Ron works with a fascinating organization called Synagogue 3000, which has a singular mission: to revitalize synagogue life in America. Its efforts cross over into many categories, everything from more inspiring prayer services to ways to attract new congregants. What’s more, one of the ways it seeks to learn how to better a synagogue is by looking to churches to see what techniques can be brought back to the Jewish world. For example, a couple of years ago it invited megapastor Rick Warren to give a workshop to a group of rabbis on how they can do better outreach at their synagogues. They videotaped that seminar and you can watch those clips online. And as it turns out, the organization had serendipitously picked Atlanta (where I live) as the one city where it will focus its efforts this year, holding monthly seminars and workshops with the city’s more than forty synagogues. "Jews need to be more quote-unquote evangelical," Wolfson told me. "We need to do a better job of presenting Judaism to our own people. The story doesn’t get across that Judaism is a way to ?nd meaning and purpose in your life. And that’s another lesson I’ve learned from the evangelical model." I met up with Wolfson for coffee to talk shop about my church visits, and he later invited me to the workshops as an honorary member. One event featured Bernie Marcus, the cofounder of the Home Depot, as the guest speaker. He was the last person I expected to be teaching me about the beauty of synagogue attendance. But there I was. And there he was. Teaching me about the beauty of synagogue attendance. Marcus was telling a group of about forty rabbis that attracting members to a synagogue was no different than attracting customers to a Home Depot. "You’re not giving  people the product they want. It’s no different than retail; it’s the same thing," he said. "You’re in the marketing business; you’re selling a product. You’re selling religion. It happens to be something that’s good for people. But you can’t get to them to sell them the religion because you’re in the marketing business and you don’t realize you’re in the marketing business. You have to stop thinking in many respects like a scholar and start thinking like a retailer."

Benyamin Cohen, author of My Jesus Year, spent the past week guest blogging on Jewcy. This is his parting post.  Want more?  Buy his book!

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Benyamin Cohen, author of My Jesus Year, is guest blogging on Jewcy, and he’ll be here all week. Stay tuned.

The post Five Places You Wouldn’t Expect to Find a Rabbi’s Son appeared first on Jewcy.

(maybe he should guest blog on Jewcy for a week?) on the same local morning show that I was, Good Day Atlanta. I actually mention Stephen in my book (in a positive light) and, being that we were both on the show that morning, the interviewer asked me what I thought of him.

Anyway, after my interview was up I went back to the green room and bumped into Baldwin. He wasn’t going to be on the show for another hour so we got to chatting. He seemed shocked when I told him that I spent a year going to 52 different churches and not once did someone try to convert me. And just about everybody knew I was Jewish. "How much time we got until my interview?" Baldwin asked his publicist. "About an hour," she responded." "OK … I got 60 minutes to convert you, Ben." Stephen was taking this challenge as a badge of honor – that somehow he would be the first Christian to not only try and convert me, but to succeed. The ensuing hour ended up being a fun theological conversation with a cast-off of Celebrity Apprentice. He even suggested we promote our books together on the road with the "Stephen and Ben Show." Later that day, I decided to pop into Baldwin’s book signing at a local Borders store. When he saw me walk in, he grabbed the microphone and told the crowd: "My Jewish friend Ben just walked in. Let’s see if I can convert him." I went to bed that night thinking that only Stephen Baldwin would do something like that. I was wrong. Most of you know Kirk Cameron from his seminal role on the 1980’s sitcom Growing Pains, but nowadays he’s something of an evangelical icon. He recently made headlines for turning a tiny Christian independent movie about a fireman (filmed on location here in Georgia) into a blockbuster hit. Cameron has transformed from teen idol to running nothing short of a Christian empire. As I write in the book: "His ‘Way of the Master Ministries‘ is a small media empire with books, speaking engagements, a radio show, DVDs, and an evangelical television show that’s seen in seventy countries. Even Growing Pains isn’t seen that far and wide." And so I guess it was inevitable that the day would come when I would get interviewed by that very radio show – Way of the Master Radio. It’s hosted by Todd Friel, a well-known evangelist. I assumed the interview would be a lot like the time I was on a Catholic radio show when a priest and I both shed a little light on the funnier aspects of our respective religions. The interview opened with some traditional Jewish music, funny for an evangelical radio show, so I assumed this interview would be light like the others. But soon after we got started, it turned into a theology lesson and conversion effort. The truth is I don’t mind. Todd’s faith tells him to reach out to the unconverted. I respect that. I just find it strange because I spent an entire year going to church and not once did someone try to convert me. Until Stephen Baldwin and this guy. Here’s a clip of the radio interview with Todd. Despite the efforts to have me jump over the proverbial fence of faith, I had a good time. Sit back and enjoy.

Benyamin Cohen, author of My Jesus Year, is guest blogging on Jewcy, and he’ll be here all week. Stay tuned.

The post Stephen Baldwin tried to convert me… twice appeared first on Jewcy.

Most likely, I’m going to hell. Not just to the heated nether regions where rank-and-file thieves, crooks, and Republicans hang out. If only I was so lucky. Instead, I’ll be bypassing the guest entrance to the devil’s playground and be sent, first-class, through the VIP ropes to where Beelzebub and his sidekick Andy Dick down Cristal.

Unfortunately, I have a feeling I’ll be part of their new entourage. It’s not that I committed murder or tricked unsuspecting email users to send their bank information to a little-known Nigerian prince. If only. My sin, dear readers, was far worse. It’s a long story, one riddled with guilt, regret, and the occasional Communion wafer. Space constraints and my own desire to mask what I’ve done forbid me from going into too much detail, but I’ll offer up the highlight reel. I feel a confession is in order. I’m a rabbi’s son. Not just any rabbi’s son, but the rabbi’s son. Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned. I took everything you taught me, flushed it down the toilet, and married a minister’s daughter. Wait, it gets better.

I’ve spent the past year going to a different church every Sunday. 52 Sundays, 52 churches. As if that wasn’t heresy enough, I threw in some monks, a Christian rock concert, missionizing with Mormons and, oh yeah, celebrating Christmas with my new in-laws. Last year, on the day before Yom Kippur, I took my wife’s evangelical grandmother to a Christian archaeology exhibit. Repentance, atonement, the furthest things from my mind. Move over, Andy Dick. But a funny thing happened on my way to exploring Christianity. It made me a better Jew. Allow me to explain. Please. For years I had looked longingly at the church across the street from my childhood home, its pristine landscape looming just outside my bedroom window. I watched, transfixed, each Sunday morning as the khaki-clad parishioners and their smiling progeny emerged from their shiny SUVs and walked into the sun-dappled, stained-glass sanctuary.

They had it easy. As for me, well, it was as if I had left the uterus with a yarmulke on my head and a Talmud already in my hand. All I was missing was a beard. A certain prescribed lifestyle was all I knew. I was brought up with certain expectations of who I was and who I should become. But not Johnny Christian. He seemed to just have it easier, unencumbered by the history of persecution we felt as Jews. In my eyes, Christian children seemed to go through life with a laissez-faire attitude I could only dream about. They didn’t have to worry how long their sideburns were or wait six hours between eating meat and milk. I felt lost, a traveler without a compass. I didn’t feel a connection to my own religion. What’s worse, the religion of others was tempting me, so close and yet so far away. Fast forward to my 52 weeks of church-hopping. I did it all. And when I was done, burdened by the yoke of the crimes I had just committed, I did what any Jew pretending to be a Christian would do: I went to Confession. The priest, unaware that the congregant across the grated screen belonged not only to another house of worship but also to another religion altogether, gave me prescient advice. "Go to services more often," he told me. This seemed odd. After all, I had been going to services. Catholic ones. Baptist ones. Mormon ones. I even spent the day with a Christian wrestler. (Don’t ask.) Several Hail Marys later, I decided to heed the priest’s words of wisdom and go to services more often. As an Orthodox Jew, I pray three times a day, so this wasn’t hard. But this time, returning to synagogue after a year of experimenting with other faiths, the services had more meaning. I appreciated my Judaism more. For the first time since my bar mitzvah, I felt at home in my own skin. I guess it’s true what they say: The grass is not greener at the church across the street. It took going out of my comfort zone, being a stranger in a strange land, to make me realize just how much I cherish my faith. I now have newfound appreciation for the prayers, the people, and the public rituals. It seems odd to say it, but I guess it’s true. Hanging out with Jesus has made me a better Jew. Hallelujah. Praise the Lord. And Amen to that.

Benyamin Cohen, author of My Jesus Year, is guest blogging on Jewcy, and he’ll be here all week. Stay tuned.

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