Monday, May 22, 2006

Three Things to Do and Not Do to Missionaries

This summer, Christian missionaries will make a greater than usual effort to convert Jews in New York to their religion. They will be specifically targeting Russian and Ultra-Orthodox Jews. So as not to give their website extra hits, I PDF'd their webpage about this "campaign", which you can read here (PDF).

Here are some suggestion from Gavriel Sanders, a former minister, on how to interact with missionaries. This is from his May 16th radio show (link):

Three things to do to a missionary:

1. Ask for all the literature they can give you, and then turn the corner and throw it all in the garbage
2. Give them phone numbers of outreach organizations (such as Aish HaTorah)
3. Thank them for reminding you to contribute to a countermissionary group like Jews for Judaism

Three things not to do to a missionary:

1. Don't get into a conversation about who is the messiah (say you don't have time)
2. Don't give them your contact information
3. Don't give them mussar or be angry or verbally abusive in any way

Listen to the show for more ideas.

UPDATE: Gavriels Sanders' audio archives: link


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