Survey
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
May 2001 Iyar - Sivan 5761 MaozIsra Israel R “The Lord is my Strength” ISRAEL Tel: 972-3-621-2100 Fax: 972-3-621-2110 E-Mail: [email protected] UNITED STATES Address: P.O. Box 535788 Grand Prairie, TX 75053-5788 Tel: 800-856-7060 Fax: 214-677-0500 E-Mail: [email protected] Internet: www.maozisrael.org ENGLAND Address: 80 Royal Hill Greenwich, London SE10 8RT Tel: 44-208-692-2831 Fax: 44-208-333-7272 E-Mail: [email protected] CANADA Address: Box 2062 Clearbrook, BC V2T 9Z9 Tel: 604-864-4933 Fax: 604-824-0376 E-Mail: [email protected] Ari & Shira Sorko-Ram E P O R T The Rewriting of Jewish History Palestinian Style P alestinian Authority Chairman Yasser going with the flow. Main networks such as Arafat has repeatedly declared that there CNN, the BBC and other global networks never was a Temple built by Solomon, nor was which often serve as the Palestinian mouththere a Second Temple built by Herod - the piece are even now beginning to publicize the Temple in which Yeshua Himself was dedicat- new version of history. ed and where he taught. Instead the ancient Incredibly, I myself have heard CNN talk Temple Mount has now become "Haram al- about "Haram al Sharif, where the Jews claim Sharif." their Temple existed." (Also noted in J.P. Mar. 9, 2001) On February 20, 2001, it became official. This all-out PR war which claims that neiThe supreme Moslem cleric in Israel, the Mufti ther the Western Wall nor the Temple Mount of Jerusalem, Sheikh Ikram Sabri, issued a reli- has anything to do with Judaism or the Jewish gious decree (fatwa) which stated that not only people is another attempt by Arab leaders, relithe entire Temple gious and political, to Mount, but even the rewrite history and Western Wall (the erase the memory of Wailing Wall) is the Temple Mount Islamic property, from world consciousnone of which has ness. (Ibid., Jan. 5,01) anything to do with Palestinian chil- Israel's supreme Moslem cleric, dren are now being Jewish history. "No stone of the the Mufti of Jerusalem taught this version of Western Wall has history and, in fact, any connection to Hebrew history," declares tour groups visiting the Temple Mount may, the decree. It is, the Mufti claims, simply the at any time, encounter Palestinian teenagers western wall of the Aksa Mosque. As such, it screaming at them, telling them that their should not be called the Western Wall, but the guide is lying to them and that no Jewish temAl-Burak Wall, after the name of Mohammed's ple ever existed on that spot. horse. The fatwa concludes that since the Even the far-left intellectuals in Israel are finally coming to the conclusion that these Haram al Sharif has never belonged to the Jews, they should have no right to pray at the denials of Jewish history in the Holy Land are Wall or to have access to the entire area. part of an overall Palestinian strategy to replace (Jerusalem Post, Feb. 21, 01) the Jewish state with an Islamic one - so that Preposterous? Certainly. Silly? And how. the area from Northwest Africa to India would Significant? Definitely. The pagan world, be a vast Moslem world. The Jews are a bone which has little or no Biblical foundation, is in the Moslem throat. "No stone of the Western Wall has any connection to Hebrew history." ISRAELI LEFT JOINS THE FIGHT Up until now, a small fringe group called The Temple Mount Faithful has been the most vociferous defender of Jewish claim and legitimacy to both free access and return to full Jewish sovereignty of the Temple Mount. "Ironically, today it is the Palestinians’ total denial of any Jewish connection to the site that has galvanized many apathetic Israelis into taking a more defiant stand on the Temple Mount.” (Ibid.) For years, Israeli Jews have not been allowed to set foot on the Temple Mount. But after the Camp David talks, many Israelis became aware for the first time that the Palestinian position maintains there is absolutely no historical Jewish connection to the site. And to think that this is the place which was consecrated to the God of Israel for mosque on the site (1360 years ago). He thought that the two sides - the Jews and the Moslems - "were just trying to push each other out." But now he knows that his forefathers have been in this spot "thousands of years while the Moslems have been there for only hundreds of years." Well-known leftist Hebrew University professor Shlomo Avnieri says, "I find it very difficult to imagine a nation giving up a core symbol of its identity voluntarily…I know of no case in which a modern nation has been ready to give up something as central as the Temple Mount is to the Jewish people." (Ibid.) DESTROYING JEWISH ARCHAEOLOGICAL PROOF It is with this background that the Waqf (the supreme Islamic governing authority in the Holy Land) and the Islamic Movement in Israel have come under severe criticism by both Israeli archaeologists as well as the Israeli public for carrying out unauthorized digging and building on the Temple Mount which is seriously damaging antiquities and artifacts that would substantiate Jewish claims. Dozens of trucks loaded with construction material have entered the Temple Mount area and these same trucks have left the site loaded, carrying a total of 15,000 cubic meters of debris and earth saturated with archaeological artifacts from every era. The obvious aim of the massive work is to turn the site into an exclusively Moslem holy site. (Ibid.) A committee, which includes many leading archaeologists, is demanding that the Israeli government enforce the JEWISH DEMONSTRATION AGAINST PALESTINIAN law, resume supervision of the site by SOVEREIGHTY CLAIMS OVER THE TEMPLE MOUNT. the Antiquities Authority and ensure 1000 years! It is toward this place - which God Himself that no further archaeological artifacts are harmed. The chose - that Jews have prayed for another 2000 years. petitioners called on the Israeli Supreme Court to issue an Now, a lot of secular left-wing Israelis have become angry urgent temporary restraining order. They warned that at this denial of Jewish history. The defining extremely grave moment came when President Bill Clinton damage is being presented a proposal to grant the inflicted on the Palestinians sovereignty over the Temple antiquities of the Mount. In doing so, he not only stirred up Temple Mount. Orthodox and traditional Jews, but he "Rare archaeologisounded an unintentional alarm which cal artifacts are awakened dormant feelings of nationalism being cursorily and Jewish identity among many Jews who destroyed by the don't even believe in God. (Ibid.) - Official website of Egyptian Embassy in US giant scale activiThe truth is, up until now, many secular ties of the Moslem Jews have not given the Temple site much thought. One Waqf and the Islamic Movement in Israel." (Ibid., Mar. 9, 01) young Tel Avivian explained that he had not realized that Israelis are convinced that the Moslem leaders are the Temple Mount had existed long before Islam built a attempting to completely obliterate any scientific proof that "Jerusalem has been populated by Arab Jebusites, descendants of the Jebusite Ben Canaan since 2500 BC." If you would like to receive our weekly prayer letter via e-mail, please e-mail us at [email protected] Jewish temples existed on the Mount. "The ongoing work at the site makes more realistic the thesis that the aim of the Waqf is to turn the whole area from the Dome of the Rock to the eastern wall of the Temple Mount into one huge mosque, with Mecca-like dimensions, states Dr. Eilat Mazar an archaeologist from Hebrew University and a member of the Committee Against the Destruction of Antiquities." Their account continues with the explanation that Jerusalem has been populated by "Arab Jebusites, descendants of the Jebusite Ben Canaan" since 2500 BC. Says Avineri, "If this is what is being presented in English to an American audience, one can only imagine what is being taught in Egyptian schools." (Ibid., Dec. 19, 00) Incidentally, the Egyptians do mention the word "Jew" a couple of times in their rendition of Holy Land history. One, when the Jews were "permanently expelled by Nebuchadnezzar, never to return,” and the second is this: "Under the Roman reign, the Jews informed the Roman ruler about Jesus Christ in 27 AD and accused him of atheism. Consequently, the - DR. EILAT MAZAR of the Institute (Ibid., Mar. 1, 01) Roman ruler crushed them all and destroyed of Archeology, Hebrew University, the city and established a new one where the Indeed, over the last two Jews were [prohibited] to enter." (Ibid.) one of Israel's foremost archeologists years the Waqf There is no doubt that a conscious effort is has constructed on the Mount a mosque that is able to being made to rewrite history through false claims, fabricaaccommodate 10,000-15,000 worshippers. However, tions and distortions on the worldwide web. Anyone because the Israeli government knows that an Arab-Israeli primed for this anti-Jewish propaganda is an easy and willconfrontation on the Temple Mount has the potential of ing target for the new writers of history. bringing the entire Moslem world into a war, it has been SOME ARABS TELL THE TRUTH loath to try to stop the obliteration of perhaps the most precious archeological ruins in the world. Here and there is a voice in Islam that stands against the Meanwhile, the international community is mute. This fundamentalist fanaticism coming out of Orthodox Islam. same international community was recently outraged by the Citing Koran passages that show that the Land of Israel was latest campaign of Afghanistan's Talibans to demolish given to the Jews and that the Jews would be brought back Buddhist statues in their domain. to Israel before the end of days, Though the rampant destruction on the Sheikh Professor Abdul Hadi Temple Mount is part and parcel of the Palazzi, Secretary General of identical phenomenon, this time, no other the Italian Moslem Association nation seems concerned. (Ibid. Mar. 9, 2001) is an aberration in his beliefs and highly criticized by many GOING GLOBAL WITH of his contemporaries. THE LIES "Palazzi says that the Mufti Can it be that world consciousness is of Jerusalem's denial of a buying into the new account of Middle Jewish Temple is a flagrant slap East history which seeks to erase the at Islamic tradition. He claims Jewish link? As far-fetched as these that ancient Islamic wise men wrote clearly and truthfully assertions may seem to the informed student of history, thousands of visitors about Israel's history. For a day can now connect to any number of example, in the Middle Ages, Internet sites which back these claims. Imam Qurtubi, the Islamic For example, one visit to the official counterpart of the Jewish commentator, Rashi, quotes an earwebsite of the Egyptian embassy in Washington (www.sis.gov.eg) will show lier commentator, Imam Tabari, that Jews have no link to Jerusalem. who related the Prophet Professor Shlomo Avineri, who wrote an Mohammed's response to a folarticle titled "A Pack of Egyptian Lies," lower's query about the ruins of the fabled Jewish Temple. states that the Egyptian government's website has all but eradicated Jewish Qurtubi sets out in writing history. The Jewish people simply are nowhere to be seen as Tabari's words about the destruction of the Temple, which the website gives the history of the area beginning with tally in every detail with the biblical accounts of the "Arab conquest of the area in 3,000 BC." Temple's destruction by the Babylonians, reconstruction, "Palestinian plans are to turn the Temple Mount into one huge mosque with Mecca-like dimensions." and final destruction by the Romans." (Ibid., Feb. 9, 01) Even as late as 1930, the Moslem Council Guide, written during the British Mandate by the Holy Land's Moslem leaders, stated categorically that the "Jewish Temple Mount connection is beyond dispute." It further states, "The site is one of the oldest in the world. Its sanctity dates from the earliest times. Its identity with the site of Solomon's Temple is beyond dispute. This, too, is the spot, according to universal belief, on which David built there an altar unto the Lord and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings." (Jerusalem Post, January 26, 01) Nevertheless, today Islam is rewriting Jewish history - or more exactly, obliterating it. It is replacement theology taken to its logical end. For if there were no Temple, ever, then God did not reveal Himself as the Presence above the Cherubim in the Holy of Holies. If the children of Israel did not sacrifice their lambs at the Temple in atonement for their sins, then the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world has no meaning. In fact, if there had never been a City of David, where the sweet Psalmist reigned, and where He was promised a Son who would reign on his throne forever, then there can be no Messiah. For the Bible testifies that the Messiah will be the Son of David from the tribe of Judah. Actually, if Islam's version is true, as certainly millions of people now believe, then the Bible is a lie. Here is what we know; Let God be true and every man a liar! The reason for the current revisionist history is because the last days are upon us. Satan is giving it his best. If only he could destroy Israel. . .his kingdom would come, not God's! It will never happen. Nevertheless, believers must be aware of these incredible attempts to destroy the single most physical sign - Israel - in all of history that witnesses to the truth of God's Word and the certainty of His promises. Though it may become “politically incorrect”, "old-fashioned," or "naïve," the Lord's people around the world must become Israel's most faithful friend. "For if I forget thee O Jerusalem, may my right hand forget its cunning." Christians speak out By Clarence H. Wagner, Jr., International Director, Bridges for Peace, Jerusalem "Because Islam teaches that Jews and Christians perverted the faith given them by God, they believe Allah gave the final revelation to Mohammed. Because Islam considers itself superior to both Judaism and Christianity, they have no theological problem in usurping Jewish and Christian sites and changing them into Islamic sites, or simply building a mosque next door. A Moslem mosque in Bethlehem's Manger Square, with a minaret towering above the Church of the Nativity's bell tower, is a case in point. Today, Bethlehem, Hebron, Nablus (Shechem), and Jericho which were Jewish towns in the days of the Bible have been given over to the Palestinian Authority, and now the last vestiges of Jewish life and presence are quickly being eradicated. However, of most concern is the Islamic usurpation of the Temple Mount, the site of Solomon's and Herod's Temple, which is a central holy site for both Jews and Christians. At present, there are three mosques on this site; the third one recently built in the underground "Solomon's Stables," and a fourth, unauthorized mosque being constructed at the Golden Gate. According to Prof. Eilat Mazar from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and a specialist on Jerusalem archaeology, not only Temple artifacts, but layers of Biblical history are being destroyed in the construction process, and Israel is unable to stop it. Here is what the official Palestinian Authority website says about the Western Wall, sacred to the Jewish people as one of the remaining fragments of Herod's great Temple complex. You can see that Islam totally redefines the entire area and eradicates its history. "Al-Boraq Wall: Some Orthodox religious Jews consider it as a holy place for them, and claim that the wall is part of their temple which all historic studies and archaeological excavations have failed to find any proof for such a claim.” See http://www.pna.org/mininfo/j_ourcap/sites.htm This revisionist description not only flies in the face of history and archaeology, but also has the more sinister motive of eradicating the Biblical history of the area which undermines the validity of Judaism and Christianity. Furthermore, the Palestinian Authority is calling this uprising the 'Intifada of Al-Aqsa,' after one of the mosques on the Temple Mount, and calling the Moslem world to declare a jihad (holy war) against Israel and come to help defend the mosque. Frankly, it has never been threatened. In a day when everyone is calling for religious freedom, freedom of access to holy sites, and freedom of worship, the historical record shows that Israel has been the only one who has respected and encouraged this practice, while the Palestinian Authority and its majority Moslem community have proven just the opposite. The PA cannot protect the sites nor guarantee free access. These most recent incidents require us as Christians and Jews to speak out to the proper international authorities to protect our Biblical sites and places of worship before they are lost forever." (Adapted from March-April 2001 edition) Reprinted by permission May 2001 Dear Maoz Israel Partner, How can we thank you enough? How can we express to you the importance of what you are doing? You are actually taking part in the promises of end-times - God’s pledge that all Israel shall be saved! You are helping to… raise up a Messianic Jewish congregation in downtown Tel Aviv. publish books in Hebrew for the people of Israel so that they may be saved, discipled and trained to produce spiritual fruit themselves. develop the Israeli Institute of Messianic Judaism in order to immerse hungry seekers in the Word of God and to raise up leaders who will participate in the harvest among the Jewish people. evangelize the area of Tel Aviv by sending out young men and women into the city’s streets with the leadership of IIMJ. give the children and teenagers who are coming to the congregation the chance to know the Lord at a young age so they may escape the consequences of sin and so they can reach other young people their age. help promote unity in the Body of Messiah through Maoz sponsorship of such national events as this month's Joyce Meyer Conference for Pastors and Leaders in Israel. You are our partners in the Battle of the Ages. Who will be saved and who will perish? The closer we work together - in prayer, intercession and investing of our finances and lives - the greater the number of precious souls who will be brought into the Kingdom of the God of Israel. To our partners, we say with the deepest gratitude, KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK! To our friends who have not yet joined the Maoz Israel family, WE WELCOME YOU ABOARD, to take part in what God is NOW doing in Israel! In the love of our Messiah, Ari & Shira Sorko-Ram P.S. We do ask your earnest prayers for the Joyce Meyer Conference, May 23-25, as local pastors and leaders from many different theological and cultural backgrounds come together. Your prayers will make a difference! To most People this is a Check. To us, it’s a Love Letter. Maoz, Congregational and Institute Staff in Tel Aviv: Yulia & Oleg, Tsipi,Eva, Bella, Itsik & Cookie Teferet Yeshua (The Glory of Yeshua) Congregation Leadership: (Left to right) Eddie & Jackie Santoro, Betty & Asher Intrater, Shira & Senior Pastor Ari Sorko-Ram United States 1-800-856-7060 [email protected] England 44-208-692-2831 [email protected] Canada 604-864-4933 [email protected]