Etty Hillesum was born into a secular Jewish family in the Netherlands on 15th January 1915, and murdered in Auschwitz on 30 November 1943, at the age of 38. Her letters and diaries, published in 1986 (Dutch) and 2002 (English and 18 other languages), mark her out as one of the great spiritual luminaries of the 20th century. A young Jewish woman, caught up in horrors of the Holocaust, finds the Almighty in the midst of turmoil and gives her life in the service of others.
Brought up in an intellectual but dysfunctional family, she explored a series of philosophical paths and personal relationships. Her writing comes alive with her honesty and self-awareness, her delight at the discovery of new ideas, people and situations, and the roller-coaster ride through the heights and depths of her emotions. Her joy in the gift of life and her growing sense of the divine make her journey, like that of her contemporaries Anne Frank and Edith Stein, not just one of personal self-discovery, but one that speaks for the whole of the human situation.
Etty Hillesum began writing her diary in March 1941. Her diaries record the increasing anti-Jewish measures imposed by the occupying German army, and the growing uncertainty about the fate of fellow Jews who had been deported by them. As well as forming a record of oppression, her diaries describe her spiritual development and deepening faith in God. She writes of her studies in the Russian novelist Dostoyevsky, the poet Rilke, the mystics of the Christian tradition, Augustine and Eckhardt, and the Bible.
When round-ups of Jews intensified in July 1942, Etty took on administrative duties for the “Jewish Council”, voluntarily transferring to a department of “Social Welfare for People in Transit” at Westerbork transit camp. She worked there for a month, but returned in June 1943, by which time she had refused offers to go into hiding, in the belief that her duty was to support others scheduled to be transported from Westerbork to the concentration camps in German-occupied Poland and Germany. On 5 July 1943, her personnel status was suddenly revoked, and she became a camp internee, along with her father, mother, and brother Mischa.
In the concentration camp of Westerbork, she had unusual experiences of spiritual awakenings and insight: “Those two months behind barbed wire have been the two richest and most intense months of my life, in which my highest values were so deeply confirmed. I have learnt to love Westerbork”.
Hillesum addressed God repeatedly in her diaries, regarding him not as a saviour, but as a power one must nurture inside of oneself: “Alas, there doesn’t seem to be much You Yourself can do about our circumstances, about our lives. Neither do I hold You responsible. You cannot help us, but we must help You and defend Your dwelling place inside us to the last.”
Still in Amsterdam, Hillesum developed an method of showing others the way to their own interior in a time of great adversity – the Nazi terror. Her time at Westerbork – as reflected in her diaries – portrays the redemption of her spirit, while her body was captured and eventually murdered. She neither denies the horror of the Nazi terror, nor identifies with her victimhood. In the midst of extreme conditions, Hillesum develops an awareness of the indestructible beauty of this world.
She writes during her time at Westerbork: “The sky is full of birds, the purple lupins stand up so regally and peacefully, two little old women have sat down for a chat, the sun is shining on my face – and right before our eyes, mass murder… The whole thing is simply beyond comprehension.” She writes with great tenderness, empathy, and self-realisation.
On 7 September 1943, the family were deported from Westerbork to Auschwitz. Only Jaap Hillesum did not go with them; he arrived in Westerbork after their removal, and in February 1944, he was sent to Bergen-Belsen, dying shortly after its liberation in April 1945.
Etty Hillesum’s parents are recorded as having died on 10 September 1943, suggesting they died in transit or were murdered immediately upon their arrival. Mischa Hillesum remained in Auschwitz until October 1943, when he was moved to the Warsaw Ghetto, where, according to the Red Cross, he died before 31 March 1944. Etty was murdered in Auschwitz on 30 November 1943.
Francis Hannafey writes: “Hillesum does not identify herself with any one religious tradition; her love ethic is neither strictly Jewish nor Christian. Yet the Jewish and Christian scriptures, St. Augustine, and the writings of Rainer Maria Rilke inspire her. The gospels appear to influence her moral thinking significantly. She often draws on the Gospel according to Matthew and cites its moral teachings. On a few occasions, Hillesum’s references to this gospel draw directly on the love command in Matthew 22:37-40.57 Hillesum refers to Christianity and to Christ in a number of places in the diaries. She also considers the Christian celebration of Easter on at least four occasions. However, it is not possible to situate Hillesum’s moral vision too closely within a single religious tradition. While Judaism and Christianity are considerable religious influences in the diaries and letters, Hillesum’s own highly personal and—to some—mystical religious experience may have also inspired her moral thinking.” (Hannafey, 79-80)
On the way from Westerbrook detention camp to Auschwitz, she threw out from the train a final postcard which was discovered by Dutch farmers after her death. It reads:
“Opening the Bible at random I find this: ‘The Lord is my high tower’. I am sitting on my rucksack in the middle of a full freight car. Father, Mother, and Mischa are a few cars away. In the end, the departure came without warning… We left the camp singing… Thank you for all your kindness and care.”
Prayer and Reflection: Right now in Israel and Gaza we have reached the 100th day after the terrible atrocities of 7th October 2023 and its terrible consequences. The path to peace and resolution of this violent, long-term, intractable conflict is difficult to see. Etty Hillesum found peace within herself despite the Holocaust that she and so many others were caught up in. May her courage, faith and love for others inspire us to seek peace and pursue it, calling on the Almighty, who makes peace in the high places, to make peace among us and all humanity. V’imru Amen.
Publications
An Interrupted Life: The Diaries of Etty Hillesum 1941–1943. Persephone books, London, 1996, 2020.
Etty Hillesum: An Interrupted Life the Diaries, 1941–1943 and Letters from Westerbork
Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury, “Religious Lives,” Romanes Lecture, Oxford University (November 18, 2004) in idem, Faith in the Public Square (London: Bloomsbury, 2012), 313–325, especially 318–319.
Rowan Williams, Luminaries, Luminaries: Twenty lives that illuminate the Christian way, London, SPCK, 2019.
The Circumcision by Luca Signorelli (16th century)
Prayer for Today: Almighty God, whose blessed Son was circumcised in obedience to the law for our sake and given the Name that is above every name: give us grace faithfully to bear his Name, to worship him in the freedom of the Spirit, and to proclaim him as the Saviour of the world; who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.
The Feast of the Circumcision of Christ is the Christian celebration of the circumcision of Yeshua in accordance with Jewish tradition, eight days after his birth, the occasion on which a Jewish boy is given his name.
And when eight days were fulfilled to circumcise the child, his name was called Jesus, the name called by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. (Luke 2:21)
Circumcision of Christ, Menologion of Basil II, 979–984.
The circumcision of Jesus has traditionally been seen, as in the popular 14th-century work the Golden Legend, as the first time the blood of Messiah was shed, and thus the beginning of the process of the redemption of humanity, and a demonstration that Messiah is fully human, and of his (and his parents’) obedience to Torah.
The feast day appears on 1 January in the liturgical calendar of Eastern Orthodox churches, all Lutheran churches, and some churches of the Anglican Communion (while the Divine Maternity of Mary is observed on 26 December in the Byzantine rite, both in Greek Orthodox and Byzantine Catholic churches. In the General Roman Calendar, the 1 January feast, which from 1568 to 1960 was called “The Circumcision of the Lord and the Octave of the Nativity”, is now the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, and the Octave Day of the Nativity of the Lord. In Western Christianity, the Feast of the Naming and Circumcision of Jesus Christ marks the eighth day (octave day) of Christmastide.
Circumcision and Jewish Identity
The Divine Covenant and Circumcision: Circumcision is the sign of covenant established between God and Abraham. Along with the Sabbath and kashrut (dietary laws), it emerges as the distinctive marker of Jewish identity (Genesis 17:9-27). The prophets further emphasized the spiritual essence of circumcision, urging the people to circumcise their hearts as a metaphor for repentance (Jeremiah 4:4; Deuteronomy 10:16; 30:6).
Circumcision as a Boundary Marker: Circumcision gained prominence during the Maccabean times as a political statement against assimilation, in addition to its covenantal importance. The practice set Jews/ioudaioi apart, evoking reactions ranging from neutrality to outright repugnance among their Greek and Roman neighbours.
For Jewish males, circumcision became the primary external sign of the covenant with God, serving as a permanent reminder of their descent and religious commitment. Yet, to the Greeks and Romans, who valued a sound mind in a sound body, circumcision seemed a barbaric mutilation, a crude deviation from the perceived beauty of the human form.
Conversion to Judaism and the Role of Circumcision: During the Hasmonean period, conversion to Judaism meant embracing Jewish laws, particularly circumcision, and integrating into the Jewish community. While Jewishness was previously linked to birth and geography, it evolved into a function of non-national identity. Circumcision emerged as the verifiable ritual of conversion, distinctly identifying Gentile converts.
Apart from circumcision, the boundary between Jew and Gentile remained fluid. Gentiles who believed in or honoured the Jewish God or followed Jewish laws were sometimes considered as Israel, without being “Judaean” (ιουδαιοι). This fluidity in identity raises profound questions about the essence of Jewishness and the role of circumcision in delineating it.
Early Christianity and the Circumcision Debate: Transitioning to the early Christian community, we find that the observance of circumcision among Gentile believers became a focal point of tension. Initially, the earliest followers of Jesus, predominantly Jewish, seamlessly blended their faith in Messiah with adherence to Jewish customs and laws. They saw no conflict between their identity “in Messiah” and their Jewish heritage, existing within the framework of the Mosaic covenant.
However, the dynamics shifted following the first Jewish revolt and the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 C.E. With the decline of other Jewish sects, the Pharisees competed with Christians for the heritage of pre-70 Judaisms. As the number of Gentile believers grew, questions about their core identity surfaced, leading to the recognition of a distinct Christian identity.
Paul’s Vision and the Jerusalem Conference: The Apostle Paul played a pivotal role in shaping the evolving Messianic identity. His encounter with Yeshua on the Damascus road opened the way for his call to preach the Messiah to the nations. Paul envisioned a new community where the differences between Israel and the nations would be reconciled in the united Body of Messiah – without doing away with Sabbath, circumcision and kashrut for the eccllesia ex circumcisione (Church of St James), but not requiring it for the ecclesia e gentibus (Church of St Peter).
The Jerusalem Conference, as recorded in Galatians 2:1-10 and Acts 15:6-29, marked a crucial juncture. Led by James, the Jerusalem Church decided to admit Gentiles without circumcision, establishing more lenient standards. Paul’s mission to the Gentiles would not include circumcision, while Peter’s mission to Jews maintained adherence to circumcision and Torah observance. The decision reflected mutual recognition and support for these different missions, highlighting the inclusivity of the early Christian community.
Christian supersessionism in the 2-5th centuries led to a reversal of this policy. For example, Isaac of Antioch wrote in his, ‘Homilies Against the Jews’, that circumcision is no longer a mark of election, which has now passed to Christians, but a means of identification for punishment.
Justin Martyr wrote in the “Dialogue with Trypho the Jew” that
circumcision was given for a sign, that you alone may suffer, and that your land may be desolate, and your cities burned with fire, and that strangers may eat your fruit in your presence and not one of you go up to Jerusalem.[3]
Church Fathers, such as Cyril, Jerome, John Chrysostom, John of Damascus Justin Martyr, Lactantius, Origen, Tertullian, and Ambrose, reaffirmed the ban on circumcision for Christians. Origen said quite plainly:
The rite of circumcision…which began with Abraham…was discontinued by Jesus, who desired that His Disciples should not practice it.
Speaking of circumcision, Ambrose observed:
Nature has created nothing imperfect in man, nor has she bade it be removed as unnecessary.
Over the centuries, the Catholic Church has passed many laws banning the circumcision of children and adults. Martin Luther preached against circumcision on many occasions.
Barbara Bell writes that In “Virgin and Child before a Firescreen” Jesus is depicted as uncircumcised.
Christ lies in His mother’s arms in a most unnatural pose. One leg is raised, His toes mobile, His left hand is raised to twiddle His hair creating an open and confident body language. His hands are fully prehensile and articulate beyond a baby’s normal ability. He has adult proportions, which seem foolish to the modern viewer but was the convention of the time. The divine incarnation was never a vulnerable baby like we are babies. Within this unnatural pose, Mary has cupped her hand at just the point to reveal that Jesus is not circumcised. This is common in renditions of the naked Christ. It could be argued that such divine perfection and peace needs no such sign but this would be inaccurate. Christ could not be circumcised for we know that this was God’s mark on a man for damnation. (Barbara Bell, Christian Anti-Judaism in Art: A Messianic Jewish reading and response to the ‘Virgin and Child before a Firescreen’ by an unknown Artist, ANCC, 2012)
Virgin and Child before a Firescreen, attributed to Robert Campin or a follower. 1440. NG2609[5]
Circumcision was forbidden to Jewish believers in Jesus by the Creeds and Councils of the Church, a policy reinforced by the Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition, and the treatment of Jewish believers in Jesus until the renewing of the Hebrew Christian and Messianic Movements of the 19th and 20th centuries. Even the Circumcision of Christ was not depicted in Christian art, for fear of re-awakening Judaising in Christians who were not Jewish.
Jerome wrote to St Augustine about Jewish disciples of Yeshua warning Christians not to become Jews in 404ce:
13. The matter in debate, therefore, or I should rather say your opinion regarding it, is summed up in this: that since the preaching of the gospel of Christ, the believing Jews do well in observing the precepts of the law, i.e. in offering sacrifices as Paul did, in circumcising their children, as Paul did in the case of Timothy, and keeping the Jewish Sabbath, as all the Jews have been accustomed to do. If this be true, we fall into the heresy of Cerinthus and Ebion, who, though believing in Christ, were anathematized by the fathers for this one error, that they mixed up the ceremonies of the law with the gospel of Christ, and professed their faith in that which was new, without letting go what was old. Why do I speak of the Ebionites, who make pretensions to the name of Christian? In our own day there exists a sect among the Jews throughout all the synagogues of the East, which is called the sect of the Minei, and is even now condemned by the Pharisees
The adherents to this sect are known commonly as Nazarenes; they believe in Christ the Son of God, born of the Virgin Mary; and they say that He who suffered under Pontius Pilate and rose again, is the same as the one in whom we believe. But while they desire to be both Jews and Christians, they are neither the one nor the other. I therefore beseech you, who think that you are called upon to heal my slight wound, which is no more, so to speak, than a prick or scratch from a needle, to devote your skill in the healing art to this grievous wound, which has been opened by a spear driven home with the impetus of a javelin. For there is surely no proportion between the culpability of him who exhibits the various opinions held by the fathers in a commentary on Scripture, and the guilt of him who reintroduces within the Church a most pestilential heresy. If, however, there is for us no alternative but to receive the Jews into the Church, along with the usages prescribed by their law; if, in short, it shall be declared lawful for them to continue in the Churches of Christ what they have been accustomed to practise in the synagogues of Satan, I will tell you my opinion of the matter: they will not become Christians, but they will make us Jews. (https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/1102075.htm)
Today we rejoice in the circumcision of Yeshua and celebrate it as a declaration that not only Messianic Jews, but Jesus himself lived out on earth the life of a Torah-observant Jew, and is himself the embodiment of the Torah.
Hag sameach! As we celebrate this festival let us also pray for:
peace in Israel and Gaza,
comfort for those who mourn,
release of the hostages,
an end of hostilities,
our hearts to be circumcised
repentance, reconciliation and restoration of Israel and the nations to take place speedily and in our days.
“On this day in Messianic Jewish history” enters its 10th year – and more than 700 posts. We bring you significant events in the lives of Jewish disciples in Yeshua. How has the history of the Church and the Jewish people shaped Jewish expressions of faith in Yeshua? How have they impacted Jewish Christianity in the past and its contemporary expression in Messianic Judaism today?
As we begin a New Year we reflect on the principle and practice illustrated in the life of Hudson Taylor, the pioneer missionary to China, and John Wilkinson, founder of the Mildmay Mission to the Jews on the 1st of January 1897. I would also like to invite you to follow their example.
On the first day of every year during his time as head of the China Inland Mission (now Overseas Missionary Fellowship), Hudson Taylor sent a donation by check to the Mildmay Mission to the Jews, London, on which was written, “To the Jew first.” And, at the same time, John Wilkinson, leader of the Mildmay Mission, sent his personal check to the China Inland Mission with the notation, “And also to the Gentile.”
The details are recorded by Mrs Hudson Taylor here:
And her last gift to the Rev. John Wilkinson expressed the deepest interest in his work among the Jews. Work among God’s ancient people occupied a special place in the prayerful sympathy of both Mr. and Mrs. Taylor ; and Mr. John Wilkinson, founder of the Mildmay Mission to the Jews, recalled an interesting phase of their long friendship. Taking advantage of a New Year’s Day spent at home (1897), Mr. Taylor went round to Mr. Wilkinson’s house with a brotherly note enclosing a gift for the Mission. ” To the Jew first,” were the words with which the cheque was accompanied. Mr. Wilkinson’s warm heart was touched, and he immediately wrote a brotherly reply, enclosing his own cheque for the same amount, with the words : ” And also to the Gentile.” This helpful interchange of sympathy was kept up ever after, the only change being that each doubled the amount of their contribution.
The exegesis of Romans 1:16 to argue for a ‘missional priority’ for Jewish evangelism, that the Jewish people remain today the starting point has not always been accepted. But today, as much as ever, believers in Yeshua have a responsibility towards the Jewish people which includes not only repentance and reconciliation, but sharing of the Good News of the Messiah of Israel as a priority.
Prayer: Thank you Lord for the example of Hudson Taylor. Help us in our lives to live out his principles of faith and put them into practice. May we too have a right understanding of your love and concern for your Jewish people, and how best to show this. May this coming year be crowned with good things, and may Yeshua be made known as the glory of his people Israel. In our Messiah’s name. Amen.
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Henry Einspruch (born חײם יחיאל איינשפרוך Khaim-Yekhiel Aynshprukh in Tarnów, Galicia, 27 December 1892 – 4 January 1977), was a Galician-born Jew who became a Lutheran, becoming translator and publisher. Einspruch translated Christian literature into Yiddish, Hebrew, Polish, Russian, and English. His most notable work was a translation of the New Testament into Yiddish.
Early life in Tarnow, Galicia
His father Mendel was a scholar, an iron merchant, and a Santser Hassid. His mother Mirl was the daughter of the cantor of the main synagogue in the city of Jarosław. As a teenager, Einspruch was drawn to Christianity. Raised in a Yiddish-speaking home, he was a yeshiva student who studied under the rabbi of Barnov. Einspruch attended a Baron Hirsch School and the Tarnów High School. Along with other Jewish socialists, Einspruch was active in the Poale Zion movement and helped organize a strike of clerks, tailors, and teachers at religious elementary schools. He began his literary career in 1908-1909, working as the Tarnów correspondent for Poale Zion’s magazine Der Yidisher Arbeyter (The Jewish Worker). In 1909, at the age of 17, he made aliyah to Ottoman Palestine and worked at Merhavia, a moshav in Galilee. In 1911, he immigrated to the Khedivate of Egypt. After living in Egypt, he returned to Poland and became a follower of Yeshua under the guidance of the Khayem (Lucky) Yedidiah Pollak. By 1913, he had immigrated to the United States and lived in Cleveland and New York City, working at a restaurant and an iron factory. Moving to Chicago, he studied at Moody Bible Institute and graduated in 1916; he also studied at McCormick Theological Seminary. He moved to Baltimore in 1920 and studied at Johns Hopkins University.
Ministry in USA
in 1923, Einspruch founded the Salem Hebrew Lutheran Mission in East Baltimore, located at the intersection of South Caroline and East Baltimore streets in Baltimore’s historic Jewish quarter close to Corned Beef Row. The Salem Hebrew Lutheran Mission’s church building has a Magen David above its entrance with the Greek letters iota eta sigma (IHS, a monogram for “Jesus Christ”).
Einspruch founded Lederer Messianic Jewish Communications, which became the largest publisher of “Hebrew-Christian” literature in the world. On Shabbat, Einspruch was known to regularly stand on a soapbox in front of various Baltimore-area synagogues and deliver Christian sermons in the Yiddish language.
Later life and death
Einspruch died in January 1977 in Washington, D.C. He was survived by his wife Marie (April 3, 1909 – March 17, 2012), whom he married in 1941.
Marie Einspruch was a Christian missionary from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania who was of Pennsylvania Dutch heritage and thus could easily understand Yiddish due to the high level of mutual intelligibility of Yiddish and the Pennsylvania Dutch language. As a Lutheran deaconess, she joined the Jewish Mission in Baltimore in 1931, and was the official typesetter for her husband’s
Yiddish translation of the Christian New Testament. Following Henry Einspruch’s death in 1977, Marie became the director of what had become known as the Lederer/Messianic Jewish Resources International. Marie Einspruch died in Rockville, Maryland in 2012 at the age of 102. Henry and Marie Einspruch are survived by their daughter Muriel.
Stuart Dauermann writes:
I knew Einspruch and sat at his table more than once listening to his stories. I wonder if they are going to make him a pathetic figure. He was anything but.
Very European, cultured, learned, and exacting. I remember him taking a hard copy of the RSV Bible off his shelf, opening to the fly-leaf, where he had written all the typos he had found in the Bible.
His wife Marie had been his secretary. She was from Pennsylvania Dutch country. SHARP and wise. She was considerably younger. Maiden name was Gerlach.
She died a few years ago I believe. Over a hundred years old.
The Jewish newspaper in Mexico City wrote a review of Einspruch’s NT, which he translated from the Greek into what they termed excellent literary Yiddish. Einspruch was proud of that.
Some years earlier, in the1920’s or early 30’s he had complained at a missionary conference about “missionary Yiddish” which was notoriously crude. So he went out and improved the breed. He couldn’t get any printer to print the book so he type set it himself. And she helped him.
A remarkable man. He came to faith in Amsterdam. He had gone to Alexandria Egypt to visit his brother, and on the way back to his home in Austria, he took ill in Amsterdam where Christians showed him the love of Messiah. . . .
He was a Lutheran Missionary to the Jews who also did street preaching in Yiddish, although you would never guess from meeting him. He was a scholarly, thin man.
I miss him. What an honor to know him.
Prayer – Einspruch’s translation of the Lord’s Prayer with transliteration
The Lord’s Prayer – Matthew 6:9-13 – English, Hebrew, Transliteration 260122
‘”Deriber zol ir mitpalel zayn af a voyd [un] fon:Undzer foter, vos bist in himl, Gehilkht zol vern dayn nomen. Zol kumen dayn malchus, Zol dayn ratzon geton vern Af der erd, azoy vi er vert geton in himl. Gib undz haynt undzer teglekh broyt; Un zey undu mokhel undzer shuldikayt, Vi mir zenen oikh mokhel undzer baaleykhoovos; Un breng undu nit tsu kayn nisoyon, Nyerst zey undu mazil fun dem shlekhtn. Varyum dir gehert di malukhe, un di gvure, Un der kovod, af ivik. Omen.”
On Tishah B’Av, this day of mourning for the loss of the Temple in Jerusalem, our hearts also go out to the family and friends of Sinéad O’Connor, whose passing was reported yesterday. A sad and tormented soul, she produced some of the most poignant songs and soul-wrenching lyrics of her generation. She sang of love and loss, joy and pain, angst and anger. The beauty of her voice, the power of her lyrics, and the nephesh she expressed will live on in her work, but sadly not her life.
One of my favourite albums was “Theology”, a two-volume cover of many biblical passages and prayers. If you have not heard it here is her “If you had a vineyard” mourning the failure of Israel/Jerusalem to bear the good grapes of righteousness, instead producing wild grapes. She relates this back to Hashem’s covenant with Israel, with the tone of grief and sadness that speaks of God’s own pain at the unfaithfulness of the people.
Another song from the same album, “Watcher of Men” speaks of Job’s suffering when he curses the day that he was born, and yet acknowledges Yah’s presence (her preferred term for God).
Why did I not die at birth? Expire as I came from the womb? Why were there knees to receive me? Or breasts to feed me? Why was I not like babies Who never saw the light? Who lie with kings and counsellors Who rebuild ruins for themselves And where rest Those whose strength is spent Where small and great are alike And the slave is free of his master Oh watcher of men Do you have eyes of flesh? Is your vision like man? Are your years the years of man? You know that I’m not guilty And that none can deliver from your hand Also u know that u have deeply wronged me oh And u have hedged me in You made it so nobody knows me And I’m an outsider to them When I accused you, you wouldn’t speak I said you tore up my hope like a tree But I spoke without understanding Of things beyond me which I did not know And now I’ve heard you with my ears And I’ve seen you with my eyes Therefore I recant and relent Being but dust and ashes
May the LORD comfort those who mourn Sinéad’s passing, and may her soul rest in eternal peace.
Her family announced the news “with great sadness”, saying “her family and friends are devastated”. The cause of death has not been made public.
She was best known for her single Nothing Compares 2 U, released in 1990, which reached number one and brought her worldwide fame.
Taoiseach (Irish PM) Leo Varadkar said her music “was loved around the world and her talent was unmatched”.
Irish President Michael D Higgins praised O’Connor’s “authenticity” as well as her “beautiful, unique voice”.
“What Ireland has lost at such a relatively young age is one of our greatest and most gifted composers, songwriters and performers of recent decades, one who had a unique talent and extraordinary connection with her audience, all of whom held such love and warmth for her,” he said.
Born Sinead Marie Bernadette O’Connor in Glenageary, County Dublin, in December 1966, the singer had a difficult childhood.
As a teenager, she was placed in Dublin’s An Grianan Training Centre, once one of the notorious Magdalene laundries, originally set up to incarcerate young girls deemed to be promiscuous.
One nun bought her a guitar and set her up with a music teacher – which led to the launch of O’Connor’s musical career.
8 In the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month—that was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon—Nebuzaradan, the captain of the bodyguard, a servant of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. 9 And he burned the house of the Lord and the king’s house and all the houses of Jerusalem; every great house he burned down. 10 And all the army of the Chaldeans, who were with the captain of the guard, broke down the walls around Jerusalem. 11 And the rest of the people who were left in the city and the deserters who had deserted to the king of Babylon, together with the rest of the multitude, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried into exile. 12 But the captain of the guard left some of the poorest of the land to be vinedressers and plowmen. (2 Kings 25:8–12)
Tishah B’Av (the ninth day of the month of Av, on 26/27 July 2023) holds a profound significance for those of us who follow Yeshua (Jesus) as our Messiah. Traditionally observed as a day of lamentation for the destruction of both the First and Second Temples (in 586 bce and 70ce), Tishah B’av has a special meaning for those who see Yeshua as the ultimate fulfilment of the Temple.
In Jewish tradition, the Temple in Jerusalem was the centre of worship, the place where the Divine Presence (Shekinah) resided among the people. After the destruction of the Temple, according to Jewish tradition, the Shekinah also went into exile. However, from a Messianic Jewish perspective, we recognize that with the coming of Yeshua, a new understanding of the Temple emerges. Jesus himself proclaimed, “Destroy this Temple, and in three days, I will raise it up” (John 2:19). He was referring not to the physical Temple, but to his own body, which would be crucified and raised from the tomb.
For Messianic Jews, Tishah B’Av becomes a day of reflection on the significance of Jesus’ sacrifice as the ultimate atonement for sin. Through his death and resurrection, Yeshua became the living temple, the bridge between humanity and God, allowing direct access to the Divine Presence. He tore down the barrier that separated us from God, making a way for all nations to approach Hashem. Yeshua, the “Temple not made with hands” is the very embodiment of God’s presence.
As we mourn the destruction of the physical temples in history, we also celebrate the fulfilment of the temple in Jesus. In him, we find hope, reconciliation, and eternal life.
On Tish B’Av, Messianic Jews find solace in the assurance that even in times of darkness and mourning, we have a High Priest who understands our pain and intercedes on our behalf. Yeshua’s sacrificial love becomes a source of comfort and healing as we reflect on the past and look forward to the future.
Tishah B’Av reminds us of the redemptive power of God, who can transform mourning into joy and brokenness into wholeness. As we contemplate the destruction of the Temples of old, we are reminded that Yeshua’s sacrifice builds us into the renewed Temple, where believers are living stones, built together to form a dwelling place for God (1 Peter 2:5).
From this perspective, Tishah B’Av becomes a day of renewed hope and faith, as we recognize that the ultimate temple is not confined to a physical structure but resides within each believer’s heart, forever connecting us to the divine love and grace of our Saviour, Yeshua the Messiah.
Our hearts go out to all our people, and all who mourn at this time. As Yeshua taught us “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted” (Matthew 5: 4). As we recognise the provision of God’s mercy, forgiveness and restoration in Yeshua, we can truly know his comfort, strength and renewal.
Prayer
Lamentations 3:18-24 (JPS):
I thought my strength and hope Had perished before the LORD. To recall my distress and my misery was wormwood and poison; Whenever I thought of them, I was bowed low. But this do I call to mind, Therefore I have hope: The kindness of the LORD has not ended, His mercies are not spent. They are renewed every morning— Ample is Your grace! “The LORD is my portion,” I say with full heart; Therefore will I hope in Him.
Holocaust Theology in the light of Yeshua? Messianic Jewish Reception of Eikah – Paul Re’emi, a prominent Hebrew Christian and Holocaust survivor, wrote a commentary on the Book of Lamentations, using it to reflect on his own experience of the Shoah and his faith in Yeshua. You can read about how he and other Jewish disciples of Yeshua reflect on this day and its meaning here and powerpoint here.
Ed Parish Sanders FBA (18 April 1937 – 21 November 2022) was an American New Testament scholar and a principal proponent of the “New Perspective on Paul”, along with James Dunn and N T Wright. He was a major scholar in the scholarship on the historical Jesus and contributed to the view that Jesus was part of a renewal movement within Judaism. Sanders identified himself as a “liberal, modern, secularized Protestant” in his book Jesus and Judaism; fellow scholar John P. Meier calls him a postliberal Protestant. He was Arts and Sciences Professor of Religion at Duke University, North Carolina, since 1990. He retired in 2005.
Sanders was a Fellow of the British Academy. In 1966, he received a Doctor of Theology degree from Union Theological Seminary in New York City. In 1990, he received a Doctor of Letters degree from the University of Oxford and a Doctor of Theology degree from the University of Helsinki. He authored, co-authored, or edited 13 books and numerous articles. He received a number of prizes, including the 1990 University of Louisville and Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary Grawemeyer Award for the best book on religion, Jesus and Judaism (Fortress Press, 1985).
I met Ed Sanders when studying Theology at Bristol University in 1976, the year before his trailblazing Paul and Palestinian Judaism was published. Not only was he dating my New Testament lecturer, Meg Pamment, but he was also in regular discussion with my other New Testament lecturer and Pauline Scholar, John Zeisler. As we worked our way through the Greek text of Paul’s letter to the Romans each week, John would often remark “yes, it’s funny that you should read the passage like that, as I was just talking on the phone to Ed Sanders about it, and he sees it like that also.”
Little did I know, as a young Jewish follower of Yeshua, how revolutionary Sanders’ views would be, or how helpful they would be for those of us looking to rediscover the Jewishness of Paul, Paul within Judaism, and Paul as Torah-observant Jew. But Sanders blazed the trail for an important trend in Pauline scholarship, from which the Messianic movement has benefited greatly. Scholars such as Mark Nanos, Daniel Boyarin, Mark Kinzer and David Rudolph are indebted to him.
I remember a conversation some of us had with him in a restaurant in Bristol back in the 1970s. One of the students asked him if he believed Jesus had truly risen from the dead. His answer was “Hmmm, I’ll have to think about that”. It was clear that for him then, with such scholarship and expertise on the New Testament, the issue of Yeshua’s resurrection had not been a guiding factor or key element of his research, although few had gone as deeply into the study of the life of Jesus in his Jewish context. I believe he has the answer now.
Blessing on seeing a scholar
ברוך אתה ה’ אלקינו מלך העולם שחלק מחכמתו לבשר ודם
Baruch Atah Adonai Eloheynu Melech HaOlam shechalak MeChachmato LeBasar VeDam – blessed art Thou O Lord our God who has given wisdom to flesh and blood.
A prayer of Thomas Aquinas
Ineffable Creator,
You who are the true source of life and wisdom and the Principle on which everything depends, be so kind as to infuse in my obscure intelligence a ray of your splendor that may take away the darkness of sin and ignorance.
Grant me keenness of understanding, ability to remember, measure and easiness of learning, discernment of what I read, rich grace with words.
Grant me strength to begin well my studies; guide me along the path of my efforts; give them a happy ending.
You who are true God and true Man, Jesus my Savior, who lives and reigns forever.
It was October 1914. The First World War had just started. On the western front French and German armies were already locked in fierce battles. Werner Simonson was one of a group of fifty German soldiers from the 4th Guards regiment involved in the Battle of Diksmuide in Belgium. They had just taken prisoner over thirty French soldiers. The man Simonson had captured had been a schoolmaster before being called up. He seemed particularly distressed at the turn of events, so Simonson spoke kindly to him in French and shared some of his rations with the unhappy man.
As daylight came and the early morning mist cleared, the fifty German soldiers, with their prisoners, found that they were trapped between two French trenches. The French immediately opened fire. Within a few minutes most of the Germans were killed or wounded. The two officers in charge of the Germans, a major and a captain, were killed right next to Simonson. He survived by lying down in a small hollow in the ground. The firing stopped. Fifteen Germans remained alive.
The French now came out of their trenches to deal with the fifteen Germans who were left. In a victorious mood the French took their prisoners. Then the attitude of the victors changed dramatically. The French were outraged to discover that some of the Frenchmen previously captured by the Germans had been killed in the confusion. The Germans were wrongly accused of having shot them deliberately. As a reprisal, five Germans, including Simonson, were lined up for execution.
Just as the French officer was about to shout, ‘Fire!’ the former schoolmaster came forward and said something to the officer in charge of the firing party. As a result, Simonson and one other German were led away and saved from death. The other three German soldiers were shot. The schoolmaster who had saved Simonson’s life did not even wait around to be thanked.
Werner Simonson recorded this story in his memoirs – The Last Judgment – to show the importance of small acts of kindness. In later life he became known for them. He realized how often very small things can have unforeseen effects, either for good or evil. What he did not record was that he was awarded the Iron Cross. It was given for the bravery and good conduct he displayed during the fighting in Flanders.
During that comparatively minor battle two thirds of Simonson’s battalion were killed in a single night. Most were young students from Berlin. Whenever Simonson subsequently referred to the Battle of Diksmuide, he called it the ‘slaughter of Berlin’s youth’.
So Werner Simonson became a prisoner of the French. He was not to know that his imprisonment was to last for over five long years. Considering the enormous casualty figures among infantry soldiers on both sides in the First World War, his capture may well have saved his life. For most of the time he was forced to work on farms in the south of France. Even though he was not treated cruelly, he found life as a prisoner both hard and tedious.
He longed to see his father, mother and two sisters – Ilse, the eldest and Maggie who was younger. His father was an important Supreme Court judge in Berlin. Werner had been brought up in an atmosphere of high culture, appreciating music, painting and an aristocratic lifestyle. If only he could go home and resume his university studies to become a lawyer!
He now began to believe that he had given these studies up too quickly in the excitement of the early months of the war. Knowing only what the censored German newspapers told them, he and his friends had rushed to join the army in case the war ended before they had a chance to fight. They had been given six weeks of hurried training. Then they were issued with new grey uniforms and put on a train heading for Belgium and France. Somebody painted the words, ‘Holiday train to Paris,’ on the carriages packed with high-spirited German soldiers. He felt proud when civilians threw sweets and cigarettes to the departing troops. Enthusiastic crowds cheered them on their way to what seemed inevitable triumph. He recalled seeing a ‘victory’ parade in Berlin with large quantities of guns and military equipment that had been captured on the Russian front. Deep down he had the unpleasant feeling that it would have been better to wait until victory really was won. He had suppressed such thoughts at the time, carried along by enthusiastic propaganda and patriotism. If only he had not believed the Kaiser when he claimed falsely that Germany was being attacked! He thought about the Kaiser’s boast that he would eat his Christmas dinner in Buckingham Palace. Being a prisoner gave Simonson a different perspective. It all seemed so empty now.
The world suffered a disastrous influenza epidemic during 1918 and 1919. Millions died from what the newspapers called ‘Spanish flu’. Six million people died in India, and tens of thousands in most other countries. More United States soldiers in Europe lost their lives because of influenza than were killed in action by the enemy. Simonson was struck down with it in the autumn of 1918, and was fortunate to survive. The family of the French farmer for whom he was working nursed him back to health. Even though he was one of the ‘enemy’, he was treated as part of the family. Nevertheless, many captive Germans and French villagers perished because of the flu epidemic. Understandably, not all German prisoners were treated as kindly as he was.
At 11.00 on a grey November morning in 1918, he was working in the fields of Provence as usual, when the bells of the village church began to peal. He could also hear the bells of churches in surrounding villagers. The First World War was over. The bloodshed had ended at last. The unconfined joy of the French was matched by the misery of the Germans who knew that they were defeated. News came through that the Kaiser had fled to neutral Holland seeking asylum.
At first Simonson and his friends thought that release would soon follow. In April 1919 they were escorted to a train. The German prisoners were excited. Surely this train would take them home? Slowly the train made its way from the beautiful Mediterranean coast to the north of France. After Dijon, it travelled through areas devastated by the war. From the window Simonson could see houses in ruins, trees cut down and laid waste. Then came disappointment. They would not be going home. They were split into groups to help with the restoration of the war-torn areas. It was not until early 1920 that Simonson was eventually released.
At the time he thought his five years in captivity were completely wasted. Later on he changed his mind. As life unfolded, he realized that he had learned lessons that moulded his character and taught him how to cope with difficult situations. In his words, ‘We all had to live together in conditions of hardship, accept our limitations and renounce any notions of self-importance.’ No experience in life is wasted, he concluded.
Simonson returned to his family in Leipzig, arriving late one night. Naturally, they wept with joy and surprise. Before many days had passed he noticed the obvious: he had come back to a land that was totally different from the one he had left more than five years earlier. People were bitter and disunited by the defeat. His father, who was an ardent monarchist, was greatly upset by the change from the autocratic Kaiser to a republican democracy. Germany was engulfed by political strife. Even in the streets of Leipzig there was totally unexpected shooting. There were also disturbances in many other German towns. Political parties accused one another of being responsible for the nation’s debacle in the recent war.
After a few weeks of recuperation, Simonson plunged into his interrupted university studies. He was a man with considerable ability. As a result, his progress was rapid. In 1921, at the age of thirty-one, he passed the examinations to become Doctor of Law. In 1925 he was appointed as a judge. By 1928 he was a high-court judge presiding over commercial law cases. Although qualified in both criminal and civil law, he always preferred dealing with civil cases. His income was increased by writings for legal periodicals. His name became well known in legal circles because of his authoritative contributions to a lawyer’s yearbook.
During this period of success and advancement, he married Leonie in July 1923. She too had an aristocratic background. Their only child, a son called Juergen, was born in 1924. Considerable financial security enabled them to travel and enjoy excellent holidays every year in the most luxurious surroundings – such as the Bavarian Alps, the Tyrol, Lake Lucerne, Zermatt and the Dolomites. There were few limits on their pleasures.
The Simonsons’ circumstances were so comfortable that their way of life appeared to be unaffected by Germany’s economic problems. From 1919 to 1933 Germany was ruled by a parliament called the National Assembly. This held its meetings at Weimar because Berlin was torn by political unrest. As a result the government became known as the Weimar Republic. The politicians had no experience of democracy, and Germany was in virtually constant political and economic turmoil.
Most Germans felt frustrated by the Treaty of Versailles that had been imposed on their delegates in Paris at the end of the war. A large number believed that Germany had been treated unfairly. People were ready to believe the myth that Germany had been ‘stabbed in the back’ by the Jews and other traitors, and that the German army had not been beaten on the battlefield. Ordinary people did not feel that they had been beaten because the Allies had never occupied the country as conquerors. Dr Simonson was not particularly interested in these things. He did not like the instability in his country, but he made no attempt to change the direction of public affairs. Law was his sphere, not politics.
In 1933 Adolf Hitler was legally appointed Chancellor of Germany. On the day he took office a friend remarked to Simonson, ‘This is the end of Germany’s freedom. In future the Nazis will suppress all other views.’ Before long this was proved correct. All political groups other than the Nazi party were abolished. The parliament building was burnt down. Hitler became a dictator with all the levers of power in his control. At the end of March 1933 Simonson heard a radio broadcast by Hitler’s propaganda minister and leading spokesman, Goebbels. In it he called the Jews ‘sub-human monkeys’ and ‘the dregs of society’. Then came the news that the great Jewish conductor Bruno Walter had been forbidden to give a concert.
Windows of businesses owned by Jews were smashed. No Jew was allowed to hold public office. Because of this ruling, Nazi leaders went to all places of employment asking if there were any Jews working there. They interviewed Werner Simonson and found out that, although his parents had converted to Christianity and been baptized as Lutherans, all four of his grandparents were Jewish. Therefore, by race Simonson and his parents were Jewish, though they had no connections with any Jewish people.
The moment the Nazis found out his racial background, the fact that he had fought for Germany and had won the coveted Iron Cross for gallantry counted for nothing. His career as a judge was over. He was sacked there and then. That happened just as he was on the verge of appointment to a very senior job in the legal profession – judge in an appeal court.
Shortly afterwards, Simonson received letters from his publishers saying that, for obvious reasons, they were no longer able to publish books he had written. One of his works, a legal commentary, was even published under a false name. Overnight he became an outcast. People who had been eager to visit the family because of his social position now changed their minds. Some would walk on the other side of the street to avoid meeting him. It saddened him that highly educated people were quickly influenced by this prejudice. But as he said, ‘We learned who were our real friends.’
All his advantages vanished. He could not obtain work of any kind. Even the boys in his son’s class at school wrote on the blackboard, ‘We do not want a Jew in our form; the Jew must go.’ Simonson’s passport had a huge ‘J’ (for ‘Jew’) stamped on it. Theatres and hotels put up notices saying, ‘No admission to Jews.’
In 1938, under the strain of waiting to be arrested, Simonson’s health broke down. He had a heart attack and a nervous breakdown. The first doctor who was called refused to see him because Simonson was ‘Jewish’. Eventually, his friend Dr Schmoeger treated him, at the risk of losing his own job.
In the same year, when he was forty-nine years old, Simonson had an experience that was to change his life. In a gloomy mood, he went to Dresden to visit his married sister Maggie and her family. It was his niece’s confirmation service. This involved attending a local Lutheran church. At the time Werner Simonson thought Greek philosophy was more important than the Christian faith. He believed that the philosopher Socrates was a greater man than Jesus. Why? His explanation was that ‘Jesus had died expecting to rise again, but Socrates had given his life for his convictions without expecting any reward. I did not believe in a personal God, nor in a personal relationship with God through faith in Jesus.’
During the service the preacher spoke about some men who need to reach a kind of abyss, when they can go neither forward nor back, where they are completely at the end of all hope, before they can discover the way to God. Simonson wrote, ‘He pictured this situation so vividly, as though he knew exactly my state of mind, my frustration, and was preaching just for me. It was as if God spoke to me and called me by name, as if he said, “I have a new way for you, a new life, if you will respond.”
He could not resist God’s call. ‘In the utter darkness that had engulfed my life I saw a new light. I met God, not only as the God of nature, not as the unapproachable God, far too great to be accessible to man, but now as a personal God in a “You – I” relationship, as a completely new experience. He in his mercy had revealed himself to me through the preacher’s words. God had touched my heart. It was more than an emotional effect.’ It was the beginning of a new era in his life.
He returned to his wife and son with a new hope and with faith in his heart. Praying, reading the Bible and going to church with his family became regular parts of his life. The church was in a small village near Forst, south of Berlin. It was Lutheran, and its leader, Pastor Jacob, preached only from the Bible and supported the Confessing Church. Simonson’s ideas began to change. He recorded: ‘From the Gospels I saw that my ideas about Jesus were wrong. I came to the conclusion that either Jesus was the Son of God, as he had claimed to be, or he was a deceiver or self-deceived. No Old Testament prophets had dared to forgive sins, because they knew that God alone could do it. Jesus forgave sin. The prophets spoke in the name of God. Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me”; “I am the light of the world”; I am the bread of life”; “I am the good shepherd”; I am the door”; I am the resurrection and the life”; I and the Father are one”; “Before Abraham was I am”.’
Werner Simonson began to understand for the first time that Jesus’ death on the cross was ‘God’s act of love, his power to overrule man’s will, forgiving sin, and drawing people to the Father’. He wrote, ‘We cannot come to God in our own strength, or by what we do, but by what Jesus has done to forgive sin by faith in him. The more I read the Bible, the more God’s Spirit entered into me. Through God I came to Christ and in Jesus I found the truth of God. In this connection, another thought came to me: if the gospel is not true, if God does not exist, then human life is accidental, without purpose and not worth living.’
He came to believe that godlessness was one of the causes of Nazism in Germany, a country so long full of criticism of the Bible. Simonson’s memoir says, ‘The evil in this world results from man’s separation from God. It is not the fault of God.’
He was now not only a marked man because he was ‘Jewish,’ but because he associated with the Confessing Church, composed of both Lutherans and Reformed Christians, all of whom openly opposed Hitler. Members of the Confessing Church particularly rejected those who called themselves ‘German Christians’ for adopting Nazi beliefs. Simonson knew that the cross had been removed from some of these ‘churches’ and replaced by a picture of Hitler. The Nazis had appointed one of this group, Mueller, as a bishop, with the aim of controlling the ‘German Christians’.
It would only be a matter of time before the Gestapo, the sate secret police, arrested Simonson. His wife was safe because she was not Jewish in any way. One woman asked his wife why he didn’t commit suicide to make life easier for her! Leonie started to urge him strongly to escape from Germany.
With the help of Dr. George Bell, Bishop of Chichester, and other English friends, Simonson obtained a visa from the British consulate. Even with this he had to be interviewed by the Gestapo to procure a passport as an emigrant. He and his wife had to report to a Gestapo building. On entering, non-Jews could walk on the carpet in the centre and sit down. Jews had to stand on the stone floor by the wall until they were called. So his wife was allowed to sit, while he had to stand. Leonie decided she would stand with him. When he was called it was made clear that if he ever returned from England he would be immediately sent to a concentration camp.
On 7 March 1939, when he was nearly fifty, Simonson arrived in Southampton ‘and took a deep breath of freedom’. He could speak only broken English, although he was fluent in French and understood Latin and Greek. The German authorities had only allowed him to take ten marks out of the country (a trifling sum). Though virtually penniless, he had something the Nazis could not take away – his faith in God through Jesus Christ. His plan at this time was to be in a position to support his wife and son, and then send for them.
The clouds on the political horizon darkened. People everywhere in Europe were restless and uneasy. It was evident to most people who were alive at the time that Europe was about to explode into the flames of the Second World War.
The moment that war started, an ‘iron curtain’ came down between Britain and Germany. Simonson’s parents, sister, wife and son were all in Germany. What was he to do? The only possible answer was the one he offered in his memoirs: ‘I trusted in God and his guidance.’ His English friends understood the predicament in which he found himself. Here was a man cut off from his family through no fault of his own. Most of them shook him by the hand to show that they cared and understood.
As he grew in grace and understanding, he experienced the Lord’s call to serve in the Christian ministry. Travelling in England he found sympathy, kindness and Christian fellowship. As his English improved, he started to study. In 1940 the only college prepared to teach him theology and how to preach was the evangelical Anglican college Ridley Hall in Cambridge. There were no fees to pay. The age gap between him and the other students was significant: most of them could have been his sons. He was well past middle-age when converted to faith in Christ and, as with many older converts, he was anxious to make the most of what life was left to him.
Suddenly there came a shock. All Germans in Britain were to be rounded up and interned in case they were spies. With Britain under threat of invasion in 1940, the decision to classify all German nationals was understandable. Simonson was put on a train and taken to a newly built housing estate at Huyton near Liverpool. From there he was shipped to Douglas on the Isle of Man, where hotels had been requisitioned.
It took the British authorities some time to sort out which of their German internees were friendly and innocent. Simonson shared a house with other Christians who had escaped from Germany. He discovered that strict Orthodox Jews occupied the hotel next door. He and his friends had discussions with them. The Jews kept up their rituals based on the law. Simonson recorded: ‘They were still waiting for the coming of the Messiah. We knew that the Messiah had come, that Jesus was the fulfillment of the prophecies of the Old Testament. Jesus lived with us and in us. They missed this inner assurance that gave us so much strength during our internment.’ There was no place in Judaism for such a personal knowledge of God. As a result of their discussions, several Jews became Christians and were baptized in the hotel by a Lutheran pastor. After six months, Simonson was released and returned to Ridley Hall.
From this time onwards tragic news started to come from Germany. His father had died. His eighty-four-year-old mother was murdered in a concentration camp and his sister Ilse was gassed in Auschwitz. His non-Jewish wife and son, however, were spared, along with his sister Maggie, who was married to a non-Jew. Simonson was devastated. For some days he was overwhelmed by darkness and grief. He wrestled with God about it until the Lord’s compassion restored the light and joy of his salvation.
In the summer of 1942 his time at Ridley Hall came to an end. Even though he was now fifty-two, the call to the ministry was very strong. But would any English church want a German citizen as its minister? The legal authorities of the Church of England wanted proof that he really was a Doctor of Law since he had no documents. Somebody suggested asking the British Museum. Sure enough, it had a record of his thesis dated 17 March 1921, complete with its full title in German.
On 27 September 1942 Simonson was ordained in St Paul’s Cathedral, London. British newspapers were full of the amazing story of a German citizen becoming a Church of England minister in the middle of a very serious war against Germany. A typical headline announced: ‘Ex-German Judge to be Curate in London.’
At his first charge, Christ Church, Fulham, he maintained a programme of study and prayer in the mornings and four or five evangelistic visits in an afternoon, or twenty-five to thirty every week. He believed that, to sustain his ministry, it was necessary to study the Word of God daily. ‘We need to read God’s Word as spiritual food as much as we need our daily bread,’ was how he expressed his strong conviction on the matter.
One day he heard the sad news that the son of a church member had been killed while flying in the RAF over Germany. Thinking that they would not want to see a German in their grief, he was prepared to be turned away, but when he visited the home, the father and mother were waiting for him. ‘We had a wonderful time of fellowship and prayer together,’ Simonson later recalled.
In 1944 Werner Simonson received the exciting news that his son, Juergen, now twenty-one, was still alive. He was being used as a slave labourer by the Nazi Todt organization. However, he survived the ordeal, came to England, became a Christian and, like his father, entered the Church of England ministry.
More joy was to come: Leonie, his wife, was the first German civilian to be allowed into England once the war ended in 1945. She proved to be remarkably calm on finding the husband she had last known as a judge had been ‘transformed’ into a Christian minister. Two years later Dr and Mrs Simonson became British citizens.
After seven years at Fulham, he became vicar of St Mark’s, Dalston, also in London. While at Dalston he was asked to return to Germany. The new democratic West German government was genuinely short of judges who were not contaminated by Nazi ideas. Would he be a judge? If not, would he accept a pension for the post he had held before the Nazis had sacked him? It must have seemed an attractive offer. His income at the time was well below the average. He had no car. A bicycle was used for all his visiting. To Werner Simonson the decision was obvious. ‘Had I returned,’ he wrote, ‘I would have been appointed to a high position in the legal profession, yet I could not consider this offer for a moment. I could not exchange service in the ministry of God for service in the administering of man-made law; accepting this offer would have meant abandoning God’s call to me, and this I could not do.
At the age of sixty-five, he moved to St Luke’s Church, Hampstead, where he stayed for over nine years. There were many Jewish people living in Hampstead and during his ministry there ten Jewish people came to faith in Christ and were baptized by Simonson.
By the time he was nearly seventy he was beginning to find cycling on his pastoral visits tiring, so he invested in a motor-cycle. He had it for one day, fell off and went back to the bicycle! At the age of seventy-five he retired and was succeeded by Bible scholar and preacher Alec Motyer.
Werner Simonson lived to be 101, dying in February 1991. Those who knew him commented on his godliness, prayerfulness and the favourable impression that he made on people from all walks of life. He was a humble, self-effacing man who learnt from all the experiences of his varied life. After all, he had been a soldier, a prisoner, a student, a lawyer, a judge, a husband, a father, an author, a persecuted nobody, a refugee, a theology student and, last but not least, the evangelistic minister of three parish churches.
He continued to preach in weakness until a few weeks before his death, still witnessing the blessing of God. Because of his ministry, there are many in heaven today. Though virtually blind, he wrote to the author encouraging the use of his writings, photographs and correspondence to convey this testimony to any who would listen to or read it.
If Werner Simonson could speak from the grave, he would doubtless be calling on all who have no relationship with God to be reconciled to their Creator by repentance and faith in the work of Jesus Christ on the cross, the benefits of which come directly to the individual soul by the sovereign grace of the Holy Spirit.
His little book of Memories, The Last Judgment, sets out at the beginning his motive for writing: ‘I have written this small book to show that God can change lives.’ It is hard to argue with that in the face of Werner Simonson’s experience.
From WAR AND GRACE – Short biographies from the World Wars, by Don Stephens, published by Evangelical Press, Faverdale North, Darlington, DL3 0PH, England
Lili Simon was the daughter of the timber merchant Fritz Simon. She was born in Königsberg in 1908 as the oldest of four siblings. In 1920 the family moved to Bremen. Her father had three grandparents of Jewish origin and was considered a “full Jew” according to the “race laws”, and Lili as “half-Jewish” developed an interest in theology in her childhood. The relationship between Jews and Christians would become the focus of her theology, her own identity and the key to her existence.
After graduating from high school in 1928, Lili began studying theology and philology in Bonn. She studied with Karl Barth, who had taught in Bonn since 1930. As one of the inner circle of his students, she gave seminar presentations, asked and responded to his questions, and would maintain correspondence with him until his death in 1968.
In 1932 she moved to the University of Erlangen and received her doctorate in June 1933 under Benno von Wiese with a thesis on Goethe, graduating “summa cum laude”. However, as a “half-Jew” she was not allowed to take the state examination. Thereupon she emigrated in October 1933 convinced that there was no future for her in Germany, partly because of her Jewish ancestry, and partly also because of her political views. Like Barth and others, she opposed the developing nationalism that would emerge under the National Socialists.
She came to Switzerland via England and France, where she did language studies, and passed the theological faculty examination in Basel in July 1936. But she only had permission to study in Switzerland and had to find work elsewhere. From a distance, she watched what was happening in Germany and wrote to Karl Barth on January 1, 1935: “It is often incredibly difficult for me to be so far off the beaten track and alone. […] I am shocked and I cannot understand why our church, which has appeared as a “confessing” one, is so silent and hesitates.”
From September 1936 Lili Simon taught at the school for Jewish children run by the Church’s Ministry among the Jewish People (CMJ) in Bucharest, Roumania.
Article by Lili Simon on her work in Bucharest – article not yet onlineCMJ School Bucharest – Lili Simon is on the front row, on the right – with thanks to David Pileggi for supplying the photo
After the pogrom in Roumania against the Jews in 1941, she fled to Palestine. There she joined the Anglican school run by CMJ in Tel Aviv, teaching English language and literature. In 1944, through the mediation of friends, she found employment as an English teacher at the Hebrew speaking Rehovot grammar school, where she was known as a Christian. For Lili, the years in Palestine/Israel were far more than just another stop on the run from the Nazis; the land became her home.
Letter sent from BAD SCHANDAU 7 3 41 and addressed to Bucharest where it arrived (the backstamp is dated 20 MAR 41) for “Fräulein Dr Lili Simon.” From Bucharest, it was forwarded to Jerusalem – and again it got there, as shown by the British censor tape. This letter appears to have been censored when leaving Germany and may have been censored again when leaving Bucharest for Jerusalem. Though Romania formally aligned itself with the Axis powers on 23 November 1940, it still proved possible for this letter to travel to Mandate Palestine. Either Romania counted as a Neutral power or else Palestine did, which would account for a second German censorship when the letter was forwarded. Lili must have been very surprised to receive this letter, though unfortunately we cannot tell when:With thanks to Trevor Pateman for this information and pictures – note the Nazi censor’s stamp on right
Lili longed for a state in which Jews and Arabs could live together, and worked to create understanding between Israelis and Palestinians, and between Jews and Christians. As a German and a Christian, she was exposed to questions like: “What do you have in common with Jesus, as your Gospels show him? From a saving remnant you have become an aggressive majority, from being persecuted you have become the persecutors! Persecuted Christ yes – but Christians, no!” She wrote to her friend and teacher, Karl Barth – “that is my daily bread in Eretz-Israel ”(letter sent on September 17, 1947).
Lili applied for both British citizenship and Palestinian passport (see pictures below), as a “Hebrew Christian”[more information needed here].
In 1952 an eye operation forced her to return to Europe. The doctors advised against a permanent stay in Israel, and in 1953 she returned to Bremen. This was followed by years of tough struggle for reparation (financial compensation), which was urgently needed because of her difficult economic situation. But this was refused many times because she left Germany “voluntarily”. Finally, after several court cases, she was awarded compensation.
Lili also was appointed to a lectureship in religious education at the newly-founded University of Education in Bremen. But this was resisted by the institution and Lili Simon found herself working in a climate characterised by disinterest and wanting to be free from any ecclesiastical influence. Lili found little support from the local pastors and felt abandoned by the Bremen Church. Despite enjoying the work with the students, she gave up her job at the university and in 1958 was assigned to the State Youth Ministry of the Rhenish Church.
A progressive illness forced her to adopt a less active lifestyle. She hoped to find this at the Youth Academy in Radevormwald, where she taught contemporary literature and Judaism from 1964. She also led weekend conferences, which were very well received. But the work of the academy was focused on psychological and socially-oriented group dynamics. In Lili’s view, theology was insufficiently represented, and this led to conflicts with the Youth Academy. Unwilling to compromise on the importance of theology, she retired in 1972. Lili continued her extensive conference and lecturing activities – most recently confined to a wheelchair – whenever possible. Shortly after traveling to Israel on her 80th birthday, Lili died of the consequences of an accident on January 6, 1989.
Reflection and Prayer. Discovering this lady, a student of Karl Barth, a gifted theologian and teacher, and a refugee whose travels took her through England, France, Switzerland, Roumania and Israel, I am full of wonder at how her life reflected not only the travails of her times, but the faithfulness of God to his people Israel. How I would love to have met her, and hear her story at first hand, her life of prayer, her theological and political concerns, and the impact that she had on her friends, students and disciples. I look forward to meeting her in heaven!
CMJ Employment Register – with thanks to David Pileggi
Lili Simon * December 23, 1908 in Königsberg, † January 6, 1989 in Wuppertal. 1928–1933 studies of theology and philology in Bonn and Erlangen, doctorate; 1933 emigrated to England, 1934 language studies in France; 1936 theological faculty examination in Basel; 1936–1941 teacher in Bucharest; 1941 escaped to Palāstina, teacher in Tel-Aviv, 1944 in Rehovot; 1952 return to Switzerland; 1953–1958 lecturer at the University of Education in Bremen: 1958–1965 State Youth Parish Office of the Rhenish Church; 1964 / 65–1972 lecturer and lecturer at the Radevormwald youth academy.
Evangelisch getauft – als »Juden« verfolgt,
Evangelisch getauft – als “Juden” verfolgt. Theologen jüdischer Herkunft in der Zeit des Nationalsozialismus. Ein Gedenkbuch herausgegeben von Hartmut Ludwig und Eberhard Röhm in Verbindung mit Jörg Thierfelder Theologische Literaturzeitung. Monatsschrift für das gesamte Gebiet der Theologie und Religionswissenschaft. Calver Verlag Stuttgart, 2014, pp. 324-5.
P279 – Another set of much more complicated questions concerned the Christian belief in Jesus as the Jewish Messiah and the implications of this belief for Jewish-Christian 73 Ibid. 74 Ibid., 428-430. 278 relations. Here workgroup members were themselves clearly divided. Pastor Leuner, a Jewish Christian argued that it was only the actions of Christians, their centuries of persecution against the Jews, that prevented Jews from recognizing Jesus as their Messiah. Schalom Ben-Chorin, a Jewish speaker, acknowledged the respect that many modern Jews had for Jesus as a Jewish teacher. But he reiterated their rejection of Jesus’ messianic claims. And another workgroup member, Lili Simon, worked to explain Jesus’ comments that he was the only way to the Father. These comments, she suggested, did not exclude the Jews since, in context, he was speaking here of the path that his disciples should follow, not making any universal claim. Rabbi Geis, by contrast, reaffirmed the important theological differences between Judaism and Christianity, arguing “the things that separate us need to be allowed to remain; it would be a fundamental misunderstanding to not take these seriously or to try to discuss them away.” Nevertheless, all of these speakers called for Christian humility in relation to the Jews and for tolerance and continued discussion.75
FAITH AND DEMOCRACY: POLITICAL TRANSFORMATIONS AT THE GERMAN PROTESTANT KIRCHENTAG, 1949-1969 Benjamin Carl Pearson
Deutscher Evangelischer Kirchentag. Berlin 1961. Dokumente. Stuttgart: Kreuz Verlag, 1961. [DEKT 1961]
Friend of Charlotte von Kirchbaum, Professor Helmut Gollwitzer and Dr. Lili Simon, who came to know her while they were students in Basel.closer circle of his students included Georg Eichholz, Walther Fiirst, Helmut Gollwitzer, Heinz Kloppen- burg, Werner Koch, Walter Kreck, the student ad- viser Erica Kiippers, Georg Lanzenstiel, Lili Simon, Karl Gerhard Steck, and Hellmut Traub.” Among them she made many good friends, and these friend- ships continued even after the years in Bonn.
P279 – Another set of much more complicated questions concerned the Christian belief in Jesus as the Jewish Messiah and the implications of this belief for Jewish-Christian 73 Ibid. 74 Ibid., 428-430. 278 relations. Here workgroup members were themselves clearly divided. Pastor Leuner, a Jewish Christian argued that it was only the actions of Christians, their centuries of persecution against the Jews, that prevented Jews from recognizing Jesus as their Messiah. Schalom Ben-Chorin, a Jewish speaker, acknowledged the respect that many modern Jews had for Jesus as a Jewish teacher. But he reiterated their rejection of Jesus’ messianic claims. And another workgroup member, Lili Simon, worked to explain Jesus’ comments that he was the only way to the Father. These comments, she suggested, did not exclude the Jews since, in context, he was speaking here of the path that his disciples should follow, not making any universal claim. Rabbi Geis, by contrast, reaffirmed the important theological differences between Judaism and Christianity, arguing “the things that separate us need to be allowed to remain; it would be a fundamental misunderstanding to not take these seriously or to try to discuss them away.” Nevertheless, all of these speakers called for Christian humility in relation to the Jews and for tolerance and continued discussion.75
FAITH AND DEMOCRACY: POLITICAL TRANSFORMATIONS AT THE GERMAN PROTESTANT KIRCHENTAG, 1949-1969 Benjamin Carl Pearson
“On this day in Messianic Jewish history” enters its 10th year – and more than 700 posts. We bring you significant events in the life of Jewish believers in Yeshua. What are the events in the history of the Church and the Jewish people that have shaped Jewish expressions of faith in Yeshua? How have they impacted Jewish Christianity in the past and its contemporary expression in Messianic Judaism today?
As we begin a New Year we reflect on the principle and practice illustrated in the life of Hudson Taylor, the pioneer missionary to China, and John Wilkinson, founder of the Mildmay Mission to the Jews on the 1st of January 1897. I would also like to invite you to follow their example.
On the first day of every year during his time as head of the China Inland Mission (now Overseas Missionary Fellowship), Hudson Taylor sent a donation by check to the Mildmay Mission to the Jews, London, on which was written, “To the Jew first.” And, at the same time, John Wilkinson, leader of the Mildmay Mission, sent his personal check to the China Inland Mission with the notation, “And also to the Gentile.”
The details are recorded by Mrs Hudson Taylor here:
And her last gift to the Rev. John Wilkinson expressed the deepest interest in his work among the Jews. Work among God’s ancient people occupied a special place in the prayerful sympathy of both Mr. and Mrs. Taylor ; and Mr. John Wilkinson, founder of the Mildmay Mission to the Jews, recalled an interesting phase of their long friendship. Taking advantage of a New Year’s Day spent at home (1897), Mr. Taylor went round to Mr. Wilkinson’s house with a brotherly note enclosing a gift for the Mission. ” To the Jew first,” were the words with which the cheque was accompanied. Mr. Wilkinson’s warm heart was touched, and he immediately wrote a brotherly reply, enclosing his own cheque for the same amount, with the words : ” And also to the Gentile.” This helpful interchange of sympathy was kept up ever after, the only change being that each doubled the amount of their contribution.
The exegesis of Romans 1:16 to argue for a ‘missional priority’ for Jewish evangelism, that the Jewish people remain today the starting point has not always been accepted. But today, as much as ever, believers in Yeshua have a responsibility towards the Jewish people which includes not only repentance and reconciliation, but sharing of the Good News of the Messiah of Israel as a priority.
Prayer: Thank you Lord for the example of Hudson Taylor. Help us in our lives to live out his principles of faith and put them into practice. May we too have a right understanding of your love and concern for your Jewish people, and how best to show this. May this coming year be crowned with good things, and may Yeshua be made known as the glory of his people Israel. In our Messiah’s name. Amen.
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On This Day In Messianic Jewish History 