Rabbi Yoffie Excommunicates Pastor Hagee

The American Thinker ^ | April 04, 2008 | Richard Baehr

[Salem]

Rabbi Eric Yoffie, President of the Union for Reform Judaism, seems to think Israel has too many allies in America.  In particular, he believes that Israel can do without the support of evangelical Christians, and especially Pastor John Hagee, founder of Christians United for Israel.

At a convention of reform rabbis in Cincinnati this week, Yoffie lowered the boom on Hagee and urged Jews to no longer attend Hagee's series of "Nights for Israel",  which have helped raise tens of millions of dollars for the Jewish state,  and strengthened the connection between Jews and Evangelicals around the country.

Yoffie must think that the pro-Israel community has a lot of other places to turn for support in America.   Maybe he is foolish enough to think the mainline Protestant churches  will take up the slack. The problem is that while Evangelicals come to Washington to lobby Congress on behalf of  a strong US Israel relationship, the mainline churches are  busy passing resolutions calling for boycotts and divestment from Israel . 

Of course the very liberal Reform Judaism movement shares many  political belief systems with the mainline churches and their very liberal members.   So if Israel is thrown overboard by the Presbyterian Church USA, the United Methodist Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, The Episcopal Church in the USA, the Quakers, and the United Church of Christ, that is not enough to break any of those bonds of liberal fellowship they share with the Reform movement.

It is not hard to see in this relationship a similarity to the fraternity initiation of new pledges in the movie Animal House, with the Reform movement playing the role of pledges at the Omega House fraternity, and the mainline Churches as the upperclassmen. In one  scene in the film, a pledge named Chip, played by Kevin Bacon, is paddled by a sadistic fraternity member named Neidermeyer on initiation night, ,and after each pounding, shouts out: "Thank you, sir, may I have another!" Such are the bonds among liberals, and how easily Israel can be minimized as an issue.  Rabbi Yoffie,who has tossed aside the Evangelicals who support Israel,  perhaps believes more dialogue is needed between the Reform movement  and the Presbyterians and Methodists, and can help heal the wounds:  "Thank you for divestment, can we meet again?"

Of course there are plenty of members of Reform synagogues who care little for Israel and have the same blame-Israel mindset as the mainline Protestant Church leaders.  Ron Kampeas, who has made a career out of excusing and defending those who are unenthusiastic about Israel, mentions in an article on Yoffie that the Reform leader is in fact more pro-Israel than many of his members, most of whom probably can find dozens of political issues that move them more than the safety and survival of Israel. Some of Yoffie's members are embarrassed to have to defend Israel in polite company, and others are openly pro-Palestinian, and see no reason for an anachronism like a Jewish state to exist.

But the question arises: why did Yoffie choose to go after Hagee now?  After all, Yoffie, a man of not inconsiderable hubris, sought an invitation and then spoke at Jerry Falwell's Liberty University two years ago, signifying an opening to the evangelical movement.  The answer is not too hard to figure out. The Reform  movement is in some ways, a political movement  masquerading as a 501 C 3 tax exempt religious charity. This is a Presidential election year, and the likely Democrat nominee is Senator Barack Obama.  Members of the Reform movement vote, and Jews in general, tend to vote overwhelmingly for Democratic  nominees for President.  But this year, Obama has run into trouble among the pro-Israel community for his flirtation with Palestinian hardliners in Chicago in his years in Hyde Park, for his 20 year long  tie to Pastor Jeremiah Wright, who has given awards to Minister Louis Farrkahan, and blasted Israel regularly at sermons  and for a collection of foreign policy advisors, including Zbigniew Brzezinski, Samantha Power, Robert Malley and General Tony McPeak  who sound like members of a Jimmy Carter fan club or a Walt/Mearsheimer book club. 

Most American Jews do not support the candidate they believe is the most pro-Israel, but the one they think is the most liberal, which for all practical purposes is the Democrat. But for most American Jews, support for Israel is at least a threshold test, low as the bar may be set. And this year., Senator Obama is having trouble clearing that bar, even at the low level at which it is set. It explains why Obama, who has won big majorities among higher income, well-educated professionals in the primaries this year,  has lagged badly  among Jews with similar education/income characteristics. A poll of Israelis showed Hillary Clinton with 5 times the support of Obama. 

A few weeks back, Pastor Hagee endorsed Republican Senator John McCain for President. For years, evangelical Christian supporters of Israel operated outside the framework of mainstream Jewish organizations. But last year,  AIPAC, the most important group lobbying for a strong US-Israel relationship, invited Hagee to speak to 6,000 attendees at its annual Policy Conference in DC. Hagee repeatedly brought the crowd its feet with his speech, and the event signified that Hagee and his group, CUFI were now part and parcel of the pro-Israel community.  

With Obama as the likely Democratic nominee, and the Reverend Wright controversy still simmering, the Democratic Party and its subsidiaries (which is how the Reform movement behaves) need to change the subject. They have chosen to smear Pastor Hagee as part of that process. The charges are both familiar -- that Hagee is anti-Catholic and anti-gay, but also new -- that Hagee is damaging the "peace process" by being so hard line.  Surprisingly, the New York Times gave Hagee an opportunity to respond to some of the charges that have been hurled at him in this attempt at Democratic Party damage control ("we have one bad pastor, and so do you)".  

The new charge related to the peace process is interesting, in that it ties in with a comment that was made by Senator Obama in Cleveland   that being pro-Israel does not have to mean adopting the Likud Party agenda.  And that is what Yoffie accuses Hagee of doing -- of being uncompromising (like Likud), and hence opposed to peace. 

The sad history of the Israeli -Palestinian conflict is that it does not matter whether Israel is  compromising or  uncompromising; the Palestinian rejection is the same in either case. But Yoffie has now written out of the pro-Israel community anyone who is more skeptical than he of Palestinian intentions, or the wisdom of the current American "engagement" in the peace process.

When one acts as if he thinks of himself as the King of the Jews, as Yoffie appears to do at times,  such a stunningly ignorant and arrogant dismissal of the leader of a movement of tens of millions of pro-Israel evangelical Christians, is not hard to do.  Hagee has shown the humility to understand his place in all this: he is a pro-Israel Christian American. He understands that Israelis will decide Israeli politics, not his movement, and not Reform Jews. He does not have to like  the course Israelis may choose, and he can hope that Israeli politics shift in the direction he prefers in the future. But he is not the one who has written anyone in or out of the pro-Israel community. Rabbi Yoffie is the one who has done that.

Fortunately, his movement, and Yoffie himself, count for less and less each year. Demographic trends favor Orthodox Jews and evangelical Christians, while Reform Jews do not produce children at anything close to replacement levels. There is much for Yoffie to envy.

And maybe this year, If Barack Obama is the nominee, the Democratic Party's long stranglehold on Jewish voters will end.

Richard Baehr is political director of American Thinker.

[GodGunsGuts]

My pleasure...I knew the rotten smell coming from that guy deserved a google.

[hosepipe]

[ Rabbi Yoffie Excommunicates Pastor Hagee ]

NOW THATS FUNNY.. The evil eye given by Rabbi Yoffie..

[lonestar]

The whole world is going nuts!

[Mr. Mojo]

I just heard Ellison on Progressive radio and he says Muslims want peace, in fact, he calls Islam the "Religion of Peacë"

Ellison stealing material from Prez Bush. Whata world.

[Zionist Conspirator]

I'll say it again: the fact that Yoffie is labeling John Hagee, a Fundamentalist Protestant who doesn't even proselytize Jews and who has gotten in trouble for saying that the "first advent" was not messianic, as a "bigot" exposes for all time the lie that proselytization is the one and only reason liberal Jews dislike pro-Israel Fundamentalist Protestants.

Hagee rejects proselytization of Jews, but for "the wrong reason(!!!)." Liberals absolutely demand as the bare minimum requirement of decency that one reject the very notion of orthodox religion in the sense of one religion having a monopoly on truth. Religions are merely ethno-cultural "faith traditions," Aesop's fables and rituals whose purpose is to teach universal moral/ethical truths. Because Hagee's rejection of proselytizing Jews isn't based on this liberal worldview, he's a bigot and must be rejected! And to attack him for being anti-Catholic??? Since when have Jewish liberals been defenders of the Catholic Church?

I'm afraid that Yoffie and his fellow liberals may not be the only people who feel uncomfortable about people who put Israel in the center of a Biblical worldview. Too many people on both sides of the issue still see Judaism as some sort of rationalist, liberalizing "revolt" against pre-rational antiquity whose purpose is to promote the ideals of the eighteenth century "enlightenment." There are even conservative supporters of Israel who see things this way, or near this way.

`Am Yisra'el is mankind's priesthood. 'Eretz Yisra'el is their "sacristy." They job they're there to do is the same one given them at Sinai over 3300 years ago, and promoting Hellenistic/enlightenment ideas ain't it.

Git 'er done! Hot d@mmit, y'all!

[Kenny Bunk]

Gosh, Mr. Mojo, I knew you would understand. Here's what Rabbi Yoffie has to say:

"the time has come to listen to our Muslim neighbors speak, from their heart and in their own words, about the spiritual power of Islam and their love for their religion. The dialogue will not be one way, of course. You will teach us about Islam and we will teach you about Judaism. We will help you to overcome stereotyping of Muslims, and you will help us to overcome stereotyping of Jews."

Don't you just feel like joining hands with Rabbi Yoffie and maybe Osama bin Ladin and singing "Koom-buy-YAH?"

[Ciexyz]

Who does he think he is, the Pope?

An Orthodox Jewish friend of mine comfirms that the community likes Hillary and has severe reservations about Obama.

[kimmie7]

PROUD Christian supporter of Israel (God’s chosen people) BTTT!

[Alouette]

Yoffie is a megalomaniac who thinks he is Pope of the Jews.

[montag813]

Rabbi Eric Yoffie, President of the Union for Reform Judaism

Since Deformed Jews are not real Jews, where does Yoffie get off calling himself a "rabbi"? My dog is more qualified. At least he eats kosher.

[RedCobra]

They worship a golden statue of Bill Clinton, and the Commandments of the ACLU.

[Salem]

Mistah' Wizard hisself.  

[Blogger]

Alouette,
Was wondering if you could confirm or deny something I heard. I was told that the Hassidim are anti-Zionistic. Is that true? I would think that some are and some aren’t, but as a group - seeing they have a large presence in Israel, I would think a great number are (even though they are more separatist and would not be pro liberal Israeli secular government).

[Jim W N]

As a high-visibility backer of John McCain, Hagee’s light seems to have caught the attention of the liberals. He should (and probably does), as Dan Quayle once put it, wear the contempt of liberals as a badge of honor.

[Marysecretary]

A very stupid man. Hagee and his followers have done more for Israel than most Jews have! Grrr.

[Marysecretary]

Oh, barf! He’s an appeaser.

[tuckrdout]

Sorry, but I think he should be called, “Mr. Yoffie”, thank you. I think he needs to learn a thing or two, not pass on his own foolishness.

[sheik yerbouty]

Yoffe is quite the imbecile..and useful infidel..

[j_tull]

And maybe this year, If Barack Obama is the nominee, the Democratic Party's long stranglehold on Jewish voters will end.

We can hope.

[Alouette]

I was told that the Hassidim are anti-Zionistic. Is that true?

Interesting question. There is a tiny group of fanatics, the Neturei Karta, who believe the state of israel has no right to exist. They are despised by all other Hasidic groups.

You are correct in your observation, though. The group that I belong to (Chabad) is considered very openly Zionistic as we take part in pro-Israel activities and encourage our boys to serve in the IDF.