Fellowship staff opened this year’s Flags of Fellowship with an event at the historic Banias Church in Nazareth. The event was attended by friends of The Fellowship. One of these friends is Israel365, which was represented by its founder Rabbi Tuly Weisz. In an op-ed with the Washington Examiner, Rabbi Weisz talks about how the three years since then has shown how far the support has come:
Oct. 8 also gave birth to a new kind of Jew. “Oct. 8 Jews” are those who, after the massacre, found faith and recommitted themselves to their people and their God. And Oct. 8 became the day so many Christians around the world raised their voices and said: Not on my watch.
None of this was clear three years ago. In the fog of war, none of it was obvious, but three years later, clarity is emerging.
This week, thousands of 10-7 commemorations are taking place in cities and neighborhoods across Israel, because every town has lost sons defending our homeland. Jewish communities around the world are likewise mourning with Israel in synagogues and Jewish day schools.
But there is another commemoration taking place, the largest global initiative to memorialize Oct. 7, which the Jewish people need to know about.
The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews has organized more than 4,375 churches placing 1,200 Israeli flags on their front lawns to memorialize the 1,200 victims of Oct. 7. For context, in 2024, 220 churches took part in the “Flags of Fellowship” and so under Yael Eckstein’s leadership, participation has grown exponentially with well over 5 million flags planted in memory of our loved ones this year. In just three years, Flags of Fellowship has become one of the largest gatherings of Jews and Christians anywhere: believers in the God of Israel praying to our Father in Heaven, recalling His faithfulness, and standing shoulder to shoulder as brothers and sisters in faith.