Aug. 30 to Sept. 5, 2024
26 Av, 5784 • Re’eh Vol. 23, No. 29
Reach the Star: Editor@TheJewishStar.com 516-622-7461 x291
America’s not ready for war
The principal product of Washington is words. They come in three different kinds of packages:
•Memoranda, by which government departments and organizations communicate internally;
•Op-ed articles, by which these various groups communicate with each other and the public; and
•Reports, usually compiled under the auspices of people with expertise in the subject being addressed.
All three types are highly perishable. Almost none reaches a broad audience or is read more than a few days after it appears. Even reports, longer and more detailed than memoranda or op-ed essays, generally suffer this fate, likely including the July report of the Commission on the National Defense Strategy, a body authorized by Congress with former Rep. Jane Harman as chair and former ambassador and Defense Department Under Secretary Eric Edelman as vice chair.
That, however, would be unfortunate and even, conceivably, ultimately tragic. For this
See America’s not ready on page 2
‘The threats the United States faces are the most serious and most challenging the nation has encountered since 1945 and include the potential for near-term major war. … In this election year, [these challenges] have thus far gone virtually unmentioned.’
A cyberattack on critical infrastructure could affect “the availability of power, water, wastewater, and the systems that
ic, transportation, and financial systems. Access to critical minerals and goods needed to run the US economy and build
would be completely cut off. Major war would affect the life of every American in ways we can only begin to imagine.”
C’hurst native plays offense in Braves’ land
Retired Georgia doc faces Hamas-friendly incumbent
By Ed Weintrob, The Jewish Star
Dr. Barry Zisholtz was a urological surgeon, not a politician. But when the Cedarhurst native found himself in a Georgia district whose state representative was silent on Hamas terror and the concurrent wave of antisemitism, he recalled Hillel’s urging in Pirkei Avot, “In a place where there are no men, strive to be a man.”
That’s how “Dr. Z” finds himself running as a long shot candidate for the Georgia House, a sold-red Orthodox Jewish Republican in the bluest of districts where most people are Black or immigrants. And it’s Atlanta Braves country to boot!
“There hasn’t been a Republican in the state house in DeKalb County in 30 years, so my chances going into this were not good,” Zisholtz told The Jewish Star. His opponent, Imani Barnes, carried the district with nearly 90 percent of the vote two years ago.
For most of the voters he’s encountered, Israel and the Gaza war are not top of mind.
“They’re concerned about the price of a quart of orange juice or milk, or their medicines, and their property taxes going up,
and the potholes, and all the people carrying guns, the crime.”
He said that abortion rights — one of the foremost issues dividing Democratic and Republican candidates — rarely comes up, but when it does, he says that “abortion may not be for me, but it’s a big country and each state has its own rules.”
What he’s more often confronted with is his support of former President Donald Trump. He responds that he’s running for a local state House seat, but when pushed will concede that he supports Trump “because my people are at risk.”
“When I see a Democrat and they say, ‘Well, you’re a Republican, you can go home.’ I say, ‘but you’re going to vote for somebody who says Hamas is not a terror and who voted against the antisemitism bill, and they would slam the door and they don’t really care about that.”
Zisholtz spent his formative years in the Five Towns, moving from Flushing when he was about 8 years old and attending the Hillel School on Washington Avenue (now HAFTR). He is still connected — his mother, 91, lives in the same house on Oxford Road where he and his three siblings were raised. One of his brothers still lives in Cedarhurst.
His additonal ongoing links to the Five Towns include these: •When he remarried five years ago, it was to Mindy Rosenman Mitzner, who was from Far Rockaway before moving to Houston.
A highway billboard promotes Dr. Z’s candidacy.
MICHAEL MANDELBAUM
Cedarhurst native…
(Zisholtz’s first wife, to whom he was married for 34 years and had four children, died in 2017.)
•Zisholtz recalled that Mindy’s father was a chazen in the Five Towns-Far Rockaway community and also a commercial printer who did his Bar Mitzvah invitations.
•Mindy is a first cousin of Shalom Maidenbaum, a prominent member of the community and founder of the Maidenbaum Property Tax Reduction Group. Her mother was “Morah Marion” who was a teacher and also worked in Shalom’s office.
•Zisholtz met Shalom at Hillel, where they were “best buddies” throughout high school, then they started together at the University of Michigan.
“We had a really nice upbringing” in the Five Towns, he said. “I always went to Beth Shalom; Rabbi Klaperman was my rabbi until I left for college. It was very crowded on Shabbos, but after Shabbos, everyone went to the country club or shopping on Central Avenue. That was the way it was done in the ’70s.”
“We learned that we needed to take care of our community, our family and our friends,” he said. “We frequently went on school buses during the ’70s to protest for the release of the Soviet Jews.”
Zisholtz recently retired after 36 years as a urological surgeon, working mostly in Riverdale and East Point, Georgia.
In an interview with Greg Kelly on Newsmax this week, he said he had no plans to go into politics until discovering that two months after Oct. 7, his state representative “walked out on a resolution calling Hamas a terror organization. And then a month later, she voted against the antisemitism bill. And then she also voted for sanctuary cities. She also voted to allow China, Russia and Iran to do business in Georgia. And she voted to be less tough on crime and criminals. So with all those things, I decided to step up, because she was running unopposed. I knew I had to do something.
“I have 17 grandchildren, and this was really not on the agenda and not on the table,” he told Kelly, “but I thought that this was my opportunity to fight back against many, many things I don’t believe in.”
Because of his medical work in the Black community, including performing indigent surgeries for free, he told The Jewish Star that he’s comfortable campaigning there, and with his team has knocked on 7,500 doors.
“When I walk into a Black barber shop, they first stop cutting hair. It’s like an Eddie Murphy movie. They said, ‘What are you doing here?’ They think I have an emergency. And then I say, ‘I’m Dr Z. I’m coming to earn your vote.’ When I leave the barbershop, they have my sign on the door.”
At a Juneteenth event he co-sponsored with the NAACP in Stonecrest, Ga., Zisholtz quoted the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. as saying that “there comes time that silence is betrayal. And I challenged the 150 people there — I said, we need your help. We were there for you when you were discriminated against. Now we need you. Our kids can’t go to school anymore.”
“As a surgeon, nobody ever asked me whether I was a Democrat or Republican or even my religion,” he told The Jewish Star. “They came with pain or blood in the urine or a kidney stone, and they just asked me to make them well.”
“I grew up being taught to help make the world a better place once person at a time,” Zisholtz says on his campaign website, www.votedrz.com. “That phrase in Hebrew is called Tikun Olam. I have spent my life trying to live by that phrase.”
Once again a thought from Pirkei Avot comes to mind, this one attributed to Rabbi Tarfon: “It is not your duty to finish the work, but neither are you at liberty to neglect it.”
“I know it’s an uphill battle, to unify and educate some of the communities about the Jewish community, and that’s what I’ve been doing,” Zisholtz said.
America’s not ready…
Continued from page 1
report has a stark and urgent message: The threats the United States faces are the most serious and most challenging the nation has encountered since 1945 and include the potential for near-term major war. The United States last fought a global conflict during World War II, which ended nearly 80 years ago. The nation was last prepared for such a fight during the Cold War, which ended 35 years ago. It is not prepared today.
In response to the Missouri Compromise of 1819, former President Thomas Jefferson said that the question it addressed, the extent of slavery in the United States, was “like a fire-bell in the night” — a warning of the terrible potential consequences that that question would have in the future.
The report of the Harman-Edelman Commission has a similar purpose. It warns that brush fires are burning around the world, that a large conflagration may be imminent, and that the global fire brigade — whose mainstay is American military power — is underequipped and generally ill-prepared for such an event.
Two features of today’s world make this a particularly perilous time for the United States, its allies and friends.
One is the existence of serious political and military challenges to American interests and values in three crucial regions of the planet.
•In East Asia, China is building a large military, seeking to dominate large swaths of the western Pacific that it claims, contrary to international law, as part of its territorial waters, and increasing its harassment of and threats to the independent, democratic island of Taiwan. The Chinese dictator Xi Jinping has told his armed forces to be prepared to conquer Taiwan by 2027.
•In Europe, Russia has been waging a bloody, destructive war of aggression against Ukraine since February 2022. While incurring large losses of soldiers and equipment, the Russian dictator, Vladimir Putin, has put Russia on a war footing and made it clear that his ambitions for territorial conquest are not limited to Ukraine. The next victims he presumably has in mind include the three Baltic countries — Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania — that the United States is pledged to defend by virtue of its membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
•In the Middle East, the fundamentalist Islamic Republic of Iran is sponsoring client groups that have gained footholds and exercise considerable power in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen. Iran is arming and supporting the terrorists making war on Israel and aspires to evict American forces from the region. Moreover, China, Russia and Iran are increasingly cooperating with one another, magnifying the threat that each poses, and that they pose collectively, to the United States and the free world.
US economy and build weapon systems would be completely cut off. Major war would affect the life of every American in ways we can only begin to imagine.”
American foreign policy must have as its overriding purpose deterring the assaults that these three aggressive powers are capable of launching. Successful deterrence involves having the credible capacity to defeat such assaults. The main theme of the Commission’s report is that such a capacity is now lacking. To acquire it will require changes in the American defense establishment, force posture and politics, changes that are taking place too slowly or not at all.
The pace of advance in military technology means that, to secure American interests, the Department of Defense will have to become more flexible, more agile and more adept at rapid innovation, for this purpose working more closely with the country’s private sector, which is where most relevant innovation now occurs.
In addition, for the world of today and tomorrow the United States needs more weaponry of all kinds, from artillery shells to naval vessels. The country’s current defenseindustrial base cannot supply it because, in the three decades since the end of the Cold War, it has shrunk dramatically. American security will therefore require more firms devoted to defense and more and bigger defense plants. All this, of course, costs money; and as large as the current defense budget is — $823 billion — it is insufficient.
Expanding the national commitment to defense, in turn, requires public advocacy of such a course by the nation’s leaders and a commitment to it on the part of the American public. Neither is currently in evidence. In this election year, the international challenges to the United States, the needs of its armed forces and the approach of either major party presidential candidate to the duties of commander-in-chief have thus far gone virtually unmentioned. To the threats that the Commission describes, the country is not paying attention.
This inattention has grim precedents in American history. The United States was not prepared for the Civil War or either of the two World Wars. The Korean War, which began in 1950 and which the country promptly entered, also came as a surprise to the public at large. In each case, the country managed, over time, to muster the military force necessary for success on the battlefield, but only after having paid a price in territory lost and casualties suffered. In the next war, the cost of unpreparedness could be painfully, even tragically high.
The second source of danger is the rapid, ongoing change in militarily relevant technology, specifically the digital revolution and the remarkable recent progress in artificial intelligence.
A country that lags behind in making use of these technologies in battle will lose to a country on the cutting edge. Because the pace of technological transformation is so rapid, even in areas where the United States has a lead over other countries — and the report suggests that in some of them China may already have overtaken America — that advantage is precarious.
To make matters even more dangerous, modern technology in the hands of an enemy can have a devastating impact on the American homeland.
According to the Commission, a cyberattack on critical infrastructure could affect “the availability of power, water, wastewater, and the systems that underpin economic, transportation, and financial systems. Access to critical minerals and goods needed to run the
One particular kind of Washington report sometimes does, contrary to the general pattern, receive sustained attention: a report investigating a major failure, such as the one issued by the commission that looked into the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. If the recommendations of the Commission on the National Defense Strategy are not heeded, and disaster strikes as a result, there will surely be a panel charged with discovering the reasons for what happened, and its findings can just as surely be known in advance.
They were expressed decades ago by Gen. Douglas MacArthur. “The history of failure in war,” he said the year before the United States formally entered World War II, “can almost always be summed up in two words: Too late. Too late in comprehending the deadly purpose of a potential enemy. Too late in realizing the mortal danger. Too late in preparedness. Too late in uniting all possible forces for resistance.”
The message of the Harman-Edelman Commission to the American public is: It’s later than you think.
Michael Mandelbaum is professor emeritus of American foreign policy at Johns Hopkins University’s Nitze School of Advanced International Studies and author of the book “Mission Failure: America and the World in the Post-Cold War Era” (2016).
Dad of captive urges bipartisan support in US
By Amelie Botbol, JNS
“We, the families of the hostages, would have wanted to see some calm in the region that would expedite the negotiations — but we’re glad to hear that negotiations are still taking place.”
That’s what Ruby Chen, father of American-Israeli IDF Sgt. Itay Chen, 19, told JNS on Sunday.
Itay, from Netanya, was stationed at the Nahal Oz army base as part of a tank unit when Hamas terrorists captured him along with three other soldiers on Oct. 7.
At one point, he was one of six hostages with dual American citizenship thought to be still alive in Gaza. On March 12, the Israel Defense Forces declared him dead in absentia. His body remains in the Palestinian enclave.
Chen spoke to JNS on his way back to Israel after participating in the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
“I think it was positive,” he said. “We set out to keep the topic of the hostages at the top of the agenda in the United States. It was very successful.”
“Jon and Rachel Polin’s speech was very good and we were all well received by the delegates from across the political spectrum, even Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez,” Chen added.
Last Wednesday night, the parents of American-Israeli hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin addressed the gathering. Hersch’s father, Jonathan Polin, told the delegates, “This is a political convention. But needing our only son, and all of the cherished hostages, home is not a political issue. It is a humanitarian issue.”
Despite the lack of progress in the latest hostage-release talks, the United States has called the negotiations “constructive.”
Chen believes that the hostage crisis is a quintessential American issue based on fundamental freedom.
“We stand together especially after 9/11, and she was willing to take a picture with me,” Chen said in reference to QueensBronx Rep. Ocasio-Cortez, a longtime critic of Israel and a member of the progressive Squad in the House of Representatives. “We said we will try to find some time to have a more formal meeting. I hope that it will happen. We, New Yorkers, have a special bond.”
Chen noted that he had received a similarly warm welcome from politicians at the Republican National Convention last month in Wisconsin, where Orna and Ronen Neutra, parents of Omer, a Hamas captive in Gaza, spoke.
“These are critical times,” Chen said Sunday. “Each day, more hostages are being killed in captivity,” he added, while urging immediate action.
her acceptance speech the DNC.
With respect to the war in Gaza, President Biden and I are working around the clock because now is the time to get a hostage deal and a cease fire deal done.
And let me be clear. And let me be clear. I will always stand up for Israel’s right to defend itself, and I will always ensure Israel has the ability to defend itself, because the people of Israel must never again face the horror that a terrorist organization called Hamas caused on October 7, includ-
ing unspeakable sexual violence and the massacre of young people at a music festival.
At the same time, what has happened in Gaza over the past 10 months is devastating. So many innocent lives lost;, desperate, hungry people fleeing for safety over and over again, the scale of suffering is heartbreaking.
President Biden and I are working to end this war such that Israel is secure, the hostages are released, the suffering in Gaza ends, and the Palestinian people can realize their right to dignity, security, freedom and self-determination.
At the Democratic National Convention last week in Chicago: Families of American hostages held by Hamas in Gaza. At right, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez with Ruby Chen, father of American-Israeli IDF Sgt. Itay Chen, 19.
Courtesy Ruby Chen
This is what Vice President Kamala Harris said about Israel and the Gaza war during
Jordan Wright (AD-70) Stefani Zinerman (AD-56) Michael Benedetto (AD-82) George Latimer (CD-16)
Latimer talks elections, Dem divide on Israel
By Mike Wagenheim, JNS
Longtime Westchester County
Executive George Latimer will be a 71-year-old congressional rookie should he, as expected, win his November general election in New York’s 16th Congressional District.
Latimer coasted to victory in the Democratic primary last month, upending anti-Israel incumbent Rep. Jamaal Bowman, who appeared to go out of his way to antagonize his Jewish constituents with inflammatory rhetoric about the Israel-Hamas war, in addition to insensitive and antisemitic comments about the choice of lifestyle of his district’s Jewish residents.
Bowman became the first member of the so-called progressive “Squad” of far-left Congress members to be ousted, followed by Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.), who attacked AIPAC in her concession speech.
Speaking on the sidelines of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago this week, Latimer told attendees at a Jewish Democratic Council of America event that no democracy is free from discrimination and that Israel’s critics are holding it to a higher standard in this category.
JNS asked Latimer why it is seen as unacceptable to be anti-Asian, homophobic or racist in the Democratic Party, while discrimination against Jews often appears to be accepted, excused and justified.
“The first thing to understand is that the Democratic Party is not monolithic,” he responded. “There are voices in the Democratic Party that hold those positions. I believe
they’re the minority of the party.”
Latimer cited the results in his race, along with Bush’s defeat at the hands of prosecutor Wesley Bell, to show “that voters who are Democrats actually don’t agree with some of those voices.”
“I think what happens sometimes is the media will amplify the voices of those that say the more outrageous things, but the mainstream feeling of the Democratic Party is more reflected by Hakeem Jeffries, more reflected by Chuck Schumer,” he said, referring to the House minority and Senate majority leaders, respectively.
Speaking to JNS last Wednesday, hours ahead of the convention speech of the parents of 23-year-old IsraeliAmerican hostage Hersh GoldbergPolin, Latimer sounded a somewhat prophetic note, based on the overwhelmingly-warm embrace the Polins received in the convention hall.
“I don’t think the party is as deeply divided as the media reports. Are there different points of view? Yes. Is it 50/50? Is it 60/40? No, I don’t think so,” Latimer said. “I think there is a much smaller group of people who are anti-Israel in the Democratic Party.”
The way to rid the party of those voices is through the primary process, which is where the position of the party’s mainstream tends to shine through, according to Latimer.
With intense criticism — primarily from the hard left — of AIPAC’s increasing political contributions, JNS asked Latimer if there is an opportunity to expunge the anti-Israel wing of the party without pouring tens of mil-
lions of dollars into individual races.
Latimer challenged the premise of the question and said that it was “not simply money” that won the aforementioned primaries.
Polling by Democratic Majority for Israel showed Latmer holding a 17-point lead before AIPAC’s heavy involvement, he said, crediting his decades of public service and high name recognition in the district.
“The fact that there was money spent on my behalf was essential to do it. It was also essential because it offset money that the incumbent raised throughout the country through a network of far-left donors,” he said. “But it was not simply: Here’s an empty suit.”
Latimer said more depends on quality candidate recruitment, referencing Bell’s victory in Missouri, as well as an understanding and ability to listen to the voices in one’s district. Bowman and Bush, conversely, were pilloried for seeming to prioritize national interests over servicing constituents.
“You have individuals who oppose Israel, and to the extent that you’re going to have to raise counterbalancing money, yes, that’s going to be part of the arrangement.”
Latimer said that Bowman had enough money to get his message out.
Asked his views on the dedication of vice president and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris
to the US-Israel relationship, Latimer said he believes that Harris will make a clear case to America for continued support of Jerusalem.
“But I do think at some point in time, the question at hand isn’t whether the Harris administration is going to be standing alone on this but will she have support in Congress as well,” he said.
Those looking at the matter on a short-term basis must broaden their perspective, even as Israel fights what many say is an existential war, according to Latimer.
“The future of Israel isn’t what happens in the next six months. It’s what happens over the next 60 years,” he said. “I’m not going to be here 60 years, but I certainly hope that the short-term decisions we make will lend itself toward that.”
Saudi Arabia still giving indications that it will recognize Israel is a good sign, as is Jordan responding at a critical time to help defend Israel against the massive drone and missile attack from Tehran and multiple proxies in mid-April, according to Latimer.
“That’s not to say that everything is smiles. I think the role that Iran plays is still a malevolent role in the Middle East,” Latimer said. “But I do think that there’s an opportunity for this relationship to strengthen, and that’s what I hope will happen.”
“I hope that President Harris — as President Biden has — will be able to chart a course,” he added, “and that those of us, if I’m in the Congress, will be supportive of that right strategy.”
Westchester County Executive George Latimer speaks to supporters after winning his race against incumbent Rep. Jamaal Bowman. Spencer Platt, Getty Images
Defending itself while cooperating with allies
Both realities are key to Israel’s relationship with the US — and to its future
Analysis by Zalman Shoval, Begin Sadat Center for Strategic Studies
The principle of self-reliance is fundamental to Israel’s national security. Recently, doubts have been raised about this principle. For instance, Martin Indyck, the late US ambassador to Israel, said that the deployment of American aircraft carriers to the Mediterranean and Red Sea shows “Israel is not capable of defending itself alone.”
This is a hasty conclusion, because the carriers serve as second-line defense. There is no contradiction between the basic Israeli principle stated above and Israel’s comprehensive cooperation with the United States, which has political, economic and other benefits for both sides. American military aid constitutes 16% of the Israeli defense budget and about 2% of the general budget, and entails Israeli access to the American security system.
Even if Israel were to significantly increase its own production of weapons, as it is obliged to do because of the constant threat of attack, it will continue to need supplies from foreign sources, mainly the United States.
Israel does not have a blank check for this purpose, even though US military aid is anchored by congressional decisions and serves the strategic, industrial and economic interests of the United States. The aid is vulnerable to political considerations in the form of reassessments or internal American political dynamics, such as the anti-Israel trend that is increasingly visible in some parts of the Democratic Party and uncertainty on the Republican side due to the isolationist positions of Donald Trump.
Countries act according to their interests, and American interests sometimes conflict with Israeli interests. US security ties with Israel met American opposition in the past because of the need for Arab oil, but also because of the fear that America would end up having to fight for the Jewish state.
Those fears evaporated after the Israeli victory in the Six-Day War, which opened the door to an ever-expanding military cooperation with the United States. Since then, total US aid to Israel has increased to $3 billion a year — originally $1.8 billion in military aid and $1.2 billion in civilian aid, to be delivered partly in credit.
An important change was made by Benjamin Netanyahu in 1996 when he announced that Israel would give up civilian aid and that the entire amount would be directed to security. Civilian foreign aid was unpopular in the eyes of American politicians, who had difficulty justifying it at a time when their own constituents were struggling with economic problems. As the Israeli economy was growing at the time, it was unnecessary in any case — certainly in comparison to security aid, which was seen by both the Americans and the Israelis as necessary and justified.
It was agreed that the security aid would be a grant, not a loan, and that the full amount would be granted in advance. There has also been an American contractual commitment in place since 2008 that Israel will have military (i.e. weapons) superiority over its enemies.
From time to time, the idea of a defense agreement between Israel and the United States has been floated, but its critics see it, rightly, as a possible violation of Israel’s freedom of military action without adding much to the existing security arrangements. However, this does not disqualify regional or more extensive military engagements.
Calling Israel “America’s continental aircraft carrier” is an exaggeration, but the facts that Israel is the only democratic and stable country in the Middle East and that it has a developed technological, scientific and military capacity have increased its value to the Americans in a security sense. The operational capability of the Israel Defense Forces in the current war will further strengthen this assessment.
The Israeli concept of security, designed by David Ben-Gurion, is based on several components — deterrence, defense, early warning
and decisiveness — and the transfer of war to the enemy’s territory.
On Oct. 7, and in fact well before it, Israeli deterrence faltered. This was the result, in part, of Israel’s refusal to act strongly against the terrorist attacks of Hamas and Islamic Jihad and its reliance instead on the economic benefits of a more tolerant approach.
Defense means the country’s borders will be protected by physical elements, such as civilian settlements and various obstacles, but mainly by the IDF.
The “18 points” document drawn up by BenGurion in 1953 strove to bridge Israel’s quantitative disparity in terms of population size and military might by prioritizing deterrence. This approach derived from the insight that Israel cannot sustain long wars and therefore must strive for decisive victory as quickly and overwhelmingly as possible. Despite the emphasis on the principles of defense, Israel should not shy away from proactive actions that serve its basic goals.
The premise is that Israel cannot lose any war, as such a failure — indeed even the image of such a failure — could lead to its destruction. Additional principles such as defensible borders were added to the theory of security.
And as for peace? As Ben-Gurion put it, “Peace is not a goal, and war is not a goal. The goal is the realization of Zionism [and peace will come] when the Arabs also want peace.”
The perceptions formulated by Ben-Gurion did not pass the test of Oct. 7 — not because they were incorrect, but because the leadership and the army did not follow them. The settlements surrounding Gaza not only did not constitute an obstacle to aggression but had become an easy target for the attackers, who bypassed the physical obstacles with incredible ease. (This, by the way, was the lesson that should have been learned from the failure of the Bar-Lev line in the Yom Kippur War.)
As for the army’s forces, they did exist, but were in the wrong place and lacked the necessary readiness. The warning — that is, reliable and constant monitoring of the enemy’s capabilities and provision of a strategic and tactical warning in real time about any movement — was probably the main failure of Oct. 7.
The decisiveness value is more complex. In Israel’s circumstances, a temporary decisive win on the battlefield — as was achieved in the War of Independence, the Six-Day War and the Yom Kippur War — does not prevent the enemy from renewing itself and intensifying further attempts at aggression.
Nor can it bring about sustainable peace un-
In recent years, Israel’s security center of gravity has shifted from the Arab world to Iran — initially toward its proxies, but in an inevitable process toward Iran itself, as proved by Iran’s massive air attack on Israel in April. Israel’s military and political cooperation with the United States played an important role in thwarting Iranian intentions on that day — not only in terms of the attack, but perhaps even more in the episodes that preceded it and without which Israel would not have been able to develop and perfect the means of defense and attack it currently has and will need against Iran in the future.
As IDF Brig. Gen. (res.) Eran Ortal put it: “The State of Israel will defend itself by itself, but while relying on a great ally.”
Iran is a threat to American national security as well as Israeli, and the US intelligence assessment published in February of this year clearly states that the United States must act with “vigilance and strategic wisdom” to counter this threat.
As far as Israel is concerned, the direct Iranian threat is extremely dangerous because it is a political-ideological entity whose stated and practical goal is the complete physical destruction of the State of Israel, and it is close to equipping itself with weapons of mass destruction that will be capable of accomplishing this.
less political and international conditions are also met.
Israel does enjoy a clear military advantage over its enemies in terms of the quality of its weapon systems, the size of its forces, its technology and its resources — but as the events of Oct. 7 and the current situation with Hezbollah in Lebanon show, these advantages are not always expressed in absolute achievements on the battlefield, at least not in the immediate term.
Although the United States says it will not allow Iran to obtain nuclear weapons, it has not taken sufficient measures to convince Iran to stop its efforts. In other words, for Israel, Iran represents a concrete, grave threat that requires consideration from all possible aspects, in terms of both diplomacy and security.
“Defending itself with its own forces” is indeed the first line in Israel’s security, but cooperation with others, as much as possible, will complete it.
USS Abraham Lincoln sails in formation with other vessels in the Pacific Ocean in 2022, in support of Rim of the Pacific, the world’s largest international maritime exercise. Canadian Armed Forces Cpl. Djalma Vuong-De Ramos, via US Department of Defense
Why is it taking so long to destroy Hamas?
Analysis by Gabi Siboni, Jerusalem Institute
Afor Strategy and Security
fter 10 months of fighting, many ask why Hamas has not yet been destroyed and Israel’s war objectives have yet to be fully realized.
At the beginning of the war, some in the defense establishment and government sought to avoid a ground maneuver in Gaza. Similar advice was offered by American officials who frequented Israel. There were several reasons for this hesitation, primary among which were doubts regarding the ability of ground forces to operate effectively in Gaza’s complex environment. While it took time to make the decision to go ahead with the maneuver, once made, Israeli forces acted decisively.
However, over time, the senior command became hesitant in its use of force, imposing numerous limitations on the advance of forces. It was as if they envisioned the campaign as a large special operation and not a series of divisional attacks during which it was necessary to maintain the principles of war, particularly that of continuity. This resulted in frequent halts in operations, especially in Rafah, partly due diplomatic pressures from the United States that the political echelon was unable to withstand. However, lack of professional resolve among the highest military ranks also contributed to the unnecessary prolongation of the conflict.
Another factor prolonging the conflict — one that is still in play — is the issue of humanitarian aid, which has two aspects. The first is the
scope of aid entering Gaza and the second is how this aid is distributed.
From the start, Israel faced intense American pressure to transfer humanitarian aid and fuel to Gaza, despite Washington’s knowledge that much of it would reach Hamas and enhance its ability to survive in Gaza’s tunnels. The political echelon’s inability to withstand this pressure undermined one of Israel’s key leverage points to secure the return of the hostages and prolonged Hamas’ survivability.
Hamas’ control over humanitarian aid gives it breathing room and maintains its influence and power among the population.
Some aid is diverted to the organization’s needs (food and fuel), while the rest is distributed by it; Hamas uses the aid to recruit new operatives (by supplying them with food) and to strengthen its control over the Gaza Strip and its population. Moreover, the aid is not distributed in a manner that aligns with the IDF’s operational objectives, thus complicating efforts to evacuate civilians from areas of conflict, such as northern Gaza, and hindering military operations. The IDF’s hesitation in putting a stop to this by imposing partial and temporary military rule or assuming responsibility for aid distribution prolongs the war and hampers the IDF’s ability to achieve its objectives.
Another factor contributing to the prolonged conflict is the hostage issue. The IDF has acted cautiously throughout the conflict and continues to do so to avoid harming the hostages. This caution likely resulted in missed operational opportunities and
will likely continue to influence the IDF’s conduct in Gaza.
A delay of some four months was also caused by American and international pressure to avoid operations in Rafah and the Philadelphi Corridor along the Gaza-Egypt border. This pressure was driven primarily by concerns over harm to civilians and actions that could hinder potential hostage negotiations. However, it now seems clear that these concerns were in fact an excuse for the US and elements in the international community to impose a ceasefire on Israel. Precious time was lost before the IDF began operations in this area under a format acceptable to Washington.
The IDF’s preparedness for the conflict in Gaza was also inadequate, to say the least. This was manifested in several areas, including force buildup.
Over recent years, the IDF has neglected its ground forces, particularly reserve units, due to a belief that wars could be won with intelligence, remote firepower and advanced technology operated by small units. The artillery and engineering corps (primarily heavy engineering equipment) crucial for ground operations in complex areas like Gaza and Lebanon have also been cut back.
The truth must be told: Some senior IDF commanders failed to grasp the multi-front threat and consequently failed to understand the importance of maintaining the readiness of ground forces, particularly in the reserves. These force buildup issues, coupled with a lack of sufficient ground forces, are among the main reasons for
the difficulty in conducting simultaneous operations across multiple combat zones in Gaza.
Lack of preparedness in operational planning exacerbated the force-buildup situation. This was evident in two main areas: First, the IDF underestimated the threat posed by Hamas, particularly its underground infrastructure and tunnel network. Second (directly derived from the first) was the absence of operational plans for a scenario like the one unfolding in Gaza — the full occupation of the Gaza Strip and the destruction of Hamas.
For years, Gaza was considered a secondary arena, with the General Staff focusing mainly on the northern front and Iran at the expense of intelligence gathering, operational planning and attention to Gaza. As a result, the IDF found itself scrambling to formulate updated operational concepts and
implement them during combat. This neglect directly affected the duration of the conflict.
Finally, while the prolongation of the conflict in Gaza is the result of multiple factors, the IDF’s unwillingness to take over the distribution of humanitarian aid, as required by international law, is the main reason currently preventing the complete destruction of Hamas’ military and governmental capabilities. The political echelon bears significant responsibility for this, due to its inability or unwillingness to confront the military and force it to take the necessary steps in the civilian sphere.
Other factors also contributed, as detailed in this article. Addressing these issues in the civilian sphere is essential to completing the destruction of Hamas’s military and governmental capabilities.
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Israeli forces operating in the Gaza Strip in July.
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Sizzling on Labor Day, summer’s last hurrah
Labor Day is just around the corner and that means the official end of summer; for me, it’s one of the sadder days of the year!
All seasons are the same number of days, but summer seems the shortest season of all and that makes those of us who love the balmy days and sultry nights a bit sad as we — less than enthusiastically — anticipate winter.
Still, summer gives us one more holiday bash to celebrate. Second only to July 4th and Memorial Day in its grilling popularity, Labor Day is also a wonderful family day, as extended families gather to celebrate the end of summer.
In case you didn’t know the history, the first Labor Day was Sept. 5, 1882, in New York City, held by the Central Labor Union. The next year it was held on the same date. By 1894, 23 more states had adopted the holiday for workers. And on June 28th of that year, President Grover Cleveland signed a law making the first Monday of September a federal national holiday to celebrate and honor the workforce in America.
Any reason to get my family and friends together for a party is fine with me. So let’s have a big celebration and say thanks to the workers who made and make this country what it is and who deserve a day off.
• • •
This is the first Labor Day in a very long time, that I will not be planning for Rosh Hashana just yet! We have another whole month to plan and shop and cook. So I will enjoy the day, that last few minutes of summer, and maybe a few trips to the beach before the curtain closes on the summer of 2024.
Grilled Seitan ‘Burgers’ Two Ways (Pareve)
For the Traditional Red Barbecue Sauce:
• 1/3 cup ketchup
• 1 to 2 tbsp. dark brown sugar
• 1 to 2 tbsp. molasses
• 2 to 4 cloves garlic
• 1/2 to 2 tsp. hot sauce, such as Tabasco, to taste
• 1 to 2 tbsp. grated onion
• 1 tsp. grated garlic
• 3 Tbsp. canola oil
• For the Seitan ‘Burgers’
• 12 to 18 ounces seitan cutlets cut into sandwich size so you have 4 pieces or more, smaller pieces
• 1 large red onion, sliced
• 4 whole wheat buns, optional
1 large tomato sliced
Mix the first 8 ingredients together and whisk to blend. Adjust ingredients as you go. If you like your sauce less sweet, use smaller amounts of sweeteners. If you like it hot, use more hot sauce. Whisk thoroughly, taste and adjust seasonings. Place the seitan slices in a shallow bowl and add just enough of the barbecue sauce to coat all the pieces. Set aside. Reserve the rest of the barbecue sauce for spreading on buns or for another use.
Heat a grill to medium high.
Slice the red onion and brush each side with canola oil. Grill until browned on one side. Carefully turn and grill on the other side until cooked to desired doneness. Remove to a plate. Gently scrape most of the barbecue sauce off each slice of seitan and place the slices on the grill. Cook until grill marks are present on one side. Turn and cook until the edges are browned
and there are clear grill marks on the other side, about 4 to 6 minutes total.
For the Lemon Garlic Marinade:
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 3 to 6 cloves garlic
• 2 lemons, juice and some zest, about a teaspoon
• Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
OPTIONAL: Crushed red pepper flakes OR freshly snipped chives
Whisk all the ingredients together and divide the marinade in half. Reserve half for later or for drizzling over the grilled seitan. Proceed as above allowing the marinade to drip off the seitan pieces before grilling to avoid flare-ups.
Assembly:
Grill the rolls if you like. Place one slice seitan, a slice of onion and tomato and some of the reserved barbecue sauce or the reserved lemon garlic sauce. Makes 4 sandwiches.
Salsa Verde for Grilled Steak and Beyond (Pareve)
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 4 to 6 garlic cloves, finely minced
• 1 Tbsp. finely grated lemon zest
• 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1 cup fresh basil leaves, finely chopped
• 1 cup other mixed herbs such as rosemary, tarragon, oregano, thyme, finely chopped
• 1 cup fresh parsley, finely chopped
Place oil, garlic and lemon zest in a large bowl. Mix and let marinate for about 45 minutes. Add the salt and pepper to taste. Meanwhile, remove stems from the fresh herbs and chop them. Add the herbs to the bowl and toss to mix them with the oil. Add a bit more oil if needed. Set aside to marinate another 30 minutes, mixing frequently.
Serve over grilled steak, burgers, turkey burgers, chicken or fish. Makes about 3 cups.
Great Grilled Steak with Hot Chile ‘Mop’ (Meat)
A “Mop” is a spicy liquid that is literally mopped or brushed onto grilling meat.
• 1 stick pareve, non-hydrogenated margarine
• 2 Tbsp, Canola oil
• 2 to 4 large cloves garlic, pressed
• 1 Tbsp. chili powder
• Pinch cayenne pepper, or to taste
• 1 tsp. paprika
• 1 tsp. freshly grated onion
• 2 Tbsp. fresh chives, snipped
• 4 steaks, your choice with or without bone
Melt the margarine and add the pressed garlic. Add the Canola oil and the remaining ingredients. Whisk and set aside until needed. Brush the grill with Canola oil and heat to high. Place about two to thirds of the marinade into a shallow flat bowl and retain the rest. Using a grilling “mop” or a long handled grilling brush, brush the meat with the marinade and place it brushed side down on the grill. Brush the other side and sear the steaks, 2 to 4 minutes. Brush the top again and turn the steaks. Mop the grilled side 2 or 3 times while the other side cooks. Remove to a plate and, using a clean brush, brush the reserved marinade once across the top of the steak. Serves 4.
Perfect Grilled London Broil (Meat)
London Broil is sometimes a bit tough so a good marinade and thin slices are a must. I recently read a helpful hint in a cooking magazine that suggested warming the meat to about 70 degrees before cooking to keep the meat moist and less tough. It worked!
• 1 (3 to 4 lb.) London Broil
• 1 tsp. onion powder
• 1-1/2 tsp. garlic powder
• 1-1/2 tsp. dark brown sugar
• 1/2 to 1 tsp. Kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
Mix the onion powder, garlic powder, sugar, salt and peppers in a small bowl. Set aside. Place the meat in a zipper bag and then in another one. Squeeze out as much air as possible from the bags. Place the bags in a large pot of warm water, about 100 degrees, and weight it down with a plate or cup so that the meat is covered. Let sit for about 35 to 45 minutes.
Heat the grill to medium heat. Remove the meat from the bags and rub the prepared rub generously over both sides. Place the meat on a hot grill and cook for 5 to 7 minutes on each side or until a thermometer reaches about 125 degrees for rare, 140 for medium.
Remember, the meat will continue to cook and the internal temperature will rise about 5 to 7 degrees after you remove it from the heat. Let the meat rest for 10 minutes and slice against the grain on an angle. Serves about 6 to 8.
Seiten burgers. Adobe
It’s Labor Day, summer’s sizzling last hurrah…
Continued from page 12
Coney Island Hot Dog Sauce (Meat or Pareve)
A friend gave me this recipe decades ago and it is a favorite. This is great on any kind of hot dog, from veggie ones to chicken to beef. It’s also good alone like a Sloppy Joe.
• 1 to 2 Tbsp. canola oil
• 1/4 lb. ground beef, turkey or veggie crumble (available in freezer section of the supermarket or specialty store)
• 1/2 onion, finely chopped
• 1 to 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 4 oz. tomato paste
• 1 small can diced tomatoes with liquid,
• 1 cup water
• 1/4 cup pickle relish
• 1 to 2 Tbsp. minced onion
• 1 Tbsp. Worcestershire Sauce
• 1 Tbsp. brown mustard
• 2 to 3 tsp. chili powder
• 2 to 3 tsp. dark brown sugar
Heat a large skillet. Add the canola oil and the onions. Sauté until golden, about 5 to 7 minutes. Add the garlic and stir until fragrant, about 1 minute.
Add the meat or veggie crumble and heat until cooked completely.
Add the rest of the ingredients, mix well and simmer, uncovered, for about 30 to 40 minutes, stirring frequently until thickened. Taste and adjust seasonings. Makes about 2 cups. Great on hot dogs.
Maple Mustard Glazed Chicken (Meat)
• 1 chicken cut into eight pieces
• 2/3 cup pure maple syrup
• 4 to 6 Tbsp. Dijon style mustard
• 4 tsp. Tamari sauce
• 2 clove garlic, finely minced
• 4 Tbsp. Canola oil
• Pinch cayenne pepper (to taste)
Place the chicken in a large shallow, non-reactive pan, either glass or stainless steel.
Combine the rest of the ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Boil for 1 minute. Pour about 1/3 of the sauce over the chicken and marinate for 1 hour in the refrigerator. Retain the rest of the sauce.
Place the chicken on a medium-hot grill and discard the marinating liquid. Grill, basting with the remaining sauce, until internal temperature reaches 165. Gently boil any remaining sauce for 2 minutes and serve as a gravy.
Hot and Sweet ‘Jerk’ Chicken (Meat)
This is hot and sweet at the same time. Delicious on the grill!
• 6 large boneless, skinless chicken breast halves or 6 pieces of chicken
• 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
• 1 onion, diced
• 4 to 5 garlic cloves (more if you like)
• 2 to 3 scallions, chopped
• 1 to 2 Tbsp. jalapeno* peppers, chopped (more if you like)
• 1 to 2 Tbsp. dark brown sugar (I liked closer to 2 Tbsp.)
• 2 tsp. ground allspice
• 2 tsp. dried thyme
• 1 tsp. ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. nutmeg
• 1 tsp. kosher salt
• 1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
• 3 Tbsp. Canola or olive oil
*For more heat, use habenero peppers, but use plastic gloves when handling them.
Combine all the ingredients EXCEPT the chicken in a food processor or blender. Process until well-blended and almost smooth. Taste and adjust seasonings. Place the marinade in a heavy-duty zipper-type bag and add the chicken. Zip closed and turn the bag several times to make sure the chicken is coated. Place flat in the refrigerator and marinate for 1 to 2 hours.
Remove the chicken from the bag and discard the extra marinade. Grill on a well-oiled barbecue, turning once. Serves 4 to 6.
Baked Beans or Soybeans (Pareve)
You can use navy or cannelloni beans or soybeans which are lighter and pack a hefty nutritional punch. Please use a good, unsulphered molasses and add your own favorite ingredients such as tomato puree or tomato paste to give the beans more of a sweet and sour taste. Be creative.
• 2 lbs. dried soybeans or navy or cannelloni beans
• 1 onion, finely minced
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup unsulphered molasses
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar, to taste
• 3 tsp. dry mustard, to taste
• 1/2 tsp. minced fresh ginger
• 1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tsp. salt (to be added AFTER cooking)
Carefully pick out all damaged beans or pebbles and rinse thoroughly. Soak soybeans overnight in cold water in a large, tightly covered pot. Water should cover beans by several inches. (Check before going to bed to make sure there are still several inches of water. Add more if necessary.)
In the morning, drain the beans and rinse thoroughly. Return beans to the pot and add at least three times the amount of water as there are beans. Cover and slowly bring to a boil. Simmer gently for about 30 minutes or until the skin of a bean cracks when you blow on it. The beans should never come to a hard boil as that will make the skins crack too early and will allow the beans to turn mushy.
Drain the beans and place them in a slow cooker. Add the other ingredients, except the salt and pepper, mix thoroughly and begin the cooking process. I have cooked these for anywhere from 7 to 10 hours in a slow cooker. The beans are done when they are bubbly, have thickened a bit and have turned a beautiful rich brown color.
Taste, add salt and pepper, adjust seasonings like mustard and molasses and enjoy. Serves a crowd of at least 10 to 12.
S’Mores Pie (Pareve)
• 2 cups pareve graham cracker crumbs
• 1/2 stick pareve, trans-fat-free margarine
• 1/4 to 1/3 cup sugar, to taste
• 1-3/4 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1-1/2 cups unsweetened vanilla almond milk
• 1 tsp. (rounded) cornstarch or tapioca starch
• 2 tsp. water
• 3 egg whites
• 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• 1-1/2 cups marshmallow cream
OPTIONAL: Mini marshmallows
VARIATIONS: Use half chocolate and half peanut butter or caramel chips
Place the graham cracker crumbs, the melted margarine and the sugar in a bowl and blend thoroughly. Press into a 9-inch, broiler-proof, pie plate. Bake at 350 degrees until fragrant and toasted, about 7 to 10 minutes. Let cool. Place the almond milk in a saucepan and heat until small bubbles form. Add the chocolate chips and mix until melted. Mix the cornstarch with a teaspoon of water and add to the chocolate mix. Stir constantly over very low heat until thickened, about 4 to 10 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Pour into pie crust and refrigerate until chilled, several hours or overnight.
Preheat the broiler to low. Let the eggs come to room temperature. Heat the bowl of the mixer
by filling with boiling water, pouring it out and drying the bowl.
Separate the eggs and place the egg whites until frothy. Add the sugar and vanilla and beat until stiff peaks form. Add the marshmallow cream and beat until thick and completely blended. Spoon over the chocolate cream. Dot with mini-marshmallows, if desired. Broil until the top is golden, about 3 to 5 minutes. Let cool. Serves 8 to 10.
Coney Island Hot Dog Sauce. comfycook.com
Chicken thighs in mustard honey glaze. Adobe
S’Mores Pie. thegraciouswife.com
Baked beans. Adobe
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jewish star torah columnists:
•Rabbi Avi Billet of Anshei Chesed, Boynton Beach, FL, mohel and Five Towns native •Rabbi David Etengoff of Magen David Yeshivah, Brooklyn
•Rabbi Binny Freedman, rosh yeshiva of Orayta, Jerusalem
contributing writers:
•Rabbi Sir Jonathan Sacks zt”l,
former chief rabbi of United Hebrew Congregations of the British Commonwealth •Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Hersh Weinreb, OU executive VP emeritus •Rabbi Raymond Apple, emeritus rabbi, Great Synagogue of Sydney •Rabbi Yossy Goldman, life rabbi emeritus, Sydenham Shul, Johannesburg and president of the South African Rabbinical Association.
contact our columnists at: Publisher@TheJewishStar.com
Five towns candlelighting: From the White Shul, Far Rockaway, NY
תבש לש בכוכ
Fri Aug 30 / Av 26
Re’eh • Shabbos Mevarchim
Candles: 7:11 • Havdalah: 8:18
Fri Sept 6 / Elul 3
Shoftim Candles: 6:59 • Havdalah: 8:07
Fri Sept 13 / Elul 10
Ki Seitzei Candles: 6:48 • Havdalah: 7:55
Fri Sept 20 / Elul 17
Ki Savo Candles: 6:36 • Havdalah: 7:43
Fri Sept 27 / Elul 24
Nitzavim-Vayeilech
Candles: 6:24 • Havdalah: 7:31
Wed Oct 2 / Elul 29
Erev Rosh Hashana Candles: 6:16
What’s our formula for eliminating poverty?
rabbi sir jonathan sacks zt”l
Listen to these stories. Behind them lies an extraordinary insight into the nature of Jewish ethics:
Story 1. Rabbi Abba used to bind money in his scarf, sling it on his back, and place it at the disposal of the poor. (Ketubot 67b)
Story 2. Mar Ukba had a poor man in his neighborhood into whose door socket he used to throw four coins every day. Once the poor man thought, “I will go and see who does me this kindness.” That day Mar Ukba stayed late at the house of study, and his wife was coming home with him. As soon as the poor man saw them moving the door [to leave the coins] he ran out after them, but they fled from him and hid. Why did they do this? Because it was taught: One should throw himself into a fiery furnace rather than publicly put his neighbor to shame. (Ketubot 67b)
Story 3. When Rabbi Jonah saw a man of good family who had lost his money and was ashamed to accept charity, he would go and say to him, “I have heard that an inheritance has come your way in a city across the sea. So here is an article of some value. Sell it and use the proceeds. When you are more affluent, you will repay me.” As soon as the man took it, Rabbi Jonah would say, “It’s yours to keep as a gift.” (Vayikra Rabbah 34:1)
These stories are all deeply connected to the mitzvah of tzedakah, whose source is in this week’s parsha, Re’eh:
If anyone is poor among your fellow Israelites in any of the towns of the land the L-rd your G-d is giving you, do not be hard-hearted or tight-fisted toward them. Rather, be openhanded and freely lend them whatever they need. Deut. 15:7-8 Give generously to them and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the L-rd your G-d will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to. There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your fellow Israelites who are poor and needy in your land. Deut. 15:10-11
What we have here is a unique and still remarkable program for the elimination of poverty.
The first extraordinary fact about the laws of tzedakah as articulated in the Oral Tradition is
Tzedakah does not mean charity. The nearest English equivalent is social justice.
the concept itself. Tzedakah does not mean “charity.” We see this immediately in the form of a law inconceivable in any other moral system:
Someone who does not wish to give tzedakah or to give less than is appropriate may be compelled to do so by a Jewish court of law. Maimonides, Laws of Gifts to the Poor, 7:10
Charity is always voluntary. Tzedakah is compulsory. Therefore tzedakah does not mean charity. The nearest English equivalent is social justice.
The second is the principle evident in the three stories above. Poverty in Judaism is conceived not merely in material terms: the poor lack the means of sustenance. It is also conceived in psychological terms. Poverty humiliates. It robs people of dignity. It makes them dependent on others — thus depriving them of independence which the Torah sees as essential to self-respect.
This deep psychological insight is eloquently expressed in the third paragraph of the Grace after Meals:
Please, O L-rd our G-d, do not make us dependent on the gifts or loans of other people, but only on Your full, open, holy, and generous hand so that we may suffer neither shame nor humiliation for ever and all time.
As a result, Jewish law focuses not only on how much we must give but also on the manner in which we do so. Ideally the donor should not know to whom he or she is giving (story 1), nor the recipient know from whom he or she is receiving (story 2). The third story exemplifies another principle: If a poor person does not want to accept tzedakah, we should practice a form of [benign] deception and give it to him under the guise of a loan. Laws of Gifts to the Poor, 7:9
Whoever gives charity to the poor with bad grace and averted eyes has lost all the merit of his action even though he gives him a thousand gold pieces. He should give with good grace and with joy and should sympathise with them him in his plight, as it is said, “Have I not wept for those in trouble? Has not my soul grieved for the poor?” (Job 30:25) Laws of Gifts to the Poor, 10:4
This is the logic behind two laws that are otherwise inexplicable. The first is:
Even a poor person who is dependent on tzedakah is obliged to give tzedakah. Laws of Gifts to the Poor, 7:5
The law seems absurd. Why should we give money to the poor so that they may give to the poor? It makes sense only on this assumption, that giving is essential to human dignity and tzedakah is the obligation to ensure that everyone has that dignity.
The second is this famous ruling of Maimonides:
The highest degree of charity, exceeded by none, is when a person assists a poor Jew by providing him with a gift or a loan or by accepting him into a business partnership or by helping him find employment — in a word by putting him in a situation where he can dispense with other people’s aid. Laws of Gifts to the Poor, 10:7
Giving someone a job or making him your partner would not normally be considered charity at all. It costs you nothing. But this further serves to show that tzedakah does not mean charity. It means giving people the means to live a dignified life, and within the Jewish
value system any form of employment is more dignified than dependence.
We have in this ruling of Maimonides in the 12th century the principle that Muhammad Yunus rediscovered in our time, and for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize: the idea of microloans enabling poor people to start small businesses. It is a very powerful idea.
In contradistinction to many other religious systems, Judaism refused to romanticize poverty or anaesthetize its pain. Faith is not what Karl Marx called “the opium of the people.” The rabbis refused to see poverty as a blessed state, an affliction to be born with acceptance and grace.
Instead, the rabbis called it “a kind of death” and “worse than fifty plagues.” They said, “Nothing is harder to bear than poverty, because he who is crushed by poverty is like one to whom all the troubles of the world cling and upon whom all the curses of Deuteronomy have descended. If all other troubles were placed one side and poverty on the other, poverty would outweigh them all.”
Maimonides went to the heart of the matter when he said:
The well-being of the soul can only be obtained after that of the body has been secured. The Guide for the Perplexed, 3:27
Poverty is not a noble state. You cannot reach spiritual heights if you have no food to eat, no roof over your head, if you lack access to medical attention, or if you are beset by financial worries. I know of no saner approach to poverty, welfare, and social justice than that of Judaism. Unsurpassed in its time, it remains the benchmark of a decent society to this day.
Maimonides sums up the general principle thus:
Finding happiness through our sense of purpose
This week’s parsha, Re’eh (literally: “See!”) is all about learning to see the world through different eyes. This may explain why the particular mitzvah of being joyous on the festivals, occurs in this portion.
Specifically on the festival of Sukkot, the third of the biblical festivals when every Jew was meant to come up to the Temple in Jerusalem to rejoice in the midst of the entire Jewish people we are commanded, “Ve’hayita’ ach sameach”(And you shall be completely joyous) (Devarim 16:15).
How does one develop the skill-set to being a happy person? And can one maintain such joy in the face of inevitable adversities?
Take for example, Moshe’s brother, Aaron, who, as part of an enslaved people in Egypt might have been expected to be quite miserable. Yet, he is the only individual in the entire Torah
who is described as being happy! No less than G-d Himself tells Moshe that Aaron will, upon seeing Moshe (just arrived back in Egypt after 40 years), “rejoice in his heart” (Shemot 4:14).
In the midst of all that pain and suffering, after being enslaved as a people for over two centuries, Aaron succeeds in focusing on the positive and is able to rejoice in his heart at his brother’s return. What is the secret to being happy? How does Aaron do it?
On the other hand, consider Haman, who represents the opposite extreme in the spectrum.
Haman, chief adviser to Achashveirosh, king of the entire Persian Empire, is essentially the second most powerful person in the entire world. He is happily married (albeit to a wicked woman), with no less than ten sons who seem to idolize him and want only to follow in his footsteps, and every subject of the Persian empire who crosses his path must bow down to him.
And yet, “Ve’kol zeh einenu shaveh li (all this is worthless to me)” (Esther 5:13) — simply because one Jew, Mordechai, will not bow down to him! Haman cannot see all the good he has because he is so focused on what he doesn’t have.
Herein, perhaps, lays the key to happiness: Haman cannot focus on all that he has because he is stuck on what he does not have.
Being happy is not really about how much we actually have, it is rather about appreciating how much we have. And it is only through appreciation that we really have things at all.
And it gets deeper, because if happiness is all about purpose (hence people who feel they have no purpose are depressed, whether they be financially well off or not, and people who are imbued with a sense of purpose have joy in their lives), there is no true purpose unless we are created. If we are a random accident in a G-d-less world, there is no purpose to our being here in the first place, which of course is very depressing.
But if we are created by G-d, we have purpose. And then by definition we have what we need, always! Whatever skills we were born with are, by definition, all we need to accomplish our purpose in this world.
Even in the midst of the servitude of Egypt, as soon as Aaron sees Moshe, he knows Moshe is coming into his life again because somehow he needs Moshe to help him achieve his purpose. Otherwise, why would G-d have sent Moshe to him after all these years? And of course, if I need Moshe in my life to achieve my purpose in this world, then it is only natural that seeing Moshe again after 40 years will fill me (or in this case Aaron) with joy.
All the other festivals ultimately lead, economically and theologically, to Sukkot, the harvest festival. Hence we truly rejoice on Sukkot, when the purpose of all our hard work becomes clear.
Happiness is achieved when we succeed in tapping into what we each feel our purpose is meant to be, which of course is what joy is all about. But there is a character flaw which seems to lie at the root of unhappi-
We should ask each other, ‘How am I doing?’
The person who asks, “How am I doing?” is asking for constructive feedback, expressing a need to know whether or not he is doing a good job and, if not, what he can do to correct his work.
For feedback to truly be effective, it needs to be solicited. That is, the recipient of the feedback must ask the observer to tell him how he is doing. This signals a readiness to receive criticism, to modify one’s behavior, and to change. Without that readiness, feedback is doomed to failure.
Feedback also needs to be specific. It is not helpful to say, “That was stupid,” “You’ll never be good at that,” or even, “Great job!” It is helpful to say, “You turned left when you should have turned right” or,”When you softened your voice and smiled, it was easier to listen to you.” The description of behavior is what is necessary, not evaluation.
Human nature is such that it is the rare person who asks for feedback, and that few of us are com-
fortable in delivering criticism.
However constructive and well-intended, it is hard to give feedback to another person. We are afraid of confrontation, of possibly embarrassing the other, and so we avoid giving feedback even at the cost of assisting the other to change in a positive way.
As the Talmud puts it, “No one has ever mastered Torah study without having first erred and made mistakes.” Mastery is only achieved when mistakes are pointed out to the student so that he can correct them.
In this week’s Torah portion, Re’eh, we read at length about false prophets. We often mistake the nature of the mission of the prophet, assuming that it is to predict the future. But that is certainly not the mission of the great biblical prophets. Rather, their mission was, in our terms, to give constructive feedback to the people, pointing out their faults and guiding them in a more positive direction.
The false prophet not only gives false guarantees about the future, complacently predicting peace and tranquility, but assures the people that they are doing nothing wrong, that they need not change their behavior. The false prophet gives no feedback.
These words of the Book of Lamentations, which we read in the synagogue so recently on Tisha B’Av, are incomparably instructive here: Your seers prophesied to you Delusion and folly. They did not expose your iniquity So as to restore your fortunes, But prophesied to you oracles Of delusion and deception.
The false prophet cannot give proper feedback. He avoids telling the truth if he thinks it will offend. He is unaware of the positive value of effective feedback.
Those who follow him will never benefit from words of correction and guidance. They cannot change, they will not grow.
Iencourage the reader to reflect upon his or her own experience and to recall those occasions when a few words of corrective feedback were of immense benefit.
I remember my own first days as a teacher, when a crusty veteran colleague sat in my classroom and gave me the benefits of his experience by pointing out the numerous things that I did which were ineffective and suggested alternatives to me. I cannot say that I enjoyed his deflating critique at that moment, but I know that I and a lifetime of stu-
There’s an old saying, “Seeing is Believing.”
But while many idioms have truth, this one is factually inaccurate. I’ve watched many a magic trick, both live and recorded. I see things I cannot believe. I know they are tricking me.
A more accurate statement is sometimes made in court: “Your Honor, I know what I saw.” I may not know the context, the background, or what happened after I left. I can speculate, but I only know what I saw.
Our parasha begins with the word “Re’eh” — see, I have placed before you a blessing and a curse. We can argue that Moshe, who in Devarim is in some ways innovative but in others quite repetitive, is putting his cards on the table. He is not saying, “Re’eh! Behold!” He is saying, matter-of-factly, “Re’eh. Look. This is the reality.”
As Chizkuni succinctly puts it, “Until now, he rebuked them to undertake ‘fear of heaven.’ From here and on, he begins to place the mitzvot before them.” You can preach fear of heaven from today until doomsday, but without practical steps for how to get there, such as through the observance of mitzvot, the preaching will go nowhere.
Moshe is saying to the people — Look. You have G-d. I think I’ve made the case for relating to Him.
But look — you also have people. Your son, your daughter, your servants, the Levite, the stranger, the orphan and widow. There is a very clear balance that we must “see” — both a relationship with G-d, and a need to look out for our fellow man.
At the Splitting of the Sea, the people saw G-d’s mighty hand, and they believed. Seeing did not lead to knowing, only belief. For Egypt, on the other hand, Hashem’s goal was that they “know that I am G-d.” Sure enough, as they realized they were trapped and that the water was about to come down on them, the Torah tells us “Egypt said
‘I will fall before Israel, because G-d is fighting for them’.” Egypt knew, yet Israel merely believed. How?
Israel saw what Egypt saw, but their conclusions were a matter of perspective.
Belief, by definition, comes from the unseen. I can believe the Mets have a chance, even though I see them losing. It requires a suspension of what I know to be true. If I know it, I don’t need to believe it; it is a certainty. At the sea, everyone saw the result. They knew Egypt was gone. But while some believed in G-d, some may have believed Moshe was a god. Their knowing of G-d was suspect.
Egypt, on the other hand, was facing their demise. When you witness a nation do the impossible — walk into the seabed on dry land — but you cannot follow suit, you know it comes from a higher power.
How many people, at the end of their lives, know they are about to meet their Maker? For the best of us, there is a dawning moment of clarity where they no longer believe in G-d, but know He is there.
But for the rest of us, perhaps there is a
dents are profoundly indebted to him.
All the more do we cherish those occasions upon which we receive positive feedback from an observer. I can never forget the times when a mentor or senior rabbi approached me after a sermon with a warm handshake, and a whispered, «Yasher koach (job well done).” That was enough to teach me that I was on the right track and could confidently continue on my path.
An old Spanish proverb has it, “Self-knowledge is the beginning of self-improvement.” And an old Chinese proverb says it even more incisively: “A man who knows he is a fool is not a great fool.”
One of the lessons of this week’s Torah portion is that the true prophet gives feedback, sometimes in a way which is hard to hear. But that prophet is extending a hand to us to bring us back to a better way of life and has instructed us in an improved set of behaviors.
As we will read this Shabbat, if we attend to the feedback of the prophet, we “will be heeding the L-rd your G-d and doing what is right in His sight.”
I’ve been writing this column now for a span of about fifteen years, on and off. In view of the foregoing remarks about the importance of giving and receiving feedback, I take this occasion to ask you, dear reader, “How am I doing?”
thought hiding, like Nathan Jessup said, “in a place we don’t talk about at parties,” a smidgen of doubt. I don’t know for sure — I can’t see! How can I know what I can’t see? I can only believe.
The commentaries note that the language of the verse switches from singular to plural between “Re’eh — you the individual needs to see,” and “I am placing before all of you a blessing and a curse.”
Perhaps re’eh is a call to every individual. You, the individual, can see and know if you only open your eyes. But your belief as a collective will remain belief. There is always a skeptic in the crowd, unless, like Egypt knew at the sea, we know that we are going to meet our maker. With all its cynics, the Jewish people as a whole have never achieved what Egypt achieved in the moment the water crashed down upon them.
Individual Jews have come to know G-d personally. But what do they need to see in their lives to get there? Hopefully only blessing and goodness, but sometimes suffering and hardship.
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Mr. Abbas goes to Moscow and to Ankara
Mahmoud Abbas, the head of the Palestinian Authority, has clung to power for so long that an entire generation of Palestinians and Israelis have grown up not knowing any other leader in that role.
First elected in 2005, he was to serve a four-year term ending in 2009. Abbas, however, wasn’t prepared to leave, and so he extended his term by another year. Fifteen years later, he’s still there — and still encouraging the perception that when he does finally vacate the office, he’ll be going out feet first.
As his indefinite term as president has dragged on, the 88-year-old has become increasingly irrelevant in terms of the situation on the ground, both diplomatically and militarily. Israel has taken a “better the devil you know” approach to him, reasoning that a gerontocratic PLO leader with dictatorial tendencies is a more sensible option than retaking those parts of the West Bank under PA control or allowing the emergence of a more radical leader.
The outside world, particularly the European Union, has thought in similar terms, continuing to bankroll the notoriously corrupt PA — in the E.U.’s case, with nearly $1.5 billion over the last three years — and treating it as a state-in-the-making.
Yet from his perch in Ramallah, Abbas has failed to deliver security guarantees for Israelis. He’s failed to deliver any kind of prosperity to Palestinians in the West Bank, where more than 30% of the workforce is unemployed. He’s failed to achieve any kind of unity with Hamas, his bitter Islamist rival, or rein in the desire of Hamas and allied groups to inflict monstrous atrocities upon Israelis, as illustrated by the Oct. 7 pogrom in southern Israel. Most significantly of all, Abbas is hated by the vast majority of Palestinians.
Abbas reinforced the message he hoped to undermine — that there are no credible, trustworthy leaders on the Palestinian side.
According to the latest poll conducted by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, which is based in Ramallah, 85% of respondents are dissatisfied with his performance, and 90% want him gone.
Paying heed to public opinion is not something that Abbas has ever done, and he’s hardly going to start now. Desperate to prove that Hamas isn’t calling all the shots, he continues to travel the world, presenting himself as the legitimate, elected leader of Palestine, rather than a petty tyrant who has remained in the post despite the objections to him doing so voiced from all sides.
On some of those foreign visits, Abbas has demonstrated better than any of his critics why he should retire from politics. On a trip to Germany two years ago, he launched into an extraordinary tirade when asked by a journalist whether he had an apology for the families of the Israeli Olympic athletes murdered by
Palestinian terrorists in Munich 50 years previously, accusing the Israelis of having carried out “50 holocausts.”
Such comparisons are particularly unpalatable in Germany, and this one left Abbas’s host, Chancellor Olaf Scholz, crimson-faced at their joint press conference.
During the last week, Abbas has been on the road again but this time visiting countries where crudely antisemitic Holocaust analogies don’t attract opprobrium. His first stop was in Moscow, a city he knows well because that was where he wrote his doctoral thesis holding the Zionist movement — and not the Nazis — responsible for the Holocaust of 6 million Jews.
As he met with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, just as Ukraine’s military launched a courageous and much-welcome counteroffensive in Russia’s Kursk region, Abbas declared that the Palestinians have taken the
Russian side “without the slightest doubt.” Russia was “one of the dearest friends of the Palestinian people,” Abbas said, adding: “We believe in you, we trust you, we feel your support.”
For his part, Putin reacted warmly, telling his Palestinian guest that “we are doing everything to support Palestine and the Palestinian people” and underlining, without any sense of irony, given Russia’s numerous war crimes against the Ukrainian population, that Moscow is concerned above all with “civilian losses.”
After glad-handing the Russian president, Abbas made his way to the Turkish capital of Ankara. That visit was a little more complicated, insofar as his arrival there came off the back of a spat with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
A previous invitation to address the Turk-
Cohen on page 22
Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas arrives to deliver a speech at Grand National Assembly of Turkey in Ankara on Aug. 15. Adem Altan, AFP via Getty Images
When Pres. Harrison opened US doors to Jews
Little known and even less hailed, President Benjamin Harrison played a crucial role in the immigration of Eastern European Jewry to this country in the 1890s and into the early decades of the 20th century.
In “American Passage: The History of Ellis Island” (Harper Collins, 2009), journalist and historian Vincent J. Cannato details facts, stories, personalities, and geographic as well as political details, that spell out the history of one of the most fabled islands on the American continent — Ellis Island, New York.
To American Jewry, especially those who came from Eastern Europe from the late 1880s to the late 1920s, Ellis Island, with its backdrop of the Statue of Liberty, represented the portal to a new world, a world of religious and economic freedom never before experienced by Jews in the Diaspora.
of Europeans to the United States. He also, through this commission, wanted to know to what extent criminals, paupers, the insane and those afflicted with dangerous diseases were encouraged to emigrate to these shores.
As if these legitimate concerns were not enough to concern the Harrison Administration, there was another concern that bothered the president — that of the increasing number of Russian Jews landing on American shores.
As a reward for his help in getting him elected in 1888, Harrison appointed his Civil War buddy John B. Weber as commissioner of immigration at the Port of New York and, in addition, to oversee the construction of new immigration intake facilities at Ellis Island. Harrison entrusted into Weber’s hands the chairmanship of the special commission.
In 487 pages, this tells their story.
One particular episode in this book came to represent all that America means to me as one who cares so much for the welfare of this blessed republic.
In 1891, President Harrison appointed a special commission to investigate what motivated the mass immigration of millions
This was to prove to be a most fateful decision to the future of American Jewry.
Before Weber set sail for Europe, Harrison called him to his seaside cottage at Cape May, NJ, were he was vacationing, to task him with one additional mission: to personally investigate the condition of Russian Jewry and to report back directly to him on this matter.
On his way to Europe Weber was joined by his traveling companion, Dr. Walter Kempster, a fellow Civil War vet who fought at Gettysburg.
Together, according to Cannato, they cityhopped from Liverpool to Paris, Antwerp, Amsterdam, Berlin and then on to cities not normally on the itineraries of American dip-
President Harrison and his appointees didn’t go along with the mob. They did not restrict Jewish immigration.
lomats of that era. They visited St. Petersburg, Moscow, Minsk, Vilna, Bialystok, Grodno, Warsaw, Cracow, Budapest, and Vienna. They ended up in Bremen, Germany.
During this trip they met with members of the US diplomatic corp in each city and country, visited local Jewish neighborhoods, and spoke with officials from the various steamship lines. It was a grueling yet productive fact-gathering mission for President Harrison. Weber and Kempster issued their report in January 1892.
They concluded that people left Europe largely because they believed, based by what they had heard from others — including friends and relatives who preceded them to these shores — that there were “superior conditions of living in the United States.
The report also detailed the horrid conditions under which the Jews of Russia lived.
Cannato noted that, “Following his instructions from Harrison, Weber paid special attention to the plight of Jews.
“The situation in Russia was beginning to
This time, the Israeli Air Force really did strike
Where is the Air Force? This was the tragic question that did not have to be repeated on Sunday. Those like this reporter who remember Oct. 7 minute by minute cannot forget how, from the moment of the opening missile barrage, everyone’s eyes fixed desperately on the sky, looking for the Israeli fighter planes.
We expected them to finally flush out the terrorists, destroy the missile launchers, bomb the hundreds of invaders in the south and then those in Gaza, and cover the army’s retaliation.
It didn’t happen. The desolation of the silent sky amidst the rumble of Hamas missiles was the backdrop to the carnage of that day.
But this time, the Israeli Air Force sent out its fighters in massive numbers before the disaster, making a preemptive strike on Hezbollah’s missile launchers poised to attack central Israel. At 5 am, we all awoke to that continuous roar in the sky as the IAF smashed the terror group’s planned assault.
This is not the first IAF preventative strike. It follows the Iranian missile and drone attack on
April 14, in which the murderous assault was blocked not only by Iron Dome but also by F-35s. Then, on July 19, a Houthi attack on Israel was met with the IAF’s bombing of the Hodeida port 1,800 miles from Israel. Things have changed.
This time, Israel did even better with the help of plentiful information from Mossad on where the missiles were (3,000 of them, never to be launched), when they would be fired and what they intended to hit. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah must now believe that the information came from within his own walls. And there went his “revenge” operation for Israel’s assassination of his “brother in arms,” terror mastermind Fuad Shukr.
Perhaps Nasrallah has realized how badly he needed his Shukr, an expert in terrorism and architect of the campaign of attacks directed at Israel’s north beginning last Oct. 8.
Israel ended Nasrallah’s dreams of revenge. And also foiled Hezbollah’s desire to strike Tel Aviv, including IDF and Mossad headquarters. Instead of simply waiting to be attacked and then responding, as it used to do, Israel took the initiative and attacked.
The message is clear: There will be no more Oct. 7s. Israel’s enemies can stop fantasizing about another surprise attack on an Israel that will only respond, never preempt. Those days are over. Today, preemption is the policy.
However, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, “This is not the end of the story.” He knows the calm is only temporary. It is certainly not peace and security for the north, with cities like Kiryat Shmonah emptied of their citizens and families scattered in hotels throughout the country.
Certainly, Iran’s monstrous terror network
will continue its desperate campaign driven by hate, antisemitism and religious fanaticism, whose ultimate goal is to annihilate the West itself. Iran continues its nuclear bomb project. It is taking advantage of Russian and Chinese protection. The Houthis are no doubt making their preparations since Nasrallah has called on them
to act as soon as possible.
But now they all know: Israel’s planes are taking flight and Netanyahu is not afraid to give the order. Because he knows that the war cannot be concluded until the citizens of the north go back home and the kidnapped are reunited with their families.
An illustrative image of an explosion in a hilly area. AI
See Gerber on page 22
President Benjamin Harrison, from a painting by TC Steele. Monroedb1, The Harrison Home Museum
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Freedman…
Continued from page 17
Haman, asked by Achashveirosh how to pay homage to a person the king wants to honor, immediately assumes the king is speaking of none other than Haman himself. (Esther 6:6: “Whom would the king wish to honor more than me!”)
Compare that to Moshe who, upon being told by G-d that he must go to speak with Pharaoh, says, Mi anochi ki eileich el Pharaoh?”
(Who am I to go before Pharaoh)? (Exodus 3:11)
For Haman, it is all about Haman, but for Moshe, it’s all about G-d and the Jewish people. Moshe sees himself as a tool in something much greater, while Haman considers himself the goal of all that he does. And a person like that always feels he is missing something.
Too much pride will make you miserable. Because what is pride all about? Pride suggests that it’s all about me, but true joy is about recognizing that I am just a vehicle to a greater and higher purpose.
May we all succeed in finding joy in our lives by learning to see all we have, and finding the clarity to decide, as individuals and as a nation, what we are meant to do with it all.
of any child who died in Gaza.”
All very noble, though Abbas didn’t name a date for his journey. Moreover, he would have been acutely aware that several Parliament members were brandishing portraits of his rival, Ismail Haniyeh, the Hamas leader assassinated in Tehran on July 31. In many ways, the speech was Abbas’s attempt to remind politicians in a country that has embraced Hamas and its genocidal agenda that the PA can be sufficiently radical, too.
It’s tempting to dismiss all this talk as just that; hot air that Abbas has no intention of following up on. But doing so ignores the fact that once the war is over, governance of Gaza is a key issue for negotiators.
If Hamas isn’t going to be permitted to rule and Israel is opposed to reinstating direct rule, then who will run the territory? For many Israelis, the suggestion that the PA should do so (on the grounds that as bad as it is, it isn’t Hamas) isn’t very persuasive. Neither are the alternatives to Abbas — like the Fatah terrorist Marwan Barghouti, who is currently serving a life sentence in an Israeli jail — overly appealing.
In his jaunts to Moscow and Ankara then, Abbas has merely reinforced the very message he hoped to undermine; namely, that there are no credible, trustworthy leaders on the Palestinian side. That is a headache for everybody concerned, but above all, for the Israelis.
Billet... Gerber…
Continued from page 17
Continued from page 19 ness, and that is pride.
Many of us believe in G-d. But belief, which requires a small leap of faith, doesn’t come from what you see. It comes from what you don’t see. When you don’t know, you can still hang onto belief.
Was that injury, accident, financial loss, illness, healing, coincidence, finance deal, G-d’s message to us?
I believe so. But I don’t know.
With Elul upon us, of course we need to work on our relationship with G-d. But more importantly, in many cases, we need to work on our relationship with our fellow man.
If we can only see our task at hand, when we do our part, we can be confident, hopefully knowing that G-d is here, that our relationship with Him is strong; and as He sees that we look out for our family, as well as the vulnerable, we will have confidence in His blessing for the coming year.
Cohen...
Continued from page 18
ish parliament was turned down by Abbas, who cited Ankara’s alignment with Hamas as the reason, leading Erdoğan to claim angrily that the PA leader “owes us an apology.”
Having smoothed over their differences, Abbas delivered a speech to the Turkish parliament on Aug. 15 to a chamber in which all those present draped themselves in white scarves specially designed for the occasion, bearing the Palestinian and Turkish flags.
At a private meeting before the speech, the two leaders issued full-throated condemnations of “the massacres committed by Israel in the Palestinian territories,” a theme much in evidence in Abbas’s remarks to the Turkish parliamentarians. The centerpiece of the speech was his pledge to visit Gaza personally, encouraging Muslim leaders to travel there alongside him.
“I have decided to go to Gaza with all my brothers in Palestine,” Abbas said to applause. “I will go even if the price is my life. My life, our lives, are not more valuable than the life
have repercussions for the United States. Mary Antin had already emigrated and wrote a memoire of her family’s journey from Russia to America. During those bleak times, she wrote, ‘America was in everybody’s mouth. Businessmen talked of it over their accounts æ people who had relatives in the famous land went around reading their letters.’ The number of immigrants coming from Russia, the vast majority Jewish, was increasing dramatically.”
The author goes into great detail as to what motivated this human deluge and of the antisemitic reaction to wave of immigrants in America.
Weber and Kempster did not hide their sympathy for the Jews they encountered in the Pale of Settlement and were candid with Harrison about what they witnessed. In effect, the Weber-Kempster Report was a sharp and severe rebuke to bigots who wished to curtail and ultimately restrict Jewish East European immigration in its infancy.
We have a lot to be grateful for to President Benjamin Harrison and his appointees, Weber and Klempster, for their personal resolve and exercise of true leadership, and for their sincere acts of brotherhood toward our people in a time of dire distress.
What they did, did not have to be done. They could have easily played along with the mob and restricted Jewish immigration, and thus prevented the establishment of the large American Jewish community of which we are a proud part to this very day. Let us not forget this fact, and of the personalities who played crucial roles in making this possible.
If you have not yet visited Ellis Island and its museum, do so, with your kids, before the end of summer vacation. It will be an experience you will never forget.
And, while you are at it, read “American Passage” and enjoy the scholarship of a gifted journalist and historian, Vincent Cannato. This will surely help enrich your visit to Ellis Island, and reinforce your love for our country and its history.
Originally published in 2009.
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