After flying into the Delhi airport, we took a 15 hour overnight semi-sleeper bus to the great city of Manali. I am prone to getting car sick so the ride was not comfortable at all (as we were driving through very windy roads way too quickly). I thought in my mind, "this trip better be worth it if I'm going to travel all the way to India!".
Our entire week was devoted to witnessing to Israelis in Old Manali. There are basically two or three streets in Old Manali that are almost entirely occupied by Israelis. We found that the best approach to meeting people was splitting up into smaller groups and being bold at restaurants and coffee shops. We had many many conversations with Israelis as well as Indians, but instead of writing about each specific conversation, I want to write more about the beliefs and paradigms that I encountered while witnessing.
Though there were orthodox Jews in Manali, I only had conversations with "secular" Jews, meaning that most of them grew up in Jewish tradition but would say now that they do not believe in their God. Most that we encountered did not believe that the Tanakh is the word of God. Additionally, they are here exploring Hinduism and Buddhism! The most common paradigm is that there is only ONE God, but all the gods of all the religions are just different faces of the one God. This belief also goes along with this universalist idea that we all define what truth is in our own realities. There is not one truth. There is only what I say is true and what you say is true. Both are true, even though there may be conflicting beliefs.
I think that this type of paradigm is actually very self-centered and the Israelis that I met confirmed this. Extensive drug usage is rampant in Old Manali. Tobacco and marijuana are smoked openly. Cocaine, LSD, etc are all cheap and readily available. Some Israelis that I met gave me the inside scoop on this. They even invited me to an Israeli pyschodelic trance party. Literally the sole purpose of coming to Manali is to relax and to indulge in drugs.
What is so ironic is that the Israelis exhibit animosity towards their Jewishness, yet they all still congregate together. They want to escape from their culture and religion and travelling helps that. Most were totally shocked when we would say that we believed in Hashem, the God of Israel, and the covenants that He made with the people of Israel. When I brought up the issue of Jewish election, most were quick to dismiss their election as God's people by claiming that we are all the same, both Jew and Gentile. This is true in the sense of sin and human depravity, but not true in the sense of election and covenantal roles. And when discussing the issue of Moshiach and Yeshua, many told me that they do not believe in a real Moshiach. Actually, they do not want a Moshiach; they would rather have Moshiach as an idea and a symbol of hope.
In my mind, one of the strongest evidences of God's existence and His faithfulness is simply the existence of the people of Israel. What nation was delivered out of slavery and bondage like Israel was? For the sake of the righteous remnant, the people of Israel have survived years and years and years of persecution and near destruction. Even the modern Israeli understands the uniqueness of their history as a people, but what was most shocking to me was that they attributed their survival to their own strength and resilience as a pole rather than the hand of God.
Deuteronomy 4:23-40.
~Chris
Our entire week was devoted to witnessing to Israelis in Old Manali. There are basically two or three streets in Old Manali that are almost entirely occupied by Israelis. We found that the best approach to meeting people was splitting up into smaller groups and being bold at restaurants and coffee shops. We had many many conversations with Israelis as well as Indians, but instead of writing about each specific conversation, I want to write more about the beliefs and paradigms that I encountered while witnessing.
Though there were orthodox Jews in Manali, I only had conversations with "secular" Jews, meaning that most of them grew up in Jewish tradition but would say now that they do not believe in their God. Most that we encountered did not believe that the Tanakh is the word of God. Additionally, they are here exploring Hinduism and Buddhism! The most common paradigm is that there is only ONE God, but all the gods of all the religions are just different faces of the one God. This belief also goes along with this universalist idea that we all define what truth is in our own realities. There is not one truth. There is only what I say is true and what you say is true. Both are true, even though there may be conflicting beliefs.
I think that this type of paradigm is actually very self-centered and the Israelis that I met confirmed this. Extensive drug usage is rampant in Old Manali. Tobacco and marijuana are smoked openly. Cocaine, LSD, etc are all cheap and readily available. Some Israelis that I met gave me the inside scoop on this. They even invited me to an Israeli pyschodelic trance party. Literally the sole purpose of coming to Manali is to relax and to indulge in drugs.
What is so ironic is that the Israelis exhibit animosity towards their Jewishness, yet they all still congregate together. They want to escape from their culture and religion and travelling helps that. Most were totally shocked when we would say that we believed in Hashem, the God of Israel, and the covenants that He made with the people of Israel. When I brought up the issue of Jewish election, most were quick to dismiss their election as God's people by claiming that we are all the same, both Jew and Gentile. This is true in the sense of sin and human depravity, but not true in the sense of election and covenantal roles. And when discussing the issue of Moshiach and Yeshua, many told me that they do not believe in a real Moshiach. Actually, they do not want a Moshiach; they would rather have Moshiach as an idea and a symbol of hope.
In my mind, one of the strongest evidences of God's existence and His faithfulness is simply the existence of the people of Israel. What nation was delivered out of slavery and bondage like Israel was? For the sake of the righteous remnant, the people of Israel have survived years and years and years of persecution and near destruction. Even the modern Israeli understands the uniqueness of their history as a people, but what was most shocking to me was that they attributed their survival to their own strength and resilience as a pole rather than the hand of God.
Deuteronomy 4:23-40.
~Chris
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