The Mayor of
Dr. Motti Brill, the Mayor of Arad, is defending
his outrageous decision to hold a trip for New Immigrants, while publicly
violating the Sabbath, to a concert full of unmistakable Missionary
Characteristics in the Latrun Monastery. The Chairman of “Yad L’Achim”, the
honorable Rabbi Shalom Dov Liefschitz, replied in a letter: “You better listen
to the voices in your town, who thoroughly oppose the Missionary Activity, and
remember that the Jewish People suffered persecutions in the past from people
in whose footsteps the Missionaries follow. ‘The wicked, what does he say? What
is this?’”
The firm action that “Yad L’Achim”, the
Organization that stands in the front line of the struggle against the Mission,
took in view of the intent to hold, during the holy “Shabbat Shmini”, a trip
for New Immigrants from the former USSR who are Arad residents, to a Missionary
concert in the Latrun Monastery – enraged the Mayor, Dr. Motti Brill, who, in
reply to the letter from the Chairman of “Yad L’Achim”, the honorable Rabbi
Shalom Dov Liefschitz, unleashed his tongue, in a rude, insolent, and abusive
letter, out of which only a mere few sentences could be printed in the
“Hamodia” Newspaper.
In his letter, the Mayor asks impudently: “Who
are you to decide it’s against God’s will?” He even mustered the courage, and
stated with contempt: “I, too, attend concerts of this sort, and perhaps you
should listen to diverse music too, in order to better understand the world we
live in.”
In his outrageous words, the Mayor of Arad
continued to write: “I live in a
But a man like the Chairman of “Yad L’Achim” will
not be dissuaded, not even by words as insolent and outrageous as these. In the
response that the honorable Rabbi Shalom Dov Liefschitz sent, he clarifies to
the Mayor of Arad that despite the attempt to depict Missionary Activity in his
town as “Multiculturalism”, it is a destructive act, designed for the sole
purpose of converting Jews to the Christian religion.
“The New Immigrants from the former
And indeed, a special letter dealing with this
very subject, which was sent to the Chairman of “Yad
L’Achim” from the Ministry of Absorption confirms and validates these concerns.
“It is the instruction of the Ministry of Absorption,” states the letter signed
by the Director of the
In reference to the matter of the Messianic Jews,
who operate undisturbed, wreaking havoc with innocent Jewish souls, while the
Orthodox Community repeatedly protests, Rabbi Shalom Dov Liefschitz expresses
amazement at the Mayor pretending to depict them as “people who disturb no
one.” “Has it eluded you that they are Missionaries?! Can you not see that the
social activity they are offering the community has but one purpose –
converting Jews to the Christian religion! Can we continue with our daily
routine when, in the midst of a Jewish town, Missionary Activity is taking
place openly, even if it’s done with a sweet tongue and a displayed amiability,
it is but a “honey trap”, which the Missionaries are setting for the residents
of Arad, New Immigrants and veterans alike.”
The Chairman of “Yad L’Achim” attaches to his
letter the Interreligious Treaty that was recently signed by Leaders from the
Jewish and the Christian world. This Treaty states that all activity of
preaching and persuasion for religious conversion will not be allowed, but the
only ones who refused to sign the Treaty are the members of the Messianic
Community.
“We must emphasize,” writes Rabbi Liefschitz,
“that there is great opposition in
As an incidental remark, the
Chairman of “Yad L’Achim” states, in response to the Mayor’s cynical remark
about Bnei-Brak, that, “I live in Ramat Gan, not in Bnei-Brak; Bnei-Brak is a
holy city, and I hope Arad will be too.” He expresses hope before the Mayor
that, “you will internalize our words, and on the days of the Passover,
contemplate well on the Heritage of the Generations, which you, as we, are an
offspring of that same Jewish Nation who knew so much suffering, and it’s our
duty to rescue Jews from the traps that are being set for them.”
As a man who practices “All Jews are responsible
for one another”, towards any Jew, wherever he may be, the honorable Rabbi
Shalom Dov Liefschitz relinquished his pride, and along with his letter sends
an elegant Shmura Matza, and quotes the words of the Holy book of the Zohar
that this is “a bread of Faith.”