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.

[SevenofNine]

Gee that something giving money to people who really don’t like you LOL!

[Alouette]

This is close to a TOS violation.

Damn right. Posting on FreeRepublic can get you thrown out of your Temple.

[Zionist Conspirator]

Evangelist Hagee pledges $6 million to Israel

[Sarcasm] Yes, but Hagee is a "bigot" who believes there is such a thing as a true religion which excludes all others, and therefore his contribution is an embarrassment, even if he doesn't proselytize Jews!

C'mon now! Jews have promoted tolerance and diversity ever since G-d instructed them on Mt. Sinai to not take Him so seriously. That's why the first thing Joshua did after crossing the Jordan was build a "Museum of Tolerance" in Jericho! [/Sarcasm]

[Joann37]

I know Wikipedia is not the world’s most credible source, but here’s what they show for the Rabbi. The guy is a classic demoncrat/liberal, and it turns out he even riled things up when he spoke at Liberty a few years ago. Hagee should be glad to be dissociated from this moron.

From Wikipedia:

“Rabbi Eric H. Yoffie is the President of the Union for Reform Judaism, the congregational arm of the Reform Jewish Movement in North America. Yoffie has remained the unchallenged head of American Judaism’s largest denomination since 1996 due to his popular advocacy of political liberalism and religious traditionalism.[1] Raised in Worcester, Massachusetts, he is a graduate of Brandeis University and received his Rabbinical ordination from Hebrew Union College. He is married to Amy Jacobson Yoffie and they have two children.

In 1999 the Jewish-American newspaper The Forward named Rabbi Yoffie the number one Jewish leader in America. Some of the many issues that he has been involved with are gun control, gay rights, the death penalty, and assistance on various Israel related issues.

In April 2006, evangelical pastor Jerry Falwell invited Yoffie to address the students at his very conservative Liberty University. Yoffie first spoke shared values of family and morality before defending church-state separation and gay marriage, which elicted boos from the students.[1]

In June of 2006, Rabbi Yoffie declined to meet with Israeli President Moshe Katsav after the President refused to address Yoffie by the title “Rabbi.” Katsav explained that he was not the one who decides “on matters of ordination and titles in Israel.[2] The Chief Rabbinate of Israel does not recognize rabbinic ordinations from non-Orthodox institutions.

On August 31, 2007, Rabbi Yoffie gave remarks at the Islamic Society of North America’s 44th annual convention in Chicago, IL.[3] Yoffie speaks of “a huge and profound ignorance of Islam” by Jews and Christians in North America. He states that, “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.” He conversely asks the conference for more understanding of Judaism; “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.””

[Alouette]

You need anger management.

[M. Espinola]

Reform Judaism should be totally r e f o r m e d!

[montag813]

You need anger management.

Of that you are correct.

[Salem]

Thanks for your many comments. 'Pinging' this thread again, to Buggman's comment at 43. Also, see Alouette's post at 59.

"I'm in Jerusalem as I type this. In just four days of touring the country, I've seen at least three Hagee tour buses. The man has probably brought more money into Israel just by tourism than "Rabbi" Yosef has period. ... Shalom!"

Thanks for posting that. Bottom line, we may support Israel, first, through prayer, then support in the political arena, but those with the means who make Israel a travel and vacation destination contribute a bit more, by walking Israel's streets and running the hills and mountains. Good for all you who have been blessed to do that.

---

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" ... It's time we recognized the nature of the conflict. It's total war and we are all involved. Nobody on our side is exempted because of age, gender, or handicap. The Islamofacists have stolen childhood from the world."—FReeper Retief
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A student told his professor he was going to "Palestine" to "fight for freedom, peace and justice,"—Orwellian leftist code words that mean "murder Jews."



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[SevenofNine]

It on all bottom line like Wayans brother once said on In Living Color

All trash talking by this Rabbi would be mo money mo money for Israel tourism

[ChicagoHebrew]

I'm in Jerusalem as I type this. In just four days of touring the country, I've seen at least three Hagee tour buses. The man has probably brought more money into Israel just by tourism than "Rabbi" Yosef has period.

It's "Rabbi" Yoffie. Don't confuse him with Rabbi Yosef. Rabbi Yosef is the former Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel, and, among Sephardi Jews (Spanish & Middle Eastern Jews), widely known as the Posek H'Dor ("Decider of the Generation"). And he's not a liberal, by any stretch of the imagination.

[Grunthor]

“Rabbi Yoffie Excommunicates Pastor Hagee”

I am sure that Hagee is shaking in his shoes.....you CAN shake from laughter.

[dalight]

We have already covered this territory and you know you are wrong.

Quit slinging crap that just lands on everybody.

This is just bigotry and hatred wrapped in smugness.

I just don't know how reasonable it is to butt heads with you again. Reminds me of tangling with Christians who want to save my poor soul. if you look down your nose at me.. I will see the hair in your nostrils. Not fun.

I don't care for what Rabbi Yoffie had to say, and responding to it isn't going to make me any more popular.

Nevertheless, its one thing to decry the ignorance of one person or even the the whole URJ Religious Action Committee, but I won't accept your crap which is just bait for anti-Semites everywhere.

[Salem]

I'm sure it was a typo.  

[Salem]

"...you CAN shake from laughter"

Yes you can!

[dalight]

He's such a nincompoop, he should realize that this will result in MORE support of Hagee.

I agree on this.. infact, I am looking at the possibility of attending the next event and sending a postcard to the good Rabbi.

I have read one of his books, and though I quibble on some points, he has the best understanding and most respect for Jews of any Christian I have ever met.

I have heard the wrap that he has made offensive anti-Catholic remarks but I haven't seen them yet. Not like I have been looking.

I believe that as Hagee has become more successful, he causes folks alot of discomfort. He is exploring honestly issues that were put into place at the very beginning by Constantine.

[Alouette]

Quit slinging crap that just lands on everybody.

This is a righteous beatdown on Yoffie, who deserves all of it. If that offends you, find another forum that is not swarming with Evangelicals and Orthodox Jews like FreeRepublic. Maybe DailyKos has your temple's stamp of approval.

[dalight]

Maybe DailyKos has your temple's stamp of approval.

You know better than that.. and no.. you won't get rid of me that easily.

Frankly I like evangelicals especially if they don't waste time trying to convert me.. and I tolerate Orthodox bigots like you. Orthodox non-bigots are cool. Despite all of the bile thrown by folks like you, I still fight like heck to make sure the Kosher Food pantry is getting supplies. Today we did Pesach Deliveries to little old Russian Jewish ladies who need hugs and smiles as much as they need the little bit of help.

Orthodox Jews are approximately 1.8 million out of 13.3 Million Jews world wide. Thats about 13% of all of the Jews world wide. Talking about the risks of dismissing important allies, the Orthodox would be mighty lonely and even more embattled without the rest of us.

[Cindy]

http://www.truthusa.com/cindy3.html
http://www.truthusa.com/othermonths.html

#

http://www.cufi.org
http://www.cufi.org/site/PageServer?pagename=events_washington_summit

“CUFI’s Third Annual Washington-Israel Summit in Washington, D.C.
at the Washington Convention Center”
July 21-24, 2008

[oswegodeee]

The Rabbi is a dunce! A very big Shmuck!

Shalom!

[forkinsocket]

Ya achi. It’s cool. Jews are Jews.