Rabbi Alan was born into a Jewish home in Sullivan County, N.Y. (in the Catskill Mountains, often called “The Jewish Alps”!). His father was raised Orthodox and his mother was from a Reform Jewish family. Like many Jewish boys, he was not obligated to continue his Jewish education after his Bar Mitzvah. In college, he was exposed to many “New Age” and Eastern religious practices. Like so many of his friends, while in college, Judaism became no more than an occasional cultural experience.
Over the next 17 years, he received his B.A. degree in Speech, and Speech and Hearing Pathology. He then went on to qualify, apply and be accepted in Chiropractic College, where he received his Doctor of Chiropractic degree in 1978, with the honor of Magna Cum Laude. He opened his practice in Melbourne, FL in 1979. By 1984, life was good, with a very busy and profitable practice, a good marriage, and a new daughter.
Circumstances a few years before had exposed him to reading the bible; something that he had never done before. In reading both the Old and New Testaments, he came to realize that not only was the New Testament a Jewish book, but this “Jesus” was, fact, the Messiah of his people. This was a concept not spoken of, or taught in his upbringing, so he started his intensive search for the truth. On April 9, 1985, friends of his (a Messianic Jewish couple that God had put in his path) invited his family to Ft. Lauderdale, FL to visit for the weekend. His response to his wife Diana was, “we are going, but I won’t go to services with them at their Messianic synagogue”. His head knowledge was there, but his hardened heart still said, “No”. So they opted to stay in a near-by motel, in order to avoid the situation. But, God had other plans! It was Spring Break and the motel parking lot was filled with rowdy college students all night. With very little sleep that night, he asked his friends if they could stay with them that next night, where his friend’s wife’s response was, “sure, but you have to come to shul (synagogue)with us tomorrow morning!” His reply was, “anything for a night’s rest!”
That next morning, Yeshua and Messianic Judaism became real to him, as he saw families of regular people just like him coming to services to, not just “go through the motions”, but actually worship the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob, and the Messiah Yeshua. That afternoon, back in his friends’ apartment, he came to the real knowledge of Messiah.
With this new understanding, he wanted to know more and more. He started attending Messianic conferences around the country, and Yeshiva (institutes of learning) courses given by the two largest national Messianic organizations. With no desire to be in leadership, once again God had other plans. The next few years literally thrust him into a local Messianic radio ministry, which led to a Messianic bible study, which eventually led to the formation of Kol Mashiach in 1989. All along, he was not going to lead these things, but, as the old Yiddish expression goes, “Man plans and God laughs”. It was not until the congregation vision in mid-1989 that he realized God was not bringing anyone else in to “do the work”. At that point he responded to God with, “Hinayni” (“Here I am”).
In 1992, he received his full s’mikhah (ordination) from the IAMCS (International Alliance of Messianic Congregations and Synagogues), as a Messianic Rabbi.
Rabbi Alan is the Co-Chairman of the Southeast Regional Conference on Messianic Judaism, held in Orlando FL each year. This conference is the largest Messianic conference of its kind, with 1600 attendees in 2005. He is also a regular speaker at both the SE Regional Conference and the MJAA (Messianic Jewish Alliance of America) “Messiah Conference”, held each year in Harrisburg, PA.