Missionary Hall Rented Out for Chareidi Events
July 18, 2024
The “Pavilion” Missionary hall , credit courtesy of the photographer
Yad L’Achim has issued an important warning to the public: The “Pavilion” hall – located in the Mercaz Klal building on Jaffa Road in Yerushalayim – belongs to the messianic-missionary congregation “King of Kings,” whose activities include preaching to Jews to get them to convert to Christianity.
As is known, the “Messianic Jews” cult is one of the most dangerous missionary cults, and doesn’t display symbols of worship in its “prayer” houses as part of its strategy to lure innocent souls. For this reason, it’s easy for Jews to err and use the Pavilion hall for events, even though it is a church for all intents and purposes.
However, Yad L’Achim, which is on the front lines in the war against missionaries, has in its possession no end of clear proofs that the hall is being used as an active church by the missionary congregation “King of Kings,” and that all rental income from the place goes to support the efforts of its members.
“The hall was purchased more than two decades ago by the messianic-missionary congregation ‘King of Kings,’ based in Canada, and is used Saturdays and Sundays as a church,” an official at Yad L’Achim confirmed. “In 2003, the giant hall was purchased by The Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada (PAOC) with the stated goal of creating a place that “will serve as the largest center of worship in Israel.”
As mentioned, the hall is a significant source of income for the missionary congregation, which operates a chain of missionary centers around the county that are conducted in Hebrew, English, Russian and Amharic.
Yad L’Achim officials noted this week that in addition to the clear halachic prohibition of holding events in a place that is used as a church, renting the place out for events grants the messianic congregation a steady source of income and a measure of legitimacy for its activities in Yerushalayim and in other cities.
“We simply cannot understand how, to our great sorrow, chareidi groups have been holding events in this missionary center, apparently in good faith,” said one official. “Nonetheless, it is clear that it is incumbent on every Jew to stay away from this center of Christian shemad, even if, by mistake, he received an invitation to attend a chareidi event there.
“We are certain that these events were held in this church due to a lack of knowledge. But we are deeply troubled by the thought that future large-scale events will be held there by chareidi and religious organizations, unaware of the danger.”
Out of concern that additional events of this kind have already been booked for the coming months, and contracts signed, Yad L’Achim has distributed a special memorandum calling on the public to take precautions and stay away from events held in the Pavilion hall.
In answer to an oft-asked question: There is another hall in Yerushalayim that goes by the name “Pavilion Halls Mehadrin,” and there is no connection between the two. This second hall is kosher l’mehadrin and located in Talpiot.
For up-to-date information, call Yad L’Achim’s emergency hotline at *9234.
The special memorandum calling on the public to take precautions and stay away from events held in the Pavilion hall.
