ELCA NEWS SERVICE

January 9, 2009  

North American Lutheran Bishops Visit Israeli Officials
09-008-JB

     JERUSALEM (ELCA) -- Bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America (ELCA) and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in
Canada (ELCIC) met Jan. 8 with Israeli government and religious
officials as part of a pilgrimage to the Middle East.  The
bishops also toured the Holocaust memorial Yad Vashem and laid a
wreath.
     Forty-five bishops representing both churches are
participating in a series of meetings Jan. 6-13 with religious,
political and community leaders in Israel and the West Bank. The
visit, focused on supporting the Evangelical Lutheran Church in
Jordan and the Holy Land, is the North American Lutheran bishops'
annual academy for theological reflection and study.
     The Lutheran bishops met with the two chief rabbis of
Israel, Rabbi Yona Metzger and Rabbi Shlomo Amar, who spoke about
the current fighting in Gaza.
     For nearly eight years Israelis living near Gaza have been
subject to periodic rocket attacks on their homes, launched by
Hamas from Gaza, Metzger said.  Israel pulled out of Gaza in
2005, but it has the right to self-defense if Israeli lives are
threatened, he said.
     "When you return to your countries, please be ambassadors to
our feelings," Metzger said to the Lutheran bishops. "We don't
want war. We don't want to kill innocent people.  We want only to
defend ourselves."
     The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, ELCA presiding bishop, told the
rabbis that the bishops opposed the escalating violence. "I hope
you hear -- it didn't sound like you have -- our rejection of any
violence perpetrated upon the people of Israel -- the violence of
suicide bombers, Hamas rockets, or rockets from the north today,"
Hanson said.
     The rabbis feel "deep distress" for the loss of innocent
lives in the Gaza conflict, Amar said.  To help explain the large
number of civilian casualties, the rabbis said authorities showed
them maps and photos of where they believe rockets have been
fired from Gaza.  Earlier in the day, a rocket launched from
Lebanon into Israel was determined to be an isolated incident.
     As of Jan. 9 nearly 800 Palestinians have been killed in the
recent conflict in Gaza, according to news reports.  Governments,
churches and relief organizations have expressed concern for the
high number of civilian casualties and an escalating humanitarian
crisis for residents of Gaza lacking food, water and basic
necessities.  Gaza is the most densely populated area in the
world, with 1.5 million people living on a strip of land 28 miles
long.
     Hanson said Lutherans and Jews have strengthened the
foundation given to them from shared spiritual history and sacred
texts during the past 25 years.  He referred to the actions of
the ELCA and ELCIC in the 1990s repudiating Martin Luther's anti-
Jewish writings. Lutherans and Jews are work together in the
Middle East in the Council of Religious Institutions of the Holy
Land, he said. In the United States they join together in the
National Interreligious Leadership Initiative.
     He told the rabbis that "as a Christian leader, on the basis
of the Christian tradition of just war-unjust war principles, it
is impossible for me to see that the response of Israel to the
Hamas rockets meets the ethical test of proportionality or
concern for noncombatants."
     Hanson said it was his prayer that Lutherans and Jews could
have honest conversations. "If we can't have honest
conversations, who is going to win this encounter with religious
extremists and fanatics who thrive on violence begetting
violence?" Hanson asked the rabbis.
     The Rev. Susan C. Johnson, ELCIC national bishop, told the
rabbis, "I must confess to you that we struggle with this (Gaza
conflict), but I want to say to you that we are committed to
staying at the table. The cracks that Bishop Hanson has alluded
to -- about how our relationship may be strained at this time
because of our struggle to understand all perspectives -- are
there, and we need to acknowledge them.  But our commitment is to
stay at the table with you."
     The bishops also met Bahij Mansour, director, Department for
Religious Affairs, Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs. A small
group from both churches held private meetings with Israel's
Minister of the Interior, Meir Sheetrit, in Tel Aviv, and
Minister of Tourism, Ruhama Avraham, in Jerusalem.  Meetings with
Israeli President Shimon Peres and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni
earlier in the day were canceled, following the rocket attack on
Israel.
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     Information about the 2009 Bishops' Academy is at
http://blogs.ELCA.org/09cobacademy/ on the ELCA Web site.

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