Point: Are Christian Zionists a Threat to Israel?
Latest update: December 27th, 2011
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Doesn’t it sound a little silly, not to mention paranoid, when we kvetch all day about the world being against us, and then when we discover people who actually like us, we work overtime to convince ourselves that they must really be out to get us and are covering it up with a smile?
I am very clear on my stand: I do not, have not and will not work with any group that has a missionary agenda targeting Jews. I will be happy to cooperate with friends of Israel, regardless of their theology, be they Muslim, Christian, Druze, Buddhist or whatever. The fact that there are some Christians who would like to convert Jews does not at all prove that all Christians embrace that agenda. There are about 5000 different schools of thought that all come under the “Christian” banner, and some of those totally appreciate the Jewish people’s unchanged “chosen” status and our Torah mission. There are probably others who believe that Jews must fulfill the rebuilding of the State and Temple to promote their own Messianic visions. That doesn’t worry or even interest me.
Some who claim the position of “anti-missionary activists” are not objective and manipulate information in an attempt to prove that any Christian who smiles at a Jew is doing so in order to convert them. I do not appreciate the harassment and bullying tactics they frequently resort to, but I am not afraid of them, either. I read and consider articles attacking Glenn Beck as a missionary. I’m sorry to say that they commonly show a very shallow understanding of the topic they are writing about. Beck, Waller, Gohmert and even Hagee are not missionaries. If they were, they would be really lousy ones, considering the fact that with all of the effort they have put into helping Israel, they have failed to make any Jewish converts at all.
If you believe sitting at home and reading Tehillim is all a Jew needs to do to deal with international pressures on Israel, then I wish you luck. But, if you think that we should actually try to build alliances with others outside the Jewish people, then I have news for you: people who are not Jewish have their own theological beliefs (that should be obvious – if they are not Jewish, then they are something else). If they appreciate the Jewish people and understand that helping Israel is beneficial to both sides, then there is nothing wrong with interacting with them. Of course, the Halacha and common sense guide us on ways to do so without compromising our Jewish identity and national respect.
With all of that said, and with no intention to insult our friends, we really should not have such an inferiority complex. If our own religion is the real thing, and so naturally superior to theirs, do you really think that some guy is going to say “the J word” and Jews are going to be so impressed by that as to question our own faith? Nu, b’emet. [Common, really.]
On one hand, if you come by a group that is offering a service – like a club with attractive facilities – but they are also offering classes in Christian faith for Jews, it is obviously a front, and they are probably taking advantage of you and trying to attract other Jews to their classes. But on the other hand, if a Christian offers you money to buy needed equipment and help produce books and discs, or for Jewish development of the land of Israel and asks for no involvement in your content whatsoever, only asking that you bless them by continuing your work, then they are helping you spread your message. In the second case, I would not even sweat worrying that they might come back some day and ask for something else – because even if they do, you can say “no” (and there is a good chance that they will not, because they are genuine lovers of Israel with no other agenda). Yes, we should always be careful with whom we do business, but I don’t have to tell you that there are other Jews who can lead you astray into dangerous avenues, as well.
No, not all gestures of friendship by Christians hide an intention to missionize us. I do not accept that as a given. I am not talking about a relationship in which one side is manipulating the other. Neither am I saying that I think I can trick them into helping us without allowing them the prize of converting us. I would not cooperate with Christians who wish to convert us any more than I would cooperate with Muslims who wish to slaughter us. I will gladly work with goyim who appreciate the Jewish people for who we are and wish only for us to become the best Jews we can be.
Believe it or not, there are goyim who believe in the words of the Bible – and they trust that G-d did choose the Jewish people for a special mission – to be a light unto the nations. They actually look to us for direction. But living in fear and exile for hundreds of years has corrupted us. Now that we have returned to our land and the nations are witnessing the fulfillment of prophecies and look to us as teachers, we go running for cover, fearing they mean us harm. We must seize our opportunities as they arise, stand proudly and teach the nations the truth of the Torah. We possess G-d-given greatness and blessing; we need not fear; G-d is on our side.
tell a friendAbout the Author: As a child David Ha'ivri made Aliya with his family from the US in 1978. Married, with 8 children, he lives in a small town in Samaria. He is the director of public diplomacy and communications for the Shomron Liaison Office. He works with GatherIsrael.com to promote Aliyah. He is social media master and strategic consultant. Follow David Ha'ivri's daily activity on Twitter @haivri.
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44 Responses to “Point: Are Christian Zionists a Threat to Israel?”
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Yashir koach!! Beautifully stated. I know that it is very hard to believe until one meets some of these amazing Christians who, yes, love Jews for being Jews and love Israel for being Israel. They are fearless advocates, they are many. They are awesome! I have attended 2 CUFI conferences in Washington, joined them while I was in Israel at enormously moving programs with Glenn Beck, Pastor Hagee and others. Most moving were the people, the many of whom were in Israel for the first time ever, at great expense for them (physically as well as financially) and who were moved beyond belief at the beauty and spirituality of Israel and Israelis.
I first attended a CUFI session with Pastor Michael Stevens. Many people were actually crying at a film about the holocaust and how they felt Christians were guilty in allowing it to happen. I was moved to tears by his words as they showed a film about the light that Israel brings to the world, with clips about the Israeli medical teams who were the first to go to Haiti, to help after the disasters, bringing the Ethiopians Jews home to Israel, medical and scientific developments that benefit the world – really deep and wonderful examples of Israel being an Or LeGoyim and of miracles happening that we are not always able to step back and see.
They honor us because we are Jews, Hashem’s chosen people. I’ll take it. Bless them, their courage and willingness to stand up strongly for us and for Israel. That’s more than I can say for alot of our “friends”, for whom many are willing to bend over backwards explaining away what sounds so much like the same words our enemies use.
What a tragedy your words are….You get an ego trip from these xians…I’m saddened by your words Karen. You are naive. This teary gratitude for friendship smacks of desperation. Jews have no need to feel desperate. We have HaShem….We are HaShem’s ally and HaShem is ours. People who want to change us and people who use deception to target the vulnerable in our communities are not our friends.
Why be grateful that some xians have finally stopped vilifying Jews? It’s about time. It only took them 2000 years.
I have only read some of these comments. But as a non-Jew, albeit a person who truly loves the Jewish people and the Land, I want to make a comment on something that I think is sorely misunderstood or avoided in this ongoing midrash. There were 10 tribes who left Egypt. When they came to the Promised Land Joshua allocated each tribe his portion of the Land. Judah is only ONE of these tribes. Yes Judah was the only one who remained faithful to Torah, the other tribes became “Lost” and were dispersed into the nations. But Hashem tells us over and over again in the Tanach that He will eventually bring Ephraim, referring to the lost tribes, back to the Land and that He will bring the two sticks – Judah and Ephraim – back together again. This is scripture and Hashem will bring it to pass. We – goy – are not the pagans that Abraham was told not to mix with – we are your Israelite brothers who were lost and are now being brought back to the Land at great personal sacrifice and expense without even understanding why. I believe that a lot of the problem in the relationship between the Israelites (all Jews are Israelites but not all Israelites are Jews) is that the Jews fail to see and/or acknowledge that Hashem is working out His purpose here. Israel needs all the friends they can get. I am not only your friend, I am also your brother. I have absolutely no hidden agendas. I am here because I love you and I love Hashem’s Land and I want to stand next to you. And there are many others here in Israel now, and who want to be here also, who are exactly like me. We would love to feel welcomed !!
While non-Jews are welcome to reside in our homeland, there are those among them that have their own agendas – like changing our identity to match theirs. It’s manipulative and wicked. Haivri says that he wouldn’t cooperate with Christians that want to convert us – yet he does! His appearance with Waller on God’s LEarning Channel – (FTR – said channel is based on what? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God%27s_Learning_Channel) says that either Haivri has no idea what he’s talking about, or is lying.
You should study the book of Joshua – they all received tribal land allotments, so they all left Egypt. The only tribe not to receive an allotment was Levi.
Stranger In The Land, if you’re claiming you’re from the lost tribes, you have a very difficult case to make, likely impossible. The land was given by G-d to the Jews, not to Christians that want what we have. Further, the Torah teaches that we’re to rid our land of idolaters – not accept messianics as our brothers. Welcoming them to the land that G-d gave us can’t make Him happy.
There is one more consideration which I would like to point out. In the past, I have been in touch with groups of Noahides throughout the world. They do not have the massive church and missionary machinery behind them which provides the only voice many Jews seem able to hear these days – money (and lots of it) and (perceived)political clout.
Most of them came out of Christianity, many of them at very great personal sacrifice. Some lost relationships with children and grandchildren who cut them off when they rejected the Yeshu idol. Some expressed that they had felt emotionally and psychologically enslaved and abused by this false system. They expressed to me their chagrin and resentment at witnessing their only natural allies, the Jews, embracing their former tormentors, while they and their needs were totally ignored.
This is the greatest chillul Hashem in the world today!
I certainly don’t think all Christians and/or “Messianic Jews” that are trying to be friends to Israel and the Jews are trying to convert Jews (at least not actively), however, I do think they have a very different viewpoint on “why” Israel should be supported that is deeply rooted in their threology.
Many Christians do not fully realize how very different Jewish theology and eschatology are from their own.
The issue with this is not major until certain situations arise in which their Zionist politics get questioned or assailed in the public eye and the reasons they state have to do primarily with Jesus rather than with democracy or some mutual respect in regards to the Jewish religious culture. It gets confusing for some and culturally very touchy for many when this happens.
I just wanted to give my thanks to Devorah and mrabenu and Yonatan for recognising the B’nei Noach. It is sweet to read their words, especially after hearing all the praise for ‘Israel’s best friends’. Their words are a balm to me.
It is completely spiritually fulfilling being B’nei Noach, but it is a lonely place, emotionally. I live in an ‘in between zone’, not Jewish, yet not anything else. I have no spiritual community, except the few Jews who understand what B’nei Noachs believe. Christians view me as ‘worse’ than Jews because I believe what Jews believe yet I’m not ‘chosen’. Many Jewish people I know don’t know what B’nei Noach is and view me with disdain as a follower some archaic sect of Judaism.
When I hear, pretty much constantly, the praise for ‘Israels greatest ally’ I think two things.
First: The Nation of Israel’s greatest ally is HaShem.
Second: An ally, a friend, is not a person who thinks you need to be perfected, or need changing, or puts up with what they consider your bad habits of denying their beliefs, or believes you will come around to their set of thinking at crunch time. A genuine friend accepts you exactly as you are, embraces who you are, listens, learns from you and is grateful for your being, with no agenda attached. That is the B’nei Noach.
I don’t have a lot of money. There are not many of us. But I give to both Israel and Jewish charities. The Nation of Israel has my unending support, spiritually and financially. Why are there no op-eds for the Noachide?
Reading David Ha’ivri’s words, and others here who seem to be in an almighty rush to praise Christians as the best friends of Jews, is truly hurtful to me. It is an old hurt, and one which will be repeated. I still hope for the day when some Jews recognise the friendship of the Goyim who have accepted and have love for the Torah and the Jews, unaltered, and hope these Jews come to see the B’nei Noach as the genuine eternal friends of the Jewish Nation.
I don’t know if my words are worth anything to anyone here, but as a former Christian, I know their agenda better than most Jews do. Please listen to the counter missionary people. They speak the truth.
Thank you again, Devorah and mrabenu and Yonatan.
Noni, I welcome your words here. They speak volumes. G-d bless you!!
Are you at all aware that the picture accompanying this article captures an ecstatic moment of worship of their false god Yeshu? Is that really something you want Jews to be viewing? You may scoff at the implied criticism, but the truth is that everything we see touches our souls, for good or for bad. Eyes are “windows to the soul in more ways than one.