A Century of Jewish Studies at Moody Bible Institute

The day after Labor Day in 1993 I sat in the provost’s office interviewing for the professor of Jewish Studies position at Moody Bible Institute. Dr. Howard Whaley greeted me warmly, then cut to the chase: “With the Jewish Studies program being so small and Lou Goldberg retiring, this would be a good time to end the Jewish Studies major.”

He paused, then continued. “Why do you think we’re not going to do that?”

I had spent hours trying to think through possible questions Dr. Whaley might ask, but that clearly wasn’t one of them. I knew the program was quite small, with between eight and 18 students in the major while I was a student in the ’70s and 12 students enrolled for that fall. So I brilliantly stammered, “I don’t know. Maybe you can tell me why?” 

Dr. Whaley’s response was firm and forthright: “We’re going to keep the Jewish Studies program because Moody Bible Institute has a theological and practical commitment to the Jewish people.”

That theological and practical commitment has kept the Jewish Studies major alive for 100 years.

Back in the homeland

The Jewish Studies major began in 1922, but the story goes back to the origin of the State of Israel. Jewish people embarked on their modern return to their ancient homeland in Israel back in 1882. World War I temporarily halted Jewish immigration. But after the war, the League of Nations granted Great Britain the mandate to govern what was then called Palestine. The League’s condition was that the British would create a Jewish national home there, a reestablished Jewish state in the land of Israel. Jewish people began to pour into their homeland, and many Bible believers across the world saw this as a work of God in fulfillment of biblical prophecy. God was stirring among the Jewish people.

These were the circumstances when the Hebrew Christian Alliance of America (now the Messianic Jewish Alliance) approached Moody Bible Institute about starting a program in Jewish Studies. Noting that God was working in a fresh way among Jewish people, the Alliance said there would be a need for trained workers, both Jewish and Gentile believers, to present the Good News of Messiah. These workers would need training to develop the special knowledge and skills necessary for reaching Jewish people. The leadership of Moody Bible Institute concurred, and with the aid of the Alliance, initiated the Jewish Missions (now Jewish Studies) major in 1922.

How it began

The first order of business was finding a professor of Jewish Studies. Moody called Joel Levy, a European-born Jewish believer in Jesus with expertise in Rabbinics (the study of rabbinical literature) and Hebrew Bible. Unfortunately, Levy died just as classes were about to begin, delaying the classroom instruction of Jewish Studies to 1923.

The Institute called another European-born Jewish believer, Solomon Birnbaum, who began teaching the Jewish Studies program, including courses in Jewish Festivals, Rabbinics, and Messianic Prophecy. Always concerned with the practical application of Jewish ministry, Birnbaum spent most summers taking students to Atlantic City, New Jersey, to engage in outreach with the Jewish people. In 1940, Birnbaum left Moody to serve full time in Jewish evangelism.

The first graduate directs Jewish Studies

Next, the Institute turned to Max Reich, another European-born Jewish follower of Jesus, to lead the program. For the previous 10 years Reich had been a Bible instructor and conference speaker for Moody. At the same time, a much younger London-born Jewish believer, Nathan Stone ’xx, joined the faculty to teach some of the Jewish Studies courses. Stone was the first graduate of the Moody Jewish Studies program. When Reich passed away in 1945, Stone became director, serving until 1966.

The Goldberg era

Then Los Angeles-born Messianic Jewish believer Dr. Louis Goldberg joined the Moody faculty as professor of Jewish Studies. A great scholar with a practical edge, Dr. Goldberg ministered in Israel every summer for 25 years, usually taking Moody students with him to do outreach work. Besides Jewish Studies, Dr. Goldberg taught Bible and Philosophy, Ethics, and Apologetics. He wrote books, Bible commentaries, and articles, and served as the president of the Evangelical Theological Society and on the boards of several Jewish ministries.

After 29 years as a full-time faculty member, Dr. Goldberg recommended me (Michael Rydelnik), his former Jewish Studies student, to take over the leadership of the program. Born in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Holocaust survivors, I was raised in an observant Jewish home. After trusting in Jesus the Messiah in high school, I graduated from Moody’s Jewish Studies program in 1977 and then went on for much more education elsewhere.

Equipping students to lead

Prior to returning to Moody to teach, I also served as the leader of several messianic congregations and in the ministry leadership of Chosen People Ministries. While at Moody, in addition to Jewish subjects, I’ve also taught Bible and practical ministry courses. By God’s grace I believe my most significant contribution to the Jewish Studies major has been in expanding the curriculum as well as mentoring many students into Jewish ministry.

During my years teaching at Moody, the number of Jewish Studies students has fluctuated from as few as 14 to as many as 32. The amazing part to me is that because of interdisciplinary majors and electives, many Moody students take Jewish Studies courses, making the classes quite full. As a result, students not heading directly into Jewish ministry are equipped to help reach the many Jewish people they will encounter around the world.

Jewish Studies over the years

When the program started, Jewish Studies majors learned not only the Bible, Theology, and Ministry curriculum at Moody but also Hebrew (the language of the Old Testament), Yiddish (the language most Jewish people spoke before WWII), Rabbinics, Jewish Holy Days, Jewish History, and Messianic Prophecy. Louis Goldberg decided to remove Yiddish and add a course in the History and Theology of Modern Israel. He also broadened the course in Rabbinics into Jewish Religious Thought and encouraged every Jewish Studies student to take Pentateuch.

When I arrived, I added courses in Senior Seminar in Jewish Studies, a capstone course focusing on contemporary issues in Jewish ministry. I also added courses on The Holocaust and the Crisis of Evil as well as Contemporary Jewish Fiction. A number of years ago, a Jewish newspaper ran a critical story about the Jewish Studies major that nevertheless expressed surprise that Moody’s Jewish Studies curriculum was equivalent to curricula in university Jewish Studies majors around the world.

The greatest impact of Jewish Studies

So what has been the greatest impact of Moody Bible Institute’s Jewish Studies program throughout the century? I am convinced it is with the graduates of the program, who have gone around the world to Jewish communities everywhere, communicating lovingly and forthrightly the message of the Messiah Yeshua. Today, Moody Jewish Studies alumni serve from New York to Los Angeles, from Montreal to Buenos Aires, from Berlin to Tel Aviv, and Kiev to Jerusalem.

Rabbi David Max Eichorn, who wrote a harsh and highly critical history of Jewish evangelism in the US, could not find fault with MBI’s Jewish Studies program, stating it “has exerted a powerful and, in the main, a wholesome influence upon . . . American missions to the Jews.”

Moody Bible Institute’s theological and practical commitment to the Jewish people, the apple of God’s eye, has resulted in bold and effective ministry among God’s chosen people across the world and across the century.