TARGET: Israel
Jewish state is breeding ground for deceptive missionaries
By Maayan Jaffe
Special to Jews for Judaism
"Missionary activity is both overt and covert in Israel," said Ellen Horowitz, Research and Content Director for Jewish Israel. "Both forms are on the increase."
Horowitz, whose website explores the active missionary community in Israel, explained modern-day proselytizing is not about bringing Jews to the church, but about bringing Christian love, comfort and belief to the Jews, calling for a spiritual reconciliation and a fusion of faiths.
"Up until recently, Israelis were very cautious when it came to relationships with Christians," explained Penina Taylor, author of
Coming Full Circle: A Jewish Woman's Journey through Christianity and Back. Taylor continued, "whereas Israeli Jews used to equate all Christians with the Holocaust, the Crusades and the pogroms, today they see Evangelical Christians - the most active missionary group in Israel - as supportive of Israel."
"Proselytizing in Israel is like going fishing in a giant fish bowl. The result for the Jewish people," said Taylor "is spiritually devastating."
The missionaries are working on every level, Horowitz said. They are targeting American Jews travelling to Israel, infiltrating the Israel Defense Forces, and even meeting the call of "spiritual seekers" at secular Israeli festivals.
Massah vs. Masa
Nearly every American Jew has heard of Masa or Birthright, programs aimed at injecting young Jews with a sense of Jewish identity and solidarity through visits to the holy land. Massah with an "h," however, is a Jews for Jesus affiliated program for young missionaries. Its name, website, interface and campaign to strengthen 'Jewish identity,' are strikingly similar to the Jewish groups' mentioned above.
"Massah participants are highly motivated, devout, young evangelical missionaries who are absolutely determined to fill the 'spiritual vacuum' prevalent among young, secular Jewish people in Israel. The site's mission statement clearly refers to their intention to evangelize and spread the word of Jesus in Israel," said Horowitz. "Massah's impersonation is a very well-orchestrated PR deception. Their title spin is indicative of the kind of wordplay and doublespeak that is characteristic of missionary deceit.
Of course, Masa and Birthright still enjoy a greater number of participants than their Christian counterpart. Nonetheless, said Horowitz, programs like Massah will present Jews with an increasingly formidable challenge.
In the Army Now
Taylor recently immigrated to Israel where she runs an organization called
Shomrei Emet. In her role as a counter-missionary, Taylor said she gets several calls a year from IDF members dealing with missionaries in their platoons or activities that expose them to missionaries.
Recently, she said, an army rabbi relayed to her a story about a missionary who had infiltrated and witnessed to an entire group of army rabbis:
The rabbis had been together for a week-long retreat. On the final day, one rabbi gave a d'var Torah. Then, the secular cook asked if he could do the same. The rabbis, explained Taylor, were happy to hear from him, hoping they had some influence on this secular Jew.
"The guy got up and began quoting obscure verses [of Torah] and talking about sin and the messiah," Taylor said. "One rabbi realized what was going on and he got the missionary to sit down - before he got shot!"
In this story, however, Taylor said there is an important lesson.
"If this missionary has the guts to share his faith with 50 rabbis carrying guns, certainly we could share our Jewish faith with our brethren," she said.
Spirit Seekers
Most recently, deceptive missionaries have found a new place to hang - Bereshit, Boombamela and Shantipi, annual festivals targeted towards spiritual-seeking Israeli young adults. Those involved expressed frustration at the missionaries' presence.
"I spoke with a Torah observant organizer involved with the 'Jewish Village,' one of the most popular sites at the festival. ... [He said] the Christian missionaries would dress as religious Jews in order to draw people away from the Jewish faith. He said he was overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of missionaries present at the festivals," Horowitz said.
The Christians were successful. According to an article published by OM International, an organization that "mobilizes and equips people to share Christ's love," outreach on the beach in the Galilee to 15,000 young people, most of whom had not heard the Gospel, was the highlight of its recent work.
"There were great opportunities for personal witness and good conversions. Twenty-seven people repented of their sins and received Jesus as Lord. Two were baptized on the beach," the article reads.
"People [at the festivals] are very open, uninhibited and searching," explained Horowitz. "Love, tolerance and no borders is the name of the game. People quite literally bear their souls at these festivals and this exposure and vulnerability creates the ideal working environment for missionaries."
What's the solution? Well, said Taylor, there is only one: Education and Awareness.
"The new environment in Israel has far-reaching implications that will affect Jews worldwide. The only answer is to educate our entire populace about what the missionary claims are and that Judaism has rejected those claims for 2,000 years with good reason," she said. "Rabbis and lay people alike need to understand those reasons ... and support the work of education-based counter-missionary programs."
Jews for Judaism was founded to create awareness about the severity and success rate of deceptive and destructive Christian missionaries in America, Israel and around the world. While we don't advocate physical violence against missionaries nor do we proclaim that all Christians are targeting Jews for conversion, our goal is to shed light on those groups who actively abuse and misprepresent Judaism to proselytize. In this issue, we explore the underhanded methods of certain missionaries in Israel. Ask yourself, 'Masa' vs. 'Massah', which one is run by Christian missionaries and which one is legitimately Jewish? Hatikvah - a Jewish or a Christian song? Only knowledge and awareness of our own religion and history can protect us and future generations from spiritual predators.
