Surprising ruling: Rabbi Eliezer Melamed, one of the most prominent rabbis of religious Zionism, believes that it is possible to receive funds from the Friendship Fund for summer camp activities, the Channel 7 website reports.
As reported in Haredim10, a heated campaign is currently underway among the national-religious public against the 'Friendship Foundation', headed by Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein. This follows a plan to operate summer camps, in cooperation with the foundation, promoted by the Ministry of Education, and in light of the rabbis' determination that the foundation poses a danger, since its goal is to assimilate Christian values into Israeli society.
The rabbi wrote the precedent-setting ruling in the 'Revivim' section, which will be published this weekend in the 'B'Sheva' newspaper - where he asked: "Is it possible to register for Ministry of Education summer camps after learning that the 'Friendship Foundation' is a partner in their funding, and they said about this foundation that it serves Christian missionaries and that even in the summer camps themselves Christian missionary content will be taught?"'
Rabbi Melamed replied: "It is permitted to register for the Ministry of Education summer camps. These summer camps have been significantly upgraded this year in two aspects. First, by making the principals and teachers responsible for them, so that they continue and complement the educational process throughout the year. Second, by reducing their cost and opening them to all the masses of children, even from poor families. For this, I must acknowledge my friend Rabbi Shai Piron, Minister of Education.".
The rabbi added that he believes that the 'Friendship Fund' is not acting properly by collecting funds on the grounds that the poverty situation in the State of Israel is difficult, because in doing so it harms the honor of Israel and slanders the country. It would be appropriate to direct the donors' goodwill towards dignified assistance that will benefit the building of the country and the entire world. But in any case, after the evangelical donors donated their money with a good heart and love for the people of Israel without any conditions or involvement in where the money will go, it is forbidden to harm them by throwing their donations in their faces while accusing them of trying to convert Jews to their religion.".
In connection with the claims that funding from the 'Friendship Fund' could introduce Christian content into summer camps, Rabbi Melamed writes sharply: "It is difficult to understand where such a story came from, that the Ministry of Education agreed to integrate Christian content into summer camps for Israeli children. Any reasonable person should have understood for themselves that this rumor is unfounded." In addition, Rabbi Melamed added: "The amount received from the 'Friendship Fund' is a small minority that the summer camp project does not depend on, since it is NIS 36 million from the fund's funds, compared to NIS 260 million allocated from the Ministry of Education and other ministries.".
Finally, Rabbi Melamed writes: "Regarding the claim that this donation could cause the masses of the House of Israel to treat evangelicals, who are Christians who love Israel, positively - there is nothing wrong with that, as it is appropriate to acknowledge their support for us. We must fight against missionaries, not against moral Christians who respect our religion and support us. It can be said that American evangelicals are currently the most important and significant group that supports the State of Israel. These are about seventy million citizens of the world's greatest power, who believe that the words of the Bible are valid and exist, and that the Jewish people should return to their land and preserve their Torah and commandments. Their moral status is higher and more exalted than that of Cyrus, who helped return Zion.".
The Friendship Foundation is a philanthropic organization operating in the United States and Israel, founded by Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, and it operates by raising donations from evangelical Christians who support Zionism in the United States and around the world, and directing them towards the goals of immigration and absorption, welfare, and security.
The foundation's founder, Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, is an Orthodox rabbi (certified by Yeshiva University), but the foundation has nonetheless been heavily criticized by elements in Orthodox Judaism, both national religious and ultra-Orthodox, who see its activities as promoting missions. They claim that the foundation's goal in its many donations is to gain public trust, break through the Jewish barrier of deterrence against Christianity, and create legitimacy for it.
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