In 1985, Jonathan Bernis was in his second year as Messianic Rabbi of Congregation Shema Yisrael in Rochester, New York. It was a lively congregation with Bible studies, outreach programs, and worship dance classes. Jonathan didn’t know it them, but an enormous window of opportunity was opening that would change the course of his life.
Since coming to know Yeshua as the prophesied Messiah, it was always Jonathan Bernis’ deep desire to introduce as many of his Jewish people to Yeshua as he could. As he began to hear that doors to the Gospel were opening in the Soviet Union, he felt the Holy Spirit directing him to an opportunity to minister to people whose decades of atheistic oppression had created a spiritual openness to God.
Humble Beginnings
In 1990 he and a small group from the Messianic Jewish Alliance of America (MJAA) took a short ministry trip to Leningrad and Moscow, Russia to see if they could point some people to Yeshua:
Armed with several suitcases filled with Russian/Hebrew Bibles and hundreds of pieces of Messianic literature, we ventured behind the “Iron Curtain,” believing that the Lord would sovereignly lead and direct us.
They prayed for divine appointments, and God answered, including leading them to the Consular overseeing all immigrations to Israel. As they left the director’s office, they spoke with the lines of people waiting to inquire about moving to Israel. In just a few minutes they’d passed out all of the materials they had with them.
“It was an absolutely overwhelming experience for us to see so many Jewish people open to the Gospel,” Jonathan recalled. “We spent a couple of hours just talking with people and sharing our faith. We spent the remainder of the day back at our hotel meeting with those that wanted to talk further.”
In the end, the group of Messianic Believers had come to the Soviet Union with 300 Bibles and 400 pieces of Messianic literature. In six days, they’d distributed all of it.
(Inviting people to the first HOIM festival in St. Petersburg, Russia 1993)
“We left for home exhausted but thankful to God for the privilege of being used,” Jonathan reported in his congregation’s newsletter. “God had shown Himself faithful, and somehow I knew that I would be returning.”
He was right. One month after getting home, the MJAA called. A man from Minsk, in Belarus, was asking for someone to teach him and a group of other Jewish Believers more about Messiah. Jonathan returned to Russia with another team from the MJAA, and several months later, helped this already existing group of Believers become a Messianic congregation. Jonathan continued making trips to Minsk to disciple the fledgling congregation.
On one trip home from Minsk, Jonathan was reading Matthew 24, and for the first time understood the term “nations” to mean ethnic groups rather than land masses. He wondered, Who is bringing the Gospel to the Jewish people? He could think of only two people trying to reach the estimated three million Jewish people in the former Soviet Union. That’s when he heard God call him, saying, “Go to St. Petersburg and reach My people.”
Jonathan went. He hadn’t been to St. Petersburg (formerly called Leningrad) in two years and didn’t have a solid plan when he arrived. In his hotel room, as he sought the Lord, an idea began to form in his mind. What about organizing festivals of Jewish music and dance through which the Gospel could be presented?
He knew that both Jewish people and Russians enjoyed culture. The more he prayed and conferred with pastors in the city, they all soon realized it was God’s idea.
Over the next few days, Jonathan visited concert halls holding 400, 600, 800 people. Nothing seemed exactly right. Then one day, while traveling in a taxi with a pastor, he saw a massive white building. It was the largest in the city. The next day, he met with the director. The hall was spectacular, seating 4,000 people in beautiful, leather-lined chairs. “This is it!” his spirit jumped with enthusiasm. He booked the hall for three days in May 1993.
When opening day of the festival arrived, no one knew what to expect. Would there be 50 people or 500? The response was overwhelming. Each night, the hall was full to overflowing – and two-thirds of them were Jewish! They had to turn away several hundred people each night.
After each performance, Jonathan shared his 30-minute testimony. At the end, he gave a simple, low-key appeal for those who wanted to repent of their sins and give their heart to Messiah to come forward. “Rushing the stage, their arms uplifted and many eyes filled with tears, they poured down the aisle like a massive Exodus” Jonathan recounted.
More than 3,000 people responded to the altar calls of that first festival. Another 3,600 filled out cards requesting more information about Yeshua and Messianic Judaism. “Send me literature.” “I’d like someone to visit my home.” About 2,200 of them were Jewish. Never in the last 2,000 years had Jewish people responded like this to the Messiah.
Follow-up was necessary, of course, so every month thereafter, Jonathan traveled back to St. Petersburg to disciple new Believers. Within a relatively short period, a congregation was planted.
Jonathan began to pray for God to raise up a leader for Russia with a heart for the people and who saw the prophetic significance of what was going on among the Russian Jewish. Jonathan tells how God answered him:
“I’ve already raised up such a man,” He responded one day.
“Great, Lord! Who it is?”
“You,” the Lord replied. “I’ve chosen you.”
So, in 1993, Jonathan resigned from his position as senior rabbi of his congregation and moved to St. Petersburg.
(Jonathan Bernis speaks to an overflow crowd in Moscow 1994)
God called Jonathan Bernis to an innovative form of outreach to share the Good News of Yeshua with Jewish people. Hear O’ Israel Ministries’ festivals celebrated Jewish culture, heritage, and history. In an oppressed region known for its persecution of Jewish people, a professionally produced, free event of this nature lifted the spirits of hundreds of thousands of Jewish people. The message that the Jewish Messiah had come and loved His people, the Jews, was good news indeed, and thousands responded each evening.
From 1993 through 2000, Hear O’ Israel Ministries (HOIM) conducted 13 festivals in Russia and countries of the former Soviet Union, plus a four-city tour of Ukraine. They also ventured outside Eastern Europe to hold festivals in India and Buenos Aires, Argentina. During that time, nearly 450,000 people attended HOIM festivals. As the festivals became more known, they experienced opposition in advance of their coming to various regions. But that didn’t stop overflow crowds from attending, nor grasping the gift of a personal relationship with God through Yeshua, the Jewish Messiah.
(Hear O' Israel Festival, Vijayawada, India 2000)
Jewish Voice Ministries still conducts Hear O’ Israel Festivals of Jewish Music & Dance around the world and continues to see thousands in attendance. These festivals are vibrant celebrations, filled with pageantry, color, and life using professional staging, sound, and lighting. Well-known Messianic Jewish singers and dancers from the US, Israel, and Europe entertain the audiences. Following each performance Jonathan shares his testimony and a clear, simple opportunity to respond to the message, and also to receive prayer for their needs.
Hundreds of volunteers from all over the world have participated in these festivals, serving in three primary areas: street outreach, intercessory prayer, and administration. Everyone works together in harmony. The Lord uses the various talents and abilities of each one to make these huge events a reality. (Hear O' Israel Festivals of Jewish Music & Dance today. Audience members join the festival team on the floor in celebration and dance.)
Find out how Jonathan Bernis’ Hear O’ Israel Ministries and Louis Kaplan’s Jewish Voice Broadcasts met, partnered, and merged – next month in May’s JVMI 50th Anniversary blog post.
Don’t’ miss Flashback Fridays on our Facebook page where you’ll see glimpses of our 50-year journey.
Discover the whole inspiring JVMI story with our beautiful, full-color coffee table book, Jewish Voice: A Look at 50 Years. Along with a fascinating narrative chronicling 50 years of ministry, this special edition includes biographies, stories, and reflections from television guests, partners, and staff as well as over 200 photographs.
Join us on the Jewish Voice Blog each month in 2017 as we unfold the Jewish Voice story and piece together for you how two ministries with the same heart merged to become the Jewish Voice Ministries International you know today.
Previous JVMI 50th Anniversary blog posts:
