Praying for the Saturday and Sunday People

Dear Friend of The Fellowship,

When seven Coptic Christians were murdered in Egypt last week, it was far from an isolated event it was part of a growing and deeply disturbing trend of radical violence against Christians in the Middle East.

Jews know what it is like to be targets of stubborn, intractable, violent hatred. And it is a bitter irony that both the attack on a Pittsburgh synagogue last week that killed 11 Jewish worshippers and this despicable attack on Christians in Egypt came just prior to the anniversary of Kristallnacht which took place November 9-10, 1938 when angry mobs rioted throughout Germany, attacking Jews and destroying synagogues and Jewish-owned businesses.

Kristallnacht was a turning point the beginning of Hitler’s “final solution” aimed at the extermination of Jews throughout Europe. As we note the somber anniversary of Kristallnacht, we must remember that the hatred of Jews that led to the Holocaust, and the murderous hatred of others because of their faith, is not a thing of the past. It lives on, as we so painfully saw, in the anti-Semitic hatred that led to the Pittsburgh attack. And hatred of Christians continues to manifest itself in the despicable actions of those who have set about to make Christianity extinct in the Middle East.

May we who love and value freedom always be ready to raise our voices in prayer, protest against such evil and, and back up our words with decisive action. Most importantly, let us continue to "pray for the peace of Jerusalem" and for the entire world, and for freedom and security for oppressed people of faith wherever they may be.

With prayers for shalom, peace,

Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein
President and Founder, International Fellowship of Christians and Jews^® of Canada

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