On Tuesday, Rabbi (Reservist) Avrohom Goldberg Z"L, 43 years old with 8 children, widow Rachel, issued a second request — that ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students join the army, even as their political and rabbinical leadership have been doing its utmost to maintain the ultra-Orthodox community’s thoroughly un-Jewish exclusion from military or national service.

A plea from the bereaved heart of religious Zionism

 

 

 

Encouraging Israeli leaders to pay condolence visits, the family of Rabbi Avraham Goldberg, 43, a Jerusalem father of eight and much-loved teacher at the Himmelfarb school who was killed fighting in southern Lebanon this weekend, made a highly unusual request: Politicians from across the spectrum would be welcome… provided they paired up, one for one, with somebody from across the aisle.

This request, issued in the spirit of Goldberg’s own efforts to bridge gaps and build bonds within our people, was indeed heeded, with several Knesset members recognizing the importance of the plea and partnering up to attend the shiva.

MKs from coalition and opposition parties on October 28, 2024, attend the shiva in Jerusalem of the family of Rabbi Avraham Goldberg, 43, who was killed fighting with the IDF reserves in southern Lebanon

On Tuesday, his widow Rachel issued a second request — that ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students join the army, even as their political and rabbinical leadership have been doing its utmost to maintain the ultra-Orthodox community’s thoroughly un-Jewish exclusion from military or national service.

Political extortion has enabled this perversion of Jewish values and Orthodox Jewish principles to persist for decades, its disgraceful inequality eating away at Israeli society. But the injustice that sees much of Israel risking life and limb while also financially subsidizing the fastest-growing sector of the populace — which insists on playing no practical role in protecting the country, and in some cases mocks and derides those who do — has never been as divisive and manifestly untenable as it is today, more than a year into a multifront war. What began with the cataclysmic deaths of some 1,200 people in the Hamas invasion continues to exact a terrible price, with some 70 soldiers — including many, many reservists like Goldberg — losing their lives this month alone.

 

https://israel365news.com/397432/5-stunning-art-prints-that-bring-israels-spirit-into-your-home/?
 

https://www.timesofisrael.com/the-next-round-in-iran-gaza-after-unrwa-and-a-war-widows-plea-for-the-haredi-draft/?utm_source=The+Daily+Edition&utm_campaign=daily-edition-2024-10-30&utm_medium=email

Lichtman predicts Kamala Harris will win in November

 

Historian Allan Lichtman has insisted that he stands by his prediction about who will win the 2024 presidential race despite recent polls – and revealed that he has “never experienced” so much “hate” in an election cycle.

Lichtman is known as the “Nostradamus” of polling due to the fact he has correctly predicted the results of nine out of 10 presidential elections since 1984.

His method for forecasting the race so accurately is known as “The Keys to the White House,” a system he devised with the Russian academic Vladimir Keilis-Borok in 1981.

And despite the polls, which show the race is now tighter than ever between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, Lichtman stands by his prediction that the Democrat will win the White House in November.

“My prediction has not changed,” Lichtman said on his YouTube channel.

“I have frequently made my prediction correctly in defiance of the polls, it’s based on 160 years of precedent.”

Lichtman conceded, however, that there is always a possibility he could be wrong.

“The keys are very robust,” he said. “But it’s always possible that something so cataclysmic and so unprecedented could change the pattern of history.”

The academic strongly defended his method, which looks at 13 factors from the president’s party’s standing in the House of Representatives to the health of the domestic economy, any record of scandal, social unrest, or foreign policy disasters during their tenure, and the comparative charisma of the two candidates to decide the victor, applying “true” or “false” designations to each category.

“My predictions have stood the test of time, my indicators have always been right,” he said. “The keys are very objective and quantitative.”

Lichtman maintained his method and predictions are “totally non-partisan,” highlighting how he correctly predicted the “two most conservative presidents of our time,” referring to Ronald Reagan when he was elected for the second time in 1984 and Trump in 2016.

But this year the historian has received an unprecedented amount of hate in calling the election for Harris, he revealed.

“I have never experienced anything close to the hate that has been reaped upon me this time,” he told NewsNation’s Chris Cuomo.

“I’ve been getting feedback that is vulgar, violent, threatening, and even beyond that, the safety and security of my family has been compromised.”

The professor said previously that eight of the 13 keys currently yield “true” answers, suggesting a Harris triumph and another four years in power for the Democrats.

“Foreign policy is tricky, and these keys could flip,” Lichtman said.

“The Biden administration is deeply invested in the war in Gaza, which is a humanitarian disaster with no end in sight. But even if both foreign policy keys flipped ‘false’, that would mean that there were only five negative keys, which would not be enough for Donald Trump to regain the White House.”

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/allan-lichtman-trump-harris-nostradamus-pollster-predictions-b2637999.html

It’s about time – Smotrich urges Haredi community to share in Israel’s defense --- Israel’s survival depends on unity. To endure, all communities, including the haredim, must embrace the task of defending Israel, not just for the state but as a sacred duty.

*One year later: 12,000 injured soldiers in Gaza and Lebanon, 761  dead - The Chutzpah Of Hiding In A Yeshiva Is an Abominable Travesty* 

 

HAREDI VISION &THEIR TUNNEL

ENOUGH WITH THE DRAFT-DODGING -THIS IS NOT VIETNAM"  

THE HAREDI leadership argues that it is forbidden to draft yeshiva students whose Torah is their profession and that they defend the State of Israel through their studies."

 

Finance Minister Smotrich emotionally calls for shared IDF responsibility among the haredi community, emphasizing unity for Israel’s defense and survival.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich seen during a funeral of a slain IDF soldier

 

Yesterday, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich (Religious Zionist Party) took the floor at the Knesset in a rare display of raw emotion. As he began speaking about the toll borne by the religious-Zionist community in the IDF, the weight of his words caught up to him.

His voice broke, and he fought back tears as he acknowledged the disproportionate sacrifices made by religious-Zionist families, many of whom have lost fathers, sons, and brothers on the battlefield. For a man known for his unwavering rhetoric, the tears spoke louder than his words – a call from deep within for unity, a demand for shared responsibility.

Smotrich’s plea was, in part, a response to the mounting frustrations within his own constituency. Religious Zionists from across the spectrum have voiced their exhaustion. They’ve spent months in reserve duty, pulled from their families, their spouses, their children and, at times, even their grandchildren.

The demands of this prolonged conflict are taking a visible toll. Many are struggling, both physically and emotionally, stretched thin by the intense burden they’ve shouldered in defending Israel’s borders. Smotrich’s words echoed their plea: The weight of defense should not rest on a single community alone.

The ideological gap between Israel’s religious-Zionist and haredi (ultra-Orthodox) communities is stark. Religious Zionists see IDF service as an extension of their faith and a biblical duty to defend the Jewish homeland, blending traditional values with support for the modern state. Meanwhile, many in the haredi community emphasize Torah study as their ultimate form of service, viewing it as spiritually sustaining Israel and justifying limited participation in secular obligations such as military duty.

THE HAREDI leadership argues that it is forbidden to draft yeshiva students whose Torah is their profession and that they defend the State of Israel through their studies.

 

Over time, this has created a divide, with haredim often shielded from the responsibilities that secular and religious-Zionist Israelis bear – an imbalance Smotrich now seeks to change.

Smotrich urges Haredi IDF participation

Smotrich’s plea for haredi participation in the IDF reflects a sentiment that has simmered beneath the surface for decades: that every citizen’s contribution is necessary for Israel’s survival. The Torah commands us to protect human life above all else. In times of danger, it allows even those deeply immersed in religious study to put aside their books and take up arms if it means protecting their fellow Jews.

In fact, the Talmud is clear that saving a life transcends nearly all other commandments. For this reason, the religious-Zionist community has always seen IDF service as a natural extension of its beliefs. For the haredi community, however, the idea that young men studying Torah should set down their learning to join the army is deeply challenging and has fueled resistance.

Smotrich’s emotional appeal must serve as a turning point. It’s no longer sufficient for the haredi community to rely on a narrow interpretation of its role within Israeli society. The defense of Israel, a nation constantly under threat, demands the participation of all its citizens, whether through military service, national service, or other forms of support.

This call to action is not an affront to their values but rather a reminder of an essential Jewish principle: that the preservation of life overrides almost all other commandments. When lives are at risk, the duty to defend becomes a priority for everyone, regardless of sect or ideology.

---

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We stand with Smotrich in his call for shared responsibility in Israel’s defense – a moral imperative beyond military needs. The haredi community,  can now embrace this duty to protect. Smotrich’s call may be overdue, but it’s crucial, and all Israelis must rally to ensure everyone shares this responsibility.

His tears signaled a larger truth: Israel’s survival depends on unity. To endure, all communities, including the haredim, must embrace the task of defending Israel, not just for the state but as a sacred duty.

It took him too long to get to this conclusion, but it’s about time. Better late than never. Smotrich, listen to your constituents, and listen to a majority of Israelis looking for a solution: haredi enlistment in the IDF.

Recommended byWhat is Outbrain

Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook viewed military service as a collective mitzvah that requires individuals to set aside personal pursuits to protect Israel. He believed that defending the Jewish people and homeland is a sacred duty that can supersede even Torah study, as it sanctifies God’s name. He established modern day religious Zionism, and this should be your moral compass. 

 

https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-826520?

Israel’s Iranian Missed Opportunity --- this was the opportunity to put the final nails in the ayatollahs’ coffin. I’m disappointed we didn’t finish the job but seem to have kicked the can down the road.

Israel Air Force fighter jet F-15, at the Tel Nor airforce base.

Iran Israel Israel Air Force (IAF) opinon

Over the weekend, Israel launched a major attack on Iranian military sites that’s being hailed as a wide success for its breaching all the Iranian air defenses, hitting multiple targets, and returning home safely. As many as 100 Israeli aircraft participated, flying 1000 some miles each way. 

Simply coordinating it all was a herculean task, not to mention its precision, executed to prevent Iran’s attack capabilities and weapons development, while minimizing civilian casualties. This the polar opposite to the Iranian attacks on Israel, which had millions of civilians and civilian structures in the crosshairs.

It’s noteworthy that Israel openly took credit for this attack, announcing the launching of the attack, the safe return home of all its planes, and even reportedly warning the Iranians in advance what the targets would be. These were coordinated and implemented with precision despite a treacherous US leak of top-secret information about Israel’s planned attack, and with no reported civilian casualties. 

Israel’s attack is being hailed as “historic,” “precise,” “powerful,” and having “met all objectives.” 

The outcome of the attack call it a “setback,” “crippling,” and “disabling” to the Islamic regime, leaving Iran “vulnerable,” having hit the “backbone of Iran’s missile industry.”  

In parallel to this apparent success, Israeli news reports are echoing that an Iranian reprisal is now anticipated, as early as this week.

The attack was indeed a wide success for what it was, but a tremendous, missed opportunity for what could, and should have been: eliminating the Iranian Islamic regime threat once and for all. In this light, it’s important to look at Israel’s attack not as a reprisal, but of preventative deterrence.

While there can be many ways to eliminate the threat, what should be happening is that the US should be stepping up to play an active role, regardless of who wins the presidential election, or the consequences of doing so on the election. 

While it’s anticipated that Kamila Harris would be weak on Iran, continuing the Obama-Biden policy of appeasement and even enabling and paying off the Iranians, she should be held accountable to her remarks in a “60 Minutes” interview, identifying Iran as the biggest threat. She should be pressed on how she would eliminate that threat, not letting the Islamic regime grow new tentacles. It should be bi-partisan US policy. 

In numerous interviews leading up to the anticipated Israeli attack, I have been asked what Israel’s response ought to be. Barring any military or intelligence background, and while there are many considerations as to how to eliminate the Iranian threat, to me Iran’s nuclear sites should have been target number one. This is Israel’s biggest existential threat, one that Iran has been allowed to strengthen, and must be eliminated not enabled. 

Second, all major IRGC (Iranian Revolutionary Guard) sites and leaders should be eliminated. They not only are the fist that controls the cash and weapons to its terrorist proxies, it is a national terror group with massive power and control over the Iranian people yearning to break free of their tyranny. 

I would have eliminated the Supreme Leader himself, the brain of the head of the octopus. His death would not just be symbolic, but strategic. If Israel was able to take out Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in his Beirut bunker, Yahya Sinwar in Gaza, and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in the heart of Tehran, Israel can and should find and eliminate Ayatollah Khamenei as well. 

It is important not just to hit the Islamic regime hard to eliminate the existential threat to Israel, but to hit them so hard that the Iranian people can rise up and take back their country from the Islamists who hijacked Iran 46 years ago. Unless the Iranians do attack Israel again with hundreds more ballistic missiles, this may have been a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that’s now missed. To think that the Iranians won’t rebuild (and since Israel didn’t target their energy infrastructure which funds the regime, on top of billions of obscene US pandering and outright complicity), they will have the resources to build up again. 

Rather than the US reportedly holding Israel back, this was the opportunity to put the final nails in the ayatollahs’ coffin.  I’m disappointed we didn’t finish the job but seem to have kicked the can down the road. 

Israeli security forces at the scene where a missile fired from Iran hit a school in the town of Gedera

In addition to the need for prevention and deterrence, Israel has the greatest case for legitimacy of such a bold series of strikes following two direct and unprecedented attacks by Iran, one in April and one in October, totaling several hundred missiles and drones. Accordingly, this may have been the best opportunity to do so, albeit that Israel would have been met with criticism and condemnation. 

The fact that Israel responded to the April attack in a way that was muted, also gives Israel greater legitimacy to respond forcefully following the second attack. Doing so would deter if not eliminate Iran’s opportunity to attack yet again.

It’s also been argued that anything but a forceful attack would incentivize Iran to attack again because they have little to lose, they don’t care about innocent civilians in Israel, Iran, or anywhere, and their goal is an Armageddon-style destruction of Israel.  Anyone who doubts the Iranian intention, or that they won’t use a nuclear weapon if they could, is delusional. 

A potential downside of attacking the Iranian nuclear sites is that anything not destroyed could be used in a sprint to cross the nuclear threshold to prevent Israel from attacking again. 

Another downside is the Biden administration making it widely clear, and public, that it opposed an Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear targets. US pressure (likely influenced by the election) was evident, and is presumed to have included threats to withhold weapons to Israel as the stick, while dangling the carrot of deploying the THAAD missile defense system to Israel. 

Israel’s attack did not behead the Iranian terrorist octopus, but hit them in a way from which they can still recover, and regenerate their strength and harmful evil influence. Israel would be first to suffer the consequences of a legitimate attack to eliminate the threat, and that’s no little thing. 

Barring doing so, Iran remains able to do major damage on its own and through its proxies, and this was a missed opportunity.

https://israel365news.com/397376/israels-iranian-missed-opportunity/?utm_medium=push_notification&utm_source=onesignal

DO NOT LEAVE THE SUKKAH - EVER! Rabbi Zilberstein noted that his brother-in-law, Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky, said these three hours are before sunrise on Hoshanah Rabbah.

 *Moshiach crackpots ...Continued...*

 

 “All that remains for us now is the task of being united among ourselves and to be careful to stay away from arguments and speaking slander because the Messiah is already here and hears everything…”

 

O mortal, turn your face toward Gog of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. Prophesy against him

Ezekiel 38:2

Major Israeli Rabbi: Gog and Magog War Will Begin (and end) Wednesday Morning (last Wednesday)

 

Rabbi Yitzchok Zilberstein, a prominent Orthodox rabbi in Israel, recently gave a lesson to his students in Ramat Elchanan, Bnei Brak, in which he said that the War of Gog and Magog would take place in its entirety in the three hours before dawn on Wednesday, the Jewish holiday of Hoshanna Rabba.

Rabbi Zilberstein discussed the miracles happening to Israel throughout the year-long war in his lecture. He noted that Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, and Iran have fired over 2,000 rockets into Israel with relatively few casualties. 

The rabbi referred to a teaching by Rabbi Obadiah ben Abraham of Bertinoro,  a 15th-century Italian rabbi known as the Bartenura. In his commentary on the Mishnah (Megillah 3:5), Bartenura predicted when the revival of the dead would occur and when the War of Gog and Magog would begin. He based his interpretation of the revival of the dead on Ezekiel’s vision of Dry Bones (Ezekiel 37:1-14), which is read in synagogues on Passover. Bartenura explains that this corresponds to the dead’s actual resurrection, which will occur on Passover.

Bartenura writes that based on a later section of the Book of Ezekiel (38:18-39:16) the war of Gog and Magog will begin in Sukkot. This section is read in synagogues in Sukkoth.

“Therefore,” he said, “we must strive not to spoil things. In other words, everything depends on us, on each and every one of us. This is a time of special favor, and we must try not to spoil it, meaning to make every effort to fulfill Hashem’s will, each person according to their ability.”

It is to be remembered that the war began on the last day of Sukkot last year when Palestinian Hamas invaded Israel and massacred its citizens.

Rabbi Zilberstein then referred to a teaching by the 18th-century Jewish scholar Rabbi Elijah ben Solomon Zalman, also known as the Vilna Gaon, brought by the 16th-century Tzfat Kabbalist Rabbi Chaim Vital. They both taught that the War of Gog and Magog would take its entirety during the three hours before “Hanetz Hachama” (crack of dawn)  of Hoshanah Rabbah, the last day of the week-long holiday of Sukkot.

“Whoever wants to be saved should sit in the sukkah,” Rabbi Zilberstein taught. He based this on a verse in Psalms.

“He will shelter me in His pavilion (sukkah) on an evil day, grant me the protection of His tent, raise me high upon a rock.Now is my head high over my enemies roundabout; I sacrifice in His tent with shouts of joy, singing and chanting a hymn to Hashem. Psalms 27:5-6

Indeed, throughout the past week, Israel has been filled with the incongruous sight of Jews under the threat of rocket attack choosing to sit in flimsy sukkot rather than reinforced bomb shelters. 

Rabbi Zilberstein noted that his brother-in-law, Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky, said these three hours are before sunrise on Hoshanah Rabbah.

Rabbi Elie Mischel,  the Director of Education at Israel365, wrote about the end-of-days battle of Gog and Magog in his recently released book, The War Against the Bible: Ishmael, Esau and Israel at the End Times. Rabbi Mischel noted that, like the War of Gog and Magog, the war in the Middle East is reverberating around the globe.

“This is a war with global implications, pitting Jews and Christians, the people of the Bible, against Muslims and secular progressives, who reject the Bible and all that it stands for,” Rabbi Mischel wrote. Based on Jewish sources, Rabbi Mischel identifies the leader of the Gog and Magog coalition as Islamist Iran. He also identifies Iran as the fourth kingdom of Ishmael and Edom, described in the Book of Daniel as working together to persecute Israel at the end times. 

“Gog and Magog’s motivations for attacking Israel are different from those of other nations that have attacked Israel throughout history…Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah are not afraid that Israel will conquer their lands, nor do they seek economic benefits from attacking Israel. Hamas’ attacks have only brought death and destruction upon the Gaza Strip. They are driven by pure hatred of Israel, seeking only to murder and destroy.”

“Gog and his allies believe they can uproot the people of Israel and send them, once again, into the darkness of exile.”

Rabbi Mischel predicts that the focus of the pre-Messiah war will shift, pitting the former allies Esau and Ishmael against each other.

“Not only will Gog and the people of Ishmael suffer for their sins, but so will Edom, the Western nations that support them,” Rabbi Mischel wrote. “Initially, the Edomites will join the Ishmaelites in an alliance against Israel. But ultimately, the Ishmaelites will turn on the Edomites, who will be forced to fight back. “

“The Western nations trying so hard to appease the Ishmaelites will inevitably have no choice but to battle the Islamic jihadists of Iran and their allies and proxies. When the Ishmaelites go too far and directly attack the West, the Edomites will be forced to declare war against them. This will lead to the great war between Ishmael and the West, when “every man’s sword will be against his brother.”

Many are concerned for the fate of Israelis as the hugely destructive War of Gog and Magog is described in prophecy as being fought inside Israel. In October 2015,  Rabbi Shalom Berger, the spiritual leader of the Mishkoltz sect of Hasidic Judaism, gave a Torah lesson at the end of the holiday of Simchat Torah in which he made predictions regarding the imminent arrival of the Messiah.

“My heart tells me,” concluded the rabbi, “that God has mercy on the nation of Israel and, despite what the prophets have prophesied – that the Gog Magog War needs to be within Jerusalem. Nevertheless, God sweetened this and is currently making it in Syria. And the proof is that it is brought down in Sifri (Devarim 1) that the gates of Jerusalem are destined to reach until Damascus.”

“If that is the case, instead of the war being in Jerusalem with the inhabitants of Israel suffering from it, God widened Jerusalem so that it reaches as far as Damascus so that the great war will be there, as we saw when Russia entered with powerful forces into Syria.

“All that remains for us now is the task of being united among ourselves and to be careful to stay away from arguments and speaking slander because the Messiah is already here and hears everything…”

In Jewish tradition, there are two forms the final redemption can take: a redemption that is “Be’itah” – i.e., one that is set at a predetermined time. The Talmud (Tractate Avodah Zarah 9a) states that the world will last 6,000 years. The Messiah must come at the end of the 6,000 years, even if mankind has not prepared itself.  The current (2023/2024) Hebrew year is 5785. By this calculation, the start of the 6000th year would occur at nightfall of 29 September 2239, and the end would occur at nightfall of 16 September 2240

The other form redemption can take is “Ahishena” – i.e., one that will come earlier than its set time. The Jews can bring redemption early based on the merits of performing God’s commandments.

The main differences between the two forms of Redemption are the time it will take and the amount of suffering the Jewish people and the world, in general, will endure until it occurs.

An “Ahishena” Redemption is a Redemption that comes suddenly, miraculously as the world has already reached its correct fulfillment and purpose.

A “Be’ita” Redemption is a Redemption that a long and arduous process precedes it, full of suffering and tests for the Jewish people and for the world in general, which concludes with the terrible death of about two-thirds of the world, in addition to those among the Jewish people who, according to God’s calculation, are not fit to be redeemed.

 https://israel365news.com/397270/

Shiru Lanu ---- אִֽם־אֶשְׁכָּחֵ֥ךְ יְֽרוּשָׁלָ֗͏ִם תִּשְׁכַּ֥ח יְמִינִֽי

1	עַ֥ל נַהֲר֨וֹת ׀ בָּבֶ֗ל שָׁ֣ם יָ֭שַׁבְנוּ גַּם־בָּכִ֑ינוּ בְּ֝זׇכְרֵ֗נוּ אֶת־צִיּֽוֹן׃‎	By the rivers of Babylon, There we sat down, yea, we wept, When we remembered Zion.
2	עַֽל־עֲרָבִ֥ים בְּתוֹכָ֑הּ תָּ֝לִ֗ינוּ כִּנֹּרוֹתֵֽינוּ׃‎	Upon the willows in the midst thereof We hanged up our harps.
3	כִּ֤י שָׁ֨ם שְֽׁאֵל֪וּנוּ שׁוֹבֵ֡ינוּ דִּבְרֵי־שִׁ֭יר וְתוֹלָלֵ֣ינוּ שִׂמְחָ֑ה שִׁ֥ירוּ לָ֝֗נוּ מִשִּׁ֥יר צִיּֽוֹן׃‎	For there they that led us captive asked of us words of song, And our tormentors asked of us mirth: 'Sing us one of the songs of Zion.'
4	אֵ֗יךְ נָשִׁ֥יר אֶת־שִׁיר־יְהֹוָ֑ה עַ֝֗ל אַדְמַ֥ת נֵכָֽר׃‎	How shall we sing the LORD's song In a foreign land?
5	אִֽם־אֶשְׁכָּחֵ֥ךְ יְֽרוּשָׁלָ֗͏ִם תִּשְׁכַּ֥ח יְמִינִֽי׃‎	If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, Let my right hand forget her cunning.
6	תִּדְבַּֽק־לְשׁוֹנִ֨י ׀ לְחִכִּי֮ אִם־לֹ֢א אֶ֫זְכְּרֵ֥כִי אִם־לֹ֣א אַ֭עֲלֶה אֶת־יְרוּשָׁלַ֑͏ִם עַ֝֗ל רֹ֣אשׁ שִׂמְחָתִֽי׃‎	Let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, If I remember thee not; If I set not Jerusalem Above my chiefest joy.
7	זְכֹ֤ר יְהֹוָ֨ה ׀ לִבְנֵ֬י אֱד֗וֹם אֵת֮ י֤וֹם יְֽר֫וּשָׁלָ֥͏ִם הָ֭אֹ֣מְרִים עָ֤רוּ ׀ עָ֑רוּ עַ֝֗ד הַיְס֥וֹד בָּֽהּ׃‎	Remember, O LORD, against the children of Edom The day of Jerusalem; Who said: 'Rase it, rase it, Even to the foundation thereof.'
8	בַּת־בָּבֶ֗ל הַשְּׁד֫וּדָ֥ה אַשְׁרֵ֥י שֶׁיְשַׁלֶּם־לָ֑ךְ אֶת־גְּ֝מוּלֵ֗ךְ שֶׁגָּמַ֥לְתְּ לָֽנוּ׃‎	O daughter of Babylon, that art to be destroyed; Happy shall he be, that repayeth thee As thou hast served us.

Chag Sameach!

תּוֹרַת ה' תְּמִימָה, מְשִׁיבַת נָפֶשׁ, עֵדוּת ה' נֶאֱמָנָה, מַחְכִּימַת פֶּתִי

"The Torah of Hashem is perfect, restoring the soul; the testimony of Hashem is trustworthy, making the simple one wise." (Tehillim 19:8-Pesukei D'zimra for Shabbos/Yom Tov)

 

 

 

 

Time for Our Community to Apologize to Survivors of Sexual Abuse - * Pinned Post Until After Sukkot!*

Boys Town Jerusalem --- Five of our staff members and numerous alumni have been called back to reserve duty due to the situation up North. Our thoughts and prayers are with them during this challenging time.

 

https://www.linkedin.com/company/boys-town-jerusalem/posts/?feedView=all

 

Boys Town Jerusalem (Hebrew: קרית נוער ירושלים, Kiryat Noar Yerushalayim) is an Orthodox Jewish educational institution in Jerusalem. Founded in 1949, it houses over 850 boys aged 12 to 20 on its 18 acres (7.3 ha) Bayit Vegan campus,^[3] and provides on-site religious, secular, and technological education on the junior high through college levels.^[4]

It is the largest yeshiva/vocational school in the world^[5] and is one of Israel's most important technological training centers.^[6][7] It maintains a close working relationship with the Israel Defense Forces, which partnered in the founding of its on-campus College of Applied Engineering and makes frequent use of that college's facilities and graduates.^[8] It also has a publishing division. Boys Town Jerusalem originated the Jan Zwartendijk Award for Humanitarian Ethics and Values, which it awards annually to Holocaust-era rescuers and other proponents of humanitarian values.^[9]

History

Boys Town Jerusalem was founded in 1949 by Rabbi Alexander Linchner (1908–1997),^[10] a native of Brooklyn, New York, and son-in-law of Rabbi Shraga Feivel Mendlowitz.^[11] Linchner sought to establish a home for child Holocaust survivors,^[12] war refugees, and impoverished immigrants.^[13] He was encouraged by his father-in-law, who urged him from his deathbed in 1948 "to do something for the chinuch (education) of children in Israel".^[14] Linchner based his educational model on the Torah im Derech Eretz (Torah study combined with work) approach articulated by Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch.^[3][10]

Initial enrollment was 14 Yemenite Jewish children^[3][10] in a refugee camp.^[15] In 1953, the school moved into prefab huts in Bayit Vegan.^[16] Its current campus opened in 1964.^[10] By 1968, enrollment was at 650; by 1985, it had reached 1,000.^[16]

 

Rabbi Alexander (Sender) Linchner z”l

 

Rabbi Alexander (Sender) Linchner z”l, the Founder of Boys Town Jerusalem, was born and raised in the United States right after the turn of the 20^th century. He was one of the few American bachurim to study at the great yeshivos of Eastern Europe before the Holocaust. During the course of his studies at the yeshivah at Radin, Poland, he came under the direct, personal influence of the holy Chofetz Chaim, Rav Yisroel Meir Kagan zt”l; and for the rest of his life, he always considered the Chofetz Chaim as his personal mentor. He returned to the United States before the outbreak of World War II, where he became principal at Yeshivah Torah Vodaath, in Brooklyn, New York, working under the guiding hand of his father-in-law, Rav Shraga Feivel Mendlowitz zt”l, who was also the founder of Torah Umesorah, the National Society for Hebrew Day Schools. He and his son-in-law trained and inspired a generation of Jewish educators who founded Jewish day schools in many American Jewish communities, forming the backbone of Jewish education in this country.

While still learning in Radin, Sender was surprised when one day, a few months into the z’man, he received a message that the Chofetz Chaim wished to speak with him. Understandably, this made the young American bachur nervous and anxious. The Chofetz Chaim was already an old man, well on in his years, and he generally did not meet with any of the students in a private setting. In fact, not only did Sender Linchner never merit to speak with the Chofetz Chaim before, he had even only managed to briefly see his holy countenance just a few times.

As he entered the home of the tzadik, he was quite anxious and tense, but the warmth exuded by the Chofetz Chaim helped him relax quite a bit. The Chofetz Chaim began by asking him how he was faring in yeshivah, how often he is in touch with his family back in the United States, and other personal questions about his general well-being. Sender felt better that the Chofetz Chaim was taking an interest in his needs and really cared. He then showered him with a multitude of brachos and well wishes that Sender should have much success with his learning, and with all his endeavors.

When Sender Linchner returned to the yeshivah, a crowd gathered around him, as everyone was curious to know what the highly unusual meeting was about. Sender shrugged his shoulders and explained to them that he himself had no idea why he was invited to meet with the Chofetz Chaim and, based on the conversation, there was nothing specific that the tzadik wished to tell him. Of course, he was still thrilled and it was an experience he cherished and never forgot.

A few days later, the reason for the meeting became known. It was only a few weeks before Pesach and there was a severe shortage of flour in Russia. Always thinking about the needs of klal Yisrael before his own, the Chofetz Chaim was very concerned that millions of Jews living in Russia would not be able to procure matzos for Pesach.

One evening, the Chofetz Chaim received the incredible news that the government of the United States delivered a huge emergency shipment of flour intended for the starving Russian people. The Chofetz Chaim was ecstatic about the news. The Russian Jews will now have matzah for Pesach. It was a tremendous relief for him.

Wanting to express his great appreciation to the United States for the kindness and largesse they carried out, the Chofetz Chaim was well aware that simply writing a letter addressed to the American Government would probably not do the trick. Yet, he still very much wished to somehow express his appreciation to the American people.

The Chofetz Chaim therefore invited the only American bachur at that time learning in the Radin yeshivah to his house where he made him feel very special and showered him with brachos. This was the only way he could show a measure of hakaras ha’tov to the United States for the kindness it had done. Although he knew that the American Government and the American people would never hear about his gesture of thanks, he nevertheless understood that gratitude was something that a person must show, regardless if the person who extended the kindness is aware of the thanks or not. We must always recognize the good in others, as well as the good done for us by others.

 MORE: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boys_Town_Jerusalem

Avinu Shebashamayim - A Prayer for Israel

As the parent of a 22-year-old reserve soldier, I can tell you from personal experience how remarkable his generation is. Our son, Meir, along with his reservist peers, didn’t wait for formal instructions after hearing the news of October 7th. They immediately put on uniforms and went to help in any way they could.

 

 by Rabbi Pini Dunner

As the new Jewish year begins, we are all facing a harsh reality – that this year’s beginning is very different from the one we experienced last year. It’s as though we are living in a new world, a world rattled by the horrors of October 7th—a date now etched into our collective memory forever. On that dreadful day, Israel and the Jewish people were attacked – not just physically, but existentially.

We have seen plenty of wars and terrorist atrocities aimed at Israel and Jews in the past, including wars against Egypt and Syria, two wars in Lebanon, several in Gaza, and two Intifadas. But nothing compares to the savagery and trauma of October 7th and the outpouring of hatred and animosity against Jews and Israel we have witnessed since.

What makes it even worse—even as we grapple with the massacre of over 1,200 Israelis and the kidnapping of 251 innocents, 101 of whom still remain in captivity—is the bitter realization that many global leaders and people from whom we might have expected sympathy have shockingly sided with the perpetrators. The rise in antisemitism is one thing, but the dismissal, trivialization and even justification of such hate is deeply unsettling. Who can ever forget Harvard president Claudine Gay’s tone-deaf words: “It depends on the context.”

Reflecting on all this, it’s hard not to feel a profound sense of failure as we remember the naive hopes of Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur a year ago. We prayed, we yearned, we resolved to better ourselves—and all seemed to be going well as we looked ahead toward the new year.

And yet, here we are, a year later, facing a world where our enemies are emboldened, and the forces of good seem unable to overcome the threats from beyond our borders as well as those from within. We are vulnerable—perhaps more vulnerable than we have been for generations.

But, as challenging as all of this is, there is an important question we need to ask ourselves: How can this year be different?

The answer, I believe, lies in our perspective. While there is much to be concerned about, focusing on the darkness alone will not help us. Instead, we must seek out the silver linings, no matter how faint they may seem as the clouds of worry overwhelm us.

I’ve learned over the years that good things only grow from positivity. If we wallow in misery, we’re doomed never to emerge from the past into a brighter future. We need a better year ahead, and better times ahead—and that must begin with us looking for light amid the darkness.

In the chaos of recent months, there have been many bright sparks that have illuminated the darkness, but one thing stood out more than any others: the incredible spirit of the Jewish people, and particularly the younger generation. And I believe that this is where Israel truly sets itself apart from the rest of the world, and gives us a reason to be joyful.

Let me explain. All over the world, we’re witnessing a dramatic decline in people’s willingness to defend their countries, specifically younger people. A decade ago, surveys showed that over 60% of people in countries across the globe said they would fight for their homeland.

Today, that number has dropped to just 50%. To be clear, this means that half of the world’s population would rather sit on the sidelines if war came knocking on their door, even if it meant that their country would lose the war. In the United States, it’s even worse – just 41% say they would join the military if necessary. And in Europe, the number is even lower—just 32%.

This is not just an abstract statistic—it’s playing out in real time. Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, thousands of Russian soldiers have deserted the military, while thousands of Ukrainian men have fled the country to avoid conscription. It seems that even in the face of a real-life existential threat, the desire to fight for one’s country has diminished significantly.

But in Israel, it’s the exact opposite. After the brutal Hamas attack on October 7th, Israel called up 360,000 reservists—nearly 4% of the population. And not only did local Israelis respond overwhelmingly, but so did many reservists living abroad.

Within days, Israelis living in the U.S. packed their bags and left their families behind, as they headed back to Israel to defend their country and their people. El Al flights were jammed with reservists, and philanthropists took to chartering planes to fly reserve soldiers home to fight.

This sense of duty and responsibility is not limited to people who have lived and experienced life and its challenges. Young Israelis, the so-called “TikTok generation,” have proven themselves to be anything but brainless zombies glued to their smartphones. They’ve risen to the challenge in ways that defy all stereotypes and every prediction.

As the parent of a 22-year-old reserve soldier, I can tell you from personal experience how remarkable his generation is. Our son, Meir, along with his reservist peers, didn’t wait for formal instructions after hearing the news of October 7th. They immediately put on uniforms and went to help in any way they could.

For days, they worked tirelessly—guarding, delivering supplies, and helping displaced families. In the weeks that followed, until they were given formal call-up papers, they continued to serve with the same determination and sense of purpose. As parents, we naturally worry, but we also feel immense pride. We know that the future of Israel, and the Jewish people, is safe in the hands of Meir’s generation.

It is for this reason that I don’t believe our prayers were wasted last Rosh Hashana. On the contrary, when we prayed for our children, our prayers were answered. Despite all the many challenges we face, we are privileged to have an emerging generation that embodies the spirit of resilience and patriotism which was the hallmark of the founding generation of Israel, a spirit that is needed now more than ever.

It is this spirit that should give us hope in the face of adversity. Over the past few weeks, we have begun to see real signs of success against our enemies—victories that remind us of the strength and indomitability of the Jewish people. These triumphs are only possible because of the brave young men and women who are willing to fight for the survival of Israel and the Jewish people. So, while there are certainly problems still ahead, we are in good hands.

As we move forward into the new year, let us not forget the power of prayer. With the evidence before our eyes of the next generation, we know that our prayers are heard and are effective. With that in mind, let us pray for Israel, for our brave soldiers, for the hostages still in captivity, and for the defeat of our evil enemies.

With God’s help, we will triumph. And perhaps, this year, we will see the ultimate redemption we’ve all been longing for. Am Yisrael Chai.

https://rabbidunner.com/we-are-in-good-hands/

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The State Of the Current Human Condition - Sickening Piece Of Garbage Brought To Mingle With The Hidden Moshiach - As Jews This Week Beg For Forgiveness For Their Sins!

 

The real lessons of Oct. 7 must not be ignored - Be wary of the those twisted Jews that claim to be anti-Zionists but pro-Israel.

 "After Oct. 7, we must no longer treat those who oppose Israel’s existence as if there was some distinction between their position and that of classic Jew-hatred. The brutal truth is that whether or not they root their stand in what they call “anti-racism” or even if they claim to be Jewish, those who wish to eradicate the only Jewish state on the planet are, at best, the “useful idiots” of the Oct. 7 murderers, rapists and kidnappers. At worst, they are their active supporters."

There’s more to it than the failure to stop a surprise attack. Myths about the Palestinians, two states and hopes for an illusory peace need to be discarded. 

 

A public bomb shelter where Israelis were murdered at the Oct. 7 massacre one year ago, on a road near the Israeli-Gaza border in southern Israel

 

The first anniversary of the Oct. 7 Hamas massacres in southern Israel adds yet another sacred date to a calendar already filled with those devoted to mourning tragedies in Jewish history. But the fresh pain from this most recent instance of Jewish suffering is due to more than the fact that it happened only 12 months ago. The war against Islamist terrorists that began that date is ongoing with hostilities against Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Hezbollah in Lebanon. And more than 100 of the hostages taken on Oct. 7 are still unaccounted for or continue to be held captive by Palestinian terrorists.

The main purpose of the memorial ceremonies and commemorations will be to mourn those lost amid that orgy of mass murder, rape, torture, kidnapping and wanton destruction by Hamas operatives and ordinary Palestinians who joined in the mayhem. Still, there’s little doubt that a lot of what will be said and written about the anniversary will be about the lessons that should be learned from what happened that day and the war that followed it.

In Israel, much of the commentary will focus, as it has in the previous 365 days, on pinning responsibility for the massive failure on the part of Israel’s military, intelligence and political establishments that allowed the catastrophe to unfold. At the top of the list of those who will be held responsible will be Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on whose watch the disaster happened.

Others deserve to be in the dock with him, including the entire leadership of the Israel Defense Force as well as that of the intelligence agencies. Their complacency and blind belief in the “conzeptzia” that Hamas couldn’t and wouldn’t successfully attack Israel in force explained why the vaunted IDF was asleep on that Simchat Torah morning.

A widely shared complacency

Sadly, the complacency about Hamas was shared by most of Israel’s leading politicians, including those opposed to Netanyahu like former IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz, and former prime ministers Yair Lapid and Naftali Bennett, all of whom hope to replace Netanyahu at the next election. The truth is that no one except those considered on the “far right” rejected the notion that Hamas could be contained in Gaza and, if necessary, paid off in funds from terror- and Iran-supporting Qatar in order to keep the border quiet.

This is an issue that deserves not just discussion but a full-blown governmental investigation, although, like everything else that happens in Israel, the politicization of any such effort is more than likely. The debate about Oct. 7 should not be just another version of the one Israelis have been having for the last decade about Netanyahu’s seemingly endless tenure in office. Whether that is the way it plays out or not, other more important questions should be addressed.

The post-mortems about the Oct. 7 disaster shouldn’t be limited to how and why Hamas was able to breach the border so easily, setting in motion a day of horror that was the worst instance of mass slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust.

Both in Israel and in the Diaspora, the discussion about what happened must also include broader misconceptions that not only helped bring about this epic disaster but that might conceivably allow it to be repeated in the future. That’s especially true in the United States, where public discussion of the war on Hamas continues to center on myths that should have been rejected long ago.

The ‘solution’ was tried and failed

Belief in the idea of a two-state solution to the conflict evaporated in Israel in the wake of the collapse of the 1993 Oslo Accords with the outbreak of the Second Intifada in 2000, which brought nearly five years of suicide bombings into every realm of Israeli civilian life. The two-state concept was once embraced by a majority of Israelis amid the euphoria that ensued when those accords were signed on the White House Lawn in September 1993. But the once-dominant Israeli parties on the left were destroyed when the Palestinians—then led by the arch-terrorist Yasser Arafat, head of the PLO—proved they regarded them as merely a stepping stone to the destruction of the Jewish state.

That point was made even clearer after 2005 when then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon withdrew every Israeli settlement, settler and soldier from Gaza in a vain effort to “disengage” from the Palestinians. Some on the left, especially in the United States and Europe, cling to the lie that Gaza was nevertheless still “occupied” by Israel or an “open-air prison.” The Strip might have been transformed—with the help of the billions in Western foreign aid—into a Palestinian Singapore; instead, it was taken over by Hamas in 2007, which turned it into a terrorist fortress.

More to the point, it was, for those 16 years until Oct. 7, an independent Palestinian state in all but name. As such, it was an experiment that demonstrated what a two-state solution that encompassed the far larger and more strategic Judea and Samaria (the “West Bank”) would mean.

Among those most resistant to this basic fact were those who wound up failing on Oct. 7. In the years following the Hamas takeover, I took part in dozens of public debates with a liberal colleague, former Forward editor J.J. Goldberg, about the two-state solution and related issues. When I would point out that most Israelis regarded the idea of repeating Sharon’s Gaza experiment in Judea and Samaria as not so much ill-advised but madness, he would invariably respond that his sources in Israel’s intelligence community disagreed. They were sure, he said, that the various efforts at “mowing the grass”—a term that referred to Israel’s periodic efforts to degrade Hamas’s military capabilities with offensive operations in 2009, 2012, 2014, 2019 and 2021, demonstrated that even a terrorist-controlled Palestinian state was no real threat to Israel.

The events of Oct. 7 proved just how wrong they were.

Yet none of this seems to have penetrated the consciousness of the American foreign-policy establishment and, in particular, those like Vice President Kamala Harris, who tout advocacy for a two-state solution as part of what she thinks ought to be the world’s response to Oct. 7.

While there are individual Palestinians who may believe in the idea of peace with Israel, they are isolated and overwhelmingly outnumbered by supporters of Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the so-called “moderates” of the Fatah party (whose nearly 89-year-old leader Mahmoud Abbas serves as the head of the Palestinian Authority). They have all made it clear over and over again in their organizational charters, statements and rejection of every effort at a compromise peace plan over the decades that they deny the legitimacy of a Jewish state, no matter where its borders might be drawn.

The only relevant debate

To Israelis and those elsewhere who have been paying attention to Palestinian rejectionism, this is nothing new. Post-Oct. 7, belief in the myth that the conflict can be solved by partitioning the country beggars the imagination. The point of the mass terror attack wasn’t to end the “occupation” of a coastal enclave that had been evacuated by Israelis 18 years earlier or to push for a withdrawal from Judea and Samaria. It represented a Palestinian desire to turn back the clock to 1947 or even 1917 and destroy the State of Israel, even within the borders that existed before 1967.

The widespread support among Palestinians for this effort (and for the atrocities that ensued) lays bare the futility and the insanity of any attempt to force Israel to make territorial retreats to accommodate yet another attempt at a Palestinian state. Palestinian political culture is solely predicated on the premise that Zionism and a Jewish state are incompatible with the minimum demands of their national identity.

This is something that ought to be clear to all Americans by now. Oct. 7 should have ended the debate about two states and the peace process for the foreseeable future. That is frustrating and hard to grasp for Americans who believe compromise is always possible or for Jews who are hard-wired to believe in millenarian solutions even when the facts on the ground argue otherwise. At the moment, the only debate about Israel that is relevant is the one that the pro-Hamas mobs that took over America’s streets and college campuses since Oct. 7 have been wanting to have: whether one Jewish state on the planet is one too many.

Calling out the antisemites

That is a position many on the American left have increasingly adopted. Indeed, it is the reason why anti-Israel protesters chant “from the river to the sea” and “globalize the intifada.” The whole point of woke ideology, such as critical race theory and intersectionality, as it applies to the Middle East, is to delegitimize Israel as a “settler/colonial” state. Seen from that perspective, nothing it does in its defense—even against the most barbarous opponents, like Hamas and Hezbollah—can be falsely characterized as “genocide” since there is virtually nothing Israel could do to defend itself that could be justified in their eyes. And it’s why the same people dismiss the atrocities of Oct. 7 (which, like Holocaust deniers, they simultaneously justify and minimize).

And so, it is incumbent on Israelis and friends of Israel elsewhere to stop bickering over peace plans or pretending that Israel should be “saved from itself,” as former President Barack Obama believed it should.

In the absence of a complete transformation of Palestinian society that is nowhere in sight, any advocacy for a Palestinian state in the post-Oct. 7 world from those who claim to support Israel is a unique form of delusionary thinking.

The only logical way to defend Israel going forward must begin by recognizing this truth and stop treating those who wish to deny Israel the same rights granted to every other nation in the world as if their opinions were reasonable and well-intentioned. We must not hesitate to label those who seek to “flood” cities like New York with protests glorifying the Oct. 7 massacres as justified “resistance” and call them out for being antisemites and proponents of foreign terror groups.

After Oct. 7, we must no longer treat those who oppose Israel’s existence as if there was some distinction between their position and that of classic Jew-hatred. The brutal truth is that whether or not they root their stand in what they call “anti-racism” or even if they claim to be Jewish, those who wish to eradicate the only Jewish state on the planet are, at best, the “useful idiots” of the Oct. 7 murderers, rapists and kidnappers. At worst, they are their active supporters.

As much as Israelis can and must sort out the crucial questions about who bears the lion’s share of the blame for the success of Hamas’s brutal surprise attack, there are more important lessons to be learned from this episode than just another repeat of the same questions that were asked after the 1973 Yom Kippur War, which began with a similar failure. Doing so will be extremely hard for liberal Americans who believe in the two-state myth as if it were a religious doctrine handed down from Mount Sinai. But if we fail to learn them, then they will set the stage for more such tragedies, just as much as if the IDF chose to repeat its pre-Oct. 7 complacency.

 https://www.jns.org/the-real-lessons-of-oct-7-must-not-be-ignored/

Israeli genocide, indeed! They willfully omit that it is Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran’s other proxies who are really dedicated to genocide: the extermination of Israel and its Jews. Israel has no intention to wipe out all the Palestinians, which is why their attacks are targeted.

Let the hate begin!

Bari Weiss: A Year of Revelations

We expected Hamas to try to kill Jews. We didn’t expect Americans to celebrate when they did.

Someone asked me the other day how I planned to commemorate October 7. I found myself speechless, befuddled by the question. 

How do you offer an elegy when the war is not yet over—and 101 hostages, those still alive and the bodies of the murdered, are not yet home? How do you remember a catastrophe when it is still unfolding? How do you mark a past event that feels as though it was a prelude to a much deeper darkness, whose dimensions we are still discovering? How do you look at something with a sense of distance when it has revealed so much, so close to home?

The genocidal war launched by Iran and its proxies a year ago this morning began with rocket fire and a ground invasion by Hamas battalions who carried maps of every kibbutz and village. These maps, made by Palestinians who worked inside Israel, told them where the daycare centers were, where the weapons were stored, which families owned a dog. After several thousand terrorists, targeting civilians, had raped, murdered, and kidnapped, they were followed by waves of ordinary Gazans—to borrow Chris Browning’s phrase—who played their role in a day of slaughter with millennia-old echoes in Jewish history. 

Just look at the terror on the face of Shiri Bibas, clinging to her nine-month-old baby Kfir and her four-year-old son Ariel—an image that flashes across my eyes when I put our children to sleep. 

I do not mean to say that the more than 1,200 human beings murdered by Hamas terrorists on that day—at a music festival, in their beds, in shelters where they sought safety—are symbols of history or politics. Only that what happened on that day—what Hamas did—was exactly what they had always said they would do in their founding charter, which calls for the genocide of the Jewish people. In stealing the Bibas family, and in butchering and maiming and raping and burning their neighbors, the terror group was doing exactly what it promised. 

The promise of America was to give “bigotry no sanction,” as our first president wrote in 1790 to the Hebrew Congregation of Newport, Rhode Island. “May the Children of the Stock of Abraham, who dwell in this land, continue to merit and enjoy the good will of the other Inhabitants; while every one shall sit in safety under his own vine and fig tree, and there shall be none to make him afraid.”

But on October 7, 2023, the enemies of Washington’s vision—of America’s founding impulse—began to reveal themselves. 

As news of the scope of the slaughter was still registering, and the tally of hostages still being made—the final count: 240 people from 40 countries carried off like barbaric spoils of war—progressive groups here at home and across the West began to celebrate. 

More than 30 student clubs at Harvard put out a letter holding Israel “entirely responsible” for the massacre. Israel. Not Hamas. Israel. This was on October 8, as Hamas terrorists were still roaming Israel’s south, and Hezbollah began its assault on Israel’s north from Lebanon.

Surely it had to be some terrible mistake, a sick prank. But the statement was sincere. And it wasn’t an anomaly. 

In October 2023—just in that first month—George Washington University students projected the words “Glory to Our Martyrs” and “Free Palestine from the River to the Sea” in giant letters on campus buildings. At Cooper Union in Manhattan, Jewish students had to hide in the library from a mob pounding on the door. At Columbia, Professor Joseph Massad called the slaughter “awesome.” At Cornell, Professor Russell Rickford said it was “energizing” and “exhilarating.” At Princeton, hundreds of students chanted “globalize the intifada,” which can only mean: open season on Jews worldwide. At NYU, students held posters that read “keep the world clean,” with drawings of Jewish stars in garbage cans.

Over the weeks that followed, posters with the faces of the hostages were put up on lampposts and bulletin boards in campuses and cities across North America and Europe. And young people—and sometimes not so young—started tearing them down. 

At first, we rationalized this by assuming that the people tearing them down were abnormal. But there were more than a few of them, including college professors. And they were gleeful. 

Posters of lost cats aren’t systematically torn down by Broadway producers and graduate students, and yet these were human beings stolen from their beds. The only sane conclusion was that our times are not normal. To pretend that they are is as delusional as insisting that the supreme leader of Iran was merely speaking metaphorically when he said over the weekend, at his first public sermon in almost five years: Israel is a “malicious regime” that “will not last long.”

“A total derailment from civilization” is how the Nobel Prize–winning German writer Herta Muller described the Hamas massacre in her extraordinary speech delivered this past May. But the phrase included derailments closer to home.

Listen to the words being shouted on our streets.

Just this weekend, thousands of people in Toronto gathered to declare “We don’t want two states, take us back to ’48,” the kind of call for the elimination of Israel that has been heard in cities across the West over the last year. At a rally in Philadelphia, one speaker recalled: “On October 7 when I was watching those resistance fighters flying into Palestine on paragliders, I was cheering.” In Berlin, protesters shouted in Arabic: “Anyone have a bullet; either you kill a Jew with it or give it to Hamas.” 

There is no political argument consistent with the values of a free society that justifies this behavior. There is no moral universe that explains how two visibly Jewish students at the University of Pittsburgh were recently struck with a bottle; or how a literary festival in New York cancelled a panel because the moderator was a Zionist; or why a (now former) member of Congress downplayed the sexual violence Jewish women suffered on October 7; or why medical students and doctors in San Francisco shouted “intifada, intifada, long live intifada!”

This is not to say that the majority of Americans aren’t horrified by these examples and hundreds of others—or that they are without precedent. In 1939, after Kristallnacht, more than 20,000 Americans flooded Madison Square Garden to cheer for Hitler. Today, with the distance of almost a century, that shames us. We owe it to ourselves and to our country to be no less horrified when today, in New York City, Hamas’s allies “Flood New York City,” an allusion to the group’s October 7 massacre, which it called Al-Aqsa Flood.

So there will be no closure today. Though on October 7, 2024, as with every single day that has elapsed since October 7, 2023, I will think of the human beings—each one a world unto herself—destroyed by terror. I will pray for the hostages and the recovery of those who have been liberated. And I will pray for a lasting peace. Not just for Israelis, but for the Palestinians and the Lebanese and the Yemenis and the Iranians and the Syrians and all those tyrannized by murderous governments and terror groups who choose death over life. And I’ll pray for America, my home. 

We expected Hamas to kill Jews. We didn’t expect Americans to celebrate it.

Starting today is the “Week of Rage”, marking five days of pro-Hamas faculty, students, and staff acting out their hatred of Israel and Jews on our campus—and campuses across America. Odd, isn’t it, that the week begins on October 7, the first anniversary of the day the evil butchers of Hamas (and their allies) slaughtered 1200 people and kidnapped 250? One might even say that celebrating on that day violates common decency.

To many activists and their supporters shown below at the University of Chicago, that was a glorious day, marking the revival of the “resistance.” No matter that the dead and kidnapped were almost all civilians, and that about 70 are still languishing in horrible conditions in the dank tunnels beneath Gaza. No matter that Hamas and its ally Hezbollah (and their masters in Iran) continue to fire rockets at civilian targets in Israel. After all, it was ‘justified resistance” from the very beginning in 1917.

Here is a video, taken last Friday and put on the Instagram page of “fsjpuchicago,” which stands for Faculty and Staff for Palestine at the University of Chicago. The video calls for a continuation of protests along with a promise that they will continue protesting until Chicago “discloses and divests”.

This is all free speech, of course, but it doesn’t mean that these people are not odious apologists for terrorism and, as the term goes, “anti-Zionists” (we all know what that means).

Turn up the sound. The first speaker is Eman Abdelhadi, an assistant professor in the Department of Human Development, and the second is Callie Maidhof, Associate Director and Assistant Senior Instructional Professor in our Global Studies group.

The speeches are the usual tedious repetition of propaganda, cant, and lies, blaming the war entirely on Israel–in fact, going all the way back to blaming the current conflict on the 1917 Balfour Declaration from the British government that called for the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine. Now, that state is, to these people, a “settler colonialist” state, a gross distortion of history.

The implication is that Israel shouldn’t be there at all. Pity that it’s here to stay!

Abdelhadi then decries America’s and Chicago’s emphasis on free expression, saying that the University’s dismantling of the encampment last summer (which violated University rules) was really a violation of free speech, thus “laying bare the contradictions of the Western World” and of the University of Chicago. The U of C is said to be “complicit in the murder of Palestinians”, “covered with Palestinian blood,” and dedicated to the erasure of Palestinian history.  As Abdelhadi promises at the end (after some chanting), the FSJP group is not going anywhere until it accomplishes its goals.  That will be. . . . well, never, and so we’re in for a long and rough yer as these protestors disrupt campus in their futile cause.

“Uchicagounited” is composed mainly of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP)( and some non-student allies. (SJP, a registered student group here, was sanctioned last year by the University for disruption). This appeared on the uchicagounited Instagram page.

Here’s a larger-type version of their mission:

Next week marks one year of “israel’s” genocide in Gaza — and one year of resistance.

“israel” has spent the past twelve months brutally bombing and displacing the people of Palestine and now Lebanon; cutting off their food, water, and education; and perpetrating every kind of atrocity against them, causing over 186,000 deaths. Despite this genocidal onslaught, the Palestinian and Lebanese people have remained steadfast in their resistance.

SHOW UP ON FRIDAY, OCTOBER 11, AT 2:30 PM ON THE CENTER QUAD (by 1100 E 58th St) to express our grief and rage as the University continues to put their money behind this massacre. While our administration ramps up its repression, surveillance, and censorship against students and community members, WE WON’T TAKE IT FOR A SECOND.

This is a masked event; keep yourselves and others safe! Masks will also be provided for those without them.

The masks, of course, are not intended to prevent the spread of respiratory diseases, but to hide the identity of the protestors from the authorities. When Jewish students congregate in solidarity, you see no masks.

Well, the administration has made its position clear; it is in favor of free speech but against disruption. And it will not entertain the idea of divesting according to the protestors’ demands. In a statement issued recently, President Paul Alivisatos, while calling for truth-seeking and the expression of diverse voices, added this:

While constructive dialogue is the gold standard to strive toward, speech should never be chilled. Actions that chill the speech or learning of others are out of bounds, and the University’s academic and administrative leadership is obliged to act to protect the community from such actions. Such chilling actions can include disrupting the speech or expression of others, disrupting the ability of classes and events to proceed, and other efforts intended to impose rather than propose a viewpoint for others. Acts of discrimination and harassment are inimical to our values and purposes, and we will defend our community against such actions.

It is clear, at least to me, what prompted this statement.

The student manual has also been updated in light of what happened last year. As the Chicago Maroon reports:

The changes include an explicit ban on “staying overnight in outdoor structures on campus or in non-residential campus buildings,” a clarification that “the erection or construction of any structure on campus” requires advance approval from the Director of Student Centers, and that amplified sounds are only permitted on campus at certain times and “not inside campus buildings.”

No encampments!  But, as the pro-Palestinian protestors promise, they’re not holding back: “WE WON’T TAKE IT FOR A SECOND”.  I’m afraid they’ll have to, unless they want to face sanctions from the University.

I absolutely defend the right of the miscreants above to say what they want so long as it adheres to our “time, place, and manner” guidelines for speech. But that doesn’t mean that counterspeech is not the proper response. Count this post as that kind of speech. But the lies mouthed by the protestors above are sufficient to discredit them and their “cause”. Israeli genocide, indeed! They willfully omit that it is Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran’s other proxies who are really dedicated to genocide: the extermination of Israel and its Jews. Israel has no intention to wipe out all the Palestinians, which is why their attacks are targeted.

The Jewish students and faculty here will celebrate October 7 with a show not of resistance, but of sorrow, hope, and solidarity. I won’t disclose the details because the pro-Palestinian demonstrators are prone to disrupting such events.

WATCH VIDEO:

https://whyevolutionistrue.com/2024/10/06/let-the-hate-begin/#respond