At least in America the Orthodox don’t burn buildings where Yeshua is worshiped as Messiah, they just refuse to enter them, it is apparently forbidden. However things are a little different in Israel where the struggle against “the Mission” takes a more violent turn, from respected rabbis officiating at the burning of a New Testament (which is often justified by anti-missionaries), vehicles fire-bombed various times, burning other places of worship, invading a place of worship and bombing the son of a Messianic Jewish leader. Just this last few days a church building in Jerusalem suffered an arson attack. Witnesses say that moments before the blaze a group of Orthodox men stood outside shouting ‘let it burn’. In 1982 the same church was in fact burnt down after an arson attack by Orthodox ultranationalists.
Israeli daily Ma’ariv carried the headline on the recent fire – SUSPECTED: ORTHODOX JEWS LIT A FIRE IN A CHURCH IN THE CENTER OF JERUSALEM
Ha’arets reports
A church in central Jerusalem was set afire before dawn Wednesday and suffered extensive damage, police said. Arsonists, suspected to be extremist Jews, forced their way into the church and set it afire, church officials said Wednesday. The sanctuary used by four separate congregations, including Baptists, had been burned down in 1982 by an ultranationalist Jewish group and later rebuilt, said a pastor at the church, Charles Kopp.
Here is the Press Release from the Christian Alliance:
The Jerusalem Alliance Church Ministry Center, Rev. Jack Sara, 1st of November 2010
On Friday morning at 1:00 AM we reported a fire to the Jerusalem police and fire department, which erupted in our church property on Prophets Street 55 in the center of Jerusalem. The church property is known as the Jerusalem Alliance Church Ministry Center (JACMC). Ten persons were sleeping in the church overnight facilities in the building at the time. Nine persons visiting the Holy Land together as a group were from one of our churches in the USA. One person was from a church in Denmark. Members of this group alerted me to the emergency, and neighbors living next to our church alerted emergency agencies in Jerusalem to come to the scene of the fire. Within 20 minutes emergency and ambulance personnel arrived to fight the fire and evacuate any persons that may have been remaining in our church building.
The main location of the fire was discovered to be in 2 lower basement rooms, which we had named Room Number Six and Seven. By 1:20 AM the fire crews with hoses had located this fire and I saw 2 sofas outside the building (and positioned 1.5 meters outside these rooms) being heavily consumed in flames. The flames in Room Number 6 were extinguished, smoke was cleared from Room Number 7, and the remainder of the church building was checked and emergency rescue teams and equipment were removed and departed.
All 10 persons had evacuated themselves earlier without serious injury. When the church building had filled with smoke, most of these persons had been awakened from their sleep by the smell of the smoke and quickly went to alert others. After arriving outside, most of them went to the Bikur Cholim Hospital Clinic (located adjacent to our church building on Prophets Street) for medical check-ups and treatment. After receiving timely medical care, especially for smoke inhalation, they were released at 5:00 AM in reasonably good health. Some were still in minor shock and discomfort.
The police [at the time of the fire] gave us no clue of who would be the persons behind the fire! The church is located near a very religious Jewish neighborhood.
But the Police did confirm for us today that it was arson.
This church building was erected by Christian and Missionary Alliance church since the start of the 20th century, was completed in 1914, mainly used for the serviced of believers who come from different backgrounds. Palestine Bible College was established there , an Arab congregation was established there and it continues to exist till our day and time.
After the 1948 was access to Arabs at that section of the city was limited, that why they had to allocate in the Old City of Jerusalem in the Christian Quarter, Al Rusul Street.
Since 1967 the building served for many purposes besides being a sanctuary for worship. Hosted several international and local congregations, was used as a pilgrims house for so many years and since the beginning of the second Intifada was used by both the Israel college of the Bible and the Alliance Leadership Training Institute as a training center for leaders among the congregations in the Holy Land.
Ultimately we always desired our building to be a beacon of light reflecting God’s love to all people. Situated in a city that it’s enough divided by hate we seek to be an agent of reconciliation and peace to all parties.
We will continue to serve the Holy Land residents from this place, proclaiming peace and justice for all human beings, declaring God’s love for all of our neighbors, friends and enemies.
When rabbis such as Rabbi Amnon Yitzhak sanction the burning of the sacred books of another faith then there is little wonder that the buildings come under attack, what next? Let’s hope it is a call from these same rabbis condemning book burning and arson.
What a name they give themselves. Terrorist could be another one.
The history of ‘the Church’ is not so bright on this regard either!
David,
You’re only getting one side of the story here: the wrong side. The chief burners of religious books in history are the Christians, and the favorite target of their fury has always been the Jewish Talmud. The axe Gev has to grind is with Judaism, not book burning. It it was book burning he cared about, he would have chosen an illustration from the majority, not the exception, in that phenomenon.
And when it comes to openly discussing whom the real perpetrators of violence and oppression are in the missionary world, mum is the word here at the Rosh Pina Project. Otherwise, you’ve have seen a blog entry covering, for instance, this piece of news that Gev is silent on: http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/news/General+News/74576/Court-Convicts-Missionary-of-Attacking-Yad-L'Achim-Activist.html.
Matt, true ‘the Church’ has been guilty of book burning and a lot of other indefensible evil, none of which I seek or desire to justify and rationalize, rather simply to condemn. However as ‘the church’ has had 2,000 years at book-& building burning (only recently to have stopped!) it doesn’t mean that the anti-missionaries have to try their best to catch up!
Those Yeshiva World articles are cut & paste jobs directly from the Yad L’Achim web reports and do not seek to portray an accurate account of events, it is mere propaganda and rhetoric.
Good reporting, Joe. The Christian Embassy in Jerusalem has said this was “price tag” work which you have also reported on here extensively.
Here is also a link to a recently declassified document that was obtained from the U.S. State Dept in a FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) request on the activities of Yad L’Achim, the ultra-Orthodox anti-missionary group that practices evil against believers in Israel.
Whether this was the work of the “price tag” religious settlers or Yad L’Achim or other stirred up by the hysterical accusations both hurl at the believers of Yeshua in Israel, we do not know for certain. What is certain is that it is the same spirit that moves these groups into greater and greater acts of violence against believers.
We should all be praying for the believers in Israel who have been facing these threats down with little outside concern expressed by believers throughout the world. The time for that to end is past.
Hi Donna, this is Gev not Joe who did this report, thanks.
Good points Donna, also the perpetrators may perhaps have been the (neo-) sicarii – we’ll wait and see I guess.
I’ma gonna tellaya sumthin!:
I’ma not gonna rest untila I broughta alla tha Jewsa to worship Jesus at his homa in Roma.
Why should one be surprised? Look what they did to the prophets and the Apostles, and what they had done to Yeshua.
“they”??? They are not the same people, this is 2,000 years on. Religious radicalism & intolerance is to blame if it does turn out to be anti-missionaries.
Jeez, bography. Sounds like somebody got up on the anti-Semitic side of bed this morning!
“they”? Bography if you want to make antisemitic generalisaions you are not welcome on rpp. got it?
that comment reveals a self hatred; its heartbreaking to think thats how
you talk about your own Jewish people…”they” …. boy are you brainwashed
I don’t think bography had the intention of talking about us Jews in general, he loves them [,though the way he posed it has been used with a different mind by the anti-semite christians of all kinds of background]. I guess (hope) he meant those specific very small group of sometimes bloodthirsty fanatics that spent more time in hunting down there fellow Jews, who happen to have a different opinion of who the Mashiach is, and the same kind of fanatic people did kill in their blind convictions, high self esteem or just because their ideas didn’t fit in their politic program. I wished they were so honest to equally behave and feel towards our fellow Jews who openly follow the abominations of the eastern religions, but no, they let them go astray after those obvious idols. Two measures; tell me why?
Those kind of people you could find also among the so called christians, those involved in fervently persecuting Jews, being them selfs part of the inquisition in the late medieval times. Call them misguided, psychopathic, narrow minded, demon possessed. But they all have one thing in common: blind hate for everything that is there target and that hate does not disappear until the subjects of that hate is either removed, subdued or annihilated and a superior esteem of their point of view that tends to be far narrower than there former teachers proclaimed.
Thanks Shmuel, glad you did the hard work for me.
Jim comments on this RPP post
http://roshpinaproject.com/2010/11/02/all-missionaries-look-the-same-to-yad-lachim/#comment-15539
“Yad lachim is an evil organization. At least, being an American, I have the freedom to call them this without being subjected to slander, lies, and propaganda. They will be judged in time…and like all other organizations built on lies, they will be revealed as what they are. Any Rabbi that would condone their activity, knowing full well what they are doing, is committing a sin.”
“Woe to you (NO, this is not Jim speaking), because you build tombs for the prophets, and it was your forefathers who killed them. So you testify that you approve of what your forefathers did; they killed the prophets, and you build their tombs. Because of this, God in his wisdom said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and others they will persecute.’ Therefore this generation [NOTE DOV, NOT "GENERALIZATION] will be held responsible for the blood of all the prophets that has been shed since the beginning of the world” (Luke 11:47-50).
The “they” are those in Luke 11 as well as the “they” in any age who attack peaceful (DOVes) followers of Christ.
Also, keep in mind that God can turn any stone into an Israelite’ or any Israelite into a stone.
Love you lots Dov and Bubby.
I am one of those Jews who has a different view of the Mashiach. Yet I can’t get away from the fact that by blood, and culture I am Jewish no matter how neurotic and reformed my family was. I believe like you that targeting hatred toward another group be they messianic or not. The anti-Zionist Christians who continue to be as blind, blood thirsty continue to be apart of the inquisition whether they accept it or not. The same holds true for the small group of blood thirsty Orthodox. Both sides need to admit to the defective hatred that swells nothing but annihilation. I believe that Christians should start showing respect towards their older brothers. This is almost akin to the story of Cain and Able. The present Pope needs to put back into action Vatican II’s plan to stop preaching the word that Jews killed Jesus on Good Friday. I think that alone will show respect and admit that that dangerous notion perpetrated much pain and death. I plan on spreading that word myself no matter the hostility I may get.
Oh no, it’s not the Orthodox Jews, surely. yet more dispiriting news.
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What’s next to be burned, you say? People: those who read the New Testament and attend church.
Sorry to appear cynical, but a church in Iraq was attacked and dozens of people died. Believers are in the crosshairs (no pun intended) of Israeli Orthodox Jews and Middle Eastern Muslims. We can respond in love to their hate, but if their hate can’t be cooled, we need to stand up and at the very least, defend ourselves.
No Azi,
I think ….ians have done a pretty good job of “defending” themselves against Jews over the last 2 millenia already, don’t you??
Your “news” item is all wrong. Jews are not in the habit of burning churches while there are many Arabs in Jerusalem, near that church as well, who do engage in that kind of behavior. The early suspicions have no foundation. In any event, the official determination is that candles in the church were the cause of the fire. See http://en.linga.org/christian-news-in-the-holy-land/article-438.html and http://en.linga.org/christian-news-in-the-holy-land/article-437.html for a full report with photos.
According to your first link: “But the Police did confirm for us today that it was arson.”
Ok Jake, just blame the Arabs or maybe the candles, even worse, nefarious arab candles!
Or blame those darn spritually blind Jews who we know did it anyways, cuz, hey they killed C didn’t they???
Nope!
Yeshua was tortured and executed by the wicked hands of the Gentiles, i.e. Romans (Luke 18:32,33; Acts 2:23; Tacitus, Anales, XV, 44:2).
Fear and hatred is what started the flames not the candle alone. Anyone ever hear of the saying Anger is one letter less than DANGER. I think every sect of Jews and Arabs should keep that in mind the next time you think shooting a gun, throwing a bomb or candle will stop the pain burning inside your mind and soul.
No, no, you’ve all got the wrong end of the stick; your candle’s arson about face.
“Burning New Testaments and churches, what next?”
Funny question for a Christian with a persecution complex to ask about the Jews! Let’s not forget that of all the evil nastiness one group of people could possibly do to another, has been introduced to humanity primarily in the Christian endeavor of tormenting Jews. I think the real question for Jews to ponder, as the Christian world sits idly by as Ahmadinejad continues developing the nuclear arsenal with which to make good on his promise to vaporize Israel, and as the leader of the Christian world, Barak Obama, restrains Israel from self-defense under this threat, just what it is that Christendom is doing to Jewry next.
Anon a simple condemnation of the arson attempt will do.
What is “the Christian world” Anon, we live in a post-Christian Europe, most Europeans would not consider Obama their leaders, I guess many more Americans don’t either!
Gev,
Post C….tian maybe, but old prejudices die hard, don’t they??
In fact , it would seem that some old prejudices just don’t die…..
they get recycled, repainted and reused on blogs like this one!!!
ANON
You’re really back this time. Give us a hug.
Shmuel, you mentioned above – in connection with Dov being horrible to me about being antisemitic – an important word: “intention.” Specifically, what did BoggleRaphy mean by “they”???!!!
I posted something on intentions and interpretation on my Bog that RPP may find of interest in this connection.
“Digging below the surface of Torah, Midrash and Vulgate: When very good is evil.”
http://onedaringjew.wordpress.com/2010/11/06/digging-below-the-surface-of-torah-midrash-and-the-vulgate/
I am a JudeoChristian minister. I wish the Jews would not burn Christian churches and burn New Testaments and spit on Christian pastors but they are God’s chosen people so anything they do is fine with me.
I wish they wouldn’t mistreat the poor Palestinians in Gaza and deprive the children of food and medicine. I wish the Jews would not board anymore relief ships in international waters and murder the peace activists but I pray for Jerusalem.
I fear that the actions of the Jews will create powerful enemies that will blame both Israel and America for the evil deeds being done by the Jews today.
You are an anti-Semite.
Why is that?
Dr Tony told me: “I wish the Jews would not burn Christian churches and burn New Testaments and spit on Christian pastors”
Tony, it’s not ALL Jews who do that. It’s not even all religious Jews. It’s those fanatical, ultra-bigoted, intolerant extremists and censorship radicals.
Tony wishes “they wouldn’t mistreat the poor Palestinians in Gaza and deprive the children of food and medicine. I wish the Jews would not board anymore relief ships in international waters and murder the peace activists”
Tony, it’s not ALL Jews who do that. It’s not even all religious Jews. It’s those fantical, ultra-bigoted… uh, oh wait. Yeah, er, I’ll have to get back to you ’bout that.
“Tony, it’s not ALL Jews who do that. It’s not even all religious Jews. It’s those fantical, ultra-bigoted… uh, oh wait. Yeah, er, I’ll have to get back to you ’bout that.”
What are you implying, Ken?