Sorrow and Hope

Dispatch from Jerusalem

Revenge, Retaliation or a Fight against Evil?

  “Over the top.” Taking to the White House podium early February, that’s how US President Joe Biden chose to describe Israel’s military campaign against Hamas in Gaza. The three-word phrase communicated a number of inaccuracies. To pick just one, the average civilian-to-combatant death ratio in conflicts since World War II is 4.5:1, which translates

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Unity in Time of Trouble—Israel’s Hidden Strength

  In every culture there are unique expressions, words that help paint a picture of the character of the members of that people group. For the Jewish people, “Hazak, hazak v’nithazek” is just such a phrase. Translated, these Hebrew words mean: “Be strong, be strong and may we be strengthened.” And strength has certainly been

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Aliyah in a Time of War

  “Israel is mourning. Israel is fighting. Israel is filled with hope. We are not alone, which is a new feeling, since we were alone for so long.” –Danielle Mor, the Jewish Agency for Israel Many might assume that immigration to Israel slowed or halted since the October 7 massacre of 1,200 people by Hamas

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‘Comfort My People’

Isaiah’s famous words, “Comfort, yes, comfort My people” (40:1), resounds in my heart. So many families in Israel are in deep mourning following the massacre on October 7 when Hamas terrorists murdered 1,200 people. Moreover, soldiers are continuing to fall in the ensuing war against Hamas on a nearly daily basis. The words from Isaiah

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Out-from-Egypt Passover Lamb

  Passover is one of the most joyous times of the year here in Israel. The festival commemorates God delivering the Israelites from slavery in Egypt with “a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm” (Deut. 26:8). Families gather together on the first night of Passover to eat a dinner called a seder, which literally

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Residents of Gaza Border Community Return Home with ‘Heavy but Beating Hearts’

Friday, 1 March 2024 | More than four months after their small community was evacuated due to Hamas’s murderous onslaught on southern Israel, residents of Shlomit returned home on Thursday, their convoy adorned with Israeli flags stretching as far as the eye could see. Four Shlomit residents fell in the battles on October 7: Bechor

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Never Again?

January 16, 2024

  A deadly virus is on the loose in the world today. It is not a novel virus but an age-old disease that slyly simmers beneath the surface. Transmitted from one generation to the next, the symptoms and prognosis of this virus are well known. Yet from time to time, the virus is cultivated and

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The Most Fruitful Lie

January 16, 2024

    A thrill of anticipation rippled through the crowd. They’d come in their thousands, carrying a sea of red, green, white and black. Some of them shuffled impatiently, eager to move, to fight, to push back against the injustice. Others stared straight ahead, their faces set like flint at the thought of the horrors

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The Head of the Snake

January 16, 2024

  In the aftermath of October 7, as Israel battled Hamas in the trenches of Gaza, the world went to war alongside the fighting forces, pitting Israel supporters against Palestinian sympathizers in the trenches of social media. On the ground and in public opinion, the battle lines seemed clearly drawn: Israel on the one side

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In Every Generation

January 16, 2024

  Since the first time I heard its haunting melody, I have been drawn to the short Jewish liturgical piece put to music entitled “Vehi Sheamda.” The words of the title are translated, “And it is this that has stood,” with the word “this” meaning God’s covenant relationship with Abraham and his descendants. The song

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