A member of our JVMI Kaplan Memorial Alumni Association was tragically murdered on May 21, 2025. It is our honor to share insights into the life and aspirations of this brave, compassionate Believer.
Jewish Voice supported Yaron Lischinsky as a recipient of the JVMI Louis & Chira Kaplan Scholarship Program during his Bachelors and Masters programs. He first entered our scholarship program as a student at Hebrew University, studying International Relations and Asian Studies, where he received his Bachelor of Arts. He then obtained his Masters in Government from Reichman University, which he told us in a thank you email in 2023 was “an important factor in my being able to get my current job at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.” Since 2022, Yaron had been serving as a research assistant for the Israeli Embassy.
Yaron wrote, “I couldn't have done it without your help. I always thought I could succeed academically if I had the means…your financial help has been a huge blessing to me and my family, so from the bottom of my heart, thank you very much!”
With the permission of his family, we would like to share with you more about Yaron in his own words from his scholarship application. May his memory be a blessing. Yaron wrote,
“I grew up in Germany in a Messianic family of 5 children, a Messianic Jewish father and a Christian mother, celebrating the Jewish holidays with Jesus at the center of it. In 2008, my parents were convinced God called our family to Israel. We made Aliyah without any knowledge of Hebrew. During this time, I was far from God and wouldn’t have called myself a believer. During my army service, I spent a lot of time thinking about my purpose and found myself empty. Reading Christian literature strengthened my faith and I decided to get baptized shortly after.
After finishing my army service in 2016, I was aware of my need to grow spiritually and decided to take half a year to do discipleship training school in Perth, Australia. Since coming back, I’ve been involved with teaching the youth at Kehila, ushering and leading youth camps.
By completing a degree in International Relations and Asian studies I want to be a bridge between believers in the Land and abroad, specifically Asian countries, where the gospel message is needed most. My goal is to use my Messianic background and higher education for the glory of Yeshua in Israel and beyond.”
Yaron was a member of Melech Hamelachim, a Messianic congregation which is part of the King of Kings Ministries network, another partner ministry Jewish Voice supports. At the time of his murder, he was just a week away from traveling home to Jerusalem, where he had planned to propose to his girlfriend, Sarah Milgrim, who was the other shooting victim and an Israeli diplomat of Jewish descent.
Yaron’s faith and trust in Yeshua as his Messiah was evident to all and beautifully described by Moran Rosenblit, Executive Director of Hope for Israel Ministries, in his recommendation letter for Yaron’s scholarship:
“Yaron is an especially diligent person who gives his all and looks to God to help him impact others around him for the glory of God. His yearning to draw near to God and to sit at His feet is clear from the way he has invested his hard earned money. In his own words: ‘After the military, I longed to seek God’s Will for my life, so I worked in the evenings to earn money for a discipleship program’.”
Working extra hours just to attend a discipleship program — what a powerful testament to Yaron’s dedication to strengthening his walk with God. Yaron also regularly worked with the youth at his congregation, and the Head Youth Leader Michael Viselli shared his insights in are commendation letter to us as well:
“I can attest to the fact that Yaron has the heart and determination to reach out to our younger generation...he has always been well prepared and delivered sound biblical messages to our youth. It is easy to see that he puts his heart into whatever he does and that he is able and willing to use his skills and abilities to build up the body of Messiah.”
We pray that his life will serve as an inspiration to the other scholarship alumni who pray diligently for God to use their lives for His kingdom. While his tragic death comes as a great shock to the community, Yaron’s life is now bringing a spotlight to the Messianic Jewish faith as major news outlets across the world are telling Yaron’s story and even his congregation’s story.
No one can know what will be written about them after they pass, but may we all pray and strive to live our lives “worthy of the calling” God sets before us. We praise God that Yaron lived his life according to his calling as it says in Ephesians 4,
“Therefore I, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you were called — with complete humility and gentleness, with patience, putting up with one another in love, making every effort to keep the unity of the Ruach in the bond of shalom.
There is one body and one Ruach, just as you also were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one immersion; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. But to each one of us grace was given in keeping with the measure of Messiah’s gift.”
