Caspari Center Media Review – May 25, 2010
During the week covered by this review, we received 3 articles on the subjects of Messianic Jews, Christian Zionism, Christians in Israel, and conversion. Of these:
1 dealt with Messianic Jews
1 dealt with Christians in Israel
1 dealt with Christian tourism
This Review included a report of the death of Moishe Rosen, founder and director of Jews for Jesus.
Messianic Jews
Haaretz, May 23, 2010
This article (possibly only published in the on-line Haaretz edition) reported the death of Moishe Rosen: “Moishe Rosen, founder of Jews for Jesus, died of prostate cancer last Wednesday in his San Francisco home. He was 78. Rosen officially founded the world’s largest Jewish messianic group, which believes that it is not a contradiction to be Jewish and to accept Jesus as the Messiah, in San Francisco in 1973 and led the organization until 1996. The organization, which has members from both the Jewish and the Christian faith, maintains a print and an online newsletter which is distributed to over 200,000 readers. It has not been well accepted by mainstream Jewish institutions. The organization runs branches in Israel, the United States, Australia, South Africa, the U.K. and Russia. The Web site offers extensive explanation and illustrations about the organization’s practices, including Evangelistic literature which backs the rationale behind the conjoining Judaism with the Christian based belief that Jesus Christ is the Messiah. Rosen, who was raised to two Jewish parents in Denver, Colorado, converted to Christianity with his wife in 1953, an act which alienated his family. However, Rosen continued to practice Jewish customs, such as the Passover Seder and fasting on Yom Kippur. He was a practicing Evangelical Christian and received a Doctor of Divinity Degree from Western Conservative Baptist Seminary and has published ten books. According to the New York Times, Rosen left instructions that he wished to be buried in his tallit, the traditional Jewish prayer shawl … Rosen officially founded the world’s largest Jewish messianic group, which believes that it is not a contradiction to be Jewish and to accept Jesus as the Messiah, in San Francisco in 1973 and led the organization until 1996.”
Christians in Israel
Ma’ariv, May 18, 2010
According to this report, Israeli employees are henceforward to be given the choice of taking a holiday either on Herzl’s birthday – or on Ascension Day! “Good news for the workers: From now on, every worker can celebrate on Herzl’s birthday; or, as a substitute, on the day Yeshu ascended into heaven … The list of possible holiday days is composed of days from the Jewish, Muslim, Christian, and Druze calendars, as well as general holidays … The Christian holidays include Easter eve and the eve of Ascension Day.”
Christian Tourism
Jerusalem Post, May 21, 2010
An article on Nazareth included a sidebar on the “Jesus Trail”: Recently mapped out, the Jesus Trail, a 62-kilometer walk from Nazareth to Capernaum, was set up to appeal mostly to the Christian pilgrim traveler who wants to follow the way of Jesus as set out in Matthew 4:13-16: ‘Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali.’ The four-day walk, starting off at an elevation of 460 meters and ending at about 100 meters below sea level, is also a realistic possibility for those who find the country-spanning Israel Trail too daunting. The Jesus Trail is doable for the type of walker who likes a shower, a restaurant meal and a bed at the end of each day of four to six hours of hiking … An attractive, well-laid-out, detailed guide book of the trail has just been published, authored by David Landis, a cofounder of the Jesus Trail, and Anna Dintaman … ‘Construction debris interferes with the serene natural views,’ the authors write, but add that many parts of the trail are pristine.”