Adam Schwartz, president and CEO of Jewish Federation of Greater Phoenix, center, and his wife, Stacy, chat with Pastor John Hagee during a reception after “A Night to Honor Israel.”
Photo by Mark Gluckman
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There were plenty of surprises at “A Night to Honor Israel” at Phoenix Symphony Hall on Sunday, June 24.
More than 1,600 people attended the $18-a-ticket event, sponsored by Christians United for Israel (CUFI), yet fewer than a dozen silent anti-Israel protesters stood outside the venue. Estimates are that between 300 and 400 of the attendees were Jewish, including Rabbi Arthur Lavinsky of Beth El Congregation, who sounded a shofar and chanted the benediction for the evening. The entire audience stood to sing “Hatikvah,” Israel s national anthem. When the audience was asked to give money to support the Israeli communities of Kiryat Malachi and Hof Ashkelon, $50,000 was collected and presented to the Jewish Federation of Greater Phoenix.
The Christian band Wild Branches sang “Hinei Ma Tov” and “Heveinu Shalom” while at least 50 members of the audience danced the hora around the auditorium. Former President Jimmy Carter was booed during a presentation of a short film about U.S. presidents support for Israel, produced by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).
Holocaust survivors in attendance were asked to stand and be recognized; about 20 stood. And the keynote speaker sounded a message of Christian repentance for atrocities committed against Jews.
Conservative, controversial and fiery orator Pastor John Hagee last year founded CUFI. As the keynote speaker at the Phoenix event, he said, “We ask the Jewish people of Phoenix for forgiveness for every act of anti-Semitism in our past. For the Crusades, for the Inquisition, for the Final Solution. … We ask forgiveness of the Jewish people for the deafening silence of Christianity in your greatest hour of need.”
“One thing that surprised me was the depth of regret and remorse (expressed) toward the lack of action by the Christian community in the Holocaust and throughout Christian history,” said Adam Schwartz, president and CEO of the federation. “Sitting next to one of the pastors (in the audience) and listening to his reaction and reaffirmation of what was being said at the podium was striking to me.”
The theme of repentance was intertwined with a message that, historically, Israel has always belonged to the Jews and that, forevermore, Jerusalem should remain under Israeli control.
The executive director of CUFI, based in San Antonio, is David Brog. He insisted the feelings of Christian Zionists are genuine. The purposes of the 57 “Night to Honor Israel” events across the country in the past year, Brog said, are “to help energize and educate local Christian communities about biblical and current political imperatives for supporting Israel and to reach out to the Jewish community and let them know there are Christians in America who love Israel for the purest of reasons.”
Brog is a practicing Conservative Jew who passionately believes in Christian Zionism. “I think a Jew should never refuse to read a book or have a dialogue with someone,” he said in an interview with Jewish News. “For the book I wrote ( Standing with Israel: Why Christians Support The Jewish State ), I originally wanted to investigate my own skepticism about Christian Zionism. I had the humility to recognize that I knew nothing about these Christians who claim to support us. I decided I needed to find out a little more and as I researched this, I realized there have been enormous changes in Christian theology and attitudes toward the Jews during the 20th century.”
“Tonight was a very exciting, very motivating, very positive evening. I think a lot of the fears of the Jewish community about this event did not become real,” said Robert Kravitz, a local rabbi. “Raising $50,000 in (one day) is just incredible. I felt very elevated and my prayer is that what happened tonight will continue tomorrow morning.”
Rabbi Andrew Straus, spiritual leader of Temple Emanuel in Tempe, gave a sermon on the Friday night before the CUFI event explaining why he would not be going. “John Hagee believes that what he s doing is divinely ordained and fulfilling biblical (prophecy),” he told Jewish News, “and he believes Israel cannot return a single square inch of land, which goes against the policies of the last five Israeli prime ministers and the views of most Americans and Israelis. (Americans) have a habit of creating friends we think we can control, but we end up being the monkey on the lion s back. I think Hagee will end up using us.”
Helen Handler, a Holocaust survivor living in Phoenix, attended the event and is grateful for Hagee s support for Israel. “In Europe today,” she said, “almost no one is supporting Israel. Here s an American speaking up for Israel and instead of thanking him, we criticize him.”
“I wish more pulpit rabbis had been (at the event), because I think there was a great ecumenical opportunity for the local Jewish and Christian communities to get to know each other better as neighbors,” said Bob Silver of Phoenix, who also attended the event.
The handful of protesters outside the building had a different view. “In this hall will be assembled some of the only people in the world who really believe in bombing Iran, in continuing the occupation of Iraq and continuing to support the occupation of Palestine,” said Chuck Carlson, the president and co-founder of We Hold These Truths, a Christian group that has protested at past CUFI events.
The protesters carried or leaned on signs that read “Choose life not war,” “One nation under God, not Israel,” “Innocent blood in Gaza and Iraq” and “Hagee s racism kills Palestinians.”
Ashley Barrow of Scottsdale found herself unable to walk by the group without challenging them.
“Have you ever been to Israel?” she asked a protester, who refused to answer her. “You look really ignorant when you don t have facts,” Barrow said.
Schwartz was pleased with the overall tone of the event. “Our feeling at the federation was that this gives us the opportunity to build a relationship with churches in our community that want to be supportive of Israel. One of the things I think will come out of this is an opportunity to build many bridges.”
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