Rabbi Yoffie Moves Against CUFI
The tendency in our community to set alliances and policies solely according to whom we deem are friends with or are a threat to Israel. This leads to tragic and immoral stances or just silence, as is the case with Jewish communal silence on China.
CUFI (Christians United for Israel) is a fundamentalist Christian organization with a far-right vision of how Israel should operate. It should be rejected politely but firmly. Rabbi Yoffie is now doing both.
In a URJ press release, it was noted that,
Rabbi Eric Yoffie , who over the past two years made headlines when he spoke at the Rev. Jerry Falwell’s Liberty University and at the convention of the Islamic Society of North America, drew a sharp distinction between dialogue and political alliances which he said “demand of us a higher standard and which require both common values and common interests.”
This is an important distinction that many have pretended and will continue to pretend they don’t understand.
Hagee founded CUFI two years ago and has, since then, run “Night to Honor for Israel” events across the country, where he has been warmly received by Federation audiences. In his address tonight, Yoffie focused on the problems with Hagee’s form of Christian Zionism and why the Jewish community needs to reject it.
This is really to assert that the reason for attacking Hagee is not because of McCain specifically, but rather, due to the mainstream Jewish communal toleration of CUFI.
Rabbi Yoffie explains,
“What [Hagee and his allies] mean by support of Israel and what we mean by support of Israel are two very different things,” Yoffie said. Their vision of Israel rejects a two-state solution, rejects the possibility of a democratic Israel, and supports the permanent occupation of all Arab lands now controlled by Israel,” he continued. “If implemented, in fact, these views would mean disaster for Israel, and would lead to diplomatic isolation, increased violence, and the loss of Israel’s Jewish majority.”
Rabbi Yoffie noted that some of his rabbinic colleagues claim that relationships with CUFI are necessary in a time where Israel needs all the friends she can gather. “The concerns expressed here are reasonable,” said Yoffie, “but I would draw precisely the opposite conclusion.”
Still, you may wonder, isn’t Rabbi Yoffie attacking Republicans and all our Christian-right friends? No, not according to the URJ.
Throughout the history of Israel, the central principle of pro-Israel advocacy in America is that it must be moderate and bi-partisan, he said. Additionally Yoffie noted that the majority of the American Evangelical community is beginning to move away from the likes of Pastor Hagee’s politics and theology. “All the evidence that we have indicates that Evangelicals are tired of stridence and desire more pluralism and moderation…they see their future far more with Rick Warren than they do with John Hagee,” he said.
“On Israeli-Palestinian politics, John Hagee and the CUFI are extremists,” Rabbi Yoffie argued. “They do not represent most Evangelicals, do not represent most Republicans, and do not represent the American heartland. In expressing contempt for other religions and rejecting territorial compromise under any and all circumstances, their views run against the American grain. Those who advocate embracing them now are misreading in a monumental way the American political and religious landscape.”
Rabbi Yoffie outlines his political concerns of Jewish communal alliance with Hagee and CUFI further.
““I have listened to my colleagues who have chosen to do otherwise and have tried to understand. But my view is that most of the time, these evenings will not increase our political clout. They will reduce our political clout and drive away our allies. And I cannot accept the argument from Jewish leaders that they can endorse CUFI events, appear as speakers at these events, accept CUFI money, and still distance themselves from the positions that CUFI embraces.”
9 comments
Hi there,
I hope all is well.
Thought you might be interested in reading this:
http://butiamaliberal.blogspot.....hagee.html
–WEVS1
All arab lands now controlled by Israel already are occupied anyhow. Granted it is arabs who care more about destroying Israel than building a stable peaceful nation of their own, but refusal to recognize that will by default constitute an occupation.
Other than that, Hagee is as much an ass as the uber-pious charedi who said the Holocaust was divine punishment. We don’t like those of another group saying the same as our group do we? Like how blacks say the N word all the time, but if a white guy who lives and hangs out in a black neighborhood does, he’s automatically wrong. Both are asses, but odd how we humans only tolerate it from those within our group.
I don’t know about moderation though. They say the road to hell is paved in good intentions. The missing end of that sentence is …by people who seriously believe in them without understanding them. I think that applies both ways. So the answers are not clear.
Why does it matter again what American evangelicals think about Israeli support when they live thousands of miles away and are about to be disenfranchised at the White House by Hillary Obama?
On the silence on China thing… I find it interesting how often folks bring up the Tibet-Israel parallels, and how often they miss the fact that the plight of the Tibetans can be twisted to be representative of EITHER the plight of the Jews or the Palestinians, depending on which side you’re on.
On the one hand, you have a religious leadership exiled from its holy places and forced to try to come up with an approach to becoming a diaspora while they seek a long term approach to winning back Jerusalem/Lhasa. Therein lies the core of the Tibetan-Jewish parallel (see the Jew and the Lotus).
But on the other hand, you have an idealistic, modern military power occupying a land to which they believe they have a historic, spiritual connection. They believe they’re rightfully taking back what’s theirs, and in the process helping bring the native population out of their tribal, backward ways and into the modern era. Unfortunately, however, that native population doesn’t like having “outsiders” control “their” land.
If Israel was going to be hosting the Olympics, we’d be screaming antisemitism if people were threatening to boycott because the Palestinians rioted and the Israelis used a heavy hand in putting down the riots.
So perhaps the Jewish communal silence on Tibet is that we’re confused about which side we’re on?
Not really related, but did you read this post?
I iz tink tat reform judeism is gay becauz reform judeism allowz guyz to talk to girls. also, the reforms must lissen to rabbies or tey our not really jewesh, butt only rabbis are not needed to listen to rabbis cauz the Rambam wroat in Sefer HaMadda of his Mishne Torah in Perek Helchot Talmid Torah tat noone iz allowed to be paid to teech oral law and are yeshivas teech mishna and talmud always so touf luck rabbiz must be obeyed cauz tey no the Torah iz treu after all tey prey for parnassa and tey prayres get anser by temselfs cauz thee rabbis so damn holey, so evryone must obey the rabbiz de reforms must obey de rabbis! rabbis no need to obey rabbis!
I’m very glad that you wrote about this. This has been bothering me for years. It drives me crazy when Jews get into bed with conservative evangelicals and fundamentalists. They see us as the catalyst that will bring about their apocalypse. In their scenario, a few thousand of us will get “saved”, and the rest will die horribly and spend eternity in hell. Yet we’re supposed to put this aside and work amiably alongside them in the interest of our supposedly shared socio-political agenda.
I’ve been told that Israel needs their financial support and political clout. I don’t know whether or not it’s true, but if it is, I could accept the pragmatic necessity of it. But no Jew has ever said to me, “Yes, they’re psychotic, and their beliefs are obscene, but we need them - so shut up and don’t make waves.” Instead, all I’ve ever heard is, “Well, we don’t believe it - so why do you care?” This absolutely floors me.
I’m glad as well that Yoffie is standing up to them - I was upset two years ago, when he spoke at Liberty U. He had absolutely no business being there - it implied approval. Now we need to hear the same from rabbis of other denominations, including the Orthodox (yeah, that’ll happen).
(And Idiot Yeshiva Kid - I agree with the sentiment, but you may want to tone it down a bit. You’re making them sound like those damn LOLcats!)
“I was upset two years ago, when he spoke at Liberty U. He had absolutely no business being there - it implied approval.”
No — it was dialog.
I realize he saw it as dialogue. I’m saying he should have refused to go, in protest of their theology, their politics, and because fundies don’t do dialogue; they can only do monologue.
Leave a Comment