Summary
The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews ("IFCJ") was founded in 1983 to promote greater understanding between Jews and Christians and to build Christian support for Israel and other shared concerns. Based in Chicago and under the leadership of its founder and president, Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, the Fellowship is governed by a national Board of Directors comprised of leading Christians and Jews. Its motto is: cooperate whenever possible, oppose whenever necessary, and teach and sensitize at all times. This organization is a nonprofit. Contributions to it are fully tax deductible to the extent allowed by the law.
Contact Information: [ Back to top ]
| Mailing Address: | 30 N. LaSalle St. Suite 2600
Chicago, IL
60602-3356 |
| Website: | www.ifcj.org |
| Phone: | (312) 641-7200, (800) 486-8844 |
| Email: | You need to enable javascript to see the email |
Organization Details [ Back to top ]
EIN: 363256096
| CEO/President: |
Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein |
Tax Deductible: |
Yes |
| Chairman: |
John French & Robert Mazer |
Fiscal Year End: |
December 31 |
| Board Size: |
16 |
Financial info from: |
990 |
| Founder: |
Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein |
Member of ECFA: |
No |
| Year Founded: |
1983 |
Member of ECFA since: |
|
The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews ("IFCJ") was founded in 1983 to promote greater understanding between Jews and Christians and to build Christian support for Israel and other shared concerns. Based in Chicago and under the leadership of its founder and president, Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, the Fellowship is governed by a national Board of Directors comprised of leading Christians and Jews. Its motto is: cooperate whenever possible, oppose whenever necessary, and teach and sensitize at all times. This organization is a nonprofit. Contributions to it are fully tax deductible to the extent allowed by the law.
IFCJ expresses its goals and current projects as follows:
To educate Christians and Jews about one another by interpreting Jews and their faith to the Christian community and Christians and their faith to the Jewish community.
To help Jews emigrate from the former Soviet Union through our program On Wings of Eagles, and to assist the poor and hungry Jews remaining in the former Soviet Union though our Operation Isaiah 58 project, thereby providing Christians with concrete means to express their love and support for the Jewish people and Israel.
To build a broad network of cooperation and support for shared concerns such as the moral condition of American through our public policy office, known as the Center for Jewish and Christian Values.
To alert, activate and coalesce the communities of faith in America to come to the aid of persecuted people of faith worldwide, and especially persecuted Christians, through our Operation Alert! Campaign and our Religious Liberty Forum to provide a forum on dialogue on the relevant issues on this critical topic.
To encourage Christians and Jews to embrace their shared values and morals while affirming their own religious beliefs. Our project Protecting Religious Expression in Public Schools aims to address this goal.
To resolve tensions and mediate disputes that may arise between Christians and Jews.
Since its inception, the Fellowship has been led by a Board of Directors with a strong belief in its mission of building bridges between the Jewish and Christian communities, support for Israel, and other shared concerns.
To foster better relations and understanding between Christians and Jews, help build greater support for Israel, and cooperate together in building a more moral society through open dialogue, education and programs designed to encourage the joint pursuit of common biblical objectives for the family, American culture and people of faith around the world.
Program Accomplishments [ Back to top ]
For years International Fellowship of Christians and Jews has helped build bridges for greater understanding and cooperation between people of the Jewish faith and Christian faith. Among other things they have helped hundreds of thousands of Jews escape poverty and anti-Semitism and return to their biblical homeland Israel, funded humanitarian assistance to millions of Jews in Israel and around the world, provided life-giving aid to Israel’s victims of war and terror thus fulfilling God's promise to Abraham and his descendants in Genesis 12:3: "I will bless those who bless you."
Statement of Faith [ Back to top ]
The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews express that they have no written Statement of Faith.
The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews was founded in 1983 to promote greater understanding between Jews and Christians, to build Christian support for Israel and other shared concerns. Based in Chicago, under the leadership of its founder and president, Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, the Fellowship is governed by a national Board of Directors comprised of leading Christians and Jews.
The Fellowship’s dream is that Christians and Jews would reverse their 2,000-year history of discord and replace it with a relationship marked by dialogue, better understanding, respect, fellowship, and active cooperation on issues of common concern. Through our programs and publications, we attempt to foster better relations and understanding between Christians and Jews, help build Christian support for Israel, and cooperate in building a more moral society through open dialogue, education, and sensitization of people of faith around the world.
All of our work is guided by the Rabbi’s personal motto “Cooperate whenever possible; oppose whenever necessary and teach and sensitize at all times."
From its very inception, the Fellowship has organized dialogue programs between Christian and Jewish leaders, setting the stage for the ambitious projects that followed. Over the years, the Fellowship has hosted "Solidarity with Israel" programs featuring noted speakers such as Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, Pat Boone, Donald Rumsfeld and Federal Judge Abraham Lincoln Marovitz.
We have also coordinated and participated in a number of important conferences between Christians and Jews both here in America as well as in Europe, Australia and Israel. These have included special tours of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. and briefings at the Israeli Embassy. The Fellowship has developed a variety of educational resource materials that are widely used by churches, synagogues, individuals and study groups to further Christian and Jewish understanding of one another and appreciation of their respective faiths.
The Fellowship has, over the years, organized a variety of leadership programs fostering Christian and Jewish support for the State of Israel. These have included tours to Israel with celebrities like Pat Boone and with groups like Pat Robertson's CBN, the National Religious Broadcasters, and a special trip for Christian media leaders in the immediate aftermath of the Gulf War.
The Fellowship also helped coordinate activities for the Government of Israel's “Operation Brainstorm” to increase Christian tourism to Israel as well as “Operation Independence” which assisted Israel economically.
More recently, we arranged for key Christian leaders to receive briefings from Israeli government officials including the President and the Prime Minister.
The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews is trusted and respected by leaders in both communities and has, over the years, frequently been called upon to serve as peacemaker and troubleshooter, mediating disputes between the communities and replacing acrimony with dialogue.
Rabbi Eckstein addresses the US Congress: In pursuit of its goal of building bridges of understanding between Christians and Jews, when Evangelical-Jewish tensions were particularly high in 1994, the Fellowship organized a historic Evangelical-Jewish Leadership Congress at the U.S. Senate in Washington, D.C. For the first time ever, leaders from both communities gathered behind closed doors for an all-day meeting to reconcile their differences and begin building an agenda for the future based on shared values and concerns rather than on historical prejudices.
Participants in the Evangelical-Jewish Leadership Congress included: Dr. Ralph Reed, Executive Director of the Christian Coalition; Dr. Jerry Farwell, Chancellor of Liberty University; Dr. Richard Land, President of the Christian Life Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention; Abraham H. Foxman, National Director of the Anti-Defamation League; Philip Baum, National Director of the American Jewish Congress; and Rabbi David Saperstein of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, among others.
Speaking at a news conference following the meetings, Rabbi Eckstein said, "We agreed to disagree without maligning or impugning the motives or characters of one another... We've come a long way in just one day of dialogue. There was a real spirit of Shalom in this meeting."
Today our bridge building work continues in the United States, Israel and the former Soviet Union. As recently as December, representatives of the Fellowship’s Christian supporters held the first ever dialogue between Christians and representatives of the Jewish community in Odessa, Ukraine. Fellowship staff, in cooperation with METV, a division of the Christian Broadcasting Network, is developing a video/discussion series on the Jewish Roots of Christianity.
Our bridge building is not one sided. At its first meeting of the new millennium, the Fellowship’s board voted to commit substantial resources to reach out to the American Jewish community.
This organization has not offered MinistryWatch.com with specific needs to be posted on the profile. At such a time that MinistryWatch.com receives a response from the ministry, it will be posted immediately.
Research Analysis
Transparency Grade [ Back to top ]
| Transparency Grade of : A |
| Criteria category | Grade | Other Comments |
| Timeliness: | 90 | 8/8/2005 2:56:28 PM: Organization made financial information available between 5 ½ and 6 ½ months after their fiscal year end. |
| Financial Information: | 100 | 8/8/2005 2:56:34 PM: Organization provided all financial information requested. Information was clear and thorough. |
| Foundational Clarity: | | |
| Level of Cooperation: | | |
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MinistryWatch.com 5 Star Financial Efficiency Ratings [ Back to top ]
| Ranking Category | Rating | Overall Rank | Advocacy Sector |
|---|
| Overall Efficiency Rating |  | 232 of 353 | 13 of 21 |
| Fund Acquisition Decision |  | 330 of 353 | 18 of 21 |
| Resource Allocation Decision | | 225 of 353 | 13 of 21 |
| Asset Utilization Decision | | 81 of 353 | 7 of 21 |
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MinistryWatch. Com’s Take
November 2003
By J. Andrew Preslar, Research Fellow
Building Bridges
The fact that tension has existed age-long between Christians and Jews is no great secret. Mutual accusations, suspicions, and intolerance, rooted in deeply divided religious convictions, have all contributed to a relationship between these groups that has ranged from uneasy tolerance at best to outright hostility and persecution at worst. A strong sense of irony can be detected in this state of affairs if one considers the fact that religiously conservative Jews and Christians have in common something fundamental and precious: belief in the Tanakh; specifically, the conviction that the Tanakh (the Hebrew Scriptures, which Christians typically refer to as the Old Testament) is the Word of God. This mutual conviction makes for an important area of common ground between Judaism and Christianity. Many Christians and Jews, in large part through being informed by the Tanakh, also share similar moral convictions, family values, and positions on other social issues.
For these reasons, some religious leaders on both sides see great potential for building bridges between the evangelical Christian community and the religiously conservative Jewish community. These leaders (which include political figures, pastors, priests, and rabbis) believe that, in spite of important differences, there are sufficient common convictions between Christians and Jews to justify and motivate their cooperation in working on projects of common concern. Of course, past events and current tensions mean that efforts towards education, understanding, and reconciliation (while respecting fundamental differences) will be an important component of any such endeavor.
In response, the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (IFCJ) was formed to serve such ends. IFCJ is a non-profit organization, which exists in order to raise evangelical Christian support for the State of Israel and for Jewish persons in need throughout the world. This mission includes fostering better understanding and relationships between Christians and Jews.
IFCJ’s principle means of educating Christians and Jews about their common beliefs and major differences is the speaking and writing ministry of Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein (IFCJ’s founder and president). Rabbi Eckstein is internationally known for his work on behalf of Israel and his bridge-building efforts between Christians and Jews. He is regarded as one the few rabbis who has a thorough understanding of evangelical theology and the evangelical mission (summarized by Jesus in Matthew 28:18-20). Rabbi Eckstein’s groundbreaking efforts towards building relations and understanding between Christians and Jews include serving as the coordinator and catalyst of the first Evangelical-Jewish Leadership Conference. His published works include: What You Should know About Jews and Judaism, Understanding Evangelicals: A Guide for the Jewish Community, and How Firm a Foundation: A Gift of Jewish Wisdom for Christians and Jews. Rabbi Eckstein has spoken in Christian churches, sharing the vision and work of IFCJ, and urging Christians to support (through their prayers and their finances) that work. IFCJ also publishes a monthly newsletter, Shoresh ("root"), which contains updates on the ministry’s work, news from Israel, and information about Judaism.
Christians in Support of Israel
The primary instruments through which IFCJ brings Christians and Jews together for action are its ministry programs. These programs are designed to allow evangelical Christians to stand in solidarity with the State of Israel and the Jewish people in general. The four principle programs of IFCJ are:
- Stand For Israel: This program, which is co-chaired by Rabbi Eckstein and evangelical political strategist Ralph Reed, is designed to educate Christians and other people of faith on matters pertaining to Israel and the Middle East and to motivate them to support the State of Israel. Stand For Israel sponsors an annual Washington Briefing in which Christian leaders and politicians gathered to express solidarity for the State of Israel. The program has its own website (www.standforisrael.org), which features news items, commentary, and information on how individuals can express their support for Israel (e.g., contacting Congressmen, signing petitions).
- On Wings of Eagles: On Wings of Eagles is IFCJ’s main ministry program (70 percent of IFCJ’s program expenses for 2001 were used in support of this program). It is administered through the cooperation of the Jewish Agency for Israel. The purpose of the program is to facilitate aliyah ("to go up"), that is, the emigration of Jewish persons from around the world, particularly the former Soviet Union, back to their ancestral homeland. The program is sponsorship-based. A $350 donation allows one Jewish person to receive the following services: application for a visa, processing of the paperwork, flight to Israel (with 45 lbs. of luggage), support during their first few months (which is facilitated by the Israeli government and includes: language training [Hebrew], job training, and housing assistance), and other forms of assistance. When the person finally begins to be settled, the donor receives a postcard from Israel noting the name and city of origin of the person whom they have helped. IFCJ’s 2001 annual report showed that the ministry helped over 20,000 needy Jewish persons make the journey home to Israel.
- Isaiah 58: The Isaiah 58 program is geared towards providing aid for elderly and destitute Jewish persons and orphaned Jewish children living in the former Soviet Union. The program provides for the needs of thousands of needy persons each year. Services include life-sustaining food packages (over one million distributed in 2001); home care visits (tens of thousands in 2001), winter relief (i.e., heating, blankets, and home repairs; more than 40,000 people received such relief in 2001), and support for the Jewish Children’s Home in Kiev. All told, IFCJ provided over $2 million in emergency service and relief aid to Jewish persons in Russia in 2001. These services were administered via the Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, IFCJ’s ministry partner in Russia. IFCJ raises funds for this program via fundraising mail that provides donors with information on the immediate needs of the Jewish people in Russia. These mail campaigns include information on short-term projects that IFCJ is sponsoring in an effort to meet those needs. An example of this is the 2002 "Winter Relief" project for Jews in Georgia and Northern Caucuses where donors where encouraged to partner with IFCJ to provide winter relief at the cost of $7 per day per person.
- Guardians of Israel: This program is designed to provide relief and development aid to needy Jews living in Israel. Projects funded (in part) through the Guardians of Israel program include a soup kitchen, food pantries, a clothes closet, cultural and educational programs, vocational training, and providing assistance to victims of terror and disaster, and allocating emergency funds to social workers. Funds (an estimated total of $60 million dollars to date) are distributed through IFCJ’s recently opened Jerusalem office, and by IFCJ’s ministry partners in Israel. IFCJ claims that Guardians of Israel crosses political, religious, and social lines in order to bring aid to needy persons. IFCJ, through the Jerusalem office, has helped fund over 70 relief and development projects in the city of Jerusalem.
IFCJ’s fundraising strategy is to identify the needs of Jewish persons and communicate those needs to the evangelical Christian community in the Western world. IFCJ informs its donors of the specific ways in which needs will be met, of the total dollar amount needed to fully implement a specific mission, of the IFCJ program (of those listed above) which will channel funds raised to the appropriate organization, and of how a certain amount of dollars donated translates into a specific need met for a specific number of persons. IFCJ’s fundraising efforts, per the organization’s overall mission, is targeted towards conservative Christians.
An Abiding Tension
Rabbi Eckstein and IFCJ have undoubtedly brought about a measure of increased cooperation and understanding between Christians and Jews. IFCJ’s primary function, as evidenced by its program activities and fundraising strategy, is to collect donations from the community of evangelical Christians in the Western world. Those funds are distributed to and used by a variety of Jewish relief and development agencies to implement the work of aliyah (immigration to Israel) and to provide social services for needy Jewish people in Russia and in Israel (IFCJ also sponsors aliyah programs for Jews in Ethiopia and South America). IFCJ recognizes that the common religious ground between Christians and Jews is both groups’ acceptance of the Tanakh as divine revelation. IFCJ furthermore understands that many in the evangelical community believe that Bible prophecy dictates that the Jewish people will be living in the land of Palestine during the last days. IFCJ uses both of these areas of agreement to forge an alliance with evangelicals for the betterment of the State of Israel and the Jewish people.
There is, however, an abiding and seemingly irreducible tension that marks IFCJ’s mission. That tension is accounted for by two factors: (1) Evangelical Christianity’s non-negotiable belief that Jesus of Nazareth is the Jewish Messiah and only Savior of the world, who must be proclaimed and defended as such by his followers. (2) The unequivocal rejection of Jesus as Messiah and Savior by Judaism and Jewish people in general, and by Rabbi Eckstein in particular. What makes this issue relevant to IFCJ’s mission is Rabbi Eckstein’s public censures of evangelistic activity among Jewish people. This has led some conservative Christians to believe that association with Eckstein compromises the Gospel, not to mention diverting funds away from other ministries to Jewish people, including Christian ministries which seek to address the physical and spiritual needs of Abraham’s descendants.
Eckstein has gone so far as to say that evangelization efforts directed towards Jews is based upon "anti-Semitic prejudices," tantamount to "spiritual genocide," and that such efforts stem from either pure arrogance or a deep ignorance. Eckstein does affirm the right of Christians to share their faith, and even in some cases to share their faith with Jewish people, but he believes that such witnessing ought to take the form of "sharing deep personal thoughts about God," where the one witnessing is not completely convinced of either the truth of his beliefs or of the error of those beliefs which contradict what he holds to be true. The problem with this seemingly tolerant view is that it implies that conservative Christians must become incipient relativists in order to refrain from engaging in "anti-Semitic," "genocidal," "arrogant," and "ignorant" Gospel proclamation. Conservative Christians, however, do not believe that the Gospel consists simply of "deep personal thoughts about God;" rather, they take the Gospel to be the objective self-revelation of God the Father in the Person, work, and words of his Son Jesus, the self-proclaimed Messiah, anticipated in the Hebrew Scriptures, confirmed by miracles, and testified unto by many witnesses. Evangelicals believe that genuine Christian witness is carried out in a spirit of love, for it is performed out of the desire to help people obtain the greatest good possible to man: the gift of eternal life. Rabbi Eckstein and IFCJ do not support, in fact they implicitly oppose, this mission. For this reason, many evangelicals find it difficult to support IFCJ, especially given the fact that there are Christian ministries (some of which are operated by Messianic Jews), which provide similar services for the Jewish people.