During the week covered by this review, we received 12 articles on the following subjects:
Interfaith Relations
Christianity and the Holocaust
Jerusalem
Anti-Missionary Attitudes
Messianic Jewish Congregations
Christian Organizations
Interfaith Relations
The Jerusalem Post, May 1, 2020; Ha’Eda, May 1, 2020
A group of religious leaders representing the Christian, Muslim, and Jewish communities in Jerusalem (including the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem and both chief rabbis) gathered together to recite a joint prayer for those suffering under the current pandemic. The first article saw this as an encouraging act of solidarity, while the second was critical of it. The author of the second article accused the chief rabbis of pretending to be Haredi, and said that it was “nauseating” and “embarrassing” for the chief rabbis to join other religious leaders who wear crosses around their necks, who are a part of a religion that has persecuted Jews throughout history.
Christianity and the Holocaust
HaModia, May 4, 2020; Haaretz, May 5, 2020; Maariv, May 8, 2020
These three articles reported on Pope Pius XII, who has been accused of remaining silent in the face of the extermination of the Jews during World War II. The opening of the Vatican’s World War II archives has revealed that Pius had been informed of a number of atrocities against European Jews. A son of Holocaust survivors wrote a letter to Haaretz saying that he didn’t need proof to know the pope could have prevented, at least in part, the murder of half a million Jews from Hungary. The pope, he wrote, could have spoken out against the atrocities, and could have urged Christians to prevent the persecution of Jews. Such an act would have made a difference. The third article noted that Rabbi Herzog begged the pope at the time to act on behalf of the Jews in Hungary, but the pope did not. In 1942, the pope refused to sign a joint declaration by the Allies condemning the destruction of the Jewish people. The author notes that Hitler would not have been influenced by the pope, but millions of Catholics in Germany could have been. The article then went into the history of anti-Semitism in the church, and noted the shift that took place under Cardinal Bea in 1965, who penned Nostra aetate during the Second Vatican Council, which confessed that religious anti-Semitism contributed to the persecution of Jews, and rejected the idea that Jews are responsible for the death of Jesus. The church document also expressed sorrow for the hatred, persecution, and anti-Semitism found in the Catholic Church. The Holocaust, however, was not mentioned in the document. Only in 1993 did the Vatican recognize the State of Israel and begin official diplomatic relations with the state.
Jerusalem
Galileo Tza’ir
This piece from a youth magazine told the story of Conrad Schick, a Christian who helped Jerusalem expand outside the walls of the Old City. Schick was born in 1822 in southern Germany. He became very sick and made a promise to God that if he recovered, he would devote his life to service. After his recovery, Schick joined a monastery, and was sent as a missionary to Jerusalem. Before going, Schick trained as a Swiss cuckoo clock maker in order to have a marketable skill in Jerusalem. The rich people of Jerusalem did indeed buy his clocks, and Schick became well connected. Eventually, Schick became the first city planner for the expansion of Jerusalem outside the walls of the Old City walls, overseeing the building of new neighborhoods like Mea Shearim.
Anti-Missionary Attitudes
Ashdod BaKoteret, April 30, 2020
Residents of Ashdod reported that they received a pamphlet in the mail under the title of “Important News” which was sent by Messianic Jewish missionaries. Yad L’Achim, which the article stated is the “only” body fighting missionaries in Israel, said that there has been increased missionary activity and that it would not rest until missionaries understood they were not wanted.
Messianic Jewish Congregations
Merkaz Ha’Inyanim, May 4, 2020; Ashdod BaKoteret, May 6, 2020
These two articles reported again that Beit Hallel, the Messianic Jewish Congregation in Ashdod, had been shut down by the police for violating social distancing rules under the lockdown.
Christian Organizations
The Jerusalem Post, May 1, 2020; Haaretz, May 7, 2020; Iton Shacharit, May 6, 2020
The first article reported that the Danish Bible Society released The Contemporary Danish Bible 2020, which in an effort to appeal to secular people unfamiliar with the Bible and its history, reduced the use of the word “Israel” from both its New Testament and Old Testament. The organization defended its decision saying that secular readers unfamiliar with the Bible could confuse the Land of Israel with the State of Israel. The organization has been accused of “white-washing history, identity, and sacred Scripture”.
The second and third articles reported that the “Shelanu” channel, an Evangelical channel hosted by the Israeli cable company HOT, is under investigation for promoting missionary activity on its channel. While “Shelanu” is not the first Christian broadcasting channel in Israel, it is the first to broadcast in Hebrew, and the first to openly declare its missionary intent. The channel said its intent was to “bring the gospel of Jesus to the homes and lives of the Jewish people” and to “help Israeli viewers understand that Jesus is not foreign or an imposter, but he is Jesus the Messiah born in Bethlehem”. The channel further intended to show original content from Messianic congregations in Israel, and to share the witness of Israelis who have come to recognize Jesus the Messiah. The Minister of Communications, David Amsalem, threatened to shut down the channel if it was discovered that it was indeed involved in missionary activity, which is illegal if exposed to those under the age of 18, or if material goods are offered in exchange of conversion.