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By Mark Gerson

One of the abiding principles of Jewish biblical interpretation is that there are “70 faces to the Torah.” This means that there are multiple ways to legitimately interpret and properly learn from any biblical passage (70 is used because seven is the Jewish number of completion). Indeed, there are 70 faces to this statement! The word “face” in Hebrew is plural. There is no way to say “face” in the singular because there is no notion of a person having only one “face.” If something doesn’t exist, there is no need for a word to describe it. We can appreciate the truth of this insight by how we present ourselves differently on LinkedIn and on Facebook, in worship and at a football game, in a job interview and at dinner with friends.   

Like everything else in the Bible, there are 70 faces to Jonah 4:10-11. God, commenting on Jonah’s reluctance to prophesize to the evil Ninevites while being happy to receive the mercy of a plant that grew instantly, tells him, “You cared about the plant, which you did not work for and which you did not grow, which appeared overnight and perished overnight. And should I not care about Nineveh, that great city…”

One “face” of this statement is of God showing Jonah—who was first identified as “Jonah the son of Amittai” (son of “truth”)—how even Jonah appreciates the existence of mercy. There is nothing “truthful” about a plant that appears at full size and strength overnight. Its ascendance is due entirely to God’s grace and mercy and Jonah, in spite of being the “son of truth,” loves it. He learns that even he, a man defined entirely by truth, appreciates and needs mercy. 

Another “face” of this statement is revealed through Jonah’s reaction to God’s “appointment” of a worm that destroys the plant. The plant did not exist the day before—and yet its absence grieves him “so deeply that I want to die.”

Does Jonah realize the absurdity of caring so deeply for something that is here today and gone tomorrow due to no work of his own? We are not told, because the story is not primarily about Jonah. It is, as both a book in the Bible and a work of truly great literature, about each of us.  

Every parent (and perhaps every child of a parent!) can understand exactly what God might have been thinking. All of us parents have marveled at how the most minor annoyances (or even perceived annoyances) can deeply upset a 4- or 5-year-old child. It is cute to us because we know that the problem is not real, that the moment will pass (the speed with which 4-year-olds can go from inconsolability to joy always astonishes), and that the child will soon become more mature.  

Unless, as Jonah demonstrates, they don’t—or really, we don’t. Perhaps the only difference is that when we were children, our parents marveled at what made us upset—but now that we are adults, God marvels at what makes us upset. A question for this Yom Kippur season of reflection and repentance: Who among us has not had Jonah 4:10 moments (or more) where we are driven to inconsolability by some equivalent of the gourd that didn’t even exist in our lives yesterday? Such sorrow may not drive us, as it does Jonah, to a death wish. But it will drive us to distraction from more worthy things that would otherwise command our inevitably limited attention.   

The self-reflection that this face of Jonah 4:10 offers may just be the most important we can have. More than Jonah, we each have many beliefs, claims on our time, relationships to develop, opportunities to pursue, texts to study and places to see. Such are the gifts of living in a prosperous, free, dynamic and creative society. But the hours in our days and the years in our lives are inelastic. This means we will die with much of what we ask unanswered and much of what we want to do unfulfilled. Which will those be? The answer stems from our response to another question: What, from my many faces, should I focus on? 

How can we avoid this problem of Jonah 4:10 and focus on the things that deserve our most precious and limited resources—those of attention, concern and time? A characteristic of the internet—one of, perhaps, its 70 faces—is how accessible it makes insightful commentary on the Book of Jonah. One such sermon was given seven years ago by Pastor Chris Weeks of the Kent City Baptist Church in Michigan. Pastor Weeks, in discussing Jonah 4:10, provides what might be the corrective. He cites a prayer written by Bob Pierce, the founder of World Vision and Samaritan’s Purse. 

From my chairmanship of African Mission Healthcare, I know Samaritan’s Purse to be an organization that saves lives and alleviates suffering throughout the entire world in the name of Jesus Christ with astonishing effectiveness. So, I was looking forward to seeing what the founder of this remarkable and sacred institution prayed in a Jonah context. 

This great humanitarian entrepreneur said, “Let my heart be broken with the things that break the heart of God.”

Indeed, the spirit of Bob Pierce’s prayer would have saved Jonah from the absurdity of equating his life with that of a newly formed plant. It will similarly orient us, particularly at this time on the Jewish calendar, to the things that are worthy of our most precious resources: attention, concern and time.  

Jonah isolated the problem, Bob Pierce provided the answer—and now that the Jewish New Year has begun, we have the God-given chance to live accordingly. 

Mark Gerson, a devoted Jew, is an entrepreneur and philanthropist who (along with his wife, Rabbi Erica Gerson) is perhaps the world’s largest individual supporter of Christian medical missions. He is the co-founder of African Mission Healthcare (AMH) and the author of a forthcoming book on the Haggadah: The Telling: How Judaism’s Essential Book Reveals the Meaning of Life.  

Website: therabbishusband.com
Twitter: @markgerson
Podcast: The Rabbi’s Husband

By Arlene Bridges Samuels     

September 26, 2020, in Washington, D.C., is a day that will join history-making prayers from the last few centuries, when tiny groups of Christians and big prayer movements changed nations and advanced missions worldwide. Events like the 1738 New Year’s Eve prayer meeting convened by Charles and John Wesley, which is credited with saving England. The Welsh Revival, Salvation Army, and Azusa Street prayer meetings of the late 18th and early 19th centuries that also impacted nations for the better. And now, just last Saturday, Christians numbering in the hundreds of thousands brought their hopes and prayers from 50 states to participate in The Return on the National Mall and the Washington Prayer March from the Lincoln Memorial to the United States Capitol.  

Themes of repentance and revival filled the capital city’s air with humble supplications from believers across denominational lines, cultures, ages, nations, and ethnicities. The unity of hearts joined in one overwhelming purpose was evident among the masses and in the small groups—in prayer circles and on podiums, steps, walks, and stages—asking God for His forgiveness and mercy to replant the sacred roots of faith that had been sowed by our founding fathers and mothers. 

These two simultaneous events grew into one of the largest outdoor prayer meetings the United States has ever known. Best-selling author Rabbi Jonathan Cahn and Kevin Jessip, CEO of Global Strategic Alliances, organized The Return: National and Global Day of Prayer and Repentance. They invited Christians across the world to attend in person or online. Franklin Graham, CEO of Samaritan’s Purse, began the Washington Prayer March, saying in one of his prayers, “Father, our country is in trouble, and we need Your help.”

The Return’s numbers—based on five years of planning—is a sign of divine intervention. In my interview with Kevin Jessip, he commented, “The Lord provided the plan and met every need for us to implement it.” He also talked about the astonishing simulcast numbers. “The Google Analytics map worldwide indicates that 154 countries tuned in.” Kevin added, “Our livestream reached its capacity several times but maintained its global signal. We had only a one-eighth-of-a-second delay in the 90-language translations.” He noted, “The simulcast numbers will be verified soon but right now, for example, we are getting reports that 600,000 groups in Latin America, 93,000 pastors and their churches in Pakistan and India, and 250 million in Africa watched and prayed.” Kevin mused, “If hundreds of millions watched, it may be the biggest broadcast of its kind in world history.” 

In direct contrast to other groups in recent months, peace prevailed everywhere on the Mall and along the Prayer March’s 1.8-mile route. No violence, no verbal threats. While The Return team worked closely with the National Park Service and security officials, Kevin mentioned, “The National Mall grounds were anointed prior to the event in prayer walks and the practical layers of security personnel were excellent. God’s Holy Spirit hovered over the gathering with His peace, His shalom.”  

As the day progressed, participants from multiple faith communities and ethnicities mounted the stage lifting prayers by the dozens; for our government, our citizens, those who are suffering, persecuted Christians worldwide, our police, and our military, among many. The prayers of repentance included Christians’ clear confessions and recognition of apathy and inaction from pastors, churches, individuals, and organizations. The issues ranged from abortion, immorality, racism, addiction, suicide, human trafficking, et al., to the resulting threats to our American society and way of life. 

There was no lack of passion, especially from Rabbi Jonathan Cahn, the keynote speaker. The weekend slate of programming was punctuated with moments of wonder, especially in his remarks. The thousands of participants sensed the sweep of the Holy Spirit. The author of The Harbinger I and The Harbinger II again connected Bible verses with real-time events, creating a string of scriptural pearls matched with the U.S. and Israel’s factual histories. When the September 26 date was set months ago, Cahn reported, he had not known that the September 26 Shabbat was called the Shabbat Shuvah, “Shabbat of Return,” falling between the Jewish New Year and their Day of Atonement. The Jewish community reads several Scripture passages on Shabbat Shuvah from Hosea 14:2-10, “Return O Israel unto the Lord your God” along with verses from Joel and Micah. 

American and Israeli flags waved throughout the crowd and dozens of attention-getting, anointed shofars sounded at significant moments. Affirmations for Israel were much in evidence in prayers and talks. Jessip commented that Israelis were “calling him saying they were watching the simulcast.” Popular Messianic Jewish artists, Paul Wilbur and Marty Goetz, sang their much-beloved songs. It is no surprise that Israel was also included on this day, since Christians embrace and honor Israel as the birthplace of the Christian faith through Jesus, the Jewish Messiah. Through His redemptive sacrifice He opened the door for both Gentiles and Jews—welcoming us under His tallit, His prayer shawl, to enter the Holy of Holies together.  

President Trump and the First Lady sent a message concerning the momentous occasion, which was delivered directly to the event’s stage. Rabbi Cahn read aloud its words, including: “As we continue to combat the challenges ahead of us, we must remember the sage words of President George Washington during his first Presidential Address: ‘Propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right, which Heaven itself has ordained.’ As a country and a people, let us renew our commitment to these abiding and timeless principles. Today, I am pleased to join my voice to yours in thanking God for blessing this nation with great power and responsibility. With reverence, humility, and thanksgiving, we beg for His continued guidance and protection.”

Everyone who spoke, led worship, and prayed—in person or via video—added to the beauty of the day or articulated actions needed for the future. Gordon Robertson, President and CEO of The Christian Broadcast Network, challenged the churches, affirming: “In Heaven, there’s no racial divide.” He urged pastors and churches to take purposeful steps to “integrate so that Sunday mornings will not be the most segregated time in America.” 

The Return last weekend will be remembered not only for its spiritual depth but for being a catalyst. Requests are rushing in—from 17 nations already—asking for The Return to take place in their countries.  

On the two-hour Washington Prayer March, around 50,000 walked a route that involved seven prayer stops, including the World War II Memorial and the National Museum of African American History and Culture. At the Lincoln Memorial, Vice President and Mrs. Pence surprised Franklin Graham and the crowd with their visit. Mr. Pence remarked, “Since the founding of our nation, the American people and our leaders have gone to prayer in challenging times.” Former Governor Mike Huckabee and Sissy Graham Lynch, granddaughter of Billy Graham, hosted the Prayer March simulcast. In their simulcast, almost 4 million people watched from 57 countries. More than 50,000 comments poured in from far-flung nations like Malaysia, Great Britain, and South Africa. The simulcast also featured country music star John Rich, who sang a song he’d written called “Earth to God.” Its poignant lyrics embody a universal expression of prayer: 

Earth to God, come in, God. I know you’re there, hearing our prayers wherever You are. We need you now, to send your love down. Take away the pain in your holy name, We ask this now. We need your light, we need your love, to heal the world You made. And save us now in our darkest hour with your amazing grace. Earth to God, we’re holding on but not for long. Can you pull us all close to the Holy Ghost and keep us strong.

Join us at CBN Israel in joyous praise and fervent prayer this week:

• Praise God for His divine protection of hundreds of thousands of participants who traveled at their own expense to Washington, D.C., from all 50 states!
• Pray for God’s mercy for our nation as we continue to call out to Him to bring healing to our nation and to our world. 
• Pray for God’s guidance to show us individually and as churches to abandon apathy and replace it with actions to turn in God’s direction and stand with others to do the same.
• Pray for Israel, the birthplace of our Christian faith, specifically during the lockdown, that widespread health will return and that the nation can reopen and thrive.    

May our “Earth to God” prayers sustain us as we pray that our repentance and revival will move forward to strengthen the worldwide Christian community to shed the light of Christ in the challenging days ahead.  

Arlene Bridges Samuels pioneered Christian outreach for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). After she served nine years on AIPAC’s staff, International Christian Embassy Jerusalem USA engaged her as Outreach Director part-time for their project, American Christian Leaders for Israel. Arlene is now an author at The Blogs-Times of Israel and has traveled to Israel 25 times. By invitation, she has attended Israel’s Government Press Office Christian Media Summit twice. She hosts her devotionals on her website at ArleneBridgesSamuels.com.

“Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift” (Matthew 5:23-24 NKJV).

The Bible describes three types of sins: 1) intentional sins that I commit against God, 2) unintentional sins that I commit against God, and 3) sins that I commit against my neighbor.

For sins I intentionally commit against God, the only course of forgiveness is repentance: “You do not want a sacrifice, or I would give it; You are not pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifice pleasing to God is a broken spirit. God, You will not despise a broken and humbled heart” (Psalm 51:16-17 HCSB).

Jesus’ injunction to His followers (Matthew 5:23-24) comes from this biblical realization regarding the different ways in which we must deal with the broken relationships in our lives.

For Jesus’ first-century Galilean listeners, the only place they could make an offering was in the Jerusalem Temple—a journey that took at least four days from the Galilee.

It’s striking to hear Jesus’ words as His initial audience did: If you are at the altar in Jerusalem and remember that someone has something against you, leave your offering, go back at least four days’ journey, and be reconciled. Then return to Jerusalem and present your offering to God.

Reconciliation with one’s neighbor provided the foundation for that offering to be accepted.

Jesus’ commandment to His followers, even the spirit of it, grew from the world of ancient Judaism. This command is still practiced today within the Jewish community in the days surrounding Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, the most holy day within Judaism.

In the days leading up to Yom Kippur—a day when people fast, repent, and call upon God to forgive the sins they committed against Him—Jewish people first seek to be reconciled with their neighbors.

They ask forgiveness and seek to make restitution. Why? Because of the belief that we cannot ask forgiveness from God on Yom Kippur if we have unrepaired relationships with our neighbors. Those must be repaired first, even if we must make restitution.

This same spirit stands behind the teachings of Jesus. My relationships with others provide the foundation for my relationship with God.

Then Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold.” And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house” (Luke 19:8-9 NKJV).

When we think about the Day of Atonement, we often focus upon our relationship with God and His forgiveness of our sins.

The Scriptures teach us that our repairing, making restitution, and reconciling ourselves with our neighbor is an indicator of our relationship with God:

If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? (1 John 4:20 NKJV).

PRAYER

Father, forgive us as we have forgiven. Amen.

By Julie Stahl

“Be careful to celebrate the Day of Atonement on the tenth day of that same month—nine days after the Festival of Trumpets. You must observe it as an official day for holy assembly, a day to deny yourselves and present special gifts to the LORD” (Leviticus 23:27 NLT).

Yom Kippur is the Holiest Day in the Jewish year, the “Day of Atonement.”

The 10 days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are known as the “Ten Days of Awe.” This is your chance, so to speak, to get your heart and relationships right before Yom Kippur. According to Jewish tradition, this is the time that one’s name is either inscribed or not in the Book of Life for another year.

“These are heavy, heavy days of repentance, reflection, and seeking God’s face as we prepare to go stand before Him in a state of fasting, a state of humility on the day of Yom Kippur,” says Boaz Michael, founder of First Fruits of Zion.

In some traditions, worshippers pray Selichot or slichot prayers (“forgiveness”) as much as a month before Rosh Hashanah to make sure they are prepared for that day.

“The Bible speaks about Yom Kippur in terms of being a great day of judgment, of us standing before God. It’s traditionally, according to a Jewish perspective, a time in which we will literally be standing before the Father on that Day of Judgment,” says Michael.

It’s customary to wear white on this day. In some traditions, men wear a white robe or, in Yiddish, kittel. That tradition comes from Isaiah 1:18 (NLT), where God says, “Come now, let’s settle this. … Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool.”

Yom Kippur has five prayer services throughout the day, which is more than any other Jewish holiday.

“The Viddui is the central prayer of confession and forgiveness of the Jewish people on Yom Kippur. And it’s a prayer that they pray not only on behalf of themselves but on behalf of all the Jewish people around the world,” says Reverend David Pileggi of Christ Church in Jerusalem’s Old City.

He says that the Viddui prayer recognizes the words of Jeremiah: “The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?”
(Jeremiah 17:9 NLT).

“One thing we learn from the Jewish people about Yom Kippur is that it’s not enough to say you’re sorry. You have to confess, say you’re sorry, and then at the same time take practical steps to change your behavior,” says Pileggi.

He says there’s a parallel between Yom Kippur and the teachings of Jesus.

“We have a saying of Jesus, don’t we? It says, if you bring your gift to the altar and your brother has something against you, leave your gift at the altar and go and be reconciled with your brother. Jewish tradition says, to go get your relationship right with your neighbor, with your brother, with your family member, forgive and be reconciled and then on the Day of Atonement, when you begin to fast and pray and to confess, God will hear your prayer and forgive you as you have forgiven others,” says Pileggi.

“It’s the teaching of Jesus and it’s also something that’s part and parcel of Jewish tradition and here the two line up very nicely,” Pileggi adds.

In the synagogue, the Book of Jonah is read.

“Jonah is a symbol of repentance. He’s commanded by God to call the people of Nineveh to repent, but he himself was struggling through his own reflections about who receives God’s judgment and who receives God’s mercy,” says Michael.

“So, Jonah can so often symbolize our own actions—doubting God, disobeying God, and determining who’s worthy of His redemption. But, like Jonah, we’re invited to repent of our disobedience and prejudices so that we can rejoin God in building His kingdom,” Michael adds.

He affirms that Yom Kippur holds a deep meaning even for those who believe in Jesus.

“It’s through the work of Messiah that our sins are taken away. He is our great atonement. I think this is a beautiful biblical understanding for us to affirm and hold onto in the context of our daily lives, but at the same time, we also need to be reminded to live a life of repentance,” Michael concludes.

Holiday Greeting: G’mar Chatimah Tovah (“May you be sealed for good in the Book of Life”) and Tzom Kal (used to wish others an “easy fast”).

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 Mark Gerson

There is a magnificent term in boxing: “pound for pound.” It is a sophisticated concept acknowledging that talent and accomplishment cannot be measured by the simple fact that larger fighters could beat smaller opponents. By saying that one fighter is better than another “pound for pound,” the analyst is assessing who does the most with what he has. 

The same concept could be applied in literature, even sacred books. Indeed, it should be. The person of faith must confront a tragic irony: God gave us a world so full of remarkable people, places, ideas, and causes that we will die not having addressed even a fraction of the deeply worthy things that He made available to us. Consequently, if we can find something that is captivating, wise and concise—if we can identify something that is divinely efficient—we should rush to it. 

So, what is, word for word, the best book ever? What book inspires the most questions and supplies the most wisdom? What book, equalizing the time commitment, best guides us to a happier, better and more meaningful life? It does not really matter what the best is, as there is enough time in almost any life for a serious consideration of far more than one. Still, I’ll posit one that might be number one and should be on anyone’s short list: the Book of Jonah. 

The Book of Jonah, which is shorter than this column, has engrossed and entertained children and adults from all three Abrahamic faiths for almost 3,000 years. It has everything that we cherish in a story—conflict (in fact, several of them), transformation, humor, politics, and animals. The story has no real ending. In fact, as Pastor Dr. Paul Osteen notes, Jonah is the only biblical book to end with a question. A story with no ending that ends with a question makes Jonah, in my estimation, the quintessential Jewish story.    

And it has everything we cherish in wisdom literature. This story raises the deepest questions of truth, mercy, repentance, faith, obedience, judgment, partnership, possibility, mission, grace, imperfection, love, religion, prayer, gratitude, responsibility, the personality of God—and the complicated nature of everything meaningful. 

In short: Jonah is dispatched by God to go to Nineveh, the de facto capital of the eighth-century world in which the story takes place. Nineveh was a terror empire, where captives were often crucified, buried alive inside of walls, flayed (with the skin used as wallpaper), and had their noses, ears, fingers, and eyes gouged out. Jonah seems to sense (correctly) that God is going to ask him to tell the Ninevites to repent, and he does everything possible (fleeing, attempting suicide) to avoid that task. He eventually gets to Nineveh and half-heartedly tells the Ninevites to repent, which they do—completely, immediately, and thus entirely improbably. This makes Jonah even more depressed. God, by giving Jonah a plant that he loves and that appears miraculously only through God’s grace, shows His reluctant prophet the value of mercy.

The traditional Jewish and Christian understanding of the story is of God educating Jonah in the need to accept mercy along with truth. But there is a problem. The Ninevites, perhaps after changing for a short time, resumed their evil practices and destroyed the Northern Kingdom of Israel, possibly in Jonah’s lifetime. The repentance was too good to be true, and the result of Jonah’s prophecy is a catastrophic loss for his people to an evil kingdom and unthinkable suffering along the way. In fact, the Book of Nahum (written a century after Jonah) recounts God’s destruction of Nineveh for the same reasons that account for Jonah’s reluctance.

Was Jonah right to reject his mission? This is one of the many awesome questions raised by this eternal story. But the question for now is a different one. How did Jonah let the situation devolve to where this question could be asked? 

At the beginning of the story, Jonah has one position: God wants me to help extend his mercy too far and bestow it upon an evil empire that (no matter what they say) is not truly serious about repentance. God has another: I love all my children, and there is always a path for a sinner to return to Him. 

This is not the only such knot in the Bible. In Genesis, Rebecca knows that her and Isaac’s eldest child, Esau, is ill-equipped for the responsibility of transmitting the covenant to the next generation. She engineers a ruse to have her younger and qualified son Jacob trick his father into giving him the birthright blessings. The result: Jacob gets the birthright blessings, and the Jewish story can continue. Yet it comes at the cost of destroying the family. Does it have to end this way? Perhaps. But, as far as we are told or can ascertain from the story, Rebecca never discusses the problem with Isaac. When God makes man, he calls us a “speaking spirit”—but Rebecca never uses that capability to address the situation with Isaac. One wonders whether a marital discussion could have led to the same result without a catastrophic cost.

One might posit that Rebecca should have tried to convince Isaac, but convincing God is an entirely different matter. However, there are at least four examples in the Torah when people have a problem with God. Abraham wants God to save Sodom; Moses wants God to change His mind about destroying the Jewish people after the Golden Calf; the men in a state of ritual impurity want to be able to celebrate Pesach; and the daughters of Zelophehad want to be able to inherit in the land despite their gender. In each case, the person (or people) initiates the argument with God, telling God that His position does not cohere with His principle. And in each case, God delightfully changes His mind in accordance with the argument of His creation. In so doing, God is teaching us to believe in the rational facilities He gave us—and showing us that His notion of us being His partner in the world is completely genuine and very real. 

All these examples are available to Jonah, but he does not learn from any of them. He does not stand his ground and argue with God like each of the aforementioned do. Instead, Jonah attempts to flee to Tarshish—the furthest-known place from Nineveh in the ancient world—and keeps attempting to flee through his suicide attempts. 

The tragedy of Jonah could, perhaps, have been avoided if he had been what God wants from all of us and especially His prophets: a partner. What would have happened if Jonah told God, “I understand, from the 13 attributes of yourself that you revealed to Moses, that you are the God of mercy. And I appreciate that. But you also hate evil and cry when the powerful inflict suffering on the powerless. You know about the Ninevites, and you also know how hard it is to genuinely change anyone’s mind: The Pharaoh, when afflicted with plagues, often said that he would let the Jews go—only to change his mind every time. Moreover, you are God and I am a prophet—and so we both know what a future man of God, Dietrich Bonhoffer, will call ‘cheap grace.’ If we offer the Ninevites cheap grace, and they accept it—the result will be torture, mass murder, and irreparable destruction.”   

How would God have answered Jonah? We can only wonder—which is part of the challenge, imperative, and thrill of Torah study. But we are now in the “Ten Days of Repentance” between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, which is a Jewish season of focused self-reflection and commitment to change. Acknowledging this failure of Jonah, whose story is read in every synagogue on Yom Kippur, leads us to consider: Are we having the hard conversations that are necessary for us to live as God intended? 

Mark Gerson, a devoted Jew, is an entrepreneur and philanthropist who (along with his wife, Rabbi Erica Gerson) is perhaps the world’s largest individual supporter of Christian medical missions. He is the co-founder of African Mission Healthcare (AMH) and the author of a forthcoming book on the Haggadah: The Telling: How Judaism’s Essential Book Reveals the Meaning of Life.  

Website: therabbishusband.com
Twitter: @markgerson
Podcast: The Rabbi’s Husband

By Arlene Bridges Samuels

Evangelical Christians have long venerated President Harry Truman for his boldness as the first world leader to recognize Israel’s statehood in the United Nations vote on May 14, 1948. Now, 72 years later, another momentous decision has taken place.

When President Trump and a trio of Middle East leaders signed the Abraham Accord last week, it signaled a shift in the region’s alignment. In fact, the two Arab Gulf nations—United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain—disproved a decades-old mantra regarding Arab Palestinians: that an Israeli-Palestinian peace had to occur before any agreements with other Arabs. Clearly, recent events proved that abandoning conventional wisdom forged new pathways in the Middle East. 

The increased willingness to normalize relations with Israel traces back to President Obama’s damaging Iran deal in 2015. In addition to Israel’s security concerns, the Arab Gulf nations also considered the Iran deal an affront since the Persian nation poses a security threat to them. They are further concerned that the Iranian Imams want to take control of the holiest sites in the Muslim world—Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia. The Arab states grew to realize that Israel was a friend worth having, because Israel can (and has proven it will) stand up to Iran’s relentless quest for a nuclear weapon. They also gained trust in President Trump when he canceled the defective Iran deal and reimposed sanctions. In his speech at the virtual meeting this week at the annual United Nations General Assembly, President Trump once again emphasized, “As long as Iran’s menacing behavior continues, sanctions will not be lifted. They will be tightened.” Israel and the Gulf states once again welcomed the good news.  

Yet with the Abraham Accord, here we are again—with Palestinian political and religious leaders still clinging to their victimhood narrative. Not surprisingly, Palestinian officials erupted in outrage, with accusations from Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and the Grand Mufti, Sheikh Muhammad Hussein. As the Muslim religious leader on the Temple Mount, Hussein issued a fatwa—a religious ruling—thundering, “I forbid UAE Muslims to pray at the Al-Aqsa Mosque!” (Normalization had opened the door for the Gulf state Muslims to visit the Al-Aqsa Mosque.) The Palestinian Authority said the landmark Accord was a “betrayal,” calling the UAE Crown Prince a “tumor” and a “traitor” who had committed “political prostitution.” 

This, despite billions of dollars in aid from Arabs, Europeans, and Americans over the years. In addition, a frustrating succession of failed diplomatic deals since the 1993 Oslo Accords has been met with Palestinians’ broken agreements, insincerity, and/or terrorism. Impatience is growing among Arab nations and even the Palestinian population with President Abbas’s exasperating policy of “a thousand no’s.” Last week Wassem Yousef—a UAE Islamic religious leader—tweeted about Palestinian leadership and other Arabs: “Israel did not destroy Syria; Israel did not burn Libya; Israel did not displace the people of Egypt; Israel did not destroy Libya, and Israel did not tear up Lebanon. Before you Arabs blame Israel, take a look at yourselves in the mirror. The problem is in you.”

Indeed. Abbas’s intransigence results in the loss of opportunities and improvements for his people. He has refused direct negotiations with Prime Minister Netanyahu since 2009. He continues to mainline the drug of hatred into their textbooks and media, names streets after dead terrorists, and rewards their families with money. Abbas has not held an election since 2005, although his term “ended” in 2009. Meanwhile, the 84-year-old lives in his presidential palace worth more than $13 million.

Despite these obstructions, is there hope anywhere for the Palestinian man, woman, and child on the street? Is peace between Arab Palestinians and Jews possible? 

Pockets of hope do exist. Whether President Abbas changes his destructive policies or not,  Israelis welcome thousands of Palestinians who are acting on their hopes for peaceful coexistence in higher education, business, and medicine.

One hopeful example is what I call “business for peace.” Last year I attended the Israeli Government Press Office’s (GPO) Christian Media Summit. I was delighted that the Barkan Industrial Park in Samaria was on our agenda. While the evangelical Christian community embraces the biblical covenants that Judea and Samaria are Israel’s heartland, they want the Palestinians to have a better life, too. What an encouraging reality! Fourteen industrial zones dot Judea and Samaria and employ some 20,000 Palestinians and 40,000 Israelis. Barkan is the largest such zone with 164 factories. 

One of them, the Lipski Company, gave us a tour around their large factory where plastic and sanitization products are made. The factory pays a good Israeli salary—more than Palestinian Authority jobs. Managerial positions are held by both Palestinians and Jews. All employees receive benefits: pension, recreation, and vacations. CEO Yehuda Cohen described it as “one big family.” He went on to say, “The people want to live in peace. It seems that working together also brings the hearts closer, regardless of ethnic or political identity. I believe that peace will be obtained not through boycotts, but through living together.”

Other hopes find expression in the medical field. For example, Palestinian and Jewish transplant surgeons work together to save lives at Israel’s Hadassah Hospital. Nurses from Gaza are training in Israel. A Jerusalem Post article included this quote, “It’s different than I thought,” said one nurse. “The people are very nice. You have Jews and Palestinians working together. It minimizes the gaps between us.”

On the education front, Palestinians attend Haifa University, Hebrew University, and other Israeli institutions of higher learning. A Palestinian businessman who attended the famous Hebrew University now lectures there.

Thankfully, there are other pockets of hope. It’s reported that five to seven more Gulf Arab states may join the Abraham Accord. With more “sons of Abraham” joining, we pray that Palestinian Arab political and religious leaders will embrace hope instead of victimhood. They would do well to follow the examples of some in their own population to grasp another key—the key of peace that Israelis have long offered.

• Pray with thanks that peace with several Gulf Arab nations is evolving. “I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:3 ESV). 
• Pray with gratitude that God has a special love for His Chosen People. “I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore, I have drawn you with lovingkindness” (Jeremiah 31:3 NASB).
• Pray that Palestinian leadership will change course on behalf of their population.
• Pray with recognition that God has also kept His promise for the Arab nations: “And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation” (Genesis 17:20 NIV). 

We are living in a momentous season of change in the Middle East. Maintain prayers with CBN Israel that “God’s will be done, here on earth as it is in heaven.” 

Arlene Bridges Samuels pioneered Christian outreach for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). After she served nine years on AIPAC’s staff, International Christian Embassy Jerusalem USA engaged her as Outreach Director part-time for their project, American Christian Leaders for Israel. Arlene is now an author at The Blogs-Times of Israel and has traveled to Israel 25 times. By invitation, she has attended Israel’s Government Press Office Christian Media Summit twice. She hosts her devotionals on her website at ArleneBridgesSamuels.com.

She was out of options and out of time. Hagra had worked hard as a single mother to support herself and her 10-year-old son after her husband abandoned them. But she was suddenly stricken with acute renal failure and needed an urgent kidney transplant. Her brother proved to be a perfect match, but her problems didn’t end with a successful surgery. She could no longer work in her physically demanding job as a housekeeper, and Hagra wound up deep in debt.

Thankfully, she eventually met Arik, the head of CBN Israel’s family department, who provided the guidance she needed. He not only helped her sort out her debt; he saw that she was given the appropriate designation as a disabled person—who qualified for a full living allowance. Today, her life is back on track and she’s now able to encourage others.

Because of the generosity of our partners, we were also able to fix up her son’s room in their tiny Tel Aviv apartment, so he’d have a place to sleep and do his homework. Nahum prays daily that his strict non-believing Jewish father—who abandoned them because of his wife’s newfound Christian faith—will soon return. Hagra says, “I am so grateful for Arik and all CBN Israel workers and supporters. My life started over!”

You can be a blessing to so many single moms, like Hagra, providing them with groceries, housing, medical care, financial aid, and job training. You can also give these moms hope and encouragement as they seek to give their children a bright future.

Your special gift today will also provide help and hope to Holocaust survivors, relief to victims of terrorism, food and counseling to new immigrants, and so much more. People in Israel are depending on you. You can make the difference!

“Elijah the Tishbite, from the inhabitants of Gilad, said to Ahab, ‘As the LORD God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, except at my word’” (1 Kings 17:1 NKJV).

Nobody likes a prophet. Biblical prophets always communicated inconvenient truths, especially to the corrupt political and religious leaders.

They saw the world differently. They saw the world the way God did. And their vision often contrasted with that of those around them. They made life uncomfortable because they did not allow abuses of power and people to be ignored or whitewashed. They reminded Israel that obeying God’s commands extended beyond mere cultic religious ritual.

Israel disobeyed God during the reign of King Ahab. Rather than serving God, the Israelites followed after Ba’al, the Phoenician storm god.

The book of Deuteronomy instructed the Israelites, “If you carefully obey my commands I am giving you today, to love the LORD your God and worship Him with all your heart and all your soul, I will provide rain for your land in the proper time, the autumn and spring rains, and you will harvest your grain, wine, and oil” (verses 11:13-14 HCSB). If, however, Israel decided not to obey, then the opposite would happen; namely, the rains would not come and the crops would not be there.

Archaeology of the kingdom of Israel during the reign of Ahab and his father Omri suggests that Israel experienced a golden age of sorts during this period. Large building projects, growing wealth, Israel exploiting its strategic location within the region—life in Israel during Ahab’s reign was good. Prosperous. Things were going well.

Then Elijah showed up. He made Ahab’s life difficult. It wasn’t going to rain in Israel for several years except at Elijah’s word.

Kings within the ancient Near East provided a connection between the people and the gods, responsible for the people’s well-being. When Ahab’s wife Jezebel—a Phoenician princess—learned it wasn’t going to rain, she encouraged Israel to worship her god, the storm god Ba’al.

As modern readers of the Bible, we look at Elijah from the position of our comfort. He is God’s man. A hero of the faith. But to Ahab and Israel, he was a pain. His proclamation interrupted their prosperous comfort. No one living in the kingdom of Israel looking around at the prosperity of the kingdom would think anything was wrong. Life’s good. We’re prospering. Surely something is right. But not in the eyes of God, so He sent the prophet, the proclaimer of inconvenient truths.

Within the Bible, God’s pleasure is tied only to our obedience—not the prosperity we find ourselves in within the moment. In the same way, when we find ourselves in want, that is not the sign of His displeasure.

God, however, will not tolerate our disobedience forever. He will eventually rain on our parade. Or, in the case of Ahab’s Israel, not rain, which is actually worse.

Do we listen to those inconvenient voices in our lives that challenge us to see things from God’s viewpoint? Do we respond with repentance and obedience? That can make all the difference.

PRAYER

Father, thank You for sending inconvenient voices into our lives, voices that challenge us to see our actions the way You do. Lead us Lord to walk in Your ways, and in all things, to obey You. Amen.

By Julie Stahl

“Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. On the first day of the appointed month in early autumn, you are to observe a day of complete rest. It will be an official day for holy assembly, a day commemorated with loud blasts of a trumpet. You must do no ordinary work on that day. Instead, you are to present special gifts to the LORD” (Leviticus 23:23-25 NLT).

Rosh Hashanah literally means the “head of the year.” But biblically it is much more than that. In the book of Leviticus in Hebrew it is actually called Yom Hateruah—the day of the blowing of trumpets or ram’s horn (shofar).

The piercing blast of the shofar is meant to remind the hearer to repent for his sins and make things right with his brothers and sisters. The rabbis say that reconciliation with God and man will confound the enemy.

“It’s something that people connect to their soul to hear the sound of the shofar,” says Eli Ribak, third-generation shofar maker.

The ram’s horn is used as the traditional shofar because when Abraham showed his willingness to sacrifice his son, Isaac, God provided a ram in the thicket to be used in his place.

The only animal horn that is forbidden to use as a shofar is the cow’s horn. That’s because the Jewish people don’t want to remind God of the time Israel worshipped the golden calf in the wilderness.

In some traditions, the shofar is blown in synagogues and at the Western Wall each morning for a month before the holiday to give plenty of time for repentance.

Traditionally, Rosh Hashanah is a celebration of creation, specifically the day God created Adam and Eve. As such, God the Creator is hailed and crowned as “our King” on that day.

Christians often blow the shofar throughout the year, but in Judaism it’s only blown during the month of Elul, prior to Rosh Hashanah and at the holiday. It was also blown at the coronation of the kings of Israel, to announce the new king or the coming of the king.

Boaz Michael, founder of First Fruits of Zion, says that’s a foreshadowing for those who believe in Jesus.

“And they tell us something, they’re speaking to us, they’re reminding us of something, and one of the things they’re reminding us of is the creation of the world, the coming of the king, King Messiah one day at this time, the coronation of his Kingdom here on earth,” says Michael. “This is what the shofar is to remind us of, and it speaks to us every day when we hear that sound.”

For Christians, there are a number of references in the New Testament referring to the sounding of trumpets.

“And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other” (Matthew 24:31 NKJV).

Paul writes, “It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed” (1 Corinthians 15:52 NLT).

The seven trumpets in Revelation also make clear they play a part in the end time calling.

Rosh Hashanah is the first of the autumn Jewish feasts and begins the “Ten Days of Awe” that lead up to Yom Kippur (“Day of Atonement”). 

A festive meal at the start of the holiday includes eating apples dipped in honey for a sweet new year; dates, that our enemies would be consumed; pomegranate seeds, that we would bear much fruit; eating round hallah, symbolizing the circle of life and the crown of God’s Kingship; and eating a fish or ram’s head, symbolic of being the head and not the tail in the year to come.

Another custom is called Tashlich, which literally means “to cast away” or “to throw away.” This concept comes from Micah 7:19 (NKJV): “He will again have compassion on us and will subdue our iniquities. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.”

This is a time of reflection to think about and repent for sins of the previous year and to determine how one could do better in the coming year. During this ceremony, Jewish people stand by a body of water and symbolically cast their sins into the water.

Holiday Greeting: L’Shanah Tovah U’metuka (“May you have a good and sweet new year!”) and Chag Sameach (“Happy holiday!”).

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 Mark Gerson

Every generation produces, in unplanned, organic, and ultimately mysterious ways, its own ways of describing the world. Sometimes the outcomes are of only mild curiosity. For instance, perhaps no one knows or cares why the term “groovy” came or went. Other times, it is knowable how expressions started—but not why they persist. We say, “Close, but no cigar,” but imagine a cigar being the prize at a carnival game in 2020! We still refer to projects as having “run out of steam” and tell people to “hold your horses” many generations after we have deployed better transportation solutions. Moreover, we still say that people are “worth their weight in salt” millennia after salt ceased being an important measure of value. 

Consequently, it would be as futile to predict which current expression will last as it would be to decide which new ones will “crop up” (irony noted, for this city dweller). But there is a curious expression that has become ubiquitous in the past couple of years—particularly, but not universally, among young people. It is “your truth”—sometimes offered with the encouragement to “speak your truth.”  

Understood one way, this expression is ridiculous. There is nothing personal about a truth. The truth is always something that exists outside of perception, which is why the experience of human yearning is one of “seeking” the truth. This yearning applies existentially (What is my life about?) and practically (Did the accused commit the crime? Who deserves the commission for the sale?).   

The idea that truth can be personal—that there can be “my truth” and “your truth”—just proclaims the omnipotence of opinion while making the idea of people searching together for truth completely futile. Given that the purpose of such interpersonal engagement is either to discover or to create truth, there is no point to doing so unless objective truth exists independently of individual perspectives and personal opinions. 

Understood another way—and this is not the way that the term “your truth” is customarily used—there can be a deeply profound purpose to conceiving of “my truth.” As Rabbi Elie Kaunfer, the founding CEO of Mechon Hadar, writes, “Understanding something as having multiple meanings is one of the deepest expressions of freedom.”

I participated in an example of Elie’s insight last week during a recording of my podcast, “The Rabbi’s Husband,” where I am in conversation with a guest about a biblical passage of his or her choosing. The guest was Tali Farhadian Weinstein, a brilliant, deeply thoughtful and learned attorney who is now a candidate for Manhattan District Attorney. We were discussing her chosen passage, Bava Metzia 30b, from the Babylonian Talmud. The question being discussed in that passage is why Jerusalem was destroyed. Rabbi Yohanan said that it was destroyed because the people “did not serve inside/beyond the line [letter] of the law.” 

The questions raised by this passage (and all others) are: What does it mean? and How can this passage help me live a better, happier, and more meaningful life today? 

In the course of the discussion, Tali and I realized that we had two very different perspectives. I immediately thought of the wisdom of Nachmanides, the 13th-century Spanish rabbi. Nachmanides talked about a “scoundrel with Torah license.” This is someone who abides by the law entirely and is still a scoundrel. An example: Chocolate cake is kosher and television viewing is permitted. Could, then, someone eat chocolate cake in front of the television all day in accordance with Jewish law? Yes. But the Torah also instructs us to be a “holy people” and to “walk in God’s ways.” Is eating chocolate cake in front of the television all day appropriate for someone who aspires to be holy and to walk in God’s ways? No. 

This is not, of course, to say that it is unbecoming of someone who aspires to be holy to ever eat chocolate cake while watching television. For instance, a United Hatzalah volunteer who spent the day doing seven lifesaving calls can certainly unwind in front of the television with cake! 

How much of the television/cake activity can one do and still act in accordance with the divine call to be holy and to walk in God’s ways? God gave us remarkable rational facilities, the Torah, plenty of wise counselors to help guide us—and a complicated world with no easy answers. Each of us must figure out what it means to serve “inside/beyond the law.” 

Tali had a different interpretation of why Jerusalem was destroyed as a result of people obeying the law, but not going “inside/beyond the line.” She said that it refers to lawgivers who bring cases or deliver sentences that are legally permissible but do not incorporate any notion of mercy, common sense, or comprehensible philosophy of punishment. The United States Supreme Court confirmed, in a 1985 decision, what everyone involved in the criminal justice system knows: that “the Government retains ‘broad discretion’ as to whom to prosecute.” The responsible exercise of this discretion, and its counterpart in sentencing, requires wisdom on the part of the prosecutor and the judge. It is the moral necessity of this wisdom, Tali taught, that the Talmud means when it says that the health of a society depends upon its legal professionals going “inside/beyond the law.” 

Which interpretation of this passage is right? Tali and I concluded that although the interpretations are different, both are true. Both interpretations help us to understand how to be better individually and socially, and in no way do they conflict with each other. Indeed, perhaps the greatness of a truth is measured by the number of other truths that can be learned from it.  

This is certainly the case with God—the ultimate truth, from which every other truth derives. And it is also the case with the Torah. The prevailing way to understand the Torah is reflected in the Jewish teaching: Shivim Panim la’Torah: “There are seventy faces to the Torah.” This means that every Torah passage, and sometimes every word, yields seventy different truths. Consequently, one can study the Torah over a long life and continually learn new lessons and derive new truths.  

One may find one truth to be more resonant, more meaningful, and more evocative at a moment in one’s life—and, in that sense, that can be “my truth.” In so doing, it allows and actually invites the arrival of other truths without sacrificing—and indeed demonstrating—how objective truth exists independently of any individual perspective.    

Mark Gerson, a devoted Jew, is an entrepreneur and philanthropist who (along with his wife, Rabbi Erica Gerson) is perhaps the world’s largest individual supporter of Christian medical missions. He is the co-founder of African Mission Healthcare (AMH) and the author of a forthcoming book on the Haggadah: The Telling: How Judaism’s Essential Book Reveals the Meaning of Life.  

Website: therabbishusband.com
Twitter: @markgerson
Podcast: The Rabbi’s Husband