During the week covered by this review, we received 5 articles on the following subjects:
Israeli/Jewish attitudes concerning Christians/Christianity
Interfaith Relations/Dialogue
Christian/Jewish Holidays
Israeli/Jewish attitudes concerning Christians/Christianity
HaShavua BeElad, January 27, 2022; HaShavua BeVet-Shemesh, January 27, 2022
As reported in our previous reviews, Yad L’Achim hosted a conference with Yaakov Wechsler, a Jew who was born in Poland during World War II. When Wechsler was a few months old, his mother handed him over to a Christian family before she was sent to the gas chambers and to her death. According to the articles, Wechsler grew up to become a priest, but after discovering he was Jewish at the age of 35, he decided “to abandon his work as a priest and come to the Holy Land”. Wechsler spoke in front of nearly 100 Yad L’Achim activists, and reportedly encouraged them to continue their efforts on behalf of Jews like him who ended up in Christianity, “so they don’t have to make this way home for their soul alone.”
Interfaith Relations/Dialogue
Jerusalem Post, January 30, 2022
This article was an opinion piece by Leah Pisar, the chairwoman of Project Aladdin (an international NGO that works to counter anti-Semitism, hate and extremism) and a member of the US Holocaust Memorial Council. She spoke of her father, Dr. Samuel Pisar, a Holocaust survivor, who made it his life’s mission to warn future generations against the dark forces that could destroy our world as they once destroyed his. Despite everything he endured, she reflected, he was a man of great optimism, who maintained a deep faith in humanity. After he passed away in 2015, Leah felt a calling to continue in her father’s footsteps and combat the rise of intolerance in the world. She joined the judging committee of the Zayed Award for Human Fraternity, which recognizes individuals and organizations who strive to build harmonious societies. Last October, Leah visited Rome with the other members of the committee, and met with the Award’s two honorary recipients: Pope Francis and the Grand Imam. “His Holiness Pope Francis received us with kindness and humility,” she reported, “reiterating his belief that fraternity is the new frontier of humanity.” Leah was also the first Jewish woman to formally meet the Grand Imam. “But he immediately put me at ease with a kind, gentle welcome and an outstretched hand,” she stated. “On all continents, extremists of different stripes (religious fanatics, supremacists and fabulists of all persuasions) are very effective at making noise,” she concluded. “Even though they are often minority voices, they are clever about grabbing the spotlight and spewing their hateful venom. It is high time the moderates from different cultures and religions pool their energies and start making their own, more constructive noise. To me, this would be the greatest realization of human fraternity.”
Haaretz, February 4, 2022
The ANU Museum of the Jewish People is the world’s only museum dedicated to celebrating and exploring the experiences, accomplishments, and spirit of the Jewish people from biblical times to the present, and to strengthening Jewish identity and perpetuating Jewish heritage worldwide. This article described the atmosphere in the museum as being “a good old scent of pride: how good it is to be a Jew,” and raised the question, how do the Christian, Muslim and Druze guides feel working there. The reporter interviewed several guides, one of whom was Rubi Azrak from Beit Hanina in East Jerusalem. “Judaism for me is something I like to delve into; it’s an experience,” she asserted, “As a Christian, you pray with the bible every day. The more you understand the Jewish people, the more you understand yourself.” The reporter asked for her opinion on the fact that the museum had no reference to Yeshua, who was also a famous Jew. “I told them about it,” she replied, “I said: ‘You mentioned the false Messiah, Shabtai Zvi… he became a Muslim. At least Yeshua was born, lived, died and buried a Jew… He is the most influential Jew in the world. Millions follow him. He wasn’t mentioned… even in a negative way…” Their response was that there had been debates on the subject, but that it was a red line for many Jews. “I also asked them how you define a Jew,” she concluded, “so they told me: ‘Anyone who thinks of themselves as a Jew.’”
Christian/Jewish Holidays
Club 50, February 1, 2022
This short article was to remind us that this month, many countries around the world, including Israel, will celebrate Valentine’s Day. The origin of Valentine’s Day, explained the article, is in Christian tradition. It is the holiday of love, celebrated by sending tokens of love, such as flowers, candies and poetry to loved ones.