The American People Have Spoken!

First, I would like to congratulate President-Elect Donald J. Trump. Last night in what many believe was an impossible outcome, a man who has been the victim of the most sustained malicious attack against any presidential candidate in recent American history has won a second term in office (after losing the last election). The American people have spoken! As of this writing Vice President Kamala Harris has not conceded. But I’m sure she soon will and will be gracious about it.

Trump’s victory was not easily achieved. He was mercilessly attacked by a variety of critics from virtually all segments of society, including prominent members of his own party. For good reason. I am not going to rehash all of the reasons for that. Suffice it to say that they were neither small in number nor minor in significance. And yet in spite of all that, Trump not only won the electoral vote (292)  he also won the popular vote (51%). (Which he lost in 2016.)

This morning as I watched the legacy media report this news, I could not help but notice their long faces. You would think that a beloved relative of theirs had just died. I’m sure they could not believe their eyes as they watched the returns come in and battleground states falling into the Trump column. 

It should also not escape anyone’s attention that many of the top celebrities of the entertainment world pulled out all the stops for Harris. There were  practically none that came out for Trump. 

Paragons of virtue like Lady Gaga and Beyonce who perform in costumes that appeal to the prurient interest of most men came out in large measure for Harris. Nobody cared. As one woman that was interviewed this morning and voted for Trump said: Beyonce isn’t paying my bills! What these entertainers don’t understand is that  despite their massive popularity as performers, their values are not America’s values. And inflation does not affect their multi million dollar lifestyle.

The legacy media are all beside themselves and asking: How is what just happened possible? They have been doing little else over the last four years other than bashing the former president at every turn. Focusing on his considerable negatives exclusively. Interviewing or quoting people that know him or worked for him saying the most unflattering things about him, including that his election would be the end of democracy in America! And looking at Harris as democracy’s savior.

It’s true that Trump’s  rhetoric was sometimes pretty scary. It’s true that many Republicans who served with him in office said he was unfit to be president. It’s true that he appealed to racists, bigots and anti-Semites. So the media wasn’t lying. But it is also true that they did not really hide their contempt for him either and did their best to see him defeated. Well it didn’t work. To their great dismay, he won. Big time.

How did he do it? It is so counterintuitive. How could a liar like Trump secure the trust of the majority of the American people? Did they not hear what the media kept reporting about him?  Did they not hear the opposition to his candidacy by hard core conservative Republicans like Cheney, Pence, and Bolton?  Or former members of his administration that said that his leadership was pure chaos? All of which was gleefully reported by the mainstream media! I guess they didn’t. Or didn’t care.

One of the things that his election showed is that polls predicting how people will vote in national elections  are pretty much worthless.  

If I had to point to one thing that gave Trump the election, it would be the economy. People vote their pocketbooks. That is almost always the number one issue that influences voters. Even though statistics show that the US economy is doing quite well and that inflation is actually down  (almost to pre-pandemic levels)  voters weren’t feeling it where it matters in their lives. Like the grocery store where inflation still rages on.

Disparaging rhetoric about Blacks (like Trump not knowing that Harris was Black) and Latinos (like that tasteless and disparaging joke about Puerto Rico by an ‘insult comedian’ at a Trump rally) didn’t register with them, despite the incessant media repetition of a clip of that joke for days on end. Although these two demographics were still in the Harris camp, Trump was able to peel off enough of them to make a difference in those battle ground states. (Trump got an unprecedented 45% of the Latino vote nationally and unprecedented 35%  of the Black vote in Georgia!

Even though a greater percentage of women voted for Harris, there too Trump was able to get more of their vote than had been predicted. And he already had a substantial lead among men. Trump was also able to mobilize people that never vote but support him – to actually go out and vote.

And then there is this. I would not be surprised if Kamala Harris regrets her choice of Walz as a running mate too. Choosing the governor of a state she was bound to win anyway instead of the governor of a of a state in play and must win - is a key reason she lost Pennsylvania. Had she picked Shapiro, she might have won Pennsylvania and the presidency. I doubt Walz attracted too many Pennsylvania voters or voters outside his own state.

What does Trump’s victory mean for Israel and the Jewish people? I honestly don’t know. What I do know is what a Harris win would have meant. She promised that she would pressure Israel to cease fire in Gaza and to pursue the establishment of a Palestinians state.

My guess is that Prime Minister Netanyahu is happy with a Trump victory (or should I say Harris loss) too. And that the majority of the Israeli people are happy about that too - since a recent poll indicated they preferred Trump over Harris by a substantial majority.

As for me, I am not happy with the results of this election with respect to the presidency. But I would not have been happy if Harris won either.

It remains to be seen how Israel will fare under a second Trump administration. That being said, I believe that Trump is at heart in fact very pro Israel. (Yes, despite popular opinion to the contrary, Trump does have a heart.) And I believe that he has a great affinity for Orthodox Jews. Which was demonstrated in his last term. Not to mention the fact that his daughter and son in law are Orthodox Jews, too. 

The same thing cannot be said about non Orthodox Jews who are mostly liberal and can’t stand him.  Trump knows that and I’m sure the feeling is mutual. 

For those of us that lean conservative - one of the more positive outcomes of this election is that the Senate has been flipped. It is now a majority Republican. The House is still up for grabs, but should they  remain the majority there, the conservative agenda has a real chance to change the liberal/left trajectory of the country. Making what Trump supporters say will make it great again. It also augers well for Israel and the Jewish people since Republican support for Israel is far more full throated than Democratic support. Republicans have as well been in the forefront of fighting campus antisemitism and the resultant resignation of liberal/left univerisity presidents that have allowed it to flourish in the name of free speech.

After all is said and done, I do not believe the dire predictions about the end of Democracy. America will survive 47 the same way it survived 45. Maybe even in better shape than it is now. So on that level, I’m feeling pretty good about the results of the election. 

There is so much more to say. But I will leave it here for now and end with a prayer that God instills in the President-Elect the wisdom to lead this country in ways that will benefit all of its people. And that God insures that his support for Israel does not waver. 

America now has a new/old president. He will be the president of the United States of America. All  of it. Not just MAGA Republicans. His conservative policies will benefit us all. Just as they did last time he was president.

Why Charedi Isolationism is Wrong

The president kneeling before Mrs. Ravitz

One of my role models for women in the Charedi world is Rivka Ravitz. One may recall that when former Israeli President Reuven Rivlin visited the White House near the end off his term, Mrs Ravitz who was his chief of staff at the time accompanied him. When President Biden heard that she was the mother of 12 children he kneeled before her.

Rivka Ravitz is a role model because she is Charedi and yet has managed to integrate her role as a Charedi woman with a career in the secular world. And has navigated the secular world quite successfully. A career she still enjoys as chief of staff for Shmuel Greenberg, the current mayor of Bet Shemesh.

In  a recent interview she was asked how she would define being Charedi. In light of her successful career, her answer was rather ironic and it surprised me. (Although I guess is it shouldn’t have.)  Being Charedi, she said means being different - being separated from the secular population So as not to be influenced by cultural values not in concert with Charedi values. Cultural values that can undermine one’s religious observances.

Isolationism is indeed the modus operandi of the Charedi world. They seek as little contact as they can with the outside world. It is one of the reasons cited by them for refusing to enlist in the IDF. The fear being that the army is almost by definition the ‘great equalizer’. Meaning that they want all recruits to become a kind of Israeli prototype of a secular Jew who is a strong warrior rather than someone who sits in their tent and studies Torah all day long. 

There may still be that mentality among some of the IDF hierarchy. But it has long ago been abandoned by most of them. Which is proven by the thousands of religious Hesder and other religious IDF soldiers that have remained loyal to their religious upbringing long after leaving the IDF. Not to mention the creation of army units that specifically cater to Charedi needs

I get that Charedim have insisted on being a an Am L’vadod Yishkon - a nation living alone for fear of having their lives contaminated by secular values and ideologies. But I nevertheless reject that this is the right way for any segment of the Jewish people to live.

By refusing to live among one’s brethren a Jew abdicates his responsibility to his fellow Jew. And perforce abandons any attempt at unity.  I get that the idea of unifying the Jewish people at this point in time is about as remote as it has ever been. A goal that seems to be increasingly elusive as time goes on. But that should not deter us from the attempt to reverse that trend.

Ravitz correctly does note that there was a unity of sorts in the immediate aftermath of the October 7^th massacre of 1200 Jews by Hamas. But as she also notes that it didn’t last long.

Many Orthodox Jewish thinkers have noted that there has been no better time since the 6 day war to pursue  unity than right now. Beginning with reaching out to fellow secular Jews. One silver lining of October 7^th was that it instilled a sense of Jewish identity into a lot of Jews who up to that point could not have cared less about the fact that they were Jews. Which unfortunately is the way over 70% of American Jewry that marry out feels these days. But after October 7^th and the subsequent sharp rise in antisemtism, that changed.

Jews – especially young Jews on college campuses - were suddenly reminded that they were Jews in very unflattering ways (to say the least!). Strangely enough, in many cases, instead of trying to hide their Jewish identity they started to display it proudly. Which led some of them tp explore their Jewish roots and rerunning to them – even if ever so gradually.

The idea that any religious Jew deciding that they need to isolate themselves from the rest of Jewry in order to protect themselves from bad influences is  wrong headed. There is a Midrash that attempts to explain why one of the two interpretations of why the Torah calls Noah a Tzadik (Righteous) in his own generation. Had he lived in the time of Abraham, he would have been quite ordinary. The Midrash  explains that since Noah isolated himself from the evil generation  and did not reach out to them he was personally righteous, but not righteous enough to try to inspire his fellow human beings to be righteous.

By refusing to integrate with the rest of Jewry, Charedim have chosen the path of Noah and have abdicated their responsibility to inspire fellow Jews. Same as Noah.  Both Noah and the Charedi world could be defined as exceedingly  righteous. Nevertheless they both failed to rise to the task before them.  They did not (do not) want to leave the sanctity of their own world and venture out into a world that may be hostile to them. They both preferred the safety and comfort of their home turf.

With all due respect to Mrs. Ravitz, I reject the notion that being true to one’s religious values requites one to be isolated from the rest of the world. By doing that, they have rejected another very important Jewish value. Pursuing the unity of the Jewish people.

Why So Many God Fearing People Will Vote for Trump

Rav Shmuel Kamenetsky has endorsed Donald Trump

One of the most intriguing phenomena taking place in the world today is also one of the most counterintuitive ones. Which is the phenomenon that a man whose morals and character are the exact opposite of the values religious people hold dear is the man most of them will vote for as president.

This phenomenon has baffled my liberal friends who cannot understand how a religious person could vote for  Donald Trump. Someone whose behavior and rhetoric is the exact opposite of their religious values. But that is nonetheless the reality of the voting public. 

The more devoutly religious one is, the more enthusiastically they support this man. How could that be? In their minds people who vote for Trump are hypocritical in the extreme.  He lies. He cheats. He denigrates people. He threatens retribution against his political enemies. 

He has demonstrated many times that he has the morals of an alley cat. He has bragged about his sexual escapades. He has been successfully sued for sexual harassment. He has paid off a porn star to keep quite about a sexual encounter they had. And yet the vast majority of the most fundamental Christians who strongly believe in the bible will be voting for him.

He has dog whistled approval to White Supremacists and antisemites – and has even had a dinner meeting with an open Holocaust denier. And yet the vast majority of Orthodox Jews enthusiastically support him and will be voting for him, too. 

The list of his disqualifying flaws goes on. I’ve only scratched the surface.

Given the fact that the former president clearly does not seem to live any of the values religious Christians and Jews hold dear, the fact that they will be voting for him en masse seems to be perplexing in the extreme.

Those ethical and moral failings are why a lot of moderate Republican reject Trump. Arguing that it is exactly their religious values that guide them. (Not to mention the insurrection he incited - claiming the election was stolen from him) 

Many of my sincere and thoughtful Orthodox Jewish friends that tend to the more liberal side of the political divide - and are themselves of high moral and ethical character ask, ‘How can any God fearing human being of any faith ignore all of those things and vote for a man like that?!’ Indeed - the Forward just reported that 33 rabbis identifying as Orthodox have endorsed Harris. (More about that later.)

The answer is really not all that complicated. The devoutly religious people that will be voting for Trump are doing so precisely because they are God fearing.

They see a country in moral decline whose values are informed by Hollywood celebrities. A country that has abandoned the bible as their moral guide. Which until a few decades ago was considered the moral and ethical standard by which mankind should live. 

Religious people do not for example see abortion rights as a matter of a woman having control over her own body. They instead see a woman willing to kill her unborn child because it isn’t a convenient time for her to be pregnant 

They see the ascendancy of the LGBTQ community undermining traditional biblical beliefs about gender and sexual mores. 

They see religion generally being relegated to the ash heap of history by a culture that has redefined morality in humanistic rather than Godly terms.  This is why so many people say the country is going in the wrong direction. While it isn't only the abandonment of religious values in favor of humanistic ones - to a lot of people (those who might be called the moral majority) that is exactly what they mean. A direction that is antithetical to the God centered values transmitted through the bible.

To them, Making America Great Again means they want to return to the values of the bible this country once held so dear - rejecting the trajectory away from those values they believe we have been spiraling into.

They see Kamala Harris and liberal Democrats who support abortion rights and LGBTQ values as furthering that trajectory when they say they want to go forward. Not backward.

When Trump was president, he reversed that trend by appointing conservative justices to the Supreme Court. They struck down Roe v Wade. That was a win to a religious person because it meant less unborn babies being killed. To a secular humanist it meant denying a woman the right to control her own body. 

(To be clear, I think the procedure should be completely legal - unfettered by government restrictions. So that religious people can choose when their religion says abortion is appropriate. Not when the government says it is. But that does not mean that I see it only as a right by a woman to control her own body. Because her body is not the only thing involved when an abortion takes place. There is a little thing called a fetus that will become a full human being upon completing the pregnancy to term. An abortion destroys that fetus.)

Trump has also not been reticent about condemning gender affirming therapy for minors. Which is far more in line with biblical values.

All of which explains why religious people will be voting for Trump in such huge numbers. And why the race is frankly so close. It isn’t about the individual who is running for office. It is about the vison for the country they will pursue. Trump has already shown his preference for policies that pursue religious values despite his very unreligious behavior. Harris is seen as pursuing an almost antireligious agenda by supporting abortion on demand and LGBTQ values like gender affirming therapy for minors.

What about the aforementioned 33 Orthodox rabbis that will be supporting Harris?  Upon closer examination one will note that their claim to Orthodoxy is specious. Many of them are women Which for reasons beyond the scope of this post are not accepted as rabbis by mainstream Orthodoxy. Also, that endorsement was spearheaded by Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz - a far left rabbi whose support for female Orthodox rabbis and the LGBTQ agenda makes his identity as an Orthodox rabbi questionable at best.

That being said there are legitimate Orthodox Rabbis that see voting for Trump to be so antithetical to their values, that they cannot bring themselves to vote for him even though his polices might be more favorable to their religious values. Which is understandable. They will be voting for Harris. But they are in the minority. 

This is not to be taken as an endorsement of Donald Trump. It is only to explain why religious people favor him so strongly. Even if one leaves out the perception that he is more pro Israel.  

This is why the race for the White House is so close. The fact happens to be that there is such a thing as a moral majority in this country. And they are going to vote for the individual whose polices will reflect their values.

The Enemy Within and Winning the War

Haaretz publisher, Amos Schocken (TOI)

At which point can you call a major newspaper publisher the enemy within? How about when that publisher says calls Palestinian terrorists ‘freedom fighters’?  Does that qualify? 

Because that is exactly what Haaretz publisher, Amos Schocken said in a recent interview. Adding that Israel is indeed imposing a cruel apartheid regime on Palestinians and should be sanctioned.

He has since ‘clarified’ those comments and tried to explain what he ‘really meant’. I’m not buying it. He  meant what he said when he said it. And is now trying to weasel out of it in order to reclaim the legitimacy of his publication, Haaretz, as an objective news source  Which it is anything but.

 Nice try Amos. Your apology is about as credible your newspaper is objective.

Schocken is the face of the extreme left in Israel. The very same extreme left that hates Netanyahu and has been using the hostages in Gaza as an excuse to keep protesting him even at a time of war.  While there are a lot of people not on the left that have been joining them in sincere concern for the hostages, it’s pretty clear that these protests are led by a Netanyahu hating left that began protesting long before October 7^th of last year. 

They are all screaming for a deal with Hamas that would free the hostages. That would mean ending the war, getting out of Gaza, and releasing 1500 Palestinian terrorists. Many of them murderers of Jews. Last time Israel did something like that is was for far less terrorists – one of whom was Yahya Sinwar.  

This shows that the left hates Netanyahu so much that they are willing to risk the release of another Sinwar who would surely attempt another October 7^th. 

It is true that there are many protesters that are not leftists and have joined them - understandably thinking only of the hostages and their families. They are motivated by sincere and deep compassion. But that apparently blinds them to the dire consequences of their demands. 

To say that people like Amos Schocken might be seen as ‘the enemy within’ is not as far fetched as one might have thought before he made those comments. He might think his views are the moral ones. But so do those ‘freedom fighters’.

The war must continue on all fronts. Israel has no choice but to proceed toward victory over the ‘freedom fighters’. They will not cease in their goals of  genocide for the over 7 million Jews in Israel until they succeed or are thoroughly defeated.

The left (which is comprised of the aforementioned ‘Schocken’ type leftists in Israel, European leaders, and the left leaning majority of Democrats in congress - including its Jewish members) all believe that wars do not solve anything. Thus invoking John Lennon’s words to ‘Give peace a chance’. As though it is the only way forward.

Which brings me to Jonathan Rosenblum’s latest column in Mishpacha where he made this very reference. Jonathan correctly dismissed that claim in ways that I find irrefutable. The only way forward for Israel is with victory over an existential enemy. Not with a compromise that allows them to live and fight another day. To demonstrate why this is so, I am going to quote extensively from his column:

The decision to assassinate Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah marked a sea change for Israel. Lee Smith described that change in “Killing Nasrallah” (Tablet Magazine, September 28, 2024): “Not only have they finally liquidated an adversary they’ve long been capable of killing, they’ve turned a deaf ear to their superpower patron of more than half a century.”

As Smith colorfully put it, Netanyahu came to realize that “heeding Washington’s advice on the conduct of war is like taking counsel from the angel of death. Just as the US is no longer willing or able to win the wars it commits Americans to fight, the Joe Biden administration won’t let US allies win wars either.” 

LET US CONSIDER what Israel has achieved since September 17, when approximately 3,000 pagers blew up in the hands or pants pockets of the Hezbollah operatives to which they had been distributed, disabling all of them in one second. A second attack on Hezbollah’s fallback communication system — walkie-talkies — eliminated many more the next day.

Col. Richard Kemp, former commander of British Expeditionary Forces in Afghanistan, termed the rapid attrition of Hezbollah forces in the two weeks leading up to Nasrallah’s assassination “unprecedented.” And Professor Charles Lipson, writing in the Spectator, described the Israeli campaign against Iranian proxies as the “most dazzling combination of real-time intelligence, high technology, and precise military action in the modern era.” 

Israeli intelligence has apparently penetrated everywhere in the constellation of Iranian proxies, including in Iran itself. On July 31, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was blown up in a Tehran guest house belonging the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), while in Iran to celebrate the inauguration of the new president.

The preceding day, July 30, Fuad Shukr, one of the founders of Hezbollah and designated an international terrorist by the US State Department, was eliminated in Beirut. The Wall Street Journal reported that Shukr had received a call earlier in the day telling him to move from his second-floor office to his home on the seventh floor, where he was killed by an Israeli drone. Israel appeared to have infiltrated Hezbollah’s internal communications network.

Fear of Israeli eavesdropping led Nasrallah and six of his closest top aides to meet in person on September 27, when Israeli planes dropped 80 tons of bombs on the building in which they were gathered. According to some reports, $1.5 billion dollars in cash held by Hezbollah from its drug-running operations was also incinerated and 2,000 pounds of gold melted down in the attack, severely straining Hezbollah’s finances. Israel has continued since then to target all those places where Hezbollah is hoarding its cash.

Nasrallah was irreplaceable, but Israel has made any succession as difficult as possible by eliminating several potential successors in the weeks following his killing. In addition, Israel eliminated a number of senior military commanders in the week leading up to Nasrallah’s assassination, including Ali Karaki, Hezbollah’s senior military commander after the killing of Fuad Shukr, and Ibrahim Aqil, head of operations. The latter two were both eliminated in Israeli strikes in Dahiyeh suburb of Beirut, a Hezbollah stronghold.

There is a lot more Jonathan points out in favor of pursuing victory that is difficult if not impossible to refute. And therefore a must read for anyone that cares about the welfare of the Jewish people. I defy anyone to provide a counter argument half as persuasive as is Jonathan’s for Israel to continue fighting until they win. 

What will victory look like? I leave that up to the nation that will be most affected by victory versus defeat. And surely NOT the Biden administration nor the candidate running for president from that administration. They are all of the mistaken notion of ‘Give peace a chance’. Last time Israel gave peace a chance it resulted in barrages of rockets being fired randomly at them - until October 7^th when all hell broke loose. Israel can ill afford to give that kind of peace a chance ever again.

Whether Trump is the answer to that is not clear. But Harris’s answer to that is clear. And a cease fire now is not it! 

Bill Clinton on Israel's war with Hamas

And now there are two. I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised that there is another prominent Democrat who essentially agrees with Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman. Only this Democrat is a lot more well known and very popular among the rank and file of his party. That Democrat is none other than former President Bill Clinton.

Like with former President Trump, I have my issues with Clinton’s legendary immoral behavior. But also like Trump, I agreed with a lot of his polices. Which is why I voted for him twice.  Clinton was a centrist Democrat – some of whose polices reflected conservative values. Not sure we will ever see that kind of Democrat again in the era of an ascending progressive left in that party. As a Democrat - Clinton is a dinosaur. But I digress. 

Even though support for Israel among mainstream Democrats is still pretty strong, it almost always comes with a ‘but’. Whether it is how Israel should conduct the war, criticism over its settlement polices, or whether Israel’s leader has enough deference for his American counterpart – the President.

There is a lot of hate out there against Netanyahu. If you are a Democrat, that is almost axiomatic. As is the equivocation about  their support for Israel in its war against Hamas (and now Hezbollah). While they all say they support Israel’s right to defend itself, almost all of them also say that Israel has been killing too many civilians, needs to cease fire, and withdraw from Gaza and Lebanon.

John Fetterman has thus far been the lone voice of sanity in that party. He knows who to blame for those civilian casualties and has not wavered. Despite Hamas’s exaggerated numbers and accusations of genocide.

Lone voice, that is, until Bill Clinton decided he had something to say about it, too (at a rally for Harris no less). Which - as reported at YWN (along with a clip of him saying it) is the following:

Clinton addressed the complexities of the Israel-Hamas conflict, emphasizing what he saw as the reality of Hamas’s tactics. “Hamas makes sure that they’re shielded by civilians,” he stated. “They’ll force you to kill civilians if you want to defend yourself.” He acknowledged the frustration of young Palestinian and Arab Americans, noting, “I understand why young Palestinian and Arab Americans in Michigan think too many people have died — I get that.”

“Well, I got news for them,” he continued, referring to anti-Israel voices. “[The Jews] were there first, before their faith [Islam] existed.” He stressed that he believed Hamas had no intention of pursuing a Palestinian homeland, saying, “They wanted to kill Israelis and make Israel uninhabitable.”

“How many people do you have to kill to punish Hamas for butchering the most pro-peace Israelis? You have to forgive me, but I’m not keeping score that way,” he said. 

I of course agree with every word he said. Much the way I do with Fetterman. 

(I don’t think his wife, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton does. She has made comments very much like those of  Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Tim Walz. Which follows the narrative of most mainstream Democrats and the mainstream media. Blaming Israel for not paying enough attention to civilian casualties.)

If Harris made statements like Clinton, I would not only vote for her, I would urge everyone to vote for her. Even though I agree more with Trump’s polices than hers, her character so far outweighs that of Trump that I would vote for her anyway. People whose lies and corresponding rhetoric inspire insurrectionist behavior by some of his more radical supporters are not the kind of people I want running the country. 

But, then there is welfare of Israel - the issue that is nearest and dearest to my heart. Despite arguments by the left (and assorted other Trump haters) to the contrary, Trump’s support for Israel was proven during his presidency. There is no reason to think he will change his views. It should also not escape anyone’s attention that the majority of Israelis (66%) see Trump this way too and prefer him over Harris. As noted in a recent poll.

Although it has been reported that in his meeting with Netanyahu a few weeks ago, Trump urged him to end the war by the time he takes office, I’m not sure that warning comes with consequences if he doesn’t. Or what those consequences would be if it does.

Be that as it may, Trump’s message is about Israel winning the war; allowing a limited IDF presence in Gaza afterwards; not considering settlement activity illegal; discarding the 2 state solution as a viable option for peace; and broadening peace agreements between Israel and more of  her Arab neighbors .

Harris’s message is about a cease fire; Israel getting out of Gaza; ending settlement activity; and committing to a 2 state solution. And she has hinted that she will put pressure on Israel to do that once in office.

That is a prescription for allowing Hamas to rebuild, rearm and re-attack Israel as they promised they would. It might take them a while to do it since they have been so badly decimated. But motivated by religious zeal and with the help of an Iran made stronger by European and Biden/Harris policies, that result is almost guaranteed if Israel is not allowed to finish the job.

How to do that is beyond my pay grade. But one thing is certain. If anyone has any idea about how to do that - it is Israel. A US president with a chip on her shoulder about Israel’s leader should not be telling them what to do.  Just as it would wrong if Israel were to tell the US what to do if the tables were turned. 

All of which leaves me nowhere about the election next Tuesday. But it’s still nice to hear a popular former Democratic president tell the truth about what the war in Gaza (and Lebanon) is all about and who is really to be blamed for civilians casualties.

It's Just Not Enough

Rav Meir Mazuz

I wish I could say that the recent gathering of Charedim in Bnei Brak showing support for IDF soldiers at war makes me happy. But it doesn’t. 

Indeed. It was more than a show of support. As reported by Arutz Sheva:

Thousands participated on Tuesday in a memorial event in the haredi majority city of Bnei Brak from those who fell during the current war...

The event was attented by leading haredi rabbis, including Kisse Rahamim Yeshiva Dean Rabbi Meir Mazuz, Chief Rabbi David Yosef, and former Chief Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau.

Rabbi Mazuz spoke about the fallen and added that those who go to war "their (heavenly) wages are gauranteed."

The event was broadcasted by the haredi media and included prayers for the welfare of the hostages and soldiers. 

While it is nice to hear support from a recognized Charedi leader at a gathering in Bnei Brak, to the best of my knowledge - this is the first time since the war began that a public gathering of this nature has taken place. Most public gatherings during this time by Charedim were about their opposition to the draft. 

Furthermore, conspicuously absent from this gathering wee the two most senior Charedi leaders that have done anything but give credit to those soldiers. They may have personally expressed sympathy for their sacrifice. But they do not attribute the protection the people of Israel gets to those sacrifices. They see only those studying Torah full time responsible for that protection. And at least one of them has publicly stated that anyone that gives such credit to the IDF is making a huge Chilul HaShem.

So this late public show of support in Bnei Brak by a Charedi leader seems almost like an afterthought. Even if it was meant sincerely and was well attended It should have taken place on day one. Not over a year later.

But that isn’t so much what bothers me. What bothers me is one of the things that has always bothered me about the Charedi world in Israel. And now - since the war in Gaza (and now in Lebanon) my dismay has  increased by - what seems like orders of magnitude. 

The idea that both secular and Dati (Non Charedi religious) soldiers have been risking their lives in those two wars while Charedim go about their daily lives without any such risk - that they let others do the dyjng for them - does not sit well with me. 

No matter how many times a day they say a few Kapitlach Tehilim. or how much extra time they spend hovering over a difficult  Gemara for the merit of the soldiers - it  is not the same thing as dodging bullets in Gaza - risking life and limb for their people. To  say that Charedim are doing their part by saying Tehilim and learning Torah as are the soldiers who risk their lives is to knowingly deny reality. And yet apparently they think they are. Patting themselves on the back for that at a rally in Bnei Brak.

It is naïve in the extreme to believe that the families of these brave soldiers are OK with that... that they don’t have any resentment towards Charedim for not sharing the burden with their children. Especially those families that have lost a son or daughter; a brother or a sister, a father or mother... in the war.

Apparently now it seems that resentment by many Dati soldiers and their families has bubbled up to the surface and exploded.  As noted by Rabbi Natan Slifkin: 

There has been an explosion of hurt and frustration and rage. As one person wrote on Facebook, “I am finding haredi non-conscription unbearable. And I am finding staying silent about the topic with my haredi friends and family increasingly difficult… 

A specifically dati protest rally took place outside Bnei Brak. Rav Tamir Granot expressed the dati-leumi position with tremendous power in his video, which spread like wildfire… 

Another video that spread widely was that of Rachel Goldberg, widow of Rabbi Avi Goldberg hy”d and mother of eight newly-orphaned children. With her eyes tightly shut and her voice powerful but shaking, she speaks about how there are just not enough soldiers, about how everyone needs to help. 

“It’s like on Friday, when all the children help tidy up and clean the house for Shabbat, everyone cleans. It’s not that one person sits at the table and prays that the house will be clean. Everyone has to clean. Everyone has to get up, and move, and help, and assist physically, with their body. And if someone doesn’t, it’s not educational to give him something in return. It’s not educational, it’s not Jewish, it’s not moral.”  

Powerful words indeed. Words that give me a lot more dissatisfaction at what Charedim are NOT doing than satisfaction at what they ARE doing. 

As long as the war rages on and the majority of Israeli families see their young placed in harms way, with no help… no relief from the Charedi world, I can’t shake the feeling of injustice taking place among our people. And yet Charedim don’t see it. They somehow see contributing their share by Torah study and prayer - WITHOUT risking death or injury.

Shockingly, however, there seems to be some sympathy for the Charedi refusal to serve in the IDF from an unlikely source. It comes from Galit Distel Atbaryan a non Charedi Likud member of the Knesset. From Arutz Sheva: 

"What is happening to the haredi community is infuriating and sad," she told Arutz Sheva - Israel National News. "The haredim have no voice in the media and they have a case, and we need to listen to them. The campaign against them is so populist."

"It's evident in the fact that a representative of the IDF came to the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee and said that the IDF is not prepared to draft more than 3,000 haredim a year. If that is the case, then the entire campaign is a lie. 

"A haredi combat soldier who enlisted in 2013 along with 200 other haredim sat at the conference and said that he is the only, only one who did not take off his kipa (skullcap) and beard. They all became irreligious. There's a culture shock. The IDF does not allow haredi soldiers to become officers and their commanders are secular people who do not understand their ways. It's basically the Secularization Army of Israel."

I am not convinced. These is no doubt that there is a manpower shortage in the IDF. Which has only increased since Israel invaded Hezbollah in Lebanon. Israel is now fighting a two front war. There is not the slightest doubt in my mind that if Charedim would join the IDF, it would can help lighten the extra burden forced upon soldiers in an understaffed IDF. 

Even if they can’t be trained for combat quickly enough, they can serve in ancillary IDF service and free up soldiers that have been there far longer than they would otherwise have had to be becuase of that manpower shortage. 

The anecdote Atbaryan related about Charedim who went OTD after they joined the IDF proves nothing about their alleged secularization policy. Hesder proves quite the contrary. The more committed they are to their religious values the better soldiers they make And do not stray from observance. 

Nor does it speak to the vast numbers of Dati Jews that go into the IDF observant - and come out observant. All it proves is that there are people whose commitment to observance is at best superficial and don’t need that much motivation to stop being observant. This is true in both the Dati and the Charedi world.

And finally, there is Nachal Charedi, special army units designed specifically to accommodate Charedi needs. Necessity is the mother of invention. If there are not enough units to accommodate the numbers they need, I'm sure they will provide more.

I don’t know what Galit Distel Atbaryan’s game is. But it doesn’t sound like it is in the best interests of her people. Our people.

All of which leaves me with the same unsettled feelings of despair at the lack of unity among the Jewish people.

The solution seems to be so doable. So eminently fair. A solution where everyone would get what they need. An IDF that is sufficiently staffed and exemptions for the rest. 

That would, however, take a paradigm shift.  And that just ain’t gonna happen. 

A Vote For Bruce Leon is a Vote for School Choice

Bruce Leon

Educating our children ought to be one of the highest priorities one takes into the voting booth. When I say ‘our children’ I am not just talking about Jewish children. I am talking about every child in the city in which one lives. Which in my case is Chicago.

The Jewish community’s educational concerns have never been addressed by the Chicago School Board (CSB). Nor have our representatives in City Hall or at the state level addressed those concerns other than to dismiss them. 

Their argument has always been that public education is their only concern. Which is available to every child in Chicago. Those who wish to educate their children in private or religious school can freely do so at their own expense. 

The problem with that is obvious to any parochial school parent. Which is that the cost of a decent parochial school education is much higher than what the vast majority of parents can afford to pay. School budget deficits have been steadily increasing. Outpacing tuition increases that most parents can barely afford to pay now if at all! This is one of the biggest problems facing the Orthodox Jewish community. A growing problem.

School choice would help solve that problem. As it has in many of  ‘red states’ like Indiana that have implemented such programs

Public education should not be a one size fits all policy. The idea that values taught in the public schools are universal and should apply to everyone is clearly not true. Judaism, for example,  has its own set of values. While there may be much overlap, there are some values that are in diametric opposition to each other. If a government has a policy that mandates free education for all children, parents should have to right  to choose what kind of education their child will get - as long as it includes a core curriculum and does not teach violation of any law. 

That is what school choice is about. A truly equitable public education system would recognize that simple reality. Instead of forcing a child to attend a school whose values do not match the values taught in the home, a parent would have the right to send their child to a school that teaches their values.

This brings me to Bruce Leon one of several candidates runing for the Chicago School Board. Until this election all members of the CSB were appointed by the mayor. Now for the first time half of those members will be chosen by voters. Bruce happens to be an Orthodox Jew but is someone who cares deeply about the education of all children. No child should be left behind.  Whether it is a child that lives in poor neighborhood who wants more than what his neighborhood school has to offer. Or a child of religious parents that want their values to be taught in addition to the core curriculum..

Bruce understands those concerns and he will fight for them if elected.  He will fight Mayor Brandon Johnson a card carrying member of the CTU who cares more about fully funding teachers pensions than he does about the children they teach. Bruce will fight for children first. All children.

Those who might say that one lone voice on a school board that is not inclined to view public and parochial school education they way Bruce does will not accomplish anything - are wrong. Along with another Orthodox Jew, I was elected to the local school council of a public school here in Chicago many years ago. The law required community interests to be represented by 2 members that were not parents. Needless to say we were not very popular with the other council members. But our interests were represented and as a result both the parents and the community which we represented got what we needed.

I therefore urge everyone in the Chicago Jewish community that cares about education to vote for Bruce Leon for the Chicago School Board. He has been endorsed by the Chicago Tribune and will be  our voice on the board - the voice of sanity.  

Bruce will be listed on the ballot with all the other candidates. Whoever you vote for as president next Tuesday, make sure to look for Bruce Leon on the ballot and choose him as your representative on the Chicago School Board. 

An Antisemitic Attack in My Neighborhood

Ald Debra Silverstein - an Orthodox Jew - at a press conference yesterday (JTA)

Well, this one hit a little too close to home. From JTA: 

Chicago Police have charged a man with attempted murder after he allegedly shot an Orthodox Jew walking to synagogue on Saturday morning.

The victim, a 39-year-old man whose identity has not been released, was walking to Congregation K.I.N.S. in Chicago’s West Rogers Park neighborhood when a man approached from behind and fired multiple shots, striking the victim’s shoulder.

Police say the man, Sidi Mohamed Abdallahi, then exchanged fire with law enforcement after police and paramedics arrived on the scene. Police shot Abdallahi, who was taken to a local hospital in critical condition. The victim was released from the hospital Saturday afternoon.

Abdallahi, whose detention hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, was charged with 14 total felony counts: six counts of attempted first-degree murder, seven counts of aggravated discharge of a firearm toward a police officer/firefighter and one count of aggravated battery with the discharge of a firearm.

Speaking Monday in Pittsburgh, second gentleman Doug Emhoff cited the Chicago shooting in a list of recent antisemitic attacks.

Local authorities and Jewish groups urged caution in drawing conclusions about the motivation for the shooting. But Debra Silverstein, the alderman for Chicago’s 50th Ward, said in an interview that she was disappointed by the lack of a hate crime charge.

“I am very disappointed by this turn of events and strongly encourage the Cook County State’s Attorney Office to prosecute the offender to the full extent of the law,” Silverstein wrote in an email to her constituents after charges were filed. “The police have assured me that they are continuing to gather evidence, and additional charges — including hate crime charges — can still be added.”

West Rogers Park is my neighborhood. KINS is walking distance from my house. I have Davened there many times. I don’t know the identity of the Orthodox Jew who was shot since his name was not released. But I may very well know him.

I agree with Alderman Silverstein. (She is the only Jewish alderman in Chicago who also happens to be Orthodox.) This is clearly a hate crime. When a Jew wearing a Kipa is shot on his way to Shul on a Shabbos morning by someone who is part of a community constantly accusing Israel (and by extension ALL Jews) of genocide, I would be hard pressed to call it anything but a hate crime.  I’m therefore pretty sure the charges will eventually be enhanced to include that.

This is of course further evidence of a spike in antisemtism in this country. Not that we needed any. Evidence as well that it is not limited to college campuses or the city of New York. We – the Jewish people – are in greater danger of being physically attacked or even being killed than at any other time since the Holocaust.

Does this mean I have changed my view about the American people? 

Absolutely not. First because of the outpouring of sympathy by virtually all Americans regardless of political affiliation in the immediate aftermath of the Hamas massacre and kidnapping of hostages. Who are still in their brutal custody over one year later! That sympathy has not waned many months into the war despite all the media attention to the massive number of civilian causalities in Gaza - and now Lebanon. 

While many Americans may have sympathy for what civilians in Gaza and Lebanon are going through, the vast majority of the American people have not forgotten about the actual cause of their suffering – the events of October 7^th. 

There are many examples where their sympathy for us was made abundantly clear. For example the strong show of sympathy and support of the hostage families who addressed delegates at both the RNC and DNC convention. 

One particular observation that struck me was made by Intermountain Jewish News editor and publisher, Rabbi Dr. Hillel Goldberg (published in Jewish Action). It was his... appreciation for the unexpected, beautiful islands of solidarity expressed by non-Jews reaching out to me. 

So what gives? If America is so supportive of its Jewish citizens, why are we now experiencing the worst antisemitism since the Holocaust?

I don’t think there is a simple answer to that question.  But let me suggest a few things. 

First the antisemitism that has exploded now has always existed below the surface among certain fringe groups . There is no doubt, for example, that White Supremacists are antisemitic. And that  there are probably a lot more people that sympathize with them than I thought. But in the aggregate they are still a tiny fraction of the American people. 

The source of that particular brand of antisemitism is the Church who had blamed us for killing their god and were angry at us for not accepting the trinity of which their god  was a part. Centuries of vilification and persecution against us followed. Which included blood libels and assorted accusations of nefarious intent against Christians. All made up out of whole cloth and perpetuated generationally resulting in apathy to Jews being slaughtered during the Holocaust.  

But the since Vatican II in the early 60s the Church has stopped doing that. They did a 180 and no longer blame us for the death of their god. They now consider us a brother religion and the root of their own. Evangelical Christians who place a heavy emphasis on the 'Old Testament' (which is basically our Tanach) are now our best friends by far. All that old Christian animus is gone. And no longer driving antismetism (except for the aforementioned fringe groups that have spawned a few mass murderers like the one who killed 11 Jews at the Tree of Life Synagogue a few years ago). 

The current antisemtism is driven by the adherents of another religion: Islam. It is the Muslim community that has called Israel’s  war against Hamas genocide. Blaming Israel entirely for the deaths of civilians in Gaza, while refusing to recognize Hamas’s own hand in that carnage. When they call for a cease fire they call to free Palestine, too... from their Jewish oppressors. And by Palestine they don’t mean the West Bank. They mean all of Palestine - from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea. This is not a secret. they say it openly.

They have been happily joined by the most extreme elements of the progressive left who hate this country as much as they hate Israel – and by extension every Jew whom they consider a Zionist (except for those misguided ignorant Jews that have joined them in protest). They define Zionism as a form of Colonialism - an evil political doctrine whereby white colonizers from a foreign country take over a country and subjugate its indigenous peoples for their own benefit. 

This is what happened to black people in in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) in  formerly Apartheid South Africa. They feel the same way about the US - founded by white Europeans who colonized these shores for their own purposes and subjugated its native citizens against their will - eventually moving them to reservations. 

Now with the war in Gaza and Lebanon, the Zionist colonizers of Palestine and their Jewish supporters in the US are their targets 

Meanwhile Academia which has become increasingly progressive tends to favor the free speech of people who support the oppressed (i.e. Palestinians) over the safety of people (Jews) that support the oppressors (i.e. Israel). Aided and abetted by the mainstream media.

That is the perfect storm - a prescription for the kind of antisemitic violence that happened last Shabbos in West Rogers Park to an Orthodox Jew.

So by all means, we - the Jewish people - must be vigilant. More than at any other time in my almost 78 years on this planet. The dangers are clearly there. Anyone can be seriously injured or killed. Especially those of us that are visibly Orthodox Jews on a Shabbos when we typically walk several blocks  to the Shul of our choice.

But to say that Americans have generally become more antisemitic is absurd in my view. I cannot imagine anyone in America (aside from a few antisemites on the fringe) raising their arm in a Nazi salute to an antisemitic genocidal dictator like Hitler the way Germans did in the 30s. I am absolutely certain that the vast majority of Americans would be appalled by that. 

All of this seems obvious to me. I shouldn’t need to mention it. But there are a lot of people that seem to believe we are a lot closer to 1930s Germany than we think. And I am here to tell them that there is absolutely no evidence of that. Instead - as noted - there is a lot of evidence to the contrary. 

Rabbi Reuven Levinson, ZL

It is with great sorrow that I report the passing of Rabbi Reuven Levinson, one of Chicago’s most beloved Mechanchim. He was a Rebbe at Arie Crown Hebrew Day School for well over 40 years having taught countless young elementary school kids including my own son. 

Rabbi Levinson’s reputation as a Rebbe went far beyond the 4 walls of Arie Crown. He influenced countless numbers of young people as principal of an afternoon Hebrew school as well as being involved in various after school and summer programs. His long career saw him teaching not only many children of former students, but even many grandchildren.

He was also a composer of Jewish music having composed somewhere between 75 to 100 songs, some of which were recorded by major Jewish recording artists.

I just returned from his funeral and one of the eulogizers was a a former student who was now teaching the same class in Arie Crown his Rebbe did. He was so inspired by his Rebbe that he chose to follow in his footsteps. He applies his Rebbe’s teaching philosophy to guide him. Always consulting him practically to the last moments of his life. Making  sure he was doing things right. 

One of the most important features of his teaching philosophy was to never give up on a student. No matter what!  He never rejected any one of them. Always trying to find the key to reach him. I believe that for the most part he succeeded where others failed. This was transmitted to his former student now teaching at his former school.

Rabbi Levinson was a gentle person who always had aa smile on his face. He never had a bad word to say about anyone. Not to a student. Not to a parent. Not to anyone. 

After his retirement from Arie Crown about 9 years ago, one of the other major day schools asked him if he would be willing to teach there. He obliged. 

As one of the eulogizers said: His loss was not only Arie Crown’s loss. It was the entirety of Jewish Chicago’s loss. He will be sorely missed. 

Baruch Dayan Emes 

Articles of Faith

He’s a lot smarter than I am. (Just wanted to get that out of the way before I say anything else.) Considering that he is probably about 20 years my junior and that I have that  much more life experience than he does, that’s saying a lot. Rabbi Gil Student is one of those people who in my opinion deserves a lot more credit and recognition than he already gets, which is still quie considerable. If there is anyone that could be a role model for what I refer to as a Centrist Orthodox Jew, Gil student is it. I am a pale imitation of that by comparison.

Lest anyone think I am engaging in false flattery for some reason, dismiss that thought from your mind. Be assured that I am not. I have absolutely no reason to do that. I simply admire who he is and what he does online.

Although I have no personal relationship with Gil and have never met him in person, we both go back to an email list called Avodah/Areivim owned and operated by Rabbi Micha Berger. It was (and still is) a forum for Jewish thought focusing on Halacha, Hashkafa, and world events affecting the Jewish people. Gil and I both participated quite profusely offering our insight on all of those issues.

As blogging became a more popular form of online discussion, Gil started his own blog: Hirhurim. Whose subject matter followed along similar lines of Avodah/Areivim. 

I had continued to opine on that Avodah/Areivim but some of my more ciritical material was censored. Some subjects, like Chabad Meshichism became entirely off limits.  At the time it was at the height of its controversy. I was frustrated by my inability to comment on what I felt is a vital issue that needed to be discussed. Gil suggested I start  my own blog and the rest as they say is history.  

A few years ago and for his own reasons, Gil converted his blog into a website that featured a variety features including opinions by Gil and other prominent Orthodox rabbis and personalities on Jewish issues.  His website now called Torah Musings is a valuable resource for my own blog.

As for me, any success that I have had in expressing and spreading what I believe to be the ‘Emes VeEmunah’ of Judaism I attribute to Rabbi Gil Student. For which I would like to now express my sincere gratitude.

All of this was just an introduction to Gil’s latest book entitled Articles of Faith. Therein he describes his own journey as a spokesman for observant Judaism and why he transitioned from blogging to an online magazine of sorts.  The topics he discusses in his new book are based on decades of articles he has written on his views of Halacha and Hashkafa in the Internet era. Views that I generally strongly agree with. Areas of discussion include: belief, technology, sacred texts, and the State of Israel. Obviously Judaism has a lot to say about all of those issues, and I can think of no one better to  express them than Rabbi Gil Student.  

I do not generally review books. But I sometimes do make an exception. This is one of those times. I highly recommend this book. If you want to know what  the fundamentals of Judaism has to say about the online world in which we live today, Articles of Faith (published by Kodesh Press) is a great way to begin that journey.