MS-603: Rabbi Marc H. Tanenbaum Collection, 1945-1992. Series C: lnterreligious Activities. 1952-1992
Box 16, Folder 5, Cults, 1982.
3101 Clifton Ave, Cincinnati, Ohio 45220 (513) 221-1875 phone, (513) 221-7812 fax americanjewisharchives.org 3 fD 3 0 THE AMERICAN JEWISH COMMITTEE ., . . ,. DJ date June 7, 1982 := D. to Rabbi Marc Tanenbaum c from Rabbi A. James Rudin subject 3
On June 3 Netanel Blasbalg, an Israeli engineer who lives in the Haifa area, spoke at. a meeting of the.New York City JCRC Task Force on Missionaries and Cults. Blasb
Rabbi Marc Tanenl?aum -2- June 7, 1982
One final ~d sad n0te. I asked whether former members and parepts of cult members have spoken out in Israel. He said so far there are very few ex-cult members, and when and if a parent does publicly speak out, the cult threatens the fainily with th~ possibility that its child who is a cult member will be taken out of Israel and sent to another country, usually india. The Israeli cult problem is ·serious and 4emand? our attention and assistance.
I am enclosing an article from an Israeli magazine dealing with Blasbalg's organization.
A.JR: FM Encl. cc: Harold Applebaum Judith Ban~i Inge Lederer Gibel Miles Jaffe Abe Karlikow Sam Rabinove Bernard Resnikoff ./ Zach Schuster ..:// [start]
Original docamerr1ts faded and/or illegible "'"V V ._,' ! ._I""'•""'' •L... , -:*"''"' ·---.... .:. :- • .it\ . !'U:~-.:;~""',... !r-.1- . 4""0. ""A'""~ ""f4'"1,....,,_)"''Y"' >...... -._-..... ·-.-_ ·:~.. ·.·_.:-.·.: ",-:"•;\ '_* o.. !~. ~~:~""!'~· - - .. •· ... '·T-...,. __ ,_., - -.;" ...~_.,:1 __ ~,.. • · - ' -.L " • · - - -- __ ··- + C©;rrn~~rrimced ~tlltr®Ll'Llli ~ @11~~r~ Bi~ ... ~ G ~ ~ Ri!'J. · ~g©Jorru~~~ CM~ij.~ "-rl i1 e trend towards cuI ts 1s. a danger contends. "Th i.s does not m::an to say at large, they suggest that children of ·io our youth and to our country. Israel is that those who join arc of a low IQ," ex· school age be mad<: aware of the: move· fertile ground for such phenomena and it plains the parents' group coordinator. mcnts and their motives through special ·is time to barricade ourselves against on· "Mose of those who do involve them· classes on the subject. The: media should slaughts of th is nature." sC'lves are actually very in tell igcnt people. also fulfill its purpose by bringing such Netancl Blasbalg, coordinator of as they are the scekc;rs. In fact, the T1\.\ dangers to the attention of the .public >•concerned Parents AgainR Cults", has and Scientology movements do not even ·through scheduled programs and talk· not stopped at words to dc:scribc his con accept ·all applicancs and conduct person shows, they claim. al interviews with these in:crcsted." .cern for the appearance of "cults" in Is· Counter-Cult Program rael. Nor can his words suffice co describe He believes the Transcendental Medi· 'the resentment he feels ever since his son tation movement is the most dangerous, The more serious problem is how to ·became actively involved in a Guru move· b~causc of what he calls its "subtle.:" tech· assist those already invoh•cd in or hooked ment in the U.S. a number of y~a rs ago · niques in recruiting people and lhcn de· by the cults, says Blasbalg. And he be· ·, With his son still out of the coun· cciving them. "Mose people in the more licvcs that one of the only ways in which ~ry, he has started to take action here in extreme cults started off in the TM this can be successfully achieved is by Israel by calling together parents, like movement," he points out. "They r•.Jblish deprogramming and "conservatorship". himself, who have "lost" their children to statistical figures to prove lies, using doc· The latter is a law, repealed in most :the various movements. tors and lawyers co substanciarc such states in the U.S. but still existing in some, ~' "A big problem is locating these par· findings. These cults are actually multi which enables parents to gee custody for i:nts," he explains gravely. "They are sim· million dollar businesses and the members a number of weeks of children invoived ply too embarrassed about their children arc usually conned inco donating 30 to 60 in cults, 'to reform them and help them and so they conceal the fact instead of percent of their earnings to the move· regain their thinking processes.' coming out and doing somnhing about ments." "The goal in life is to be human, to It." feel and think," reflects Blasbalg, "and In the beginning, he npc:rienced a dcprogramming is channelled in this di similar reaction but later conquered his rection. The concept is a difficult one to ·teclings and decided to investigate the " ... Israel is just the place in conceive and many people are frightened movements for himself. At one point he which cults ca11 entrencb "f the name, bur I would very much even joined the Transcendental Medita· themselves. We are a people iike to sec it legalized in Israel.'' tion program to discover what it was all who think, wbo search, and it Since some believe that movements about and maybe find some .-elid from or cults offer ~omr fnrm nf ~~!i~f !:-~:-:: ;C' #"•' ,.J..,. - .._.., - - r • • 1 • • r r ~!:: ~=r::::::.:::.:~ c·:c:- h:; :;v;; a.> w"!:. ·- -··-- .. t''-vf'•<: H.tUi it.II: '"lllLS daily pressures and tcnsions, the associa attract." "A Load of Nonsens.e" tion propo~es a substitute. It could come in the torm of "relaxation centers", bvth "The truth is ·that in thC' beginni:tg in schools and for the general public. the feding w;;.Slgood, but I soon re2.lizcd The parents' association seems partic "Thc.-re is also Jewish meditation,'' Blas· that the movement was a load of non· ularly perturbed by the effect that tech balg adds. "It is not eastern in origin, icnsc," he contends. "Now. we have niques such as mcdhation have on the in not destructive and has no "totalitarian '.; organi1:ed 'Concerned Parents Against dividual. This practice causes a blanking leader involved." He recommends the '.:ults,' similar to organizations in the of the mind, they claim, makes the indi· Jewish i\kdita tion Center in Safed, run U.S. with whom we are in contact. Ac· vidual apathetic and lowers his rate of by Chaim Rosen, a doctor in th'! Anthro :ion must be taken soon to stop these metabolism. "It even eliminates one's pology of religion. A firm believer in the Jestructive forces in our society." sense of humor,'' groans Blasbalg. The State of Israel and Judaism, he feels that The aims of the group range from parents also claim that the cults' activities the center conforms to the Jewish r::li· lclping parents overcome embarrassmc:nt, induce personality changes and destroy gion and, unlike the ~ulrs, "keeps the .o acting as a pressure group. and making the body's center of :iutomation. individual within his Jewish cnvir!:'n !-Je public more aware, to urgirig the "People become programmed, their mcnt." :ovc:rnmcnt to enact laws which will curb behavior becomes robot-like, and Israel The Concerned Parents re(.!ntly ap 'ianhcr development of the movements. is just the place in which cul ts can en pealed to Knesset representatives and The association defines a cult as a trench themselves. We are a people who the Ministry of Education to help in their '.foup, led by a charismatic leader, who think, who search, and it is such a people battle. :nposes his doctrine upon rus followers that the cults attract. They have a foot· "No, we. arc not harming rsrael's ild controls them through subtle tech- hold now aP.d they are tryir.g to spread." democratic system," Blasbalg stresses. 1iques. The cults - referred to as "love The Concerned Parents' criticism is "Sometimes limitations must be made 1ombing" because of their over·indul· not pure talk. They do offer suggestions when society at large is endangered. For :cncc in love - attract people who are and solutions that they believe can help, the good of all, the cults 111ust be oncly and under stress, the association if not cure, the problem. For the public curbed." Michelle Amdur
18 NEWSVIEW NOVEMBER 24, 1981 [end]
Original d©coame111ts faded ar:idfor illegible Stephen S. Rosenfeld examines Jack Javits' very special role Summer i977. Volume F()ttT. /\'umh:r Four/$2_50 Jack N. Porter report~ on a Nazi's campaign for mayor Bernard Lefkowitz remembers Dolly Schiff's New York Post Teddy Kollek reflects on Jerusalem Sylvia Rothchild profiles Rav Soloveitchik,"An ahsolutc genius:'
~~lli.i...-.c , ...... ~ The Jews for Jesus (and the others too) are out to get your kids_. - By A. James and Marcia R. Rudin
Published by the American Jewish Committee ·1, :.' • 'I
'' . Onward (Hebrew) Christian Soldiers They 're Out to Grah Your Kids
·"Jesus 1s in my heart,'~ she says. "You can't have Hebrew Christian gr0ups. "They a.re living as Jews and· loving it."
my heart. No one can make me stop believing ' . ' "Hebrew Christians"· is the collec in Jesus. I know what I am in God's eyes: I am a tive term for a variety of groups which ev:ingeliz~ among ]t!wS in many parts follower of Y eshua, the Jewish Messiah." of the world, including the United States. But not all those who are in· y~Jved in these groups are Jews. Some You can believe in Jesus as the Messiah Christians seek to make their religion ancl still l:>e Jewish! more meaningful by stressfog th_e Jew• . · ·. · Such is the dramatic claim of the ish roots of Ch rist.ia."niry; even ·adopt-. Hebrew . Christians. In fact, they ex ing many Jewish ·symbOls. They be ·.-.·· · plain, Jesus • is the fulfillment of lieve that evierY.thing "Jewish" draws Judaism, and without him, Judaism A. lames Rudin and them closef.:to Jesus, thefr Messiah. remains an · incomplete religion. In Such Christians often join the Hebrew Marci(J R. Rudin Christian movement; iri some piaces, . : .. :.Rabbi Rudin is assistant national direc they even outnumber Jewish parrid- · ·~ tdrof inteTTeligi~us affairs of the Amer order to be fully, truly Jewi.sh on~. pants. . . ican, Jewish Committee. Marcia .R. must accept and believe in Jesus. . ·1n this country, Hebrew Christjans · Rudin formerly taught philosophy and "Through Christ [Jews] are returning · operate in forty states, witl:l large con~ · comparative religion at Wiliiam.Pater· to their heritage," says Moishe (Mar· centrarions in every major Jewish pop- son College. They are currently.writing tin Meyer) Rosen, the leader of Jews . ulation center. .In the New York area, .· .. a book about religious cults. _::·. : for Jesus, one of the most pu.biicized · where the · movement is ·. espe'cially
Photos by Fred Ritchin, at the Shcchinah '77 rally on June 17. ~esem Tenie/.17 :- -.·.
·-····- ----· ··------····--·-·-- ·------··!. group that "deprograms" young Jewi~ ll They attempt to lull the Je\\r into the belief that Hebrew C::hrisrians, declares 5,000 Hebrew Christian missionaries are he is not actually changin~~ h is religion, ·when working in the New York area, but Moishe Rosen says the total is only in fact the ultimate goal is to con.vert him to about fifty. An 18 .· __. or the Jewish people if they accept Hebrew Christian. missions to rhe Jews vertisements in major newspapers Jesus as the Messiah. beg~ operating in Great Britain and. with large ci.rculations among Jews, And they use Jewish symbols, often the United States early in the 19th such as The New York Times; they in distorted form, to get theiir message .century. The First Hebrew Christian buy expensive television and radio across. For example, the three matzoth Church· in America was founded in time. on the Seder plate represent for them New York City in 1885. In 1894, Hun, The highly provocative, almost the Trinity, and the broken a/ikoman garian immigrant Leopold Cohn, a b3iting advertising techniques used by the crucified Jesus. The shamash on former rabbi, founded the American the Hebrew Christians have made the Chanukah menorah represents Board of Missions to the Jews. In 1915, them well-known and controversial. Jesus as the light to the world. They the Hebrew Christian Alliance of Moishe Rosen daims: "There is assert that 6,000,000 Jews· died in America, a loose confederation of hardly a Jew on the North American the Holocaust unredeemed, that the proselytizing groups, was formed in continent who has not heard of us." A 6,000,000 Jews in the United States Chicago. Six years later, the First He few years ago, for example, the Jewish should not remain unredeemed. brew Christian Presbyterian Church Post and Opinion, a national· weekly Barbara Janov, executive director of of Chicago was launched. And in newspaper, carried ~ f~ll-page adver- Hineni, a .Jewish anti-conversionary 1960,' Martin Chernoff established a . tisement paid for by the ABMJ, fea group, contends that the Hebrew Hebrew Christian ·church in Cincin, . turing smiling men and women under Christians are "brainwashed." "They nari. Other churches have sprung up · a giant. caption which read: "Why repeat the same thirty-five or forty recently in several American cities. Are These People Smiling?" Readers aible passages to us. That's all they For many years the Hebrew Chri5' who mailed the attached coupon re know. They have that glazed look." tians remained fairly quiescent, be ceived a handsome ABMJ missionary A former Jew for Jesus left the yond the fringes of Judaism and · brochure. · group in Californja when "they got us Christianity, somewhat seedy and old-' The fact that a Jewish newspaper. into 'spe~king in tongues.' I was a fashioned. But in the last decade or so would accept such an ad spa,rke-d bit speech major and I know that glosso the movement has undergone a star ter public r~actions among Jews. lalia is the road to senility and loss of tling revitalization and growth, Other irate public responses by Jcwish reason. I had to get out." Hebrew Christians now employ and Chrisrian leaders .to Hebrew sophisticated media and marketing Christian publicity tactics have unwit Hebrew Christianity, or Messianic techniques. They produce slick publi,:· tingly given them .free and· extensive Judaisl"(l, is not a new phenomenon. cations. They purchase full-page ad, exposure. """'~ Ecsratic converts at Shcchinnh ·;; rc\'i\'nl mecrinc. Present T e ~.$c / 19 weekly Torah portions. In January "Through Christ [Jews] are returning to their 1977 it was: "Only one Jewish man has succeeded in fulfilling hundreds heritage," says Moishe (Martin Meyer) Rosen, of prophecies." For March, the reader was asked to consider: "Why such an the leader of Jews for Jesus, one of the most apparently insignificant person as publicized Hebrew Christian groups. "They are Jesus ..• the Word of God ••. the Messiah of Israel ... should have such living as Jews and loving it." a tremendous effect on history." Though the printed materials and media exposure produce results, the ABMJ and other Hebrew Christian ." ·:: ;- ..... groups find that the one-to-one per ...... sonal encounter is still the most suc " cessfu I approach. A senior staff official ~l. :· ~ ·~ "'. of a nati0nal Jewish organization ~ ~ - ~- ,'·!.',. talked about his experience in Wash ing~on's Dupont Circle a few months ago. He was in a depressed mood and his face reflected his feelings. Two ABMJ missionaries approached and asked, "Are you Jewish?" The official grunted, "Yes." The pair replied that even though he was upset and .sad, they-and .Jesus-still loved him. "I didn't know whether to laugh or cry," the official remarked later. "Actually, I did neither. I thanked them for their \. concern and walked away. And you know, I felt better. Somebody seemed to care." ABMJ missionaries are encouraged Sr~n T dchiu, a former Jew, 1esri fyinii <>n his newly disc.we red faith. to form friendships with Jews. "Most Jewish people do not consider it [re· Sixty-four-y.ear-0ld Reverend Daniel Evangelical Christian network. Simi· ligion} a topic to.be discussed with a Fuchs, whose Jewish parents were lar programs are transmitted to other stranger. If you want to witness to Clinverted by Leopold Cohn, has par· countries where it maintnins missions. someone whom you do not know, layed the original modest ABMJ store· In addition to attention-grabbing, form a friendship first," Fuchs tells f wnt center into a $2,000,000-per-year full-page advertisements, the ABMJ them. He provides a printed guide for operation with headquarters in Engle· uses personal columns, such as this promoting dialogue, with sample lists ,,·o..xJ Cliffs, New Jersey. It has tried to simple appeal in the University of of questions and answers. ml itself· of its missionary image by California at Los Angeles Daily ch:inging its name to Beth Sar Shalom Bruin: "If y,iu are Jewish and believe Moishe Rosen also stresses the effec (House of the Prince of Peace) in in Jesus, plc.:nse call Bill, 824-1565." tiveness of the one-to-one approach to some of its New York centers. An item in the Village Voice in New his Jews for Jesus staff. Born nearly Fuchs' staff members, both Jewish York also reflects this low-key ap fifty years ago in Denver into what he and non-Jewish, undergo a rigorous, proach: "We are some Jews who think describes as a "typically secular" Jew six-month training program which that Jesus is beautiful. He has made us ish family, he was converted to Chris indudes psychological testing and happy and we want to share this hap· tianity in 1953 after his wife began screening, and doctrinal examinatil)ns. piness with you. let me tell you what studying the New Testament. He was The non-Jewish m1ss1onaries are it's all about." graduated from Northeastern Bible trnin~ in Jewish !if~ (Yiddishkeit, One of the ABMJ's most successful Institute anci was ordained as a Baptist Jewish food, literature, etc.) so that tools is its Jewish Art Calendar, in minister in 1957. He worked for the they can better relate to Jews. All the English, Yiddish and Hebrew. Out· ABMJ for ten years in New York and missionaries also study the latest can wardly it lo,)ks like the calendars fa. Los A11gele ..:. In 1970, when Rosen vassing and mass media techniques. miliar to Jews, but clo~er exnmination wt!nt 10 San Francisco to begin a store The ABMJ annually spends more reveals subtle proselytiz:ing passages. fro_nt ministry to "hippies," he broke than $180,000· on mass media and One hundred thousand are distrib away from the ABMJ and formed his $190,000 on printed missionizing liter uted each year in the United States, own group. He decided to call it "Jews ature. Hour-long evangelistic broad Israel and other countries. for Jesus" for its shock value for Jews casts are oeamed every night to Israel Each month features a conversion· and to catch the eyes of the media. It in Hebrew, English, French and Yid ary messnF?e ~1rinti:::d above the Sah· did indeed, and before long the group dish via Trans World Radio, an bath candl~-lighting times and the gained nntional attention. 20 .. .,. * · ·~· · · . ' r . terms •,f this project: and that, "while conversion attempts students who do not convert may be After four months of- prayer, God among Jewish youth are obviously a gravely troubled by challenges to confirmed to us ... that the Jew we matter of considerable concern, Chris knowledge, faith and identity which beheld was in the City of New York tian evangelicals constitute no real they are not prepared to cope with." and that we were to go thel'e and threat to Jewish survival." The Syna Some Jews feel that Hebrew Chris· that He wcis going tn anoinr us to gogue Council of America's Commit· tian groups threaten the very existence come against demonic forces and tee on lnterreligious Affairs cautions of the Jewish people. Says Rabbi principalities and that a revivalist the Jewish community not to overre Morris Shapiro of the Suffolk County was going to come. He would speak act. Rabbi Allen Maller of Culver Board of Rabbis: "We have just ex· to the:: heart ~ of Jewish young people City, California, who has made inten perienced a Holocaust, and the at· and would join with us in pmclaim sive studies of these problems, argues tempt to convert Jews is another at ing His message and share the mes that in spite of all their money and tempt to annihilate them." sage of the Messiah (emphasis his J effort, missionaries convert only a few throughout New York City. We hundred Jews a year, with the per Where do the Hebrew Christians have determined with all our hearts capita costs as high as $3,000 to $'J,000. get their money? They assert that they that we will not keep silent in the Maller says that the number of Jews receive funds from members' con· midst of the 'fact that Satan is com· lost to Christianity should be balanced tributions-many small contributions ing cigainst us in every possible way. against the number of Christians who which add up to large sums-and do Evans plans to cap his 1977 activi- convert to Judaism, which he esti nations from wealthy supporters and ties this fall hy leading B'nai Yeshua mates at between 7,000 and 8,000 per sympathizers, such as Texan Evangeli members on a tour of Israel which will year in the last decade. cal leader David Wilkerson, who re culminate in prayers at Jerusalem's Malcolm Hoenlein strongly dis portedly gave $60,000 as a gift and Western Wall on Yorn Kippur. agrees with this view, declaring that $65,000 as a loan to B'nai Yeshua. The "The pr~1blem, regardless of the num ABMJ claims it receives funds fr(.)m A wide range of opinions hn ~ been bers of converts one accepts as valid, 3,000 churches and 30,000 individual expressed about the impact 11f the is already one of major proportions." contribut,1rs. Jack Hickman's· Long Hebrew Christian mo\'cment Lm its The Hehrew Christians constitute a Island church, which reportedly has a major r:uget-Jewish Y<)ung pe.iplc more seri~ms problem thcin the exotic budget of $340,000 this year. tithes '•. and ah. •lit its potenrinl threat to the religious cults, Hoenlein says, because its membl!rs. According to Hoenlein, Jewish community as n whole. A re the former have "learned their mis "The Jews for Jesus can raise $100,000 cent ll'nai B'rith Anti-Defamation take:-; of the past ... and because youth in one rn1)nth in New York." League rer o~V. N~ llECAN 'Ol"OW l)J ~ Sl.O&Att: r)·picel literarure used to ~edu<"e Jewish youth. 22 ... . ~ -. '"'...... In 1973, Jews for Jesus, along with · · Thirty of the Jews for Jesus staff are year Reverend Ronald.. Bagnall of B'nai Yeshua, took over the Hebrew now in four Texas cities--Houston, Wyandanch, New York and other C hristian Alliance of America, chang· Dallas, San Antonio and Fort Worth clergymen termed Hickman's move ing its name to Messianic Jewish Alli -running Operation Lone Star of ment "exrremely divisive for Lutheran :mce of America, as part of Rosen's David, a concentrated one-state cam· congregations." They accused him of .. carefully orchestrated campaign to paign. "If this pilot evangelistic project "severe manipulation ... sometimes downplay his group's "Christian con· is successful,'~ Sue Perlman, informa leadi~g to .psychol.ogjcal dis'ordei:" nection" for prospective Jewish con tion officer for the organization, told . among the group's mem~ers. verts. us, "we will use it all · around the Rosen, a believer in w)lat he ·calls country." "creative communications," has origi Last fall, B'nai Yeshua purchas.:d nated over 150 humorous, cleverly The Beth Yehoshua Hebrew Chris the elght-and-one-half-acre formc.:r'. wri~ten, illustrated brochures which tians worship .with Reverend Jack Stony Brook Sch_ool for Boys for $489,· proclaim, among other things, that Hic~man at his St. John's Lutheran {)()(), arid has· repofredly Spent mNe "Jesus made me· kosher," that there Church in Massapequa· or his Satur than $65,000. converting it into us are "goyim for Jesus," that "hitching" day evening service at the Christ headquarters". · · · with Jesus pays off ("He picks up all Lutheran Evangelical Church in East· Mike Evans, a handsome, modishly riders who ~ant to go ... and there's Meadow. Several Jewish observers dressed young man, is the major ford: plenty of room for. you! Jesus is just have eStimated that at least three behind Operation· Gideon, am inten down the road-out of sight!"). Mary fourths of his followers are Christians. sive thrce•month recruitment· and Hartman's problems would be solved, Hickman, whose moth~r was Jewish, training session tu improve miss\oni: he declares, if she rumed to Jesus. is known as "Pastor Jack" or "Abba" ing techni4ues among Hebrew Chri,; ("When it comes time for the Final to his followers. He also runs Rebirth, tian proselytizers, which he started in Ratings you won't have to worry. God a storefront counseling center, and a May. He ~po11s0red Shechinah '77, a will never cancel you!") "If being coffee house for Jewish teenagers, an national i.:athering of Hebrew Chrb born has~'t given you much satisfac elementary school and a retreat cen tians from all over the country, in tion ... Try being Born Again!," an ter. June in Stony Bn1l'k, climaxing an other asserts. "Jesus Delivers Life" Hickman's Hebrew Christian ac eight-week drive (Messiah '77) to C•"'n· (JDL) is a parody of the Jewish De tivities have drawn sharp criticism vert Lon~ Island's .kwi;. · fense League's slogans and methods. from other Lutheran ministers. last Evans speaks iri strong revivalist . · Rosen claims that more than 9,000,- 000 "communications" have been dis· tributed, with excellent results. Recognizing that classic Christian hymns are often offensive' to Jews, Rosen devised a new kind of "Jewish gospel music" in which the melodies are Middle E.astern and "Jewish," but the lyrics bear New Testament mes sages. Jews for Jesus followers sing · such Hebrew songs as "L'Cha Dodi" ("Come, My .Beloved") and "Am Yisrael Chai". ("The People Israel Lives") at the opening of their study sessions. Rosen also employs drnma, prcsenr ing "distinctive Jewish-Christian plays" in churches and, where possi· ble, in synagogues. His troupes-The Liberated Wailing Wall, the New Jerusalem Players and Israelite which, according to Rosen, deal "with many aspects of Jewishness and Chris tianity," actually deine::1n Jew~ and A segment of rhe nuditnce M "He!--rew Chri. Present Tense/23 ' . . .. cause her husband adhe.res to basic parts of the coun~ry, she provides an ties across the country. Jud.aism. "Jesus is in my heart," she atmosphere of support-even to the says. ·"You can't have my heart. No point of taking young people in to live. But more than coffee houses ar.: one can make me stop believing in with her, sometimes for long periods .. needed. \Xt'e have spoken to many Jesus. Other Jews may say I am no Among her achievements, she says, rabbis, teachers, Jewish community longer Jewrsh in their eyes. I don~t care was the rerurn of Lisa Levi, a Miami leaders, parents, young people and what I am in their eyes. I know what leader of the Jews for Jesus, to the Jew Hebrew Christians, and it is clear to I am in God's eyes. I am a follower of ish fold. She claims she convinced us that ddection from Judaism does Yeshua, the Jewish Messiah." sjxty Jews for Je~us, including many not happen only. 'to those with weak What is being done to counteract top leaders, to "abdicate" the Hebrew Jewish backgrounds. We believe it can the effects of Hebrew Christian activ Christian movement. "This shattered happen in any Jewish family. Rebel ity? And ·wh~t should the Jewish com the Jews for Jesus," Mrs. Jungreis lion ;lgainsr parents and rejection of munity do 'in the future? claims. · one's religion often go hand in hand. The· Task Force on Missionary In New York, the Board of Jewish And sometimes the source of th.: Activity of New Y ork!s Jewish Com Education established Jewish coffee problem may be basically psychologi munity Relations Collncil, organized houses, which seek to create a total cal. Moshe Adler, a Hillel director in i~ Decemqer 1976 ahd chaired by Dr. Jewish environment in cultural and the Los Ang\!les area, believes that the Seymour IP. Lachman, former presi spiritual terms for Jews of all ages. The cause of dL·fection from Judaism may J .; dent of the city's.Board of Education, Bilu coffee house in Massapequa, Long. be "alienation of self, that is, a sense gathers information abOut· missionary Island, set up by the South Bay Jewish of having no personal worth and ther.: groups, partkularly in the New York Community Council primarily for fore no real home." He points out thar metropolitan area; and disseminates it high school and college students, "at the heart of many religious prob ' . to the widest possible audience. The counters Jack Hickman's outreach pro lems there are hurt human beings," ., JCRC is pushing for New York State gram. The Los Angeles Hillel Council and that it is essential to try to "heal ;' legislation to prohibit evangelizing in opera.tes ~torefront coffee houses near their hurt~ within a religious Jewish homes for ·the mentally retarded, each high school and college in the milieu bef,•re they begin trying nlm· hlH'nes for the aging, hospitals, foster area. Similar efforts are being under Jewish trirs as balm." homes, etc. The American Jewish ta~en by concerned Jewish communi- If our tw,) daughrers ran away from Committee· and other major Jewish organizations are alerting their con stituencies to the existence, techni4ues . and dah~crs of"the Hebrew Christian gnmps. · Tue ~ Board of Jewish Educa tion of New York City arranges c1)un t.:r-missionary programs for parents and children in their schools, and helps parents to provide stronger Jewish ed lh:~tion in ·Students' .homes. .. Hesh· 'Morgan is· the founder and active leade'r"of AMI, the Anti-Mis sionary Institute'. (AMI means "my ·. ·'- people" -in Hebrew.) A burly, out . -~·s·poken man, Morgan is so angered by \· . :~·,· ·the Jews for Jesus, B'nai Yeshua and :·;·. ._·· the ABMJ that he is "prepared to do .,~:.::·anything" to "redaim" young people · . frnm the missionaries. · Jews for Jesus · l.:~der Rosen charges that AMI uses ·illegal and violent tactics in its rescu ing: and "deprogramming" activities, aiid claims that Morgan's group is as- . s..iciated with the Jewish Defense Dancing th., hora at :i r.,.:cnr 11 c ... rcv.· Chrbri:in mc-erini:. League. AMI denies both charges. A few years ago, Esther Jungreis, .wife of an Orthodox rabbi in Wood mere, long Island, founded a group Hebrew Christians now employ sophisticated called Hineni (Hebrew for "Here I am"). In a personal and individual . medi~ and marketing techniques.They produce way, she works with Jewish youth who have become Hebrew Christians to slick .publications. They purchase full .. page create a sense of Cl)mmunity and advertisements in ma)or newspapers. They..ouy warmth based on the richness of the Jewish heritage. Operating out of her expensive television and radio time. · home and through lectures in many Present T ense/25 ...... ~ "An Adventure With Jesus•! 'home, would they find refuge in a Jew, It is 6 p.m. on a beautiful spring Saturday, u1oments before Jack Hickman's ish hostel for runaways, rather than "Havcbl:ih" s1:rvice-wh1ch, anuing Jews, marks the end of the Sabbath and one provided by the Hebrew Chris, the bl:ginning of the new week. Y,>ung men carrying walkie-talkies are standing rians7 Would a 24,hour telephone "hot guard aniund the Lutheran church in East Meadow, Long Island. Inside, other line" manned by rabbis and psychia 1'.iys, at :lpproximatelr six-foot intervals, line t~e walls of its large gymnasium. trists be available to them? Young About 500 people are there, nearly everyone sitting on the floor. Men and Je~ are. ~.king for walk-in, store-front women are l'l'gregated. All the men wear yarmi1lkes; many of the wC'lmen wear counseling centers so they can talk Mogen David necklaces or mewtas. One littl~ girl sports in her pierced ears about their personal problems. Would tiny dangling Mogen DaviJs which match her Mogen DaviJ necklace. there be retreat centers for the entire The cmwd consists primarily of teenagers, coll.:ge students and youn~ familie5 family? Th1.)ugh such services do exist with sm:1ll children. Mothers with tiny babies; look down on the proceedings in some cities, their availability needs friim the glass wall of the nursery room above. . (Colored letters spell out "An to be better publicized-and ~here · 1\dventure with Jesus" on the nursery wall.) s "mall •.:hildr..:n are h eld 011 their there are none, they should be estab mothers' laps or sit alone, dispersed throughout the crowd. There are scime lished as Sl ion as possible. middle-a1.:..:d, but only one or two old people. The group is middle-class, whole· We stro11gly believe that the Ameri· ~·ime, clean-cut; it contains one black girl and a smattering of Orientals. · can Jewish cprnmunity must become Everyone listens raptly and p:irticipates enthusiastically in the nearly two· aware of the new realities and needs h , 1u~ sen·ice, most faces reflectinJ.: joy. Clearly, practically all uf these people -especially of Jewish young pe0ple h:iw been here many times before and know the procedure well. and be ready. to. take .whateve.r · step~ In the center of the room are a temporary Ark, and a large square platform are necessary to aid them. We must which functions as a bt•mcz, decorated with blue candles at each i:orner. A band provide ~olutions to youths' problem~ r!:lys Hebrew folk St.mgs; everyone si11gs; along and claps enthusi.astically. as the Hebrew Christians seem to de\ P:incers l..:ap ,into the:: l?ema and perform Israeli-styk folk dances. and retool our resources to mee~ our Reverl·11d .l.1ck (Ahha) Hickman begins his sermon. He is . a heavy-set, young peorle "where they're at." I·, ·arJec.I, rniddk-:lg..:J man, in :111 ,1pen-necked s~"l\irtshirt. His approach is casual But ultimately the core ohhe Jew :i:1d informal. Sev.eral young girl:; j1ull out Bibles :ind notebooks. They take noteS ish respon.-e lies in increasing and as he ~ins his t:llk. deepening quality Jewish education. Hickman starts with :i :-;.:ripturc reading from the New Tt:stament, then within the home and oursidt> it. He r:unbles f.1r a h:ilf hour. G,id is a Living God, he says, working miracles in the brew Chri:;i ians and other cults appea= \\'<1rld. (I le fre4uently refers to God as "Ha Shern "-"The Name.") God prom· primarily t.i those who are unsure ,·.· i'~thh:it the living Spirit wo.ulc.I come into the world, and he has kept that ignorant ol their own heritage. l.1fte1 . )'rJinisc;. fhe Comm:indments :ind the Law .are a m..:ans to an end only. One young Jew:- are attracted to the mis 11H1st. bdil.!vc and ha\·c faith. God is an exciting God-we never know quite sionaries b..:cause they are unawarr wha"t he is i.:oing to d,"1--"whethcr he is going to send us "to the ovens or part that they can find the answers they the Red Sea for us," GOd's purpose can't be realized within the Christian Church . seek within Judaism. They are easil·,. or by Jew~, but only by pt:,ipk dedicated to His Purpose. We must be ready to swayed by the confident, Bible-quot· d~ whar.cvcr hns to be done for the Plan, we must be ready to make any sacri· ing proselytizers. Educat.ional c: ffort ~ fil"·~. to give ourselves cnmpletdy, to "proceed with :ibsolute faith." should b,egin at nursery school age and lesus is mentioned 1.inly •mce, rind then Hickman refers to him as "Yeshua." extend upward to adult education. ( N,)r are Jesus, or "s:ivior" nr "Messiah" mentioned elsewhere jn the entire Training programs should be initi· service.) ated for day school and Talmud Torah After the sl!rmon the singing· resumes again, and then the audience forms educators ;ind youth leaders . to pre small clusters, holding h:inds, tht·ir arms around ea1.·h other. They close their pare them !•) counteract the prosely l'rcs and begin to pray. Hickm:in p.uts a large talis over his ·head and circles the tizers. The:o;l: should include Christian .l>nna. l:"heri'he blesse.<; a large c,mtainer of wine, and aiJes pour it into smaller "theology at H.I the Bible p~ages most g,ihlets which :ire pass~d along to the group. A young man distributes pieces of frequently rited by the Hebrew C hris· a huge clwllalt:All eat and sip together communally. tians and sh.mid familiarize them with Hickmnn loudly sings a S 26 ··J - · · t lnterreligious Affairs Department AMERICAN JEWISH COMMITTEE 165 East 56th Street New York. New York 10022 Ra b b i Ma r c ·r a n en b a um • • I ' -. . - . • ...... -·.;_· ~"'- • . ... - November 1912 sere1tee1 . .· /Jllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll(((((~ "How could she? She seemed so well adjusted!" apartment building where a·lot of people were getting This gasp of bewilderment is a typical response to divorced and where drugs and sex were constant the news that a friend, sister, or daughter has joined a topics of discussion. First, I tried meditation and fast religious cult. Most people don't understand why any ing, then I met a Unification Church member and had one would want to be a cult member, and friends and dinner with his group. I was impressed with their family are usually overwhelmed with fear and surprise. sincerity, so I joined, and I've been a member Cults range from such established sects as the ever since." International Society for· Krishna Consciousness. No one knows exactly what attracts a girl like Angela which is based on traditional Hindu theology, to newer to a cult. but many new recruits share certain general groups like the Bo and Beep UFO followers. who characteristics. "There are various times when.people believe they will be transported by spaceship to a are more vulnerable to cults," Or. Singer says. "I've better universe. One of the most notorious cults was found that people tend to be lonely or somewhat the People's Temple. responsible for the "Guyana depressed when they join. Also, the cults pick them up Massacre" of November 1978, when 911 men, wom at unstable times-between high school and college, en. and children died from drinking poisoned grape between romances. between college and their first drink under the direction of their crazed leader, job, or after a divorce." Jim Jones. Every teen-ager experiences times when life seems There are thousands of cult stories-some proven, empty and the stresses of growing up seem unbear some not-about teen converts being ·beaten, sex able. During these periods, the cults may promise a ually abused. starved, deprived of sleep, overworked, special sense of belonging. Or. James S. Gordon, a and forced to marry other cult members they barely psychiatrist at St. Elizabeth's Hospital. in Washington, knew. There are also accounts of how one cult used . D.C., who studies cults that attract young people, female members as prostitutes to attract wealthy con explains, "It is impossible to grow up .and not be verts; how a bizarre " rite of breathing" by members of confused. The cults offer these kids what the major another cult caused the de~th of two people; and of religions traditionally don't-a sense of immediacy. how ex-cultists exhibit long-term emotional neuroses. The cultists are ready to become intimate, and they Critics also point out numerous cases of fiscal fraud offer a phony love to those who are looking for it." on the part of cult leaders. Last spring, the Reverend Rachel, twenty-seven, was first attracted to a cult Sun Myung Moon, head of the Unification Church, was because of the sense of cor:nmunity. She joined the convicted of tax fraud. Divine Light Mission ih California when she was nine Yet teen-agers continue to join cults. and many of teen years old. "I wasn't a rebellious kid," Rachel says, them are not the types of people you would expect to "or avidly searching for God, but one day.. I went with be religious converts. They're not necessarily drop my sister to the mission. The guru was athirteen-year outs, ex-drug addicts, or products of broken homes: In old boy named Maharaj Ji. At first, I didn't take him fact, Or. John Clark, assistant clinical professor of seriously, but I enjoyed being with the people, who psychiatry at the Harvard Medical School, in Cam w.ere friendly and loving. After a while, I began to have bridge, Massachusetts, found that 40 percent of the more faith in the guru, and I decided to join the group. cultists he studied were essentially normal, maturing When I arrived at their house for· the initiation. . it was persons. Or. Margaret Singer, a clinical psychologist absolutely hypnotic. We w_ere brought to a dark attic, and professor at the University of California in San where we meditated for eight hours straight. Then it Francisco and Berkeley. estimates that 75 percent came time for me to bow down to a picture of the guru. of the cultists she studied could be described as At first I refused, but after eight hours of being in a normal persons. tranc-elike state, I eventually did bow down. All of a "I wasn't a rebel or a problem kid or anything like sudden, everything came rushing in on me. I started to that," says Angela, a twenty-one-year-old from Califor cry, and t had a feeling of ecstasy and purity, as if I'd nia, who joined t.he Unification Church when she was taken an hallucinogenic drug.· I was hooked." fifteen and is now living at the Church's center in New Rachel continued to attend meetings for the next. York. (The names of cult members have all been three months, and she gave the group everything she changed.) "I had lots of friends and an active social owned, including her old love letters and poems·. "By life, and I went ~o a Presbyterian church every Sunday. that time. I felt I'd become a robot," she says: "I even I wasn't really looking for a new religion, but it was a learned how to act 'normal' outside the mission so serious time for me. I lived with my parents in an that I would not look different --==~=·=~::;:::::===:::::::~ eP= .~:::::===:::::::~ ,,;::...... Soon after Jason left. the· !loonies. He says "But latei-, the group started to~ a guilt it took a l~ng time. and many conversations trip on me: I couldn't go out with·girls, and · . : to nonmernben. While Rachel was still in with a rabbi and a deprogrammer before he tbey said my parents were devils. The house the Mission, her parent.a persuaded her to understood how he had been manipulated. we lived in wu dirty, the food wu muab, return to college. There she.met her future J a.son, like many former c:ult members, and we slept oi:i the ftoor.1'ben I heard one husband, who helpeortaDt thing to remember is that adoles cation Church partly for this reJISOn. "I was and may place t}_le prospect in a panicky, eence is often a confusing time, and that tom apart by sexual stress," be explains. "I disoriented st.ate. The recruiters then man neither eults nor llllY 0th.er group can truly was depressed ~ my parent.a always ufacture an emotioNll crisis that may result solve the problems of gro~ up. fought, and I had a real concern about how in the person's becoming ''psychotic." "At to cure suffering in the world. When I was this stage, the group can control the Cul~uestions and answers: fourteen or fifteen, ii studied Jesus, Me> prospect's actions and thoughts,n he says; Q. How many. people really join cults? hammed, and Buddha. I became a Jesus Other professionals who study cults dis- Will they overtake established religions? freak for a while, but I still wasn't satisfied." . agree on whether the tactics they use are A. It's hard to estimate the number of cult Then Hank met some Unification Church sophisticated "brainwashing" techniques. memben in the United St.ates because hun members and was impressed by what he Some say every traditional religjoµ bas ad dreds of c:ults come and go every year. called their "childlike aliveness;" He aaya, vocated one or" more of these practices for There may be as many . as two thousand --rhe men and women were like brothers the spiritual betterment of its members. In religious cults in Americ&. but only about six and sisters; there was so much happiness." their book, Stnnage Goda: TM Amnican have aubstantiaJ member.lbips. Probably Hank has been a ~Moonie" for eight yean. Cult Scare (Beacon Press; $6.95), David G. the beat known c:ult--the Unification Cult recruiters often try to convert vu!- · Bromley, chairman of sociology at the Uni Churcb--h&s no more than two or three nerable teens who are traveling or who have ve1"8ity ofRarttord, in Connecticut, and An- thousand full-time core members and an· · run away from home. They usually approach · son D. Shupe, Jr., uaodate profell801" ot other twenty-three thousand associate, or confused, lonely. and hungry young peo-ple sociology at the University ofTexas, Arling part-time, members in the U.S. Cult mem in places like airports, bus terminals, and ton, argue that the use of such procedures berabip is small compared to that of city streets. The · is routine in aU armed forces boot campa establiabed churches, and moet authorities typi<:al prospect, according to sociologist Ron as well as at many Roman Catholic convents believe recruitment of new cult members ald Enroth, of Westmont College, in Santa and monasteries. ~it remolds values. alters has been d"edining since the mid-seventies. Barbara, California., is between eighteen personalities, disciplines individuals, and Q. What ah~d I do if one of iqy friends and twenty-two, white, middle or upper shapes their perspectives," they write, "but joins a cult? da&s, and has at least some college edµcation it does not render them robots." A. Do not act aa if she is weird or lost and some religious upbringing. Many authorities alao warn that some de forever. Remember that what may seem Jason, twenty-four, a former c:ult mem programming techniques can be as bad as, strange to you is probably important to ber, now a part-time deprogramme.r in or worse than, any of the mind-altering her. Talk with her (contimud on fl(Jlle 161) Ardsley, New York, was a perfect target for behavior cults use. (Parents sometimes en rationally about her ideas and beliefs, but the Unification Church. "I felt estranged list the help of a deprogrammer to get their don't ltt~ her, yell at her, or tell her she from the world," says Jason, who Was twen child out or the c:ult.) Some deprogram is foolish. You may want to ask her parents or ty-two when he joined the Moonies. "I had mers have been accuaed of physically detain minister for advice. Most important, don't ju8t broken up with my girl friend, and I was ing c:ultists, browbeating them, and employ cut yolJ! friend out of your life. She needs hitchhiking aaoas the country. In San Fran ing the same mind-control techniques the to be in touch with "outside" people. cisco, ·1 was invited to a free dinner at the cults supposedly use. Q. Where can I KO for help to get out of Unification Church. Why not? I thought. I However, in many cues, the deprogram a cult? was hungry." At Ute dinner, Jason says he mer reasons with the c:ultist to niake him or A. These organizations counsel young ~ was immediately "love-bombed," a term her see the deceptions, corruption, or irr3- ple about cults or provide referrals: used to describe a cult's attempt to make tionalities that seem to be inherent in some • American Family Foundation, Box 336, prospects feel as ifthey are part ofa family. cults. And many formeT members are thank Weston. Ma.6.s. in this issue... Are you concerned about the cults? Read FAMILIES AND CULTS .... '· The upsurge of interest in the role of Jewish women is assessed in JEWISH WOMEN AND JEWISH LIFE...... '~ ··.·__.;.._.._ _ To know what ·is being done around the country to strengthen Jewish families, see NEW ?)- . . .. - -PROGRAMS AND PUBLICATIONS ON THE JEWISH FAMILY...... •. I ' ,-,,, \ ',· ,) l I J FAMILIES AND CULTS One of the most startling developments in American middle class and relatively well educated. More men religion over the last decade has been the proliferation join cults than women. The periods of greatest vulnera and growth of new cults. A cult may be defined as a .bility seem to be the first and lastyears of college, when group that rejects the values of society, claims to offer transition to new stages of life and the need to make its members something altogether new, and demands decisions about long-range goals create tensions for total, unquestioning obedience to a leader. It .is esti many young people. mated that between 2 and 3 million America.ns belong to The Rudins also explore the personal and social fac one of over 2500 cults, many of them non-existent a tors that lead people into cults. Lonely people with few generation earlier. Literature is .accumulating about attachments, they report, are prime candidates. So are the impact of cult membership on the families of those men and women who are between jobs or romances, who join such groups. Some of this material consists of those undergoing personal crises and drug users. The first-person accounts by ex-cultists or their parents.' authoritarianism of the cults enables their members to · Other descriptions and analyses come from social scien avoid difficult decisions about their sexual activity, tists and therapists who have s~udied .various cults or careers, and relationships. At the same time, i;ult mem --~ -· treateasomeofiliefr-mem.bern: The publication Mar: oe-rship fulfills the unmetdesire-forself-sacrificeamong riage arUi Family Review recently devoted an entire many middle-class young men and women. double issue (vol. 4, 3-4) to "Cults and the Family." · Forces in the general society, including a disillusion ment with the overblown promises of science and tech nology, a revulsion at the commercialism of our culture, and a broad dissatisfaction with establishment leaders Who Joins and Why and institutions also contribute to the attraction of Considerable research has been done on the kinds of cults. "In an age ofdislocation, when one's own family is people who are particularly vulnerable to cult influence. seen as superficial and vapid, one's own religion as Rabbi A. James Rudin, Assistant Director of AJC's irrelevant and relativistic, and society as chaotic· and Interreligious Affairs Department, and his wife Mar uncaring, the absolute claims, guarantees, and prom cia, in their book Prison or Paradise: The New Reli ises of cult life are appealing," the Rudins write. gious Cults (1980), report that the typi~al recruit is Recently the cults have targeted elderly retirees in between 18 and 26 years old, white, single, upper- Florida and California, who have been joining cults in (i) ~~THE AMERICAN JEWISH COMMlmE, Institute ot Human Relations, 165 East 56 Street, New York, N. Y. 10022 growing numbers ·and often turning over their pension are permitted sexual intercourse once a month, solely and social security checks to them. Like younger peo for procreation. In other cults, women are sexually ple, the aged yearn for community and meaning in a exploited by the leader, and have little control over world of baffling change and loneliness. In addition, marriage, divorce and childbearing. Cult chiloren are some retirees are drawn to the diets and mental exer sometimes separated from their parents, and often cises stressed by some cults in the ~ope ofstaving offthe receive poor nutrition, health care, and education. aging process. And others maintain a cult connection in In recent years tihere hav,e been a number of court order to keep in contact with younger family members cases stemming from parental efforts to remove their already in the group. There are also instances of minors, grown children from cults. In addition, child custody even very young children, who have been enticed into battles have occurred when one parent has joined a cult cults or brought to them by parent members (almost a or one of two parent members withdraws from such third ofthe more than 900 people who died atJones town association. were children). The Debate Over "Brainwashing" The Cult as Substitute Family Most writeri; ahd parents who denounce the cults Though it is difficult to generalize about the many charge that many recruits are lured into the movements cults now in existence,. most deliberately stress the against their will, and cite procedures.designed-to un sense of family among their members and emphasize .dennine independent will and judgment. Recruiters within their own circles many traditional family values. lavish warmth, friendship and praise on the potential The theology ofthe Unification Church ("Moonies"), for recruit, and invite individuals who react positively to example, is based on the goal offamily perfection. Adam their blandishments to spend a weekend with their and Eve failed to produce the perfect family, the Rever entire group. During the weekend, potential recruits end Sun Myung Moon teaches, because of their sin in are kept busy with lectures and other cult-related ac eating the apple, and Jesus failed because he did not tivities, escorted everywhere by cult members who marry. Moon and his wife are viewed by his followers as monitor their every move, and deprived of sleep. A diet "True Parents," and Unificationists call each other devoid of protein, critics charge, helps to induce passiv brothers and sisters. The well-publicized mass mar ity, and many young people emerge from the weekend riages that Moon has arranged are designed to develop with a changed personality and a robot-like obedience to perfect families and bring the Messiah. cult authority. Christopher Edwards, a former Moonie, stresses The notion· that people are psychologically coerced that this cult's technique for attracting and holding into cult membership has been challenged not only by members centers on exploiting the recruit's own family the cults themselves, but by a number oflegal and social conflicts and providing substitute family ties. After his observers who view the movements as emerging forms first weekend with the Moonies, Edwards began to see oflegitimate religion. Their arguments are summarized a resemblance between the recruiter and his own fa in "Cult Versus Families: A Case of Misattribution of ther, and noticed similarities between other cultists and Cause?" by Brock K. Kilbourne and James T. Richard .his own siblings. "The intended message [was]: we are son, social scientists at the University of Nevada at like brothers and sisters living together and enjoying Reno. Writing in Marriage and Family Review, they our life as never before." He was told, and came to point out that only a small percentage of participants at believe, that his true family were the leaders and mem recruitment weekends come back to the cult, and that 1 bers of the Unification Church. claims of brainwashing are unsu.bstanti~ted_Qy_re search. "Some parents appear to recognize that gener ally it would be inappropriate to accuse a ski club or a surf club (both of which offer the young competing Impact on Family Life allegiances and sometimes competing values to those of However much the cults idealize and use traditional the middle class family) of interrupting their child's family values, their effect on real family life is destruc preparation for adulthood," Kilbourne and Richardson _tive. Many cults prevent members from maintaining argue, "On the other hand, similar allegations against contact with their families; others maintain tight con new religious groups, especially communal ones, are trol over such contacts. Parents, anguishing over loss of culturally appropriate because in our culture... it is touch with their son or daughter, agonize about what permissible to believe in God, but not too much."2 they did wrong, and some families are so embarrassed Accusing many of the anti-cultists of a secularist, that they hide the fact that their offspring has joined a anti-spiritual ,Pias, those who consider the cults to be cult. potentially acceptable religions of the future stress that Many cults control the sex life of their members many established faiths today began as persecuted rigidly. In Hare Krishna, no contact between the sexes cults, and that a number of the established religions is allowed outside of marriage, and married partners include sects that practice some of the techniques used 2 by cults. And they quote Jesus, who told his followers: of the traditional Jewish impulse for social justice. The "I have come to part asunder a man from his father, and third group, a small minority, is alienated from Jewish a daughter from her mother" (Matthew X, 35). ness ·altogether. Selengut maintained that Jewish in Meanwhile individual families, the courts and society volvement in cults relates directly to the lack of ritual, as a whole are grappling with a phenomenon that defies transcendence, and community in AmericanJewish life. both simple definition and easy conclusion. Several members of the audience, however, suggested his close relationships toJewish Moonies might have led him to uncritical acceptance of their accounts, and a The Jewish Connection glossing over the deception and coercion used to Eure The AmericanJewish community has been especially members into cults. concerned about the cults, both because ofa widespread Whatever the explanation for Jewish cult involve assumption that these sects are attracting a dispropor ment, the community has begun to mobilize its re tionate number of young Jews and because a number of sources to eombat the phenomenon. In 1978 the Jewish the cults, most notably the Unification Church, are Community Council ofPhiladelphia published one ofthe openly anti-Semitic. first serious studies on the subject and in May 1982 the Estimates of how many Jews are involved in cults Philadelphia Federation allocated money to the Jewish vary widely but experts put the number at approxi Campus Activities Board to counteract cults at local mately 150,000, and professional deprogrammers em colleges. B'nai B rith International has conducted semi- ployed by parents to· reclaim sons and daughters from . ·nars·oncults in·Atlanta, Denver, Houston and Seattle, these groups report that half their clients are Jewish. and Jewish anti-eult task forces have been created in On the other hand, there is evidence that the Unifica several cities. The New York Jewish Community Rela tion Church, at least, attracts few Jews: it is reported tions Council set up such a task force in 1980, but the that only 5 percent ofthe Moonies areJewish, compared mass marriage of 2, 075 Moonie couples (many of them to 36 percent former Catholics. marriages between Jews and non-Jews) in Madison Rabbi Rudin points out that many of the social and Square Garden on July 1, 1982, gave the issue new personality traits that mark cult members apply espe urgency. The New York JCRC is sharing information cially to young Jews. They are better educated than the and statistics with other Jewish groups and maintains general population; they tend to be idealistic; and they regular contact with Christian organizations. In con are upper-middle class. Rabbi Maurice Davis of the junction with theJev..ish Board ofFamily and Children's Jewish Community Center of White Plains, New York, Service, it is conducting new research on why Jews join suggests that the root of the problem lies in the weak cults, and maintains a clinic an~ 24-hour hotline to ened Jewish family. "The Jewish home ... was once ex counsel parents and children. Dr. Arnold Markowitz, tended, with grandparents and many brothers and who runs the New York clinic, advises parents to sus sisters and cousins. Now it is nuclear. One set ofparents pect cult involvement if their children begin "rejecting with 1. 7 children. "3 Michael Appell, Lifestyle Editor of the family, changing plans suddenly, wanting to give Boston Today, argues that "cults offer a substitute and away all of one's money and feeling euphoric."" antidote for the abstract intellectual concepts of Juda Even those most active in fighting cult influence ism." Jewish ethnicity is no ·substitute for spirituality, recognize that education, denunciation and task forces he insists, and he advises Jewish leaders to talk less are not sufficient. As the eminent expert on popular about Israel and community problems and more about culture Theodore Roszak explains: "It is really no great God.' Others have called upon theJeWi.sh community to feat to recognize the Reverend Jones, Charles Manson, encourage and support charismatic J eWi.sh spiritual the Maharaj Ji for what they are - frauds, fools or leaders who could provide religious sustenance for · opportunists·... The great unaddressed·challenge of our young people within the framework ofJudaism. time begins beyond that task of logical demolition; it is On October 14, 1982, the American Jewish Commit to reassess the spiritual need to which these charismatic tee hosted a meeting ofthe Association for the Sociologi figures attach themselves. What do we make of that cal Study ofJewry on the subject ofJews and the Cults. need?"5 Professor Charles Selengut of the County College of Morris, NewJersey, who lived as a partiCipant observer in Unification Church communities and interviewed Jewish members, reported that most Jewish Moonies NOTES had little Jewish background and found spiritual iden tity in the cult's teachings and practices. Selengut de 1. Marriage and Family Review, IV (Fall-Winter 1981), 31- scribed tlhree categories ofJewish Moonies. One group 40. consists ofreligious seekers who feel that their parents, 2. Ibid., 93. whatever their formal affiliation, were functional athe 3. New York Times, November22, _1981. · ists. and view the cult's doctrine as a universalization of 4. Moment, November 1978, pp. 20-24. Judaic values. A second group looks to the cult as a 5. McCalls, June 1982, p. 54. vehicle for social change and sees it as a new expression 6. Nation, February 10, 1979, p. 139. . 3 Louis Coalition to Strengthen the Jewish Fam traditional Jewish family life enhances Jewish continu ily, which was organized following a 1979 AJC ity, marriage within the Jewish fold and childbearing conference on the Jewish family. should be encouraged; 2) Since every individual is pre • The San Diego chapter held a conference in June, cious to the community, the community should reach out supported by all major Jewish agencies, entitled to those Jews who do not live in accordance with tradi "The Jewish Family: Stress and Survival." tional ways. Yehuda Rosenman, National Director of the The task force consisted of six committees, each of AJC's Jewish Communal Affairs Department, which dealt with a different stage in the life-cycle. highlighted the major problems affecting the Through an exhaustive process ofresearch and investi contemporary Je·wish family - low birthrate, gation, much of it based on materials produced by the high divorce rate, intermarriage, and the con William Petschek National Jewish Family Center, they cerns of the aged. He stressed the need to articu came up with policy recommendations and new pro late Jewish family values and to educate Jews to gram ideas. The final report also contains useful bibliog take these values seriously. A community-wide raphies pertaining to each stage of the life-cycle. task force was created to publicize and imple A brief summary of the committee's recommenda ment the conference's recommendations. tions indicates the broad sweep of the Philadelphia • The New Jersey chapter and the Federation of study. The Committee on Unmarried Adults noted that Jewish Philanthropies co-sponsored a leadership Jewish institutions are geared to family units, so that conference on the Jewish family in November. At singles feel alienated from them. Although J ewish sin a morning symposium devoted to a discussion of gle adults would like to marry within the faith, only an the values underlying the Jewish family, Steven outreach program making them feel at home in Jewish Bayrne underscored the fact that Judaism is a settings will inspire them to do so. The Committee on family-based faith, and that Jewish tradition re- Young Families emphasized the importance ofpremar . gards family as the core of Jewish society. De ital and marital counseling to prevent divorce, adequate borah Moore, Assistant Professor of Religion at day-car e facilities to encourage childbearing, and spe Vassar College, traced the historical develop cial attention to single-parent families. The Committee ment of the American J ewish family; and Arnold on Teenage Children urged that parents serve as posi Eisen, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Co tive Jewish role models for their adolescent children. lumbia University, disc~ssed the impact of Since teenagers go through a stage of rebellion, they changing values. The afternoon session included may turn against religion ifthey perceive their parents workshops on problem areas in Jewish family to be "hypocritical" about Judaism. The Committee on life. Howard Charrish, Executive Vice College Age stressed that Judaism should be made President of New Jersey Federation, keynoted relevant to the spiritual needs of college students, and the session, calling for extensive thinking and suggested visits to Israel as one way of reinforcing the planning on family policy and programming, and Jewish identity of this age group. The Committee on a commitment to measures that will strengthen Mid-Life Families discussed the need to train women the family. for the workplace after their children have left home, and suggested ways of coping with divorce and widow hood, crises that beset middle-age families. The Com Philadelphia's lnteragency Approach mittee on Older Adults dealt with preventive health to the Jewish· Family · ,,, care and other support services for the elderly. The Philadelphia Federation of Jewish Agencies The task force also made overall policy recommenda called on all local JeWi.sh organizations, even those not tions. Community agencies should evaluate their exist affiliated with Fed~ration, to pool their talents to devise ing programs and tailor them to meeting family needs. a blueprint for enhancing Jewish family life. The result Better use should be made of the media, especially t he of this successful venture was summed up in Strength Jewish press, to inform families of available services. ening the Jewish Family Through Community Sup The Philadelphia Task Force on the Jewish Commu ports, the recent report of Philadelphia's Tusk Force on nity and Family is eager to share its findings with other the Jewish Community and Family. communities interested in a similar interagency ap The aims of the task force were to "clarify current proach to family problems. For information write: De issues as they impact on individual Jews, their families, partment of Allocations and Planning, Federation of and the community," and to make practical recommen Jewish Agencies of Greater Philadelphia, 226 South dations. Two hypotheses informed its work: 1) Since 16th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19102. 0 UJ e THE AMERICAN JEWISH COMMITTEE, Institute ol Human Relations, 165 East 56 Slreet, New York, N. Y. 10022 JEWISH WOMEN AND JEWISH LIFE The Jewish Woman, 1900-1980: A Bibliography. Com nor long remember," he clearly has not v..ntten the piled and-annotated by Aviva Cantor (New York: Biblio definitive history of,Jewish women in America, espe Press, 1981). cially in view of his traditional perception of women's The American Jewish Woman, 1654-1980, and The role in general. He himself challenged future writers to American Jewish Woman: A Documentary History, the task, however, upon accepting the AJC's Akiba by Jacob R. Marcus (New York: Ktav Publishing Award for his remarkable lifetime of contributions to House, 1981). Jewish letters. Professor Marcus's valuable research will certainly be helpful to those who undertake the On Women and Judaism: A View From Tradition, by project. Blu Greenberg (Philadelphia: Jewish Publications Soci The factual groundwork laid by Marcus and other ety, 1981). historians for a more equitable assessment of women's Consecrate Every Day: The Public Lives of Jewish place in Jewish life over the centuries has been given a· American Women, 1880-1980, by June Sochen (Al contemporary dimension by publications that seek to bany, N.Y.: SUNY Press, 1981). expand and enrich that role for our time. One such work is Blu Greenberg's On Women and . It is gratifying to note the large number of new books Judaifim, a timely and courageoµs ~n.alysis of thg ef and articles published about women's place in Jewish forts ofone woman to confront the relationship between history, and their changing roles and needs in Jewish contemporary feminism and traditional Judaism. Ex life today in the wake of 15 years of feminist activism. trapolating from her own experience as an Orthodox The most recent edition of The Jewish Woman, 1900- Jew, Ms. Greenberg urges that "every person, particu 1980, a bibliography compiled by Aviva Cantor, seems larly religious leaders, ought to search for ways to to contain as many pages as the number ofitems listed in absorb and integrate [the] basic claim that women are its previous edition a decade ago. An impressive array equal." of articles, pamphlets, periodicals and hooks of fiction The book's essays, written in different periods, find a and non-fiction, deals with topics ranging from "Jewish unifying theme in Ms. Greenberg's efforts to answer the Women in History/Herstory" to "Jewish Women in fundamental questions troubling committed J ewiish Poetry," the latter covering Jewish women writers in women in their relation to feminism. What elements of America, Israel and all parts of the world. In her intro Jewish tradition can women integrate and which ones duction Ms. Cantor happily remarks that she recorded must they reject? How and where ought pressure to be "twice as many listings for the past four years as for the applied so that tradition will neither discriminate preceding 76," and that the subject ofJewish women has against women nor close itself off from them? How do pervaded more and more literary forms. What troubles women assume greater responsibility to achieve equal her is that "serious historical studies ofJewish women membership in a holy community? Finally, what claims are still mostly authored by Jewish male academics," do women have on tradition and Halakhah today? Ms. though there is reason to believe that the growing Greenberg, who refers to herself as "a family-oriented number of women academics in Judaic studies and. transition woman" eager to achieve the feminist goals of studying in rabbinical schools will soon produce enough equality and first-class citizenship, addresses these is scholars to rectify the imbalance. sues from a perspective that uniquely combines a Jewish women have indeed become a focus of serious scholar's understanding of Jewish sources, a personal study, not one '.'for women only.'~ Dr. J acoh Rader Mar experience of a .w~rm ;ipd satisfyi~g J e,\tj~h w~y of life, cus, dean of American Jewish historians, has devoted and a deep sensitivity to the problems faced by contem his scholarly talents, honed by more than half a century porary Jewish feminists within the traditional struc of experience, to a two-volume work entitled The Amer ture ofJudaism. ican Jewish Woman, 1654-1980. In the narrative vol Turning to the traditional Jewish community to meet ume, Marcus attempts to redress the sins of omission feminism's challenges, she offers a basic program that is regarding women in the writing of American Jewish halakhically informed and at the same time mindful of history by including the stories of some 200 women the intellectual and emotional problems involved. She whose contributions and pioneering projects greatly notes that "by combining common sense and a sensitiv enriched American Jewish religious and organizational ity to contemporary needs with a desire to remain life. The companion documentary volume illuminates faithful to the Torah, rabbis in every generation suc the multifaceted roles of American Jewish women in ceeded in preserving a love for tradition and a sense of their own words, spanning over l,OOOpagesofmemoirs, its continuity." The Orthodox Rabbinate today should poems, biographical sketches, personal letters and continue the process in that spirit, Ms. Greenberg other writings. urges. Although Marcus's work enriches our understanding A different approach is taken by Dr. June Sochen in of these women, many of whom we neither "little note Consecrate Every Day: The Public Lives of Jewish 4 American Women. In her introduction she states that colleagues. Today, when the dual-career family is be "contrary to the popular view of Jewish American coming the norm, it is all the more vital that women be . women as being narrowly focused upon family, home, supported in their efforts to reconcile the competing and hearth - indeed, jealously guarding the home claims of family as the core value of Jewish life and the against outside invasion - Jewish American women drive to self-fulfillment. . have had rich public lives throughout the century," ·As women move beyond feminism to achieve a more Using the broadest definition of Jewish identifica equitable balance in the world they share with men-in tion, the author discusses women in the past 100 years marriage, family and work - publications like these who at some level "established a conscious connection assume growing importance. Despite the plethora, sev with Jewish themes." For example, she includes the eral important gaps still need to be filled. For example, author Edna Ferber, constantly reminded ofher Jewish as recent studies indicate, few Jewish history textbooks roots by the Christian community, as well as the anar offer any clue to the activities of women in the Jewish chist Emma Goldman, because she was "a Jewish community during various historical periods. Hebrew woman rebel who never forgot or abandoned her con· school texts and illustrations continue to ignore the nection with Judaism." Goldman's career was of course changing role of women in society, relegating young a far cry from the public life of most American Jewish girls exclusively to the kitchen and the lighting of can women who expressed themselves as volunteer activ dles. Even the importance of women's roles in their ists or as. "fearless .leaders in the early days of union traditional fields is often denigrated or omitted, while organizing," at a time when many of them were ex their new positions and roles in Jewish communal life as ploited workers in the gannent industry. scholars, teachers, rabbis and leaders are given short While union leaders like Rose Schneiderman, Fania shrift. · Cohen and Bessie Abramowitz fit neatly into what The growing number of research projects and publi · Professor Sochen calls "the mesh" between Jewish val cations focusing on Jewish women and their concerns is ues and the ingredients of American culture, as do such a step in the right direction. The publication of sociologi creative volunteer activists as Hannah SoEomon, Rebe cal studies, historical inquiries, controversial interpre kah Kohut and Henrietta Szold and their followers, the tations @d thoughtful inspirational essays supply the place of Judaism is not always clear for many of her factual resources and spiritual support so necessary to subjects. Yet, despite her overenthusiastic attempts to those Jewish women seeking to combine self-realization establish an often fuzzy Jewish connection, particularly with a commitment to family and community. The need among radical activists, Dr. Sochen does highlight the for consciousness-raising information and understand often overlooked role played by Jewish women in the ing in this area demands that we continue to encourage public arena. Moreover, she points to an area for careful "the writing of many books" about a major source of analysis by finding that "marriage and family removed Jewish energy that has for too long been "written out of [many women activists] from continued involvement." history." For the most part union leaders remained single, gain ing acceptance for their achievements by their male Gladys ·Rosen NEW PROGRAMS AND PUBLICATIONS ON THE JEWISH FAMILY AJC.Chapter Programming on the Family Jewi~h ~omen co-spon~ored_~forum in _ De.c~m ber on childcare for today's Jewis.h family, which The national activities of the William Petschek Na explored collaborative communal efforts to ad tional Jewish Family Center have stimulated a number dress the needs of children and working mothers. of local programs·in Jewish communities. Initiated by the AJC chapter offices, these activities have generally • The Portland chapter sponsored a four-part se taken the form of conferences, sponsored jointly by the ries on "TheJewish Family on the Contemporary major Jewish agencies in the community, to explore American Scene" in the Fall of 1982. Topics cov means of strengthening the family. These conferences ered included parenting, domestic family vio have in turn led to the creation of task forces to imple lence, intermarriage and the Jewish aged. ment new policies and programs to enhance Jewish family life and place the J e-wish family at the top of the • The St. Louis chapter joined some 25 other Jew Jewish agenda. Steven Bayme, Assistant National Di ish organizations in sponsoring "a celebration of rector of the AJC's Jewish Communal Affairs Depart- the Jewish family" in October, designed to show - men~, recently reported on a number of AJC chapter how the J eWish faith can strengthen and enhance , programs in this area during the latter half of 1982. the family. The program included workshops, exhibits on Jewish living, and special children's • The Atlanta chapter and the National Council of activities. The celebration was a project ofthe St. 5