Ooh, they just make me so angry...

[gnomi]

The "they" in question is Jews for Jesus (hereinafter to be referred to as "J for J"). They're back in Boston, more active than they have been for many years (there'd been a rumor that they'd been kicked out of the city; more likely, they found it to not be such a good breeding ground for their sorts of misinformation). I was almost flyered by two of them tonight in Harvard Square while I was getting off the T. They were _inside_ the station, past the token booths, so they'd obviously paid for the opportunity to be ignored by me. Because that's what I did - I just walked right by them.

But sometimes I wonder if my reaction should be different - should I take the flyers away from them, tossing them all in the garbage in front of the J for J representatives? Should I involve them in a discussion about why they're wrong and why mainstream Judaism rejects their beliefs? In the end, I do what I did tonight - walk away, grumbling about them under my breath.

I think what ticks me off more than anything about J for J - more than the fact that they're a cult that preys on innocent people looking for some guidance, more than the fact that they proselytize when Judaism is against such practices, more than the fact that they apparently don't understand any of the later writings in tanach (the Jewish Bible) about the Messianic era - is that they distort Judaism for people who don't really know much about Judaism. I have a hard enough time explaining my beliefs without the J for J-ers bringing Jesus into the whole story. Yes, Jesus is mentioned (obliquely, as the rabbis feared for their lives) in some of the writings in the Talmud. But he was seen as a fringe member of the community; his students were not considered among the students of the great yeshiva (religious seminary) in Yavneh. And the J for J-ers just muddy the waters in an attempt to legitimize themselves.

I hope they're not in the station again tomorrow.

Comments

[arib.livejournal.com]

Head down to Aish HaTorah's office, pick up a bunch of the "Why Jews Don't Believe in Jesus" flier, give 'em to the reps.

If that fails, call 'em on the carpet, many J for J missionaries never actually started out Jewish, and are Christian ringers filling in the ranks.

Heck, if Billy Graham said proselytizing to Jews is wrong, when will the rest of 'em take the hint...

[laurens10.livejournal.com]

My friend Jen T encountered them in the Harvard Square T station a week ago. I guess they are gearing up for Rosh HaShanah :-/.

What tires me out the most is when people try to argue that the J4J brand of "Judaism" is just as legit as Reform or Orthodox because Judaism isn't really defined at all by any concrete belief structure (I do *not* buy this argument -- even if the different movements look irreconciable, they have the same essence), or its just the Jewish authorities (?) holding J4J down, or its Jewish because (some of) the people involved are Jewish.

But on the other hand, the ways that J4J and ilk get Judaism so horribly wrong amuses me at times. But then when I think of the level of knowledge some unaffiliated Jews looking to reconnect may have of Judaism, it doesn't stay amusing for long. :-(

Would the most effective counter-strategy then be outreach, outreach, outreach?