A personal update and teaching from the Goldman family — Shepherd of Israel Ministries Dear friends and partners in this incredible journey, As we write to you from Eastern Europe, our hearts are full of thanksgiving for each one of you who stands with us in prayer and support. The season we've just walked through—from the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) through Sukkot—has been especially meaningful this year, filled with fresh encounters with the Lord and powerful reminders of His faithfulness to Israel and the nations. This newsletter is longer than usual because there's so much we want to share with you—not just ministry updates, but the stories behind them, the scriptures that are burning in our hearts, and some deeply personal family news that we're inviting you to pray with us about. As always, we want this to feel like a conversation between friends, not a corporate report. So grab a cup of coffee or tea, and let us tell you what God has been doing. The Book of Life: More Than a Blessing During this season, you've likely heard Jewish people greeting one another with "G'mar Chatimah Tovah"—may you be sealed for good. It reflects the longing to be written and sealed in the Book of Life. But friends, Scripture adds a sobering and glorious depth to this ancient blessing that many of our people have yet to discover. Malachi speaks of a book of remembrance written for those who fear the Lord (Malachi 3:16–18). When those who fear the Lord speak to one another—in contrast to the current trend of that time where people were thinking incorrectly about God and His ways—God is very attentive. He listens. And He says, "Let these words be documented before Me, written before Me." For what? For that day. What day? The day of the Hebrew word Segulah (יום אשר אני עושה סגולה)—His special treasured possession day. That day when everything will be revealed and everything will be out in the open. That day towards which God is moving all of human history. Daniel saw the heavenly court convened, and the books were opened (Daniel 7:10). And John, in Revelation, saw the Son of Man, Yeshua, given all glory and authority, and the Lamb's Book of Life opened. So you see, there is documentation. There is a theme of books by which people are evaluated. And there is one special book—the Book of Life, the Lamb's Book of Life. The books—all of the books—contain documented arguments and actions in God's view, not in our own view. Not comparing ourselves with one another, but being evaluated according to what God knows, not what we know. But as believers, we know that although there is a great deal of judgment for all by the books, there is one book called the Book of Life of the Lamb. And if we are written in this book, we pass from death to life. We have passed from being judged by our own works in terms of salvation, to being judged by what He has done for us. Although I strongly believe our own works will be evaluated—and each person's works, including our own who have been written in the Lamb's Book of Life, will be passed through a fire, through a test and an examination and evaluation by fire (1 Corinthians 3:12-15)—I do believe strongly in eternal rewards. But regarding our salvation, those of us who have been sealed by the precious blood of the Lamb have gone from death to life. So it's a common blessing for Jews to say, "I want you to be sealed and signed in the Book of Life." But our people have yet to find out that this is a very specific Book of Life. It's called the Lamb's Book of Life. So as I bless the Jewish people during this time of the end of the old year, the beginning of the new year, and the Day of Atonement, wholeheartedly when I bless them "G'mar Chatima Tova"—may you have a good sealing—I bless them in my heart that they will be firmly signed in the Lamb's Book of Life. The Day of Atonement: Holiness and the Chasm He Bridged One of the major passages we meditated on during Yom Kippur was from the Book of Hebrews: Hebrews 9:13-15: "For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Messiah, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance." When we speak to many people today, asking them if they deem themselves as a "good person," most will say "yes, pretty good," or some version of this. But friends, we need to understand something crucial from Scripture. In Leviticus, right after the sons of Aaron tried to offer fire to YHWH on their own terms (Leviticus 10:1-3), we see that the King has His protocol—we do not get to choose our own protocol. He is HOLY and we are not "as God" (Genesis 3, the serpent's words). He is God alone and determines the way and the time we come into His presence. Right after this tragic event, God mentioned the Day of Atonement practices and shared with us that His presence—and even the sanctified things such as elements of the tabernacle and the tabernacle itself—needed to be purified (Leviticus 16:1-19). Why? Because they would in some way absorb all the defilement of the people, in whose midst God was dwelling (Leviticus 16:16). Think about that. Even the holy things themselves, the sacred items used in worship of the King—even these things had to be cleansed in light of the absolute holiness of God Almighty. This is so contradictory to how many people describe God today. The Truth About Us In us, friends, there is NO good thing. As Paul wrote, "in me, that is in my flesh, there is no good thing" (Romans 7:18). But Thanks Be to God! He bridged the gap. Although we fully believe in the FREE gift of GRACE, it wasn't cheap. It was priceless—and priceless does not equal cheap. If we fail to realize the holiness of God and the chasm that lay between us, we will fail to appreciate the grace that was offered in Yeshua by His very blood. Yes, 100% God is our loving Father now in Yeshua, who loves so much the WORLD that He GAVE (John 3:16). But He has not changed His holiness, and the fire of His presence has never dimmed one bit. Many people in the global structured church seem to have never known what true Teshuvah (repentance) is and never learned the fear—that deep, trembling reverence which leads to appropriate actions—of the Lord (Proverbs 1:7, Proverbs 9:10). And so, many seem to have not really been "converted" or "rebirthed" truly, and they cause no small "headache" for pastors and leaders who constantly try to defibrillate their hearts and give them spiritual CPR. But friends, you don't get resurrection benefits if you haven't died first! Both/And: The Paradox of Grace and Reverence 100% Grace It's 100% grace and the free gift of forgiveness and acceptance (Ephesians 2:8-9) 100% Response And yet we respond by giving 100% of our life back in response and working out our own salvation with holy fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12) As humans, we tend to think in terms of either/or boxes. But regarding some theological topics—as we term them—it's not the same with our Lord. For example, this paradox I just mentioned. When you feel you have to fit things into an either/or box, in a case where the Word of God might indicate BOTH, don't try and figure it out in your own natural mind. Just bow down in reverent worship and worship. It's okay to live in that tension. And so yes, He is 100% our Father, to whom we can approach with boldness to His throne of grace (Hebrews 4:16). But—and that's a very big, critically important point—that came at a horrible cost. That came because of the finished work of our Messiah (Hebrews 9:13-15). And so as we come to God boldly, we should similarly come to Him in reverence, in trembling, and in awe (Hebrews 12:28-29). This is a good reminder for the Day of Atonement. This is a good reminder for people who tend to think—whether they are Christians who think, "We're protected because I said yes one time to Yeshua," and can now live as they please—or whether it is my own Jewish people, who many times feel that because we are Jews, God will somehow give us a "discount" in how He treats us. But when you read Amos 1–2, you see God's judgment on the neighboring nations surrounding Israel—and then on Judah and Israel themselves—for even more minor and simple things. Because in God's book, or in God's principles, "to whom much is given, much will be required" (Luke 12:48). So we all must come reverently before God to obtain mercy, to ask for open hearts, and to use this time—even after the Day of Atonement—to search our hearts before the Lord every week, every day. To worship Him as He is: a merciful, amazing Father, yet a righteous, unbiased Judge of all the earth (Genesis 18:25). Prayer Over Answers: A Story from the Field I want to share something personal that happened recently. I was sitting with a Jewish man who is not yet a follower of Yeshua. He claims to be atheist. We went over some of his questions—about a good God and human suffering, specifically the Holocaust. Although I have philosophically and theologically sound answers, it's always the HEART of the person we want to reach, not only their mind. I did share with him and his wife, gently and humbly, some things that would give him a clearer view of life and death and eternity and free will and forgiveness and the goodness of God. Mainly to show him the heart of God and the amazing message of that terrible tree—the cross—which bridges God with people through Yeshua. But here's what I want you to know: for several hours BEFORE I met him, I was in the woods, PRAYING earnestly for him and his whole family. Because I know—more than anything else—I need the PRESENCE of God and His Spirit on my life. More than answers, I need HIM to show up. More than a prepared altar, we need the FIRE from heaven to come and touch and turn the hearts of the people back to God. This is at the core of everything we do in ministry. This is why we spend so much time in prayer, in seeking His face, in intercession. The answers matter. The training matters. The strategies matter. But without His presence, without His Spirit moving, we're just making noise. We need Him to show up.