Missionaries Reported Enticing Jews into Their Movement; Task Force Set Up to Counter the Activities

Christian missionary groups, especially the so-called Hebrew Christians, are using the symbols and practices of the Jewish community to entice Jews from pre-kindergarten children to senior citizens into their movement, the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York (JCRC) charged today.

The JCRC, at a press conference, announced that a special task force has been created to counter the activities of some 80 Christian missionary groups operating in New York and particularly the deceptive tactics of the Hebrew Christians, which are missionary groups made up of converted Jews.

Dr. Seymour Lachman, a political scientist at the City University of New York and former president of the New York City Board of Education who is chairman of the task force, stressed that “we do not want to over-emphasize the danger nor to under-emphasize the problem.”

Richard Ravitch, JCRC president, said the task force was organized by the JCRC along with 30 organizations because of the “accelerating” activities of missionary groups. The organizational meeting followed a three-month study of the problem by Daniel Mann, who is now coordinator of the task force.

USING VARIOUS JEWISH SYMBOLS

Lachman and Malcolm Hoenlein, the JCRC’s executive director, told the press conference that the Hebrew Christian groups have been using every type of Jewish symbol to entice Jews into their organizations. They displayed a Jewish calendar and pamphlets on Jewish holidays, in support of Israel and Soviet Jews and other Jewish themes which were used by these groups to make Jews think they were being appealed to by legitimate Jewish organizations. Hoenlein said the Hebrew Christians say they do not want to convert Jews but that belief in Jesus is the ultimate form of Judaism.

Lachman noted that some 800 persons attended a havdola service on Long Island sponsored by a Hebrew Christian group and 1000 persons were at a megillah reading last purim. Hoenlein warned that these groups are turning out distorted Haggadas for Passover and are planning to hold Seders. He said the Hebrew Christians are infiltrating Jewish organizations and synagogues and that one of them admitted to attending the weekend Shabatons sponsored by the Lubavitcher movement.

FOCUS ON TEXAS-BASED GROUPS

Of major concern is that one of the major groups, the Graham, Texas-based B’nai Yeshua, has purchased a former school in Stony Brook, N.Y. for $480 million in cash and is using another $1 million for improvements. Mann said this will be the national headquarters of the group and will serve as its Bible college, missionary training center and summer camp site. Mann noted that while other programs, such as Key ’73 and “Birthday Cake ’76,” bring in missionaries for street corner work, the establishment of the center means there will be personnel available here for follow-up work.

Lachman said that the evangelical movement is growing in the United States, although he noted that not all evangelical groups seek to convert Jews. He said that one delicate problem is that many of these groups claim to be pro-Israel and use this in their attempts to win members.

Lachman said the task force will try to collect information, analyze the problem and work out means of dealing with it. Lachman said what is most important to find out is what lack there is in the Jewish community and home that causes Jews to seek answers outside of Judaism. In other matters, it was announced that the Board of Education will for the first time designate a Jewish Heritage Week to be coordinated by the JCRC April 18-23 and that the JCRC is discussing means of creating a living memorial to the Holocaust in New York.