No New Post Today

It's been an unusually busy day for me today.  Nothing bad. But a lot of time related obligations seem to have converged upon me all at once. On the rare occasion when this happens, I can squeeze out a new post somehow, so that I can fulfill the commitment I made to myself when I started this blog. Which was to write a new post everyday. 

Not this time, however. I apologize to those who were expecting one. Hopefully by tomorrow, things will clam down considerably and I can get back to normal - with a brand new post.

Not the Wrong Message

Conservative rabbi, Amichia Lau-Lavie

I cannot imagine the deep level of disappointment that Rav Yisroel Meir Lau must feel about his nephew, Amichai Lau-Lavie, the openly gay Conservative rabbi who wrote an abominable op-ed in JTA. 

That Lau-Lavie was partially raised in Bnei Brak suggests that his parents were not only observant but inclined toward the more Charedi or Chardal (Charedi Leumi) side of the Orthodox Jewish spectrum. He attended the highly regarded Hesder Yeshivat Gush Etzion, which suggests that he was well on his way to a respectable religious lifestyle.

I don’t know what derailed him from that path and led him to get ordained as a Conservative rabbi at JTS. But that is what happened. And along with it, his views have become so far left that they make a mockery of the Jewish values he claims to represent. How far left? Consider the following:

In recent months, Esther’s name has seemed to pop up everywhere in conservative circles.

“An Esther Call to the Mall” brought hundreds of evangelical women to Washington, D.C., in October to support the Trump campaign and promote the fight against reproductive rights. “She’s an orphan, she’s hiding her identity, she’s a woman,” a pastor from Texas told The New York Times about why Esther resonated with her: “Not one woman is disqualified from the calling of God.”

In Texas, a public school curriculum focusing on biblical stories highlights Esther as a religious rights heroine, despite outrage from local faith leaders.

The Heritage Foundation, a right-wing think tank, released “Project Esther: A National Strategy for Combating Antisemitism.” Even the Purim spirit of turning things upside down to release tensions and reimagine reality pales in comparison to the cynical and cruel policies proposed by the plan, which these proud former Queen Esthers read with horror.

This policy brief, issued by the same extremist entity that wrote Project 2025, is a grotesque abuse of the fight against genuine antisemitism. It instrumentalizes the concerns of people of goodwill not only to take down the pro-Palestinian movement but also to stifle all dissent and liberal civil society in the United States. It is an affront to Jews, and it is dangerous for America.

I don’t even know where to begin. Dangerous to America?! What is dangerous to America was the increased marginalization of religious principles so integral to the agenda of the progressive left. Whose liberal almost anti-religious ethos has been a dominating American culture for a long time.  

That a rabbi who was raised in a religious home and has such illustrious relatives has a problem with characterizing Esther as a religious rights heroine is not only odd but obscene. The story of Purim is about Esther saving the Jews of Persia from being mass-murdered by Haman, the ‘Hitler’ of that time. One cannot escape the fact that his requirement for the Jewish people to violate one cardinal law of Judaism is what led to his plan to annihilate them. If that doesn’t qualify Esther as a religious rights heroine, I don’t know what does.

Lau-Lavie’s problem with Evangelical Christians is exactly why every Jew who cares about religious rights should appreciate them. What Evangelical Christians want is to return to a time when religious values were more respected. Values that progressives see as an impediment to their agenda. People like Lau-Lavie, who work in the global LGBTQI+ rights see traditional religious law as oppressive and authoritarian. Thing is - religious law is by its very nature authoritarian. If you are going to call yourself a rabbi, you ought not to be fighting the rules that define your religion.

Saying that Christians are co-opting Esther is simply not true. In fact, they are using the Purim story in ways similar to the way Orthodox Jews have always used it: To promote the values of the Bible. And certainly not to promote the kind of agenda that Lau-Lavie suggests.

It must be made clear, in no uncertain terms, that what Lau-Lavie is saying here has zero to do with Judaism and everything to do with his far-left progressive values. He needs to be called out for even suggesting otherwise—which I just did.

Revolutionary in Chief

Fidel Castro and Donald Trump

What do Fidel Castro and Donald Trump have in common? They are both revolutionaries. Except that with Trump, he is doing it without a military coup or anything illegal. He is doing it under the constitutional protection given to the Executive branch of the government. The Supreme Court has so far allowed him to keep doing what he’s doing.

Welcome to the revolution. There is no better way to describe what is happening to the U.S. right now. We are in the middle of a revolution the likes of which I never imagined I would experience in this country. And the revolutionary responsible for it is none other than the duly elected president of the United States, Donald J. Trump. It is a revolution that the vast majority of the people who voted for him did not ask for nor want. And yet, like it or not, that is exactly what we are getting. And it isn’t pretty.

I have often said that one of the few redeeming features of the Trump presidency is his unequivocal support for Israel and the Jewish people. I am not going to repeat the many things he has done and continues to do that make this more than obvious to anyone but the most rabid haters of the man. Anyone with the slightest bit of objectivity can see that. No matter how hard those haters try to deny it or twist those actions into negatives instead of the obvious positives they are.

But with respect to the rest of his presidency, with a few but notable exceptions (to name a few: his choices for the Supreme Court, dispensing with the horrible DEI policies that were infesting the government, and greater consideration for religious rights), I am appalled at much of what he has done.

First among them is his disappointing obsession with tariffs. Instead of doing what most people voted for - fixing the economy - he has done the opposite. Imposing tariffs on imports raises the cost of those items for consumers, either directly or through manufacturers that pass those costs onto them. Inflation is what brought Trump a second term. And the first thing he does is contribute mightily to it. There is no way of knowing if or when those tariffs will be repealed. And in any case, when the price of goods goes up, they rarely go down again.

Another thing he did was make good on his promise to free all the insurrectionists of January 6th. It may have been forgivable to do so for the nonviolent ones, but he pardoned or commuted the sentences of all of them - violent ones included - considering them all ‘patriots’ because they did it for him. Then he went after the people in the Justice Department - firing people that had anything to do with prosecuting him. Including the FBI.

This is a man who takes revenge. No one has ever honored the age-old adage ‘Revenge is sweet’ more than Donald Trump, and he does not forget. Any former official who said anything negative about him during the campaign lost their security clearance and Secret Service protection, even those who share his values. That is sick!

Speaking of revenge, he has just decided to suspend all military aid to Ukraine. He got into a spat with Zelenskyy during his visit to the White House. Zelenskyy was merely trying to defend his position, which triggered a heated exchange with the president, who basically called him an ingrate for not thanking him for all the help the U.S. has given Ukraine until now. The fact that Zelenskyy has done so repeatedly in the past didn’t faze Trump. He was upset that he didn’t do it again at that moment. The result?  Well, lets just say that Putin could not have asked for a better friend in the White House than Donald J. Trump.

None of this should surprise anyone who understands the meaning of Trump’s mantra ‘America First’. That is just  a euphemism for isolationism. Which became evident in Trump 1.0 when he threatened to abandon NATO for not paying their share of NATO’s costs. Trump actually said something along the lines of, ‘If they don’t, Putin can have them.’ His isolationism even extends to isolating our ‘next-door neighbors’ Mexico and Canada. He has managed to anger almost all U.S. allies. And could not care less.

I suppose Trump believes that they all need the U.S. more than the U.S. needs them and that his executive actions will bear fruit by generating respect rather than love. There may be some truth to that, since the threat of abandoning NATO forced NATO members to finally contribute some of what they owed (for the first time, to the best of my knowledge). But there is little doubt in my mind that his foreign policy is one of isolating the U.S. from foreign nations as much as possible. He believes that the U.S. wields a big enough stick that others will need us and give us the respect we demand.

And finally, there is his way of reducing the federal budget. I don’t think there is anyone in the U.S. who doesn’t believe the government is bloated and that expenditures have gone wild. Trump has decided to address it immediately by asking Elon Musk to lead the budget-slashing effort. Which Musk has been doing with almost complete abandon. A lot of good people have been fired from their government positions, and Musk is not done yet.

Honestly, I’m not sure about this one. If the government can function well without these people, then Trump is doing a great service to this country. The government does not owe anyone a job. If there are too many employees in a particular role, people have to be fired.

My only problem with this is the speed with which he’s doing it and the reliance on one man and his staff to decide who and how many will be fired. (As an aside, the fact that Musk is the richest man in the world is irrelevant. It is a cynical and unscrupulous way to stir resentment among middle America. But I digress.) Moving at the speed Musk is moving may prove disastrous. Or not. Or maybe even beneficial. Who knows. We will eventually find out.

So what does all this mean? Is a revolution a bad thing? The Founding Fathers didn’t think so. It depends on what you want to accomplish and whether those goals will be achieved. The answer to that question in this case is yet to be determined. Nobody knows what the result of this revolution will look like. What is most important is that the Constitution is not violated in the process and that the electorate is satisfied with the results. And it is way too early to know or even predict that.

But one thing seems certain: at the end of the day, this country will never be the same. Whether that is good or bad remains to be seen.

Will This Mean the End of Hamas?

Beware for what you wish. Well, I didn’t exactly wish for this. But I did kind of hope that Israel would have the resolve and wherewithal to do it. Because that would secure Israel’s border with Gaza. JNS reports the following:

Jerusalem is planning to resume the war in Gaza in four to six weeks in a decisive campaign to wipe out Hamas, The Washington Free Beacon reported on Friday.

The plan is to conquer the entire Gaza Strip in one fell swoop with more than 50,000 soldiers, relocate the civilian population to humanitarian zones, and wage a “ruthless ground campaign” in terrorist-heavy areas that will receive no humanitarian aid, the report suggests.

The campaign is set to commence with heavy aerial bombardments, followed by a reduction of humanitarian aid entering the Strip. Israel Defense Forces (IDF) divisions would simultaneously enter the Strip from the north, center, and south, carving it into three parts.

It appears that this is not just Netanyahu blowing smoke about the impossible task of wiping out Hamas… or trying to divert attention from his own legal problems… or an attempt to stay in power by appeasing his extremist right flank. It seems to be a strategy with wide approval from Israel’s military establishment.

The conventional wisdom has been that wiping out Hamas is indeed an impossible task. Hamas is kind of like Hydra - the mythical Greek multi-headed snake where each head that was cut off was replaced by two others. The point being it was futile and counterproductive to even attempt to eradicate them. The best Israel could hope for was what they had already achieved: weakening Hamas to the point where they could no longer attack Israel the way they did on October 7th.

I guess Israel does not buy into that conventional wisdom. They apparently believe that a ruthless ground campaign in terrorist-heavy areas—preceded by heavy aerial bombardments and a reduction of humanitarian aid—will do the trick. I hope they’re right.

Because Israel will not be getting the world’s blessing for this tactic. Not that I care much about European claims regarding Israel’s immoral conduct in the war. But Israel will be ostracized even more for what will surely result in heavy civilian casualties and accusations of using starvation as a tactic of war. Europe had already accused Israel of genocide in the last phase of the war. The International Criminal Court (ICC) has already declared Netanyahu a war criminal and issued warrants for his arrest, which even ‘friendly’ countries like Canada have said they will honor if he sets foot there. And all that will look like child’s play compared to what’s likely coming if I read this correctly. I can’t begin to imagine what the ICC will dream up next to punish Israel.

And this doesn’t even touch on how the mainstream media will present this to a gullible public willing to buy whatever they are selling. The left side of the political aisle in this country will surely go apoplectic over this, further dividing the country’s stance on Israel.

What’s much worse than any of that, however, is the cost to Israel in blood and treasure for such a massive campaign. So many IDF soldiers have already given up life and limb in Gaza. An incursion of this magnitude will surely result in many more casualties. Rachmana Litzlan!

I don’t think I need to explain why Israel is doing this. Nor do I need to explain why they are doing it now. They will have the unfettered blessing of the leader of the free world to do whatever they want in Gaza. Something they did not have during the last phase.

So, as much as I want to see Israel succeed here… and as much as I really could not care less what Europe, the left, and the media say about it… it still scares me. You cannot ignore the massive negative reaction, even if you have the president on your side. And you can’t ignore grief that will follow Israel’s own casualty numbers.

The downside is huge. And there is the possibility that it won’t even work.

This should not be taken as opposition to Israel’s war plans. I trust their military intelligence and completely understand their needs. On the other hand, maybe this is just a tactic to scare Hamas into submission. To force them to release all the hostages. If that’s what it is and it works, then God bless them.

Actually, God bless them either way. (Still scares me, though.)

Moral Clarity about Palestinians

Ariel, Shiri, and Kfir Bibas murdered in captivity by Hamas

There must be something in the air. When a major component of Meir Kahane’s views about Palestinians becomes mainstream, that should shake things up a bit.

As I’ve said from the very beginning - and numerous times since - Meir Kahane’s views about the Palestinian mindset with respect to Israel were exactly on target. He was prescient. Most rational people considered him an extremist with extremist views. Well he was an extremist. But his belief about their mindset appears to be becoming mainstream.

Please do not misunderstand me. I did not and do not endorse his tactics or rhetoric, all of which are reprehensible. But when it comes to understanding what Palestinians really want, more people are beginning to realize what Kahane already knew decades ago. It’s just too bad that it took the events of October 7th to wake everyone else up to this reality.

Even so, how can I be so sure that Kahane was right about that? It is after all humanly impossible to know exactly what is on the mind of an entire people. Only God can know that. But when there is a convergence of opinion from sources as disparate as Reform Rabbi Amiel Hirsch, Ben Shapiro and Laurence Bolotin, there has to be a reason. When they are all saying a version of what Kahane said decades ago, we had better believe it, lest we pay the ultimate price as a people.

The turning point may have come at different times and after different events, but the moral clarity that Kahane had on this issue remains the same. I had always trusted Kahane’s wisdom on this issue. But I used to think that peace could nevertheless be achieved by virtue of the realities of Israel’s proven might. That the Palestinians people would prefer peace and prosperity to death and destruction. But as October 7th taught me, that is clearly not the case.

The turning point for the more liberal Jews among us has come now, in the aftermath of the cold-blooded murder of the Bibas children by their Hamas abductors - via strangulation, by hand!

Here is what conservative pundit, Ben Shapiro said:

"This week, the world was reminded of the deep and abiding evil that has wormed its way to the center of Palestinian nationalistic culture by the news that the Bibas family — a mother, Shiri; a 4-year-old boy, Ariel; and his 9-month-old brother, Kfir...

They were not, in fact, kidnapped by identified members of Hamas. They were kidnapped by Palestinians in civilian dress, who joined Hamas for their murderous spree. For over a year, zero Palestinians apparently revealed the whereabouts of the Bibas family to the Israelis; zero worked to keep them safe or to restore them to liberty.

This fits with a pattern of civilian involvement in Palestinian terror activity: The reality is that the Palestinian terror apparatus is incestuously intertwined with the Palestinian civilian population. That is why released hostages tell of being held by civilian families in Gaza; why terrorists merge so easily into the surrounding civilian population; why the popularity of Palestinian terrorist groups remains sky-high among Palestinians generally. The hard division between terrorist and civilian so cherished by the West simply doesn’t exist in practice in places like the Gaza Strip."

If Shapiro is too conservative to your liking, read what Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch said:

"Something snapped in me this week," said Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch, the senior rabbi at the Stephen Wise Free Synagogue in New York City…

"It is what the Bibas family symbolizes—the concretization and normalization of pure evil in the face of pure innocence—that finally crushed me this week...

"A community that condones the murder of infants and toddlers, a people that is not horrified by the savagery, the cheers, the parading of infant remains, is desperately troubled and suffering from moral miasma and social collapse," he declared. "Palestinianism is infused with fantasies of conquest and mythologies of victimhood, fueling an endless cycle of violent depravity, in part encouraged and even funded by perhaps well-meaning but naive Western politicians and NGOs, and glamorized by armchair revolutionaries whose fervor increases the further they are from Gaza."

That’s right. Ammiel Hirsch, a Reform rabbi whose movement is among the most liberal/left in the Jewish world (if not the entire world), is echoing what Meir Kahane said all those many years ago! To quote Ben Shapiro, "Sometimes, moral clarity isn’t difficult."

We now know with relative certainty that, no matter how futile the task, Palestinians prefer death and destruction of even their own people in pursuit of expelling the Jewish people from ‘their’ own  land -  over the peace and prosperity having their own state next to Israel would bring them.

Those who naïvely say that Israel’s destruction of Gaza in its war against Hamas has produced more terrorists (and there are a lot of well-meaning people who believe this) remain clueless to the reality Meir Kahane knew was true all along. Only now a lot more people realize this.

And yet, except for the U.S. (especially now under a president who also understands this), the rest of the world  (united under an abomination called the UN) clings to the false notion that a two-state solution is the only path forward. I guess moral clarity is something Europeans don’t possess. And never did as was evident in their collaboration with the Nazis during the Holocaust.

Finally, there is this op-ed in the Chicago Tribune by Laurence Bolotin, a former board member of the American Jewish Committee (one of the most progressive Jewish organizations in America). He had this to say:

"The images of (the murdered Bibas children being returned) to Israel should shake us to our core. They should force us to confront not only the brutality of their deaths but also the moral vacuum that allows such horrors to be met with indifference. When the killing of children no longer provokes outrage—when the world’s response is muted, conditional, or absent altogether—it speaks to something deeply broken in our collective conscience.

There was a time when we did not ask what flag they were born under before deciding whether their deaths were worth mourning. There was a time when the idea of children being slaughtered in their homes, at a festival, in a war zone, or in a school would bring us together in sorrow and anger. But today, the moral clarity that once guided us seems eroded by political narratives, selective empathy, and a deep-seated fear of taking a stand.

The silence surrounding these deaths is not accidental. It is cultivated. It is born out of a reluctance to acknowledge suffering that does not fit neatly into a preferred narrative. It is maintained by the fear of being accused of taking the wrong side—as if the murder of children is ever a matter of political debate rather than a fundamental moral failing."

Indeed! Need I say more?

Living in the Land of the Free

Freedom. If I were to choose one word that describes the ethos of this great country of ours, it would be that word. It is, in fact, what makes this country so great. That is the one thing that does not have to be made “great again.” We are already there in spades. This is what makes the First Amendment possible. The freedom to pray as we choose, in any manner we choose, is a corollary to that principle. The only impediment to it is when it infringes on the rights of others or in any way causes harm to the public welfare.

It is the main reason Jews should feel so welcome in this country. We have been welcomed here more warmly than in any other country, past or present. While there are still people who harbor antisemitic feelings of one sort or another, it cannot be denied that it is this country’s ethos of freedom that has enabled our people to soar to the greatest heights in a variety of ways. Whether in Judaism as great rabbis, scholars, and thinkers, or in medicine, scientific research, law, finance… you name it. There is nothing that stands in the way of great achievement if one has the personal talent, desire, ability ...and works hard enough at it.

But it is that very freedom that has also been our worst enemy in terms of our longevity as Jews. Being free to practice our faith also means being free to completely abandon it. This is why according to Pew Research over 70% of non-Orthodox Jews intermarry and could not care less whether their children are Jewish.

According to JTA, the phenomenon of Jews not caring about their Judaism is increasing:

The proportion of American Jews who pray on any regular basis is down sharply from a decade ago, according to a new poll of American religion by the Pew Research Center.

In 2014, 45% of Jewish adults chose “seldom/never” to describe their prayer frequency. When Pew asked the question again in 2023 and 2024, the proportion was 58%. The increase exceeds the poll’s margins of error—5% for Jews in this year’s study—meaning that it is considered statistically significant.

The poll also found that fewer American Jews say religion is important in their lives.

The findings are in line with anecdotal reports from Jewish institutions, which, beyond the country’s Orthodox minority, are largely struggling to engage and retain Jews.

No surprise there. If you factor out the 10% of Jews in this country who are Orthodox, the percentage of American Jews who say religion is unimportant in their lives is even greater.

So there is a downside. The very thing that has allowed us to thrive in this country has also been the source of our biggest downfall as a people. When people are raised without values specific to Judaism and are given the freedom to choose whatever kind of life they want, why would they choose to be Jewish? Why choose the life of a people with a 3,000-year history of persecution? Why choose a life that entails so many rules and regulations that seem meaningless in modern times? Why choose a lifestyle different from everyone else’s? If we are free to choose whatever lifestyle we want, why be Jewish? Furthermore, why would someone adhere to a religion with values that seem radically different from their own? Freedom allows them to reject all of that in favor of what suits them.

How did it get to be this way? And why are Orthodox Jews so loyal to their religious values?

The answer to the first question is a lack of significant Jewish education both at home and in schools. Synagogue attendance alone did little, if anything, to inspire American youth who were raised in homes that placed little significance on their Judaism. These were homes that most often emphasized successful careers and material success as the most important things in life. It should come as no surprise that someone raised this way would abandon their Judaism. Even if one is raised with a heavy dose of altruism, that is not an exclusively Jewish value.

Add to that the fact that heterodox movements did little to emphasize the importance of a lifestyle that is identifiably Jewish, and you have a recipe for why Judaism is becoming increasingly meaningless in the lives of the majority of Jews in this country.

Which also answers the second question. Orthodox Jews are raised in homes that emphasize Jewish values. Success is not measured by material wealth or social standing but by how well one fulfills their obligations to God. While there is certainly nothing wrong with material success or pursuing an education that helps achieve it, that is of secondary importance at best. This perspective is transmitted in the home and reinforced in the schools.

Is it a perfect system? No. Orthodoxy has its share of dropouts. But when compared to the overall failure of raising children without the values that set us apart from the rest of the world, it is clear that assimilation leads to our decline.

What to do about it? Obviously, we need to redouble our outreach efforts. Since October 7th there has been a renewed interest in Judaism among some of our people who were raised without specifically Jewish values. But what to do about the vast majority of Jews who can’t seem to abandon Judaism fast enough?

Beats me.

Hating Ignorance. Not Chasidim

Former Dean of Hofstra Law School, Aaaron Twerdski

My friend, Dr. Izzy Krakowski, has mentioned to me on multiple occasions that his son, Moshe, appreciates the respectful way I respond to his articles. These articles focus on the battle between NYSED (New York State Education Department) and Chasidic schools. I wouldn’t have it any other way. I have known this family for many years, and their integrity is above reproach.

As noted in a JNS article, Moshe Krakowski is a professor and director of doctoral studies at Yeshiva University’s Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration. He specializes in studying Chasidic education in New York and is a well-known defender of Chasidic yeshivas. Activist organizations like Agudah have relied on his expertise to argue that NYSED should leave these yeshivas alone and not impose the substantial equivalency requirement to align them with public schools.

The recent decision by NYSED to defund and close down two Chasidic yeshivas has once again elicited a response from Professor Krakowski. He has reiterated the arguments he has made before:

“There are many Chassidic schools that offer the basics of reading, writing, arithmetic, social studies, and civics through at least the seventh- or eighth-grade level,” he said. “There are few schools that don’t do anything,” he added, but those “spend most of their day in incredibly rigorous, high-level religious study—and it’s not like these kids are left truant.”

Students in most of these Chasidic schools are studying Talmud in a way that most college students wouldn’t be able to do, involving high-level analysis, critical thinking skills, and reading comprehension—just in Yiddish. It is certainly different from what is offered in public schools, but there’s absolutely zero evidence that kids are struggling in life or not doing well as a result of the education they receive.”

Krakowski told JNS that while the curricula offered in Chasidic schools vary widely—with some providing a more comprehensive education than others—the level of secular education provided is viewed as a matter of religious obligation.

“These communities are, by all appearances, thriving and doing quite well, and there’s no crisis here that needs solving except for the dislike people have of the Chassidic community. And that, to me, is the issue,” he said.

As I have always maintained, the vast majority of Orthodox religious schools including many Chasidic schools comply with NYSED’s requirements. However, to claim that a community is thriving without teaching the basics of Limudei Chol (secular studies) misses the point. There is more to education than simply making a living. The lack of secular education denies students the opportunity to pursue careers that are available to everyone else. It also perpetuates a lifestyle so isolated from the rest of the world that it may ultimately harm them.

The so-called matter of religious obligation stems from the fear that exposure to the broader culture will unduly influence their values. While that may be a legitimate concern, their method of dealing with it is counterproductive—and contrary to the approach taken by the vast majority of Orthodox Jewish schools who havde the same fears. The study of core curricular subjects like English, math, science, and social studies has not negatively impacted Orthodox Jewish students attending yeshivas that offer them. On the contrary, it has opened up career opportunities that parents of children deprived of such an education can only dream about.

Just because one can make a living selling products on Amazon doesn’t mean they should limited to that and deprived of the chance to become doctors, lawyers, or accountants due to a lack of foundational education.

And finally, what message does this insistence on remaining ignorant of a basic secular education send to the world about Judaism?

None of this is new—I’ve said it all before. However, I was surprised to find JNS report about an unlikely ally in Yeshiva World News:

A recent editorial in Yeshiva World News stated that the two yeshivas “should have had more concern about how their conduct is going to impact all yeshivas across New York State.”

“They are about to become the face of the yeshivah community, even though they are outliers and not representative of the vast majority of yeshivas,” the editorial noted. It criticized the schools for giving the state the cold shoulder while “the yeshivah community’s legal challenge to the state’s Education Department substantial equivalency regulations is pending before the New York Court of Appeals, the state’s highest court. A decision is expected before the end of the school year.”

“It is always wiser to make your case to the government rather than refuse to respond. That makes it seem like they had something to hide,” the editorial added. “The yeshivas should have demonstrated pride and confidence in their students and chinuch (religious instruction). Explain the beauty of Torah education. Most of all, do not tell the government that the rules don’t apply to you.”

While Yeshiva World News did not express my all of my concerns, their concerns are just as legitimate. I’m glad to see some common sense within the Charedi world. It’s not all about accusing NYSED of being anti-Chasidic, as Professor Krakowski seems to believe. I don’t think that has anything to do with it.

I would be willing to bet that NYSED would have no problem with Chasidim like the late Dr. Abraham Twerski, his son Dr. Ben Zion Twerski, or Professor Aaron Twerski - three highly regarded experts in their respective fields who remained deeply Chasidic.

No, this isn’t about disliking Chasidim. It’s about rejecting ignorance. Sure. One can make a decent living and still be ignorant. But that does not serve them or the Jewish community well.

When Ignoramuses Speak for Judaism

US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee

I am generally averse to using sources that are known to be heavily biased, even when the bias aligns with my views. This is because their slant strongly influences their reporting, making their version of reality highly suspect. However, I occasionally rely on such sources when their reports have an obvious ring of truth. This is one of those times.

WIN (World Israel News), a heavily right-wing, pro-Israel online news source, reports the following:

American Jewish groups are sparring over the upcoming Senate confirmation vote for President Donald Trump’s nominee for U.S. Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee. This has pitted Orthodox Jewish rabbis and conservative pro-Israel activists against the Reform Judaism movement.

I stopped being shocked long ago by Reform Judaism’s support for J-Street policies regarding Israel. The idea of Israel as a Jewish state in the true sense of the word is anathema to them. It is therefore unsurprising that they oppose Mike Huckabee’s selection as U.S. ambassador to Israel. The very notion of restoring Israel to its biblical glory is as foreign to them as observing the laws of the Torah.

Thus, when a U.S. ambassador recognizes the value of biblical Israel - such as by supporting the annexation of Judea and Samaria (Huckabee refuses to call these areas the West Bank) they deem him unfit. On the contrary, they view such opinions as a betrayal of their values and condemn Huckabee’s opposition to Palestinian statehood.

They also cite Christian end-times theology as a disqualifier:

Huckabee is an ordained Southern Baptist pastor, and many Evangelical Christian Zionists have linked their support of the Jewish state to “the belief that Jewish sovereignty over the biblical land of Israel will hasten the return of Jesus Christ,” Pesner wrote. (Pesner is the director of the Reform movement’s outreach arm—the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism.)

“We are gravely concerned by a teaching in which the well-being of Jews, of Israel, and of America are not ends in themselves but means to the fulfillment of Christian eschatology.”

How ‘Frum’ of them. As if what Evangelicals believe about the end-times makes any difference with respect to their support for Israel in the present. Besides, Orthodox Jews already know that the end-times will not unfold according to Christian theology. Furthermore, if I understand correctly, Reform Judaism doesn’t believe in any version of end-times theology. So what difference does it make if some Evangelicals support Israel for that reason?

More importantly, as I have said dozens of times, that is not why most Evangelicals support Israel and the Jewish people. They do so because they believe what the Bible repeatedly states in Genesis: that God blesses those who bless the Jewish people. They support Jews because they seek God's blessing. I hear Evangelical ministers preach this message to their congregations all the time. Orthodox rabbis who work with them have confirmed the same. While some Evangelicals may have eschatological reasons, the vast majority do not even though that is their belief,

I tend to align far more with the following perspective:

“It is difficult to fathom how anyone who calls himself a Jewish Zionist could oppose Gov. Huckabee’s confirmation,” ZOA President Morton Klein wrote in an open letter to the chairman and ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

“We were thus appalled by Reform Religious Action Center director Rabbi Jonah Dov Pesner’s February 21 letter criticizing Gov. Huckabee.”

Klein defended Huckabee’s rejection of Palestinian statehood and his support for Israeli sovereignty over Judea and Samaria while condemning the Reform movement’s broad criticism of Christian Zionism:

“It is also mortifying that Pesner’s letter maligned the tens of millions of evangelicals and Christian Zionists in the United States.”

Morton Klein is as politically right-wing as one can get on the issue of Israel, so his response is no surprise. I had never agreed with his hardline stance against a Palestinian state in Judea and Samaria. And certainly not with his advocacy for annexation. But after October 7^th - and more recently, after seeing how Hamas humiliated the released hostages, not to mention the brutal treatment they endured in captivity or the cold-blooded murder of the Bibas children with their bare hands while claiming Israeli airstrike killed them- I don’t see how anyone could still advocate for a Palestinian state. Nor should annexing Judea and Samaria generate such outrage, even if it will never actually happen.

I am so tired of Reform Judaism and J-Street-aligned Jews claiming to speak for Judaism or represent Jewish values in any way. If these people truly want to understand Jewish values, let them attend a real Yeshiva for a few years. Without an authentic Jewish education, they will continue to believe that their progressive values are the only real Jewish values. Without it, they will remain ignoramuses for the rest of their lives.

Meir Kahane - Revisited

Rabbi  Meir Kahane (Arutz Sheva)

I have never doubted his wisdom about the Arab mindset. Rabbi Meir Kahane was way ahead of his time. A true visionary (albeit a violent one) about an issue that few people understood or were even willing to grasp when he explained it to them. Few individuals put their money where their mouth is the way he did. Unfortunately, it was that clear understanding  accompanied by extremist rhetoric and his willingness to use violence to achieve his goals that led to his demise.

Nonetheless, his views resonated with enough Israelis to earn him a seat in the Israeli Knesset, where he became the proverbial thorn in the side of the conventional politicians of that time. To say that he was provocative would be an understatement. By the next election his popularity was growing  and he was poised to gain a few more Knesset seats. That was when the Israeli Supreme Court deemed him to be a racist. Forbidding him to run for the Knesset.

Kahane denied the accusation, claiming to have many individual Arabs as close friends and supporters, but that didn’t help him. He used vile rhetoric about Arabs—language that could have been used by Hitler against Jews. His proposed solution to the Palestinian issue was characterized as ethnic cleansing and Nazi-like.

Kahane believed that Israel must settle all of Eretz Yisroel. including Judea, Samaria, and Gaza. Territories captured in the 1967 Six-Day War. Which should be annexed. He insisted that it was forbidden by Halacha to give any of it to the Arabs. He was therefore vehemently opposed to a Palestinian state.

Anticipating the demographic problem (the growing Arab population that would eventually outnumber the Jewish population) early on, he suggested that Palestinians could live in Israel and be given every opportunity to prosper. Essentially granting them equality with Israel’s Jewish population, but without voting rights. Palestinian Arabs would be given the option of accepting those conditions or leaving the country voluntarily. Those who refused would be forcibly deported.

This was deemed ethnic cleansing by Israel’s mainstream politicians. And added fuel to accusations of racism.

Even though Rav Ahron Soloveichik agreed that it was forbidden to give up any land Israel recovered during the Six-Day War, he was vehemently opposed to Rabbi Kahane. He believed that, although Kahane's heart was in the right place, his tactics inspired extremism and violence. And they did:

On February 25, 1994, Baruch Goldstein, dressed in an Israeli military uniform, entered a mosque in the Cave of the Patriarchs and opened fire on 800 Palestinian Muslim worshippers during Ramadan, killing 29 and wounding 125, until he was beaten to death by survivors.

Kahane’s ideology also inspired extremist followers like Itamar Ben-Gvir, who managed to secure six Knesset seats in the last election, giving his Kahanist faction a level of power that Rabbi Kahane could have only dreamed about when he was alive.

Well, according to Arutz Sheva, it seems that Meir Kahane has made a comeback.

Lizzy Savetsky, a popular pro-Israel influencer and activist, published a clip in which the late rabbi explains that Arabs would only respect Israel if it is tough with them. In the video, Kahane states:

"I'm not the kind of Jew who walks around begging people to love him. You know when people love us? After every Holocaust."

With the video, which received nearly 8,800 likes and was shared over 4,000 times, Savetsky wrote:

"Rabbi Meir Kahane, of blessed memory, was labeled as a violent extremist, but he was right. This is the truth right here. The only language the Arabs understand is force and fear. We are tired of Kaddish and tired of yahrtzeits. Get the hostages home and get all of the terrorists out of Gaza for good!!"

Rabbi Meir Kahane was assassinated in New York on November 5, 1990, during a visit to the U.S. He has been characterized as a vile racist who sullied the good name of the Jewish people with his hateful rhetoric against Arabs. Characterized as a man whose views and actions were reprehensible and did irreparable harm to Israel and the Jewish people.

I don’t think that’s a fair characterization of him. I agree with Rav Ahron, He was an extremist in ways that were both dangerous and counterproductive. But his understanding of the Arab mindset was exactly right and far ahead of its time. And his proposal for the future, which once seemed preposterous, is not so far-fetched today, now that the president of the United States has essentially adopted his approach for Gaza, if not the West Bank (Judea and Samaria). Even the idea of annexing the West Bank has been floated by some in Trump’s circle.

Not likely? Sure. But having it become part of the thinking of a US president? Who’d a thunk it?!

The Extremism of Gateshead

Charedi protest against the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill (JC)

Extremism can be our worst enemy, even when it is in pursuit of a worthy goal. That is why I try to avoid extremist positions on almost any issue. It is also why I consider myself a centrist in more ways than on just religious issues.

(Some might challenge me on this, given what could be perceived as my recent ‘extreme’ stance on dealing with Palestinian terrorists and Iran. But when there is no alternative, you work with what you have. I do not consider doing what is necessary for Jewish survival to be extreme.)

When I look at both the left and the right in Orthodoxy, I am dismayed by what passes for authentic Judaism in their eyes.

Among extremists on the right, there is often a perception that the world is at war with them. This is how Charedim in Israel view their government’s efforts to draft their youth into the IDF. It is also how Charedim in the UK perceive their government’s educational requirements. As reported in the Jewish Chronicle:

One of the most influential Charedi rabbis in the country has warned Strictly Orthodox families that they must leave the country if the Schools Bill is passed.

Rabbi Avrohom Gurwicz, head of Gateshead Yeshiva - the largest yeshiva in Europe and one of the most prestigious in the Orthodox world - has stated:

“Now, in light of the terrible danger that a law might be enacted to mandate the education of our children without Torah and without faith—a law that would require anyone with sons or daughters of school age to uproot their residence from this state to another state that allows education according to the tradition passed down from generation to generation. It is our sacred duty to pray to the Almighty and do everything in our power to prevent this danger…”

The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, which recently passed a second reading in the House of Commons, includes provisions to regulate independent educational institutions and requires local authorities to maintain registers of children who are home-schooled or taught outside of mainstream schools...

For over a decade, the Charedi community has opposed government educational proposals, claiming they could lead to mandatory teaching of secular subjects (emphasis mine) and ‘British values’ such as respect and tolerance. This could include acknowledging same-sex couples and transgender individuals.

I understand Rav Gurwicz’s objection to teaching tolerance for same-sex couples and transgender people, even though I disagree with him. Tolerance is not the same as promoting a lifestyle that the Torah forbids. Quite the opposite. One must act with compassion and respect for people who cannot help their natural inclinations. This is not the same as endorsing a lifestyle that Halacha deems illegitimate. This is why non-Charedi Orthodox schools in the UK, under the guidance of Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis, have adopted an approach that aligns both with Halacha and British values.

But that is not the only issue that concerns the Gateshead Rosh Yeshiva. Now, they have determined that teaching secular subjects is so problematic that they are willing to leave the country to avoid it. Heaven forbid a Jewish child should learn how to speak, read, and write the language of the country in which they live. Heaven forbid they learn civics, math, science, or world history.

No, they must leave the country first, lest they be exposed to Limudei Chol (secular studies). This level of isolationism has all the earmarks of a cult. And yet, to the best of my knowledge, Gateshead remains mainstream and one of the most respected Yeshivas in the world - unlike the extremist Chasidic yeshivas in New York that also fight against Limudei Chol. (Two of which were recently shut down by the New York State Education Department.)

This is the brave new world of Charedim. You know what? If that’s what they want, let them leave.