Rain IS a blessing:

The following story can be found here. During this season at the Hope For Israel Relief Fund we hope that you will find it in your heart to be a blessing to all of those who are around you, strangers and friends alike. The LORD has given us so much, please consider giving back to his people and blessing the people of Israel today!

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Typical day: woke up around 7am when the sun finally warmed my room, thanked Hashem in that split second between being fully awake and still floating softly in my world of dreams, put my toes into yummy slippers, headed to the bathroom, wandered groggily into the kitchen, made delicious turkish coffee from the arab shuk.. then sat, surrounded by books and mountains, just breathing and reflecting. The day always hits once the coffee is mostly gone..

I made my way to Jerusalem sometime in the afternoon, driving along winding roads that were empty.. Clouds had gathered, turning the sky to a heavy grey. There is something about clouds in the desert.. something about the sky feeling so much closer and present. Tangible.. By the time I had entered Jerusalem, the clouds had simply melded together above darkened buildings and trees that looked helpless in the wind. I kept looking at people’s faces as i drove by.. No one was smiling. I thought to myself, why is it so hard for them to remember that rain is a blessing? Where was the joy?

Time passed and by chance, my appointment was canceled. I sat in my car slightly annoyed and wondered where to go.. feeling somehow part of the storm and yet oddly detached. I felt safe from my life, from the world, enclosed in my little bubble of metal, leather and padding.. listening to Dezarie while blasting heat in my face. Deeply wishing I had something to do.

As I stared listlessly out of the car window lacking all motivation, my eye caught site of an old woman making her way slowly up the street. She was using a walker, stumbling along as if she were fighting the wind and her own body at the same time.. My heart froze. I didn’t know what to do, so I decided to watch and wait. She leaned heavily against the parked cars as she tried walking up the hill. Her eyes were covered by dark sunglasses that hid her face, and again I hesitated, simply not knowing how to act.

A moment later she was beside my car and I saw the deep, fine lines in her face, the struggle to stay composed in spite of her weakness, the fierce pride in her posture, and the desire to live. My heart overcame my anxiety and I hopped out of the car rushing over to her with a smile, praying that I would not embarrass her! She stood still in shock, struggling to hear me over the wind.

“Hi!” I said in the most casual, friendly voice I could muster while shivering in the cold. “Can I help you? Where do you need to go, I will give you a ride.”

“WHAT?!” she replied, taken aback.. I flushed with embarrassment and somehow managed to repeat my offer, this time gesturing to my car and the heat emanating from the open door. Finally she looked at me and said while shaking her head in frustration, “I have to go to the pharmacy today but my leg is not doing well in this cold.”

“Please let me take you” I said to her with a warm smile. “I will take you there and bring you home when you are done.”

“You will wait for me?” she said in disbelief. “GOD BLESS YOU! You are my angel today!” She started to hobble over to my car, mumbling about how it was a miracle from Hashem that I had come. “This is my lucky day!” she said again and again. I helped her in, then drove to the pharmacy while trying to make amicable conversation. Her English was perfect.. I found out that her husband had died, that she had been living in Israel for 24 years, that now there was no one left.. that she was alone.

She told me she had lived all over the world, from europe to the U.S.. and in one quick breath, she told me that she had survived the holocaust. My knuckles tightened on the wheel. We pulled up to the pharmacy before we could speak any further and I helped her in. She could barely move her leg.. I don’t know how she had planned on making it to the pharmacy by walking. With a toughness borne from years of survivial, she said “I don’t like missing a day taking my medicine, so I had to go.” I wondered in my heart how the elderly of Jerusalem managed to get their medicine..

After she bought the medication, I helped her back into the car and drove her to her home, offering to carry her bag for her. Embarrassment crept into her face and I quickly added that I would only walk her to the door. My heart dropped yet again as I saw that she lived on the second floor and had to walk up 20 stairs. I couldn’t understand.. my mind wouldn’t let me understand or how else could I go on living knowing that this was reality?

It took us five minutes to climb the stairs, yet we made it and stood facing each other in front of her door. She reached out steadily and took my hand in a firm handshake.

“My name is Sarah” she said with a deep strength that was heartbreaking.

“My name is Talya” I replied, looking into her dark sunglasses.

She thanked me and blessed me, that all the good things in my heart should come to fruition. Then I thanked her, from the bottom of my heart, for having had the honor of meeting and helping her. I walked away with the hairs of my arm standing on end, feeling so helpless and yet so blessed that I had tears in my eyes. I pondered what to do next.. pondered all the elderly who struggle daily with both their emotional and physical pain.. I pondered how many elderly in the streets I could have helped if I had looked outside of myself and paid attention.

Perhaps this friday I will bring her flowers and leave them outside her door with a note. Maybe I will get lucky and take her to the pharmacy again.

And to think, all this because I had asked for something to do. Jerusalem is a powerful city if we open ourselves to it.

I hope Sarah is doing well…

Anti-Israel is the new anti-Semitism

The following article appeared in the Jerusalem Post's online publication's on December 16, 2009. It was written by the Jerusalem Post Staff Writers and reprinted below in its entirety.

Anti-Semitism is a very real threat faced by Jews all over the world. Earlier this week a group of radical Christians tore town a Hanukah display in Moldova at the bequest of an Orthodox Priest declaring "We are an Orthodox country. Stephan the Great defended our country from all kinds of kikes, and now they come and put their menorah here. This is anarchy," as the demonstrators tore down the display. All over the world there is unspeakable hatred, indeed even in Israel there is a level of anti-Semitism to be found.

The Hope For Israel Relief Fund stands with Israel always. Helping the poor and disenfranchised in a multitude of ways. Wherever there are those whom the world rallies against, be they poor, be they Jewish, be they fatherless, motherless, and without hope, we stand with them. The Hope For Israel Relief Fund seeks to show the people of Israel that the world does care about them, and that they are worth defending, not just from the anti-Semitism of the world, but also from those that would turn their backs and put the poor and the hurt out of mind and out of sight. If you want to see the most vulnerable of Israel taken care of please consider contributing to our efforts today, you can make a difference. You can provide Hope.

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Anti-Semitism is being used to delegitimize the State of Israel, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Wednesday.

Speaking at the Foreign Ministry's third annual Global Forum for Combating Anti-Semitism, Lieberman said "classic anti-Semitism, along with Iranian funding and Islamic anti-Semitism, is being used to incite hatred against Jews, and to delegitimize theState of Israel."

He said that global anti-Semitism had "crossed the line," and that those behind the effort were "seeking to destroy the Jewish state piece by piece... using academic boycotts and economic sanctions." He also noted "human rights groups' effort to deny Israel legitimacy by pushing the United Nations Security Council to adopt the Goldstone Report," which accused Israel of war crimes and possible crimes against humanity during Operation Cast Lead in the Gaza Strip.

"Modern anti-Semitism," the foreign minister asserted, "has taken on the form of being anti-Israel... Instead of saying 'throw the Jews into the sea,' they talk of a world without Zionism, and without Israel."

Referring to the matter of Iran, Lieberman said, "It's scary that 60 years after the horrors of the Holocaust, we see examples of anti-Semitism being funded by Iran." He added that the Islamic republic "denies the Holocaust, calls for the destruction of Israel, and is trying to achieve nuclear capability. These efforts remind us of [the Nazis' rise to power] 70 years ago."

According to the registration list, over 500 participants plan to attend the two-day conference at Jerusalem's Crowne Plaza Hotel. Delegations comprising diplomats, academics, and policy makers from the United States, Germany, France, Hungary, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, Turkey, Venezuela and Argentina were listed on the GFCA roster.

Also speaking at the conference on Wednesday was Diaspora Affairs Minister Yuli Edelstein, who cited anti-Semitic attacks around the world in the past year, noting that they took place "in 2009, not 1937."

He too spoke of a change in the nature of anti-Semitism: "No longer permissible to openly proclaim hatred of the Jews? So the anti-Semite must seek new forms and forums to release his poison."

"No longer politically correct to openly hate Jews? So he has repackaged his hate, and in doing so has been able to gain endorsement from academics, media outlets, and even political parties."

Edelstein went on to tell delegates that Israel had become the focus of global anti-Semitism, saying, "There are no more Jews. Instead there are Israelis. Israeli soldiers kill babies. Israeli soldiers attack pregnant mothers. Israelis started wars in Iraq and Afghanistan."

During his travels abroad, the minister said, he often heard people expressing support for the creation of a Palestinian state, as well as the removal of theJewish state, which they called "inherently racist." In response to such sentiments, Edelstein said, "I do not know if a more contradictory, irrational, and illogical argument have ever been made in the same sentence. The Palestinians are a people and therefore deserve a state. The Jews are a people, and therefore should not be allowed to have a state."

He concluded his address by stressing the need for education on tolerance, saying, "It is our moral duty to educate our children about anti-Semitism and the evils of senseless hatred."

Benjamin Weinthal contributed to this report

Israel must do right by its Sudanese refugees..

The following article is reprinted in full from the Jerusalem Post on December 7, 2009. It was written by SIMON DENG. For more information about the author of this article please see the last paragraph of the JPost article. Thank you.

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There are 2,500 people in Israel just like me - Christians from Southern Sudan who were persecuted brutally by the Khartoum government and who have always loved and admired the Jewish state. The Christians of Southern Sudan and the people of Israel share a great deal in common - religious heritage, a long memory of oppression, and the enmity of the worst regimes in the Middle East and Africa.

Sudanese refugees in Israel. ...

Sudanese refugees in Israel. "Egypt owes as much to them as we do."
Photo: Ariel Jerozolimski

As a former child slave in Southern Sudan who now fights for two interrelated causes - the State of Israel and the abolition of slavery in the Muslim world - I want to tell the people of this country about my countrymen who are seeking refuge here.

They are not a threat to you; on the contrary, they are lovers of Zion and natural allies of the Jewish state. What's more, they are ready to be a bridge between this country and the independent nation of Southern Sudan that is waiting to be born a little over a year from now.

Thus, there are two reasons why Israel needs to do right by the refugees from Southern Sudan - for their sake and for the sake of Israel itself.

Currently some 6,000 Sudanese refugees reside in this country. About 3,500 of them are Muslims - the majority from Darfur. A significant percentage of the Darfur refugees have been given temporary political asylum. If Israel does not grant the 2,500 Southern Sudanese Christians similar protection, or special dispensation, and they are forced to return to Sudan anytime in the near future, they will face execution or long imprisonment. According to Sudanese law, the fact that they have set foot in Israel - loathed byKhartoum as the ultimate enemy - makes their "offense" extremely grave.

Yet after almost three years in this country, they remain in limbo - without asylum, without knowing if and when they may be sent out of the country, without knowing what the future holds. For now they possess three-month "conditional visas," which keeps them in a state of uncertainty; to give a minimal measure of stability to their lives, it is essential to extend these visas for six to 12 months.

THESE CHRISTIANS fled to Israel through Egypt in order to escape forced Islamization and possible enslavement. Crimes against humanity have a long history in Sudan; a little-known fact is that the number of Christian Sudanese victims of these enormities far exceeds that of the victims in Darfur. Between 1955 and 1972, the Muslim regime inKhartoum slaughtered nearly 1.5 million Southern Sudanese Christians. Between 1983 and 2005, 2 million more met the same fate. Another 100,000 (a conservative estimate) were enslaved in the north, and seven million were made refugees.

The government of Khartoum has long singled out Southern Sudanese Christians and accused them of being traitors, even agents of Israel. The regime regards this as the worst possible crime. However, this accusation is a source of stubborn pride to the Southern Sudanese who love Israel, who identify with Israel - and there are many who dream of visiting the Holy Land as pilgrims and tourists.

But again, protecting the Christian Southern Sudanese refugees is also in the enlightened self-interest of the State of Israel. In 2011 the Southern Sudanese will vote whether or not to remain as "one Sudan" united with the north or to secede and become a separate country. If the Christian Southern Sudanese vote for secession - a virtual certainty - they will have their own nation as a free people for the first time in history.

I know these people well. I know their leaders. I feel confident that a free Southern Sudan will be a strong ally of the State of Israel.

This alliance would reflect a regional catharsis. The 2,500 Christians from Southern Sudan now residing in Israel could be the link between Israel and this new Christian nation - a pillar of a new, friendly, mutually beneficial relationship, a beacon for the future.

Thus, I urge the people of Israel and their leaders to help resolve the Southern Sudanese refugees' situation, end their legal limbo and give them the tools they need to be productive - either in their adopted home or in their new state that will be born very soon.

The writer, who escaped child slavery in Southern Sudan and now lives in New York, speaks on behalf of Southern Sudanese victims at synagogues, yeshivot and evangelical churches across the US. In 2006 he was honored for his anti-slavery activism at the Anti-Defamation League's annual Concert Against Hate in Washington's Kennedy Center.

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The Hope For Israel Relief Fund is committed to working for the improvement of immigrants throughout all of Israel. Some of the country's poorest population are immigrants from Africa. Join with us at The Hope For Israel Relief Fund to see how you can help out today! Your donations go to Messianic Jewish Ministries that support various relief works throughout the land. Donate to end poverty. Donate to see the Truth of God's character proclaimed in the land.

Blessings and Peace,

The Hope For Israel Relief Fund