Divorce Doesn't Matter In Jews for Jesus?

The Jews for Jesus Workers Covenant used to say that that vocational staff could NOT stay on Jews for Jesus staff if divorce occurred. It didn't matter who was at fault. The person had to resign.

Not anymore.

David Brickner is staying on as Executive Director of Jews for Jesus anyway.

We've learned that some of Jews for Jesus' staff have left the organization because of this decision. They say they can no longer support the organization's leadership.

Moishe Rosen would have probably insisted that David resign.

Has Jews for Jesus credibility changed in your eyes because of this decision?

Press Release: Book About How Jews for Jesus Affected Lives to Be Published

An offer has recently come up for a book to be published as an anthropological study of how Jews for Jesus affected individual lives. A real publisher would publish the project.

There would even be stories about people that are still with Jews for Jesus!

The book would tell the facts and also talk about those who maybe at first were on bad terms with Jews for Jesus after leaving or later, but eventually made peace with the organization. In other words, the book would tell all sides of a story that should be told. Real names don't have to be used, but could be used by those who want to grant permission for their names to be used.

Those who have already written stories about their experience with Jews for Jesus want their stories to be told. It is a shame that they've just sat in a pdf file for the past 8 years.

From Christianity Today - "Remembering Moishe Rosen"

Ruth Tucker, the author of Not Ashamed: The Story of Jews for Jesus, has written a very honest account about Moishe Rosen and Jews for Jesus. We know first hand that Jews for Jesus did not like this article and asked Christianity Today to remove some of what is included in the piece.

• Remembering Moishe Rosen - By Ruth Tucker, Christianity Today
  

Brickner Marriage

The inserted image scan is from a recent Jews for Jesus newsletter informing of Executive Director David Brickner’s impending divorce.

It is shocking and saddening. Some close to the Brickners have attested to the Brickner’s marriage being strained for a long time (years) and that also David Brickner’s extensive travels (which he himself, in a recent JFJ newsletter said was a significant percentage of his time) was definitely not conducive to maintaining a good marriage.

Knowing of all too many other JFJ people who have found their marriage imperilled by JFJ - the article reminds us of “closing the door after the horse has bolted”. We have also received a number of emails from current serving Jews for Jesus staff extremely sad, hurt and perplexed about this situation. Some saying how Mr Brickner, the executive director of Jews for Jesus had the Worker’s Covenant changed because he knew this divorce was on the way. One particular insider has informed us that Mrs Brickner did not say what is written in this article.

Read on and make up your own mind.

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PRAYER PROMPTERS


AN IMPORTANT WORD FROM OUR BOARD CHAIR, DR. JIM CONGDON…

Because your trust is important to us, it’s my duty to reluctantly inform you that Patti Brickner, David’s wife of 30 years, has told him that she intends to dissolve their marriage. I’m sure this sad news comes as a shock to you, as it has been to all of us who serve closely with him, and we continue to pray for God to heal their relationship.

Our worker’s covenant requires a Staff member whose spouse files for divorce to offer his or her resignation. David did so as soon as his wife revealed her intent. From the outset, David has been opposed to divorce and immediately sought pastoral accountability and marriage counseling. He made every effort to do whatever he could to save his marriage, including offering to leave the ministry to spend more time with his wife, but to no avail. Mrs. Brickner has said that David has been a good and loving husband and wonderful father, and is not to blame for the circumstances surrounding her decision, which do not reflect on his character or treatment of her.

Our policy provides two exceptions for retaining divorced staff: “in the case when a believing partner was abandoned in the marriage or divorced against his or her will .”

The Board appointed a special committee to weigh all the circumstances and receive input from all parties. After much time in prayer and a rigorous decision-making process, we, the board of directors on June 18 made the decision to retain David as our executive director. The board is confident that David is still God’s man and the right person to meet the needs and biblical imperatives of his unique position. We unanimously recommitted to support David’s leadership of Jews for Jesus, as he has done so capably for the past fourteen years. We further granted David’s request to take a full leave of absence for two months and a partial leave of absence for the following two months to devote time to his personal life

We want you to share our sense of peace amidst the grief, that God is in control and that we did what He would have us do. We are determined not to be distracted or hindered from the great work God has in store for us. The Bible is full of stories of people who overcame personal setbacks to accomplish great things for Christ. We are convinced that this will be the case with David.

Please pray for our ministry as we continue a mission that is challenging in the best of times. With your prayers, support and understanding, we feel we just might be on the verge of a great breakthrough for the cause of Christ.

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Note:

In light of our knowledge that Jews for Jesus is a litigious organization, we would like you to know that this selection from the Jews for Jesus newsletter is copyrighted to Jews for Jesus © 2010 and was received by ourselves directly from them and not via a third party. We are quoting it as fair use so as not to misrepresent this sensitive information. The purpose of the quotation is for informative purposes only and educate those who may be interested. There is no commercial motivation in our quotation.

Divorce is not allowed in the Workers Covenant

There is a rumor that a divorce within Jews for Jesus may happen soon. Will the organization crumble if this particular divorce goes through?

From the Worker's Covenant:
"In the event through unscriptural divorce, the covenant worker must offer his resignation."

• Jews for Jesus Worker's Covenant

What's Going to Happen Now?

What's going to happen now? Will Jews for Jesus really be the same without Moishe Rosen? Of course, JFJ could not/would not be the same. Will the organization split up? Will the organization crumble? Will some of the jobs that people have had for years end?

Moishe Rosen Memorial Service Video - 6-1-10

• Moishe Rosen Memorial Service Video 6-1-10
  

Moishe Rosen Memorial Service from Jews for Jesus on Vimeo.

Moishe Rosen Died On May 19, 2010

Moishe Rosen died on May 19, 2010.

• Moishe Rosen Memory Website
• Remembering Moishe Rosen - From Christianity Today
  

Moishe Rosen Is Dying

The word is out that the founder of Jews for Jesus, Moishe Rosen, is very sick and has stopped chemo treatments and is about to die.

Baruch Goldstein Memory Site

Baruch Goldstein's memory site can be found at http://baruchgoldstein.com/


Baruch Goldstein from z hava on Vimeo.

Baruch Goldstein

Baruch Goldstein passed away on October 26, 2008.

The "Welcome Home Baruch" Question?

What does "Welcome Home Baruch" mean? One can only guess since there has been no answer.

Baruch wrote his story and it was published on the Ex-JFJ site. His story is no longer there, but perhaps Baruch wishes his story still was there?

What Does "Welcome Home Baruch" Mean?

What does "Welcome Home Baruch" mean?

What Happened DID Happen

What happened to me in JFJ DID happen, but JFJ has also been nice to me since. Privately, I've been told how sorry the Jews for Jesus ministry is. JFJ has also granted me some great favors in the past few years, and I'm very grateful for those favors.

But...still...what happened DID happen. Should all records of what happened be erased? Should we move on and forget?

I doubt they can be erased since what is written is reprinted in more than one place, but when someone says they are sorry, what does it mean to the person/people who remember?

Jackie Mason's Schmucks

Jackie Mason has a brilliant new book out, Schmucks

Guess who gets an honorable mention?

Jackie Mason, humorist, Comedian and winner for his one man Broadway show "The World According to Me", takes on this challenge of pointing out the "Schmucks" of the world in this abridged CD.

In some ways, this seem like an updating of some of "World". He takes on such Schmucks like Bill & Hillary Clinton, Jews for Jesus, Madonna and France with his pointed humor. His wit is razor sharp and so are some of the points he takes on.

You know, as a conservative fellow, Jackie has deep respect for Christians and their values. What he objects to is Jews for Jesus' unauthorized use of his likeness which implied that Jackie was a Christian and possibly associated with Jews for Jesus.

One can imagine his irritation at Susan Perlman's glib response to Mr. Mason's objection:

Susan Perlman, a spokeswoman for Jews for Jesus, said the pamphlet was "good-natured."

"Shame on him for getting so upset about this," she said Friday.

Now Jackie Mason enjoys the last word.

Another Generation Passes

What does it say about an organization where there is a growing two-tier stratification - a dedicated core of aging leaders and an ever rotating group of entry level staff?

It can be interpreted in many ways. In the case of Jews for Jesus, another emerging generation of potential leaders is moving on. A couple of recent resignations of mid-level leaders has widened the gap of the executive staff and the young missionaries which serve with Jews for Jesus.

Their departure can be for any number of reasons and on the best of terms. But is it healthy?

The executive staff is insular and intellectually inbred in the image of their founder, Moishe Rosen. Authority is preciously guarded. New blood could serve to reinvigorate the culture and foster the openness that Jews for Jesus so desperately needs.

Let Us Reach Out to You

The Ex-Jews for Jesus contributors and members have one thing in common - we all worked for Jews for Jesus at some point. Beyond that, there is quite a bit of diversity.

Some members have returned to Judaism, others continue to believe in Jesus as the Messiah and still others just don't know any more.

Our varied perspectives and experiences make us well-equipped to connect with you. If you've had experiences you would like to share or someone to reach out to, please contact us.

The best way to reach us is through this page.

Please bear in mind that correspondence of an offensive or holier-than-thou nature may remain unanswered.

You Do Not Have My Consent

At times, former Jews for Jesus staffers have requested that their name no longer appear on JfJ publications and especially on the Internet.

Some former staff wish to seek work in secular fields and could find an association with "Jews for Jesus" coming up in a Yahoo search of their name embarrassing.

However, requests to have one's name removed are ignored or in at least one case met with a "tough luck" response.

Something else to consider if you're from a Jewish background and are looking to serve in missions.

Jews for Jesus and the Elephant in the Room

David Bricker in his 2000 article, "I Repent, But for What" tangentally addresses the abuses of Christian staff workers in this quote:

It becomes more difficult, however, if an accusation comes from a fellow believer. Recently, I received a letter from a former staff member who talked about his unhappy service with Jews for Jesus. He was calling on the Jews for Jesus organization to repent because of what he perceived to be bad actions or bad attitudes during his time of service over 20 years ago. Well, if the things that he alleged to have happened really happened, I can express my regrets and sorrow for his pain, but I can't place blame on all of my co-workers in Jews for Jesus because of a past incident.

Can an organization, an ethnic group or a city repent? The answer is yes and no. We can only repent for the wrong that we've done or the wrong that we've allowed. We can regret history but we can't repent for it. It is true that God calls nations to repent. But a nation consists of people, and individuals must decide whether or not they will repent. Leaders can sometimes help and encourage those who follow them to repent, as in the case of Nineveh, when Jonah called the city to repent and the king heeded that call. Leaders might have a greater responsibility to repent when necessary because others may follow their example, but all of us need to live in constant repentance.

(Emphasis mine)

Regarless of whether organizations or individuals can repent, it is an irrefutable fact that there are many, many people who have left the ministry of Jews for Jesus badly hurt and treated in a very un-Christian fashion.

What motiviates my participation in the Ex-Jews for Jesus blog has always been to warn believers to weigh carefully their involvement in the Jews for Jesus organization because of the way they treat their own people. Others participants on this blog have returned to Judaism, others no longer believe in anything, and some still hold to faith in Christ. I consider myself in the latter group.

David Brickner's (and the rest of the leadership by extention) response to accusations of abuse has been to say, "come to me and tell me what's wrong and I'll apologize."

This is both scriptural and correct.

However, this also provides a neat shell game that has allowed the ministry to injure and abuse its Christian staff for four decades.

Many have approached David Brickner and Moishe Rosen directly to address greivances. Yet even when apologies have been forthcoming, the day to day abuses of Jews for Jesus has never ceased.

Why?

This is the Elephant. Many people have been witness to a rotten culture where personal insults, degrading disciplinary actions and inordinate amounts of control are asserted over people. (You can read many first-hand accounts here)

The key word is "culture". Culture is an atmosphere that belongs to an organization. Culture is perpetuated by individuals, but within a culture, behaviors become permissible and provide a cover for inappropriate actions.

Attempts to address cultural issues brings one into Jews for Jesus' shell game.

Hurt by the ministry's culture? Nope, organizations don't sin, people do. Take it up with them.

So then the abused is directed to go to his branch leader and work it out.

What does that produce? Usually a "that's the way the Ministry works" response follows, which puts the responsibility back on the organization.

The leadership then can preserve the status quo and still feel justified. There is no way to change Jews for Jesus' culture until the leadship recognizes how malformed it is both as a social entity and in the model of Christian life.

Sadly, there seems to have never been any recognition of any fault with this culture. It has been my experience that there is an insularity within the leadership of Jews for Jesus which rejects any possibility of wrongdoing.

If you wish to have more information please drop your email in the comments and I'll discuss it with you.

Sorry, Jews for Jesus has at times infiltrated our email group and intentionally tried to destroy the careers of some of our participants. If you wish to dialog, please understand that we need to take precautions.

[Administrator note]
We have a Jews for Jesus staff member who regularly visits this site and harangues the commenters. Since his comments add nothing of value to the discussion, the usual course of action would be to delete the comments and ban this person. However, we believe that there is value to leaving these comments for the world to see.

Exploitation of Others

In my last post I talked about boundary violations as one of the ways that (according to psychologist Nina Brown) destructive narcissists demonstrate their indifference to others. In this post I will talk about another characteristic that Dr. Brown describes, which she calls "exploitation of others."

She writes: "Interpersonal exploitation occurs when others are used to satisfy personal needs and desires without consideration for their rights or personal integrity. Others are perceived as valuable only in terms of what they can give or do. They are not inherently valued as worthwhile, unique individuals." (Brown, 2006, p. 49)

"One obvious example is children who are ordered to do what a parent says or wants, without question or hesitation, and may be punished for not being prompt or for making an error."

One example of interpersonal exploitation is what Brown calls "power exploitation." This occurs "when an individual has achieved a position or status where their needs have priority and others must fulfill these needs regardless of the effort, discomfort, or disruption necessary to do so."

It's clear to many ex-JFJ staff that power exploitation occurred with great frequency in the "old days" of Jews for Jesus. (See the stories at http://exjewsforjesus.org/) The only question now is whether or not it still occurs. There are some signs that it still does happen, although perhaps not with the frequency that it did under the Rosen regime.