Confessions of a Wandering Jew: Postscript: What’s Next? Jan 20, 2026

Tuesday, January 20, 2026

Postscript: What’s Next? Jan 20, 2026

Here is a quick update. As I mentioned in chapter “123 — The Sum of the Matter,” I have finished telling my story for now. I don’t intend to stop writing, but after 17 years writing my story, I am now in the process of editing and polishing things up—just a bit. I expect that to take about 2-3 months. This blogspot will be updated and I will mirror the finished project on ConfessionsofAWanderingJew.com, my webpage as well as on other “no charge” platforms such as Substack. In the meantime, I will continue to post short essays here weekly for those of you who are interested.

I am not interested in writing to get paid for this—I just want to share my story. But, there may be someone out there who would like this in book format, so I will also publish this as an ebook on Amazon.

My 2012 book, Messianic Jewish Congregations: Who Sold this Business to the Gentiles?, based on my 1997 doctoral dissertation, is already on Amazon as in ebook format. I plan to also make it available in a “free” serialized internet version.

I started this blog in 2009 not expecting anyone to notice. At first I was writing for my 2-yr old grandson. My thinking was that by the time he was interested in his ancestry, I might not be alive to tell him. So, I needed to have an imaginary adult audience to speak to as a proxy for him until he reached adulthood. A cyber audience worked for that, but I was amazed that there were actually real live people out there who were touched by my wild and crazy story!

Over the years, I have had over 100,000 views. I have no idea how many of those viewers found the elements of my story of some value, but the these numbers are humbling!

-Jeff-

No comments:

Post a Comment

Feb 16, 2009 - A Word of Caution

A word of caution here before we progress. I have been putting off writing this story for the last 10 years. The reason for this is that 10 years ago I walked away from a 30 year focus.

I have been hesitant to tell this story because I am sure that it will cause offense to many. I was concerned that it could even have a negative impact on my family's relationships and especially my daughter as she navigated her teen years.

But I am working on my 60th year and my wife and I have been on this journey together for 33 years. My daughter is an adult with her own son to raise. Both my wife and daughter have been encouraging me to get this into print for some time now. And, if I don't tell this story, no one else will be able to explain it to my grandson!

This is a pretty wild story that will take us from my childhood in the USA, to Africa, southeast Asia, Israel, and back. It includes my time as a soldier in an African army and my return to work side-by-side with my former enemies. It is a pretty wild ride, but that is not what caused me to hesitate.

The Cause of Hesitation:
The first few chapters in this saga detail a course change that would cause me to "wander" for three decades. Because I wondered as I wandered, I would end up completely overturning the life choices I made during my 7 days in May.

This is not to say that 30 years were a total bust, but my conscious motivation for the entire period would be overthrown. Because I always wondered as I wandered, I would eventually find an underlying motivation that would lead me to reject my conscious motivation.

Now does this seem confusing to you? Let me make this plain. Over the course of 7 days in May, I would wander away from my Jewish faith. I had already rejected my Jewish upbringing as being inadequate.

Now I began to take a course that was definitely not Jewish. I would begin to become interested in Jesus--although this was a much different Jesus than the one in traditional Christianity. I would start as a "Jesus Freak" on the outside of organized "churchianity", but eventually would find myself as a pastor, missionary, and even a seminary professor right smack in the middle of a well-established Christian denomination. But, because I wondered and because I was always questioning everything (one element of my Jewish heritage that never abated), I was always in trouble with some religious "authority." The more trouble I got in, the more I wondered. At the end of 30 years progressing deeper and deeper into Christian religion, I walked away from it and returned to my Jewish faith.

So, in the 1st volume (chapters 1-108) I detail how I wandered into Christianity. The 2nd volume (chapters 109-ff) will document how I wondered my way back to Judaism.

My story will relate the challenges I faced, both theologically and experientially. If you stick with me as I narrate this journey, you will probably be challenged too. Whether you are Jewish or gentile, religious or irreligious, a faith adherent or an agnostic--you are likely to be frustrated with me. But if I am to tell my story, I have to be open with you. I hope you can remain open with me as you read.

Update: July 4, 2024

We returned from living in Israel two months ago. Since then, we have been asked, “What is it like there? Is it nice? Weren’t you worried? Of course, you came back because of the war--didn’t you? What do you think of Netanyahu? What do Israelis think of Netanyahu, the war with Hamas, Iran, what about the Haredi Jews, are you Orthodox?”, etc.

I think about these things all the time too, but I don’t have a good answer for any of these. I can say that whatever opinion or answer is stated is…somehow wrong! You just have to be there and then you still can’t give a good answer—neither can I. Anything I say—I would say is somehow wrong!

To quote a lyric from a Groucho Marx routine, “Whatever it is — I’m against it!”

All I can tell you is what I experienced. And when it comes to what I have experienced in life, all I can tell you is what happened to me and my perspective on that. As the days go by, my perspective on what I experienced changes—so, I reserve the right to disagree with myself, whether it is what I have already written, or what I am about to write as once again pick up my metaphorical pen and put it to paper.

I share these things with you to give you a window into my experiences. You will have your own thoughts about my rhyme, reason or resolution.

I have been away from writing my story for almost a decade, and I fully intended to start writing again after making Aliyah (“to go up” — refers to Jews living in the Diaspora immigrating to Israel). Then there was the medical emergency that overturned our lives in Israel and led to our return to the USA for treatment.

It started with a simple trip and fall on the bumpy sidewalk in front of our Jerusalem apartment. Pegi simply tripped and fell. What should have been a run of the mill treatment for a broken shoulder turned into a major metabolic crisis and the necessity to seek specialized treatment back in the USA. The details are really unimportant. The overall impact was not the shattering of a few bones which could be repaired, but the shattering of a shared dream of no longer wandering--finding our home in Israel after 48 years of marriage. That dream was shattered. But Pegi is my dream and she is my home!

So, here we are in Newnan, Georgia—about 40 minutes south of Atlanta. What does it all mean? I don’t know, but it makes to sense to me that if we go back and look at how we got here, we can begin to see what our future here may hold. So, I plan to go back to describing my wanderings with the hope of discovering the questions that might illuminate some answers. Whatever I discover—I reserve the right to disagree. “Whatever it is, I’m against it!”

Confessions of a Wandering Jew

Tuesday, January 20, 2026

Postscript: What’s Next? Jan 20, 2026

No comments:

Post a Comment

Feb 16, 2009 - A Word of Caution

About Me

Blog Archive

Followers

Quick Linker