In a time when antisemitism is rising and historical distortion runs rampant, we must ask ourselves: Who will speak when the last witnesses are gone?
I am the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors. Their experiences shaped every part of my identity and worldview.
As Holocaust survivors pass away, so, too, fades our most powerful defense against hatred: their stories.
My grandfather, too haunted to speak, held his pain in silence. My grandmother, more vocal, shielded me from the full brutality of her
story, but even her carefully edited memories etched warnings into my conscience. Only after her death, when I listened to a full recording of her testimony, did I begin to grasp the scale of what she had endured while fleeing Poland as a child.
Her voice trembled through the audio: “No one should know from it,” she would say. “Never again.”
Her story, and those of millions more, is not just history. It is a moral call to action.
We are living in a moment when that call must be answered.
My children, barely teens, now ask whether they should hide their Stars of David in public. They feel the chill of a world that seems increasingly indifferent to their identity, or worse, openly hostile. The events in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, were not just a geopolitical shock; it was a wake-up call for Jewish families across the globe.
And yet, I am one of the fortunate ones. In my community, Holocaust education is built into the school curriculum. But I know that is the exception, not the rule.
In much of the country, students graduate with little understanding of the Holocaust beyond vague timelines or numbers. They do not know the names. They have not heard the voices.
That is why we must act, individually and collectively, to ensure those voices are not lost.
Kirschen, 87, was a cartoonist and more
By Steve Linde, JNS
Israeli cartoonist Yaakov Kirschen, whose iconic daily cartoons were distributed by JNS over the last several years, died at Meir Medical Center in Kfar Saba last week after a lengthy illness at 87.
After making aliyah in 1971, the Brooklynborn Kirschen began sketching his trademark “Dry Bones” in 1973. The cartoon was internationally syndicated and published in the Jerusalem Post for 50 years.
He was also a pioneer creator of animated computer games. (See an appraisal of his work in that area, on page 14.)
The name of Kirschen’s comic strip referred to the biblical vision of the “Valley of Dry Bones” with its main character named Shuldig, which is Yiddish for guilty/blame.
“The cartoon started on January 1, 1973,” he once explained. “I named it Dry Bones, thinking that everyone would immediately connect the name with the ‘dry bones’ that will rise again, from the Book of Ezekiel. But the question that I get asked most often is ‘Where does the name ‘Dry Bones’ come from?’ So what I thought would be most obvious was not obvious at all.”
A member of both the US National Cartoonists Society and the Israeli Cartoonists Society, Kirschen won several awards and was considered a “national treasure of the Jewish people.”
Among the prizes he received were the Israeli Museum of Caricature and Comics’ Golden Pencil Award and the 2014 Nefesh B’Nefesh Bonei Zion Prize for his contribution to Israeli culture and the arts.
He is survived by his artist wife, Sali.
Rep. Grace Meng visited 100-year-old Shoah survivor Hanna Slome at Sloane’s home in Flushing, bringing with her a proclamation declaring Slome’s birthday “Hanna Slome Day” in the Sixth Congressional District.
Slome, a Czechoslovakia native, was whisked from Nazi persecution to a new home in England aboard the Kindertransport in 1939. Nick Winton, the son of Kindertransport organizer Sir Nicholas Winton, visited Slome with Meng. Slome immigrated to the United States at 19, settled in New York City and later married, becoming a mother to two, grandmother of seven and greatgrandmother to 10 children.
The survivor has spoken to school groups about her life during and after the Holocaust and was active at Flushing’s Temple Gates of Prayer Congregation Shaarai Tefilla, a Conservative synagogue.
“I am proud to commend and recognize Hanna for a century of courage, service and inspiration,” the congresswoman said. “Her message of resilience and hope continues to inspire generations and will do so for many years to come.”
Rep. Grace Meng with Holocaust survivor Hanna Slome and Nick Winton at Slome’s 100th birthday celebration in Flushing. Winton’s father saved Slome and 668 other children aboard the Kindertransport in 1939.
BETH KATZNELSON
Yad Vashem
See The last survivor on page 2
This was published in The Jewish Star in 2015.
Huckabee begins role as US ambassdor to Israel
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee presented his credentials as United States Ambassador to Israeli President Isaac Herzog, during a ceremony at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem on Monday.
Herzog welcomed Huckabee, highlighting the deep-rooted ties between the two nations.
“The US-Israel alliance is stronger than ever,” the president said, praising the Arkansan’s longstanding support for Israel.
In his remarks, Huckabee recalled his first visit to Israel more than 50 years ago and expressed gratitude for the opportunity to serve.
“This is a sacred honor,” he said. “I look forward to working to deepen our strategic partnership.”
Huckabee emphasized US-Israel cooperation on security, intelligence and innovation, while warning of shared threats posed by Iran.
Great Neckers celebrate with Huckabees
The last survivor…
Iserve as deputy national director of the Yad Vashem USA Foundation. Many people think of Yad Vashem in Jerusalem as a museum, but it is much more than that. It is a living archive, a global educational hub and the world’s central Holocaust remembrance center. Its collections span millions of documents, photographs and recorded testimonies, along with more than 11,000 works of art and countless artifacts entrusted by survivors and their families. It is a resource not just for scholars but for all of us.
Still, awareness of Yad Vashem remains low at a time when many have forgotten — or even deny — the Holocaust.
We need digital tools that can reach young people where they are. Above all, we need second- and third-generation descendants like myself to keep telling these stories with urgency and pride.
This work is not only about memory. It is about prevention.
Holocaust distortion is surging on social media. Antisemitism is no longer hiding in the shadows. If we don’t take a stand now, we risk allowing history to repeat itself — first as indifference, then as denial, and ultimately, as violence.
Passover teaches us that every generation must see itself as having personally emerged from slavery. That lesson is not just ancient tradition but a framework for how we engage with history today. Telling the stories of Holocaust survivors is not only about honoring the past. It is about protecting the future.
So let us choose to remember. Let us educate with intention. And let us ensure that “never again” is not just a slogan, but a legacy we uphold through action.
Beth Katznelson is national deputy director of philanthropy at the Yad Vashem USA Foundation, and an adjunct professor at NYU’s George H. Heyman Jr. Center for Philanthropy and Fundraising.
Write: Columnist@TheJewishStar.com
Gore links Trump admin to Nazis
Former vice president and presidential candidate Al Gore compared the Trump administration to Nazi Germany during an event marking the start of San Francisco’s Climate Week on Monday, Politico reported.
Gore, speaking before roughly 150 attendees and policymakers, stated the Trump administration was “insisting on trying to create their own preferred version of reality,” similar to Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party.
“I understand very well why it is wrong to compare Adolf Hitler’s Third Reich to any other movement,” Gore said. “It was uniquely evil, full stop. I get it. But there are important lessons from the history of that emergent evil.”
“We’ve already seen, by the way, how populist authoritarian leaders have used migrants as scapegoats and have fanned the fires of xenophobia to fuel their own rise of power,” he continued. “And power-seeking is what this is all about. Our constitution, written by our founders, is intended to protect us against a threat identical to Donald Trump.”
Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, who was named an adviser and special government employee under the Trump administration, was seen performing a gesture that many have claimed was a Nazi salute during an inauguration celebration in January. However, that interpretation of the gesture has been widely debated. —JNS
The Brody family from Great Neck and Jerusalem (longtime friends and supporters of Mike Huckabee, who brought him to Israel on several fact-finding missions) were among a handful of dignitaries invited to witness Huckabee presenting his credentials as US Ambassador to Israel to Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Monday. Pictured from left: Limor Brody Oratz, Dr. Paul Brody, Ben Glass, Huckabee, President Isaac Herzog, Drora and Joey Brody, Chana Aharoni (Drora’s mother), and Dana Brody Glass. Seated from left: Janet Huckabee and Israel’s First Lady, Michal Herzog. Office of the President
Continued from page 1
It’s aliyah for Rabbi Blau, after 48 years at YU
By Rikki Zagelbaum for JNS
Rabbi Yosef Blau, 86, had been talking for about an hour when he admitted, with a chuckle, that there’s “a bit of Don Quixote in me.”
“I tend to tilt at windmills,” he said, as he sat in his office in Manhattan on March 25, the day before he and his wife made aliyah. “I haven’t changed the world yet, but I hope I’ve made a little bit of an impact on the world here. So I’m going to try to make a little impact on the world in Israel, too.”
The longtime spiritual adviser — mashgiach ruchani — at Yeshiva University, who first came to the school as a high student in 1951, has seen sweeping changes at the Modern Orthodox institution over the decades.
As an undergraduate at YU, his lectures were in Yiddish. “At that point, no one would have run a school in English,” he told JNS. “You didn’t teach Torah in English.”
But by the time he returned to Yeshiva in 1977 to be spiritual adviser, things were very different. The position had been vacant for two years since the death of the previous office holder, Rabbi Moshe Lessin, who was European and who had trained in the prominent yeshiva in Slabodka, in what is now Lithuania, that was at the center of the mussar movement, which emphasizes Jewish ethics.
“He represented that world and therefore, it was absurd for an American kid to think he should become mashgiach in the Yeshiva — with a different world, different mentality, different everything,” Rabbi Blau said.
He decided to redefine the position, because it was clear he couldn’t ease into the shoes of his late predecessor.
“A teacher, whether a rebbe or a professor in
a secular class, has a defined job. They come in a certain number of hours. They teach so many hours,” he said. “What I did with my time and how I interacted with students was very vague.”
The rabbi opted to immerse himself in the rhythm of student life, rather than presenting as an authority on a hill, and he developed a reputation for roaming the beit midrash and initiating conversations with students and building their trust. Not only could students ask him questions about their religious studies, but “I was someone they could talk to about whatever was on their mind,” including personal matters, he said.
Much of what students and faculty focus on is heady and intellectual. “But where’s the lev?” Rabbi Blau asked, using the Hebrew word for “heart,” in contrast to the brain (moach).
“Where does the lev come in? It’s all moach, right?” he said. “I sort of invented my version of the job, and I’ve been here for 48 years. So I guess, to some level, it worked.”
‘Pendulum swings’
Although making aliyah has long been Rabbi Blau’s dream, he told JNS that he does so with “very mixed emotions.”
“I’ve been looking forward to moving to Israel, looking forward to having a little more space. You know, 86 — it’s not old, but I suspect most people retire at a younger age,” he said. “But at the same time, I feel bad about all the students I’m leaving.”
The warmth and positivity he has received from students “makes me feel a little bit guilty that I’m deserting them,” he said. “If they feel that I’m helpful to them, and I’m leaving them, that’s not such a good thing.”
He intends to return stateside four months a year. “We haven’t fully dropped being in America as well,” he said.
In his conversation with JNS, Rabbi Blau reflected on seven decades of experience in Jewish education and the quiet, empathetic approach
he has brought to mentoring generations of students at both Yeshiva’s undergraduate colleges for men and women.
When Rabbi Blau studied at Yeshiva’s high school starting in 1951, it was located in Brooklyn, not Washington Heights in upper Manhattan where it is now located. At the time, Orthodox Judaism in America “was somewhat struggling to maintain itself,” he recalled.
“Most people were moving away from observance. The yeshiva movement was not very big.”
After finishing college, receiving rabbinic ordination and earning a master’s degree in math, Rabbi Blau taught and led schools in Brookline (Mass.), Chicago and Elizabeth (NJ) for 12 years. When he came to Yeshiva, he made his mark in several ways that impacted students directly.
A place for women
He was one of the first to recognize the need for a stronger rabbinic presence at Stern College, the campus for women, in midtown Manhattan. He spent two days each week on that campus and became known for his routine “good morning” walk through the study hall there, which he figured would “establish instant rapport” with the students.
As the public became more aware about sexual abuse within Jewish educational settings, he also developed a reputation as a rabbinic and university authority that students, and others, could seek out and find a ready listener. He was also one of the most prominent advocates for victims in the Orthodox community.
Over the years, he witnessed major changes within the university and within Modern Orthodoxy.
One such change, he said, has been a decline in student activism and political engagement. When he was an undergraduate, many devoted significant time to volunteering or activist work. “We were very intellectually involved in the issues of the world,” he said. But today, he thinks, the issues that motivated that activism have faded.
“Schools no longer gave exams on Shabbat and Yom Tov. Many colleges had kosher kitchens. Being an Orthodox Jew wasn’t strange,” he said. “After a certain number of years, people get to
know you. They get to know you’re there.”
It’s not that students are lazier today, according to Rabbi Blau. “It’s so rooted in this country” with an acceptance of “a lot of American materialism,” he said.
“If students, the minute school ends, go to have an internship with a company, with a law firm, their whole time is caught up in this very practical world of getting ahead and getting a job and being able to afford certain things,” he said. “The improvement of expectations is completely different.”
He wouldn’t venture a guess at what the next decade holds. “I hope I’m around to see,” he said. “The pendulum swings, and it swings back and forth. Every action produces a reaction.”
He reflected that the level of religious study at YU has declined over the years.
When he was a student, rabbis invariably called on students to read texts in the original Hebrew or Aramaic.
“People were petrified of the rebbe when he called on them to read,” he said. “But he didn’t just ask them to read. He asked them how they understood it.”
Today, rabbis tend to lecture and students take notes. “They study the notes,” Rabbi Blau said. “That is a loss of intellectualism, which concerns me.”
Ethical Zionism
Rabbi Blau told JNS that he hopes his aliyah affords him the chance to advocate for “a more ethical, values-based religious Zionism.”
The early religious Zionist parties, like Mizrachi and Poalei Mizrachi, represented a wide range of political views — left, right and center — because the central concern wasn’t economics or foreign policy but how Jewish the Jewish state would be, according to Rabbi Blau.
That changed after the Six Day War, when religious Zionism became increasingly defined by territorial maximalism and a politics of Jewish power.
The notion of the “whole” Israel “became the dominant theme,” he said. “The ethical ramifications of any of this became less significant. It’s not where people were thinking.”
“If the Israeli army has a code of ethics, you’d expect the rabbinate would be its biggest proponent,” he said. “Today, it’s not true. Many of the Religious Zionist rabbanim say, ‘This code of ethics is too narrow. It’s not Jewish enough. It doesn’t talk about victory enough’.”
Rabbi Blau sees himself as “part of an older world” and sees the shift as a loss. Ethics in Judaism means more than how others treat Jews, to him. It also means how Jews treat others. “That’s my notion of ethical issues,” he told JNS.
“I’m not going to fool anybody,” he said. “There are reasons people feel otherwise. That doesn’t mean they’re wrong. They might be right to disagree with me, but I’d like to broaden the horizons of the group.”
Rikki Zagelbaum is senior news editor at The Commentator, a Yeshiva University student newspaper.
Rabbi Yosef Blau, 86, and his wife Rivka Blau after they arrived at Ben Gurion International Airport as they made aliyah on March 27. Nefesh B’Nefesh
An Orthodox gymnast fights after Fla. derails her Pesach workaround
By Vita Fellig, JNS
For the past year, Dan Hoffman, of Hollywood, Fla., has watched his 11-year-old daughter Nessa train several hours a day, five days a week for the 2025 USA Gymnastics Florida Xcel women’s championships.
The Hoffmans, who are Orthodox Jews, planned each of Nessa’s meets around Shabbat and Jewish holidays, but it turned out that the Florida championships were to be held over the first days of Passover.
“This has been a tremendous part of her life for the last year, and then literally, two weeks before, it was ripped away,” Hoffman told JNS. “We considered scootering the 8.2 miles to the Florida Convention Center on the Sunday between seders, which would have been a disaster.”
Months before the competition, the Florida arm of USA Gymnastics told the family that Nessa would be able to compete in the state championship on April 11, the Friday before Passover. But the private body told the family two weeks prior to the competition that Nessa’s performance scores wouldn’t count toward medals or regional qualification.
Hoffman told JNS that the policy felt punitive. “They told us she could compete on Friday with the same judges, same equipment, same everything, but that her scores wouldn’t count,” he said.
“The only reason not to count the scores was to penalize Jewish athletes for choosing to be religious,” he said. “Everything about it just seemed wrong.”
Hoping to preserve his daughter’s opportunity to compete after so much hard work, Hoffman sought help from the Christian Legal Society and the Orthodox Union.
Nathan Diament, executive director of Orthodox Union Advocacy, told JNS that when he learned of Nessa’s situation he partnered with the Christian Legal Society.
“We knew we had to reach out to the decision makers to urge and press them to accommodate Nessa’s Sabbath observance and still enable her to qualify for regionals,” he told JNS.
The two groups sent a joint letter to Florida Gymnastics urging it to reconsider its policy and
allow Nessa’s scores to count.
Steve McFarland, director of the Christian Le gal Society’s Center for Law and Religious Free dom, told JNS that Florida Gymnastics changed its policy.
“To say ‘We’ll score her but the scores can’t count’ is just mean-spirited or just brain-dead,” he told JNS. “They recognized that and rectified it, which is a real pleasant turnaround.”
“We didn’t have to spend a quarter-million dollars in legal fees and have somebody say what any rational human being could conclude: let the 11-year-old get scored and try to reach her childhood dream,” he said. “You don’t need lawyers for that. Just common sense and a heart.”
On April 11, Nessa competed and qualified for the 2025 Florida Xcel Gold Regionals.
It’s rare for youth sports organizations to accommodate religious beliefs of young athletes, according to McFarland.
“There are things worth sacrificing for and obviously, Nessa is willing to sacrifice countless hours to perfect her athletic ability,” he told JNS. “She also realizes that, apparently, there are things even worth more than athletic success and in our society, athletics can be a religion, with all the fervor and passion and emotion and sacrifice that one used to associate with religion.”
“It’s only appropriate that we realize that religious conscience should be celebrated and accommodated wherever possible,” he added.
A fifth grader at Brauser Maimonides Academy, a Modern Orthodox, Zionist day school in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., Nessa told JNS that she is grateful to the two groups for their intervention and for helping her achieve her dream of making it to the regionals.
“Almost not being able to go was really horrible,” she told JNS. “Steven and Nathan helped me get to that goal of regionals and they were super powerful. They helped a lot.”
The gymnast told JNS that Orthodox Jewish athletes should never feel that their religious observance will hold them back.
“Everyone who is having a hard time just has to keep going and push yourself,” she said. “Practice really hard and you’ll get there if you set your mind to it.”
Iran’s deal-making: Between ideology, economy
Analysis
by Oded Ailam, Jerusalem Center
for Security and Foreign
Affairs
On one of the hot summer evenings of 1993, in a small town in Iran’s Kerman province, a meeting between two rival tribes over water rights dragged on. The mediator, Sheikh Musa al-Husseini, sat in silence for hours, sipping tea and observing both sides, who nearly came to physical blows.
Only at three in the morning, after countless gestures, repeated proposals, curses, insults and another round of especially strong tea did the tribal leaders sign an agreement. Sheikh Musa smiled and said the well-known Persian proverb: “Muddy the waters — and you’ll be able to catch the fish.”
This proverb, commonly used by many Iranians, characterizes the Iranian negotiation method: not necessarily to reach an agreement quickly, but rather to exhaust, to obscure, to go in circles and ultimately — to catch the fish.
But unlike Sheikh Musa, the Iranian leadership today finds itself at a breaking point — economically, geopolitically and socially. Yet despite this reality, the leadership in Tehran continues to cling to a rigid jihadist ideology that dictates its agenda, even at a heavy cost.
Poverty, sanctions, drought
Let’s begin with economic reality. Iran is now in its fourth consecutive year of drought, with severe water shortages in many cities. Agriculture — once an economic base for over 30% of the rural population — is collapsing. Doubledigit inflation has become routine, and the rial (local currency) hits new record lows every month.
About 1.8 million barrels of oil are sold per day, roughly 85% of them to China, at reduced prices and under sanction-evasion conditions. According to Western estimates, around 50% of these revenues go directly to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps — a powerful military-
economic body that is also the regime’s main internal repression apparatus.
Iran’s economic support to its allies over the last decade has amounted to staggering figures:
•Syria: $30 billion to $50 billion (2013–2024)
•Yemen: $1 billion to $3 billion (2015–2024)
•Hizbullah: $7 billion to $12 billion (2013–2024)
These are mind-boggling amounts relative to Iran’s GDP.
Ideology overrides interest
Why does Iran persist with this policy? The answer lies in the regime’s identity. Since Khomeini’s rise to power, the regime has drawn its
Continued on next page
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrives to talk with journalists at the Iranian Ambassador’s residence in Lisbon, Portugal on Nov. 27, 2024. Horacio Villalobos#Corbis, Corbis via Getty Images via JNS
legitimacy not just from enforcing Sharia law but also from its militant ideological stance against the West and Israel. Khomeini himself referred to Israel as “the rabid dog of the American master, sent to bite Islam,” and this statement became a visionary compass for many in the Iranian leadership.
Within the leadership, sharp disagreements exist. On one side — hardline generals like IRGC commander Hossein Salami and Chief of Staff Mohammad Bagheri, who support an uncompromising line. On the other — President Masoud Pezeshkian and his allies, who are trying to promote a more pragmatic policy and achieve sanctions relief, even at the cost of compromises.
However, even the more moderate factions operate within an ideological-religious framework that does not allow Iran to appear weak in front of the West. The cultural environment, in which masculinity, resilience and “non-submission” are core values, dictates the regime’s behavior both externally and internally.
There is an slamic tradition of compromise — but only from strength
Here enters an important concept from Shiite Islam: Taqiyya — the idea that a believer may conceal their true faith or act against it if necessary for survival or future benefit to the Muslim nation. Alongside this is a traditional recognition of believers’ weakness, which allows for temporary agreements — even with the “devil” himself — as long as it serves a broader strategic interest.
October 2025 approaches
In this context, it is important to understand that Iran’s apparent return to the negotiating table with the United States — particularly the effort to restore the 2015 nuclear agreement with minor modifications — does not necessarily indicate a true policy shift. It is likely a survival tactic, not a strategic transformation.
While political discourse focuses on whether Iran will return to the 2015 deal, a critical milestone is approaching: in October 2025, key provisions of U.N. Security Council Resolution 2231, which endorsed the JCPOA, will expire. These are part of what is known as the “Sunset Clauses” — time-limited provisions that automatically lapse. In practice, three critical components will expire:
1. Restrictions on Iran’s ballistic missile program — currently there is a partial restriction urging Iran to refrain from developing missiles capable of carrying a nuclear warhead. Lifting it would officially allow Iran to advance long-range missile projects.
2. The ban on development, procurement and testing of advanced uranium enrichment technologies — for example, advanced-generation centrifuges like IR-6 and IR-9. The lifting of restrictions would give Iran full legitimacy to develop an industrial infrastructure for very rapid enrichment.
3. Limits on civilian nuclear trade — meaning Iran could, at least on paper, rejoin the international nuclear market, purchase equipment, export knowledge and develop “civilian” nuclear programs on a significant scale, with little realistic oversight.
Meaning of non-renewal
If these clauses expire without renewal or a new arrangement, the world will wake up to a reality where there are no longer significant legal obstacles preventing Iran from building a military nuclear infrastructure within mere weeks.
The danger is not theoretical. Iran already holds approximately 270 kilograms (600 pounds) of uranium enriched to 60% — a level with no civilian justification — and by some es-
Will the West fall once more into the trap of Persian patience?
timates, the time to reach weapons-grade (90%) is less than two weeks.
Additionally, lifting the restrictions will trigger a regional domino effect: Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey and possibly Egypt — all will see it as a green light to restart independent nuclear programs. The nuclear race in the Middle East — currently covert — will become overt, loud and dangerous.
Iran the day after
Given what we know about Iran’s modus operandi, we can assume it won’t immediately announce crossing the threshold. On the contrary — it will portray the new reality as a “legitimate,” “legal” and “within its NPT rights” development. But beneath the surface, it will do what it has done before:
•Expand its advanced centrifuge systems.
•Increase enrichment rates to higher levels.
•Operate in facilities that are not always reported or fully monitored.
The Iranians are closely monitoring developments in the United States. They detect weakness in the mediator — US special envoy Steven Witkoff — and observe how Trump is becoming increasingly consumed by domestic and global economic issues. Even his press conference with Netanyahu veered into these personal concerns. The feeling in Tehran is that Trump’s threats and initial firmness will eventually fade, and that the old deal can be reinstated with tweaks presented as an American win. Despite official denials, direct talks have already been underway for some time.
Beware ‘diplomatic achievement’
Within this whole dynamic, Israel may find itself in real danger. If a new nuclear deal is reached that is only slightly better than its predecessor — but framed as a “diplomatic achievement” by the West — the result could be a real existential threat to Israel and a victory for the Iran-led axis. Therefore, Israel must act decisively:
1. Influence Trump’s close advisers and senior Republicans — not just diplomatically, but through an explanatory campaign combining think tanks and covert actions.
2. Demand a clear deadline for negotiations. The agreement must be signed before October 2025.
3. Act to increase internal pressure within Iran as leverage on the regime.
4. Prevent any sanctions relief during the negotiations—not even gradually.
5. Insist on the complete dismantling of Iran’s enrichment project under American supervision.
6. Deliver a clear message to Iran that failure to reach an agreement will inevitably lead to attacks on oil and gas facilities and the collapse of the regime.
7. Prepare for the option of an independent Israeli strike if the agreement fails to meet Israel’s core demands.
History has shown again and again: Those who rely on the goodwill of totalitarian regimes often find themselves facing a fait accompli.
When the fish is caught
The Iranian regime operates from a place of isolation, siege mentality and at times a deep persecution complex. The collapse of its proxy networks in the Middle East — Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Yemen and to a large extent Hamas — only increases the pressure. Yet none of this leads to ideological compromise, only tactical adaptation.
There are voices in Iran calling to confront the harsh reality — the drought, the poverty, the repression — and to reassess the path forward. But for now, like at that negotiation table in Kerman, they wait for the other side to tire first.
And the real question is: Will the West fall once more into the trap of Persian patience? Or will we catch the fish — before it multiplies in the lake?
Oded Ailam, a researcher at the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs, is a former head of the Counterterrorism Division in the Mossad.
In 1948, as Israel fought for its independence, the medics of Magen David Adom were there, treating wounded soldiers and civilians alike. Today, as Israel celebrates Yom HaAtzma’ut, MDA is still treating the injured — even under fire. But for MDA to continue being there for Israel, we need to be there for MDA. Make a donation at afmda.org/give. AFTER
22 groups vie for cash in World Zionist election
By Mike Wagenheim, JNS
Elections for the American representatives of the World Zionist Congress continue through May 4 with major ramifications for the allocation of more than $1 billion of funding for Israel and world Jewry, in addition to shaping Zionist institutions for the next few years.
The election for the so-called “parliament of the Jewish people” is the first for the congress since the end of the COVID pandemic; the rise of internal Israeli political strife, such as judicial reform and the protest movement; and the Hamas-led terrorist attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Many see it as a referendum on the Israeli government and Jewish organizational leadership.
The 22 US organizations or groups, including nine new entities, running slates in this year’s election are a record number. The more than 2,900 candidates from 43 US states and territories on the ballot represent a significant increase from 2020, when 14 slates ran about 1,800 candidates.
Each slate will be assigned a proportion of congressional seats based on the percentage of the vote it earns. Unlike in Knesset elections, no minimum percentage threshold is required for a slate to secure a seat in the World Zionist Congress.
US voters, both on paper and online, will elect 152 delegates — about one-third of the 500 seats. The other 348 are allocated to Israel and the rest of the Diaspora.
Voters, who must be US citizens or permanent residents and at least 18 years old by June 30 — can register and vote online or request paper ballots. A $5 registration and voting fee covers the costs of operating the election, according to election organizers at the American Zionist Movement.
For more information, including a links to vote and to a booket that includes the names of candidates on each slate, visit zionistelection.org
Listed here — numbered in the same order in which they appear on the WZM ballot, an order chosen by random drawing — are the US slates (there is no 13th line):
(1) Shas Olami aims to represent traditional Sephardic communities, with a focus on education and identity, “through the teaching of authentic Torah values in Israel and throughout the Jewish world,” according to the organization.
Created at the urging of Ovadia Yosef, the former Sephardic chief rabbi of Israel, it is an offshoot of Israel’s Shas party. The organization says explicitly that it joined the WZC “in order to counter the harmful influence of Reform Judaism in global Jewish affairs. By increasing our Orthodox representation, we can affect decisions that protect the sanctity of our Jewish homeland, adhere to Torah values and benefit our communities.”
Vision is running a slate of young activists “currently at the forefront of today’s battles over Jewish liberation, identity and Israel’s legitimacy on campus.”
(2) Vision, a branch of Brit Olam, claims that labels prevalent in modern Judaism carry “secondary importance when compared to identification with the nation of Israel and participation in its historic mission.”
This slate takes the position that all Jews have a “natural right” to live in a sovereign Israeli state “between the river and the sea, while also striving to act upon our obligation to ensure justice and dignity for all inhabitants of our country, Jew and gentile alike.”
(3) Vote Reform purports to represent the US Reform Movement, backed by the Union for Reform Judaism and the Association of Reform Zionists of America. The slate backs a two-state solution and full equality for all Israelis, including intra-Jewish religious equality.
Among its campaign pledges, the slate seeks to “assure that liberal streams of Judaism are provided equal financial support and resources in the Jewish state, ensuring that our movements in Israel and all Jewish denominations in Israel remain strong, vibrant and growing.”
(4) Kol Yisrael — partnering with groups like StandWithUs, Young Judea and Alums for Campus Fairness — says it pledges to invest in stronger Zionist youth movements and to combat antisemitism on college campuses and in the courts.
The group says it has formed a “diverse slate of Jewish leaders and activists, bringing creativity, decisiveness and proven records of success to the
Zionist movement. We have put our political and religious differences aside and come together for the good of all our people.”
(5) Orthodox Israel Coalition — Mizrachi says it aims to represent the Religious Zionist community with members from the likes of RZA, AMIT, Orthodox Union and Bnei Akiva.
The slate says it works to avoid polarization while working “on the frontlines” to expand Jewish education, build Israel’s periphery, support Religious Zionist IDF soldiers and stand for Torah values.
(6) ANU: A New Union labels itself as a “NextGen
big tent for the Jewish American consensus,” promoting pluralism, “where every Jew finds their place and feels like a cherished part of the Jewish people.”
The group backs a Palestinian state and advocates for greater acceptance among American Jews for the existence of one, along with room for discussion about how to strengthen Israeli civil society, including to “assure the independence of Israel’s world-renowned judiciary.”
(7) Israel365 Action says it’s working against the “land for peace delusion,” as well as discrimination against Jews in Judea and Samaria. The group is aligned with American Jewish Conservatives and the American Faith Coalition.
It advocates for alliances with faith-based Christians, which the slate calls “our truest friends” and “most reliable allies.” It is heavily critical of the American Jewish establishment, whose “Oct. 6 mindset has catastrophically failed us,” according to the group.
(8) Achdut Israel, a new slate founded after Oct. 7, is sponsored by American Friends of Shifra. It is a soldier-focused organization, providing “emotional, financial and practical support” with an emphasis on offering safety and self-defense training for Jews globally.
“The need to support soldiers, who have sacrificed everything, provide for their families, assist those facing life-altering injuries and ensure they have a future beyond the battlefield is urgent,” the group says.
(9) Am Yisrael Chai says young activists who chose to respond in the aftermath of Oct. 7 “are the architects of tomorrow,” claiming that young American Jewish leadership is being “tested in ways American Jews have not been tested in generations.”
The slate says it is investing in programming, educational opportunities, community building and Israel-related activities for college students and young professionals to instill and spread Jewish pride.
(10) Aish Ha’am, backed by the Aish educational organization, aims for a “shared destiny” among Jews.
“We maintain that every Jew, irrespective of their religious background or level of Jewish schooling, inherently deserves the gift of Jewish knowledge,” notes the slate, which is running on the planks of Jewish unity, fighting antisemitism and supporting Israel, along with its core mission of education for every Jew.
Aish Ha’am says its slate is a mix of Jewish educators, student leaders, online influencers and lay leaders.
(11) Eretz HaKodesh, a traditional, Torahbased group, “believes that all Jews share a common history and destiny reaching back to Mount Sinai,” while aiming to represent Orthodox Diaspora communities and counter liberal movements by “accurately reflecting the power dynamics of Jewish communities in the Diaspora.”
The slate pledges to promote global Jewish education, and love and concern for fellow Jews, in addition to economic opportunity, particularly for
“those with limited skills and those living below the poverty line” in Israel.
(12) Beyachad is oriented to the Russianspeaking American Jewish community. The slate says it stands for the “complete and total unity of all Jewish people,” along with traditional Jewish values and an “uncompromising defense of Israel and protection of its citizens.”
It is coordinated by the Russian-speaking Jewish Community in the San Francisco Bay Area, the Jewish Russian Learning Center and the Russian Jewish American Experience, among others.
[There is no 13th line.]
(14) AID Coalition aims to “bring together Israeli-Americans with deep ties to Israel to lead efforts for a stronger future. We collaborate with Israeli organizations to address critical needs while contributing unique perspectives of Israelis based in the US”
The “AID” in the slate’s name stands for America-Israel Democracy. Its stated mission is to help rebuild Israeli communities impacted by the war; build bridges between Israelis and American Jews; promote Israeli democracy; and foster transparency and accountability in World Zionist organizations.
(15) ZOA Coalition, fronted by the Zionist Organization of America, is a collection of more than 30 groups that seek to promote Jewish safety, immigration to Israel and the rejection of a Palestinian state.
The slate includes representatives from American Friends of Likud, Betar and EndJewHatred. It says it represents Russian, Persian, Syrian, Bukharian, Ukrainian, Latino, French, Israeli, Ashkenazi, Sephardi, Mizrahi and other American-Jewish communities.
ZOA Coalition asserts that it aims to “confront anti-Israel bias at the UN and other institutions,” as well as rebuild Jewish communities in “decimated, evacuated areas and Judea/Samaria.”
(16) Hatikvah: The Progressive Slate is led by such organizations as New Jewish Narrative, Partners for Progressive Israel and Habonim Dror North America. The slate says it includes a broad swath of liberal and progressive American Jews “who strive to fully actualize the vision” in the Israeli Declaration of Independence.
The platform includes a call for universal Israeli civil rights, an end to “the policy of permanent occupation and annexation; global religious and cultural pluralism; and building a worldwide coalition to end the Israeli-Hamas war and return the hostages held in Gaza.”
(17) MERCAZ USA bills itself as the voice of American Conservative/Masorti Judaism. It is endorsed by the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, the Women’s League for Conservative Judaism and the National Ramah Commission, among other organizations.
The slate says it “will advocate for a strong and secure Israel rooted in the moral and spiritual vision of the Hebrew prophets,” which includes “a society that celebrates democratic principles; embraces diverse Jewish traditions; and safeguards the rights, dignity and inclusion of all its citizens.”
It advocates for rebuilding devastated Israeli communities, combating antisemitism and dispelling misconceptions about Zionism.
(18) Dorshei Torah V’Tzion is led by the International Rabbinic Fellowship, Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance and Eshel, among other groups.
The slate supports religious pluralism, including paths to conversion outside the framework of the Israeli rabbinate. It seeks to support and empower women by expanding their “spiritual, ritual, religious leadership, intellectual and political opportunities,” along with boosting educational opportunities in yeshivahs and elsewhere.
It further says it is “committed to supporting efforts to find a just and viable peace for Israel as a Jewish and democratic state, with security and dignity for all, including the Palestinian people.”
(19) Americans 4 Israel labels itself as the “general Zionist slate of the World Zionist Organization” and as “a nonpartisan and independent party of American citizens who are proud virtual citizens of Israel.”
The slate is backed by organizations such as the Israel Forever Foundation, EMET and Over the Rainbow. Among its 10 listed commitments are supporting Zionist activism, creating worldwide Hebrew-instruction programs and improving life for Holocaust survivors.
(20) The Jewish Future slate self-labels as proponents of centrist liberal Zionism and is endorsed by Tzofim North America.
“We are dedicated to inspiring young Jews around the world to see Zionism as the national liberation movement of the Jewish people — empowering the next generation of Jews to be proud of their Jewish identity and to stand unafraid for their Jewish values and Israel,” the group says on its website.
The Jewish Future is running on a number of platform prongs. Chief among them is engaging the next generation with education and pride. It aims to do so through increased funding for youth programs, investment in youth travel opportunities and growing Hebrew-education opportunities in the United States.
(21) American Forum for Israel says it pushes for “comprehensive security for Israeli citizens,” along with support for the Israel Defense Forces and encouragement of settlement and immigration, among other priorities.
The group says it has been key in organizing high-level events, including at the United Nations and at the annual International March of the Living, along with significant fundraising for critical projects in Israel, “such as bomb shelters at Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon, mobile shelters in southern Israel and computers for Sderot schools.”
(22) Israeli-American Council is among the new slates this year. It claims that it “promotes unity by producing a vibrant, engaged and unapologetically confident Israeli-American and Jewish-American community, regardless of observance level or partisan affiliation.”
The IAC says its platform emphasizes influencing policy, developing next-generation identity and combating antisemitism, along with a focus on what it calls “Israeliness” as being central “to the global Jewish narrative.”
(23) Herut North America, which bills itself as a follower of Ze’ev Jabotinsky, the founder of the Revisionist Zionist movement, says it fights for Jewish indigenous rights in Israel; rehabilitation and emotional support for soldiers and civilians affected by the terrorist attacks in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023; and empowering Jewish identity.
“Our movement is rooted in the unshakable belief that every Jew deserves to thrive in a world where they can be unapologetic Zionists, their cultural heritage is celebrated, their voices are heard, and their potential is realized,” the group says.
At right: Theodor Herzl in 1897. At left: Yaakov Hagoel, World Zionist Organization chair, delivers a speech in Basel, Switzerland, marking the 125th anniversary of the First Zionist Congress at the city’s historic Stadtcasino, where journalist Theodor Herzl convened the first congress that paved the way towards establishing the modern-day State of Israel, Aug. 29, 2022. Fabrice Coffrini, AFP via Getty Images via JNS
Mount Sinai South Nassau is Improving Health Care on the South Shore
The new Fennessy Family Emergency Department at Mount Sinai South Nassau doubles the size of our previous emergency department, o ering 54 private exam rooms with clear lines of sight for physicians, nurses, and support sta . Our new emergency department also o ers a separate triage area, dedicated areas for children and behavioral health patients, and has been designed to reduce wait times and improve patient outcomes.
The Fennessy Family Emergency Department is located within the new Feil Family Pavilion, opening later this year, which will have 40 new critical care suites and nine new operating rooms, designed to support the most complex surgeries on the South Shore.
To learn more visit www.mountsinai.org/feilpavilion
SCHOOLS
MTA boys lobby in DC
Close to 40 MTA talmidim accompanied by four faculty chaperones headed to Capitol Hill on the annual MTAPAC Lobbying Mission to Washington.
Similar to the much larger NORPAC mission that takes place in May, the goal of this trip was to lobby members of Congress to support legislation that will further enhance the close relationship between Israel and America.
Unlike the NORPAC mission, this is a fully talmid-lead initiative. A steering committee of seniors and juniors worked hard to secure the different meetings. The talmidim crafted the talking points for each meeting and scripted their remarks with the guidance of Rabbi Eli Cohn, faculty adviser to MTA’s Hatzioni Israel Club.
Each group was led by a senior captain who helped the underclassmen fashion their remarks and was responsible for the overall structure of each meeting. All of the talmidim participated in training sessions in advance of the mission, and were responsible for researching the different issues they
would discuss to be properly prepared.
It was a critical day to be on the Hill.
Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont brought two resolutions to the floor with the goal of blocking aid to Israel.
The Lobbying Lions met with eight different members of Congress in their efforts to stop this motion.
In one such meeting, a group of talmidim met with Joseph Libera, Senator Tommy Tuberville of Alabama’s Defense Fellow (pictured), to express their concerns about the upcoming vote. Libera invited them to the Senate galley to watch Tuberville cast his vote against the motions.
It was an exhausting day of traveling and lobbying, but it was an incredible opportunity to stand up for Israel on the Hill.
Rabbi Daniel Konigsberg, principal of MTA, reflected that “it was an amazing day of experiential education at its finest. Our talmidim were tasked with the responsibility to make this day happen, and they came through with flying colors.”
Yeshiva talmidim return
MTA welcomed alumni from the classes of ’23 and ’24 for their annual pre-Pesach “Return and Learn” program. Talmidim were excited to return to yeshiva, but having a special program dedicated to them made it that much more meaningful.
After ‘Mockingbird,’ YCQ students head to court
After reading Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird,” eighth graders at YCQ visited the Queens County Criminal Court to see the American justice system up close. Students observed the court in action and heard from judges and police officers. Paula Ambagtsheer, Miles Ehrenkranz and Jacob Grossman organized this informative cross-curriculum trip. “To Kill a Mockingbird” is a coming-of-age novel set in Depression-era Alabama, following Scout Finch’s childhood and her awakening to racism and prejudice.
HALB STEMers make games
sixth graders made Jewish holiday-themed games in
Grow Torah at HALB’s Lev Chana
Seeing the boys’ growth over the past year is always a highlight, and this year was no different. Once a Lion, always a Lion — #Lions4life!
Alumni heard Pesach-themed shiurim from Rabbis Taubes, Schenker, Konigsberg, Cohen and Shulman — plus a “10 Minute Halacha” shiur from Rav Aryeh Lebowitz. Some of the alumni took time to learn with current talmidim and pay it forward!
The Grow Torah garden is back at HALB’s Lev Chana and the children got to see how the things they planted in the fall are now growing tall.
HALB
their STEM class, including a game using electrical circuits to either light up or buzz when played.
WINE AND DINE
Taking stock as we resume a life of chometz
or Passover, we thoroughly cleaned out our cabinets and refrigerators. Now, as we finish putting back all the chametz foods, we can look at what we have and take stock of our eating habits.
Does your cupboard have boxes and boxes of processed foods? Are there many boxes of rice pilafs and mac and cheese and other kinds of ready-to-make foods that, supposedly, make our lives easier? Well, maybe they do — but at what price?
At the very best, these foods are quickly prepared and taste OK. They are the go-to for a quick side dish for that leftover chicken or a quick vacation week lunch or part of a lunch-to-go for the office. At worst, they are loaded with chemicals and preservatives and too much salt, sugar and fat.
I’m not lecturing here, I am as guilty as anyone of using these foods and, for a while, I even relied on them for my children. Oy! But that was before I actively educated myself on health and nutrition. I decided if I was going to write about food, I was not going to contribute (too much) to the health issues in America that come from the approximately 15,000 new processed foods that hit shelves every year.
I was raised by a mother who served a salad at every dinner. She served vegetables also, often canned, sometimes frozen, and, in season, fresh. But she also fried a lot of foods (her homemade French fries were outstanding!) and came to rely on the newest processed foods. Like many women of her time, she knew little about nutrition; she thought margarine was more nutritious than butter.
She followed the latest food trends and marveled at things like Cool Whip, canned anything and more. I once placed six or seven cans of food on the table and told her I was making dinner!
I followed suit to some degree, buying canned and boxed foods and telling myself they were better because they were organic. But, I soon began to realize that they were not healthful foods. So I read nutrition books, consulted nutritionists (my closest friend has a PhD in nutrition) and read all kinds of vegetarian, Ayurvedic and vegan cookbooks.
It helped. I tossed canned things and boxed things and discovered that I was giving up tons of salt, sugar, and unhealthful fats and lots of chemicals.
It took a while to adjust, but my kids were healthier and I felt better about what I was giving them. I’m not a vegetarian, though I eat and cook with a lot of vegetables. I am not vegan, though I like to use vegan-friendly foods as much as possible. I avoid adding salt to most of the foods I cook — guests can add as much as they like — because I like the taste of the vegetables that I use and the herbs that infuse these vegetables with color, health and flavor. But I think I am better off for not using these convenience foods.
Yes, I still love chocolate and mocha chip ice cream and a French fry every so often. And it’s hard to pass up a really good potato chip. But I have cleaned out my cabinets for spring and it feels good.
If you would like to learn more about the added salt, sugar and fat in processed foods, read “Salt, Sugar and Fat” by Michael Moss.
Salad with Leftover Chicken or Salmon or More (Pareve, Meat)
This is a delicious and highly nutritious salad that uses up leftover salmon, chicken, steak or can even be made with canned tuna.
• 2 (15-oz) cans Cannelini or Navy beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 bunch arugula
• 1 head radicchio, roughly chopped
• 1 head romaine, trimmed and cut into bite sized pieces
• 1 to 2 carrots, shredded
• 6 radishes, shredded or sliced
• 2 to 3 stalks celery sliced diagonally and thinly
• 1 cucumber, thinly sliced
• 1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes
• Leftover slices of chicken or steak or pieces of salmon
• Parsley and Chive Vinaigrette or your favorite salad dressing
Place the arugula, romaine and radicchio in a large bowl and toss with the Parsley Vinaigrette dressing or your favorite dressing. Place on a serving platter.
Place the beans in the bowl and add the carrots, radishes, and celery. Add more dressing, toss and pour over the center of the greens. Garnish with cucumber and tomatoes around the beans and top with the chicken, meat or salmon. Serves 4 to 6.
Parsley and Chive Vinaigrette (Pareve)
• 2 cups packed, flat leaf parsley
• 1/2 cup minced fresh chives
• 1 garlic clove
• 4 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 Tbsp. white wine or champagne vinegar
• Pinch sugar
• Pinch salt and pepper
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup canola oil
Place garlic in a food processor and pulse. Add the parsley and chives and pulse 2-3 times. Add the lemon juice and vinegar and pulse to blend. Add the oils and pulse until emulsified. If too thick, add a bit of water. Add the sugar, salt and pepper, pulse 1-2 times and scrape into a container with a tight fitting lid. Makes about 1-1/3 cups.
Mostly Baked Cauliflower Latkes (Dairy)
• 1 head cauliflower
• 1 large onion finely minced and drained
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 to 2/3 cup cheddar cheese, grated
• 1/2 cup panko or whole wheat panko
• 1/4 to 1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
• 1/4 cup finely minced fresh parsley
• 1 to 2 Tbsp. finely minced dill
• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• Olive oil
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a large, rimmed baking sheet with foil. Set aside.
Fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil. Cut the cauliflower into small florets and add them to the water. Cook until tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Drain completely in a strainer in batches and press gently to remove excess water. Place on paper towel lined plates to drain further. Transfer the florets to a large bowl and mash coarsely with a potato masher. Add the onion, cheese, panko, cayenne, herbs and pepper. Mix well and form into 3-inch patties. If they feel too
wet, add a bit more of the panko crumbs. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and add just enough olive oil to generously coat the bottom. Place the patties in the pan, leaving a generous amount of room for turning. Cook until they are deep golden brown, 3 minutes. Turn carefully and cook the second side until golden, 2 to 3 minutes.
Place on the prepared rimmed baking sheet. Repeat until all the mixture is used and then place in the oven. Bake for about 10 to 15 minutes. Serve with plain yogurt or sour cream. Garnish with fresh dill and parsley. Makes about 12 to 18 latkes.
Simple Chicken and Rice in One Pan (Meat)
• 1 chicken cut into 8 pieces, breasts cut in half or 6 to 8 chicken pieces
• 3 to 5 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
• 2 onions, chopped
• 3 to 5 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 2 carrots, finely chopped
• 2 stalks celery, very thinly sliced
• 1-1/2 cups long grain white or basmati rice
• 1-1/2 cups low-sodium chicken stock
• 1-1/2 cups water
• 1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
• Oregano
• Onion powder
• Garlic powder
• Paprika
• Black pepper
• Salt, if desired
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Heat a large skillet and add the olive oil. Sauté the onions and garlic until lightly golden, 6 to 10 minutes. Add the carrots and celery and cook another 4 to 5 minutes, until softened. Pour into a large roasting pan. Add the rice and stir to mix. Spread evenly. Place the chicken pieces on top and season with the oregano, onion and garlic powders, paprika, salt and pepper. Pour the stock and water evenly around the chicken and cover tightly with foil.
Bake for 35 minutes. Uncover and check to make sure there is still plenty of liquid. Add more if needed. Place back in the oven and roast for another 20 minutes, until the chicken is golden. Serves 4 to 6.
Kosher Kitchen JOni SChOCKett Jewish Star columnist
The other legacy of Dry Bones’ Yaakov Kirschen
An appraisal by Josh Renaud
Ifirst encountered two of Yaakov Kirschen’s cartoon characters in the late 1980s when I was about 8 or 9 years old. But I’m not talking about Mr. Shuldig, King Solomon, Doobie the dog or any of the other denizens of his famous “Dry Bones” cartoon. I was a gentile kid living on the other side of the world, and I had never seen nor heard of “Dry Bones” before.
No, the characters I’m talking about were “Mom” and “Uncle Murray” — two colorful, chatty Jewish archetypes who lived on floppy disks and brought my Atari ST computer to life.
Kirschen called them “biotoons.” And, just like his work in “Dry Bones,” Kirschen gave these computer characters unique, humorous personalities. A little off-kilter, they were capable of surprising interactions.
Released in late 1985, Kirschen’s “Murray and Me” and “Mom and Me” were among the very earliest entertainment software titles available for the new Atari ST computer. Newspapers took notice, with profiles appearing in the New York Times, The Times of London and others.
But “Mom” and “Murray” didn’t really catch on; probably fewer than 2,000 copies were sold. I didn’t know that at the time, of course; I was just a kid using a hand-me-down computer, who thought “Murray” and “Mom” were funny.
Decades later, in a fit of nostalgia, I decided I wanted to try those old programs again. But I couldn’t find them anywhere. Nobody had preserved them or even pirated them.
I’m a journalist by trade, and the investigative part of me kicked into gear. I spent years seeking out everything I could find about “Mom” and “Murray,” and the man who made them. I learned that these weren’t one-offs — Kirschen had worked on at least a dozen unique games, software and experiments throughout the 1980s. Kirschen died on April 14 at the age of 87, and he is (rightly) being celebrated for “Dry Bones,” his great life’s work. But I would like to highlight his lesser-known legacy as a tech innovator who tried to bring humor and humanity to the cold silicon world of computers.
Kirschen was introduced to computers and programming in the 1960s through his work at a firm in New York called Reinforced Learning, where he helped produce self-instructional training courses for big computer companies, such as IBM and NCR.
He and his family made aliyah to Israel in 1971. He hoped to get
into computers but fell into cartoons instead. “Dry Bones” debuted in 1973 in the Jerusalem Post and was an immediate hit.
By the early 1980s, the microcomputer revolution had arrived in Israel. Computers were now small enough to use at home and Kirschen was an early adopter. He bought an imported Apple II clone to play around with, joined a computer club and began doing what most computer enthusiasts did at that time — trading pirated software.
But he had big ideas and big ambitions. He wanted to be the one creating the software.
His break came in late 1982, when Gesher Educational Affiliates hired him to help finish a series of unique Jewish educational games they were developing for the Apple II.
One notable game, “Nosh Kosh,” was like “Pac-Man” with a kosher spin. The main character, Chunky, wears a kippah, and instead of gobbling dots, he eats hamburgers, ice-cream and carrots. The challenge is to wait between eating the meat and the dairy, while also avoiding three non-kosher enemies.
More impressive was a historical simulation called “The Georgia Variations,” an interactive story where you play the role of a boy named Boris Goldberg who lives in Eastern Europe in the 1800s, and is forced to flee pogroms and persecution.
After the Gesher games debuted in late 1983, Kirschen founded his own software firm, LKP Ltd., and hired a small team of student programmers to help him realize his ideas. He wanted to coax life out of those cold silicon chips.
Kirschen liked to say that what people wanted from their computers was not artificial intelligence, but artificial personality and creativity.
In 1985, he succeeded in pitching a big project incorporating these ideas to tech titan Jack Tramiel, the CEO of Atari and a Holocaust survivor. Kirschen proposed to create an easy-to-use computer kiosk that would produce greeting cards on demand, customized “just for you.”
For Kirschen, it was crucial that the kiosk be friendly, so he and his student programmers created a large “artificial personality” named “Murray” to guide users through the process of creating a card. The “Murray” character was closely modeled on “Shuldig” from “Dry Bones.”
Ultimately, the greeting-card kiosk never made it to market. Instead, Kirschen spun off the artificial personalities, selling them as the standalone graphical chatbot programs “Mom and Me” and “Murray and Me” that I would enjoy years later.
I think Kirschen’s most ambitious idea was “artificial creativity.” Beginning in 1986, he and his team developed software for the Commodore Amiga that would generate new music by remixing elements of “musical DNA” from existing pop songs and classical pieces. This innovative music technology was ahead of its time — one academic noted later that it could blend different styles to produce “surprisingly musical results.”
It was rough around the edges, but it worked well enough that a producer friend used it in 1988 to generate background music for a BBC television documentary.
I’m happy to say that while most of Kirschen’s software was lost for many decades, today much of it has been rescued and preserved. You can even play it today in your web browser at the Internet Archive.
Kirschen was an artist of the highest caliber and an amazing thinker. His software may not have sold well, but he imbued each project with a unique sensibility that we can learn from today. Computers can feel cold and mechanical. Software can seem soulless. But in Kirschen’s hands, they came alive, brimming with creativity, personality and humanity.
Josh Renaud is a developer and data journalist in Ferguson, Missouri, a husband, father of four, teacher and robotics coach.
Yaakov Kirschen at the drawing board in his home. Sali Ariel
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.
The second half of Exodus and the first part of Leviticus form a carefully structured narrative. The Israelites are commanded to construct a Sanctuary. They carry out the command. This is followed by an account of sacrifices to be offered there. Then, in the first part of this week’s parsha, Shemini, the kohanim are inducted into office.
What happens next, though, is unexpected: the dietary laws are presented, a list of permitted and forbidden species, animals, fish and birds. What is the logic of these laws? And why are they placed here? What is their connection with the Sanctuary?
The late R. Elie Munk offered a fascinating suggestion. As we have mentioned before in these studies, the Sanctuary was a human counterpart of the cosmos. Several key words in the biblical account of its construction are also key words in the narrative of creation at the beginning of Genesis.
The Talmud (Megillah 10b) says about the completion of the Sanctuary, that “On that day there was joy before the Holy One blessed be He as on the day when Heaven and Earth were created.” The universe is the home G-d made for humanity. The Sanctuary was the home human beings made for G-d.”
R. Munk reminds us that the first command G-d gave the first human was a dietary law. “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.”
The dietary laws in Shemini parallel the prohibition given to Adam. As then, so now, a new era in the spiritual history of humankind, preceded by an act of creation, is marked by laws about what one may and may not eat.
Why? As with sex, so with eating: these are the most primal activities, shared with many other forms of life. Without sex there is no continuation of the species. Without food, even the individual cannot survive. These, therefore, have been the focus of radically different cultures. On the one hand there are hedonistic cultures in which food and sex are seen as pleasures and pursued as such. On the other are ascetic cultures — marked by monastic seclusion — in which sex is avoided and eating kept to a minimum. The former emphasize the
The first command G-d gave the first human was a dietary law.
body, the latter the soul. Judaism, by contrast, sees the human situation in terms of integration and balance.
We are body and soul. Hence the Judaic imperative, neither hedonistic nor ascetic, but transformative. We are commanded to sanctify the activities of eating and sex. From this flow the dietary laws and the laws of family purity (niddah and mikveh), two key elements of kedushah, the life of holiness.
However, we can go further. Genesis 1 is not the only account of Creation in Tanach, the Hebrew Bible. There are several others. One is contained in the last chapters of the Book of Job. It is this that deserves close attention.
Job is the paradigm of the righteous individual who suffers. He loses all he has, for no apparent reason. His companions tell him that he must have sinned. Only this can reconcile his fate with justice.
Job maintains his innocence and demands a hearing in the heavenly tribunal. For some 37 chapters the argument rages, then in chapter 38 G-d addresses Job “out of the whirlwind”. G-d offers no answers. Instead, for four chapters, He asks questions of His own, rhetorical questions that have no answer:
“Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?... Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea or walked in the recesses of the deep?... Does the rain have a father? … From whose womb comes the ice?”
G-d shows Job the whole panoply of creation, but it is a very different view of the universe than that set out in Genesis 1-2. There the centre of the narrative is the human person, the last to be created; made in G-d’s image; given dominion over all that lives. In Job 3841 we see not an anthropocentric, but a theocentric, universe. Job is the only person in Tanach
who sees the world, as it were, from G-d’s point of view.
Particularly striking is the way these chapters deal with the animal kingdom. What Job sees are not domestic animals, but wild, untameable creatures, magnificent in their strength and beauty, living far from and utterly indifferent to humankind:
Do you give the horse his strength or clothe his neck with a flowing mane?
Do you make him leap like a locust, striking terror with his proud snorting?…
Does the hawk take flight by your wisdom and spread his wings toward the south?
Does the eagle soar at your command and build his nest on high?…
Can you pull in the leviathan with a fishhook or tie down his tongue with a rope?
Can you put a cord through his nose or pierce his jaw with a hook?…
Nothing on Earth is His equal — a creature without fear.
He looks down on all that are haughty;
He is King over all that are proud.
This is the most radically non-anthropocentric passage in the Hebrew Bible. It tells us that man is not the centre of the universe, nor are we the measure of all things. Some of the most glorious aspects of nature have nothing to do with human needs, and everything to do with the Divine creation of diversity. One of the few Jewish thinkers to state this clearly was Moses Maimonides:
I consider the following opinion as most correct according to the teaching of the Bible and the results of philosophy, namely that the universe does not exist for man’s sake, but that each being insists for its own sake, and not because of some other thing. Thus we believe in Creation, and yet need not inquire what purpose is served by each species
of existing things, because we assume that G-d created all parts of the universe by His will; some for their own sake, and some for the sake of other beings. (Guide for the Perplexed, III:13)
And again:
Consider how vast are the dimensions and how great the number of these corporeal beings. If the whole of the earth would not constitute even the smallest part of the sphere of the fixed stars, what is the relation of the human species to all these created things, and how can any of us imagine that they exist for his sake and that they are instruments for his benefit? (Guide for the Perplexed, III:14)
We now understand what is at stake in the prohibition of certain species of animals, birds and fish, many of them predators like the creatures described in Job 38-41. They exist for their own sake, not for the sake of humankind. The vast universe, and earth itself with the myriad species it contains, has an integrity of its own. Yes, after the Flood, G-d gave humans permission to eat meat, but this was a concession, as if to say: Kill if you must, but let it be animals, not other humans, that you kill.
With His covenant with the Israelites, G-d invites humanity to begin a new chapter in history. This is not yet the Garden of Eden, paradise regained. But, with the construction of the Sanctuary — a symbolic home for the Divine presence on earth — something new has begun. One sign of this is the fact that the Israelites are not permitted to kill any and every life-form for food. Some species must be protected, given their freedom, granted their integrity, left unsubjected to human devices and desires.
The new creation — the Sanctuary — marks a new dignity for the old creation, especially its wild, untamed creatures. Not everything in the universe was made for human consumption.
In Israel, at Yizkor, the national is personal
Returning home to Israel is filled with incredible joy, but tinged with an element of sadness. Joy because one is returning to home, to family and friends, to the land of our people, the place chosen for us by G-d Himself. It’s land filled with Jews of every stripe and background, surrounded by a cacophony of noises, voices, smells, most wonderfully exhilarating, some irritating, but always ours.
Yet a sadness occupies the periphery, because we remember the evil and hatred that has been and continues to be visited up upon us.
This is most acutely felt at Pesach, when we spend a good portion of the Seder recalling our persecution at the hands of others, from Lavan to Pharaoh. We eat matza — which simultaneously represents the bread of affliction and freedom; we dip and eat maror — bitter herbs to recall the pain and tears, and we then recline and drink cups of wine like kings. After Pesach comes Yom haShoah, then Yom Hazikaron that is followed immediately, jarringly, by the jubilation of Yom Haatzmaut. But never before have I felt this bipolar dichotomy of being a Jew as powerfully as this year.
Though markedly reduced, we are still engaged in a war with Hamas in Gaza in the south; while Hezbollah in Lebanon has been subdued, it’s only because of the vigilance of the IDF presence there; Syria has changed but who knows to what end, with a hostile Turkey
sending in large masses of troops and armaments that threaten Israel; and of course, the head of the snake, Iran, once again threatened Israel with destruction (even as it supposedly “negotiates” with the United States).
On an individual level, the pain of the push and pull of joy and sorrow is even more extreme. On the last day, the seventh day of Pesach, Shvii shel Pesach, we celebrate Hashem‘s miraculous rescue of the Jew-
ish people with His splitting of the Red Sea. The spectacle of all spectacles, one the whole world knew about, including our enemies; a true cause for celebration. We chant the “Az Yashir” (the Song by the Sea) and as on all the days of Pesach, we recite the Hallel prayer, giving thanks to G-d for our salvation.
As Yitz Weiner, the wonderful baal shacharit in my shul, Nitzanim in Yerushalayim, approached Yizkor, I remembered being in another shul in Yerushalayim on October 7, 2023, Shmini Atzeret, the happiest day of the Jewish year when, paradoxically, we say Yizkor. Of course, that day of happiness turned to despair, when not only did we not have time to say Yizkor, but some of us could not even complete davening Musaf because we had to evacuate due to the repeated sirens.
In America, children and young people for-
Choosing our leaders and quizzing authority
Anumber of years ago, I had an uncomfortable experience. I ran into an old friend who, like me, is an alumnus of Yeshivat Har Etzion in the Gush. He had started a cutting-edge program for women interested in developing rabbinic leadership; in the Orthodox world, this was a new and somewhat controversial idea.
I innocently asked what our rosh yeshiva and mentor, Rav Aharon Lichtenstein zt”l, thought about his project. His response — “Oh,
I’m way past that!” — took me by surprise and made me distinctly uncomfortable, though it took me a while to understand why.
On the one hand, there is something beautiful about a leadership that encourages its students to think for themselves rather than rely completely on their teachers’ opinions. As an example, I recall the strong reactions of Rav Lichtenstein and Rav Yehuda Amital zt”l to students who opposed their political views, stating that such opposition was healthy, especially as they both felt Jewish law did not mandate a specific political opinion. It seemed so refreshingly different from a haredi world whose rabbinic leaders seemed to command fealty to every administrative decision.
Yet the Torah nonetheless clearly commands us to follow our leaders’ rulings:
“You shall do according to what they tell you … and keep it according to all which they teach you. According to the Torah they will teach you … you may not deviate from that which they tell you, to the right or the left” (Devarim 17: 10-11).
So how does one balance the value of healthy questioning and diverse opinions with the danger of undermining rabbinic authority?
This week, in the portion of Shemini, we read one of the most tragic episodes in the entire Torah: the untimely and devastating deaths of Nadav and Avihu, the elder sons of Aaron, on the very day they are all anointed for the first time as kohanim in the newly dedicated Mishkan.
There are many different opinions as to what transgression these two young leaders committed that necessitated their deaths. Did
they bring a fire that was not commanded, caught up in the passion of the moment? Did they enter the holy Tabernacle drunk? Were they arrogant?
Rashi (Vayikra 10:2) quotes the opinion of Rabbi Eliezer in the Talmud (Eiruvin 63) that they died because they issued a halachic ruling in front of their teacher. They should have asked Moshe before bringing their “foreign” (not commanded) fire.
But why would such a mild mistake require such a severe response? What warranted such a severe punishment?
Interestingly, the Talmud there notes that the same Rabbi Eliezer had a student who once issued a ruling in Rabbi Eliezer’s presence, whereupon R. Eliezer declared that the student
Finding our personal path to proper humility
One of the fascinating midrashim on parsha Shemini pictures Aharon, the Kohen Gadol, brother of Moshe, leader extraordinaire, hesitating before going to fulfill his sacred duty, because on the Mizbeach, the altar where the sacrificial order is to take place, he sees a vision — a vision of the Golden Calf. Moshe turns to him and says, “Approach the Altar” (9:7), the Midrash relating that Moshes says, “Why are you embarrassed (and therefore hesitating)? This is what you were chosen to do!”
The Slonimer Rebbe asks, “Really? Moshe, you’re telling Aharon not to be embarrassed over the Golden Calf! It may be that he didn’t sin completely — he certainly didn’t worship the calf — but to deny that Aharon had some connection to the Golden Calf is ludicrous. Of course he should have at least a minimal sense of embarrassment!”
To the first point, the answer he gives is that the main sin of the Golden Calf was not in the making of it, which Aharon was involved in. It was the dancing, in which Aharon did not participate. So Moshe says, “What are you embarrassed about? You had nothing to do with the sin component of the Golden Calf!”
Then the Slonimer Rebbe takes Moshe’s comment a step further.
“Why are you embarrassed? You were cho-
He was an old man, and in many ways came from a very different world than I. And yet he taught me more than anyone else ever did. One of the things he taught me was that no one suffers as much as a parent who loses a child.
He delivered this lesson to me on a wintry day more than 50 years ago. He was my grandfather, my father’s father, and the family had just broken the news to him that his youngest grandchild, my baby cousin, had died. It was
a sudden death, totally unexpected, and everyone was distraught. Grandpa too took the news very hard.
He then did something which surprised everyone present. He rose to leave the room, beckoning to me — his oldest grandchild, then 14 — to accompany him. We both entered a small adjoining room in which there were a few sacred books, including a siddur. He opened the siddur, read from it for several moments, and then looked up to me, and tearfully whispered:
“There is nothing worse in the world than the death of one’s own child. A parent never recovers from such a blow. May the merciful G-d protect us all from such a fate.”
I will never forget those words. I remember them verbatim even today. And a lifetime of
sen for this exact reason!” Meaning, the fact that you get embarrassed is the key character trait that allows you to be the Kohen Gadol.
It is certainly a tremendous character trait, to be humbled and to feel humiliation over a misdeed. However, it is troubling all the same, because if the criteria for being the Kohen Gadol is that you are the most humble person, then isn’t there a person higher on the humblest-of-all totem pole?
The Slonimer Rebbe explains that there are two kinds of humility.
1. The first kind is the one in which a person feels small and inconsequential with respect to the Creator of the World. Seeking the cosmos he says “I’m a speck in the infinity of the Universe.”
2. The second kind of humility comes
from embarrassment, through introspection, through looking at one’s deeds and realizing, I am unworthy to seek the presence of the Almighty.
The first type is Moshe’s model of humility. Having stood on the mountain he understood how small and insignificant he was. Aharon’s humility is described in number two. With all the associations made between Aharon and the Golden Calf, Aharon has to live with this tarnish on his reputation. He reaches an even greater height through his own broken heart and feeling of worthlessness.
Moshe never achieved Aharon’s form of humility because he was never involved in any kind of sin to the degree that Aharon was involved. And so Moshe is the chosen
experience in the vocation of counseling has confirmed the truth of these words over and over again.
In this week’s Torah portion, Parshat Shmini, we read of just such a tragedy. On a bright and sunny spring day, somewhere in the Sinai wilderness, the Tabernacle is being inaugurated. It is an awesome spiritual experience in which “a divine fire descends from on high, in which all the people sing in unison, and fall upon their faces.”
It is the moment of a peak experience, for all the people, but especially for Aaron, the High Priest. At that very moment, his two elder sons, Nadav and Avihu, step forward and commit a sacrilegious act which dispels the mood and ruins the entire experience. Commentators differ widely as to exactly
what was the sin of these two sons of Aaron. Scripture just says that “they offered G-d a strange fire, something He did not command of them.”
G-d’s wrath was expressed instantly. “A fire descended from before Him and consumed them, and they died in the presence of G-d.”
A father lost two children. Not through a long and debilitating illness but suddenly, unexpectedly. And not in any ordinary set of circumstances, but in the context of an act of sacred worship.
What is Aaron’s reaction? Does he moan and groan and rend his clothing? Does he scream out in grief? Or does he vent his anger against the G-d who took his boys from him? None of the above.
Parsha of the week
Rabbi avi biLLet Jewish Star columnist
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What the Shapiro attack says about America
It seems like a lot longer ago than just eight months since then Vice President Kamala Harris tapped Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz to be her running mate. Picking the inept Walz to stand beside her on the Democratic presidential ticket was one of a series of blunders that eventually led to her being defeated by President Donald Trump in November. Indeed, so tone deaf was her campaign to the national mood that it is highly likely that she would have lost even if she had not passed over the far more politically adept Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro in favor of Walz.
The arson attack by a person who claimed his motive was support for the Palestinians in their war against Israel on the governor’s mansion in Harrisburg is a brutal reminder of why Shapiro didn’t get a chance to help prop up Harris’s doomed campaign.
Shapiro was a far more impressive candidate than Walz turned out to be. He certainly would have fared better than Walz in the vice-presidential debate against then-Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio). He also might have potentially helped flip Pennsylvania into the Democratic column.
Instead, Trump won the commonwealth’s 19 Electoral College votes by a relatively slim but decisive 120,000 votes. Though he was as liberal as Walz on most issues, Harris picked the Minnesotan. The main reason was the widely held perception that Shapiro’s Jewish identity was disqualifying for many in her party’s left-wing base that reviles Israel.
In the end, neither that foolish decision nor a year’s worth of kowtowing to campus antisemites and American Muslim supporters of Hamas was enough to help Harris engender much enthusiasm from the intersectional activist wing of the Democratic Party, as working-class voters of all races turned out to help elect Trump and Vance.
Yet, as the Democratic Party rallies to the defense of elite universities being threatened with defunding by Trump because they refuse to stop tolerating and encouraging antisemitism, Jewhatred remains a problem for Shapiro’s party.
Antisemitism on the left
The arsonist, who reportedly also brought along a hammer with which he said he planned to assault the governor had he met him, was mentally unstable and had a criminal history. Yet much like the way mobs chanting for Israel’s destruction (“From the river to the sea”) and for terrorism (“Globalize the intifada”) have normalized intimidation and violence against Jews, his ravings about “the Palestinian people” and opposition to Israel’s war against Hamas illustrate the impact of the lies being spread about a “genocide” being committed in Gaza.
It goes without saying that had someone who was a Trump supporter committed such an attack, the liberal corporate media would have tied the crime to the president, and it would have remained a top story for weeks, if not months. Instead, the press is quickly moving on from the attempt to murder the Pennsylvania governor, and there are no op-eds in the New York Times or Washington Post claiming that left-wing Democrats have, at the very least, created an atmosphere in which such violence has become imaginable.
Of course, that’s exactly what Democrats and much of the press were saying in October 2018 when a crazed gunman, who blamed liberal Jewish groups for illegal immigration but also despised Trump because of his support for Israel, attacked a Pittsburgh synagogue and murdered 11 Jewish worshippers at a Shabbat service. Indeed, Shapiro himself, then the Attorney General of Pennsylvania, was saying much the same thing himself in the wake of that atrocity.
Shapiro and Muslims
That Shapiro has become an object of such suspicion and distaste for the left is ironic. When it comes to Israel, he is typical of most liberal Democratic officeholders. He was an early and enthusiastic supporter of President Barack Obama and never wavered from that position during that administration’s eight years of criticism of Israel and appeasement of Iran. He has attacked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as “one of the worst leaders of all time.”
On Israel and the war in Gaza, he is far to the left of fellow Pennsylvania Democrat Sen.
The only reason he is disliked by his party’s left-wing base is his open embrace of his Jewish identity and refusal to completely disavow any support for Israel in the manner of far-left Jewish politicians like Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont.
Pennsylvania Gov.
John Fetterman. Shapiro has also been actively trying to build bridges to the anti-Israel left. During the brief period when he was under consideration for the vice-presidential nomination, he disavowed two entirely reasonable op-eds he had written when he was a student because they stated the obvious truth that peace between Israel and the Palestinians was “virtually impossible.”
And just days before the arson attack on his home, the governor was being criticized by some in the Jewish community for his decision to give a $5 million state grant to a Philadelphia mosque — the largest-ever to a Pennsylvaniabased Muslim institution — that is notorious as a hotbed of antisemitism.
In doing so, Shapiro was sticking to the left’s disingenuous argument that a mythical wave of Islamophobia was morally equivalent to the unprecedented surge of antisemitism that has arisen since the Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. The decision was announced when Shapiro attended an Iftar dinner at the mosque, where he said the taxpayer funding of the expansion of the Al-Aqsa Islamic Society was a response to what he described as “tumult overseas,” adding that “we’re facing a lot of rising hate here at home.”
Yet none of that has exempted Shapiro from being the object of hatred from the left. The only reason why he is disliked by his party’s left-wing base — and considered “egregiously bad on Palestine” by the New Republic and Slate — is because of his open embrace of his Jewish identity and refusal to completely disavow any support for Israel in the manner of far-left Jewish politicians like Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont.
This raises serious questions about more than Shapiro’s political future.
Future for American Jews
Shapiro is one of those Democrats obviously vying for the leadership of his party’s centrist wing. In his case, moderation is more a matter
of tone than policy, as demonstrated last July by his graceful reaction to the attempted assassination of President Trump in Butler, Pa. He remains very popular in Pennsylvania, something that will likely be boosted by the sympathy for him and his family after the arson attack. A highly-skilled politician, he is regarded as a heavy favorite for re-election in 2026 and is already on the short list of the most serious contenders for his party’s presidential nomination in 2028.
But it remains to be seen how he will ultimately fare in a party in which radical Israelbashers like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of Queens and the Bronx, who is inheriting Sanders’s position as putative leader of the left, want to wage war on Trump and the Republicans rather than at least trying to appear to want to unify the country, as Shapiro does.
In the aftermath of Oct. 7, the vilification of nominally pro-Israel Jews, even Obamasupporting liberals like the Pennsylvania governor, has been normalized by the political left on college campuses and in the media. This has created an atmosphere in which Jewish public figures who do not disavow Israel are anathema to the Democrats’ intersectional base.
More than that, it also proves that antisemitism isn’t, as Democrats long asserted, solely a phenomenon of the extremist right. Rooted in “progressive” orthodoxies like critical race theory, intersectionality and settler-colonialism, it is now a feature of mainstream political discourse on the left.
That has not only isolated liberal Jews who have realized that longtime allies in other minority communities have largely abandoned them and institutions where they once felt at home are now hostile environments. It has created exactly the kind of atmosphere in which Jews of all sorts, whether on college campuses or even in the Pennsylvania governor’s mansion, cannot consider themselves entirely safe.
Write: Columnist@TheJewishStar.com.
Josh Shapiro and his wife Lori Shapiro speak to reporters outside a Harrisburg fire station after serving lunch to thank firefighters who responded to the arson attack at the governor’s mansion on April 17. Commonwealth Media Services
JOnATHAn S. TObin
JnS Editor-in-Chief
Bangladesh: ‘Valid for all countries except Israel’
There’s an unwritten rule among governments in many Muslim countries — when things go wrong at home, turn on the State of Israel.
Bangladesh, one of the poorest and most densely populated countries in Asia, provides the latest example of this tactic.
Last week, the authorities in Dhaka announced that they were reintroducing what is essentially a disclaimer on the passports issued to its citizens: “Valid for all countries except Israel.” That shameful inscription was abandoned in 2021 by the government of recently ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, although it was never followed up with diplomatic outreach to Israel, much less recognition of the Jewish state’s right to a peaceful and sovereign existence.
The rationale for the move in 2021 was that Bangladeshi passports had to be brought up to date with international standards. However, the
In spite of antisemitic violence in Western countries and coldshouldering of Israel by countries without a direct stake in the conflict, this remains a war that Israel must win.
The real
GLOBAL FOCUS BEN COHEN mELANiE pHiLLipS British journalist
Twar in the Gaza Strip triggered by the Hamas pogrom in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, has apparently canceled out that imperative.
“For many years, our passports carried the ‘except Israel’ clause. But the previous government suddenly removed it,” Brig. Gen. Mohammad Nurus Salam, passports director at the Department of Immigration, told the Arab News. Somewhat disingenuously, he added:
“We were used to seeing ‘except Israel’ written in our passports. I don’t know why they took it out. If you talk to people across the country, you’ll see they want that line back in their passports. There was no need to remove it.”
It’s been 25 years since I was in Bangladesh, where I spent several months as a BBC consultant assisting with the launch of the country’s first private TV news station. One of the aspects that struck me profoundly — in contrast to Salam’s claim that the people want their passports to preclude travel to Israel — was the lack of hostility towards Israel among the many Bangladeshis I met and worked with, and I have no reason to believe that this attitude has fundamentally shifted.
Most Bangladeshis are consumed by their own country’s vast problems, and the distant Israeli-Palestinian conflict does not impinge in any way on the resolution of those.
When I told people that I was Jewish, had family in Israel and had spent a great deal of time there, the most common response was curiosity. For the great majority, I was the first Jew they had ever met, and they eagerly quizzed me about the Jewish religion, often noting the overlaps with Islamic practices, such as circumcision and the prohibition on consuming pork.
“What is Israel like? What are the people like?” was a conversation I engaged in on more than one occasion.
I remember with great affection a journalist called Salman, a devout Muslim who invited me to his home for an iftar meal during Ramadan. Salman was convinced that there were still a couple of Jews living in Bangladesh, and he
combed Dhaka trying to find them so that he could introduce me (he never succeeded because there were no Jews there, but I appreciated his efforts).
I also remember members of the Hindu community, who compose about 8% of the population, drawing positive comparisons between Bangladesh’s Indian-backed 1971 War of Independence against Muslim Pakistan and Israel’s own War of Independence in 1947-48.
To understand why Bangladesh has taken this regressive decision requires a hard look at its domestic politics.
In August of last year, the government of Sheikh Hasina — the daughter of independence leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the dominant political figure over the past 30 years — was overthrown following a wave of protest against its well-documented corruption, discriminatory practices and judicial interference. Her downfall was accompanied by a surge of
sectarian violence against Hindu homes, businesses and temples, with more than 2,000 incidents recorded over a two-week period.
In the eyes of many, Hindus were associated with Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League Party, and the violence against them suggested that Islamist positions were making headway in a country that flew the banner of secular nationalism in its bid to win freedom from Pakistani rule.
The passport decision can be viewed in a similar light: Bangladesh asserting its identity as a Muslim country standing in solidarity with the Palestinians, the Islamic world’s pre-eminent cause, at the same time as breaking with the legacy of Sheikh Hasina’s rule.
Yet that stance will not alleviate the fiscal misery of Bangladeshi citizens, with more than one in four people living below the poverty line. Nor will it address the chronic infrastruc-
Cohen on page 23
lesson of the attack on Josh Shapiro
he attack on the home of Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro carries a number of lessons, none sharper and more urgent than the wake-up call for those who are least likely to want to acknowledge it.
Last Saturday night, the Jewish Democratic governor had completed the Passover seder with his family and gone to bed in his official residence when it was firebombed in the small hours. Police roused the family and evacuated them without any injury, but the damage to the house was extensive.
Cody Balmer, a 38-year-old mechanic from Harrisburg, called the authorities on Sunday at 2:50 am and admitted to firebombing the house less than an hour previously. He confessed to 911 operators that he had brought with him homemade Molotov cocktails and that if the governor had confronted him, Balmer would have beaten him with a hammer.
State police said he had targeted Shapiro
Despite this appalling attack on one of their own, the Democrats and their supporters have been remarkably silent.
“based upon perceived injustices to the people of Palestine,” as well as on account of his Jewish faith. So it appears that Balmer’s murderous attack was fueled by his antisemitism and his support for the Palestinian cause.
This attack reveals various things about that cause. For Balmer is not an Islamist. He’s not a neo-Nazi. He’s not a Palestinian Arab. He’s a white-skinned, American Palestinian supporter.
He was reportedly angry with Shapiro over the governor’s position on the war in Gaza. According to a police search warrant, Balmer said he needed to know that Shapiro “will not take part in his plans for what he wants to do to the Palestinian people.”
This is obviously absurd. Shapiro poses no threat to the Palestinians. He has been a strong supporter of Israel during the war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip, backing Israeli government actions, likening some pro-Palestinian protesters to the Ku Klux Klan and supporting efforts to penalize institutions that divest from Israel.
But he has also said that he supports a twostate solution and wants Palestinian and Jewish people to live in peace.
Moreover, rather than stopping Shapiro from a wholly imaginary attack on Palestinians, Balmer tried to do to Shapiro and his family what the Palestinians have actually done to Jews.
Balmer deliberately set fire to the governor’s mansion, knowing that Shapiro and his family were inside. On Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led Palestinians from Gaza burned Israelis alive.
The claim that the Israelis are monsters who are willfully killing Palestinian civilians is a malevolent invention promoted by the Palestinian Arabs and their supporters in the West, who blame Israel for crimes committed by the Pal-
estinians, of which the Israelis are, in fact, the victims.
In the days leading up to the arson at the governor’s mansion — while Balmer was out on bail for attacking his wife and child — family members had attempted to have him committed to a psychiatric institution. He is, by all accounts, mentally ill.
While he is therefore not typical of Palestinian supporters, the hysterical incitement against Israel and the Jews since the Oct. 7 massacre has clearly played a significant role in
the particular direction Balmer’s derangement has taken him.
In the past 18 months of hate mobs targeting Jews for intimidation, abuse and violent attacks on college campuses and in the streets of major Western cities, demonstrators have chanted “Globalize the intifada!” Well, the attack on Shapiro’s house is what “Globalize the intifada!” looks like.
Nothing has been done to stop this incitement to violence. And now, an unhinged indi-
See Phillips on page 23
Extensive fire damage to the Pennsylvania Governor’s Mansion in Harrisburg, the residence of Gov. Josh Shapiro, after an arson attack on April 12. Matthew Hatcher, Getty Images.via JNS
Young men stand above the crowd holding a Palestinian flag and a “Stop Genocide in Gaza” sign during a rally in Dhaka, Bangladesh on April 12. Mehedi Hasan, Middle East Images, AFP via Getty Images via JNS
See
Antisemitism goes back to Moses and Pharaoh
RAPHAEL SHORE
‘Big Bad Jew’
King Pharaoh of Egypt’s propaganda campaign might seem distant, but look a little closer and you’ll see something chilling: The script hasn’t changed much in 3,500 years. Here are three enduring lessons from the Exodus that can help us better understand the real nature of antisemitism, then and now.
1. Antisemitism isn’t about the stated reasons. It’s about the Jewish spiritual threat Pharaoh didn’t say, “We hate the Jews because they believe in one god,” or “They make us uncomfortable because they won’t assimilate.”
No. He claimed that the Jews were a national security threat.
“The Israelites are becoming too numerous. … If war breaks out, they might join our enemies and fight against us,” Exodus 1:9-10. Really? A group of shepherds and laborers who had lived peacefully in Goshen for generations was suddenly a military threat capable of starting a war?
It was a lie. A pretext. And that’s the first insight: Antisemitism rarely presents itself honestly. It hides behind superficial grievances — economic anxiety, political conspiracy, military suspicion — even the idea that Jews are easy scapegoats, but these are fig leaves.
The Exodus from Egypt is the world’s oldest case study, with lessons that are alarmingly relevant.
The deeper truth, as the Torah reveals and Hitler expressed, is that antisemitism is rarely about the superficial reasons given; it’s about the Jews being a spiritual and ideological threat. Hitler said World War II was “ideologically a battle between National Socialism and the Jews.”
Antisemitism is not your run-of-the-mill racism; it’s about the Jewish soul, a light that refuses to be extinguished, threatening those who want to dwell in spiritual darkness. Jew-hatred, in the end, is not about what Jews do. It’s about what Jews are and what they represent.
2. The tragedy of self-hating Jews, then and now.
According to Rashi, only 20% of the Jews left Egypt. The other 80% perished during the plague of darkness (Rashi on Exodus, 12:38). The Exodus story thus reveals a second, more painful truth about antisemitism. It doesn’t just come from external enemies; sometimes, it’s fueled by Jews who turn against their own people, driven by self-hatred or a failure to embrace their Jewish identity.
Some among the 80% actively worked to undermine Moses. The Midrash teaches that there were Israelites who collaborated with the Egyptian taskmasters and would inform on their brethren. Others mocked Moses and Aaron when they came with news of the redemption.
We see this today in the phenomenon of Jewish activists aligning with our enemies, joining campus protests that demonize Israel while it defends itself from terrorism. Groups like Jewish Voice for Peace march under banners that might as well have been written in Tehran or Moscow, accusing Israel of genocide while remaining silent about the atrocities of Hamas.
In the days of the Maccabees, we had the Hellenists — Jews who actively opposed Jewish observance, embraced Greek culture, and persecuted their own brothers for observing Judaism. In Medieval Europe, we saw prominent
apostates, baptized Jews, leading anti-Jewish campaigns, helping fuel the Inquisition and blood libels. These were not fringe exceptions.
When society teaches you to be ashamed of your Jewishness, some will run from it, and some will turn against it. On many campuses today, supporting Israel or expressing Jewish pride makes you a target. For many, it’s easier to join the mob than to stand apart. Young Jews often reject their Jewishness to gain acceptance in a “progressive” world that demands we “check our Jewishness at the door.”
But the Exodus reminds us: when redemption came, it was only for those who still knew they were Jews. You didn’t have to be perfect, but you did have to belong.
3. Antisemitism as a Divine tool to awaken our unique identity.
The third insight from the Exodus story is both humbling and profound: Antisemitism often serves as G-d’s tool to remind us of who
we are.
The Midrash teaches that the Jews were redeemed from Egypt because they maintained their distinctiveness — they didn’t change their clothes, names, or language, even in the face of slavery (Shemot Rabbah 1:28). Even in the depths of oppression, the Jews understood they were different.
In my book, “Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Jew?,” I explore how Jew-hatred often jolts Jews back to consciousness. The yellow star Jews were forced to wear in Germany in 1935 was meant to humiliate and isolate us; yet for many, it awakened a sense of pride and solidarity. And on Oct. 7, in a world where many Jews felt safe, indistinguishable and post-tribal, the masks came off.
Like the Nazis, Hamas didn’t ask who was “religious,” they didn’t check denominational boxes. They reminded us that in the eyes of our
Shore on page 23
Fighting Israel’s second war of independence
It’s been 18 months since Hamas’s invasion of Israel and the barbaric pogrom that followed. Hamas is still holding and torturing hostages. The Israel Defense Forces is still fighting not just Hamas but also Hamas’s allies, all of them guided and supported by the jihadi regime in Tehran.
That’s the bad news.
The good news: Painfully but steadily, Israelis have been making progress against enemies who intend not to subjugate but to exterminate them.
Israel’s first War of Independence, 1948-49, lasted 20 months. This one will take longer.
On a brief but intensive tour of Israel last week — from the Golan Heights in the north to the Negev Desert in the south — I and other representatives of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) were briefed by a long list of senior political and military officials. All appeared tired but resolute. All made clear that never again will they allow a “ring of fire” to burn on Israel’s borders.
Never again will Israelis allow a ‘ring of fire’ to burn on their nation’s borders.
Start with Gaza. On March 18, after Hamas declined to release additional hostages in exchange for extending a three-month ceasefire, Israel resumed combat operations.
Since then, according to an IDF spokesman, “We have struck more than 600 terrorist targets,” killing more than more than 250 terrorists, “including twelve senior members of the Hamas … all terrorists, all of whom took part in the Oct. 7 massacre.”
On March 25, thousands of Gazans began taking to the streets to demand that Hamas end the conflict and alleviate their suffering.
Hamas has responded by abducting, torturing and executing these protestors, calling them “collaborators” and “traitors.”
Move on to Lebanon, where the IDF last week conducted airstrikes targeting such top Hezbollah figures as Hassan Bdeir, who also was an official with Tehran’s elite Quds Force.
In Syria, the IDF has been striking military infrastructure including three air bases that now can’t be used by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the Islamist group that in December overthrew longtime Syrian dictator Bashar Assad, who had been Tehran’s satrap.
HTS is led by Ahmad al-Sharaa, aka his nom de guerre Abu Mohammad al-Joulani. In January, he proclaimed himself president of Syria, a position which, he correctly perceives, requires that he wear suits and ties.
It should be recalled, however, that in 2012 he founded the al-Nusra Front, an al-Qaeda affiliate. That fact does not bother Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Sharaa’s most significant supporter.
Since the fall of the Assad regime, Israeli troops have been stationed on Mount Hermon on the boundary of Israel’s Golan Heights. From there, they monitor activities in
both southern Syria and southern Lebanon. Implicitly, Israel is sending a message to Erdogan, who recently called — not for the first time — for Israel’s elimination, and who may be planning to make Syria a Turkish colony with military bases that could threaten Israel.
I’ll take note today of just one more front: Israeli intelligence has facilitated US airstrikes against Yemen’s Houthi rebels who occasionally fire missiles (most of them made in Iran) at Israel. The American aim, as US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has said, is to end Houthi attacks on international shipping and restore freedom of navigation in the Red Sea.
These developments are encouraging but, as Israelis are now more acutely aware than
ever, there can be no higher priority than preventing the regime in Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
“If Tehran gets a nuke,” one senior military officer told me, “all our other military achievements will be for nothing.”
Last year, Iran’s rulers attacked Israel directly on two occasions. In April, they launched more than 300 drones and missiles. Most were intercepted with minimal damage thanks to Israeli, US, and other defenses.
In October, they fired more than 200 missiles at Israeli targets. Again, combined air defense systems proved astonishingly effective. Israel retaliated with a series of airstrikes
See May on page 23
A chart of cities in Israel on the top of mount Nebo. Mount Nebo is where Moses was given a view of the promised land that G-d was giving to the Jews. Matanya Tausig, Flash90
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir (left) and Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) director Ronen Bar during a visit to the Gaza Strip on April 2. IDF
See
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Sefiros: A Jewish morally-based math lesson
Kosher Bookworm
AlAn JAy GerBer
IJewish Star columnist
n his commentary on the Counting of the Omer, “The Siddur Illuminated By Chassidus, Shabbos” (Merkos/Kehot, 2015), Rabbi Eliyahu Touger, formerly of Cedarhurst, now of Har Nof in Jerusalem, teaches us that “the root of the term ‘sefirah,’ translated as ‘counting,’ also has the meaning of luminance, as in the phrase, ‘even sapir,’ a luminous sapphire stone.” (Yechezkel, 1:26)
“Similarly,” he continues, “the Ten Sefiros are so named because they shine forth Divine light. This is the mystic implication of the commandment: ‘And you shall count for yourselves,’ that is, you shall make yourselves luminous. The mitzvah of Sefiras HaOmer involves drawing down the light of the Ten Sefiros so that it shines and is internalized within a person as he exists in this lowly realm.”
This teaching, linking a timely mitzvah and the Jewish mystical tradition, is expanded upon
Mazurek…
Continued from page 17 tunate enough, Baruch Hashem, to have their parents, and customarily leave as the Yizkor service is about to begin. Not in Israel, where everyone is urged to stay as the entire kehila says Kel Maleh and other prayers for the loss of our fighting men and women. Only afterwards do those who, thank G-d, have no need for personal remembrance choose to leave. But those numbers are few, because virtually everyone has been affected by the loss of someone they know or is close to someone who has sustained such a loss.
The bonds and connections to one another in this tiny country are vast and mysterious.
The remarkable Rabbi Avi Goldberg, hy”d, who fell on October 26, 2024, would daven periodically in Nitzanim and I recognized him from his picture. Just before his shloshim, I met his mother-in-law in the Macabbi medical office we both go to, and found out she is best of friends with our former rebbetzin of the Young Israel of Great Neck, the outstanding Abby Lerner.
Hersh Goldberg-Polin, hy”d, killed by Hamas in August 2024, who became the symbol of American and Israeli hostages held in Gaza. I never met him, but his grandmother Leah is my neighbor in Florida and I’ve met his parents, sadly previously at gatherings pressing for his release and then most recently, two weeks ago with thousands of others recalling his memory.
Himmelfarb High School, a prominent high school in Jerusalem, where Rav Avi Goldberg taught and Hersh attended as a student, lost nine graduates since October 7. While I did not meet these individuals, I attended some of the funerals and shivas, and heard about them from those who knew them. My good friends, Michal and Moshe Natan, especially Moshe who taught at Himmelfarb for many years, made the stories of these holy neshamot come to life.
Imagine, chas v’Shalom, a local yeshiva high school in your community, rachmana Iitzlan, losing so many in such a way, in so short a time — how could you not feel it personally? And this is just in Jerusalem. Multiply that in communities across the country and you might understand the depth of the feeling of loss.
Our cantor, Yitz Weiner, chanted in Hallel, “Ana Hashem, hoshea na … Ana Hashem, hatzlicha na (Please, Hashem, save us, Please, Hashem, make us successful)” to the tune of Israeli musician and songwriter Naomi Shemer’s “Al Kol Eleh,” in which she sings, “Al had’vash v’al haoketz, al hamar v’hamatok (the honey and the sting, the bitter and the sweet).”
It’s an ostensibly secular song, which re-
in “The Sefiros and the Self: A Divine Blueprint for Self-Discovery and Personal Growth” (Feldheim, 2016), by Rabbi Yaakov Feder, a longtime presence in the Five Towns.
This learned work, utilizing user-friendly terminology, goes into great detail to teach us the importance of the Jewish mystical tradition and its application to everyday life.
Rabbi Alter Metzger of Yeshiva University states in his approbation: “One of the foremost challenges of the modern Jewish world is the sense of disconnect between spiritual and material values. It is a constant struggle to incorporate lofty ideas into daily life. There is a great need for tools that help translate the timeless lessons of Torah into down-to-earth terms. … By focusing on common scenarios and real-world problems, Rabbi Yaakov Feder provides a grounded system that can help the individual repair his or her own inner disconnect and dysfunctionality.”
Over the years, in addition to his business enterprises, Rabbi Feder has been writing thoughts on Chassidus, attempting to map out and define the complex structure of these ideas. The author’s been motivated by two great passions — systematic self-improvement and the deep abstract concepts of Chassidic teachings — and they
dounds with such deep meaning of the paradox of the Jew, especially in the land of Israel, which always brought me close to tears; this year, it made me actually weep. Even as I was thanking Hashem for His miraculous beneficence I was crying out: “Please Hashem, save now! Please Hashem bring success now!”
Too often when we sing about the d’vash and the oketz (the honey and the sting), we dwell on the sting. We must remember the honey, for there is so much to be grateful for.
Another song that we sing on Pesach, “V’Hi She’amdah,” recounts the promise of Hashem that despite the many “who are in every generation to destroy us,” HaKadush Baruch Hu, Hasham Himself, “saves us from their hand.”
These two songs — Naomi Shemer’s “Al Kol Eleh” (a secular song that has become religiously influenced) and “Vehi Sheamda” (a religious song which, sung to Yonatan Razel’s amazingly moving melody, that has become a secular national anthem) — define the paradox of being a Jew in Israel, and are cause for both painful reflection and tearful rejoicing.
Just as tears are shed when we are sad, they also flow when we are happy. Paradoxes, by definition, defy logic and rationality. That is why we, who believe ultimately in Hashem‘s guiding hand, conclude our Hallel that, no matter what, “Hodu L’ashem Ki Tov, Ki L’Olam Chasdo (Give thanks to Hashem for He is Good, His Kindness Endures Forever”).
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. To reach him, write: Columnist@TheJewishStar.com
Freedman…
Continued from page 17 would not live out the year. Indeed, the student died less than a year later. Obviously there is a larger issue at stake here.
Rav Chaim Shmuelevitz, in his Sichos Mussar, suggests that the undermining of rabbinic leadership is a much bigger issue than just disrespect for a teacher. Judaism itself, as a viable ongoing tradition, depends on whether and how we respect the rabbis who teach us Torah. Indeed, one can find this question in one of the most magnificent events in Jewish history, as well as one if its most infamous.
When the Jewish people leave Egypt for Canaan, Moshe suddenly instructs them to head back towards Egypt (Shemot 14:2). Incredibly, the Jews listen to Moshe and turn around; there is not a word of protest. It’s almost as though G-d had designed this mo-
are reflected in this book. By analyzing the model of godly attributes, the Sefiros, we can effectively implement them into a plan for personal development and growth.
As a businessman, Rabbi Feder was able to appreciate firsthand
the daily down-to-earth struggle of blending Torah values within our living in a mundane world.
When dealing with financial and political matters, we often encounter the baser side of ourselves. Rabbi Feder realizes that just because a person is learned in our tradition, this does not guarantee that he will behave and act accordingly; nor is a frum upbringing a strong indicator that an individual will adopt a mature, moral,
ment to demonstrate that we need to listen to our leaders unfailingly.
But the sin of the Golden Calf begins essentially because the Jewish people do not respect their elders. They did not consult with Aharon and Chur, whom Moshe had left in charge, even murdering Chur for his attempt to defy the mob.
Jewish tradition can only exist if we are committed to a leadership that we are prepared to follow without hesitation (though a teacher who wishes to forgo his honor may do so; Rambam Hilchot Talmud Torah 5:11).
So how do we differentiate between the value of different opinions and the obedience that true respect for Torah demands?
Perhaps we need to start with the question of what a rav, particularly a moreh halacha, is. In fact, one might suggest that if we are struggling with whether to adhere to the rulings of a rav, then he is not not really our true teacher.
I recently found an interesting point attributed to the great halachic arbiter of the last generation, Rav Moshe Feinstein, zt”l. Noting that the book of Vayikra is also known as Torat Kohanim (the book of laws pertaining to priests), Rav Moshe finds it peculiar that Moshe is exhorted to speak to the entire Jewish people first, and only in the second portion, Tzav, to the Kohanim.
Perhaps because in order to choose educated leaders, we have to first be somewhat educated ourselves. It is not an accident that the greatest Torah leaders belong to the communities of the most Torah-educated Jews.
True leadership begins with trust; we have to be willing to accept what our rabbis teach us even when we find it difficult. Otherwise they are no longer really our teachers. And a Judaism without rabbinic leadership is an orphaned Judaism. It cannot survive.
A rabbi can forgo his honor, and he can encourage divergence of opinion in matters of politics and daily living, but he cannot compromise his Torah principles.
We owe it to our children to become educated enough to appoint and choose Torah leadership well versed in Jewish tradition and Torah knowledge. And we owe them just as much to find a rabbinic leadership whose halachic decisions we can accept without hesitation, even when we find them difficult to understand.
As Rabbi Eliezer intuited, and the Torah teaches through the tragic story of Nadav and Avihu, a Judaism which disrespects or disavow our teachers simply because we do not like their rulings cannot survive.
Shabbat shalom from Jerusalem.
Rabbi Freedman is rosh yeshiva at Yeshivat Orayta in Jerusalem.
Write: Columnist@TheJewishStar.com
honestly functional lifestyle and live as a moral, functional human with a self-developed character.
“The Sefiros and the Self” addresses the need to actively encourage healthy moral character development, a focus that’s needed in Jewish life and education. Ve’hamevin yavin.
I conclude this week’s essay with the words on Rabbi Feder’s teachings by Rabbi Moshe Weinberger, spiritual leader of Aish Kodesh of Woodmere:
“In my conversation with Reb Yaakov Feder regarding his trailblazing sefer, I shared with him my impression that ‘The Sefiros and the Self’ is literally bursting with ‘oro shel Moshiach.’ The time has come for all to understand how the highest most sublime G-d is revealed through the ‘self’ of our very real and earthly personalities, challenges and accomplishments. …
“By using clear illustrations drawn by modern day life and wisdom, Reb Yaakov Feder has opened the doors to the soul, making the deepest mystery of man accessible to all serious students of Torah and Chassidus. This is a masterpiece.”
To which I can only add my take: Amein. Previously published.
Write: Columnist@TheJewishStar.com
Billet…
Continued from page 17
leader who is able to confront G-d and tell Him, “You can’t destroy the people!” But Moshe does not receive the resting of G-d’s spirit, so intrinsic to the representative to brings the offerings and sacrifices on behalf of the people. So significant is this particular brand of humility that King David wrote in Chapter 51 of Tehillim (the one composed after Natan the Prophet chastised him for his role in taking BatSheva and causing the death of Uriah), “For You do not wish a sacrifice, or I should give it; You do not desire a burnt offering. The sacrifices of G-d are a broken spirit; O G-d, You will not despise a broken and crushed heart” (verses 18-19).
Of all people, King David realized that when you’ve been to the Dark Side of sin, there’s only one road back. And it’s a difficult road of facing up to error, of recognizing bad choices in life. Who is greater? The person who sees G-d as beyond infinity and, then upon reflection says, “And I am nothing”? Or the person who reflects on personal life choices, says, “I should not have done that. I have to live with my error. I am so grateful for a second chance. I am unworthy of having a role in a society. I’ll take what I can get. Thanks to the Almighty for second chances.”
Idon’t think we have to look at these two types as in competition. But we do need to ask ourselves which of these is more relatable to our experience, and where can our humility take us if indeed we see our smallness on account of it?
It’s a personal challenge for each of us, to reach the point where our humility is not only sincere but has the chance to outshine the humility of those who haven’t tasted sin. Moshe became a “servant of G-d” and a “Man of G-d.” Aharon is arguably most famous for being a lover and pursuer of peace. I don’t think either of these reputations are accidental. They come from knowing yourself, facing your personal devils, and making a decision of where am I going to focus my energy. Moshe focused it on Torah and G-d. Aharon focused it on people and G-d.
Whichever way we can identify is the path we ought to forge. And hopefully, like Moshe and Aharon before us, and like the model set by King David in Tehillim, let our efforts bring us closer and closer to that ultimate goal of having a unique and special relationship with G-d. Avi Billet, who grew up in the Five Towns, is a South Florida-based mohel and rabbi of Anshei Chesed Congregation in Boynton Beach. This column was previously published. To reach Rabbi Billet, write: Columnist@TheJewishStar.com
Weinreb…
Continued from page 17
“Vayidom Aharon.” Aaron is silent. Slence of shock? Perhaps. Silence of acceptance of fate? Or, perhaps, the silence which results when the range and depth of one’s emotions are too overwhelming to express in words.
If the sage words that my grandfather shared with me in my early adolescence are true, and I have every reason to believe that they are, Aaron remained silent about his grief for the rest of his life. Had he used the words of his ancestor Jacob, he could have said “I will go down to the grave in my agony.”
Soon after this episode in which my grandfather shared his wisdom with me I had the occasion to read a book which taught me a bit more about a grieving parent. The book, “Death Be Not Proud” by John Gunther, was assigned in my English Literature class.
I somehow doubt that this book is still on the required reading lists of many tenth graders today, but I certainly recommend that it be read, particularly by teenagers who are learning their first lessons about life and its tragic disappointments.
In the book, the author describes his own son, who was taken from him by a vicious disease. He describes his son positively, but realistically. And he rages against the disease, and in some way, the Divine being who took his son from him. He insists to Death itself that it be not proud about its victory over its victim, his dear child.
It has been decades since I read Gunther’s book, and it could very well be that I do not remember it with complete accuracy. But I recall the poignancy and the power with which the author conveyed the full range of his painful emotions. And I will never forget those passages in which he insists that he will never recover from his loss, that the wounds of a parent’s grief for his child can never heal.
Many are the lessons which students of Bible and Talmud have derived from the sad narrative contained in this week’s Torah portion. But there is at least one lesson which every empathic reader will surely learn as he or she attends to the opening verses of Leviticus 10.
It is the lesson contained in the mystery of Aaron’s reaction when his sons are consumed by a heavenly fire. For within the deafening silence of “Vayidom Aharon” are the depths of the terror which every parent dreads, and some parents have suffered. The dread of bereavement, of the loss of one’s child.
As always, in contemplating darkness, light stands out in contrast. Reflection upon death leads to an appreciation of life. The story of the death of Aaron’s children should, if nothing else, enable us to appreciate all the more those of our children who are alive and well.
As we embark upon this spring season, with all the springtime symbols in the way of life and renewal, let us celebrate and appreciate all of our own offspring, may they live and be well.
Write: Columnist@TheJewishStar.com
Cohen…
Continued from page 19
ture problems that plague the country’s foreign trade, or tackle the bureaucracy and red tape that crushes entrepreneurship and innovation. In short, supporting the Palestinians brings no material benefits for ordinary Bangladeshis, who would doubtless gain from a genuine relationship with Israel that would introduce, among many other advantages, more efficient water technology to counter the presence of arsenic and the lack of sanitation that often renders Bangladesh’s large reserves of water unusable and undrinkable.
Even so, ideology and Muslim identity may not be the only explanations for the Bangladeshi decision. It can also be seen as a gesture towards Qatar, the wealthiest country in the Islamic world, which has artfully cultivated trade and diplomatic ties with a slew of
less developed countries, Bangladesh included. Last year, Qatar’s ruler, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, paid a two-day state to Bangladesh that showcased Doha’s contributions in the form of bilateral trade worth $3 billion as well as millions of dollars in Qatari grants for school and higher education. Such largesse on the part of the Qataris is a critical means of ensuring that governments in Bangladesh and other Muslim nations stay away from the Abraham Accords countries that have made a peace of sorts with Israel.
Bangladesh is not, of course, the only country to prevent its citizens from traveling to Israel or denying entry to Israeli passport holders.
A few days after the Bangladeshi decision, the Maldives (another Muslim country that enjoys close relations with Qatar) announced that Israelis would no longer be permitted to visit. None of these bans is likely to be lifted as long as Israel is at war with the Hamas terrorists in Gaza, Iran’s regional proxies and the Iranian regime itself.
The ripple effects of that war — antisemitic violence in Western countries, cold-shouldering of Israel by countries without a direct stake in the conflict — will continue to be felt. None of that changes the plain fact that this remains a war that Israel must win.
Write: Columnist@TheJewishStar.com
Phillips…
Continued from page 19
vidual has taken this message and run with it.
Shapiro is a senior Democrat who shot to national prominence when he was considered as a vice-presidential running mate for Kamala Harris in last year’s presidential election.
Yet despite this appalling attack on one of their own, the Democrats and their supporters have been remarkably silent. There’s been virtually no shocked outrage from those quarters. In the liberal media, there has been only the most subdued reporting.
The reason for this is as obvious as it is shameful. This attempted murder was committed in support of the Palestine cause. And such is the commitment by liberals to that cause that they can’t bring themselves to react against the terrible deed that was done in its name.
They will be busily telling themselves that Balmer is mentally ill, which seems true. But if a mentally ill neo-Nazi had firebombed a black family, the Democrats and the liberal media would be shouting from the rooftops about the inherent racism of Western society. If a white-skinned thug had tried to burn alive a prominent Muslim family, liberals would have convulsed for days over the nation’s “Islamophobia.”
If Shapiro’s mansion had been firebombed by a member of the Proud Boys screaming about the Great Replacement, the Democrats and liberal media would have erupted with charges of far-right antisemitism, and every conservative patriot would have been tarred with a murderous ideology.
In all these hypothetical instances, the attack would have been seen as politically motivated. But when an attack is mounted in the name of the Palestinians, liberals are suddenly struck dumb.
This is because they cannot bring themselves to acknowledge that such a terrible act has been committed in support of a cause upon which they hang their claim to be moral, compassionate and decent people. To condemn it would be to condemn themselves.
It awakens their deepest fear — that to denounce the motivation for such an act would destroy their moral and political personality. They are terrified that it would turn them into the thing they dread more than anything else — to become “right-wing.” In their minds, this is synonymous with evil.
But the Palestinian cause that they so devoutly support is not moral or decent. It’s motivated by genocidal aspirations and Jew-hatred, and violence is its calling card.
Its supporters in the West — having swallowed the egregious lies on which this cause is
based — peddle a grotesque inversion of reality in which Israel is blamed for defending itself against a barbaric and genocidal onslaught in a seven-front war of annihilation. It is these Palestinian supporters who are spreading evil.
Balmer told the police that he believed Shapiro’s stance on the war in Gaza was leading to the deaths of Palestinians. It’s not just mentally ill individuals who believe such a thing about Israel and Diaspora Jews.
Since Oct. 7, liberal media and politicians have been promoting the lie that Israel is purposefully killing Gazan civilians, of whom the majority are women and children. The fact that this is totally untrue hasn’t stopped it from becoming so deeply believed and causing such anger among the public that Jews in the Diaspora are being regularly ostracized and abused for supporting the “killing of Palestinian babies.”
Jews find themselves targeted for collective punishment over the malicious fantasy of the crimes of Israel. Individual Jews in the West are singled out grotesquely as accomplices to these alleged crimes simply by dint of their supporting Israel’s attempt to defend itself against annihilation. They also find themselves accused of bad faith if they call out the rampant Jew-hatred that’s exploded across America and Western nations.
Diaspora Jews are being gaslighted, abused, ostracized, intimidated, threatened and attacked just for standing up as Jews for their people and for truth and justice—and now an attempt has been made to burn one of them alive.
What Balmer’s attack tells the West is that, in supporting the Palestinian cause, it is endorsing an innately murderous, hate-mongering and malevolently mendacious creed.
The Israel-haters can hardly try to excuse Balmer’s attack on Shapiro as the action of a madman, given that the blood libels they themselves perpetrate have now caused countless thousands of people in the West to lose their own minds over Israel and the Jews.
Write: Columnist@TheJewishStar.com
Shore…
Continued from page 20
enemies — and in the eyes of Heaven — we are one people. As the name of my new film, “Tragic Awakening” (based on the book), expresses, the tragedy of Oct. 7 and the global antisemitism that followed have galvanized Jews worldwide to reconnect with their heritage.
Jew-hatred, as painful as it is both physically and spiritually, is a jarring reminder that we were never meant to blend in and often becomes the crucible through which we rediscover our unique role in the world.
That’s not a comforting thought. But it’s a clarifying one.
Our response to antisemitism must be to double down on our identity and mission.
Conclusion: The first step out of Egypt
In Egypt, we stepped into redemption be-
cause we stepped into identity. The first step out of every Egypt — whether ancient or modern — is the rediscovery of who we are. Antisemitism, as horrific as it is, has a strange spiritual function. It pulls away the illusion of safety, of sameness, and forces us to ask: What does it mean to be a Jew? And more importantly: What are we here for?
If we can remember that — not just in pain, but in purpose — then even the darkest chapters of our story can become part of the Exodus. Raphael Shore is a human-rights activist, filmmaker and educational entrepreneur, founder of OpenDor Media and the Clarion Project.
Write: Columnist@TheJewishStar.com
May…
Continued from page 20 that destroyed Iranian missile production facilities and air defense systems (many of the latter made in Russia).
That has left Tehran weaker than it’s been for decades. But because Moscow and Beijing, too, are believed to be helping the regime build back better, its window of vulnerability is likely to remain open for only about six months.
President Trump has now deployed at least six B-2 stealth bombers to Diego Garcia, an air base in the Indian Ocean. He is reminding Iran’s rulers — who continue to threaten to assassinate him — that he has the means to swiftly and effectively demolish their nuclear weapons facilities, including even those buried under mountains.
As a result, Iran’s rulers now say they’re ready for “indirect high-level talks.”
You can be sure they plan either to either drag out the palaver while making nuclear warheads that fit on intercontinental ballistic missiles, or fool Trump into accepting a deal as fatally flawed as was President Obama’s 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (which was neither comprehensive nor a plan of action).
The only acceptable deal would require that Iran’s nuclear weapons infrastructure be completely and verifiably dismantled. “They can’t have a nuclear weapon,” Trump said on Monday. “That’s all there is.”
If that result cannot be achieved diplomatically (and quickly), Trump should fulfill his promise to take military action to ensure that Iran’s Islamists do not become the fourth nuclear-armed member of an aggressive, ambitious and anti-American axis that also includes Chinese Communists, Russian neo-imperialists and the dynastic dictator in North Korea.
Alternatively, Trump could assist an Israeli effort to cripple Tehran’s nuclear weapons program. “Without proxies and nukes,” a senior Israeli official told the FDD group, “the Islamic Republic is an eighth-rate power.”
Should that transpire, Israel will have won its second war of independence. Extreme vigilance will be required to prevent a third.
Clifford D. May is the founder and president of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
