Counter-missionary

Counter-missionary and anti-missionary organizations oppose proselytism by missionaries.
The best-known counter-missionary organizations are Jewish organizations which discourage practicing as well as non-practicing Jews from converting to other religions, typically Christianity.. These groups can be found within all Jewish denominations.
Christians targeting Jews for conversion to Christianity
A number of Christian denominations have programs to reach Jews.. The JTA, a Jewish News Service, conducted an extensive analysis of Christian efforts to convert Jews to Christianity and determined that the Southern Baptists (at 16 million the largest single Protestant Christian denomination in the United States), the Assemblies of God, and the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod have all increased their efforts to convert Jews to Christianity in the recent past. The article states that "Jews for Jesus completed a five-year tour called "Behold Your God" that brought its message to 53 cities worldwide. Chosen People Ministries saw its income grow by 31 percent, to $7.9 million, between 2003 and 2006. Since 1993 Phoenix-based Jewish Voice Ministries International has drawn 500,000 people to festivals and concerts aimed at evangelizing Jews in Eastern Europe, South America and India.
Jews for Judaism, a Jewish counter-missionary group, writes that there are over 900 Christian and Hebrew Christian groups in North America actively involved in missionizing the Jewish people. Jews for Judaism further states that these groups are currently spending over $250 million per year on efforts to convert Jews to Christianity. Jews for Jesus, the best known single ministry to the Jews, spent over $15 million in 2008..
The Assemblies of God has an extensive organization targeting Jews for conversion to Christianity.
Israel has more than 100 Messianic congregations, per Yaakov Shalom Ariel, associate professor of religious studies at the University of North Carolina and author of Evangelizing The Chosen People. In 1973, Rosen left the employment of the American Board of Missions to the Jews (now called Chosen People Ministries) to incorporate a separate mission which became known as Jews for Jesus ministries. In 1986 he received a Doctor of Divinity Degree from Western Conservative Baptist Seminary in Portland, Oregon.
The current director, David Brickner, is also a Baptist graduate of the Moody Bible Institute and the Fuller School of World Mission.
Counter-missionary organizations respond to these efforts by personal counseling, web sites with articles addressing common missionary tactics and discussion forums where Jews who have questions about the differences between Judaism and other religions can be answered by observant Jews.
Muslims targeting Jews for conversion
Muslims have also targeted Jews for conversion. Rabbi Moshe Cohen, of Yad L’Achim, an Israel-based Counter-Missionary organization, has identified Al Dawaa, an Israeli based Muslim group headed by Sheikh Abu Yassin of Kfar Manda.
Openness to conversion
The worldwide Jewish population is 13.3 million. In 2001, 8.3 million lived outside Israel and 4.9 million in Israel. About half of the world’s Jews reside in the Americas, with about 46 percent in North America..
In North America, up to 72% of Jews marry non-Jews. Inter-marriage rates have risen from roughly 6% in 1950 to approximately 40%-50% in the year 2000. Harris Interactive has conducted a survey indicating that 52% of American Jews do not believe in God.. Though inter-marriage and secular upbringing, fewer Jews practice Judaism, as Jews convert to other religions or no religion.
The foremost sociologist of American Jewry, Marshall Sklare, wrote: "Many intermarried parents declare ... that upon maturity their child will have the right to choose his own identity. This generally means that his identity will be with the majority group. Only if the child has formed a particularly strong identification with the parent who is Jewish will he be motivated to integrate into the minority community. The majority of the children of intermarried Jews, then, will be
Gentiles. ...".
Today, of the approximately 6 million ethnic Jews in the United States, about 2 out of 3, either do not identify themselves Jewishly or maintain an affiliation with a synagogue. Of 5.6 million Jews, 2 million American Jews live in households identified as non-Jewish. 60% of Jews below 40 years of age live in households identified as non-Jewish. Since 1985, 52% of Jews who married have done so outside the faith. 1 million, or 54% of all American Jewish children under the age of 18 are being raised as non-Jews or with no religion. In 1962, 540,000 Jewish children were attending afternoon weekend schools, and 60,000 were enrolled in day schools. By 1990, fewer than 240,000 Jewish children attended afternoon /weekend schools and 140,000 attended day schools, a net loss of 220,000 Jewish children. Of the population that consists of people who were born Jewish and are Jewish by choice, only 11% attend synagogue weekly..
Jewish response
The combination of Jewish apathy, as witnessed by secular (non-Jewish) lifestyles and inter-marriage with non-Jews and the massive efforts to convert Jews to Christianity is causing Jews to assimilate and leave Judaism behind. The Jewish response is primarily in the form of Jewish outreach and education.
Some Jewish resources are specifically aimed at countering efforts the missionary efforts aimed at Jews. Jews for Judaism is an international organization that provides a wide variety of counseling services, along with education, and outreach programs that enable Jews of all ages to rediscover and strengthen their Jewish heritage. Jews for Judaism has offices in Baltimore, Toronto, Los Angeles, Australia and South Africa.. On their website Jews for Judaism offers many articles discussing missionary tactics towards Jews, approaches by Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses and various "proof texts" and other arguments often used by missionaries as they evangelize Jews..
Messiah Truth is another counter missionary organization which includes articles countering both Christianity and Islam under the heading of "Knowing Your Own Orchard."
Messiah Truth also sponsors an educational site, the Virtual Yeshiva including Why Jews Must Reject the Belief in Jesus, Isaiah 7:14 (virgin birth), and Isaiah 53, the Suffering Servant. The Messiah Truth organization also offers an interactive forum where Jews may ask questions about Judaism or missionary arguments and be answered by Jewish experts including Rabbis, Yeshiva instructors, and Hebrew professors., a site run by Rabbi Tovia Singer. Outreach Judaism is an international organization that responds directly to the issues raised by missionaries and cults, by exploring Judaism in contradistinction to fundamentalist Christianity. Outreach Judaism provides full-time, multi-level informational resources.
Rabbi Moshe Shulman has responded to specific missionaries who target Jews, including Michael Brown, Rachmiel Frydland, Risto Santala, and David Stern (author of the Christian "Complete Jewish Bible").. Rabbi Shulman's website offers scholarly articles on the mis-use of the Targums, Midrash and Talmud by non-Jews who quote from Jewish sources in an attempt to convert Jews..
In Israel the leading Counter-Missionary organization is Yad L'Achim () which is an Orthodox Jewish organization operating in Israel focusing on outreach and counter-missionary activity. Yad L'Achim is made up of both paid staff, and volunteers, and is largely supported by donations both from Israel and the diaspora. In addition to Yad L'Achim, Shomrei Emet Institute works in Israel serving the English-speaking population. Shomrei Emet is run by Penina Taylor a counter-missionary who, although born Jewish, was a missionary herself for seventeen years before returning to Judaism.

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