Feminism and General Zini

Shin Bet head, Major General David Zini (TOI)

Anyone who thinks that the culture war pitting progressive values against biblical values has not reached Israel would be sorely mistaken. I would even argue that the Israeli left often tries to outdo the left in Western democracies to show  just how non-biblical its values are. That may help explain why the very secular Tel Aviv is often described as the most gay-friendly city in the civilized world.

One of the movements that drives the culture war is feminism. Without getting into excessive detail, contemporary feminist values tend be progressive. And tend to look askance at any restrictions governing relations between men and women. Even if they are biblically based. Their primary concern is total equality between men and women. Regardless of what biblically based laws say. In that vein, physical differences between the sexes are often ignored or treated as nonexistent, regardless of the biological reality of human sexuality.

As this attitude plays out in our time, it has serious consequences for religious Jews who follow those biblically based laws. The bible recognizes the nature of human sexual attraction. And therefore dictates laws regarding behavior between the sexes. Upon which the Sages added additional safeguards in order to prevent lustful desires from overwhelming us. The idea is that the best way to avoid immoral conduct is to establish a system of behavior between the sexes that minimizes physical contact. The popular expression for this is Shomer Negiah - guarding against physical contact with the opposite sex.

There is, in fact, a dispute about how far one must go to avoid physical contact with the opposite sex  between two commentators on the Shulchan Aruch (Even HaEzer 21:1). The Chelkas Mechokek rules that any physical contact at all is forbidden, regardless of whether it is platonic or secular in nature. He considers intent or desire irrelevant and forbids all male-female physical contact.

The Beis Meir, by contrast, rules that as long as the physical contact is entirely platonic, it is entirely permitted. This dispute remains unresolved to this day, and depending on which Orthodox community one belongs to, one will find different approaches. Some stringent (Chasidim). Some lenient (Modern Orthodox and Torah Im Derech Eretz adherents). And some being stringent except when it might embarrass someone and then they are lenient (the Lithuanian Yeshiva world).

This is one area in the culture war where feminists and religious Jews collide. As they did in Israel... 

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Liberating Iran

Iranian Americans demonstrating outside the White House (rnz)

There is no doubt in my mind that the regime governing Iran - one that has terrorized its own people for more than four decades - must be overthrown. Even if that were the only reason, it would be sufficient to justify action.

But Iran’s ambitions extend far beyond its borders. Its primary and most immediate target is the State of Israel and its Jewish inhabitants. That goal is not symbolic or rhetorical; it is explicit. And Israel is not the end of the story. Iran understands it could never defeat the United States in a conventional war, but it would eagerly wage a clandestine one - through cyberattacks, propaganda, and terrorism - potentially on a scale that could make 9/11 look like a rehearsal.

At the most basic humanitarian level, a regime that routinely kills thousands of its own citizens for protesting cannot be allowed to endure. Iran has repeatedly demonstrated that this is exactly what it is. Each time its people rise up, the response is brutal and lethal. In the most recent protests alone, credible estimates suggest that between 3,000 and as many as 16,000 Iranian civilians were killed by their own government.

That regime must be brought down. There is no just alternative to ending its 46 year reign of terror.

The real questions are how this should be done, what the human costs will be, and what happens afterward. Should the United States act if the American people oppose it? And if the regime falls, who governs Iran next? Should we even consider nation-building after the failures of Iraq and Afghanistan?

Iran will not collapse quietly. Resistance will be fierce. Martyrdom is central to the regime’s ideology, and the Revolutionary Guard glorifies dying to preserve the Islamic Republic. These are serious and difficult realities. But they cannot override the moral imperative to free an entire people from a murderous theocracy...

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The High Cost of Jewish Education

Hebrew Theological College

We are living in the best of times and the worst of times. That is how I feel these days - for a variety of reasons. Some of immediate concern having to do with world events. And some of longer-term consequence. 

We, the Jewish people, live at a time of unprecedented freedom and opportunity. Both in Israel and in the United States - where the bulk of world Jewry resides. There is an abundance of opportunities to succeed in just about any endeavor we choose. Whether in education (Jewish or secular), our spiritual lives, or our financial lives, we are free to pursue whatever we want, to our hearts’ content, without fear of being hindered by persecution or discrimination. All it takes is the will to succeed, the hard work and determination to do so. And with the help of God there are virtually no limits to what we can achieve in any field we choose.

The most obvious example of this freedom, as it pertains to us, the Jewish people, is Jewish education. There are more day schools and yeshivas (both here and in Israel) than at any other time in Jewish history. More Jews are studying Torah than ever before. And without getting into detail, there are more tools and aids to help us do so than ever before.

There has been an unprecedented explosion of Orthodox Jewish day schools and yeshivas over the past few decades that no one could have predicted. I am told that in Lakewood, the demand for classrooms is so great that any new school that is built is filled even before completion.

With all of this positive growth, what could possibly be bad?

The answer is that it is precisely this explosion of yeshivas and day schools that has created an unforeseen problem: affordability. Jewish education has become so expensive that it has produced an unexpected byproduct: the reduction of the Jewish birth rate as a means of solving the impossible financial burden of educating so many children.

On the one hand, one might argue that not having more children than one can afford is the responsible thing to do. On the other hand, it is a very un-Jewish thing to do.

Financial responsibility should never be the reason not to have children. And yet, there are families who will not have any children primarily for that reason. They will say, quite simply, that they cannot afford it. And if they want their child to have a significant Jewish education, the problem becomes even more acute.

First there are serious Halachic issues with purposely not having any children - unless it is for health reasons. The details of which are beyond the scope of this post.  How many children one should have is another discussion.  But that too is beyond the scope of this post.

Point being that - not having children is not the way to solve the tuition crisis.

Lest anyone think that birth control has not affected Lakewood, they would be mistaken... 

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Are Rabbis Still Relevant to American Jewry?

Heterodox rabbis meet to discuss the future of the American Rabbinate (eJP)

I salute their intent, and I understand where their concern about the future of the American rabbinate comes from. Heterodox Rabbi Shira Koch Epstein and co-author Faith Brigham Leener have concluded a study that asked rabbis across denominations what role rabbis will play in the future.

Synagogue Rabbis were once seen primarily as leaders knowledgeable in halacha (Jewish law), whose central purpose was to answer questions from laypeople about what halacha requires in any given situation. While this remains largely true among Orthodox rabbis, even there the role has expanded considerably. Meanwhile, the primary function of answering halachic questions has diminished. Because there are so many other rabbinic sources to seek that information from.

I would hazard a guess that Conservative and Reform rabbis are almost never asked halachic questions at all. Instead, they have primarily become preachers, officiators at life cycle events, pastoral counselors, and advocates for social justice.

The synagogue used to be the center of Jewish life in America. This was especially true among heterodox movements, where for many members their only Jewish experience consisted of once-a-week attendance at shul. Which eventually became three days a year -  2 days of Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur. It is against this backdrop of shrinking synagogue engagement that the question of the rabbi’s future role arises.

The result of reducing synagogue attendance to that extent is that rabbis have become increasingly irrelevant in the lives of their members. More so with each succeeding generation. This is reflected in dwindling synagogue membership and in the declining number of seminary applications within the heterodox movements. Most notably, Hebrew Union College—the flagship seminary of the Reform Movement—has permanently closed its Cincinnati campus. Enrollment in the rabbinical program at JTS (Conservative) has also declined considerably in recent years...

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Should Religious Values be Taught in Public Schools?

Peter Deutsch, founder - Ben Gamla Jewish Charter School Foundation (JTA)

There is a culture war going on in this country. Unless one has been living under a rock for the past sixty years, that fact should be obvious. At its core, this war centers on a fundamental question: what should our national ethos be?

Should it be one of total personal freedom - to do as one pleases so long as it does not directly harm someone else? Or should that ethos reflect values beyond the pursuit of personal gratification. Values believed to be rooted in a Power greater than ourselves?

The latter position is generally referred to as religious values. In most cases, that includes rules governing intimate human behavior. In the former formulation, there are no values beyond human understanding and consent. As long as two adults agree, anything goes. There are no sexual rules beyond respecting personal boundaries. Morality, in this view, is entirely subjective and relative.

In the religious formulation, however, there are rules that guide behavior far beyond that limitation. Rules believed to have been issued by a Higher Power. These rules may not always be fully understood, but they are honored nonetheless because they are seen as absolute standards rather than relative ones.

If one believes that these higher standards were recorded in a document handed down to humanity, then that document becomes the benchmark by which one lives. Anything less is considered immoral. If, on the other hand, one rejects absolute morality altogether, then such standards are viewed as an infringement on personal freedom.

That, in short, is what the culture war is all about. And it is not theoretical. It determines what kinds of laws we pass, how our children are educated, and ultimately whether the society we live in can sustain itself.

One clear example is the issue of gay sex. If morality is relative to human experience, then gay sex is no less worthy of celebration than heterosexual sex. Any distinction between the two is seen as bigotry, and moral disapproval is considered an attack on personal freedom. And therefore immoral in itself.

Religious people see this differently. For them, gay sex violates a moral code dictated by a Higher Power and is therefore immoral. This does not mean being cruel or hateful toward gay people - God forbid. That would itself be immoral. It simply means acknowledging that certain behaviors are viewed as impermissible within a religious moral framework.

It is fair to say that the country is deeply divided on this issue. While the cultural momentum currently favors tolerance, tolerance increasingly seems to demand the abandonment of religious principles altogether. Popular culture, in particular, is aggressively amoral. In virtually every form of entertainment, gay characters are routinely portrayed as the most moral and ethical figures on screen. A portrayal that powerfully shapes public opinion.

This raises a critical question in a country that values both personal freedom and freedom of religion: should parents have the right to expect their values to be reflected in the public school system? Or does the First Amendment’s separation of church and state prohibit that entirely...

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The Time to Act is Now!

The face of evil - Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

I am simultaneously in a state of euphoria and dread at the prospect of toppling the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Euphoria, because of the imminent demise of a state sponsor of terror that is either directly or indirectly responsible for the deaths of thousands of Jews worldwide. Euphoria, too, at the thought that a people enslaved by a religious fanaticism - one that has been responsible for the deaths of thousands of its fellow citizens since those fanatics took power in 1979—may finally be freed.

But I also dread the heavy toll it may take to get us there. Iran is not going to go down quietly. It will use every means available to survive, including the willingness to sacrifice life and limb for what its leaders believe is a righteous cause in the eyes of God. They have already promised to attack Israel if the United States attacks them. How revealing that their first target of retaliation is not the U.S., which would be attacking them, but a country that would not be attacking them at all.

I have no idea how many missiles Iran possesses. But my guess is that if its leaders believe the regime is about to fall, they will attempt to accomplish the one goal they have repeatedly declared to the world—as a final offering to God before they go under. That could mean heavy casualties for Israel, in all parts of the country. I dread that happening in the extreme!

It appears that a U.S. military attack is imminent... 

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Why Judaism?

Lebanese ex-patriot - Rawan Osman (Orato)

There are two kinds of people who have always fascinated me. Although they are, in many ways, opposites, they are also strikingly similar. At least in one crucial sense. Both are willing to leave the warm cocoon of social relationships in which they were raised and enter a life radically different from the one they knew.

The first group consists of those who choose to abandon the religious customs and practices in which they were raised. Freedom from religious obligation often comes at a steep price: the loss of family bonds and friendships. It means entering a world that is unfamiliar, even strange. A world in which they have not yet formed meaningful relationships. I cannot imagine the difficulty of such a choice. The pain of loss must be unbearable, as must the loneliness, at least at first. And yet, there seems to be an uptick in people who are doing exactly that.

But the same phenomenon exists in reverse. What motivates someone to abandon a life free of religious obligation? Or to exchange one set of obligations for another. Especially if they were once devout in one religion and now face an entirely new religious framework?

I have written before about those who lose their faith and walk away from religious obligation. But I am equally fascinated by those who move in the opposite direction. Why would someone raised in Islam decide to convert to Judaism? What is it about Judaism that convinces them it is true and thereby to abandon  the religion in which they were raised?

That question was answered beautifully by Rawan Osman, a Muslim woman who describes herself as a ‘recovered antisemite’. She is now converting to Judaism. I am awed by her perceptive response. Rather than paraphrase her words, here is what she said in a Times of Israel featured blog post:

A secular Jew asked me why I was converting to Judaism.

Why would a rational, educated woman choose to join an ancient people and embrace traditions that seem to belong to another age? Did I truly believe those traditions were still relevant?

My answer is simple: Judaism survived because of its traditions, not despite them...

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The Iranian Revolution

London rally yesterday in solidarity with protesters in Iran (Jerusalem Post)

What does it mean to be a Sonei HaShem - an enemy of God? If I recall correctly this was a phrase that not long ago was used by some Charedi leaders, or their representatives in the Knesset, to describe the Israeli government’s attempt to draft Charedim into the IDF.

I don’t think it is a stretch to say that being labeled an ‘enemy of God’ is among the worst accusations a human being can face in the religious world. I found it especially disturbing to hear Jews use this charge against fellow Jews in the context of mandatory conscription - something a nation under constant existential threat deems necessary for survival.

Be that as it may, we do not live in a time when such accusations can be acted upon. Even if they were somehow proven true. 

But this phrase is not exclusive to Judaism.

It is now being used by high-ranking officials in Iran to justify a brutal crackdown against protesters. Under Iranian law, the charge of being an enemy of God is serious enough to warrant execution, hanging, or permanent internal exile. 

Nontheless, the revolution continues. 

And contrary to the long-held conventional wisdom about the futility of internal revolution against Iran’s brutal theocratic dictatorship, that is exactly what these protests in Iran have become. .

For decades, so-called experts on the Middle East insisted this could never occur. They argued that Iran’s dictatorship, enforced by the ruthless Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), would crush any popular uprising. As it had in the past. And indeed, previous attempts were drowned in blood. Justified in the name of Islam. The consensus was that mass executions would permanently deter future revolts.

The same experts also claimed - often with breathtaking hubris -that any external attack by Israel or the United States would be met with fanatical, blood-soaked resistance driven by religious fervor. Iran never hid this threat. They repeated it endlessly.

That narrative collapsed last year.

Israel and the United States successfully executed what has become known as the 12-Day War, devastating much of Iran’s military hierarchy and infrastructure; as well as setting back its nuclear program by years. Iran could no longer rely on the militias it had armed and trained around Israel, many of which were destroyed or severely weakened - directly and indirectly - by Israel during its war with Hamas.

Iran’s much-promised harsh retaliation against Israel and the U.S. proved pathetic, barely qualifying as a response at all. And yet the regime continues to rattle that saber even as its own country appears on the verge of collapse.

The Islamic Republic of Iran - once was widely regarded as the most dangerous actor in the Middle East - if not the world - immune to destruction either from within or without - may very well see its downfall very soon. And it may come from the Iranian people themselves, who have now after 46 years  finally stood up and said, “We can’t take it anymore.”

That has resulted in the following.

According to human rights organizations, more than 500 protesters have already been executed. Body bags reportedly lie in the streets of Tehran. The uprising has spread to cities across the country. The yearning for freedom is not being extinguished by bullets. In fact, the more the government kills, the more the people rise up.

Although the Iranian government has shut down the internet for days in order to hide the revolution from the world, images are somehow filtering through. Images of huge crowds filling the streets in cities all over the country, Iranian police firing at protesters, burning  government buildings, burning mosques, and body bags lying all over. Meanwhile, the Iranian regime grows ever more belligerent, determined to crush the rebellion no matter how many lives it takes. Justifying it all by labeling protesters “enemies of God.”

The question now is whether the world will have the courage to help the Iranian people in their hour of need.

Europeans – unsurprisingly - seem content to sit this one out...

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The United States, Israel, and Christian Nationalism

Neo-antisemite and Christian Nationalist, Tucker Carlson (Mishpacha)

Let me once again restate the obvious. There are few commentators with the brilliance, education, and eloquence to analyze current events than is the University of Chicago and Yale educated Jonathan Rosenblum. That he writes for Mishpacha – a magazine not known for placing great value on secular education - does nothing to diminish his erudition. His work would earn approval from readers of far more scholarly publications. Anyone who believes a serious college education is a waste of time is, quite simply, a grobbeh am ha’aretz (look it up). But I digress.

Jonathan rarely disappoints. He does the research, and as a result, refuting him without resorting to tired partisan tropes is nearly impossible. Facts are facts, and when he makes a claim, he backs it up. He does so again in his latest column, in which he systematically dismantles several common lies about Israel. Lies routinely promoted by antisemites and most recently amplified by neo-antisemite Tucker Carlson.

What makes Carlson’s falsehoods especially dangerous is that he is a hugely popular podcaster with millions of followers. He platforms fringe antisemites as so-called ‘experts’, lending legitimacy to claims that are both demonstrably false and deeply malignant. As a result, these lies are gaining unprecedented traction. And they demand clear, unassailable refutation that exposes both their falsity and their antisemitic roots...

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Is it Over for Iran?

Iran is burning 

Lorenzo Peter Berra - one of the great philosophical minds of the 20th century - once said, 'It ain’t over till it’s over'.

That sentiment captures how I am watching events unfold in Iran: with hope, prayer, and deep trepidation.

Iran is experiencing its largest uprising since the 1979 Islamic Revolution—the revolution that brought radical Islamists to power and imposed a brutal theocratic regime that still rules with a deadly iron fist. Dissent is not tolerated. Violations of Sharia law can carry the death penalty, as tragically demonstrated when a couple of years ago  a woman was executed for refusing to wear a hijab.

For 46 years, Iranians have lived under a government supported by the devout and feared by every other Iranian yearning to be free. Brave protesters have risen before, only to be crushed—often executed. That is how the regime has survived.

Iran’s tyranny has not been confined to its own borders. Its openly declared goal is the establishment of an Islamic caliphate, beginning with the destruction of Israel. It labels the United States the ‘Great Satan’ for defending the ‘Littler Satan’. Israel. And they have relentlessly pursued nuclear weapons to that end.

After years of sanctions, in 2015 the Obama administration bet on a deal that would remove sanctions in exchange for delaying nuclear development for 10 years. A deal that allowed Iran to continue funding and arming terror proxies like Hamas, Hezbollah, and militias in Yemen, Syria, and Iraq. All aimed at Israel. Naively assuming the regime would mellow in the interim.  That illusion ended when the new US administration scrapped the deal and harsh sanctions were reinstated.

That uneasy status quo collapsed on October 7, 2023, when Hamas invaded Israel, brutally massacred over1,200 innocent civilians, and abducted over 250  more.

That day changed everything...

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