Portland Jews Brace for Assault by 'Jews for Jesus' (anti-Christian Bigotry Alert!)

Torah Atlanta ^ | 2002 | Paul Haist

[jstone78]

Portland Jews Brace for Assault by 'Jews for Jesus'

By Paul Haist, Jewish Review

Portland’s Jewish community has mobilized to resist a two-week assault by Jews for Jesus who will unleash a sizeable squad of trained proselytizers on the city at the beginning of June. A former Eugene rabbi who now specializes in combating Jews for Jesus returned to Oregon May 7 and 8 to help the Jewish community here prepare for the assault. The campaign is planned to coincide with the annual Portland Rose Festival when thousands of people will be on the streets and accessible by pamphleteers.

Rabbi Efraim Davidson is the director of Torah Atlanta, a counter-missionary group that serves the southeast United States. Davidson, who lives in Atlanta now, was a founder and the spiritual leader of Congregation Ahavas Torah in Eugene.

ANTI-'JEWS FOR JESUS' FLIER

The Jewish Federation of Portland and its Community Relations Committee have been aware for several months of JFJ plans to bring their crusade here now to take advantage of the large public gatherings that will occur during the Rose Festival.

Davidson said that the Portland campaign is part of a JFJ five-year program called “Behold Your God.” He has confronted similar JFJ campaigns in other cities, including Tampa, Fla., and Atlanta.

“Behold Your God,” is, according to Davidson, “a very well coordinated, multi-million-dollar campaign” focusing on 66 cities worldwide with Jewish populations of 25,000 or more.

He said that the Jews for Jesus use aggressive proselytizing to target disenfranchised or unaffiliated Jews, Russian immigrants and college students. He said their techniques are manipulative, deceptive and anti-Semitic.

Jews for Jesus have had some success in recent years. Davidson cited figures that show the group has grown from a mere seven U.S. congregations in 1975 to 478 today. There already are at least five so-called messianic congregations in Portland, according to the Web site www.missionportland.org, although Davidson identifies only three messianic congregations here.

Davidson added that in 1973 there were an estimated 10,000 born Jews in the United States who were practicing Christians. Today, 29 years later, he put that figure at about 250,000.

Davidson said the JFJ typically names a coordinator for a particular city that is part of its campaign plan. That person, who he identified as Sue Pearlman in Portland, does the groundwork for the upcoming campaign.

That groundwork includes, said Davidson, “hooking up with a messianic congregation and using it as the physical base for training.”

The coordinator also usually contacts local Baptist churches to recruit lay Christian volunteers. Davidson said the JFJ relies on the Baptists because they are “very motivated evangelicals.”

[jstone78]

The one group of Jewish-Americans who endure more religious bigotry than any other group, are Jews who believe in Jesus as the Messiah. They are called Messianic Jews.

Liberal Christians are too cowardly and PC, to support the religious rights of this persecuted minority.

The New Testament calls on us to preach the Good News to all of the world. If the gospel of Christ is good enough to be preached to Hindus, Moslems and Buddhists, why not to our Jewish friends and neighbors?

The attempts to frustrate missionaries who preach the holy message of Christ, is nothing more than religious bigotry.

[CanadianFella]

Disclaimer, I'm an atheist.

The Torah speaks nowhere about a 'second coming'. The Messiah is supposed to do his work as soon as he comes. It's been 2000 years, and no messayaroony miracles in sight... You can see why the Judeans are sceptical.

[gcruse]

So, the Catholic church, which seems to be recognizing the validity of Judaism and is pointing away from proselytizing Jews is therefore guilty of anti-Christian bigotry? Wow.

[NativeNewYorker]

There have been dozens of these threads on FR over the years.

The extreme vast majority of Jews, like most people, just want to be left alone, thank you.

There are dozens of historical examples where proselytizing begat pogroms. These episodes and that pattern are a part of Jewish history that leads many Jews to fear such activity.

Now, I am NOT repeat NOT accusing these folks of doing anything other than carrying out the Lord's will as they see it.

But please have some sympathy for a people who've seen this all before (many times) and simply want to be left alone.

[ET(end tyranny)]

The attempts to frustrate missionaries who preach the holy message of Christ, is nothing more than religious bigotry.

Maybe they feel like many do about Jehova's Witnesses pestering them all the time.

[aristeides]

But proselytizing among Jews is also an essential part of Christian history. I would hazard the guess that at least through the 1st century AD a majority of Christians were Jews (I thought of saying "former Jews," but that is begging the question -- Christianity and rabbinical Judaism are both descendants of the Judaism that preceded both; they both regard themselves as the true successor of Judaism.)

How can you ask Christians to abandon that part of their history, especially when their theology calls on them to spread the Good Word?

[ET(end tyranny)]

Let me put this another way.

How would you like it, if the homosexual community made it a practice to gather in large numbers in your neighborhood, and handed out pro gay literature to everyone they saw? Since this would undoubtedly go against your beliefs, you might not like this.

Well, the Jews, just might view the 'Jews for Jesus' crowd in the same light. Understand now?

[aristeides]

I don't like being pestered by the Jehovah's Witnesses, but the last thing I would dream of doing is complaining to anybody about their pestering me. I recognize that their religion imposes on them an obligation to pester me.

[ET(end tyranny)]

I recognize that their religion imposes on them an obligation to pester me.

I usually just ask them for their home addresses. When they ask why, I tell them so that I can show up at their homes unannounced and tell THEM what I BELIEVE!

[ru4liberty]

Believers need to fervently intercede for this event that many will coming to the saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus.

Maranatha!

[Centurion2000]

You have to wonder how pissed off certain rabbis would get if someone coined the phrase Jesus Evangelical Worship Society. You know, J.E.W.S. The members could even be Jesus Evangelical Worshipers, so when someone asks they would be a J.E.W.

I think that would piss them off or make a bunch of people laugh.

[sheik yerbouty]

Most people don't care much for "in your face" behavior, no matter who the source of it is.

[Jorge]

The extreme vast majority of Jews, like most people, just want to be left alone, thank you.

Well if that's the case then all they have to do is say no to those trying to convert them, just like the rest of us have to do when it comes to the preaching of religious beliefs we don't believe in.
It seems the overly defensive and hostile reactions towards Jews for Jesus betrays a certain paranoia and insecurity.
And in my opinion it is for good reason, since Jesus is Lord and one day all will acknowledge Him.

[F16Fighter]

"How would you like it, if the homosexual community made it a practice to gather in large numbers in your neighborhood, and handed out pro gay literature to everyone they saw?"

Hey ET, please do yourself a favor and contact the Mother Ship. I haven't seen an analogy this inane on FR since....EVER.

[Sans-Culotte]

How would you like it, if the homosexual community made it a practice to gather in large numbers in your neighborhood, and handed out pro gay literature to everyone they saw? Since this would undoubtedly go against your beliefs, you might not like this.

I think this is pretty much already happening already with school curiculae, Rosie O'Donnell et al beating that drum. Do you really not find the homosexual community already "in your face"?

[jstone78]

{....How would you like it, if the homosexual community made it a practice to gather in large numbers in your neighborhood, and handed out pro gay literature to everyone they saw?....}

In other words, you are comparing missionaries of the Gospel, to those who hand out gay literature?

[drlevy88]

This is true. I am a fundamentalist Christian and I got mad when I found a gospel pamphlet someone stuck on my motorcycle the other day. (And not on any of the surrounding cars. Guess they think I must be a big and bad biker and need it the most LOL.) The "don't boss ME around" impulse dies hard.

[Illbay]

Too Funny. "Evangelical" christians are content to cheer the Jews in Israel, whom they see as a catspaw against Islam.

But when Jews here in the U.S. evince a distrust of these same evangelicals' proselytizing efforts, suddenly they're "anti-christian bigots"!

Man, you can't even MAKE this stuff up!

[mfulstone]

Saying that Jews must accept Jesus now or go to hell is also religious bigotry and totally against what the bible says about it.

Romans 11:26 And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:

Whip out your Strong's concordance and look it up. There are many more scriptures to prove my point.

[NativeNewYorker]

How can you ask Christians to abandon that part of their history...?

I'm not. I merely point out the intended audience's perspective.