Tag Archives: IDF

My message to the Jew Haters of the world

Dear Jew Haters,

You know who you are. You masquerade as humanitarians, social justice warriors, educators and public servants. Some of you whose job is to act or make music think that you have a better understanding of right and wrong than the rest of us. You opine and preach about how much you care about your fellow man and the injustices committed against women and children but pick and choose which women and children to protect. You are ignorant hypocrites at best, evil servants of the devil at worst. Your shortsightedness blinds you from seeing how on the wrong side of history your stances have placed you. But you will not come out ahead, and this is why.

You are merely an insignificant speck of dust in the global scheme. You have made the choice to pick the chosen people as the target of your hatred. Last year in Israel, on the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah, the holiday coinciding with October 7th in the Gregorian calendar, you watched and learned of a massacre unparalleled in recent history. One would have thought that your credibility would have been unquestioned after learning of 1200 people being slaughtered, babies being purposely murdered, and young women being raped. But rather than seeing this as the horror that it was, your hatred of the Jewish people combined in many cases with personal financial gain, caused you to support the perpetrator, and chastise the victim. You jumped at the opportunity to attack Israel for protecting its people and conveniently ignored the acts of terror committed against them, in favor of those who committed or supported these atrocities. And you did this for one reason above all others. You hate the Jewish people.

Jews have been persecuted, expelled and murdered more than any other people throughout history. Empires and mighty nations have found themselves obsessed with our very existence. They have made their attacks on Jews more than just a policy, they have made it a priority. You feebleminded, hypocritical, self-serving pieces of garbage have spent the last year criticizing every action Israel has taken in the name of their safety and that of the Jewish people. You have chosen to ignore the restraint Israel has shown, the caution it has taken, and the well thought out methods it has chosen to prosecute a war they did not start. You refuse to admit that there is not another country on the planet that would have shown the mercy Israel has shown over this past year.

But when all is said and done, you will lose. This is not a warning or a threat. This is very simply a reference to the past and an understanding of reality. Before so many evil nations or empires crumbled, one of the last things they did was persecute, expel, or kill their Jewish population. The Spanish Inquisition, Russian pogroms and Nazi Germany all lead to defeat of evil governments, to a large part because they were consumed by their hatred for the Jews, but to an even greater part because they picked the wrong people to mess with. They may have had the power and military might to inflict devastation on Jewish communities, but ultimately they could not and never would have overcome the spiritual power of the Jewish people. That is why, and read this carefully all you determined to see us wiped off the planet, they are gone and we remain standing.

So to all of you Jew haters who are ignoring history, know this. No one has been able to extinguish our light till now, and no one ever will. You are on the wrong side of history, a side that sees darkness, chaos, death and destruction, every thing the Jewish people are not. If you choose to remain on that wrong side of history, your world will ultimately crumble around you like so many worlds before you.

I have never been more proud or more happy to be a Jew than I am today. In the past year the Jewish people have rallied militarily, thanks to the amazing IDF, financially, thanks to donors both large and small, and last, but not least, spiritually. The prayers of Jew and non-Jew alike for the safety and continued existence of the Jewish people has never been stronger. So to those of you who still choose to hate us, do so at your own peril, because ultimately it will be your demise, not ours.

May God Bless the souls of those murdered last Simchat Torah, October 7th, and all the amazingly heroic members of the IDF who have made the ultimate sacrifice. And may strength and peace be the blessing bestowed on all those who have suffered pain and anguish from the events of a year ago. This year on Simchat Torah, while the Jew haters will drown in their evil desires, we will dance for all those who can not, and for all those whose souls we hope to uplift. That is how we as Jews spend our time. You might want to learn from that.

Sincerely and proudly,

David Groen

Am Yisrael Chai

Never Again is Now!

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Today is my birthday, and Israel is my gift

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.

Am Yisrael Chai

Never Again is Now!

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Open Letter to California Governor Gavin Newsom regarding the Antisemitic rhetoric at Oakland City Council session

Dear Governor Newsom,

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.

Sincerely,

David Groen

Am Yisrael Chai

Never Again is Now!

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Be Relentless

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.

Am Yisrael Chai

Never Again is Now!

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As a Jew, I am sorry

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.

Am Yisrael Chai

Never Again is Now!

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A Hostage is Rescued

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.

Never Again is Now!

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Voices to Lift our Spirits and give us Hope

Arnold

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
The children of Israel

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Voices to Lift our Spirits and give us Hope

Arnold

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
The children of Israel

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Jewish unity grows, as Haredim prepare to join the Israeli army

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!

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Morality Starts at Home

From my trip to Israel in June of 2022

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.

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