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Tamara was just a little girl in Ukraine when World War II began. Her father fought in the war, while her mother evacuated with her and her siblings to Tajikistan. They spent five hard years there—yet, returning to Ukraine afterwards was difficult, too.

Twenty years ago, Tamara moved to Sderot, Israel, near Gaza, where there were frequent rocket attacks. She is now an 87-year-old Holocaust survivor, and it’s been challenging to survive there on a fixed income. But friends like you stepped in. Last year, through CBN Israel, caring donors renovated her apartment, and provided groceries, household items, and special visits.

And on October 7, when her city was suddenly under siege and invaded by Hamas terrorists, donors came to her rescue again. Through a local CBN Israel partner, they helped her flee the heavy barrage of rockets—even as shrapnel damaged the vehicle they drove off in.

Tamara recalls, “It was shocking to see so many rockets… We were attacked. All the boilers on the roof of my building were destroyed, and a rocket went through the roof. Even if I wanted to go back, I can’t stay there.” She had survived one major war in her life—only to face another.

Our donors brought her to a safe place, far away from danger, and provided her with temporary housing, hot meals, water, and other basic essentials. She is extremely grateful, and holds onto the dream of returning to her home, saying, “When this war ends, and it’s safe to go back, I want to go back to my city. Sderot is part of my life.”

Your gifts to CBN Israel can bring emergency aid, shelter, and trauma counseling to so many whose lives have been devastated by the war—while continuing assistance to single mothers, aging Holocaust survivors, and others in dire need. By offering groceries, housing, financial aid, and more, you can deliver help and hope across Israel.

Please join us in blessing Israel and her people in need at this historic moment!

GIVE TODAY

By Nicole Jansezian

In 2021, when Israel and Hamas were engaged in an 11-day conflict, racial tensions between Jews and Arabs spilled over into Israel’s civilian sector.

Mixed cities erupted in violent and sometimes deadly clashes as Hamas launched 2,400 rockets into Israel and the Israeli army responded by bombing the Gaza Strip.

Following the Hamas atrocities of October 7, 2023 and Israel’s subsequent strikes on Gaza, many feared racial attacks among Israel’s Jewish and Arab citizens would follow.

They haven’t—so far—but this could be due in part to people such as Saleem Shalash, the Arab pastor of Home of Jesus the King Church in Nazareth, who said his focus is on being a peacemaker.

“We are trying all the time to build bridges between Arabs and Jews and especially during these times that hatred is spreading all over, we try to be light in darkness,” Shalash told CBN Israel. “How? To take action and to show the love of Jesus.”

When local Christians help Israeli Jews, they are viewed with suspicion from both sides.

“From one side, if you stand for helping the Israeli families you become a spy for an Arab because they don’t understand your opinion or your vision,” he explained. “From the other side, to the Orthodox Jew, you are still Arab. You are not accepted, you are between. It’s hard. Sometimes you can’t explain it because you are in the middle.”

Despite the precarious position of being a minority of minorities in Israel, Shalash has always geared his humanitarian aid distribution to anyone in need, including Muslims, Jews and Christians.

So, when Israelis fleeing war zones began arriving in his neighboring city, Nof Hagalil, the mayor turned to Shalash for help in equipping the nearly 1,000 evacuees that have spread out into the city’s hotels.

“These people are here more than a month now, most of them arrived with only a bag in their hands,” Plot told CBN Israel. “Now we are in winter, in rain, and they have nothing suitable. Also, people aren’t able to work—their jobs are there, so here they have no work.”

After the war began in southern Israel, a few infiltration attempts and rocket attacks took place along the northern border as well, where Hezbollah is entrenched in southern Lebanon. Shortly after Israel evacuated communities surrounding the Gaza Strip in the south, the government expanded evacuation orders for the north resulting in more than 120,000 displaced Israelis.

CBN Israel partnered with Shalash to buy brand new coats, boots, and other winter essentials for those who ended up in Nof Hagalil.

“We are helping the evacuated families that came from both sides, from both south and north because they fled from their homes with nothing,” Shalash said. “They came during hot weather with short sleeves, and they have nothing.”

All the more poignant since the Hamas atrocities of October 7 is that an Arab ministry is leading the outreach—something that hasn’t gone unnoticed. Yehonatan Biton told CBN Israel it restores his faith in humanity.

“It has touched our hearts at this difficult time to realize that there are still hearts willing to give, that despite everything you see, and the terrible horrors, the heart is still open,” he said. “The world isn’t all bad, it’s not all evil. There is also a good side and it is amazing.”

Maia Barcelo-Shelef who picked up a coat at the distribution told CBN Israel that most evacuees are living with uncertainty and have no idea when they will return home.

“I never guessed we would be in a situation like this waiting, one more week, one more week. We don’t have a deadline, that’s the worst,” she said.

Shalash hopes that outreaches such as this will help heal the trauma of war.

“What happened was very hard and it will take time to get better. We will not forget, because those who lost a son or daughter will not forget. But we are trying to show the love of Jesus and trying to bless these families,” Shalash said.

In Nazareth and many Israeli cities, where Jews and Arabs mingle in shops and restaurants largely without any racial tension, Shalash believes that such love will overcome racial divides.

“The media shows the worst examples, but there’s a lot of good things happening,” Shalash said. “God wants to gather His family again, His Abrahamic family—Isaac and Ishmael together.”

Nicole Jansezian is the media coordinator for CBN Israel. A long-time journalist, Nicole was previously the news editor of All Israel News and All Arab News and a journalist at The Associated Press. On her YouTube channel, Nicole gives a platform to the minority communities in Jerusalem and highlights stories of fascinating people in this intense city. Born and raised in Queens, N.Y., she lives in Jerusalem with her husband, Tony, and their three children.

Imagine living through the invasion of your neighborhood by terrorists—and then worrying about having enough to eat for weeks and months afterwards.

The war in Israel has been devastating for thousands of people across the nation. Some who survived the attacks by Hamas have been evacuated away from the line of fire. But others who chose to stay (or couldn’t leave) have struggled ever since to get basic necessities.

As a result of the fighting, supply chains and routes were disrupted, threatening the local inventory of groceries in many communities. With Israel’s stores understocked, and supplies running out, hunger was a very real threat. And in areas targeted by rocket fire, many elderly and others were afraid to even venture out to shop. Where could these people turn for help?

Thankfully, friends like you were there for them. Through CBN Israel, caring donors made it possible to deliver nutritious food to families and seniors in need. We made door-to-door deliveries and held distributions at multiple locations—both on the streets and inside apartment buildings.

At one location, people patiently waited well into the night for our truck to arrive. When it did, everyone pitched in to help unload and get this desperately needed food distributed to everyone.

Your gift to CBN Israel can be a crucial way to let these hurting people know they are not alone. You can provide meals, temporary shelter, trauma counseling, and more to those who were evacuated. And you can bring food, water, clothing, and other essentials for those in harm’s way.

Your support is so important—please join us in making a difference today!

GIVE TODAY

“By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place which he was to receive as an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was to go. By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise” (Hebrews 11:8-9 RSV).

“Now the LORD said to Abram, ‘Go’” (Genesis 12:1 NASB). God didn’t tell Abram (Abraham) where he was going. He didn’t tell him the challenges, pitfalls, or blessings that awaited him along the way. God simply said, “Go,” and Abram went.

Throughout Abraham’s life, God made promises to him. His descendants would inherit the land. He would have progeny. His progeny would come through Isaac, the child of Abraham and Sarah in their old age. Some promises Abraham lived to see; others he did not. Yet no matter what, when God told him to “Go,” he went.

God didn’t lay out the road map or blueprint for Abraham at the beginning. In fact, if you read the story of Abraham, God revealed His plan and promise to Abraham bit by bit. As Abraham proved faithful through his obedience, God led him further down the path.

Abraham stumbled at times, but when God said, “Go,” he went, not knowing where.

We often want God to reveal the path before we walk it. We want to understand His plan and where He’s leading us. However, God doesn’t usually work that way. He simply bids us “Go.” Will we? Do we trust Him enough to lead us?

Abraham never experienced most of the promises God made to him. His descendants did. Still, Abraham went. Still, he remained faithful, even when he was not the recipient of the promise.

Too often we look to God for what He can do for us. We seek His promises for us, in our lives, during our lifetimes. The problem, however, is that usually the really big things in life, those things that have long-lasting impact, do not materialize in one lifetime. They take years and decades—even centuries—to come to fruition.

Do we have that kind of faithfulness to see beyond ourselves and look to God’s promises and what He can accomplish through us, even beyond our lifetime, if we will simply “Go?”

PRAYER

Father, we hear Your call to “Go.” May we follow You, even when we do not know the way. May we trust You, even when the promise extends beyond our lifetimes. Amen.

By Nicole Jansezian

As an architect, Talya Baruchi defines home from many different perspectives.

“When you plan a home, you plan a house, four walls, you plan the street, you plan for the people and a public area,” she explained. “Back in my town near the Gaza border, I only have four walls to go back to. Here, I have a home.”

Talya was anxious about having to return home to Maagalim where sirens still sound daily alerting of incoming rockets.

“There’s no routine in my area yet and that is something I can’t make in my home.”

Along with some of their neighbors, Talya and her young son were welcomed at a moshav in the hills outside Jerusalem where CBN Israel set up a food truck for free lunches for evacuees and is helping to pay for the costs of temporary lodging and shelter.

“What we have here is home, we have routine,” Talya told CBN Israel.

CBN Israel provided a daily food truck where residents can gather for a free meal in the middle of the day at Yad Hashmona, the moshav where Talya is staying.

The food truck project has provided more than just food—it has become part of the “public space” that makes a home and has enabled evacuees to connect with each other and share the traumas and challenges of being forced from their homes.

“The kids that have now been a month out of their house,” said Daniel Carlson, director of CBN Israel. “They are still getting missile attacks almost on a daily basis. There’s no school. There’s no normal life.”

Israelis that have been evacuated from the north and south have had to make a new routine and new home for themselves in different towns and neighborhoods around the country. While the government has been slow to provide support, many organizations—including CBN Israel—have pitched in and are welcoming the evacuees.

CBN Israel hosted a festival at Yad Hashmona with bouncy castles, carnival food, and a movie—Superbook—for the displaced children staying there giving them a few moments to disconnect from the war. 

CBN Israel held a similar event for evacuees staying at a conference center in Israel’s coastal plain, which still comes under daily rocket fire, and in the southern city of Eilat where many evacuees are staying. The festival included a food truck, cotton candy, music, and bouncy castles and an airing of Superbook in Hebrew.

Carlson said the music had to be kept at a certain decibel in order to be able to hear sirens.

“With all that’s going on, this just gives them some time to forget and be kids again,” Carlson said.

Talya thanked CBN for being present during her hour of extreme need.

“We can see their logo everywhere around the hotel,” she said. “And to see the logo here now, it warms my heart that there are people who think of us, that we can be better off in this strange situation, in this dark situation, who want the best for us.”

Nicole Jansezian is the media coordinator for CBN Israel. A long-time journalist, Nicole was previously the news editor of All Israel News and All Arab News and a journalist at The Associated Press. On her YouTube channel, Nicole gives a platform to the minority communities in Jerusalem and highlights stories of fascinating people in this intense city. Born and raised in Queens, N.Y., she lives in Jerusalem with her husband, Tony, and their three children.

Omer, Gal-Lee, and their one-year-old daughter live on Israel’s Gaza border, and are used to occasional rocket alerts. But on the morning of October 7, something was different.

Waking to the sound of bombs raining down, the couple jumped out of bed, grabbed their baby, and ran to their shelter. Gal-Lee held her little girl close, while Omer shut the doors. As he closed the iron window, he heard AK-47 rounds fired. He looked at Gal-Lee and said, “Get to the car—we’re leaving.” They fled just in time. Five minutes later, Hamas invaded their kibbutz.

More than 1,000 armed Hamas terrorists had broken through the fence and spread into the nearby communities. During their escape, the couple saw the damage to their own home through their baby monitor. Kibbutz Re’im and other communities in the area were decimated.

Fortunately, friends like you were there to help Gal-Lee, Omer, and others evacuate to safety. Through CBN Israel, donors provided them with food, water, and temporary shelter far from the frontlines—to heal from the trauma and find hope for the future. Gal-Lee shares, “It’s showing us a light at the end of the tunnel, knowing that people support us. They hear us. They are mourning with us. And they will help us build back our homes from the ashes.”

Your gifts to CBN Israel can rush vital aid to war victims, while also delivering food and essentials to aging Holocaust survivors, single mothers, and immigrants.

And as the war continues, your support to CBN Israel can be a lifeline to so many in need. You can provide groceries, housing, financial help, and more to those in the Holy Land who need our assistance.

Please join us in blessing this special land and its people today!

GIVE TODAY

At Christmas, we can rejoice that God has not turned a blind eye to the suffering of the righteous or a deaf ear to the cry of the afflicted. His love and mercy extend to all mankind.

This shines forth in the angel’s wonderful proclamation to the shepherds in Bethlehem: “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” … And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!” (Luke 2:10-11, 13-14)

We often sing, “Angels we have heard on high, sweetly singing o’er the plains” at Christmas. The season would not be complete without “Gloria in excelsis Deo!”—Glory to God in the highest. Yet how often do we actually reflect upon the true meaning of those words that the angels declared? 

Their magnificent words of praise underscore the reality of God’s nearness in the birth of Jesus, as well as embodying Jewish redemptive hopes of the first century. 

They also give voice to the hope for redemption shared by Jews and Christians through the centuries. With the advent of Jesus, God draws near to His people—His goodwill is for everyone. His reign dawns through those who receive and obey Him. He demonstrates that He is Immanuel—God with us.

The angels told the shepherds that this good news would be for all the people. God’s goodwill is not simply for a select or chosen group of people; it extends to everyone, “for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous” (Matthew 5:45 NASB). 

His merciful will reaches out to all mankind to bring peace, healing, and wholeness. Through the gift of His only beloved Son Jesus, God has drawn near to demonstrate what His will is.

God’s will is for all humankind. In the birth of Jesus, His glory, peace, and favor draw near to everyone. This is the good news that the angels proclaimed: God is for us! And so we can declare with the angels,“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!” 

Scripture is quoted from the NKJV except as noted.

PRAYER

Father, this Christmas, as we reflect on Your nearness and goodwill toward us, may we extend Your mercy and goodwill to everyone around us, even those who are away from You. And, in so doing, may we truly proclaim with the angels: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill.” Amen. 

By Nicole Jansezian

Amos Brill has been helping people celebrate life since he was a child deejaying parties and organizing events from his parents’ basement. His business, “Ma’atefet Events,” is a natural extension of his personality.

But after the Hamas invasion on October 7, and for the first time since he founded his company, Brill is concerned about the future.

“When the war broke out, the company was at its highest point. We were booked through Hanukkah and were looking at a record year,” he told CBN Israel. “Now, my calendar is empty. Zero.”

Brill’s warehouse was full of deflated bouncy houses and other inflatables and party props collecting dust in Rishon LeZion, a coastal city outside Tel Aviv.

But through a quick partnership between Brill and CBN Israel, this equipment has come off the shelves for special events featuring Superbook, the animated biblical series, a life-size Gizmo mascot, bouncy castles, and fun games for children who have been living in hotels and temporary shelters after being evacuated from their homes since the war began.

“Children need to move around and play,” Brill said. “The moment we did this project for them, it was like a breath of fresh air. They were on cloud nine. The parents couldn’t stop thanking us. They came to me to say thank you, but I told them the thanks goes to CBN Israel and Superbook.”

With no work right after October 7 and the entire nation grappling with the unfolding tragedy, Brill wanted to help Israelis impacted by the war, and so he voluntarily set up some of his bouncy houses for kids in different venues.

However, after a few weeks of funding such activities on his own, he took an honest look at his dwindling bank account. He unfortunately had to place some of his staff on unemployment, and others were called up to reserve duty. Brill prepared to shut his doors.

That’s when CBN Israel stepped in.

“I had the inspiration to call CBN Israel, so we met and immediately decided to do something big,” Brill told us.

CBN Israel agreed to sponsor 30 special events featuring the Superbook movie, “David and Goliath,” around the country for children evacuated from their homes. Brill outfitted his van to display the Superbook and CBN Israel logos and took the show on the road.

“One of the best things you can do to get out of trauma, to get out of a painful situation, especially for children, is activity and movement,” Brill said. “What we provide is the opportunity for movement—a lot of it. Instead of sitting in front of screens and iPhones, the kids get to jump, play sports, and get out of the hotel rooms and into a different place.”

“This would not be possible without CBN Israel,” Brill said.

With CBN Israel’s partnership, not only are the children—and their parents—given a reprieve, but Brill’s company has been able to survive another few weeks. His workers felt they were giving back to fellow citizens in need, and his suppliers also benefit from the business he is able to give them.

“Something amazing came out of this—not only were we helping the community and the evacuated children, but also CBN Israel helped us from a financial perspective,” Brill said. “We’re not in the same place we were before as a thriving business, but I’m able to pay the salaries and… there are many economic ripples in this partnership as well.”

“It’s such a wonderful collaboration, and I’m so grateful to CBN Israel and Superbook for their help,” he said.

Nicole Jansezian is the media coordinator for CBN Israel. A long-time journalist, Nicole was previously the news editor of All Israel News and All Arab News and a journalist at The Associated Press. On her YouTube channel, Nicole gives a platform to the minority communities in Jerusalem and highlights stories of fascinating people in this intense city. Born and raised in Queens, N.Y., she lives in Jerusalem with her husband, Tony, and their three children.