Wouldn’t it be great to know that the Jewish people had 20 million or more friends strongly dedicated to the development and safety of the state of Israel? Or would we cite the old saying, “with friends like these, who needs enemies?” That issue has become increasingly debated within the Jewish community since Pastor John Hagee founded Christians United for Israel (CUFI) in February of 2006. Hagee is the senior pastor of the 18,000 member Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, Texas. The Forward Newspaper described CUFI's rise: “In little more than a year since its inception, Hagee’s Christian Zionist group — with an almost entirely volunteer staff of 13 regional directors, 46 state directors and more than 85 city directors — has hosted 40 dinners in cities nationwide, well-attended by Jews and evangelicals alike. To date, the events, billed as ‘Nights to Honor Israel,’ have raised more than $10 million for charitable causes in the Jewish state.” When Jewish Federations around the country launched “Israel Emergency Campaigns” during the 2006 Hezbollah war, CUFI gave $1 million to the San Antonio Federation alone. An internal dispute erupted as some Jewish leaders accepted invitations to the CUFI dinners while others, including Reform Jewish leaders, used them as an opportunity to reject CUFI and Hagee.
The Forward described Hagee as, “the author of several books on what is known as ‘end days’ theology. His most recent book, Jerusalem Countdown, depicts a scenario in which Iran and a coalition of Islamic countries, led by Russia, will unleash a nuclear attack on Israel, leading to the ultimate battle of Armageddon. According to Hagee, this battle between what he terms the ‘Islamo-fascists’ and the Christians and Jews is already upon us and will entail the loss of countless Israeli lives.”
At the CCAR convention last week, Rabbi Eric Yoffie, President of the Union for Reform Judaism, took a strong, public stand against cooperation between the Reform Movement and CUFI and Pastor Hagee. Rabbi Yoffie spoke along with Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (See the NYTimes profile of Rabbi Eckstein from 2005). Rabbi Eckstein is one the leading Jewish advocates for cooperation with Evangelical Christian Zionists.
I urge you to read the full text of Rabbi Yoffie’s speech on the URJ website.
Rabbi Yoffie distinguished his critique from the usual progressive Jewish fears. Many fear that Christian Zionism is a façade for proselytizing to Jews. They also fear that Christian Zionists ultimately seek to inflame the Middle East in order to bring about the end-of-time scenario that is central to their religious beliefs. Many progressive Jews oppose any alliance with evangelicals because of their strident opposition to abortion, gay and lesbian rights, and other social and political issues we typically support.
Rabbi Yoffie stated that he does not reject working with CUFI because of abortion or other issues. In fact, he noted, we work closely with the Catholic Church and others with similar outlooks. He does not reject CUFI because he fears their ulterior motives. He stated, “in my experience… motivations are notoriously hard to judge,” and we could assume their support for Israel is not a conversion ruse. Rabbi Yoffie rejects political alliance with CUFI and Pastor Hagee for two reasons. “The first is that Jews should not enter into alliances of any kind with those who do not speak respectfully of other faith communities.” Many have accused Hagee and other CUFI leaders of disparaging Islam and Catholicism. Rabbi Yoffie specifically cited Hagee as calling the Catholic church, “the great whore,” an “apostate church,” and “false cult system.”
The second reason Rabbi Yoffie rejects an alliance is that Pastor Hagee and CUFI members, “oppose any territorial concessions by the Government of Israel for any reason whatsoever. It follows that their vision of Israel rejects a two-state solution, rejects the possibility of a democratic Israel, and supports the permanent occupation of all Arab lands now controlled by Israel.”
Pastor Hagee responded directly to Rabbi Yoffie’s comments. You can listen to Hagee’s full statement to the press. Pastor Hagee denied directly attacking the Catholic Church. You can see his notorious comments for yourself here on YouTube (this is the link the Catholic League posted on their web site's critique of Hagee).
He argues that his comments reflect a theology and widely held understanding of the Book of Revelations wherein Christians will be separated and judged according their beliefs. Hagee’s point is that he is quoting and teaching Scripture and not attacking any one particular denomination. Revelations is the quintessential depiction of Armaggedon, the great battle against the anti-Christ, etc. Hagee’s infamous statement cites Revelations 17:1-3 with language drawn directly from the Bible. I am not an expert in New Testament and would not tread into a Christian internecine debate. However, his lesson does not strike me as hate speech. The annotations to these same verses in the New Oxford Annotated Bible (RSV) identifies the woman on the beast with Rome, “the city on seven hills and the arch-persecutor of the saints.” The Oxford annotations indicate that the “Rome” cited here is the pre-Constantine Roman Empire and not today’s Vatican. Hagee may be wrong in identifying the beast of Revelations with any particular church or any specific group, but this is a point of Christian interdenomination dispute. It is not a field where Jews should get involved.
By comparison, orthodox rabbis frequently, publicly, and unmistakably lambast our Reform movement and Reform rabbis in particular. They almost always cite scriptural verses and talmudic teachings in their assaults. They say the most virulent and dismissive things using the language of piety. They blame us for the Holocaust and identify us using biblical phrases that invoke the death penalty. A former President of the State of Israel would not even use the title "Rabbi" when speaking with Eric Yoffie. This kind of speech is ridiculous and has no place in civil discourse. Yet, we reach out to these same Jews when we can and never completely dismiss them as partners or brothers. We never ask non-Jews to enter the debate and cut them off either. I do not believe we should enter the fray of the Protestant – Catholic debate.
Hagee also argues that he supports Israel’s right to make its own decisions without American or other pressure to do more for the Palestinians than they are ready to do. He explicitly cites the Gaza withdrawal (and I would add the Lebanon withdrawal) as proof that Palestinian nationalists and Islamic militants will not respond to Israel’s peace gestures with anything other than violence. I agree with Hagee on this point. We need only look at the current situation in Sderot and intelligence reports that Hezbollah has re-armed to a more dangerous level than before the 2006 war – more missiles with longer range and better accuracy – in order to see that Israel’s pursuit of peace has not generated peace or good partners. Even Rabbi Yoffie concluded his CCAR speech: “from the Palestinians we see only relentless terror. Surely the Palestinian national movement, in its various manifestations, is one of the ugliest and stupidest national movements in modern history. Just once we would like to see a Palestinian leader come forward and say: the Jews are not in intrusion here, or an accident of history. Just once we would like to hear them say: in coming to Palestine, the Jews have come home. Just once we would like to see a Palestinian Rabin.”
Rabbi Yoffie's right. With friends like these we don’t need enemies.
The Forward described Hagee as, “the author of several books on what is known as ‘end days’ theology. His most recent book, Jerusalem Countdown, depicts a scenario in which Iran and a coalition of Islamic countries, led by Russia, will unleash a nuclear attack on Israel, leading to the ultimate battle of Armageddon. According to Hagee, this battle between what he terms the ‘Islamo-fascists’ and the Christians and Jews is already upon us and will entail the loss of countless Israeli lives.”
At the CCAR convention last week, Rabbi Eric Yoffie, President of the Union for Reform Judaism, took a strong, public stand against cooperation between the Reform Movement and CUFI and Pastor Hagee. Rabbi Yoffie spoke along with Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (See the NYTimes profile of Rabbi Eckstein from 2005). Rabbi Eckstein is one the leading Jewish advocates for cooperation with Evangelical Christian Zionists.I urge you to read the full text of Rabbi Yoffie’s speech on the URJ website.
Rabbi Yoffie distinguished his critique from the usual progressive Jewish fears. Many fear that Christian Zionism is a façade for proselytizing to Jews. They also fear that Christian Zionists ultimately seek to inflame the Middle East in order to bring about the end-of-time scenario that is central to their religious beliefs. Many progressive Jews oppose any alliance with evangelicals because of their strident opposition to abortion, gay and lesbian rights, and other social and political issues we typically support.
Rabbi Yoffie stated that he does not reject working with CUFI because of abortion or other issues. In fact, he noted, we work closely with the Catholic Church and others with similar outlooks. He does not reject CUFI because he fears their ulterior motives. He stated, “in my experience… motivations are notoriously hard to judge,” and we could assume their support for Israel is not a conversion ruse. Rabbi Yoffie rejects political alliance with CUFI and Pastor Hagee for two reasons. “The first is that Jews should not enter into alliances of any kind with those who do not speak respectfully of other faith communities.” Many have accused Hagee and other CUFI leaders of disparaging Islam and Catholicism. Rabbi Yoffie specifically cited Hagee as calling the Catholic church, “the great whore,” an “apostate church,” and “false cult system.”
The second reason Rabbi Yoffie rejects an alliance is that Pastor Hagee and CUFI members, “oppose any territorial concessions by the Government of Israel for any reason whatsoever. It follows that their vision of Israel rejects a two-state solution, rejects the possibility of a democratic Israel, and supports the permanent occupation of all Arab lands now controlled by Israel.”
Pastor Hagee responded directly to Rabbi Yoffie’s comments. You can listen to Hagee’s full statement to the press. Pastor Hagee denied directly attacking the Catholic Church. You can see his notorious comments for yourself here on YouTube (this is the link the Catholic League posted on their web site's critique of Hagee).
He argues that his comments reflect a theology and widely held understanding of the Book of Revelations wherein Christians will be separated and judged according their beliefs. Hagee’s point is that he is quoting and teaching Scripture and not attacking any one particular denomination. Revelations is the quintessential depiction of Armaggedon, the great battle against the anti-Christ, etc. Hagee’s infamous statement cites Revelations 17:1-3 with language drawn directly from the Bible. I am not an expert in New Testament and would not tread into a Christian internecine debate. However, his lesson does not strike me as hate speech. The annotations to these same verses in the New Oxford Annotated Bible (RSV) identifies the woman on the beast with Rome, “the city on seven hills and the arch-persecutor of the saints.” The Oxford annotations indicate that the “Rome” cited here is the pre-Constantine Roman Empire and not today’s Vatican. Hagee may be wrong in identifying the beast of Revelations with any particular church or any specific group, but this is a point of Christian interdenomination dispute. It is not a field where Jews should get involved.
By comparison, orthodox rabbis frequently, publicly, and unmistakably lambast our Reform movement and Reform rabbis in particular. They almost always cite scriptural verses and talmudic teachings in their assaults. They say the most virulent and dismissive things using the language of piety. They blame us for the Holocaust and identify us using biblical phrases that invoke the death penalty. A former President of the State of Israel would not even use the title "Rabbi" when speaking with Eric Yoffie. This kind of speech is ridiculous and has no place in civil discourse. Yet, we reach out to these same Jews when we can and never completely dismiss them as partners or brothers. We never ask non-Jews to enter the debate and cut them off either. I do not believe we should enter the fray of the Protestant – Catholic debate.
Hagee also argues that he supports Israel’s right to make its own decisions without American or other pressure to do more for the Palestinians than they are ready to do. He explicitly cites the Gaza withdrawal (and I would add the Lebanon withdrawal) as proof that Palestinian nationalists and Islamic militants will not respond to Israel’s peace gestures with anything other than violence. I agree with Hagee on this point. We need only look at the current situation in Sderot and intelligence reports that Hezbollah has re-armed to a more dangerous level than before the 2006 war – more missiles with longer range and better accuracy – in order to see that Israel’s pursuit of peace has not generated peace or good partners. Even Rabbi Yoffie concluded his CCAR speech: “from the Palestinians we see only relentless terror. Surely the Palestinian national movement, in its various manifestations, is one of the ugliest and stupidest national movements in modern history. Just once we would like to see a Palestinian leader come forward and say: the Jews are not in intrusion here, or an accident of history. Just once we would like to hear them say: in coming to Palestine, the Jews have come home. Just once we would like to see a Palestinian Rabin.”
Rabbi Yoffie's right. With friends like these we don’t need enemies.
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