It's Noty Bibi's Fault

Graham Platner

There is a narrative among liberal Jews that places nearly all the blame for the rise in anti-Israel sentiment in on Israel’s prime minister - a premise I completely reject.

I won’t go into detail about why I reject it, other than to say that those blaming the prime minister for increased anti-Israel sentiment might just as well blame his political rivals, who are all eager to see him leave. The very things related to the war in Gaza and now in Lebanon - that have angered so many Democrats - even (and perhaps especially) Jewish Democrats - are the same things Netanyahu’s opponents would likely have done. And are fully aligned with. Yet those same actions are cited as proof that Netanyahu is almost solely responsible for Israel’s negative image.

The most prominent of these accusations is the claim of genocide by the IDF. That is the central component of the criticism. Blaming that alleged ‘genocide’ on the conduct of the war under Netanyahu’s leadership. But as I have noted many times - his political opponents are unified in supporting the conduct of the war and uniformly reject the claim that there was any genocide by the IDF. The high Palestinian casualty count in Gaza was not due to Israeli intent. Israel took extraordinary measures to minimize civilian casualties during its military campaign against Hamas.

The casualty figures cited by Gaza officials—and repeated by the UN and the mainstream media - fail to distinguish between Hamas terrorists who were targeted and civilians caught in the crossfire. Nor do they account for the fact that Hamas embedded itself within densely populated civilian areas, including hospitals, precisely to exploit the negative publicity Israel would face from high civilian casualties.

Another frequent criticism of Netanyahu is his decision to form a governing coalition that included a right-wing extremist like Itamar Ben-Gvir. That concern may have some merit. But...

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Does Feminism Serve God?

3 woman taking the rabbinate exams after a four hour delay (Jerusalem Post)

I am once again forced to confront the tension between my advocacy for the equality of women in society and some of the contradictions that such advocacy can entail with my religious beliefs. This tension usually arises in areas where equality in certain roles intersects with halacha or long-held tradition. Such as the rabbinate.

I have always reconciled these competing values by placing ‘God’ before ‘man’. Meaning, my sense of equality is ultimately trumped by the will of God as expressed in the Torah. Whether explicitly stated or implied, and as it has been understood and practiced for centuries.

I am therefore opposed to the idea of a woman serving as a traditional rabbi, regardless of how well educated she may be in matters pertaining to that role. (The reasons for this long-held tradition are beyond the scope of this post.)

Although I supported the feminist movement in its earlier incarnations—when women were denied equal pay for equal work or were treated condescendingly by their male professional peers - that has long since ceased to be its primary purpose. Today, the goal often appears to be full equity in all areas, religious or otherwise. Unfortunately, this mindset has gained traction among not a few women in Orthodoxy.

This has resulted in a variety of positive developments, along with some negative ones. Some of which are direct byproducts of those positive changes. Women’s Torah education, for example, has advanced exponentially since the Beis Yaakov movement began - in the early 20^th century.

While there is no issue with women studying Torah at the highest levels they desiref, there have been unintended consequences. One of these is the demand by some women to be ordained as rabbis—a boundary that tradition has never permitted to be crossed. Yet there are some far-left Modern Orthodox rabbis who see no inherent problem with this, despite near-universal opposition from mainstream rabbinic authorities across the spectrum of Orthodoxy.

I have no problem with women studying Torah or being tested on their knowledge. But I do wonder why ordination is so important to some. My sense is that it is as much about breaking a ‘glass ceiling’ as it is about recognition of achievement. I say this because discussions by Orthodox feminists on these topics almost always include language reflecting that goal.

But breaking a glass ceiling is not what Judaism is about...

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Meanwhile, in Britain…

Guest submission by Paul Shaviv

4 Hatzalah ambulances were torched last March in London

The last few weeks – let alone months – have been traumatic for the British Jewish community (approximately 245,000, or less – at most 0.5% of the population).

Last Yom Kippur, a UK citizen of Syrian extraction drove a car into worshippers outside a Manchester shul. Two worshippers were killed, and several injured. In the last few weeks, three Jewish buildings have been attacked by arsonists; four Hatzala ambulances were destroyed by arson; numerous instances of Jews being harassed or attacked have been reported. A BBC documentary screened a week or so ago recorded Jews afraid to wear kippot or Magen David necklaces in public, or to be overheard speaking Ivrit. The leader of the rapidly rising Green party in the UK – think Mamdani – has used his Jewish status to proclaim his anti-Israel/anti-Zionist beliefs. A national newspaper has reported that ads for accommodation to let are beginning to specify ‘Zionists not welcome’.

All of this is the tip of the iceberg. Jewish-owned stores, and other businesses with Israeli connections (real or imagined) are being daubed or sprayed with red paint. Talk shows on radio are inundated with antisemitic and anti-Israel callers. For months, threatening pro-Palestinian demonstrations have paraded weekly through central London and other cities, sometimes in front of synagogues. And so on, and so on.

This has profoundly shaken Britain’s Jews, who long regarded themselves as well-integrated Brits, living in a tolerant and generally hospitable society. They no longer do.

What caused this turnaround? A combination of factors...

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Challenges to Morality by LGBTQ Advocacy

A few years ago, Rabbi Efrem Goldberg gave a talk about transgenderism in the Jewish community. In it, he described a devoutly religious, middle-aged male member of his shul who approached him and said he had struggled with this issue his entire life. He believed he was a woman despite being born in a man’s body and felt he could no longer continue living as a man. He asked a shaila (a halachic question) about whether he could change his sex.

Needless to say, rabbis do not often receive a shaila like this—or so I thought. I was surprised to hear Rabbi Goldberg say that when he brought the question to a recognized, world-class posek, he was told that he receives this shaila several times a week.

Rabbi Goldberg then went on to discuss sources suggesting that transgenderism is not a new phenomenon, beginning with the creation of Adam, who was initially created both male and female in one body.

His point was that we should approach this issue with sympathy. People who struggle with it should not be ridiculed or ostracized. They should be treated with the same loving-kindness we extend to anyone facing challenges beyond their control. This, he emphasized, is the Torah’s way.

This has always been my view. But it is decidedly not the view of general culture. Many have concluded that the only humane way to treat transgender people is to regard their identities as entirely normal and to celebrate their choices. Choices they are - in a free society - entitled to make.

That is not, of course, the Torah’s perspective. What Rabbi Goldberg did not say is that it is permitted for a person to change his or her sex. According to Jewish law, it is forbidden. It is also forbidden for a person to live as a member of the opposite sex even without surgery. Cross-dressing is explicitly prohibited by the Torah.

Whether an exception could be made for someone who might be suicidal if unable to transition is a question I do not believe has yet been fully addressed by qualified poskim. It is also unclear whether threats of suicide - or the high rates of suicide among transgender individuals - would qualify as pikuach nefesh. A life and death issue which can override Torah prohibitions.

This approach differs significantly from the current progressive societal view, which does not take biblical values into account and often discards them as inhumane. Advocacy groups such as LGBTQ organizations argue that people should be free to live as they wish: “Who are they hurting? Let people be who they want to be.”

Religious people see it differently. It is one thing to empathize with human suffering; it is another to celebrate behavior long considered outside the norm as fully normative.

In a First Things article, Carl R. Trueman, professor of biblical and religious studies at Grove City College, discusses both the positive changes and the ongoing challenges facing those who continue to value morality as defined by the Bible. A framework that guided society for thousands of years until things began to change in the mid 20th century... 

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An Independence Day of Disunity

A Charedi speaks with with a non-religious person (TOI)

I often say how proud I am of my country, the United States of America. And how proud and grateful I am to be an American living at this particular time in history. I say this fully aware of the increase in antisemitism, a truly disturbing phenomenon that had been accelerated by the media focus - without context - on the high number of Palestinian casualties during Israel’s defensive war against Hamas.

I am equally proud of my country, Israel. (Yes - both Israel and the U.S. are my country!) I could not be prouder of what my people - both religious and secular - have accomplished in the relatively short span of about 80 years since its founding. I say this despite its many flaws, some of which are deeply troubling. But Israel’s accomplishments far outweigh those flaws. Without getting into details, this should be obvious to anyone with an open heart and open mind.

I only wish the rest of my coreligionists felt the same way I do, whether secular or religious. But what I often find is the opposite. Instead of focusing on Israel’s many accomplishments in fields both religious and secular - the criticism from across the Jewish world is often so harsh that it borders on abandonment of the country.

On the religious side, where the Charedim make up the bulk of the religious world in Israel, the venom I have heard from some of the Charedi leadership about the secular leadership (often parroted by their devoted followers) is reminiscent of rhetoric once reserved for our Nazi tormentors during the Holocaust.

Not to be outdone, some among the secular leadership have openly threatened to destroy the Torah world. One Supreme Court justice was recently overheard saying that this was his mission!

And as if that weren’t enough, we now have religious Jews from different camps saying hateful things about each other. While it may be understandable why some of these things are being said, it does not warm the cockles of my heart to hear them so often.

Today is Israeli Independence Day. A day that ought to signify unity. A day when all factions in Israel - and Jews everywhere - should unite and declare that we are one people: the Jewish people. ‘One nation under God.’ (Sound familiar? If that phrase applies anywhere, it should be the Holy Land. But I digress.) It seems, though, that we are further away from that ideal than ever. Not only in Israel, but also in the United States.

The Jewish people are as divided as ever. Never in a million years, for example, would I have believed that Jewish members of Congress would turn on Israel so sharply. And yet that is exactly what is happening. This does not mean that Israel cannot be criticized. Lord knows there is plenty to criticize. But to abandon her - rejecting her primary advocate in the U.S. (AIPAC) as though it were a supporter of mass murder, while ignoring the great accomplishments and contributions to the world made by its people - Jewish people like themselves - goes far beyond mere criticism. By denying military aid, do they not realize that they place themselves squarely in the category of being collaborators with Israel’s enemies...

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A Tragically Insulting and Destructive Act

Netanyahu promising harsh disciplinary action for this act (Times of India)

I was so angry last night that I couldn’t fall asleep! …thinking about the damage one lone IDF soldier has done to the Jewish people. The kind of damage that fits all too easily into the narrative of every white supremacist whose antisemitic version of Christianity has caused the Jewish people untold pain. Often culminating in mass murder. Even now, in the 21st century, we saw this when one of these ‘fine fellows’ massacred 11 people at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh several years ago.

This soldier has given these people all they need to justify their vile stereotypes about Jews. Having portrayed us as blood-sucking vultures led by an evil Jewish cabal bent on controlling the world and subjugating Christians.

What happened is this. A misguided IDF soldier severely damaged a statue of Jesus with a sledgehammer in the Christian village of Debel in Lebanon.

I cannot begin to express how wrong-headed this was. Not to mention how reckless. I assume he believed he was fulfilling the Torah’s command to destroy idols. Which was given to the children of Israel upon entering the holy land in biblical times. What he was actually doing was endangering the entirety of the Jewish people.

Even though we do not believe in the divinity of Jesus - and are indeed forbidden to do so - it is not forbidden for Christians, or for any non-Jews in general. Provided they also believe in God. (Rema, Orach Chaim 156:1) But by acting on a misunderstanding of halacha, he has caused tremendous harm to the Jewish people.

The tens of millions of Christian fundamentalists who are among the most devout Christians in this country – strongly support us. Catholics, too, have become far more supportive of us ever since Vatican II. They now view Judaism as a sister religion rather than the discredited one they once considered it to be. Their support is vital at a time when public support is waning.

Nowhere is this more evident than in the support shown by Mike Huckabee, former Christian preacher; governor; and current U.S. ambassador to Israel. His backing of the Jewish state often exceeds that of many Jews. Especially secular and heterodox Jewish Democrats.

And that doesn’t even begin to account for leaders like Minister John Hagee, whose organization, Christians United for Israel (CUFI), has likely raised more Christian support (both financial and moral) for Israel than all fundamentalist preachers combined. Many such leaders actively encourage support for the Jewish state - and in some cases even support Israel’s biblical claim to the West Bank. The more devout they are, the stronger that support tends to be.

I can only imagine the regret some of them might feel now after seeing a story like this. Indeed, Ambassador Huckabee publicly expressed his outrage. And voices like Tucker Carlson are probably already saying, “See? I told you so.”

I’m less concerned about Carlson and his ilk, who are increasingly being marginalized. But I am concerned about the mainstream. It is embarrassing in the extreme when good and decent people - many of whom have gone to great lengths to support us in our time of need - are ‘thanked’ by a Jew destroying a statue of their deity...

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An Unpopular But Just War

Rachel Goldberg-Polin (NYT)

Last night I was reminded of why we are in this war. (As if I needed any reminding.) In a rare moment of moral clarity, the left-leaning television news magazine, 60 Minutes aired two segments that should be watched by all doubters of our mission in Iran.

Sadly, even with the massive TV audience 60 Minutes commands, those viewers represent only a minority of the American people. Given the biases instilled in the typical American viewer by an otherwise liberal media, their Democratic role models in Congress, the morally compromised European leadership beholden to the growing number of Muslim immigrants, and the right-wing antisemites pretending to oppose only Israel and not the Jewish people - the true message of those two segments has been lost on many.

That is made clear by the overwhelming number of Americans (according to recent polls) who oppose the war with Iran. But that statistic is misleading

Mark Twain is attributed to have said: ‘There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.” That the media frequently cites those numbers to bolster their own opposition to the war bears this out. They fail to mention that a vast majority of Americans support the goals of the war: preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, ending its ballistic missile program, and stopping its spread of terror by proxy. What many oppose is the method the U.S. has chosen to achieve those objectives. An opposition heavily fueled by the war’s adverse effect on the economy and the fear of American casualties.

That raises a simple question: what is the alternative?

Diplomacy has already been tried. And failed. Iran was caught enriching uranium thus violating JCPOA – the deal the US made with Iran in 2015 to stop enriching uranium for 10 years. Besides, they continued their ballistic missile program and supporting terrorism by proxy. JCPOA never even addressed those issues The October 7^th massacre in Israel and kidnapping of Jews is a brutal reminder of that.

One of the 60 Minutes segments yesterday featured Rachel Goldberg-Polin…

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A Conservative Rabbinical Student Speaks Up

American Jewish University president Jay Sanderson

Conservative Judaism is dead or dying. And The state of American Jewry is dire, with only a generation to fix it.

I don’t like beating a dead horse. But whenever a serious publication like Commentary revisits this issue, it’s hard to stay silent.

The above sentiments were not expressed by me, but they certainly could have been. They are two of the three sentiments expressed by American Jewish University president Jay Sanderson. AJU is the parent organization of the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies - one of only two schools that ordain Conservative rabbis.

None of this is new. The Conservative movement has been in decline for quite some time. Nor is it news that its leadership recognizes it. What is different about this particular article by S.A. Weiss is his personal reaction to it. Weiss identifies as a third-year rabbinical student at Ziegler pursuing semicha - ordination as a Conservative rabbi two years from now.

What is not surprising is what Conservative leadership is trying to do to fix the problem. Which is almost certain to put the Makah B’Potish – the ‘final blow’ on its demise. Their plan is…

to shift away from traditional rabbinical-school subjects such as Mishnah and Talmud toward more “timely” and “relevant” topics like conflict resolution, AI, and social media.

This is not a course correction. It is an acceleration of the very trend that brought the movement to this point. For decades, Conservative leadership has treated classical Torah study as increasingly irrelevant, replacing it with contemporary concerns. Now, even the pretense of Torah as the central organizing force appears to be fading. The idea that Torah should inform all of their decisions and practices will effectively be excised from their program.

Please do not misunderstand…

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Are Heterodox Jews Increasingly Being Alienated?

I admit to being conflicted. On the one hand, I have no doubt that heterodox departures from millennia-old interpretations of Torah, Talmud, and halacha are mistaken. The original changes were called Reform and were heavily influenced by the culture in which they arose, with the hope that adaptation would ease integration and reduce antisemitism.

That hope proved tragically misguided. German Jews totally assimilated and integrated at the highest levels of society. And yet that did not save them from Hitler’s extermination camps.

The reality is, though, that the horse has left the barn. Generations of Jews were raised with little meaningful connection to traditional observance, while those who resisted change - labeled Orthodox by the Reform camp - remained faithful under difficult conditions.

In the early 20th century, another approach emerged - primarily in America called Conservative Judaism. They sought what they believed was a middle ground. Preserving tradition while allowing limited compromise to help Jews survive in America’s ‘melting pot’ culture. Some of those compromises, like permitting driving to synagogue on Shabbos, were meant to keep Jews connected. In hindsight, that approach has failed. The once-thriving Conservative movement is now in steep decline.

Meanwhile, Orthodox Jews - once predicted to disappear - held firm, even when Shabbos observance threatened their livelihoods. Today, their numbers are growing, while heterodox movements are shrinking. But they still represent the largest proportion of American Jewry.

I remain firmly convinced of the exclusive legitimacy of Orthodox Judaism, grounded in an unbroken chain of halachic interpretation by the sages of each generation. There is consensus on this point across the entire spectrum of Orthodoxy.

And yet, many heterodox Jews sincerely look to their own rabbis as religious authorities.

Therein lies my problem. Rejecting their legitimacy outright undermines any sense of Jewish unity and is understandably experienced by them as dismissive or insulting. This tension has increasingly spilled over into public disputes, particularly in Israel.

An op-ed by Tom Sudow that I saw today argues that non-Orthodox interpretations of Judaism deserve equal standing at Israel’s holy sites. He was particularly angered by proposed legislation that would restrict egalitarian prayer at the Kotel. As he put it: his wife, daughter, and granddaughter can read from a Torah anywhere in the United States. But not at the Western Wall.

I understand his frustration. But I cannot, in good conscience, accept his egalitarian premise. And that creates an inherent conflict between us.

Sudow went further - calling upon all Jewish philanthropies to withhold financial support from Israel until pluralistic practices are recognized. I doubt such efforts will succeed, but the sentiment reflects a deep and growing rift.

Does this mean that Israel - or Orthodox leadership - should compromise on core halachic principles…

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Using a Private Residence as a Shul

Normally, I am not a fan of setting up makeshift Shuls in private homes - at least not in mixed neighborhoods. By which I mean neighborhoods consisting of a variety of ethnicities and religions.

I do wonder: Is there no synagogue in that neighborhood for its Jewish residents to attend? If not - why not? If there is no Shul in the neighborhood, one ought to be built.

I believe that if such gatherings are held on a regular basis, they can alter the character of the neighborhood. I’m not sure, for example, how comfortable I would be if my next-door neighbor held a weekly Mass every Sunday led by a Catholic priest in his home, or if my next door neighbor held weekly Islamic services in his home every Friday led by a Muslim Imam.

This isn’t about whether they have the right to do so. I believe they absolutely do. What people do behind closed doors in terms of religious practice is nobody else’s business - as long as it is not disruptive. They are entitled to worship as they wish - a constitutionally guaranteed right.

However even though they have that right - it would not entirely eliminate my discomfort—minor though it may be.

So, I understand why some residents in a neighborhood in University Heights, Ohio object to a weekly Shabbos minyan in the home of one of their Jewish neighbors. I would therefore suggest that - as a matter of principle - just because someone has a right to do something doesn’t always mean they should do it.

While neighborhood objections may reflect a degree of antisemitism (latent or otherwise) it may simply be discomfort with the idea of a private home being turned into a makeshift house of worship. Which is incongruous with the harmony of block.

That said, there is little doubt in my mind about the antisemitic nature of the city ordinance that blocked Daniel Grand, an Orthodox Jewish homeowner in University Heights, Ohio - from holding a weekly minyan in his home...

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