About Our Leader, H.
Michael Weiner
It’s November 1982 and I’m sitting in
the balcony of a coliseum type building in Roanoke, VA with my wife, Ann. It is
a chilly Sunday morning and we’re in the middle of a worship service attended by
5,000 Amway distributors in the Nardone organization. More than a year earlier
Pete Scalise came to the hotel I was managing looking for meeting space for his
Amway distributorship. He introduced me to his sponsor, Mark Diamond, who I
learned was both Jewish and Christian at the same time. That seemed so strange.
Who ever heard of such a thing?
I was raised in the Conservative
Synagogue, B’nai Israel, in Pensacola, Florida. We practiced our Judaism
seriously. A typical week found me in the synagogue no less than five days a
week. On Sunday morning there was TNT (Tallis and Teffilin) when young men and
old men together would put on the Tallit (prayer shaul) and Teffilin
(Phylacteries). This was followed by breakfast and 2 hours of Sunday school.
After school on Monday and Wednesday I attended a one and a half hour Hebrew
school class (usually waiting another hour and a half for my brother to finish
his lesson). Friday night was the beginning of the Sabbath. The service began at
8:00PM, lasted for an hour and was followed by an hour of fellowship called an
Oneg Shabbat. The next day, Saturday morning there was another Shabbat service
beginning at 10:00AM and lasting a couple of hours. This last service was a
Junior Congregation completely conducted by young people and usually not
attended by adults at all. The Rabbi taught us in Hebrew school to conduct the
liturgy of the worship service. I took even served as the rabbi of the Junior
Congregation for a year. Mind you, I’m not complaining. In fact, I’m very
thankful my mother and father took the time and other resources to bless me with
an excellent Jewish upbringing. I never have to question my Jewish identity.
Sometimes as I was growing up, I
would ask why questions about our Jewish practices. Usually the answer was the
same, “Because the Rabbi said.” It is impossible to base a faith system on
“Because the Rabbi said.” Why do we believe this, or why do we do that, and the
typical answer was “Because the Rabbi said.” When an event shakes the
foundation, there is nothing to firmly hold.
I had two good buddies while I grew
up. We all did a lot of the same things together. One became a cantor and the
other became an orthodox rabbi. I, of course, became the leader of a Messianic
Jewish Congregation in Knoxville, TN.
I always had a strong Jewish
identity. In the Boy Scouts of America I received the Ner Tamid award given to
Jewish scouts who complete the requirements. In high school I was president of
my BBYO chapter, a part of the Cotton States district. In college I served at
president of the Masada chapter at the University of Houston. Masada is the
college youth arm of the Zionist Organization of America. In 1976 my wife, Ann
and I were married in Houston by a rabbi from Port Arthur, TX.
We belonged to two synagogues in our
married life, but found the less we participated in synagogue activities, the
more we enjoyed it. Then, after almost seven years of marriage, just after our
third daughter was born, we began seeking some additional income through a
successful Amway distributorship. We attended our first Messianic Jewish service
as non-believers on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement at Ohev Yisrael Messianic
Jewish Congregation in Northern Virginia. It was great to hear that we could
repent, but we already knew that from the synagogue. In the synagogue, on the
Day of Atonement, Jewish people all over the world pray that they will be
written in the book of life for another year. At the Messianic Jewish service we
learned we could be written in the book of life for eternity. Yeshua, Jesus’
Hebrew name, calls all people everywhere to put Him above everything else. He is
a perfect fit to Judaism. He calls us to be holy, to observe the commandments,
to celebrate the feasts of the Lord, in short, to obey God. In fact, in the book
of Hebrews His name is called “more excellent,” His ministry is called, “more
excellent,” and His sacrifice is called, “more excellent.” More excellent than
what? Not more excellent than the commandments, but more excellent than the
Aaronic priesthood, for He is a priest forever after the order of Melchizidek
(two Hebrew words meaning “a righteous king”). The rabbis have always known that
when king and priest come together in one man, the Messiah has come.
Three months after that Yom Kippur
service we were in that coliseum in Roanoke when the Lord began to tug at my
heart. I thought about accepting the call to come forward and give my heart to
the Lord when I settled back in my seat with the thought that a decision of this
magnitude deserves further scrutiny. At that moment the speaker said, “I believe
there is someone here who is intellectualizing this decision. God wants you to
know that this is not a decision made from your intellect or mind, but from your
heart. You give your heart to Him and he’ll see to it that you’re never
ashamed.” I felt like he was talking personally to me. I reached over and asked
Ann if she would accept the Lord with me and she did. It was near the end of the
altar call but I didn’t want to slink up the side. Just like when we got
married, we walked up the center isle while 5,000 people waited for us to get
out of the balcony and up to the front of the coliseum. Those steps began a walk
that has lasted 21 years now and will last a lifetime and beyond to eternity.
The following Shabbat Ann and I were
immersed in the Mikvah (Baptized) after the Messianic Jewish service at Ohev
Yisrael. Our daughters have a firm foundation in Messianic Judaism and
understand the value of being connected to the recognizably Jewish part of the
body of the Messiah. We served as deacons at Ohev Yisrael for about 8 years. In
1997, just before Yom Kippur we founded Shomair Yisrael Messianic Jewish
Congregation. It means Watchmen (or guardian) of Israel (We kept the same last
name as our home congregation). Now in our seventh year we are amazed at the
growth, both in numbers (which some would consider still very small) and in
community. The Lord has brought the most wonderful people to serve Him with us.
We are eternally grateful.
If you are Jewish or have a Jewish friend, please allow us the opportunity
to explain in ways that we could never put in print we are more Jewish than ever
now that we have a personal relationship with the Jewish Messiah. Contact
Michael Weiner at 865-414-4527 or email at weinerm@attglobal.net.
