Jewish rejection of evangelicals rooted in cynicism, ignorance, fear

JTA ^ | 7-16-02 | Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein

[SJackson]

JERUSALEM, July 16 (JTA) — If ever there was an issue that merited the scrutiny and attention of the organized American Jewish community, it is the support of Israel and the Jewish people by evangelical Christians. Yet, if ever there was an item conspicuously absent from the Jewish communal agenda, it is this one. As the only Jew who has been involved in the field of evangelical Christian-Jewish relations for the past 25 years, I can personally attest to the Jewish community’s selective avoidance of fairly scrutinizing this issue.

The result is that despite the proactive involvement of the Christian right over the past two decades, there is still a reflexive rejection of this important friendship by many Jews.

The rejection is rooted in cynicism, ignorance, fear and simplistic, stereotypical thinking about evangelical Christians and their motives for supporting Israel.

The rejection is founded on the fear that these would-be friends of Israel are out to Christianize America, promote an ultra-right-wing agenda and hasten the “Second Coming” by getting all the Jews to Israel as quickly as possible.

Suspicious that the short-term support of Israel by evangelicals would, of necessity, result in long-term tsuris, or trouble, for American Jews, there has been an unwillingness to seriously debate the matter publicly. But this suspicion is an extreme perversion of the beliefs of most mainstream evangelicals. It is tantamount to prejudice, to the intellectual tarring and feathering of an entire and diverse community.

But it is not individual Jews I hold responsible for this state of affairs. Instead, I lay the blame squarely at the feet of the organized Jewish community, who have sinned by omitting serious discussion and consideration of this matter for the better part of the last 20 years.

As an Orthodox rabbi, it is hardly in my best interest to embrace a community of individuals who are out to convert me from my faith. It would be spiritual suicide for me to pursue a friendship with an individual or group that sees me as but a pawn in the unfolding of their personal destiny.

I could not accept the conditional love of those who expect a payback on behalf of my people. I could not embark on a relationship that would compromise my personal integrity and ideals or that of the Jewish community I represent.

But having been the first — and most often the only — Jew to build bridges with the right-wing Christian community, I have a view and understanding of their pro-Israel fervor that most people “on the outside” lack.

What is clearly visible to me from my vantage point is that the majority of evangelicals are passionately pro-Israel because it is part of their theology to love and support the Jewish people. Based on their understanding of Scripture, the Jews are indeed the am segula — God’s special people. Yet according to the same Scripture, Christians play an important role in history by blessing the Jewish people. As it says in Genesis 12:3 — “I will bless those who bless you.”

This verse is key to unlocking the mystery of their motivation. What it reveals is that standing for Israel is considered a mitzvah within the evangelical Christian world. Loving the Jewish people is an article of their faith, something in which they are deeply invested.

But this faith is hardly ephemeral; over the past 20 years, it has translated into my organization’s donating more than $60 million to Israel and to support Jews in need around the world.

It has gone to build and run soup kitchens in Jerusalem and Bnai Brak, and supply armored school buses for Israeli children. It has fed elderly Jews in the former Soviet Union and paid for job training for Ethiopian immigrants.

It has underwritten the rescue and aliyah of Jews from Argentina and Ethiopia, and brought over 400 American Jews to Israel just last week — the largest immigration of American Jews to Israel in quite some time. According to Sallai Meridor, head of the Jewish Agency for Israel, the support of the evangelical Christian community, through the gifts of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, which I serve as president, is responsible for the immigration of more than 200,000 Jews to Israel.

Which brings up the matter of the dissonance between the ready acceptance of Christian support “within” Israel and the suspicious avoidance or attacks of the same from within the American Jewish community. Having made aliyah to Israel, where the International Fellowship is now headquartered, I am in regular contact with the prime minister, with whom I work closely, with the president and with the rabbinic and political leadership of Israel across the spectrum, from Yossi Sarid to Avigdor Lieberman. The work of the International Fellowships has the respect and appreciation of the Israeli government, press and general population.

Moreover, it is a widely accepted fact in Israel that this Christian community — from which I raise support — is a staunch and reliable ally of Israel. While other Christian groups have remained shockingly silent during Israel’s ordeal by terrorism during the past two years, the evangelical community has poured huge amounts of money into terrorism response, condemned it in no uncertain terms and literally taken to the streets throughout the world in support of Israel.

In countries where gathering in a public place is an immediate threat to one’s life, the visual and emotional impact of Christians marching for Israel is overwhelming. Even the most resistant of my Israeli Jewish friends have had their anti-evangelical beliefs challenged by this sight.

Being intimate with the true nature of evangelical Christian support of Israel, it is therefore especially disheartening to read diatribes such as the one penned by Arlene Stein. Her one-sided antipathy toward this community is typical and outlandish. They are book banners. They are anti-democracy. They hate Muslims, she writes. Moreover, they are a voracious yet savvy political beast, out to devour America, possibly the world.

True, as Stein rightly points out, the evangelical community is united in the fight against worldwide terrorism, seeing the events of 9/11 within the framework of a clash of civilizations. But while Stein maligns their motivation as being baselessly anti-Muslim, the evangelical community is in fact united with the innumerable people worldwide who bemoan the hijacking of mainstream Islam by its radical wing.

Rather than being anti-democratic, this group has been most savvy in bringing their agenda to the fore in an inherently democratic manner. Their political presence and power is formidable. That some of their views may dissent from those of Ms. Stein’s and mine is an undeniable reality.

But that they are our friends — no strings attached — is also undeniable.

Finally, this is a friendship without a quid pro quo. Yet there are boundaries to this friendship, as there are to all. Were there to arise a situation where my Jewish convictions were in danger of compromise, I would speak out loudly — as I have indeed done numerous times in the past. When the need arises to disagree, I disagree though I try to do so agreeably. My life and career over the past 25 years has been built on the following pithy dictum: Cooperate whenever possible/Oppose whenever necessary/Teach and build bridges at all times. This is, I am convinced, a pre-eminently sensible position for the Jewish community to adopt.

After years of building bridges of understanding and cooperation with the evangelical community, I realize these bridges have remained essentially one-way streets. It is time to build a bridge toward the Jewish community. Here is an invitation for Jews to build this bridge. The road is still under construction, but the view is fantastic and the horizon is limitless.

Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein is founder and president of the International Fellowship of Christian and Jews.

[robowombat]

Wise words from a wise man.

[fogarty]

"What is clearly visible to me from my vantage point is that the majority of evangelicals are passionately pro-Israel because it is part of their theology to love and support the Jewish people."

This sums it all up. I just wish that American Jews could wake up and see this.

[Alouette]

BTTT

[dennisw]

THINK ABOUT THIS:

You post good stuff from Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein....
While Larry Lied posts the garbage from leftist lesbo Arlene Stein. Lied's mission being to harm Christian-Jewish relations.

[SJackson]

Actually, the articles were an editorial page trilogy.

Evangelical support helps Israel, and it s not based on anti-Semitism

Jewish affair with Christian right is both misguided and shortsighted

The original poster prefers to only one side of the story.

[jpl]

But it is not individual Jews I hold responsible for this state of affairs. Instead, I lay the blame squarely at the feet of the organized Jewish community, who have sinned by omitting serious discussion and consideration of this matter for the better part of the last 20 years.

I believe the blame really lies with the media-entertainment axis in Hollywood and New York, which is intensely hostile to religion in general, but Christianity in particular. They go out of their way to drive a wedge between Christians and Jews.

[republicman]

I don't stick up for Israel because I am Christian and believe that God will reward me for doing it. I do it because I cannot support our own war on terrorism and reject theirs without being a hypocrite.

Also, its because I reject the left wing fanatical argument that because some group has failed (Palestinians) that they are by definition oppressed. As Bernie Goldberg said "sometimes the underdog deserves to be the underdog".

As to why Jews are not running out to embrace right wing christians. There are several reasons. Some the author points out, some he does not.

An example--Many Jews are liberals who don't support Israel.

Another--Jewish culture has always had a leftward tilt. I'm not sure why, but it always has. So I wouldn't expect them to embrace someone they normally disagree with.

And lastly, but definitely not least--the left has been able to spread the lie that right wingers are nazi-like. When any honest appraisal would show that the modern left has far far more in common with Nazis than the right.

Beyond that there are many Jews who ARE noticing that we are on their side, and the liberals generally aren't. To them I say welcome home.

[Dark Wing]

ping

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

After years of building bridges of understanding and cooperation with the evangelical community, I realize these bridges have remained essentially one-way streets.

. . . an echo, to me, of Ann Coulter's description of liberals seeking to find common cause with conservatives in light of 911. They wish to build bridges of understanding with conservatives, but those bridges already exist. Conservatives can't avoid hearing the views of liberals, it's the air Americans breathe who read newspapers and especially who watch TV. You cannot be conservative in America without first consciously evaluating the claims of liberalism, and finding them wanting. The trouble is not the lack of a bridge but that the bridge is one-way.

because journalism and entertainment publicly marginalize conservatives, liberals readily can avoid hearing conservatives. And they do so, studiously. One is left to suspect that deep down liberals know that their belief system won't stand scrutiny.

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

After years of building bridges of understanding and cooperation with the evangelical community, I realize these bridges have remained essentially one-way streets.

. . . an echo, to me, of Ann Coulter's description of liberals seeking to find common cause with conservatives in light of 911. They wish to build bridges of understanding with conservatives, but those bridges already exist. Conservatives can't avoid hearing the views of liberals, it's the air Americans breathe who read newspapers and especially who watch TV. You cannot be conservative in America without first consciously evaluating the claims of liberalism, and finding them wanting. The trouble is not the lack of a bridge but that the bridge is one-way.

because journalism and entertainment publicly marginalize conservatives, liberals readily can avoid hearing conservatives. And they do so, studiously. One is left to suspect that deep down liberals know that their belief system won't stand scrutiny.

[dennisw]

Actually, the articles were an editorial page trilogy.

Evangelical support helps Israel, and it s not based on anti-Semitism

Jewish affair with Christian right is both misguided and shortsighted

The original poster prefers to only one side of the story.

Of course Lied posted the one that has some lefty Jew knocking the valuable Christian allies of Israel. His mission is to sow discord between Christians and Jews.

[Alouette]

Jewish culture has always had a leftward tilt. I'm not sure why, but it always has.

No, it always has not. Judaism has been around for 4000 years. The "leftward tilt" began only in the mid-1800's, with the rise of the Reform movement. Doctrines of Jewish faith were gradually replaced by liberal/left philosophy. With the rise of Orthodoxy, this trend is declining.

[Inkie]

This is one Jew from a family who totally recognizes the truth, about which the rabbi so eloquently wrote. Thank you for this post. My rabbi is similarly inclined; gives a "Christmas sermon" along these same lines. My mom and I recently joined the local chapter of Jewish Republicans and we are going to an event next month. LA Jews who can recognize who our real friends are (not our self-hating Hollywood Streisand types) should look into joining the organization.

[Inkie]

Thanks for that clarification. You always have good posts.

[republicman]

My apologies. You're right, I stand corrected.

[Thinkin' Gal]

...standing for Israel is considered a mitzvah within the evangelical Christian world. Loving the Jewish people is an article of their faith, something in which they are deeply invested.

Deuteronomy 6:1-3

1 Now these are the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments, which the LORD your God commanded to teach you, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go to possess it:
2 That thou mightest fear the LORD thy God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command thee, thou, and thy son, and thy son's son, all the days of thy life; and that thy days may be prolonged.
3 Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it; that it may be well with thee, and that ye may increase mightily, as the LORD God of thy fathers hath promised thee, in the land that floweth with milk and honey.

Deuteronomy 6:4-9

4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:
5 And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
6 And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:
7 And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
8 And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes.
9 And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.

04687 mitsvah {mits-vaw'}
from 06680; TWOT - 1887b; n f
AV - commandments 177, precept 4, commanded 2, law 1, ordinances 1; 181

1) commandment
1a) commandment (of man)
1b) the commandment (of God)
1c) commandment (of code of wisdom)

Good deeds, indeed!

Isaiah 11:11-13

11 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea.
12 And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.
13 The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off: Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim.

[Thinkin' Gal]

I should have included the following, which is repeated seven times in the book of Revelation:

He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

[GulliverSwift]

Great article. I would disagree with what he says in the motivation of Christians supporting Israel. There are some who take the view he said, however, most do so because they realize the fact that as the only democratic country in the middle east, if the USA didn't support it would have been destroyed decades ago.

What's unfortunate is that too many Jewish people have a bigoted and benighted view of active Christians. It's sad that for years they had to endure a bigotry and now they dispense it to another minority group. I think that the Hollyweird faction does play a part in this; I have yet to see a show which features evangelicals as stars and portrays them as anything other than repressed, deceitful, hate-filled hypocrites.

[Mamzelle]

Conservative (small c) Jews have always had a kind word to say about American evangelicals, but even their support is done at arm's length (unless you are a black evangelical). Liberal Jews decry and insult American evangelicals, and keep them at arm's length unless they happen to be black Baptists. The difference is that at least the conservatives don't insult us---but they don't want to rub elbows with us, either...

Check out NRO--nationalreview.com--one of my favorite online publications. This magazine has Catholics and conservative Jews in its major editorical capacity. Whenever they write an article about evangelicals and Jews, since the subject recently has become more interesting, they get a Catholic or a Jew to write it. Getting an evangelical writer is just too exotic for their tastes. I've seen it over and over...no evangelical writes for them. I guess, along with being barefoot and toothless and tattooed, we're also illiterate...?

I've gotten my feelings hurt a time or two. Sick of being accused by the liberals of antisemitism, and also sick of making the conservatives *uneasy*.