Increased missionary activity in Haredi Jerusalem aims to sell make-believe hope

Hopelessness, not fear and uncertainty from the war activates them

Christianity says beautiful things, almost all direct quotes from the Talmud. But in any case, it inspires countless people to be good.

I don’t hate rank-and-file, sweet Messianic Jews, only active proselytizers.

Missionaries only have one problem. How to help Jews accept Christianity as their religion? Sullying the religion of the billions who do respect Jews.

Of course, that is of no help at all. You can’t claim you helped an old woman cross the street if she didn’t want to cross it (pardon the pun).

Missionaries like us hopeless. They play victim when confronted by people who say they do the Devil’s work, try to complete Hitler’s work. They know victimhood. They think the essence of Jesus was that he was victimized.

They go to hospitals, looking for crying Jews, who, with a Book of Psalms in hand, read Psalm after Psalm to ‘force’ G^d’s Hand. When we’re weak or vulnerable, they attack. Like our archenemy Amalek, they target the frail.

And then they bring false hope. Just give your heart to Jesus, and all will be fine. It’s fraud. Jews need Jesus like a vegetarian needs a stake. Betraying our Traditions won’t erase Antisemitism, or make all Gentiles love Jews.

They pretend to be Jews or that Jews can serve G^d and Jesus together.

Misusing Jesus is not charming at all, pushing him upon anyone, especially through deceit and trickery, and upon Jews. A glass of water can be a real lifesaver, but not when forcing it down someone’s throat who’s not thirsty.

Of course, they will claim they act out of love. Maybe outside of love. Don’t do to others what you don’t want others to do to you. They wouldn’t want someone to cheat them into giving up on their faith and calling.

But what if they have the ‘medicine’ that can ‘save’ people, but they don’t know they need it? Then you talk about it, openly and honestly. If QAnon nonsense can spread like wildfire, why could theirs not? And you talk to the biggest, real Rabbis—see who has the best arguments. May the best win. But not to Jews in pain or those mostly ignorant of Judaism.

My Jewish Hope

Hopelessness is a terrible feeling. ‘Once again, we are victims of powers greater than us? What to do?’ It’s not the first time, so we have answers.

Jews try to be realists. We don’t always succeed. Sometimes we run on false hope, naivety because we lack real positivity. Only, when confronted by harsh reality, to flip to the reverse, universal suspicion.

There is no official Jewish way to do it, so merely, I’ll give an example.

1. Prepare for the worst; hope for the best. In that order.
2. Talk to G^d: I did my fair share, I need more from You. Be honest.
3. Understand G^d is good and loves us. It will end well and is not my call.

When you spot or suspect missionary activity among Jews, call Yad L’Achim for help. Their emergency hotline is (Israel) *9234, 24 hours a day.

About the Author

MM is a prolific and creative writer and thinker, previously a daily blog contributor to the TOI. He often makes his readers laugh, mad, or assume he's nuts—close to perfect blogging. He's proud that his analytical short comments are removed both from left-wing and right-wing news sites. None of his content is generated by the new bore on the block, AI. * As a frontier thinker, he sees things many don't yet. He's half a prophet. Half. Let's not exaggerate. Or not at all because he doesn't claim G^d talks to him. He gives him good ideas—that's all. MM doesn't believe that people observe and think in a vacuum. He, therefore, wanted a broad bio that readers interested can track a bit what (lack of) backgrounds, experiences, and educations contribute to his visions. * This year, he will prioritize getting his unpublished books published rather than just blog posts. Next year, he hopes to focus on activism against human extinction. To find less-recent posts on a subject XXX among his over 2000 archived ones, go to the right-top corner of a Times of Israel page, click on the search icon and search "zuiden, XXX". One can find a second, wilder blog, to which one may subscribe too, here: https://mmvanzuiden.wordpress.com/ or by clicking on the globe icon next to his picture on top. * Like most of his readers, he believes in being friendly, respectful, and loyal. However, if you think those are his absolute top priorities, you might end up disappointed. His first loyalty is to the truth. He will try to stay within the limits of democratic and Jewish law, but he won't lie to support opinions or people when don't deserve that. (Yet, we all make honest mistakes, which is just fine and does not justify losing support.) He admits that he sometimes exaggerates to make a point, which could have him come across as nasty, while in actuality, he's quite a lovely person to interact with. He holds - how Dutch - that a strong opinion doesn't imply intolerance of other views. * Sometimes he's misunderstood because his wide and diverse field of vision seldomly fits any specialist's box. But that's exactly what some love about him. He has written a lot about Psychology (including Sexuality and Abuse), Medicine (including physical immortality), Science (including basic statistics), Politics (Israel, the US, and the Netherlands, Activism - more than leftwing or rightwing, he hopes to highlight reality), Oppression and Liberation (intersectionally, for young people, the elderly, non-Whites, women, workers, Jews, LGBTQIA+, foreigners and anyone else who's dehumanized or exploited), Integrity, Philosophy, Jews (Judaism, Zionism, Holocaust and Jewish Liberation), the Climate Crisis, Ecology and Veganism, Affairs from the news, or the Torah Portion of the Week, or new insights that suddenly befell him. * Chronologically, his most influential teachers are his parents, Nico (natan) van Zuiden and Betty (beisye) Nieweg, Wim Kan, Mozart, Harvey Jackins, Marshal Rosenberg, Reb Shlomo Carlebach, and, lehavdil bein chayim lechayim, Rabbi Dr. Natan Lopes Cardozo, Rav Zev Leff, and Rav Meir Lubin. This short list doesn't mean to disrespect others who taught him a lot or a little. One of his rabbis calls him Mr. Innovation [Ish haChidushim]. Yet, his originalities seem to root deeply in traditional Judaism, though they may grow in unexpected directions. In fact, he claims he's modernizing nothing. Rather, mainly basing himself on the basic Hebrew Torah text, he tries to rediscover classical Jewish thought almost lost in thousands of years of stifling Gentile domination and Jewish assimilation. (He pleads for a close reading of the Torah instead of going by rough assumptions of what it would probably mean and before fleeing to Commentaries.) This, in all aspects of life, but prominently in the areas of Free Will, Activism, Homosexuality for men, and Redemption. * He hopes that his words will inspire and inform, and disturb the comfortable and comfort the disturbed. He aims to bring a fresh perspective rather than harp on the obvious and familiar. When he can, he loves to write encyclopedic overviews. He doesn't expect his readers to agree. Rather, original minds should be disputed. In short, his main political positions are among others: anti-Trumpism, for Zionism, Intersectionality, non-violence, anti those who abuse democratic liberties, anti the fake ME peace process, for original-Orthodoxy, pro-Science, pro-Free Will, anti-blaming-the-victim, and for down-to-earth, classical optimism, and happiness. Read his blog on how he attempts to bridge any tensions between those ideas or fields. * He is a fetal survivor of the pharmaceutical industry (https://diethylstilbestrol.co.uk/studies/des-and-psychological-health/), born in 1953 to his parents who were Dutch-Jewish Holocaust survivors who met in the largest concentration camp in the Netherlands, Westerbork. He grew up a humble listener. It took him decades to become a speaker too, and decades more to admit to being a genius. But his humility was his to keep. And so was his honesty. Bullies and con artists almost instantaneously envy and hate him. He hopes to bring new things and not just preach to the choir. * He holds a BA in medicine (University of Amsterdam) – is half a doctor. He practices Re-evaluation Co-counseling since 1977, is not an official teacher anymore, and became a friendly, powerful therapist. He became a social activist, became religious, made Aliyah, and raised three wonderful kids. Previously, for decades, he was known to the Jerusalem Post readers as a frequent letter writer. For a couple of years, he was active in hasbara to the Dutch-speaking public. He wrote an unpublished tome about Jewish Free Will. He's a strict vegan since 2008. He's an Orthodox Jew but not a rabbi. * His writing has been made possible by an allowance for second-generation Holocaust survivors from the Netherlands. It has been his dream since he was 38 to try to make a difference by teaching through writing. He had three times 9-out-of-10 for Dutch at his high school finals but is spending his days communicating in English and Hebrew - how ironic. G-d must have a fine sense of humor. In case you wonder - yes, he is a bit dyslectic. If you're a native English speaker and wonder why you should read from people whose English is only their second language, consider the advantage of having an original peek outside of your cultural bubble. * To send any personal reaction to him, scroll to the top of the blog post and click Contact Me. * His newest books you may find here: https://www.amazon.com/s?i=stripbooks&rh=p_27%3AMoshe-Mordechai%2FMaurits+van+Zuiden&s=relevancerank&text=Moshe-Mordechai%2FMaurits+van+Zuiden&ref=dp_byline_sr_book_1