Wow is all I have to say…Crash Course indeed
I get annoyed at the ads I get from newspapers often…usually because they’re about JDate or find your future husband, but this one below…wow…I mean…wow.
Readers already know (at least I think you know) I don’t like J4J but this is…well, this is much…
This feels, I’ll say diplomaticly, off to me…I can’t tell exactly what this course will be…but I’m getting vibes from the words counter-missionary LOL…whew…it’s true J4J gets me very upset when I see them out on the street, but I worry from the ad that the response is one that isn’t rooted in building Jewish life to encompass more people, more passions, more perspectives so that more Jews feel engaged with Jewish practice and culture in whatever form that means for them, but rather an aggressive, dare I say attack, or response, that may not come from our best selves.
I hope someone attends and gives us a reportback!
It’s too bad that the Jews for Judaism Forums are shutting down. Someone should make a big deal about that on the JBlogosphere to pressure them to keep the forums which helped so many people. See http://jewsforjudaism.org/phpBB2/index.php?
Yeah, J4Judaism they’re a bit orthocentric, but they’re not that bad. They mainly try to disseminate facts to prevent the other J4J and similar groups from recruiting people on the basis of ignorance.
Take a look at their “countermissionary handbook” online:
http://jewsforjudaism.org/web/mainpages/handbook.html
Funny story: I attended a Jews for Judaism presentation near DC once…. and asked if they would do a follow up to address the concern many Jewish parents have about cults like Aish Hatorah.
Hahahahahahahaha! What was really funny, was all the nice educator ladies nodding thier heads in agreement. Hysterical.
dede, who writes for jewschool, was in the employ of jews for judaism until her recent aliyah. i’m sure she’ll have plenty to say.
Sorry, I can just laughing about things like this…..
Jews for Jesus!?,….
I’ve already heard about it and I’m happy that we have not problems or discussions like this
shalom
und schöne grüße aus Deutschland,……Eli (pablo) (15 jähriger in der Jüdische Gemeinde Münster (Westf))
Hey, here’s your friendly neighborhood former Jews for Judaism employee (thanks Dan). I don’t really get the point of Cole’s post–that this ad is not PC? That it’s too harsh and defensive? Anyone who is at all familar with Jews for Judaism knows that its programs are primarily proactive (like the Jewish teen theater group I ran), not reactive to missionary efforts. They focus on educating the community, which is exactly what they’re doing here. The flyer is reactionary, but I think there comes a time, such as the advent of an enormous missionary campaign directed at every city with 25k+ jews in the world, which Jews for Jesus is now in the midst of, that it’s time as a community to say enough already and to be pissed off that they’re hijacking our Judaism in order to deceptively and aggressively convert Jews to Christianity. Sorry if the language is severe–it’s quite a severe issue, and Jews need to be educated thoroughly as to how to respond. Jews for Judaism’s recommendations for response, by the way, focus completely on education and positive Jewish identity through community support, not reactionary or defensive tactics. But this is an issue that does and should piss people off. Cole, why doesn’t it piss you off?
Actually, I have heard that more Jews convert to Christianity through the mainline churches that aren’t necessarily targeting Jews any more than copnvert due to the efforts of J4J. I’ve hear people say that J4J congregations are full of born Christians trying to act Jewish.