Yad L’Achim Campaign Against Missionary Café Awakens Jewish Hearts
There has been a dramatic development in the campaign led by Yad L’Achim against a Jerusalem café affiliated with Jews for J: A well-known local sports team has withdrawn its support for the venue, the Basimta Café • Read More
As previously reported, the sports team had offered free advertising for the café in response to mass demonstrations held at the site to protest its being open on Shabbos. However, it withdrew the offer after receiving proof of the café’s connection to missionaries.
Yad L’Achim notes that the key player in this case – the sports team – is not identified with chareidim, demonstrating that sensitivity to missionary activity crosses sectors. “When the facts are brought to the attention of the public, the Jewish heart awakens,” a spokesman noted.
In the wake of the decision, Yad L’Achim chairman Rabbi Shmuel Lipshitz, and the head of its counter-missionary department, Rabbi Hanoch Gechtman, sent a letter to the team’s management hailing the sensitivity it displayed to Jewish identity and tradition. The decision reveals “public responsibility and an understanding of the implications of missionary activity among Jews,” the letter continued.
Despite the breakthrough, Yad L’Achim stresses that the battle is not limited to Jerusalem. The organization has learned that these cafes are already operating in Tel Aviv and Haifa, and that another branch is set to open shortly in Beersheba.
Its investigators have succeeded in obtaining materials directed at donors aimed at raising funds to finance the café initiative. These materials stress that the coffee shops allow people to “meet J. through a real relationship, through community and the message of the gospel.” Acknowledging that most Jews will not attend church and not allow missionaries into their homes, the cult says its new effort provides a neutral, non-threatening environment in which to spread its message.
Yad L’Achim has been battling the phenomenon on several fronts. Alongside an information campaign aimed at alerting the public to the café’s real aims, it is pursuing legal action.
“This case shows once again that the Jewish heart is alert in the face of any attempt to use subterfuge to convert Jews,” a spokesman said.
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