Booth Conversations from Summer Fairs
** Today, Lauren (18-20) stopped by. When I asked if she had Jewish heritage, she said she was raised in a home with a Jewish and a Christian parent. She said she had a Bat Mitzvah but was uncertain about God. I offered her a choice of a Jewish testimony book or a Messianic prophecy book. She asked if she could have both. She was so excited to start reading. I could see that she was thirsty to know God. I assured her that God promised us that if we seek Him with our whole heart, we will find Him. She expressed her gratitude for our being at the fair.
** Irena was a Russian Jewish woman who stopped. She let her daughter (maybe 7) pick out a mezuzah for her “Ema” (mother). I asked Irena if she was practicing her faith; she was undecided. She gladly took a book of testimonies.
** Cheryl, middle-aged, from a Jewish/Catholic home, and currently in Chabad, took a Jesus is the Messiah prophecy flyer to look up Daniel 9:26 and Isaiah chapter 53.
**Esther has been to our booth in prior years. I said, “I remember you. You complained that Messianic Jews did not keep kosher.” I reminded her that some do and some don’t—just like a lot of Jewish people.” She then told me that the New Testament said that the wages of sin is death, so what Jesus did wasn’t effective. I said that He gives us eternal life by paying the debt for sin with his life. We had a long discussion. I am sure that God keeps drawing her back to our booth. I told her that my father became a believer after he asked God to show him if Jesus was the Messiah. I said, “Pray that God will show you. Right now, pray, "Show me God." And she did! Please pray for Esther, that she will have a supernatural revelation and that next year she will come to tell us about it.
** Mason, a young Jewish girl, said she had a Bat Mitzvah. I told her my daughters had a Bat Mitzvah too. She asked if they had parties; I said, "Of course." She said she didn’t but got to go to New York City instead. I asked if she had heard of Messianic Jews, and she said no. I said, “I’m one. We believe Yeshua, Jesus, is the Messiah.” She said she had never heard of that. I asked if she would read a book about ten Jews who found the Messiah, and she said yes. So I gave her the book and asked her to email me with her opinion of the book. She said she would.
** A girl was taking photos of our booth (most probably Jewish), and when I caught her eye, she said, “disgusting!”
** A Russian Jew stopped to look at the mezuzahs. I asked him if he was Jewish, and he said, “Yes, but not religious. I am a realist!”
** Alex, an Israeli originally from Russia, stopped to look at our booth. I asked where he lived in Israel, and he said Haifa. I asked if he had heard of Messianic Jews, and he said yes. He had even attended a Messianic congregation in Carmel, Israel. I told him I had been to that congregation! I offered him a free book in Hebrew, but he did not take it.
** I had a fantastic encounter with an Ultra-Orthodox Jewish man named Yosef (Joseph). He said he was Hasidic and even took off his cap to show me his kippah (yarmulke) underneath. We had a long talk. He wouldn't take anything, but I got to share a little portion of my father's story and my experiences. I told him about the rabbis in the past who believed, and he said, “Who?” Unfortunately, when I looked for our book of rabbis' testimonies, I could not find it.
** At the booth yesterday I had several encounters: two Pakistani Christians, two Pakistani Muslims, two young Canadian girls saying “Free Palestine,” and two young Jewish girls. The conversations were quite lively. I had to keep telling them all that we are not political, we are religious, and we are trying to tell them that Jesus/Yeshua is the Jewish Messiah—not only for the Jews, but also for the Palestinians and the Muslims and for the whole world.
** A senior citizen A Jewish woman stopped, and I explained that I'm Jewish and a believer in Jesus. She smiled, handed my gospel bookmark back to me, and said, “Just like Ben-Hur.”
** * An Orthodox Jewish man saw all our Jewish items for sale from a distance and walked up with a big smile on his face saying, "What's this!" However, before we had a chance to even talk, he saw our signage, and then the smile was gone. He did a complete about-face and immediately left.
** I saw a woman buy some Christmas stuff from the booth next door to us... and then she came to our booth next and was looking around with a confused look. I asked if she was Jewish, and she said yes. I said we are Messianic Jews, and we believe that Jesus is the Messiah.
** One of the young men from the Israeli facial cream booth nearby came over. I had spoken with him before. He was looking at things and said he wanted to buy the "I stand with Israel" bumper sticker for his suitcase. As he took out his wallet, I motioned for him to put it away. I said, "Here, it's our gift to you... from Yeshua," and he said, "Really?" And then he gave me a hug. I said, "Am Yisrael Chai." (A very famous Jewish saying meaning, “The people of Israel live.”)
** A Jewish woman in her late 40s came up and said she's dating a Christian man, and she finds being a Messianic Jew to be the most appealing choice to her. She said she's still on the fence, and she asked several questions about baptism and similar things. I was able to answer all her questions, and I also gave her two books for free. She was so thankful. I gave her our card in case she had any questions. Pray for "A."
** A Muslim man walked by and said, “Jesus was a Muslim brother.”
** Two elderly Jewish ladies stopped. One lady read our sign, and she said, "I'm not stopping at your booth!" I asked if she is Jewish. She said she was and told her friend that "he isn't Jewish!" I said, "I am." She said, "If you believe Jesus is the Messiah, then you aren't Jewish." I replied, "Are Jews who don't believe in God still Jews?" She said, "That's different. It has always been that Jews who think Jesus is the Messiah are considered non-Jews by Jews." I said, "His disciples were Jewish, and they believed he was the Messiah."She said, "Then they became Christian and weren't Jews." I said, "Paul said he was an Israelite of the tribe of Benjamin." She just said, "You are not Jews," and walked away.
** I had a man who was quite meshugganah (crazy). He said the menorah was an antenna to receive signals from space, and the Ark of the Covenant had radioactive material in it. That's why people died.
** A woman stopped by our booth. She said she was in the UK, and there was an outdoor event with all these different vendors. They all had pro-Palestinian signs up, except the only one that was for Israel was the ‘Jews for Jesus’ booth.
** In Toronto, a Jewish woman with her two teenage daughters stopped and bought a necklace and a ring. They asked me if I had any negativity here. I explained all the things we've been enduring, the hateful words, etc. She was just appalled at it all, and I said, “It doesn't happen this bad in the United States.”
** A young couple in their early 30s stopped, and I was talking with him. He said, “I'm from Iraq, but my wife is Jewish.” Then she came over, and we had a wonderful conversation. I was explaining the connection, and she had a big smile on her face, looking like she agreed. I'm not sure if they're believers, but I gave them a card for a local Messianic congregation in Toronto.
** An older couple stopped, and she was talking to me in Yiddish. She was happy I knew some. We had a great conversation about Jewish delis. I explained that I'm from New York and a Jewish believer in the Messiah. She said, “You have such a Yiddisha cup.” (an old Yiddish way of saying that I look and sound very Jewish). She asked for my name. It was a delight to talk to her.
** Jewish people come by, and they ask, “How has it been?” I explain some of the negativity that we get, and they're really amazed at hearing what we have to endure. But it builds kinship with them, as most say, “Thanks for being here.” Even though they know that we are Messianic Jews, something they usually do not agree with us on, they are still thanking us.
** An Assyrian man who grew up in Baghdad stopped. He said, “I love Israel because they're a minority in the Middle East, and we are a minority in the Middle East too. He talked about growing up as a minority in Baghdad and how the leadership in those countries is so bad.
** The Israeli booth in NY, which sells facial cream a few rows over and whom we are friends with, had a disturbance. One of the girls there came to our booth and said a Muslim man just came up and said something to her face, including a curse word about Israel. She told me that she said, “You can't talk about my country!” He walked away, so she called the police and was waiting for them. I told her that two days ago a Muslim woman put a sticker on our booth that said, “Free Palestine.” When the police came, she left our booth to speak with them, and then she even brought the cop over to us. (Not that we wanted that.)He thought it was the same incident, and I said, “No, ours was a few days ago.”He said there was not much he could do because people are allowed to say things in America. I agreed, and I explained to the Israeli woman that as much as we don't like them saying bad things, America is a free country, and they're allowed to say it.
** An Orthodox Jewish man came by our booth in NY and began yelling, “the largest Ponzi scheme in the world.” He did this for about two minutes, and everybody was just watching him and wondering what he was doing. I didn’t respond to him at all. After a couple of minutes, he finally just walked away.
** Last night, a young girl (16-18) bought a $5 Star of David ring. As I started to ring up the sale, she asked me (note: this was a volunteer working at our booth that day) if I was Jewish. I said, "No, are you?" She was! I engaged in a wonderful conversation. She said she wasn't sure about God, and after her Bat Mitzvah, she just drifted away. I told her discovering God is a personal journey; it's not about religion but having an intimate relationship with our Creator. I shared my testimony and invited her to accept Sid Roth's book and a Messianic prophecy flyer to help her on her journey. She was genuinely grateful. After she left, another volunteer and I prayed for her. It was a sweet encounter.
** Devorah stopped at our booth, and I asked if she was Jewish. She said yes but said she didn’t believe Jesus was the Messiah. She asked questions about what we believed and if we kept Jewish traditions. I offered a free book, but she declined and went her way. However, a few minutes later she came back. She said she was intrigued by our booth. She asked if I was Jewish and how I changed to Christianity. I shared that my father grew up Orthodox. She asked, “Orthodox Christian?” I said, “No, Orthodox Jewish!” I shared how he came to believe Yeshua is the Messiah. She was so interested in how that came about, and I told her that he was challenged to ask God. I challenged her to ask God; I assured her that God would answer her. She said she might do that.
** A Muslim man (in Toronto) came by and leaned into the booth, asking, “How many dead Palestinians do you have back there?”
** Mark and his friend (not Jewish) stopped to read our “Jesus made me kosher” sign. I asked if he was Jewish, and he said he was. I asked if he had ever heard of Messianic Jews, and he said no. I shared that I was a Messianic Jew, that I believed Yeshua (Jesus) is the Messiah. I asked if he would read a book if I gave it to him free. He said yes, so I gave him the book of Jewish testimonies.
** A girl in her 20s came up wearing both a star and a cross pendant. I asked why she was wearing that. She said her father was Jewish and her mother was Episcopalian. I asked what she was, and she said she was leaning towards Judaism. I asked if she had heard of Messianic Jews, and she had not. I told her what we are, and she said, "I don't know why there are Christians who hate Jews when Jesus was Jewish." (And so were His disciples, I added.) I said, "You are Jewish, and I have a free book for you." She took a book of ten Jewish testimonies.
** An Iranian woman and her husband stopped. She said, “I love my country, but I love Israel even more.”She explained that the Iranian people are under an oppressive regime, and she remembers it as a child, before it was a Muslim Republic. She said, “The people of Iran and Israel go way back. It was Cyrus, an Iranian, who released the Jewish people from captivity.”(NOTE: we find this over and over again at our booth with people from Iran—called Persians. They typically love Israel and hate their country’s leadership.)
** Jeremy, a Jewish man who's married to an evangelical woman, understood that the evangelical Christian is the best friend Israel has. He even thanked us for being there.
