Hollywood’s Red Hand
The 97th annual Academy Awards took place on Sunday night. Long before statues were handed out, the anticipation was eclipsed by the glamorous parade of designer finery — not the tuxes, dresses and gowns but one added accessory: a Red Hand pin worn specially for the red carpet.
With an auditorium filled with so many wardrobe aficionados, a discretely worn, harmless-looking pin made both a political and fashion statement at the same time.
What political statement, specifically? For both Palestinians and Israelis, the pin represents the bloody hands of a terrorist who in 2000, in the West Bank, carved up two soldiers from the Israel Defense Forces and gleefully displayed his handiwork from an open window to a cheering horde. He was eventually imprisoned, but not before explaining: “We were in a
craze to see blood. … I saw that my hands were drenched with blood, … so I went over to the window, and I waved my hands at the people…”
Eleven years later, in 2011, he, along with senior Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar — who would become the mastermind of the Hamasled massacre in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023 — was set free in a hostage-prisoner exchange.
Gracing the red carpet while wearing a Red Hand pin is a celebration of savagery. Noble intentions could never be demonstrated with such a ghoulish symbol. The people who live and die in the region know better, even if you don’t.
Guy Pearce somehow got the message. Nominated for Best Supporting Actor, he wore a white dove-shaped pin embossed with “Free Palestine.” He had his facts wrong (Gaza was free), but at least he wasn’t rejoicing in Jewish blood.
Who would wish to wear such a red badge of dishonor on Tinseltown’s biggest night, anyway?
On the same day that three of the four members of the Bibas family (Shiri Bibas, 32, and her two sons, Ariel, 4, and Kfir, 9 months) were laid to
As we have done for decades, my husband and I will celebrate Purim with a sumptuous meal and copious amounts of good drink. It’ll be nothing compared to the 180day banquet that Queen Esther is
said to have hosted after the Jews of Persia were saved from Haman’s evil plans, but it will be festive. And keeping with today’s exhaustive list of medical advisories about food, it will probably be heart-healthy.
Purim isn’t exactly the time when we look forward to reshaping our diet or our drinking habits, though. After all, it’s one of only two holidays in which Jews are actually commanded to eat and drink to excess. At Pesach, we’re expected to drink four glasses of wine (spread out, thankfully, throughout the seder) as a joyous celebration of the Israelites’ liberation from bondage.
But both commandments are a bit baffling. Excessive drinking has never been an encouraged Jewish trait. In fact, until the 1970s to 1980s, Jews were among the least likely ethno-re-
By Sarah Ogince, JNS
As the raucous festival of Purim approaches, editors of Jewish news outlets are gearing up to produce articles rife with satire, inside jokes and quotes from fictitious, suspiciously named sources.
The holiday starts after sundown next Thursday, March 13.
“Coming up to Purim, we’re looking around to something that’s in the news that’s not too serious but might take people in,” said Keren David, managing editor at the London-based Jewish Chronicle, which produces Purim
spiel stories every year.
“It will be obvious to us that someone called Esther HaMalka being quoted isn’t real,” David said. “But then it will get picked up and circulated. That’s a sweet spot for us.”
A relic of the full-scale satirical Purim editions, Purim news produced by news organizations has become less common in the digital age and even discontinued, in some cases, due to the risks — some Purim spoof news stories have been misappropriated as fod-
Hollywood’s blood-drenched Jewish problem…
Continued from page 1
Artists4Ceasefire? Currently, there is a ceasefire; and there was a ceasefire on Oct. 6, 2023. But those are minor details, along with the terrorist strike on Oct. 7 itself.
Artists4Ceasefire purports to have 550 members. Some, sporting their Red Hand pins, came dressed to kill at last year’s Academy Awards: Billie Eilish, Finneas O’Connell, Ramy Youssef, Ava DuVernay, Nicola Coughlan, Ayo Edebiri and Mark Ruffalo. As many as 400 signed a letter to former President Joe Biden, ostensibly to express their human-rights bona fides, but ultimately throwing their support behind Hamas and against the notion that Jewish lives should matter.
Some of those signers included Jennifer Lopez, Richard Gere, Susan Sarandon, Gigi and Bella Hadid, Bradley Cooper, Pedro Pascal, Angelina Jolie, Leana Headey, John Cusack, Viggo Mortenson, Kirsten Dunst, Kristen Stewart, Selena Gomez, Dua Lipa, Alfonso Cuaron, Cate Blanchett, Channing Tatum, Oscar Isaac, Brian Cox, Ben Affleck and Rachel McAdams.
Several Jews could not resist adding their names: Drake, Jon Stewart, Joaquim Phoenix, Ilana Glazer, Mandy Patinkin and Andrew Garfield.
A smaller group of signatories called for an arms embargo against Israel. They included Ariana Grande, Mahershala Ali, Cynthia Nixon, Stewart, Glazer, and, of course, Ruffalo. Ruffalo is the reigning Hollywood antisemitein-chief. (Cusack and Mortensen kick themselves every day for losing the title. Expect both to
Standing behind Hamas and against the notion that Jewish lives should matter.
Continued from page 1 rest in Israel, a group calling itself Artists4Ceasefire entreated Hollywood’s elite to wear Red Hand pins at the Academy Awards.
mount a coup to regain the crown.)
The good news is that a pro-Jewish Hollywood activist group has materialized. Niftily named “the Brigade,” it consists of 700 filmmakers, producers, agents, managers, publicists, executives, actors and actresses. The group responded to Artists4Ceasefire’s call to wear Red Hand pins at the Oscars with a statement that read, “That pin is no symbol of peace. It is the emblem of Jewish bloodshed.”
Why should such an obvious statement ever need to be made — in Los Angeles, of all places? It is, after all, a company town conceived by Jewish immigrants who entered the silent film business early and soon outgrew the sound stages of Astoria, Queens. They hightailed it for Hollywood with the promise of cheap land — and to avoid lawsuits from Thomas Edison, who invented the first movie camera. The mountains and deserts of Los Angeles became the back-
lot for a burgeoning American cultural export — a shtetl for cinephiles.
Nearly all of the original studio chiefs in Hollywood were Jews. Many had changed their names to hide their Jewishness. What’s more, they specialized in the Saturday matinee fare of cowboy Westerns, even though none of them knew how to ride a horse.
They wanted the film industry to replicate the model of melting-pot assimilation — the world they came from and excelled at. But it came with the price of whitewashing their own identities. When the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures opened in 2021, with a mandate of maximum inclusivity, the original founders of the film industry, inexplicably, found themselves left out of the permanent installation.
Jewish Hollywood always had a Jewish problem, the secret handshake of not calling attention to itself. Self-reference was believed to be bad
for business. In the 1930s, Germany was Hollywood’s second-largest market. For that reason alone, movies that might offend Adolf Hitler were simply not made.
Charlie Chaplin, a philosemite of the first order, stood alone in taking on the great dictator with his first talkie, “The Great Dictator” (1940). All those powerful Jewish men were outshone by the Little Tramp.
The Academy Awards have been politicized against Israel before. Back in 1978, Vanessa Redgrave received the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress and promptly excoriated Israel as “Zionist hoodlums.” Many shouted her down.
At last year’s ceremony, Jonathan Glazer accepted the Oscar for “The Zone of Interest” by refuting his Jewishness and denouncing Israel for exploiting the Holocaust to mistreat Palestinians. This time, many in the audience applauded. Which raises the question: Who, exactly, is among this Brigade willing to buck the politically correct Santa Ana winds and defy the sartorial Red Hand pins of antisemites? Are any of them superstar celebrities? The bold-face names that comprise Artists4Ceasefire are well known. But are Steven Spielberg and Barbra Streisand among the Brigade?
I seriously doubt it.
When Adrien Brody, who is Jewish, accepted his Oscar and Golden Globe for Best Actor for “The Brutalist,” in which he portrayed a Holocaust survivor, he somehow managed to avoid mentioning the Holocaust, or that his character was even Jewish. (At the Oscars, in an incoherently self-indulgent speech, he blurted out antisemitism and racism as a generalized afterthought.)
For an industry still powered by Jews and obsessed with the making of superhero movies, the Oscar for Jewish Cowardice continues to have far too many nominees.
Thane Rosenbaum is a novelist, essayist, law professor and Distinguished University Professor at Touro University. Write: Columnist@TheJewishStar.com
Purim papers: When fake news was good news…
der for online antisemitism.
In an age steeped in artificial intelligence deepfakes and rampant misinformation, intentionally fake news might seem like the last thing Jews need. But for some editors and readers, the insanity of the current moment is more reason to double down on the tradition.
“The vicissitudes of Jewish history can sometimes result in, well, bad news,” said Jeremy Dauber, professor of Yiddish language, literature and culture at Columbia University, as well as author of “Jewish Comedy: A Serious History.”
“Satirizing and parodying it in those forms demonstrates one of humor’s best, though hardly only, functions — a way of providing resilience, of showing a kind of strength over and above those events,” Dauber added.
A festival of masquerade and merrymaking, Purim has traditionally been an opportunity for satire. The Purim spiel, a theatrical skit or play often loosely based on Megillat Esther, emerged in 19th-century Eastern Europe and quickly migrated to America.
At the Commentator, a student newspaper of Yeshiva University, the Purim spiel collided with an America tradition — and a new genre was born, said Zev Eleff, president and professor of American Jewish history at Gratz College in Melrose Park, Pa.
“Harvard had a strong tradition to create an annual quarterly lampoon journal that came out April Fools’ Day,” he said. “It made sense for them to flex their satirical muscle, and they would almost anticipate the others by bringing it out in early March.”
The Commentator began publishing a satirical Purim edition soon after its founding in 1935. (A headline from the early years announced that the evangelical Baptist minister Billy Graham
In their first Purim spiel, in 1939, editors of Yeshiva College’s The Commentator said they “sincerely hope that our attempts at humor will be met in the same spirit in which they are intended — in the spirit of good, clean fun and in keeping with the gayety of the traditional Purim atmosphere. If there be such who feel that their dignity has been offended, we hereby offer our heartfelt sympathy to them.” In 2017, the YU website featured a post by Shulamith Z. Berger reporting that “there is no contemporaneous evidence to tell us how the inaugural Purim Commentator was received.” The editors “showed little restraint,” Berger wrote, with even Nazi Germany serving as fodder for laughter.
had been appointed president of the university). And from there, the spoofing spread.
“MESSIAH ARRIVES!” declared the 1979 Purim edition of the Jewish Press in Brooklyn, which it claimed is the “largest circulation of any Anglo-Jewish parody in the world.”
The full-scale paper (which, unlike many others, was clearly labeled as a parody) included a long story detailing the redeemer’s near collision with an Egged bus on his way into Jerusalem, ads, classifieds and letters to the editor.
While the Jewish Press tailored its satire for its mostly Orthodox audience, it didn’t hesitate to poke fun (“Yeshiva boy suffocates in polyester suit” read one headline). And as other papers jumped on the bandwagon, the satire became more edgy.
“The Backward,” a Purim supplement put out by the Forward when it was still a print publication, took aim at the first Trump administration, and the New York Jewish Week’s “Jewish Weak” occasionally found itself on the wrong side of readers’ approval.
Most of the satiric supplements were discontinued with the end of the papers’ print editions (or the end of their editors’ nerve). Among the few survivors, however, the Jerusalem Post continues to publish the “Jerusalem Roast” every year.
Producing satire is doubly fraught in Israel, where opinions and tempers run hot, noted David Brinn, senior editor at the Post.
“‘The Roast’ is modeled after National Lampoon, magazines I grew up with in the ’60s and ’70s that were kind of biting and had their own take on current events but did it in a way that was acceptable, that was making fun of everyone,” said Brinn. (One “Roast” article reported that Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who is known to be slight, had been appointed
IDF chief of staff and promptly lowered the height requirement for soldiers.)
“The goal is to make someone laugh, whatever their political views,” he said.
Although some Jewish news sites opted to skip their Purim satire in the aftermath of the Hamas-led terrorist attacks in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, the “Roast” went ahead with it, avoiding the most sensitive issues of the ongoing war. “I think everyone realized it is something that we all need,” Brinn said.
Good satirical news aims to fool readers — at least for a minute or two. But in the age of social media, that’s a luxury few editors can afford. Online Purim news tends to be well-labeled, usually with multiple disclaimers; even so, it sometimes goes awry.
In 2019, the British Jewish News published an article by “Mordy claiming that Israel was planning to replace Britain in the European Union, prompting an antisemitic backlash on Twitter.Chai,”
“It’s something from a more innocent age,” said Keren David at the Chronicle. (That storied British paper was duped last September by one of its contributors who fabricated stories.)
Still, David’s not ready to give up on the tradition. She fondly recalled one successful Purim article asserting that wearing a kippah prevented male pattern baldness.
“I think we should be able to have a bit of fun,” she said, “and not take everything so seriously.”
The goal is to make someone laugh, whatever their political views.
The Hollywood sign in Los Angeles. Pixabay via JNS
Rethinking how we get to be joyous on Purim…
ligious group to drink to excess.
Yet, according to the fourth-century sage Rava, it is a religious commandment for a person not only to drink but “to become intoxicated with wine on Purim until he does not know how to distinguish between cursed is Haman and blessed is Mordechai.”
I’ve not tried it, but that seems like a lot of wine.
But not all of the ancient rabbis sided with the Rava’s decision, and not all rabbis through the centuries have agreed with how the meaning of the word levasumei has been interpreted. It is often translated as “to become intoxicated,” but it can also mean “fragrant” or “be mellow” (with wine).
Could the statement have meant something else? Could the great sage’s words be part of a parable to discourage excessive drinking? Or could the mitzvah to “become intoxicated” really have to do with something entirely different: the inebriating and elevating power of the spiritual joy of Purim?
However the statement was intended to be read, we do know that wine has been a part of Jewish life and traditions pretty much since Abraham’s time. Our favorite fermented drink has played a role in just about every contemporary religious and social event — from welcoming in Shabbat to celebrating holidays. The ancient
rabbis were also astutely aware of the emotional benefits that could be derived from wine, as well as its profound dangers.
“[Wine] cheers the heart of man” reads Psalm 104:15. On the other hand, in Rabbi Judah Halevi bar Shalom’s view, wine could never be a trustworthy partner, especially for those who cherished clear-thinking and a spotless reputation. He counseled abstinence: “When wine enters [the body], knowledge departs. … Drink no wine or intoxicating liquor.” (Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Shmini 7).
These days, both perspectives have their supporters — and their detractors.
Last January the US Surgeon General’s office released a bombshell: A new, 22-page advisory warning Americans of the documented link between alcohol and cancer.
It’s not the first time that Dr. Vivek Murthy wrote about the risks of alcohol consumption. But this time, the advisory warned that no amount of alcohol, even in moderate drinking, is safe. That’s because researchers have finally confirmed the way that alcohol is synthesized in the body and the by-product it becomes, which is acetaldehyde, a known carcinogen. Murthy has called for Congress to issue warning labels on all alcohol products.
The future implications for how we celebrate our festivals could be profound. For many older adults, like me, raising a glass of kosher grape juice in lieu of wine may seem like just another new weird lifestyle change. But convincing younger generations to swear off the very drink their ancestors used for millennia and that has shaped their Jewish holiday traditions may be a lot harder. It may be an even greater challenge right now in Israel, where alcohol use has been on the rise following the terrorist attacks on Oct. 7, 2023, and the ensuing war.
In some ways, the decisions our communities now face are similar to those of earlier generations when rabbis were setting the standards for
how Purim — with its social reliance on wine and revelry — should be celebrated. It’s well known that some sages imbibed in alcohol while others abstained. But many were acutely aware of the dangers of excess.
Today, Jews face similar challenges in confronting health decisions that may not pair well with the traditions and customs we are so fond of, especially those that we treat as central to religious practice.
I can’t help but wonder how something that humans have drinking for almost 9,000 years could now be too dangerous to touch, just be-
cause we possess technology that gives a unique — and possibly incomplete — understanding of its science. We are often quick to assume that we know the full story about science and the history that has shaped how we live.
This Purim, my husband and I will welcome in the festival with a glass of kosher grape juice. We’ll read the Megillah and celebrate the miracle associated with Esther. And while we’re at it, we’ll tip another glass to the incongruity of science. Jan Lee is an award-winning editorial writer and former news editor.
Write: Columnist@TheJewishStar.com
A booze-free Purim isn’t just for children. Adobe
Analysis: Did Netanyahu fail the Trump test?
By Shimon Sherman, JNS
In 2017, Erez Tadmor, one of the two founders of the Im Tirtzu movement, published “Why Do You Vote Right and Get Left,” a nationally bestselling Hebrew-language book that has become a secular Bible for many right-wing intellectuals in Israel.
The title strikes at the heart of critical policy debates surrounding Israel’s national sovereignty, civil bureaucracy, military leadership and many other issues.
For many years this question was answered in the form of a political narrative involving dueling centers of power. On the one hand, the right trying to advance its agenda through democratic control of the Knesset and government, and on the other the left stymying this agenda through old institutions in which it retained control from the Mapai Party days, such as the judicial system and the Israel Defense Forces General Staff.
This political narrative had a physical embodiment in the figure of Prime Minister Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu, whom many on the right saw as a shepherd who could lead Israel in the fight against its enemies and hold at bay the powers of the left-wing oligarchy.
With Donald Trump’s reelection to the presidency on Nov. 5, 2024, many on Israel’s right saw a bright dawn on the horizon. International pressure would be relieved and deep-state bureaucracies were under assault worldwide. The firing of Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Nov. 5 was perceived as the beginning of the end of the entrenched power in the IDF General Staff.
However, the reversal of the political tide seems not to have come. The incongruence between the bountiful opportunities showered on the Jewish state by the Trump administration and the reality on the ground seems to be exposing cracks in the basic paradigms of Israeli politics.
Fault lines began to emerge in earnest when on Feb. 10, in a fit of moral clarity, Trump issued an ultimatum that many Israelis believed was the only acceptable way of resolving the hostage crisis. Speaking from the Oval Office, the American president expressed dismay at the condition of the hostages being returned from Gaza, saying they “look like Holocaust survivors,” and dissatisfaction with the framework of the ceasefire deal.
“If ALL of the hostages aren’t returned by Saturday 12 o’clock … I would say cancel [the deal] and all bets are off and let hell break out,” said Trump.
‘Trump is right’
Many on Israel’s right were ecstatic. Finally, a US president who spoke the language of the Middle East. Once again, Trump had left behind tried and failed methods and struck out in a new and promising direction. Furthermore, here was an opportunity to leave behind the ceasefire deal, which many on the Israeli right believe was agreed to only at the behest of the Trump administration.
“Trump is right. Return and destroy immediately,” tweeted former Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who resigned in protest over the ceasefire deal.
Israeli Finance Minister Betzalel Smotrich also endorsed Trump’s ultimatum, in the strongest terms.
“Mr. Prime Minister [Netanyahu],
I call on you, following such a moral, simple and clear statement by President Trump, to inform Hamas unequivocally: Either all the hostages are released on Saturday, or the gates of hell are opened on them. No electricity, no water, no fuel, no humanitarian aid. Only fire and brimstone from our planes and artillery and tanks, and our heroic fighters,” he said in a video statement.
This sentiment was echoed not only by politicians but also by many prominent right-wing media personalities.
“This is your moment, Prime Minister Netanyahu, to choose between Churchill and Chamberlain,” tweeted prominent entrepreneur and influencer Eli David.
Netanyahu convened the Security Cabinet and deliberated for four hours regarding how to respond.
In his first statement on the new development, the prime minister contradicted himself, endorsing Trump’s ultimatum and at the same time rephrasing it by refusing to specify that Jerusalem expected to see “all” the hostages released on Saturday.
The next day, Defense Minister Israel Katz issued a statement full of sharp language about “unleashing hell,” and the “full destruction of Hamas,” but falling short of Trump’s moral clarity.
In the days that followed, a series of Israeli officials spread a wide net of contradictory statements, telling Fox News that they expect “all the hostages released on Saturday,” telling Israel’s Channel 14 that they expected nine to be released, and ultimately making a public statement that the Israeli government was satisfied with the terms of the current ceasefire deal and expected only three hostages to be released.
Many on the right howled their discontent.
“The Israeli government is on the verge of another historic miss. After receiving the backing from President Trump to bring hell on Gaza if Hamas does not release ALL the hostages, the
government intends to settle for releasing only three hostages, in a reckless plan that includes releasing hundreds of murderous terrorists from prison while continuing to send fuel and aid to Gaza. A reckless deal, a frightened government,” tweeted Ben-Gvir.
Israel’s decision is “truly problematic,” according to Martin Sherman, founder and CEO of the Israel Institute for Strategic Studies.
“Israel’s not striking while the iron is hot. We have a golden opportunity to finish the war sooner rather than later,” he told JNS.
Despite clear opposition from its constituency, the government continued with the ceasefire agreement, and as expected only three hostages were released on Feb. 15. Instead of shifting gears, Netanyahu chose to stay on a path that many of his followers find incredibly problematic.
The question therefore remains: What brought Netanyahu to these decisions?
Domestic pressure
The most basic explanation for Netanyahu’s decision is continued international pressure. However, while Israel could still be facing pressure from Europe or Arab partners, this was not a sufficiently satisfactory explanation for the government’s behavior, said Sherman.
An alternative explanation floated by certain right-wing analysts is that Netanyahu broke under domestic rather than international pressure. The claim is that a combination of pressure from the military high command and the judicial system, and the threat of mass protests from the left, forced the prime minister to back away from the moral position of Trump’s ultimatum.
If Netanyahu had stuck to the ultimatum and as a result no more hostages were returned, “this would cause some serious discontent among certain sectors of Israeli society,” said Sherman.
“Netanyahu may be weary of street protests … and seeking to eke out the hostage issue and bring it to a mini-
looks good to be releasing hundreds of terrorists into our cities. No one thinks it’s a picture of victory when you have bulldozers, heavy building equipment and caravans going into Gaza at the same time as the government tells us that they plan to implement Trump’s transfer plan. Everybody understands that this is the exact opposite of Bibi’s promises,” said Ansbacher.
‘At a decision point‘
According to Wurmser, Israel’s decision with regard to Gaza was ultimately not due to pressure, domestic or otherwise, but more a matter of timing.
Had Hamas made good on its threat not to release the three hostages, the ceasefire would have collapsed and Trump’s ultimatum would have been adopted by Netanyahu immediately and in full, he said.
However, “Hamas backed down very quickly and agreed to release the three hostages, and then entered into discussions about acceleration of the release of captives,” putting the Israeli government in a difficult position, he continued. “If it adopted the ultimatum at that point, that could very well lead to the death of the remaining hostages, because Israel’s hand would be forced and it would have to go in. Likely no more hostages would be released and all the rest would be killed.”
mum, and in that way remove one of the greatest points of leverage that his opponents have,” he added.
“There’s also a political calculation,” noted David Wurmser, a fellow at the Misgav Institute for National Security and Zionist Strategy and a specialist on American foreign policy.
“[Shas Party chairman] Aryeh Deri and the ultra-Orthodox parties may well have threatened to leave the government if this deal was abandoned while there is still a reasonable expectation to get back hostages alive. Those parties feel very strongly about continuing the deal. This is the significant political pressure that introduces the danger of the collapse of the Israeli government,” he told JNS.
Taboos
In his long career, Netanyahu has violated multiple taboos of the Israeli right. He embraced Yasser Arafat, gave up Hebron in the 1997 Hebron Protocol and the 1998 Wye River agreement, and endorsed a Palestinian state in a speech at Bar-Ilan University in 2009. He gave up over a thousand terrorists, including Yahya Sinwar, in exchange for IDF soldier Gilad Shalit in 2011. He failed to annex Judea and Samaria despite being in power since 2008.
According to Yair Ansbacher, a fellow at the Misgav Institute for National Security and Zionist Strategy, Trump’s ultimatum merely brought to light a problem that has been lurking in the shadows for a long time.
“The case with Trump’s ultimatum is merely a very clear example of a problem that has been going on from the very beginning of the war and likely since before then. It is an amazing opportunity to see this phenomenon in action. Here you have the most powerful leader in the world telling you that you can do whatever you want and that he’s with you. At this point, if you don’t go along with the proposal it’s because you don’t want to,” he told JNS.
“Israel looks weak after Trump’s ultimatum, not Hamas. No one thinks it
Israel believes there will be no secondphase agreement, having given up everything it was prepared to give up in the first stage of the deal, he said.
“All of the major concessions were already given. In that sense, a few more caravans and a few hundred more prisoners, while damaging, are not the catastrophic irreversible strategic harm that would be required in Phase 2,” Wurmser said.
At the same time, Israel’s demands regarding the second stage of the agreement are “impossible” for Hamas to accept, he said.
In other words, from Israel’s point of view, the only question “is whether the resumption of fighting will be in the context of the ultimatum or in the context of the breakdown of the ceasefire,” he added. “And at that point if you can get another three or six or nine hostages, why not wait? What’s the rush for one week or two weeks if you can save five or six Israelis?”
While Netanyahu’s base may not be happy with some of the government’s decisions, he said, “they understand that it is still incredibly important to have an Israeli right-wing government that is capable of standing up to the Israeli deep state, and Netanyahu is the symbol of that struggle.”
The prime minister and his government stand at a crossroads, said Wurmser.
“Netanyahu is operating on credit right now, and he needs to show that he is still committed to doing what needs to be done,” he told JNS.
“Bibi has so far come through, and ultimately he has done some good things, but we’re really at a decision point. He has no more excuses. If he doesn’t go back to war and finish it and fully work with the United States to execute Trump’s plan, then that will write his legacy. He has another week or two where he can bring back hostages, which everyone wants, but after that it’s time to choose. Either he delivers at that point or his legacy, and the right, will turn on him,” Wurmser said.
Shimon Sherman covers global security, Middle Eastern affairs, and geopolitical developments.
President Donald Trump with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Ben-Gurion International Airport on May 23, 2017. Kobi Gideon, GPO
Lifesaving Heart Care Close to Home
In 1993, Anita Rothenberg of Valley Stream was first admitted to Mount Sinai South Nassau’s ER in Oceanside and treated for a heart attack at the age of 37. She recovered, raised a family and worked as a teacher on Long Island for the next 29 years. Then, in November of 2022, an angiogram showed three blocked arteries. She underwent triple bypass surgery a few days later at Mount Sinai Fuster Heart Hospital in Manhattan and completed her cardiac rehabilitation close to home at Mount Sinai South Nassau.
Mount Sinai South Nassau o ers comprehensive heart care for Long Islanders, and has received the following ratings and quality awards:
• Rated High Performing in heart attack and heart failure from U.S. News & World Report ® for 2024-2025
• Healthgrades America’s 100 Best Hospitals for Coronary Intervention™
• Healthgrades Coronary Intervention Excellence Award™
• Healthgrades Five-Star Recipient for Coronary Interventional Procedures
• Named among the top five percent in the nation for Coronary Interventional Procedures by Healthgrades
L ea r n mo r e a t mountsinai.org/southnassauheart
Iranian nuclear progress is more than uranium
By Yaakov Lappin, JNS
As Tehran continues to make alarming progress on its nuclear program, the United States appears not to have made a firm decision on how to respond. Israel, which has already demonstrated an ability to send its air force to strike in Iran, is bracing for possible military action.
Brig. Gen. (res.) Professor Jacob Nagel, former acting national security adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and ex-head of Israel’s National Security Council, who is today a senior fellow at the Washington-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told JNS on Thursday that the situation regarding the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program is alarming for two reasons.
First, he said, are “the Iranian ambitions and behavior,” and second is the unwillingness of the United Nations’ International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) nuclear watchdog and the Europeans to confront Iran over its nuclear progress, while the United States, he assessed, has yet to make a final decision on the matter.
“I very much hope Israel will succeed in clarifying the situation as it truly is,” said Nagel. “The problem is that some in Israel have also not yet internalized the situation, because they have gotten used to it over 20 years.”
Iran has significantly increased its stockpile of near weapons grade uranium, enough to produce six nuclear weapons, according to an IAEA report prepared for next week’s meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s board of governors and seen by Reuters.
The agency expressed grave concern over Tehran’s failure to resolve outstanding issues.
“The significantly increased production and accumulation of high-enriched uranium by
Iran, the only non-nuclear weapon state to produce such nuclear material, is of serious concern,” the IAEA stated, as reported by Reuters. In parallel, Iranian regime media quoted an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps general who issued a direct threat, apparently of a conventional missile attack against Israel. “Operation True Promise 3 will be carried out at the right time, with precision, and on a scale sufficient to destroy Israel and raze Tel Aviv and Haifa to the ground,” Maj. Gen. Ebra-
him Jabbari said. Nagel assessed, “In my view, one can see the problem in the IAEA report coming out this week, which will unfortunately likely focus again on enrichment and the number of kilograms of 60% enriched material. The Iranian stockpile is growing, even though in my opinion, this is the least important issue. But this is what everyone has been dealing with for 20 years, and it is difficult for them to understand that something has changed.”
‘Weapons group’
Nagel recently headed a governmentappointed commission on the Israeli security budget and proposals for future priorities. The Nagel Commission on Evaluating the Security Budget and Force Building Requests Proposals from the Public, to give it its full title, outlined a priority list for dealing with the Iranian nuclear threat, which begins with the “weapons group”—the Iranian scientists and engineers tasked with weaponizing a nuclear device — weakening the regime, the deep underground site currently being built, where the enriched material is stored, and of course, the material itself.
Only in the last place did the commission list the well-known uranium enrichment sites at Qom and Fordow in Iran, as well as the centrifuges and all their components.
Asked whether Iran has activated its weapons group, Nagel said, “Without a doubt, there is a group, not officially called the weapon group, that is working to close technological gaps so that when the leader [Ayatollah Ali Khamenei] gives the order to break forward, much time will be saved. For now, they are still working on things that have a tenuous civilian explanation, to avoid creating a smoking gun.”
Nagel referenced multiple assessments that estimate Iran could produce a crude nuclear device within six months, a timeframe primarily based on the work of nuclear expert David Albright and others.
“There are estimates that it will take six months to produce a crude device, led by Albright, and maybe even less. Not everyone agrees with them, but that is the range, assuming success in development. For a weapon system that can be installed on a missile, the estimate is still 18 to 24 months, although the Continued on next page
A replica of Iran’s Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant at an exhibition at the International Conference on Nuclear Science and Technology in Isfahan on May 6, 2024. Atta Kenare, AF via Getty Images via JNS
Iranians are working on closing technological gaps,” said Nagel.
The so-called weapons group has been working in the background, without the official designation as a weapon group, for several years, he said. “It is part of the IRGC strategy, without official approval from the leader, but according to many, he knows exactly what is happening and turns a blind eye.”
According to Nagel, Iran’s ultimate goal has not changed: “It remains the destruction of Israel through conventional means under a nuclear umbrella — not to use it, but to deter.”
He noted that the collapse of Iran’s proxybased “Ring of Fire” strategy, following the Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas and Israel’s subsequent military operations to destroy most of the capabilities of Hamas and Hezbollah.
“The collapse of the ‘Ring of Fire’ concept, based on proxies, following 7/10, is very troubling to the Iranians, and I assume they are now looking for ways to overcome this collapse, alongside the effort to rearm the proxies around Israel.
“The most important and central point is that we must not once again, ahead of the IAEA board meeting and afterward, focus on enrichment and the amount of enriched kilograms that Iran has accumulated. That almost doesn’t matter, beyond highlighting the violations,” Nagel said.
“I belong to the camp that believes that even if Natanz and Qom are attacked and destroyed, but it is done without dealing with the weapon system, the already enriched material, and the deep underground site being built — [or without] simultaneously building capabilities to support activities that will destabilize the regime — such an attack could do more harm than good,” he warned.
“Because then, the Iranians will take the enriched material with a few hundred advanced centrifuges, go underground, and that’s it. When they finish the weapon system, they will have a bomb.”
Reliable military option
Speaking to Politico in Brussels, in an interview published on Feb. 26, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar warned that Iran has already enriched enough uranium for “a couple of bombs” and is “playing with ways” to move forward on weaponization.
“So we don’t have much time,” he said. While Israel still prefers a diplomatic solution, he acknowledged that “the chances of such an approach being successful are not huge” and failure to stop Iran’s nuclear program would be a “catastrophe for the security of Israel.”
Sa’ar added, “I think that in order to stop a nuclear Iranian program before it will be weaponized, a reliable military option should be on the table.”
Meanwhile, a report published on Feb. 19 by Andrea Stricker, a research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, discussed the revelation that a secret team of Iranian scientists has been working to shorten the country’s path to a nuclear weapon.
The report, based on intelligence collected during United States President Joe Biden’s final months in office and relayed to the incoming Trump administration, stated that “Iran likely has the capability and know-how to produce nuclear weapons but lacks confidence in the functionality of certain components.
“To deter a breakout, Washington and Jerusalem must review and, where necessary, enhance joint intelligence operations and capabilities to penetrate and sabotage Iran’s weaponization program and uncover weaponization facilities,” said the report.
“America should also mobilize the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), to conduct indepth inspections of illicit Iranian sites and activities. Concurrently, the United States and Israel must prepare and showcase effective military options and signal to the regime the credible threat of their use.”
Proudly Jewish. Proudly Zionist. Proudly American.
El Al’s King David: Modern bar, top coffee, quiet
A significantly upgraded King David Lounge opened last week at Ben Gurion International Airport, expanding EL AL’s luxury passenger experience.
“We believe that the customer’s flight experience begins on the ground, so we continue to enhance the passenger experience from the moment they enter Ben Gurion Airport,” said Oren Cohen Butansky, EL AL’s vice president of customers and service.
The luxurious lounge pampers passengers with a modern and well-equipped bar, new seating arrangements and furniture to enhance passenger hospitality while ensuring their privacy, and quality coffee machines.
The architecture firm of Orly Shrem Architects, chosen to lead the lounge design, planned the space to maximize its potential and create a pleasant and unique atmosphere, while ensuring the privacy of the guests, El Al explained.
The lounge offers a wide range of seating options, from quiet corners to open meeting areas. On the upper floor, a central bar was designed alongside private work capsules intended for passengers looking for a quiet space to concentrate, separated from the main area.
Carpets throughout the lounge were replaced with hardwood flooring. There is excellent availability of USB and power connections throughout the lounge to allow passengers to continue working and charging their devices easily.
The new bar on the gallery floor was established by the BELLBOY group, led by Ariel Leiz-
gold, one of the prominent names in the Israeli mixology and cocktail world.
The group, behind some of the most successful bars in Israel and worldwide, was chosen to lead the new bar in the lounge — from the development stage, to building the bar, to training its staff and creating unique recipes.
As part of the collaboration with EL AL, five exclusive cocktails were developed, inspired by EL AL’s favorite destinations — New York, Tokyo, London, Paris and Berlin.
The lounge’s familiar food has been fully preserved, alongside a new collaboration with Nespresso, which will offer its familiar coffee in a variety of strengths and flavors at locations scattered throughout the facility.
Additionally, the Dan E Lounge, in collaboration with EL AL, will continue to operate as usual to accommodate a larger number of passengers and manage the load.
The King David Lounge upgrade “is intended to provide an advanced service experience to
our passengers and make the waiting experience for the flight pleasant,” El Al’s Butansky baid. “The meticulous design, with an emphasis on optimal service and collaborations with leading providers in Israel, together create the highest level of hospitality experience, which we strive to provide to our customers. Very soon, we will begin upgrading the TOP members’ lounge, continuing the momentum of upgrading the service experience for our luxury passengers.” News supplied by El Al.
Become a Silver Corps member and support your community, while receiving training and credentialling to show employers you are the right candidate for them.
Find out how to become a Silver Corps member by emailing silvercorps@ aging.nyc.gov or call Aging Connect at 212-AGING-NYC (212-244-6469) to learn more.
WINE
AND DINE
Marching orders at Purim: Chametz must go!
Iknow it is not even Purim yet, but, as I get a bit older, I find that the sooner I begin to plan, the better and more smoothly things will run. So I am already starting to reduce the chametz in the house.
Yes, that time of year is approaching; time to clean out the cupboards and cabinets and clear out the chametz as we get ready for Pesach. By this time of year, I know I will find half-filled bags of different kinds of rice, lentils, beans and grains along with half-filled boxes of bread crumbs and Panko crumbs, crackers and croutons and other products that need to be used up or tossed before the holiday. No matter how hard I try, things just never come out even!
I know it’s a ton of work, but this is the time of year I empty, organize, vacuum and wash, wax and reline. I still love the feeling of seeing sparkling clean and empty shelves, ready for Pesach foods and dishes. I love the absolute lack of clutter (you know, the clutter in cabinets that creeps up slowly and maliciously while we are too busy to notice that half bag of pasta in the corner). Truthfully, while I hate to admit it, were it not for this holiday, I cannot imagine what my cabinets would look like.
Cleaning my cabinets is also a metaphor of sorts for cleaning up my eating. I think of all the things I used to remove and then replace on the shelves that were not so healthful. Overly refined carbs and cereals that provided very little health and nutrition have been replaced by organic, high fiber foods. Even instant oatmeal, the kind with kid-friendly flavors, (I loved the Cinnamon) is no longer a member of my cabinet community. We use organic steel cut, slow cooking oatmeal and wow, what a difference. Each new bit of food research helps me review our eating habits each Pesach so that when I refill the cabinets, I add only the best and healthiest foods.
Just a note about spices. This is also the time of year, I reorganize my spice rack and toss spices that have been hiding in the back of the cabinet for the past 3 years! Most spices lose their potency after about 1 year and may develop an
off flavor if stored too long; especially if stored close to the stove or even the microwave or toaster oven. While buying spices in bulk at the local warehouse store may be tempting, unless you use a lot of a specific spice, avoid the temptation and buy smaller jars that have a better chance of being used within a year or so. I wish you happy eating and productive cleaning!
Chag Purim Sameach.
Mixed grains with Veggies (Pareve, Meat or Dairy)
This is a great meal alone with a salad or complimented with some diced chicken. It can even be used to stuff some zucchini or an eggplant or peppers. Use it as you like.
• 2 cups mixed grains such as different varieties of rice, wheat berries, lentils, Kasha, etc.
• 4 to 6 cups veggie broth, water or chicken broth
• 1 large yellow onion, diced
• 1 large red onion, diced
• 2 to 3 shallots, diced
• 1 leek, cut in half lengthwise and then sliced into half to moons 3 stalks celery, diced
• 3 carrots, diced
• 1 red pepper, diced
• 1 green pepper, diced
• Additional veggies that you like
• 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 3 to 4 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
• OPTIONAL: 1 to 2 Tbsp. tamari sauce or other cooking sauce you like.
Season with fresh herbs such as thyme, chives, and basil and other seasonings to taste. Add some red pepper flakes for a bit of heat.
OPTIONAL: Add some cooked broccoli florets, cauliflower, cooked asparagus, string beans or Brussels sprouts. Add some roasted yams or squash. You can also add some toasted sunflower seeds or nuts. For a dairy dish, add some grated cheese.
Make sure that you use grains that have about the same cooking time. If the cooking times vary, begin by cooking the grain that needs the longest time and adding the rest of the grains as indicated by their cooking times. (Ex. If the brown rice needs 40 minutes and the Basmati rice needs 20 minutes, add the Basmati after the brown rice has cooked for 20 minutes.)
Rinse the grains and place in a large pot. Add 4 cups of water or broth and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer, stirring once or twice until grains are cooked to desired doneness. Add more liquid as needed.
Meanwhile, heat a large skillet and add the olive oil. Add the onions, shallots and leeks and sauté until deep, golden brown. Add the celery and carrots and sauté until just softened. Add the mushrooms and cook until they exude their juices and begin to reabsorb them. Add the peppers and sauté until just crisp tender. Add the minced garlic and red pepper flakes and stir constantly for 20 to 30 seconds. Season with Tamari or other sauce and/or salt and pepper to taste.
When the grains are cooked, add them to the veggies and mix well. Serves 4 to 8.
Stuffed Portbello Mushrooms (Pareve or Dairy)
These make a delicious side dish or can even be the main dish in a veggie meal. You can stuff them with any combination of foods, but my kids love this recipe.
• 4 to 6 Portobello mushroom caps
• 4 to 6 oz. white mushrooms, processed in a food processor until finely minced
• 1 onion, finely diced
• 2 shallots, minced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 cup breadcrumbs, more or less as needed
• 4 oz. fresh baby spinach leaves
• OPTIONAL: 1/4 cup grated Parmesan Cheese
• 2 to 3 Tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Salt and pepper to taste
Gently remove the stems from the Portobello Mushrooms. Gently peel the skin off the mushrooms and discard. Hold the cap, gill side up and gently scrape off the dark brown gills with spoon. They will easily dislodge. Place the caps, gill side up on a lightly greased rimmed baking sheet. Set aside.
Wash and trim the white mushrooms and coarsely chop them. Place in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until finely minced. Heat a large skillet and add the olive oil. When the oil is hot, add the onion, shallots and garlic and sauté until barely golden brown. Add the mushrooms and sauté until the mushrooms exude liquid. Add the spinach and sauté until
just wilted. Add the breadcrumbs and mix until blended. Remove from heat. Season with salt and pepper and let cool. Add the parmesan cheese and mix well.
Spoon into the mushroom caps and press gently to form a mound of filling. Sprinkle with a bit more cheese and bake at 375 degrees until golden brown, about 15 to 20 minutes. Serve hot. Makes 4 to 6 caps, depending on the size of the caps.
Bread Pudding with Caramel Sauce (Dairy)
There is nothing as comforting as warm bread pudding. Add a drizzle of caramel sauce and you have heaven in a bowl. Yes it is rich and yes it is decadent, but on a cold snowy winter night, what could be more cozy?
You can use all kinds of bread from semi-stale challah to French bread to brioche or a mix of all kinds. I have even used whole wheat and oatmeal bread although challah and brioche do make a creamier, smoother pudding. Simply put, bread pudding is just a mix of bread, eggs and milk or cream with some flavorings and additional ingredients. This bread pudding with caramel sauce is a show stopping country rustic treat. This recipe is adapted from several. One is by Ina Garten another by Bobby Flay and a third by Emil Lagasse. I took the best from theirs and came up with this.
• 18 oz. bread cubes, about 1-inch square, from any kind of bread. Limit the amount of challah and use more French or brioche or other breads, as too much challah will make the pudding too mushy. Maybe cut off some of the crust of the crustier breads
• 6 large eggs plus 4 large egg yolks
• 3 cups half-and-half plus 2 cups whole milk, or 5 cups half-and-half
• 1 tsp. pure almond extract
• 1-1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• 1 vanilla bean, sliced in half lengthwise, caviar (tiny beans) scraped out
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup light brown sugar
• OPTIONAL: raisins, chocolate chips or flakes, 1/3 cup sliced almonds
• Butter for greasing the pan
• Caramel Sauce
See Marching orders page 14
Mixed grains with veggies.
Stuffed Portbello Mushrooms. themediterranean dish.com
Marching orders at Purim: Chametz must go…
Continued from page 11
Cut the bread into cubes, removing the crusts. Place the bread on a cookie sheet and dry the cubes in a 250-degree oven for 15 to 20 minutes. Do not let the cubes toast, you just want to dry them.
Place one cup cream in a small saucepan. Cut the vanilla bean in half and scrape the seeds into the cream.
Whisk to break up the sticky seeds. Add the bean pod and heat the cream just until it begins to steam. Stir often and do not let the cream boil. Remove from the heat and let cool. Remove the vanilla bean pod when cool, rinse and save for the caramel sauce.
Break the whole eggs into a large bowl. Add the egg yolks and save the whites for an omelet or discard. Whisk until frothy. Whisk in the sugars, almond extract, milk and cream and cooled vanilla cream. Whisk well until completely blended.
Generously grease a 3-quart or 4-quart baking dish with about 2 to 3 tablespoons of butter. Evenly distribute the bread cubes in the dish. Pour the custard mixture evenly over the bread cubes and let the mixture stand for about 10 to 15 minutes so the bread can absorb the liquid. Gently press the cubes under the cream mixture every so often so they all get evenly saturated. Add raisins or chocolate chips if you like. If using, sprinkle the almonds evenly over the top of the pudding.
Place the baking dish in a larger roasting pan and place them on the oven rack. Pour boiling water into the roasting pan so it comes about halfway up the baking dish. Place an aluminum foil tent very loosely over the baking dish and bake for 45 minutes. Remove the foil tent and bake for an additional 45 minutes or until the top is golden brown and the custard is set and does not jiggle when you move the pan.
Carefully remove the pan from the water bath
and let cool for 20 minutes before cutting. Serve with caramel sauce.
Caramel Sauce (Dairy)
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• Reserved vanilla bean pod
• 1-1/2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 Tbsp. butter
Place the cream in a small saucepan and add the reserved vanilla bean pod. Bring the cream to a simmer and add the vanilla extract. Turn off the heat and set aside.
Place the sugar and water in another, mediumsized, heavy saucepan. Whisk to blend. Turn on the heat to high and cook until the mixture turns golden brown. This should take about 8 to 12 minutes. Do not stir; just swirl the pan several times. Watch carefully so that the sugar does not burn.
While the sugar is cooking, remove the vanilla bean pod from the cream and discard. When deep golden, immediately remove the sugar mixture from the heat and carefully and slowly pour in the cream, while stirring constantly with a wooden spoon.
The mixture may suddenly seem too harden, so return the caramel to medium low heat and stir until it becomes smooth, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and add the butter, stirring vigorously with the wooden spoon. Pour into a pretty serving bowl and, while hot. drizzle over the bread pudding. Store any remaining sauce in the refrigerator for 3 to 5 days.
Makes about 2 cups.
Almond Orange Cranberry Bread (Dairy or Pareve)
• 2 cups unbleached flour OR
• 1-3/4 cup flour and 1/4 cup ground flaxseed
• 1 extra-large egg
• 2/3 to 3/4 cup sugar, to taste
• 1 Tbsp. grated orange zest
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. almond extract
• 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups coarsely chopped cranberries, measure then chop
• 1/3 cup melted butter or trans-fat free margarine
• 3/4 cup whole milk or unsweetened vanilla almond milk
• 1 cup sliced almonds, coarsely chopped
• OPTIONAL: Streusel Topping:
• 1/2 cup unbleached flour
• 2 Tbsp. ice cold butter, cut into pieces
• 1/4 cup light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup slivered almonds
• 1/2 tsp. pure almond extract
Generously grease a large loaf pan. Preheat
the oven to 325 degrees.
BREAD: In a large bowl, blend the flour, flax seed, sugar, baking powder. In another bowl, mix the milk, extracts, egg, orange zest and melted butter/margarine. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix with a fork until just blended. Add the nuts and cranberries and mix until blended.
STREUSEL TOPPING: Place all ingredients in the bowl of a food processor and pulse to blend. When clumps form, stop the mixer. Makes enough for one loaf.
BAKING: Pour The batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Sprinkle the Streusel topping evenly over the top. Bake until golden and a tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 60 to 75 minutes. Let cool. Makes one large or two smaller loaves. Write: Columnist@TheJewishStar.com
Bread Pudding with Caramel Sauce.
Learn
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: Columnist@TheJewishStar.com
Five Towns Candlelighting: From the White Shul, Far Rockaway, NY
Fri March 7 / Adar 7
Tetzaveh • Shabbos Zachor Candles: 5:34 • Havdalah: 6:44
Fri March 14 / Adar 14
Ki Sisa (Fri is Purim, Sat is Shushan Purim) Candles: 6:42• Havdalah: 7:52
Fri March 21 / Adar 21
Shabbat Parah • Yayakhel) Candles: 6:49 • Havdalah: 7:59
Fri March 28 / Adar 28
Shabbat Hachodesh Candles: 6:57 • Havdalah: 8:07
Fri April 11 / Nissan 6 Vayikra Candles: 7:04 • Havdalah: 8:14
Fri April 4 / Nissan 13
Erev Pesach • Shabbos HaGadol • Tzav Candles: 7:04 • Havdalah: 8:13
Considering Judaism’s aesthetic dimension
Why is the Torah so specific and emphatic, in this week’s Parsha, Tetzaveh, about the clothes to be worn by the Kohanim and the Kohen Gadol?
“These are the vestments that they shall make: a breastplate [chosen], an apron [ephod], a robe, a knitted tunic, a turban, and a sash. Make them as sacred vestments for Aaron and his sons so that they will be able to be priests to Me.” Ex. 28:4 In general, Judaism is skeptical about appearances. Saul, Israel’s first king, looked the part. He was “head and shoulders” taller than anyone else (1 Samuel 9:2). Yet though he was physically tall, he was morally small. He followed the people rather than leading them. When G-d told Samuel that He had rejected Saul, and that Samuel should anoint a son of Yishai as king, Samuel went to Yishai’s home and saw that one of his sons, Eliav, looked the part. He thought he was the one G-d had chosen. G-d, however, tells him that he is mistaken:
But the L-rd said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The L-rd does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the L-rd looks at the heart.” 1 Sam. 16:7
Appearances deceive. In fact, as I have mentioned before in these studies, the Hebrew word for garment, begged, comes from the same Hebrew word as “to betray” — as in the confession “Ashamnu bagadnu (We are guilty, we have betrayed).”
Jacob uses Esau’s clothes to deceive. Joseph’s brothers do likewise with his bloodstained cloak. There are six such examples in the book of Genesis alone. Why then did G-d command that the Kohanim were to wear distinctive garments as part of their service in the tabernacle and later in the Temple?
The answer lies in the two-word phrase that appears twice in our Parsha, defining what the priestly vestments were to represent: le-kavod ule-tifaret, “for dignity [or honor] and beauty.” These are unusual words in the Torah, at least in a human context. The word tiferet
Rav Kook hoped that the return to Zion would stimulate a renaissance of Jewish art. There is a significant place for beauty in the religious life.
(beauty or glory) appears only three times in the Torah, twice in our Parsha (Ex. 28:2, Ex. 28:40) and once, poetically and with a somewhat different sense, in Deuteronomy 26:19.
The word kavod (dignity’ or ‘honor) appears 16 times, but in 14 (2x7) of these cases the reference is to the glory of G-d. The twice they appear in our Parsha are the only occasions in which kavod is applied to a human being. So what is happening here?
The answer is that they represent the aesthetic dimension.
This does not always figure prominently in Judaism. It is something we naturally connect with cultures a world apart from the Torah. The great empires — Mesopotamia, Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Greece and Rome — built monumental palaces and temples. The royal courts were marked by magnificent robes, cloaks, crowns and regalia, each rank with its own uniform and finery. Judaism by contrast often seems almost puritanical in its avoidance of pomp and display.
Worshipping the invisible G-d, Judaism tended to devalue the visual in favor of the oral and aural: words heard rather than appearances seen.
Yet the service of the Tabernacle and Temple were different. Here appearances — dignity, beauty — did make a difference. Why? Maimonides gives this explanation:
In order to exalt the Temple, those who ministered there received great honor, and the priests and Levites were therefore distinguished from the rest. It was commanded that the priest should be clothed properly with the most splendid and fine clothes, “holy garments for glory and for beauty” ... for the multitude does not estimate man by his true form but by ... the beauty of his garments, and the Temple was to be held in great reverence by all. Guide for the Perplexed, III:45
The explanation is clear, but there is also a hint of disdain.
Maimonides seems to be saying that to those who really understand the nature of the religious life, appearances should not matter at all, but “the multitude,” the masses, the majority, are not like that. They are impressed by spectacle, visible grandeur, the glitter of gold, the jewels of the breastplate, the rich pageantry of scarlet and purple and the pristine purity of white linen robes.
In his book “The Body of Faith” (1983), Michael Wyschogrod makes a stronger case for the aesthetic dimension of Judaism. Throughout history, he argues, art and cult have been intimately connected, and Judaism is no exception”
“The architecture of the Temple and its contents demand a spatial thinking that stimulates the visual arts as nothing else does. It must be remembered that among the many artifacts past civilizations have left behind, those intended for ritual use almost are always the most elaborate and aesthetically the most significant.”
Wyschogrod says that postbiblical Judaism did not, for the most part, make outstanding
contributions to art and music. Even today, the world of religious Jewry is remote from that of the great writers, painters, poets and dramatists. To be sure, there is a wealth of popular religious music. But by and large, he says, “our artists tend to leave the Jewish community.”
This, he believes, represents a spiritual crisis.
“The imagination of the poet is a reflection of his spiritual life. Myth and metaphor are the currency both of religion and poetry. Poetry is one of the most powerful domains in which religious expression takes place. And the same is true of music, drama, painting, and dance.”
Rav Abraham Kook hoped that the return to Zion would stimulate a renaissance of Jewish art, and there is a significant place for beauty in the religious life, especially in Avodah (service) which once meant sacrifice and now means prayer.
An immense body of recent research into neuroscience, evolutionary psychology, and behavioural economics has established beyond doubt that we are not, for the most part, rational animals. It is not that we are incapable of reason, but that reason alone does not move us to action. For that, we need emotion — and emotion goes deeper than the prefrontal cortex, the brain’s centre of conscious reflection. This is where visual stimuli play a key role. Art speaks to emotion. It moves us in ways that go deeper than words.
That is why great art has a spirituality that cannot be expressed other than through art – and that applies to the visual beauty and pageantry of the service of Tabernacle and Temple, including the robes and sashes of the priests. There is a poem in the Reader’s repetition of Musaf on Yom Kippur that expresses this to perfection.
It is about Mareih Kohen, the appearance of the High Priest as he concluded his service and emerged from the Holy of Holies: As the brightness of the vaulted canopy of heaven, As lightning flashing from the splendour of angels, As the celestial blue in the fringes’ thread, As the iridescence of the rainbow in the midst of clouds,
As the majesty with which the Rock has clothed His creatures, As a rose planted in a garden of delight, As a diadem set on the brow of the King, As the mirror of love in the face of a bridegroom, As a halo of purity from a mitre of purity, As one who abides in secret, beseeching the King, As the morning star shining in the borders of the East —
Was the appearance of the [High] Priest. And now we can define the nature of the aesthetic in Judaism. It is art devoted to the greater glory of G-d. That is the implication of the fact that the word kavod (glory),” is attributed in the Torah only to G-d — and to the Kohen officiating in the house of G-d.
Judaism does not believe in art for art’s sake, but in art in the service of G-d, giving back as a votive offering to G-d a little of the beauty He has made in this created world.
At the risk of oversimplification, one could state the difference between ancient Israel and ancient Greece thus: that where the Greeks believed in the holiness of beauty, Jews believed in hadrat kodesh, the beauty of holiness. There is a place for the aesthetic in Avodah. In the words of the Song at the Sea:“Zeh Keili ve-anvehu (This is my G-d and I will beautify Him).”
For beauty inspires love, and from love flows the service of the heart.
Self-esteem, Jewish pride, Purim and Amalek
Rabbi DR. tzvi heRsh weinReb Orthodox Union
This column is a product of my experience with two of my mentors, one who passed away relatively recently and the other who passed away long before I was born.
The first was Rabbi Dr. Abraham J. Twerski, a psychiatrist of international renown and the epitome of a pious Chassidic Jew.
The other was Rabbi Simcha Zissel Ziv, a leader and shaper of the Mussar Movement, who was popularly known as the “Alter of Kelm,” the senior sage of the great yeshiva in
the small Lithuanian town of Kelm.
Rabbi Dr. Twerski taught me of the importance of self-esteem in the personal development of all human beings and its role as a measure of mental health. He was a prolific writer and wrote close to 100 books. But he often remarked, “I only wrote one book. It was about the importance of self-esteem. Only, I wrote it in 100 different ways.”
The Alter of Kelm also wrote about self-esteem, although he used a different terminology. He called it kavod, the Hebrew word which connotes honor, dignity, prestige, and pride.
It was the latter who taught me about the spiritual sources of pride and the role that such pride has for every Jew. It is the pride that every Jew possesses deep within himself or herself but must strive to attain and to preserve.
Rabbi Dr Twerski, with whom I was fortunate to have had a close friendship, insisted that I refer to him by his nickname Shea, short for Yehoshua. When I protested that I felt that I couldn’t compromise his dignity by using his nickname, he asked me what I would prefer to call him. We eventually agreed that I would call him “Reb Shea,” and he consented.
We chew the hamantash or have Haman in our ‘tash’ (tash being Yiddish for pocket).
Similarly, biographers of the Alter of Kelm generally refer to him as “Reb Simcha Zissel.”
Whereas both Reb Shea and Reb Simcha Zissel stress the importance of healthy self-esteem, they both recognized its fragility. There are many factors within one’s personality as well as from external sources which threaten to undermine one’s self-esteem.
One such factor is allowing one’s self-esteem to depend upon the attitudes or remarks of others. To maintain self-esteem, one must not depend upon the compliments or assessments of others. One cannot allow the praises heaped upon him from others to build his selfesteem. Such praise can lead to swell-headedness and even arrogance.
But nor can one allow insults and humili-
We are vessels for something much greater
This week’s portion, Tetzaveh, opens with a mitzvah which seems at first glance to be out of place:
Hashem tells Moshe: “Ve’Atah Te’tzaveh Et B’nei Yisrael, Ve’Yikchu’ Eilecha’ Shemen Zayit Zach — Katit La’Ma’or — Le’Ha’alot Ner Tamid (And you shall command the children of Israel, and they shall take to you pure olive oil which was crushed for the light, to raise up a continuous [daily] flame).” (Exodus 27:20).
Having just concluded a lengthy delinea-
tion of the specifics of building the Mishkan (Tabernacle) including a listing of all the vessels and their specifications, we now seem to begin the process of understanding exactly what are we meant to do with all the vessels we are building for the Mishkan.
Although the mitzvah discussed here is the lighting of the menorah, the Torah is really demanding the preparation of the wicks, an obligation to bring oil so that the wicks might one day be lit in the Mishkan.
Why is this commandment raised in such a roundabout fashion? Why not just state the purpose of this endeavor, which is to light the menorah daily in the sanctuary? Indeed, the Torah here does not even mention the menorah itself?
And for that matter, why do we bring the
oil to Moshe? Why not to G-d? (Especially as it is Aaron who does the lighting, so why not bring the oil to him?)
Meanwhile, there is something unique in this week’s parsha: in all of the Torah, this is the only portion (since his birth in the portion of Exodus) where Moshe’s name does not appear.
The Midrash suggests that in the sin of the golden calf (32:33), Moshe says to G-d: “Me’cheini Na’ Mi’Sifrechah (Erase me from your book).” In other words, if I cannot achieve forgiveness for the Jewish people, then I don’t want to be in the Torah. And, despite the fact that Hashem does indeed forgive us, nonetheless part of Moshe’s declaration came to pass, and thus, in this week’s portion, Moshe’s name is, indeed, not mentioned.
Of course, this leaves us wondering what all this has to do with our portion and the mitzvah of the menorah?
The Lubavitcher Rebbe points out that, in truth, Moshe is clearly mentioned in this week’s parsha, though not by name. The portion begins with the word “ve’atah (and you)” which clearly refers to Moshe. In fact, it refers to Moshe on a much higher level than his name — ve’atah refers to the essence of Moshe.
Moshe’s greatest attribute was his ability to recognize that he was really only a vessel for something much greater than himself. The Torah describes Moshe as the greatest anav, the most humble person who ever lived. Moshe was able to get out of his own way.
See Freedman on page 22
Chet, Taf, Mam: 3 keys are in Hashem’s hand
One wonders how much the global warming camp can convince their opponents that “we” control the weather.
The Gemara (Taanit 2a) certainly concurs with an assessment that G-d (and not Hummers or Styrofoam cups) is still in charge, when it states:
Rabbi Yochanan said, “There are three keys in the hands of G-d that are not entrusted to an agent. They are: the key of rain, the key of conception/childbirth, and the key of revival of the dead.”
The Gaon of Vilna implied from a different
passage, in Taanit 9a, that there is no concept in Jewish thought that is not hinted to in the Torah. For the source, or hint, to the idea of the keys G-d holds, he looks at this week’s parsha, Tetzaveh (Shmot 28:36), where the Torah, in describing the creation of the Tzitz (foreheadplate) says, “and engrave on it in the same manner as a signet ring, [the words], ‘Holy to G-d’.”
In Hebrew, the last four words of this verse are “Pituchai Chotam Kodesh LaHashem.” The Vilna Gaon takes this phrase to mean that “he manners of ‘CH’T’M’ are distinctly set aside for G-d.” The three letters of the word “Chotam” are an acronym for the three keys the Gemara says are in G-d’s hands.
•Chet = “Chaya,” the ability to conceive and give birth to a child
•Taf = “T’chiya,” or resurrection
•Mem = “Matar,” rain.
These three powers are “kodesh la’Hashem,”
This is the continuation of last week’s column.
Chazal tell us, in the Eleh Ezkera midrash that we recite on Yom Kippur, that the execution of the 10 great Holy Sages by the Romans is an atonement for our collective sin of the sale of Yosef by his brothers (a sin that the brothers never clearly did teshuva for).
On the face of it, it’s a monstrous notion, that our greatest Mishnaic and Talmudic sag-
es, who provided our understanding of the oral law,and the framework for Rabbinic Judaism, would die in the most heinous ways for sins committed by their forbearers. The idea is so outrageous that the Eleh Ezkera itself records the angels beseeching Hashem: “How can you destroy these Holy Saintly souls?”
Whereupon G-d, brooking no question or dissent, answers, “One more word and I will end the entire world.”
That is because no rational explanation would suffice. To our meager understanding, this is an act that G-d allows and only He knows and understands the reasons why.
Asimilar lack in our understanding may be applicable to our current situation in Gaza. Though it is impossible to com-
separate for G-d, and were not touched by any stranger.
It is amazing to behold the advancement of science and technology in our world. In a certain sense, we have given ourselves the opportunity to play G-d in so many aspects of our lives.
We can fertilize reproductive material in test tubes to implant a viable embryo in a uterus, and we can incubate fetuses, once they’ve developed viable organs and features, to a point that, in some cases, they can live normal lives even if they’ve emerged from the womb at 24 weeks gestation.
But we cannot create the materials that create the embryo. And we cannot replicate those essential first few months in the womb. And as much as we know about medicine, there are still children who do not survive pregnancy, and there are still mothers who do
not survive childbirth.
The numbers are certainly better than at other times in history, but they are not yet zero. We don’t know everything.
We can do all kinds of things to restimulate the heart, keep patients alive, and revive those who have flatlined. A machine can keep a person’s organs alive for a significant amount of time, but we cannot bring back to life someone who has been dead for a few vital minutes.
In the rare case when doctors have given up, done all they could, and the patient “comes back” nonetheless, it is generally noted that some things are in G-d’s hands, as their advent is beyond what human science can explain. And it goes without saying that resurrection as described in some of the Biblical stories (Elijah, Elisha) is beyond the scope of the abilities of Man.
See Billet on page 22
prehend the reasons for our horrific national and personal tragedies that began on Oct. 7, we know that our lack of ahavat achim (and in fact actual sinat achim) was a painful contributory factor.
Could the humiliations we are currently experiencing be the consequence of and ultimate atonement for the actions of Shimon and Levi? Not their actions against Shechem and Company — those were completely justified in confronting an enemy who had mercilessly kidnapped and raped their sister. Trickery and deceit was justified as was the slaughter of those who had committed such a vicious, unprovoked outrage upon their family and upon their nation.
So what was their sin that provoked Yaa-
kov‘s condemnation?
Could it be that Shimon and Levi acted alone? They did not consult with Yaakov or their other brothers but acted impetuously and angrily.
Every verse before that, from the beginning of the Dina story, talks about Benei Yaakov the Sons of
t’s even evident in the language of Yaakov‘s deathbed “blessing” of both of them at the end of his life (49:5–7). He declares, “klei chamas m’chairoteihem (their weaponry is a stolen craft),” meaning they learned the sword not from Yaacov but from Eisav (Rashi). Once again we encounter that biblical word chamas, which means robbery and vio-
TheJewishStar.com
Honest Reporting • Torah-True • Kosher and Fat-Free
Published weekly except during certain religious and civil holidays by The Jewish Star LLC
New York City office: 5676 Riverdale Ave Suite 311, Bronx NY 10471 • LI office: 2 Endo Blvd, Garden City NY 11530
Here’s how to reach The Jewish Star — Write: Editor@TheJewishStar.com. Call: 516-622-7461 ext 291
Editor & Publisher: Ed Weintrob
516-622-7461 ext 291
Jewish Star Associate: Nechama Bluth
516-622-7461 ext 241
Content: The Publisher endeavors to ensure that our content is within the bounds of normative halachah and hashkafah. Anyone who feels anything we publish may be inappropriate in this regard is urged to bring the item in question to the attention of the Publisher.
Advertising is accepted at the sole discretion of the Publisher and should conform to standards appropriate for distribution in an Orthodox community.
Send us your news! Editor@TheJewishStar.com
Advertising: Publisher@TheJewishStar.com
Kashrut: The Jewish Star is not responsible for the kashrut of any product or establishment featured in its pages. If you have questions regarding any establishment or product, including its supervision, please consult your rabbi for guidance.
Submissions: All submissions become the property of The Jewish Star and may be edited and used by the Publisher, its licensees and affiliates, in print, on the web and/or in any media that now exists or will exist in the future in any form, including derivative works, throughout the world in perpetuity,
without additional authorization or compensation. The individual or entity submitting material affirms that it holds the copyright or otherwise has the right to authorize its use in accordance with The Jewish Star’s terms for submissions.
Opinions: Views expressed by columnists and other writers do not necessarily reflect the position of the Publisher or of The Jewish Star LLC.
Distribution: The Jewish Star is available free in kosher food establishments, stores, synagogues, and curb-side newsboxes on Long Island, in New York City and elsewhere. To request free delivery to your location, write Publisher@TheJewishStar.com.
Copyright: All content is copyright and may not be republished or otherwise reproduced without written permission by The Jewish Star LLC; to do so without permission is against the law and halacha. For content reproduction write to Publisher@ TheJewishStar.com.
The Jewish Star subscribes to the JNS news service. It, or its contributors, own the copyrights on material attributed to them. The length and content of JNS material and all other submitted material may be edited by The Jewish Star.
This newspaper contains words of Torah. While it is not considered shaimos, please dispose of it properly.
Jews and Zionism: Ancient, unbreakable bond
YONINA PRITZKER Educator
Editor’s note: The Jewish Star sometimes publishes features that present what might seem to be a retelling of the obvious. But it’s not obvious to everyone. You likely have friends, relatives or colleagues in need of factual grounding in Jewish and Israeli history; do your own hasbara — clip and send this and other such features to them. Everything you see in our print edition will also appear on our website, TheJewishStar.com, and can easily be forwarded or reposted from there as well!
How old is the concept of Zionism?
•It did not emerge in 1947 from the UN General Assembly Resolution 181 Partition Plan, as those who try to weaponize Zionism would have you believe.
•It did not emerge in 1917 from the Balfour Declaration, as those who try to colonize Zionism would have you believe.
•It did not emerge in 1897 from the First Zionist Congress, as those who try to politicize Zionism would have you believe.
Rather, Zionism is as old as the Jewish people. It is a religious principle of Jewish life.
Every Shabbat when Jews read the ancient Hebrew scriptures, they take the Torah scroll from an ark singing the words of Isaiah 2:3: Ki M’Tzion teitzei Torah u’dvar Hashem m’Yerushalayim (For out of Zion shall the Torah come forth, and the word of G-d from Jerusalem).”
The Jewish people were born as a people and a land, and the connection to Zion is the very first directive given to the very first Jew. Abraham was told in the Torah, in Parashat Lech Lecha, to go unto the land. Since that time, the land has been filled with the history of the Jewish people.
Abraham was directed to the city of Shechem, which is in Samaria, a central area within the biblical heartland, the birthplace of Jewish civilization. In the third generation, the Patriarch Jacob purchased land where his son Joseph would ultimately be buried. During the time of Joshua, the Nation of Israel renewed its covenant with G-d in the city of Shechem. Generations later, it was the place where King Solomon’s son, Rehoboam, chose to be enthroned. With the subsequent division of the kingdom,
Jeroboam established Shechem as his capital in the northern kingdom. This is just one example, as Jewish history is replete with such accounts in the land of Israel, from city to city, generation to generation.
Zion, a name essentially synonymous with the Land of Israel and Jerusalem, is found throughout Jewish tradition.
Thoughts of Zion are a part of every meal.
•On weekdays, it is chanted while referencing the ancient Babylonians who destroyed the First Temple in Jerusalem (586 BCE): “Al naharot Bavel, sham yashavnu gam bacheynu b’zachrenu et Tzion (By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat, we also wept when we remembered Zion)” (Psalm 137).
•At Shabbat and holiday meals, the happier image of Psalm 126 is sung: “Shir hama’alot beshuv Hashem et shivat Tzion hayenu k’cholmim (A Song of Ascents. When G-d brings about the return to Zion, we shall be like dreamers).”
Zion is part of lifecycle events, as well.
•At a wedding, Jews remember the destruction of Jerusalem as they smash a glass and recite Psalm 137: “Im eshkachech Yerushalayim, tishkach yemini (If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, may my right hand lose its cunning).”
•And at a funeral, joining personal grief with that of the ancient mourners who lamented the destruction of Jerusalem by foreign oppressors, it is recited: “Hamakom yinachem etchem b’toch sha’ar avelei Tzion v’Yerushalayim (May G-d comfort you together with all the other mourners of Zion and Jerusalem).”
The Jewish connection is also reflected in holiday observances. Three of the central holidays on the Hebrew calendar are when the ancient Jewish nation would make the pilgrimage to Jerusalem.
•Passover is one such festival, during which the seder is completed with the hope “L’shana haba’ah b’Yerushalayim (Next year in Jerusalem).”
•The holiday of Chanukah recounts the ancient Hellenists who persecuted the Jews and desecrated their Temple in Jerusalem. Against this oppression, in 167 BCE, the Maccabees led the first recorded struggle for religious freedom. Today, candles are lit as a reminder of the miraculous rededication in Zion of the Temple upon the Maccabees’ victory.
• Tisha B’Av, the ninth day of the month of Av on the Hebrew calendar, marks the tragic day when both the first and second Temples in an-
cient Jerusalem were destroyed centuries apart. To this day, it is a fast day of national mourning. During the three weeks leading up to this remembrance, traditionally, Jews do not listen to music or cut their hair as signs of mourning. During the final nine days of these three weeks, the sense of mourning over these attacks on Zion is intensified by refraining from eating meat, except on the Sabbath.
Despite this deep and abiding connection, adversaries throughout history — successors to the ancient Babylonians — have attempted to chase the Jewish people from their land.
One such oppressor was ancient Rome. The Romans destroyed the second Jewish Temple in 70 CE, banished Jews and Jewish life, and even changed the names of places in an attempt to erase Jewish history.
We are witnessing a modern version of these ancient aggressors as tactics again are being employed to delegitimize the Jewish presence in Israel and banish Jews from their land.
This current rendition includes a cynical, illiterate, irrational attempt to erase thousands of years of world history, religion, philosophy and archaeology to claim that Jews have never lived in Israel at all.
Despite these malevolent efforts, both ancient and modern, Jews have lived continuously in the land since antiquity with Jewish thumbprints and footprints everywhere. Rare coins minted nearly 2,000 years ago bear the inscription “Cherut Tzion (the freedom of Zion),” a reference to the Jewish great revolt against the ancient Roman conquerors.
The Romans also struck Judaea Capta (Judea is captured) coins to chronicle their destruction of Jerusalem in 70 CE. And standing in Rome today is the Arch of Titus — a nearly 2,000-yearold victory arch depicting the Romans as they triumphantly carry off the seven-branched menorah looted from the Jerusalem Temple.
Another ancient image of a menorah — engraved 2,000 years ago on a stone — was found in the Galilee. Furthermore, 2,500-year-old clay seal impressions with the names of two government ministers mentioned in the bible have been found in the City of David in Jerusalem.
The Jewish presence is everywhere in Israel and has been throughout the millennia, and the countless historical discoveries defy the deceitful claims to the contrary. These deep Jewish roots in the Land of Israel have been recognized repeatedly by the international community.
With the breakup of the former Ottoman Empire after World War I, not only Israel but Iraq, Lebanon and Syria were established in international law with the San Remo Resolution of 1920, the foundational document of the modern Mideast.
The language surrounding the re-establishment of Israel’s sovereignty was to “reconstitute,” accentuating the fact that Israel was not merely a modern creation, but rather, the ancient, native homeland of the Jewish people. The land historically and religiously associated with the Jewish nation, the land to which they were indigenous, was thereby designated for the reconstituted State of Israel.
The Romans destroyed the Temple, banished Jews and changed the names of places to erase Jewish history. It’s a strategy being emulated today. A 2,000-year-old silver coin found in debris from an excavation in the City of David bears the inscription, “Shekel Yisrael.” Above the chalice are the Hebrew letters “shin” and “bet,” an acronym for “Shana Bet,” or year two of the Jewish revolt against Rome. Eliyahu Yanai, City of David
See Pritzker on page 22
How Germany’s new leader can make history
GLOBAL FOCUS BEN COHEN
The Enlightenment philosopher Immanuel Kant observed that “out of the crooked timber of humanity, no straight thing was ever made.” Kant’s point was that human actions and the history they create are too complicated and too replete with contradictions to allow for utopian thinking or cast-iron predictions.
The latest illustration of that dictum comes in the form of Friedrich Merz, the victor in last week’s German election and the new chancellor in waiting.
Eighty years after the defeat of Adolf Hitler and Germany’s Nazi Party, can it really be said that the leader of a country that conquered Europe, subjugated its nations and murdered its Jews now offers the best hope for the future of the continent, and thereby the rest of the world? Based on Merz’s past record and the promises he made during the election campaign, the answer has to be a tentative “yes.”
Merz’s center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) won 208 seats — well short of the 316-seat majority needed to form a government outright but within realistic sight of a coalition government. For now, Merz is focused on parliamentary horse-trading, opening coalition negotiations with the center-left Social Democrats (SPD), whose share of the vote tumbled
Friedrich Merz favors standing against antisemites and by the Jewish state.
to just 16.4% — its worst performance for well over 100 years.
Extremist parties also performed strongly, with the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) leaping into second place above the SPD, and the Left Party, rooted in the former Communist regime in East Germany, coming fourth with nearly 9% of the vote.
If he can’t pull off forming a government with the SPD, Merz will be under pressure to open talks with the AfD, despite his pledge to retain the “Brandmauer” (“firewall”) that has kept the far right out of government in postwar Germany. That prospect may result in the SPD becoming more malleable in negotiations than they otherwise might be.
Once he begins the business of governing, Merz may well find that foreign policy occupies much of his attention, as well as sets the tone for how future generations will remember him. As this century reaches its quarter mark, Merz is assuming the chancellor’s office during a time of profound change for Europe. All indications are that the transatlantic relationship that formed the basis of the world order after 1945 is rapidly unraveling.
After being forcibly pulled into World War II — only to emerge as Europe’s main security guarantor during the Cold War — the United States under President Donald Trump is pivoting towards Asia and the Pacific.
As shocked as European leaders say they are by Trump’s move, it’s been a long time in coming. During the twilight of his first term, former President Barack Obama told the Australian parliament that the “United States is a Pacific power, and we are here to stay.”
Events over the last decade and a half — trade wars with China, the future of Taiwan, the threat presented by North Korea — underline that a good deal of merit underlies such a pivot. If the United States has to choose a region to prioritize, especially now, with ever-depleting resources and a public that is tired of foreign wars, it won’t be Europe.
Here is where Merz can make a real difference. Despite the estimate of the German commentator Jörg Lau that there is “hardly a more pro-American politician in Germany” than Merz, the incoming chancellor offered a matterof-fact response to the signals from Trump that Europe’s privileged relationship with America is coming to an end.
“It is clear that [the Trump administration] does not care much about the fate of Europe,” Merz declared during a televised debate. As much as that sounds like scolding, it might be better understood as the voice of a politician sniffing out a historic opportunity.
Merz has declared that achieving “independence from the US” in defense matters is his explicit aim. He is pushing for Germa-
ny’s defense budget to be boosted by more than $200 billion — no doubt an example Trump would urge other European leaders to follow. Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron, who also sits on the center-right, are leading a push for European nations to take charge of their own defense, warmly citing Poland as a case of a government that has made this a priority, bolstering its defense spending in 2025 to nearly $50 billion.
As daunting as this task will be, it will yield more concrete results than an endless, fruitless debate with a White House that has so far taken a much more benign view of Russia than that found in European capitals. Trump may deem that Moscow is not a threat to Washington — at
See Cohen on page 22
Fake math: Fixing numbers to rescue Palestine
Aprominent Washington think tank analyst has added up various terrorism statistics to “prove” that a Palestinian Arab state might not be such a bad idea after all. The problem is that his math is all wrong.
Writing in Mosaic this week, Robert Satloff of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy implores Israel not to give up on the Palestinian statehood idea. Because, he says, the math shows that having the Palestinian Authority around has reduced terrorism.
Except that it hasn’t.
Satloff compares three periods. There were the 18 years from 1968 to 1985, when there was no Palestinian Authority and there were 542 Israeli deaths in terrorist attacks. Then there were the fifteen years between 1986 and 2000 — leading up to the Second Intifada — when the number of terror fatalities dropped to 472. Then he skips the Second Intifada years, and looks at the eighteen years between 2005 and 2022 — when that number dropped even further, to 334.
Satloff’s conclusion: Thanks to the creation of the PA in 1994, terrorism has decreased. Therefore, he argues, it’s good that there’s a PA, and
Calculations based on body counts don’t tell the whole story.
maybe Israel should even give it a sovereign state at some point.
Part of the problem with this math is that his conclusions are based on body counts, but body counts don’t tell the whole story as to whether or not terrorism overall is increasing or decreasing. The outcome of a terrorist attack is determined by numerous factors. Last week, for example, terrorists failed to correctly set the timers on their bus explosives, so nobody was killed. In Satloff’s calculation, that would count as a “zero.”
Yet the mere fact that such an attack was attempted illustrates that the terrorist threat is growing, regardless of the body count.
Even if a terrorist attack is botched or foiled and nobody is murdered, it doesn’t change the fact that the PA’s schools and media inspire their young people to plant bombs on buses. The intention must be considered in addition to the results. The intention is what the PA completely controls, while the results are often determined by factors out of its control.
The other major problem with Satloff’s creative math is that his omission of the Second Intifada and its fatalities is illogical, and skews all the data. The Second Intifada did not just erupt out of nowhere. It was orchestrated by the PA itself. Even Satloff’s own Washington Institute acknowledges that fact. An analysis of the Second Intifada, on the institute’s own website, states: “Violence and terrorism were part of the strategy of Palestinian leadership, especially of its leader at the time — Yasser Arafat.”
So, if you want to decide whether the creation of the PA has reduced terrorism, then you have to include the terror wave that the authority itself launched in September 2000 and all of the Israelis who were murdered then. Of course, doing that ruins Satloff’s thesis.
Since he is keen on using 18-year periods,
let’s see how that works when you include the years of the Second Intifada. In the 18 years before the PA was created — 1976 to 1993 — 397 Israelis were murdered. And in the 18 years after the PA was created — 1994 to 2011 — a total of 1,427 Israelis were murdered.
So, creating the PA led to a 259% increase in Israeli fatalities from Palestinian terrorist attacks.
Or, if you think that 18 years is too broad a sample, you can narrow the range. In the five years before the first Oslo agreement was signed, 173 Israelis were killed in terrorist attacks; in the
five years after Oslo, 207 were killed. Try the 10 years before Oslo — 250 killed, as compared to the ten years following Oslo — 730 killed.
Thus, Satloff should conclude that it was the Oslo Accords that have led to more terrorism. And he would be right. Because the Oslo Accords were what created the Palestinian Authority, and the PA turned out to be a terrorist group under a new name — perpetrating not only the Second Intifada but thousands of other shootings, bombings, stabbings and other attacks on innocent Israelis and their families.
See Phillips on page 22
Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas arrives to the Samaria city of Ramallah after his return from Berlin, Aug. 18, 2022. Flash90
Friedrich Merz in Germany, Aug. 21, 2024.
Steffen Prößdorf via WikiCommons
Nevut fills black hole for lone soldiers with PTSD
By Mike Wagenheim, JNS
Two lone Israel Defense Forces soldiers met about four months ago at a rooftop cocktail party in Manhattan organized by the nonprofit group Nevut. One of them, Roei, recognized the unit depicted on the shirt of the other one, Jeremy. It turns out they had served in the same IDF unit in the Gaza Strip.
Digging deeper, they found out they served in the exact same battalion. In fact, they discovered they had unknowingly already met in Gaza during their first engagement with Hamas, when they were involved in the rescue of an injured tank commander, passing him from one man to the next to help get him to safety.
In the chaos of the moment, they had no idea that each was an American or that they would end up stateside together in the same room to help deal with their post-war stress.
Ari Abramowitz, a native of Rockland County in, is the executive director of Nevut (“navigation” in Hebrew).
“There are 55,000 US veteran organizations here, and there’s nothing for all these IDF lone soldiers that are coming back here,” said the rabbi and former sergeant in the IDF’s Kfir Brigade, who returned to the United States in 2017 and founded the nonprofit.
Lone soldiers enlist in the IDF as new immigrants to Israel with no family in the country to support them. Some remain in Israel after their service, while others go back to their native countries.
The average soldier in Israel is generally entitled to receive from the IDF 12 therapy sessions at a therapist of the soldier’s choosing. But returning lone soldiers don’t receive the same entitlement.
And often, lone soldiers don’t seek the help they need from their normal health providers because of the stigma attached to mental-health issues and a lack of support and understanding within their own communities.
‘You saved my life’
When Abramowitz moved with his family back to the United States, one of his soldiers tried to commit suicide.
“We realized there was no organization. That’s when we realized there’s a big problem,” he said.
Nevut provides mental health, career advancement and family support to the American lone soldiers who return from Israeli battlefields, including thousands who have enlisted since the Hamas-led terrorist attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
With the war ongoing, Abramowitz said that close to 7,000 lone soldiers who were in the United States have returned to Israel to serve. “That’s a massive number, and they’re continuing to go back and forth. So it doesn’t stop,” he said.
Abramowitz, who saw four of his own friends killed in battle, was the organization’s original case manager, handling some 70 to 100 cases at a time. While hailing from a family of therapists, he had no background in mental health himself. Four case managers are now on board.
Abramowitz organized monthly, group therapy sessions for lone soldiers in the area and found that it was important for the former soldiers to feel comfortable with one another.
One of the soldiers who attended an early group session acknowledged to Abramowitz six months later that he had wanted to take his own life at the time. The former soldier told Nevut, “You guys saved my life,” Abramowitz said.
Today, Nevut has 12 chapters across 22 US states. It served 3,000 lone soldiers last year with more than 60 events for veterans, their spouses and parents. It also held two wellness retreats focused on post-traumatic stress, 18 mental-health workshops and 17 wellness weekends last year and added five chapters, according to Abramowitz.
The organization, which has a full-time staff of eight and some 50 active volunteers, also subsidizes therapy sessions, wellness check-ups, emergency intervention, suicide-prevention training and managed cases.
Eyes and ears
Chaim Meisels serves as Nevut’s national chapters coordinator, building new chapters and organizing local events.
He’s a captain in the Egoz unit, responsible for the elimination of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. The New York native served on active duty for six years before assuming a regular life back home. Then, Oct. 7 hit, and he went to fight again, serving once more for a little over three months.
“I came back, and as I was wanting to start continuing life normally, some of the soldiers that were under my command who live here started reaching out to me that they need help,” Meisles said.
That’s when he reached out to Nevut to connect them. Eventually, Abramowitz asked him to join the organization himself.
Meisels tried to return to Israel a few weeks after his most recent release to be with his team and support them mentally. But the IDF said it couldn’t fund his return for that purpose.
While Nevut has held meetings with the IDF and Israeli Defense Ministry — and says the latter two have been impressed with Nevut’s efforts and results — there is no funding that flows to Nevut and no official status recognition yet from the IDF for Nevut. JNS reached out to the IDF for comment.
Abramowitz says Nevut’s growth is largely due to word-of-mouth from participating soldiers who experience the organization’s benefits. For those soldiers hesitant to ask for help, Abramowitz reels them in with a different perspective.
“We just tell them that it’s not about you. It’s about your friend that’s struggling right now,” Abramowitz said, asking those soldiers to be Nevut’s “eyes and eyes on the ground,” to watch for potential mental-health warning signs in their comrades.
“That’s how many of them feel this connection, even though they’re not necessarily connected with the organization. They don’t necessarily want to be
ing home for 120 hours a week, they’re going to be in a bad place,” Abramowitz said. “We take a full look at the soldier and ask where they’re living right now, do they have a job, do they have friends, community?”
That has led to Nevut’s so-called mission to the frontlines, by which the organization sends a rotating crew of professionals to Israel to meet with soldiers still stationed in Israel. It has also allowed the organization to bring back a status report to a soldier’s parents or spouse, for which Nevut offers a monthly workshop, and to serve as a bridge between soldier and family.
For now, Nevut relies largely on a base of smalldollar donors, many of whom are connected to the program. The most recent financial filing (2023) shows a little more than $500,000 in grants and contributions. The organization works hard to stress to others that while they might already be donating to larger entities, there is an ongoing problem in their own ZIP code that needs attention.
“The real thing we are working on very hard is to be able to get people to understand that it’s our own nieces, our own nephews, our own neighbors, our own children and realize that this is life-saving work that we’re doing every day,” Abramowitz said. “If we could do that, we’re going to save a life.”
‘Where do I turn?’
Nevut also offers workshops for spouses and parents struggling to understand the unfamiliar reactions they’re often getting from returning soldiers.
“Soldiers are coming back and finding that the dynamic in the house changed,” said Shmuel Feigenbaum, Nevut’s well-being program director and case manager. “Life didn’t stop. Life didn’t wait. The jobs of the family changed; they’re not getting back the same person that left.”
Lilly Romond, who served a year and a half working on international relations in IDF’s J6 cyber-defense directorate, heads up Nevut’s family support, as well as serving as its program and resource coordinator. She directs services for female lone soldiers, who number around 50 to 60 who are active in a group chat set up for them.
part of it, but they’re there for their friends, and when that comes and they see someone struggling, that’s when they reach out,” he said.
And Abramowitz stresses the organization’s biggest creed: “When you’re good, now is your time to go help the next person.”
‘To save a life’
Nevut tries to pair each lone soldier with another of a similar unit or age and have them speak with each other at least once a week, providing a steady amount of direct support, as well as a constant “eyes and ears” on soldiers to help identify those who may have taken a turn for the worse.
Meisels stressed that every case is different. He said that a soldier’s mother called him a couple of months ago, telling him that her son hadn’t gotten out of bed for three weeks. The soldier refused to speak with Meisels on the phone, so he went over to the family’s house.
After the soldier relented and came down to talk, the two went for a cup of coffee, beginning the recovery process.
“The guy is already in college and able to have a part-time job. We were able to get the guy back on track—onto a normal life and not living in the past of what he went through in Israel,” Meisels said.
Still, it’s an ongoing process with lone soldiers back in America constantly learning that their comrades have been killed or injured in battle, triggering PTSD even in those who progressing.
Beyond that, the trauma isn’t always immediately evident. It’s a reason why Nevut administrators say that a well-built organizational infrastructure is so important because the critical part of identifying red flags can come long after a soldier’s return when those around him or her feel everything is going alright.
That’s why Nevut pushes for a more comprehensive approach to care, which goes beyond a weekly, one-hour therapy session offered by career professionals.
“If they don’t have a job, and they’re stay-
The Cleveland native said she was approached by Nevut as she finished her service as a standard check-up.
“The first event that I went to, I just felt a sense of community there because there are people who have been through the same thing as me. So I just felt at home,” she said.
The experience in the army itself is different for female soldiers, but Romond says that “the same struggles with reintegration into civilian life and finding jobs and just feeling that sense of belonging” can be quite similar. “When I came back, a lot of my friends were getting their second degree or getting married or having kids, and I’m like, ‘OK, where do I turn?”
Abramowitz concedes that Nevut’s wide-ranging services sometimes simply aren’t enough. He was teary-eyed and choked up when detailing the more than one dozen suicides by Nevut-affiliated soldiers, and many more attempted.
“Right now, there’s over 100 high-tier cases that we’re dealing with,” he said. “It’s usually every week or two that we have a critical case where there’s a soldier that we have to really get immediate support to.”
Feigenbaum learned about Nevut during a Shabbat activity program in 2020, after the Israeli with American parents moved back to Rockland County following his immigration and IDF service.
A sergeant first class, he ended up running Nevut’s Rockland County chapter two years later, as he completed his studies to become a psychotherapist. Much of his studies centered around post-traumatic stress and veterans.
He said at the time that Meisels compelled him to go to that Shabbat event — and that he didn’t realize he was even in need of support.
“I didn’t really understand how crucial it was until I really started learning about it. And once I learned about it, I’m like, ‘OK, so this makes sense,’” Feigenbaum said. “So this is why I didn’t want to go out of my house. This is why I didn’t really want to be friendly. And the impact was just amazing.”
Lone soldiers who served in the Israel Defense Forces involved with the New Jersey-based program Nevut. Courtesy Nevut
Weinreb…
Continued from page 17
ation at the hands of another to diminish his self-esteem. One must not be overly sensitive to criticism but must retain sufficient self-confidence to retain appropriate self-esteem.
Reb Shea utilized this concept in his book, “A Shame Born in Silence.” In this work, he exposed the shameful prevalence of domestic violence in the Jewish community. He portrays the erosion of one spouse’s selfesteem because of the other spouse’s abusive behaviors, physical or emotional. His focus was on the field of community mental health.
Reb Simcha Zissel had a very different focus. It was the need for the Jew to maintain self-esteem in the face of antisemitism, to stem the efforts of zarim, strangers and foes, to dehumanize us.
He expresses it in an essay of his entitled “The Strength of Israel Depends Upon Its Lofty Soul.” I paraphrase his contention:
One must consider himself fortunate to be a Jew, and very fortunate to be a learned and loyal Jew. He must not allow his honor, or her kavod, to be demeaned by zarim, by strangers or foes. He must hold himself high and withstand the efforts of those who attempt to belittle him, mock him, or shame him.
He offers the above advice to his children in honor of the upcoming holiday of Purim. The customary treat for this holiday is a threecornered pastry, which supposedly resembles the three-cornered headpiece worn by our vile enemy, Haman. It is known as a hamantash Reb Simcha Zissel points out that this pastry must be well-baked so that it can be crunched and crushed as one chews it into pieces. So too must we “crunch and crush” the attempts to be shamed and humiliated, the efforts to defame us and do us in.
So too did the Jews in the ancient city of Shushan have to deal with the insults and nasty accusations which Haman used to convince King Achashverosh to accept his plot to eradicate the Jews, “men, women, and children in one day.”
He tried to literally dis-courage Jews by shaming us into cowardice, by making us feel puny, helpless, and hopeless, without courage. “But Mordechai did not bend and did not bow.” He retained his self-esteem, he modeled his Jewish pride, and remained resolute, selfassured, and ultimately invincible.
Reb Simcha uses the occasion of the supplemental reading for this Shabbat. It is Parshat Zachor, when we read of the attack launched by Amalek against the wandering Jews.
He asks: What motivated Amalek? He surely wasn’t seeking territory because the Jews had no land yet. Their wealth was trivial, trinkets taken from Egypt. Their food supply was minimal, and their water was supplied miraculously. What was Amalek’s goal?
He responds: “Amalek motivation was envy, plain and simple. The Children of Israel left Egypt in glory, triumphantly. No other foe dared to attack them. They felt protected by the Almighty, and they cherished their security. Their “souls were lofty.” When Moses “lifted his hands,” they felt powerful. Their self-esteem was based upon their leadership and their faith. They were impervious to the attacks, verbal or military, upon them by zarim, strangers and foes.
And so it is, concludes Reb Simcha Zissel, with every generation. There are the Amaleks who wish to deflate our just pride in our identity as Jews. They wish to subdue our “lofty souls.” But we refuse to yield. We chew the hamantash. Or, alternatively, we have the “Haman,” the archenemy, in our tash, in our pocket. (Tash is Yiddish for pocket.”)
The eternal enemy is the external enemy who wishes to “cool us off,” to erode our faith, to stifle our enthusiasm, to sabotage our confidence and courage. The way to fight Amalek is by asserting our pride in our nation and in its people. It is by retaining and reviving our enthusiasm and morale, by stimulating our confidence, and by expanding our courage.
This is the story of Amalek. This is the story of Purim and the reason why we are told by our Sages that the festival of Purim will be celebrated for all time and eternity.
The hitromemut hanefesh, the “lofty soul” of the Jewish people, will help us experience “light and joy, happiness and honor.”
May it be so for us, in our time.
Write: Columnist@TheJewishStar.com
Freedman…
Continued from page 17
How often do we get so wrapped up in ourselves, so caught up in making sure we get what we want, that we forget that it isn’t supposed to be about us; we are merely the vessel for something much greater, for the entire world.
Moshe was so in touch with the purpose for which he was meant to be a vessel, that he was able to demonstrate that without the Jewish people there was no longer a point to his existence.
In a time when rulers and monarchs were acting as gods, and assuming that the people existed to serve them, Moshe was teaching the world that it is not the people who serve the leader, but the leader who is meant to be a vessel to serve the people, and indeed the world.
Moshe understood his purpose, that without the Jewish people he had no purpose. And that is what this week’s portion, and particularly this mitzvah, is all about.
Just like Moshe, the menorah was only the vehicle for bringing light into the world. We are often so dazzled by the menorahs in this world that we forget they only have value if they are vehicles for light, which is why the menorah itself is not mentioned this week, so we can focus on the light. Our ultimate mission as a people is simply to bring light into the world.
Yet the menorah’s light is not completely tangible. You can see light, but you can’t really touch it or hold it; it transcends the physical, and thus it and what it represents can never be destroyed. Just as the soul, which is beyond the name, needs the body to have an impact here on earth, we need the menorah and the wicks to light up the world.
The challenge for each of us is to find the atah within, the essence of who we are, and the ultimate reason we are here, and bring it into the world
And this is the reason this particular mitzvah is a tzivuy le’dorot, a mitzvah for eternity. Long after the destruction of the Temple and the loss of the menorah, Jews are still fulfilling the mitzvah of an eternal flame in synagogues and study halls. Because this mitzvah is the essence of the mission of the Jewish people forever — to be a light and illuminate the world.
May Hashem bless us soon, to become, as a people, the vehicle for light we are meant to be, and create together a world of light and shalom, truly whole, all of us together.
Rabbi Freedman is rosh yeshiva at Yeshivat Orayta in Jerusalem.
Write: Columnist@TheJewishStar.com
Billet…
Continued from page 17
From a religious perspective, I believe there is nothing more arrogant than stating that humans control the weather and climate more than G-d controls the weather and climate.
The Torah certainly makes the case that humans ought to take care of our world to the best of our abilities because we can easily destroy it. And yet there is a seeming contradiction.
Bereshit 1:28 has G-d blessing the newly created humans, “Be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth and subdue it; v’kivshu’ha, have dominion over … every living thing.” At the same time, in Bereshit 2:15 G-d takes the
newly created human “and placed him in the Garden of Eden, l’ovdah ul’shomrah, to cultivate it and to guard it.”
In an article about Judaism and the environment, which originally appeared in the OU’s Jewish Action magazine, Rabbi Barry Freundel concluded his analysis of the subject thus:
The true meaning, then, of the Biblical command of “subdue the world” is not to conquer the world by raping and destroying its resources. Its true implication is found in G-d’s other statement to Adam about how to function in the Garden of Eden, i.e. “to work it and to watch it.” Responsible use mixed with sincere concern, progress with restraint, growth and technology with conservation and preservation, is the Torah’s ecological agenda.
That refers to our responsibility.
The bottom line remains, however: G-d is still in charge.
Avi Billet, who grew up in the Five Towns, is a South Florida-based mohel and rabbi of Anshei Chesed Congregation in Boynton Beach.
Write: Columnist@TheJewishStar.com
Continued from page 17
lence and is so laden with the same sound and meaning as the dreaded implacable name Hamas of today. This time however it refers to our Shimon and Levi! They acted alone, in secret conspiracy, keeping their plan hidden from their father and brothers.
Yes, destroy your enemies but consult and unite with your brothers, “b’yachad nenatzeach!”
As we will once again appreciate, with the advent of Purim next week, the way to ultimately defeat our enemies and to remove the cherpa (humiliation) and the nevala (disgrace) is to act united as a people.
Before she embarked on the campaign to enlist the aid of King Achashverush to defeat Haman, Queen Esther tells Mordechai to “gather all the Jews together (Lech knos et kol hayehudim) (Esther 4:16). In unity is our strength and our victory.
Hasn’t that been the lesson of this entire war? Isn’t the reason that this war befell upon us, is because we were anything but united before Oct. 7?
So a few simple steps:
•We should forbid hostage release on the Sabbath to prevent future Shabbat desecration.
•No more public parades and festivals humiliating our loved ones.
•And no more doing “drip drip drip” of hostage releases. Release them all at once! Enough already!
Otherwise there will be “hell to pay,” but led not by Shimon and Levy alone but all of us together.
Shabbat shalom.
Dr. Alan A. Mazurek is a retired neurologist, living in Great Neck, Jerusalem and Florida. He is a former chairman of the ZOA.
Write: Columnist@TheJewishStar.com
Continued from page 18
The San Remo Resolution was signed into international law and subsequently ratified by a unanimous vote of the League of Nations.
In 1919, Emir Faisal ibn Hussein, later King Faisal of Iraq, wrote that the Arabs “look with the deepest sympathy on the Zionist movement.”
The United States expressed support for the establishment of the Jewish state in 1922 when President Warren Harding signed the joint resolution of Congress known as the Lodge-Fish Resolution and in 1924 when the Anglo-American Convention was signed.
In 1925, the Supreme Muslim Council issued a guide to the Temple Mount stating: “Its identity with the site of Solomon’s Temple is beyond dispute.”
Yet despite the recognition and acknowledgments, stratagem after duplicitous stratagem has been deployed to rob and replace the Jews — to erase them and their history from this tiny sliver of land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. Nonetheless, the connection between the People of Israel and the Land of Israel is an enduring bond with roots that date back to antiquity.
Yonina Pritzker was a spiritual leader of Boston-area congregations for more than two decades. Write: Columnist@TheJewishStar.com
Cohen…
Continued from page 19
least not in territorial terms — but it remains the greatest single threat facing Europe.
There is much to prevent Russian dictator Vladimir Putin from pushing his forces beyond Ukraine, not least his country’s faltering economy and the eye-watering human cost of his illegal, brutal invasion of his southern neighbor, but any European leader who believes that he will stop there is a fool. Indeed, if Trump does secure a peace deal between Moscow and Kyiv, Putin could well see that as a golden chance to regroup and rearm his forces. The challenge for Merz is to be ready for that eventuality and to be prepared to respond to any further Russian aggression with the use of force, with or without the United States.
Amilitarily strong Europe with Germany at its center (words that would have been unthinkable for most of the postwar era!) would be good news for Ukraine and other states in Russia’s sights. It would also be good news for Israel.
One of Merz’s first acts after winning the election was to announce that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was welcome to visit Germany without fearing that the arrest warrant issued for him by the International Criminal Court in The Hague would be executed on German soil, something the previous government of SPD Chancellor Olaf Scholz wavered on.
Merz has also stated that Germany’s relationship with the Jewish state created from the ashes of the Nazi Holocaust is “unique — no ifs or buts.”
Following the Hamas pogrom in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, Merz said that Palestinian asylum seekers would not be welcome in Germany because his country “already has too many antisemites.” He will also take a tougher stance on Iran, having already criticized current German policy as “characterized by the idea of a cooperative government in Tehran” and declaring “this illusion has to be abandoned.”
Merz could, therefore, shape himself into a European leader without precedent: a Reaganite conservative and admirer of American democracy who nonetheless knows that the writing is on the wall as regards US engagement with Europe. If that is the path he follows, we would be wise to hope that he succeeds.
Ben Cohen is a senior analyst with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
Write: Columnist@TheJewishStar.com
Phillips…
Continued from page 19
A recent study by the Israeli think tank Regavim found that PA security forces themselves list 2,000 of their members as “martyrs” — meaning that they died while committing terrorism. In addition, 12% of all Palestinian Arab terrorists currently jailed in Israel are members of the PA security forces. That’s about 500 out of the 4,500 to 5,000 jailed terrorists.
Would it make sense to give the PA and its terrorists a sovereign state next door to Israel? That’s for Israeli voters to decide. But their decision should be based on the facts, not manipulative math that misleads the public about the PA’s record of bloodshed.
Write: Columnist@TheJewishStar.com
Where you work is less important than what you accomplish.
Our editorial and marketing positions are hybrid, offering flexibility.
You can make a great impact on New York’s Orthodox communities from your local park, or Starbucks,
or your home office, as well as at our well-equipped, congenial workplaces in Garden City and Riverdale where our teams collaborate and inspire each other.
Don’t be put off by the daily grind of highway traffic or by the LIRR, Met-
roNorth or NYC Transit. If a Jewish Star position calls out to you, you owe it to yourself to call back.
Enjoy working for a media company devoted to honest journalism, whose goals are Torah-true, and where all Jewish holidays are observed.
View current openings on our website at www.thejewishstar.com/jobs.html
