Tzvi Fishman and the Holy Land
Tzvi Fishman and the Holy LandCourtesy

At the beginning of the week approximately 100 grassroots aliya activists gathered at the Hibbah Center in Jerusalem to discuss ways to increase aliya and make the absorption of new olim far more successful.

- Rabbi Nachman Kahana declared that being a Jew today means living in the Land of Israel.

-Rabbi Shimshon Nadel called upon Diaspora Rabbis to lead the way to the Jewish Homeland by their own personal example and to rally their communities behind them.

-Yehuda HaKohen spoke about the urgent to find new ways to counter the anti-Israel propaganda on college campuses throughout America.

-The psychiatrist Dr. Yaakov Freedman discussed what he called “the addiction to the Diaspora.”

-And Rabbi Yosef Mendelevich, former Prisoner of Zion, sent a letter to the emergency Aliya conference calling upon the State of Israel to adopt aliya as a top-priority national project as vital as military defense.

One of the controversial issues which arose was the fact that the Government of Israel, the Jewish Agency, and the Nefesh B’Nefesh organization accept large sums of money from Christian and Evangelical organizations to facilitate Aliya. To help clarify the issue, I asked HaRav Shlomo Aviner what Jewish Law had to say about the matter. This is his response:

Receiving Money from Christian Organizations

By HaRav Shlomo Aviner

Firstly, we should understand that there is no reason to accept donations from Christians and other non-Jews. Why should non-Jews sustain us financially? Can’t we get along by ourselves? If we were to make an accounting, it would turn out that all the money Israel has received from all Gentile organizations doesn’t come to half a day’s expenses of the State of Israel’s budget.

Even when the State of Israel was first established and we were in dire straits, it was a disgrace to rely on the financial support of Gentiles, but today the State is wealthy. Imagine a rich man who stands near the Kotel and begs for money. Obviously this is improper. But when the wealthy Jewish State accepts money from non-Jews this is a far greater desecration of G-d's Name, a Chillul Hashem.

When it comes to accepting money from Christian organizations the problem is far greater. From the beginnings of history the Christians endeavored to annihilate us. They tried to slaughter us but failed. Afterwards they attempted to scatter us around the globe, to exile us from our Land, and yet we still exist. They tried to destroy us economically, to ridicule, degrade and slander us, and still we remain strong.

What is transpiring today is called in Christian terminology “the Crusade of money.” They hope to destroy us with the use of money and they call this “to hug and to strangle.” They will give us money and become our friends, and in this manner they can increase the success of their missionizing. In Eretz Yisrael there are multitudes of missionaries who expend millions and millions of dollars on missionary activity. Of course not every person who receives money from a Christian organization will convert to Christianity, but the acceptance of Christian money opens the gates to missionaries.

Rabbi Kook in his letters writes that it is forbidden to accept money from Christians because the person who will pay for this is some other Jew who will become a Christian. This is immoral. Also, following Rabbi Kook, leading Rabbis prohibited the taking of money from Christians – including the Chief Rabbinate of Israel, the Beit HaDin of Chabad, Rabbi Avraham Shapira, Rabbi Mordechai Eliahu, Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach, Rabbi Yosef Shalom Eliyeshiv, Rabbi Simcha HaKohen Kook, Rabbi Moshe Tendler, Rabbi Dov Lior, the Beit HaDin of the Haredi Community and many others.

Do not accept cursed money!

Don’t take money from Christian organizations, from missionaries or from anyone connected to missionaries in any way, direct or roundabout. Certainly we are not maintaining that if someone takes the money he or she will convert to Christianity, Heaven forbid. However, other Jews will convert.

Behold, this is their entry card to infiltrate Am Yisrael in order to uproot our beliefs. Back in the time of HaRav Kook, he wrote that it is not proper to accept medicines from Christians even in situations of medical danger, for in the wake of this the gate to convert other Jews is opened (Letters of Rabbi Kook, Volume 4, Pg. 74).

It is forbidden to accept money from Christian groups, even from those who insist that they do not engage in missionary work. Amongst the Jewish People there is a natural aversion to Christianity stemming from 2000 years of persecution at their hands. Therefore their goal is to win our trust and they do this through money. They have long-term plans. And all of these Christians groups are connected to missionizing in one form or the next.

Through the donations of large sums of money, Christian organizations have bought paths leading to influence throughout Israeli society – in the Jewish Agency, in the Ministry of Aliyah and Klita, in the Ministry of Welfare, in the Ministry of Education, and in work with Lone Soldiers. All in broad daylight.

Needless to say, in the beginning stages everything is done in a pleasant and friendly atmosphere, but in actuality the interaction with them dulls our natural antipathy for Christianity, for they present themselves as virtuous souls. This is their initial goal, to erase our opposition to Christianity and to people who believe in alien worship. In this manner, over a course of time, they hope to bring about a great change in the State of Israel which will lead to our acceptance of their doctrines.

Tzvi Fishman was awarded the Israel Ministry of Education Prize for Jewish Culture and Creativity. Before making Aliyah to Israel in 1984, he was a successful Hollywood screenwriter. He has co-authored 4 books with Rabbi David Samson, based on the teachings of Rabbis A. Y. Kook and T. Y. Kook. His other books include: "The Kuzari For Young Readers" and "Tuvia in the Promised Land". His books are available on Amazon. Recently, he directed the movie, "Stories of Rebbe Nachman."