Rough Stone Rolling

Professor Joseph Ginat, a foremost authority in archaeology and anthropology, and a senior advisor in Arab Affairs to multipe Israeli prime ministers– from Golda Meir to the present– is not very well known to the general LDS membership, but he should be. Besides being an intelligent and influential scholar, besides the many titles he’s earned and the world leaders with which he dealt, Professor Ginat is probably the most passionate and powerful ally the Church has.

In the early 1970’s as a visiting instructor at the University of Utah, Professor Ginat first learned about Orson Scott’s 1841 visit to the Mount of Olives, and the dedication of Palestine for the return of the Jews. So impressed was Ginat, that he has since taken it upon himself to have this included in his nation’s history books.

Recently, the president and several high-positioned educators of Bar-Ilan University (Israel’s equivalent to Harvard) left the school to open their own independent institution, Netanya Academic College. When they invited Prof. Ginat to join them, he agreed on one condition: The college had to create a monument to Orson Hyde. The other men– all Orthodox Jews– readily agreed, and the monument turned into a whole perimeter– the Orson Hyde Square– outside the front entrance of the college. Planted there are olive trees, each one dedicated to every Mormon prophet, from Joseph Smith to President Hinckley– The original Orson Hyde dedication site on the Mount of Olives is currently in Arab territory. The monument has been torn down and tagged, and is now a hangout for drug users and criminals. Professor Ginat’s condition to the college rekindled the memory of Brother Hyde and the Church’s kinship to Israel.

As Director of the Strategic Dialogue Center at Netanya, Professor Ginat oversees a department dedicated to help stabilize regional & global conflicts by offering solution-driven initiatives. The Center boasts the talents of HRH Prince Hassan Bin Talal of Jordan and former USSR President Mikhail Gorbachev as co-chairmen. That said, the Center is also home to the Mormon-Jewish Dialogue Chair, a program celebrating our common values and beliefs, and creating an environment to learn and understand one another. In another words, a sanctuary in Israel where the Gospel can be taught without breaking our promise that we would never proselyte in their country.

Professor Ginat has also smoothed the way for Church archaeology teams to excavate with local teams in areas of great interest, not only in Israeli but also Arab-occupied areas. Because of Ginat’s longtime friendship with the Arab nations (another fascinating story), he opened doors for the Church that otherwise would have been bolted shut.

There are many other things in the works, but I think it’s obvious that Joseph Ginat is a friend of the Church– for more than Brother Hyde’s dedication, but also because he learned about the Church and the Book of Mormon, and believed ours is a cause worth supporting. Over the years he has smoothed countless paths, initiated numerous introductions and injected so many suggestions to powerful people in our favor.

As a member of the Tribe of Judah, I am especially excited by the recent dramatic events that are quietly unfolding in the Holy Land. I am also moved by the great love and friendship expressed by our brother, Joseph Ginat, and his skilled efforts to give the Church access far beyond its own ability.