Picture this: you walk into a room full of thousands of proud, unapologetic people waiving Israeli and American flags. They’re spiritually and morally grounded in both their Zionism and their fight against antisemitism. After celebrating Israel tonight, tomorrow morning they’ll be on Capitol Hill lobbying against the IRGC, for financial accountability on college campuses, and for a strong US-Israel relationship.

This, my friends, is a snapshot of the Christian’s United for Israel (CUFI) Summit. Every year, thousands of their over 10 million members descend on Washington D.C. to learn, to celebrate, and to advocate for Israel and the Jewish people. (Shoutout to our very own Shari Dollinger Magnus, who is the Co-Executive Director of CUFI!)

As a “Jewish professional”, I attend quite a few Jewish and pro-Israel conferences. I just attended as a guest for the second year in a row, and when I tell you it is one of my absolute favorite events of the year, that’s not sarcasm. I always leave feeling recharged knowing there are literally millions of Christians around the world mobilizing for us.

If I’m honest, though, the reaction from my Jewish peers and followers online was less than heartwarming. Skepticism. Cynicism. Deep doubt. But WHY do they support us? Is it only to bring on “the end of times”? Don’t they just want to convert us? What’s in it for them? (Watch my video to know the real answers.)

Don’t get me wrong. I too originally entered the room with my guard up. Afterall, this is what both history and the intergenerational trauma in our bones has shown us is safe. 

But my experience with CUFI, both at the past two summits and my ongoing growing relationships with those I’ve met through them, have shown me that just as most people do not know a single thing about who the Jewish people truly are and what we believe, most Jewish people have zero clue who Christian Zionists are as well. To me, this is both hypocritical and unproductive.

Shabbos Kestenbaum spoke at the summit and told the Jewish community plainly: come meet your Christian allies. Get to know them. I couldn’t agree more. At CUFI, I had conversations I never would’ve had otherwise — real, honest ones. We had deep, honest conversations. I asked them who they were, what they believe, what their life experiences have been with Israel, God, the Jewish people, and more. And vice versa. Many Christians had genuine questions for me about the Jewish people, what we think and believe, about Israel, and more. More than one person told me they wished they had more chances to learn straight from us (but felt nervous to ask). Did I agree with them on everything? No way. (They don’t agree with everything amongst themselves.) But the one thing we were all genuinely dedicated to was supporting Israel and the Jewish people. 

This week’s parsha, Devarim, opens with Moshe admitting something hard: “Eicha esa levadi”, how can I carry you alone? His answer: bringing in capable leaders from every tribe to carry it with him. Like Moshe, we simply cannot do this alone. And we don’t have to. We have millions of allies ready to carry this with us. We just have to learn to trust them enough to let them.