Christian missionaries have found a new, wily way to spread their beliefs to innocent Jews who have no interest in Christianity – co-opting yet another Jewish symbol and forcibly “converting” it, for use in entrapping Jews into worshipping Jesus.
In the latest “round” of the missionary war against believing Jews, a group has been soliciting Jews strolling through the Ben Yehuda pedestrian mall in central Jerusalem and offering passersby a low-cost or free prayer shawl (tallit).
One family of tourists who took up the group's offer was shocked when they opened up the package it came in; on the edge of the shawl, used in weekday and Sabbath prayer services, an embroidered “blessing” thanks G-d for “fulfilling the words of the Torah and prophets through Jesus.”
The family quickly contacted Yad L'Achim, an Israeli anti-missionary organization that works to prevent this kind of “religious consumer fraud.” The family, said Yad L'achim, said that they had witnessed numerous incidents of Jews taking the prayer shawl. Many of them, the family said, are likely to put on the shawl and use the blessing embroidered on it, as their knowledge of Judaism is minimal.
An anti-missionary activist said that the groups fighting missionary fraud had no argument with Christianity – but t had a big problem with Christian missionaries using what he called “underhanded tactics” to fool Jews into accepting their beliefs.
“Judaism is not Christianity - and attempts by missionaries to claim that it is, misleads many Jews each year. We are dedicated to halting this fraud,” the source said.