10th Anniversary

Guest article

(from my 2^nd favourite Jew)

I first met Cristóir & his darling wife almost twelve years ago. I am yet to meet Teddy, who is the latest addition to the family. Being the obnoxious & cantankerous individual that I am, I was surprised how quickly we hit it off, but we have something in common that is rare among believers these days. It is a composite love of God, His Son & the people for whom He still has a purpose in these last days; Israel. ‘He couched, he lay down as a lion, and as a great lion: who shall stir him up? Blessed is he that blesseth thee, and cursed is he that curseth thee.’ (Numbers 24:9). Although this article if brief, it is succinct & to the point. Much like the man himself. Enjoy.

I grew up as a Reformed Jew in Northern Ireland in the late 1960s into the 1970s, ‘The Troubles’, the troubles? They were a breeze compared to 2026 UKplc, seriously….A BREEZE! As a Jew who believes in The Messiah in the intolerant 2020s, life has become somewhat strange, gone are the days when you could wear your kippah outdoors on a Friday, an islamist terrorist might kill you, an atheist will mock you, your neighbour may avoid you and the local Christian church will seek to replace you, preferably with a gay/trans/pro Palestine/pro climate pew filler. Oy-vey, the (western) world has changed.

As a young man growing through the 1980s, I had a carefree attitude to life, and to my faith as a Reformed Jew too. Life was simple and the world was wide and out there to explore. Antisemitism was something I read in the history books. I attended synagogue when I wanted to (never very often as there wasn’t one)! I did Shabbat both at home alone or at work with two other Jewish colleagues. Boy, I just remembered, I kept a ‘work kippah’ in my locker for those infrequent work-based Shabbats, imagine trying to do that now in the intolerant UKplc.

Antisemitism didn’t really touch me until 2017, a colleague (without reason or warning) expressed her support for the PLO as I was busy at the photocopier machine, at this stage in my life I had made the leap from a muddled Reformed Jew to a Jew who now believed in his Messiah. Consequently, the old me would have placed that colleague’s head onto the photocopier and repeatedly slammed the lid down on it. The saved me was quietly and prayerfully tolerant of the person and refrained from slamming the lid down….or even reporting the person. I suppose I had accepted that the British population had new ideals and beliefs, working alongside a Jew were not part of those newly held concepts.

Post October 7^th 2023 the antisemitism went up big time in the UKplc, and not far from my home. Collected data by Jewish organisations painted a new picture of Britain that was as far removed from my childhood memories of being Jewish on an mixed Catholic/Protestant estate in Northern Ireland. These reports show an increase in PERSISTANT FEARS, LACK OF (JEWISH) CONFIDENCE IN UK INSTITUTIONS, NO CONFIDENCE IN THE BBC (shakes head in disgust) OR ANY SERVING BRITISH GOVERNMENT. I could go into detail about the 2026 Jew-free reporting of HMD by the BBC (spits) or David Lammy in Manchester following the synagogue attack. However, it only depresses me further to dwell on them.

I’m scratching the surface here and have yet to mention the church, I use the term in order to describe those new trendy liberal churches and the old C of E churches with their new alphabet/pro Palestine/pro Ukraine/pro Glastonbury/pro Stephen Sizer/pro coffee in a trendy cup in a soft comfy chair/pro whatever the next inane thing is.

Church, for a believing Jew is just like the photocopier all over again. It comes with a smiling face and a social sermon that somehow steers clear of anything remotely Jewish or to do with sin. A survey by Chosen Jewish Ministries in 2025 found that 29% of British Christians think that Jews have power in the financial world markets, a THIRD of them think that Jews ‘talk too much about the Holocaust.’ The idea that any Brit would have these views is worrying enough, but the fact that they are Christians is even more so. They worship a Jewish Messiah and read a book that is anchored in Jewish faith, though perhaps I should SUGGEST that they ‘worship’ and ‘read’, there is after all a lot of coffee drinking to do and PLO fundraising to fit in!

Genesis 12:3 states that “I will bless them that bless you, and him that curse you I will curse.” Indeed G-d promised three things in His Abrahamic Covenant, one, that from him will come a people or nation (Israel). Two, that G-d will give this nation land (not an Arab deal done in Oslo). Three, G-d will bless those that bless them but curse those who curse them. Replacement theology (church based antisemitism) is the idea that the church, coffee cup and soft chair has replaced Israel. Dangerous territory, we are talking photocopier lid territory, G-d’s promise IS to ethnic Israel and remains valid until it is fulfilled. Rather than replacing Israel, the church needs to deeply understand its own theology and to understand FULLY.

Consequently, I enter any church now with my radar switched on. One learns to pick up what is being said and, more importantly, what is not being said. Sadly there is no guide-book out there, but a good look at a potential church’s website is a sure way of finding out where they stand (or don’t) on Israel. I direct a phone call to the church to ask them where they stand is another good way of avoiding stepping into a smiling and liberal congregation….who don’t like you, want you or really know you.

Frankly, being a believing Jew is rather like being a Millwall fan (‘no one likes us, we don’t care’). Actually that isn’t fully true, G-d loves us and a few churches out there do too.

 

Cristóir Csorba