Jews for Jesus is an international

Messianic Jewish Messianic Judaism ( he, or , ) is a modernist and syncretic movement of Protestant Christianity that incorporates some elements of Judaism and other Jewish traditions into evangelicalism. It emerged in the 1960s and 1970s from the earlier H ...

non-profit organization headquartered in

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...

. The group is known for its

proselytism Proselytism () is the policy of attempting to convert people's religious or political beliefs. Proselytism is illegal in some countries. Some draw distinctions between ''evangelism'' or '' Da‘wah'' and proselytism regarding proselytism as invol ...

Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

and promotes the belief that

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and relig ...

is the

Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and relig ...

and the Son of God. It was founded in 1970 by

Moishe Rosen Martin "Moishe" Rosen (April 12, 1932 – May 19, 2010) was an American minister and the founder and former Executive Director of Jews for Jesus, a Christian missionary organization that focuses on evangelism to Jews. Biography Rosen was born ...

, as Hineni Ministries, before being incorporated under its current name in 1973. All Jewish groups do not consider Jews for Jesus to be a Jewish organization. For example,

Rabbinic Jewish Rabbinic Judaism ( he, יהדות רבנית, Yahadut Rabanit), also called Rabbinism, Rabbinicism, or Judaism espoused by the Rabbanites, has been the mainstream form of Judaism since the 6th century CE, after the codification of the Babylonian ...

authorities point out that the Messianic Jewish group refers exclusively to Christian dogma in its "Statement of Faith." Additionally, the

Supreme Court of Israel ar, المحكمة العليا , image = Emblem of Israel dark blue full.svg , imagesize = 100px , caption = Emblem of Israel , motto = , established = , location = Givat Ram, Jerusalem , coordina ...

determined that Jews for Jesus are not actually Jews, as belief in Jesus as the Messiah is not a Jewish value. Instead, most jews view Jesus as either a good Jewish teacher or a

false prophet In religion, a false prophet is a person who falsely claims the gift of prophecy or divine inspiration, or to speak for God, or who makes such claims for evil ends. Often, someone who is considered a "true prophet" by some people is simultaneou ...

, as opposed to a messianic figure. There were, however, a number of

Jewish Christians Jewish Christians ( he, יהודים נוצרים, yehudim notzrim) were the followers of a Jewish religious sect that emerged in Judea during the late Second Temple period (first century AD). The Nazarene Jews integrated the belief of Jesus a ...

who viewed Jesus at the Jewish messiah in the early history of Christianity.

History

Jews for Jesus was founded by

, a

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul c ...

minister of the Hebrew Christian movement and a former member of the American Board of Missions to the Jews (ABMJ). The organization was formed in 1970 under the name "Hineni Ministries" as a subsidiary group of the ABMJ. In 1973, Rosen left ABMJ and incorporated his ministry as a 501(c)3 non-profit organization under the name "Jews for Jesus". Originally, "Jews for Jesus" was one of the organization's several slogans, but after the media began to call the group "Jews for Jesus", the organization adopted the name. Rosen and members began conducting community outreach on streets and college campuses of

. In the following years, branches were established in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

, and

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

. In 1978, the Jews for Jesus headquarters relocated to its current location in San Francisco. In 1981, the organization expanded internationally. According to the organization, as of 2021, they maintain offices in 13 countries and 15 cities around the world. Rosen remained Executive Director until 1996, when he stepped down to work full-time as a staff missionary. He was replaced by David Brickner, who has held the position since. Rosen remained on the Board of Directors until his death in 2010.

Beliefs

Jews for Jesus New York by David Shankbone

The_Jews_For_Jesus_Office,_Kentish_Town_-_London

Jews for Jesus claims to synthesize Jewish heritage and Christian faith in spiritual harmony. They believe faith in Jesus is a viable expression of Jewish life. The organization summarizes its beliefs in a

statement of faith A creed, also known as a confession of faith, a symbol, or a statement of faith, is a statement of the shared beliefs of a community (often a religious community) in a form which is structured by subjects which summarize its core tenets. The ea ...

: * The

Old Testament The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...

and the

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Chris ...

are divinely inspired, without

error An error (from the Latin ''error'', meaning "wandering") is an action which is inaccurate or incorrect. In some usages, an error is synonymous with a mistake. The etymology derives from the Latin term 'errare', meaning 'to stray'. In statistics ...

, and are the final authority in all matters of faith and life. Traditional

Jewish literature Jewish literature includes works written by Jews on Jewish themes, literary works written in Jewish languages on various themes, and literary works in any language written by Jewish writers. Ancient Jewish literature includes Biblical literature ...

is in no way binding upon life or faith but of value only where it is supported by or conformable to the Word of God. * There is one sovereign God, existing in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. They believe that this concept is rooted in Judaism. * Mankind was created in the

image of God The image of God (; ) is a concept and theological doctrine in Christianity, as well as in Judaism. This concept is a foundational aspect of Christian and Jewish understandings of human nature. It stems from the primary text in Genesis 1:27, which ...

, but due to sin has been separated from God. * Jesus is the

Messiah In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias (; , ; , ; ) is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of '' mashiach'', messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a ''mashiach ...

and died for the sin of mankind as a substitutionary sacrifice. All who believe in Him have salvation. * The Church is an

elect An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operated ...

people in accordance with the New Covenant, comprising both Jews and Gentiles who acknowledge Jesus as Messiah and Redeemer. * Jesus will return personally in order to consummate the prophesied purposes concerning His kingdom. * The bodily

resurrection Resurrection or anastasis is the concept of coming back to life after death. In a number of religions, a dying-and-rising god is a deity which dies and is resurrected. Reincarnation is a similar process hypothesized by other religions, whic ...

of the just and the unjust, the everlasting blessedness of the saved and the everlasting conscious punishment of the lost.

Operations

Jews for Jesus is a registered

501(c)3 A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of the 29 types of 5 ...

that employs approximately 250 staff worldwide. Its headquarters are located in San Francisco, California, and operates offices in New York City, Los Angeles, Toronto, Sydney, Johannesburg, London, Berlin, Paris, Budapest, Tel Aviv, Kiev, Odessa, Moscow, and Jerusalem. Once well-known for their distribution of hand-drawn religious tracts, today Jews for Jesus conducts community engagement through other means. Examples of their outreach methods include Jewish holiday events, Bible studies, service projects, internet evangelism, and multi-purpose spaces such as the Moishe Rosen Center in Tel Aviv and the Upside Down Cafe in Los Angeles.

Funding and organization

Jews for Jesus’ income comes primarily from Christian donors. The nonprofit’s annual income breakdown consists of 87% individual support, 5% miscellaneous revenue, 5% congregational support, and 3% congregational offerings. Their annual expenditures consist of 77% outreach, 12% administration, and 11% fundraising. According to the

Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability The Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA) is an American financial standards association representing Evangelical Christian organizations and churches, which qualify for tax-exempt, nonprofit status and receive tax-deductible c ...

, the group's total income in FY 2018 was US$24,767,732 and its total assets were $39,596,245.Jews for Jesus. Financial information for FY2010
(

) They are a charter member of the

and of MissioNexus. Donations are tax deductible. An independent auditing firm, Eckhoff Accountancy, conducts the organization’s annual audit. Jews for Jesus is governed by international boards of directors in the United States, Canada, South Africa, Australia, Israel, and Europe. The CEO, currently David Brickner, is advised by an executive leadership team consisting of seven members.

Public perception

Jewish

Jews for Jesus has a contentious relationship with the Jewish community, and their methods have generated controversy. Many Jewish authorities, as well as the governing bodies of the

State of Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

, hold the view that

Messianic Judaism Messianic Judaism ( he, or , ) is a modernist and syncretic movement of Protestant Christianity that incorporates some elements of Judaism and other Jewish traditions into evangelicalism. It emerged in the 1960s and 1970s from the earlie ...

, the religious movement which Jews for Jesus is affiliated with, is not a sect of

Judaism Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in th ...

but a form of Evangelical Christianity. Additionally,

Gentile Gentile () is a word that usually means "someone who is not a Jew". Other groups that claim Israelite heritage, notably Mormons, sometimes use the term ''gentile'' to describe outsiders. More rarely, the term is generally used as a synonym fo ...

s who convert to Messianic Judaism are not recognized as Jewish by any Jewish sect. However, Jews for Jesus says they "cannot support any efforts by Gentile believers to convert to any type of Judaism." Belief in Jesus as

deity A deity or god is a supernatural being who is considered divine or sacred. The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' defines deity as a god or goddess, or anything revered as divine. C. Scott Littleton defines a deity as "a being with powers greate ...

, Son of God, or even a non-divine

prophet In religion, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings from the ...

(as in

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the ...

), is held as incompatible with Judaism by most

Jewish religious movements Jewish religious movements, sometimes called " denominations", include different groups within Judaism which have developed among Jews from ancient times. Today, the most prominent divisions are between traditionalist Orthodox movements (includi ...

."For most American Jews, it is acceptable to blend some degree of foreign spiritual elements with Judaism. The one exception is Christianity, which is perceived to be incompatible with any form of Jewishness. Jews for Jesus and other Messianic Jewish groups are thus seen as antithetical to Judaism and are completely rejected by the majority of Jews". (Kaplan, Dana Evan. ''The Cambridge Companion to American Judaism'', Cambridge University Press, August 15, 2005, p. 9). A belief in the divinity of Jesus is incompatible with Judaism: * "The point is this: that the whole Christology of the Church — the whole complex of doctrines about the Son of God who died on the Cross to save humanity from sin and death — is incompatible with Judaism, and indeed in discontinuity with the Hebraism that preceded it." Rayner, John D. ''A Jewish Understanding of the World'', Berghahn Books, 1998, p. 187. * "It has always been recognized, for instance, after the rise of Christianity and Islam, that these two religions are incompatible with Judaism and that no Jew can consistently embrace them while remaining an adherent of Judaism." Neusner, Jacob & Avery-Peck, Alan Jeffery. ''The Blackwell Reader in Judaism'', Blackwell Publishing, 2001, p. 8. * "Aside from its belief in Jesus as the Messiah, Christianity has altered many of the most fundamental concepts of Judaism." Kaplan, Aryeh. ''The Aryeh Kaplan Anthology: Volume 1, Illuminating Expositions on Jewish Thought and Practice'', Mesorah Publication, 1991, p. 264. * " hedoctrine of Christ was and will remain alien to Jewish religious thought." Wylen, Stephen M. ''Settings of Silver: An Introduction to Judaism'', Paulist Press, 2000, p. 75. * "For a Jew, however, any form of shituf is tantamount to idolatry in the fullest sense of the word. There is then no way that a Jew can ever accept Jesus as a deity, mediator or savior (messiah), or even as a prophet, without betraying Judaism. To call oneself, therefore, a 'Hebrew-Christian,' a 'Jew for Jesus,' or in the latest version a 'messianic Jew,' is an oxymoron. Just as one cannot be a 'Christian Buddhist,' or a 'Christian for Krishna,' one cannot be a 'Jew for Jesus.'" Schochet, Rabbi J. Immanuel
"Judaism has no place for those who betray their roots"
''

Canadian Jewish News The Canadian Jewish News is a non-profit, national, English-language digital-first media organization that serves Canada‘s Jewish community. A national edition of the newspaper was published for 60 years in Toronto. A weekly Montreal edition i ...

'', July 29, 1999.
This July, Hebrew-Christian groups such as Jews for Jesus will work to convert Jews to another religion.
The Jewish Response to Missionaries (NY Board of Rabbis)

(foundationstone.com)

(whatjewsbelieve.org) * "If you believe Jesus is the messiah, died for anyone else's sins, is God's chosen son, or any other dogma of Christian belief, you are not Jewish. You are Christian. Period." (

' by Rabbi Susan Grossman (beliefnet – virtualtalmud) August 28, 2006; archived 2006-11-23) * "For two thousand years, Jews rejected the claim that Jesus fulfilled the messianic prophecies of the Hebrew Bible, as well as the dogmatic claims about him made by the church fathers—that he was born of a virgin, the son of God, part of a divine Trinity, and was resurrected after his death. ... For two thousand years, a central wish of Christianity was to be the object of desire by Jews, whose conversion would demonstrate their acceptance that Jesus has fulfilled their own biblical prophecies." (''Jewish Views of Jesus'' by Susannah Heschel, in ''Jesus In The World's Faiths: Leading Thinkers From Five Faiths Reflect On His Meaning'' by Gregory A. Barker, editor. (Orbis Books, 2005) . p.149) * "

here Here is an adverb that means "in, on, or at this place". It may also refer to: Software * Here Technologies, a mapping company * Here WeGo (formerly Here Maps), a mobile app and map website by Here Television * Here TV (formerly "here!"), a ...

are limits to pluralism, beyond which a group is schismatic to the point where it is no longer considered Jewish. For example, everyone considers Messianic Judaism and belief in Buddha as outside of the Jewish sphere." (
Why did the majority of the Jewish world reject Jesus as the Messiah, and why did the first Christians accept Jesus as the Messiah?
' by Rabbi Shraga Simmons) * "No Jew accepts Jesus as the Messiah. When someone makes that faith commitment, they become Christian. It is not possible for someone to be both Christian and Jewish." (
Why don't Jews accept Jesus as the Messiah?
' by Rabbi Barry Dov Lerner) However, there has been some debate of that point by Jewish scholars.

Daniel Boyarin Daniel Boyarin ( he, דניאל בויארין; born 1946) is a Religion historian, Born in New Jersey, he holds dual United States and Israeli citizenship. He is the Hermann P. and Sophia Taubman Professor of Talmudic Culture in the Departments ...

, a Jewish historian of religion and professor of Talmudic culture at UC Berkeley, writes in one of his books:

Most (if not all) of the ideas and practices of the Jesus movement of the first century and the beginning of the second century—and even later—can be safely understood as part of the ideas and practices that we understand to be "Judaism."... The ideas of Trinity and incarnation, or certainly the germs of those ideas, were already present among Jewish believers well before Jesus came on the scene to incarnate in himself, as it were, those theological notions and take up his messianic calling.

Dan Cohn-Sherbok, a rabbi of Reform Judaism and professor of Jewish Theology at the University of Wales, implies that Messianic Judaism should be embraced in the Jewish community:

"...the non-Orthodox rejection of Messianic Jews is more difficult to comprehend given the multidimensional character of contemporary Jewish life … There is simply no consensus among non-Orthodox Jews concerning the central tenets of the faith, nor is there any agreement about Jewish observance. Instead, the various branches of non-Orthodox Judaism embrace a totally heterogeneous range of viewpoints … in my view Messianic Judaism constitutes an innovative, exciting, and extremely interesting development on the Jewish scene."

In a 2013

Pew Forum The Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan American think tank (referring to itself as a "fact tank") based in Washington, D.C. It provides information on social issues, public opinion, and demographic trends shaping the United States and the w ...

study, 60% of American Jews said that belief in Jesus as the Messiah was not "compatible with being Jewish", while 34% found it compatible and 4% did not know. A 2017 survey that included Messianic Jews "found that 21 percent of Jewish millennials believe Jesus was 'God in human form who lived among people in the 1st century.'" An additional question on faith in the survey found that 14% of participants identified with Christianity, and 10% believed in a hybrid of Christian and Jewish beliefs. In 1993 the Task Force on Missionaries and Cults of the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York (JCRCNY) issued a statement which has been endorsed by the four major Jewish denominations:

Orthodox Judaism Orthodox Judaism is the collective term for the traditionalist and theologically conservative branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as revealed by God to Moses o ...

Conservative Judaism Conservative Judaism, known as Masorti Judaism outside North America, is a Jewish religious movement which regards the authority of ''halakha'' (Jewish law) and traditions as coming primarily from its people and community through the generati ...

Reform Judaism Reform Judaism, also known as Liberal Judaism or Progressive Judaism, is a major Jewish denomination that emphasizes the evolving nature of Judaism, the superiority of its ethical aspects to its ceremonial ones, and belief in a continuous sear ...

, and

Reconstructionist Judaism Reconstructionist Judaism is a Jewish movement that views Judaism as a progressively evolving civilization rather than a religion, based on concepts developed by Mordecai Kaplan (1881–1983). The movement originated as a semi-organized stream w ...

, as well as national Jewish organizations. Based on this statement, the Spiritual Deception Prevention Project at the JCRCNY stated: The director of counter-missionary group Torah Atlanta, Rabbi Efraim Davidson, stated: "Jews for Jesus use aggressive proselytizing to target disenfranchised or unaffiliated Jews, Russian immigrants and college students," and that "their techniques are manipulative, deceptive and anti-Semitic."

Christian

Some Western Christians object to evangelizing

because they see Jewish religious practice as valid in and of itself. Some Liberal Protestant denominations have issued statements criticizing evangelism of Jews including the

United Church of Christ The United Church of Christ (UCC) is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination based in the United States, with historical and confessional roots in the Congregational, Calvinist, Lutheran, and Anabaptist traditions, and with approximatel ...

and the

Presbyterian Church USA The Presbyterian Church (USA), abbreviated PC(USA), is a mainline Protestant denomination in the United States. It is the largest Presbyterian denomination in the US, and known for its liberal stance on doctrine and its ordaining of women and ...

, which said in 1988 that Jews have their own covenant with God. The Board of Governors of the Long Island Council of Churches opposes proselytizing, and voiced their sentiments in a statement that "noted with alarm" the " subterfuge and dishonesty" inherent in the "mixing freligious symbols in ways which distort their essential meaning," and named Jews for Jesus as one of the three groups about whom such behavior was alleged. Leighton Ford, former vice president of the Billy Graham Evangelical Association and current president of Leighton Ford Ministries, supports the work of Jews for Jesus.

“The first followers of Jesus were all Jews – women and men so touched and changed by him that they had to tell their friends and neighbors … Like their first century counterparts, the people I know in Jews for Jesus have good news they share lovingly and boldly!”

In 2003, the sponsorship of Jews for Jesus by

All Souls Church, Langham Place All Souls Church is a conservative evangelical Anglican church in central London, situated in Langham Place in Marylebone, at the north end of Regent Street. It was designed in Regency style by John Nash and consecrated in 1824. As it is direc ...

, a conservative evangelical church in London, including a launch event on

Rosh Hashanah Rosh HaShanah ( he, רֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה, , literally "head of the year") is the Jewish New Year. The biblical name for this holiday is Yom Teruah (, , lit. "day of shouting/blasting") It is the first of the Jewish High Holy Days (, , ...

to start a UK mission targeting the Jewish community, led to the Interfaith Alliance UK, a coalition of Jewish, Christian and Islamic religious leaders, issuing a letter of protest to the

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Just ...

Other

The InterFaith Conference of Metropolitan Washington includes

Muslims Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

, and

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι� ...

groups. The Conference states that they "support the right of all religions to share their message in the spirit of good will"; however, Rev. Clark Lobenstine has condemned the "proselytizing efforts" of "Jews for Jesus and other messianic Jewish groups." His wording matched the Conference's 1987 "Statement on Proselytism", which makes claims against "groups that have adopted the label of Hebrew Christianity, Messianic Judaism, or Jews for Jesus", so it is unclear which claims are directed at Jews for Jesus in particular. ''America's Religions. An Educator's Guide to Beliefs and Practices'' contains " note about Jews for Jesus, Messianic Jews, Hebrew Christians, and similar groups: Jews in these groups who have converted to Christianity but continue to observe various Jewish practices are no longer considered part of the Jewish

community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, t ...

in the usual sense". Several other organizations oppose the identification of Jews for Jesus as a Jewish group.

Controversies

1987 – Freedom of speech

In '' Board of Airport Commissioners of Los Angeles v. Jews for Jesus, Inc.'' the

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

unanimously ruled in favor of Jews for Jesus in a

free speech Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recog ...

case against the

Los Angeles International Airport Los Angeles International Airport , commonly referred to as LAX (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary international airport serving Los Angeles, California and its surrounding metropolitan area. LAX is located in the ...

1998 and 2005–2006 – Online name

Jews for Jesus has been involved in litigation regarding Internet use of its name. In 1998 they sued Steven Brodsky for

cybersquatting Cybersquatting (also known as domain squatting) is the practice of registering, trafficking in, or using an Internet domain name, with a bad faith intent to profit from the goodwill of a trademark belonging to someone else. The term is derived ...

—registering the domain name jewsforjesus.org for a site criticizing the organization. The domain now belongs to Jews for Jesus and is used for their main site. In 2005 Jews for Jesus sued

Google Google LLC () is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company focusing on Search Engine, search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, software, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, ar ...

for allowing a

Blogspot Blogger is an American online content management system founded in 1999 which enables multi-user blogs with time-stamped entries. Pyra Labs developed it before being acquired by Google in 2003. Google hosts the blogs, which can be accessed th ...

user to put up a site at the third-level subdomain ''jewsforjesus.blogspot.com''. In September 2006 ''

Christianity Today ''Christianity Today'' is an evangelical Christian media magazine founded in 1956 by Billy Graham. It is published by Christianity Today International based in Carol Stream, Illinois. ''The Washington Post'' calls ''Christianity Today'' "evan ...

'' reported: "Jews for Jesus settled out of court with a critical blogger identified as 'Whistle Blower' on jewsforjesus.blogspot.com. The evangelistic ministry assumed control of the site."

2006 – misuse of Jackie Mason name

In 2006 comedian and actor

Jackie Mason Jackie Mason (born Yacov Moshe Maza; yi, יעקב משה מזא; June 9, 1928 – July 24, 2021) was an American stand-up comedian and actor. His 1986 one-man show ''The World According to Me!'' won a Special Tony Award, an Outer Critics Ci ...

filed a lawsuit against Jews for Jesus, alleging that they unlawfully distributed a pamphlet which used his name and likeness in a way that suggested he was a member of the group. Jackie Mason was Jewish and not associated with Jews for Jesus. Jews for Jesus issued a detailed response to the allegation on their website. A judge of the

United States District Court for the Southern District of New York The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (in case citations, S.D.N.Y.) is a federal trial court whose geographic jurisdiction encompasses eight counties of New York State. Two of these are in New York City: New ...

denied a preliminary injunction against Jews for Jesus over the pamphlet, finding the distribution of the pamphlet to be protected by the

First Amendment First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...

, and also stated that the pamphlet did not suggest that Mason was a Christian. In December 2006, Mason dropped the lawsuit against Jews for Jesus after they issued a letter of apology to him. The group's executive director, David Brickner, stated in the letter to Mason that he wanted "to convey my sincere apologies for any distress that you felt over our tract." Brickner continued that he believed its publication was protected by the

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these pr ...

, but the group was willing in the interest of peace and love for Israel to retire the pamphlet. Mason replied in front of the federal court in Manhattan where he accepted the apology, "There's no such thing as a Jew for Jesus. It's like saying a black man is for the

KKK The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, is an American white supremacist, right-wing terrorist, and hate group whose primary targets are African Americans, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and Cath ...

. You can't be a table and a chair. You're either a Jew or a

''That Jew Died for You'' video

In 2014, Jews for Jesus published a three-minute

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

video called ''That Jew Died for You'', to coincide with

Passover Passover, also called Pesach (; ), is a major Jewish holiday that celebrates the Biblical story of the Israelites escape from slavery in Egypt, which occurs on the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Nisan, the first month of Aviv, or spring. ...

Holy Week Holy Week ( la, Hebdomada Sancta or , ; grc, Ἁγία καὶ Μεγάλη Ἑβδομάς, translit=Hagia kai Megale Hebdomas, lit=Holy and Great Week) is the most sacred week in the liturgical year in Christianity. In Eastern Churches, w ...

and

Holocaust Remembrance Day Yom HaZikaron laShoah ve-laG'vurah ( he, יום הזיכרון לשואה ולגבורה, , lit=Holocaust and Heroism Remembrance Day), known colloquially in Israel and abroad as Yom HaShoah (יום השואה) and in English as Holocaust Reme ...

on 28 April. A long-haired Jesus dragging a large wooden cross appears in the film until an

Auschwitz concentration camp Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. I ...

guard sends him to the gas chambers and says "just another Jew" in German. Jews for Jesus said that the objective of the film was for Jesus to be identified with the victims rather than the perpetrators of the Holocaust and that "the

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...

has been used – perhaps more than any other event or topic – to prevent Jewish people from considering the good news of Jesus." Jay Michaelson, writing in ''

The Jewish Daily Forward ''The Forward'' ( yi, פֿאָרווערטס, Forverts), formerly known as ''The Jewish Daily Forward'', is an American news media organization for a Jewish American audience. Founded in 1897 as a Yiddish-language daily socialist newspaper, '' ...

'', described it as "the most tasteless YouTube video ever" and wrote: "Not to state the obvious, but it desecrates the memory of six million Jews to use their suffering as a way to convert Jews to Christianity."

Fox News Channel The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is ...

and

History History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

refused to play an advertisement for the film.

References in popular culture

* * ''

Airplane! ''Airplane!'' (alternatively titled ''Flying High!'') is a 1980 American parody film written and directed by the brothers David Zucker, David and Jerry Zucker, and Jim Abrahams in their directorial debuts, and produced by Jon Davison (film prod ...

'' (1980 film), 1980 * ''The New Yorker'', 25 October 2004. Roz Chast. * ''

Moral Orel ''Moral Orel'' is an American adult stop-motion animated sitcom created by Dino Stamatopoulos which originally aired on Cartoon Network's nighttime programming block Adult Swim from December 13, 2005 to December 18, 2008. The series has been de ...

'' (2005-2012 Adult Swim animated series) * * ''Esquire'' magazine, 2014. * ''

Curb Your Enthusiasm ''Curb Your Enthusiasm'' is an American television sitcom produced and broadcast by HBO since October 15, 2000, and created by Larry David, who stars as a semi-fictionalized version of himself. It follows David's life as a semi-retired televi ...

'', 2021.

References

External links

Official website

Can a Jew believe in Jesus?
– a critical article about Jews for Jesus {{Authority control Christian organizations established in 1970 Christian organizations established in 1973 Christianity and Judaism related controversies Evangelical missionary societies Messianic Judaism

History

Beliefs

Operations

Funding and organization

Public perception

Jewish

Christian

Other

Controversies

1987 – Freedom of speech

1998 and 2005–2006 – Online name

2006 – misuse of Jackie Mason name

''That Jew Died for You'' video

References in popular culture

See also

References

Further reading

External links