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August 1, 2003
Jews for Jesus campaign
Jews for Judaism programs counter missionary zeal.
JORDANA ROTHSTEIN SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH BULLETIN
"Behold your God." It sounds like a sentence uttered
by Moses, long ago. But the people who have coined this phrase are
about as far from being Moses as it is possible to be. "Behold
your God" is the name of the new five-year Jews for Jesus campaign,
during which the group intends to visit every city in the world,
outside of Israel, that has a Jewish population of greater than
25,000. Toronto is the first Canadian city to be hit, with a scheduled
Jews for Jesus arrival on Aug. 25, followed by Montreal and Vancouver,
with unspecified dates in 2004 and 2005.
The Jews for Jesus will run an extensive missionary campaign in
every city they enter. Their campaigns involve two main prongs –
their public campaigns which directly target Jews, and their private
campaigns, which train local Christians to convert their neighbors,
co-workers and friends.
Rabbi Michael Skobac, Toronto director of Jews for Judaism, a counter-missionary
organization, likened their tactics to those of business men. "In
sales, you have what they call cold-calling, and you have people
that close the sale," he said. "When [Jews for Jesus]
go out in the street, handing out their literature, it's what you
call cold-calling – you don't usually convert a lot of people
by sitting in the street and handing out literature. But when they
go to the churches and do training seminars that encourage Christians
to 'witness' to their Jewish friends and neighbors, that's their
major way to evangelize Jews."
In order to counteract the measures taken by Jews for Jesus, Skobac
and Jews for Judaism have planned a major campaign of their own.
In partnership with Canadian Jewish Congress, Jews for Judaism has
sent letters to all the major churches in the Toronto area, not
suggesting that they reconsider their faith, but asking them to
distance themselves from the misleading tactics employed by Jews
for Jesus. They are hoping to limit the manpower that will be available
to Jews for Jesus so that there will be fewer people giving out
pamphlets on the street, fewer concerts with evangelical bands such
as the Liberated Western Wall and a reduced number of street theatre
performances.
Additionally, Jews for Judaism is planning programming described
by Skobac as "preventative educational levels. We try to raise
consciousness and awareness about [missionary] problems, and to
give them information that will be helpful and basically to strengthen
them as Jews. That's why we named the organization Jews for Judaism
and not Jews Against Jesus. We feel that if Jews are connected strongly
to their Judaism, they won't go elsewhere."
To that end, the Toronto chapter of Jews for Judaism is sponsoring
a city-wide creative writing and art contest open to elementary
and secondary school students, entitled, "Why I love Judaism."
Additionally, on Sept. 6, there will be a city-wide Shabbat celebration
entitled, "Stand up for Judaism," during which rabbis
in all synagogues will run programs responding to the Jews for Jesus
campaign, and educational pamphlets published by Jews for Judaism
will be distributed to congregational members. The next day, Sept.
7, Jews for Judaism will be sponsoring a rally, featuring speakers
such as the Los Angeles head of the organization, Rabbi Bentzion
Kravitz, and the former Jews for Jesus head missionary for Israel,
Gavriel Aryeh Sanders, now a Jewish convert working for Jews for
Judaism. Extensive media campaigns will be run by Jews for Judaism
as well. They will attempt to blanket the city with their information,
so that the voice of the Jews for Jesus is not the only one heard.
While no official date has been set for Jews for Jesus' arrival
in Vancouver, and there is no Jews for Judaism chapter in the city,
that does not mean that the city is being ignored. Skobac intends
to be in Vancouver for a month in January, during which time he
will be running programs intended to counter what Jews for Judaism
sees as four major threats to Judaism: Christian missionaries, eastern
religions such as Buddhism, intermarriage and cults. As well, Skobac
hopes to meet with volunteers who will be interested in organizing
a counter-campaign to "Behold your God" when it reaches
Vancouver.
Those interested in becoming volunteers can e-mail Skobac at [email protected].
For more information on this campaign or on other Jews for Judaism
projects, visit www.jewsforjudaism.org
or call 905-761-0040.
Jordana Rothstein is an English major at Princeton University
who enjoys coming home for the summer.
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