From the Four Corners of the Earth

Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein  |  October 19, 2017

Dear Friend of Israel,

In Isaiah 11:12, God promises to “gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.”

This promise is being fulfilled in our time – and, for 25 years, through our On Wings of Eagles program, The Fellowship and our supporters have played a key role in fulfilling it.

When the Soviet Union fell in 1991, the door to freedom opened for Soviet Jews, who had suffered bitter persecution under Communist rule, and had been denied permission to return to Israel, their biblical homeland.

It was a God-given opportunity both to fill a great humanitarian need and further the cause of Jewish-Christian cooperation, and I knew we had to seize it. So The Fellowship produced a television special that told the world the true story of Soviet Jews’ desperate plight, and urged people to support aliyah (immigration to Israel) from this troubled region of the world.

The response from Christians was astounding; they gave with overwhelming generosity to support these desperate, embattled people. It was my practice at the time – both because it was my preference and because The Fellowship had so few staff members – to write a personal thank you note to each of our supporters. There were so many “thank yous,” I could barely keep up.

Since then, our aliyah efforts have only gathered momentum. We have been instrumental in the historic aliyah of Ethiopian Jews. We brought the Bnei Menashe, descendants of one of the lost tribes of Israel, to the Holy Land from India. When war broke out in Ukraine, we increased our aliyah from the region with emergency flights to rescue Ukrainian Jews in immediate danger. Indeed, there is hardly anywhere in the globe that has not been touched by these efforts. Jews have truly come to Israel, and continue to come, from “the four corners of the earth.”

Next week, Israel observes Aliyah Day to celebrate the immigrants who have made it the healthy, vibrant Jewish state it is today. At the same time, we at The Fellowship celebrate our supporters who for 25 years have given hope for the future to nearly 750,000 Jews in need.

We remain more committed than ever to helping Jews around the globe living in poverty, anti-Semitism, and oppression to come to Israel – and to supporting them once they arrive so they can be full, productive citizens in their new home. Thank you for being our partners in the historic, biblical ministry.

With prayers for shalom, peace,

Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein
Founder and President