The Denver Jewish news. [volume] (Denver, Colo.) 1915-1925, 1920-12-22
Converts to Judaism
PROSELYTIZING MOVEMENT EN-
TENDING THRU CENTURIES.


tatGd over an announcement that new
missionary societies would begin II
systematic activity for the conversion
no one need be excited over this state
lnent They may find Il few NOR"
scamps who, as Rousseau already said
100 years ago, are always willing to
sell the conviction which they actual
ly do not have, but the great mass Of
the Jews can afford to smile ut sucl.
pompous announcement. judaism,
never retaliated by sending out mis-
sionaries of its owi but it neverthe-
less obtained converts who, because
they were not enticed from their for
Incr religion and because they adopted
religion which could bring them on.
ly disadvantages, socially and material
ly, have proven their sincerity by th"
mere fact of their conversion.
We will perhaps in short time
hear about large settlement of
proselytes found in the Caucasus
where just now Turks and Armenians
are Wrestling for supremacy. \ press
dispatch informs us that the city of
EriwaI in Truns-Caucasia WAS Oc-
cupied by the Bolshevist army. Th"
place Is the center of settlements Of
Russian peasants who in the cours"
cf time have converted to Judaism
and have resisted for centuries all ai
tempts by brute force and persuasion
TO renounce their conviction.
The story goes back to the time of
the Reformation when the religious
question agitated the whole population
Of Europe and even a little earlier
Our information is rather meager but
it Is sufficiently exact to tell us that
in 1470 n Karaite Jew named Zech.
ariah had so impressed two Russian
popes, Dionycious and Alexis, that
they became Jews. The latter adopted
the name of Abraham and his wife
that of Sarah. 1t seems that they
still remained officially priests of the
7 Russian church and in such way sue
ceeded i.i winning over quite II mum.
her of prominent laymen and prelates
Among the former was Theodore
Kuritzin, secretary to Gar Ivan III.
i14G2-1501) and among the latter, the
arch-priest Zosima who afterwards
became metropolitan and rs such com
PEELED to take part in various church
councils which discussed the growing
IiSSnpt in, thn church nsh nInrfp
measures to suppress all sccts. He
must have felt considerably inconven-
fenced, for he resigned his position ana
retired to the monastery.
The movement grew in spite of all
protests and communications. and 4
large number Of members of the Ortli.
odox church formed sect that was
called Molokani (milk people,, 4
name not fully. explained, according TO
some derived from their refusal to eat
meat and according to others because
they believed in the true milk Of a
nourishing faith. At any rate they
showed considerable leanings towards
Judaism. rejecting the belief in the df
vinity of Jesus and Of course. i'll Trim
ity, guiding their lives III accordance
with the Old Testament
About the same time the Protestant
Reformation brought forth some radI-
Gals who were not satisfied with the
teaching of either Luther or Calvin
or any of the other rcfOrmers who de
manded a revision of the Christian
church and went further, declaring
that the belief in the divinity of Jesus
was contrary to the teachings of Jesus
himself. They formed what is still
known us the Unitarian church. Its
earliest advocates, it Is quite remark
able to see, came from the cOuntrie"
where Professionalism hardly took root.
In Spain, Michael Servet proclaimed
first the belief in the Jewish principle
of monotheism. He was not of Jew
ish descent but possessed some knowl'
edge of Rabbinic literature, probably
thru contact with Marann0s. Being
prosecuted by the inluisition he fled
to France and from there to Geneva
where he hoped that Calvin. being
an advocate of freedom of conscience
for his own followers, would allow
him to live. 1t is an eternal blot on
Calvins character that in his letters
to Servet he used such ambiguous
words that the man believed lie would
be tolerated to live at least quiet
life if he did not make propaganda
for his faith. SO Servet was decoyed
to come to Geneva where Calvin had
! him tried for blasphemy and burned mt
the stake. The ashes of martyrs hava
always fertilized the ground for a
new religion and so Servet found fol
lowers among whom the most prom