Mitchell,
I am glad you shared your friend’s story and the challenges he faced both with his Jewish parents and discussing his background with Christians. It is disheartening to hear, but all the more important to share. When I went to Israel with Passages, I was shocked to learn how deep the wound was (and continues to be) between Jews and Christians, originating with antisemitism espoused by many Christian leaders, including many from the Reformation who we highly praise in the larger Christian Church. Not only is it terribly sad to realize this history, but the tragedy continues in that the church seems to largely ignore this past to the detriment of our current relationships. For how can we “love our neighbors” in this conflict when Christians persecuted the great-grandfathers of the current generation and we neither discuss nor condemn that past? Perhaps if we do that more as a larger Church, we can flip the narrative.
