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Abandoned: What Is God's Will for the Jewish People and the Church?
In Abandoned, we meet the modern, often-secular face of contemporary Jewry. What do today's Jews believe about God and the Bible? What keeps them from considering the Gospel? The book is a guide to help Christians share God's love with His people.
- GenresFaith
276 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 1, 1997
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June 16, 2025
THE ‘MESSIANIC’ BELIEVER ADDRESSES A VARIETY OF ISSUES
Arthur F. Glasser (Dean Emeritus of Fuller Theological Seminary) wrote in his Foreword to this 1997 book, “Stan wrote this book to unburden his heart to Gentiles. Over the months, as he shared successive chapters with me and invited my reactions, I could not but recall the impressions that came to me … years before … while listening to Hyman Appelman… [a] Jewish evangelist [with a] massive street banner, ‘Come Hear a Jew Preach Jesus Christ!’… Both he and Stan had surrendered to the same Lord and accepted the same biblical Gospel. But the world of the ‘30s was different from the world of the ‘90s. How differently Stan proclaims the Gospel today to this generation… the world has experienced the horrors of total war, along with the calculated destruction of six million members of European Jewry and… the reemergence in Palestine, after two thousand years, of the State of Israel… Stan’s message is contained in this book.” (Pg. 11)
Stan Telchin (1924-2012) was an Orthodox Jew who (with his family) converted to Christianity. He wrote in the ‘Special Thanks’ section of this book, “Moishe Rosen … deserves special recognition. Moishe is the guy who insisted that while there was still life in me, I had to write this book. He has been to me a wonderful example…”
He wrote in ‘An Introductory Word,’ “‘Telchin, you must write another book!’ People have been saying this to me for a number of years… I am a first-generation American Jew who is very happy with his Jewishness and his heritage. I am also a devoted follower of Messiah Jesus. I have no trouble living joyfully with both of these identities. Having said that, I must also say this: If you don’t believe in God, you won’t enjoy reading this book… If you don’t believe Jesus is the Messiah whose coming was prophesied throughout the Hebrew Scriptures, then you won’t fully understand much of what you will be reading. If you don’t believe Satan is active in this world, then a critically important thesis within this book may seem laughable to you. I tell you these things … to help you understand where I am coming from as I write it…
“More than 21 years have passed since … I was finally convinced: Jesus is our Messiah… For fourteen years I served as pastor of a New Covenant congregation made up of Jews and Gentiles… Over those years I learned many things about how believers in Yeshua… are to live their lives together. I also learned much about God’s will for His chosen people. So I feel especially qualified to address a subject many people do not understand … the present urgent need for believers in Yeshua to reach out and receive the Jewish people.” (Pg. 15-16)
He asks, “Church, so you see it? We DO have a problem. We have made incorrect assumptions about the faithfulness of God to his covenant people. We have not understood that a kind of blindness has happened to Israel ‘until the full number of the Gentiles has come in.’ What does that mean?’ (Pg. 48)
He continues, “Jesus said that ‘Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled' (Lk 21;24). The phrase ‘the times of the Gentiles’… refers to the period of history during which Gentiles dominated Europe and the Middle East, including Palestine. Jerusalem itself was governed by Gentiles from the year 70 to the year 1967, when it was restored to Jewish hands. Since then more Jewish peoples have been receiving Jesus as Messiah and Lord than at any time since the 1st century.” (Pg. 49)
He notes, “The rabbis want to be the final decision-makers on the question, Who is a Jew?” Even among rabbis there is disagreement. Orthodox rabbis insist that unless your mother is Jewish, you are not Jewish. Most Conservative rabbis agree. But most Reform rabbis enlarge the definition and say that if either of your parents is Jewish, then you are Jewish. What if you were not born to Jewish parents but converted to Judaism? Are you Jewish?... Most Jews would say, ‘Not really.’ Converts to Judaism become not Jews but proselytes to Judaism. (Their children, however, are considered Jews.) But there is a wrinkle in this, too. The orthodox community in Israel does not recognize conversion to Judaism unless that conversion is overseen in the prescribed manner by an Orthodox rabbi. And if you are converted in a Conservative or reform ceremony, your conversion is not accepted.” (Pg. 102)
He explains, “I want to remind you of what many Jewish people fear: ‘If we accept Jesus, we will no longer be Jews.’ … To try to ease Jewish fears, a new movement has emerged in the last twenty-plus years. I am referring to messianic congregations within the movement called messianic Judaism. By adopting synagogue forms---wearing yarmulkes (head coverings), tallithim (prayer shawls), reciting Hebrew prayers, displaying a Torah… calling their spiritual leader ‘rabbi,’ celebrating the Jewish feasts, and meeting on Friday nights and Saturday mornings---proponents of Messianic Judaism hope to alleviate the fears of many Jewish people about the possible loss of their Jewishness. By exalting Yeshua within the context of synagogue life and emphasizing His Jewishness, they seek to promote an alternate way of preaching the Gospel to Jewish people. The synagogue environment, they feel, lessens the fear many Jews have of words like ‘Christ’ and ‘cross’ and ‘church’ and ‘Christian.’” (Pg. 219-220)
He goes on, “Many non-believing Jews see the techniques of messianic Judaism as manipulation, entrapment, and trickery. Many believing Jews as well as Gentiles see them as unscriptural. They have no problem with the concept of ‘messianic congregations’ made up of Jews and Gentiles worshipping the Lord together, but they react strongly against the concept of messianic ‘JUDAISM.’ We must be very careful about this, they advise. As Jewish and Gentile believers, we have a New Covenant with God not tied to any form of rabbinic Judaism… It is beyond the purpose of this book to evaluate Messianic Judaism. Suffice it to say, it has strong and vocal adherents, even as it has strong and vocal opponents, among both Jewish and Gentile believers.” (Pg. 220-221)
He adds, “Have messianic Judaism and messianic congregations erased the fears of Jewish believers and proven to be the best way to reach Jewish people for the Messiah? In terms of numerical results, one would have to observe that.. whereas some congregations have grown, others have not. One would also have to observe that in North America, the vast majority of people attending messianic services are not Jewish. Also, most of the Jewish people who have come to faith in recent years attribute their decisions … to the faithful and loving witness of Gentile Christians…” (Pg. 221)
Telchin’s book will be of keen interest to those Christians interested in these kinds of issues.
Arthur F. Glasser (Dean Emeritus of Fuller Theological Seminary) wrote in his Foreword to this 1997 book, “Stan wrote this book to unburden his heart to Gentiles. Over the months, as he shared successive chapters with me and invited my reactions, I could not but recall the impressions that came to me … years before … while listening to Hyman Appelman… [a] Jewish evangelist [with a] massive street banner, ‘Come Hear a Jew Preach Jesus Christ!’… Both he and Stan had surrendered to the same Lord and accepted the same biblical Gospel. But the world of the ‘30s was different from the world of the ‘90s. How differently Stan proclaims the Gospel today to this generation… the world has experienced the horrors of total war, along with the calculated destruction of six million members of European Jewry and… the reemergence in Palestine, after two thousand years, of the State of Israel… Stan’s message is contained in this book.” (Pg. 11)
Stan Telchin (1924-2012) was an Orthodox Jew who (with his family) converted to Christianity. He wrote in the ‘Special Thanks’ section of this book, “Moishe Rosen … deserves special recognition. Moishe is the guy who insisted that while there was still life in me, I had to write this book. He has been to me a wonderful example…”
He wrote in ‘An Introductory Word,’ “‘Telchin, you must write another book!’ People have been saying this to me for a number of years… I am a first-generation American Jew who is very happy with his Jewishness and his heritage. I am also a devoted follower of Messiah Jesus. I have no trouble living joyfully with both of these identities. Having said that, I must also say this: If you don’t believe in God, you won’t enjoy reading this book… If you don’t believe Jesus is the Messiah whose coming was prophesied throughout the Hebrew Scriptures, then you won’t fully understand much of what you will be reading. If you don’t believe Satan is active in this world, then a critically important thesis within this book may seem laughable to you. I tell you these things … to help you understand where I am coming from as I write it…
“More than 21 years have passed since … I was finally convinced: Jesus is our Messiah… For fourteen years I served as pastor of a New Covenant congregation made up of Jews and Gentiles… Over those years I learned many things about how believers in Yeshua… are to live their lives together. I also learned much about God’s will for His chosen people. So I feel especially qualified to address a subject many people do not understand … the present urgent need for believers in Yeshua to reach out and receive the Jewish people.” (Pg. 15-16)
He asks, “Church, so you see it? We DO have a problem. We have made incorrect assumptions about the faithfulness of God to his covenant people. We have not understood that a kind of blindness has happened to Israel ‘until the full number of the Gentiles has come in.’ What does that mean?’ (Pg. 48)
He continues, “Jesus said that ‘Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled' (Lk 21;24). The phrase ‘the times of the Gentiles’… refers to the period of history during which Gentiles dominated Europe and the Middle East, including Palestine. Jerusalem itself was governed by Gentiles from the year 70 to the year 1967, when it was restored to Jewish hands. Since then more Jewish peoples have been receiving Jesus as Messiah and Lord than at any time since the 1st century.” (Pg. 49)
He notes, “The rabbis want to be the final decision-makers on the question, Who is a Jew?” Even among rabbis there is disagreement. Orthodox rabbis insist that unless your mother is Jewish, you are not Jewish. Most Conservative rabbis agree. But most Reform rabbis enlarge the definition and say that if either of your parents is Jewish, then you are Jewish. What if you were not born to Jewish parents but converted to Judaism? Are you Jewish?... Most Jews would say, ‘Not really.’ Converts to Judaism become not Jews but proselytes to Judaism. (Their children, however, are considered Jews.) But there is a wrinkle in this, too. The orthodox community in Israel does not recognize conversion to Judaism unless that conversion is overseen in the prescribed manner by an Orthodox rabbi. And if you are converted in a Conservative or reform ceremony, your conversion is not accepted.” (Pg. 102)
He explains, “I want to remind you of what many Jewish people fear: ‘If we accept Jesus, we will no longer be Jews.’ … To try to ease Jewish fears, a new movement has emerged in the last twenty-plus years. I am referring to messianic congregations within the movement called messianic Judaism. By adopting synagogue forms---wearing yarmulkes (head coverings), tallithim (prayer shawls), reciting Hebrew prayers, displaying a Torah… calling their spiritual leader ‘rabbi,’ celebrating the Jewish feasts, and meeting on Friday nights and Saturday mornings---proponents of Messianic Judaism hope to alleviate the fears of many Jewish people about the possible loss of their Jewishness. By exalting Yeshua within the context of synagogue life and emphasizing His Jewishness, they seek to promote an alternate way of preaching the Gospel to Jewish people. The synagogue environment, they feel, lessens the fear many Jews have of words like ‘Christ’ and ‘cross’ and ‘church’ and ‘Christian.’” (Pg. 219-220)
He goes on, “Many non-believing Jews see the techniques of messianic Judaism as manipulation, entrapment, and trickery. Many believing Jews as well as Gentiles see them as unscriptural. They have no problem with the concept of ‘messianic congregations’ made up of Jews and Gentiles worshipping the Lord together, but they react strongly against the concept of messianic ‘JUDAISM.’ We must be very careful about this, they advise. As Jewish and Gentile believers, we have a New Covenant with God not tied to any form of rabbinic Judaism… It is beyond the purpose of this book to evaluate Messianic Judaism. Suffice it to say, it has strong and vocal adherents, even as it has strong and vocal opponents, among both Jewish and Gentile believers.” (Pg. 220-221)
He adds, “Have messianic Judaism and messianic congregations erased the fears of Jewish believers and proven to be the best way to reach Jewish people for the Messiah? In terms of numerical results, one would have to observe that.. whereas some congregations have grown, others have not. One would also have to observe that in North America, the vast majority of people attending messianic services are not Jewish. Also, most of the Jewish people who have come to faith in recent years attribute their decisions … to the faithful and loving witness of Gentile Christians…” (Pg. 221)
Telchin’s book will be of keen interest to those Christians interested in these kinds of issues.
November 26, 2016
Moishe Rosen is quoted here as saying, "Jews need Jesus to be saved. And if Jesus is not for Jews, who is He for? It almost seems a waste of energy for Him to have been born in Bethlehem and then tell Nicodemus he had to be born again (John 3:3), if Jews don't need to be born again." p.229. Stan Telchin, the author of Abandoned, is a Jewish business man who embraced Jesus as the Messiah, left his business career and became a Christian pastor. In this book, Telchin encourages the Christian church to do a better job of witnessing to and welcoming Jewish friends into saving relationship through the Messiah. Telchin addresses quite a few interesting questions here: Who is a Jew? What does it mean to be a Jew today? What do today's Jews believe about God and the Bible? What do today's Jews think about Jesus? Do the Jewish people really need Jesus? How do we reach Jewish people? What does the church need to do? What is happening in Israel?
August 8, 2011
Disclaimer: Stan cites me twice in this book, so I'm happy to commend it for that, if nothing else. BUT There is so much more. This book is a useful tool for the ordinary believer who wants to learn how to share, in fact, wants to know if one should share, with Jewish people about Jesus. The theme of the Apostle Paul, "Jealousy" is noted throughout the book, and has hallmarked Stan's ministry for as long as I've known him.
June 26, 2008
This was an easy to read book. It cleared up alot of confusion about God's plan for the Jewish people.
February 16, 2013
VERY informative.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews