Dumb as a Rock? Hardly!

Vice President Kamala Harris and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

Unlike former President Trump, I do not think Vice President Kamala Harris is as ‘dumb as a rock’! You don’t get to where she has in American life being dumb. She was elected to high office many times in her career and was quite successful in those positions. Ultimately she was elected US senator from California.

Then in 2020  during a debate as a candidate for the Democratic nomination for President she asked some hard hitting questions about what she called racist polices once supported by fellow candidate Joe Biden. It was later during the campaign after Biden sewed up the nomination that he chose her for his VP pick.  And now she is the presumptive nominee for president of the Democratic party.

Support for Harris has been climbing with meteoric speed since Biden dropped out last Sunday. The mainstream media is downright giddy with joy over this turn of events – painting her as nearly the 2^nd coming of ‘you know who’. All while continuing to paint Trump in the most unflattering of terms (Most of which are richly deserved, unfortunately). Happy to do so not only because of his lack of morality, ethics, and character. But mostly because they can’t stand the conservative polices of his first term which he has promised to reinstate if he gets a 2^nd term. The possibility (for example) of adding yet another conservative justice to the Supreme Court scares them to death.

Harris has the momentum right now. She has gained on Trump in a recent head to head poll that gives Trump a one point lead over her – a statistical tie.

The convention will present Democrats as a unified party behind their nominee. Which would not have been the case had Biden stayed in. But now that she is the nominee she will continue to generate favorable coverage by the mainstream media while that same media will continue to trash Trump.

When it comes to supporting Israel Harris scares me. She will make her predecessor, Biden, look like a Zionist by comparison.  (Interestingly – Biden actually consider himself a ‘proud Zionist since 1973’. Which Prime Minister Netanyahu made reference to in his meeting with him yesterday.)

Harris has shown she is not ‘dumb as a rock’ in other ways that scare me. Ever the shrewd politician she knows she cannot win the election without Michigan and Minnesota. Two states heavily populated by Palestinian immigrants and descendants. Toward that end she has decided to pander to them as noted by JTA:

In her first statement on Israel as a presidential candidate, Kamala Harris struck a markedly different tone than President Joe Biden, saying after a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that she “will not be silent” in the face of what she called the “devastation” in Gaza. 

Fact is, she is right not to be silent about the devastation in Gaza. She’s just blaming the wrong people. She knows very well that every single Palestinian death in Gaza is the fault of Hamas and their material supporters Iran. Hamas started this war. They took hostages. They use civilians as human shields. And they rejoice at every Palestinian killed in Gaza since Israel gets blamed for it. Their leaders publicly admitted that. And Harris, the sitting Vice President, knows it.

Harris, is the consummate politician and knows how to count. She needs every Palestinian vote to put her over the top in those two states and she will therefore blame Israel exclusively without a word about any responsibility Hamas has in all that. 

Dumb as a rock? Hardly. If she keeps making comments like that, she may very well win those two states.

What about Jewish voters and their campaign contributions? She pretty much has the vast majority of them in her pocket as well since 90% of American Jews (i.e. those that are not Orthodox) are liberal Democrats. They  will support almost anyone with a D in front of their name. Besides, her husband is Jewish. That’s a bonus.

Harris also needs a few other swing states. If I understand correctly the swing state with the largest number of electors is Pennsylvania. Which is why its very popular governor, Josh Shapiro is high on her list of possible running mates. By choosing him she could very easily swing the vote in her direction. The drawback for her is that Shapiro is Jewish and might alienate her Muslim supporters.  (She could however easily counter that with some strong pro Palestinian rhetoric along the lines of her recent comments.)

On the other hand choosing Shapiro would increase her Jewish support. Shapiro is a proud Jew who attended a community Jewish day school, currently sends his children there, and claims to be Shomer Shabbos. What an ironic twist of fate that would be. She can then point to her husband and her running mate and claim to be both pro Jewish and pro Palestinian while at the same time increasing her pro Palestinian rhetoric.

Bottom line is that if Harris wins the election, she may very well be the least pro Israel president in Israel’s 76 year history. Like I said that scares me.

What are her chances? There is not the slightest doubt in my mind that the enthusiasm for Harris we are currently witnessing will be on full display at the convention. She will surely get a major bump in the polls after that. The enthusiasm of mainstream media will continue throughout the campaign – as will the disparaging comments about Trump.

That ‘bump’ will not necessarily last. But with the media basically supporting her while continuing to demonize her opponent, I suspect that she may very well win the next election. And that does not bode well for Israel. Nor do her liberal policies bode all that well for this country’s future either.

Why Charedi Yeshivos Need Your Money

The Ponevezh Beis HaMedrash

Dear Acheinu Beis Yisroel - My dear brothers in the House of Israel. So begins a email sent out by Agudah to their vast mailing list. 

It is with a heavy heart and a fear of Heaven that I am impelled to write these words. But there is no logical explanation in the world that can answer the deep seated questions raised by this continuing appeal being made by Agudah. 

My heart is heavy because of my deep respect for the American rabbinic leaders (members of the Agudah Moetzes) who authorized this appeal and for the elderly rabbinic leaders from Israel that are requesting these funds be raised

I understand how they feel. Their motives are pure and based on the belief that they are doing the will of God. 

However, even though I come no where near their Torah knowledge and Yiras Shomayim, I nevertheless feel the need to respond based on the teachings of my own late rabbinic leaders. Many of whom were widely respected by the venerable rabbinic peers of their generation. Whom the current rabbinic leaders (on both side of the ocean) also venerated.  

I have received several email communications from Agudah  like the latest one I got yesterday. Which in part reads as follows: 

In the past few weeks, six of the leading Gedolim from Eretz Yisroel— Rav Dov Landau, Rav Moshe Hillel Hirsch, Rav Yaakov Hillel, Rav Don Segal, the Rachmastrivka Rebbe, and Rav Avraham Salim — established the Keren Olam HaTorah, a historic fund to replace the subsidies that the Israeli government has withdrawn from yeshivos and kollelim in the Holy Land. Needless to say, the loss of these subsidies would take a staggering toll on the Olam HaTorah in Eretz Yisroel. Also needless to say, the urgency of maintaining high levels of limud haTorah in Eretz Yisroel at this perilous time could not be greater.

What this pitch shows is that all the legitimate questions sincerely brought up by people that are often the most supportive of these rabbinic leaders are being totally ignored. It is impossible for me to believe that they are not aware of writers like Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstaien whose poignant but hard hitting Cross-Currents post on the subject spelled out in detail about the flaws in their rationale for raising funds. 

It’s not that I think that the elderly rabbinic leaders of the American Agudah read anything on the internet. Of course they don’t. But  their Executive Vice President, Rabbi Chaim Dovid Zwiebel who signed this letter has to be aware what people in the Orthodox world which Agudah claims to represent think. I would think it is part of his job to know that. And then to relay those thoughts to the rabbinic leaders of his organization (The Moetzes).

Which to me means they either don’t agree or don’t care what some of their more prominent supporters think - if they happen to disagree with the decisions of the rabbinic leaders. As I recently put it, it is a ‘Daas Torah’ thing. One must listen to the Gedolim even when one believes they are absolutely wrong. Because by definition  we CAN’T  know better than them what is right or wrong in the eyes of God no matter what we think. Questioning them then becomes a Chutzpah!

The problem here is that this letter and others like it do not address all the obvious 300 pound gorillas in the room. 

The most troubling of which is what Rabbi Adlerstein referred to as ‘arrogant condescension’ by dint of the fact that they ignore the many religious Zionist Yeshivos (especially Hesder Yeshivos) where Torah study is just as sincere as anyone in the Charedi world.  And this doesn’t even speak to the outrageous inequity and injustice of their demand to exempt from the army students of full time Torah study (which is virtually all of them). Thereby conveniently sparing them entirely from death and serious injury - while allowing others to do that for them. This is infuriating to – not only to secular Israeli families but the many religious families whose sons and daughters have risked - and still are risking - life and limb in battle. serving in combat.

To claim that the very survival of Torah in Israel depends on the hard earned dollars of people who are financially squeezed to death by the additional expenses of living a religious lifestyle - not the least of which are budget busting tuitions -  when there is another more equitable solution screams ‘injustice’ at me in the loudest of terms.

The obvious better solution would be for the Israeli government to restore their funding by agreeing to allow some of their young to be drafted in numbers large enough to fill the needs of the IDF. The rest can be deferred or exempt. That there is no real war against the Torah should be obvious by the fact that religious Zionist Yeshivos are fully funded. 

The Charedi world can have it all back if their leaders would would simply compromise along those lines. But they won’t do it. They apparently consider service in the IDF to be a Torah violation. So they will instead  squeeze every dollar out of their American supporters they can..

I fear that many Charedi rabbis in shuls all across America will place extreme pressure their congregants to do donate money to this cause. All without sacrificing a dime of ehat they usually give to the Shul or schools they send their children to. They will do so using the same existential arguments made by Agudah.

It is so sad that the common sense of courageous people like Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein and many other like him are being ignored in favor of arguments based on half truths and condescension towards other Bnei Torah. A narrative that is counter to fairness, common sense, and in my view (and the view of my mentors) counter to the Torah itself.

The More to the Left One Goes...

An illegal  leftist sit-in by a bunch of misguided Jews (NPR)

The more I see extreme leftist Jews in action, the more I consider them to be misguided fools if not downright evil. There are very few enemies of the Jewish people worse than those who are themselves Jewish. They deserve to be called out.  When a bunch of Jews claim that Judaism supports our mortal enemies, there is little else to be said. To say that they are a living breathing Chilul HaShem is a massive understatement.

Sadly  these leftist Jews cannot be fully blamed for their gross distortion of Jewish values. As I so often say it is the lack of an authentic Jewish education that leads them to their folly. But that does not make it any less evil.

These were my thoughts when I saw the following this morning: 

About 200 demonstrators staging a sit-in against the war in Gaza were arrested on Capitol Hill Tuesday, according to U.S. Capitol Police, a day before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was to address a joint meeting of Congress.

In a post on X, the agency said the protesters, gathered in the rotunda of the Cannon House Office Building, were arrested for “Crowding, Obstructing or Incommoding,” and added that it's against the law to demonstrate in congressional buildings. 

The picture (above) of this group clearly shows that these people were Jewish. They wanted to make that clear - so one of them in the center (their leader – I suppose)  wore a Kipa and Talis. They wanted the world to know that Jewish morality is on the side of Palestinians. As is their hatred for Israel’s prime minister.

There is a lot of hate out there for Israeli Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu. Mostly from the left. The  further one goes to the left, the more one will despise him. That should be obvious by most of those in Congress that will be boycotting his address to a joint session. Which he was invited to give by the leaders of both the House and the Senate:

A number of Democratic lawmakers will not be attending the speech, including progressive leaders such as Sen. Bernie Sanders and Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar and Pramila Jayapal. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi likewise said she will not attend.

Senator Bernie Sanders called Netanyahu a war criminal! Representative Jerry Nadler (who will be attending) said that Netanyahu is “the worst leader in Jewish history since the Maccabean king who invited the Romans into Jerusalem over 2100 years ago.” 

Nice!

Vice President Kamala Harris is skipping his address too. As Speaker Mike Johnson noted, it is outrageous and inexcusable that the siting vice president and senate president is boycotting this joint session of congress at a time when it has never been more important to stand with our closest ally in the Middle East. She needs to be held accountable for that. 

Her excuse is that she had a preplanned address at an event in Indiana for Zeta Phi Beta, a historically Black sorority founded at her alma mater, Howard University. 

It is pretty lame to prioritize a speech to a sorority over attending an address as a national leader - given to congress by the leader of an ally at war.  I think any normal sorority would understand that kind of priority and would surely have taken a raincheck. That she will meet with the prime minister later in private is well and good. But the message she sends by not attending is a lot louder and clearer than any private meeting she will have. As the war in Gaza has shown us, images sometimes matter more than substance.

She is clearly playing to the Hamas supporting voters of Palestinian heritage in Michigan and Minnesota - states she needs to win if she is going to be elected president. Placing personal ambition above principle.

Shabbos Kestenbaum and Zev Mishell

Parents of an American/Israel hostage addressing the RNC convention

No matter how many times I hear outrageous versions about right and wrong from Jews who are clueless about their own Judaism, it still depresses me. But it shouldn’t surprise me when 90% of the American Jewish population is not observant. Mostly because they have not been educated Jewishly to any significant degree. 

Which means they get their values elsewhere - outside the orbit of the authentic and eternal values of the Torah. In our day, the source of those external values are humanistic. And many of these well meaning but ignorant Jews believe those values are Jewish values. When in truth some are and some are not.  

It is from their ranks that one will find Jews that believe Israel is irrelevant to being a Jew. And that one does not need to support Israel to be a Jew in good standing. It is from their ranks that one will find Jews  joining Palestinian protestors screaming ‘Free Palestine from the river to the sea’. It was this type of Jew that responded negatively to one of the most inspiring moments at the RNC convention. (At least for me.)

A Kipa clad young man was given the podium. From  the Jewish Chronicle: 

Shabbos Kestenbaum, the Harvard University graduate suing his alma mater for its failures to address campus antisemitism in the wake of October 7, addressed a cheering audience at the Republican National Convention, where the registered Democrat decried the “illiberalism” of one of the US’s most prestigious institutions.

“I came to Harvard to study religion, the foundation of western civilisation,” Kestenbaum said. “What I found was not theology but a contempt for it. My problem with Harvard is not its liberalism, but its illiberalism; too often students at Harvard are taught not how to think, but what to think.”

Kestenbaum energetically told RNC crowds that he is a “proud first-generation American,” a “proud Orthodox Jew,” and the “proud plaintiff suing Harvard University for its failure to combat antisemitism.”

The lawsuit brought about by Kestenbaum and five other Jewish students who sued the university in January helped spur congressional hearings where incisive questions from Republican lawmakers forced the resignation of Harvard President Claudine Gay.

During his speech on Wednesday, Kestenbaum called the culture at Harvard “anti-western,” “anti-American,” and “antisemitic.”

He then described some of the details about what he experienced on campus. He volunteered that he voted for Bernie Sanders and registered as a Democrat as soon as he turned 18 - a party which he said has now become poisoned.. It  was a rousing speech that ended with the following: 

Kestenbaum said he was “proud” to support former President Donald Trump’s policy to “deport foreign students who violate our laws, harass our Jewish classmates and desecrate our freedoms.”

“Jewish values are American values and American values are Jewish values,” Kestenbaum said, ending his speech with a call for the release of the hostages in Gaza.

For me, it was more about the crowd’s response than it was about those actual words. Which are of course true. They cheered him enthusiastically when he said that.

Which is why I completely reject the notion put forward by a few left wing Jews that the goal of the Republican party is to turn the US to a Christian nation. As I recently pointed out, it already is a Christian nation. The vast majority of the American people are Christians. What it is not is a nation with an official religion like most other countries. 

The freedom to worship as one chooses is the cornerstone of our republic. What the Republican party wants is for religion to be restored to its rightful place in society. That is something I agree with. Not that the US must become an official Christian nation. That was not the founders intent. Only a few extremists in the party think it was or should be. 

This is why a Kipa wearing Jew who said “Jewish values are American values and American values are Jewish values,” was cheered. Religious values have practically disappeared from American culture. They need to be restored. That is why for example one will find Amicus briefs being filed  jointly by Agudah, the Catholic Church and some protestant denominations -  on behalf of school choice .  

After watching Kestenbaum and seeing the crowd reaction, I never felt prouder to be an American.

This was not the case for Zev Mishell a former classmate of Kestebaum. Mishell called Kestenbaum a liar in so many words and said the Jews in Harvard are doing just fine.

He referred to the two Jewish speakers (which included Matt Brooks, CEO of the Republican Jewish Committee) of being token Jews of a racist party that embraces White Christin Nationalism. Which would make Jews, people of color, and people of other religions second class citizens. 

What is Mishell’s idea of expressing the ideals of Judaism? The following might provide a hint about where - in their infinite stupidity - his head and the heads of his fellow travelers are at: 

Many students belong to a non-Zionist Jewish community at the school called Jews for Liberation, which is part of a growing movement of on-campus independent Jewish communities that reject the conflation of Jewishness with Zionism and work outside of Hillel or Chabad to provide spiritual care. 

Getting educated about Judaism from Harvard Divinity School would be the same as getting educated about the Theory of Evolution as the Origin of Species at Ponevezh. To say Mishell’s values are bereft of any significant Jewish content would be the understatement of the century. Despite any protestations he might have to the contrary. If on the other hand he has had some sort of legitimate religious education in his past, he has clearly abandoned it. Which would make his embrace of the Palestinian narrative even more troubling!

Sadly there are far too many well meaning Jews that read garbage like his and buy into it to one degree or another. Especially the part about the Republican party now becoming the party of White Christian Nationlism.

That may be true for some of the more extreme members of the party. Like Marjorie Taylor-Greene. But the cheers Kestenbaum got were spontaneous and real. When a hostage family from Israel addressed the convention  and started chanting ‘Bring them home’ the crowd started chanting it along with them. That was real. This was the first time  that the CEO of the Republican Jewish Committee was invited to speak at an RNC convention. That was real. The concern over antisemitism on campus - that was real,too. 

Most of  the people that attended the convention just want religion to be part of the American culture again. They want those values restored. While they are certainly mostly proud Christians, they do not require it of anyone in order to be a full fledged American in good standing. That is how I felt after watching Kestenbaum, Brooks, and the hostage family speak.

I have no clue what the DNC convention will be like other than a Harris lovefest. There will surely be some Jewish speakers. Not that I expect any of them to speak about their Judaism much - if at all. In any event I doubt I will be as inspired by any of them the way I was by Kestenbaum. 

A Brand New Ballgame

Will Harris face Trump in November? (NBC)

Even though it was almost a forgone conclusion, I was still somewhat shocked by what happened yesterday. By now the entire world knows that President Joe Biden has decided to no longer pursue a 2^nd  term as President of the United States.

I was never a fan of Biden even though he was a centrist Democrat for most of his long political career. I just didn’t trust him. I saw him as an ambitious politician that would change his position on a dime if it suited his political ambitions. 

His presidency proved to be more of the same. He has long ago abandoned his centrist position sensing that his party has moved to the left. That being said, his support for Israel has remained strong. As an Orthodox Jew, an American patriot, and a strong supporter of Israel, I thank him for his unwavering support in the aftermath of the October 7^th massacre - when Israel needed him the most. I share the sentiments of Israeli President Isaac Herzog who thanked him for the “friendship and steadfast support” for Israel throughout his long political career. Herzog also said the following:

 “As the first US President to visit Israel in wartime, as a recipient of the Israeli Presidential Medal of Honor, and as a true ally of the Jewish people, he is a symbol of the unbreakable bond between our two peoples,”  

Although recently Biden has been critical of Israel’s conduct in the war and expressed frustration with Israel’s right wing government, he never wavered in his commitment to Israel’s right to exist and to defend itself against Hamas.

I actually feel sorry for the way Biden was treated by his colleagues. It was a virtual mutiny with many prominent Democrats jumping ship. They saw an old man in physical and mental decline during a debate with Trump and wanted him out. Biden fought valiantly to retain the nomination. But the overwhelming opposition of colleagues, supporters, and friends made him realize there was no way he could win without their support. 

Biden did not deserve to be thrown under the bus like that. At the end of the day, he is a decent man who deserved to be treated with a lot more dignity than he got. Now that he has abandoned his quest for a 2^nd term they are treating him like Gandhi.

That leaves a void in the party that has yet to be filled. Who is going to be the standard bearer? That void seems to have been quickly filled by his Vice President, Kamela Harris. As would be expected Biden quickly endorsed her. That was followed by a virtual sea of support by fellow members of the Democratic party. Including many popular political figures that might have otherwise been her rivals for the nomination.

It seems, therefore, that she is a shoe-in. No one wants to go up against a candidate with the kind of massive support she is getting on day one. Especially if that candidate is a  black-Asian woman. That would be about as politically incorrect as any Democrat could possibly be. Her support seems to be increasing very rapidly. It is almost as if they are choosing her for purposes of unity and racial/ethnic equity without caring much about her personal political views

Which begs the question, is she really the best candidate to win the election in November? Or is she the most expedient candidate for purposes of uniting the party as quickly as possible? I think it’s the latter. A poll taken after the Trump assassination attempt (before Biden bowed out) shows Harris trailing Trump by 3 percentage points in a head to head contest. Her colleagues seem to be ignoring that and claim that the issues are on her side. And she will therefore easily win. Besides, polls have been wrong before. Many times. 

But I would not dismiss them so quickly. When a party changes the candidate for president in the middle of an election campaign. it leaves an impression of chaos and disunity. That will not quickly go away despite their best efforts to show the near universal support Harris is getting. But even if they succeed in unifying the party, they have to consider who they are unifying with.

Rightly or wrongly Harris is perceived as a far left candidate. She has been endorsed by the far left of her party, including Bernie Sanders and AOC. She may have at one time been a centrist Democrat. But she has turned leftward - right along with the rest of her party.

The majority of American electorate is centrist, It doesn’t matter if they have a D or R in front of their name. They want someone that will rule from the center. Not the extreme right or the extreme left. Harris may try and portray herself that way. But her reputation precedes her. She will not sway the moderate middle to vote for her any more than Trump will sway them to vote for him. Their vote will very likely be split.

It might help if she picks a centrist Democrat from the rust belt to be her running mate. Like Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro. But I’m not sure that will be enough.  

The question which concerns me is what her policy on Israel will be. How supportive will she be if, for example, she doesn’t like who the Israeli electorate chooses to lead them?

That being said, those who say she is anti Israel are dead wrong. She is no more anti Israel than Biden or Obama. But she has expressed a lot more sympathy for Palestinian protesters than has Biden.

So like Obama she will likely have the same ‘unshakeable’ commitment to Israel’s survival. But she will probably also be more like him - ready to allow the UN to condemn Israel for policies she does not approve of.  

Needless to say, I am not a fan. I will probably not vote for her - if she is the nominee. And that is far from certain. The electors won by Biden during the primaries are no longer going  to vote for  him. They will vote to nominate whomever they choose at the convention. Although Harris seems likely to get the nod for now, you never know.

Just as needless to say, I am not a fan of Trump either and will probably not for him.

What I therefore have to look at is the party - not the candidate. As someone that leans strongly conservative there is not a doubt in my mind which party more represents my views (which includes support for Israel by orders of magnitude compared to Democrats). That is the Republican party. How that will translate into the presidential election is yet to be worked out for me. (I may only vote for down ballot candidates.)

Just some of my thoughts about yesterday’s shocking announcement from the president.

When Images Trump Truth

Screenshot

The mainstream media (MSM) is relentless. Even though attention to the war against Hamas in Gaza has waned in recent weeks (replaced by coverage of domestic politics) every once in a while we are ‘treated’ to gut wrenching images of Palestinians suffering at the hands of Israeli bombs and snipers. 

This morning was one of those times. I could not help but seethe with anger while watching  Children of Gaza on CBS (video below). A reporter and her interview subjects tore Israel apart. Insinuating that they were entirely at fault for those horrifying images. Mostly images of bloodied children. Or children missing limbs. Children whose parents were killed by Israeli bombs or bullets. Or just plain dead children. That was accompanied by an assertion that the vast majority of civilian casualties were children.

Making this ‘report’ particularly infuriating were the comments of one volunteer doctor with the very Jewish last name of Perlmutter. Without saying it in so many words, He proceeded to blame Israel entirely for what he said was the greatest degree of children being killed he had ever seen. He said that in his  first week in Gaza he saw more carnage in Gaza than the decades of all the other places he volunteered - combined. 

That was followed by fluent English speakers with Arabic last names who were volunteer medical professionals. They said pretty much said the same thing Perlmutter said. Adding insult to injury that reporter quoted UNICEF who pretty much agreed with all that too. Claiming as well that children were being deliberately killed with precision by Israeli snipers. And finally they said that despite evidence to the contrary, they witnessed Israel deliberately using starvation as a tactic of war. 

That reporter did not explicitly say that Israel was to be blamed for all of this. But you have to be a complete idiot not to draw that conclusion from this report.

It is indeed undeniable that Israeli bombs and military tactics are the direct cause of all of the above. What is also true and left unsaid is one very important overriding factor that should make all the difference in the world. Obvious to anyone but leftist antisemites. Which is that the people really responsible for all this carnage are the very people Palestinians in Gaza have chosen to lead them and have yet to repudiate: Hamas. A group funded and supplied by Iran. A nation committed to Israel’s destruction. A nation that supplies proxies like Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Huthi rebels in Yemen to do their dirty work for them.

Is there any rational person not blinded by hatred of Israel that does not understand this? Is there the slightest doubt in the mind of any rational person that if Hamas would lay down their weapons and release all the hostages that the carnage of their own people - men, women, and children - would stop immediately?  That 35,000 of their people would still be alive if they had done that from the start? That Hamas determination to fight another day in order to ‘Free Palestine’ is why Israel has no choice but to do what it takes to defeat this deadly enemy - and prevent the next October 7^th? 

Even the MSM acknowledges that those many of the innocent Palestinian casualties are the result of Hamas using their own civilians as human shields regardless of whether (or probably preferring) they are woman or children? The MSM have themselves reported Hamas leaders saying they favor high civilian casualties because it works in their favor by demonizing Israel!

None of this was mentioned in the story. Leaving the viewer to draw their own negative conclusion about Israel’s conduct in the war based on the images and reporting in a story like this

There are Jews like Dr. Perlmutter whose sense of right and wrong is guided by what he sees rather than by what he should know. The kind of Jews who joined Palestinian protesters on campuses all over the country not long ago. Nor should anyone be surprised that a volunteer doctor wearing a bracelet that said ‘Free Palestine’ decried all the carnage and suffering he witnessed - imputing blame to Israel

That being said, it is practically impossible to overcome images of human suffering as Israeli bombs keep going off in Gaza while the MSM continually features biased stories like this. That does not make their narrative  just. It just makes it a more believable. And that sickens me.

The idea that Israel is still at war in Gaza over 8 months after they were attacked is very sad. For a variety of reasons. Foremost among them is the blood of our own soldiers being spilled. Jewish blood is not cheap!  Secondly the images coming out of there do not help Israel’s image. Despite our thier justifiable reasons for being at war there.

I am in no position to second Israel’s political  leadership.  They are privy to intelligence reports that no one outside their leadership (Prime Minister Netanyahu) his military advisors, and  his IDF commanders are privv to. Those who blame Netanyahu for prolonging the war are not privy to that intelligence. Criticizing a leader at a time of war because they don’t like him is irresponsible in the extreme. Sadly about half of Israel has done exactly that. Their simple common sense on this subject has been been overwhelmed by their blind hatred of the man

No one wants to see the war end more than I do. For all the abovementioned reasons. But it can’t be at the expense of Israel not achieving its goal of eradicating the Hamas ability to ever do anything like October 7^th  again. And to prevent Hamas from ever ruling Gaza again. 

That should be the goal. Tehe PR chips will just have to fall as they may. Thankfully, the kind of conditional support mainstream  Democrats have shown for Israel will be replaced by the kind of unconditional support of the Republicans have shown. Which at this point in time seems very likely. Until then Israel will have to suffer the slings and arrows of a biased MSM.

A word about the upcoming address to be given by Israel’s prime minister this week to a joint session of congress. My hope is that he does his usual good job of making Israel’s case to the American people. Last time he spoke to congress he did so with eloquence. Rejecting with fully about the disaterous Iran nuclear deal. Which is in part responsible for the Gaza war. He received several standing ovations last time. (Mostly from Republicans that agreed with him.) Hope to see the same thing this time. 

What about those Democrats in congress are likely going to boycott him (Like Tlaib, Omar, AOC, Sanders, and Schakowsky)? Good riddance. They are out of touch with most of the American  people. And represent a tiny portion of them. Hopefully they will soon become relics of the past.

Speaking the Truth to Power

22 year old Jonathan Ben Hamou - a wounded IDF soldier who lost his leg

Last week in one of the Charedi magazines, I saw an ad describing a rally where an appeal was made by elderly Israeli rabbinic leaders asking for $100 million from American donors. The purpose of which was to replace the government funding for their Yeshivos now being withheld because their Yeshivos do not comply with the draft laws. 

That ad quoted the reactions of several prominent Charedi rabbis that attended. One of the responses (by someone whose name escapes me) stood out. He said something like: We now hear the Gedolim and we are their soldiers.

This is how Daas Torah works in the Charedi world. You are not told how to think. You are told what to think. And then you follow that up with action. Questioning the Gedolim is like questioning the Torah. 

This accounts for the ‘we are their soldiers’ response.  There is no possibility that any of the prominent Charedi rabbis that attended that rally would ever bring up the legitimate issues that I have brought up here. There is no challenging the accusations that this is a war against the Torah. Even in the face of massive evidence to the contrary. 

What about the fact that virtually every religious Zionist rabbinic leader considers army service to be a religious obligation? They do not recognize that as Daas Torah. What about the evidence to the contrary... that this is not a war against the Torah? It doesn’t matter. Even if they say, ‘Left is right and right is left’ – we must listen to them.

Fortunately there are a few courageous Charedi rabbis who are willing to ‘speak truth to power’. Not in God forbid any insulting way. And not even any way challenging their worldview. Or cavalierly dismissing their fear that army service might harm them spiritually. (Although in my view that is a debatable charge considering how many serious religious Zionist youth serve in the IDF with honor - without it harming them spiritually.)

One such individual is Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein. He had the courage to publish his views on the subject yesterday in Cross-Currents. He expressed many of the same sentiments I have expressed here. Many times. But I am not Charedi. He is. And yet he sees the same truths I see. He does not believe that one should be a ‘soldier’ to a ‘Daas Torah’ based on half truths or fiction. That people of good will on both sides could have come to a solution that would have been satisfactory to all. Which would have avoided the acrimony and disunity that accusations like theirs have caused. Here in part is what he said: 

We keep on hearing that Israel/the Supreme Court/the accursed Zionists (take your pick) has/have launched a “war against Torah.” That is the party line. See the many references to it in the kol koreis, the op-eds, and the comboxes... 

There is no war against Torah. And the Supreme Court did not order the drafting of all charedim. The law of the land is that all people are required to register for the draft, and serve their embattled country if called up.  

Full-time learners have enjoyed an exemption from service for decades. The Court has long argued that this was unfair, and therefore illegal. It gave the government deadlines to come up with some equitable solution. The Court found the government’s proposal inadequate, which means that charedim – the legitimate learners, the part-timers, and the non-learners – are subject to call-up. No one – least of all the IDF – wants 70,000 charedim in the army. The ball is now in the court of the government to come up with a plan.

It is not a war on Torah. The government has been supporting an ever-growing force of learners for decades, much to the chagrin of a cash-strapped populace that resents paying for them. It has not been unfriendly to tradition, and the country as a whole has been getting more traditional – especially after Oct. 7th. But even if it shuttered every charedi yeshiva in the country, the light of Torah would not c”v be extinguished in Israel. Scores of non-charedi yeshivos are spread throughout the Land. In fact, one of the reasons that so much rage is directed these days at charedim is the latter claim that their Torah protects the nation, and determines the success of its soldiers. This claim effectively invalidates all of the Torah of tens of thousands of learners outside charedi circles. What arrogant condescension!

Wow! I am so proud to know this man. Rabbi Adlerstein is a man of courage. He believes in the core principles of the Charedi worldview. And yet he has spoken up to refute the claims by Charedi leadership that this is a war against the Torah. And amazingly called out the implication that only their ‘learners’ protect the nation and determine success of its soldiers for what it is: an arrogant condescension!

I hope his heartfelt words have their intended impact on the Charedi mainstream. I believe that many of them already feel that way. Maybe now, they too will have the courage to say publicly that ‘we will not be soldiers to a Daas Torah based on half truths or fiction.

Human Rights Watch, Hamas, and Israel

Israeli Hostage being take into Gaza on October 7th (TOI)

Last night, the PBS Newshour featured an interview with Ida Sawyer, an official of Human Rights Watch (Video below). In an extraordinary moment of honesty, HRW has come out with a comprehensive report about the October 7^th attack in Israel. Documenting specific war crimes – crimes against humanity that were carried out by armed Palestinian groups. Who committed a wide spread and systematic attack against a civilian population.

The report also states that there was strong evidence that it was an organizational policy to commit multiple acts of crimes against humanity. Attacks that included persecution against any groups based on national, ethnic, or religious identity. Attacks that included rape and other acts of sexual violence. Attacks that involved a high degree of planning and execution with strong evidence of an intent to kill civilians and take civilian hostages.

While all of this is pretty well known by now HRW claims this is the first time a comprehensive study has been made and detailed report about it has been released.

HRW deserves credit for their moment of truth. But at the same time they can’t seem to let go of their prejudice against Israel. Nor can the mainstream media for that matter. 

Near the end of that interview Sawyer was asked to talk about Israel’s war crimes. Which she happily did. Saying that Israel could not commit war crimes in retaliation for the war crimes committed against them. Which she claimed Israel was doing. Unquestioningly using Hamas figures of 35,000 civilian casualties as the actual numbers. 

Without mentioning that the very organization she condemned for the heinous crimes she described - might be lying about those numbers. 

Without mentioning the fact that Hamas does not differentiate between Palestinian civilians killed and Palestinian terrorists killed. 

Without mentioning that most of the  innocent Palestinians were killed because Hamas - by their own admission - prefers it that way. Therefore embedding themselves among the civilian population. Used as human shields. - or if killed will make Israel look bad.  

Sawyer also said that using starvation as a weapon is also a  crime against humanity implying that Israel purposely starved Palestininas as a tactic of war. When there is no credible evidence of that. Palestinians were starving for a variety of reasons that had nothing to do with Israel holding back food for tactical reasons. Such as the inefficiency of UN distribution or the pilfering of food by Hamas terrorists before it ever got to the civilian population.  

This is what is so frustrating about Human Rights Watch. Even when they  come out with an honest report about the cruelty of Palestinian Jihadists like Hamas, they cannot resist saving some blame for Israel. Which seems to be the hallmark of leftist humanitarian organizations like HRW. They never miss an opportunity to bash Israel. A nation that is too successful to be righteous in the eyes of the left.

America is a Christian Nation. And Yet it Isn't

America is a Christian nation. Anyone that does not understand this has not been here during the Christmas season. It should be more than obvious that Christmas is the favorite holiday for the vast majority of Americans. That’s because the vast majority of Americans are Christian. The sooner we understand that, the better we will be able to understand what moves much of the MAGA Republicans.

This is different than saying that Christianity is the official religion of the United States. The founding fathers had the wisdom to declare this nation not  have an official religion. Instead guaranteeing all of its people the freedom to worship freely as they please. An ideal imbedded in the First Amendment to the constitution. This means that all of its people are equal citizens under the law regardless of what their religion is. 

This is why I consider myself a full fledged American with all the rights and privileges afforded them. At the same time our founding document, The Declaration of Independence, recognizes that we are endowed with inalienable rights given to us by a Creator. Underscoring the existence of God and that He is the ultimate Grantor of those rights. God was an integral part of America at its founding. Which is how the founding father envisioned the ethos of the American future.

I am therefore pleased at how many speakers at the RNC convention spoke about God. That one or two of them mentioned their belief in the god of the New Testement didn’t bother me a bit. As I said, this is a Christian nation and we are each allowed to worship in any manner we choose.

I was glad to hear God mentioned so many times because He has been absent from the national dialogue. A dialogue promoted by a progressive agenda that speaks only of human rights. Not Godly obligations.

We  don’t have to look very far to see where this attitude has taken us when progressives can’t even define what a woman is. And consider a fetus something that is expendable - if - because of inconvenience - that is a pregnant woman’s choice. Or that the sexual morality of the bible is considered an unfair burden on individuals whose sexual desires lead to violations of God's law that they consider arbitrary.  

This brings me to a column by journalist, Jay Michaelson. Someone whose views about Judaism is a gross distortion of what it actually is. 

By his own admission Michaelson has chosen to entirely ignore the RNC convention. And then comments that he thinks it will promote and bring about if Trump’s polices are restored. That s so typical of the progressive left. They think have the gift of prophecy. They know in advance what will be promoted and will refute it in advance. Michaelson thinks that Christian Nationalism is the theme of the convention.

While there are some Christians that want to the US become an official  Christian nation, that is not going to happen with the Republicans that currently control the party. And it was clearly not evident at all so far. The opposite is true. The following are some examples that demonstrate that.

Leora Levy, a Jewish Republican from Connecticut spoke on the fist day and made the following prayer: 

“O Lord our God, we pray for the peace of Jerusalem, your eternal city, and for all the children of Abraham, we remember and pray for freedom for the hostages kidnapped and held so cruelly against their will,” Levy said. “Lord, please keep them in your sight and hasten the day of their freedom.”

This was followed by a spontaneous coment from the floor (By a Christian no doubt) who said: ‘Beautiful prayer!’

This morning JTA had the following headline for one of its stories 

In a first, Republican Jewish Coalition CEO addresses RNC as Republicans vow to make American Jews safe again. 

The following is a quote from that article: 

“President Trump will bring back law and order so that American Jews can once again wear a kippah and walk the streets without fear,” (Matt)Brooks said in a fiery speech, waving a red kippah emblazoned with Trump’s name. “President Trump will stop the mobs on college campuses so Jewish students feel safe when they go to class.” 

In addition there were many Jewish Trump supporters on the floor carrying signs with Trump’s name in Hebrew. One Trump supporter with sign like that - which the camera’s focused on a lot last night looked like a Lubavitcher!

Tonight’s convention theme will be foreign affairs. Scheduled to speak will be a Jewish college student (and former Bernie Sanders supporter) talking about his experience of antisemitism on campus.  Also scheduled to speak will be the mother of one of the Israeli hostages being held by Hamas!

I’m pretty sure that unequivocal support for Israel will be on display. Nothing about ‘Israel going to far’ or too many Palestinians being killed. To the extent that they do mention civilian casualties, it will  be blamed entirely on Hamas. Where the blame belongs,

They will also remind the audience about the breakthrough of the Abraham Accords and the fact that Iran was broke under Trump, while under Biden they have been allowed  to have enough money to support their proxies (like Hamas and Hezbollah) in their goal of annihilating Israel.

I will be surprised if all those things are not mentioned. If the RNC is trying to make the US a Christian Nationalist country, they have a funny way of showing it. 

Michaelson who is openly gay also fears the following: 

Four more years of stacking the courts (will) likely end…legal same-sex marriage, the further erosion of women’s legal autonomy as human beings (i.e. the right to end an inconvenient pregnancy)

Ending gay marriage is not a bad thing. Neither is opposing abortions for women who seek them because having a baby is inconvenient. While some of the other things he fears happening I too am opposed to, the idea of bringing God back into the picture is a good that overrides my other concerns. That is something the country is sorely lacking. Restoring God back into the culture of the American people is something the Republican party supports. And so do I.

Is Vance Good for the Jews?

J.D. Vance and Donald Trump (NPR)

Is Donald Trump a ‘moral disaster’ that should be considered the ‘American Hitler’?  I think there may be more than a few ‘Never Trumpers’ that feel that way – or very close to it.  One may find it hard to believe that Trump’s choice of a running mate is someone who has actually called Trump a ‘moral disaster’ and an ‘American Hitler’. And considered himself to be a ‘Never Trumper’ – Ohio Senator J.D. Vance.

 One may ask, ‘How is that possible?’ Doesn’t Trump’s penchant for revenge against his critics suggest he would choose someone else? And carry out some sort of vengeful policy toward the Ohio senator?

The answer of course is that Vance has done ‘Teshuva’. Those early anti Trump statements were made in 2016 before he experienced the Trump presidency. He has come to see Trump as a man whose policies are virtually identical to his.  Since then he has become Trump’s biggest supporter  and loyal to a fault. Which is why Trump picked him.

Vance would not have been my first choice as Trump’s running mate. I was hoping for Rubio, whose views about Israel are virtually identical to those of Haley. And most of his views on other subjects are more in line with my own.

I can’t say the same about Vance. Except when it comes to his views about Israel. On that subject his views seem to be the same as Haley and Rubio. Considering Trump’s own strong pro Israel policies during his first term, I see Vance as a very positive influence in that direction. 

The following is an excerpt from Al-Monitor describing some of Vance’s views on this subject:  

Vance critiqued US foreign policy decisions throughout (a) Quincy Institute speech, saying the US "created a proxy of Iran in the Middle East" via the 2003 invasion of Iraq, among other examples.

Vance’s criticism of US policy does not include questioning US support for Israel. At the Quincy Institute speech, he made the case that Israel differs from Ukraine in terms of US aid.

“It’s sort of weird that this town assumes that Israel and Ukraine are exactly the same. They’re not, of course, and I think it’s important to analyze them in separate buckets,” he said at the institute, adding that politicians need to better articulate how support for Israel is in America's "best interest."

Vance said Israel is “one of the most dynamic and technologically advanced countries in the world." He praised Israel's development of the Iron Beam air defense system, saying, "The Israelis are doing the most important work to give us missile-defense parity."

Vance cited religion as a reason many Americans are pro-Israel, saying the United States is "still the largest Christian-majority country in the world" and referencing the Christian belief that Jesus Christ lived, died and was resurrected in modern day Israel and the West Bank.

"The idea that there is ever going to be an American foreign policy that doesn't care a lot about that slice of the world is preposterous because of who Americans are," he said.

In an interview with CNN the same month, Vance voiced support for Israel continuing the Gaza war, rejected US pressure on the country and blamed Hamas for Palestinian casualties.

“Hamas started the war, and now they hide behind Palestinian civilians. So if you want to learn the lessons of the last 40 years, the most important thing is we have to defeat Hamas as a viable military organization,” he said. “You’re never going to defeat the ideology of Hamas, but you can root out those commanders, those final military-trained battalions, and I think you should empower the Israelis to do it.”

The Biden administration has grown increasingly critical of Israel’s conduct in the war but has thus far kept up US military support to the country.

According to Vance, the United States has not done well at “micromanaging” wars in the region and should let Israel decide how to conduct the war itself.

“I think that our attitude vis-a-vis the Israelis should be look, we’re not good at micromanaging Middle Eastern wars, the Israelis are our allies, let them prosecute this war the way they see fit,” he said. 

I does not bother me at all that he references his own Christian religious beliefs as part of the reason for supporting Israel. On the contrary. I wish more Americans supported Israel for religious reasons. Even though some of those beliefs are anathema to us, they do not contradict our own religious reasons for being there. That we see a different ‘end-times’ outcome makes no difference now. On the contrary. Religious reasons would make their support much stronger.

Vance is the epitome of what America is all about. America is the land of opportunity where hard work, determination, and a bit of  luck, will allow one to realize the American dream of great success. That is his story. Which he described in his 2016 memoir, ‘Hillbilly Elegy’ (Which was made into a movie.) He came from modest beginnings in his native Appalachia region; served in the US Marine Corps for four years; got a law degree from Yale; and ended up getting elected to the Senate in 2022.

This does not mean I will be voting for Trump. What it means, though, is that if he is elected (which at this point has a better than even chance), his foreign policy with respect to Israel and Iran during his first term has a good chance of being carried over to his next. A policy which I prefer head and shoulders over Biden’s policy. Returning to Trump’s policy on Israel and Iran is not all that bad an outcome for those of us that care deeply about the Jewish state.

Is it possible that I could vote for Trump. Anything is possible. Including Trump doing Teshuva. He has allegedly torn up the vitriolic, inflammatory acceptance speech he was going to give and replaced it with a speech emphasizing unity. I don’t know what unity means in Trump’s world. But I guess we’ll find out on Thursday. 

For the record, I’m not expecting much. But like I said, anything is possible.