Man at the Well - March 6, 2014

Shalom Chaverim,

The Man at the Well

 As I’ve shared before, immigration clients can be fascinating and unusual people and often have bizarre stories. The Man at the Well is one of them. Most of you are familiar with the New Testament story of the woman at the well. Yeshua met a Samaritan woman at what is called Jacob’s well, named after the patriarch Jacob of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob lore. It’s a great story, but the point for my update is that Yeshua said to her at one point, “the fact is you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband.”

The Man at the Well is Israeli born and had lived in the US for nine years. In 2008 he was deported back to Israel for being in the US without legal status. He tried to return in 2010 but was told he was barred from reentry for 10 years. While in the US, he helped to start what became a large and very profitable company. He wanted me to help him find a way back to the US.  Immigration law often can be complex. Of course, you must understand the facts of a case before figuring out how the law applies. This is especially true when someone has been deported. So, as usual I asked him to provide me a timeline of his period in the US.

He apparently entered the US in 1999 on a French passport – his mother was French. In 2001 he married an American woman. Within a few weeks, he discovered his wife was having an affair with his brother, so he divorced her. He and his brother now are partners in this large, profitable company, and he remains good friends with his former wife, who has four children with his brother. In his view, “que sera, sera.” In 2002 he married his second wife, and she applied for immigration for him. He was about to receive his green card, which would have resolved all of his problems, but instead he fell for another woman, so he decided not to pursue the green card and divorced wife no. 2. He then married wife no. 3, and she applied for a green card for him. However, he discovered she was involved in criminal activity (don’t know what it was and didn’t ask – better at this point, not to know). He then divorced her, again before receiving a green card.

Somewhere along the line, he married an Israeli woman, wife no. 4, who happened to be in the States. It’s unclear if he married her while still married to wife no. 3 because he only went to a rabbi in NY for a Jewish wedding.  Neither he nor the rabbi ever registered the marriage with any civil authority, so there’s no record of the marriage. He then went to an interview with respect to his green card application absent wife no. 3 – the American criminal. He was told without her he could not get his green card. This part is confusing because I’m unsure if he had divorced her yet and was married to wife no. 4. Anyway, a week later he was picked up by the Immigration police (ICE) and put in detention. 10 days later he was deported back to Israel.

Wife no. 4 followed him back to Israel. He then contacted the rabbi in NY who sent him the marriage papers, and he registered his marriage with wife no. 4 in Israel. Sometime afterward, he and wife no. 4 got into an argument. He went to another rabbi in Israel and received a get (Jewish religious divorce decree), but then made up with her, so they still live together (technically unmarried) with their two children.

After listening to all of this and writing down a time-line, I was exhausted. That’s when I remembered the New Testament’s woman at the well story and realized I was talking to a modern Man at the Well. I was tempted to tell him, but figured he probably was not familiar with the New Testament, and besides, I wanted him as a client, and the story probably would offend him. (Years ago, while rabbi at Tikvat Israel congregation, I did meet a woman who had been married 5 times, and I told her she reminded me of the woman at the well. As you can imagine, it didn’t go over too well – no pun intended.) I did tell him his story should be on a soap opera; I’m not sure he got it.

We discussed his case, and I thought he had a chance of returning to the States – maybe now as a Mormon. Wife or un-wife no. 4 then showed up with their two kids. They explained both kids were American citizens because they were born in the States, and now they all wanted to return to the States. I said there was no chance unless they were officially married. That set off a barrage of Hebrew between the two of them. I’m not sure what the problem was – I mean five times must be the charm.

After more research at home, I realized his case for re-entry to the States was weak. I informed him. He seemed discouraged. It’s also a pity because I probably lost a decent case. But I will always remember I met the Man at the Well.

Tours

We also met with two tour groups within the past week. Believe it or not, the first one was supposed to have included Jeff Foxworthy, the comedian and TV celebrity. Apparently, he got injured just before the trip and had to cancel, but we did meet his wife – very sweet woman. Stacy played some songs, and I shared our story. Folks were very interested and asked tons of questions. See the poor quality pic of Stacy and me answering questions. This particular tour was organized by our daughter, Amy, who works for a tour company here, so she and her boyfriend, Ephraim, were also present. They stayed with us over the weekend, and after services on Saturday, we went to a well-known site in Haifa that overlooks the Mediterranean. See the much better pic of Stacy and me.

The second group came from our former city, Richmond, and led by our very close friend and former co-worker, Paul Klassen. He brought with him many folks that we knew in Richmond. This time they came to our house, 25 strong, first piling out of the tour bus that probably unnerved our neighbors. We showed them the house, the destroyed wadi out back (grrrr!) and answered questions about life in Israel. We then met them the following night (last night) at their hotel where again Stacy played some songs, and I shared about our experiences.

Meeting the tour groups helped me formulate an idea of making our law firm better known and more available to Americans. Our firm is perfectly situated to offer services to American businesses or organizations that want to do business in Israel. I can represent American interests, and my partners can handle the Israeli side. So, I thought why not create a brochure about our firm in English that appealed to Americans and Europeans and then make them available to tour groups. Consequently, I designed a brochure that’s now at the printer. I’m attaching a copy for your interest.

The Richmond House

 Once again issues have arisen with our house in Richmond. When we moved, we contracted for a home warranty service to cover appliances in the house. We used it once for something small. Just recently, we were informed there were problems with the oven and washing machine. I told our friend who is managing the house to contact the warranty company. The warranty company informed him the contract ended a few weeks ago. I had renewed the policy in January, so I knew that didn’t make sense. I contacted the company from here who told me a payment on my credit card didn’t go through, so they canceled the policy. Of course, I was never informed, and when I called our bank about it (the card is a bank debit card), they had no record of any declines on the account, and there were sufficient funds in the account. I tried explaining it to the insurance company (you know what that’s like). The woman was like Robocop, simply repeating over and over that payment was not made; therefore the policy was canceled. According to her, there was nothing they could do. So, once again, we’re faced with another financial hit. I’m seriously considering contacting the mob and requesting their help to torch the place, and then I’ll take the insurance money. But seriously, we need prayer.

Adonai Shamah

 For those wanting to make tax deductible contributions to our ministry, you can send checks payable to Adonai Shamah Congregation (our congregation here), 2510 Stratford Road, Richmond, Virginia 23225. Thank you for your assistance.

 Lehitraot (see you later), Jamie Cowen

The Move and Plan in Israel Part 1

Rise and Value of Modern Messianic Judaism

Despite Christianity arising out of Judaism, beginning in the second century, Judaism and Christianity parted ways.  Their mutual histories became painful, especially for the Jewish people, as millions of Jews were slaughtered over numerous centuries by so-called Christians.  Following the Holocaust, major Christian leaders began to reconsider a theology that led to the tragedies of the Holocaust and other anti-Semitic events.  Thus, a new dialogue opened with Jewish leaders.  At the same time the modern nation of Israel was established.  In a sense, Christianity became more Jewish friendly.  Accompanying these changes, two other seemingly unrelated events lead to a surge of Jewish young people embracing Jesus as Messiah.  The first was the recapture of Jerusalem by the Jewish people in the Six-day war of 1967.  This apparently fulfilled a prophecy uttered by Jesus (Luke 21:24), leading to what is known as the fullness of the Gentiles.  The Apostle Paul may have well expanded upon this event in Romans 11:25 where the fullness of the Gentiles is associated with the turning back of the Jewish people to the Messiah.  In other words, if the two passages are connected, then following the return of Jerusalem to Jewish control, large numbers of Jews suddenly should embrace Jesus as Messiah. 

The second was the rise of the hippie movement.  Many of the hippies were Jewish young people.  As the ideals of the hippie movement waned, a significant number turned to Jesus and became the Jesus People.  Many were Jews.  These new Jewish Christians were not satisfied with a traditional Christianity that was historically anti-Semitic.  Hence, many of them gathered together for a more Jewish expression of their newly found faith and with it formed modern Messianic Judaism. 

Today, there are approximately 1000 Messianic Jewish congregations in the world with over 150 in Israel.  These congregations have provided a home for thousands of Jews who embrace Jesus as Messiah as well as assisting the larger Church of understanding her Jewish roots.  Both Jesus (Matthew 23:23) and Paul (Romans 11:25-26) suggest that the coming of Jews to the Messiah prefaces Jesus’ return to the earth. 

The Move and Plan in Israel Part 2

Messianic Jews Face Persecution in Israel

The numbers of Jews in Israel coming to Yeshua and the rise of Messianic Judaism was slow until the 1990s.  This changed with the huge immigration of Jews from Russia beginning in the 1990s – a number of them had come to faith in Russia through Messianic Jewish outreaches.  (In fact, I had the privilege of teaching many of them while still in Russia through Messianic Jewish Bible schools.)  In addition, some Messianic Jewish leaders from America and elsewhere also immigrated to Israel around the same time, and within a few years had started Messianic Jewish congregations.  These actions began to influence the Israeli population in the 2000s.  Whereas 15 years ago, the Messianic Jews in Israel numbered around 3000, today they number around 15,000, housed in approximately 150 congregations.  Previously, Messianic Jews in Israel were marginalized.   Over the past two years, however, Messianic Jews have been the subject of news reports on television, radio and the print media in Israel, often portrayed very sympathetically.  In the past government and political leaders have steered clear of Messianic Jews and issues that affect them.  Now, that is no longer the case.  Messianic Jewish issues are now lumped together with other minority groups’ needs when discussed in public forums.

Still Messianic Jews often are targeted by the ultra-Orthodox community, which has significant influence in the government.  As examples, in the spring, 2008, a teen-age son of a Messianic leader attempted to open an apparent gift basket, which turned out to be a bomb.  Miraculously, he survived but sustained very serious injuries.  Camera footage captured the placement of the bomb, and it is apparent that the ultra-Orthodox were involved, but up to this point the government has taken no action.  (In November, 2009, the apparent perpetrator was arrested – he is ultra-Orthodox).  In another case, one of my daughters was prevented from immigrating due to her faith.  She and eleven others won an Israeli Supreme Court case in the spring, 2008, forcing the government to grant her citizenship.  Certain leaders of Israeli Messianic congregations have been informed by the government that they may have their citizenship revoked due to their faith.  Finally, my wife and I were arrested, detained and almost deported in December, 2008, for our faith - only the intervention of legal and political assistance prevented it, all reported in a Jerusalem Post story.

There are now many Christian and Jewish organizations around the world that raise significant sums of money to meet humanitarian needs in the Israel.  But we discovered a huge problem.  The donated money circumvents the Messianic Jewish organizations in Israel, despite the fact that many are involved in humanitarian projects.  To respond to this situation, in 2007 I and others formed another organization called the Hope for Israel Relief Fund.  Over the past 25 years there has been increasing interest in the worldwide Church towards the nation of Israel.  This is clear from the surge of Christian financial donations to Israel.  In one particular example, a Jewish rabbi raises approximately $60 million/year for Israel, primarily from Christian donations.  I personally have spoken to the leaders of the donating organizations, and the reason given for not cooperating with the Messianic Jewish community is the fear of creating a rift with the larger Jewish community.  As a result we formed Hope for Israel, whose goals are to raise money from the church world in order to channel it through the Messianic community in Israel to meet the humanitarian needs of the larger population.  This empowers the Messianic Jewish community within the land of Israel.  The Messianic community in the land is very excited about our plans.