The missionary group Jews for Jesus is moving its London office to Hendon, into the heart of one of the most populated Jewish areas.
It has taken a shop opposite the tube station, which lies close to the local branch of Aish, the Jewish young adults’ organisation.
Jews for Jesus UK director Julia Pascoe said that while an opening date had not yet been set, it would be “by Chanucah”.
The group’s tactics have regularly been criticised by Jewish leaders and only this year Reform Senior Rabbi Laura Janner-Klausner said she was disgusted by a Jews for Jesus promotional video showing Jesus carrying a cross in Auschwitz.
Aish executive director Rabbi Naftali Schiff said, “When this organisation opens its doors in Hendon, they will receive the coldest possible reception from a community that, for the most part, is prouder and more knowledgeable than it has ever been. Just last Shabbat, the streets were flowing with Jews of all ages participating in Shabbat UK.”
Rabbi Schiff added, “Frankly, I think they’re destined for failure but we will work with senior rabbis and others in the local community to provide every possible opportunity and resource for learning about how deeply flawed the theology of these missionaries is, so that no amount of pestering or misinformation can lead a local Jewish person astray.”
Hendon United Synagogue’s Rabbi Mordechai Ginsbury said: “They are not a welcome presence and we are thinking carefully about how we can ensure that vulnerable Jews will not be influenced them.”
Rabbi Steven Katz, of Hendon Reform Synagogue, said: “I would like to think that the Jewish community in Hendon is strong enough to resist any overtures. I can’t imagine that any of our congregants will be seduced by their proselytising and impression somehow that they are part of Judaism.”
Rabbi Katz said that he was “surprised” to see Jews for Jesus back on the high street. When they closed their shop along the prominent Finchley Road in Swiss Cottage, he thought that was “a prelude to their disappearance”.
The group, in fact, moved to a location in Kentish Town several miles from Hendon.
Ms Pascoe said, “We are excited to be back in the area we felt most comfortable for years.
“We are hoping to serve the local community by providing high quality Judaica items, books of a spiritual nature and a place to have a good conversation if desired. Our signage clearly states who we are and what we believe which provides an ethical framework for engaging further.”
