A Tragically Insulting and Destructive Act

Netanyahu promising harsh disciplinary action for this act (Times of India)

I was so angry last night that I couldn’t fall asleep! …thinking about the damage one lone IDF soldier has done to the Jewish people. The kind of damage that fits all too easily into the narrative of every white supremacist whose antisemitic version of Christianity has caused the Jewish people untold pain. Often culminating in mass murder. Even now, in the 21st century, we saw this when one of these ‘fine fellows’ massacred 11 people at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh several years ago.

This soldier has given these people all they need to justify their vile stereotypes about Jews. Having portrayed us as blood-sucking vultures led by an evil Jewish cabal bent on controlling the world and subjugating Christians.

What happened is this. A misguided IDF soldier severely damaged a statue of Jesus with a sledgehammer in the Christian village of Debel in Lebanon.

I cannot begin to express how wrong-headed this was. Not to mention how reckless. I assume he believed he was fulfilling the Torah’s command to destroy idols. Which was given to the children of Israel upon entering the holy land in biblical times. What he was actually doing was endangering the entirety of the Jewish people.

Even though we do not believe in the divinity of Jesus - and are indeed forbidden to do so - it is not forbidden for Christians, or for any non-Jews in general. Provided they also believe in God. (Rema, Orach Chaim 156:1) But by acting on a misunderstanding of halacha, he has caused tremendous harm to the Jewish people.

The tens of millions of Christian fundamentalists who are among the most devout Christians in this country – strongly support us. Catholics, too, have become far more supportive of us ever since Vatican II. They now view Judaism as a sister religion rather than the discredited one they once considered it to be. Their support is vital at a time when public support is waning.

Nowhere is this more evident than in the support shown by Mike Huckabee, former Christian preacher; governor; and current U.S. ambassador to Israel. His backing of the Jewish state often exceeds that of many Jews. Especially secular and heterodox Jewish Democrats.

And that doesn’t even begin to account for leaders like Minister John Hagee, whose organization, Christians United for Israel (CUFI), has likely raised more Christian support (both financial and moral) for Israel than all fundamentalist preachers combined. Many such leaders actively encourage support for the Jewish state - and in some cases even support Israel’s biblical claim to the West Bank. The more devout they are, the stronger that support tends to be.

I can only imagine the regret some of them might feel now after seeing a story like this. Indeed, Ambassador Huckabee publicly expressed his outrage. And voices like Tucker Carlson are probably already saying, “See? I told you so.”

I’m less concerned about Carlson and his ilk, who are increasingly being marginalized. But I am concerned about the mainstream. It is embarrassing in the extreme when good and decent people - many of whom have gone to great lengths to support us in our time of need - are ‘thanked’ by a Jew destroying a statue of their deity...

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