Pictured: fake rabbis exposed by JC still in Charedi clothing

A non-Jewish father and son who posed as Orthodox Rabbis in America have been caught on camera still dressed in strictly Orthodox Jewish clothing.

In October 2021, the JC revealed that Michael and Calev Isaacson, who had changed their name from Dawson, were working in a synagogue in Phoenix, Arizona.

Anti-missionary investigators accused them of being secret evangelical Christians. Speaking to the JC, Michael Isaacson’s aunt, Marlene Gruenfelder, said: “No, my family is not Jewish.”

She also said that Michael and his wife Summer had been married in a Lutheran Church.
Investigators alleged that neither man is Jewish, making any rituals in which they took part invalid.

Despite this, the two were spotted an hour outside of Phoenix at a Chabad Hanukkah event at the end of last year. This is a new Jewish community for them, not far from where they have previously been working.

Beyneynu, an organisation which educates Jewish communities about Christian missionary activity, suggested the pair were attempting to find a safe haven among a new community where they are not known.

Upon recognising the father and son, some participants in the event alerted the organisers as well as the rabbis of surrounding Jewish communities.

The Isaacsons previously wrote in an email exchange with various rabbis who confronted them that they “reject missionary tactics and do not support any person or organization who seeks to target or convert Jews away from the Jewish faith, heritage and birthright”.

However, they also wrote: “We do not reject Yeshua [Jesus] the Jewish Messiah,” adding “We have no doubts concerning the identity of the Messiah.”

Michael Isaacson did not respond to requests for comment by phone, email and registered letter in respect of the JC’s original article.