Jews for Jesus Founder Moishe Rosen Dies at 78

The man considered the “godfather of Jewish evangelism” has
died.

Moishe Rosen, founder of Jews for Jesus (JFJ), died
Wednesday in San Francisco after a long battle with prostate cancer. He was 78.

Since it was founded in 1973, JFJ has been a leader in
Jewish evangelism, with thousands of Jews embracing faith in Jesus as Messiah
because of the ministry. It employs more than 200 missionaries in 11 nations
and has distributed more than 50 million gospel tracts to date. 

“More than any other single person, Moishe has been
responsible for putting the idea of being Jewish and believing in Jesus on the
map,” JFJ board member Lon Solomon told Charisma last year. “He has
inspired several generations of young Jewish men and women to have a burden to
reach their own people. He has been a marvelous example.”

“Moishe Rosen has had a tremendous influence on the field of
Jewish missions, on the church and on so many who have sought to serve God in
making the gospel known,” added current JFJ executive director David Brickner.
“He was an example to me of many things, but particularly of courage, of
curiosity and commitment.”

Reared in Denver, the son of Jewish immigrants from Eastern
Europe, Rosen accepted Christ in 1953 along with his wife, Ceil. A short time later
he sensed a call to ministry and after attending seminary at Northeastern Bible
College in New Jersey, he was ordained at Trinity Baptist Church in Wheat
Ridge, Colo., in 1967.

He spent the next five years working with the American
Board of Missions to the Jews, now called Chosen People Ministries, before founding Jews for Jesus in 1973 with young
Messianic Jews who had embrace Jesus as Messiah during the Jesus movement.

Jews for Jesus became known for distributing evangelistic
literature called broadsides on college campuses, in shopping areas and on busy
city streets, where missionaries used them to strike up conversations with
passers-by. Rosen also encouraged the development of Jewish
gospel music groups and drama teams.

“[Rosen] was a dynamic and creative witness,” said  Dr. Vernon Grounds, president emeritus of
Denver Conservative Baptist Seminary. “When Moishe Rosen came into a city there
was either a revival or a riot.”

Because of its emphasis on direct Jewish evangelism, the
ministry has faced constant rejection, hostility and lawsuits. In one prominent case, comic Jackie
Mason sued after his picture appeared on a JFJ tract in 2006. The ministry withdrew the image
after an apology.

Yet the organization hasn’t suffered, and Rosen
is credited with training many of the current leaders in Jewish evangelism. Rosen also consulted numerous denominations
and ministries in Jewish evangelism, and served as a special consultant to the
Lausanne Committee on World Evangelizations study group on reaching Jewish
people.

He became a founding leader of the organization it spawned, The
Lausanne Consultation on Jewish Evangelism, an umbrella group for Jewish
mission organizations worldwide. In 1986, Rosen was awarded an honorary Doctor
of Divinity degree from Western Conservative Baptist Seminary in Portland,
Ore., where he served on the board of trustees.

“Moishe Rosen championed the refreshing realization that one
can be a Jew for Jesus while retaining one’s cultural heritage,” said
Dr. Mark
Bailey, president of Dallas Theological Seminary. “He has inspired and
instructed many of us in the rich history of the Hebrew Scriptures and
the
Jewish foundations of our faith.”

Rosen stepped down as JFJ executive director in 1996 but
remained a visible part of the ministry. Despite his leadership strengths, some
criticized his style as overbearing or authoritarian. There were enough critics
who viewed Rosen as unkind that in 2004 he posted a letter on JFJ’s Web site
apologizing to anyone he had offended.

“It’s true,” Rosen said of his aggressive nature in an
interview with Charisma late last year. “Most people who are in charge
of things—you will come up against them. Those are things about my personality,
but it didn’t stop me from doing what I needed to do.” (Read Charisma‘s recent profile of Rosen, “The Godfather of Jewish Evangelism.”)

As he approached the end of his life, Rosen lamented the
fact that many ecumenical ministries were emphasizing Christian-Jewish
relations at the expense of Jewish evangelism. In an interview with Charisma, he cited the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, which
raises more than $80 million a year, 10 times as much as Chosen People’s evangelistic
outreach.

“I never thought I would live to see the day when those who
know the Lord and are born again were supporting the efforts of rabbis who,
frankly, not only don’t know Christ, but don’t want to know Him,” Rosen wrote
in a farewell letter designed to be read after his death.  

“To be an honest ministry, it can only come from the Holy
Spirit; and the Holy Spirit can only indwell those who have the new birth and
are born again,” Rosen added. “Therefore, I would urge you to think very seriously
before you support any ‘ministry’ that involves Jewish people and doesn’t
actually bring the gospel to the Jews.”

He also expressed concern about Messianic leaders who felt
their calling was to promote Jewishness and Judaism to Jews. “I hope I can
count on you to show love and respect for the Jewish people, but Jewishness
never saved anybody,” he wrote. “Judaism never saved anybody no matter how
sincere.” 

In his letter, Rosen said he felt he left many things undone
but said “anything done for Christ will last.”

Rosen is survived by his wife of 60 years, Ceil; his
brother, Don; daughters Lyn Bond and Ruth Rosen, son-in-law Alan Bond, and two
grandchildren, Asher and Bethany Bond.

A memorial service will be held at 2
p.m. June 1 at First Baptist Church in San Francisco.