The other day a friend posted a Hananya Naftali video on her
Facebook page. Knowing she'd never knowingly post anything from a Messianic
Christian missionary, I sent her a message telling her my suspicions about
Naftali. But I didn't want to be spreading false rumors, so I decided to check
with my new friend Shannon Nuszen to make sure I was being accurate.
Why Shannon? Because Shannon, once upon a time, was an
evangelical missionary. Now she is 100% Orthodox Jewish, and living in Gush Etzion,
not far from where I live. A board member of JewishIsrael, Shannon's about
page says she "has spent her entire life studying and analyzing Christian
scriptural arguments."
The page continues: "Shannon was immersed into the
field of religious apologetics as a child by her father, a former 'Assemblies
of God' minister. Traveling as an evangelist with her father, she learned the
inner workings of the evangelical movement, and was exposed to the behind the
scenes manipulation and many money making stage-show tactics. In the year 2000,
Shannon engrossed herself into studying the Christian messianic movement, and
was affiliated with some of the most deceptive missionary organizations that
have unfortunately penetrated the Jewish world. Her background and history
provide Shannon with an intimate knowledge of the Christian missionary agenda
and the dangers it poses to the Jewish communities in Israel and the Diaspora."
Yup. Shannon was definitely the one to ask. And so I asked
her, "Shannon, have you heard of Hananya Naftali? I'm fairly certain he's
an undercover Christian missionary."
Shannon corrected me: "He's not undercover. He flat out
admits as much," she said.
Oh, wow! I thanked her and rushed to tell my friend. She said,
"Oy vey!" and hastened to remove the video from her Facebook page.
She sent me a report
she'd written on Hananya Naftali and a video he created that leaves no doubt
about his intentions. Featuring this clip on the JewishIsrael site led to
Hananya Naftali reporting the organization for copyright violation to YouTube. Happily,
Shannon and JewishIsrael
won.
The original clip had a banner splashed across the screen
which said: "IDF VS Christians."
Here's the description accompanying the clip: "Messianic
Israeli YouTuber Hananya Naftali explores opposition and attitudes to jesus
among his Jewish comrades in the IDF, and seeks the best way to share jesus
with fellow soldiers."
I was really irked that I'd had suspicions about the guy for
two years now and here people are still treating him as though he were a legit Jewish
Israeli Zionist. People are still sharing his darned videos. They have no clue.
Why are they sharing his stuff? Because Hananya Naftali
masquerades as a loyal Zionist Christian serving in the IDF. Which he is not.
He's a missionary serving in the IDF, poisoning the minds of the Israeli youth
stuck in tanks with the guy.
His fake out clips and blogs are all over the place. Like this
one, that doesn't mention Jesus at all.
Sneaky. Which is what people have to do to trick you into
joining their cults.
But his stuff is everywhere. While researching the topic to
gather info for this column, in fact, I found a blog of Naftali's on the
website of a pro-Israel foundation where I myself have blogged from time to
time. I have a relationship with the founder of the organization so I asked her
if she knew that Hananya Naftali is a missionary. She wrote back to thank me.
She knew. She thought she'd removed every trace of his work from the website
but had apparently missed that one.
Hananya Naftali: Raising Awareness
Raising awareness of this issue seems crucial
Shannon said, "I tell every leader dealing with missionaries who say 'they're ok,' it should be a concern that their fundamental belief that Jews must be converted to Christianity (and by that, I mean accept Jesus as messiah—because they play with words on this subject). Any Christian who states they do not believe in proselytizing, should be required to publicly state that and vow not to do it. Seems simple, but the Christian generally will not do it, and if they do, they will quickly apologize, retract, and explain to their Christian supporters that they did not mean it."
Israel
Today, a website geared to Christian missionaries didn't mince words in
explaining that IDF vs. Christians video: "Naftali repeatedly uses the
word 'Christian' for what most of our readers might consider a 'Messianic Jew,'
but the fact is that the words are interchangeable linguistically, especially
to a Hebrew-speaking audience.
"One solid point made by Naftali is that in Israel it
is often best to be a witness first in deed, and only then in word. Most Jews
have already been told about Jesus, but very few have actually seen his love
demonstrated in the actions of the Church."
Um, yeah. We were too busy burying our dead. Like during the
Crusades. Not to mention the pogroms.
The Church is, historically, the gift that keeps on giving
it to the Jews.
Beware of Hananya Naftali. Tell everyone you know. See a
clip of his on social media? Put a link to this blog piece in the comments.
He's as much a threat to our people as Arab terror.
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