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The missionary Baruch Abramovich in the guise of a Jew |
In addition, this plan has been supported by MK Lia Shemtov (Yisrael Beiteinu), head of the Knesset's Immigrant, Absorption and Diaspora Committee, who promised her help in advancing the initiative."They obtain conversion certificates abroad that are based on blatant lies," says Yad L'Achim chairman Harav Shalom Dov Lifschitz. "They're 'permitted' to lie, according to their beliefs, in order to obtain a document that will help them advance their nefarious goals.
"The rabbis and Jewish courts in the United States have to be made aware of this plan in order to prevent the issuing of phony conversion documents. They must thoroughly check the origins and beliefs of those coming before them to convert. We have experience with gabbaim in shuls who are missionaries."
"Bringing in hundreds of educated, well-established people to Israel will help the development of the Shomron as an inseparable part of the state of Israel," Shemtov said. "We're talking about a group that wants to undergo Orthodox conversion, to contribute to the economy and to even serve in the Israel Defense Forces."Source: 1,000 Missionaries Seek Phony Conversion Certificates to Enter Israel Under Law of Return
"The missionaries seek to use their Orthodox conversion certificates to reach as many Jews as possible," Rav Lifschitz wrote. "According to our information, there is a suspicion that Abramovich's group is likewise arriving with the goal of getting innocent Jews to convert to Christianity."
Rav Lifschitz concluded his letter with a moving appeal. "In light of this despicable, dangerous phenomenon, we ask you: Please, don't cooperate with this group; do everything in your power to prevent their coming to Israel, for the sake of the Jewish people in Eretz Yisrael. It is incumbent upon all of us, those who keep the Torah and mitzvos and those who don't, to do everything we can to block the missionaries and their representatives in their efforts to destroy our people, and to eradicate our faith in one G-d."
The Shomromnites (Samaritans) of the past are an alien people brought in by the Assyrians to inhabit the Jewish kingdom of Israel, whose capital was Shomron, after the real Jewish inhabitants of the Kingdom of Israel (the Ten Tribes) got exiled and later lost during the time of the Tanach. I hope history doesn't repeat itself all over again regarding this matter.
On a different scale, I just heard a true account of a gentile pretending to be Jewish, went to learn in a Chassidishe yeshiva in Israel and live within the community and learn to be a religious Jew for more than a year. Then he returned to USA and seeking for help to convert to become an Orthodox Jew. I think it's such a chutzpah going around lying in order to achieve your goals. I wouldn't convert this guy if I were an Orthodox Rabbi.
I also heard a story about a gentile Priest who pretended to be Jewish and learned in Aish HaTorah. He was a good learner and within a short time learned Hebrew, Chumash, and Mishnah. But his time ran out, and he didn't start Gemara. He was later discovered by Rav Noah Weinberg and was "punished". He promised the Rabbi that his teshuva would be to pass whatever he learned at Aish, to a Jew when he returned to the States. This, he did, to an unsuspecting Jewish boy who enrolled in his Xian seminary. After teaching the boy Hebrew, Chumash and Mishnayos, he told the boy that he had to leave the seminary now and enroll in a yeshiva. This really happened, and it took place in Baltimore! I heard this story in a shiur by Rabbi Dahan, I believe, on LearnTorah.com.
This also reminds me of the Givonim who was supposed to be one of the tribes of Canaan to be destroyed, who pretended to be from far away, coming to Moshe (and later Yehoshua) to make peace so that they won't be destroyed. They were of course discovered, and Moshe assigned them positions to be water-carriers and wood-choppers among the dwellers of Eretz Yisrael.
How should we handle gentiles who lie about their "non-Jewish" identity to infiltrate a Jewish community? How do we know their true motives? There have been cases in the past of goyim inhabiting among various Jewish communities (in the USA, including Baltimore) who were discovered. One community banned a couple from the community, another community accepted the husband as a ger (convert) as the wife is Jewish but raised Xian and I know one couple who made aliyah to EY and the wife is doing tikun and also earning her parnassah giving counter-missionary talks to interested parties.
