Ron Cantor
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Why Christianity Won’t Go Away
Author’s Note: Below is an excerpt from my book Identity Theft. It is a historical novel about a Jewish man seeking the truth, whatever it may be. He encounters an angel who takes him back in time to explain the message of Yeshua in its original Jewish context. Ariel, the angel, gives David a glimpse …
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Even ‘God’s Anointed’ Leaders Can Abuse the Flock
“It doesn’t really matter what you say I have done. God has called me here, and you can’t stand in His way.” According to a friend of mine, these were the words a leader of a congregation used as he responded to a congregant, who sought to challenge him on issues of deep concern—issues of …
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4 Ways to Avoid Becoming an Abusive Leader
I just got off the phone with a good friend. He is in a situation where the leader of his congregation is abusing the power God has given him. As we talked about this, I said, “Often a leader will surround himself with weak yes-men so no one will ever challenge him. Other gifted, strong …
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Messianic Jewish Church Looks to Future With Hope
In 2002, my family made the decision to make aliyah (immigration to Israel). One morning during a prayer walk, I had a strong sense that we were to plant ourselves wherever our longtime friend and mentor, Asher Intrater, was. At the time he was one of the elders in the first Spirit-filled, Hebrew-speaking only congregation in Israel—Tiferet Yeshua (The Glory of Yeshua).
Ari and Shira Sorko-Ram birthed the congregation in 1995 with the goal of reaching native-born Israelis. Despite the fact that I could hardly form a coherent sentence in Hebrew, Elana and I were attracted to the vision.
During that summer, we attended the Messianic Jewish Alliance conference in Pennsylvania. We knew that Ari and Shira were attending, and we were excited to connect with them. We sat with Ari in the dining room and within minutes, we knew we were making the right decision. He was so warm and friendly. When we moved to Israel, one of the first things Ari did was take Elana and me out to dinner to get to know us better. This is who Ari is.
Over the past 10 years, I have seen Ari laugh with people and cry with people. I watched him wash the feet of an Arab believer and stand with those who could not stand.
After a few years, we decided to help Asher plant a new congregation in the Jerusalem area. One night I felt the tolerable sciatic pain in my leg that I had been dealing with for a few months become intolerable. After a pain-filled, sleepless night I went to the emergency room. They admitted me and gave me some much-needed painkillers. Even though we were not in Tiferet Yeshua at the time, Ari was the first person to visit me in the hospital. That meant so much to me!
After several years, the Lord led us back to Tiferet Yeshua. During these past few years I have enjoyed watching Ari up close, as he has shepherded the flock here in Tel Aviv. Mercy is not my strongest gift, but I have been able to study Ari and learn from him what it means to love people—to be there for them in their time of need.
As we enter into this new season where Ari has passed the baton at Tiferet Yeshua to Asher, with my assistance, to raise up a new generation of Israeli leaders, I feel better equipped for the task having been mentored by Ari’s example.
In most cases when a leader turns over authority of his congregation to others, it is because he is moving on elsewhere. We are fortunate that Ari and Shira, now released to focus 100 percent of their energies on Maoz (leadership conferences for Israeli leaders, developing Hebrew media on Internet for outreach, translating books into Hebrew, financially investing in the Israeli Messianic community through istandwithisrael.com and calling the nations to stand with Israel), will be staying in Tel Aviv and continuing to be a part of the Tiferet Yeshua family they birthed nearly 18 years ago.
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Moses vs. Yeshua—Law vs. Life
Whenever I met a rabbi as a new believer, I would ask him, “Do you know God?” Most would say something like, “You can’t really know God, but you can know about Him.” I always answered honestly, “Well, I know God; until you can offer me as much, I am not interested!” Another rabbi once …
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Why Did Saul Change His Name to Paul?
Why did a Jewish man get rid of his Jewish name when he began to follow the Jewish Messiah? Sounds suspect doesn’t it? Because it is! The central author of the New Covenant—at least of the letters to the congregations—was a fellow by the name of Saul of Tarsus. He was both Jewish and a Roman …
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Cheating Comes with a Huge Price
The newspapers recently read like a high school gossip column. FBI agents sending shirtless photos to a married woman, who was being harassed by the biographer/lover of America’s most famous living general, and all those involved made vows of fidelity to other people! How does a man with such an impeccable reputation as David Patraeus …
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Christians, Jews Already Know the Score
We live in a scary world. In my neighborhood … We’ve got Syria in a civil war just north of my location and who knows what she will do with her chemical weapons. Egypt is becoming an Islamic fundamentalist nation. The Palestinian Authority and Hamas continue to seek to create another Arab state on our border …
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Ron Cantor: Messianic Jews Are the Most Hated People on Earth
Though the first community of believers were virtually all Jewish, as the Messianic Faith spread amongst the Gentiles, the Church went to great lengths to keep Jewish believers from living as Jews and to remove all vestiges of Jewish practice from Christianity. Was this a demonic conspiracy or just political expediency for the kings and popes …
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Ron Cantor: 4 Proofs There Was No Oral Torah
Orthodox Jews maintain that when God gave Moses the written commandments, he also gave him a secret Oral Tradition or Torah she-be’al pe. This was a purportedly a code of conduct and interpretation passed down from generation to generation. The Oral Law supposedly was God’s instruction on how to live out the 613 commandments in …
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Singapore: Jews and Chinese Food Go Together
Singapore boasts some of the best not-in-China Chinese food, so I don’t know why I was so surprised to find a vibrant local Jewish community there. “Is there a synagogue?” I enquired. Yes there was. In fact, the synagogue even has its own kosher restaurant. I asked if we could visit on my last day …
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2 Reasons Why Yeshua Was Worthy to Die for Us
Editor’s Note: The following is an excerpt from Ron Cantor’s book Leave Me Alone—I’m Jewish. When Yeshua shed His blood and died on the cross, He literally purchased us with His life. The question is this: Why was He fit to pay for our sins, while we could not? He was qualified to do so …
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Are All Israeli Teachers Armed?
There is a picture going around the Internet I have seen about a dozen times that claims that Israeli teachers are packing heat. Well, are they? The answer is “NO.” There may be some exceptions in dangerous areas like the West Bank (where five percent of Israelis live), but in general, Israeli teachers are not walking …
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