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."
It leaves homosexuality precisely where it started, an affront to G-d. As is consuming shellfish. Fornication is more complicated. I'm not sure I understand your question, but I think you missed anotherviews point.
So the destruction of Soddom and Gommorrah had to do with Sexual immorality that being the case Homosexuality would not be an option as Anotherview states. It's not a freedom..
Got to go with Piranha's logic on that one. We are to try to convert them. But not by force, by logic and by appeal to the scriptures.
"If we are going to get along in this world, you have to learn to respect others, including their beliefs."
Is it possible to respect someone, respect their right to choose their beliefs, but still dissagree with their beliefs and attempt to engage them in conversation about them?
I think it is. I think it's possible to respect Jews, to love Jews, and yet still tell them about Jesus.
No, but I've seen enough rabinnical writings prior to Jesus, to know that many of the Old Testament scriptures that Christians consider prophetic about Jesus, were considered messianic in nature prior to Jesus.
15 years is well over the age of accountability. It's not like they were targeting grade school kids.
Now I dissagree with telling him Baptism is a Jewish ritual. But I doubt that's the whole truth. No true Christian believes he's accomplished anything just by getting him to be baptised. It's the acceptance of Jesus that is key. They gave him the Christian scriptures two months before they talked to him about Baptism. I suspect they presented Christianity as a fulfillment of Judaism, which I believe it is. But it's not like this kid didn't know he was talking to Christians. If they did try to "trick" him into baptism, that is both very wrong and stupid.
Just another post to you from little ol' annoying me, my enthusiasm in sharing with all people about Jesus is because it has made me socially aware of the world I live in, amongst other things, before I became a Christian I could of cared less about any body unless it had something to do with me.
I was not concerned with Israel Europe any thing that did not have to do with the country I live in or my circle of friends.
Gentiles are not concerned with Israel Christians are because of there belief in Jesus and GOD's commandment to love Israel.
Do yout think if we had an Atheist as a president he would be concerned with Israel?
Do you think it would be better for Israel if Christians said I am not concerned with that country, I don't have any intentions on going there or sending money there, I would rather go sit on the Beach in Tahiti and spend my money on drinking Chi's Chi's and eating lobster.
Would you like me to post the Jewish scriptures that prophesize about Jesus and you can tell me why they don't.
"Convert or die, straight from the Hep! Hep! Hep!’ cult of Christianity"
Actually, Stonewall, the "convert or die" biz are AnotherView's choices for a good Orthodox parent. You'll need to take your argument up with him. You, on the other hand, are so civil that you tell Christians who love you enough to try saving your soul that you want them to die.
And yes, I certainly do fear people such as yourselves, "advocating the jailing of evangelists in Israel." You and the Islamic cleric urging the UN to make defaming the prophet Mohammed a worldwide "hate crime" must share a lot of tactical ideas.
Christians have given their lives to spread the Word for two millenia, and it will take far worse than the cranks on this thread to stop them from bringing Christ to the Chosen.
I've been reading your bitter posts with no intention of responding, but this one is just too much.
Are you really that ignorant of history?
And faith in your Messiah is absolutely very 'Jewish'. You racist.
I don't believe anotherview has any interest in learning about scripture from another perspective, I found it very interesting reading safisofts posts as he mentioned some things from a hebrew perspective I wasn't aware of.
Maybe it's not right to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with the Jews in Israel,because they find it an annoyance
GOD does not want to force anybody that is why he has given FREE WILL, frankly I feel the spirit of GOD more fully abundant in sharing the Gospel message to the poor the meek the SINNER who feel he has nothing to live for, it is such a wonderful joy to see the transformation a person makes when you see how Jesus Christ changes there life.
Jesus did not force himself on the Pharisees because they didn't want him,just like the people in Israel don't want Christians there.
I will try and live like Jesus says and will look for the helpless who need help, and give money to the organizations that are trying to do good in the world...
I have no desire to go overseas not to Israel and not to any other country. I live in the best country ever and we have so many beautiful places to see...
There was a thread some time back - a much reprinted article saying "Why Jews don't believe in Jesus." It would be better to take that scripture debate there, some of the issues were already set out by the Rabbi who wrote the article.
Why do you assume that we haven't "explored the issues and discovered the truth"?
I will give you one thing, you live in Israel and appear to know quite a bit about Middle East issues, I never have claimed to. In fact I never cared one bit about what went on in Israel or with the Jewish people there.
I was trying to share with you that as a Christian and people that are trying to do GOD's will have taken a strong interest in Israel by standing with her rather than not caring because GOD commanded it.
If Christians are not there to share and par-take with Israeli Jews about the Messiah then what is the purpose of being there? If there not wanted they should leave and go to other countries that might want to hear about Jesus, that is what the apostles did they shared the message of Jesus Christ when they were told to get out they did, so I agree with you, Christians should vamoose out of Israel if they plan on sharing the Gospel.....
Whether they want it or not, apparently.
Oh, I can feel that Christian love.
Thank God most Christians are not like you.
What are you talking about?
In my opinion, as in the opinion of all Jews, Jesus was not the son of G-d.
I have no opinion whether Christians, who are not Jews, have committed blasphemy by believing a liar or a madman was G-d and worshipping him. I further have no opinion whether Jesus was a liar or a madman. My understanding is that he was a religious Jew.
Observant Jews always aspire to obey G-d and follow his commandments. It is not easy. The Bible itself tells the story of how, after being liberated from Egypt, the ancient Hebrews (I should say "we" ancient Hebrews, since Jews are to see the exodus as though it happened to them personally) so angered G-d that they had to wander the desert until the entire generation of the exodus died out (except for two). Certainly, Jews have disobeyed G-d. So has everybody.
Local Christians trying to lure Jewish children to abandon their faith are as appalling, in a religious sense, as foreign missionaries who jet in to Israel to do the same. However, they may not be as contemptuous of the State of Israel as are the foreigners.
Are you saying the story my father told me was a lie? Are you accusing my father, who survived the Holocaust, of lying about his experiences in Auschwitz and Troglitz?
I am very congnisant of history, thank you very much. The people in Poland who killed Jews even when the Nazis were gone called themselves Christians. So did the collaborators in Czechia. Do you deny this?
Do I believe the Nazi leadership was Christian? Of course not. Do I believe that many who called themselves Christians collaborated or turned a blind eye? Yes, and that is undeniable. Others who called themselves Christians are responsbile for hiding my mother and saving her life.
Christians are not unified. Christianity does not, to me at least, seem to represent one set of beliefs, but rather a range of beliefs. Pogroms, the inquisition, the crusades, and a host of other evils were done in the name of Christ. Do you deny this?
None of that history condemns the Christians of today. It does not reflect on you personally. It should, however, have some influence on how Christians approach Jews. It should impart some sensitivity. That doesn't seem to happen.
My grandparents believed that all goyim were anti-Semitic. I, for one, do not share that belief. However, it is inherently anti-Semitic to try and take our religion, culture, beliefs, and way of life from us. That is what so many have defended here. That is what Christians coming to a Jewish state and prostletyzing to Jewish children is. To me that is indefensible.
I have had another mostly sleepless night and this thread sure didn't help. Boker tov.
Another attempt to convert me. Should I thank you for it?
Yes, there are Jews who survived the Holocaust and converted to Christianity. That is about as likely to influence me as a Christian who converted to Islam after 9/11 is to influence you, which is to say not at all.
I say I find prostletyzing offensive and your response is to prostletyze more. Very nice. Very Christian of you.
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