Bernard Kaloria, the “Converted” Jew

She spoke Sabbath morning, and in the social meeting that followed listened to Bernard Kaloria, a Jew converted to Christianity who was attending a theological school in Basel. Kaloria had become interested in Adventist beliefs and was trying to get work at the publishing house as a German translator.EGWE 134.2

Willie White had even written a letter to the General Conference president asking whether there might be a place in one of the church's American colleges where the twenty-four-year-old scholar could teach Hebrew.EGWE 134.3

But Ellen White was not anxious to see him hired at Basel. Though he “spoke well,” he had not yet taken his stand for the truth. She was afraid that to speak to him encouragingly about employment would cloud the issue. “The question is, What does God say? What does He require?” she wrote. She did not want him to make his decision on the basis of whether he could get employment. He was not to be “bribed or bought” (Manuscript 28, 1885, p. 2).EGWE 134.4

As it turned out, the young man was hired for a while but did not remain long. “Kaloria,” wrote W. C. White a little later, “has left us after doing what harm he could.” Circumstances proved it was better to test him early rather than late.EGWE 134.5

Ellen White through the years was given instruction concerning labor for the Jewish people: “We are plainly taught that we should not despise the Jews: for among them the Lord has mighty men who will proclaim the truth with power.”—Manuscript 87, 1907. And before the General Conference in session on May 27, 1905, she made the prediction: “The time is coming when there will be as many converted in a day as there were on the day of Pentecost, after the disciples had received the Holy Spirit. The Jews are to be a power to labor for the Jews; and we are to see the salvation of God.”—The Review and Herald, June 29, 1905, p. 8.EGWE 134.6