# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1914_S102
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

102 Proceedings of the 29th General or

league no longer intimidate or deter them. Attendance at the worship services has risen considerably, so much that some already had to make do again with standing room. On November 21 of last year the Reverend General President Pfotenhauer made a visitation of the Jewish Mission, and in the course of it raised the thought of whether, because of the systematic persecution of the Jews here in New York, the mission ought to be given up for a time and begun elsewhere, perhaps in Chicago. The Commission, however, felt that we should not give way. And when the Reverend General President afterward attended the mission service and saw the attentive hearers, he fully agreed with the Commission. Because the anti-mission league sees that it cannot suppress our mission in its previous way, it now resorts to the mass distribution of a Jewish tract entitled "Jesus, the Carpenter of Nazareth," in which an attempt is made to prove that Jesus was neither the Son of God, nor the Messiah, nor a king, nor a prophet, nor the Lord, but an ordinary laborer, namely a carpenter. The writer claims that the missionaries, who are poisoning the whole Jewish neighborhood, mistranslate the Bible, indeed that they adapted the translation of the Bible to the Christian religion from the outset. The effect of this tract has in many cases turned out quite different from what the writer expected. Our missionary was overwhelmed with requests for the Jewish New Testament; many even want to pay for it, because they want to look up for themselves the passages the tract cites. The slanderous tract has caused an altogether unusual movement among the Jews to seek out the New Testament. Our missionary has now also translated Dr. Luther's Small Catechism into the Yiddish language. It is to be printed, where possible, with an appendix of some hymns in Hebrew characters, for the advancement of our mission. Following the announcement of this in the Lutheraner, orders have already come in from elsewhere for the introduction of the catechism in other Jewish missions as well.

The Committee recommended to the Synod:

1. that all delegates be encouraged to continue remembering the Jewish Mission with prayer and offerings;

2. that the text of our Small Catechism, which our missionary has translated into the Yiddish language, be reviewed by the responsible authority;

3. that the Commission for the Jewish Mission be instructed to cover, from the treasury for the Jewish Mission, the extra expense caused by printing the translated Small Catechism in the Yiddish language in Hebrew characters;

4. that a vote of thanks be given to the Commission for the Jewish Mission for the faithful support it has given our missionary in his persecution.

The committee report was adopted.