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His Land and the Origins of the Jewish-Evangelical Israel Lobby

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 February 2019

Daniel G. Hummel
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Abstract

The 1970 release of His Land, a religious documentary about Israel produced by Billy Graham's film studio, World Wide Pictures, took the evangelical world by storm. It was shown to hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, of churchgoers and encapsulated the mix of prophecy beliefs and cultural arguments that cohered a decade later into the Christian Zionist movement—a major component of the religious right. Surprisingly, American evangelicals were not the only fans of His Land. American Jews, led by the American Jewish Committee (AJC), helped make the film an international success. AJC officials organized ecumenical screenings and kept detailed records of the film's reception, praising it as “an authentic interpretation” that “strengthen[s] the current interreligious discussion on the Middle East question.” By 1971, the AJC was showing this unabashedly evangelical film to Jewish audiences in synagogues and community centers. Through reconstructing His Land's production and reception, this article provides a new interpretation of the origins of bipartisan, Jewish and evangelical support for Israel in the late-twentieth century. It recasts the rise of a Jewish-evangelical pro-Israel lobby as an important religious episode to understanding the rise of the religious right and the continuing importance of confessional and theological identity even in the era of the “culture wars.”

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Articles
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Church History , Volume 87 , Issue 4 , December 2018 , pp. 1119 - 1151
Copyright
Copyright © American Society of Church History 2019 

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Footnotes

I would like to thank Mark Edwards, Lauren Turek, and Neil J. Young for reading an earlier version of this essay. I would also like to thank Skye Doney, Jennifer Ratner-Rosenhagen, John Suval, and Kevin Walters for feedback and support.

References

1 Gerald Strober to Kenneth Bliss, February 25, 1971, box 22, folder 4, Marc H. Tanenbaum Papers, American Jewish Archives, Cincinnati, Ohio (hereafter cited as MHT).

2 Quoted in monthly American Jewish Committee letter to National Council for Christians and Jews, November 1970, box 22, folder 3, MHT.

3 “Introductory Remarks to His Land,” box 22, folder 4, MHT.

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49 Jesus Christ Superstar, directed by Norman Newison, Universal Pictures, 1973, film. See Lawrence Van Gelder, “Two Jewish Organizations are Critical of ‘Superstar,’” New York Times, October 13, 1971, 40.

50 Jesus, directed by John Krish and Peter Sykes, Warner Brothers, 1979, film.

51 Cliff Barrows, “I Walked in His Land,” Christian Life, January 1971, 22.

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54 Ibid., 22.

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63 Gerald Strober to Walter Smyth, February 27, 1970, box 22, folder 2, MHT.

64 Billie Stern to Gerald Strober, October 26, 1970, box 22, folder 3, MHT; Marc Tanenbaum to Area Directors, “Follow Up on His Land,” memo, July 15, 1970, box 22, folder, 3, MHT.

65 Comments on “His Land,” box 22, folder 2, MHT.

66 Comments on “His Land,” box 22, folder 2, MHT.

67 Marc Tanenbaum to Area Directors, “Responses to His Land,” January 14, 1971, box 22, folder 4, MHT.

68 George Dugan, “Ecumenic Praise Given Graham's Film on Israel,” New York Times, June 1, 1970, 15.

69 George Cornell, “Graham's Film on Israel Lauded by Christians, Jews,” Church Chronicle, August 7, 1970.

70 Comments on “His Land,” box 22, folder 2, MHT.

71 Quoted in His Land promotional letter, September 14, 1970, box 22, folder 3, MHT.

72 Foster, “This Land is ‘His Land’,” 39.

73 Quoted in Marc Tanenbaum to Area Directors, “Responses to His Land,” memo, January 14, 1971, box 22, folder 4, MHT.

74 Marc Tanenbaum, memorandum, May 29, 1970, box 22, folder 2, MHT; Gerald Strober to W.W. Simpson, January 5, 1972, box 22, folder 4, MHT.

75 Invitation, November 17, 1970, box 22, folder 3, MHT.

76 “His Land: A Discussion Guide,” box 22, folder 2, MHT.

77 See, for example, “His Land Study Guide,” box 129, folder 8, Collection I–123: Jewish Community Relations Council—Boston, American Jewish Heritage Center—New England Archives, Boston, Massachusetts.

78 Gerard Persaghin, “‘His Land’ Stumbles Along Like a Clumsy, Well-Intentioned Oaf,” Catholic Standard, August 11, 1970, box 22, folder 3, Marc H. Tanenbaum Collection, AJA.

79 Comments on “His Land,” box 22, folder 2, MHT.

80 See Bert DeVries, “‘His Land’ and History,” Reformed Journal (April 1971), 10–11.

81 Barrows, “I Walked in His Land,” 26.

82 Solomon Bernards to ADL Regional Offices, report, box 22, folder 3, MHT.

83 Staub, Torn at the Roots, 48.

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85 Gerald Strober to Marc Tanenbaum, November 5, 1973, box 24, folder 1, MHT.

86 Gerald Strober to Marc Tanenbaum, June 9, 1969, box 21, folder 1, MHT.

87 “Statement by Billy Graham,” February 28, 1973, box 24, folder 1, MHT. See also “Billy Graham on Key 73,” Christianity Today, March 16, 1973, 625.

88 It is less probable that Graham was making a reference to Paul's chastisement of Jews in Romans 10:2, which contains the same phrase.

89 “Statement by Billy Graham,” February 28, 1973, box 24, folder 1, MHT.

90 Marc Tanenbaum to Billy Graham, March 1, 1973, box 24, folder 1, MHT.

91 “Billy Graham's Statement Could Equal That of Vatican II: Rabbi Tanenbaum,” The Jewish Post & Opinion, April 13, 1973, 12.

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94 Eckstein would go on to found the Holyland Fellowship of Christian and Jews in 1983 (later International Fellowship of Christians and Jews) which now raises tens of millions of dollars yearly for Zionist and Jewish humanitarian causes, mostly from American evangelical donors. See Chafets, Ze'ev, The Bridge Builder: The Life and Continuing Legacy of Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein (New York: Sentinel, 2015)Google Scholar and http://www.ifcj.org/who-we-are/about-ifcj.html.

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96 Jerusalem Post, “Hagee, Falwell Deny Endorsing ‘Dual Covenant’,” Jerusalem Post, March 2, 2006, http://www.jpost.com/Jewish-World/Jewish-News/Hagee-Falwell-deny-endorsing-dual-covenant. See also, Shapiro, Christian Zionism, 128–130.

97 “The Willowbank Declaration on the Christian Gospel and the Jewish People,” April 29, 1989, box 51, folder 8, National Association of Evangelicals records, Wheaton College Special Collections, Wheaton, Illinois; “Proselytizing Statement Angers Jews, Evangelicals Deny anti-Semitism,” Washington Post, June 3, 1989, D19.

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99 See Spector, Evangelicals and Israel, 158–161; Boyer, When Time Shall Be No More, 205–206; Halsell, Prophecy and Politics, 152–160.

100 “Evangelical-Jewish Leadership Conference,” memo, box 51, folder 8, NAE; Abraham Foxman, “Evangelical Support for Israel Is a Good Thing,” JTA, July 16, 2002.

101 Michael Mehlman to Seymor Brief, February 22, 1971, box 22, folder 4, MHT.

102 Seymour Brief to Gerald Strober, February 22, 1971, box 22, folder 4, MHT; Gerald Strober to Kenneth Bliss, February 25, 1971, box 22, folder 4, MHT.

103 Jerry Falwell, transcript, April 26, 1985, box 20, folder 2, MHT.