"And the man asked him, saying, What seekest thou? And he said, I seek my brethren" (Gen. 37:15, 16).
Rabbi William B. Silverman, in the preface to his interesting book Rabbinic Stories for Christian Ministers and Teachers, relates the following story from Jewish tradition in an attempt to help Christians to better understand the human relationship of Christianity and Judaism.
A man was lost in a jungle. "He tried desperately to find his way out, but to no avail. Suddenly, fear clutched at his throat as he beheld coming toward him from a distance what seemed to be a wild and ferocious beast. He wanted to run, but terror held him rooted to the spot. As the beast came closer, he noticed with considerable relief that it looked like a tame and domesticated animal. As the beast came still closer, he could discern the figure of a man. Summoning all of his courage, he advanced to meet the man. When he extended his hand in fellowship and looked into the man's eyes with understanding, he made an amazing discovery. It was not a wild and ferocious beast. It was not a domesticated animal. It was not even an ordinary human being. It was his own brother."
Rabbi Silverman adds to this story the following thought:
"If we will only stop talking about our religious faith, and begin to live by our faith—by taking a few steps in the direction of our fellow man, by looking into his eyes with understanding, by extending our hands and our hearts in fellowship—we, too, may find that he is our own brother."—Ibid.
Of the 12 million Jews in the world, approximately 5 million live in North America. Regarding these, we are concerned with the challenge proposed by Rabbi Silverman, that we extend "our hands and our hearts in fellowship," to those whom God would have us seek for as our "brethren."
In our seeking for souls, the Jews are not to be passed by. God loves these people just as He loves all other people in the world. The third angel's message is also to be presented to them in its fullness. We understand that there is to be a great in-gathering of Jews into the fold of God before the work closes.
One of the avenues by which we may reach these sons and daughters of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, is that of the magazine Israelite. On March 21 special opportunity is to be given to all church members in North America to send this important denominational quarterly journal to Jewish people in their community or to provide money for subscriptions for a list of names furnished by others. An encouraging word from our ministers will be helpful in meeting the challenge of Rabbi Silverman. (See March GO magazine for more information.) Rabbinic Stories for Christian Ministers and Teachers is published by the Abingdon Press, New York.
