History & Timeline

About Jews for Jesus | History | Timeline

History

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
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
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
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 of New 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
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
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
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
Today	We relentlessly pursue God’s plan for the salvation of the Jewish people.

About Jews for Jesus | History | Timeline