Frdm4: Rabbi, apostate Jew, Christian, Lutheran, missionary: Friedmann (Part 4)

      This concludes from Part 3 (Table of Contents in Part 1) presenting Pastor Nathaniel Friedmann's 1898 Der Lutheraner report of his mission work for the NYC Jewish population. — Friedmann concludes by looking back through the centuries of Jewish mission history, and marvels at God’s grace in his time. Rather than complain of how few are converted, he rather sees, as he stated at the beginning, how the work “has made some gratifying progress”. — From Der Lutheraner, vol. 54 (1898), pp. 206 [EN]: 

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On our Mission to the Jews.

[by Pastor Nathaniel Friedmann, Part 4]

After careful observation of the Jewish missionary history before and after the Reformation, it is a special grace of God when 40-60 Jews willingly listen to a sermon by a "Meshumed" (apostate Jew) without arguing, quarreling or causing disturbances. From December 15, 1896 to August 18, 1898, 2,292 Jews heard the public sermon on the grace of God in Christ Jesus, the Messiah promised by God and appearing in the fullness of time.

In addition to public preaching, all of the undersigned's remaining time is used to personally preach the saving Gospel to the Jews. This is done partly through home visits, which the undersigned makes daily to the Jews, partly through the opportunity offered to the Jews to speak to the missionary privately, in the mission as well as in his home, in order to obtain information about all their questions concerning the Christian religion. <column 3> 

75 India St., Brooklyn, N. Y.
Friedmann's address — same building?

So far, not a day has gone by without two, three or even four Jews visiting the undersigned in the missionary office. One has something to criticize about the sermon heard on Saturday, another wants clarification about a passage in the New Testament, a third comes to complain about his earthly hardship and rightly expects the missionary to take care of him physically. Since the above dates, 1,442 home visits have been made and 2,002 private visitors received. In order to give the poor blinded Jews the opportunity to reflect on the truth of the Gospel at home, 2,957 Jewish-German and Hebrew tracts and 144 New Testaments have been distributed among them to date. Bible lessons with short lectures on Christ in the Old Testament were also held every Tuesday and Thursday evening in winter; however, only a few people attended them. The total number of Bible study attendees during the above dates amounted to only 93 people. In this way the undersigned is now trying to scatter the seed of the Gospel among the Jews as well, with firm trust in God and His promise that His Word shall not return void. Isaiah 55:11.

Nath. Friedmann, 

75 India St., Brooklyn, N. Y.

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      The Christian Cyclopedia of today and the 1927 Lutheran Cyclopedia only mention Daniel Landsmann's name in relation to the Old Missouri Synod's mission to the Jews. I was surprised by this as Pastor Nathaniel Friedmann, as evidenced by the above report in Der Lutheraner, was also a very notable figure in the early Jewish Mission. One could wonder that the 1927 edition did not want to report the names of living individuals, but that is not the case for the updated LC-MS edition which is less informative than the 1927 edition.

      What a joy it has been to translate and present this account by the dear Pastor Friedmann. His certainty of faith gave him such strength to withstand all of the obstacles and continue in the work of the Lord. —  May this presentation educate and encourage others as it did me. In Jesus’ name! Amen!