Month: October 2023

Here is the the recording of our first session of weekly debriefs.

We want to thank all of you who were able to join us, and hope the rest of you can join us for future sessions.

If you are on WhatsApp and would like to receive updates on our sessions that way, please send a request to be added to the group to 1-423-827-9836.

Friday morning I went to the nearby market (Mahaneh Yehuda) to do some shopping for Shabbat. Suddenly, among the stalls, young guys wearing kippahs started to appear. They raised flags, used a loudspeaker, made a circle within the crowd of passersby, and began singing “Am Yisrael Chai” (the people of Israel live).

A significant part of our national backbone has faltered two weeks ago. These are major backbones we relied on as a nation. Institutions that were meant to protect us, care for the wounded, tend to the bodies, failed in their mission and took days to recover.

But the people themselves have demonstrated an incredible resilience. Every day I receive messages about various needs of families who left their homes in the south or north and are left without shelter, food, clean laundry; of soldiers without equipment; of trauma and anxiety victims. I contact someof them immediately, and without fail, find that the need is met above and beyond. How? Countless initiatives that ordinary people, not government officials or some institution, take.

In the video, the guys sing, among other things: “Satiate us from Your goodness and purify our hearts to truly serve You.” Pay attention to the guy on the left with a red shirt and a water bottle in his hand. At a certain point, towards the end of the clip, he sprinkles water unintentionally on the dancing circle. Immediately I thought of God’s promise to pour pure water on us and give us a new spirit (Ezk. 36:25), and to turn our hearts toward Him.

Indeed, God, Am Yisrael Chai, for Your promises are alive and enduring. I ask that soon, in our days and at this time, You will pour pure water upon us. Use this current crisis and the hunger it creates to direct our gaze towards You and satisfy us from Your goodness.

Shabbat Shalom.

Sunday evening, October 15.

Eight days since the war started. Eight days in a scary, brutal captivity for more than 15 kids, more than 100 civilians.

Eight days had passed since many factors we used to rely on as a nation (IDF, police, an ambulance to help the wounded, a quick clearance of the dead, a government who will answer some of the tormenting questions) proved dysfunctional.

We are so used to lift our eyes up to some mountains and ask: “where will our help come from?” (Ps. 121:1-2).

But God had pulled each one of these “mountains” from underneath our feet. How long will it take us to move from v. 1 to v. 2?

Here is a short clip I filmed this evening, in an attempt to explain some of it.

Tuesday, October 17th.

Day 10 since “Iron Swords” started. Israel is going through a shift in her identity. In that process, will we finally be able to see God as our “Ishy” – our personal Husband, or will we run to other husbands – ba’als?

Watch the short clip, where Orna talks about it.

Wednesday, October 18th.

Day 11. This morning I took some friends to the Jordan Valley, to a pray in a unique spot called “the Hill of Foreskin”, near Gilgal, between Mt. Nebo and Jericho. This is where Joshua circumcised all the men (hundreds of thousands) just after they crossed the river into the Holy Land, and right before they conquered Jericho (Josh. 5:2-3).

As we were praying for a deep circumcision of hearts all over our nation, my friend Sarah looked towards Jericho, and started praying for the “Rahabs” in Gaza.

She prayed that while Israel is preparing to send troops into Gaza in order to put an end to the Hamas regime, God will raise up Rahabs throughout Gaza – people who will watch how the Lord of Hosts is leading His people in battle, and will have the fear of the Lord upon them (Josh. 2: 9-10).

That these “Rahabs” will provide food and shelter even for those who were taken into captivity last week; that they will not be afraid to choose the right side, even in the face of danger (v. 11).

We then blessed them – that God will honor their courage and will save them and their entire families, just as He did with Rahab in a similar situation (v. 12-14).

Thank you for praying, for carrying us, for caring for the details. I have been posting updates on Facebook. Here are some of them, for those of you who do not have FB accounts.

Sunday, October 8th, a day after the war started.

Many of you ask how am I doing. Well…

Yesterday I couldn’t do anything other than watching the drama unfold. There are many mind-blowing questions that need to be answered (e.g.: how come the most sophisticated technology, that detects a balloon flying over the border, does not detect dozens of terrorists destroying the fence, stealing machines, driving more than 25 km, taking 100+ hostages, and marching back with them at least 7 km back into Gaza. We have soldiers sitting along the border and watching every cm around the clock. How can that happen?)

This morning I choose to work on my level of faith. I am checking my heart and asking God to restore, refresh and grant me what I lack. I am struggling to lift up my eyes above circumstances and see His Might Hands above the details. And I am preparing myself a quiver of verses that I can declare, until I see them becoming a reality. So that’s where I am right now.

None of my family and relatives suffered casualties, but we do know of people whose family members were either murdered or wounded. Many Messianic kids and fathers were called up for reserve duty, as we are in a war. It’s not just a short army operation that can end tomorrow. So our hearts are with them and with the kids, who watched horror pics yesterday, than saw their dads or big brothers wearing uniform and leave so quickly.

This is a time of great trouble for “Jacob”, so I am asking God to save many through it; that many eyes will turn to Him and realize we DO have someone to rely on, and that He DOES know how to lead an army in battle, and that His eyes are ALWAYS open and He knows what He is doing.

Monday, October 9th, 2023

Monday afternoon, third day since “Iron Swords” begun.

The numbers, the pictures, the stories – it’s all beyond our cpacity to contain or digest.

As we listen to the stories, we realize some miracles have already taken place. Like the woman who was kidnapped from her closet, where she was hiding. She was not dressed modest enough to the standards of the Hamas terrorists, so they dressed her up in three layers.

A minute later she finds the two babies of her neighbors in her home, without their parents (the father was found alive later on, the mother is still missing) – a 4 years old and 4 months old babies. The terrorists start walking them out the gate, through a long path in the desert, and into Gaza. The 4 year old was wounded, so one terrorist carried him on his shoulders while the infant kept screaming.

She thought of the worst of course, and than… all of a sudden, the terrorists let them go. She turned back and walked with a baby and a bleeding child in her arms. She lost all sense of time, so she can’t even tell how long that took, and why they let her go.

My heart bleeds for the hostages. I can’t go there of course, I can’t even drive into the southern region right now, I can’t do much to practically help. My legs and feet are not needed there right now. But I can combine my mouth with the bleeding spot in my heart, sprinkle some faith on it and shoot sharp arrows of Truth into a realm I don’t fully understand, believing this is how God marches His hosts.

Please join us. Find verses that you have faith to see them becoming a reality, and each time you watch the news or think about us, turn these verses into a war cry and target the spiritual enemy with them.

Verses such as 1 Sam. 17:45:

You, Hamas, come against us with swords and spears and javelins, but we come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.

Tuesday, October 10th, 2023.

Tuesay afernoon. My grandmother Zilpa was only 3 years old when the local kozaks in Kishinov (now the capital of Moldova), moved around the city, and butchered and masacred the Jewish population. The descriptions were horrific. Her father, my great grandfather, was among them. [you can read more about this family history at https://ornagrinmandotcom.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post.php…]

My grandmother survived, but obviously could never tell how exactly. Whenever I recall this, I wonder how the kozaks did not hear her cry and kill her too. Did someone put their hand on her mouth? Three days. Did anyone feed her, hug her, comfort her?

As stories from this week’s terror attack keep pouring in, I realize: this is not just a terror attack, it’s a pogrom. A modern version of the same old thing. Babies, some of them younger than 3 year old, were locked up in a room or a closet for a day or two, and against all odds – survived.

These images are deeply carved in my memory, and awaken some old, well hidden fears. In the face of these feelings and the severe judgement our nation is experiencing, I make one more choice, my daily routine these days. I choose to recall Rom, 11: 1, and remind myself and my loved ones: God had not abandoned His people. If we wonder about that, we can rely on Paul’s determined statement in that verse: “By no means! No way!”

“For the Lord will not abandon His people; He will never forsake His inheritance. Judgment will again be founded on righteousness, and all the upright in heart will follow it” (Ps. 94:15 ff).

_{With my grandmother, Zilpa}

Wednesday, October 11th, 2023.

Wednesday evening. I passed by the neighborhood flower shop and this is what I saw on their counters.

“O, no”, I said, “Where do all these wreaths go to?”

The owner said: “I don’t know the names of those who will be buried with these wreaths. But I have already prepared more than 30 like these since yesterday”.

The burials started all over the country. Yet, so many victims have been butchered to such a degree, that the identification process will take a long time. We don’t have enough manpower and equipment in Israel to deal with so many bodies simultaneously.

In the meantime, where do you keep the bodies? Israel quickly opened a special place just for that cause, and the religious experts work around the clock to prepare the bodies that have been identified for burial.

Until than, the families of all those who are still missing (hundreds of them) sit nervously outside, waiting eagerly to hear any piece of news. If their loved ones are identified, that means they are not hostages in Gaza. If they’re not, that means one more night and one more day until MAYBE their loved one is identified, or perhaps that means he or she are in Gaza.

Both two terrible options to hang your hopes in between.

As they go through this horrific experience, we can pray that this impossible corner, where no authority can ease their pain, they will lift their heads up and cry out to the only One who really knows where their loved ones are.

Lord, reveal Your Son to these people. Comfort them and gather them under Your wings. In Yeshua’s name!

Thursday, October 12th, 2023.

Six days since “Iron Swords” War broke. Endless corpses are collected every day, and there are still so many lying around.

“Zaka” is an Orthodox organization, the one in charge of removal of corpses and burial. All their workers are volunteers, all of them Orthodox. They say that the mass of equipment they usually need for 4 years’ labor, is gone now in just 3 days.

The level of butchery they witness is unfathomable. It will take time to collect everything. Ezk. 39:12 describes how it’s going to take 7 months to burry all the dead and purify the Land after the war of Gog and Magog. Until now, I just couldn’t understand how could that happen. Now I do.

These “Zaka” workers are motivated by a unique understanding of how death defiles the soil on which they lie. They don’t just want to clean up, they are looking for purification of the ground (v. 14-15).

Today I ask you to hold them up in your prayers. Pray that the level of death and cruelty they see every day this week, during the endless hours of collecting body parts, will not harden their hearts, but do the opposite. And that in their pursuit of purity and holiness, something will click in their spirits, and they will realize that there is a missing ingredient, that without it no full purification can take place. That this level of defilement can only be purified with Blood that was poured once and for all straight from Heaven.

^{ZAKA volunteers collecting body parts following a bombing (occurred several years ago)}