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.
Holland's Heroes 