J for J plans fall blitz on Montreal

Officials from the counter-missionary group Jews for Judaism vow they’ll confront Jews for Jesus on the streets of Montreal this fall when the Christian missionary group targets the city’s Jews for the first time.

“We will definitely be there,” said Julius Ciss, director of Toronto-based Jews for Judaism.

Jews for Jesus will be in Montreal from Sept. 18 to Oct. 8 as part of its “Behold Your God” campaign, a five-year, $22 million (US) international recruitment drive. Started in 2001, it aims to convert as many Jews as possible to Christianity in 65 cites worldwide with Jewish populations of 25,000 or more.

Ciss said that even though Montreal has a reputation for being a very traditional Jewish community that is almost impervious to the influence of Christian messianic groups, that shouldn’t be taken for granted.

“It’s true there’s never been a branch of Jews for Jesus in Montreal, but there have been several messianic synagogues. Where were the Jews who went there coming from?” he asked.

“Jews for Jesus is the largest such type of group in terms of both budget and world outreach.”

Toronto was targetted in 2003 and thus far has been the only other Canadian city targetted by the campaign. Ciss said that worldwide, the drive has handed out 11.5 million pamphlets, leading to 12,500 recipients “expressing an interest” in Christianity and 851 people becoming “evangelical Jews.”

Montreal’s Jewish population “tends to be more religiously observant than other Jewish communities in North America,” Jews for Jesus notes on its Canadian website.

“Also, many Holocaust survivors reside in Montreal. The reality is that most Jews have never heard the Gospel in terms they can understand and are perishing without Messiah! Montreal is indeed a city which needs the hope of the Gospel!”

The site adds that the global campaign “might just be the largest evangelistic effort since those first-century Jews for Jesus proclaimed the good news!”

Ciss said Jews for Judaism does not object to Christian missionaries spreading their message.

“What we oppose is the specific targetting of Jews as a minority,” he said. “We also object to the deception they [Jews for Judaism] use, such as using Jewish symbols and terminology, or the notion that Jews [who believe Jesus is the Messiah] can also be ‘fulfilled’ or ‘committed’ Jews.”

On its website, the missionary group says it plans to use “prayer partners,” “campaigners” and “stewards” – behind-the-scenes people – to facilitate its work in Montreal.

Jews for Judaism will counter the campaign through “preventative education” and other activities.

“First, we will educate the Jewish community about the whole issue of why Jews don’t accept Christian belief,” Ciss said.

“We will also use our literature, advertise in media, have programming for adults, go to Jewish day schools and synagogues, and even figure out where [Jews for Jesus] will be distributing their literature so we can be there to to hand out our own.”

“They go to visible street corners with high pedestrian traffic at peak hours,” he said.

“Don’t expect to see them outside Cavendish Mall,” he added, referring to a popular shopping destination in the Jewish neighbourhood of Cote St. Luc.

Sometimes, the group missionizes in unanticipated locations, Ciss said, “but 75 per cent of the time, we find them.”

Plans also call for an all-day counter-missionary seminar at a Montreal synagogue.

Ciss, who himself was part of Jews for Jesus for five years, said Jews for Judaism even plans to rent space on a public billboard to advertise the screening of one of its documentaries, Survivor’s Story.

It will also be recruiting local volunteers and is seeking the co-operation of other Jewish organizations.

In late June, he and Rabbi Michael Skobac, Jews for Judaism’s education director, met with officials from Canadian Jewish Congress, Quebec region, to map out a plan of action ahead of the fall campaign.

Ciss said Jews for Judaism is working “non-stop” in the lead-up to Sept. 18.

He hoped Jews for Jesus’ first Montreal drive won’t be very effective, but “even one [conversion] is too many,” he said.

“When I was a member, I must have seen 200 or 300 Jews come through the door. I don’t want to see a single Montreal Jew get involved. This is something we can pre-empt.”

Jews for Judaism can be reached at, 905-761-0040.