Israeli Bible contest criticized for Messianic Jewish student contestant

A Messianic Jewish student’s bid to win Israel’s annual youth Bible quiz has triggered a controversy because of her belief in Jesus. In a protest letter quoted by the Israeli newspaper Maariv, the anti-missionary group Yad L’Ahim argues that the 17-year-old Bat El Levy should not be allowed to participate in the May 8 International Bible Contest for Jewish Youth, held in Jerusalem on Israel’s 60th Independence Day. Yad L’Ahim chairman Rabbi Shlomo Dov Lipschitz claimed Israeli law forbidding Christians from proselytizing should bar Levy’s participation. He further argued that the girl’s belief in Jesus should disqualify her from the quiz since, in his view, she is not Jewish.