Sorrow and Hope

Life in Israel

Living the Bible–Visiting Israel for the Biblical Holidays

When you visit Israel, you can see the Bible come to life. This is the land where Jesus walked on water and where David wrote the Psalms. But when you visit Israel during one of the biblical holidays or the extra-biblical festivals of Hanukkah (Feast of Dedication or Festival of Lights) and Purim (Feast of

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Coming Home to the Jewish Quarter

At the tender age of 18, Esther Weiss prayed a strange prayer. The year was 1968. Months earlier, Israel had liberated the Old City of Jerusalem from Jordanian rule. The divided city was newly reunited. The Jewish people had just regained access to their holy sites and could finally return to the decimated Jewish Quarter.

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Israel Needs Abundant Rain after Five-Year Drought

Thursday, 8 November 2018 | Israel has been blessed with early rain this year. Normally, the rainy season here lasts about six months—from October to April, according to Israel’s Water Authority. The winter rains came early, starting near the end of August. Though the Water Authority predicted above average rainfall for this winter, the agency

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An Outbreak of Measles

Thursday, 8 November 2018 | Last week an 18-month-old toddler died in Jerusalem, the first measles-related death in Israel since 2003. Currently the nation is experiencing an outbreak of this highly contagious, viral disease. This is the worst outbreak the country has faced in decades. So far there have been 1,401 cases reported. In comparison,

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Behold How Good and Pleasant It Is

…When Jews and Christians Stand in Unity As the old adage says, nothing remains constant but change itself, and a few years ago, the world’s prognosticators began to fill cyberspace with predictions that 2017 and 2018 would prove it. Politically, economically and socially, the world would change dramatically, they projected, and the past two years

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Hate Speech

“If ever a piece of writing could produce mass hatred, it is this one… This book is about lies and slander.” — Elie Wiesel, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate in reference to The Protocols of the Elders of Zion Anti-Semitism is the oldest hatred in history. Secular historians refer to the first blatant anti-Jewish sentiment being

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BDS: Anti-Israel or Anti-Palestinian?

Freedom, justice and equality: That is the banner under which the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement rallies its troops to launch assaults against Israel. The battle strategy is nothing if not brilliant. Proponents of the project pride themselves on working to end Israel’s alleged cruel oppression of the Palestinians. And those who march on the

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Now It’s Your Turn to Protect and Defend

You were born 19 years ago, during the first months that we lived in Hoshaya [community in northern Israel]. For us, you symbolize our decision to make this community our permanent home. And now you too, Ari Benartzi, our third child, are enlisting in the IDF [Israel Defense Forces]. You will join the ranks of

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Neighbor to Neighbor

Golan Residents Pull Together to Help Syrian Refugees The Syrian Civil War may be drawing to a close, but for years now fierce fighting and chemical weapons have left a scar on the Middle East, driving hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees to the Israeli and Jordanian borders. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have been

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A War of Words

Repeat a lie often enough and it will eventually become truth. That is the propaganda law from which the Nazis reportedly wove an elaborate plot to justify the murder of six million Jews. Their approach was anything but original. Libels, slurs and slanders sold as fact are ancient weapons in the arsenal of those who

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