Mormons in Israel feel close to religious roots Covering Sacred Ground

April 2024 · 8 minute read

Mormons in Israel feel close to religious roots

The Hansen family house looks out over the fields to the Sea of Galilee and the Golan Heights. Photo by Ann Hansen.

By Kelly Boyce

Tiberias – A popular saying in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) goes like this: “Every member a missionary.” It is a reminder of the responsibility of every Mormon, as members are commonly known, to share the Gospel with others, either through example or outright proselytizing.

Yet the Hansen family, faithful Mormons who attend the LDS church in this town in the north of Israel, do not follow this directive.  Ann Hansen, who has lived most of her adult life in Israel with her husband Michael and their children, rarely even mentions the word “Mormon” to her neighbors.  “If people ask me, I tell them that I am LDS / Mormon, but most people have no idea what that means,” Hansen said.

Israel is a Jewish state with a majority Jewish population.  It is permissible under Israeli law to proselytize except in the case where a person is offered a monetary incentive to change his or her religion.  A financial incentive has never been a part of LDS missionary practice, but Mormons in Israel do not engage in any kind of proselytizing.  LDS missionaries are never sent to serve in Israel or Palestine, although the LDS church has 350 missions in 162 other nations. More importantly, after construction began in 1984 for a Brigham Young University (BYU) satellite center for educational study in Jerusalem, many Orthodox Jews were concerned that Mormons studying there would actively proselytize.  Thus, all students who attend the BYU Jerusalem Center sign a pledge that they will not try to convert anyone in Israel.

“Only the students and faculty have to actually sign the form,” Hansen said, “but all members who live here permanently or temporarily, or are even visiting, have been asked by Church Headquarters to abide by what is written in the agreement.”  Although this seems to go against a core Mormon principle, it is in keeping with LDS laws. One of the Articles of Faith of the LDS Church, which are 13 statements of LDS belief, states that “we believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law.”

Even though it is not against the law to proselytize in Israel, due to sensitivity over the issue, “the Church has asked the members here to keep a low profile,” Hansen said. “We were asked by the leaders in Salt Lake City [the LDS Church headquarters] not to answer questions about the Church or its doctrine in any but the most general terms, and on no account to do anything which could even remotely be considered missionary work.”

However, Hansen feels that these restrictions allow the congregations to devote more time to individual members.  “We don’t do missionary work,” Hansen said.  “That means that the focus of our religious efforts here are on strengthening the members who live here.”  There are three LDS congregations in Israel, one in Tiberias (called the Galilee Branch), one in Tel Aviv, and one in Jerusalem. The expressed purpose of these congregations is to serve local Mormons and not to convert others to the faith. What draws these Mormons to Israel, and how do they practice their faith?  For Ann Hansen, it was a fascination with the Old Testament and an intense interest in Middle East history, geography, and archaeology.

Ann Miller was born and raised in Utah, but felt a strong attraction towards the land of Israel since the time she was five. As she grew older, she studied the Old Testament and learned of the history of modern Israel.  After graduating from college, she went to Israel for six months with the American Zionist Youth Organization.  Although she was not Jewish, her love for the Jewish people and her knowledge of Jewish history greatly impressed the interviewing committee.  She lived on a kibbutz, learned Hebrew, and toured the country.

Michael Hansen, like Ann, had been born and raised in the United States as a Mormon, but his family, of Jewish lineage, immigrated to Israel when he was in high school.  Michael’s maternal great-grandfather died in an overcrowded train on its way to Poland in 1941. Michael’s maternal grandparents were both Jewish and came from Chernowitz, then part of the Austro-Hungarian empire and what is now the Ukraine, but moved to the United States in 1921.  Michael’s mother ended up joining the LDS church at the age of 16.  Michael’s paternal grandmother was Jewish but his paternal grandfather was Christian, and Michael’s father joined the LDS church at the age of 21.

Before Ann left for Israel, she asked one of her LDS church teachers, who had just returned from a sabbatical studying at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, if he knew of any Israeli students who might be willing to write to her.  “He gave me the name of Michael’s youngest brother,” Hansen said, “and we wrote for two years before I went to Israel.”  Ann was able to meet the entire Hansen family except for Michael, who was serving in the Israeli military at the time.

Ann and Michael corresponded through letters, and stayed in touch after Ann returned to the United States, still not having met.  After Michael’s stint in the military, he served a two-year LDS mission in the New York City mission, which at that time included most of northern New Jersey, all of Long Island and the metropolitan NYC area, and even up to West Point, and kept writing Ann throughout this time.  After completing his mission, Michael finally met Ann, and they got engaged and were married in an LDS temple in Utah.  They both felt strongly that they should live in Israel, so they moved back to Israel after their marriage and have raised their family in Israel.  The Hansen family members all hold dual Israeli-American citizenship and all three of the older Hansen children, two sons and one daughter, have also served as Israeli soldiers. The youngest son will serve when he reaches the age of 18.

Ann Hansen loved Israel immediately.  “From the moment I first stepped off the plane at Ben Gurion airport on February 15, 1979, I felt that I had come home,” Hansen said.  “I still feel that way.”  The back window of the Hansen home looks over the fields to the Sea of Galilee and the family enjoys the scenery and historical significance of where they live.  “Obviously I am fascinated with the sheer enormity of the history which has taken place here, but it is so much more than that,” Hansen said.  “The land itself speaks to me in a way no other place has.”

Although there have been many times when Hansen feared for her family’s safety, especially during the Second Intifada, which began in 2000, and during the second war with Lebanon in 2006, her connection with the Holy Land overrode any fear. “I don’t even want to try to explain why, but everything takes on a different perspective when you go out and physically walk this land,” Hansen said.  “We have tried to instill that love in our children as well.  We have been walking the land with them since they were a few days old.”

The connection Mormons feel to the land of Israel is not new.  The Book of Mormon is believed by Mormons to tell the story of a family who left Jerusalem and moved to the new land in the Americas.  Also, in October 1841, Orson Hyde, an Apostle of the LDS Church, traveled to Jerusalem and on the Mount of Olives wrote and recited a prayer dedicating the land for the return of the Jews.

Joshua Rona, who was born and raised in Israel as a Mormon and currently lives in New York City, feels that Hyde’s visit to Jerusalem further indicates that proselytizing should not be done in Israel.  “The land of Israel has never been dedicated for missionary work, only for the return of the Jews,” Rona said.

Dr. Joseph Ginat, an Israeli anthropologist, learned of Hyde’s dedicatory prayer while studying and teaching in Utah in the 1970’s.  When Ginat was Vice President at Netanya Academic College in Israel until his death in 2009, he led an effort to develop the Orson Hyde Square as a beautiful memorial garden at the college.  Today that square features a Lucite identifying plaque and olive trees planted in honor of each of the 16 presidents of the LDS Church, from Joseph Smith, the first president, to Thomas S. Monson, the current president, and for Orson Hyde and several other apostles who dedicated the Holy Land for the return of the Jews.  Today, members of the LDS church in Israel value this association.

Jerusalem has a special pull on Mormons, and although Mormons living in Israel may not be actively proselytizing, they do feel close to their religious roots by being in Israel.

“Living in Israel allows me to physically be present at some of the places where Jesus lived, and where he was killed.  I look out my bedroom window and see a path He could easily have walked many times,” Hansen said. “I did not come here with the intent of having my faith strengthened by being ‘on-site.’ Living here is just the cream on top, as it were.”

Olive tree honoring past LDS Church President John Taylor at Orson Hyde Square at Netanya Academic College in Israel. Photo by Joseph Bentley.

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