The Makuya Movement in Israel
The Makuya movement was born in May 1948, the same month and year that Israel declared its independence. But the Makuya don’t believe in coincidences. In fact, they consider the establishment of the modern State of Israel and the reunification of Jerusalem 19 years later as the fulfillment of Biblical prophecies, miraculous works of God.
Often called New Zionism, the Makuya movement was founded by a successful Japanese businessman: the late Professor Abraham Ikuro Teshima. Professor Teshima was a deeply religious Christian who had been disenchanted from the beginning with the established Church and its Western trappings. But he had not yet heard the divine voice. That would come later, a few years after World War II.
After the Japanese defeat, Teshima tried to help his starving compatriots by producing seaweed bread. But he tasted awful, and the factories closed. Then a US Army camp near his home decided to expand. Teshima heard the news from his son, who sadly reported that the Americans planned to close his elementary school and seize the property he was on.
Teshima immediately organized a large protest that greatly angered the Americans. When a friend warned Teshima of his impending arrest, he hid in the desert. It was while he was in the volcanic mountains of Aso that he had a personal encounter with God, and he heard a phrase from the book of Amos: “I will send a famine on the land, not a famine for bread, nor a thirst for water.” but to hear the words of the Lord.”
Now he understood that the Japanese famine was not physical, but spiritual. He realized that the Japanese had to go back to basics, to the source, to God. When he was able to return home safely, he closed his business and began teaching the Bible. He had only a handful of students at first. But it was a start, and soon after he founded Makuya.
Teshima argued that to grasp the spirit of the Bible, it was essential to come to a deeper understanding of the Jewish faith, its people, language, and history. Unfortunately, his burning desire to visit Israel was delayed for many years, until Japan and Israel established diplomatic relations in 1961.
Fortunately, however, in 1954 Teshima met his first Israeli, while traveling on a Japanese train! He thought the people next to him might be speaking Hebrew and when he asked, in English, he knew they were from Israel. One of them was Professor Israel Slomnitzki, on mission from the Israel Ministry of Agriculture. The two struck up an immediate friendship, corresponding for years, and in 1961 Slomnitzki invited Teshima to visit his homeland.
Once in Israel, Teshima was not happy that many of Israel’s holy sites were covered in churches. But he was delighted to meet the pioneers, thrilled by his effort to create a viable state, and convinced that the soul of Judaism was alive and well. So captivated was Teshima by the Jewish state that he returned several times, bringing with him some of his disciples.
Soon, Makuya members began studying Hebrew at a special school called an ulpan on Kibbutz Hephziba. Many ulpan graduates have gone on to schools of higher learning in Israel: to date, more than 880 students have attended classes or graduated from Bar Ilan and the Hebrew University, the Technion, and the universities of Haifa and Beersheba. They learn archaeology, the Bible, and Jewish thought, as well as music and other subjects, and their command of Hebrew is astonishing.
Started with just a few Bible students, the Makuya movement is growing rapidly. The Makuya prefer not to give an exact number, citing David’s sinful census of his warriors (2 Shmuel:24:2). But more than 300,000 Japanese subscribe to the Makuya newsletter. Thousands of Makuya have already been on pilgrimages to Israel, and thousands more plan to come.
Right now, more than a dozen students live at the Jerusalem Makuya Center. Each has a Hebrew name, taken or given to him or her upon arrival in Israel. They chat easily about their faith, which is largely based on the Old Testament and contains not a hint of proselytizing. But none of the Makuya will talk about politics. However, they will speak with feeling about their position on Israel. Each Makuya, they proudly say, identifies with the State of Israel and wholeheartedly supports it.
External displays of support began in 1967, before the start of the Six-Day War, when Teshima established the “Japan Israel Emergency Relief Committee”. He flew to Israel with relief items as soon as the war broke out, and not long afterward he entered the assembled Jerusalem to pray at the Wailing Wall.
Six years later, Israel was attacked by the combined forces of Egypt and Syria. A threatened boycott of oil had caused Japan to shift from its normally neutral stance to an openly pro-Arab stance.
“Israel cannot, indeed should not, be abandoned in its time of need,” Teshima declared. Although seriously ill, he organized a large pro-Israel rally in downtown Tokyo. It stretched for more than two kilometers and more than 3,000 men, women and children sang joyous Hebrew songs while dancing in the streets. Teshima, who had put his heart and soul into the rally, insisted on participating despite the winter chill. He died three weeks later, at the age of 63.
No leader has taken Teshima’s place, but the Makuya are on their way. They planted several forests in honor of Teshima and made large donations to a Jewish National Fund project to increase water resources in the Negev. When the Jewish Agency ran out of funds for the ulpan at Kibbutz Hephziba, Makuya began financing its operation. And every few years, Makuya members come to Israel in large numbers to celebrate Independence Day.
Ulpans in several large Japanese cities have already taught Hebrew to more than 1,000 Japanese, and not all of them were Makuya. Many Japanese are interested in learning the language of Israel, no doubt because the Makuya who visit and study here are a concrete bridge between the two countries.
Makuya, in Hebrew, translates as “tent of meeting” – the Hebrew “ohel moed” or the place where man meets God. Teshima taught that you can find God anywhere and that it is not necessary to pray in a church. Therefore, the Makuya worship in homes where they also read the Bible and study its lessons.
Like Teshima himself, a Makuya minister is called a teacher and is well-versed in the Bible and other sources. He often has a regular job and leads his congregation only on weekends. The Makuya oppose institutionalized Christianity and there is no central Makuya religious authority, although a committee of district representatives meets every few months to discuss the movement. Baptism is spiritual: a coming-of-age ceremony when boys and girls turn 13 and accept adult responsibilities. It takes place on Mount Aso, where Teshima had his encounter with the Lord.
Visitors to Jerusalem are sometimes entertained in the Center’s beautiful Japanese garden, or taken to the third-floor library with its menorah, certificates of appreciation to Makuya and its founder, and a special pair of binoculars that Teshima brought here. as a gift and which came in extremely handy during the 1973 war.
Members of the Makuya movement in Israel emphasize that the Israelis they meet take them to their hearts. “We feel like Israelis, like we are at home.”