Aaron Bernstein

“ Discouragement crossed Ewald at every turn, for he wrote: "All those whom I met with, and to whom I stated the object of my mission, told me that there was nothing to be done here, because the people are too bad—that the Jews are the worst set of people that exist in the world—and that most of the Europeans who have come over are the outcasts of human society. I believe this to be true, but I think, because this is true, I am in my proper place; the Gospel of Christ is able to convert man, to convert even publicans to righteousness." ”

“ Schapiro for eleven years had no home, no intercourse with his own family. Having become an "apostate," he was worse than dead to them. All his overtures for reconciliation were scornfully rejected. To be cut off from all one's relatives, to have no home life, is ever a great affliction, particularly to a Jew, for the Jewish attachment and devotion to home and family are proverbial. A Jew who has embraced Christianity can sing in all sincerity, "Jesus, I my cross have taken, all to leave and follow Thee," for it is his veritable experience. ”

“ It is due that we Christian Jews who have, by the grace of God, been brought out of Jewish darkness into the blessed and happy position of pardoned sinners by the blood of the Cross, that we should fearlessly declare with no uncertain sound, that whilst we are Christians by grace, we are still Jews by nature, by race, and by sympathy, and thus take a humble part in testifying to the blessed and everlasting truth that God has not cast away His people, that there is still a remnant according to the election of grace. It is twenty years since I ventured my eternal welfare with Jesus of Nazareth. ”

“ A short pause ensued, and from the quivering of Miss Montefiore's lips and flushed cheeks, I could plainly see that her Jewish pride was roused, and with much vehemence she said, 'I think it is most insulting to call on people, and try to convert them from the faith of their fathers. Why not let every one remain in the religion in which they were born? ”

“ Yet, alas! this beneficial impression vanished soon, by reason of the implanted prejudices against Christianity, and of the unbelief which had already taken root in me, even in the Scriptures of the Old Testament. But since that night I felt, more and more, a disconsolate emptiness in my heart, though I continued, at a distance, from the way of life.' We hear here the knockings of God on the door of an erring heart, which refused to open itself. How often must the gracious God visit a man, now with love and then with affliction, before He can gain admittance into his soul. ”

“ Cassel was an ardent lover of his own people. "Though he has left us, he was by no means our enemy. He still fights against those who hate the Jews," said the "Jewish Chronicle." It was he who raised his voice against Stöcker in Berlin, and endeavoured by voice and pen to soften down the excitement and anger of German Protestants, and to secure the peace of his former brethren in the faith. ”

“ The greater part of the Jews know now that Christianity is not a system of idolatry, but a revelation of God built upon the Scriptures; that the precepts of the Gospel are very good and beneficial to mankind. They acknowledge, for the most part, that the only difference which exists between the Christians and the Jews is, that the former maintain the Messiah is come, and Jesus Christ is the Messiah, whilst the latter deny both, which may, however, fairly be decided by the Word of God. ”

“ It was Jesus who inspired the men to translate the writings of Moses into so many tongues. Yet this does not in any way belittle Moses. What if the pupil is greater than the master! Surely Moses would not envy Jesus if he accomplished more. Moses, the most unselfish man that ever lived, would be only too glad to see a brother the Saviour of the world. Did he not wish that all Israel were prophets? What right has the Jew to reject Jesus? Has he not made Israel the most known people? What if his followers did [193] persecute Israel? Persecution is contrary to the spirit of Jesus. ”

“ He was universally beloved for his kindness of heart and his gentleness, and respected and admired for his talents, scholarship, and teaching powers.
The supreme object of Neander's life, studies, and labours, is thus concisely stated by himself in the preface of the first edition of his magnum opus: [20] "To exhibit the history of the Church of Christ as a living witness of the Divine power of Christianity, as a school of Christian experience, a voice sounding through the ages, of instruction, of doctrine and of reproof, for all who are disposed to listen." ”

“ A few days before Yom Kippur she said, 'The more I read my Bible, the more I am beginning to [377] feel my being born a Jewess can never save me; I must have something better than my fastings and prayers.' Every visit I paid her I could see a considerable change in her sentiments respecting the Lord Jesus. It was pleasing to me, who had prayerfully watched her for so many months, to observe how gradually her Jewish prejudices disappeared, her views of the Gospel becoming more and more clear, and her love for Jesus increasing daily. ”

“ You have done the right and proper thing. Though we differ in our religious opinions, we do not on the point of principle. You have acted as I should have expected an honest man, with soul above £ s. d. to act. It is refreshing to find enthusiasm for ideal goods in our sordid age of materialism.'
"This brother of mine is now, I am grateful to say, himself a worker in the Lord's vineyard, labouring with marked success as a medical missionary amongst the Jews of New York, faithfully assisted by his wife—also a convert from Judaism." ”

“ Conversions and baptisms were numerous; but, as Stern said in 1876, when speaking of results, and his words are true for all time, and in every place as well as London:—"Conversions, however few or many they may be, are not the gauge by which the progress of mission work amongst the Jews can be ascertained. A man may be thoroughly convinced of the truth of the Gospel, and yet hesitate to take the final and decisive step. He may shrink from the persecution, the trials, the troubles, and the sacrifices a public profession of his faith would entail. ”

“ Flad, the Bishop of Jerusalem's Scripture Reader, upwards of thirty Falasha settlements, and saw the priests, and all those that could read, from more than fifty-five other places. The desire to obtain the Word of God exceeds all description; young and old, the man standing on the verge of the grave, and the youth just rushing into life's happiest whirl, heedless and indifferent to the pain and difficulties of the road, followed us for days and days, till we yielded to their unwearied entreaties, and from our scanty stock supplied their communities with copies of the sacred volume. ”

“ On another occasion a Jew said: "You know perfectly well how wrong and wicked it is for a man to desert the religion of his fathers. Why, even the Gentiles despise those who are guilty of such an act!" "What do you mean by the religion of our fathers?" was asked in return. "Why, of course, I mean the religion of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob," the Jew answered. "But Abraham departed from the faith of his fathers. This 'apostasy' was imputed unto him for righteousness. ”

“ In the middle of last century there was no name more familiar to the friends of Israel than that of Dr. Ferdinand Christian Ewald; and no missionary to the Jews was more highly honoured for his work's sake than this distinguished son of Abraham.
It is somewhat difficult to write a memoir of one who was too modest and retiring to say or to write much about himself: and who left but few materials from which to frame a biography, for it was his express wish that no lengthened life should be written. ”

“ In the Old Testament, in all God's contrivances, a voice called to me, and I heard the voice of God, through Moses and the prophets, saying: Jesus Christ the crucified, is the true Messiah, the true Saviour, whose name is Jehovah Tsidkenu, the Lord our Righteousness. I was roused especially by the ninth chapter of the Acts; I was made acquainted, after much wrestling and fervent prayer, that Jesus is the source of salvation, and of eternal life to all, who, by the efficacy of His blood, are cleansed from the guilt and pollution of sin, and through Him can call God, Abba, Father. ”

“ A man who at Rome calls the Pope 'the dust of the earth,' and at Jerusalem tells the Jews that the 'Gemara is a lie'; who passes his days in disputation, and his nights in digging in the Talmud; to whom a floor of brick is a feather-bed and a box is a bolster; who makes or finds a friend alike in the persecutor of his former or of his present faith; who can conciliate a Pasha or confute a patriarch; who travels without a guide, speaks without an interpreter, can live without food, and pay without money, forgiving all the insults he meets with, and forgetting all the flattery he receives ”

“ The Count accepted the invitation as readily as it was given, and, cutting a slice from the loaf said, "Tell me, Rabbi Abraham, if your hospitality is always so ready; has it never been abused?" "Never, my lord," answered the rabbi. "I shall not be tired of giving as long as my hand has something to give. It has been my custom from my youth up; and even an apple never tastes as good as it does when I have given a half to one poorer than myself. Besides, the habit has been of great service to me." He then told him how, one Sabbath day, a rough-looking man came in and asked for alms. ”

“ If you go into their houses, you find on their table the Bible, the Old and New Testament, just as you see it on the table of Christians, and I have seen the authorized version of the Bible not only in private houses, but in the synagogue. When you converse with intelligent Jews, you soon observe that they have read the New Testament, and other Christian books and that they know what the fundamental doctrines of Christianity are, namely: the fall of man; the redemption of mankind through the Lord Jesus Christ; the atonement; the Deity of Christ; the doctrine of the Trinity, &c. ”

“ He was a man of one book and that book the Bible, which he knew almost by heart. Many a Jew was struck by his intimate knowledge of the Word of God, and none ever doubted his being a true believer, however much they disliked his invariably holding up Christ before them. Many of the poor Jews, both converted and unconverted, missed him, after his death, as a friend in need, who often used to minister to their necessities out of his scanty earnings. ”

“ One incontestible certainty has been proved to me both in the wonderful guidance of my life as also in my profession, which I now hold for more than sixteen years, that of myself I can do nothing, not even the slightest thing, and imbued with the conviction of my powerlessness and utter helplessness, of my own poverty and wretchedness, I have learnt to make use of the sweetest privilege of our life, namely, the subjection of my own will to the will of my Saviour, Jesus Christ. ”

“ I could not imagine how a man of such profound learning could believe the Christian religion. From that day, however, both my friend and myself began [146] attentively to examine the Word of God; and when we walked together we conversed on those passages that had struck us most. Having begun with the Gospel of Matthew, it was striking to me to perceive, that so far from seeking to subvert the authority of the Old Testament, he made it the basis whereon to build the Gospel of Christ. ”

“ It was this manly action that gives us some satisfaction for his desertion of the parental religion. We have to judge this apostasy very differently from that of many others in former and present times, as he did not forsake his old creed for any worldly reason, or to get honours and position, but rather because he followed a mystical line of thought. God alone can judge the veracity and purity of his life; we dare not. ”

“ You cannot meet with many Jewish families who do not count among their relatives some converts. I have myself heard Jews defending their friends, not for having embraced Christianity, but from the alleged imputation of having embraced it through impure motives. The more Christianity gains ground in the Jewish community, the more will friendly feelings arise towards those of their number who conscientiously look upon the Lord Jesus as the Christ. Amongst fifty thousand Jews in England we reckon three thousand converts. ”