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By Mark Gerson

One of the magnificent gifts of the Bible is how multiple interpretations of the same passage, even when they differ significantly, can teach us truths that can help us live better, happier, and more meaningful lives. A classic example is in the great story of Joseph.

In Genesis, the Pharaoh has what he thinks are two different dreams. In one dream, seven thin cows eat seven healthy cows. In the next dream, seven sickly ears of grain swallow seven healthy ears of grain. 

The Pharaoh calls in his advisors, none of whom could interpret the dreams “for Pharaoh.” The phrase “for Pharaoh” would not be necessary if the purpose of the clause were to tell us that the necromancers interpreted the dreams. By the Torah telling us these advisors could not interpret the dream “for Pharaoh,” we can assume that they did offer interpretations—but none satisfied the Pharaoh. 

The Pharaoh’s concern was about to be alleviated. His cupbearer recalled that there was a Hebrew slave he knew from prison who was a remarkable dream interpreter. The Pharaoh summoned the slave—Joseph. 

Joseph told the Pharaoh the two dreams were really one, and they meant that Egypt was about to experience seven years of plenty followed by seven years of famine. This situation, Joseph explained, could be mitigated by appointing a talented administrator. 

One could spend a lifetime studying this sequence. But perhaps the first question is: Was the dream easy or hard to interpret? There is disagreement on this fundamental question, and both answers are fascinating and helpful. 

As Rabbi YY Jacobson relates, the great Rebbe Menachem Schneerson said the dream was easy to interpret. The cows and the wheat were obvious food sources, and seven healthy ones being followed by seven sickly ones thus clearly indicate feast followed by famine.

Why, then, did all of the Egyptian dream interpreters get it wrong? The Rebbe points out one detail that confounded them: the cows and the grain existed alongside each other for some time before one swallowed the other. Given that the Egyptians believed feast and famine are mutually exclusive—it is one or the other—the necromancers searched for other interpretations, none of which satisfied the Pharaoh. 

Joseph, to the contrary, knew feast and famine are not mutually exclusive. Life, he knew from personal experience and Jewish teaching, always consists of both. Jewish grooms break a glass under the chuppah (the wedding canopy) to symbolize that we remember and prepare for sadness even in our times of greatest joy. Conversely, we are prohibited from sitting shiva, the Jewish mourning ritual, on a holiday. We are wise to deposit some of our joy in a place where we can draw upon it in times of sadness. For Joseph, then, the coexistence of feast and famine is neither complicated nor impossible. It is part of a mature approach to the world God designed. 

Rabbi David Fohrman takes another approach. The dream, he implies, took a very talented interpreter like Joseph to decipher. How did Joseph do so? It was not really any technique or even special gift. He just knew how to think. God spoke directly with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob—Joseph’s great-grandfather, grandfather and father—all the time. God never spoke directly with Joseph, but Joseph cited and referenced God all the time. Joseph believed God directed the events of the world, both the big (like feast and famine in Egypt) and small (the details of his life). He did not need a constant dialogue with God to realize that. In fact, he did not need a dialogue at all. 

To Joseph—but only to Joseph—the dreams were obvious. Joseph, too, had two dreams that were really one. Moreover, there are only two people in the Torah described in the same way that the healthy cows are described (“beautiful of appearance”)—they are Joseph and his mother, Rachel. And there is only one person in the Torah described as having “thin/soft” anything. That is Joseph’s aunt, Leah, who was also the mother of his step-siblings who threw him in the pit. For the “thin” to eat the “beautiful”—and, as is described in the Pharaoh’s dream—to leave no trace of the incident afterwards: that was obvious. That was Joseph’s life. He went from being the favorite son of his wealthy father to, as a result of the perfect crime, an imprisoned slave. And, as he saw in his audience with the Pharaoh, misfortune can be reversed, as well. 

Joseph knew, as Rabbi Fohrman shows, how God communicates with us. Our life experiences are the notes God posts on our message board. These notes may not be meaningful or even decipherable when they are posted. They may seem random, disconnected, or even cruel. But there just might come a time when we realize one such experience is the private language through which God had always planned to communicate with us—and recalling it allows us to understand, choose, or do something that means everything. 

The second theory—that the Pharaoh’s dream is hard to interpret—might be the most important lesson we will ever learn. If we were to go through life thinking every conversation we have and everything we do just might be a message from God whose massive significance will be revealed later, how would our life change?  

We would treat every experience, no matter how seemingly minor, as one that might help us to advance God’s purpose. We would still feel the pain of misfortune but would be able to also see it as plausibly the secret to the ultimate fortune in the future. We would notice everything. We would be alive to the fact that every moment is one of possibly divine significance. 

In other words, we would be alive. 

Mark Gerson, a devoted Jew, is an entrepreneur and philanthropist who (along with his wife, Rabbi Erica Gerson) is perhaps the world’s largest individual supporter of Christian medical missions. He is the co-founder of African Mission Healthcare (AMH) and the author of a forthcoming book on the Haggadah: The Telling: How Judaism’s Essential Book Reveals the Meaning of Life.  

Website: therabbishusband.com
Twitter: @markgerson
Podcast: The Rabbi’s Husband

By Arlene Bridges Samuels

Each Christmas, we have the opportunity to rediscover the Gospel accounts that covey the most miraculous birth story ever recorded in history. After Mary and Joseph’s 80-mile trek from Nazareth, Mary gave birth to Jesus in the small town of Bethlehem. Located five-and-a-half miles south of Jerusalem, this town was the ancestral home of Joseph as well as the birthplace of King David. Early Christian traditions depict the birth of Jesus within a cave in Bethlehem. In A.D. 326, the Church of the Nativity was built over the traditional site of Jesus’ birthplace.

However, since the birth of Jesus over 2,000 years ago—with its angelic announcements, heavenly hosts praising God, and shepherds bowing down before their long-awaited Messiah—Bethlehem has experienced a far different kind of story. Today, Bethlehem’s normally bustling streets are empty due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The annual Christmas tree is lit in Manger Square, but thousands of pilgrims are not there for the joyous annual celebration. Businesses are suffering due to the lack of tourists, and Midnight Mass at the Church of the Nativity will take place online this year. Maryana al-Arja, owner of the 120-room Angel Hotel, sums up the bleak holiday with the comment: “Bethlehem is dead.” 

Along with Bethlehem’s economic crisis, the pandemic—recorded by WorldoMeter for the Palestinian population at large—shows 125,506 cases, 1,198 deaths, and 101,355 recovered. The outlook is not hopeful, especially when we add in Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s rejection of the Abraham Accords. His cooperation could have led to countless benefits for Palestinians. Unfortunately, when the United Arab Emirates signed on in September 2020, Abbas immediately denounced the signing as a “despicable decision and a betrayal.” Palestinians have suffered under his dictator-like reign since 2005 with no elections in sight, although the presidency is supposed to be limited to a four-year term. The 85-year-old Abbas enjoys life in his multimillion-dollar mansion in Ramallah along with an estimated $100 million net worth. Nations have given billions to Palestinians, yet Abbas and other Palestinian Authority leaders continue to embezzle and/or misappropriate government funds at the expense of the wider population. 

Bethlehem has seen repeated conflicts over the last century compounded with years of competing narratives between Jews and Palestinian Arabs. The 400-year occupation by the Ottoman Empire lasted until 1917—with the subsequent British occupation ending after the Jewish state was rebirthed in 1948.  The Jewish town of Bethlehem increasingly enjoyed a thriving tourist trade that especially helped the many Arab-Christian businesses there.  Then on December 21, 1995, Bethlehem came under the governance of the Palestinian Authority as mandated by the hopeful 1995 Oslo Accords. At that time, Yasser Arafat (1929-2004) led the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) and continued to covertly mastermind his terrorist operation against Israel.  

For Arab Christians living in Bethlehem, economic threats against them began to increase in the 1990s and then really accelerated in 1995 after the Oslo Accords turned Bethlehem over to Palestinian rule. The London Times wrote in 1997 that life in Palestinian Authority-ruled Bethlehem has become insufferable for many members of the dwindling Christian minorities. The article went on to say that increasing Muslim-Christian tensions have left some Christians reluctant to celebrate Christmas in the town at the heart of the story of Jesus’ birth.

The Muslim Palestinians stole money and land from Arab Christians, beat them, and refused to protect them from gangs and violence. In 1990, Bethlehem’s population included 23,000 Christians—a 60% majority. By 2001, they were a minority, having fled over the years due to persecution. 

From 2000 to 2005, the Palestinian’s Second Intifada (uprising) triggered an avalanche of fear, terrorism, and sorrows for Jews. Statistics compiled by Shin Bet, Israel’s security service, show that 138 suicide attacks used numerous methods of terrorism, including stabbings and bombings on buses, in restaurants and nightclubs, and on the streets. When the Intifada ended, terrorists had murdered 1,038 Israelis. The International Institute for Counter-Terrorism lists 8,341 wounded Israelis—among them 5,676 civilians and 2,665 security forces.

As an example of the Palestinian mindset, Dr. Ahmad Abu Halabiya had preached a mosque sermon on October 13, 2000, shortly after the Second Intifada began. On live Palestinian Authority television, he asserted, “Allah the almighty has called upon us not to ally with the Jews or the Christians, not to like them, not to become their partners, not to support them, and not to sign agreements with them.” 

I traveled to Israel twice during the Second Intifada, with just a few of us on the first trip and later a group of 40 Christians. Both trips were designed to express our friendship and desire to help. We purposely boarded buses, a frankly scary experience, not knowing if a suicide bomber would blow them up. Sitting on the buses, we would loudly proclaim, “We are Christians, and we are here to say we stand with you!” That brought many smiles from passengers and some even clapped. 

Israelis have told me over the years that every Israeli knew someone who had been murdered or injured as a result of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. One friend shared how he had fought inner hatred toward terrorists when his teenagers took buses to their schools. He never knew if they would come home. It was stress on steroids for leaders, parents, children, and security forces in a Jewish population that for decades had only longed for and reached out repeatedly for peace.  

Figures vary as to how many Palestinians died during the Second Intifada, based on which entities list them. Some say 3,189 deaths, mostly of terrorists. Afterward, Israel was forced to enact strategic defensive measures to stop terrorists—who at the time could simply walk into Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, or elsewhere wearing a suicide vest. As a heartbreaking example, a Hamas-affiliated suicide bomber lurked outside the Dolphinarium Discotheque in Tel Aviv murdering 21 Israelis, sixteen of them teenagers.

In Bethlehem in 2001, during the Second Intifada, terrorists committed the sacrilegious act of commandeering the Church of the Nativity. At this site, revered by Christians worldwide as the traditional location of Jesus’ birth, they took as hostages about 60 priests, monks, and nuns—Armenian, Roman Catholic, and Greek Orthodox—who lived and administrated the church compound. In the 39-day siege, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) refused to enter the church so as not to damage or violate the Christian holy site. Numerous negotiations and encounters finally ended it. Afterward, priests told stories of terrorist beatings, intimidation, tearing up Bibles for toilet paper, and stealing valuable sacred objects. The outcry about the siege reverberated across the Christian world. 

No checkpoints existed before the Intifada. But afterward they became a necessity, along with electronic fencing flanked by paved pathways, barbed-wire fences, and trenches. They included non-lethal shocks and video monitoring. Most anti-Israel activists protest the “Apartheid Wall,” which Israelis call the “Separation Wall.” It’s a handy photo op for protesters who claim that the wall totally encircles Bethlehem, imprisoning those who live there.  It does not. One side of the structure was built in 2002 because Palestinian snipers were killing Jewish drivers along a major highway. 

Despite the continual conflicts, Bethlehem is the burial place of Jacob’s beloved wife Rachel, the adopted home of Ruth the Moabite who married Boaz the Bethlehemite, and the birthplace of King David. These examples and many others authenticate the rich Jewish presence and heritage within this ancient town. The biblical significance of Bethlehem is undeniable. 

In closing, Reverend Dr. Dean Haun, Senior Pastor of the First Baptist Church in Morristown, Tennessee, is authoring a book entitled The Christmas Prophecies. In it he shares the meaning of the town’s name, Bethlehem. “Its name comes from two Hebrew words. ‘Beit’ means ‘house.’ ‘Lechem’ means ‘bread.’ Together ‘Beit-lechem’ (Bethlehem) means the ‘House of Bread.’ Jesus declared in John 6:35: ‘I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.’ The Bread of Life was born in the House of Bread.”

This Christmas, let’s continue to pray for Israelis as Palestinian terror remains a serious threat, and let’s also pray for Arab Christians living in Bethlehem and other Palestinian areas:

• Pray for safety for Arab Christians who live in Bethlehem and other Palestinian-controlled towns.
• Pray with appreciation for the witness of Arab Christians who are diligently representing Jesus and the Gospel message to their neighbors. 
• Pray for God’s continued protection over Israel as the entire populations still faces ongoing COVID-19 lockdowns. 
• Pray for God’s love, peace, and mercy to be extended to the Palestinian people. 

On this special day, as we celebrate the birth of the Messiah, let us reflect on these words found in the Book of Isaiah: “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6). 

Arlene Bridges Samuels pioneered Christian outreach for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).  After she served nine years on AIPAC’s staff, International Christian Embassy Jerusalem USA engaged her as Outreach Director part-time for their project, American Christian Leaders for Israel. Arlene is now an author at The Blogs-Times of Israel and has traveled to Israel 25 times. She co-edited The Auschwitz Album Revisited by Artist Pat Mercer Hutchens and sits on the board of Violins of Hope South Carolina. Arlene has attended Israel’s Government Press Office Christian Media Summit three times and hosts her devotionals, The Eclectic Evangelical, on her website at ArleneBridgesSamuels.com.

By Marc Turnage

Bethlehem gains its notoriety as the birthplace of Jesus (Matthew 2:1; Luke 2:1-7); however, by the time of Jesus’ birth, the village already had quite a history. Bethlehem first appears in the Amarna Letters (14th century B.C.) as a Canaanite town. Its name comes from this period and means “house” or temple (“beth”) of Lahmu, a Canaanite deity; it did not, as is commonly assumed, mean “house of bread.” Bethlehem played an important role in the Old Testament, as it was the home of David (1 Samuel 16). 

Bethlehem’s location along the central watershed route that ran north-south through the Hill Country accounts for much of its importance. Located five-and-a-half miles south of Jerusalem and thirteen-and-a-half miles north of Hebron, it served as a major juncture of roads coming from east and west that connected to the watershed route. Its strategic position and close proximity to Jerusalem led Rehoboam, king of Judah, to fortify it as part of his defenses of Judah. So, too, Herod the Great built his palace fortress Herodium to the east of Bethlehem, guarding a road that ascended to the Hill Country from En Gedi in the first century B.C. 

Bethlehem sat at the eastern end of the Elah Valley (1 Samuel 17), whose western end opened onto the Coastal Plain, the land of the Philistines. Thus, when the Philistines moved into the Elah Valley (1 Samuel 17), Bethlehem was their goal, which explains the interest of Jessie and his son David in the conflict taking place in the valley. During the wars between David and the Philistines, the Philistines eventually set up a garrison at Bethlehem (2 Samuel 23:14-16; 1 Chronicles 11:16), indicating David’s struggles to control the major roadways of his kingdom. 

David’s connection to Bethlehem derived, in part, from its location within the tribal territory of Judah, in which it was the northernmost settlement of Judah (Judges 19:11-12). In the fields around Bethlehem, David’s ancestors Boaz and Ruth met, and the prophet Samuel anointed David in Bethlehem, at the home of his father Jessie (1 Samuel 16). 

In the first century, Bethlehem remained a small town on the southern edge of Jerusalem. The proximity of these two locations is seen in the stories of Jesus’ birth (Matthew 2 and Luke 2:1-38). Early Christian traditions, as well as the earliest Christian artwork, depict the birth of Jesus within a cave in Bethlehem. Homes in the Hill Country often incorporated natural caves into the structure. Animals could be kept within the cave, having the main living space of the family separated from the animals by a row of mangers. 

Following the Bar Kochba Revolt (A.D. 132-136), the Romans expelled Jews from Bethlehem and its vicinity as part of their expulsion of Jews from Jerusalem, which was renamed Aelia Capitolina. The Emperor Hadrian built a pagan sanctuary to Adonis above the cave identified as the birthplace of Jesus. The church father Tertullian confirmed that at the end of the second century A.D. no Jews remained in Bethlehem. 

In the fourth century, the Emperor Constantine—as part of his move toward Christianity—built three churches in Palestine (which is the name the Romans called the land at this time). One, the Church of the Nativity, he built in Bethlehem over the traditional site of Jesus’ birthplace. Begun in A.D. 326, the church incorporated the traditional cave identified as Jesus’ birthplace into the building. St. Jerome came to Bethlehem and lived in caves around the church at the end of the fourth century to learn Hebrew from the local Jewish population, so he could translate the Old Testament from Hebrew into Latin (the Vulgate). A Samaritan revolt in 529 partially destroyed the Constantinian church. The Emperor Justinian ordered its rebuilding, which the modern Church of Nativity reflects with minor modifications.

Very little archaeological work has been done in Bethlehem. Most comes from around the Church of the Nativity, but no systematic excavations have been carried out. The modern city of Bethlehem impedes the ability of much archaeological activity; thus, very little is known about Bethlehem’s archaeological past. 

Marc Turnage is President/CEO of Biblical Expeditions. He is an authority on ancient Judaism and Christian origins. He has published widely for both academic and popular audiences. His most recent book, Windows into the Bible, was named by Outreach Magazine as one of its top 100 Christian living resources. Marc is a widely sought-after speaker and a gifted teacher. He has been guiding groups to the lands of the Bible—Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Turkey, Greece, and Italy—for over twenty years.

Website: WITBUniversity.com  
Facebook: @witbuniversity
Podcast: Windows into the Bible Podcast

Then the angel said to them, “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 this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.” 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 2:10-14 NKJV) 

When we think about God’s redemption, we often focus on what it means to us. It’s a reflection of our Western, individualistic outlook. The Bible always looks at redemption with God at the center; it’s His doing. His people reap the benefits of His action, but He redeems. He displays His glory and greatness in bringing redemption to His people.

The angelic proclamation to the shepherds announced the good news of God’s redemption (Luke 2:10). His redemption has come to all people, but God is glorified. The angels announce three things in their message to the shepherds: God’s glory, His peace, and His favor. Ancient Judaism often identified the period of God’s redemption as reflective of these three words: God’s glory, His peace, and His favor. The angelic message announced that, in the birth of Jesus, God was fulfilling His promises to His people.

Their message centered on God. When Jesus grew up, He spoke about the kingdom of Heaven (God), which better translates as “God’s rule (or reign).” The recognition of God as king stood at the heart of Jesus’ message. Before we too quickly focus on what this means for us, we need to recognize that God’s redemption is about Him: His glory, His peace, His favor.

The sign of true spiritual maturity is progressing beyond what God can do for me (and how my spiritual life benefits me) to beginning to look at how we can bring God’s glory, peace, and favor into other people’s lives. In sending Jesus, God drew near; His glory is revealed. When we live our lives submitted to Him and loving others, striving to bring His glory, peace, and favor into their lives, His glory shines throughout the world and the good news of His redemption is proclaimed. 

PRAYER

Father, make us vessels of Your glory, peace, and favor to all humankind during this season. May our lives proclaim Your redemption for all people. Amen.

By Mark Gerson

We Jews have a concept of the lamed vavnik—that there are 36 people in every generation upon whom the world rests. My family has been deeply fortunate to know many of them. These are the Christian missionary doctors whom we know through the foundation we established 10 years ago, African Mission Healthcare, which partners with them to provide clinical care, infrastructure, and training in support of the African poor. These doctors live and work in conditions most people in the U.S. would consider impossible—making sacrifices that would otherwise be unimaginable—in order to live their Christian faith by bringing care to those who need it most. The Christian Broadcasting Network has been an extraordinary partner and friend in this work. 

Whether at the end of a day observing their work in Africa or conversing in the dining room of our Manhattan apartment when they are visiting the United States, my wife (a rabbi) and I always ask each missionary the same question. We have spent the day (or the evening) with you, we say, but we have not heard anything that most people would consider the “missionary” aspect of your work. You sacrifice everything to serve the poor in the name of Jesus Christ—but we have not heard you try to convince anyone to adopt your faith. How, then, do you conceive of the missionary aspect of your work? 

One missionary told me something I’ll always remember—he said one can only have that conversation with someone who asks you: “Why do you care so much?” This question only comes after the kind of deep and sustained engagement that leads one to ask that question. 

Similarly, other missionaries told us they are doing what Jesus would want them to or they are trying to imitate Christ, and by doing so, people sometimes ask them questions about what is leading them to such a life of productive sacrifice. 

One thing no missionary has ever said is that a successful missionary opens a conversation or begins a relationship by trying to share the Good News. That conversation can happen, but only after a relationship that begins in admiration and gratitude has already started. 

I was recalling these conversations today while studying the upcoming parsha (i.e. Torah reading)—Miketz. The Pharaoh had a disturbing set of dreams in which seven healthy cows get swallowed by seven sickly ones and then seven healthy sheaves of wheat get swallowed by seven sickly sheaves. He knew these dreams were significant and called in the magicians of Egypt to interpret them for him. We are not told what these interpretations were, but none satisfied him. 

The Pharaoh’s cupbearer told his boss he had been in prison with a “young Hebrew” who was a remarkable dream interpreter. The Pharaoh summoned this young Hebrew who, unlike the Egyptians, understood the concept of time (as physician and educator Leon Kass points out). The young Hebrew told the Pharaoh that Egypt was about to experience seven years of plenty followed by seven years of famine, suggested that the Pharaoh appoint a “discerning and wise man” to administer the situation, and produced a plan the administrator could execute. 

The young Hebrew—the young Jew—is, of course, Joseph.

There are many interesting and instructive lessons within Joseph’s interpretation. Rabbi Efrem Goldberg shows how Joseph, in his interpretation, “name drops” God several times. The Pharaoh does not ask about God; there is no reason to think that the Pharaoh even knew God. Joseph, as Rabbi Goldberg shows, is educating the Pharaoh about God—not by telling him directly—but by showing how God, working through Joseph, can solve the Pharaoh’s problem. And it works. The Pharaoh, upon hearing Joseph’s interpretation, announces to his servants: “Could we find another like this—a man in whom there is the spirit of God?” 

We Jews do not have missionaries like our Christian brethren do. We welcome converts, but it is not our mission to convert anyone to Judaism—and so we never try. But we are missionaries in a different sense. As Rabbi Shlomo Riskin says, Abraham was “the consummate missionary practicing ethical monotheism wherever he went.” We are called to be missionaries for God and His message of ethical monotheism, which people can seek in any number of ways and faiths. 

However one conceives of missionary responsibility, Joseph shows us how it is done. It is by learning the needs of the other, understanding the problems of the other—and working to fulfill those needs and solve those problems—that enables the larger conversation to be welcome. It is also by interpreting one’s dreams and giving helpful advice, helping others find their passion and mission in life, and giving advice as to how to live out that dream. It is through admirable action that others become inspired, and it is through the curiosity that accompanies such inspiration that opens the missionary conversation—one that started with Joseph and continues with the lamed vavnik we have come to know through our work with African Mission Healthcare.

Mark Gerson, a devoted Jew, is an entrepreneur and philanthropist who (along with his wife, Rabbi Erica Gerson) is perhaps the world’s largest individual supporter of Christian medical missions. He is the co-founder of African Mission Healthcare (AMH) and the author of a forthcoming book on the Haggadah: The Telling: How Judaism’s Essential Book Reveals the Meaning of Life.  

Website: therabbishusband.com
Twitter: @markgerson
Podcast: The Rabbi’s Husband

By Arlene Bridges Samuels

Although the eight days of Hanukkah festivities are ending, seasonal miracles are continuing to spread light across the Middle East. When Israeli children play dreidel games, the Hebrew phrase, “A great miracle happened here” is ever-present. Each dreidel (spinning top) is stamped with Hebrew letters that stand for “A great miracle happened here” (in Hebrew, Nes Gadol Haya Sham).  It signifies the outnumbered Maccabees’ stunning victory over King Antiochus IV’s tyranny in 164 B.C., followed by the Festival of Dedication or Lights. The Hebrew name Maccabees, meaning “hammer,” can describe reshaping or forging something new. Unlike the heroic Maccabees’ ancient war against pagan oppression—fought to preserve their people and their religious freedom—today’s eight-day tradition of Hanukkah gift-giving is forging the wide-ranging gift of peace.

Today, the great miracle happening in the Middle East began under the visionary leadership of President Donald Trump. On August 13, 2020, he announced the momentous Abraham Accords, a peace agreement designed to forge normal relations between Israel and Arab nations.  The name of the agreement honors Abraham, the recognized patriarch of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

On September 15, President Trump hosted a ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House, with leaders from Israel, United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Bahrain signing the first historic accord. Since then, Sudan and Morocco have also committed to the Abraham Accords, with more nations expected to join in. A modern miracle, indeed.

The opening paragraph of the Abraham Accords declaration states, “We, the undersigned, recognize the importance of maintaining and strengthening peace in the Middle East and around the world based on mutual understanding and coexistence, as well as respect for human dignity and freedom, including religious freedom.” Since August, the miracles are manifesting themselves in the key phrases of the declaration already extending into Hanukkah 2020. 

One sign of the rapidly growing ties between Israel and UAE is the construction of a 12-foot public menorah at Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world.  Hanukkah lights have filled the skies each night as celebrants enjoy food and parties. Another positive sign: 28 commercial and 10 cargo flights scheduled weekly between the two nations. These flights are a significant indication that the UAE has abandoned its Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) policies—which amounted to longstanding economic warfare against Israel. By joining the Abraham Accords, Arab nations indicate they are no longer economically boycotting Israel. 

In October, UAE officials and Prime Minister Netanyahu held a signing ceremony at Israel’s Ben Gurion airport where Netanyahu announced, “We are exempting our nationals from visas and this will offer a huge boost to business, tourism, and people-to-people contacts.  The mutual trade and exchange of goods, services, technology, and knowledge will benefit immeasurably not only our two countries but the Middle East as a whole.” 

Both nations have set up direct telephone services. Intelligence and security discussions began quickly between Mossad’s Director Yossi Cohen and Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed, the UAE’s National Security Advisor. At a recent Israel-Dubai conference in UAE, Emirates Economy Minister Abdullah ben Tuk Al-Ameri remarked, “I am sure the agreement is a turning point for the entire Middle East.” He added that Israel and UAE will prosper through investments and trade amounting to billions of dollars in the future. 

Since Bahrain, another Gulf nation, joined UAE at the momentous September 15 signing ceremony at the White House, Israel and Bahrain are set to open embassies in both nations. In addition, electronic visas began to be issued on December 1 and air travel will take off in 2021. 

The Gulf kingdom’s foreign minister, Abdullatif Al-Zayani, described the agreement as “a warm peace that will deliver clear benefits to our peoples.” A Bahraini-Israeli trade council is being set up, along with academic ties between Bahraini and Israeli universities. In early December, Bahrain reached out to Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi to attend the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) Manama Dialogue. Manama is Bahrain’s capital. 

The prestigious IISS describes itself as “an international Research Institute that provides objective information on military geopolitical and geo-economic developments that could lead to conflict.” Israel’s participation is a solid sign of cooperation, since Israel is a global leader in defense and security. Both Israel and the Middle East Arab nations stay acutely alarmed about the Iranian threat.

Despite such momentous achievements, it’s important to note that forging and implementing new agreements among nations is not a perfect process. Sudan’s entry into the Abraham Accords on October 23 posed convoluted issues. The nation of Sudan is trying to rebuild after suffering under former President Omar al-Bashir’s 20-year reign of terror. In April 2019, the Sudanese people finally overthrew him. Yet several dilemmas may cause Sudan to withdraw from the Accords. 

First, Bashir’s terrorism drove 6,200 Sudanese refugees to flee to Israel. Complications have arisen over whether Israel will try to repatriate the Sudanese back to their homeland, but the refugees claim parts of their country remain dangerous.  Because that nation is economically desperate, an Israeli delegation visited Sudan in November and held lengthy discussions with officials about agriculture and water. Israel and the UAE sent $5 million of wheat as a goodwill gesture. 

Also at issue is whether the U.S. Congress will approve delisting Sudan from the State Sponsors of Terrorism (SST) designation. The United States agreed to do so in its negotiations, but if Congress reneges, Sudan has threated to withdraw from the Abraham Accords. The removal of the SST designation would open doors for foreign investments to help the nation stabilize and recover from the appalling reign of their deposed dictator.

Morocco is the latest member of the Middle East miracle. On December 10—the first day of Hanukkah—President Trump announced that Morocco was joining the Abraham Accords, making it the fourth Arab nation to do so since September 2020. 

Morocco and its large Jewish community had enjoyed centuries of relative harmony, including decades of interaction with the modern state of Israel. In 1956 Morocco declared its independence from France. Then in 1963, upwards of 100,000 Moroccan Jews began immigrating to Israel while keeping their genial cultural identity with Morocco. In 2000, though, Morocco suspended most of its ties with Israel when the Palestinians’ Second Intifada (uprising) erupted. Morocco sided with the Palestinians. However, the Abraham Accords have opened the channels again and Morocco is redeveloping its ties with the Jewish state.  

Last week, during the traditional menorah lighting at Jerusalem’s Western Wall, Prime Minister Netanyahu again thanked President Trump for his outstanding leadership in his Hanukkah announcement about Morocco. Accompanied by U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Freidman, Mr. Netanyahu recalled, “Everybody knows the tremendous friendship shown by the kings of Morocco and the people of Morocco to the Jewish community there. … These Moroccan Jews came to Israel and they form a human bridge between our two countries and our two peoples—of sympathy, of respect, of fondness and love.” Mr. Netanyahu also remarked, “This will be a very warm peace. On this Hanukkah, the light of peace has never shone brighter than today in the Middle East.”

An unnamed Israeli diplomat commented to the Arab Al-Monitor news, “Friends of mine in Morocco told me yesterday they cried in happiness when they heard the news.” 

Here’s a tiny sample of the Abraham Accords’ version of bilateral Hanukkah gift-giving already taking place: 

• Israel will maintain Gulf State airplanes at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv. 
• Dubai and Israel diamond exchanges are setting up offices in each nation. 
• Cooperation is rapidly increasing in tourism, sports, culture, science, and technology between UAE and Bahrain—the first signers—and Israel. 
• Israeli agricultural technology will help the Gulf States overcome their water and crop shortages. (UAE currently imports 80 percent of its food.) 
• For the first time in an Arab nation, Bahrain’s schools will teach Jewish history and culture. 

Last week, President and Mrs. Trump hosted their annual Hanukkah party in the East Room at the White House. Among his comments, President Trump spoke of “the miracle that kept the flames of the menorah burning in the Second Temple for eight nights.” He further observed, “The candle-lighting tradition … is rooted in perseverance and faith—two virtues that are indicative of the Jewish culture and the Jewish faith.” 

Well said, Mr. President. Happy Hanukkah to you and your administration for giving Israel and the Middle East the gifts of peace and hope that are reshaping the lives of millions. Hanukkah might transition into a years-long Middle East festival where great miracles will continue to happen there! 

Join CBN Israel in the waning days of Hanukkah 2020 recalling Genesis 18:18 (NIV): “Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him.”

• Pray with thankfulness that we live at a time in world history to witness the Abraham Accords. 
• Pray that God would bless President Trump and his administration for working toward unprecedented peace through the Abraham Accords.
• Pray that God would give Prime Minister Netanyahu and the Israeli government wisdom as they continue to strive for peace in the region.
• Pray for the citizens of Sudan who have suffered terrible traumas. Pray for God’s mercy upon them and that the Abraham Accords will go forward on their behalf. 
• Pray for additional Arab nations to join the Abraham Accords to forge deeper ties across the Middle East. 

Let’s reflect together on the words of Psalm 22:27 (NASB): “All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations will worship before You.” 

Arlene Bridges Samuels pioneered Christian outreach for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). After she served nine years on AIPAC’s staff, International Christian Embassy Jerusalem USA engaged her as Outreach Director part-time for their project, American Christian Leaders for Israel. Arlene is now an author at The Blogs-Times of Israel and has traveled to Israel 25 times. She co-edited The Auschwitz Album Revisited by Artist Pat Mercer Hutchens and sits on the board of Violins of Hope South Carolina. Arlene has attended Israel’s Government Press Office Christian Media Summit three times and hosts her devotionals, The Eclectic Evangelical, on her website at ArleneBridgesSamuels.com.

By Marc Turnage

The site of Beersheva figures prominently within the Patriarchal stories of the Old Testament, particularly with Abraham. It also became the defining limit of the southern extent of the kingdom of Israel, from Dan to Beersheva (1 Samuel 3:20; 17:11; 24:2; 1 Kings 4:25). According to Genesis (21:31), the name of the place derived from an oath between Abraham and Abimelech; the name Beersheva means “the well of the oath.” 

The ancient tel (mound) of Beersheva sits in the Beersheva Valley, east of the modern city of Beersheva in the western part of the biblical Negev. When the Bible refers to the Negev, it means the valley that runs east-west across the southern Hill Country. This valley is known as the Arad-Beersheva valley. The lands south of this valley, the wilderness of Zin (Numbers 20) and the wilderness of Paran (Numbers 10:12; 12:16; 13:3, 26), lay outside of biblical Israel. This can confuse modern travelers to Israel because the land from the Beersheva Valley south to the Gulf of Elat is identified as the Negev today, and it resides within the modern State of Israel, yet the land south of the Beersheva Valley, the biblical Negev, lay outside the biblical land of Israel. 

Beersheva functioned as an important hub between Egypt and the Judean Hill Country. It also served as a juncture for east-west trade routes. Its important location, along major roadways, underscores its importance within the biblical stories, especially the Patriarchal stories, since, as nomadic herdsmen, the Patriarchs moved between the Judean Hill Country, the Negev, and Egypt.

From Beersheva, Abraham sent Hagar and Ishmael into the wilderness of Beersheva, after the birth of Isaac (Genesis 21:8-20). God revealed himself to the Patriarchs at Beersheva (Genesis 26:24-25; 46:1-2); it continued to function as a place of religious activity, even into the periods of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. The prophet Amos condemned the pagan rites held at Beersheva, along with those at Dan, Bethel, and Gilgal (Amos 5:5; 8:14). Archaeological excavations uncovered a four-horn altar at Beersheva made of hewn stone, which God forbade in the Torah. This altar had been dismantled in antiquity, most likely due to the religious-political reforms of King Hezekiah. 

Abraham and Isaac both struggled with Abimelech, king of Gerar, over water rights in the region (Genesis 21:22-34; 26:15-33). Samuel’s sons, Joel and Abijah, judged Israel from Beersheva (1 Samuel 8:1-2). The city belonged in the tribal territory of Judah and Simeon (Joshua 15:28; 19:2; 1 Chronicles 4:28). The prophet Elijah passed through Beersheva on his journey to Mount Horeb when he fled from Queen Jezebel (1 Kings 19:3). Upon the return of the Judean exiles from Babylonian captivity, Beersheva served as the southernmost point of settlement by the Judeans who returned to the land, “from Beersheva to the valley of Hinnom [which is in Jerusalem]” (Nehemiah 11:30). 

The current ancient site of Beersheva preserves a city from the mid-twelfth century to the end of the eighth century B.C. This time period coincides with the period of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. Nothing at the site dates to the period of the Patriarchs. The city served as an administrative center; the houses of the city, built one next to the other, formed the city wall by the back wall of the houses. Large storehouses, for the storing of grain, were uncovered attesting to the region’s agricultural potential, as well as a land for grazing flocks of sheep and goats. The water-system proves rather ingenious as rain was captured and funneled into the large water cistern, which provided water for the city year-round. Outside the ancient gate complex sits a well, which remembers the name of the site and the story of Abraham and Abimelech’s oath.

Marc Turnage is President/CEO of Biblical Expeditions. He is an authority on ancient Judaism and Christian origins. He has published widely for both academic and popular audiences. His most recent book, Windows into the Bible, was named by Outreach Magazine as one of its top 100 Christian living resources. Marc is a widely sought-after speaker and a gifted teacher. He has been guiding groups to the lands of the Bible—Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Turkey, Greece, and Italy—for over twenty years.

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