Dear Rabbi,
I am an orthodox Christian - evangelical - and I wish to support the Jews as we are told to do in Scripture - can you help me know what to do and how to be a true friend to my Orthodox Jewish friens?
George Barton
We Jews have a long history of suffering, so it is good to know that we have friends among you. You can be there for us in dangerous times, just as the small number of righteous gentiles in Europe were able to rescue Jews from the Nazis. There are also a large number of Jewish charities to which you can donate, having nothing to do with the Israeli state.
We are suspicious of the motives of Christian Zionists who claim to be friendly to Jews but express that friendship by encouraging them to leave America and go to the State of Israel. If one is truly a friend of the Jews, he should want the Jews to be his neighbors, not support them somewhere far away. He should make efforts to buy from Jewish businesses, and use whatever political power he may have to make Jewish life in America more comfortable. And Christians and Orthodox Jews should join forces to make America a more moral place - encouraging the traditional family and decent values.