The Jewish Agency
for Israel is actively partnering with evangelical Christians who seek to
bring Israeli Jews to Jesus. That’s because 1) These missionaries are saving
the Jewish Agency money by setting up and running absorption centers for new
immigrants, lone soldiers, and young pre-army students and 2) The missionaries
swear up and down until they’re blue in the face that they’re not missionaries—they
swear they’re not here to bring Israeli Jews to Jesus.
That promise of innocence is of course, ridiculous. They are
missionaries. Full stop. If the Jewish Agency believes them, I’ve got a bridge
I can sell them for cheap.
As mentioned in an earlier column: Shannon
Nuszen is working to expose the mission of evangelical Christians in Israel—Jews
are trying to shut her down, regular Jewish Israelis, not unlike the Jewish
Agency, are happy to save money. And just like the Jewish Agency, these Jews
swear up and down that the missionaries aren’t missionaries. The evangelicals,
meanwhile, harvest grapes in the Jewish orchards of Samaria for free—a dream
come true for any farmer. (But at what ultimate cost?)
With all that free labor, is it any wonder that some Israeli
Jews fight the notion that in actual fact, these Christians are here to bring
Israeli Jews to Jesus? But Jews looking the other way on the presence of
missionaries in Israel has, perhaps, another subtext: some Israeli Jews retain a
pathological need to seek constant approval from outsiders. These remaining
vestiges of the ghetto mentality of these Israelis living free and easy in
Israel is almost understandable: What happened to past generations in the
diaspora has no doubt scarred the less emotionally hardy of our people.
So if just regular Israeli Jewish Joes support the
evangelicals in their mission, it only stands to reason that the Jewish Agency
believes it can get away with underwriting projects like the Aliyah Return
Center for Lone Soldiers, run by, yes, missionaries.
Now it wouldn’t happen in America. This is made clear in
this most recent clip from Beynenu, narrated by Rabbi Tovia Singer.
From the film:
"What's going on here in Israel would not go on in the United States. Both the Reform and Conservative movements have bylaws that they will not work with messianics, who are evangelical fundamentalist Christians who use Jewish terminology, symbols, and icons in order to bring Jewish people to know Jesus in a Jewish way.
“Here in Israel there seems to be no separation.
“The Reform Movement [in America] is the most liberal, and even they would not allow anybody of the messianic movement to be involved in any aspect of their education, much less run their programs.
"Jewish Community Centers around the world deal with the problem of messianics working to infiltrate their centers and social networks all the time, and they work very hard to address it.
"Yet here in Israel we have messianics partnering with the Jewish Agency running absorption centers for new olim, lone soldiers, and young pre-army students. Nowhere else in the world would Jews think to cross this line!
"The Jewish Agency is partnering with the Aliyah Return Center, a Christian organization headed in this country by a Messianic Jew. It's astounding!"
This latest—some would say shocking—clip from Beynenu is, in
part, a response to the Jewish Agency, which has accused the organization of
doctoring footage to back the narrative that the evangelical Christians are
missionaries. Here is the official press release from the Jewish Agency for
Israel on the subject:
“The Jewish Agency runs an educational facility near the Sea of Galilee called Bikat Kinarot. The site, fully managed by The Jewish Agency, includes facilities for lone soldiers, new immigrants, preparation for service in the IDF and serves as a regional center for those involved with civic projects.
“We have a formal agreement with the Canadian Christian Zionist organization Return Ministries to provide volunteers and to assist with construction, maintenance and landscaping work on the campus. This is done within a very clear contractual framework, stipulating that any kind of missionary activity is strictly prohibited.
“We are familiar with Beynenu and while the videos are heavily edited, using old and irrelevant footage and containing many false statements, they do raise grave questions and concerns for us regarding our relationship with Return Ministries.
“Let us emphasize that Return Ministries has no involvement whatsoever with any Jewish Agency programming. Any involvement of Return Ministries or the Aliyah Return Center beyond the very clearly demarcated roles mentioned above is in clear violation of their agreement with The Jewish Agency. The Jewish Agency will make no compromise on allowing any missionary activity. We are examining the allegations and intend to take firm action if they are found to be correct. We reject any effort to apply pressure on our internal process by any outside body, who is trying to tarnish our good name. If necessary, we will take steps to prevent this besmirching of The Jewish Agency’s reputation and unwavering dedication to keeping the Jewish people connected to each other and to Israel.”
That’s the official statement to the press. An internal
email from the Jewish Agency, however, tells a different story:
“From this examination we have issued a very strong formal
letter of complaint sent to Return Ministries. As we have searched for the
facts, numerous violations of our contractual agreement have been discovered
which have been included in our letter.”
As a result, Beynenu, went ahead and sent the following
letter to the Jewish Agency:
As for claims by the Jewish Agency that Beynenu is using doctored,
old, and irrelevant clips to prove a specific and unfounded point, Shannon
Nuszen has this to say:
"We wish we could say that this is Hollywood, but these
videos are real and it's happening in Israel. We understand that leaders are
upset about this, and I think we all understand that mistakes happen. However,
it would be a bigger mistake to be defensive rather than taking this seriously
and addressing the problem.
"Whether they are baptizing olim, or just doing the gardening,
we should not be partnering with Messianics. Legitimizing Messianics undermines
Jewish communities, and as the Jewish Agency emphasizes, these communities are
the building blocks of Jewish life.
"This would not happen anywhere else in the world, but
for some reason this grave mistake has happened here in Israel.
"I assure you we are on the same side, and we would be
happy to help the Jewish Agency address this serious matter."
So what exactly is Beynenu, and why are they going after
these evangelical Christians like a dog with a bone that just won’t let go? Nuszen
says that Beyneynu is a team of former missionaries, counter missionary experts,
and “concerned persons of influence.” Here is Beynenu’s official mission
statement:
Beyneynu is a
non-profit organization that monitors missionary activity in Israel and works
with government and community leaders to create awareness of the challenges
facing the public and to facilitate the establishment of proper boundaries in
their partnerships with faith-based organizations.
Establishing “proper boundaries” would seem to be something sorely
lacking here between the Jewish Agency and organizations like Return
Ministries, Hayovel, and the Aliyah Return Center. As a Jewish Israeli, I
am happy that organizations like Beynenu exist. Because the last thing I want
Jewish Israelis (such as my children) to encounter, is a missionary hiding the
fact that what he really wants is for you to come to Jesus.
(h/t Shannon Nuszen
of Beyneynu)