Receiving Jesus is the most Jewish thing I’ve ever done

By Aaron Dranoff

Growing up I always struggled with my Jewish identity. The fact that I was Jewish was clearly very important to my parents, but it was frustrating for me. My parents used to be agnostic Jews. This made for an interesting family dynamic that becomes even stranger once I tell you that my agnostic Jewish parents took me to church growing up. The story that I was told is that when my older brother was about 6 years old – which made me 1– he told my parents that he believes in Jesus. My agnostic Jewish parents told him “Oh no honey, we don’t believe in Jesus, we’re Jewish.” To which my brother replied, “That’s okay, because he lives in my heart.” I’m not sure exactly what happened after that but eventually, they took my brother to church. At some point, this became a regular event because I grew up going to church regularly.  

One day the girl I was dating told me she was getting into witchcraft. These words came out of my mouth: “Jesus is the most important part of my life.” What I really wanted to tell her was: “You can’t get involved in witchcraft you’ll bring demons into my life.” Jesus was certainly not the most important part of my life, I only said that because I was scared of demons.  

Well, my girlfriend did end up bringing demons into her life. She would hear them talking to her, and she quickly became a different person just consumed with hatred. And we parted ways.  

I went on with my life, and about a year later I was in the store about to steal hair product , something I used to do every month. As I held it in my hand, the words I told my ex-girlfriend the year before repeated in my head: “Jesus is the most important part of my life.” Standing there in Target I realized if Jesus really was God then I was evil! That if God is real then morality has to be based on his character. I didn’t want to be evil. My whole life I just wanted to be unwaveringly good like my Grandpa seemed. I knew I wasn’t as good as my Grandpa , but I didn’t realize I was evil.  

Suddenly I wanted to read the Bible and tell people about him. So, I did. Little by little everything wasn’t all about me anymore. Now I want to desire what he wants me to desire. I want to make my life all about him. So it is. And since I stopped chasing my own desires and started pursuing his, he’s given me real unshakeable fulfillment. I was made on purpose for a purpose and, just like an Xbox isn’t designed for hammering in nails, I wasn’t designed to be king of my own life. You can hammer a nail with an Xbox, but you’re going to destroy the Xbox. When I bent the knee to King Jesus, I finally started to experience what I was made for. I no longer need to get my happiness or love or any other good thing from a person, thing, or feeling. I’m constantly given joy and love from a never-ending supply, and it doesn’t come from anything temporary. It comes from the eternal God who adopted me. I very quickly realized that Jesus’ messianic mission is completely Jewish. Since he is the long-awaited Messiah of Israel, the most Jewish thing I’ve ever done is to receive him.  

Aaron Dranoff is the founder of thetorahguide.com . Aaron works to establish genuine relationships between Christians and Jewish people to combat antisemitism in the Church, teach about the Hebrew roots of Christianity, and lead discussions about the Hebrew Bible. Aaron also teaches high school history & geography and is a licensed commercial pilot.  

Aaron recently published a book to help his Jewish brothers and sisters understand that the fulfillment of Jewish identity is found only in Yeshua. Look for Judaism, the Messiah and Jewish Identity on Amazon.