One Year Holy Land Moments Devotional! by Yechiel Eckstein
I am delighted that you have selected this devotional guide, an investment for the new year that will not only deepen your faith but also help you discover the profound Jewish roots of Christianity and the rich, shared biblical heritage of our ancient faiths.
These devotions are written for anyone with a heart for God’s people who is interested in the stories, teachings, and traditions that the Jewish boy Jesus grew up learning and observing—traditions that are still very much a part of Judaism today.
As an Orthodox Jew and ordained rabbi, I have devoted my life to building bridges of understanding between Christians and Jews.
In 1983, I founded the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews to foster cooperation between our two great faith communities and to build support for Israel and her people in need throughout the world. With the help of our Christian friends, we have raised more than three-quarters of a billion dollars to support this critically important work.
For two thousand years, relations between Christians and Jews have been marked by distrust and animosity. This troubled history has kept us from working together and recognizing the many things we have in common.
I have spent the past three decades finding places of healing, forging connections, and improving relationships between members of our faiths. The book you hold in your hands is a fruit of this calling.
These devotions are based on Holy Land Moments, my daily radio program now in its fourth year, which is heard, in English and Spanish, on more than one thousand radio outlets by over nine million listeners on five continents.
The material I have written is v i tied to my teachings on Jewish faith, observance, and tradition; the history of the Jewish people and the Jewish state; and current issues and challenges facing Israel today.
While the devotions reflect the Jewish perspective, for this book I have worked alongside Tremper Longman III, a Christian author and a scholar of the Old Testament (which Jews know as the Hebrew Bible).
Professor Longman offers a Christian view on these teachings to help you clearly see what we share in common, as well as our differences. It is our hope that this collaboration will help Christian and Jewish brothers and sisters to “live together in unity,” as the psalmist puts it so beautifully in Psalm 133.
That is my heart, and I believe deeply that it is also our God’s heart. I fervently hope that, after exploring our great faith heritage through these devotions, it will be your heart as well.
