Opinions in Letters to the Editor do not necessarily reflect those of the newsroom or management of North Central Ohio Media Group.
In the Old Testament, the prophet Zechariah says in 2:8, “For this is what the Lord Almighty says, “After he has honored me and has sent me against the nations that have plundered you – for whoever touches you touches the apple of His eye.”
And again, in the Book of Zechariah 8:1-3, “Again the word of the Lord Almighty came to me. This is what the Lord Almighty says, “I am very jealous for Zion; I am burning with jealousy for her.”
This is what the Lord says: “I will return to Zion and dwell in Jerusalem. Then Jerusalem will be called the City of Truth, and the mountain of the Lord Almighty will be called the Holy Mountain.”
Over six million Jewish people were killed in Concentration Camps during WWII. Why? Simply because they were Jewish. They were and always have been and still are God’s chosen people.
Beginning back to the time of Abraham and down to today God has called out a people “who were no people to be His treasured possession” – “The apple of His eye.”
The Jewish people have suffered much throughout history. There were the Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition, and the Pogroms of the early 20th century. Remember “Fiddler on the Roof?”
But Adolf Hitler and the Nazis took it up to a whole new level in World War II with “The Final Solution.” Ann Frank and her family were only one of many families who hid out. For them it was in a factory warehouse. But eventually they were found and sent to the Concentration Camps as a part of the “Final Solution.”
Corrie Ten Boom’s father was a watchmaker and helped to run an underground escape route for Jewish people seeking to escape the Nazis. He too knew that if his family was caught helping the Jewish people escape, they would face the same punishment, torture, and death as those they were seeking to help.
Corrie asked her father at one point, “Why are we doing this for these people?” His response was, “As a Christian we can do no less.”
And then we can remember Schindler from the movie “Schindler’s List” as he helped to rescue Jewish men, women, and children after Krystal Nacht – “The Night of Broken Glass.”
The movie was in black and white, and the only colored scene was when the Nazi soldiers were carrying out the bodies of those they had killed. In the middle of one of the litters was a red coat – worn by a little 3 three old Jewish girl.
I have been to Israel and seen the cemetery where Schindler was buried. He is the only Gentile buried amid a Jewish cemetery.
I have been to Israel 3 times and looked into the eyes of Palestinian children as they sold souvenirs on the streets to make money for their next meal. So it was hard for me to watch the news last night and see the destruction wrought on a hospital in the Gaza Strip. But it was also hard to watch the scenes from the week before as Hamas invaded Israel.
I am pro-Israeli. But it is still hard to watch a war play out on both sides and all throughout the Middle East.
So, Trinity Lutheran Church in Crestline, Ohio is inviting the community to join us for a Prayer Vigil this Sunday October 22, 2023, at 6:00 p.m. to pray for Israel and the whole Middle East and all our world.