Community Magazine November 2003

grave point? They arrange a meeting with the “victim”— not always an easy task—for an “Exit Counseling Session.” In a long arduous process, the exit counselors debate and rationalize with the “con- verts”—slowly and carefully convincing them of the base- less nature of missionary claims, and the truth in the Jewish religion. It takes months to bring sense back to many of them. Many of the people working with the vic- tims are former missionary Jews themselves—they understand their psyche. Moshe Fundo, who plays an active part in Derech Emet, is a Jew of Russian descent who converted to Christianity after becoming involved with the 7th day Adventists. He went on to become the pastor of a Methodist church on Ocean Avenue. Eight years ago, he was dispatched to create a bogus “synagogue” to convert other Jews. Soon afterwards, he found the truth in the reli- gion he was born into, and became an Orthodox Jew. A number of recent missionary activi- ties have been concentrated around Brighton Beach Park. The extensive financial resources of these predatory mis- sions enable them to saturate the media with radio ads and plan elaborate events with music, food, and giveaways. The content of their newsletter is startling, “We have seen hundreds of Jews come to know [Yeshu] this year. Not only that, but more new missionaries have been recruited into the ministry this year than in the last ten years combined. The ministry to the Russian Jewish community in New York City is growing. And G-d continues to provide all that we need . . .This challenge to the Gospel and our wonderful ministry among Russian Jewish people continues to be tense—and intensifying as I write to you. The protest is led by a group called Derech Emet—a Hebrew phrase which means “The Way of Truth.”” Derech Emet has responded by keeping a constant pres- ence in the park—all summer long, volun- teers stand behind a table stacked high with literature to go on the offensive against missionary activities. For a decade, missionaries held six music concerts each summer in Brooklyn parks. Unaware of the organizer’s hidden agenda, thousands of Jews attended each one. During these concerts, missionary musicians and actors wear costumes designed to look like Biblical-era person- alities. They play songs in English, Hebrew, and Russian—with lyrics praising their founder in an attempt to convert Jews to their beliefs. At each concert, Derech Emet volunteers, armed with anti-mission- ary literature, try to reach as many partici- pating Jews as possible. Their resistance reduced the number of these concerts to three in 2001, one in 2002, and zero this past summer. Still, the missionaries stealthily reach Jews through many other methods. In Freeport, Long Island, they staged a pro- duction called, “Mendel’s Messiah,” where the “devil” character was dressed like an Orthodox Jew in black pants and jacket, a white shirt, long sideburns, and hat. When the play broke for intermission, ten observant Jews entered, directly combating the mis- sionaries by challenging their beliefs and handing out anti- missionary literature. Debates ensued for hours—inspiring some of the Jewish attendees to contact Derech Emet after- wards. One Jew, who it had seemed was already engulfed in the cult, abandoned it com- pletely as a result. Many missionary activities center around the Jewish holi- days—Derech Emet volun- teers continually stand at the entrance of each site to turn Jews away from the bogus events and bring them to Orthodox ones. There are fake Purim celebrations and Rosh Hashanah prayer servic- es each year. Some victims receive Jewish-looking invita- tions in the mail to attend. The East 12th & Kings Highway, Chosen People Ministries, also called “The Russian Jewish Life Center,” offered free English lessons to give Russian Jews a seemingly harmless reason to attend. They advertised their services by placing large Jewish-looking signs above the cor- ner of the busy intersection. In these les- sons, they taught English by reading Christian scriptures and lecturing about preparing for baptism. To shut down this program, Derech Emet volunteers stood outside this building every Sunday, distrib- uting books about Judaism, pamphlets, and tapes to tens of thousands of potential victims. They publicized synagogue- sponsored free English language classes— and dozens of Jews dropped out of the missionary’s course to join the syna- gogue’s classes. This missionary branch was ultimately forced to close down because Derech Emet’s resistance limited the potential victims that patronized the center to a mere trickle. In Russia, many Jews have already lost their true religious identity because mis- sionary activities go unchecked and unop- HESHVAN 5764 NOVEMBER 2003 33 s ” xc Activity and interest at the Derech Emet table in The Brighton Beach Fair