Sorrow and Hope

Dispatch from Jerusalem

Improving Sinai Border Fence

Friday, 27 January 2017 | The Department of Engineering and Construction of the Ministry of Defense has now completed a project to raise in places the height of the border fence that separates Israel from Egypt. The 242 kilometer [150 mi] fence, which stretches from the Red Sea Port of Eilat to the Gaza Strip

Continue Reading »

Lessons from Daniel

Daniel is an amazing biblical example of a man totally surrendered and committed to God; a man that God used then and has used through the ages until the present time. His prophecies are still considered relevant today as they relate to latter times. Jewish and Christian scholars study Daniel with great interest. In the

Continue Reading »

Living Next to Gaza

Israel is a tiny nation whose citizens all live short distances from her borders with neighboring countries. Of course, some live closer than others and two of those borders—Gaza in the southwest, and Lebanon–Syria in the north—are very hostile. What is it like to live within sight of the Gaza border? This autumn, the Bridges

Continue Reading »

A Memoir of Miracles: The Joseph and Rebecca Bau Story

A petite, Israeli woman named Clila Bau-Cohen is telling us the story of her parents, Joseph and Rebecca Bau. Her accented English is animated and frequently tinged with delight as her parents’ story unfolds. This is a love story—with all the joy and optimism that embodies true love. But the romance between Joseph and Rebecca

Continue Reading »

The World Is Silent, Except When it Comes to Israel

The massacre in Mosul and its surroundings is shocking. Everyone is killing and massacring everyone. Not just ISIS. The world is watching. The world knows. And the world is keeping quiet. It also happened in Aleppo in Syria. The big hospital was ruined. The world knows, watches and keeps silent. The world’s greatest power has

Continue Reading »

Renewal of Nature

“For there is hope for a tree, if it is cut down, that it will sprout again, and that its tender shoots will not cease.” Job 14:7 Traveling through the lush, forested areas of the Jerusalem hills, it is difficult to imagine the dry, barren landscape that the pioneers of the State of Israel found

Continue Reading »

The Language of Destruction

My friend, Henry, (not his real name) was in his early teens when the Nazis came to power in his native Germany. Although Jewish, he was extremely popular in his German school, elected president of his class, a football hero and a star pupil. One morning as the school day began, Henry’s teacher called him

Continue Reading »

Tastes of the Promised Land

I never expected to fall in love with Israeli food. The Promised Land, I presumed, was famous for echoes of events of times gone by, the footprints of biblical characters and locations made famous by Scripture. Tasty treats and mouthwatering meals, I reasoned, did not fit into such a mental picture. Of course, I hardly

Continue Reading »

Israel–Arab States’ Relationship Status: It’s Complicated

For years, Arab nations have kept Israel at an arm’s length and avoided public moves that would imply there was any relationship between them at all. But during the last year, a former Saudi Arabian general actually visited Israel, the Egyptian foreign minister paid an official visit to Jerusalem—and those were just two of the

Continue Reading »

A Godly Generation in Critical Times

American journalist, Tom Brokaw, argues that the World War II generation, more commonly called “The Greatest Generation,” is to be credited with much of the freedom and prosperity that America enjoys today. They were a generation born and raised in tumultuous times marked by economic depression and war. Yet, they developed values of “personal responsibility,

Continue Reading »