Pilgrims' Progress and Feast in the Holy Land

Posted by Jewish Israel

While we Jews were celebrating in our sukkahs, a very different spirit of worship descended upon the Jerusalem Convention Center (“Binyanei Ha’Uma”) - compliments of the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ) and their annual Feast of the Tabernacles.

There are active missionaries at ICEJ's Feast of the Tabernacles and there are those in attendance who openly engage in missionary activity which targets the Jewish people for conversion.

Does the Feast lend credence to and empower the evangelizing network in Israel?

In this post-holiday wrap-up, Jewish Israel connects the dots in an alarming tour which follows a missionary trail – in and out of Africa, to the Ukraine, to Jerusalem and Revava – which can no longer be ignored...more

Guide for Those Perplexed over ICEJ’s Feast

Posted by Jewish Israel
“Israel's largest annual tourism event” may be a virtual “Feast” for Jewish eyes, but it’s a full blown Jesus Fest for its evangelical participants – and that presents the Jewish state with a very real problem.

Can we welcome evangelizing Christian Pilgrims and allow them to worship here without contravening the halacha and compromising our very souls?

Also, Jewish Israel has posted an excerpt of a new related video with Rabbi Riskin.
Is Rabbi Riskin suggesting that G-d's Brit Bein He'Betarim (Covenant Between the Parts) between G-d and Abraham had the Christians in mind from the outset?

Read Jewish Israel's report and members can participate in our forum on this issue...more

The Kosher Christian Controversy

Posted by Jewish Israel
a half-baked case:
Should a Jewish convert to Christianity be trusted with matters of kashrut? The Chief Rabbinate said “no”. The secular Supreme Court of Israel – which in recent years, has been telling the Israeli Rabbinate how to keep kosher - said “yes”.
This issue of apostasy is sure to cause major controversy and confusion as halachic authorities and the secular courts clash. Rabbi Tovia Singer of Outreach Judaism gave Jewish Israel – and the media - a hand in defining just who is not a Jew...more

An update on the Rabbi Riskin report

A day after Jewish Israel posted a controversial video clip of Rabbi Riskin, and filed a report on some of his contentious interfaith theological endeavors, Israel National News asked Rabbi Riskin for a response.

Jewish Israel would like to thank INN’s Hillel Fendel for taking the initiative to follow-up on our concerns and findings with his own very thorough report on Arutz 7’s English site. And we are pleased that Rabbi Riskin took the time to respond and expound on his positions. We also appreciate Rabbi Riskin’s retraction of the term “resurrect” and his admission that, “It was definitely the wrong choice of words and I should have not said it.”

Rabbi Riskin’s explanation not only validates Jewish Israel’s concerns, but it also prompts further questions - and it leaves a lot of issues unresolved. Jewish Israel will continue to report on this matter and will keep you informed of developments.

The full version of the ICEJ Ministry of Comfort video can be seen online in a number of locations – including the ICEJ site.

Christocracy and Our Cardinal sins

Posted by Ellen W. Horowitz for Jewish Israel

Christocracy in the Holy Land:

Organizations like The Christian Embassy (ICEJ) regularly praise Israel for religious freedom while criticizing countries where “Christians cannot practice their faith openly, build churches or propagate their message!” There’s a clear implication that in order to qualify as a democracy, a country is required to allow the Christian message to be spread without restraint. Where does that leave the Jewish state, and those charged with upholding Torah values? Jewish Israel takes a look at the ICEJ agenda and the Jewish position on Tolerance, Religious Freedom and Proselytizing?...more
-------

Israel’s Evangelical Embrace and the 11 Cardinal Sins:

Warning: Before proceeding to this post, know that you are most likely in violation of at least one of the sins listed. So, if you can’t take the heat, stop now, because you are about to enter the Shmad Zone - where Jewish Israel asks, “how low can we go” in the quest for tourist dollars?...more
-------

Calev Myers: He loves me... he loves me not

In November of 2008, Calev Myers the Chief messianic Counsel for The Jerusalem Institute of Justice praised this writer for, “…simply good penmanship… You base your articles on facts and state your opinions clearly while using an apparently healthy sense of humor…your writings are like a breath of fresh air.”

Well, it seems I’ve fallen from grace, as last week Myer’s JIJ e-newsletter referred to me as a “radical activist” and “spokesperson for the radical Orthodox agenda in Israel”

Jewish Israel wants to know, what is a "radical Orthodox Jew"? Is it an evangelical fiction, fetish, or a little bit of both? Perhaps it's the creation of an evangelizing/messianic world - used to discredit those who uphold, protect, and defend Torah Judaism.
...more

parade of missionaries?

Posted by Ellen W. Horowitz

Hope everyone is enjoying Sukkot! Just a quick note before Shabbat (don't want to dwell on missionaries too much, as it takes the joy out of the Chag)...

But a classic case of the problem we face is seen on the A7 TV report of this weeks Jerusalem Parade. The report speaks of those who have come to support Israel, but the American man blessing and professing his love for Israel is sporting a "jesus loves you" T-shirt (the text is within of the Star of David -- ugh!)

By the way, that particular T-shirt is a product of a major Southern Baptist proselytizing organization called Jewish Outreach International,

To come to Eretz Yisrael and publicly sport such a T-shirt - while professing love for Israel - is the height of disrespect, and is no less abominable than marching through the streets of Jerusalem in a gay parade.

I think our rabbis, the government of Israel, and the Jerusalem municipality should lay down some ground rules for the Christian Embassy and other participants in the annual parade.

Meanwhile, the cover girl for this Friday's JPost Magazine is the Christian Embassy's Charmaine Hedding - the organizer of the ICEJ Feast of the Tabernacles.

Shabbat Shalom.