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Jesus
supports the IDF and he wants his believers to be the
best soldiers they can be. That was the message conveyed
by members of the local Messianic Jewish community via
sacred texts, prayer and talks, to a group of
18-year-olds who took part this week in a premilitary
program called Netsor.
“I am a soldier of God,” said Boris, an intense redhead
accepted to an elite combat unit, who is one of the 28
young men and women who participated in Netsor. “I will
do my best during my service in the IDF to serve God
spiritually and physically. Not for the sake of state
authorities but for the sake of God and Jesus,” added
Boris, as we sat in the dining room of a guest house
that overlooks Lake Kinneret on July 22, 2009.
Not far from here, according to Christian tradition,
Jesus walked on water, healed the sick and preached.
Now, nearly two millennia later, young “believers,” as
they call themselves, convinced they are walking in
Jesus’s footsteps, hope to become the next fighter
pilots, reconnaissance soldiers, paratroopers, tank
commanders and sailors.
Some 150 highly motivated believers will join the IDF
this year. Many of them will serve in combat units. Some
of them have been through Netsor’s week of mental and
spiritual preparation offered by the Messianic
community. Netsor is a Hebrew word that means “to guard”
or “to stand vigilant.”
The return of the Jewish people to the Land of Israel
with the establishment of the State of Israel brought
with it a small but growing group of Messianic Jews,
numbering today between 10,000 and 15,000. These
Christians celebrate their own version of Jewish
holidays such as Pessah and Succot and set aside Friday
night and Saturday as a day of rest.
But they also believe that Jesus is the messiah and that
he is the only path to redemption. Messianic Jews, who
distance themselves from the more in-your-face
proselytizing tactics of Jews for Jesus, are
nevertheless very open about their beliefs, including
their conviction that traditional Jewish faith is not
sufficient for redemption.
Due to their religious beliefs, Messianic Jews have been
subje-cted over the years to physical attacks and
discrimination, including in the IDF. M., a platoon
commander in an elite demolition unit who is one of the
founders of Netsor, asked The Jerusalem Post to leave
out identifiable personal details of individuals who
agreed to be interviewed out of concern that they would
be singled out and blackballed by antagonistic elements
with connections in the army.
“In the end, we believe that God opens and closes
doors,” said M. “And if he does not want someone to
advance in the IDF it won’t happen. But we don’t want to
make any mistakes that will hurt someone’s IDF career.”
For Messianic Jews, military service in the IDF is not
only a mandatory civil duty, it is a religious
obligation. Lacking an exegetical tradition but serious
about the sacredness and relevance of the biblical text,
“believers” learn this obligation to serve in the army
right out of the New Testament.
Romans (13:1-7) warns not to resist political authority,
because it is “the ordinance of God.” Colossians
(3:22,23) teaches that one must excel as a faithful
servant of one’s superiors, not for personal
aggrandizement but to serve God.
The group’s interpretation of these texts, combined with
a strong religious faith, transform them into soldiers
of God determined to do his will during their stint in
the army of the Jewish state. Other verses, such as the
Sermon on the Mount (Matthew, 5-7), which some
Christians interpret as Jesus’s support for pacifism,
are seen by Messianic Jews as an obligation to love
one’s enemies while fighting and killing them.
“I hate what Palestinian terrorists do, therefore I will
do anything, including kill, if necessary, to stop
them,” said Tzvi, an educator and counselor at Netsor.
“But I do not allow that to prevent me from loving them
as human beings.”
Many Messianic Jews see their obligation to serve in the
IDF as no different from the obligation of other
Christians in the US, Britain or even Jordan and Egypt
to serve their respective countries. “If I lived in
Jordan I would have the same feelings for the Jordanian
army,” said Tzvi.
But for some, serving in the IDF has special theological
meaning. Yoel, who was an officer in an IDF combat unit,
believes the return of the Jewish people to the Land of
Israel is part of God’s plans. “The IDF is an instrument
in the hands of God because it facilitates his plan,”
said Yoel. “But I would not call it a holy army or the
army of God.”
The Netsor program, which began three years ago, has
quadrupled the number of students from seven in 2007 to
28 this year. Yoel, one of Netsor’s founders, hopes one
day to create a premilitary academy for Messianic Jews
modeled after existing academies for religious and
secular Israelis.
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