By Ellen W. Horowitz
May 24, 2007
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Two years ago I penned the following question:
"What happens when our new-found Christian 'friends' want to cash in on their Zionist goodwill? What will we say? 'Thanks a bunch for the money, support and effort guys, but we're not interested in your belief system.' Will evangelicals and missionaries see us as opportunists and could there be a backlash?"
These issues came to the forefront with the planned Knesset Christian Allies Caucus Women's Council Summit. A last-minute rabbinical decision barred Jewish participation in it.
Two months ago, award winning Evangelical radio talk show host Janet Parshall vindicated to my concerns by stating that she fears Israel would soon essentially say, "We'll take your aid, your support and your tourist dollars, but we won't take your Jesus."
Parshall withdrew her participation in the Knesset Christian Allies Caucus Women's Council Summit: Empowering women through Judeo-Christian Values. She found the declared anti-missionary stance of the Christian Allies Caucus to be unacceptable.
But Parshall may have overacted, because it appears that the guidelines on this particular summit were not that stringent.
The co-chairwoman of the this year's summit, Kay Arthur of Precept Ministries, is on record for having proclaimed on 60 Minutes that "The Jews need conversion." Although it must be noted that, in keeping with caucus rules, she promised that she wouldn't "actively proselytize" (that "a" word sounds a bit veiled, doesn't it?).
And, member and moderator of the caucus, Jane Hanson of Aglow International, foresees messianic (Jews for Jesus) leaders as part of her organization's future plans for Israel.
Bridges for Peace promoted the events leading up to the Judeo-Christian Summit as an amazing opportunity for Jewish and Christian women to come together and study "the Word" (if you don't know what this implies, then look up "the Word "). And the Jerusalem Post, which covered the conference, quoted BFP President Rebecca J Brimmer as having declared: "We are in a process that started 2,000 years ago with the birth of Christ."
So, Ms. Parshall, it would seem that Jesus did make it to the conference after all.
In all seriousness, it would be both unfair and impossible for me, or any Jew, to insist that Evangelical Christians abandon the particular faith and vision that fuels their fire. And I am reluctant to totally trash the endeavors of a caucus which promotes cooperation with those who are devoted to, and stand by, Israel. My dispute is not with my Christian friends and their religious fervor. As Josh Reinstein, the Director of the Christian Allies Caucus, states, "If you're a Jew and you're concerned about what's going to happen in the Christian faith, you're not really a practicing Jews, because that's something you shouldn't be concerned about."
But I do take issue with my own people who have a penchant for entering relationships without consideration of the long-term consequential effects for the Jewish nation.
Are we Jews, and Israelis in particular, so loved-starved that we feel the need to embrace our alliances and political agreements -- whether they be with Americans, Arabs, or Christians - with reckless abandon? Do we need to compromise ourselves and endanger our body and/or soul every time we engage in diplomatic efforts? Are we like abandoned children who indiscriminately and desperately seek a caregiver at any cost?
I would suggest that agendas, intentions, ideology, and theology do matter; and that a little foresight, awareness, and self-respect is needed when dealing with friends, foes, and all of those in between.
Some of the activities taking place under the guise of Judeo-Christian alliances are more in keeping with a weird love-fest than a responsible and cautious relationship. They represent a very strange fire and I'm afraid that, without an urgent call to order, some of our best and brightest are going to get burned.
Why is the Knesset of the Jewish state being used and branded as a platform to advance Judeo-Christian values? And why does the term "Judeo-Christian" cause me to gag rather than roll off my tongue?
In all honesty, I don't believe that Jews, Christians, or adherents to any combination of the two faiths offer the last word in ethical/moral behavior and values (take a good look at some upstanding Hindus, Buddhists, and Moslems).
For many of us, the term Judeo-Christian refers to Western values, civilization, culture and history. But Evangelicals and messianic Jews think of and use the term in a spiritual sense -- a theological fusing of both faiths, a grafting of the root and the branch.
Bill McCartney, co-founder of the Promise Keepers, feels that "Jews will be brought to jealousy when they see Christians and Jewish believers together as one -- they'll want to be a part of that. That's going to signal Jesus' return."
The Baptist Press reports that the Southern Baptist Messianic Fellowship was created by a group of Southern Baptist leaders seeking to reach out to Jewish people with the Good News of the Messiah from a biblically Judeo-Christian perspective.
One of my sons really put it all together for me at the Shabbat table...
He is one of the very few Torah observant members of an elite IDF unit. Two weeks ago his unit was in Jerusalem, and they were approached by some very good-looking, clean, and warm individuals who handed them brochures. When my son and another friend realized what they were holding, they collected the missionary literature from the other young men in the unit -- who were actively reading it -- tore it up and disposed of it. However, in a quintessential Judeo-Christian, politically correct, and tolerant moment, some of the soldiers protested and said, "How would you like it if someone tore up your Torah?"
Unlike the Christian golden rule of "Do unto others....", the unabridged version handed down by Hillel is more suitable for the Jews (and applicable when it comes to proselytizing): "That which is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor. That is the whole Torah; the rest is commentary. Go and study it." (Shabbat 31a).
Without studying the Oral Torah and writings which were specifically formulated for the Jewish nation, the Jew falls victim to diluted, twisted, truncated, or alien versions of The Law which was handed down at Sinai.
Judeo-Christian values may have strengthened Western civilization and served as solid moral foundations for America over the years, but that particular Diaspora combination has also served to weaken the Jewish nation and to rob the Jewish people of the wisdom of our sages who clarified, separated and carefully defined issues of morality and faith for us.
So what we have here is a classic Tevye dilemma. On one hand, the Jewish state and its people receive moral, spiritual, and financial support from millions of sincere Christian supporters in the many millions of dollars; but on the other hand, missionary activity in Israel is rampant and proliferating, and tens of thousands of Jewish youth and citizens -- who are living through a confusing and distressful period -- are vulnerable. On one hand, this represents us with a clear spiritual threat; but on the more physical hand we have Qassam rockets pummeling Sderot and the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews coming to the rescue with a NIS 6.5 million donation to that city under siege.
Thank you, Jerusalem City Councilwoman Mina Fenton for entering the fray. Mina makes no bones about her willingness to smash idols. And although her method and style may fly in the face (or feel like a slap in the face) of those who are desperately trying to nurture a loving and charitable relationship between Jews and Christians, her brutal honesty and activism is needed at this time. Fenton is a firebrand and an outstanding public servant, and she is did us all a great service by consulting with Yad L'Achim, Lev L'Achim and the rabbinate's Committee to Stop Missionary Dissemination on this issue.
Our challenge is to find a way to live within the parameters of Torah law and to not compromise ourselves when entering relationships with those who stand with us. That's why we have rabbis. And with all due respect to people like Benny Elon and Yechiel Eckstein, they have chosen political and organizational obligations over rabbinic ones. As such they lack a certain objectivity on the subject of Jewish-Christian relations, which means they should defer to halachic authorities.
That MK Benny Elon, under trying circumstances, honored the rabbinic committee's decision and did not attend the conference is admirable.
We need to implore and encourage our rabbis -- who understand the necessity of building fences around the Torah -- to continue to take a decisive, visible, and vocal stand on these issues; and to establish guidelines for the Jewish people in order to strengthen us for the challenging days ahead.
The rabbinic ban that was issued against Jewish participation in the Knesset Christian Allies Caucus Women's Council Summit was an appropriate and necessary ruling. One would hope that the members of the caucus will accept the directives of top rabbinic authorities and use better judgment in the future.
Views expressed by the author do not
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