Ukrainian Jews arrive in Israel: There are miracles

Even in a world full of conflict and strife, there are miracles. I know, because I was privileged to witness one recently.

When a Fellowship Freedom Flight landed at Ben-Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, I was on the tarmac, along with other Fellowship staff, Israel’s minister of aliyah and other dignitaries, to welcome it. It was a flight of olim (immigrants) from Ukraine. The flight miraculously landed just a few days before the full on assault, when all the skies and flights are closed.

They came to Israel seeking new life in their biblical homeland. There was a wide range of people – old and young, men and women, families. Each brings with them their talents and their commitment to living freely and proudly as Jews. Each individual makes Israel stronger and helps secure the Jewish future in our biblical homeland.

As festive music played and I greeted the olim, I couldn’t help but think of how unlikely this all was. Who would have thought, in the middle of the last century, that the Jewish people would have their own sovereign country? Who would have thought that in our lifetime we would see the fulfillment of the biblical prophecy that promises that God will gather the exiles of Israel?

The only word I can think of to describe such events is “miraculous.”

In our daily lives, we can easily get bogged down by our tasks and worries. But when we step aside and look at our lives from a greater perspective, we can see how God is at work, and how prophecy is unfolding before our very eyes each day. No matter what is going on in the world, there is nothing that will stop God’s plans – that is one thing we can count on.

We must – and, of course, we will – continue to pray for those in need. But even as we do, let us also pause and give thanks to God that, in a world of conflict and strife, there are miracles. I am so grateful that we all get to be witnesses.

Yael Eckstein is president and CEO of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews.