Repeat- Jonathan Bernis Interview

NOTE: this is a repeat of the 2016 interview. I did with Rabbi Jonathan Bernis.

Rabbi Jonathan is the founding Rabbi of my home congregation, Congregation Shema Yisrael in Rochester, New York. 

Jonathan has been a leader in the Messianic Jewish community for more than 30 years. He has authored numerous books and has planted communities all over the world. Rabbi Jonathan currently serves as the President and CEO of Jewish Voice Ministries International (JVMI).

Jonathan resides in the Los Angeles area with his wife, Elisangela, and their two daughters. He has a heart for Los Angeles and is excited to see Jewish and interfaith families thrive in the Heritage Community!

Josh Turnil interview

Joshua Turnil is the director of Jews for Jesus in France and Switzerland, overseeing the work in francophone Europe. Joshua was born in New York, and has a bachelor’s degree in French literature. His wife, Delphine, who is French, also serves with Jews for Jesus. They have three children: Ilan, Lilya, and Levia. Joshua has participated in, and produced five music albums, as well as video projects such as the life story of resistance fighter and Holocaust survivor, Ruth Gottlieb. Joshua is uniquely qualified to speak to the question of antisemitism, as his Paris office is often the target of antisemitic threats and is under the constant vigilance of the French police. Also, he has worked side by side with leaders of the French Jewish community and church leaders to actively fight against antisemitism.

Paul Liberman Interview

 Listen here:

So you heard Jack Wasson's story, how he came to know and love the Liberman family and how he sat down with Paul Liberman to record his life story - and how the 1st of those recorded interviews ended up in a book called "Don't Call Me Christian."   Well, on today's program I had the privilege to speak with Paul Liberman himself, and heard him share a bit about his journey to finding Messiah.

Paul Liberman began his search for the Messiah when he was only 8 years old. This was when he began to ask deeper questions about God.

After finishing his education, his religion became making money. While studying at a liberal university, he began to doubt there was a higher Being. Shortly after landing a high-powered job in an office complex in Washington, D.C., he was let go after the person that hired him was also fired.
In this uncertainty, Paul was worried about the future. Looking for work he used public transport a lot. On the bus, he regularly saw a lawyer who was always reading his Bible. One day they got to talk with each other. Paul told him that he thought that the course of events in life sometimes is so unusual that it looks like everything has been programmed. "There must be a programmer," Paul said. The guy knew that Paul was Jewish because of his Jewish name, so the guy showed him the prophecies in the Old Testament that point towards the new state Israel. Paul was very interested in this, so on further journeys he always sat down next to him.

After reading the New Testament, Paul couldn't understand why the Jews had so little respect for Jesus. He didn't do anything other than helping people. Could He really be the Messiah, as He said Himself? Paul prayed, "If you are really God, show me if the "carpenter of Nazareth" is the Messiah."
After both Paul and his wife accepted Yeshua another problem arose. How were they to raise their family? Concerned about the unity in their family, He started to speak with other Jewish believers about the founding of a New Testament church in their own Jewish style. They were motivated and held their first gathering on May 18th, 1973. They invited a Jewish evangelist and later got a Jewish pastor for the small group.

Plus some incredible music.   I know you'll love it!

Justin Kron Interview

It was wonderful chatting with Justin Kron.   He is a second generation believer and I was intrigued by his story.  Justin became a follower of Yeshua at a young age and grew up with one foot in the Jewish world and one foot in the Christian world. He has subsequently developed a passion for acquainting Christians with the Jewish roots and heritage of the Christian faith, and to become better equipped and engaged in living an authentic faith among their Jewish friends and neighbors.

Since 1998, Justin has served as a National Ministries Representative with Chosen People Ministries and is the founder and director of experience Israel, a short-term ministry and spiritual pilgrimage program for young adults. He is also the founder and coordinator of the Kesher Forum in Chicago, an interdenominational learning community for those who are interested in learning more about Jewish culture and building bridges with their Jewish friends and neighbors.

Justin has served with the Danny Byram Ministries, a concert ministry to the U.S. military, and as an Area Manager with Promise Keepers in Chicago, where he represented the organization as the national liaison to the Messianic Jewish community. Justin studied at the Moody Theological Seminary and is a frequent contributor to various blogs and radio programs on topics related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, historical anti-Semitism and the Jewishness of Jesus. He is a member of Willow Creek Community Church where Justin serves on the Leadership Advisory Council, and his wife, Judy, directs Women of Willow at their North Shore congregation in Northfield, Illinois.

You'll also enjoy wonderful music from Jonathan Settel, Greg Silverman, Sue Samuel, Paul Wilbur, Kathy Shooster and The Schleps!

Jonathan Bernis Interview (from 1998)

I was digging in the "archives" and found this fun interview with Jonathan Bernis!   This was when he was with "Hear O Israel Ministries," long before becoming the head of Jewish Voice Ministries.

Jewish Believer in Yeshua (Jesus), Jonathan Bernis is President & CEO of Jewish Voice Ministries International (JVMI). Jonathan has worked on the forefront of world evangelism since 1984, taking the Good News of Israel’s Messiah to the far reaches of the earth, to the Jewish People, and also to the Nations.

Today, as President & CEO of Jewish Voice Ministries International (JVMI), and our associated organizations in Canada and the United Kingdom, Jonathan directs all aspects of the ministry, including the weekly television program Jewish Voice with Jonathan Bernis, which airs throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, and Asia.

JVMI’s mission is two-fold: Proclaiming the Gospel to the Jew first, and also to the Nations (Romans 1:16), and equipping the Church—providing education about the Hebraic roots of Christianity, the Church’s responsibility to Israel and the Jewish People, and how to share Messiah with the Jewish People. The Good News is proclaimed through television, print media, humanitarian/medical outreaches, and large-scale international festivals.

More than 560,000 people have attended our vibrant Hear O’ Israel! Festivals of Jewish Music & Dance throughout Eastern Europe, India, and South America. Millions more have participated via television broadcasts. Thousands have responded to altar calls, and about one third of those who have responded have been Jewish. More than a dozen new Messianic Jewish congregations have been birthed in the former Soviet Union through these outreaches. JVMI also partners with several other Messianic ministries to establish and operate Messianic Jewish Bible Institutes around the world to train leaders for Jewish ministry.

The lost and scattered tribes of Israel are of particular interest to Jonathan and Jewish Voice. A prophetic sign of redemption, as God is revealing these enigmatic peoples from Ethiopia to Eastern India, Jewish Voice has mobilized to reach out with essential humanitarian and medical provision, as God’s arm extended in the love of their Messiah. This is a very exciting and rewarding area of ministry, particularly close to Jonathan’s heart as these are the poorest Jewish communities on the earth.

A sought-after speaker, Jonathan also teaches at seminars and in conferences worldwide. He is a prominent leader in the Messianic movement and is a passionate supporter of Israel. He is the author of A Rabbi Looks at Jesus of Nazareth.

Jonathan is the founding Rabbi of Congregation Shema Yisrael in Rochester, New York, where he served as Senior Messianic Rabbi from 1984 to 1993. He also founded and pastored the Messianic Center of St. Petersburg, Russia, where he lived and ministered from 1993 to 1997.
Jonathan and his wife, Elisangela, are the parents of two daughters, Liel and Hannah, and reside in Phoenix, Arizona.

Hannah Campbell Interview

What a fun time in the studio today!   This program features the music of Jonathan Settel, Barry & Batya Segal, Avner & Rachel Boskey, Zemer Levav, Ted Pearce and The Schleps!   And it was a delight to have Hannah Grace Campbell in the studio.  Hannah grew up in Rochester, NY in a fun and loving Messianic Jewish home.  From in early age, she was taught about the God of Israel, and came to accept the Messiah as her Savior at the ripe old age of four.  After realizing at the age of nine that she could not grow up to become Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, (as blood is WAY too disgusting), she dreamed of a number of different careers (everything from a ballet dancer to a tornado chasing meteorologist), before she finally settled on becoming a composer of music.  Hannah greatly enjoyed earning her Bachelors in Music Composition at Baldwin-Wallace College (now Baldwin Wallace University), studying Music, growing closer to God, and learning how to save money by getting half-priced appetizers at local restaurants after College Campus Ministry meetings.  Hannah went on pursue her Masters in Music Composition for the Screen (try saying that ten times fast) at Columbia College Chicago.  After receiving her degree, Hannah, like many other former college students, was very burnt out and decided that she couldn't stand music or anything for creative for that matter and that she would pursue... something else.  And everyone who knew her said, ha, yeah right.  Naturally, of course, that didn't work.  Hannah now leads worship and cantors at Congregation Shema Yisrael, works at an agency for individuals with developmental disabilities, is working on a novel (she vows that it will one day be finished), and writes music with a fiery, burning passion, in hopes of being able to soon record her first album.

Karol Joseph Interview

Happy New Year!   This was the first show of 2014.   Great music from Jonathan Settel, Craig Taubman, Deborah Kline Iantorno, Paul Wilbur, Misha and Marty Goetz!

I had a delightful conversation with my dear friend Karol Joseph.  Karol leads the branch in Brooklyn, N.Y. of Jews for Jesus (J4J) and heads their new missionary training program. Karol grew up in a conservative Jewish home in the Boston area and became a believer in Jesus in 1988. At the time she was working in the health care industry and studying health care policy at Brandeis University. She left Brandeis to join the J4J staff in 1990 and has since served in New York City, Boston, Toronto and Los Angeles before returning to New York City in 1998. In 2007 Karol opened the branch in Brooklyn, the borough with the fastest-growing and most concentrated Jewish population in New York City.

Randy Katz Interview-2

In today's program I re-aired a 2007 interview with Randy Katz. Originally from Middletown, NY, Rand (Randy to most people) attended the University of Rochester and decided to stay and make Rochester, NY his home.  He has been part of the Messianic movement in Rochester, NY since the 70s. He's an accomplished keyboardist and has played at Jewish functions all over the Rochester area and is on the worship team at Congregation Shema Yisrael in Rochester. We chat about his testimony and have fun during this interview!

Marty Goetz Interview

This program features the music of Messianic singer Marty Goetz.  In 1965, a thirteen year old Marty stood in front of the bima at Cleveland's Temple on the Heights for his bar mitzvah, solemnly singing the ancient words of the Torah. No one could have dreamed that he, twenty years later, would be an international recording artist.   After studying English at Carnegie Mellon University, Marty set out for New York City determined to give it two weeks to become a star or he'd go back to Cleveland and the family furniture business. After just a week, Marty and his performing partner Bert, of the duo "Bert and Marty,"  found themselves performing at hotels in the Catskills and were named the "Best New Act of 1947" at the end of the summer. After years on the road, Marty broke up the act, after Bert found Jesus, and returned to New York City. He worked there as a songwriter until 1978, when he shifted his ambitions to pop and moved to Los Angeles.
Marty began reading the Bible looking for a loophole after being provoked by the increasing number of believers in his life. A few weeks later, he realized with certainty that the Jesus of the New Testament was the Messiah his people have been longing for.
Within a year, he established a strong and passionate voice for Messianic believers.
Often called a modern day Psalmist, Marty Goetz sets scripture to music that leaves listeners spiritually moved, inspired, and educated.  Marty has the ability to lead listeners to a place of true intimacy with God.

Marty has been recording music steadily since 1985 and currently lives in Nashville, Tennessee with his family.  His albums include "Psalm Enchanted Evening," "Songs of Israel, "Hope of Glory," and "Songs of our Heritage."

Shani Ferguson Interview

Shani is the daughter of Ari and Shira Sorko-Ram of Maoz Israel Ministries, and a very talented recording artist.   This program features music from her new CD, "Garden of Secrets."   Shani lives with her husband and children in Israel and is part of a ministry called Yeshua Israel Ministries - http://www.yeshuaisrael.com/.  They minister the Gospel of Yeshua the Messiah to Israelis through evangelism, discipleship, media resources and standing for issues of justice in the land.

Rick Fisher Interview

Another wonderful program with great music.   You'll enjoy the music of Chuck King, Deborah Kline Iantorno, Daniel Kopp & Sarah Liberman, Carlos Perdomo and Greg Silverman.

This interview was held in July while attending the Messiah Conference.  Rick Fisher is a 65 yr old man that was raised in a Jewish home, attended Hebrew School, was Bar Mitzvah and.did a year towards confirmation before he got tired of all of it because it was curtailing his social life. Rick did not begin actively searching for G-d until his early 40s. He found Yeshua and for the last 22 years, he has been privileged to serve Him as a worship leader in Davidic dance (among other things) at Congregation Beth Yeshua in Philadelphia. Rick found  new life in Him and is eternally grateful.   

Video Interview with Sally Klein O'Connor

Sally Klein O'Connor blessed us at Congregation Shema Yisrael recently. Here is an interview that I did with her. You will be blessed and encouraged in the Lord!