During the week covered by this review, we received 8 articles on the following subjects:
Christian Sites
Interfaith Relations
History
History / Anti-Missionary Attitudes
Anti-Missionary Activity
Christian Sites
Haaretz, August 13, 2021
This piece was about the Domus Galilaeae, a Catholic Neocatechumenal Way Seminary, built on the Mount of Beatitudes and overlooking the Kinneret. The author spent time discussing the impressive architecture of the chapel, library, and auditorium, all inaugurated by Pope John Paul II in 2000. A team of Spanish architects designed the Domus Galilaeae, combining ancient and modern themes.
Interfaith Relations
The Jerusalem Post, August 20, 2021
This was a piece written in honor of Rabbi David Rosen’s 70th birthday. Rosen is, among other things, former chief rabbi of Ireland, the director of the International Interreligious Affairs of the American Jewish Committee, and the director of the Heilbrunn Institute for Interreligious Understanding. Rosen has been heavily involved in building bridges between faiths, and in 2005 was made a Knight Commander in the Order of St. Gregory by the then pope. He was also awarded the Hubert Walter Award for Reconciliation by the archbishop of Canterbury.
History
HaModia, August 13, 2021
This article discussed the meaning of the word “Inquisition”, literally defined as “investigation”. The Inquisition was an ecclesial court that investigated Christian heretics and Jewish converts, established by the Catholic Church in 1231, operating for 350 years. Investigators used torture, and suspects found guilty were either burned or sentenced to hard labor. Jews who converted to Catholicism were spied on to make sure they were not straying from their new faith. Many Jewish converts fled to Amsterdam, London, and Hamburg from Spain and Portugal, where the Inquisition was particularly active. In the years the Inquisition was in operation, it is estimated that 30,000 people were executed, most of whom were Jewish.
History / Anti-Missionary Attitudes
HaPeles, August 20, 2021
This article provided an account of the connection between officials in the British mandate and the evangelization of Jews in the Holy Land. Diplomat William Turner Young, for example, was an Evangelical who saw it as a goal of his faith to see Jews convert to Christianity. He established the “Society for Jews” for the purposes of conversion. British Prime Minister Robert Peel funded a new church in Jerusalem, which still exists today opposite the Citadel of David. The article claims it is the only church compound in the world that does not have any Christian symbols in it, and all the writings are in Hebrew, because its purpose was to draw in Jews. The article discussed a few other people and events, including a British missionary hospital that offered free medical care to Jews with the purpose of then proselytizing them.
Anti-Missionary Activity
Various Articles
Or L’Achim claims to have brought about the closure of a missionary center in Tsfat, which they claim had been targeting Jewish immigrants from the former USSR. The center was operating out of a building owned by the municipality, under the pretense of providing necessities for people in need. Or L’Achim sent letters to various leaders, leading to the closure of the center.