Faith in Abundance

November 7, 2024

by: Rebecca J. Brimmer, International President

 

Just over one year ago, Israel was plunged into the dark night of war. On October 7, 2023, Hamas launched a horrific terror attack, sparking a war that continues to wage on. Nearly one year later, on October 1, 2024, I was in an airplane flying to Israel when Iran fired nearly 200 ballistic missiles into Israel. The Israeli man sitting next to me had purchased Wi-Fi and was on his phone watching live as the missiles streaked over Israeli cities. We watched in horror as the scene unfolded. Suddenly, he said to me, “It will be okay. God is with us.” This man wasn’t wearing a kippah (yarmulke) or any other religious garb. He was a secular Jew who counted on God to rescue Israel. This war has caused many in Israel to turn toward God.

Songs of Praise amid Sorrow

After living in Israel for 33 years, I enjoy Israeli Hebrew music and often watch new videos. A few months ago, a new music video called Hallelujah was released, featuring popular Israeli musicians Moshe Peretz and Yonaton Razel. Peretz is a well known pop artist and used to be a judge on the X Factor Israel, while Razel is a Jewish religious singer. The song is taken from Psalm 150 and is a deeply moving anthem of faith. The first line of the chorus declares, “With all my soul I will praise God…” It is sung with such fervor that tears spring to my eyes when I listen to it.

His Presence in the Darkness

The first hostage the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) found and rescued was Ori Megidish. Her family’s faith in God during her captivity was remarkable. One news source described their actions as follows: “The family waged a holy war, engaging in intense prayer and devotional acts focused on the return of their daughter.” While Megidish was held hostage, her family arranged for a new Torah (Gen.–Deut.) scroll to be brought into her room before being installed in the synagogue, all while the congregation sang praises to God and cried out for her return. It was at that time that they heard she had been rescued.

Megidish later shared her conviction in her own words. “I am a woman of faith. My belief in God sustains me, providing solace and fortitude. Amidst captivity, I felt a profound conviction that divine intervention would deliver me.”

She isn’t the only hostage to speak in terms of faith. Thirteen-year-old Yaakov Yagil shared on Instagram that he had a connection with God during his time of captivity. “When I’m often asked what my true connection with the Almighty is, I answer that during captivity, what kept me going was the belief that I wasn’t alone—that He was with me, this One who, although He didn’t manage to protect me from being kidnapped, definitely protected me throughout my time in captivity.”

After Yagil’s release, he determined to become closer to God. He now wears a kippa, puts on tefillin (phylacteries) and attends synagogue. According to Yagil, he wants to express his gratitude to God for keeping him safe from the enemy.

I have prayed for the hostages since the day they were taken. One of the things I pray for is that God will be with them, to protect them and that they will feel His presence in the midst of danger and evil. These testimonies confirm that those prayers are being answered.

Faith in Abundance

I stay in contact with many Israeli friends. One politically influential friend recently wrote to me, saying, “We are united and determined and our faith is strong. I don’t know what is coming but believe we are in difficult days for a while. Psalm 121 is a song in my heart.” I later found out that this psalm has been added to the daily prayer services in many synagogues.

Statistical data shows that many Israelis have turned to faith since October 7 in order to cope with grief and the ongoing crisis of war. A poll published in the Jerusalem Post in February 2024 found that 33% of Israelis have strengthened their faith in God, especially young people between the ages of 18­–29. A total of 63% reported praying more, 59% said they are having more conversations with God and 45% recite the psalms more often.

Forward, a Jewish periodical, reports on American Jewish life. They wrote that “Jewish leaders across denominations have for months been describing a profound religious awakening in their communities post October 7.”

When the war broke out in October 2023, we started hearing of soldiers requesting tefillin. Tefillin are leather boxes with Scripture portions that religious Jews affix to the forehead and arm with leather straps during prayer time. This is done because of the Scripture in Deuteronomy 6:4–9, where we find the Shema (“Hear, O Israel”, the centerpiece of Jewish prayer). Verse 8 instructs, “You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.” Many of these young men had never worn tefillin before. The Orthodox Union website described a presentation ceremony during which the soldiers received their tefillin. “There was joy and hugging, there were blessings, and kind words and most of all there was emunah, faith, in abundance.”

He Who Watches Over Israel

Stories of military missions and miracles began to surface almost as the war broke out. Ron Ben-Yishai, a veteran Israeli war correspondent, who has been in Gaza multiple times since the beginning of the war, says this has been a war that has solidified emunah. “The whole war, you could really feel Hashem (God)…Here you see people who never believed who started coming to shul (synagogue services)…Every time we go into a battle, we blow the shofar (ram’s horn) and pray. You really feel that this is a Jewish army. We’re doing what we need to do for Eretz Yisrael (the Land of Israel) and that’s where you feel really close to God.”

Psalm 121:4 describes God as the Guardian of Israel who watches (guards or keeps) over this Land and its people without slumbering or sleeping. I am thankful that the God of Israel is alive and active, and that He is still reaching out to the people of Israel with love and care.

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