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Jewish Evangelism

Answered by Rabbi Yaakov MenkenFurther responses from Rabbi Eliahu Levenson

Question

Someone has brought it to my attention that many Jews are not as evangelistic as Christians tend to be. Is this true? If it is true then I would really like to know why. Is it because Jews do not care about other people’s beliefs?

Answer

On the contrary, we do believe that every human being should follow the Seven Laws given to Noah when he emerged from the Ark. What we do not believe is that every person should become a Jew. And in an era when most Jews are not doing what the Jews are supposed to do, what we call outreach is, in actuality, in-reach to Jews who have strayed. For more information, please read this article.

Follow-up question

Question

If you don’t believe every person should become a Jew, then why do you accept converts? and how can you determine who should become a Jew and who should just follow the Seven Laws given to Noah? Thanks

Answer

Judaism is a set of strict and detailed laws which govern every aspect of a person’s life. G-d will judge each Jew in accordance with formulae based upon these laws.

From this one may derive that it is too risky to convert to Judaism if the convert will not try scrupulously to obey ALL of Jewish law. That said one can understand why Jewish conversion is not recommended for most, but would be acceptable for some.

Regards, Eliahu Levenson