"My beloved brothers! "Of all our race, you and I are almost the only ones who have chosen the good part of the Lord!" Ah, how bitter it is for all of us to see how our people, once the people of God, the chosen people of Israel, to whom all the promises belong, did not understand the time of the visit of the long-awaited Messiah and to this day are busy and fussing about many things, not knowing what their salvation consists in! Poisoned by fanatical rabbis, who have distorted the true meaning of divinely revealed prophecies, he hates the Truth that has appeared in the world and drives away from himself the Light that shone from the Most-Pure Virgin! And there is only one thing that is needed!

Mono! To hear the good Word of the Messiah who has come, to receive the Divine Light of the Truth given to us and to follow this Eternal Love that calls us to His Kingdom! This voice was heard by the once great Jew Saul, who was a disciple of the then famous teacher Gamaliel, and responded to it and from a persecutor turned into a universal preacher - the Apostle Paul, and with his fiery preaching drew thousands of pagans into the salvific nets of the Gospel truths! He was deeply concerned about the tragic doom of his blind blood brothers. Here is what he writes in his Epistle to the Romans: "Great is the sorrow and continual anguish of my heart: of those who are my kinsmen according to the flesh, that is, the Israelites, to whom belong the adoption and the glory, and the covenants, and the law, and the worship, and the promises; And their fathers, and of them Christ according to the flesh, God who is over all, blessed for ever, Amen!"

My friends, we, too, like the Apostle Paul, wish salvation from the bottom of our hearts to our brethren in the flesh, and we pity them with motherly love! Let us serve as much as possible to enlighten them! Prophets who spoke by the Holy Spirit will help us in this! Their voice, like the voice of God Himself, must pound in their hearts! For it was they, the prophets who lived among our people, who were the first apostles who foretold the coming of Christ, His preaching, His miracles. His sufferings, shameful Death and glorious Resurrection! Let us reveal this Truth to our brethren, let us help them to understand the meaning of the hidden prophecies, and they, like us, will follow the long-coming Messiah! The Lord was pleased to grant this good part to you and me! We are now the New Israel, true children of the Heavenly Father!

If the synagogues were empty and the Christian churches were filled with the lost sheep of the House of Israel, how our Lord, the True Shepherd, would rejoice, Who gave Himself up for us sinners, so that we too might become partakers of His blessedness! Great is the joy in heaven even for one sinner who repents, how indescribable will be the rejoicing over the return of the people of Israel to the arms of the Heavenly Father! Let us work diligently in this field, let us breathe hope into the tormented hearts of our brethren! Many trials await us - let us be courageous! The Way of the Cross is offered to us by the Lord – let us choose this good part of the Lord – and the prayer and intercession of the Mother of God will help us to bear the good yoke of the Lord! Her Veil is stretched over

with the whole world, and Her motherly tears intercede for the fallen Jewish race. Let us also pray for them, and I believe that our God, who looked upon the two mites of the widowed woman, will look upon our small mite, for it will be seen in his eyes more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices! Let us labor, my friends, and may the God of peace and Love be with us forever! Amen!"

Such was the preaching of my friend Isaac, such was the pathos of his ardent faith! We were filled with admiration and joy at his sweet words! Here he is. A new Chrysostom, born in the midst of God's chosen people!

After the sermon, the Liturgy continued as usual. "Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of hosts!" etc., they sang touchingly in the Hebrew language: "Kadosh, Kadosh, Kalosh Adonagi Zevaot", etc.

At the end of the liturgy, as is customary, the people came up for the blessing, receiving the antidoron and kissing the priest's right hand. Having finished distributing the antidoron, Isaac entered the altar and a few minutes later left with the deacon through the Royal Doors, heading towards us.

"Synesius!" Fr. John said, addressing the deacon, "do you see this man? And he pointed at me.

- As through me, unworthy, you came to know the Truth and became a Christian, so I found the Messiah-Christ through my brother Nicholas...

-About! This is the same Nicholas! And the deacon rushed to embrace me, kissing my right hand.

"Brother Nicholas!" This deacon is the same Rabbi of Samuel of whom I wrote to you in my last letter. Once a rabbi, and now a servant of the True God, like me...

I couldn't help myself... Tears sprang from my eyes... The joy of all that has happened is difficult to convey in words...

Isaac led the elder and me to a house located near the church. The room we entered was all sparkling with cleanliness and decoration. On the walls hung icons and pictures depicting various events of the Holy History of the Old and New Testaments. The Great Cross was elegantly decorated with wonderful flowers. Their freshness was fragrant, spreading like a wondrous aroma throughout the room. Unable to resist, I asked Father John: