By Janis Siegel, JTNews Correspondent
Local civil, human and religious rights groups clashed with the city of Bellevue over its decision to allow Beit Tikvah, an Eastside messianic congregation, to perform traditional Jewish music and Israeli folk dances at a Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration last month at Crossroads Mall in Bellevue.
Newcastle-based Beit Tikvah is a 20-year-old religious group that comprises Christians and people who were formerly Jewish.
During the week leading up to the event and under direct pressure from Rabbi Richard Harkavy, executive director of the Seattle American Jewish Committee, the city reversed its decision to allow the group to perform. By the weekend, the city had re-invited them, despite protests from the Anti-Defamation League and the Northwest Coalition for Human Dignity, who asserted that Beit Tikvah, and messianic groups like it all over the world, are committed to harassing and proselytizing Jews.
In a written communication, Kevin Henry, community relations coordinator in the Cultural Diversity Program for the city of Bellevue, told Harkavy that his department had reconsidered the exclusion of Beit Tikvah. The event, according to Henry, was intended to be a cultural celebration, not a religious one, and the group was there to perform, not to preach or recruit.
Harkavy wondered where tolerance ended and endorsement began. “I did not want a group that is not Jewish, that calls themselves Jewish, espousing viewpoints that are not in normative Judaism, representing our community,” Harkavy said. “I felt disenfranchised. They were so cavalier and very unprofessional, calling it a religious issue. If he doesn’t know the fundamental difference between Judaism and Christianity, than he shouldn’t be in that position. They’re trying to blur distinctions.
“The city of Bellevue refuses to admit it made a mistake,” Harkavy said. “They felt this was a religious controversy — just different points of view. But they gave an endorsement to a group that is offensive to the whole Jewish community.”
The executive director of the Seattle Anti-Defamation League, Brian Goldberg, agreed. “The city of Bellevue allowed itself to be used under the guise of the memory of Martin Luther King,” Goldberg said. “The city had ample opportunity to do the right thing and they chose to do nothing. Messianic groups believe that Jews have an incompleteness that has to be fixed. They have cult-like attributes and tactics. It offends my sense of decency and civil rights. The ADL is going to pursue this with the city of Bellevue to develop procedures and principles.”
After having his staff conduct its own research into the claims, Henry was not persuaded.
“I think we did the right thing and I would do it again in the future,” Henry said. “This is the first time in eight years that there has been anything like this. We sent out a letter to a broad group of over 800 people like social service groups, religious groups and arts organizations. We’ve used the same list over the years. Beit Tikvah responded. My first thought was “˜O.K., that’s visual.’” My objective is to put together a music and dance celebration. The Beit Tikvah group is there to perform dancing not to preach or recruit. This is not a religious context. It’s about cultural expression.”
Hylan Slobodkin, spiritual leader of Beit Tikvah since 1996, denies that the group or any of its members try to convert or strong-arm Jews into hearing about or accepting Jesus.
“This one’s easy and the answer is no,” Slobodkin said. “Jews For Jesus’ mission is to get in people’s faces, but that’s not us and we’re not them. When Kevin Henry said there was uproar in the Jewish community and that he was going to have to cancel our group, I said okay. I knew right away what it was. I don’t have a problem with the Jewish community but they have a problem with me.”
Whether or not this group uses the same methods as Jews For Jesus, Eric Ward, executive director of the Northwest Coalition for Human Dignity, believes that Beit Tikvah and groups like them are being fundamentally dishonest by portraying themselves as Jewish.
“They have the right to their beliefs,” said Ward, “but do they have the right to misrepresent themselves? They do not represent the culture, religion or people of Judaism anymore than black soldiers who fought on the side of the confederacy represented the aspirations of black people in the United States. Dr. King drew moral and philosophical lines. Dr. King had his limits. Minority communities really have to look at what it really means to support each other.”
Rabbi James Mirel of Temple B’nai Torah in Bellevue faulted the city for organizational oversights. “It seems that the city did not take Martin Luther King Day very seriously,” Mirel said. “If you’re going to do a multi-cultural event you should ask the leader of a particular group to provide speakers or performers. It was an honest mistake but once they’ve done it will be hard to change.”