<\/p>\n
Oy vey. Christians are co-opting another non-christian event. We have Hal Lindsey, author of the Late Great Planet Earth<\/em>, for this new development.<\/p>\n Lindsey\u2019s book \u2014 a huge best seller \u2014 described an Armageddon theology in which the modern state of Israel stands as a fulfillment of biblical prophecy, setting in motion a series of events that will culminate with the second coming of Christ. Essentially Lindsey advocated a respect not just for Israel but also for the Jewish people, who were, after all, chosen of God. For many old-guard Protestants, who grew up hearing Jews described as \u201cChrist-killers,\u201d this shift was disorienting.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n I recall the shift to the near idolization of anything Jewish. Such a fascinating people, they were God’s “chosen ones.” I recall hearing fellow church members yearn for the day when they could finally meet one of these fascinating people. Evidently that hasn’t changed much.<\/p>\n Rabbi Eliot Pearlson of Temple Menorah, a traditional conservative synagogue in Miami Beach, tells me that he began to notice non-Jews borrowing the traditions and trappings of his faith roughly 20 years ago. He has encountered Christians holding seders, being married under chuppahs and wearing prayer shawls over their clothes. He says some Christians wear zizit with red thread rather than blue to symbolize the blood of Christ. And a growing number of evangelicals travel to Israel partly to obtain Jewish ritual objects like skullcaps and rams\u2019 horns.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Evangelist John Hagee\u00a0 is even getting in on the fad.<\/p>\n If anyone can serve as a weather vane for this phenomenon, it\u2019s John Hagee, an influential Charismatic preacher and the inspiration to Brian and Tara Lewis. His sermon \u201cThe Mystery of the Prayer Shawl\u201d is available on CD. \u201cThe tallit, or prayer shawl, designed by God, has been worn by devout Jews for centuries,\u201d his Web site explains. \u201cIts legacy is woven throughout the Old and New Testaments. It still carries the power to energize your prayer life.\u201d For $49, believers can also buy a blue-and-gold tallit made in the Holy Land. Hagee fervently supports Israel, believes that the Jews must return there before Jesus will come again and claimed in a 1999 sermon that prophesies in the Old Testament proved that God enabled the Holocaust. \u201cGod allowed it to happen,\u201d Hagee said. \u201cGod said, \u2018My top priority to the Jewish people is to get them to come back to the land of Israel.\u2019 \u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Oh, boy. Now we’re mixing end times prophecy into the mix. Jeepers. So… how do rabbis feel about this phenomena?<\/p>\n Rabbi Jason Miller, a member of Rabbis Without Borders, takes an attitude of tolerance toward Christian bar mitzvahs. As a practitioner of the Torah, he is interested in sharing \u201cJewish wisdom with the entire community.\u201d When I mentioned the TLC reality show to him, Rabbi Miller said Brian and Tara Lewis have \u201cthe right to their belief\u201d that their son \u201cis more authentically Jewish\u201d because of Christ. Then he continued: \u201cIs it insulting? Yeah. It bothers me in my gut. But I have to take a step back.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Rabbi Rebecca Einstein Schorr disagrees:<\/p>\n \u201cBar mitzvah, by its very language, indicates that the honoree is a Jew,\u201d she tells me. \u201cBelief in Jesus as a deity or savior is incompatible with Judaism. It takes a special kind of presumption to declare oneself a more authentic version of a religion other than one\u2019s own.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n