“Among the Jews are those who, like Saul of Tarsus, are mighty in the Scriptures. These will proclaim with extraordinary power the unchanging nature of God’s law. The God of Israel will bring this to pass in our day.” (The Acts of the Apostles, p. 381)
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Jay Milton Hoffman, honored in General Conference publications as “one of the grand patriarchs of the Jewish work,” was lovingly called “Jay M” by his wife, “Grandpa” by his granddaughter, and admired by many as a devoted “man of God.” Born into a Jewish family, he embraced Adventism at a young age. His life mission was fueled by a profound conviction to reach millions of American Jews with the Third Angel’s Message—the call to not only uphold the commandments of God but also to proclaim faith in Jesus as Messiah.
Dr. Hoffman’s Conversion to Adventism
Dr. Hoffman recounts his conversion experience, saying, “Here [in Romans 11:15], God tells us in His Holy Word that when a Jew accepts Christ, it is like raising one from the dead. One really has to be born and raised a Jew to appreciate this statement.”
Reflecting on his childhood in a Gentile neighborhood, Dr. Hoffman shared: “As a Jew, I hated Christ. I hated Christianity. I hated the cross. When I used to pass by a church and see the cross on it, I wished I could burn it down.” His sentiments were shaped by the bullying he endured at school for his Jewish faith and his resentment toward a Christian maid in his childhood home who attempted to share the message of Jesus with his family. This only angered him, as well as his mother, who openly cursed Christ, arguing that if He had never lived, their family would not have faced persecution.
Later, Dr. Hoffman came to realize that not all Christians are alike. He learned that true Christians, guided by the Holy Spirit, love the Jewish people. He eventually acknowledged that the prophets and apostles were Jews, that the Bible is a Jewish book, and that “salvation is of the Jews” (John 4:22).
Initially, the common Christian teaching that Jesus is the Son of God and that rejecting Him meant eternal death failed to resonate with Dr. Hoffman. However, Bible studies presented through a Hebrew Bible captured his attention in a way that studies using a New King James Bible did not. Dr. Hoffman refused to engage with the latter. His first Hebrew Bible study focused on the 490-year prophecy, which aimed to identify the time of the Messiah’s coming. Though reluctant at first to accept the implications, Dr. Hoffman eventually confided to his wife, Trudy, that he believed Jesus was the Jewish Messiah. Trudy, raised in Orthodox Judaism, dismissed him and the Hebrew Bible as “crazy.”
Around this time, the Hoffmans decided to hire a new maid. The only applicant was Julia, a young Seventh-day Adventist who, though not yet baptized or regularly attending church services, deeply believed in the church’s teachings. Julia requested Saturdays off to observe the Sabbath, but the Hoffmans denied her request, offering Sundays off instead. Julia still accepted the position and saw it as an opportunity to share her faith, especially regarding last-day events and the imminent return of Christ. Her conversations began influencing the Hoffmans, leading them to feel guilty about some activities like attending movies.
Julia eventually introduced her brother, Everett, who began leading Bible studies at the Hoffman home. However, some topics exceeded Everett’s confidence, so he suggested that the Hoffmans meet with the pastor at the local Adventist church instead. Although hesitant, the Hoffmans attended these sessions. At one point, they even considered moving to Hazelton, Pennsylvania, 165 miles away, to distance themselves from the Seventh-day Adventist Church and its evangelization efforts.
Yet, the Holy Spirit started working in their hearts. The Hoffmans were both having vivid dreams about preparing for Christ’s return. These dreams compelled them to seek out the nearest Seventh-day Adventist church.
Shortly after, Dr. Hoffman’s sister Dorothy invited him and Trudy to visit their sister Sadie in Philadelphia. During the car ride, Dorothy spoke about the imminent return of Christ. Midway through the trip, Jay openly declared his desire to become a Seventh-day Adventist. This decision led to more Bible studies at a local church in eastern Pennsylvania, including a study on the prophecy in Daniel 2.
The week immediately following the Daniel 2 study, Dr. Hoffman attended church services. By the next week, he had given up smoking, accepting Jesus as his personal Savior who would help guide him in overcoming his addiction.
From that point on, Dr. Hoffman was passionate about sharing his newfound faith with anyone and everyone, Jew or Gentile. He began mentoring others, leading Bible studies, and organizing meetings for young people at church. Years later, both Dr. Hoffman and Trudy were baptized. Dr. Hoffman described it as one of the happiest days of his life. He realized he had never experienced true happiness until becoming a Seventh-day Adventist. Yet, his greatest joy came from the assurance that Jesus, the Jewish Messiah, would soon return to gather the faithful forevermore.
He concluded his conversion testimony with this prayer: “May God help all of us so to live and order our lives that when He comes, we can all be gathered together without the loss of one. This is my prayer in His name, Amen.”
Dr. Hoffman and the Jewish Work
After accepting Jesus as Messiah during the Great Depression, Dr. Hoffman pursued ministerial training at Columbia Union College in Takoma Park, Maryland. His early pastoral assignments took him to the East Pennsylvania Conference in 1938, later transferring to the Ohio Conference in 1939. By 1942, he was serving as a full-time evangelist, with his work eventually taking his family to the Southern Union, Carolina, and Florida Conferences. During this time, he mentored other renowned evangelists, helping them establish their ministries.
In 1947, Dr. Hoffman chose to focus his efforts in New York City, home to 2.5 million Jews at the time, in pursuit of his childhood dream. He declined an offer to serve as Conference Evangelist in the Michigan Conference, believing, after much prayer, that he was being called to reach the “lost sheep of the House of Israel.” Dr. Hoffman and his wife moved accordingly, where they soon met with fifteen Jewish Adventist members of the Greater New York Conference.
These individuals had long prayed for the establishment of a Jewish ministry in New York City, a place where no such work had been done and where there was a shortage of Adventist ministers familiar with the Jewish community. They saw Dr. Hoffman’s arrival as the answer to their prayers, marking the start of this much-needed ministry in the city.
Bronx Community Temple: The World’s First Jewish-Adventist Congregation
Two years later, the Greater New York Conference purchased the New York Dutch Reformed Church, located at the corner of Prospect Avenue and Fairmount Place, renovating and transforming it into what became known as the Bronx Community Temple.
Initially, the Dutch Reformed church management had asked for $65,000 for the church building, but after extensive negotiations, including disclosure that the building would be used for Jewish outreach, the price was reduced to $20,000. However, the sale faced complications when the church management, upon learning the building would go to Seventh-day Adventists, withdrew their agreement, not wanting to sell to the particular denomination.
They had considered selling the church to a Danish-Norwegian congregation but insisted that the buyer also commit to Jewish outreach. When no alternative buyer committed to Jewish outreach emerged, the management of the Dutch Reformed Church reconsidered and ultimately agreed to sell the building to the Greater New York Conference.
Financial struggles nearly derailed the purchase numerous times; however, extensions were required and miraculously granted by the Dutch Reformed Church management to secure the necessary funds. Dr. Hoffman and his associates were on the verge of giving up and returning to full-time evangelism elsewhere. Some funding was acquired through various means, but it fell short of the required amount.
In a last-minute turn of events, funding indeed materialized: Sarah Celeste Kaplan, a Jewish literature evangelist in the South, and a widowed supporter who withdrew her life savings from her bank account, alongside appeals to friends across the country for urgent airmail contributions, made the purchase possible.
Located in what many referred to as “the heart of Jerusalem,” a quintessential Jewish neighborhood in the Bronx perfect for such outreach, the Bronx Community Temple essentially became the first Jewish Adventist congregation in the world. Its first meetings were held in July 1949.
Jewish Outreach in New York City
In the late 1950s, Dr. Hoffman, with the assistance of his faithful wife Trudy, founded and directed the Times Square Center. This vibrant evangelistic hub with a 400-seat auditorium became the heart of Jewish Adventist outreach in North America at the time. The center’s early popularity was so remarkable that nightly evangelistic meetings were required to accommodate the demand. Times Square Center eventually became the birthplace of the Israelite Heritage Institute, an educational platform that offered Jewish Bible correspondence courses to thousands of Jewish people.
The correspondence course, which incorporated lessons from the Hebrew Bible as translated into English by Alexander Harkavy alongside the New King James Version, explored the prophecies and history of the Old Testament, Christ’s first coming, and His contributions to humanity. Course participants were then invited to consider thought-provoking questions about whether Christ could truly be the Messiah.
Numerous Jewish participants shared their gratitude for the course, noting how it enhanced their understanding of religion, deepened their faith, and offered meaningful new perspectives and insights. Several graduates of the course later attended evangelistic meetings at the Times Square Center in preparation for their baptisms.
Dr. Hoffman and the Health Message
Dr. Hoffman received a Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine degree from Franklin Research University and secured licensure to practice naturopathic medicine in South Carolina and Tennessee. Dr. Hoffman taught that keeping one’s “bloodstream clean, alkaline, free-flowing, and getting plenty of oxygen through to the tissues” was essential to healthy living. He firmly believed that God would take care of him due to his physical stewardship through disciplined lifestyle choices.
Throughout his years as a naturopathic physician and nutritionist, Dr. Hoffman’s quest for knowledge led him to conduct research among the people living in the remote Hunza Valley of northern Pakistan, renowned for their longevity. Even without the Adventist health message, the Hunza people often lived to 100+ years. During his time in Asia, Dr. Hoffman even forged a friendship with the king and queen of the Hunza people. His research findings were shared through It Is Written television programming and health seminars across North America.
Over his lifetime, Dr. Hoffman additionally earned a Ph.D. from the Royal College, participated in various medical and nutritional societies, and authored several works, including Hunza: 15 Secrets of the World’s Healthiest and Oldest Living People and The Missing Link in the Medical Curriculum, as well as various Bible and health course curricula.
Later Life and Legacy
Dr. Hoffman remained in New York City until 1968, after which he relocated to the Southeastern California Conference. On the west coast, he pursued full-time evangelism and health education. His five-day nutrition seminars spanned many topics, from polio recovery to preparation of nutrient-dense, full-course meals in 30 minutes or less. These classes often addressed mineral deficiencies and the impact of dietary choices on blood pH while intertwining lessons on such topics as the fulfillment of Bible prophecy between 1844 and present times.
In 1974, Dr. Hoffman was involved in a severe car accident near Oklahoma City while traveling to New York City. This incident nearly claimed his life. Although doctors were skeptical of his chances for survival, he went on to live another 12 years. Dr. Hoffman was troubled, however, that the blood transfusions he received during treatment might have violated his health principles about maintaining a clean bloodstream.
Dr. Hoffman passed away in April 1986 in Escondido, California, having fulfilled his unwavering lifelong dream of sharing the Third Angel’s Message with the Jewish people. He left behind a lasting legacy for future evangelists, including his financial and moral support for Jewish Adventist outreach publications like Shabbat Shalom. The materials, graphics, and writings he created continue to inspire and guide evangelists around the world to this day.
