|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
By Josh Hasten, JNS
Several hundred Israelis—men and women—gathered at Ancient Shiloh on Sunday for morning prayers and the recitation of psalms, for the well-being and prosperity of America, as the U.S. heads towards presidential elections this on Tuesday.
The event was organized the Binyamin Regional Council.
The worshippers included native Israelis, immigrants to Israel, including some from the United States who voted in the election via absentee ballot, and students representing two area yeshivah high schools.
Israel Ganz, head of both the Binyamin Regional Council and the Yesha Council, told JNS, “We chose to pray to God from the site of the Tabernacle, used by the nation of Israel when they entered the land, which brought blessings to the peoples of the region. I hope that a blessing will come forth at this time, from this spot, to the United States, Israel and the entire world.”
Throughout the election season, the regional council has been encouraging dual U.S./Israeli citizens to go out and vote, Ganz said.
“I believe the elections in the United States could have even more impact on the future for the residents of Judea and Samaria than for those living in places like New York. The U.S. involvement in internal Israeli matters including the imposition of sanctions on our residents, a push for a so-called ‘Palestinian state,’ the course of the war, etc. are all very significant issues, which will be impacted by whomever sits at the White House desk,” he added.
Shiloh resident Batya Medad told JNS she attended the event because “the whole world needs prayers. I see the whole world falling apart, especially the United States—the hatred, and lack of tolerance for ideas.”
Medad, a well-known blogger, said, “When I’m writing I like to say that liberals with a capital ‘L’ are not liberal, and I think that irony and hypocrisy are a danger, and God willing the prayers here will bring people together all over the world and save Israel.”
She added she sees anti-Israel parallels between how the current U.S. government has treated Israel since Oct. 7, 2023, and how its predecessor did when she lived in Jerusalem with her family during the 1973 Yom Kippur War.
“The United States needs a real cleaning, and a strong leadership that sees the truth and doesn’t act according to liberal capital ‘L’ and progressive capital ‘P’ ideologies,” Medad said.
‘A strong America means a strong Israel’
Eliana Passentin, director of the international desk at the Binyamin Regional Council, was one of those in charge of logistics for Sunday’s prayer event. She told JNS, “We are standing here at the birthplace of prayer, where Hannah [the mother of the prophet Samuel, who prayed for a child in Shiloh] stood thousands of years ago, and are praying for a strong America.
“A strong America means a strong Israel. A strong America will understand the importance of the biblical heartland [Judea and Samaria], and will let us live our lives here, peacefully,” she continued.
“We are standing here on the ancient ruins of Shiloh, where Jews would come three times a year on pilgrimage, to the site of the Tabernacle that stood for 369 years, before Jerusalem. From Israel’s first capital, to the U.S. capital in Washington, D.C., we pray there will be a leader that will understand the needs of Israel,” Passentin said.
Josh Reinstein, president of the Israel Allies Foundation, a group that educates and empowers an international network of pro-Israel legislators based on Judeo-Christian values, told JNS, “Since October 7, we see that around 80% of Americans stand firmly with Israel and tens of millions pray for the peace of Jerusalem daily. It is now our turn to pray for them.
“As Israel continues to battle on seven fronts, our greatest ally, America, is at a crossroads. We pray that on November 5, America chooses the blessing and not the curse. A strong America will bring peace and prosperity to the Middle East,” Reinstein said.
Ruth J. Lieberman, political adviser to Ganz, told JNS, “The idea behind this gathering and prayer is that we want America to know that Israel stands with them, and when we send our boys to war, we want to know that America is standing strong with Israel. We expect it from our strongest ally. The high-schoolers here today are the next generation of IDF soldiers. They are going to be trained soon to defend their country and they expect a strong America to stand right behind them.”
She added, “It’s a two-way street. Now that America is facing tough times, we want to pray for them from this ancient site. We need to pray for Israel and America, we need to stand strong together to face our common enemies.”
Lieberman said that since Oct. 7, 2023, “I know that our friends in America have done everything they can to legislate, to act, to mobilize the military and send us what we need to have to fight this battle.
“I know it’s been difficult at times with the White House in particular.” However, she said, “Congress has been with us strongly.
“We hope the [new] White House will realize what they have to do, for example what they are doing this week—sending us serious weaponry, because we are fighting Iran, and this isn’t only our fight. We really hope those close friends of ours will be in positions of powers and support us as strongly as they possibly can,” Lieberman said.
