Founder’s Blog

Remembrance and Repentance

With the freedom of Passover on everyone's mind I would like to spend a moment reflecting on a time of great tragedy. The annual Shoah (Holocaust) memorial falls this year on April 19th and should be a time of remembrance and activism for every disciple of Yeshua.

First Fruits of Zion is supporting this activism through one of our strengths--publishing. For years I have wanted to create of book that could capture the history of the hatred behind the holocaust, the pain the Nazis inflicted on the Jewish people, and the involvement of the Christian Church (or lack thereof). I wanted to publish a book that could encourage active on-going remembrance and repentance. This book could be used to spread the word and awaken a Christian--or a whole church--to recognize anti-Semitism, repent, and participate in Holocaust remembrance.

Today I am pleased to announce the publication of Remembrance and Repentance: The Call to Remember and Memorialize the Holocaust, by Holocaust educator and lecturer Daniel Hennessy.

The book exposes the church's lack of response during the Holocaust and, perhaps even more tragically, the church's lack of acknowledgement and response after the Holocaust. Daniel Hennessey writes:

It has been said that the wise man is he who knows his limitations. The way of Christianity for the past two thousand years has seemed right to Christians, but not to those who look at it as hypocritical in its failure to act out its fundamental teachings while such an enormous catastrophe occurred in its midst, on its watch, as guardians who had vacated the watchtowers of Europe. Certainly, the way of Christianity has not "seemed right"--not to the Jewish people. In ways that approach the incomprehensible, that seemingly right way has led to death for so many while also plaguing the inner life, hence the witness, of the church before the eyes of the watching world. Will the way that seems right to the church continue to haunt it in this, the twenty-first century, since its theological takeover of the God-ordained Jewish mission to the world, or will a remnant within the body of Christ heed the words of James, brother of Jesus and spiritual leader of the first-century Messianic community in Jerusalem, citing Solomon the Wise while echoing the prophet Isaiah: "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble?" (James 4:6 ESV; cf. Isaiah 54:7-8). James goes on to write, "Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you." (James 4:8-10 ESV). Is there a remnant within the Christian body of believers who will hear this word and apply it to the church's downcast, adversarial relationship with the Jewish people? (Remembrance and Repentance, Pg. 82, FFOZ)

So what can you do? What can your church do? Get involved. Get the book and share it.

There is an active remnant that is attempting to reverse the silence. Through the good efforts of March of Remembrance, dozens of prayer walk sites throughout the US and day of remembrance meetings are scheduled for this year's memorial of the Shoah. This year (2012) the March of Remembrance kicks off in Yaphank Long Island, at the old Nazi Youth camp "Camp Sigfried." What a fitting place to start.

See if there are any March of Remembrance activities in your area. If not, try to put together an event on April 19th to reflect upon the Shoah, pray for the wellbeing of the Jewish people, and seek ways to heal the wrongs of the past. You can also purchase purchase this informative and moving new book in bulk and give it to friends and churches in your area.

Start something--be a voice!

About the Author: Boaz Michael is the President and Founder of First Fruits of Zion.

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