What a ‘Light Unto the Nations’ Looks Like

Dear Friend of The Fellowship,

They call them the “White Helmets.” They’re a civilian rescue force in Syria, working amid the chaos and carnage of the Syrian civil war, rescuing those who have been injured by Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad’s ruthless attacks on his own people.

Though the White Helmets are an unarmed, humanitarian group, the Syrian regime considers them enemies. Recently, hundreds of them were forced by advancing Syrian troops into the southwest corner of the country, near the Syrian border with Israel. Had they been captured, they would have been tortured or killed.

Israel along with Canada, the U.S., the U.K., and Germany, saved them. In a daring covert operation, more than 400 of the White Helmets and their family members were spirited across the border from Syria into Israel, then sent on to a safe haven in neighbouring Jordan. It is all part of what Israel calls “Operation Good Neighbour,” the Jewish state’s ongoing effort to reach out to her Syrian neighbours who are in need.

Operation Good Neighbour shows the true character of the Jewish state. In Isaiah 1:17, the Bible directs us to “Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed.” Through initiatives with Operation Good Neighbour and this miraculous rescue, Israel is showing the world how to do what’s right.

This, my friends, is what a “light unto the nations” looks like.

With prayers for shalom, peace,

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

Rabbi’s Commentary Archive