Isaac is the branch leader of Jews for Jesus in Los Angeles. The first Jewish person in Isaac’s family to follow Yeshua (Jesus) was his great great grandmother Esther from a shtetl in Zhitomir, Ukraine. Since then, every generation of Isaac’s family have been dedicated to sharing the news of the Messiah with their own people. Isaac was raised in San Francisco and grew up attending the Jews for Jesus summer camp program Camp Gilgal, serving as staff in his teenage years. It wasn’t until a trip to Israel and India in 2008 with the Jews for Jesus program Massah that Isaac truly owned the calling that God had placed on his life to be a witness for Yeshua. In August 2010 he married his wife, Shaina, a second-generation Jewish believer in Yeshua, who currently serves as a Labor and Delivery Nurse in Santa Monica. They have 3 kids.

Tuvya Zaretsky is one of the founders of the Jews for Jesus ministry, beginning his service in February 1974. He was raised in Northern California in the institutions of American Judaism. And he came to believe in Yeshua (Jesus) in 1970. Read Tuvya’s full story.

During his career, Tuvya has provided leadership of Jews for Jesus branches in Chicago, New York, Boston, Los Angeles, and Tel Aviv. Tuvya is also the founder of JewishGentileCouples.com, a free counseling service for intercultural couples, operating out of the Jews for Jesus LA branch.

Tuvya earned an M.A. Missiology in Judaic Studies at The Fuller Seminary School for World Mission and the Doctor of Intercultural Studies degree from Western Seminary in Portland, Oregon. He is married to Ellen, who is also a Jewish Believer in Jesus. They have three adult children and three grandchildren.

Annette grew up in Fresno, California in a Jewish-Christian home. She’s a graduate of Biola University in Los Angeles where she majored in piano performance and minored in viola performance and biblical studies. Her grandparents, who were Holocaust refugees from Vienna, Austria, came to faith in Jesus as Messiah in the 1940s.

Having come from a family with three generations of Jewish believers in Jesus, she brings practical experience to the question, “How does it work to be Jewish and follow Jesus?” When she was 13 years old, Annette questioned if she truly believed in God and his Son, Yeshua, or if she was merely adhering to the religion she’d been raised with. As she pondered the fact that human existence is imbued with deep meaning, and as she reflected on the deep love that she already sensed from God, she felt compelled to embrace this faith as her own.

Annette is married to another Jewish believer, Josh, who is also on staff with Jews for Jesus, and they have two college-age daughters. She is a vocational staff worker in the Los Angeles branch, and her favorite part of her job with Jews for Jesus is meeting with other Jewish women to study the Scriptures and pray for them. Annette and her family lived in New York City for 15 years, so she also has a love for all things New York!

Emmanuel was born in Tehran, Iran, and he likes to tell people he is a descendant of Queen Esther … but he can’t back that up. What he can back up is that he is a 5th-generation Jewish believer in Jesus. Emmanuel’s family moved to Los Angeles when he was a child to escape the Islamic revolution.

While Emmanuel grew up in a family that followed Jesus, at the age of 17, he began to seek to know God for himself. His two-year search affirmed his faith in Jesus and the Bible, and it became clear to him how important it is to share God’s love and good news about the Messiah Jesus with his Jewish people. Read more about Emmanuel’s life story.

Emmanuel studied fine art/animation/film and lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Sarah, and their three kids. He leads our Online Evangelism Team. Innovating online evangelism techniques on jewsforjesus.org since 2007, he says, “Our goal is to harness the anonymous nature of the web to allow Jewish people online to explore the depth of Jesus’ love and get personally connected directly with a missionary!” Read about how to take part in this flourishing online ministry.

Jesse grew up in the suburbs of Chicago and belongs to a Gentile family of faith tracing back several generations. During his senior year in high school, he had an experience with God where he truly felt that he was put on this earth to share the message of Yeshua (Jesus) with any Jewish people who were willing to thoughtfully consider if he could in fact be their long-awaited Messiah.

This led him to attend Biola University where he studied Biblical & Theological Studies and where he met his now-wife, Lucy. After getting married, Jesse went on to Talbot Seminary to get his M.A. in Christian Ministry and Leadership. Having served at a local church in Los Angeles and eventually pastoring there, he felt led to join Lucy and serve with Jews for Jesus in 2020. He now serves in the LA Branch’s café space called Upside Down sharing Jesus with students and professionals alike who are curious to know more.

Josh Sofaer is the director of staff development with Jews for Jesus, serving our global staff. Josh was raised in the San Francisco Bay Area in a secular, Sephardic Jewish home. His family, like many others in the San Francisco area, were cause oriented. That “activist” foundation drew him to Jews for Jesus as a young believer, and he’s been here ever since. Josh has four brothers and is the only believer in his immediate family.

Josh has held many different roles in his 30 years of service. He was one of our first children’s and youth workers, led the New York and Los Angeles branches, and has served on over 20 witnessing campaigns. In his current role, Josh oversees training of new missionaries and the ongoing development of our staff worldwide.

Josh has a BA in history from Brooklyn College and a MA and ThM (in process) from Western Seminary. Josh is married to Annette, and they have two children: Eliana and Taliah. Josh and Annette live in Los Angeles, California.

Leia Brown is a missionary with Jews for Jesus in Los Angeles, California. Her Bubby (grandmother) was the first person to introduce her to Jesus and she eventually gave her life to the Lord at age 6. She is a graduate of Biola University with a degree in Christian Ministries and a minor in Bible. Starting at 8 years old, Leia attended the Jews for Jesus summer camp program, Camp Gilgal, and returned as staff when was 16. Camp Gilgal was one of the first places Leia truly felt God’s presence in her life. During her years at Biola, she interned with Jews for Jesus, doing youth work in Los Angeles, as well as the Camp Gilgal internship, which ultimately led her to find her calling to ministry. Leia became full time missionary staff in the Spring of 2020 and primarily works with our West Coast Children and Youth programs. She is passionate about sharing Jesus with young people and having the most fun she possibly can while doing it!

Growing up in Northern California, her next door neighbors where the first to introduce Lucy to Yeshua (Jesus). She first felt a calling to minister to her Jewish people while spending a summer in Israel during college. After graduating from Biola University in 2018 with a degree in Intercultural Studies, Lucy began working with Jews for Jesus as an intern. Her work and ministry focuses predominately on a community-oriented space called Upside Down: a coffee shop, art gallery, and event space near the campus of UCLA. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, Jesse, who also graduated from Biola University with a degree in Biblical & Theological Studies.

Zachary grew up in Houston, Texas, and is a second-generation Jewish believer in Yeshua. He became a believer when he was a teenager at summer camp, which is why camp programs are so close to his heart. He graduated from the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago with a bachelor’s degree in Jewish studies. In 2018 Zach went with Jews for Jesus on the Massah program to Israel and India. He’s been on staff with Jews for Jesus in Los Angeles since June 2019. In October 2021, he married his wife, Ashley, a third-generation Jewish believer, who currently works as a private school teacher for middle schoolers. Zach is passionate about young-adult evangelism, discipleship, and teaching.