From The Land To The Lord

Henn Hetzroni "From The Land To The Lord"
Matt Nadler got a chance to talk to Henn Hetzroni about his faith. How did you grow up?
I was born in Eilat, Israel. My parents got divorced soon after that time. I went to live with my grandmother in Kiryat Malachi (City of Angels, in Southern Israel). There I went to a religious school. My grandmother was very traditional, keeping the Sabbath and going to synagogue. When my dad remarried, I moved in with him and switched to a secular school. At age 14 I moved to kibbutz Yad Mordechai while my parents stayed at Kiryat Malachi. I loved that time in my life, from twelve to 18. The kibbutz was secular; they weren’t teaching about the Bible or God. Although they would not consider themselves against God, and even though they celebrated God’s feasts - Shavuot, Rosh HaShanah and all that - they just did not believe in Him.		A young Henn with teacher at school.
As far as my faith, even before my Bar Mitzvah, I began questioning God’s existence, since He wouldn’t answer my little challenges like, if you are real, make a horse appear. Also, to me, He wasn’t a God to be loved, but feared. For example, in Israel we have high-rise buildings. Going from building to building, I would run, afraid that God was watching me. I thought that when I was inside the building I was okay, unexposed! This experience is imprinted in my memory. In the kibbutz the emphasis was about the land, about loving your country, defending it for any price. I liked the idea of everyone coming together, being equal, doing activities which were patrioric. After that I went into the army (not by choice of course). What about "Yeshua"? Yeshua? Yeshua, or Yeshu, as we called him, was really nothing more than a curse-word. It was a derogatory term. For example if someone saw you eating meat and dairy together, one might say, "what are you... notzri (Christian) or something?" Later on, a little, I’d think that because he was from Natzeret, a carpenter, and heard things like this, I always thought of him as a person. Maybe he even existed - but he was just a man. People made him God. That was my view then. I heard that he was Jewish, but I’d never read on it. It didn’t interest me at all.
And then you went into the army? Yes, I served three years mandatory. I was givati. I served in Gaza within six months of me joining the army that is when the first intifada started. It was the first time we had to deal with that kind of civilian warfare. I’d also been stationed in Lebanon, patrolling the northern border. I sign up for one more year [in addition to the three years] and became an officer, commander of a platoon in givati. And that was enough. After that, you came to America. Yes, I came to the states, traveling with a friend. The plan was to go to South America, but my friend had to go back, so I was waiting for him. Two or three months later, I met Star [and her daughter Nicole] and we soon married.	Henn (center) with platoon.
Star was raised Christian, but at that time she wasn’t a dedicated follower. Still, I remember we’d have arguments about evolution and God, though I didn’t want to believe in "her side." Now with the birth of Madisun our daughter and raising a family I felt like that we needed to be connected to something bigger than us, a solid value system for raising our daughters. At that time we were doing Shabbat dinner every Friday, the Jewish holidays, as well as the Christian ones, yet I did not realize at that time that I was praising and thanking God with my mouth [in the Shabbat blessings] and not my heart. I would go to synagogue every year on Yom Kippur to take care of the sins, but deep down I knew it was not sincere (on my part) - you’d go because that was the tradition. Little by little, I actually started reading the Bible, but read nothing to do with Yeshua. I thought, Star can go with Jesus to God, whereas I can go to him direct. Same God, different ways. ..a direct line? (laughs) Yeah, whereas she needed a middle man. But, I’d think, we all praise the same God, so no big deal. What changed? Star was becoming more committed to the Lord and she and Madisun began attending a church. And I am thinking, okay? This is a change. But I also thought, I am the father. I need to go as the man of the house, as a family. So I went with them to services. The services were not the Catholic rituals I was expecting. The whole thing kind of fit. Afterward they’d have an oneg, a time of getting together. I realized they had a peacefulness and a love for each other. I also started reading the New Covenant, as I was attending services. The message of the text surprised me by its Jewishness. How so? Well, even the names, and the places - most of all the places. Jerusalem, Jaffa, Jordan ... Israel. And I started to realize that this Jesus was a man who cared for people around him, He was not someone who just said "believe in me," and that’s it, which is how he had been portrayed to me. At the same time, I thought, well, I am Jewish, but this is Christian. I couldn’t understand the theology of it all. When we eventually moved to Charlotte, we started going to Lakeshore Christian Fellowship, and I continued to learn about Jesus. But still, how could I believe? What about all the Jewish holidays - what about my heritage? So in my view I was going to services for shalom bayit (peace in the family), just as they would have Hanukkah and such for me. Eventually Star and I had a talk about the two directions of faith our family was taking. She encouraged me to consider who Jesus was. Later, while on business in Houston, I was feeling convicted, yet afraid. Again, I didn’t know how to believe. So I called Pastor Gil of Lakeshore [Christian Fellowship], and he assured me that, far from becoming a Gentile, I would be a testimony for Yeshua to the Jewish people by remaining Jewish. I went to God and confessed my sins, confessing Yeshua as my Lord and Savior. It was a new page. Though I saw all my sins, my shame, and could not imagine how God could forgive me, He did. I was a different person. The next day, I was hungry for the Scriptures. I would read and study, getting revelation and answers left and right. Studying and praying confirmed to me I was on the right path. So how did you end up at Hope of Israel? Even before that, Sam [Nadler] had come to our church - I was not there, but Star had told me about it. He did a seder. And she said, "Henn I really think you should talk to this guy. He showed how Jesus... he is your Messiah more than anything." This was before I had come to faith. And she proceeded to explain to me elements of the seder, from his message. So I listened to the podcast and was surprised. Eventually, after becoming a believer, Pastor Gil encouraged me to go to Hope of Israel so that our family could live in a Messianic Jewish context. Months later, doubts crept in as I began to realize I would have to tell my parents. I wondered again at how faith in Yeshua could be real. So I kept it inside for a year before I told my friends and parents. Finally I told them, when they came to visit from Israel. I was anxious about their response. At first they didn’t understand the concept totally, though they knew something had changed for the better. It was around Yom Yerushalayim (in May) that they visited Hope of Israel. When they came to service, they cried. They teared up at the songs about Jerusalem, the dancing, etc. They could see that we were a part of the Jewish people - and they were happy for me. My mom looked at me and said to me, "I am proud of you." I thought it would be the worst! But they were really good about it. My mom even said, "if every synagogue in Israel would be like this - we would have a lot of the youth following God!" I see what my parents meant, too: many of the customs that I just did without meaning, now have life in my Messiah. When I heard you give your story to the youth [at HOI], you described how your life was different now. Oh yeah, for my immediate family? Absolutely. Now we walk with meaning. We put Him first, and it makes life easier in a sense, in that we understand how things line up under Him. Any issue that we have, we bring it to the Lord we pray and read the Scriptures. For example if I instruct Madisun in something I base it according to the Bible and it’s authority. It is His word, not ours. We can ask, "how will this look in the eyes of the Lord"?
We live an everyday life with accountability to God. And in that, we have a Helper, to see God’s faithfulness, patience, and love for us in all things. I am so grateful for having the Lord in my life, most of all that He sent His son to die for my sins. He is a good God and there’s a purpose to it all. The Hetzronis were immersed at Hope of Israel and Henn has been meeting with Sam regularly for discipleship.	The Hetzroni family. L - R: Henn, Nicole, Madisun, and Star