31 March 1492 Ferdinand and Isabella’s Edict of Expulsion – the Alhambra Decree #otdimjh

On This Day In Messianic Jewish History

The year 1492 is most often associated with Columbus and his discovery of America. But another event of tragic proportions developed that year. It gave the world the Sephardic Jews (so called because Sepharadh was a region of Spain where many Jews had settled). [from Christianity.com]

By 1492, Spain, under Ferdinand and Isabella had just emerged as a defender of the Roman Catholic faith. The marriage of the two rulers eventually united Aragon and Castile, although while she lived, Isabella did not yield her authority to her husband. In Granada, the pair defeated the Islamic Moors, who had long controlled Spain. Spurred on by the cruel Grand Inquisitor Torquemada, Ferdinand and Isabella felt they must remove all heretics and non-Christians from their land in order to purge it of pagan influences and firmly establish the Christian faith.

The fires of the Inquisition had already roared in Spain for twelve long…

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10 March 1896 Theodore Herzl meets Protestant Clergyman and Christian Zionist William Hechler #otdimjh

Passing on this amazing post! Reverend William Hechler dramatically affected the course of development of the Jewish state.

On This Day In Messianic Jewish History

Reverend William Henry Hechler (10 January 1845 – 31 January 1931) was a Restorationist Anglican clergyman, eschatological writer, crusader against anti-Semitism, promoter of Zionism, aide, counsellor, friend and advocate of Theodor Herzl as he developed his vision and plans for the return of the Jewish people to the Land. He was “not only the first, but the most constant and the most indefatigable of Herzl’s followers”, according to Paul Merkely – The Politics of Christian Zionism 1891-1948.

Herzl records a meeting with Hechler on 10 March 1896 in his diary:

‘The Reverend William Hechler, Chaplain of the English Embassy here, came to see me. A sympathetic, gentle fellow, with the long grey beard of a prophet. He is enthusiastic about my solution of the Jewish Question. He also considers my movement a ‘prophetic turning-point’ – which he had foretold two years before. From a prophecy in the time of…

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