Broken on the Side of the Road
“As He drew near Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the road begging. Hearing a crowd passing by, he inquired what this meant. ‘Jesus the Nazarene is passing by,’ they told him. So he called out, ‘Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!’ … Jesus stopped and commanded…...
The Torah’s Compelling Case for a “Why Do” List
A married man with a loving family goes on a trip and has an affair that ruins his marriage, damages his kids, and destroys his family. A successful executive buys the stock of a corporation that his company is ready to acquire, is immediately fired, and is then prosecuted for…...
Israel and the United States: In it Together
Seven thousand air miles may separate us, but the United States and Israel are adding another layer of friendship and cooperation to our already robust relationship. As our nations face the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic...
Complaining to God
“Lord, how long will You forget me? Forever? How long will You hide Your face from me? How long will I store up anxious concerns within me, agony in my mind every day? How long will my enemy dominate me? Consider me and answer, Lord my God. Restore brightness to…...
Caleb, Joshua, and the Grasshoppers
As discussed in last week’s column, in Numbers 12 we see God's anger (directed at Aaron and Miriam) when words are used purposelessly to malign another person. In Numbers 13 and 14, we see a similar anger when the Jewish people...
COVID-19 Food Distribution in Ramla
Imagine living in a community where poverty is rampant, and you fear for your safety—surrounded by crime, drug dealers, and homicides. For those living in Ramla, a city of Jewish and Arab residents, with its roots going...
I’m a Chassidic Jew, and I Will Not Apologize
In the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests, it’s time for all minorities to stand up and demand equal treatment, civil rights, and cultural liberty. This includes Native Americans, Asian Americans, Hispanic/Latino Americans...
What Kind of Disciple Are You?
“Teach me Your way, O Lord; I will walk in Your truth; unite my heart to fear Your name” (Psalm 86:11 NKJV). Are you a lifelong learner? Do you desire daily to learn from the Lord? Walking with the Lord, walking in His truth, means that we seek to learn…...
No Perfect People
Everyone in the Torah is flawed. In fact, it is often the best people in the Torah who have the greatest flaws. While the Torah says and shows that a good relationship can help repair a personality defect, no Torah character is without his or her flaws....
Single Mother | Faina’s Story
When they moved to Israel from Belarus, Faina and her husband had just come to faith in Christ and attended a local congregation with their baby boy. Life was good, and she was happy. But when she became pregnant again, she noticed disturbing changes...
Sinning Against Others
We often think that God takes more seriously the sins we commit against Him than those we commit against others. It’s not that we think we should sin against others, but we tend to allow ourselves a bit more freedom and grace for these sins. What does the Bible say…...
What We Crave
The Torah, in Numbers 11, offers a tantalizing possibility. In so doing, the Torah performs its wonder in guiding us toward a happier, better, and more meaningful life today—in this case by showing us what might be the most fundamental human need...
Single Mother | Yamit’s Story
When the terror attack happened years ago in Jerusalem, Yamit believed her husband had fully recovered. Yet the attack left him with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). It surfaced years later—long after he could file an insurance claim to get the treatment he needed....
A Moment for Awe
Do you ever feel overwhelmed by the world we live in? The daily grind, newscasts filled with bad news, an economic downturn, a frightening diagnosis, or simply the distractions of life? It’s easy to be overwhelmed. We can easily lose sight of God amidst the chaos....
If Moses Needed a Mentor, Don’t We All?
Every week in synagogue, we Jews read a portion (a parsha) of the Torah, scheduled so that we complete the Torah in an annual cycle. The parsha that was read last week was Beha’aloscha, which is in the middle of the...
Your Will Be Done
“Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done” (Luke 22:42 NASB). How often do we think about Jesus in the garden on the Mount of Olives? How often do we consider His deep resolve to submit to the will of…...
Holocaust Survivor | Fisher’s Story
They thought the Nazis would never find them. In an isolated village in Ukraine, Fisher and his parents believed they were safe—until German troops came upon them in 1941. From then on, life became one horror after another....
The Blameless Way
“How blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord. How blessed are those who observe His testimonies, who seek Him with all their heart” (Psalm 119:1-2 NASB). The writers of the Bible, especially the psalmists and prophets,...
Single Mother | Masaret’s Story
She had run out of options. Although she’d been raised in an ordinary Israeli home, Masaret had made some extraordinarily bad choices. Getting in with the wrong teenage crowd. Drinking heavily. Partying nonstop. Dating a drug...
Do You Guard Your Mouth?
“The one who guards his mouth preserves his life; the one who opens wide his lips comes to ruin” (Proverbs 13:3 NASB). Our age of social media enables everyone with an opinion to put it out there for everyone to see. We live in an age where people feel they…...
Holocaust Survivor | Raisa’s Story
She was locked in the basement. It would be years before she’d see the sky again. Raisa was just a child when a family friend rushed her and her mother out of town to safety. For the rest of the war, they stayed with Raisa’s non-Jewish...
Blessed With Daily Desires
“May our sons in their youth be like plants full grown, our daughters like corner pillars cut for the structure of a palace; may our granaries be full, providing all kinds of produce; may our sheep bring forth thousands and ten thousands in our fields....
The Promise of the Father
Pentecost was one of the three pilgrimage festivals within ancient Judaism. Along with Passover and Sukkot (Tabernacles), the Law of Moses required every able-bodied male to appear before the Lord on these festivals. In the first century, that meant coming...
Single Mother | Yevgenia’s Story
She did the right thing. Yevgenia decided to raise her precious little boy even though the father wanted her to abort the child. This single mother, living with her son and caring for her own mother, was blessed with an excellent job...
Forgive As You Have Been Forgiven
“For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions” (Matthew 6:14-15 NASB)....
Single Mother | Olesiya’s Story
The one thing she didn’t have was time. Olesiya had to work two jobs just to get by. As soon as she got off her second job, she rushed home to care for her children. The young single mother had never expected to raise her children alone, but her husband…...
Rain In Its Season
“If you carefully obey my commands I am giving you today, to love the Lord your God and worship Him with all your heart and all your soul, I will provide rain for your land in the proper time, the autumn and spring rains, and you will harvest your grain,…...
Holocaust Survivor | Boris’ Story
They were terrified. Boris and his mother were standing in line for the gas chamber, separated from his father, who had been judged suitable for doing hard work. Then a soldier recognized Boris’s father as a leather specialist....
A Life Worthy of Christ
“Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in the one Spirit, striving together as one for the faith of the gospel without…...
Holocaust Survivor | Polina’s Story
They thought they’d escaped. Instead, Polina and her mother had been caught by the Nazis and sent to Bodina, a cruel place known as a walking death camp. There, they experienced only pain, despair, and sorrow. Polina still tears...
Seeking God
“He sought God throughout the lifetime of Zechariah, the teacher of the fear of God. During the time that he sought the Lord, God gave him success” (2 Chronicles 26:5 HCSB). These words describe the early days of the reign of King Uzziah of Judah. He started out his r...
New Immigrant | Julia’s Story
It was not what they expected. Julia and her husband left everything behind and moved to Israel. But they did not expect this kind of adversity. Everything was so new—and overwhelming! The cost of living was expensive and usually, new immigrants were not given...
Who is My Neighbor?
“Just then an expert in the law stood up to test [Jesus], saying, ‘Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ ‘What is written in the law?’ He asked him. ‘How do you read it?’ He answered: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your…...
Holocaust Survivor | Arkadi’s Story
He was too young to suspect trickery. Lured by a Nazi guard with the promise of treats, Arkadi reached eagerly for a chocolate. But the ensuing blows left the child with severe brain damage, leading to vocal cord impairment...
The Lord Who Delivers
“And God spoke all these words, saying: ‘I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before Me’” (Exodus 20:1-3 NKJV). Why did God begin the Ten Commandments by stating, “I am…...
New Immigrant | Svetlana’s Story
It had always been a powerful dream. For decades, Svetlana had felt the pull of living in Karmiel, Israel. Now the timing seemed perfect—her son had moved there with his family. But Svetlana’s husband got cold feet....
The Torn Veil
“The curtain secluding the Holiest Place in the Temple was split apart from top to bottom; and the earth shook, and rocks broke” (Matthew 27:51 TLB). The Jewish community viewed the Holy of Holies as the place of God’s Shekinah glory, the dwelling of His divine presence....
The Lamb of God
The ancient Romans executed tens of thousands by crucifixion in their vast empire. By all accounts, crucifixion was a torturous means of death, intended to cause its victims maximum suffering and humiliation. As Roman soldiers drove nails into Jesus’ body...
Move Forward
“Then they said to Moses, ‘Is it because there were no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness?’ … Moses said to the people, ‘Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of the Lord which He will accomplish for you today;…...
Single Mother | Eden’s Story
They were about to be evicted! Eden was pregnant and because her husband was not yet an Israeli citizen, she was the sole breadwinner. The couple had met in Israel but learned that the path to citizenship was not always an easy one...
Hiding from God
“Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and they hid themselves from the Lord God among the trees of the garden” (Genesis 3:8 HCSB). When Adam and Eve disobeyed God by eating the…...
New Immigrant | Irina’s Story
It was even harder than she’d feared. Worried about being alone and friendless in a strange land, Irina had been uncertain about immigrating to Israel. It wasn’t easy to leave her homeland behind, along with a steady job and good friends....
Patient Endurance
“The word of the Lord came to me saying, ‘What do you see, Jeremiah?’ And I said, ‘I see a rod of an almond tree.’ Then the Lord said to me, ‘You have seen well, for I am watching over My word to perform it’” (Jeremiah 1:11-12 NASB). This interchange…...
Social Events for Holocaust Survivors
Their words are haunting. “We want someone to care about us—to talk to us and ask about our day.” All too often, those who survived Nazi cruelty no longer have any connection with family members....
The Lord is My Shepherd
“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the…...
Rejoice in Desolation
“Even though the fig trees have no blossoms, and there are no grapes on the vines; even though the olive crop fails, and the fields lie empty and barren; even though the flocks die in the fields, and the cattle barns are empty, yet I will rejoice in the Lord!…...
Holocaust Survivor | Rita’s Story
The memories are still painful. Rita can never forget the shame and humiliation of being forced—at age 10—to strip naked in front of grown men, stand under a freezing shower, and have her head shaved...
God, What are You Doing?
“How long, O Lord, will I call for help, and You will not hear? I cry out to You, ‘Violence!’ yet You do not save. Why do You make me see iniquity, and cause me to look on wickedness? Yes, destruction and violence are before me; strife exists and contention…...
Holocaust Survivor | Jacob’s Story
He felt so helpless. Not as badly as when Jacob had seen Nazis shoot people in the street, or assault his sisters, or take his parents away—never to return. And he couldn’t forget the horror of watching his grandmother...
Don’t Trust in Horses
“Some take pride in chariots, and some in horses, but our pride is in the name of the Lord our God” (Psalm 20:7 NRSV).The land of Israel sat at the crossroads of the ancient world. Its geographic location made the land strategically significant...
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