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The Bridge Builder: The Life and Continuing Legacy of Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein
The amazing story of Yechiel Eckstein, a Chicago-based orthodox rabbi who founded the world’s largest philanthropic organization of Evangelical Christians in support of Israel.
When the Anti-Defamation League sent a young Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein to Chicago to foster interfaith relations in the late 1970’s, he was surprised to see how responsive Christian evangelicals were to the cause of supporting and defending Israel.
Eckstein founded The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews in 1983 to promote cross-cultural understanding and build broad support for Israel, Soviet Jewry, and other shared concerns. The Fellowship has grown and thrived over the last three decades, raising more than $1.1 billion, and is one of the largest 50 NGOs in America today. American Christians have become one of Israel’s most reliable sources of financial and moral support.
Few people realize that Eckstein and The Fellowship have done an unprecedented good deed in bridging an ancient cultural gap. Renowned journalist Zev Chafets explores Eckstein’s role in this important interfaith evolution, showing how an American rabbi made major progress in promoting dialogue, cooperation, and mutual respect in the face of harsh and unrelenting opposition.
When the Anti-Defamation League sent a young Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein to Chicago to foster interfaith relations in the late 1970’s, he was surprised to see how responsive Christian evangelicals were to the cause of supporting and defending Israel.
Eckstein founded The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews in 1983 to promote cross-cultural understanding and build broad support for Israel, Soviet Jewry, and other shared concerns. The Fellowship has grown and thrived over the last three decades, raising more than $1.1 billion, and is one of the largest 50 NGOs in America today. American Christians have become one of Israel’s most reliable sources of financial and moral support.
Few people realize that Eckstein and The Fellowship have done an unprecedented good deed in bridging an ancient cultural gap. Renowned journalist Zev Chafets explores Eckstein’s role in this important interfaith evolution, showing how an American rabbi made major progress in promoting dialogue, cooperation, and mutual respect in the face of harsh and unrelenting opposition.
- GenresNonfiction
272 pages, Hardcover
First published May 12, 2015
4 people are currently reading
21 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
October 29, 2023
Eckstein is an amazing man, who made huge charity impacts while building bridges between Christians and Jews. I picked this book kinda randomly, and found it really interesting, learning about Orthodox Jews and some recent history of Israel. I also wondered if his bridge building techniques could be applied between the U.S. Blue and Red teams.
March 20, 2018
This is the 243-page authorized biography of Yechiel Eckstein, the founder and leader of The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews. It details the life (personal and professional) of this amazing and inspiring man. Acting upon his beliefs that the common value system of the Judeo-Christian heritage could be used to build connections between the two groups, he has created an organization to assist his world-wide philanthropic endeavors. Especially interesting are the descriptions of Eckstein’s youth in an Orthodox Jewish household and the unfortunate bias of some Ultra-Orthodox Jews both here in the U.S. and in Israel, to work against his efforts.
December 10, 2015
As portrayed in an “authorized biography” by Zev Chavets, an American-Israeli author and columnist, Rabbi Yechiel Epstein is a driven, courageous, and complex figure.
He is the founder and president of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, a group dedicated to building bridges of understanding between mostly Evangelical Christians and Jews in support for the state of Israel and other humanitarian causes.
Rabbi Eckstein’s outreach to Evangelic Christians was groundbreaking and fraught with naysayers and critics concerned about Evangelical Christian motives (supporting Israel only to bring on Armageddon) and possible intentions with regard to proselytizing Jews. Critics and concerns aside (no conversions related to the Fellowship have been reported), Eckstein has grown the Fellowship into a multi-million dollar operation engaged in numerous philanthropic endeavors.
Who is the man behind all this? With a rabbinic legacy and ordination from Orthodox-based Yeshiva University, Yechiel Eckstein was an unlikely candidate to be a bridge-builder between Christians and Jews. Biographer Chavets depicts the origins of Eckstein’s path, which Eckstein terms a divine mission, when he is humiliated at his daughter’s Bat Mitzvah. The presiding rabbi there deemed him unfit to recite public prayer due to his visiting Christian churches in the early stages of his bridge building.
Chavets chronicles Eckstein’s slow rise to success, overcoming resistance from the Jewish establishment, financial struggles, and family disapproval. For all the text devoted to his accomplishments, it is Eckstein’s humanity that is most compelling in the book.
He seeks approval from a reluctant father. He struggles to balance his desire for personal, emotional prayer with the demands of being a rabbi on the public stage. He longs to serve Israel as a member of the Israeli Defense Forces, and not only from behind an office desk.
From this complex man emerges bold acts like the following: In the aftermath of a widely perceived slight from the president of the Southern Baptist Convention about the value of Jewish prayer that does not acknowledge Jesus, Eckstein broke away from the voices of consternation expressed by the Jewish establishment and saw an opportunity to engage the preacher with dialogue and understanding.
As a writer who is also exploring themes of bridge building, I found myself appreciating Eckstein the man as much as I do the Fellowship he created. I only wonder whether a memoir would have been a better instrument to tell his story, affording readers a more intimate connection with him.
Eckstein’s journey resonates with our own life journeys. Quoting Genesis, he recalls God commanding Abraham to take his son ‘to the land I will show you,’ but he doesn’t tell Abraham where it is. If we don’t yet know where our destiny lies, Yechiel Eckstein’s story reminds us that it can be on a road less traveled.
He is the founder and president of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, a group dedicated to building bridges of understanding between mostly Evangelical Christians and Jews in support for the state of Israel and other humanitarian causes.
Rabbi Eckstein’s outreach to Evangelic Christians was groundbreaking and fraught with naysayers and critics concerned about Evangelical Christian motives (supporting Israel only to bring on Armageddon) and possible intentions with regard to proselytizing Jews. Critics and concerns aside (no conversions related to the Fellowship have been reported), Eckstein has grown the Fellowship into a multi-million dollar operation engaged in numerous philanthropic endeavors.
Who is the man behind all this? With a rabbinic legacy and ordination from Orthodox-based Yeshiva University, Yechiel Eckstein was an unlikely candidate to be a bridge-builder between Christians and Jews. Biographer Chavets depicts the origins of Eckstein’s path, which Eckstein terms a divine mission, when he is humiliated at his daughter’s Bat Mitzvah. The presiding rabbi there deemed him unfit to recite public prayer due to his visiting Christian churches in the early stages of his bridge building.
Chavets chronicles Eckstein’s slow rise to success, overcoming resistance from the Jewish establishment, financial struggles, and family disapproval. For all the text devoted to his accomplishments, it is Eckstein’s humanity that is most compelling in the book.
He seeks approval from a reluctant father. He struggles to balance his desire for personal, emotional prayer with the demands of being a rabbi on the public stage. He longs to serve Israel as a member of the Israeli Defense Forces, and not only from behind an office desk.
From this complex man emerges bold acts like the following: In the aftermath of a widely perceived slight from the president of the Southern Baptist Convention about the value of Jewish prayer that does not acknowledge Jesus, Eckstein broke away from the voices of consternation expressed by the Jewish establishment and saw an opportunity to engage the preacher with dialogue and understanding.
As a writer who is also exploring themes of bridge building, I found myself appreciating Eckstein the man as much as I do the Fellowship he created. I only wonder whether a memoir would have been a better instrument to tell his story, affording readers a more intimate connection with him.
Eckstein’s journey resonates with our own life journeys. Quoting Genesis, he recalls God commanding Abraham to take his son ‘to the land I will show you,’ but he doesn’t tell Abraham where it is. If we don’t yet know where our destiny lies, Yechiel Eckstein’s story reminds us that it can be on a road less traveled.
August 27, 2015
In The Bridge Builder we get a glimpse into the life of a devout conservative Jewish man who loves God and who wishes to live by God’s laws and precepts. A man who thinks beyond the day to day existence of life as a conservative Jewish man who studies in the traditional Jewish schools and under the tutelage of leaders of their religion. He becomes a Rabbi and a controversial Rabbi amongst his peers.
Delving into the life and beliefs of Christians and how Christianity’s roots came from the Jewish God, Eckstein seeks to understand. But his seeking is not toward embracing Christianity for himself, it is toward the goal of how he can encourage faithful Christians to support Jewish needs. To this extent he is building bridges between the two faith communities.
Because evangelical Christians believe that God mandates that we love, care for, and cherish God’s chosen people, the Jews, Eckstein has opened the door so that they can have avenues to funnel that care. And the donations began to come in. Small at first and then in unprecedented amounts. These funds have been used to resettle Jews into Israel, to provide food, shelter, and warmth for destitute elderly Jews in Russia, etc.
Eckstein’s early life is interesting and the ways his faith community “shunned” (not the Jewish term) him because of his own actions and beliefs is disturbing. Also, his convoluted journey to becoming who he is and how he conceived and built “The Fellowship” is an interesting story.
The author, Zev Chafets, writes an excellent biography and the reading was easy and kept my interest. He captured the essence of a man who has met with and worked with a number of big names in the Christian, Jewish, entertainment, and political worlds. And while a rule breaker, he is nevertheless, a faithful law-keeper of Jewish law.
He has bridged a gap that has existed for eons where the Christian community has shunned, hated, and persecuted the Jews. Let us hope that equally the gap between God and man can be bridged so that man can come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.
Disclosure (in accordance with the FTC’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”): Opinions are 100% my own and NOT influenced by monetary compensation. I did receive a sample of the product in exchange for this review and post.
Delving into the life and beliefs of Christians and how Christianity’s roots came from the Jewish God, Eckstein seeks to understand. But his seeking is not toward embracing Christianity for himself, it is toward the goal of how he can encourage faithful Christians to support Jewish needs. To this extent he is building bridges between the two faith communities.
Because evangelical Christians believe that God mandates that we love, care for, and cherish God’s chosen people, the Jews, Eckstein has opened the door so that they can have avenues to funnel that care. And the donations began to come in. Small at first and then in unprecedented amounts. These funds have been used to resettle Jews into Israel, to provide food, shelter, and warmth for destitute elderly Jews in Russia, etc.
Eckstein’s early life is interesting and the ways his faith community “shunned” (not the Jewish term) him because of his own actions and beliefs is disturbing. Also, his convoluted journey to becoming who he is and how he conceived and built “The Fellowship” is an interesting story.
The author, Zev Chafets, writes an excellent biography and the reading was easy and kept my interest. He captured the essence of a man who has met with and worked with a number of big names in the Christian, Jewish, entertainment, and political worlds. And while a rule breaker, he is nevertheless, a faithful law-keeper of Jewish law.
He has bridged a gap that has existed for eons where the Christian community has shunned, hated, and persecuted the Jews. Let us hope that equally the gap between God and man can be bridged so that man can come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.
Disclosure (in accordance with the FTC’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”): Opinions are 100% my own and NOT influenced by monetary compensation. I did receive a sample of the product in exchange for this review and post.
August 27, 2015
This book details the life and legacy of Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein. Detailing everything he has accomplished in his life. He has done so much already in his life. It's easy to tell that he is one of the best people in the world today.
I very much enjoyed reading and learning about this Rabbi Eckstein. This book is very well written and you really get into reading it and can't put the book down. I was very surprised at how much I enjoyed this book, it was a nice surprise.
It's amazing how much the Rabbi has done for everyone around him. I wish I could be half the person the Rabbi is, every single day. The author really portrays the heart and love inside of this man. I very much enjoyed it and I would love to read more on the Rabbi and more from Mr. Chafets. Mr. Chafets is an established author with a heart of gold, just like Rabbi Eckstein.
I for one think it is a great thing to open the communication between the christians and the jews and I applaud the reverend for having the guts to get it done! It shows just how committed he is to his practice!
I received this product from FLYBY Promotions in echange for my honest and unbiased opinion/review/feedback.
I very much enjoyed reading and learning about this Rabbi Eckstein. This book is very well written and you really get into reading it and can't put the book down. I was very surprised at how much I enjoyed this book, it was a nice surprise.
It's amazing how much the Rabbi has done for everyone around him. I wish I could be half the person the Rabbi is, every single day. The author really portrays the heart and love inside of this man. I very much enjoyed it and I would love to read more on the Rabbi and more from Mr. Chafets. Mr. Chafets is an established author with a heart of gold, just like Rabbi Eckstein.
I for one think it is a great thing to open the communication between the christians and the jews and I applaud the reverend for having the guts to get it done! It shows just how committed he is to his practice!
I received this product from FLYBY Promotions in echange for my honest and unbiased opinion/review/feedback.
February 22, 2016
Interesting look at a man who sacrificed family and friends to work tirelessly for his Jewish people - even if that meant getting all his millions from Christians to do it (preying on religious beliefs to garner support? Where's the Jewish community to help their own - instead of criticizing his methods?) I interviewed for a job with this organization and am glad I don't have to work for him - sounds like an egotistical and self-important demi-god - that being said, the end result of his work speaks volumes. http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/1...
August 30, 2015
My Review
I found this book written by Zev Chafets very educational and well written. Taking a stand for God's chosen people bringing Christian's and Jews together. This book held my attention. We the people I think need to take a stand for Jews. I found myself tearing up while reading this. I think all Christian's and Jews need to read this wonderful Biography so we all can learn more About Rabbi Eckstein and his vision given to him by God.
I found this book written by Zev Chafets very educational and well written. Taking a stand for God's chosen people bringing Christian's and Jews together. This book held my attention. We the people I think need to take a stand for Jews. I found myself tearing up while reading this. I think all Christian's and Jews need to read this wonderful Biography so we all can learn more About Rabbi Eckstein and his vision given to him by God.
January 28, 2016
Disappointing work by Chafets, who is an excellent writer. Eckstein does not come across as a particularly nice or interesting person and the book matches that with its prose about him.
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June 28, 2016Review by Gila Wertheimer for the Jewish Book Council.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews