Israel's Hope
Israel's Hope was one of the earlier Messianic Jewish groups who commercially released their music under Maranatha! record label. They toured around the United States for eight years. The band consisted of three members: Paul Wilbur, Marc Chopinsky and Rene Bloch. The three met while attending the same Messianic Congregation in the state of Maryland in 1982.
They produced at least two albums. All the band members are still ACTIVE in the Messianic Music genre, and in the Messianic Jewish movement in general.
Members
Paul Wilbur : Wilbur Ministries
Marc Chopinsky: fvgifts website
Rene' Bloch: http://bethshalom-congregation.org
== Discography == Their first album was the self titled "Introducing Israel's Hope". It featured the following tracks
- Come, Let Us Go Up
- Hear Now
- The Lord Is My Shepherd
- It Is Good
- Blessed Is The Man
- Sing Hallelujah
- Say To The Daughter Of Zion
- How I Praise You
- You Are Worthy
- O Yeshua
- I Want To Worship You
- O Give Thanks
Their second album, Arise O Lord, was released to much acclaim in Nashville, TN in 1988 and was released with the ASIN: B0012KA8D6. Here is the track listing:
- A Resting Place
- He Shall Reign
- Arise O Lord
- Holy, Holy, Holy
- Awake O Zion
- Let Us Adore
- Baruch Ha Ba
- Praise is Awaiting You
- Day of the Lord
- Shalom Jerusalem
- Give Thanks to the Lord
- Sing Hallelujah to the Lord
Nominations & Awards
In 1988, Israel's Hope's second Album "Arise O Lord" was nominated as "Best Praise and Worship Album of the Year" by the GMA (Gospel Music Association). The award went to Maranatha Music's album 'Praise 10'. The band felt that as a result of the nomination, "many hearts were won".
After disbanding
Paul Wilbur
Of the three band members, Paul Wilbur, went on to achieve the most commercial success after the group disbanded. He has gone on to release numerous books, albums, and video taped concerts. The most recent album released was "The Watchman / El Shaddai (Spanish)" under the "Hosanna! Music Records" . Before starting Israel's Hope, Paul Wilbur was a member of a band named Harvest that released several albums under the "Benson Record label, Milk & Honey"
Marc Chopinsky
Marc Chopinsky composed much of the music that the group performed. As a composer, Marc's music has been used by artists other than Israel's Hope. Some of the musicians to use his music are Carol Cantrell, Paul Wilbur, Tents of Mercy, Kol Simcha, Helen Shapiro, Martin Sarvis, and Jonathan Settel among others. He recently released a CD with 17 songs. It is entitled "Marc Chopinsky, A "Some of the Best of" compilation, Songs written from 1982 - 2000. He is the lead vocalist on three of the songs, while some of the other songs are sung by the aforementioned singers.
René Bloch
René Bloch has gone on to become the rabbi of Beth Shalom Messianic Jewish Congregation in Rancho Cucamonga, CA. The congregation was founded in 1987. Rabbi Bloch took over in 1991 when the former leader took a position in a congregation in Pennsylvania.