Brooklyn, NY – Coinciding with the arrival of Sukkot, the Chosen People Ministries is holding the grand opening of its new multi-million dollar Messianic Jewish Center in Brooklyn, and along with it, a strategic plan aimed at targeting members of the ultra-Orthodox community for conversion.
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THE TIMES OF ISRAEL (http://bit.ly/1gzcvrH) reports that the center, located in the old Yablokoff Kingsway Memorial Chapel at 1978 Coney Island Avenue, cost $2.1M and has undergone about $900,000 in renovations.
Chosen People Ministries, much like the more well-known Jews for Jesus, melds Judaism with evangelical Christian faith.
The center opens despite attempts by members of the ultra-Orthodox community over the past few years to block its completion via city ordinance violations, but now ultra-Orthodox leaders are faced with the task of attempting to limit the effectiveness of the Ministries’ well-organized campaign to lure in members of the ultra-Orthodox community.
Ruth Guggenheim, director of Baltimore’s Jews for Judaism, cautioned ultra-Orthodox leaders not to be too confident about the community’s ability to withstand the recruitment campaign.
“They will make inroads because they are offering free services to the community and unconditional love,” said Guggenheim. “They’ve been ramping up for this for over 20 years, waiting until they have a strong enough group of people with enough knowledge about the Orthodox community. They will come in with men in white shirts and tzitzis and the women will be dressed modestly, and they know it will be a challenge and that they are up to the challenge.”
Rabbi Mordechai Todarsky, director of the Russian American Jewish Experience—which will now be a neighbor to the center—called it “alarming” that the center is “beginning to make inroads,” but said much of that is die to the fact that “there are more and more young people getting involved.”
Chosen People Ministries kicked off its campaign months ago by posting on its website the relative ease with which one can jump from ultra-Orthodox to Hebrew Christianity.
“The Lord is already working in the two largest Hassidic communities in Brooklyn: the Chabad-Lubavich and Satmar communities,” read the entry, while claiming that “with great thanks to God, we can report that there are indeed some believers in Jesus among the Satmar community, although most of them continue to live in the community as ‘underground’ believers.”
“Imagine with us that one day we could fill the sanctuary of the new Brooklyn Messianic Center with new and growing believers in Yeshua from the Hassidic community!” the post continued. “We believe that our Lord is mighty and can do all things, and we know that He has sovereign plans for our presence in that neighborhood. The sooner we finish, the sooner we can use the facility for ministry to reach even the ‘unreachable’ of the Hassidic Jewish community.”
Guggenheim warned that the first ones to be approached will be the “discontented” members of the ultra-Orthodox community, more pointedly, those belonging to “families in crisis,” and those with substance abuse issues.
They are not so much “selling theology and ideology,” Guggenheim said. “They’re selling love.”
Guggenheim said, ““What is missing in the Orthodox community that perhaps the Hebrew Christians are trying to offer is a very close personal relationship with their mentor, a non-judgmental community with perceived unconditional acceptance. In response, what the Orthodox community needs is to reassess our constant need to judge people and to assess their religious practice.”
We need to outdo their “love” (with an agenda) with our own genuine Ahavas Yisroel love to any and every Jew. Then, not only do we win, but are even stronger as a nation then before. Maybe that’s why Hashem is putting up this challenge, to motivate our own to be an inspiration for our fellow yidden.
Wishing all Klal Yisroel a wonderful and inspiring Yom Tov!
oy vey iz mir.
Hope they are issued a strong and swift punishment!!!
The missionaries are not the problem. When we are strong, they are weak. When we are weak, they are strong. If we help our no’ar, our homes, our shuls build emunah and bitachon, we’ll be less vulnerable. Hashem sent them as a test into our midst. Let’s pass this test. Gutt Yontif.
we need to put a watchfull eyes on their compund (and if true) to ostracize does who step in there טומאה רח” ל
according to rambam a house of מינים is much worse than a house of ע”ז
If they spent 3m on building you can be sure they have a well thought out plan and brilliant people developing their techniques. We must avoid these people like the plague that they are and not be overtly confident
Chevra Ahavas Yisroel (CAY) in Crown Heightes is just one example of showing love to our fellow yidden.
This was coming our way for years.
They will indeed prey on the most vulnerable of our community, the youth, divorcees, abused, disconnected and so on…
We MUST band together NOW, BEFORE these evil people infiltrate our holy families and do our utmost to educate the public, INCLUDING our oh-so impressionable children.
Hash-m yishmor!!!
The reason that such groups are so successful is that orthodox Judaism is so unforgiving of the human condition. I am absolutely not saying that people should not follow the Torah. What I am saying is that if a person isn’t smart enough, rich enough, good looking enough, or have the right yichus they simply cannot feel that the are truly a part of the group. This holds for modern, Yeshivish, Chassidish, it doesn’t matter. Non Jews who are good, law abiding people who believe in their religion have a much wider berth of acceptance of people who make mistakes, are growing and need help. Iwould imagine that some readers are thinking that I think people should be allowed to do whatever they want. Quitevthe contrary. I think we need rules and boundaries. But I think that Hashem created us as humans-imperfect people-and that the way orthodox Jews treat each other is quite appalling to me. Yes when someone has a major problem we all run to help. But when someone makes a mistake or doesn’t know something or even sees things slightly differently from people who have power they are completely disrespected. there is very little acceptance of differences. That’s why there are so many children and even adults who are so disenchanted and believe they’ve been duped.
They don’t measure their success in hundreds. If they even grab two into their ranks (r”l h”v) they will consider it money well spent
This center is built and funded by the American Board of Missions to the Jews which is also known as Beth Sar Shalom.
Mitch Glazer – the current head of ABMJ – is a former disciple of YS”V of Martin “Moshe” Rosen – the now rotting in hell head of Jews for Jesus.
Glazer’s wife used to pose as a Jew to gain entrance to Jewish schools with young children to sing songs to them about Jesus.
The 3 million is a drop in the bucket in the quest to steal Jewish souls.
They brag about their goal being chassidic Jews. They have as much chance of that as there is the sun turning blue tomorrow.
Their goal is the lonely, the ignorant, the ill, and the forgotten.
You can make sure their efforts are in vain.
Love a fellow Jew.
Satmar and other communities like them really know how to show LOVE if your not one of them ur a goy like a man once told me its how we are taught