Joel Liberman
Executive Director, San Diego, California, USA
Joel was raised in a Messianic Jewish home, and has been active in the Messianic movement for 25 years, including terms as Vice President and Treasurer of the Young Messianic Jewish Alliance (YMJA), a term as Treasurer of the Messianic Jewish Alliance of America (MJAA), an additional four-year term on the MJAA Executive Committee, two terms on the Steering Committee of the International Alliance of Messianic Congregations and Synagogues (IAMCS), and nearly two years as the Treasurer of the International Messianic Jewish Alliance (IMJA) before becoming its Executive Director. Joel is an ordained Messianic Rabbi through the IAMCS and has been Tree of Life Messianic Jewish Congregation’s (www.treeoflifeca.org) senior leader in San Diego CA since March of 1996. Joel has served as a frequent speaker and teacher at Messianic Jewish conferences over the past twenty years. He holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Accounting from San Diego State University, and is a California Certified Public Accountant. Joel holds a Master of Arts degree in Biblical Studies and is continuing his theological education by currently pursuing a Master of Divinity degree with a concentration in Ministry. Joel’s wife Darcie serves alongside of him in the ministry and they are blessed with two school aged children, Avi (14) and Ariela (11).
John Fischer, Ph.D., Th.D.
President, Palm Harbor, Florida, USA
Born in Budapest, Hungary, Dr. Fischer is part of a family who miraculously survived the Holocaust. Married to Patrice, and a father of two grown children (Eve and Seth), he has six earned college and university degrees, two of them doctorates. He serves as Rabbi of Congregation Ohr Chadash (a Messianic Synagogue in Clearwater, Florida), Executive Director of Menorah Ministries (www.menorahministries.com), Vice President for Academic Affairs at St. Petersburg Theological Seminary (www.sptseminary.edu), Rosh Yeshiva at Netzer David International Yeshiva, and President of the Union of Messianic Believers. Additionally, Dr. Fischer was one of the founders of the Union of Messianic Jewish Congregation (www.umjc.net) and served for a number of years as its Vice President. Dr. Fischer has spoken and taught repeatedly throughout the United States and around the world. He has lectured in Israel, Russia, France, Germany, Hungary, the Ukraine, Canada, and South Africa. He is the author of numerous articles and several books including: L’chaim; The Olive Tree Connection; The Meaning and Importance of the Jewish Holidays; the Enduring Paradox; Siddur for Messianic Jews; Messianic Services for the Festivals and Holy Days, and TheDistortion (an analysis of the movie “The Passion” and the issues it raises).
Joel Chernoff
Vice-President, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Mr. Chernoff was first elected to the Executive Committee of the IMJA in 1972, when he was elected Vice-President and has served without interruption to the present. Joel is a well known musician and pioneer of Davidic Praise, being a recording artist of the musical group LAMB. Besides his LAMB recordings, Joel is a solo artist with albums entitledThe Restoration of Israel, Come Dance With Me and The Sacrifice Lamb. A second-generation Messianic Jewish believer from Philadelphia, Mr. Chernoff is also the General Secretary of the Messianic Jewish Alliance of America (www.mjaa.org).
Natalio Krauthamer
Vice-President, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Mr. Krauthamer is a founding member of the Messianic Jewish Alliance of Argentina and has been President of the Argentinian Alliance for many years. He is presently the longest serving member of the IMJA Executive Committee, thus he has been appointed Honorary Vice President for life. Mr. Krauthamer, now retired, has been the spiritual leader of the Buenos Aires Messianic Jewish Congregation, one of the oldest Messianic Jewish congregations in the world. He is actively promoting the work of the alliance in Argentina, where four hundered thousand Jewish people live, and throughout South America.
Myriam Levy
Vice-President, Guadalajara, Jal. Mexico
Myriam Levy has been active in the Messianic Jewish movement since 1992. She has served three terms as President and five terms as Secretary of the Messianic Jewish Alliance of Mexico (MJAM) and two terms as Vice-President of the IMJA. Myriam has served as a speaker and teacher at Messianic Jewish conferences and works as a Real Estate agent in Guadalajara, Jal. Mexico.
Vladamir Pikman
Vice-President, Berlin, Germany
Born to an educated Jewish family in Kiev, Vladimir accepted Yeshua as his Messiah in 1992, and has devoted his life ever since to serving the Lord through Jewish evangelism. Vladimir is the founding Executive Director of Beit Sar Shalom, the largest Messianic Jewish ministry in Germany, and he is the Messianic Rabbi of the Messianic Jewish Congregation in Berlin. He was the founding President of the German Messianic Jewish Alliance. Vladimir holds a Master of Theology with the Highest Honors from Dallas Theological Seminary and is presently working on his Ph.D. in New Testament Exegesis. He helps coordinate Jewish ministry in Western and Eastern Europe with Chosen People Global Ministries. Vladimir’s wife Inna also serves with alongside of him in the ministry (working on her Ph.D. herself) and they are blessed with two daughters, Elishevah (11) and Shoshannah (9).
Richard Harvey, Ph.D.
Vice-President, London, England
Richard Harvey is a Messianic Jew from London, England. He received his education at Winchester College, where he won a Headmaster’s nomination and specialized in Latin and Greek. During his time at Winchester he became a believer in Yeshua through investigating the claims of the Messiah.
He went on to receive a post-graduate teaching qualification at Bristol Polytechnic. In addition to a Certificate in Missiology and Cross-Cultural Studies at All Nations Christian College, (1982) he completed a Master of Arts degree in Hebrew and Jewish Studies from University College, London (1992). He was awarded his PhD in 2008 for his pioneering study Mapping Messianic Jewish Theology, the first comprehensive study of the emerging theology of Messianic Judaism, published by Paternoster/Authentic Media in 2009.
Richard was a founder member of the London Messianic Congregation, and served on the staff of the Church’s Ministry Among the Jewish People (CMJ), an Anglican mission, from 1982 to 1991. He has also served as President of the IMJA. He has written and spoken frequently on issues of Judaism and Christianity, and combines an easy manner with a solid academic background and Messianic Jewish faith.
His media work includes appearances on BBC’s “The Heart of the Matter,” ITV’s “Visions,” among others. He has been interviewed on BBC Radio 4′s “Sunday Programme,” Spectrum Radio’s Jewish Programme, and on other British and American radio stations.
He served for 7 years as UK Director of Jews for Jesus, establishing the work in Britain and participated in outreach campaigns in France, Israel, USA, Holland and Ukraine.
In 1997 Richard joined the staff of All Nations Christian College, where he taught the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament), Jewish Studies, Intercultural Discipleship, Hermeneutics and Preaching, . He is married to Monica, who is herself a Jewish believer in Yeshua, and they have two children, Rebekah (born 1988) and Joshua (1993). Richard enjoys family activities and jogging, and fulfilled one of his ambitions, to run in the London Marathon, three times!
His roles have included Vice-Principal, member of the College Leadership Team and Director of Postgraduate Studies at All Nations. For five years he was Director of Training and Academic Dean. He serves on the Editorial Board of Mishkan (an academic journal on Jewish Evangelism and Messianic Judaism), the Advisory Board of the Caspari Centre (Jerusalem) and is Vice-President of the British Messianic Jewish Alliance.
Paul Liberman
Treasurer, Rancho Mirage, California, USA
Paul Liberman became a believer in the Messiah in 1971. Over the years, Paul has participated in a number of Messianic Jewish organizations including the Executive Committees of the Messianic Jewish Alliance of America and International Messianic Jewish Alliance. He is the current president of the Messianic Jewish Alliance of America (MJAA). He was also instrumental in founding two Messianic Jewish Congregations; Beth Messiah Congregation of Washington, D.C., where he served as an elder and Tree of Life Messianic Jewish Congregation in San Diego, California, where he served as its first Messianic Rabbi. Paul resided in Israel for nine years, where he served as a Messianic Congregational Leader, Chairman of the Messianic Action Committee (Knesset lobbying) and as the Executive Director of the Joseph Project (humanitarian aid, importation of goods). Paul is the author of ‘The Fig Tree Blossoms,’ which has been a primary book explaining the Messianic Jewish Movement. It was originally published in 1976 and is available in English, Russian, Hebrew, and Spanish.