ANALYSIS

Two years. Two long years since morning broke on Simchat Torah—the holy day whose name literally means "rejoicing in the Torah." But instead of the sounds of worship and laughter, Israel's skies were filled with sirens and synagogues were filled with sheer terror and endless tears that the country was under attack.

To the south, smoke rose where children should have been awaking to the rising sun. Gunfire sounded, instead of music at a wilderness festival for young people or tractors working the Holy Land's soil. The air carried cries no mother should ever hear…

And for the past two years, a silence has fallen heavy on every heart that loves Israel. October 7, 2023, is two years ago. But it's not that far behind us, more recent than a memory and more painful than a healed scar.

But on that day, and every day in the two years since, God has been here. In the bomb shelters where prayers mix with fear, God is there. In the corridors of hospitals where the sounds of prayer and pain mingle, God is there. And in churches and synagogues and living rooms and bedrooms and classrooms across the globe, where prayers are lifted up to Him, God is there. For two years, through the grief and the war and the prayers for peace, God has made His loving presence known.

I have seen that love with my own eyes. As President and Global CEO of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, I walk the narrow streets of Israel and travel the wide roads of America, and I see His presence through the people of faith that I meet—Christians and Jews who see Israel not through the fog of newsprint or the blur of the screen, but through Scripture. They open the Bible and read of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and they know that to bless Israel is to love God's people and to live out His Word.

And so, two years later, The Fellowship and our millions of supporters carry on this work of blessing God's people. We build shelters to shield children from rockets. We build trauma centers where wounds are healed and lives are made whole again. We build new lives for refugees fleeing persecution, simply for their faith, and we welcome them to their biblical homeland. And we build bridges—of faith, of friendship, and of fellowship between Christians and Jews.

One of these bridges is adorned with flags. Flags of Fellowship is a global movement in blue and white. Outside churches and synagogues, and in yards and campus quads, tiny hands and wrinkled hands plant Israeli flags in the ground, each one remembering one of the 1,200 lives lost on that dark day two years ago, and each one a proclamation of God's love.

In a world where flags are burned in anger and hatred, these flags radiate hope. 

And generosity runs like a river behind those flags. In these two years, The Fellowship has provided more than a quarter of a billion dollars of aid. We have raised up hospital wings that withstand missiles. We have delivered food to the hungry, medicine to the frail, shelter to the weary. And each of these gifts is a proclamation of this love—for Israel and for God's people.

To every pastor, every grandmother, every college student, and every prayer warrior who love Israel with all their heart—Todah Rabah—Thank You. Your love is a lifeline. Your love changes lives. Your love saves lives. And your love reminds us, here in Israel, that we do not stand alone.

On this second anniversary of October 7, even as we remember the hatred, the desperation, the violence, and the darkness of that day, God's call is clear. Answer hatred with love. Answer despair with hope. Answer violence with healing. And answer darkness with light.

Yael Eckstein is President and Global CEO of The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, one of the world's largest religious charitable organizations. The Jaffa Institute’s 2024 Woman of the Year and The Jerusalem Post's 2023 Humanitarian of the Year, Yael is a Chicago-area native based in Israel with her husband and their four children.