A fascinating article in the NYTimes about an Orthodox Rabbi who
gets money from the evangelicals to support Jewish causes. Some choice quotes:
Discussing the WHY of supporting Israel:
"What about the Armageddon scenario?" As Bauer knows, a great many
Jews believe that evangelicals want to gather Jews in Israel to bring
on the "End of Days," a Book of Revelation big bang that includes
the return of Jesus and a Jewish mass conversion.
Bauer dismissed this as the "odd belief" of an insignificant
minority. "Most evangelicals support Israel for national-security
reasons," he said. "After 9/11 there is a strong interest in foreign
affairs, and we have a tendency to identify Israel as good guys."
Eckstein nodded. He says he is certain that evangelical Christians
want nothing more than to bless Israel."I'm sorry, but this is the biggest load of BS in the world. I don't know why evangelicals support Israel, but stating that it's "after 9/11" and "national-security" is obviously bogus.
Towards the end, at a group meeting at the organization Eckstein runs:
Throughout this conversation, Rios [a new employee] was clearly eager to join in. And
as soon as there was a pause in the discussion, she did. "You know,"
she said, "the truth is, Christians do want to convert Jews."
Eckstein and Mamo exchanged glances. "Not by some bait-and-switch
trick," she said. "But we believe it's part of God's plan."
Eckstein winced the way he had when Pastor Munsey called him a
born-again Christian.
"Anyway," Rios said, "we love Jews, notwithstanding their rudeness
and hatred for us."
Three days later, Eckstein called me in New York. Rios had been fired,
but her gaffe, and the impression it made, was still on his mind.
"It's really my fault," he said. "Hiring staff is a problem.
Truthfully, it's extremely hard to find people who understand exactly
what we're doing here."Gosh yes. Sometimes his staff doesn't know how to echo his statements properly, and maybe has opinions of their own that undermine Eckstein's basic premise. We can't have that, now can we.
Somehow I have a hard time having any respect for this man, despite the fact that he has literally raised millions and millions of dollars for worthy causes. Apparently, this is a fairly usual problem for him in Jewish circles.
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