Aliyah - The process of Jewish emigration to Israel ("making Aliyah to Israel…").  The Hebrew meaning is to “go up” (as to Jerusalem).

Ashkenazi Jews (Ashkenazim) - Literally “German Jews”, who also migrated to form communities in Hungary, Poland, Russia, Eastern Europe and elsewhere. In a broader sense, “Ashkenazi” can refer to any Jew of European background.  About 80% of Jews worldwide are Ashkenazi. 

Chesed (Hebrew for "Grace") - A Jewish charity working extensively across the fSU to establish Jewish community centers. Chesed does a great work in looking after the needs of elderly Jews in particular.

Christian Friends of Israel (CFI) - An international Christian organization which mainly assists Jewish immigrants from the fSU once they reach Israel. 

Diaspora - As relating to the Jewish people: 1. the scattering of the Jews to countries outside the Promised Land.  2. the body of Jewish people living in countries outside of Israel.  3. such countries collectively:  “the return of the Jews from the Diaspora”.

Ebenezer Emergency Fund International (EEFI) - An interdenominational Christian organization working in cooperation with the Jewish Agency to help Jewish people return to Israel.  “Ebenezer” means “stone of help” (I Samuel 7:12).  “Thus far the Lord has helped us” is the testimony of EEFI. 

Eretz Israel - Hebrew for “The Land of Israel”

Ezra - A Christian "Aliyah" organization working in the fSU. Ezra mainly assists Jewish people to obtain passports and documents, but also does some “fishing” and transport.

Fishermen, Fishing - In Jeremiah 16:16, “fishermen” are thought to be those who search for the scattered Jewish people to bring them back to Israel. Most Christian "Aliyah" organizations use the terms “fishermen” and “fishing”. 

fSU - former Soviet Union (Russia and the other republics made independent from the Soviet Union in 1991-92)

Holocaust survivors - Jews who have survived Ghettos, Concentration camps, Death camps, and other brutalities common during the Second World War.

Hunters - In Jeremiah 16:16, “hunters” are thought to be persecutors who force the Jewish people to flee to Israel. Because many Jews are reluctant to make aliyah, some believe the Lord will use anti-Semitism to bring them home.

Jewish Agency for Israel (JA) - The JA, tied closely with the Israeli government, has helped 3 million Jewish people to make aliyah and integrate into Israeli life. The JA is the sole legal entity outside of Israel that can authorize an individual to make aliyah, in accordance with Israel’s Law of Return.

JOINT - An American Jewish charity which extensively funds humanitarian aid to Jews throughout the fSU. JOINT works closely with Chesed.

Law of Return – Legislation granting Jewish people the right to assisted immigration and settlement in Israel, as well as automatic Israeli citizenship.  These rights are also extended to a child and a grandchild of a Jew, the spouse of a Jew, the spouse of a child of a Jew and the spouse of a grandchild of a Jew.                                                                      

Nefesh B’Nefesh - A Jewish aliyah organization, operating mainly in North America and England, encouraging immigration to Israel.  NBN charters group aliyah flights and seeks to increase aliyah by removing obstacles which stand in the way of potential olim. 

Olim (plural), Oleh (m. singular), Olah (f. singular) - Jewish people immigrating to Israel.

Operation Exodus - Another name for Ebenezer Emergency Fund, denoting its operational purpose: “An instrument of the Lord to encourage and help the Jewish people return to the land of Israel from the land of the north and all nations, and to proclaim God’s Kingdom purposes for their return.”

Repatriates - Jews that are preparing to make Aliyah or have made Aliyah.

Sephardi Jews (Sephardim) - Literally “Spanish Jews”, expelled and widely dispersed from the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal), “Sephardi” is sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to any Jew of non-Ashkenazi background. Sephardim make up the second largest group of world Jewry.

Shaliach, Shlichim (plural) - Jewish Agency Representatives outside of Israel, offering information and assistance to those interested in making aliyah.

Sochnut - Synonymous with the JA, Sochnut has offices throughout the fSU, and generally provides flights for Jews making Aliyah. Ebenezer works in cooperation with Sochnut – “fishing” for Jewish people who will return to Israel, providing transport to airports, and giving other means of support.

Streams in the Desert - A UK-based organization providing homes in Israel for elderly fSU Jews, who would otherwise be unable to make Aliyah. Elderly Jewish people can make Aliyah because of places like Streams in the Desert that will take them in.

Word of Life Church (WOL) - This Charismatic Swedish church, founded by Ulf Eckman, has established itself almost everywhere in the fSU.  Because WOL puts great emphasis on the importance of Israel and Aliyah, many of its fSU church members work with EEFI.

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TIME FOR THE FAVOR OF THE LORD
The ‘favor of the Lord’ (ratzon la’Adonai in Hebrew) is a recurring refrain in the Kingdom symphony conducted by the great Jewish sage from Nazareth, Rav Yeshua – the Rabbi, Jesus. We first hear its melody in the angelic voices proclaiming the birth of Israel’s promised King, Messiah Jesus: ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favour rests’ (Luke 2:14).

We hear it again in the record of Jesus’ first sermon, at the synagogue in Nazareth: ‘The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour’ (Luke 4:18-19). Here the text is taken from Isaiah 61:1-2 (‘to release the oppressed’ is an allusion to Isaiah 58:5-6). Jesus chooses it as the haltarah (concluding) reading following the Torah (the Pentateuch – five books of Moses) portion for that Sabbath.

To the rapt attention of His hometown audience, Jesus opens the Isaiah scroll and creatively and emphatically declares that He is the one spoken of by the prophet – the Anointed One or Messiah – and that at the heart of His Kingdom agenda is the extending of the ‘favour of the Lord’ to all who would receive Him. Yeshua emphasises the latter point by suddenly stopping his reading in mid-sentence. In the original, Isaiah 61:2 reads: ‘…to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favour and the day of vengeance of our God…’

Jesus stops after reading ‘the Lord’s favour’, hands the scroll to the attendant and sits down. He refuses to read the last phrase about God’s judgment – something many in Nazareth and elsewhere in Israel were eagerly expecting the Messiah to execute against their Roman oppressors. That Messianic task will come with the apocalypse of the last days. For now, the Kingdom will advance through redemptive acts of kindness, comfort, deliverance, salvation and sacrificial acts of love, even toward our enemies.

The Kingdom of God advances when we do the will of our Father in heaven by keeping his commands. The great summarising principle of the Torah as taught by Yeshua is the command to love God (Deuteronomy 6:5) and one another (Leviticus 19:18). Indeed, for Jesus, acts of love, kindness and charity toward our neighbour (made in the image of God) are the necessary and truest ways we love God. This is why the two commands essentially are one (Galatians 5:14).

As followers of the Rabbi from Nazareth we continually benefit by the Lord’s favour. Surely our actions should reveal His favour to others, especially the Jewish people. One important way is to help them return to the land of the Israel from where they have been scattered to!

Dwight A. Pryor
Founder and President of the Center for Judaic-Christian Studies in the USA, www.jcstudies.com Dwight was a speaker at the 2006 Operation Exodus UK Conference.

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Why Replacement Theology Must Be Rejected!
Replacement Theology teaches that the Church has replaced Israel in God’s plan. Those who promote it believe that the Jews are no longer God’s chosen people, and that God sees Israel as no different from any other nation.

They would say that the promises made to Israel through the prophets of old no longer apply to Israel but will be fulfilled in the Church. Therefore all the blessings for, and the restoration of, Israel should be seen in a spiritual context as applying to the Church, which is now the new ‘spiritual Israel’.

Such a view begs a number of questions, however. Why were the promises made in the first place if God didn’t intend to keep them? How is it that the modern Jewish state has been miraculously restored after 2,000 years? If God has condemned the nation how is it that they have survived every attempt to destroy them? Why do intelligent men and women within the Church find it impossible to accept that when God says ‘I will’, that is exactly what He means? (Ezekiel 36:21-38).

Some scripture is poetic or allegorical but in the main we understand that the accounts of history and all the predictions are to be taken literally – this can be confirmed through history and through the many prophecies already fulfilled. A prime example of this is the birth, life, death and resurrection of the Messiah. So, with all the fulfilled prophecies being fulfilled literally, should we not expect all other predictions to be literal as well? We tread on dangerous ground if we take any other view.

Scripture teaches us very clearly that there is an unmistakable distinction between Israel and the Church. Israel is God’s firstborn son (Exodus 4:22); Israel is the wife of God (Isaiah 54:5); Israel is the choicest vine (Isaiah 5:2), where the Messiah is the personalisation of that (John 15:5); Israel are the natural branches of the olive tree, the symbol of God’s blessings (Romans 11:16-23). The Church is adopted (Ephesians 1:5); the Church is the Bride of the Messiah, (Revelation 21:2); the Church of believing Jews and Gentiles are the first fruits of the Gospel, (James 1:18); members of the Church (born-again believers in Jesus) are the unnatural branches of the olive tree which must be grafted in to experience the blessings.

The best source of teaching in direct contrast to Replacement Theology is found in Paul’s letters, supported by Peter and James. Paul is proud of his Jewishness, using his own position as an example (Romans 11:1). If God has cast off all the Jews, he says, so that none can be saved, how is it that he is saved? The fact that Paul is a believer in the Messiah means that the evidence is clear: God has definitely not cast off the Jews. In Romans chapter 9 we read that the privileges of sonship, of glory, the covenants, the Law, the service of God and all the promises still remain the sole possession of Israel. Although the main body of Jews rejected their Messiah this was not a surprise to God; it was within His plan of redemption from the beginning of time, for the Messiah was ‘the Lamb, slain from the foundation of the world’, (Revelation 13:8). Yet there has always been a remnant of believers, as Paul acknowledges in Romans 11:2-6.

Clear assurance as any to believers that God is the promise keeper is found in Romans 11:25-26. This further shows Replacement Theology to be patently untrue.

Edward Thomas