Den Norske Israelsmisjon og Det Mosaiske Trossamfunn

Motstridende formål, gjensidige sympatier?

Abstract

The Norwegian Church Ministry to Israel (NCMI, est. 1844) was one of the first organisations devoted to working with Jews. In the first 100 years NCMI primarily worked with Jews in Hungary and Romania. Today the work is focused on Jews living in Israel. By tracing the history of NCMI there are strong impulses of philo-judaism and spiritual restorationism of Israel, but examples of anti-judaism, anti-Semittism and physical restorationism of Israel are also seen. !e article argues that allo-semittism – seeing Jews as others – can also be a relevant lense through with the work can be understood historically, but equally important is how to make friends with Jews. The article finds that the personalrelationships, the cooperation in the humanitarian organisation Help Jews Home, as well as overlapping positions on fighting anti-judaism and anti-semittism, and standing with the modern state of Israel, explain the mututal sympathies between NCMI and the Jewish Community of Oslo. There are, however, strong and irreconcilable disagreements regarding missionary activities, undertaken by Christians or Messianic Jews.