I could start this story "Once upon a time" or" Long Long ago in a Galaxy far away" or " Suddenly, in the middle of the day there was a deafening roar and the skies went black". But I really can't start my saga in such a manner.

My coming to Yeshua was personal and dramatic only to me. I wasn't under a burden of drugs or alcohol, I wasn't ill and no one in my family was on death's door at the time.

The story has a preamble.

Twenty some years ago our oldest daughter ended up with convulsions. She was about 10 at the time. She was attending a friend's birthday party. I received a call , she had gone into convulsions. Our daughter was very healthy and we did not know why.

We lived then in a little town called Tilson in NY state. A long way from anywhere. I jumped in the car and got my daughter Ayala and took her to the hospital. Quicker than calling an ambulance.

We had been at the hospital about 45 minutes when the doctor came out to be and said there was nothing they could do for her and she was on a respirator. but she would die.

After yelling and screaming at the doctor I called an ambulance service to take Ayala from that hospital to Albany Med Center, a 90 mile trip.

I could only watch the nurse squeezing the little black bag attached to her mouth, manually breathing for her.

We got to Albany and finally they put her in the intensive care unit. Needless to say I spent the night there with her in the room.

During the night I prayed to GOD to take me and let her live. I prayed to GOD to heal her and if HE did, I would be HIS for the rest of my life.

In the morning when I woke, Ayala was awake, almost as if nothing had happened. The doctors monitored her for two years afterwards and found no brain damage or other problems. I was overjoyed and the doctors were mystified.

I thanked GOD and promptly forgot my promise to HIM. He did not. As I look back, He sent various individuals, mainly Jewish Believers to talk to me, but I just ignored them or made fun of them.

He still covered my family and I with HIS grace. We had no more illnesses and no more bad times, no major crisis. I forgot, but He did not. He waited patiently and mercifully for me to come to HIM.

Fast Forward.

My youngest daughter married a Christian about Eight years ago. This bothered me but not enough to make waves about it

She was in love and happy. I met him before I moved to Israel, we went out for an evening together to shoot pool and shoot the breeze. He impressed me immediately by the way he thought and the way he acted. I made up my mind that very night, I thought he and my daughter would get along fine together. The fact that I saw myself in him at the same age, the same ambitions and drives, had nothing to do with it. Many of the ways he thought were the same as mine. These years later show me I was right about him.

Hana, my wife, and I talked it over at length. Even though he was not Jewish we knew our grandchildren would be. Jewish family lines run thru the woman. If a woman is Jewish, her children are automatically Jewish. I never discussed this with Joe but I knew what he would say, he thinks like me. He even went to services at Synagogue with my daughter. Everything was great. Then they moved to a small down in Ohio. He was working for a large company and was promoted to the main office. So you don't think this is their story I am going to jump ahead a bit. Hopefully my daughter will decide to fill in the blanks and I will add them to this page.

To continue, we received a phone call from my daughter, one which she found very hard to make, telling us she had found the Lord in Jesus. She had joined a small nondenominational church and was very very happy. Our first reaction, after we hung up the phone, was shock. (Sorry Daf). Hana and I were both upset. Another Jewish person starting to believe in Jesus.

We discussed it at length. We both felt that He had to have been a very powerful and charismatic person, after all, He changed the history of the world and He molded the ways of man for two thousand years. Neither one of us believed He was the Son Of G-d. We calmed down and slowly accepted, over a period of weeks, in our minds that our grandchildren would believe in Him. Naturally quite a bit of time past before we discussed it with Daf again even though we talked on the phone 2-3 times a week.

I have mentioned David before. I had a 4 year discussion with him about the beliefs of Messianic Jews. Of course I would always take the negative side.  I read the New Testament. Twice. It was interesting reading from an informational stand point. When my daughter told me she had become a believer I decided I should learn all I could, especially since I wanted to know what my grand children might ask me or tell me when they come to visit.

As I read both bibles I began to see how closely one followed the other. I then started to read about Church history starting from the first century and looked for where the division took place that so alienated Jews and Christians.

I found what I was looking for. I also looked for the proof Yeshua was not the Messiah. The Bibles have all the proof that He Is.

All arguments against Him, I found to be hollow and lacking all proofs.  All works I read that were against Yeshua were from an emotional stand point or seemingly from a stand point of fear. In short I found no PROOF He was not the Messiah. I read in the Tanach the prophesies and what had to be full filled for the Messiah to come and He filled them all.

At this point I decided it would hurt nothing if I accepted Him as The Messiah. So mentally I did. Understand, this was all done without emotion. Just a logical 2+2=4 attitude. For me everything has to follow and be in order for me to believe it. I believe H2O is water and CO2 is carbon dioxide. Neither can be something else.

As I knelt, I said to myself, if nothing happens, six months from now I will just forget about the whole thing. I started to pray a version of the sinner's prayer someone had given me and I was using as a book mark for a long time. I really did not expect anything supernatural to happen . I figured I would say the prayer , get up and be about my day. I had that figured wrong.

As I was praying, I felt the Lord wrap His arms around me and lift me right off the floor. He hugged me and I felt His love. I felt His warmth and love course through me. I could hardly get to Amen I was crying so hard.

After the prayer, I lay there on the floor, trying to compose myself. A great feeling of joy ran through me and I wanted to jump up and run outside and shout to every one what a miracle had just happened. AND I almost did it. Then I remembered the stereo types on TV and in the movies. And then I remembered how I would have reacted to some one like that just 30 miniutes ago. So I just sat on the floor and prayed, feeling like a new born. Feeling fresh, feeling purified, feeling joyful, really joyful for the first time in my adult life.

I started to read both Bibles again  keeping in mind "I believe in Yeshua" and the Bibles are the word of GoD.

Suddenly there was a whole new meaning in those pages. Suddenly I was being guided in my life right from the scriptures. I went to Ohalei HaRachamim Congregation for services a few times. I also started praying 3 times a day. I was feeling a conflict in me and I knew some thing was happening.

During this time I was also meeting once a week with David and Eitan (from the synagogue).

On Rosh Hashanah I went to services on Saturday morning. Then the BIG surprise. After the Torah reading ,we said the Blessings and Moshe picked up the Torah, held it high in the air, turned around so all could see the scripture and I received a lightning bolt. A jolt of electricity came from the open Torah and almost knocked me down. I started to weep and I was filled with the most wonderful feeling I had ever had in my life. All at once I felt a change in my body, a warmth spread through me to all parts of me. When I recovered from the shock I had a tremendous feeling of well being. My mind was quiet inside and I felt warm and safe as if in the arms of someone who was comforting me. All anger, resent, and fear left my mind and body. I felt it leave. I just felt great. No tension. No confusion. The step had happened.

The Ruach HaKodesh had filled my body. I just prayed and gave thanks to The Lord Yeshua and GOD Our Father for welcoming me back. I was overcome with emotion and had to leave. I didn't tell David or Eitan until the Wednesday after. I wanted to make sure I was not mistaken. I still feel the same way and Life is so much sweeter. I feel, see, and hear things I never did before. Those of you who have received the Holy Spirit know what I am talking about.

David, his wife Josie and Eitan took me to the Jordan River for Immersion. WOW.

As David and Eitan stood on either side of me, waist deep in the Jordan, we prayed. They slowly lowered me backwards into the water and raised me up again.

I am a diver, so when I go underwater, I always keep my eyes open, water does not bother me. As they were lifting me out of the water, I went blind. I couldn't see anything, not the sun, not Josie standing on the bank taking pictures and not David or Eitan right next to me.

I stood and saw nothing, just blackness. Slowly my sight began to return and I heard in my head, "you have died to your old self and you are reborn as Mine. Now you are my servant and my friend"

Left-Eitan  Center-Paul  Right-David