The recent visit by Pope Francis to Israel, at one and the same time soothed relationships with the Jewish world and yet exacerbated the almost irreconcilable issues that separate Judaism from Christianity. The main problem that the State of Israel poses to Christian thought and tradition is that somehow it was never to have happened.

 

A large part of Christian thought and tradition condemned the Jews to eternal exile and to an always subservient role regarding its relationship with the Church and Christian civilization generally. That the Jews should somehow possess an independent state of their own – not only that but in the Holy Land itself - was an event that Christian doctrine deemed to be enormously improbable if not impossible.

 

For many decades the Church of Rome did not maintain diplomatic relations with Israel and found it difficult to reconcile itself to Jewish domination and control (no matter how benign and fair) of the Christian holy places in the Land of Israel. This attitude is slowly changing and great strides towards reconciliation and cooperation between the Vatican and the Jewish state have been made over the past two decades. This is certainly to be seen as a positive development after so many centuries of hatred and violence sponsored by the Church against a hapless Jewish people.

 

The situation with the mainstream Protestant denominations is murkier. The recent vote of the Presbyterian American church encouraging divestment of investments in companies that provide Israel with machinery and building supplies and technologically advanced capabilities is an example of the latent anti-Jewish theology and attitude that has dominated much of the Protestant church over the past centuries.

 

As the Anglican and Presbyterian churches have become the cutting edge of the new culture and permissiveness of Western society – supporting gay marriage, for instance, and thereby reversing the tenets of its own Bible – they have adopted the mantra of the Left in becoming openly anti-Israel. The existence of the State of Israel and whether it should be supported or damned is a deeply divisive one within the Protestant movements.

 

The extremely “progressive” leadership of certain Protestant denominations is not necessarily representative of the mass body of church members and believers. Nevertheless, it is deeply disturbing that the Presbyterian Church can take upon itself the responsibility of telling the Jewish people, who are embroiled in a life and death struggle with a Moslem enemy sworn to its destruction, that they are not entitled to build and protect themselves in their own homeland. Speaking out of both sides of their mouth at once, the Presbyterian Church supports the right of the State of Israel to exist but just does not want it to have the material tools necessary to guarantee that existence.

 

There is a significant section of Protestant denominations that wholeheartedly support the State of Israel and who have donated very large sums of money to Jewish charitable and educational organizations operating in the State of Israel. Since many of these denominations also sponsor widespread missionary and proselytizing activities, there has been a determined campaign mounted here in Israel to refuse the acceptance of these monies, no matter how worthy the causes they apparently support.

 

There is a great split in the observant Jewish society on this issue. There is rabbinic opinion on both sides of the question and there is no doubt that this flood of Christian money given to Israeli institutions has had beneficial educational and social results. Nevertheless, lurking behind all of it is the increased missionary activity of many Christian denominations here in Israel.

 

These activities are aimed at Jews, mainly very poor new immigrant families. The laws against Christian missionaries and their activities in Israel are not enforced because of diplomatic reasons and international consequences. So the question remains as to the true intent of the Christian supporters of the State of Israel.

 

In a world filled with enemies and with those who wish us no good, it would be cavalier and almost foolish to cast away the hand of friendship which these Christian denominations have extended to the State of Israel and the Jewish people. How to square this circle and arrive at a wise decision remains a troubling issue for us. Thousands of years of enmity are not easily forgotten but in the world that we inhabit, friends are hard to come by. Wiser and greater minds than mine will decide what is a reasonable policy and solution to these issues.

 

Shabbat shalom

 

Berel Wein