During the week covered by this review, we received 8 articles on the following subjects:
Political Issues
Anti-Missionary Activity / Messianic Jews (Individuals)
Anti-Missionary Activity
Christian Organizations / Christians and the Holocaust
Political Issues
Haaretz, April 26, 2021
Forty-five members of the Black Hebrew Israelites have been told by the Ministry of Interior that they would need to leave Israel within 60 days. This happened after members submitted a request to receive official status in the country. There are an estimated 2,000 members of the group in Israel, and they are described as Christians who believe they are part of the people of Israel. The movement began in the 1960s in Chicago, and core members moved to Israel in the 1990s. Some members were born and raised in Israel and have never lived elsewhere, and some have served in the military.
Anti-Missionary Activity / Messianic Jews (Individuals)
Various Articles
A number of articles reported that a man named Michael Elkohen is a missionary posing as an ultra-Orthodox rabbi and scribe. Elkohen, or Elk (his original name), lives in the French Hill neighbourhood in Jerusalem. In 2008 he published a book entitled, The Triumph of Justice, which was published by an Evangelical ministry organization. Elkohen also used to write a blog under the name of Lev David, in which he discussed being a covert missionary. In 2014, Elkohen was approached by Yad L’Achim, and confessed that he had been a missionary associated with the Messianic Jewish community in the past, but claimed that he had decided to commit himself entirely to Judaism. However, Shannon Nuszen, a former missionary who runs an anti-missionary organization called Beyneynu, said that Elkohen still has contacts with five Messianic Jews who have also infiltrated Orthodox Jewish communities in Israel. Yad L’Achim said that Elkohen has continued to conduct Messianic Jewish weddings and to run a Messianic Jewish yeshiva. Elkohen’s rabbi, Gideon Holland, said in response that he was sure Elkohen was Jewish and not a missionary, even though an investigation into his past revealed his parents were Christians. A meeting was announced that aimed to discuss whether Elkohen’s work as a scribe (copying Torah books or writing mezuzot) could still be regarded as kosher.
Anti-Missionary Activity
Kol Ha’ir Bnei Brak, April 28, 2021; HaShavua BeYerushalayim, April 28, 2021
Two articles reported again of widespread missionary activity that took place over the Passover holiday and Yom Ha’atzmaut in popular tourist spots. Yad L’Achim mobilized to stop the activity, which had been organized by Australian missionary Andrew Lewis.
Christian Organizations / Christians and the Holocaust
The Jerusalem Post, April 30, 2021
The Friends of Zion Museum (FZM), headed by Mike Evans, and Yad Ezer L’Haver, headed by Shimon Sabag, organized a joint initiative, through which Holocaust survivors would be invited to stay free of charge at the FZM guesthouse in Jerusalem. Sabag has partnered with Evangelicals in the past; namely, Yad Ezer L’Haver has received funding from the International Christian Embassy of Jerusalem.