During the week covered by this review, we received 3 articles on the following subjects:
Israeli/Jewish Attitudes Concerning Jesus
Political Issues
Christian/Jewish Holidays
Israeli/Jewish Attitudes Concerning Jesus
Jerusalem Post, April 19, 2022
This article was an opinion written by Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, the author of numerous books, including “Kosher Jesus”. The book portrayed Jesus as a Pharisaic teacher who instructed his followers to keep the Jewish Law, who fought Roman paganism and was murdered by Pilate for his rebellion against Rome – the Jews having had nothing to do with his murder. According to Boteach, the book educated “both Christians and Jews in the source materials of why Jesus could not have been divine or the Jewish Messiah.” He claimed the book was warmly welcomed by Christians, who have “a deep desire to discover the Jewish Jesus and not just the Christian Christ, the life of Jesus the Jew and not just the death of Jesus the savior”. With the news of a coming sequel to the film, “The Passion of the Christ”, by Mel Gibson, “which falsely portrayed Jews as clamoring for the death of Jesus,” proclaimed Boteach, “It’s time for the world to once again reject the lie that the Jews killed Jesus and for our Christian brothers and sisters to continue to discover the authentic character of Jesus the Jew. There are those like Gibson who enjoy portraying Christianity as a religion of blood, gore and death, rather than of blessing, love and life… We can only hope that if Gibson plans on serving up a sequel of such horror and gore about Jesus, our Christian brothers and sisters will reject it in favor of discovering the Jewish Jesus and the religion he practiced, Judaism, which commands always to embrace and choose life.”
Political Issues
Haaretz, April 20, 2022
Russian President, Vladimir Putin, has sent a letter to Israeli Prime Minister, Naftali Bennett, requesting that he authorize transferring control of Jerusalem’s “Alexander’s Courtyard” to Moscow, following a Jerusalem District Court’s ruling, on which we reported last month, that halted the registration process, saying it should be done only under the supervision of the Israeli government. According to the article, the church was supposed to be handed over to Russia as part of a deal, two years ago, to win the release of Naama Issachar, an Israeli woman who was detained in Russia on drug charges. Putin’s request has “long been at the top of Russia’s agenda in its relationship with Israel,” said Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, “We expect the Israeli leadership to assist us in order to complete the process as is necessary.”
Christian/Jewish Holidays
Yedioth Ahronoth, April 24, 2022
Thousands of pilgrims participated in the “Saturday of Light” (“Holy Fire”) ceremony at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. Israeli Police deployed officers throughout the Old City. They limited the number of participants to four thousand, having learned a lesson from the stampede that broke out at Mount Meron last year, killing at least 45 people. Some clashes broke out between Christian pilgrims and Israel Police officers when the pilgrims tried to break past the blockades by force and the police officers tried to stop them. In one incident, a policeman was filmed grabbing a pilgrim’s neck. The video was posted on social media, and received many angry responses. According to the police, any allegations against police officers who acted in the incident will be examined by the appropriate authorities.