ORLANDO \u2014 In his flowing Middle Eastern robes, Coptic Bishop Youssef stood out among the other tourists in the newest theme park next to the highway between Walt Disney World and Universal Studios. <\/p>\n\n
Then again, he fit right in with the Holy Land Experience staffers who wear period costumes on the streets of this 15-acre model of old Jerusalem. And he felt surprisingly at home inside the Wilderness Tabernacle exhibit, a multi-media dramatization of the rites, chants, incense, vestments and holy art of Israel\u2019s ancient priesthood. <\/p>\n\n
\u201cOf course, this (ritual) is the shadow of things to come, a shadow of the worship we see in our churches in the here and now,\u201d said Youssef, who now leads the Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States. \u201cThis is all a shadow of the glorious worship we will see in heaven for eternity.\u201d <\/p>\n\n
That\u2019s lofty praise, coming from an Egyptian monk. But this also explains why controversy has swirled around this non-profit park since it opened in early February. <\/p>\n\n
The Wilderness Tabernacle program opens with a tape of an Orthodox rabbi chanting Hebrew prayers from Deuteronomy. It ends with the narrator asking if the burnt offerings of the ancient Hebrews would someday lead to God offering the \u201cperfect lamb\u201d to die for the sins of the world \u2014 Jesus. In other words, the Jewish covenant is a prelude to the final Christian covenant. <\/p>\n\n
Jewish leaders in Orlando have cried \u201cfoul,\u201d saying the Holy Land Experience twists their traditions and is a tool to proselytize Jews. Its creator, they note, is a self-proclaimed \u201cHebrew Christian.\u201d <\/p>\n\n
Marvin Rosenthal is, in fact, the grandson of Orthodox Jews and the son of conservative Jews. So far, he said, a few Jews have visited the park \u2014 along with atheists, liberal Christians, Buddhists, Moslems and many, many busloads of Christian conservatives. <\/p>\n\n
\u201cWe aren\u2019t hiding anything,\u201d said the 65-year-old Baptist minister, who converted as a teen-ager. \u201cI don\u2019t mind people taking issue with our theology. What I mind is people who say that we don\u2019t have a right to share our beliefs or who deny that what we\u2019re saying here is what Christianity has proclaimed as the truth for 2,000 years.\u201d <\/p>\n\n
Take that Hebrew chant from Deuteronomy. This is the same prayer that Jesus spoke when scribes asked him to name the greatest commandment. Jesus began by quoting: \u201cHear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is One.\u201d <\/p>\n\n
\u201cYes, this is an ancient Jewish prayer,\u201d said Rosenthal. \u201cBut this is also a prayer on the lips of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It\u2019s our prayer, too. \u2026 You can\u2019t understand the New Testament unless you see it in the context of Jewish believers and their faith. You have to understand the old in order to appreciate the new.\u201d <\/p>\n\n
The irony is that this echoes what Israeli tour guides have said to Christians for decades, as buses roll past Jewish and Christian holy sites in Israel. But Rosenthal is not the Israeli Tourism Board. This message is much more controversial when delivered at a Christian park five miles from downtown Orlando and 7,000 miles from Jerusalem. <\/p>\n\n
Rosenthal calls his creation a \u201cliving biblical museum\u201d and it offers exhibits, pageants and pop-gospel music rather than rides and games. There is an \u201cOasis Palms Cafe,\u201d but no \u201cWater Into Wine\u201d bar. There is, alas, no reverse-bungee \u201cRapture Ride.\u201d <\/p>\n\n
The shops in its Jerusalem Street Market sell a few crosses, but display a much wider selection of menorahs, shofars and Stars of David. The bookstore shelves include \u201cLet My People Eat! Passover Seders Made Easy,\u201d alongside \u201cThe Sign: Christ\u2019s Coming and the End of the Age (Updated Edition).\u201d <\/p>\n\n