My Life as a Counter-Missionary
From The United Synagogue Review
There I was in the pedestrian tunnel beneath New York's Grand Central Terminal. Hundreds of professionals sprinting past me on their way to and from the Times Square Shuttle. My "mirror" in the fluorescent Jews for Jesus T-shirt winked at me and smiled. I knew something was about to happen. In a matter of seconds, I was surrounded by eight fluorescent shirts, who began singing an off-key version of "Oseh Shalom Bimromav." To their apparent surprise, I not only joined them, but began to harmonize. In less than a minute, their song had changed to "Y'Shua (Jesus) Melekh Yisrael." I stepped away, gave them a mock salute, and shot them a look that said "I'll see you next year." My month as a counter-missionary had concluded.
The making of a counter-missionary. From the earliest years of my youth I was made aware of the dangers of missionaries. Educational programs in USY as well as in camp and school helped alert me to such groups as Jews for Jesus and their tactics. Over the years I had made a practice of confronting them on the street and engaging in scriptural arguments --sometimes winning, so I thought. This past June, I came across a local Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) flyer advertising the need for volunteer counter-missionaries. Responding to the ad, I was asked to commit to one hour a week over the next month and to attend a brief training/orientation program.
The training session was led by a former Jew for Jesus who is now in his last year of rabbinical school. It was during this hour that I learned how wrong some of my previous methods had been, as well as some of the common misperceptions about dealing with missionaries. In the past, I had often exhibited rude and condescending behavior when dealing with Jews for Jesus. This included arguing with them and ripping up their pamphlets in front of their faces. However, as I learned during the training session, this only reinforces their behavior. They need to feel that Jews who don't accept Jesus are bad people. When we react negatively towards them, we make it easier for them to believe this.
Arguing doesn't help much either. Even if one is well-versed in the Bible and able to counter their arguments, the best one can hope for is a stalemate. Their acceptance of Jesus is based on a deep foundation and is not going to be shaken by a ten-minute debate, even with the most learned scholars and Rabbis. The best thing one can do when encountering a missionary is to be as pleasant as possible and display a security in one's own belief. It is this behavior they find hardest to accept because, according to their belief, Jews without Jesus are supposed to be unhappy, unpleasant, insecure and lost.
Have pamphlets, will travel. We didn't always know where Jews for Jesus would be on a given day. More often than not, we guessed correctly. Targeting the busiest subway stations and street corners in Manhattan, we would arrive donning our own shirts and carrying our own sets of pamphlets. As initial eye-contact was made, a certain intensity filled the air. We knew their mission; they knew ours. They didn't want us there; we wished they hadn't been there in the first place. In a country that doesn't value and protect freedom of speech, the outcome might have been most interesting. In this country, we were stuck with each other, for better or worse. Mind games were a regular part of the routine. They would send religious Christians over to argue and distract us. They would trash talk in an effort to kill our spirits. They would try acting nice until they saw it wasn't working -- then they would resume their condescending approach.
A typical exchange went as follows:
Jew for Jesus: You shouldn't shove your pamphlets in everyone's face! (I remain silent, ignoring him/her.)
Jew for Jesus: You know, by being here you're making all Jews look bad.
Me: Doesn't that help your cause?
Jew for Jesus: Well... of course (proudly).
Me: So why are you so upset?
Jew for Jesus: No... (suddenly changing tone)... No, I'm not upset. In fact, I don't hate you. I love you. Even Jesus loves you no matter what.
(Moments pass.)
Jew for Jesus: So, you going to be here tomorrow?
Me: Maybe, I'll see you then. Have a good day.
Jew for Jesus: Look, I know what you're doing so stop it! We are not friends.
Looking toward the future. So, were we successful? We were obviously a major impediment to the missionaries' campaign and provided a strong moral boost to Jews who saw us and realized that, unlike in years past, the Jewish community was not standing idly by while Jews for Jesus went soul-hunting. It may never be clear what impact our pamphleting had on the population at large -- not only on Jews coveted by the missionaries but on gentiles upon whom Jews for Jesus rely for donations and support. My one regret was that there was not a greater show of support from the Jewish community towards our effort. On a rare occasion, a passer-by would wish me a Yasher Koah. Once or twice a shift, someone would mistake me for a missionary and approach me in anger. But the vast majority were simply apathetic and simply walked by. This included a large number of committed Jews wearing yarmulkes and tzizit. Equally surprising was the reaction of some fellow Jews, when I informed them of the campaign. Many thought it was a ridiculous waste of time. Others told me that if I had that much free time, better I should spend it studying.
It was this reaction that hurt the most. With a relatively small group of counter-missionaries, we had effectively and legally impeded the Jews for Jesus' summer campaign. One can only imagine what could have been done had we had a larger group of volunteers. The success of Jews for Jesus can only be attributed to a lack of pro-activity on the part of the Jewish community. As Conservative Jews, we have an obligation to be active and not stand idly by as missionaries lobby for the souls of our brethren. Many programs are already in place throughout our Movement (see sidebar). I plan to be there next year when the Jews for Jesus start another round of "Y'shua Melekh Yisrael." This time, I hope we can out-number them.
Efrem Epstein, New York-based freelance writer and public relations counselor, fondly remembers his long-gone USY days as Ritual Education Vice-President for the Metropolitan New York Region.
