The following references come from:
Tovia Singer, Let’s Get Biblical: Why Doesn’t Judaism
Accept the Christian Messiah? 2 vols. (Forest Hills, N.Y.: Outreach
Judaism, 2014)
We find the following blurb on the back of both volumes 1 and
2:
“Pastor, can you listen to these
tapes and tell me if everything this man is saying is true?” With these fords
from Alice, a member in our congregation, I was introduced to the “Let’s Get
Biblical” tape series of Rabbi Tovia Singer. At first it was only a couple of
tapes, and after listening intently to them I told her that the Rabbi mentioned
other tapes and a study guide. She ordered them for me and after listening to
them several times and studying through the guide I went back to her and said, “Yes,
everything is true.”
For someone who had spent most of
his life “preparing for the ministry” and also having attended two prominent
Southern Baptist Institutions (Dallas Baptist University and Southwestern
Theological Seminary) as well as serving in various churches in the capacity of
Associate Minister, and then pastoring a church in East Texas, the “Let’s Get
Biblical” series was at first devastating, yet ultimately gave real meaning to
my life.
Devasting because of the nagging
guilt I felt knowing that I had led so many others down a wrong path. Sure, I
was very sincere in my “belief.” This was the way I was brought up to believe.
But in my search for the roots of Christianity G-d graciously brought the Truth
into my life through Rabbi Singer.
I would encourage everyone,
Jewish or Christian, to pore over the powerful message contained in these pages
(as well as Rabbi Singer’s remarkable audio series). I have no doubt that if
you do so with all your heart you, too, will find the truth. Study these pages
very carefully and prayerfully. Check all the references to Strong’s Driver and
Briggs, or any other resource you have. As Rabbi Singer leads you step by step
your eyes, mind and heart will be opened to the Truth of Torah.
- Michael R. D. Flanigan,
Former Southern Baptist Minister
We find the following testimony of a former minister/Reverend as the preface to volume 1:
The last thing I ever expected to
be was a Torah-observant Jew. Growing up poor in a broken home with little religious
influence, I embraced the Christian gospel at 16, partly through a Calvary
Chapel-related commune for former street people during the early “Jesus
movement” in Southern California. We were a rag-tag group—burnt out from the
sex, drugs, and rock-and-roll influences on the free love culture. But through
faith in a personal lord and savior, hundreds of thousands of us united around
the Great Commission in a collective effort to evangelize a lost and dying
world before it was too late—before hundreds of millions of believers would be
divinely snatched off the planet in the Rapture, the precursor event in the
seven year great Tribulation period in which the world would be ruled—and
ultimately tyrannized—by the Antichrist.
I became a member and eventually
a minister of the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel, a rapidly
growing Pentecostal-charismatic denomination—very similar to the Assemblies of
God. I was a close disciple of such leaders as Roy Hicks, Jr. and Dr. Jack
Hayford. While my evangelical professors had taught me that the gospel must be proclaimed
“to all the world,” they placed a premium on reaching Jewish people. (This book
will explain why.) My passion for winning Jewish souls led me to living four
years in Israel, first as a student of Hebrew and later as an English teacher,
using my professional skills as a cover for my missionary activities.
Over time, my studies of Hebrew
caused fractures in my faith. As I examined missionary proof texts in Hebrew to
share them with spiritually illiterate Israelis, I noted that something seemed “off.”
The English translations I knew so well appeared either mistranslated or taken
out of context when compared with the Hebrew original. How could this be? Wasn’t
the Bible—the Old and New Testaments—a seamless, divinely inspired work? Wasn’t
Jesus the fulfillment of some 300 Old Testament prophecies by which we could
surely identity the promised Redeemer? Hadn’t the Jews rejected their own
Messiah and for 2,000 years paid the price of exile for rejecting him? I was
less and less sure.
The few friends I spoke to of my
doubts diagnosed I was under the influence of demons. But having done graduate
studies in linguistics, I couldn’t argue with the Hebrew texts; they didn’t
support the missionary interpretations. Questions tugged at me: Was
Christianity true because I believed it—or did I believe it because it was
true? Grasping to get back on more solid footing, I left Israel to take up a
position in a large California church.
Two years later, I left the
ministry. There was no gracious way to leave. I was hurting and I hurt a lot of
people. For eight years, I wondered and wandered, spiritually and
geographically, including a two and a half year stint as an English teacher in
Saudi Arabia.
Having dabbled with a veritable
stew of spiritual alternatives, I had an intuitive sense that Judaism was
unique among the world’s faith systems, but I wasn’t quite sure why. Curiously,
I discovered an article by Rabbi Tovia singer, which challenged me to objectively
examine the textual evidence for the resurrection of Jesus. Jesus’ resurrection
is the most cardinal doctrine in the New Testament; without it, all else
unravels. Rabbi Singer recommended an approach of self-study. I took it. And I
let go of Jesus.
Now that I was free to examine
Judaism with a clearer eye and a freer heart, I entered the Jewish world
through a liberal Jewish movement (which actually reminded me of liberal
Protestantism). But within a couple of years, I concluded that if Judaism was a
house, I was living on the porch. My experience, while warm and culturally
stimulating, was spiritually thin.
Around time, a former Messianic
rabbi told me that Rabbi Tovia Singer was lecturing in our area. I attended and
left duly challenged to help other Jews influenced by missionaries. I went
through another conversion, a more rigorous and demanding Orthodox process, and
on the 23rd of Kislev 5760—two days before Chanukah in December
1999, I emerged from the waters of the Los Angeles mikveh with a new
name—Gavriel Aryeh ben Avraham. Now fourteen years later, I can affirm that it’s
been a whole new, multi-faceted life—as rewarding as it’s been challenging.
I’ve crossed paths with Rabbi
Singer a number of times since. I’ve been a guest on his broadcasts and he was
guest of mine when I was on New York radio. We spent challenging days together
as part of a support mission to Gush Katif in the summer of 2005. We’ve shared
in lectures together, and like many former evangelical Christians who’ve
embraced Torah observance, I’ve attentively absorbed his lectures and study
materials.
For more than a quarter of a
century, Rabbi Singer has traveled the world helping Jews discover the richness
and beauty hidden in their own spiritual heritage. Many of them had taken a
detour into missionary Christianity and the Messianic movement in a quest for
spiritual satisfaction. The book you hold now contains compelling biblical
truths which brought them out of the Church and back home to the faith of
Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, Solomon, the Hebrew prophets, and millions of anonymous
Jews who dared cling to the Torah despite all efforts to convert them away. If
it hadn’t been for these brave and faithful souls, those Jews who believe in
Jesus today wouldn’t even know they are Jewish! Ironically, missionaries will
study this book in an effort to sharpen their counter-arguments. Since students
of the Bible will pore through it to understand why Jews have said “no” to the
overtures of evangelicals for centuries. But earnest seekers will employ the
book to connect with the unbroken chain of Torah learning and living.
While an easy book to read, this
is a hard book to master. It chiropractically adjusts misaligned beliefs. That’s
not comfortable. But it’s necessary as we proceed into these days our Sages
regard as “ikvesh d’meshichia”—the footsteps of messiah. As Rabbi Singer
indicates in these pages, the ultimate redemption and revelation of the Jewish
people as the historical torchbearers of the Almighty is near. May this book
serve as a homing beacon for many who, like I did, wondered and wandered, yet
never stopped looking for the path.
B’vracha—with blessing
Gavriel Aryeh ben Avraham
(former Rev. Mark S. Sanders) (1:v-vii)
