PROGRAM SUMMARY
Title:031_Bless Israel_WOE_v15
Content:2014 Raoul Wallenberg Award Acceptance Speech by RYE
ASK:$1,500 to Rescue 1 Jew
$500 One Time Donation
$150 One-Time Donation
# Asks:1(From Announcer in CLOSE)
ASK Excerpt
And there are three ways you can donate.First, is with a one-time generous gift of $1,500.Second, you can give a donation of $500. We’ll join your donation with 2 other listeners who are also donating $500. Third, you can give a gift of $150. Your donation will be matched with many other listeners who are also contributing $150 dollars.Here’s a special phone number for you to call. It’s 844―EIGHT ZERO―WINGS. That’s 844―EIGHT ZERO―WINGS. Numerically, the number is 844―809―4647. That’s 844―809―4647.
Phone Number →844-80-WINGS
031_Bless Israel_WOE_v15
2014 RAOUL WALLENBURG AWARD
ACCEPTANCE SPEECH – RYE
30-SECOND “Pray for Israel” PROMO
Record Prayer for Israel
888-241-4325
30-SECOND IFCJ FREE PREMIUM PROMO
A Woman of Valor
855-58-BLESS
****BLESS ISRAEL MUSIC THEME BEGINS HERE****
Today… on “Bless Israel with Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein.”
RYE TEASER CLIP
My friends, this is a special day for me, I thank you for fifteen years ago, when it was risky to welcome me to your family, you let me in. I thank you for this honor, and it's a great privilege to be here, not just in the presence of the prime minister and the head of the Knesset, but to receive this award in the name of Raoul Wallenburg, a Christian, a Christian who saved Jews, and to receive it, it was passed on to me by Eli Wiesel, one of the great prophets of our day. Just to have my name associated and mentioned in conjunction with the other people who received this, is an incredible privilege.
****BLESS ISRAEL MUSIC THEME POSTS AND RESOLVES HERE****
ANNOUNCER OPEN
And welcome to another edition of,“Bless Israel with Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein.” We’re glad you’ve joined us for a very special program we have planned for today.
In 1944 during World War II, Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg led one of the most extensive and successful rescue efforts of Jews during the Nazi era.
For his endeavors, Wallenberg, a Christian, was named a “Righteous Gentile.”
Israel has also designated Wallenberg one of the,“Righteous Among the Nations.” Monuments have been dedicated to him, and streets in Israel and around the world have been named after him.
In 1981, the Raoul Wallenberg Awardwas establishedby the JDC; the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, the world’s leading Jewish humanitarian assistance organization.
On May 20, 2014, Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, the president and founder of The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, received the prestigious RaoulWallenbergAwardat a ceremony held in Israel.
The JDC honored Rabbi Eckstein for his profound humanitarian efforts and contributions to the Jewish people.
Rabbi Eckstein received The Raoul Wallenberg Award at a special ceremony in the presence of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu,Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein, among others.
And today on “Bless Israel,” we’re pleased to bring you Rabbi Eckstein’s inspiring and moving acceptance speech at that ceremony in 2014.
Let’s listen, as we begin with some introductory remarks from JDC President, Penny Blumenstein.
**MESSAGE BEGINS HERE**
Blumenstein:Named for the extraordinary Swedish diplomat who at mounting personal risk rescued thousands of Jews in Nazi occupied Budapest, JDC's Raoul Wallenburg International Humanitarian Award has previously been presented to Edgar Bronfman, the Claims Conference, the Harriet and Jennett Weinberg Foundation, and Nobel laureate Eli Wiesel. Over the past three decades as founder and president of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, Rabbi Eckstein has built bridges of cooperation between people of different faiths, and he has raised an extraordinary sum, over two-thirds of a billion dollars, for programs that have advanced the welfare and well-being of Jews in Israel, the former Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, and beyond.
[Applause]
Having supported Raoul Wallenburg in his wartime mission, JDC today presents this special award to individuals and organizations who display Wallenberg’s selfless dedication to the mission of saving Jews in peril and in need. Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein and the IFCJ are the embodiment of this mission, and I would like to now ask Alan Gill to say a few words about Rabbi Eckstein.
Alan Gill:Rabbi Eckstein, our partner, my friend, one who hears the calls of Jews from afar and does what Nahshon did when Moses led our people to the edge of the sea. He jumps. This is the man next to me. When he jumps, he jumps because he leads from the heart. He bleeds for those who bleed. He hungers for food for those who are hungry, and he is sick over those who are sick and need medicines. This is Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein.
We have been blessed to have your leadership, to have your partnership, to have your leadership within JDC as a senior JDC leader for many years now. What we wish for you is that as we give you this award, at a time when our Jewish community is standing strong and tall in the face of hate in Hungary, that you stand strong and tall for many years to come. The poorest Jews on Earth, in the former Soviet Union, are in the hundreds of thousands. Every one of them, every day, receives sustenance and another day on this Earth because of you, and what you have accomplished.
You follow the great leaders of our time, whom we have recognized with this distinguished award. In the presence of the leader of the Jewish people, Speaker of the Knesset Prime Minister Netanyahu, Speaker of the Knesset Edelstein, my partner Penny Blumenstein, and all of these leaders of JDC who are here today and partners, I wish you and Joelle and Yael and the rest of your family our hardiest congratulations. May this continue to inspire you and give you the strength, that we know you need to be that Nahshon and continue to lead the Jewish people.
[applause]
RYE:Thank you very much, Penny, Alan, Prime Minister, for attending.
I am so proud and grateful and humbled by this award, and most appreciative to be chosen to receive it, this prestigious award. I wanted to just say a few words, as I always do, from my heart, a little bit of a strategic vision, a little bit of criticism, and a lot of humility, hopefully, to the Ribbono Shel Olam who has helped me reach this position.
I grew up in a family where Israel was the most important part of our home. My father was born here in Eretz Yisrael,1919.Moved to America with his parents in 1929, during the time of the riots here in Jerusalem. I went to Zionist summer camps. I went to Zionist yeshivas. My parents sent me, at 13, as my Bar Mitzvah present, to Israel. I studied for two years in Yeshivat Kerem B'Yavneh, and continued my studies at Yeshiva University in Columbia, where I received my Simchat from Rav Yoshe Ber Soloveitchik ZT"L. Had a family, had a career.
In 1973, I sang for the first time ever in the world, a song from one of my record albums. Then later, with the Golani, during the war, I went around in the Hermon singing it. It's known by everyone, today. I am so proud of it.
I had an office in Chicago and in Washington D.C., Canada, other parts. Did good things. Flew to China many times to freeChristian prisoners who were in jail for practicing their faith, and to meet with the leadership of the Chinese government, pleading for religious freedom. Everything was great in my life, but something was missing.
"We need to be raising funds, not just tourism. We need to raise funds for the people in need. And we soon because probably the largest, among the largest, if not the largest Jewish philanthropy in Israel, perhaps in the world, today. We have a budget. We raise $135 million each year from Christians, small gifts, one at a time. Our average gift is $77.00. We have 1.3 million donors. We get 4,000 envelopes with checks a day.
We have a radio program all over the world, every day, with 14 million listeners defending Israel, and speaking of the Jewish roots of Christianity, and strengthening the bonds between them in Israel. It's in English, it's in Spanish.
Support Israel, we did. We refurbished or built 2,600 bomb shelters in the northern border, alone, and hundreds in the South. Fire engines, programs feeding tens of thousands of elderly, and children, and families. We work in 170 cities, including 48 Arab cities. There are only four cities among them all that refuse to take our funds, because the funds come from Christians. We have raised and given away most of it, one billion dollars, over the past fifteen years, money from Christians, that if not for this enterprise, would not have been there.
But frankly, what I want to say to you, and then I'll try to wrap things up, it's not the money. What motivates me is not how much money we can raise, but how many people we can help with it. What motivates me is to change 2,000 years of history between Christians and Jews, who are enemies, their relationship marked by animosity and fratricide, to change that into a strategic alliance, a fellowship, a friendship, so that when Jews in Israel need help, Christians will be there to join us. When Jews in Ukraine need help, Christians are there to join us, and when Christians in China and Sudan need help, hopefully, Jews will be there to join them. We need to think more globally. How many Jews are there in the Congo, in South Korea, in Costa Rica, in China? Very few, but there are tens of millions of Christians who would love to support and stand with Israel if they were educated and directed. There's a lot more to do, and a lot more people that we can help.
My friends, for 66 years, Israel has achieved so much. I don't have to tell you who are involved in helping Israel and the Jewish people, the leaders of the Jewish people in Israel about that. I want to share with you, just for a moment, an illness that I have. I have what's called a "How could it be?" syndrome, illness.
I look at the situation in the FSU and Israel, and every day I ask a few times, "How could that be?" I just got back, yesterday, from the Ukraine, from my second trip in the past month, this time in Odessa. We've contributed five million dollars in the past 30 days to help the local Jewish community in the Ukraine with food, with security, and with increase aliyah to Israel. My friends, the Jews of Ukraine need us. They need the world Jewish community, at least, to make them feel that they are not alone, that they are not abandoned.
Bringing medicine to those children in need, elderly in need, families in need.
How could it be that hospitals here in Israel don't have something as basic as an MRI? How could it be? How could it be that Israel has the greatest poverty level and gap between the wealthy and poor in Israel. How could it be? How could it be that there aren't enough bomb shelters or homes for the homeless, for youth at risk, for fire engines, for soldiers, for heating, for elderly? Why is it that victims of the Holocaust stillhave to struggle with a decision every day between using the small pension that they have for food, for fuel, for a place to live under? It shouldn't be. What I say, it shouldn't be under our watch.
I have been given an incredible blessing and opportunity. And for that, I am so grateful. I'm grateful to our donors who made it possible. My friends, this is a special day for me, because it's coming from a group that I admire, that I love, that I believe in more than almost any other.
I thank you for fifteen years ago, when it was risky to welcome me to your family, you let me in. I thank you for this honor, and it's a great privilege to be here, not just in the presence of the prime minister and the head of the Knesset, but to receive this award in the name of Raoul Wallenburg, a Christian, a Christian who saved Jews, and to receive it, it was passed on to me by Eli Wiesel, one of the great prophets of our day. Just to have my name associated and mentioned in conjunction with the other people who received this, is an incredible privilege.
(Make sure to Keep Yechiel in Hebrew here and weeping]
I give thanks to the Ribbono Shel Olam for giving me the health, the vision, the perseverance over a long time to weather the attacks, to carry out my calling in life in response to God's presence in my life and my obedience to His calling, to build bridges of shalom among people, to help the Jewish people in need around the world, and most importantly, to ensure the security of the state of Israel, and in my case,I have returned to my home to be a part of an am chofshi b'artsenu, Eretz Yisrael, Eretz Zion Yerushalayim.
Thank you for this award.
[Applause]
______
ANNOUNCER CLOSE
What you’ve been listening to today on “Bless Israel with Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein” is a special message delivered by Rabbi Eckstein in May of 2014, as he accepted the prestigious Raoul Wallenberg Award, an award given to honor the memory of Raoul Wallenberg, a Christian Swedish diplomat who in 1944 saved thousands of Jews from certain death during the Nazi regime in World War Two.
Rabbi Eckstein received The Raoul Wallenberg Award at a special ceremony in Israel in the presence of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein, and many other friends and family.
Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein was honored with the award for his profound humanitarian efforts and contributions to the Jewish people, raising over one billion dollars over 30 years to help poor Jews in need in the former Soviet Union, Israel and around the world.
And as Rabbi Eckstein acknowledged in his message, it’s because of the ongoing prayers and financial support of Christians like you here in America, that The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews has been able to help so many of God’s chosen people over these past three decades.
One of the goals of The Fellowship, particularly this year,is to rescue the few remaining poor, elderly Jewish Holocaust survivors and bring them home to Israel, so they can live the remaining years of their lives with dignity, love and safety in their homeland.
The Fellowship is accomplishing this mission through our “Wings of Eagles Freedom Flights”taking place every month from all over the world.
But we need your help today to finish this important biblical prophecy. God’s promise to His people is to bring them back to Israel. He says in Jeremiah Chapter 30…
“Do not be dismayed oh Israel, behold, I will save you from afar and your offspring from the land of their exile. I will make an end of all the nations where I have scattered you, but I will not make an end of you.”
Friends, today you can join with God’s biblical promise and help save these precious Jews and bring them home to Israel.
The cost to bring one Jewish Holocaust survivor home to Israel on these special “Wings of Eagles Freedom Flights” is $1,500.
And there are three ways you can donate today.
First, is with a one-time generous gift of $1,500.
Second, you can give a donation of $500. We’ll join your gift with 2 other listeners who are also donating $500.
Or Third, you can give a gift of $150. Your donation will be matched with 9 other listeners who are also giving $150 dollars, and together you’ll rescue a poor elderly Holocaust survivor and put them on an upcoming flight this month arriving in Tel Aviv, Israel.
Here’s the special toll free phone number to call and make your donation today, 844―EIGHT ZERO―WINGS. 844―EIGHT ZERO―WINGS. Our friendly Fellowship operators are standing by to talk with you right now. 844―80―WINGS. Numerically, that number is 844―809―4647. That’s 844―809―4647.
For many poor Jews living in areas like the embattled, war-torn region of Ukraine, their dream of one day coming home to Israel is extremely difficult, if not impossible.
Most have absolutely no money. These are precious Jews who are very poor, no bank accounts, little hope of a job, nowhere to withdraw money from. These are God’s chosen people, many who cannot afford even a bus ticket to go to the local market to buy food or clothing, let alone pay for an expensive plane ticket from Ukraine to Israel.
But you can change all of that today.
You can bring them out of a life of hopelessness and bring them home to Israel. There are Wings of Eagles Freedom Flights leaving every month, and we need your help to rescue as many Jews as possible.
Again, the cost to bring one Jewish refugee from Ukraine to Israel on this special emergency Ukraine flight is $1,500.