Root Source History​

Following months of discussions, they established the Israeli LLC Root Source with initial funding by Bob.

The launch of the website was in September, with a rollout of courses concluding in 2015, followed by retaining Tuly Weisz' organization Breaking Israel News to promote the Blood Moons ebook and registration for our free newsletter. Within months we had 35,000 subscribers and about 350 paying members.

In 2015, we hosted a celebratory launch of Root Source in April; presented the Jerusalem Covenant to Yuli Edelstein, the Speaker of the Knesset in July; and published our first book, Israel FIRST! In August.

In 2016, we hosted a few live webinars; launched the Root Source "Ask The Rabbi" feature; saw our popular teacher Rabbi Yehudah Glick elected to Knesset; and published our second book, Jubilee NOW! We also ran a crowdfunding campaign for the Campus Project (see below) and raised about $30,000. We also published our third book, The Light From Zion. This was the year we peaked in number of paying students, about 500, and in monthly income, about $5000.

In 2017, We ran the Campus and Millennials campaign in which we recruited about fifty volunteers who gave out about 4000 copies of Israel FIRST!; we added Root Source Interviews and Root Source Tours to our weekly newsletters; and redesigned the Root Source model from drip delivery of content to full access for all subscribers. 

In 2018, Gidon travelled to Texas four times and began building the Board; we co-hosted a tour of Israel over the state's 70th anniversary; we introduced another two bonus channels and reached the milestones of over 900 videos on our Vimeo channels and over 350 thousand views on our Youtube channel; we published and presented to Yuli Edelstein the list of over 500 anti-Semitic atrocities committed by Christians throughout history (see below); we participated in an exclusive symposium with the Nathaniel Foundation; and we hosted the Root Source Reconciliation Breakfast in Dallas. 

In 2019, We instituted a Board of Advisors; we held four Root Source LIVE sessions in Texas, attracting over 300 old and new friends; we participated in numerous Jewish-Christian events, including the Washington DC CUFI Summit, the One New Man seminar in Denver, and the Jerusalem Prayer Breakfasts in Jerusalem and in San Antonio; we taught Torah in home study groups in Texas and Israel; we sponsored the Nations’ Ninth of Av events in Jerusalem and worldwide (www.9-av.com); we served as one of eight case studies for the Oral Roberts University Senior Paper project; and we published three books: Jubilee NOW! Final Edition; The LIST: Persecution of Jews by Christians Throughout History; and 40 Days of Repentance: A Companion Guide to The LIST.

We successfully transformed from a for-profit corporation to a not-for-profit organization; we totally revamped our  website; we ran three online fundraising campaigns, blessing our Israeli Jewish teachers with over $10,000, as we envisioned; we held one Root Source Live in Dallas in January 2020 with special guest teacher Rabbi Yehudah Glick (part one, part two), just before Covid-19 kicked in, prohibiting international travel; we held many online events with people from all over the world participating; we launched our new website; we hosted the Root Source Chanukah Party for Christians, a Root Source Virtual Seder, and the Book of Ruth; we held the Root Source Live Sukkot Special with special guests Rabbi Daniel and Susan Lapin; and we launched Bridgebuilders, the list of leading activists in Christian-Jewish Engagement.

In spite of Covid-19, or perhaps because of it, we had numerous exciting successful programs this year. We launched the Institute of Midrashic Studies of the New Testament with two fellows; We launched the Conversations channel with Dr. Richard Booker and others; we sponsored the Pre-Passover symposium: "Jews, Christians and Passover: An Abyss or A Bridge?"; we published four books available on Amazon and our upgraded Store page; we completed the migration of our site to the new Series and (over seventy) Courses model with over one thousand lessons; we recruited a half a dozen new teachers including the revered Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz of blessed memory, and hosted the Root Source Website Launch and 2021 Achievements Party in June.

We published five (!) books: Bridgebuilders, Master of Return, Passover Symposium, 40 Days in Korean, and The LIST 2020. (abbreviated titles); We raised over $30,000 for the Institute of Midrashic Studies of the New Testament and awarded about $20,000 in fellowship grants for over four articles submitted to journals, of which one will be published in 2023; We launched Kristallnacht Light Up The Church, reaching hundreds of Christian churches, businesses, and homes; Together with Nations Ninth of Av, we ran our 2022 Gala; We held the Shavuot Symposium with the Nathaniel Foundation and published the Passover Symposium proceedings; We raised over $150,000 from over 100 friends of Root Source. THANK YOU ALL!!!; We have upgraded our online store, with twenty-seven (!) books and products as of this writing; Our Bridgebuilders project was featured in the Jerusalem Post.

In 2023, we recruited Josh Frampton as our Social Media Outreach marketing manager and Michael Stoltz as our Development Officer; went back to the USA for the first time since COVID-19 and hosted a wonderful event at our friends the Sarvadis' beautiful home in Texas; continued supporting the Institute of Midrashic Studies of the New Testament with two new fellows and sixteen(!) articles submitted to peer-reviewed journals since the Institute's inception; published and launched three new books (The LIST 2021, the LIST 2022 and the Shavuot 2022 Symposium proceedings); expanded our list of regular Conversations guests from one to four; ran Light Up The Church for the second year running; had our third Root Source-Nathaniel Foundation online symposium; and raised close to $30,000 in our Hamas War Needs campaign.

Root Source continued with its strong weekly newsletter; ran Light Up The Church for the fourth year in a row; held conversations online; and more. This year, we refocused our main activity to document and commemorate Holocaust survivors with the publication of Through Faith and Fire: The Life of Rabbi Eliyahu Dermer and the launch of We Must Not Forget. We also agreed with our good friend Jason Caplan of Memphis to launch Root Source's first international chapter.