Smith is Christian and a member of Schindler’s Ark, co-sponsor of the July 17 service along with the Jewish Federation of the Greater East Bay.
Schindler’s Ark, whose founder Rosemary Schindler is a niece by marriage of Oskar Schindler, is an evangelical Christian organization that supports Israel and the entitlement of the Jews to the land. The group bases its support on biblical text.
The Tisha B’Av service — one of a number organized nationally by the American Zionist Movement in conjunction with Schindler’s Ark — focused on the 470 victims of Palestinian terrorism who have died in Israel since September 27, 2000, the resurgence of the intifada.
If politics makes strange bedfellows — and what is more political than Israel? — then last week’s service is a case in point. While the alliance of an evangelical group with the federation may seem controversial, Schindler’s Ark has stood up for Israel on a national level and, said Riva Gambert, director of the federation’s Israel task force, “Israel needs friends.”
Proselytizing is not part of Schindler’s Ark’s agenda, according to June Brott, a task force member who has attended conferences sponsored by Schindler’s Ark and has had extensive dealings with the organization.
“They think Jews should be Jews and Christians should be Christians,” said Brott, adding that the mission is to educate Christians about what is really going on in the Mideast, to travel to Israel and to speak up when the media give incorrect or biased information about the Jewish state. Brott extols the members of the organization for their bravery and willingness to go into dangerous areas such as West Bank settlements. “They’re the kind of people who are really going to stand up for us if there’s an emergency — which there is now.” Responding to concerns that the group’s long-range plans might include the Jews’ conversion to Christianity when the Messiah returns and that a Jewish presence in Israel will hasten that event, Brott paraphrases a talmudic passage she heard from a rabbi. “What is definite is definite and what is unknown, you don’t know,” she said. “Right now, what we know is that they’re our friends. Down the line, do they want to convert us? Maybe, but that’s way, way, way down the line.”
During the four-hour vigil at Sinai, the names of the 470 terrorist victims were read. The crowd, which initially numbered only about 20 but grew as the afternoon wore on, was somber. Some wept as pictures of the victims were held up and the names were read, along with brief descriptions, where and how they died and where they were buried.
Refuting Josef Stalin claim that one death is a tragedy but a million deaths is a statistic, there were no statistics among the 470 terrorist victims. Last week’s service put a face on everyone.
A 15-year-old girl making her first foray into Tel Aviv nightlife was killed in a discotheque bombing. An 85-year-old traveling to Tel Aviv to visit his wife in the hospital died in a bus station bombing. A 5-month-old sitting in his car seat, was hit in the head by a stone when the vehicle was attacked by terrorists as his family was returning home from a condolence call. A 35-year-old shepherd who left with his flock and was found shot to death the next day. A 24-year-old soldier on leave, surprising his girlfriend at the pizza parlor where she was celebrating her birthday. “Turn around. I love you,” he said, and then there was an explosion that killed him.
Some died immediately, others lingered. There were soldiers and students, contractors and teachers, Chinese workers and Ethiopian Jews, recent emigres and sabras, only children and those from large families.
Terrorist bombs don’t play favorites.
In addition to Schindler’s Ark participants, members of the federation’s Israel task force and MEICOR-Middle East Information Council of Rossmoor also read names and biographies. East Bay clergy and federation officials, including executive vice-president Ami Nahshon, also spoke.
Also present at the vigil was MaryRose Black Ryan, representing the California Christian Committee for Israel, an organization she help found in the late 1960s. Based simply on Christian ethics, the group also supports Israel as a Jewish state.
“That one people should be singled out for persecution is something we should feel the deepest Christian guilt about,” said Ryan, who lived in Israel for six years and has made several trips, staying for extended periods of time. CCCI leads tours to Israel, plants forests and lobbies Congress for support.
She compares the pioneer spirit and principles on which Israel was founded to those of the United States. “Other emerging countries lost their democratic roots but Israel is the star of them all.”
At 80, Ryan is a tireless supporter of Israel and is thrilled that more Christian organizations are rallying to Israel’s support.
“I don’t feel safe if my next-door neighbor is in danger,” she said.