Sometime ago I posted about Fr. Alexander Winogradsky, who heads a Hebrew-speaking Orthodox Christian congregation in the old city of Jerusalem. I just came across this article about a somewhat different – but, it sounds like, also Hebrew-speaking – Orthodox community in Israel, headed by an Arab priest and attended mostly by Russians. Not sure if the church still stands – the article is from 2006, and I have never heard of the church – but I hope so.
I will pray for both these communities, and for a day when Israel has Orthodox churches that, though they may spring from extended or evolved ministries to the Russian population such as these two churches, attract mostly “native” worshippers.
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Not directly ralated, but the issue of Israel in particular reminded me of this recent podcast from Ancient Faith Radio on “True Jews” (and True Israel). I was curious to hear what you might think of it? http://ancientfaith.com/podcasts/sermonsatstnicholas
Thanks for posting this, Sasha. The podcast strikes me as being fairly typical in that it tries to defend the Church against allegations that it is theologically anti-Jewish, and then emphasizes that all it takes to be a member of the chosen people is true belief, and therefore we are all equal in the Church. That’s all well and good. But while it provides an explanation of why the Church shouldn’t be anti-Jewish (Jesus was a Jew!), it doesn’t – again, fairly typically – deal with the fact that much of its behavior throughout history (and, as I’ve argued before on this blog, some of its liturgics) has been that. That makes the podcast a bit less interesting to me; I wish clergy thinking and speaking on this topic were less defensive. Also, the point that not all Israel is true Israel, and what makes one a member of Israel is faith in God, is more complicated than he makes it sound. God reaches out to Israel over and over again, even when large portions of its people abandon Him for idols.
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