Messianic alert threatens Bible quiz

By · April 29, 2008

An Israeli anti-missionary group warned that a messianic Jew could win the international youth Bible quiz in Jerusalem.

Yad L’Ahim, a group of fervently Orthodox Jews who combat missionaries in Israel, said Tuesday that a 17-year-old Jerusalem girl who is among four contestants in next week’s Independence Day quiz belongs to a secret Christian sect.

The daily newspaper Yediot Achronot identified the girl, but Yad L’Ahim’s claims about her religious affiliations could not immediately be confirmed.

Yad L’Ahim’s chairman, Rabbi Shlomo Dov Lipschitz, called for religious Jews to boycott the quiz if the girl is not disqualified.

“Missionaries will be greatly encouraged by the fact that a member of their messianic Christian community has a chance of being the world champion and will exploit this, God forbid, to increase their efforts to convert people in Israel and the Diaspora,” he told the newspaper.

The Education Ministry, which oversees the quiz, said it had looked into the complaint about the contestant and decided not to act because she is considered Jewish.

The girl’s father, whose first name was not given, told Yediot, “If anyone tries to hurt my daughter, I believe that God will pay them back.”