiah comes, otherwise the Jews must continue to repent in a state of exile, instead of being proud in man-made State of Israel. My rabbis are all Ashkenazis, and religiously they are opposed to the idea that the State of Israel is the fulfillment of Bible, but internationally and intellectually, they support democracy in the United States, democracy in the State of Israel in Tel Aviv, and democracy in the Republic of China in Taipei, against all their enemies. That’s also what I believe. Another reason is that all rabbis, even the well-known terrorist Meir Kahane, have said that it is impossible for democracy and the Jewish state to coexist. Anyway, State of Israel in Tel Aviv and Republic of China in Taipei are both the most complicated issues in our times. They are both the pillars of USA. That’s why State of Israel and Republic of China have to continue to internally and externally fight against their enemies that try to weaken their democracy.
My original Christian theology was that if Jesus (Yehusha, which means Salvation, too) was the Messiah, then when the Second Temple was destroyed by the hand of God, the true “Third Temple” would have been built, and the true “Remnant of Israel” would have been gathered, both in space and time. This is why all New Testament verses are said to have their bodies as temples of Christ because the Messiah, the High Priest with better covenant, lives in them. In this case, whether it is the earth or Mars, anywhere is the promised land of God, and anywhere can be the gathering of the remnant of Israel. Then we no longer need the ashes of the red heifer and the physical third temple to clean, because we are all reconciled by the fire of the Holy Spirit and the water of repentance. The water and the fire have washed the sin away and forgave our sin. But this Christian theology of mine has not been seen in any Christian church. Some of the churches have lawless theology. Some of the churches have legalistic theology. Some of the churches have anti-semitic theology. Some of the churches have Zionist theology. None of them have my theology that can ever reconcile with Orthodox Judaism I was born to. So maybe I was all wrong. I also don’t see why my son will ever be important, especially when his dad is a troll like me. Getting close to Christianity makes me illusional. I have sinned more than I ever imagined.
That’s why God calls me to “go home” as an Orthodox Jew again.
1 Corinthians 3:16-17 TOJB2011
[16] Do you not have da’as that you are a Heikhal Hashem and the Ruach Hakodesh of Hashem dwells in you? [17] If anyone attempts to cause churban to the Heikhal Hashem, G-d will destroy this man, for the Heikhal Hashem is kadosh, and you [plural] are that Heikhal.
https://bible.com/bible/130/1co.3.16-17.TOJB2011
