During the week covered by this review, we received 13 articles on the following subjects:
Christian Zionism
Jewish Attitudes Concerning Christians
Anti-Semitism
The Pope and the Vatican
Christians in Israel
Christian Tourism
Miscellaneous
Archaeology
Christian Zionism
Israel Hayom, September 5, 2014
This article details a letter recently sent to Dr. Jürgen Bühler by Prime Minister Netanyahu, thanking him for the International Christian Embassy’s support of Israel during Operation Protective Edge. “The International Christian Embassy’s support was a source of strength and encouragement for the country’s citizens and the soldiers defending them. I thank you for your friendship and generosity in the name of the State of Israel and her citizens,” the letter read. CEO Bühler said, “Our support expresses our unconditional commitment towards the people of Israel and the State of Israel … there are millions of Christians around the world who support you both at times of crisis and in everyday life.”
Among ICEJ’s activities during Operation Protective Edge were sending hundreds of people on vacations around the country and abroad to “rest from tension,” supplying nine portable bomb shelters to the communities around Gaza, and organizing pro-Israel demonstrations in the Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Ireland, and South Africa.
Jewish Attitudes Concerning Christians
Kol Israel, August 29, 2014
This article is a reiteration of the story from the September 3, 2014, Media Review concerning the Jehovah’s Witnesses conference that recently took place in Holon, and in particular, the shock of the anti-missionary activist organization Yad L’Achim that “15 Jews were baptized into Christianity.”
Anti-Semitism
Makor Rishon, September 5, 2014
In this article, Prof. Shmuel Trigano of the University of Paris analyzes the connection between the Middle Ages and modern anti-Semitism. He is of the opinion that the Palestinian narrative succeeds in the Western media since it brings echoes from the medieval blood libel: the bleeding child shaheed presented as a martyr to Israeli cruelty is paralleled to the medieval legend of the child sacrifice whose blood was used to prepare matzah at Passover. Just as pogroms were justified using the blood libel during the Middle Ages, condemning Israel as a perpetrator of war crimes is justified by modern anti-Semitism. By acquiescing to this, Western media has become “a rumor-monger of this condemnation” and is therefore “exceptionally responsible for incitement to hatred.”
The Pope and the Vatican
The Jerusalem Post, September 5, 2014
Former president Shimon Peres met with Pope Francis on Thursday, September 4. In this meeting Peres proposed a “United Nations for Religions,” the purpose of which would be to “curb religious violence.” Pope Francis was interested in the idea but “made no commitment,” although Vatican spokesman Fr. Federico Lombardi has said that Thursday’s meeting lasted longer than usual for the pope. This is the third meeting the two leaders have had during the past four months.
Christians in Israel
Yediot Yerushalayim, September 5, 2014
A religious conflict is currently in progress at the prestigious school run by the Rosary Sisters in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Beit Hanina. The parents of some Muslim students are demanding that school protocol be changed in order to permit students to wear the hijab (headscarf) should they wish it. Since men are not permitted on the grounds during school hours, the hijab has so far not been necessary. The school administration remains adamant that the protocol remain in force during the school year, but an agreement appears to be in process that would allow girls to wear the hijab during end-of-year celebrations (the only time when men are present).
Christian Tourism
Koteret, August 24, 2014
A new tourism complex in Tel Aviv, Sharona, is at one of the sites on which German Templars founded an urban agricultural community in order “to be an example to the local population of love of truth, justice, order and diligence.” The community was expelled from Palestine twice; once during World War I, and once by the British after having founded a branch of the Nazi Party in Israel. During the ensuing years, the Templar land in Tel Aviv served as a military camp for the British, the Haganah underground organization, and the Israeli Defense Forces. The Tel Aviv municipality intended to raze the Templar buildings in favor of high rise apartments “Manhattan-style,” but was forestalled in this by a public outcry. Today, the complex is a composite of history and modernity, with most of the Templar buildings – which had served as IDF headquarters and corps schools – now housing trendy clothing boutiques and restaurants. One noted example is a structure which served, among other things, as a columbarium for carrier pigeons bringing messages from Mossad agents all over the world; it is now intended to be an 880-room hotel.
The Jerusalem Post, September 5, 2014
Ashkelon National Park preserves the heritage of some 10,000 years of human habitation. Ancient Ashkelon has been conquered ten times due to the excellence of the site for both sea and overland trade. Visitors to the site begin by seeing a Canaanite city, originally some 60 hectares in size, facing the sea. They then continue to a huge forum in which many marble artifacts were found, some of them imported from Italy and Asia Minor; a Byzantine-era Greek Orthodox church, noted for its Aswan granite pillars; the tomb of Mameluke sheikh Awad and its mosaic floor; two burial enclosures with some of the most impressive frescoes in the country; and the Sarcophagus Courtyard, the sarcophagus in which depicts the battle of Troy.
Additional sites of interest mentioned in the article are the Stalactite Cave National Park near Beit Shemesh; the Beit Guvrin–Maresha National Park, with its extensive system of underground caves and passages, recently declared a World Heritage Site; and the Coral Beach Nature Reserve on the Red Sea, site of the northernmost coral reef in the world.
Miscellaneous
Yediot HaEmek-Afula, August 29, 2014
Snir Marcus from Kibbutz Mizra is a 27-year-old music composer and arranger. He was recently found by Enrico – a Christian from Wissenfels, Germany, who loves Israel and founded a Holocaust museum in his town, and who had been searching for descendants of Holocaust survivors from Wissenfels. Enrico is a music producer in the international music festival in Wissenfels, and has invited Marcus to perform there, in the very town his grandfather had to leave. “It won’t just be coming and performing,” says Marcus, “there is an emotional charge here.”
Globes, September 1, 2014
Portions of the Talmud manuscript called Shas Venezia are now for sale in the Kedem sales house in Jerusalem. The initial price is an estimated $300,000. The Shas Venezia is of particular interest as it is dated between 1520 and 1522. It was printed by Daniel Bomberg of Antwerp, a Catholic and a pioneer of printing in Venice, whose work was known for its beauty as well as the good quality of its paper, ink, and typeface. Bomberg – who needed a special license from Pope Leo X to print the Talmud – was assisted in its design by Jews and converts living in Venice, and his work inspired the modern structure of the Talmud as it is used even “in the most devout Jewish communities.”
Globes, September 4, 2014
The Syrian village of Ma’alulah is known for having been the largest Aramaic speaking community in the world. However, in September 2013 the village was infiltrated by Al-Qaeda; today, a year later, “none of the inhabitants dare to speak Aramaic aloud.” This is an example of the systematic eradication of the Christian community and its culture in Syria and Iraq that is being continued particularly by the Islamic State. Prof. Steven Fassberg of Hebrew University says that until three months ago hundreds of thousands of people spoke Aramaic all over the world, but the danger to the language has significantly increased. Some 150,000 Kurdish Jews immigrated to Israel in the 1950s, but their dialect was slightly different from that of their Christian neighbors.
Shadi Khalul, a Maronite Christian from Jish in the Galilee, has founded what he calls “our answer to the jihadists.” He and his brother have founded a non-profit organization of the Aramaic Christians in Israel, which organizes activities such as a summer camp for children. Khalul is inspired by the resurrection of Hebrew, and is confident that the community’s faith will keep the language alive.
Archaeology
The Jerusalem Post, September 1, 5; HaModi’a, September 1, 2014
An ancient water reservoir was recently discovered in the Beit She’arim National Park east of the Carmel Mountains. The reservoir, which was capable of holding some 1,300 cubic meters of water, is unique due to the fact that its railed staircase allows water carriers to move in both directions. The reservoir consists of three chambers in three different directions to allow for maximum volume in as little space as possible, with a supporting wall to prevent collapse. Additionally, the reservoir served as the depository for an 18-meter-long aqueduct that channeled water from the nearby hills and river; in more recent times it also served as a “slik” – a secret store of weapons for the Haganah underground organization during the British Mandate period.
The prosperous Second-Temple era village of Beit She’arim is estimated to have occupied some 100 dunams, and to have had a population of 3,000. It is of further interest since it is the burial place of Rabbi Judah the Prince, one of the chief editors and redactors of the Mishnah.
The dig was conducted jointly by the Israel Nature and Parks Authority and the Israel Antiquities Authority. It was assisted by the heritage department of the prime minister’s office.