During the week covered by this review, we received 3 articles on the following subjects:
Messianic Judaism
Political Issues
Israeli/Jewish Attitudes Concerning Christians/Christianity
Messianic Judaism
The Jerusalem Report, July 13, 2018
Recently, Messianic Jews in Israel have become more vocal in their demands for recognition and equal rights – especially with regard to the Right of Return. But are they really Jewish? This piece argued that they are not, because regardless of how Messianic Jews self-identify, Jewish law has determined that they are Christians. Judaism has a favorable attitude towards Christianity and Islam, religions that are understood as legitimate and not pagan. So the issue with Messianic Jews is not that they are Christian, but rather that they are apostate Jews. Because of their apostasy, “Jewish law cannot grant them the privileges belonging to Jews.” While Messianic Jews may counter by saying that there is a wide variety of belief within Judaism, and while this is true, there are still “red lines that once crossed indicate that one has left Judaism and joined another religion.” The courts have upheld the decision that the Law of Return does not apply to Jews who have converted to other religions. “In view of that,” concluded the author, “I would like to urge any such people who have joined these so-called Messianic groups and read this article to think again. If you really want to be Jews stop deceiving yourselves and seriously consider returning to the Jewish fold.”
Political Issues
Matzav Ruach, July, 2018
The controversy over the 8,000 Ethiopians waiting to make aliyah to Israel from Adis Ababa was covered by this article. The author argued that there are serious doubts that the current wave of Ethiopian immigrants is actually made up of Jews. Some have argued that the Ethiopians are Christians in disguise, attempting to take advantage of the opportunity to improve their quality of life. Others have argued that the situation is more nefarious – that the group includes missionaries who are attempting to covertly move to Israel in order to convert Ethiopian Jews. The article surveyed a number of voices in this debate over the true identity of the 8,000, and in the end was more sympathetic to the argument that this current wave of immigration ought to be halted: “Israel cannot allow people whose national identity is not Jewish, even if they make loud demands, to mess around with it. Either they make aliyah as kosher Jews, or they need to stop harassing us with falsities. This issue should concern anyone who believes the Jewish identity of Israel is important.”
Israeli/Jewish Attitudes Concerning Christians/Christianity
The Jerusalem Post, July 15, 2018
In the last decade, there has been an upsurge in alliances between Evangelical Christians and the State of Israel. The author of this piece argued that it is time for Israel to “grow up and look further, beyond ourselves and our own immediate needs” when considering Jewish-Christian relations. The author pointed out, for example, that some 6,000 Nigerian Christians have been massacred, and that, closer to home, the Christian population of the Middle East has dropped from 20% to 4%. Christians worldwide face persecution, and often live as minorities within unfriendly majorities. But for most Israelis, the word “Christian” evokes an image of Western Christmas or the Spanish Inquisition: “When we think of Christianity we tend to think about a powerful, triumphal, Western Church.” In fact, many Christians live in ways that mirror how Jews have historically lived throughout the diaspora. The author therefore asked: “What would it mean for our sense of Jewish-Christian relations to seriously explore Christianity not solely as a part of triumphal Western Christendom, but as a minority religion often living under hostile rule of another faith?” The author called for Israel to consider its role and meaning in the world, and to ask about the purpose for which it exists. The author suggested that Israel’s purpose, in part, is “acting on behalf of Christians and other minorities facing genocide… [It’s] time for Israel to learn how to stand with Christians.”