From the Editor Jan/Feb 2020
Two things I feel like I’ve known about since the day I was born are the Holocaust and the State of Israel. Some people feel these entities are unrelated. I believe they’re inseparable, and I think anyone who truly understands the history of the Jewish people in the Diaspora (the world outside Israel) should believe they’re inseparable too.
Several years ago, my husband and I attended an AIPAC reception. AIPAC is the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a pro-Israel lobby.
When the keynote speaker started talking, I knew immediately he understood Jewish history. He talked about the many expulsions Jewish people endured, as well as the murderous pogroms and persecutions. He mentioned the growing anti-Semitism in Europe, especially in France. Had there been an Israel when Adolf Hitler rose to power, he said, the lives of 6 million innocent Jewish men, women, and children may have been saved.
“We need Israel,” he said. When it becomes too dangerous to be Jewish in the Diaspora, Jewish people now can return home.
Today anti-Semitism is flourishing. In 2019 in New York City alone, anti-Semitic hate crimes increased a whopping 63 percent. Holocaust survivors say they’re afraid to walk in the street. American universities have devolved into such cesspools of extremism and liberalism that they’re producing a new generation that ridicules the God of the Bible and opposes the Jewish state, the Jewish people—and evangelical Christianity.
The Diaspora is still a volatile, uncertain place for the children of Jacob. They have survived by God’s grace because He loves them and promises they will endure as long as the sun, moon, and stars exist and the sea waves roar (Jer. 31:35–37). This issue of Israel My Glory examines Jewish life in the Diaspora and shows us that God keeps His promises—the ones we like, as well as the ones we don’t—and we can trust Him.
On page 28, you’ll find a wonderful article from our former executive director, Elwood McQuaid, that radiates the heart and wisdom we’ve come to expect from his writing.
I also want to thank all of you who told us how much you enjoyed our September/October issue, “Here We Stand,” and remind you that you can read Israel My Glory anytime, anywhere on a mobile device if you subscribe to our digital edition. Just go to israelmyglory.org, where you also can purchase access to 30 years of timeless teaching.
Waiting for His Appearing,
Lorna Simcox
Editor-in-Chief
