my testimony
A Jewish man who met his Messiah and was transformed forever.
I was born into a secular Jewish family. We kept what I would call “light” Judaism. We observed the major holidays such as Passover, Yom Kippur, Hanukkah and Sukkot. I went to Hebrew school, showed up at synagogue on the important days, and at thirteen I stood on the bimah and read from the Torah at my bar mitzvah like so many Jewish boys before me. From the outside, it looked like a normal Jewish upbringing. But inside, something was missing.
I was a sensitive kid. The idea of God meant something to me. I believed Someone was out there, bigger than us, behind the universe. But in the Judaism I experienced, I didn’t feel Him. The rituals felt like cultural tradition rather than a living faith. I had Jewish identity, but not a relationship with the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. My parents worked hard and provided well for me, but spiritually I still felt unanchored. I grew up insecure, without the deep inner grounding I longed for, and without a sense of who I truly was before God.
Searching for Spirituality Without the God of Israel
In college, I thrived in athletics and the arts but struggled academically. I loved performing in gymnastics, singing and dance, but I often felt like I didn’t measure up. After five years of college, I moved to Los Angeles to chase a career in entertainment. Los Angeles has a way of amplifying insecurity. Under constant judgment and pressure, I crumbled internally. I didn’t know how to take criticism, and I didn’t know who I was.
That’s when I stepped into New Age spirituality. Meditation, mantras, kundalini yoga, Eastern philosophy. For the first time, I thought I had found peace, confidence and a path to spiritual growth, but without moral accountability. I could be spiritual without answering to the God of my fathers. I devoured spiritual books, sat for hours in meditation and mixed bits of Buddhism and Eastern thought into my own evolving belief system. The deeper I went, the more arrogant I became. I believed I was spiritually superior, and people mistook that arrogance for confidence.
I even spent a couple of years under the influence of a small spiritual cult leader. He taught me how to meditate deeply and connect with my inner spirit. At the time, I thought he was helping me. Later, I realized that what felt spiritual was actually a door into darkness. Meanwhile, my lifestyle had no boundaries. I flirted freely, avoided commitment, justified selfishness and made my own rules. That is the core temptation of New Age spirituality: you become your own god.
Drawn to Israel but Not Yet to the God of Israel
At 24, I bought a one-way ticket to Israel. I didn’t think I was reconnecting with my Jewish roots. I thought a spirit guide was leading me. But now I see that God Himself was already pulling me toward the Land of my people. I spent nine months in Israel learning Hebrew and doing military training. I didn’t realize it then, but this was the beginning of a lifelong bond with Israel.
For years afterward, whenever life in the U.S. stalled, I would fly back to Israel. At 34, I met Yael, a native Israeli. We married when I was 36, built a life together in Israel and began raising our children. On the surface, we were a modern Jewish family in the Land of Israel. But spiritually, I was collapsing.
The pressure of family life and running a business exposed the cracks in my spirituality. I wasn’t at peace anymore. I meditated more, recited mantras, dug deeper into New Age practices, trying to regain what I thought I had lost. But instead of ascending spiritually, I was sinking. My inner slogan shifted from “Life is great, I create my reality” to “I am exhausted” and then to “I have failed.” Depression, anxiety and fear consumed me. Eventually I slipped into suicidal thoughts. I would never take my life, but inside I felt no desire to live. After twenty years of trying to improve myself, I had nothing real to offer my children. At 46, I hit rock bottom.
“I’m Done.” And God Heard.
One day, I fell to the floor sobbing. I looked at Yael and said, “I’m so sorry. After twenty years of hard work, meditation, discipline and spiritual effort, I have nothing to show for it. I have nothing to give our children. I can’t get up anymore. I can’t live like this.” She was terrified. “Please promise me you won’t do anything to yourself,” she said.
“I won’t,” I answered. “I’m selfish, but I’m not that selfish.” Then I looked upward, without knowing who I was speaking to, and said, “I’m done. Whoever You are, I’m done.” For the first time in twenty years, I stopped striving. I stopped trying to fix myself. And that is when Yeshua, Jesus, came for me.
Jesus Begins Pursuing a Jewish Family
Over the next six weeks, Jesus began appearing in my life, my wife’s life and our older son’s life at the same time but separately. People prayed for me in Jesus’ name at the gym. Books and testimonies about Jesus appeared in our hands. Billboards, shows, conversations, His name was everywhere. Our nine-year-old son was invited to a church youth group where he learned about Noah, Abraham, Isaac and Yeshua. He came home glowing. Yael would say, “We’re Jewish, we don’t believe in Jesus, but I’m glad you had fun.” That was how we thought: Jesus isn’t for Jews. But He kept showing up anyway.
Yael felt torn. She was drawn to Yeshua but afraid of losing her Jewish identity. Then she found testimonies from Jewish believers in Israel. She realized that believing in Jesus wasn’t abandoning Judaism. It was embracing the Jewish Messiah.
Her parents were devastated at first. But then her mother revealed a family secret. During World War II, Yael’s grandmother had been hidden by a Christian family while her father was imprisoned in Auschwitz. The Christian woman caring for her said, “Pray in the name of Jesus. He will answer.” That little Jewish girl prayed every day for her father. Near the end of the war, her father was thrown into a mass grave. An Allied soldier later saw movement and pulled him out alive. He recovered and returned home. For decades, the family hid the truth: a Jewish man was pulled from a mass grave after prayer in Jesus’ name.
“Listen to Him” The Moment Heaven Broke Through
Around this time, a friend invited me to a men’s Bible study. They happened to be reading about the transfiguration, Yeshua on the mountain with Moses and Elijah. I thought, “What are Moses and Elijah doing here in the New Testament? These are the giants of the Tanakh.” Then I heard the words that changed my life: “This is My Son, whom I love. Listen to Him.”
I had listened to gurus. I had listened to my own heart. I had listened to voices that led me astray. But I had never listened to Yeshua. When I heard those words, I knew instantly: He is the One. He is the Messiah.
I ran home and told Yael. But I also told her I still felt spiritually oppressed. She hesitated, then said, “Jeff, I had a dream.” She described seeing a young boy trembling on the floor while a demon hovered over him. She woke up, pointed at me and said, “That boy was you.” Suddenly everything came rushing back, the occult games, the cult leader, the darkness. Then the words from the mountain echoed again: “Listen to Him.”
At that moment, Jesus broke every chain. Twenty years of anxiety, fear, depression and suicidal thoughts lifted off me instantly. A supernatural peace washed over me. My hands flew in the air and I cried, “I’m free.” Yael and I fell to our knees and gave our lives to our Messiah, Yeshua.
“What are Moses and Elijah doing here in the New Testament? These are the giants of the Tanakh.”
Discovering Yeshua in the Hebrew Scriptures
The transformation was immediate. I stopped swearing. I stopped lusting. I stopped feeding my old habits. I became social and joyful. My wife said, “I have my husband back, and I also have a new husband.” But I needed to know that my faith was rooted in the Jewish Scriptures.
So I opened the Tanakh and read from the beginning. I found the promise of a new heart in Ezekiel. The suffering and glory of Messiah in Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53. The eternal ruler from Bethlehem in Micah 5:2. The divine child in Isaiah 9:6. Everywhere I turned, I saw Yeshua. When I finally opened the New Testament and read that Jesus is the son of David and the son of Abraham, it felt profoundly Jewish. Believing in Yeshua did not erase my Jewish identity. It fulfilled it.
Life Today A Jew Following His Messiah
Today I live in Israel with my wife and children. God gave me a new heart, restored my marriage, renewed my family and placed a calling on my life. For years I served full time in ministry, sharing the gospel online and in person throughout Israel. Now the Lord has led me into a new season, the beginning of my own ministry:
Highway 53 Ministries
Rooted in Isaiah 53, Isaiah 35:8 and the prophetic highway of redemption running through Scripture.
I now film testimonies, share the gospel with Israelis and create teaching content that helps Jews and seekers discover the Messiah in the Hebrew Scriptures. My greatest joy is opening the Bible with my fellow Jews and saying, “Look, He was here all along.”
I was born into a secular Jewish home. I wandered through darkness and New Age deception. I hit rock bottom and nearly lost everything. But the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob met me in my despair, revealed His Son to me and gave me a new heart and a new life.
I am Jewish. I love my people and my Land. And I now know without a shadow of a doubt that Yeshua, Jesus, is the Messiah of Israel.
LATEST FROM HWY 53 YOUTUBE
Follow along with Jeff as he engages everyday Israelis across the Land, opening conversations about the Scriptures, exploring culture and tradition, and pointing to the hope and truth of Jesus the Messiah.
