Mayor Shimon Gampso (Photo: Haaretz)
Israel Today reports this story of Shimon Gampso, the mayor of Nazareth Elite who hasn’t quite grasped the nature of democracy, freedom of religion, freedom to change religion, freedom to preach your religion and free speech. Little surprise from a mayor who wanted to ban Christmas Trees from the Nazareth suburb a few years ago and was arrested for allegedly taking bribes and claimed more Arabs would have been killed if he were in office during clashes with police in 2000:
Nazareth Elite, a sleepy Jewish town in Galilee adjacent to the Israeli Arab city of Nazareth, found itself at the center of controversy over alleged “missionary activity.”
Residents woke up one morning to find the town covered with posters, headlined: “Love Has Returned to Our Family,” “God Corrects All of My Mistakes” and “Teens Need God.” The posters included a toll free number to call for a free booklet, including testimonies of those who had been helped by God. The posters were in Russian, targeting the town’s large population of immigrants from the former Soviet Union.
Nazareth Elite Mayor Shimon Gabso immediately had the posters removed on grounds that encouraging Jews to convert to Christianity is illegal. “This is clearly a case of missionary activity,” Gabso said. “It is offensive to the Jewish population of Nazareth [Elite], which is a Jewish Israeli town. We don’t allow proselytizing.”
A Messianic Jew named Alex, who initiated the campaign, said that if anyone is on the wrong side of the law, it’s the mayor. “What Gabso did is actually illegal,” he said. “We live in a democratic society and we have freedom of speech and of religion.”
Alex said the poster campaign cannot be described as proselytizing because Christians are not even involved. “We believe in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob,” he said. “We have a right to express and share our faith.”
Ultra-Orthodox residents in the town were outraged. “They are snatching Jewish souls,” said one of them. “What the Nazis failed to accomplish during the Holocaust, the missionaries are trying to achieve now.” Ironically, ultra-Orthodox Jews routinely post their beliefs in similar posters. As for secular residents, many said it’s much ado about nothing.
“If it helps people, why not?” one person told Israel Today.
The full text of this and other great articles appear in the July 2012 issue of Israel Today
Democratic principles are meaningless unless enforced by law.
{{“If it helps people, why not?” one person told Israel Today.}}
Yeah, why not if Yeshua’s philosophies/teachings changed you (or you have become more Jewish)? If He is not the Messiah, you would not lose anything since you were changed by doing what He said. If He is, what a jackpot!
Good grief Gev, you have made this your life mission to bash Jews who want to protect Jews from converting. Get a clue Gev! Apparently most Jews considering Christianity or believing in Jesus/Yeshua (whatever you’re calling it to appeal to Jews) to be damaging to the Jewish community. Why is that Gev? Why are we so blatantly offended by your beliefs? What could our Rabbi’s be teaching us that makes us reject your religion?
Truth and kindness are my life’s mission leah8.
I do get the impression that you interpret others motives, beliefs and actions through your own previous matrix as a missionary yourself and find it hard to see the point being made outside that.
The point is the mayor is breaking Israeli law, not the Messianic Jews, who have every right to promote their faith as do the frummers who put up their posters. No religion need State favour, each should stand or fall by their own virtues. By the very fact that Messianic Jews are so defamed and harassed it drives and fuels the need to seek public redress and correct the lies that are told.
In any case there is a significant minority of Arab Christians and also non-Jewish Russians living in Nazareth Elite. Though Israel is a Jewish State, it always has had and always will have citizens who are members of other religious groups, and they are free to promote their beliefs in the public sphere as is the State religion.
In other words you are saying “it’s our right, we’re free to spread the world to the Jews and if you don’t like it too bad for you!”
Why do you force yourself on us when we have made it clear again and again we don’t want your religion? You’re like a fatal attraction.
Our Torah is very clear we are never to run after other gods, signs, wonders, other beliefs.
I have never known a Christian to do acts of kindness for a Jew without the motive to convert us. They’re very sneaky about it however. They’ll befriend us and never bring it up, all the while saying “but if the chance opens to tell them about Jesus, I’ll tell them” Christians are very clever in this and turning everything into a dialogue about Jesus.
leah8 everyone has the right to talk about their faith, promote their faith and defend their faith in ethical and moral ways.
Again I sense you are interpreting everyone else by how you used to be!
I see you can’t help still turning the dialogue into a conversation about Jesus.
Gev: “Again I sense you are interpreting everyone else by how you used to be!”
I learned that from psychology. You are right. The way we see the world around us is based from our own perspective or experience.
I can sense that mostly the most rabid anti-messianic posters here were once gentile Christians. Was their conversion to Judaism out of love for GOD or just a mixture of Jewish-envy hype, frustrations that they could not win Jews to “Jesus”, I wanna-be-Jew-too feelings, etc?
Re: “I can sense that mostly the most rabid anti-messianic posters here were once gentile Christians. Was their conversion to Judaism out of love for GOD or just a mixture of Jewish-envy hype, frustrations that they could not win Jews to “Jesus”, I wanna-be-Jew-too feelings, etc?”
You’re half right.
I’ve seen them all, really. I think most are the “I wanna-be-Jew-too feelings”, some are “because of the Jewish-envy hype”. I doubt the frustration but there are the lost remnant you failed to mention.
Let me try and explain.
Many lost Jews are waking up to their lost history. This is what happened to me. Rabbi Posh spoke about this when he helped the hidden Jews of Poland find their way back. There are Jews who got separated, lost, hidden during the Holocaust, forced to convert during the Crusades, left or someone in their family tree converted hundreds of years ago during the Inquistions. There’s a lot written about these Jews and many of them are finding their way back. DNA testing has done much to uncover lost ancestry’s, especially for the Jews of Spain. As Rabbi Posh said: “now is the time, the Jewish soul is awakening and saying arise, arise”. Unfortunately Messianic Judaism has done much to steer these “lost Jews” off track. G-d promised every last grain would be brought back and not one would fall through the sieve. Many of them are having dreams they don’t understand, they know they’re being called back. Most of them don’t understand what’s happening to them, why they’re suddenly sensing they’re Jewish and they try to find their way and get side tracked in the Messianic church. I saw this years ago, the first time I went to one. I was trying to find my way back home to my homeland Israel and ended up there. I knew it was a stepping stone, a bridge to connect me from my previous Christian world to my Jewish identity. The Messianic church should be helping these lost Jews along the way but they resist the idea of sending them to a Rabbi for conversion. This is why you see them settling for these so called fake conversions. I’ve been researching this for years ever since my own Jewish soul stirred awake, before the whole Messianic movement took off.
Thanks hyechiel, we think alike! The Rabbi who puts this website up is a friend of mine! Look him up on facebook too.
@Leah8 – Hope you are well. Been a while since we conversed. Here is the question: Is Israel a democracy or not? If so, do they protect freedoms of speech and religion? If the Mayor is breaking the law and violating people’s right, how is Israel any better than their corrupt neighbors that are experiencing the so called Arab Spring?
Shalom.
Russ
@Leah8 I have to call you on this one. I know a lot of Christians with a genuine love for the Jewish people who are not out to try to convert them. We conversed quite a bit previously and you have always treated every motive of Christians towards Jews as suspect. And that is wrong. It is no different then when people say disparaging remarks about Jews such as all they care about is money. Treating any group like that is wrong. Having a case of buyers remorse does not make anyone an authority on another group.
Once again, hope you are well and Shalom.
Russ
If you can bring a Christian here who will say they would not convert a Jew given the chance I’ll believe you but as it is now they’re out in full force with their Isaiah 53 campaign, billboards, books…
@leah. Where is here? It is my guess you are in Israel. Christians and Jews interact all over the world. I have Jewish friends who have Christian friends and they discuss each others beliefs. And if you really want to know someone you want to know what they think, what they believe. I recently heard a quote by a famous atheist who said that if someone thinks they know how to obtain eternal life, how could they not tell anyone. Why do Christians want to convert anyone? Because they believe that Christians will go to heaven and live with God forever. Otherwise, people go to hell. And if they are out to convert Jews or anyone else to get them to heaven and keep them out of hell, how can they have evil motives? You may not like their actions, but keeping you out of hell does not sound like hatred to me. You may not agree with their foundational beliefs, but that does not reflect on motives. I had a Muslim friend in school who said he hoped I converted to Islam. I was not offended, because I know that he cared about me and wanted me to be right with G-d. And if Judaism is so worth defending, why aren’t there Jewish Missionaries out to convert people? Why are you not trying to convert me? Am I, a non-Jew, not worthy of knowing G-d? Should I be kept away from knowing about HaShem because I am not Hebrew? Is my soul not worth it? I seek truth, and I think that I am shown I am willing to listen in my posts. If you have the truth, if you believe that you have the truth, I am listening. Something tells me that when you were a Christian, you would have cared a lot more about my soul then you do now. I am not trying to condemn you, but please take a step back and take an honest look at how label people.
A little food for thought there. Hope you are well.
Russ
Hi Russ, I appreciate your honest and well worded perspective.
My perspective comes from many walks. Not to be arrogant but I probably know Christianity better than the majority of Christians. I was a “street person” on the streets with Linda Meissner, David Wilkerson and many famous names from the JPM seeking lost souls. We especially targeted Jews.
Before I left four years ago I had done a deep introspection, heartfelt prayer and intense study of the Christian scriptures, history of the church, origins of Christian doctrines, etc. I never would have walked away if I hadn’t given it my very best to try to prove to myself that everything I believed was true. I begged G-d in prayer to show me that J was everything I ever believed he was. I didn’t want to stop believing in him. How and why that changed is a story I’ll not share with you.
Jews do not seek converts. It’s against our religion. A convert must seek out a Rabbi and be turned down three times before they are accepted for conversion.
We also don’t believe in Hell. Most of us believe in reincarnation.
When you look back at the history of Christianity and forced conversions it’s hard too think your intentions are good. Did you know the church was complicit in the Holocaust?
I hope this answers your questions.
Frankly I like most Christians. The majority of them are good people who do much to help the downtrodden. I know many Christians and with a few exceptions we get along well with each other.
@leah. Thanks for your response. I appreciate your honesty. And yes I am familiar with history. I am an amateur historian in the area of world war 2, and what led up to the tragedies. I am somewhat familiar with the pogroms, and the Frankfurt Ghetto which spawned the Rothschilds and the Schiffs. I have been to Dacau. But my point was is that hanging labels on people like that is wrong. What about Corrie Ten Boom? What about Oscar Schindler? Why is the a Yad Vashem? How about the room at the Holocaust Memorial in Washington DC dedicated to those who helped save Jews? (When in DC I always go to the Holocaust Museum) Were they trying to help their fellow human beings or were they trying to keep Jews alive long enough to convert. What about the international fellowship of Christian and Jews? (I see them on TV) Do all those people donate money to convert jews or are they trying to help people? I know about Jewish conversion and being turned down three times, I never understood it. If I am walking by an Orthodox synagogue in my old neighborhood, and the lights are not on because the automatic system failed, and I turn the lights on, am I suspect, or am I capable of doing it our of respect for sincere religious beliefs of anlther? As to the church being complicit in the holocaust, they may or may not be a correct assertion. If you define church as organized religion, then yes many were involved, but no not all of them. If you define church as I have been told that the bible defines it, as the body of believers, that is a different story. (I have been reading up) I have been told by Christians that antisemitism is completely incompatible with with Christianity. I have also been told that after many centuries Christianity’s attitude towards Jews is changing rapidly and radically, and that only G-d is capable of doing that. I don’t know if it is true or not, but worth thinking about.
The only position I have taken in this debate is that it is wrong to label people.
Shalom to you and Good Shabbos to all my Jewish friends.
Russ
This will be brief since it’s almost Shabbos but your point is taken. I have nothing but appreciation for the Righteous Among the Nations. Most Christians I know are very good and generous people who not only support Israel but help starving nations. Unfortunately it has also been my experience to meet up with many evangelicals who are motivated to convert us. The messianics have been the worse offenders. They set up outreach ministries in Israel and entice them to come in, win their confidence and subtly manipulate the conversation around to…. I know this because I met these people. My congregation supported their ministries and I’m embarrassed by it. I did a street ministry in 1969. Converting Jews was worth an extra crown in heaven.
Look up “Stormtroopers for Christ” and “Theologin’s Under Hitler”. I own both these dvd’s and I think you might be able to find them on youtube. It’s a real eye-opener.
political parties use to play with people’s emotion on the name of religion just for the votes ,
The state of Israel has NO constituition…How could it be a democracy? There is NO freedom of speech or religion…WHY do American Christians support this anti-Christ nation??
I beg your pardon??? “anti-Christ nation?
You have confirmed all my suspicions mr doug pro – whoever you are, mr enemy of the Jews.