Joseph Rabinovich ^People

Even as a child, Rabinowitz demonstrated a keen intellect. It is said that by the time he was just six years old he could recite the Song of Solomon from memory. During his youth, which wasspent in the Chasidic community, he also showed great promise in his literary ability. His brother-in-law, Jehiel Hershensohn, firstintroduced him to the New Testament when he loaned him a copy in Hebrew and suggested that Yeshua was perhaps the Messiah. Rabinowitz, at first surprised, left the Chasidim and pursued study of the Bible on his own.After a wave of persecution, Rabinowitz set forth, New Testament in hand, for what was then known as Palestine with a view of starting a colony there. On reaching Jerusalem and seeing the depressed state of its inhabitants, he became deeply moved.After having ascended the Mount of Olives and viewing the Mosque of Omar over where the former Temple had stood, he began to consider the tragic history of his peo- ple and wonder about the meaning of Israel's suffering. The answer quickly flashed in his mind: The key to the Holy Land was in the hands ofhis brother Yeshua. Filled with the glory of this great vision, he returned to Chisinäu and soon developed a movement among a number of people from the surrounding towns. They called themselves The Israelites of the New Covenant. Rabinowitz set forth his new-found faith in a series ofthirteen articles, which he modeled on the work ofMaimonides.