c. 1998 Religion News Service

UNDATED _ In celebrating Israel’s 50th anniversary as a modern state, actors dressed in biblical costumes will parade around the Orlando, Fla., convention center Wednesday night (April 29), triumphantly carrying a replica of the Ark of the Covenant _ the wooden cabinet in which biblical Jews are believed to have kept the Ten Commandments tablets.

Leading the procession will be a dancing King David _ or at least an actor portraying ancient Israel’s most illustrious leader. An enthusiastic audience of 12,000 or more is expected to witness the melding of spirit and spectacle.”We’re flying in costumes and banners from across the nation,”said Cheryl Schang, the event’s primary organizer.”We’re even having a Wailing Wall replica brought in.” The Wailing Wall, also called the Western Wall and Judaism’s holiest site, is a remnant retaining wall of the Jerusalem Temple destroyed some 1,900 years ago by the Romans.

But”Israel’s Jubilee: 50 Years in the Land”_ which runs April 29 through May 3 and promises to be one of the largest gatherings anywhere outside Israel marking that nation’s 50th year of independence _ has not been organized by the Jewish community, as might be expected.

Rather, it’s being sponsored by the Christian Alliance for Israel, an ad hoc group of primarily evangelical and Pentecostal Christians who regard Israel’s rebirth as an independent state an important sign that the Bible’s plan for Jesus’ return is unfolding as promised.

Israel’s turning 50 _ which occurs this year on April 30, according to the Hebrew calendar _ has added significance for the event’s sponsors because of its association with the jubilee year celebrated in ancient Israel.

Under that law, slaves were freed and land purchased since the last jubilee was returned to the previous owner every five decades to guard against the accumulation of excess wealth.

The law only pertained to the land of Israel and is no longer followed even by traditional Jews because, among other reasons, the accuracy of the counting of the 50 year cycle has been lost over time. Still, Israel Jubilee sponsors regard Israel’s 50th birthday as particularly auspicious.”We believe the promises of the jubilee will be realized this year,”said Schang.”Debts will be canceled, property will be returned just as in ancient times.” They also see the jubilee year as having great significance for Israel _ including those areas of the biblical land of Israel today under the jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority and other Arab governments.”As Christian Zionists, we believe the Lord gave the land of Israel to the Jewish people and we are praying for all the land of Israel to return to its rightful owner in the year of the jubilee,”Schang said.

Among the noted speakers scheduled to appear at Israel Jubilee are evangelist Benny Hinn, religious broadcaster and pastor John Hagee, ex-700 Club co-host Ben Kinchlow, former presidential hopeful Alan Keyes, and Campus Crusade for Christ-founder Bill Bright.”We have delegations coming from Japan, Belize, Nigeria, Sweden, Germany and Israel,”said Schang, the daughter of an Assemblies of God minister.”Israel’s jubilee is a prophetic moment and this will be the largest Christian pro-Israel event ever to take place on the face of the Earth.” The event is not without its critics, though, and the most vocal are Jewish leaders upset with the large number of Messianic Jews and Christians affiliated with ministries that evangelize Jews who are associated with the event.

Messianic Jews _ also known as Hebrew Christians _ are Jews who have accepted Jesus as the Messiah but claim still to be Jews through their blood ties to the Jewish people. Mainstream Jewish leaders say that to accept Jesus is to become a Christian and that to claim otherwise is misleading and intended to get unsuspecting Jews to think they can believe in Jesus without forsaking their heritage.

Both the Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando, the area’s primary mainstream Jewish communal group, and the Orlando Board of Rabbis have urged Jews to stay away from the event.”We’re not protesting or trying to scuttle this event,”said Eric Geboff, federation executive director.”But we are concerned that some Jews may be swayed and taken in.” Mark Powers, director of Jews for Judaism, an anti-missionary group based in Baltimore, said,”The bottom line here is this is not an evangelical Christian event to which a couple of Hebrew Christians are coming. It’s an attempt to gain legitimacy for the Hebrew Christian movement by putting recognized Jewish leaders in the same venue with lots of Hebrew Christians.” Schang insists no evangelization of Jews will be allowed at the event and that her intent is only to show support for Israel.”We’re trying to rally Christian support for Israel and the Jewish people,”she said.”I’ve made no bones about the fact that we’re going to talk about Jesus as the Messiah because this is a Christian event. We’re not hiding that. This is not an interfaith event.” Despite that, the Jewish complaints have prompted nearly all the mainstream Jewish leaders who were asked to appear to turn down speaking invitations.

The controversy also has apparently dampened the event’s chances of getting high-level Israeli officials to attend, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who event organizers said early on had promised to come.

Mainstream Jewish leaders have lobbied the Israeli government hard to get Netanyahu to stay away, despite his previous appearances at similar Christian events.

Schang insists that, at the very least, Netanyahu will appear via satellite. However, the Embassy of Israel in Washington has yet to confirm the prime minister will even show up electronically.

The lone prominent Jewish speaker set for the event at this point is Orthodox Rabbi Daniel Lapin, a radio talk-show host in Seattle who regularly attends evangelical events.”If the goal is to prop up waning support for Israel, than it seems to me that there should be as much Jewish support as possible in Orlando,”he said.

Schang, however, professed not to be concerned with Jewish criticism hurting Israel Jubilee.”We’ve never targeted Jews as participants so we’re not bothered by what some people are saying,”she said.”Our target is Christians, and particularly evangelical and Pentecostal and charismatic Christians because they’re the ones who tend to pick up on prophecy and prophetic moments.”

DEA END RIFKIN