How we counter missionaries

seniormom

Thu, May 18 2006, 7:21 pm

I'm not certain this is the proper forum to post this, so advisors, feel free to move it if necessary.

I had a very unsettling experience today. In the mail I received a DVD in a slick mailer with the title "days of Moshiach". My first thought of course was that it had come from some division of Lubavitch, and it would be understandable if my name appeared on any Jewish org. list since they are shared. Something didn't sit right though because usually Lubavitch or Chabad names/info is prominently displayed in ads and in mailings, and there was no real ID on this.

Popping it into my computer gave me a jolt...first of all the entire narration for the film, which I believe ran over 2 hours, was in Yiddish.

The whole production was extremely professional, and it was clear that the narration, while it was completely fluent (definitely done be a native Yiddish speaker) was clear and carefully enunciated, in the manner of professional voice-overs. Although I'm not terribly fluent in Yiddish, my curiosity was aroused, especially seeing the good looking and perfectly costumed actors...it just didn't jive with what I'm used to seeing in a Yiddish (or frum) production. After watching the first half hour, which seemed benign, yet still out of sync, I started fast-fowarding and lo and behold, there he was...one of the actors began looking more and more like yeishu.

The film was replete with Hebrew quotes from tanach flashing on the screen to verify the sources for what the narrator was saying. I started hearing things toward the end that made me nauseous...like the narrator referring to the father the son and the holy spirit ... in Yiddish. shock

My brain just didn't want to accept what I was hearing...there was such utter disconnect. I listened very carefully to the credits (in Yiddish of course) and all the names sounded Jewish, and there was no mention of a sponsoring organization.

Although I'm FFB, I grew up in the secular world too, and I know about missionaries, and have met some...so I'm not naive...but for some reason I was so troubled I didn't see the obvious. (I know they try to pick up Jewish facts and even some Hebrew to use in their speils, but you can always tell it's not natural...this sounded completely normal...except for the ultimate content.)

Instead of throwing it in the garbage, I called a LOR who is very active in the community and has signed many important declarations with other
Rabbonim. I thought he'd want to know about it, and perhaps see it...and hopefully denounce it publicly so nobody can ch"v be fooled.

Amazingly, he was very complacent about it. He said he had heard about it from someone else, and no, he had no interest in seeing it , and it's a free country so the missionaries can do and say whatever they want and there's nothing we can do about it. That pretty much ended the consversation because I didn't want to imply that I thought he was wrong...but the impact of seeing and hearing the film is so profound, I do think he might have felt differently afterward.

Being even more upset now, I went online looking for counter-missionary groups...and found one that people were complementing on their work. I called them and the said they had also heard about it already, and were as concerned as I was.

They told me all the communities they had heard from (mostly in the greater NY area), then they read me a letter they received months ago as part of a promotional packet of Jew for J---s. In it they specified that they were embarking on a Spring campaign targeting Russians and the chassidishe communitites. Well this is the start of their campaign, apparently, and now we know why the whole thing was in Yiddish.

I'm not sure what I find more disturbing right now...the boldness of the missionaries or the complacency of our "activist" LOR. How do you all feel about this Question

Secbeb

Thu, May 18 2006, 8:20 pm

There was a warning about it on crownheights.info. Here it is

Beware! Missionary’s In Your Mail!

Crown Heights has long been a target for missionary activity; their most common tactic is that of well dressed people with bibles that look like ‘Chumashim’ with the Hebrew letters and they would prey on mostly children but they are easy to spot and avoid. Now it seems they have launched a new campaign via mail, numerous household received a DVD over Shabbos entitled “Yemot Hamashiach – Days Of Moshiach”, this DVD is a movie glorifying ‘their Moshiach’ and should be gotten rid of just like any other junk mail.

It is important to note that this isn't the first time that they employed such evasive tactics, there were two other incidents [click here for the first and second Articles] as reported here on CrownHeights.info.

These people are strangers and just like we warned our kids of the incidents that took place in other communities, you should warn them of these people too. If you see such activities in our neighborhood don’t hesitate to call Shomrim at (718) 774-3333.

seniormom

Thu, May 18 2006, 10:35 pm

Jews for Judaism is the place I called. They told me they are in the midst of preparing a response (I had the feeling they meant in the form of ads in newspapers, etc.) and also a formal educational program. They hadn't seen the "mailing" I received, only some film clips on the missionary's website, so they asked me to send them what I received...I sent it our Priority Mail today so they should have it by Monday. They knew that some campaign was in the offing, but I think the magnitude and sophistication took them by surprise.

I'm glad to hear that there were some "alerts" broadcast on the internet. Unfortunately, in this case many of the targeted population may not have access to internet, so it's important to get the word out in a more local & heimishe way (I.e., community newspapers, shul announcements). This was the kind of grass roots response that I had hoped LOR would initiate. Scratching Head

Quote:

If you see such activities in our neighborhood don’t hesitate to call Shomrim at (718) 774-3333.

That's an effective thing to do if strangers are roaming the streets and talking to people randomly, however, I would add that it would be helpful to also call the Jews for Judaism hotline @ 1-800-4-PROOF1.

They were really interested in hearing any details, and they were keeping records of the spread of the materials, so phone calls to them can help them do their work better.

It's upsetting to not even feel safe in our own homes. They found a way to breach our personal space, and that means they've also gotten hold of Jewish mailing lists, and who knows what else. Twisted Evil

seniormom

Fri, May 19 2006, 10:27 am

Quote:

I'm wondering how many of the target audiance own DVD players?

Most probably don't have DVD players per se, but many do have computers (although not internet access) that they use for business or educational games for the kids, at home (or they may have one at work)...that would suffice. But you're correct, surely fewer recipients were able to watch it than the missionaries even considered. Wink

There is an inherent flaw in our being smug about this fact, though. Some of the very people (be they Russians or chassidim) who have computers at home might be the ones more vulnerable to the message. Those who choose to be truly insulated from the outside world may not be so much at risk even if they saw the film.