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Jews for Jesus is the largest missionary organization in the entire world aimed at converting Jews. With a total reported income near $17 million for the fiscal year ending in December 2004 and with over $1 million allocated for the July 2006 "Behold Your God" campaign in New York, they are spending a great deal of money to convert the Jewish people. Though Jews for Jesus claims to be a Jewish group, there is one little secret that it rarely lets out-the Executive Director of Jews for Jesus is not Jewish!
Jews for Jesus was founded by Martin "Moishe" Rosen. Though born of Jewish parents, his father was openly hostile to religion. By his mid-20 s, Martin Rosen became an ordained Baptist minister and was involved in missionary movements to the Jewish people. He began Jews for Jesus in the early '70s following his work with another missionary group targeting the Jewish people, known as the American Board of Missions to the Jews. But, as all movement leaders come to recognize, eventually they have to pass on the leadership to the next generation. In 1996, Reverend Rosen appointed David Brickner as the new Executive Director of Jews for Jesus. David Brickner is an interesting individual. In any writings by him on his family, he attempts to highlight all of the Jewish members in his family. He even claims that one of his direct ancestors was the daughter of a rabbi, though the story is a bit suspect. However, he omits one important piece of information; Brickner is not Jewish. In Judaism, the child's religion is passed on through the mother. If your mother is Jewish, you are Jewish. If not, you are not Jewish unless you go through a Kosher conversion process. In the case of David Brickner, his mother was never Jewish. By definition, this means that David Brickner is not Jewish, either. As one might imagine, David Brickner also has never gone through a conversion process to Judaism. No matter what the measuring stick that is being used, David Brickner, the Executive Director of Jews for Jesus, is not Jewish. Though he is not Jewish, David Brickner is many other things. Brickner is the child of evangelists to the Jewish people. He is an experienced evangelist himself, working for Jews for Jesus since 1977. He is an ordained Baptist minister, receiving his ordination from the Baptist General Conference. Reverend Brickner is a man who has convinced many Christians to donate to his cause, or as Jews for Jesus states on their website: "We trust God for the funding of Jews for Jesus, and He has provided through caring Christians. Each missionary raises his or her own support. Jews for Jesus is not a church, so we ask our Christian friends to support their local churches first. Then we ask people to prayerfully consider giving to our ministry as well. We welcome the support of all Christians, though we particularly appreciate those who include our ministry in their regular missions giving." David Brickner is many things; a minister, a leader of a mult-million dollar corporation and a man of power in the Christian evangelical community. But as the leader of Jews for Jesus, there is one thing that he cannot claim to be. He is not Jewish. There are many reasons why Jews do not accept Jesus, and the links below are some of the better explanations on this topic. Of course, if you have questions that are not covered on the links, you can always e-mail me with your questions. An Answer from Rabbi Stuart Federow Click Here An Answer from Rabbi Shraga Simmons Click Here Ask the Rabbi from Ohr Somayach Click Here An Answer from Rabbi Tovia Singer Click Here
There are a number of groups that provide Countermissionary Counseling. Here are links to a few of them: Alternatively, you can call them at 1-800-4PROOF1 with general questions about missionary claims.
Here are a number of great sites that counter missionaries and explain the differences in belief between Judaism and Christianity, including addressing the Biblical verses that missionaries try to use against the Jews and explaining why the missionaries are incorrect. For the most in-depth analysis of verse by verse questions, go to Messiah Truth (sections on Counter-Missionary: Multi-media training [this can be read without being "multi-media"], Knowing Your Orchard and Judaism's Answer), Jews for Judaism (in their Reference Section (please note that the Isaiah topics tend to be under "Suffering Servant" part of the "Proof Text" section) and the Q & A section of Outreach Judaism. Escape From Counterfeit Judaism Talking to Kids About Missionaries
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