SPEAKER_00 0:05

Hi, friends, and welcome to the Dreamers Podcast, the show where we explore bold dreams, highlight inspiring stories, and the real journeys behind them. I'm your host, Lydia Ingenieri, and each episode I sit down with creators, founders, visionaries, and everyday people who dared to imagine more and did something about it. This isn't just about success. It's about the setbacks, the turning points, the late nights, and those moments when quitting felt easier than continuing. So whether you're building something new, standing at a crossroads, or simply searching for inspiration, you're in the right place. So take a breath, lean in, and let yourself dream a little bigger. This is the Dreamers Podcast. Well, hi everyone, and welcome to the Dreamers Podcast. I am so thankful that you are tuning in today. Whether you are watching on YouTube or listening on any of our streaming platforms, I'm just so grateful that you've chosen to take the time to join us. This is a podcast that uh highlights bold stories and the journeys behind them. And today I am so honored to have my friend Jonathan Feldstein with us here in the studio in Spring Hill, Tennessee, all the way from Israel. He is here doing kind of a tour that he does uh pretty often of connecting with friends of his ministry here in the United States. But we get to have Jonathan today in the studio. So welcome, Jonathan.

SPEAKER_02 1:42

It's a delight to be here so much.

SPEAKER_00 1:44

It is so good to have you. Let me just take a moment and explain to you who Jonathan is. First of all, he is a friend. He is a friend of mine and Scott. And I was trying to think back on how long we've known you, but it's been about a decade, I think.

SPEAKER_03 1:56

Maybe even more.

SPEAKER_00 1:57

Yeah, yeah, maybe, maybe even more. And we've had the privilege of uh being able to connect with you almost almost every time you've been to the States. These last couple years, it's been um a little bit more difficult to connect just with everything we've all had going on. But we've had you in our home.

SPEAKER_03 2:12

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 2:13

We have been a part of your podcast and your recordings. Um, just had the privilege of getting to know you, uh, receive from you, and just be part of what you are doing. But you are, first and foremost, and most importantly, you are a husband, you are a father, you're a grandpa, and we're gonna talk about your family, we're gonna get to know your family. Uh, but you were born in the United States, immigrated to Israel in 2004, and don't worry, you are gonna hear Jonathan's story. I'm just giving a little bit of background. Um, but you have become a respected bridge between Jews and Christians, and you serve as the president of the Genesis 123 Foundation. So, what I would like to do is honestly, I don't really want to waste much time on introductions. I think you're gonna do a much better job of introducing yourself and what you do. But take us on a journey of who you are and what you do. Fill us in on your family, your passions, and what inspired you to be this bridge.

SPEAKER_01 3:15

Yeah, thank you. It's a pleasure. It really is.

SPEAKER_00 3:17

So fun to have you.

SPEAKER_01 3:18

It's not, you know, the cameras and the microphone, that's all nice, but I'm just getting to enjoy being with my friend Lydia. Yes. So it's great. Um, like you said, I moved to Israel. The Hebrew phrase is medalia, which is a spiritual and physical elevation in 2004. But I grew up in New Jersey, studied at Emory, and then moved back up north so I could meet my wife, who I met in 1991, and we started our family together in 93.

SPEAKER_02 3:46

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 3:47

And uh now six children, three married, and five grandsons later. Wow. Um, we're still going strong, and it's amazing. But for me, I grew up in a largely secular Jewish home. My my mother was not a particularly religious woman. Um the home was not rooted in Jewish traditions but Jewish culture. And my father, I refer to as an original Palestinian because he was born in what was then called Palestine in 1937. His parents fortunately were able to have fled from Europe in the early 30s. Most of the rest of their families who stayed behind didn't make it out uh during the Holocaust. And my father in in 1937, when he was born, until May 15th of 1948, when he became Israeli, my father was one of about 600,000 Jews in the land who were referred to as Palestinians. And nobody referred to the Arabs as Palestinians. That's we can go in that direction, but that's a whole separate conversation. And my father also gave me a name that he could never pronounce because he never got the TH thing as an American as an immigrant to America and always called me Jonathan. So when he told me to go do my homework or rake the leaves in Princeton, New Jersey, you don't ever stop raking leaves under oak trees. You can never put your arms around or shovel snow when there were leaves were off the trees. Yeah. It was always Jonathan, do this, Jonathan do that. And my identity was Jewish, but my identity was also Israeli. And even though I had never been until I was a teenager, and God, you know, it's so funny to think about it. When I was about 15, was my first trip to Israel. I had never dated anybody. I wasn't thinking of a family, but I understood that I had a responsibility to pass along this rich thousands of years old Jewish tradition. And if I didn't give my kids more than I got, then I would be watering it down. Yeah. So that began my spiritual journey to become an Orthodox Jew, observing the commandments, keeping Shabbat, kosher, and all the things that go along with that. And now as the father of six, ranging from 33 to 20, um, they have all eclipsed me in their in the knowledge and the faith that they take for granted because that's how they grew up. And that's amazing, and that's what I wanted in my life.

SPEAKER_02 6:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:25

But from when I was a kid and I understood that I needed to give more, I also understood that I wanted to raise my children in Israel. Israel is the the best place that I know to raise a family. And it's remarkable. And my kids now thank us so much for making that move. And when I met my wife, she also, from a similar age, had the same vision to be married and live in Israel.

SPEAKER_00 6:50

That's amazing.

SPEAKER_01 6:51

Yep. And other than all of the other initial attraction things and magic that goes on, uh we we knew that that was the right thing. So all of our kids have Hebrew names, she likes to say, because we wanted them to only be comfortable in in Israel with their names. And it's funny there's a phrase in Yiddish uh that's translated loosely, man plans and God laughs. But my wife had the idea that we were going to move to Israel within the first seven years of our marriage, so our kids would be young enough and the transition would be easy.

SPEAKER_02 7:25

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 7:25

But God had other plans. Yeah. And thirty years ago, my father got sick and died, and that was a trauma and kind of delayed things, but eventually God put us on the path that we belonged on. And so it took us till 2004.

SPEAKER_03 7:42

Okay. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:44

So much of me wishes we had done it earlier because it's so remarkable.

SPEAKER_00 7:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:48

But but most but most of me also realizes that it was at the right time.

SPEAKER_00 7:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:52

So all of your children were born by then, or did you have children once you We imported five, and the sixth one who's doing his compulsory military service right now was born in Israel.

SPEAKER_00 8:02

Okay, wow. Wow, wow. That is incredible. So, what are some of the things that cause you to say Israel is the most amazing place to raise a family?

SPEAKER_01 8:12

It was a vision from God that I that I can't even unpack now. I just understood it then, and it's a it was a strong feeling. And how does a teenager acquire that feeling anyway, if not from God?

SPEAKER_02 8:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:27

I wasn't thinking about that. That wasn't on my radar. But it is. Before I was even aware of the prophecy of Jerusalem being rebuilt and children playing in the streets. And then, you know, as a parent, you often go through the motions and raising your children and are caught up in all of the busyness of that. It took me until about two years ago, with my own grandchildren, taking them to a park near their house and hearing the kids playing in Hebrew, fall yelling at each other, which kids do, falling down and crying in Hebrew, to realize wait a minute, in front of my eyes, that prophecy is being fulfilled.

SPEAKER_00 9:14

Wow, that's beautiful.

SPEAKER_01 9:15

And so maybe that was an early vision of that. But it's remarkable. And when your adult children recognize that as when you choose to be an immigrant, you know a little bit about this. It's not always an easy transition. In fact, sometimes it's very difficult. And they don't understand the difficulties of it as adults as we chose to in our early 40s, but they understand that there were difficulties and leaving behind our family here. And the best endorsement of it, other than it's true, is that my kids today just thank us for the move and being having the privilege of living there and raising their families there and being part of um the front row as Jewish history evolves.

SPEAKER_00 10:01

Yeah, absolutely. That is beautiful. And for you know, and from someone too who is so passionate about my family and my children, and and even that um part of it, that knowing that we were supposed to move here to Nashville simply because we felt so strongly it was a move for our children, even more so than it was for me and Scott. And um, even the times that we had been here to visit and just that, just that knowing, what I like to say, just that like confirmation in my spirit that like this is where you're supposed to be. And now, you know, eight years, almost a decade later, seeing them walk in their gifts and in their fulfillment and just all the things that they've been able to do because we planted our roots here has been very, very special. So thank you for sharing that. Um, let's talk a little bit about your foundation, the Genesis 123 Foundation, and just really your your calling, your heart to connect Christians and Jews. I would love to hear how that started for you. Where did that passion really come from, and why is that calling so important to you?

SPEAKER_01 11:11

Well, the for the short answer is because it's a calling. It's not just a job that I looked for on LinkedIn.

SPEAKER_02 11:18

Sure.

SPEAKER_01 11:19

But I I mentioned I went to Emery and I had been very involved in in high school, during college, in pro-Israel activities, in a lot of very personal activities to help get Jews out of the Soviet Union, where where Jews were persecuted for decades, and I actually helped a family get out of the Soviet Union in 1987. Um, but that was a big part of my life. And as a result of that, when I finished Emory with a degree in international studies focusing on Israel in the Middle East, I was recruited by the Israeli consulate in Atlanta to work there as the information officer. It was very interesting, and maybe we'll come back to this in a different context. My boss at the time was the first Arab Israeli to head a diplomatic mission overseas. I would do much of his writing, and I was a young Jewish man from New Jersey in my early 20s writing for a middle-aged Arab Muslim Israeli, which was crazy because I didn't know what that identity was, and I had to learn that from Muhammad. And the reason I mention all of that is that when I joke, when the diplomats were either too busy or too lazy, they would send me to Alabama or to South Carolina or South Georgia or to Tennessee. And I'll never forget it, and I always say this man's name because I want to find his family, find him if he's still around. A very tall, thin black man named Bill Cherry picked me up at my apartment on Buford Highway and drove me to a place called Cleveland, Tennessee. I write, okay, that means something to you. It didn't mean anything to me in 1988 or 89. I knew Cleveland, Ohio because I love classic rock, but I didn't know anything about Cleveland, Tennessee. I didn't know there was a denomination called Church of God. I didn't know they had a university called Lee University, and I had never ever been in a church. And I walked into a church for the first time, and while you I can't remember visually what was happening to me as a 15-year-old in Israel that made me want to live in Israel. I can never forget the scene in front of me, walking into this church where somehow I was charged to speak on behalf of the state of Israel, watching Christians wearing blue and white costumes, singing Hebrew songs and dancing Israeli dances. And and 23 or so-year-old Jonathan had no idea why Christians would even care about Israel and the Jewish people, much less pray for and celebrate us. Made no sense. But as much as you can still download that image from my head, I realized that God was calling me to do something, to be a bridge. And if God's calling you to do it, well, you then you can't really run away. But at the same time, what I realized over the decades in doing this is that it fulfills me. It's not only the calling that he called me for, but it is uh it's my calling, it's me, it's who I'm meant to be, it's what I'm meant to do. So when we met when you were still in Arizona, um I was working for other organizations, and they were very happy for me to go out and raise money among Christians, but they weren't interested in relationships, they weren't interested in a lot of integrity. It was simply what I refer to as the objectification of Christians as a faith-based ATM. How quickly can you s slip in a card, punch in a four-digit code, and take out your cash? And when I surpassed 50, and there are other biological reasons why I might not be sleeping at night, I realized it's not it's not good enough for me.

SPEAKER_02 15:07

Right.

SPEAKER_01 15:07

I needed to do because I can't have my integrity be one of those. So that's when I walked away from these others that were wanting a manipulative relationship to a relational relationship. And I started Genesis 1, 2, 3 Foundation in 2017 to build, we we always say, and I think it's on the website, build bridges between Jews and Christians and Christians with Israel in ways that are new, unique, and meaningful. And it means simply I don't always and only prioritize money.

SPEAKER_02 15:38

Correct.

SPEAKER_01 15:39

Because there are an infinite number of ways that anyone can bless Israel.

SPEAKER_02 15:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:43

And it it it can't it shouldn't be, it can't be, and it isn't only about money. And there are an infinite number of ways, and we have to build uh build up on that. And as evidenced by 22 or 23-year-old Jonathan who had never been in a church before, there are a lot of barriers between us historically as Jews and Christians. Forget theologically, just the history. Yeah, and I that and those need to be overcome. So it's a gradual process, but it's something for which I articulated two and a half years ago when my oldest son got married. Um I never want to retire from as long as I have the breath. You can't retire from something that's your passion. Hang it up and hang it up and play golf.

SPEAKER_00 16:29

You can try, but it'll it'll hunt you down and pursue you. Yes, I agree with that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, and and I can just attest to this relational side of you. Because honestly, I think that's been the part for me and Scott and for Awaken that's been such a draw that has caused us really in full transparency to want to continue to cultivate our relationship with you and to connect with you if we're here whenever you're in town. Um, because it has always felt so genuine and heartfelt. And no, this is truly my passion. And and you have made that very clear from day one, and you have lived that. So thank you for that. Um and I know from me, I have just learned so much just from being around you and just from listening to you and your stories and your insight and your input and um and just also all of the creative ways you are a very creative person. Um, and I would love for you to talk a little bit about how Genesis uh 123 Foundation has enabled you to use that, I'll just say it like I see it, your creative anointing, really, um, to fundraise and to get people involved. You have had some amazing initiatives over the years uh that we've gotten to be part of, um, even like your run for Zion, it's all these things. So, what are some of the initiatives that you have done or even that you're currently doing? What have maybe been some of some of your favorite ways to bring um, you know, recognition, enlightenment, um, just understanding to Christians about how they can partner with Israel?

SPEAKER_01 18:15

Thank you. That's a I I'm sure I'll miss something.

SPEAKER_00 18:18

But we'll get yeah, just anything that comes to mind.

SPEAKER_01 18:20

But when you talked about fundraising, the first thing that came to mind are the absolute non-fundraising things. When I launched in 2020 during COVID, when I launched what's now my podcast, then a webinar series called Inspiration from Zion, it was simply meant to connect people who couldn't come to Israel. And we didn't know in in in the in 2020 how long it would be before borders would be opened and people could come. So I started the podcast, the webinar series, which a year later I was invited to spin off as a podcast in the same name. And I'm now the only Orthodox Jew with a weekly podcast on the Charisma Podcast Network.

SPEAKER_00 18:59

Amazing.

SPEAKER_01 18:59

Right?

SPEAKER_00 19:00

Amazing.

SPEAKER_01 19:00

And of course, yes, we want sponsorships and things like that, but it's a conversation, it's to connect people. The other thing that isn't about fundraising at all, but began that year are the global prayer events that we've done virtually. The first one I've ever done, and it's crazy that I just leapt into it, became a 13-hour live prayer event beginning in China with chur people from underground churches praying for Israel with their faces exposed in Chinese and then moving west, India and Israel, and then Africa and Europe, and then hopping over the ocean and doing all the Americas. And it went for 13 hours, and we've and I've done some that are regional and some that are uh national. But again, prayer is God's currency. You can't monetize that. No, that's not appropriate. Yeah, so I love to do that. But then you mentioned Run for Zion. That's the big program that we kicked off with in 2017 with the vision, 2019 with the first team. And what that is, it's the first Christian program around the Jerusalem marathon. I went to the mayor and I shared the vision. So you've got this great marathon. But if you're a you have very few tourists who come, and if you're a Christian, this Jerusalem is the most significant place to run. And if you don't, even if you're not a full marathon runner, but just someone who runs five or 10K a few times a week in order to stay fit, Jerusalem's the most significant place. So he got that. And then I shared that we were going to create the program, which he blessed, and then I shared we were going to create a biblical funding model where you could come and pay your own way, or you could raise, choose to raise money. I was never gonna be the guy who says you have to raise money or a certain amount of money, but if you do, what's the verse in Genesis 12, 3 from which we get our name? I will bless those who bless you. It's a formula. God's saying you have to do something, and I'm gonna give you something back. So our something back was depending on how much you raise, we're gonna subsidize your trip so it can be as cheap as $79. So hopefully this coming March, it's been hard because of the war, but hopefully this coming March, we're looking at 10, maybe 20, 25 people who will hopefully be coming. Yeah. And from all over the nations, which is amazing. Yeah. And reviving that because it got hit by COVID and then by the war. Yeah. Um, during the war, we published this remarkable book. Uh, right before the war, we published this remarkable work that was also a straight download from God, sitting in a hotel room in Dallas in October of 22, praying about what we could, as the Genesis 123 Foundation, do to celebrate Israel's 75th anniversary, which was then six months away. And my answer was, or what God downloaded to me, was publish a book of 75 essays by Christian leaders from all over the world writing about why Israel. Israel is so significant. It was improved magnificently as a coffee table book.

SPEAKER_00 22:05

It's beautiful.

SPEAKER_01 22:06

Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 22:07

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 22:07

The pictures are stunning. The essays are inspiring. It's a collector's item because it's never ever in history been done before. And it's kind of like something that you would go out into the backyard and put a time capsule representing Israel at Christian support for Israel at 75. And then unearth it. I hope I'll be alive when Israel celebrates a hundred years because I've got plans for a hundredth anniversary edition. So that's been remarkable. And we're still selling the books. There's some big visions that are coming. But our our latest program is something called Run for Zion. Excuse me, Root and Branch. It gets the name which I helped to pick from Romans 11. It's funny, me as the Orthodox Israeli Jew. My partner is somebody who you have to meet and get to know. Her name is Marzia Amirizade.

SPEAKER_00 23:03

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 23:03

She was born in Iran.

SPEAKER_00 23:04

What a beautiful name.

SPEAKER_01 23:06

Well, she was born in Iran. It's a Persian name. She became a Christian in Iran. She was arrested and sentenced to death by hanging for becoming a Christian in Iran.

SPEAKER_02 23:15

Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_01 23:18

Three years ago, I hosted her on my podcast for the first time, and we became friends, and she came to Israel for the first time. And then she said, Hey Jonathan, I had this vision. I think we need to bring Christians to harvest olives in Israel. And in 2024, we brought our first team for root and branch to harvest olives. Now get this. Not just picking olives from someone's orchard, from wild olive trees. Yeah. As in the verse in Romans 11.

SPEAKER_03 23:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 23:43

And we, it was Christian volunteers harvesting about a ton of olives. We pressed the olives in a Christian olive press. And now we have available anointing oil with amazing biblical fragrances.

SPEAKER_00 23:55

Okay, it smells so good too. She came up with the scent.

SPEAKER_01 23:59

She put that together. It's biblical fragrances. One of the things that's so, and I didn't know about, and I didn't know this, is uh Specknard.

SPEAKER_00 24:09

Yeah, Specknard, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 24:11

Which Mary used to watch Specknard to anoint Jesus' feet. That's in here.

SPEAKER_00 24:17

Yeah, that's amazing.

SPEAKER_01 24:18

She picked all of that. She's got such great taste. So we're, she's an Iranian-born American Christian. I'm an American-born Israeli Orthodox Jew, and we're partners, and we've now just completed our second year of uh of harvesting. We have a bunch of oil to turn into anointing oil, massage oil, and hair products, and all kinds of other things. And then when we sell this, the purpose is to bring the proceeds to be a blessing back to Israel for soldiers and at-risk youth and Holocaust survivors and families who've been impacted by the war, et cetera, et cetera.

SPEAKER_00 24:55

Let's just pause for a second because I am so moved and inspired by your creativity.

SPEAKER_01 25:05

Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 25:06

Um and just everybody listening, whether you're watching, listening, I don't want to move past some of the things I've heard here in the last five or ten minutes you say. You said I had a download, I had a vision from God, and knew that I needed to collect these essays and these pictures and create this book to help people understand all of the beauty and the amazing things here. I met this woman. This is her story. She had a creative idea, felt like I was supposed to partner with her. Like there are so many beautiful, powerful, out there, crazy, beyond us, creative ideas, visions, people that God brings into our life that I think we could just pass over and dismiss. But I've seen you time and again not ignore you have heeded really the instruction. You've been obedient. And I know it's been hard. I know it has not, I mean, so when you're like doing something from scratch, did you know anything about that? I know a thing or two. I know a thing or two. But you said, you know, I went to the manger and just asked. And I'm like, did you know the manger? Did you just walk into his office one day? It's just like, I just feel like, you know, nothing will stop you from just pursuing. And and a lot of creatives listen to this podcast. My audience is full of creatives, full of entrepreneurs, but I don't want to move past this. I I really would love to hear, let's segue just for a second. Okay. And just have you always been creative, like in this way? Passionate about um, hey, I have this idea and I'm gonna develop it. And this is what I'm gonna do, and this is who I'm gonna ask to partner with me. And these are people I'm gonna go, because you know everybody. I mean, at least from my perspective, you know everybody. Every time I'm with Jonathan, this is what he says I have this friend that you have to meet. And, but that's your heart is to connect. So how did you start, I guess, just with all this? I mean, this is a loaded question, but if you are able, how did you even discover this creativity in your own self and just come to that realization that I'm just gonna do this? Whether how impossible it looks or feels or seems, though I may not know this dignitary or person that I need on my side in order to do this marathon in Jerusalem. You know, like, how did you move past some of those barriers? Or have you even felt like creativity was a barrier?

SPEAKER_01 27:35

Oh no, a lot of barriers. I could write a book about all the barriers just in publishing this book. Really, really. And so and we'd be outing some people for really being disappointing.

SPEAKER_00 27:44

Give us your nuggets of wisdom on creativity.

SPEAKER_01 27:47

Uh I I appreciate you observing it and saying it. It's I think in this case, it takes someone looking at the forest outside the trees, because I don't, I guess I am. I'm not disagreeing, but I don't think of myself as that. And I can't think my mother was super creative and very artistic. And my father, wow, yeah, my father was super creative and a brilliant scientist. And in his short life, between when he started, he finished working for RCA and had a patent for RCA in what became the world's first video disc, which then became RCDs and DVDs.

SPEAKER_00 28:25

Holy cow, what?

SPEAKER_01 28:26

My father had the patent for working for RCA at the time. Wow in the early 70s, and then he had a vision to start his own company. And between the early 70s and when he died 29 years ago, he had 81 patents to his own name.

SPEAKER_03 28:42

Holy cow.

SPEAKER_01 28:43

He died at 59. That was pretty remarkable. So creative, I guess, I guess maybe there's something genetic, and I've never ever explored this conversation. Yeah. And I and I don't know if I'm I guess I am. Okay, I received that, but I think of myself, I remember some job interview I had years ago, someone asked me my greatest strength and my greatest weakness. And I answered with the same word, my impulsivity. Because it can be a great strength and it can also be a great weakness. So when I was a teenager, I think the first place that this demonstrated itself was when I was learning about the plight of Jews in the Soviet Union, and I knew I needed to do something to be part of the modern exodus of the Jewish people, let my people go. And I it's really funny what I vision, and I'll share it with you. Not a lot of people know this. I adopted a family. I started writing letters to them, I started making phone calls to them. Today you can pick up your phone and make a call to pretty much any country on earth. Then, in order to call the Soviet Union, you had to reserve an international line so the KGB could listen in and know what was being said and who to who to double down on the spying on. Long story short, in 1985 I went to the Soviet Union for the first time by myself, by myself on a tour. I was 20. I don't know how my parents allowed that because we didn't have phones. I was out of touch for a week and a half or something like that. And the things that I was doing could still have me in prison in Siberia. But the thing that I did that was so bold in 1985, within half an hour of meeting my adopted family, the family that I adopted to get out of the Soviet Union, I proposed marriage to the oldest daughter in order to get her U.S. citizenship, which is illegal.

SPEAKER_00 30:45

You did that?

SPEAKER_01 30:46

I was going to marry her to get her U.S. citizenship. Understanding the full weight of the law, financial and jail time, if they caught us, now you can just walk, you used to be able just to walk across the Mexican border.

SPEAKER_03 31:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 31:00

But but yeah, I understood that. And it's because of that and my activism that we believe that they got out. And I've just, I don't think of it such as creative. I come up with an idea and I uh I'm relentless until I'm beaten down. There is a project, and I'll invite people to check it out, which did beat me down recently, and it pains me because it's so creative and it actually is the only solution for peace in Gaza. Um, that solution for peace in Gaza, which is at solutionforpeaceandgaza.com, is a Christian solution. It involves 100,000 to 200,000 Christians going into Gaza to work for a generation or two to rebuild Gaza and share the love of Jesus and bring people to a relationship with the Creator, with the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, and through that to change their hearts. And in changing their hearts, and only through changing their hearts, can there actually bring be peace. And I've been threatened over this idea, threatened more than ever before in my life. And I've kind of embarrassingly taken a back, put it in the back burner and taken a back seat and said, okay, God, you're really funny to download this to an Orthodox Israeli Jewish settler to try to find an actual solution for peace in Gaza. But this one I kind of have balked at, even though it's a passion that I have because it's something about which I truly believe. So my nugget is if people have an idea, run with it and be relentless. Um and I didn't have to marry my fiance from 1985 because they got out, but if I can come up with a wacky idea like that or putting together a book like this six months before Israel's 75th anniversary, then anyone can do anything.

SPEAKER_00 32:56

Yeah, amazing. Amazing. I'd love to talk a little bit more about your family. Sure. Um, you have adult children now, and you said five grandsons. Yes. Amazing. I bet they're little cuties. Um, but your sons serve in the IDF, Israeli Defense Force. Um, clearly with everything that has happened with the war and the tensions and the continued tensions and talk to us about what this has been like as you have multiple sons and son-in-laws that serve. Um what has this been like for your family? What are the emotions that you have felt? Are they married? How has it been for their spouses, for their children? Just talk us through somebody who's lived through this war and um literally have bombs flying over your head. Literally. Literally. Um, knowing that your sons are on the front lines, this is something that the majority of us can absolutely not relate to. Right. Um, and have no idea what it's really like. So would you let us in?

SPEAKER_01 34:10

Lot of lot of places to go. Um in terms of the literal bombs flying over your head. So yeah, that's how we woke up fr the that Saturday morning, October 7th, 2023, to air aid sirens. No, nobody in America has ever oh, few people in America have lived through air raid sirens from the Second World War. But that's not something that people can can relate to. Um and we spent that whole morning in and out of the bomb shelter to the point and you have teenage, uh had teenage boys. Uh my youngest son at the time, who I guess was then 17, decided that he was just gonna go to sleep in the bomb shelter, which is my oldest son's bedroom, because he was tired of being waken up every half hour to go back to the bomb shelter. And that's kind of a funny story. Um during the Iran War, the 12-day war in this past June, I would go outside every time there was an early announcement of the air raid sire, and you haven't been to my new house yet. But we have a balcony that overlooks Jerusalem to the north and Jordan to the east, and I would point my phone and I would film where I projected the missile maybe coming in from and narrate while this is happening. One time I did it as a selfie where I was holding the phone on my face and I was narrating into the phone, but because of the glare, I couldn't see what was going on. And then you watch the video, I rewatched it, and at seven minutes you see missiles passing behind my head from Iran. That's so surreal and so crazy. Um living through this last 26 months has been scary. Um we've seen miracles. I have a lot of pride. Grief. All of my kids have experienced loss more than anyone in growing up in America should have ever faced at their ages. Um and I can go, I can walk through each of them and how many funerals they've been at and how many soldiers they've lost and and and where they were part of it. My oldest, my first son-in-law, um, with whom my oldest daughter has four little boys, was called up on October 7th, but his base was overrun by terrorists, so he was told not to come down until it was clear, until it was safe. And I think for the rest of his life, he'll never regret, he'll never not regret not going down and fighting the terrorists, even during that period. But when he went down, and as we speak this week, he's off in reserve duty, leaving my daughter, who's got a full-time job, and four little boys, seven to one, at home managing the house. And that's happened for hundreds of days these past two years. Uh, it's hard. And so we, as the grandparents and my wife specifically have stepped up. Yeah, it's it's miraculous that they had uh a new baby. Um, how old is he? 14 months. So beginning beginning the baby boom that we're in the midst of. My my youngest grandson, who's three months old today, uh, is was also part of that baby boom. He was born three months ago to my son, my oldest son, and my daughter-in-law. My son was the one who was called up October 7th as a 25-year-old paratrooper, reservist, newlywed. He had been married for three months. Last week he was in Syria. Two days later, after he was released from Syria to go home for a couple of days, his unit was attacked. So we're doing a fundraising campaign for things for their unit.

SPEAKER_02 37:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 38:00

Um, and for my daughter-in-law, she's remarkable. But I don't know how anyone equips a 23 or 24-year-old woman to be home alone. And they hadn't even moved into their own place together. She's living in her parents' house with their baby. So all of these things just compound. Um, we're all experiencing, I could go on with with my daughter, one daughter whose best friend's brother was killed during the war and whose roommate, I was on a trip here in America, woke up, it was after Shabbat. I, you know, you should I Orthodox Jew, I shut off my phone and my computer during Shabbat. I turned the phone back on Saturday evening and discovered that my daughter's roommate's brother had been killed.

SPEAKER_02 38:55

Sorry.

SPEAKER_01 38:58

And and my immediate thought was where was my daughter's roommate when she found out? Were they home alone in their apartment? In which case the army came and knocked on the door and terrified the three girls? Or was she home with her parents? And it's so selfish for me to s to be grateful that she that my daughter's roommate was home with her parents, and my daughter didn't experience the horrific knock on the door with two or three army people standing in front of you, knowing that someone's been killed. Um and my youngest son who's 20 and he's in the middle of his compulsory military service, it kills him that because he has asthma, he can't be in an actual combat unit. Because we're so imbued with love of our country and protecting the country. He has a very important job in a unit that I'm not allowed to talk about, but he doesn't get to go and fight terrorists. And how weird is that that as his parents, we share that frustration, even though we know that it makes him safer and it's one less opportunity that we'll get that horrific knock on the door. So we're all in the midst of trauma, and people talk about PTSD with the P being post, but we're in present trauma, just stress disorder. And I think that that'll be played out for a couple of decades at least, even in my oldest grandchildren because they've been through a lot too. They've experienced it. They're too young to really know what's going on, but they know what's going on.

SPEAKER_00 40:39

So, how does your time as a family, because I know you're a very close family, spend a lot of time together. Does it look different? How are you intentionally? I guess the question is how are you intentionally loving and spending time together and in a sense ministering to your family through this as a dad and as a grandpa?

SPEAKER_01 41:07

Um as creative as I as I may be, I think that my answer is not well enough, but I don't know I think you only get better by unfortunately having to do it. Sure. I don't know of a self-help book at Barnes and Noble that you can pull off the shelf and say how to lead your family through war.

SPEAKER_00 41:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 41:27

Don't know of that. Maybe it's an interesting book to write, but hopefully people won't have to read it.

SPEAKER_00 41:32

Um Do you get to see your family often and spend So all of my kids are out.

SPEAKER_01 41:36

My wife and I are uh empty nesters now, and all of my kids are out. My youngest son, of course, comes home periodically from the army, and that's his home base, but everyone else has their own place. For me, the most cherished times are when everyone's together. Last year, when I turned 60, and it was a big year, not because it was 60, but because I outlived my father and my grandfather and my great-grandfather. Um that was a big and my mother, my wife wanted to make a whole big celebration. I'm like, no, I don't want that. I just want all my family together. And and for me, the highlight of that, and I can't wait for you to tell me about when that happens to you, was having my youngest grandchild sitting on my lap and he read me a book.

SPEAKER_02 42:21

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 42:22

You know what? I don't need to celebrate any more birthdays. That was the pinnacle of them all.

SPEAKER_02 42:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 42:28

Um so it those are precious, and those are not often enough. And I I I try to be more mindful of that and and to be involved more in the kids' lives. Um is real hard when I'm traveling in the time zone.

SPEAKER_02 42:44

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 42:45

It's a real good question. Um, it's it's one that I'm gonna have to pray about more because I don't think what I gave you is a sufficient answer.

SPEAKER_00 42:52

Oh, I think it is. I think it's I think when you're going through the difficulties that your family is walking through, that's kind of a hard question, but it's clear and evident the love and what you have cultivated and really the legacy that you and your wife have built and are continuing to build for your kids and your grandkids. And though I have yet to meet them, I have seen pictures, I have seen videos, I have heard your stories. And so if any of your children or uh children-in-laws or grandchildren ever listen to this, just know um that you have an amazing dad and grandpa and mother and grandmother who love you so, so much. Um, but I know that your family is so blessed just from the choices that you guys have made and are continuing to make and all the things that you are part of. Talk to us a little bit about what life looks like for a soldier, for somebody serving, like specifically your son. You said you know he can't, you know, go in and serve. But those who are serving who need the gear, you mentioned you're doing an initiative to help. Raise funds for the gear. What are the needs? What does life look like for a soldier right now?

SPEAKER_01 44:09

I think the biggest right uh the operative words being right now is that we're in the midst of a war. People who think that there's peace just because you're not reading about terror attacks or massacres that the terrorists are taking uh trying to make happen on a daily basis. Um we're we're not at peace. And the fact that my son's the the fact that the IDF has to have positions in southern Syria and in Lebanon in order to protect the northern side of our border and prevent terrorist activities from infiltrating is and and then are being attacked there i is proof text of that enough. The right now thing is that there's such a great level of albeit with with a lot of divisiveness that are that's political and social, but there's still a great level of national pride and determination and commitment. And it was I don't know if you know this, but it was remarkable on October 7th, two years ago, when the attack took place, that the IDF called up 300,000 reservists and 360,000 people showed up. There were rescue flights to bring home young men and women who were traveling all over the world so they could join their units, and you still see that sense of nationalism and and determination. And that plays out, but but I'm sure many, probably most, and I would say my family included, can articulate very well all of the sacrifices. All of the sacrifices, being home alone. We were concerned that my youngest son wasn't even, my oldest son wasn't even gonna be home for the birth of his son three months ago. Terrible concern. What a horrible thing that he'd be out fighting somewhere and and my daughter-in-law wouldn't have that support. Um so I I that that is articulatable, if that's the right word. Yeah. But it's just kind of the accepted norm. Yet there's a lot of financial sacrifice because people who have jobs are not able to necessarily do their jobs. If you have your own business, it's real hard to keep the business running. Uh it's hard as loving a parent as one might be, it's hard to do that without your co-parent present, and then the parent comes home exhausted and just needing to unplug as well, and sometimes seeing and being engaged in things that are really frightful.

SPEAKER_00 47:02

Sure. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 47:04

So there there are there are a lot of psychological needs, there are a lot of material needs. Um, sometimes we just like to do things to show love. Most of our donors are Christians. And I make sure that when I'm out there engaging with soldiers specifically, but at-risk youth or whomever it may be, I remind people that this is love and and virtual hugs coming from Christians all over the world. So this past July 4th weekend, we had the privilege of doing a barbecue on an Air Force base for pilots who flew during the Iran War, just to thank them. And that was one of the most remarkable, humbling experiences, and they were so grateful for that. Sometimes in the winter, maybe this is worth just showing up and visiting for. Um, I'll just wake up in the morning and decide to make a huge pot of soup. And I go around where I live. You've been in the neighborhood, uh, but there are a lot of soldiers stationed where we are, and I'll just serve them hot soup. Fresh made. Different way of showing the love.

SPEAKER_00 48:12

What is the overall sense just in the neighborhoods and just in the streets? Is there a sense of I mean, you said we're not living in peace, so is that tension just constantly felt? Or is there a sense of returning? I mean, I don't know how you return to normal, but is there a sense of normalcy, quote unquote? Or um is there always just this kind of tension in the air? Just talk to us about normal daily Israeli life.

SPEAKER_01 48:40

If you didn't know that there was a war going on, you can live very happily and comfortably in Israel today without awareness of that and and a sense of normalcy, albeit that normalcy is not what it was October 6th of 2023. Because we're still a nation in trauma, and very few of us have not experienced some of it. And I when I say very few of us, of course, I include the Jewish um citizens of Israel, but but also the Arab, both Muslim and Christian and Druze. Um we've all experienced that.

SPEAKER_02 49:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 49:17

But that normalcy is also overshadowed by all of what's not normal. Um the fact that we know that while there was a ceasefire signed, there are still the bodies of two hostages that have been held now for 26 months by the terrorists. And the terrorists are in Gaza alone, and they're still trying to kill us. And while I've been traveling here in the US, there were two or three instances where there were either terrorist infiltrations into Israeli communities or rockets being fired still from Gaza over two years later. And I forgive me if I don't remember the day, if it was yesterday or today, but to just generic terror attacks, stabbings, and car rammings that took place. So all of that exists. And where I live specifically in the Judean Mountains, Judea, as in Judea and Samaria, or pejoratively known as the West Bank, we're very mindful of the presence of our Palestinian Arab neighbors with whom there's generally quiet coexistence, but on the other hand, knowing what we know about what happened on October 7th and the intelligence that they had, and that we share the streets and we work together and we shop together. And from my balcony, which you will come visit soon, I will give you my binoculars, and you can see the mural of Yasser Arafat on the elementary school building. I mean, that's crazy. It's sad to me that that's their hero, a terrorist, and that's the best they've got. Yeah. But I can see across the valley this Arab school where every morning we're hearing the beginning of school with verses of the Quran. We know that the Quran doesn't speak so nicely about Jews and Christians. It's tense, but you know what? There are abundant blessings, and we celebrate the blessings and keep an eye over both shoulders.

SPEAKER_00 51:25

Yeah, yeah. This has been an amazing conversation, a very enlightening one. Um as we wrap up, what what would be some final words that you would want to speak to Christians about about Israel? Do you have any parting words or anything that you would want to leave with us today?

SPEAKER_01 51:47

Um connect with us. Um of course, Genesis123 uh.co and all of the social media.

SPEAKER_00 51:55

Yes, please. How can we connect with you? Right.

SPEAKER_01 51:57

So Genesis123.co is the website and Genesis123 Foundation on all of the social media. Uh yeah, and on the main website, we have links to all to the Israel the Miracle and Solution for Peace in Gaza and Root and Branch and all of the other kinds of projects. Um but when I also say connect with us, it's connect with us, Israel and the Jewish people. Beware, know what's going on. Contact me, be part of the conversations that I'm doing. Host me when I come to America for conversations like this that are personal, that don't have a an agenda other than to be honest and to build bridges. Uh come visit. Come visit because it's not just encouraging for us and uh and it is encouraging. I really can't speak to that, and I hope we'll get beyond the point soon where tourism has rebounded and it's taken for granted. But right now it's not taken for granted. But come visit because Israel is your spiritual homeland. And it's the most significant place in the world for Christians. And whether you've been zero times or fifty times, every time you come and visit, it just adds more dimension to your faith.

SPEAKER_00 53:17

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 53:18

And care, pray, uh be knowledgeable. Don't don't ever assume that I I'm not a gonna go beat up mainstream media, but nuance is hard. Understanding all of the history is hard. Um I certainly know my history. I live there, I studied it. It's it's not just uh something that I've downloaded or drank the Kool-Aid. Sure. It's it's biblical and and modern historical truth. But I don't expect everyone to know that, but but don't believe the simplicities that are broadcast in a 30 or 60 second piece of uh news or or headline or certainly not on TikTok and and Instagram. Yeah, absolutely. Be knowledgeable, connect with us. Yeah, connect with us. We we at one of the maybe it was at one of the four square conventions, early on when I would come to those, people would frequently ask me the question, why are you here? And my answer is because I love you back. And I think that's the message and for a whole other deeper conversation, but maybe as a really good summary. There are deep theological things about which we disagree as Jews and Christians. And we shouldn't pretend that we don't, and we should speak about those honestly and respectfully. But the things that unite us as the only faith people who actually worship the creator of the universe, who revere him, who are part of a covenantal relationship with him, and all of our shared Bible and and your part that came after, but is commentary because Jesus was an Orthodox Jew in the land like me, and the apostles were Orthodox Jews in the land like me, their life, their Bible, their culture, their their was was was was mine. And people should get to know that and be part of it. And because sadly, we as Jews and Christians not only worship the same God, the only God, but we also have the same enemies. And now I think more than ever we need to be as united as possible in the face of that.

SPEAKER_00 55:43

Absolutely. Amen. Amen. Thank you for your time today. Thank you, Lydia. It's a delight. I want to encourage you if you're watching or listening, go and follow Jonathan, go and engage on the website, get the book, this gorgeous book, get the oil. I mean, and you know, like you said, these proceeds go back into these initiatives, all these things that they are doing to help the people of Israel and to bring awareness to Christians all over the world. Pray for Jonathan, pray for his family. And thank you so much just for being our friend, Jonathan. And in fact, the crazy thing is, my husband Scott landed in Israel today. Here you are with me in Nashville, Tennessee. And Scott is in Israel, like landed there today. He's so sad he's not with you. Um in either place. I know, in either place, whether here or there. Um, but I will be with you in February in Israel, and we're coming back again in June, so uh, which we are so grateful for. Israel changed my life. Being there, being there in 2014 changed my life forever. I've never been the same since I stepped foot on my homeland, and honestly, I've missed it. Right.

SPEAKER_01 56:59

So we've known each other for more than a decade because and then it goes back. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 57:03

So almost 15 years. So it that's that's crazy. But I can't wait to go back and be there again. Thank you for taking time to be with me today. I so appreciate you.

SPEAKER_01 57:12

Thank you for taking time and giving me this platform.

SPEAKER_00 57:15

Yes, of course. Thank you for joining us today, you guys. Dreams don't come with the roadmap, only courage, curiosity, and the willingness to keep going. If today's story resonated with you, let it remind you that your journey matters, even if it's still unfolding. Thank you for spending this time with me today on the Dreamers Podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone who needs a little inspiration today. Until next time, keep dreaming, keep moving, and trust that the story you're writing is worth telling. We'll see you on the next episode.