Christians United for Israel

My mind is in a whirl. The past three weeks have been soul changing. Much of the foundation on which my religious education was based has been shattered. If anything, my faith in Judaism, Israel and the Jewish people has strengthened. Is it not strange that this is the result of Christian support? And I believe that they would celebrate if they knew.

A little over two weeks ago, several of us from Sioux Falls attended “A Night to Honor Israel” at the Living Word Christian Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. I went to a similar event about three years ago and was moved then as well. Pastor Hammond really knows how to put on a great production. As you may have seen by an earlier post, the featured speaker this year was Dennis Prager. I wish more Jews could have been there to hear Dennis and feel the warmth for Israel and the Jewish community at that church. I was moved.

Dick Lewin, Dennis Prager & Stephen Rosenthal at A Night to Honor Israel in Minneapolis.

Since that event, I read Standing with Israel, by David Brog. David is the Executive Director of Christians United for Israel (CUFI). It is noteworthy that David is Jewish and was the Chief of Staff to Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania. This book is well worth the time to read. David, while Chief of Staff, was curious as to why Evangelical Christians are so Pro-Israel. His book goes into great historical detail with the explanation. Many things I did not know about Christian theology, David explained. A couple of interesting side points were that an evangelical Christian was responsible for Theodore Herzl meeting with Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany. The Kaiser gave official recognition of the Zionist movement at its very beginning. British Foreign Secretary Lord Arthur Balfour and the British Prime Minister Lloyd George were bible literalists. They believed that the Promised Land still belonged to the Jews. They were responsible for the Balfour Declaration. I was moved.

Pastor Michael Bang, South Dakota CUFI State Chair & John Summerville, Regional Director for CUFI

This past Thursday, Christians United for Israel for South Dakota in Sioux Falls organized their first meeting. Pastors Michael and Vicki Bang did an outstanding job. Carol and I attended the luncheon for pastors and the evening meeting for the public. Like the meeting in the Twin Cities, I cannot express how welcomed, as Jews, we felt. At both events, I saw people whom I have known for some time that I had no idea were Pro-Israel. John Summerville, the Midwest Region Representative of CUFI, gave exceptional presentations at both meetings. I was moved.

I was raised to be skeptical of Christians. Because of our last 2000 years of history, I grew up believing that most Christians are anti-Semitic. They base their belief on scripture that God gave the land of Israel to the Jews and that those who bless Jews will be blessed and those who curse Jews will be cursed. We skeptics would think or say that these Christians do not really mean what they say. They have ulterior motives. How can they care about us when so much of their domestic agenda many Jews oppose? I know that we have difficulty understanding people of faith. Most Jews question everything including God. So we believe that anyone who has such strong faith as these Christians are not all there. You can say that I have lost my mind. I believe them. I do not blame others for being skeptical. I hope that others will use their skepticism to educate themselves. Be a skeptic from knowledge. I pray that we do not let ignorance and prejudice cloud our views. Most hatred of the Jews comes from ignorance. May those quick to scream prejudice at others' ignorance not be ignorant themselves. I admit that I have had plenty of those feelings in the past. Like many other prejudices that I have overcome, knowledge sheds the light of understanding. I hope that others open their eyes and be moved like I have been.

I am proud to stand shoulder to shoulder with Christians United for Israel. I hope that many of my fellow Jews will do likewise.