During the week covered by this review, we received 5 articles on the following subjects:
Arab Believing Communities
Messianic Judaism (Individuals)
Messianic Judaism
Israel
Archaeology
Arab Believing Communities
Makor Rishon, June 29, 2018
A report handed in to Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman stated that there has been a drop in the number of representatives from minority communities elected for officer training in the IDF. The IDF, it was argued, is missing out on a potential pool of qualified candidates by investing less into communities such as Aramaic Christians, who are not as well known or understood. For many years, Amit Barak from “Brit Achim” has been active in encouraging young Christians to join the IDF. He claimed that there are obstacles in assimilating minority groups within the military, and that not enough is being done to offer such communities the support they need before recruitment, during military service, and after release from the IDF. Barak said: “The Israeli government does not understand the magnitude of potential within the Christian community. It does not invest in education in these communities prior to recruitment, and does not accompany and support released soldiers.” He concluded, “In order to change things, we need to connect with young Christians who see themselves as a part of this country.”
Messianic Judaism (Individuals)
Tzafon, June 29, 2018
This was an expose on a number of soldiers who recently successfully completed the prestigious IDF fighter pilot course. One of the solider is a 21-year-old Christian who identifies himself as a Messianic Jew. His non-Jewish parents (who as such are not allowed to vote) came to Israel from Germany in 1965, and have been volunteering for a long time with the Zdaka Center, a German organization that aids Holocaust survivors. The unnamed soldier said: “I was not born Jewish. I chose to continue as a Messianic Jew like my parents did. [Messianic Jews] are people who believe that the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament are not two books but one book… Within Christian communities it is believed that the Jewish people should return to this land because the Jewish people are God’s people. My parents devoted their lives to Israel. They could have returned to Germany, but they chose to stay and raise their children here. My parents never thought their son would become a fighter pilot.”
Messianic Judaism
Index HaEmek veHaGalil – Afula, June 29, 2018
In response to the report that Messianic Jewish leaders petitioned the government to be recognized as a legitimate group who want their rights respected, one commentator responded: “It seems to me their request is fair. If they stop trying to convert Jews to their religion and instead live peacefully with their beliefs, then we will recognize their legitimate rights.”
Israel
Haaretz, June 29, 2018
During his visit to the Holy Land, Prince William paid his respects to his great-grandmother, Princess Alice, before praying together with Father Archimandrite Roman, the head of the Russian Orthodox Mission in Jerusalem. Father Roman then gave gifts to Prince William: A wooden cross from the 19th century for the Prince himself, a glass royal Easter egg for his wife, Catherine, and wooden Easter eggs and crosses for his three children. William then departed in order to visit the Western Wall, the Temple Mount, and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Earlier in the trip, William visited Yad Vashem, which in 1993 recognized his great-grandmother, Princess Alice, as a Righteous Among the Nations. It is reported that Princess Alice “had protected a Greek-Jewish family when Athens was occupied by the Nazis in 1943.”
Archaeology
Haaretz, July 2, 2018
A rare coin minted in 69 A.D. was found in the sewage system that once ran beneath ancient Jerusalem. The coin bears the words, “For the Redemption of Zion” in ancient Hebrew lettering. On the other side of the coin an inscription reads, “Year Four,” in reference, perhaps, to the fourth and final year of the Jewish rebellion against the Romans. One hypothesis offered was that the coin fell out of the pocket of a Jewish rebel hiding in the sewer system. The coin was found exactly in the place Jews were known to have hidden. The reference to “redemption” on the coin may signify that the rebels understood that the end was nigh. As they realized they could not throw off the yoke of the oppressor, they perhaps began to hope for a future redemption instead of an immediate liberation.