Rivkah Weber, 29, and 37-year-old David Costello had been attending a synagogue in West Ridge, Chicago, for a few months after moving to a nearby neighborhood
A couple in Chicago claiming to be a part of the Orthodox Jewish community was accused of proselytizing after they were exposed as actually being ‘Christian missionaries.’
Rivkah Weber, 29, and 37-year-old David Costello had been attending a synagogue in West Ridge, Chicago, for a few months after moving to a nearby neighborhood.
But their cover soon was blown when on May 14, a Brooklyn man attending service recognized Costello as actually being a Christian man who pulled a similar stunt in New York.
Rabbi Levi Notik, spiritual leader of the FREE center in Chicago, confronted the impostors after getting the concerning news from the Brooklynite.
‘They have beliefs of Kefira and Christianity,’ Notik explained to COL LIVE. ‘He doesn’t deny any of it, on the contrary, he insists that he is correct in his way, and has no regrets.’
But their cover soon was blown when on May 14, a Brooklyn man attending service recognized Costello at the FREE center in Chicago
By the next day, the Jewish community in Chicago had begun posting about the couple on social media. Many began voicing their displeasure at having been conned.
‘[T]o answer the rumors, it is true that a couple moved into our community in the purpose of proselytizing … They are confirmed missionaries,’ one post read, according to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
‘They have beliefs of Kefira and Christianity,’ Rabbi Levi Notik explained after confronting the couple. ‘He doesn’t deny any of it, on the contrary, he insists that he is correct in his way, and has no regrets’
Included in the post were pictures of the couple – Weber is dressed conservatively while wearing covering on her hair as her husband wears a yarmluke and has his hair in sidelocks.
The couple admitted that their objective was to try to get the Jewish community to get more comfortable with Jesus.
‘We want Jewish people to recognize Yeshua as Moshiach and as a Jewish Messiah,’ Costello said in an interview with JTA. He used the Hebrew words for both Jesus and Messiah while speaking, notably intermixing Hebrew and Yiddish.
He added: ‘We actually keep the Torah and the mitzvahs. We actually have an Orthodox life in our house and every day of our life, and they are saying that it’s simply to deceive and to bring Jewish people to believe in Jesus.’
The father-of-two shared that he was raised in a Christian family in New Jersey but described that his maternal great-grandmother was Jewish. His wife – whose real name is Rebekah – was born in a Christian household in North Carolina. She may have Jewish ancestry on her father’s side.
The father-of-two shared that he was raised in a Christian family in New Jersey but described that his maternal great-grandmother was Jewish. His wife – whose real name is Rebekah – was born in a Christian household in North Carolina. She may have Jewish ancestry on her father’s side
The pair were told they were not welcomed back in the Chicago community and Costello has lost his job at a kosher shop
Documents from 2016 revealed that Costello had been employed by Global Gates, which aims ‘to see gospel transformation of the world’s most unevangelized people groups (sic) who have come to global gateway cities, and through them reach their communities around the world.’
But the company was adamant that the couple were no longer involved with them.
‘They were previously employed by Global Gates for less than a year. Their relationship with Global Gates ended in July 2017,’ they stated.
A newsletter from the Johnson County for Israel, an evangelical group based in Texas, suggested that the couple had doing missionary work in Brooklyn in 2016.
‘David and Rivkah have taken a very costly yet bold stand for the Lord in Brooklyn as they live kosher among Hasidim while serving Jesus as their Savior,’ the newsletter reads. ‘My hope today is that you might learn a little more about their ministry, commit to pray for them, and even be mindful of how you might support their efforts.’
Costello admitted that the post was about them but mischaracterized their mission.
Rabbis in Chicago voiced their disgust at the news and highlighter moments when they knew something was off about the couple.
A newsletter from the Johnson County for Israel, an evangelical group based in Texas, suggested that the couple had doing missionary work in Brooklyn in 2016
‘They came to Chicago, they moved into their neighborhood, dressing and behaving outwardly like Hasidic Jews,’ said one leader. ‘They were welcomed into the community and befriending everyone.’
‘People feel betrayed. If you want to believe in something and sell it, that’s your business. But to come into a community and portray to be something you’re not, prey on people, unsuspecting, is unacceptable.’
Another rabbi shared that Costello knew a lot of the Bible but struggled with Hebrew words.
Weber, the rabbi said, still wore too much color in her wardrobe and also had difficulty with some Hebrew and Yiddish words.
The pair were told they were not welcomed back in the community and Costello has lost his job at a kosher shop.