05-07-2008, 02:43 AM
JERUSALEM POST today
Both chief rabbis of Israel called on Tuesday to cancel the
International Bible Quiz slated for the capital on Independence Day in protest
against the participation of a 16-year-old girl who believes Jesus is the
messiah.
"Choosing her as a finalist in the International Bible Quiz for Jewish
Youth is a transgression of Halacha and is a distortion of the goal and
essence of the quiz," wrote Chief Rabbis Shlomo Amar and Yona Metzger
in a letter to Education Minister Yuli Tamir.
"The Chief Rabbinate of Israel vigorously protests [the participation]
of this representative... Bible quiz participants have always been Jews
who believed in the Torah handed down by Moses.
"The Chief Rabbinate calls to disqualify this girl from taking part in
the quiz. If she is not disqualified, we call to cancel the quiz
immediately.
"It is unacceptable that a member of a cult that has removed itself
from the Jewish faith will take part in a quiz dedicated to a book that
has been holy to the Jews since their inception as a people," the rabbis
wrote.
Nevertheless, Tzurit Berenson, 15, from Nahariya, one of the four
Israeli finalists, said that she and the other contestants intended to
participate in Thursday's competition.
"We asked our own rabbis what to do and they told us that we should
participate," said Berenson, who added that she had taught herself the
Bible and has been preparing for the quiz for years.
Berenson said religious activists have been trying to discourage her
and the other participants from taking part in the quiz, "but we have all
decided to go ahead with it."
The controversy surrounding the participation of 16-year-old Bat-El
Levi, from Beersheba, began last week as a result of a campaign led by the
haredi anti-missionary organization Yad Le'Achim.
Yad Le'Achim discovered that Levi belonged to a messianic Jewish
congregation. The organization immediately contacted rabbis and other
spiritual leaders. Rabbi Shlomo Aviner, a leading religious Zionist halachic
authority, called to boycott the quiz if the messianic Jew did not
forfeit her participation. His call was joined by other rabbis aligned with
religious Zionism, including Safed Chief Rabbi Shmuel Eliahu.
Sources close to the Levi family, who did not deny their ties with a
messianic Jewish congregation, said there had been attempts by Yad
Le'Achim to dissuade Bat-El from taking part in the competition. A group of
activists demonstrated in Dimona when the participants came to the Negev
town for a preliminary quiz.
Messianic Jews believe that Jesus is the savior yet see themselves as
Jews.
Tamir's representative, Lital Apter, said the minister had no intention
of canceling the quiz or asking Levi not to take part.
"It is too bad that on the 60th anniversary we are dealing with these
sorts of things. This should be a time of celebration, not of
controversy.
"The point of the quiz is to check the participants' knowledge of the
Bible, not to scrutinize their faith. The legal department in the
Education Ministry verified that Levi is Jewish according to the criteria of
the state. That's good enough for us," Apter said
Both chief rabbis of Israel called on Tuesday to cancel the
International Bible Quiz slated for the capital on Independence Day in protest
against the participation of a 16-year-old girl who believes Jesus is the
messiah.
"Choosing her as a finalist in the International Bible Quiz for Jewish
Youth is a transgression of Halacha and is a distortion of the goal and
essence of the quiz," wrote Chief Rabbis Shlomo Amar and Yona Metzger
in a letter to Education Minister Yuli Tamir.
"The Chief Rabbinate of Israel vigorously protests [the participation]
of this representative... Bible quiz participants have always been Jews
who believed in the Torah handed down by Moses.
"The Chief Rabbinate calls to disqualify this girl from taking part in
the quiz. If she is not disqualified, we call to cancel the quiz
immediately.
"It is unacceptable that a member of a cult that has removed itself
from the Jewish faith will take part in a quiz dedicated to a book that
has been holy to the Jews since their inception as a people," the rabbis
wrote.
Nevertheless, Tzurit Berenson, 15, from Nahariya, one of the four
Israeli finalists, said that she and the other contestants intended to
participate in Thursday's competition.
"We asked our own rabbis what to do and they told us that we should
participate," said Berenson, who added that she had taught herself the
Bible and has been preparing for the quiz for years.
Berenson said religious activists have been trying to discourage her
and the other participants from taking part in the quiz, "but we have all
decided to go ahead with it."
The controversy surrounding the participation of 16-year-old Bat-El
Levi, from Beersheba, began last week as a result of a campaign led by the
haredi anti-missionary organization Yad Le'Achim.
Yad Le'Achim discovered that Levi belonged to a messianic Jewish
congregation. The organization immediately contacted rabbis and other
spiritual leaders. Rabbi Shlomo Aviner, a leading religious Zionist halachic
authority, called to boycott the quiz if the messianic Jew did not
forfeit her participation. His call was joined by other rabbis aligned with
religious Zionism, including Safed Chief Rabbi Shmuel Eliahu.
Sources close to the Levi family, who did not deny their ties with a
messianic Jewish congregation, said there had been attempts by Yad
Le'Achim to dissuade Bat-El from taking part in the competition. A group of
activists demonstrated in Dimona when the participants came to the Negev
town for a preliminary quiz.
Messianic Jews believe that Jesus is the savior yet see themselves as
Jews.
Tamir's representative, Lital Apter, said the minister had no intention
of canceling the quiz or asking Levi not to take part.
"It is too bad that on the 60th anniversary we are dealing with these
sorts of things. This should be a time of celebration, not of
controversy.
"The point of the quiz is to check the participants' knowledge of the
Bible, not to scrutinize their faith. The legal department in the
Education Ministry verified that Levi is Jewish according to the criteria of
the state. That's good enough for us," Apter said