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A brief history of Chosen People Ministries

In 1894, Rabbi Leopold Cohn founded this ministry in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn, New York, shortly after he became convinced Jesus is the Messiah. In its early days, Jewish people knew the ministry as the Brownsville Mission to the Jews, and its efforts consisted of evangelism and a variety of services and classes for the growing population of Jewish immigrants.

In 1988, the name of this ministry changed to Chosen People Ministries.

From humble beginnings and a history of faithful service, Chosen People Ministries stands today as a credible, well-established mission combining a commitment to Jesus and the evangelization of Jewish people with cutting-edge creativity. Our presence extends to Jewish communities in the United States, Canada, Central and South America, the former Soviet Union, Europe, Israel, Australia, and more.

Jewish History in the U.S.

Jewish history in what would become the United States began in New York City in 1654, when 23 Sephardic Jews from Brazil, seeking refuge from the Spanish Inquisition, arrived at what was then New Amsterdam. By 1815, there were 3,000 Jewish people in the United States. The Jewish population jumped to 15,000 by 1840. In 1880, there were about 230,000 Jewish people living in the United States.

Today, the number has grown to more than 5,500,000, with the vast majority of these Jewish people emigrating from Russia and parts of Eastern Europe. From 1880 to the mid-1920s, about 2,000,000 Jewish people traveled across the Atlantic Ocean to make a new start in what was dubbed, “The Golden Land.” Many of them landed in New York City and settled there. In 1880, there were about 80,000 Jewish residents in New York City. By 1920, there were 1,650,000–almost one-third of the city’s population.

The history of the Jewish people in the United States, not only in New York City but in other American cities, large and small, is a storied one, in which Jewish people have made a disproportionately large contribution to the American way of life.

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