ISRAEL - THE MIRACLE IN THE DESERT
A tiny country - smaller than most people think. 10 million people. And a story unlike anyone else’s.
Israel was founded three years after the Holocaust. From the depths of genocide to a thriving nation in a single generation. And Jews have returned home from over 100 countries - Ethiopia, Yemen, Russia, Morocco, Europe - gathered again after 2000 years of exile.
Nothing like it has ever happened in world history.
They even revived their language. 150 years ago, no one spoke Hebrew in daily life. It was a dead language, preserved in prayer and scripture. Today it is the living mother tongue of 10 million people.
No other nation has ever done that.
Israelis are direct. In Hebrew it’s called “dugri” - straight talk. No small talk, no polite phrases. They interrupt, argue loudly and speak their mind without a filter. To many it can feel harsh. But it isn’t rudeness. It’s honesty, and it’s respect.
Behind the tough exterior you find a warmth that surprises you. Strangers invite you to Shabbat dinner. Family is everything. Children are welcome everywhere.
This is a people shaped by survival!
Most have served in the military. They have learned to make it against the odds - there is even a word for it: “davka”. Defiance. The will to rise, no matter what the world throws at them. Exactly my kind of people.
Add “chutzpah” - the boldness to challenge your boss, question everything and take risks. That is why a nation of 10 million became one of the leading tech nations in the world.
And in the middle of a region of dictatorships, Israel stands as the only democracy in the Middle East: free elections, free press, independent courts. It is also the only country in the region where the Christian population is growing instead of fleeing.
And the Jewish people as a whole are an enlightened and brilliant people who have contributed beyond measure to the world.
They make up around 0.2% of the world’s population - yet stand behind more than 20% of all Nobel Prizes. Einstein’s theory of relativity. The polio vaccine. Chemotherapy, which has saved millions of cancer patients. The pacemaker. The USB flash drive. From physics and medicine to music, literature and technology, this small people has lifted all of humanity.
But Israel is more than a country. It is the Holy Land. Every year millions of people from all over the world make the pilgrimage here - Christians above all. They come to walk where Jesus walked. By the Sea of Galilee. In Nazareth. In Jerusalem, where the Western Wall, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the Temple Mount stand side by side.
Here, faith is not theory. It is literally written in the stones.
And then there is the land itself. When the Jewish pioneers returned home, they took over a land left barren by centuries of neglect. Travelers described it as desolate and lifeless - Mark Twain called it a hopeless land.
No one had made it bloom. But they drained the swamps, planted millions of trees and watered the desert. Not because the soil was new. But because the love for it was.
Today Israel exports fruit and vegetables to Europe. They invented drip irrigation. They recycle 90% of their wastewater for agriculture - no other country comes close.
Cross the border and see it with your own eyes: same climate, same soil - completely different green.
Israel is a special place in the Middle East. Everything is lush and blooming. Everything around it is… A symbol of light over darkness.
The desert blooms. Exactly as promised.
And I am so incredibly excited to visit Israel in the near future and meet its hospitable people. Many of them have already invited me on tours, to share local food and to show me around among the people.
See you soon, Israel.🇮🇱❤️🔥🪽