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So the instructor of ATOS at their Jerusalem gym posed as a Jewish rabbi for years. When in fact he is a Christian missionary who went to Israel to convert Jews. Its such a bizarre story. I am not even sure what to say.
Once in Israel, Elk began taking classes at ATOS Jiu Jitsu, a martial-arts studio in Jerusalem known for ties to Messianic Judaism, whose adherents consider themselves Jews who accept Christ as their savior. Elk quickly rose through the ranks and became an instructor, though he wasn't particularly adept at the sport, according to a student there, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
https://www.northjersey.com/story/n...BEqvHkdSFoqGeCyo5WhMj84lKgo_LIp6ijr85pSSGiG8g
Once in Israel, Elk began taking classes at ATOS Jiu Jitsu, a martial-arts studio in Jerusalem known for ties to Messianic Judaism, whose adherents consider themselves Jews who accept Christ as their savior. Elk quickly rose through the ranks and became an instructor, though he wasn't particularly adept at the sport, according to a student there, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
https://www.northjersey.com/story/n...BEqvHkdSFoqGeCyo5WhMj84lKgo_LIp6ijr85pSSGiG8g
A self-professed "good Jewish boy from New Jersey," Rabbi Michael Elkohen had come a long way.
In the ultra-Orthodox enclave in Jerusalem where Elkohen now lives, he was often called on to perform marriages, circumcisions and other sacred Jewish rituals. He was even hired to write Torah scrolls, handwritten copies of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, in a task typically reserved for the most devout and highly trained scribes.
But for 15 years, Elkohen was apparently living a lie. The father of five with the black hat, beard and side curls was fluent in Judaic texts and traditions but living a double life: Born Michael Elk in Salem County, he was actually a Christian missionary sent to the Holy Land to convert Jews, according to two anti-missionary groups whose accusations have captivated Israelis in recent days.
Elk's tale has grabbed headlines across the Jewish state, where religious leaders see a growing trend of covert missionary work by evangelical Christians.
Though missionizing is technically permitted in Israel, there are limits, including a ban on preaching to children or offering any material benefits in the course of religious conversion. Elk could be charged with falsifying his identity, immigration fraud, practicing circumcision illegally and collecting charity under false pretenses, according to watchdog groups tracking his case.
It's not clear how many religious rituals he has performed since moving to Israel in 2006, but some may have to be reevaluated, and any Torah scrolls he wrote burned, said Rabbi Tovia Singer, director of Outreach Judaism, a counter-missionary group in Jerusalem.
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Elk, 42, did not respond to messages seeking comment from NorthJersey.com and the USA TODAY Network. But in a video aired by Jerusalem's Channel 13 news station, he dismissed the allegations as "a lie."
“I was born Jewish,” he said, according to a translation in The Guardian newspaper in Britain. He worked as a missionary seven or eight years ago but has since “repented," he said.
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Singer's group and another tracking missionary activity, Beyneynu, said they had been tracking Elk for years. But the case came to a head in recent days after the ultra-Orthodox news site Behadrei Haredim reported that Elk's 13-year-old daughter had told a schoolmate that Jesus “accepts everyone, even if they are wrong." Attempts to convert minors in Israel are illegal unless a parent's consent is obtained.
The revelations have also raised questions about Elk's late wife, Amanda, who claimed to be the daughter of Holocaust survivors and died of cancer in February. Her ties to the faith also appear to have been faked, meaning her Orthodox funeral in a Jewish cemetery would defy religious law.
New Jersey roots
Michael and Amanda Elk emigrated to Israel using forged documents and with the help of South Carolina-based Morningstar Missions, according to Beyneynu and Outreach Judaism.
But Elk's father, William, was actually a lifelong Salem County resident and member of the Friendship Mennonite Church in Carneys Point, according to an obituary published in 2006. His mother, Patricia Singer Baric, divorced Elk's father but still lives in Carneys Point. She did not return calls seeking comment.
Elk's path to missionary work isn't completely clear, but he appears to have served as a minister for a time in Olympia, Washington, according to Alan Brill, a professor of Jewish-Christian Studies at Seton Hall University. He published an online interview with Elk in 2012.
By that point, Elk went by the name Elkohen and appeared to be a well-versed Jewish scholar, said Brill, himself an ordained rabbi. In the interview, Elk described himself as a "good Jewish boy from New Jersey" who had grown up in a secular Jewish home but "fell in love" with Orthodox Judaism while attending Temple University in Philadelphia, according to Brill's account.
Officials at Temple said they had no record of Elk attending, but he did graduate from Eastern University, a nearby Christian college, according to officials at that school.
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Elk revealed on his own blog that he had endured a "downward spiral" in his life, including a failed marriage and heavy drinking, before becoming religious and moving to Israel. Brill, for one, was convinced: Elk exhibited a deep knowledge of kabbalistic Judaism, a brand of Jewish mysticism, the professor said last week.
"He put on a good act," Brill said. "He had an insider's understanding of the current personalities and tensions between the various yeshivot," or schools of Jewish thought.
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Michael Elk eventually ran a yeshiva for Messianic Jews and sought to raise his prominence in the Jewish community, said Beyneynu founder Shannon Nuszen. His five children attended ultra-Orthodox schools, and Elk worked as a scribe, rabbi and mohel, performing circumcisions. He claimed to be a "kohen," a descendant of Aaron, the biblical high priest.
All the while, he was working to coordinate missionary work in Israel, according to the watchdog groups. While living as a rabbi, Elk authored a book and anonymous blog posts about his work as an undercover evangelist, according to the Jerusalem Post.
'Rabbi Michael'
In a 2011 video interview recorded for Morningstar Ministries, Elk, dressed in ultra-Orthodox garb and appearing as "Rabbi Michael," prays for Jesus to "stir the Jewish people to jealousy" and "bring them back to you once again."
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