During the week covered by this review, we received 11 articles on the following subjects:
Christians and the Holocaust
Archeology / Christian Tourism
Jewish Attitudes towards Christianity
Political Issues / Christian Zionism
Bible
Interfaith Relations
The Vatican
Christians and the Holocaust
The Jerusalem Post, November 16, 2020; HaMevasser, November 16, 2020; Iton Shacharit, November 17, 2020
A number of articles reported again about a declaration made by the Dutch Protestant Church (PKN) regarding its failure to act on behalf of Jews before, during, and after the Holocaust. Speaking on behalf of the General Synod, minister and theologian, René du Reuver, said: “for centuries, a rift was maintained that could later isolate the Jews in society in such a way that they could be taken away and murdered.” He also called anti-Semitism a “sin against God”.
Archeology / Christian Tourism
Hadash Ba’Emek, November 13, 2020; Index Ha’Emek VeHaGalil, November 16, 2020
Both articles reported again about the 3rd century CE Christian mosaic discovered 15 years ago in the Megiddo jail. The mosaic was once the floor of an ancient prayer house. Catholic bishops have requested that Israel go ahead with plans to evacuate the jail and make the mosaic available to visitors. Orit Farkash-Hacohen, the Minister of Tourism, expressed confidence that the site would become a popular tourist destination, saying that the bishops’ call had helped her “understand even more how important Megiddo and the mosaic are to this community. Neither a pandemic nor an economic crisis will break Israel’s connection to the Christian world, and I expect to host many Christian visitors when the skies open back up.”
Jewish Attitudes towards Christianity
HaShavua BeRehovot, November 12, 2020
This was a story of a boy who was born to a Jewish mother and Catholic father in France. The father insisted that the boy get educated at a monastery and enter the priesthood, but the mother disagreed and smuggled the boy into Israel. Yad L’Achim helped meet the needs of the mother and her son, who recently celebrated the son’s bar mitzvah.
Political Issues / Christian Zionism
Yeted Ne’eman, November 17, 2020; Israel Hayom, November 20, 2020
American Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, made a visit to a settlement in the West Bank, marking the first time such a high-ranking official has made such a visit. Pompeo is known as a committed Christian Evangelical and expressed his belief that the Jewish people have a moral and historic rite to Judea and Samaria. One article expressed concern over the extent to which American Evangelicals influence the political situation in the Holy Land, noting that Donald Trump surrounded himself with Evangelicals, knowing that this was the base he needed in order to get reelected. The article looked at Maya Zinshtein’s documentary on the same issues, highlighting the significant amounts of money the International Fellowship for Christians and Jews raised by targeting Evangelical donors, and asking how Israel got to the point where Holocaust survivors became dependent on Christian donations. The article also discussed Evangelical eschatological beliefs. Zinshtein reported having a conversation with one Evangelical who said to her: “You Jews are the key… without you there is no chance for our beliefs to come true. But do you know what you do with the key after the door is opened? Jews need to carry out these tasks so that we can arrive at our destination.” Zinshtein also recalled a conversation with Pat Robertson, who recounted that he had told Benjamin Netanyahu not to give up any land during the 1996 peace negotiations. Zinshtein expressed shock that during such a critical political time, Netanyahu took time out to meet with an Evangelical preacher in order to receive advice from him. The article also noted that Evangelicalism is driven by missionary zeal, which is central to its identity.
Bible
Makor Rishon, November 20, 2020
A digital translation of the Hebrew Bible into Spanish, the first translation of its kind, was recently published online. This is the first time the Bible has been translated into Spanish by non-Christians and without Christian influence.
Interfaith Relations
The Jerusalem Report, November 13, 2020
This article briefly surveyed the complex relationship between Christianity and Judaism, noting, for example, that historically, Christians were attracted to Judaism, which is why it became illegal in 315 CE for Jews to proselytize to non-Jews. The opposite, of course, was not true, and Jews were proselytized to by Christians for centuries. The Catholic Church was the first to shift its stance on proselytizing to the Jews. This was a shift that began after the Second Vatican Council in 1965. In 2015, the Vatican Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews issued a document that affirmed God’s gift and call to the Jews is irrevocable and stated that Jews do not need to convert in order to find salvation. In response, two dozen Orthodox rabbis signed a statement that said: “Now that the Catholic Church has acknowledged the eternal covenant between God and Israel, we Jews can acknowledge the ongoing constructive validity of Christianity as our partner in world redemption, without any fear that this will be exploited for missionary purposes.” The stances of Protestant churches on proselytization differ, but both the Lutherans and the Anglicans have showed signs of shifting towards the Catholic stance, emphasizing reconciliation with, rather than conversion of, Jews.
The Vatican
Haaretz, November 17, 2020
This article was about the McCarrick Report recently issued by the Vatican, which stated that John Paul II knew about the sex abuse allegation made against Theodore McCarrick but promoted him anyway. This report has done serious damage to John Paul II’s reputation, with some saying the church was too quick to canonize the former pope. The report said that neither John Paul II nor Benedict XVI did enough to tackle sex abuse allegations in the church. Pope Francis has confessed his own failure not to push the matter sooner, and said he was led by a desire to believe his predecessors, which came at the expense of the victims. Francis commissioned the investigation that led to this report and has put in place a new safeguarding infrastructure that is meant to increase transparency and shift away from a culture of secrecy. Some have defended John Paul II, saying that at the time he was sick with Parkinson’s Disease, and that McCarrick was a pathological liar who pulled the wool over John Paul II’s eyes. The report, however, claims that John Paul II was of sound mind when he promoted McCarrick.