November 25 – 2013

During the week covered by this review, we received 18 articles on the following subjects:

 

Messianic Jews

The Pope and the Vatican

Arab Believing Community

Christian Holidays

Jewish-Christian Relations

Christian Zionism

Miscellaneous

Intermarriage

Anti-Semitism

Political Issues

Archeology

Christian Sites

Bible

 

Messianic Jews

Haaretz, November 21, 2013

 

This article discusses former President George W. Bush’s controversial visit to the Messianic Jewish Bible Institute (MJBI) in Dallas, Texas (see November 17, 2013, Media Review) in order to give a speech. The speech was conducted behind closed doors, presumably to avoid further controversy. According to the article, “the turn of events is emblematic of what Messianic Jews have faced since their emergence in the 1960s: a tantalizing taste of acceptance followed by a pronounced repudiation by the mainstream Jewish community.”

 

The article explains that mainstream Jewish groups have rejected Messianic Jews because they see them “as luring Jews into Christianity under the pretense that they can maintain their Judaism while accepting belief in Jesus.” When a spokesperson for the MJBI indicated that those who refuse to allow other Jews to be exposed to “the claims of the most famous Jew who ever lived,” a rabbi in Los Angeles said in response that it was “dishonest, deliberately or inadvertently, to say that one can live in a Jewish faith community and accept another scripture or accept a different God. … It’s striking that for thousands of years the definition of being Christian was believing in Jesus, and all of a sudden [Messianic Jews] have discovered, no, you can do that and be Jewish.”

 

According to some estimates, there are about 20,000 Messianic Jews in the U.S., although “the number of Jewish believers in Jesus could be much higher.” In fact, in a recent survey carried out by the Pew Research Center, “34 percent of [Jewish] respondents believed it was possible to believe in Jesus and be Jewish.” There are signs, says the article, that in recent years “Jewish groups have grown more accepting of Messianic Jews.” The biggest “stumbling block,” however, remains the issue of proselytizing, which is still a “core principle” of Messianic Judaism. “Mainstream Jewish concerns about conversion inhibit what could be a useful relationship with a movement that over the decades has accrued a good deal of credibility within the Christian world, according to Messianic Jews.”

 

The Jerusalem Post, November 18, 2013

 

In the “Letters” section of the paper, Miriam Abramov responds to the article detailing former President George W. Bush’s visit to the MJBI in Texas to attend a conference which, the article claimed, was put on by Jews for Jesus. She writes that “not every Jewish person who sees Jesus Christ as the Messiah of Israel is working for or at all associated with Jews for Jesus.” And more than that, writes Abramov, “the State of Israel should be proud to have such an ancestor as Jesus of Nazareth. Slandering Jews who are for Jesus is like cutting off your own nose – they are fine citizens, serve in the army and pay their taxes honestly. … We ought to reconsider these Jews and not reject them. Their mothers are still Jewish!”

 

The Pope and the Vatican

Yediot Ahronot, November 17, 2013

 

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is to meet with Pope Francis in Rome on the 1st of December. The article reports that Netanyahu was meant to meet the pope in September and then again in October, but both meetings fell through, once because Netanyahu cancelled and the second time because the Vatican cancelled.

 

Yediot Ahronot, November 18, 2013

 

Menachem Gentz interviews Giulio Meotti on the publication of his latest book, titled The Vatican Against Israel, in which he claims that the Vatican is still as anti-Semitic as it’s always been. Meotti says that the Vatican is still inherently anti-Israel and pro-Arab: “There has never been a true and honest recognition by the Catholic Church of the Jews’ right to exist in a sovereign state whose capital is Jerusalem,” he says. “The Vatican always prefers to use the words ‘Holy Land’ rather than the ‘State of Israel.’” Though it is “too early” to judge the new pope, Meotti believe that Francis will choose to make a distinction between Jews living in the Diaspora and Jews living in Israel. Whatever agreements there are between Israel and the Vatican are only acceptable because of their shared interests in tourism and finances. Meotti accuses the Catholic Church of failing to do its duty in the wake of the Holocaust and World Word II – a failing that stems from its refusal to do any real “soul searching with regard to the Zionist idea.”

 

Arab Believing Community

The Jerusalem Post, November 22, 2013

 

Bisharya Shlayan, a Christian Arab from Nazareth who is in the process of forming a Christian political party, told The Jerusalem Post that he is hoping “to build a huge statue of Jesus on Mount Precipice” that will be “similar to but larger than the huge Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.” The paper explains that Mount Precipice is “believed by some to be the place where the people of Nazareth attempted to push Jesus off the mountain after rejecting him as the messiah. In the end he was able to jump off and disappear, according to Christian tradition.” Shlayan admits that there are some Muslims and Jews who are not too happy with his idea, but that he has received the blessing of the Minister of Tourism. Shlayan believes that his plan for the statue “could help the party” he is trying to set up as it would probably “bring more Christian support.”

 

Christian Holidays

The Jerusalem Post, November 18, 2013

 

Thousands of Catholics from all over the world gathered in Nazareth on Sunday to celebrate the International Day of Faith. The Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, Fouad Tual, read a letter from the pope, which said: “The history of our faith finds its origins in the very land where you celebrate. Before we can understand our own personal history of faith and our need for God’s mercy, we must all turn to that place and time when Jesus himself walked among us.”

 

Uzi Landau, Israel’s Minister of Tourism, said that “this event not only symbolizes a day or year of faith – it is symbolic of the desired future coordination between the State of Israel and the Catholic Church.” Landau said this in anticipation of the pope’s visit to Israel sometime in the coming year.

 

Jewish-Christian Relations

The Jerusalem Post, November 20, 2013

 

Rabbi David Rosen will be delivering a lecture on December 18th in which he will attempt to answer the question: “How much has the Christian world really changed its attitude towards Jews and Israel?” Greer Fay Cashman writes that “while it is widely known that Evangelicals are great supporters of Israel, there are many other streams of Christianity in which there is not necessarily the same kind of fervor.”

 

Christian Zionism

Kochav Israel, November 8, 2013

 

Pastor Robert Stearns, who is the director of Christian organization Eagles Wings, recently visited the Bnei Zion hospital. The executive director of the hospital said that “there is a deep bond of friendship between the hospital and this organization,” and that Pastor Stearns is their guest of honor.

 

Miscellaneous

The Jerusalem Post, November 15, 2013

 

This article examines the history of leprosy as it has been manifested in Jerusalem over the centuries. Of interest is the mention of 19th century Christian missionaries who were “well-versed in the Bible” and “saw lepers in the Holy Land as candidates for their holy mission.”

 

Intermarriage

The Jerusalem Post, November 18, 2013

 

Julie Wiener writes about the “noticeable minority” in the United States of clergy or rabbinical students who grew up in interfaith households – where one parent is Jewish and the other Christian. The children of these intermarriages tend to “bring a richness to the community” that is “wonderful,” according to Rabbi Renni Altman of the Hebrew Union College. Rabbis who grew up in interfaith homes “are a mixed lot,” but “they all say their families, Jewish and gentile alike, support their decision to become rabbis.”

 

Anti-Semitism

The Jerusalem Report, November 13, 2013

 

In this seven-page article, Ralph Amelan interviews British writer Howard Jacobson, who has turned the fight against British anti-Zionism into his mission. Of interest is Jacobson’s brief mention of the roots of anti-Semitism according to the Freudian model, which suggests that European pagans resent the Jews because it was through their monotheistic faith that Christianity was born and then “foisted on them.” Says Jacobson: “I find it convincing that what they are resenting in the Jews is actually Christianity, the monotheistic faith. The Jews are resented because they gave the world Christianity. We killed Christ but we also made Christ, and I sometimes think that the gentile world does not know what they most resent us for.”

 

Political Issues

The Jerusalem Post, November 19, 2013

 

Lou Balcher writes an extensive article about the negative effects of Israel’s plans to close its consulate in Philadelphia in order to open a consulate in China. Balcher claims that the Philadelphia consulate has been a “lifeline” for Jewish leaders in the area and has also been “central to the growth of relationships and strengthened support from America’s Christian community.” Balcher goes on to mention some of the Christian groups that have worked together with the consulate, including Israel My Glory and Pennsylvania Christians United for Israel.

 

Archeology

Yisrael HaYom, November 20, 2013

 

Archeologists have finally proven that the ancient city of Shiloh was a religious center up until the First Temple period. This comes after an altar was discovered at the archeological site, demonstrating that a Jewish settlement continued to exist in Shiloh even after the Philistines took the Ark of the Covenant. According to some archeologists, Shiloh was still a religious center during the reign of King Saul, and perhaps even into the reign of King Solomon – when the temple was built in Jerusalem.

 

Christian Sites

HaModia, November 18, 2013

 

Police have arrested two religious youth who were planning to carry out a “price tag” attack on a French monastery in Jerusalem. They were carrying cans of spray-paint and pepper spray when they were arrested.

 

The Jerusalem Post, November 22, 2013

 

Sharon Udasin reports that “senior clerics from the Jewish, Christian and Muslim religions signed a treaty last week calling upon the Israeli, Jordanian and Palestinian governments to expedite the rehabilitation of the Jordan River.” The covenant states that “the river runs through the heart of our spiritual traditions: some of the founding stories of Judaism, Christianity and Islam are set along its banks, and the valley contains sites sacred to half of humanity. … By any measure, this landscape must be counted as part of the heritage of humankind.” According to the Post, “the archbishops, imams and rabbis from the region and around the world who came together to sign the convention demonstrated that ‘this is one status quo issue that the three Abrahamic faiths can agree upon.’”

 

Time Out Israel, November 17, 2013

 

The travel magazine recommends visiting Nazareth, “the childhood home of Jesus.” Recommended sites within the city include Nazareth Village and the Jesus Trail, which connects “various and significant sites from the life of Jesus to other historical sites.”

 

Haaretz, November 18, 2013

 

A brain-teaser exercise mentions that Catholics believe Dormition Abbey is where Mary, the mother of Jesus, “fell asleep.”

 

Bible

Kol Ha’Ir, November 15, 2013

 

This snippet advertises the Book of Books exhibition at the Bible Lands Museum.