I had six years of intense training in Hebrew school, but they did not teach us the scriptures. Welcome to Connections with Rich and Bobby. Hi, I'm Bobby, Bobby Hamlin. And I'm Rich, Rich Homeris. We're continuing our talk with Joe Jakowicz, the president and founder of First Love Ministries and the pastor of Christ Bible Church. He's been sharing with us about growing up in Brooklyn, New York, right next to the boardwalk on Coney Island as a young Jewish boy. and how he became convicted of the Lord to follow Yeshua, Jesus, as his Lord and Savior. He continues now with his story. When we moved to New Jersey when I was 11 years old, I continued to go to Hebrew school to be trained and to be prepared for my bar mitzvah at age 13. A bar mitzvah is the equivalent of a Roman Catholic confirmation where a young person, whether you're Roman Catholic or Jewish, gets trained and catechized in the basics of their religion and understanding what they believe And in the Jewish religion, my catechism consisted of learning history and learning to read and write Hebrew so that by the time I finished my training, I would be able to read Hebrew from the pulpit during my bar mitzvah in front of the congregation and prove to them that not only could I read and write Hebrew, but also I embraced the basic tenets of the Jewish religion. So, at age 13, I did go through the Bar Mitzvah and my family was very proud of me. And I had a very strong love for Judaism and the culture and the atmosphere and all of the traditions and the food and everything connected with Judaism and being brought up as a Jew in New York City. I just embraced it totally and loved it. Did the Scriptures mean anything to you as you were going through that transition, preparing for your confirmation? That's a very good question. Actually, no. That's the contradiction and the paradox in my situation. I had six years of intense training in Hebrew school, but they did not teach us the Scriptures. That is, they did not teach the meaning and purpose. of the scriptures, the object of the scriptures, which is God himself and the being of God, the nature of God. They didn't teach doctrine and theology. They didn't teach about the meaning and message of the Messiah, what was the purpose of the Messiah. I didn't learn anything about doctrine. It was just let's teach you how to read and write Hebrew so that when you come to your Bar Mitzvah, you can just go through the motions and get your certificate and, you know, follow the traditions of the fathers. And so, no, I didn't know anything about the Jewish religion in terms of the basics. I knew something about the holidays, Yom Kippur, meaning the Day of Atonement, but it didn't really deal with, that is the teaching that I received, didn't deal with how sin is forgiven, how sin is remission and expiation of sin, how God actually takes our sins and how He justifies us and how He bears our sins and how He deals with them. So I didn't learn any of that. I didn't know any better. I was blind, just a young kid following in the footsteps of the faith, the Jewish religion. So then how did you come to, if it was true what they were saying about Jesus, or to pursue looking into that at all? Well, after I graduated high school, two weeks later, I entered the Marine Corps. So as I proceeded, after graduating boot camp, I went to Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, and spent a couple of years there. And after two years in the Marines, I got very lonely, very restless. Military life can be very monotonous and regimented and boring. But after about two years in the Marines, I began to get curious about Judaism. I just sensed an emptiness, a loneliness, a restlessness in my heart. I came to a place in my life where I realized that I went through the Bar Mitzvah, six years of Hebrew school. very faithful as a Jew, but I really don't know that much about why I believe what I believe. What's the purpose of it? I began to ask those kinds of questions. What's the meaning of life? Why am I here in this world? Judaism didn't provide those answers. Judaism did not give me peace and joy and satisfaction. in my heart. Judaism did not answer the hard questions like, are my sins forgiven? Do I have assurance that when I die I'm going to heaven? So the best thing I knew to do was just to return to the roots of Judaism to try to find those answers. So I began to read everything I could and everything I can get my hands on about Judaism. So I began to buy books and go to the library, and I began to fill my head with a lot of knowledge about the Jewish religion. So after about three years in the Marines, I had reached the rank of sergeant. I was transferred out of the infantry into a marksmanship training unit because I had done very well on the rifle range. so they transferred me over there to be an instructor, as a primary marksmanship instructor. From the boardwalk of Coney Island to Hebrew School and now in the Marines, quite a journey. But it's not over, so stay with us as we'll return to Joe's story in just a moment. You're listening to Connections with Rich and Bobby, and we'd love to connect with you. Just go to our website at connectionswithrichandbobby, that's all one word, and Bobby is b-o-b-b-i dot com. That's connectionswithrichandbobby.com. There, all of our podcasts are posted, along with all of our contact information. Also, you can connect with us on social media by friending us on Facebook, post on Instagram, or tweet us on Twitter. Now, let's return to our talk with Pastor Joe Jakowicz as he talks about his service in the Marine Corps and his search for peace, lasting peace with God. One day after working hours, all of us were sitting around, about eight of us, and we were talking about politics. And the conversation drifted from politics to religion. Usually those are the two subjects that you avoid. The two hot button issues, right? I didn't have much heart for politics, so I just kind of remained quiet. But when it came to religion, that's when my lights turned on and the button was pushed. And I, for one, am the kind of person that whatever my hand finds to do, I do with all my might. And especially when you have religious motivation behind it, like I did as a Jew, I thought I could earn my way to heaven by being a very faithful, zealous Jew. So I just took control of the floor and I began to tout the benefits of Judaism. I began to try to persuade the other seven or eight guys that Judaism is the only true religion. I said to them, I said, even your own Bible, and most of those guys were either Catholics or nominal Christians. They were not true believers. And there was one of them, though, who was a very zealous Mormon, Sergeant Jericki. I'll never forget him. So I had all their attention, I gained the upper hand in the conversation, and then I made the statement, I said, after all guys, your own Bible teaches you that the Jews are God's chosen people. Does not the Bible teach you that? And they're looking at me with blank stares. I said, and therefore only the chosen people, the Jewish people, are going to heaven. So unless you guys become Jewish and convert to Judaism, you're all going to hell. And so that got them all upset and all stirred up. And it got them thinking. They put their thinking caps on. And that's when the Mormon took his pocket Bible out of his pocket. And he got really angry with me. And he turned to the book of Genesis. He carried around his Bible and his book of Mormon. And he said to me, OK, you Jews believe in how many gods? I said, well, we only believe that there is one God. Shema Yisrael, Adonai Eloheinu, Adonai Echad. Here, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. So we, as Jews, only believed in one person. God is only one person, a monotheistic view of God. And he says, OK. And he says, you guys, do you Jews believe in the Bible? I said, only the Old Testament. So he took me to the book of Genesis, the first book in the Bible. He says, okay, it says here in your own Bible, in Genesis 1 and verse 26, and God said, let us create man in our image after our likeness. He says, now if God is only one, why does he refer to himself in the plural, us and our, instead of the singular, me and my? Let me create man in my image after my likeness. Remember, I was reading everything I could about Judaism. I had gained a lot of head knowledge about Judaism over the last couple, three years, but I wasn't yet a theologian. I could not answer biblical questions about exegesis or the original languages or the text itself. But not wanting to be outdone and being full of pride and self-righteousness, I was motivated to get the answer, not because I was looking for the truth at that time, but because I didn't want to be outdone by this Mormon. So right on the spot, I said, OK, guys, hold on. And they were getting a little rambunctious in the background because they saw I was stumped. So I said, OK, I'll get the answer. Don't worry. And I called the chaplain's headquarters. And the rabbi and I were very good friends. So I got the rabbi on the phone. I said, rabbi, and I kind of cupped my hand to the phone so that he couldn't hear me. I said, rabbi, I'm here with some Marines here. But they asked me a question that I can't answer. And I asked him, I said, what is the answer to the Genesis 126, where God refers to himself with the plural pronoun us and our? So, what he did was, I didn't realize it at the time, but he took a book off of his bookshelf titled, Answers to Christian Missionaries' Questions. And I heard pages turning, and you know, the guys in the background where I'm at, they're saying, come on, what are you delaying for? And I said, hold on, hold on. So he gets back on the phone, he says, oh, that plurality there means God and the angels. And that's all I wanted was an answer. I wasn't really looking. I said, oh, OK, Rabbi. And just as I'm about to hang up, there was a question that popped into my mind completely unrelated to what we were talking about. And I really believe it was the Lord who put that question in my mind. I didn't hear a voice or anything. It was just this question popped in my mind. I said, Rabbi, wait a minute. Before you go, yes? I said, I have a question for you. Where do Jews go when they die? He says, oh, Jews don't believe in heaven and hell. He says, when we die, that's it. We die like an animal. And so I said, well, why are we here in this world? Well, as a Jew, you live a good life. You keep the commandments, do the best you can, live a moral life, and enjoy life because this is all you have. And I was thunderstruck. I was destroyed. I was crushed because In the back of my mind, I believe I asked that question because I was thinking that all of the works and the good deeds and all of the zeal and learning about Judaism and all of these things, and I wanted to be a rabbi myself. I actually asked the rabbi to prepare me to go to Jewish seminary after I finished my four-year enlistment, and he was. And so I was thinking that why am I doing all this religious stuff if none of it is going to earn me credit with God? Wow, a perplexing question to end on that perhaps many of you who are listening are facing as well. So, in our next podcast with Pastor Joe Jakowicz, we'll continue with his life-changing story, so join us then. And, as the Lord leads, spread the word by inviting others to listen as well. Also, if you'd like to find out more about Pastor Joe Jacowicz and his work at First Love Ministries, and as a pastor, just go to our website at ConnectionsWithRichandBobby.com and click on Program Insights. That's Program Insights at ConnectionsWithRichandBobby.com. Now you've been listening to Connections with Rich and Bobbi, and we'd love to have you subscribe to our podcast on this platform or any of the others like iTunes, Google Play, or Spotify. If you have a smart speaker, you can listen by simply saying, play the podcast Connections with Rich and Bobbi. And you can connect with us on social media, on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. So please do take a moment to let us know about you. And we'd love to hear any feedback about what you've heard on our podcasts. This is Connections, connecting with one another, as Romans 1, verse 12 says, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, both yours and mine. So thank you for listening. And remember, tell others and spread the word, God's word. and we'll see you next time on Connections with Rich and Bobby.