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Hallmark Cards presents Mother's Day at Walgreens. Celebrate every mother figure in your life with a Hallmark card at Walgreens. Show how much she means to you and how deeply she's loved. A Hallmark card is the perfect way to say thank you for all she does. Don't forget, Mother's day is Sunday, May 10th. Visit Walgreens today to find the perfect Hallmark Mother's Day card and make her feel truly special. Mother's Day means Hallmark cards at Walgreens.
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The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews has been on the front lines fighting anti Semitism and providing real help where it's needed most. They're giving food and shelter to Jewish families under threat, building bomb shelters for children, helping survivors of hate rebuild their lives. They don't just respond to crises, they work daily to prevent them. To learn more about the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews and their life saving work in Israel and around the world, go to levin for the fellowship.org that's L E V I N for the fellowship.org Mark Levin and the International
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C
Fellowship of Christians and Jews bring you on the front lines.
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Hello America.
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I'm Mark Levin with our dear friend Yael Eckstein of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews. And we have this wonderful partnership. Season 3 Episode 1 and it's a great honor, Yael, how are you doing these days?
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C
Thank you so much. I'm happy to be back with you. We have a lot to discuss.
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D
Yeah, yeah, we sure do.
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And we'll jump right in in our
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podcast here and welcome everybody on the front lines. That's what we call this Freedom Faith Fellowship. Such an important organization you have there, Yahya. And we really do love it here in America. And let's get started. Things are swirling around. I mean, we're now at war with Iran. The President's trying to negotiate, but there's really nobody to negotiate with right now. Israel's taken an awful lot of incoming over the course of the last two months, missiles and so forth. And the folks there have really been warriors. They've been really fantastic. In the United States working with the Israeli idf, the president working with the Prime Minister really has been exceptional, don't you think?
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C
Wow. It's simply of God. It's not only historic, I really believe it's prophetic that God is calling these two great nations that are based on Judeo Christian values to come together and protect and sanctify life.
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D
Yeah. And that's very, very important because the enemy there, it's sort of a death cult, a bloodlust as opposed to the Judeo Christian values and belief systems, which is about life fulfilling life and fulfilling God's word and so forth. So really is a clash of civilization versus like a 7th century primitive, barbaric sort of ideology.
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C
Isn't does seem like that. I feel like there is a very easy way to see who sanctifies life and who is actually sanctifying death. And those are Jews and Christians, Israel and America. You see us doing everything to protect our citizens. We are innocent until proven guilty. We do everything to protect lives, to help people. We have humanitarian organizations. And we all these good things because we realize we were created in the image of God. And God calls us not just to love one another, but to recognize life is holy. And when you see places like Iran that are killed 40,000 of their own people in just a few days simply for protesting, or when you see our neighbors here in Israel, when you see how Hamas just pushes people off of buildings because they're accused of maybe being homosexual or accused of being this spy or accused of anything. They don't even need a fair trial. You can see what side sanctifies life. And what I believe is honors God. And the side that God is saying, no, something has to change. These are people that are creating a death cult. And that is not in my image.
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D
Now let's look at the West. Do you think the West, I mean, Israel and the United States are one thing, but the west generally is up to this European, which is where of course the Third Reich, the Holocaust, all the horrors that followed 1930s, 1940s took place. You also see there's an isolationism going on in Europe. There has been in the United States for a lot of people, a lot of forces in the United States that think we're doing the wrong thing. Obviously the President has taken a different position and so forth. You know that old line, history repeats itself. It really does, doesn't it?
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C
Yeah. I think we all fooled ourselves when we said for 70 years, never again, never again, never again. We thought we were saying a statement, but in reality there was a question mark after that. And history has answered. Once again. There's a beautiful quote. Beautiful in the sense of it, so true and so potent and just describes so simply the reality that we're at. In a way that should wake us up that Barry Weiss said the vacation from history is over. And I think it's very true. What we think we're experiencing now, we think is new. Wow. Barbarians.
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D
Wow.
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C
People who are doing suicide bombings. Wow. People who want to destroy the Countries that are standing on God's values. Wow. People who are hating the Jews, hating the Christians. Because just as much as Jews are being targeted, Christians are as well, throughout Africa, throughout the Muslim world. And so what we have to remember is this is not only not new, this has happened throughout history. But I believe, Mark, that this is also spiritual. I believe that you can trace it all the way back to the scriptures, which of course started with Amalek and went on to the evil, the story of Purim with Haman, who wanted for no reason just to destroy the Jews. That Jews and Christians stand together in this value of life. But throughout history and now, I think more than ever, Jews and Christians are standing together in being targeted as the Saturday people, the Sunday people, the big Satan, the little Satan. And if we don't fill this void that's being lessed with filling it with light, filling it with strength, filling it with power, filling it with presence, we know very well from history who will. And it's the evil side.
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D
Those are great points. And especially Europe, when you look at Europe, you look at the attacks on synagogues, the attacks on Jewish people, not just Europe. You look in Canada and Australia, so much of the West. This is a significant worldwide battle, isn't it? The level of antisemitism. I don't think we've seen this since the 30s and 40s, certainly worldwide and again in Europe. And that's why support for what the United States and Israel do, whether it's Hamas and Hezbollah, whether it's taking on Iran, Europe doesn't seem to be very supportive of either of our countries. And it doesn't seem to be supportive of Judaism or Christianity, which, of course, are the faiths with their principles and belief systems that really undergird Europe, the United States, the entire West. What do you make of that?
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C
Well, Mark, I think that freedom never collapses at once. It always erodes slowly, slowly, slowly. And just because someone calls them a person of faith, themselves a person of faith, doesn't mean that what they're spreading and saying is faithful. You look at Nazi Germany. 70% of Nazis identified as Christians. It was, of course, the Catholic Church that was spreading blood libels against Jews that led to so many of the pogroms that what we have to remember is as people of faith, who I believe, really understand what God wants. Because it's so simple, if you know what God wants. You want God to. You want to spread. You want God calling you to spread good. You want God to love your neighbor. You want God to be calling you to encourage people and lift them up and not to always be looking to knock them down, to be doing good things, to bring light to this world and not darkness. And when so many people in the younger generation especially are not learning theology, are not studying the scriptures and they're being educated on God's heart through podcasters that, in my opinion, don't have the best intentions, then history will repeat itself because it is starting already to collapse. Freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of living, sanctifying life is collapsing before our eyes. And so what I think, Mark, is that the Bible doesn't call us to be quiet in the face of evil. We see so many stories. Esther risked her life to save her people. She knew that she was called for such a time as this. We see Daniel who stood firm in Babylon, even in exile, and we see the prophets who spoke the truth even when the people turned from God. Then I think now more than ever we need people of faith to say, I can't stand silent when I see this evil creeping in America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East. We can't stand silent. We need to fill it with light and truth. And in order to do that, we need to know, know the scriptures and know theology again.
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D
That's, that's beautifully put. We're going to take a little break and when we come back. Yeah, I want to, I want to pursue these Western institutions. I happen to think they're under brutal attack from within, from within the United States and Europe and even in Israel. This enlightenment viewpoint, along with the Judeo Christian belief systems and so forth, that some of this poison, some of this evil is seeping in and has seeped into these institutions. And why is that and what do we do about it? We'll be right back with the Al Eckstein. We have our joint wonderful partnership here, our third year Season three Episode one on the front lines here and the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews. You know, I'm a big believer in this. Christians and Jews standing shoulder to shoulder in the Holy Land, in Ukraine and other places where they're needed to help so many people in need, particularly in these war torn areas, the elderly, children and so forth. They're up against a ton. They're up against a lot. And so we like to talk about that here and explain it. We also want to push back against, against these forces of darkness and so forth. And that's why we do what we do. So check them out. The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews. IFCJ.org, it's a great website I go there every day. They get tremendous information and you can help. You can go directly there, help in the Holy Land and other places where they are present, really in these dangerous areas to help so many people. It's just a fantastic organization.
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We'll be right back.
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Folks, we're seeing something truly disturbing.
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Anti Semitism is on the rise around the world and sadly, right here in America. Jewish schools being targeted, synagogues threatened, families living in fear. It's something we hope we'd never see again in our lifetime. Let me say this, silence is not an option. This is the moment to take a stand. That's why I want to tell you about the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews or ifcj. They're on the front lines providing real help where it's needed most. They're giving food and shelter to Jewish families under threat, building bomb shelters for children, helping survivors of hate rebuild their lives. They don't just respond to crises, they work every day to prevent it. To learn more about the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews and their life saving work in Israel and around the world, go to levin for the fellowship.org that's L E V I N for the fellowship.org. Welcome back, everybody.
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D
We're here with our friend Yale Eckstein of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, one of my favorite favorite organizations. And I deal with a lot of organizations I have over the course of a couple of decades here. Yael, your group is just fantastic. I mean, they're the real thing. They're there in the Holy Land doing what needs to be done to help people. Same with Ukraine and other parts of the world. Folks, please check out ifcj.org that's ifcj.org well, let's get back into this because it is a big concern of mine and yours and I think of a lot of people out there actually frightened about what they're seeing taking place in the world. It's really good versus evil, to be perfectly honest about it. So the enemy of our time. The enemy of our time is what and who?
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C
Wow, that's a very powerful question mark. And what I see is that the names change, but the spirit of hate remains the same. What we see is that the enemy has always been and continues to be antisemitism, a baseless hatred of the Jewish people. But it's even more than just hatred. I believe it's rebellion against God's covenant and his redemptive plan. And so every gener has faced some sort of cultural and spiritual enemy in its own way. And I think we have to identify the enemy, but even more so, we have to identify the solution. Every single time that we have been able to defeat the enemy, it's been through faith. So that's what I turn to.
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D
What should we do? When you see in the west, particularly in Europe, again, I'm just focused on that because it's a big problem, this rejection of faith or this opposition to faith, or that these Western institutions, they're so secularized that they forget the basis for their own founding. I mean, it's very difficult. So we, the people kind of have to push back, right?
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C
Yes. As people of faith, we have to recognize that good is good and evil is evil. And we can't be affected or drawn into this insanity that Isaiah prophesied thousands of years ago. He said, we'll come to a time when good will be called bad and bad will be called good, when light will be called darkness and darkness will be called light. That the first thing is we have to keep our moral compass strong and to remember that what we're experiencing today is not any sort of intellectual pursuit, even though that's what they clothe it as. We see it happening on college campuses, even some of the Ivy League college campuses, we see it happening in the highest government buildings. This is not a pursuit for intellectual truth or, or, or any sort of new realization of how to make the world better. This is the same evil that has destroyed the world time and time again. And so the first thing is not getting confused by it, calling what it is spiritual warfare. And the second thing is to remember that we were all called for such a time as this. There's a biblical word, hineni. It means, here I am. And it's what what people have said, it's what Abraham said. It's what our, our holy ancestors have said when God has put them on a difficult mission. It's what Abraham said when he was taking Isaac to be sacrificed. And today every single one of us have to see what's happening in America, in Europe, in Israel, and to stand up and say, hine, here I am. I am going to stand for what's right, even if it's against the latest trends.
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D
Ian, you make several very important points here, too, which is we've got to dig in to the culture, into the educational system, into entertainment, into everything that goes on. Politics is one thing, and it's very important, but the other thing is what's seeping into these, as you point out, the Ivy League schools, college institutions, actually a lot of these public school Systems and so forth. Is this anti Semitism. And I think a lot of this is self hatred of the West. And I think there is. People call it the Green Red Alliance. I call it the fusion of sort of the Marxist ideology with an Islamist ideology. People can call it whatever they want. And it's anti Western, it's anti Christian, it's anti Jewish, certainly anti American and anti Israel. So we really have to confront this where it is, don't we?
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C
I think you are spot on. And it's brave people like you who are doing that every single day. Because to face it spot on means that we are putting ourselves in the crosshairs. We see so many people who are threatened for speaking truth. And what I always say is a pretty good indicator of who's the good guy and who's the bad guy. At Israel rallies across the world or in America, at every Israel rally, you'll see people waving Israeli flag, but you'll also see people waving the American flag, kissing the American flag, honoring the American flag, saying the Pledge of Allegiance because they recognize that America stands for liberty and for freedom, for justice, for peace, for Judeo Christian values. And when you look at the rallies for Palestine or the rallies for Iran and the Iranian government right now, what you see is that they're burning American flags, they're stepping on American flags. Even in Tur just recently, there was a children's school who had a whole ceremony with their children. One by one they would come up and tear up an American flag. But that's a pretty strong indicator of where society is and what they think. So to go up against it is putting a pretty big threat on your own life or reputation or friendship or community. But what we have to remember is that. But having faith means having the strength to do the right thing, even when the world demands that we do the wrong thing. And that's what we're called to right now, Mark.
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D
And that's a very important point. Fellowship is very, very important. This is one of the things your organization promotes very strongly, the unity of Christianity and Judaism, the Bible, basically. And the point is that this relationship needs to be stronger than ever. That the enemy or these evil forces, as you were pointing out earlier in the program, attack Christianity and Judaism. They don't really make a distinction in many ways. And the fellowship now is more important than ever. By fellowship, what do you mean?
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C
It's a great question. Fellowship is what I see as the vision of Psalm 133, how good and how pleasant it is when brethren dwell together in peace. I Believe that God himself says, my house is a house of prayer for all the nations. And we're called to come together in unity to bring light to this world. And so that's what the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews does. We come together, Jews and Christians, to look in the Scriptures and not only study them, but to bring them to life, to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, shelter the poor. That's what the Fellowship does. And when they. And the prophet said that one day there'll be the ingathering of the Jewish people from all four corners of the earth, the Fellowship has aliyah lights bringing those Jews from all four corners of the earth home to Israel every day. And in fact, yesterday I was at the airport where I greeted 240 new olim, new immigrants to Israel that are from India. They are Indian Jews who are from the once lost tribe of Manasseh. So the Bible's coming alive through this concept and organization of the Fellowship.
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D
That's amazing. It's wonderful. You know, it's funny in an odd way. Judaism is really all over the globe, even though there's so few Jews compared to other communities and so forth. And yet really there's. I don't think there are too many places on the face of the earth where there aren't at least some Jews present. Am I wrong about that?
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C
It's such an interesting concept, Mark, because when you ask people, how many Jews do you think there are in the world? And they see the level of attention we get in the media and in all different places and the huge accomplishments, the different technology that's saving lives through medical technology and drip irrigation and being able to have desalinization plants where you can take salt water and turn it into a drink, drinking water, that's saving lives all over. All this is from Jews. And so people say, wow, maybe 1 billion or 800 million. And the truth is, the number of Jews around the world is at around 16 million. And in fact, that is that number is lower than there was before the Holocaust. Before the Holocaust, there was around 16.6 million Jews. And we still haven't reached the number of pre Holocaust jeans Jews globally. So, yeah, you see Jews wherever you go. And for such a small percentage of the world's humans, less than 1% are Jews. We make a pretty big impact and dare I say, for the better.
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D
100% true. 100% true. We're going to take a little break, folks. We're here with Yale Eckstein. What a fantastic group, International Fellowship of Christians and Jews. I really want you to check them out@ifcj.org, you can learn all about them. You can participate in their program activities. You can provide them with support. A gift is tax deductible and it'll go right there to the Holy Land or Ukraine where it's needed. And these people are on the ground. They're not just sitting in offices somewhere. And it's very, very important that we give them our support because otherwise they can't do the things that they do in some of the most important places on the globe. We really appreciate it. It's the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews.
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B
This is on the front lines.
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D
Can you believe it's Season three?
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B
Episode one? We'll be right back,
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D
Folks. We're seeing something truly disturbing.
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B
Anti Semitism is on the rise around the world and sadly, right here in America. Jewish schools being targeted, synagogues threatened, families living in fear. It's something we hope we'd never see again in our lifetime. And let me say this, silence is not an option. This is the moment to take a stand. That's why I want to tell you about the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews or ifcj. They're on the front lines providing real help where it's needed most. They're giving food and shelter to Jewish families under threat, building bomb shelters for children, helping survivors of hate rebuild their lives. They don't just respond to crises, they work every day to prevent it. To learn more about the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews and their life saving work in Israel and around the world, go to levin for the fellowship.org that's L E V I N for the fellowship.org.
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D
Welcome back, folks. This is on the front lines with Yale Eckstein and Mark Levin and she's with, of course, the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews. And by the way, Yale, you have a very good friend of mine, old time friend of mine, Michelle Bachmann, who works with you, isn't that correct?
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C
Oh, yes, she sits on my board. We have a very small and intimate board. So she's like family. I love her now.
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D
She's so fantastic. Just a wonderful, wonderful lady. When she first got elected to the house, we became very, very good friends. All right.
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C
Well, he's a primal warrior.
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D
She really is. Now as we look at the world, in particular, as we look at the United States and even parts of Israel and the fractured nation of what goes on, it goes on in democracies all the time. But I feel like it's particularly fractured now. So even in the west in the United States and Israel, it is faith and the belief system that will draw us together, don't you think?
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C
Oh, I couldn't agree with you more. I think faith is the answer to so many of the world's problems. God gave us, us a way to face darkness, and he gave it to us through his word and through standing together. There are so many verses in the scriptures that talk about us coming together and having faith, praying with one another, praying for one another, that when I see the world really be upside down and scary where the world is heading, I remember that faith outlives everything. There have been so many evil societies, societies that worship darkness and faith. Jews and Christians have outlived all men.
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D
That's very, very important. Now, Christianity is the majority of faith in the United States, Obviously, Judaism in the Jewish state is the majority faith. But you have a significant Christian population there, and it's the largest in the Middle east, and it's constantly growing. And the government of Israel, whether it's in Syria and parts of Africa and so forth, are really making efforts militarily and otherwise to try and protect the Christian communities in those parts of the world as well. So in Israel itself, Judaism and Christianity and the joint mission of those faiths is essential. Yeah.
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C
Oh, wow. You say it beautifully. Yes. I was recently in Nazareth and, wow, it's a huge Christian population that are wearing their crosses proudly. And I asked one of them because there's been all these social media videos going around of a few hoodlums who are doing not good things, not only to Christians, but to Jews and just punks. And I said, but it's hurt me so much. It's pained me. And so when I was talking to Christians, I said, do you feel safe here? Do you feel welcomed here? Do you feel. And they listen to me like I was crazy. They said, this is my home in Hebrews Abi. This is my home. I've never felt safe anywhere else besides here. They're part of us. And the Fellowship, the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews is actually. We added a floor to the hospital in Nazareth for the Christian community because it's growing so much. And we went into Syria and set up medical clinics and distributed over 1,500 food boxes for persecuted Christians in Syria. And that was with the support of the Israeli government. And even they gave soldiers, some of the top soldiers from the air Force and the ground units to go in and make sure that it was secure. So Israel is a place that the Christian population is growing, that we love the Christian population And when we see Christian persecution happening in our area, we're doing everything to stop it. And I would put that in context of what's happening in Bethlehem. Up until 1994, Israel was in charge of Bethlehem, and the population was around 80% Christians in 1994, under peace agreements, and Israel was forced to give up Bethlehem to the Palestinian Authority. Since then, it's been under the leadership of Palestinian Authority, and today, the Christian population in Bethlehem is under 10%. So you can see a very big difference between how Israel treats the Christians and our neighbors.
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D
Terrible. Absolutely terrible. And I think most Americans know this. There are some podcasters out there who try and draw, you know, build a wedge between Christians and Jews. I really don't think that's working because most of them really aren't even practicing Christians. And many of them that I'm aware of are actually promoting other faiths and other laws and so forth. It's actually quite odd,
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B
but nonetheless.
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D
So I think what I'm hearing from you in these closing minutes is if we try and build up our culture, if we use our faiths to do that, if we confront these problems and don't sit back silently, and if we not proselytize, but speak out against what's going on and for what, we believe that this is the best way to approach this.
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C
Mark, the words that you say are so powerful because on one hand, it's so complex, but on the other hand, it is so simple. Fellowship and faith is a counterweight to cultural decay, period. And we have to always remember that society, society that has faith, informed values will grow. And societies that are led by the hearts of man will turn into barbarism. And so we need to stand together in our shared values and God's faithfulness. We need to transform beliefs into blessing. We have to turn fellowship and faith into emotion and movement that other people, people can join. Because little by little, one person by one person joining this movement, we will be able to overtake the darkness in the world, because one little candle can light up an entire dark room. And our good deeds, our faithful heart, can change an entire dark world.
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D
That is very beautiful. Very, very beautiful. So I want to thank Yale Eckstein and the wonderful people at the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews. How's everybody doing there, by the way?
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C
Thank you. We are working hard as we are feeding the hungry. And there's never been as many hungry as there is today in Israel after so many years of war and the economy's been destroyed and people have lost their jobs that we have soup kitchens are working in overtime. Volunteers are going and visiting Holocaust survivors and bringing them food. But in every need, in every stage, whether it's quiet or ballistic missiles exploding overhead, everyone here at the Fellowship answers with this faithful word of hine ni. Here I am. I'm going to do what's hard in order to do what's right and bring God's blessings into the world.
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D
You know, you can hear through your voice what you talk about, how you talk about it, just your whole spiritual commitment, this, that. It's so uplifting and inspiring as I listen to you and all these people who come together to do exactly what you're talking about. I mean, it really is a very, very important mission. You're on the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews and folks. I want you to check them out@ifcj.org and they can only function if you help them. And that's IFCJ.org any tax deductible gift will be incredibly important. It goes directly into the field there. Again, ifcj.org as you can tell, I support them 100%. And, and I hope you will too. And Yael, it's always a delight to talk to you. God bless you, my friend.
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C
Thank you for everything you do. God bless you.
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D
All right, we'll see you next time. And we'll see you folks next time on the front lines. Have a great, great day. To learn more about the International Fellowship
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C
of Christians and Jews, visit IFCJ.org
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D
folks, we're seeing something truly disturbing.
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B
Anti Semitism is on the rise around the world. And sadly, right here in America. Jewish schools being targeted, synagogues threatened, families living in fear. It's something we hope we'd never see again in our lifetime. And let me say this, silence is not an option. This is the moment to take a stand. That's why I want to tell you about the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews or ifcj. They're on the front lines providing real help where it's needed most. They're giving food and shelter to Jewish families under threat, building bomb shelters for children, helping survivors of hate rebuild their lives. They don't just respond to crises, they work every day to prevent it. To learn more about the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews and their life saving work in Israel and around the world, go to levinforthefellowship. Org. That's L E V I N for the Fellowship Org.