An IDF spokesperson said on Sunday that Hezbollah’s aggression is bringing the region to the brink of “wider escalation.”

Victor Kalisher giving a presentation with The Bible Society in Israel. (Photo courtesy of The Bible Society in Israel)

Victor Kalisher, director of The Bible Society in Israel, says they’re ministering to displaced Israelis and encouraging Christians. “The Bible Society, at the time of the war, expanded outreach into humanitarian aid.

“We also realize that The Bible Society is amongst the very few — if not the only ministry — that focuses on the message of the Bible in this critical time. I can tell you that many people are seeking encouragement and they are much more open than before.”

The Bible Society in Israel has several biblical resources in modern Hebrew on their website. They’re also active on social media sharing Scripture.

“Another thing that we do is that we leased a mini truck and we fill it up with Scriptures. We travel throughout the land and engage with people in conversation about the faith. Anyone who is interested, we provide them with Scriptures, whether it is New Testament, the full Bible, the Book of Psalms, outreach resources, and so on and so forth.

“We want to bring this spiritual aid to the people of Israel in this time of crisis, of spiritual war, and a great need for real encouragement — and real encouragement can only come by understanding the love of God in Christ.”

Connect with The Bible Society in Israel here.

Then, pray with them for Israelis to sense God’s tangible peace. Ask Jesus to reveal Himself to the people of Israel in profound ways, and to advance the Gospel through The Bible Society.

Pray also for Hezbollah fighters to repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Header photo of Jerusalem, Israel. (Photo courtesy of Dariusz Kanclerz/Unsplash)

But could “never again” happen again today?

Victor Kalisher (left) presenting the Annotated Hebrew Bible at a pastor’s conference hosted by author Joel Rosenberg (right). (Photo courtesy of The Bible Society in Israel)

Victor Kalisher is the director of The Bible Society in Israel. For him, Holocaust Remembrance Day hits close to home.

“My father is a Holocaust survivor, and this always reminds me of him and how the Lord saved him,” Kalisher says.

“He came to faith because he realized that he should have been dead so many times, and it is only by a miracle that he was saved. For me, growing up with a father who survived the Holocaust and listening to what he shared with us every Shabbat morning [when] we had breakfast together, he would share all the things that he went through and the things that he saw and experienced. These are things that it’s hard to believe.

“My father wrote his memories. There is a book about his life, and some of the things he shared with us are not in this book. He said, ‘If I would write them down, people will think that everything is just a lie because they think it cannot be that human beings would do such a thing.'”

Kalisher says, today, he sees antisemitic trends that ring eerily familiar.

“This is not something that is so far away from us as we thought it is and think that we wouldn’t believe that [from] an enlightened nation like Germany was at that time with science and culture, a leading Western nation at that time. Today, the US is the leading nation in the world. [It is] a world superpower in science and many other things,” Kalisher says.

“You can see how easily people can be brainwashed and how evilness can take over the hearts and minds of people with growing antisemitism.”

As a Messianic Jew, Kalisher says fellow Christians can stand with believers in Israel and be a light for Christ.

“In the time of the Holocaust, there were Christians that were considered heroes because they risked their lives to protect Jews,” Kalisher says. 

(Photo courtesy of The Bible Society in Israel)

Ultimately, true change of heart happens through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Kalisher says, as The Bible Society in Israel, “We share the Word of God with many people. We provide Bibles. We share the message of the Bible — the Gospel — through the Old Testament from the New Testament.”

There are many ways you can pray over Israel and the nations. And our prayers are needed more than ever.

“The people of Israel very much needed to see the love of Christ, the love of God, the testimony of the love of Christ. […] in the time of the Holocaust, the people of Israel were persecuted. Many nations didn’t want to help and to allow Jews to enter their country. So because of that, for [many Jews], faith in Christ is something that they see as going against Israel and against Judaism because of this history.

“This is an opportunity today to change it, to come and show this is not the case whatsoever — that Jesus loves the Jewish people [and] He wants their salvation.”

(Image courtesy of The Bible Society in Israel)

Learn more about The Bible Society in Israel here!

Header photo of the barracks of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. (Photo courtesy of Sonia Dauer/Unsplash)

An Israeli defense spokesperson emphasized Al Shifa Hospital is not under siege and reminded the world that Hamas still has 239 Israeli hostages.

Meanwhile, missile sirens continue to sound every day in Israel. Over 9,500 rockets have been fired on Israel from both Hamas in the south and Hezbollah in the north since the war began.

Victor Kalisher of the Bible Society in Israel says Israelis are grappling with collective, generational trauma. “When someone has been through a trauma, everything that reminds you of that brings you back to the situation that you remember.

The Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington D.C., USA. (Photo courtesy of Tatiana Rodriguez/Unsplash)

“In our collective historic memory, we have the Holocaust. We have a lot of disasters. You know we celebrate Purim. It’s the story of Haman. And [then] Pharaoh. It is part of our identity. It’s not something foreign. It’s not a story about someone far. It is our story. We teach it to our children, we celebrate it every year, and we feel that it is the same thing. It happened to us again, and we are shocked.

“It’s the same demons that can chop heads off children, burn them, rape women and girls, and things that you cannot imagine…just unbelievable.”

Churches are asking the Bible Society in Israel specifically for biblical resources for traumatized kids and teens.

“We share resources for children and youth because they go through very difficult times. For children to go in this time, they have a lot of questions, they are afraid, the rockets are falling everywhere, the sirens are every day, and many of them are very scared obviously,” says Kalisher.

Messianic Hebrew resources for youth are limited. Over the last few years, the Bible Society in Israel has produced children’s books and resources in Hebrew that tell Bible stories, communicate Christian values, and engage kids at different stages.

(Image courtesy of the Bible Society in Israel)

You can support the Bible Society in Israel here as they develop more biblical resources in Hebrew for kids.

“We want to help them, to encourage them so that this time will not just be a time where they sit in front of the TV watching and scared and so on, but that they use it in a positive way and grow spiritually.”

Kalisher asks, “Pray that the Church will seek the truth biblically of what is happening and what should be the response of the Church…. We need to really seek the face of God. What is our role in this plan of salvation of yours, God? Because it affects every one of us.”

Header photo of Western Wall, Jerusalem, Israel. (Photo courtesy of Bruno Aguirre/Unsplash)

The ADL also tracked anti-Israel protests and rallies in the US. At least 109 had explicit or strong implicit support of Hamas or championed violence against Jews in Israel.

(Photo courtesy of Yoav Aziz/Unsplash)

Nations around the world are seeing similar spikes in antisemitism. On Sunday, rioters in southwest Russia flooded an airport, hunting passengers from Tel Aviv and shouting anti-semitic slogans. Police arrested at least 60 rioters.

Victor Kalisher, Executive Director of The Bible Society in Israel says, “There was an airplane with Israelis coming and [rioters] were all seeking to butcher, to kill, to murder Jews. And you see all that is happening around the world.”

The rise in antisemitic reports begs the question: Is this a resurgent phenomenon? Or has antisemitism always been under the surface?

Kalisher, whose own parents survived the Holocaust, says, “Antisemitism is a demonic virus that many people have. It didn’t disappear. It’s there, and once in a while, in the right circumstances, it comes out.

“You know many leaders that even wouldn’t say anything bad about Hamas. It’s painful. What kind of hypocrisy is that? What needs to happen that people will call evil, evil?”

Victor Kalisher giving a presentation with The Bible Society in Israel. (Photo courtesy of The Bible Society in Israel)

Many Jews in Israel had to be evacuated from risk zones amidst the ongoing war with Hamas in Gaza as well as rocket fire from Hezbollah in Lebanon. Sirens blare every day now with incoming missiles, a grim reminder of the horrors they experienced as a nation and people just a few weeks ago.

The Bible Society in Israel is supporting displaced Israelis with aid and hope. Kalisher says, “We’re engaged in helping those that are suffering and we’re engaged in helping the basic needs of people [who] lost everything and were evacuated. For example, they need socks and underwear…and we’re helping with that.

“We also believe that it is more important to try to share the Gospel, share the Good News, share the eternal hope in this time, share the truth of God and the purpose for it all. This is really to bring people to faith.”

Pray for Jews in Israel and worldwide to trust the Lord as their defender and find ultimate peace in Jesus Christ.

Also, Kalisher says, “We pray that God will give wisdom and the fear of God in the hearts of leaders because whatever they do affects the lives of so many people.”

Click here to learn more about The Bible Society in Israel. You can give to their war relief efforts here.

Header photo courtesy of Dave Herring/Unsplash.