During the week covered by this review, we received 18 articles on the following subjects:
Political Issues/Jewish-Christian Relations
Religious Freedom and Rights
Christians in Israel
Messianic Judaism
Christian Zionism
Archeology
Historic Church
Academia
Christian Sites
Christian Tourism
Missionary Activity
Political Issues/Jewish-Christian Relations
The Jerusalem Post, May 19, 2013
The Church of Scotland has revised the report published on its website that denied the Jews have any scriptural claim to the land of Israel. The church has “agreed to change the report’s introduction to reflect that it has never doubted Israel’s right to exist.” A spokesperson for the Church of Scotland told the BBC that they “believe that this new version has paid attention to the concern some of the language of the previous version caused amongst the Jewish community whilst holding true to [the church’s] concerns about the injustices being perpetrated because of policies of the government of Israel against the Palestinian people.”
Religious Freedom and Rights
The Jerusalem Post, May 21, 2013
According to the US State Department report on religious freedom, though Israel’s respect for freedom of religion has been consistent in the past year, “governmental and legal discrimination against non-Jews and non-Orthodox streams of Judaism continued.” The report highlighted the continued acts of vandalism targeting religious institutions in Israel “as well as violence against religious minorities.”
Secretary of State, John Kerry, added that the report, “which includes a progress report on every country, identifies anti-Semitism as a ‘particularly troubling trend,’ apparently on the rise in many nation states.”
The Jerusalem Post, May 24, 2013
“British author Dr. Qanta Ahmed spoke on Wednesday at the Menachem Begin Heritage Center in Jerusalem about the difficulties for minorities in Islamic societies and how Israel is the only country in the Middle East that tolerates them,” reports The Jerusalem Post. Dr. Ahmed warned that the rise of political Islam poses a threat to minority communities throughout the Middle East, but that “the persecution of Christians and other minorities is not getting the attention it deserves from the mainstream media.” Dr. Ahmed, who is herself a Muslim, said that “it is the radical Islamic ideology that has ‘corrupted’ Islam as it was practiced throughout history” making modern Muslim society “more intolerant that in antiquity.”
Christians in Israel
Shiur Hofshi, May 16, 2013
In this article, Reuven Shabat gives a history of the Christian Ethiopian community living in Israel. The community, he writes, numbers around 2000 members, most of whom are citizens of Israel. The Christian Ethiopian community is believed to be very ancient, established already in the first century CE when an Ethiopian was converted to Christianity by the apostle Philip. Ethiopia became a Christian country in the fourth century CE, and Ethiopian monks began arriving in the Holy Land as early as the fifth century, establishing their presence in Jerusalem. The local Ethiopian community was badly treated by both Muslim and Christian factions up until the 19th century, when they were finally given their own neighborhood outside Jerusalem’s city walls and were able to build their own church structure.
Shabat explains that “between the Christian Ethiopian church and Judaism there is a great affinity, which is probably why they were so badly treated for hundreds of years by both Christian and Muslim sects in Israel at large and in Jerusalem in particular.” The Christian Ethiopian church has maintained some distinctly Jewish practices over the years, so that even though they believe Jesus in the Messiah, they still circumcise their sons, eat only kosher food, and keep the Sabbath.
The Christian Ethiopian community in Jerusalem is headed up by Abuna Zion, who arrived in Israel as a young man specifically for that purpose.
Book Review
Yediot Eilat, May 24, 2013
This article reviews Judy Galblum-Pex’s book about the Sudanese refugees in Israel, which was recently published in Hebrew. The article describes how Judy is personally involved with the Sudanese refugees in Eilat, which is why she is able to write this “breathtaking account” of their plight from Sudan all the way through Egypt and the Sinai desert into Israel. The question, for reporter Tony Liss, is what brought them here? He explains that “Galblum-Pex gives us answers,” and that “the stories of the refugees is steeped in her Messianic Christian agenda. She quotes from the New and Old testaments, which she believes prophesied already thousands of years ago that these gentiles would come to the land of Israel.” The refugees about whom Galblum-Pex writes are those who arrived at the Shelter in a Eilat, a hostel that is run by John and Judy Pex, “Messianic Christians who receive, with open arms, any needy person who knocks on their door.” Liss adds that “through reading the book, one is exposed to John and Judy’s lifestyle and way of thinking. The picture that arises from this story is one full of compassion and the love of people.”
For Liss, this book is a must-read for everyone living in this country “who refuses to acquiesce to propaganda and racism.” He adds: “The power of the story [Galblum-Pex] tells lies first and foremost in its truth, in the image it presents to Israeli society, which is a society antagonistic to anything that is different and ‘other.’” But Galblum-Pex tries to live otherwise – tries to live according the verses in Matthew 25:35-36, 40, which Liss quotes in full: “I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger, and you invited me in, I needed clothes, and you clothed me, I was sick, and you looked after me, I was in prison, and you came to visit me . . . ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sister of mine, you did for me.’” These words, concludes Liss, “which were written thousands of years ago, are still good for those who want to live their life doing what is just and right before God and man.”
Messianic Judaism
Yediot Bat Yam & Yediot Holon, May 17, 2013
The same “readers write in” page appeared in both these local papers in response to an article that highlighted Messianic Jewish activity in Bat Yam. One reader writes: “I too would join [the Messianic Jews] . . . if I were starving.” Another says: “How is this any different from religious Jewish mission? Religion is religion, and there are just as many religious Jews taking advantage of people who are hard-on-their-luck to turn them back to religious Judaism. It’s no different at all . . . And anyway, it’s none of their business if I feel like converting to Christianity.” Another reader, who signed her letter as “one who knows,” writes that “Messianic Jews do not attempt to convert people. The whole point of Messianic Judaism is to remain Jewish and believe in Jesus.”
Christian Zionism
The Jerusalem Post, May 17, 2013
This four-page article tells the story of Bart Repko, an Evangelical Christian TV producer from Holland who walks the walls of Jerusalem’s Old City on a daily basis proclaiming “God’s biblical promises to redeem Israel.” Repko heard God calling him to this task after his job as a producer came to an end when the TV station folded. Says Repko: “I remember crying out to [God], saying, ‘What’s going on?’ Then I heard a voice saying, ‘Bart, I will remove the camera from your shoulder. Since now you have been observing the world, but from now on you will participate.” Repko then read a verse in Isaiah 62, which says “On your walls, O Jerusalem I [God] have appointed watchmen; all day and all night, they shall never be silent. Those who remind the Lord, be not silent.” Repko took this challenge literally, and he and his wife took a leap of faith and moved to Israel two years after his revelation.
The beginning wasn’t easy, says Repko. But “now, seven years later, [Repko] has become a permanent fixture in the Old City of Jerusalem” and “tourists travel from all over the world to join him on his ‘watchman activity,’ which meets every morning . . . at the Jaffa Gate.” The group then walks around the walls, “Bibles in hand, ready to proclaim the word of God.” The Jerusalem Post adds that “the activity is a spiritually-charged hybrid between religious touring and Bible study, where Repko and the participants read passages from the Old and New Testament, often prophetic in nature, and usually pertaining to the biblical connection between the Jewish people and the land of Israel, and the Jews’ status as ‘the chosen people.’”
The article then delves into a detailed account of what Repko teaches on his morning walks, specifically his controversial stance on replacement theology. Though Repko has been criticized by a variety of Christian institutions, he is not interested in being politically correct, “but instead subscribes to what is commonly referred to as ‘dual-covenant theology,’ a controversial belief system within the Christian community which recognizes God’s covenant with Abraham as recorded in the Bible, thereby exempting the Jewish people from the need to accept Jesus as the messiah, while still calling on the rest of the gentile world to adopt Christianity.” Repko believes that there is growing support for this stream of thought, estimating that he has led somewhere between 25,000-35,000 people on his walks around the walls.
Archeology
The Jerusalem Post, May 19, 2013
Dead Sea Scrolls scholar Geza Vermes has passed away at the age of 88. Vermes was one of the first scholars to translate the scrolls into English. He also “wrote engaging, seminal works about the Jewish origins of Jesus.” Vermes was born a Jew in Hungry in 1924, but converted to Catholicism as a child, returning to his Jewish roots again in the late 1950’s. Vermes “used his understanding of Judaism of the period [of the Dead Sea Scrolls] to write a pioneering series of books that reclaimed the historical Jesus as a Jewish holy man and teacher.” His works were “a leap forward for historical Jesus studies, a field that [in the 1970s] was beginning to come to terms with historical elements of anti-Semitism.” Vermes’ works “showed that it was unacceptable to think about Jesus as if he were not a Jew.”
Auto, May 16, 2013
A short snippet with information about St. Anne’s church, “which was named after Jesus’ grandmother.”
Yom LeYom, May 23, 2013
This article reported on the huge quarry from the Second Temple period that was discovered in the Ramat Shlomo neighborhood in Jerusalem (see second Media Review for May).
Historic Church
Haaretz, May 24, 2013
Thousands of historical artifacts that have been hidden for centuries by the Franciscan order in Israel are to go on display for the first time in the next two to three years. Many of the artifacts were sent to Jerusalem by the European aristocracy over hundreds of years, but were kept hidden by the Franciscans who feared they would be looted by the various regimes that ruled the Holy Land from the end of the Crusader period onward. These include, for example, the world’s oldest organ, which was buried in the ground for over 450 years, or a Mongolian bell that was probably given to the Franciscans by the grandson of Genghis Khan. The director of the archeological institute of the Franciscan order told Haaretz that the order feels more secure now than in the past, and that modern security technology will enable them to put these items on display for the general public without fear of theft. “It’s part of the land’s cultural heritage,” he said, “and it’s important that these items are seen.”
Academia
Haaretz, May 19, 2013
This article reports on a new Jewish Studies program at Budapest’s Central European University which is attracting both Jews and non-Jews alike. Several students who were interviewed for the article identify themselves as Christian. Says one: “I am actually a Christian, but then again, I place a huge emphasis on my Jewish background in my self-understanding,” which is why she chose to do the Jewish Studies program at CEU.
Maza HaRuach, May 17, 2013
The Catholic University of San Antonio (UCAM) in Spain is launching a new Jewish Studies program together with Bar Ilan University. The program will focus on Spanish Judaism. The director of UCAM said that this joint effort “proves that all the religions in the world can be united, providing a model for a new kind of university based on the love of God and co-existence for all religions.” Even Pope Francis has given his blessing, saying that he welcomes “the values that [this endeavor] promotes and hopes that many such endeavors will increase the world-over. I invite everyone to promote the mutual understanding and cooperation between the two faiths.”
Maariv, May 22, 2013
This two-page article focuses on Protestant pastor Dr. Timotheus Arendt, who teaches theology and Jewish Studies at the University of Leipzig in Germany. Dr. Arendt was invited as a guest lecturer to Bar Ilan University, where he spoke on regret and repentance in human relationships (both personal and national). Arendt’s father was an avid Nazi supporter during the 1930’s and throughout the Second World War. But when his father understood what atrocities had taken place under the Nazi regime, he considered committing suicide. Instead, the elder Arendt’s dedicated his entire life atoning for his deeds. He encouraged his son to pursue Jewish Studies, as well as learn Hebrew.
During his lecture series at Bar Ilan University, Dr. Arendt said that he believes “it is better for people to be in the process of repentance throughout their entire lifetime.” He also said that people “should live a life of awareness, ready to listen to the ‘other,’ and respond peacefully to [their] brothers and sisters.” Regarding Israel, Dr. Arendt said the country should continue striving “to live co-existentially, and to make every effort to strengthen those who do this and look for ways to enable people to live side by side in peace.”
Christian Sites
Haaretz, May 24, 2013
Writer Moshe Gilad takes a historical tour of Georgian Jerusalem. The Georgian church was at its peak between the 11th and 17th centuries, but eventually had to sell most of its sites to the Greek Orthodox and Armenian patriarchies for want of funds. The tour begins with the most famous Georgian site, which is the Monastery of the Cross located in Jerusalem’s Valley of the Cross. Tradition has it that at that site, Lot planted a tree that symbolized that God had forgiven him for his fornication. Later, the wood from that tree was used to make the cross upon which Jesus was crucified. Other Georgian sites include the San Simon monastery in Jerusalem’s Katamon neighborhood, the New Gate in the Old City’s Christian quarter, and the Church of John the Baptist.
Kol HaIr, May 17, 2013
Actor Yafim Ringberg gives his recommendations for things to do in Jerusalem. This includes visiting the Messianic Jewish graveyard (among many othes), since “graveyards are the book that Jerusalem has written about itself.”
Christian Tourism
The Jerusalem Post, May 24, 2013
The paper ran a photograph of a South African tour group in Jerusalem wearing hats with the word “Israel” covered up by band-aids. The group did this in order to avoid offending Palestinians as they walked through the Old City. The caption adds that “the Ministry of Tourism issued a statement saying it ‘viewed this incident with the utmost gravity and is thoroughly investigating the circumstances.”
Missionary Activity
Yahadut BaSharon, May 8, 2013
This article reported on the altercation between Yad L’Achim and some missionaries in Ashdod which resulted in the arrest of the missionaries (see first Media Review for May).