I’m learning a lot from my friend Barry. He’s a native New Yorker and very devoted to his Jewish faith and heritage. He and his wife have led interesting lives and have been very successful. They enjoy helping others and have felt the slap of anti-Semitism personally. In the context of current events, they asked me to explain some things about Christianity that they didn’t understand. I was “prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have” (1 Peter 3:15). I pointed to Jesus as the Messiah in the prophecies Barry and his wife already knew.

Barry showed me the symbol on packages that certifies a food product is parve, which means it is kosher because it assures it was not prepared mixing milk with meat (see Deuteronomy 14:21). When they asked my wife and me over for dinner, he said, “I assume you say grace before you eat.” I said, “We do.” He asked me to offer a prayer and then said he would say one after I did. I prayed in Jesus’ name, and he said a prayer in Yiddish that I asked him to translate. He thanked God for the food we were about to eat. When we hosted dinner, we made sure the food we served was parve out of respect for them. 

This is unfamiliar territory for this old dog. But my life has been enriched because I made a new friend. I hope Barry can say the same.