Rabbi Yeruchem Eilfort of Chabad of La Costa has persuaded Radio Station KCBQ in San Diego to drop advertising by Shalom Ministries on shows featuring Jewish commentators Dennis Praeger and Michael Medved.

In a recent letter to Praeger and Medved advising them of the situation, Eilfort wrote:

"The local station that carries you down here is KCBQ 1170. They are fine people, no doubt. However, there is currently an ad that is run during your show from a Christian Missionary group called Shalom Ministries. I am disgusted with this commercial for in it a certain Mark Robinson represents to the listeners that one can remain Jewish and believe in Jesus.

:I called Shalom Ministries directly and spoke for about a half hour with Mark Robinson this past Friday. I used utmost respect and courtesy and explained that the resources he is using on his commercials trying to entice Jews would be better spent on making some marginal Christians better Christians. 

"I furthermore explained ...that this type of activity is most disrespectful to Jews and Judaism and threatens to tear open a gap between us. I told him that his commercials will not affect well-informed Jews, only Jews ignorant of Judaism may be enticed. This makes him in my opinion a "bottom feeder," trying to pick off those who are "not well" in our midst."

Eilfort also called and wrote to Tom Le Vine, a sales executive with Salem Communications Corporation which owns both KCBQ and KPRZ in the San Diego area. Le Vine wrote back to Eilfort on Jan. 17: "I just spoke with Mark Robinson. The decision had been made by KCBQ to discontinue his commercials immediately (later today). Just so you know, we have not heard directly from Dennis on these commercials, but Michael sent an e-mail...on Sunday expressing his concerns.

"Your concerns about this were expressed to Mark Robinson and our team earlier last week and factored in our company's thinking on this issue...We love 'bringing Dennis and Michael to town' daily on KCBQ and are proud to have this radio station platform for them, and we are delighted to have you as a treasured friend and partner in the speaker's series." 

Praeger recently appeared at the United Jewish Federation of San Diego County's Men's Event on Jan. 12, and Medved is scheduled to give a speech and sign his new book, Right Turns: Unconventional Lessons from a Controversial Life in a radio-station sponsored program at the Lawrence Family JCC, 4126 Executive Drive, San Diego, at 6:30 p.m., Sunday, Jan. 23.                            —Donald H. Harrison