Jewish students boycott heated debate

A controversial religious debate on campus Tuesday night stirred up mixed emotions in Oakland… A controversial religious debate on campus Tuesday night stirred up mixed emotions in Oakland this week.

The debate – “Why Jews Can’t Believe in Jesus” – attracted hundreds of students and scholars to hear Rabbi Shmuley Boteach face Dr. Michael Brown, who represented Jews for Jesus, the organization that sponsored the event.

Members of Jews for Jesus were scattered across campus Tuesday and Wednesday handing out pamphlets to students.

Critics of Jews for Jesus call it a Christian front, bent on converting as many Jewish people as possible.

A local representative of Jews for Jesus defended the organization.

“We are Jewish people that believe in Jesus, but we are similar to born-again Christians,” spokesman Garrett Smith said. “But terminologies are weak. We have a burden to tell our people, the Jewish people, about Jesus.”

Smith admitted, however, that probably half of the people handing out pamphlets on the streets of Oakland were not Jewish.

Students across campus Tuesday were upset by the group’s presence on campus.

In an e-mail to Jewish students, Shua Hoexter from the Chabad House, relayed opposition to Jews for Jesus.

“In the marketplace of ideas, everyone has a right to express his or her personal beliefs,” Hoexter said. “But we also believe in truth in advertising, which is where Jews for Jesus are not playing by the rules. They use deceptive and aggressive tactics to promote their message, dressing up Christian beliefs in Jewish garb. Many are not actually Jewish, but some, sadly, are.”

Smith said that campus organizations told Jewish students to avoid the Jews for Jesus.

“Jewish students won’t even entertain our ideas, they won’t even listen,” he said. “They are scared because their leaders are trying to control their thinking. It is fear mongering.”

When the debate finally occurred, it was intense from the start.

Boteach – at a disadvantage because so many Jewish people refused to come to the event – spoke with passion and fury.

“The Holocaust was due to evenings like tonight,” he said loudly. “Jews are made to feel spiritually inferior. We are a race punished for not believing in Jesus.”

Boteach was angry for most of the debate – even to the point of screaming fiercely at an audience member who interrupted him.

When the rabbi called Jews for Jesus an “abomination,” a man stood up in the audience and voiced his opposition. Boteach yelled loudly at the man, surprising the crowd.

Brown, a leader of the Messianic Jewish denomination, which believes in Jesus as the Messiah, argued in defense of Jews for Jesus.

“A lot of people who hear about Jews for Jesus think the name is an oxymoron,” he said. “But to all the Jewish in attendance, we’ve been robbed. Jesus is one of us and always has been. If Jesus is not the Messiah for Israel, he is the Messiah for no one.”

Brown, a former heroin user who is now an ordained minister, spent most of the night arguing for the divinity of Jesus. By the end, Boteach had had enough.

“They keep trying to convert us instead of respecting us like we have respected them,” Boteach said. “This is the essence of racism.”

Some local Jewish organizations boycotted the event, and much of the audience was partial to Jews for Jesus.

“Most of the people here are not traditionally Jewish, so there was a lot of cultural pressure,” said Jake, a Pitt student who declined to give his last name. “The table was slanted, and the rabbi knew he was going to lose this debate.”

Brown has written dozens of books, most notably his several volumes of “Answering Jewish Objections to Jesus.” He holds a doctorate in Near Eastern languages and literature.

Boteach hosts a radio talk show, writes weekly columns for the Jerusalem Post and has also published dozens of books.