During the week covered by this review, we received 7 articles on the following subjects:
Anti-missionary Attitudes
Anti-missionary Activities
Anti-missionary Attitudes
Kahala Kadisha, November 26, 2021
This article dealt in detail with the “horrific and disturbing phenomenon” of missionaries who pretend to be Orthodox Jews, and have “purposes that will give you goosebumps”, according to the article. It described a few cases of families or individuals who allegedly assimilated into the Orthodox community in order to convert Jews to Christianity under false pretenses. One of the stories is of a Muslim man who married a Jewish woman in New York, but after their marriage she discovered that he was a Muslim. It is unclear from the article how that Muslim man’s actions were of a Christian missionary nature, but Yad L’Achim organization assures the readers that they are acting tirelessly to “expose the face of evil” and to eradicate it.
Hidabrut, December 3, 2021
This article mentioned the danger of the Christmas tree, and how it has become popular to celebrate Christmas in Israel under names like Novy God (the name for the Russian New Year). According to the article, anyone with a Jewish heart must not come near those seemingly innocent celebrations, because by doing so “they trample on Jewish dignity, history and moral values”. The article claimed that missionaries, which the article referred to as “soul hunters” are spending millions of dollars as they attempt to “brainwash Jews” into believing in Christianity, and they are doing so by using the Christmas tree to propagate their beliefs.
Various articles
International aerial photographer Israel Bardugo is currently facing a lawsuit after demanding compensation and the removal of his photograph from the publications of an organization that promotes Christianity. The affair began when Bardugo discovered that a photograph he had taken showing Jerusalem from the air appeared on the website of the Bible Society in Israel, an organization whose goal was to “make the holy books, the Torah, Prophets and Writings, and the New Testament accessible to every person”, as the company’s CEO describes it. Bardugo approached the organization demanding compensation for the use of his photograph. After not receiving a response, he filed a lawsuit in the amount of NIS 80,000 as compensation for infringement of his copyright, which he claims harms his livelihood. In recent days and in response to the lawsuit, Bardugo has received a counterclaim whose purpose is to make the legal hearing bilateral. This lawsuit alleges that Bardugo does not approve of the use of his photographs for a number of purposes including violence, pornography and missionary activity. In so doing, it is argued, he is discriminating against the Bible Society. The countersuit is for NIS 50,000.
Anti-missionary Activities
Haderech, December 9, 2021
The Knesset Finance Committee, led by Orthodox MK Yinon Azulai, ruled to reject tax-deductible donation status to a Messianic organization, despite a previous ruling by the Supreme Court against such actions. According to Azulai, “The Mission is the destruction and ruin of Isarel. This is what they did to us in the Holocaust, and this is what they want to do to us today. We must not give these people a foothold anywhere near us, certainly not give them government support.”