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Bringing Fresh Food and Produce to Israelis in Need

It’s hard to function well when you’re battling hunger. Yet, in Israel today, 20 percent of the population suffers from nutritional insecurity. Sadly, the most vulnerable tend to be the elderly, children, at-risk youth, and single parent families, usually living below the poverty line.

For many, it means skipping meals, going to bed hungry, or eating cheap, processed foods high in sugar and fat. This can lead to poor health, malnutrition, diabetes, and obesity. And low-income families often can’t afford fresh fruits and vegetables that are high in nutritional value. 

Meanwhile, according to a recent report, 2.2 billion pounds of nutritious food are wasted each year in Israel, even as 522,000 families struggle to put healthy meals on the table. In fact, 35 percent of all food produced in Israel ends up destroyed and not consumed, adding to environmental problems of waste disposal. Is there a smart way to solve both issues?

Fortunately, friends like you are an important part of a sustainable solution. Through CBN Israel’s strategic partnership with one of the country’s largest food banks, caring donors are rescuing quality foods, fruits, and vegetables that would otherwise go to waste, and bringing them to households that desperately need them.

This valuable project mobilizes tens of thousands of volunteers, hires professional pickers, and deploys drivers and vehicles to collect excess produce from fields, orchards, and packing houses. The rescued produce is then redistributed free of charge to partner non-profit organizations that bring it to local families and individuals.

And this is just one of the ways your gifts to CBN Israel can help those trying to survive in the Holy Land during these challenging times. You can supply groceries, housing, and other essentials to soaring numbers of refugees, Holocaust survivors, and war victims.

Please join us in reaching out to the people of Israel at this crucial time!

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Simchat Torah: Celebrating the Torah

By Julie Stahl

“For seven days you must present special gifts to the LORD. The eighth day is another holy day on which you present your special gifts to the LORD. This will be a solemn occasion, and no ordinary work may be done that day” (Leviticus 23:36 NLT).

On the day following the seven days of Sukkot, Simchat Torah is celebrated, which literally means, “rejoicing with the Torah.” The Bible says on that day to have another “holy convocation” on which sacrifices are offered to the Lord and no work is permitted.

Simchat Torah is a celebration marking the conclusion of the annual cycle of public Torah readings, and the beginning of a new cycle.

Simchat Torah is a component of the biblical Jewish holiday of Shemini Atzeret (“Eighth Day of Assembly”), which follows immediately after the festival of Sukkot in the month of Tishrei (mid-September to early October on the Gregorian calendar).

Every year, synagogues read through the entire Torah in designated weekly portions. The yearly reading cycle ends with Deuteronomy and begins again in Genesis on the day of Simchat Torah.

“We read the Torah in a continuous cycle, because the circle is both a symbol of eternity and equality. Just as God is eternal, the Torah is also eternal. Just as God created all humanity in His image, we too must treat all humanity accordingly,” Rabbi Welton says.

“There’s an ancient Jewish custom to dance for hours around the bima (“lectern”) on Simchat Torah in a circle symbolizing the eternity of the Torah and its Author,” he adds. It’s also common in Israel for many to dance in the streets.

In Israel, both Simchat Torah and Shemini Atzeret are celebrated on the same day, while outside of Israel in the Diaspora, they are celebrated as two days—first Shemini Atzeret, then Simchat Torah.

According to Rabbi Welton, Simchat Torah is not mentioned in the Talmud and only appears during the Middle Ages in historical contexts.

Julie Stahl is a correspondent for CBN News in the Middle East. A Hebrew speaker, she has been covering news in Israel full-time for more than 20 years. Julie’s life as a journalist has been intertwined with CBN—first as a graduate student in Journalism at Regent University; then as a journalist with Middle East Television (METV) when it was owned by CBN from 1989-91; and now with the Middle East Bureau of CBN News in Jerusalem since 2009. She is also an integral part of CBN News’ award-winning show, Jerusalem Dateline, a weekly news program providing a biblical and prophetic perspective to what is happening in Israel and the Middle East.

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Victim of Terrorism: Jenia’s Story

In the crossfire of the Ukraine war, Jenia lived her worst nightmare in a moment—watching her husband die right in front of her in a rocket attack. Devastated, this elderly widow fled to Israel, making Aliyah to become a citizen and start over in a new country by herself.

She settled in Kiryat Gat near the Israel-Gaza border, but arrived with nothing, and needed help to get furniture, a washing machine, and other essentials. To make matters worse, since the October 7 invasion and attacks, she was now caught in the middle of another war and suffers from post-traumatic stress. Who could she turn to?

Jenia is so grateful that friends like you were there for her. Through CBN Israel, caring donors provided her with basic furniture and a new washing machine. They are also delivering nutritious groceries to her, which helps stretch her budget. And as Jenia deals with the horrors of war and losing her husband, they are offering her counseling and trauma care.

“Thank you so much for your help!” Jenia exclaimed. “I lost everything and felt so alone. But your kindness has been such a blessing to me as I try to rebuild my life.”

Your generous gifts to CBN Israel can be a blessing to others who are struggling and feel alone. You can bring vital assistance to immigrant families, Holocaust survivors, single moms, and terror victims. Because of you, they will receive the aid and compassion they need right now.

And as the war with Iran and its terror proxies continues, the needs are soaring. Your support can provide crucial food, shelter, and financial assistance to those who are hurting—while reporting on headlines stories from the Holy Land.

Please join us at this critical time!

GIVE TODAY

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On October 7, CBN Israel Immediately Pivoted to War and Terror Relief Mode

By Nicole Jansezian

Israelis marked one year since the unprecedented attacks and atrocities committed by Hamas terrorists on October 7 which altered the landscape of Israel perhaps permanently.

With 1,200 people killed, 251 kidnapped—101 of whom are still being held in Gaza—and a continuing war on seven different fronts, Israelis are still living the nightmare.

The scope of the tragedy took weeks to unfold. But at the very beginning CBN Israel switched gears from its regular humanitarian assistance and broadened its support to meet the new and immediate needs of the victims.

While the entire county was still under attack, a team from CBN Israel was in Eilat on October 11 helping evacuate residents of kibbutzim and cities in the south that had come under direct attack and were still experiencing non-stop rocket fire.

In many cases, this was the first opportunity many of the residents had to share their “October 7 story” while still shaking from fear and anxiety.

CBN Israel rescued nearly 3,000 people from the frontlines, subsidizing hotels in safe cities while the country regrouped and got back on its feet.

Before long, the need for immediate trauma intervention became apparent. CBN Israel hosted several workshops to teach field workers how to initiate the Immediate Stabilization Protocol, a method effectively being used in Ukraine in a program sponsored by Regent University.

In addition to ISP classes, CBN Israel partnered with the Israel Trauma Coalition to extend its reach. CBN Israel sponsored a mobile therapy unit that would reach evacuees at their hotels.

In November, CBN Israel joined with the beleaguered residents of Kibbutz Be’eri—evacuated to the Dead Sea—to march for the hostages. The kibbutz had 30 of its 1,100 residents abducted to Gaza on October 7 and more than 100 killed.

CBN Israel also recognized the spike in need for food, including hot meals, preparing and distributing 236,190 and delivering 43,000 food packages to the needy across the country. The organization also distributed thousands of lunches and water through a food truck that visited the displaced communities—some daily for months.

Talya Baruchi, a resident of the evacuated Maagalim, said this became a comfort to her during a period of uncertainty.

“We can see their logo everywhere around the hotel,” she said. “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.”

CBN Israel also worked with an events company to hold 30 events featuring the Superbook movie, in Hebrew, along with bouncy castles and carnival for the displaced children giving them a few moments to disconnect from the war.

As the war impacted the north as well, CBN Israel sponsored 14 new bomb shelters and renovated 48.

“This really, really saves lives. The work you are doing here is not peripheral, it’s not a luxury item, it’s not something extra,” Hatzor Haglilit Mayor Michael Kebasa said. “It’s lifesaving.”

Amid these new emergencies brought on by the war, CBN Israel also focused on individual assistance helping those who were impacted directly by war whether through medical emergencies, clothing, and even back-to-school supplies nearly a year after the war started.

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.

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Weekly Devotional: Cries from the Depths

Out of the depths I have cried to you, O Lord. Lord, hear my voice! Let Your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications! (Psalm 130:1-2 NKJV)

Have you ever found yourself in the depths of despair—where everything around you seems to be crashing down? Real despair, where the situation seems hopeless?

In those moments, our despair, circumstances, and pains seem draining, and crying out to God feels hopeless, exhausting, and worthless.

The psalmist was there: “Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord. Lord, hear my voice!” Being in the depths overwhelms us—our energy, our senses, our stability. And in those moments, finding the trust to cry out to God becomes our greatest act of faith. The cry from the depths to God assumes He is there to answer and will answer.

The question comes to us in a myriad of different ways, “Has God really said?” “Is He really there?” The depths of our despair amplify such questions. Yet will we trust God and cry out to Him in our moments of pain and struggle?

Job did not receive the answer to the question he asked of God. But God answered Job. That is what matters: that God answers our cries. The causes of our despair—the “whys” and the “how comes” of our despair—are rarely answered. But God answers. His ears are attentive to our cries.

Faith means trust. The author of Hebrews claimed that without trust we cannot please God. These difficult and agonizing moments in our lives give us the unique opportunity to trust that He exists and that He rewards those who seek Him (Hebrews 11:6).

When we find ourselves in the depths of despair, trusting God seems impossible. Our circumstances may even challenge our trust in His existence.

Trusting God does not mean “we fake it until we make it” or put on our “happy, faith face.”

Trusting God is crying out to Him from the depths, pleading for His attention. These cries trust that there is One who listens and answers.

Circumstances may not immediately change. Yet, we trust a God who hears our cries and will not leave us in the depths forever. And we can never forget: He not only hears us in our depths, He hears the cries of others in their depths, too.

PRAYER

Father, we trust You to answer and hear our cries. Do not be deaf to our voice but hear us from the depths and answer. Amen.

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The Light Holding Back the Darkness

By Arlene Bridges Samuels

Two key facts of past and contemporary history connecting U.S. military personnel and the Israel Defense Forces are well worth mentioning. Israel’s stunning operation in Lebanon between September 17–20 was so brilliant, and frankly unbelievable, that it matched or exceeded 007’s film exploits.

The IDF’s strategy was to weaponize “old school” electronic pagers and walkie-talkies (used only by terrorists) by activating them against leading Hezbollah fanatics and the fighters who used them. The numbers of killed and wounded terrorists are still rising, with speculations and reports blowing up in the media. Realizing that Hezbollah was set to ramp up its hate and terrorist activities against the Jewish nation, Israel’s military intelligence launched a wide scale bombardment of rocket and missile launchers that is now well underway.

Isaac Herzog, president of Israel, revealed that “senior commanders of the Radwan force were in the middle of planning an invasion into northern Galilee.” Radwan is the elite Hezbollah force founded by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in the early 1980s. At the time of last week’s detonation, its 16 Hezbollah leaders were meeting in the same underground room in Beirut. 

One extraordinary fact has materialized: Israel has eliminated terrorist Ibrahim Aqil, one of Hezbollah’s highest-ranking members. In 1983, Aqil helped engineer the U.S. Marine barracks bombing in Beirut, Lebanon, killing 241 United States military personnel: 220 Marines, eighteen sailors, and three soldiers. Also in 1983, Aqil/Hezbollah bombed the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, killing 17 Americans. In the 41 years that Aqil has been on the run, the United States had a $7 million bounty for information about him.

The Israel Defense Forces have enacted justice for their nation, families, friends, and allies. 

The IDF is one of the bright lights shining amid the darkness of evil hanging over Israel and our world, while the Islamic Regime is fixated on rebuilding a dictatorial global caliphate.

Hezbollah said the so-called pager attack was “a massacre of pagers and radios.” It was not a massacre. It was a defensive act to defeat one of the vilest proxies backed by the Islamic Regime. It is called rightfulness—justice not only for the Americans murdered in 1983, but for the Hamas invasion, kidnappings, and hostage imprisonments (including Americans) in dark, putrid tunnels since October 7, 2023.

Most of the world has lost their bearings when it comes to recognizing the colossal difference between good and evil. The Islamic Regime and its surrogates are medieval in nature, with their beastly character and savage cruelty to victims—both within their own population and against Israel and others. While Iran accuses the IDF of violating international laws of war, the IDF—and the U.S. military—are the most humane fighting forces in the world.

The International Legal Forum (ILF) is composed of 4,000 lawyers in 40 countries who have advocated for Israel in legal battles since the October 7 Hamas massacre. These defenders of Israel combat terror and anti-Semitism in the international legal arena. ILF conducted an analysis about the pager attack. For context, it emphasizes the Hezbollah/Hamas connection as Iranian proxies to destroy Israel: 43 Jews and 12 Druze children in Majdal Shams murdered, and upwards of 100,000 Israelis displaced from the north. The report references United Nations Article 51, and Article 52 of the Geneva Convention agreeing that Israelis have the right to defend their country. Recall that Israel did not begin this war.

Because the electronic equipment was used by Hezbollah for military violations of international law, the IDF operation was targeting only Hezbollah, not civilians. ILF described it as “an extraordinary feat in modern warfare and textbook definition of a precision attack.” Israel used “principles of proportionality and distinction,” which Hamas and Hezbollah violate every time they attack civilians (including Arabs and Palestinians.) Since October 8, 2023, Hezbollah had fired more than 8,000 rockets and missiles into Israel, a number that is now dramatically increasing.

Globally, there are so many anti-Israel, anti-Jewish demonstrators at universities, on city streets, and in assemblies to deface buildings and statues of historic value, they attack Jews and glorify terrorists, hatred, and violence. Obviously with no interest in matters of international law, they accept satan’s language of lies rather than God’s language of truths. 

While writing this week’s column, I remembered an exquisite poem written by Hannah Szenes (Senesh), a Hungarian Jewish poetess and playwright. Her contrast between darkness and light inspired me.

“There are stars whose radiance is visible on earth though they have long been extinct. There are people whose brilliance continues to light the world even though they are no longer among the living. These lights are particularly bright when the night is dark. They light the way for humankind.”

I wonder if the poetess was thinking of Genesis 15:5-6, where God promises Abram that His descendants “will be more numerous than the stars in the sky.” And why am I highlighting Hannah, who made Aliyah to Israel in 1939? She became a Zionist in Hungary, then moved to her ancestral homeland. The modern state had not come into being yet. The British—who ruled the country under the British Mandate after World War I through May 14, 1948—called it Palestine. On that day, the biblically correct name Israel replaced Palestine and declared its modern reestablishment.   

The British recruited 32 Jewish volunteers who lived in “Palestine.” Hannah became a Special Operations Executive paratrooper for England during World War II. In a dangerous, clandestine operation, the British army sent these elite paratroopers behind German lines to rescue Hungarian Jews before they could be deported to Auschwitz in 1944. In one of Hannah’s missions, Nazis arrested her at the Hungarian border and discovered the British military transmitter she used to send radio messages via wireless. Imprisoned in Nazi-occupied Hungary, she was tortured for months to reveal the codes used in her transmitter so they could trap the other parachutists. Hannah gave only her name, unwilling to betray her colleagues. Convicted of treason, she was executed by firing squad on November 7, 1944, at the age of 23.

I highlight Hannah because she remains a national treasured Israeli heroine. The songs and poems she wrote, her diary, and her legendary life of self-sacrifice are still remembered. Her remains are buried in the Parachutists section of Israel’s military cemetery on Mount Herzl, Jerusalem. Her tombstone rests in Sdot Yam, the kibbutz where she first lived. Sdot Yam, beautifully situated on the Mediterranean near Haifa, is under threat today.

Hannah is one of the heroic Jewish stars described in her poem. I daresay, the IDF is lighting the way for the free world against the Islamic Regime that wants to steal our freedoms and impose their twisted way of life. Hannah’s “brilliance continues to light the world even though she is no longer among the living.” For the IDF—who now bravely sacrifice their lives—“they light the way for humankind.”

Like Hannah who used her British transmitter to communicate with her team to rescue the Hungarian Jews, the IDF does the same today. They brilliantly used pagers and walkie-talkies to eliminate the evildoers who want to kill them and destroy the world’s only Jewish homeland. Long Live Israel, Am Israel Chai, to Hannah and the modern IDF!

Join our CBN Israel team to pray for Israel during this world-changing war, remembering Psalm 147:4: He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name.”

Prayer Points

  • Pray for the IDF as they advance toward Lebanon to enact justice.
  • Pray for wisdom for Prime Minister Netanyahu and his security cabinet.
  • Pray for Lebanese Christians living under Hezbollah’s violence.
  • Pray for Israel’s citizens who are now refugees, displaced from their homes.
  • Pray for 500,000 Israelis forced to duck in and out of bomb shelters.

Arlene Bridges Samuels is the weekly feature columnist for CBN Israel since 2020. Working on the staff of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) as their SE Regional Outreach Director for nine years, International Christian Embassy Jerusalem USA engaged her as the Leadership Outreach Director part-time for their project American Christian Leaders for Israel. Arlene is an author at The Blogs-Times of Israel, is published at AllIsrael.com and The Jerusalem Connection, and has traveled to Israel since 1990. By invitation, she attends Israel’s Government Press Office Christian Media Summits as part of Christian media worldwide.  In 2024, Arlene and her husband Paul co-authored Mental Health Meltdown: Illuminating the Voices of Bipolar and Other Mental Illnesses. www.TheMentalHealthMeltdown.com.

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Saving Lives By Renovating Bomb Shelters

Recently, a team of CBN Israel volunteers went up north to the Galilee region to renovate a bomb shelter. Days later, attacks between Israel and Hezbollah suddenly intensified into an all-out war—making the need for these protective shelters even more urgent.

Hezbollah, an Iranian proxy, is based in southern Lebanon on the border with Israel—and it has an arsenal of 150,000 rockets, missiles, and drones aimed at the Jewish state. The terrorist organization has fired more than 8,000 rockets at Israel up until this current escalation.

And yet, many public bomb shelters in Israel desperately need repair. Due to years of neglect and disuse in calmer times, the plumbing needs to be fixed to make the bathrooms functional, and these safe places must be made ready if residents take refuge for extended periods of time.

Thankfully, friends like you were there, through CBN Israel’s partnership with Tenufa Bakehila. This group rehabilitates housing for underprivileged families—and since October 7, they have been renovating public bomb shelters in marginalized communities.

Meanwhile, 6 miles south of Lebanon’s border, the Israeli town of Hatzor Haglilit had dodged rockets and shrapnel for 11months. And now, they were under direct attack. But when they asked Tenufa Bakehila to help protect its 12,000 residents, their budget had just run out.

However, the next day, caring donors provided the funds to renovate their shelter! Plus, CBN Israel volunteers assisted in painting and repairing this shelter, located beneath an apartment building with 16 families. It will serve them and others nearby without shelters.

Residents thanked CBN Israel, and the mayor exclaimed, “The work you are doing here is not a luxury item. It is life-saving! With these renovations, we can stay here if needed for days.”

This is just one way your gifts to CBN Israel can offer crucial help to vulnerable Israelis. You can also bring food, housing, and essentials to others in need.

Please join us in reaching out to victims of war and terrorism!

GIVE TODAY

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An Israeli October: A Contrast of Anguish and Assurance

By Arlene Bridges Samuels

Last year, Israelis celebrated their new year (Rosh Hashanah, “head of the year”) on September 15–17. Happy holiday (chag sameach) greetings rang out while Jewish families dipped delicious apples into fresh honey, a symbol for a sweet new year. Yet just 22 days later, on October 7, the bitter fruit of terror buried itself into Jewish minds and hearts when Hamas terrorists launched a shocking invasion into the Jewish ancestral homeland.

This year, a series of Jewish observances in October begins with Rosh Hashanah on October 3–4, based on Israel’s lunar calendar for the year 5,785. Three days later, on October 7, the nation’s anguish will be amplified as Israel marks the unspeakable on its one-year anniversary. As of today, 101 hostages are still imprisoned, upwards of 100,000 Israelis are refugees in their own land, Israeli casualties stand at 1,660—all while the world’s biblically illiterate label Israel as the aggressor, not the victim.

Israelis will exert themselves as much as they possibly can to greet the new year while seated at Rosh Hashanah tables. Chairs that had once been filled with family and friends laughing, joking, cooking, and eating will be unoccupied. Other chairs will remain empty, representing Israelis murdered by terrorists who ingest the poison of hatred as IDF soldiers defend their nation in an eight-front war. The dreaded day—October 7, 2024—then arrives, where Israelis relive their trauma. The Israeli version of PTSD, post-traumatic stress disorder, should have a new name: perpetual traumatic stress disorder. Because it never ends. That fact remains a harsh reality, a mental health issue shared by almost everyone.

On October 12, Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, follows. On this, the holiest day on the Jewish calendar, Israel shuts down amid prayer and fasting. Israelis cannot help but wonder if an act of terror will happen again on this holy day. After all, it was on October 6, 1973, that Egyptian and Syrian forces surprised Israel with an attack—also on Yom Kippur. Miraculously, the IDF repelled them.

Sukkot, the Feast of Tabernacles, is next in line, celebrated from October 17 to 23. For this fall harvest festival, Israelis build temporary shelters, some in grassy yards or perched on their apartment balconies, and gaily decorate them for meals and sleepovers. Sukkot is a remembrance of Israel’s 40-year desert journey, when the Israelites lived in temporary shelters after escaping Egypt.

Famous British Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks left a legacy of brilliant quotes. Here’s one I particularly like about Sukkot: “Sitting in the [shelter] under its canopy of leaves, I often think of my ancestors and their wanderings across Europe in search of safety, and I begin to understand how faith was their only home,” he wrote. “It was fragile, chillingly exposed to the storms of prejudice and hate. But it proved stronger than superpowers and outlived them all.”

God’s sovereign promises assure us that Israel “will outlive them all” in Jeremiah 31:35-36. “This is what the LORD says, He who appoints the sun to shine by day, Who decrees the moon and stars to shine by night, Who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar— the LORD Almighty is His name. Only if these decrees vanish from My sight, declares the LORD, will Israel ever cease being a nation before me.”

The eighth day of Sukkot is called Shemini Atzeret, with Simchat Torah (“Rejoicing of the Torah”) taking place immediately afterward on October 24. The elegantly encased Torah scrolls are gently carried throughout synagogues and reverently touched with the joy of receiving God’s law.

However, for Israelis looking toward Simchat Torah on October 24 this year, the invasion on October 7 last year will be a terrible reminder that the horror took place on Simchat Torah—traditionally a day devoted to reading the Torah. Last year’s Rejoicing of the Torah simply did not take place. In one sense, though, the many stories of heroism on and after October 7, now continuously shared almost a year later, follow closely the Jewish value of “tikkun olam”—repairing the world—with lifesaving rescues of those attacked, wounded, or in need of help emerging from citizens for citizens. 

Throughout the millennia, those who harbor hatred toward Jews and Israel sometimes seem to favor destruction on important Jewish calendar days. The 1973 Yom Kippur war is an example. In making his multi-part documentary titled October 7th, 2023, filmmaker Dan Gordon researched and made a lesser-known discovery about October 7. He learned that “October 7 was a direct descendant of the massacres in the ancient Jewish communities of Jerusalem, Hebron, Tzfat, Tiberius and others in the 1920s and ’30s … long before there was even a state of Israel.”

Tisha B’Av, the ninth day of the Jewish month of Av, is viewed as the saddest day on the Jewish calendar. On it, Jews mourn tragedies in their history, especially the destruction of the First and Second Temples and the city of Jerusalem nearly 2,000 years ago. In the last 100 years, Tisha B’Av has included a day of mourning for Jewish communities massacred in the Middle East, North Africa, the pogroms of Eastern Europe, and the Holocaust. On Tisha B’Av 2024, August 12–13, the link between Tisha B’Av and October 7 shaped up as a major theme where thousands of synagogues across all Jewish denominations incorporated texts about October 7. Many predict that the October 7 onslaught will be canonized into Jewish liturgy.

Kindnesses from Christians toward any Jewish friends, synagogues, or Jewish organizations in your community are timely leading into and during the month of October. Send a letter, card, or email with a compassionate message. Attend an October 7 event that may be taking place near where you live. Include prayers for Jews, who are a population of only 15 million people globally, including around 245,000 Jewish Holocaust survivors in more than 90 countries. 

Amid the anguish embedded in Jewish citizenry, God repeatedly emphasizes His assurances in Scripture. Presently, the dangers Israel itself is facing are complex and appear beyond any solution. That is, until we fasten our hopes for ourselves within God’s promises and for the worldwide Jewish community.

Most importantly, in Isaiah 46:4 the God of the universe assures humankind about Israel, the apple of His eye. “I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.” And that, God has done for thousands of years!

We welcome you to join our CBN Israel team to pray for Israel this week in the lead-up to October, always aware that Israel is our spiritual homeland through Jesus our Savior.

Prayer Points:

  • Pray for shalom and strength for Israeli Jews in October.
  • Pray about how you can reach out to Jews with kindnesses.
  • Pray for IDF members who are increasing their defenses against Hezbollah.
  • Pray for Prime Minister Netanyahu for his protection and wisdom.

Arlene Bridges Samuels is the weekly feature columnist for CBN Israel since 2020. Working on the staff of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) as their SE Regional Outreach Director for nine years, International Christian Embassy Jerusalem USA engaged her as the Leadership Outreach Director part-time for their project American Christian Leaders for Israel. Arlene is an author at The Blogs-Times of Israel, is published at AllIsrael.com and The Jerusalem Connection, and has traveled to Israel since 1990. By invitation, she attends Israel’s Government Press Office Christian Media Summits as part of Christian media worldwide.  In 2024, Arlene and her husband Paul co-authored Mental Health Meltdown: Illuminating the Voices of Bipolar and Other Mental Illnesses. www.TheMentalHealthMeltdown.com.

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Victim of Terrorism: Anatoly and Luba’s Story

Victim of Terrorism: Anatoly and Luba’s Story

Anatoly and Luba left Ukraine years ago and moved to Sderot in southern Israel, where they lived with their four children. Although they became accustomed to sporadic rocket fire from Gaza, the attacks of October 7 felt different.

Luba heard a whistling sound, and Anatoly shouted, “Run!” The family rushed into their safe room just seconds before a Hamas rocket crashed into the adjacent bedroom. “My husband had to force the door to open—and then this sharp, black smoke. The kids were scared, I was shaking all over,” Luba told us. Although no one was hurt, the apartment was badly damaged, and their belongings were destroyed.

They were evacuated to temporary housing for seven months, living out of boxes and sleeping on air mattresses. The government repaired the damage in their apartment, but all their possessions were ruined. Luba worried, “The children’s beds, the furniture—it was a big expense. How would we pay for it?”

Fortunately, friends like you came to their rescue through CBN Israel. Sometime earlier, as a recent immigrant, Luba had been in counseling with Rina, a local ministry partner of CBN Israel, who helped her adjust to Israel’s culture.

Rina contacted CBN Israel about Luba’s plight. Donors provided funding to restore her children’s room, buy needed furniture, give them a new computer, and make their place feel like home again. “It felt wonderful, knowing there are people who care,” said Luba. “Your help is a big bright light in this situation.”

And your gifts to CBN Israel can make life brighter for many other victims of the war—plus single moms, desperate refugees, and aging Holocaust survivors. Your support can bring them hot meals, financial aid, and trauma therapy. In addition, you can help deliver important news and documentaries from the Holy Land to the world.

Please be a part of blessing Israel and her people!

GIVE TODAY

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Victim of Terrorism: Meir’s Story

When sirens wailed nonstop early on the morning of October 7, Meir rushed his wife and four young children into the bomb shelter. Meanwhile, armed Hamas terrorists were invading their street.

For three days, this family sheltered in a safe room, as rockets exploded nearby. Meir said, “I have children with special needs, on the autism spectrum. I tried to calm them down and figure out what to do.” At last, Meir’s family was evacuated by the Israeli army to a Jerusalem hotel for several weeks. But how would their children adapt to so much upheaval?

Through CBN Israel, friends like you sponsored a program with the Shalva organization, offering critical therapies for evacuated families with special needs kids. For Meir, this assistance was a lifesaver.

However, during their months of evacuation, Meir lost his job, and finances were tight. When one of his children with autism believed he could fly like a movie character, his doctor urgently recommended they move to a more costly ground-floor apartment. Yet, how could he afford it?

Meir had to choose between safer housing and therapy for his special needs children—and then, caring donors paid the family’s rent for six months! Meir exclaimed, “I don’t know what I would have done without you. This is such a blessing to be able to provide for my children. It has revived me!”

And your gifts to CBN Israel can revive others in crisis, by delivering nutritious meals, housing, financial aid, medical care, bomb shelters, and more. Your support can provide a lifeline to those in Israel who are hurting, including Holocaust survivors, refugees, single moms, and terror victims.

Please join us in reaching out at this critical time!

GIVE TODAY

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