You can give security and comfort to Holocaust survivors

August 14, 2018

I was thrilled by the spirit of celebration I found during my recent trip to Israel!

Between the moving of America’s embassy to Jerusalem (marking an important recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital) and the 70th anniversary of Israel’s founding, the joy seemed apparent everywhere.

 For Orthodox Jews, secular Israelis and Messianic Believers in Yeshua (Jesus) – it seemed everyone was rejoicing over these historic events.

But there was perhaps one exception. One group in Israel finds it hard to enter into the spirit of celebration: the remaining survivors of the Holocaust.

 I’ve written often about the plight of these special people, their number now dwindling. All, of course, are elderly, and so suffer afflictions common to all older people – declining health, poverty and loneliness.

For these remaining survivors of the Holocaust, life is far more difficult …

The survivors continue to be haunted by memories of the horrors they experienced in their youth under the Nazi regime. Survivors like Clara.

In 1940, when Clara was only 3 years old, the Nazis had come to power and Jews were being widely persecuted. By pretending to be Catholic, Clara’s mother managed to get her placed in a Catholic orphanage where the priest was sympathetic to Jewish people. In all, 13 Jewish children lived at the orphanage, all pretending to be Catholic.

But one day, the Gestapo came looking for Jewish children. After killing the priest, they used dogs to find the hiding children – including Clara, who hid in the bathroom. Dragging Clara by her hair, they forced her to join the other 12 captured Jewish children, and all were taken to a Jewish labor camp called Sered.

When Clara’s mother discovered she had been taken, she went to the Nazis, demanding she be allowed to join Clara.

Soon after, Clara, her mother and many others were transferred by train from Sered to the notorious concentration camp of Theresienstadt. The train, designed to transport animals, was stuffed with so many people – young, old and sick – there was room only to stand. Without sanitary facilities, after four days the stench was unbearable. By the time the train arrived, many of the people had died.

At Theresienstadt, some who had not died on the train were executed outright. Many of the children died of disease and starvation. Fortunately for Clara, her mother managed to sometimes sneak additional food to her, keeping her healthier than most. 

Eventually, the Russian army liberated Theresienstadt, freeing Clara and her mother. Many years later, when she was 50 years old, Clara immigrated to Israel, joining her mother and brother there.

Still today, as an elderly woman on a very small pension, Clara vividly remembers the fear – fear of the Gestapo, fear of the dogs, fear of separation from her mother. 

WebcardClara already survived a horrific nightmare, and witnessed evil that most of us cannot imagine. You’d like to think dear people like her could find security and comfort in their last years.

Unfortunately, that often is not the case.

An estimated 186,000 Holocaust survivors in Israel live below the poverty line. Most struggle to survive on small pensions that simply do not provide enough to live on. They often must choose between buying food, purchasing medicines or paying for heat for their tiny apartments in the winter. 

And it certainly means many survivors can’t afford dental or eye care, which is terribly expensive in Israel.

For example, dental care is so common for most of us, we take it for granted. So it seems unthinkable that the dear men and women who survived the horrors of the Holocaust should now be unable to eat or smile or talk, just because they cannot afford dental care.

A leader from one of our Jewish Voice partner agencies describes the great impact of something as simple as dental care for Holocaust survivors:

“The generous gifts from Jewish Voice and its partners allow the Holocaust survivors in Israel to get treated, restoring joy and hope to their hearts and enabling them to eat, smile and speak normally.”

That’s why Jewish Voice is absolutely committed to ministering to elderly Holocaust survivors in Israel. But we cannot do any of this without your help.

 

Israel Destroys ISIS Terror Cell After Attack

August 03, 2018

At the peak of Israel’s tourist season, children and parents scrambled out of the Sea of Galilee last week as two ISIS rockets splashed down and exploded, creating a “blast wave” at Israel’s popular Gofra Beach.

Eye Witness Accounts

 

“There were two explosions, and we saw (many) people leave the water,” one eastern-shore resident said. “We heard a boom that caused a strong wave in the water.”

 

A lifeguard at a nearby beach reported seeing ‘something fall’ into the water. “I didn’t see what it was, but I saw the spray from the impact,” she said.

Another witness reported hearing a whistling sound before the impact.

Isis FlagISIS Accused of Trying to Pull Israel into Their Fight

Israeli defense officials concluded that ISIS used the rockets to provoke Israel into attacking the Syrian army, with the purpose of trying to stop President Bashar al-Assad’s assault on ISIS terrorists, reported YNet News.

Because government, Hezbollah and pro-Iranian forces were attacking long-held ISIS positions from the north and east, there was no reason for ISIS to fire to the west. This would mean the rocket attack on Israel’s most popular beach was intentional.

DEBKAfile, an independent website that provides intelligence and security news, reported, “This ruse was staged to lure [Israel Defense Forces] into pinning the blame on, and attacking, the Syrian army, drawing off the counter-ISIS assault.

“The ruse did not work,” the report continued. “The IDF identified ISIS as the source of the rocket fire and struck back after refraining (to do so) for years.”

 

Israel Destroys ISIS Rocket Launcher

Retaliation was swift and strong. Later that day, the IDF bombed the rocket launcher and shelled the surrounding area, a pocket of ISIS-held land near the Israel-Syria border.

 

“In response to the two rockets launched at Israeli territory from Syria, (Israeli) aircraft targeted the rocket launcher,” reported an Israeli army release. “The area surrounding it was targeted by artillery. The IDF will act against any attempt to violate the State of Israel’s sovereignty and undermine the security of its citizens.”

 

The Russian news agency Sputnik reported that the attack destroyed the rocket launcher and killed several ISIS soldiers, for which Russia praised Israel, saying in a statement, “Russian armed forces command in Syria used the existing communication channels to thank the IDF leadership for killing terrorists and stopping a massive provocation.”

 

Unintended Consequences

Unfortunately, Israel’s counter-ISIS operation “enabled Syrian, Hezbollah and other pro-Iranian forces to capture the terrorist enclave and reach a point close to the Sea of Galilee,” reported DEBKAfile’s military sources.

The international news agency Reuters explained that “Israel worries that Assad may defy a U.N. armistice that demilitarized much of the Golan, or allow Iranian and Lebanese Hezbollah forces to deploy there.”

We’ll be keeping an eye on developments in Israel related to these events, and will continue to keep you updated.

 

Please pray:

  • Thanking God that no Israelis were hurt when the ISIS rockets were launched toward beachgoers
  • For protection from Hezbollah and other pro-Iranian forces now entrenched even closer to Israel’s border.

The Good News is delivered ... thanks to YOU!

August 02, 2018
Connections newsletter

Thank you for transforming lives through your love and compassion!

Here’s how your generous support is being multiplied to transform even more lives 

It seems obvious that lives are immediately transformed when a Jewish Voice Medical Clinic gives someone back their sight through cataract surgery. Or provides clean, healthy water. Or treats a serious and painful dental infection. 

But sometimes Jewish Voice Clinics transform people’s lives in ways that are more than just immediate. Sometimes those lives are transformed in ways that continue to impact others for many years to come …

Demes the dentistDemes: Inspired to do more

The first time our Jewish Voice medical teams saw Demes, he was a shoeshine boy at a community clinic where we held a Medical Outreach in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Partially deaf, and from a slum area, Demes did not seem to have many opportunities in life. 

But Demes was inspired by what he saw happening in our Outreach, and he asked if he could help. For a few dollars a week, he became a patient assistant and translator.

This simple experience transformed Demes’ life forever!

Thrilled that he could actually help others, and moved by the love and compassion he saw expressed by Jewish Voice workers and volunteers, Demes decided he would do something more with his life.

Studying hard, Demes achieved high marks on exams and got into dental school in Addis Ababa. In two years he will graduate as a Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS).

But he’s already traveling throughout Ethiopia and Zimbabwe as a dental hygienist with our team, treating people with dental problems in the name of Yeshua.

Selam the doctorSelam: Reaching out to her own people

Selam is a young Jewish Believer who – like Demes – also started as a JVMI helper, escorting patients at Jewish Voice Medical Clinics in her community in Ethiopia.

Catching a vision for all she could do to help her people, Selam entered nursing school. Now a nurse, she’s able to both help her community and support her family, while also leading the clean water education efforts at many of our Jewish Voice Clinics.

Because of her work, Selam is both preventing and treating disease, to bring physical health to her people, while also sharing the Good News of the Messiah.

Your support multiplies the impact of transformed lives 

Indeed, there are many layers of help provided by our Jewish Voice ministry efforts in Africa. Some people are physically healed from long-term afflictions. Others receive the spiritual healing that comes from a first-time relationship with Yeshua.

And for some, there is all this PLUS the opportunity to find meaning by showing the love of Jesus to others in practical ways.

All of this is part of Jewish Voice ministry. And it’s all made possible by you and the many other generous partners who pray for this ministry and give to multiply our efforts so that even more Jewish people can be reached with help, healing and hope. Thank you!

Help more Jewish believers like Demes and Selam

13 things you may not know about Ethiopia

August 01, 2018
Woliso Banner

Few people in the West know what an amazing and historic country Ethiopia is ­– or why we care so much about some very special Ethiopian people.

 

For example, did you know:

  • The earliest evidence of modern humans was found in Ethiopia. It’s believed these early people migrated from Ethiopia to populate the Middle East and areas beyond.
  • Ethiopia’s ancient script, known as Ge’ez, is believed to be the oldest alphabet still in use in the world.
  • Tradition holds that the Queen of Sheba, as mentioned in the Bible, was from Ethiopia and that, when she returned home from visiting King Solomon, she was carrying his son. That child grew to become King Menelik I. About that time, a number of Jewish people migrated to Ethiopia, and today, we have genetic (DNA) evidence that, among the Ethiopian people, there are many of Jewish origin who immigrated there during that ancient period.
  • During the time that Yeshua (Jesus) was on earth, Ethiopia was home to the Aksum Kingdom – which, with Rome, Persia, and China, was one of the four great powers of the world. The Ethiopian eunuch, whose baptism was recorded in the eighth chapter of Acts, was an important official from this kingdom.
  • Ethiopia has close historical ties with both Judaism and Christianity. In the fourth century, it was one of the first countries to officially adopt Christianity as the state religion.
  • The 1897 flag of Ethiopia, used during the reign of Emperor Haile Selassie, featured an image of the Lion of Judah. One title for the Emperor was “Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah.”
  • In Amharic, a leading language in Ethiopia today, “Israel” means “miracle.”
  • Ethiopia is where the first coffee beans were grown, and the country continues to produce some of the world’s most highly regarded coffee.

But the people of Ethiopia also have a long history of suffering:

  • Nearly a third of the country’s population died in the Great Ethiopian Famine of 1888­–1892.
  • Ethiopia was occupied by Mussolini’s Fascist army from 1936­–41, resulting in the imprisonment and massacre of many Ethiopians.
  • The reign of Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie ended in September 1974, when he was deposed in a Soviet-backed military coup. The communist dictatorship put into power then killed as many as half a million people, using hunger as a weapon. The communists were eventually ousted by a bloody civil war.
  • The 1983­–85 famine in Ethiopia affected nearly 8 million people and caused 1 million deaths.
  • Ethiopia is now in the fourth year of its worst drought in half a century, resulting in a devastating famine currently affecting more than 6 million people.

Among those people suffering in Ethiopia, some of the hardest-hit are members of historic Jewish communities ­– especially the Gefat people of Woliso and Hosanna.

In addition to being poor and especially vulnerable to drought and famine, the Gefat are victims of widespread prejudice in response to their uniquely Jewish religion, worship and customs. Because of this, many people in the surrounding areas refuse to do business with them, causing the plight of the Gefat to become increasingly desperate in hard times.

But persecution endured by the Gefat is much more serious than their threatened livelihood. These Jewish people weep as they tell us they have been called “Evil Eye” by non-Jewish members of the community. Some show us burns sustained when their houses were set on fire – while they were still inside – by people with hatred for all Jewish people.

Jewish Ethiopians are also known as “falasha” or “unwanted strangers” ­– even though they have lived in this same land for centuries.

These dear Jewish people have almost nothing. And, although they do no harm to anyone, they are reviled and persecuted, suffering terrible hardship simply because they are Jewish.

That’s why Jewish Voice is so active among the Jewish people of Ethiopia!

First, we help ease their suffering through practical humanitarian aid. At our 2018 Outreach in Debre Birhan, we provided medical, dental and eye care to nearly 16,000 people who, because they are ostracized, had no access to such critical services, even if they could have afforded them. We also help prevent disease by providing them access to clean, healthy water by providing free LifeStraws® – devices that can filter water for individuals or whole families. At Debre Birhan in 2018, we were able to distribute 12,000 of these LifeStraws.

But, most importantly, we pray for and with these dear people and introduce them to Yeshua (Jesus) – their long-awaited Jewish Messiah who loves them and wants to save them.

This critical part of our ministry has led to tens of thousands of people finding salvation directly through the ministry of Jewish Voice!

Won’t you be part of helping to care for destitute and persecuted Ethiopian Jews, while sharing the Good News with them?

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