September 11 – 2019

During the week covered by this review, we received 8 articles on the following subjects:

Archaeology 

Anti-Missionary Activity 

Christians in Israel 

Christianity and the Holocaust 

Messianic Jews (Individuals) 

Archaeology 

Haaretz, September 2, 2019; September 5, 2019

Archeologists believe they may have located the town of Emmaus, where Jesus first appeared to his followers after the resurrection, in the Kiryat Yearim region. A dig in that area has uncovered a 2,200-year-old Hellenistic stronghold, which was built by the general who defeated Judah the Maccabee. Two hundred years after the stronghold was built, it was restored by the Romans who resettled the area. The distance from Jerusalem is said to match the description provided in the Gospels. 

The second article briefly reported the dig taking place in the “Burned Church” north of the Sea of Galilee, where a 1,500-year-old mosaic depicting baskets of bread and fish has raised a possible link between the location and the multiplication miracle performed by Jesus.

Anti-Missionary Activity 

BaKehila, August 29, 2019; HaMevasser, September 3, 2019; Shavua Israeli, August 21, 2019

In a similar report to one that appeared in the last week’s Media Review, the first article discussed a “missionary conference” that was to be held in the city of Haifa. The article reported that the conference was organized by the Jehovah’s Witnesses, and that Or L’Achim planned to protest the event. 

The second article reported that 350 yeshiva students gathered in the southern part of Israel to participate in a conference aimed at raising awareness about missionary activity and recruiting volunteers to help oppose this activity. The conference is the second of its kind. 

The final article reported that the Book of Mormon was found in a drawer in a room inside the Sheraton Hotel, raising fears about attempts to convert Jews. When Marriott purchased Sheraton, it apparently put hundreds of thousands of the Book of Mormon throughout its hotels, since the founding family is active in the Mormon Church. The manager of the hotel, however, said the event was unusual, and that the Book of Mormon was placed there by mistake. 

Christians in Israel

The Jerusalem Post, September 3, 2019

Rainer Stuhlmann, described in the article as an “Anti-Israel cleric”, has been selected to serve as interim provost for the Redeemer Church in the Old City of Jerusalem. Stuhlmann is quoted as saying that for Palestinians, the creation of the State of Israel is a “reason for mourning” on account of the expulsions and destructions that took place. When approached by The Jerusalem Post, however, Stuhlmann maintained: “I have been a friend of Israel for decades. For decades, I have engaged in the fight against all forms of antisemitism, including antisemitism related to Israel.” He further said that in the past, his words have been spun and taken out of context, and that for him, “Israel’s right to exists and its security is non-negotiable… my criticism is always in solidarity with Israel.”

Christianity and the Holocaust 

Haaretz, September 3, 2019

This article reported about an ongoing case in Poland. A Jewish woman from Australia inherited land in Poland from her mother, who had been a Holocaust survivor. Initially, the Australian woman didn’t know about the asset, as it was no longer in family hands. Her mother had left the house in the care of a neighbor, who then donated the land to the Catholic Church. Now the Church is refusing to evacuate the premises. The case has been in the Polish courts several times, the resulting ruling being in favor of the Australian woman. However, now the Polish government intends to get involved in order to back the church, raising fears that the woman would legally lose the home.

Messianic Jews (Individuals)

Yedioth Tel Aviv, September 4, 2019

Eli Birnbaum, the Israel director of Jews for Jesus, has been living in the Florentine neighborhood in Tel Aviv for the last twelve years. He asked friends and neighbors how they would like to improve the neighborhood, and some answered they wanted a greener space, while others did not want to be splashed by drops coming from air conditioning units. Birnbaum came up with the idea of hitting two birds with one stone by planting plants that would sit directly underneath the air conditioning units, connected by a colorful pipe. The initiative was successful, and so the Tel Aviv municipality got involved, purchasing 60 sets of pipes and planters for the Florentine community. Birnbaum hopes to pass the initiative on to other neighborhoods.