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By Arlene Bridges Samuels

On December 6, Netflix is releasing its Christmas movie called Mary. The title character is played by 21-year-old Noa Cohen, with 22-year-old Ido Tako as Joseph. Legendary actor Anthony Hopkins in the role of Herod is sure to weave a star-powered combination in the trio. However, BDS and anti-Israel groups are outraged! Why? The actors portraying Mary and Joseph are Israeli Jews—not Palestinians.

When Palestinians instigated boycotts in 1995, they assumed Israel would breathe its last if strangled with economic warfare, terror, and propaganda. Clearly, they were mistaken. BDS—Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions—targets Israel, the world’s only Jewish nation. Now, BDS is manifesting further madness about the film, Mary.

Bottom line: BDS adherents aim at erasing the Jewishness of Mary, Joseph, and Jesus—our Jewish Messiah—born in the fields of Bethlehem Ephrathah near the Tower of the Flock (Migdal Eder). In a fascinating side note, some research suggests that King David and Jesus, the Perfect Lamb, were born in or near Migdal Eder (Micah 5:2), where Levitical shepherds raised and oversaw the births of Passover lambs.

Trying to erase 2,000 years of world history, BDS is aimed not only at Jews but also levels its slander into the minds of 2 billion Christians. Unfortunately, some Christians have swallowed these lies as if they were truth. Satan has resurrected Hitleresque propaganda by invading the world through social media warfare and savagery.

Frankly, I do not know if the film Mary will please the Christian community with regard to its portrayal of Jesus’ mother. I have not previewed it. But I respect Director D.J. Caruso’s comments in October’s Entertainment Weekly. “It was important to us that Mary, along with most of our primary cast, be selected from Israel to ensure authenticity.” Filmed in Morocco, Caruso added that the film’s writing and production were done with “great care” to create “a story that feels both sacred and modern.”

For decades the Palestinian Authority, as well as pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel activists, have called the Holy Family “Palestinians.” Author and theologian Eitan Bar writes about those who claim, “Jesus was a ‘Palestinian freedom fighter,’ suggesting Jesus led a revolt against—you guessed it—the Jews!”

Bar adds that some Muslims and radical liberal Christians have adopted the Palestinian freedom fighter narrative in trying to justify violence against Jews. It is a fairly recent construct, dating back to 2018, when a university campaign in the U.S. claimed that Jesus was Palestinian. If you wish to go deeper into this controversy, click here.

The movie denigrators represent millions of people in both Muslim and non-Muslim communities who have adopted violence as a tool, recently evidenced by Muslim gangs launching a vicious attack against Israeli fans attending soccer games in Amsterdam and Paris.

Some social media agitators are “offended” by Israeli actors portraying Jewish Mary and Joseph. Here’s an example of such comments: “A film [about] a Palestinian woman played by actors from the settler state [Israel’s biblical heartland] that is currently mass slaughtering Palestinian women. Oh, the disgusting audacity.”

Proponents of BDS are taking the word of Hamas and its evildoers and treating them like heroes. Those with minds persuaded by lies are calling for a boycott against the film Mary, which is not only offensive to Christians but also denigrating to the Jewish people seeing that Mary, Joseph, and their children were all Jewish, historical figures who lived in biblical Judea.

Nevertheless, despite the October 7 genocide and escalating dangers globally, Israelis remain dedicated and determined to win their defensive war of justice. Unsurprisingly, Israel Defense Forces are finding Arabic translations of Hitler’s handbook Mein Kampf in the tunnels under Gaza. When an IDF unit in Lebanon found a copy of Mein Kampf in a living room, one soldier observed that “parts were underlined and highlighted inside, as if someone had studied it line by line.” In fact, Hamas, Hezbollah, and the degenerate gangs funded by the Islamic Regime imitate Hitler’s strategies that led to the genocide of 6 million Jews.

Sadly, in the U.S. and beyond, BDS includes churches, labor unions, universities, and grassroots groups that BDS recruits internationally to inflict financial and propagandic havoc on Israel. In fact, just a scant few days after October 7, 2023, a hateful global intifada exploded among university students—and professors—sitting in prominent campus locations.

These groups now mourn the mounting deaths of Hezbollah leaders instead of October 7 victims and hostages, among them seven Americans. At Columbia University, the mindless shouts of “We are Hamas” and “Hamas make us proud” fill the air. Thirty-six percent of protestors deem violence as acceptable.

No matter what is happening in our personal lives and the Jewish world, Zephaniah 3:17 assures us that “The LORD your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior Who saves. He will take great delight in you … but will rejoice over you with singing.” 

I daresay that one of the biggest crises in our world today is that too many are boycotting the Judeo-Christian faiths and the Bible—both the Old Testament, which clearly prophesied our coming Jewish Messiah, and His fulfillment in New Testament.

The world may use its evil energy to devise every boycott, divestment, and sanction it can against the God of the Universe, yet He is the everlasting King.

Our CBN Israel team welcomes you to pray with us for Israelis and the 15.8 million Jewish people globally.

Prayer Points:

• Pray for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s safety from incoming drone attacks against his private home.
• Pray for the IDF’s great successes to defeat Hezbollah.
• Pray for IDF families with increasing IDF deaths in Gaza and Lebanon.
• Pray for Christians to repost truthful social media.
• Pray thanking God from Deuteronomy 7:6, “The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be His people, His treasured possession.”

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.

By Arlene Bridges Samuels

The musical Fiddler on the Roof is an emotional display of romance, sorrow, tradition, and joy in a small Russian village. Offering a glimpse into the Russian Jewish culture of 1905, the movie script and songs brim with the stories of Tevye the milkman, Golde his wife, and their five daughters. The matchmaker, rabbi, and poor families had strong hearts, hopes, and humor as they lived in a robust way based on their Jewish faith.

Amid these unforgettable songs, romances, and dancing the hora, it is sometimes easy to forget that the 1971 Fiddler on the Roof movie is based on the true stories of the Russian czar’s Cossacks—and the attempts to destroy the Jewish culture and its people.

The Cossacks were a quasi-military force that guarded borders and performed police duties. Remember the movie scene where they violently broke into the joyous wedding celebration of one of Tevye’s daughters? Last week, on the night of November 7, 2024, Jew-hating violence broke out in Amsterdam—violence that has been, and is, spreading more aggressively in Europe.

This time, it’s not the Cossacks on horseback of 120 years ago but murderous Muslims, using knives, car rammings, beatings, and throwing Jews into the canals. Their well-organized plan against Israeli soccer fans meant the new Nazis were waiting as Israelis exited a match between Ajax Amsterdam and Maccabi Tel Aviv. Miraculously, no Israeli was murdered, but Israel called it a pogrom, and that is exactly what it was.

What is a pogrom? This Russian word means “to wreak havoc, to demolish violently”—particularly in the context of local attacks on Jews. The term pogrom originated during the Russian Empire and became commonly used in anti-Jewish riots from 1881 to 1884, starting after Tsar Alexander II was assassinated. The term was first used in English in 1882.

Non-Jewish Cossacks and local populations planned and conducted deadly attacks up though the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution. Tens of thousands of Jews were murdered between 1918 and 1920. Between 1881 and 1924, massive waves of Jewish refugees fled Russia and Europe for America, which they called “the Golden Land.” Arriving by ship, they first sailed past the iconic Statue of Liberty and disembarked onto Ellis Island for processing.

My husband Paul is a proud first-generation American because each of his parents fled Russian pogroms as children with their parents. They walked into freedom through Ellis Island. His parents later met and married in Bronx, New York, worked hard, and raised five children. His father served in World War II, drove a taxi, and ran a newspaper stand in Manhattan. His parents rarely if at all spoke about the old country, but Paul remembers his mother describing her fear-filled childhood—hiding in haystacks to escape pogroms against Jews. Our family has watched Fiddler on the Roof countless times since Paul adopted it as his family’s story.

In 1903, a tablet with Emma Lazarus’s words in her poem, “The New Colossus”—“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free”—was affixed to the Statue of Liberty’s base. Lazarus is considered America’s first Jewish-American poet. Patriotic songs in Yiddish also expressed the immigrants’ love and loyalty. A popular song from the bygone era was raised by the Jewish voices of new arrivals, which included his parents. The opening lyrics proclaim, “To express loyalty with every fiber of one’s being, to this Land of Freedom, is the sacred duty of every Jew.” 

Now, in response to the Amsterdam attacks in the Netherlands, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu aptly called them a pogrom and sent civilian planes to rescue over 2,000 Israeli citizens. Christians in the USA and worldwide would do well to listen to Netanyahu’s warnings: “Attacks of this kind threaten not only Israel but endanger the entire world.” He commented on historical proof that “Wild attacks that start against Jews, never end with the Jews.”

He emphasized that free nations face the same savage murderers seeking to “destroy our common civilization and return all of us to a dark age of tyranny and terror.”

In the famous movie, Tevye himself gave intriguing comments in an answer about his home village. “A fiddler on the roof! Sounds crazy, no? But here, in our little village of Anatevka, you might say every one of us is a fiddler on the roof trying to scratch out a pleasant, simple tune without breaking his neck. It isn’t easy. You may ask, ‘Why do we stay up there if it’s so dangerous?’ Well, we stay because Anatevka is our home. And how do we keep our balance? That I can tell you in one word: tradition!”

And biblical tradition is immersed in facts that Jews are God’s chosen people and Israel is His chosen Land—the birthplace of our Savior and our Christian faith. In Fiddler on the Roof, pogroms forced Tevye to flee from Anatevka, an example of centuries of Jewish dispersion living in other homes and lands across the world.

After Israel announced its modern independence on May 14, 1948, the Jewish people have been returning in record numbers to their ancestral homeland. This massive wave of Aliyah—the immigration of Jews to Israel—was clearly foretold by the ancient prophet Ezekiel, who, writing at the time of the Babylonian captivity, proclaimed this message: “For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. … Then you will live in the land I gave your ancestors; you will be my people, and I will be your God” (Ezekiel 36:24, 28 NIV).

The modern State of Israel echoes a message that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared when he spoke at the United Nations General Assembly on September 27, 2024. “Generations after generations in which our people were slaughtered, remorselessly butchered, and no one raised a finger in our defense, we now have a state. We now have a brave army, an army of incomparable courage.”

He referred to the book of Samuel about Israel defending itself, affirming: “The eternity of Israel will not falter. In the Jewish people’s epic journey from antiquity and our odyssey through the tempest and upheavals of modern times.” And in conclusion: “The torch of Israel will forever shine. … The people of Israel live now, tomorrow, and forever.”

To be sure, Tevye the actor and Netanyahu the prime minister both expressed the vibrant spirit and strength of the Jewish people. In God’s plans, the pogroms will end!

Pray with our CBN Israel team with ongoing prayers for Israel and Europe.

Prayer Points:

• Pray for Prime Minister Netanyahu’s safety and decision-making.
• Pray for European nations to enact security for their citizens.
• Pray for the European Union to make wise, not weak, decisions.
• Pray with thanks that Jews were not murdered in the Amsterdam pogrom.

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.

By Arlene Bridges Samuels 

Leading into the U.S. election, the main highway into Tel Aviv, Israel, projected a large pro-Trump billboard reading, “Israel Votes Trump.” Donald J. Trump’s victory offers increased hope for Israel fighting on the front lines of freedom for the United States and the free world in a seven-front war sponsored by Iran.

The Islamic Regime funds not just its anti-Israel surrogates in the Middle East but also globally, via its arsenal of hate—a hatred that goes beyond the Jews to anyone, any country, that Iran leaders consider an “infidel.” In fact in 1979, when the ayatollahs forced their Shia Muslim dictatorship onto Iran (Persia), their stature as the world’s biggest terror threat increased. It’s all about their dominance and hatred for Israel and the United States of America—Israel’s most significant ally.

By 1984, the U.S. had designated the regime as the “foremost state sponsor of terrorism.” The ayatollahs describe Israel as the Little Satan and the U.S. as the Great Satan. Proof of their hatred toward the U.S. has become evident in Iraq, Jordan, and Syria during the last few years. Around 2,500 U.S. troops were stationed in Iraq and another 900 in Syria to prevent Iranian weapons and personnel from crossing through Iraq and Syria to supply Hezbollah in Lebanon. In June 2024, the Biden administration increased U.S. troops to 3,813 in Jordan—a nearly 20 percent increase. Iranian drone strikes are killing and injuring our American troops!

Just consider the toll. Hezbollah, better armed than most NATO countries, is Iran’s top proxy. Its horrific history goes back for decades before our troops were stationed on the ground. Hezbollah’s 1983 truck-bomb attack murdered 241 soldiers at the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut, Lebanon. Additionally, Hezbollah murdered 63 Americans at the U.S. Embassy in Lebanon (1984) and 19 at the Khobar Towers U.S. military housing complex in Saudi Arabia (1996) and held meetings with established sleeper cells in the United States.

The Islamic Regime is the biggest funder of Hezbollah, yet it does not stop there. A 2017 report outlines Hezbollah’s lucrative fraud network in at least 10 states, including Michigan, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, New York, North Carolina, and West Virginia. It is easy to guess that since this report came out, coupled with our wide-open southern border since 2021, Hezbollah’s presence and businesses in the United States are even more profuse.

For example, Hezbollah operatives pay cash for used cars and ship them to Africa for their toxic terror activities. Even a perfume company helps launder and finance terror money.

The U.S. Justice Department in 2023 offers us another example of criminality, when it prosecuted an intricate web of companies illicitly seeking to obtain valuable artwork from U.S. artists, art galleries, and diamond businesses. It amounted to around $160 million in profits for the Hezbollah fundraiser who posed as a legitimate businessman. All the covert terror funds were transacted through the U.S. financial system. 

It is a glimmer of hope that Hezbollah’s criminal activities are on the U.S. Congress’s radar. One congressional hearing highlighted Hezbollah’s multimillion-dollar criminal network—including human trafficking, drug trafficking, cigarette smuggling, and counterfeiting in the U.S. and on a total of four continents. Congress also passed the Hezbollah International Financing Prevention Act to track and halt Hezbollah’s financial transactions.

A Treasury official declared that the 2015 Act put Hezbollah in “the worst financial shape in decades.” However, in the same year, under the Obama-Biden administration, Congress also agreed to the flawed Iran nuclear deal. Iran received billions that helped to resupply terrorists. This decision made no sense, which has particularly been proven this past year by the Iranian-funded October 7 invasion and massacres as well as the ongoing multifront war Israel has faced with Iran and its terror proxies. 

Based on information from the U.S. intelligence community, Hezbollah has a number of sleeper cells in the United States. Simone Ledeen, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Middle East, issued this warning: “Hezbollah is a very real threat to us here in the United States. They have sleeper cells in the U.S., in many cities across the country. This has been documented in multiple court cases, and we have reason to believe that they also have caches where they have stored materials around the country in the event that someone hits the go button to start attacks, I believe they are pretty well prepared—they have been sitting in wait for an order to go for many years now.”

Israel’s war against Hezbollah, called Operation “Northern Arrows,” began on September 23, 2024, in response to the terror group’s unrelenting rocket attacks on northern Israel since last October, and is a significant indicator both of Hezbollah’s relentless hatred toward the U.S. decades ago—and its dangerous intentions now. We are, after all, Israel’s greatest ally.

Despite Israel’s brilliant strategies and victories aimed at eliminating most of Hezbollah’s top terrorists, Hezbollah began the war with 150,000 rockets. Tens of thousands of rockets remain in terrorist hands. They must be destroyed, since 100 rocket strikes a day and numerous drones indicate enough firepower to be launched against Israel for months on end.

When Israel reaches its military goals against Hezbollah—and it will—a grim fact remains for the world’s only Jewish state. The Iranian proxies seek not only to murder every Jew, but to erase every symbol and structure of Judaism and Jewish culture in the Holy Land. The hatred runs deeper than most of our American Christian imaginations can comprehend. However, we must pray for and help our Jewish friends in our spiritual homeland, the ancient birthplace of our faith.

In the Arabic language, Hezbollah means “party of god.” This party of god is the antithesis of the true God of the Universe, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Despite evil and lawlessness manifesting in too many places, we trust the One who cannot be defeated, who has preserved a strong remnant of His people, and will reign forever.

For us as believers, by faith we are under His tallit (prayer shawl), we dwell safe and secure, and our hiding place is sure! Though life is full of struggle, our joy is fuller still. Under His tallit, we are in His sovereign will! 

Our CBN Israel team welcomes you to join us in prayer this week remembering Isaiah 45:7-9:

I form light and create darkness; I make well-being and create calamity; I am the LORD, who does all these things. “Shower, O heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain down righteousness; let the earth open, that salvation and righteousness may bear fruit; let the earth cause them both to sprout; I the LORD have created it. Woe to him who strives with him who formed him, a pot among earthen pots! Does the clay say to him who forms it, ‘What are you making?’ or ‘Your work has no handles’?”

Prayer Points

• Pray for Christians to overcome anxiety by donning our spiritual armor.
• Pray for IDF safety and success to discover and defeat evil in Lebanon.
• Pray for the rescue of each living hostage and the bodies of loved ones.
• Pray with thanks for U.S. military assets in the skies and on the water.

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.

By Arlene Bridges Samuels

Trivia games—still enormously popular today—first came into vogue on college campuses in the 1960s. Later, TV game shows like Jeopardy! caught on, followed by the Trivial Pursuit game that was officially released in 1981. Numerous trivia apps now generate hours of enjoyment.

The United States leads the trivia world of facts, with 1.3 billion downloads in 2022 alone. One of the best things about playing trivia is that doing so can help increase our knowledge, our team building, and our memory. That is why many corporations, like Spotify, Nike, and Amazon, use trivia applications.

As Israel advocates, we can have fun while utilizing Israel-focused trivia facts to increase our knowledge and oppose the unabating torrent of lies against Israel. Here are a few sample questions, before we explore historical facts about the world’s biblical heartland.

The answers for these trivia questions appear at the end of my column. Enjoy challenging yourself first!

1. What are the two geographic names of the biblical heartland?
2. What is the name of the walk in Jerusalem that takes visitors through the 14 stations of the cross?
3. What year did the Romans destroy the Second Temple? 
4. How many ancient synagogues have archeologists discovered in Israel’s Golan Heights? 
5. What is the name of Israel’s legislative body?
6. What is the Hebrew name for the Western Wall?
7. What does the acronym IDF describe?
8. What year did the Israeli government order 8,000 Jewish citizens to leave Gaza, turning it completely over to Palestinians?
9. How many Arabs are Israeli citizens?
10. After which war did Israel reunify its capital, Jerusalem?
11. What year was the U.S. Embassy returned to its capital?
12. What is the term for Jewish people immigrating to Israel?  
13. Who is referred to as the Father of Zionism? 
14. Who is credited with re-establishing ancient Hebrew into Israel’s modern language?
15. Who is the current prime minister of Israel?

Whether or not you scored well, persistence will reward your knowledge. Prayers plus facts are needed now more than ever for the biblical heartland, Judea and Samaria, located in Israel since ancient times.

The Islamic Regime and its proxies remain intent on wiping Israel and her people off the map. That is why the Israel Defense Forces have expanded protection for Judea and Samaria—due to enclaves of Hamas terrorists in the Palestinian-occupied cities and villages. These terrorists use cars, knives, guns, IEDs, and highly sophisticated weapons they have smuggled into the heartland to murder Jews and anyone else in the way. 

An article in August 2024 from the Jewish News Syndicate reported that since January, more than 3,000 terror attacks in Judea and Samaria have killed 14 people and wounded 155 others. The IDF has changed the status of Judea and Samaria, now classifying it a “combat zone”—and Israel’s most critical front after the Gaza Strip.

The world calls the biblical heartland the West Bank. A quick trivia question: “Why and when did the name West Bank originate?” Answer: About 75 years ago, the name given to describe land on the west side of the Jordan River.

Facts about the biblical heartland have a far more significant value than the dictionary meaning of the word trivia, which is “unimportant facts or details that are considered interesting rather than serious or useful.” Based on the spoken word of God penned by ancient Jewish scribes, the Old and New Testaments are one book—and proclaim Judea and Samaria as the bedrock of Judaism and for our Christian faith. Israel’s capital, Jerusalem, is in Judea.

Looking at a map of Israel, we see that the heartland is still loaded with names from the Bible. Add your own trivia list of facts to several I have included here.

God told Abraham, the first Jew, to pitch his tent in Hebron, near the tree of Mamre, around 1,800 B.C. In Judea, Hebron is considered the oldest Jewish community in the world!

Judea and Samaria correspond to the ancient Northern and Southern Kingdoms. Judea lies south of Jerusalem, and Samaria to the north.

The Old Testament foretold the Bethlehem field in Judea as the birthplace of Jesus. The New Testament confirmed it.

Shiloh, in Samaria, was the religious and military capital of Israel for 369 years in the 12th and 11th centuries B.C. It was the location of the Tabernacle housing the Ark of the Covenant. In Shiloh today, walking in the ancient steps of Hannah, Elkana, Eli, Samuel, and King David is an archaeological and holy experience connecting the 3,500-year Jewish history to their ancestral homeland.

The memorable New Testament story of Jesus and the woman at the well with her joyful encounter with the Messiah happened in Samaria.

In the 1967 Six-Day War when Israel was attacked, the Jews triumphed and won their ancient heartland from Jordanian occupation (1950-1967). Upwards of 500,000 religious and secular Jews now live throughout Judea and Samaria. Click here to explore many more facts both ancient and modern. 

Although most call Judea and Samaria the “West Bank” it does not change the fact that this is the biblical heartland. Threats from the terrorists of the Islamic Regime and its ungodly understudies will not triumph over the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob! “The land I gave to Abraham and Isaac I also give to you [Jacob], and I will give this land to your descendants after you” (Genesis 35:12). Israel’s Independence Day, May 14, 1948, certified God’s ancient promises.

This is the Holy Land where Jesus will return, rule, and reign forever! 

Enjoy another Israeli game! Trivia: Are You Smarter Than DBG? Who was DBG? Israel’s first Prime Minister, David Ben Gurion! He originated the “Bible Quiz” Chidon HaTanach, a worldwide competition for all ages. The final quiz is annually televised in Jerusalem on Israel’s Independence Day, Yom Ha’atzmaut. 

Trivia Answers:

1. Judea and Samaria
2. Via Dolorosa
3. A.D. 70 
4. Thirty
5. Knesset
6. Kotel
7. Israel Defense Forces
8. 2005 
9. Approximately two million
10. Six-Day War, 1967 
11. 2018 by President Donald Trump
12. Aliyah 
13. Theodore Herzl
14. Ben Yehuda
15. Benjamin Netanyahu 

We welcome you to join our CBN Israel team to pray from Jeremiah 32:17—“Ah, Sovereign Lord, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you.” 

Prayer Points: 

• Pray for citizens’ safety in modern-day Judea and Samaria. 
• Pray for many small businesses such as Lev Haolam, which makes beautiful products that can be ordered and shipped.
• Pray for the IDF as they protect Israeli communities in the biblical heartland.

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.

However, a genuine problem is looming in the United States. An October headline shouted, “Apathy Among Christian Voters Could Be ‘Gamechanger’ in 2024 election.” The Barna Group’s research notes that out of 104 million people of faith, an estimated 32 million self-identified churchgoers who regularly attend church will not cast their ballots. As you will see, it is seriously time for us to follow the examples of Moses and Esther.

Comparing the U.S. percentage to Israeli voting habits, 70 percent of Israelis vote for their Knesset (Parliament) for their parties, which leads to the coalition for a prime minister! Israelis closely engage in vigorous, often contentious politics and discussions in their homeland. 

Politics in the U.S. has regressed into toxic verbal landscapes not seen in decades along with two assassination attempts against former President Trump. Many prefer to turn off the media and wrap themselves in a cocoon of disengagement.

Sharp divisions between American Democrats and Republicans show up in new uncharted issues—plus COVID-19 aftermaths, climate disasters totaling $93 billion in 2023 alone, and now traumas due to devastating hurricanes in the last two months. These catastrophic events—and more—add further complexities and questions for Americans.

Israelis fighting their justified seven-front war are reeling with grief from October 7 in their brave, exhausting, and ongoing war against the Islamic Regime and its proxies. IDF soldier deaths are increasing amid the ground war in southern Lebanon—and then last week’s Hezbollah drone targeting Prime Minister Netanyahu’s home increased Israeli anxieties.

All to say, the challenges for the United States and our ally Israel are problems that only God can and will solve, in His timing. 

Meanwhile, what is our role as Christians? Do we sit idly by in disgust and disillusionment amid constant breaking news disruptions? Are we angry most of the time? Have we retreated from our freedoms?

Let us replace our outrage with outreach, and our apathy with action, to engage effectively with our culture by honoring our freedom to vote, especially here in the United States. Israelis honor their freedom with high voter turnout. Let us imitate them!   

You may be surprised to know that the Bible provides us with outstanding role models and expectations as citizens. With the research indicating that as many as 32 million church-going Christians may not vote, it is important to learn from biblical leaders engaged in politics.

If you are choosing not to vote, I want to point you toward four biblical leaders in the hope that you will overcome your reluctance to cast your ballot in this upcoming election and make your voice heard in the political context.

God used Joseph in lifesaving ways by positioning him in his role as Pharaoh’s prime minister. Joseph accepted his future with wise decisions and brilliantly carried out his prominent position in politics, resulting in his Jewish family surviving the famine. Similarly, around 400 years later, God placed Moses in a key position in Egypt, not on Pharoah’s staff but as an ancient lobbyist. In his role, Moses appealed to Pharoah many times to “let my people go.” Finally, his appeals were answered and the Jewish people set out on their 40-year journey to the Promised Land. 

Queen Esther also functioned as an ancient lobbyist. God placed her, a young Jewish orphan, in an influential position as a wife to King Ahasuerus. With prayer and courage, she made requests to him that saved the Jewish people from Haman’s genocidal plans.

And yes, although Babylonians captured Daniel and his friends from Jerusalem, God elevated Daniel to a highly esteemed position on King Nebuchadnezzar’s staff. Daniel served as the king’s premier counselor and held devotedly to his Jewish faith in a foreign, idol-worshiping land. He overcame his fear with faith even in the lion’s den.

Joseph, Moses, Esther, and Daniel deserve a second look into how God used them in a political context to change history.

A fact not widely known is that Israeli-Americans—dual citizens—number up to 500,000. They vote by absentee ballot in U.S. elections. Like those in the United States, when it comes to Donald Trump or Kamala Harris, they will vote for their favorite candidate. Republicans and Democrats have branch offices in Israel with their get-out-the-vote campaigns. Israel’s U.S. Embassy provided voting guidelines on January 26, 2024, emphasizing the importance of absentee ballots and detailing the instructions for the process.

Regarding perfect candidates and governments on earth, these do not exist. That is, until Isaiah 9:7 is reflected upon. “Of the greatness of His government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over His kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever.”

While earthly governments oppress and operate in a quagmire of self-interests, even in a democracy, Heaven’s country will outshine them all. God Himself will be our government. Perfection will overtake imperfection. Love will overtake hate. Joy will overtake sorrow when the government rests upon His shoulders.

A few bullet points to consider: Voting is a privilege. Our military has sacrificed for our freedoms so let’s not take those freedoms for granted. No candidate is perfect. Before you vote, pray and consult the Lord. Be aware that propaganda is at an all-time high. Be cautious about what you read and hear.

Vote for the candidates that reflect your values the most. Consider the quality of life for you, your family, and your friends. Closely examine candidate policies.

We welcome you to join our CBN Israel team this week to pray with lofty expectations about a perfect government in Isaiah 9:6: “And the government will be upon His shoulders.”

Prayer Points:

• Pray for U.S. elections and protection for Presidential, House, and Senate candidates.
• Pray that Christians will abandon their apathy and choose to vote.
• Pray that all vote counting will go smoothly.
• Pray for Israeli civilians, the IDF, and Lebanese Christians in the war against evil.

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.

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.

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.

By Arlene Bridges Samuels

Today, among numerous women’s prayer groups, Christian Women for Israel (CW4I) are an inspiring example of standing with Israel and praying for her people. An international group of women devoted to prayer, education, advocacy, and peace for all people in Israel, the 70,000 CW4I members worldwide come from every state and from 30 countries.

Christian Women for Israel was cofounded by Peggy Kennedy and Pastor Leah Miles. Leah and Peggy’s CW4I partnership, officially set up in 2018 as a program of The Esther 414 Foundation, quickly gained importance when the menacing Islamic Regime’s threats and proxies grew more strident in 2021 by intensifying its clearly stated goals against Israel. Peggy explains the “pillars” of the foundation as support for Israel, underserved communities, women’s empowerment initiatives, and sharing Jesus’ love in demonstrated ways. 

Like everyone else around the globe, Kennedy and Miles could not have anticipated the outbreak of Hamas’s unmitigated brutality that began on October 7, 2023. When this Iranian proxy took delight in its massacres—recorded on their own body cams as evidence—the world reacted with shock and moments of compassion. That compassion lasted only a few short days before slander and misinformation saturated the airwaves.  

Nevertheless, amid the heavy blanket of Jew hatred covering Israel and all Jews, today’s global modern-day army of CW4I is pressing in with unrelenting prayer matched with action to ease the heaviness and trauma. The reincarnation of ancient Persia’s vile Haman has been active since 1979, when the Islamic Regime’s genocidal Shia Islam ayatollahs overthrew the government. The hateful campaigns of the apocalyptic imams crush their own population, which longs for freedom. Now more than ever, the world needs praying Esthers on their knees who then stand up with merciful humanitarian acts.

The book of Esther’s calling card for CW4I is well known in Mordecai’s wise admonition to the Queen: “For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14)

Christian Women for Israel began in a small yet determined way after its cofounders met at the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews. In 2018, information-gathering pioneers Leah Miles, her mother Elaine Anderson, and daughter Allison Cacella-Lauer traveled to Israel as a generational trio. Prior to their trip, Leah described their intensive prayer efforts. “We collected thousands of prayer requests before our trip, typed them, printed then cut them out, and rolled them up.” The trio spent hours at the Western Wall while stuffing the Wall’s ancient crevices and praying over each request.

In 2019, CW4I inaugurated its Goodwill Ambassador’s program, financing a group of 14 women led by Pastor Robbie Glover and cofounder Peggy Kennedy. The Ambassadors served as volunteers in a soup kitchen, delivering meals to shut-ins (including Holocaust survivors), assisting new Jewish citizens, and visiting with soldiers in the Israel Defense Forces to encourage these valiant men and women. The CW4I Ambassadors also spent prayer times at the Western Wall, in never-to-be-forgotten hours at one of Judaism’s holiest sites. The Western Wall stands surrounded by centuries of powerful prayers rendered by millions of worshippers.  

After the inaugural CW4I Ambassador’s trip in 2019, COVID-19 hindered plans for future volunteer trips to Israel. The horrific Hamas invasion on October 7 and ongoing war have further curtailed trips. Nonetheless, Leah Miles makes their efforts clear: “Even though we are not on the ground in Israel, what we do here is to use our voices and influence.” 

Ongoing prayers for Israel and Jewish communities worldwide continue as a hallmark of CW41. Since October 7, the organization has added a significant partnership with Vision for Israel to raise finances for a portable bomb shelter. A location for the bomb shelter will not be hard to find, as Israel is fighting a battle for survival on seven fronts: Gaza, West Bank, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Yemen, and Iran. Israel has operated in all seven theaters since October 7, 2023.

Leah’s past and present association with the award-winning MorseLife Foundation’s Holocaust Now, which helps low-income survivors, also indicates her wide-ranging activism. While raising her young children, she also served as the only Christian on the Florida Holocaust Task Force. The task force’s efforts resulted in the Florida Legislature passing the Holocaust Education Bill in 1994, which required all school districts to incorporate Holocaust lessons as part of public-school instruction in grades K-12 to achieve Holocaust literacy.

Leah credits two very special older Jewish friends who delivered meals together in those early days as her encouragers for advocacy, which has lasted for decades now. She is thankful for the “seeds they planted in me.” Christian Women for Israel endures as a force to be reckoned with, in prayers asking the Commander of Angel Armies to enable Israel to have victory again—after many centuries—over modern enemies like Haman who want to destroy them.

If you are not yet involved in prayer and action, CW4I welcomes you. They describe themselves as a “band of ordinary women doing extraordinary things” and are “devoted to prayer, advocacy, and peace for all people in Israel.”

As in Esther 4:14, is God calling you for such a time as this? A time when the Biden/Harris administration has removed sanctions against Iran? Where the U.S. government adds billions to the evil regime’s coffers, taking the handcuffs off the world’s most dangerous terrorist nation? The results are open doors of death and destruction in Israel, plus covert goals against the United States and beyond. And now, bands of ordinary women have an extraordinary opportunity to stand with Israel. Learn more here.

We welcome you this week to join our CBN Israel team to pray with us, recalling God’s affection for His chosen people in Deuteronomy 7:8: “The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be His people, His treasured possession.”  

Prayer Points: 

• Pray that Esther 414 and CW4I will grow exponentially.  
• Pray for all women who care for Israel to seek ways to bless His people.
• Pray for Israel’s victory in a seven-front war against Iran’s and its terror proxies.
• Pray for the Iranians who are suffering under the regime.

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 an author at The Blogs-Times of Israel and has traveled to Israel since 1990. She co-edited The Auschwitz Album Revisited and is on the board of Violins of Hope South Carolina. By invitation, Arlene attends Israel’s Government Press Office Christian Media Summits. She also hosts her devotionals, The Eclectic Evangelical, on her website at ArleneBridgesSamuels.com.

By Arlene Bridges Samuels

When the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) hired me as its first Southeast Regional Christian Outreach Director in 2007, an exceptional privilege awaited me. AIPAC’s foresight as a historically Jewish institution to welcome Christians, Blacks, Hispanics, and Asians into pro-Israel advocacy was not only an act of unity but has turned out to be a necessity now more than ever since the October 7 massacres and kidnappings. Glancing into the rearview mirror after retiring nine years later in 2016, I remain indebted to AIPAC for being a pro-Israel advocate before and after my position as its first outreach director.

AIPAC’s leadership and training have embodied a rare coalition of diverse people with only one shared goal: strengthening the U.S./Israel relationship in Congress among both Democrats and Republicans. AIPAC is (and since 1954 has been) an American organization laser-focused on one purpose: to work with the administration and members of Congress to benefit both Israel and the United States of America.

Education, facts, and relationships have powered AIPAC’s influence taking hold more prominently from the 1990s onward. AIPAC was often described by many as a political action committee focusing on the last three letters of its acronym. It is still Public Affairs Committee.

However, in a timely decision in 2022 amid the doses of poison polluting American politics, AIPAC expanded by adding two political action committees: the AIPAC PAC and a super PAC called United Democracy Project. In this election cycle, both Republican and Democratic donors are contributing to AIPAC’s PACs for current Democratic and Republican members of Congress and candidates running for office.

About each of these candidates, AIPAC donors are interested in one simple fact: Is the legislator or candidate a demonstrated supporter of the U.S./Israel relationship? Recently two House members, outspoken against Israel’s right to defend its existential attacks supported by the Islamic Regime, have lost their primaries: Cori Bush (D-MO) and Jamaal Bowman (D-NY). A great outcome for AIPAC and pro-Israel advocates.

In my staff position with AIPAC, I informed and engaged pastors, churches, and Christian leaders in businesses, ministries, and national organizations throughout the Southeast and beyond. For nine years I communicated one foundational message to Christians: We must follow in the footsteps of famous biblical trailblazers whose stories we love. Moses was an ancient lobbyist when he approached Pharaoh to “let my people go.” Esther prayerfully took a political stance while hosting a dinner to honor King Ahasuerus. There she revealed Haman’s genocidal plot to murder her people, the Jews.

Because Moses and Queen Esther acted on God’s directions and strategies to lobby two powerful leaders, the Jewish people miraculously survive to this very day. This is politics at its finest, appealing to a leader with a life-altering request on behalf of Jews. After October 7, Christians living today find ourselves at a turning point in world history with Israel and the Jewish community as the centerpiece globally.

Given that politics and the U.S. Congress are so unpopular today, is there any sense in following ancient Moses and Esther in their dangerous times into controversy and chaos today? The horrors of October 7 provide our answer.

Whether or not you are an advocate for Israel though AIPAC or another effective organization, it is essential to understand the benefits for the United States in supporting our greatest ally, Israel. The small nation of Israel is an island of democracy and freedom in a sea of dictatorial regimes. To estimate the benefits Israel offers the U.S. is impossible. However, it is decidedly an enormous return on investment.

One of the key benefits to Americans is Israeli intelligence, which helps us with our own security and counterterrorism strategies. As drug and human trafficking cartels, violent gangs, and known terrorists flood our open southern border, Israel’s intelligence capabilities are a vital benefit.

The strong friendship between the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the U.S. military produces shared technologies and techniques that benefit both nations. By pioneering innovative technologies that include cyber defense, sensors, electronic warfare systems, and battlefield medical support, Israel helps save American soldiers. Both militaries share know-how to improve equipment and tactics.

The U.S. also benefits economically, since more than 75 percent of security assistance to Israel is spent in the United States at weapons factories— which helps create thousands of excellent American jobs. Israel is a crucial location for the War Reserves Stock Allies-Israel program. The United States owns and manages weapons worth $3.4 billion—stored in Israel for U.S. military use. With the Middle East teetering on a more expansive level of war—and American military assets in the region—a stockpile is invaluable.

As our only democratic ally in the Middle East, Israel defends itself by itself and does not ask for American boots on the ground. This diminutive nation is forced to spend more on defense as a percentage of its GDP than any other nation in the industrialized world. Nonetheless they are indeed grateful for the U.S. Congress, Christian supporters, and our military presence in the air and on their ships.

One of AIPAC’s staff and volunteer activists’ most important roles annually is to interact with Congress to make sure Israel receives its annual security aid. As Israel now fights a multi-front war, security aid primarily funds Israel’s purchase of weapons needed to defend itself. For those of us who consistently pray for Israel, we can thank God that our Congress performs the vital function of keeping the Jewish people safer in their homeland.

Politics on behalf of the U.S.-Israel relationship can then become a holy act in a secular context.

For pro-Israel Christians who either disdain politics and the U.S. Congress—or who are discouraged with perceived congressional inaction—read this next paragraph closely. Jewish, Christian, Black, Hispanic, and Asian members of AIPAC are following Moses and Esther as role models. In 2024, AIPAC worked in Washington to pass the largest security funding in Israel’s history: $4 billion for the Iron Dome and David’s Sling, $4.4 billion to replenish U.S. stockpiles, $3.5 billion to acquire more weapons for its multi-front war, and $1.2 billion for Iron Beam, Israel’s emerging laser system that will intercept rockets and drones at a fraction of the cost. Click here for more details.

AIPAC and its activists have educated Congress with many facts that have produced excellent legislation. Highlights include bans on funding UNRWA and the anti-Israel UN Commission of Inquiry; the No Technology for Terror Act restricting American technology to Iran; sanctions on groups like Hamas that use humans as shields; and the Mahsa Amini Human Rights and Security Accountability Act, which holds the Islamic Regime accountable for the brutal repression of its citizens. These are but a sampling of what Congress is enacting legislatively despite the far-left members of Congress led by the terror-supporting Squad.

AIPAC has grown into an organization of more than 4 million pro-Israel Americans living in 435 congressional districts who are working to strengthen bipartisan support for the U.S.-Israel relationship.

While America is more secure when Israel is strong, history repeatedly proves that the God of Abraham, Isacc, and Jacob has preserved His chosen people for thousands of years. While God’s promises remain nevertheless, believers must position ourselves in prayer and action for our spiritual homeland, where our Jewish Jesus walked on earth and fulfilled Scriptures in the Old and New Testaments.

Our CBN Israel team welcomes you to pray with us this week from Psalm 122:6—Jerusalem, we pray that you will have peace, and that all will go well for those who love you.

Prayer Points:

• Pray for the majority of the U.S. Congress to remain committed to Israel.
• Pray that any anti-Semitism in Congress will no longer be a reality.
• Pray for AIPAC, its staff, and activists, for enduring strength.
• Pray for more Christians to follow Moses and Esther in politics.

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 an author at The Blogs-Times of Israel and has traveled to Israel since 1990. She co-edited The Auschwitz Album Revisited and is on the board of Violins of Hope South Carolina. By invitation, Arlene attends Israel’s Government Press Office Christian Media Summits. She also hosts her devotionals, The Eclectic Evangelical, on her website at ArleneBridgesSamuels.com.

By Arlene Bridges Samuels

The October 7 invasion and massacre signaled a resurgence of lies even as the world’s only Jewish state fought for its modern existence—in a war it did not begin, yet was forced to fight. Aided by the mainstream media and Jew-hating people and nations, Cyberspace Jihad is nothing less than a social media tsunami sweeping blame and shame upon Israelis.

Backed by the Islamic Regime, the world’s biggest terror-sponsoring country, the October 7 war is shocking in its intensity. One of God’s titles, Commander of Angel Armies, assures us that He will exert His plan in His time. However, those who trust God and His eternal covenants with Jews have a part to play so that our silence does not transform into apathy. 

“The spreading of ideas, information, or rumor for the purpose of helping or injuring an institution, a cause, or a person.” This simple definition of propaganda may sound bland, but an unscrupulous, destructive use of propaganda can result in world-changing events. In fact, the slander against Israel after 10 months of unasked-for war has turned the world against a nation that has benefited thousands if not millions of people with its innovations, humanitarian aid, and medical discoveries.

We the people must BE the mainstream media, both individually and as groups. Rewinding back to the pre-Nazi era will help equip us with purpose and vigilance. Our citizenry must choose facts and reliable sources to expose the web of propaganda (both foreign and domestic) that is encircling Israel, our country, and the entire globe.

We Gentiles who are not in Israel must recognize another kind of war. It is time to dig trenches of truth and shovel facts out into the open to oppose the Cyberspace Jihad. Pay attention to the words of Winston Churchill, who in 1948 warned the House of Commons in a speech paraphrased from philosopher George Santayana: “Those who fail to learn from history are condemned to repeat it.” Our advocacy toolbox at this most dangerous time for Israel—and for Americans, with Iran actively involved in domestic propaganda in the United States—must include knowledge about Hitler’s infamous formula that is now repeating itself.

The origins of dangerous culture-altering propaganda reside in one book and two men: the 1925 book Mein Kampf by Adolph Hitler and Joseph Goebbels. Goebbels was Germany’s minister of propaganda. Hitler hired this mastermind and gave him his official propaganda title. Goebbels is infamous for carrying out the Nazi deception. It should not be surprising that today, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) are finding copies of Mein Kampf in Arabic—in Gazan apartments. Goebbels, who stood 5 feet 5 inches tall and was nicknamed the “Poison Dwarf,” implemented Hitler’s demonic strategies with the “big lie.”

When reading some of Hitler/Goebbels’ quotes, think about the current non-stop slander against Israel and against Jewish communities worldwide. The Islamic Regime and its proxies—Hamas, Hezbollah, the Palestinian Authority, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad—have infected the world with hatred, the underpinning of propaganda. Jew hatred has the unfortunate designation as the world’s oldest hatred, yet now it is visible to anyone among the 8 billion world population with a mobile phone.

Some wily propagandists accuse Israel of committing the October 7 atrocities themselves—upon their own citizens. Others say Hamas’s viciousness never happened. Hitler himself proudly claimed that his propaganda technique was “so colossal” that no one would believe it would even be attempted. He called it “impudence to distort the truth so infamously.” Too many Germans fully based their loyalty to Hitler on colossal lies.

Hitler’s book listed many strategies; however, understanding even a few of them will be helpful.

• Hitler: “The most brilliant propagandist technique will yield no success unless one fundamental principle is borne in mind constantly—it must confine itself to a few points and repeat them over and over.” Goebbels: “If you repeat a lie often enough, people will believe it, and you will even come to believe it yourself.” Many in mainstream media seem to believe the lies themselves—after repeating them day after day.
• Another perspective appears in a book, The Mind of Adolph Hitler, written in 1943 by psychoanalyst Walter C. Langer. He described Hitler’s strategy this way. “His primary rules: never allow the public to cool off; never admit a fault or wrong; never concede that there may be some good in your enemy; never leave room for alternatives; never accept blame; concentrate on one enemy at a time and blame him for everything that goes wrong.” Langer was respected by the United States Office of Strategic Services (OSS), which was established in 1942 as the first independent intelligence agency in the United States. It has long been considered the precursor to the CIA.

In Germany, first it was book burnings, then Kristallnacht (the Night of Broken Glass, which involved the destruction of over 7,000 Jewish businesses), mandated yellow stars on clothing, and finally trains filled with Jewish families destined for death. All the while, Goebbels, German elites, and German citizens found fascination in elegant parties, massive rallies, parades, and cultural events glorifying Hitler. I am reminded of two Palestinian leaders: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh (now eliminated), who lived in luxury in Qatar collecting big bucks, and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who lives in a multimillion-dollar mansion in Ramallah, who adds money to his Swiss bank account.

Too many Christians have needlessly given up on current news and have lagged in learning facts about Israel. We must press on. Here are Christian and Jewish media that will restore your outlook. Explore, then share truth to oppose Cyberspace Jihad:

• CBN News
• All Israel News
• The Jerusalem Connection Report
• CAMERA
• Palestinian Media Watch
• Foundation for Defense of Democracies

We welcome you to join our CBN Israel team this week, determining to move forward in prayers and actions by reflecting on Isaiah 40:31—“But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”

Prayer Points:

• Pray fervently for safety for the IDF as they fight a multi-front war.
• Pray for all Israelis for safety and strength at this most dangerous time.
• Pray for Christians to oppose Cyberspace Jihad by sharing facts.
• Pray for American soldiers who are in harm’s way in Iraq, lest they be attacked again by Iran.

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 an author at The Blogs-Times of Israel and has traveled to Israel since 1990. She co-edited The Auschwitz Album Revisited and is on the board of Violins of Hope South Carolina. By invitation, Arlene attends Israel’s Government Press Office Christian Media Summits. She also hosts her devotionals, The Eclectic Evangelical, on her website at ArleneBridgesSamuels.com.