I asked a young man if he was Jewish. He was formerly ultra-Orthodox (meaning very religious and strict). He said he studied at a Yeshiva in Israel and lived in Mea Shearim (the most orthodox Jewish neighborhood in Israel) for more than a year. He bought several magnets and key chains. I asked if he knew about Messianic Jews, and he said yes. We had a very good conversation, and he accepted the book of Jewish testimonies.
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A Jewish man in his late fifties stopped. Just like me, he was from New York and raised in a conservative Jewish synagogue. He said he is a teacher, and he teaches Holocaust studies. We had a good conversation. I said the Holocaust makes many Jewish people ask the greater question, which is... if God exists, why does suffering like the Holocaust exist? He did take a book of Jewish testimonies because I showed him that one of the testimonies was a Jewish woman who went through the Holocaust and years later became a believer in Jesus as Messiah.
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A young couple in their 20s, who were dating, stopped at the booth to look around. I asked, and they said he's Jewish and she was a Catholic. She said she was thinking about converting, and I replied, “But you don't need to convert because Jesus is Jewish, and he's the most Jewish of all.” She then said, “Yeah, I was thinking that.” I encouraged them to look into it more. They didn't take any literature, but they did listen and thanked me as they walked away.
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A group home of mentally challenged people came up. One of them said to me with a big smile, “Shalom.” I said shalom back. I asked, “Are you Jewish?” He said yes. I replied, “I'm Jewish too and also a believer in Jesus.” He said, “Me too.” He was very excited.
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A woman, probably in her late 30s, stopped, and she was just in love with the booth. She said she's been a believer in Jesus for 10 years now. She came out of a lesbian background, and now she loves Jesus and Israel. She's married now and has two children. She was just so enamored by everything. She explained that she got to visit Israel a few years ago, and it was such a wonderful experience.
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A young man in his 20s with his girlfriend stopped to look around. As we spoke, he said that he had been in the IDF (Israeli army). I explained that I am a Messianic Jew, and he said, “Jews for Jesus?” I replied, “Well, that's a small group based in SF, but in the larger picture around the world, we are called Messianic Jews.” He then asked, “So you think Jesus is the Messiah?” I said, “Yes.” He said, “Okay, in the big picture I can understand that.” We had a good conversation, and he took a gospel bookmark. I told him to Google Messianic Jews and he said, “I've got your website.”
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Another couple in their forties stopped to look around. He said he had been in the IDF (Israeli army) years ago. They were open, and they said they were actually looking into going to a church because her grandmother was a believer in Jesus and Jewish. I encouraged them to find a church where the pastor understands the Jewishness of Jesus. They took a testimony book. It was very encouraging to them to have this conversation.
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An older woman and her husband stopped. I let them look around a bit, and I gave her a card and said, “I'm a Messianic Jew.” She smiled and said, “I am too.” I said, “Really?” As we talked for a while, I could tell that she was absolutely a believer and strong in her faith. Like me, she was also from New York.
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An older woman stopped and looked at everything from a distance while giving me a death stare. Then she mouthed the words to me, “Shame, shame, shame...” So I walked over to her and I said, “Are you Jewish?” She nodded her head yes. I said, “You can't be Jewish and reject the Messiah.” She said, “He's nobody!” And then more of... “Shame, shame, shame...” and walked away slowly, staring at me like I had the plague.
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I had a very bizarre situation as an Orthodox Jewish man, about 22, wearing tzit-tzit (Orthodox Jewish fringes worn at about the belt level) stopped. He was with his friend, who was obviously a young man wearing a dress and makeup. The Orthodox Jewish man began to talk about Jesus not being the Messiah because there's no world peace. I said, “That's part 2 of the story. Part 1 is the Messiah is going to suffer for our sins.” He said, “We all suffer, and our suffering makes atonement.” I quickly replied, “No.” Then he quoted the Talmud where it says so. I said, “The Talmud is not from God.” He was shocked. He said, “Of course it is. How else would we know what specifics to do in the Torah?” I said, “Just by reading the Torah.” I said, “[Following] the Talmud, it is idolatry. Moses never commanded us to follow an oral law.” We went back and forth for quite some time. The man with the dress listened and was half laughing at the conversation. Eventually we just said goodbye nicely and ended it.
** A Jewish man and his Christian wife stopped. They were in their late 60s. She said about her Jewish husband, “He comes to church with me, but he's not a believer yet.” I replied, “The Gentiles know a good thing when they see it.” (Meaning gentiles knowing about the Jewish Messiah.) I gave them a prophecy sheet before they left.
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Mike stopped and said he's not very religious, but he goes to Chabad services (an ultra-Orthodox Jewish group) for the connections. He explained that he's from the Jewish area of Detroit. I explained that we are Messianic Jews and that Christians love Israel because of Jesus. He agreed, and he took a gospel bookmark. It was a good conversation.
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An Israeli woman and her Catholic husband stopped. They once owned a store in Haifa, Israel, but they are living in the USA now. She actually bought an expensive Torah from us. I wrapped it up and put a gospel bookmark in Hebrew in there for her to read. I explained that we are Messianic Jews, Jews who believe in Jesus.
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A Jewish man with a tattoo of a hamsa (a superstitious Jewish symbol) stopped to look around. He was from New York, like myself. I shared with him that I was Jewish and now believed in Jesus. I gave him a prophecy flyer as well. He didn't really say much, but he nodded, said thank you, and took everything.
A police officer patrolling the fair stopped and was looking around. He asked me what one of the necklaces means in Hebrew. I told him, and then he explained that he used to go to a Messianic congregation when he lived in New York. It turns out we're from the same area and that he used to be a police officer in upstate New York, in a very Jewish county. He informed me that the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community there is very powerful. That’s because they all vote as one block. Whatever the local rabbi says, the entire Orthodox Jewish community votes that way. So that gives them great local power.
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A young Israeli woman in her 20s stopped, and she was so extremely excited to see everything! She was FaceTiming her mother in Israel and was slowly scanning her camera to show her our entire booth while talking to her. I then pulled out our ‘Jesus loves you’ tee shirt in Hebrew and showed it to her and the camera. She smiled. After a long view of the booth, she said, “This is the best booth in the entire fair!”
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A man and his wife came by, who were probably in their 60s. He was wearing a T-shirt that said New York City. I asked him if he was from there. Surprisingly he said no, but that he was Jewish. I said I was from New York City and Jewish, which began a good conversation. He eventually took a testimony book and promised he would read at least one of the stories.
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One great conversation was with a gentile believer. After talking with her for a little bit, she told me she had lost her mom the day before and was unsure why she was even out at the fair. I was able to pray with her and encourage her. Her mom was a believer, but her death was quite tragic nonetheless. After we ended our conversation and prayer, she asked me what my name was. I told her it was Pat. Then she said, “I know why I was to come here. To be encouraged and to be prayed for because… my mom’s name was Patricia.”
