By COLlive reporter
Our report Wednesday night that Christian missionary activists are once again hanging out with Jewish kids in Lefferts Park in Crown Heights has caused panic and concern.
We decided to send our photographer Yossi Percia to find out if they came back on Thursday and what reaction they would get.
Sure enough, we found the young missionaries in the park, spending the day with local children, as well as a few concerned parents. One of them, Avraham Berkowitz, was engaged in a conversation with them.
“They made it very clear what their goals are,” he told COLlive.com. “They are a group of 18 year olds from Tennessee who came here to attract children with recreational activities and get them to come to church.”
The Christian volunteers told him they offer children to write and sing about their “savior.”
“It seems like they were not trained to differentiate between Jewish and non-Jewish children,” the Lubavitch father of four said. “I explained to them there was no place for this in our community and what they were doing was extremely offensive.”
Many Chassidic parents were not sending their children to the park because of their presence, the resident told the group.
“We do not proselytize to Christians and it’s not right that you are doing it to us. Especially because you are reaching children without the consent of their parents,” he said.
They answered that they were sent by a summer faith visitation program associated with The Abundant Life Church.
The pastor of the Brooklyn branch of Abundant Life Church is Karim Camara, the New York State Assemblyman who represents Crown Heights and who received majority of the Jewish vote in recent elections.
The Lubavitcher, who happens to be involved in community affairs, immediately called Camara to clarify the situation.
He said Camara was deeply sorry for offending his constituency in the Jewish community in Crown Heights and that the volunteers were told to only engage Christians.
He said the missionaries will be reassigned to Rochester Park starting tomorrow, where most children will be Christian.
Berkowitz concluded, “maybe we could arrange for frum Chassidishe volunteers to organize constructive, Jewish activities for our children, in separate groups of boys and girls, in the park…”
kids must be supervised all the time in the park or going to school or to the supermarket they are just kids and cant protect them self !!!!!!
Good job COL, very very nice!
Thank you Karim Camara for improving the situation.
Let’s ‘get even’ with these missionaries and teach them ‘The 7 Noahide Laws.’
Any person interested in real world peace cannot preach their own brand of religion because it’s limited in scope. Accepting or rejecting ‘The 7 Noahide Laws’ is a true test of their sincerity.
Where is Shea Hecht!? Let the cult busting begin!!!!!!
we should open a free sports league for children to enjoy themselves instead of just hanging around with the goyim and to those who say that no bochurim would want to do it there are a bunch of counselors in the local day camps who could take care of it
Seriously? Mostly Christian…its still in our neighborhood. My kids play as do many others….stay out of our community
He did the right thing to dig for the information and was absolutly correct to call the organizer(s) to let them know what the jewish community is sensitive to and he got results! the other thing is though, this is a very positive activity for these young 18 year olds and I’m sure they are takeing notes from lehavdil the work of shluchim and they are trying to keep kids busy with positive activities and out of trouble which is great the fact that they are moved to another park to target the “right” crowd is great and we have… Read more »
Too many arguments are caused by these articles!! We were better off before hearing about the missionaries!!
Collive commenters, please take a moment before you write your comment to see if it will be truly beneficial to everyone else. Do we really want to hear all your opinions on anti-semitism? I personally would rather not read these comments anymore because I always expect good, caring comments and instead what I get is “cyber-arguments” Spare us the harm. Have a heart. Sincerely, Menachem Mendel C.
The point is that a Mexican babysitter won’t keep children away from missionaries. In fact, they may take them there.
Mexicans or whatever babysitters are human beings..your comments are so full of anti connotations..they are not dogs who are merely useful to clean your house..of course in every group of people there are ones who care and ones who do not..take a lesson..they are not cleaning children’s souls..what an outrageous statement to make. It is the parent who needs to teach the child , not to talk to strangers, to walk away, it is the parent who needs to tell the nanny send the stranger walking ..it is afterall the parent’s responsibility to lay down the rules…many children have been… Read more »
It is illegal for adults to be in childrens parks without children supervision. I’m not joking. Check it out, adults get tickets for sitting in a childrens park eating doughnuts…..
So, one day we are scared of abusers, and we don’t want strangers, even frum ones near our kids. The next day we are scared of missionaries, and we want perfect strangers to hang out with a bunch of kids….
I go to this park and half the kids are their with Mexican or whatever babysitters who don’t speak English and why would they care about missionaries talking or paying attention to your kids. Wake up mothers. Chinuch for our kids by goyim. I totally understand getting help to clean your house but not your child’s soul
LOL!!!
I was wondering what that was about!
Can u imagine if they would attempt this in williamsburg the Chassidiche community wouldn’t put up with it for even a second!
Well next time when one of our own runs for office, Mendy Raitport, the community and the community council should support him. And Camara voted for g marriage in New York
“maybe, aside from Merkos Shlichus, we should get frum Chassidishe boys and girls to hang out… in the park…”
One of the rules on the park behavior is that adults are not allowed to be in the park without bringing a child.
This prevents all types of predators from harming our children!! We should report them, and they will get a summons.
If they are over 18 years old then they can not be in certain parts of a City park unless they are accompained by a child
easier said then done, which bochur wants to spend his vacation in crown heights, everyone wants to go somewhere exciting.
unless there was something else enticing them to stay….
Everyone has an opinion, but no one is willing to actually do the work. Why doesn’t some frum yid bring arts and crafts materials to the park to attract the frum kinder? Why doesn’t someone offer to sit in the park and watch for strangers? Why doesn’t someone offer to watch their friend’s children so they don’t have to play unsupervised? Everyone has something to say, but no one wants to actually do anything.
Boruch Hashem, if not for that convenient blurring of certain parts of the photo, I would have been oiver on the serious issur of histaklus.
Thank you, COL, for your continuous sensitivity, and for always know where the line is. You keep us all informed, but holy!
There are 2 problems with the scenario:
1. the prostelyting park
2. strangers interacting with children without the parents’ consent
” The Lubavitcher concluded, “maybe, aside from Merkos Shlichus, we should get frum Chassidishe boys and girls to hang out with our children in the park…” — there is still problem #2, so if done it needs to be thought through how to do it in a safe way… an organized way…. maybe register kids for classes?
There is also frum people who go Rochester park, ohr menachem school. I guess they’ll just have to be careful.
look how easily the issue was resolved with chochma as opposed to demonstrations etc
We should learn from Boro Park that kids should NEVER go alone to parks!
Chassidishe boys and girls shouldn’t be hanging around in parks. Or they have seder, or they are on Mivzoim (or a necessary errand).
If the children have Lubavitcher parents or babysitters let them “hang around” in the parks with the kids:)
A Big Yasher Koach to the person who took the initiative
to check out who this group is and by a simple phone call is putting a stop to it.
Yesterday (Thursday) at 11am I saw a burgundy Minivan with a Nebraska (?) plate there was a few adults with blue T-shirts saying “J… the Rock of the Jews” One guy came out of the minivan to be photographed by his fellow on the corner of 770 & Kingston. They continued driving on the service lane and very slowly stopped at almost every building – JCM, Kolle Chabad, Shluchim office, Hadar… etc I believe their plan is bigger than just “sent by a summer faith visitation program associated with The Abundant Life Church” Let’s keep our eyes open and eventually… Read more »
The Lubavitcher concluded, “maybe, aside from Merkos Shlichus, we should get frum Chassidishe boys and girls to hang out with our children in the park…”
The idea would be great for the kids, and it might even help resolve the shidduch crisis…
And aside from Merkos Shlichus and mivtzoyim, we should get frum Chassidishe bochurim and girls to hang out with Lubavitch boys & girls in Crown Heights who don’t have a mother or father or from divorced homes. There’s PLENTY of mivtzoyim to be done in OUR neighborhood alone without even paying for a subway ride! Perhaps, then that would save one neshama from going away from Yiddishkeit. It’s a start!
Maybe you should just get people without children out of the park..we have nothing to prove, our children are at the park to play..not to be cultivated into a foreign society..
Maybe the parents should look after their kids not stranger bochurim and girls
and besides there are Jewsih kids that go to all the parks in the neighborhood
the camps and all parents should speak to kids about this
besides that they are missionaries-
THEY ARE ALSO STRANGERS
maybe parents should get some brains in their thick heads, and stop sending kids to parks unsupervised……………What will it take …………….the uchniyus and gashmiyus lives of children are in DANGER
Who do you think bochurim are?
your babysitters? Get some other losers to sit the whole day in the park taking care of your babys.
Chutspa!!
CArim should be ashamed of himself!!! AS if he doesn’t know there are many Jewish kids there???
Brilliant! So simple and obvious yet the first time I am hearing such a practical solution.
GREAT POINT: The Lubavitcher concluded, “maybe, aside from Merkos Shlichus, we should get frum Chassidishe boys and girls to hang out with our children in the park…”