To the Editor:
Though I fervently hope this was only coincidence, it was difficult to read Andrew Rennekamp's column ("Witnessing on the Walk," DP, 10/4/05) on Rosh Hashana. Jews for Jesus does not deserve the respect Rennekamp offers.
JFJ is an evangelical Christian organization bent on converting Jews to Christianity through manipulative proselytizing. Leading Jewish and Christian organizations have denounced their methods, from the ADL to the Interfaith Council of Metropolitan Washington to the Christian Scholars Group on Christian-Jewish Relations.
From personal experience, their methods are repugnant. The first time I was "approached" by a JFJ was as a teenager by my tennis instructor, who argued I should convert because I would get to celebrate both Christmas and Hanukkah. The whole program is a ruse, and a despicable one at that.
Rennekamp gives the JFJ far too much credit in saying their goal is to "educate" and not "evangelize and convert" a particular group from their own religion and culture into another religion that does not even support such efforts. Such a mistake in an otherwise legitimate argument was unfortunate.
Rory Kramer
The author is a Ph.D. student in Sociology
