| Founded | August 2, 1985 [1] |
|---|---|
| Founder | Rabbi Bentzion Kravitz |
| 95-4040781 [2] | |
| Legal status | 501(c)(3) non-profit organization |
| Headquarters | Los Angeles, California, United States |
| Location | |
| Services | Counseling for hundreds of primary clients and family members; preventative education programs to thousands of students and adults; publication and distribution. [2] |
| David Rifkind [2] | |
| Rabbi Bentzion Kravitz [2] | |
| Julius Ciss [3] | |
Revenue (2014) | $1,255,989 [2] |
| Expenses (2014) | $841,892 [2] |
Employees (2014) | 0 [2] |
Volunteers (2014) | 10 [2] |
| Website | www |
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Jews for Judaism is an international organization that focuses on preventing Jews from converting to other faiths and reclaiming those who have already converted. It provides counseling services, education, and outreach programs to all Jewish denominations. It was established in 1985 by Rabbi Bentzion Kravitz. [1]
The name Jews for Judaism was developed from "Jews for Jesus", one of the principal missionary organizations it was founded to counteract. One of its prominent early members, Larry Levey, was a Jewish convert to Christianity who then converted back to Judaism and led the Baltimore office of Jews for Judaism for a number of years. [4] [5] In addition to its activities in response to Christian missionaries, Jews for Judaism has also been noted for its critiques of the Kabbalah Centre. [6] [7] [8]
Jews for Judaism has two North American offices, located in Los Angeles, California, United States, and Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Jews for Judaism formed the student organization, "Be-True", as a response to missionary activity on university campuses. The organization runs primarily through student representative volunteers. There are currently "Be-True" representatives in the United States, Canada, and Australia. [10]
Christianity began as a movement within Second Temple Judaism, but the two religions gradually diverged over the first few centuries of the Christian era. Today, differences of opinion vary between denominations in both religions, but the most important distinction is Christian acceptance and Jewish non-acceptance of Jesus as the Messiah prophesied in the Hebrew Bible and Jewish tradition. Early Christianity distinguished itself by determining that observance of halakha was not necessary for non-Jewish converts to Christianity. Another major difference is the two religions' conceptions of God. Depending on the denomination followed, the Christian God is either believed to consist of three persons of one essence, with the doctrine of the incarnation of the Son in Jesus being of special importance, or like Judaism, believes in and emphasizes the Oneness of God. Judaism, however, rejects the Christian concept of God in human form. While Christianity recognizes the Hebrew Bible as part of its scriptural canon, Judaism does not recognize the Christian New Testament.
Judaism is an Abrahamic monotheistic ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jewish people. Judaism evolved from Yahwism, an ancient Semitic religion of the late Bronze Age to early Iron Age, likely around the 6th/5th century BCE. Along with Samaritanism, to which it is closely related, Judaism is one of the two oldest Abrahamic religions.
Jews for Jesus is an international Christian missionary organization headquartered in San Francisco, California, that is affiliated with the Messianic Jewish religious movement. The group is known for its proselytism of Jews and promotes the belief that Jesus is the Christ and the Son of God. It was founded in 1970 by Moishe Rosen as Hineni Ministries before being incorporated under its current name in 1973.
Messianic Judaism is a syncretic Abrahamic new religious movement that combines various Jewish traditions with belief in Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah. It is widely considered to be a sect of Evangelical Christianity, including by all major groups within mainstream Judaism, but the movement considers itself Jewish. Belief in Jesus as a messianic figure and as divine is considered by Jews to be one of the most defining distinctions between Judaism and Christianity.
Jewish religious movements, sometimes called "denominations", include diverse groups within Judaism which have developed among Jews from ancient times. Today in the west, the most prominent divisions are between traditionalist Orthodox movements and modernist movements such as Reform Judaism originating in late 18th century Europe, Conservative originating in 19th century Europe, and other smaller ones, including the Reconstructionist and Renewal movements which emerged later in the 20th century in the United States.
Carol Harris-Shapiro is a lecturer at Temple University in the Intellectual Heritage Department. She has written a controversial book on Messianic Judaism, a belief system considered by most Christians and Jews to be a form of Christianity, adhered to by groups that seek to combine Christianity and Judaism.
Adherents of Judaism do not believe that Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah nor do they believe he was the Son of God. In the Jewish perspective, it is believed that the way Christians see Jesus goes against monotheism, a belief in the absolute unity and singularity of God, which is central to Judaism; Judaism sees the worship of a person as a form of idolatry, which is forbidden. Therefore, considering Jesus divine, as “God the Son”, is forbidden. Judaism's rejection of Jesus as the Messiah is based on Jewish eschatology, which holds that the coming of the true Messiah will be associated with events that have not yet occurred, such as building the Third Temple, a Messianic Age of peace, and the ingathering of Jews to their homeland.
A number of religious groups, particularly Christians and Muslims, are involved in proselytization of Jews: attempts to recruit or "missionize" Jews. In response, some Jewish groups have formed counter-missionary organizations to discourage missionary and messianic groups such as Jews for Jesus from using practices that they say are deceptive.
The Kabbalah Centre International is a non-profit organization located in Los Angeles, California that provides courses on the Zohar and Kabbalistic teachings online as well as through its regional and city-based centers and study groups worldwide. The Kabbalah Centre's presentation of Kabbalah was developed by its director, Philip Berg, along with his wife, Karen Berg.
Chosen People Ministries (CPM) is an evangelical Christian nonprofit organization which engages in Evangelization of Jews. It is headquartered in New York City and currently led by Mitch Glaser, who was raised Jewish and converted to Christianity.
The Hebrew Christian movement of the 19th and early 20th centuries consisted of Jews who converted to Christianity, but worshiped in congregations separate from denominational churches. In many cases, they retained some Jewish practices and liturgy, with the addition of readings from the Christian New Testament. The movement was incorporated into the parallel Messianic Jewish movement in the late 1960s.
Canada Christian College and School of Graduate Theological Studies, also known as Canada Christian College, is a private evangelical Bible college in Whitby, Ontario, Canada. As of 2020, over 6,500 people have graduated from Canada Christian College.
Rabbi Tovia Singer is an American Orthodox rabbi and the founder and director of Outreach Judaism. Outreach Judaism is managed under the Eits Chaim Indonesia Foundation, which describes itself as an advocate for the Jewish faith, the Jewish people, and the State of Israel. After five years in Indonesia, Singer moved to Jerusalem, Israel on the 9 May 2019 where he now lives in the Jewish quarter of the Old City.
Jacob Immanuel Schochet was a Swiss-born Canadian rabbi who wrote on Hasidic Judaism. He was a member of the Chabad movement.
The Church's Ministry Among Jewish People (CMJ) is an Anglican missionary society founded in 1809.
The Sinai Temple is a Conservative synagogue located at 10400 Wilshire Boulevard, Westwood, Los Angeles, California, in the United States. The Sinai Temple congregation is the oldest and largest Conservative congregation in the greater Los Angeles area.
Penina Taylor is an American-born international Jewish inspirational and motivational speaker, life coach, and author. She became well known for the story of her spiritual journey, but now speaks on topics related to personal growth and marriage, as well as spirituality. Penina is the Executive Director of the Shomrei Emet Institute for Counter-Missionary Studies, and the founder of Torah Life Strategies. Shomrei Emet was briefly affiliated with the counter-missionary organization, Jews for Judaism, Jerusalem, during 2008.
Proactive conversion is a term used to refer to measures by various promoters of Judaism to provide outreach to non-Jews. It is distinguished from proselytizing, or active attempts of persuasion and solicitation toward conversion, but it is distinguished from the traditional rabbinical policies regarding prospective proselytes in that programs for conversion are opened to first-time inquirees.
Israel College of the Bible, also known as ONE FOR ISRAEL Bible College is a Christian evangelical fundamentalist private Hebrew-speaking Messianic Bible college in Netanya, Israel. It is an independent academically accredited institution not recognized by the State of Israel.
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