During the week covered by this review, we received 2 articles on the following subjects:
Anti-Missionary Activity
Christian Holidays
Anti-Missionary Activity
Ha’Eda, March 29, 2019
This article relayed an anti-missionary gathering that took place on Purim eve. In response to Yad L’Achim’s warnings that missionary activity is increasing in Ashdod, a number of Yeshiva students gathered outside a “missionary center” the night that a Purim party was meant to take place. The Yeshiva students read the story of Esther, danced, and provided food. The goal was to warn visitors not to fall into the missionary trap. Yad L’Achim claims the event was a success. They said: “Innocent Jews, some of whom have already converted, all of a sudden understood their mistake and did not go inside. Instead they stayed and read the story of Esther, some for the first time in their lives…”
Christian Holidays
Teva Hadvarim, April 9, 2019
This article consisted mostly of Easter-related photography from the Old City. It also provided a short summary for curious Israelis of why Christians celebrate Easter. Every year, it reported, tens of thousands of Christian pilgrims come to the Old City of Jerusalem to celebrate Easter. Pilgrims hold crosses as they retrace the final path of Jesus, arriving in the end at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the place of Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection. Jerusalem, the article explained, is the city where the young Jesus was found teaching in the Temple. He later was baptized by John the Baptist, an event that launched his ministry. During that time, Jesus travelled from village to village, preaching the love of God, humility, and peace. Believers gathered around him, namely, the disciples, who were the first “Christian-Jews”. During his wanderings, Jesus performed miracles and healed people. Around Passover, Jesus gathered with the disciples for a Passover meal, which is now called “the Last Supper”. That night, Roman soldiers arrested Jesus, who was tried, and sentenced to death by crucifixion. The wounded Jesus was forced to carry his cross to the place of crucifixion, and this path of agony is now called the “Via Dolorosa”. It begins in the Muslim Quarter, and ends in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which is located atop of Golgotha.