In the weeks and months following the October 7th terrorist attack, Jewish people worldwide have felt greater pain, fear, and sadness than in any time since the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945. The suffering endured by our brethren in Israel is undoubtedly far greater than what we in the diaspora have endured, but the anguish is there, nonetheless. With all of this all being true, I’m left asking myself this one very poignant question. Why is it that I am happier and prouder to be a Jew today than in any other time in my life?
Part of it has to do with the fact that everything unfolding before us seems to validate my belief system. As someone who believes in the legitimacy of the Torah, I never thought I would feel as though I was living through the story of Purim. Purim tells of a time when a leader of Persia put forth a plan to wipe out the Jewish people, only to be defeated and destroyed. Here we are today, seeing Israel pushing forward and closing in on its destruction of Hamas, the terrorist group that brutally attacked Israel on October 7th. Hamas, an arm of Iran, the country which in ancient times we knew as Persia, and a country who sees it as their sacred mission is to destroy Israel, is perhaps setting itself up for a repeat of the Purim story.
A second part of why I feel as I do is the upcoming holiday of Passover. Passover, a holiday telling of Israel’s redemption from slavery in Egypt through a slew of miracles, seems more realistic today than ever before. There are those who will look at the Torah and say it is filled with stories based in fantasy, and yet here we are, as a Jewish people, facing hardships unlike any other people on the planet, and to be frank, in need of miracles. For me, the story of Passover helps me to believe in those miracles and it gives me hope. It does, for lack of a better way of saying it, show us that God has been and always will be on our side. Perhaps that explains why no other people in the world have had to endure more hatred than the Jewish people. A people that comprises a mere .02% of the world’s population, a little under 16 million of the planet’s 7.88 billion people causes what many see as an unexplainable obsession. Perhaps it is because as the Chosen People, we are the light of the world. Those who align with us share in that light, and those who do not, hate us for being that light. It’s a burdensome life indeed, but one of which being part of makes me very proud and eternally grateful.
It pains me that I even have to write this letter to you. It would have been my hope that the highest ranking Jewish politician in American history would be someone I could see as loyal to Israel and the Jewish people. However, in light of your recent comments it is apparent that your priorities and motivations must come into question.
I am not someone who believes that you do not have a right to disagree with the position of the Israeli government. You do not have to like Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. What you do need to do though, is understand the power of your platform and the consequences of your words. For you to state at this point in time that Prime Minister Netanyahu has lost his way and that Israel needs new elections makes you seem like a traitor to your Jewish people. It is not about the merits of the argument itself. Maybe Israel will need new leadership, and a 2 state solution with real partners in peace is something that certainly can be discussed, but to do this now is irresponsible and dangerous to Jews all over the globe and extremely empowering to Hamas and all parties wishing to obliterate Israel and kill Jews worldwide. Furthermore, if your response is that you are a U.S. Senator, not an Israeli Member of Knesset, if you do not realize that your comments put America in danger as well, maybe it is time New York held elections and elected new leadership in the Senate.
I would like to believe your motives are pure and that you made your comments because you believe it is the most swift and secure path to peace, but it certainly appears to many as though your comments show you to be a Jew 3rd, an American 2nd, and a politician first. I would feel otherwise Senator Schumer, but the one thing I am not accusing you of is being stupid. When looking at the old and famous Arab proverb, ” the enemy of my enemy is my friend”, and seeing how your comments subsequently make you seem like a friend to the likes of Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, I must ask you this question. Are you trying to curry favor with the certain elements within your state and within the country? Do you feel as though ingratiating yourself to those who want to see every Jew killed will help you in the future? If so, I have just one thing to say to you. Kapos were killed by the Nazis as well.
I am not litigating why your comments at this point in time were as harmful as they were, because as I mentioned, I am not calling you stupid, Even though I would almost prefer to do so. I am calling you at best misguided, at worst a traitor. Not so much for your opinions, but for the timing of saying it to the world. You have a responsibility, like it or not, not just to the Democrat Party, but to the American people and your fellow Jews. In standing in opposition to the Israeli government while it is fighting for the survival of the State of Israel, Jews worldwide and in many ways freedom in the western world, you have shirked your responsibilities, and I, as a proud Jew and American will not be silent. It is my genuine belief that you do not speak for most Jews and very likely not for most Americans.
I could not write this unless I really felt this way. To make a statement such as this, that Israel is my gift on my birthday, and not be a genuine sentiment, would be the worst kind of virtue signaling. But in every minute of this day, as lovely as the birthday wishes from friends and family may be, I find myself truly overcome with emotion when I realize that as a Jew, I am able to have this birthday because there is a nation that has my back.
It is not uncommon to take stock on one’s birthday, identifying the things that are going right and the things that are going wrong. As someone who is notorious for analysis, self or other, I inevitably have that in my head for most of this day. But I keep going back to this. As I sit here safe and secure in my home in South Florida, there are Israeli men and women, Jewish men and women, doctors, lawyers, teachers, food servers, bartenders, construction workers, bus drivers, people from all walks of life and all professions and vocations going to battle for the safety of the State of Israel and the Jewish people worldwide. As someone who is consistently cognizant of Jewish birthdays that were ruined or lost by Jew hatred over the years, I can’t help but feel incredibly grateful for the opportunity to celebrate mine in safety and as a free man.
I think of my friends and family in Israel who have children fighting against evil, literally putting their lives on the line on a daily basis. To this I say the following. If God is listening to me on my birthday I have the following plea. Please keep all our soldiers safe, bring back the hostages, and crush the evil that threatens us. Give my friends and family the strength they need to support their sons and daughter, brothers and sister, fathers and mothers fighting for our safety. What do I want for my birthday? I want the opportunity one year from now to thank God for the fact that the war is over and our threats are eliminated. I want Israel to be whole, I want the Jewish people to be whole, and subsequently the world to be a safer place. Is that too much to ask? Maybe. But it’s my birthday, and on your birthday you are allowed to ask for things.
While I know that you are currently very busy “NOT running for President”, and that I am neither a resident of California nor someone who can likely do anything to help you in your future endeavors, I feel there is an urgent matter that requires your immediate and unequivocal attention and as a result I will not remain silent.
Even though it is my understanding that you have no actual authority over the Oakland City Council, as Chief Executive of the most populated state in the country, your response to what took place at the reason session is of critical importance. In response to the City Council voting on a resolution calling for cease fire in Gaza and not condemning Hamas, your response was very clear.
Referencing the vote you said, “Hamas is a terrorist organization. They must be called out for what they are: evil”.
While I appreciate the moral clarity your statement represents, in light of what took place and statements made during the session, your response was weak and insufficient, and I will explain why I believe that to be the case. For you to make your statement of how you condemn Hamas while failing to call out those who made the comments, comes across as though you are attempting to pander to both sides.
Here are 5 different comments made by members of the Council.
“Calling Hamas a terrorist organization is ridiculous, racist and plays into genocidal propaganda that is flooding our media and that we should be doing everything possible to combat.”
“I support the right of Palestinians to resist occupation, including through Hamas, the armed wing of the unified Palestinian resistance.”
“Hamas is not a terrorist organization just because the U.S. and Israel deems it so. Hamas is a resistance organization that is fighting for the liberation of Palestinian people in their land.”
“The notion that this was a massacre of Jews is a fabricated narrative. Many of those killed on October 7, including children, were killed by the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces).”
“There have not been beheadings of babies and rapings. Israel murdered their own people on October 7.”
These cynical statements, not one of which can be substantiated, reflect a mindset at the session that is as evil as the criminals they are supporting, and subsequently do not merit the benefit of a response from an average citizen. However, you are the Governor of California, and you once said that we can “rely on California”. As one of your responsibilities is to see to it that the citizens of your state are safe, seeing as your state has a population of 1,234,500 Jews, your failure to confront hateful anti-Semitic rhetoric, should make anyone question whether or not we truly can rely on California. As the Jewish vote is important, not handling this properly certainly does nothing in your efforts to “NOT run for president”.
Regardless of your future political aspirations, it is clear to anyone paying attention that you wish to stand apart from the rest of the pack. With so much of the rest of the back being self-serving and weak, this is an opportunity for you to actually stand out. Should you squander this opportunity you will be showing a weakness that will likely set you back in whatever additional political ambitions you may have moving forward as it will show a weakness in character many people will not want from a leader.
There is no question that the release of hostages has brought joy to many people. The mere fact that all of the innocent men, women and children kidnapped on October 7th are not already dead, is in itself something for which we should be grateful. The moral and political quagmire this puts Israeli officials in is one no legitimate government should ever have to go through, but it exists nonetheless. How do they determine when to continue the operation against Hamas and not put Israelis still held in captivity at more risk of being harmed, or worse, killed? Maybe even more complex, is how to keep the resolve of the military and the civilian population of Israel on a high enough level to see this through to the end.
The answer lies very simply in maintaining and understanding who we are fighting. Hamas have not all of a sudden become good people because they released people they had no right holding in the first place. Maybe even more significantly, every single person they release they have already declared as being someone they ultimately wish to kill. Let us not forget that their charter very clearly states that they want the destruction of Israel and death to all Jews around the world. If we remember that, we realize the most important point in moving forward. They released the hostages because it benefitted them. Full stop. They were not doing it out of mercy or kindness or out of a desire to make peace with us. They did it for any number of reasons, the most likely being that they were being so crushed by the Israeli military that this was their only way of catching their breath and living to fight another day. But there are other possible reasons as well. Public opinion being one of them. To the ignorant and the weak, sadly 2 groups solidly represented, Hamas is looked at through a more favorable light today, rather than seeing them as the barbarians that they are, the evil terrorists that slaughtered over 1200 Israelis on October 7th in unimaginable ways. They are now seen as having enough of a heart to release elderly women and children. A ruse too many people will fall for. The third possibility, and the one that opens up the door to issues far more treacherous, is that the command came from Qatar, and that there are deals being made behind the scenes, deals that likely do not benefit Israel in the long run, that require what can be presented to the world as a show of good faith.
Ultimately, none of this matters if we remember that Hamas can not be trusted to do anything for any other reason than their own benefit, and that what benefits them most is Israel’s destruction. It is critical that those in power in Israel make it clear that the illusion of control over the situation by Hamas over these past few days remains just that, an illusion. Israel made this deal for one reason and one reason only. It values human life. A concept foreign to Hamas.
It is critical that the work being done off the battlefield continues as well. Our cry for Never Again does not diminish because the criminals released some of the hostages. Our cry for Never Again must continue until those wishing to annihilate us are wiped off the face of the earth. We have every right to be happy and thankful to God and those who made it possible for the return of some of the hostages, but we must not let that fool us into thinking everything will be alright, because it won’t as long as this evil exists.
Today, Sunday November 26 on CNN, I watched a segment of Fareed Zakaria’s GPS (Global Public Square). While I have been both impressed and grateful for Zakaria’s moral clarity since October 7th, I found myself with concerns regarding 2 of his guests. In this segment he was discussing the situation in Israel with Richard Haas, who among other things was the Director of Policy Planning for the State Department during the George W. Bush administration. His other guest in the same segment was Robin Wright, a foreign affairs analyst and writer for the New Yorker. While they both displayed an expertise that comes with their experience, and based on much of what they said I am willing to give them some benefit of the doubt regarding their overall intentions, they also both verbalized very dangerous and flawed perspectives.
Starting with Richard Haas, his point about Israel taking a different approach towards the military operation, one that is less on display and less focused on larger targets has some merit from the perspective of how it impacts public opinion. However, when public opinion turned on Israel almost immediately when it justifiably retaliated for one of the most barbaric attacks in modern history, it understandably becomes less likely that Israel will focus too much on what other people think. Haas then went on to discuss the need for a political solution and how discussions should already be starting on how to move forward. Again, assuming his intentions are honorable, the mistake Haas is making is applying rational thinking to irrational people. If the leaders in Israel were to make that same mistake, they would be signing off on Israel’s destruction.
Regarding the comments from Robin Wright, she actually completely lost my faith in her judgment in one sentence. When she discussed the difficulty of the 2 sides having talks, she spoke of the problem in starting any discussion when saying, “Israel wants to destroy Hamas, while Hamas wants to destroy Israel”. The problem with these words may be subtle, but they are also significant. They imply that the mission to destroy Hamas is somehow equivalent to the the goal Hamas has of destroying Israel. It is a mindset that comes across as ignoring the fact that Israel is a sovereign nation where Jews, Christians and Muslims are free to live in peace, while Hamas is a terrorist organization subjugating its population to their laws and methods. There is no equivalency between the two, and Wright is either revealing a poor moral position, or has not thought out her words and the message that they send.
A war against evil is not the same as a dispute between two parties, regardless of how violent that dispute may be. To approach the war in Gaza as anything but a mission to destroy that evil is a an approach that does not work for Israel and ultimately will not work for the rest of the western world. I believe if Robin Wright would be looking at this with more clarity she might have said that their actually is a possibility that Palestinians and Israelis share a common goal, a goal for peace. That statement alone would be questionable, but comparing 2 sets of people is a more credible premise than comparing a democratic country to a terrorist organization.
People such as Haas and Wright are not the problem per se, but words they say can easily be manipulated in favor those who are the problem. If they are being put on display as experts, paying attention and sometimes challenging their words becomes an obligation we must adhere to, or suffer the consequences.
For those of us who feel deeply connected to the events that have taken place in Israel since October 7th, the return of 13 hostages should be reason to celebrate. Intellectually we feel tremendous joy as we see children coming home and families at least partially reunited. I want to feel like celebrating, for it is on some levels a joyous day, but the psychological warfare being perpetrated by Hamas, leaves us collectively as a people with a small degree of happiness created by the events of the day, and simultaneously saddened by the pain and suffering of those still held captive and the families desperate for their safe return.
The emotional roller coaster this is putting Israel and the Jewish people on is undoubtably part of Hamas’s strategy. It is of course to be expected, as the release of hostages is not being done out of kindness or mercy, it is being done out of necessity for Hamas. It is no secret to anyone that they needed a cessation in fighting to regroup. It is also no secret that they want to kill every Jew on the planet. So their willingness to make a deal indicates that they feel they can gain significantly from the time it is giving them. So while we are thrilled to see these people freed, it just magnifies a harsh reality. This is far from over.
The other part of it that is tough on our collective psyche is that while we are happy there are 37 more hostages to be released in the coming days, each day this takes place there is an emotional drain felt by so many. What compounds it more than anything is the fact that in a few days when they are freed, there will still be close to 200 additional hostages held by Hamas. Everywhere we turn, the joy we want to feel today is tarnished by the reality created by Hamas.
What we must do is continue to stay strong in our support for the Israeli government and our heroes in the IDF. The only way we can once again feel complete joy is to see this evil wiped out, allow all our people to have time to mourn in peace and security, and rebuild our morale, and if at all possible, not allow the mind games of Hamas to bring us down. That is just one more victory they have no right to achieve. So for now, look at the picture above, and get joy from the knowledge that this is one family that will be complete once again, and for that we thank God.
The simple answer is that there is no simple answer. Visuals are important. They provide confirmation and proof. Maybe most importantly, they alter perspective. What it comes down to is that watching the footage makes a difference for some, but not for others.
When the war broke out, U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken very professionally and very clearly expressed America’s support for Israel. But later, after he watched a screening of the torture and murder committed by Hamas he looked like a different person. His words of support did not diminish, if anything they got stronger, but the look on his face and in his eyes was that of a man who saw something that would haunt him for the rest of their life. Martha Maccallum of Fox News, someone who always comes across as a sympathetic figure, was so emotional after a viewing of the events that she appeared to have to control herself from breaking down, and has seemed somewhat on an emotional edge ever since. This tells you that whether you support the administration or not, and whether you like Fox News or not, these 2 people, representatives of both, are both human beings with a heart. As one is a journalist and the other America’s Secretary of State, it is probably helpful that they watched the film, but when push comes to shove, these are not the people who need to see it the most.
The people who need to see it the most are the protestors, many who think they know the facts but in reality have no clue. People who scream genocide when it does not apply and regurgitate the crap that Hamas are resistance fighter. Youth who think they are protesting for a good cause when they shout “Free Palestine” and “From the river to the sea” should see the worst of the worst. If it makes them sick, all the better. Then there are the Susan Sarandons and Angelina Jolies of the world who cry foul because Israel has the gall to defend itself, and speak as though they are diplomats working for the Palestinians against the Jews. I want them to watch every minute of footage of the barbaric torture and murder committed by the animals of Hamas that they hold so dear. Then there is Bernie Sanders, the Jewish traitor, who not only needs to watch it, he needs to watch it on a loop, over and over again. If he has any heart at all, he should watch it till he gets so ill he needs to be hospitalized, and while in the hospital he should stop and think about his responsibility to not betray his people and turn a blind eye to their suffering over decades, even centuries.
Those who do not need to watch it are those of us who feel the devastation whether we watch it or not. I still consider watching every minute of footage so that I can speak from complete knowledge about what took place, but then I ask myself this question. Why is it not bad enough for people to know that Jews were tortured, and that over 1200 were murdered in the year 2023? Why will it only be bad if they can see the gruesome details? As my friend Rabbi Amiel Novoseller said regarding this subject, “I don’t need to watch it. All I need to do zecher Amalek”. “Zecher Amalek, Hebrew for “remember Amalek” references the Amalekites, descendants of Isaac’s son Esau in the bible, who were the original haters of the Israelites and were known for brutalizing and murdering Jewish men, women and children indiscriminately and mercilessly. Rabbi Novoseller goes on to explain that in remembering Amalek, he knows all he needs to know about those looking to destroy the Jewish people today and what they are capable of doing in pursuit of that goal.
It’s a sad state of affairs when you need to make a case why murdering over 1200 Jews was a heinous criminal activity, but in this world lacking in moral clarity and empowered by misery, it is indeed the case. The fight is one that needs to be fought, and whether we make sense of it or not, we need to confront it head on, or the cancer causing it will grow out of control, and that is something we can not allow to happen.
The hatred displayed towards the Jewish people over the centuries is one of the most fascinating phenomena in world history. While I make no claims that we are by any means perfect, nothing that has ever been done to us has ever shown anything resembling proportionately. Yet as fascinating as it is, enough to demand further discussion, what it is as well is highly consequential. Societies have self-destructed around their hatred for the Jewish people, and while every empire that either expelled us, killed us, or both, no longer exists, the Jewish people remain. Which lends itself to the most important question of all. Why, with the history being as it is, do people not learn from the mistakes of so many others? Why do they not realize that no matter what they do, no matter how much they hurt us or diminish our number, we will endure, and that those who do not learn will ultimately vanish into obscurity with nothing more than a legacy of greed, hatred and murder?
I found myself inspired to write this after learning more about the newly elected president of Argentina, Javier Milei. I don’t know enough about the man to give a credible opinion, but I do know that he has ascended to power against incredible odds, he is unconventional, and without question, at least as things stand today, very polarizing. However, he won, and maybe part of the force behind his victory comes from understanding the Jewish people and their importance on this earth. An understanding that inevitably leads to a value system that is more productive than destructive. He has declared his intention to be an ally of the United States and Israel, has stated that he will move the Argentine Embassy from Tel-Aviv to Jerusalem, and as you will see in the video below, recognizes a force that exists within Judaism.
The newly elected President of Argentina explaining how the Rebbe's talks were memorized and transcribed for publication. pic.twitter.com/1H0k2yGYIn
There are those who will take issue with the inference that their is something magical or mystical about Judaism and the Jewish people. They will say that to even imply something along those lines is an irrational, even crazy way of thinking. But let’s look at the reality. There are 16.5 million Jews in the world and 1 Jewish country. There are 1.9 billion Muslims in the world and between 30-40 Muslim countries. If you believe that thinking the fact that people see the Jews as the oppressor or the threat is not coming from something deeper, I contend that your thinking is irrational or crazy, because nothing about it makes sense. To be frank, nothing about it has ever made sense.
As one stands on our planet, they look up at what first looks like a relatively small orange ball in the sky, the sun, and that orange ball illuminates the earth. You could have a storm for days, clouds maybe even for weeks, but the sun always provides light, and when unobstructed gives off a radiant glow. If trees are burnt to the ground or bombs are dropped, eventually the smoke clears and the sun is there to give us light. The Jewish people are like the sun. We are the light of the earth, and just like the sun we only appear to some to be small. The closer you get to us, the larger we become. Those that bask in the sunlight grow and endure, and those that seek the darkness indeed find that as well, but if they are there for too long, they get mired in anger and despair. Ultimately, since they can not leave the darkness, they have nothing left but to hate the source of the light. Antisemitism is that darkness, and the Jewish people are the light. That is why so much of antisemitism over the centuries has been based in a struggle for which people have decided to hold Jews accountable. That is why every Jew hater on the planet likely has one other thing in common. They are not happy people. And that is why more often than not, Jews who push themselves away from their roots, usually deal with significant other struggles as well. It is not about religious observance, it is about understanding that you are part of something monumentally important.
There are those who will read this and hate me just for the fact that I am talking about what I am and who I come from as being something special. Who I am falls on me, and the constant effort to eliminate my flaws and get better are a lifelong challenge. But yes, what I am and where I come from is indeed very very special, and from that I will never back down nor apologize. Deep down those that hate us, do so because they know it to be true, and instead of sharing in the light we so enthusiastically want to offer, they will likely choose to support a cause that will attempt to extinguish that light. Like so many before them, they will fail, and they will be the ones who will disappear forever.
While we must always be mindful of that fact that the most difficult and dangerous war is being waged on the ground by our heroes of the IDF (Israel Defense Forces), the Public Relations war is more critical today than ever before. We are not in a position to take this lightly, and statements such as, you are preaching to the choir or, they won’t listen anyway, are defeatist and prevent some from contributing in a crucially beneficial manner.
On some levels we must fight fire with fire. The reason why so many misinformed lost souls out there believe Israel to be an Apartheid state and colonizer, is because those who hate us ram the lies down their throats. We must not only tell the truth, we must do it often and relentlessly. If you tell someone a lie 3 times they often start to see it as the truth. The truth can be our ally, but not if we keep it to ourselves.
On November 15th I spoke to a group of teens at a High School near Albany, NY. The student organizer asked me the most important question I heard all day. What do we do to make sure the Holocaust is never forgotten. My answer not only applies to the events in Europe during Nazi-occupation, they apply to today as well. Constantly tell people the truth. Don’t be afraid to be redundant or annoying. You can never say it too often or too loudly. The goal should be to drown out the voices of those who wish to kill us, and unless we are relentless, that will not happen. Tell your friends, to tell their friends. Don’t assume people know, be they allies or foes. Flood your world and beyond with the truth, for the truth is indeed our ally.
A spiritual global war has begun, and while the death toll nowhere nearly qualifies as what we would call a world war, make no mistake. The fate of the world is hanging in the balance, and should the scales get tipped in the wrong direction, the devastation will be enormous and more catastrophic than we have ever witnessed.
Having a positive outlook and being a person who spreads light into a dark world is important, but we live in times when a hard dose of reality must take precedent over all else. It is vital that we do not allow ourselves to be intimidated or frightened from telling the truth. Allowing someone else to dictate the terms of your very existence debases the gift of life given to us by God, and to allow someone to mark us as a racist for stating the facts, handcuffs us into submission. Between 1933 and 1945, Germans were not being called dangerous because they were born in Germany, or because they were white, they were called dangerous because they were ruled by a Nazi party that made much of the country follow their instructions and carry out their evil intentions. So too, to make the very accurate and critical statement that the world has a rapidly growing Muslim extremist problem, is not racist, it’s factual. One important fact is that the people in the Muslim world who enjoy their freedoms need to recognize we share a common enemy. If the western world wants to avoid a descent into another Dark Ages, the leaders of the west must start to identify the problem, for if they do not, life as we know it, will either be taken from us, or horribly changed forever.
How is it being done? They have the physical forces on the ground, most conspicuously controlled by Iran. However, the opportunistic, two-faced approach from Qatar, a country that funds the poison in American universities, is at least as heinous and destructive. One is attacking head on, while the other infiltrates from within.
The problem we are facing can best be illustrated by looking at 2 recent days. October 7th and October 8th. Everyone who is open, honest and even slightly decent, knows that the shocking and surprise attack that took place on October 7th was cruel, evil and barbaric to an extent not witnessed in the modern era. And yet, the victim, the Jewish people and the State of Israel, were ambushed again the very next day. Nowhere near the same devastating way as the day before, but in a clearly calculated, planned and coordinated effort to pour salt on our collective wounds. If you believe that the demonstrations that “popped up” the next day, before Israel even began its retaliation, were not part of the plan, then I want to tell you about this bridge between Manhattan and Brooklyn that I can get you at a cheap price.
I have known enough Muslims in my life to know that at their core, they are decent people like everyone else. But when any group has a growing element at the top that has learned how to tap in and poison the minds of a significant segment of society, a dangerously significant percentage of people can be swayed to commit evil, or at the very least, support it. This is what we are seeing today with those who want the destruction of Israel, the Jewish people and the whole western world. But to fool ourselves into believing that the problem only exists in the Middle East, is to fight a battle while surrendering the war. When we see the throngs of people in the world’s biggest cities, siding with terrorists and believing reinvented facts, we must realize that to leave this ignored, it to accept a new world order that will cost millions of lives and a descent into a world no civilized person will want to live in.
Ultimately this problem can only be solved by those with the power to do so. Every western leader that values the freedom their country provides them must stand up and be counted. It starts with supporting Israel, the country fighting the battle on the front lines. While it is true that it is fighting for its survival, taking actions that provide resistance to Israel’s victory is opening the door to a global catastrophe. Besides emboldening those looking to destroy the west, losing Israel, a country critical, not only strategically but militarily, is waving a white flag before taking the battlefield. This means the leaders of the free world must support Israel’s efforts to destroy Hamas and any adversary threatening its existence. This means these very same world leaders can not be intimidated by the protests in their streets and acts of hate and aggression that allow the inmates to run the proverbial asylum.
If this sounds like harsh medicine, it should. The disease that must be eradicated is spreading by the day, and the survival of the world as we know it today may very well depend on it.
As someone who is contact with many of my fellow Jews, I believe that many share the following overall sentiment when I say, I am sorry, but….
As a Jew, I am sorry you do not realize that their is no moral equivalency between a terrorist organization and a sovereign, democratic country.
I am sorry that you can not distinguish between an organization calling for the extermination of 16 million people and a country wiping out that organization for the sake of their very existence.
I am sorry you are so ignorant that you protest without knowing any facts, or that you are so stupid that when you read them you are so clueless that all remains is your ability to follow a mob.
I am sorry that you feel that just because you got into a school with a reputation for having a high intellectual standard, that somehow makes you smarter than everyone else, and that instead all your actions do is highlight your lack of understanding of history and morality and lower the overall standard of your institution.
I am sorry that you do not know the true history of what has taken place in the Middle East in any version of recorded history. You clearly are ignorant to the fact that the Jewish people are the true indigenous people of the region and that what we call Palestinians today is phony construct, a people made up of displaced Jordanians and the closest thing to Arab gypsies.
I am sorry that you do not know that the plight of those people you refer to as Palestinians is a plight caused by decades of corruption, abuse, manipulation, oppression, and exploitation of their leadership. A leadership that has used them as tool in the advancement of their business plan, a plan that provided Yasser Arafat the means to own hotels in the Swiss Alps and Hamas leadership to lead lavish lifestyles in Qatar. A leadership in Gaza that has one use for its people, and that is as soldiers or pawns.
I am sorry that you are too biased or too stupid to realize that the only way Palestinians are ever free is for Israel to be victorious, even though I am fairly certain that a large number of you protesting and shouting Free Palestine are doing so more out of a deficiency in your own lives than out of a real concern for the well-being of anyone else.
I am sorry you do not know what genocide means. If Israel truly wanted to commit genocide, Gaza would be leveled by now, and rather than 10,000 deaths, a number that reflects Israel’s restraint as opposed to debunking it, their would be at least hundreds of thousands of deaths and this war would be over.
I am sorry that you do not have the intellectual or moral wherewithal to look at the events of October 7th till today and see the difference between the depraved barbarity of Hamas and the calculated and careful self-defense tactics of the State of Israel.
I am sorry that you have no clue that there are 16 million Jews and 1.9 billion Muslims in the world, and that Arabs live and work in Israel, are members of the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, and are even members of the military, while in the majority of Arab countries Jews have virtually no rights, and yet you call Israel an Apartheid state.
I am sorry you do not realize that those people you are supporting, will come for you when they are done with us.
I am sorry you hate Jews and do not think we have the right to survive.
I am sorry you do not realize that when we say Never Again, we mean it.
I am sorry if you thought this was an apology, but in case you did, let me be crystal clear. As a Jew, I am sorry you feel the way that you do, but frankly, I don’t give a damn.
So you say you want Palestine to be free, do you? Ask yourself what that means. See if you can come up with an answer other than the packaged lines being fed to you. Let me guess. “Israel’s committing genocide”. “The Israelis are occupiers and colonizers”. “Israel targets babies”. “Israel is an Apartheid State”. And of course this week number 1 hit on the charts, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”. Having fun marching in the streets? Found something to be part of have you? You might be in for a surprise. That’s if you even have the intellectual capacity to realize it when it happens. That’s if you are even smart enough to know what the term intellectual capacity means.
If this sounds like you are being ridiculed, that’s English for being made fun of, maybe you are not completely mindless. But if you are part of the group of people doing this in a Harvard or Penn, you certainly are nowhere close to as smart as you think you are. Your “cause” is actually calling for a true genocide. You are marching in support of a group that is calling for the death of 16 million Jews. For those who march but know nothing, which I suppose is most of you, 16 million Jews is not the number of Jews in Gaza, there are actually none(unless you count the Israeli military taking out the trash). It’s not even the amount of Jews in Israel. There are a little over 7 million Jews in what your puppet masters refer to as occupied land. 16 million Jews is actually the number of Jews on the planet. That is the number of people the group you are supporting wants to see killed.
Trying to debunk your logic, that is English for showing you why you are full of crap, would be a waste of time. You hear a lie once or twice, maybe it takes three times, and you decide it to be true. You make no effort to verify it-doubt you’ll even find the word verify on Tiktok-make no effort to determine if what you are marching for is harmful, and you have no concern for the consequences for yourself, let alone others. To say you are stupid is insulting to stupid.
So let me help you make some sense of it all.
“Israel’s committing genocide”. In a genocide the population becomes less. The population of Gaza has consistently increased (that means gotten bigger).
“The Israelis are occupiers and colonizers”. There were no Israelis in Gaza till Hamas invited us in to wipe them off the face of the earth.
“Israel targets babies”. Israel warns families with babies to get out of the way but Hamas doesn’t let them.
“Israel is an Apartheid State” You have no clue what Apartheid is anyway so why bother.
“From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”. As far as this one is concerned, if you can name the river or the sea, we’ll talk then. But I’m not worried.
While your behavior deserves this mockery, it is also pitiful and scary. In gravitating to an evil, cause just because that cause sees you as fresh meat and sucks you in, is all it takes to make you part of something, you either have a life of misery or come from a sad and pathetic past, and for this I pity you. But looking at your numbers is the scary part, not just because you are attacking me as a Jew, but because of what it bodes for the history of the planet. And as far as the consequences are concerned, if what the people you are marching for and for whom you are tearing down the pictures of babies being held hostage for, ultimately get what they want, I suspect they will give you 2 choices. Become one of them or die. But hey, your friends are doing it, so why not?
Despite all you might hear or read in the propaganda put out by Hamas or from their accomplices in the media, both conventional and social, the vast majority of Israelis and Jews worldwide do not want to see the deaths of innocent civilians. Israel always has, and always will show the greatest respect for human lives. It is not only the Jewish way, it is the way of all decent people around the world. But when we look at the events of October 7th when upwards of 1400 people were massacred in Israel, and the almost immediate calls for a cease fire after the first bomb was dropped on Gaza in response, it becomes clear that the term “ceasefire” for many is not about showing compassion for innocents, it is about handcuffing the Israeli military.
An organization whose prime mission is to destroy Israel and kill every single Jew alive, invades Israel, commits acts of barbarity and depravity on the worst level, runs home and basically shouts, don’t hurt me! We would expect that from the cowards that they are, but then we have their evil minions, some of whom work for the BBC, the British parliament, the U.S Congress, and of course Hamas’s good buddy, the United Nations, calling for a ceasefire almost immediately, it becomes clear how devious and well organized their grand plan has become. The call came so quickly it’s been used as justification for the UN to basically ignore the actions of Hamas and of course not even considering a UN resolution condemning the terrorist group’s actions, something far too predictable from the world’s most corrupt organization. In doing so, these willing parties knew very well that what they were really calling for in their phony cry for compassion towards the innocents. They were calling for the destruction of the State of Israel.
At least Hamas is honest. They come right out and say they want every Jew dead, but those who preach their gospel, calling Israel occupiers and colonizers and accusing Israel of committing genocide, are devious to the extent that the Nazis were during the Holocaust. When you call for an immediate ceasefire of an organization that is open about not stopping till Israel is theirs and all Jews are killed, you do so knowing that the ceasefire ultimately plays into the hands of the group that wants death from the other side. They very conveniently ignore Israel’s constant attempts for peace with the Palestinians over the years. They ignore the fact that Israel has not occupied Gaza since 2005. They ignore the perverse financial corruption, causing over 2 million Gazans to live in poverty while Hamas invests sick amounts of money into their war machine and terror tunnels while their leaders live abroad as billionaires. What do they see instead? They see Jews they as being in the way.
Make no mistake. The plan of Hamas, Iran and all their accomplices is a restructuring of the Middle East followed by a restructuring of the rest of the world. This is not paranoia, it’s fact, based on their very own often verbalized ambitions. But again, their major obstacle are those pesky Jews in Israel, the ones who have the gall to think they have the right to survive, and who have the military might to ensure that they do. All they are left with right now, is a futile attempt to handcuff Israel, slow them down to a halt, so they complete their evil mission. Their biggest problem however, is when coming from people with zero moral clarity, who have no authority over Israel, and with Israel having an obligation to its people, in Israel and beyond, the mission must been to its completion. So stop with your crocodile tears and put away the handcuffs, because the jig is up. It’s abundantly clear that your call for a ceasefire is not a call to see less people die, it’s a call to see more people die. The difference is, that many calling for a ceasefire want all the dead people to be Jews.
Non-Jewish construction worker in NY confronts man ripping down pictures of hostages
As Jewish people, we live in very difficult times. The vast majority of us have never witnessed this level of hatred directed towards us, and being done so out in the open without shame or restraint. Understandably, comparisons are being made to the 1930s in Germany, when Hitler rose to power, waged war on his neighbors, and began his attempt at annihilating the Jewish people. When you see angry mobs storm an airport in Dagestan looking for Jews to kill, anti-Semitic chants on the campuses of American universities, and throngs of people marching in support of the Palestinians, one can’t help at being alarmed by what is taking place.
But this is not 1938. We will not be led to slaughter like sheep and we will not remain silent. The spirit of many of the Jewish people can best be summed up by the words of former Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin. Words spoken in 1982.
I am not a Jew with trembling knees. I am a proud Jew with 3,700 years of civilized history. Nobody came to our aid when we were dying in the gas chambers and ovens. Nobody came to our aid when we were striving to create our country. We paid for it. We fought for it. We died for it. We will stand by our principles. We will defend them. And, when necessary, we will die for them again.
Israel is a country made up of millions of people with a similar sentiment. But unlike so many of its Muslim neighbors who are brainwashed to believe in the merit of dying as a martyr, Israelis value human life, are fighting not only for their survival, but for the survival of Jews around the world. This only helps to energize so many of us throughout the world who are standing up and making our voices heard. Jews of the world are as united as they have ever been, and our battle cry of Never Again is being put to the test as never before.
But there is another major difference between today and 1938. While it sometimes feels like the whole world hates us, thankfully this is not the case. World and local leaders, members of the media, athletes, actors and musicians from all over the world have spoken up against the attack on the Jewish people. Not just the heinous barbarism of October 7th, but the ignorant, irrational hatred displayed openly ever since. The lines between good and evil are clearly defined, but from what group of people each side comes from is not, and that my brothers and sisters, may be our biggest advantage in this war. In 1940’s Europe the Raoul Wallenbergs and Oskar Schindlers were few and far between. The righteous gentiles in Europe that hid Jews at their own peril, rightly stood out in their exceptionalism. Today is a different story. Today we are not fighting alone. Today there are people who proudly and honorably stand up in defense of the Jewish people and stand ready to fight against a very openly exposed evil.
There are those who maintain that this is the same as every other time in history. They maintain that nothing has changed and nothing ever will. While their suspicion is in some ways is helpful in keeping us alert, their overall sentiment is an incorrect one. The world is filled with people who have learned from the past, believe in right and wrong, and most importantly know how to distinguish between the two. The rise of social media has offered the truth to those who looked for it in the past, and fed fodder to the ignoramuses who would have gravitated to the garbage being spewed regardless of whether or not it came from a microphone or a computer. No decent person can feel good about the amount of evil we’ve seen from both perpetrators of evil and their supporters. But we have every reason to remain hopeful.
These are difficult times, and while they are likely to get worse before they get better, this is not 1938. This is 2023, and in 2023 good people will fight back in support of the Jewish people and the State of Israel. Good people already have, and will take the side of good against evil. No one knows at what cost, a cost that is already too high, but in the end we will prevail, because our fight is a righteous one, our survival depends on it, and we are not alone.
Thankfully, one of the Israelis taken hostage has been rescued. IDF soldier Ori Megidish was freed in operations that took place in Gaza last night. It is important to emphasize that she was not freed by Hamas, she was rescued by her fellow soldiers. What impact this will have moving forward will likely to be kept under wraps in order to avoid compromising Israel’s activities. It is heartwarming (to use the word used by a dear friend) to get this news. She is said to be in good physical health. Let’s continue to pray for good news regarding the rest of the hostages and to continue supporting the heroic members of the IDF.
In order to make the points needed in this piece there will be a number of definitions riddled throughout. The need for that comes from the astounding and alarming ignorance that prevails in much of global society. For far too many, progressiveness has become regressive. tolerance has become distinct bigotry, and liberalism has been completely hijacked. Independent thinking, or even thinking at all for that matter, has become a thing of the past.
A progressive is defined as a person advocating or implementing social reform or new, liberal ideas. I will address this definition after I address liberalism.
Tolerance is defined as “the ability or willingness to tolerate something, in particular the existence of opinions or behavior that one does not necessarily agree with.”
There are 2 definitions indicated for liberalism. For the sake of this discussion both are pertinent.
1:willingness to respect or accept behaviour or opinions different from one’s own; openness to new ideas.
2:a political and social philosophy that promotes individual rights, civil liberties, democracy, and free enterprise.
Now for some excerpts from the Hamas Charter.
The Covenant of the Islamic Resistance Movement was issued on August 18, 1988. The Islamic Resistance Movement, also known as the HAMAS, is an extremist fundamentalist Islamic organization operating in the territories under Israeli control.
The Islamic Resistance Movement is a distinguished Palestinian movement, whose allegiance is to Allah, and whose way of life is Islam.
Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it.
[Peace] initiatives, and so-called peaceful solutions and international conferences are in contradiction to the principles of the Islamic Resistance Movement.
The Day of Judgment will not come about until Moslems fight Jews and kill them.
If only it would be so easy that just reading the definitions and the facts would make an impact? However, since reading everything already quoted isn’t enough to change the minds of those seeing themselves as liberal or progressive, allow me to help.
By definition, liberalism is rooted in tolerance. Freedom of religion, freedom to express dissenting viewpoints, sexual freedom, and free elections, would likely all be necessary components of a liberal society. After all liberalism is a willingness to respect or accept behaviour or opinions different from one’s own; openness to new ideas.HAMAS, is an extremist fundamentalist Islamic organization. Since I know many of the mindless idiots trying to dispute this won’t bother, or get confused when not on TikTok, here are the definitions of the words extremist and fundamentalism, the two words at the core of your support.
Extremist a person who holds extreme or fanatical political or religious views, especially one who resorts to or advocates extreme action.
Fundamentalism :strict adherence to the basic principles of any subject or discipline.
Tolerance is more a precursor to liberalism than it is an opposing idea. As tolerance is “the ability or willingness to tolerate something, in particular the existence of opinions or behavior that one does not necessarily agree with.” Here are some fun tidbits for Queers for Palestine-the sister group of Blacks for the KKK and chickens for KFC- to rest their green and red hats on.
Palestine criminalizes same-sex sexual activity between men. Sentences include a maximum penalty of ten years’ imprisonment.
In October, Ahmad Abu Murkhiyeh, a 25-year-old gay man, was found decapitated in Hebron. He had sought asylum in Israel two years prior to his murder.
In February 2016, Hamas executed Mahmoud Ishtiwi – one of the group’s leading commanders – under allegations of gay sex and theft.
In August 2019, the Palestinian Authority announced that LGBT groups were forbidden to meet in the West Bank on the grounds that they are “harmful to the higher values and ideals of Palestinian society”.
So now we expand this to define a progressive as a person advocating or implementing social reform or new, liberal ideas.
Woman in the home of the fighting family, whether she is a mother or a sister, plays the most important role in looking after the family, rearing the children and embuing them with moral values and thoughts derived from Islam. She has to teach them to perform the religious duties in preparation for the role of fighting awaiting them.
In what sick world is that social reform or a liberal idea?
Allah is its target, the Prophet is its model, the Koran its constitution: Jihad is its path and death for the sake of Allah is the loftiest of its wishes.
In other words, equal rights for anyone who is Muslim and no one else.
Initiatives, and so-called peaceful solutions and international conferences, are in contradiction to the principles of the Islamic Resistance Movement.
Read this a half a dozen times and research why all peace treaties have fallen apart next time you have the gall to call Israelis the Nazis.
To quote the only good thing to be associated with the United Nations since Audrey Hepburn, (a great woman who worked with the UN to help feed starving children, not destroy Israel), palestine.unwomen.org states:
Approximately 15 per cent of married women in Gaza experienced incidents of sexual abuse by husbands over the previous year. More than half of these experienced it repeatedly (3+ times)
50 per cent of Palestinian women and 63 per cent of Palestinian men agreed that a woman should tolerate violence to keep the family together.
That means that when you shout Free Palestine and From the River to the Sea, you are supporting the suppression of half of humanity, and if you are a lesbian, you are marching against the acceptance of your lifestyle. Feel stupid yet?
I ask you. Does any of this sound liberal to you? Does it sound progressive? Is this rooted in what any sane person would call tolerance?
True liberals, such as my sister, have very tolerant and progressive ideas, rooted in what they conclude are ways of showing complete tolerance to all decent people and the pursuit of complete freedom of individuals to choose how they wish to live. However, she also recognize that fighting for your survival take precedence over all else, and that there is nothing liberal or progressive in supporting a movement that clearly defines one of its main objectives as the annihilation of an entire group of people, as Hamas does regarding the Jewish people. She recognize that there is nothing liberal about supporting a group that beheads babies and rapes and mutilates females of all ages. If you are someone who identifies as a Progressive or Liberal and you have chosen to rally in support of Hamas you are neither of these things. What you are instead is a mindless idiot, basing everything on doing the one thing that is less than progressive than anything else, following a mob. Worst of all, not only are you digging your own grave, you are helping move the world back to the Dark Ages. If that is what you support, you’ve redefined progressive and liberal.
On Saturday morning, October 21st, Samantha Woll, President of the Isaac Agree Downtown synagogue in Detroit was found stabbed to death outside her house in the Lafayette Park neighborhood. Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath, is the day many would know that a president of a synagogue would likely be home. Samantha Woll was a high profile member of her community, and by all accounts very much loved and respected.
It is hard to imagine a more frightening place to be living as a Jew right now than Detroit, Michigan. You have a large Muslim population being riled up by their Congresswoman, Rashida Tlaib. Always one to speak out against Israel, since the vicious terrorist attack on October 7th, Tlaib has taken it to new heights, displaying a visceral hatred for Israel that is clearly rooted in anti-Semitism. The protests in the streets, some that happened even before Israel began its response to the attacks, shows how Tlaib willingly put fuel on an already dangerous fire, without caution or remorse.
Fast forward to October 21, when Samantha Woll was found dead of stab wounds in front of her home. Since that time, the only definitive statement coming from the Detroit Police Department is that there was no evidence that it was a hate crime. Detroit Police Chief James White said the following. “We are working through what we have identified as some persons of interest … but we are very early in the investigation. We have a number of people who give us interest, we are just short of calling one of the people a suspect.” A “number of people who give us interest” but somehow you are sure it was not a hate crime? In this climate, a climate exacerbated by a local Congresswoman? There is no evidence to suggest that there is some sort of cover up here, but without information proving otherwise, is it so crazy to consider that this might be the case? After all, if it was someone, Muslim or otherwise, inspired by Rashida Tlaib’s ongoing tirades of hatred towards Israel and the Jewish people, one might say that she has blood on her hands. If this were to be the case, might we consider the possibility that the police would dismiss this quickly to avoid an increase of tensions, or even in order to absolve Tlaib from responsibility?
Frankly, I hope it is not the case, as I do not want tensions increasing anywhere, and as of now no evidence has shown this to be so, but until someone says something to indicate otherwise , how can we be sure it is not the case? The most important thing people not only in Detroit, but in all of the country can do, is make sure this story doesn’t just vanish into obscurity. I did not know Samantha Woll, but from what we hear about her, she would deserve better than to have the investigation just go away without a resolution. I hope Detroit police are as so many other police in this country are, decent and ethical law enforcers, and that there none within their midst, including the upper echelon acting as politicians just protecting their own. Or what would be even worse, getting pressure from people higher up outside the department. Maybe even Detroit’s Mayor Mike Duggan. If this is the case, we need to know, as does the rest of the world.
We are confronting an enemy that not only wants to take our life, they want to take our spirit. We are eternally grateful to the brave soldiers of the IDF as they fight for the survival of Israel and the Jewish people and continue to pray for their swift success. In the meantime, it is incumbent on all of us to stay strong, stay positive and reach down deep inside our hearts and souls to not let the enemy take our spirit. With that in mind I offer you 6 videos from which you can glean hope and inspiration. They are Arnold Schwarznegger, Bill Maher, Mosab Hassan Yousef, Eric Adams, Noa Tishby, and one special finale. I urge you to listen to as many as these as you can, and realize that we are not alone. This is not Europe of the 1930’s and 1940’s when the world stood by with indifference as Jews were slaughtered. It is likely that the cost will be high, much higher than we feel willing to accept, but in the end we have a powerful Jewish military and a Jewish people as united as it has ever been. And yes, we have friends. If my words are not enough to pull you from the depths of fear and despair, I invite you to listen to 5 people whose words will hopefully make at least some difference. Finally, if you need more, the last video is the beautiful and moving rendition of Stand by me, sung by a group of Israeli children. Shabbat Shalom and Am Yisrael Chai!
Comedian Bill Maher
Mosab Hassan Yousef- Son of Hamas founder
New York City Mayor Eric Adams
Noa Tishby- Israel actress, writer, producer and activist
We are confronting an enemy that not only wants to take our life, they want to take our spirit. We are eternally grateful to the brave soldiers of the IDF as they fight for the survival of Israel and the Jewish people and continue to pray for their swift success. In the meantime, it is incumbent on all of us to stay strong, stay positive and reach down deep inside our hearts and souls to not let the enemy take our spirit. With that in mind I offer you 6 videos from which you can glean hope and inspiration. They are Arnold Schwarznegger, Bill Maher, Mosab Hassan Yousef, Eric Adams, Noa Tishby, and one special finale. I urge you to listen to as many as these as you can, and realize that we are not alone. This is not Europe of the 1930’s and 1940’s when the world stood by with indifference as Jews were slaughtered. It is likely that the cost will be high, much higher than we feel willing to accept, but in the end we have a powerful Jewish military and a Jewish people as united as it has ever been. And yes, we have friends. If my words are not enough to pull you from the depths of fear and despair, I invite you to listen to 5 people whose words will hopefully make at least some difference. Finally, if you need more, the last video is the beautiful and moving rendition of Stand by me, sung by a group of Israeli children. Shabbat Shalom and Am Yisrael Chai!
Comedian Bill Maher
Mosab Hassan Yousef- Son of Hamas founder
New York City Mayor Eric Adams
Noa Tishby- Israel actress, writer, producer and activist
Following the recent dangerous, threatening antisemitic rallies at Cooper Union, NYU, Cornell and Columbia it is critical to urge our senators to vote YES on the bipartisan resolution brought yesterday before the Senate to condemn antisemitism on campus and protect Jewish students. Please complete and share the ADL form. They will send emails to Senators Schumer and Gillibrand on your behalf urging them to vote YES. https://adl.salsalabs.org/campus-congress/index.html
While the collective psyche of the Jews around the world is shaken, nothing strengthens the resolve of a people more than unity. Never have I been more proud to be Jewish than I am today. There will always be those who make the bad choices, but it feels to me as though we have never been more united as a people than right now. And it is about to get better.
One of the biggest eternal problems Israel has had to deal with is the schism between the Haredi, ultra-Orthodox community and the secular community. The division was on a collision course and was becoming increasingly untenable. Although all the problems between the multiple segments of the community will not be fixed overnight, there is some very good news coming out of Israel, albeit as a result of the horrors of October 7th.
Haredi journalist Yanki Farber reports that as early as this coming Sunday or Monday, thousands of Haredim will be joining the Israeli Defense Forces. The plan is to have them train for a day or 2, learn how to use some basic weapons, and then work mainly as medics and truck drivers. They will be 26 or older, mostly married with a family.
I know for some the inclination will be to reflect on how they did not serve in the IDF till now, and that there will be many who still don’t, but I suggest a different perspective. As I have said often over the past 2 1/2 weeks, now is not a time to litigate the past or predict the future. Now is a time to focus on the present. Presently we are more united as a people than we have ever been in my lifetime, and I dare say it is hard to find times when we were more united than today. Let’s remain united in strength and dedication and not be victims of the psychological warfare of Hamas and our other enemies and succumb to fear and division.
As a people we are strong and as a people we survive. Am Yisrael Chai!
I had the displeasure of seeing parts of your interview on CNN during which you focused on the events that have taken place since October 7th, while downplaying the atrocities of October 7th. This interview, conducted by Christiane Amanpour, who is clearly and consistently biased against Israel, felt more like a propaganda video than it did an interview of a woman of royalty.
In the interview you said the following:
“When October 7th happened, the world immediately and unequivocally stood by Israel and its right to defend itself and condemned the attack that happened … but what we’re seeing in the last couple of weeks, we’re seeing silence in the world.”
First of all, the whole world did not stand by Israel. Those with a modicum of moral clarity did, as did some of its closest allies, however before Israel even had a chance to respond to the barbarism committed against their citizens there were protests in the streets against Israel. As expected, there was no strong condemnation by the United Nations. And as soon as Israel started it’s bombing of Hamas targets there was an uprising in universities, many of them feasting off of funding from the Arab world. There were “Days of Rage”, called on by Hamas which conveniently led to protests in the streets. But your words are telling, because you say “what we’re seeing” as opposed to what is actually happening, because you see what best suits your prejudices and interests.
You then said:
“This is the first time in modern history that there is such human suffering and the world is not even calling for a ceasefire. So the silence is deafening – and to many in our region, it makes the Western world complicit.”
Really? First time in human history? Not one country joined in fighting against the Nazis before being attacked themselves. 6 million Jews were killed in what was truly a genocide and you have the audacity to speak of deafening silence? And complicit in what? Self defense? The government of a sovereign nation giving its people the right to live in peace?
You then went on to say:
“Are we being told that it is wrong to kill a family, an entire family, at gunpoint, but it’s OK to shell them to death? I mean, there is a glaring double standard here. “It is just shocking to the Arab world.”
I can see how it would be shocking to the Arab world. At least the element within the Arab world that does not value human life. The 1400 people murdered on October 7th were not warned to get out of the way and were not human shields for terrorists. They were innocent men, women and children, many of whom were helping Gazan residents on a regular basis. And to say “kill a family, an entire family, at gunpoint”, should already be seen as wrong by you under the circumstances under which it took place, but since it is not, allow me to make things a little more clear for you. Babies were beheaded. Living and dead women were raped. A pregnant woman had her stomach cut open and her baby shot next to her. People were burned alive. And all of these atrocities done on purpose by a gleeful bunch of terrorists. So to even attempt to draw a moral equivalency between that and the attacks on Gaza is rather disgraceful on your part.
What has to be remembered in light of your comments, is Black September, 1970, when an estimated 25,000 Palestinians were killed by your country, Jordan, after the PLO tried to overthrow the ruling monarchy. Let me repeat that, so that people reading this know the real double standard here. Jordan killed 25,000 Palestinians. Not because 1400 Jordanians were brutally murdered. Not because Jordanian women were raped. Not because Jordanians were under constant attack from missiles. And not because more that 200 Jordanians were kidnapped. Your country killed 25,000 people because the PLO tried to overthrow your monarchy. The only reason the number wasn’t more was because at that point you had successfully removed the PLO from your country and your leadership, which was the main concern of your ruling government, not your people. Israel’s war is being waged to protect the safety of its people.
You concluded by saying the following:
“I just want to remind the world that Palestinian mothers love their children just as much as any other mother in the world.”
If this is true, and I hope that it is, they will ultimately thank Israel for giving their children a future. With Hamas in charge, the future for Palestinian children is a future where at best they are pawns in a mission to destroy Israel, and at worst they are terrorists carrying out that mission. If you truly cared you would admit that to the world, but then again, if one really looks at the history we learn that Jordan never had any use for the Palestinians. That is the truth, but unfortunately, you and so many like you do not care about the truth, you care about what best suits your interests, and it is clear that Palestinians living in the freedom Israel would gladly help them achieve, is not one of your interests.
For those mindless, cowardly hypocrites protesting in favor of sadistic terrorists, it is time you learned what it means to be Jewish. Despite the propaganda you so willingly accept, it is not about making money or controlling the media, and certainly not about occupation or genocide. It is about something far more basic than that. It is all about survival, stupid.
For Jews it goes way back to the time when we were slaves in Egypt. We learn about it and remember it every year on Passover. In fact, we are taught to approach it as though it happened directly to us in every generation. Seems the Rabbis somehow knew it would be a good idea to teach the Jewish people from the start how to suffer. We were oppressed and enslaved in Egypt, and as a result of our resistance we fled to the desert, and somehow managed to resist without raping any little girls or chopping of babies heads.
Then there were the 2 temples in Jerusalem, part of the land believed to be given to the Children of Israel by God as opposed to taken by an occupying force. The temples were both destroyed by the Romans, and in a way that targeted innocent civilians, as opposed to avoiding them as much as possible. Too bad the BBC wasn’t around back then to report on the mistreatment of the Romans.
Let’s not forget the blood libels, when the claim was made that Jews killed Christian children in order to use their blood for Jewish rituals, including the making of Matzah for the Passover feast. These blood libels led to pogroms and yes, you guessed it, a lot more dead Jews. For those of you who might not understand the concept, it’s a lot like bombing a parking lot of a hospital in your territory, killing a few dozen, and then telling everyone that the Jews killed hundreds in indiscriminate bombing. Like that would ever happen, right?
Then, at the end of what was seen as a Golden Age for Jews in Spain, there was the Inquisition, in which Jews were tortured, killed and ultimately completely expelled for that heinous recurring crime of, you guessed it once again, being Jewish.
I’ll just kind of skip over the pogroms in Russia in which it was considered righteous and necessary to brutalize and murder Jews en masse, (boy does that sound familiar), and jump to that really big thing called the Holocaust. You know, the thing many out there say never happened and it was just made up by the Jews to garnish sympathy? Kind of like claiming that more than 1400 people were murdered in a half a day, and realizing less than a week later that it must have been made up. After all, look around. Everyone clearly loves the Jews. There’s no way that could have happened. That thing called the Holocaust, that did actually happen, just as the killing of the 1400 plus, led to the decimation of European Jewry and the murder of 6 millions Jews. A genocide perpetrated by a government that came to power in the wake of a failed state and a society in decay, which of course had to be the Jews fault. After all, if a murderous dictator tells you that the Jews control the banks and the media it must be true.
Out of the ashes of the Holocaust the modern State of Israel declared its independence in 1948. But the Jews had the gall to think they had the right to live in peace. Even worse, they felt they could do so in the land given to them by God. But what the Jewish people did that was most appalling was that they had the audacity to fight back and win against the countries attacking them on every border. After all, they had committed the greatest crime of all. They had survived.
Left with no alternative, since we just wouldn’t go away, our Arab neighbors tried again in 1956, but rather than being killed, the Jewish nation once again fought back and won. When another attempt failed in 1967, Israel captured the West Bank from Jordan, the Sinai from Egypt, and the Golan Heights from Syria. A move which of course would ultimately make us the oppressors and occupiers, since we started the war after all. Oh wait! No we didn’t. We once again showed how evil we were by not letting every Jew in Israel get thrown into the Mediterranean Sea. In 1973 they tried once again, but this time they decided to fight fair and attack us on the holiest day in our calendar, Yom Kippur. This finally took away the Jewish nations unfair advantage of being prepared to defend itself. But guess what? That didn’t work either. Starting to see a trend here?
When Yasser Arafat founded his multi billion dollar enterprise known as terrorism, the groundwork was laid for a steady diet of attacks against innocent men, women and children. Lucky for him he had the United Nations in his corner from the get go, so that not only could he begin to once again normalize the killing of Jewish women and children, he had a worldwide organization telling everyone that he was doing it in the name of justice and peace, and that the Jewish people were the violators of human rights.
Despite every effort to make peace with the unwanted Jordanians in the West Bank, and the Arab gypsies in Gaza, the 2 groups the world now refers to as Palestinians, every effort at peace has had one unforgiveable obstacle put in the way by us Jews. We refuse to die. But I get it, if we don’t make peace with people that don’t believe we have a right to exist, obviously it is our fault.
So to all those those mindless, cowardly hypocrites protesting in favor of sadistic terrorists who believe they are on the right side of history because of what was done to us in the past, know this. There has never been a more powerful Jewish army than there is today, militarily, intellectually, and spiritually, and now we have a battle cry that encompasses centuries of persecution and murder, most notably and most recently, the Holocaust and the mass murder of 6 million Jews. That battle cry is Never Again, and believe me when I tell you, we mean it. Because, after all, it’s all about survival, stupid.
There are some things people know their entire life. Those things that define you as a person. It might be the language you speak or the country you were born in. It might be financial status of your family or the influence your family has on society. For many there is the one thing that may define you over all other things, answering that one question not only to others but more importantly to yourself. What are you? To me that one thing that defines me over everything else is that I am proudly and unapologetically Jewish. So for Jews and the Jewish religion to be the focus of my existence makes sense. What is not as easy to explain or understand is why the rest of the world seems to have an almost equal focus, dare I say obsession.
There were 17 million Jews in the world in 1939, estimated to be the highest the number ever reached. At that time there were about 2 billion people worldwide. Today there are an estimated 16 million of a worldwide population of over 8 billion. We are, by every account a very small percentage and certainly on paper at least, a very unthreatening number. And yet, the obsession the rest of the world has towards my people is one of life’s greatest mysteries. Whether we are better or worse, contributors or not, powerful or not, there is no question that compared to the rest of the world, the amount of attention that comes our way is disproportionate almost to the point of being bizarre. So the question I am putting out there, is why?
Secular Jews in Israel and the Diaspora might find it hard to accept, but the root of all the attention and focus is religious, and regardless of whether you embrace it or disassociate from it, you are seen by the rest of the world as a Jew, be it for good or for bad. In 1933 and beyond, Hitler managed to convince Germany that a people comprising 0.85% of the world’s population was the reason for all their problems. In 2023, Islamic terrorist groups and their sponsor nation Iran, have convinced millions of their fellow Muslims that a people that comprises .2% of the world’s population and a mere .88% of their number, are the biggest danger the world faces today. The numbers alone are enough to speak to the bizarre nature of this obsession and to the inevitable inaccuracy of their concern. Could it be that we are that bad of a people? Or dare I say it, could it be that we are that special?
I may be bordering on claiming Jewish exceptionalism, but if I am going to experience or learn about hate towards me and my people my entire life, for reasons that are not even close to proportionate, there is no reason for me to hold back. But because of the part of my Jewish teachings that focus on modesty, gratitude, but mostly the power of the Almighty, I will temper any desire I may have to speak to how exceptional we are as a people. Besides, of all you out there whose hate toward us defies logic and rationality, whether you like it or not, you are making that case without my help.
It is true that Jews have excelled in medicine, the arts, in business, and throughout many other elements of society. But what the rational and ethical people know, is that it generally does not stand in the way of others reaching the same heights. Yes there are Jews who are bad people, but that is one of the realities of humanity, that every group has its good and bad. But so much of what we are is a result of our value system. A value system that includes love of family, hard work, study, and worship. Could it be that the basis of all of this is the Torah, the Jewish teachings that are comprised of the Old Testament and all Rabbinical interpretations. When you look at it honestly, even for those who have chosen to live a secular life, it often appears as though their values are what was taught to them directly or indirectly through these teachings. The value for human life is so paramount that we are taught that saving a life supersedes all other laws.
That being said, good people come from all walks of life. All religions, races, nationalities produce high quality people. I have known too many and heard of too many great people from other faiths to think we Jews are the only ones who reach great heights. Thinking that way would be ludicrous. But we are still faced with that gnawing question. Why the obsession towards the Jewish people? The importance of Judaism within Christianity is obvious, and the evolution of Christian society has reached new heights in its embrace of the Jewish people, creating a growing friendship and alliance. And yet, although I am grateful for that alliance, it still fascinates me that a religion of 2.4 billion people is as fascinated by us as Christians are as a whole.
Ultimately I think the fascination and obsessive hatred do not come from the same origin. The fascination I believe comes from the Biblical teachings that the Jews are the Chosen People. I believe that due to Christian enlightenment, in past years far more than today, instead of leading towards a path of hatred, Christianity has embraced its Jewish roots and seen the importance Judaism holds in their beliefs for an ideal future.
So now to those who hate us. I believe that hatred is based on 2 things. The first being a more obvious and less original concept. Pure and blatant jealousy. Maybe it is because we are God’s Chosen People. Maybe it is because we excel in so many areas of society and often live lives filled with joy and meaning. Or maybe it is based in something even more profound. In the movie Tombstone, the movie about Wyatt Earp, the Doc Holliday character played by Val Kilmer had the following interaction with the Wyatt Earp character played by Kurt Russell when discussing a developing confrontation with an adversary.
Wyatt Earp: What does he need? Doc Holliday: Revenge. Wyatt Earp: For what? Doc Holliday: Bein’ born.
The amount of hate in the world today for the Jewish people is excessive. Hate is either a result of actions that cause hate, or indoctrination that breeds it. The amount of hate today is very clearly more of a result of indoctrination. But indoctrination requires fertile ground, and what ground is more fertile than that of misery. If you are happy you do not want to hate. You search for reasons not to hate. You seek the truth. But if one lives a life of misery and one with no meaning or direction, one sees no future, and one wants revenge for being born, that leads one to attempt to fill all those voids with the one emotion they can harness and hold on to. And the evil people with the money, power and ambition, exploit that for their selfish and devious means. I wish I could ask all those who hate me for being Jewish the following question? For what, if not to make this world better, are you put on this earth? I guarantee you, despite what you are being taught, it is not to hate and kill Jews. Sadly the chances of you ever seeing this is next to none, but if you ever do I also want you to ask yourself a question. Has the hate you’ve been taught done anything to make your life better? Has it made you happier? I know the answer, and if you were given the freedom to think for yourself you would as well.
Make no mistake. This is a war not only against the Jewish people, it is a war against everything the western world, and particularly the United States, stands for. And unlike the efforts being made on our side to make it a cleaner, more humane war, the other side always has, and will always continue to fight dirty. While I have never been a soldier in combat, I do know that war is not a game. When it comes to war, the saying, it’s not if you win or lose that matters it’s how you play the game, does not apply. The objective of war, what bring you to that place when it becomes a necessity, should be the fact that winning is not only crucial, it is often a matter of survival. This means that having those concerns and alarms that would constitute paranoia in peacetime, in times of war are not only useful, they may be the difference between life and death. One such concern is that of the Fifth Column.
A Fifth Column is defined in Meriam-Webster dictionary as “a group of secret sympathizers or supporters of an enemy that engage in espionage or sabotage within defense lines or national borders.” In 1940, as full scale war broke out in Europe, President Franklin Roosevelt said the following in an address to the nation regarding the fifth column.
The methods of these “spies and saboteurs” was “to create confusion of counsel, public indecision, political paralysis and, eventually, a state of panic…. The unity of the State can be sapped so that its strength is destroyed.”
Identifying a dissenter or antagonist is much easier. Rashida Tlaib who spews hatred and vitriol towards Israel and the Jewish people, not only remains a member of Congress, she still receives classified briefings on Israel. While the danger someone such as Tlaib or an Ilhan Omar represents to ideology and the fabric of society is obvious, those that appear friendly, but work on behalf of the enemy are an even bigger enemy. To name anyone without proof would be reckless and irresponsible. To be tainted by prejudice towards even the most likely group of potential agitators may very well blind you from seeing the enemy in front of you. And while I have my suspicions, without facts to back them up, they are merely words. Words that will help no one and do nothing to make us safer.
So then what can we do to combat this potentially very dangerous element within the enemy’s army? It starts by changing your perspective. Putting woke ideology and progressive policy over the safety of your family and country is not only a mistake, its unethical. However, profiling when it comes to a danger as devious as the fifth column may cause you to look past the real danger. The bottom line is that unless you approach everything with an open mind, you are liable to miss what may be right in front of you. And even then the chances of missing it are far better than we would like them to be.
Ultimately, it is my contention that the best approach we can take as individuals is to listen to Maya Angelou’s famous quote that reads, “when people show you who they are, believe them the first time.”
We do not have the luxury to see things as we want them to be, we must see them as they are, and to ignore the likelihood of an enemy within, leads us down a very dangerous path. We are at war, and the enemy will do anything to be victorious. We must never forget this, lest we make their goal easier. This is not a game. It does matter whether we win or lose, because losing is not an option. It is a war we must win.
Over the years I have written numerous open letters to high profile individuals in defense of Israel and the Jewish people. Today I am writing one that is also in defense of the United States of America and the entire free world.
I will be direct. Not only are you continuously behaving in a cynical and heinous manner, and not only should you be expelled from Congress, as far as I am concerned, you should be on the no fly list and the terrorist watch list. It is not that complicated. You continuously take the side of murderers and terrorists, you fake crocodile tears, and you rally the ignorant in support of a cause that promotes a second Holocaust of the Jewish people. Because I believe in the 1st amendment, I do not believe that anything we know of that you have done requires incarceration, but your words do need to have consequences. You are willingly and enthusiastically promoting hate. Please note that I chose my words carefully when saying “anything we know of”, because anyone who embraces lies to promote evil as you do, and has your level of vitriol, should be investigated and be under constant surveillance. If you were privy to any intelligence that could have assisted in the October 7th terrorist attacks, we need to know. If you have access to any information that could lead to terrorist attacks on American soil, we need to know. Simply put, moving forward, you should no longer be seen as a member of Congress, you should be seen as a potential enemy combatant of the United States and the entire free world. Furthermore, as it says the following in the 1st Amendment, Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, and as a member of Congress you took an oath to uphold to constitution, as a Jew who feels that your behavior is prohibiting the free exercise of religion of my fellow Jews, I believe that calling for your expulsion is justified.
I believe you know what you are doing and that you always have. I also believe that you are motivated by 2 factors. Personal gain being the primary one and hatred for Jews being the second. If you truly were concerned for the well-being of the people of Gaza you would want Hamas gone. But that doesn’t suit your own personal, sick intentions. I am sure you know the truth. You live in an environment where it is all around you and if not right in front of your face, incredibly easy to find. Decent and honest people pursue the truth, you ignore it willingly and this is the most disgusting part, you do so gleefully.
You showed your true colors in the most magnified sense over these past few days by focusing on the debunked accusation of Israel’s responsibility for the deaths of the people in the hospital in Gaza, over focusing on the tragedy of the deaths. You ignored evidence indicating that the explosion was not caused by an Israeli airstrike because the truth does not suit your own personal and despicable motives.
I call on every person who reads this letter to share it everywhere. More importantly Ms. Tlaib, I urge them to flood it into your social media outlets. Post it on your X (twitter) feed and to put it as a comment on every post you have on X till it gets to a point where your account is unimaginable. Since you have shown the world that you are evil, I am confident that disturbing you on social media would bring you more grief than watching the videos of Israelis being tortured on October 7th. And to take these particular actions because I, and people like me, do not call on any violence to be committed against you, because we are decent people that value the rule of law.
While I am not so naive as to believe that you care about the difference between right and wrong, I will not be silenced. People need to know who you are and all legal means need to be taken to take away your voice. Your words make this world more evil and more dangerous, and will and have already put innocent people in danger. You put fuel on the fire and help Hamas in its war against Israel, the United States, and the entire free world. Ms. Tlaib, simply put, despite your crocodile tears and dramatic performances, you have blood on your hands. It is my contention in putting Jewish people and American citizens everywhere in danger, you should be expelled from Congress. I hope that there is enough moral clarity among our leaders to see this through, and I urge everyone out there to communicate this on a grand scale.
We are at war. And whether or not the misguided cowards in the Jewish community who marched on the US Capitol calling for a cease fire while elderly people, young women and babies are amongst the hostages being held in Gaza want to believe it or not, this is a war whose goal is to eradicate every Jew from the face of the earth. Not having learned the lessons of the Holocaust, it is clear that there are too many Jews among us who feel they are safe by kowtowing to the enemy or by hiding their identity. They are dreadfully wrong, and as much as I despise their lack of character or ethical standards, I also hope they never find out to what extent. These people have already capitulated on one front, and that is in the war being waged on our hearts and minds. It is a war we can not afford to lose, and I will tell you why, and how to make sure that we don’t.
While the death of every member of Hamas is what we all want, the Israeli Defense Forces are going to win by administering justice, and fighting for the safety and security of the people of Israel. Wanting vengeance for what was done is understandable, but to fight the battle with a singular focus on ridding the planet of this evil and providing for the safety of future generations, is how the fight is one on all fronts. To allow those who are evil to control how you feel, even if it leads to their destruction, is giving them a victory they do not deserve and will not help us as individuals or as a people. This is the fight within our minds. However, we might say that the more challenging fight we are facing, is the war in our hearts.
I have friends, both in Israel and in the Diaspora, that are struggling with the pain and anguish they are feeling from the events of October 7th. These are strong-willed, determined people I speak of, leaders in their communities, leaders in their families, leaders in their groups of friends. These are people I am proud to call friends. I see horror and suffering in their words, and even despair. And their feeling are as justified, moral, and even righteous as any feelings a human being could experience. But I had the benefit of being raised by 2 amazing people, my parents, Holocaust survivors from Holland, who while the horrors of what they went through never left their hearts and minds, they instinctively knew the one way to win the fight daily on a more personal level. By living life and striving for happiness. By feeling joy and love, and not being overrun by anguish and despair. When my mother of Blessed Memory laughed, it was pure joy. I will share with you a story that illustrates just a small part of the woman that was my mother. Someone once had this mechanical parrot that repeated every word said to it, and what I once witnessed take place between my mother and this toy is one of the most memorable and purely fun things I have ever seen in my life. My mother said something and the parrot repeated it. My mother thought this was funny and started to laugh. The parrot mimicked the sound of my mother laughing, which caused my mother to laugh even harder. And on this went for what I would guess was a solid 2 minutes. This was a woman who, when she closed her eyes and went to sleep, suffered through nightmares. But when she woke up and was conscious of her life and the world around her, instinctively spit in the face of the Nazis by enjoying her life through love and laughter.
I know that the wounds are still fresh, and that it is very likely going to get worse before it gets better. I also know that the friends I have who are feeling these difficult emotions are strong and can be fine even without words of support from me or anyone else. But I wish to offer these words to all of you struggling with how to cope today and moving forwards. You can not change what happened, and you may very well not be able to impact what does happen, but you do have control over the war this evil is waging on your heart, mind and soul. Find those things that make your life have meaning, try to do any of the things that make you happy, or engage with those that you love. Force the pain and sadness out as often as you can, and in doing so you win one very important battle in this very important war.
There is that old saying that reads, “charity starts at home”. While giving to others is always commendable, the saying speaks to the reality that helping someone else at the expense of your own needs is not living by a higher ethical standard. Ultimately, in order to help others, you must see to your own needs, in order to stay strong, maintain clarity, and retain the tools needed to do so.
Morality is not much different. If anything the need for morality to start at home is even greater, for there is no greater moral requirement than protecting your innocent and helpless. There has been no moment in my lifetime where this issue has played out more clearly and more publicly, and it is happening with Israel and the Jewish people at center stage.
I am not a war monger. I find war at its core to be unethical. I have never been a soldier and I live in a peaceful environment, so even if I didn’t feel that way, I would feel like a coward if I were to push for war for the sake of retribution or vengeance. It’s easy for someone who does not put their physical safety on the line to push for others to fight a battle. Sitting and watching is nothing compared to risking injury or death, or inflicting the same on others. When Israeli troops go into Gaza in search of Hamas terrorists and in the hope of finding the hostages, no matter how bad it gets, us who are far away from the action will not bleed, physically suffer or die. I get that. With all that being said, at the end of the day where every Jew is impacted, whether they admit it to themselves or not, is that this is a fight for the survival of all us.
So then back to the matter of morality. It took a week, give or take a day or two, for much of the world to move its focus from the atrocities committed by Hamas on innocent Jewish families, women, children and babies, to the plight of the people in Gaza. Much of that shift has been generated by those who never saw it as wrong for Jews to be raped, tortured, murdered and kidnapped in the first place. But to those who recognized the evil perpetrated on the Jewish people, who may be authentically worried about the well-being of all people, while I have no quarrel with you, to be brutally honest, your concerns are not mine, for morality starts at home. The government of Israel, the heroic men and women of the IDF, the religious leadership, the residents of Israel and all Jewish people on the face of the earth have one moral priority over all others. Our survival.
So as the images come out of Gaza are seen as sad and tragic, and not feeling that way will be called immoral by many, my current lack of focus on that issue is indeed a product of my personal moral compass. However, it is not for the reason that those who hate Israel will likely attack me. My moral compass is strong. I know that what is possibly the sickest irony in this whole situation, despite the rallies of the ignorant and evil and the outcry of the corrupt United Nations, is that the only hope for the people in Gaza lies in the hands of Israel. For these people to be free and to live a normal life as part of the world community, Hamas must be destroyed. For that to happen, some very brutal actions very likely need to be taken against more than just Hamas. Military action against Hezbollah and even Iran, no matter how devastating these actions may be, if they are what Israel needs to do to survive, they are moral.
In the weeks and months ahead, people will die. Many of them will have done nothing to deserve their fate. But to allow Israel to be demoralized, depleted and God forbid destroyed out of concern for the safety of others, is the most immoral thing we as Jews could ever do. Morality starts at home, and Israel is our home.
In better times when writing a letter to a large segment of the population I would find myself debating to whom I would address my message. Today it is easy. If you share my sentiment you are my friend, if you do not, you are not my friend and never will be.
After the worst attack on the State of Israel since its establishment on October 7th, many of us in the Diaspora find ourselves looking for ways to help. There are the lone soldiers who have returned to Israel, showing their courage and commitment to the people of Israel and all the Jewish people. We thank you and all the brave soldiers of the IDF with all our heart. There are the fundraisers working themselves to the bone. Those that have the available funds need to do what they can to help, and I know that many have already done so. They too deserve our gratitude. Then there are those people who do not have the abilities or resources to do these things already mentioned but ask what they can do to help. This is what I wish to share with you.
From my communication and other’s communications with friends and family in Israel, outpouring of any love and support you offer helps many who need to know that they do not stand alone. Many have thanked me for my efforts – although limited and not close to as difficult as the efforts of others- but as long as even one scared or depressed of my brother’s and sister’s in Israel would feel some comfort from what I do, I will continue. I urge those of you who feel helpless, to reach out. Find someone you know in Israel and reach out to them. Show them you are thinking of them, praying for them, and are here for them. You will not only help them, but you will feel better as well.
Finally, in Israel the day comes before the month, so 7/10, which in Hebrew is Sheva Esser, represents October 7th, which sadly will be remembered as a day that changed all of our lives. I have not seen it referred to as such till now, but as we must continue to speak of that horrible day, I hope that referring it to Sheva Esser makes the communication more clear and concise. We need to speak, to educate, and combat evil in any way we can.
Am Yisrael Chai.
May God look after our heroic soldiers and all the people of Israel.
It has been said that in times of crisis, people show their true colors. Thursday night, in West Palm Beach, led by Chabad leaders from all over the county, an entire community showed its true colors.
The theme of the evening was a clear and simple one. We, the Jewish people who are not physically fighting on the front lines, are the spiritual soldiers. We heard inspirational messages from Rabbi Gancz of West Palm Beach, Rabbi Vigler of Palm Beach Gardens, Rabbi Raichik of Boynton Beach, and Rabbi Muskal of Wellington. We heard about the One Mitzvah program from Rebbetzin Rosenfeld of Lake Worth. All these wonderful people, spiritual warriors for Israel and the Jewish people spoke in ways that would have made the evening worthwhile and meaningful. And yet, they were only a taste of what this evening was, thanks to 3 very powerful and emotional segments.
We had the honor of hearing from Sheriff Ric Bradshaw of Palm Beach County, who made it very clear, that the Jewish people in his care were being protected. He made it clear that as he put it, his “footprint” was large, and that any bad actor with any ideas of causing any type of damage or pain to the Jewish community would be made to regret their actions. His words were supportive and comforting, and those words, but even more importantly his actions, are immensely appreciated by all of us.
We heard Cantor Aryeh Leib Hurwitz, whose beautiful and powerful voice, singing prayers and Jewish songs of hope and faith, sent chills down our collective spines, creating a range of emotions centered around hope and inspiration. One of the most powerful moments of the night coming with his rendition of El Maleh Rachamim, the cry to God to give true rest to those who have departed this earth, accompanied by former members of the IDF lighting candles in their honor and memory.
And last but not least, we heard from the children. Introduced by a video of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, the children led us in song. And to the message that the Lubavitcher Rebbe gave so many years ago when Israel faced more vicious attacks from its enemies, we could hear the spiritual power in the singing of the children. The purity and innocence of a child’s voice, giving so many of us hope. We can not help but think of the children who were murdered last weekend in Israel, but last night their fellow children took the fight to the enemy, by leading us in song.
In times of darkness the world looks for light. Last night in West Palm Beach, the hundreds of people in attendance had the light shined upon them. It is now up to us to take that light and shine it upon the world. It is our time to step up and be the emotional and spiritual warriors that our brothers and sisters in Israel, and all the Jewish people of the world need.
For those who do not know, I will give you a brief and simple historical background. B’nei Akiva is an Orthodox & Zionist Jewish youth group in which boys and girls, later to become men and women, from all over the world, Israel and beyond, get together in celebration and solidarity. It was founded in 1929 and has over 125,000 members in over 42 countries. Each age group has what is called a Shevet, or in English, a tribe. Once you belong to a Shevet, you don’t change to another, you are part of that Shevet for life. B’nei Akiva’s slogan is 2 words. Torah ve’Avodah. Torah, which is for the Jewish people very literally the 5 books of Moses, but includes all forms of Jewish study and learning, and Avodah, work, or labor, the physical and supportive efforts needed to build the land of Israel and help the Jewish people.
On a more personal note, I am a proud and happy member of Shevet Amichai. When I was 13 and living in Philadelphia I flirted with a few B’nei Akiva events, meeting a few amazing people including the late Ari Horowitz of Blessed Memory. But it was not until I was 14, after my parents moved to Holland and I began to attend Hasmonean in the Hendon area of Northwest London, that B’nei Akiva (BA) became something so important to me that it would resonate with me till today. Little did I know that during that one lunch hour in school when I was approached by an older student and convinced to come to a BA event, that over 45 years later his younger brother would still be one of my best friends, as would be a number of other of my friends from Amichai. Socially, nothing has ever compared, and to this day, my 6 week BA Israel camp in 1978 is still the best summer of my life.
But today BA and what I can speak to specifically, Shevet Amichai, is so much more than just a gathering of men and women enjoying each other’s company whenever possible. It is an organization of comfort and support. With Israel going through what looks to be its worst crisis since its establishment in 1948, and the Jewish people under its greatest attack and continuing threat since the Holocaust, my friends from Amichai, many who have family, including children fighting in the IDF, Israeli Defense Forces, are stepping up with amazing commitment, resolve, and love. It is no surprise to me, since every time an individual in the group has experienced a crisis or a loss they are always there, but today the sense of responsibility for Israel and the Jewish people has never been on greater display. Their efforts are ongoing, practical and critical, and I have never been so proud and so honored to be part of Shevet Amichai.
If I am to call all of Israel my family, Shevet Amichai is my immediate family. I stand with you, I pray for you, and I love you.
For YEARS I have said that randomly throwing around the word Nazi was dangerous. I have said that comparing someone to Hitler without factual backing is dangerous. It has happened on all sides towards anyone who committed acts or said thing they didn’t like. This is not a political post. As a Jew I feel that we are not in a time of politics, we are in a time of survival.
In speaking out about this, my reasoning was as follows. If you call everyone that says or does something you don’t like or does something that is actually wrong, when someone who is a Nazi or someone who is another Hitler rears their ugly heads, you might not recognize it. Well we are now seeing behavior truly comparable to the behavior of Nazis, lead by the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ali Khamenei, someone whose words and actions truly do compare to Hitler.
And now we have people rallying in favor of Hamas and screaming Free Palestine at rallies around the world, not knowing, or even worse not caring that in doing so they are supporting another Hitler, one who is openly leading a Muslim incarnation of Nazi Germany.
It is now time for all of us who have always understood who the Nazi were, tell the world that these terrorists attacking Israel are truly Nazis. Start calling them by what they are. Let the world know that not only has that disease been allowed to come back, it has come back strong, and there are far too many people supporting their cause.
As the full scope of the barbaric attack on Israel is still unfolding, people’s true colors are on full display. For all those tourists who visited Anne Frank’s House, or movie lovers and Hollywood types who loved and honored Schindler’s List, for all of those who have visited the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C., or took selfies at Auschwitz, this is your time to speak up. The world is on trial now, and the verdict will likely not only determine the fate of Israel and the Jewish people, but very possibly the fate of the planet for decades, maybe even centuries to come.
Adolf Hitler rose to power in 1933. By the time he was conquered in 1945, while estimates vary, the death toll was believed to be around 60 million people in total, more than two thirds of which were civilians. While Hitler rose to power on the back of economic devastation in Germany, much of what powered him was an insane, uncontrollable homicidal hatred for, you guessed it, the Jewish people. Yet the world did nothing while Fascists groups rose and spoke up all over the world, including a pro-Nazi rally in New York City’s Madison Square Garden on February 20, 1939. Had it not been for Pearl Harbor, one could would wonder if the United States would have even entered the war at all. While America and Great Britain eventually played significant roles in defeating the Nazis, their knowledge of the tracks leading to Auschwitz never lead them to destroying them. Ultimately what it came down to then, and still comes down to today, is one very sad truth, and that is the fact that for a large portion of the planet, Jewish blood is cheap.
I know there are many good people. I know there are many who would die just as quickly to save a Jewish life as they would for any other innocent life. But still today there are far too many people out there who are tolerated for unimaginably distorted ideas of what the Jewish people are and what Israel is as a nation. People who saw videos of young women, children, elderly being kidnapped and taken to Gaza. Women raped and brutalized. Families slaughtered in their homes. Jews dehumanized as they were by the Nazis in what would turn into the mass murder of 6 million Jews. Many of who were Jewish women and children, raped, brutalized, humiliated, terrorized and experimented on by evil “doctors”. All lead by the obsessive hatred of one man, whose obsessive hatred led him to seek world domination that ended in the death of tens of millions of civilians.
Are you scared yet? You should be. Because that same hatred has been indoctrinated into a generation of Palestinian youth, youth that have now grown up to want what Hitler wanted, the death of all the world’s Jews.
So, politics aside, if you are anyone who tolerates anti-Semitic rhetoric from your local politicians, you are ultimately digging your own grave. If you are a social activist who is believing the rhetoric that Israel is an Apartheid State, you are digging your own grave. If you are a member of the LGBTQ community marching and shouting Free Palestine, you are marching against the one country in the Middle East where you could live freely, and yes, ultimately digging your own grave. But most of all, if you are watching brutality playing out before your eyes against innocent Israeli citizens, including women, children, and the elderly, and you are still blaming Israel, you are digging everyone’s grave.
This is not a game. The world is on trial, and those of us who believe in God might say that he is watching very closely. Watching to see who makes the right choice, and who makes the wrong one. This is real life, and whether those of you who hate Israel and think Jewish life is cheap want to admit it or not, you are fighting a battle that will end in your own demise. Ironically, not from those you are attacking, rather from those that you are supporting.
There are so many things I could say. After the horrific events of the past few days in Israel, and the terrifying uncertainty of what could happen next, made so much worse by legitimate concerns of the fate of the hostages, I like countless others, have my fears, my opinions, even my theories on what to do moving forward. But to be frank and very honest, my fears, opinions and theories will do nothing to help anyone right now. Since this letter is not just to my friends and family in Israel, but to all of my fellow Jews there as well, I write this not to vent, but as a show of love and support.
I am extremely cognizant of what might be the most important thing for Jews outside of Israel to know right now, and that is that this attack was not just an attack on Israel, it was an attack on every single one of us. So many of us are besides ourselves with feelings of sadness, anger and helplessness. We will look for ways to help, but until then I know many of us will be here to pray for you, speak with you, message you, and look to those who can provide funding to be ready to offer financial support.
As I sit here, I think of those close to me who are frightened for their future, or even more frightened for their children, brothers and sisters and all other friends and family preparing to fight in defense of the Jewish people. The pain I feel for what you must be going through is something I will keep with me until I know all of you are safe and secure. I fight off my tears and the fear I feel because as I sit safe and comfortable in Florida, I feel I need to stay strong for all of you. Even if none of you ever need me or want to reach out to me, I will remain here and ready to do anything within my capabilities to support you. If all I ever do, all you ever need from me is to know that I stand with you, we all stand with you with all our hearts and souls, then at least you know you are not alone.
Furthermore, while there will be questions that need to be answered, this is not the time for Jews outside of Israel to do anything other than offer unwavering support for the government. This is life and death, and any accountability or political issues attached to this need to be shelved until Israel is once again safe and secure.
Finally, I want you to know what I saw the last 2 days as I celebrated Simchat Torah in my synagogue in Florida. As we all found out what was unfolding, the largest percentage of us became increasingly distraught. I came to realize that in some way I owed it to all of you to celebrate the holiday. The young men and women that are about to put themselves in harms way in defense of the Jewish people are doing it so that all of us can live a life as happy, healthy and free people. Remaining distraught was not a victory I was willing to give to Hamas. While my heart was heavy, my mind prevailed, and I found the happiness and joy appropriate on this holiday, because I came to realize how fortunate I am to have been born a Jew. A very proud Jew, not just because our remarkable past, not just because of my attachment to our faith, but maybe most importantly because of all of you, my dear friends and family that live in the place that protects all of us by its existence alone. I love you and continue my prayers for you and for all of us.
Let us know what you need and what we can do to help you. In the meantime know that you are not alone.
My name is David Groen. Please allow me to tell you a little bit about myself. I am the son of Holocaust survivors from Holland. As I am sure you know, Canada and Holland were strong allies in World War II. In fact, my father, who was an active member of the Dutch resistance, rode into the town where my mother was hiding when the Canadian military liberated it from Nazi occupation. The most important thing I want you to know about me is that I never knew my grandparents, one uncle, one aunt, and countless cousins, since the Nazis decimated the Dutch Jewish community, murdering 75% of the Jews living in Holland between 1940 and 1945.
So yes, I take what recently happened in your country’s parliament very personally. As an author and public speaker passionate about making the world aware of the atrocities that took place and keeping alive the memory of what happened under Hitler’s barbaric reign, my reasons for reaching out to you, as important as they may be, are not politically motivated. In fact, I am reaching out to you specifically to avoid being political, as the more political move would be to reach out to the leader of the opposition. However, my motivation is not to impact Canadian politics, it is to address and help fight a growing global crisis. I do not know you, so I am unable to comment on whether you are a good man or a bad man. I do know that certain Canadian officials, up to the very top, have pleaded ignorance regarding the history of Yaroslav Hunka, the Nazi living in your midst. I choose to believe that plea as being an honest one. Nevertheless, that does not make it an acceptable one. The only thing that will truly make it acceptable is a response in your parliament, preferably from someone who will tell a story of exactly why it is so important that this high level of ignorance be combatted. The speaker should not be a mere talking head, but someone whose family was impacted by the evils committed by the Nazis.
My public speaking revolves around the story of my uncle, Bram Rodrigues-Lopes. The younger and only sibling of my late mother, Bram was a violin player and band member when the Nazis invaded Holland. Through my book and website, Bram’s violin made it back to me and my family a little over 4 years ago. What makes Bram’s story so powerful and so relevant is the fact that he was murdered by the Nazis just 3 weeks shy of his 19th birthday. He never had a chance to build a life and leave behind a legacy. His story speaks to the reality and to the heart of what the Nazis did to those they wanted to exterminate, the Jewish people being priority number one. The story also speaks of the decency and bravery of the friend that safeguarded his violin, as well as his son who made the effort to find me.
Should you choose to bring me to Canada to address your parliament I will provide a powerful message emphasizing the dangers of forgetting the atrocities of the past together with the hope provided by the decency of others. What took place in your parliament this past week only magnifies the importance of keeping the story alive. My presentation will not be political as not only have I made a conscious decision to leave politics to those more qualified, but I also feel I have a different mission on this earth besides moving any country’s political needle. Since I see this as being an apolitical topic, and one of critical importance, I will leave everyone in the room with a message they will carry in their hearts and minds for years to come.
Many of us in the Jewish community use the line, “Never Again”. To work towards that, it is critical for it never to be forgotten. I believe certain people in Canada need a reminder, and I offer myself as the person to provide that reminder to your parliament.
While I knew I had to write something about 9/11 in honor of what took place 22 years ago, it wasn’t until I saw 60 minutes that I had a more clear idea of the message I wished to convey. I urge you all to watch the 60 minutes episode dedicated to the heroics of the firemen on that day. It made me realize that on that day New York consisted of 3 categories of individuals. Witnesses, heroes, and victims. It also made me realize that the most important message coming from the memory of that day comes down to one word. Responsibility.
There are different levels of suffering or sadness caused by devastation and tragedy. When we look at the Holocaust, those who had to hide in fear and run for their lives suffered differently than those that went to the camps. Those who survived the camps suffered differently than those who were murdered in the gas chambers. And while human nature causes us to judge things on levels, since the impact each incident has is also determined by the mental and physical makeup of whomever is experiencing these events, to compare them is not only impossible, it is unfair. These are all victims on some level. As someone who was in NY on September 11, 2001, I see this in a similar light, but with one important difference. I realize today how 9/11 helped me form my own personal sense of responsibility and understanding of what I am. I am not a victim. I am a witness. As a witness it will forever be my responsibility to share what I witnessed and how I felt on that day.
There are moments in our lives that are forever embedded in our memory. Then there are days when those moments are magnified on a level unlike all other days. Here are the moments I will never forget from that fateful day.
On September 11th I was living in Forest Hills, a beautiful and active neighborhood in the borough of Queens in New York City. My apt, 10L had a view, albeit distant, of Manhattan. Of course the taller the building, the easier it was to see, making the Twin Towers visible on most days. Visibility however was not an issue on this day, because one of the common memories shared by most people in NY on that day was that the weather could not have been more perfect. It was a comfortable temperature and not a cloud in the sky, and I can tell you with complete honesty and sincerity that there is no other day I have been alive that I remember the weather more clearly. For on this day the contrast between beauty and horror is one of my most indelible memories.
On September 11th I was in a long distance relationship with a woman in St. Louis. We had become very close, so when there was any type of major event we wished to share it with each other. So when I saw Dick Oliver of the local Fox station report on a plane hitting one of the towers, I called her to tell her something big had happened. https://youtu.be/0_CrzPvcY3o?si=omNQimalUIfmuJm5 We both turned on Good Morning America and soon after there was a report of the incident in the first tower. I managed to take a picture of the first tower burning, not knowing that I was memorializing history in the process.
Many still believed this was an awful accident, as nothing specific had yet indicated that this was an act of terror. Being one of those people I felt it was safe to make my way to work.
On September 11th the location of my job was in Brooklyn. To get to Brooklyn I had to take the F train into Manhattan where I would switch to the D train at the 34th street station. On my ride on the F train I began to hear that there was a second plane that had hit the other tower and that now it was apparent that this was a terrorist attack. I remember seeing women crying on the train in a way that people cry when they fear the loss of a loved one. I remember the train stopping with only the front car in the station and all of us being evacuated to that front car and told to leave the station. As I walked out of the station what I saw became one of those indelible memories. Standing on the corner of 36th Street and 7th Avenue, just steps away from Macys, I saw throngs of people, all walking one direction, uptown, away from the towers. And then I walked to a store front where I saw another image embedded in my brain. It was a TV that was on ABC, where the caption read, “World Trade Center, Attacked and Destroyed”. All trains in Manhattan were suspended, so I decided to begin a walk back towards home. On my way uptown I saw the image that represented the tragedy and horror of the day over every other image I would see that day. I will share that with you shortly, but first I will share 2 more images that are forever imbedded in my memory. The two things I remember when crossing what was then known as the 59th street bridge, a bridge connecting Manhattan to Queens. One of those images was in front of me, the other to my right. The first image was that of a woman walking before me, covered in the grey soot seen on so many people on that day. The soot seen on people so close to the catastrophe, that they were physically impacted by what had happened. The second image was to my right. This image was of a trail of smoke coming from downtown, from what would be a gaping hole not only in downtown Manhattan, but in the hearts of all New Yorkers.
On September 11th I was closer to devastation and tragedy on a mass scale than I had ever been in my life. Part of what made it so awful was that in being able to see the horrific images of the 2 planes hitting the buildings and the building collapsing, those closest to the nearly 3,000 souls murdered, the boyfriends and girlfriend, husbands and wives, sons and daughters, friends, and fathers and mothers, would forever see them die before their very eyes. Which brings me to the moment I will have etched in my brain for all my days, the one that most represents the day for me. As I was walking uptown towards 59th street, to my right off of one of the corners a car was parked with its doors open. The radio was loud, and as was the case with any station broadcasting that morning, it was reporting on the attack. Standing near the car was an Asian couple probably in their 50s, the woman sobbing uncontrollably and the man walking back in forth in a panic, tears flowing down his cheeks. While I will likely never have the opportunity to confirm what I thought, I was sure as I walked past this couple, that I was looking at parents that had a child working in one of those towers. It was at this moment, with that image that will be in my head till the day I die, that the harshest reality of that day sunk in.
On September 11th normal every day working people were killed just for being at work or having the misfortune of being on one of the planes used to attack the Towers, the Pentagon, or whatever destination the plane in Pennsylvania was headed for. Firemen risked or lost their lives attempting, and in miraculous fashion saving thousands of people from the burning towers. People were physically or emotionally scarred forever by being in or near the towers on that day, many dying in the years that followed as a result. People lost loved ones and subsequently had their lives changed forever.
On September 11th I was merely a witness. I can not begin to imagine or understand the pain of those closest to the tragedy, for even as someone far removed from what they went through, I am left with a feeling of sadness and pain that will be with me forever. And yet, I am very cognizant of the fact that it is incumbent on me to make sure people do not forget the horrors people endure from the hands of others if I bear witness or hear testimony. It is something I carry with me daily as I tell the story of my ancestors and others killed in the Holocaust. It is the responsibility that is on someone far enough removed to not be incapacitated or weakened by these events, but close enough to them to feel true pain. It is the responsibility to let everyone know their one responsibility above all other responsibilities. That is to never forget, so that those who perished are never forgotten and so that even in their death, their lives always have great meaning.
As a proud Jew and vocal Zionist, I find the recent backlash against Bradley Cooper to be beyond ridiculous. Before anyone chooses to criticize the choice of how best to look like Leonard Bernstein, one needs to start by doing one thing. Look at a picture of Leonard Bernstein. The man had a pronounced nose. But as someone who has a stake in this conversation, I believe this whole discussion needs to go much deeper. What is my personal stake you ask? It is a simple answer. I am the author of a book titled , “Jew Face: A story of love and heroism in Nazi-occupied Holland.”
I have so many problems with this discussion that I almost don’t know where to start. I will start by saying that if you are someone who sees depicting an immensely talented Jew in a different manner than he actually looked, your attempts to avoid prejudice indicate either an ignorance as to to what it means to be a Jew, or a leaning toward such prejudice. Whether or not this movie is prejudiced against Jewish people will be indicated in the plot and dialogue, not in the attempt for the lead actor to look like the person he is playing. On the surface, I am not concerned. Leonard Bernstein was a brilliant conductor. This is why this movie is being made. Other aspects of the movie, be they favorable or not, will only indicate prejudice if they are incorrect or used to push an agenda against Jews. If for no other reason, this alone would be enough for me to tell people to get a grip.
What also bothers me is something that has bothered me for quite some time, albeit a wonderful opportunity for self-promotion. The word Jew is not a bad word. The context in which any word is used when describing a person or group will often determine how good or bad a word is. One of the main reasons I called my book “Jew Face” is because when you looked like my mother in 1940 Amsterdam, there was no questioning the fact that you were Jewish. But funny enough, not because she had a pronounced nose, which she somewhat did when she was younger. Rather because of the fact that she had dark hair, and a darker complexion than the typical Dutch person, and being from Spanish-Portuguese descent, even darker than many Jews. One of them being my fair skinned, redheaded (at the time), father. I guess that would mean, by 1940’s Dutch standards, if you got someone with dark hair and even slightly dark skin to portray my mother, that would be seen as Jew Face as a negative term. So this speaks to how perception is what creates this problem, not fact. The fact is, that if you depict a Jewish man or woman accurately, you are being a responsible reporter or filmmaker. If you break away from the truth to depict a hateful stereotype, THEN you should be seen as a problem. It should not be based on how accurately you attempt to make the person’s facial features look.
Going back to how the word Jew is not a bad word, I will reflect on a story regarding my late mother Sipora Groen, the woman on the cover of “Jew Face”. When speaking to a group of people and telling her story with the help of my book, someone confronted her saying, “Jew Face is an ugly title”. My mother responded immediately saying, “it was an ugly time”. If your focus is on the fact that the way something sounds offends you, rather than the importance of its content, you become part of the problem.
Which brings me to my next point. If you are up in arms about a prosthetic nose, used to depict a Jewish legend with a large nose, I must ask you where you were in the past? Where were you when Ilhan Omar said, “it’s all about the Benjamins”, when criticizing Jewish influence? Or when Marjorie Taylor Greene said that there are “Jewish space lasers” trying to shoot down Santa Claus. Or when Bryan Adams distorted facts about Gaza while never criticizing Palestinian terrorists targeting Jewish civilians. Have you paid to hear Roger Waters lately? The man who repeatedly calls Israel an Apartheid State? Or are you just concerned about a high profile nose, because it suits your agenda or speaks to your ignorance?
Bradley Cooper has never exhibited any public prejudice towards anyone. For all I know, and I won’t research it because I don’t care, he isn’t even the one who decided on the nose. If you want to fight for Jewish causes, how about taking on the difficult fights. Not the one that brings attention to a silly stereotype that only means anything if you associate it with something negative. All this is to me is another example of virtue signaling. For those who don’t know what virtue signaling is, it is when you express a strong opinion because you want to show how good you are, not because you really care. Before you say another word about Bradley Cooper and a prosthetic nose, look into your heart and figure out how much you really care.
(Venice) La distruzione del tempio di Gerusalemme -Francesco Hayez – gallerie Accademia Venice
After spending time in my synagogue this evening in commemoration of Tisha B’Av, the 9th day of the Hebrew calendar month of Av, I got to thinking in more depth about part of what it means to be Jewish. Tisha B’Av, the day both Temples in Jerusalem were destroyed, many years apart, is by every account the saddest day of the year for the Jewish people. It is also a day in which the Holocaust is once again remembered, and traditionally is the day in which victims murdered by the Nazis on unknown dates are remembered and honored. As I thought about the day, and the plight of the Jewish people, my mind seemed to go deeper and deeper down the rabbit hole, and I came to some conclusions I wish to share with you.
Throughout the ages the Jewish people have been hated, persecuted, tortured and murdered. In many instances people have been made to rally around the hatred of the Jewish population, blaming them for all their ills. In many cases it was based on suspicion caused by ignorance. The fact that Jews did not suffer as badly during the black plague, widely believed to be because of the Jewish laws of washing the hands before meals and after relieving themselves, created tremendous suspicion. The bizarre claim of the blood libel comes to mind. But I would imagine that if you were to poll Jews around the world and ask them the source of anti-Semitism, most would most likely say it is because of jealousy.
Claims that the Jewish people control the media and Hollywood are not uncommon, and of course the most common anti-Semitic trope throughout the ages, the Jews control the money, and in modern times, the banks. Many whose lives are not what they would like them to be, look for someone to blame. Often times that blame falls on the Jews. And often not as much because of what they perceive that they do, but because of what they have and how they live. If there is this jealousy, which most will at the very least agree is a driving force for much of the hatred, those who are jealous need to remember this very poignant and oft used adage. Be careful of what you wish for.
As I read the Megillah Eicha, the Book of Lamentations, I read some of the most horrific atrocities one could imagine befalling the Jewish people. In many ways it reads like atrocities you could imagine the Jews suffering under the Nazis, minus the concentration camps and genocide. Jewish people feeling tremendous physical pain and mental anguish. Experiencing almost unimaginable suffering and brutality. Hunger to the point of salvation. But what makes Eicha so chilling, is that the horrors the Jewish people endure are not said to be inflicted on them by a mortal enemy, but by God himself. Many separating themselves from the mundane on this day would certainly look at this deeper and ask themselves why God would be so cruel to his Chosen People.
I do not dare to speak to how God feels, but I do feel that there is a connection between the suffering documented in Eicha and the achievements of the Jewish people in so many walks of life throughout the ages. It comes down to expectations and responsibility. Working on the belief and assumption that the Jews are indeed the Chosen People, God bestows great joys and accomplishments on the Jews. But it comes with a very steep price, and that is living by a higher code. This higher code to many is seen as the Torah, but somehow it seems that Jews who choose not to follow many of the laws of the Torah still live by a standard revolving around greater expectations. It is when you believe that God has put those expectations on the Jewish people that it begins to get somewhat terrifying, for in Eicha, for all intents and purposes, the entire theme of the book seems to be punishment of the Jews for not following the laws.
So as I go back to the idea and history of Jew hatred, I ask those who hate us for all that we have and all that we have achieved as a people, would you be willing to pay the price? I love being Jewish, but even as someone who has never suffered through slavery, torture or genocide, I know that being part of my faith comes with a price. That price is not just the hatred of groups of people throughout the ages, but also and more significantly, the punishment for not living the life that many believe is a covenant made with God. So for those whose hatred is based mostly on jealousy I say one more time and with even more emphasis and emotion, be careful what you wish for.
For those fasting I wish you and easy and meaningful fast.
When Eyal Yifrach, Naftali Frenkel and Gilad Shaar, ages 19, 16 and 16 were kidnapped and murdered by Palestinian terrorists in June of 2014, I found myself so angry and driven by the turn of events that I formed Global Coalition for Israel on Facebook to address events in Israel and Jewish causes worldwide. While the group has grown to over 4,300 members, in recent times I have not given it the attention it requires and deserves.
Sadly, last week in yet another terrorist attack in Israel, 48 year old Lucy (Leah) Dee, and her 2 daughter Maia 20, and Rina 15 were murdered in cold blood. While I put value on every life, this recent attack has shaken me to the core in a way no such attack has since the 3 boys were murdered in 2014. So in the memory of the Leah, Maia, and Rina Dee, and out of respect and support for their family left behind, Rabbi Leo Dee and his 3 remaining children, I will commit to giving greater attention and development of Global Coalition for Israel. Your contributions will be welcomed, and your help and support will be greatly appreciated. To those who have contributed in the past, your appropriate posts will be posted in a timely fashion moving forward. We all have a job to do, and a responsibility to all that is decent and good.
May the memories of all victims of terrorism be a blessing and to those who have lost loved ones, May God comfort you among the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem.
Last Friday, a terrorist attack in Israel took the lives of a mother and 2 of her children. I implore you to listen to the words of Rabbi Leo Dee, the man whose 48 year old wife Leah, and 2 of his daughters, Maia age 20 and Rina age 15, were the victims of this despicable act. In their memory he is asking April 10th to be Dee’s Day, and to post an Israeli flag in their honor.
In a situation where we would tend to feel helpless to do anything to help this grieving man and his remaining 3 children, I simply say, let’s do what he asks of us.
As one of the many transplanted New Yorkers living in South Florida, and a resurgent baseball fan, my experience this past Wednesday March 8th , where I had the privilege of witnessing the national team of Israel play the Miami Marlins at Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter, was a highly notable one.
I had the good fortune a few weeks back of meeting a high ranking executive for the Marlins. When I shared with him my strong connection to Israel and my observance of Judaism, he proceeded to inform me of the upcoming matchup. Although I consider myself a pretty big Mets fan, the executive made me realize how far I had fallen as a baseball fan when I asked him who Jazz was. Jazz Chisholm, a Marlins star player who is on the cover of the video game, MLB The Show 23, is an exciting and talented young player. I just didn’t know it yet. The exec was kind enough to contact me the next day and ask me if I was interested in going to the Marlins vs. Israel game. The following day I had 2 tickets waiting for me in my Inbox.
I decided to take my brother Leo to the game. Having once been a member of the Israel Defense Forces and someone who had lived in Israel for a number of years, I knew he would enjoy the game and the experience as much as I would. The fun started as soon as we arrived in town. Shoutout to the city of Jupiter. It may well be the only highly affluent city I’ve even been in where you can actually find something for free. Within a matter of minutes we managed to find 2 things for free. First, the parking was free. Then, as we were on the way out, a golf cart approached us and offered us a free ride to the ballpark, paid for by the stadium itself. After briefly walking through the neighboring streets, we decided to go into the stadium where the Kosher food truck allowed us the opportunity to eat a meal meeting our dietary requirements.
Our seats were perfect. Sitting slightly on the 3rd base side of home plate, I have never been more qualified to call whether a lefty hitter went around on a swing or not. After a group of adorable kids sang both Israel’s and America’s national anthems, the game was on.
The atmosphere was relaxed and fun. Knowing that neither team was playing a game that counted, our expectations were not high. Nevertheless, it was evident that these were players on, or close to the highest level the game had to offer. Particularly on the Marlins side. I got to see Jazz bat and get on base with a bunt his first time up, displaying fundamental skills and speed.
While Leo and I went there cheering on Team Israel, within a few innings we had 2 specific players for whom we had developed a vested interest. One was a player on the Marlins roster who is vying for a spot on the big team roster. His wife was sitting on our row with their 2 young children. And the other was a player on Team Israel, whose girlfriend came along an inning or 2 later. Throughout the game we would learn more about what it was like to be minor league journeyman and the family sharing the journey. We would also learn facts about playing for Team Israel that just made the evening more enjoyable.
What surprised me more than anything was how I felt the following day. I am a Met fan, and likely will be one for my remaining time on this earth, but thanks to the kindness of the executive I met a few weeks ago, I now feel like I have a relationship with a new team. It has always been my thought, one that I took from people older and smarter than me, that more than in any other sport, when it comes to baseball, you support the home team. So from this moment on, as I am now a resident of South Florida, with the exception of when they play against the New York Mets, I will be pulling for the Miami Marlins. While I think I got the tickets purely as a kind gesture, kind gestures add up, and so does a fan base. Lets Go Marlins (except against the Mets).
Two years ago today, on a cold Saturday night in Long Island, after coming back from dinner, my date and I went to visit friends in the neighborhood. What we, nor anyone else in the house at the time knew, was that outside an ice storm had started, one that was not forecast to take place. As we said goodbye, my date stepped out, slipped, and grabbed the railing, avoiding injury. I stepped out, my feet slipped forward and I fell straight back, the back of my head hitting the concrete. Bleeding like I had never bled before, my friends called an ambulance and I was transported to the local hospital.
When all was said and done, I ended up with 5 staples and a nasty concussion. As I often say to people who never had a concussion, you know what a concussion is, but you don’t understand a concussion till you’ve had a concussion. Besides causing symptoms like blurred vision and headaches-I actually had a constant headache for the first 3 weeks-it wreaks havoc on your mental and emotional status.
Fast forward, by May 1st feeling much better, I declared myself mostly recovered. The one thing I was not able to do however was write. Every time I tried, my mind darted all over the place. While I feared I might have lost the ability to do what I enjoy most, I rationalized it by saying to myself, if this is the worst to come from this, I’m a lucky guy. As fortune would have it, by July I was writing again and could then say that I had completely recovered.
Many people go through incidents much worse than this one, but nevertheless I find it important to share. And here is why. When I was in the hospital the Emergency Room Dr. looked at my head and said “Good Job!” When I replied, “Why? Is it not that bad?”, she replied, “No. Good job that you’re here. Many people here don’t need to be. You do need to be here.” Later when the CT Scan returned showing no major damage the same Dr. told me that she was relieved to see the results of the scan because she was not sure I would be OK until that point. What that told me, combined with the slight recollection I have of the impact of the fall, is that had I fallen just a little bit harder or maybe at a different angle, I would either have had long term or permanent damage or even worse, it would have taken my life. So as I sit here 2 years later, now living in South Florida where the only ice I see is in the bottom of my Scotch glass, and feeling healthier than I have for many years, the gratitude I have to God for allowing me to be where I am today needs to be shared with as many people as possible.
This is why I am sharing this today. Because I can now look back at 2 years ago and recognize how fortunate I am.
As Super Bowl LVII approaches, I find it worth mentioning that when the game begins I will be watching for and cheering on the one and only team that has not let me down over the past 26 plus years. That team is the Philadelphia Eagles.
I lived in New York from July 1985 till January 2022. On October 27, 1986 the New York Mets won the World Series against the Boston Red Sox. Now that you know where my baseball loyalties lie, you may or may not know that the Mets have not won the World Series since that day. So we can check the Mets off as a team that has come through for me.
Next, we have the Philadelphia Flyers. Having lived in Philly between the 1969 and 1976, I can confidently say that if you were a fan of Ice Hockey during the 2 straight years the Flyers won the Stanley Cup in 1974 and 1975 you are a Flyers fan for life. But with no Stanley Cup victory since, it might as well be called a life sentence.
I am a New York Knicks fan. No need to elaborate there.
I lived in London from 1976- 1980 at which time I picked Tottenham Hotspur as my team. I didn’t pick Chelsea, a team that has won the Premier League 5 times in the 21st century. I also didn’t pick Arsenal, a team that has won the league 3 times since the late 90s and is on track to win it again this year. No. The London team I chose to support is Tottenham Hotspur, arguably the most consistently mediocre team in the Premier League, and certainly less successful than the other 2 London teams I just referenced. In fact, the last time they won the championship was 1961, when I wasn’t born yet and the Premier League was yet to be formed. Thanks a lot Spurs.
And finally, as a fan of international Soccer, and the son of Dutch parents, I have had the pleasure of cheering on The Netherlands men soccer team, widely referred as the best team to never win the World Cup. While their victories to get to those finals brough me some joy, ultimately, they too let me down in the game that mattered most.
So that brings me to the Philadelphia Eagles. When the Eagles beat the New England Patriots and Tom Brady 5 years ago, they became the first team since 1986 to give me a championship to celebrate. Since then, while all the other teams I root for have been back to their old tricks, the Eagles have rebuilt to the point of being considered the better of the 2 teams to play in Super Bowl LVII. Although I am perfectly aware that the Kansas City Chief and Patrick Mahomes, coached by former Eagles Head Coach Andy Reid are no joke, just getting to this point is something that brings me and many other fans of the team great joy. I expect victory tomorrow, and will not be happy if we lose, but regardless of the result, they’ve done more for me than any other team I’ve invested time in supporting.
So I finish this self-indulgent, somewhat narcissistic piece with just 3 words.
Israeli security forces and rescue forces at the scene of a shooting attack in Neve Yaakov, Jerusalem, January 27, 2023. Photo by Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90 *** Local Caption *** פיגוע
זירה
משטרה
כוחות
ביטחון
פיגוע
זירה
משטרה
כוחות
ביטחון
נווה יעקב
בית כנסת
הרוג
הרוגים
It is International Holocaust Remembrance Day and there are still those who will murder us just for being Jews. The shooting today in Jerusalem is evidence of this sad fact. At last count 7 people were killed, likely on their way home to Friday night dinner after Shabbat prayers.
We can never completely rest. I wish it were otherwise, but this is a fight that never ends. I will continue to do my part in telling the story of my family to bring to life the reality of the murder of 6 million Jews. As the son of Holocaust survivors from Holland, when I read how one quarter of Dutch youth believe the Holocaust was a myth, I realize why we are so far from the peace we so dearly cherish. https://m.jpost.com/diaspora/antisemitism/article-729462 Not knowing what happened opens the possibility of it happening again, and we can never accept that possibility. When Jews get murdered outside of a synagogue just for being Jews, whether it is in Jerusalem or Pittsburgh, we need to realize that whatever we can do to combat this evil we must take upon ourselves to do.
I will honor those lost by continuing to fight in the way that I know how, which is to educate people about what really happened, and to make the point that ignorance is rarely replaced by good, far more often with evil.
Occasionally I will post a sports story on Holland’s Heroes. I generally do this because of a specific interest I have in the event or a team playing. The one common denominator in any of my sports related posts is the fact that the sports story is a fun distraction or diversion from the seriousness of reality. Sadly, due to the tragic events that unfolded last night surrounding Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin, today is the exception that proves the rule.
After making a tackle in last nights NFL Matchup between the Cincinnati Bengals and Buffalo Bills, 24 year old Hamlin went into cardiac arrest. They were able to restore a heartbeat on the field, but as he is still in critical condition, no one knows as of the time I am writing this piece to what extent he will recover, if at all. I always say that I love sports because while I put so much emotion into cheering on the players and teams that I love, when my team loses it takes very little time to move on, and sometimes even laugh about it. As important as it feels the moment your team wins or loses, in the scheme of life there are so many things that matter more. No matter how much good sports can be part of and how much joy it can bring, sports is still ultimately just the playing of games. So when Damar Hamlin collapsed on the football field after going into cardiac arrest and still for all intents and purposes is fighting for his life, what had the potential of being the best game of the year, turned into a terrifying reality for a young man, his family, teammates, closest friends and that very special fanbase known as Bills Mafia.
For fans like me, a big fan of the NFL yet someone who didn’t even know his name till last night, it became a story that left the fantasy world of sports and moved to a harsh and frightening reality. This was no longer a distraction or a diversion. This is now a tragic story, one we can only hope and pray gets better.
In February 1941, between 300-500 Jewish men of sound mind and body were rounded up in Amsterdam by the Nazi occupying forces. Every single one of them was deported out of the city, most of them to the Mauthausen concentration camp. The majority of those were either shot, pushed of a rock quarry at the top of the “stairs of death”, or literally worked to death. This event symbolized the beginning of the Holocaust in the Netherlands. While one of these men was my mother’s favorite cousin, David van Hasselt, even if there wasn’t this personal element attached to the story, I would still be enormously offended by your comments.
If there was any accuracy to your comments, which there is not, finding it necessary to insist that the Holocaust wasn’t motivated by race is like saying that slavery was really only about getting cheap help. It whitewashes the murder of 6 million Jews, diminishes the pain and suffering of those that experienced it and the burden of responsibility and vicarious anguish felt by future generations.
In September of 1919, 14 years before Adolf Hitler came into power, he categorized the Jews as a race, not as a religious community. He described the Jewish presence as a “race-tuberculosis of the peoples “, and said that “the ultimate goal must be the removal of the Jews altogether “.
In 1923, 10 years before seizing power, Hitler wrote in Mein Kampf, “by defending myself against the Jew, I am fighting for the work of the Lord”.
While Hitler did have a disdain for the mentally and physically deficient, he also hated Homosexuals, Gypsies, Poles, and any race not seen as Aryan. This is why Jesse Owens’ victories in the 1933 Munich Olympics made him such a hero, something I would have commended you for taking time to recognize, as he showed his superiority in his athletic prowess right in front of Hitler’s face.
What this all comes back to is that your comments are not only incredibly and continuously insensitive, their inaccuracies are dangerous. The reason why myself and so many others find the need to make telling this story our life’s work, is because as soon as it’s forgotten, or distorted as you are doing, the danger of history repeating or even somewhat duplicating itself becomes significantly greater.
And finally Whoopi, despite the fact that your comments put your mental stability in question, because of the last name you go by, Goldberg, the Nazis would have come for you before seeing the color of your skin. A fact you would be wise to acknowledge.
In the latter months of 2012, Alexandra Van Hasselt was searching for family members on the internet. In her efforts she would make contact with Ron Van Hasselt, a distant cousin on her father’s side. In his own research, Ron came across information regarding one of his relatives, David Van Hasselt. He found a book in which David Van Hasselt’s death in the Mauthausen concentration camp was documented. The book he found was the book I authored, Jew Face. David Van Hasselt was the first cousin of my mother Sipora and someone very special to her.
After having contact with Alexandra, Ron would forward her my contact information. Alexandra’s father, Vince, would subsequently contact me via email. Vince’s father was Eddie Van Hasselt, the brother of David and also my mother’s first cousin. As good fortune would have it, Vince, together with his wife Melanie and daughter Alexandra, were living in Florida, less than an hour from my mother, who at the time was 90 years old. They would meet, Vince and I would meet in New York, and little by little the whole family would get to know each other and a special connection would develop between many members of my family, and Vince, Melanie and Alexandra. But of all the relationships, perhaps the most special of the relationships was between my mother and Alexandra. Having grown up in a household with diverse culture, my mother played piano, sang, and had a tremendous love for the arts. Alexandra, a young girl of 15, was already a very talented dancer, with a beautiful singing voice and a growing love for acting. The bond that would develop between these 2 newly acquainted cousins, separated by 85 years, was as unique as any imaginable. They would sing together, have long talks with each other, and form the most unlikely of friendships. In Alexandra, my mother saw her younger self, a young lady filled with talent, joy and promise. In my mother, Alexandra saw a kindred spirit, whose age and experience and love, gave her extra encouragement to pursue her dreams and be someone who my mother could live through vicariously. For Alexandra, although saddened by mother’s passing in 2017, that special relationship would always stay with her.
All of this would be what would make today, October 30, 2022 so special. Today I got to see Alexandra perform in Jerry Herman’s play, Milk and Honey. Based in Israel in the early 1960s, this wonderful production was playing at the Wick Theater in Boca Raton, Florida. As I sat there, next to 2 of my brothers, my sister-in-law, and Vince and Melanie, watching Alexandra perform on stage with her powerful and talented presence, in a play about Israel, the magic of what took place 10 years ago and in subsequent years, came back to me in full force. I felt an almost mystical connection between past and present, made even more palpable by the young character in the play who was 9 months pregnant and due to give birth at any time. Her name, Sipora. After the play when I asked Alexandra how it felt when she learned that there was a character in the play of that name, the same name as my mother, she replied that it was very special and that on this day she had thought about my mother a lot.
I know I am far from alone in feeling that the importance of telling the story of what took place under Nazi-occupation can’t be overstated. But I’ve also felt that in telling the story and opening up this connection with the past, we have the opportunity to witness the continuation of life in its most poignant manner. In 1941, when word of David Van Hasselt’s death would reach Amsterdam, it would fall on my mother, a young woman of just 19, to inform David’s mother, Vince’s grandmother, of the death of her son. Today, more than 80 years later, David’s great niece Alexandra would perform on stage in front of 3 of Sipora’s children, and his nephew Vince, in a story about nothing other than Israel, the Jewish state. With all the trials and tribulations life has to offer, it is hard to find something more indicative of how life goes on, and even thrives, as this connection between past and present.
The play and the performance were beautiful, but perhaps nothing was more beautiful than the lesson learned from all the events surrounding it for me and my family. The lesson that what we do matters, and that who we come from stays with us forever.
Holland's Heroes 