April 2, 2012 | 8:30 am

Pastor Hagee points to Christ’s throne from Aish HaTorah rooftop

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

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Standing on the rooftop of Aish HaTorah’s Jerusalem facilities, which overlook the Western Wall and the Temple Mount, Pastor John Hagee, leader of Christians United for Israel, points to where Jesus will reign for 1,000 years, where “every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess.”

This is, of course, a belief of Christian Millennialism, making the location of Hagee’s pronouncement a little odd. Aish HaTorah is an Orthodox Jewish organization known for its Torah study and Jewish outreach. Jewish Israel reached out to Aish to see what they knew about Hagee’s rooftop visit:

About an hour after the initial phone conversation, Jewish Israel was called by Yossi Lapko, who introduced himself as the personal assistant to Rabbi Yehuda Weinberg, the COO of Aish Jerusalem.  Mr. Lapko told Jewish Israel that Aish can’t take responsibility for what is said or done on their rooftop and that they have no control over tourists or guests. Lapko confirmed that he is fully aware of the fact that Hagee is a celebrated mega pastor and that he was aware of Hagee’s visit to Aish last week. However, Mr. Lapko claims it was not a pre-planned visit with a film crew or entourage. Lapko reiterated that the Aish building is frequented by many visitors.

Mr. Lapko did feel that the content of the video was terrible and he said he would have stopped it had he known what was being said, but he clearly wanted to underplay the incident - referring to it as, “like spilt milk”. Jewish Israel was also told that Aish has no plans to change their visitation policy at this time or to caution guests to respect the nature and location of their site. Lapko also seemed opposed to having any type of supervision on the roof.

Read the rest here. I’m not clear on how “open” Aish’s visitation policy is, but I think that it weighs heavily on Aish’s response. I also think that a lot of Jews understand Hagee’s theological beliefs and his impetus for supporting Israel as a Jewish state. Hagee wants the Jews to return to the Holy Land to facilitate Christ’s return.

April 1, 2012 | 1:25 pm

BREAKING: Jim Wallis joins the Tea Party!

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

Big breaking news about the Sojourners CEO Jim Wallis, via the organization’s God’s Politics Blog. He’s joined the Tea Party:

“During a silent retreat at a Carthusian monastery in the high Sierras, I received a vision,” Wallis said in a statement delivered via fax from his hermitage on Block Island, off the coast of Rhode Island. “God — as Aslan, the great lion of [C.S.] Lewis’ Naria — appeared to me but he was not alone. He was accompanied by a rabbit — a hare carrying a pocketwatch that was tethered to his waistcoat by a golden chain. Aslan and the Hare invited me to walk with them to Starbucks, but when we arrived, it was a not a chain coffee shop. Rather, it was a traditional Japanese tea house. Aslan spoke to me: ‘Jim you really should try the tea. It’s better for you than your fair trade coffee.’

“As I reached for my the cup of tea on the table in front of me, I awoke, startled, heart racing, covered in sweat,” Wallis continued in his statement, which appeared to have been written with a quill pen and ink. “That’s when I knew: God wants me to join the tea party. I have seen the error of my ways. The Mighty Aslan has spoken loudly and clearly. And I have heeded his call.”

Wallis, 51, has been on sabbatical from Sojourners since January. He was set to return to the 40-year-old organization’s D.C. offices April 9. His unexpected announcement is a complete 180-degree turn from his public statements about the tea party in the past, including a May 2010 post titled, “How Christian is Tea Party Libertarianism?”

In fact, his “unexpected announcement” wasn’t without an explanation: Today is April 1. And, at the risk of disappointing Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh, who purportedly released a joint statement in response to the news—It said, simply, “BOOYAH!”—I’m calling this bit of news an April Fool’s joke.

Not a bad one at that.

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April 1, 2012 | 12:47 pm

Adelson sees weak presidential options for Republican Jews; Gingrich at ‘end of his line’

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

I’m a little late on this one, but The Jewish Journal caught up with big-money political donor Sheldon Adelson, known well in the American Jewish community for his business success, his hawkish Israel support and his conservative politics. He’s been backing the Newt Gingrich horse in the GOP presidential nominee race, but he says that Gingrich is “at the end of his line.”

As for Rick Santorum, Adelson thinks that he’s a great guy but too hung up on social conservatism and “I don’t want him running my country.” And Mitt Romney, “He’s not the bold decision maker ... every time I talk to him, he says, let me think about it.”

So what’s a Republican Jew to do?

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April 1, 2012 | 11:19 am

Muslim Brotherhood nominates presidential candidate in Egypt

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

From the start of the Egyptian revolution, many feared that the end of Mubarak’s despotic regime would only pave the way for the Islamic rule of the Muslim Brotherhood. Even after the Muslim Brotherhood officially rejoined the Egyptian political scene from which it had been banned, the group promised to stay out of the next presidential race. But in recent weeks the group had been weighing the pros and cons (mainly negative public reaction) to putting forward a presidential candidate.

Now, in a big about face, they have.

The Christian Science Monitor reports:

The decision to field Khairat El Shater, a wealthy businessman who has served mostly behind the scenes, came after nearly a year in which the Muslim Brotherhood said it would not contest the presidential elections so as not to provoke fear of Islamic rule in Egypt. But in a press conference Saturday night at their new headquarters, Brotherhood leaders said they found it necessary to change course because the transition to democracy is under threat, and the group was stymied in parliament.

“We have chosen the path of the presidency not because we are greedy for power but because we have a majority in parliament which is unable to fulfill its duties,” said Mohamed Morsy, head of the Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party. Mahmoud Hussein, the group’s secretary general, cited attempts to “abort the revolution.”

The move is the Brotherhood’s trump card in a recently escalating battle for power with the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), the military council currently ruling Egypt, say analysts. But it could cause a backlash, not only at home but also abroad, among Western governments wary of an Islamist regime in Egypt. The risky step from the conservative movement is an indication of the difficult political realities confronting the Brotherhood as it attempts to transition from a repressed opposition group to a majority power.

“This is the last-mile fight,” says Khalil Al Anani, an expert on Islamist politics at Durham University who is currently in Egypt. “After [the Brotherhood] realized that the parliament is powerless, they decided to fight until the last point that they can reach to guarantee some kind of power over the new political system…. This is a serious conflict over power with the military.”

Should El Shater win the presidency, the Muslim Brotherhood would dominate Egyptian politics—but could run up against a stubborn military leadership that is reticent to give up its power. That could lead to more armed conflict. Either way, it stands to reason that relations with Israel and the United States are headed in the wrong direction.

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