• News
    • Business
    • Canada
    • Health
    • International
    • Israel
  • Perspectives
    • Advice
    • Big Ideas
    • CJN Podcast Network
    • Features
    • Opinions
  • Food
  • Culture
    • Arts & Entertainment
    • Books & Authors
    • Russian
    • Sports
    • Travel
  • Events
    • Contests
    • Montreal – About Town
    • Toronto – What’s New
  • Supplements
    • Spotlights
  • En Français
  • Podcasts
  • Subscribe
  • Member Centre
  • Log Out
Search
  • Subscribe
  • Member Centre (eCJN)
  • Log Out
  • Newsletter
  • FaceBook
  • Twitter
  • Youtube
  • Instagram
CJN - Canada’s largest Jewish newspaper
February 26, 2021 - 14 Adar 5781
CJN - Canada’s largest Jewish newspaper
  • News
    • The race to be the leader of the Conservative Party

      Q & A with Ari Greenwald: Responding to a pandemic

      Israel declares complete coronavirus lockdown on eve of Passover

      Gantz says forming a unity government may take more time

      Students learn computer programming RHA FACEBOOK PHOTO

      Online classes up and running in Vancouver

      AllBusinessCanadaHealthInternationalIsrael
  • Perspectives
    • A Long-Awaited Return, feat. Jody Avirgan

      To our readers: Everything has its season. It is time

      Listen: The CJN Podcast Network, Signing Off

      Healthy Aging: Your next doctor appointment will likely be virtual

      Shinewald: Making this awful moment more tolerable

      AllAdviceBig IdeasCJN Podcast NetworkFeaturesOpinions
  • Food
    • Delicious desserts for Passover

      Festive food for small seders

      Passover meals for the whole day

      Passover taco Tuesday

      Family Seder recipes

  • Culture
    • How philosophy and theology can be in dialogue together

      Socalled is trying to make the best of his downtime

      Veteran singer returns with ‘toxic’ single

      Stories explore relationships between family, friends

      Jewish movies you should stream while self-isolating

      AllArts & EntertainmentBooks & AuthorsRussianSportsTravel
  • Events
    • CJN VIP

      How’d you like to be a VIP? Giveaway

      Giveaway: The Song of Names advance screenings contest (CLOSED)

      CJN-Prize-new-Entry Ad 2019

      The CJN Prize 2019 (Closed)

      Come celebrate the launch of the CJN Podcast Network

      Jewish Music Week Contest (Closed)

      AllContestsMontreal – About TownToronto – What’s New
  • Supplements
    • Passover Greetings

      Focus-on-Ed-2020

      Focus on Education

      Celebrations-MS-20

      Celebrations

      Hanukkah Greetings

      Celebrations

      AllSpotlights
  • En Français
    • À la mémoire d’un ardent ambassadeur de la culture sépharade, Solly Levy Z.’L.’

      “La haine des Juifs n’a jamais eu de limite”

      Le dossier du Dr. Marcus Fraenkel: la réponse de la CIVS

      Israéliens et Palestiniens luttent ensemble contre le coronavirus

      La lutte contre le coronavirus au Centre médical Sheba de Ramat Gan

  • Podcasts
  • Subscribe
  • Member Centre
  • Log Out
Home News Canada Jews for Judaism celebrates chai anniversary
  • News
  • Canada

Jews for Judaism celebrates chai anniversary

By
Dave Gordon
-
January 10, 2008
1856
0

TORONTO — It has been 18 years since counter-missionary group Jews for Judaism first opened its doors in Toronto, in response to the ever-growing problem of “Hebrew Christian” groups aggressively campaigning to convert Jews.

The chai anniversary is fitting, given Jews for Judaism’s endeavours to bring people back to a Jewish life.  

The office opened when Julius Ciss, the executive director, noticed the dearth of response to counter the missionary presence in Toronto. In 1982, he produced simple pamphlets and put ads in Jewish newspapers across Canada, as well as lecturing in synagogues.

Ciss, who was in the “Jews for Jesus” movement for a short time, had returned to Judaism and wanted to help others do so.

In 1989, the main branch of Jews for Judaism in Baltimore heard what Ciss was doing and asked him to join the organization. Eventually, Rabbi Michael Skobac, who is now the educational director, began working with Ciss.

The only Canadian office is in Toronto, but Ciss and Skobac also do speaking tours across Canada. They make themselves available for counselling sessions, relying on the Internet and long-distance calls to connect with out-of-city requests.

“We wish we could go out of business due to lack of business, but business is bigger than ever,” says Ciss. Last year alone, he cites some 1,700 counselling sessions with Jewish victims of cults and missionaries. They fulfilled 2,600 requests for information, and more than 7,000 people attended their lectures. Jews for Judaism also distributed 90,000 free educational books and materials in 2007. They have the endorsement of Canadian Jewish Congress, United Jewish Appeal and other Jewish organizations across Canada.

Ciss says there are 120 groups specifically targeting Jews for conversion in Canada. Seven years ago, Toronto had 100 messianic churches, according to Ciss. Now there are 130 who campaign regularly and widely to convince Jews that Jesus is compatible with Judaism.

But it’s not the only anniversary for the counter-missionary group. Ten years ago, around Chanukah, Jews for Judaism opened their Thornhill, Ont., office, next  to a just-opened “Jews for Jesus”-type church. The house of worship uses Jewish symbols and iconography, and even some blessings in Hebrew, but its congregants believe in Jesus.

Jews for Judaism moved in as community members were outraged that the church had opened at the corner of Bathurst Street and Steeles Avenue, a location where there was much Jewish activity – such as a Jewish youth organization, Jewish-Russian immigrant life and a kosher ice cream parlour – leaving many to believe the young and vulnerable were at risk.  

As the Toronto office celebrates a milestone, a new office in Jerusalem run by a former “messianic Jew” has opened.

“A lot of Israelis believe in Christianity, and the ‘Jews for Jesus’ types blanket the country,” says Ciss. A few years ago, he and Rabbi Skobac were on a speaking tour of Israel, and asked how many in one audience knew someone who is Jewish, but believes in Jesus. About a third of them raised their hands. “A shocking testament to the missionary problem,” says Ciss.

This is compared to his empirical surveys in Canada and the United States, where he sees one-tenth, and a quarter, respectively, of the audience raise their hands to his question. One report says that about three-quarters of the new converts are Israeli or Russian.

“There is a spiritual weakness in that respect. They are susceptible,” says Rabbi Skobac. “Outreach is needed not to protest the missionary’s existence. But we want to try, lovingly, to help them realize that while we are in vehement opposition to what they’re [the missionaries are] preaching, we desire dialog to help them [Jews who have converted to Christianity] see the reality of the path they’ve chosen, and re-evaluate their Jewish commitment and bring their soul back to Judaism.”

The Toronto branch of Jews for Judaism will present its flagship program, a free “counter-missionary survival seminar,” over six consecutive weeks, starting Jan. 16, at Congregation Shaarei Tzedec on Markham Street in downtown Toronto. The program is designed to point out the reasons why Judaism does not accept Jesus.

This is especially pertinent today, as many use the Internet to find Jewish answers, says Ciss, and it is almost impossible to search for a Jewish topic without getting a number of responses from Christian groups.

“Ultimately, you’re going to get ‘Hebrew Christian’ groups that will come up in some kind of search. These are spiritual predators. A lot of these groups have fluency in Hebrew and Judaism,” says Ciss. Continuing to respond to these threats, Jews for Judaism is revamping their Internet home in 2008, www.jewsforjudaism.org.

What he is most proud of over 18 years is hearing how missionaries complain how difficult it is to get their message out, due to Jews for Judaism’s activity. “It’s because of the education we’ve been inculcating in our community,” says Ciss.

“The preventative work we do makes us the pre-eminent group that works to stop the message of Christian missionaries and the misinformation that they are disseminating.”

Dave Gordon

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

A Long-Awaited Return, feat. Jody Avirgan

A message to our readers with an update:

À la mémoire d’un ardent ambassadeur de la culture sépharade, Solly Levy Z.’L.’

Subscribe to the CJNSubscribe
RSS FeedView
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Subscribe / Member Centre (eCJN)
  • eCJN Archives
  • Supplements
  • Media Kit
  • Advertising Terms
  • Premiums

PODCAST TRAILER: These Are a Few of My Favourite Jews

75th Anniversary - Liberation of Auschwitz

Ezer Mizion's 2019 Night Shuk

  • Canada
  • Israel
  • International
  • Opinions
  • Food
  • Culture
  • En Français
  • CJN Podcast Network
The award-winning Canadian Jewish News (CJN) is Canada’s largest, weekly Jewish newspaper with an audited circulation of nearly 32,000 and read by more than 100,000 people each week.
© 2021 Canadian Jewish News
  • Comments Policy
  • Community Links
  • Contact Us
  • Media Kit
  • Privacy Policy
  • Subscribe
  • Admin
 Tweet
 Share
 WhatsApp
 Copy
 E-mail
 Tweet
 Share
 WhatsApp
 Copy
 E-mail
 Tweet
 Share
 LinkedIn
 WhatsApp
 Copy
 E-mail