March 23, 2012 (
LifeSiteNews.com) - Rabbi
Yehuda Levin, an Orthodox Jewish leader who often functions as a spokesman for the Rabbinical Alliance of America and the Union of Orthodox Rabbis of the U.S. and Canada, is calling on Christian leaders to take a more active role in defending Israel from pro-abortion and homosexual activist ideology.
In a recent interview with LifeSiteNews.com he spoke of “Christian Zionists” who support the state of Israel politically and even economically. Levin said that they are ignoring spiritual issues of great importance in what both Jews and Christians refer to as the Holy Land, including the mass murder of the unborn, as well as the “homosexualization” of Israeli culture.
“The Christians do not understand, the American Christian community of tens of millions, they don’t understand their power,” Levin told LSN. “When they tour Israel and they meet with government officials, when they are taken to holy sites, they should be clamoring and expressing in their leaders, the leaders of the Christians here in America, should be clamoring and speaking out against abortion, against the tens of thousands of abortions, against the homosexualization of the Holy Land, against all of this immoral craziness, and they could absolutely have an effect.”
Although a minority of more traditional Jews oppose these trends, said Levin, they are generally mistreated by a secularized majority, and are receiving little support from other religious groups who share their values.
“While there are tremendously devout people in Israel, Hasidic people, what is referred to as ultra- Orthodox, on the other end of the spectrum, among the irreligious Israelis, we see an eagerness, to embrace Madonna, to embrace Michael Jackson, to embrace all the craziness, and it saddens me that the Christian, so-called Christian Zionists, whether Catholic, or whether Evangelical, those who support Israel do not understand that they have a strength” while “we Orthodox that are treated literally like second-rate citizens in many areas in Israel, many areas of social life, we are frowned upon,” he said.
“If the next time a Netanyahu comes and he is addressing a Christian audience, and the Pat Robertsons and others and the people, most of all the people, were to say: ‘how do you do this? How do you allow these abortions, homosexual parades, and teaching children from a homosexual curriculum? Is this the Holy Land today? We’re shocked, we’re ashamed!’ You know, I think this would have an effect. I think if enough religious leaders, politicians, and Christian tourists spoke out we would see positive changes in Israel.”
According to Levin,“we are in a civil war within the Catholic Church, within the Jewish religion,” and the two groups must support one another in their battles to preserve moral teachings.
Cardinal Archbishop Timothy Dolan and New York’s homosexual “marriage” vote
While expressing his profound respect for New York City’s Cardinal Archbishop Timothy Dolan, Rabbi Levin said that he was “disappointed” with the lack of help from the prelate during the debate over homosexual “marriage” in New York state in 2010, as well as his silence on Israel’s moral problems during Dolan’s recent trip to the Holy Land.
“Archbishop Dolan, Cardinal Dolan, was in Israel, and he spent days there. Did he comment at all on the moral situation in any way?” asked Levin . “So here is the united Catholic conference of bishops, and I respect him, I respect him but does morality and respect for life, does that stop at the Catholic Church door, or is this something which Catholic teachings tell us is international and applies equally in every nation of the world, and certainly the nation that previous popes have called ‘older brother’ and ‘the tree from which we were grafted?’”
“Now of course it might be politically unpopular for him to say this, and it might rankle, but you know how many people would feel inspired, would feel motivated, would feel embarrassed that a foreign clergyman said such a thing?” he asked.
Noting his three decades of work supporting Catholic pro-life activists and defending the pope and other clergy from unjust attacks, Levin said that he would like to see more reciprocity from Catholic and Christian prelates. However, he noted, “I’m an equal opportunity criticizer..My disappointment is with anybody: rabbis, cardinals, priests, common folk, we’re on this ship together.”
Levin expressed his gratitude to Vatican officials for intervening against permitting a homosexual march in Jerusalem in 2006.
“I’m happy to say that based on my appeal to the Vatican, the Vatican did speak out and did instruct, I think his name is Msgr. Franco, who is the papal representative, the nuncio…who spoke out strongly against the parade in Jerusalem, who actually testified in my presence in front of a Knesset subcommittee shortly after arriving in Israel, so this was great. And I look forward to continued interreligious participation in a concerted way as it applies to moral issues, worldwide but especially in the Holy Land….”
An “absolute prohibition” against voting for anti-life and anti-family politicians needed
Rabbi Levin urged Catholic clergy to join with Evangelical, Jewish, and even Muslim leaders, to institute an absolute prohibition against voting for those who support anti-life and anti-family agendas.
“Occasionally I go to the Vatican, and whenever I’m there I always tell these prelates that ultimately, we have to draw a line in the sand, and there has to be a teaching from the major religions that it is absolutely positively prohibited to vote for anyone who is supportive of any part of the abortion, homosexual, or anti-religous-liberty agendas,” he said.
“Once that’s done, although it might to a certain extent thin out the pews, the remnant will be so empowered and so much stronger, and if the Catholics do this in tandem with the Southern Baptist convention in the United States and Orthodox Jews, there will be Muslims that will join, believe me this pushback is the equal and opposite reaction that we need at this late stage in the devolving culture with more and more states embracing homosexual marriage, with more attacks on religious liberty, we have only have a certain amount of years left to reverse this.”
He expressed admiration for Dr. Richard Land, President of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC), for his strong defiance of the Obama administration’s coercive contraceptive mandate, which will require religious institutions to fund contraception, including drugs that cause abortions, and urged Catholic leaders to coordinate more closely with Baptists.
“He said that Martin Luther King went to prison in Birmingham, and we are prepared to go to prison in Nashville,” noted Levin. “We never saw such strong talk from Dr. Land.” Levin added that “If tomorrow the Catholic bishops were to join with the Southern Baptist Convention, and Dr. Land were to talk about the fact that they are now contemplating this kind of a prohibition [against voting for anti-life and anti-family politicians], I promise you that politicians will take note. Will it change overnight? No. But believe me if they institute this and they take a few political scalps you won’t believe the amount of reversal we can still accomplish with God’s grace.”
Levin’s final point, which he regarded as the most important, was that ultimately, responsibility for the decaying morality of modern society lies with religious leaders, who have not acted with sufficient vigor to counteract such trends.
“Who is ultimately responsible?” he asked. “Ultimately the ones who are going to bear the responsibility for not issuing this stand and for not teaching the flock the absolute, without equivocation, uncompromising, black and white prohibition … on voting, supporting, honoring [anti-life and anti-family politicians]...are going to be the religious leaders.”
