Jacob Cohen
Jacob Cohen was born in Israel, immigrated to the United States at age
five and was raised in Brooklyn, NY in a traditional Jewish home. At
ten years old while attending Hebrew school at a conservative
synagogue, Jacob was surprised when he recognized descriptions of
Jesus. At the time, Jacob reasoned that he was simply mistaken. When
Jacob was in his mid-twenties, he reexamined the Tenach and came to
believe that Yeshua is the promised Jewish Messiah.
Jacob sensed God calling him into the ministry and worked for
Chosen People Ministries before graduating Western Seminary in
Portland, Oregon in 1990. Jacob served as a law enforcement chaplain
for 14 years while he continued teaching the Jewish origins of the
faith.
Jacob and his wife Stephanie were visiting NYC during the 9-11-01
terrorist attacks. Jacob subsequently served as a police chaplain at
ground zero and St. Paul’s Chapel, ministering in NYC for one month
in the aftermath.
After his law enforcement chaplaincy tenure ended Jacob went back
into full time Jewish outreach with his wife Stephanie.
five and was raised in Brooklyn, NY in a traditional Jewish home. At
ten years old while attending Hebrew school at a conservative
synagogue, Jacob was surprised when he recognized descriptions of
Jesus. At the time, Jacob reasoned that he was simply mistaken. When
Jacob was in his mid-twenties, he reexamined the Tenach and came to
believe that Yeshua is the promised Jewish Messiah.
Jacob sensed God calling him into the ministry and worked for
Chosen People Ministries before graduating Western Seminary in
Portland, Oregon in 1990. Jacob served as a law enforcement chaplain
for 14 years while he continued teaching the Jewish origins of the
faith.
Jacob and his wife Stephanie were visiting NYC during the 9-11-01
terrorist attacks. Jacob subsequently served as a police chaplain at
ground zero and St. Paul’s Chapel, ministering in NYC for one month
in the aftermath.
After his law enforcement chaplaincy tenure ended Jacob went back
into full time Jewish outreach with his wife Stephanie.
“What's He doing in my Bible?!”
Jacob Cohen’s family emigrated from Israel when he was five years
old and settled in the other holy land; Brooklyn, New York. The
family spoke Hebrew at home and practiced traditional
Judaism,attending synagogue three times a year, celebrating Passover,
Rosh Hashana and fasting on Yom Kippur. Though not terribly strict
in their religious observances they firmly identified themselves as
Jews religiously, and ethnically.
Jacob attended public school in Canarsie and when he was about ten
years old his parents enrolled him in a religiously conservative
Hebrew school. The immediate purpose of this additional education
was to prepare students for their Bar/Bat-Mitzvah with the over-all
goal of teaching the students to live a life pleasing to God. Included in
the studies was Jewish history, the significance of the Jewish holy
days as well as the commandments. The Older Testament (Tenach)
was in the pews of the synagogue and Jacob
became enamored with it as he read and re-read the stories his parents
recited to him from childhood.
This Book was unique and it captivated Jacob’s imagination. In some
ways, the Book frustrated him; much of it was cryptic, though other
parts seemed straight forward enough. The Hebrew Bible drew Jacob
in like no other book that he had ever read. Jacob sensed that
itcontained the mystery of eternal life, but where? Jacob developed a
deep hunger for the things of God at that time and began attending
Sabbath services frequently.
old and settled in the other holy land; Brooklyn, New York. The
family spoke Hebrew at home and practiced traditional
Judaism,attending synagogue three times a year, celebrating Passover,
Rosh Hashana and fasting on Yom Kippur. Though not terribly strict
in their religious observances they firmly identified themselves as
Jews religiously, and ethnically.
Jacob attended public school in Canarsie and when he was about ten
years old his parents enrolled him in a religiously conservative
Hebrew school. The immediate purpose of this additional education
was to prepare students for their Bar/Bat-Mitzvah with the over-all
goal of teaching the students to live a life pleasing to God. Included in
the studies was Jewish history, the significance of the Jewish holy
days as well as the commandments. The Older Testament (Tenach)
was in the pews of the synagogue and Jacob
became enamored with it as he read and re-read the stories his parents
recited to him from childhood.
This Book was unique and it captivated Jacob’s imagination. In some
ways, the Book frustrated him; much of it was cryptic, though other
parts seemed straight forward enough. The Hebrew Bible drew Jacob
in like no other book that he had ever read. Jacob sensed that
itcontained the mystery of eternal life, but where? Jacob developed a
deep hunger for the things of God at that time and began attending
Sabbath services frequently.
One day during break in-between classes, as he was sitting in the pews
of the synagogue reading the Tenach he stumbled upon Isaiah chapters
52:13-53. Jacob was shocked at what he read. “What is he doing in
our Bible?!” His first thought was that some Christian placed one of
their versions of the Old Testament in his synagogue’s pews. Jacob
turned to this Bible’s front page only to find out that it was “one of
ours” (Jewish Publication Society). He re-read those Isaiah verses
over and over again because he recognized the description; it was
Jesus of Nazareth! Until that time Jacob couldn’t even understand why
Christians read our Tenach alongside with their New Testament. What
did the Hebrew Scriptures have to do with Christianity? Nothing,
heassumed.
During these three years in Hebrew school Jacob noticed that the
Hebrew Bible’s description of God seemed to read as if the one God
of Israel was a Trinity-One. This was a concept he rejected offhand as
foreign and contrary to what Moses and the prophets taught.
Hedismissed these notions as his own misunderstanding, being ten at
the time; Jacob figured what could I know? Jacob thought
“ SurelyChristians must be mistaken about their concept of a Trinity –
but now I understood why they would use our Bible to defend their
doctrine since it can seem like some of these passages in the Hebrew
Bible matched their view of a Trinity.” He found verses of the Tri-Une
nature of God in Isaiah, in Daniel and throughout the Older Testament
including the Torah. Odd.
When Jacob was turning thirteen the family traveled back to Israel, for
his Bar-Mitzvah at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. After his Bar
Mitzva, Jacob continued to identify ethnically as a Jew but lost any
serious involvement in Judaism as a religion. Jacob knew that Albert
Einstein identified himself as Jewish in ethnicity but not in religion.
Jacob figured if it’s good enough for Albert Einstein . . .
Fast forward – Jacob became an agnostic/atheist up until his mid-
twenties. Jacob studied under the tutelage of a Dr. Paul Edwards who
taught Philosophy at Brooklyn College. When Dr. Edwards offered
anelective course on “The Great Unbelievers” Jacob jumped at the
opportunity to study why the finest minds rejected the existence of
God. Jacob was amazed at how weak the atheist arguments against
God were. To a man, all these brilliant atheist philosophers, when it
came to the question of God, they were dolts.
Jacob was driving a yellow cab in NYC at the time to get
himselfthrough school, and it was at this point that God began
bringing many believers into his taxi. When they shared their faith
everyone wound up speaking over each another’s heads:
“They would say that I needed Jesus, and I would reply that I was
Jewish (meaning I was not allowed to worship a god other than the
God of Israel). They would remind me that Jesus was a Jew. However,
in my reckoning, Christianity had transformed the understanding of
the oneness of the God of Israel into an unrecognizable mess with the
doctrine of the Trinity. I acknowledged that Jesus and the apostles
were Jewish but that wasn’t enough, after all his followers could have
been in error with regards to their sincerely held beliefs. As far as I
was concerned Jesus was fine for the Gentiles but faith in him was not
for Jews since Christianity spoke of a god other than the God of Israel.
One day a kindly elderly Christian lady explained that the word
“Christos” was a Greek translation of the word Anointed. Now, that
connected the dots; Christians believe they are following the Jewish
Messiah. This begged the question; is Jesus the true Jewish Messiah?!
I was not convinced that he was. She suggested I read the Tenach to
see whether Jesus was who he claimed to be and so I began reading
the Hebrew Bible. I had several versions of the OT on my bed and
crossed referenced them. I could get by in a rusty Hebrew which
helped, though this came with difficulty. As I read through the Tenach
I came across passages which I had read as a child. I remembered
having recognized Yeshua in these passages but was now reading them
through the eyes of an adult.
As I read and re-read these passages I began seeing how the pieces of
the puzzle seemed to fit together. The Messiah was to be born in
Bethlehem (Micah 5:2), his hands and feet were to be pierced at his
death which seemed like a crucifixion (Ex. 12:21ff; Ps. 22) and many
more prophesies. But I reasoned “What if the writers of the NT filled
in what was lacking and made it seem that Jesus fulfilled the scripture
when in reality the Messiah had not yet come?” I knew that if Jesus
were the Messiah that I had to follow him – but if he were not the
messiah, I would be committing idolatry if I did worship him as God.
As I was pondering this great issue I began begging God to show me.
“Give me scripture which would really show me if Jesus is the One, or
not.” By providence, as I was praying I turned to Isaiah 53 and when I
read these verses I remembered reading them when I was a kid but this
time I came to believe that Jesus is the One. I came to faith at that
moment.
The Son has set me free, and I am free indeed. This was a cleansing
that Yom Kippur was not capable of offering. Not too long after I
placed my faith in Yeshua I realized the Lord was calling me into full
time ministry. I was introduced to many Jewish believers around that
time who reinforced my faith in Yeshua Ha Mashiach (Hebrew for
Jesus Christ).
God has carried me even until now.
I met and married my wife, Stephanie. I tell people that only God
could match a Puerto Rican from the Bronx and a Jew from Israel and
make the marriage work. Stephanie worked as I earned my Master of
Divinity through Western Seminary’s Portland campus. Stephanie
(who was led to the Lord and discipled by Jewish believers) has
walked with me through one of the toughest ministries (I was a police
chaplain for 14 years). We were both in NYC on vacation during the
attack on 9-11-01 and I volunteered and worked ground
zero as a chaplain, staying in New York until Oct. 8th. My bride has
backed me up with prayer and an unmatched devotion to God. She
loves the Lord and has the same passion I do forreaching the Jewish
people and teaching Christians the Jewish origins of the faith and how
to share the faith with the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
of the synagogue reading the Tenach he stumbled upon Isaiah chapters
52:13-53. Jacob was shocked at what he read. “What is he doing in
our Bible?!” His first thought was that some Christian placed one of
their versions of the Old Testament in his synagogue’s pews. Jacob
turned to this Bible’s front page only to find out that it was “one of
ours” (Jewish Publication Society). He re-read those Isaiah verses
over and over again because he recognized the description; it was
Jesus of Nazareth! Until that time Jacob couldn’t even understand why
Christians read our Tenach alongside with their New Testament. What
did the Hebrew Scriptures have to do with Christianity? Nothing,
heassumed.
During these three years in Hebrew school Jacob noticed that the
Hebrew Bible’s description of God seemed to read as if the one God
of Israel was a Trinity-One. This was a concept he rejected offhand as
foreign and contrary to what Moses and the prophets taught.
Hedismissed these notions as his own misunderstanding, being ten at
the time; Jacob figured what could I know? Jacob thought
“ SurelyChristians must be mistaken about their concept of a Trinity –
but now I understood why they would use our Bible to defend their
doctrine since it can seem like some of these passages in the Hebrew
Bible matched their view of a Trinity.” He found verses of the Tri-Une
nature of God in Isaiah, in Daniel and throughout the Older Testament
including the Torah. Odd.
When Jacob was turning thirteen the family traveled back to Israel, for
his Bar-Mitzvah at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. After his Bar
Mitzva, Jacob continued to identify ethnically as a Jew but lost any
serious involvement in Judaism as a religion. Jacob knew that Albert
Einstein identified himself as Jewish in ethnicity but not in religion.
Jacob figured if it’s good enough for Albert Einstein . . .
Fast forward – Jacob became an agnostic/atheist up until his mid-
twenties. Jacob studied under the tutelage of a Dr. Paul Edwards who
taught Philosophy at Brooklyn College. When Dr. Edwards offered
anelective course on “The Great Unbelievers” Jacob jumped at the
opportunity to study why the finest minds rejected the existence of
God. Jacob was amazed at how weak the atheist arguments against
God were. To a man, all these brilliant atheist philosophers, when it
came to the question of God, they were dolts.
Jacob was driving a yellow cab in NYC at the time to get
himselfthrough school, and it was at this point that God began
bringing many believers into his taxi. When they shared their faith
everyone wound up speaking over each another’s heads:
“They would say that I needed Jesus, and I would reply that I was
Jewish (meaning I was not allowed to worship a god other than the
God of Israel). They would remind me that Jesus was a Jew. However,
in my reckoning, Christianity had transformed the understanding of
the oneness of the God of Israel into an unrecognizable mess with the
doctrine of the Trinity. I acknowledged that Jesus and the apostles
were Jewish but that wasn’t enough, after all his followers could have
been in error with regards to their sincerely held beliefs. As far as I
was concerned Jesus was fine for the Gentiles but faith in him was not
for Jews since Christianity spoke of a god other than the God of Israel.
One day a kindly elderly Christian lady explained that the word
“Christos” was a Greek translation of the word Anointed. Now, that
connected the dots; Christians believe they are following the Jewish
Messiah. This begged the question; is Jesus the true Jewish Messiah?!
I was not convinced that he was. She suggested I read the Tenach to
see whether Jesus was who he claimed to be and so I began reading
the Hebrew Bible. I had several versions of the OT on my bed and
crossed referenced them. I could get by in a rusty Hebrew which
helped, though this came with difficulty. As I read through the Tenach
I came across passages which I had read as a child. I remembered
having recognized Yeshua in these passages but was now reading them
through the eyes of an adult.
As I read and re-read these passages I began seeing how the pieces of
the puzzle seemed to fit together. The Messiah was to be born in
Bethlehem (Micah 5:2), his hands and feet were to be pierced at his
death which seemed like a crucifixion (Ex. 12:21ff; Ps. 22) and many
more prophesies. But I reasoned “What if the writers of the NT filled
in what was lacking and made it seem that Jesus fulfilled the scripture
when in reality the Messiah had not yet come?” I knew that if Jesus
were the Messiah that I had to follow him – but if he were not the
messiah, I would be committing idolatry if I did worship him as God.
As I was pondering this great issue I began begging God to show me.
“Give me scripture which would really show me if Jesus is the One, or
not.” By providence, as I was praying I turned to Isaiah 53 and when I
read these verses I remembered reading them when I was a kid but this
time I came to believe that Jesus is the One. I came to faith at that
moment.
The Son has set me free, and I am free indeed. This was a cleansing
that Yom Kippur was not capable of offering. Not too long after I
placed my faith in Yeshua I realized the Lord was calling me into full
time ministry. I was introduced to many Jewish believers around that
time who reinforced my faith in Yeshua Ha Mashiach (Hebrew for
Jesus Christ).
God has carried me even until now.
I met and married my wife, Stephanie. I tell people that only God
could match a Puerto Rican from the Bronx and a Jew from Israel and
make the marriage work. Stephanie worked as I earned my Master of
Divinity through Western Seminary’s Portland campus. Stephanie
(who was led to the Lord and discipled by Jewish believers) has
walked with me through one of the toughest ministries (I was a police
chaplain for 14 years). We were both in NYC on vacation during the
attack on 9-11-01 and I volunteered and worked ground
zero as a chaplain, staying in New York until Oct. 8th. My bride has
backed me up with prayer and an unmatched devotion to God. She
loves the Lord and has the same passion I do forreaching the Jewish
people and teaching Christians the Jewish origins of the faith and how
to share the faith with the lost sheep of the house of Israel.