History & Timeline
Here's a little look at our history as an organizationHistory
It was just after the social ferment of the 1960s. A spiritual revolution was grabbing the lives of young people throughout North America, many of whom were Jewish. Out of this matrix of social unrest and spiritual seeking, Jews for Jesus was born as an organization in 1973. Founded by veteran missionary Moishe Rosen, the organization changed the way the Jewish community looked at the person of Jesus.
But Jews for Jesus began much earlier, as the plaque outside our headquarters building reads, “Established A.D. 32—give or take a year.” The movement of Jews to faith in Jesus began in the first century. And there was a substantial movement of Jews to faith in Jesus in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, both in Europe and in North America.
But this late twentieth century movement was different. Jewish followers of Jesus proclaimed both their faith in Jesus and their Jewishness in a new, vibrant way. Homemade pamphlets called “broadsides” were being handed out on street corners and campuses. A new music genre—Jewish gospel—was developed and the Liberated Wailing Wall was putting out albums of original music. By the mid-1970s, Jews for Jesus had opened several branches in the United States. That’s when we also began our first secular media outreach with a full-page evangelistic ad in the New York Times in 1976 followed by ads in newspapers and on billboards in major cities across the US, Jews for Jesus started publishing ISSUES (a publication that invites Jewish people to consider Jesus) and conducted exploratory witnessing expeditions to Israel and Northern Ireland.
Then came the 1980s. The Rubik’s Cube swept popular culture and Ferris Bueller was having his famous day off. For Jews for Jesus, it meant the establishment of international branches in cities such as Toronto and Johannesburg. In the eighties we also instituted a Masters in Jewish Missions program in conjunction with Fuller Theological Seminary. Like Jews everywhere, we placed a value on education, and we required any of our missionary staff without a higher degree to go through this program. The eighties were also a watershed decade for another reason: the United States Supreme Court ruled in our favor when we challenged an ordinance that banned us from distributing religious literature at Los Angeles International Airport.
On the eve of the 1990s, the Berlin Wall came down and the Soviet Union split apart, ending decades of Communist rule in Eastern Europe. That allowed us to start branches in the former Soviet Union, which, within the space of seven years, became fully indigenized, headed and staffed by Russian and Ukrainian Jewish believers in Jesus. Additional international branches were established, including branches in London, Paris, Sydney and Tel Aviv. We began a website on the fledgling World Wide Web in 1995. In May of 1996, Moishe Rosen stepped down as executive director, believing that a new and younger generation needed to lead the way. David Brickner (a fifth-generation Jewish believer in Jesus) was appointed executive director, having served in various leadership positions throughout his first seventeen years with Jews for Jesus.
As the new millennium began (remember the panic over Y2K?) our Israel branch received amutah, or official status. We opened a branch in Essen, Germany, and completed an outreach (called “Behold Your God,” after Isaiah 40:9) to all 55 cities worldwide that had 25,000 or more Jewish people. Other branches opened in Miami, Phoenix and Montreal. We established a video department in addition to our web department. Both of these later expanded into a full digital media department (including a social media outreach team) complemented by our Information Technology team.
One of our social media projects—That Jew Died For You—went viral on YouTube.
Today, our largest branch by personnel is in Tel Aviv, where we have opened the Moishe Rosen Center, now serving as a vibrant community and outreach center in the trendy Florentine neighborhood. And since many Israelis have moved to Berlin, Germany, in search of better opportunities, we opened a branch there as well.
Jews for Jesus remains committed to reaching out with the good news of the Messiah to our people worldwide, with a staff and corps of volunteers spanning multiple generations including Boomers and Millennials. Check out the timeline below for a more detailed history.
Timeline
1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s
1960s |
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| Late 1960s | The Jesus Movement is in full swing and many Jewish young people are coming to faith in Jesus. |
| 1969 | Moishe Rosen, veteran missionary, develops broadside-style gospel tracts in New York City. |
1970s |
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| Summer, 1970 | Fellowship of Christian Testimonies to the Jews has Jewish executive, Sid Lawrence, speak. Lawrence tells the mission leaders they are ineffective. Moishe Rosen moves to San Francisco to be part of the Jesus movement to minister to young Jewish believers in Jesus. |
| 1971 | Jews for Jesus Presentation Group formed (later named the Liberated Wailing Wall). |
| 1972 | New Jerusalem Players drama team formed. |
| June, 1972 | “Jews for Jesus”s” slogan is picked up by the national media. Jews for Jesus film with Les Crane airs on network TV. |
| August, 1972 | Moishe Rosen speaks at the Jesus Joy Rally at Madison Square Garden. |
| January, 1973 | Volunteers at Jews for Jesus covenant to stay together for eighteen months. |
| Summer, 1973 | Liberated Wailing Wall goes on first tour. |
| September, 1973 | Jews for Jesus incorporated as Hineni Ministries. Staff consists of a mobile singing group, the executive director and his secretary. |
| Autumn, 1973 | First Liberated Wailing Wall album, Hineni, produced. |
| 1974 | Jews for Jesus book by Moishe Rosen and Bill Proctor published. |
| June, 1974 | Jews for Jesus attends Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization (LCWE) meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland. |
| Summer, 1974 | First annual summer witnessing campaign in New York City. |
| Autumn, 1974 | Los Angeles branch established. |
| Autumn, 1974 | Approved student program instituted. |
| January, 1975 | New Jerusalem Players kick off first tour. |
| January, 1975 | Move Jews for Jesus Headquarters relocated from Corte Madera to San Rafael, California. |
| January, 1975 | First weekly staff report. |
| Spring, 1975 | First Israel Witnessing Expedition. |
| June, 1975 | Jews for Jesus Council formed. |
| August, 1975 | New York branch established. |
| Autumn, 1975 | Israelight singing group formed. |
| Autumn, 1975 | First Jews for Jesus Ingathering. |
| 1976 | ISSUES publication founded. |
| Early 1976 | Chicago branch established. Boston branch established. |
| April, 1976 | First Northern Ireland Witnessing Campaign. |
| June, 1976 | First full-page evangelistic ad in secular paper (The New York Times). |
| Summer, 1977 | Miami branch established. |
| February, 1978 | Jews for Jesus Headquarters relocated to San Francisco. |
| September, 1978 | Washington, D.C. outpost established. |
| September, 1979 – June, 1980 | Avodah retraining year for missionary staff. All branches temporarily shut down. |
1980s |
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| Summer, 1980 | First Liberated Wailing Wall traveling bus purchased. |
| August, 1980 | Branches reopened in New York City, Chicago and Los Angeles. |
| August, 1981 | Toronto branch established. First world tour of the Liberated Wailing Wall. |
| December, 1981 | San Francisco branch reestablished. |
| Spring, 1982 | Co-Laborer in Messiah program instituted. |
| Summer, 1982 | Probe witnessing campaign in England. |
| December, 1982 | Y’shua secular media ad campaign initiated on a broad scale. |
| Summer, 1983 | Joint London witnessing campaign with other Jewish missions. |
| September, 1983 | Boston branch re-opened. |
| Early 1984 | New York building purchased. Joint World Tour ofNew Jerusalem Players and Liberated Wailing Wall. |
| Summer, 1984 | Jews for Jesus Summer Olympics Campaign in Los Angeles. |
| 1985 | Still Not Ashamed documentary film released. |
| Spring, 1985 | Mishpochah Message started (now Havurah). |
| May, 1985 | First academic study program abroad (Israel ’85). |
| Summer, 1985 | Project Nehemiah initiated. |
| 1986 | Shalom Hospitality House opened. |
| Summer, 1986 | Jesus for Jews book published (now titled, Testimonies). |
| September, 1987 | Jews for Jesus wins U.S. Supreme Court decision re: broadsiding at LAX in Board of Airport Commissioners of the City of Los Angeles v. Jews for Jesus, Inc. |
| Summer, 1988 | Institution of Masters in Jewish Missions program at Fuller Theological Seminary established. |
| Winter, 1988 | Washington, D.C. branch established. |
| April, 1989 | Willowbank Declaration on the Christian Gospel and the Jewish People adopted. |
| August, 1989 | Merger with Hope of Israel of South Africa. |
| November, 1989 | Johannesburg, South Africa branch established. |
| December, 1989 | First iteration of Project Joshua, trip to Israel for Jewish-believing college students. |
1990s |
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| March, 1990 | Argentina work established. |
| October, 1990 | Israel Witnessing Campaign. |
| November, 1990 | South Florida branch reopened. |
| Winter, 1990 | Dallas chapter established. |
| Summer, 1991 | First Camp Gilgal on East and West Coast of U.S. |
| August, 1991 | Retraining Week of Missionary Staff Worldwide at Asilomar. |
| September, 1991 | Odessa, Ukraine branch established. |
| January, 1992 | London branch established. |
| January, 1992 | Establishment of Purple Pomegranate Productions. |
| April, 1992 | Paris branch established. |
| August, 1992 | Thousand Tongues Witnessing Campaign — London and Amsterdam. |
| September, 1992 | School of the Prophets — Odessa, Ukraine. |
| January, 1993 | Moscow branch established. |
| March, 1993 | Theological Consultation on Theology and Law. |
| August, 1993 | conducted our first street witnessing campaign in Moscow |
| December, 1993 | Second Asilomar Missionary Retraining. |
| December, 1993 | Liberated Wailing Wall at Urbana. |
| May, 1994 | Israel Worker established. |
| Summer, 1994 | Paris, Toronto, New York and Moscow witnessing campaigns. |
| September, 1994 | Moved into our own facility in Westwood, California. |
| December, 1994 | First Project Caleb – Israel Teen Program. |
| March, 1995 | Jews for Jesus Website launched. |
| April, 1995 – June, 1995 | Liberated Wailing Wall World Tour. |
| Summer, 1995 | Paris, Moscow, New York campaigns. |
| May, 1996 | David Brickner elected executive director. |
| Summer, 1996 | New York, Toronto, London witnessing campaigns. |
| Spring, 1997 | Jewish Doctors Meet the Great Physician published. |
| Summer, 1997 | Paris, New York, Moscow witnessing campaigns. |
| January, 1998 | Argentina branch closed. |
| February, 1998 | Witnessing to Jews published. |
| Spring, 1998 | Kharkov branch established. |
| Spring, 1998 | Kiev branch established. |
| April, 1998 | Multimedia/Video department of Jews for Jesus established. |
| April, 1998 | Juden für Jesus/Deutschland established. |
| June – October 1998 | Decapolis — ten plus 1 witnessing campaigns conducted throughout Ukraine and Russia. |
| Autumn, 1998 | Sydney branch established. |
| Autumn, 1998 | Dnepropetrovsk branch established. |
| Autumn, 1998 | Messiah’s Shofar music team (Ukraine) evangelizes in Germany. |
| December, 1998 | Purchase of residential buildings in New York. |
| December, 1998 | Walk With Yeshua, first children’s book, published. |
| Spring, 1999 | Jewish Evangelism Seminar video produced. |
| Spring, 1999 | Skokie, Illinois property purchased. |
| May, 1999 | First Israeli-born staff trained and deployed to Israel. |
| July, 1999 | Future Hope published. |
2000s |
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| January, 2000 | David Brickner on Larry King Live. |
| March, 2000 | Following Y’shua discipleship manual published. |
| May, 2000 | French testimonies booklet published. |
| June, 2000 | First Ethiopian staff trained. |
| July, 2000 | Not Ashamed by Ruth Tucker published. |
| July, 2000 | Amutah (official status) granted to Jews for Jesus in Israel. |
| September, 2000 | Essen, Germany branch established. |
| September, 2000 | Sam Rotman evangelistic video produced. |
| November, 2000 | Street Evangelism Techniques CD-ROM produced. |
| December, 2000 | Millennial Convocation held to kick off Behold Your God five-year effort. |
| April, 2001 | Survivor Stories video produced. |
| April, 2001 | First Behold Your God witnessing campaign in San Francisco. |
| July, 2001 | Last Jew of Rotterdam published. |
| April, 2002 | Evangelistic CD-ROM “CD-ROM-A-RAMA” produced. |
| April, 2002 | Rio de Janeiro branch established. |
| July, 2002 | Between Two Fathers published. |
| September, 2002 | Boston branch re-opened. |
| September, 2002 | First Spanish-language witnessing campaign, Mexico City. |
| March, 2003 | “For Jews for Jesus” web site launched. |
| July, 2003 | Behold Your God CD released |
| July, 2003 | Jews for Jesus RealTime (monthly e-letter) launched |
| January, 2004 | Behold Your God five-year outreach reaches halfway point. |
| May, 2004 | Christ in the Passover DVD/video released. |
| June, 2004 | Forbidden Peace DVD/video released. |
| August, 2005 | The Messianic Movement: A Field Guide for Evangelical Christians published |
| August, 2005 | Montreal outpost established. |
| May, 2006 | Thirty new broadsides written for summer witnessing campaign |
| May, 2006 | Mass mailing of Yiddish versions of the Jesus film sent to 20,000 Hasidim in New York |
| May, 2006 | “Days of Moshiach” website launched in Hebrew, English and Yiddish. |
| May, 2006 | A Rose from the Ashes published. |
| June, 2006 | Christ in the Feast of Tabernacles published. |
| July, 2006 | Behold Your God concluded with grand finale in New York/New Jersey: nine simultaneous witnessing campaigns for each significant Jewish community including Russian-speaking Jews, Israelis and Hasidim. |
| August, 2006 | Miami outpost established. |
| August, 2006 | Phoenix outpost established. |
| September, 2006 | Leadership of Israel work transferred to an Israeli-born Jew for Jesus |
| September 2006 | JFJ YouTube page launched. |
| December, 2006 | First ever phone campaign conducted in the greater Tel Aviv area. |
| January, 2007 | Brooklyn branch opens. |
| January, 2007 | Indigenous leadership established in Essen, Germany. |
| February, 2007 | Jews for Jesus Family Haggadah published. |
| April, 2007 | One-week probe street campaign conducted in Tel Aviv. |
| May–August 2007 | First Massah (short-term outreach to Israelis in Israel, India and other trekker destinations). |
| November 2007 | JFJ Facebook page launched. |
| May 2008 | Gush Dan campaign—first Behold Your God Israel evangelistic campaign. |
| June-August 2008 | Second Massah outreach. |
| August 2008 | MessianicRX website launched. |
| September-October 2008 | Upper Galilee Behold Your God Israel campaign. |
| October 2008 | Jewish-Gentiles couples website launched. |
| November 2008 | The 23rd Psalm for the 21st Century published. |
| November 2008 | Jazzed for Jesus: Two Jews Meet Their Messiah booklet published. |
| 2008-2009 | Twenty-six new broadsides produced. |
| April-May 2009 | Shephelah and Lower Galilee Behold Your God Israel campaign. |
| June-August 2009 | Third Massah outreach. |
| August-December 2009 | Massah mobile outreach (extended time in various countries). |
| September 2009 | God, Torah, Messiah: The Messianic Jewish Theology of Dr. Louis Goldberg published. |
| September-October 2009 | Jezreel Valley Behold Your God Israel campaign. |
| October 2009 | Kosher Joe website launched. |
| November 2009 | Praise and Glory: The Songs of Jews for Jesus CD released. |
| December 2009 | Jews and the Gospel at the End of History: A Tribute to Moishe Rosen published. |
2010s |
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| January 2010 | Answering Jewish Objections to Jesus, Volume 5 published. |
| January 2010 | Comfortably Jewish published. |
| March 2010 | You are Home CD released. |
| April 2010 | Boston branch closed. |
| April 2010 | The Liberated Wailing Wall final tour. |
| May-June 2010 | Sharon Behold Your God Israel campaign. |
| May 2010 | Moishe Rosen, founder of Jews for Jesus, died at age 78. |
| May 2010 | Moishe Rosen tribute page established online, including streaming video of memorial service. |
| June 2010 | Stories of Jews for Jesus published. |
| June 2010 | Blue Mosaic, new mobile evangelistic team, launched. |
| June-August 2010 | Fourth Massah outreach. |
| September 2010 | Geneva branch established. |
| January 2011 | Flowers of the Son DVD released. |
| March 2011 | Moishe Rosen Center dedicated in Tel Aviv. |
| February 2012 | Called to Controversy: The Unlikely Story of Moishe Rosen and the Founding of Jews for Jesus by Ruth Rosen published. |
| February 2012 | Awakening documentary film released on DVD. |
| September 2013 | Fortieth anniversary of Jews for Jesus. |
| April 2014 | Jews for Jesus survey of Messianic Jews published. |
| April 2014 | “That Jew Died for You” social media campaign goes viral, with over one million views of the video. |
| December 2014 | Relocation of UK branch and opening of Jews for Jesus Store in Hendon, a suburb of London. |
| February 2015 | Painting Deserts album, by Heartcities released. |
| June 2015 | Grand opening of “Multitudes: Gospel of Matthew” art exhibit in San Francisco. |
| July 2015 | “Multitudes” fine art book, an illustrated Gospel of Matthew published. |
| July 2015 | Rio de Janeiro branch closed. |
| May 2016 | Berlin branch established. |
| June 2016 | He Said Then She Said: Helping Jewish-Gentile Couples Find Spiritual Harmony published. |
| August 2016 | Jubilee Campaign in honor of 25th anniversary of the Odessa branch of Jews for Jesus |