In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India, I have the tragic news to write and tell you that among the victims were two emissaries of the Lubavitch group of Orthodox Jewish Hasidim. They were tortured and killed while their two-year-old child was rescued by his nanny only hours earlier (see article from the Lubavitch website — http://www.chabad.org/news/article_cdo/aid/773691/jewish/Mumbai-Jewish-Family-Killed.htm).
This is indeed a tragedy as the lives of two Orthodox Jews were killed by Muslim terrorists in India. However, to me the greater tragedy is two-fold — (1) what they died for; and (2) their zeal for a lie that is not emulated by Christians who know the truth.
These two well-meaning people died in attempting to spread the message of the deceased rebbe Menachem Schneerson who taught his followers that if all Jewish people in the world would observe the Shabbat correctly and at the same time the Messiah would return. They believed in Rabbi Schneerson and his message to the point that they sacrificed their lives to spread his message. A message that did not result in their eternal relationship with Messiah Jesus. However, these two emissaries (schliachs) were not alone in their zeal. For the Lubavitch Orthodox Jewish “missionaries” go where ever a Jewish person might be — even in India — to spread the false message of Scheerson.
Today I am angry. Angry at the senseless murders of two good people who lived a life of devotion to a message that they have now discovered is a lie. Angry at the Islamic terrorists who thought it was all right to murder them … simply because they were Jews. But most of all I am angry — and this is only word that describes my thoughts — at the fact that while they gave their lives for a lie most Christians will not cross the street to reach a Jewish person with the Gospel message. I know that you blog readers might not be among those who feel this way but I know of people, mission agencies, and churches who simply do not care about Jewish missions, evangelism, and people.
Please pray for Tzedakah Ministries (www.tzedakahministries.org) as we seek to tear down those barriers to the Gospel message for the Jewish people. Please pray for me as I mourn the loss of two Jewish souls who exemplify the zeal without knowledge of Romans 10:1-4. We cannot pray for them but we can determine within ourselves that we will not allow this massacre to go unnoticed and seek ways to tell all Jewish people about the truth of the Gospel which is only found in Messiah Jesus.
Posted by Amy Downey of Tzedakah Ministries (www.tzedakahministries.org and www.mysterysolvedwithmessiahjesus.wordpress.com)