Posted on 08/02/2004 5:12:15 PM PDT by missyme
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."
Levinson asserts that awarding hope is The Jamm's most cherished technique.
"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."
That's good. So would most of us. I'd like to add that the tradition of mourning over a child when they marry away is itself dying off.
If I had a hindu in the family good for me! I will teach him to love Jesus and accept his salvation..
And if he or she refused? Of course, you'd continue your browbeating.
Are you that much of a simpleton that you don't get it? Not everyone wants to convert or believe in your beliefs. Do you understand?
Sorry to disappoint you, but Jews, not Christians, get to decide who is a Jew.
Here's praying that, every time a soul-winning Christian is booted out of ANY Middle Eastern country, 10 more come to take his place.
When do you plan on taking your missionary trip to Mecca?
And I agree with Malakhi, ALL of the messianic prophecies must be fulfilled.
I want everyone to love "Jesus" what is so wrong with that????
It ain't gonna happen. Even the vast majority of Christians don't believe in "The Rapture".
What's lacking in this discussion is an understanding of just who the Messianic jews are and what they are about. The "spiritual roots" of Messianic Jews go back to the fact that the early "christians" were almost all Jews. As their message spread, more and more gentiles were drawn into (lured into?) their community, and over time became first a majority and then an overwhelming majority (the first "Church Council" was called to settle the question of whether or not it was possible for a gentile to be a christian). Early christianity was very judaic, with celebrations of the Jewish holidays and shabbat.
As the gentiles began to dominate, there arose divisions, with many of the Jews "holding back" from full participation with the gentiles. The gentiles, in turn, grumbled about the jewish practices of the Jewish followers of Jesus. These controversies continued over 200 years until the Council of Nicea in the early 300's, at which time Christian Jews were ordered to stop celebrating passover and other Jewish holidays and rituals.
Meantime, the Messianics had become increasingly isolated from mainstream Judaism, one of the major divisions coming, interestingly enough, when Rabbi Akiva proclaimed Simon bar Kochba to be the Messiah, but the messianics rejected him as a false messiah. The Nicean showdown marked the beginning of the end for the early "Messianic Jews." They were basically forced to choose between a completely gentilized Christianity or complete exclusion. By the year 400, "messianic Jews" as a movement had disappeared.
Messianic Jews of today generally reject post-Nicean christianity, wanting to return to a purer, simpler, more Hebraic form. They naturally find their biggest welcome among christians from radical Protestants who likewise reject much of the traditions of the greater part of the Christian era.
Christians seeking to evangelize among Jews are frequently misunderstood by Jews who appeal to the persecutions of the past as a rationale for not proselytizing. It is not often understood that the evangelists of today stem from groups that have stood against religious and especially persecution by christians for centuries. The Evangelizer of today is the descendant of those who were burned at the stake with the Jews. He is not likely to be swayed by arguments that blame him or his ideas for the burning, since he has a long and storied history of resistance against christian persecutors.
The Messianic Jews of today see themselves as the inheritors of the early christianity and are about the project of restoring it. Whether they should or whether they should not, it is not more than ludicrous to portray them as conniving tricksters seeking to kidnap ignorant Jews and force them to believe something against their will.
Disclosure: I'm not Jewish, I believe in Jesus. My wife is Jewish, and she believes in Jesus. She's from a very large family and I'm related by marriage to what seems like half the Israeli Army. I did not "trick" her or "trap" her, she decided upon this course herself 7 years before we were married. My kids learned Hebrew, we celebrate the holidays, and my wife is the "evangelizer" while I do most of the worrying about offending people.
I am not sure if it's going to happen or not according to Jack Van Impe who said he has studied every scripture from start to finish and understands the total book or Revelation says it definetly will happen..
I'm not sure.
But I will tell you this Malakhi, if you look at the writing of Revelations and what has been foretold, the Veri-Chip Implantation "Mark of the Beast" is in scripture as well as growing Anti-Semistism, Homosexuality, a growing GODLESS NATION , global climatic changes is all prophezied in the Bible about the end times scenario.
You are doing yourself a dis-service by not at least looking at it objectively. If the rapture happens I want to see you raptured, I would not want you to be left to endure the massive problems the planet will have...
Strike the "not." Should read: it is more than ludicrous to portray them as conniving tricksters seeking to kidnap ignorant Jews and force them to believe something against their will.
Many in Christianity are trying to kill off Judaism by converting its faithful.
Many in Islam are trying to kill off Judaism by killing its faithful.
The aim of both is the elimination of Judaism.
On a personal level, if I were a Jew I'd probably consider a Christian like that an enemy too.
If these missionaries want to convert people, why don't they start off by crossing over into Palestinian territory and preaching?
If somebody tells you he totally understands the Book of Revelation, you can safely assume that he is full of it.
What's wrong with it is your endless prostletyzing. Anyone who doesn't believe in YOUR religion gets a non-stop browbeating. You are not going to convert anyone here. If anything, you are being dismissed as a nut case, and an extremely annoying one at that.
If you are an example of what it means to be Christian (and I don't think you are) then I am so very glad I am not Christian and have nothing to do with Christianity other than to tolerate it and accept it as the religion of many good people. You don't seem to be able to tolerate any other religion or to accept that it can have good people.
Folks: talking to Missyme is like talking to a brick wall. She closed her mind the first day she walked into church and won't even think about opening it to the idea that there are other ideas and beliefs out there. We can let this thread go around in circles forever or just drop it.
Yeah, this is my last post.
Yep. Over a billion Muslims. 12-15 million Jews. Seems like there would be a more prolific harvest on the other side of the Jordan.
Of course, the Muslims tend to be somewhat less civilized in their reaction to missionaries than are the Jews.
In the context of the article it's not the faithful they're targeting, rather the vulnerable. It's illegal to evangelize a minor in Israel, or to pay them to convert. That's apparently a law offensive to some, who prefer not to target adults.
When you go after kids, you are indeed attempting to kidnap them away from their parents culture and beliefs.
I am not trying to convert anybody, I make no excuses that I love Jesus accept his way of salvation and I will say it to everbody until GOD makes me a mute, or my computer breaks.
I am passionate about GOD, Jesus, Animals and life in general. You call it annoying and I call it caring...
If your target tells you he's not interested (or Reverend Brickner's suggestion, drop dead, imo a bit harsh for the first meeting), how long does she persist?
If she doesn't evanglize minors and takes no for an answer, your comments don't relate to the objections raised on the thread.
So Malakhi, what do you think of the Implant chip? will you get one they are trying to incorporate that now in hospitals? and they have implants for people in Spain with buying and selling products?
The Mark fo the Beast has to do with what is going on now? what do you think it is?
I really hope you will not let yourself be implanted with a chip....
I really do think some Jewish People know we have good intentions not all but some. As much as I take alot of heat from some Jewish Freepers, I know deep in my heart a few know that I have good intentions.....
I oppose such things for privacy reasons, not because of any apocalytic beliefs.
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