Listening To Jewish Missionaries’ Messages: Confronting the Ethnographic “Other” at Home

This article presents a vexing ethnographic project: investigating the efforts of Jewish missionaries to attract new followers—repentants—among non-practicing Jews. Attending lectures and other activities offered by Jewish religious proponents, Arachim in Israel and Chabad in New York, I learned how they advocate the return of secular Jews to their ethnic-cultural roots, emphasizing the Torah doctrine and the Halacha (Jewish law) rules of daily comportment. An analysis of their presentations highlights specific indoctrinating devices and communication strategies. The discussion raises the issue of moral judgment and ethnographic reporting impediments when the ethnographer confronts the “other” at home by conducting research among their fellow citizens.