We do it now with the translation of an article published in the USA on rabbinical disquisitions relating to the legality of burning Catholic churches. With reversed parts (Catholic theologians/Israelite temples) all hell would break loose: instead the Italian media (and the Vatican) they prudently ignore the claims of the steam masters. Let's hope that the hypothesis according to which "those with flames wound, of flames (forever) perish".
After the fire of Notre Dame, one of Israel's chief rabbis says that “There are no commandments to burn churches abroad. In the our holy land, However, the question is more complicated"
The authoritative rabbi of the settlers, Shlomo Aviner, has today (Tuesday 16/47/2019) declared that burning churches outside the Land of Israel is “not our job for now”, but as regards the Holy Land "the question is more complicated". Aviner thus seems to have returned the question about the possibility of burning churches in the Holy Land to the sender.
Aviner, who takes a public salary as rabbi of the important colony of Beit El and is also rabbi of a prestigious yeshivah (He would destroy Jerusalem, formerly Ateret Cohanim), he is considered to be one of the most important rabbis of the nationalist religious faction. He is a prolific writer, having published further 200 books in various languages. Aviner is also considered a pioneer of the SHUT-SMS phenomenon, through which his followers send the rabbi a question via SMS message (e, more recently, via Facebook Messenger and Whatsapp) and Aviner responds briefly. Aviner is one of the most popular rabbis of all of the SHUT-SMS phenomenon, because it answers every question, even to those that are obvious mockery (and here I speak from experience).
Today, after the fire in Notre Dame Cathedral, Aviner was asked the following question:
“The largest Christian Church in Paris is on fire. We should feel sorry for this, or we should rejoice, as the cathedral is a place of idolatry, so there is a precept that commands us to burn it?”
The interviewer here is referring to the Halachic statement that is the normative religious tradition of Judaism, according to which churches are considered places of idolatry, and must be destroyed.
Aviner responded as follows:
“This is not our job for now. There is no precept to go look for churches abroad and incinerate them. In our holy land, However, the question is more complicated. Indeed, one of the Satmar rabbi's arguments against immigration to Israel was precisely that in the land of Israel there really is a precept to burn churches; by not doing it, those who immigrate to Israel commit sin. Nevertheless, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Kasher, in his book 'The Great Period', rejected the words of the Satmar rabbi, quoting an ancient commentary, prohibiting the burning of churches, since if we burn them, then we would have to rebuild them, and it is a greater sin to rebuild a church than to leave it standing [Here Aviner quotes his book against the Satmar Rabbi]. That church in Paris will certainly be rebuilt too.”
(Oh, Exactly: American Jewish readers, perhaps I need to point this out – this is neither a parody nor a satire. This is real rabbinical discourse in Israel 2019).
Aviner is very cautiously approaching a hot topic here (sorry for the pun) within its scope: churches should be burned? Several churches have been burned in Israel in recent years, and the police have been remarkably useless in catching the arsonists. In several cases, the arson was accompanied by slogans similar to those used in the acts of vandalism by young fundamentalist Jewish settlers against the Palestinian population in the West Bank (mostly praising Jewish revenge). Four years ago, to the leader of Lehava, Benzi Gopstein, was asked if he supported church burnings, and he answered “right, what questions...” His words caused a stir. Gopstein was later taken to court several times for inciting violence, but never for anything involving church burnings.
Aviner, and other Orthodox rabbis, I'm at a dead end. Several rabbinical leaders of enormous importance, among whom Moses Maimonides stands out, they determined that churches are places of idolatry and should be destroyed. Their pronouncements are very clear. However, supporting those sentences today would lead to violence, probably to an increase in anti-Semitism, and it would jeopardize the alliance between the settler movement and the evangelical movement. There is also the possibility of being prosecuted for inciting hatred, which is a crime in Israel – but then again the law has a special excuse for “religious studies”, and prosecutors have been very cautious in prosecuting rabbis for hate speech. The “religious discussions” they are the primary form of hate speech protected by law.
Note that Aviner is walking a tightrope here. It dampens church fires abroad, but when it comes to setting fire to churches in Israel, cites two sources, not speaking. The fact that he has to walk this tightrope speaks volumes about the importance of this discourse among his followers and students.
Our translation, source: https://mondoweiss.net/2019/04/mitzvah-churches-complicated/
