I've been doing some countermissionary volunteer work this week. I do it off and on because a steady diet of that kind of thing can be damaging to your Jewish soul. If you could see even half of what I've seen! I mean I've been involved with this for over a decade and what I saw this week alone is worse than even I was aware. I daresay there is not one city or town in Israel without it's resident missionary couple and their little home church. (The larger the city, the more churches.)
There is not one communal group that does not have its dedicated local "ministry"; from single moms to Darfur refugees, to ex-Lebanese militiamen, to the usual drug and alcohol rehab facilities, coffee houses, gemachim for food, clothing, and household furnishings. They target lone soldiers, Russian immigrants, Holocaust survivors---the weakest links in society.
People wonder why we are not taking care of our own "at-risk" groups so they will not become targets of the missionaries, but you know what? The Jews have to work for a living and we make low wages and few of us own cars. It takes all our time and energy just to take care of ourselves and not to let our own families become a burden. Meanwhile, the missionaries have fine, large homes paid for by the "ministry", all the time in the world since the "ministry" provides for all their physical needs and the "ministry" is their job. It allows them to attend ulpan after ulpan and learn Hebrew better than I will ever know it, providing them with prime opportunities to "witness" to the few Jews sitting in the midst of a class full of "believers."
The "silver lining" in the financial black cloud which is swirling over the world is that it means less money for the missionary effort. I hope they will all find themselves out of funds and packing up to go back to their own homes very, very soon!
Yasher koach! If you don't mind, what sort of counter-missionary work do you do?
ReplyDeleteWhatever I feel presents the greatest danger to Am Yisrael at a given moment. Right now that is Calev Myers and the Jerusalem Institute of Justice; The World Likud with Danny Danon and Sagiv Asulin; and, Joel Bell and his Frontline Israel. These are paving the way for recognizing US Evangelical Xians as descendants of the Lost Tribes of Israel and allowing them to "make aliyah" en masse. Since the Erev Rav regime stands between us and throwing them right out of the country, all that is left for us to do is try to educate the masses of Jews and make them aware of what is happening right under their noses and what kind of threat it poses. (Rhyme unintended :-/)
ReplyDeleteIf you thought Jews were upset about the economy and Obama, you should read what the evangelicals are saying. They think they are going to "escape" to Eretz Yisrael.