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enticed to the concrete and grass
park on Bay Parkway and
Cropsey Avenue. But after the
concert began with some Jewish
and Russian songs, some audi-
ence members recoiled in anger.
Suddenly from the bandshell,
where an Israeli flag was dis-
played and about 25 brightly-cos-
tumed singers and musicians
were performing, a large banner
was unfurled proclaiming "Lift
Yeshua Up." The master of cer-
-emonies then began urging the
crowd to lift up their voices to
proclaim the real Jewish messi-
ah.
"I was furious," said longtime
resident Phyllis Sarachik. "I -
started screaming, 'Why are you
here under false pretenses?' They
were not there to bring music
and dance; they were there to
proselytize."
It turns out the concert was
sponsored by the Beth El Mes
sianic Congregation, a Benson-
hurst-based Hebrew Christian
group.
Jewish community leaders say
they are outraged over the inci-
dent.
"They are completely decep-
tive and dishonest," state Sen.
Seymour Lachman, D-Benson-
hurst, said of Beth El. Lachman,
a longtime Bensonhurst resident,
joined more than 100 neighbor-
hood Jews in a peaceful coun-
terdemonstration at the park to
warn concert-goers that the
event was not Jewish.
Jewish community officials
also warn that the concert serves
as proof of the increased mis-
sionizing of Jews, a direct result
of a policy adopted last year by
the Southern Baptists — the na-
tion's largest Protestant group
— to intensify their efforts to con-
vert Jews.
"It's the opening salvo in the
Hebrew Christian missionaries'
annual summer campaign to
steal Jewish souls," said Philip
Abramowitz, director of the Task
Force on Missionaries and Cults,
part of the Jewish Community
Relations Council of New York.
Sarachik says the event also
raises questions about the city's
procedures on park permits.
"How can they take a public
park to do this?" she asked. "You
can get a permit to proselytize in
a public place?"
Parks Commissioner Henry
Stern said that the Beth El group
had legally obtained a permit for
the concert.
"Whether a group is granted
a permit or not is not something
totally in the control of the city,"
Stern said. "No matter how ob-
noxious some people may think
it is, these people have First
Amendment rights."
But Stern said that because of
the charges of deception against
the Beth El group, he has asked
city attorneys to determine
whether permits can be revoked
for two upcoming Beth El-spon-
sored concerts in July and Au-
gust in Bensonhurst Park, al-
ready approved by the Parks
Department.
"We're in a great pickle trying
to interpret constitutional re-
quirements," Stern said.
On one hand, he said, the re-
cent concert caused no distur-
bance or violence, and no crimes
were committed. But, he said, the
Hebrew Christian group may
have submitted a fraudulent ap-
plication.
"They said it was a Jewish
concert and they may have had
a religious program, and that's
wrong," Stern said. Revoking the
permits, he admitted, could lead
to a lawsuit against the city.
Brooklyn Parks Commission-
er Julius Spiegel said the Beth
El permit application was sub-
mitted in February by Hadassah
Ryklin. She originally requested
that the concert be held in Asser
Levy Park in Brighton Beach,
home to tens of thousands of
Russian Jews.
They were there
to proselytize.
Spiegel said he denied the per-
mit for Asser Levy because of
complaints by two local syna-
gogues regarding another He-
brew Christian concert held
there several years ago.
But Spiegel said Parks De-
partment lawyers told him he
couldn't legally deny the permit,
but he could relocate the concert.
So he made a deal with Ryk-
lin: If she would agree to move
the concert from Asser Levy,
which has a built-in sound stage,
he would provide a mobile stage
for half price at Bensonhurst
Park.
The Beth El group did not re-
turn several phone calls seeking
response.
Meanwhile, Lachman decried
the increase in Christian mis-
sionizing of Jews.
"What gets me very upset is
that this is part of a national ef-
fort to target the most vulnera-
ble members of the Jewish
community — Russian immi-
grants who know little about re-
ligion," said Lachman, who
helped found the JCRC anti-mis-
sionary task force.
Joining Lachman at the park
were members from the Ben-
sonhurst COJO, the Vaad
HaRabonim of Bensonhurst, the
Bais HaTalmud yeshiva, the Re-
form Beth Ahavath Shalom
Temple and the Russian Jewish
Synagogue of the Jewish Com-
munity House.
"We were trying to convince
people it wasn't really Jewish,"
said JCH Rabbi Gary Pollack.
He said some Russian Jews
lured to the concert were more
surprised than offended.