#ifcj

Confira a novidade em https://ntgospel.com/noticias/fe/organizacao-ajuda-100-mil-israelenses-afetados-pela-guerra-na-pascoa-judaica

Organização ajuda 100 mil israelenses afetados pela guerra na Páscoa judaica

A International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (IFCJ) está fornecendo auxílio humanitário crucial à população israelense afetada pelo conflito vigente, priorizando famílias enlutadas, reféns e deslocados internos. A organização distribuirá cerca de 19 mil cartões de débito pré-carregados com US$ 162 cada, viabilizando a compra de alimentos durante a Pessach, a Páscoa judaica, celebrada entre 22 e 30 de abril.

Pontos Cruciais

Assistência Páscoa: A IFCJ disponibilizará cartões de débito para aquisição de alimentos durante o período pascal.

Beneficiários: Famílias enlutadas, reféns, combatentes feridos, vítimas do ataque de 7 de outubro e sobreviventes do ataque do Hamas na Faixa de Gaza receberão os cartões.

Alcance da Ação: A Fellowship se destaca como a principal organização humanitária em Israel. Desde o início da guerra, mais de US$ 6,7 milhões já foram destinados a famílias israelenses para a compra de alimentos, medicamentos e itens de higiene.

Suporte Amplo: Segundo o guiame, a IFCJ também fornece recursos para defesa civil, segurança hospitalar, aquisição de abrigos e veículos blindados para comunidades fronteiriças, além da distribuição de kits de primeiros socorros.

Declarações Relevantes

Yael Eckstein, Presidente da IFCJ: “Compreendemos que esta Páscoa será singular para Israel, marcada pela guerra e pelo distanciamento de familiares, alguns dos quais jamais retornarão. Nosso compromisso é, portanto, responder de todas as formas possíveis, especialmente durante o Seder da Páscoa, quando proclamamos: ‘Todos que têm fome, venham e comam’.”

Every Sunday through Friday, President and Founder of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (IFCJ or The Fellowship), Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, sends out daily devotionals along with a scripture verse and the Hebrew Word of the Day to increase understanding of Israel, the Jewish faith and Jewish roots of Christianity. These devotionals have been a blessing to thousands of people over the years. Here are the summaries of Rabbi Eckstein’s top 10 devotionals of 2018: 

Holy Land Moments Daily Devotionals

 1.        The Kindness Boomerang

 So Miriam was confined outside the camp for seven days, and the people did not move on till she was brought back. — Numbers 12:15

Rabbi Eckstein tells an incredible story of kindness and encourages us all to go the extra mile when it comes to being kind. He writes, “Kindness is like a boomerang; eventually, it will make its way back to you when you are in need.”

 2.       Through the Door of Hope

There I will give her back her vineyards, and will make the Valley of Achor a door of hope. There she will respond as in the days of her youth, as in the day she came up out of Egypt. — Hosea 2:15

Rabbi Eckstein concludes that fleeing from our situation isn’t the best solution to our problems. Rather, we are called on to transform our situation into something better than we might have ever imagined. He writes, “It is in the darkest places that God will show us light. It is through our most difficult trials that we learn some of life’s greatest lessons. And often what seemed like the worst thing to happen to us turns out to be the best thing to happen to us. This is the door of hope, and we can walk through it anytime by having faith that everything that happens to us, happens for our very best.”

3.        God Wants to Give

 When a calf, a lamb or a goat is born, it is to remain with its mother for seven days. From the eighth day on, it will be acceptable as a food offering presented to the LORD.” — Leviticus 22:27

Rabbi Eckstein reflects on a seemingly “senseless cruel practice” he witnessed on a farm in northern Israel and connects it to the people of Israel’s relationship with God.  He writes, “if we pray, and our prayers are not answered in the way that we like, we must understand that it’s not because God doesn’t love us; it’s because He loves us so much that He won’t give us something that is not good for us. God wants to give even more than our desire to receive. As we pray with that perspective, knowing that God is on our side and wanting to help us out, when the answer is “no,” we can take comfort knowing it’s because God has something even better in mind.”

 4.       Everything Has a Purpose

Their venom is like the venom of a snake, like that of a cobra that has stopped its ears, that will not heed the tune of the charmer, however skillful the enchanter may be. — Psalm 58:4–5

As King David wonders why God has created seemingly pointless creatures on earth, Rabbi Eckstein reminds us that even when we may not understand God’s purpose - the things that we don’t deem very valuable and the people who we think we could do without - God shows David how every detail of His world has significance and is essential in His overall plan. According to Rabbi Eckstein, “Each of us is an indispensable piece of His puzzle, and we must do our part to contribute to the perfection of His world.”

5.        From the Beginning

“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” – Genesis 1:1

Considering that the Bible is not a history book nor a storybook - it is an instruction manual for living - Jewish sages have asked why the Bible begins with “in the beginning” instead of the first commandment given to man or a story with a moral. Rabbi Eckstein maintains, “The sages explain that God begins the Bible with Creation so that we would know that He created the world and has all authority over the universe. The land on this earth is His to give and His to take away. Only He has the right to do so. He states very clearly in the Bible that He gave the land of Israel, a small portion of the entire earth, to the children of Israel. No one, not even the United Nations, has the right to take that land away.”

6.       Simple Acts of Kindness

He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you?  To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. — Micah 6:8

Rabbi Eckstein recalls a story that aired on the news about a little boy who invites a homeless man to eat with him at a restaurant. He writes, “Simple loving acts that bring glory to the Lord – that’s all God asks,” and encourages readers to do a simple act of kindness. He urges, “It doesn’t take much to serve God and bring glory to His name. Help a stranger, be extra kind to someone who is down, provide some words of encouragement, or even buy a stranger a meal. God doesn’t ask much from us, yet He does everything for us. The least we can do is contribute what we can.”

7.        Confession is Good for the Soul

“Say to the Israelites: ‘Any man or woman who wrongs another in any way and so is unfaithful to the LORD is guilty and must confess the sin they have committed. They must make full restitution for the wrong they have done, add a fifth of the value to it and give it all to the person they have wronged.’” — Numbers 5:6–7

“Confession is a doorway to freedom and forgiveness,” writes Rabbi Eckstein, noting that Judaism requires confession of our sins only in the presence of one being — the presence of God. Nevertheless, we confess aloud not so that God can hear our confessions (after all, God knows our thoughts!). We confess so we can hear them. He writes, “ Speaking is more powerful than thinking. God didn’t think the world into existence; He spoke it into existence. So, too, our words have power. When we confess our sins, we break down barriers that block our soul. We let go of toxins that poison our spirit. Most importantly, we engage God in our cleansing process, and it is only He Who can truly purify our souls.”

8.       Hidden Blessings

“‘I myself will lay waste the land, so that your enemies who live there will be appalled.’” — Leviticus 26:32

Even when God punishes us, we can find His everlasting love shining through. Everything that He causes to happen in our lives – even the hard stuff – is ultimately a blessing. Even the fact that Israel was not a desirable land for over 2,000 years has allowed the Jewish people to return as they have. Notes Rabbi Eckstein, “The lesson for us is that God is always on our side. Even when it seems like our circumstances in life are less than desirable, there is always a hidden blessing. As the psalmist put it: ‘your rod and your staff, they comfort me’ (Psalm 23:4).”

9.       Keep Moving Up

And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, “The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size.” — Numbers 13:32

Rabbi Eckstein makes sense of a contradiction in the story of the 12 spies, coming to the understanding that it is trying to tell us that “if you aren’t moving upward, you are automatically falling backward.” He poses, “We have to actively ascend spiritually every day. Can we trust God a little more today? Can we be a better person today than we were yesterday? We must not make the mistake of getting so busy with the material life that we stop living and growing spiritually.”

10.    Give to Live

“The priest who is anointed and ordained to succeed his father as high priest is to make atonement. He is to put on the sacred linen garments and make atonement for the Most Holy Place, for the tent of meeting and the altar, and for the priests and all the members of the community.” — Leviticus 16:32–33

The Hebrew Bible

Christianity began as a sect of Judaism in the first century CE, until evolving into a separate religion with distinct beliefs and practices. Judaism and Christianity thus share roots in the Hebrew Bible, which through narratives, laws and rituals gives meaning to life.

A letter published by the Catholic Church in 2015 quotes the Pope as saying, “There exists as well a rich complementarity which allows us to read the texts of the Hebrew Scriptures together and help one another to mine the riches of God’s word. We can also share many ethical convictions and a common concern for justice and the development of people.”

While traditionally Christians read the “New Testament” as their central Bible, for the first time in 2000 years, non-Jews around the world are experiencing a “Torah awakening” in which the Hebrew Bible is becoming ever more relevant as a basis of the Christian faith. Many Christians are expressing a desire to connect with Torah, the Land of Israel, the God of Israel and the Jewish people. 

In Israel’s Knesset, joint Bible studies are now commonplace between Jews and Christians in the land, with the Hebrew Bible acting as a bridge between the two peoples. This Hebrew Bible awakening has also led to further commonalities - it is estimated that 22 million Christians worldwide have experienced this awakening, with many now learning Biblical Hebrew, observing Shabbat on the same day as the Jewish people, keeping the Biblical festivals and even studying the parsha (Torah portion of the week).

 Shared Values

Despite differences in the majority of Jewish and Christian theology, the two faiths both maintain that Bible is the word of God – ‘divine revelation’ – and view God as the creator of life and source of moral law. A natural result of this belief is the shared value that “human history has meaning and is progressing toward a vision and that we need to work for the betterment of humanity,” said Rabbi David Shlomo Rosen, director of the American Jewish Committee's Department of Interreligious Affairs.

Christians and Jews also believe that every person is made in the likeness of God, “thus creation is a manifestation of the divine presence and that, by definition, means the world at large is related to in a different way,” maintained Rosen. But this does not mean that humans are all alike - in fact, it is through individual uniqueness that humans are able to bring forth godliness in their own distinct way. Because of this special contribution each individual can make, each life is considered sacred. While the Torah does not permit us to take an innocent life - even if it is for the benefit of many- Jewish sages teach, “anyone who destroys a life it is as though he has destroyed an entire world.”

Because Jews and Christians have a shared text and patrimony, the Hebrew Bible, both affirm that a human being is created in the image of God, rendering it sacred and therefore we see the protection of human life and dignity as supreme values,” said Rabbi Rosen.

 Duty to Act Upon Values

Such values of the sanctity of life lead to kindness, charity and caring for the other in order to help the downtrodden reach their full potential. According to Rabbi Rosen, Jews and Christians who agree on the sanctity of life and family - who pursue justice and peace - have a duty to work together. “If we do not work together towards the values we share, then we are not being true to the values. Working together, we can achieve more and are greater than the sum of our parts,” he said.

In hopes of forging new bonds between the faiths and working together towards shared values, in 1983, Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein founded the Holyland Fellowship of Christians and Jews to fulfill his vision of building bridges of understanding and cooperation between Christians and Jews. Today, now called the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (IFCJ), the organization promotes understanding between Jews and Christians to build broad support for Israel.

Fulfilling this goal, over the past decades Eckstein’s organization has worked closely with the Christian community to support Holocaust survivors, Jewish orphans, children and families, as well as the elderly. The Fellowship is now one of the largest philanthropic foundations in Israel. IFCJ also often reviews reader questions, with commonalities between Judaism and Christianity a frequent question. The website resources teach about mutual key tenants, practices, Biblically significant holidays and observances that relate to the lives and faith of Christians and Jews today.