Commentary

The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews

In 1983, Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein founded the IFCJ. Rabbi Eckstein wanted to bring about more understanding and co-operation between the two religions. In this he succeeded, in that the IFCJ provides humanitarian aid to Jews everywhere and also to Israel.

Rabbi Eckstein had been the co-director of the Anti-Defamation League. He lived in Chicago, where the headquarters of the IFCJ is located now. The principal partners of the Jewish community in this enterprise are evangelical Christians.

One branch of the IFCJ is the Holyland IFCJ, which supports Israel.

Since 2001, the Fellowship has collected over $100 million annually . One half of these funds are spent in Israel, including the construction of bomb shelters.

In 2002, Eckstein expanded the IFCJ to Canada, South Korea, and Australia. In 2006, Eckstein’s daughter Yael succeeded him as president of the Fellowship. The pandemic caused the Fellowship to allocate $20 million for elderly Israelis and four million for Ukrainians displaced by the war against Russia.

In 2010, Eckstein received an award from the Minister for Welfare and Social Services in Israel.  Newsweek magazine designated Eckstein as one of the 50 most influential rabbis in the USA, and the Joint Distribution Committee awarded Eckstein the Wallenberg award.

The Fellowship also funded the migration of Ethiopian Jews to Israel. Guardians of Israel were the recipients of money from the Fellowship for soup kitchens, housing, and jobs.

The Fellowship also devotes resources to fighting anti-Israel bias in the media. A Greek Orthodox priest, Gabriel Nadaff, was helped by the Fellowship in recruiting Israeli Arabs to join the the Israel Defense Forces.  Christians are responsible for contributing about $130 million a year.

Evidently the Fellowship is a truly great organization, well worth our support.

Shalom u'vracha.

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