Entering into 2021 we want to reflect on how God worked in and through us as a community this past year. While there were challenges and difficulties we overcame, there were also opportunities to rejoice together. As we recap, here are the top five most read community news stories on Kehila News Israel from 2020.
1. Messianic moshav, Yad HaShmona, arranges balcony worship during coronavirus crisis
May 30, 2020
In the video uploaded to YouTube [above], a worship team sings from a highly situated balcony in Yad HaShmona with microphones and loudspeakers. Neighbors from around the moshav joined them from their balconies with about 30 more connected through the “Zoom” app.
2. Messianic congregation wins legal battle against anti-missionaries
June 26, 2020
A Messianic congregation in Ashdod won a court case this week against the anti-missionary organization, Yad l’Achim after years of prolonged harassment.
“They harassed us for so long. We filed dozens of complaints with the police and nothing happened so eventually we went to court,” Ludmila Zakharchuk, lawyer for Congregation Beit Hallel, told KNI. “We won the court case just a few days ago.”
3. Three youth ambushed, beaten near embattled Messianic outreach in Jerusalem
February 29, 2020
In a dramatic escalation of violence, three Orthodox Jewish young men were ambushed by other Orthodox Jews last week and severely beaten — and one even stabbed — after they left a Messianic home for disenfranchised youth.
Adullam, the ministry house in Jerusalem, has come under intense attack in the last few weeks, but until this point no one had been physically injured. The violence escalated late last week, however, when some young people leaving the home were assaulted with a broken wine bottle, one beaten unconscious and one stabbed. Two of the three were rushed by ambulance to the hospital.
4. Christian criticism, Messianic support for Israeli channel run by believers
May 14, 2020
Shelanu TV, the first ever Messianic channel in Hebrew, started to air on Israeli cable TV in the beginning of May – and immediately sparked controversy in the Jewish state.
Resistance from the religious establishment in the government and from anti-missionary organizations like Yad l’Achim was expected. But an attack from evangelical TV host Laurie Cardoza-Moore came as a surprise. The founder of Proclaiming Justice to The Nations, a pro-Israel advocacy organization, sent a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urging him to take the channel down.
5. Engaged in a military tank! Messianic couple’s proposal makes Israeli news
June 18, 2020
The elaborate engagement of an Israeli Messianic couple — which involved having to secure the agreement of an army base and cooperation of tank brigade commanders — was featured on the morning show of Israel’s Channel 12 last week and reported on the online news site Mako and Yedioth Ahronoth’s Facebook page.
And for good reason: Tal Bass proposed to Eden Ronen in a military tank during her reserve duty three weeks ago.