At least a Jew is free to embrace Christ, or a Christian is free to convert to Judiasm without fear of being killed, unlike Muslims, that will kill one that leaves the faith, and kill to convert people.

I realize that according to Jewish law the status of being a Jew passes through the mother, not the father, but I don’t believe the Germans recognized that fact.

If the Rabbi is not the “keeper of the Torah”, who is? And why did he not take the Torah with him when they closed the center?

And the article indicates they were “awaiting aliyah”, not that they had been denied it.

Case in point- 2 Torah Scrolls get “rescued” while thousands of Beta Israel are still languishing in refugee camps waiting to be let into Israel.

Yes, saving Torahs is certainly in the spirit of Simchat Torah- but what about saving Jews? Or do we only do that on Passover?

But in terms of religious tolerance, the story mostly reveals how kooky the Jews for Jesus are and actually shows some hope for religious tolerance in Africa. For here we had the government of Ethiopia (through the Addis Ababa police) assisting Jews and the state of Israel in recovering Jewish religious artifacts. Rather remarkable, considering the history of Jews in Ethiopia.

I am a Christian Blogger, but I have great respect for Jews. I am a little hurt by your attitude about Jews for Jesus. At least you don’t threaten to kill those that convert

But those are two different things.

As to whether Jews should convert to Christianity — personally, I’d prefer they became more involved with their own Judaism, but it’s certainly every individual’s choice to make.

And, for that matter, I don’t have a big problem with Christian proselytizing in general. If you want to tell your friends about your beliefs, or politely solicit strangers, that’s your right.

But “Jews for Jesus” is not simply Jews who convert to Christiantity, and it’s not simply a proselytizing organization. It’s a Christian missonary group, backed by Christian organizations, that attempts to convert Jews to Christianity while claiming that this is compatible with Judaism. This is a deceptive and offensive position to Jews.

See, for example
http://www.jewsforjudaism.org/web/j4jlibrary/jewsforjesus.html

“Jews” for Jesus is a Christian evangelical missionary program that was founded specifically to convert Jews to Christianity. How is any self-respecting Jew supposed to be anything other than negative by an organization that wants to convert every Jew in existence? Extinction by what are considered by some good motives is still extinction.

I’m not making any of this up. Go check out a few J4J sites, or even the main one. Then go check out Jews for Judaism for the truth.

Good question about the scrolls in this article, but the translation of the article is a little sketchy. This is the only thing they say about the scrolls being kept:

He said the Jewish Agency received information that some applicants who were refused aliyah were planning to take the scrolls.

If they were refused aliyah, it’s because they couldn’t prove they were Jewish. Which would explain why they wanted to keep the Torahs. They were mad.

As for whether or not the rabbi controls the scrolls, ah, no. Rabbis aren’t the big bosses. They’re just the leaders of the congregation. Hey, in a lot of synagogues, it’s the Board of Directors and the President who pull the strings.

I am a Christian Blogger, but I have great respect for Jews. I am a little hurt by your attitude about Jews for Jesus. At least you don’t threaten to kill those that convert, like the Muslims do.