of intelligent madmen…

Certain segments of the Christian press, as well as members of the Christian messianic community are expressing frustration and disappointment at the delay in the trial of Yaacov Teitel, a man accused of a spate of violent crimes – including the bombing at the home of messianic Christian pastor David Ortiz which severely wounded his son.

According to Israeli press reports, Teitel is reportedly in a psychotic state and may not be fit to stand trial. But Ortiz believes Teitel is lying about his mental condition. A Ynet article reports Ortiz as saying, "Teitel is a very intelligent guy who carried out his crimes intelligently. It is a test for the judges and the State of Israel not to allow this murderer to get away."

A report on CBN (the Christian Broadcasting Network) has David Ortiz asking, "Does an intelligent man suddenly become insane for the trial?"

A messianic blogger has this to say: This is pure malarkey and we have seen it used before as a tactic to keep justice from being served when the perpetrator is ultra-orthodox.

Please pray for the Israeli courts to recognize that this cynical maneuver will cause serious damage to Israeli credibility. Pray for the judges to demand the proverbial second opinion assessment from a less compromised set of psychiatric experts.

Implying that a person is intelligent and cannot, therefore, be mentally ill is…well.. an insane assumption. The history of the world is full of mad geniuses who committed criminal acts motivated by political nationalism, religious theology, cultural ideology, love, hate, or utter confusion.

While we can understand the frustration of the families of both victims and survivors, and their demand that justice be served, the messianic and evangelical community in Israel is surely no stranger to criminal cases requiring thorough psychiatric assessments. Some of the "intelligent" perpetrators end up behind bars and others in psychiatric facilities.

Back in 1969, Dennis Michael Rohan an Australian evangelical belonging to a sect known as "the Church of God "tried to burn down Al Aqsa Mosque.

According to court transcripts, after reading a passage in Zachariah, Rohan believed he was "the branch" and chosen to build the Temple. And American Psychiatrist who had treated Rohan previously was brought to Israel to testify. Below is an excerpt from an ABC news interview with the psychiatrist:

Lorraine Livingstone: They felt that if he had a depressive illness, that that meant possibly he could be held responsible for his actions. But in the fact that he had a psychotic illness like schizophrenia, it made a difference to the judgment. The prosecutor who kept pushing me to say that he thought he was depressed, but I wasn't very keen on going that far.

Stan Correy: When he was at Bloomfield, you were treating him and I think it was your conclusion that you said to the court, that he was schizophrenic, therefore in terms of what he had done, that obviously impacted on his actions.

Lorraine Livingstone: Yes, and Israeli law had some very complex and very complicated ways of looking at this, and this is what a lot of the argument was after I left, as to how they'd interpret the evidence, and how they'd actually make their decision.

Stan Correy: Dr Lorraine Livingstone, who was Denis Rohan's psychiatrist when he was at Bloomfield in Orange, and appeared as a witness.

Man: The judgment in the case of the State of Israel against Denis Michael Rohan this day, the 30th December, ...

Stan Correy: On 30th December, 1969, the three judges gave their decision.

Translator: In view of the evidence, we have no doubt that the accused is still mentally ill. We order therefore that the accused be hospitalised.

In May of 1990 two "messianic Jews" were involved in the desecration of 300 graves in a Jewish cemetery in Haifa.

Police said, "the vandalism was motivated by a hope that the desecration would unify Jews to fight perceived Arab threats against Israel's existence. Police described both Israelis as intelligent and highly educated men who joined a messianic sect several years ago."

One suspect was found guilty and sentenced to 3 years in prison, whereas the other suspect was –at the time of the report – "undergoing psychiatric observation"

In January of 1999 Israel deported several members of an American Christian doomsday cult, who were accused of plotting attacks on sacred sites in Jerusalem.

The January 4th 1999 Jerusalem Post reported that the "Israel Psychiatric Society's Jerusalem branch and the Israel Medical Association's scientific council ...had the prescience to hold a six-hour symposium on "Tourism and Psychopathology, Jerusalem Toward the Year 2000…"

[Note: Prof. Richard Landes, who is currently serves on our board as an academic advisor, was a participant in that meeting in his capacity as an expert in medieval history at Boston University and director of its Center for Millennial Studies.]

YouTube has a 2008 report on Jerusalem Syndrome , which seems to effect Protestant Pilgrims far more than Jews or Catholics. The report is rather benign and humorous - save for the part about David Koresh and his Jerusalem connection.

Jewish Israel has just posted excerpts of a 2010 video by missionary Jacob Damkani in which he asks crowds on the streets to hit him and then proceeds to profess his love and understanding for those who oppose him because he understands that he is bringing them idolatrous beliefs which are proscribed by the Torah. Now that's provocative, insane, and dangerous thinking.

Hey Israel, how about a little sane legislation to help get the Mr. Damkanis of this world off the streets?

Jewish Israel recommends that frustrated and impatient members of the evangelical and messianic community acquire some Xanax or whatever it takes to relieve you of your persecution complex, and allow you to wait for the judges to decide whether or not Mr. Teitel is fit for trial.

Portrait Of An Accused Jewish Terrorist As A Young Man

Ortiz case wrap-up: Jack Teitel gets two life sentences plus

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Comment by Jewish Israel on May 13, 2010 at 9:55pm: Welcome home, Mordechai Yaacov.
You most definitely have a pintele yid!

Comment by Mordechai Yaakov Allen on May 13, 2010 at 7:34pm: Penina’s statement, "the belief system they have adopted puts them completely outside the boundaries of Judaism, no matter how much they may want it...”, and Ellen’s statement, "...they can't perceive G-d in the same way we do..." could be joined by the conjunction “because” to present a concise explanation of the entire dilemma. In fact, that was the fundamental dilemma that drove me from being a messianic to becoming an Orthodox Jew.

When I dared to read Rambam’s Guide for the Perplexed, in conjunction with Ibin Paquda’s Duties of the Heart, the lights slowly went out on jesus and came up…dramatically…on The Absolute One.

The Christian - Hebrew or otherwise - with a fundamental desire to truly know and serve the Creator of the universe, will continue to suffer feelings of inadequacy and inferiority (in spite of sublimating any number of complexes and deflection strategies) until they realize they are spending their lives and energies in service to a foreign g_d. And then there will only be two, real choices: Noachide or Orthodoxy.

So, when I read the lament by Ms. Ferguson in “The Anti-Semitic ‘Messianic ‘ Apple Doesn’t Fall Far from the Tree” posted by Jewish Israel on July 21, 2009, to wit:

“When there are more Orthodox Jewish parties in control, there are less religious freedoms in this country…”

I could only respond with “Amen”, and reflect on the words of Psalm 81, this morning’s “Song of the Day”:

“Hear, O My people, and I will admonish you; O Israel, if you would listen to Me! Let there be no strange g_d among you; Nor shall you worship any foreign g_d. I, the L_RD, am your G_d, Who brought you up from the land of Egypt; Open your mouth wide and I will fill it.”

Comment by Penina Tal Ohr (Taylor) on May 13, 2010 at 5:24pm: Just leave it to me to completely overlook an attempt to lighten things up :-)

Comment by Jewish Israel on May 13, 2010 at 4:46pm: Jewish Israel can always count on the Captain to keep things on the lighter side

Comment by Captain Q. on May 13, 2010 at 4:01pm: It's a good thing I threw in a one-liner here. :)

Comment by ellen on May 13, 2010 at 3:44pm: Ok. I'll go out on a limb here - as opposed to a grafted branch...
Maybe part of the problem is that because they don't have a pintele yid, they can't perceive G-d in the same way we do. Jewish thinking tends to be abstract, as well as rational, and enables one to explore and perceive many dimensions and whole pictures. The very idea of a god in the flesh is inconceivable, if not ridiculous for us. Excerpt from "Meshekh Hokhma" by Rabbi Simha Cohen of Dvinsk
"Abraham realized that God is not a part of the created world nor a force in the material sense, but rather is a supreme Being beyond depiction, beyond perception . . . . Abraham's religious thought is thus an accurate, rational analysis of reality". The Children of Israel are Abraham's followers: "All Jews believe in the truth of God's existence and in the truth of His oneness. Their religious faith is based on abstract thought..."

I think certain Hebraic roots groups and evangelicals are doing all they can to fully understand and adopt certain aspects of Judaism (rituals, traditions and texts), but the essence and truth will remain forever elusive if they can't shake themselves of Jesus - and they can't. They know it and that's why missionaries want our very souls.

Comment by Penina Tal Ohr (Taylor) on May 13, 2010 at 2:40pm: Captain Q, what they are going to is a religion that relies solely on a belief with virtually no personal responsibility. If I can't possibly attain righteousness no matter how hard I try, then I don't have to try. "Easy believism" - you too can be considered Israel, G-d's chosen, a first-class citizen in G-d's economy and you don't have to do a thing to earn it - just believe!

Comment by Penina Tal Ohr (Taylor) on May 13, 2010 at 2:38pm: The non-Jews who do not possess a pintele yid, still have to deal with the idea that we are the "experts" and if we rejected him, maybe we're right. The non-Jews who get involved with messianic Judaism are usually Christians who want to be Jews (read: the chosen ones) and not second-class citizens (read: the runners-up). These wannabe Jews want to hold on to their avoda zara while being accepted as the apple of G-d's eye. Much like the original Christians who ended up incorporating more paganism than Judaism into their new religion.

Comment by Jewish Israel on May 13, 2010 at 2:13pm: touche, Captain Q!

Comment by Captain Q. on May 13, 2010 at 2:08pm: JI, maybe the question isn't always "where are they coming from". Sometime it's "where are they going to".