Rabbi’s Commentary

Dear Friend of The Fellowship,

It is difficult to describe the feelings that surround a person praying at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. For Jews, this is the holiest place in the world – the site where God’s Temple once stood. This is why Jews direct their prayers toward what remains of the Temple no matter where they are. The sights of the ancient stones, people with their heads bowed to the wall in reverent prayer, and the cracks between the stones filled with slips of paper containing prayers inserted by visitors who have come from all corners of the globe, cannot help but inspire awe.

Christians, too, tell me how overwhelmed they are to realize that the Wall existed at the time of Jesus, and that Jesus referred to the Temple as “My Father’s house” and came there to teach many times. Truly, this is a site that brings to mind God’s promise in the Bible that “my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations” (Isaiah 56:7).

At The Fellowship, we take prayer requests from our supporters every day. But twice a year, it is our privilege to take your prayers before God at the Western Wall. Praying for you at the Wall, asking God to bless you and meet your needs, is one way of returning the blessing of your prayers and support for God’s people.

You can easily submit your prayer request to The Fellowship here, and we will carry your concerns to Jerusalem. It would be our honour to do so, and it would be a particular joy to hear from you, as we do from supporters every year, that our prayers on your behalf have been answered!

As we take your prayers to the Wall, we will also be praying for the needs of Israel and Jewish people around the world. We will pray that God will continue to send us partners like you, whose support allows us to continue our lifesaving outreach to suffering people. Your sacrificial support of Israel and needy Jewish people around the world must surely please the heart of God.

Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, one of the great Jewish teachers of the 20th century and a great inspiration to me, once said, "Prayer is a ladder on which our thoughts mount to God." Let us today join together to raise our prayers to God, secure in the knowledge that He does indeed hear us, and responds to the prayers of His people.

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

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