By Gary Rotto
SAN DIEGO — Imagine a resort for evangelicals. Imagine a theme park like setting encompassing 18 acres a Jewish World Outreach Pavilion, attractions named Wings over Israel, March of Prophecy, and Walk Through the Bible, along with “the Wailing Wall and Plaza” and a training center for evangelist outreach to Jews.
This is the avowed vision of televangelist Morris Cerullo. If the evangelical minister has his way, the former site of the Mission Valley Resort on Hotel Circle South just west of state route 163 will be the site of this theme park for converting the Jews.
Such a proposal has been put before the Mission Valley Community Planning Group and may end up before the San Diego City Council for approval.
Morris Cerullo is the evangelist who has produced deceptively entitled films called “Massada…Movement to Freedom” and “Never Again.” In 1976, Cerullo’s ministries purchased airtime on Rosh Hashanah in 250 US media markets.1
The same thing happened in 2000 when Cerullo produced and aired a movie entitled “The Rabbi.” The Rabbi in this movie is a self-described “Messianic Jew” who hails from an Orthodox family. Jewish publications were duped into accepting his advertisements for the airing of “The Rabbi” through innocuous language in his ads.2
The website for his Morris Cerullo World Evangelism contains a mission statement with the fifth bullet point of “Present the witness that Jesus is the Messiah to every Jew.”3 His ministry boasts of mass mailings to convert Israelis to Christianity beginning in 1968 and establishing a School of Ministry in Israel in the 1990’s.4
The presentation on behalf of establishing Morris Cerullo Legacy Center does not overtly discuss a plan for proselytizing to the Jewish community. But both his past actions as well as the wording on his ministries’ website are clear. This international center would be hub of activity targeting the Jewish community.
The Mission Valley Community Planning Group next meetings on Wednesday, February 3rd at noon in the Mission Valley Library in the IKEA/Costco shopping center (2123 Fenton Pkwy, San Diego, CA 92108) . This meeting is open to the public and public comment is accepted.
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1 ”’Masada’ Film Cloaks Nationwide Drive to Convert Jews, Jcrc Warns”, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, September 251, 1976.
2 Julie Wiener, “Missionaries dupe Jewish newspapers across country”, JWeekly,com, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, March 31, 2000.
3 “Mission Statement”, http://www.mcwe.com/mission_statement.php, accessed January 25, 2016.
4 “Jewish World Outreach”, http://www.mcwe.com/ministry_details.php?id=6, accessedJanuary 25, 2016.
Any Jew who is vulnerable to this conversion, is a Jew who is poorly versed in his/her own religion and is most likely already lost to Judaism. Any of us that want a future for Judaism must see that our children are taught Judaism from a very young age. Unfortunately, there are many Jews among us, who have little to no knowledge of Jewish beliefs, looking for something to give meaning to their lives, when it is already here in Judaism.
Jerome C Liner, Cincinnati, OH