We would be amiss if we ended the week without noting the death on Wednesday of Moishe Rosen, “a Jewish-born Baptist minister who founded the controversial evangelistic group Jews for Jesus.”

Jews for Jesus, founded in 1973, is the largest and most visible part of the Messianic Jewish or Hebrew Christian movement, which holds that Jews can recognize Jesus as the messiah and still retain a Jewish identity. The group has offices in 11 countries, including Israel, and employs more than 100 missionaries worldwide.

“[W]e must believe in our hearts and confess with our mouths the Lord Jesus in order to be saved,” Mr. Rosen wrote in a statement posted online at the time of his death. “There are no shortcuts.” (Washington Post)

Rosen wrote a thankful letter to World’s “Mailbag” back in 2002:

The past few weeks have been pretty grim for us Jews who believe in Jesus. The intifada and increased violence in Israel, Billy Graham’s lame excuse for his disparagement of Jews on the Nixon tapes, as well as a changing theology in the church that denies any kind of effective Jewish evangelism, all contributed to our burdens. But then came the bright spot of your March 3 Passover/Easter special issue, “O brother, where art thou?” which showed more insight than I have ever seen in print. We felt lifted, appreciated, and encouraged. Thank you for your courageous stand. – Moishe Rosen, Founder, Jews for Jesus, San Francisco, Calif.