5/5/2008 12:27:00 PM VOICES: Hagee, Yoffie and the Jews: Values Count
Jeffrey K. Salkin Guest Columnist
It has been a long time since I have read such a mean-spirited assessment of a Jewish leader's words as those that emanated from Michael Jacobs ("Reject Yoffie, Embrace Christian Zionists," April 18). I was in Cincinnati to hear Rabbi Eric Yoffie's remarks, and I would like to offer a slightly different, more balanced interpretation.
The column failed to mention the context of Rabbi Yoffie's remarks about evangelical Christian support for Israel. The program was a dialogue between Rabbi Yoffie and Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, who has worked with many Christian Zionist groups for many years. Rabbi Yoffie did not issue a blanket condemnation of all Christian Zionists but rather was particularly critical of Pastor John Hagee's role in this movement.
And what are those issues? Simply these: Hagee has made some brutal comments about the Roman Catholic Church, as well as painting all of Islam as a horrific religion. The American Jewish community and the Roman Catholic Church have worked on their relationship for more than a half-century, and as the pope's recent visit to a Modern Orthodox synagogue in New York demonstrated, there have been great strides in that mutual healing. As we expect Sen. Barack Obama to criticize his pastor for his shrill and bigoted remarks, we Jews should do no less with those who make anti-Catholic statements. Anti-Catholicism in this country has been a much stronger social movement and may even have deeper roots than anti-Semitism.
So, too, with Islam. We all bemoan the radical turn Islam has taken, at least in its public voice. Hagee's remarks, despite the fact that he didn't make them on the nights when Michael was present to hear him, are simply not helpful.
So, too, are some of Hagee's other remarks. Consider his analysis of North American weather patterns. "All hurricanes are acts of God, because God controls the heavens. I believe that New Orleans had a level of sin that was offensive to God, and they were recipients of the judgment of God for that." Hagee said that on National Public Radio on Sept. 18, 2006. In that same program, he suggested that Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans because of a scheduled gay pride parade. Do we as Jews agree with him on this?
Hagee's Cornerstone Church in San Antonio announced a "slave sale" to raise funds for high school seniors in his church bulletin, The Cluster, with the sentence "Slavery in America is returning to Cornerstone" and the ending "Make plans to come and go home with a slave" (as reported in the San Antonio Express-News, March 7, 1996). The way we choose to raise funds is, in fact, not "just business"; it is an expression of deep values. As Jews, do we agree with Hagee in this - especially we Jews in Atlanta who have worked so hard to build positive and redemptive relationships with African Americans?
At no time did Rabbi Yoffie condemn all Christian Zionists. Quite the contrary; both he and Rabbi Eckstein expressed gratitude for their contributions to Israel, as Michael did in his column. But both Rabbi Yoffie and Rabbi Eckstein agreed that the social and cultural views of Hagee are deeply problematic. I suspect that many Atlanta Jewish Times readers would do so as well.
Whether we are Republican or Democratic, I think we would agree that such views are beyond the pale of helpful discourse. Most American Jews, regardless of party affiliations, maintain somewhat liberal views on social and cultural issues. It has been my experience that Jewish conservatives tend to limit that conservatism to fiscal matters and foreign affairs. The growing conservatism of the Jewish community has not, as far as I can tell, prompted us to throw in our lot with gay-bashers, racists and anti-abortion activists. In this, Rabbi Yoffie was not only reading his constituency (Reform Jews) correctly, but I believe the American Jewish community as a whole.
As a matter of record: I have long believed that it is possible, even necessary, to enter into alliances with people whose total worldview we do not happen to share. I suspect, however, that most American Jews still reserve a visceral distaste for the politics of vitriol, as well we should.
I agree that a beleaguered Israel, increasingly isolated by mainstream Christian groups and the intellectual "elite" of America, needs all the friends it can get. But as we approach Israel's 60th anniversary, I would encourage us to broaden our sense of what it means to support Israel and what it means to be a Zionist. The intent of Zionism was not only to make the Jews a "free people in our own land" (from the words of Hatikvah); its intent was to have larger psychological implications. Zionism came to liberate the Jewish people from their servile status among the nations. Zionism came to liberate the Jew from the cringing necessity of walking, hat in hand, from door to door seeking acceptance. It was intended to give us the power of self-determination.
That power of self-determination means that we get to be selective in choosing our allies. It means that we need not present ourselves as being perpetually emotionally and politically needy, hoping for whatever love may come our way. We can afford to be even slightly more critical of some of those who support Israel but who demean other things that we as American Jews hold so dear.
Finally, I agree with an (unspoken) statement that Michael Jacobs seems to be making. Perhaps some of our negative reactions to Christian Zionists stem from a certain sheepishness - that they have surpassed the Jewish community in their support for Israel politically, emotionally and certainly financially.
Thousands of Christian Zionists visit Israel for Sukkot; where are we? Christian Zionists kept Israeli hotels in operation during the darkest days of the intifadas, at times when overly safety-conscious American Jews found other places to visit. When we go to Israel, we tend to go as tourists; they go as pilgrims. Let us face reality: Travel to Israel has never been American Jewry's strong suit. Thank God - literally, thank God! - for Taglit Birthright, which is making monumental strides in transforming that sorry picture and in creating an Israel-oriented "habit of the heart" for a new generation of Jews.
By contrast, there are Christian families who tithe for Israel. There are Christians who are supporting elderly Jews in the former Soviet Union. There are Christian children who willingly go without Christmas presents so as to be able to give money to Israel.
If we are cringing when we read this, then perhaps we should be asking ourselves: When are we going to get with the program? For that, too, is Zionism - Jews building their own land with the sweat of their brows and with sacrificial offerings from their own wallets. As the old Zionist hymn puts it: "We have come to the land to build and to be rebuilt by it."
Rabbi Jeffrey K. Salkin is the executive director of Kol Echad: Making Judaism Matter (judaismmatters.org). He is also the editor of A Dream of Zion: American Jews Reflect on Why Israel Matters to Them.
