I had a giant of a woman for a mom. No, not in terms of weight, but certainly in terms of fortitude. Hana was blessed with only one child. I was her only son and she raised me all by herself, since my folks split when I was just at the tender age of three.

Hana worked as a bookkeeper and office manager and labored up to 10 hours a day to make ends meet. She was a Jewish woman, with a tremendous work ethic. She arrived from her native Czechoslovakia to this country after W.W.II. Being a brilliant woman, she quickly acquainted herself with both the English language and U.S. culture.

She was in great demand, rejecting multiple job offers, to stay loyal to her boss Mr. Arnold Gumowitz of NY. She also became so proficient that she ran Mr. Gumowitz’s entire company located in the Empire State Building, in his absence. Hana was also fiercely American. She loved this great nation with a passion. Not only did she have a passion for our great country, she loved her adopted city, New York.

Hana glowed with joy and her customary smile, as she basked in the fast pace of NY city. She made her home in Jamaica, Queens. In the late 1960’s mom quickly learned to love the game of baseball, which she learned herself. Being European, she had no one to explain it to her, and I was too lazy. Hana developed a burning passion and loyalty to her hometown New York Yankees. She became a combination plan season ticket holder for about 14 years and religiously attended every Sunday baseball game at Yankee Stadium on her Sunday schedule. Often when the Yankees would go on a road trip to the west coast, she would stay awake until three am, listening to the game on radio. I remember "schleping" on the subway with her (Hana never learned how to drive), traveling long distances from Queens to the South Bronx, to a terrible crime and poverty-ridden area, talking baseball during the entire trip. But she didn’t worry about her safety in the worst area of NY, always telling me that the crime danger was "all baloney." She simply chose to believe the best about all people.

I can frankly and honestly say that my mom never had a single enemy in the entire world. She loved human beings. Genuinely. She had no prejudices, no bigotry, nothing. Just overwhelming goodness. If she couldn’t say anything nice about someone, she would keep quiet. She always rubbed people the "right way", with her love and tolerance. Her laughter (what a laugh), her smile, her sincerity and overwhelming loyalty were her strengths. Yes I am prejudiced in her favor, after all she’s my mom. But there are many who could and would still vouch for my description.

In about 1979 or 1980, it was determined that my mother had diabetes. It was a very severe and advanced case. It immediately affected her heart, blood circulation, kidneys and eyesight. Twice she flew to Boston from NY to have leg bypass surgery on both legs. In addition she had an amputation done on her big toe. Hana’s health was declining with each passing year. It became worse and worse. Each day she would shoot insulin in her weary body. Hana never complained. She would take around five different medications daily just to keep her body alive. She just kept on laughing and loving life. Through the better part of nine years during her bout with diabetes, she continued to live life normally. She went to work daily, no longer by subway but by a cab that her boss paid for. She rooted for her Yankees, she enjoyed her only son and her family who loved her. Doctors would constantly give her a poor bill of health but she made a habit of ignoring them. She kept fighting doggedly to live her life normally. To be frank with you, she was not the best of medical patients. The doctors told her again and again that her heart was tremendously weak, along with failing kidney’s, yet through all the pain and suffering, she kept her chin up, not dumping her problems on others, not wishing as she would say "to become a burden to others".

In October of 1984 I got saved!! Simply put, I accepted Yahshua  the Jewish Moshiach as my personal Master and Savior. Yahuwah immediately called me into Jewish ministry and showed me that full time Gospel work was and still is his will for my life. That is why I have written this account just for you!

Throughout the later years of her life, I would constantly witness my faith to my mom. I would leave tracts (Gospel literature) in her shopping bags, on her desk, and in her mailbox. I would call her up and a conversation would start on baseball and quickly turn to Messiah Yahshua and the gift of salvation and eternal life. Actually, it wasn’t much of a conversation, just a monologue. Countless times the click at the other end of the line, would alert me to Hana’s feelings about this Yahshua fellow. Many times she would say "enough already" or "I don’t want to listen anymore "or "I believe in [Elohim], that’s the main thing" or "I am a good person", etc., etc. We have all heard or used these excuses as reasons for not falling to our knees to accept Yahuwah’s love and pardon of sin. In spite of my energized witnessing, this dear "non religious" Jewish lady would not receive the so called "Christian God".

As Hana Koniuchowsky's situation deteriorated rapidly, my wife Rivka and I, would always ask Yahuwah for Hana’s salvation. My wife called up all our Messianic friends and requested prayer as well. As Yahshua said "If you believe not that I Am, you will die in your sin" (John 8:24).

Mom went out of Lenox Hill Hospital every three months or so to try to do something to help her physical condition, such as removing water from her lungs due to heart failure. Her diabetes was killing her slowly but surely.

In March of 1989 she was gravely ill in Lenox Hill Hospital. My wife Rivka, was pregnant with our child, Nina. We quite frankly did not know if my mom would ever live to see her granddaughter,who was due to be born on April 13, 1989. After my mom pestered her doctor to order a release, he agreed to let her go home. He later told me that most people would be admitted under the same conditions that she was released. Yahuwah’s hand was already at work. On April 13,1989 Nina was born. Thanks to Yahshua our Master and His mercy and grace, mom was home and lived to see her little 6 lb. 7 oz. granddaughter. The very next day we took her by wheelchair to the hospital and she held little Nina in her hands. Baruch Hashem Yahuwah!! Glory to the Elohim of Israel.

In June very poor blood circulation caused gangrene to erupt and spread on her left leg. Again she was hospitalized knowing at best, that they were going to have to cut off her left leg. Upon hearing this news the great fighter stopped fighting. She gave up. After nine years the fearsome forceful zest to fight for life ceased. During that last week in Deepdale Hospital in Little Neck, my mother was determined in her heart that her leg would never come off. She didn’t wish to continue. Death was a far better alternative to dear Hana. She was dying!

On the Friday before mom died, Yahuwah showed me that I needed to visit her twice, unlike my usual one visit per day. My wife and I told her about Yahuwah’s love, Yahshua and eternal life (John 6:37, John 3:16, John 5:24). Just as I was about to leave the room, the Ruach Hakodesh (Holy Spirit), told me to tell her that I loved her ten times and I did that, as well as kissing her almost as many. I was being obedient to Yahuwah’s leading, but I had no idea just how close mom’s life actually was to ending. Several years before my mother’s life on earth ended, Yahshua the living resurrected Messiah of Israel, had showed me through the same Ruach Hakodesh, that the way He had chosen for her to get saved from the penalty of sin was on her future deathbed. I did not know the details or the circumstances, only that it would surely occur. Long before she became ill, I had told my mother that when she was on her deathbed, that if she remembered to call on the name of Yahshua (Romans 10:13) she would be saved.

That Friday night I went home to bed. The next morning at 9 a.m. the doctor called and told me that Hana was in cardiac arrest. Miracle number one was that although her heart stopped and there was no blood pressure, they were able to revive her. Hana couldn’t die just yet. Yahuwah was not through with her and He had not yet fulfilled the word He had previously spoken to his servant. Mom was on an artificial respirator and in a coma. How could she ask Yashua into her heart now?

I kept a vigil all day, that Saturday. My wife and uncle came and went. Mom remained in a coma. I couldn’t leave. By that night I began to hate Yahuwah. I cursed Him. I lost all my faith. I told Yahuwah that I would never tell anyone about Yahshua again. I said, "How can I tell people about heaven when my mom, who was such a warm, compassionate, caring person, would wind up in hell because of original sin?"

If Yahshua was real He would have fulfilled 2 Peter 3:9. But Yahshua failed!. He was bogus! He was dead, not resurrected! I was prepared to preach for the devil and renounce my faith to all those whom I had previously confessed it. I was a nice Jewish boy anyway. The missionaries had tricked me. My people were right all along. This Messiah was all bubemisehs (fables). I pledged to myself that I would follow the traditional rabbis, not the Bible. In my heart I was in complete and total rebellion against my Creator.

I was feeling all this hatred and bitterness because I was despairing for mom’s life. She was in a permanent comatose state. I could not pray any more because I was so drained and confused. I felt as if even prayer itself was a waste of time. As I sat in the hospital grieving for my mom and angry at Yahuwah, I fetched my Bible to see if there was a scripture that I could at least comfort myself with, since Yahuwah was too unreliable to comfort me!

Even though I was so angry at Yahuwah, He still reached out to bring peace to my hurt and broken heart. He gave me Psalm 30:5 "Weeping endureth for a night, but joy cometh in the morning". What in the world was I supposed to make of this? Did this mean Yahuwah would raise her up out of this coma? Or would He fulfill his word to me concerning her salvation, spoken those years before? That Saturday night I had no sleep. Early the next morning, I went back to the hospital and went into see my mom. She just stared at the ceiling.

I began whispering in her ear. "Mom. This is Moshe, your son. Do you hear me? Mom I know you hear me!" I made one more attempt to tell her about Yahshua. "Listen. This is very important I whispered. Don’t be afraid. Yahshua loves you. If you know that, you’ll never die. Mom you’ll live forever! You’ll have eternal life! Don’t you want to live forever? I know you do! Don’t be scared. Mom. If you know Yahshua loves you, squeeze my hand!"

Just then, her eyes moved from staring at the ceiling to mine. She made eye contact with me for a split second and squeezed my hand! Then I asked her to squeeze my hand again, just to make sure that I wasn’t imagining things. She did and made eye contact again by rolling her eyes toward me. All in all she squeezed my hand and looked at me about eight times. Praise to YHWH. Hallelu Yah!! Glory, glory, glory. Mom got saved! This was her only response to anyone during a twenty-eighth our coma. The doctor, my uncle and her boss all tried to get a response but failed.

Hana Koniuchowsky was saved. She was Yahshua’s child. She never really died, since scripture teaches us that she immediately left to enter the presence of Hashem, according to II Corinthians 5:8. Oh Yes, her body perished the way of all the earth. But not her eternal soul. It is now in the presence of her Jewish Savior! Mom was born again! Life in death! Victory over death, hell and the grave!. Triumph in coma! Sunday July 2, 1989, after mom squeezed my hand I looked at the clock on the wall. It read 10:35 AM. Yahuwah is faithful and true. His word to me had been literally fulfilled. The joy of salvation that came to mom and I , was literally in the morning, just as Yahuwah told me it would occur the previous night. "Weeping endureth for the night, but joy cometh in the morning". Mom was home with the Elohim of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Looking back, I am convinced that Hana was already saved, by the time I walked into her room on Sunday morning July 2,1989. The squeezing of my hand was really for me! It was for my peace of mind and my faith in Him. The squeezing situation was Yahuwah’s way of comforting and reassuring me of my mom’s soul being received by Yahshua. He had truly given me a sign that He had revealed Himself to Hana as well as fulfilling His promise to me! All in one amazing morning!!! From that day forward I now had even more to tell others about in my ministry to Israel’s children.

As a result of that day I am still sharing the Gospel with you fifteen years later. I have not left the ministry. My dear friend. Are you Jewish? Well, so am I and so was our dear friend Hana. Did you know that our promised Messiah has come? No. Not the Christian god of pagan celebrations such as Easter and Christmas. But the anointed King Of Israel, who died on the tree for your sins? He is the resurrected Mashiach and is ready to enter your life! Are you ready for Him? Did Yahuwah promise you a last chance on your deathbed? If He didn’t then you need to pay extra careful attention. Yahshua is the one who came to the people of Israel. He is the one who lived as the greatest Rabbi and chose twelve Jewish boys as His talmidim (disciples). He is the one who taught his Jewish followers to celebrate all Yahuwah’s eternal Feasts such as Pesach, Shavuot, Yom Kippur and Yom Teruah. He requires all His followers from both houses of Israel to be shomer Shabbat, observant of the Shabbat. Does that describe your current belief system and lifestyle? Or does that describe the Gospel you’ve heard? You need to pay even closer attention, if you would like to join Hana and see her in heaven one day soon.

Most paramount is the inescapable fact that Yahshua is the only One who fulfilled the Scriptures of our Torah and our Tanach. The following are just a few Scriptures that the traditional rabbis don’t want you to read, lest your forsake their religion and find true happiness in a personal relationship with Yahuwah, outside of their control. Here are some of the literally scores of  fulfilled prophecies by Messiah Yahshua our Master, to help and guide you in your new Messianic Nazarene Yisraelite faith. All these can be found in any Tanach: Isaiah 53, Zechariah 9:9, Mica 5:2, Psalm 2, Psalm 22, Psalm 110, Proverbs 30:4, Deuteronomy 18:18, Hosea 3:4-5.,Daniel: 9:24-27, Jeremiah 31:31-34, Jeremiah 23:5-6, Genesis 1:26, Zechariah 12:10-12, Isaiah 7:14, Isaiah 9:6-7, Psalm 16:10.

If you feel like you wish to be stubborn and not take a few minutes to look up and study these Scriptures on your own, please understand that in all probability you will spend eternity separated from Yahuwah, which the Bible calls hell. The Word of Yahuwah is clear about this! If you reject Yahuwah’s Son, you will be required by Yahuwah to forfeit your own soul, which Yahuwah Himself will cut off from His presence in the highest heaven. Moshe Rabeinu, taught us this truth in Deuteronomy 18:18-19. That is the cold hard truth! However the good news is that the Yahuwah of Moshe Rabainu sent His Son Yahshua to die for all your sins and make a way of escape from eternal torment. Friend, whether you join our friend Hana in heaven is up to you, not up to her, me or even Yahuwah. He has already done all that He can by sending Israel’s Mashiach.! He is waiting for your choice. Will you choose for Him or against Him?

After looking up the Scriptures above, do you feel that you really do need that inner peace that comes from a relationship with the living Yahshua? Would you like to know that all of your mistakes and sins are eternally forgiven? Then pray the following prayer in your heart with me right now! Yahuwah, I am a sinful person. You are holy. Forgive my transgressions and my sins against You. Forgive me because of your precious blood, that You spilled when your Son died on the tree of sacrifice for me, so that I may live forever in your presence. I believe You left heaven and came to earth and lived a perfect life because I couldn’t. I believe You were buried and on the third day You rose again in fulfillment of Psalm 16:10. Living Yahshua, enter my heart now and give me the gift of eternal life according to your Word that cannot lie. Be my personal Savior. In Yahshua’s name I pray. Amen.

Baruch Hashem Yahuwah!! Welcome to the family of Yahuwah. If you have made this crucial decision for Yahshua our Messiah and King,  please drop us a short note, so that we can rejoice with you. We will send you a free Bible with no strings attached, so that you can commence your own study of Yahuwah’s Word. We are also able and ready to give you an immediate referral to a Messianic Nazarene Yisrael synagogue in your area, so that you can begin to be discipled as a born again Israelite of Messiah, rather than as a convert to modern paganized Hellenized Christianity. Please let us hear from you today! Biblical spiritual guidance is available without charge. Shalom Ubracah!

You may e-mail us at ravmoshe@bellsouth.net or rabino@YourArmsToIsrael.org or call us at (305) 868-8787. Our snail mail address is Your Arms To Israel, 7378 W. Atlantic Blvd. #112, Margate, Fl. 33063