Amid rising antisemitism across the globe, an American organization is equipping young Christians to take a stand against anti-Jewish sentiment.
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Zach Bauer, CEO of Passages, an organization that brings young people to Israel and educates them about important biblical matters, recently told CBN News what it most concerning about the rising antisemitism in America.
“I started in this position in January,” he said of his leadership role. “And when I first started … our main concern was addressing antisemitism on the left, and we knew there were some factions on the right that there was kind of boiling under the surface. We were seeing some comments made and heard from some prominent figures — some antisemitic or anti-Israel sentiments.”
But he said something has shifted in the past few months, noting the latter issue has “gone into overdrive,” with antisemitism unfolding on both sides of the political divide. This is something Passages directly seeks to confront as Bauer’s organization works to prepare Christian youths to take a stand.
“Right-leaning students at colleges and universities, we want to make sure they’re hearing the facts,” Bauer said. “We want to make sure that they have the facts and are not going to be easily swayed to believe some of the things that they’re hearing.”
Ultimately, he said, it’s essential to help these young people understand why it’s important for Christians to support the Jewish people and “stand with Israel,” especially as these youths are in the “formative stages” of their walks with Christ.
Passages has recently undertaken specific efforts to help young people gain such an understanding.
“We [recently] had what we call our Passages DC Experience, and we had 150 students from around the country attend a conference here at the Museum of the Bible, and they heard from a variety of speakers,” Bauer said, noting former Vice President Mike Pence was among them. “The main goal was to … train and equip these students to be able to go back to their campuses and be effective pro-Israel advocates and to be able to identify antisemitism on their campuses.”
Part of this battle is countering negative news stories that paint Israel as a villain and ignore facts and realities on the ground in the process. Passages seeks to help young people understand how this information is processed, with Bauer mentioning the recent debate over a photo of a child in Gaza.
“A story … went viral of the photo of the child in Gaza from The New York Times,” he said. “And it comes out later that we find out that that child had a pre-existing medical condition.”
Bauer said, “We need to dig deep” on facts and explained how the Passages DC Experience helped young Christians understand and navigate these issues. The event also featured advocacy education to equip young people to return to their campuses and fight against antisemitism.
“Hopefully, we’ll have some engaged Christian students going back to their campuses ready to stand up and advocate on behalf of Israel and the Jewish people,” Bauer said.
The nonprofit leader also explained why the Oct. 7 terror attacks were a wake-up call for Passages, particularly when it came to the need to better equip and train young Christians before and after they take trips to Israel to experience the Jewish homeland firsthand.
“While it’s great to send Christian college kids to Israel — not only for them to grow in their faith and their walk with Christ — we want to make sure that we’re sending kids there … to come back and be forceful, and impactful advocates for Israel and standing up against antisemitism.”
Bauer also emphasized the importance of understanding Judaism to properly comprehend the components of one’s own faith.
“There wouldn’t be Christianity without Judaism,” he said. “Judaism is literally the roots of the Christian faith. So, understanding that first is essential.”
As for Israel, Bauer explained that an assault on the nation goes much deeper than merely attacking a foreign country.
“And an attack on Israel essentially, in my mind, this is an attack on the Western values that our country was founded upon,” he said. “One thing that I’ve noticed — and I saw in the protests on some of these college campuses in the past — is you’d see the Israeli flag being burned, but right by it, you’d see an American flag being burned as well.”
Watch above to see what else he had to say.
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