Union Leaders Visit Israel

During this time of trial for Israel, leaders in the UMJC are showing solidarity by visiting in person. Executive Director Dr. Jeffrey Seif and his wife, Barri Cae, recently returned from Israel, as did UMJC Rabbi Michael Kashdan. Jeff Seif’s brief report is followed by a longer account by Rabbi Kashdan.

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Russ Resnik
Messianic Leaders Post Open Letter of Support for Israel

As representatives of the global Messianic Jewish movement and in solidarity with the greater Jewish community, we affirm our standing with Israel in defense of our homeland. Our hearts are broken to see this present evil perpetrated against Israel. The current war against Israel has united the people of Israel and we stand united with them.

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Russ Resnik
Huge Pro-Israel Rally Gathers on the National Mall

Jews and their allies from across America converged at the National Mall in Washington, DC, on Tuesday, November 14, to make a three-fold statement: support for Israel in its war against Hamas, a demand for immediate release of all hostages, and opposition to the dramatic rise in antisemitism.

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Russ Resnik
Global Antisemitism News Roundup, Summer 2023

A federal jury on August 2 voted to sentence Robert Bowers to death for killing 11 worshipers at Pittsburgh's Tree of Life synagogue in 2018, the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S. history. In June, the jury found Bowers, 50, guilty of dozens of federal hate crimes in a trial held at the U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh in western Pennsylvania.

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Russ Resnik
Global Antisemitism News Roundup, First Quarter 2023

US Special Envoy Deborah Lipstadt cited the Haggadah in a recent interview to explain why increased engagement with antisemitism won’t necessarily lead to a decrease in attacks: “The authors of the Passover Haggadah, one of our oldest texts, recognized hundreds of years ago that ‘in every generation there are those who rise up to destroy us,’ which is why historians talk about antisemitism as the oldest hatred.”

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Russ Resnik
Chaim Dov Urbach: February 16, 1951 – March 10, 2023

Chaim Urbach passed away on March 10 after a long struggle with declining health. He was born and raised in Israel, where he came to know Yeshua early in life under the influence of his parents, Eliezer and Sara. The family immigrated to North America in 1964, and eventually settled in Denver, where he met and married his beloved Joy, and devoted himself to Messianic Jewish ministry as an esteemed leader and mentor.

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Russ Resnik
In Memoriam, Rabbi Mark Greenberg

Mark Greenberg departed to be with Yeshua Friday night, January 13, after a brave, two-year struggle with vascular disease. He was the rabbi of Shalom Rome, a UMJC-affiliated congregation in Rome, Georgia, from 2016 until the Covid pandemic and his condition led to his medical retirement in 2020. Mark was also a cofounder of the Tree of Life Bible Society along with his wife, Daniah.

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Russ Resnik
Global Antisemitism News Roundup, December 2022

"Silence is complicity. We must not remain silent. And I made no bones about it from the very beginning: I will not be silent. America will not be silent." President Joe Biden made these remarks in a speech before guests assembled in the White House's Entrance Hall for a Hanukkah holiday reception on December 19.

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Russ Resnik
Dr. David H. Stern — October 31, 1935–October 8, 2022

David Stern economist, surfer, bodybuilder, messianic author, professor and theologian “retired” from his indefatigable service to our Messiah Yeshua on Shabbat in Jerusalem. David was a chief architect of the modern Messianic Jewish movement, and his pervasive presence can be seen through an abundance of citations to his works, his teachings, and his lectures.

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Russ ResnikComment
Global Antisemitism News Roundup, July 2022

Dozens of neo-Nazi demonstrators rallied outside a conservative conference in Florida on July 23, where they reportedly waved Nazi flags and swastikas, displayed antisemitic caricatures, and distributed antisemitic leaflets outside the building where the Turning Point USA Student Action Summit was taking place in Tampa.

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Russ Resnik
Global Antisemitism News Roundup, June 2022

At its biennial General Assembly, the Presbyterian Church-USA adopted a resolution “On Recognition that Israel’s Laws, Policies, and Practices Constitute Apartheid Against the Palestinian People.” Critics noted the location of the conference in Louisville, Kentucky, where eight months ago, an antisemitic gunman attempted to murder a Jewish member of the City Council.

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Russ Resnik
Global Antisemitism News Roundup, May 2022

Ikar, a well-known Los Angeles synagogue, was targeted in an antisemitic attack, with swastikas scratched onto its office windows overnight May 26 or 27. Synagogue officials called the incident distressing but "unfortunately not surprising," noting an uptick in antisemitic acts in the last several years.

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Russ Resnik
UMJC Mourns the Victims of the Buffalo Shooting

With deep sadness the Union of Messianic Jewish Congregations extends our sincere condolences to the families of those who died during the violent attack on members of the Black community earlier this month in Buffalo, New York. We pray for the full recovery of those who were injured. Our congregations stand in heart-to-heart solidarity with grieving members of the Black community and the larger community of Buffalo.

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Monique Brumbach