Rabbi Tuly Weis talks to Paul Calvert about Israel 365 and how he views modern Israel.

Rabbi Tuly Weis

Paul: What is Israel 365?

Rabbi Tuly: Israel 365 is a website where we teach Christians all about Israel and the biblical significance of Israel. We have a news website under our umbrella called Breaking Israel News, and we have a Bible website called the theisraelbible.com. We help them connect with Israel on a daily basis, 365 days of the year.

Paul: When did you start it and why did you start it?

Rabbi Tuly: I started Israel 365 right after making Alayah (returning to the land), right after my family moved to Israel six years ago. We started on January 1st because there is a verse in Deuteronomy that says that Israel is a special place, Israel is the land that God's eyes are on from the beginning of the year till the end of the year, so we started on January 1st. The idea is to focus people's eyes on the land every day from the beginning of the year until the end.

Paul: Can you see the Bible come alive through the stories that you put on?

Rabbi Tuly: That is what we do every day we are on the ground here, we are looking for evidence of the fulfilment of biblical prophecy and we see it, we see it every day. I mean the fact that you have Jews and Christians studying the Bible together in the Knesset, at the seat of power so to speak for Jerusalem, for Israel, for the world, is the fulfilment of the Bible and the Bible is coming true. You know it says in Isaiah that at the end of days all the nations of the world are going to flow to Jerusalem and they are going to come and are going to say "teach us the Bible, teach us the Torah." From Zion shall come forth the Torah, shall come forth the instruction and that is just one example of how we are seeing the Bible being fulfilled every day.

Paul: We live in an age of fake news, where social media has made everyone a reporter. How important is this website when it comes to getting accurate news out?

Rabbi Tuly: We have found by talking to our friends and our readers all over the world that they just do not have access to accurate news when it comes to Israel. They are watching the mainstream media and these outlets are very hostile towards Israel. So they are seeing a skewed view where they are making Israel look like a war torn battlefield, when in reality it is a beautiful vibrant place where the Jewish people are returning from the four corners of the Earth, just as it says throughout the Bible. There is miracle after miracle on a daily basis in the streets of Jerusalem.

Paul: What sort of stories do you follow?

Rabbi Tuly: We follow all aspects of news from a biblical perspective, so we are very honed in on security issues and on the threats facing Israel from the hostile neighbours. We are focused on the developments on the Temple Mount, the place where we believe the third temple will be built, and right now Jews aren't even allowed to go and pray there. So we are focused on the Temple Mount; we are focused on agriculture, the agricultural revolution that is happening throughout Israel; we are focused on all kinds of stories of human interest, people who are doing impressive things and miraculous things, prophetic things; and we are focused on Alayah the story of the Jewish people returning to the land. Breaking Israel News is a very interesting, fascinating and prophetic news website.

Paul: You are a Rabbi and you're Jewish, how important is this for the Christian community?

Rabbi Tuly: Well from the Jewish community we've always been focused on the land of Israel, we've been praying for the return to Israel since we've been exiled from here 2000 years ago. Christianity has a much more complex relationship to the Holy Land, I mean it's a long story, it's fascinating, but now Christians are shedding the history of Christian anti-Semitism and are looking to support the return of the people of Israel to the land of Israel. Millions and millions of Christians are standing with Israel for the very first time in our history and it is one of the most exiting promises and one of the most exciting things that are happening today.

Paul: Do you feel there is a very special bond between Christians and Jews?

Rabbi Tuly: It's something that I am dedicated to and proving a relationship between Christians and Jews. We are in a golden era of Jewish-Christian relationships that is nothing short of miraculous. My grandparents were holocaust survivors so when they hear the word Christian they kind of respond, they have a visceral, negative response. Many Jews have that, many Jews respond negatively to Christianity because of our long history and of persecution, but things have changed. The State of Israel has changed all that, the Church is now looking at Israel in a different way. Many Christians are rejecting replacement theology and saying that God didn't abandon the Jewish people, something that we have been saying all along, but now Christianity is coming along and saying that maybe in fact God is keeping His promises with Israel. So we are now able to finally develop meaningful relationships between Jews and Christians and we are using the Bible as our foundation. No longer is the Bible the source of division, but the Bible is the source of unity between Jews and Christians, it's unbelievable.