Nourish Your Biblical Roots with Yael Eckstein

“I will send rain on your land in its season, both autumn and spring rains, so that you may gather in your grain, new wine and olive oil.” (Deuteronomy 11:14) This is the Bible verse that this week’s podcast guest quotes when speaking of a very special spot in the Holy Land of Israel. Neot Kedumim , Hebrew for “pleasant pastures,” is a biblical nature reserve in Israel—open for all to come experie...

Born in America. Raised in the Holy Land. A devoted Jewish father and husband. An IDF veteran. A veteran of Israel’s politics—having served as Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister of Israel, as well as Bureau Chief and Foreign Policy Advisor. And now the author of a book about Israel that directly looks at the events that helped lead up to the ongoing war with Hamas. This is Ari Harow. Besides all...

“These are God’s chosen people and He’s got a message that He wants to give the rest of the world through them.” This is what Ambassador Sam Brownback, a true friend of Israel, told Fellowship Board Chair Bishop Paul Lanier during a recent conversation on matters of faith and how Christians can stand for the Jewish state and its people. But despite the Jewish people’s calling as God’s people, Brow...

This past October—October 10, 2023 to be exact—Yael Eckstein planned to welcome Dean Michele Bachmann to the podcast to discuss the dean joining the board of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, as well as her lifelong love of Israel and her time spent there. Of course the Hamas attacks of October 7th changed those plans, and in the months since, Israel and those who support her ha...

“In Israel, we actually say, ‘Magen David Adom is Israel.’” This is what Uri Shacham—chief of staff for Magen David Adom, Israel’s emergency services—recently told The Fellowship when he sat down to discuss his organization’s history, from the earliest days of Israel until October 7th and the difficult days since. Founded 94 years ago in 1930, in the wake of anti-Semitic riots against the pre-stat...

In today’s special Passover episode, host Yael Eckstein explains the unique and sometimes unusual traditions for the Passover seder that teach us to ask questions. In fact, the telling of the Exodus story begins not with facts and explanations, but with questions. As Yael explains, this time-honored tradition of asking questions during Passover is an annual reminder that God wants us to be lifelon...

As we approach the holy season of Passover, host Yael Eckstein is joined on the podcast by Bishop Paul Lanier, Chairman of the Board for the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews and pastor of Hope Community Church in Winston-Salem, N.C., to discuss the relevance today of the ancient and timeless Exodus story for both Christians and Jews. In this profound conversation, Bishop Lanier shar...

As he sat down with The Fellowship recently, Jordan Marcellino quoted Isaiah 58:12 when telling how God called his family back to Israel—to live, to work, and to restore the beautiful Holy Land he calls home. “Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.” And today, the holy wo...

“October 7th was such a wake-up call for us.” These are the worlds of Adele Raemer —an Israeli, a mother, a grandmother, a kibbutz resident near Israel’s border with Gaza, and a survivor of the Hamas attacks of that day. Adele spoke with Fellowship President and CEO Yael Eckstein— from the war-torn Holy Land —in the weeks after the attacks. And she recently traveled from her temporary home in Isra...

For listeners of this podcast, Dr. Alveda King has been a favorite guest, sharing about her family’s legacy and her own faith. And so it was with great excitement that Bishop Lanier and The Fellowship welcomed Dr. King at the National Religious Broadcasters (NRB) convention in Nashville, TN. This author, professor, civil rights pioneer, and dear friend of Israel and of The Fellowship was gracious...

This month, Jews around the world celebrate one of the most joyous holidays on the Jewish calendar— Purim, which commemorates the events written about in the Book of Esther . During this celebration, Jewish people host parties, share holiday treats with friends, and dress up in costumes and masks—a lot like Halloween. But unlike Halloween, people go door to door in order to give treats, not receiv...

“Anu is the Hebrew word for we or us.” That’s how Grace Rapkin explains the name of ANU—Museum of the Jewish People in Tel Aviv, which she serves as Marketing Manager. The “we” that this museum serves includes all of us—all people of faith. And the crowd that was able to watch this podcast live was certainly made up of such faithful folks, at the recent National Religious Broadcasters (NRB) conven...

For Christian music fans, the name Reba Rambo certainly evokes fond memories and emotions. Her music, and her family’s musical legacy, have provided the soundtrack for the lives of countless people of faith. One of these fans, Fellowship Board Chair Bishop Paul Lanier, even recalls Reba’s classic album, Lady, playing in his college dorm room. And so it was with great excitement that Bishop Lanier...

“Everything that I embrace as a Christian is rooted in the promises that God gave to the Jewish people.” Of the many Christian friends of The Fellowship and of the Jewish state of Israel, none has a passion and calling stronger than that of Governor Mike Huckabee. His accomplishments—44th governor of Arkansas, presidential candidate, ordained Southern Baptist pastor, and TBN host—certainly show hi...

In the months since October 7, Israel has—for better or for worse—been a regular feature in international news. And while much of the world voices its opposition against (and hatred for) the Jewish state, there are voices who are speaking out for Israel. On this week’s podcast, Yael welcomes one of the Holy Land’s voices to the world. Eylon Levy has been serving as official Israeli government spok...

In the wake of the Hamas attacks of October 7, life changed for all the people of the Holy Land, one of whom is this week’s special podcast guest. But Tommy Waller wasn’t born in the Jewish state, and isn’t even Jewish. Tommy is a Christian from America… After rising through the ranks of the American work world, God called Tommy and his wife to make a change in their lives. First, they moved their...

Join host Yael Eckstein, President and CEO of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, as she pays tribute to her beloved father and mentor, Fellowship Founder Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, who unexpectedly passed away five years ago on February 6, 2019. Yael celebrates her father’s extraordinary life with a special guest—Beryl Eckstein, her father’s younger brother. In this very personal an...

This week, host Yael Eckstein comes to us from the Holy Land with two very special guests, both of them Israelis, both of them strong, proud Jewish women, and both of them survivors. Born in Poland before WWII began, Sarah survived the Holocaust, unlike so many of her loved ones, among the six million Jewish people murdered by the Nazis. And, on October 7th, this precious 88-year-old woman again s...

International Holocaust Remembrance Day—observed every January 27, the day the Auschwitz concentration camp was liberated in 1945—is a day to remember one of the darkest times in history, a time that resulted in the horrific murder of six million Jewish souls. While it is a somber day to remember the lives lost at the hands of the Nazis, it is also a time for us all to remember the lessons of the...

In the aftermath of the Holocaust, in which six million Jewish men, women, and children perished at the hands of the Nazis, the Jewish people vowed, “Never forget.” Yet, as host Yael Eckstein and her special guest Elisha Wiesel discuss on the podcast, an alarming number of adults today know nothing about the Holocaust. Elisha brings a unique perspective to the conversation as the only son of Elie...

As we prepare to celebrate the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., host Yael Eckstein welcomes to the podcast Dr. Alveda King, daughter of slain civil rights activist Rev. A.D. King, and niece of Dr. King. Throughout her life, Alveda has carried on the legacy of the King family, passing on the message of love for and dignity of each human being as a champion for life from “the womb to the tom...

This week, host Yael Eckstein comes to us from the Holy Land with a very special guest. Adele Raemer is a mother, grandmother, blogger, teacher, hospital clown, and an Israeli. After growing up in the U.S., Adele made aliyah to her Jewish homeland after the Yom Kippur War of 1973, and has for decades made her home on a kibbutz in southern Israel—a green, beautiful home that she says was always “95...

Did you know that Moses wasn’t the first person to see the burning bush in the desert? According to Jewish tradition, many shepherds had walked by, but none of them bothered to stop. Maybe they were distracted or didn’t want to deal with the fire—or they were simply too busy to take the time to look. But Moses saw the fire—and because he went over to check it out, Moses was present to the miracle...

Being such a small country, in an arid land often inhospitable to agriculture, Israel has truly brought the miraculous, prophetic words of the Bible to life—making the desert bloom. This week, host Yael Eckstein comes to us from the Holy Land with a special conversation with one of the Israelis who has spent his life tilling the soil in a region he calls “The Barn of Israel.” But, on October 7, th...

Does your family have any special holiday traditions during this special time of year? Most of us do, including host Yael Eckstein, who shares her special family traditions for Hanukkah . Yael explains not only how this holiday inspires hope, faith, and light for her husband and kids, but how Hanukkah has kept the Jewish people hopeful during the darkest of times in their history. This Hanukkah ,...