Pray For The Peace of Jerusalem

An Appeal in the Jerusalem Post for Jews to Appreciate Christians and Accept Their Help

by Shmuley Boteach/TN : Nov 13, 2006 : The Jerusalem Post

"The one group traditionally identified as the single greatest threat to our continuity is becoming one of the chief guarantors thereof."

In an opinion piece published in the Jerusalem Post, Shmuley Boteach entreats his fellow Jews to accept and appreciate Christians. He begins his letter by asking the question: How can a tiny nation, often hated wherever it resides, possibly survive? Noting that this has been the paramount question governing Jewish existence for two millennia, he lists a new solution: "For the first time in history there is a...highly potent medium for Jewish survival: non-Jews. That's right, the one group traditionally identified as the single greatest threat to our continuity is becoming one of the chief guarantors thereof. Specifically, believing Christians are taking it upon themselves to ensure the survival and prosperity of the Jewish people in general, and of Israel in particular."

The new answer must be Christian love and support for the Jewish people and the State of Israel, and a case in point, adds Boteach, "is the ground-breaking work of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (IFCJ), founded by Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein. Thirty years ago, when Rabbi Eckstein bucked the trend in Jewish organizations and started building bridges to Evangelical Christians, he endured withering criticism and personal attack, by those whose shortsighted vision saw in Evangelical Christians enemies, rather than friends. But today, the IFCJ is one of the foremost providers for Jews in need contributing close to $100 million per year to Jewish immigration, resettlement and social welfare projects in Israel, the former Soviet Union, and abroad."

"My own life-long work of building Jewish bridges to non-Jews, especially religious Christians, has led me to join Eckstein in furthering evangelical support for Israel," concludes Boteach, "and it is time others in the community overcame their skepticism of Christian support for Israel, and accepted that while the two faith communities have substantial issues on which they will always disagree, on the most important issue, the survival of God's chosen people, we are in perfect harmony."