Happy Thanksgiving from Dr. Mike Evans and the Jerusalem Prayer Team

From the Holy City of the Great King, I give thanks to God and pray a blessing on America and on you. I am so thankful that America has been a refuge for my people. Without America, my entire family would have perished in the pogroms of Russia and the Holocaust of Europe. America helped birth Israel and has been Israel's best friend since that miraculous rebirth in 1948.

But the links between America and the Jewish people go much further back into history. Columbus began his voyage to the New World on August 3, 1492, just three days after the last Jews were forced to leave Spain. As Columbus witnessed ships filled with Jewish people leaving the port of Palos (which delayed his own departure), he noted in his log book that the expulsion deadline was Tisha B'Av—the date Jews mourn the destruction of both the First and Second Temples. Columbus referred to the Second Temple as the "Second House” (Bayit Sheini in Hebrew), a term used only in Jewish sources, leading some historians to conclude that Columbus himself was of Jewish origin. His voyage of discovery laid the foundation for what would become the great friend of Israel, the United States of America.

The Jewish prayer of thanks begins "Baruch Atah Adonai”—"Blessed are you God” and then goes on to list the things for which you are thankful. I want you to know that I have been praying for you repeatedly here in Jerusalem, and that I give thanks to God for you and your love for His Chosen People.