16 Friday, April 11, 1986 THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS CLOSE-UP The HIGHEST Money Market Rate in the Detroit Metropolitan Area Among Major Financial Institutions for — 107 Consecutive Weeks • vh ► gs AS OF: 4-9-86 MONEY MARKET RATES FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS . , ...1 6.70 Franklin Savings ` `M ; 6.20 6.30 6.63 6.25 6.25 6.20 6.30 • 6.20 6.25 Comerica Detroit & Northern Empire of America First Federal of Michigan First of America Manufacturers Michigan National of Detroit National Bank of Detroit Standard Federal $10,000 $50,000 $100,000 MONEY FUND MONEY FUND MONEY FUND 6.85% 707% 7.00%. 7.2390 7.15 % 7.39% Annual Percentage Rate Effective Annual Yield Annual Percentage Rate Effective Annual Yield Annual Percentage Rate Effective Annual Yield 132 Month C.D. Interest Checks May Be Paid Monthly Annual Percentage • Rate- Balance of $2,000 or more. Limited time offer. Early withdrawal subject to penalty. Ask About Our Other Full Service Products 356-2102 e....061 54. . 1. .11 • 26336 Twelve Mile Rd. (At Northwestern Highway) h'* • • , Zaa.F.e*carbur-v4 grA , Mormon families—for fear that they themselves might encounter the retaliatory actions of menacing anti-Mormon groups. One anti-Mormon activist recently told a reporter for the Israeli newspaper Ma'ariv, "Those behind the opposition to the building of the Mormon Center will not be able to control future outbreaks of violence against the Mormons and those working. on the site [of the Mormon Center]." Other anti-Mormon activists have dis- tributed thousands of leaflets in Jeru- salem's ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods ac- cusing Mayor Teddy Kollek, a staunch sup- porter of the Mormon project, of "cooper- ating with the Germans [a reference to the Nazi Holocaust] and the PLO in destroy- . ing the Jewish people." The obvious questions remain: Why would so many Jews, who clearly comprise a powerful religious and political majority in Israel, be worried about a small group of Christians who may try to "spread the word" about their own religion in a cultur- ally-diverse and religiously-tolerant Jeru- salem? Isn't Judaism—especially on its own "home turf," as it were — strong enough to withstand the competition in the event that the Mormons do decide to mis- sionize? And isn't religious freedom (many would argue that if this means missioniz- ing, it means missionizing) a guaranteed part of any true democratic system? We must take a closer look at the history of Christian-Jewish relations to understand why the issues of missionary activity and conversion are so extremely sensitive to Israeli Jews and, though perhaps to a lesser extent, to Jews everywhere. According to Yosef Goell, a respected Israeli thinker, "Judaism's contacts with Christianity, ever since the daughter reli- gion split off from main-line Judaism over 1,800 years ago, has always involved Chris- tian attempts to compel Jews to convert." Although this relationship reached its op- pressive peak during the Crusades (900- 1100 C.E.) and the Spanish Inquisition (1492), such "forced" conversion to Chris- tianity was also a major feature of Euro- pean Jewish life in the 19th century, when many Jews felt compelled to convert in order to 'improve themselves" both econo- mically and socially. For most Orthodox Jews—as well as for tinny Jews who are sensitive to the history of Christian anti- - Semitism— such intimidation and coercion of Jews to abandon their faith is a part of recent, not ancient, history. Furthermore, since World War II, in which a third of world Jewry perished at the hands of the Nazis, the idea of conver- sion to Christianity has become increas- ingly anathemic to the collective Jewish psyche. Thus,' while missionary activity may be viewed by many as an integral fea- ture of religious freedom (and thus. of a democracy), most Israelis, as well as Jews e are a proselytizing church and we are the fastest growing religion in the modern world." everywhere, would disagree. As Goell asserts," . . . it would be fair to say that all Jews are extremely sensitive [to the subject of missionaries and conver- sion] and do not accept the question of con- versions as merely a matter of individual freedom or choice." • • On the other hand, there are those Jews who argue that Israel is not Eastern Eur- ope, and that Jews inside Israel are secure from all forms of anti-semitism, which they feel includes Christian missionary activity. Furthermore, many would argue, even if the Mormons were to naissionize in Israel, such activity would hardly threaten the security of Jews in the Jewish State. As Abba Eban, former United Nations Delegate and Israeli Ambassador to the United States, recently wrote: "The Jewish people which preserved its identity against the conquering empires of antiquity, against the allurement of Hellenism, against the arrogance of classical Rome, against the conversionary triumphs of Christianity, against the proselytizing fer- vor of Islam, against the savage torments of the Inquisition, against the seductions of emancipation and assimilation, is now about to disappear in its own country under the irresistible magnetism of the late Joseph Smith and the late Brigham Young!" While most American Jewish organiza- tions maintain that denying the Mormons their right to establish a university center in Jerusalem would constitute a breach of religious and academic freedom, and thus a breach of Democracy, there are also those Jews in the United States who strongly oppose the construction of a Mormon Center. ,