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Recently, we hosted International Holocaust Remembrance Day at the Friends of Zion Center in Jerusalem. Our keynote speaker was Rena Quint, a Holocaust survivor. As a child, Rena endured unimaginable suffering. At the age of nine, she lay down under a tree, choosing to die there rather than in the stifling, disease-ridden barracks of the Holocaust. She had spent most of her childhood in ghettos, labor camps, and death marches, with little water to drink, covered in filth. Her entire family—her mother, father, brothers, aunts, uncles, and cousins—were murdered in the Holocaust. Many people do not realize that in Poland alone, 99 out of every 100 Jewish children were killed.

On this International Holocaust Remembrance Day, our Friends of Zion Center was filled with Holocaust survivors, many from Russia, Ukraine, Poland, and other parts of Europe. They all have one thing in common: Friends of Zion is caring for them. Every week, Holocaust survivors gather at Friends of Zion to sing, share meals, and comfort one another. Thanks to you, all of this is made possible.

The only community center in Jerusalem dedicated to Holocaust survivors was built by Friends of Zion. These survivors—once children during the Holocaust—are now elderly, and many rely on Friends of Zion for essential care. They sleep in beds we provide, eat meals we supply, and receive life-saving medications through our support. I recently visited the home of one such survivor to deliver her medicine. With tears in her eyes, she said to me: “A friend in need is a friend indeed.”

For more than a decade, we have cared for Holocaust survivors—not only in Israel but also throughout Ukraine. I first encountered this heartbreaking reality when I saw an elderly Holocaust survivor—her concentration camp number still tattooed on her arm—digging through a dumpster in the dead of winter. She had to be close to 90 years old. She was homeless. At that moment, I made a pledge: we would help every Holocaust survivor in Ukraine. And we have been doing it ever since.

A few years ago, I shared my personal story—how I was named after my great-grandfather, Rabbi Michael Katz-Nelson, who was burned alive in a synagogue along with 2,000 other Jews. The cantor of that synagogue was the grandfather of Israel’s ninth president, Shimon Peres, who later served as our International Chairman.

After hearing my story, the Chief Rabbi of Israel said to me, “You are a Jewish man, but you have never had a Bar Mitzvah.” He arranged for Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein—who survived a deadly attack on his synagogue in San Diego, losing several fingers in the process—to officiate my Bar Mitzvah at age 70. This was a deeply moving experience for me.

It was then that the Spirit of God spoke to me: none of the children of the Holocaust had Bar Mitzvahs or Bat Mitzvahs. They were in concentration camps when they should have been celebrating this sacred rite of passage. So, we sent out a message across Israel, inviting every Holocaust survivor who wished to have a Bar or Bat Mitzvah to come to Jerusalem—all expenses paid. They stay at Friends of Zion at no cost, and we hold a special ceremony for them at the Western Wall, followed by a joyous celebration.

I share this with you to express my deepest gratitude because you have been a light and a source of hope for some of the most precious people on this earth…people who have endured unspeakable suffering.

 

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The Jerusalem Prayer Team with Dr. Michael D. Evans exists to build Friends of Zion to guard defend and protect the Jewish people and to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. We pray for peace in Jerusalem because the Scriptures tell us to in Psalm 122:6. The Jerusalem Prayer Team was inspired from the 100-year long prayer meeting for the restoration of Israel held in the ten Boom family home in Haarlem, Holland. We are committed to encouraging others to pray for the peace of Jerusalem and God's Chosen People. Jerusalem Prayer Team members are also members of Churches United with Israel, Corrie Ten Boom House, Friends of Zion Heritage Center and Jerusalem World News. The Jerusalem Prayer Team mailing address is PO BOX 30000 Phoenix, AZ 85046 or you can call us at 1-888-966-8472. The Jerusalem Prayer Team is a dba of the Corrie ten Boom Fellowship. The Corrie ten Boom Fellowship is a non-profit 501(c)(3) charitable organization and is registered with the IRS, Fed Tax ID# 75-2671293. All donations to CTBF (less the value of any products or services received) are tax-deductible as allowed by law. Donations made to the Jerusalem Prayer Team are put to work immediately and are not refundable.