During the week covered by this review, we received 11 articles on the following subjects:
Jews’ Attitudes Concerning Christians
Christian Zionism
Status of Holy Sites
Christian Tourism
Film/Theater
Miscellaneous
Jews’ Attitudes Concerning Christians
BeSheva, June 12, 2014
This article says it is incorrect to claim that the Education Ministry has permitted Christian content in its proposed summer camps. Also, the fundraising policy of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews is flawed, “since by saying that the poverty level in the State of Israel is high Israel’s honor is impeached and the state itself is slandered.” Fundraising should focus instead on goals such as funding research and encouraging immigration. Christian contributors “should not have their contribution thrown in their face”; it is missionaries who should be contended against, “not moral Christians who respect our religion and support us” and believe it is God’s plan for the Jews to return to Israel and flourish.
The Jerusalem Post, June 17, 2014
Ronald Lauder, president of the World Jewish Congress, recently addressed the Faith Church congregation at an event hosted by the congregation and sponsored by the Israel Allies Foundation to promote pro-Israel advocacy. Lauder emphasized the ties between Judaism and Christianity, citing love of Israel and the widespread persecution of Christians.
Haaretz, June 20, 2014 (Hebrew and English editions)
These articles are an analysis of the summer camp funding controversy still going on among the religious communities, which has climaxed this week in an appeal to the High Court of Justice. This controversy has exposed the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews to the stiffest opposition since its founding, and Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, founder and president of IFCJ, has said that “it makes him think of Nazi Europe.” However, the controversy has also caused some well-known rabbis to speak out in support of the IFCJ; this emphasizes that the issue is in fact “a struggle between the liberals and conservatives in religious Zionism.”
The controversy came about, Eckstein says, after the Ministry of Education asked to adopt a pilot summer camp project the IFCJ operated last summer. The IFCJ contribution will in fact be only a small part of the general funding, and the organization will have no part in determining the camp’s program. Eckstein further stated that he himself does not work with missionaries; the accumulated funding comes from some 13,000 contributors who give a small amount each because they believe the Jews are the chosen people and they must bless them. “Rabbis who accuse the IFCJ of being missionaries in disguise insult the amazing generosity of these people,” Eckstein said.
Christian Zionism
Star Darom, May 23, 2014
“Christian Friends of Israel–Holland has recently given the girls of the Eden Boarding School in Karmiya a lesson in entrepreneurship and business administration.” They have contributed a kiosk van to the school, and the girls will learn to make special Dutch wafers to sell to their classmates, soldiers, and others. The school is home to some 40 girls “who have been taken out of their homes due to violence and abuse” and it provides “care and educational support” for them.
Status of Holy Sites
A La Gush, May 31, 2014
This article surveys the continuing controversy over the status of the Mount Zion structure, whose first, second, and third floors are held by Jews to be David’s tomb, by Christians as the Cenacle, and by Muslims as a mosque, respectively. After calling for transparency on the issue from the government, the article states that this is in fact an issue of control, and cites as precedents the concessions given to the Ethiopian and the Coptic churches, Rachel’s tomb and the separation fence, and the Waqf excavations under the Temple Mount to underscore the importance of keeping the status quo in this case.
Christian Tourism
Haaretz, June 20, 2014
The northwestern shore of the Sea of Galilee boasts a variety of sites to pique any interest, including beaches named “Hawaii” and “Nirvana,” the newly opened archaeological park at Magdala, Kibbutz Ginossar, the Yigal Alon house, and the starting point of the National Water Carrier.
The dig at the Magdala site, originally a salvage dig, became a long term dig when the importance of the findings began to be apparent. All artifacts found have been dated to the first century AD, namely to Jesus’ and Mary Magdalene’s general lifetime. Of particular interest are a synagogue and a mosaic, an elaborate water system, and mikvehs [Jewish ritual baths] fed by spring water.
The Yigal Alon house was originally built to be a museum of “Man in the Galilee” in memory of Yigal Alon. However, today the rest of the museum is significantly overshadowed by the fact that the ancient boat found in the Sea of Galilee is on display on the museum’s first floor.
The article also surveys the Hoqoq beach, beautiful and calm with palm trees growing close to the water; the Filgerhaus hotel at Tabgha, whose coffeehouse has a spectacular view over the lake; the Kinneret Path, currently under construction, whose ultimate purpose is to enable pedestrians to circle the entire lake unimpeded; the Franciscan church at Capernaum, with its mosaics; the Greek Orthodox Twelve Apostles Church with its frescoes; and the church on the Mount of Beatitudes with its beautiful overlook.
Film/Theater
Haaretz, June 20, 2014
This article deals with the history of Rudolf Hochhuth’s controversial 1963 play The Deputy, which takes place during World War II and deals with the Vatican’s silence during that time. The play was produced in Israel for the first time in June 1964, under great protest from the Foreign Ministry due to concerns that it would adversely affect Israel’s fledgling relations with the Vatican. However, the play in fact helped strengthen relations between Israel and the Christian world, since it helped “raise general awareness of the church’s part in the Holocaust” and “symbolized a new situation from which there was no returning.”
Miscellaneous
Passport, May 30, 2014
The Israel Hotel Association’s statistics for the first third of 2014 show a 10% increase in tourists’ hotel stays and a 40% increase in domestic hotel stays. The 1.08 million tourists’ stays are of particular interest, as this is the highest figure registered since the year 2000. Eli Gonen, the association’s president, said, “The first third of the year shows the immense and unrealized potential of tourism.”
Passport, May 30, 2014
This article analyzes the connection between tourism and the security situation in Israel, and finds that security has a direct effect on the number of tourists who arrive from abroad, particularly on those who come for pilgrimage or vacation. Those who have a connection to the country – such as being Jewish or repeat visitors – are less affected, as are visitors for business purposes. The article recommends that the state, and particularly the Tourism Ministry, prepare a “safety net” to provide for the industry in case of emergency, particularly as those employed in it are often non-academics living in outlying areas.
The Jerusalem Post, June 18, 2014
Limmud FSU is a non-governmental organization that “plans conferences to promote Jewish identity among ‘non-affiliated’ Russian speaking Jewish communities.” The organization’s leadership recently visited Israel in the hope of enlisting government support and funding and joining the World Jewry Joint Initiative, and invited President Shimon Peres to attend the next conference in Belarus as well. Ten annual conferences have been established over the past eight years, which are mostly funded by the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews.