New York Branch Staff

Liz grew up in New York City and Toronto in a Messianic Jewish home, meaning she always knew that being Jewish and faith in Jesus went together. Liz came to a place of wanting to participate in her faith as her own thing before high school began. As part of her faith in Jesus, as a Jewish person, Liz has observed, participated in, and hosted Jewish traditions.

Much of Liz’s work has been around mentoring others, having worked with children, teens, and young adults. As the director of the New York City work of Jews for Jesus, Liz and her team work largely with students and creatives. 

Liz has a bachelor of arts in art history and a master’s degree in public administration from Hunter College and Baruch College, respectively. Liz has worked with Jews for Jesus full time since 2006. Liz’s parents were part of the founding group of Jews for Jesus staff in the 1970s.

Rebekah Rood co-directs ministry to children, youth, and families in North America (with Ilana Brickner). She has a passion for seeing new generations of Jewish-believing young people grow up in their faith and walking with them and their parents through long-term discipleship. She also works with Jewish-Gentile couples, especially around the areas of spiritual and identity formation for the next generation.

Rebekah grew up in an intermarried-believing home in New England. She took personal ownership of her faith in Jesus and her Jewish identity while preparing for her Messianic bat mitzvah. She was involved with Camp Gilgal for many years as a camper, a counselor, and then later as a director. Meeting other Jewish-believing young people was a great encouragement and support to her own faith, and she considers it a privilege to work with young people navigating faith questions. She lives in Brooklyn, New York with her husband, Sam (director of new missionary training), and their two children.

Dinah Sered is a tenured missionary with Jews for Jesus. She was born in New York, raised in the Midwest, got married, and then moved to Israel for 20 years. There, she and her husband, Dan, raised their three children, Yael, Eithan, and Yoav. The family returned to the US in 2020 and settled in New Jersey. Dinah has a bachelor of science in biochemistry and recently received her master of arts in ministry and leadership from Western Seminary. She is passionate about coming alongside others and encouraging their walk with the Lord. Dinah ministers full time as a missionary, and Dan is the chief operating officer of Jews for Jesus.

Jacob Fruchtman is a missionary with Jews for Jesus in New York City. He was raised in South Florida in a Messianic and Christian home by Jewish parents. He served in the US Air Force for four years, including three tours to the Middle East. He attended Western Carolina University and achieved two bachelor of science degrees: one in history and one in social science education. Jacob managed restaurants while studying and served in public education in Florida and North Carolina for 11 years and taught high school AP (Advanced Placement) courses, IB (International Baccalaureate), and AICE (Cambridge Assessment international Education). His identity has always been deeply connected to being Jewish, but recognizing Yeshua (Jesus) as Messiah was foundational in understanding that identity. The Lord used this to plant a deep passion in Jacob to connect other Jewish people to Yeshua and to make disciples. During his time with Jews for Jesus, Jacob has been a trainee and a community outreach worker serving key audiences in the greater New York City area. Jacob is married to his best friend, Autumn, and they have a daughter named Eden who brings joy to everyone she meets.

Sarah was raised in a Jewish-believing home and moved to Israel with her family at the age of nine. As she grew up in Israel, Sarah was surprised to discover that the majority of the Jewish population had never heard of Jesus. This motivated her to seek a deeper understanding of her personal faith in Jesus and His fulfillment in Scripture. Sarah dedicated her life to the Lord shortly after her military service in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). 

After participating in a number of evangelistic campaigns over the years, Sarah joined the Jews for Jesus staff in January 2018 and began serving as a missionary in Tel Aviv. In 2020, she moved to New York City with her husband, Ofer, who also serves with Jews for Jesus, and their two sons, continuing her service as a missionary and manager of Moshava, our new coffee shop in Manhattan.

Sarah has always had a heart for sharing God’s love through hospitality and by serving people in need, both of which were modeled by her parents in their day-to-day lives. Sarah is excited to build these values into the vision of the coffee shop and is looking forward to the unique ways in which she can reach and serve the local community.

Chaim Birnbaum was raised in a Messianic home. His family moved from the United States to Israel when Chaim was very young. Though he received Jesus at an early age, as a teen he was the “wildest” of his siblings. At age 18, Chaim repented at an Israeli youth conference and became serious about serving the Lord.

He led several youth groups and was involved with ministry in Africa for two and a half months before beginning an internship with Jews for Jesus. He then planned and organized a unique outreach from the Moishe Rosen Center in Tel Aviv, inviting graffiti artists to show their art.

Chaim has been in youth and young adult ministry for the past eight years and is now currently serving with Jews for Jesus in New York.

Vered’s first encounter with Jesus was in a dream when she was six years old. In the dream, Jesus hugged her and told her everything would be all right. From that moment on, she was in search of God and meaning. When she was 16, after a bad experience with marijuana, she went to her sister because she knew she believed in Jesus and would have answers. That led Vered to accepting Jesus into her heart.

Vered was born in Ethiopia and immigrated to Israel when she was 2 years old. Her family came to an absorption center in Tiberius, and after a year there, her parents moved to their own home in a nearby neighborhood. She has one brother and one sister who live in Israel and another brother who lives in Ethiopia. They all grew up together in Tiberius, and left Tiberius at different times after finishing their service in the Israel Defense Forces. She has a bachelor’s degree in special education and an MA in non-governmental organization management.

She was a team member of Mekomi, a team that works with the homeless, drug addicts, and women in prostitution. Mekomi cares for their physical and spiritual needs and helps them in any way they can: food, prayer, or simple but meaningful hugs or lengthy conversations. 

She is married to Chaim, who is a staff member at Jews for Jesus as well. They currently serve in New York.