JEWISH VOICE BLOG

April 07, 2021

The United States has an established history of standing with Israel. Since President Truman supported the founding of the State of Israel in 1948, the U.S. has been a staunch ally of the Jewish State. One of the biggest moments in recent memory happened three years ago. On May 14, 2018, in honor of Israel’s 70th anniversary, the new U.S. Embassy opened in Jerusalem. This was after spending decades in its temporary home in Tel Aviv. I’m so thankful that even in the midst of the sweeping chang...

April 03, 2021

“Adonai is my strength and my song, and He has become my salvation. This is my God, and I will glorify Him, my father’s God, and I will exalt Him” (Exodus 15:2). The word glorify has several related meanings. One indicates that when we glorify God, we worship or praise Him. Another meaning is to reveal God as glorious. Yet another definition of glorifying is to light up or shine. When the Lord called His people out of Egypt to be His own, He called us out of slavery to a new, free lif...

April 02, 2021

“So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, to bring them up out of that land into a good and large land, a land flowing with milk and honey” (Exodus 3:8). Passover is a wonderful time of remembrance when we reflect on& how God delivered and provided for His Chosen People. For 40 years, He sustained our ancestors in the wilderness. In a desolate land, He provided manna for food and water from rocks. Through all that time, the clothing of the Israelites never...

April 01, 2021

“Adonai went before them in a pillar of cloud by day to lead the way and in a pillar of fire by night to give them light. So they could travel both day and night. The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night never departed from the people” (Exodus 13:21–22). God called the Israelites out of Egypt, freeing them from bondage to evil masters, not to be without guidance or covering. He led them with His presence in pillars of cloud and fire. He directed them where to go, when to ...

March 31, 2021

“I will take you to Myself as a people, and I will be your God. You will know that I am Adonai your God, who brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians” (Exodus 6:7). The Israelites had suffered as slaves in Egypt for 430 years. When God called them out of bondage, He called them into a deeper relationship with Him. He promised to be their God, and they would be His people, and He would walk among them. He said they would be His “inheritance” and His treasured possession. ...

March 30, 2021

“Adonai gave the people favor in the eyes of the Egyptians and let them have what they asked for. So they plundered the Egyptians” (Exodus 12:36). God saved the Israelites out of bondage in Egypt and sent them off into the wilderness as free people. Our ancestors had to leave in a hurry – so much so that their bread didn’t have time to rise, and they took the dough still in their bowls. Yet, even in their haste, they were able to take their livestock. Not only that, God instructed the Isra...

March 29, 2021

Israel has three national holidays within one week of each other in the Hebrew months of Nisan and Iyar. This year, they all land in April. The apostle Paul urges us to rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep (Romans 12:15). We believe that’s part of what standing with Israel means. Yom HaShoah – Israel’s Holocaust Remembrance Day The Holocaust is also known as the Shoah, which is the Hebrew word for “catastrophe.” Yom HaShoah (YOHM Ha-SHO-ah) then means “Day of the ...

March 29, 2021

“Therefore, say to the Israelites: ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment’” (Exodus 6:6 NIV). Can you imagine what it must have been like when the Israelites left Egypt? Everyone had been slaves their whole lives. Yet, all 600,000 men – plus women and children – just walked right out of the country. That’s something that was not ...

March 28, 2021

“So when your son asks you in times to come, ‘What is this?’ say to him, ‘By a strong hand Adonai brought us out from Egypt, the house of bondage’” (Exodus 13:14). Living in freedom as we do, it’s hard to imagine being enslaved, having no opportunity for a different life. For generation upon generation, Israelites in Egypt were servants of cruel masters and without hope. Born slaves, they died slaves. Today, during a traditional Passover Seder, a child asks, “Why is this night different ...

March 27, 2021

“The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are. When I see the blood, I will pass over you…” (Exodus 12:13). Every day, across the globe, lives are saved in some way or another. They’re extricated from crumpled cars, plucked from raging waters, carried from burning buildings. They’re pulled back from the path of vehicles, given CPR by strangers or restored to health by medical professionals. In Egypt, God told the Israelites about the final plague He would bring on the ent...