Rabbi: “We have no choice”

Ted Belman. I believe that we can accept Christian support, both financial and political, and at the same time ban missionary activities. The Christians will continue to support us even if we reject proselytizing. If I am wrong, so be it it. We must stop their missionizing.

By Diane Bederman

What is our sin that we have committed against the LORD God? then shalt thou say unto them: ‘Because you have forsaken Me, saith the LORD, and have walked after other gods, and served them and have worshiped them, and have forsaken Me, and have not kept My law. Jeremiah 16:10-11

I received a note from a well-respected Jewish organizer who liked my work, had heard me speak and had invited me to participate in a discussion group. But, it was “suggested” that I rethink my attitude toward Christian groups, like International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem ICEJ  who help Israel.

According to one rabbi “some of these people are very helpful and do a lot of work for Israel – that when Moshiach comes, we will know for sure whether he already visited us or not…” And then I was told –“ we have a healthy respect for each other – to write off (an organization like) the ICEJ would mean writing off so many of our supporters – we have to work together we have no choice.”

Chilling words. “We have no choice.”

Really?

After the prosecutions, persecutions, pogroms, expulsions, inquisitions, forced conversions, the Holocaust, too many wars fought to defend the Jewish nation of Israel “we have no choice” is an unacceptable reply.

We have our own Jewish state, after millennia in Galut (exile) and now our hands are tied? We are tied to Evangelical groups? We could lose support of Christians if we said no more proselytizing, if people like me wrote about the down side of accepting their help? I find that frightening.

We are the New Lions of Judah. To fight for the land and lose our soul is a pyrrhic victory.

These Christian organizations proselytize and bring their churches to Israel to change the body and soul of Israel from Jewish to Christian. We don’t know what end-times will bring, but we are,in the present, watching Christian organizations spread churches throughout Israel-and praise themselves for the churches they have managed to open in the heart of Jerusalem.

I’m told I’m worrying about nothing because,  “a great many of the messianic missionary groups are connected in some way… many of the larger evangelical groups truly want to help Israel…and we need their help…”

Do we need the help of people like Christian Zionist David Pawson described as “one of the world’s greatest expositors of the Bible” who said:

“One day the people of Israel as a whole will become Messianic Jews.  Prayer for Israel is not enough; preaching is also necessary. The church’s silence over the holocaust was bad enough; her silence about hell would be a worse betrayal… True lovers of Israel will speak on behalf of Jews to Christians and on behalf of Christ to Jews. To pray for the peace of Jerusalem must include that peace with God which only Jesus can bring.”

He also said “‘Zionism’ is only ‘Christian when He [Jesus] has the pre-eminence.”

And Dr. George Giacumakis, one-time Chairman of the Board of Trustees of ICEJ said straight out that it is hoped, through various ‘friendship’ organizations with Jews, and by giving financial and political support to Israel, that Jews will start showing interest in Christianity.” I have witnessed and been the recipient of this ICEJ “friendship” in Canada.

I was unceremoniously removed from the advisory board of StandWithUS(SWU) Canada because I asked that the board be given the opportunity to decide if they wanted to be connected to ICEJ and the Jerusalem Institute of Justice-Calev Myers.

SWU teaches advocacy for Israel to young people and it’s subsidized by an organization that promotes Jesus in Israel. Calev Myers managed to convince Times of Israel to take down myblog “We want all of the 6 million Jews and 1 million Arabs to come to Jesus” in which I wrote about his messianic activities.

Have we reached the point where Christians are going to set the agenda in the same way that the Saudi’s affected free speech with their dissemination of “Islamophobia”? Have we reached that watershed moment where the money these organizations donate is so great that we can’t rely on our own exceptionally wealthy Jews to take over?

In 2007American Christian Zionist leader, Janet Parshall, said that Israel’s attitude was

“We’ll take your aid, your support and your tourist dollars, but we won’t take your Jesus.” Christians should not have to “choose between the cross or Israel.”

I contacted Peter Stockland, publisher of Convivium: Faith in our Community, the first person to publish my articles, my mentor, friend and a man with a beautiful Catholic soul for his view about proselytizing to the Jewish people. He wrote:

“John Paul II said it well: we can come together to pray, but not pray together. Many (most?) Christians feel a natural and authentic affinity with Jews because, of course, our faith comes out of Judaism. But “out of” does really mean “out of” and if Christians want to go “back in” to Judaism, the onus for reconciliation is on those Christians, not on Jews to covert. The Christian Messiah is a Jew. The Jewish Messiah will be…but isn’t yet. That’s a reality of our faiths that simply must be respected.”

And then added “Many Christians today, if pressed, would say they consider Christian-Jewish dialogue an intra-faith conversation. For most Jews, quite understandably, it remains an inter-faith venture at best, not least because of centuries of vile, and all-too horribly violent, “contra-faith” anti-Semitism that Christians inflicted on Jews. The past is the past, let it go, yes, but if I were a Jew, I would let it go very, very slowly and carefully. And I certainly would not let it go in any way that effaced my Jewish faith, identity or memory. In the prudential words of Ecclesiastes: ‘To everything, there is a season.'”

There are millions of non-Jews who will support us without expecting our souls in return. Hopefully enlightened Evangelicals will join the group.

May 25, 2015 | 11 Comments »

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11 Comments / 11 Comments

  1. @ Salomon Benzimra:

    “Intelligent people know of what they speak; fools speak of what they know.”

    – Minchas Shabbos Pirkei Avos 3:18 / Ethics Of The Fathers

    I know it was not addressed to me….Knowledge is power and you lack on this subject even the basic knowledge of the enemy… Yes they are our enemy…Even for atheist Jews, is it not offensive that Christian tourists with crosses on their necks come here specifically to deny our religion? those tourists reject the foundation of Zionism: Jewish faith. They go to Golgotha where their deity was executed—and all of them believe he was executed by us, and that we Jews shouted, “Let his blood be on us and children.”

    Some of us can’t forget the decuman wave of Jew-hatred in their own scriptures, which they are coming to our country to venerate. And yes, this is our country, not an “international enclave.” When they could, they razed our synagogues and yeshivas, and it’s unimaginable that now we allow their churches to dot our holy city. Some Jews are so stupid and sick they allow welcoming high-ranking Germans with an Israeli military (!) band playing “Deutschland Uber Alles.”. Jews have no pride no national sense of worth and almost no red lines that can’t be crossed if it seems expedient and there is money hanging in the balance. Better recall Voltaire, a wise anti-Semite who remarked correctly that should the Jews get their own state, they would sell it.

    More Jews were murdered in the name of Jesus than on the orders of Hitler—who was approved by Christian clerics. The Germans only carried the Christian ideas to their logical conclusion. Up to then, royal defenders of Christianity only expelled us, but murder is more logical. It does not matter whether Jesus was a good Jew or the founder of the worst anti-Semitic movement ever. We detest Wagner’s music not on its merits (and it is very bad), but because Hitler loved it. Christianity is not a theoretical discourse to be judged on its merits, but a deadly practical weapon against Jews.

    If I am a fanatic then how would you classify yourself….????

    Throughout our history there have been weaker elements who have shirked the sacrifices which Judaism entailed. They have been swallowed, long since, in the great majority; only the more stalwart have carried on the traditions of their ancestors, and can now look back with pride upon their superb heritage. Are we to be numbered with he weak majority, or with the stalwart minority? It is for ourselves to decide.”

    – Cecil Roth, A History of the Jews
    (Oxford University: Shocken Books, 1961) pg. 423

  2. The guest rabbi who came to our local synagogue was wrestling with this because he had been invited to lecture at a Catholic high school in his city. On the basis of the rabbinic decisions of past centuries, he accepted the invitation to teach Judaism in a Christian institution.

    Catholicism is NOT Christianity. The Jewish people need to understand this. Christianity was born out of protesting against the Catholic church. Catholics calling themselves ‘Christians’ is relatively ‘new’. The Pope is taking advantage of this. Catholic means universal. One world religion.

    These are two different religions that are attempting to merge. If successful it would be under the Catholic umbrella which is not good news for the Jewish people.

    I find with ‘Christians’ those who follow Jesus for the most part are harmless. Those who have taken on the doctrine of the founder of Christianity (Paul) are ruthless.

    It’s the Pope and Mary who are the head of the Catholic church – not Jesus.

  3. Israel allows individuals to practice their own religion but there are laws that specifically prohibit proselytizing.

    Technically, proselytizing in Israel is not illegal and missionaries are therefore, supposedly, allowed to evangelize. However, there

    are laws that make it illegal for any person to convert anyone under 18 years of age, from Judaism to another religion, unless one of

    the minor’s parents is already an adherent of the religious group that is seeking the conversion.

    Moreover, despite the legality of proselytism, Israel has taken a number of steps to discourage it. Furthermore, Israel actually

    encourages the perception that proselytizing in Israel is illegal and therefore a criminal offense. It has been assumed that Israel does

    this to minimize proselytizing without actually having to enact strict and potentially embarrassing anti-proselytizing laws.

    http://jewjewsjewish.org/Page_11.html

  4. Lausanne Consultation on Jewish Evangelism Media Update
    by Susan Perlman

    April 20–22, 2015
    This year’s summary will include the following categories: Israel News, Jesus and the Holocaust,
    Jewish Opposition to the Gospel, Anti-Missionaries, Jewish Demographics, Jews and
    Evangelicals, Christian Zionism, Anti-Zionism, Christ at the Checkpoint, Legal, Books of
    Jewish/Christian Interest, Anti-Semitism, Jewish Thought Pieces, Jewish Holidays, and, of
    course, the catchall of Potpourri.
    These are just highlights and are not meant to be a comprehensive look at this past year of
    messianic news. However I have included them in pdf form for those who wish to download
    them from the LCJE.net website.
    As I point out to you each year, don’t assume I’ve seen all the media out there on our movement.

    By going to the link you can read the summary of many pages. The take away is that ICEJ are very active, not just in Israel.

  5. “Christians” were not excommunicated from the Synagogue at the end of the first century because they believe in Jesus the messiah but because they didn’t follow the law. Over the centuries that followed, the belief in Jesus as the messiah was rejected.

    No one, least of all Bederman is saying that there aren’t righteous gentiles. We are simply saying that proselytizing is unacceptable.

    Just as Christians believe they have the right to proselytize, we Jews believe they don’t. Free speech is not a God nor is it a suicide mission.

    Christians who bless us so that they will be blessed are welcomed. Christians who proselytize are not.

    This is not a free speech issue. They must abide by the law. If the law bans proselytizing, they must adhere to it. I don’t think that Israeli law goes so far. But I do know it is for Israelis to decide, not Christians. Even if it is not against the law, Jews are entitled to object to it as not a friendly act or as obscene.

  6. I received this email from, Maja Eisenstaedt Hill

    Several years ago at the local synagogue in my Midwestern city, a guest rabbi from a large city not too far away came to discuss a centuries-old question: do Christians worship the same God as does Judaism – or not? He brought quotes from rabbis wrestling with the question of whether Jews can co-own businesses with Christians or form partnerships of any kind. A number of rabbis came to the conclusion that Christians do worship the God of Israel, therefore a Jew is not joining himself or herself to idolaters when entering certain contracts with Christians. These normative rabbis stated that when Christians worship Jesus, they are worshipping the Creator. Of course, they were unanimous that Jews can’t worship Jesus!

    The guest rabbi who came to our local synagogue was wrestling with this because he had been invited to lecture at a Catholic high school in his city. On the basis of the rabbinic decisions of past centuries, he accepted the invitation to teach Judaism in a Christian institution.

    I am sharing this in order to point out that the issue of Jewish-Christian relations and the issue of whether Christian belief is idolatry or polytheism can be considered through the lens of fair theological inquiry. The history of Jewish-Christian relations is stained with the deep darkness of ungodly deeds perpetrated against Jews by churchgoers, but that history also includes righteous Gentiles who risked their lives to love and honor God’s people, Israel. And it includes Christians today who are deeply committed to honoring and defending Israel – not as a Trojan horse for their beliefs but as an expression of their love for the God who loves Israel.

    There are hosts of activists of every stripe cloaking their agendas in falsity – but what about those who are standing with Israel in personal and organizational integrity? Fear of betrayal can be rational and it can also be self-defeating. Any brush stroke that blackens all Christians as self-serving betrayers is not fair or rational; neither does it pave the way for constructive dialogue or endeavor.

    Some rabbis of past centuries examined the issue of Jewish-Christian relations and constructively defined a basis for mutuality while protecting Jewish identity. Surely their voice should be part of the present dialogue.

  8. @ Salomon Benzimra:

    Proselytizing IS NOT ACCEPTABLE in ISRAEL!

    Christians who want to be our friends and support us are welcome as visitors and guests but MUST ACCEPT NO PROSELYTIZING AS THE LAW!

  10. @ Salomon Benzimra:

    In a nutshell, insofar as the activities of the Christian Messianics are a) non coercive and b) targeted to adults, the last thing we should do is to ban their right to freely express their views. Israel and the Jewish people worldwide should not be in the business of banning objectionable views; they should (and are fully able to) confront them with better ideas.

    First of all they are coercive. They target the weakest elements in our society,,, I don’t want to ban their views, I don’t care about their views I care to ban from the only Jewish State enemies I call spiritual terrorists.
    You may be a bright guy but here you are talking nonsense… I would ban them imprison them and if no choice chop their stinking heads off.(Muslims don’t seem to have a problem with christian ,) I wonder why? They are spiritual terrorists nothings less….I don’t want their money (which is very corruptible to the highest political levels but also many religious institutions and charities….)

    Keep your liberal views in Canada. We don’t want to become like Canada, or America… If you don’t like our laws, customs and traditions then …..I don’t care… Enough of foreign nothings telling us what values we should have and what laws are acceptable and how to treat enemies who say they love us and don’t in fact.

    Enough!!! You want a voice come live here pay taxes here send your kids or grand-kids to the Army. Then you have a right to express yourself and try to influence…..

    I can’t tell you strongly enough how I and many other Israelis feel about this.

  11. As much as I respect Diane Bederman for her pro-Israel work in various areas, I totally disagree with her on this particular matter of Christian proselytizing.

    I have presented my views in several comments I posted in Times of Israel earlier this month.

    In a nutshell, insofar as the activities of the Christian Messianics are a) non coercive and b) targeted to adults, the last thing we should do is to ban their right to freely express their views. Israel and the Jewish people worldwide should not be in the business of banning objectionable views; they should (and are fully able to) confront them with better ideas.