Jamming for Jesus

Though officially illegal, the capital's last Messianic Youth Ministry continues to recruit local Jewish teens

When Jerusalem-born Daniel Cohen was 15-years-old, he wanted to become a professional drummer. So when a friend told him about free drum lessons at The Jamm he went straight to the Russian Compound to check it out.

"At first, the people at The Jamm were really nice to me. They even started to teach me how to play the drums," says Cohen.

After two months of hanging out at the coffee bar/youth center, one of Cohen's newfound friends gave him a copy of the New Testament in Hebrew and began to initiate discussions on the subject of Christ. An additional two months passed before Cohen was invited to participate in a youth trip to the Sea of Galilee, where he could join other Jamm youth in a mikveh ceremony.

"He asked me if I knew what Baptism is," recalls Cohen, who is now 17. "He said it wasn't a Christian thing, but a Jewish thing for Jews who knew the 'right way.'"

"I was shocked," he continues. "I was born a Jew and I want to be a Jew and I am not interested in converting away from Judaism. It is horrible when you think you have friends and then you find out that they are actually your enemies."

Cohen isn't alone. The Jamm (Jerusalem Artists, Musicians and Media) Center has been trapping Jewish teens in its messianic web since it was established in 1998. With open mike nights on Wednesdays and Punk concerts on Thursdays, including free coffee, chai tea and snacks, the non-smoking, alcohol-free Jamm provides a clean and tempting atmosphere for Jerusalem youth.

In one of the organization's pamphlets, The Jamm describes itself as "the first and only Israeli Messianic Youth ministry center of its kind in Israel," the main goal of which is "to serve as a safe place for young people to find out about the mercies of the true and living God."

According to Aaron Rubin at Yad L'Achim (Hands to Our Brothers), a Jerusalem-based organization dedicated to helping Jewish brethren escape from the clutches of cults and missionaries, The Jamm is among 100 so-called Messianic Jewish movements across Israel, 20 congregations of which are headquartered in Jerusalem.

Rubin lists the Baptists, the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada (PAOC) and Caspari near Ben Yehuda Street, where Christians from Norway offer literature and courses to augment the effectiveness of English, Russian, Hebrew and French-speaking missionaries, among the larger missionary communities in the capital city.

Although he estimates the total number of missionaries currently operating in the country at around 4,000, Rubin says their numbers have increased by 100 percent over the past decade and that they continue to grow at an even more rapid pace today.

"The number of congregations are growing," says Rubin, who attributes the boom to several factors: the successful conversion to Christianity of new immigrants from the Former Soviet Union and Ethiopia; an increased number of dissidents who reject the theology of their church in favor of establishing their own individually-run institutions; the circumvention of the Law of Return, which according to a Supreme Court ruling in September 1992 stipulates that "openly-professed belief in Jesus is enough to render a born-Jew a member of another religion and thereby not eligible under Israel's immigration law for automatic citizenship in the Jewish State"; and a general expansion of messianic activity.

Messianic Jews share a belief in the idea that Judaism is the source of Christianity. The New Testament (so-called New Covenant) represents a unified extension of the Old Testament. Main tenets include regarding God as a compound unity of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit and belief in Jesus' virgin birth, sinless life, atoning death, bodily resurrection and ascension to the right hand of God the Father. They await the personal, bodily return of Jesus and believe in the resurrection of both the saved and the lost - the former to everlasting life, the latter to everlasting judgment and condemnation. It is in this Christian philosophy that the objective of conversion and "soul-saving" originates.

According to Rubin, the most common point of confusion for Jews who are approached by Messianic Jews is their self-definition as Jews. "They say they are Jews, not Christians and that their beliefs have nothing to do with Christianity."

This approach is deceptive, explains Rubin, since one-quarter of Messianic Jewish congregations in Israel are led by Christian-educated leaders.

In addition to their deceiving self-description, initial methods to entice new congregants usually include putting up posters and websites and going to festivals and public places to distribute pamphlets and books bearing Jewish symbols.

The difference between The Jamm and other organizations of its kind is that currently, it is the only active missionary body whose target audience are minors.

"Some movements send their children to speak with Jewish children because it's more delicate," says Rubin, "but most Jewish missionaries try to stay away from kids because it is illegal."

Article 368 of the Israeli Penal Code awards a maximum six-month incarceration for attempting to convert minors under the age of 18. Article 174(A) prohibits the offering and receiving of material benefits as an inducement to conversion of anyone, including those above and below the age of 18. Anyone who gives material benefits in exchange for a commitment to change one's religion can be sentenced up to 5 years in prison and fined a maximum of NIS 50,000.

According to Yoram Sheftel, a Ramat Gan-based criminal lawyer who volunteers on behalf of Yad L'Achim, the problem is that both the prosecution and the law enforcement authorities do not enforce the law.

"They rarely enforce the laws pertaining to missionary crimes," says Sheftel, who estimates that only one or two cases are actually brought to court every year.

No legal precedent exists because both crimes are dealt with at the lowest level, the Magistrate's Court, with appeals going to the District Court.

"There is no practical chance that a case like this would make it to the Supreme Court," adds Sheftel, who in 2000 drafted a bill that to date has neither been accepted nor rejected by the Knesset, which would make any attempt to persuade anyone to change his religion an offense against the law. "As it stands, the issue is not a priority in the eyes of the Jerusalem Police and the prosecution. These cases, therefore, are generally neither investigated nor prosecuted."

Rivka Cohen, Daniel's mother, who conditioned her interview on the changing of both her and her son's names, testifies to that fact.

Once she found out what was really going on at The Jamm in April 2003, she filed a report with the Jerusalem Police, who closed the case about a month later. They reopened the file in December 2003 after she filed a letter of complaint to the minister of justice.

"I have not heard anything about it since the case was reopened eight months ago," says Rivka. "From the very beginning, the police didn't want to take me seriously."

Besides the testimony of her son and the publications he was given at The Jamm that included a copy of the New Testament, a workbook about Jesus, a CD with Christian songs and a copy of the coffee house's publication 'Youth Speak ' a collection of personal stories by Israeli youth who became 'believers' in the Messianic movement, her report consisted of a video depicting incriminating discussions between Jamm members, shot by 18-year-old Yossi Levinson, a volunteer for Yad L'Achim who went undercover to investigate the place.

"It was disgusting. The place is dedicated to making Israeli youth believe in Yeshua," says Levinson, who disguised himself as a believer looking to make a video for fundraising purposes in America, in order to unveil the true philosophy behind The Jamm. "It's not maybe yes, maybe no. It's black and white. The best thing a believer can do is to make a non-believer believe in Christ. It's an even bigger 'mitzvah' if they convert a Jew."

Levinson reveals that two days after he handed the video over to the Jerusalem Police, he got a call from friends at The Jamm inquiring how the video got into the wrong hands. "I was shocked. Until now, I don't know how they found out about the video so quickly."

The police didn't call him in for questioning until three weeks later. At the same time, Richard Ayal Frieden, owner of The Jamm, was approached by police immediately.

Frieden is proud to define himself as a Jewish believer in Yeshua, but denies that the purpose of his establishment is to convert Israeli youth.

"The Jamm," says Frieden, a former narcotics detective at the Jerusalem precinct who left his job in 1994, "is a non-profit organization that exists to promote local arts and to encourage youth and young adults in their respective musical talents. There is nothing illegal going on at The Jamm. We are not actively proselytizing young people."

"There is a witch-hunt going on," continues Frieden who, in addition to The Jamm, runs an annual week-long music camp for messianic kids and oversees the Jamm Academy of Arts, which holds after-school fine arts, multimedia and computer graphics classes taught by believing professionals and Heart Rock TV (HRTV), which produces TVY2, a 30-minute Hebrew music video program for central public access channel Tevel (Arutz Mekomi Merkaz), national public access channel 25 (Arutz Zahav Artzi), Matav Digitali and Yes 90 (Artzi Arutz Hapatuach).

"If I've committed a crime in sharing the love of God through the good work that we are doing at the Jamm," says Frieden, "then put me on the stand."

On the HRTV website, Frieden writes: "The youth of Israel are key to the future of Israel and to the expansion of the indigenous body of believers. Many Israeli youth are walking in darkness. We are here to inform them of 'the one whom they have not believed ' and introduce them to 'the one whom they have not heard' (Romans 10:14)."

Frieden explains that The Jamm holds one faith-based worship service per week, meant exclusively for members of the Jerusalem Youth Cell Group. "Each person under the age of 18 who comes on Monday night needs permission from their parents."

Minors, claims Frieden, are given a waiver that clearly indicates what the service is about, for parents to sign. "This is something that we're quite strict about."

Shmulik Ben-Rubi, spokesman for the Jerusalem Police, concurs. "We have talked to both kids and their parents and we have found that parents allow their kids to be in this place."

Ben-Rubi notes that the investigation surrounding The Jam is still open. "If we find any sign of conversion, we will act according to the law. But as far as we know, they are not trying to convert kids."

The police might have missed Cohen, who says he was invited to a worship night without being given a waiver. "I was never asked to have my parents sign a permission form. I just came on a Thursday night and they invited me to come on Monday. They invite all the people who come on Thursday to the prayer meeting. That's how I got there. I wouldn't have known about it otherwise."

According to Cohen, believer meetings are the prime time for circulating missionary literature.

"I personally don't hand out anything," says K., a 28-year-old Jamm volunteer from Germany. "I cannot hide what I believe in, but I would never force it on anybody or give someone a pamphlet."

Cohen has a different version. "They gave me workbooks and the New Testament and said that Jesus gave his life for us and we need to give our lives to Him."

Cohen, whose parents divorced a couple of years before he started spending time at The Jamm, realizes in retrospect that he was the perfect candidate for missionary activity. "It was a very rough time in my life. I needed friends and the people at The Jamm were nice. They listened and talked to me."

The believers, he says, also offered him a place to stay at their shared boys' house. "They go to the weak people and they try to take them in."

Rubin says that Cohen's assessment is accurate. "It is very difficult to change the mind of someone who doesn't have any problems in his life. That's why they are going to lonely people or people with financial or family problems. There are a lot of people out there who are in trouble and these missionaries give them hope."

"They act nice to people who don't have someone who will listen to them at home, or who don't have a nice home," he says. "The Jamm is a nice, warm place for people who don't have a nice, warm place to go."

Rubin claims that the current economic crisis in Israel and in the capital in particular, provides the missionaries with more opportunities than usual, since many Israelis are particularly needy at this time.

"It's a business," says Rubin and emphasizes that all of the messianic congregations in Israel receive money from Christian churches abroad to help them conduct their activities. "When they are speaking with Jews, they are Jews. When they try to get money from Christians, they are Christians. Basically, they are liars."

The Jamm fits the mold. Not only does the organization have affiliates in both Franklin, Tennessee and the Netherlands, it is sponsored in part by Gratefully Grafted Ministries International, headquartered in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, which offers financial support to some 40 messianic ministries in Israel, including congregations, worship centers and "outreach programs" like The Jamm.

Says Rubin, "The Jamm aims to target youth in the street and they don't have a problem getting the money to do it from abroad."

"The Jamm is a Christian fundamentalist group and nothing more than that," adds Binyamin Kluger, head of advocacy for the anti-missionary department at Yad L'Achim.

"Why are Israeli authorities doing nothing to stop them?" asks Rivka. "I just don't understand. If the law clearly says that what they are doing is wrong, why isn't anything being done about it?

"I just try to imagine what would happen if a couple of religious Jews started trying to convert Christian boys to stop believing in Yeshua. I'm sure it wouldn't hold for one week."

She then offers one reason the Israeli justice system has neglected to deal with the issue. "Perhaps Christians in America have a very big influence here, but unless we are willing to sacrifice our own Jewish kids for the donations and tourism money of Christians, our first obligation is to protect our own youth."

A letter written by then-Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu in which he expressed his disagreemet with the 1997 Proposed Bill on the Prohibition of Inducement for Religious Conversion, supports Cohen's suggestion.

"It has come to my attention that a bill before the Israeli parliament concerning possession of missionary literature has created a stir among our many Christian friends," wrote Netanyahu in response to the private member bill proposed by then-Labor Party opposition member Nissim Zvilli and Rabbi Moshe Gafni of the Yahadut HaTorah Party, which would have made the printing, distribution and possession of missionary material a crime punishable by up to one year in prison. "I would like to assure you that this bill does not have the support of the Israeli government...the government strenuously objects to this bill and will act to ensure that it does not pass. Israel deeply values your support, and we appreciate your friendship and commitment."

The reason for the legal authorities' lack of action against missionary organizations remains obscure. In the meantime, The Jamm, which has a link on the Jerusalem Municipality website, has plans to expand its horizons to include an indoor skateboarding park on Ben Yehuda Street, a project their pamphlet describes as "a [potential] harvest field for the Lord."

"There are few cases that are as black and white as The Jamm," says Rubin. "The case is very clear. Why aren't they being properly investigated or prosecuted? It's a very good question."

Why would Jesus say spread the GOSPEL to all? he never said leave the Jews alone?

Please do not misunderstand this, but "Christians" need to approach Jews in the humility of a younger brother appropaching an older brother. This is not meant to be demeaning, but many "Christians" approach "evangelization" of Jews in a very arrogant way, such as "You USED to be the people of God, but now WE are - we have the truth now, let us TEACH you." Such "Christians" have no idea the depth of spiritual insight to be found in Judaism. Instead, they would do well to approach in all humility like this:

In those days ten men from every language of the nations shall grasp the sleeve of a Jewish man, saying, 'Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.'"

Then maybe those "Christians" will learn, and be able to then teach. I am not negating the Master's commands - I am begging for humility, not arrogance. If a "Christian" says they love the Jewish people, instead of hitting them with "the Gospel", they need to ask them if they can sit at their feet and learn a little from them. They may be surprised at what they learn - and their posture will be far better accepted to those who one may want to "reach". Go ahead and preach, but first be willing to learn.

"It is sad that these people move to Israel, let down their guard and then are induced by missionaries operating under false pretenses to abandon the faith of their ancestors."

I have relatives who are Jews, relatives who are Messianic Jews, and relatives who are Gentile Christians, so I keep track of this stuff. The charge is made that the Messianics "induce" or "trick" people. I don't believe this is accurate. They are very upfront about who they are: Jewish people who take their Jewish heritage extremely seriously, but who also are convinced that Jesus is the Messiah. In Israel they take very rigorous steps, insisting that kids without parental permission slips be kept out.

The Messianics may be wrong, but they are very clear about who they are.

This makes no sense to me? Jesus Christ is highly offensive?

If you made any attempt to convert my underaged child from my religion to any other religion behind my back and without my express permission, I would not only be highly offended, I would initiate legal action against you to stop it, if need be. It is not Jesus that would be offensive in such a case, but rather the person attempting the conversion.

So do you ever see a day coming that will bring Jews and Christians together that will confront the issue about Jesus and his intent to bring Jew and Gentile alike a understanding of who he is and how he was to bring all mankind reconciliation with GOD through his death and resurrection?

So are you offended that the school system is teaching that homosexuality is a acceptable alternative lifestyle?

I have no intention of subjecting my children to a public school system.

Nice attempt at playing a logic trick, though. Schools aren't religions, even if some of their methods of brainwashing are similar.

How the Lubavitchers in Israel Tried to Convert Me, a Witless Goy

Taking a break from visiting my family in Kfar Saba, I took a stroll downtown to fetch a Jeruslaem Post. Hiking up the hill (everything is a hill in Israel, it's amazing there is soccer at all), I came upon two tables, setting on the sidewalk in a way yhat blocked all pedestrian traffic. A couple of bearded, burly unemployed linebackers in flowing tzitzit fixed their eyes on me and rushed me, demanding something unintelligible from me. I thought they wanted money, but then one of them started gesticulating, running his finger round and round his most impressive forearm. He was definitely not smiling. His partner yelled something at me in Hebrew. I caught the word "tefilin."

I said "No thank you" in English.

Mr. Forearms badgered me some more in Hebrew and then, as if he had been struck out of the blue, cocked his head and asked, "Are you Jewish?"

"No, I'm not," I replied.

Without a word he turned on his heel, headed straight for a bent-over elderly man and began his spiel again. Making my escape, I deftly I stepped around the table and out onto Wiezmann Street where a Toyota blasted me with his horn, and almost made a hood ornament out of me.

" "With open mike nights on Wednesdays and Punk concerts on Thursdays, including free coffee, chai tea and snacks, the non-smoking, alcohol-free Jamm provides a clean and tempting atmosphere for Jerusalem youth."

".....the non-smoking, alcohol-free Jamm provides a clean and tempting atmosphere...."

Boy, you can't make this stuff up!

How come Yad L'Achim doesn't try that?

First they were not trying to covert this youth to another religion, they were however sharing there faith about who Jesus Christ is, learning about something good, now if they were sharing material about Satanic Cults I would have a problem with that...

What if my faith depended on my bringing you into my faith? "How many times would you answer the phone when I called, or answer the door when I knocked, or stay at the lunch table when I sat down?"

I wouldn't like it, but I wouldn't advocate outlawing Jewish evangelism. I truly do understand that it would be irritating.

"You may think that we are ripe fruit available for your taking, but Jews have been around for thousands of years and, G-d willing, will be around through the end of history."

There will be, absolutely, God willing.

Hey Piranha: I am sorry if I offended you. It is better to agree to disagree. I am not a person who seeks out Jews for conversion. But if I do have the chance to turn someone to Christ, I will, regardless of their ethnicity or religion. I can't exclude one group of people from hearing the Gospel. I also can't have one standard for one people, and another for all others.
Truly I apologize for my forthrightness if it offended you, no disrespect was intended, however I will keep telling the truth as I see it. I believe when you tell the truth, you are respecting the other person. What comes out of my mouth is what is in my heart. How you take doesn't mean my motives were bad. I don't censor, and I believe honesty is the best policy.

God Bless you and I will leave this hot potato alone now!

I am not offended by you personally. I am offended by people who think that their religion is better than mine, and therefore think that they have to "save" Jews by wresting them from their family, friends and faith.

Unfortunately, by missionizing among the Jews you miss an opportunity to really get to know us, since the only Jews you meet either will have their guard up or will be ignorant of their own faith and so susceptible to your proselytizing.

You won't win, but I regret that we Jews have to expend any time and energy at all against your interference in our lives.

Can't we all just get along? No, as long as you are working to deny us our heritage and our faith.

Your attempts (those who try to convert us) is highly offensive. Jesus is not offensive, just as totally unimportant to Jews as Mohammed or Budha.

The Palestinians, at least, tell me to my face they wish to kill me. You, OTOH, tell me how you love me then try to strip me of my religion, my faith, my culture, everything that makes me a Jew. If that is the price of Christian support of Israel then please go support the Arab. I would prefer to die a Jew than surrender who and what I am.

I have always been terribly distrustful of fundamentalist Chirstian support for Israel. Why? I've read Revelation. 2/3 of the Jews wiped out, the rest converted. Sorry, that is the end of us every bit as much as being conquered by the Arabs. That is not a future I want. Since I don't believe it to be scripture in any way, shape, or form, that is one I can fight.

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