Jonathan Bernis - The October 7th Connection
Jonathan Bernis: Shalom and welcome to Jewish Voice. Thank you for joining me today. I'm Jonathan Bernis, and I'm joined by my co-host, Ezra Benjamin. Well, the Hebrew and Gregorian calendars don't align the same each year, but this week is the convergence of the holiest day on the Jewish calendar, and the first anniversary of the worst day in Jewish history since the holocaust. This coming Saturday, which is shabbat, October 12th, Jewish communities around the world will observe Yom Kippur, the Jewish day of atonement. And then, next week we're gonna air a traditional Yom Kippur teaching, but this week we want to remember the horrors that surprised Israel and the world just one year ago because they're connected.
Ezra Benjamin: That's right.
Jonathan Bernis: Ezra, talk about that. There's a connection there.
Ezra Benjamin: There is Jonathan. We have this unlikely, unusual, according to the calendars, convergence, as you said, of the holiest day of the year and the day of greatest grief in modern Jewish thought, modern Jewish history, right. So, the holiest day of the year, Yom Kippur, the day of atonement, in Hebrew it's a shabbat shabbaton and that means, "A rest of solemn rest". In essence, you do nothing. And we know the scriptures say for the Jewish people you deny yourself. It's almost as though you don't exist, all that exists is God in his holiness in heaven, right, who as we know as believers in Yeshua was made atonement for us. But it's this time on the Jewish calendar from Rosh Hashanah to Yom Kippur, ten days later called the days of awe. The Jewish people are literally to be in awe of God, to remember that he is holy and that our name is either written in the book of life or it's not. And if it's not that's big problem, right?
Jonathan Bernis: Yeah, he's holy, we're not.
Ezra Benjamin: Exactly. That's what it all boils down to. So, the days of awe on the Jewish calendar, and as you'll recall a year ago on October 7th, this was not during the days of awe, this was at the end of the feast of tabernacles, called Sukkot in Hebrew, right, or booths, tabernacles. And more than that it was this last and greatest day of the feasts. Even simchat Torah, which means the joy of the Word of God. So, October 7th was to be, in 2023, the most joyful day on the Jewish calendar.
Jonathan Bernis: Yeah, a huge celebration.
Ezra Benjamin: Right? Everyone woke up prepared or was getting ready to wake up, prepared to dance, to picnic, to celebrate the goodness of the Lord, to celebrate abundance in harvest and it never happened. We woke up to news...
Jonathan Bernis: A day of joy, a day of joy, utter joy turned to grief.
Ezra Benjamin: Right. And so.
Jonathan Bernis: Utter grief.
Ezra Benjamin: Israel has recognized October 7th on the Gregorian calendar as the anniversary of the October 7th or simchat Torah attacks, because how can you take a day of great mourning and attach it to the most joyful day on the Jewish calendar? So, this year, Jonathan, Monday this week, Monday, October 7th is, of course, the first anniversary of the day when the most Jewish people died in a single day since the holocaust.
Jonathan Bernis: Yeah, I wanna highlight what a major decision we're talking about here.
Ezra Benjamin: Right.
Jonathan Bernis: Israel goes according to the Hebrew calendar.
Ezra Benjamin: Normally they do.
Jonathan Bernis: Normally.
Ezra Benjamin: Right.
Jonathan Bernis: But this was such a catastrophic event they actually switched the Gregorian calendar.
Ezra Benjamin: We're recognizing...
Jonathan Bernis: For this.
Ezra Benjamin: We're memorializing October 7th, again, because you can't take a day of joy and turn it perpetually into a day of mourning. And so, that leads us to this year. And more specifically for those watching it leads us to this week. The one year anniversary of October 7th this Monday and then six days later on shabbat, on Saturday, October 12th, the holiest day on the Jewish calendar, Yom Kippur.
Jonathan Bernis: Ezra, you know, when you look at the cycle of holidays, the mo'edim, the appointed times, in the Hebrew calendar most of them are celebrations of joy, they're celebrations, they're holidays.
Ezra Benjamin: Right.
Jonathan Bernis: Yom Kippur is a fast, it's a time of repentance, it's a time of mourning, it's a time of introspection, facing our sins. And the need for forgiveness of sins. We're searching our heart, we're preparing ourselves to go before God and repent before God. This so epitomizes, this horrific event, so epitomizes that just the mourning, the weeping. I think of a verse in Zechariah which is not yet come to pass yet. When the Jewish people as a whole, there's a remnant now that believe in Yeshua, that believe in Jesus. But there's a moment where the larger Jewish community recognizes Yeshua, Jesus, and they cry out to him, "Blessed is he who comes in name of the Lord". And it's a time of weeping and mourning.
Ezra Benjamin: Right.
Jonathan Bernis: As they recognize him of repentance.
Ezra Benjamin: Exactly.
Jonathan Bernis: Yeah. I...
Ezra Benjamin: Yeah, that verse specifically as we know very well says, "They'll look at the one whom they have pierced". That language sound familiar? I'm not quoting the gospels I'm quoting the Old Testament prophets. The Jewish people will look on the one whom we've pierced and then it says, "And we'll mourn for him like you would mourn for an only son who's died".
Jonathan Bernis: This horrific event has changed Israel permanently.
Ezra Benjamin: It has.
Jonathan Bernis: Let's look at the history of Israel. 1948 when Israel was declared as a modern state, the Arab nations were convinced that within two weeks, maximum a month, they would eradicate this new state.
Ezra Benjamin: That's right.
Jonathan Bernis: They believed that.
Ezra Benjamin: They would be done with the Zionist dream and back to normal.
Jonathan Bernis: And they were outnumbered about 60 to 1.
Ezra Benjamin: Right.
Jonathan Bernis: And this is this, a little sliver of land the size of Rhodes island or New Jersey, in the midst of a sea of Islam, of Arabs committed to the destruction of Israel, certainly at that time. Right. No Palestinian people.
Ezra Benjamin: Sure.
Jonathan Bernis: The surrounding enemies Jordan, Syria, Egypt, committed to the destruction of Israel and Israel survives.
Ezra Benjamin: This vulnerable, fledgling state some, a day old and attacked from all sides somehow survives miraculously.
Jonathan Bernis: And I think that instilled in the Jewish people this incredible confidence in their ability to survive as a people, but I think it became detached from God. "He who keeps Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps". We are tough. We have an invincible army, and I think that grew and was perpetuated in 1967. We have in 1967, which called the six day war. Now, think about this, a six day war. They fought for six days, vastly outnumbered and they rested on the seventh day. That's the hand of God.
Ezra Benjamin: Exactly. And more than just rested, they gained a great victory, and actually retook Jerusalem back into Jewish hands for the first time in two millennia.
Jonathan Bernis: But it perpetuated this idea we are invincible. We have these enemies, we have to be on guard but we're tough. We're a powerful nation. And I think that's true, but without God, they're susceptible. And I think we're facing that reality now.
Ezra Benjamin: Jonathan, I'm thinking of the verse, "Some trust in chariots and some trust in horses but we trust in the name of the Lord our God," right? This is in the Psalms, it's a scripture written by and for the Jewish people and for all of us who are believers of course. But I think that's being brought to bear now isn't it? We've trusted in the Israel defense force, and praise God for a strong, organized Israel defense force. We've trusted in the military leadership, we've trusted maybe in America coming to Israel's aid.
Jonathan Bernis: And border security.
Ezra Benjamin: Exactly.
Jonathan Bernis: We have great security.
Ezra Benjamin: And yet on October 7th we were all reminded, especially those living in the land of Israel, we're reminded that those things can fail. And not only can they, they did. This recognition that our own Israel defense force can protect us to a point but they're not the Lord and they can't protect us entirely. And unfortunately, there was a failure of that protection on October 7th. That vulnerability though in the last year and the awareness that if there is a God, I need to hear from him now, has opened incredible doors of spiritual opportunity in Israel. And Jonathan, with friends, family, on the ground in Israel living through this crisis now a year old and still ongoing, we're hearing that Google searches in Hebrew for the Psalms, for example, are at an all time high. Now, why is that? Did people get more religious? No, people got more desperate. They realized our natural strength has come to an end here and if there is a God we need him to intervene now.
Jonathan Bernis: Yeah. It's a shame that we have to go through crisis, as someone once said to me, "You have to go so low that you have only one way to look and that's up".
Ezra Benjamin: Right.
Jonathan Bernis: And it's true. I think, as a nation right now, Israel is beginning to look up more than ever.
Ezra Benjamin: Exactly, and spoiler alert, if you're wondering where we're going, you need to be those who understand the times and seasons. And our purpose today is to equip you to pray with specificity, to pray for the salvation of the Jewish people. I know you're praying for the protection of the land of Israel, keep doing that. "He who keeps Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps". But, pray that this week, especially, between October 7th, one year anniversary, and the day of atonement, this holiest day on the Jewish calendar, that the Lord would break through and break into the lives and hearts of Jewish people.
Jonathan Bernis: Yeah, Ezra, just very quickly, something else that's very profound that's come out of this. There was a great outpouring of sympathy when this happened, right after it happened. The United Nations declared...
Ezra Benjamin: Condemned the attacks.
Jonathan Bernis: Condemned the attacks. America, certainly. Europe condemned the attacks, there was worldwide sympathy, but it was so short lived. Within two weeks there was condemnation of Israel right away. And not only condemnation of Israel, but growing antisemitism that sweeped across Europe and across the United States. It was dramatic, it was shocking to me, and it's a reality.
Ezra Benjamin: Exactly.
Jonathan Bernis: And you who are watching need to be aware of that. You who love Israel and love the Jewish people need to see that this happening. It's happening on our college campuses, it's happening with younger generations. It's getting worse and worse, and we need to stand up and proclaim that God cares about Israel, he cares about the Jewish people. And you need to be praying and standing against antisemitism wherever you see it. Wherever you see it. We need to take a short break, but we want you to see how you can partner with Jewish Voice to bring physical and spiritual healing directly to those in Israel. Watch now.
Jonathan Bernis: Welcome back. Ezra, we're focusing this week on the one year remembrance of this horrible, horrible, event in Israel. Every time I think of it I get emotional.
Ezra Benjamin: Right.
Jonathan Bernis: The worst tragedy in Jewish history since the holocaust.
Ezra Benjamin: Sure, this Monday, October 7th is of course the one year anniversary. And I remember I was in my sukkah for the end of the feast of tabernacles. In my booth that my wife and I built in our backyard expecting to celebrate and celebrate we did not. We received text after text from my wife's family in Israel saying, "Our lives are in danger". My brother-in-law saying, "I'm going into Gaza to fight, pray for me for protection". As you said, to think of it brings up the emotion, it brings up the grief, the trauma, that most in Israel, probably all in Israel, are still experiencing now as one year into this mess it hasn't, it's just gotten more complicated.
Jonathan Bernis: It has indeed. It has. It was really a 9/11 experience for me. I know exactly where I was and my oldest daughter because they have Israeli citizenship really wanted to leave school and do her military service.
Ezra Benjamin: Yes, you know...
Jonathan Bernis: Very moving.
Ezra Benjamin: What's interesting, statistically, you may be shocked to hear this, is that the rate of aliyah - aliyah is Jewish people returning to the land of Israel to call it home and become citizens. Jonathan, after the massacres it didn't plummet, it skyrocketed.
Jonathan Bernis: Right.
Ezra Benjamin: Even in the worst of times Jewish men, women, and children around the world said, "Something is drawing me back to our homeland and I need to be there even in dark times".
Jonathan Bernis: Ezra, I wanna focus for a little while on the spiritual root of this, because this really is a spiritual battle and it's gone on for millennia. But looking at the modern state of Israel you have three crisis points. You have 1948 when Israel declared statehood and the next day they're attacked. Vastly outnumbered. God performs a miracle, they survive, and they begin to thrive as a nation. But they were in fear of being destroyed, wiped out. And the Arab attackers were convinced that they would succeed within two weeks to a month.
Ezra Benjamin: And it didn't happen.
Jonathan Bernis: It didn't happen. Then we have 1967, the six day war. Another miracle of God. Vastly outnumbered, about 60 to 1, and in six days they destroy the Egyptian air force, regained a whole bunch of land that was promised to them according to Genesis. And then you have this pride, we can, we're victorious. We are...
Ezra Benjamin: Jerusalem is back in Jewish hands, what could go wrong?
Jonathan Bernis: Yes, very powerful. But then 1973 hits and it's Yom Kippur. Not by chance, by calculation, there is an attack against Israel on Yom Kippur. Why Yom Kippur?
Ezra Benjamin: Right. Because, remember, it's not only the holiest day of the year, it's a day of complete rest. No one's driving, no one's working, no one's leaving their home except to go to synagogue and pray. It's also a day of fasting. Effectively the entire Israeli population doesn't eat. And many, the more religious, don't eat or drink. So think about this, it's still hot in Israel, September, October, October in 1973.
Jonathan Bernis: Right.
Ezra Benjamin: Right? Actually October 6th, to be specific. It's hot and people have no food or water. Israel is at its weakest most vulnerable moment of the entire year and a coalition of Arab forces launch a surprise attack.
Jonathan Bernis: Right. And most of them are in synagogue, right, so they're isolated and what a great time for an attack.
Ezra Benjamin: Right.
Jonathan Bernis: Now, but it was the worst day to attack, actually. They didn't think that Israel would even respond, right? Yom Kippur, no work. We're not gonna fight. But what happened, they were all gathered in synagogue so Israel was able to just pick them up in synagogues with trucks and...
Ezra Benjamin: Bring them to the fronts...
Jonathan Bernis: Bring them to the front immediately.
Ezra Benjamin: And...
Jonathan Bernis: God worked it together for good.
Ezra Benjamin: He did. And then, fast forward, you may not have put this together, 50 years to the day after the Yom Kippur war, so 1973, October 7th, 2023, the night of October 6th into early morning October 7th is the massacre we're all familiar with.
Jonathan Bernis: Right.
Ezra Benjamin: Another attack. Again, at a vulnerable moment for Israel. People are at home with their families celebrating, the enemy knows this. Actually, if you listen to the interviews of Hamas terrorist who were captured they said, "We knew what we were doing. We knew to do that day".
Jonathan Bernis: Yup.
Ezra Benjamin: It was a time of vulnerability.
Jonathan Bernis: I think there's two things, one, the strategy of the enemy.
Ezra Benjamin: Right.
Jonathan Bernis: In a physical sense the strategy, when to attack, we'll attack on Yom Kippur. But it goes deeper than that. This is a spiritual battle at its root. And it goes back to the commitment to destroy the children of Israel.
Jonathan Bernis: Right. Why the children of Israel? Because God declared that through the children of Abraham, through Isaac and Jacob, all the nations of the earth would be blessed. Now that's true in a physical sense when you look at the contribution of the Jewish people in medicine and the arts and sciences, literature, economics, etcetera, but there's a bigger fulfillment and that's the Messiah.
Ezra Benjamin: That's right.
Jonathan Bernis: The Messiah, a blessing to the world, the only begotten Son of God that God gave to the whole world was to come through the Jewish people. And his return is also connected to the Jewish people recognizing him and crying out, "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord".
Ezra Benjamin: And not only recognizing him, Jonathan, recognizing him in Jerusalem. Right? Yeshua's own words, Jesus' own words. "I tell you the truth you won't see me again until you Jerusalem," which figuratively is speaking of Jewish people in the City of Jerusalem, "Cry out, 'blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord'".
Jonathan Bernis: Yeah. We have to understand, you have to understand, that this is a spiritual attack that affects you, that involves you.
Ezra Benjamin: Jonathan, it does involve everyone of us. I'm thinking of the passage in Isaiah 62, it says, "You who call on the name of the Lord", do you call on the name of the Lord? We do, I think you do too. "You who call on the name of the Lord give him no rest until he makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth". And, Jonathan, on every one of our programs we're encouraging our audience, Psalm 122:6, to pray for the peace of Jerusalem.
Jonathan Bernis: Yeah.
Ezra Benjamin: But what does it mean?
Jonathan Bernis: Don't you think it's interesting that the day after the massacre Hamas is declaring, "We're gonna take Jerusalem now"?
Ezra Benjamin: Right. They're calling upon all the radicalized Muslims on earth, okay? All radicalized Muslims to have a day of Marching upon Jerusalem. So, in a time when the world should be saying, "How could these atrocities have happened"? The radicalized muslim world says, again, in the moment of vulnerability, "Now is our chance to do what we've had in mind all along and to take Jerusalem for allah, for Islam".
Jonathan Bernis: For allah. But here's what the scripture says, "Pray of the peace of Jerusalem. They shall prosper that love thee". Psalm 122:6. If you go back to the Hebrew the word for peace is shalom. It means more than peace. It's not just praying for cessation of conflict, but shalom means to bring to completion, to bring to wholeness, to bring to conclusion. And, what God is asking to do, to ask you to do is to pray for God's plans and purposes for the land and people of Israel to come to completion.
Ezra Benjamin: Absolutely.
Jonathan Bernis: To come to completion. And ultimately that means the return of Yeshua, Jesus, to Jerusalem, physical Jerusalem.
Ezra Benjamin: Amen.
Jonathan Bernis: He's not coming back to London, he's not coming back to Rome or New York, he's coming back to Jerusalem when the Jewish people of that land cry out, "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord". And, we're the ones that are to pray that into existence.
Ezra Benjamin: That's right. So, let's unpack Isaiah 62 in light of what you just shared Jonathan. So, "Give the Lord no rest until he makes Jerusalem a praise". When is Jerusalem gonna be a praise? When Yeshua, Jesus, the King of kings and Lord of lords comes back in a resurrected body to rule over the nations of the earth from Jerusalem. When is he gonna do that? When Jewish people in Jerusalem, in the land of Israel, recognize who he is.
Jonathan Bernis: And when are they gonna recognize him? When we pray through as intercessors standing in the gap, praying for the salvation of Israel, and proclaiming the good news to the Jew first. So, "Why should I care about this"? Every reason. If you care about Yeshua, Jesus, coming back to this earth.
Ezra Benjamin: That's right. And now more than ever, really. This week, folks, between the one year anniversary of the atrocities of October 7th and the holiest day on the Jewish calendar, we're asking you to pray like you've never prayed before for the peace of Jerusalem, for the defense of the borders of the land of Israel, and most importantly for the salvation and open hearts and open spiritual eyes for Jewish people around the world.
Jonathan Bernis: Amen, amen. We want you to hear about an opportunity to partner with Jewish Voice directly in Israel. Stay tuned because we'll be back in a moment to pray for you, for your family, as well as offer the gift of eternal life.
Jonathan Bernis: We have just a minute and a half left, Ezra, and I would be remiss if we didn't tell you that the most important thing that you need to get out of this program today is that God loves you, he cares about you, and he sent his son to die for you so that you could have the gift of eternal life. That's the most important thing. If you haven't made that commitment it's so simple. This happened to me 44 years ago and I've never been the same. All you have to do is to tell God you want him to change your life, you'll live for him, ask him to forgive you of your sins to believe that Yeshua, Jesus, died for you, and he will change your life. You will become a new creation. And I wanna pray over you. Ezra let's pray over people. Maybe you have loved ones that haven't come to the Lord, we're trusting with you, eternal life is the great hope that's ahead, and we want that for every one of your family members, more importantly God does. So we speak salvation over your household, we speak salvation into the life of your loved ones. We speak salvation to your friends, we speak salvation to you. May you stand before God, holy, because you've surrendered your life to him. And we pray also that you will still stand with Israel. Be strong, be of good courage, keep pressing on, in Yeshua's name, in Jesus' name.
Ezra Benjamin: Amen.
Jonathan Bernis: If you'd like more information about our ministry you can log on to jewishvoice.tv and you'll find many helpful resources. You can also send your prayer request to us right from the website. I want you to know that we care about you and more importantly God cares about you, and we will be praying for your needs. So, as we close our program I wanna remind you as we enter Yom Kippur, pray for the Jewish people, pray for their salvation, pray for God's completion, his peace, his shalom, to be fulfilled for Jerusalem and the people of Israel. Thank you to Ezra and for joining me today, and until next time, this is Jonathan Bernis saying shalom and God bless you.