Jhan Moskowitz
1948 – 2012
One of the Founders of Jews for Jesus and a mentor to many…
Jhan Moskowitz, North American director of Jews for Jesus, was raised in the Bronx, New York. The son of a holocaust survivor, the heartbeat of the Moskowitz family is Jewish through and through. This identity only grew stronger when, in 1971 he embraced Y’shua (Jesus) as his Messiah. He became passionate to tell others the Gospel, and was part of the early “tribe” of Jews for Jesus. Jhan not only excelled in creative drama, master story-telling and expounding on the Word of God, he was a consummate missionary, soul-winner and discipler. Jhan also had the ability to bring together many in the Messianic movement. Jhan carried on his ministry with his life partner and love of his life, Melissa, another Jew for Jesus. They married in 1976. They have two daughters and a son-in-law.
Jhan began his training for ministry at Simpson College in San Francisco and was ordained through the Christian and Missionary Alliance denomination. He continued to study, learn and teach others throughout his life. He has a Masters in Missions from the School of World Missions at Fuller Seminary, and just last year Jhan received his Doctorate of Ministry at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. His dynamic preaching abilities were shared with small groups as well as major platforms, including Promise Keepers, as he brought the message of reconciliation through Messiah Jesus to thousands.
You can read the testimony of Jhan and Melissa Moskowitz, Jazzed for Jesus, here.
Jhan’s homegoing was sudden and unexpected. On a rainy Tuesday, September 4, around noon he slipped and fell forward on a staircase going down into the subway at 45th Street and 3rd Avenue in Manhattan. Police immediately called an ambulance, as well as the last colleague Jhan had spoken to on his cell phone who then called his wife Melissa. Jhan was taken to Roosevelt Hospital on 58th Street where Melissa was able to see Jhan while he was still conscious, though disoriented. His daughters arrived and were with him that night. The trauma to his head caused significant bleeding on his brain and ultimately proved fatal. On Wednesday, September 5, Jhan went home to his Maker. Within days, memorial services were held in New York City, Chicago and Tel Aviv. He was buried on Sunday in a suburb of Chicago. Jhan was taken so quickly and we are amazed and grateful for how quickly hundreds of people were able to come together to honor his memory. If you have not already shared your thoughts here, we hope you will do so now. Also, we may have links to add to this site in days to come.
Jhan will be greatly missed by all who knew him. Those of us who also know and love the Messiah Jhan served for more than 40 years look forward to seeing him again.