The Amish Apologize to Israel

www.israelnationalnews.com...

Close to 50 members of Amish Christian communities in the U.S.and Switzerland visited Israel last week for one reason: To apologize to the Jewish People.

The Ministry of Tourism announced that Bishop Ben Girod, of the Amish community in Idaho, led the delegation in submitting an official apology for having rejected Israel and the Jews.

In addition to touring various sites in Israel, the visitors met with Western Wall Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovitch, Deputy Jerusalem Mayor Naomi Tzur, Yad Vashem’s Shaya Ben-Yehuda, and Holocaust survivor Eliezer Ayalon. Many of the Amish looked almost hareidi, with their white shirts, black vests, and beards – though no mustaches.

The Amish are famous for shunning modern technology, yet they waived this restriction by boarding cars and an airplane in order to arrive in Israel for their apology. Both in the U.S. and Europe, the Amish have had a history of anti-Semitism, believing that Jews have been “replaced” by Christians and even that Hitler was G-d’s agent in punishing the Jews for their rejection of Jesus.

“We are here to say we are sorry,” Girod told Israel’s Channel 2 News during the group's visit to the Western Wall in Jerusalem. “We no longer want to reject you or look at you as not being G-d’s people. You were G-d’s people long before we were.” Another Amish member said, “Our people have had some bad attitudes toward the Jewish people and have rejected the Jewish people to a certain extent, and we have come to restore that and apologize.”

A declaration of apology and commitment, beautifully printed on parchment, was presented to Rabbi Rabinovitch on behalf of the entire Amish community. In the declaration, the Amish ask Israel’s forgiveness “for our collective sin of pride and selfishness by ignoring the plight of the Jewish people and the nation of Israel.”

The document states that the Amish will, from now on, speak out strongly in support of the Jews and the Jewish state.

This was not the first time Amish and Jews have made group contact. In April ‘09, a Chabad-Lubavitch community in New York City took a delegation of Amish from Pennsylvania on a walking tour of their neighborhood.

Does this sound fishy to anyone else?? I always believed that the Amish and the Mennonite surpass all other communities by far in their dedication and service to God. It sounds like even the Amish have been infiltrated now and to be honest, I really am a bit surprised.

I feel this was 'planned' and is a crucial move in directing a large mass of unsuspecting Christians towards syncretism in the heart of Israel. I don't know if the article is reliable, there are alot more out there on this but they all seem bigoted, in favor of Zionism to me. Then again, maybe it's the Amish who are being sneaky and intend to persuade the 'Jews' to convert to Christianity. I find the situation very interesting to say the least...

"....dedication and service to God"....
Do you know how much molestation and stuff happens in the Amish community. They are no better than anyone else.

reply to post by iamnot

have been infiltrated now and to be honest,

So just because a group who "were" known anti jewish has stood up, done the right thing, apologised for their actions, want to move on & they have been infiltrated? Thats pretty rich!. Why can't these people just be "Doing the right thing"? or try to "right a previous wrong they feel guilty for"?. It's not all a conspiracy!

It's interesting for any religious group that believes in the New Testament (NT) and follows it, and calls itself Christian, to actually recognize physical Israel.

The NT, which is to be accepted as the Christian's guiding principles, is clear that it moved away from physical Israel (and physical Jew) to spiritual Israel, composed of people from all nations, tribes, tongues (and as Paul wrote in his writings, he emphasized a spiritual Jew, who is not circumcized physically, but speaks of circumcision of the heart).

It's very interesting that even those who claim to be Christian have not investigated the texts on which they base their beliefs. If they did, they would know that there is no physical Israel any longer. Nor should there be any allegiance to ANY state or sovereign power. Christians are to remain strictly neutral in politics.

Oh well, very interesting though.

P.S. Any Christian group should never be anti-[any national or religious group], including the Jews. They are certainly right to apologize for earlier prejudices.

Originally posted by phatpackage
reply to post by iamnot

 

have been infiltrated now and to be honest,

So just because a group who "were" known anti jewish has stood up, done the right thing, apologised for their actions, want to move on & they have been infiltrated? Thats pretty rich!. Why can't these people just be "Doing the right thing"? or try to "right a previous wrong they feel guilty for"?. It's not all a conspiracy!

I'm not up on Amerish history but other than talk, have the Amerish people ever done anything to actually harm Israel or the Jews??
I don't remember hearing of anything, so is this just an apology for what they think?
That would sound strange to me..

reply to post by jetflock


Yes, I've heard the rumors. The catholics take the most heat for sex scandals and there's even a thread here about buddhist perversion. I agree, they are 'no better' than anyone else. The Accuser can have something to say for every group out there.

When it comes to spreading the message of God's gospel, I stand by what I've witnessed for myself, the Amish and the Mennonite do a good job. The Mennonites do better I think because they believe in being missionaries but they still look up to the Amish in a way. This apology is geared to affect the whole community in some effect.

If they held bitterness or hatred towards the Jewish people this is good and repentant.

*applause*

But where is the Conspiracy in this?

reply to post by iamnot


apologizing for referring to hitler as an 'agent of god' doesn't seem like anything but good to me, no matter how you feel about israel. glad to see they boarded some plains to get there, lol. before i reached that paragraph i was imagining some old fashion sail boats and wondering what year they set out in to make this mission, lol.

Very interesting...

Personally, I would be over joyed if ALL the worlds people apologised to each other for thinking each other are NOT God's people. We are ALL God's people afterall.

Perhaps they came to the sudden realisation of what Christ was teaching?

I love it!

With Love,

Your Brother

I found an interesting conversation about this apology at the following page.

amishamerica.com...

I’m actually not sure that these are in fact Amish people (ie, members of an Amish congregation), despite their “Amish” appearance. I’ve been told that some are actually no longer members, and some technically still are but may be heading in a different direction.

Since this is pretty uncharacteristic behavior for Amish on multiple counts, that would sound about right to me. I am all for inter-faith meetings but it struck me as odd that they would offer an apology regarding the Holocaust.



LucyComment on Tuesday brain dump: Amish dancing, lobbying for votes, and forgiveness in the Holy Land? (November 30th, 2010 at 10:31)
That “Amish” group that went to Israel are ex-Amish people who believe in faith healing but continue to dress Amish.They drive about America praying for people and are on facebook.



Erik/Amish AmericaComment on Tuesday brain dump: Amish dancing, lobbying for votes, and forgiveness in the Holy Land? (November 30th, 2010 at 10:38)
Lucy, I think for the most part that is true. They present themselves as Amish and maintain the dress but are not active members of a congregation, as I understand. However I am not sure that all of the visitors to Israel are technically outside the church.

The website is at www.lightofhopeministries.com...

and facebook is www.facebook.com...

There is a 4 minute interview with them on the Facebook page.



LucyComment on Tuesday brain dump: Amish dancing, lobbying for votes, and forgiveness in the Holy Land? (November 30th, 2010 at 10:59)
Here’s their page: www.facebook.com...#!/pages/Light-of-Hope-Ministries/131550060220826?v=wall



LucyComment on Tuesday brain dump: Amish dancing, lobbying for votes, and forgiveness in the Holy Land? (November 30th, 2010 at 11:00)
You bet me to it Erik!




Primitive ChristianityComment on Tuesday brain dump: Amish dancing, lobbying for votes, and forgiveness in the Holy Land? (November 30th, 2010 at 13:37)
Hmmm. I wonder if they will support the Palestinians, asking forgiveness for not raising their voice for when Israeli bulldozers plowed over their settlements?
Ouch!
Always dangerous for non-resistant people to take sides in political situations …
Mike




LucyComment on Tuesday brain dump: Amish dancing, lobbying for votes, and forgiveness in the Holy Land? (December 1st, 2010 at 07:01)
“Hmmm. I wonder if they will support the Palestinians, asking forgiveness for not raising their voice for when Israeli bulldozers plowed over their settlements?”

*Agrees*



Cleone
Comment on Tuesday brain dump: Amish dancing, lobbying for votes, and forgiveness in the Holy Land? (December 1st, 2010 at 07:29)
I wonder how many are truly Amish…I have met Amish playing online games…Do they do this
Cleone



LucyComment on Tuesday brain dump: Amish dancing, lobbying for votes, and forgiveness in the Holy Land? (December 1st, 2010 at 09:22)
jewschool.com...



Dena Casey
Comment on Tuesday brain dump: Amish dancing, lobbying for votes, and forgiveness in the Holy Land? (December 1st, 2010 at 13:02)
Mike, I don’t think it was a political move so much as a spiritual one. Amish know the Jews are the “chosen” people of the OT and as such Christians need to support them. However, the Arabs, while 1/2 siblings to the Jews do not worship the God of the Bible and while Christians should be praying for them, they are self-proclaimed enemies of God’s people.




Primitive ChristianityComment on Tuesday brain dump: Amish dancing, lobbying for votes, and forgiveness in the Holy Land? (December 2nd, 2010 at 08:23)
Dena,
There are several interesting points about this visit and the subsequent asking of forgiveness:
1. The “Amish” that went over there were not all “Amish.” The ones from here in Lancaster County, and Ben Girod (saw what I believe to be his face and thought I heard his name on the interview-but not 100% sure on that) are ex-Amish. Ben’s group in Idaho and NW Montana are actually sort of Pentecostals that still have some Amish clothes and practices left. Ben was part of the group that a few years back went to Switzerland and did the so-called “reconciliation” with the Reformed Church there, where the Reformed Church asked official forgiveness for the atrocities committed to the Anabaptists centuries ago. So this official asking of forgiveness is not new to Ben. The funny thing about that whole Swiss deal was that on the Internet there used to be (dont know if it still is) a scanned document of a letter signed by half a dozen Amish bishops saying they thought the whole idea of asking forgiveness for atrocities committed 10 generations ago to be sort of nonsense … their ancestors had long ago forgiven them.
2. The historical eschatology of the Amish church has never recognized the present State of Israel as anything significant. The Amish have historically been “amillenial.” At the recent Anabaptist Identity Conference here in Lancaster, the idea of present-day Israel having significance in prophecy was sort of blasted, and in fact there were pictures shown of Orthodox Jews burning an Israeli flag in protest of the present Israeli state. There was mention made there of the atrocities committed by Israel (and the Palestinian side), with the conclusion that the present State of Israel is not to be looked upon as a fulfillment of God’s kingdom, and that God’s people should be neutral in the conflict.
3. Probably 98% of the Amish people have no idea that this group was going to go and make statements about the Amish repenting for their silence of the holocaust and giving their support to Isreal now.
Now I said these three points to say this: How preposterous is it for a group of ex-Amish to go to Israel and make statements for the Amish, of whom 98% didnt even know they were going, and making statements that would sort of go against the historical (and present) Amish view concerning Israel?
Highly preposterous, not? :-0
It would sort of be like me–as a non-Amish– making an official apology to Erik for all the Polish jokes that the Amish have told. When in fact many of the Amish still tell them and don’t plan to quit.
Mike



Dena Casey
Comment on Tuesday brain dump: Amish dancing, lobbying for votes, and forgiveness in the Holy Land? (December 2nd, 2010 at 12:56)
I agree Mike that they went to make a blanket apology and were speaking for a group of people they may not have had permission to apologize for. My point was referring to the motivation behind it being spiritual rather than a political statement although I could be wrong! LOL

And that is where the conspiracy may be.

This group of jews and amish, could they be the two witnesses of Revelation?
Or are they taking it upon themselves to try and fulfil the prophesy

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/907cfd0df2ad.jpg[/atsimg]

Psalm 110:4
The LORD hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek