My Testimony

The Long Version

Growing Up Jewish in Oregon

I was born in Salem, Oregon in 1957. Even though my great-grandparents were Orthodox Jews, I grew up as a Conservative Jew. Reform Jews are the least observant, followed by Conservative Jews and then Orthodox. I grew up in Portland celebrating Hanukkah at home with my family, Passover at my grandparents', and attending synagogue for the High Holy Days of Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur. I had a Bar Mitzvah at age 13 and attended Sunday School through eighth grade. I also attended a Jewish summer camp yearly on the Oregon Coast through seventh grade.

I say all of this to show that I grew up with a strong Jewish identity. Even though I was not religious, I could read Hebrew — without much comprehension — and say and sing many of the traditional Jewish prayers.

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1972

The Jesus Revolution

My friends were the neighbor kids who were about the same age as me. And then it happened. In about 1972, I watched many of my neighborhood friends transform almost overnight from Catholic party animals into Jesus Freaks. It seemed like it happened suddenly. It was the Jesus Revolution. They took me to a coffee house called "Prince of Peace" — all young people, filled with the Holy Spirit. It freaked me out.

In the middle of all of this, I sat down with a teenage girl I had never met before. She opened the Old Testament and carefully walked me through scripture after scripture — ancient prophecies written centuries before Jesus was born — and showed me how each one had been fulfilled. It was the first time I had seen it, and I couldn't look away.

I told my parents what was happening and they advised me to talk to our Rabbi. I made an appointment — and then made the interesting decision to bring along one of my neighborhood Jesus Freak girls. She got into an argument with the Rabbi about Jesus being the Jewish Messiah. The Rabbi told me to come back, but alone next time.

I went back to see the Rabbi again. He told me that if I was really serious about changing my religion, I should study the world religions and pick the one I thought was best. Looking back, I think that was rather poor advice — he should have tried to convince me to stick with Judaism! I had no idea at the time that I could believe in Jesus and still remain Jewish.

After that — pretty much nothing. I graduated high school, went to Oregon State University, and graduated with a BS degree in Chemical Engineering. Nobody talked to me about Jesus. But deep down inside I was scared. Every night I said the same prayer:

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1980–1983

Sacramento, Rockets, and a Belly Dancing Party

I moved to Sacramento, California and started working as a chemical engineer at the Aerojet Company, mixing rocket propellant for the MX missile. It was 1980 and I was 23 years old. Still nobody talked to me about Jesus.

Then came the spring of 1982. I flew to Portland, and as it happened there was a Jewish singles party that weekend. I went with my sister Debbie and my friend Mike Horenstein. It was at the house of a 21-year-old named Lori Saltman — and it was a belly dancing party. There was a professional belly dancer, and Lori herself belly danced in front of everyone. I thought she was a bit of a show-off. I never even met Lori that night, but I did meet her parents, her sister, and her brother-in-law. For some reason they liked me, even though I squirted a neighborhood cat with a squirt gun in their backyard.

Around Christmas 1982 I flew back to Portland. On Christmas Day I went to a party of only Jewish people — we were all available on that day since none of us celebrated Christmas. Lori Saltman was there and we finally met. I told her I was in town for the week and asked if she wanted to get together. She gave me her phone number — her parents' number, as it turned out, not her own.

That week I was attending the Far West Classic college basketball tournament. At halftime of the first game I found a pay phone and called. Her mother Rose answered — Lori wasn't home. I called after the game. Same thing. I called at halftime of the next game. Same thing. I called after that game. Same thing. I went home and my mother had left me a note: Lori had called me. I called her back and we talked for about an hour.

Later that week I went to her house. Her father Dave sent us down to the basement to talk. When I was about to leave, Lori's mother Rose put her hands on her hips and informed me I was staying for dinner. What a Jewish mother! After I left, Lori told me that her parents had decided I was a ganiff — a thief in Yiddish — because they were convinced I had stolen something from their home. Her father had a houseful of antiques and they searched everywhere trying to figure out what I'd taken. Of course they were completely wrong, and Lori and I still laugh about it to this day.

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1983–1984

A Year in Israel

Over the following nine months Lori and I had a long-distance relationship — I was in Sacramento, she was in Portland. But something was already on the horizon. I had committed to moving to Israel for a year on a program called Sherut La'am (Service to the People), and in the fall of 1983 I went.

I spent a wonderful year in Israel. I lived in Tiberias on the Sea of Galilee for three months and learned to speak semi-fluent Hebrew — at least I could understand people if they didn't speak too fast, and I could form simple sentences. Of course, everyone in Israel speaks English and they all wanted to practice on me. Afterwards I moved to Haifa — a city where Jews and Arabs get along remarkably well — and rented an apartment for about nine months. I worked as a chemical engineer at the oil refinery just outside the city.

All this time, nobody talked to me about Jesus. The nightly prayer continued.

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Fall 1984

Something Clicked

It was now the fall of 1984 — more than twelve years since my Jesus Revolution days. I returned home from Israel, determined to change careers. After working in an oil refinery I no longer wanted to be a chemical engineer.

I surprised Lori at her Halloween party by showing up in a costume where I was completely unrecognizable. I sat silent on her couch while she eventually went into the bathroom and threw up from the shock. We had broken up when I left for Israel, but after the Halloween incident we decided to get back together.

Then came the moment that changed everything. Lori and I were sitting together at her house and she was very nervous to tell me something. She finally said that while I was away in Israel, she had put her faith in Jesus as her Jewish Messiah.

When she told me, something clicked in my mind. Even though it had been twelve years since anyone had witnessed to me, I knew right then and there that it was time to put my faith in Jesus as my Jewish Messiah and the Savior of the world. It was obviously the Holy Spirit — there is no other explanation for it.

This is why I focus so much on prophecy and fulfillment on this website. Many Jewish people are genuinely surprised to discover how many prophecies Jesus fulfilled. It was the prophecies that reached Lori's brother. It was the prophecies that reached Lori. And through Lori, it was the prophecies that finally reached me.

Lori and I married in 1987. Later I wrote a song for my musical Messiahmas called "Bring Me Hope" — and I think of it as my testimony song. You can listen to it here:

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Being a Jewish Believer

Where We Fit In

Being a Jewish believer in Jesus is an interesting experience. We don't fit in very well with the Jewish community, because they no longer see us as Jewish — you can believe almost anything and still be considered Jewish, but if you believe in Jesus you are no longer Jewish in their eyes. We don't fully fit into the Gentile church either, because of cultural differences.

We see ourselves as still fully Jewish. We will never lose our Jewish identity or our connection to our ancient homeland Israel. And we are excited for the day the Scriptures speak of, when "All Israel will be Saved."

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Family History

Roots in the Land of Israel