<\/p>\n
I’ve attended more than one evangelism meeting and have noted that many Christians aren’t above deceit to “spread the message.” That appears to be happening in Israel.<\/p>\n
Israeli anti-missionary organizations such as Yad L’Achim were in a minor uproar earlier this month after learning that Jewish prayer shawls (tallitot<\/em>) embroidered with a Messianic blessing referencing Yeshua (Jesus) were being sold or given away on Jerusalem’s main pedestrian thoroughfare.<\/p>\n
Prayer shawls are popular products on Ben Yehudah St., which is a prime shopping area for tourists visiting the Israeli capital. And all prayer shawls have blessings embroidered along their hems.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
One problem, though.<\/p>\n
But when a Jewish couple visiting the area took a closer look at their new prayer shawl, a local journal titled HaShabbat B’Netanya<\/em> reported that they were shocked to read the following words:<\/p>\n
“Blessed are you, king of the universe, who has filled the whole Torah with Jesus the Messiah and has covered us all with his righteousness.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
That’s a bummer.<\/p>\n
Yad L’Achim officials insist it was the work of local Messianic Jews, whom the anti-missionaries label as “Christians dressing up as Jews.”<\/p>\n
One of the primary tactics of groups like Yad L’Achim is to convince fellow Jews that Christianity has no connection whatsoever to Judaism, and to disassociate Jesus from his Jewish heritage.<\/p>\n
The group also tries to make Jews who come to faith in Jesus feel foolish by repeatedly stating that only those with a weak grasp of Judaism would ever fall prey to the “missionaries.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n