During the week covered by this review, we received 4 articles on the following subjects:
Political Issues
Israeli/Jewish Attitudes Concerning Christians/Christianity
Culture/History
Christian Tourism
Political Issues
Achshav, July 31, 2022
This lengthy article aimed to examine the state of anti-Semitism in Germany, eighty years after the collapse of the Nazi regime. The author’s starting point was embracing quotes from the past regarding Nazism being “an authentic expression of the German national character.” He then concluded that anti-Semitism still existed in Germany in a “Christian or secular guise,” and that “German aid organizations funded by the German government seek to change the character of Israeli society to a civic nation.” As proof, the article mentioned Israeli human rights organizations that are funded by German Christian charities, or by government-funded organizations, mainly the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation – a German non-profit political foundation, named after a German-Jewish socialist leader, and linked to the Left Party (Die Linke) – which also supports the Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC), a Palestinian non-profit organization based in Ramallah , founded for the purpose of aiding Palestinian farmers, but declared a ”terror organization” by the Israeli Ministry of Defense after some of its members were suspects in the murder of an Israeli girl. The article also expressed indignation at the fact that the foundation had helped fund a campaign in which several Israelis, including Ethiopian Jews, spoke about the discrimination they are experiencing in Israel, and finally, raised the question, “Will the Jews wake up in time this time?”
Israeli/Jewish Attitudes Concerning Christians/Christianity
Haaretz, August 12, 2022
This was a letter to the editor, concerning the article mentioned in our previous review that began with the exclamation, “Jews who kidnap Christian children, torture them and drink their blood? A little hard to believe, but this is still the narrative in Western European festivals in the 21st century.” This letter was written by a rabbi who described how baffled he was upon encountering the article, but relieved to discover it was only true in certain places in Spain and disappointed that he couldn’t find “anything to soften the horror, not even an official response from the Catholic Church.” Having said that, the letter continued to argue that although anti-Semitism exists within the Catholic Church, it certainly does not encourage anti-Semitism, and that the time has come for the Jewish people to “heal from the collective Jewish post-trauma that we experience towards the Catholic Church, and feed on sometimes, in order to feel some false sense of unity around a common arch-enemy.” Articles like these, concluded the letter, reinforce this post-trauma and should have never been written.
Culture/History
Haaretz, August 12, 2022
This article discussed the research of Dr. Judith Kalik, who specializes in the history of Ukrainian and East European Jewry. Her research points to a disturbing chapter in Jewish history that has to do with vodka – an alcoholic drink made of grains or potatoes. According to her research, in the 16th century, the area known today as the Ukraine was “the granary of Europe,” due to its fertile ground and weather conditions. The rich landowners discovered that converting the grain into alcohol helped them preserve the surplus, and make a fortune, and so the drink became popular. At the time, the Jews, who had the means and the education, were favored by the noblemen for the task of running the taverns where vodka was produced, leading to major conflicts with local priests, who used to run the taverns as their only source of income until that time. According to the research, much of the violence between Jews and local churches at the time was initiated by the Jews, who lived comfortably and had the landowner’s Cossacks at their disposal, acting as their private police force. There are many documented cases in which a Jewish proprietor, who discovered that a priest was making vodka illegally and selling it to the peasants, broke into the church, beat the priest, smashed the icons and sealed the church so it could not be used again.
Christian Tourism
Haaretz, August 12, 2022
This was a random interview with a young American tourist in the departure lounge at Ben Gurion Airport. The young man had come with his church group to retrace the route of the Israelites from Egypt to the Promised Land, and visit some biblical holy sites. The young man spoke of his experiences visiting the places where Jesus walked, and some of the difficulties he experienced en route which had reinforced his faith in God. He explained the difference between “being born” a Christian and becoming a believer, described the challenges in maintaining faith in a secular world, and expressed hope that he would live his life according to God’s will.