Yes—Les Feldick teaches that the Jewish people have kept their identity because God has preserved them as a distinct race through centuries of dispersion.
After almost 2,700 years scattered among the nations, they are still Jews, while other peoples, like Americans, have amalgamated in just over 200 years. Les points to Israel's return to the land and the revival of Hebrew as visible proof that God kept this people intact.
Genesis 12:2 — God's foundational promise to make Abraham a great nation is the basis for Israel's continuing identity.
Deuteronomy 30:1 — This verse predicts Israel being driven among the nations while still being able to call God's words to mind.
Ezekiel 37:3 — The dry-bones vision pictures Israel's scattered, nationally dead condition and God's power to restore it.
Scripture presents Israel as a people God set apart and promised to preserve. In Genesis 12:2, God told Abraham, "And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:" This promise came before Israel existed as a nation and set the Jewish people on a course that scattering would not undo. Deuteronomy 30:1 foresaw the scattering itself: "And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thee, and thou shalt call them to mind among all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath driven thee," The verse anticipates Israel being driven among the nations, yet still able to recall God's Word. Ezekiel 37:3 pictures the nation in exile as dry bones: "And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord GOD, thou knowest." The question itself implies that Israel is in a state of national death, yet God is about to show that the scattered people can live again.
Les Feldick teaches that the Jewish people have maintained their identity because God has kept them intact. He points out that after almost 2,700 years of dispersion among all nations, a Jew is still a Jew (Clips 2, 3). The nation should have been completely obliterated and assimilated into the nations, but it hasn't been (Clips 4, 7). In contrast, Americans—a nation only a little over 200 years old—have intermarried and amalgamated so much that there is no longer a pure Englishman or German (Clip 1). The Jew never did. Les traces this preservation to God's covenant separation. God told Israel never to intermarry with the pagan nations and to remain a separated people (Clip 6). Jewishness, he explains, is first a bloodline and a unique race, not merely a religion (Clip 5). Even when Jews do not know what tribe they are from, God does (Clip 2). Les also sees modern Israel's return and the revival of the Hebrew language as visible proof that Israel never lost its identity (Clip 4). For Les, the Jewish people are living proof that the Bible is the Word of God, because every promise God made to them remains valid since they are still Jews (Clips 1, 7).
Les Feldick says the Jew never amalgamated. He compares the Jewish people to Americans, whose ancestors came from Europe, Great Britain, and the Mediterranean and then intermarried until there was no longer a pure Englishman or pure German. America is only a little over 200 years old, yet its national identities have blended together. Israel, in contrast, has been scattered for almost 2,700 years and is still a distinct people.
Les teaches that God kept Israel separate from the pagan nations around them. They were never instructed to intermarry with other peoples or to go out and proselytize the Gentiles. To be a Jew is first of all to belong to a unique race, a bloodline; it is not merely embracing a religion. God gave the Law to that race, but the Law did not make them Jews—their birth did.
Les points out that the Hebrew language was dead for hundreds of years; even Jews did not speak it. But when early Zionists anticipated a Jewish homeland, they demanded that people learn and speak Hebrew again. In Israel today, highway signs and billboards are in Hebrew and English. For Les, this revival is another miracle that belongs with Israel's return to the land.
Les sees the present-day return of Jews to the land as evidence that God preserved their identity. Whether they come out of Russia or elsewhere, they come back as Jews. They may not know what tribe they belong to, but God does. He also applies Ezekiel's dry-bones question to Israel: from a human standpoint there was no way such a tiny, conquered nation could come back, yet they have.
God's Promise of Land to Israel
Les begins Deuteronomy 30:1 and emphasizes that God has given His Word that Israel will occupy the land He promised, even though they are currently cramped.
The Jew Never Amalgamated Like Americans
Les uses America's quick intermarriage and amalgamation as a contrast, showing that the Jew remained a Jew and that God's promises to Israel still hold.
Almost 2,700 Years of Dispersion Without Losing Identity
Les emphasizes that even after almost 2,700 years scattered among the nations, Jews coming back to the land are still Jews, and God knows their tribe even when they do not.
A Jew Is a Jew Is a Jew
Les insists that the present-day Jew in Israel is the same Jew as in the Bible, having lost nothing and remaining distinct after almost 3,000 years among non-Jews.
Dry Bones and the Revival of Hebrew
Les uses Ezekiel's dry-bones picture and the modern revival of the Hebrew language to show that Israel, though nearly obliterated, maintained its identity and returned to the land.
Jewish Identity Is First a Race and Bloodline
Les explains that being Jewish is first a unique race of people; their birth and bloodline made them Jews, not their keeping of the Law.
Israel Commanded to Remain a Separated People
Les says God commanded Israel never to intermarry with the pagan nations and never sent them to proselyte Gentiles, keeping them a distinct covenant people.
Scattered Since 70 A.D. and Still Proof of Scripture
Les traces the scattering from 70 A.D. and says a human answer would have been that tiny Israel could never come back; yet the Jew is living proof the Bible is the Word of God.
Genesis 12:2: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
God's covenant promise to Abraham establishes Israel as a distinct nation that scattering would not erase.
Genesis 12:3: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
This promise links the nations' treatment of Abraham's descendants to God's ongoing preservation of Israel.
Deuteronomy 30:1: And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thee, and thou shalt call them to mind among all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath driven thee,
Moses predicts that even after being scattered among the nations, Israel will still remember God's covenant.
Ezekiel 37:3: And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord GOD, thou knowest.
The dry-bones question pictures Israel's national death in exile while leaving room for God's miraculous restoration.
Les says they have been in a dispersion of one sort or another for almost 2,700 years, and since 70 A.D. they have been scattered throughout the then-known world and ever since. Yet they are still Jews.
No. Les explains that a Jew first and foremost is a unique race of people, and God gave that race the Law. It was not the keeping of the Law that made them Jews; it was their birth and bloodline.
Les points to America as a contrast: in just 200 years Americans have intermarried and amalgamated. The Jew never did. God also commanded Israel not to intermarry with pagans, keeping them a separated people.
Because all the promises God gave to Israel in Genesis 12 and the Old Testament are still valid. The Jew is still a Jew, so the Word of God holds.
Watch the Teaching: The Boundaries of the Promised Land: What Does the Bible Say?