Messianic Jewish Publisher Sparks Ultra-Orthodox Anger at Israeli Book Week

Image by Israel21c.org

By Ari Feldman June 19, 2017

An ultra-Orthodox group filed a complaint with Jerusalem police after HaGefen, a Messianic Jewish publisher, offered a new translation of the Bible to teenagers at Israel’s annual Hebrew Book Week.

Yad L’Achim, a prominent activist group that has been known for harassing Christian missionaries to Israel and voicing opposition to Arab-Israeli marriages, complained that the books constituted “incitement and solicitation of minors to convert.”

“The innocent buyers do not know that these are missionary books that encourage conversion to Christianity,” the complaint stated.

HaGefen, which has been based in Rishon LeZiyon for over forty years, released its latest version of the bible, “The Testimony,” in five volumes, in contemporary Hebrew.

Contact Ari Feldman at feldman@forward.com or on Twitter @aefeldman.

Ari Feldman is a staff writer at the Forward. He covers Jewish religious organizations, synagogue life, anti-Semitism and the Orthodox world. If you have any tips, you can email him at feldman@forward.com. Follow him on Twitter @aefeldman.

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