Jews for Jesus founder Moishe Rosen dies at 78

SAN FRANCISCO — Moishe Rosen, founder of Jews for Jesus, died May 19 in San Francisco after a battle with bone cancer. Rosen, who founded the evangelistic organization in 1973, was 78.

Rosen enrolled at Northeastern Bible College in New Jersey and, after graduating in 1957, was ordained as a Conservative Baptist minister. He joined the staff of the American Board of Missions to the Jews, working 10 years in Los Angeles and seven years in New York City. Uncomfortable in an administrative role, he began visiting college campuses in New York, “listening and learning what was on the hearts of young Jewish people and how he might find ways to connect to their spiritual hunger,” said Susan Perlman, a longtime assistant.

Rosen began to carve out those connections in 1973 when he founded Jews for Jesus, which today numbers 200 staff members in the United States and worldwide. Rosen stepped down as executive director of Jews for Jesus in 1996 at the age of 64 but continued to serve on the board of directors and as a staff member. Rosen played a key role in the formation of the Lausanne Consultation on Jewish Evangelism, which emerged from the 1980 Consultation on World Evangelization in Pattaya, Thailand.