Famous Jewish Rapper Confesses New Faith in Jesus Christ -- Now Calls Himself "The Jewish Jesus Freak"

Mordechai Shinefield/Teresa Neumann Reporting : Jun 14, 2005
The Forward

50 Shekel, the Jewish rapper who once dubbed himself the "The World's Most Kosher MC," is now calling himself "The Jewish Jesus Freak," according to Forward News.

The rapper, Aviad Cohen, made the stunning announcement last week on his web site that he had joined Jews for Jesus. In an e-mail to the Forward, he attributed the transformation to listening to evangelical Christian radio and to seeing Mel Gibson's film The Passion of the Christ.

"Next thing you know, I'm at a Jews for Jesus Ingathering," wrote Cohen, who has been profiled in Jewish and non-Jewish publications, including the Forward and New York Magazine. "It was totally set up by [God]."

According to the report, Cohen said that he actually adopted his new beliefs eight months ago, but is only now going public.

Reporter Mordechai Shinefield notes that for decades, synagogues and Jewish organizations have fought aggressively to discredit the claim that it is possible to remain Jewish and embrace Jesus, going so far as to blackball messianic Jews from the Jewish community. Cohen, whose stage name is a play off of the hit rapper 50 Cent, is believed to be the first high-profile Orthodox Jewish performer to declare himself a Jew for Jesus.