I know this article is going to offend some people, but I ask that you read the entire article before stopping and especially before responding.
Last Saturday night, there was a machete attack in a synagogue in New York, which was covered by most major news sources and went viral on social media. While I was encouraged to see the outrage over this attack, I was made to wonder why this attack brought such outrage and not the nine previous anti-Semitic attacks in New York this week alone.
After all, each of these attacks was the result of anti-Semitism, yet nine out of 10 received almost no coverage on social media outside of the Jewish community.
The only conclusion that I could come to was that the machete attack took place in a house of worship—specifically, the private residence or home of a rabbi.
You may ask why I feel so strongly that this is true. It is because if it was outrage at anti-Semitic attacks, we would have seen the outrage after the first attack. But, we didn’t, nor after the second attack, nor after the third through the ninth attacks.
Why? Because these attacks happened on the street and not in a house of worship. Many Christians responded to the synagogue attack the way they did not because it was against Jews, but because the attack made them feel unsafe in their churches. The response and outrage took place because Christians began to feel unsafe themselves—not because Jews were attacked.
I know that some of those reading this blog are already upset and others have already stopped reading, believing my statements to be unfair, unjust and plain wrong. However, if you are still reading, please don’t stop, because truth spoken in love is important.
The “church” has a long history of either being actively involved in anti-Semitism, winking at anti-Semitism or simply ignoring anti-Semitism. A simple survey of “church” history will bear this statement out. This started with the outset of Roman Christianity, the Inquisitions, the Pogroms in Russia and the Holocaust in Germany.
I cannot include an exhaustive list in this blog, but I encourage you to read Dr. Michael Brown’s book Our Hands are Stained with Blood to read more.
Yet, even with this long-documented history of anti-Semitism, there are still large groups of people who profess to be Christians and espouse anti-Semitism, preachers with large followings who still preach anti-Semitism and many who would deny being anti-Semitic but still hold to anti-Semitic positions, such as, “The Jews Killed Christ.”
If you are still reading this blog, thank you. Please continue. There are people who claim to be Christians and have no problem at all laughing at “Jew jokes.” I’m referring to those who still listen to and hold on to Jewish conspiracies including “The Jews run the banks,” “The Jews run Hollywood” and “The Jews control the government.” If these statements hit you, please repent—you are an anti-Semite!
Other people who claim to be Christians have accepted the lie that the church has replaced the Jews and G-D no longer has a loving, covenant relationship with the Jewish people. Please re-read Romans 9-11. If this statement hit you, please repent—you are an anti-Semite!
Other people who claim to be Christians have accepted the lie that a Christian can be anti-Zionist and not be anti-Semitic. G-D promised the land of Israel to the Jewish people as an eternal inheritance beginning with Abraham. Remember, G-D’s promise that the land of Israel belongs to the children of Abraham (the Jews) also included the promise that Messiah would come through the seed of Abraham and that, through Him, all the nations of the world would be blessed. If this statement hit you, please repent—you are an anti-Semite!
I could go on, but I believe you have received the message. If you profess to be a Christian, everything about your faith is based upon eternal promises that G-D gave to the Jewish people. If you profess to be a Christian, by definition you should be a disciple (follower) of Yeshua (Jesus) and, in following His example, you should love His people, the Jews.
The apostle Paul said to imitate him as he imitated Yeshua. Paul said in Romans 9:3 (TLV), “For I would pray that I myself were cursed, banished from Messiah for the sake of my people—my own flesh and blood …”
In closing, please remember that as long as “Christians” accept “Christian anti-Semitism,” then Satan has won the battle because it is fundamentally, scripturally impossible to be a Christian and an anti-Semite. {eoa}
Eric Tokajer is author of With Me in Paradise, Transient Singularity, OY! How Did I Get Here?: Thirty-One Things I Wish Someone Had Told Me Before Entering Ministry, #ManWisdom: With Eric Tokajer, Jesus Is to Christianity as Pasta Is to Italians and Galatians in Context.