It’s not often that you’re tapped for a minyan in a room full of 4,000 evangelical Christians. Nonetheless, Wednesday night one of the 20 or so Orthodox men also there—no doubt noticing the kippah on my head – walked up to me at the press table and simply said, “Minchah” and pointed over yonder.
No need for a Talmudic debate on what that meant. So I joined the group heading toward a corner of the cavernous hall turned banquet space. As we walked, Hebrew songs blared and people sitting at the several hundred large round tables waved Israeli and American flags to the tunes.
Welcome to the Christians United for Israel (http://www.cufi.org ) annual gathering in the nation’s capital, one that features two days of workshops followed by a journey to Capital Hill to lobby Congress on further cementing strong U.S.-Israel ties.
I’ll be writing more during the week about this, but I want to get a few impressions out now as in addition to hearing workshops and overhearing a lot of hall chatter, I had sit-down interviews with about a dozen people. They were sincere, diverse and well informed.
• They did not like President Barack Obama – which is a polite way of putting it. Indeed, nearly every speaker during the three-day event (and there were plenty of Jewish ones, including Republican Jewish Council head Matt Brooks) could be identified with the GOP. (Where do we fit Sen. Joe Lieberman?) The star lineup also included American Values head and former presidential candidate Gary Bauer, Sen. Rick Santorum and Rep. Eric Cantor. For good measure, we’ll toss in former National Security Council staffer Eliot Abrams, US News & World Report boss Mort Zuckerman and Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren. The latter’s boss – Binyamin Netanyahu – appeared on a live satellite feed, which had the delegates leap to their feet with cheers.
• The three main political points they took to the hill: Stop Iran from getting a nuclear weapon; support Israel’s right to defend itself; and Israel is not the problem and pressure on it is not the solution.
• The common theological refrain: God commands us in Genesis to bless the descendants of Abraham, who are the Jewish people. “Replacement theology,” which says God’s covenant with the Jews has passed on to Christians (generally referred to as “the church”) is offensive. Jews still have that covenant and God’s protection. So anti-Semitism is a sin against God; we Christians know that we have messed that one up badly, but will not allow for another Holocaust.
And no, not one peep was heard publicly about end-time scenarios in which those Jews who survive the Armageddon will become “complete Jews” by turning to the returned Jesus as humanity’s savior. Nor was there a mixing of agendas. The words “abortion,” “prayer in school” and “family values” were not heard. They kept on message.
From a Jewish perspective, the scenes were simply wild. There was energetic hora dancing as the live band played Havanagilah, Hineh Ma Tov and more. There were scripture readings (both Hebrew and New Testament) all in English. There were roaring bible-thumping speeches by Pastor John Hagee (who founded the operation). There was a passionate, thundering endorsement by a rabbi he befriended in Texas 30 years ago. There was praise of members of Hispanic and African American churches participating as their representatives rose to much applause.
There was even an “offering” collected – this one to support CUFI’s work on college campuses (and the 400 college students there made their presence known, prompting the Rev. Hagee to smile and say, “Oh, to be young again.”)
Not surprisingly, nearly all the representatives of the media with whom I was sitting seemed to be Jewish (although a few represented Christian TV stations and operations). It’s fair to say that we were amazed by the energy of people of all ages, the singularity of commitment and the very un-Jewish flavor of the event.
Oh, the stories I have to tell this Shabbat!
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 07/22/10 at 01:47 PM
CANDLELIGHTING THE JEWISH VIEW HOLIDAYS JUDAISM 101
FEATURED JOBS
PRESCHOOL DIRECTOR
Fulton, MD
TEMPLE ISAIAH
Part Time Positions
Baltimore, MD
Sol Levinson & Bros. Funeral Home
Accountant
Baltimore, MD
THE ASSOCIATED: Jewish Community Federation of Baltimore
View All Jobs
Post Your Resume
BLOGS
Neil Rubin
On The Other Hand
Editor — exploring modern Jewry
The Passion Of ‘Christians United For Israel’
Share
Tweet
It’s not often that you’re tapped for a minyan in a room full of 4,000 evangelical Christians. Nonetheless, Wednesday night one of the 20 or so Orthodox men also there—no doubt noticing the kippah on my head – walked up to me at the press table and simply said, “Minchah” and pointed over yonder.
No need for a Talmudic debate on what that meant. So I joined the group heading toward a corner of the cavernous hall turned banquet space. As we walked, Hebrew songs blared and people sitting at the several hundred large round tables waved Israeli and American flags to the tunes.
Welcome to the Christians United for Israel (http://www.cufi.org ) annual gathering in the nation’s capital, one that features two days of workshops followed by a journey to Capital Hill to lobby Congress on further cementing strong U.S.-Israel ties.
I’ll be writing more during the week about this, but I want to get a few impressions out now as in addition to hearing workshops and overhearing a lot of hall chatter, I had sit-down interviews with about a dozen people. They were sincere, diverse and well informed.
• They did not like President Barack Obama – which is a polite way of putting it. Indeed, nearly every speaker during the three-day event (and there were plenty of Jewish ones, including Republican Jewish Council head Matt Brooks) could be identified with the GOP. (Where do we fit Sen. Joe Lieberman?) The star lineup also included American Values head and former presidential candidate Gary Bauer, Sen. Rick Santorum and Rep. Eric Cantor. For good measure, we’ll toss in former National Security Council staffer Eliot Abrams, US News & World Report boss Mort Zuckerman and Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren. The latter’s boss – Binyamin Netanyahu – appeared on a live satellite feed, which had the delegates leap to their feet with cheers.
• The three main political points they took to the hill: Stop Iran from getting a nuclear weapon; support Israel’s right to defend itself; and Israel is not the problem and pressure on it is not the solution.
• The common theological refrain: God commands us in Genesis to bless the descendants of Abraham, who are the Jewish people. “Replacement theology,” which says God’s covenant with the Jews has passed on to Christians (generally referred to as “the church”) is offensive. Jews still have that covenant and God’s protection. So anti-Semitism is a sin against God; we Christians know that we have messed that one up badly, but will not allow for another Holocaust.
And no, not one peep was heard publicly about end-time scenarios in which those Jews who survive the Armageddon will become “complete Jews” by turning to the returned Jesus as humanity’s savior. Nor was there a mixing of agendas. The words “abortion,” “prayer in school” and “family values” were not heard. They kept on message.
From a Jewish perspective, the scenes were simply wild. There was energetic hora dancing as the live band played Havanagilah, Hineh Ma Tov and more. There were scripture readings (both Hebrew and New Testament) all in English. There were roaring bible-thumping speeches by Pastor John Hagee (who founded the operation). There was a passionate, thundering endorsement by a rabbi he befriended in Texas 30 years ago. There was praise of members of Hispanic and African American churches participating as their representatives rose to much applause.
There was even an “offering” collected – this one to support CUFI’s work on college campuses (and the 400 college students there made their presence known, prompting the Rev. Hagee to smile and say, “Oh, to be young again.”)
Not surprisingly, nearly all the representatives of the media with whom I was sitting seemed to be Jewish (although a few represented Christian TV stations and operations). It’s fair to say that we were amazed by the energy of people of all ages, the singularity of commitment and the very un-Jewish flavor of the event.
Oh, the stories I have to tell this Shabbat!
Posted by Neil Rubin on 07/22/10 at 01:47 PM
You made some good points there. I did a search on the abercrombie and fitch topic and found most people will agree with your blog.
Posted by ugg on 12/06/10 at 02:11 AM
“Yes, Christian Zionists have a “heart for Israel” and many lovingly dedicate their entire careers to this cause. You can see it in their glowing faces, their tears, and their joy at Christian Zionist events. But this is “tough love,” a desire to save Jews from themselves and simultaneously bring about the Christian Millennium. The words “pray for the peace of Jerusalem” refer to prayers for a peace that they believe will only be attainable when Israel “returns to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” In this language, returning to God means accepting Jesus as Messiah.”
“....millions of people worldwide have been taught to view current events through the lens of a prophecy narrative. For instance, any peace treaty prior to Jesus’ second coming is described as a demonic trick of the anti-Christ, a man who Hagee describes as a homosexual, partially Jewish, and possibly a Nobel Peace Prize winner.”
These statements are taken directly from an article by Rachael Tabachnick, an author with an impressive body of research and writing on the CUFI, Christian Dominionism, Hagee and end times narratives. This quote was taken from a piece in recent edition of Zeek, an on-line magazine (http://zeek.forward.com/articles/116891/). Besides Zeek, I also strongly recommend looking up Tabachnick and others writing on Talk2Action.com for lot of additional information.
Hagee’s claim to a dispensationalist viewpoint is nothing more than a con and manipulation of a set of facts of which many are much less familiar. That any end times material has not come up at the conference being discussed would seem more a strategic plan by CUFI (part of the well planned con) and one over which they have clearly exercised clear and effective control.
Hagee is not classical dispensationalist (one who believes the end times will come only when they are ready). Furthermore, classical dispensational theology believes that supernatural gifts (from prophecy to seeing and ridding the world of demons) as well as human ability to directly interact with god ended with the close of the New Testament period (fundamentalism). But Charismatics, of which Hagee is now a leader, strongly support the ability to access and actively utilize these ‘gifts.’ There are, in fact, 3 year ‘academies’ to train students in these skill sets. This has, in fact, given rise to the New Apostolic Reformation, a movement to which Hagee is closely associated (but not widely publicized)...Sarah Palin, too, but that is for another day.
The messianic Jewish line is, perhaps, the most important Jewish group to CUFI in that it holds onto its putative Jewish construct but accepts Jesus at its messiah. That they actively and painfully proselytize their cause fulfills yet another key feature of the Christian Zionist mantra. The rise of messianic Judaic thought is actually quite consistent with the end times prophesies.
I would encourage you and any other readers here who are yet unsure about Hagee and CUFI to go to Talk2Action.com and enter him into their search mechanism. You will be guided to articles which include extended video clips of his speeches and harangues which very, very clearly demonstrate both, his virulent anti-Semitism along with the fact that he and his organizations aggressively believe that the end times narratives can be propagated by their actions. And control over Israeli demographics is a very BIG part of this narrative.
But Christian Zionists’ ardent advocacy for attacks on countries they see as a threat to Israel is not out of love for Israel or Jews but focused on the fact that Israel must be in the hands of Jews (and a lot more of Israel than is currently the case) to trigger the end times sequence. They also actively teach the hunter and fisher sequence leading to a second wave of worldwide Antisemitism and holocaust which forces all Jews back to Israel and repentance for denying Jesus as the Messiah. Remember that it was a video of Hagee talking about Hitler’s value as an ultimate ‘hunter’ that forced John McCain to disavow Hagee’s support for his Presidential candidacy.
Israel is struggling and it is understandable to want to believe in such a large and powerful organization as CUFI when they say they believe in the independence of the state of Israel. And this is magnified as CUFI continues to donate huge sums of money and community projects to Israel and selected settlements. But CUFI also needs those settlements to remain and to grow big and strong. They need the settlements to not only remain but to attract large numbers of Jews from the Diaspora in order to meet the guidelines for the end times narrative.
Not wanting to make this post interminably long (!) I will end it here…but could, and would prefer, to provide more detail. There is a lot of information out there via several excellent website and authors (a couple I’ve identified above) which provide valuable and highly credible information about CUFI, Hagee, the New Apostolic Reformation and ‘friends.’ I encourage all to take a serious look. Hagee and CUFI are incredibly dangerous to the politics, realities and needs of Israel and the Jewish Diaspora and shedding more light on their actions and intentions is key.
Posted by Lou Sandler, PhD on 08/06/10 at 01:55 PM
Ira is correct. Mr. Rubin, Are you familiar with the Hebrew phrase “Not out of love for Mordecai but out of hatred for Haman” ?
Until the rise of Marxism-Leninism, Islam was the only civilization to give Christendom a run for its money - and to suggest that, indeed, there could be a revelation that could surpass God’s self-revelation in a Son. No wonder there is such Christian animosity toward Muslims!
Secondly, the Rapture- ready CUFIs are Scriptural fundamentalists, aren’t they? So what do they make of the NT passages condemning Jews as Christ-killers?
Thirdly, how do the CUFIs’ regard their fellow Protestant fundamentalists who go by the name of “Jews for Jesus” ? The latter are known for deceitful tactics- why shouldn’t the CUFIs be regarded with equal suspicion?
Posted by ploni on 07/24/10 at 11:23 AM
If these Evangelicals honestly believe the Jews remain God’s chosen people and simultaneously claim to disavow any allegiance to “Replacement theology,” then what could possibly be keeping them from outright conversion to Judaism?
After all, there must be an ideological point of departure from mainstream Judaism somewhere in their ideology, and I’m guessing it has to begin with—The Jews sinned, the Jews fell from God’s grace, and when Jesus selflessly sacrificed himself and offered to absolve his own people of their terrible transgressions, they stubbornly rejected his generosity.
So how can we reconcile this underlying belief in the notion that the Jews refused to accept the person who Evangelicals believe to be the Messiah, with their seemingly rabid devotion to both the Jewish people and the state of Israel?
Here’s a shot in the dark: Perhaps this unlikely alliance is actually predicated on the possibility that that Muslims happen to frighten Evangelicals more than Jews at this point in history? And if this is the case, how does accepting Evangelical support foster peaceful coexistence between Israel and its Islamic neighbors in the long run.
Are Evangelical and Jewish goals really one and the same? Or is something big being lost in translation?
FEATURED JOBS
Comments (6)