Messianic Jews under Fire in Israel
"The state of Israel promises religious freedom to all faiths. However, in some Israeli towns, Jews who believe that Jesus is the Jewish Messiah face persecution. One of those places is in a town called Arad." This is how Chris Mitchell, who works for CBN News Jerusalem Bureau, began his recent report on what is happening in Arad, Israel, ASSIST News Service reports. He continued, "Arad sits in the middle of the Negev Desert, about a two hour drive south of Jerusalem. For most of the nearly 25,000 residents, it's a quiet setting. But for others, it's been the scene of noisy protests and almost daily harassment. "An ultra-orthodox sect called the Gur harasses many of the Messianic Jews in the town." Mitchell quoted Yakim Figueros, a messianic pastor in Arad, as saying, "We meet at a congregation building. There's a narrow way to go in, I mean the gate. So they have two of their people standing on either side and reading curses against everyone that walks in: 'May his children be orphans. May their wives be widows' and so on. You know it's not nice for the simple people to come in and go through this." Mitchell went on to say, "The center of town is another place of harassment, where many retired Jewish immigrants gather."
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