JEWISH SENTINEL

JEWISH SENTINEL • JUNE 18 - 24, 2021 5 By IRIT TRATT T he recent spate of anti-Se- mitic attacks in NewYork is a sobering reminder of why the Judeo-Christian relationship must be strengthened rather than squandered. Darryl Jones, with 12 prior convictions including at- tempted murder, was released on parole when he knifed members of a Jewish family visiting Manhattan last March. Less than a month later, Shokho- biddin Bakhritdinovan was arrest- ed after he deliberately reversed his minivan and hit a group of has- sidim in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn. Most recently, sev- en incidents of vandalism against Jewish synagogues have occurred in the Bronx. And while the Jew- ish population in America stands at just under 2.2%, the FBI’s latest hate crime statistics documented that approximately 60% of reli- giously motivated hate crimes tar- geted Jews. Evangelical Christians are among the strongest domestic de- fenders of the Jewish people. Pas- tor John Hagee, founder and direc- tor of Christians United For Israel (CUFI) regards anti-Semitism as an “evil darkness” that both Chris- tians and Jews must come together “to fight until it is destroyed.” To date, CUFI has recruited 4,000 students on US college campuses and sponsored trips to Israel for over 1,000 pastors. CUFI’s 2019 “Night To Honor Israel” summit drew more than 5,000 supporters and raised $1.35 million for Israeli and left-leaning politicians whose commitment to liberal secularism often depict Christians as unen- and Jewish charities. The authenticity of their support is evidenced by a lack of political posturing in their advocacy. CUFI propelled the bipartisan passage of the Never Again Education Act, which was signed into law last year. And in February, the Chris- tians United For Israel Action Fund issued a press release call- ing for GOP leaders to repudiate Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene following her comments trafficking in anti-Semitic conspir- acy theories. T he Philos Project is another or- ganization critical to deepen- ing Judeo-Christian bonds through its engagement and education. The group’s Christian Advocacy and Leadership Program provides op- portunities for cross-cultural coop- eration between Arabs, Jews and Christians while their #WeResolve campaign empowers “individu- als, churches and organizations to take tangible action in confronting anti-Semitism in the world.” In a 2019 op-ed, founder and director Robert Nicholson called upon all Christians to “lead the fight against anti-Semitism.” While former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu admitted that Israel has “no better friends than Christians,” there exists what the late Jewish political pundit Charles Krauthammer described as a lack of enthusiasm for our Evangelical friends. Various eschatological inter- pretations of conversion and apoca- lyptic prophecies are often cited as justification for said uneasiness. This theological narrative is propagated by a mainstream media lightened and prone to “Neander- thal thinking.” According to a 2017 survey cited by Jarvis Best, the ful- fillment of prophecy as the motivat- ing factor behind Christian support Brothers In Arms A stronger Judeo-Christian alliance needed against anti-Semitism OPINION Evangelical Christians are among the strongest domestic defenders of the Jewish people. By DENNIS PRAGER I f one w re to draw up a list of human needs, food and shelter would be at the top. With great respect to Freudi s, s x w uld not be No. 2. The need for meaning would be second only to the need for food. That meaning is more important to happiness than sex is easily shown. A great many people go long periods without sex, and while many of them miss it, if they have meaning in their lives, they can lead quite happy and fulfilling lives. On the other hand, few peo- ple who have regular sex but lack meaning are happy or fulfilled. Third on the list of human needs is the need to feel important. This need is much less often cited than the need for food, sex and meaning. But it is so important that a case could be made that it is tied for No. 2 with the need for meaning. T he infamous “midlife crisis” is a crisis of importance: “I thought I would be much more important at this stage in life than I am.” That mostly afflicts en — just as feeling less important after one’s children have left home afflicts mothers more han fathers. Among t e many psycho-social crises afflicting Americans is a cri- sis of importance. Fewer Ame i- cans feel important than did Americans in the past. Why? What has happened? What has happ ned is a st ep decline in the number of institut ons that gave people a feel- ing of impor ance. Given that work is general y rega ded as one of the most ubiqui- t us providers of purpose, and that, prior to the COVID-19 lockdown, more Americans were orking than ever before, one would think that more Americans than ever before felt important. It has not turned out that way. For many, work has not provided the sense of importance people expected it to, let alone fulfilled the other great need: for meaning. This is especially true for women, but first, we will address men. Work used to provide many men with a sense of importance. It is simply a fact that being the bread- winner for a family means one is important. However, since the 1970s and the rise of feminism, women have not only become breadwinners, but they have increasingly become the primary breadwinner within a marriage and for a family. That has helped couples finan- cially, but it has also deprived a great many men of their sense of importance. When regarded by a wife and children as important, husbands/fathers felt importa t. Progressive America mocks the 1950s TV series “Father Knows Best.” But when w v s and chi dren believed that, men felt import nt b cause they were. The price for this, acc rding to femi ism, was a d by wom n, who didn’t r ceive the ccolade of breadwinning. And they set about changing it. How ver, contrary to the expec- tations of the well-educated, wo en becoming breadwinners has not rovided most women with a sense of importance, and certain- y not me ing in life. Contr ry to wha feminism, colle es, high chools, progressi e parents and the mass media have claimed for decades, men and women d no have the same atures. Just as sex with many partners continued on page 20 Feeling Of Importance Government takes it away from you Just as most women are not as satisfi d as men are wi h many sex partners, so it is with work. President Joe Biden repeated this theme recently: “Put trust and faith in our government,” he pleaded with Americans. One could accurately say that we are replacing America’s motto, “In God We Trust,” with, “In Government We Trust.” PERSPECTIVE Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-New York) speaks at a watch party in Yonkers, New York, last year. He had alleged that Netanyahu had failed the Palestinians. continued on page 21