Julius Paul Bloch was determined to be a good Jew (1816-1900)

On April 16th 1816, Simon and Zipporah Bloch became the proud parents of a son, Julius Paul. The couple had every reason to be proud of their son, because even before his Bar Mitzvah (13-years old) he had gained a thorough knowledge of the Talmud.

Throwing rocks

When Bloch was fourteen, he became an apprentice to a furrier and started to earn his living. It was in this time, that he first heard about Christian missionaries. When they visited Jutroschin (in Prussia), a stronghold of Judaism, Julius was one of the first to throw rocks at them. Such people were not welcome in his town! A skilled furrier, he eventually found employment with Mr. Albert, a respectable furrier, but also a Christian. The young Bloch tried to turn a deaf ear to the peace and quiet that he noticed in the family of his employer.
Julius was not doing well. He he was lonely and unhappy, couldn’t say his prayers anymore as before and he didn’t find consolation in the rites and habits of his youth.

On his knees

Bloch got a Bible and began to read it out of curiosity, but when his conscience was awakened by the Word, he put the Bible away and determined to remain a ‘good Jew’. He tried to comfort himself that he had always lived a blameless life, but it was in vain! His conscience accused him and finally his despair nearly drove him to suicide. By God’s grace he was prevented from harming himself. He went down on his knees and gave his life into God’s hand and came to know Jesus the Messiah as his Saviour and Redeemer.

Rejected and cast out

When he openly confessed his newly found faith to his Jewish friends, he received much opposition. They bombarded him with counter-arguments, threatened him or tried to win him over by offering attractive business deals. His once so proud parents were at a complete loss. Julius was rejected and cast out by the Jewish community so he took refuge in Berlin, where fellow believers received him.

Although nothing could lead him to give up his belief in the Messiah, he kept on fleeing from those who saw him as a traitor of Judaism. He fled to Amsterdam. There he came into contact with Mr. Pauli, who asked him to assist in his mission to tell the Jewish people the Gospel. From 1843 on until his passing away in 1900, Julius reached many Jews with the Good News. Many were baptised by him in the name of the Son of God, Yeshua the Messiah.