Article from HERITAGE newspaper 2/5/2001
Used with permission
‘Jews for Judaism’ message:
“Christianity is not a religion for Jews”
by Stan Brin
That an Orthodox might speak to teenagers and parents of a Conservative congregation might be considered news by itself.
And that the teens, their parents -- and their rabbi -- appreciated the Orthodox Rabbi’s message and delivered him a round of applause might be considered astounding.
But to Rabbi Bentzion Kravitz, who addressed members and guests of Congregation Eilat on Tuesday, Jan. 23, it was all in a nights work.
Literally: The 46 year old father of six does it 150 times a year, from one end of North America to the other, and last year, in Australia and South Africa as well.
Rabbi Kravitz doesn’t care if his audiences are Reform, Conservative or Orthodox, and neither do they, for his message is common in all streams of Judaism: Christianity is not a religion for Jews.
His intention is not to deny the right of Christians to practice their own religion, or that it is wrong for them. He would never stand before a Christian audience and tell them that they are followers of a false religion.
Unlike Christianity and Islam, Judaism does not claim that non-believers go to hell, or that God does not hear their prayers.
The founder and director of Jews for Judaism, Rabbi Kravitz’ has only one mission: Telling Jews what Judaism stands for so that they will not be swayed by the arguments of Christian missionaries.
According to Rabbi Kravitz over the past quarter century, American Christians annually contribute over $200 annually to aggressively evangelize Jews. They have established over 350 special ‘Hebrew Christian synagogues’ to attract Jews.
According to Rabbi Kravitz, the missionaries’ methods are deceptive and dishonest. “more than 250,000 Jews worldwide have been converted by missionaries using deceptive tactics in which the gospel is preached by ‘Messianic rabbis’ wearing yarmulkes and tallisim at ‘Shabbos’ and ‘High Holy Day’ services.”
Jewish children are lured to churches for parties. Jewish students at universities suddenly find themselves surrounded with friends. And the message is then brought home, often subtly.
Rabbi Kravitz founded his movement in 1986 as “the only full-time counter-missionary resource and outreach network spanning North America.”
Rabbi Kravitz’ has only one weapon against this formidable army: The truth. The truth about Judaism and Christianity and what their respective scriptures really mean. And a truth that the missionaries do their best to conceal.
The problem begins with a theological obsession to convert Jews, “to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” (Romans 1:16) and “You will not see me until you (the Jews) say ‘Blessed is he (Jesus) that comes in the name of the Lord” (Matthew 23:39)
According to Rabbi Kravitz’ associate, Rabbi Aaron Parry, the tactics of deception and dishonesty were justified by Paul, the founder of Christianity in I Corinthians, Chapter 9, verses 20-22 “To the Jews, I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews, to them that are under the law, as under the law, as I might gain them that are under the law.”
Thus the missionaries believe that the return of Jesus requires the conversion of the Jews, and that this conversion may be brought about by fair means or foul.
These days, the missionaries have put away the torture implements of old and instead rely on a more cozy claims Christianity is a “completion” of Judaism, that one can be a Christian and still be Jewish.
We lack the space in Heritage to describe all the misquotes and mistranslations the missionaries use to justify these claims, but Rabbi Kravitz likes a verse from Psalm 22, which the Christians believe refer to Jesus: “They pierced my hands and feet.” Refers to Jesus, does it not?
Actually, the verse refers to King David, as he was pursued by his enemies, and correctly translated, reads “They surrounded my hands and feet like a lion.”
And over the years, Rabbi Kravitz has heard it all, from thousands of victims and their families. But he has also had many successes. “One guy was about to get married in a church -- and he was trying to figure out the best way to tell his parents. He accidentally came across our web site, and by the time he had read it completely, he had given up Christianity.”
One tactic Rabbi Kravitz favors is that when confronted by missionaries, a Jew must let them control the conversation, instead, always counter with an argument that undermines the missionaries’ position. “The best defense is always a good offense.”
But in order to respond properly to a missionary, a Jew must know his own faith. That is why Rabbi Kravitz believes that education is the most important response to missionaries. “Jews have been called a lot of things, but we have never been called stupid. For 2,000 years we have said the Christianity is not the religion for Jews. You owe it to your ancestors to find out why they rejected it. Don’t invalidate them. Don’t give up without hearing their point of view... As Martin Luther King said, ‘If you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything.’”
During an interview following the discussion at Congregation Eilat, Rabbi Kravitz told Heritage that the ability of Jews for Judaism to reach families and individuals in need of its services is limited by the organization’s limited resources.
Jews for Judaism simply needs money to do its work, but from our experience, many Jews find it more appealing to fund a closet in building than to finance the printing of 20,000 booklets, or the creation of a staff position.
After all, our own community is in the midst of a building boom, with two major projects currently on the way, and more planned, and yet the Federation’s annual campaign has been stuck at $2 million for twenty years.
That is not to say that the buildings aren’t needed. But as more and more Jews are lost to “Messianics” or such, unless there are more Rabbi Kravitzes out there fighting the good fight, the day may come in our own lifetimes when there will be no more Jews to fill these fine buildings.
It’s just a thought.
If you are interested in learning more about Jews for Judaism, its programs, and what it could do with less modest means, call (310) 854-3381.
And, of course, you may also call that number if you or someone you know needs assistance dealing with Christian missionaries. Or visit www.jewsforjudaism.org.