Messianic Jews Making New Push In Flatbush

On the 1900 block of Coney Island Avenue, a major business thoroughfare in the heart of Brooklyn’s heavily Orthodox Flatbush neighborhood, you could easily buy some kosher sushi or a few tractates of the Talmud.Soon, the neighborhood’s residents will also have the opportunity to study the New Testament there and attend Jewish-style worship services that recognize Jesus as the Messiah.

Messianic Jews Making New Push In Flatbush
Counter-missionaries warn of major center in heart
of Orthodox Brooklyn, but residents seem unconcerned.
Steve Lipman • Jewish Week

On the 1900 block of Coney Island Avenue, a major business thoroughfare in the heart of Brooklyn’s heavily Orthodox Flatbush neighborhood, you could easily buy some kosher sushi or a few tractates of the Talmud.

Soon, the neighborhood’s residents will also have the opportunity to study the New Testament there and attend Jewish-style worship services that recognize Jesus as the Messiah.

Nearly two years after Chosen People Ministries, a prominent “Messianic Jewish” organization that presents Christianity as a fulfillment of Torah prophecies, opened a small educational center seven blocks away on East 18th Street, Chosen People is about to convert the site of a defunct Jewish funeral home into a Messianic seminary.

The future site of the Brooklyn Messianic Center and the Charles Feinberg Center for Messianic Jewish Studies (affiliated with the Talbot School of Theology, a Protestant institution in La Mirada, Calif.) will represent the largest presence of such a Hebrew-Christian group in an Orthodox neighborhood in the United States.

While the smaller center proselytized mostly to elderly Russians with little Jewish knowledge, the new center is expected to target Jews with the most intensive Jewish background. A particular target, experts say, will be at-risk Orthodox teens.

The converted building at 1978 Coney Island Avenue, which this week bore no signs of its future identity, will be a new, higher-profile front in so-called Messianic Judaism’s effort to establish itself as an accepted part of mainstream Judaism, anti-missionary experts say.

Chosen Ministries’ new beachhead in the heart of Orthodox Brooklyn sends “a powerful message,” said Rabbi Craig Miller, co-director of the Jewish Community Relations Council’s Spiritual Deception Project, which combats cults and missionary groups.

And counter-missionaries like Rabbi Miller and others are warning that area residents are not taking the new outreach seriously enough. “A lot of people [in the Orthodox community] aren’t aware of what this really means,” the rabbi said.

Moshe Verschleisser, another anti-missionary activist, agreed.

“One of their goals is to give the impression that they’re a legitimate Jewish movement,” said Verschleisser, who works with the Jews for Judaism organization. “I think we should be very much concerned. This is a big deal.”

Chosen People Ministries was the sponsor of this summer’s Isaiah53 campaign here, which — in billboards, subway ads and a Facebook page — promoted its interpretation of selected biblical verses.

“So far,” the Chosen People website boasts, “this campaign has resulted in more contacts with Jewish seekers than we have had in decades!”

Initiatives like Isaiah53 and the Messianic Center in Flatbush are putting Chosen People Ministries, which was established in 1894 in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn and was formerly called the American Board of Missions to the Jews, at the forefront of Hebrew Christian organizations, the best-known of which is Jews for Jesus.

Messianic Jews claim to have tens of thousands of adherents worldwide, although counter-missionaries say these groups represent only a handful of people.

The new Chosen People center will aim its message at the overall Orthodox community, an expansion of its current focus on émigrés with weak Jewish backgrounds.

Few leaders or members of Flatbush’s Orthodox community have taken steps to oppose the center or warn local residents about an impending missionary threat, Rabbi Miller and other activists said. Most Orthodox Jews, they said, are accustomed to seeing such Hebrew Christian groups (a term the Messianics themselves avoid using) setting up modest houses of worship and schools in Orthodox areas; Orthodox Jews in an Orthodox milieu are usually considered invulnerable to missionary ploys.

“We’re just used to it,” said Shalom Diamond, an Orthodox resident of the neighborhood who left Khal Ohev Tzedek, the small chasidic synagogue next to the Chosen People educational center on East 18th Street, following morning services early this week.

Diamond said fellow members of his minyan have taken a “live and let live” attitude to the missionary building, which clearly identifies itself in English and Russian.

“It’s like ‘The Mosque,’” he said, alluding to the planned Islamic center near Ground Zero that has drawn much public opposition in recent weeks — in other words, the Chosen People center is an annoyance, it’s offensive, but it probably isn’t a danger.

“We basically ignore them” at our peril, said Rabbi Moshe Shulman, executive director of Judaism’s Answer, an anti-missionary group. “Until now, they have been totally unsuccessful,” bringing few Jews from traditional backgrounds into their fold, Rabbi Shulman said.

Such missionary groups have developed more sophisticated outreach methods, beyond street-corner pamphleteering and sermonizing, and now feel more confident of making inroads into the Orthodox community, Rabbi Shulman said.

Someone from an Orthodox background who accepts the Messianic brand of Christianity is considered a prime snare, for the “symbolic value,” he said. “They’re not looking for huge numbers — [only] one or two people from that community.”

“They start by looking to weaker people,” typically to members of dysfunctional families. “They look for those who are most vulnerable among the Orthodox.”

Rabbi Miller said JCRC, which has monitored the work of Chosen People Ministries and similar groups for several years, says the Council has worked with anti-missionary activists and community organizations in Flatbush since Chosen People’s plans to convert the former Yablokoff Kingsway Memorial Chapel became known last year, but has no plans now for a citywide campaign to oppose the Messianic center.

“We’re still at an information-gathering stage,” he said.

The Chosen People building “will be the first accredited evangelical seminary in Brooklyn in recent years,” the current edition of Christianity Today, which announced the purchase of the 11,000-square-foot site, reported. “Once rehabbed, the building will allow the organization to provide substance-abuse counseling and to teach English as a second language. It will house a library for Messianic research and a 150-seat sanctuary.”

No date for the opening of the center is set, a Chosen People spokesman said this week, adding that Chosen People’s national headquarters will remain in Manhattan.

Questions about other details of the center’s operations were sent this week to Mitch Glaser, the Jewish-born president of the organization. But a spokesman said he would not be available for comment until November.

“The asking price for the facility is $2.1 million,” according to the June 2010 edition of the Chosen People bulletin. An essay by Glaser, entitled “Back To Brooklyn,” stated that, “the Lord is using us to bring the message of eternal life to our Jewish people.

“I hope you and your family and even your church will consider giving generously and sacrificially to help us reach the 750,000 Jewish people in Brooklyn,” Glaser wrote.

The organization’s “Brooklyn Messianic Center” on East 18th Street, which was established about one and a half years ago on the second floor of a two-story brick home, serves to “test the waters,” to gauge the reactions to a Messianic organization in a haredi area, said Verschleisser, the anti-missionary activist who lives a few blocks away.

The small-scale Chosen People center, which concentrates its outreach to elderly Jews and members of the Russian émigré community, has attracted only a handful of Jewish people to its worship services and has drawn no opposition in the community, Verschleisser said.

“The local community has been distressingly quiet about it,” he said. “Most Jews don’t see it as a threat.”

Heeb reported this story last week and I picked it up and expanded on it after Shabbat.

Comments

[harold]

Soon, the neighborhood’s residents will also have the opportunity to study the New Testament there and attend Jewish-style worship services that recognize Jesus as the Messiah.

I can't wait! Just what Flatbush was missing. When are they coming to the 5 towns?

[Menachem Mendel lll]

Nu.....

A mosque near the 9/11 site.
Chosen People Ministries near frum Yidden.
Chinese restaurants near shuls.
Brothels near mikves.

THIS IS AHMERIKEH.
Lant of deh free.
YOU don't like it...LEAVE.
Nobody is forcing YOU to say here.

MOSCHIACH UBER ALLES!

[jay]

Harold, you already have Messianic worship in the Five Towns:http://www.chabadfivetowns.com/

[harold]

Harold, you already have Messianic worship in the Five Towns:http://www.chabadfivetowns.com/

and looking forward to Simchas Torah there especially for the "Grand Kiddush". I already told my wife not to prepare lunch.

Join us at Chabad of the Five Towns for a festive and joyous Simchat Torah.

Bring your joy and dancing spirit to Chabad where you will be able to twirl and spin with the Torah.

A grand kiddush will be served and children will receive a special gift

Chabad of the Five Towns
74 Maple Avenue
Cedarhurst, NY 11516
http://www.chabadfivetowns.com/templates/articlecco_cdo/aid/1289969/jewish/Simchat-Torah-5771.htm

[WoolSilkCotton]

Harold, that kiddush won't start until about 2:30pm, but if you're not in a hurry, it could be worth the wait!

[ah-pee-chorus]

this is nearly as distressing as the much larger and more successful messianic judaism ministry in crown heights. i suggest the two groups get together to discuss and analyze the proper concepts related to moshiach.they will find much common gound.

[harold]

Harold, that kiddush won't start until about 2:30pm, but if you're not in a hurry, it could be worth the wait!

I don't really have much else planned and since I usually don't daven there (unless they have these gala kiddushim) it gives me a chance to catch up with some old friends.

One thing is that they know how to put out a nice spread!

[ah-pee-chorus]

i've yet to meet a single sane person who has changed religions for anything other than marriage. might they attract some wackos? sure. who cares?

[Mr. Apikoros]

It's far better to worship Jesus Christ than the Lubavitcher Rebbe, oy, oy, oy.

[WoolSilkCotton]

APC, as you know, and as you point out, all the messianic and evangelical religious types prey (good pun!) on the lonely, confused, depressed, and people of limited intellect. They also 'reach out' to those with mental illness. I should also add the elderly.

A person looking for spirituality and meaning in his/her life could find it in their own religion, in a local house of worship of their own faith. Some people can achieve the same spirituality and meaning without religion, and all its attendant baggage, which is such a turnoff.

Only those who are deeply psychologically troubled will find it necessary to change religions altogether (other than for marriage, as you mentioned).

Brooklyn, with all its religious extremes, baal tshuvah loonies, and folks who have been raised (or razed, another good pun!) not to have any thoughts that could lead to actual thinking, is the perfect location for an evangelical/messianic branch of any religion.

They are free to market their product as they wish. Any frumma idiots with ideas of vandalism or violence should know that these goyem ain't stupid. They know exactly what they're getting into, and will no doubt have their own security systems in place.

[WoolSilkCotton]

Christian missionaries are commonplace in India and Pakistan, where they offer food, clothing, shelter, and education to the needy, with the stipulation that those folks now attend church and start praying to you-know-who.

Guys I work with, from those countries, have told me how such missionaries would offer them tuition and room & board for college and medical/law/graduate school, as long as their families agreed to convert.

This causes huge resentment of Christianity by Islamic and Hindu countries. More reasons to hate the West.

[ah-pee-chorus]

WSC- nice posts. its sad that almost all charity done by religious groups is done for the sake of furthering their religio-missionary goals and the benefits of the recipients are not their main priority. it is effective,though.

[justayid]

Someone is going to have to address the problem of integrating "at risk" orthodox youth into the larger non-haredi jewish community - into Modern Orthodoxy, and, yes, Reform and Conservative Judaism. Given their backgrounds, this is not an easy thing to do on their own, and so they are prey for missionaries.

[Lisa]

Bicycle chains and baseball bats. Just sayin'.

[WoolSilkCotton]

Lisa, these groups are a LOT smarter, better financed, better prepared, and have better security than you with your pathetic threat of violence.
Go ahead and try some violent shit with them. I'm betting on them to be the last ones standing. Just sayin'.

[WoolSilkCotton]

APC, they do a nice job hiding their ulterior motive of converting you.
Like the other thread, where they are 'reaching out to help Holocaust survivors'. Israel and Jewish charities have fallen short on helping Holocaust survivors. The missionary groups see the opportunity, and go for it.

Anyone who thinks the Christian political right, with their 'love' of Israel and the Jews, isn't the same thing, is a fool.
OK, I appreciate the support for Israel, and thanks, and let's just leave it at that.

[justayid]

"its sad that almost all charity done by religious groups is done for the sake of furthering their religio-missionary goals "

do reform and recon j now have missionary goals? I would wager much more charitable work is done by groups that do not missionize (like mainstream Jews) or for who missionizing is not really central (like catholics and liberal protestants) than by missionaries

[justayid]

BTW, this makes me think of Alan Sherman, may his memory be a blessing.

[Adam Neira]

Converting to Christianity is like ending up on Base Camp of Mount Everest. You think what you can see is the best possible view and it really doesn't take much effort to get there.

[ah-pee-chorus]

justayid - jews (specifically religious ones) do almost all of their charity work for their fellow jews. this does not leave open the possibility of missionizing for conversion and judaism is farely uncommon in not calling for adherents to get converts. the religious certainly do use some of their charity work however to entice unaffiliateds and less relig. to become more relig.
as for your comments on catholics and protestants, they both have vast charity/missionary programs targeted specifically at the poorest countries. so i don't know what point you are trying to make.

[Daniel M]

Although the Messianic Jews don't always quite align with true Christian theology, it's a beautiful movement nonetheless. The proclamation that Jesus is the Christ (Messiah) is an affirmation that is ridiculed in all circles.

When your eyes are opened to Christ who you see all throughout the old testament, it's an amazing thing. Yeshua said that the Scriptures testify of Him, it's an amazing discovery.

[Daniel M]

BTW. Your skewed perceptions of Christian missionaries are ridiculous. You can take any handful of organizations and pick out the bad ones and say "Hey look how bad they are" The fact is that Christian missionaries do great things in all of the impoverished places and peoples lives are being changed daily.

Muslims don't like Christian missionaries because they don't like anyone converting to Christianity.

[Dave]

Daniel M, I don't know if you're Jewish or not. I fully support your right to express your belief.
My belief, as a "mainstream" Jew is that belief in any man or belief that G-d came to earth in human form is IDOLATRY and is totally non-Jewish. Therefore belief in Jesus (or the last Lubavitcher Rebbe) as being divine or quasi-divine is heresy. It is a core tenet of Judaism- in either rabbinic or karaite form, and also the Samaritan Israelites that the Creator is a Unity, and is INCORPOREAL and NOT a trinity and that G-d has never and will never come to earth in human form. To abjure or deny these beliefs is to leave Reform/ Conservative/ Orthodox/ Karaite Judaism and Samaritanism behind and is HERETICAL per all the preceeding groups. Enjoy your life, you may be a Jew, but you're not following or practicing Judaism.

[SJ]

Non-Messianic Judaism has multiple streams from Orthodox to Conservative to Reform. I suppose one can be Messianic and be more akin in practice to either Ortho, Consrv., or Reform.

[Hometown Postville]

Daniel M: I agree with your posts and like Dave, have the utmost respect for both of your beliefs. Spirituality is a very personal thing. One thing that few people can argue though is the fact that at some point in history, a man named Jesus Christ came to this world and made a huge impact that continues to reverberate centuries later. Whether he indeed was G-d in human form or just a charismatic prophet will remain a mystery until we all stand before Him. What counts is that all of us were made by one deity and were put on this earth to honor and respect each other. That is the ultimate praise we can give to our G-d.

[Jeff]

Although the Messianic Jews don't always quite align with true Christian theology, it's a beautiful movement nonetheless.

It's a "beautiful movement" that condemns everyone who disagrees with it to hell for all of eternity. It says as much plainly in the doctrinal statements of both of its denominational organizations. Any Messianic who claims otherwise is lying or a fool. It is nothing more than conservative evangelical Christianity with a thin veneer of folk Judaism laminated loosely on top. It's Christian fundamentalism with bagels.

I've also come across some of Moshe Shulman's droppings here and there online. He's no prize, either. Several years ago, he had an argument with some Messianics in one of their chat rooms. He told them they were going to hell for practicing idolatry. After being told for years that Jews don't believe in an eternal hell, the imbeciles were delighted to find an Orthodox rabbi who did! I don't know who was more pathetic.

[Dave]

SJ, I respect your point of view.
However, I read your website and you clearly state that you believe in Christ.
You must surely understand that NO stream of Judaism accepts "Messianic Judaism" as being part of Judaism- not Reform not Orthodox not even the Karaites and not even the Samaritans. The reason I mention all these groups, is they are all inheritors of the Covenant at Sinai, even though they may argue with each other, because they all affirm the Unity of Hashem. You sir, do not.
You may not like this fact, or you may dispute it, but it remains fact.

Hometown Postville- I cannot agree with you, with all due respect.
According to my belief, which is the belief of all Jews, G-d has never come to earth in human form and will never ever ever ever ever come to earth in human form, and will never ever chose to "incarnate" Gods-self in human form, or in any other form. This is because G-d's nature is not to lower G-ds- self to human form, since the Eternal knows us and our suffering and loves us and does not need to experience our suffering to empathize with us, since G-d knows everything. Therefore I believe with perfect faith that when I die, and if I have been a good person and my soul merits to stay with Hashem, the Creator of the Universe, for all eternity, I shall absolutely not meet Jesus Christ. There is no mystery. Judaism believes that G-d, the Creator of the Universe is a Unity, and is Incorporeal.
This is Judaism 101, Karaite Judaism 101, Orthodox Judaism 101, Reform Judaism 101, Conservative Judaism 101. These are basic core beliefs of all Judaism. If we stray from these beliefs, we have given up our religion.
The reason why Christianity "succeeded" is because the Roman Emperor Constantine became Christian, and Christianity spread through massive conquests. Christianity's conquering has been conveniently forgotten by most people in the western world.

[SJ]

Wow Dave nothin like respect with a low blow huh.

I don't know about the rest of Messianic Judaism but I don't seek approval from the the larger Jewish community for my beliefs.

And I do believe in one God, in 3 coequal forms, noncorporeal (father), human (son), and kinetic (holy ghost).

Messianic Judaism typically does not seek to abolish halacha so to say that they don't practice Judaism seems to be rabblerousing to an extent.

[Moshe Shulman]

There are people here interested. IF you want to help send me an email with your name and phone number and we will contact you.

Moshe Shulman

outreach@judaismsanswer.com

[ah-pee-chorus]

three self contradictory concepts of the father,son,holy spirit for a man born to a virgin, who never existed and was absent from all contemporaneous historians but for the phony,belated additions . that is even more laughable than a single delusional concept.

[SJ]

ah pee chorus, I used to think the same way until I read about it in detail.

[Nobody]

I can't help but feel betrayed when a "secular jew avenger" persona like SJ morphs into a yashka-ite - even though I myself am not a secularist and viewed his secularist comments as immature. At least they were immature and Jewish. Now what's left?

[SJ]

The Shulchan Aruch says that once a Jew always a Jew no matter what the person's mentality is. I was born meeting the halachic requirements of being a Jew.

When I was formerly an atheist I didn't believe anything the Bible said, now I do believe the Old Testament, granted in a different way than other Jews.

I still may take part in a Jewish ritual once in a while that is enjoyable.

Nobody, if you want to win people over, I suggest having some good ideas instead of lame guilt trips and rabblerousing.

[Yoel Mechanic]

Nobody: your comment is right on the mark

[Basterd]

I have the best possible solution for all of this: Stop believing in invisible sky faries and think for yourself.

[Dave]

Jeff, in spite of my posts, I don't believe that the Messianic "Jews" are going to hell for being idolaters, I don't believe Christians are going to hell for being idolaters, I don't believe the Buddhists or the Hindus are going to hell for being idolaters.
I do believe that by practicing/ following idolatry they've wasted their spiritual life on earth, and I think that's a shame.
What a waste.
However, I do agree that the righteous of all nations shall inherit the life to come, so when they pass on, Hashem will take them in and their souls shall dwell for all eternity with Hashem just like the souls of righteous Jews.

[Jeff]

Dave, my comment referred to an earlier remark made by Daniel M:

Although the Messianic Jews don't always quite align with true Christian theology, it's a beautiful movement nonetheless. The proclamation that Jesus is the Christ (Messiah) is an affirmation that is ridiculed in all circles.

When your eyes are opened to Christ who you see all throughout the old testament, it's an amazing thing. Yeshua said that the Scriptures testify of Him, it's an amazing discovery.

Frankly, I don't really care whether or not they think Jesus was the Messiah. I don't care if they think he was divine. From my benighted atheist perspective, it's all nonsense.

The bottom line for me, the line of demarcation, is salvific exclusivism - the belief that everyone outside of the group will go to hell for all of eternity. It's a belief so obscene it ought not to be tolerated. And, yes, I know that many (probably most) Haredim (and probably a lot of Right Wing Modern Orthodox) have the same belief (Shulman, above, is a prime example). I don't find it any more palatable when I encounter it among them; however, it was never a unilateral opinion within Judaism. It always was within Christianity, which is what these people are practicing - and, of course, it's based upon the same misunderstanding of Old Testament "prophecy" that plagues the idiot Christian fundies. They simply refuse to see it, no matter how many times it's explained to them. They simply won't be told.

[SJ]

>> The bottom line for me, the line of demarcation, is salvific exclusivism - the belief that everyone outside of the group will go to hell for all of eternity

The horror. Religion uses reward and punishment in order to encourage people to better themselves.

>> it's based upon the same emisunderstanding of Old Testament "prophecy" that plagues the idiot Christian fundies. They simply refuse to see it, no matter how many times it's explained to them. They simply won't be told.

I learned to stop trusting Orthodox interpretations when I learned that don't cook a calf in its mothers milk = total separation of meat and dairy, and also that electricity = fire.

Don't be suprised to discover such faulty reasoning in orthodox arguments against Messianic Judaism. I.E. Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah no longer Jewish, even though the one of the main points of divergence Messianic Judaism from regular Christianity is Messianic Judaism does generally follow the rituals of the Torah.

[Shmarya]

I learned to stop trusting Orthodox interpretations when I learned that don't cook a calf in its mothers milk = total separation of meat and dairy

Idiot.

Do you think Jesus – who was a follower of Hillel – was eating roast beef and cheese sandwiches?

The Early Church kept kosher just like the rabbis.

Perhaps you should actually study before you trade your religion for another.

[Jeff]

SJ, you're not helping yourself.

[Dave]

Actually, as everyone who has read any of the Karaite websites knows, they do mix milk with meat, but absolutely do NOT accept any belief in Jesus or (MM Schneerson) and absolutely affirm the Unity of Hashem, and believe in Torah mi Sinai. Maybe you should have them out, SJ, before you decided to decided to espouse Christian beliefs.

[S M L]

The bottom line for me, the line of demarcation, is salvific exclusivism - the belief that everyone outside of the group will go to hell for all of eternity. It's a belief so obscene it ought not to be tolerated.

Amen to that.

This establishment will be coming in just about around the corner from the shul in which I was Bar-Mitzvahed half a century ago. Not a change for the better. There's a messianic congregation of this kind in the suburb of Boston in which I now reside. Here's how they explain what they are and where they fit in. Don't shoot the messenger, OK?

What Exactly is Messianic Judaism?

Among Jewish people today there are various denominations or forms of Jewish faith. These include Orthodox, Conservative, Reform and others. In recent years another kind of Judaism has emerged. It is called Messianic Judaism. Like the others, it is a way of expressing love for and obedience to the God of Israel. And again, like other forms, Messianic Judaism has its own unique quality. Our very special “place in the sun” centers on our conviction that Jesus, who we call by his Hebrew name, Yeshua, is the long-awaited Messiah and King of the Jewish people. Like all other forms of Judaism, we seek to live in ways which resonate with our Jewish past and present. But our Messiah takes center-stage as we seek to live as faithful Jews.

The centrality of Messiah Yeshua puts us in profound spiritual unity with people in another world-wide community – the Christian Church. Though we practice our faith differently, we have deep appreciation for the Church. Our primary sense of identity lies with the Jewish people. But, we share a deep bond with all who see Jesus as the ultimate answer to the great questions of life.

Messianic Judaism is new in one sense, but very old in another. After all Yeshua was Jewish. All his earliest followers were as well. The New Testament was written entirely by Jewish people and the First Century “Jesus movement” was entirely a Jewish affair. So, in a sense, Messianic Judaism is the re-emergence of one of the many kinds of Judaism practiced 2,000 years ago!

We invite Jewish people, those married to Jewish people and those rare individuals who, though not born Jewish, have a deep love and regard for Jewish life, to consider Messianic Judaism – a faith which “puts it all together” in profound and exciting fashion.