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.
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