Two thousand seven sounds way too futuristic to actually be only days away!  This past year seemed to come and go with such speed that I had no problem understanding the following scripture:

Psalm 39:5 You have made my days a mere handbreadth; the span of my years is as nothing before you. Each man’s life is but a breath.

As the day’s whiz by we need to all the more make sure we are living according to God’s plan.

Psalm 90:12 So teach us to number our days, That we may gain a heart of wisdom.

This year we have especially asked ourselves, “Are we crazy?  Why did we choose to live in this fast paced, ridiculously expensive, crowded city?”  The only comforting answer was, “This was not our choice!”  The only reason we are here is because God called us to be here. When we lived in Russia and Kazakhstan, we expected life to be inundated with challenges beyond our capability to handle them. We did not expect the same in America! After two years there is no question about it: New York City is a world unto itself and living here is unlike living anywhere else in the world.

Where else does a kid have no need for parental chauffeuring?  Our children can get anywhere in the city on their own! They do not need us for transportation. This is scary! The NYC subway and bus system eliminates the need for mom or dad to drive kids anywhere in this city!  There is no such thing here as a “soccer mom”!  Our 15 year old son figured this out at least two years ago!  The child/parent dependency formula loses its potency here in New York!  I am sincerely asking you to please pray for our children and especially for us their parents! I never took a course on how to raise a teenage son, let alone in New York City! This is no easy place to raise kids.  Yet on the other hand, where else in the world can children make movies as a hobby?  Parents from all over the world take their children here to audition for movie roles.  Our kids take the cross-town bus to do the same!  Our little nine year old Ariana has already been in two films!  And I thought their lives were interesting in Kazakhstan!

We would like to ask you to especially remember our 15 year old son Yaron in your prayers. New York City is a dangerous place for teenagers.  I grew up in New York and before I was rescued by the Lord I was a pretty wild kid. Since the acorn does not fall far from the tree we trust our prayers and yours will keep Yaron from needing a major rescue by the Lord like his dad did some 30 years ago.

ONE BY ONE

Yeshua did not work closely with multitudes of people. He carefully chose his disciples one by one.  The Kingdom of God is built one “brick” at a time.

John 1:43 The following day Yeshua wanted to go to Galilee, and He found Philip and said to him, “Follow Me.”

Here in New York City the Lord has led us to establish solid relationships with those He has ordained us to disciple and work closely with. Kingdom relationships take time to cultivate but once they are established they can withstand the storms of life. There is a growing number of individuals here in New York City that have become part of our lives. I want you to meet and pray for each one of them.  I believe each one has been called by God to be an instrumental part of His plan to reach the Jewish people in New York City.

I want you to meet Bruce Barlin:  Bruce like me grew up in a Jewish home in Brooklyn, New York. Bruce grew up in Boro Park which is still a very orthodox Jewish neighborhood. It is amazing how we met. Bruce was listening to a Christian radio station when he heard an announcement from the Messianic Jewish Alliance appealing for donations for needy Ethiopian Jews.  Bruce who is a generous brother phoned the Alliance to make a contribution on their automated phone system. Somehow the procedure was interrupted due to a technical problem and Bruce was forced to call customer service.  While on the phone one of the Alliance workers found out Bruce was a Jewish believer living in New York City.  She immediately told him about me.  Bruce’s mouth dropped open. Was this the same Jeffrey Bernstein he knew back in the nineteen eighties?  He phoned me the next day and sure enough I was the guy!  It turned out that over twenty years ago I was at Bruce’s wedding ceremony blessing and slicing the challah which is the traditional bread eaten at Jewish festivals.

Jeff breaking bread at Bruce’s wedding

It was a God ordained reunion.  Bruce had left the faith many years ago but recently had a supernatural encounter with God that caused him to return with fear and trembling.  Up until that call, I would say, Bruce had his own radio ministry.  What I mean is that the full extent of Bruce’s spiritual life was listening to Christian radio eight hours a day as he (delete)daily drove his “pet limousine” throughout New York City.

Bruce soon realized that he also needed to be with live believers in addition to his radio teachers and that he has an awesome calling on his life. He has since become a dear friend again and a committed partner in the great work that lies before us in the city that never sleeps.

CHANUKAH

In Brooklyn when I was growing up, Chanukah was totally swallowed up by Christmas. How could our eight little candles possibly compete with rows of  homes even entire city blocks lit up with dazzling arrays of multicolored flickering lights, elaborately decorated Christmas trees planted in glistening gold, green, red and blue boxes of perfectly wrapped presents and gigantic figures of reindeers complete with blinking red noses, sleighs, Santas, snowmen, angels and animals including life size figures of Joseph, Mary and Baby Jesus. The funny thing is that this very real first century Jewish family, whose graven images adorned so many snow covered lawns, actually celebrated Chanukah and knew nothing about Christmas!

Leave it to my people!  Not only did the huge Christmas season yield fantastic profits for Jewish and Gentile retailers alike but we also managed to turn Chanukah which was a minor holiday into a formidable competitor!  Chanukah became the Jewish Christmas!  In New York City nowadays and throughout the USA Jewish families celebrate Chanukah with far more gusto then when I was growing up. Unfortunately that enthusiasm will also be seen on those hefty credit card bills in January!

Even though Chanukah has become larger than life and although New York is such a Jewish city it still cannot really compete with the way Christmas overtakes Manhattan in December.  While strolling through New York’s Rockefeller Center I was inundated with Christmas decorations everywhere but anything to do with Chanukah was very hard to find.

Like Christmas, Chanukah has also become “all about presents”.  There is a perplexing irony here.  Even-though most serious students of the bible discount December 25th as the birthday of the Messiah, the intended meaning of the day has been lost to commercialism. The celebration of a miraculous birth has given way to full blown worldliness.  The irony is that Chanukah commemorates the victory of biblical faith over hedonistic, secularism!  The message of Chanukah directly opposes the modern materialistic worldliness that now saturates both holidays!

I suspect that most Jews and Christians alike do not know that the only time Chanukah is mentioned in scripture is in the gospel of John!

John 10: 22-23 Now it was the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, and it was winter. And Jesus walked in the temple, in Solomon’s porch.

Chanukah is the Hebrew word for dedication. The Feast of Dedication commemorates the cleansing of the temple and the dedication of the altar by Judas Maccabeus after its desecration by Antiochus Epiphanies. This took place between 170 and 160 BC.  A feast has been since held by Jews throughout the world for eight days, commencing on the 25th day of Kislev (usually in December). When the altar was dedicated and the eternal flame of the menorah rekindled tradition tells us it was discovered that there was only enough oil to last for one day. Miraculously according to our sages, the oil lasted eight days until a new supply arrived.  We therefore light one candle each night in remembrance of that miracle. Chanukah was to be kept like the Feast of (omit “the”) Tabernacles, with the carrying of palms and other branches, and the singing of psalms. Josephus called the festival “Lights”. It was at this winter feast at the Temple in Jerusalem that Yeshua delivered the discourse recorded in John 10.

THE MEANING OF CHANUKAH FOR US

During the reign of the wicked Antiochus, the Jewish people were compelled to adopt the customs of the Greeks and abandon worship of the One True God.  There was a gymnasium set up in the Holy City Jerusalem and some Jews even removed their marks of circumcision. (How they did this is beyond me!)

There was a spirit at work in Antiochus.  The Hellenistic culture of that day denied God and glorified man.  The worldliness we see today in our culture is not so unlike the Greek culture back then.  I believe we followers of the Messiah today are in the same danger as the Jews were in the days of Antiochus. The apostle Yochanon (John) saw there would be a battle of cultures that would challenge us. He wrote:

1 John 2:15-18 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world — the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life — is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever. Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour.

The temptations of this world reach out to us with its’ deadly invisible tentacles.  There are influential leaders in our midst today full of deception and sin who like Antiochus seek to bring God’s children into the darkness of this world.  You can see and hear them on television and the internet and read their words in our magazines and newspapers.  The apostle Peter spoke of them as false teachers of destruction.  If we are not careful we can easily be sucked in to their web of promised pleasures complete with their denial of God and holiness.

2 Peter 2:14-22 They have eyes full of adultery, insatiable for sin. They entice unsteady souls. They have hearts trained in greed. Accursed children! These are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm; for them the nether gloom of darkness has been reserved. For, uttering loud boasts of folly, they entice with licentious passions of the flesh men who have barely escaped from those who live in error. They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption; for whatever overcomes a man, to that he is enslaved. For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Yeshua the Messiah, they are again entangled in them and overpowered, the last state has become worse for them than the first. For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them. It has happened to them according to the true proverb, The dog turns back to his own vomit, and the sow is washed only to wallow in the mire.

The spirit at work in Antiochus was a spirit of Antichrist (Antimessiah).  Antiochus entered the temple and orchestrated the greatest abomination by sacrificing a pig at the altar.  The Antichrist will also defile the temple and even claim to be God!

2 Thess 2:3-4 Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.

I believe that we will see an increase of attacks upon biblical faith in the coming years.  Those of us who believe in God and Yeshua His Son will be seen by the world as being out of touch with reality and even dangerous!

John 15:18-19 “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.

There is a choice that lies before all of us.  Like those of Israel Moses spoke to, we too must decide:

Deuteronomy 30:19 “I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live;

It is my earnest prayer that you and your loved ones will continually choose life through your love and obedience toward our Lord and Messiah Yeshua. Now, during this season, and always He is, the Light of the World.

END OF YEAR GIVING

This newsletter ended and I forgot to ask for your help!  There is so much to share about the true meaning of Chanukah that I really got carried away.  I did not even mention about the “Shammas”, the center “servant” candle that we use to light all the other candles.  The Shammas so clearly points to Yeshua.  He is the Light of the World and we in turn are also the lights of the world.

John 8:12 Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”

Matthew 5:14 “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.

Like the Chanukah candles we are lit by the light of the Shammas – the Servant!

Bringing the light of the world to the Jewish people who live and work in New York City is a task way beyond anything we have ever attempted.  Our expenses in Russia and Kazakhstan were meager compared to the costs to live and minister in New York City.  Our faith has been stretched and strengthened beyond comprehension in that the Lord has supplied all our needs for over two full years in this city.  The Lord has worked mightily through your generosity and faithful giving these past two years and for that we are indebted to you.  I will never forget hearing a preacher once say that if you seek first his Kingdom the Lord will provide all your needs. He added a keen reminder that the Lord Himself has no money!  Money, He entrusts to people!  We are so grateful for your faithfulness in giving.  Because I know you believe in what we are doing, I am confident you will respond as I ask you to once again prayerfully consider entrusting a generous amount of the money God has entrusted to you to invest in our work here in New York City.   New York can be a dark place but the light of Messiah shines all the more brilliantly in dark places! I trust God will supply the anointing, boldness and wisdom to get the job done but it is your gifts and prayers that supply the oil that enables our light to so brightly shine among the Jews and the Gentiles in this great city!

May the Lord bless you abundantly now and always and may His peace rest upon you mightily during this holiday season.

Warmly with the Love and affection of Yeshua,

Jeff

Your co-laborer serving Yeshua – A light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, And the glory of Your people Israel.” (Luke 2:32)

I thank-you in advance for your generosity and faithfulness for supporting the ministry of the Gates of Zion. Your year end donations are tax deductible for 2006.  You will receive a receipt in the mail.

E-mail: goz@pactec.net

Web site: www.gatesofzion.net

As the Lord inspires please mail your gift to the Gates of Zion.

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