Last Saturday was Black Sabbath. It was officially Tisha B’AV – the date when both temples were destroyed, but when the 9th of Av occurs on a Sabbath it is commemorated on the next day, Sunday.

I am saddened by the loss of the temples, but in shul I said the real loss was not a loss of real estate, but the loss of relationship, when covenant violations allowed the enemies of the Jewish people to burn the temples and scatter us among the nations.

So many people seem to be turning on the Jewish people by attacking Israel and demonizing Zionism to justify horrendous acts of violence against the Jewish community worldwide. Old lies and new lies are joining together to make a peaceful democratic nation appear to be an aggressor, instead of a great light to a dark region.

As a Messianic Jew, I stand with Israel and the Jewish people and speak out against the lies which are spread against our people.

As we approach the season of the Fall Feasts (seven Sabbaths to go!), may we search our hearts and see if we are making our stand with Israel and the Jewish people an evident, viable part of our lives and our outreach.

Before the Holocaust, Jewish people were targeted by the same kind of heinous hate propaganda that is flooding the net and the media. What was once a regional problem is now a worldwide attack on G-d’s people.

We are accused of plotting world domination and are said to be in control of the world’s economy. This is so silly, but even many Christian people believe this lie.

We are told that we are intruders and invaders in the land which G-d promised to our people, even though we are making the desert bloom and turning what was once swamps and wilderness into a garden. All the land we occupy was bought legally and such a large chunk of Arabs in both the West Bank and Gaza, work and earn good wages in Israel. We do not oppress and there is no Apartheid.

It is a spiritual conflict where the father of lies is finding new and more sophisticated ways of waging war on the women who gave birth to the Manchild (Rev. 12).

Let me make a radical, true statement which may not please everybody. Hatred of the Jews is equivalent to hatred of the King of the Jews and antisemitism is a diabolical attack on the people who have always been a blessing to all nations.

Speak out against these lies and speak up for G-d’s people. Christians are supposed to love Israel and the Jewish people and not stand by silently while we are defamed, attacked and isolated, just because of who we are and never because of anything we may have done.

Stand up and be counted among the supporters of Israel and the Jewish people. It remains an essential part of any Christian’s testimony to the world – make it part of yours.

Have a good week, campers.