2008

A Seder To Remember by Rob Wertheim

I was excited to be on the West Coast and to see my older brother Steve. Dad had been there earlier when Steve found an apartment, and had returned to New York with the good news that my brother had found a place with a nice Jewish landlady who would “keep an eye on him.” However, Steve told us that he’d begun going to Friday night Bible studies. That surprised me, but I expected he would explain more during my spring break visit. So when Steve greeted me at the airport, after saying hello, I immediately asked, “What is this about Friday nights and Bible…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/17_03/02 - 2008/04/01

Adding a few more questions to the mix this Passover by Rich Robinson

The number four plays a significant role in Judaism. There are the four species of plants for Sukkot; four kingdoms in the book of Daniel; four Torah portions in the tefillin; four Matriarchs in the book of Genesis. At Passover, we find this number in abundance. In the course of the seder we have four sons, four cups of wine, four expressions of redemption (Exodus 6:6-7) and perhaps the most famous “four” of all—the Ma Nishtana, known in English as the Four Questions...

…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/17_03/01 - 2008/04/01

2006

Mel Hellman's Story by Mel Hellman

Every year on December 9, Steve Wertheim receives a phone call, a welcome interruption from the usual hustle and bustle of his day. (Steve assists David Brickner at our San Francisco headquarters.) The call is from a Jewish man named Mel who thanks Steve for introducing him to Jesus…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/newsletter/2006_10/hellman - 2006/10/01

"Marcia, Jesus was a Jew; he came for the Jewish people. He came for you." by Allison Sack

Those words were spoken to my mother by my friend's mother when I was nine years old, and while they made a distinct impression on me, it wasn't until sixteen years later that I considered them in a personal way. I grew up in an upper middle-class, Conservative Jewish home in the suburbs of Kansas. I attended a Jewish grade school through the third grade, and went to Hebrew school twice a week until I became a Bat Mitzvah. My parents had different approaches to their Judaism: my mother's was rooted more in duty and obligation but my father's came straight from the…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/16_07/allison - 2006/06/12

My Life in Testimony by Sally Klein O'Connor

I was born into a middle class, Jewish Amercian family, which would have made me a "princess" except that my father was a florist, not a doctor. We celebrated almost all the traditional Jewish holidays in a superficial way. While I was taught there was a God, I never really knew him. When I was eight years old I was bitten on my face by a German Shepherd. This changed my life forever. We had just moved to a new neighborhood when the accident took place. There had been no chance for me to make friends. It took one hundred stitches to close the wound. When I returned…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/answers/lifestories/sally - 2006/05/19

Passing It On by David Lovi

My name is David Lovi. I was born in 1980 and I grew up in a mixed home. My father is a non-practicing Jew and my mother was Catholic. We sometimes went to a cousin's house to celebrate Rosh Hashanah, and my mother would take me to a Catholic church for Christmas Eve. I remember as a kid in kindergarten someone asked what religion I was and I said "both," thinking there were only two in the world.In high school, I began reading books on Taoism, Buddhism and even Islam, all of which were very confusing and did not satisfy my hunger for something real to grasp on to. All…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/havurah/09_02/passing - 2006/05/15

Moishe Rosen's Testimony by Moishe Rosen

I wasn't looking for Jesus or God or anything ontological.  I kept my nose to the grindstone.  My goal in life was nothing big:  I wanted to earn a good living and be able to afford a middle-class lifestyle.  But even if I wasn't looking for Jesus, He was looking for me. My Jewishness is something that I took for granted.  I grew up in Denver, Colorado in a neighborhood where most of the people were Jewish.  If you walked into the grocery store or the shoemaker, or the barber, you expected to hear Yiddish. In Denver, most people who followed…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/about/headquarters/moishe/testimony - 2006/05/02

Science and Faith

What some scientists have discovered… Robert Jastrow (self-proclaimed agnostic): "For the scientist who has lived by his faith in the power of reason, the story ends like a bad dream. He has scaled the mountains of ignorance; he is about to conquer the highest peak; as he pulls himself over the final rock, he is greeted by a band of theologians who have been sitting there for centuries."1 George Greenstein (astronomer): "As we survey all the evidence, the thought insistently arises that some supernatural…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/16_06/science - 2006/04/01

A Jewish Psychiatrist's Views on the Meaning of Life by Irving S. Wiesner, M.D.

What's behind two prominent psychiatrists' opposing viewpoints on humanity’s raison d’etre.…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/16_06/psychiatrist - 2006/04/01

Running Away by Aaron Abramson

I was camped with my paratrooper unit in the desert surrounding the Dead Sea when I recognized the name Joshua Friedberg on the front page of an Israeli newspaper. Ne'dar, missing. Before I had time to process what was happening, I was on a bus heading back to Machon Meir Yeshiva in Jerusalem to join the search for my missing friend. I grew up in Seattle but my parents, both believers in Jesus, made Aliyah in 1990 when I was 15 years old. We began our new life in an Orthodox Jewish settlement affiliated with the Gush Emunim movement. Life in the settlement quickly…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/havurah/09_01/running - 2006/02/05

2005

My Spiritual Journey by Joel C. Rosenberg

Until three years ago, I had never in my life been on national television. Nor had I been on radio but for a few small shows. But when my first political thriller, The Last Jihad, was published in November of 2002, suddenly I found myself interviewed on more than 160 radio and TV programs. Sean Hannity. Rush Limbaugh. Michael Reagan. Fox News. MSNBC. Almost overnight I had the opportunity to talk to more than 20 million people in less than 60 days. The media was intrigued. How could anyone have written a novel that opened with a plane hijacked by radical Islamic…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/16_04/journey - 2005/12/06

Janie-sue's Story by Janie-Sue Wertheim

My name is Janie-sue (Arotsky) Wertheim. I was born in New Haven, Connecticut in 1955. Both of my parents are Jewish. My dad managed the auto parts departments of various dealerships in New Haven and Ansonia. Growing up, I knew more about cars than a lot of boys my age. My mother worked in a kosher bakery. She especially loved to bake and decorate birthday cakes. Some of my best early memories are of beautiful birthday creations that Mom made for my younger brother Stuart and me. Other early memories include celebrating Shabbat. My mother would make a roast beef or…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/16_01/janiesue - 2005/06/17

From Generation to Generation: A Jewish Family Finds Their Way Home by Steve Wertheim

When the oldest son of Holocaust survivors announces his belief in Jesus, his father, mother, and brother are faced with a distressing choice.…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/16_01/generation - 2005/06/17

Two Sides to the Story by Oded Cohen

As an Israeli-Chinese couple, Oded and Bimini's story is a fitting illustration of Tuvya's thesis that Jesus truly transcends all cultural barriers. Bimini My brother called me "resilient" because as a baby I fell out of my mother's car as she made a quick turn. As I lay beneath the car behind her, my mother rushed to retrieve me. The driver of the car panicked, put her car into reverse and backed over me. When my mother rushed me to the hospital, the doctors found that no harm had come to me—only the tire tread imprints across my chest marked the…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/havurah/8_1/twosides - 2005/04/01

Renee and Richard: A True Love Story by Richard Abend

A Jewish couple encounters unexpected bumps in their marriage. …[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/15_9/reneerichard - 2005/02/01

In Her Own Words by Renee Abend

Renee Abend wrote the following thoughts in 1997: As a child I listened to the prayers and reading from the Torah during a bar mitzvah service and thought it sounded beautiful. "But what does it all mean?" I wondered. I always wanted to know more about God, but there never seemed to be much opportunity to learn. My mother and father and younger sister and I all celebrated the major Jewish holidays and festivals, but we rarely attended synagogue. Our family was close-knit. My mother's parents were always with us for Rosh Hashanah. Grandma was a superb cook and the…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/15_9/herownwords - 2005/02/01

Jack Sternberg: A Jewish Oncologist's Story by Jack Sternberg

Click here for the flash version. If the condition spread to my left eye, I would be blind. My medical career would be over, and life as I knew it would cease. I was afraid -- afraid and angry. I cursed God, figuring if he existed, he deserved it. I informed him -- or was it the air? -- that I would never believe in him until I understood his ways. "Who are you? What are you like? Why are you doing this when so many people you have allowed to have cancer depend on me? You must not exist!" I never…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/answers/lifestories/doctorjack - 2005/01/01

Rich Robinson: Coming In Through the Back Door by Rich Robinson

Like many Jewish people, I was raised in a home where Jewishness was more cultural than religious. Our family celebrated Passover and Hanukkah at our home in Brooklyn, we went to the Temple on the High Holy Days, and several afternoons each week I would attend Hebrew school. This upbringing ensured that I would always know something about what it meant to be Jewish. But cultural awareness and religious faith are two different things, and God was basically peripheral to my life. Jewish identity and culture also played a part at the Zionist youth camp which I…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/about/headquarters/rich/testimony - 2005/01/01

To the Jew First and Also to the Gentile

We spoke to several pastors who are Jewish and who also lead evangelical churches. Their stories are testimonies of God's faithful leading to bring three men to Himself from their Jewish backgrounds, as well as leading them into ministry in the church. They feel the liberty of the Spirit to minister to the general population with an undeniable Jewish flavor. Frank Susler - Pastor, Grace Christian Fellowship, Milwaukee, Wisconsin I grew up in a Conservative Jewish home in Milwaukee. After we married, my wife (who grew up in a liberal Lutheran home) and son gave their…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/havurah/08_02/jewfirst - 2005/01/01

2004

Bruce Hamovitz: A New Source of Strength by Bruce Hamovitz

I used to visualize the number of ways I could hurt people. As a trained Kung Fu instructor on my way to becoming a master of the martial art, I would often ponder the most effective and efficient ways of defeating my sparring opponents…or anyone who threatened me. "I used to visualize the number of ways I could hurt people." This desire to be able to stand up for myself sprang from when I was a young kid in Pittsburgh. I grew up in an Orthodox Jewish family. My grandparents came over to the U.S. from Europe during a series of pogroms. My…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/15_8/strength - 2004/12/10

Tough Jews: Hanukkah, Heroism and the Identity of the Messiah by Rich Robinson

There is more than one way to view strength when it comes to the Jewish people and the Jewish Messiah. …[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/15_8/toughjews - 2004/12/10

A Forbidden Peace by Naomi Rothstein

How certain Jews and Arabs have learned to love each other.…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/15_7/a_forbidden_peace - 2004/10/01

Hineni: Here Am I, God, But Where Are You? by Tuvya Zaretsky

A despairing Jewish drug counselor finds hope in an unlikely place.…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/15_4/hineni - 2004/03/01

Not For Us by Ellen Zaretsky

If I had remained in the city of my birth (Buffalo, New York) my neighbors, my friends and my surroundings would have been Jewish. But when I was six, my family moved South (of Buffalo, anyway) to a town called East Aurora, where the Jewish population numbered six: my father, my mother, my two sisters, my brother and myself, with my grandfather making seven during the spring and summer months. It was there that I grew up—in a friendly, educated, uppermiddle class, but non-Jewish environment. I was a part of this community, yet in a way separate. Being Jewish made me…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/15_4/notforus - 2004/03/01

Brace Yourself by Steve Feldstein

For many years I was a businessman whose highest priority was to provide health and happiness for my family. I worked hard so we could live on the highest level. I housed my family in increasingly fine homes, drove expensive cars and provided the best of everything for them. Our family always took costly vacations, which became more costly every year. I was careful to conduct only the best financial planning for my children's education as well as for our retirement years and beyond. Then I came to believe that Israel's Messiah has come, and His name is Y'shua (Jesus).…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/havurah/7_1/brace_yourself - 2004/02/01

2003

My Father's Secret, My Story by Leah Weinstein

A Jewish woman stumbles across a biblical discovery her father made before he passed on.…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/14_10/secret - 2003/07/01

A Family Reconciled: The Testimony of Elaine Lewis by Elaine Lewis

My mother shaped my Jewish upbringing more than anyone else. She diligently ensured that our family celebrated Shabbat and went to our synagogue on Chicago's North Shore for the High Holidays, as well as faithfully sending my two sisters and me there for Sunday school each week. However, by the time I was a teenager my attentiveness to being Jewish was waning. In fact, most of my boyfriends in high school were Gentiles, much to my mother's chagrin. I majored in pre-law and economics at the University of Colorado in Boulder. During my junior year my sister Donna began…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/havurah/6_2/lewis - 2003/05/01

A Cactus Who Lost His Spikes by Shlomy A

My name is Shlomy. I am a sabra (in Hebrew "tsabar"), a native-born Israeli. Sabra is also the name of the Israeli cactus. I was once very much like that prickly cactus. I was born into a Jewish family and as a boy I loved all of the traditions. But when I was 13, I asked God to show himself to me because, if I could not see him, I would not believe in him. He didn't seem to answer me. So I stopped believing in him. My family was extremely disappointed, but what could they do? My mind was made up. So began a time of rebellion in my life. I thought only of money and…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/14_7/cactus - 2003/01/01

Why Do the Nations Rage? Does the Bible Say Anything About the Middle East Conflict? by Darrell Bock

Can the God of Israel be left out of our hope for peace?…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/14_7/rage - 2003/01/01

2002

Laura Mawer by Laura Mawer

I always had a strong Jewish identity, but it disturbed me that I didn't know what God expected from me as a Jew. In college I even kept kosher for a while, but this didn't bring me closer to God. It seemed there had to be something more. In my thirties I began to explore New Age philosophies and practices. These explorations convinced me that there was no such thing as sin. So, as I sat in synagogue on Yom Kippur, 1995, I wondered, "What am I doing here, asking God for forgiveness?" In the months following I reached an all-time low and was looking for relief from…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/havurah/5_3/mawer - 2002/08/01

Merle Kout by Merle Kout

I spent my childhood attending two different neighborhood synagogues for the High Holidays. I remember the awesome dignity of the men as they approached the bimah, in contrast to the sights and sounds of the congregation as they sat and visited during the service. I didn't shy away from religious observance. Actually, I went to Shabbat services in my early teens because I wanted to know what being holy meant and where to get real spiritual power. By 1982 I was living up in the mountains of Taos, New Mexico and I was celebrating Rosh Hashanah at a service at the…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/havurah/5_3/kout - 2002/08/01

Remembering September 11—Reflections from a Messianic Jewish Perspective

Six interviews from Messianic Jewish Americans about 9/11.…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/14_1/911reflections - 2002/01/01

2001

Rob Wertheim, Son of Fred Wertheim by Rob Wertheim

My father, Fred, was born in Germany in 1925. The son of a baker, he lived in a village of 2,000 people. The town had very few Jews, ten families to be exact. As a young boy, my father had to look among the non-Jews for playmates. Rob—school days By the time my father was eight, the Aryan philosophy of Hitler was gaining acceptance by most Germans. His best friends did not want to play with him anymore. His parents, who were prospering in the bakery business, held to the illusion that Hitler would lose his popularity and that things would get…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/13_8/rob - 2001/07/01

Rahel Hirshenson Landrum, Daughter of Sami Hirshenson by Rahel Landrum

I remember when I was about ten years old, I found and read—with tears in my eyes—a report my dad wrote for the Romanian police, in which he described what he and his family went through during the pogroms and the Second World War. That was the first time I was introduced to what happened to my father during the Holocaust. I never asked him about it and he never mentioned it to me. Everything I learned I heard from my mom after he died. Rahel with her parents My father, Sami Hirshenson, was born in Bucharest, Romania in 1923. He was 18 years old…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/13_8/rlandrum - 2001/07/01

Jhan Moskowitz, Son of Max and Lilly Moskowitz by Jhan Moskowitz

Some survivors do not tell their kids anything. They just don't. Some survivors tell their kids everything. When I was a little boy, I crawled into my father's lap and asked, "What is that number on your arm?" He didn't flinch, he told me he was in the concentration camps. He grew up outside of Lodz, Poland, and spent four and a half years in several work camps as well as Auschwitz. He did not explain in detail what he had been through, but he told me more as I got older. I asked him if he went to school, and he said that Jewish kids didn't get to go to high school.…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/13_8/moskowitz - 2001/07/01

Mark Landrum, Son of Flora Landrum by Mark Landrum

My mother, Flora, was born towards the end of the Holocaust. Her family lived in Northern Greece, in the middle of a thriving Jewish community. Her father was part of the Greek underground resistance movement. When the Nazis told the Jewish community that they would be allowed to live if they cooperated, he didn't believe them. Instead, he decided to take his family into hiding. For part of the war, they hid with a Greek Orthodox priest. The rest of the time they hid in the woods. There was not nearly enough food for the whole family. Some of my mother's older…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/13_8/mlandrum - 2001/07/01

Jonathan Bernd, Son of Hans Bernd by Jonathan Bernd

Reflections on forgiveness from the son of a Holocaust survivor.…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/13_8/bernd - 2001/07/01

A Child Questions

"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning?1 Why, O LORD, do you stand far off? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?"2 I am my father's son: His wounds embedded in my core He bequeathed me more than a half-century's worth of tears To weep on his behalf. Will release ever come? Will hate ever cease? What of joy, laughter, what of song? "You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/13_8/childquestions - 2001/07/01

Seeing and Believing: A Review of Survivor Stories by Naomi Rothstein

60 minutes running time. Produced by Jews for Jesus. Available for purchase. Video brings images to life in a way that few other forms of media can. And hardly any other theme provides as much vitality as the subject of Survivor Stories. The 60-minute documentary-style production tells in vivid detail the true accounts of several people who have at least three things in common: they are Jewish, Holocaust survivors, and have become believers in Jesus. Many people ask the question,…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/13_8/survivorstoriesreview - 2001/07/01

2000

They Gave Me Six Months to Live …1-1/2 Years Ago by Alan Glickman

: A Jewish man with emphysema finds comfort and strength in his Messiah.…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/13_4/sixmonthstolive - 2000/11/01

I Am a Jewish Believer, from Ethiopia by Samuel L.

"Oh, you really are Jewish! But you are a little dark," the young woman said. I was wearing a Jews for Jesus T-shirt and distributing broadsides while speaking to a woman on the streets of New York. I answered, "I'm from Ethiopia." And she replied, "Now I understand, yes, I know there are Jews in Ethiopia." I smiled at her and said, "All Ethiopian Jews are dark." Both my parents are Ethiopian Jews. Most Jewish people in Ethiopia live in the rural area, not in the cities, because they are considered outcasts. Most of them have jobs making pots and crafts. But…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/havurah/3_2/iamajb - 2000/05/01

What's a Jewish Atheist to Do? by Robert Charles Rosett

A young, Jewish atheist discovers God through the New Testament.…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/13_1/jewishatheist - 2000/05/01

Meet Amer Olson by Amer Olson

My father was an artist and our house was filled with the scents of linseed oil and turpentine, charcoal and kneaded erasers. I was born on the birthday of the great Dutch Master, Rembrandt, who soon became my childhood hero. And I always knew exactly what I wanted to be when I grew up: a great artist. As I peered into books full of Rembrandt paintings, I was struck with a deep hope that my own paintings and drawings might someday inspire children to paint as I had been inspired. I never wanted to be famous for the sake of getting rich or popular and figured that…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/newsletter/2000_04/meetamerolson - 2000/04/01

After the Holocaust, Part One by Hannah Neufeld

My father was born and raised in Vienna, Austria. He had to flee for his life and he barely escaped the torture of the concentration camps. After repeated attempts to escape—only to be captured and returned to Germany—he and his brother made a suicide pact. They would take their own lives before being sent to one of the death houses. Most of my father's family would come to their untimely demise for the "crime" of being Jewish. The rage in my father's voice and the pain I saw in his face as he told me these things, I remember well. Some of my earliest…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/newsletter/2000_03/aftertheholocaust1 - 2000/03/01

Losing All; Gaining All by Ruth Horak

I was born in Czechoslovakia in 1935. Our family owned one of the largest textile factories in the Czech Republic. In 1940, when the Germans occupied this area, they first took the industrialists, and my father was sent to the Warsaw Ghetto. We never saw him again. In September of 1942 all the Jewish people from Prague were deported and everything was taken away from us. My mother had prepared us to immigrate to England, but soon the borders were closed and we couldn't get out anymore. We were sent to Thereseastadt, a horrible ghetto, and stayed there 16 months. …[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/havurah/3_1/horak - 2000/02/01

1999

From the Desert to the Living Water—The Odyssey of a Tunisian Jew by William Raccah

A secular, Tunisian Jew becomes convinced of the messiahship of Jesus.…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/12_7/fromthedesert - 1999/09/01

Who Is This Jesus Anyway? by Rita Korotkin

Years ago, I often passed a sign on the highway that read, "Jesus Saves." I wondered who Jesus was and what, or whom, He had come to save. Little did I realize that He had come for me, and that one day He would become the focus of my life and my very reason for being. In fact, Y'shua saved not only me, but my entire family as well. When my oldest daughter Lana "found" Jesus in 1968, I was totally distraught and bewildered. I gave her such a difficult time! But because Lana's father (my husband) had recently died, I knew it was important to support her and her…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/havurah/2_3/whois - 1999/08/01

An English Family Finds the Lord by Richard Harvey

I became a believer in Jesus in 1974 through the witness of two friends at school. At first I tried hard to deny the reality of their faith and the difference it made in their lives. After a while their faith became something I could not deny. But the crunch came when they asked me, "Why do you think Y'shua died on the cross at Calvary? And what do you think about the fact that He rose from the dead?" As I struggled to answer their questions, I had a moment of spiritual insight, one of those special times that are outside your own control. I was looking back 2,000…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/havurah/2_3/englishfamily - 1999/08/01

Jesus as Messiah in the Gospels by David Brickner

An answer to the allegation that Jesus never claimed to be the Messiah.…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/12_6/jesusasmessiah - 1999/07/01

A Rhetorical Journey by Stephen Katz

Rhetoric was a required course at the University of Illinois at Urbana and I was not a happy camper. As a Jewish kid from Chicago who considered Bob Dylan my idol, I found it difficult to reconcile being a no-name college student when I was certain my destiny was to pursue my music and song-writing career. But in the meantime, I was taking this class. Little did I know that it would change the course of my life. The professor, Dr. Palmer, was Jewish and immediately sized me up. He confronted my blatantly flip attitude and though I didn't want to care, I respected…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/12_6/rhetoricaljourney - 1999/07/01

Jewish and For Jesus—Is Separation Inevitable?

A history of relations between Jews who do believe in Jesus and those who don't, and why the struggle continues today.…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/12_5/jewishjesus - 1999/05/01

Appropriate in His Time by Lynn McCoy

When we are going through a particularly trying time, we can't always see God's hand in our situation. Yet when we look back, we can realize that "God makes everything appropriate in His time" (Ecclesiastes 3:11). My wedding is this month (May 1), but I know that the years of my singleness were perfectly "appropriate." When my mother passed away three years ago, I called my father every few days to see how he was doing. Each time we spoke, he told me how difficult it was for him to come home to an empty house. After 47 years of marriage, he still expected to see my…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/havurah/2_2/appropriate - 1999/05/01

Eliezer—Abraham's Servant and Friend

The story of a friend of the friend of God.…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/12_3/eliezer - 1999/01/01

1998

Ethiopian Odyssey

Africa.…Slowly the beat of your heart is transformed to the rhythmic call of a tribal drum. The setting sun bathes the land in molten gold, as a herd of antelope races across a plateau. You share their sense of urgency as darkness descends around you. Suddenly through a thicket, you see a glimmer of light. From within the illumined structure, an ancient chant greets the night: "Shema Yisrael, Adonai Eloheynu, Adonai Echad." Hannah and her family in their new home Ethiopian Jews, who prefer to be called Bet Israel (House of Israel), trace their Jewish…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/12_1/ethiopian - 1998/09/01

Jews, Blacks & Jesus by Brenda Ross

Reflections of an African American woman on the Jewish people and the messiah.…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/12_1/jewsblacksandjesus - 1998/09/01

Reaching the Unreachable God: The Testimony of Dr. Les Berman by Les Berman

I was born in Pretoria and our family moved to Johannesburg when I was four years old. Both my parents are Jewish, and from my earliest years I had a sense of pride regarding my Jewish heritage. I can remember a keen fascination with the figures that emerged from the pages of the Hebrew Scriptures—Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses and Joshua. What impressed me most about these men was that they had a vital and dynamic relationship with God. He communed with them, and they communed with Him, the King and Creator of the universe. As a young boy, I can remember…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/havurah/1_3/drberman - 1998/08/01

Ray Stolz: On Printmaking and Praise

The Messianic art movement is alive and well and growing in South Africa! Ray Stolz, elder at Beit Y'shua Messianic Congregation in Johannesburg, is a printmaker who weds traditional South African images with biblical narrative to bring praise to the Jewish Messiah Y'shua. Ray's soft-spokenness is contrasted to and complemented by the bubbly personality of his wife Merle, a Jewish believer and mother of their two sons, Adham and Asher. Ray was born in Luanshya, a small town near Zambia, the son of a copper miner. His family relocated to Johannesburg, where Ray…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/havurah/1_3/raystolz - 1998/08/01

He's Not Clowning Around by Lyn Rosen Bond

Henry Morse takes the Word of God very seriously. Yet while the Great Benafuchi" thinks of himself as an evangelist, through his circus ministry he acts and looks like a clown. Henry believes that the use of humor is important in getting across the Good News: "When people are laughing, at least we know they're listening." The Great Benafuchi promotes himself as one who uses "juggling, unicycling, acrobatics, rope walking, magic, music, comedy, false advertisement and more." His humor is not lost on the audience, nor is it pointless. It's not humor merely for the…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/havurah/1_2/clowningaround - 1998/05/01

The Journey by Alan M. Shore

A young Jewish man's spiritual quest takes him around the globe but the truth he's seeking takes him by surprise.…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/11_8/journey - 1998/03/01

Against All Odds by Scott C. Rubin

The invitation came from my father, a physician with privileges at Cedars Sinai. I was eager to attend the lecture because the speaker, Dr. Michael Fowler, was from Stanford University Hospital. His topic was "Transplantation in 1987," a topic of utmost interest to me. I sat in the back with my father and watched the room fill with doctors and nurses who also had an interest in this high-tech, life-saving medicine. The first case history presented was referred to as, "Patient Number One." To me, he was John. Back in 1985 I arrived at the coronary care unit at Stanford…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/11_8/againstallodds - 1998/03/01

Three Teens Who've Trusted Y'shua

Micha Cohen, 17, St. Louis The hardest thing I've faced in the past few years was having to move from Ft. Lauderdale to St. Louis right before my junior year. I was so angry with God and my parents for making me do this, but eventually I had no choice but to accept the move. Comfort came from a surprising source—my sister Sarah. As we commiserated together about having to move, we grew closer, and today I can proudly say that she is my best friend. Last year in marching band we won the "Most Loving Siblings" award. I can't praise God enough for putting her in my…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/havurah/1_1/teens - 1998/01/01

All Bernd Up! Is This Original Jewish Sound Your Cup of Tea? by Jonathan Bernd

Meet Jonathan and Cindy Bernd. He's from England and she's from Southern California. Jonathan was "bernd up" about Christians; Cindy thought Jews who believed in Jesus were crazy. Today they both make their home in London. And now they both sing Jewish music about Jesus. If they're "bernd up" about anything, it's with the fire that comes from the excitement of knowing the Messiah . Hear what they have to say about themselves and their Messiah in words and music.

…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/ynot/01/01 - 1998/01/01

Jewish Survival in a Changing World

A close look at assimilation and what it means to be committed to Jewish survival.…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/11_7/jewishsurvival - 1998/01/01

Arthur Barlis: A Jewish Doctor Who Met the Great Physician by Arthur Barlis

I was born in 1939 in Providence, Rhode Island. Our neighborhood was almost entirely Jewish, and our home somewhat traditional. As I grew, my goal was to be a doctor and help people. Although I was fearful of God, I also believed He was helping me accomplish my goals. In the mid-1960's I entered the field of ophthalmology, got married and had three sons. My family became very active in synagogue life. I was elected president of the congregation. I had hoped the rabbi would help me understand who God was. Each week I would hope for a spiritual breakthrough, but would…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/havurah/1_1/jewishdoctor - 1998/01/01

1997

The Journey by Hans Bernd

I was born Hans Reiner Bernd in 1929 in Koblenz, Germany, the youngest of three children. I grew up almost as an only child, because my brother and sister were respectively fourteen and thirteen years older, and rarely at home. My parents both came from old, established German Jewish families. My father was a doctor who had served as a medical officer in the first world war and had been wounded and decorated. Like many "enlightened" German Jews, my parents attempted to integrate totally into German society, and I don't think they ever went to the synagogue, nor did we…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/11_1/journey_Hans_Bernd - 1997/01/01

Why I, a Gentile, Love the Jewish People by Catherine Damato

A kosher-hearted Christian shares her love for the Jews.…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/11_1/whyilovethejews - 1997/01/01

1996

Two Jewish Believers in Jesus and Their Art

Paul Meer is a high school ceramics teacher. He is a Jewish believer in Jesus and worships at Congregation Tiferet Israel in San Francisco with other Jewish believers in Jesus. "I was born into an Orthodox family. I went to Hebrew school and attended synagogue with my father, yet I was very restless. Through my adolescence, I knew that anything I embraced had to be consistent with my Jewish identity, and I just didn't see that in Jesus. Then in the sixties, I was a hippie. I was into a lot of things—because I was searching. That's when I…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/10_7/twojewishbelievers - 1996/05/01

A Jewish Believer and Atonement by Louis Goldberg

An Agnostic Jew finds complete forgiveness for his sins.…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/10_6/atonement - 1996/03/01

Is the New Testament Jewish? by Catherine Damato

A look at the Jewishness of the authors, focus, language, and content of the New Testament. …[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/10_5/newtestament - 1996/01/01

1995

Out of the Flowing Water by Garrett Smith

A Jewish boy in a Buddhist monastery? Or a church? Sounds crazy, right? Six years ago I would have agreed. My life was on such a different path. My mother died of brain cancer that year. Her death released a flood of conflicting emotions in me. I had just landed my dream job as a "suit and tie" in the financial securities field in San Francisco. Yet my mother's death drove me to re-think my approach to life. Money and material possessions lost their importance. There had to be more to life than just being a success. After a couple of years I quit that job and went…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/10_4/flowingwater - 1995/11/01

I've Never Been More Jewish

The last thing I ever expected to be in my life was a Christian. Being a child of the sixties, I had dabbled in various Eastern philosophies, and my personal beliefs were a conglomeration of different ideas including Karma, reincarnation and faith in a personal God. I considered myself Jewish in terms of culture and birth, but I never really practiced or was intimately aware of any of the tenets of Judaism. Yes, I had a bar mitzvah. Yes, I knew about Passover and sometimes fasted on Yom Kippur. I even prayed to God. If I ever gave any thought to Jesus Christ, I…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/newsletter/1995_08/rockmael - 1995/09/01

In this World You Will Have Trouble… by Daniel Botkin

While hard times are inevitable, some reflections on how God is ready to meet us personally.…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/10_3/oil - 1995/09/01

Ida's Friend, God by Arn Shein

Nothing about Ida really set her apart from most people-except for the harmless white lies she told about her age, and her quiet little chats with her friend, God. Like most Russian Jews around the turn of the century, as depicted in the hit musical Fiddler on the Roof, Ida's family fled the country and immigrated to the United States. They settled in Brooklyn, where Ida grew up with her five sisters and brothers. An outgoing woman with an abundance of energy, Ida also had an imaginative sense of humor. She was, for example, the first to make jokes about her nose, much…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/10_3/ida - 1995/09/01

I Found What Was Missing by Ann Cypress

I am 72 years old and I live in Delaware. I am a retired professor of nursing. I grew up in an Orthodox Jewish home. However, at an early age I found myself rebelling against the many rules and regulations of our religion. My mother was often beside herself with my constant questioning and challenging of our faith. As an adult, I never seemed to fit into a congregation, whether Orthodox or Conservative Judaism. I felt that something was missing, but I could not identify what it was. For many years, I was preoccupied with my career and put behind me all thought of…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/newsletter/1995_02/missing - 1995/04/01

1994

Am Yisrael Chai by Moishe Rosen

Despite the Holocaust, the God and people of Israel live.…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/9_4/yisraelchai - 1994/03/01

Wine for the Passover by Menachem Benhayim

A young Jew finds a personal exodus from his depression.…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/9_3/passoverwine - 1994/01/01

1993

I'm a Jew for Moses by David Mishkin

If one claims to be a "Jew for Moses" as a rebuttal to belief in Jesus, it's wise to understand what that entails.…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/9_2/jewformoses - 1993/11/01

So Be It! by Barry Greenfield

Growing up in a racially and religiously mixed neighborhood in the Bronx, I accepted certain convictions that were bestowed on me by others. For example, if they told me it was Tuesday, So Be It! It was Tuesday! If they told me it was snowing outside, even though it was mid-summer and 90 degrees, So Be It! It was snowing! It was the same for my religious preference. I was told, "You're a Jew!" So Be It! I was a Jew! When the religious holidays came, my parents said, "The Jewish holidays are here. You will stay home from school." My parents, wise beyond their years,…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/newsletter/1993_08/sobeit - 1993/08/01

My Story: A Jew from Iran Finds Shalom by Roya Vetter

In the quiet of the night, with no one but my Creator to hear, I said, " God, if, this is not the truth about you, don't be angry with me. Change my heart and show me if I am wrong; be my protector." It was a cold, cold night yet I felt a tremendous warmth, as if something hot had been poured over me. It was not painful. It was comforting, reassuring. I took it as a sign from God that I had not been mistaken to believe that Jesus is the Messiah of Israel. My name is Roya Gabbaie Vetter. I was born in Tehran, Iran. I am twenty-nine years old, the second to…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/8_9/mystory - 1993/05/01

Piecing it Together: A New York Jew Finds Peace by Melissa Moskowitz

When you break a tooth, you go to a dentist. When your shoes need heels, you go to a shoemaker. When your hair is too long, you go to a barber. Such small problems are conveniently remedied, easily fixed. But what do you do when it is your heart that needs repair? Where do you look when it is your home that is broken? What do you do when all you really want, deep down, is peace, and you can't seem to find it? Where do you go to find a peacemaker? In 1970, that was the predicament of Hilary. Her boyfriend Steve, one of the leaders of the Students for a Democratic…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/8_9/piecingittogether - 1993/05/01

Fiddler Over Wisconsin (circa 1904) by Genevieve Cowan

Jewish settlers in the middle west were of German and Russian-Lithuanian descent. Milwaukee was the nucleus of Jewish life in Wisconsin, branching into small communities all over the state. The immigrants started as peddlers by wagon, to the farmers, next opening small stores in outlying areas, and finally many became bank presidents and chain store owners. Some went on to politics—such as Joseph Cohen, State Treasurer of Wisconsin—serving as leaders of their communities. The morning of "That Day" dawned in warm spring radiance and there was an aura of…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/8_9/fiddler - 1993/05/01

God and Carpeting: The Theology of Woody Allen by David Mishkin

A red-haired boy sits next to his mother in the psychiatrist's office. She is describing her son's problems and expressing her disappointment in him. Why is he always depressed? Why can't he be like other boys his age? The doctor turns to the boy and asks why he is depressed. In a hopeless daze the boy replies, "The universe is expanding, and if the universe is everything…and if it's expanding…someday it will break apart and that's the end of everything…what's the point?" His mother leans over, slaps the kid and scolds: "What is that your…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/8_8/woodyallen - 1993/03/01

1992

My Search for the Messiah or, Why Did God Make Mosquitos? by Leland P. Gamson

"We will camp here," our scoutmaster told us, "by the lake." Eagerly we set up camp by Lake Goshen in Virginia. I was 15 then and was with other experienced scouts. We should have known the still waters of Lake Goshen would be a perfect breeding ground for mosquitos. Throughout the night they attacked us in companies, battalions and divisions. Our defenses of insect repellent and mosquito netting could not hold back their determined offense. Though they lost scores to our swats and fire, they found any open and exposed parts of our bodies. They bit me in the ears,…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/8_6/searchforthemessiah - 1992/11/01

1991

For Heaven's Sake: A Jewish Astronomer's Odyssey by David Block

The year was 1969. The event had been advertised on the radio again and again. I arose at four o'clock in the morning and watched a blazing comet with utter awe, as its tail stretched across the eastern skies. My love affair with astronomy had begun. South African astronomer Jack Bennett, who discovered the comet and whose name the heavenly object bore, became my hero. The next day I telephoned him and asked him rather timidly, "May I meet with you?" To my surprise he said, "Yes, do come over." And it was really then that the little hidden flame which had been…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/7_8/heavenssake - 1991/07/01

The Man in the White Robe by Rose Becker

I was born in New York City in 1901 and brought up in the Jewish faith. By faith, I mean that I believed in God, having heard many Bible stories from my father who read to us and taught us Jewish history. And yet, when I asked Papa the many questions which children are likely to ask about God, I found that our faith was in the Jewish people and in the general belief that there was a God. Religion, as such, had little place in my family's life. I married Sydney, a good Jewish man, and we raised our family of five after the pattern of our own upbringing. We sent…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/7_7/whiterobe - 1991/05/01

The Priest Was Wearing a Yarmulke by Cara Friedman

I am from New York—Bronx-born but suburban-bred. My father was raised in an Orthodox Jewish home, and my mother is Gentile. I grew up in a Reform Jewish home and attended the local Jewish Community Center, which was also a Conservative synagogue. I attended worship there on Friday nights and sometimes Saturday mornings. The extent of my Jewish training was some Hebrew I learned when I was little and participation in our synagogue youth group's discussion of the Hebrew Scriptures. At home we celebrated the Jewish holidays, always a big family affair. My Grandma's…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/newsletter/1991_02/yarmulke - 1991/01/01

1990

My Surprising Value Clarification by Janet Feinberg

In the following excerpts, Janet Feinberg tells a little about her radical departure from her beliefs as a Jewish eclectic mystic to her faith in Jesus as the Messiah and only door to God. "…Henry gave me the expanded version of how he had come to faith in Y'shua. My first inclination was to smile condescendingly, because Jesus was nothing new to me. I considered him one of my many mentors. But as I listened to Henry, I realized the Jesus Henry had experienced was not the 'borrowed' Jesus I knew, whose words had been lifted out of the Bible and dropped into the…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/7_2/values - 1990/07/01

From Generation to Generation by David Brickner

The dining room table was laden with platters of roast chicken, green beans and potatoes. Our guests, a young Jewish couple, were not believers in Y'shua. There was a lull in the conversation, an almost awkward pause at the point where my family is accustomed to praying. I tried to think how I could lead into the blessing without making our guests too uncomfortable. The brief pause was broken by Isaac, our eighteen-month-old, who looked at me and blurted, "Pray to God, Daddy? Pray to God?" He held out his dimpled hands to be clasped as was our custom, and our…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/havurah/mm90_10/gerations - 1990/03/01

1989

A Transformed Celebration by Nancy Cochran

As a child, I was always envious of my next-door neighbor who got to celebrate Christmas. Being Jewish, I had my own holiday, Hanukkah, but the Gentile holiday seemed so much bigger, so much better. I did not consider the meaning of either day, only the outward trappings, and my festivity did not measure up. To console me, my parents stressed that our celebration lasted eight days, while my Gentile friend had only one day. We lit candles and got presents every night and they only got presents once. Yet, this did not satisfy me. My family was poor, and our presents…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/newsletter/1989_12/celebration - 1989/12/01

Frieda Zuckerman's Christmas by Frieda Zuckerman

I was born in New York City, which you would know from my accent if I were speaking to you, but since this is on paper, you'll just have to take my word for it. I won't say how old I am, but I will tell you that I grew up during the Great Depression. Our neighborhood was made up mostly of Conservative and Orthodox Jews, with a smattering of immigrant gentiles who made their dislike for us very plain. So it may surprise you to know that in my neighborhood, even Jewish children hung stockings at Christmas in hopes that Santa would fill them with gifts. It did not occur…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/6_8/frieda - 1989/11/01

Borscht and Believing by Mimi Bernstein

I'm sure most people have heard of the Corn Belt, the Wheat Belt and the Bible Belt, but I wonder how many have ever heard of the Borscht Belt. For the "uninitiated," borscht is a sweet and sour beet soup favored by many Jewish people, especially those of Eastern European heritage. The Borscht Belt is the Catskill Mountain area of upstate New York, where many Jewish people live. That's where I grew up. Everyone I knew was Jewish. Being Jewish was simply an unquestioned fact of life. It was my identity. When I was young, I used to go with my parents quite regularly to…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/newsletter/1989_07/borscht1 - 1989/07/01

Yuppies Before Their Time

Steve and Bobbi Gorman thought they had everything, but when "everything" was gone, there was room in their life for more. They are both Jewish. In fact, they met at a singles club event at the temple. She was 19 and he was 22. Steve recalls, "It was a real challenge to go out with Bobbi. The two of us, we just…" "fought…" Bobbi finishes. "We argued…" Steve explains. "every time!" Bobbi emphasizes. Each date Steve and Bobbi had was to be the last…until, as Steve says, "It was like a light bulb went on." Within a couple of…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/6_6/yuppies - 1989/07/01

John Millane by John Millane

History is marked by the emergence of many popular movements. I am thankful that the Lord allowed two of these to coincide with my growing up: American Reform Judaism and the "hippie" counter-culture of the 1960's. These two movements shaped my early life. God saw fit to place me in a Reformed Jewish family. Assimilation into the mainstream culture was encouraged and I assimilated into the drug counter-culture of the late 60's and early 70's. In college, my agnostic attitudes were reinforced by an atheistic professor. However, I w as dating a girl, and she was a "true"…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/havurah/mm89_10/millane - 1989/04/01

Carol Dee Pokorny by Carol Dee Pokorny

It was my birthday, Wednesday, October 18,1979, and I had the day off. My children were at school so I decided to relax and watch television. I flipped the T.V. to the Phil Donahue show and saw what I thought was a very handsome man. It was Billy Graham. But of course as a Jew who had no contacts with anyone other than my Jewish friends (I was a member of the Conservative synagogue), I had no idea who Billy Graham was. Because of his striking good looks I did not change the channel. He spoke that day for about five minutes on Adam, Eve and original sin. I got up…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/havurah/mm89_10/pokorny - 1989/04/01

Bruce Gordon by Bruce Gordon

I was raised in a secular Jewish family in Los Angeles. My only contact with my Jewish faith was a couple of Passovers at a synagogue and my Boy Scout troop, which met at a synagogue and occasionally participated in the services. While I was attending U.C.L.A. in 1974, I became interested in a local television program called Amazing Prophecy. Most of the programs were about "end times" and the tribulation. I discovered from the program that there was a center in Orange, California where I could learn more about prophecy. I went. I read and gradually began to…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/havurah/mm89_10/gordon - 1989/04/01

Peter Alscher by Peter Alscher

I received my Bar-Mitzvah in an Orthodox synagogue in New York City. At age 27, 1 fell deeply in love. I married an ex-Catholic, on condition that she never ask me to convert. But two years after our marriage, she stunned me by announcing boldly, "I am in love with Jesus Christ." I was speechless with rage. I had stopped attending synagogue, but I hated Christianity. It was, to me, the most pathetic of religions. I hated the name of Jesus Christ. How could she dare speak so reverently about a dead man, in whose name millions of Jews had suffered? I concluded that…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/havurah/mm89_04/alscher - 1989/02/01

Amy Segal by Amy Segal

My father had secretly believed Jesus was the Messiah, but had never confessed and lived out his faith because of the devastation he thought it would have brought to his parents and his wife, my previously atheistic and rationalistic mother. He did explain the basics to me and encouraged me to investigate Christianity on my own. During my freshman year at Princeton, a Christian friend made me wonder some more about the gospel, but I never studied it deeply. I think I was scared that it might be the truth and acknowledging that would mean change, something I did not…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/havurah/mm89_04/amy_segal - 1989/02/01

1988

The Journey by Nancy Silver Cochran

I am a child of the '60s, with all the images that implies. Beyond that, I am a Jew. People today want to be known for how they stand out, not how they fit in; yet, my individuality cannot be separated from the ethnic background which gave it birth. I grew up in a Conservative Jewish home in Seattle. I attended Hebrew school three times a week; I learned the Hebrew alphabet, the rudiments of the language, and studied Jewish history and traditions. I read Bible stories which related to our holidays, but there was little talk of God and no systematic study of the…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/6_1/journey - 1988/09/01

Why Are You So Angry? by Tuvya Zaretsky

My father was a first generation North American. He grew up in Canada in a home heavily accented with the culture and customs of Eastern Europe, and a Jewry which was quickly shedding the religious orthodoxy of the Old World. He certainly didn't believe in Jesus, but the way he spoke that name almost daily had an effect on me as I grew up. He would speak that name when he was irritated, upset or frustrated, and I would hear, "Jeeeezus!" The name came out as though it were being spat upon the ground, and I learned early just how to say it as an emotive, ejaculatory…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/5_9/angry - 1988/05/01

He Found Me by Jason Lipman

I was born in Brooklyn, New York, but I grew up in Orange County, California. My family attended synagogue regularly, and my parents sent me to Hebrew school in preparation for my bar mitzvah. At 13, in that ceremony I accepted responsibility for my actions before God and the Jewish community. In Hebrew school I didn't learn a lot about the Bible, but I became aware that my people had a history of being persecuted. This made me defensive about anti-Semitism and protective of my Jewishness. I believed in God, but I didn't know how to have a relationship with him. My…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/newsletter/1988_03/found - 1988/03/01

My Questions Were Answered by Glenn Harris

I was born and raised in Los Angeles. In my "sunny southern California" home Jewishness was very important, especially to my grandfather. He was very religious and extremely committed to giving me a thorough Jewish education. Besides my public school attendance, he also enrolled me in Hebrew school. There I prepared for my bar mitzvah, a confirmation ceremony for Jewish boys when they reach the age of 13. We learned to read and write Hebrew and studied Jewish culture and history, but not the Bible itself. I learned for the first time that not everybody was Jewish. I…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/newsletter/1988_03/questions - 1988/03/01

Remembering Ida by Madeline Prato

My great-grandfatther's name was Louis Reiner, but we always called him Zayde Leib. He was a tall, handsome man who had served as a soldier in Europe, but spent most of his life as a cobbler—a maker and designer of boots. His marriage to Becky Mendelovich, daughter of the learned Rabbi Mendelovich, was prearranged. Leib never saw his bride until they were exchanging vows under the canopy. He was delighted to find that a beautiful woman with lively dark eyes and dark brown hair stood waiting behind the wedding veil. Bobbe Ida Brown on left. Sister Mary on right. …[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/5_8/ida - 1988/03/01

1987

Through Their Eyes by Melissa Moskowitz

When I think about my family tree, my thoughts turn first to my grandmother. I was a little girl when she died, so most of what I know about her is from stories my mother told me. Bubbe was a small woman; her heavy, rimless glasses all but covered her face. Whenever I picture her, it is with a clean, white apron fastened securely around her tiny waist. But what I remember most clearly about Bubbe are her hands. They were always busy! Every week she made an enormous coffee cake. With great delight I would sit at the kitchen table and watch her mix the batter. Her…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/5_6/eyes - 1987/11/01

It Runs in the Family by Ruth Rosen

"Harry, come to bed. Harry, she doesn't want to talk about it." My grandmother was such a good natured woman; I think that was the first time in my 11 years I had ever seen her the slightest bit annoyed. My grandfather never raised an eyebrow. He continued our conversation as though we hadn't been interrupted. My grandmother pulled her bathrobe closed tightly around her neck. Poor Nana was always cold. She just stood outside the living room waiting—a petite woman, her back slightly bent under the weight of her years. She cleared her throat. "HARRY ELFBAUM!…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/5_6/family - 1987/11/01

Seasons of Discovery by Lori Baron

I climbed into the hardwood seat, which was padded with a green velvet cushion. Then I tilted my head back 'til I could feel the strain in my neck. This was the best way to view the immense beauty of our synagogue. I was 5 years old, and fascinated by the vast dome that was the pride of our sanctuary. Suspended from the very center of the dome there was an enormous gold Star of David. I think it must have been about five times as big as I was. There were many lovely gold decorations in our synagogue. As a child I thought to myself, "It is good to be Jewish. Our God loves…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/5_4/seasons_of_discovery - 1987/07/01

I Couldn't Turn My Back on Him by Goldie R.

My name is Goldie. I grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Our neighborhood was terrific—half Jewish and half Italian. I thought that the whole world—or at least the half that wasn't Jewish—must be Italian. It followed then that everyone who was not Jewish was Gentile, and to my mind, that meant Catholic. In my little world in Pittsburgh, all Gentiles were Christians, and all Christians were Catholic. That was all I knew. An interesting thing that I learned from my ethnic neighborhood was that we Jews and Italians were very much alike. Most of us…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/newsletter/1987_06/turn - 1987/06/01

Betrayed! by Lyn Rosen Bond

Betrayed! by Stan Telchin. Chosen Books of the Zondervan Corp. Grand Rapids, Michigan 49506. $7.95, 139 pages, paperbound. (Also available in cassette). Purchase this online as a book or audio cassette. Betrayed! is a book that should have been written decades ago. Stan Telchin's response to his daughter's announcement of her belief in Jesus is typical. He writes, "How do you feel when you are successful, 50 and Jewish, and your 21-year-old daughter tells you she believes in Jesus? Betrayed!" His reaction…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/5_2/betrayed - 1987/03/01

What One Rabbi Discovered

In a small town in eastern Hungary, young Leopold Cohn lost both of his parents at the age of seven. His life became a struggle for existence, and he learned to trust in God with all of his heart. At 13 he decided to study to become a rabbi, and when he graduated from the Talmudic academies at 18, he had earned a record of high scholarship. He finished his formal studies, received smikha or ordination, and became happily married. Devoting himself to further research of the sacred writings and to earnest prayer, he sought to find the solution for the sufferings of his…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/5_1/discovered - 1987/01/01

1986

Relationships by Noel Raybin

I was born into the Rabinowitz family. That made me Holly Raybin's younger brother, "The Baby." I was born Jewish, so that made me a physical "son" of Abraham. But more important than either of those two relationships is my relationship with the Creator of the universe. I can call God my heavenly Father because I have been born into his "family" through faith in the Messiah Y'shua. I was raised with an awareness of my Jewishness, but it was not a religious identity. Even my last name, which had been shortened from Rabinowitz to Raybin, seemed to direct me toward…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/newsletter/1986_12/relationships - 1986/12/01

My Own Private Miracle by Roberta Cosgrove

About four years ago I became a believer in Jesus Christ. Looking back on it, I consider this event a miracle. Like most Jewish people, I was taught from an early age that Jews do not believe in Jesus. That teaching was reinforced every year at Christmas. When other children were singing Christmas carols, trimming trees and exchanging presents, I was told I could not do those things because I was Jewish. One time, when I was about eight years old, I saw a children's Christmas book in a store. I asked my mother if I could buy it. At first she said yes, but when she saw…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/newsletter/1986_12/miracle - 1986/12/01

My Identity as a Jew: An Interview with Jodee Steiner

Editor: When did being Jewish first hold meaning for you? Jodee: I can't remember it not meaning something to me, so I guess it always did. But I think it started causing problems when I entered school. When I was at home with my mom and dad, I thought everybody was like us. You don't realize that other people have different cultural aspects to their lives. Editor: How did being Jewish distinguish you from other people? Jodee: As a young child it was in small ways. It seemed like during the holidays all the Jewish kids in the class would take off; they were all…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/4_10/identity - 1986/11/01

I Found Eternal Life by Larry Greenstein

I was raised in a Conservative/Reform Jewish family. We tried to observe the traditions and customs of our elders, but there was no real spirituality. I believed that God existed but that he was not very important to modern living. On the high holidays I went to synagogue with my parents and sisters, not out of a desire to worship, but out of a sense of obligation, because going to synagogue on Rosh Hashanah (New Year's) and Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) was what Jewish people were supposed to do. My parents lovingly sent me to Hebrew school. I learned a lot and did…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/newsletter/1986_10/05Eternal - 1986/10/01

Heaven Wanted to Wait! by Milton Kohut

I should have died. At 2:45 p.m. on May 25, 1979, Flight 191 lifted off the runway at O'Hare International Airport. Within minutes the jumbo DC-10, headed from Chicago to Los Angeles and crammed to capacity with 273 passengers and personnel, plunged to earth in a horrifying fireball. I should have been on board. The memory of the moment when I first heard the report on the radio jolts me with the same intensity today as it did then. I glance at the faded airline ticket still pinned to my office wall, and the questions start tumbling anew, along with the jumbled…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/4_8/wait - 1986/07/01

A Russian Doctor by Charles Colson

No reporters have visited the prison camps of Soviet Russia, unless they have gone as prisoners. So to this day we have little information about the millions who have lived, suffered, and died there, especially during Stalin's reign of terror. Most will remain nameless for all time, remembered only in the hearts of those who knew and loved them. But from time to time, scraps of information have filtered out about a few. One of those few was Boris Nicholayevich Kornfeld. Kornfeld was a medical doctor. From this we can guess a little about his background, for in…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/4_7/russian - 1986/05/01

Testimony of Clara Rubin by Clara Rubin

My parents came from Russia to the United States in 1911. My mother used to tell me stories of the atrocities and pogroms suffered by our people there at Passover time. A gentile child would be hidden, and we Jews would be accused of killing him and using his blood to make matzohs. Then great persecution would follow. At Easter time the Russian priests, wearing expensive robes, marched through the streets carrying a very large cross, which frightened many people and started new riots. Jews were not allowed to own land in Russia. My grandfather, a peddler,…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/4_7/testimony_of_clara_rubin - 1986/05/01

"I'm One of You" by Libby Gold

My grandparents, Esther and Joseph, immigrated to America from Lithuania in 1905. My grandfather, a tinsmith, had earned a livelihood in the old country with his horse and wagon. After a fire destroyed their village on the outskirts of Vilna province, Esther and Joseph packed their few possessions onto a wagon and left the country with their daughter Sarah, the only one of their six children who had survived childhood illness. They stayed for a few months in Iran, where strangers gave them blankets and food. In a few months Joseph obtained the necessary papers to take his…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/newsletter/1986_03/04One - 1986/03/01

1985

Second Chance by Roy Isenberg

This is my testimony, so I have to talk a lot about myself, but I'm not a hero. I'm just an ordinary guy who found Jesus. I'm a Christian. I used to be an Orthodox Jew, and a crook—not that those are by any means synonymous—but that's who and what I was. My grandfather was a rabbi in the Lubavitch movement. My less-than-Orthodox father married an Anglican who converted to Judaism. My family constantly fought over me, and eventually I moved in to live with my grandfather. He insisted that I attend Hebrew Academy. I hated that school. I hated Hebrew. So I…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/newsletter/1985_11/05_Second_Chance - 1985/11/01

The Faith of My Fathers by Loren Jacobs

Perhapss Moses Maimonides grew up in a Jewish home steeped in faith. I didn't. In the several generations since we left Russia for America, my family had departed from any deep faith in the God of Israel and His Word. Growing up in Chicago in the 1960's, I was immersed instead in a humanistic, secularistic and materialistic belief system. Not many of my Jewish friends, family, nor even my teachers at synagogue believed in the God of Torah. Such "notions" as a God who could create the universe in six days, part the Red Sea, perform signs, wonders and miracles, who could…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/4_3/faith - 1985/09/01

An Interview With Dr. Vera Schlamm

Ed. note: Dr. Vera Schlamm spent her childhood in Nazi Germany and Holland. Her early youth—the days when most girls are beginning to date—was spent trying to survive on tiny morsels of food while in Bergen-Belsen. For a fuller account of her story of survival and her earnest search for God, see the books Jewish Doctors Meet the Great Physician and Testimonies. available online by clicking the links. Both also contain the accounts of other Jews…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/4_3/schlamm - 1985/09/01

Coming Home by Barbara Davidson

Born in post-World War II Germany of Polish holocaust survivors, my longing to find an earthly place I could call home began early in life. My parents, victims of Hitler's atrocities, had been thrust from their homes and forced to find new ones. Germany was for us a place we were but temporarily transplanted. From there we would eventually sail to the United States to establish more permanent roots. And so the Bronx, New York, became our new home. But we soon learned that anti-Semitism hadn't ended and, of course, never could end merely with the collapse of Hitler's…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/4_2/cominghome - 1985/07/01

A Song with Purpose by Joel Kleinbaum

I can't remember my exact age, but I was sitting in a synagogue service that was designed especially for children (ages four and up). It was Rosh Hashannah and the reader spoke the words, "Who may climb the mountain of the Lord? And who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart…" (Psalm 24:3, 4a) I was an impressionable child. I looked down at my hands; they were clean. Then I tried to look into my heart and somehow, even at that age, I realized it was not pure. Soon after this experience my grandfather died, and I was told I'd…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/4_1/purpose - 1985/05/01

It Wasn't Easy by Neil Rothenberg

I'm often asked, "How did a nice Jewish boy like you come to believe in Jesus?" In reply I must say, "It wasn't easy!" Sure, I knew who Jesus was, but I had always thought that he was not for the Jewish people. I had never considered believing in him as an option for my life. Like most young Jews, I had parents who wanted me to learn about my Jewish roots. To accomplish this, they sent me to an Orthodox Talmud Torah (Hebrew school) that was connected with the local synagogue. My parents themselves were not very "religious." They were rather surprised when I came…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/newsletter/1985_05/05_WasntEasy - 1985/05/01

I Thought the Messiah Had Come and I Had Missed Him by Larry Brandt

People often ask me, "What's a nice Jewish boy like you doing in Jews for Jesus?" My story begins in Long Beach, N.Y., a conservative Jewish community in Long Island. For six years I went to Hebrew school and at 13 1 had my bar mitzvah (confirmation). Many Jewish boys quit Hebrew school after their bar mitzvahs, but I continued my Jewish education until I began college because I enjoyed studying the history and customs of my people. I was a good student and I obeyed my parents, my teachers and the law—most of the time, anyway. I was one of the few young people…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/newsletter/1985_03/thoughtcome - 1985/03/01

The Faith of the Second Generation by Larry Rich

My parents were both Russian born Jews who emigrated to the United States during their teens. They met and were married in Chicago, and although both had been raised in Orthodox families, they spent the first twelve years of their married life in a fairly nonreligious lifestyle. But in 1937, four years before I was born, their complacency about spiritual matters was challenged. My mother had employed a housekeeper in those days. One week she left some literature on a table in our home for my mother to read, literature which spoke of Jesus the Messiah. After my mother…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/3_9/second - 1985/01/01

1984

I Needed a Better Explanation by Terrie Bialostok

As I grew up, every Friday night my family would gather about the table. Mother lit the Sabbath candles. It was a special tradition, not for religious reasons, but because it was time we spent together. My brother and I learned of the holidays and traditions through our parents' teaching, as well as by attending religious school. While I knew I was Jewish and had a sense of belonging with other Jews, and felt a warmth toward my Jewish heritage, I did not relate being Jewish to my thoughts about God. I became a "firm atheist" during high school and came to feel that…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/3_8/betterexplanation - 1984/11/01

One Coincidence Too Many by Matt Sieger

It was January 1976 and I was sitting in the university clinic waiting for a doctor. Woozy from a bout of mononucleosis, I had just wobbled in from the arctic gusts and glacial snowdrifts of an upstate New York winter, and had taken my seat among the other coughing, wheezing, and sniffling students. About the time I had almost thawed out, a doctor was ready to see me. A dark-complected, congenial-looking woman, she asked me into her office, where I weakly eased into a chair. The doctor, who was originally from India, was very kind. She not only gave attentive care…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/3_6/coincidence - 1984/07/01

Facts Are Facts by Jeff Fritz

I am by profession an electrical engineer. I was trained to rely on scientific data. I learned that facts were facts, theories were theories and all else was either unknown or hocus-pocus. There was not much room for the unexplained or the miraculous—only analytical data would do. When presented with a new concept, I knew how to measure and analyze it in order to come to a scientifically acceptable conclusion. For example, I knew that in order to obtain the wattage used, it was necessary to measure the flow of current through a light bulb and to multiply it by the…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/3_6/facts - 1984/07/01

Ner Tamid by Melissa Moskowitz

The memories of one's childhood combine to form a picture either sweeter or perhaps more bitter than what is warranted by the real experience. Yet, except for time-worn photographs, a parent's dusty recollections, or maybe more luckily, a diary that was thought to be lost, memories are all we have to recall of those days we can neither recapture nor relive. And so I can only trust the somewhat cobwebbed places of my mind to help repaint a picture of the years I attended a little synagogue in New York City. From the time I was six years old until the "wise" old age of…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/3_5/nertamid - 1984/05/01

Through Death's Door—and Back! by Lyn Mann

Through Death's Door—and Back! by Lyn Mann This article originally appeared in ISSUES 3:3 I was a very fortunate person. I had a loving husband, children who were a source of joy and satisfaction, a beautiful home, a profession as a teacher who loved teaching. Most importantly, I had a relationship with God. To me, life was never a gamble because I trusted God, and I never thought in terms of "cashing in my chips." The thought of death is grim. It's a departure from a beloved family, friends, the comforting routine and details of life—to a place one's…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/3_3/deathsdoor - 1984/01/01

1983

I Escaped From Hitler Twice: The Fred Wertheim Story

When a Jew comes to believe in Jesus, it not only affects his life but the lives of those closest to him—his family. This was certainly the case when Steve Wertheim, the son of a Jewish immigrant, came to believe in Jesus. Steve's father, Fred, was born in Germany in 1925. The son of a baker, he lived in a small village of 2,000 people. The town had very few Jews, ten families to be exact. Fred, as a young boy, had to look among the non-Jews for playmates because the only other Jewish children were his two older sisters and an older Jewish girl. It didn't bother…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/3_1/escape - 1983/09/01

The "Man" of My Dreams by Rose Becker

Years ago, it must have been about 1942 or '43, I was sleeping and I experienced what I thought was a dream. I dreamed I was being chased by a giant-sized man. I was running over hills and mountains: he was chasing me with a sickle. I ran and ran until I couldn't run any further. There was nowhere else to run; I was so high up. Then the sky opened. It was a beautiful light blue and light pink in color. There stood a tall figure in white. He had white hair and a white robe. I don't remember his feet, though I think he was probably barefoot. I could see him stretch out…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/2_9/manofdreams - 1983/05/01

Son of Commandment by Bob Mendelsohn

I remember being nervous. My mouth felt dry, and the palms of my hands were sticky with sweat. I had just completed a whole year of intensive training to prepare me for just these next few hours. Would I remember my speech, the only part I was to present in English? Would I stumble over any of the Torah reading I had studied so carefully? My bar mitzvah—the ceremony that initiates a thirteen-year-old Jewish boy into the religious life of the Jewish community! I was about to become a "son of commandment," a man of duty toward God. Now I would be responsible to…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/2_8/commandment - 1983/03/01

Bas Mitzvah by Sandra Gerstein

At last! The Sabbath eve of my long anticipated Bas Mitzvah! More than the culmination of months of study, it was a step toward maturity. As I waited on the bimah during the Friday evening service, I savored the exciting thought that in just a few short moments I would officially enter into Jewish adulthood in the tradition of my forefathers. From my seat next to the rabbi, I gazed down at the faces of my family and friends. How proud my parents looked—proud that their daughter was about to make a public commitment to the God of Israel. I was filled with a…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/2_8/basmitzvah - 1983/03/01

When Being Jewish Was a Crime by Kresha Richman-Warnock

No Jew who lived through the merciless devastation of the Holocaust emerged unscarred. Many Jews responded either by rejecting God or even hating Him. Rachmiel Frydland in his recent book, When Being Jewish Was a Crime, presents another perspective. Mr. Frydland grew up in Poland where he was in training for the rabbinate. As a young man, he met a Jewish Christian who showed him how clearly the Scriptures portrayed Jesus as the Messiah. Struggle as he might, he could find nothing in the Jewish Bible to refute this and soon Frydland became a believer in Jesus. That was…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/2_7/frydland - 1983/01/01

1982

The Chain by Zhava Glaser

Seventeen pairs of eyes looked to me to teach them the Hebrew language as I continued the chain of tradition. I grew up in Argentina, but I felt that I was a member of a worldwide Jewish community. Yet I had a particular perspective of what it meant to be Jewish. I remember as a child helping my family clean up the mud thrown at our house by our neighbors "in the name of Christ." I remember having heard my father tell of fleeing from Rumania to avoid the 25-year draft imposed on Jewish men "because they killed Christ." I remember my grandfather telling me how he…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/2_6/chain - 1982/11/01

A Dream Shared by Susan Perlman

"I realized I couldn't turn my back on all the injustices around me." "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath caused the iniquity of us all to fall upon him." "I have a dream…" The stirring words of Martin Luther King, Jr., filled my thoughts. He spoke for black people, he spoke for poor people. And, though I was neither black nor poor, I felt like he spoke for me, too. I realized I couldn't turn my back on all the injustices around me. Even if it didn't accomplish much, I felt that it was my…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/2_5/shared - 1982/09/01

My Jewish Family Album by Leah Brickner

One of the greatest desires of my parents was that I should know the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and love Him. From my earliest childhood, I remember my parents' love for God and for His people, Israel. When I was very young they began to read to me the beautiful stories from the Scriptures. Because they loved God, my parents had a deep love for His Word. Even through my mother was from a Gentile background, she took after her namesake, Ruth. She had a Jewish heart which was fiercely loyal to the people and the land of Israel. My mother was a member of the…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/2_3/album - 1982/05/01

Not Even A Minyon by Ellen Zaretsky

When I was six years old, my world changed. If I had remained in the city of my birth, Buffalo, New York, my neighbors, my friends, my surroundings, my culture, most associations would have been Jewish in the way that my parents' and their parents' associations were Jewish. But when I was six, my family moved South (of Buffalo, anyway) to a town called East Aurora. This was a town where the Jewish population numbered six: my father, my mother, my two sisters, my brother and myself, with my grandfather making seven during the spring and summer months. It was there that I…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/2_2/minyon - 1982/03/01

1981

Marching for Peace by Melissa Moskowitz

"We shall overcome, we shall overcome, we shall overcome someday…Oh, Lord, deep in my soul, I know that I do believe…We shall overcome someday." The 50's were a time of social activism, and my father, a college professor, was right in the center of it. I remember one cold, wintry morning when my three sisters and I were leaving for school, seeing my father returning to bed, haggard and bleary-eyed from a three-hour vigil up in Harlem, the black ghetto of New York City. He and a few comrades had strapped themselves to a bulldozer to protest the building that…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/1_10/marching - 1981/11/01

The Parable of the Three Rings by Jhan Moskowitz

When I was a child growing up in New York City, some of my playmates in the neighborhood were of different religious backgrounds. Some were Protestant; some were Catholic. I wasn't quite sure what the differences between the religions were. My friends seemed to be interested in the same sports I was, went to the same schools I did, and had the same difficulties in their studies. But, when the holidays arrived, each of us celebrated different ones. So, I approached my father and asked him what the difference was between what we believed and what my friends believed. He…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/1_9/rings - 1981/09/01

How Big Is Your God? by Ceil Rosen

From the time I was old enough to understand anything, I believed in God. He was a big omniscient Jewish Grandfather in the sky who could fix everything and make it right if He chose. I knew He was there because I often heard my mother talking to Him in Yiddish. If someone was hurt, or sick, or if she'd had a particularly bad day, I'd hear her saying, "Oy, Gott!" Sometimes it sounded more like a complaint than a prayer, but I knew she was appealing to Him for some kind of action. From this I surmised two things: one could appeal to God in times of trouble; and one spoke…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/1_8/big - 1981/07/01

1980

When the Messiah Comes… by Barry Rubin

Oftentimes, Jews who come to believe in Jesus are told by their unbelieving families, "If you'd only known more about Judaism, if you'd only studied your own religion, you never would have come to believe this way." My parents never said that to me because, before I accepted Christ, I went to see an Orthodox rabbi on my own initiative. You see, I had met some Jews for Jesus who had given me some very convincing arguments from the Scriptures apparently pointing to Jesus as the Messiah. However, I was afraid to just "jump in." "How can I be sure?" I thought. My…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/1_3/messiahcomes - 1980/09/01

What Happened When I Read a Forbidden Book by Stuart Dauermann

In the summer of 1962 I was playing piano in a band in New York's Catskill Mountain resort area—more commonly called "the Jewish Alps." Being a Jew and a college student, there was nothing unusual about that. But one day I found myself in the very unusual position of witnessing a heated argument between two fellow workers—an argument about Christian theology. Bart, who studied for the Catholic priesthood, and Jerry, who studied with the Jehovah's Witnesses, were disagreeing about something called "the hypostatic union." I prided myself on being a reader, but…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/1_2/forbiddenbook - 1980/07/01

The Jewishness of The New Testament by Avi Brickner

Why a rabbi who considered the New Testament to be anti-Semitic changed his mind.…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/1_2/newtestament - 1980/07/01

An Interview with Jeff Fritz

Editor: Tell us a little about what it was like for you while you were growing up. Jeff: I was born in the Bronx, but grew up in a Jewish community in Nassau County, on Long Island. In my particular neighborhood, which was in a place called Levittown, there were only one or two non-Jewish families. At Christmas time you could tell which was which because out of the two hundred homes in the area, only a few of them were decorated with Christmas lights. They looked very lonely there in my neighborhood. The rest of us were Jewish. Editor: Who was God to you when you…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/newsletter/1980_01/interview - 1980/01/01

1978

Then I Met Messiah by Ceil Rosen

It was New Year's Eve, 1951. As I reached for a drinking glass in the shelf-lined pantry of our cold-water flat, I glanced out of the tiny window at the midnight sky. The light of one star in the southwest dazzled me with its brilliance. It beamed bigger and brighter than any star I had ever seen, and I thought, "Maybe the Christmas star over Bethlehem looked like that." Then I realized that I, a Jew, halfway believed something I had always been taught was untrue. My twin brother and I were born prematurely to Jewish parents in Boston, Massachusetts. We each weighed less…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/answers/lifestories/ceil - 1978/01/01

1976

A Yom Kippur Prayer by Amy Rabinovitz

Synagogue is hardly the scene to begin a story about believing in Jesus, but it was there my questions started. The somber strains of Kol Nidre still lingered in my mind from the night before. Captured almost mystically in the walls and windows, they reminded me of the fresh opportunity Yom Kippur brought to present myself before my Maker. I recited the prayers as I had year after year. As I listened to my own voice, I realized it conveyed emotion. Emotion, not sincerity. The emphasis on sin and forgiveness struck a discordant note. Sin? Forgiveness? I hadn't…[ Full Article ]

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/1_1/yom_kippur_prayer - 1976/09/01