Some U.S. Christians Rank Cult of Israel Above Teachings of Christ

By Grace Halsell

Do literally millions of U.S. "Christian fundamentalists" put a cult of Israel above the teachings of Christ? Do they not care that, in the Land of Christ, Israeli tactics of confiscation of land belonging to Christians, denial of building permits to Christians, and denying Christians access to their jobs are creating a new and terrible Christian exodus?

I dealt with Exodus II in the March-April issue of the Link, published by Americans for Middle East Understanding (AMEU).* Responses to that article, entitled "In the Land of Christ, Christianity is Dying," indicate that for some U.S. Christians, whatever Israel does is fine with them.

For example, my own cousin Henry, who lives in my home state of Texas, wrote to say he had read the Link article. Regarding the death of Christianity in the Land of Christ, he at first seemed to share my concern: "Can you imagine the Holy Land becoming an amusement park—with the Israelis owning all of it," he wrote, "and Christians paying to gain entrance to the Holy Sepulcher and the manger where Christ was born?" But then he added, "Well, maybe those age-old animosities will never be solved. Maybe we should just let the Israelis manage it!"

My cousin seemed to be saying: Let the Israelis be in charge of our Christianity, let them tell us what our faith really means, what we should believe, and then if they say a cult of Israel is above the Sermon on the Mount, so be it.

A friend, a woman professor at a Texas university, wrote that she was "alarmed" by the Link article. She suggested it should be made widely available and added: "How about sending it to denominational papers, to allow them to reprint it?" It's a good idea, and I know one regional officer at a major Protestant denomination has ordered copies for every minister of his denomination in the district for which he is responsible. But how many Washington Report readers can actually name an American church paper that might print, or even consider for publication, any article raising questions regarding Israeli treatment of Palestinians? (I'll exclude Christian Century from this contest. Its editor, James Wall, has written on exactly the same subject both in 1994 and now again in 1995.)

Responses to my article raise a second question: Do some U.S. Christians believe that Jews read the Bible in the same way Christians do? Many apparently do.

For example, Sara Mae, a friend in Washington, DC, telephoned after reading the article to say she found the situation "alarming." And then she told me this story: She and her Aunt Pearl signed up for a tour of the Land of Christ. Because of some incident in the news, most of the other tourists dropped out. This meant that Sara Mae and her aunt had a guide all to themselves. "He took us around to the Christian sites, and he read from the New Testament," she told me. "He was a—[pause] a Hebrew," Sara Mae continued, using her ancient terminology to indicate she had an Israeli Jew for a guide. "He carried a New Testament, and at the Christian sites, he read so beautifully, so movingly. And Aunt Pearl said to me, 'I suspect...he is a believer.'" Sara Mae added, "I too thought he must be a believer."

Orthodox Jews do not read or accept any part of the New Testament.

Her story reminded me of two trips I had taken with groups led by TV evangelist Jerry Falwell. On both trips, we stayed only in Israeli hotels, ate exclusively in Israeli restaurants, and had only Israeli Jewish guides. Although we were several hundred Christians, we were not given any opportunities to go inside a Christian church or to meet any Palestinian Christians. Once, after our Jewish guide had read New Testament scripture at a Christian site, Mona, my roommate, sidled up and whispered, "I just have a feeling—he must be a believer!"

Orthodox Jews do not, however, read or accept any part of the New Testament, and they do not read the Old Testament as do Christians. This is a point stressed by Dr. Israel Shahak, an Israeli Holocaust survivor and writer, in his recently published book, Jewish History, Jewish Religion. Rather than accept the Old Testament as it is written, Dr. Shahak says, religious Jews turn to the Talmud—and its interpretations. For them, the Talmud itself is the "Bible." The Talmud, according to Dr. Shahak, teaches Jews they should hate the sign of the cross, and that on each occasion when they see a cross, they should spit on it. The Talmud is especially critical of Jesus and states that "His punishment in hell is to be immersed in boiling excrement."

The Talmud's "Deeper Influence"

Christians would be well served to study the Talmud, Dr. Shahak believes. He tells us that classical or rabbinical Judaism "has undergone few changes over hundreds of years." Talmudic Jewish laws written in this century and endorsed by the Rabbinical Court of Jerusalem, composed of rabbis nominated by the state of Israel, become "Jewish ideology." The Talmudic laws, Shahak says, provide the "deeper influence" for "the apartheid character of the Israeli regime" in occupied Palestine as well as an official sanction of a negation of non-Jews by Jews.

I am aware that anyone who attempts to speak or write on the racism inherent in the Talmud risks the charge of anti-Semitism. I was emboldened, however, by the way Dr. Shahak himself handles this. He urges people to be true to their own convictions, pointing out that earlier in this century when people didn't stand up to European fascism terrible tragedies occurred. In order to avoid further tragedies—in this era a genocide of Palestinians—it is important, Shahak stresses, to speak out against the chauvinism of the Jewish Talmudic laws and instructions.

AMEU makes Dr. Shahak's book available at a reasonable price. I recommend it as essential reading for any American Christian, Muslim or Jew who wishes to understand how Israeli Jews—especially the most religious ones—can support measures by their government designed to drive all non-Jewish residents out of the Holy Land.

Grace Halsell, a former White House speech writer in the Johnson administration, is the author of 12 books, including Journey to Jerusalem and Prophecy and Politics, both available from the AET Book Club

*Copies of the January-March issue of the Link may be obtained from AMEU, Room 570, 475 Riverside Dr., New York, NY 10115, tel. (212) 870-2053. Copies of Jewish History, Jewish Religion by Dr. Israel Shahak may be obtained from the same address for $15.50 each.