Page 3-THE NEWS-February. 1984
From The ADL Desk
By Ira Gissen, Director
NC/VA Region
Anti-Defamation League of
B’nai B’rith
During recent weeks we
have received a number of in
quiries from Jewish people in
North Carolina and .Virginia
regarding broadcasts by Mike
Evans Ministries. People have
asked, “Should we send him a
contribution?" or “We have
sent him money; did we do the
right thing?”
First of all, who is Mike
Evans? Mike Evans is a pro-
Israel evangelist who seeks to
convert Jews to Christianity.
In 1972 he organized B’nai
Yeshua (in English known as
Sons Of Jesus or Sons Of
Salvation).
Evangelists who are en
thusiastically pro-Israel but
who also seek to convert Jews
to Christianity pose a dilem
ma, or at least so it appears.
Jewish people have always
been disturbed and upset by
efforts to convert them, yet e^
forts to convert are part of the
Christian religion and the
main activity of evangelists,
some of whom are strongly
pro-Israel and some of whom
are hostile to Jews or even
anti-Semitic. Indeed, many
denominations now oppose
organized efforts at
conversion.
In 1972 Mike Evans
established his headquarters
in the small town oi Graham,
Texas. His stated purpose was
spreading the Christian gospel
among Jewish communities in
the United States. In the FaU
of 1976 his activities received
a great deal of publicity in the
New York Metropolitan Press
and even in national news
magazines when B’nai Yeshua
purchased a national head
quarters in Stony Brook, Long
Island which, according to
Time Magazine, comprised a
12 acre $1,105,000.00 estate.
Evans told reporters that his
group numbered more than
3,000 individuals, two-thirds
of whom were Jews who had
converted to Christianity.
Following a great deal of
Thoughts From The Lubavitcher Rebbe
The Laser Beam
By Rabbi Yossi Groner
Ira Gissen
publicity the headquarters
opened and the first meeting
attracted 450 persons.
By 1978, according to
published reports, B’nai
Yeshua’s staff had grown to
51 people and it had distribut
ed about one million pieces of
literature in the metropolitan
area during the preceding
sunmier. Evans said this led
about 500 people, approx
imately 20 percent of them
Jewish, to make “the decision
for the Messiah” and accept
Jesus Christ as their savior.
In 1980 the group announc
ed that it was leaving Stony
Brook.
As I write these words, I
hold in my hand copies of
Mike Evans Ministries’ “Pro
clamation of Blessing” im
printed with the names of
Jewish citizens in this area.
The “Proclamation” begins as
follows, “As an American, I
support the important cove
nant that exists between the
State of Israel and the United
States.” It concludes, “I
believe that Israel is also
America’s key to survival as a
world power, and I pledge to
pray for Israel and the United
States of America.” Attached
to the “Proclamation of Bless
ing” is a card soliciting con
tributions to be sent to Mike
Evans Ministries in Bedford,
Texas.
Clearly, evangelists who are
enthusiastically pro-Israel but
who also seek to convert Jews
to Christianity pose a dilenmia
for a number of Jews, or at
least that is how it appears.
**The concept of **conceii’
tration in Torah*' has its
parallel in the exciting
development of the laser
beam.’*
There are many who com
plain that the system Moshe
brought down to us from Sinai
is too restrictive; if one limits
himself to observing mitzvos
and stud}dng Torah what can
one acconq)lish in the world?
Yet the truth is quite the
reverse: “There is no one as
free as he who preoccupies
himself with Torah.” Only
through channeling and con
centrating one’s energies and
talents tl^ugh Torah can one
have a far reaching effect on
his friends, on his acquain
tances and on society at large.
Everything can be under
stood by analogies from
physical phenomena. The con
cept of “concentration in
Torah” has its parallel in the
exciting development of the
laser beam. When a ray of
light is needed to illuminate or
to warm a distant object, the
following problem is en
countered: A ray of light
becomes weaker and weaker
as it gets further from its
source. The light-source (lamp
etc.) is the point of greatest in
tensity; the further the ray
travels the more it spreads
out, dissipating its intensity
and weakening its effect. A
new concept was developed; if
a ray of light is to be powerful
and effective even over a
distance of miles, a way must
be found to concentrate and
“restrict” the ray so that it
should not spread. This is the
laser beam; its rays shine in
one direction—not scat-
tered^for the entire length of
the beam. It is concentrated,
limited and incredibly power-
Seagram Sponsors Israeli TV Programs
The Seagram Wine Com
pany recently signed a one-
year contract to sponsor The
Simcha Dinitz Show, a public
affairs television program pro
duced in Jerusalem and broad
cast in the U.S. over National
Jewish Television, a cable TV
network. 'The sponsorship con
sists of 30 second spots and
opening and closing audio
visual billboards on each week
ly show which airs Sundays
from 3:00 - 3:30 p.m. The
brands currently advertised
are Paul Masson generics and
Champagnes and Partager,
America’s most popular
French wine.
The show is hosted by Sim
cha Dinitz, former Israeli Am
bassador to the U.S. His
guests include prominent
political figures, performing
artists and intellectual leaders,
such as members of the Israeli
Knesset and violinist Isaac
Stem. Discussion focuses on
politics, current events and
the arts.
Through National Jewish
Television, the program
reaches approximately two
million homes, including over
one million in the New York
City metropolitan area and
New Jersey. It also airs over
Group W Cable TV in Manhat
tan on Wednesday evenings
from 9:00 - 9:30 with an addi
tional potential audience of
74,000.
ANN LANGMAN
Harrington/Dowd Realty Co.
ful; even a metal barrier
several inches thick, and at
considerable distance from the
source, can be .pierced by a
laser beam.,
THE LESSON: The com
plaint is a familiar one: “To be
effective in this world, to be a
“mentsch” in society, one
must be looked upon as
cultured, educated, know
ledgeable, sophisticated. One
must therefore be diversified,
one must have a broad range
of interests outside of matters
pertaining to Judaism.” But
the laser beam proclaims a dif
ferent message: Through con
centration and limitation
within the unidirectional “four
cubits” of Torah, mitzvos-
observance and prayer, each of
us attains such a powerful con
centration of energies that
“even a wall of iron will not
separate him from his father in
heaven,” and our effect on
others and on society is equal
ly penetrating.
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