During the week covered by this review, we received 18 articles on the following subjects:
Jewish/Christian Relations
Israeli/Jewish Attitudes Concerning Christians/Christianity
Political Issues
Christian Tourism
Anti-missionary Activities
Archaeology
Jewish/Christian Relations
Haaretz, May 9, 2022
This article told the story of a very special notebook containing graphic stories in Yiddish. The stories were written by young Jews, aged 13-20, as part of a contest organized by the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research in Vilna in 1932. The rules of the competition required a short autobiographic story in Yiddish to be presented anonymously. More than 700 graphic stories were collected, but unfortunately, on the day that the winner was supposed to be announced, the Nazis invaded Poland. During the war, the notebook was kept safe by the “Paper Brigade” – a group of residents of the Vilna Ghetto who hid Jewish cultural items from the Nazis, and when the Soviets liberated Vilna in 1944, the notebook was placed in the Jewish Museum there. When Stalin came to power, the notebook was in danger again, and again it was hidden, this time in a church, where it was kept safe until its discovery in 2017. Six of these stories have recently been compiled by New Yorker cartoonist, Ken Krimstein, in a book, titled “When I Grow Up”.
Yedioth Ahronoth, May 9, 2022
Australian actor, Nathaniel Buzolic, a devoted born-again Christian and avid Israel supporter, has been vacationing in Israel for the past few weeks. Buzolic has officially announced that he is in a relationship with an Israeli woman, whom he met on social media, after he expressed support for Israel, and she wrote him to thank him.
The Jerusalem Report, May 10, 2022
Australian-born Aaron Eime, who serves as the deacon of Christ Church in Jerusalem’s Old City, told his story of how he came to understand the Hebraic roots of Christianity through learning and travelling, and how he connected to them. “When I leave Israel,” he said, “the thing I miss the most is the Sabbath. There is not a day like it anywhere on the planet. Even if you go to America, you don’t get the same sense… We light candles, we say the prayers and… have our best meal, but unlike the Orthodox Jews, we will turn on the TV… It is a day for the family. But then we will also go to church on Sunday and worship.”
Hamodia, May 10, 2022
As reported in our previous review, “Operation Benjamin”, a non-profit organization dedicated to ensuring that Jewish soldiers buried overseas have grave markers that reflect their faith, is replacing the crosses on the graves of hundreds of Jewish soldiers with the Star of David. These were US soldiers who’d fought the Nazis in WWII and died, and had been buried as Christians.
Hamodia, May 11, 2022
The Church of England apologized for anti-Semitic laws passed in the British Empire 800 years ago, leading to the expulsion of Jews from the kingdom for hundreds of years. The apology comes a few years after the Church has acknowledged that Christian anti-Semitism in Europe laid the foundation for the Holocaust.
Israel Hayom, May 13, 2022
The Israeli Population and Immigration Authority is demanding the deportation of Olga Radionova, a Belarusian woman, who immigrated to Israel in 2019. Olga, who is Jewish according to Halachic law and married to a Jewish man, was accused of being “an active Christian” by the Immigration Authority, despite the Rabbinate’s announcement that Olga is undoubtedly Jewish, because on a prior visit to Israel she visited the Via Dolorosa, and because she admitted to being familiar with Christian holidays. If Olga is deported to Belarus, she is likely to face a prison sentence, because of her objection to the war in the Ukraine. The case has been taken to court, where it shall be decided.
Yedioth Haemek, May 13, 2022
The city of Nof HaGalil, in the Northern District of Israel, will host a national racing event in honor of the late Amir Khoury, the Christian Arab police officer who was murdered by a terrorist while defending the residents of Bnei Brak. The mayor of Nof HaGalil, who is organizing the event in cooperation with the grieving family, explained the decision to hold a sporting event: “His whole life, Amir ran towards the goals he’d set for himself. During his police service, he was always the first… fearlessly, while risking his own life to save others. His race of life, unfortunately, was cut short, but his legacy will be continued by the thousands of runners who will attend the event… and commemorate him.”
Mazav Haruach, May 13, 2022
According to this article, David, a Ukrainian-born IDF soldier and a recipient of the Israeli President’s Medal of Excellence for exemplary soldiers, is being encouraged by his mother, who was born a Muslim but converted to Christianity, to be a Jew. David, whose father was Jewish, explained: “My mother loved my father very much… She saw how Judaism was important to him… despite the difficulties … under the communist regime… She decided it was like a will that he left her with, so she encouraged me, and still does from afar, from war-torn Ukraine, to behave as a Jew… according to her concepts”. David, who is not Jewish according to Halachic law, is planning to convert to Judaism, with the blessing of his mother.
Israeli/Jewish Attitudes Concerning Christians/Christianity
The Jerusalem Report, May 10, 2022
The author of this article, a PhD historian, writer and journalist living in Israel, asked the question: “What are the origins of Christianity?” According to him, “Jesus and at least some of his disciples were influenced by, or followers of… ‘the sons of light’… the Essenes – an extremely ascetic Jewish sect… Literary elites, they copied, collected and wrote scrolls… which have been dated from the beginning of the second century BCE until 70 CE… The key figure… was John the Baptist, apparently an Essene.” The article pointed out similarities between Christian and Essene practices, such as baptism, and beliefs, such as the desire for a Messiah.
Haaretz, May 10, 2022
This article was an opinion piece, in response to the one about the Israeli education system, on which we reported in our previous review. The author, who was the advisor for the 2nd Temple period book that was criticized for ignoring “the most prominent Jew of that time – Jesus”, agreed with the criticism, saying, “If it were up to me, the curriculum… would include early Christianity… reading relevant segments from the New Testament… Learning about John the Baptist, Jesus, Paul, and the fundamentals of early Christianity in Israel and abroad”, but explained that “It was not I who decided on the curriculum, nor was it [the author of the book]. Time after time, subjects I wished to add were rejected because they were not a part of the curriculum… There was a strict framework of the Education Ministry, and the author and advisor were subject to this framework”.
Political Issues
Haaretz, May 10, 2022
Jordan’s King Abdullah II will meet with US President Joe Biden in the White House, in light of the tensions over the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. The king, who is already in the USA, has met with Christian church leaders in New York, and warned them regarding “the continuous impediments facing Christians in the Palestinian Territories, especially in Jerusalem”.
Makor Rishon, May 13, 2022; Haderech, May 15, 2022
The two articles dealt with the death of Al Jazeera Journalist, Sheerin Abu Akala, during an IDF operation in the Palestinian refugee camp, Jenin. According to the first article, her death “has turned immediately into a festival of incitement against Israel, while refusing to cooperate in the investigation into the circumstances”. Abu Akala, who was born in Jerusalem to a Christian family, was a famous media icon among the Palestinians and very outspoken against Israel, who is being held responsible for her death by the Palestinian Authority. The second article expressed concern that the Palestinians might be destroying evidence from the scene.
Christian Tourism
The Marker, May 10, 2022; Yedioth Ahronoth, May 10, 2022
According to sources in the tourist industry, only half the number of tourists visited Israel in March-April of this year, compared to the numbers prior to the Covid pandemic, despite an official announcement that was made several weeks ago by church leaders in Israel, who called upon pilgrims to come to the Holy Land. According to the first article, the main reasons for the decline are the implications of the global crisis, the war in the Ukraine and the lack of tourism from Russia, the wave of terrorism, and the high prices in Israel. According to the second article, the Galilee area, which attracts a lot of Christian tourism, was the most affected during the pandemic.
Anti-missionary Activities
Hed Haeer – Merkaz, May 4, 2022; Hed Haeer – Tel-Aviv, May 5, 2022
This article spoke extensively about the dangers of Christian missionaries in Israel who are “hunting the souls” of unsuspecting Jews, and about how the Or L’Achim anti-missionary organization is combatting those missionaries heroically. “It is a real war”, said Rabbi Vulcan of Or L’Achim, “Those ‘hunters’ specialize in penetrating the human psyche, and often, we’re actually waging a ‘battle’ to free the poor Jew, whom they managed to capture with their dangerous materials”. Rabbi Vulcan was also quoted saying that, “during the Holocaust, the Nazi oppressor killed Jews, today there are those who try to kill Jewish souls, but we won’t let them”.
Archaeology
Haaretz, May 11, 2022
Where was Jesus baptized? According to this article “Today, two sites compete for the title of ‘where John baptized Jesus’: One is Yardenit, which lies a hair south of where the Jordan exits the Sea of Galilee. The other is al-Maghtas, 100 kilometers south of Yardenit as the crow flies… also known in ancient times as Bethabara (place of crossing) or Bethany Beyond the Jordan”. However, based on geo-historical and archaeological considerations, Prof. Shimon Gibson, renowned biblical scholar at the University of North Carolina in Charlotte, has a new argument. Gibson believes that at the dawn of what would later become Christianity, there were a string of baptismal sites up and down the Jordan River, so pinpointing the exact location will probably never be possible.