Yad L'Achim
Encyclopedia
Yad L'Achim is an Orthodox Jewish organization operating in Israel
focusing on outreach, counter-missionary
and anti-religious intermarriage activity. Yad L'Achim is made up of both paid staff, and volunteers, and is largely supported by donations both from Israel and the diaspora.
Yad L’Achim has other departments as well, including one devoted to the spiritual absorption of immigrants from the Commonwealth of Independent States
, and one that helps register children in religious schools".
and holy days.
opposition to efforts to convert Jews to Christianity or to accepting Jesus
as savior. Yad L'Achim claims that over 100 missionary congregations and cults are currently active in Israel. The Israel government cooperates to some degree with Yad L'Achim in discouraging proselytizing, which is technically legal unless a minor is targeted without parental consent.
Yad L'Achim has also demanded that Pope Benedict XVI
act to reveal the “hidden Jewish children
” of the Holocaust.
Yad L'Achim claims to rescue Jewish women from marriages with Arab and/or Muslim men or other non-Jews. Yad L'Achim claims to get over 1,000 reports of women in marriages to foreign workers, and Arabs a year. Yad L'Achim has performed paramilitary rescue operations to remove Jewish women from non-Jewish husbands and celebrates the rescued women on their website.
. These complaints, as well as slow response time by Israeli authorities, is a continued matter of concern to the U.S. State Department, as described in their Annual Report on International Religious Freedom for 1999: Israel, and repeatedly in the State Department's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor's annual International Religious Freedom Report, most recently in the 2009 report.
Jehovah's Witnesses
filed over 120 complaints about instances of harassment by these groups during 1998 and 1999, yet there have been no indictments or prosecutions. At the same time, a member of the Jehovah's Witness was arrested and charged with "offending religious sentiment" for allegedly distributing religious literature at Tel Aviv's central bus station on March 1, 1999. The complainant was Yad L'achim member. The Jehovah's Witness claimed he was being singled out for prosecution because he had filed five complaints against Yad L'achim.
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
focusing on outreach, counter-missionary
Counter-Missionary
A number of, particularly Christian and Muslim, religious groups are involved in proselytization of Jews, attempts to recruit, or "missionize" Jews to abandon Judaism...
and anti-religious intermarriage activity. Yad L'Achim is made up of both paid staff, and volunteers, and is largely supported by donations both from Israel and the diaspora.
History
Yad L'Achim was formed in 1950 with the stated goal of to "help new immigrants to the newly born country, and to help them find a suitable religious framework. Over time the founders were disturbed by emerging missionary efforts in the new State, and then later by assimilation. It then turned a major part of its activities to combating these two issues."Yad L’Achim has other departments as well, including one devoted to the spiritual absorption of immigrants from the Commonwealth of Independent States
CIS
CIS usually refers to the Commonwealth of Independent States, a modern political entity consisting of eleven former Soviet Union republics.The acronym CIS may also refer to:-Organizations:...
, and one that helps register children in religious schools".
Beliefs
Yad L'Achim adheres to the strictures and stringencies of Haredi Judaism. Haredi Jews are known for focusing on such issues as adherence to religious law, non-assimilation, modesty of dress, and keeping ShabbatShabbat
Shabbat is the seventh day of the Jewish week and a day of rest in Judaism. Shabbat is observed from a few minutes before sunset on Friday evening until a few minutes after when one would expect to be able to see three stars in the sky on Saturday night. The exact times, therefore, differ from...
and holy days.
Counter-Missionary Activity
Yad L'Achim's main focus is counter-missionaryCounter-Missionary
A number of, particularly Christian and Muslim, religious groups are involved in proselytization of Jews, attempts to recruit, or "missionize" Jews to abandon Judaism...
opposition to efforts to convert Jews to Christianity or to accepting Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
as savior. Yad L'Achim claims that over 100 missionary congregations and cults are currently active in Israel. The Israel government cooperates to some degree with Yad L'Achim in discouraging proselytizing, which is technically legal unless a minor is targeted without parental consent.
Yad L'Achim has also demanded that Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI
Benedict XVI is the 265th and current Pope, by virtue of his office of Bishop of Rome, the Sovereign of the Vatican City State and the leader of the Catholic Church as well as the other 22 sui iuris Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with the Holy See...
act to reveal the “hidden Jewish children
Jewish orphans controversy
The Jewish orphans controversy was a legal dispute that occurred after the Second World War when the Holy See under Pope Pius XII issued instructions that Catholic institutions and families should keep baptized Jewish children in their ranks after they had been rescued from a likely deportation to...
” of the Holocaust.
Opposition to Arab-Jewish marriages
Yad L'Achim website states: "The Jewish soul is a precious, all-too-rare resource, and we are not prepared to give up on even a single one. That’s why we fight with such intensity for both the Russian Jewish immigrant who has become a regular at the missionary center in Afula and the Jewish woman who is married to an Arab."Yad L'Achim claims to rescue Jewish women from marriages with Arab and/or Muslim men or other non-Jews. Yad L'Achim claims to get over 1,000 reports of women in marriages to foreign workers, and Arabs a year. Yad L'Achim has performed paramilitary rescue operations to remove Jewish women from non-Jewish husbands and celebrates the rescued women on their website.
Harassment of Christians in Israel
Christians in Israel have repeatedly complained of being persecuted, harassed, threatened and attacked by Yad L'Achim and a similar group, Lev L'AchimLev L'Achim
Lev L'Achim or P'eylim Lev L'Achim is an Orthodox Jewish organization operating in Israel. It follows Orthodox Judaism, and works to move students from secular Israeli schools to schools based on the Torah and religious teachings. It sends out senior yeshiva and kollel students to recruit Israeli...
. These complaints, as well as slow response time by Israeli authorities, is a continued matter of concern to the U.S. State Department, as described in their Annual Report on International Religious Freedom for 1999: Israel, and repeatedly in the State Department's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor's annual International Religious Freedom Report, most recently in the 2009 report.
Jehovah's Witnesses
Jehovah's Witnesses
Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The religion reports worldwide membership of over 7 million adherents involved in evangelism, convention attendance of over 12 million, and annual...
filed over 120 complaints about instances of harassment by these groups during 1998 and 1999, yet there have been no indictments or prosecutions. At the same time, a member of the Jehovah's Witness was arrested and charged with "offending religious sentiment" for allegedly distributing religious literature at Tel Aviv's central bus station on March 1, 1999. The complainant was Yad L'achim member. The Jehovah's Witness claimed he was being singled out for prosecution because he had filed five complaints against Yad L'achim.
External links
- Yad L'Achim's homepage.
- Charity Navigator's page on Yad L'Achim