Surreal Adventure and What the Lubavitch Can Teach Us…
Did you know that in addition to doing the work of Jewish evangelism through Tzedakah Ministries, I also teach at Arlington Baptist College? And so during Spring Break 2010, I decided to take an adventure back to my town – aka New York City! It was part homesickness, part adventure, and part pilgrimage to the home of the Lubavitch Hasidic Jewish community and to the ohel (grave) of Rebbe Meanchem Schneerson.
The trek to Crown Heights and Schneerson’s ohel can only be described in one word … SURREAL. Surreal because of the picture (see above) taken while I was in Crown Heights (Brooklyn) in which I noticed this picture with the words written above him (translated as some of the Hebrew letters are obscured) – “Long Live the King Messiah.” Surreal because this alleged “Messiah” Menachem Schneerson died in June 1994. Surreal because so many of the Lubavitch still believe that this man dead 16 long years might still be the Messiah for whom they have been waiting.
However, the surreal nature of this pilgrimage was just beginning because the following day I took one long subway ride and a longer bus ride to a section of Queens, New York, that borders very close to Long Island. I walked down a very pretty and peaceful street filled with lawns and homes only to arrive at another house with a different purpose than living.
For this is a house (pictured on the left) leading to the gravestone of Menachem Schneerson. Once you enter these doors (as I did) you discover a world devoted to memorializing and perhaps even worshipping a man gone from this world for almost sixteen years. Space will not allow for a complete breakdown of the steps I had to take in order to be “ready” to visit the Rebbe. However, you should know that it was a long process filled with symbolism that many might expect to find in a Roman Catholic Church.
Out of respects for my surroundings, I somewhat participated in these steps; however, I attempted to include a prayer to the true Messiah Jesus as I undertook each ritual. And when I walked away from this gravesite and this house, I was filled with a terrible ache in my soul for these lost souls who are praying to a man who must be at this moment begging his followers to believe that Jesus is the TRUE MESSIAH.
However, we as Christians and as people dedicated to sharing the real Gospel message can learn something from these Lubavitch followers of a long-dead rabbi. They are dedicated to the mission of spreading Schneerson’s message to every corner of the world. Though they only number approximately 200,000 in the entire world, 4,000 of them have gone to every corner of the world, even if only a handful of Jewish people live in the area, in an attempt to bring Jewish people back to Judaism.
Think about this fact for just a second. Two percent (2%) of their people are in such far-flung places as Northern Ireland to Viet Nam because they are spreading a message that is nothing but a lie. Christians have the truth of Jesus but many will not cross the street to share this message with a descendant of Jesus the Messiah. Wow! My mind is staggered just thinking about this tragic reality.
So as was begun in the January newsletter, I am imploring you and your church to join alongside Tzedakah Ministries through the Romans 1:16 Response Team. We have the true Messiah … should we not be as busy as the Lubavitch in sharing the name of Jesus of Nazareth?
Think about it! Shalom!
