Who Should Win Israel's National Bible Quiz: the person with the right answers, or the person with the "right" beliefs?An international youth Bible quiz is held annually in Israel, and the competition is fierce. (I went to a high school with several competitors, and they spent months studying the minutia of Tanach only to make it through the first round of testing.) This year, one of the contestants, an Israeli who won the Jerusalem district quiz in Israel, is a Messianic Jew. Bat El Levy is a world class Old Testament scholar, but she also brings some knowledge of the New Testament to the table, and that’s making a handful of Israeli rabbis, well--a bit testy.

Some rabbis are concerned that if Levy competes and win, her success might encourage Jews to convert to Christianity. Another worry they're harboring: That Levy could make the Jewish competitors who have only mastered Tanach--and not the gospels--look bad.

Levy’s Jewishness is being called into question, but so far the Education Ministry has no plans to bar her from the competition.

Messianic Jews have always been a hot button issue in the Jewish community, and it’s hardly a surprise that groups like Yad LeAhim and Jews for Judaism would take issue with a family like Levy’s. But those groups are meant to combat active evangelism and proselytizing, and there’s no proof, or even allegations, that Levy or any member of her family has done anything of the sort. If the winner of the quiz was a secular Jew who just happened to enjoy learning Tanach, no doubt the rabbis would be irritated, but they’d have no grounds to call the win into question.

If Levy breaks the rules of the quiz or Israeli law, she should be disqualified. But there’s no reason to exclude her from the competition now. If anything, we could benefit from more widespread familiarity with the intricacies of the Old Testament, instead of windbags who claim to love the Bible but can’t name the Ten Commandments.

Looks like Israel can't seem to get rid of those pesky Jews for Jesus missionaries:

The Dallas-based Daystar TV network, which is part of the basic cable program on both YES and HOT, broadcasts a medley of teachings from the New Testament, and includes 15-minute infomercials from the Jewish Voice Ministries International that targets a Jewish audience with the message of Jesus.

The network, which is similar to many Christian religious stations in the US, is broadcast on Channel 110 on YES, and is available upon request on Channel 98 on HOT.

A summation of the Christian TV network by YES available for viewers on their TV screens defines the station as "an American channel broadcasting mostly talk shows. In addition, you can enjoy diverse programs on various subjects such as family, children, music, health, finance etc."

Jerusalem city councilwoman Mina Fenton, a prominent anti-missionary activist from the National Religious Party, said that the approval of the broadcasts in Israel by the Communications Ministry represented "the corruption of Jewish morals," and was indicative of a country facing a "crusade of money."

Just last year, In Context posted on additional Jews for Jesus programming, specifically a clip entitled "The Rabbi"- a one-hour made-for-television film broadcast on stations throughout the country last weekend, is about a self-described "Messianic Jew" who gradually convinces his Orthodox family that he did not abandon Judaism when he took "Yeshua" into his heart -- the name Messianic Jews use for Jesus.

Anyone else getting heartburn just about now?

Madonna a.k.a. EstherMadonna follows Kabbalah and believes in Jesus. MSNBC reports:

Saying that her adopted son, David, can be Christian and follow Kabbalah as well, Madonna told the BBC, “I believe in Jesus and I study Kabbalah, so I don’t see why he can’t too.”

David, of course, is the Malawian child Madonna a.ka. Esther (her Kabbalah name) just adopted. We agree, Madonna: why can't he look to you for confused religious and spiritual guidance? As long as he doesn't wind up with two fake names... Yours annoy us enough already.