The Disgrace in Boca Raton by Rabbi Chaim Coffman (8 minutes)

0:00Hi, this is Rabbi Chaim Kaufman, and I'm making this special video about an absolute desecration of God's name that's about to take place in a number of days in Boca Raton, Florida, in this Modern Orthodox synagogue that's run by Rabbi Efrem Goldberg, who's bringing Matthew Kelly, a known missionary, a proud known missionary. All you have to do is search him out on YouTube now. He's coming to speak in the synagogue as a motivational speaker. So the claim may be, well, all right, we understand, you know, he's a missionary, but he's coming in not to speak about that. Now let's, let's analyze. Even if he doesn't come to speak about that and he's coming in as, quote unquote, a motivational speaker. First of all, look at this guy's track record, right? It's pretty clear what he has as an agenda. So even if he comes in, you know, even if that's not his agenda now, you don't necessarily think he's going to try and infiltrate, you know, while he's there. So why in the world are you giving him a foot in the door? It doesn't make any logical sense.

1:24You know, even if that's not his agenda now, you don't certainly think it's not what he's going to try and do, what he's going to try and infiltrate, you know, while he's there. So why in the world are you giving him a foot in the door? It doesn't make any logical sense. There should be other people you can bring in. You don't need to bring someone whose goal is to lead Jews away from Torah observance or to draw them nearer to or certainly convert them to another religion. I mean, billions of dollars are being spent by some organizations for such purposes, trying to find a few Jews who may be susceptible. This effort is, in fact, what some individuals are dedicated to. By inviting someone like that, whose life mission aligns with removing Jews from their faith, you are bringing them in with this agenda. You know you're bringing them in to rally the masses, to give them strength, to give them inspiration. What, have you gone cuckoo? Are you out of your mind? You know you're bringing someone who's an oved avodah zarah, right? And mostly everybody agrees Christianity is idolatry. And if it's idolatry, you're bringing a known idolater who wants to spread...

2:26that idolatry within the synagogue, even if that's not what he's speaking about? Why in the world would you give this guy a soapbox? Why would you give him a platform to speak? Every one of us has to be out there calling up the synagogue, showing outrage, calling the Batei Din in Florida, all over, coming out against this and stopping people from coming as much as we can. We need to get the word out. This is an absolute disgrace. Imagine. A synagogue is a house of God. It's a house where we're, you know, we don't have a temple in existence today. We're supposed to draw ourselves closer. We're supposed to inspire others through classes, through prayer, to want to be closer to God, right? That's the inspiration that we need. We don't need some, you know, some missionary, you know, bozo coming in and spewing whatever he's spewing, even though it has nothing to do with being a missionary. Right, eventually that's what he's going to do. You know, that makes logical sense, you know, pass out a bunch of flyers, a bunch of cards. Right, eventually get his foot in the door, make some connections. Well, you know, he's just going to go around speaking about that, you know. Maybe there he's going to, but he's not going to leave the door closed, right? That's not what these people do; it's in their blood, it's in their veins, you know. I got an opportunity, imagine.

3:48Imagine what this guy's thinking: "I get a golden opportunity. I'm going to a big synagogue, a big synagogue full of Jews. Okay, I agree not to speak about, you know, JC, and I'm not there, you know, to prove anything related to Catholicism and everything it stands for, but you're giving this guy a platform." Why in the world, again, we'll say it again, why in the world are you giving this guy a platform? This is an absolute outrage. It's a disgrace. And everybody, everybody should come out against it. That's what needs to be done. You know, we can't just sit back and say, "Well..." You know, that's just the way it is. And look at what they're doing. And no, people have to be warned. This guy has an agenda. Even if he's not speaking about it, he's got a clear agenda. Go look him up. That's what he does. You know, and you're going to bring him in? to such a holy place? We don't have a Beit Hamikdash. We don't have a Temple today. But no, we're going to let a Christian missionary come in, walk through the door, stand with his back to the Sefer Torah, the holy Sefer Torah, and spew and be inspirational. Wow. You know, I'm jealous of this person's Olam Haba, what he's going to get. Or the other side. So make no mistake.

5:14Make no mistake, idolatry is one of the three cardinal sins every Jew must sacrifice their life for, anytime, anyplace. So if someone says, "I want you to bow down to this short, little fat guy or this man depicted hanging on a stick, referred to as Mr. JC," you are required to give up your life in such a situation, anytime, anyplace. And how many Jews, how many Jews... and would rather die and have been killed in inquisitions, in pogroms, rather than kiss the cross or bow down to it. So if that's true, which we know it to be true, if that's true, you're going to let this guy walk in the door? You're going to give him a platform? You're going to put him on a soapbox? And you're going to let him go on and on? Inspire the masses? Doesn't make any sense. I'm always fond of saying that fact is greater than, you know, fact is greater than fiction. You know, fact sells. Fiction, okay, you got to make it up. You know, you have to be innovative. You know, you got to be creative. But you let somebody walk in the door, into such a holy place. You have Siddurim there, you have prayer books.

6:37You have Chumashim, the Five Books of Moses, and you also have the Talmud. You have the Torah itself, and yet you're allowing this guy to speak. I don't know what else there is to say, except that their phone lines should be flooded. Beit Din phone lines, letters, emails should be inundated. This thing should stop. It never should have started. You know what? We should not leave our minds so open that our brains fall on the floor, as the modern Orthodox want. You know, look, we're so open-minded. We're even letting a missionary come and speak. Woo! What a tremendous thing. You lost your mind? Yeah, I think you did. You absolutely lost your mind because, you know, you look at Jewish history. You know, I can't even imagine people would come there. And if you're listening and you were thinking about coming there, well, think twice. Look at Jewish history. Look at what the church has done. Look at how many pogroms. Look at how many inquisitions. And then you're going to let someone walk in the door and hand out his flyers and his cards and give him the ability.

8:05To influence others? No, that's just stupidity. It's what we call, you know, when I was in camp many years ago, a travesty of a mockery of Hashem. And it's even more than that—it's a chillul Hashem. Everybody go out there, grab the phones, call the synagogue, put it up on Facebook, Instagram, put it all over. And put a tremendous amount of pressure so this person doesn't have a place to speak in such a holy place.