A Messianic Jewish organization has launched a provocative billboard campaign across New York and New Jersey, urging Jewish people to explore Jesus Christ as the Messiah through its website, Jews.com.




An organization comprised of Messianic Jews has launched a billboard campaign in New York to invite Jewish people to consider Jesus Christ as the Messiah.

Rabbi Kirt Schneider and Discovering the Jewish Jesus launched the website Jews.com as part of the campaign, which features billboards throughout the New York metropolitan area and northern New Jersey, according to a news release.

“Acquiring Jews.com, to me, is equivalent personally to when the Lord parted the Red Sea for Israel," Schneider said. "The chance of me ever acquiring the domain name Jews.com was impossible, yet the Lord himself literally gave it to me. Why? Because he knew that we’d be faithful by his grace to proclaiming Yeshua as the Messiah to the Jewish people.”

According to Schneider, his mission for Jews.com became clear following a spiritual experience centered on Acts 2:22, where the Apostle Peter addresses Israel and points them to Christ.

“I knew right then and there, in an instant, that God was calling me and Discovering the Jewish Jesus to challenge Jewish people in a whole new way, at a whole new level, with the good news of Messiah,” Schneider said.

He also shared that he is currently “laser-focused on reaching Jewish people” after decades of preaching to mainly Christian and Gentile audiences worldwide.

Regarding Jews.com, Schneider said the website is meant to inform Jewish visitors about the Messiah through a variety of means, including video, personal testimony, biblical teaching, written resources and more.

Additionally, Scheidner says that Jews.com is an excellent way to equip Christians who otherwise do not know how to reach the Jewish people.

“This is the most powerful tool on earth we have right now to share the love of Messiah with Jewish people,” Schneider said.

However, not all Jewish leaders in the New York City area are on board with Schneider's campaign. Some have even argued that Jews.com may be deceptive to Jews as it does not clearly identify its Messianic purpose, New Jersey Jewish News reports.

“The context is very important,” he said. “This is not among the top 10 threats to the Jewish people, but it is understandable why, at this moment, this type of advertising is pernicious and rattling,” said Rabbi Noam Marans of Teaneck, American Jewish Committee’s director of interreligious affairs.

“That is because we are living at a time when nearly all Jews have never felt more vulnerable, so we don’t take well to deception. And it’s deceptive to have a huge billboard with a seemingly innocent website with a seemingly innocent name on a major thoroughfare next to an intensely Jewish community.

The Jewish Federation of Northern New Jersey also issued a statement expressing its concerns about the Jews.com billboards.

“Everyone has the right to practice their religion and express their beliefs. From the perspective of the mainstream Jewish community, however, belief in Jesus as the Messiah is not part of Judaism.”

“When a message like this is presented in a community with a significant Jewish population, it understandably raises concerns about the impact of that message on the Jewish community. Jewish Federation of Northern New Jersey is committed to strengthening and sustaining the mainstream Jewish community, supporting Jewish life and institutions, and ensuring a vibrant Jewish future for generations to come.”

One of the first things visitors to Jews.com will encounter is a video of Schneider saying that he is Jewish and very proud of that fact. He goes on to say that in videos to follow, he will explain how he "encountered Jesus of Nazareth as the Jewish Mashiach and the Messiah of Israel."

Source