“Israel the Miracle” book has the voices of 75 pro-Israel Christian leaders

In October 2022, Jonathan Feldstein had an idea for the then-upcoming 75th anniversary of the modern state of Israel — a book highlighting pro-Israel Christian leaders and why they are passionate about Israel.

A modern Orthodox Jew living in Efrat, in the territories, Feldstein is founder of Genesis 123, a foundation that works to build relationships between Jews and Christians focusing on support and love of Israel.

Friends in the publishing field told him there was no way he would be able to get a book like that done in time for the anniversary in 2023, but he pushed forward with the idea of having 75 Christian leaders write personal essays about their relationship with Israel.

The trick was to get exactly 75 responses for “Israel: The Miracle,” knowing that some people he approached would be “too busy, or for their own reasons didn’t want to be associated with some of the other people” in the book. There was also a tight deadline he was working with — four to six weeks to receive up to 1,000 words.

“There are people I regret are not in the book for a lot of reasons, but we have a solid lineup,” he said.

He had an original list of 200, and though he did not have a particular checklist, he wound up with a diverse group of backgrounds, geography and denominations. “I wanted to recognize the bona fide Christian leaders who support Israel.”

The submissions come from ministers, political figures, activists and authors. Some are well known all over the world, others just in their own areas.

One danger in a project like this is that too many submissions would repeat the same Biblical  verses that everyone knows. “That didn’t happen,” he said. The essays were “unique, creative, meaningful thoughts, all very personal and very significant.” Many essays complement others in the book, forming “a mosaic.”

With none of the 75 entries being redundant, it shows the diversity of how and why Christians relate to Israel.

The essays arrived in the first three months of the year, and by the time the 2023 National Religious Broadcasters convention convened in May, he had a proof copy to show people.

The book starts with Pat Robertson’s essay. Feldstein said that Robertson died around the time the book was going into production, “so I made an executive decision” to have him at the front. “As great as he was, it was an appropriate way to honor him.”

The rest of the contributions are in alphabetical order, a who’s-who of Christian Zionism. There are also letters from Israeli President Isaac Herzog and Minister of Tourism Haim Katz. Biographies of each contributor appear in the back of the book.

The lavishly-illustrated coffee table book rolled off the presses in September 2023, and Feldstein planned to give the proceeds to the 12 projects that the Genesis 123 Foundation supports.

Then, October 7 happened.

Feldstein launched the Genesis 123 Israel Emergency Campaign, with proceeds going to projects for recovery and healing as a result of the Gaza war. Proceeds from the book will now go to those causes.

To further assist in the recovery, a second printing recently came off the presses, using the print shop at Kibbutz Be’eri, one of the communities devastated by the Oct. 7 attack.

“As significant as this book is in celebration of Israel’s 75th, it’s even more significant now,” he said. “It underscores the reasons why Israel should be so significant to Christians.”

“Israel: The Miracle” is “a book for Christians by Christians,” he said, but not exclusively. A lot of people in the Jewish community don’t understand Christians and Christianity, or their motivations when it comes to Israel, he noted. “I do want Jews to read this. I do want Jews to understand the depth and breadth of Christian support.”

Another challenge he faced came with shipping books. The title of the book was on the cartons, and he found that at some point during transit with the U.S. Postal Service, some boxes were deliberately damaged. One box was cut open and all the books removed, with just the empty box arriving.

The next shipment of books from Israel was a pallet with 500 books in 50 boxes. Before mailing, he had the books repackaged in boxes that did not have the name on them — and this time, none were damaged.

He originally planned a book tour for last November, postponing it until February when he was able to attend this year’s NRB convention and schedule some tour dates.

Israel InSight readers can get a 10 percent discount by clicking here, or using the code Insight when ordering at israelthemiracle.com.