This is a critique, long overdue of "Hank and the Hebrew-Christians" the second chapter in Rabbi Shea Hecht's book "Confessions of a Jewish Cultbuster". It's long overdue.
I'm reviewing this book because I have the right and obligation to as Chapter 2 "Hank and the Hebrew-Christians" centers around myself and what happened when I joined St. John's Lutheran Church in Hicksville, LI, NY(1973) and how it transformed into a cult about one year later. The cult was subsequently renamed twice, first as Ben Yishai and then as Shoresh Yishai. The cult is still in existence in Maine and Colorado and is run by Jack Hickman's successor, Gary Coons.
The story is fictionalized, on the one hand, to protect the guilty but it also has many distortions and outright lies about myself. It also shows Shea Hecht's unfamiliarity with Christianity in general and his rather tunnel-visioned point of view.
On pg. 22 Shalom Ber Hecht, Shea's brother mentioned my bringing up Jesus' resurrection as a pivotal doctrine in Christianity. He said "it's not a point of logic..." Actually, it is a direct quotation from the Christian Bible from I Corinthians 15:12. ("Now if Christ is preached as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised;if Christ has not been raised then our preaching in in vain and your faith is in vain...." RSV version of the Holy Bible). It was for these reasons of being unable to engage Hecht in a conversation, and also his condescending attitiude in general, that I wrote him off.
I was not involved in the JDL or in politics, my sister was. Also I joined up with Hickman before he became Abba Hickman. I was not looking for Judaism but looking to leave it. I had had my fill of Judaism and was acquainted with Orthodox Judaism as well as Conservative as my father's side of the family are all orthodox and are associated with the Young Israel Movement.
I was at my relatives for various holidays including Simchas Torah, Shabbos, Sukkos, etc.. I was also familiar with classic Jewish literature such as Maimonides "Guide for the Perplexed" and Saadiah Gaon's "Beliefs and Opinions" from my youth as these books are in my Uncle Irving Green's library. My Uncle is a famous Jewish author (Judaism on the Web, and various "Jewish Bookshelves")
I grew up in a Nazi infested section of LI and the Bund used to meet right across the street from where I went to elementary in Wyandanch (Taukomas, now a BOCES). I went to school with the children of those people. The whole time I went through this, I never saw any orthodox Jews around but when I converted all of a sudden the seminary students kept confronting me. "Before you left Judaism you should have checked out what it had for you," is what one person said to me. I just ignored him.
I was also an outstanding student in my Hebrew school at Suffolk Jewish Center which is run by Rabbi Gabriel Maza, one of Jackie Mason's brothers and he had an orthodox ordination even though SJC is Conservative. I also attended shul on Friday's and was in the choir there. I used to lead the davening in my class in 4th grade.
On major point that Hecht misses was that my relationship with my father was VERY bad from day one. It was a main reason I sought new territory. My whole family had instability and much of it revolved around religion.
Hecht couldn't understand why I didn't just leave Hickman. When I was with Jack, I always had food on my table a place to stay, friends I could identify with. I had nice, sweet pretty girlfriends. When I came to Chabad I was told "you'll starve", and my ex-wife ran out on me screaming "we set you up to fall flat on your face" all the while this book selling in Crown Heights. I never trusted Hecht until I lost my bearings and I paid for it dearly.
There are two offices of the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty right in Crown Heights all the while this went on. They had me at their mercy and they had little of that.
Also, Avraham David, mentioned in the story left Chabad and most people leave him soon after joining up. Baalei Teshuvot come and go with Chabad.
I also didn't throw up my dinner after Hickman was "unmasked". That's pure hype.
I went to Israel in '78 at Shlomo Carlebach's invite but wound up at Yeshivat D'var Yerushalayim. It was bedbug infested and filthy and the rabbis dumped their hatred of Jesus Christ, me for following him and hatred for Shlomo too.
At Shlomo's place Moshav Me'or Modi'in I had friends but my uncle wound up in a fight with Shlomo over money and I got burned...."your uncle the crook..." People also beat on me for weightlifting and for not having the energy to daven incessantly. I couldn't wait to get out of Israel.
The Lubavitcher's claims of the Rebbe being a prophet is ludicrous too as he predicted Israel's immanent redemption. Hasn't happened and the reverse is true.
I've waited for years to write this rebuttal.