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By Julie Stahl

“The LORD cares deeply when his loved ones die” (Psalm 116:15).

A week after Yom HaShoah (“Israel’s Holocaust Remembrance Day”), Israelis mark Yom HaZikaron (“Israel’s Memorial Day”) to honor and remember those who died fighting for their country and those murdered in terror attacks.

A televised state ceremony is held at the Western Wall and neighborhoods throughout the country hold their own ceremonies in public places, with the participation of the youth. 

Israelis stand in the streets for an hour or more as the people who died from those neighborhoods are remembered and honored.

Following the October 7th invasion and massacre as well as the ongoing war with Hamas and Hezbollah, this day is more real and relevant than ever for most Israelis.

Many visit cemeteries and attend other ceremonies on the day. Schools are in session but have special programs to honor fallen soldiers and terror victims.

Twice, on the evening before Israel’s Memorial Day and the following morning itself, Israelis collectively stand in silence as a siren sounds calling to mind the sacrifices that were made by family and friends for Israel’s freedom and security. 

“I was thinking about all the soldiers from the beginning of the modern State of Israel up until today who had to fight on the frontlines and on the home front,” said Shai Yosipov, a former IDF combat medic.

“It’s so important that everyone understands the price and the responsibility we have for living in this country. We not only remember our fallen loved ones, but we also acknowledge that there has always been a sacrifice that needed to be made so that we could be here today,” says Yosipov.

“During the siren, I was praying for families who’ve lost so many, and I prayed that God would give them comfort from the pain,” says Sarah Rivka Yekutiel, who moved to Israel from Boston many years ago.

“It’s an emotional time for everyone, whether you’ve lost family or not. This day is very heavy and intense,” said Orital Saban, who recently moved to Israel from Canada.

More than 23,000 Israeli and Jewish soldiers and more than 3,100 terror victims have fallen since 1860. 

At sundown on Israel’s Memorial Day, Israelis make an incredible leap from mourning those who gave the ultimate sacrifice, to celebrating Yom HaAtzma’ut (“Israel’s Independence Day”).

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

By Nicole Jansezian

While sirens rang out, all of Israel came to a standstill for two minutes last week. 

These weren’t the sirens that warn of incoming rockets or reminders of the current war still raging on Israel’s borders, but rather were a sign for Israelis to mark in silence Holocaust Remembrance Day, honoring the memory of 6 million Jews killed in the Nazi slaughter.

This year the memories were not too distant. More than half of Jewish Israelis believe that what happened on October 7 is comparable to the Holocaust, according to a poll conducted by the Israel Democracy Institute. 

Israel observes Holocaust Remembrance Day on the date on the Hebrew calendar that marks the beginning of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. The date commemorated internationally is on January 27, the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.

One of CBN Israel’s focuses in its humanitarian outreach is caring for the dwindling number of Holocaust survivors in Israel—at least one third of whom live below the poverty line. Financial and material help is designed to allow them to live with dignity after all they suffered.

Two such survivors that CBN Israel supports are Malka and Michael who came under attack when a rocket destroyed their home and almost killed them.

“When I heard the blast, I thought the world ended. I saw my husband covered in blood,” Malka said. “Shrapnel pierced his ear. He has Parkinson’s disease, and I couldn’t move him to safety. It was so horrible.”

Eventually paramedics reached and treated the couple and got them to safety. Now CBN Israel is supporting the couple with rent and groceries while their home is being repaired.

To mark the somber occasion, representatives of CBN Israel attended the Holocaust Memorial Day ceremony of the Association of the Deaf in Israel in which survivors who are also deaf, shared their stories in sign language with a large crowd that gathered in Tel Aviv.

Understanding that in war time the challenges of people with disabilities are exacerbated—for instance, people who are deaf cannot hear sirens that warn of incoming rockets—CBN Israel is now coming alongside the Association of the Deaf to support their community. 

At a moving ceremony, participants watched the testimony of Leah Boznitsky, who became deaf at the age of 2 right before the Nazis entered her hometown in France. Leah survived because her parents placed her in a Catholic orphanage during the war where she hid her Jewish identity.

Leah, who sadly passed away on October 12, was able to reach Israel in 1949 after a harrowing journey and time spent in a detainment center. She was a longtime member of the Association of the Deaf branch in Tel Aviv.

Through CBN Israel’s support of organizations such as these, our impact will extend to more communities throughout the country who have suffered in diverse ways. 

Nicole Jansezian is the media coordinator for CBN Israel. A long-time journalist, Nicole was previously the news editor of All Israel News and All Arab News and a journalist at The Associated Press. On her YouTube channel, Nicole gives a platform to the minority communities in Jerusalem and highlights stories of fascinating people in this intense city. Born and raised in Queens, N.Y., she lives in Jerusalem with her husband, Tony, and their three children.

Katerina and her husband Alexsky were raising their family in Ukraine when the Russian attacks began in 2014. Alexsky saw how it traumatized their oldest daughter, who was 10 years old, and knew it was time to leave. They sought refuge in Israel and made Aliyah, becoming Israeli citizens in 2017.

Then came the October 7 Hamas invasion. With no safe room in her apartment, their oldest daughter, now an adult, was terrified, and moved back home. When their city of Ashkelon came under heavy rocket fire, Katerina stayed at home with the kids, while Alexsky had to work, facing danger in the streets. The government soon evacuated Katrina and her children to safety, while Alexsky looked for extra jobs, trying in vain to make ends meet.

When Katerina returned, their finances were even tighter. She recalls, “Because I wasn’t working, we suddenly couldn’t pay the bills. It was very stressful.” Yet, friends like you were there for them.

Through CBN Israel’s partnership with a local ministry, the food packages that caring donors provided for this desperate family kept them from starving. They also gave the couple emergency finances for extra groceries and essentials, and to pay off their mounting debt from lost income during the war. Katerina shared, “We’re very thankful for people who care. It was a big help. We’re so grateful!”

Your gifts to CBN Israel can help many more war victims with food, lodging, and necessities—while continuing to assist others in dire need. And your support can also offer a crucial lifeline to elderly Holocaust survivors, single mothers, refugees, and those who are struggling alone.

Please consider blessing Israel’s people at this critical time!

GIVE TODAY

By Marc Turnage

Located on the southern part of the rock cliff that marks the hill of the City of David (in Jerusalem), near the southern end of the Tyropoean Valley sits the Pool of Siloam. The pool was accidentally discovered in 2004 by workmen laying a new sewage line in the southern part of the City of David. The Gihon Spring, Jerusalem’s primary water source, supplied water to the pool in antiquity via the so-called Hezekiah’s Tunnel. 

Archaeologists uncovered two flights of five narrow steps separated by a wide landing that descend into the pool. This enabled people to descend to different levels based upon the fluctuation of the water level due to either the rainy or dry seasons within the land of Israel. Although the archaeologists only uncovered one side of the steps of the pool, it seems that such an arrangement of steps surrounded the pool on four sides. The pool covered roughly an acre of land. Coins and pottery date the construction of the stepped pool to the mid first century B.C.

To the north of the pool, archaeologists uncovered a fine pavement of stones that resemble the first century street that runs to the west of the Western Wall of the Temple Mount. Discovery of column drums and column bases protruding from the pavement suggests that a colonnade ran along the pavement. 

The Pool of Siloam appears twice within the New Testament (Luke 13:4; and John 9:7). In John, Jesus instructed the blind man to wash the mud from his eyes in the pool to be healed. It served the water needs of ancient Jerusalem (along with other pools in the city), and it also served as the largest ritual immersion pool within the city. Jewish pilgrims, who needed to be ritually pure before entering the sacred precincts of the Temple (see Acts 21:26), could use the Pool of Siloam for ritual immersion. Its size and proximity to the Temple makes it a suitable location for the baptism of the three thousand who responded to Peter’s sermon on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2). 

Archaeologists have suggested that the holes found on the steps leading into the pool might have supported screens made of wood or mats to provide privacy for those ritually immersing in the pool. Jewish ritual immersion, like what we find in the New Testament, required privacy as the person immersing did so in the nude, nothing can come between the bather and the water. 

During the first century, on the last night of the festival of Sukkot (Tabernacles), water was drawn from the Pool of Siloam and brought to the altar of the Temple and poured out as a libation. The festival occurs at the end of the summer (around October), and the water libation requested rains from God (see John 7:37). This ceremony, known as the Beth HaShoeva, occurred at night. Jewish sources describe how pilgrims lined the route from the pool to the Temple carrying torches.

The first century Pool of Siloam likely covers the same pool mentioned in Nehemiah (3:15). Then, at a later time, the pool was enlarged and constructed in the manner of a Jewish ritual immersion bath. 

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

“LORD, You persuaded me and I let myself be persuaded; You have overcome me and prevailed. I have become a laughingstock all day long; everyone mocks me. For each time I speak, I cry aloud; I proclaim violence and destruction, because for me the word of the LORD has resulted in taunting and derision all day long” (Jeremiah 20:7-8 NASB).

The prophet Jeremiah lived in troubled days. God called him to prophesy to the kingdom of Judah in the years leading up to the Babylonian invasion of Judah and the destruction of Jerusalem, its Temple, and the deportation of many of its citizens to Babylon.

There were other prophets in Jerusalem at this time, too, and some of them had the very opposite message to the people from what Jeremiah had shared. As a result, Jeremiah ran into trouble with the Jerusalem priests. Pashhur the son of Immer, the chief officer of the house of the Lord, had Jeremiah placed in stocks for his prophecies.

Jeremiah had a message that no one wanted to hear. Not the king and his court, not the priests in the house of God, and not the people.

He even came to the point of despising the day he was born (20:14-18). He was ready to give up. He didn’t want the call to be a prophet anymore. It separated him from those around him, including his close friends (20:10).

Yet, when Jeremiah came to the point of no longer speaking the word of God, he found that he could not. He could not hold it in; he had to speak, even if it meant he still felt overwhelmed, isolated, frustrated, and hating the day of his birth.

Why? Because Jeremiah understood something: God was King and had laid claim to his life; therefore, regardless of the circumstances and what Jeremiah felt, he had to proclaim the word God had placed in him.

Too often we want to be comfortable in our faith. We don’t want God’s calling to disrupt our lives or our standing within the world around us. We definitely don’t want to be seen as strange or weird—one of those people.

Jeremiah endured because God had called him—and because God’s message sought to redeem His people.

Sometimes we, too, can feel overwhelmed, frustrated, and disillusioned with our faith. We may feel like Jeremiah and want to throw up our hands and walk away. In those moments, it is more important than ever that we renew our minds in the word and calling God has given us. 

Remind yourself that He is King, and if we commit our cause to Him (20:12), He will redeem our obedience and faithfulness.

PRAYER

Father, never let our feelings overwhelm us to the point that we give up from what You have called us to do. May Your word and message burn inside of us today so that regardless of our circumstances, we proclaim it to a world that needs You. Amen.

By Julie Stahl

Israel is commemorating its national Holocaust Remembrance Day against the backdrop of the October 7th massacre. Although the scale was much smaller, it brought many back to the murder of Jews during the Holocaust and many Israelis felt the spirit was the same.

It’s more important than ever that we all remember the Holocaust. We must remember how the viral poison of anti-Semitism in Germany and throughout Europe led to the genocide of 6 million Jewish men, women, and children.

Yisrael Meir Lau, a former Israeli Chief Rabbi, is a Holocaust survivor who was born in Poland. He described anti-Semitism like this: “Anti-Semitism you can explain, but you cannot find a reason for it. It’s against dialogue. It’s against logic. It’s a spiritual madness.”

In 1959, Israel set the 27th of the Jewish month of Nisan, about a week after the end of Passover, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, as Yom HaShoah or Yom HaZikaron laShoah ve laG’vrurah (“Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Day”).

That day marks the anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising, when the Jews in the ghetto in German-occupied Poland resisted the Nazis’ attempt to transport the remaining population there to concentration camps.

Each year, Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem opens the events with a large ceremony addressed by both the President and Prime Minister. Six Holocaust survivors, often accompanied by a family member, light six giant torches in honor of the 6 million murdered by the Nazi death machine.

The following day, air raid sirens blare, and the nation comes to a standstill to honor the memory of those who perished at the hands of the Nazis.

The name Yad Vashem is taken from a passage in Isaiah, where God declares, “I will give them, in My house and within My walls, a memorial and a name better than sons and daughters. I will give each of them an everlasting name that will never be cut off” (Isaiah 56:5 HCSB).

In 2005, the United Nations established International Holocaust Remembrance Day on January 27. This day marks the anniversary of the liberation of the largest concentration camp—Auschwitz-Birkenau—where it is estimated that more than 1 million people died, most of them Jews.

This Yom HaShoah, please continue to pray for Israel and her people in the aftermath of October 7th, the deadliest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust.

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

Yulia and her family lived in Kiev when the Ukraine war started. They hid in the town of Bucha—until a major Russian offensive made it a target, and they feared for their safety.

So, Yulia and her husband tried to flee to Israel with their three children, but he was detained at the border. Reluctantly, she and her kids continued without him, arriving with only their suitcases. Adapting to a new country where she didn’t know the language was difficult. And Yulia felt lonely and stressed, worrying about her husband’s wellbeing.

Now, after two years in Israel, she says, “All I want is to bring my husband here. He’s ready to go. We’re just looking for a way for him to finally leave Ukraine.” However, since October 7, the Hamas war has made their situation even more difficult. Trying to navigate life alone in Israel with three children, and in the middle of a war, was taking its toll on Yulia.

That’s why she was so grateful that friends like you were there to help her. Through CBN Israel’s partnership with a local ministry, caring donors delivered needed food packages—along with buying them a new refrigerator (to replace an old one that didn’t keep food cold) and a washing machine. Yulia shared, “Your support made us feel like we’re not alone. Thank you!”

Your generous gifts to CBN Israel can offer aid and encouragement to many others who feel alone. You can be there for aging Holocaust survivors, single mothers, immigrants, terrorism victims, and more.

And your compassionate support can also provide meals, essentials, housing, and finances to those in crisis from the war.

Your gifts mean so much—please join us in helping others!

GIVE TODAY

By Marc Turnage

Situated in the western Jezreel Valley at the foot of the lowlands of Mount Carmel stands the ancient mound of Megiddo. It overlooks where Nahal Iron crosses through the Carmel lowlands, which provided passage for one of the branches of the most important highway in the Ancient Near East, a highway that connected Egypt via Israel’s coastline, through the Jezreel Valley, onto Damascus and Mesopotamia. Megiddo’s importance stemmed from its location guarding this most import roadway. 

Archaeological excavations have revealed twenty layers of civilization beginning in the Neolithic period until the fourth century B.C. Its strategic significance made it the stage for battles through much of its history, with Pharoah Thutmoses III in 1468 B.C., Pharoah Merneptah in 1220 B.C., Pharoah Shishak in 924 B.C., and the battle in which Josiah, king of Judah, died at the hands of the forces of Pharoah Neco in 609 B.C. (2 Kings 23:29-30). 

Megiddo’s strategic importance made it the object of Israelite conquest when the Israelites entered the land (Joshua 12:21). By the “waters of Megiddo,” the forces of Deborah and Barak defeated the Canaanite forces of the king of Hazor (Judges 5:19). Megiddo fell within the territorial allotment of Manasseh (Joshua 17:11), but the Manassites could not take possession of Megiddo. It remained under the control of the local Canaanites (Joshua 17:12; Judges 1:27). 

During the United Monarchy, Solomon is said to have fortified Megiddo, along with Gezer and Hazor (1 Kings 9:15)—all three cities provided overwatch of the international coastal highway running from Egypt to Damascus and Mesopotamia. The final mention of Megiddo within the Bible is the death of King Josiah (2 Kings 23:29-30; 2 Chronicles 35:20-24). Within the destruction of the northern kingdom of Israel by the Assyrians in 722 B.C., Megiddo became an administrative city of the Assyrians, but its settlement steadily declined until it was abandoned in the fourth century B.C., most likely due to Alexander the Great’s conquest of the land. 

Visitors to the site today can visit two multi-chambered gate complexes from the Bronze and Iron Ages. Two separate palace and administrative complexes have been excavated, as well as an area that contained several cultic places of worship from different time periods. The site contains the remains of horse stables, stone mangers, and an exercise corral for the horses. Kings of Israel stationed horse and chariot forces, which were the tank corps of the ancient world, at Megiddo due to its strategic location. 

Perhaps the most impressive feature of the site that has been excavated is the water system. Ancient sites, especially administrative centers like Megiddo, had to provide the water needs for the city in times of peace and war. Most ancient sites sat on hills to offer the protection of elevation from an attacking army. Springs, however, usually do not sit on hills; they are found at their base. At Megiddo, the spring sits at the bottom of the west side of the mound. To bring the water into the city, the engineers cut a square shaft through the earth within the city’s fortified walls that connected to a long horizontal tunnel (80 meters long) that had been dug to the source of the spring. This tunnel brought the water to the area where the shaft had been dug, and the shaft enabled the people in the city to descend and draw water. 

A final word should be made regarding the well-known idea that the ancient site of Megiddo had some connection with John’s mention of Armageddon in Revelation (16:13-14, 16). The usual explanation, Armageddon represents the Hebrew meaning the “mountain of Megiddo.” People will speak about the Valley of Armageddon, yet the Bible never mentions a Valley of Armageddon. This is a modern fiction, which appears for the first time in the nineteenth century. 

No ancient Church father or Christian source ever connected Armageddon with Megiddo. Moreover, as we noted, Megiddo ceased to be inhabited in the fourth century B.C. The location of the site was forgotten. The first century Jewish historian Josephus did not know of it. In fact, he relocated the death of Josiah to a town he knew on the border between Egypt and the land of Israel. The fourth century Church father, Eusebius, did not know its location, nor did he connect Megiddo with Armageddon. No one, then, knew in the first century, when John wrote Revelation, where Megiddo was. 

Finally, while Megiddo sits on a hill created by layers of civilization, it cannot be described as a mountain. Hebrew has a word for “hill,” a word that accounts for the names of places like Gibeah, Geva, and Gibeon. Megiddo is a hill, and not a mountain. Time does not permit a full explanation for what stands behind John’s Armageddon, but suffice to say, he expected the gathering point for the armies of wickedness to fight against God to be Jerusalem (Revelation 11:1-2; 14:20; and 20:9), the mountain of assembly.

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