"One of the many hidden blessings of my near-death experience was to discover how I can help other people reclaim their full life."  A true miracle story: Marcus survived two life-threatening brain hemorrhages after being hit by a car while crossing the street in Beverly Hills. Months and years of rehabilitation followed, along with a lot of complementary healing therapies in addition to traditional medicine. This journey led to his discovery of his personal healing abilities, blending hands-on deep-tissue techniques with medical intuition, combined with a blend of modalities and techniques he's studied over 25 years including acupressure, breathwork, cranio-sacral, energetic & intuitive healing, deep-tissue massage therapy, joint-alignment, reflexology, and yoga therapy. Born in London and a true citizen of the world, Marcus is also an actor, director, a yoga and meditation teacher, spiritual teacher and yes, an ordained (but not practicing) orthodox rabbi.  "My teacher Rabbi Sacks once said, 'Where what we want to do meets what needs to be done, that is where God wants us to be.' And that's why I'm volunteering in Israel."

Born in Ethiopia, half-Muslim and half Christian, Sarah was orphaned at 5 years old along with her brothers, 7 and 10, when their 30-year-old parents died just months apart. They were placed in an orphanage in Ethiopia. The children were adopted and raised by an Orthodox Jewish family in Chicago who already had four biological children of their own. They went on to adopt two more boys from Ethiopia as well. All the children converted to Judaism by choice in accordance to the highest Jewish law, when they became of age. Just months after October 7, Sarah and two of her brothers moved to Tel Aviv. "I had visited Israel many times and I just knew I had to come and help. I just have to be here with my people. This is where my heart is. " 

Caught between the tale of two Israels, Justin, 26, queer, creative, and curious is coming to Israel with his partner, Raphael, an Hispanic Christian, to experience Israel on his own terms. 

The two Israels? 

Justin's grandmother, Estelle, a feisty, dramatic heart-of-gold 90-year-old in Brooklyn, has been telling Justin stories of the Jewish homeland, The Holy Land, since he was a baby. They've also been fighting over the family mantel, "Drama Queen" since he was ten. Her dream to go to the Holy Land herself has never been fulfilled, and Justin feels a responsibility to fulfill this for her. But the hard reality is, Justin has been drawn in to the college campus LGBTQ narrative in the US which has branded Israel as colonial and an apartheid state. Honestly, Justin is skeptical, nevertheless, he's on his way for an adventure of a lifetime. 

 Nini, A Japanese convert to Judaism: "Even before coming to Israel, I knew what it feels like to be in a war firsthand. I know what it feels like to be displaced. I know what it feels like to run away from a familiar place to seek refuge somewhere else. I am accustomed to the sounds of bombardment. I understand what the Israelis feel - that's why I stand with Israel! I stand with the Jews!" 

"𝑇ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑘 𝑦𝑜𝑢, 𝐿𝑜𝑟𝑑, 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑚𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑠, 𝑒𝑛𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑜𝑢𝑠 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑒, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑢𝑛𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒.  𝑇ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑘 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑏𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑦 𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑒. 𝐼 𝑝𝑟𝑎𝑦 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑑𝑖𝑒𝑟𝑠, 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑐𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒. 𝑃𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑜𝑓. 𝑀𝑎𝑦 𝐼 𝑒𝑥𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑 𝑚𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑚𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑦, 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑒, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑚𝑒, ℎ𝑢𝑚𝑎𝑛 𝑎𝑠 𝐼 𝑎𝑚."

When I decided to volunteer in Israel, I always knew in my heart that I wanted to focus my activities on helping soldiers. I want to vary the places and activities I join, however, a criteria must be met that they should involve soldiers. After all, when the war broke out, they rose to the occasion, risking their lives to save what could be saved and protect those they loved. 

I hope I've been able to warm up their hearts even for a moment and give them a reminder that people love them and support them no matter what the rest of the world says.

At the end of the day, it's all about duty, honour, and love.

This guy is very compelling - just not sure what story we want to build around him yet. 

two thoughts: this is Sue Jones, A US Navy Veteran and an amazing Christian volunteer. We can focus on just her, or I'm wondering if we want a group of Christians, or if she could bring a small group of people from her church who have never been to Israel... 

thoughts?