FAVORITES

Favorite Vegetable: Brussels Sprouts. I like most vegetables if they're cooked right, also rack of lamb and mustard-crusted ahi tuna.

Favorite Book: The Bible

Favorite Author: King David

Favorite Bible Character: King David- even though he messed up a lot, he was a man after God's own heart. He was a musician, which I am.

Bible Character You Think You Might Most Resemble: King David, my namesake

People Who Have Most Influenced Your Life: My father; Moishe Rosen; Tuvya Zaretsky; and Jhan Moskowitz

Favorite Singing Group of all time: The Liberated Wailing Wall

Favorite Joke: A police officer is waiting in a speed trap and he sees a cadillac driving by. It's not speeding but it's full of penguins. So he pulls behind the cadillac, pulls the driver over and says, "Hey buddy, you're not allowed to drive around with those penguins. You need to take them to the zoo." And the driver said, "Thank you officer, we'll do that right now." Then, the next day, the cop is at the same speed trap and he notices the same cadillac driving by. All the penguins are in it, but this time they're wearing sunglasses. So he pulls the cadillac over and says to the driver, "Hey buddy, I thought I told you to take those penguins to the zoo." The driver replied, "I did, officer, and we had such a great time, today we're going to the beach."

Favorite Jewish joke: The whole neighborhood is up in arms because it's a Catholic neighborhood but Sam Schwartz, the only Jewish guy, barbecues a steak in his backyard every Friday. While these poor Catholics are having to eat fish, all they can think of is the steak that they smell coming from Sam's backyard. Finally, they organize and go to the parish priest and complain. The priest says, "I'll try to do something about it." He goes to Sam and convinces him to convert to Catholicism. When Sam agrees, the priest sprinkles holy water on him and says, "Once you were Jewish, now you're a Catholic. Once you were Jewish, now you're a Catholic." Problem solved! Except the very next Friday, that same smell of barbecued steak is coming from Sam's backyard and the neighbors are up in arms. They say to the priest, "I thought you solved this problem." The priest in alarm runs over to Sam's house and questions him. "What are you doing eating a steak on a Friday?" he asked. Sam replied, "This is no steak, this is a fish. I took holy water and sprinkled on it. Once you were a steak, now you're a fish. Once you were a steak, now you're a fish... Even the Jewish community recognizes that once a Jew, always a Jew..."

Most encouraging story: A year ago last summer, I had the privilege of being involved in the Jews for Jesus summer witnessing campaign. I was handing out gospel tracts outside of Macy's Department store. I was standing out on a street corner wearing a T-shirt that said "Jews for Jesus" in nice, big, bold orange letters. (We like people to know who we are right away.) And a woman came up to me, a well-dressed woman in her mid-to-late 60's shaking with rage. And she said to me, "How can you do this? How can you do this? You should be ashamed of yourself! Does your mother know what you're doing?" And then she said words that cut. She said, "You're trying to complete the work that Hitler began." And she rolled up the sleeve of her dress to show me the numbers on her arm. Ruth is a survivor of the Holocaust from the camp at Auschwitz. And I understood her anger. And there was very little that I could say. So then, imagine my surprise when this past January, at our Friday evening service in New York City, mid-town Manhattan, who should walk through the door during the message time but Ruth. I recognized her as she came in but I couldn't remember from where. After the service I went up to her and she reminded me. And so I said to her, "So what are you doing here?" She said, "I have an open mind." Indeed, she kept coming back Friday nights- and then Tuesdays, to our Tuesday evening Bible studies. Imagine my joy when this past March, on a Friday evening, at an invitation, Ruth responded and received the Lord Jesus. How does that happen? How does something like that occur? How does the heart of one who was so hardened and twisted by such an experience as the Holocaust open up to receive life from Jesus, except that God brings life from the dead.

A recent exciting story: I visited our summer 1998 witnessing campaign and went out on the streets the very first morning with a team of volunteers. We went to the subway hole at Times Square, and as I handed out my tracts, a man approached me and stopped in front of me. "I can't believe you're here!", he exclaimed. "Why", I asked. He proceeded to explain that he had been on a long search for God through many different religions... synagogue, the Roman Catholic Church. He'd even recently been studying with the Jehovah's Witnesses. "I've not been able to find God through all my searching", he said. "So today, I just figured I was going to go and get high. I even told God, "I can't find you, so I'm just going to get high unless you stop me. And now, I find you here while I'm on my way." I explained the good news of Messiah Jesus to him and together in that dirty subway hole, we prayed and he asked Jesus to be his savior and Lord!

What is the most interesting experience you've had with the Liberated Wailing Wall?
When we were in Israel, we were singing in front of Hamashbir which is like the Macy's of Jerusalem. There was a large crowd gathered while we were singing in our Jews for Jesus t-shirts. A lot of spectators were singing along with us, familiar Hebrew songs like Havenu Shalom Aleichem. Others were doing Israeli folk dancing. When I noticed out of the corner of my eye, five yeshiva bochers walking towards us with grim determination. They walked right up to us and began screaming in our faces while we were singing. One of them reached out and grabbed Patti's hand, the one that she had her violin bow in as she was playing. He began to try and wrench the bow out of her hand and I thought, "This is it. We're going to be martyred right here in Jerusalem." Right at that point, a large Israeli man, he was about 6'4", over 200 pounds and he was completely bald with a pistol on his hip. He looked kind of like Kojak. He stuck his finger in their faces and said to them in Hebrew,"You touch them and I'll touch you." The guys backed off and we were able to continue singing. I thought to myself, the Bible says, "The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him to deliver them from harm." I just never knew that the angel of the Lord looked like Kojak.

You've been involved in many campaigns with Jews for Jesus. What is your most memorable campaign experience?
One interesting thing that happened on campaign was that in 1977, when there was a blackout in New York City. I was standing in front of Lincoln Center handing out gospel tracts, when all of a sudden, one by one, right across Lincoln Center, the lights started going out as if in some long chain reaction. I watched them all go out and turned around only to find that the entire New York skyline had turned dark. The whole city descended into chaos. People were screaming, cars were driving helter-skelter. It reminded me, made me think that this is a bit of what hell must be like. Our team was able to hop on a bus that was driving downtown. We got off at 40th Street and walked across town singing songs of praise to Y'shua. People were staring at us in amazement. I felt like we were a little patch of heaven moving through enemy territory. It reminded me of the stark contrast that exists between darkness and light, heaven and hell, God and the devil, saved and unsaved.

What's the hardest thing about being Executive Director?
The hardest thing about being the Executive Director is not knowing what you don't know. You have to be careful to ask all of the right questions and even then, your decisions may end up being based on not all the right information. That can be a bit unnerving. Also, sometimes you feel a bit isolated because even the people that you have trusted can't always be counted on to give you the best advice. If you didn't know that God was with you, you would feel like the buck stopped with you only and that's a pretty scary thought.

BORN: September 29, 1958; Beverly, Massachusetts

PARENTS: Avi Brickner and Leah Kendal Brickner

MARRIED: Patti Vasaturo, 1979

CHILDREN: Isaac, Ilana

EDUCATION

• 1981 Graduated Moody Bible Institute, Chicago, IL Diploma in Jewish and Modern Israel Studies
• 1986 Northeastern Illinois University in conjunction with Spertus College of Judaica B.A. in Judaica, Minor in Music
• 1994 Fuller School of World Mission, Pasadena, CA M.A. in Missiology, Concentration in Jewish Evangelism/Judaic Studies

JEWS FOR JESUS

• 1977-81 Missionary, Chicago Branch
• 1981-82 Member, The Liberated Wailing Wall (mobile, Jewish evangelistic music/drama team)
• 1982-84 Leader, The Liberated Wailing Wall
• 1987 Leader, Chicago Branch
• 1990-1995 Minister-at-Large, Director of Recruiting, Director of Music at International Headquarters
• Jan - July 1996 Leader, New York Branch; Director of Missionary Training
• July 1996 Leader, Summer Witnessing Campaign, New York City
• May 1996 - present Executive Director Board Membership Jews for Jesus, South African Board, 1989-present
• Jews for Jesus, United States Board, 1989-present

ALBUM PRODUCER

Times and Seasons (1986) Music for Messiah Live (1989) Messianic Music Festival (1991) Yeladim for Y'shua (1991) He Will Return (1991) Psalms of a Modern David (1991) David's Hope (1997) AUTHOR Mishpochah* Matters: Speaking frankly to God's family, (Mishpochah is a Jewish way to say 'Family') Purple Pomegranate Productions, 1996 Future Hope: A Jewish Christian Look at the End of the World, Purple Pomegranate Productions, 1999 Broadside tracts including Can We Talk Hail the New Age A Show about Nothing Be More Jewish Magazine Articles in: Missions Today Mishkan Issues Havurah (formerly called Mishpochah Message) ORDAINED Baptist General Conference, 1993 CHURCH MEMBERSHIP Tiferet Israel Congregation (affiliated with Baptist General Conference)

MOISHE ROSEN ON DAVID BRICKNER

For a short guy David sure likes basketball a lot.

He is eager to try new approaches.

His son Isaac looks more like him than he does.

David plays the trumpet. His wife is an excellent violinist, but I never heard them play a duet.

He gets to do all the fun things and meet all the fun people and have the fun of solving some of the big problems.

When it comes to the big problems he says, "Let God do it".