Leading up to Shavuot

Marina* came to our Sukkot celebration carrying a fear she could do nothing about. Her son was in prison in Ukraine, badly wounded, and she did not know what would happen to him. She had no idea that among the people she would meet that day was someone whose own story would touch hers in […]

Here in Israel, many people can know the names of biblical places and the stories connected with them — and still know very little about who Yeshua really is. For many of the new Jewish immigrants we meet, Israel itself is also new. They are building a life in a new country, discovering the land, […]

Some of the Holocaust survivors who walked into our gathering in Ashdod already knew us. Others did not. We could see the hesitation on a few faces, and we understood it. They had been invited into a room with people they barely knew — and we were wondering how they would respond when we spoke […]

One of the things I love about Sukkot is how many simple reminders of God’s faithfulness surround us during this Feast. We build the sukkah, we sit beneath its branches, we share meals together as families, and we remember something our people have needed to remember for thousands of years: everything we have ultimately comes […]

We all become tired sometimes, and I don’t mean only physically. There is another kind of tiredness that comes when you have been carrying something for a long time. You have prayed, you have tried to make the right decisions, you have kept going, but the situation has still not changed. After some time, you […]

The Moroccan food was a hit. We had brought it from Ashdod for a gathering with Holocaust survivors in Jerusalem, and before long people around the tables were asking about our city. What is Ashdod like? Could they come visit sometime? We loved that. Somewhere between passing plates, talking across the table and getting to […]