
<p>During one of my first trips to Israel nearly three decades ago, I spent an afternoon with a brilliant Jewish scholar. He was researching and writing a book on the Spanish Inquisition. We talked for hours about his findings. Have you ever wondered why Columbus sailed in search of a new land in 1492? Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand had issued an edict of ejection regarding the Jews. It stated that every person of Jewish descent had to leave Spain or be executed. Jewish businessmen went to Christopher Columbus, an Italian Jew, and pledged to finance his efforts to discover a new land. They purchased the ships that carried Columbus across the ocean to the shores of what would become America.</p>
<p>In 1776, when the 13 Colonies were fighting the British during the American Revolution, the colonial soldiers were poorly armed, starving to death, and on the verge of defeat. A Jewish banker from Philadelphia, Hyman Solomon, went to the Jews in America and Europe and gathered a gift of one million dollars. He gave the money to George Washington to buy clothes and arms to outfit the American troops. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness were born on American soil as a result of that gift.</p>
<p><img src="http://tool.donation-net.net/Images/Email/1032/us_one_dollar_bill_reverse.jpg" border="0" /></p>
<p>To show his appreciation, George Washington had the engravers of the U.S. one-dollar bill include a memorial to the Jewish people over the head of the American eagle. Look closely. You will find 13 stars of the Mogen David, the Star of Israel. Around that star is the cloudburst of the glory in the tabernacle. Our God-fearing President, George Washington, decreed that there must be a memorial to the Jewish people for the contributions they made to further this nation.  <br /> <br />America has been blessed because she has blessed the nation of Israel (Genesis 12:1-3). But America is in danger of moving away from the place of blessing to the place of cursing. The land-for-peace deals of recent years have placed Israel and the Jewish people in grave danger. Will you stand with me today in standing for Israel? </p>
<p><a href="http://jerusalemprayerteam.org/email/2012/1011-2.htm?dn=1032&amp;source=10101&amp;id=566928&amp;commid=336311738&amp;CFID=15671114&amp;CFTOKEN=86547869" target="_blank"><strong><span style="font-size: small;">Go To Jerusalem Parayer Center &gt;&gt;</span></strong></a></p>