Okay, now I *do* have a Jewish-related question.

[conuly]

I vaguely know who the Jews for Jesus and Messianic Jews are. I'm curious, though - the few times I've heard them mentioned, it's been with some hostility. Why?

Comments

[readerravenclaw.livejournal.com]

1) Jews - at least, religious Jews - have always treated aggressive Christian missionaries with hostility, and since many non-religious Jews these days are anti-religion in general, and since there still remains a strong feeling of Jewish identity even among most non-religious Jews, it makes perfect sense that missionaries as agressive as JFJ would be treated with hostility.

2) The name - and the idea behind the name - is particularly offensive. Run-of-the-mill christian missionaries aren't looked upon all that well either, but "jews for jesus" does not consist of Jews at all, and the whole purpose of the entire organization is to missionize Jews in particular, unlike other groups.

[stejcruetekie.livejournal.com]

I agree perfectly with your first point, but I have to differ someone on your second point.

Jews for Jesus is in fact made of of Jews (at least primarily). Being Jewish is an ethnicity, not neccesarily a religion - the number of non-practicing, even anti-religion Jews tends to help with this point...

[readerravenclaw.livejournal.com]

You're right, it isn't technically a misnomer, but it's very, very deceptive. Not the name itself, I suppose, in a completely literal sense - but the whole jfj organization itself. If you look around online, you can find a large number of stories from ex-jfj members who mention cult-like aspects of the organization, and the organization misquotes and quotes out-of-context everywhere in their literature. Their basic claim is that J. is the Messiah that the Jews have been waiting for, and it's true that a belief in a Messiah is a fundamental part of the Jewish religion, but 1. there are very specific qualifications and indication of what the Jewish Messiah is going to be like and what he's going to do, which J. doesn't qualify for at all, and 2. Just as fundamental a belief as that of a Messiah is that God does not and will never assume any sort of bodily form. Claiming that a human being is actually a god is utterly against Jewish belief.

[leora.livejournal.com]

But they claim to keep to the Jewish religion and beliefs, but they don't. They don't claim to be culturally Jewish but for Jesus - they claim to be religiously Jewish and for Jesus.