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Rabbi Bentzion Kravitz, founder and executive director of Jews for Judaism International, toured the New York area in a series of lectures exploring the issue of missionaries and cults targeting Jews for conversion.

The lecture series began with a presentation at the Brooklyn-based Chabad Shluchim Institute, which provides classes for rabbis preparing to work in Jewish community outreach.

Sixty young rabbis listened to Rabbi Kravitz describe the challenges they will encounter from evangelical missionaries who target the Jewish community for conversion. Presented in the lecture were the alarming statistics (Jews for Jesus allocates $15 million dollars a year to convert Jews), real life stories (high school and college students who convert to Christianity through "friends") and practical responsive techniques (like refuting Christian proof texts).

On Sunday morning, June 13, Rabbi Kravitz was hosted by Chabad of the Five Towns, including Lawrence and Cedarhurst, for a community-wide awareness brunch to address the potential danger the community is facing from Jews for Jesus, (who descended on the area earlier the summer). Held in the home on Yanky and Raizel Feder, the lecture gathered more than 50 community members who listened to the motives and tactics used by missionaries.

"Think of the missionary threat as an iceberg in the shape of a pyramid," Rabbi Kravitz explained. "On the tip is the Jews for Jesus, with a $15 million a year budget and over 150 full-time staff members. Like the tip of an iceberg they are the most visible and annoying." The second tier consists of the Hebrew-Christian/ Messianic movement representing more than 275,000 Jews who have converted to evangelical Christianity. They meet in mock synagogues, call their ministers "rabbis" and utilize the trapping of traditional Judaism to ensnare unsuspecting individuals. The third and largest tier is the 70 million evangelical Christians who have been emboldened by the success and tactics of the Jews for Jesus and Hebrew-Christian missionaries. The largest percentage of Jews are converted by lay Christians who they encounter at work, school or socially.

Rabbi Kravitz also provided the audience with key responses and arguments to empower individuals to respond when confronted by members of these groups.

 

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JEWS FOR JUDAISM is the leading international, counter-missionary, counter-cult organization providing educational programs, materials and resources to Jewish communities around the world, on the practices and methods of deceptive missionary and cult groups targeting Jews for conversion. For a complete information packet and Press Kit, please contact the Baltimore office of JEWS FOR JUDAISM (410) 602-0276.