During the week covered by this review, we received 8 articles on the following subjects:
Archaeology
Anti-Missionary Activity
Jewish / Christian (and Catholic) Relations
Christians and the Holocaust
Israeli / Jewish Attitudes Concerning Christians / Christianity
Archaeology
Israel Hayom, September 19, 2021
Archaeologists and researchers were excited about several artifacts recently excavated in a dig at a site in the settlement of Itamar. The most important, unearthed last week, is a silver coin that dates to Hasmonean times. The coin was minted in the city of Tyre in the eighth century BCE. The excavation has also revealed a Second Temple-era stone structure; a sealed cistern that had never been opened containing tools and vessels from approximately 2,000 years ago; an olive press; a mikveh; and a bronze Roman coin minted in Nablus in the third century CE. According to researchers, the findings indicate the former presence of a rural community that reached its peak between the end of the Second Temple and Roman periods. Dr. Dvir Raviv directed the excavation.
Haderech, September 17, 2021 & September 21, 2021
This was a summary of the important archaeological discoveries of the passing Jewish year.
The first one was the ancient quarry in Jerusalem’s tech park, Har Hotzvim, believed to be from the Second Temple period, where large stones were found in various stages of preparation. “The large-scale building projects in ancient Jerusalem, such as the Temple Mount, required a vast amount of building materials and the ability to organize and coordinate the quarrying and transportation of thousands of building blocks to the ancient city,” said Moran Hagbi, who directed the excavation, “We can copy ancient technologies and experiment with them in order to recreate the processes by which the building stones were quarried.”
The second discovery was an opulent 2,000-year-old ‘city hall’ unearthed near the Western Wall in Jerusalem. “This is, without doubt, one of the most magnificent public buildings from the Second Temple period that has ever been uncovered outside the Temple Mount walls in Jerusalem,” said excavation director Dr. Shlomit Weksler-Bdolach. According to her, the hall was likely used by city officials who wanted to impress their guests. Visitors to the site can now envisage the opulence of the place.
The third discovery was an ancient ‘two-gerah’ stone dug up in the City of David, in Jerusalem, found to weigh over three times the amount inscribed on its surface; archaeologists assessed that it was used to cheat in trading.
The fourth discovery was evidence from 2,000 year ago of the battle of Jerusalem on the eve of the destruction of the Second Temple, at the City of David in Jerusalem. Arrowheads and stone ballista balls were discovered on the main street that ascended from the city’s gates and the Pool of Siloam to the Temple. A section of the road, 100 meters long and 7.5 meters wide, has also been exposed in the excavations. According to Dr. Yuval Baruch, the Jerusalem region archaeologist for the Israel Antiquities Authority, “We intend to uncover the entire length and width of the street within five years… When the excavations are completed, the remains of the street will be conserved and developed and made ready to receive the tens of thousands of visitors who will walk along it”.
The fifth discovery was a large 2,000-year-old Second Temple period chalkstone quarry and workshop that was discovered at Reina in lower Galilee by a team of archaeologists headed by Dr. Yonatan Adler. Because it was immune to ritual impurity, the use of stoneware was rife among Jews during the Roman era.
The last discovery listed in the article was an administrative center from the First Temple period, found in Nahal Tut, and the remains of a village from the Second Temple period. In addition, a Hebrew seal on a precious stone was recovered, adorned with a decoration of four pomegranates and an inscription, most likely that of an official in the royal administration.
Anti-Missionary Activity
HaDerech, September 17, 2021, Yerushala’im Hashavua, September 19, 2021
As reported in the last two reviews, Or L’Achim claimed that a few hours before the beginning of Rosh Hashanah, missionaries distributed booklets and flyers to apartments in Uman, and that the organization collected all the material.
Jewish / Christian (including Catholic) Relations
Jerusalem Post, September 22, 2021
Former US vice president Mike Pence was the first person honored by the Israel Allies Foundation (IAF) this year, in their annual list of Top Christian Allies. The list was released in honor of Sukkot. “Recognizing the heroic work of our Christian supporters is an important display of our gratitude toward them,” said IAF President Josh Reinstein. “It is only due to Christian political support for Israel, which we refer to as faith-based diplomacy, that Israel enjoys such steady support from its allies around the world. It is Christians, not countries that we can count on to always stand with Israel.”
Rounding out the rest of the top five on the IAF list were: Pastor John Hagee, founder of Christians United for Israel; Pastor Larry Huch, founding pastor of New Beginnings Church in Dallas; Stephen Harper, the former prime minister of Canada; and Christian philanthropist Dick Saulsbury.
Pence was selected, the IAF said in a release, because of his role in the move of the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and for his defense of the right of Israel to Jerusalem, the Golan Heights, Judea and Samaria. Pence had been a member of the Israel Allies Caucus during his tenure as a US congressman.
Christians and the Holocaust
Yediot Ahronoth, 24 September, 2021
Not long ago, a Holocaust survivor from France heard about an ancient Torah scroll that was hidden in a church during WWII, to protect it from the Nazis. She made arrangements to retrieve the scroll, which was written c. 1750, and recently immigrated to Israel with the precious scroll.
Israeli / Jewish Attitudes Concerning Christians / Christianity
Jerusalem Post, September 24, 2021
This article was about HaOgen, a café in the center of Tel Aviv run by Dugit – a Messianic Jewish organization. The café is an “outreach coffee shop… staffed with evangelists ready to share the good news with every guest that comes in,” according to Dugit’s website. There is a bookshelf at the back of the café, stocked with Hebrew copies of the New Testament and stacks of pamphlets, and the café’s logo is an anchor, a historical symbol of Christianity.
According to the article, Messianic Judaism appears to be growing in Israel and, as with many mainstream Christian denominations, missionary work is part of Messianic practice. “We are not trying to missionize anyone, bribe anyone, or do anything to people,” said Avi Mizrachi, Dugit’s executive director. “We are Jews who love our country, serve our country in the army, and pay taxes. And we celebrate the Jewish holidays and feasts, and we believe in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. And yes, we believe that Yeshua is the messiah. Now, if [customers] ask us what we believe, we tell them, but we don’t go and, as we call this, missionize people, or convert people.”
Two years after it opened, HaOgen caught the attention of Beyneynu, an Israeli organization that monitors missionary activity in the country. The organization wrote on Facebook last month that it had received tips regarding HaOgen Café’s Messianic mission. The post stated that Beyneynu had no objection to people of different faiths operating businesses in Tel Aviv but wanted to alert potential customers to the café s ties. “People should know, however, that this eatery is not just another bohemian café. Rather, it is part of a well-funded, organized effort by Evangelical donors to convert young, vulnerable Jews to Christianity,” the Facebook post said. “We’re simply asking for transparency and respect.”