billiefan2000
14th June 2007, 10:48 AM
http://www.jewishaz.com/issues/story.mv?070608+night
Feelings mixed about 'A Night to Honor Israel'
LEISAH WOLDOFF
Managing Editor
A Christian evangelical group that raises money and lobbies for Israel is receiving a mixed reaction from Valley Jews for its upcoming "A Night to Honor Israel" program.
Described in the group's press materials as
"a non-conversionary salute to the nation of Israel and the Jewish people of the world," the program,
to be held June 24 at Phoenix Symphony Hall,
is sponsored by Christians United for Israel (CUFI),
http://www.cufi.org
founded last year by Pastor John Hagee an evangelical Christian minister from San Antonio.
"There are probably very few issues in which the Jewish community is more divided than the embrace of evangelicals as front-line spokespeople advocating on behalf of Israel,"
said Bill Straus regional director of the Anti-Defamation League,
who said he has received about a half-dozen calls about the upcoming program, mainly from people interested in ADL's stand on the event.
"Our position is that it's a matter of personal choice," he said.
Since its founding in February 2006, CUFI has raised about $10 million for Israel through
"A Night to Honor Israel" events in about 55 cities across the country, according to Pastor Eddy Paul Morris
CUFI city director for Phoenix and a clergy member of Scottsdale First Assembly.
About $7 million of that came from John Hagee Ministries he noted.
The remaining $3 million came from individual and church donations. A recent evening in Minneapolis raised $147,000.
Working with federation
In many of the cities where CUFI has held the event,
organizers contacted the Jewish federation in that city beforehand, and Phoenix was no exception.
Jewish Federation of Greater Phoenix leaders met with representatives of CUFI and agreed to inform the Jewish community about the event and accept funds raised during the
evening for TIPPS (an acronym for Tucson, Israel, Palm Springs, Phoenix and Seattle),
the federation's partnership program with the Israeli communities of Kiryat Malachi and Hof Ashkelon.
Before agreeing, the local federation contacted Jewish federations in other cities,
all of which reported that, despite some controversy from within their communities,
they had a positive experience working with CUFI and found the funds helpful for their work in Israel,
according to Adam Schwartz federation CEO.
"The event was happening with or without us, and we felt that it was important to have a relationship," Schwartz said.
He noted that the federation has mainly received a positive response from the local Jewish community,
although "there have been concerns raised ... discomfort highlighted."
"We were very honest with (CUFI representatives)," he said.
"There's a lot of mistrust in the Jewish community for them, ourselves included.
We believe we're not walking into this with blinders on ... We believe we are attending the event having proactively addressed issues of concern that members of the Jewish community have in
regard to the relation between evangelical groups and the Jewish community and that we are only dealing with this group and this group only wants to deal with us on one issue, and that issue is support of Israel."
Besides federation e-mails,
CUFI is spreading the word through local radio stations KXPQ-1360 AM and KKNT-960 AM http://www.kknt960.com/
and Morris was a guest on the "Middle East Radio Forum" with William J. Wolf on KKNT and "Praise the Lord" on KPAZ-Channel 21.
Domestic disagreement
Some members of the Jewish community say it's difficult to separate evangelical support for Israel from their conservative
political views on domestic issues,
including opposition to gay marriage and abortion.
"On one hand, I'm glad they reached out to the Jewish community for involvement in this," said ADL's Straus.
"On the other hand, we're an organization perhaps more than any other organization rooted in the Jewish community that comes up oppositionally to some of the domestic agenda issues of the evangelicals."
For example?
"We don't like that the King James Bible is used as a textbook in parts of the country. They like it."
Jerry Gettinger an organizer of a newly formed local chapter of the National Jewish Democratic Council
said that support of Israel is not the only issue important to the Jewish community.
"Simply because someone says he's a strong supporter of Israel,
doesn't make him a friend of the Jewish community,"
he said.
"(Hagee's) belief system is contrary to a lot of things that Judaism professes."
Ira Forman executive director of the National Jewish Democratic Council
based in Washington, D.C.,
said he understands the federation's temptation to accept the money Hagee raises,
"but these are folks who have opposed and will oppose Israeli government policy when it conflicts with their ideology.
"These are people that believe war with Iran is part of the end-of-day scenario,
and this is to be desired.
That's not to say we can't treat them with respect and be thankful when they support Israel,
but it's very problematic for our Jewish institutions to get this close to them."
Members of the Phoenix Board of Rabbis are mixed in their view of supporting "A Night to Honor Israel."
The board is "absolutely not" endorsing the program, according to its president,
Rabbi Andrew Straus, spiritual leader of the Reform congregation Temple Emanuel of Tempe
http://www.emanueloftempe.org
although some board members support it.
Speaking for himself and not as head of the rabbinic board, Straus said he has "some very strong concerns about John Hagee,"
citing Hagee's vision of the state of Israel as an example,
noting that his vision -
Hagee is opposed to a two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict
is very different from the vision of the vast majority of Israelis and American Jews.
"The reality is, the money he raises is not all that significant.
Israel's economy is one of the strongest and most vibrant in the world," Straus said.
"Ten million dollars ... sounds impressive, but it's ultimately a drop in the bucket."
Straus said that although Hagee "speaks pro-Israel and brings evangelical Christians to being pro-Israel,"
he disagrees with him 100 percent about domestic policy.
"We need to ask ourselves, 'Who do we choose to be allies with?'"
Shofar of unity
Rabbi Arthur Lavinsky spiritual leader of Beth El Congregation a Conservative synagogue in Phoenix
http://www.bethelphoenix.com
is supportive of CUFI's work and will participate in the June 24 program, blowing a shofar during the ceremony as a symbol of unity and reciting the closing prayer.
"I consider it an honor to help them honor Israel," Lavinsky said.
"I am extremely mindful that some of Israel's very best friends can be found among devout Christians," he said.
"Obviously we don't see eye to eye with them on every issue, but we do share a support for the only democracy in the Middle East and a shared love for democracy in general."
Rabbi David Rebibo spiritual leader of Beth Joseph Congregation an Orthodox synagogue in Phoenix,
http://www.phoenixbethjoseph.org
said he doesn't see the point of not cooperating on the subject of Israel.
"I welcome the opportunity to work with them and to work for the sake of Israel," he said.
"As the prophets say,
'For the sake of Zion, I shall not be silent.'
I don't think we should be silent when we have Christians who want to help."
The Republican Jewish Coalition sent e-mails publicizing the June 24 event to members of its local chapter.
"We believe that right now in this very dangerous time where Israel's very existence and survival is at stake,
it's important that we as a Jewish community look to our allies and supporters to stand with us and to stand with Israel,"
said Matthew Brooks, executive director of the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC),
based in Washington D.C. "Evangelical Christians have proven themselves to be ...
a very effective voice at helping to increase the amount of support of Israel in the American public."
He contrasts them with mainline Protestant churches that promote divestment from Israel and encourage anti-Israel commentary.
"They're out front to weaken the U.S.-Israel relationship," he said.
'We have to agree to disagree'
The first "A Night to Honor Israel" took place Sept. 10, 1981,
in San Antonio,
after Hagee felt that the media denounced Israel's bombing of the Osirak nuclear reactor in Iraq.
"I personally felt that Israel had done the peace-loving world a favor in stopping the construction of this nuclear reactor that most assuredly would have been used for production of nuclear bombs in the Middle East," writes Hagee in CUFI promotional materials.
After that evening, Hagee hosted a few "A Night to Honor Israel" programs in different cities, including Phoenix in the early 1980s, then continued to hold one annually at his own church.
In an interview in the March 20, 2006, issue of The Jerusalem Post, Hagee was asked,
"In the ultimate vision to which you subscribe, there is a second coming, and what happens to Israel and the Jews then?"
"Every Christian believes that Jesus Christ is the messiah," Hagee replied.
"The Jewish people do not believe that.
In that regard we have to agree to disagree.
I say to my rabbi friends:
'You don't believe it; I do believe it. When we're standing in Jerusalem, and the messiah is coming down the street, one of us is going to have a very major theological adjustment to make.
But until that time, let's walk together in support of Israel and in defense of the Jewish people, because Israel needs our help.'"
In this interview, Hagee also denounced replacement theology
(a belief that the Christian Church has taken the place of the Jewish people) and explained the evangelical belief on Israel:
"Evangelicals believe that Israel has a Bible mandate to the land, a divine covenant for the land of Israel, forever.
That the Jewish people are chosen of God and are the apple of God's eye.
That Christians have a Bible mandate to be supportive of Israel and the Jewish people, to demonstrate to the Jewish people what they have not experienced from Christianity for 2,000 years ... the love of God."
Hagee wants Israel to exist for his Christian thelogical reasons, noted Rabbi Robert Kravitz
a local rabbi, in an e-mail to Jewish News.
"Others have addressed his need to have an Israel that is ultimately destroyed,
so his fellow believers will enter his version of Paradise. Those ideas are anathema to Jewish theology as I understand it."
"He stands by his midrash; we motivate new support for Israel.
We accept graciously the dollars and testimonies on behalf of the State of Israel from his organization,"
Kravitz wrote.
"Initially I viewed him as disingenuous.
Today I feel his offer of support is not to be taken lightly ...
Israel requires some help with its general welfare assistance programs, let's help."
Rabbi Maynard Bell executive director of the local office of The American Jewish Committee, said,
"It's upsetting to find yourself in somebody else's theological script in which you're going to die.
On the other hand, I suppose some take the pragmatic view that Israel needs all the friends they can get and if people want to give money in largess in social causes in Israel, why refuse it?"
Les Cherow a member of RJC, American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and Temple Chai,
a Reform congregation in Phoenix,
http://www.templechai.com
attended AIPAC's annual convention in Washington in March, where Hagee was the keynote speaker.
"He impressed (my wife and me) of being a very strong supporter of Israel and a defender of Israel's right to exist," he said, and plans to attend the June 24 event.
"These people are genuinely supportive of Israel and their biblical beliefs," he said.
"The motivation is not to convert Jews ... the motivation is to fulfill the biblical injunction to support Jerusalem and Israel.
"Israel needs their support and appreciates their support."
'A Night to Honor Israel'
This month's program in Phoenix features Hagee as keynote speaker, will acknowledge Holocaust survivors present, and includes music by Wild Branches -
whose band members are part of a Christian band with special guest Hazzan Avraham Alpert
an Arizona State University graduate in music education who was born and raised in Chandler
and is now cantor for Mosaic Law Congregation a Conservative synagogue in Sacramento California
http://www.mosaiclaw.org
Scottsdale First Assembly will contribute the money taken from the offering of that morning's church service, according to Morris, one of the church's pastors.
Jeremy Marwil past president of Temple Beth Sholom a Conservative congregation in Chandler Arizona
http://www.templebethsholomaz.org
attended an "A Night to Honor Israel" event Feb. 6 at Furman University's McAlister Auditorium during a business trip to Greenville, S.C. "I was impressed," he said.
"I thought there was good energy.
I found it very worthwhile, and it recharged my Jewish batteries."
Hagee's speech at the AIPAC convention so inspired Harlan "Bud" Hockenberg of Des Moines Iowa
a frequent Phoenix visitor, that Hockenberg plans to attend CUFI's second annual Israel/Washington summit July 16-19
to "more fully engage in CUFI and encourage their participation in Iowa."
Summit participants will lobby congressmen in support of Israel; more than 3,500 attended last year's summit, according to cufi.org.
"Allies are critical in America at this time in support of the U.S.-Israel relationship," Hockenberg said.
"The absence of Israel would be a critical negative for the American Jewish community."
Details
What: "A Night to Honor Israel"
Who: Christians United for Israel
When: 6:30 p.m. Sunday, June 24
Where: Phoenix Symphony Hall, 100 N. Third St.
Cost: $18
Tickets: ticketmaster.com
http://www.jewishaz.com/issues/story.mv?070608+night
Feelings mixed about 'A Night to Honor Israel'
LEISAH WOLDOFF
Managing Editor
A Christian evangelical group that raises money and lobbies for Israel is receiving a mixed reaction from Valley Jews for its upcoming "A Night to Honor Israel" program.
Described in the group's press materials as
"a non-conversionary salute to the nation of Israel and the Jewish people of the world," the program,
to be held June 24 at Phoenix Symphony Hall,
is sponsored by Christians United for Israel (CUFI),
http://www.cufi.org
founded last year by Pastor John Hagee an evangelical Christian minister from San Antonio.
"There are probably very few issues in which the Jewish community is more divided than the embrace of evangelicals as front-line spokespeople advocating on behalf of Israel,"
said Bill Straus regional director of the Anti-Defamation League,
who said he has received about a half-dozen calls about the upcoming program, mainly from people interested in ADL's stand on the event.
"Our position is that it's a matter of personal choice," he said.
Since its founding in February 2006, CUFI has raised about $10 million for Israel through
"A Night to Honor Israel" events in about 55 cities across the country, according to Pastor Eddy Paul Morris
CUFI city director for Phoenix and a clergy member of Scottsdale First Assembly.
About $7 million of that came from John Hagee Ministries he noted.
The remaining $3 million came from individual and church donations. A recent evening in Minneapolis raised $147,000.
Working with federation
In many of the cities where CUFI has held the event,
organizers contacted the Jewish federation in that city beforehand, and Phoenix was no exception.
Jewish Federation of Greater Phoenix leaders met with representatives of CUFI and agreed to inform the Jewish community about the event and accept funds raised during the
evening for TIPPS (an acronym for Tucson, Israel, Palm Springs, Phoenix and Seattle),
the federation's partnership program with the Israeli communities of Kiryat Malachi and Hof Ashkelon.
Before agreeing, the local federation contacted Jewish federations in other cities,
all of which reported that, despite some controversy from within their communities,
they had a positive experience working with CUFI and found the funds helpful for their work in Israel,
according to Adam Schwartz federation CEO.
"The event was happening with or without us, and we felt that it was important to have a relationship," Schwartz said.
He noted that the federation has mainly received a positive response from the local Jewish community,
although "there have been concerns raised ... discomfort highlighted."
"We were very honest with (CUFI representatives)," he said.
"There's a lot of mistrust in the Jewish community for them, ourselves included.
We believe we're not walking into this with blinders on ... We believe we are attending the event having proactively addressed issues of concern that members of the Jewish community have in
regard to the relation between evangelical groups and the Jewish community and that we are only dealing with this group and this group only wants to deal with us on one issue, and that issue is support of Israel."
Besides federation e-mails,
CUFI is spreading the word through local radio stations KXPQ-1360 AM and KKNT-960 AM http://www.kknt960.com/
and Morris was a guest on the "Middle East Radio Forum" with William J. Wolf on KKNT and "Praise the Lord" on KPAZ-Channel 21.
Domestic disagreement
Some members of the Jewish community say it's difficult to separate evangelical support for Israel from their conservative
political views on domestic issues,
including opposition to gay marriage and abortion.
"On one hand, I'm glad they reached out to the Jewish community for involvement in this," said ADL's Straus.
"On the other hand, we're an organization perhaps more than any other organization rooted in the Jewish community that comes up oppositionally to some of the domestic agenda issues of the evangelicals."
For example?
"We don't like that the King James Bible is used as a textbook in parts of the country. They like it."
Jerry Gettinger an organizer of a newly formed local chapter of the National Jewish Democratic Council
said that support of Israel is not the only issue important to the Jewish community.
"Simply because someone says he's a strong supporter of Israel,
doesn't make him a friend of the Jewish community,"
he said.
"(Hagee's) belief system is contrary to a lot of things that Judaism professes."
Ira Forman executive director of the National Jewish Democratic Council
based in Washington, D.C.,
said he understands the federation's temptation to accept the money Hagee raises,
"but these are folks who have opposed and will oppose Israeli government policy when it conflicts with their ideology.
"These are people that believe war with Iran is part of the end-of-day scenario,
and this is to be desired.
That's not to say we can't treat them with respect and be thankful when they support Israel,
but it's very problematic for our Jewish institutions to get this close to them."
Members of the Phoenix Board of Rabbis are mixed in their view of supporting "A Night to Honor Israel."
The board is "absolutely not" endorsing the program, according to its president,
Rabbi Andrew Straus, spiritual leader of the Reform congregation Temple Emanuel of Tempe
http://www.emanueloftempe.org
although some board members support it.
Speaking for himself and not as head of the rabbinic board, Straus said he has "some very strong concerns about John Hagee,"
citing Hagee's vision of the state of Israel as an example,
noting that his vision -
Hagee is opposed to a two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict
is very different from the vision of the vast majority of Israelis and American Jews.
"The reality is, the money he raises is not all that significant.
Israel's economy is one of the strongest and most vibrant in the world," Straus said.
"Ten million dollars ... sounds impressive, but it's ultimately a drop in the bucket."
Straus said that although Hagee "speaks pro-Israel and brings evangelical Christians to being pro-Israel,"
he disagrees with him 100 percent about domestic policy.
"We need to ask ourselves, 'Who do we choose to be allies with?'"
Shofar of unity
Rabbi Arthur Lavinsky spiritual leader of Beth El Congregation a Conservative synagogue in Phoenix
http://www.bethelphoenix.com
is supportive of CUFI's work and will participate in the June 24 program, blowing a shofar during the ceremony as a symbol of unity and reciting the closing prayer.
"I consider it an honor to help them honor Israel," Lavinsky said.
"I am extremely mindful that some of Israel's very best friends can be found among devout Christians," he said.
"Obviously we don't see eye to eye with them on every issue, but we do share a support for the only democracy in the Middle East and a shared love for democracy in general."
Rabbi David Rebibo spiritual leader of Beth Joseph Congregation an Orthodox synagogue in Phoenix,
http://www.phoenixbethjoseph.org
said he doesn't see the point of not cooperating on the subject of Israel.
"I welcome the opportunity to work with them and to work for the sake of Israel," he said.
"As the prophets say,
'For the sake of Zion, I shall not be silent.'
I don't think we should be silent when we have Christians who want to help."
The Republican Jewish Coalition sent e-mails publicizing the June 24 event to members of its local chapter.
"We believe that right now in this very dangerous time where Israel's very existence and survival is at stake,
it's important that we as a Jewish community look to our allies and supporters to stand with us and to stand with Israel,"
said Matthew Brooks, executive director of the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC),
based in Washington D.C. "Evangelical Christians have proven themselves to be ...
a very effective voice at helping to increase the amount of support of Israel in the American public."
He contrasts them with mainline Protestant churches that promote divestment from Israel and encourage anti-Israel commentary.
"They're out front to weaken the U.S.-Israel relationship," he said.
'We have to agree to disagree'
The first "A Night to Honor Israel" took place Sept. 10, 1981,
in San Antonio,
after Hagee felt that the media denounced Israel's bombing of the Osirak nuclear reactor in Iraq.
"I personally felt that Israel had done the peace-loving world a favor in stopping the construction of this nuclear reactor that most assuredly would have been used for production of nuclear bombs in the Middle East," writes Hagee in CUFI promotional materials.
After that evening, Hagee hosted a few "A Night to Honor Israel" programs in different cities, including Phoenix in the early 1980s, then continued to hold one annually at his own church.
In an interview in the March 20, 2006, issue of The Jerusalem Post, Hagee was asked,
"In the ultimate vision to which you subscribe, there is a second coming, and what happens to Israel and the Jews then?"
"Every Christian believes that Jesus Christ is the messiah," Hagee replied.
"The Jewish people do not believe that.
In that regard we have to agree to disagree.
I say to my rabbi friends:
'You don't believe it; I do believe it. When we're standing in Jerusalem, and the messiah is coming down the street, one of us is going to have a very major theological adjustment to make.
But until that time, let's walk together in support of Israel and in defense of the Jewish people, because Israel needs our help.'"
In this interview, Hagee also denounced replacement theology
(a belief that the Christian Church has taken the place of the Jewish people) and explained the evangelical belief on Israel:
"Evangelicals believe that Israel has a Bible mandate to the land, a divine covenant for the land of Israel, forever.
That the Jewish people are chosen of God and are the apple of God's eye.
That Christians have a Bible mandate to be supportive of Israel and the Jewish people, to demonstrate to the Jewish people what they have not experienced from Christianity for 2,000 years ... the love of God."
Hagee wants Israel to exist for his Christian thelogical reasons, noted Rabbi Robert Kravitz
a local rabbi, in an e-mail to Jewish News.
"Others have addressed his need to have an Israel that is ultimately destroyed,
so his fellow believers will enter his version of Paradise. Those ideas are anathema to Jewish theology as I understand it."
"He stands by his midrash; we motivate new support for Israel.
We accept graciously the dollars and testimonies on behalf of the State of Israel from his organization,"
Kravitz wrote.
"Initially I viewed him as disingenuous.
Today I feel his offer of support is not to be taken lightly ...
Israel requires some help with its general welfare assistance programs, let's help."
Rabbi Maynard Bell executive director of the local office of The American Jewish Committee, said,
"It's upsetting to find yourself in somebody else's theological script in which you're going to die.
On the other hand, I suppose some take the pragmatic view that Israel needs all the friends they can get and if people want to give money in largess in social causes in Israel, why refuse it?"
Les Cherow a member of RJC, American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and Temple Chai,
a Reform congregation in Phoenix,
http://www.templechai.com
attended AIPAC's annual convention in Washington in March, where Hagee was the keynote speaker.
"He impressed (my wife and me) of being a very strong supporter of Israel and a defender of Israel's right to exist," he said, and plans to attend the June 24 event.
"These people are genuinely supportive of Israel and their biblical beliefs," he said.
"The motivation is not to convert Jews ... the motivation is to fulfill the biblical injunction to support Jerusalem and Israel.
"Israel needs their support and appreciates their support."
'A Night to Honor Israel'
This month's program in Phoenix features Hagee as keynote speaker, will acknowledge Holocaust survivors present, and includes music by Wild Branches -
whose band members are part of a Christian band with special guest Hazzan Avraham Alpert
an Arizona State University graduate in music education who was born and raised in Chandler
and is now cantor for Mosaic Law Congregation a Conservative synagogue in Sacramento California
http://www.mosaiclaw.org
Scottsdale First Assembly will contribute the money taken from the offering of that morning's church service, according to Morris, one of the church's pastors.
Jeremy Marwil past president of Temple Beth Sholom a Conservative congregation in Chandler Arizona
http://www.templebethsholomaz.org
attended an "A Night to Honor Israel" event Feb. 6 at Furman University's McAlister Auditorium during a business trip to Greenville, S.C. "I was impressed," he said.
"I thought there was good energy.
I found it very worthwhile, and it recharged my Jewish batteries."
Hagee's speech at the AIPAC convention so inspired Harlan "Bud" Hockenberg of Des Moines Iowa
a frequent Phoenix visitor, that Hockenberg plans to attend CUFI's second annual Israel/Washington summit July 16-19
to "more fully engage in CUFI and encourage their participation in Iowa."
Summit participants will lobby congressmen in support of Israel; more than 3,500 attended last year's summit, according to cufi.org.
"Allies are critical in America at this time in support of the U.S.-Israel relationship," Hockenberg said.
"The absence of Israel would be a critical negative for the American Jewish community."
Details
What: "A Night to Honor Israel"
Who: Christians United for Israel
When: 6:30 p.m. Sunday, June 24
Where: Phoenix Symphony Hall, 100 N. Third St.
Cost: $18
Tickets: ticketmaster.com
http://www.jewishaz.com/issues/story.mv?070608+night