by Margie Pensak

It could never happen to me, you might say, or to my children, who have a religious school/yeshiva background. Surely we, who are fortunate to have the authentic Torah as our guide, are immune and cannot be duped...

Not at all, according to Jews for Judaism executive director, Ruth Guggenheim: "This problem is very much with us and is growing like an insidious cancer," says Ms. Guggenheim, "and we are in Stage 4 of that cancer. The missionaries are succeeding because they make Judaism comfortable," she explains. "They engage in peer-to-peer evangelism, and they engage so beautifully, with 'unconditional love.' There is no one in this world who does not seek unconditional love. Each one of us is vulnerable, as we go through life. We have to face issues like death, divorce, illness, unemployment, and risky behavior, whether we are 18 or 80. And we are all looking for a connection, a relationship with Hashem to fulfill our spiritual needs. When a highly charismatic and passionate missionary comes along, our rabbis -who may be less charismatic and passionate - may not be able to compete!"

Ms. Guggenheim shared with me a true case in point. A chasidishe [chasidic]  teenage boy, the middle child in a fairly large family, was raised in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn. Denigrated from an early age for asking questions, he was ultimately expelled from yeshiva. His father, a rebbi, was so embarrassed by this, and so afraid that his other children's shidduchim [a match for marraige] would be compromised, that he refused to speak to him. This young man left Yiddishkeit and ended up hanging out with a fundamentalist born-again Christian, who took him to church. He was uncomfortable going to church, so his friend introduced him to a messianic "rabbi," with whom he felt quite comfortable. After being involved with the messianic movement for six months, he decided to contact Jews for Judaism, in hopes of making peace with his father. He then admitted that he had never felt such unconditional love as when he was associated with the Hebrew-Christian congregation, and that if his own community had reached out to him the way the messianics did, he would never have left Yiddishkeit in the first place.

"When he contacted Jews for Judaism he was looking for a safe place to discuss his religious concerns without being judged and ridiculed. Once he got his answers and felt a sense of personal healing and acceptance, he was ready to return to his family and the Orthodox community. B"H [Thank G-d], on erev Chanukah he went home and made shalom with his father." Notes Ms. Guggenheim, "It's a highly toxic and destructive situation when teens and young adults feel that no one in the Jewish community cares about them personally, and that it appears they care more about the 'external frum trappings' and conformity than about their child's pain. If these individuals cannot find acceptance, love, and validation from their own families and schools, they will look elsewhere, and the missionaries are only too happy to oblige!"

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