“Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.
Love Adonai your God with all your heart
and with all your soul and with all your strength.”
Deuteronomy 6:4-5 (TLV)
Shalom, my friend.
The words from the Shema (Deuteronomy 6:4-5), the central command of the Jewish faith, are a tremendous reminder for all of us during this holiday season.
There are so many uncertainties that we’re facing in our own experiences and as a global community. It can all feel heavy and burdensome in our hearts and lives.
But that’s the whole purpose of the Shema – the command of God for His people to turn their hearts towards Him. More than that, to make Him central in everything we do, think and feel.
This week, as you pray for Israel and the Jewish people, I encourage you to meditate on the Shema and to ask God to move in your heart and soul that you may experience what it means to truly “love Adonai.”
Thank you again for praying with us and for us.
TWO ISRAELIS ATTACKED BY PALESTINIAN MOB
Ynet News reported last week – and IDF (Israel Defense Forces) officials confirmed – that two Israelis were attacked by a Palestinian mob after mistakenly entering the West Bank by car.
The two Jewish victims, according to Ynet News, were attacked at the city's Al-Manara Square by local youths in Ramallah. It is believed that the attackers identified the Israelis as Jews based on their Orthodox appearance and proceeded to loot their vehicle and eventually set it on fire.
Ynet News reported that one eyewitness said the Israelis “survived a certain death” after Palestinian police rescued the pair.
Once the two had returned to the Israeli territory, they were questioned by Israeli security forces. The IDF Spokesperson's Unit said the two underwent a medical examination and did not require hospital treatment.
TOP ISRAELI INTELLIGENCE CHIEF VOWS THAT IRAN WILL NEVER HAVE NUCLEAR WEAPONS
The Times of Israel reported last week that it’s Mossad (Israel’s national intelligence agency) Chief David Barnea vowed Iran will never have nukes. Barnea’s vow was issued at a ceremony at the President’s residence honoring exceptional Mossad agents.
According to The Times of Israel, Barnea addressed the current nuclear discussions, saying that a bad deal between world powers and Iran is “intolerable” for Israel . . .
Barnea, as reported, continues:
“It’s clear that there’s no need for uranium enriched to 60% for civilian purposes. There’s no need for three enrichment sites. There’s no need for thousands of active centrifuges – unless, that is, there is an intention to develop nuclear weapons.
“Iran is striving for regional hegemony, wages terrorism that we are blocking every day around the world and is continuously threatening stability in the Middle East.
“Our eyes are open, we are prepared and we will do, with our partners in the security establishment, everything that is necessary to alleviate the threat against Israel and thwart it by any means.
“Iran will not have nuclear weapons – not in the coming years, not ever. That is my promise, that is Mossad’s promise.”
U.N.’S “JERUSALEM RESOLUTION” ATTEMPTS TO REBRAND THE TEMPLE MOUNT TO AN EXCLUSIVE ISLAMIC SITE
The Jerusalem Post reported last week that the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) approved a resolution that disavowed Jewish ties to the Temple Mount, calling it solely by its Muslim name of al-Haram al-Sharif.
According to The Jerusalem Post, the text – referred to as the “Jerusalem resolution” – is part of a push by the Palestinian Authority and the Arab states across the U.N. system to rebrand Judaism’s most holy site as an exclusively Islamic one.
Located in the heart of Jerusalem’s Old City, it is where the ancient Jewish Temple stood 2,000 years ago, and it is the home of the al-Aqsa Mosque compound which is Islam’s third holiest site.
“It is morally, historically and politically wrong for members of this body to support language that denies” both the Jewish and Christian connections to the Temple Mount, the U.S. envoy told the UNGA as reported by The Jerusalem Post.
The Palestinian Ambassador to the U.N., Riyad Mansour, thanked those who supported the Jerusalem text, noting that it was “an appropriate and needed resolution to give hope and support to our people.”
According to The Jerusalem Post, Mansour further called on the U.N. to accept Palestine as a member state and to hold Israel accountable for its refusal to withdraw to the pre-1967 lines, so that a two-state resolution to the conflict can be implemented.
Israel’s Ambassador to the U.N., Gilad Erdan, accused the Palestinians of attempting to erase Jewish history:
“The hypocrisy of these resolutions is truly outrageous. A resolution about Jerusalem that does not refer to its ancient Jewish roots is not an ignorant mistake, but an attempt to distort and rewrite history!”
Let Us Pray Together
Please pray with me for:
- God to move in the hearts of world leaders and the global threat of a nuclear Iran
- God’s protection to be upon His people in Israel who are constantly facing threats and violence from enemies who hate them
- Peace in the hearts and minds of the people of Israel and their enemies
- Jewish people to recognize Yeshua (Jesus) as their Messiah
