December 10 – 2005

Caspari Center Media Review… December 2005 #2

During the period of time covered by this review, we received 15 articles on the subjects of Messianic Jews, Christianity and the Mission. Of these:

 

   4 dealt with Jewish-Christian Relations

   1 dealt with Anti-Missionary Attitudes

   3 dealt with Israeli/Jewish Attitudes towards Christians

   1 dealt with Book/Film reviews

   1 dealt with Israeli/Jewish Attitudes about Jesus

 

The remaining 5 articles dealt with different matters of Jewish or Christian interest.

 

Anti-Missionary Attitudes

HaModia Nov 30, 2005

 

HaModia (Nov. 30) features an article about an unnamed Pravoslavni priest who has a Jewish father. According to the paper “no other religion recognises such a ridiculous thing as a priest who is a  ‘Jew.’”  HaModia says, “The combination is even funnier than that of a turtle and a lion, and even funnier than a bear and an ant.” The article says that the “stupid” law of the Right of Return, “which decided that a Jew could be a person with a Jewish father and a non-Jewish mother, was established by a coincidental majority by the legislative body of the State.” HaModia points out that “the fact that he became a priest for ‘that man’ (Jesus) shows that he acted according to the holy Torah of Israel (as opposed to the law of the state), which confirms that someone with only a Jewish father is not a Jew in the first place.” The paper also says, “Today Israelis are realising that what we warned them about is true. They see many ‘goys’ who swear allegiance to the State and even to the army, yet continue to go to church every Sunday.” It also says, “these goys dress up as Jews and enjoy all the benefits of the state because of the stupid law of the Right of Return and on their ID they are even recognised as ‘Israelis.’”

 

Israeli/Jewish Attitudes about Christians

International Herald Tribune Nov. 30, 2005; HaAretz Nov. 30, 2005; Ma’ariv Nov. 30, 2005

 

Three papers covered the Vatican’s document concerning homosexuals in the priesthood (HaAretz, Ma’ariv, International Herald Tribune Nov. 30). All three papers note that the Catholic Church has “defended its latest attempt” to “keep men with deep seated homosexual tendencies from becoming priests.”  Ma’ariv quotes Cardinal Zenon Grocholewski; “many defend the position according to which the homosexual condition is normal for the human being as if it were nearly a third gender.” The International Herald Tribune also quotes from the British Catholic journal The Tablet, “there are many excellent priests who are gay and who clearly have a vocation from God.”

 

Jewish-Christian Relations

Yated Ne’eman Nov. 30, 2005; HaModia Nov. 30, 2005

 

Both the religious dailies Yated Ne’eman and HaModia (Nov. 4) cover the reopening of the Jewish museum in Rome. The papers say that various artefacts in the museum are on loan from the Vatican. HaModia quotes Leon Pasterman, the head of the Jewish community in Rome, who called upon the Vatican “to bring to the museum some of the Jewish exhibits which are just laying around in the store rooms of the Catholic Museum.”

 

Israeli/Jewish Attitudes about Jesus

Globes Nov. 30, 2005

 

In an editorial in Globes (Nov. 30) Ditta Kol points out the “similarities between Christmas and Hanukkah.” She notes, “it is interesting that both Jews and Christians chose the end of December” because “there is uncertainty concerning the original dates of both festivals.” She says that “there is no consensus concerning the actual date of ‘Yeshu’s’ birthday, no one has a clue yet the Romans decided to adopt the date of December 25 because it was the birthday of the sun god.” She concludes by saying that “December21, the year’s shortest day, is frightening because no one knows if the darkness will come back to reign on the earth, so there can be no more appropriate time to celebrate a festival of lights, Hanukkah and the birth of a new hope, like the birth of the Messiah.” She says, “Both festivals reach their destination” because after the festivals have finished “the days indeed become longer and filled with light.”

 

Different Matters of Jewish or Christian Interest.

HaModia Nov. 30, 2005

 

An article in HaModia (Nov. 4) carries an opinion piece about the election of Polish president Lech Kaczynski and speculates on implications for the Jewish community. Kaczynski is described as someone who “is not a stranger to the Polish Jewish community, yet nevertheless someone who was voted in by many anti-Semites.” The paper notes, “the Jewish community felt a lot better with the previous president who exhibited a willingness to listen and even helped them regain properties which had been confiscated.” The chief rabbi of Poland is quoted “we hope that the new president will demonstrate an understanding of the needs of the Jewish community in Poland.”

 

HaModia also features an article about Jewish refugees, who after the Second World War, fled to Argentina to seek refuge. HaModia says, “they declared themselves ‘Christians’ so that their entry into the country was not delayed.” The paper follows the story of one woman who “registered herself as a Christian and kept some Christian ritualistic things at home to convince the immigration police that she was not Jewish.” Although many of the Jews tried to hide their identity the paper says, “It was ridiculous because some kept their Jewish names and were still accepted as devout Catholics.”