I Am Not Ashamed to be a Jew who Believes in Jesus
by Dave Brandt


Some might say that I have betrayed my Jewish heritage. Others may insist I have joined a cult.  Nonetheless, I feel more Jewish now that I have a personal relationship with the Lord than I ever did before.

My name is Dave Brandt. I was born and raised in New York City on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.  My parents raised my brother and I in a loving home; we attended a Jewish elementary school, Hebrew School twice a week and both had Bar-Mitzvahs when we were 13. But what did it mean to be a Jew?

I understood that many many people have hated the Jews throughout history and still today. I figured out that being Jewish involves a strong cultural pride and Reform Judaism involves a somewhat ambiguous, confused or negative view of God and what Jews have to do with the Creator - how could a Good and loving God allow such terrible things to happen? I also discovered that Jews do not believe in Jesus although Jesus was a Jew. I was told we do not believe in Him because a man cannot become God and furthermore - can’t I see that much of the injustice and murder that has been perpetrated upon Jews has been done in Jesus’ name?  Meanwhile, I found “religious life” somewhat vacant?  I enjoyed the music at religious services at my synagogue but seemed that many people were just going
through a ritual and did not actually have faith in the God of Abraham.

As I grew, I moved away from thinking about Judaism as I became more involved with musical theater and playing music in bands. I took acting quite seriously and once I paid a visit to a local church to ask questions about Jesus and the Gospel of Matthew when I was preparing to portray Jesus in a production of Godspell. It was strange learning about Jesus, this controversial figure to me. The words He spoke were certainly very wise and compassionate and did not seem at odds when any Jewish teachings I had learned.  Questions of divinity aside, He seemed an extremely decent fellow.

During my teens, I became involved in a lifestyle of excessive drug and alcohol abuse.  Unmotivated and lost, my parents attempted to separate me from the crowd I had been hanging around with and sent me to Indiana University to study music composition. Shortly after my arrival there, however, I got involved in a band and did not devote myself to my studies. After two years of mostly poor grades, I left school to tour with the band. Living out of hotel rooms and indulging in a lifestyle of “sex, drugs and rock and roll,” got rather depressing after more than two years and, although I had thought the band would be my ticket to success, I quit.

Enrolling at Southern Illinois University, I determined I would finish my college degree but I was still just passing time and did not take it extremely seriously. While I was working at Keys Dueling Piano Bar in St. Louis, Missouri. I was introduced to a young lady by a mutual friend. Kelley was a light in a dark world for me - although she had divorced her husband and was raising her three year old daughter, Alexandra, this single mom was the first true friend I had met in years. We shared an interest in musical theater and developed a friendship limited only by the fact that I would be finishing school soon and thus returning home to New York. Months later, Kelley introduced me to Alexandra who really captured my heart I began to think about her welfare. I had been living in the Midwest for eight years and I finally met a person I felt I connected with - who I felt I was falling in love with.

Back in New York was difficult. Unresolved relationship issues with my parents stemming from my misspent adolescence made living with them painful for all of us. Meanwhile, I called Kelley every night and she - miraculously - was always there for me. I had always thought that we could be friends but the more I stayed away from her, knowing that she might meet someone and fall in love again one day, made me think long and hard.  Ten months after I moved back to New York, I returned to St. Louis and asked Kelley to marry me. She did.

During the ten months in New York, Kelley and I had a lot of phone time where we discussed things such as the fact that Alexandra was going to a Baptist day care and that she believed Jesus was God and so did Kelley.  Although Kelley loved Jewish culture and was enthusiastic about celebrating Jewish holidays she made it clear that Alexandra and her could not be in a family where the divinity of Jesus was denied.  I was blown away by this assertion - that she took such a bold stand for her faith. I had nothing that I really believed in so I said I could go along with that.

About a year after we were married, Kelley and I started attending both synagogue and church.  Somehow the sermons the Pastor delivered at First Baptist Church of Arnold (often from the Old Testament) really impacted me as if they were new.  There was heartfelt jubilance and real worship going on around me.  I began to realize a feeling in my heart and soul that I had never experienced before. Something strange was happening to me.  Something real was going on in that church.

Kelley and I had long conversations about the bible and there was prayer as well. Like a blind man who can suddenly see - it all became clear and I asked Jesus into my heart on March 16, 1997. All of a sudden I felt so much hope. Jesus convicted me of my sin but I arose to new life -happily with Him as my Lord and Master. I became a Completed Jew.

Kelley told me she had been praying for my salvation since the day she met me.

The Lord grabbed me by the collar several times in my life but I hadn’t listened so He used a complex chain of events to allow me to come to the place in my wretched life where I could only trust Him. Since God saved me by His Grace, I have written songs to praise Him, used my gifts to worship Him and lived my life through Him. Alexandra (16) and Noah (10) both know Jesus as Savior and we’re still praying for Chaim (5).

I have seen how God uses all His people to serve in different ways according to their gifts and abilities.  Prayer IS powerful and the lost can be reached. I am thankful that Jesus can take a flawed sinner like me and love me, shape me and give me eternal life! I am thankful that I now realize that this is His desire for all people and that He has used for His glory.

By the way - I am proud to be a Jew who loves Jesus.  As I tell people often - being a Christian is a choice. People who hate Jews, such as Adolph Hitler hate me despite of what I believe - they just hate Jews and I’m a Jew. But considering all of Jesus’ apostles (accept Luke) were Jews and they spread the Gospel of Jesus around the world and died for their belief in His promised Heaven, I believe I’m in great company. My boss is the Jewish Messiah.

“For I am not ashamed of the Gospel
for it is the power of God for salvation
to everyone who believes, to the Jew first
and also to the Greek.”
ROM 1:16