Professional Experience

 

• Visiting Faculty in Jewish Studies, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, 1975 - 1981.

• Professor and Chairman of Department of Judaic Studies, St. Petersburg Seminary and Yeshiva, 1985 - present.

• Dean, St. Petersburg Theological Seminary, 1989 - 2002.

• Vice President of Academic Affairs, St. Petersburg Seminary and Yeshiva, 1994 - present.

• Rosh Yeshiva, Betzel Shaddai Yeshiva, 1977 - 1981

• Rosh Yeshiva, Yeshiva Institute of the Union of Messianic Jewish Congregations, 1991 - 1998.

• Rosh Yeshiva, Netzer David International Yeshiva, 1998 - present.

• Rosh Yeshiva, Harcourt Samuel Messianic Yeshiva, 1999 - 2004.

• Chair, Bible Department, Messianic Jewish Theological Institute, 2004 - 2008.

• Adjunct Faculty in Religious Studies, St. Petersburg Junior College, 1991 - 1999.

• Adjunct Faculty in Judaic Studies, Fuller Theological Seminary, 2005 – present.

• Adjunct Faculty, Messianic Jewish Institute of Berlin, 2006 – present.

• Adjunct Faculty, Messianic Jewish Theological Institute, 2008 - present.

• Adjunct Faculty in Judaic Studies, Denver Seminary, 2009 - present.

• Adjunct Faculty in Judaic Studies, King's Seminary, 2013- present.

• Lecturer, Messianic Yeshiva of the Ukraine, 1998 - present.

• Visiting Professor: King of Kings College, Jerusalem, July 1993, June 1995

• Visiting Professor: Johann Amos Comenius College, Reichelsheim, Germany, July 1995, January 1997,

• May 1997

• Visiting Professor: Messianic Jewish Bible Institute, 2000 - present.

• Staley Distinguished Scholars Lecturer, Lancaster Bible College, March 1997

• Annual Biblical Lectureship, St. Louis Christian College, April 1998

• University  Faculty Lectureship, Liberty University, April 2005

• Guest lecturer:  Oakton Community College, Triton College, College of Lake County, University of Illinois Chicago Circle Campus, Northeastern Illinois University, Millersville University, Temple University, University of Pennsylvania, Wheaton Graduate School, Moody Bible Institute, Lancaster Bible College.

• Director of Training, American Messianic Fellowship, 1973 - 1974.

• Vice President, The Watchmen Association, 1975 - 1978.

• Vice President, B'rit Shalom, 1978 - 1981

• Deputy Secretary in North America, International Messianic Jewish Alliance, 1981 - 1984.

• Executive Director, Menorah Ministries, 1984 - present.

• Founder and Spiritual Leader, Congregation B'nai  Maccabim, Highland Park, IL, 1975 - 1981.

• Founder and Rabbi, Congregation Ohr Chadash, Clearwater, FL, 1982 - present.

• Contributing Editor, MESSIANIC OUTREACH, 1987 - present.

• Contributing Editor, MISHKAN, 1991 - present.

 

National and International Organizations

 

• President, Messianic Jewish Alliance of Chicago, 1974 - 1978.

• Executive Committee, Messianic Jewish Alliance of America, 1977 - 1979.

• Vice President, and co-founder, Union of Messianic Jewish Congregations, 1979 – 1981,  2005 – 2009,  2016 – 2017.

• President, Union of Messianic Jewish Congregations, 2018 – present.

• Vice President, Association of Messianic Believers, 1992 - 1994.

• President, Association/Union of Messianic Believers, 1994 - 2010.

• President, American Association of Messianic Jewish Believers in America, 1996 – 2007

• Vice President, Union of Messianic Jewish Believers in America, 2007 – present.

• Chairman, Theology Committee of the Union of Messianic Jewish Congregations, 1979 – 1981.

• Chairman, Yeshiva Committee, Union of Messianic Jewish Congregations, 1991 - 1999.

• Chairman, Credentials Committee, Union Of Messianic Jewish Congregations, 1991 - 1999, 2003 - 2009.

• Steering Committee, Union of Messianic Jewish Congregations, 1989 – 2010, 2016 – 2017, 2018 – present.

• Advisory Board, Living Center for Biblical and Archaeological Studies, University of South Florida,1984 - 1987.

• Administrative Committee, International Messianic Jewish Alliance, 1997 – present.

• Chairman, Administrative Committee, International Messianic Jewish Alliance, 2000 - 2007.

• Executive Committee, International Messianic Jewish Alliance, 1994 - present.

• Vice President, International Messianic Jewish Alliance, 2002 – 2007.

• President, International Messianic Jewish Alliance, 2007 – present.

• Executive Committee, Messianic Jewish Rabbinic Council, 2010 – present.

• Board of Directors, St. Petersburg Theological Seminary, 1992 - 1998

• Advisory Board, King of Kings College Graduate School, Jerusalem, 1996 - 1999.

• Board of Advisors, Lederer Messianic Ministries, 1996 - present.

• Board of Directors, Messianic Jewish Theological Institute, 2002-2007

 

Publications

 

• HIS AMBASSADORS TO HIS PEOPLE (American Messianic Fellowship, 1973)

• L'CHAIM (Menorah Ministries, 1974)

• IF IT BE OF GOD… (Messianic Jewish Alliance of America, 1975)

• SHARING ISRAEL'S MESSIAH (The Watchmen Association, 1978)

• THE MEANING AND IMPORTANCE OF THE JEWISH HOLIDAYS (Menorah Ministries, 1979)

• THE OLIVE TREE CONNECTION (InterVarsity Press, 1983)

• SIDDUR FOR MESSIANIC JEWS (Menorah Ministries, 1984)

• MESSIANIC SERVICES FOR FESTIVALS AND HOLY DAYS (Menorah Ministries, 1992)

• THE ENDURING PARADOX: JESUS AND JUDAISM (Lederer, 2000)

• THE DISTORTION (Lederer, 2004)

• THE GOSPELS IN THEIR JEWISH CONTEXT (Lederer, 2012)

• THE EPISTLES FROM A JEWISH PERSPECTIVE (Lederer, 2013)

• JEWISH ROOTS AND FOUNDATIONS OF SCRIPTURE (Lederer, 2014)

• “Why A Messianic Movement?”  TRINITY JOURNAL  (Spring 1976)

• “Messianic Judaism,” UNITED EVANGELICAL ACTION (Fall 1976)

• “Messianic Jews Are Still Jews,” CHRISTIANITY TODAY (April 24, 1981)

• “The Turmoil in Jewish Thinking,” INTEREST (October 1981)

• “Sharing Israel's Messiah,” INTEREST (November 1981)

• “God After the Holocaust,” JUDAISM (Summer 1983)

• “Beware of Greeks Bearing Gifts,” THE HEBREW CHRISTIAN  (Winter 1984)

• “Paul in His Jewish Context,” EVANGELICAL QUARTERLY (July 1985)

• “Torah: Can You Work Your Way to God?”  MESSIANIC OUTREACH (Autumn 1986)

• “The Rabbinic View of God, A Contrast to Maimonides,” MESSIANIC OUTREACH (Summer 1987)

• “Covenant & Treaty: Implications for Scripture,” MESSIANIC OUTREACH (Spring 1988)

• “Galatians From A Messianic Jewish Perspective,” MESSIANIC OUTREACH (Autumn 1988 – Summer 1989)

• “Covenant, Fulfillment & Judaism in Hebrews,” MESSIANIC OUTREACH (Autumn 1989 - Spring 1990)

• “Jesus & Early Judaism,” MESSIANIC OUTREACH (Summer 1990 - Spring 1991)

• “The Development of the Messianic Concept,” MESSIANIC OUTREACH (Summer 1991 - Spring 1992)

• “The Place of Rabbinic Tradition in a Messianic Jewish Lifestyle,”  MESSIANIC OUTREACH (Fall 1994)

• “Mah Zeh?" KESHER (Summer 1994)

• “Foundations of Messianic Theology,” MISHKAN (1, 1995)

• “The Lifestyle and Teachings of Jesus,” THE INTERPRETER (Winter 1996)

• “Making Messianic Worship Meaningful,” MISHKAN (1, 1997)

• “Why Is This Night Different?” MESSIANIC TIMES (Spring 1997)

• “Yeshua and Halacha: Which Direction?” KESHER (Summer 1997)

• “Messianic Conversion: It Is Viable,” KESHER (Winter 1998)

• “Witnesses for the Reliability of the Older Testament,” MESSIANIC JEWISH LIFE (Jan - Mar, 1999)

• “The Resurrection of Yeshua: Myth or Fact?” MESSIANIC JEWISH LIFE (Apr - June, 1999)

• “The Rabbinic View of God: A Contrast to the Rambam,” KESHER (Summer 2001)

• “The Legitimacy of Conversion,” in VOICES OF MESSIANIC JUDAISM, ed. Dan Cohn-Sherbok (Lederer 2001)

• “Yes, We Do Need Messianic Congregations!” and “Messianic Congregations Should Exist and Should Be Very Jewish,” in HOW JEWISH IS CHRISTIANITY? TWO VIEWS ON THE MESSIANIC MOVEMENT, ed. Louis Goldberg (Zondervan 2003)

• “Yeshua: The Deity Debate,” MISHKAN, (#39, 2003)

• “A Place and a Name: The Conversion of Gentiles,” KESHER (Summer 2005)

• “Soteriology: The View From Here,” MISHKAN (#53, 2007)

• “The Centrality of Community & History to the Messianic Jewish Narrative,” KESHER (Summer / Fall 2017)

 

Ordination

 

• Messianic Jewish Rabbinical Council, 2013 

• Union of Messianic Jewish Congregations, 1988