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By Arlene Bridges Samuels

As we enter a new year, religious persecution will undoubtedly continue to impact millions across the globe, with such atrocities as Nigeria’s Christians being massacred, China’s Muslim Uighurs enslaved, and Jews murdered in their synagogues. For three years, an organization called Church in Need tracked Christian persecution in particular saying in their 2017 report, “Anti-Christian persecution is worse than at any time in history.” The 2020 numbers are now estimated at 260 million and growing.

Purveyors of persecution use numerous methods, which can include everything from media slander and banning Bibles to razing houses of worship, secret police harassment, imprisonment, and mass murder. Worldwide, Jewish communities have been the targets of unbridled hatred for centuries, while Christian persecution is considered to be at its highest levels and other faith communities continue to be threatened.

The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) keeps track of such atrocities, with 14 nations at the top of its list—among them China, North Korea, Iran, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, and Syria. Gary L. Bauer, a commissioner at USCIRF and the President of American Values, has actively spoken out against anti-Semitism and advocated for Christian minorities in the Middle East. He observes, “It is not an accident that persecution of Christians and Jews is increasing around the world. Judeo-Christian civilization is hated and under siege from both God-less communism and radical Islam. Even in Europe and here in the U.S. there are growing threats to religious liberty.”

Thankfully, the United States and Israel rest on a solid foundation of Judeo-Christian principles they can call upon when challenges arise. The United States enshrined religious freedom in our Constitution’s Bill of Rights. Israel embedded religious freedom in its Declaration of Independence when it became a modern Jewish state in 1948. Israel’s Basic Laws—which enumerate the country’s fundamental rights—protect “freedom to practice or not practice religious beliefs, including freedom of conscience, faith, religion, and worship, regardless of an individual’s religion.”

In addition, Basic Law designates Israel as a “Jewish and democratic state.” Israel also recognizes its patriarchs in the Declaration: “The State of Israel … will be based on freedom, justice and peace as envisaged by the Prophets of Israel.” International human rights covenants are incorporated into domestic law that applies to both citizens and non-Israeli residents, alike.

Israel is the only Jewish state in the world; its ancestral homeland is a refuge for a people who for centuries had been scattered across the world. Israel enters 2021 with a population of more than 9 million people, of whom 6,870,000 are Jewish (73.9%) and 1,956,000 are Arabs (21%). The small nation is also a refuge for its 175,000 Christians, as well as Druze, Arab Christians, Bahai, and other faith communities. It is the safest place for Christians in the Middle East and also protects and guarantees religious freedom for the other two monotheistic faiths—Judaism and Islam.

One of the clearest examples of Israel’s religious freedoms is the Gold Dome on the Temple Mount, called Haram al-Sharif by Muslims. After Israel’s victory in the 1967 Six-Day War, its leaders made the decision to allow the Jordanian Waqf Foundation, a religious committee, to continue administrating the Temple Mount. Under the Jordanian occupation of 1950–1967, Jews had been forbidden to pray at their most revered holy site, Jerusalem’s Western Wall. Jordanians occupied the Old City, where they looted and then destroyed 58 synagogues and expelled its Jewish residents. Christians were also under tight restrictions.

Yet despite such hostilities directed against them, Israel today allows Muslims freedom to worship at their Al-Aqsa Mosque and Dome of the Rock, with Israeli police providing protection of the 32-acre compound.

Regrettably, Israel’s decision was not met with gratitude. Since 1967, the Temple Mount (in Hebrew, Har Habayit) has been a tinderbox of controversy that can flare up at any moment. Sometimes it is due to an imam’s hate-filled incitement in his sermon, or a lie spread by the Palestinian Authority. Religious freedom is not always simple—and certainly not in Israel with animosity pouring out of the Temple Mount mosque.

This Jerusalem compound is likely the most contentious acreage in the world. Yet it’s surrounded with church bells ringing, a Muslim muezzin sending out calls for prayer on a minaret loudspeaker five times a day, and Jewish families praying and celebrating bar-mitzvahs and bat-mitzvahs at the Western Wall (in Hebrew, Kotel). Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics estimates that 546,100 Jews, 328,600 Muslims, and 15,900 Christians live in Jerusalem, totaling nearly 900,000 people. Muslim, Druze, Christian, and other faith communities are located throughout the rest of the country. 

When it comes to making sacrifices for religious freedoms, history is full of examples. For instance, United States laws stand on the shoulders of Saint Thomas Becket’s martyrdom on December 29, 1170. Henry II, King of England, insisted that the church obey the monarchy. Becket, the powerful Archbishop of Canterbury and Chancellor of England, disobeyed, proclaiming, “I give my life so that the Church will attain liberty and peace.” His martyrdom set the stage for England’s Magna Carta—which ensured the right to free exercise of religion—and for future modern democratic civilizations to assure religious liberty for their citizens.

On December 28, 2020—the 850th anniversary of Becket’s brave end—President Trump issued a proclamation honoring that sacrifice. “No right is more fundamental to a peaceful, prosperous, and virtuous society than the right to follow one’s religious convictions. … A society without religion cannot prosper. A nation without faith cannot endure—because justice, goodness, and peace cannot prevail without the grace of God.”

Unimaginable sacrifices by Jews, Christians, and others under persecution have also been borne by individuals like Pastor Richard Wurmbrand and his wife, Sabina. Both were born into Romanian Jewish families and later embraced Jesus as Messiah. Pastor Wurmbrand spent 14 agonizing years in prison under Romania’s communist regime for the public witness of his faith; Sabina spent three. With the help of Christian friends, the couple was finally released from prison. They moved to the United States and in 1967 founded Voice of the Martyrs, a Christian organization that focuses on rescuing persecuted Christians and educating the public about the plight of those living under religious tyranny.

In recounting sacrifices for Jews, we must note that German theologian Reverend Dietrich Bonhoeffer possesses a towering stature. The anti-Nazi dissident was known for his tireless advocacy, risk-taking, and devotion to the Resistance. Arrested by the Gestapo for his role in the plot to assassinate Hitler, Bonhoeffer was executed by hanging in Flossenburg Concentration camp in 1945. 

Israel’s religious pluralism is not without controversy. Much like Christian denominational differences and arguments, Judaism has its share of disagreements among the varying Jewish denominations. For instance, while the Ultra-Orthodox are small in numbers, they exert tremendous influence in Israel’s daily life. Ultra-Orthodox and secular Jewish citizens clash, and citizenship for Messianic Jews is still controversial. It’s estimated that between 15,000 and 50,000 Messianic Jews live in Israel, with around 130 congregations. The Messianic Jewish community is positively recognized for organizing multi-millions of dollars in humanitarian aid shipped into Israel since 2001.

In closing, the plight of Nigerian Christians is finally becoming more well known. Since 2015, more than 15,000 Nigerian Christians have been murdered by terror groups such as Boko Haram. While Israelis have reached out to Nigeria for decades with agricultural and educational aid and programs, Gary Bauer at USCIRF is calling for more public pressure on the Nigerian government and for the U.S. to withhold foreign aid if necessary. Last year, Nigeria was added to the U.S. State Department’s Special Watch List.

Commissioner Bauer told me, “The international human rights community must find its voice now. The war being waged by radical Islamists against Nigerian Christians has been ignored for too long. The Nigerian government is not doing enough to provide security in Christian villages and places of worship. Genocide is a real possibility, but sadly Christians being murdered and persecuted is often ignored by the U.N. and other international organizations.”

Yet we hope that Nigerian Christians, Jews, and others will benefit from the love of those who can help bring about true peace, healing, reconciliation, and religious freedom.

Please join CBN Israel in prayer for persecuted communities:

• Pray that persecuted Christians will find hope in John 16:33: “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
• Pray for non-Christians who are suffering religious persecution, that they will come to know our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
• Pray that the world community, especially churches, will devise solutions and supply aid for communities facing varying kinds of persecution.

Finally, may we hold firm to these encouraging words from Jesus in His Sermon on the Mount: “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. … Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matthew 5:10-12).

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

Mentioned more than any other location in the Gospels, apart from Jerusalem, Capernaum sits on the northern shore of the lake of Galilee. The Gospels indicate it served as an important base during Jesus’ ministry around the lake, with Matthew referring to it as “his own city” (9:1). He performed miracles in the village casting out a demon in its synagogue on the Sabbath, healing Simon’s mother-in-law, and caring for many who suffered. Jesus taught in the synagogue built by a centurion (Luke 7:5).

Capernaum does not appear in ancient sources prior to the first century where both the Gospels and the first century historian Josephus mention it. Its name means the “village of Nahum,” although no indication of who Nahum was is known. Archaeological excavations indicate that some settlement at the site existed as early as the third millennium B.C.; however, the village that Jesus knew began around 330 B.C. and continued until the Arab conquest in A.D. 640, when the layout of the village was significantly altered. Archaeological excavations indicate a population shift and growth took place in the first century B.C., in which the population became markedly Jewish.

The site of Capernaum today consists of two sites, one controlled by the Franciscans, which contains some houses, the synagogue, and the Christian shrine, and the other site belongs to the Greek Orthodox Church. Excavations on the Greek Orthodox property have been limited. Most of what they excavated dates to the Byzantine period (4^th-7^th centuries A.D.). They did discover a bathhouse (2^nd-3^rd century A.D.), a tomb, which dates to the 1^st century, and some suggest that the sea wall of the harbor goes back to the first century as well. The more popular and developed side of Capernaum belongs to the Franciscans; however, most of the remains that visitors see date to the Byzantine period.

The synagogue that stands in the site today was constructed out of limestone, which had to be brought to the village since the local stone is the black, volcanic basalt. Certain architectural elements of the structure suggest a 3^rd-4^th century date; however, pottery discovered under the floor indicates that the current building was constructed in the 5^th-6^th century. The limestone building rests upon a basalt wall. While visitors to the site are shown this wall and told it dates to the first century, the time of Jesus, this simply does not seem to be the case. The wall supports the limestone structure above it. It is possible that they built this structure on top of the earlier, first century synagogue, but the synagogue of Jesus would have been much smaller, as excavations under the floor of the Byzantine period synagogue have revealed houses in use during the first century.

The excavated houses date primarily to the Byzantine period; however, excavators uncovered a large courtyard to a house, which dates to the first century. The homes in Capernaum reflect a style of home popular within the ancient world known as the insula. These homes surrounded a central courtyard in which much of the domestic life of the family took place. This style of home illustrates many stories in the Gospels.

Visitors to Capernaum encounter a large modern church built over a series of ancient ruins, which consist of three phases. The earliest phase consists of an insula home (200 B.C.-A.D. 135). The second phase reflects an insula sacra in which a certain portion of the house became a shrine (2^nd-4^th century A.D.). The final phase (5^th-6^th century A.D.) preserves a Byzantine shrine with three concentric octagonal walls with mosaic floors. This structure architecturally reflects a Byzantine shrine, built over a sacred site, but it is not a church. The excavators explained these three phrases as evidence of this site being the “House of Saint Peter.”

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

“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, bit by bit He revealed His plan and promise to Abraham. 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. God doesn’t work that way, however. He simply bids us “Go.” Will we? Do we trust Him enough to lead us? Do we trust His promises even when we will not see their fulfillment? 

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 Mark Gerson

The two greatest people in the world meet. The first is the great man of faith, who lives according to the undeniable and clear direction of God. The second is the most powerful ruler in the world. The person who arranges this meeting is the son of the first man, who himself is the most talented person in his generation.

If such a meeting were to happen today, there would be loads of commentary running up to the event—where and when it would be live streamed, televised, and played on the radio. There would be special issue magazines in supermarkets dedicated to this meeting, online media channels constructed just for the purpose of commenting on it, and millions made off commemorative clothing and associated trinkets.  

The commentators would have different questions and perspectives, ranging from the attire of each person to the outcome of the meeting. But perhaps every commentary would ask the same question: “What did they talk about?” Then the guesses would start: the meaning of life, world peace, political philosophy, and the current state and future of the human condition probably would-be contenders. 

Well, such a meeting did happen—and it was recorded in the media. The meeting was between Jacob and a Pharaoh, and the media is the Torah. So, we can answer our question: What did they talk about? 

The Pharaoh, as we see in Genesis 47, says, “How many are the days of the years of your life?” 

Jacob answers, “The days of the years of my sojourns have been a hundred and thirty years. Few and bad have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not reached the days of the years of the lives of my forefathers in the days of their sojourns.”

They talked about how old Jacob was. And why would this be the first thing on Pharaoh’s mind? As the always-brilliant Rabbi Moshe Schneiner (drawing from ancient commentary) points out, it must have originated from how Jacob appeared to Pharaoh. That is the only explanation why this would be the first, and seemingly only, thing on Pharaoh’s mind. 

So, the conversation starts with one great man noticing the appearance of the other and thinking—and saying—you look old! And the other great man acknowledges this and proceeds to complain about his life. 

This is how two of the greatest men in the history of the world interacted? God has blessed my wife and me with four children. If one of them met an elderly person and said, “You look really old. Just how old are you?” we would be mortified. Indeed, this conversation sounds more like one we would use to educate a kindergarten class about how not to behave than one between two of the great men of the Bible.

What is going on?

It turns out the Rabbis don’t like it either and heap all of the blame on Jacob. That is instructive in itself—we Jews believe everyone is significantly flawed, that we should be forthright and honest about the failings of our heroes, and we can and should learn from the significant imperfections of even our greatest people. So, we must ask: What did Jacob do wrong? 

The Rabbis point out that Jacob’s life was 33 years shorter than his father’s, with each lost year a penalty for each word in his response. It was wrong of Jacob, the Jewish tradition instructs, to focus on the negative. Yes, he had a very hard life. He was exiled from his home, threatened with fratricide, tricked into marrying someone he didn’t want to, forced into indentured servitude by his father-in-law, lost track of his beloved son Joseph for two decades because of an attempted fratricide, and lived through the aftermath of the rape of his daughter that was enabled by at least one of his mistakes (settling in the wrong place). 

He also had a loving relationship with his mother and a more complicated one with his father, had consistent and direct guidance from God, experienced the most romantic moment in the Torah that turned into a lifelong love and marriage, was very prosperous wherever he went, and was blessed with 13 children and numerous grandchildren.  

Yet Jacob described his life in entirely negative terms. An ancient Jewish source imagines God saying to Jacob: “‘I saved you from Esau and Laban, I returned Dinah to you, and also Joseph, and you complain about your life that they were few and bad?!” 

But there is a problem. The words Jacob used to describe his life do not add up to 33. For that, we need to include the Pharaoh’s question: “How many are the days of your life?” 

Why, Rabbi Scheiner asks, would Jacob lose years because of the Pharaoh’s question? Jacob, after all, was the recipient of a (perhaps) rude question. The answer was provided by one of the giants of 20th-century Judaism—Esther Jungreis—known sometimes as “The Rebbetzin” and other times as the “Jewish Billy Graham.” Rebbetzin Jungreis was born in Hungary in 1936. When she was eight years old, she was sent to a Nazi concentration camp. Her father told her to be sure, in the hell of Bergen-Belsen, to always smile. The smile of a child, her father instructed her, will bring some joy and hope to people in even the worst circumstance.

Rebbetzin Jungreis, drawing from the Bible and from her father’s wisdom, taught that one’s face is “public property.” The way one chooses to portray oneself to others will affect the experience of others. Jacob, in the Jewish imagination, is criticized for portraying himself with a countenance that stuns the Pharaoh into asking—effectively—why he looks so old. 

But this exchange—even this part of the exchange—has additional lessons for us. Why did both Jacob and the Pharaoh speak about “the days of the years” of his life? If someone asked any of us how old we are, we would likely respond with just a number corresponding to a year. But that is not how great people like Jacob and the Pharaoh think. Great people value, treasure, and account for every moment. They don’t measure in terms of years—but, at the most, days. 

We intuitively understand and do this. The more important a moment in time is to us, the more precisely we measure it. If someone asked, “When were the Middle Ages?” we might respond, “I don’t know, maybe a thousand years ago.” This imprecision would derive from the fact that we don’t really care when the Middle Ages were or what exactly happened during them. 

But if someone asked, “When was your first child born?” it would be weird to answer: “I think it was around ten or 20 years ago.” More likely, we would answer with something like, “On July 17, 2008, at 10:36 p.m.”

Similarly, genuinely great people like Jacob and the Pharaoh do not think in terms of years. The value they put on time, and of everything that occurs in a unit of time, is seen through the precision of their measurement. And we Jews are, as inspiration and for instruction, called: “Children of Jacob.” 

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

Recent news out of Israel sounds grim. The nation has entered a third national lockdown, with strict regulations and hefty fines for infractions. Not surprisingly, tourists are nowhere to be found. On top of that, residents now face the uncertainty and upheaval of a fourth national election. Yet despite these adverse circumstances—and the ever-present threats of terror on three borders—the “innovation nation” has not become invisible on the global stage or stopped helping the world. Far from it. The Jewish homeland’s citizens boast some of the world’s top experts, not only in wide-ranging inventions, but also in their ability to innovate inside a pressure cooker of competing crises.

God spoke to Abraham 4,000 years ago with a promise, “I will make you a great nation. I will bless you and make your name great and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:2-3).

Mega-billionaire Warren Buffet described Israel’s greatness a bit differently when he began investing in Israel about a decade ago. He observed, “If you’re going to the Middle East to look for oil, you can skip Israel. If you’re looking for brains, look no further.” He also stated that “the determination, motivation, intelligence, and initiative of its people are remarkable and extraordinary.” God’s promise and Buffet’s description endure. That’s why 500 multinational companies have locations in Israel.

During 2020, Israeli entrepreneurs not only produced new ideas, but frequently repurposed their products to respond to the COVID-19 crisis. In fact, the pandemic propelled hundreds of Israeli companies to create COVID-19 related products or to launch pandemic-related start-ups.

End-of-the-year statistics show that Israeli technology, second-largest in the world behind Silicon Valley, had its best year yet, raising more than $10 billion for investments. Thus, Israel’s technology sector is not only beefing up the nation’s economy, it also enables Israel to continue its humanitarian aid worldwide. That aid includes vast innovations in the fields of medicine and agriculture, innovations that improve the quality of life for citizens around the world. Let’s review some of these amazing products.

One of the world’s top five COVID-19 related startups is Sonovia, which developed ultrasonic technology to treat fabric face masks with safe, antiviral chemicals that protect against the coronavirus. These antimicrobial “Sonomasks” can be laundered and reused more than 50 times, retaining their potency—the coating continues to neutralize viruses and bacteria. The company, which hired 150 unemployed factory workers to make these breakthrough protective masks, now produces 3,000 masks a day. Sonovia donated its first masks to Israel’s police, and has donated thousands of masks to hospitals in other countries.

An already-established company, Biobeat, invented a medical-grade sensor that remotely monitors 16 vital signs on patients. The remote monitoring platform supplies important patient information while reducing in-person exposure for medical professionals. During the first COVID-19 outbreak, the company put its product to work by installing Biobeat in hospitals throughout Israel.

While COVID-19 research and development added to Israel’s already abundant innovations, other products also took the stage in 2020. Here is a small sample, along with nations Israel helped during the year.

Time magazine listed six recent Israeli innovations on its list of “The Best Innovations of 2020: 100 Innovations Changing How We Live.” Time magazine looks for “originality, creativity, effectiveness, ambition and impact” when making its choices, according to their website. Here are two I especially like:

The bee population is growing dangerously smaller. Since bees supply pollination for 30 percent of the world’s food, the Beehome from manufacturer Beewise is an outstanding solution to make beekeeping more available to more beekeepers. This miracle of technology uses Artificial Intelligence and robotics to save bees, maintain the food supply, and promote honey production. The hive holds 24 or more colonies and remotely takes care of the bees and the hives. These hives put a new twist on Israel as a “land of milk and honey.” Beewise CEO Saar Safra’s comment about the Beehome reflects a widespread Israeli philosophy: “We’re doing well by doing good.”

An invention from City Transformer is in the prototype stage: a two-seat folding electric car that fits into tight spaces yet can go up to 55 miles per hour. The tiny car’s folding mechanism shrinks the wheelbase for easy parking—it can even wedge between two cars. When it was introduced this year at a major innovation convention, the miniature car arrived on the convention floor in an elevator. If the vehicle is successful, its diminutive size will increase city parking spaces, making city dwellers much happier!

In addition to the two innovations that stood out to me in the Time magazine article, here are two more that I find absolutely astonishing. For the last five years, Royal Dutch Shell has sponsored a “New Energy Challenge.” This year, Israeli start-up H2Pro won the competition with an invention that uses electricity to split hydrogen and oxygen. H2Pro’s novel water-splitting technology promises to make hydrogen fuel sustainable, as a cleaner and viable alternative to fossil fuels. In addition, the process can also lower costs and help ensure a cleaner environment. It was the only company from Israel and the youngest to enter the competition. H2Pro will now develop a pilot program using this eco-friendly technology.

Ziv Medical Center in Safed (Tzfat), Israel, has launched another kind of innovation. It is the first hospital in Israel to use drones to deliver prescription medications and blood tests. Avoiding road traffic means delivery time is cut in half. Ziv is working to expand the delivery area with hopes of also delivering needed medical items to its Israel Defense Forces when needed.

Truly, Israel stays committed to helping others, despite its own security threats and lockdown challenges. One way they enact their help is Judaism’s concept of repairing the world—Tikkun Olam in Hebrew. It speaks of kindness and charity.

IsraAid is one such example. Founded in 2001, IsraAid is an international, Israeli non-governmental organization. Its staff and volunteers have carried on in 2020 with their emergency and development aid. For the last 19 years, IsraAid has worked in 50 nations afflicted by earthquakes, hurricanes, flooding, and other disasters—all while maintaining 14 long-term missions. In 2020, IsraAid medical supplies, food distribution, first aid, and water filters have helped citizens in Italy, Guatemala, and Columbia, among others. Their webinars for volunteers and medical personnel have supplied valuable instruction about stress management and other important topics. In April, IsraAid—which until now only worked internationally—also supplied help for Israel’s vulnerable communities: upwards of 40,000 Sudanese and Eritrean asylum-seekers who are living in south Tel Aviv.

Another example of Israeli aid takes place almost daily at Israel’s Kerem Shalom crossing into Gaza. Israel’s supply of humanitarian aid trucked into Gaza did not stop in 2020, despite ongoing rocket fire and barrages from Hamas terrorists. Semi-tractor-trailer trucks loaded with medical supplies and equipment continue their deliveries, and Israel still allows seriously ill Gazan Palestinians into Israel for treatment. The aid continues, even though Hamas has fired more than 15,000 rockets into civilian communities—putting more than a million Israelis in southern Israel in harm’s way—since its 2007 takeover.

Finally, one of Israel’s most impressive attributes is its persistence, despite security threats from terrorists literally next door. The threats are excessive, Israeli vigilance is intense, yet their determination and innovation persist regardless. We can look to history as setting the example for this perseverance and resilience. During the Diaspora, where Jews were scattered across the world for centuries, they were forced to adapt, to find ways to practice Judaism, keep their Jewish traditions, and live in often-excruciating circumstances. Despite national and personal traumas that penetrate their lives, history has built Jews into formidable role models for how to live under painful pressures, yet simultaneously thrive still unbeaten.

In ancient times, God chose the Jews to inscribe His words to us in the Old and New Testaments and visited the earth embodied in our Jewish Savior born on Israel’s ancient soil. In modern times, God is using the Jews to create and innovate in ways that repair the world—Tikkun Olam—to make it a better place for everyone until Jesus comes again.

Please join CBN Israel in prayer as we approach year’s end:

• Pray with thanksgiving for the good news about Israel and Arab nations signing the Abraham Accords, which are already benefiting Jews and Muslims.
• Pray that Hamas will pay attention to the well-being of its own population and stop their violence against Israelis.
• Pray with gratitude for the massive innovations Israelis have created that bless the world.
• Pray that God will continue to help Israel uncover anti-Semitism and all the threats against its people and also reveal threats against Jews worldwide.

May we recall God’s promises to Israel in Psalm 29:11: “The Lord will give strength to His people; The Lord will bless His people with peace.”

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

Three miles southeast of Bethlehem sits Herodium, the palace fortress built by Herod the Great (Matthew 2). Overlooking the birthplace of Jesus, Herod’s fortress guarded the eastern roads through the wilderness from Bethlehem to En Gedi. It also served as a reminder of the difficult political situation in which the Jews found themselves within the first century. Herod represented Rome—the pagan empire that exploited the resources of the land of Israel for its benefit. 

Herod built the artificial cone shaped hill to commemorate his military victory against the last of the Hasmoneans, Mattithias Antigonus, who was aided by the Parthians. Herod won a skirmish as he fled Jerusalem, and later built Herodium, the palace-fortress he named after himself, on this site. Herodium consists of two complexes: the palace-fortress and the lower palace. The palace-fortress consists of a circular double wall, with four towers (the largest of which faces to the east). Inside the structure, Herod built a private bathhouse, a triclinium (“U” shaped) dining room, reception halls, and living quarters. 

Archaeologists have recently uncovered the large entry gate into the palace-fortress. Jewish rebels during the First Jewish Revolt (A.D. 66-73) and the Bar Kochbah Revolt (A.D. 132-136) occupied Herodium. The Jewish rebels of the First Revolt converted the dining room into a synagogue. It was one of the last rebel strongholds to fall to the Romans in the First Revolt. Letters sent to the Jewish garrison at Herodium from the messianic leader of the Bar Kochbah Revolt, Shimon ben Kosiba, were discovered in caves along the shores of the Dead Sea. 

Josephus records that Herod the Great was buried at Herodium. After he died in Jericho in 4 B.C., his body was brought to Herodium where it was interred. Archaeologists discovered Herod’s tomb in 2006. They uncovered an ornate mausoleum on the northern side of the conical shaped hill of the palace-fortress. Pieces of Herod’s sarcophagus were also discovered. It had been smashed in antiquity. Excavations next to the tomb uncovered a stairway that led from the bottom of the hill to the entry gate of the palace-fortress, as well as a small theater. The box seating of this theater contained ornate decorations including plaster molding and beautiful frescoes. Herod constructed this theater, most likely, for the visit of Marcus Agrippa, both a close friend of his and of Caesar Augusts (Luke 2).

The lower palace consists primarily of a large bathhouse and pool complex. Roman style bathhouses consisted of four main areas: changing room, cold bath, tepid bath, and a warm/hot room that could either function as a steam room or a dry sauna. The bathhouses at Herod’s palaces had these features. The pool at Herodium was heated as well as the bathhouse. 

There is a certain irony that within the shadow of Herodium, the angels proclaimed the good news of the birth of Jesus to the shepherds in the field. Herod’s fortress and monument to himself overlooked the very place where it would be announced that a new king would be born and that he would be Israel’s Messiah. And, it also stood watch when Herod’s soldiers killed the young boys seeking to remove the threat of the child born to Mary and Joseph. 

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

“Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God” (Luke 2:25-28 NIV).

We live in a world of instant gratification—fast food, the internet, video-on-demand, instant messaging, and so on. The story of Christmas, however, is about patience, not immediacy. It’s about God fulfilling His long-awaited promise to Israel’s fathers, answering the hope of redemption. 

Simeon waited (Luke 2:25-35). He hoped. He trusted. He waited for the salvation of Israel (2:25). And, as an old man, he knew that when he held the baby Jesus he would not be there to see the completion of the child’s mission (2:28-32), yet he trusted that God would fulfill His promises through this child. He only caught a glimpse of what he waited for, and he was content because he knew that God was faithful and would do what He promised. 

In our world of instant gratification, we often want our faith to function in the same way. Instant. Immediate. And when it doesn’t happen in that manner, we go through a litany of frustration with God, excuses why it hasn’t happened, even blaming it on a lack of our faith or sin in our lives. Our faith can be rather feeble and immature when compared to that of Simeon’s, who had the patience to wait and never lose sight of the God who promised. 

Are we content to play a part in God’s overall plan? Christmas poses that question to us. The figures of the Christmas story—Zechariah and Elizabeth, the shepherds, the wise men, Mary and Joseph, Simeon and Anna—all played roles in God’s redemptive plan. None of them saw the final fulfillment of His redemptive promises, and neither have we. 

Yet, are we willing to play our part in His plan? Simeon waited patiently. He hoped. He trusted. And he rejoiced to see part of God’s promise fulfilled, knowing that the God who promised would ultimately bring His promises to fulfillment.

PRAYER

Lord, when we look at the world around us, waiting is difficult. Being patient challenges us, but we know that You fulfill Your plans and promises. So, we submit to You obediently to play whatever role You have for us for Your glory. Amen.

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