BREAKING: Israel Mourns Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein of International Fellowship of Christians and Jews - Breaking Israel News

Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, Dead at 67 The bridge builder of relationships between Christians and Jews, who raised over $1 billion for charity in Israel, died of a massive heart attack this afternoon. May his memory be a blessing. Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, a Portait of Peace Eckstein Reveals Painful Struggles and Remarkable Triumphs

Copyright © 2019 Israel365, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: Israel365 1 Yigal Alon 7th floor c/o TeamUp Bet Shemesh 9906201 Israel

FCJ Reports Ukrainian Jews Desperate to Escape Unrest, Make Aliyah to Israel - JNS BREAKING ISRAEL NEWS

New olim from Ukraine with The Fellowship Founder and President Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein (center) waving Israeli flags. (Photo Credit: Olivier Fitoussi)

FCJ Reports Ukrainian Jews Desperate to Escape Unrest, Make Aliyah to Israel

By JNS August 16, 2016   BREAKING ISRAEL NEWS

“Now Hashem said unto Avram: ‘Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto the land that I will show thee.” Genesis 12:1 (The Israel Bible™)

The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, or The Fellowship, said that in the last two weeks they have been flooded with hundreds of calls from Ukrainian Jews inquiring about immigrating to Israel as a result of increased tensions with Russia.

In the past month alone, The Fellowship, known for helping Jews immigrate to Israel, has received more than 1,700 inquiries (over 1,000 emails and 720 phone calls) from Jews in the Ukraine in their office in Kiev, the organization said.

There are 260,000 Jews living in the Ukraine and about 5,000 Jews are eligible for emigration who live in the Donbass region, which has been experiencing violence and unrest since March 2014 when government troops began fighting pro-Russian rebels, following the Russia’s annexation of Crimea.

“The plight of the Jewish people in Ukraine is deteriorating,” said Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, founder and president of The Fellowship. “Our support for them will mean the difference between life and death, whether we’re providing critical aid such as food and medicine or helping those who wish to immigrate to Israel.”

Overall, as a result of the conflict and rising tensions in the region, The Fellowship has brought more than 3,200 Jews from the Ukraine to Israel.

Thousands of Jews Plan to Flee France After Nice Attack - RYAN GREISS CHARISMA NEWS

A French Jew prepares to board a plane from France to Israel for his aliyah. (Flickr)

Thousands of Jews Plan to Flee France After Nice Attack

7/18/2016 RYAN GREISS  CHARISMA NEWS

The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (The Fellowship), the main organization helping Jews of France immigrate to Israel (make aliyah), has received thousands of recent inquiries from French Jews seeking to go to Israel and expects that number to climb following Thursday's terror attack in Nice.

The Fellowship in June brought 82 Jews from across France to Israel, and, additionally, is preparing to bring more than 150 to Israel this month, including several Nice families. French Jews in this seaside city were attending a Fellowship aliyah meeting Thursday evening one block from where a terrorist rammed a truck filled with munitions into a large crowd celebrating Bastille Day, in one of the country's worst terrorist attacks. An estimated 84 men, women and children were killed and many more were injured. According to media reports, two French-Jewish women, Clara Bensimon, 80, and her sister Raymonde Mamane, 77, were among five Jews wounded in the Nice attack. 

The Fellowship says it has received more than 5,100 calls and hundreds of emails from French Jews inquiring about aliyah in recent months, and now Fellowship officials expect that number to climb amid the attack in Nice, the latest to strike France over the past year.

"We mourn for the victims of this despicable attack and pray for a speedy recovery for those who were hurt," said Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, founder and president of The Fellowship. "Sadly, this horrific attack underscores the pressing need to help bring as many Jews who wish to leave France to their homeland in Israel, and this is what we will continue to do."

The French-Jewish aliyah is part of The Fellowship's global aliyah initiative to bring Jews facing economic and security threats to Israel. In recent months The Fellowship has helped over 2,000 Jews make aliyah, not only from France but also from other countries where Jews face economic and security challenges including Bolivia, Brazil, Uruguay, Venezuela, Turkey and Ukraine. The Fellowship has also been funding security upgrades at French-Jewish communal institutions, including schools and synagogues, in the wake of terror attacks over the past year.

Several of the Jews leaving France with The Fellowship say they are escaping what has become an intolerable situation for the Jewish community. Some describe being afraid to wear yarmulkes outdoors or to display any other visible signs of being Jews, while others say they are growing increasingly concerned about radical Islamic anti-Semitism.

Draw closer to God. Experience the presence of the Holy Spirit every month as you read Charisma magazine. Sign up now to get Charisma for as low as $1 per issue.

Has God called you to be a leader? Ministry Today magazine is the source that Christian leaders who want to serve with passion and purpose turn to. Subscribe now and receive a free leadership book.

Did you enjoy this blog? Click here to receive it by email.

This Christmas, Israel Celebrates New Trend of Israeli Arab Christians Joining IDF By Abra Forman - BREAKING ISRAEL NEWS

Father Gabriel Naddaf hosts a Christmas celebration for Arab Christian IDF soldiers. (Photo Credit: Courtesy of Israeli Christians Recruitment Forum.)

This Christmas, Israel Celebrates New Trend of Israeli Arab Christians Joining IDF

By Abra Forman December 23, 2015   BREAKING ISRAEL NEWS

“Now it came about when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing opposite him with his sword drawn in his hand, and Joshua went to him and said to him, ‘Are you for us or for our adversaries?’ He said, ‘No; rather I indeed come now as captain of the host of the LORD.’” (Joshua 5:13-14)

As Christmas approaches, an Israeli priest is spearheading a program to dramatically increase the number of Christian Arabs enlisting and serving in the Israeli Defense Forces. The Israeli Christian Recruitment Forum, led by Greek Orthodox priest Father Gabriel Naddaf of Nazareth, aims to double the number of Christian Arabs enlisting and serving in the Israeli Defense Forces.

The Forum, which is supported by the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, has seen a huge jump in numbers since it began its work. It saw a 50% increase from its founding year in 2012, in which only 40 Christian drafted to the Israeli army, to 2014, when over 100 drafted. In March of 2015 alone, 102 Christian Arabs entered the IDF due to the work of the Forum.

Israeli law does not require minorities in the Jewish State to serve in the IDF, so all of the Arab Christians recruits are choosing to volunteer. A notable exception has always been the Israeli Druze community, which is proudly Zionist and has served in the IDF since the state’s creation in 1948. Now, Father Naddaf hopes that some of the 165,000 Arab Christians in Israel will follow in the Druze’s footsteps.

The initiative is really part of a larger movement by Father Naddaf to recast the entire Arab Christian population as a group which, like the Druze, identifies as patriotic Israelis, rather than enemies of Israel. He aims to integrate the minority into mainstream Israeli society. Father Naddaf has even coined a new moniker for the community, calling its members “Israeli Christians” rather than Arab Christians.
He explained, “Calling them ‘Arab-Christian’ puts them on the side of Palestinians and terrorists, when in reality they’ve lived in Israel for generations and just want to live in peace and security.”

While the Forum, which also gives financial aid to needy Christian families in Israel and discharged IDF soldiers, does not receive government support, Father Naddaf and the Fellowship were recognized by Israel’s Defense Minister, Moshe Ya’alon, in a Jerusalem ceremony last week.

At the ceremony, Father Naddaf thanked “Christian donors around the world” for supporting him through the Fellowship, saying, “Your assistance is essential for the strength of Israeli society.” He added, “This society will achieve peace and defeat evil.”

Father Gabriel Naddaf hosts Arab Israeli IDF soldiers in a Christmas celebration. (Photo Credit: Courtesy of Israeli Christians Recruitment Forum.)

On Monday, Father Naddaf hosted a festive Christmas party for some of the Israeli Christian soldiers that the Forum has helped to enlist, distributing holiday treats and thanking them for their service to Israel.

The Christian population of Israel is one of the largest Arab Christian communities in the world, and the only one in the Middle East region which is actually showing signs of population growth. While Christians are often persecuted for their religious beliefs in the Middle East, to the point of kidnapping and wholesale murder in the case of the Islamic State, Israel’s Christian population is free to worship as it wishes. It is also one of the best-educated populations in the country.

More French Jews Aim To Make Aliyah In Wake Of Paris Terror Attacks By Jonathan Benedek - BREAKING ISRAEL NEWS

Memorial for terrorist attacks, November 19, 2015. (Photo: Kobi Richter/TPS)

More French Jews Aim To Make Aliyah In Wake Of Paris Terror Attacks

By Jonathan Benedek November 23, 2015  BREAKING ISRAEL NEWS

“Peace be within your walls and security within your towers!” (Psalm 122:7)

The terrorist attacks in Paris last weekend not only shocked the world but convinced many Jews in France to emigrate to Israel.

“The time now is ripe to help French Jews immigrate,” Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, founder and president of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, told Tazpit Press Service (TPS).

Rabbi Eckstein’s organization, largely known for supporting Jewish communities in poverty such as those from the former Soviet Union, has also been involved with helping Jews immigrate to Israel. “We talked to the French community and its leaders and there are tens of thousands of Jews in France who want to get out and come to Israel,” Eckstein said.

Rabbi Eckstein told TPS that his organization will aim to help those Jews in France who would like to immigrate but have been discouraged from doing so because of various stumbling blocks. “They don’t have a job waiting for them in Israel and they don’t have money for an apartment,”  Eckstein explained.

“We need to provide them with more than a plane ticket in order to incentivize and motivate more Jews to come from France to Israel,” continued Eckstein . “What we are providing for the mainline Jewish community is the aliyah funds with the benefits and the plans that we have.”

The terror attacks over the weekend pushed some Jews in France who had already been in contact with Rabbi Eckstein’s organization, to speed up their Aliyah plans. “Two couples wanted to advance and to come quicker than our scheduled Aliyah flight next month in December,” noted Eckstein. “They arrived on Monday and although they did not come on a chartered flight, they still received all the benefits that we provide new immigrants with.”

Rabbi Eckstein told TPS that his organization is already developing plans to help other French Jews over the next month. “We have the money and the resources to do so and we were able to help move these two families overnight,” Eckstein said. “If we have to adjust now and have a flight in both November and December, we can do that.”

Rabbi Eckstein also informed TPS of the support his organization is now providing for the security of Chabad houses in France. Chabad houses are Jewish community outreach centers that are managed and run by the Lubavitch Hasidic movement.

“In light of the terrorist attacks in France, we’re now funding all of the 25 Chabad houses in the country,” Rabbi Eckstein told TPS.

Rabbi Eckstein elaborated on the need to concentrate on Chabad houses. “Jewish institutions are being secured by the police of France and by the Jewish institutions themselves, but the Chabad houses are not,” explained Rabbi Eckstein. “Chabad is not always recognized by the local Jewish community or even the police as a Jewish institution as it is not your typical synagogue or dayschool.”

“Chabad also doesn’t have access in the same way to the resources that the Jewish community as a whole does,” Eckstein added.

Rabbi Eckstein’s fellowship was already providing support for the Chabad house in Toulouse after the 2012 terrorist attack at a Jewish school in the city.

Meanwhile, Rabbi Eckstein told TPS that the organization will determine what else it can provide for Jews in France. “We have our staff there on the ground obviously and we’re seeing that there’s certainly an anxiety. We’re taking a good look as to how much more we can do.”

Israel has experienced a significant increase in immigration from France over the last few years. Since 2009, more than 20,000 Jews in France have moved to Israel. Last year alone, at least 7,200 Jews in France immigrated to Israel.