Jewish Evangelism in Latin America:
Understanding the Historical Background
and Present Day Challenges
By Rev. David Sedaca, Vice President Chosen People Ministries, LCJE Latin America Coordinator
The purpose of this article is to introduce what is the present day reality of Jewish evangelism in Latin America, starting with a brief historical overview, and then discussing the problems facing Jewish evangelism, and concluding with could be some answers to solving these problems.
Historical background
Latin America benefited from the influx of Jewish people, dating back to the early Spanish conquest of the New World to the present. For almost 1,000 years Spanish Jewry became the leading force of Judaism in the Diaspora, to the point that the period between the raise of Islam to 1492 is named the Golden Age of Judaism. During this Golden Age, the different kingdoms in the Iberian Peninsula, present day Spain and Portugal, were then hosts to the largest number of Jewish people, allowing for the development of Jewish art, philosophy, medicine and theology whose influence has molded Judaism to the present. The Jewish people of the Iberian Peninsula are known as Sephradim, name derived from Sephar, the biblical name for Spain. Tragically, this Golden age came to an abrupt end with the Decree of Expulsion of 1492, in which the Catholic Kings, Ferdinand of Castilla and Isabelle of Aragon, forced all Jews within the now unified Catholic kingdoms of Spain to either convert to Christianity of be expelled, leaving all possessions behind. Many left for other lands around the Mediterranean and extending all the way to the Middle East to modern day, Iran and Iraq. These people make up Sephardic Judaism.
Many Jews chose to be part of the Spanish and Portuguese conquest of the New World, and these, while outwardly converts to Catholicism, retained Jewish traditions and culture; they were called Marranos, literally "pigs" since eating pork was the proof of their "genuine" conversion to Christianity. They settled mainly in the territories of Nueva Leon, now Mexico, Nueva Granada, now Colombia and Venezuela, and Alto Peru, present day Peru and Ecuador. But as centuries went by they assimilated into the Spanish culture of the New World and their presence was diluted to the point of loosing their Jewish identity and ultimately almost disappearing.
Today there are almost one million Jews spread out among 27 Latin American countries. Many settled there as consequence of the persecutions beginning with the Russian pogroms of 1862 and after the Holocaust of World War II. By far the largest number settled in Argentina, whose government passed a law in 1864 by which any Jewish person immigrating to Argentina was given 40 acres of land. Thousands European Jews, especially those escaping the Russian pogroms, settled in the Argentine farmlands, to the point that Argentine Jewry was until recently the fourth largest Jewish community in the world. A smaller number settled in Brazil after the war, and a noticeable number also settled in Mexico, and albeit small, there is a Jewish presence in every Latin American country.
Early Jewish evangelism
Jewish evangelism came first to Argentina as result of the large British population, many of which were Plymouth Brethren, who have a firm believe in God's plan for Israel. Later on, the US Southern Baptist assisted in the establishment of many missionary centers throughout the country. None of the many evangelical churches, especially those in Buenos Aires, was oblivious to the need to reach the Jewish people with the Gospel, and as early as 1905 there was a concerted effort among evangelicals to reach the Jews for Christ. Yet Jewish evangelism as such came to Argentina as result of the work of Rev. Arthur Glass, who in 1932 was sent by the Hebrew Christian Alliance of America - now the Messianic Jewish Alliance of America - with the specific task of establishing the first Hebrew Christian Church in Buenos Aires, event that took place in 1936. One of the founding members was a young Jewish medical student, Victor Sedaca, my father, who for the next 40 years led Jewish evangelism in Latin America, and became a leader of the International Hebrew Christian Alliance. Today there are at least 13 different Jewish congregations, fellowships, and missionary outreaches throughout Argentina.
Jewish evangelism in other countries came as consequence of efforts from different evangelical churches. In Brazil, different missionary organizations, mainly from the United States, have established missionary outreaches in Sao Paulo, Rio the Janeiro, and Porto Alegre, and there are various messianic Jewish ministries in other major cities. There has also been a powerful and influential Jewish community in Uruguay, which was a major banking center. Several Jewish missions began work in Uruguay in the mid 1950's.
The impact of Modern Day Messianic Judaism in Latin America
In the last 10 years in Latin America, there has been an explosion of the so-called Messianic movement. For reasons beyond the scope of this paper, many evangelicals in Latin American have taken the Messianic movement as another way of expressing their relationship with God. Yet, while this should bring an encouraging note to Jewish evangelism, it has had, in fact, a negative effect on Jewish outreach. The four major problems created by the raise of the Messianic movement in Latin America can be summarized as follows:
I. Lack of Credibility
Many leaders advocating and establishing Messianic Jewish congregations are not Jewish, or claim that their Jewishness was divinely "revealed" to them recently. A corollary of this is that they lack validity and genuineness, fact that is evident to both the Christian and the Jewish communities. Regrettably, many well founded and genuine Jewish missions, congregations and ministries are being overshadowed by these newly established and very popular, albeit bogus, "messianic" congregations. Many evangelical churches that in the past had embraced Jewish evangelism, distance themselves from any form of Jewish ministries because of the excesses they now see. Likewise, it is hard to reach out to the Jewish community when that community perceives messianic Jews as someone "posing" as being Jewish, perception not entirely false.
II. Heresies
Since many of these messianic leaders are not Jewish, their understanding of messianic Judaism is limited, and what they understand to be genuinely Jewish becomes a parody and mockery of genuine Jewish practices and customs. As consequence, biblically sound evangelical churches do not want to have anything to do with what they perceive as messianic Judaism or Jewish evangelism. What credibility Jewish missions had in the past, now has been severely damaged by false expressions of Messianic Judaism. I have personally had to confront several so called "messianic rabbis:" in Argentina Acosta and Saucedo, Ishmael Portillo in Mexico, Julio Dan in Paraguay and Daniel Hernandez, Cuban by birth now residing in the USA. Most of them have changed their names to sound Jewish, and have begun "Yeshivas" for their gentile followers. In most cases they just became acquainted with messianic Judaism over the past few years, yet they place themselves as leaders of their "Messianic Jewish Synagogues." I had to question them for building "Arks of the Covenant" in their synagogues, dressing up their elders in priestly garments, or for wearing tallits out of place. Most of these practices are implemented without regard for Jewish practices and even making a mockery of true Jewish traditions. To name just a few of these heresies, many claim to be the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel or have adopted what has been defined as the "Two Houses Heresy" or "Ephraimite Heresy."
III. "Imported" Divisions
Modern day Messianic Judaism would have never taken place in Latin America had not been for the influence of the American Messianic movement. What should have had a positive impact; it has in fact been a detrimental factor. Well intended messianic organizations, such as the Messianic Jewish Alliance of America and the Union of Messianic Jewish Congregations, had invited people from Latin America to their conferences; then, these persons carried back with them what they briefly saw at these gatherings. Acting more on enthusiasm than on knowledge, they construed what they perceived as messianic Judaism and upon these assumptions they build their own brand of messianic Judaism. Regrettably, there had been divisions among different messianic Jewish organizations in the USA, and when leaders of American messianic organizations visited Latin American countries, they carried their differences with them. Therefore, when one American messianic leader visited someone in Latin America who had attended their particular conference in the USA, he would not visit or have fellowship with another in the same country that had a relation with a different American organization. The consequence of this was that whatever differences might have been between American organizations, now these spilled over to their contacts in Latin America. This is also the case with workers of American Jewish missions. A case in point, in a visit to Sao Paolo Brazil, a local representative of American Jewish missions was not allowed to attend my meeting because a missionary from another American Jewish mission was going to be there. Although there were no differences between them in the past, now his head office made him know that he could no longer have fellowship with his colleague working with another mission.
IV. Judaizing Christians
While it is true that many Latin American people might be descendents of XV century Jewish converts, it is also a fact that many messianic leaders in Latin America overstate the case in order to "prove" their Jewish ancestry. This issue is aggravated when, in order to attract followers to their respective messianic Jewish synagogues, they tell almost every one that they are probably Jewish. I was sharing the microphone of a radio talk show in Bogota, Colombia, with a local messianic leader, and when people called in, this "messianic rabbi" would ask the caller what his last name was. Then, inevitably, he would tell each caller that his last name was probably Jewish. Subsequently, he would encourage them to come back to their "Jewish roots" by keeping Shabbat, eating kosher, and affiliating to his messianic Jewish congregation. Needless to say, such comments made our Christian hosts very uncomfortable, because the reason why I had been invited was to share with the churches in Colombia on how to reach the Jewish for Christ, not to pull out "would be Jews" from their local churches. I stressed then what I strongly believe, that it is wonderful for gentile Christians to identify WITH Israel, but it is wrong to identify AS Israel.
In spite of obstacles
In spite of these obstacles, I believe that Latin America is fertile ground for Jewish evangelism. There are almost one million Jews in Latin America who need to know Yeshua as their Messiah and Savior. According to the World Jewish Congress, in 2004 the Latin American Jewish population was as follows: Argentina 415,874, Brazil 95,125, Mexico 53,101, Uruguay 30,743, Venezuela 25,375, Chile 20,906, and all others 7,649. But in order to effectively reach the Latin American Jews for Christ there has to be some changes. It is my humble opinion that in order to accomplish the task of reaching the Jewish communities we must implement the following principles.
I. Indigenization of Jewish missions
There are sufficient numbers of Jewish believers in Latin America as to be able to carry the work of reaching the Jewish people in their own countries. There are political, social, cultural and economic barriers that impede the effectiveness of evangelization when this work is carried by foreign missionaries. I strongly believe that there was a time when foreign mission had a role to play, yet, at the present time Jewish missions in different countries should be carried out by national Jewish believers who know their local Jewish community because they are part of such community. Because of the large number and similar culture, there can be missionaries from Argentina working in neighboring countries like Uruguay and Chile, but this is different from having a missionary from the USA. The work in Latin America can be supported and encouraged from the USA and England, who historically have been the "sending" countries, but the work itself should be carried by national Jewish believers.
II. Congregational Planting
I believe that effective Jewish evangelism can be best carried out as result of planting messianic Jewish congregations. Reaching out is part of any church, I therefore believe that messianic Jewish congregations, which are New Testament churches with a Jewish culture, provide a safe platform from where to reach out to the Jewish community. In light of what I have presented as a problem, needless to say these congregations have to be genuine, both in their orthodoxy as in their orthopraxis. Jewish believers in Yeshua expressing their faith within a Jewish context and worshiping in a Jewish style, provide the best means to reach other Jewish people with the Gospel.
III. Cooperation, not Patronizing
Messianic Judaism and Jewish missions evolved in different places at different times. In the XIX century, Jewish missions came from England and Scotland, later on, Messianic Judaism grew from Jewish believers in the USA, and at each stage Jewish evangelism had its unique character. Jewish evangelism in Latin America has yet to acquire maturity; for this reason it needs to rely on the experience and resources that can be provided from the USA and Europe. Latin American messianic Jewish leaders need the cooperation expressed through fluid contacts and interaction with their fellow leaders in the USA and Europe. These can provide materials, fellowship and training, as long as they respect the Latin American idiosyncrasy and philosophy of ministry. This is what I call genuine cooperation.
IV. Interpreting Jewish evangelism to the Evangelical churches
In light of what has been incorrectly interpreted as messianic Judaism, the Latin American evangelical churches need to be reintroduced to Jewish evangelism through bona fide Jewish missions and messianic Jewish congregations. The evangelical churches in Latin America are among the fastest growing in the world today, and in most cases they have expressed genuine love for Israel and its people. If they are shown what is biblically sound messianic Judaism and Jewish missions, they will be and admirable force in favor of Jewish evangelism. Jewish missions and messianic Jewish congregation need to clearly show that they are part of the church, not a different entity. In many cases it has been the messianic congregations that have rebuilt, if not in words but through their emphases, the middle wall of partition that the Messiah broke down. Evangelism is the work of every church, and Jewish evangelism should be part of the church's agenda. But it needs patience and dedication to demonstrate in love this need to the churches. I look back at the time when Latin American evangelical churches wholeheartedly embraced Jewish missions, yet, due to the aforementioned reasons such enthusiasm grew cold. It is time to brake down again the middle wall of partition and share with love the need to reach the Jews for Christ with the evangelical churches.
Today, traditional Rabbis from Argentina can be found in the most popular synagogues in New York City, Boston or Montreal. This is a sample of how influential and important the Latin American Jewish community is. It is my prayer and my heart's desire that they will also come to the saving knowledge of Yeshua as their Messiah and Savior.
David Sedaca
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