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The Olive Tree Connection
Yeshua of Nazareth was Jewish. His twelve disciples were Jewish. The Bible was written by Jews.
Yet even before the second century of our era, Christians began to cut themselves off from their Jewish roots and to rebuild the "dividing wall of hostility" that Yeshua came to break down. Brotherly love was replaced with suspicion, intolerance and fear. Gentiles adopted Yeshua as exclusively their own, and Jews grew to fear the very word Christian.
John Fischer is both a follower of Yeshua and a Jew who cares deeply about his people. Gentile and Jew can once again share Israel's Messiah, he maintains, but those who wish to reintroduce Yeshua to the Jewish people need to be sensitive to Jewish hopes and fears, sorrows and joys. Fischer weaves two themes into each first, Jewish ideas, attitudes and ways of life, and second, the best ways to share Messiah with Israel. Two extensive appendices help tailor the message to individuals.
Yet even before the second century of our era, Christians began to cut themselves off from their Jewish roots and to rebuild the "dividing wall of hostility" that Yeshua came to break down. Brotherly love was replaced with suspicion, intolerance and fear. Gentiles adopted Yeshua as exclusively their own, and Jews grew to fear the very word Christian.
John Fischer is both a follower of Yeshua and a Jew who cares deeply about his people. Gentile and Jew can once again share Israel's Messiah, he maintains, but those who wish to reintroduce Yeshua to the Jewish people need to be sensitive to Jewish hopes and fears, sorrows and joys. Fischer weaves two themes into each first, Jewish ideas, attitudes and ways of life, and second, the best ways to share Messiah with Israel. Two extensive appendices help tailor the message to individuals.
209 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1983
1 person is currently reading
9 people want to read
About the author
John Fischer
8 books4 followersDr. Fischer was born in Budapest, Hungary in 1946 to survivors of the Holocaust. He immigrated to the United States in 1949. He married 4 Jun 1972 to Patrice and they have two children and three grandchildren. Rabbi John has six earned college and university degrees, two of them doctorates (a Ph.D. and a Th.D.). Dr. Fischer has spoken and taught repeatedly throughout the United States and around the world. He has lectured in Israel, Russia, France, Germany, Hungary, the Ukraine, Canada, and South Africa. He is the author of numerous academic articles and books.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
April 21, 2017
Do you want to know what Messianic Judaism is? Are you curious as to why its a thing? This book will give you not only the basics, but is addressed specifically to Christians to help them understand its importance to Jews and Christians. While the current events referred to are from the 1980's (as the last revision was 1983) it provides a very interesting background from which Messianic Judaism was re-emerging. Dr. John Fischer attempts to explain to the unknowing Gentile a bit of Jewish culture, and why it's been so resistant to the message of Yeshua (Jesus). Further in the appendices, he provides step-by-step guides on how to approach many questions from Jews and blunders of Gentile Christians that are still relevant today. The reader should keep in mind that Fisher is explaining the Jewish perspective. So any objections one might have to the relevance of historical attrocities tie in to current christianity should be read as and understanding of the modern Jewish mindset. It was hard to read those portions, yet sobering as it should be. Distorted messages of Christ have caused many problems. This book will help you cut through those distortions and understand Messianic Judaism as well as how to support the Jewish people as a whole.
June 19, 2025
A MESSIANIC RABBI OFFERS SOME SUGGESTIONS FOR OBJECTIONS, ETC.
John Fischer serves as Rabbi of Congregation Ohr Chadash, and is Executive Director of Menorah Ministries.
He wrote in the Introduction to this 1983 book (originally published in 1978 under the title, ‘Sharing Israel’s Messiah’), “Out of the confusion of voices comes the statement of a rabbi, ‘Two to three thousand Jews are accepting Jesus as Messiah every year.’ Come learn the lesson of the voices. 1. Many Jewish people want to know God more personally but will oppose evangelism as a threat to their survival. 2. Numbers of Jews expect Messian to come and rule the earth, but Zechariah reminds us of a great slaughter of Jewish people to take place prior to that time. God’s message must get to them before this. 3. The Messiah himself commanded that Jewish people be given priority in the spread of his message, but his followers have often neglected his instruction. 4. The history of Christian persecution of the Jews has closed their ears to the Christian message. They need to hear the gratitude and love of a people who now share their rich heritage. 5. Jewish people do respond to the Messiah’s message when it is sensitively presented in a Jewish way, not threatening their survival or compromising their identity… Out of the confusion comes a still, small voice of God’s love for the Jewish people: ‘They must be told!’” (Pg. 10)
He points out, “A recent survey revealed the depths of anti-Jewish feelings especially among conservative churches. The survey found that while 23% of the liberal Protestants and 32% of the Catholics were anti-Semitic, 38% of conservative Protestants were. A couple of examples reinforce these findings. In 1975 at one of the leading Bible schools, posters announcing a Jewish prayer group’s meeting were covered over with Nazi swastikas. In 1976 a student at one of the country’s foremost seminaries dogmatically asserted, ‘The Jews deserve everything that’s been done to them, including the Holocaust.’ And so the malady continues.” (Pg. 45)
He suggests, “Unfortunately, most Jewish people consider the New Testament a non-Jewish book. In fact, many label it anti-Semitic. When you use it… point out that it was written by Jewish authors, concentrates on a Jew (Yeshua), and contains Jewish teachings. You may want to emphasize the relevance of the New Testament to Jewish people by using its Hebrew title ‘B’rit Hadashah.’ Correspondingly, Jews often call the Old Testament the Tenach… use of the term ‘Old Testament’ might cause a different problem to surface. A professor of Jewish studies put it this way: ‘When Christians use the term ‘Old Testament,’ they do so to indicate it is no longer relevant and has been replaced.’ Terms such as ‘Torah.’ ‘Older Testament’ or ‘first half of Scripture’ can be good substitutes.” (Pg. 103-104)
He observes, “Many believers wear a cross as a sign of their devotion or identity as Yeshua’s followers. It is a beautiful practice. However, the cross has a different meaning for Jewish people. When Jewish villages were being slaughtered and burned during the Crusades, the Crusaders marched behind aa flag with a cross on it. When Jewish people were being tortured and killed during the Inquisition, their inquisitors wore the cross as an insignia… Events like these have left a deep wound that a cross may re-open… Yeshua’s earliest followers, by the way, used a fish as their symbol, not a cross.” (Pg. 105-106)
He asks (then answers) the question, “Where does the Jewish Bible ever mention that Messiah comes twice?” He replies, ‘The Jewish Bible doesn’t explicitly say Messiah comes twice. However, our sages and rabbis have long puzzled over certain things said by our Scriptures about the Messiah. They apparently realized that several passages spoke of some suffering that Messiah would undergo… As they wrestled with this problem, they came to a solution… the Essenes of the Dead Sea community concluded that there were two Messiahs: one ‘from Aaron’ and one ‘from Israel.’… The rabbis came to a similar conclusion…” (Pg. 175)
This book will be of some interest to Messianic Jews, and their friends.
John Fischer serves as Rabbi of Congregation Ohr Chadash, and is Executive Director of Menorah Ministries.
He wrote in the Introduction to this 1983 book (originally published in 1978 under the title, ‘Sharing Israel’s Messiah’), “Out of the confusion of voices comes the statement of a rabbi, ‘Two to three thousand Jews are accepting Jesus as Messiah every year.’ Come learn the lesson of the voices. 1. Many Jewish people want to know God more personally but will oppose evangelism as a threat to their survival. 2. Numbers of Jews expect Messian to come and rule the earth, but Zechariah reminds us of a great slaughter of Jewish people to take place prior to that time. God’s message must get to them before this. 3. The Messiah himself commanded that Jewish people be given priority in the spread of his message, but his followers have often neglected his instruction. 4. The history of Christian persecution of the Jews has closed their ears to the Christian message. They need to hear the gratitude and love of a people who now share their rich heritage. 5. Jewish people do respond to the Messiah’s message when it is sensitively presented in a Jewish way, not threatening their survival or compromising their identity… Out of the confusion comes a still, small voice of God’s love for the Jewish people: ‘They must be told!’” (Pg. 10)
He points out, “A recent survey revealed the depths of anti-Jewish feelings especially among conservative churches. The survey found that while 23% of the liberal Protestants and 32% of the Catholics were anti-Semitic, 38% of conservative Protestants were. A couple of examples reinforce these findings. In 1975 at one of the leading Bible schools, posters announcing a Jewish prayer group’s meeting were covered over with Nazi swastikas. In 1976 a student at one of the country’s foremost seminaries dogmatically asserted, ‘The Jews deserve everything that’s been done to them, including the Holocaust.’ And so the malady continues.” (Pg. 45)
He suggests, “Unfortunately, most Jewish people consider the New Testament a non-Jewish book. In fact, many label it anti-Semitic. When you use it… point out that it was written by Jewish authors, concentrates on a Jew (Yeshua), and contains Jewish teachings. You may want to emphasize the relevance of the New Testament to Jewish people by using its Hebrew title ‘B’rit Hadashah.’ Correspondingly, Jews often call the Old Testament the Tenach… use of the term ‘Old Testament’ might cause a different problem to surface. A professor of Jewish studies put it this way: ‘When Christians use the term ‘Old Testament,’ they do so to indicate it is no longer relevant and has been replaced.’ Terms such as ‘Torah.’ ‘Older Testament’ or ‘first half of Scripture’ can be good substitutes.” (Pg. 103-104)
He observes, “Many believers wear a cross as a sign of their devotion or identity as Yeshua’s followers. It is a beautiful practice. However, the cross has a different meaning for Jewish people. When Jewish villages were being slaughtered and burned during the Crusades, the Crusaders marched behind aa flag with a cross on it. When Jewish people were being tortured and killed during the Inquisition, their inquisitors wore the cross as an insignia… Events like these have left a deep wound that a cross may re-open… Yeshua’s earliest followers, by the way, used a fish as their symbol, not a cross.” (Pg. 105-106)
He asks (then answers) the question, “Where does the Jewish Bible ever mention that Messiah comes twice?” He replies, ‘The Jewish Bible doesn’t explicitly say Messiah comes twice. However, our sages and rabbis have long puzzled over certain things said by our Scriptures about the Messiah. They apparently realized that several passages spoke of some suffering that Messiah would undergo… As they wrestled with this problem, they came to a solution… the Essenes of the Dead Sea community concluded that there were two Messiahs: one ‘from Aaron’ and one ‘from Israel.’… The rabbis came to a similar conclusion…” (Pg. 175)
This book will be of some interest to Messianic Jews, and their friends.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews