Jewish issues would not be something that one would think would impact a small town such as Narrabri, but in fact, journalist and the Chief Executive of the New South Wales Jewish Board of Deputies, Vic Alhadeff, came to speak at the Christian Outreach Centre on the night of the 29th November.
While Israeli issues are not something that necessarily confront us on a local level, Vic, came to speak to numerous groups around our area, including the mayor of Gunnedah, about different issues affecting the Jewish community within NSW and further abroad.
His role in his position as Chief Executive of the New South Wales Jewish Board of Deputies is to be proactive in bringing a good public outlook to Jews, an outlook that is severely tainted, from even further back than the Holocaust. This includes bringing together high school children such as Jews, Muslims and Christians to be able to explore each others cultures in a neutral environment, along with speaking in schools to promote a positive image of Jews.
In other cases, his job is to react to blatant defamation of Jews both in NSW, Australia and abroad. While the Australian government as a general whole is supportive of the Jewish community, there are many attempts in the media and community to defame and degrade the name of Israel.
While this may not be an issue of which you were previously aware, it will never hurt to broaden our horizons to include the people of a nation that is so often in the news, and to dig deeper for the truth on an often misunderstood and rejected people.
As Christians, our responsibility goes even deeper. Israel is the most mentioned country in the Bible, and the place where Jesus walked and lived. Without the Jews we would not have our rich heritage and many of our traditions.
Israel is a nation close the to the heart of God, and it is a topic well worth delving into for our own study of what God has to say about this nation. If you have never studied this topic, it is well worth the look, for we need to ‘study to show ourselves approved,’ searching the scriptures so that we may know for ourselves the truth of the matter.
Acts 17:11 and 2 Timothy 2:15
New South Wales Jewish Board of Deputies: www.nswjbd.org
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