On my recent flight from Israel to the United States, I sat next to an Israeli Jewish atheist who grew up on a kibbutz. As we talked about Israel, the war, and Israeli and American politics, he noted that he was planning to move with his family to the United States. His wife is a U. S. citizen. She is a medical doctor. He is in hi-tech. Why does he want to move? Because life in Israel is too expensive, and too difficult in other ways, and there is too much war and terrorism. As an Israeli, I sought to encourage him and persuade him that Israel needs him. No doubt they are a successful couple that has made it. I got the impression that he does not own his own home and being a Tel Avivian, this is unusual.
It is true that the Israel government and the developers have mismanaged real estate in Israel so there is not an adequate supply. This drives up costs and hurts young families. But education and health care are good and very inexpensive in Israel. But overall, costs are way too high.
However, I sought to share a more divine-purpose perspective. He professed his belief in evolution, and I sought to show that the naturalistic atheist version of evolution was systematically incoherent. He was not convinced but was quite indoctrinated.
A generation ago, the majority of Israelis were atheists who did want to build a model society, especially those from the kibbutz movement. However, I think my new friend proves the point that over the long haul, atheism will not sustain Israel if Israel is not elect of God and has no divine purpose for the sake of humanity, why sacrifice for Israel? Why not assimilate and escape antisemitism? Ethnic pride? When push comes to shove, either due to war or economic pressures, too many of the atheists and agnostics will abandon Israel and the Zionist vision of having our own state. This new acquaintance strongly argued for his atheism, pointing to evil and suffering to disprove the existence of a good God. He does not represent the trend in Israel today. They are discovering belief in God and even see his protection in the present war.
I noted not long ago in a Facebook post that one modern Rabbi argued that faith in God was necessary to sustain Israel. Israel will not be sustained because Israel has a great economy in the world and people can live a nice life, but Israel has a divine purpose in the world. Most Jews who now believe in God in Israel might celebrate the Feasts or have a Passover celebration but do not want to be under the yoke of Rabbinic Judaism and its focus on keeping the miniate of Rabbinic laws. Such Jews in Israel are open to reading the Bible and the promises in the prophets of our return to the Land (Isaiah 43, Jeremiah16, 23, Amos 9, Joel 3, and many more passages)
Though not yet becoming Messianic Jews are Israeli Jews coming to a faith that I have envisioned as a step in the right direction and toward Yeshua. Yes, this is right now a weak faith, and some may also embrace superstition, some aspects of Eastern religion, and some aspects of paganism, but the God that is being embraced is a personal God who effected the exodus. Could we persuade them to be Biblical Jews and be committed to believing the Bible and the Laws of God from the Torah that are applicable today without the heavy yoke of Rabbinic Judaism? Could they also read about God’s grace and forgiveness as taught in the Hebrew Bible? Could they really become Hebrew Bible Jews? Could they be interested in the teaching of Yeshua without yet fully embracing the teaching of the New Covenant Scriptures about him and his deity? Some Christians like Francis Schaeffer used to talk about pre-evangelism. I wonder if belief in God and the Hebrew Bible could be due to a move of God’s Spirit in preparing people for the Good News of Yeshua. I think Messianic Jews can have a very fruitful dialogue with the Jewish people of Israel in returning to faith in God. Sometimes our way into dialogue with secular atheist Jews is to show them the supernatural fulfillments in Israel’s regathering to the Land in our day.