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EXCLUSIVE: Jerusalem Chief Rabbi slams misuse of his letter for missionary agenda – ‘deception bordering on crime’

While the rabbi clearly denounced the repulsive violence and disrespect shown by a minority of ostensibly religious Jews towards Christians in the streets of Jerusalem, he objected to the manipulation of his words to indicate siding with missionaries. Other forms of apparent deception were claims by a leading missionary that his wife was beaten and then “abandoned” by police.

By Atara Beck, World Israel News

Since the Pentecost 2023 event took place on May 28 in the Old City of Jerusalem, when approximately 150 mostly Orthodox Jews protested a Christian missionary event next to the Temple Mount, missionaries as well as mainstream news sites, among others, have been publicizing a letter written by Jerusalem Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar slamming disrespect for people of different faiths and indicating that it was written in response to the protest.

A description of the Pentecost event on its website indicates that the goal of the organizers was not merely to pray for Israel and Jerusalem, but to make Jews into “believers.” The event marked the launch of an aggressive, 10-year campaign.

While the rabbi indeed did write a scathing letter condemning violence against Christians, it was dated Iyar 25, 5783 — the Hebrew date that corresponds with May 16, 2023.

As no English date appeared on the letter, the average reader likely would not realize that it was dated almost two weeks before the incident in the Old City.

Meanwhile, the letter was translated into English and widely circulated just days after the event, giving the impression that it was written to denounce the protest against the Pentecost events and others that followed.  Shlomo Amar Letter

On June 5, for example, Jerusalem Deputy-Mayor Fleur Hassan-Nahoum, who gave an interview on i24News a couple of days after the Pentecost event slamming the protest, posted the letter on her Twitter page, saying, “Jerusalem is a city that sanctifies freedom of religion so when I received complaints about Christians being harassed in the old city we took action. Pleased the Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem has sent out a public letter to clarify that this is against Jewish Law and should stop.”

Israel365 reported in early June that the chief rabbi’s statement “comes in the wake of an anti-missionary protest held by Orthodox Jews outside a Christian prayer event at the Davidson Center Archaeological Park adjacent to the southern wall of the Temple Mount last month.

“The statement was shared on Twitter by Fleur Hassan-Nahoum, one of Jerusalem’s deputy mayors who handles the tourism and foreign relations for the city. She has been working to stop harassment of Christians in Jerusalem.”

According to a Times of Israel report on June 9,  which also published the tweet, “Shlomo Amar’s unusual statement in English follows multiple small incidents and an unauthorized [May 28] protest led by the city’s [other] deputy mayor [Arieh King] against Evangelicals.”

According to a posting on July 7 by the Combat Antisemitism Movement, quoting the rabbi’s letter and Fleur-Hassan’s tweet, “Chief Sephardic Rabbi of Jerusalem Shlomo Amar issued a statement this week condemning a recent string of harassment incidents targeting Christians in the holy city, Israel’s capital.”

Among the many others who retweeted Fleur-Hassan’s post and quoted the rabbi’s letter is author, media personality and influential missionary Joel Rosenberg.

‘Nothing but complete deception’

All of the news articles include a large photo of the Jerusalem chief rabbi.

Referring to Rabbi Amar as Rishon LeZion (‘First to Zion’), the title given to Sephardic Chief Rabbis of the Land of Israel since the mid-17th century – Rabbi Amar held that position from 2003 until 2013 – his assistant, Yechezel Shabo, told World Israel News:

“The letter by the Rishon LeZion and Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem, Rabbi Shlomo Amar, was written on the 25th day of Iyar 2023 (16.5.23), and this was due to complaints from clerics representing different religions about harassment and acts [against them] that would not be done by truly God-fearing people.

“There is no connection between the letter by the Rishon LeZion and any event noted by missionaries, whose purpose is to, God-forbid, bring innocent people to their religion,” Shabo stated in the rabbi’s name.

“Certainly, any attempt to present the letter of the Rishon LeZion as support for those missionaries is nothing but complete deception bordering on crime.”

Looking for justice

Another questionable claim that was made after the Pentecost event was leading missionary Ron Cantor‘s allegation that his wife was beaten up by protesters. In an email to his followers last week, he wrote that his wife “Elana is still suffering from the pain of being attacked…as well as the sadness of being abandoned by the police, who initially seemed so willing to see justice.”

There were many videos of violent altercations that day – mostly of police beating protesters – but there appears to be none showing Elana – or, for that matter, any Christian – being physically assaulted. World Israel News contacted the Israel Police spokesperson for more information.

After checking the files, the spokesperson responded a few hours later that they checked out reports from May 28, the day of the event, and the 29th, and found no report from the Cantors.