[open]Spokesman for Israel makes Historical speech to MJAA International conference

[Sephania]

I posted this previously, in dribs and drabs but now that I am done, I thought I would condense it all here and then we can discuss this.

DR. Ra'anan Gissin - Leading spokesman to the foreign press and Advisor to Ex Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. He now works closely with the new Prime Minister of Israel.

Introduced by the General Secretary Joel Chernoff and escorted onstage by bodyguard.

**************************************

Good evening and thank you very much for this welcome.

( he received a standing ovation of about 2 minutes before he said a word) .


You know I come as a weary warrior from the media battlefield and I'm always happy when I come back to return home, and home is Israel. But tonight home is where the heart is and my heart is with You!

( and with this he made a huge gesture of pointing out to the audience emphatically. More standing applause )


This gathering tonight is a very important gathering of the Messianic Jewish Alliance of America and I want to thank very much my good friend, (I've known him only for 24 hours, but I feel I've know him for years) Joel Chernoff, the General Secretary. And Mindy Chernoff his wife who took me today and gave me an eye opener lesson in social anthropology ( she took him to Lancaster) which come to think about it, I always thought, you know, that after this day when I walked around the Amish community that maybe I took up the wrong subject when I studied Polical Science and Public Administration at Syracuse University. I should have studied social anthropology , that's more , ah, I'd say, would give me better tools to analyis and understand what's happening in the Mid East today.

And of course Rabbi Charlie Kluge who I had the opportunity to meet last night to talk with and last, but not least Ya'akov Goldstein from the educational opportunity, his insistence , resistance and stubbornness, brought me here. And I can promise you if you follow the brochure that he distributed around here, and you do come to Israel, I promised him and I promise you , that I will meet you there and try to give you my insight on the ground of what Israel or Zion is all about.

(Applause):clap:


I think the important thing here in this gathering is that - And I've seen the slogan, that you put - Zealous for Zion - and I think it's - you have to add to that one more sentence.

It's not just Zealous for Zion, but Lovers of Israel!

(Big Applause) :clap:


As I said to you I come as a weary warrior from the battlefield of the media which is another important battle in which we have to fight, we have to stand our ground and it's not easy, particularly these days, but I would like to bring you a traditional blessings and greeting that my boss , former Prime Minister of Israel, Ariel Sharon, who now lies in a state of come, used to greet anyone who came to Israel with:

Welcome and greetings from Jerusalem, the capital of the Jewish people for the past 3006 years and the united and undivided capital of the state of Israel for ever and EVER!


(Standing applause and loud cheers here for another minute- You can here my tambourine in this part - my noisemaker :))This huge applause broke his speech face and he began smiling with what looked to me to be a true heart felt love and understanding, and I am sure he doesn't see this kind of reception very often.




He continued – I thought, I had this feeling, I had to say that , although I know I don’t need to convince you. But you know as the words of the song goes, we live in uncertain times and sometime peole are bewildered , confused, so just to assuage the fears and alleviate the concerns those who think

‘What’s gonna happen with Jerusalem?’

It will remain the united and undivided capital of Israel of the Jewish people FOREVER AND EVER!!!!!!


( Much more applause)


I tell you that for what reason? Because I was born in Israel. And my great grandfather came to Israel about 160 years ago. And ah, you know when he came to Israel there was no Zionist Movement, we didn’t have movements like the Messianic Jewish Alliance of America, that support and come with full force individual people. People came to Israel armed with a Bible at best and sometimes with a British riffle if necessary with a conviction, that this is the land of milk and honey there for that s where the Jews have to be and my Great Grandfather who was also a farmer came there and when asked ‘what’s your business going to be?” He said

‘Its all in the Bible’

They asked him, they said

‘David , its a desolate land, there’s only Bedouins around and crazy Turks , what are you going to do there?’

He said:

“It’s all in the Bible ( and he pointed to an imaginary bible in his hand) Land of Milk and honey’

-------So, he bought a herd of cows and 150 beehives and that’s how he started his business.



( laughter and more applause)


I’m telling you this because I know where I come from and it’s very important for all of us to know where we come from if we want to know where we are going. And the only place that we can go is forward. The Jewish people have no other choice! Their destiny and the destiny of human history points into one direction:

BACK TO ZION!!!!!


(More applause) :clap:


The road is winding and arduous and difficult and as a matter of fact, we, the Jewish people have been traveling that road for more than 4,000 years.

We started from a place called Iraq and we continued on that journey and we continue it today to the Promised Land. As G-d promised Abraham, the only land where Jews will multiply in growing numbers more than the sand on the beaches, and when you look today at modern demographic statistics and at the figures, they all point to that.

Israel today is the largest Jewish community in the world and the only place where the natural birthrate of the Jews increases by 2 ½ %. So the redemption is there- the future is there. But as I said we face many obstacles on the road, not the least of them the recent terrorist attack and the kidnapping of one of our soldiers.

After we withdrew from Gaza, after we extended a hand for peace, after we gave the Palestinians a real opportunity to experiment with nation building. And due to the advise and control of outside forces, Iran, Syria, Hezbollah, these terrorists groups have launched 100’s of rockets into Israel, killing innocent civilians, actually engaging in crimes against humanity, as they call it. Be we are portrayed as the aggressors. And on top of that kidnapping an Israeli soldier. And now there’s an ultimatum, which is going to expire in 5 hours.

We made it very clear – those who have kidnapped, those who corroborated, those who exonerated, those who supported are held responsible for the safety and well-being of that soldier.

He left Gaza walking on his feet he will return to his home walking on his feet. (applause) And if not---------- I wanna tell you, I don’t think there is any Lloyds insurance agent in the world that’s going to give, for money, a life insurance policy to any of those people who are involved in that. ( Applause)

There will be no immunity, no sanctuary to any one of them, and you know we are in the habit of paying house calls, sometimes we’re a little late but we pay those house calls.
(Applause)

I’m not very proud of these things that we have to do, but we have to do them. This is part of World War III that the world is facing and we’re in the midst of the front together with the US soldiers in Iraq, Afghanistan, it’s a war against humanity, it’s a war against civilization, when we have leaders like Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran, say that he wants to erase Israel off the map.

My friends that’s only the beginning; The beginning is to erase Israel off the map because it’s the major obstacle against the forces of evil.

The next step will be to erase the map itself and western civilization as we know it.

But we’re standing there, we’re standing and fighting , not only for our self but for the shared values and destiny of the civilized world as we know it. For the possibility of sitting in campuses like this one (Messiah College) and learning and acquiring knowledge and expanding knowledge for the purpose of sanctifying life and ensuring that life will continue on this globe and that death and carnage will not reign.
(Much Applause).

And yes, the image of Israel as we see it is tarnished and many people say to me,

“You know what? How are you going to solve your PR problem?”

Two caveats, first of all it’s not ‘my’ problem (a little laughter)

It’s yours as well.

Yes I face the questions, I face the barrage, not from ground zero, but from ground MINUS 2!

I’m the only spokesman on earth, and test it if I’m wrong but probably the only spokesman on earth who has to convince, who has to justify his right to exist, BEFORE he can explain the policy of his government.

[Sephania]

Eighty–eight years ago Lord Balfour gave the Balfour declaration. It came in the wake of WWI, which showed that the Jewish people have a right to their national homeland, that they have a birth right to the place where they were born, where they developed. And the League of Nations approved it, in 1922. If you would submit the same resolution today to the UN General assembly I can bet you between 150-160 nations would reject it.

We are fighting for the very legitimacy of our right to exist as a people. And all the measures and crimes against humanity which are conducted against us and all the effort to deny us our right to self defense, underlying that, is a sinister coalition, an unholy alliance; of holocaust deniers, of radical Islamists groups who want to see the destruction of Israel, and right and left, anti- Semitists.

They join together, with ONE purpose, to seek, in stages if not in one blow, the destruction and elimination of the Jewish people of the State of Israel

And it’s not easy,
but we are not afraid,
we are not afraid,
I’d say for two Main reasons.




Because we have YOU on our side and we have G-d on our side

( Huge standing ovation, lasted so long he got a good guzzle off his water bottle)

I’m a fan of extreme sports, a habit I picked up in the army. I jump out of airplanes, to the consternation of my brother who’s a pilot, who says:

‘My crazy brother, gets, jumps out of perfectly operational aircraft, he’s, you know, crazy.’

Anyway I just recently did one with 80 foreign paratroopers who commemorated 50 years to the Sinai campaign, just before I came here. And as a fan of extreme sports around the world and I meet them, recently I was with my friend in California, and I met there one of my friends there who’s a man who’s fond of wave surfing.

And I asked him: ‘What’s your dream?’

He said: ‘I wish, once in my lifetime I could surf on a tsunami. You know, 20 foot high waves, just stay on top of it and glide, 100 miles an hour to the shore.’

And he knows I jump out of planes, and I look at him and said:

‘Have you ever been to Israel?’

He said ‘Nope’

I said, ‘If you come to Israel, you can LIVE on a TSUNAMI~

( Laughter and applause)^_^ :clap:

We practically live on tsunami waves. You know, we have a surf board, 8,000 square miles and sometimes , you know, we get so elated, because we see we’re a mile high, and then we look down and see we’re on top a tsunami wave. A tsunami of anti-Semitism, terrorism, nuclear weapons to Iran, and we surf on top of them, but big deal this guy wants to surf on a tsunami, YOU come to Israel and you surf on a Tsunami everyday of your life, you live on top of a tsunami!

And look at the miracle.

This little surfboard that rides these waves in the Middle East and the Middle East has these tsunamis and you know, why I call it tsunami? Because you never know when the next ones gonna come. You have to look around, scan the horizon, search for the next one and try to maneuver and stay on the surfboard, always juggle, always move around.

I’ve seen some of you here , you could be very good surfers, for that tsunamis. I see how you dance here, and that’s good for Israel , you know that’s the kind of dexterity and qualities you need to stay on top of that surfboard.

And look at the marvels of what we built and you look at that surfboard we built a country on top of that surfboard. We absorbed 2 million immigrants , 1 million from the Soviet Union just recently . We built an industry and a science , second to none. We’re a leading force in high tech and biotechnology, and nanotechnology in the world. We have the best sciences institutions, and all on this little surf board where we constantly have to balance it and to make certain that we will direct it to the safe shores

(Applause)

But we have a problem, because the generators of these tsunami waves are those forces of evil, those who promulgate, and instill hate in the hearths of people.

You know, mind you, what is the problem with the Palestinian? That we are extending a hand and we are getting something, only terror in return only and they can’t understand . Because we are a country and a people, with one tradition, and with our heritage which are imbued with love, like the love you extend to Israel, it’s the love we want to extend to the rest of the world.

We have a mission to accomplish. And when you look at the other side , what is their mission?

Here you have a whole society, that for the past 58 years sapped and sapped all its energies because of their leaders to hate others rather than to love themselves. If only 10% of the energy that they expend on hating us on promoting hatred, on incitement, were directed to loving themselves, we would have had peace with them a long time ago.

(Applause)

And now they have leaders who are willing to change but they don’t have the strength, they don’t’ have the power, because my friend, not only the Israeli soldier was hijacked by the terrorist, the terrorist from Iran and from Damascus and from Lebanon and from Hezbollah have hijacked the Palestinian National Liberation movement as well.

It’s not in the hands of those who operate there. We hold them responsible because they have to take their destiny into their hand, but the writing on the wall, it is in Persian and in Arabic and it comes from Damascus and Teheran, that’s the front we’re facing.

We know how to deal with it.

That is not the major issue facing us. We know that in the end, love will conquer all.

We know that in the end the forces of life will prevail over the forces of death and evil as we see them in the Middle East.

(Applause):clap:

And as we live on top of that tsunami we have to be constantly careful and watch and maneuver and do what’s necessary in order to ensure that in the land of Israel for the foreseeable future there will be................. a Jewish majority.

[Sephania]

And Yes, it requires to make some, very difficult , excruciating compromises on a land that belongs, rightfully - all of it – to the Jewish people.

(Applause)

We don’t give up the rights on the land, every piece of it, every piece of it is part of us, but certain compromises have to be made and adjustments for the time being until we achieve the kind of majority of Jewish people living within secure boundaries and for that purpose we’re building a fence. And for that purpose we are creating that kind of itinerant posture, vis-à-vis our Arab neighbors.

For us it’s a struggle for survival, for us , its a effort to bring the people of Israel, if not peace at least peace of mind.

For the other side, the effort and the goal is to bring about the destruction of Israel.

They want victory,
we want peace,
that is the difference

(Applause)

How do I know that we will prevail?
It’s not just because of my faith and because of my ancestors, but I see history.

In 1948 when the state of Israel was established, you saw when we played HaTikvah here ( he points to the screen where the pictures of Israel’s establishment were on there a little while before this as Kol Simcha sang Ha Tikvah). You saw the pictures of the jubilation and elation. The United States were the first country to recognize the state of Israel-------------- about 11 minutes.

(Applause)

That’s because of the strong bondage of values, shared interests and now after 9/11, shared destiny that the two peoples share together.

But nevertheless, Truman, who was then the President of the United States, was a little worried about this new fragile state that was created with seven Arab armies invading it. With no natural resources, with a population of 600,000 only, with 1,000’s of refugees, immigrants knocking on its doors, coming from the remnants of the Jewish communities of Europe. So he commissioned a study, from a group of Harvard , strategic analysts. He said: One question given.

'How long will the State of Israel survive?'

That was in May 1948.

They all came out, after several weeks with a white paper, stating very clearly:

‘Six months’

Because in six months that country’s gonna run out of weapons, which it barely had, it’s gonna run out of food supplies, because it couldn’t raise food, it couldn’t get food from other countries. It’s gonna run out of ammunition. It is gonna run out of fuel because it doesn’t have any fuel of its own. And more critically, it’s gonna run out of man power to fight the war, because of the awesome asymmetry between the number of invading forces, seven Arab armies and the poor Israeli army -------- Six months at best.

And we prevailed.

And another six months and we won the war!

And in the past 58 years, through more than Six campaigns, this story repeated itself again and again and again, and you ask yourself,

Why did this happen?

Why?

What did they fail to take into the equation?

They put the fact that Israel has no natural resources, they put into the fact that Israel has very small number of people to actually do the fighting.

They forgot to put it the love and commitment of our brothers and sisters and our friends in the United States of America, that is what made Israel survive to this day and for that we have to thank you!

( Applause- camera scanned audience, for those who know the Beresfords, they were in the shot and weren’t clapping.

I actually was (naively I admit, ) waiting for him to say it happened because of G-d watching over them. :))

For posterity and for your information the State of Israel does not run only on its technology, on its capability and its courage and valor, it runs on love and that is the love that you bestow on the people of Israel and for that we are thankful.

( Applause– checks watch because remember at midnight our time, was when the ultimatum for the release of the soldier was given.)

It’s very difficult for me, you know, to stand here and speak about what we have to do, in terms of war and always have to push back those who are trying to destroy us. And in the bloodshed and the smoke and dust of war, the true Israel, Israel beyond the walls is often obscured. And then you know it follows the prophecy, and the saying in the Bible of the sage.

עַל-חוֹמֹתַיִךְ יְרוּשָׁלִַם, הִפְקַדְתִּי שֹׁמְרִים--כָּל-הַיּוֹם וְכָל-הַלַּיְלָה תָּמִיד
Translated: I have posted guards on the walls of Jerusalem, all day and all night

( Applause)

When it comes to the physical protection of the state of Israel, of Zion, Jerusalem is just a symbol, yes we are the guardians of Jerusalem, the praetorian guard, standing day and night on the walls of Jerusalem. In the past guards were posted on the walls to prevent the invading forces or hostile forces from invading the city In modern day Israel we have a duel role, not just guard the walls, but protect the gates.

Jerusalem has walls around it, but seven gates: gates of hope, gates of peace, gates of promise. But these gates have to remain open, So on the one hand we stand guard on the walls against invading forces against those who want to destroy the city, on the other hand we keep the gates open. We keep the gates open so that you can come through , so that you can come and ssss-visit Israel, so that you can touch the force of life that emanates from Jerusalem.

That is our predicament and that is our role.

My friends, we can’t do this alone, and that why we’re so thankful for the fact that when you come through those gates, you come with all the will and wish and motivation to help us, to develop, to build , to bolster the forces of life, and quell the forces of death.

And that is what the Messianic Jewish movement is doing. And we are, we know that our existence depends on the fact, that Jerusalem will be an open city, to all people, from all walks of life, from all religious denominations. But this will only happen if Jerusalem is strong. If Jerusalem is strong, and our strength depends on that very simple equation, on the love and commitment that you bestow on us.

You know many people ask me, what is the essence of the relationship between myself and people who live in the United States? And I always said, in the final analysis when you stand and you make your own personal calculation, who do you want to be? Where do you want to be? Its only in Israel, because to be what you want and what you preach for, the full fulfillment will only happen in Israel. But, I’m not telling you to pack your, the bags and come to Israel right away – but you know starting by stages, send your kids, come and visit, stay with us for awhile. (Laughter and much applause and whooping, he had to take a sip of water here)

[Sephania]

In my career as a spokesman, I attended many, many conferences, which debated for days the whole issue of:


‘What should be the formula of the relationship between Israel and its supporters in the Diaspora, Jews and non-Jews alike? How should that relationship develop or what should Jews do, should they come, should they give money?’

And it would go ad-nausuem, and these debates and resolutions. I want to simplify it for you, I want to create an automatesphere ( I have not idea what this is supposed to mean, and after almost a dozen times listening to see what this was , that is the best I can do) in your minds, and the only way I can explain the true relationship between, we the people who live in Israel and you who love Israel, who are committed to Israel, is a practice we had in the military.

By the way the practice was established by Ariel Sharon, in the 50’s, that was the time we were conducting counter-terrorist operations and we didn’t’ have night equipment and night vision equipment, we had to go into those densely populated refugee camps and seek out the terrorists and not shoot the civilians.

And the practice is you line up in a column, you go by night, and the first one leads all the rest, go behind him. And he’s the one who has to concentrate, he has to do the fighting, he has to do the detecting, he has to send and see any possible, and of course if necessary, has to shoot. The rest follow behind him. Now in the course of battle you know, when you’re involved in what happens and you’re all alone in the front, it’s a natural tendency to look back and to see if the rest of the column is behind you.

(Laughter)

It’s very nice, everybody will tell you, you know people fight, men fight for country, for honor, BULL! They fight for their buddies. You gotta look if your buddies are around and then now you can go on.
But that is a ‘No No’ ,
the minute you turn around , you lose your concentration, you don’t know what’s coming in the next alley. So how do you keep going forward? With the assurance that the rest of the column, who is not doing the fighting right away, is there?

We developed a system where, we could tap on the helmet of the one in front of us. That comes from the practice of parachuting when you all line up to the door, and everyone taps on the one before him to tell him that his equipment is OK. So he knows his equipment is OK, he’s ready to jump. But in battle that’s very critical, because when the first in line gets the tap on the helmet or on the shoulder, from the one behind him, he doesn’t need to turn around, he can continue doing the job he has to do, wither it’s moving forward, wither it’s firing , wither it’s detecting the enemy forces. He doesn’t need to turn around.

(Gissin has moved away from the podium at this point and stage left, and in front of him, in the front row is many in the MJAA leadership, and he is looking down at them and gesturing to them, and making these next points directly to them.)

I believe that our relation, relationship with you, with those who love Israel, with those who are committed to Israel is like the relationship we had in the column, We stand in the front line, we don’t ask you to do the fighting, we are the ones whose predicament is to do the fighting, the struggling, and it’s not just fighting the enemy, it’s struggling for building a nation, for providing for our people. But in the process of this on-going struggle, this very difficult and excruciating, and sometimes uncertain path that we take, it’s very reassuring when you come to Israel, when you’re there tapping on our helmet or tapping on our shoulder, and we don’t need to turn back. Because we know, you’re there.

(Applause – Gissin goes back to podium , checks notes and returns to stage left in front of the MJAA leadership seated in front)

There are many more stories I could tell you about Israel, but I want to save them, because I want you to come to Israel first (Big Smile) , and I wanna leave a few stories for the time you come to Israel, you know, I need to leave some , ah, leverage you know, that’s the way it works.

Ah, but there is one thing I’d like (returns to podium again to check notes and then goes back)_ to ah, make a comment on and I think it’s very important that before you come to Israel, and that also goes to the, ah, I say to the scriptures.

I’m not a religious person, I was always told that I missed the cycle, the genetic cycle, in other words, every three generations we have a Rabbi in my family, but every other generation, that was my great-grandfather was a Rabbi, then my father, my grandfather was a farmer, my father was also a farmer and a fighter and I’m also at this stage, a fighter. I was also raised in a Kibbutz, ah,

By the way, you know, Jews excel in two main professions, throughout the centuries, one is fighting because they had no choice, they had to defend themselves , the other was agriculture, and look what’s happening in Israel today ,as far as our agriculture and what we are producing, and how we are developing food for the rest of the world.

(Applause)

And maybe with your help we’ll be able to replace our swords with plowshares as we said or with Modern agricultural technology for irrigation that we’re developing around the world.

But I wanna leave you with a thought, that really comes from the Bible, because I believe like my great grandfather that’s the best guide book for Jews and for non-Jews of how to conduct your self cause it’s a condensed, I would say, book, with all the wisdom of generations. And in the prayer book and usually Israeli politicians, when they end their speeches, they usually say:

Adonai oz le’amo yitein Adonai yevareich es amo va-Shalom ( I hope I got that right- Zayit)

What does it mean?

It says:

‘G-d will give strength to his people, then G-d will bless his people with peace.’

QUEARY? – The Rabbis would ask? If G-d is Almighty, which He is, and His blessing extends to all , it should only say ‘Bless them with peace’, why do you have to give them strength, just bless them with peace, and finish the job!

(Laughter)

But the sage were wise and the wisdom of G-d stated very clearly that you have to be tested first, and you’re worthy of peace and you’re worthy of peace if you have the strength to fight for it. If you have the unity to stand together.......... Something that is not natural, peace is not the natural state of affairs between people, you have to fight for it, you have to struggle for it.
You have to work with love to make it work, so then they said, First, I will give them strength, I will give them the tenacity, the resilience, the ability to stand together, united in their quest for peace, and when they prove themselves, I will bestow peace upon them and peace on Zion and peace on Jerusalem.

That is our predicament, in other words, we are going to aspire and achieve peace with your help, because of one main reason, because we have no other choice. The other choices we see in Iran, the other choice we see with their nuclearized, nuclear weapons in the Middle East. These are not the choices we can live with, those are countdown to death throes. The only thing we can do is to have the strength and in having that strength , we’re facing very critical moral dilemmas. We have to fight in densely populated areas, but that’s the kind of fighting that is going to take place from now on till further notice for the United States, for Israel, for other countries, because that what the terrorists want: to hold civilians as hostages.
And we have to unravel it, we have to pick the terrorist and separate the civilian population and expose the kingdom of lies and incitement that they’re trying to create while they’re doing it.

So we are going to achieve peace, but the road will be arduous and difficult, but we will achieve peace with your help and we’re going to deliver it, to our future generations, to our sons and daughters, even if we have to do it on a slightly tarnished silver platter.

Thank you very much ( this was addressed to the MJAA leaders)


(Standing Ovation – 2 minutes or so while the leadership joined him on stage.)

[Sephania]

Rabbi Charles Kluge came out with Joel Chernoff and Joel asked him to wait there. Rabbi Judah Hungerman came out and thanked him.

Joel Chernoff – To much applause - ALLELUYAH! Am Israel Chai!!

Rabbi Kluge – Dr. Gissinwe thank you so much for your very powerful and inspiriting message and we want you to know that we, at the Messianic Jewish Alliance of American, that we support you, we support Israel, we love you, we pray for you , we support you with finances, and many of us desire to go to Israel and to live in Israel ( Applause and whooping) ------

Joel Chernoff- It’s a pretty great deal isn’t it? (to Gissin)

Kluge- And so we’d like to give you a token of our appreciation, we’d like to give you this gift, of this shofar-
Gissin – Thank You

Kluge – could you just blow it?
Joel – for us here real quick?

Gissin tried once but only a bleat came out, he shook his head and said, “I’m better at talking than blowing shofar”.

Joel – Ladies and Gentlemen , a real fighter in Israel, but this is not his usual sword ( pointing to shofar) , you know what I mean?

( Laughter) - The Solomons, David Chernoff and other Rabbis join them on stage

Gissin – Well all I can say, and I wish to tell you this from the bottom of my heart, next year I’m going to have a salute parachute jump commemorating, yes, with four paratroopers, and veteran Israel paratroopers, over Jerusalem, commemorating the 40th anniversary for the reunification of Jerusalem, and I want you to be there ------ he points out to audience who breaks out in cheers and applause.

Joel motions to David, to join them up front

Gissin – Let’s make a deal, I promise to continue to jump every year, if you continue to come every year (more cheers and applause)

Kluge – And we would like a few of our executive leaders to pray for Israel, I’d like to ask Miss Dottie Solomon------------

Dottie Solomon – G-d bless you, We have so been touched by what you have said, we think you speak from your heart, as we speak from our hearts and from our hearts to your heart, which is Israel, G-d bless you., we love you, we’re behind you 100% , we’re Zionists to the core, G-d bless you ------

(Applause)

Gissin – Thank you

Kluge gives mike to David Chernoff

David Chernoff- (points to Joel), - I’m his brother so that’s the way to relate (Gissin smiles) I parachute as well, (a little laughter), No, I don’t really, (laughter), only in my dreams, but um, we are zealous for Zion, and we pray, we believe, we support, we send money – ( points to Joel) the Joseph Project, and everything else, but you have touched our hearts tonight and it’s wonderful to have you here with us and we feel that we are Echad ( Gissin smiles ) one with you and so G-d bless you!’

David extends hand to Gissin to shake, - Thank you for coming

Gissin – Thank you very much

David hand microphone back to Kluge , Kluge hand off to Jeffrey Foreman , “This is our Conference Chairman” .

Jeffrey Foreman – Thank you for being with us this evening, as David said we are Zealous for Zion and we’re committed to the people of Israel, we love Israel and we love the people of Israel, and we have that deep commitment in our hearts and our prayers. We’re warriors in a different realm, we fight in the spiritual realm for our people and we will continue to do so – shakes Gissins hand.

Kluge – Again we thank you -------->to Gissin
Gissin - Thank you very much for bringing us all together, thank you!

(Applause)

Joel- Before we close – lets just say a word of prayer for the people of Israel:

Abba, we just ask you, this evening, we know that you have, have brought our people back to Israel. It is by your hand, not just by the arm of flesh, the arm of the Spirit, it is a miracle and we ask you to continue to grant wisdom and favor in an impossible place. Protect our people, protect the armies of Israel, the leaders of Israel by the power of you Spirit , breath upon our people L-RD G-d, fill us, fill us L-RD G-d with your spirit, with the power of your Spirit the wisdom of your throne and we pray this in the name of the G-d of Israel, A-Amen.

Joel continues, - Now we do want to sing, which is very fitting, a very famous song ( to Gissin) which you probably know and you can join us. You know, on this one. (Then he asks him, can you sing?) Yes and you do play the guitar? Yes, ah, alright, Yeah, OK –

:clap: Am Israel Chai!:clap:

Everyone sings Am Israel Chai – Gissin sings with Joel -> some of the Rabbi’s dancing ( Kluge, Foreman and Joel Lieberman) while conference attendees danced off to the side of the stage in the dance area. :groupray:

After the dance

Joel – Ladies and Gentlemen, Dr Ra’anan Gissin – ( bows to him- ) Todah Rabah!

( Applause)

Gissin grabs Joel’s mike –

Next Year in Jerusalem! See you All then! :clap:

And with a Big smile he is gone.

[Sephania]

No one has anything they wanted to talk about regarding this historic speach?


:scratch: I'm flummoxed?

[Henaynei]

No one has anything they wanted to talk about regarding this historic speach?


:scratch: I'm flummoxed? I think everyone was "listening" rather than talking!!

[stone]

who are the Beresfords

[Sephania]

Google that with Messianic Judaism and see what you get. :) Or even Wiki it. :)

[stone]

that's a sad story.

[Henaynei]

who are the Beresfordsmy old rabbi and his wife @ Ohr Yeshua MS - very nice people. They are very well known in MJism - especially in USA, Europe and Israel

They were originally from South Africa
http://www.ohryeshua.org/rabbi.html

[Henaynei]

that's a sad story.the son who turned them in has since made t'shuvah to HaShem... the rest of the family still pretty much just tolerate them.....

if you are interested in a truly insightful study of their sturggle and how G-d worked in it read The Unproimised Land..

The Unpromised Land: The Struggle of Messianic Jews Gary & Shirley Beresford (http://www.messianicjewish.net/unpromised-land.html) you can get it there for $6.00


Because of their faith in Yeshua

they were betrayed by their family
rejected by Israeli Immigration
tormented by unending court trials
reported on by major international news media
(Time, Newsweek, CNN, The New York Times, The Washington Post)Gary and Shirley Beresford never wanted to be heroes. A middle-aged Messianic Jewish couple from South Africa, they felt God calling them to live in Israel, the Promised Land. Wanting nothing more than to live quietly and grow old together in the country of refuge for all Jewish people, little did they suspect what events would follow to try their faith.
The fight to make aliyah, to claim their rightful inheritance in the Promised Land, became a battle waged not only for themselves, but for Messianic Jews all over the world who wish to return to the Jewish homeland. Here is the true saga of the Beresford's journey to the land of their forefathers. Includes both a Foreword and a 25-page Appendix on the decades-old struggle for Messianic Jewish aliyah by Dr. David Stern, translator and the Jewish New Testament (http://www.messianicjewish.net/cgi-bin/webstore/quikstore.cgi?category=JNTP_bibles&page=webstore.html&search=yes) and Complete Jewish Bible (http://www.messianicjewish.net/cgi-bin/webstore/quikstore.cgi?category=JNTP_bibles&page=webstore.html&search=yes), and author of the Jewish New Testament Commentary (http://www.messianicjewish.net/cgi-bin/webstore/quikstore.cgi?category=JNTP_bibles&page=webstore.html&search=yes). 208 pages. ISBN:1-880226-56-1

[Wags]

I'm curious why this speech is considered historical. Sounds like the standard speech to christians asking for them to support Israel. Is it historical because it was to a messianic audience this time?

[Henaynei]

yes, for a Jewish political figure to address a messianic gathering, and a gathering of arguably the preeminent MJ organization, IS historical :)