This Orthodox Jew From Israel Left His Rabbi to Join the Mahdi

In this Divine Just State exclusive, we sit down with Aharon Danin — a 48-year-old Israeli Orthodox Jew who left behind his Jewish community in Jerusalem after decades of religious searching. From a childhood in a traditional Jewish family life to Hasidic pilgrimage, and finally to an unexpected spiritual turn influenced by online debates and the teachings of Aba Al-Sadiq, Aharon shares his story with striking honesty. This is his account, in his own words.

Please give our readers a short introduction to who you are.

My name is Aharon Danin. I’m 48 years old, an Israeli citizen, married, and a father of five. I’ve been living an Orthodox Jewish life for the past 24 years. I was born in Israel, same as my parents. My grandparents came from Yemen when Israel was founded in 1948.

Most of my life, my family and I have lived inside a religious Jewish community in Jerusalem. For a few years I also lived on a kibbutz, a Jewish community where everything is shared. At one point, I trained as a Megasher (mediator), and received certification from the Chief Rabbinate of Israel.

So have you always been religious growing up?

My grandfather was quite a famous Rabbi in the region of Ashdod, so my family was traditional. I went to a religious school, I went to the synagogue on Shabbat when I was young. But Israel is quite a secular state and a lot of people are not religious. So we were traditional, but when I was 16, I didn’t want to live a religious life. I just wanted to be secular, like everyone around me.

For a period of time I lived secularly. But then I went to mandatory Army service and afterwards I felt that something was missing - that I needed God in my life. I felt that on one side I want this world, but on the other side there is a lot of spirituality inside of me that wants to express itself. I was so disappointed in this world - so I changed my life. Looking back I think God helped me not to love this world. I made the cut and I left Ashdod and my family to live in Jerusalem and start a religious life. I decided that I wanted to leave everything and dedicate my life to Hashem (God) to be His servant. That is when I really started to practise Orthodox Judaism. I started to practise all the Jewish rituals, to pray three times a day, and to learn all day long, just to dedicate my life to God.

Aharon in Israel

So how did you practise your religion as an Orthodox Jew? And what made you question your belief eventually?

I got married when I was 26 and I was already more religious and living in Jerusalem. In my search for God I joined the Breslov Hasidic movement of Judaism and joined a Hasidic community in Jerusalem. I helped gather donations and visited the synagogue in the heart of the city. Women and men were segregated in the community I lived in. They went to separate schools - and I have not spoken to a woman that I am not related to for the past 24 years. Interestingly, the core of Hasidic belief is looking for the Moses of your time, which I now know is the same as “finding the Imam of your time.” So since then, I have been looking for my Moses. 

The Rabbi I followed was a good person and really cared for his community. But I followed him for more than 20 years and I could only get that far. I was trying to be a very righteous person and still I couldn’t feel anything. I was doing rituals, but I felt that I was still the same person. Something was not changing. My thoughts were not clean, and I was still looking for something from this world. I could never be really clean because of the environment — everyone around me was on a low frequency. They’re all greedy, you know? And everyone was pretending to be religious but playing a game.

I could not find a real connection with God and I was angry that I couldn’t always keep strong faith. It was like I was on the outside looking in. I also believed that I needed a master - a leader who could train me and guide me. I couldn’t have this with my Rabbi. I only met him a few times. I believed in him for more than 20 years but I saw nothing coming forward. Things were only getting worse.

So for the last two years my family would still be very involved in the community, but I stayed home more and more and withdrew myself. I was broken as a person. I couldn’t find the truth anywhere. I was thinking: What’s going on? There’s no truth in this world anywhere.

So how did you end up finding the truth and changing your religion?

After the recent war in Israel I isolated myself and spent a lot of time on social media. I was looking for more knowledge about religion and I was looking for God. I came across a Rabbi on TikTok who was talking about Yeshua (Jesus), and it was the first time a Rabbi was not speaking badly about him. It was neutral. Usually nobody in the Jewish community talks about him. People are told not to speak or ask about Jesus; otherwise they are considered suspicious.

After I understood more about Christianity, I realized that my Rabbis had been wrong in many things. If I cannot even ask them about Jesus -  then what kind of truth is this? If people close to the Rabbi even hear someone ask about Jesus, it is over for him. So I kept quiet and read the New Testament, and I found everything that Jesus said beautiful.

I had been waiting for the Mashiach (Messiah) ever since I was 24 and became religious. So when I realized that the Mashiach had come to the Jews and they rejected him - and that they must repent otherwise the Mashiach will not come - I wondered how they could repent if they do not even know their mistake and the Rabbis do not teach them about it. This happened 2000 years ago. Why can they not just say now: We made a mistake rejecting your prophet. We believe in him now.

I started to understand that there are a lot of people who actually believe in God - not just the Jews. We Jews are shielded off from both Christians and Muslims. We don’t know anything about their beliefs. I wanted to break these walls. I felt there was truth behind these walls. It’s not the ultimate truth, but I understood that the concept came from God. I saw all the glory that my Lord gave to Yeshua - you have many churches and many people admiring him.

So I prayed to God to guide me and help me, because I just want to make God happy. I wanted Him to look at me and be pleased. That’s all I wanted. I didn’t need to be rich; I needed nothing. I just wanted God to be happy.

Aharon appearing on the Mahdi Has Appeared satellite channel with fellow believers from Iran

Aharon appearing on the Mahdi Has Appeared satellite channel alongside fellow believers from Iran

How did you hear about this call and Aba Al-Sadiq?

I started watching a lot of debate videos and podcasts about Christianity and Judaism. Then I came across an episode from The Mahdi Has Appeared YouTube channel in which Aba Al-Sadiq was talking. Until 2 am I watched episode after episode. It captured my heart - it was brilliant. It was genius. I thought: Who is this adorable man? Who is this beautiful man?

He reeled me in slowly with his words and I could not stop watching. I could accept everything he said. Listening to him felt like home. Everything in this call is logical. It is not against the Jews or the Christians - it is a win for everyone. I just had to believe in it.

You have to understand: In Israel, Jews see Arabs as enemies. No Jew believes there could be something to Islam. I never met an Arab who wanted to smile at me and explain Islam to me. But now, when I got to know Islam, I got to know the real Islam. I didn’t know anything before - not even what the word “Islam” means.

The only way I could have ever believed in Mohammed was through this call. Hearing Islam from the Imam was like being a baby hearing the religion as it should be. It was pure. I swallowed it and enjoyed it. I learned about Mohammed and the family of Mohammed from Aba Al-Sadiq’s words, and I loved them. I wasn’t a Sunni, so it was obvious to me: the Prophet has a family and he loves them. If Moses has a family - of course he loves them and we should love them.

I looked at Aba Al-Sadiq and thought: I want to be like him. I want to do for my people what he is doing for his people. I want to speak about all religions in a way people can understand. I want to communicate with everyone. If I am Jewish and I am a messenger - I am supposed to speak to everyone, right? Not just the Jews. This is what he did and this is how I wanted to be like. I love the way Aba Al-Sadiq loves God, the way he is sincere, the way he practises his beliefs. He is not just talking. 

I also realized that the Rabbi I followed never claimed anything. He never said “I’m the Moses of my time.” We assumed he was; we appointed him. 
So I understood that my Rabbi didn't claim it - because he was not. No one can claim, but the one that is the messenger of the time. Maybe he was an intelligent man - but not the messenger of the time. 

So I told myself: Aharon, you don’t know what is going on, but you have to follow your heart. You have to meet Aba Al-Sadiq. He is making me believe in the Moses of our time again. He revived my faith that had gotten rusty.

Then it was time for our annual pilgrimage. As Hassidic Jews we travel yearly to Ukraine. But I decided I wanted instead to pilgrimage to the Moses of my time. I contacted Outreach and told them I wanted to join the community around Aba Al-Sadiq. My family didn’t take me seriously. They didn’t think I would actually leave. But I did. And now I am here, with the Imam of my time.

What was it like to join Aba Al-Sadiq’s community at Webb House, and how have your first days been?

I never in my life had any friends who were not Jews. I never spoke to Arabs except at a gas station or shop. But here I met Egyptians, Jordanians, Palestinians — and they are my true family. They love me more than my real brothers do. It is incredible. They would die for me when my blood family would not.

The community here is beautiful. The community reminds me of a kibbutz, a Jewish community where everyone shares everything. I don’t think there are any actively practising kibbutzim left in Israel now. But you are truly practising the kibbutz lifestyle. 

You are like a beehive. Everyone takes care of their brother not because they are told to, but because they want to. I love being here and I ask God to make me like Aba Al-Sadiq and his companions.