Yael's Holy Land Reflections

Nourishing Our Biblical Roots

Last week, I shared with you how one of my father’s greatest passions was making other people happy. This week, I want to tell you about another one of my father’s great passions: education. This was one of the key tools he used to build bridges between Christians and Jews.

My father believed that the more our two faith communities understood about each other, the stronger our relationship would be. He also recognized that Jesus was a Jew, and consequently, that all Christians have an intrinsic connection to Judaism. He saw it as his privilege and responsibility to reconnect Christians to their Jewish roots by sharing Jewish teachings, culled throughout millennia, with anyone who wanted to learn about them.

Continuing Rabbi Eckstein’s Legacy

To that end, my father produced many educational materials. Since his passing, his passion for education lives on through The Fellowship — on our website, on the radio, and through our many publications. And today, I am thrilled to announce the launch of my new podcast, “Nourish Your Biblical Roots,” which will debut this Sunday, February 14. This is something that I have wanted to do for many years, and it is also a continuation of my father’s legacy.

I am so excited to share this unique podcast with you. Each week we’ll explore the Jewish roots of the Christian faith and nourish those roots with inspirational insights that are relevant to our lives today. I’ll share stories about my life in the Holy Land and we’ll study Jewish teachings on the Torah. Through these weekly conversations, I hope that your connection with Israel will grow stronger and that your own faith will be deeply enriched.

How Firm a Foundation

In his groundbreaking book How Firm a Foundation, my father wrote words that perfectly express my thoughts as I launch my podcast: “My deepest prayer is that it [will] create greater harmony and understanding between Christians and Jews, two groups of people who have been estranged from each other for too long; my most profound hope is that it be a source of blessing and enrichment to both communities.”

May this podcast support you in your search for knowledge, uplift your soul, and fill your desire to deepen your relationship with God. I hope to serve as a bridge between Christians and Jews in our times, just as my father did in his.I look forward to continuing the journey that he began and while he is no longer with us, I am grateful to follow in his footsteps, and to be on that journey with you, together.