by Shannon Smith | Aug 24, 2026 | News from the Land, Newsletters
On a hot August day, our CFOIC Heartland team was invited by friends on the ground to spend a full day exploring the hills of Judea. We were told that something extraordinary was happening in the region and that we needed to see it with our own eyes. So, we drove...
by Shannon Smith | Aug 17, 2026 | News from the Land, Newsletters
Are we still at war? I have been writing this column “War Diaries” for over two years now and for the most part have documented the feelings, motivations and realities that we are facing in Israel since that terrible day on 7 October 2023. For most of that time,...
by Shannon Smith | Aug 11, 2026 | News from the Land, Newsletters
When we at CFOIC Heartland speak about the people of Judea and Samaria, we often use the word “resilience.” It is the resilience to build a home in a place that is not always easy, driven by faith, conviction, and a deep love for the Land of Israel. It is the...
by Shannon Smith | Jul 10, 2026 | News from the Land, Newsletters
There is a famous Jewish fable of a poor man, in despair, approaching his rabbi for much needed advice. “Rabbi,” he says, “my house is tiny, but my family is large. We barely have enough space to breathe in our own home. What should we do?” The rabbi gives him a...
by Shannon Smith | Jun 10, 2026 | News from the Land, Newsletters
There is a most interesting pattern of storytelling in Jewish history. From the moment we first recounted the story of the Exodus from Egypt, storytelling has always been one of our greatest strengths and an important mechanism in carrying our national memory from...
