Community Magazine November 2008

90 Community magazine the international community Missionaries Launch Massive Campaign in Israel Just several hours after waves of irate listeners called into the Galilee and northern Israel radio station Kol Rega in protest of radio ads paid for by Jews-for-Yeshu, the station took the campaign off the air. Three different versions of the ad featured voices belonging to a Rus- sian, a Moroccan, and a haredi Ashekanz, each saying that Yeshu was yeshua (the savior). The ad concluded with a voice-over that said, “Con- fused? Call for more information,” and provided a phone number. Dan Sered, head of the Jews for Yeshu organization in Israel, replied that his group is simply trying to share its faith. The radio ad is part of a larger missionary campaign that includes full-page ads in the weekend editions of Maariv and Yisrael HaYom, two Hebrew dailies. The news- papers received a flood of protests against these ads. Anti-missionary groups encouraged Jews to contact Maariv ombudsman, Mr. Meir Ble- ich, by phone 03-563-2284, fax 03-561-0614 or email chief-editor@ maariv.co.il to protest the paper’s acceptance of this kind of material. Christian activists have also been seen dispersing propaganda in Na- hariya, Kiryat Shmona, and Haifa. Several months ago, residents of Or Yehuda set a huge bonfire burning thousands of missionary pamphlets that were distributed in the town door to door. The municipalities of Ti- berias and Karmiel recently removed large “Jews for Yeshu” ads placed at prominent intersections. Israel National Radio’s Rabbi Tovia Singer, founder of leading anti- missionary group Outreach Judaism, has said that “Jews for Yeshu” is “trying to do to the Jews spiritually what Hamas is trying to do physi- cally.” Singer adds, “In their spiritual assault on Jewish communities in the US, Israel and Europe, ‘Jews for Yeshu’ deliberately blurs the distinctions between Judaism and Christianity in order to lure Jews who would otherwise resist a straightforward Christian message.” In response to the organization’s 65-city tour in 2006, Rabbi Singer made a 20-part counter-missionary series available for free on his website outreachjudaism.org . – ISRAEL NATIONAL NEWS AM:PM Accused of Forcing Jews to Work Yom Kippur Religious Jews would renew their boycott of AM:PM mini stores in Israel, according to Rabbi Yitzhak Goldknop, secretary of the Commit- tee for the Sanctity of Shabbat. This announcement comes in the wake of a report on Army Radio that the chain employed Jews in some of its Tel Aviv stores for maintenance work and cleaning on Yom Kippur. Earlier this year, the religious community boycotted AM:PM, until a compromise reached in April resulted in five of the chain’s 15 stores closing on Shabbat. According to the report, the employees were compelled to work in exchange for triple over- time, and in at least two of the stores, windows were covered to conceal the activity. AM:PM re- sponded by saying only that its shops were closed to the public on Yom Kippur. Industry and Trade Minister Eli Yishai of the haredi Shas party has ordered an investigation. – ISRAEL NATIONAL NEWS Counterfeit Sissit Found in Israel Badatz Eida Hareidit officials warn that there are many bogus hechsherim (kosher supervisions) in the marketplace and buyer beware. Badatz officials confirm receiving many complaints from alert consum- ers who were able to spot ‘defects’ that clued them into fake sissit being presented as “mehadrin Badatz Eida Hareidit.” Apparently, unscrupulous individuals have been using non-Jews – usually foreign workers paid less than minimum wage – to tie the sissit, which renders the garments unfit, yet is difficult to trace for the unsus- pecting consumer. To counteract the fakes, the Eida Hareidit is now offering sissit prepared and supervised by a mashgiah (rabbinic supervisor) and ac- companied by a certificate of authenticity signed by the mashgiah who supervised the tying. Additionally, a new kashrut label has been de- signed with a hologram, making forgeries increasingly difficult. Shop- pers are also urged to make their purchases in a store owned and run by a Shabbat-observing, Gd fearing Jew, who purchases his supply from reputable sources. – THE YESHIVA WORLD Vatican Retracts Conditions for Pope’s Israel Visit In response last month to an invitation from the State of Israel, Vatican official Cardinal Peter Gumpel stated that Pope Benedict XVI would not visit Israel until a caption below a photo of Pope Pius XII, which hangs in Yad Vashem’s Holocaust museum, was removed. The caption includes references to Pius’ inaction during the Holocaust, stating that “the Vatican did not react with either verbal or written protests” when more than 1,000 Jews were deported to Auschwitz from Rome in Octo- ber 1943, and that even after the war, the Pope “abstained from signing the Allied declaration condemning the extermination of the Jews.” In response to the demand, Yad Vashem said in a statement, “The presentation of the subject… at Yad Vashem is based on the best re- search regarding this topic.” After the comments by Cardinal Gumpel raised a storm of protest, the Vatican rejected the notion that the Pope would condition a visit to Israel on the removal of the display. Pope Pius XII, who headed the Catholic Church from 1939 until 1958, has long been accused of not using his influential position to help Euro- pean Jews and other victims of the Nazis during the Holocaust. Accord- ing to the Church, Pius worked “secretly and silently” during World War II to “avoid the worst and save the greatest number of Jews possible.” Foreign Ministry spokesman Yossi Levi said Saturday night, how- ever, that as long as the Vatican refuses to allow historians into its archives, the “painful ques- tion” of whether Pope Pius silently helped the Jews or not “will remain unanswered.” Cardinal Gumpel has been the driving force behind the cause of Pope Plus XII’s canonization for over 10 years. In 1998 he came under fire for comments to Austrian journalists in which he blamed the Jews for Communism among other offenses. – ISRAEL NATIONAL NEWS