Imagine a land where people have no appreciation for music, where the sounds of song are never heard. In a country like that, instruments are viewed with suspicion, and voices raised in harmony are quickly stilled.

Unbeknownst to each other, there are lone individuals scattered throughout the country who love music, but they keep it a secret. In the solitude and seclusion of their homes, they might play a few bars and hum a melody, but only quietly.

One day, word spreads of a gathering where all of them will come together, the musicians and the singers, those who love to sing and those who love to hear. They will ignore the disdain and disapproval of the masses and congregate, their instruments and voices joining together.

It will be the most glorious song ever heard, the secret longing and hope of so many, more than a thousand sounds fusing as one.

The very fact that this gathering will take place gives vent to the song within the participants.

This analogy helps explain the way the Vilna Gaon (Shir Hashirim 1:17) describes the power of the Mishkon. Every individual Jew was walking around with a flame in his heart, but until they had a place where they could unite – a physical location where they could connect – those passions lay dormant.

The Mishkon allowed the collective fires to unite and light up the world. There, the secret could emerge. Like musicians meeting and creating song, a nation of dveikim baHashem found each other in this sacred structure, elevating the landscape.

The Shechinah resides inside the heart of every good Jew. The Mishkon is the place where all those Jews gather, as the Shechinah that dwells within them comes alive and expands, kevayachol. Hashem therefore commanded them to take a “terumah” from every “ish asher yidvenu libo,” allowing every person to contribute from his heart toward the construction of the Mishkon, enabling all the hearts to join together in this special place.

In the Mishkon, every feature reflected Divine mysteries, and each element was filled with cosmic significance. Just as the calendar ushers in the month of Adar, we begin reading the parshiyos that detail the particulars of the construction of this special place.

The month of Adar has taught us that, as a nation, we can achieve salvation. The shekolim that were collected symbolize that the Mishkon was meant to achieve the sense of shared purpose and desire that defines every Jew.

Achdus is a current buzzword, often misused as a catchphrase manipulated to paint those of us who have standards and traditions as haters. If we dare call out the falsifiers of the Torah for what they are, we are condemned for lacking achdus.

The Mishkon, which was the epicenter of unity in the universe, came with severe restrictions. While everyone could contribute to its construction, there were many halachos delineating who could approach the Mishkon and who couldn’t, who could perform the avodah there and who couldn’t. Achdus comes with rules. It is not a free-for-all, as some would have you think.

The pesukim at the beginning of Sefer Bamidbor (1:50) charge shevet Levi with assembling and dismantling the Mishkon and its keilim when the Bnei Yisroel traveled. Any outsider who dared approach and attempt to do the coveted work specified for shevet Levi would be killed. There were also precise rules for each one of the keilim.

Achdus doesn’t mean an absence of rules. It doesn’t mean that anything goes. It means that everyone who beholds holiness has a unique role to play in the mosaic of Yiddishkeit.

While detailing the laws of the Mishkon, the posuk says, “Vehayah haMishkon echad – And the Mishkon will be one.” What does the Torah mean with this addition? The Ibn Ezra explains that the oneness of the structure reflects the oneness of Hashem’s creation. It reflects harmony and unity.

The Bnei Yisroel became one, coming together at Har Sinai and then at the Mishkon, the individual sparks of fire within each person joining together in a torch. The Shechinah in each person joined together at this special place, bringing back experience of Har Sinai, forming a home for the Shechinah in this world and a place where the voice of the Shechinah could converse with Moshe.

The Me’or V’shemesh writes that chassidim would make it a priority to travel to their rebbe for Shabbos to be inspired. But the prime growth was not necessarily derived from the rebbe’s Torah or tefillah. He writes that chassidim achieved more than anything else from simply being together. Each chossid who went to the rebbe for Shabbos had tens of new teachers, as each of the other Jews with whom he had gathered possessed the ability to teach him something. From this one, he learned about kavanah in davening. In that one, he saw the definition of oneg Shabbos. And in a third, he observed extraordinary middos.

The achdus created multiple rebbes.

The Arizal told his talmidim to recite the words, “Hareini mekabel olai mitzvas asei shel ve’ahavta lerei’acha kamocha,” before starting Shacharis. These words are printed in some siddurim. What is the significance of the particular mitzvah of ve’ahavta lerei’acha kamocha before beginning a new day’s tefillah?

The Kitzur Shulchan Aruch (12:2) explains: “Unity and connection in the lower realms create a bond in the higher spheres, and the tefillos join together and are beloved by Hashem.”

The feeling of connection that a person experiences as he walks into shul – Yankel’s cheerful good morning, Moishe’s careful Birchos Hashachar, the way Chaim respectfully holds the door for an older man – opens gates in Shomayim. The shared fire they have created is more powerful than their individual points of light.

When I lived in Monsey, I had a delightful Sephardic neighbor who enjoyed teasing me on Friday nights as we left shul. Week after week, he would ask me what purpose the carrot serves on gefilte fish. He would laugh heartily at his own question. While I’m not privy to the mysteries concealed in ma’acholei Shabbos, of which there are many, I enjoyed the exchange, because it hammered home a beautiful truth. He would go home and eat his traditional Shabbos foods, and I would eat mine, yet we agreed about why we were eating them, Whom we were honoring, and what we hoped to achieve. He reveled in his points of light and I reveled in mine, and together we thrived on our individual mesorah, handed down generation after generation through the millennia of the exile.

Rav Avigdor Miller would say that Shabbos is our Mishkon. He explained that this is hinted to by the fact that the 39 melachos are derived from the building of the Mishkon. Note the similarities in the way Jews prepared to enter the holy structure and the way we prepare for Shabbos. Look at how each has strict rules that must be observed, the danger of ignoring them, and, most of all, the way each is meant to create an earthy sanctuary for Hashem, carving out a physical resting place for the Shechinah.

On Shabbos, there is a sense of achdus, because we don’t see our neighbors as carpenters or lawyers, mechanchim or electricians. We are all Jews who have come together in our bigdei Shabbos – much like the bigdei avodah – for Hashem’s glory, a reflection of what life was like around the Mishkon.

With the words of the Vilna Gaon as our guide, we can understand the oft-repeated lesson that achdus will lead to geulah. It is not merely in the merit of unity. It is the synergistic effect of unity – when we camp around a place and allow the song within each of us to emerge, fusing with the melodies of others – that lays the opening for the geulah.

When that moment comes, our shared hopes, dreams, and ambitions will combine to create a place where the Shechinah will rest.

I can do it, you can do it, we can all do it – if we do it together.

Forged in a crucible of holiness, we keep the embers alive, awaiting the day when we rid ourselves of the ashes that prevent us from joining all the holy embers and bringing about the great reunion.

This brings us to Chazal’s dictate: “Mishenichnas Adar marbim b’simcha – When the month of Adar enters, we increase our joy.” With this dictum, they are teaching us not only that Adar is a month of simcha, but that we are commanded to increase it. Simcha is not merely an emotion; it is an avodah, a spiritual practice.

The obligations of most months involve us doing things. During Elul, we do teshuvah. During Tishrei, we continue doing teshuvah, construct a sukkah, eat and live in the sukkah, purchase the arba minim, and shake them. During Kislev, we light the Chanukah menorah. During Nissan, we rid our homes of chometz and eat matzah. And so on. But the defining mitzvah of Adar is unique. It is not something we do with our hands, but rather something we cultivate in our minds and souls – the obligation to be happy and to increase that happiness.

The obligation Chazal place upon us is not a superficial happiness brought about by escaping reality or ignoring pain. On the contrary, the story of Purim is born in a world of danger, uncertainty, and hidden threats. The Megillah recounts that the Jewish people stood on the brink of annihilation. Yet, the Megillah does not recount open miracles, such as the splitting of the sea during Krias Yam Suf and other open miracles described in Tanach. Instead, it describes a quiet, concealed salvation unfolding behind the scenes.

And that is precisely where Adar’s simcha lives – not in the absence of struggle, but in the discovery of meaning within it.

The Megillah does not mention the explicit Name of Hashem, yet His presence saturates every posuk. Coincidences align, reversals occur, hidden turns become redemptive. Adar teaches that joy is the ability to perceive the Hashgocha Protis – Hashem’s orchestration of events – even when b’hastorah, masked by ordinary circumstances. Simcha does not come from being naïve. It is spiritual vision.

The simcha of Adar is the joy of trust. The joy of realizing that what appears random is in fact precise. That which feels chaotic is being gently guided. In a world where so much feels unstable, Adar proclaims the quiet truth: What happens to us, to Am Yisroel, and to the world is all part of a story being carefully written.

Sadness contracts the soul. Simcha expands it. A sad person shrinks into himself. A joyful person has space for others, for appreciation, for emunah and bitachon. When Chazal say marbim b’simcha, they are telling us to widen our hearts, to make room for others and for hope.

When we widen our hearts and souls, we can appreciate all that Hashem does for us and prepare for geulah. By connecting with others through achdus, we open ourselves to experiencing simcha and allowing it to expand beyond ourselves. For simcha is not a reward for when life makes sense. It is the tool that allows us to make sense of life. It flows from the courage to smile when Hashem is hidden, to trust in His goodness before it becomes visible, to dance even when the music is faint, and to recognize that everything that happens is purposeful and, ultimately, good.

Mishenichnas Adar marbim b’simcha. When Adar arrives – in the cold of winter, in the darkness of a fearful world, in the confusion of worrisome news, as our land is surrounded by unfriendly neighbors and we feel the tightening of golus – we are joyous anyway. For we know that the megillah of our existence has already been written, and we are approaching the happy ending that will usher in Moshiach tzidkeinu bemeheirah.

People tell me that sometimes my articles lean toward the negative, so today, at least, I am going to start with the positive.

During the recent more than two weeks of snow and cold weather, I noticed something that brought me such joy. I saw some parents playing with their kids during the snow days. They were out there sledding, shlepping their gleeful kids on sleds, shoveling together, building snowmen and igloos together. It was so nice to watch. Despite the bitter cold, they bundled up and went out. Wow! What a heartwarming sight! To see the bliss of those kids in the white, fluffy snow was delightful.

Watching them aroused memories of my own snowman-building and sledding days as a child, when we reveled in the powdery white stuff.

The sight of these parents with their kids filled me with joy, and I said to myself, “Tavo aleihem brocha! May Hashem bentch them! These parents are amazing! They are creating wonderful memories for their children. They are ‘there’ with them, creating such a feeling of warmth, stability, and happiness. What amazing parenting!”

Then and Now

That said, as someone who has been living in Lakewood for more than three decades, I must say that it is different than in the past. After this snow, I did see some families — mothers and even fathers — playing with their kids in the snow, but nothing compared to the way things were after big snowstorms in the past.

I remember in Lakewood, just a couple of decades ago, when there was a big snowfall, and certainly when there was a snow day, and mothers and fathers would take their kids out on sleds. There was a festive type of atmosphere outside on snow days. People were home. They spent time together. Totties would come home during bein hasedarim and go out with their kids to shovel, to build things, to sled, and so on. There was a geshmak in the air, a chaotic feeling of relaxation. Craziness because of snow and relaxation are not necessarily contradictory.

This year, I saw much less of that.

I was wondering why. Do we have less time and less menucha now than we once had?

No. I don’t think so. On the contrary, I think we have much more time, no?

At the Click of a Mouse…

In those days, not so long ago, when we needed to do banking, we had to actually go to a brick-and-mortar bank. Now, you don’t have to go anywhere. You can do your banking wherever you are — at home, in the car, wherever. So shouldn’t we have more menucha to go out and play with the kids in the snow or go on a family trip?

Maybe it is because we are so busy grocery shopping.

I remember back then, when, after seder, it was time to go shopping. If you forgot your list at home, you had to go home, get the list, or wait for your wife to come home to give you a list before you could go shopping.

Then you finally made it to the store. On the list, you read something about “baking…,” but you couldn’t read the hastily scrawled word and figure out if it said “baking powder” or perhaps “baking soda.” When you came home, you found out that you had bought the wrong one, precipitating another trip back to the grocery. Oh well. More time spent shopping.

Finally, things got easier. Why? Because cell phones came into the picture. Now, both husband and wife have cell phones. Once they both have cell phones, you could actually ask a question while in the store.

Today, it is even easier. You don’t even have to walk into the store. Who has to shop? You can have things delivered from local groceries or from massive chain stores. All it takes is a couple of clicks, and within hours you have any product you want from any store you want, delivered to your door.

You don’t even have to interact with the delivery person. You can tip them on the computer, and this way they just leave it at your door. You get a message the second it is delivered, so you know to go outside and bring it in.

It is amazing how much more time and menucha that gives us, no? Why, then, can’t we find the time to play in the snow with the kiddies?

From Labor-Intensive to…

Maybe the reason we are so busy is because it takes time to get around. After all, not everyone has a car. And even if you do have a car, sometimes you have to bring it to the mechanic for an oil change, new tires, and brakes. Oops! I forgot. Today you don’t even have to go to a mechanic.

First of all, most of us have at least two cars per family. Of those cars, a large percentage are leased. (The deals were priced so low. How could you not lease?) Those new cars don’t usually need the mechanic. Secondly, even if on occasion you do need the mechanic, all you have to do is call a guy over to your house, and he can do the oil change for you in your driveway. He can also fix your brakes or change your tires in your driveway, while you are sitting in your recliner.

Similarly, when it is time to get a new car, you again don’t have to leave your house. The leasing guy will take care of the paperwork via email. All you have to do is sign it and email it back to him, and he delivers the new car to your house, takes the old one, and even fixes the little dents for you.

Something that took countless hours and days in the past now takes almost no time at all.

So why don’t we have any extra time?

Where Did All Those Hours Go?

Now let’s talk about how things have changed in the kitchen. In the past, mothers were really busy cooking. Things took long. You had to warm things up on the stovetop or in the oven and watch them carefully. Today? Things are so much quicker. From hand-shredding potatoes for potato kugel, we were gifted with the food processor. Then came the microwave, which quickly morphed from one to two. And what about the “Betty”? Who can forget how much easier the “Betty” has made our lives? Mamish a miracle appliance. In a few minutes, you can do almost anything, and it doesn’t even taste like rubber.

And what about when you were in desperate need of a coffee or hot drink? People actually filled up something called a kettle, put it on the stovetop, and waited a good few minutes for the kettle to whistle. Then you returned to the kitchen, turned off the stove, and immediately made the coffee before the water cooled off.

So we really should have so much more time to play in the snow with the kids, no?

When Lakewood was much smaller, there was much more action on snow days. It was really fun to see families running around in the snow, fathers and mothers shlepping kids on makeshift sleds or building snowmen and igloos.

Not only that, but when it wasn’t snowing and the weather was nice, you saw that the parks were full, especially on Sundays. I am not only talking about the frum community. Even, lehavdil, everyone else was at the parks on Sunday and in the evenings. In more recent times, if one happens to go to a state or county park, most of those using the facilities are immigrants from countries such as India or Pakistan. So this isn’t only a “frum family” issue either.

Now the question, my dear friends, is: Why?

Didn’t we just describe many of the ways that life was busier just a decade or two ago? Weren’t there so many things occupying our time, whether it was banking in brick-and-mortar banks, repeat shopping excursions in brick-and-mortar stores, physically going to buy and/or service a car, or spending more time in the kitchen?

So many things were much more labor-intensive. After all, even paying a bill or composing a letter took time. You had to think about what to write and then write it. Today you can just feed a bit of haphazard information into a machine or a voice note, and voila! The most beautiful, professional letters just about write themselves.

If we have so much extra time on our hands that we didn’t have in the past, why aren’t the parks packed? Why aren’t the streets full of gleeful kids playing with their parents on snow days? And why do we seem so busy and so harried?

Just wondering.

In recent weeks, the new reality of AI has dominated both the secular news and our own Torah voices. In this major purveyor of daas Torah itself, several articles in the same issue, statements by members of the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah and other responses, including my own modest contribution, indicated that this newest incursion into and erosion of the uniqueness of the tzelem Elokim is not disappearing anytime soon. If anything, one of the most powerful newspapers published a column entitled “Worries Grow About How Fast AI Can Move.” Not only are many people concerned that their jobs will soon be overtaken by hunks of metal and plastic, but that, like some secular dybbuk, mankind’s soul is being highjacked forever. People are consulting with these substitutes for human beings and allowing themselves to be guided by empty shells. One of these secular organs highlighted a picture of an old woman with the caption “An AI companion and Roommate.”

This is not another such column. Chazal often teach us that the best refuah must come before the makkah. If the pen name for this makkah is sheker, the refuah must be emes. Let’s therefore strengthen our own commitment to the truth in all circumstances and aspects of our lives. Although we will try to proceed chronologically throughout our history, discovering how to fight falsehood and embrace veracity, we will begin with a characteristic Brisker story.

In the year 5652 (1892), Rav Chaim Soloveitchik was about to follow his father, the Bais Halevi, as the rov of the prestigious city of Brisk. This was a historic moment, because the “Brisker derech,” what was to become the most accepted approach to limud haTorah, would forever be associated with Rav Chaim Brisker.

However, before accepting what seemed to be a natural transition, Rav Chaim insisted that the city fathers also bring in Rav Simcha Zelig Rieger as the av bais din. This appointment actually continued even after Rav Chaim’s passing, into the reign of his son, Rav Yitzchok Zev, also known as the Brisker Rov. Together, Rav Chaim and Rav Velvel, as he was popularly known, formed the Brisker dynasty which has just been renewed once again with the union of two of the branches of this royal family of Klal Yisroel. Why did Rav Chaim make sure that Rav Simcha Zelig would lead the Brisker bais din and in effect be the posek of the city? The surprising answer was not Rav Rieger’s tzidkus, lomdus or even ability to give responses to halachic queries. It was his commitment to the absolute truth. It was well known that if he felt that he had erred in some matter, he would announce it immediately with the admission, “I was wrong.” Starting a new approach to Torah study and teaching required another objective observer who would never hesitate to correct the new young rov. That is the commitment to emes that resulted over the past century and a half in tens of thousands of talmidei chachomim learning with the single goal of discovering and promulgating the truth.

The entire foundation of the world is built upon our commitment to truth. The holy Zohar (Tikkunei Zohar, Tikkun 63) states that Hashem created the world with and for truth. It elevates all the worlds, above and below, but falsehood destroys its structure and fabric. In another place (Mikeitz 201b), the Zohar adds, “When someone is honest, Hashem protects him. Those who are honest will be fortunate and will not have any worries in this world or the next.” If we wish for peace, tranquility, hope and healing, we must practice honesty. “When mankind follows this regimen, Hashem treats His creatures kindly with compassion, saves them from pain and suffering, and goodness comes to the world” (Yalkut, Tehillim 834).

We know that Yaakov Avinu’s middah was emes (Micha 7:20, Taanis 5b). He became the merkavah — meaning the vehicle — for all truth in the world and merited being the father of all twelve shevatim (Shaarei Orah 7). In fact, if we are careful never to tell a lie, we will always be trusted by people (Rabbeinu Yonah, Mishlei 12:19) and Hashem will help him avoid any sins (Sefer Chassidim 648, Yaaros Devash 1:15).Even Yaakov Avinu, who was the embodiment of truth, was not allowed to deviate from the truth except that his mother, following divine revelation, commanded him to do so, in order that Eisav not receive the brachos and wreak havoc upon the world.

Why is there so much falsehood in the world? The good news is that we must be nearing the coming of Moshiach (Sotah 49b). If it is the out and out lies of politicians, especially anti-Semites or the new plague of AI, the power of falsehood in the world senses that its time will soon be up, when the world will be filled with emes. Thus, we must be aware that sheker will be rearing its ugly head more and more until the geulah sheleimah. We know that Hashem’s seal is truth. Why is this? The Chofetz Chaim taught that anything in the world can be imitated, but if someone imitates the truth, it is by definition no longer the absolute truth. Therefore, it is the seal of Hashem, since it is the only thing that cannot be copied, forged or made from or into something else.

In fact, Rav Yisroel Hager, the Vizhnitzer Rebbe, points out that the first word in Parshas Nitzavim is atem, the letters of the word emes. This signifies that if one tells the truth, his words will be accepted and he will always be respected. We must always be careful to examine not only our actual speech, but even our motives. We find that Yaakov Avinu was afraid of Eisav because he performed two mitzvos, honoring his father and living in Eretz Yisroel. The meforshim ask: Why was Yaakov afraid? Surely, he, like the other avos, fulfilled the entire Torah, so why did he think that Eisav’s two would outweigh his 613? The answer is that, despite Eisav’s general evil-doing, he did these mitzvos with the proper intent, not for gain or prestige. Therefore, Yaakov, like all tzaddikim throughout the ages, was nervous that perhaps his own mitzvos were not done with absolute integrity.

Two poskim, several generations apart, experienced the same divine test. Anti-Semitism has always been with us. During the days of Rav Avrohom Chaim Shorr, the author of the Toras Chaim and many other seforim, an enemy of Klal Yisroel who was the local depot, spotted the rabbi and screamed at him, “Ein Yude?” meaning, “Are you a Jew?” In his fear, he answered, “Kein Yude,” which to the anti-Semite meant, “No, I am not,” but in Yiddish meant, “Yes, I am” (Chiddushei Toras Chaim to Avodah Zarah 17a).

Similarly, when Rav Menashe Klein, the rov of Ungvar, was a young man under the Nazi rule, he had blond hair and blue eyes and could be mistaken for a gentile. A well-armed Nazi suspected that he might be Jewish and also demanded, “Ein Jude?” Rav Klein gave the same answer as the Toras Chaim. However, later, he worried if he should have given up his life rather than deny his heritage. Of course, he spoke ambiguously to save his life, but he still worried if he had the right to do that. Later in life, he wrote up an entire responsum in his magnum opus, Mishneh Halachos, to defend his action.

This is how far gedolei Yisroel have gone to avoid sheker and to embrace only emes.

Although there is a mitzvah to properly eulogize someone who was a good person, many gedolei Yisroel weighed their words extremely carefully not to exaggerate, let alone lie. Rav Yisroel Salanter was giving a hesped and said simply that the deceased was an adam yoshor, a decent, honorable man. Then he caught himself and explained, “I meant that it seems to me that he was a decent, honorable man.” Even at a person’s funeral, he wanted to be precise. He couldn’t really say that someone was a certain way. All he could really testify about was that he thinks he was decent and honorable (Tenuas Hamussar, Volume 1, pages 345-347). These were our role models of yesteryear. We would do well to follow their example in this world of rampant sheker. If emes is always our guide, we will triumph over AI iy”H, much better letters indeed.

Finally, we may learn from one of the great baalei mussar and a talmid of Rav Yisroel Salanter, Rav Simcha Zissel, the Alter of Kelm. He was visiting an ill man who had been moaning and groaning in his agony. After the Alter left, the man ceased groaning and seemed to be improving. People asked the Alter if he had become a Chassidic rebbe and pulled off a miracle. “No, not really,” he answered. I simply asked, “Is it possible, Reb Shmerel, that you are exaggerating a little bit? Are all of those groans necessary and really coming because of your pain?” The man admitted that he was just eliciting compassion from the people who were visiting. Thereupon the Alter explained to him that this, too, is considered sheker and will not help him get well. The man ceased his groaning and in fact experienced a refuah sheleimah.

Let us also make sure that all we say and do is emes and Hashem will surely repay us with our being respected, held in high esteem, and never have to worry about enemies again.

Having arrived as a bochur in Bnei Brak close to fifty years ago, it is hard for me to wrap my head around the news emanating from the city that I once knew; that part of the world known as the Ir HaTorah in Eretz Yisroel.

When I first came, Ponovezh Yeshiva stood on its hill, overlooking the city not only with grandeur but with a sense of authority, if not gravity. Across town stood Slabodka. Their stature was not in the stone edifices but in the Torah that echoed from their walls, in the quiet dignity of its talmidim, in the gadlus of their roshei yeshiva who walked its corridors carrying earlier doros of mesorah on their shoulders, transmitting to talmidim, who were the jewels in the crown of the Ir HaTorah.

The streets were so holy. Talmidei chachomim walked them slowly, deep in discussion. You could hear a Tosafos being debated from across the block. The city hummed with spirituality. I can’t recall even a pizza shop. If a guest wanted somewhere to sit and eat, you had to walk a good twenty minutes to find a fleishig restaurant, often occupied by Europeans who had come to do business in the nearby Tel Aviv bursa. Children played with a temimus that felt almost European. Shabbos descended with an aura of the original Shabbos. The air itself seemed to rest.

Yes. There were provocations at the edge of the city. I recall someone from outside attempting to breach the sanctity of the city with an attempt to drive through on Shabbos. I remember the story of the young man who roared in on his motorcycle, unaware of the metal chain that marked the no-drive zone. It ended tragically.  More than his helmet was severed from the rider. The city was shaken. But even that episode felt like an intrusion from elsewhere, and on the outskirts, almost like a Heavenly macha’ah against a breach. It did not come from the inhabitants.

It is because of the memories of such serenity that make it so difficult for me to process images of violent clashes in those same streets.

I am not here to vilify protesters. I do not know what they felt. I do not know the precise circumstances that brought female soldiers to a home, or what sparked the confrontation that followed. Human beings react. When something sacred feels threatened, emotions are stirred. I am not in their place, and I will not pretend to be.

But I cannot deny the sadness and emptiness within me.

I remember learning in Philadelphia under my rebbi, Rav Yitzchok Perman. On occasion, he would interrupt shiur to analyze world events through a Torah lens. Nixon visiting China. Golda Meir visiting the Pope. Chief Rabbi Goren and the mamzeirim controversy, and other controversies that shook the Jewish world. He once referenced a theory circulating from a so-called Rabbi of more modern circles that yeshiva boys were so pent up, so insulated, that their frustrations expressed themselves in petty acts like graffiti on the walls of a yeshiva. Particularly in the bathrooms. Rebbi dismissed it with a mocking smile. He would name the finest bochurim in the bais medrash and say, “Can you imagine Yankel or Meir scribbling on bathroom walls?” These were young men wrestling with a Rashba, sweating over a Tosafos. The bais medrash was not a prison. It was their oxygen. The concept of pent-up energy being released anywhere besides in the milchamta shel Torah does not exist!

That memory echoes now.

When I see videos of young men in the streets in the middle of the afternoon or toward evening, screaming and fighting, I ask myself quietly, “Who are they? What sugya did they leave behind?   What Tosafos was waiting? How did the pull of protest become stronger than the pull of the shtender?”

Is it pikuach nefesh? Is it confusion? Is it anger? Or is it that the world around us has changed so profoundly that even the Ir HaTorah feels the tremors?

We live in a new world order. Everything is filmed. Everything is shared. Every confrontation is amplified within minutes. Protest has become a global language. Demonstration is no longer rare. It is almost reflexive. The broader culture thrives on spectacle. It rewards visibility. It normalizes confrontation. Even a city built on quiet ameilus seems to have absorbed the new reality without realizing it.

My Zeide once spoke at an Agudah convention not long after a renegade group created a painful chillul Hashem in the streets of New York while protesting policies of the State of Israel. He spoke about Shimon and Levi. Both were kano’im. Both acted out of zeal. But history carried them in different directions. From Shimon emerged Zimri, whose zeal became public defiance and chillul Hashem. From Levi emerged Pinchos, whose zeal was crowned with a bris shalom from the Ribbono Shel Olam.

The difference is that one was a kanoi who spent 210 years in Mitzrayim, immersed in Torah. The Torah framed his protest. The other spent 210 under the whip of the Egyptians. His zealousness was framed by a different medium. Zeal alone is not the measure. The question is what it produces. Does it bring peace, or does it deepen the fracture?

I held my peace in questioning the actions until I heard the strong and unequivocal words of Rav Dov Landau and Rav Moshe Hillel Hirsch, together with other gedolei Yisroel, decrying participation in protests that lead to violence against police, soldiers, or fellow Jews. Their words were not political. They were pained. They were protective of the kavod of Torah.

I have to assume that many who found themselves in the streets did not fully grasp the depth of that displeasure. Perhaps I am naive. Perhaps I am simply hoping that the gap between the bais medrash and the street is not as wide as it appears on a screen.

I remember the story of Ben Gurion visiting the Chazon Ish. He was greeted with firmness and resolve. But I do not recall ever hearing stories of protest and chaos upon his visit. The strength of Torah did not require violence. It did not require burnt vehicles and tefillin. It required clarity.

I sometimes wonder what would happen if that meeting were to occur today, eighty years later. Would the city respond with the same quiet confidence? Would a message be delivered from behind a shtender rather than from the middle of an intersection?

Perhaps I am romanticizing a past that is lost forever. Every generation faces tests. But the essence of Bnei Brak was never chaos. It was consistency. It was the slow, steady accumulation of Torah. Thousands upon thousands of yungeleit learning, day after day. A kollel model once mocked, now emulated. A world built not on headlines but on chiddushim.

The sight of soldiers entering a home may trigger pain. The fear of coercion may stir hearts. But if the bais medrash empties in favor of the street, something deeper is being tested.

I write this not with anger but with a heavy heart. I do not doubt the sincerity of many who feel compelled to act. I do not question their love for Torah. But love for Torah is most powerfully expressed by learning it, living it, and protecting its kavod with dignity.

Chaos is loud. Torah is steady.

The Ir HaTorah that I remember was not defined by its protests but by its persistence. Not by confrontation but by concentration. By sheer kavod haTorah that was once plastered across the world through its great leaders, Rav Shach, the Steipler, Rav Shteinman, and the myriad gedolim from both the Lithuanian and Chassidishe world whose very presence spoke volumes that were way louder than anything we recently heard.

I still believe that is its true face.

Just saying.

In the past two months, historic changes that have profound implications for the nation’s children have reshaped the public health landscape under the Trump administration, receiving only sporadic attention in the mainstream news while largely remaining hidden from parents.

These changes concern the childhood immunization schedule which the Center for Disease Control (CDC), heeding a presidential order from President Trump, has updated to align with the prevailing vaccine schedule of other developed nations.

The new policies end America’s long-standing role as an outlier in childhood vaccine mandates, where children previously received more than 70 immunizations by late adolescence—far exceeding the totals seen in other developed countries.

Under the new guidance, the CDC will no longer broadly recommend vaccines for influenza, rotavirus, RSV, hepatitis A and B, and meningococcal disease for infants and children.

These immunizations, however, will remain available to parents who request them and will continue to be covered by most insurance plans, including Affordable Care Act insurance plans and programs such as Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, and the Vaccines for Children program.

Based on advice from federal immunization advisers, the CDC had already significantly narrowed its Covid-19 recommendations after the vaccine had remained on the childhood schedule for three years.

In May 2025, citing multiple risks that even the most left-leaning medical journals no longer disputed, the CDC ended its recommendation for infants, children, adolescents, and pregnant women.

“I’d love to see the evidence that shows that giving young, healthy children another Covid shot would help them. But that evidence does not exist,” FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary said at the time the new policy was put in place. The move reversed the Biden administration’s decision to add the Covid shot to the childhood vaccine schedule.

Illumination from Denmark

The Danish childhood vaccination schedule that has influenced this new U.S. schedule is “far simpler, slower, and gentler” than that of the U.S. CDC schedule, explains immunologist and biochemist Dr. Robert Malone, current head of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP).

“Denmark begins immunization at three months of age, giving only about a dozen total injections by adolescence, focused on serious diseases such as diphtheria, tetanus, polio, measles, and meningitis,” Malone wrote.

“The U.S. begins vaccination the day a child is born, in some cases with a hepatitis B shot, and continues frequently through infancy, totaling around sixty doses by the end of adolescence,” the ACIP director detailed.

“The Danish program avoids vaccines for mild illnesses like chickenpox, rotavirus, and hepatitis A, and it does not recommend annual flu or early Covid inoculations for healthy children. It therefore introduces far fewer antigens, adjuvants (components meant to stimulate the immune system), and chemical additives, giving the immune system more time to mature between doses.

“The U.S. system, by contrast, compresses numerous injections into the first year of life,” Dr. Malone continued, “creating heavy antigen and aluminum exposure during a critical developmental window.”

Denmark’s approach reflects a minimalist “target the serious diseases” philosophy built on transparency and trust, while the U.S. program embodies a maximalist “vaccinate for everything” model.

“That policy is driven by liability avoidance, and a cult-like belief that all vaccine products are “safe and effective” and therefore above questioning,” the immunologist said.

Both countries maintain high vaccine coverage, but Denmark achieves comparable disease control with a fraction of the biochemical and immunological load imposed on young children in the United States.

The new schedule brings the U.S. closer to countries such as Denmark, Germany, Japan and many other European governments whose rates of immunization and disease control are comparable to that of the United States with fewer childhood immunizations.

Concerns over Harm to Immune System

“What many people don’t realize is that by the time children turn 6, they’ve received over 50 doses of vaccines—often before their immune systems are developed. By age 18, they’ve received 70 doses, explained Fox News medical consultant Dr. Sogol Ash.”

“These shots are not “bio-individualized,” Dr. Ash noted. There is presently no mechanism to determine “the possible side effects on children who may be auto immune or those whose systems are more sensitive, and might have adverse reactions to a vaccine. The new leadership at HHS wants to change that, to see what the long-term effects are, and to learn which vaccines are right for which children.”

Experts have noted that vaccines are intended to ‘train the immune system,’ but increasingly, research suggests they may overwhelm or misdirect it—especially in the case of infants, whose immune systems are still in critical stages of development.

Research suggests that multiple vaccines, especially those given simultaneously, may make an infant more prone to certain types of infection and disease.

This claim has been hotly disputed by some medical authorities who say the research does not support this theory. For example, a 2002 article by leading pediatrician Dr. Paul Offit, published in the journal Pediatrics, claims that infants can “theoretically” receive up to 10,000 vaccines at once without posing a health risk.

Pediatricians have been known to cite the 10,000 vaccines figure with a straight face when parents express concern over their infant receiving multiple immunizations.

Among the five vaccines no longer recommended for infants is the Hepatitis B shot, which, since 1991, has been routinely given to newborns on the first day of their life. This shot will no longer be required for babies born to mothers who test negative for the virus.

The Hepatitis B shot is perhaps the least justifiable mandatory vaccine in the pharmaceutical repertoire. Experts agree that the vast majority of infants cannot contract this disease. It is transmitted in only one of two ways: either by infected intravenous drug needles or through morally degenerate behavior.

The vaccine isn’t even intended to control epidemics. It’s just for personal protection against the virus—which the vast majority of babies obviously don’t need.

One can easily imagine how profitable the Hepatitis B vaccine market has been, given that every single American has been required to receive at least three doses. Only GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and Merck manufacture this vaccine—and they were able to do so with full liability immunity.

Until now.

Medical Groups Sue to Revoke CDC’s Changes

CDC’s rolling back decades of vaccine practices stunned many observers. It triggered fierce backlash from parts of the medical establishment who have long regarded vaccines as a special category of medicine, almost an untouchable article of faith, exempt from the safety evaluation expected of other drugs.

Critics argue the CDC’S changes to the childhood vaccine schedule lack evidence, increase disease risk, might reduce vaccine uptake and confuse parents.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), the largest pediatric group in the U.S., routinely cited by liberal news outlets as the final word on pediatric health, has aggressively attacked the CDC’s revised vaccine schedule.

Last month, the group filed a lawsuit against the HHS and its director Robert F. Kennedy, seeking to have all vaccines that were relegated to the “high-risk-only” category reinstated in the childhood schedule. An AAP spokesman darkly predicted that if Hepatitis B for newborns is ended, “children will die.”

New York Governor Kathy Hochul chimed in with an overheated allegation that “the Trump Administration is willing to let babies and children die.”

Ignoring federal advice, the AAP released its own immunization schedule in late 2025 that mirrored the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) schedule as it existed before federal recommendations were scaled back.

More than 20 states have adopted the AAP’s version, invoking their authority to set school vaccine requirements independently of federal guidance. In doing so, however, they made a costly miscalculation.

By moving ahead of the federal government’s revisions, the AAP and the states that embraced its schedule effectively shot themselves in the foot. Under the National Vaccine Injury framework, manufacturers, physicians, and medical facilities are shielded from liability only for vaccines recommended by the federal government. Once the CDC formally ended its recommendation for certain vaccines, that liability waiver no longer applied.

As a result, vaccines that remain on the AAP-backed schedules—but are no longer recommended by the CDC—fall outside the federal liability shield. This exposes manufacturers and medical providers to potential lawsuits the AAP and adopting states assumed would never materialize.

Children’s Health Defense Fires Back

In a counter lawsuit filed last month in federal court, Children’s Health Defense (CHD) and five other plaintiffs accused AAP of running a decades-long “racketeering scheme” to defraud American families about the safety of the childhood vaccine schedule.

The suit alleges that the AAP has consistently made “fraudulent” claims about the safety of CDC’s childhood immunization schedule under past administrations, while receiving funding from vaccine manufacturers and providing financial incentives to pediatricians who achieve high vaccination rates.

The lawsuit highlights the alleged financial relationships AAP maintains with Pfizer, Merck, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and Sanofi Pasteur, the companies that produce virtually every vaccine on the CDC’s childhood schedule.

However, the group doesn’t disclose these relationships in its policy statements and public safety assurances, according to the complaint.

It also alleges that the AAP and previous CDC leadership have used their positions of authority to mislead the American public, “pushing commercial interests disguised as medical guidance.”

The complaint asserts that the AAP and CDC conspired to suppress data, intimidate whistleblowers, and falsely represent the safety of the childhood vaccine schedule over decades. They have systematically used “false claims and omission of critical safety data to ensure compliance with an ever-expanding vaccine schedule,” the complaint alleges.

Both the AAP’s lawsuit against the HHS and the Children’s Health Defense lawsuit against AAP are pending.

Failure to Monitor Vaccine Complications

One issue that is generally agreed upon by all sides is that few of the updated vaccines given to children have undergone rigorous safety testing. The majority are deemed “safe” merely because they’re supposedly very similar to older vaccines.

Based on that similarity, costly and time-consuming placebo testing (comparing outcomes from vaccinated children against those injected with an inert saline solution), should not be required, critics say.

An article in The National Academy of Medicine published in 2013 sharply disagreed. It criticized the CDC for ignoring two decades of warnings to conduct cumulative safety studies to compare the health outcomes of vaccinated and unvaccinated children.

Experts argue that it isn’t wise to assess a vaccine’s safety based solely on whether it’s ‘similar’ to a previous one—especially when the earlier vaccine’s side-effect profile may be totally unknown.

“The reason it’s unknown is due to the failure of the CDC under past administrations to monitor vaccine complications adequately,” HHS director RFK said. [See Sidebar, “We Have No Data”]

“The CDC’s former practice of suppressing information about vaccine injuries has badly eroded trust in our public health agencies,” Kennedy said. “Its own research has shown that its surveillance system, VAERS (Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System) captures less than 1 percent of vaccine injuries. It’s a system that was designed to fail.”

From Immune Stimulation to Immune Dysregulation

Vaccines are intended to ‘train the immune system,’ but increasingly, research suggests they may overwhelm or misdirect it—especially in the case of infants, whose immune systems are still in critical stages of development.

Experts say adjuvants like aluminum, included to provoke a stronger immune response, are not passive ingredients. They are neurotoxic compounds that can travel through the bloodstream, breach the blood-brain barrier, and lodge in the brain, as documented in animal and human studies.

Rather than supporting immune resilience, repeated vaccinations may create a condition known as immune dysregulation, where the body becomes confused about what constitutes a threat.

This dysregulation underlies many of today’s autoimmune epidemics: asthma, eczema, food allergies, Type 1 diabetes, and neuro-inflammation, experts say.

Autoimmune disease results when the body’s system meant to attack foreign invaders turns instead to attack part of the body itself (auto is Greek for self).

“Imagine the immune system as a well-organized beehive, immunologist Dr. Robert Malone writes. “Vaccination, when done excessively or in poorly timed clusters, is like kicking the beehive repeatedly while wearing a disguise. The hive doesn’t get smarter about its antagonist; it gets chaotic, aggressive, and confused.”

“Soon, the bees start stinging anything that moves—including the queen, the worker bees, even the hive itself. There’s no assurance of targeted recognition—only widespread inflammation, panic, and self-harm.”

In the same vein, an article published in The GreenMedInfo quotes fascinating research by immunologist Dr. Yehuda Shoenfeld, founder and head of the Zabludowicz Center of Autoimmune Diseases in the Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer.

Shoenfeld’s research shows that components like aluminum can trigger autoimmune responses long after administration of the vaccine, particularly in genetically susceptible individuals, which may lead to overt autoimmune disease.

In analyzing who might be at risk, the paper describes four categories of people: those who have had a previous autoimmune reaction to a vaccine, as well as anyone with a medical history of autoimmunity. In addition, people with a history of allergic reactions, or who have a family history of autoimmunity are considered at higher risk.

***

‘We Have No Data’

At a 2018 meeting of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), members convened to vote on whether to recommend a Hepatitis B vaccination for 18-year-olds.

As the discussion unfolded, one committee member pressed the presenters on a critical issue: was the “adjuvant” used in the proposed injection—described as immune-boosting components such as aluminum—ever administered alongside other vaccines given to children and adolescents?

The answer was strikingly candid. “We have no data to recommend either for or against it.”

Another member asked whether this newer Hepatitis B formulation was used in European countries. The response from one of the experts recommending the vaccine? “Not to my knowledge.”

Despite these admissions from the vaccine presenters—that no data existed on possible side effects, and that exposure to multiple adjuvants lay outside the norm of international vaccine practice—the committee approved the recommendation unanimously, without a single objection or even an abstention.

Critics argue that ACIP’s pattern of unanimous approvals, even when key safety data is missing, reflects a culture of rubber-stamping recommendations from medical authorities alleged to have profitable financial relationships with drug companies.

In one blatant example, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), the largest and most powerful pediatric group in the U.S., is often represented at ACIP meetings in the role of one of the foremost medical authorities in the United States.

Yet, in a recent lawsuit, Children’s Health Defense (CHD) and five other plaintiffs accused the AAP of making “false and fraudulent” claims about the safety of the CDC’s childhood immunization schedule.

The lawsuit alleged that AAP maintained a steady campaign of misinformation while it was receiving funding from vaccine manufacturers, and providing financial incentives to pediatricians who achieve high vaccination rates.

The complaint highlighted AAP’s alleged financial relationships with vaccine manufacturers, including Pfizer, Merck, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and Sanofi Pasteur—its most significant donors—all the while “failing to disclose these relationships in its public safety assurances.”

***

Landmark Study Raises Doubts About Safety of mRNA Platform

The historic changes at the CDC have come at a time when one sees a great unraveling of what were once considered unquestioned truths about Covid vaccines being “safe and effective.”

First, an article in the December issue of the left-wing Atlantic magazine admitted that at least 10 babies were found to have died from Covid-19 vaccination exclusively. A few years back, any acknowledgement in the mainstream media about deathly harm from Covid shots would have been unthinkable.

Then, a week later, Stanford Medicine News ran a feature article about a landmark study headlined, “Stanford Medicine Study Shows Why mRNA-based Covid-19 Vaccines Can Cause Myocarditis.”

The study, authored by 16 members of Stanford’s elite cardiology institute, and funded partly by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), qualifies as undisputed gold-standard science by any yardstick.

The paper identified a plausible biological pathway between mRNA vaccination and myocarditis, inflammation of the heart. The injurious process begins with a potential immune overreaction to the presence of foreign proteins, including the lipid nanoparticles and the spike protein produced by the mRNA vaccine.

An immune system overreaction can then damage the heart muscle, sometimes leading to myocarditis. Even asymptomatic myocarditis can cause permanent scarring in the heart, which can lead to very serious problems years later, experts say.

Observers say this study is bad news for the entire mRNA platform, not just the Covid shots.

Until now, the “scientific consensus” was that the lipid nanoparticles (tiny globs of fat carrying the mRNA) can safely travel around the body without causing harm. But the Stanford study found that the mRNA platform itself could trigger an immune response —sometimes a serious one— independent of the spike protein.

The UK Telegraph highlighted this discovery in its own report on the groundbreaking study: “The University of Stanford has found that the immune system can lock onto the foreign mRNA from the vaccine, which triggers a fierce response and in some cases, can inflame heart cells,” the paper wrote. “It is likely to pose a problem with other mRNA jabs, they warn.”

Violence in Bnei Brak

This Sunday, a pogrom was perpetrated in Bnei Brak. The situation began when a couple of female soldiers arrived in the vicinity of the Bohosh bais medrash. It doesn’t really matter if the purpose of their arrival was to visit someone, to arrest someone, or to deliver a draft order to someone. (The third possibility seems to have been the case, despite the army’s denials.). The bottom line is that it was clear at the outset that they would ignite conflict in the chareidi city. And the predictable conflagration was not long in coming. A group of youths gathered around the soldiers and threatened them, the police were called, and then there was an explosion of violence; a police motorcycle was torched and a police car was overturned. These were the ingredients for complete bedlam; when the police feel that their egos have been attacked, they respond without the slightest intelligence or discretion. The result is an outpouring of sheer brute force. The press quickly descended on the scene as well, thanks to a combination of factors that was guaranteed to create stories of interest—the police, chareidim, beatings, stones, and insults. And whenever news reporters and photographers are present, it only serves to increase the ferocity of a conflict. The secular politicians were quick to denounce the chareidim for violence and to call on the government to respond to them with full force. The police commissioner announced a policy of “zero tolerance,” without even bothering to find out exactly what had happened. Even the malicious Naftoli Bennett showed up in Bnei Brak to slander the chareidim and thereby to scrape together a few more votes in the upcoming election.

The truth is that this handful of violent extremists is causing serious damage to the religious community as a whole. There is good reason that the gedolei Yisroel have repeatedly called on the public to refrain from participating in protests and from engaging in violence. Even in the Chazon Ish’s times, there was a clear ruling against violence in the chareidi camp. On the other hand, while the violent elements are condemned within the religious camp, the community continues pointing out to outsiders that this is what can be expected when the government relentlessly persecutes Torah learners. The chareidi community, including the majority that abhors violence, feels that their collective back is against the wall. The government is constantly persecuting chareidim, passing more and more decrees against them, and using the harshest possible terms against the community, branding them as criminals and draft dodgers. One can hardly expect the army and police to be greeted with smiles and flowers when they show up.

I was irked when Prime Minister Netanyahu was quick to condemn the “attack” on the female soldiers on Sunday night. “I forcefully condemn the violent riots in Bnei Brak against IDF soldiers and the Israel Police,” Netanyahu said. “This is an extremist minority that does not represent the chareidi population as a whole. This is a very serious breach, which is completely unacceptable. We will not permit anarchy, and we will not tolerate any harm to those who serve in the IDF and the security services, who perform their jobs with dedication and determination.” The chief of staff of the IDF joined the party as well, issuing his own condemnation. But the problem is that neither of them took the time to find out exactly what had happened!

Personally, I am not taking a position on Sunday’s events. We must all wait to hear what the gedolei Yisroel have to say. But one thing is clear: Just as we all condemn and abhor the handful of violent extremists in the chareidi camp, we must likewise condemn and abhor the police officers who have no qualms about rampaging through neighborhoods, attacking civilians, throwing smoke grenades, and dispensing vicious beatings.

On Sunday night, due to the violence and police brutality, and possibly because of the many arrests and beatings, Rav Dov Landau issued another letter warning bochurim to refrain from involvement in such incidents. The letter was also signed by Rav Moshe Hillel Hirsch, Rav Landau’s fellow rosh yeshiva and partner in the leadership of Klal Yisroel. This is the latest in a series of such directives issued by the gedolei Yisroel.

In my estimation, this is only the beginning of the story. The incident in Bnei Brak will soon turn into more fodder for incitement against the chareidi community. For the chareidim themselves, it proves that they have reached the limits of their tolerance. To be honest, I wouldn’t even have written about it if not for the fact that it is impossible to ignore.

The IDF Admits Its Mistake

My next story is also connected to the general sense that the state and the army are suffocating the religious community in every way possible. However, I will begin at the end of the story, which is good news: Avrohom Ben-Dayan, the yungerman from Tifrach who was arrested on motzoei Shabbos of Parshas Yisro and transferred to the military police when he was found to be a draft evader, was released long before the end of the ten-day sentence handed down by a military court. Ben-Dayan was freed last week on erev Shabbos.

There are a couple of things that can be learned from this story. First, it highlights the army’s obtuseness and lack of sensitivity. Ben-Dayan was arrested on motzoei Shabbos and spent Sunday asking for access to his tefillin (or any tefillin) only to be repeatedly told to wait—until he was transferred to a military facility, until he was officially processed, until after the roll call, and so forth. The bottom line was that on that Sunday, for the first time in his life, he did not have the opportunity to wear tefillin.

This is relevant to recent events, since the chief of staff released a new set of “directives of the General Staff” this week concerning accommodations for religious soldiers. The new rules are officially binding on every soldier, every officer, and the IDF as a whole. The orders were signed at the request of people who are trying to promote the draft of chareidim and who explained to the chief of staff that if there are no official orders in place safeguarding the chareidi community’s standards, conscription of chareidim will never happen. I won’t get into the contents of the new orders, however, since, with all due respect to the chief of staff, I do not trust the army. It is a large and complex system, and it doesn’t always keep its word.

Another takeaway from Ben-Dayan’s experience is that the army sometimes admits its mistakes and tries to correct them. After coming under fire from rabbonim and Knesset members for preventing the yungerman from wearing tefillin, the army released an official response, issued by its spokesman, that read: “The detainee was arrested on motzoei Shabbos by the Israel Police and was transferred to the military police. The detainee remained in detention throughout the night until early in the morning. He davened during his detention, and when he arrived at the military prison in the afternoon, he asked the reception team for an opportunity to put on tefillin and was told that he would receive that opportunity when he arrived at the detention compound. However, due to an unexpected delay in the absorption process, according to a report that was received after the fact, the detainee ultimately did not have a chance to wear tefillin. It must be made clear that this was an extremely unusual incident that does not conform to the army’s procedures. The IDF apologizes for the aggravation. The regulations in the prison have been revised for immediate implementation, and this subject will be investigated in depth by the commanders, to prevent similar situations in the future. The detainee is currently in the facility where all the necessary supplies are available for his way of life.”

In any event, Ben-Dayan was released on erev Shabbos, presumably because the army realized that they had committed a mistake. Upon his release, Ben-Dayan visited Rav Dov Landau to thank him for his efforts on his behalf and his encouragement. (Rav Landau had written a letter to him and had spoken with his wife.) The yungerman’s father pointed out that Rav Landau had given him a brocha for his son to be freed “before Shabbos.” At the time, it seemed like an encouraging wish that could not come true, since the yungerman had already been sentenced to ten days behind bars. “The rov performed a miracle,” someone said enthusiastically upon hearing the story.

Rav Landau scoffed at the idea. “What miracle?” he said dismissively. “That just means that this was the decree in Shomayim.”

Trump Attacks, Herzog Is Shocked

The president of the United States cannot seem to stop sending Israel into a tizzy. Last Wednesday, President Trump met with Prime Minister Netanyahu, in a meeting that was clearly urgent since it was scheduled mere days in advance. The context of the meeting was presumably America’s intent to conduct negotiations with Iran. There is no doubt that Netanyahu would prefer to see the United States launch an uncompromising battle against Iran. But did Netanyahu succeed in swaying Trump? Or, perhaps, did Trump sway him? Opinions on that issue are divided in Israel between Netanyahu’s detractors and his supporters.

On the day after their meeting, President Trump threw a curve ball by directing scathing criticism at President Yitzchok Herzog, asserting that Herzog “should be ashamed of himself” for his refusal to grant a pardon to the prime minister. Trump announced to the media, “Netanyahu was a very good wartime prime minister. He was very strong, and we worked with him very well. We had tremendous success against Iran and in everything else we did, and he has really been exceptional as a wartime prime minister, and that isn’t an easy task. You know, there is a president in Israel who is refusing to give him a pardon in the trial that is taking place now. I think that is disgraceful…. The president of Israel has the primary power to grant pardons, and he isn’t doing it. He has said five times that he will do it, but he doesn’t want to do it now, probably because he will lose his power. I think that the people of Israel should really shame him. It’s a disgrace that he isn’t giving it; he needs to give it.”

When Trump made these comments, Herzog was on his way back to Israel from an official visit to Australia, where he received an outpouring of sympathy but was also targeted by anti-Israeli protests. The president was reportedly shocked by Trump’s rebuke and consulted with his advisors throughout his return flight to plan his response. Herzog’s first move was to release an official response essentially stating that there are certain rules for this process and that the request for a pardon was under review but a final decision hasn’t yet been made. Meanwhile, Bibi’s enemies in Israel immediately attacked Trump and warned him not to try to turn the country into a banana republic. That, of course, was only to be expected.

“Bibi was an excellent wartime prime minister, and I have been the best friend, I think, that Israel has ever had,” Trump added. “More than any president, many people say. And I will continue being that.”

Let us just mention that Netanyahu submitted an official request for a pardon in November, after insisting for a long time that he would never do so. At that point, he claimed that it was in the nation’s best interests. And since then his case has dragged on with no end in sight as he runs the country and seeks to protect its people from harm.

Does It Matter Who Instigated President Trump?

It took Herzog a day or two to recover from his shock, and then he decided to go on the offensive. According to a leaked report from unnamed sources in the president’s office, Herzog plans to demand an explanation from Netanyahu about Trump’s fierce attack on him. “The president of the state would like to understand if the prime minister was behind this aggressive statement, which was a serious attack on Israel’s sovereign status,” one media outlet reported. “Presidential officials said last night that if it is revealed that Netanyahu was behind these comments, and he was the one who stoked President Trump’s anger, a red line has been crossed. There is a difference between criticism and an insult, and Trump’s statement was an insult. Someone has instigated him.” They added knowingly, “Over the weekend, the president received dozens of calls from the United States and from Israel, and it has therefore become necessary to seek clarification from Netanyahu about these statements.”

Personally, I was astounded by this reaction. Why is the question of who instigated President Trump more important than the substance of his criticism? In my view, Herzog should respond to Trump’s argument rather than simply showering fire and brimstone in every direction. He is reacting like a person who has nothing of substance to say. Trump has a very clear opinion on the subject, and it is foolish to ignore it. Does Herzog have a logical explanation for his failure to pardon the prime minister? Why, then, does it matter if Netanyahu was involved in triggering Trump’s statement?

In any event, Netanyahu’s office responded, “President Trump’s comments regarding the pardon were made exclusively on his own initiative. The prime minister heard about it from the media and was not informed about it in advance, just as he did not know in advance that the president would mention this subject in his speech in the Knesset.” In fact, when Trump made that comment in the Knesset, he made it clear that he had spoken with Netanyahu in advance about it and that, as far as the prime minister was concerned, it wasn’t on the table. “I told him that I wouldn’t bring up the issue of the pardon, but it was simply the perfect moment,” Trump said as he headed to the airport for his return flight. “It was good timing, wasn’t it?”

As for the issue at hand, while a request for a pardon is submitted to the president, it is reviewed by the pardons division of the Justice Ministry before he renders his final decision. The department isn’t actually subordinate to the attorney general; however, she has already indicated that she will oppose a pardon. No surprise there. Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara claims that her professional opinion will be submitted to Justice Minister Yariv Levin before any progress is made on a pardon. Another leaked report from her office stated, “Senior officials in the judiciary have already emphasized that this is not a routine request for a pardon. They claimed that since Netanyahu submitted a request without confessing to a crime or expressing remorse, and before his trial ended, the routine evaluation of the request has been disrupted. For that reason, the pardons division will be unable to satisfy the critical requirements to formulate a professional opinion. Since Netanyahu’s trial hasn’t yet concluded, he is not yet defined as a convicted criminal, and it is therefore impossible to review the verdict in the trial and to receive a professional opinion on the subject.”

Judges Push the Envelope to the Max

Now that we have touched on Israel’s overactive judiciary, the next obvious topic to cover is the ongoing, and recently expanded, power struggle between the government and the Supreme Court. To be more precise, it is a struggle between the ministers of the government, including Prime Minister Netanyahu, and the judges of the Supreme Court, headed by Chief Justice Yitzchok Amit, whose title remains disputed.

The government recently decided to close the Galei Tzahal radio station, which is associated with the army. I won’t get into the details of why the decision was made; that is simply what the government decided, which is clearly its right. According to the government decision, the station will be shut down on March 1, less than two weeks from now. No one doubted that the Supreme Court would receive petitions against the closure, which is precisely what happened, and the judges decided to intervene. Last week, the court issued an interim order demanding an explanation from the government as to why the closure order should not be canceled. The judges instructed the government to focus its response on the legitimacy of the decision-making process and the manner in which its discretion was employed. The government’s response is due on March 15.

Communications Minister Shlomo Karchi, who spearheaded the initiative to shut down the radio station, declared in response, “The government made a clear decision to close Galei Tzahal. As an extra measure not required of them, an advisory committee was formed to examine the various aspects of the decision. There is no legal obligation for any minister or the government to do this. This decision must be executed on March 1. Even if the Supreme Court set a date for responses for its conditional order after that time, it is not a reason to freeze or cancel a legal government decision.”

In short, this is a head-on collision between the government and the court.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court is pushing the limits of its power in another area as well—the appointment of new judges. Justice Minister Yariv Levin, who chairs the Judicial Selection Committee, has refused to convene the committee because he does not recognize Yitzchok Amit as chief justice of the Supreme Court. The court was petitioned against his decision as well, and the judges ordered the justice minister this week to explain why he is not exercising his authority to convene the Judicial Selection Committee and fill numerous vacant positions in the courts. Levin was ordered to respond by March 8. The next hearing in the court is set for the second half of April.

A third explosive issue concerns the use of spyware by the Israel Police. Months ago, outrage erupted over the revelation that the police had been spying on Israeli citizens through their cell phones without receiving permission from the courts, which is a blatant and egregious violation of civil rights. The police denied the allegations at first, but they were ultimately compelled to admit their guilt. A committee was appointed to examine the misconduct, and many senior figures in the Ministry of Justice seemed to be on the verge of being incriminated. It seemed almost guaranteed that the attorneys general both past and present would face extremely serious charges. However, the Supreme Court recently issued orders severely curtailing the investigative committee’s work. In response, the committee members resigned, blaming the Supreme Court for tying their hands to prevent them from probing the truth. Under the circumstances, they said, they saw no reason to continue their work.

This time, Yariv Levin, the minister of justice, reacted forcefully. “The people who should really be resigning today are you, the three justices of the Supreme Court—Yitzchok Amit, Ofer Grosskopf, and Khaleb Khabub,” he wrote scathingly. “You deliberately collaborated with the forces that are supposed to be involved in enforcing the law to cover up one of the most heinous affairs in the history of the state concerning breaches of human and civil rights. You, who have issued rulings time after time in favor of terrorists and their family members under the guise of concern for human rights, have revealed your true faces today. You should be sitting in your homes in disgrace in light of the words written by the members of the committee who resigned. You have betrayed your positions and have violated the privacy and civil rights of the citizens of Israel. I will continue this fight, and I will not rest until justice has been done, the criminals have been punished, and those who covered up this wrongdoing, who have betrayed the people’s trust, lose their hold on the Supreme Court.”

Indeed, the judges are pushing the envelope to its limits, and they should not be surprised by the repercussions, however drastic they may be.

Will the Spies for Iran Lose Their Citizenship?

This country generates so much news that I am always forced to forgo some of the topics I would like to discuss in this column. But the following story deserves further attention.

Two weeks ago, I wrote about the phenomenon of Israelis spying for Iran. It is a very sad topic, and the phenomenon has even ensnared some chareidim, to our great chagrin. One of those suspects, a resident of Beit Shemesh, was sentenced to three years in prison last week. Another, a resident of Bais Chilkiya, is in the middle of his trial. He is being held under very harsh conditions together with other suspects facing the same charges, even though their trials haven’t yet concluded.

Prime Minister Netanyahu ordered law enforcement officials to begin the process of stripping Israeli citizenship from anyone convicted of spying for Iran. This new directive indicates a dramatic change in policy; it is the first time that this sanction is being applied to Jewish civilians who were guilty of assisting the enemy, and not only in cases of involvement in nationalistic terror. According to the reports, the attorney general supports this initiative. In a closed discussion on the topic, Netanyahu described the act of spying during wartime as a “basic breach of trust” that warrants severe measures in response. Professionals in the Ministry of Justice and the Population Authority have confirmed that the move is possible under the current law; however, a person’s citizenship can be canceled only after the judicial proceedings have been carried out and a final, irreversible conviction has been issued.

Israeli law permits the government to remove the citizenship of someone who has betrayed the state by committing espionage or treason. At the same time, both international and Israeli law do not permit leaving a person with no status at all. For an Israeli citizen who has no foreign passport, the process will result in his becoming a permanent resident rather than a citizen. This means that he can continue living in Israel and receiving basic social benefits, but he will not have the right to vote for the Knesset or to hold an Israeli passport. Aside from the bureaucratic repercussions, this penalty is meant to send a message and brand the convicted spies with a permanent mark of shame. According to Shin Bet statistics, about 40 indictments have been filed over the past two years against approximately 60 defendants, most of them citizens with no criminal records. The defense establishment has determined that the existing penalties did not create sufficient deterrence in light of the monetary incentives that the Iranians have been offering; hence, there was a need to come up with harsher punitive measures.

Maklev Thanks a Visitor from Germany

Let us move on to some less distressing subjects. MK Uri Maklev met with Julia Klockner, chairwoman of the Bundestag (the parliament of Germany), on her visit to Israel. He brought up the topics of strengthening the Jewish communities in Germany and preserving the Jewish cemeteries there. “We must step up the fight against the scourge of antisemitism and preserve the integrity and standing of Jewish cemeteries throughout the country,” he said. Maklev also thanked the German guest and her staff for the aid they provide to Holocaust survivors. Perhaps I should mention that before his resignation from his position as a deputy minister in the Prime Minister’s Office, Maklev was responsible for overseeing government aid to Holocaust survivors. He reportedly accomplished a great deal in this area.

Klockner met with several members of the Knesset during her visit, all of whom brought up the needs of the Jewish community in Germany. Maklev, who did his homework very well in advance of the visit, raised the issue of strengthening the country’s Jewish communities and stressed that the battle against antisemitism must be a top priority, along with practical measures to fortify the Jewish communal institutions in Germany. He also spoke about the Jewish cemeteries in the country, stressing the moral and historic obligation to preserve the cemeteries and to prevent any harm or desecration.

During the meeting, Maklev spoke highly of the economic and logistical aid that Germany provides to Holocaust survivors and emphasized that it is a moral obligation. “We appreciate everything that you have done and continue to do for the survivors; it is a significant part of the assistance they deserve,” he said.

Huckabee’s Example

At a recent ceremony at the President’s House in Yerushalayim, Ambassador Mike Huckabee publicly removed the pin that he wore as a sign of solidarity with the Israeli hostages in Gaza. “I have been wearing this pin since I arrived here,” he said. “Today, with thanks to the Creator, I am removing it since there are no more hostages in Gaza.” Huckabee expressed gratitude to Trump and to everyone else who had facilitated the process, then acknowledged the pain of the hostages’ families and added, “There have been so many prayers and hopes for this day from the families and friends of the hostages.” He added that he intends to keep the pin, albeit in the hope that it will never be needed again. I was reminded, l’havdil, of the yearly debate that many of us experience over whether we should hold on to our copies of Megillas Eicha for the following year. “I pray that I will never see this pin again,” Huckabee added, “and I pray that Israelis will never again need to wear a pin to remind them of someone being held in captivity as a hostage.”

Why do I find this interesting? Because Israeli heads of state, for some reason, rarely seem to recognize the need to give thanks to the Master of the Universe, to pray to Him, or to emulate the habits of senior American officials to end their speeches with a phrase such as “G-d bless America.” Perhaps they should take a cue from Mike Huckabee….

A Worthy Idea from Yitzchok Pindrus

Yitzchok Pindrus is a member of the Knesset again, having recently reoccupied the seat vacated by Yisroel Eichler after the latter stepped into the position of deputy minister of communications. Pindrus recently remarked to me, “We must set up some sort of body that will debunk the lies against the chareidi community and fight back against the slander.”

Unfortunately, such slander is rife. For instance, it is widely claimed that the average yungerman receives (or “extorts,” in their words) 17,000 shekels a month from the government. This lie is constantly repeated by the secular media and merely serves to fan the flames of incitement against kollel yungeleit, who struggle financially and are buckling beneath the weight of the rising cost of living. The secular press also repeatedly echoes the claims that the Israeli middle class is carrying the burden of supporting lomdei Torah, which is a brazen lie. And they also claim that chareidim do not pay taxes, which is yet another falsehood. There are many chareidim who work and pay taxes, yet this lie stubbornly persists.

These slanderous claims are constantly rehashed in radio interviews, newspaper reports, and even discussions in the Knesset. Even official documents produced by the Bank of Israel, various research institutes and think thanks, and other sources contain pure falsehoods. That alone is infuriating, and the fact that these ideas have penetrated the collective consciousness and have become accepted as fact is even more disturbing. It is not an issue to be taken lightly.

“It’s too bad,” I told Pindrus,” that we don’t have something like the ‘The Whistle.’” The financial newspaper The Marker has an incredible fact-checking feature known as ‘The Whistle,’ which examines statements made by politicians. The column, which appears regularly, begins with a quote from a politician, then cites the facts regarding the statement, and finally categorizes the statement as true, partially true, or a complete lie. For instance, they recently examined Yair Lapid’s claim that more chareidim had enlisted in the army in his day. The newspaper staff discovered, as usual, that the statements made by the chairman of Yesh Atid have absolutely no connection to reality.

“It’s a good idea, and it shouldn’t be very expensive at all,” said Pindrus. “When a lie is exposed, the liars will have to apologize. They will be shamed, and even more importantly, incitement will be cut down as a result.”

On that note, Yediot Acharonot claimed last week that “chareidim have agreed to the draft quotas, but they are actively working to convince young men not to enlist; an organization under the aegis of Degel HaTorah is distributing pamphlets about the dangers of the draft.” I do not believe that Ezram U’Moginam, the organization in question, is a division of Degel HaTorah; it is actually an initiative of Rav Yehoshua Eichenstein. This was a classic breach of journalistic ethics, and the distortion of the truth would have been exposed if the chareidi community had a fact-checking body. But as of now, there has been no response.

Rav Moshe Hillel Hirsch Guides Yungeleit Who Adopt Soldiers

This Sunday, a group of kollel yungeleit gathered at the Slabodka Yeshiva to receive guidance from Rav Moshe Hillel Hirsch for their kiruv activities, which include an initiative focused on wounded IDF soldiers. I have written in the past about Mishnas Shimshon, Ohel Yiskah, and the organization’s new branch, Lev L’Giborei Yisroel. These yungeleit work to connect with and inspire secular soldiers, but their efforts often lead them to thorny dilemmas. For instance, what should a yungerman say if he is learning with a chavrusa in the shul in Sheba Hospital and is approached by a soldier who has lost a leg and wants to learn Torah? On the one hand, the yungerman is required to maintain the sedorim of his kollel at that time. On the other hand, how could he tell the soldier to come back only during the designated hours for patients? On a general note, as well, the yungeleit sought the rosh yeshiva’s guidance regarding how much time they should devote to kiruv and to what extent they should insist on maintaining the kollel’s schedule. And then there was a question that had nothing to do with wounded soldiers: What should a yungerman do if he is approached by an aspiring baal teshuvah at the kollel (in Petach Tikvah) during the usual hours for Torah learning? Where do they draw the line between their kiruv activities and their personal learning?

I met Rav Moshe Pincus at the yeshiva that day. Rav Moshe is a grandson of Rav Shimshon Dovid Pincus and the son of my close friend, Rav Eliyohu Yitzchok Pincus. “Moishy,” whom I have known since he was born, has always distinguished himself with his noble character and brilliant mind, but he has still amazed us all with his prodigious accomplishments in such a short time. He has achieved wondrous things in Petach Tikvah, and his kindness for wounded soldiers since the beginning of the war has dazzled everyone as well. The occasion was also attended by Rav Aharon Lulicht, the head of the kiruv division of Mishnas Shimshon. Rav Moshe Hillel Hirsch asked about the details of the situations, listened to the questions intently, and then responded. His words were measured and carefully thought out: “Since this is a special endeavor for people who are ill, it is necessary to devote significant amounts of time to kiruv and to add a few yungeleit who will always be available for kiruv at all hours. If a soldier or a patient who has a regular chavrusa with a certain yungerman wants to learn with him during the kollel’s regular hours, the yungerman will have to learn with him during that time as well,” he added.

Rav Moshe Hillel added another thought: “Every person has been placed by Hashem in a specific place and circumstances. If a person is in a place where the thirst for Torah exists, and he has the ability to help others, he should try not to completely neglect his personal growth, but he should still dedicate a significant part of his day to kiruv.”

President Trump’s negotiators, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, and Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Aragchi, participated in a second round of indirect negotiations in Geneva on Tuesday. The talks, which took place in the home of the Omani ambassador to the U.N. in Geneva and are being mediated by Omani officials, are part of an effort to reach a new agreement between the U.S. and Iran that would eliminate the threat to peace from Iran’s nuclear program and potentially other serious concerns raised by the United States and Israel. These include Iran’s large arsenal of long-range ballistic missiles, Iran’s support for terrorist groups across the Middle East, such as Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis, and the violent suppression by the Islamic regime of street protests across Iran, resulting in the death and imprisonment of tens of thousands of Iranian citizens.

While the American negotiators did not make any public comments after the three-hour meeting in Geneva was completed, Iranian Foreign Minister Aragchi said, “The atmosphere in this round of negotiations was more constructive. Good progress had been made in comparison with the first meeting. Both sides have positions that will take some time to get closer to each other. The path to an agreement has been started, but that does not mean we can reach an agreement quickly.”

He also told Iranian state television that, “Ultimately, we were able to reach broad agreement on a set of guiding principles, based on which we will move forward and begin working on the text of a potential agreement. It was agreed that both sides would work further on draft texts for a potential agreement, after which the drafts would be exchanged, and a date for a third round [of negotiations] would be set.”

Ayatollah Khamenei Responds in Kind to Trump’s Threats

Aragchi insisted that President Trump must stop threatening the use of military force against Iran should the negotiations fail to reach a final agreement. After Trump told reporters on Air Force One that “I don’t think they [Iran] want the consequences of not making a deal,” and earlier said in answer to a reporter’s question that he thinks that regime change in Iran “would be the best thing that could happen.” Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, responded Tuesday with threats of his own.

“In one of his recent speeches, the U.S. president said that for 47 years, America has not succeeded in destroying the Islamic Republic… I tell you: You will not succeed either,” the ayatollah said.

“We constantly hear that [the U.S.] has sent a warship toward Iran [referring to the U.S. Navy’s aircraft carrier U.S.S Abraham Lincoln]. A warship is certainly a dangerous weapon, but even more dangerous is the [Iranian] weapon capable of sinking it,” Khamenei declared.

President Trump has continued to warn that only reaching a quick agreement between the U.S. and Iran on these issues would prevent another round of attacks on Iran by the huge armada of U.S. warships and military aircraft, which Trump has sent to the region, as well as independent attacks on Iran by the Israeli air force and security agencies.

Trump also said that he would be involved “indirectly” in the negotiations, and that he still thinks that Iran wants to make a deal to avoid another American attack like the one in June when American B-2 bombers devastated 3 major Iranian nuclear sites.

Following Tuesday’s meeting in Geneva, Reuters reported that a senior Iranian official asked for further assurances that the U.S. is serious about lifting its crippling economic sanctions on Iran. During his first term as president, in 2018, Trump walked away from the nuclear deal that the Obama administration reached with Iran in 2015, and reimposed the sanctions on Iran’s economy that had been lifted by Obama’s deal. Reuters also reported that the U.S. military is preparing for the possibility that it will need to conduct an extended series of attacks against Iran if the current talks fail, in contrast to last June, when only one American air strike using B-2 stealth bombers dropping huge bunker busting bombs on 3 of Iran’s nuclear facilities was sufficient to force it to ask President Trump for a ceasefire.

Trump and Netanyahu Agreed to Increase the Pressure on Iran

During the most recent meeting between Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Trump at the White House on Wednesday, February 11, they reportedly agreed that the U.S. will further increase its “maximum pressure” campaign on Iran’s economy.

However, President Trump insisted that the indirect U.S. negotiations with Iran must continue to their ultimate conclusion before he would order the use of the overwhelming U.S. military force that has been gathered in the region to compel Iran to agree to America’s demands.

These include placing much more effective controls on Iran’s nuclear program than in the 2015 Iran nuclear deal that Trump rejected in 2018, the imposition of strict limitations on the range and quantity of Iran’s ballistic missiles, the termination of Iran’s support for Islamic terrorist organizations and rogue regimes, and last, but not least, halting the slaughter and mass arrests of Iranian citizens protesting against the failures of the Islamic regime.

The current series of U.S.-Iran talks began on Friday, February 6, with a preliminary meeting between Trump’s negotiators, Witkoff and Kushner, and foreign minister Araghchi. At Iran’s request, the site of the first talks was moved from Istanbul, Turkey, to Oman’s capital city of Muscat. Oman’s foreign minister, Badr al-Busaidi, served as the mediator for that meeting, conveying messages between the two sides.

Both sides expressed satisfaction with the outcome of the first meeting, which established the ground rules for the talks. However, the U.S. negotiators rejected Iran’s attempt to limit the substance of the talks to a renegotiation of the inadequate and deeply flawed terms of the 2015 nuclear deal that Iran reached with the Obama administration. Instead, the American negotiators insisted that the other U.S. demands regarding Iran’s ballistic missiles, its support for terrorism, and its attacks on Iranian demonstrators must also be addressed, as Iran had agreed to do when it first requested the negotiations.

Iran is also demanding an end to the crippling U.S. and international sanctions that have ruined Iran’s economy and helped to ignite the mass public protests that rapidly spread across Iran last month and were then ruthlessly suppressed by the thugs of the Islamic regime.

Trump Promised Iran’s Protesters That “Help Is on the Way”

In response to reports that many thousands of the Iranian citizens demonstrating in the streets were being murdered by the paramilitary Basij militia operated by the regime’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), on January 13, President Trump publicly promised the beleaguered protesters that “help is on the way.” Trump then ordered a rapid U.S. military buildup in the region, including two U.S. Navy aircraft carriers and their escorting warships, and threatened to launch another attack, even more devastating than the one that destroyed Iran’s underground nuclear facilities last June, if the Islamic regime did not agree to his demands.

Shortly after the White House announced that Trump agreed to Iran’s request to start talks on a deal to prevent a U.S. attack, Prime Minister Netanyahu asked that his previously scheduled February 18 visit to the White House be moved up by a week so that he could personally warn Trump about the dangers of trying to negotiate any kind of agreement with Iran before the talks had progressed too far.

According to two White House sources quoted by Barak Ravid in an Axios news report, Netanyahu and Trump were already in agreement that Iran must be denied the capability to obtain nuclear weapons. However, when Netanyahu told Trump that it is impossible to make a good deal with Iran because history proves that Iran can’t be trusted to abide by any deal that it might sign, Trump rejected the warning and replied, “We’ll see if it’s possible. Let’s give it a shot.”

Putting the Squeeze on Iran’s Biggest Oil Customer

Ravad’s White House sources said that Trump’s plans to increase the pressure on Iran’s economy involve enforcing the existing export sanctions on the 80% of Iran’s oil that it currently sells to China by threatening to raise tariffs on all of China’s exports to the U.S. if its oil purchases from Iran continue. The income from those sales currently provides Iran with much of its foreign income. If China responds to the tariff threat by curtailing its oil purchases from Iran, it would put Iran’s already failing economy into even more dire straits.

Netanyahu’s warning to Trump that the Iranians cannot be trusted was confirmed last week by another Israel Hayom story by Danny Zakem, which revealed that Iran has already deceived Trump and the United States at least twice since the crisis began. The first deception was the assurances that Trump received from Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi that the mass execution of Iranian protesters had been stopped, which was the reason that President Trump gave for not launching an immediate attack on Iran in order to protect the protesters. On January 14, Trump announced that in response to his public promise that “help” was on the way for the protesters, “We were told that the killing in Iran has stopped and there is no plan for executions, or for an execution, or for executions — that’s what I was told based on reliable authority.”

Iran Is Still Executing Protesters but Doing It in Secret

However, Israel Hayom reports that “according to intelligence information that reached several intelligence agencies in the West, including the Mossad and the British and German agencies, the executions continued, but efforts were made to conceal them. Instead of hanging protesters who were caught in city squares, they were shot or strangled in custody, and their families were told they died in the protests, even though there is evidence they were arrested alive.” The Israel Hayom story also said that reports are still being received in the West claiming that the protests and demonstrations breaking out in Iran’s rural cities are still being suppressed by the Tehran regime, and that the mass arrests of suspected protesters across the country are ongoing.

The Jerusalem Post published a report last week from an unnamed Iranian doctor claiming that agents of the Islamic regime have been entering Iranian hospitals to murder wounded protesters and to arrest the medical personnel who have been treating them. According to Dr. “R,” whose name was withheld in the report for security reasons, “many [hospital] patients were found dead on their treatment beds, still attached to [medical] machines, with bullet holes in their heads.”

Israel Hayom has also reported that the original message to the U.S. from Iran’s Islamic regime, which was conveyed through Turkey and claimed that Iran was prepared “for [a] comprehensive discussion of all disputes,” was deliberately deceiving. According to diplomatic sources, when the Americans then demanded further details on the offer, “Iran confirmed it would agree to discuss not only the nuclear issue, but also long-range missiles and the support and maintenance of [the] terror organizations dependent on it, [including Hezbollah, the Houthis, Hamas, and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad].”

According to the Israel Hayom report, when the United States first agreed to Turkey’s request to open negotiations with Iran, the Islamic regime then demanded the withdrawal of the military forces that the U.S. had recently deployed in the region. That demand only infuriated Trump and prompted him to dispatch even more American naval and air reinforcements to the region.

Iran’s Bait-and-Switch Negotiating Tactics

Finally, when American negotiators Witkoff and Kushner arrived in Oman for the first meeting, they were informed that Iran’s foreign minister Araghchi had only been authorized by his government to discuss the nuclear issue, and even there, Iran’s position had significantly hardened since its initial request for negotiations. When the American negotiators then threatened to break off the talks, Aragchi promised that he would come to this week’s meeting in Geneva with a broader mandate for discussions. But the Americans then insisted that the negotiations would only continue if Iran agreed to discuss all of the issues that they had raised, including Iran’s ballistic missiles, its support for terrorism, and its violent suppression of protesters.

When Trump was asked at a press conference shortly after he met with Netanyahu on February 11 whether the arguments presented by the Israeli prime minister had changed his mind about the negotiations with Iran, the president said, “Iran must reach a deal; otherwise, it will be very traumatic for them [and] I don’t want that to happen.”

When a reporter asked Trump whether Netanyahu had asked him to cancel the talks with Iran, the president replied, “He didn’t say that,” and that the subject was not discussed. Trump then added that “I’ll [talk] to them [Iran] as long as like.”

Trump Is Looking for a Quick Deal With Iran, With No Delays

Trump also predicted that, “There will probably be a deal [sometime] within the next month. It shouldn’t take a long time,” and then warned ominously that, “They [Iran] need to agree very quickly.”

With regard to the American demands in the negotiations, Trump said that Iran must agree to totally give up the enrichment of uranium and show that they are willing to place the necessary restrictions on their nuclear program.

When a reporter then asked Trump whether he thought that Netanyahu, as the prime minister of Israel, was responsible for the failure to anticipate Hamas’ October 7 surprise attack, Trump responded that all of Israel’s leaders bore that responsibility.

Trump then changed the subject by criticizing Israel’s President Yitzchok Herzog for rejecting Trump’s request that he issue a presidential pardon to Netanyahu. The prime minister has been on trial in Israel since May 2000 on three politically controversial charges of corruption. But Trump has publicly praised Netanyahu as an Israeli war hero, and said that Herzog “should be ashamed of himself,” and called him “disgraceful [for] not giving it [the pardon].”

One of the White House sources told Axios reporter Ravad that, “We are sober and realistic about [trusting] the Iranians. The ball is in their court. If it is not a real deal, we will not take it,” while the second official told Ravad, more pessimistically, that he thinks there is “zero chance” that Iran will agree to anything the U.S. proposes or vice versa.

Ravad also reported that the next session of talks between the U.S. and Iranian negotiators, moderated by the Omani foreign minister, would be held in Geneva this week on Tuesday.

When Trump was asked about Ravad’s report on the next negotiating meeting, he told Axios, “Either we will make a deal [with Iran], or we will have to do something very tough like last time [referring to the B-2 stealth bomber attack on Iran last June].”

U.S. Distributing Starlink Internet Terminals to Iranian Protesters

When the president was asked if he supports regime change in Iran, Trump replied, “It seems like that would be the best thing that could happen,” and, according to a Wall Street Journal report, the Trump administration has started smuggling roughly 6,000 portable Starlink internet terminals into Iran to give civilians seeking regime change unfettered access to each other and international communications. The Starlink systems will keep working even if Iran’s Islamic regime decides to cut off public access to land-based internet and telephone lines when the next anti-regime street protests break out, as it did during the January demonstrations.

The covert distribution of the Starlink equipment to anti-regime protesters in Iran began after a conversation last month between Elon Musk, the owner of Starlink, and President Trump. The Starlink system is impervious to most jamming techniques because it depends on the transmission of multi-gigahertz frequency radio signals to and from its own network of low-orbit Earth satellites. While Starlink does not offer telephone service directly to its subscribers, they can use its internet signal to access WiFi calling on most smartphones or popular phone-enabled applications such as WhatsApp or Skype.

While the private ownership of a Starlink satellite terminal is illegal in Iran, it is believed that tens of thousands of Iranian citizens already own the systems in order to maintain contact with each other and to share information with other like-minded people around the world, outside the control of government-operated internet firewalls or censors.

Turkey’s Foreign Minister Advocating for Iran

Meanwhile, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, who helped to set up the negotiations between the U.S. and Iran, told Britain’s Financial Times that both sides are showing encouraging initial signs of flexibility regarding a new agreement on Iran’s nuclear program.

Fidan said he believes that the government in Tehran “genuinely wants to reach a real agreement” and will agree to reasonable limits on its uranium enrichment activities. As a result, he said, “right now, at least, there does not appear to be an immediate threat of war.”

Publicly, Iran demands international recognition of its right to continue enriching uranium to 3.67% purity, for use as fuel in civilian nuclear reactors, as a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Iran also rejects demands for the removal of its illicit stockpile of 60% highly enriched uranium.

However, Fidan said that, at least initially, Iran would be prepared to discuss two issues, the extent of uranium enrichment it will be permitted to continue, and what is to be done with its more than 900 pounds of 60% enriched uranium, which, when further enriched to 90% purity, could be used to build up to 10 nuclear weapons.

The Turkish foreign minister also warned that if the United States continues with its “all of nothing” approach, and insists on expanding the scope of the talks to Iran’s ballistic missiles, its support for terrorism, and its treatment of Iranian protesters, it “will bring nothing but another war.”

The New York Times has also reported that Ali Larijani, the secretary of the Iranian National Security Council, recently proposed during a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin to transfer Iran’s stockpile of 60% uranium to Russia for safekeeping.

In an interview with the BBC on Sunday, Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi said that Iran is prepared to discuss new limitations on its nuclear program, but only if the U.S. is ready to lift all of the sanctions on its economy and not try to raise other issues, such as its ballistic missiles. “The ball is in America’s court to prove that they want to do a deal.” Takht-Ravanchi said, ‘[And] sanctions have to also be on the table.”

He added that the first round of talks in Oman went “more or less in a positive direction, but it is too early to judge,” and added that with respect to the fate of Iran’s stockpile of 60% enriched uranium, “it was too early to say what will happen in the course of negotiations.”

Iran Demanding the Right to Enrich Uranium and Keep Its Missiles

The Iranian diplomat also cited a recent statement made by the chief of Iran’s nuclear program last week that Iran might be willing to dilute the highly enriched uranium, reducing its concentration to 3.67% concentrated permitted by the nuclear non-proliferation treaty in return for all of the sanctions on its economy being lifted, but insisted that Iran must be permitted to continue enriching uranium at the lower level. The “issue of zero enrichment is not an issue anymore, and as far as Iran is concerned, it is not on the table anymore,” he declared.

He also said that Iran needed to keep its ballistic missile arsenal for self-defense against another attack like the one last June and recalled that, “When we were attacked by Israelis and Americans, our missiles came to our rescue, so how can we accept depriving ourselves of our defensive capabilities?”

The Iranian diplomat also complained that his country is hearing mixed messages from President Trump about his intentions. On the one hand, he said, “We are hearing that they are interested in negotiations. They have said it publicly; they have said it in private conversations through [the mediator in] Oman that they are interested in having these matters resolved peacefully.”

However, on the other hand, the deputy foreign minister also cited Trump’s answer to a reporter’s question in which he welcomed the possibility of regime change in Iran as “the best thing that could happen,” and warned that, “If we feel this is an existential threat, we will respond accordingly. It is not wise to even think about such a very dangerous scenario because the whole region will be in a mess.”

Takht-Ravanchi concluded by noting that, “We see an almost unanimous agreement in the region against war. We are hopeful we can do this through diplomacy, although we can’t be 100 percent sure. We will do our best, but the other side also has to prove that they are also sincere.”

Meanwhile, the nuclear weapons proliferation experts at the Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security report that, according to satellite surveillance imaging, over the past month, Iran has been trying to rebuild and fortify against attack the nuclear sites in Natanz and Isfahan that were destroyed last June by U.S. B-2 bombers and Israeli warplanes.

Netanyahu Reveals What He Told Trump About Iran

During a speech he delivered Sunday in Yerushalayim to a group of visiting Presidents Conference leaders, Prime Minister Netanyahu revealed that he told Trump last week what must be included in any deal with Iran that would be sufficient to avoid the need for another attack from the U.S. and Israel:

“I said that if a deal is to be reached, it should have several components that we believe are important not only for the security of Israel, but [also] for the security of the United States, the region, [and] the world,” Netanyahu told the visiting American Jewish organizational heads.

“The first is that all enriched material [uranium] has to leave Iran.

“The second is that there shall be no [Iranian] enrichment capability; not just stopping the enrichment process, but [also] dismantling the equipment and the infrastructure that allow enrichment in the first place.”

“The third is to address the question of ballistic missiles. There’s an MTCR [Missile Technology Control Regime international agreement with a] limitation [on maximum range for missiles] of 300 kilometers [about 200 miles], and Iran is supposed to adhere to it. Of course, it doesn’t, as the Rising Lion Operation [last June’s 12-day U.S.-Israeli war against Iran] itself demonstrates, [and] as everybody knows.”

“And the fourth is to dismantle the axis of terror that Iran has built. It’s been smashed, but it’s still there; it’s trying to recover, as Iran itself is trying to do.”

“And the last thing,” Netanyahu said, “is remember Ronald Reagan’s dictum vis-a-vis the Soviet Union? Trust but verify. Distrust, distrust, and always verify. So there have to be real inspections, substantive inspections, no lead-time inspections, but effective inspections for all of the above.”

When the U.S. Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, addressed the same President’s Conference audience in Yerushalayim, he expressed his own doubts that “the Iranians will ever agree to something that would cause them to lay down any ambitions of nuclear weaponry.”

“At some point,” Huckabee added,” the United States needs to say: enough is enough. We’re not going to continue to believe that [Iran] is ever going to be different from what they are. And it’s time for them to either make a radical change of their point of view and their direction, or [face the consequences].”

While Huckabee conceded that Trump has made it clear that another attack on Iran is “not his first choice. . . his absolute desire [is] to make sure that they do not continue to wreak havoc in the world.”

He also emphasized that the U.S. and Israel are “absolutely aligned in our understanding that Iran has to be dealt with and it cannot continue as it is. They cannot remain a nuclear threat. They cannot continue to build extraordinary surpluses of ballistic missiles and aim them, not just at Israel, but also at the rest of the world.”

Those Who Know Trump Best Trust His Judgment

Netanyahu’s speech to the Presidents Conference was also significant for what it did not contain. The prime minister had no criticism at all of President Trump or his decision to exhaust the possibilities of negotiating an agreement with the Iranian regime before issuing the order to U.S. military forces in the area to attack Iran.

In addition, CBS News reported over the weekend that U.S. military and intelligence agencies are now busy planning how to fulfill a promise that President Trump made to Netanyahu during their previous meeting at Trump’s Florida Mar-a-Lago home in December. Trump reportedly pledged at the time that if diplomatic efforts fail to reach a new U.S. deal with Iran, the U.S. would do everything it could, short of attacking Iran itself, to support a new round of Israeli air strikes on Iran’s ballistic missile program.

Meanwhile, some Israeli commentators do not share Netanyahu’s confidence in Trump’s ability to get the best of the Iranians at the negotiating table. However, Jason Greenblatt, who was the executive vice president and chief legal officer of the Trump Organization before serving for three years as a White House negotiator during Trump’s first term, has every confidence in the president’s unique negotiating skills.

Greenblatt wrote in an opinion piece published in the Arab News in Saudi Arabia, that when it comes to his negotiating strategy, “No one knows what is in President Donald Trump’s head, and that is by design. Revealing his strategy would forfeit leverage, eliminate surprise, and weaken negotiations before they even begin.”

In Trump’s case, Greenblatt believes, “Strategic ambiguity is not confusion. It is strength.”

Many predicted he would strike Iran quickly [after the demonstrations broke out in Iran]. “I did not,” Greenblatt wrote. “Weeks ago, I wrote that he would first test whether diplomacy could work — real diplomacy, aimed at real results. Not another paper promise that looks good in headlines and collapses in practice [like] the last deal [with Iran in 2015].”

Greenblatt has every confidence that Trump will push for an agreement with Iran that “is verifiable, enforceable, and immediate. One that addresses Iran’s growing missile capabilities and regional aggression. . . [as well as] the threat to Israel and to America’s Arab allies. . . [that] if left unchecked, will only grow far more dangerous.”

Greenblatt has only the greatest respect for Trump’s motivations and capabilities. He writes, “Trump seeks peace and prosperity. That is what drives him. He is, at heart, a dealmaker. . . Trump has rebuilt American strength and is unafraid to use it. He negotiates from power, not apology. Over 23 years, I watched him close deals that so-called experts dismissed as fantasy. He does not accept conventional limits.

“No one should fault him for exhausting every peaceful option before choosing the hard path. . . If there is a responsible way to avoid war, a president must pursue it. That does not mean Trump is being played. He recognizes deception. He senses bad faith. If negotiations become a charade, he will know. Quickly.”

Greenblatt is also confident that in the end, if Trump “ultimately concludes that force is necessary, or that supporting Israel in war is unavoidable, he will do so knowing he explored every alternative.”

Trump’s Military Buildup Continues

Meanwhile, last Thursday, President Trump ordered the U.S. Navy to dispatch its newest nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, and the other vessels in its strike group, to join the USS Abraham Lincoln and its strike group in Middle East waters, “in case there isn’t a deal” reached in the current negotiations to avoid another U.S. military attack on Iran.

The Gerald R. Ford and its strike group had been on patrol in Caribbean waters since October. The ships provided air support for the successful January 3 raid by U.S. commandos, which captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife at a military compound in the capital city of Caracas and brought them to New York to stand trial in federal court for bringing large quantities of illegal drugs into the United States.

As part of the U.S. military buildup for a possible attack on Iran, the Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, is now being protected from a possible Iranian missile attack by Patriot air defense systems, and that recent satellite images show the presence at the base of a U.S. Air Force RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft, three Hercules transport planes, 18 KC-135 refueling aircraft and seven C-17 transport aircraft.

Satellite surveillance images reveal the recent arrival at the Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan of 17 American F-15 fighter jets, eight A-10 ground attack aircraft, four Hercules transports, four helicopters, and four EA-18G Growler electronic warfare aircraft. Additional U.S. aircraft have also been spotted at the Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia, and at the large air base on the Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia that the U.S. shares with British armed forces.

Taken all together, the ships and planes that Trump has recently moved into waters within striking distance of Iran now comprise one-third of the U.S. Navy’s global capabilities.

Israel Hayom has reported that Israeli officials are “concerned about Iran’s progress in restoring its ballistic missile stockpiles and capabilities to their pre-12-day war levels.” According to an Israeli intelligence assessment, without an armed intervention against Iran, it could assemble an arsenal threatening Israel with “between 1,800 and 2,000 ballistic missiles within weeks.”

In response, Israeli defense firms have been busy restocking its arsenal of interceptor missiles which had been seriously depleted by the Iranian mass missile strikes during last June’s war, while the IDF’s missile defense command has been working to apply the lessons learned during the war, to counter the tactics that Iran developed at the end of that war that enabled more of its missiles to get through Israel’s defenses.

Why Did the White House Downplay Netanyahu’s Latest Visit?

President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu have been happy to publicize their close partnership in the past. However, the Israeli leader’s most recent visit to Washington, primarily to discuss the negotiations with Iran, which was hastily rescheduled, was deliberately downplayed by the White House. Their meeting in the Oval Office on Wednesday, February 11, was closed to the media, in sharp contrast to the handling of Netanyahu’s previous visits.

Aside from general statements indicating that the talks between Trump and Netanyahu went well, public comments by other administration officials about their discussions behind closed doors concerning Iran were extremely limited.

Trump did not offer reporters the familiar photo opportunity of him greeting Netanyahu upon his arrival at the White House as friends, nor was there the usual joint press conference after their Oval Office meeting.

Netanyahu’s visit to the U.S. was extremely brief. Not only did he forgo the usual briefing for the members of the Israeli media who were traveling with him, but he also skipped the opportunity to be interviewed by American news outlets. In total, Netanyahu spent only 30 hours on the ground in the United States, enabling his plane to take off for the return trip to Israel in time for him to arrive before Shabbos began there.

Ariel Kahana, a commentator for Israel Hayom, has speculated that perhaps Trump did not want to raise concerns among his MAGA supporters and the rest American people that he and Netanyahu were conducting a “war council,” and were about to involve the United States in another war in the Middle East. Or perhaps Trump did not want to convey the impression that his decisions about U.S. policy towards Iran are being influenced too strongly by the views of the Israeli prime minister.

In a social media post following his White House meeting with Netanyahu, Trump wrote that “nothing definitive” about Iran had been decided and that he had “insisted that negotiations with Iran continue,” and that if those negotiations fail to reach an agreement, “we will just have to see what the outcome will be,” implying that another U.S. military attack on Iran was still a real possibility.

Netanyahu’s comments immediately following his White House meeting with Trump were even more cryptic, saying only that the prime minister had “emphasized Israel’s security needs in the context of the negotiations” between the U.S. and Iran without providing any specifics.

Why Trump and His Team Can Be Trusted to Stand Up to Iran

The anti-Trumpers who say that Trump will not press Iran for concessions on issues other than its nuclear program overlook Trump’s comment in a recent Fox News interview that “we have to deal with the missiles and everything else [that is of concern about Iran’s policies].”

Kahana added, “The positions over the years of Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Trump himself regarding Iran are well-known. Anyone who believes they have suddenly [been] transformed into Barack Obama or [former Biden Secretary of State] Antony Blinken does not understand the players involved.”

Perhaps the best explanation for the current relatively low-key recent handling of the Iran issue by the White House was offered by Louisiana’s Republican senator, John Kennedy. After emerging from a meeting with President Trump last week, Kennedy said that the president would “honor his commitments to [bring help to] the Iranian people,” but stressed that this required “a careful strategy, not hasty actions.” Kennedy suggested that the latest Israeli intelligence on Iran, which Netanyahu no doubt conveyed to Trump during their most recent meeting, had helped the two leaders to clarify their current military options with regard to Iran.

Aside from references to the large “armada” of U.S. Navy warships that he has assembled within striking distance of Iran, President Trump has said very little about the kind of attack that his military advisers are planning against Iran, except that it “will be far worse” than the powerful air strikes that destroyed three of Iran’s underground nuclear facilities last June, and that “time is running out” for Iran to agree to a deal that would prevent such an attack.

Senator Kennedy’s hawkish views towards Iran are also known to be shared by his Republican colleague from South Carolina, Senator Lindsay Graham, who has been publicly supporting Netanyahu’s calls for bold U.S. action against Iran for years, and has spent a lot of time recently as Trump’s guest at the president’s Mar-a-Lago home in Florida.

Trump Urged to Strike Now When Iran Is at Its Weakest

During his visit to the annual Munich Security Conference in Germany last Friday, Graham said in an interview with CNN that he believes the U.S. and its allies must take advantage of the current opportunity to promote regime change in Iran, because its leaders “are the weakest they’ve been since 1979.

“It is a regime with American blood on its hands,” Graham explained. “It is a great disruptor of the region. It’s a religious theocracy that, if they could get a nuclear weapon, they would use it to advance their religious goals, which are three. Purify Islam, destroy the Jewish state, and come after us [the United States].

“Hitler wrote [in] a book [that] he wanted to kill all the Jews. Nobody believed him. I believe the Ayatollah and his regime — [but] not the Iranian people — are religious fanatics, religious Nazis. Hitler wanted a master race. They want a master religion.”

When asked by CNN whether he was advocating regime change in Iran, Graham confirmed, “Yes, I am. Totally. If you’re not, you’re crazy. . . If we back out now, it’ll be the biggest mistake we’ve made.

“Here’s the ‘day after’ I worry the most about,” Graham said. “The day after we blinked [in our confrontation with Iran]. The day after we made promises that we didn’t keep. We made assurances that fell short. That day after is generational damage. Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis — they don’t go away. They come back stronger. . . The day after, if we get it right, the mother ship of terrorism [Iran] goes down. Hamas, the Houthis, Hezbollah — they’ve lost their biggest benefactor.”

During a visit to Israel this week, Senator Graham told a press conference in Tel Aviv that a decision by President Trump on whether or not to order another U.S. attack on Iran is just “weeks, not months” away, and that one of the reasons behind his visit was “to reassure the Israeli people there is no light” between the U.S. and Israel on the issue of Iran.

Also, while Graham admitted that “the risk of regime change is real. There are unknowns. But [also] let me just say this, I’m willing to take that risk.”

Meanwhile, as the new round of negotiations between the U.S. and Iran plays out, the Israeli military has been busy reinforcing and updating its multi-layer missile defenses in anticipation of another round of Iranian missile attacks when the peace talks fail, as most Israeli leaders expect them to do.

Both Sides Planning for the Next War

With Iran’s nuclear program believed to be still in disarray following the devastating American bombing attacks on its main nuclear facilities last June, Iran’s surviving ballistic missile arsenal is its most effective remaining weapon. Israeli officials believe that if another war does break out, Iran will try to overwhelm Israel’s advanced missile defenses with the sheer volume of its long-range ballistic missile salvos, a strategy which proved to be more effective during the final days of last June’s war.

If another war breaks out with Iran, one of the main missions of the warplanes aboard the two American aircraft carriers and the missile-launching destroyers accompanying them in Middle Eastern waters, will be to help shoot down the expected barrages of Iranian ballistic missiles and drones aimed at Israel, and at bases where American troops are stationed in Jordan, Kuwait, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

It is also supposed that some of their strikes would target Iran’s vulnerable energy infrastructure, which is vital to its export economy.

According to Massoud Nili, who served as an economic minister in several previous Iranian governments, 85% of Iran’s energy resources are concentrated in a very small geographic area, specifically the South Pars oil field located just offshore in the Persian Gulf, and Kharg Island, which serves as Iran’s primary oil export terminal.

In addition, Nili said, other major sections of Iran’s economy, such as its automobile and steel producing infrastructures, are equally vulnerable to attack, while other formerly productive sectors of Iran’s economy have been allowed to deteriorate, making the country much more dependent in recent years on massive imports of food, clothing, and more advanced products, such as electronics.

Iran Expected to Launch a Massive Missile Barrage Against Israel

In an interview with the Ynet website, Tal Inbar, an Israeli senior research fellow at the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance, said that Iran has not yet shown Israel its capability for “extremely massive fire” involving the simultaneous launching of many hundreds or even thousands of missiles. “But in a war in which the Iranian regime feels these are its final hours, it will fire everything it has,” Inbar predicted.

As a result, as the U.S. military continues to send more of its forces to the Middle East in anticipation of the next war with Iran, Israel’s multi-layer missile defense system remains on high alert, as its technicians continue to work to make it more effective. In a recent Ynet interview, an Iron Dome missile defense battery commander, identified as Major N., said, “The current versions of Iron Dome are not what they were during Operation Rising Lion [last June]. In this arms race with Iran, we’ve changed quite a bit in recent months through the constant implementation of many lessons learned.”

That is why Inbar believes that if the United States does initiate the attack on Iran next time, it will begin with a military operation designed to prevent, as much as possible, Iran’s ability to launch such a massive missile attack by, for example, launching “a barrage of hundreds of cruise missiles [aimed at] various [missile] launch sites in Iran.”

“For most of the past month,” Major N. continued, “we’ve focused mainly on training — not just in simulators but also in the field, including live-fire drills simulating threat interceptions. We debrief everything, successes and failures alike, in a long marathon of learning. It’s safe to assume the next round will be different on the other side as well. When the moment comes, our soldiers will be ready,” Major N. declared.

Israel’s missile defense system consists of three layers, including Iron Dome, which is effective for stopping short-range missiles and artillery, David’s Sling, for medium-range missiles, and the Arrow 2 and Arrow 3 systems, which are designed to stop long-range and advanced, multi-warhead guided missiles.

Thanks to constant improvements by Israeli technicians since the Iron Dome system first became operational fifteen years ago, Israel’s missile interception rate has risen to about 90%. The system’s greatest vulnerability is that it relies on a limited stockpile of interceptor rockets to shoot down incoming missiles, which means that Israel’s supply of interceptors could be exhausted if the war lasts for too long, or the defense system could be overwhelmed if Iran launches enough missiles at the same target in Israel simultaneously.

Israel’s Long‑Term Answer to Iran’s Missile Threat

To deal with that problem, the IDF has recently deployed the first effective laser-beam-based missile defense system, known as the Iron Beam. It runs entirely on electrical power and does not rely on missile interceptors, so it is much cheaper to operate than Israel’s other missile defense systems and will never run out of ammunition.

The current effectiveness of the Iron Beam is limited to the same targets as the Iron Dome system, namely short-range rockets and artillery shells. However, as the laser technology of the Iron Beam is further developed, it is expected to make much of Iran’s ballistic missile arsenal obsolete.

In the meantime, each of Israel’s separate missile defense systems can operate on its own effectively, Major N. said, “but we are far better together — and that’s a key part of the training. We learned on October 7 that no enemy can be underestimated, and we know how to adapt ourselves to any [situation].”

Ultimately, Israel’s security is in the Hands of Hashem, and we all join in tefillah that Hashem will have mercy on His people.

You’re walking on a dark road. Darkness behind you, and an endless dark ribbon of road unwinding ahead. Onward you plod, wearily. Holding on not so much to hope, as to the memory of it.

Suddenly, there’s a change in the unrelieved black. Far ahead, you see a light. It’s only a pinprick in the night. A glimmering. But it’s enough to infuse your tired legs with new vigor, and your tired heart with new strength.

The world makes a big fuss over the dramatic. Fireworks that ignite the sky with light and color. Parades and extravaganzas, the clang of cymbals and the clash of arms. These things fill our senses, grab our attention, and linger on in oft-told stories.

Looking over the landscape of our lives, though, those aren’t the only memories we cherish. Often, it’s the little things. Even the tiny things.

Like pinpricks of light in a landscape drowned in darkness.

*****

When the world used to be a slower and quieter place, a person could, as the saying goes, hear him­self think. If an idea came into your head, you could observe it, study it, listen to what it had to say. This is much harder to do when you and the rest of human­ity are plugged into the incessant noise of modern living.

How many potentially life altering ideas are shouted down by the noise of the world, instead of being attended to and perhaps acted upon? We’ll never know. Not every idea should be acted upon, of course. But I can’t help feeling that gems may be slipping through our fingers and falling sound­lessly out of sight, all because we couldn’t stop long enough to pay attention to them.

Sometimes the thought or idea being disregard­ed belongs to a child. It’s only natural to move past them with a certain amount of impatience. Childish ideas aren’t worth all that much, right?

That may be so. But having someone take the trouble to listen to them, and perhaps answer in all seriousness, can do wonders for the child. It shows him that he doesn’t have to shout to be heard. He doesn’t have to “act out” to be attended to.

Most of all, it shows him that his thoughts, un­formed as they still are, have value. As does he. In a world rife with low self-esteem, this is a vital mes­sage for a child to absorb.

*****

Sometimes we experience an impulse to do some­thing good. We’re taught that Hashem rewards such

impulses even if circumstances ulti­mately prevent us from carrying them out. But sometimes the impulse doesn’t get anywhere near the “doing” stage. It dies stillborn, simply because we aren’t sufficiently attuned to them.

When we’re overconnected to the world outside us, we can end up cut­ting ourselves off from… ourselves. Thoughts, feelings, good intentions flit across the screen of our minds, only to drop off the radar scarcely noticed. Why? Because they aren’t like the blazing light bulb often associated with a great idea.

They tiptoe instead of crash into our consciousness. Hardly more than a bill­board hardly noticed along the speeding highway of our packed lives. Something glimpsed momentarily across the busy concourse of our minds. A fleeting thing which, if we don’t reach out and catch it, slips away out of sight.

How many wonderful opportuni­ties slip away like that, just because they don’t announce themselves loudly enough?

*****

Casual friendships can thrive on noisy interactions, plenty of laughter and non-stop activity. But the deeper and more important a relationship is, the more it needs pockets of quiet. So that we can hear one another.

Far away from the blaze of the pub­lic spotlight, we can sometimes catch a glimmering of something new in some­one close to us. Something that we didn’t know about or notice before. The hint of a feeling they never had the courage to express. A whisper of a caring they were afraid to betray. Or a resentment they need to share to erase.

It’s so easy to miss such things in the hurley-burley of our days. If we choose, we can be on the move eighteen hours a day, faithfully chasing our to-do lists before collapsing for some much-need­ed sleep and then starting the whole thing all over again.

Don’t get me wrong: I’m all for to-do lists. They’re important, and so is cross­ing items off those lists on a regular basis. But so is sitting still. So is watch­ing and listening in tranquility to those closest to us. There’s no need for long speeches or profound insights. Some­times it’s enough, more than enough, to simply be present.

So that, when a light flashes briefly out of the darkness, we’ll be there to see it.

*****

Once in a long while, we experience a truly uplifting moment. A moment of true attachment to the meaning and purpose of our lives. A stab of profound love for our Father, of deep reverence for our King. A moment of real connection.

Such moments can be ecstatic. They can also be rare, because true connec­tion takes time to develop. Like a slow-simmering stew where the flavors meld and mingle over time, the manifold les­sons and experiences of our ongoing lives combine to help us achieve a more profound understanding of the world and our place in it. The kind of under­standing that leads to a deep and reality-based emotion we don’t experience of­ten enough.

Similarly, youngsters often have com­plaints against their parents for all the perceived deficiencies in their upbring­ing. It can take years, along with the ex­perience of being an adult and raising children ourselves, to help us achieve greater appreciation for both our par­ents’ challenges and their astounding heroism. Whatever love and gratitude we felt before pales in comparison to love and gratitude that’s based on such an understanding.

In a similar way, the love and ap­preciation we’re taught to feel toward Hakadosh Boruch Hu as small children should pale in comparison to the full-blown emotions we bring to the table as adults. In fact, it may be through our deepening gratitude toward our par­ents that we can find our way to a whole different level of thankfulness toward Hashem. It’s something to think about.

*****

There’s no question that life has its dark stretches. Times when we feel lost in a morass of trouble and tension. When one problem piles on top of the other, until all we can see are looming threats that surround us like the shadows of a nighttime forest.

For a while, all seems black. But then, if we pay close attention, we see some­thing wonderful. That difficult child has an unexpectedly peaceful reaction to something that used to inevitably set him off. That recalcitrant student raises her hand and wants to be a part of things. The issue that you and your spouse have been dealing with finally responds to all that hard work by becoming suddenly less burdensome.

If you hadn’t been fully invested, fully present, fully attentive, you might have missed it. But you were, and you get to see it: a light in the darkness.

It may be only a pinprick. Nothing more than a faint glimmering on the ho­rizon. But it’s enough to feed the always hungry thing in our hearts called hope.

And it’s enough to keep that hope alive until, however long it takes, the forest of trouble melts away, and the sun comes up again.

This week’s parsha opens with the words, “Ve’aileh hamishpotim asher tosim lifneihem – These are the laws that you shall place before them.”

Rabi Akiva, in the Mechilta, hears in these words not merely a command to teach, but a lesson in how Torah must be transmitted. Tosim lifneihem, he explains, does not mean to present information in the abstract, but to lay it out like a shulchan aruch, a fully prepared table, arranged with care, clarity, and invitation. Torah is not meant to be delivered as raw data, but as nourishment: accessible, enticing, and alive.

Great teachers exhaust themselves in pursuit of this ideal. They labor not only to know Torah, but to serve it, presenting it with flavor, with structure, with an inner music that allows the student not merely to learn, but to taste and appreciate. A good rebbi does not speak at his talmidim. He sets a table before them and invites them into a feast.

One such rebbi was Rav Mendel Kaplan. His shiur was not simply a classroom. It was an atmosphere. We did not merely absorb Torah from him. We breathed it in. He fed us a wide menu of spiritual food, equipping us not only with knowledge, but with the tools to interpret the world beyond the walls of the bais medrash. Headlines became texts, and world events became commentaries, refracted through the prism of Torah until their deeper meanings emerged.

There is a story told of a villager in the legendary town of Chelm who returned home from shul one Shabbos and repeated the rov’s sermon to his wife.

“The rov says that Moshiach may come very soon,” he told her, “and he will take us all to Eretz Yisroel.”

His wife wrung her hands in distress. “But what will be with our chickens? Who will feed them? How will we live?”

The husband stroked his beard thoughtfully. “You know, life here is hard. The goyim harass us, we are poor, the roof leaks, and our feet freeze all winter. Maybe it will be better there.”

She thought for a moment, and then her face lit up. “I have a solution,” she said. “We’ll ask Hashem to send the goyim to Eretz Yisroel – and we’ll stay here with the chickens.”

We smile at the foolishness of Chelm, but too often, we are no different. We live inside history, yet fail to read it. We experience events, but miss their meaning. We mistake warning signs for noise, and blessings for burdens. We assume we understand the world, when in truth we need teachers – living meforshim – to explain to us what is really happening between the lines of the newspaper.

Chazal tell us: “Why was the mountain called Sinai? Because from it descended sinah – hatred.” From the moment the Torah was given and the Jewish people became a nation with a mission, a new force entered the world, a relentless, irrational hostility that would accompany us until the arrival of Moshiach.

This hatred is not merely a historical artifact. It is not confined to ancient exile or medieval blood libels. It is alive. It breathes. It mutates. It adapts to each generation’s language and technology.

The world recently marked the 81st anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. Much has changed since those dark years. Entire institutions were built to ensure that such horrors would never return. And yet, the ancient sinah remains intact, resurfacing in new forms, under new banners, with old obsessions. Jews are mocked, judged by double standards, and vilified. The very state created as a refuge from hatred has become a magnet for it.

Anti-Semitism rises not only in Europe, but in America. Digital platforms amplify it, spread it, and normalize it. What once required mobs now needs only algorithms.

Rashi tells us that Yisro came to join the Jewish people after hearing about Krias Yam Suf and Milchemes Amaleik. The meforshim explain that these events conveyed not only how deeply Hashem loves the Jewish people, but how intensely the nations of the world oppose them. Yisro recognized the paradox at the heart of Jewish existence – to be beloved by Hashem and resisted by history. He understood that truth itself provokes opposition, and that the more transformative the truth, the more violently it is resisted.

When Albert Einstein introduced relativity, the scientific world initially mocked him. A book titled One Hundred Scientists Against Einstein appeared. When asked about it, Einstein reportedly shrugged and said, “If I were really wrong, why would one not be enough?” He understood what Jews have always known: Truth does not generate mild disagreement. It generates disproportionate fury.

From Har Sinai onward, the Jewish people have lived inside that fury.

After World War I, the League of Nations was created to ensure peace. After World War II, the United Nations rose from the ashes of Auschwitz, pledging that tyranny would never again be allowed to flourish. After 9/11, world leaders announced a new era with a global war on terror, a united front against evil.

And yet, history keeps repeating itself, not because of a lack of institutions, but because of a surplus of illusion. They did not factor in apathy. They did not factor in corruption. They did not factor in moral exhaustion. They did not factor in hatred.

Everything now moves at a blistering pace. Wars begin, fade, and are replaced before their consequences are understood. Iraq, Afghanistan, Russia, China, Iran – each crisis dissolves into the next.

The world feels unstable, yet we continue our routines as though nothing is hanging above us.

The sword is suspended – and we discuss the wallpaper.

As anti-Semitism intensifies and the old sinah resurfaces, we argue over trivialities, chase distractions, and obsess over matters of little weight. We scroll while history groans.

Perhaps, a place to begin is with what we allow into our minds and homes. Since the invention of print, ideas have traveled disguised as information. Newspapers and books have always been vehicles for more than news. They are carriers of values, assumptions, and worldviews. The Maskilim mastered this art, writing heresy in poetic Hebrew, quoting Chazal while emptying their teachings of meaning, as they mocked gedolim, rabbonim, lomdei Torah, and shomrei Torah umitzvos. Generations were torn away not by open rebellion, but by subtle infiltration.

Words are never neutral. They shape taste. They train perception. They define what feels normal.

That is why those who write, teach, and speak bear responsibility under the same command: “Aileh hamishpotim asher tosim lifneihem.” What we place before others must be honest, just, and true – a table that nourishes, not poisons.

The Alter of Kelm taught that tosim lifneihem k’shulchan aruch means that real intelligence emerges only when learning has flavor. Depth is not dryness. Wisdom is not sterile. A melamed who teaches with clarity, elegance, and taste awakens in his students not only understanding, but desire and a hunger for more.

The difference between superficial knowledge and deep understanding is the difference between eating and tasting. One sustains life. The other transforms it.

The task of man, the Alter concludes, is to become truly intelligent – not clever, not informed, but wise.

That wisdom begins with refusing to settle for shallow readings of Torah or of life. It demands that we study more deeply, interpret more honestly, and live more consciously. It requires that we understand not only what is happening around us, but also what it is asking of us.

We must speak more truthfully, treat people more carefully, and live in a way that creates kiddush Hashem rather than its opposite.

The Meshech Chochmah, in one of his classic elucidations, writes in his sefer on last week’s parsha that the Jews merited the many miracles Hakadosh Boruch Hu performed for them upon leaving Mitzrayim even though they were still entangled with avodah zorah because their middos and interpersonal conduct were refined. But in generations whose people speak lashon hora, quarrel, and act without derech eretz and sensitivity, Hashem removes His Shechinah from their midst, as He did at the time of the Second Bais Hamikdosh. Even though the people were engaged in Torah study and observance, nevertheless, because there was sinas chinom – hatred – among them, the Bais Hamikdosh was destroyed.

I saw in a new sefer by Rav Yitzchok Kolodetsky something both amazing and frightening that Rav Chaim Greineman would relate from his father, Rav Shmuel Greineman, brother-in-law of the Chazon Ish. He would say that the Chazon Ish taught that the Holocaust came about as a result of sins bein adam lachaveiro, failures in how Jews treated each other.

When we look around us, when we contemplate what is happening in the world and wonder what we can do, what is demanded of us, and how we can help draw Moshiach closer, it would do us well to ponder the message the Chazon Ish and the Meshech Chochmah sent.

Parshas Yisro, in which the Torah discusses how Klal Yisroel was presented with the gift of the Aseres Hadibros and the Torah, is followed by Parshas Mishpotim, which we study this week. By arranging the parshiyos in this way, the Torah teaches us that to maintain the lofty levels reached at Har Sinai, we must properly follow the laws of Mishpotim, which deal with interpersonal conduct.

It is not sufficient to be on a high spiritual level intellectually and theoretically. We must match that with our actions and conduct. If we cut corners financially, if we are careless with another person’s dignity, and if we are not scrupulous in ensuring that we do not harm others financially, then we are lacking in fulfilling the obligations we accepted upon ourselves at Har Sinai.

In Parshas Mishpotim, Klal Yisroel reaches its highest moment when it declares, “Na’aseh v’nishma – We will do, and later we will hear and understand.” Action before comprehension. Commitment before clarity. A nation stepping into destiny with certainty, armed and motivated by faith.

May we merit to return to that summit, to toil in Torah, taste its depth, refine our character, and hear in the background of all we do the sounds of Sinai, so that we can raise ourselves and our people and bring us closer to the geulah sheleimah bekarov b’yomeinu. Amein.

This is a true story. Really. I can’t say that every single word transpired with one person, but certainly these things happened with a few people I know, and I am simply combining the points into one story. I am writing this story in the feminine, but it could just as easily be written in the masculine with different examples. Indeed, I am sure that many parents and many girls (and boys) can identify with these facts, or with similar ones. So, here is the story:

Leah stamped her foot in frustration. “Why is it so hard to be good, to do what Hashem wants? I really want to be good. I really want to be ehrlich. I want to do the right thing. But what should I do? I am human! I love ice cream (even though it makes me gain weight). I love hocking about school stuff (even though it includes a lot of unkind words about teachers, principals, and classmates). I really, really love nice, stylish clothing (and what’s in style might not always conform to hilchos tzniyus). Jewelry? Let’s not even go there. Okay, so the stuff I really want is way too expensive… But if I was rich? Look out!

“What should I do? Life is just so hard! I have so many things I like, so many things I want, and at the same time, I want to do what Hashem wants! But, but…what should I do? I am human! That is how Hashem made me.”

In a way, Leah has a very real, very legitimate point. Hashem has plenty of malachim in Shomayim. If Hashem had wanted to give the Torah to malachim, He certainly could have done so.

In fact, the Gemara in Maseches Shabbos teaches that when the malachim saw Moshe Rabbeinu coming to accept the Torah, they begged Hashem to keep the Torah in Shomayim, to give the Torah to them and not to human beings. What was Moshe Rabbeinu’s response? “It says in the Torah, ‘Honor your father and your mother.’ Do you have a father and a mother to honor? It says that it is forbidden to steal or engage in immoral conduct. Do you have a yeitzer hara for these things? Is there kinah, jealousy, among you?”

In one of his famous songs, Rav Ephraim Wachsman passionately brings out Moshe Rabbeinu’s arguments to the malachim. “Malachim, malachim,” he cries out, “have you ever had a heart filled with kinah? Malachim, malachim, have your insides ever burned with sinah? Have you ever felt what it’s like to have a yeitzer hara who doesn’t leave you alone? Do you even know what it’s like to live far away from the Aibishter’s holy throne? Have you ever withstood a nisayon until you felt you were being torn apart? Have you ever gone through a tzarah? Have you ever had a broken heart?”

Hashem Gave the Torah to Us — Not to the Malachim

So yes, Leah does have a point. Hashem gave us a yeitzer hara. He incorporated all kinds of retzonos, wants, and needs into human nature. However, He also gave us the Torah.

The only mistake that Leah is making is assuming that the Torah and her retzonos are contradictory. She does not realize that the Torah itself offers her the tools and the wherewithal to deal with her very real desires and the difficulties that Hashem has not only put in her path, but has tailor-made just for her.

This is what the first posuk in this week’s parsha means when it says, “V’ailah hamishpotim asher tosim lifneihem — These are the laws that have been put before you.” Perhaps it can be said that the word lifneihem, “in front of them,” means “in front of the Yidden, not in front of the malachei hashareis.”

Hashem gave the Torah to the Yidden, not to the malachim. Hashem davka gave the laws of the Torah to us — to us humans who have failings. He specifically wanted us, human beings, who do have a yeitzer hara, to have the Torah.

This very fact should serve as a tremendous source of chizuk. At times, we become disheartened and perhaps even give in to despair, just like Leah. We may say, or at least think, “It is so difficult. Why does it have to be so hard?”

Therefore, a person must know and understand that, yes, he or she is a bosor vodom.

A person must also realize that Hashem davka created man with the constant tension of the guf “fighting” against the neshomah. Hashem did this on purpose, and that is why the Gemara teaches that “ein Hakadosh Boruch Hu ba b’trunya im briyosav — Hashem will not take us to task for something that is impossible for us to fulfill.”

The Antidote? Living a Life of Torah

So what can we do to make it doable — and enjoyable?

We all know the famous Gemara in Kiddushin that states, “Hashem created the yeitzer hara, but He created the Torah as its antidote.” Yes, a man learns Torah and that helps him overcome the pull of the yeitzer hara, and a woman or girl should live in accordance with the Torah, and that will serve as the antidote.

That said, it is clear that Hashem understands that at times we may fall. Yet, He has given us the kochos to elevate ourselves slowly, level by level. Not all at once, but very, very slowly. That is why last week’s parsha, Parshas Yisro, ends with the posuk that one should not ascend the mizbeiach on steps. The baalei mussar explain that this posuk is teaching us that one shouldn’t jump steps, madreigos. People should constantly elevate themselves, one step at a time, slowly and deliberately.

We Are Not Malachim — and We Shouldn’t Try to Jump to Become Them

We should not try to be instant malachim. First of all, it won’t work. But the real reason is that we are not malachim. We are human beings, who need to take things slowly.

Let’s continue with our apocryphal story.

It was one week later. Leah was in a shoe store and caught a glimpse of an absolutely adorable pair of shoes — the “I must have!” kind of shoes. She quickly asked the salesperson for a pair to try on. They fit like a glove, and they were so comfortable. There was only one problem: One of the colors in the shoe was loud and eye-catching, sort of fluorescent.

She felt like stamping her foot again as the internal battle began. “They are really, really cute! I have been searching for a cute, comfortable pair of shoes for so long! And they are even on sale! The bright color is just on a small part of the shoe. It is not so bad.”

The other voice in her head said, “But they are not quite tzniyusdig. How can I wear them? I really, really want to do what is right.”

“But they are soooo cute!”

Suddenly, it hit her. The lesson from Parshas Mishpotim. The lesson that Hashem davka gave the Torah to people with desires, so that they could try, one step at a time, to overcome them. She exclaimed to herself, “I can do it! This is one tiny ‘step’ that I am going to take. I am not going to buy this pair of shoes today. I don’t know if I will be able to resist my desire next time, but I am going to try…one step at a time!”

The Greatest Eis Ratzon: When You Overcome the Yeitzer Hara

I once heard a distinguished mashgiach ask a group of bochurim, “Who wants to know when is the greatest eis ratzon, the most opportune time for tefillos to be answered?”

He then answered, “I know some of you might be thinking Yom Kippur at Ne’ilah, maybe Purim in the pre-dawn hours, or perhaps Shavuos, the day of Kabbolas hHaTorah. But I think there is an even greater time. That time is when you are walking in the street, possibly even on the way to shul or yeshiva, and you are suddenly faced with a challenge, something you really shouldn’t look at, something that is assur to look at. Every bit of you feels pulled in that direction. It feels like something with the force of an eighteen-wheeler is pushing, pushing, pushing you to look.

“Still,” the mashgiach continued, “if a person can draw on his latent strength, avert his eyes, and look the other way, at that very second he should direct his mind and heart to Hashem and say, ‘In the zechus of the fact that I was stronger than an eighteen-wheeler barreling toward me, please answer my tefillos. Please provide me with cheishek in learning. Please provide my sister with a good shidduch bekarov. Please send a refuah sheleimah to this sick person I know,’ or anything else that he needs.

“Why is it such an eis ratzon?” the mashgiach continued. “Because Hashem made us. Hashem knows how hard it is — ki Hu yoda yitzreinu! When Hashem sees how you put His mishpotim lifneihem, before everything, before your wants and desires, He says, ‘Avdi atah Yisroel asher becha espa’er — You are My servant, O Yisroel, in whom I take pride. There is nothing that gives Him more nachas.”

There are a number of mysteries associated with Parshas Shekolim. However, unraveling at least some of them can help us understand some of our own puzzles, especially at this time in our history.

First of all, of all the Four Parshiyos, the giving of the machatzis hashekel seems to be the most unfathomable. Parshas Zachor prepares us for Purim and the mitzvah of eradicating the evil of Amaleik. Parshas Parah teaches us how we will all become purified when Moshiach arrives. Parshas Hachodesh references the very first mitzvah given to Klal Yisroel, ushering in the season of our redemption from the slavery of Egypt. But on one level, the mitzvah of giving the half shekel seems to combine some kind of fundraising and a census; neither is unique to Klal Yisroel or our eternal existence and mission.

Furthermore, the Medrash (Tanchuma, Parshas Ki Sisa 3) relates that when Moshe was about to pass away, he asked the Ribono Shel Olam, “When I die, will I be forgotten?” Hashem answered him, “By your life, just as right now you are alive and giving Klal Yisroel Parshas Shekolim, which is raising the head of each Jew, so will it be annually when Parshas Shekolim is read. It will be exactly as if you are standing there at that time, raising their heads once again.” This extraordinary Medrash has been interpreted and explicated many times (see Bnei Yissoschor, Maamorei Chodesh Adar 2:2; Shefa Chaim, Parshas Ki Sisa, page 265), but this year perhaps we can find new meaning in its message. One of the questions obviously is that hypothetically, Chazal could have chosen any of the myriad teachings of Moshe Rabbeinu to explain why he will never be forgotten. Why specifically the machatzis hashekel?

One of the additional mysteries in the Medrash is why the machatzis hashekel is the prototype of how Moshe Rabbeinu “raises the heads of Klal Yisroel.” It cannot be just that Parshas Shekolim is the opening part of Parshas Ki Sisa, which literally means to raise the heads of Klal Yisroel. First of all, these are simply translated as “take a census.” But secondly and more importantly, that begs the question of why counting Klal Yisroel is called “raising their heads.” We may take our cue from the ancient words of the Yotzros for Parshas Shekolim, which constantly refer to “raising our heads.” What exactly does this mean?

Let us proceed to the most famous statement in Chazal (Megillah 13b) about the shekolim: “Reish Lakish taught that it is well known to the Creator of the world that Haman would offer Achashveirosh shekolim to eliminate — chas veshalom — Klal Yisroel. Therefore, Hashem preempted this with our shekolim.” The Gemara goes on to connect this statement to the Mishnah that on the first day of Adar, we announce the collection of the shekolim. Tosafos (ibid. 16a) explain that there was an exact calculus to the collection of a half shekel for every Jew to counteract Haman’s “10,000 silver talents” (Megillas Esther 3:9). The calculation is that there were 600,000 Jewish males of a certain age who left Egypt whose half shekel amounts to the same 10,000 silver talents that can serve to redeem the nation from Haman’s evil machinations.

Rav Gedaliah Schorr (Ohr Gedalyahu, Moadim, page 82) explains the connection between the shekolim and our salvation from Haman by raising one of the classic questions about the machatzis hashekel. Chazal teach that one of the things that moshe rabbeinu had difficulty understanding was the half shekel. Rav Schorr points out that of the others, the menorah, for instance, required certain very intricate knowledge to fashion it properly. But what was so difficult about having everyone donate half a certain coin?

He answers by citing the teaching of the Nesivos (in his commentary Megillas Sesarim, ibid.), who in turn quotes the Alshich Hakadosh (Parshas Noach). The Alshich reveals that whenever we find the powers of kedusha, we find, by necessity, the powers of defilement and evil as well. This follows the maxim of Shlomo Hamelech (Koheles 7:14) that “Hashem has made the one as well as the other.” Just as there are places that are holy, there are places that are replete with tumah defilement. The Generation of the Haflagah wanted to create a fortress of evil to counteract the kedusha that was already inherent in Eretz Yisroel and Yerushalayim.

With this in mind, the Nesivos explains the secret and power of the machatzis hashekel and also what Moshe Rabbeinu found difficult to comprehend. Moshe knew that each mitzvah has the power to inject the power of kedusha into the world through its physical actions down below. Tzitzis has a reminder about the heavens through the techeiles, which evokes the sea, and so on about each mitzvah in the Torah. Moshe just wanted to know what the power of the shekel is from above. Hashem told him that Haman’s shekolim have already been rendered ineffective by their donation to the Mishkon, which is a replica of creation itself. We may add that we are witnessing giant donations of funds for the use of evil people and nations. However, G-d willing, Klal Yisroel’s ongoing generosity to the poor and Torah will overcome them.

Rav Gedaliah Schorr adds that each Yid carries kedusha in the world and gives the powers of evil no serenity, since they cannot do the harm that they wish to bring onto the world. This, says the rosh yeshiva, is the true source of the anti-Semitism in the world, because it is only Klal Yisroel that stands in the way of our enemies — who are also in effect the enemies of all the decent people in the world — from destroying humanity as we know it. We may surely add to these prescient words that today this has become almost obvious to any thinking person. The illogic of world anti-Semitism, the foolishness of people protesting law and order so that there can be chaos, the incredible force of evil rearing its ugly head must be because, down deep, it knows that the end is near. They are almost finished and this is the death rattle and throes of a losing and dying breed. Rav Schorr concludes that since the main sanctity of the Mishkon came about through the donation of the shekolim, the Hamans of the world wish to stop their contribution.

With this concept, Rav Schorr explains the refrain of “raising the heads.” Klal Yisroel, he explains, was a nation with bowed heads with embarrassment after the sin of the Eigel. We needed to have our heads raised because, although being subjugated to Hashem is actually a good thing, depression and disheartenment are not. Hashem wanted us to feel that each and every one of us is capable — indeed, necessary — for the building of Hashem’s dwelling place in the world. The Mishkon rectifies the sin of the Eigel and restores our innate holiness and goodness. The Ramban’s words (beginning of Parshas Vayakhel) for this are: “They returned to their essence and to the innocence of their youth.” What we conclude from this is that the awakening of the hidden love between Hashem and Klal Yisroel is achieved through the shekolim. They are what raise our heads to the point of being able to welcome the Shechinah back into our midst.”

The Sefas Emes (Parshas Shekolim 5633, Bnei Binah edition, page 10) also teaches that the beginning of Parshas Shekolim does not say Roshei Bnei Yisroel in the plural, but Rosh Bnei Yisroel in the singular. He quotes his grandfather, the Chiddushei Harim, as explaining that this unity achieves a oneness with the One and Only Ribono Shel Olam as well. Chassidim, as do all those who daven Nusach Sefard, recite the words of the Zohar (Raza D’Shabbos) that Shabbos is the great unifier of Klal Yisroel under the banner of the Torah to jointly do only the will of Hashem.

We are now in a position to answer the questions we raised. The machatzis hashekel is neither simply a way of obtaining a census or of raising funds for the Mishkon. It is the way that Klal Yisroel is joined together in the ultimate project of bringing Hashem back into our midst. It brings us from depression to the special joy of knowing that we will overcome evil — whether in the guise of Haman or any of his fellow travelers — through building the house of Hashem together. Each one of us will count in exactly the same way, with identical value and power.

Moshe Rabbeinu is told that this will be his main legacy and the promise that he will never be forgotten because he will live through the half shekel that sees every Yid as half of another. This unifier will help us conquer evil, but also bring the ultimate goodness of Moshiach and the rebuilding of the future Bais Hamikdosh, where we will once again be united by the humble little shekel that looms so large in our hearts and souls. At first, Moshe Rabbeinu found it difficult to comprehend how this tiny coin could accomplish so much. Hashem showed him the burning coin to illustrate that it is this humble shekel that will unify Klal Yisroel as Moshe had always wanted and yearned to do. This is both his reward and guarantee to be remembered and reassured, as of course he is, until we can all be reunited properly im yirtzeh Hashem.

The alarming discovery last week of a biological laboratory in a Las Vegas garage, owned by a Chinese national and suspected of housing deadly pathogens, has been linked to a disturbing case in Reedley, California, where a similar but larger unlicensed facility was discovered in 2023.

The Reedley lab contained 32 refrigerators and freezers filled with thousands of vials of biological material, including pathogens such as HIV, malaria, tuberculosis, Covid-19, and Ebola, police and congressional reports state.

It also contained a thousand mice packed together, many of them dead or dying, exuding a nauseating odor. According to some reports, cited at a House committee meeting, the mice were genetically engineered to carry the Covid-19 virus.

Police say the Las Vegas and California labs are closely connected. Both properties are registered to a 62-year-old Chinese national, Jesse Zhu, who also goes by the name of David He. He is currently in federal custody awaiting trial for running an unauthorized research facility with harmful substances.

Zhu is also accused of manufacturing and distributing falsely labeled medical devices, including fake tests for Covid-19, pregnancy and HIV, all without proper permits. He has also been charged with lying to the Food and Drug Administration, the NY Post reported.

Over the weekend, the FBI and local police arrested the Las Vegas property’s manager, Ori Solomon, an Israeli citizen, for being “an agent and conspirator in the running of the lab and in disposing of and discharging hazardous waste,” the article said.

Employee Tipped Off Police

According to police reports, a cleaning employee at the Las Vegas biolab referred to as “Kelly” tipped off the police about her suspicions at the property, after several people who spent time inside the home fell seriously ill.

The report quoted Kelly as saying she and Solomon’s handyman both got “’deathly ill’ after going into the garage.

“Approximately five days after entering the garage, she was left with breathing issues, fatigue, ‘could not get out of bed,’ and muscle aches,” the police report states. “The handyman had the same symptoms, and Solomon’s own wife also got sick after entering the garage.”

A SWAT team wearing protective equipment searched the property on Jan. 31, and brought with them robots that tested air samples as well as monitoring drones. Investigators focused on the garage where they found “potential biological and hazardous materials.”

The items were consistent with the setup found in the 2023 California investigation, Sheriff Kevin McMahill of the Las Vegas Police Department said at a news conference. The police found a “significant volume of material, including a vast array of vials and storage containers with liquids of different colors and compositions,” the sheriff said.

He noted that four bottles of hydrochloric acid were also found in an “apparently abandoned and open box, stored haphazardly on an open shelf.” Hydrochloric acid can “cause substantial permanent injuries to the human body if exposed to the skin, inhaled or ingested,” the police report said, adding that the abandoned bottles alone “could potentially imperil the lives of anyone in or near the garage.”

The report also alleges that Ori Solomon, now in federal custody, had “direct knowledge of the biolab being owned and operated by Zhu,” and that the two men had been in “constant communication” since his 2023 arrest. Solomon “is known to execute the business dealings for Zhu, and then would transfer funds to Zhu’s wife and business partner,” according to the report.

While incarcerated, the Chinese inmate had more than 460 calls with Solomon in the past year alone, the report said, based on information gathered from the prison.

Kelly told police that calls came for Solomon “almost every day” from Zhu, instructing him to check up on the garage, and to move the lab “out of the garage immediately” if he was ever contacted by investigators. The Chinese owner of the lab thus managed to keep it running even from prison.

An International Fugitive with Close Ties to Beijing
Had the FBI heeded appeals from multiple congressmen for a full-scale investigation after the Reedley, California biolab was exposed in 2023, Zhu would have been stopped in his tracks. But Reedley never became the focus of a full federal probe under the Biden administration, a House Select Committee report stated.

The report described Zhu as a Chinese citizen and “an international fugitive” from Canada with close ties to Beijing. He was involved in a transnational criminal enterprise that stole hundreds of millions of dollars in intellectual property from US companies, the committee said.

When a Canadian court issued a $330 million judgment for stealing American intellectual property, Zhu fled the country and entered the United States, assuming the false identity of “David He.”

The Chinese fugitive then set up a network of companies that dealt with the acquisition of expensive medical equipment and dangerous pathogens including the Ebola virus, one of the deadliest viruses known to humanity. He was somehow able to acquire these apparent pathogens even though he was a wanted fugitive and operated an unlicensed laboratory.

He also began “purchasing counterfeit Covid-19 and pregnancy test kits from the PRC and re-selling them in the United States,” labeling them “Made in the USA,” the House report said. This “business” became a front for the biolab operation, which was always kept locked.

While he engaged in this criminal activity, Zhu was also “receiving steady payments” — totaling more than one million dollars — “via wire transfer from Chinese banks,” the House report attested.

FBI Drop the Ball

Despite the glaring red flags, the FBI dropped the Reedley case after stating that “no mass weapons of destruction” were involved at the biolab that required its intervention. The CDC, in turn, refused to conduct any testing of the wide array of substances found at the facility, some of which bore labels attesting to their pathogenicity.

How ironic. The same CDC that aggressively imposed masking, vaccine mandates, social distancing, and lockdowns during the pandemic seemed untroubled by deadly pathogens sitting in an illegal, low-security facility—posing a risk to untold thousands. [See Sidebar]

FBI Director Kash Patel, in an interview with Just the News last week, slammed the failure of federal officials under the Biden administration to conduct a serious investigation after the exposure of the illegal biolab. The incident suggests the Biden administration may have chosen to “bury” the truth about these hazardous facilities being tied to China, he said.

“We’ve taken action to ‘course correct’ the intelligence and figure out why the American public was misled by individuals who said the secret facility [in California] had no connection to the Chinese Communist Party, when in fact evidence shows it was closely tied to the CCP,” Patel said in the interview.

The House Select Committee report had highlighted Zhu’s links to Beijing and the CCP, noting that before coming to North America, Zhu held important positions in several enterprises controlled by the People’s Republic of China (PRC).

Whether by design, or due to inertia or sheer incompetence, the prior FBI leadership’s failure to follow through on clues pointing to CCP involvement clearly endangered the public, Patel said.

“This FBI, under President Trump’s leadership, has prioritized the CCP’s threat against us and we’ve already taken swift action,” Patel told Just the News, promising full transparency as the facts emerge.

“We worked with the state law enforcement authorities there in Las Vegas to execute search warrants and collect over 1000 samples of material that has been sent back to the FBI lab for analysis,” the FBI director detailed. “And this is something that we’re going to keep continuing to uncover.”

He had harsh words for the Biden administration for shutting down the “China Initiative,” the FBI’s main counterintelligence effort to find Chinese security threats inside academia, saying it has led to an explosion of CCP activities on U.S. soil.

“This is just another disastrous example of the Biden administration failing to protect national security,” Patel said. “Who takes down an initiative against our number one adversary, the CCP, when they are not only conducting counterespionage activities here in the homeland against Americans, but also overseas, and importing illegal bio pathogens to harm us?” the FBI director questioned.

Just the News has detailed findings by the American Accountability Foundation (AAF) that raised concerns about at least 20 Chinese scientists who are embedded inside American academia and at cutting-edge U.S. labs.

These Chinese nationals “appear to be members of the CCP, are affiliated with Chinese projects aimed at stealing U.S. technology, or are involved with companies tied to Beijing’s defense sector,” the AAF said.

“That situation is due to prior policies detrimental to our national security,” Patel observed. “President Trump came in and said we’re reversing course. We don’t necessarily need a new “China Initiative.” We just need the FBI all in against the CCP, and that’s what we’ve done.”

Bipartisan Group Sponsors Bill to Thwart Illegal Labs

Among the congressmen who have been most vocal about passing legislation to thwart the smuggling of biological materials into the United States by foreign nationals is a bipartisan group of California representatives: Reps. Jim Costa and Kevin Kiley, both Democrats, and David Valadao, a Republican.

The three sponsored a bill in 2023, following the discovery of the Reedley biolab, “Preventing Illegal Laboratories and Protecting Public Health Act,” aimed at installing rigorous measures to prevent dangerous unlicensed labs from operating under the radar.

“The Reedley lab was a dangerous national security failure, and it’s critical we put safeguards in place to ensure it never happens again,” Rep. Valadao said in a statement.

The bill would strengthen tracking and oversight, and ensure stricter coordination between government agencies to protect national security. It would close loopholes to prevent foreign adversaries from operating illegal labs while escaping detection.

Despite being introduced more than a year ago, the legislation has been languishing in the Energy and Commerce Committee. The sensational media coverage of the biolab in Las Vegas, however, has turned the spotlight on the issue, galvanizing more support for the bill.

Representatives Kevin Kiley and Jim Costa promoted the legislation on the House floor last week, urging committees to move it forward. “The announcement of the recent federal and local law enforcement raid in Las Vegas doesn’t come as a surprise,” said Costa. “I’ve been ringing the alarm since 2023, when my constituents experienced a similar threat from an illegal Chinese lab operating in Reedley, California.”

Noting that the threat of deadly pathogens in the hands of unknown “bad actors” persists throughout the country, Costa urged Congress “to pass this legislation to protect our communities and safeguard public health.”

***

Rep. Kevin Kiley Eviscerates CDC on Congressional Floor

In May 2024, less than a year after the Reedley biolab was discovered, Rep. Kevin Kiley delivered a scathing floor speech condemning the CDC’s “deeply disturbing” response to an illegal biolab housing deadly pathogens.

The congressman began his remarks by describing the findings of the police, recounting that “at the time that this was discovered, I called for an investigation and, eventually, the Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party produced an incredibly disturbing report.”

“The report found that local officials in Reedley had begged the CDC to come in and investigate after they found this lab, and the CDC repeatedly ignored them and even hung up on them,” Kiley said.

“I have spoken with the city manager, Nicole Zieba, and she said that their calls for help from both the Federal Government and the State were completely ignored. It was only after Representative Jim Costa, who represents that area, got involved that the CDC finally came to investigate.”

Even then, their investigation was “completely inadequate,” Kiley said. “Incredibly, they didn’t test any of the actual samples, some of which were labeled “E. coli” or “Hepatitis” or whatever it was. They just assumed that the label was accurate, took it at face value. Yet some of those samples were in an indecipherable code. We don’t know what was in them, and they didn’t bother to test those.”

The California Democrat expressed his astonishment at the fact that after the CDC completed their investigation, officials came across a refrigerator labeled Ebola which had completely escaped the CDC’s notice.

“I have sent a letter to Director [Mandy] Cohen, asking for an explanation as to how it is possible that the CDC first ignored, and then failed to sufficiently investigate this dire danger to public health?’ Kiley told the assembly.

His letter fired off a series of hard-hitting questions. “Why were local officials ignored by the CDC? Why were none of the unlabeled agents tested?

“Why did the CDC falsely claim that it ‘could not test unlabeled select agents’ [deadly biological viruses, bacteria or toxins], when they have previously tested ‘unlabeled select agents’ in many cases, such as when anthrax was sent to this congressional building?”

“How did you miss a freezer that was labeled Ebola? And how did this lab escape detection in the first place?”

“Finally, _w_hat is the CDC doing to prevent future labs of the same nature from being built?”

Asking for a timely response to his questions, Kiley concluded with an appeal to “my colleagues in the House to pass my legislation with Representative Costa, so we can do everything possible to ensure there are no other CCP-linked, illegal labs operating in this country.”

***

Tip of the Iceberg

Perhaps because Las Vegas is a bigger, higher-profile city than Reedley, California, the discovery of the illegal biolab there galvanized the media, and pictures of SWAT teams in full protective gear hauling out tons of biological materials were splashed under sensational headlines.

Suddenly, interest was reawakened in the earlier Reedley case, which had never achieved traction in the news cycle despite being a larger and more dangerous facility than the Las Vegas lab. Americans began to realize that these incidents were likely not isolated cases.

Speaking to Just the News, FBI Director Patel confirmed that the exposure of the two labs dealing with lethal pathogens are merely the tip of the iceberg. He pointed to a shocking string of federal arrests linked to Chinese students at the University of Michigan, who had allegedly engaged in a scheme “to smuggle biohazardous pathogens into the U.S. for experimentation.”

“Just last year in Michigan, we arrested three individual researchers at the University of Michigan who were trying — not trying, did — import illegally biohazardous materials and pathogens into this country. They are apparently aiming to attack our agricultural and bio-seed industry, Patel said. “And so we’ve been on it since then.”

In the same vein, the Justice Department announced in June that two Chinese nationals — Yunqing Jian and Zunyong Liu — had been charged with “conspiracy, smuggling goods into the United States, false statements, and visa fraud.” Jian had been a scholar at the University of Michigan while her friend, Liu, had been studying at a Chinese university.

The DOJ said the bureau had “arrested Jian in connection with allegations that Jian and Liu had smuggled into America a fungus called Fusarium graminearum, which scientific literature classifies as a potential agro-terrorism weapon.” In November, Jian pleaded guilty to these charges and to lying to FBI agents about it.

In another case, the DOJ also announced in September that another Chinese national, Chengxuan Han, had “pleaded guilty to three smuggling charges related to biological material, and to lying to U.S. CBP Officers.”

The Justice Department said that “Han sent multiple packages to the United States from China containing concealed biological material” and that “these packages were addressed to individuals associated with a laboratory at the University of Michigan.”

The string of cases stemming from the University of Michigan International Research Department has continued to spiral. The DOJ announced recently that three additional Chinese students were charged with a “conspiracy to smuggle biological materials into the United States and for making false statements” to CBP officers.

Critics say these developments underscore a chaotic situation at the University of Michigan whereby its research programs are being outrageously exploited in ways that endanger public safety, with seemingly no internal controls.

Tough Stance on Budget Leads to Progress on Draft Law

Last week, I began my humble column with the subject of Iran. I mentioned that President Trump was putting pressure on the Iranian regime, which led to indirect tension for the rest of the world — including all of us in Israel, of course. It is believed that if Iran decides to respond to a U.S. attack with missile fire, they will target not only Israel but the countries of Europe as well. A week has now gone by, and nothing has changed. America and Iran are holding talks, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that an agreement is in the works. It might be no more than a smokescreen for imminent military action. Perhaps the more important development is the planned meeting between Netanyahu and President Trump this Wednesday. Everyone in Israel would like to know what it is about and why Netanyahu asked to meet with the president. Above all, everyone is interested in how this meeting was arranged so quickly. Is the goal for the two leaders to coordinate an attack on Iran? Or, perhaps, is it the opposite — that Trump wants to explain to Netanyahu the terms of the agreement in the works?

I presume that we will know the answers to these questions before long. Meanwhile, Netanyahu’s enemies are rejoicing over one thing: He wasn’t invited to stay in Blair House.

The tension in the air reminds me of the old story about the man who used to remove his boots and drop them loudly on the floor when he returned home from work late at night. This was a nightly occurrence, and each boot hit the floor with an echoing thud. The sound reverberated throughout his home, but it also woke the neighbor who lived one flight down, who repeatedly begged him to remove his boots quietly; however, his pleas fell on deaf ears. Every night, the neighbor was awakened by the twin thuds marking the boots falling on the floor. One night, however, the upstairs neighbor removed one boot and dropped it loudly, but then realized the error of his ways as he recalled his neighbor’s pleas. He decided to change his habits immediately, and he gently removed his second boot and placed it silently on the floor beside the first. About half an hour later, someone rapped frantically at his door. Opening the door, he was surprised to discover his frazzled-looking neighbor standing on his doorstep, clad in pajamas and with exhaustion etched on his face. “Please,” the man begged, “just take off the second boot already so that I can go back to sleep!”

We, too, are waiting for the other boot to drop, so to speak, and for the next step in the conflict between America and Iran to come. And as we wait, our nerves become equally frayed.

In other news, the draft crisis remains at the top of the religious community’s agenda. Last Motzoei Shabbos, Avrohom Ben-Dayan, a yungerman from Netivot and a former talmid in Yeshivas Maor HaTalmud in Rechovot, was arrested in Tifrach after spending Shabbos in the southern community. Ben-Dayan, who has been married for only two months, was arrested by the traffic police and then transferred to the police station in Ofakim because he was listed as a draft evader; the incident brought thousands of bnei yeshivos to a protest outside the Ofakim police station. Of course, the protest made no difference, and Ben-Dayan was sentenced to ten days in prison. This arrest sparked a major uproar when it was revealed that Ben-Dayan’s lawyer was not permitted to bring him his tefillin, and he was unable to lay tefillin at all on Sunday. Ben-Dayan’s wife received a personal phone call from Rav Moshe Hillel Hirsch offering her encouragement. Meanwhile, a talmid in Yeshivas Beer Yaakov was arrested for draft evasion as well. These two arrests triggered public demonstrations on Monday.

As for the draft law, the progress on the bill slowed to a halt this week when the legal advisor to the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee announced that she was unable to work on the bill due to her husband’s illness. In response, the chareidi Knesset members decided that they would not participate in a vote to split the clauses in the budget bill among various committees, which would effectively torpedo the beginning of discussions to advance the budget toward its second and third readings at the end of March. This led the legal advisor to reconsider her decision, and she announced at the beginning of the week that she would expedite the approval of the draft bill, allowing the chareidi parties to retract their opposition to the budget vote. All we can do now is daven!

Rav Dov Landau to Yeshiva Bochurim: Just Learn Torah!

Rav Dov Landau, one of the leading gedolei Torah of our generation, has begun emulating the actions of Rav Aharon Leib Shteinman in his day. Rav Landau has become responsible for the chareidi community’s public policy together with his fellow rosh yeshiva in Slabodka, Rav Moshe Hillel Hirsch. Today, Rav Landau determines the chareidi community’s position on the draft law. It is no secret that the spiritual leadership of the Shas party abides by his decisions, which means that he essentially sets the policy of both Degel HaTorah and Shas. Rav Landau, who spends his days immersed in Torah learning, also dedicates innumerable hours to the people who seek his advice, guidance, or brachos. Despite all that, he also somehow finds the time to travel around the country, visiting various yeshivos to deliver shiurim and words of chizuk. In recent times, he has visited numerous yeshivos and has created a wave of inspiration. Rav Landau is over 95 years old, and these travels are no small feat for him. Over the past two weeks, he has spoken in Yeshivas Mishkenos HaTorah in Bnei Brak, Yeshiva L’Tzeirim Imrei Moshe in Yerushalayim, and Yeshivas Ohr Elchonon in Yerushalayim, among other institutions.

Last Wednesday, Rav Landau visited the south and appeared in three yeshivos on a single evening: Yeshivas Kiryat Malachi in Kiryat Malachi and Shaarei Shemuos and Yeshivas Belz, both in Bais Chilkiya. Yeshivas Kiryat Malachi is a very special institution headed by Rav Yehuda Amit, with a student body of about 300 that consists of a mix of ordinary yeshiva bochurim and baalei teshuvah. Yeshivas Belz, of course, is a chassidish yeshiva. Yeshivas Shaarei Shemuos was founded by the late Rav Naftoli Tzvi Yehuda Shapiro, the son of Rav Moshe Shmuel Shapiro, together with his nephew Rav Aryeh Shapiro (the son of Rav Dovid Yitzchok Shapiro, who is currently serving as rosh yeshiva in Be’er Yaakov along with another son, Rav Shimon). I will admit that I feel a special sense of connection to Yeshivas Shaarei Shemuos, since the two roshei yeshiva (including the recently deceased Rav Naftoli) were my friends, and I have been watching the yeshiva’s development since it was founded. My brother-in-law Rav Moshe Tzvi Kaplan, a talmid chochom and one of the heads of Keren HaTorah in the neighborhood of Ramot, recently joined the yeshiva’s faculty as well. And my good friend Rav Yaakov Shapiro, the son of Rav Moshe Shmuel, who learned with his father throughout the day for thirty years, has moved to Bais Chilkiya and is affiliated with the yeshiva there as well. Naturally, I was excited to see a picture of Rav Dov delivering a shiur in the bais medrash, with Rav Aryeh Shapiro seated before him and Rav Yisroel Yaakov Pincus, the rov of Ofakim and a maggid shiur in the yeshiva since its inception, beside him. The yeshiva has enjoyed exceptional siyatta diShmaya and has truly flourished. Today, it is considered one of the foremost yeshivos in Eretz Yisroel, with about 800 talmidim.

In every yeshiva he visited, Rav Landau’s speech was perfectly tailored to his audience. He addressed the baalei teshuvah in their own language and the bnei Torah in theirs. When he spoke in Belz, he expressed warm wishes for the roshei yeshiva and the Rebbe. In Yeshivas Shaarei Shemuos, he said, “We all sense that we are living through a difficult period of time. The middas hadin is in force over the Jewish people in general and the bnei yeshivos in particular. Unfortunately, there have been some terrible tragedies in recent times, and the people of Israel are facing a possible war. Worst of all, our misguided brethren are making every possible effort to harass people who learn Torah and to lower the honor of the Torah and those who study it. But we are maaminim bnei maaminim who believe with absolute faith that everything comes from Hashem, and we have confidence in His eternal goodness. No matter what happens and how the problems are resolved, bnei yeshivos have only one responsibility — to be immersed in Torah learning, to acquire knowledge of the Torah, and to exert themselves with iyun and ameilus in the sugyos studied in their yeshivos while ignoring everything outside the bais medrash. Just learn! That is the job of the bnei yeshivos; it is their privilege and their obligation to learn, and learn, and learn some more.”

The Public Is Convinced: The Shin Bet Director Is the Target of a Witch Hunt

The people of Israel have lost their last shreds of confidence in the judiciary. Any confidence they may have still retained was unquestionably shattered by the most recent politically motivated witch hunt.

The Shin Bet is headed by a man named David Zini, a general in the IDF reserves who wears a yarmulke. The fact that the Shin Bet is headed by a religious man is a source of endless aggravation to the left. Zini has been denounced as “messianic” and a tragedy for the State of Israel, and the political left did everything in their power to torpedo his nomination after he was tapped by the prime minister to serve in this position. Because of the slanderous complaints against Zini, the Grunis Committee (headed by former Chief Justice Asher Grunis, who is now the chairman of the committee that approves government appointments) ruled that if any member of Zini’s family falls under suspicion of criminal activities, Zini himself would be barred from dealing with the case. In certain extreme circumstances, the committee added, he might even have to step down from his position.

The committee based its ruling on the claims that Zini’s father is an extremist. And in a bid to exploit this ruling, the judiciary recently managed to ensnare a different member of the family — his brother, Betzalel Zini.

The story began with vague reports about a “serious security scandal” concerning a family member of the head of the Shin Bet. The details were reported last week: Betzalel Zini, the brother of the Shin Bet director, was involved in three rounds of cigarette smuggling into the Gaza Strip. Last Thursday, Betzalel Zini was indicted in Be’er Sheva, and the prosecution asked the court to order him held in custody until the conclusion of the legal proceedings against him. They also added a significant charge — aiding the enemy during wartime. This was outrageous, since a different recent case of cigarette smuggling, in which the defendants were Bedouin, was treated only as a case of tax evasion. That begs the question of what makes Betzalel Zini different from the Bedouins accused of the same crime. The answer, however, is obvious, and it lies in his last name.

The charge sheet noted that the defendants and their collaborators were aware that the smuggled goods might fall into the hands of terrorists, either Hamas activists or others affiliated with them, and that the cigarettes might help the terrorists increase their strength or finance their activities. “They committed these acts for monetary gain, knowing that their actions violated the restrictions imposed by the State of Israel on bringing goods into Gaza, as part of the war effort, and despite the clear damage to state security that would be caused by their actions,” the prosecution wrote.

Adi Keidar and Assaf Klein, the attorneys representing Betzalel Zini, responded, “We read the indictment, and we will refute the charges one by one. Despite everything written there, Betzalel maintains his unequivocal innocence. These are fabrications. He completely denies the charges attributed to him. He has cooperated completely with the authorities, and we believe in his innocence. Regarding the charge of aiding the enemy in wartime, it is a sign of an upside-down world. This is a man who has spent his entire life contributing to the state and has risked his life for it. He is a Zionist with every fiber of his being. The charge is completely absurd.”

Betzalel Zini was interrogated by the police rather than the Shin Bet, due to his connection to the head of the Shin Bet. Zini claims that he did not receive a single cent and had no knowledge of any smuggling taking place, and that he merely accepted a donation for his soldiers. But even if the charges are true, and he did sell cigarettes to someone in Gaza, the consensus is that he is merely being used as a pawn in a bid to remove his brother from his position.

Gearing Up for an Election

No week would be complete without some political news, and this week is no exception. As the next election draws closer, the playing field is beginning to heat up, and a number of politicians have begun releasing statements that border on madness. Take Gadi Eizenkot, for instance. Eizenkot is a former partner of Benny Gantz, who recently left his party to launch his own slate, which he dubbed Yashar. He recently took aim at Prime Minister Netanyahu, claiming that the leak of a classified military document to the German newspaper Bild, which was done to prove that the Egyptians were being deceitful in their handling of the hostages in Gaza, was an act of treason since it exposed a crucial Palestinian informant. Eizenkot’s comment managed to stoke a major uproar for several hours, until someone pointed out that if the informant was really such a valuable source of information, he should have alerted Israel in advance to Hamas’s plans for the October 7 massacre.

Another outrageous statement came from Yair Golan, the chairman of the most liberal party in the Knesset, who promised to cut off all government aid to settlers. Golan’s comment was condemned by his left-wing and centrist allies alike, who accused him of seriously harming their chances of defeating Netanyahu in the election with his inflammatory words. Golan hurried to apologize in response.

The politicians who are united only by their hatred for Netanyahu — Bennett and Lieberman on the right and Lapid, Eizenkot, and Golan on the left — never seem to stop squabbling among themselves. It is impossible even to gather them together for a simple joint photograph. They are also severely divided over the question of whether the Arabs are legitimate political partners. This week, a Kaplan protest leader who joined Yair Golan’s party remarked derisively about Lapid, “Don’t we deserve better than him?”

Another politician who has done tremendous damage to the left is Ehud Barak. The media recently reported that Barak commented to an American friend a year or two ago that he would certainly be able to defeat Netanyahu if Israel made sure to bring a million non-Jewish immigrants from Russia or Ukraine. In his view, Barak added, the best source of immigrants would be Belarus. He proposed reaching an agreement with Putin on that subject, as well as introducing more flexibility into the legal requirements for giyur, to ensure that his ploy would succeed. “This will also make it possible for us to bring quality immigrants to the country,” Barak added, “unlike at the time of the founding of the state, when Israel had to settle for immigrants of lower caliber.” In other words, Barak views the immigrants from Yemen and Arab countries as inferior to European immigrants. One can hardly imagine a more blatantly racist comment.

Barak was roundly condemned for his comments, and for good reason. At the cabinet meeting this Sunday, Prime Minister Netanyahu declared, “I was appalled to hear about Ehud Barak’s new racism. The man simply lacks any shame! Eli Goldschmidt of the Labor Party, who used to support him, announced, ‘I am ashamed of Ehud Barak. I am ashamed that I supported him in the past.’ The fact that no one on the left has expressed disgust or reacted to Barak’s appalling statements simply shows that they share his sentiments. On the other hand, if I were to make such a statement,” Netanyahu added, “every news program in the country would make a tremendous amount of noise about it, and everyone would have some sort of reaction.”

At this time, there is a clear difference between the respective positions of the right-wing bloc, which includes the chareidi parties, and the left-wing bloc. The right-wing bloc is operating with a single clear candidate for prime minister (Netanyahu), with no one else coming close to competing for his position. The opposing bloc, on the other hand, has six parties with six candidates who will compete with each other for the top position. If the race is close, the leaders of the top two parties on the left might decide to enter into a rotation agreement, but the left, unlike the right, does not have a clear-cut, universally acknowledged leader.

Another issue of contention is the timing of the next election. A specific date is already under discussion, but the right-wing parties are opposed to it because it falls immediately before Rosh Hashanah. The problem, as far as they are concerned, is that at least two mandates’ worth of voters will probably be in Uman at the time.

Netanyahu Reveals Evidence of IDF and Shin Bet Failures

No treatment of the news in Israel would be complete this week without mentioning the furor that was triggered by Prime Minister Netanyahu last weekend. Netanyahu appeared before the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee for a closed discussion (in fact, most of the committee’s discussions are closed to the public) and brought along a briefcase filled with documents. The prime minister explained that he had brought copies of his responses to questions from the state comptroller about the October 7 disaster.

Let me explain. Two weeks ago, Netanyahu surprised the Knesset by revealing that he had met with the state comptroller during the latter’s investigation of the October 7 massacre and had provided him with classified documents that indicate who is truly to blame for the disaster. According to Netanyahu, the blame lies with the army and the Shin Bet, and the documents that he showed the comptroller serve as incontrovertible evidence of that fact. For instance, one document shows that the director of the Shin Bet assured the prime minister just hours before the massacre that everything was all right and there were no imminent threats. Seeing the shocked expressions of the Knesset members, Netanyahu added, “I met with the comptroller and answered his questions, while everyone else evaded him when he summoned them.” In other words, if anyone should be afraid of the comptroller’s investigation, it is surely the heads of the army and Shin Bet, not the prime minister. “Immediately after that, the Supreme Court ordered the state comptroller to halt his investigation,” Netanyahu revealed. “The judges claimed that the matter would be probed by a special investigative commission.”

If you think that something seems rotten about that, you are undoubtedly correct.

But Netanyahu wasn’t done yet. When he appeared before the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, he shocked everyone by revealing his position on the failures that led to the October 7 onslaught. Netanyahu read aloud from classified protocols that proved beyond a doubt that no one had warned him in advance, and that the entire defense establishment was blinded to the imminent danger. The most severe criticism was leveled against Ronen Bar, who served as director of the Shin Bet at the time. A report signed by Bar three days before the massacre asserted that “quiet has returned to the border fence.” Netanyahu also accused Bar of falsifying a document dated prior to October 7, adding a line to a real communique to indicate that he had sounded some kind of warning in advance. The line containing the warning does not appear in the original version of that document.

Netanyahu went on to read quotes from Naftoli Bennett, Gadi Eizenkot, Yoav Gallant, and former Chief of Staff Kochavi from security discussions dating up to a decade before October 7, which proved that they all made the grave mistake of severely underestimating Hamas. “We were held captive by a misconception,” Netanyahu said. “The difference between me and most of the defense establishment was that I felt that we needed to ‘mow the grass’ more in Gaza, and they wanted to invest more in economic aspects of the situation. Since October 7, I have learned my lesson from those events and have made at least ten significant decisions that were contrary to the defense establishment’s position. Those decisions changed the course of the campaign in Gaza.”

Netanyahu’s main point was that he had been deceived by the defense establishment into thinking that Hamas was deterred from further violence, and that he had personally taken the most aggressive positions in security discussions behind the scenes but was repeatedly prevented from carrying out his suggestions.

It was widely believed that Netanyahu would be pleased if his address to the committee was publicized. In fact, the other members of the Likud called for him to publicize the information he had shared (as long as it did not compromise state security). Netanyahu accepted their suggestion and published his responses to the state comptroller for public consumption on Thursday evening, a few hours after he addressed the committee, omitting any details that were classified. Without getting into too many details, I will tell you that it triggered a veritable earthquake in Israel. Netanyahu was quickly attacked by many people who were personally affected by his accusations, who claimed that he was publishing partial accounts or even lying outright to the public. But despite their protestations, Netanyahu scored a massive public relations victory.

Shuls Vandalized, Authorities Yawn

Five shuls in Israel have been vandalized over the past month, a phenomenon that is simply appalling. Personally, however, I am even more outraged by the fact that these incidents haven’t evoked more fury. If such a thing happened in Kyiv, for instance, everyone in Israel would have condemned it fiercely. But when shuls are desecrated in Lod, Yaffo, and Petach Tikvah, most of the country is indifferent.

There is a tool available to members of the Knesset known as an urgent parliamentary query. This is one of three types of queries; the other two, known as regular and direct queries, allow a minister a certain period of time to formulate a response. An urgent query, on the other hand, must be answered almost immediately. The Knesset regulations call for an urgent query to be submitted no later than 12:00 on Monday, at which point the responding minister is required to relay his answer by 11:00 on Wednesday of the same week. A Knesset member who submits an urgent query is also entitled to ask an additional question after he receives a response, and two other members of the Knesset are likewise permitted to join him and ask questions of their own. It is an excellent opportunity to hold a tribunal of sorts and to extract information from the government.

Two members of the Knesset submitted urgent parliamentary queries last week: Yoav Ben-Tzur and Michoel Malchieli. These two men, who previously held ministerial posts, thereby made it clear that they do not consider it beneath their dignity to engage in ordinary parliamentary work now that they have been downgraded to the status of rank-and-file members of the Knesset. Malchieli’s question dealt with the shul on Rechov Kedem in Yaffo that was vandalized with graffiti insults and nationalistic slogans. He added that the students in a nearby hesder yeshiva feel that they are living under constant threat, and he called on the minister of internal security to reveal what the government has determined in its investigation thus far. The second urgent query dealt with the monthly stipends that the Palestinian Authority is still paying to terrorists. In 2024, the PA was paying 470 million shekels for this purpose, while its commitments in 2025 added up to 700 million shekels. Ben-Tzur asked the minister of finance to reveal how he plans to put an end to this madness, especially in light of the fact that Israel transfers hundreds of millions of shekels to the PA every year due to various agreements. This issue has been taken up by Sander Gerber, an American philanthropist whom I have mentioned in a number of previous articles. Nevertheless, neither of these topics seemed sufficiently important by Knesset speaker Amir Ochana, who refused to approve them as urgent queries. To make matters worse, I was even more astounded when I saw the topic that he did approve: “Israel’s Commitment to the Framework on Climate Change and the Paris Accords.” Is that truly more important?

Meanwhile, yet another shul fell prey to vandals —a shul known as Degel Dovid in Rishon Letzion, where the perpetrators desecrated five sifrei Torah. Are we witnessing the fruits of the rampant incitement against chareidim and Torah learners? Is this a consequence of the indifference shown by the police and courts toward similar crimes? Those questions are difficult to answer, but one thing is clear: It is a mark of shame for this country!

An Injustice to Parents of Children with Disabilities

The former minister of health, Uriel Bosso, submitted a different urgent query this week. The topic of his question might seem marginal, but for the families who are affected by the issue, it could be a life-changing subject.

The query began with a specific case but moved on to a more general inquiry. There is a chareidi child with special needs who lives in the city of Carmiel and is transported every day to a special daycare center in Rechasim. His transportation was funded by the municipality of Carmiel but was recently terminated on the grounds that he had become violent. The staff at the facility caring for him responded that he has since become calmer, and Bosso stepped in to assist the family. While this particular issue was worked out, Bosso took advantage of the opportunity to inquire about the general rules. In a query addressed to the minister of education, he wrote, “Following an appeal from the organization Mesugalim [a fantastic organization founded by Avi Mimran, who is himself the father of a child with special needs] you shared some good news with the parents of children with special needs who are entitled to government-funded transportation: The parents may provide the transportation themselves on behalf of the municipality rather than relying on an external company. There is nothing better than a father providing transportation for his own child, and the pilot program has been working well in Yerushalayim. I am familiar with it, and it is truly a blessing, but it hasn’t been expanded to the rest of the country. I would like to ask if your ministry plans to release an instruction to this effect to other local governments. We have been contacted by parents who understand the idea and believe that the best thing for a child is for a parent to provide his transportation and thus to give him the best possible service.”

Let me explain: The Ministry of Education transfers funding to local governments to provide transportation for students with special needs. Mesugalim proposed allowing the money to be paid directly to parents who personally transport their children to their schools or other programs, thus allowing them to take on the responsibility rather than leaving it in the hands of an external company.

Education Minister Yoav Kisch surprised everyone with his response: “The issue of transportation for students with special needs is handled by local governments. Every local government is responsible for transportation within its borders. We provide subsidies; it is only a partial subsidy, and the local government is responsible for part of the burden as well as for managing the service. We certainly help when we receive inquiries, such as in this case, and we make an effort to try to find solutions. The successful pilot program in Yerushalayim is one of the initiatives that I began. We are continuing it there, and we wanted to expand it to the rest of the country, but to my dismay — and I must tell you that this is based on my recollections, and I will have to check if I am remembering accurately — the Treasury did not permit it. I can tell you sincerely that I do not know why they blocked it, and that we will continue to push for it.”

Yaakov Margi of the Shas party, who served until recently as minister of welfare, interrupted to set the record straight. “The transportation service has failed significantly,” he said. “As of now, it is estimated that between 30 and 40 percent of parents are driving their children to their programs and do not receive government support.”

“And they are not receiving payments?” Kisch asked.

“Exactly,” Margi replied. “The Treasury is saving money because the parents continue driving their children to their programs even though they are not being paid.”

A Law to Commemorate the Klausenberger Rebbe

As usual, I perused some of the proposed laws that have been placed on the Knesset table. By now, over 6500 bills have been submitted in the current Knesset. It can be both amusing and saddening to observe the ideas that are sometimes generated by the parliamentary mind. For instance, Oded Forer and his fellow party members came up with a bill that would require every dayan or chief rabbi of a city to have served in the IDF. One must wonder why they didn’t suggest applying the same requirement to the judges of the Supreme Court, some of whom are Arabs. As I’ve mentioned in the past, the Arabs do not serve in the IDF despite the absence of any legal framework exempting them from the draft, yet no one, including the Supreme Court justices, seems to be troubled by this.

Avi (Avigdor) Maoz resubmitted his “Who Is a Jew?” law after it was removed by a landslide vote. I pointed out to him in the past that although his bill includes a clause requiring a conversion to be halachically valid, the Supreme Court might very well decide that Reform conversions fit that criterion as well, and the law would therefore cause more harm than good. Maoz replied that his bill actually states that a giyur must be approved by a bais din.

Another interesting bill, which echoes seven or eight other such laws that were submitted in the past, is meant to correct an error made by MK Lazimi. In an effort to assist car owners, Lazimi introduced a law concerning parking regulations that only served to harm their interests. Another bill, introduced by MK Eli Dalal, imposes a legal ban on the social isolation of a minor; however, I cannot imagine how a law will be of any benefit in such situations. Perhaps it is the fact that in some situations, the law imposes responsibility on the parents of the offending children.

I was surprised when I came across a bill drafted by MK Sasson Guetta, which would require commemorating the life and legacy of Rav Yekusiel Yehuda Halberstam, the Sanz-Klausenberger Rebbe. Guetta, a poultry farmer from Moshav Goren, is a member of the Likud party who received his seat under the Norwegian Law and sounds like a devoted chossid in the text of the bill, which asserts, “The Rebbe’s life was a historic feat of revival and rebuilding amid destruction.” He mentioned Mifal HaShas and Laniado Hospital, both of which were founded by the Rebbe, and paid tribute to his successor, the current Sanzer Rebbe. But I can only imagine how the author of this bill would have reacted had he read the Klausenberger Rebbe’s shiurim on Chumash and found out the Rebbe’s true feelings about the State of Israel and the Knesset.

Other bills on the table were downright bizarre. For instance, MK Elazar Stern introduced a bill titled “Prohibition of Defamation — Compensation Without Proof of Damage.” One need only remember what Stern himself did to Chananel Dayan, the soldier who refused to shake hands with then-Chief of Staff Dan Chalutz. Stern, who was serving as head of the IDF Manpower Directorate at the time, teamed up with Yair Lapid, then a journalist, to humiliate Dayan, even publishing documents from his personal file in the IDF. They were ultimately forced to compensate him.

Another bill comes from the Yesh Atid party, headed by Yair Lapid, and is titled “Declaring Qatar an Enemy State.” This is a downright foolish proposal. For one thing, there is no sense in passing a bill categorizing a specific country as an enemy state; instead, the bill should define an enemy. Besides, what will happen if Qatar signs a peace agreement with Israel? In the explanatory text of the bill, Lapid and his colleagues write, “The Israeli law today does not include a general, comprehensive definition of an enemy state.” But if that is the problem, then this law did not solve it.

Meanwhile, while Lapid is busy attacking everyone who met with anyone from Qatar under the auspices of Jay Footlik, it has been revealed that Lapid himself met with Qataris in France in a meeting brokered by the very same man — and not, as Lapid claimed, together with families of the hostages.

A Rebuke from the Court to the Attorney General

Here is a brief overview of a few stories that cannot be covered in full here due to space constraints. First, the “skunk water law,” which would prohibit the police from using the foul-smelling substance to disperse riots or protests, is approaching its final approval. This degrading and undemocratic crowd control tactic has been used mainly against the chareidi community, as well as right-wing youths holding demonstrations.

Second, there is a chassidish yungerman from Beit Shemesh who was somehow enticed to share information with Iran (on matters that are utterly insignificant) and who was sentenced to three years in prison. He was the first of a series of Israelis to be tried on such charges after falling into the Iranian trap.

In other news, a child in Yerushalayim died this week of complications from measles, which was highly tragic. In addition, for the past two weeks, the country has been witnessing fierce battles over the dairy market, as the Treasury attempted to introduce a reform that would harm Israeli dairy farmers. Everyone wants milk to be imported from abroad, which would lead to a dramatic reduction in dairy prices, but such a move would also be a mortal blow to Israel’s domestic dairy industry (and would lead to kashrus problems due to the laws of cholov Yisroel). Since many of the dairy farmers are observant, the chareidi parties were pressured to block the reform.

On the legal front, the Supreme Court delivered a stinging rebuke to the attorney general. To make a long story short, the government had appointed an official to the position of civil service commissioner, and petitions were filed with the Supreme Court claiming that the appointment required a tender, which was not issued. The government argued in response that no tender is required for this position. Chief Justice Yitzchok Amit had ruled many years ago, in fact, that this position can be filled without a tender, but he backtracked on his own ruling this time and issued an interim order against the government. While the government responded that a tender is not necessary, Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara sent a response to the court, as if on behalf of the government, acknowledging that the petitioners were correct. The case was transferred to an expanded panel of judges, who ruled that a tender is indeed not necessary. This was a ringing slap in the face to the attorney general and, indirectly, to Justice Amit as well. To put it plainly, a majority of the judges on the panel told Amit that his decision last month to halt the appointment had been unlawful.

The investigation into the military advocate general is also moving forward. The police announced that they have finished their work on the investigation, but that there is no one who can oversee it at this time. The attorney general suffers from a conflict of interest; even though she claims that she is completely impartial, the Supreme Court has already ruled that she is not permitted to handle the investigation. Every other candidate suggested by the minister of justice to oversee the probe has been disqualified by the Supreme Court. The police, therefore, decided to transfer the investigative material to the legal advisor of the Ministry of Justice, who is one of the most vocal opponents of the attorney general’s positions. This promises to be an interesting story.

Finally, the Supreme Court was petitioned to order the dismissal of National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, on the grounds that he interferes with investigations and commits other offenses. As usual, the attorney general supported the petitioners. Prime Minister Netanyahu responded curtly that it is up to him, not the court, to decide whether to dismiss a minister. This placed the judges in a tough position. If they order the prime minister to fire Ben-Gvir, they will simply be handing Ben-Gvir several more mandates in the next election. On the other hand, the judges tend to find it very difficult to let go of their hatred for Netanyahu or to forgive a slight to their honor.

Democrats who are still in the minority in both the House and Senate are attempting to impose their will on both the majority of Republicans and the American voting public in order to satisfy the demands of the party’s elitist progressive activists who imposed their woke DEI policy on every aspect of government and public life during the Biden administration.

Democrat leaders on the local, state, and national levels are now actively seeking to undermine the Trump administration’s efforts to restore the traditional American family values and moral standards still supported by the vast majority of American voters. The Democrats are also seeking to block Trump administration efforts to overcome local and state immigration sanctuary policies by vigorously enforcing the federal immigration laws, which the Biden administration ignored, by removing the thousands of criminal aliens who were allowed to enter this country illegally, thanks to Biden’s open border policies. Since then, these dangerous and violent criminals have been preying on members of the public with impunity in the “blue” cities and states where liberal Democrat elected officials refuse to enforce basic criminal laws.

A prime example of the Democrats’ obstructionist political tactics is the fact that the country is now facing the prospect of a third partial federal government shutdown since October 1, due to the Democrats’ stubborn refusal to vote to pass legislation funding basic government operations unless Republicans agree to include their highly partisan demands.

Dishonest Excuses for Shutting Down the Government

One of the problems with this Democrat propensity to shut down the federal government is that the reasons they have been giving for these shutdowns are dishonest. Those issues included the expiration of overly generous Covid-era Obamacare insurance policy subsidies on January 1, which Democrats warned would create widespread havoc when they initiated the longest partial shutdown of the federal government which started last October 1 and continued until February 12, when the chaos it created at the nation’s airports and the termination of critical social safety net programs relied upon by tens of millions of Americans, such as food stamps (SNAP) forced the Democrats to accept a continuing resolution which did not include the extension of the subsidies that the Democrats had been demanding.

It soon became obvious that the true cause of last October’s extended shutdown and the real hardships it created for millions of federal employees and the American people was a bitter dispute within the Democrat party between its angry liberal progressive activists and its more traditional congressional leadership.

More specifically, the progressives were still furious at Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer for failing to shut down the government when interim funding expired last March. By having Senate Democrats vote for the approval of another tranche of interim government funding, Schumer permitted President Trump to continue to implement his policy agenda, including the closure of America’s borders to illegal immigration, ending the Biden administration’s war upon the American fossil fuel industry, and the progressive effort to impose liberal DEI standards and priorities on virtually every aspect of American public life.

The proof that the alleged Democrat concern over the January 1 expiration of the Obamacare premium subsidies was merely a red herring was the fact that the issue promptly disappeared from the public political dialogue, and the Obamacare health insurance market continued to operate as usual without the expired subsidies that the Democrats had claimed were so critical.

The interim government funding that Congress approved last March expired on January 31, which gave Democrats another opportunity to shut down the federal government as an expression of their burning resentment towards President Trump and everything he represents. In order to justify another partial government shutdown, they seized upon one of the distinguishing features of his presidency, the intrusive and occasionally heavy-handed implementation by ICE and Border Patrol agents of their mandate to detain and deport illegal aliens in the ultra-liberal sanctuary city of Minneapolis despite a well-organized public resistance movement led by the mayor of the city Jacob Frey, and the governor of Minnesota, Tim Walz. They sought to publicly demonize the federal immigration agents by describing them as dangerous, latter-day “Nazis,” merely for carrying out their duty to enforce federal immigration laws.

Using ICE to Divert Attention Away From Large-Scale Somali Fraud

Walz is also suspected of having another strong motivation for accusing ICE agents of violating the civil rights of the illegal aliens living in Minneapolis. It has been effective in diverting public attention away from the evidence that Walz ignored the warnings of large-scale organized fraud by Somali immigrants living in Minnesota. According to federal government investigators, the Somalis collected as much as $9 billion of state and federal government money on Walz’s watch as governor, by claiming to run entirely bogus government-funded welfare agencies and child care centers, and then sending much of the embezzled government money to friends and relatives still living in Somalia.

Frey, Walz and their fellow Democrats in the House and Senate were quick to seize upon the controversial shooting death of Minneapolis resident Renee Good on January 7 by an ICE agent, to justify another effort to force a partial shutdown the federal government by refusing to vote for an already approved federal spending bill which included normal funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees ICE operations.

Good had been using her car to block the road that morning in an attempt to obstruct an ICE deportation operation in the area. The ICE agent apparently opened fire at Good because he thought she was using her car to try run him over, after she had ignored orders from other ICE agents at the scene to stop the car and get out. The controversy over Good’s death was further intensified because the video clips of the shooting taken by the ICE officer and civilian bystanders in the vicinity were subject to different interpretations as to whether or not Good’s car posed a credible threat to the safety of the ICE officer, prompting him to open fire in self-defense.

A Democrat Shutdown Will Not Reduce ICE Funding

However, the Democrat move to cut off federal funding to DHS had no direct impact on ICE because $75 billion in federal funding for ICE operations had already been passed by the House and Senate and signed into law last July 4 as part of the Trump-sponsored “One Big Beautiful Bill.” Therefore, the Democrats’ refusal to approve funding for DHS could not prevent ICE from operating.

Once again, Democrats were cynically using the controversy over the shooting of a civilian by an ICE agent as a convenient excuse to demonstrate their opposition to Trump’s policies by deliberately shutting down vital federal government operations and services, regardless of the inconvenience and hardships that the shutdown would cause to the affected federal employees and American citizens who rely on those government programs and services.

Sanctuary Cities Are Creating the Problems for ICE

The anti-ICE Democrats and the liberal media outlets supporting their protests are deliberately ignoring the fact that ICE and Border Patrol officers have been forced to use more aggressive tactics to carry out their mission to detain and deport tens of thousands of mostly criminal illegal aliens from this country because of the “sanctuary city” policies imposed by liberal elected Democrat officials in “blue” cities and states.

Once again, the controversy over ICE operations in sanctuary cities and states has been generated by the Democrats as a diversion intended to obscure their true motivation, an obsessive and frustrated hatred of President Trump, often described as “Trump Derangement Syndrome.” Good’s death is being used as a justification for the hatred of Trump and everything he stands for. That includes Trump’s efforts to reverse the Biden administration’s open border policies, as well as the spectrum of “woke” progressive policies that elite liberal Democrat activists have been trying to impose upon every corner of American society, whether the voters agree with them or not.

Democrats Ignoring the Collateral Damage From a Shutdown

Following a brief partial federal government shutdown that started on February 1, Democrats agreed to separate DHS funding from a measure that provided non-controversial funding for the services and programs provided by five other departments of the federal government. But there is a list of 10 major changes in ICE policies being demanded by the minority leader of House Democrats, Hakeem Jeffries, and Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer. Because some House and Senate Republicans have refused to accept several of these demands, this weekend could see the shutdown of the essential operation of several agencies within DHS other than ICE, including the emergency services provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Coast Guard patrols of American waters, and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) security screenings at the nation’s airports.

When the separate temporary funding for DHS operations alone, which was approved last week, expires this weekend, the political spotlight will turn once again to the Senate, where it will require the votes of eight senators who caucus with Democrats, such as Maine’s independent senator, Angus King, to pass funding for DHS for the rest of the current 2026 fiscal year on September 30.

King told NBC News on Monday, “What ICE is doing is unconscionable, and it’s got to be reined in. I can’t, in good conscience, vote for it. I would feel complicit in what they are doing.”

King’s position is significant because he was one of eight senators in the Democratic caucus who voted with Republicans to reopen the government, ending the extended shutdown last fall. He has also been instrumental in getting other recent government funding bills over the 60-vote Senate majority requirement to defeat the threat of a filibuster.

King also sought to differentiate between the threat to cut off operations at DHS agencies alone this weekend and the situation last fall, when the failure of the Senate to pass a continuing resolution (CR) forced the shutdown of much of the federal government.

“So if DHS isn’t funded, you’re talking about [just] ICE and TSA and the Coast Guard and FEMA” being shut down, King said, “Which I regret. But it’s not the same as it was in the fall, where you were talking about food stamps, support for research and development, medical care, all of those things. So it’s a very different situation in terms of balancing what’s at stake.”

Schumer and Jeffries Are Trying to Dictate ICE Changes to Trump

Senate Minority Leader Schumer said Monday that while the “legislative text” of the ten Democrat demands for changes in ICE policy was provided to the White House and Republican leaders, he still has “no idea” whether they will be accepted. He also defended the changes as “reasonable” because “we’re asking ICE to do nothing more than follow the standards that the vast majority of law enforcement agencies already follow,” a contention that has not yet been accepted by Republicans and Trump administration officials.

House Minority Leader Jeffries described the choice facing Republicans this way in a CNN interview. “Either they’re going to agree to dramatically reform the way in which ICE and other immigration enforcement agencies are conducting themselves so that they’re behaving like every other law enforcement agency in the country, or they’re making the explicit decision to shut down the Coast Guard, shut down FEMA, and shut down TSA, and that would be very unfortunate.”

When a Trump White House official was asked about the ten Democrat demands by an NBC reporter, he replied, “Nothing has been ruled out. There are some items worth discussing and others that are more challenging.” But the administration official also said that Democrats have been negotiating in “good faith” so far, holding out some hope of reaching a timely agreement on continued funding for all of the agencies of DHS.

Senate Republican Majority Leader Jon Thune also seemed optimistic that a deal could still be reached with Democrats before DHS is shut down, but seemed to be far from certain about it.

“Over the weekend, the Trump administration and congressional Democrats engaged in meaningful talks on a path forward, and Democrats have made their demands known in detail. Some of them are positive starting points for further discussion. Others are nonstarters and unnecessarily tie the hands of law enforcement,” Thune then concluded that, “In the coming days, the administration and Democrats will need to work out their differences.”

But Louisiana Senate Republican John Kennedy was less optimistic than Thune about the timing of an eventual agreement. He told NBC News, “Most Republicans that I’ve talked to think that Chuck [Schumer’s] proposals are not very meritorious, and we wouldn’t vote for them. . . I think it might take a few weeks, but we’ll end up with a clean CR that just maintains the status quo, because the [Democrats] don’t want to get blamed for hurting FEMA or TSA or the Coast Guard.”

Fetterman Distances Himself Again From Fellow Democrats

In a Fox News interview over the weekend, Pennsylvania’s maverick but refreshingly candid Democrat Senator John Fetterman was also doubtful that a deal could be reached in time to avoid a shutdown of the other DHS agencies.

“I absolutely would expect that it’s going to shut down,” Fetterman told veteran Fox News show host Maria Bartiromo. “We, the Democrats, we provided ten kinds of basic things, and then the Republicans pushed back quickly, saying that’s a . . . [Democrat] wish list, and that they’re nonstarters.”

Fetterman then added, “I truly don’t know what specifically the Democrats’ red lines are that it has to be, [but] certainly [we are] not going to get all 10.”

As for himself, Fetterman has repeatedly distanced himself from his Democrat colleagues by declaring that he believes it is irresponsible for elected officials to deny services to the voters by deliberately shutting down the government.

Virginia’s Governor Spanberger Revealed as a Secret Liberal

Meanwhile, Republicans are crying foul at the latest move by Virginia’s newly installed Democrat governor, Abigail Spanberger, for supporting a partisan Democrat effort to redraw the state’s map of congressional districts so that the current 6-5 balance of power in the state’s congressional delegation would become a 10-1 advantage for Democrats in November’s midterm election.

Spanberger is being accused of political hypocrisy because just a few years ago, while she was a promoting herself as a moderate Democrat congresswoman representing a competitive Virginia district, she condemned all efforts to redraw congressional districts in a state to favor one party or the other, a process known as “gerrymandering,” because it disenfranchises the citizens of the minority party in the state. The newly redrawn congressional district map of Virginia transforms most of the existing Republican-majority voting districts in southern Virginia by connecting them to areas in northern Virginia that have large majorities of Democrat voters.

Virginia Republicans have also condemned the Democrat redistricting effort as a “reckless” partisan power grab and challenged the process in a state court, where a judge has agreed with them and issued a ruling to block it. Virginia Democrats immediately appealed that ruling to the Supreme Court of Virginia and claim that they are confident that the lower court ruling will be overturned, permitting the new map to be used in the midterm election.

Both Parties Using Gerrymandering to Win Control of the House

Democrats have responded to criticism that their map would deprive Republican voters in Virginia of fair representation in Congress by blaming President Trump for having urged Republican states, starting with Texas, last year to draw more Republican-leaning congressional districts to protect the GOP’s extremely narrow current majority in the House of Representatives in this fall’s midterm elections. So far, Texas, North Carolina, and Missouri have heeded Trump’s call, but Democrats in blue states have responded in kind, beginning with California, which responded with a new congressional district map likely to result in 4 House seats switching from Republican to Democrat.

Republicans have accused Spanberger of tricking moderate voters by using a method known as “bait and switch” to disguise her hidden liberal agenda. They point to five other highly partisan issues on which Spanberger abandoned her congressional voting record and her campaign promises to govern Virginia like a Bill Clinton-style moderate Democrat by adopting highly liberal positions shortly after being sworn in as Virginia’s governor.

One of her first official acts was to rescind former Virginia Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin’s executive order requiring all Virginia law enforcement agencies to cooperate with ICE and other federal immigration officials.

Undermining Law and Order in Virginia While Raising Taxes

Spanberger also endorsed amendments introduced by Virginia’s majority of Democrat legislators to end mandatory minimum sentences for various crimes in the state’s criminal courts, including manslaughter, assaulting a law enforcement officer, possession, and other repeat violent felonies, as well as eliminating the mandatory minimum five-day sentence for first-time offenders of the state law against drunk driving (DUI).

Despite running on a campaign based upon a promise to voters to improve affordability, Spanberger supports the various proposals introduced by Democrat state legislators last years to apply the existing retail sales tax to previously exempt services including dry cleaning, landscaping, animal care, cosmetic services and gym memberships, as well as a new tax in Northern Virginia on the delivery of packages by Amazon and UPS.

Spanberger is also supporting a controversial measure introduced by state Democrat legislators, which would impose liberal DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) standards giving preference to all minority and women-owned businesses in the granting of state government contracts for under $100,000, which some Republicans claim amounts to unfair racial discrimination against businesses owned by white men.

Finally, Spanberger supports a proposed amendment to the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Virginia that was recently passed by the state’s Democrat-controlled Senate, which would effectively reverse the pro-life 2022 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court called Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overturned the still controversial 1973 Roe v. Wade decision.

Governor Spanberger also announced that she will have Virginia rejoin the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, in which the states of Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont jointly tax the power plants that use fossil fuels based on the amount of carbon dioxide that they emit. Spanberger’s Republican critics claim that those taxes will ultimately be passed on to Virginia consumers in the form of higher electricity bills.

Moderate Democrats Are Now an Endangered Species

Unfortunately, Spanberger is not alone among formerly moderate Democrat elected officials who have moved sharply to the left in order to attract the support of the growing number of Democrats’ leftist party activists who are notoriously intolerant of the party’s remaining moderates. They have become an endangered political species due to the outspoken anti-Israel progressives like New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and the members of AOC’s squad. They have already changed the internal balance of power within the Democrat party and increased its tolerance for antisemitism.

Back in the days of horse-drawn buggies and Morse code, the marvels of technol­ogy which we enjoy today would have been considered little short of a dream or the imagin­ings of a lunatic. Had anyone predicted such won­drous things as drones and computers and Blue­tooth, they would have been either laughed out of the room or bundled off in a straitjacket. The con­cept of a videophone was on par with cars that can drive themselves (!), both equally improbable.

The Chofetz Chaim, stated that the changing technological landscape would make it easier for us to understand aspects of life that are hidden from us and which we can barely fathom. When we’re told, for example, that upon reaching the next world an individual will be shown a re-enact­ment of his whole life, we can now better grasp the concept because we’re familiar with pictures and videos in the physical arena.

Likewise, the concept of a Being capable of see­ing and hearing things taking place in the remotest corners of the world slips from fantasy to reality when we find ourselves capable of similar feats, albeit in a far more limited fashion. With the sci­entific and technological advances of the past cen­tury, what was once pure fiction has moved most definitively into the non-fiction category. And this growth in knowledge about the world’s physical properties has the power, ironically, to enhance our belief in the metaphysical ones.

We need to remember that Hakadosh Boruch Hu is not only the Creator of nature, as seen in trees and mountains and seas. He also created the nature of technology and science. Bits and bytes, microns and quarks, software and hardware: all of it falls under His Authorship. Which means that we can and should, as the Chofetz Chaim suggests, view these advances as a means of increasing our rever­ence for their Source.

Even as we cling to our traditions and our un­alterable values, the world around us is changing at an unprecedented rate. And we have to keep up with it, both by finding our place within all that change, and by extracting the lessons that Hashem wants us to learn from it.

At a time when a general sitting at his city desk can, with the push of a button, send bomb-carry­ing drones to attack a target thousands of miles away, the might of my hand takes on a whole dif­ferent aspect. A soldier used to have to actually lift his hand to wield sword or rifle against the enemy.

Similarly, without factory workers to man an assembly line, many products would simply not have existed.

Not so today, when machines are capable of undertaking so much of the manual labor that once fell strictly into the human domain. You don’t even have to wash your floors by hand any­more; there are affordable robots that will do the job for you. We hardly look twice when a driverless cart speeds past on its way to deliver a pizza. Yes, the physical world is indubitably changing, and at lightning speed.

And so is the world of the mind. In an era of Artificial Intelligence, when a computer can accomplish in sec­onds what might take a person hours or days to do—including creative work once completely out of bounds for ma­chines—we are called upon once again to find our balance and our place with­in a rapidly evolving scene. It’s not al­ways easy. Faced with the efficiency of these technological marvels, we might start wondering, uneasily, if there’s anything we can do better than a ma­chine!

Research has shown that, for optimal functioning, AI works best when com­bined with human supervision. Whew! Maybe we’re not so irrelevant after all… Still, we’d like to be more than merely an adjunct to an efficient AI program. Isn’t there some area where human ability still reigns supreme?

Indeed, there is.

There’s one thing that a machine can’t do and will never be able to do. And that’s feel. A computer program may try to simulate human emotions, but it will never truly succeed.

Not even the most sophisticated arti­ficial intelligence can experience a heart brimming with love. Even the most ad­vanced machine can never know the joy of holding a child’s hand, or the wonder of watching the sun sink into the hori­zon in a panoply of blazing color. How­ever adept a drone may be as it flies here and there to carry out its mission, the realm of human emotion is a sealed ter­ritory that it can never enter.

No device, be it ever so intricate, can overflow with heart-clenching awe when contemplating its Creator, nor fill with profound gratitude for His many salvations. Not even the savviest of computers can tell us what our hu­man intuition tells us every day. Only the human heart is capable of relating to the world, and its Source, in such a way. A machine may speak the lan­guage of emotions, but only a being of flesh and blood can truly understand it.

As someone once said, technology answers the question, “How?” But it’s the human spirit, replete with uniquely human feelings and intuition, that ex­periences a yearning to seek out the answer to “Why?” The answer it finds leads to the magnificent truth of the Torah and prompts us to let our lives be guided by its wisdom.

Interestingly, in many ways Klal Yis­roel has been moving toward this un­derstanding for a while now, as feel­ings have come to be recognized for the enormous power they wield, for both good and for ill. The mussar movement saw it early on. The kiruv movement, which once debated prospective teshu­vah candidates on purely philosophical grounds, increasingly relies these days on the human need for love, affection and encouragement to bring those candidates back to the fold.

Even as the intellectual study of To­rah reaches new heights, b”H, on an almost daily basis, there’s a growing awareness of the importance of ad­dressing the emotional realm as well. Parents and educators have been re­cruited into this new awareness. Feel­ings are no longer being ignored or set aside when it comes to producing bal­anced and sensitive Yidden capable of embracing Hashem’s goals for us in the best possible way.

Issues such as insecurity and low self-esteem in children, once more or less overlooked, are being recognized and attended to. Ditto for the pain in­herent in marital or parent-child con­flict. In fact, building and repairing every kind of human relationship de­pends first and foremost on an under­standing of the inner life. The unseen but impactful world of emotions.

No machine can provide that. No software program can get anywhere near it. That’s because it takes one hu­man heart to know and bring solace to another.

In our quest to figure out how to find our way through the rapidly chang­ing world around us, let’s take com­fort and strength in the fact that, while technology may have replaced human might and artificial intelligence can take on a great deal of what was once the sole domain of the human mind… As long as we have hearts that beat in solidarity with Hashem and with each other, the human spirit will always reign supreme.

Everyone needs to step away now and then. When winter tightens its grip, many northerners head south to Florida, searching for warmth and escape. Nothing against that. When I feel the need to breathe again, though, I go to Eretz Yisroel, to Yerushalayim.

That is where I feel most like myself, where the noise fades and something steadier takes its place. I don’t need much there. Even though every time I go, I make time to see a place I’ve never visited before, it is enough for me to walk Yerushalayim’s streets, worn smooth by thousands of footsteps, and watch its people go about their lives. I can do that for hours, until my feet give out and my thoughts quiet.

Last week, I returned once more. Just by standing at the Kosel, at the place from which the Shechinah has never departed, I felt recharged and was reminded why I had come. My tefillos slowed and sharpened, each word carrying more weight.

I traveled to Eretz Yisroel for what was meant to be a short visit. The plan was to spend Shabbos with my beloved mother-in-law and return on Sunday to produce the paper. Hashem had other plans, and thanks to the interference of the huge snowstorm, I did not make it back until Monday night.

Of course, everything Hashem does is for the good, and an extra, unplanned day in Yerushalayim was a gift.

Over the years, I have had the privilege of seeing much of what Yerushalayim has to offer. I have stood among the remnants of the churban haBayis, gazing at the massive stones toppled near the Kosel and the scorched city wall burned by the Romans. I have walked the very paths taken by the Bnei Yisroel in the days of the Bais Hamikdosh as they came up from Chevron and points south to be oleh regel. I have recited Tashlich at the Mayan Hashiloach, from where water was drawn for the nisuch hamayim of Sukkos and mayim chaim for parah adumah. I have stood where Dovid Hamelech is believed to have lived, moments that bring Tanach vividly to life.

Those experiences are very touching. Walking on the same path as our ancestors as they went to fulfill their obligations gives the neshomah a tingle and causes the heart to skip a few beats.

Seeing those huge stones, which comprised a strong defensive wall in the times of Nach that we study with much reverence, makes everything come alive, as does viewing the stalls that catered to the olei regel. Your imagination begins to stir as you envision millions of people standing in this very spot.

Seeing what is thought to have been the palace of Dovid Hamelech is another manifestation of bringing Dovid Hamelech alive and making everything about him so real that you can almost touch it.

And of course, there is the Kosel. Standing at the place from which the Shechinah has never departed, uttering the holy words written by Dovid Hamelech in tefillah, is always profoundly moving. As you daven Shemoneh Esrei before those eternal stones, distractions fall away and kavonah comes naturally, as it has for thousands of years.

As you daven, you feel the Shechinah nearby, and you know that He is listening to your tefillos at this special place.

All of that is deeply meaningful, but it is not what this piece is about.

This time, beyond the stones and the streets that always leave such a deep impression, the extra day afforded me the opportunity to take up an offer from my friends. Yitzchok Pindrus and Yehuda Soloveitchik took us to visit a place that, in its quiet way, embodied the same holiness and continuity I feel in Yerushalayim’s ancient walls.

We arrived at Har Tzion and learned about the extraordinary history of the area, and of the Diaspora Yeshiva located there, a yeshiva deeply tied to the Jewish presence in that part of Yerushalayim. We visited the yeshiva, which is headed by Rav Pindrus, and were given a guided tour by Rav Yitzchok Goldstein, who heads the Diaspora Yeshiva. Rav Yitzchok is a fascinating person whose life revolves around Torah and continuing the mission his father began when he took over the site after the Six Day War.

The yeshiva also maintains a Holocaust museum, the Marteif HaShoah, a place I had never visited and barely knew existed. Established by Holocaust survivors, it contains deeply moving artifacts, including the shofar that the Klausenberger Rebbe blew in the concentration camp, Sifrei Torah stained with the blood of kedoshim who were shot while holding them, and many other sacred remnants of a shattered world.

The Marteif HaShoah also contains memorial plaques, crafted like matzeivos, for the residents of 1,200 Jewish communities destroyed by the Nazis. Survivors would gather there on the yahrtzeits of their towns to say Kaddish and remember. Talmidei chachomim, including Maran Harav Shach, would learn there as a zechus for the neshamos of the martyrs. It is a hallowed place, well worth visiting when in Yerushalayim.

From there, we walked through the beauty of Har Tzion toward the Zilberman Cheder, the famous school known for its unique and remarkable method of learning based on the educational concepts of the Maharal and the Vilna Gaon.

We observed a class of five-year-old boys learning Parshas Vayeira. They were reading aloud with their rebbi, with full trup. Five-year-olds. Every boy was able to read, follow, and understand. But more than that, they knew all the pesukim from Bereishis bora until the parsha they were learning that day by heart, and they understood their meaning. They answered questions with clarity and confidence, living the words of Chazal: Ben chomeish l’mikra.

For whatever reason, most of our schools do not learn this way. Seeing it in action was astonishing, a living demonstration that children, even at a young age, are capable of absorbing and retaining Torah at a remarkably high level.

Rav Yosef Zilberman told me that the classes are not composed of geniuses. The student body reflects the same spectrum found everywhere: some very bright, some smart and some who aren’t, some average, and some weaker. But children are hungry for knowledge and are able to absorb much more than people think.

We observed older grades as well and saw the same success: boys who know Shishah Sidrei Mishnah by heart, and older ones who have learned sedorim of Shas and retain them.

It was a beautiful sight to see Bnei Yerushalayim so attached to Torah. Everyone there, from the rabbeim on down, carried a special look of satisfaction and geshmak.

The Brisker Rov would say that the true chein of Yerushalayim is not its buildings, but its children. On my “extra” day there, I felt that truth with complete clarity.

I am certain that children in chadorim throughout Yerushalayim are also blessed with tremendous chein and yedios, but this is the place we happened to see. In fact, at the home of Rav Dovid Cohen, I met my old friend, Rav Avrohom Pinzel, who heads Chochmas Shlomo, the largest cheder in Yerushalayim. He invited me to visit his school as well, something I hope to do during a future trip.

From the moment we entered the Zilberman Cheder, I was struck by the dedication, warmth, and energy that filled every corner. Walking the halls and watching children learn Torah with such enthusiasm, I felt a different kind of tingle — not the kind that comes from ancient stones, but the kind that comes from witnessing a living, breathing commitment to the future.

Here was the spirit of Yerushalayim, alive in a new generation, shaping hearts and minds in real time. It was inspiring, humbling, and deeply moving. It was a reminder that the holiness of Yerushalayim does not only live in its past, but is unfolding every day, in places like this unique yeshiva.

We traveled to the ancient city of Shiloh, where the Mishkon stood for 369 years. With the parshiyos of the Mishkon approaching, it felt like the right time to be there. I had visited once before, some fifteen years ago, before it had been developed into a formal site. Even then, it was powerful. Now, standing again on that ground, it was impossible not to feel the weight of what once stood there.

This is the place where the Mishkon itself is believed to have been situated. And nearby was the sha’ar — the gate — where Eli Hakohein is said to have been sitting when he heard the devastating words: ki nishbah Aron HaElokim — that the Pelishtim had captured the Aron. Upon hearing the news, he fell backward and was niftar.

The Novi tells us in Sefer Shmuel Alef (4) that the Bnei Yisroel were at war with the Pelishtim, and the battle was going badly. In desperation, the ziknei Yisroel sent for the Aron to be brought from Shiloh to the battlefield. It was a tragic mistake. Chofni and Pinchos, the sons of Eli who carried it, were killed, along with thirty thousand Jews. And when Eli heard what had happened, sitting at the gate opposite the Mishkon, his heart could not bear it.

To stand there — to see the site of the Mishkon and the place where Eli sat — is to feel the long, trembling story of Am Yisroel beneath your feet. The stones do not speak, but somehow they remember.

You can almost hear Shmuel Hanovi calling out across the centuries, repeating his nevuah urging the people to do teshuvah and abandon their avodah zarah. They believed they were righteous. They refused to listen. And they were punished. The war was lost and the Aron was taken.

Standing there, I found myself wondering what Shmuel would say if he were alive today. What would his message be to us? What would he be admonishing us about? What would he be urging us to fix, to strengthen and to change in order to bring the geulah closer?

We are no longer blessed with nevi’im. But we still have their words. We have Nach. We have our rabbeim. We have the sifrei mussar and machshovah written over centuries, offering us guidance, perspective, and a Torah lens through which to view our lives and our responsibilities.

In just a few weeks, we will be learning the measurements of the Mishkon. And there in Shiloh, on an ancient mountain, stands a flat area, preserved and marked, measuring one hundred amos by fifty amos, the exact size of the Mishkon. You stand there and try to imagine it: the yerios, the two mizbeichos, the crowds lining up with their korbanos, the smoke rising to the heavens in a rei’ach nichoach, the kohanim moving swiftly, purposefully, immersed in avodah. And suddenly, you realize how much we are missing in golus.

But then you look down.

Scattered everywhere are shards of pottery, fragments of the very vessels in which people once ate their korbanos, vessels that became assur b’hana’ah because of the kedusha they had absorbed. They have been lying there for thousands of years, silent witnesses to the kedusha and taharah of Yidden, exactly as Chazal depicted and described.

And in that moment, something shifts. The Mishnayos we hureved over are no longer abstract. They are no longer theoretical. They are real. Alive. Tangible. What a chizuk in emunah.

You can bend down, pick up a broken piece of clay, and suddenly, history is not something you learn.

It is something you touch.

There is so much happening in the world today — in the wider world and in our own. Some of it is good. Much of it is not. People feel unsettled, unsure of what the future holds. Anti-Semitism is rising. The specter of war with Iran hovers.

For many frum families, simply making ends meet has become an ever-growing challenge: housing, tuition, clothing, food, insurance — the basic obligations of life weigh heavier each year. Beneath it all, there is a quiet sense of division and discontent that we struggle to mend.

Where will it all lead? How will it end?

There are opportunities for chizuk all around us, and in our daily lives we can often sense Hashem’s steady hand guiding us, sustaining us, carrying us forward. But sometimes, we need a change of scenery to see it. To step outside ourselves. To be reminded — not intellectually, but viscerally — of who we are and where we come from.

Walking among ancient shards of pottery in Shiloh, standing on the stones once trodden by the olei regel, facing the remaining walls of the Bais Hamikdosh, and watching Yerushalayim’s zekeinim and ne’arim move through its streets — all of it speaks quietly but powerfully. It tells the story of eternity. It reminds us that despite everything our people have endured, we are still here. Alive. Learning. Building. Dreaming.

We walk through the streets of the Eternal City and see before our eyes the living fulfillment of the nevuah of Zechariah Hanovi: “Od yeishvu zekeinim uzekeinos b’rechovos Yerushalayim… Urechovos ha’ir yimale’u yeladim v’yelados mesachakim b’rechovoseha.”

We stand in a city that was destroyed, emptied, burned and mourned, and now we see old people sitting peacefully along the streets and children playing in them.

And in that vision, we find our answer. Not to every question, but to the deepest one of all. We are not a people of endings. We are a people of continuity.

Other nations write histories that conclude with a rise and a fall, with glory followed by disappearance. Our story is quite different. For us, Am Yisroel, destruction is never the final word. Golus is never the last chapter. The dark moments become bridges to something good that follows each time.

That is what Yerushalayim teaches us when we walk its streets.

Am Yisroel exists in a story whose final word has not yet been written. And the story won’t end, as most stories do, with “The End,” but rather with “The Geulah.”

May we merit to see and experience it speedily in our days. Amein.

There is a conversation taking place in the frum world that is not quite a machlokes, but it is also nottotally insignificant. I’m not sure what to call it. I’m not sure if you can call it a conversation. It’s more like an animation. And I am not sure if the argument is being debated in botei medrash with mareh mekomos. I doubt it highly. Instead, the quite fascinating divergent views in hashkafah are being played out in a different medium, and through a different medium.

The machlokes seems to be manifesting in song versus song, video versus video. Text vs. text. Instead of the fiery shmuessen we baby boomers were used to and the kol korehs plastered on pashkevilin throughout the streets, this argument seems to be played out with animated mentchees flying on carpets and eating bilkilach.

I really don’t want to get into the argument or voice an opinion on it. I don’t have the weight, even with this column in the Yated, to have an impact, and I don’t really feel comfortable entering the fray (if you can call it that).

I remember being in my grandfather’s home when someone came to visit him in need of advice. He discussed an inyan regarding which he wanted to make a statement that would eventually go public. My zaide advised him, “You may be right, but this is not the type of thing that is worth having your windows broken for it.”

We live in a generation in which we are seeing tremendous strife, especially in Eretz Yisroel. Although not from a clear source, the words “Worth giving your life over it” have been either stated by reliable sources or bandied about by misquoters.

I don’t think that the mentchees on the two sides of the aforementioned argument are up to the “yeihareig v’al yaavor” stage of declarations or of fighting, because so far, they have relegated their battle to cartoon characters.

But it does not mean that the philosophical disagreements are necessarily kinderish. In today’s day and age, people are using the medium that talks to a generation that absconded the 1,000-page novel to comic book sketches and the stick line charts to explain complicated cases in Yevamos to animated chosson and kallahs, brothers and sisters jumping off a screen and dancing at weddings. And I’m not knocking it. As someone involved in elementary school education, I see that you have to talk the language of the generation. Otherwise, your point may not be understood.

In the past, Yiddishkeit never needed slogans, but there were always catchphrases and aphorisms that embodied the “klal gadol baTorah.”

I think that both sides are sincere and are talking to the crowds with whom they are familiar.

There is a classic vort said in the name of almost every rebbe and rosh yeshiva who have delved into machsheves Yisroel. I have heard it in the name of Rav Yitzchok Hutner, the Sefas Emes, and the Belzer Rebbe, among others. It illuminates the stark difference between the unity of the Egyptians chasing the Yidden into the Yam Suf and that of the Yidden standing at Har Sinai.

When Klal Yisroel lifted their eyes and saw the Egyptians racing after them, the posuk says, “Vehinei Mitzrayim nosei’a achareihem.” Rashi famously notes that nosei’a is singular. Not nosim. The Egyptians were advancing as one.

And Rashi explains: They were united b’lev echad k’ish echad — with one heart, like one person.

Later, in Parshas Yisro, when Klal Yisroel arrives at Har Sinai, the Torah again uses the singular: “Vayichan shom Yisroel neged hahar.” And again Rashi comments: k’ish echad b’lev echad — like one person, with one heart.

The phrases sound nearly identical. But all the aforementioned baalei machshavah famously point out that the stark difference lies in the order of the words.

Regarding the Egyptians, the lev echad comes first. The shared emotion to attack. The common cause of hatred, revenge, momentum and reclaiming lost slaves united them. That lev echad produces a temporary ish echad. Take away the mission and the unity evaporates.

Regarding Klal Yisroel, the order is reversed. We are k’ish echad first. One organism. One body. Only afterward comes b’lev echad, shared direction, shared focus, shared language.

That distinction could not be more relevant.

Because when unity depends solely on a shared emotional portfolio or shared vocabulary of slogans and mantras and chanting in the streets, it is counterfeit. When the cause shifts, the unity cracks. The commitment dissipates and the unified Egyptian forces split into individual horses and riders catapulted into the raging waters of the Yam Suf.

Klal Yisroel is not built that way. We are inherently one nation. We may have our divides, but we are in essence a single unit. Raging battles of a few hundred years ago, fights we thought would never end, have dissipated into a dance of unity.

I don’t have to explain when we see with our own eyes how what once was thought of as eternal divergence has come together in an amazing harmony. Are there differences? Of course, but the briach hatichon of Toras Hashem and the search for connection to the Borei Olam are inherently there forever.

The Yid who serves Hashem quietly, without slogans, without public articulation, without emotional display, without a bumper sticker declaring his allegiance to either the Daf or his unending love and gratitude of Hashem, is not missing a component of Yiddishkeit.

A Yid who embellishes his service to Hashem with song, gratitude, and verbal expression that borders on public displays is not trying to import something foreign. He has different ways to express himself. And although I was raised and nurtured in the world of the supremacy of limud haTorah as the ultimate method of avodas Hashem and the way to become close to Him, I most certainly cannot get into the mindset and motivation and ultimate value proposition of those whose rabbeim have guided them on a different path.

And the little mentchees who may fight it out on the animated playground of artificial intelligence remain as an artificial battle.

Because, in essence, we are one.

A body does not require uniform sensation to remain whole. The heart pounds during exertion. It slows during rest. The hands work. The eyes observe. The spine holds everything upright. None of them accuses the other of being insufficiently alive.

The Torah did not require Klal Yisroel to feel the same way at Sinai. Each shevet encamped separately. Each neshomah stood where it stood. What was required was presence — belonging, k’ish echad.

And that is the point that gets lost in our current conversation.

The moment one style becomes the benchmark, we invert the order. We turn b’lev echad into the prerequisite for k’ish echad. And that is not Jewish unity. That is Egyptian unity.

Har Sinai did not demand a shared tone. It demanded a unified standing.

Perhaps that is the reminder we need now. Not to resolve the conversation, not to pick a winner, not to canonize one derech and retire another. Just to restore the order.

We are one people first. The slogans need not synchronize.

And if we remember that, the conversation can remain what it should be: a conversation among parts of the same body, not rival camps arguing over who owns the pulse.

The rest is just artificial — without much intelligence.

Just saying.

Although it’s still in its infancy, much has already been written about AI, the new world of Artificial Intelligence. I recently read the comment of one pundit regarding AI that “we’re going somewhere strange at a very rapid speed.” In other words, perhaps more than any other invention or discovery, AI is moving faster than innovations such as the internet, space travel or self-driving vehicles. In our own sometimes sheltered frum world, some people have embraced AI in ways no one could have predicted. For example, many other rabbonim and I have been receiving inquiries by phone or in person with the following introduction: “Rebbi, ChatGPT says… What do you say?” Not so long ago, I might have heard, “Rav Moshe Feinstein says…but the Mishnah Berurah seems to say… What should I do?” Sometimes, the end of the sentence was: “Which do we follow?” Now, let’s face it: AI is a shitah, an opinion.

Since I personally have no access to this new gadol, people are kind enough to make the introduction. Just this morning, between Shacharis and a chaburah, someone showed me what appeared to be a wonderful review sheet prepared by AI for the first daf in Bava Kamma. It included difficult words and a decent translation, 30 questions based upon Tannaim, Amoraim, Rishonim and Acharonim and easy-to-follow answers. Another of my benefactors printed for me a “teshuvah” about a complicated halachic shailah with 13 sources. The problem was that they were all made up. When my friend confronted Reb AI, a.k.a. Reb Chat, he (it) did teshuvah and confessed to the sheker. Then it did a seemingly human thing. It rationalized its mistake with rather poor excuses.

So where have we gone? More importantly, where are we going and how should we react to this situation where we find ourselves? Furthermore, unlike the weather and the inventions mentioned earlier, all of those affect almost everyone equally. However, the challenges of AI for us involve the various issues of emunas chachomim, emes and sheker, our absolute belief in the chain of our mesorah, as delineated in the beginning of Pirkei Avos and unbroken until…AI. Now, of course, we have always had to deal with interlopers, such as the Tzedukim, Karaim, Haskalah and, most recently, Reform, Conservative and even perversions of Orthodoxy. However, we generally knew how to differentiate between the legitimate and the fakes, and the authentic and the deceptions. The scourge of AI is that it “speaks our language,” even imitating the variations it picks up between our many own groups. ChatGPT may be here to stay with its already octopus-like numerous arms, but let’s at least try to set some initial guidelines and red flags to avoid.

I decided that, given the purpose of this essay, it would be appropriate to discuss the concept of a genuine mesorah and daas Torah by turning to my own rabbeim. I urge everyone to do the same, where appropriate and available. My rebbi, Rav Yitzchok Hutner, once wrote in a letter (Iggros Ukesavim 42, pages 70-71) that “the main source of tumah (spiritual defilement) in our time is the depreciation and belittling of the tzuras adam (stature of a human being).” This short epigram about the reduction of mankind’s grandeur is explained in more depth in many places in his writings and maamorim.

First of all, we should realize that the diminution of the tzuras adam mentioned above always comes in stages. The rosh yeshiva proved this through a careful analysis of the early history of mankind. In the very beginning, Adam Harishon was punished in a way that diminished him and, by extension, all of mankind (see Sanhedrin 38b). Then, the world was nearly completely destroyed by the primordial Flood, which further eroded the stature of human beings. At that point, the Creator said that the world would no longer be destroyed because of anything man does, because we are now unworthy of having the fate of the universe depend upon us (Bereishis 8:21, with meforshim). Then came the punishment of the Dor Haflagah, where the only speaking creature in the universe could no longer communicate with every other human being. This was a drastic lowering of the universality and all-encompassing stature of man (Pachad Yitzchok, Rosh Hashanah 20:13, pages 147-148). After those seminal events, Hashem no longer diminished man, but we saw much evidence of man diminishing himself.

One of the most amazing revelations of the rosh yeshiva in this regard is that “with the creation of Adam, the concept of Hashem’s royalty was simultaneously also created.” The reason for this linkage is that Adam was the first and only creation who was created b’tzelem Elokim, and he could therefore also recognize the majesty of Hashem in the universe. For this reason, also, Adam’s shirah is Hashem malach (Tehillim 93:1). On the sixth day of creation, Adam Harishon declared and sang of the sovereignty of his creator” (ibid., Maamar 11:16, page 96). It is this creature that is also obligated to declare, “The world was created for me” (Sanhedrin 37a). That is the level of glory that Hashem assigns to the one creation for which He fashioned the world (Derech Hashem, chapter 2). It should be obvious that we are dwelling here on making a striking distinction between listening to a machine/computer/soulless object and learning from a human being who stands at the pinnacle of creation. This is what the rosh yeshiva wrote (Sefer Hazikaron, Pachad Yitzchok, page 67) as early as 5681 (1921), when he was only 15 years old: “The root of my soul is from the middah of daas (understanding).” Man is neither machine nor computer, but the repository of a heavenly soul that is a cheilek Eloka mimaal (a part of Hashem Himself). His knowledge is not made of algorithms or electronic signals. It is the most important part of the Divine wisdom that G-d has allowed in the world (see Pachad Yitzchok, Shavuos, Maamar 36).

To plumb even deeper, the rosh yeshiva taught that man incorporates within himself every entity in the universe (Maamorei Pachad Yitzchok, Sukkos 23:4, 99:15). Additionally, he is the only one capable of discerning holiness in the world (Maamorei Pachad Yitzchok, Pesach 19:2), and even after he sinned, his creation was considered tov me’od, extremely good (ibid. 52:6). A true human being transcends time itself (Pachad Yitzchok, Yom Hakippurim 21:5, 32:4) and shines with an other-worldly light (Pachad Yitzchok, Chanukah 7:5).

We should note at this point that, thousands of years before AI, our sages knew how to create an artificial human being through their knowledge of Kabbolah (see Sanhedrin 65b). Yet, although some of them had brought such a creature into being, others consigned the silent golem who couldn’t even speak to the dust-heap. Some poskim argue whether such a being could be counted in a minyan (see Chacham Tzvi 93 and his son Rav Yaakov Emden’s She’ailas Yaavetz 2:82), but none believe that these temporary artificial creatures can act as substitutes or even surrogates for the eminence and nobility of even the lowest human being. All of this can be said about the difference between a fake bundle of wires and plastic and a tzelem Elokim. We have not even begun to speak of the kedusha and taharah of even the least member of Klal Yisroel.

To answer our questions, we must remember that the process of ascertaining Torah knowledge requires a mind suffused with the holiness of the Torah and the purity of its spirit. To even ask — if that is the correct term — shailos of ChatGPT or any other iteration of AI is not only an insult to Torah, but contradictory to its very essence. It was said of several of the Rishonim that when they said, “I think,” the statement carried more force than a reasoned logical argument and conclusion. The reason is that a true posek is not a dictionary or encyclopedia, nor even a search engine for facts and figures. He is a man of heart and soul who happens to have a brain. He speaks with the siyata diShmaya of Hashem standing next to him at all times. He, like many Jews throughout the past 3,000 years, is a replica — also reduced to be sure — of Moshe Rabbeinu. The difference is that for our generation, he has exactly the right number of spiritual nerve endings, synapses and brain cells to answer the questions of our time. Anything less than that is like asking the baseball if it can please throw itself or manikin to dress itself.

There are undoubtedly many useful things that AI can do. Let us keep them outside of the holy borders where only the neshomah can tread and function. This is our tremendous gift from Hashem. Let us not exchange it for a hunk of metal without that precious soul. It diminishes us further, but, perhaps even more importantly, it brings the entire world down as well. Yes, we can use telephones and computers, cars and planes. But when it comes to learning Torah and discovering its treasures, let’s use the time-honored method of learning seforim hakedoshim and consulting with the giants who will never lie to us, even with a metallic fake accent to charm us. Our AI is Absolute Inspiration from the One Above.

Imagine if someone came over and told you, before krias haTorah this Shabbos, that “the Aseres Hadibros that we are about to lain are very nice, but they don’t really apply today — or at least one of them doesn’t apply.” What would you answer? I would probably answer that the last time I checked, “Open Orthodoxy” is not something that we ascribe to, and neither is Conservative or Reform. Whatever the Torah and Chazal teach us is eternal and applies today just as it did when we heard it at Har Sinai.

That is why, when someone recently said something to me about the fifth commandment of the Aseres Hadibros, the mitzvah of kibbud av v’eim, it was jarring to my senses, to say the least.

Should We Throw in the Towel?

This person said, “Today, we can no longer demand kibbud av v’eim from our kids. It may turn them off…”

Now, there is one thing about which he is not wrong. We are living in a different generation than our parents, and certainly a different one than that of our grandparents and great-grandparents. The social norms of the world are very different. The concept of respect — even respect for elders — is virtually non-existent in the wider world. Therefore, teaching this concept and cultivating a generation that understands what it means to respect parents, elders, rabbeim, teachers, and mentors requires forethought and wisdom.

But that doesn’t mean it can’t be done. That doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be done and that we should just throw in the towel and say, “Okay, there goes one of the aseres hadibros…”

It is our obligation to teach kibbud av v’eim to our children and talmidim/talmidos in a way that it can be niskabel.

In fact, we have even more of an obligation to teach this vital mitzvah to our children in today’s world, because otherwise they will not learn it by osmosis, as it was learned in previous generations.

Fear of Parents, Fear of Shabbos

Rav Shamshon Raphael Hirsch explains the juxtaposition of two commandments in the posuk that states, “Ish imo v’aviv tirau v’es Shabbsosai tishmoru — Every man, your mother and father shall you revere, and My Shabbos shall you observe.”

It is a famous question: Why does the Torah write Shabbos after the commandment to fear one’s parents? The well-known answer offered by Chazal is that if a parent tells you to desecrate Shabbos, you are not permitted to listen to them.

Rav Hirsch, however, teaches another lesson. He explains that Shabbos represents yiras Shomayim. Keeping Shabbos properly can only be done if a person has yiras Shomayim. You cannot, however, expect a child to have yiras Shomayim, because yiras Shomayim is abstract. How are you afraid of someone if you don’t hear him or see him?

Thus, Hashem gave us the mitzvah of morah and kavod for our parents. Once a child achieves yirah of his parents, he can expand those feelings to also include Hashem. From Rav Hirsch we see that there was a time when one didn’t have to explain what the concept of fearing one’s parents was. It was natural. It was understood even by the simplest of people.

A Lifelong Lesson — Watching My Father Interact With His Parents

On a personal note, a large percentage of my friends did not have grandparents. Their parents survived the war and lost their parents. Therefore, these friends never had the opportunity to observe how their parents honored their own parents (i.e., the friends’ grandparents). I was zoche to have grandparents who not only survived World War II, but even survived World War I.

Until I was in my 20s, I was able to observe how my father z”l honored his parents, and it was above and beyond anything we see today. Although there was a lot of humor and familiarity, there was simultaneously tremendous kavod and morah that I saw in their daily interactions. The familiarity and humor in their interactions did not in any way infringe on the tremendous respect and deference that my father had for his parents.

I didn’t need to be taught about the parameters of this mitzvah; I was able to absorb it just by seeing it. Yes, of course, my level of kibbud av v’eim didn’t even come close to that of my parents, but we recognized and were cognizant of our place vis-à-vis our parents.

The Path to Turn Off

Today, the concept of honoring parents, elders, or, for that matter, anyone is so far removed that it is not something a child will learn from the very air that he breathes. Our children may not automatically learn how to do this mitzvah unless we teach them. Unfortunately, that is where it becomes tricky.

If we tell them, “Do this! Don’t do that! You should have seen how my father honored his father…,” it is liable to just turn them off. It won’t be accepted.

Today, the old-fashioned way of making demands and having expectations of kavod just doesn’t work. Chazal teach us that just as it is a mitzvah to rebuke someone if it will be accepted, it is also a mitzvah not to tell someone something that will not be obeyed.

If you just make demands of a child because you are the father and he is obligated to listen to you, especially if those demands are made at a time when he doesn’t want to listen, this will often backfire. Teaching respect must also be done with a tremendous amount of chein.

Not a Turn-Off

In truth, it is vital that we teach today’s children to honor and fear their parents — kibbud and morah — and not throw in the towel.

Rav Eliyahu Eliezer Dessler cites a Yerushalmi that shows the importance of teaching yirah. The Yerushalmi states, “Serve Hashem out of love, because he who loves will not hate. Serve Hashem out of fear, because he who fears does not kick back (rebel).”

From here we see that if we do not want our children to kick back and rebel, there has to be an element of yirah in a relationship.

The question, therefore, is: How do we teach this mitzvah to our children without turning them off and making them think that we are just doing this for ourselves?

Creating a Family Discussion, at a Non-Threatening Time

For example, let’s say you want to teach a child that at a Shabbos table, children should not begin to eat until the father starts to eat. Let’s say the soup is brought to the table and the father has not yet taken a spoonful of soup, when Yankele, the son, eats some soup. If Totty looks at Yankele with angry eyes and exclaims, “Yankele! You MUST wait for me to eat first!” it will not go over well. That is not chinuch.

What Totty should have done is on one weekday, on a simple Tuesday night, when everyone is sitting and shmoozing at the supper table, in an unthreatening atmosphere, somehow direct the conversation to painting such a scenario. He should then discuss it with Yankele: “Yankele, what do you think? It is kibbud av v’eim to make sure that Totty eats first before you start eating.”

If he understands on his own, that is great. If he doesn’t, an entire conversation — an entire family discussion — can ensue as to why this is kibbud av v’eim. When things are explained in a non-threatening atmosphere, they will almost always be accepted.

Another simple example: Let’s say father and children are walking home from shul. When they reach the house, they are about to enter. In truth, a child — or perhaps the oldest child — should open the door and let Totty go in first. That is kibbud av. But if the child is not taught this, he will never know.

This makes for a great discussion — not on Friday night, when you are about to walk into the house, but sometime during the week, when you can steer the conversation so that this subject comes up.

Another scenario: What does a father do when he says something and the child disagrees and retorts, “Totty, what are you talking about?” At that time, he should probably just say, “I hear what you are saying. Let’s talk about it a different time.” Then, at the right moment, perhaps a few days later, a father might have a shmooze with the son about how the Shulchan Aruch suggests one should correct his father: “Totty, perhaps you might have overlooked such-and-such,” or, “Totty, I am not sure if you noticed…”

A Different World Requires Different Tactics

The kids in today’s generation are wonderful. They are not malicious at all. The only thing is that there are some things that previous generations may have understood naturally that are not automatically understood today. The world is different, so the children are different.

Parents today need to teach with patience, not under duress, but in an unthreatening atmosphere, so that all these concepts can be readily understood and, slowly but surely, readily accepted.

This isn’t a luxury. We must teach yirah, because a yorei is not bo’et; one who fears doesn’t kick back. If we don’t teach them fear the right way, how, then, can we complain when they kick back?

Tension in Iran, Trepidation in Israel

Yes, my friends, I cannot deny that we are tense. I would say that we are suffering from nail-biting tension, but the apprehension filled the air on Shabbos, when it is forbidden to bite one’s nails.

Incidentally, Rav Shimshon Dovid Pincus once saw a member of his community in Ofakim biting his nails on a weekday and shouted at him, “Chillul Shabbos!” The man was bewildered by this reprimand, but Rav Pincus explained, “If you make a habit of biting your nails, it’s almost inevitable that you will do it without thinking, even on Shabbos. Therefore, you are placing yourself in a situation of potential chillul Shabbos.” This story is a testament to Rav Pincus’s exquisite sensitivity to the observance of halacha. But I digress.

It is very possible that the president of the United States, with his unique and flamboyant personality, is playing games with Iran and its rulers. The whole world is watching as he taunts them, realizing that they are shaking with fear. In my opinion, it wasn’t a mistake when Trump revealed a military secret in a newspaper interview; it was a premeditated move. While discussing the American military raid in Venezuela, Trump revealed that the US forces had used a secret weapon that he described as “the disruptor,” which prevented Venezuela’s weapons from operating. “They had Russian and Chinese rockets, and they never fired even one,” Trump asserted. “We went in, they pressed the buttons, and nothing worked.” When Iran heard this, they were horrified, and for good reason.

The only problem, as far as Israel is concerned, is that the tension and pressure experienced by Iran is felt in Israel as well. Iran is threatening to strike at Israel if they are attacked; they have even identified the specific targets for their missiles. Over the past two Shabbosos, the Home Front Command instructed Israeli citizens to leave their radios tuned to a silent channel, which will broadcast only missile alerts in the event that they occur. To make a long story short, everyone in Israel is anxious about what lies ahead.

There is another type of tension in the air as well—over the draft law. Last Wednesday, the state budget was passed by a small majority. Some of the chareidi representatives (the members of Shas and Degel HaTorah) voted in favor of the budget, while others (the members of Agudas Yisroel, including Meir Porush) voted against it. The support for the budget was due to a last-minute decision for those chareidi parties to refrain from bringing down the government at that time; since it was the last possible day for the budget to pass its first reading, Degel and Shas chose to support the bill, hoping that a resolution will soon be found for the problems created by the attorney general and the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee and that the new draft law will be passed by the Knesset in the next two weeks. But for the time being, we are in suspense over this issue as well, as we all wait to hear the fate of the draft law that has been the subject of so much discussion.

Will the Draft Law Pass?

At the beginning of the week, all the sessions of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that were scheduled this week regarding the draft bill were called off. The committee chairman, MK Boaz Bismut, explained that the committee’s legal advisor needed more time to formulate the final version of the bill. Bismut is scheduled to discuss the bill with Prime Minister Netanyahu. A public statement was issued on his behalf: “A short time ago, the committee’s legal counsel informed us that the work on a final version of the draft law hasn’t yet been completed, and it will take additional time for it to be finalized. As a result, the committee chairman has decided to postpone the discussions planned for this coming week to the following week, to ensure that the next stage of discussion will take place only on the basis of a properly formulated version of the bill, as part of an efficient and focused legislative process.”

According to Bismut, the law is ready; all that it lacks is the legal advisor’s stamp of approval. Last weekend, at the committee session, Bismut said, “I am excited to announce that the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee has finished the reading of all the clauses of the conscription law. We are approaching the finish line. The committee will soon vote on the law in preparation for its second and third readings [at which point it will be brought to the Knesset for those readings and its final approval]. A process that has dragged on for years and that has repeatedly been stuck in endless committee sessions has moved forward on my watch, because we had a clear objective: passing a law. We didn’t hold discussions for the sake of talking; we had a genuine desire to reach a solution, step by step, through dialogue, collaboration, and determination.” Bismut quoted the prime minister, who announced on the same evening, “We are on the verge of completing the passage of the draft law. We are moving on to the next stage. It is now the responsibility of the entire Knesset to continue this process until the law is approved by the full Knesset. This will be a historic draft law that will strengthen the IDF and all of Israeli society.”

Will the chareidim be able to support the draft law after all the changes that will be introduced by the committee’s legal advisor, Miri Frankel-Shor? That is a question that we can answer only after the fact. That is what I meant when I said that the community is tense. Meanwhile, everyone hopes fervently that the law will be approved, which should buy the country’s Torah learners another year or two of peace.

In related news, an unprecedented fiasco took place in the Knesset last week, when several members of Yair Lapid’s party, Yesh Atid, barged into Bismut’s office while he was meeting with chareidi MKs. How did they get in? The answer is that one of the interlopers, Ram Ben-Barak, is a former chairman of the committee, and his access card, which is supposed to open his own office, still allowed him to access the committee chairman’s office as well. The group of Yesh Atid members entered Bismut’s office to protest his meeting with the chareidim, and Bismut was outraged. “A red line has been passed!” he wrote in a sharp statement in response to the intrusion. “The same elements who warned against a right-wing takeover of the Knesset behaved with thuggery and vulgarity today, in an attempt to turn a sovereign institution into a lawless space. The intrusion even included the severe offense of improperly photographing committee documents. This situation will be handled with full severity. I have scheduled a meeting with the Knesset Sergeant-at-Arms in response to the violent and forceful intrusion into my office by opposition Knesset members.”

Yesh Atid responded derisively, “The Likud’s reactions are turning whinier and more hysterical than ever. Everyone understands that they were trying to hide their meetings with chareidi activists and to close a corrupt deal for draft evasion on the backs of IDF soldiers.”

Bismut has already imposed sanctions on Yesh Atid MKs who are members of the committee; they will now be barred from classified discussions.

Attorney General Takes Aim at Funding for Foreign Yeshiva Students

There is another issue related to the draft crisis that will surely be of interest to American Jews, especially those with children learning in yeshivos in Eretz Yisroel. The government budget for yeshivos includes funding for foreign students; every yeshiva receives a set sum for every foreign student registered in the institution. The yeshivos submit lists of their talmidim to the Finance Ministry every year, and the Treasury, which is always trying to cut funding—especially funding for Torah learners—takes advantage of this budget clause for a routine ploy. The Treasury first announces that it is cutting funding for students from abroad, which comes as a huge blow to yeshivos with many foreign students—chief among them Yeshivas Mir. The chareidi politicians are then forced to fight to reverse the budget cut, in a fiscal battle that must be fought every year.

When the Supreme Court ordered a freeze on funding for yeshivos—since all yeshiva students have been classified as criminals, boruch Hashem—it did not include the budget for foreign students. Foreigners are not subject to the Israeli draft, and the freeze in funding and future sanctions should not apply to them. However, the attorney general has a different view. Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara is making every possible effort to hamper the government’s operations; I suspect that she hopes to bring relations between the chareidim and Netanyahu to a breaking point, so that their partnership will dissolve and the government will fall. In this case, Baharav-Miara announced that she had decided that government funding for foreign students should be frozen as well, or at least that the amounts should not be updated. What was her reasoning for this? She explained that if foreign students are in the same yeshivos as Israeli students, who are classified as draft dodgers and criminals, then the government funding will end up in accounts that serve both sets of students, and the Israeli students will indirectly benefit from the funds provided for the foreign students. This argument is utterly absurd, but that is what she said. Alternatively, the attorney general suggested that yeshivos should maintain full accounting separation between the two types of students.

Just to put this in numbers, the minister of education proposed raising the amount of funding for students from overseas for the year 2025 to 100 percent of the full normative rate, but the attorney general ordered it raised only to 95 percent of the real rate.

The government’s response came from Cabinet Secretary Yossi Fuchs, who categorically rejected the attorney general’s reasoning. Fuchs argued that the court ruling suspending funding for yeshivos explicitly targeted students “whose military service was not legally deferred,” and that the ruling imposes no limitations on funding for students who are not subject to the draft, such as foreigners or even Israeli talmidim who received full draft exemptions. He claimed that the attorney general’s demand for separate accounting structures for each category of students is not derived from the court ruling and is her own interpretation of the verdict, which exceeds the bounds of her authority. To highlight the absurdity of her stance, Fuchs added, “If all government funding is examined to determine whether it provides indirect benefit to individuals liable to the draft, the government will have to stop funding a long list of activities and services, ranging from cultural activities and municipal libraries to health and welfare services, out of the concern that someone who is not eligible for support may benefit from it indirectly.” Fuchs accused the attorney general of applying different standards in different contexts and of engaging in uneven enforcement.

This is only one part of a much longer saga. The attorney general never stops trying to harm the chareidi community. Last weekend, she called for a large meeting attended by senior officials in the army and the police force. She was angry with the civilian police for failing to help the military police arrest draft evaders, and she was also fuming over the number of arrests taking place, which, in her view, is far too low. The attorney general claimed that sanctions have been proven to be effective and have led to many more chareidim joining the army, and that it is therefore necessary to increase the sanctions and enforcement of the draft—and, in her view, the punishments for draft evasion as well, meaning that stiffer prison sentences should be imposed. In short, she is truly evil.

Iranian Agents in Israel

Let us now move on to another topic, which I have been meaning to write about for several weeks now: the bizarre phenomenon of people in Israel spying for Iran. One could be forgiven for scoffing at the very notion; after all, how could an Israeli Jew possibly spy for the enemy? But the Shin Bet announced last month that since the beginning of the war, the Shin Bet and police have thwarted nineteen serious attempts of Israelis to spy on behalf of Iranian intelligence. Criminal charges have been filed or will be filed against 34 Israelis in conjunction with these cases, some of which involved more than one suspect. In one case, the suspects were a married couple.

One month ago, several such cases were listed in the news: A young man was hired by Iran to take pictures of a floor in a hospital where Naftoli Bennett was staying, a 16-year-old youth was arrested on suspicion of maintaining ties with Iranian agents, a resident of Netivot was charged with taking photographs of IDF bases, IDF soldiers were caught transferring classified information about Israel’s air defenses to Iran, and a husband and wife were charged with monitoring the Mossad headquarters.

Here is an excerpt from one of the recently filed indictments: “Liachov (the suspect’s name) was asked, among other things, to come to Petach Tikvah and take videos of a street and residential buildings; however, he filmed a different street and buildings from those specified by the agent. In exchange for his work, he received payment in a digital wallet. In addition, he was asked to visit a car rental agency in Netanya and inquire about the prices of seven different cars, while videoing his visit. Liachov did not carry out that task.”

Another indictment targeted a 13-year-old boy from Tel Aviv. The charge sheet states, “The youth was asked to carry out tasks for Iranian elements who contacted him, in exchange for pay. He was even asked to take videos of the Iron Dome, but he refused.” Another indictment, this one against an Arab from East Yerushalayim, states that the suspect transmitted information that was liable to benefit the enemy. The charge sheet accuses him of maintaining contact with a foreign agent who presented himself as an agent of Iranian intelligence and of carrying out various tasks in exchange for payments totaling thousands of shekels. The indictment specifies that the suspect was first contacted by the Iranian agent after he posted on a social media platform that he was seeking work.

And there is more. According to the indictment filed against an 18-year-old youth from the city of Yavneh, “The police and Shin Bet arrested Moshe Attias, who was hired by the Iranians and asked to monitor and take pictures of the security arrangements for former Prime Minister Naftoli Bennett while he was hospitalized. During that time, he complied with a request from his Iranian handler to take photographs of the floor in the hospital and the room where the former prime minister had been placed, as well as the guards protecting him.” The young man was accused of carrying out a range of other tasks in exchange for payment as well, including hiding money in specific places, photographing various sites, printing proclamations, and burning a piece of paper and a banknote containing slogans against Prime Minister Netanyahu.

Another suspect accused of espionage for Iran was 65-year-old Edward Yusupov of Netivot, who documented certain strategic installations for Iran in exchange for payment. According to the indictment, Yusupov was arrested after remaining in contact with an individual who identified himself as an Azeri citizen residing in Dubai, but who is suspected by the Shin Bet of being an Iranian agent. Yusupov acted on this contact’s instructions when he took photographs of strategic sites in Israel, including IDF bases, the nuclear research facility in Dimona, and refineries in Haifa. He also rented an apartment overseeing the Haifa port on his contact’s instructions, which was meant to serve an operational purpose.

One of the most serious cases involves two soldiers, one in regular service and the other in the reserves, who are suspected of transferring classified information about the Iron Done to Iran. The two soldiers, George Andreyev and Yuri Eliaspov, both residents of the north, confessed to the crimes attributed to them. Eliaspov, who worked on the Iron Dome system, took a video of the system in operation and divulged classified information to the Iranians. According to sources within the defense establishment, anyone who received the video and possesses working knowledge of such systems would be able to exploit it to harm the State of Israel.

The Chareidi Caught in Iran’s Net

At first glance, this phenomenon boggles the mind. You may be wondering how any Jew could possibly sink so low as to betray his country and work on behalf of Israel’s bloodthirsty enemies. For one thing, many of the suspects are not Jewish. Most of them are Arabs from the north or from East Yerushalayim, or immigrants who are probably not Jewish. This list of names of some of the suspects is a dead giveaway: Rafael and Lela Guliyev, Aziz Nisanov, Alexander Sadikov, Vyacheslav Gushchin, Yevgeny Yoffe, a young couple from Ramat Gan named Vladislav Viktorovson and Anna Bernstein, and Lekachau Demsash. These cases pose less of a question for us.

But what about the actual Israelis, such as the young man from Yavneh? How did they become caught up in such activities? In general, this process begins with trivial actions, and the perpetrators are eventually swept into a whirlwind of more serious activity. For instance, an anonymous stranger offers payment in exchange for taking pictures of a local grocery store, and the young man says to himself, “Why not?” After he complies with the first request, he is asked to take a photograph of a house, a protest, or the entrance to an IDF base. The requests gradually become more and more severe, and by the time the perpetrator begins to regret his actions, he has already been ensnared and is unable to extricate himself from the relationship. Soon enough, it is too late, and the Shin Bet becomes aware of his activities.

You may be wondering about the reason for my interest in this matter. Why does this concern me at all? The answer is that a chareidi yungerman was arrested in October 2024 on a similar suspicion. This man was struggling to cope with massive debts, and the Iranians managed to tempt him into working for them at a time when he was extremely weak and vulnerable. Despite the extenuating circumstances, he crossed a red line and is now in major hot water. To make matters worse, after this story came to light, his wife demanded a divorce. The Shin Bet claims that the yungerman was assigned by the Iranians to follow an Israeli nuclear scientist, and that he was aware that Iran planned to assassinate the scientist. Prior to that, according to the indictment, he also operated on an Iranian agent’s instructions and set vehicles on fire, threw pipes onto Israeli roads, sprayed graffiti slogans, and posted hundreds of inciting proclamations in Tel Aviv and Ramat Gan calling for civil disobedience. The newspapers reported that the suspect was a “chareidi from Bnei Brak,” which was somewhat inaccurate; he actually lives on a moshav in the vicinity of Chofetz Chaim. But let us set that detail aside.

I spoke with the suspect’s parents, who insisted that the accusations against him are false. They maintain that he did nothing other than relaying information that was already in the public domain, such as a picture from Google Maps, and that he did not imagine for a moment that he was dealing with an Iranian agent. His parents do not dispute that he made a mistake, but they claim that some of the charges are false. They also claim that their son, along with other men who are interred in a prison in the north, has undergone torture, and that his tefillin have been confiscated and prison officials are denying him access to sifrei kodesh.

Paragons of Chessed

The day care tragedy in Romema may be an old story by now, but I still cannot get it out of my mind. I personally visited the family, knowing that the day care owner would be home since she is officially under house arrest. Sure enough, I found her at home together with her husband, who is a distinguished yungerman. I tried to offer them some encouragement and assured them that the public is convinced that they are the victims of a blood libel, and I offered them my assistance in the event that it is needed. The day care owner, Miriam Friedman, is the daughter of Rav Freudiger, a distinguished resident of Givat Shaul. Mrs. Friedman revealed to me that the tragedy has left her deeply grief-stricken; she feels as if she has lost two children of her own.

In the past, when I had the unfortunate need to visit parents who had lost young children, I quoted Rashi’s account of Miriam’s argument to her father, Amram, after he divorced his wife: “Your decree is worse than Pharaoh’s decree.” As we know, Miriam argued to her father, that Pharaoh’s decree targeted only male children, while Amram was preventing both males and females from being born, and that Pharaoh was a rosha and it was questionable whether his decree would be fulfilled, but Amram was a tzaddik, and his edict would certainly be fulfilled (Sotah 12a). But there is a third distinction that is quoted less often: Pharaoh’s decree applied only in Olam Hazeh, whereas Amram was preventing children from entering Olam Hazeh and Olam Haba. Rashi explains that if children were born and then killed in accordance with Pharaoh’s decree, they would at least go on living in the Next World, whereas if they were never born in the first place, they would lose both worlds. This is a source of great solace to bereaved parents, since the purpose of this world is to prepare a person for Olam Haba, and it is comforting to them to realize that their small children, who never even tasted sin, were immediately privileged to bask in the radiance of the Shechinah.

This Friday night, I also found profound meaning in the words of Kabbolas Shabbos, where the posuk states, “How great are Your deeds, Hashem; Your thoughts are extremely profound.” Radak explains: “‘How great are Your deeds’—When I contemplate them, I recognize that they are great and lofty beyond my grasp. … ‘Your thoughts are profound’—For the wise men are not privy to the answers to difficult questions about this world, such as why something happened and something else did not occur…. This is the decree of His wisdom, and we do not know His thoughts or reasoning.” Hashem’s calculations are a mystery to us, and the reasons for such tragedies are beyond our understanding.

But aside from the tragedy itself, I am also appalled by the public reaction to it. The libelous attacks on the chareidi way of life are especially galling to me. A religious Jew’s concern for health and safety is unparalleled; we are raised with an abiding sense of respect for the concept of pikuach nefesh. It is surely the height of insolence for others to accuse the chareidim of callous indifference to life. In what other sector of society can one find the extraordinary proliferation of chessed that exists within the religious community? This has been evident in many tragedies, including the one at the day care center, where the volunteers who rushed to the scene to provide lifesaving aid, and then to ensure respect for the deceased, were chareidim. This was also evident at a recent Matnas Chaim convention in the International Convention Center in Yerushalayim, which was attended by thousands of kidney donors, the vast majority of whom were religious.

This week, I was also exposed to another outstanding chessed organization, this one in Beit Shemesh, known as Ezras Achim, which is under the direction and management of its founder, Rabbi Avrohom Kop. On motzoei Shabbos, an event was held for the parents of children with special needs, centering on the theme of connection. Rabbi Kop remarked in his speech, “Connection doesn’t mean a link to one person or to the management of this organization; it is a living force within every counselor, in their daily investment of effort and emotion in the children for whom they care. There are also things that are not revealed to the eye—complicated situations and challenges that are not written anywhere. But that is where we see the true connection, the boundless giving, which is heartfelt and fueled by a sense of mission.” Ezras Achim is all that and more.

Moshe Abutbul, a supporter of the organization, is the former mayor of Beit Shemesh, who helped Ezras Achim receive an allocation of land to conduct their activities. “Avreimi Kop is a one-man chessed factory,” Abutbul told me. “He is a giant who has turned Beit Shemesh into the chessed capital.”

I examined a series of messages fielded by Rabbi Kop over the course of a day and discovered a veritable ocean of chessed. His organization’s activities in that short span of time included advising families on their rights to government funding, distributing cooked food to the sick and needy, searching for a young man who had disappeared, transporting patients to a hospital, organizing a Shabbos ambulance, checking babies’ bilirubin levels, and collecting food to distribute—and that is only the tip of the iceberg. All year long, Ezras Achim organizes programs for children with special needs, which the children attend at the end of their official school programs. This gives their parents an extra two or three hours of much-needed respite. The programs operate even on Chom Hamoed and Yom Kippur. A group of girls who volunteer for these programs once expressed uncertainty as to whether they should spend the entire Yom Kippur in shul or participate in the Ezras Achim programs. Rabbi Kop placed a call to Rav Moshe Sternbuch, who was heard telling his gabbai in response to the question, “Tell Kop that they should go.”

“Where should they go?” Kop asked.

“To the Ezras Achim programs!” Rav Sternbuch replied.

The Jewish people have many needs, but our nation also has many baalei chessed. Ezras Achim is just one example, a single testament among many to the true nature of Klal Yisroel. Let the critics from the secular community conduct their own introspection before they turn their critical gazes against us. They have no business preaching to religious Jews about the meaning of sympathy and kindness!

Cabinet Meets in Kiryat Shemonah

There is much more that I could report to you. For instance, last week’s polls deserve some attention. I mentioned last week that the Arabs are uniting to avoid losing votes. The Arab parties have ten mandates today, having lost many votes due to a third Arab party failing to cross the electoral threshold in the previous election. If the Arabs unite, the polls show them potentially winning between 13 and 15 mandates in the next election. This news was greeted jubilantly by the left; however, it seems that the extra mandates for the Arab parties might come partially at their own expense, since the polls still show the right-wing bloc winning an election. The Likud, together with the right-wing parties led by Smotrich and Ben-Gvir and with the chareidim, has exceeded 61 mandates in every poll.

On that note, I should mention a video released by Gadi Eizenkot, who parted ways with Benny Gantz to launch a new party known as Yashar. Eizenkot’s party is projected to win five or six mandates on its own, although the center-left bloc has been planning a union of the parties, which might lead him to combine his slate with those of Bennett, Lapid, possibly Gantz, and possibly even the Democrats party, which is the most liberal of all. After the vote over the budget, Eizenkot released a short video that shows Netanyahu and Deri shaking hands, spliced together with a computer-generated image showing money changing hands between them as well. The implicit message is that Netanyahu used monetary incentives to secure the chareidi vote. The video drew sharp condemnation, with many arguing that it smacked of antisemitism. Eizenkot quickly tried to defend himself, claiming that he had been misunderstood and that all he wanted was to make it clear that he is opposed to the draft law.

In other news, there was a special cabinet meeting on Sunday in the city of Kiryat Shemonah. During the war, Kiryat Shemonah was practically deserted, and the government is eager to convince the residents to return to the city and bring it back to life again. To enhance the residents’ sense of security and to demonstrate the city’s importance to the government and the state, the cabinet held its weekly meeting there. However, this didn’t exactly lead to much of a change for the residents of Kiryat Shemonah. For now, we can only hope that this city, which lies in the north and used to be shelled repeatedly from Lebanon, will welcome its former residents back soon, as it does not seem to be facing a threat from Israel’s northern neighbors any longer.

Another Blatant Double Standard

Another story that bears mentioning is that of Mordechai David, the right-wing youth who decided to teach the left a lesson by personally blocking the cars of various leading liberal figures. Last week, he blocked the car occupied by Professor Aharon Barak, the former chief justice of the Supreme Court, for a few minutes, triggering a major uproar. He was accused of chutzpah, abuse, and thuggery, and the police even opened an investigation into his actions. This only served to evoke more accusations of hypocrisy against the left. “Where were you when left-wing protestors attacked MK Tally Gottliv’s sick daughter?” many demanded. “Where were you when a barbershop was besieged while Sara Netanyahu was there? Where were you when elderly people who live near Prime Minister Netanyahu were harassed?” Bli neder, I will cover this story in greater detail next week.

For now, I should mention a couple of notable yahrtzeits that fall this week (aside from the yahrtzeit of Rav Meshullam Dovid Soloveitchik, who is the subject of a separate article). One of those yahrtzeits is that of Rav Beinush Finkel, who accepted me as a talmid in the Mir yeshiva many years ago. Another is the yahrtzeit of Rav Yitzchok Scheiner, whom I interviewed at length several years ago for an article in Yated Neeman.

Ran Gvili HY”D

On Monday evening, I received a telephone call from Rav Shimon Grillus, a righteous Jew and talmid of Rav Yitzchok Zilber and Rav Eliezer Kugel. Rav Grillus, who is involved in kiruv work among the immigrants from the former Soviet Union, teaches the sefer Chochmah U’Mussar to his students, and he called to alert me to an interesting passage. “The Alter of Kelm writes,” he said, “that when a person leads a life immersed in gashmiyus in this world, then his body is consumed and decays in the grave, which is known as the experience of chibut hakever. However, if he leads a life of ruchniyus, the earth will fear him.” He proceeded to ask me to confirm a rumor that had come to his attention: that the body of Ran Gvili, the last hostage held in Gaza, who was brought to Eretz Yisroel for burial last week, had remained intact.

The next day, I spoke with one of the soldiers who had participated in the search. “That’s right,” he confirmed. “Gvili’s body was whole.” The soldier shared some details of the search process with me: “We worked in an organized way. We had received information that Gvili had been buried in an Arab cemetery in Gaza for over a year, and we removed nearly 1000 Arab bodies from the cemetery while searching for Ran. We examined the bodies one by one, and we positively identified him at approximately the 300th body. His flesh had remained intact.”

This soldier was a member of the IDF’s search and recovery unit in the south, which consists mostly of religious soldiers. It is because of its religious composition that this unit has been tasked with searching for victims of the atrocities of October 7. “We have a greater connection to Jewish burial and to our mission,” he said. “We were also accompanied by a large team of dentists, who are able to identify a body by its teeth, and by a pathologist.” He felt that it was miraculous that Gvili was located so quickly. “We were sure that it would take us at least two weeks to find him. There were thousands of bodies in the graveyard; who could say for sure when we would find Ran? It took us 16 hours to exhume the first 100 bodies, and we knew that if we had to empty the entire cemetery, it would take a long time. We called for more soldiers to join our efforts, and then the news came that he had been found. We quickly placed calls to everyone, informing them that there was no need to come anymore.”

“How did you feel?” I asked.

“I cried for a long time,” the soldier admitted. “For me, it was an incredible source of closure. I had barely slept since October 7, but I was able to sleep last night. We were assigned to retrieve the bodies of hostages since the beginning. Our unit does not operate within Israel at all; we operate only in enemy territory, and we have been involved in these efforts since the war began. We have located and retrieved many bodies of IDF soldiers; I was personally involved in four such cases.”

U.S. Allies Reopening Ties with Beijing

Iran’s recent declaration that it intends to expand its ballistic missile arsenal has triggered renewed scrutiny of China’s role in advancing Tehran’s ambitions and in flouting international sanctions, as Beijing funnels billions of dollars to Iran each month for oil.

China has been caught covertly supplying Tehran with ammonium perchlorate, a key ingredient needed for missile production, which the regime has said will target Israel. Some of Iran’s newest missiles are reportedly capable of reaching all American military bases in the Middle East and beyond.

Both Iran and China seek to counter American influence in the Middle East and have long cooperated to further that shared goal. Both countries regularly team up with Russia to conduct joint naval exercises in a display of military coordination and to boost Beijing’s maritime profile in the region.

Their collaboration goes back decades. It was cemented in 2021 with a 25-year cooperation agreement, expanding energy and trade ties and reinforcing joint opposition to Western initiatives.

At least one of the missile systems Tehran used to target U.S. forces in Iraq in 2020 included technology from this long-term partnership with China, according to the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD).

In the spring of 2023, Iranian officials negotiated in Beijing and Moscow to replenish Tehran’s stores of ammonium perchlorate, a precursor for ballistic missile solid propellant. Not long after these negotiations, U.S. intelligence reported that two Iranian cargo vessels sailed from China in January 2025, carrying more than 1,000 tons of perchlorate. They were followed in early June by additional shipments carrying ballistic missile propellant ingredients from China to Iran, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The Treasury Department has sanctioned businesses in China and Iran that are known to have a role in the procurement of ammonium perchlorate, as well as in the acquisition of components needed to produce unmanned drones. The sanctions, however, have reportedly had little impact on production.

Facial and Emotional Detection Technology

Beijing also provides components for Iran’s missile propulsion and guidance systems, along with technology, drone components, air defense systems, and military hardware.

In addition, Chinese companies, such as Tiandy and Hikvision, have provided the technology needed for widespread surveillance in Iranian cities, including facial and emotion detection technology that the mullahs have employed in their current brutal crackdown on Iranian protesters.

Using Chinese-made technology, military police and IRGC thugs have been rounding up thousands of protesters and hunting down suspects in hospitals and in their homes.

Beijing has also assisted in developing Iran’s benign-sounding “National Information Network,” a tool that helps a regime control, throttle, or shut down the internet to stifle protest coordination and to thwart all connectivity with the rest of the world.

“The future is uncertain, but as the protests slow under the weight of brutal repression, it seems questionable that the Islamic Republic will fall in the short term,” writes The Diplomat. “If the regime does survive, it will be in no small part due to the surveillance technology and tools of oppression shared between the Chinese and Iranian governments.”

“From this perspective,” the writer argues, “China is by no means a bit player in the current crisis, but rather a major one whose influence is felt behind the scenes.”

Systematic Stealing of Western Technology

China has perfected its systematic theft of Western technology, especially concerning weapons and military secrets, along with aggressive economic policies aimed at securing global dominance for Beijing.

One strategy is through computer hacking, where hackers break into systems at defense companies, government offices, universities, and tech businesses to steal plans, computer codes, and information about weapons.

Another way is by coercing people on the inside—such as Chinese workers or researchers—to disclose classified knowledge they are not supposed to share.

Key methods used by China to obtain restricted or classified information include having officials pose as recruiters or headhunters on professional networking sites (e.g., LinkedIn) to identify and target U.S. service members and individuals with security clearances. The “headhunters” offer generous “consulting” fees for providing, sensitive information.

Another approach involves talent plans and scholarships, whereby Chinese intelligence agencies recruit individuals from U.S. universities, labs, and businesses to transfer technology, particularly in fields like artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and biotechnology.

Chinese citizens in the U.S. may be coerced into cooperating with intelligence agencies under threat of punishment for themselves or their family members remaining in China.

China also uses business and legal pressure to get technology without openly stealing it. For example, companies may be forced to share their technology in order to do business, or Chinese companies may buy parts of foreign businesses to gain access to important ideas and tools.

In some countries, the rules for protecting technology are weaker, which makes it easier for sensitive U.S. technology to pass through partnerships or shared projects. Together, these methods enable Beijing to accelerate its military modernization while eroding America’s technological and strategic advantage.

US Allies Kowtowing to China

Europe is desperately looking to China to achieve elusive goals of trade and security, a Fox News op-ed by Chinese expert Gordon Chang argued. With a mindset geared toward appeasement, “European leaders are determined to placate the Chinese, no matter what Beijing does to impoverish Europeans and endanger their homelands.”

Despite the danger of enabling Beijing to gain a major foothold in global industries and cutting-edge military technology, several U.S. allies, notably Canada, France, Britain and Germany, have been reopening ties with China.

Leaders of these countries are choosing the economic benefit of expanded trade over the ominous long-term danger of these moves.

The recent steps toward recalibration follows years of estrangement from Beijing, largely due to its abysmal human rights record, and to the fear of its predatory policies toward competitors.

Canada was the first to seek a rapprochement, drawing a sharp rebuke from President Trump, who threatened to impose “100 percent tariffs” on Canadian goods if Prime Minister Mark Carney “makes a deal” with China, Fox News reported.

In the same vein, Trump called British Prime Minister Starmer’s meeting last week with Chinese President Xi Jinping, in which trade agreements were signed, a “dangerous move.” He alluded to grave security concerns and the fact that China historically breaks agreements when expedient.

Starmer’s attempt at warming relations with China also drew fire from some British officials who said they “took no comfort” from watching the prime minister “bow” to Xi, warning that the UK was trading away its national security and human rights values for economic gain.

“US allies are drawing closer to China, but on Beijing’s terms,” wrote the New York Times. The article notes that among the trade agreements signed with China is Britain’s decision to allow a major Chinese automobile company to establish a European headquarters in Liverpool, and a toy company to open seven stores in the UK.

The visit with Xi, with its lackluster results for Britain, “highlights the severe limits of any pivot to China,” observed France-based economist Alicia Garcia-Herrero, quoted by Reuters. “The trade deals with Beijing expose timid Western leaders chasing scraps, while China’s export flood overwhelms their industries.”

“Like other needy Western leaders seeking rapprochement with Iran,” wrote the Guardian, Britain’s prime minister did not dwell on awkward subjects such as human rights abuses, Chinese spying and Taiwan. But in talks with President Xi Jinping, one vital issue was avoided altogether—and should not have been: China’s dangerous, unexplained, secretive and rapid buildup of nuclear weapons.”

Critics note that the shift toward China comes with other real dangers. China is not just another place for Europe to sell its products; it is a powerful competitor that can swiftly outstrip Europe’s factories and technological industries, fueling Beijing’s quest for world dominance.

In addition, closer ties with China have enabled the stealing of American technology, inventions, and important military secrets, which jeopardize U.S. security. Chinese firms have a well-documented practice of using joint enterprises to demand technology transfers from systems, some of which originated in the United States.

What Washington sees as a long-term, high-impact threat, some allies instead cast as life-or-death economic necessity, choosing short-term relief over an even more dangerous future.

***

How Beijing Stalks Chinese Dissidents in the U.S.

Beijing is not content to employ repressive policies across its own territory, but actually maintains a sophisticated, multi-pronged strategy of “trans-border repression,” aimed at stalking, harassing, and intimidating Chinese dissidents residing in the United States.

One prong of this operation involves Chinese agents tracking critics and dissidents, using GPS devices, taking photos, and monitoring their homes and workplaces. These operations seek to silence dissent and force the return of individuals deemed threats to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), where they can be prosecuted.

Another branch of the stalking operation consists of illegal, unofficial “police service stations” in American cities to monitor, harass, and pressure Chinese nationals to return home.

A primary tactic involves threatening, detaining, or harassing dissidents’ family members still living in China, to force the U.S.-based family member to halt their criticism of the regime and pro-democracy activism or return to China for prosecution.

In addition, Chinese regime agents use a wide range of computer malware and spyware attacks to compromise the devices of activists, particularly targeting Uyghurs, Tibetans, and Hong Kong pro-democracy activists.

Lastly, thousands of fake accounts are used to troll, harass, and intimidate dissidents, often spreading disinformation to damage their reputation.

In response, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has charged numerous Chinese agents caught harassing Chinese individuals residing in the United States with acting as illegal agents of the Chinese government, and engaging in interstate harassment, a federal crime.

Holding Family Members Hostage

In 2015, the Obama administration discovered that Chinese agents, as part of “Operation Fox Hunt,” were tracking down Chinese dissidents in the United States to pressure them to return to China to stand trial, according to a report in the Guardian. Obama protested to Beijing, demanding that the Chinese agents be withdrawn from the country, or face arrest.

In October 2020, former FBI Director Christopher Wray told lawmakers that “when the regime couldn’t locate a Fox Hunt person in the United States, the Chinese government sent an emissary to visit the victim’s family here.  And the message they said to pass on? The person in question had two options: Return to China promptly or commit suicide.”

And what happens when Fox Hunt “targets,” knowing the fate in store for them, refuse to return to China? Their family members, both here in the United States and in China, are subjected to intimidation. Those back in China are often arrested as a pressure tactic to coerce the person being stalked to return to China, said Wray.

In July 2021, ProPublica reported that Operation Fox Hunt, purportedly focused on economic crimes, was actually targeting Beijing’s critics: “Tibetans, Hong Kongers, followers of the Falun Gong religious movement and, perhaps most visibly, the Uyghurs.”

ProPublica reported that a team of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) operatives and police based in Wuhan had been roaming the United States pressuring Chinese immigrant communities, with the spies stalking their victims in plain sight.

Professional Stalking Agents

A few court-documented examples, based on FBI documents, turn the spotlight on the methods used by professional CCP stalking agents against Chinese citizens living in the United States, who offended the Chinese regime in some way.

In one case heard by a New Jersey judge, a former Chinese official living in the United States was sued by the China-based Xinba Construction Group. The individual was harassed outside of court and received notes threatening his family. Later, he received a video from his family in China, presumably coerced by the Chinese regime, imploring him to return.

In another case, CCP security officials entered the United States in 2017 posing as cultural officials. During the visit, the officials made an attempt to persuade Chinese dissident Guo Wengui to return to China in order to face charges for prosecution. Guo Wengui attended the meeting with the “diplomats,” but recorded the conversations and alerted the FBI.

The Chinese officials were subsequently confronted by FBI agents in Pennsylvania Station, where the imposters initially insisted they were “cultural affairs diplomats” but ultimately admitted to being security officials. They were given a warning for their activities in New York and ordered to return to China.

Two days later, the officials again visited the apartment of Guo Wengui prior to leaving the country. Afterward, Wengui walked them out of the building, again declining their offer of clemency in exchange for not disclosing to anyone the officials’ brazen charade as “diplomats.”

The FBI was aware of the second visit, and agents were prepared to arrest the Chinese security officials at JFK Airport prior to their Air China flight, on charges of visa fraud and extortion.

Following pressure from the State Department to avoid a diplomatic crisis, however, the FBI did not make arrests. Agents merely confiscated the Chinese officials’ phones before the plane took off.

***

Stop China from Stealing Our Military Secrets

“The American people have paid too little attention to how easily the Chinese Communist Party can access sensitive information here, often because we fail to enforce our own rules governing electronic devices inside secure facilities,” former Chief of Staff to the Trump National Security Council Fred Fleitz writes in a Fox News op-ed.

The article underscores how, in just a few decades, China has built the second-largest economy in the world, and is using that economic power to fund a military buildup that is more sophisticated than anything the world has seen before.

“China’s rise has not come from innovation alone,” the author maintains. “Both economically and militarily, it has been built on the systematic theft of U.S. commercial and defense secrets.”

The article goes on to detail how much easier it is for a country to bypass the complex, expensive and time-consuming process of building technology and production systems from scratch, and instead, just “borrow” the intellectual property already designed by others.

“That is what China has done for decades, and its ability to do so has only increased over the last ten years with digital technology, especially cell phones,” the article explains.

Espionage once centered on stealing documents. Today it involves the theft of massive files, complete weapons manuals, and thousands of photographs of U.S. military equipment in use on American bases and ships. Instead of starting from square one, China, with stolen designs and technology, can jump directly to production.

“In 2025 alone, there were at least ten public cases of individuals charged or convicted of spying for China using their cell phones,” the writer attests. “Those cases are only the tip of the iceberg. Many more are resolved quietly when classified material is involved, to avoid exposing sensitive information in open court.”

According to retired CIA executive Rodney Alto, the majority of national intelligence facilities that prohibit electronic devices lack any mechanism to detect them. This helps explain how China has been able to catch up so quickly to America’s military superiority. As the US military develops new weapons and defense systems, China learns from stolen copies of this country’s work and races to even the gap.

“This must be corrected — and now,” the writer argues, going on to explain that the United States is preparing the largest buildup of military intellectual property in history, including hypersonic weapons, revolutionary new submarines, and other programs “that rely on technologies that do not yet exist.”

“That gives us a rare opportunity to protect these secrets before they are created, and before they can be stolen,” the article underscores. “We know extraordinary technologies are coming. Now is the time to enforce a government-wide ban on unauthorized electronic devices in sensitive facilities, backed by mandatory detection systems, real penalties for violations, and sustained oversight by Congress.”

“It’s the only way to make sure we don’t continue to build China’s blueprints for them.”

In a last ditch diplomatic effort to head off another armed confrontation between the United States and Iran, just eight months after the U.S. and Israel staged an unprecedented 12-day air war which wiped out much of Iran’s nuclear program, stripped Iran of its air defenses, and crippled its long-range ballistic missile program White House special envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi were to meet Friday in Istanbul to see if there is enough common ground to head off another series of attacks on Iran which could lead this time to a broader regionwide war.

The meeting in Istanbul was set up through intensive diplomatic efforts last week by Turkey, Qatar, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and other Middle East countries. The goal of the meeting in Istanbul was to head off another war between the U.S. and its regional allies, including Israel, and Iran and its proxy forces in the region, including Hezbollah and the Houthis, by restarting the indirect negotiations between both sides that ended last June when Israel and the U.S. launched a devastating 12-day air war against Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile facilities.

Turkey and its president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, played a leading role in this latest effort to calm tensions by agreeing to host the Friday meeting in Istanbul and by urging Iran’s leaders to show enough willingness to meet President Trump’s demands to break the growing momentum towards another armed conflict that could expand to engulf the entire region.

The Turkish, Qatari, and Egyptian foreign ministers, as well as diplomats from Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Pakistan, were also expected to attend the meeting in Istanbul. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who has been working closely with Witkoff in the Trump-sponsored negotiations to end the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, will also be participating in the meeting in Istanbul, which may be the last chance to head off another U.S. attack on Iran.

Iranian state media also confirmed that Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian ordered the restart of nuclear talks with the U.S. in Istanbul. With more U.S. military forces moving into place, other countries in the region have launched a flurry of diplomatic efforts, including an unannounced visit to Tehran by Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani over the weekend.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi also spoke with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian to discuss a broad proposal drafted by Oman and Qatar that combines steps to deal with Iran’s uranium enrichment efforts with economic incentives and security commitments designed to encourage Iran to accept President Trump’s demands for restrictions on its missile program and an end to its support for terrorist organizations. During his conversation with the Egyptian leaders, Iranian President Pezeshkian reportedly said he wanted guarantees from the U.S. that Iran wouldn’t be attacked during the new round of negotiations.

Trump Mediator Steve Witkoff’s Busy Week

Trump’s chief negotiator, Witkoff, was already scheduled to be in the region this week for meetings in Israel with Prime Minister Binyomin Netanyahu, presumably to finalize the joint American-Israel approach to Iran. Witkoff was also to participate in another round of Russian-Iranian peace talks in Abu Dhabi before he continued to the meeting with Iran’s Foreign Minister Araghchi in Istanbul.

In an interview Sunday with CNN, Araghchi said that “I see the possibility of another talk if the U.S. negotiation team follows what President Trump said, to come to a fair and equitable deal to ensure there is no nuclear weapons. … This is what he said in one of his latest posts. So if that is the case,” Araghchi said, “I’m confident that we can achieve a deal.”

However, Araghchi’s stated willingness to negotiate is limited to Iran’s nuclear program, which was largely destroyed by the devastating U.S. and Israeli air strikes last June. It was still not clear whether Iran would now be willing to halt its uranium enrichment operations and give up its large stockpile of highly enriched uranium, which it refused to do before the negotiations ended last June with the coordinated attack by Israel and the United States.

Agachi was ignoring completely Trump’s demands that Iran halt its ballistic missile program, cut off its support for terrorist groups such as Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen, and the Islamic militias in Iraq, and put an end to the Islamic regime’s reign of terror which reportedly killed tens thousands of Iranian last month and arrested thousands more who took to the streets to protest against the government of the ayatollahs.

Iran Trying to Limit New Talks to Its Nuclear Program Only

Iran has also informed the regional mediators, including Turkey, Qatar, and Egypt, that it will only discuss putting limits on its already-crippled nuclear program, while rejecting Trump’s additional demands for curbs on its missile program and an end to its financial and military support for its terrorist allies and proxy militias across the Middle East.

Despite the wide gap between the U.S. and Iranian positions going into the Friday meeting in Istanbul, a U.S. official told reporters that because President Trump has called on Iran “to make a deal, the meeting [in Istanbul] is intended to hear what they have to say.”

Meanwhile, President Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Monday that greatly reinforced U.S. military forces in the Middle East are now prepared to go into action against Iran once again should the talks in Istanbul fail to make enough progress. “We have ships heading to Iran right now, big ones — the biggest and the best — and we have talks going on with Iran, and we’ll see how it all works out,” Trump said, implying that the U.S. military would be fully in position to launch another powerful strike on Iran within another few days.

“I’d like to see a deal negotiated,” Trump reiterated. “I don’t know that that’s going to happen … right now we’re talking to them. We’re talking to Iran. And if we could work something out, that’d be great. And if we can’t … probably bad things would happen.”

Trump also said in an interview with Fox News, “The plan is that [Iran is] talking to us, and we’ll see if we can do something. Otherwise, we’ll see what happens … We have a big fleet heading out there. They are negotiating, so we’ll see what happens.”

Trump repeated that Iran should negotiate a “satisfactory” deal that would prevent it from getting any nuclear weapons, and then said, “I don’t know that they will. But they are talking to us. Seriously talking to us.”

Trump Is Pressing Iran on Three Sets of Demands

Reuters reported last week that Trump had demanded three conditions for resumption of talks: zero enrichment of uranium in Iran, limits on Tehran’s ballistic missile program, and ending its support for regional proxies. Iran has long rejected all three demands as infringements on its sovereignty, but the greatest obstacle in the current talks is likely to be the restrictions Trump wants on Iran’s ballistic missile program, which it has been rapidly rebuilding, rather than its uranium enrichment efforts, which are still largely out of commission due to last June’s air strikes.

Iran’s leaders remain largely defiant in the face of Trump’s demands. They have said that they will not negotiate with the U.S. while under threat, while warning that Iran will launch a harsh response to any American attack. Iran also insists that any negotiations must begin with the lifting of all sanctions on its economy imposed by the U.S., its Western allies, and the United Nations.

Iran is also demanding the end of restrictions on its oil and gas exports, renewed access to its frozen assets in foreign countries, and an end to the international arms embargo against it, as well as guarantees that any agreement it signs with the United States will not later be abandoned, as President Trump did in 2018 when he walked away from the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran that the Obama administration had signed.

In return, Iran has offered only a return to a slightly modified version of the deeply flawed 2015 nuclear agreement negotiated with the Obama administration, which focused narrowly on limiting Iran’s uranium enrichment efforts. Trump withdrew from that agreement because he argued that it was ineffective at halting Iran’s nuclear program and ignored the threats from its large ballistic missile arsenal and its terrorist regional proxies.

Trump Has Renewed His “Maximum Pressure” Campaign Against Iran

Trump is once again applying “maximum pressure” in an effort to extract concessions from Iran using military, economic, and psychological pressure, and by issuing an ultimatum publicly warning Iran that time is running out for it to head off another attack. He hasn’t announced a hard deadline this time.

Before launching last June’s 12-day war against Iran in conjunction with Israel, Trump gave Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, two months to dismantle his nuclear program. When the Ayatollah refused, President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu did it for him, by carrying out their threats to wipe out Iran’s nuclear infrastructure, including those portions that were buried deep underground, and they did it just as soon as the two-month deadline Trump announced expired.

This time, Trump has also raised the possibility of regime change in Iran, and has repeatedly said that time was running out for negotiating a deal that would make another American attack on Iran unnecessary. Trump has also threatened that the next American strike on Iran would be far more destructive than the one last, which was narrowly focused on Iran’s underground nuclear facilities.

Based upon the attack that Trump ordered on Iran last June, it can be safely assumed that even though Trump has not yet carried out his latest threats to attack Iran, this time in the defense of the brave Iranian demonstrators who have risked their lives to protest against the widely hated Islamic regime, he is not bluffing. The threatened attack has been delayed only so that the necessary military preparations for its success can be completed before it is launched.

Nevertheless, Ayatollah Khamenei has remained defiant in the face of increasing U.S. military pressure. “The Americans should know if they start a war, this time it will be a regional war,” the Supreme Leader said Sunday.

Iranian Leaders Are Now Seriously Worried About Regime Change

But despite this defiant rhetoric, Reuters reports that Iran’s leadership is increasingly worried that another effective U.S.-Israeli series of air strikes could break its grip on power by encouraging the members of Iran’s already enraged public back onto the streets.

Based upon statements from four unnamed current Iranian government officials, Reuters has reported that high-level Iranian government officials have told Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that the level of public anger generated by last month’s crackdown has reached a point where the fear of being killed is no longer a sufficient deterrent to keep the protesters from confronting the regime’s security forces again on the streets of Iran.

Khamenei was reportedly warned that any more damage to the credibility of his regime, such as another successful series of U.S. and Israeli air strikes, could “inflict irreparable damage to [Iran’s current] political establishment.”

One of the officials told Reuters that, “an attack combined with demonstrations by angry people could lead to a collapse [of the ruling system]. That is the main concern among the top officials, and that is what our enemies want,” said the official

“People are extremely angry,” another former senior Iranian official told Reuters, adding that “the wall of fear” that the Islamic regime hoped to create with last month’s crackdown “has collapsed. There is no fear left.”

According to a Washington Post report, citing a European official in contact with Iranian officials, the growing fear within the ranks of the Islamic regime’s leadership has silenced the internal objections that were voiced over the level of deadly force the government used against the protesters last month. In the face of the current threat of another devastating U.S. attack, those disagreements are now being set aside.

“The regime has completely closed ranks” to create a united front against Trump’s threats, the European official said. “All the messages from my [Iranian regime] contacts now [say], ‘We are ready for total war.’”

Why Trump Is Allowing Diplomatic Efforts to Run Their Course

As the massive U.S. military buildup in the Middle East continues, Trump is allowing the diplomatic effort to head off another war against Iran to run its course. However, it still appears highly unlikely that the threat of an even more devastating U.S. attack on Iran will force the Islamic regime to give up its aggressive efforts to dominate the region, its support for terrorism, and its attempts to destroy Israel.

Meanwhile, a Wall Street Journal editorial approved of Trump’s demands for Iranian concessions on its missile program and support for terrorism, in addition to more limitations on its nuclear program as “fine ideas.” However, it questions the message that would be sent to the Iranian people, who have risked their lives to protest against their government, if Trump backs off his threats without taking military action, even if he does win the concessions from Iran’s leaders that he has been demanding.

The editorial also notes that even if Trump and his negotiators do succeed in getting such concessions, “they would amount to paper promises that the ayatollah would be unlikely to honor.”

Meanwhile, some Arab mediators have said that Iran’s leaders worry the U.S. could be pursuing diplomacy as a way to buy more time for a strike. They recall that U.S. and Iranian officials were scheduled for talks last June when Israel launched a surprise attack just days before the meeting was supposed to take place.

As the editorial points out, everything that has happened since the U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran last June makes the current effort to reach a successful diplomatic agreement to resolve these issues with Iran a highly “dubious quest.

“First, in June, Iran’s nuclear program and top military echelon were devastated by Israeli and then U.S. strikes, which exposed Iran’s weakness, penetration by Israeli intelligence, and vulnerability by air. Second, in December and January, the Iranian people rose up to demand an end to their regime’s failed rule. Third, the regime subsequently massacred its own people by the thousands despite Mr. Trump’s repeated demands not to do so.”

Trump’s Promise to the Victims of Iran’s Vicious Crackdown

When the leaders of Iran ignored Trump’s warning and ordered their armed thugs kill tens of thousands of defenseless demonstrators, President Trump was moved to assure the protesters, “help is on its way.”

Because the Iranian regime cut off internet access inside Iran and international phone connections, the full extent of its crackdown on protesters, including mass shootings, took a long time to become apparent. However, Time Magazine, citing anonymous sources inside the Iranian regime, reported that at least 30,000 civilian protesters were killed in just two days, January 8 and 9. The public protests in towns and cities across Iran then promptly ceased because the government issued a warning to any civilians found loitering in the streets of Iran that they were subject to being shot without warning. During subsequent weeks, the Iranian regime staged a massive roundup of untold thousands of Iranian citizens with any record of protest activities against the ayatollahs in the past, in an effort to suppress any further protests.

Trump Hesitated Because Time Was Needed for a U.S. Military Buildup

Trump did not act on his threat to deliver “help” to the Iranian protesters immediately because his advisors told him that the U.S. military resources necessary to assure the success of another attack on Iran, and the ability to defend against the likely Iranian counterattacks, were not yet in place.

The delay has given the Navy enough time to move the Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier armed with F/A-18 attack planes and stealthy F-35 fighter jets, which was stationed in the Pacific, to the Arabian Sea, well within striking distance of Iranian targets, as well as the aircraft carrier’s escort vessels, including three cruise missile-firing destroyers.

In addition, the Pentagon has also sent a dozen additional F-15E attack planes to the region and put its strategic bombing force on high alert, including the B-2 bombers, which dropped the bunker-busting bombs that destroyed Iranian underground nuclear sites last June.

As the Wall Street Journal editorial explains, “It took time, but an American armada has arrived in the region. Also moving into place are THAAD and Patriot air defenses to protect U.S. bases and allies in Israel and the Gulf from any Iranian retaliation.”

What Is Left to Talk About?

Now that the stage has been set for another successful U.S. attack on Iran using overwhelming U.S. military power, Steve Witkoff is heading back to the Middle East this week to give Iran’s leaders one more chance to head off another national disaster. Trump still insists that he would prefer to resolve the situation by making a deal with Iran instead of attacking it, but the Wall Street Journal editorial asks “the crucial question… what is left to talk about?”

While Foreign Minister Araghchi has insisted that the only concessions that Iran is willing to discuss at this point are new limitations on its nuclear program, that is no longer seen as the chief threat to the region at this point due to the extensive damage done to its nuclear infrastructure last June by the Israeli air attacks and the bunker buster bombs that the American B-2 bombers dropped on its underground facilities.

The only near-term potential nuclear threat that Iran retains at this point is from its 960-pound stockpile of 60% enriched, near-bomb-grade uranium that the inspectors from the U.N.’s International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed that Iran had amassed before last June’s attacks.

It is quite possible that much of that highly enriched uranium stockpile is still buried with the debris from the underground nuclear facilities that the U.S. bunker-busting bombs destroyed, and is currently inaccessible to the Iranians as well. It is also not clear whether, in the wake of last June’s attacks on its major nuclear facilities, the Iranians still have the other components necessary to turn that highly enriched uranium into a usable nuclear weapon.

As the U.S. military buildup in the region continues, increasing the likelihood that the eventual U.S. attack on Iran will be successful, Trump has nothing to lose by waiting another week to see whether the meeting in Istanbul can lead to practical, detailed peace talks in which Iran is willing to make a good faith negotiating effort, despite how unlikely such an outcome appears to be.

Critics of Trump’s Agreement to One More Peacemaking Effort

Meanwhile, Trump has come under criticism from some Republicans, including his former Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, his former U.S. ambassador to the U.N., Nikki Haley, and South Carolina Senator Lindsay Graham, for being willing to send Witkoff to Istanbul to explore the remote possibility that Iran is ready to make the necessary conditions.

Haley wrote on her social media account, “You can’t make a deal with a regime that lies about its nuclear production, oppresses its people, and spreads terror around the world. Iran can’t be trusted.”

Former Secretary of State Pompeo was even more emphatic in declaring that any attempt to engage in serious diplomatic talks with Iran was pointless. He said that Iran has broken every deal that they have ever signed up for, including the “stupid deal” President Obama signed in 2015, which they violated the very day it was signed.”

Pompeo did express some hope that the need for another U.S. attack on Iran, risking the lives of American soldiers, could be avoided if some Iranian general or IRGC official decides that the current Iranian against Iranian bloodshed cannot be allowed to continue and leads a popular uprising by the Iranian people that overthrows the current regime. But Pompeo concluded that, “We all want peace, but we also know that you can’t have peace in this region so long as the ayatollah is in charge.”

In an interview with Fox News, Senator Graham argued that Trump should take advantage of the current opportunity to remove the threat from Iran to the rest of the region. “The biggest thing you could possibly do for the Middle East,” Graham declared, “is take this regime down, [now that] they’re as weak as they’ve ever been since 1979.” Graham concluded the interview by directly urging Trump to order the attack by saying, “Mr. President, you can do it, I hope you will do it.”

Even if Haley, Pompeo and Graham are right in declaring that any diplomatic effort to make peace with Iran is doomed to fail, as long as the U.S. military buildup is not yet complete, it does make sense for Trump to make the effort, so that he can then reassure U.S. allies in the region who fear that Iran will attack them in retaliation for an American attack that he did everything he possibly could to avoid that outcome.

Trump Weighing His Attack Options

Assuming that the diplomatic effort does fail, Trump is expected to go forward with a plan of attack on Iran, most likely with at least some Israeli participation, that is designed to last from as little as just a few days to as long as several weeks.

The objective of a shorter military operation would likely be to force Iran’s Islamic regime to capitulate to the terms dictated by President Trump. That was how the short war against Iran last June was ended after just 12 days of Israeli and U.S. bombardment. But unfortunately, Trump did not force Iran’s leaders at that time to take the measures he is now demanding to shut down their ballistic missile program and end their support for terrorist organizations in the region.

Any short, highly precise air attack on Iran, no matter how intense, would likely not be decisive enough to topple the regime. Following any such limited strike, Iran would still retain the ability to inflict casualties and severe economic damage on the adversaries it chooses to target. These targets include U.S. assets and bases across the Middle East, U.S. naval vessels operating in nearby waters, the oil fields and refineries of America’s Gulf state allies, or Israel’s population centers.

Regime Change Likely to Require a More Extensive Attack Plan

A significantly longer and more comprehensive U.S. and Israeli plan of attack on Iran would be required if the goal is to create a widespread popular revolt within Iran that would lead to the total collapse of the current Islamic regime. Furthermore, a lengthier military campaign against Iran would be more likely to prompt Iran’s allies in the region, including Hezbollah, the Houthis, and the Iranian-backed Iraqi militias, to launch at least token attacks on Israeli and American targets in the region. The need to defend those targets is why the Pentagon is still rushing to bring more naval and air forces into the region, and build up the available reserves of anti-aircraft and missile interceptors to defend those targets from attack by Iran’s remaining stockpiles of short and longer-range ballistic missiles and drones.

The additional defensive assets that are required include mine-clearing vessels to prevent Iran from potentially blocking the Strait of Hormuz, or efforts by the Houthis in Yemen to disrupt marine traffic in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.

U.S. and Israel Both Facing Missile Interceptor Shortages

In addition, the IDF has launched a crash program to build more interceptor missiles for its Arrow, David’s Sling, and Iron Dome missile defense systems because it almost exhausted its available supply of interceptors in defending against the large salvos of incoming Iranian ballistic missiles during the 12-day war against Israel last June.

The U.S. Patriot and THAAD missile defense systems that were also active during the June war suffered from the same problem in trying to respond to the salvos of Iranian missiles. In fact, it has been reported that just during those 12 days of combat, U.S. forces used up 25% of the total number of THAAD interceptors that have ever been built.

Since then, the Iranian regime has also launched a crash effort to build more long-range ballistic missiles in the hope of being able to overwhelm the capacity of Israeli missile defense systems to shoot them all down at the same time.

Why Trump Needs to Make Sure His Attack Succeeds

Another important political consideration is that Trump cannot afford to launch any military operation against Iran or its allies in the region in which an American aircraft is likely to get shot down, a U.S. naval vessel is seriously damaged, or American personnel are captured by hostile forces. Any such scenario would represent a major psychological victory for the Iranian regime, weaken the internal Iranian protest movement, and deal a blow to the image of U.S. military invincibility that the Trump administration has been seeking to project.

When Witkoff arrived in Israel on Tuesday, he met with both Prime Minister Netanyahu and IDF Chief of Staff General Eyal Zamir in order to consult with them on the positions he will take during the negotiations with Iran in Istanbul. Netanyahu and Zamir urged Witkoff to stand firm on Trump’s demand that any new deal with Iran include enforceable limits on Iran’s long range ballistic missile program, which is increasingly viewed in Israel as an existential threat, and an end for Iran’s support for its terrorist proxies, and encouraged the American negotiator to reject Iran’s efforts to limit the scope of the new deal to Iran’s already crippled nuclear program.

Some Israelis Are Worried About Witkoff’s Attitude

According to a Ynet report, Israeli officials believe that Witkoff is opposed to another U.S. military strike on Iran, and fear that Witkoff could fall into the same “trap” which ensnared President Obama’s Secretary of State, John Kerry in 2015, when he was gradually persuaded by the Iranian negotiator to abandon most of Obama’s original demands restricting Iran’s nuclear program.

Israeli leaders are hoping that Trump is still determined to go all the way in pressing his demands for Iranian concessions on ballistic missiles and its support for international terrorism, and that Trump’s agreement to these last-minute negotiations with Iran in Istanbul is an effort to create more justification for another attack on Iran.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Netanyahu held a meeting to update the Knesset opposition leader, Yair Lapid, on Israel’s position regarding Witkoff’s meeting with the Iranian foreign minister in Istanbul and the IDF’s preparations for another attack on Iran and its defensive measures against the likely Iranian ballistic missile and drone counterattack. After that meeting, Lapid said, “Israel is united in the face of Iran. There are no disputes between us about the importance of confronting this threat. It is important that Tehran knows that Israel stands united against the Iranian regime’s terror.”

However, as the Wall Street Journal editorial points out, and as tens of thousands of Iranian protesters have learned the hard way, the leadership of Iran’s Islamic regime is not easily intimidated. The Islamic regime’s 46-year history proves that it is “willing to impoverish and endanger its own country to pursue a ‘death to America’ and ‘death to Israel’ foreign policy. It is a regime bent on spreading revolution, not on living peacefully with its neighbors.”

The Case for Attacking Iran Now

“Any sanctions relief now would break faith with the protesters, who relied on Mr. Trump’s promises, and extend the [Islamic] regime a lifeline while it totters on the brink of becoming a failed state. . .

“There is a better way for President Trump: Help the protesters topple the ayatollah and his enforcers. Don’t crush the Iranian people’s hopes; give them the confidence to keep pushing against a regime that has no answer but bullets to any of their problems. If Iran’s revolutionary regime falls, the whole region gets better, and China and Russia lose the third spoke in their axis of U.S. adversaries.”

Finally, after generations of enslavement in Mitzrayim and a dramatic redemption, Klal Yisroel reaches the apex of creation, standing at Har Sinai and receiving the Torah from Hakadosh Boruch Hu. They hear the Aseres Hadibros and are awed and inspired to live lives of holiness, following the will of the Creator.

One of the mitzvos included in the Aseres Hadibros is Shabbos. We study the posuk of “Zachor es yom haShabbos lekadsho” (20:8), which literally translates as “Remember the Shabbos day to make it holy.”

The pesukim then state that we are to work six days of the week and rest on the seventh, not doing any work on that day, because Hashem created the world in six days and rested on the seventh. Therefore, He blessed the Shabbos day and sanctified it.

The Ramban explains the posuk of “Zachor es yom haShabbos lekadsho” to mean that it is a mitzvah to remember to sanctify Shabbos and keep it holy. He cites the posuk which states, “Vekarasa laShabbos oneg likdosh Hashem” (Yeshayahu 58:13), and writes that when we rest on Shabbos, we do so because it is a holy day. We therefore take a break from even thinking about mundane matters. Instead, we seek to satiate our souls in the way of Hashem and study Torah.

In Parshas Beshalach (16:28–29), the Torah discusses Shabbos in reference to the monn. A double portion fell on Friday because none fell on Shabbos. The posuk states, “Reu ki Hashem nosan lochem es haShabbos — See that Hashem has given you the Shabbos.”

The Seforno explains that the posuk is teaching us to reflect on the fact that Hashem has given us Shabbos, which has two components that set it apart from the rest of the week: firstly, through its mitzvos, and secondly, because it is a gift that Hashem gave to the Bnei Yisroel.

This is probably based on the Gemara in Shabbos (10b), which states that Hashem told Moshe that He has a good gift among His treasures by the name of Shabbos, and He wishes to present it to Klal Yisroel.

What is the gift? Is it the entirety of Shabbos, or is it a component of Shabbos?

In the sefer from Rav Meir Soloveitchik al haTorah, in Parshas Beshalach, it is brought from the Brisker Rov that he deduced from a Rashi in Bereishis (2:2) that the rest component of Shabbos, menucha, is not just a lack of work, but a special creation that Hashem presented to us. He says that Shabbos has two components. The first is its mitzvos, and the second is the menucha.

The Brisker Rov concluded that the menucha of Shabbos was especially created for the Jewish people and is the gift that Hashem gave us.

What is the gift of menucha?

Rav Shimshon Pincus (Shabbos Malkesa 3:4, 2) explains that when a person engages in intense physical labor, he naturally becomes tired and requires rest. This is rooted in the laws of nature, as it reflects a deep spiritual truth: that the source of all life is spiritual. The physical realm, by contrast, is not only distinct from the spiritual, but also serves as a barrier, distancing a person from his spiritual essence and, in turn, from his true source of vitality.

When someone immerses himself entirely in physical labor, he becomes disconnected from this spiritual energy, leading to exhaustion. However, when he ceases his physical exertion and rests, his physical side no longer obstructs his spiritual side. This allows him to reconnect with his true source of life, replenishing his energy and restoring his vitality.

This is compounded when we sleep and our neshamos ascend on high to their Creator, becoming reconnected to their life source. They return to us fully charged, and we wake up energized to take on the day.

The gift that Hashem gave us with Shabbos is that on this day we totally separate from gashmiyus — physical labor, activities, and thoughts — and return to ruchniyus, that which is spiritual. The holiness of Shabbos envelops us. Once we are unburdened from the physical aspects of life that have enveloped us for the past six days, we enter the realm of the kedusha and menucha of Shabbos, as we proclaim, “Yom menucha ukedusha l’amcha nosata.”

Shabbos disconnects us from gashmiyus, enveloping us in the source of energy and life. This is the ultimate gift of menucha that Hashem presented to us.

In order to merit this gift, however, we have to do our part and not only refrain from doing the physical labor of the 39 melachos, but, on Shabbos, elevate ourselves from the mundane through our actions and also through our thoughts. We refrain from discussing, reading about, or thinking about work and the everyday concerns that occupy our minds during the week. Shabbos is a time to step away from the ordinary and reconnect with a higher, spiritual realm. The more we do so, the better off we are and the more energetic we will be.

Menuchas Shabbos is not about lounging around, engaging in shallow conversations, or indulging in gossip without regard for the truth or the harm it may cause. It is not about speaking ill of others, mocking them, or simply passing the time with vacuous chatter.

Those who seek to experience the gift of menuchas Shabbos do so by elevating their ruchniyus through learning, refining their behavior, thoughts, speech, and what they read and focus on.

Shabbos is not solely about refraining from the 39 melachos. It is about rising above our physical, material side as much as possible. It is an opportunity to connect more deeply to our spiritual essence.

Shabbos is a precious gift from Hashem. The more we recognize and appreciate this gift, the closer we draw to Him and the better off we are. Viewing Shabbos as a burden only robs us of the deep opportunities it offers. It keeps us stuck in the triviality of the physical world, sapping our energy and preventing us from experiencing the true depth and perception that this holy day can provide.

The holiness of Shabbos is so profound that, according to the Vilna Gaon, when we eat and drink on Shabbos to fulfill the commandment of oneg, experiencing the joy of eating and drinking on Shabbos, it is as sacred as if we were partaking in a korban. The reason for this, he explains, is that by engaging in these physical acts, we bridge the gap between the physical and spiritual realms, connecting the material (gashmi) and the spiritual (ruchni).

Rav Dovid Cohen elaborates on this by explaining that the essence of kedushas Shabbos lies in elevating the physical world and connecting it to the neshomah. Eating and enjoying food, though a physical act, becomes a spiritual one when done with the intention of fulfilling the mitzvah. As a result, this act is considered so holy that it is as if the person were consuming the meat of a korban.

Imagine that, although we are in golus, without the Bais Hamikdosh and without korbanos, every Shabbos we have the opportunity to eat in a way that is equal to eating korbanos. We don’t have to travel anywhere or do anything special. All we need to do is sit at our Shabbos table, immersed in the sanctity of the day, enjoying the delicacies our mothers and wives prepared for us and the family. Most likely, the recipes they used were handed down to them from their mothers, who received them from their mothers for hundreds of years, each one of whom cooked for a family of mekadshei Shabbos who had the pleasure equivalent to eating korbanos that were shechted in the Bais Hamikdosh.

No matter where they lived or how hard they worked all week, they all enjoyed the transformative powers of Shabbos, the yom menucha ukedusha.

Davening in the Zichron Moshe Shul in the heart of Yerushalayim’s Geulah neighborhood is a special pleasure. The shul and its shtieblach welcome Jews of all stripes, who combine to form the beautiful mosaic that is Geulah in particular and Yerushalayim in general.

I have written previously about the Friday morning when I was there and saw a man sleeping on a bench. His clothing was dirty. His sleep was repeatedly interrupted as he scratched himself in pain from not having showered in many days. It was a pitiful sight, though not unusual in that hallowed shul.

On Friday evening, I passed the shul and stopped by the window of the large bais medrash. I looked toward the mizrach, and there, next to the rov, was the man who, that morning, had been sleeping in squalor on a bench in that very room. From the window, I saw him as he sat at the mizrach wall, facing the mispallelim. He was bedecked in a Yerushalayimer gold bekeshe and shtreimel. He was shining as he sat there with a broad smile on his face. He looked like a malach.

Shabbos transformed him. He was a new person.

It was Shabbos, and he was a new being, almost unrecognizable from what he had been just a few hours before.

I stood there, soaking in the image and thinking that this is how the geulah will be. We are overcome with shmutz, dirt, pain, and sadness. We are in golus, exiled among the nations and among those who have strayed. We are far from home but we do not despair because we know that the day of our redemption is quickly arriving. We will be cleansed, freshened, and made anew. Joy will return. And in the very place where we experienced pain, humiliation, and suffering, we will find comfort.

Meforshim wonder about the connection between the geulah and the heightened moments when Shabbos enters every week, moments that are combined in the universally recited Lecha Dodi.

We raise our voices and sing, welcoming the kallah, yet the words we chant aren’t as much about Shabbos as they are about Yerushalayim.

We shift from Likras Shabbos to Mikdash Melech, focusing on the Palace of the King. We hope for Hisna’ari and call out for Hisoreri, breaking into dance as we envision the time of Yosis Olayich Elokoyich.

Commentators ask why we chant these poetic expressions about the redemption and Yerushalayim as Shabbos begins. What is the connection?

In Zichron Moshe, as I stood at that window, I saw the transformational power of Shabbos and understood the answer to this question.

Every Shabbos, we are each able to rise from the dust of the workweek, from the darkness of golus — mei’afar kumi.

When Moshiach comes, we will do so as a people, together, just as we sing in Lecha Dodi: “Hisna’ari mei’afar kumi livshi bigdei sifarteich ami al yad ben Yishai bais halachmi korvah el nafshi ge’olah.”

May we all merit, each week, the transformation that Shabbos offers, and the ultimate transformation that Moshiach will bring when he redeems us from the struggles of the six days and ushers us into the world of eternal Shabbos.

I am going to assume that by the time this edition of the Yated is in your hands, most of us have had a taste of Hashem’s gift of snow. That description is neither cynical nor sarcastic, G-d forbid, just accurate.

First, a vignette and perspective changer. One of my former members, now a Florida resident, just spent a few days in his old home. I asked him why he flew in the opposite direction of most people this week. His answer was simple. “My two boys, ages 6 and 8, are looking forward to playing in the snow.” Ah, yes, the innocent minds of the young. But there are many blessings in our current gift from heaven measured in inches of white stuff. I noticed a decent line in a book review about children and snow. It reads, “Snow is a joy we can’t buy, an event we can’t control and the closest thing we have to magic” (New York Times Book Review, January 25, 2026, page 14). Not bad, but the Torah does much better.

We mention snow at least twice a day during Shacharis. In the Hallelukas, we first recite, “He Who gives snow like fleece, He scatters frost like ashes. He hurls His ice like crumbs — before His cold, who can stand? He issues His command and it melts them” (Tehillim 147:16-18). A bit later, we add, “Praise Hashem…fire and hail, snow and vapor, stormy wind fulfilling His word” (ibid. 148:8). In his commentary on the siddur (Ashkenaz, page 63), Rav Chaim Kanievsky cites an amazing interpretation. “Some say that Hashem only brings snow if there is enough wool to protect us from the cold. Similarly, He will not bring the frost unless there is enough firewood for us to warm up.”

If I am not mistaken, Rav Chaim is referring to the saying of the Chiddushei Harim (see Likkutei Imrei Emes, Kesuvim, page 26) or of Rav Boruch of Mezibuzh that when we say in Boruch She’amar, “Boruch gozer umekayeim — Blessed is He Who decrees and fulfills,” it also means that if Hashem, lo aleinu, decrees something unpleasant, He also gives us the ability to survive and overcome it. Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach added that we learn this from Yaakov Avinu’s travails as well. When Yosef Hatzaddik disappeared, Yaakov thought that he was dead, but vayema’ein lehisnachem — he was inconsolable. However, had Yosef really been dead, he would have been protected by the edict that after a certain amount of time, a person forgets about his grief. Of course, this doesn’t mean that we ever forget about our loved ones, only that Hashem blesses us with the ability to move on. Yaakov could not, because Yosef was still alive (see Rav Yechiel Michel Stern, Otzar Yedios Hasholeim 1:355).

This is one of the lessons of snow. Hashem sends it to us, but, in general, we manage. We have warm homes, shovels, boots…and eventually it goes away. My rebbi, Rav Yitzchok Hutner, used to say that the posuk of “Hikuni petza’uni — They struck me, they bloodied me” is in Shir Hashirim (5:7), while the posuk of “Chasdei Hashem ki lo somnu — Hashem’s kindness has surely not ended” is in Eicha (3:22). We would have thought the opposite, but Hashem works in mysterious ways. This week, it would be wise for us to contemplate the chesed that comes with snow.

Let us begin with two stories of gedolei Yisroel and their families relating to the cold and snow. Rav Yisroel Salanter’s daughter was convalescing in a hospital in the German city of Hamburg. The gentile patients and their families noticed that Rav Yisroel’s daughter always had numerous visitors at her bedside. When they inquired as to the reason for her “popularity,” she explained that her father was a prominent Jewish leader. They asked for particulars about him, but she felt that she wouldn’t be able to explain to them the importance of Rav Yisroel’s Mussar Movement and how it was elevating Klal Yisroel. Instead, she shared with them one of his signature observations about the care and love with which Hashem had created the world and arranged for their welfare.

She related that when she was a young girl, she had asked her father the following question. “Why is it,” she inquired, “that while cold water is heavier than hot water, frozen water is not heavier than regular cold water. Logic would dictate that as the water gets cold enough to freeze, it would be heavier, but lo and behold, it actually floats.” Rav Yisroel answered his daughter with an elaborate scientific explanation that illustrates the Ramchal’s famous statement (Derech Hashem, beginning of Chapter 2) that Hashem’s creation of the world was a cosmic act of love for His universe. “If frozen water would always sink,” Rav Yisroel began patiently, “all the fish in the rivers and lakes would die, since the blocks of ice wouldn’t allow them to move, retrieve food or function at all. Similarly, even during the summer, the upper layer of the ice would melt, but the heavier ice below would remain frozen, continuing to destroy all marine life. Therefore, Hashem arranged for icebergs and similar frozen entities to float, so that the fish and other marine life can survive.” The other patients and their families agreed that the man who had such explanations for G-d’s plans for the world must indeed be a great man (told by Rav Moshe Soloveitchik in “Veha’ish Moshe).

The second story is better known and was related by Rav Yechezkel Abramsky, famed author of the Chazon Yechezkel on Tosefta, about himself. The great gaon was sent to frigid Siberia for the sin of teaching Torah under the Bolsheviks. He had been a scrawny gaunt child, always prone to catching a cold. In the Gulag, all the prisoners had their own clothing confiscated and replaced by thin worthless rags. To add more pain and danger in the arctic wastes, they were made to walk barefoot and many burly political prisoners soon died of frost. Rav Abramsky raised his hands high to shomayim and davened. “Ribono Shel Olam, I know that Chazal (Avodah Zarah 3b) teach that ‘although all is in the hands of heaven, we must watch ourselves when it comes to [excessive] heat or cold.’ However, that is where someone has the option of protecting himself. These wicked people have made that impossible. It therefore comes back to You, Hashem, so please protect me.” Rav Chatzkel concluded, “Although as a child my mother had to clothe me in many layers to keep the cold out of my thin body, in Siberia I never once even so much as caught a cold.”

We can sum up the two stories as illustrating for us that Hashem has many ways of taking care of His creations. He grants each creature ways of surviving, from the burrs of the porcupine to the disinclination of any larger predator to start up with the skunk, to the incredible success of each species to survive in the environment in which Hashem placed it. But even the inanimate domeim part of the universe has been endowed with natural and — in the case of the snow and ice — even supernatural powers to help other creations of Hashem survive. This explains the juxtaposition of wool and ice, which seem like opposites in the above-quoted posuk. Just as the wool brings warmth to its original wearer and to the human beings who don it later on, so does even the frozen ice protect the creatures below in the most magnificent of ways (see also Rav Avigdor Miller, Lev Avigdor, page 99).

But there is an even deeper message and lesson to be learned from the snow and ice. The posuk (Iyov 37:6) tells us that Hashem says to the snow, “Be upon the ground!” What exactly is this posuk telling us that we didn’t already know? The Zera Shimshon (on Aishes Chayil, page 62) quotes the posuk that we recite Friday night, “lo sira leveisa misholeg — she fears not snow for her household” (Mishlei 31:21). What doesn’t the aishes chayil fear and how does she accomplish this? The Zera Shimshon cites the words of the Shach (on Shemos 4:6) that when Moshe Rabbeinu was being given miraculous signs from Hashem to show Paroh, he was told, “Bring your hand inside your shirt…behold his hand was leprous like snow.” Now, we know, says the Shach, that it only mentions the leprous quality of the color of snow regarding Miriam (Bamidbar 12:10). “Here the snow is revealing that this manifestation was not from the middah of din, which is justice with rigor, but from rachamim, which is compassion and mercy.” The Zera Shimshon adds that it is only on the surface that this is a tzoraas, just as snow is only difficult to deal with on the surface.” We may add that it only creates a temporary inconvenience, but it brings kapparah in the end.

Although much of this subject is discussed by the Chassidishe seforim from Kabbolah, in light of what we have discovered earlier, we can understand it on a more basic level. Although snow and even ice seem to be difficult to deal with and perhaps are even negative, in essence they are ultimately for our benefit. Just as the ice protects the fish and snow keeps the crops protected from destruction, so the snow forces us to slow down, look carefully at its purity and beauty and return to our roots, which are full of taharah and kedusha. This definition of snow as it relates to purity may be seen in the posuk that is part of the haftorah of Parshas Devorim. Yeshayahu (1:18) says, “If your sins are like scarlet, they will become white as snow.”

Perhaps even more interesting, although the halacha doesn’t follow this opinion, is that some poskim (see Mordechai, Chulin 6:654) quote from one of the Gaonim that we may cover the earth from the shechitah of a bird or wild animal with snow because the posuk says that it comes from the ground. In point of fact, the Medrash (Pirkei D’Rebbi Eliezer quoted by the Chiddushei Anshei Sheim on the Mordechai) states that the earth itself was created from the snow beneath the Kisei Hakavod, Hashem’s Throne of Glory.

We may now conclude that there is much more than meets the eye to the snow on our lawns. It may be the very stuff from which everything was created. It most certainly reminds us of how pure and white the world and we ourselves can be. It is a reminder of how Hashem takes care of us even when we think that we our freezing. So let us thank Hashem for this gift, even if we will be happy when it is gone. Let’s just not forget its very warm lessons.

The mouth is a powerful tool. No, this is not an article on the depravity of lashon hara. On the contrary, if anything, it is an article on the power of lashon tov.

We are now in the weeks when we lain the parshiyos describing Yetzias Mitzrayim. One fascinating part of the golus of Mitzrayim that is taught to us by the seforim (see Sefas Emes and many others) is that dibbur, the power of speech, was also in golus at that time. The golus of Mitzrayim was so pervasive that the Bnei Yisroel couldn’t even use their regular power of speech. The only thing they could do was cry out—a wordless cry.

That is why, when Klal Yisroel finally came out of golus, we celebrate the Yom Tov of Pesach. In fact, if you take the word Pesach and divide it in two, it becomes “peh sach,” the mouth talks. It is for this reason that one of the primary mitzvos on Pesach is talking, giving over the story of Yetzias Mitzrayim to our children.

Indeed, words have tremendous power. Our words of Torah, our words of tefillah, a word of chizuk, a gut vort, can have a transformative impact on others. Last week, I spoke about the importance of giving compliments to others. This week, I would like to expound on that concept.

The Comment That Changed His Life

The following is a true story.

Reb Tanchum*, a kollel yungerman, would collect his mail every day when he came home from seder. One day, he received a wedding invitation. Upon opening it, he thought, “Interesting. I wonder why he sent me an invitation.”

It was true that the chosson, Tzvi*, had learned with him in the same yeshiva, but he was a few shiurim younger. Reb Tanchum barely recalled having a connection with him. “Still,” he thought, “if Tzvi took the trouble to send me an invitation, I will try to pop into the wedding.”

When the night of the wedding came, Reb Tanchum made a point of attending and joined the circle of enthusiastic dancing men. Tzvi was in the middle, dancing with someone else, but the minute he noticed Reb Tanchum, he jumped, ran over to him, and gave him a massive hug, exclaiming with great emotion, “Look around! This is all in your zechus! This whole wedding is in your zechus!”

Reb Tanchum was completely shocked.

Later, Tzvi explained, “I grew up in a family with little appreciation for Torah learning. Still, when it came time for me to go to yeshiva, I wanted to learn in yeshiva. I came for Elul, and it was excruciatingly hard. I had no friends, I didn’t really have good chavrusos, I wasn’t so adept at the social nuances, and I was miserable. Somehow, I made it through Elul, day after excruciating day. Even though I was unhappy, I decided to come back for the winter zeman, but it was awful. I really tried! I tried to learn the Gemara and Rishonim so that I would be prepared for the daily shiur, but in all truth, I understood very little of the shiur, and that just increased my despair…

“Finally,” the chosson continued, “around Chanukah time, I decided that I had had enough. I decided that yeshiva just wasn’t for me. Either way, I knew that my parents wouldn’t mind if I got a secular education and studied for an occupation, so I decided to go back to the dorm, get my things, pack up my suitcase, and leave.

“It was right then, as I was walking out of the building,” Tzvi explained emotionally, “that you, an older bochur who was considered a distinguished talmid in the yeshiva, came over, fixed my collar, which had been twisted without my knowledge, and told me, ‘Ah! Such a choshuve bochur! Such a choshuve bochur like you should look neat.’

“You have no idea what you did with those words,” Tzvi exclaimed. “With those words, you infused me with a bit of hope. I thought to myself, ‘Wow! This older, distinguished bochur values me! He thinks I am a choshuve bochur. He cares about me.’ Those words encouraged me to change course. I turned around, went back into yeshiva, and decided to push myself a bit more. Eventually, I began to catch on, I got good chavrusos, some members of the hanhalah began to notice me, and the rest is history. I am now marrying into a distinguished Torah family, and it was all because of a gut vort, an encouraging word.”

That is the power of words.

Reb Tanchum, the older bochur, didn’t even remember what he said, but his words transformed the life of a bochur and his future generations. That is the power of a gut vort.

“Why Did I Have to Wait Until I Was ‘Dead’ to Hear Compliments?”

There is a famous apocryphal story about Yossele the water carrier in a small village in Lita. Yossele’s family was sick with worry. He had not come home for supper. It was already hours later and there was no sign of him. What could have happened to Yossele?

What had happened?

That day, Yossele was walking to deliver water to a family that lived near the forest. As he was walking in the remote area, a band of thieves caught him and robbed him of his money. The robbers didn’t want to be caught, so they decided to kill him.

He begged them to spare his life, saying, “Please, you are good, compassionate people. It doesn’t ‘pass’ for you to kill me. You are better than that. Please don’t kill me. I promise that I will not tell on you.”

Feeling bad, they agreed to spare his life, but just to make sure that he wouldn’t tell anyone, they stripped him of all his clothing. In this way, it would take time until he could find something to cover himself. By that time, they would be far away.

While they were at it, the bandits decided to have some fun at Yossele’s expense. Upon seeing his tzitzis, the bandit leader took them and put them on. All his fellow thieves laughed uproariously at how he looked. When he took Yossele’s yarmulka and put it on his head, it looked even funnier. They cackled with laughter. The bandit leader then left Yossele all alone in the forest, with nothing to cover him, and they left.

Soon after, as the bandit leader was crossing a bridge, a piece of wood in the bridge cracked, he lost his balance, and he fell into the raging river below and drowned.

Meanwhile, back home, Yossele’s family was waiting and waiting. Search parties had been sent out to look for him, and eventually someone noticed a body floating in the river. They got close to it, and, lo and behold, they saw that he was wearing Yossele’s tzitzis. Sadly, they returned to Yossele’s village and told his family what they had found. A few hours later, the levayah was held. The entire town gathered, and the rov and others said hespeidim depicting the good qualities of Yossele, a simple, temimusdige Yid who tried his best to be a G-d-fearing Jew and perform the will of Hashem, who took care of his family and was a devoted husband and father.

Meanwhile, Yossele had finally found something to cover himself. He painstakingly made his way back to his village. When he arrived, he saw the signs hanging announcing his own levayah.

He knew where he would find everyone—outside the cemetery, where levayos were held. Indeed, when he arrived, he stood in the back listening as the maspidim enumerated his good qualities. Suddenly, someone noticed him. Then another person noticed him. Finally, everyone realized that Yossele was alive. It had all been a mistake!

Everyone was so pleased—except Yossele. He said, “Boruch Hashem, I am alive! But why did I have to wait until I was ‘dead’ to hear anyone say something nice about me?”

Focusing on What a Person Is Rather Than What He Isn’t

We all talk about tzedakah and chesed and how important they are, but you know what? It doesn’t cost a penny to tell someone a gut vort, to compliment him, to tell him what you admire about him, to say something encouraging, and to give someone an authentic word of praise. That, too, is chesed. A colossal chesed.

A bochur can say something nice to his chavrusa. A girl can thank her teacher for a lesson that she really enjoyed. A talmid can give a shkoach to a maggid shiur. A member of the shul can go over to the baal tefillah and tell him how much he enjoyed and was inspired by his davening. A father can compliment his son. A child can thank his or her parents. One can verbalize appreciation to his or her spouse. It isn’t rocket science.

Instead of thinking that it is a “mitzvah” to find someone’s deficiencies, perhaps try, for a change, to look for someone’s good qualities.

The following story took place with the Zidichover Rebbe of Chicago, Rav Yehoshua Heshel Eichenstein. It is a story in which the rebbe highlighted exactly this concept—the concept of focusing on what a person is instead of focusing on what he isn’t. It’s a concept that the rebbe perfected to the nth degree, and a concept that we can all try to implement, one compliment at a time.

Chaim* was going through a lot of difficulties, many of which were self-inflicted. Sadly, he was not seeing success in anything.

“I was discussing the situation with my father,” one of the rebbe’s children recalls, “to determine if there was any way we could help Chaim. In the course of our conversation, in my attempt to help him, I brought up something negative about Chaim. My father stopped me and made a comment that made a lifelong impact on me. He said, ‘Vos ehr iz nisht—what he isn’t—we already know. Let’s try to think of what he is, a point about him that is positive. Let us cultivate his positive attributes and enable him to use that as a springboard for his success!’” (based on a maamar in Gilyon Shalheves).

It does take a bit of thought, and most importantly, a change of mindset.

You usually know what someone “isn’t.” The question is: Do we take the time and effort to internalize what someone is, and then have the guts—or the good-heartedness—to actually tell him?

Try it. You might even feel good and become addicted to giving compliments.

I remember some sixty-odd years ago, waiting to see if the predictions would come true. Not very different from today. Sixty-five years later, they are still forecasting anywhere between one and twenty-four inches, with no real clue what havoc the Ribono Shel Olam actually has planned.

As it stands, they were right. Who is they? I am not sure. All I know is that the streets are covered and the memories of my youth are now uncovered.

Actually, they awoke last Thursday, when the radio and texting pontificators assured us that by Sunday morning, the New York area would be coated in a white blanket. That mattered, because we had a bris scheduled for Sunday morning. It was touch and go. The mohel had to get there from Brooklyn and pasken whether the baby was ready. Boruch Hashem, he was, but there were some people who simply could not make it from the tri-state area. I can just imagine all those who had to travel by plane. A bris can be held in almost any weather. A plane flight, however, is not so poshut. By Motzoei Shabbos, cancellations began popping up, and those waiting to come back from Eretz Yisroel had to contend with both snow and the Ayatollah.

But watching the snow swirl, I was not thinking about planes. Rather, I was conjuring memories of snow days and school cancellations.

Back in the 1960s, news was not instantaneous and Zoom did not exist. When it snowed deeply enough, there simply was no school. My father was the dean of the school (no one called elementary school heads roshei yeshiva in those days), so I was expected either to know whether there would be school or at least influence the decision that there would not be.

Anticipation was not instantly gratified. There was no email, no texting, and no automated phone call announcing closures. No websites. No recorded messages. When a real blizzard hit, we had one way of knowing whether school was closed.

We had the radio.

For those who don’t remember such a thing, it was a box that had a dial and many different stations. One of them was called WOR. It was (I’m not sure if it still is) a radio station, and it announced the schools that were closed because of the snow.

I do not know what WOR stood for or if it stood for anything at all. All I know is that on snowy mornings in the 1960s, we huddled in blankets in our freezing kitchen, holding cups of cocoa, waiting to hear the name of our school announced over the air.

Because my father was the dean, I was supposed to know the outcome before it was broadcast. But he kept it close to the vest, and even if I knew, I hated the 7 a.m. phone calls from friends asking whether school was closed, so I would tell them to listen to the radio like everyone else. They complained that my father never called it in. But he did. We were just not the first on the list. After all, Yeshiva starts with Y.

I began getting up before dawn to listen carefully and write down the exact time our yeshiva would be announced. I could tell my friends that they missed it. My sisters, who commuted by subway to Rabbi Garber’s Esther Schoenfeld School on the Lower East Side, joined in the vigil.

As the announcer droned on, it felt endless. So many non-Jewish schools. Saint this in Mamaroneck—closed. Our Lady of that in Scarsdale—closed. Holy something or other in Freeport—closed. On and on it went. Academies. Prep schools. Libraries. Nothing that sounded remotely like a yeshiva.

And then it happened.

Yesheeba Cha-Cha Sofer—closed.

Yesheeba… and Meseebta Chain Berlin—closed.

I cringed when they called Chaim “Chain.” But still two for the good guys. Years later, that same feeling would return while listening to election returns from distant states.

The YMCA of Manhattan would open at noon.

Yeshiva of Flatbush—closed.

More schools. More waiting.

I did not move from the radio. I would not even go to the bathroom. Our school still had not been announced.

Yeshiva and Mesivta Toras Chaim of Greater New York at South Shore was a long name, the result of a merger between my father’s Yeshiva of South Shore and Rabbi Schmidman’s Yeshiva Toras Chaim in East New York. I was convinced that the announcer simply refused to say it. He had struggled enough with Cha-Cha Sofer.

The phone calls came in. My friends were right. Our school had not been named.

I was crushed. It felt like my team never made it out of the first round.

My sisters’ schools were not announced either, but at least they had a class mother who called. I had nothing. I was sure my father had called it in. The station issued a secret code to prevent mischievous children from canceling school and he guarded it carefully. But he had already left the house before I woke, disappearing into the blinding snow sometime before six in the morning. There was no way to reach him.

I would never dare rummage through his desk to find the code and call it in myself.

The announcer was about to return to his regularly scheduled program. The clock ticked toward its final seconds.

And then, like a buzzer-beater, he stopped.

Something had just come in.

He stumbled over the words, clearly unprepared for what lay ahead.

And then he said it the way everyone on Long Island knew it:

Yeshiva of South Shore. Closed.

I looked at the clock and noted the time. March 22, 1967. 7:23 a.m.

And quietly, to myself, as if I had just heard the swish of a winning basket or the crack of the winning home run, I whispered: YES!

Things are different these days. Many walk to yeshivos that are on almost every corner. Others have remote. Others call for yeshiva no matter what.

I understand yeshivos. But public school? I heard that Mamdani paskened that there will be school via remote. Maybe the next generation of youth won’t vote him in!

Just saying.

Observers say it was just a matter of time.

Minnesota’s liberal sanctuary policies and heated anti-ICE rhetoric had long set the stage for a violent clash between the liberal state’s left-wing politicians and activists, and federal immigration agents.

The state had become a powder keg, primed to explode. Over the weekend, a fateful spark was lit as immigration agents fatally shot 37-year-old Alex Pretti, an ICU nurse, during an ICE operation in South Minneapolis that Pretti and fellow activists were allegedly obstructing.

Long-simmering tensions boiled over as Minnesota’s political leadership helped whip up the shock and distress over the killing, into a weekend of frenzied rioting against ICE.

Minneapolis’s Mayor Jacob Frey vilified the federal immigration enforcement agency as akin to “the Gestapo,” while Gov. Walz called ICE agents “violent and untrained people perpetrating brutality,” and demanding they be expelled from Minnesota immediately.

According to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), ICE and Border Patrol agents were in Minneapolis to arrest an illegal immigrant criminal, and Pretti and fellow agitators had assembled in the same spot to confront them.

Pretti, who was found to be “armed with a 9 mm semi-automatic handgun loaded with two magazines,” according to Fox News, attempted to intervene in an arrest of a fellow agitator. Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino said agents attempted to arrest and handcuff Pretti, but he violently resisted.

“Fearing for his life and the lives and safety of fellow officers, a Border Patrol agent fired defensive shots,” Bovino told a press conference.

Local leaders dispute this narrative, casting the dead man as an innocent martyr who at no point had brandished his gun—for which he possessed a legal permit. They say he was cut down for no reason by aggressive, trigger-happy ICE Agents.

Video Shows Agitator Scuffling with Agents While Blocking Federal Arrest

Bystander footage released to the public shows Alex Pretti in the middle of the street, stopping traffic even before any law enforcement appeared on the scene.

As federal agents come on the scene, Pretti gets into an altercation with one of them while filming the confrontation on his phone. The altercation escalates into a chaotic scuffle involving a second activist whom federal officers attempt to subdue, with Pretti actively interfering with their efforts.

As additional federal officers join the melee, Pretti resists arrest and an agent yells out, “He’s got a gun!” An officer grabs the gun and a split second later, a shot rings out. It’s not clear from the footage who fired the gun or whether it accidentally discharged, leading agents to believe Pretti was firing at them.

A second later, Pretti is seen wrenching himself free and beginning to rise from the ground as another officer opens fire, ending his life with multiple shots.

DHS Secretary Kristi Noem initially called the suspect a “domestic terrorist” who intended to assault ICE officers. That assessment is now under review as Pretti was not seen in any of the footage holding the gun in question. And yet, he was clearly armed.

Democrats are convinced the shooting was unjustified. But what appears obvious is that if thousands of people carefully analyzing the incident frame-by-frame, from multiple angles and videos, can’t even agree whether Pretti touched his gun or tried to reach his holster, how are officers at the heart of the chaotic scene expected to know in a split second whether the man and his gun posed a lethal danger?

Trump has avoided assigning blame, promising in an online post that “we will review everything about the incident” and get the full picture. Administration officials say investigators are studying footage from body cameras worn by several federal immigration enforcement officers, which have not yet been released to the public. Answers to pressing questions, they promise, will soon be forthcoming.

Methodical Harassment

Video evidence of recent protester confrontations with ICE, such as in the Renee Good shooting earlier this month, open a window on shocking methodical harassment by agitators to which federal immigration officers in Minnesota and other sanctuary states are regularly subjected.

Law enforcement cameras show protesters stalking federal agents; filming, recording and taunting them as they attempt to carry out law enforcement duties. Video clips show agitators blocking agents’ cars, shouting obscenities, blowing shrill whistles and bear horns in their faces, pelting food at them, and spitting at and cursing them.

A serious form of harassment has taken the form of “doxing” ICE agents — showing their photos, listing their homes and families online — to intimidate them. In addition, activists in groups like ICE WATCH post the license plate numbers of agents’ vehicles and their locations to members of the group, urging fellow agitators to rapidly converge at ICE operations to block immigration enforcement.

Renee Good, allegedly an ICE Watch trainee, was following her group’s playbook, blocking ICE officers and other traffic with her car, when she was instructed by federal officers to exit her vehicle. She ignored them and gunned her engine, appearing to aim the car at an ICE officer and hitting him as the car lurched forward.

The injured officer fired in her direction, fatally striking Good, a tragic incident that sparked days of anti-ICE protests and demands for “accountability.”

Critics say both deaths are the predictable outcome of anti-ICE agitation by Democratic leaders — including Governor Tim Walz and Mayor Jacob Frey. The political leadership has been relentless in fomenting public hostility, with Gov. Walz issuing a hyperbolic call for Minnesota’s citizens to “use their cameras to film” ICE operations, “to record them for use in a legal prosecution of atrocities being done in our state.”

As protests and tensions escalated after the shooting, Walz demanded that the DHS and the Trump administration withdraw ICE agents from the city. Walz said he contacted the White House, claiming “Minnesota has had it. The President must end this operation. Pull the thousands of violent, untrained officers out of Minnesota. Now.”

The White House at first rejected those demands, signaling no intention to pull federal law enforcement from Minnesota. As escalating anti-ICE protests seemed to be winning the PR war in many quarters, Trump softened that stance, announcing that he was sending “border czar” Tom Homan into Minnesota.

This move effectively sidelined DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and Border Patrol chief Greg Bovino, “hard-liners” who had been lightning-rod targets for public outrage in the liberal stronghold.

Walz Shifts Tone in Phone Call with Trump

Following Trump’s announcement, Gov. Walz immediately flipped his tone, courteously requesting in a phone call with President Trump on Monday, that the number of ICE agents in Minnesota be reduced. [About 3,000 ICE agents had been operating in Minneapolis, and had carried out roughly 3,400 arrests in the area.]

“Governor Tim Walz called me with the request to work together with respect to Minnesota. It was a very good call, and we actually seemed to be on a similar wavelength,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

The president also spoke with Frey, with whom he had previously engaged in a bitter war of words, commenting afterward that they had “a very good telephone conversation.” He noted Frey and Homan will be meeting on Tuesday.

A NY Post article entitled “ICE Tensions Could be Thawing in Minnesota,” reported that Homan’s transfer is a significant action for the Trump administration as it signaled a willingness to consider an easing of enforcement operations in Minnesota, in exchange for the state’s cooperation with federal authorities in rounding up illegal immigrants.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt outlined the three concessions the White House demanded in exchange for the reduction in the number of federal agents requested by Gov. Walz: turn over all illegal immigrants in state and local custody; promptly hand over any illegal immigrant arrested by local officials; and to work with federal law enforcement in apprehending illegal immigrants wanted for criminal behavior.

These requests had formerly been met with scornful refusals.

Commentators note that Trump’s somewhat softened stance comes amid indications that Democrats are prepared to make DHS funding the key issue in an upcoming spending bill.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer declared that Democrats will not provide the votes needed to advance a key appropriations bill if it includes funding for the Department of Homeland Security. “I will vote no. Senate Democrats will not provide the votes to proceed to the appropriations bill if the DHS funding bill is included,” Schumer vowed, ramping up the threat of another government shutdown.

The shutdown threat seems irrational since Democrats can’t actually put an end to immigration enforcement no matter how much they posture, critics say. ICE and Customs and Border Patrol are classified as “essential operations,” and are currently funded several years in advance. Ultimately, all Democrats can do right now is engage in bombastic rhetoric.

Walz Bends to DOJ Pressure as Federal Grand Jury Subpoenas Issued

Walz’s newfound compliance may have had something to do with federal grand jury subpoenas issued by the Department of Justice on Jan. 20, to Minnesota’s governor, AG Keith Ellison, Mayor Frey and three others.

During a Fox News interview, Bondi confirmed these subpoenas are part of a federal grand jury investigation, probing allegations that state leaders conspired to obstruct federal immigration enforcement in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. The subpoenas seek documents and testimony related to possible interference with federal officers.

“The present tragedy has happened in Minneapolis because you have a mayor and a governor who have declared Minneapolis a sanctuary city,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said. She noted that among the illegal immigrants being sought by ICE were scores of violent felons: convicted murderers, people accused or convicted of aggravated assault, abuse of children, drug dealing, domestic violence, armed robbery and other violent crimes.

“Gov. Walz and Mayor Frey have virtually told these criminals, ‘You’re invited here, we will protect you,’ Bondi said. “And that’s why so many of them have come here, leading to the crisis now facing us.”

The attorney general suggested the anti-ICE protests did not appear to be a grassroots movement, pointing to what she described as telltale signs of outside coordination — from groups of demonstrators carrying “identically matching” professionally printed signs to other indicators of a high level of orchestration.

“How did all these people end up with matching signs?” she questioned. “And what about the gas masks? The very next day after the shooting, hundreds of people showed up wearing gas masks [to shield themselves from tear gas], again matching, all the same type. Where did they all get it? They’re expensive. You don’t get gas masks at your corner convenience store.”

Vice President JD Vance concurred with Bondi’s assessment about the Minnesota rioting, that all evidence pointed to what he described as “coordinated activism aligned with local officials.”

“This level of engineered chaos is unique to Minneapolis,” Vance wrote online. “It is the direct consequence of far-left agitators working with local authorities.” This collaboration “set the stage for the deadly confrontation between Pretti and federal agents.” [See Sidebar]

AG Bondi Demands Minnesota Cooperate with Feds as Condition to Remove ICE

A strong letter from Attorney General Pam Bondi this week blamed the governor and other Minnesota Democrats for fostering “lawlessness” by refusing to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement.

“Americans are watching politicians ignore federal immigration law, criminals attack federal law enforcement, and rioters storm church services,” Bondi lashed out in her letter.

She warned that the federal government would step in if state leaders did not support federal law enforcement efforts.

Her letter went on to demand three things: first, that the state “share all of Minnesota’s records on Medicaid and Food and Nutrition Service programs, to investigate fraud and ensure that Minnesota’s welfare funds are being used to help those in need, not enrich fraudsters.

Second, the letter asked Walz to “repeal the sanctuary policies that have led to so much crime and violence in your state” and cooperate with ICE, including honoring federal detention requests.”

Lastly, Bondi said she expected Walz to “allow the DOJ to access voter rolls to confirm that Minnesota’s voter registration practices comply with federal law.”

“Do not obstruct federal immigration enforcement,” Bondi warned. “Do not allow rioters to take over the streets and houses of worship; do not hinder federal officials from investigating financial fraud and violations of election laws.”

“I am confident that these simple steps will help bring back law and order to Minnesota,” AG Bondi concluded, adding that compliance would establish a pathway toward “removing ICE forces” from the state.

***

Congress Urged to End Sanctuary Cities

President Donald Trump has urged Congress to immediately pass legislation that would end sanctuary cities, and also called on every Democrat governor and mayor in America to formally cooperate with his administration to enforce U.S. laws.

The president issued four specific points in his bold message which echo the same conditions he outlined in his phone call with Gov. Walz this week. Those conditions require state authorities to turn over to federal law enforcement all criminal illegals currently in state prisons for immediate deportation. In addition, local police must assist federal law enforcement in apprehending and detaining illegal aliens who are wanted for crimes.

On Sunday, U.S. Rep. Kevin Kiley, R-Calif., appeared on Fox News to say he “introduced the ‘No Sanctuary for Criminals Act’ to bar sanctuary cities nationwide, enabling immigration enforcement to proceed in an orderly way focused on public safety.”

“Sanctuary cities incentivize massive fraud and continue to be a magnet for illegal immigration,” Kiley said. “It’s time to pass this bill, turn down the temperature, and find common ground to stop further tragedies.”

***

‘Red flags’ Expose Paid Agitators

As tensions rise over who is behind the violent anti-ICE riots, a California-based company that specializes in providing on-demand crowds for protests says there are indicators to distinguish hired demonstrators from ordinary crowds.

Adam Swart, CEO and founder of Crowds on Demand, told Fox News that there are clear ways to distinguish authentic grassroots protesters from those who are paid to demonstrate. He said one giveaway is that “paid protest teams are kept on standby and can deploy within minutes, using geolocation tools and encrypted chats. Only compensated activists move that fast.”

Swart expressed his belief that many of the protesters are being compensated, explaining that “when you can gather hundreds of people at the wee hours of the morning or the late hours of the night with zero notice, with just a text message that gets results within 10 minutes, that sounds a lot more like a rapid reaction force than a group of grassroots demonstrators.”

“Activist groups are likely receiving tip-offs from informants about ICE raid locations, allowing them to stage protests before law enforcement even arrives,” Swart shared. He said the most revealing factor indicating rioters are being funded is the use of tactical gear.

If agitators come with tactical gear, including gas masks, body armor, special vests with pouches for food supplies and the like, that’s revealing, he said. “Tactical gear is extremely expensive. The fact that they’re passing out hundreds of tactical gear items is an indication that a) there’s someone with money funding them and b) they’re planning to start a riot.

“The only reason you need tactical gear is if you’re purposefully going into a situation where you’re expecting to create a riot,” he underlined.

The crowd expert’s words took on heightened relevance within minutes after the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti, as far-left activists descended on Nicollet Avenue in Minneapolis where the incident took place.

According to Fox News Digital, “a video clip showed corrugated boxes of supplies lined up on a Minneapolis sidewalk, apparently for agitators who might have to face tear gas. Some of the boxes were marked ‘DESINER MASKS’ [misspelled] and ‘FREE WINTER HATS,’ next to piles of bottled water.”

Within hours, activist leaders “apparently turbocharged their ‘rapid responders’ in Minneapolis and mobilized street protesters from New York City to Los Angeles,” the article reported.

“The Minneapolis activation marked the beginning of an almost instantaneous weekend surge by far-left organizations,” the news outlet said. “Media outlets described ‘angry protesters’ but failed to identify the socialist and Marxist networks behind the mobilization, even as protesters flashed their signs with their logos and names on camera!”

The Folly of the Israeli Government

We are living through tense times. For one thing, it seems that the deciding moments for the draft law are at hand. We will soon see whether the Knesset manages to pass the law that has been under discussion for many months. This topic will be covered in a separate article, with Hashem’s help. In this column, I will comment only that this is a painful and oppressive time for the religious community. We know that the situation is not optimal, and the entire community is operating under circumstances that are far from ideal. The chareidi politicians are promoting the current law only for lack of an alternative. It is tragic that Torah learners are persecuted specifically in Israel, the Jewish state. What a terrible black stain on this country.

On that note, I heard a story this week from Rav Nissim Harari, a distinguished talmid chochom from the neighborhood of Bayit Vegan in Yerushalayim and the head of Kollel HaChida. Rav Hararai is a former member of Kollel Chazon Ish in Bnei Brak and a former talmid of Yeshivas Ohr Torah, and he shared his recollections of the stories told by the rosh yeshiva during his youth, Rav Dovid Malinovsky, who was a close associate of both the Chazon Ish and the Brisker Rov. In 1949, the first year after the State of Israel was founded, Rav Dovid joined the Chazon Ish to bake matzos in advance of Pesach, and when they had completed the process to his satisfaction, the Chazon Ish remarked, “I am surprised that they are still allowing us to bake matzos.” Less than a year had passed since the state was founded and the Chazon Ish was amazed that the government wasn’t interfering with the performance of this mitzvah! The Chazon Ish, with his innate prescience, apparently intuited that a day would come when the Israeli government would persecute those who observe the mitzvos.

Naturally, this reminds me of a comment attributed to the Brisker Rov, which I heard many times from Rav Moshe Shmuel Shapiro: Let no one make the mistake of thinking that the State of Israel was first established and only then decided to wage war against the Torah and the chareidi community. Rather, the state was founded for the purpose of fighting against the Torah and chareidim. That is a chilling thought indeed.

Today, everyone can see that the middas hadin is in force. Our country has been beset by troubles and tragedies, yet the government has only added insult to injury by compounding its sins on a regular basis and continuing its determined battle against the Torah. This is sheer folly. If they were wise, they would recognize their errors and realize that they are inviting disaster. But they have no wisdom or understanding, and they fail to grasp the fact that they are undermining the basis of their own survival. The Torah itself tells us that it is the source of our very existence. And that is why we must turn to Hashem with pleas to be saved from the government’s evil designs.

The politicians who inhabit the government give us plenty of reason for disillusionment on their own. The leftist parties, old and new alike, are vying among themselves to take the harshest and most rigid stance against the chareidi community, while the average chareidi citizen watches with dismay and horror. They, too, are guilty of drilling holes in the bottom of the proverbial ship that carries all of us. The era of Moshiach has undoubtedly arrived, when we are told that Torah learners will be persecuted and darkness will cover the land.

The Left Unites in a Bid to Unseat Netanyahu

Perhaps a few more words are in order about the current players on the political field in Israel. This would technically be worthy of a much longer report, but we will settle for a brief overview of the situation for now.

There are several parties on the center-left vying for seats in the Knesset. First, there is Bennett 2006, the party headed by Naftoli Bennett, which has performed very well in the polls and is shown in some surveys reaching over 20 mandates. The Democrats party, the union formed by the remnants of Meretz and the Labor party, is headed by the anti-religious Yair Golan, a general in the reserves, and hovers around 10 mandates in all the polls. Next is Yashar, the party headed by former IDF chief of staff Gadi Eizenkot, who resigned from the party led by Benny Gantz (another former chief of staff) and seems poised to rake in between six and eight mandates. Yair Lapid’s party, Yesh Atid, is shown in some polls failing to cross the electoral threshold, while other polls show Lapid winning four or five mandates. According to most polls, Benny Gantz’s party, Blue and White, will not make it into the Knesset at all. This week, a new initiative was floated, as all these parties discussed uniting into a single list that they believe will receive 45 to 50 mandates and then, together with the Arab parties, will unseat Netanyahu. Avigdor Lieberman, who is supposedly on the right side of the political map, approached the left-wing bloc this week to offer his support for their bid for power. In exchange, he asked them for a simple pledge: no government without a universal draft (which must include the Arabs as well), and zero government aid for anyone who does not enlist.

In any event, Lieberman’s proposal doesn’t stand a chance of being accepted, solely because he insists on drafting the Arabs.

As for the Arab parties, they announced this past weekend that they intend to form a single combined slate to avoid losing votes. In the most recent elections, two of the Arab parties—headed by Ayman Oudeh and Mansour Abbas, respectively—received five mandates each, while the third Arab party, Balad, cost the Arabs almost three mandates by failing to cross the electoral threshold. The Arabs are convinced that a combined party will receive between 12 and 15 mandates in the upcoming election, which is a fairly realistic assumption. And they hope that increasing their power will make it possible for them to oust Netanyahu from the office of prime minister.

Given this overview, you may be wondering if the religious community should be worried, perhaps even extremely worried. An expert on elections had the following to say: “The union on the left will add between one and two mandates to the opposition bloc, which numbers about 54 or 55 mandates today. The union will not change the map of the blocs, just as Bennett’s entry did not change anything. The unity agreement calls for the four parties to be united as a technical bloc by running on a single slate, which can be disbanded after the election. Mansour Abbas plans to do the same—to separate and join the leftist parties. The other Arab parties will remain outside the bloc and leverage their political power to block the formation of a coalition. The goal is to increase the Arab parties’ power from their current ten mandates to 13 or 14. Therefore, in the best scenario for them, the opposition will add a total of two mandates to its bloc. Why only two? The answer is a bit more complicated.”

The expert goes on to present an exact calculation of how many seats would be lost and gained by the coalition and opposition, respectively, on account of the parties that would not cross the electoral threshold. He concludes, “I have explained on many occasions that during the three years of turbulence, there was a transfer of mandates between the blocs, but only on a small scale. Five mandates left the right-wing bloc immediately at the beginning of the protest movement, and seven mandates moved to the right from Gantz, Lapid, and Lieberman after the beginning of the war, the elimination of Nasrallah, and the bombing in Iran. That is what brought the right-wing bloc back to the vicinity of 64 or 65 mandates.” The expert argues that the right wing will receive even more mandates in the next election, since we are parting from about 200,000 voters who passed away, while about 600,000 first-time voters (youths between the ages of 18 and 22) will be coming to the polls for the first time, and the political right enjoys strong support within that demographic. That means that as of now, it seems that the right-wing bloc is poised to receive at least 66 mandates.

In short, we can relax while watching the premature victory celebrations and opening of champagne bottles in the opposition camp. They are experts at inventing a victory where none exists.

The Blood Libel Against the Day Care Operator

It has been a difficult and painful week in Israel since the tragic deaths of two babies at a private day care center in Romema last Sunday. On Monday and Tuesday, the owner of the day care program and her assistant were put through a nightmare. The media assailed them mercilessly, and the chareidi community was horrified by the reactions to the tragedy that circulated on the media. Dozens of people spewed hatred online. “Two fewer chareidim; so what?” was a common refrain. The secular media’s reports of criminal negligence, as well as the claims by a police representative in court that this was a case of negligent manslaughter, were a source of dismay to the religious community as well. I sensed at the outset that a blood libel was in the works, and my suspicions were confirmed as the story became clearer. It was soon revealed that the day care owner has been running her program for decades and is known as a woman who pours her heart and soul into caring for the babies who are entrusted to her every day. Now that her name has been cleared, I can identify her by name: Mrs. Miriam Friedman is the owner of a popular babysitting program in the neighborhood of Romema.

After the tragedy took place, the media was flooded with images that purportedly proved that the babies in the program were placed in bathrooms and closets to sleep. This was a lie. The babies were moved into these places by rescue personnel who entered the apartment and took charge of the situation. Of course, they did this with the best of intentions. They wanted to move the infants out of the room where they suspected that a gas leak or some other hazardous chemical was endangering their lives. But the journalists who published these images knew very well that they were distorting the truth. According to eyewitnesses, the baby who was seen in a closet was placed there on the direct orders of a paramedic who insisted that the infant must be placed on a hard surface. Someone suggested removing the board supporting a mattress, and he insisted that time was of the essence and ordered the baby to be placed on a closet shelf. And that is just one example. At this point, a theory is circulating that one of the deceased babies died of crib death, which could happen anywhere chas v’shalom, and the other died because of resuscitation efforts that were not performed professionally.

There were two major developments that caused the turnabout in public opinion and in the media’s treatment of the case and that indirectly influenced the judges to order the two women released to house arrest. One of those developments was the testimony of Chani Katz, one of the bereaved mothers. Two days after burying her son, in the middle of shivah, Mrs. Katz appeared at the Magistrates’ Court in Yerushalayim to testify in favor of the two women. Outside the courtroom, she made further impassioned comments with the goal of clearing their names. “I hope that the truth will come to light,” she said. “My children’s second mother does not deserve to go through this…. We are like family, and an injustice is being done to them…. I have buried a child, but Miriam and Mali [the assistant] have also buried a child. This will never leave them. They are completely innocent. I am saying that as a bereaved mother. It was a decree from Shomayim. My Ari was supposed to die precisely at that moment. He needed to leave the world, and it had to happen in Miriam Friedman’s house.”

The second development was a letter of support for the day care staff published by other parents whose children had attended the program. The letter read, “We, the parents of children and infants in the day care center who were under the care of Mrs. M. and her assistant M., hereby declare publicly that the care, the dedication, the responsibility, and the loyalty of the day care staff are beyond all expectations. Every child received personal care and concern…. The loving bond between the children and their caregivers was always evident…. We await the day when they will return to work and we will be able to send our children back to continue receiving their devoted care…. All the reports and rumors that have appeared in the media contrary to the laws of the Torah are utterly false … and spilling innocent blood.” The parents signed their full names, adding their telephone numbers as well.

Government Destroys UNRWA Building, Angering Court

The judges of the Supreme Court, headed by Justice Yitzchok Amit (whose status as chief justice is not recognized by everyone), have long been known to be the true rulers of the State of Israel. The events of this past week simply lend further credence to that characterization.

On Tuesday, the government demolished the UNRWA compound in the neighborhood of Maalot Dafna in Yerushalayim, near the kever of Shmuel Hanovi. The compound, which occupied a property with an area of about 46 dunams, was used over the years by various entities serving the organization and served as a headquarters and center of activity for the agency in the heart of the capital. The unprecedented eviction was carried out under the law for the cessation of UNRWA activities, which was recently approved and authorized the Israel Land Authority to take possession of the compounds that served the agency and evacuate them. Even though UNRWA’s official activities at the site were terminated over a year ago, the property was still occupied by local elements who used it unlawfully. The recent enforcement measure therefore put an end to the unlawful possession of the property.

The Land Authority has pointed out that the compound in Maalot Dafna was the first of the UNRWA compounds slated for evacuation after the law went into effect. UNRWA has another compound in the area of Kfar Akab in Yerushalayim, which will soon be seized and evacuated in accordance with the law. This act was carried out with the assistance of the Israel Police Force and in full coordination with the Foreign Ministry, the National Security Council, and the Yerushalayim municipality. The enforcement operation carried out by the Land Authority came after a series of revelations about the involvement of UNRWA employees in the Hamas massacre on October 7, 2023, and further revelations about the use of the organization’s facilities in Gaza to hide Israeli hostages.

Now, can you guess what happened at the beginning of this week? That’s right: Chief Justice Yitzchok Amit of the Supreme Court condemned the demolition of UNRWA buildings and declared that the state lacked the legal authority to carry out the demolition since a petition has been filed with the court against the law under which it was carried out. In his ruling, Amit ordered the government to explain on what authority the demolition was conducted, as opposed to the seizure or evacuation of the property. The court’s ruling cited a “significant legal difficulty” with the complete demolition of buildings during an active court case concerning the move. Amit explained that demolishing the buildings creates an irreversible situation that might render the judicial process meaningless: Even if the Supreme Court strikes down the law in the future, it will be impossible to restore the previous situation.

In other words, the justice took issue with the fact that the government was undermining the court’s authority. That is all that I wanted to point out.

More Than One Fatality a Day in 2025

One of the top news stories at the beginning of the week was a report on the rate of fatalities in road accidents in Israel. The media reported that 22 people had been killed on the roads in less than a month, and over the past weekend, four people lost their lives in accidents, including a child who had reached his seventh birthday just one month ago. The child was pronounced dead on Shabbos in the hospital after he was critically wounded in an accident while riding a buggy in the settlement of Rechasim. On Thursday evening, two people were killed in an accident on Highway 65, also known as Kvish HaSargel. The incident resulted in injuries to several other victims as well. On Friday, a resident of Chadera was struck and killed by a truck while riding a motorcycle near Zichron Yaakov.

Now that the year 2025 has ended, the statistics on traffic accidents for the year have been released. Over the course of the year, 439 people were killed in traffic accidents, including 134 between the ages of 25 and 44. This is a shocking statistic. There are over 400 families in Israel who have been shattered by these tragedies, and hundreds of motorists who will forever bear a mark of shame for their involvement in fatal accidents.

These figures appeared in a report released by the National Road Safety Authority in a bid to raise awareness and reduce the phenomenon of fatal accidents. According to the report, 121 of the victims of fatal accidents were pedestrians. Just imagine the horrific scene of an innocent person taking a walk down the road that ends with his death and burial. Another important statistic is the fact that 161 young drivers were involved in fatal accidents. The list of common traffic violations that were a direct cause for fatal accidents hasn’t changed: There were 346 cases of failing to yield to pedestrians, 313 cases of failure to comply with a traffic light, 261 cases of driving between lanes, and 231 cases of failure to maintain distance between vehicles. The Ministry of Justice is weighing the possibility of imposing stiffer penalties for these infractions. However, in my opinion, the real problem lies in the realm of education. When a driver on the road causes a fatal accident, it isn’t because of a lack of effective punishments. It is because he doesn’t take the matter seriously enough. In addition, I believe that one of the main causes of fatal accidents is cell phone use. But while it is indeed important to be aware of the causes so that we can fight this epidemic, the number of fatalities over the past year, which averaged more than one death a day, is a mark of shame for this country and society regardless of the exact reasons.

How Many Chareidim Work for the Government?

I recently received a copy of a document produced by the Knesset Research and Information Center titled “Statistics on the Representation of the Arab and Chareidi Sectors in Government Companies.” It was a short yet fascinating document, which was compiled at the request of MK Ram Ben-Barak.

First, it should be noted that some government companies did not respond to the request for information at all. Of those who responded, the companies reported as having no Arab or chareidi employees at all were the Inbal insurance company, Kav Fuel Products, the Cross‑Israel Highway, the Israel Institute for Life Sciences Research, Mekorot Development and Initiatives, the Government Tourism Company, the Ariel Sharon Park Company, the Dead Sea Protection Company, the Dira Lehaskir Government Housing and Rental Company, the National Coal Supply Corporation, Correspondence Services, the Mediterranean Coast Cliff Protection Company, and Netzer HaSharon. There is one more company on the list that I believe was included in error: the Company for Rehabilitation and Development of the Jewish Quarter. I would be very surprised to learn that its nineteen employees do not include a single chareidi (or Arab).

It is fascinating to read the list of the 20 responding companies that do employ chareidim and Arabs. The largest numbers of chareidi and Arab employees were reported by the Israel Railway Company (with 260 employees out of 4,957 from those demographics, accounting for 5.2 percent of its work force), the Ashdod Port Company (with 51 out of 1,236 workers, or 4.1 percent of its employees), Shacham Mekorot Execution, and Arim. Israel Aerospace Industries has a notable chareidi presence (260 employees), but it still represents a low percentage (5.2 percent of the work force). Rafael has 102 chareidi employees out of its total work force of 9,466, and Alta has 119 chareidi workers out of 4204. There is one government company that naturally has a chareidi majority: the Center for the Development of Holy Sites. Out of its 25 employees, 14 (or 56 percent) are chareidim, one is Arab (accounting for 4 percent of the work force), and the remaining ten fit into neither category. The Akko Development Company, meanwhile, has an Arab majority of 72.4 percent in its work force, which is logical.

The main takeaway from this document is that the claims that chareidim are being integrated into the workforce are unreliable. There is also one detail that might call the significance of this document into question: The report does not include definitions of the population groups in question, especially the chareidi community. It is easy enough to define an Arab, but defining a chareidi is much trickier. And without clear guidelines for determining an employee’s chareidi status, one might conclude that the document offers very little in the way of reliable information.

Ran Gvili’s Body Recovered from Gaza

There is much more to report. For instance, the investigation into Tzachi Braverman is a major news story this week. Braverman is Prime Minister Netanyahu’s chief of staff and, until recently, was one of the last members of his inner circle who wasn’t under investigation by the police. He is scheduled to depart for Great Britain soon, having been chosen to serve as the Israeli ambassador to the United Kingdom now that Tzipi Hotovely has left the position. But now Braverman is under investigation as well after the famous Eli Feldstein was interviewed in the media about a month ago and claimed that Braverman had summoned him to a meeting at the Kirya in Tel Aviv in the middle of the night and informed him about the investigation into the document leaked to the Bild. At that time, the investigation was taking place covertly. According to Feldstein’s version of the story, Braverman warned him about the impending investigation and claimed that he was capable of shutting it down. Feldstein also claimed that Braverman had given him a list of the suspects. Based on this interview, the police summoned Braverman for questioning under warning on the grounds that he was suspected of tampering with an investigation. (This was despite the fact that it was essentially Feldstein’s word against Braverman’s.) This week, Braverman was summoned for questioning again, and a leaked report from the police indicated that the suspicions against him had been strengthened and that investigators believed that Braverman had received the information on account of his position. The District Court in Lod issued a gag order on the case on Friday due to concern that the Shin Bet’s methods and means of investigation would be exposed.

The country’s attention has also been largely occupied over the past week by the fate of Ran Gvili, the final deceased hostage in Gaza. Gvili was a 26-year-old police officer who fought the terrorists and was severely wounded on Simchas Torah. His body was seized and abducted to the Gaza Strip that day by Hamas terrorists. In January 2024, it was confirmed that he was no longer alive. His body was the last to remain in Gaza after the living hostages were freed and the other hostages’ remains were returned to Israel. Even though Gvili’s family and the Israeli public had been promised that the second stage of the agreement with Hamas would not begin until Ran’s body was returned to Israel for burial, this promise was not kept, and the government began talking about moving on to the next step. Hamas was feeling pressure, mainly from Trump, and released an official announcement this week shrugging off any blame: “We have dealt with the issue of the prisoners and the bodies with complete transparency. We have fulfilled all of our obligations under the ceasefire agreement and have handed over all of the prisoners and bodies in our possession as quickly as possible, without delay, despite the noncompliance of the occupying force [i.e., Israel] and the dozens of violations and the slaughter that it has committed. We are eager to close this case completely, and we are not interested in procrastination, in light of the interests of our people. We have worked under complex and almost impossible circumstances to collect and hand over the bodies of enemy prisoners, with the knowledge of the mediators. We now call on them to fulfill their responsibility and to compel the occupying force to implement the agreement. Regarding the body of the soldier Ran Gvili, we confirm that we have provided the mediators with all the details and information that we possess about the location of the prisoner’s body. The fact that the enemy is searching in a specific place now, based on the information provided by the Izz a-Din Al Qassam Brigades to the mediators, confirms our statement.” Rumor has it that the IDF actually determined the whereabouts of Gvili’s body on its own, despite Hamas’s efforts to conceal the information, which prompted the terror group to hastily announce that they had aided the Israeli army. The wicked terrorists would obviously have preferred to hold on to the body as another bargaining chip.

On Monday afternoon, the IDF spokesman announced that Ran’s body had been located, brought to Israel, and identified in the Institute for Forensic Medicine. Prime Minister Netanyahu announced in the Knesset on Monday, “Ran is on his way home right now. This is an extraordinary accomplishment for the State of Israel. We promised to bring everyone home and we have done so.”

In another story related to the hostages, the details of the retrieval of Oron Shaul’s body in January 2025 were revealed this week. The reality of this story is far more extraordinary than anything that anyone might have imagined. Oron’s body was retrieved due to a brilliant intelligence operation involving the Shin Bet, the Military Intelligence Directorate, the Southern Command, and elite IDF units, along with a Palestinian collaborator who ultimately saved the operation. Oron Shaul was killed in battle between July 19 and July 20, 2014, during Operation Protective Edge, while traveling in an armored personnel character that was heading toward the neighborhood of Shejaiya but came under fire from Hamas terrorists. On the second day of Rosh Hashanah in 2024, IDF soldiers captured a computer containing records of correspondence between a Hamas operative and the head of Hamas’s military wing in Gaza. The operative had written, “Among the prisoners in the hands of the Israelis in the Shifa Hospital in Gaza is one of our members who knows the whereabouts of the soldier Shaul.” Israeli intelligence operatives soon determined the identity of the detainee with the relevant information, and after “intensive questioning” (I will leave it to you to guess what they meant by that), he informed them that he had met two other Palestinians who told him that Israel had recently arrested the Palestinian who placed Oron Shaul’s body in the possession of a Gazan named Ibrahim Chilu, who was still holding it to that day. The story is much longer and is replete with complicated machinations and overt miracles that ultimately resulted in the recovery of the soldier’s body.

Ukrainian Immigrants Collected Benefits and Left

One of the most deliberately hushed-up stories in Israel is the immigration from the former Soviet Union, which was intended to balance the growth of the chareidi population. It began when Yitzchok Shamir was the prime minister, and a strategic decision was made to bring as many immigrants as possible to Israel from Russia and Ukraine, even those who were not halachically Jewish. The basic presumption was that all the immigrants would have right-wing leanings and would vote for the right-wing parties, especially the Likud. This projection turned out to be correct, although the immigrants voted mainly for immigrant parties, first supporting Natan Sharansky and then Avigdor Lieberman. It was clear that there would be an influx of non-Jewish immigrants, many of whom might even despise Jews, but the State of Israel, driven by folly and fear of chareidim, felt that it was worth the tradeoff. At that time, the government feared that spies might enter the country as well, since many of the immigrants were not Jewish.

No one has ever wanted to discuss the contribution of these immigrants to the crime statistics in the country, for fear of being labeled a racist. Everyone also ignored the economic burden created by these immigrants—not only the disabled and needy who were entitled to millions in funding from the National Insurance Institute, but also the tens of thousands of immigrants who had escaped from their countries of origin to safer shores in Europe and America and merely used Israel as a temporary stop along the way, since Russia and Ukraine did not permit them to travel directly to America or Europe. While they were here, they also took the opportunity to scam the government out of benefits and stipends intended for actual immigrants who planned to stay. It is believed that some of the departing immigrants even kept their addresses in Israel and continue to pocket government aid to this day.

This is an old story, but it surfaced again this week when the Israeli media began discussing the topic of migration. For the first time, Israel has recorded negative migration, meaning that there have been more people leaving the country than immigrating. The opposition, led by Yair Lapid, seized that statistic to bombard the government with criticism during the most recent 40-signature discussion. Netanyahu took the podium again to respond to Lapid and said, “I have no intention of refuting all the erroneous statements made by the leader of the opposition, but I will mention two things. You said that about 60,000, or 70,000, or 80,000 people left the country; the exact number does not matter. To the best of my knowledge, and I invite you to check this, tens of thousands of them are Ukrainian citizens who immigrated to Israel, or claimed to do so, and then returned to Ukraine.”

Perhaps Netanyahu was slightly inaccurate in his statement. They did not actually return to Ukraine, but instead moved on to other destinations. But the bottom line is that tens of thousands of non-Jewish “immigrants” came to Israel briefly for the purpose of pocketing government benefits and then left the country, and others, who are likewise not Jewish, remained here. Netanyahu did not mention the fact that they are not Jewish, however, since it would not be politically correct.

A Loss and a Gain

You may find the following story hard to believe, but it is a true story that took place as I sat at a red light at the entrance to the neighborhood of Neve Yaakov. My car was in the lane heading into the neighborhood. My destination was the Bais Tefillah shul on Rechov Tzukerman, where my granddaughter was celebrating her bas mitzvah. That isn’t to say that grandfathers were invited to the simcha. I was simply playing the role of a driver, as I had been recruited to bring my other granddaughters home. Beside me, in the lane for cars turning left, sat two men. One of the men reached through his window and tried to hand me a folded bill. “Take this and fill your gas tank,” he said.

“I don’t collect tzedokah,” I replied.

The driver leaned toward me and said, “It’s from me. Take it and say Tehillim for Harav Eyal.”

“Eyal the son of whom?” I asked.

He was a bit irked, presumably because I didn’t add the title harav before the name, but he said, “Harav Eyal ben Shoshana, for success and health.” I had no idea who the driver was, nor did I have any clue as to the identity of the mysterious “Harav Eyal.”

Let me add a few pertinent details. This encounter took place last Tuesday, during a massive rainstorm. I left the Knesset building with my hands full that afternoon, and the wind was so powerful that I was barely able to push the door open. As soon as I stepped outside, the wind tore my yarmulka off my head, and it disappeared somewhere. When my efforts to locate it proved fruitless, I headed for Neve Yaakov with just my hat. I presume that the men sitting in the car beside me believed that I was a distinguished personage of some kind, which is the reason they handed me that hundred-shekel bill. But the bottom line is that the loss of my yarmulka resulted in a gain of one hundred shekels!

And the other bottom line is that I would appreciate it if you, too, would recite a perek of Tehillim for Harav Eyal ben Shoshana.

In a moment that Jews around the world have longed for ever since the heinous Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, the body of Israeli policeman, Sergeant Ran Gvili Hy”d, the 251st and final hostage kidnapped by Hamas and held in Gaza for the next 843 days, has finally been returned to the Jewish people for a proper burial. The discovery of his body by the IDF in a mass grave with 250 other bodies in the al-Bateh Muslim graveyard in Gaza City Monday provides closure for Gvili’s long-suffering parents Talik and Itzik Gvili, his brother Omri, and his sister Shira, and fulfills the conditions for the start of the second phase of President Donald Trump’s 20-point Gaza peace plan adopted last October.

The return of Gvili’s body to Israel for burial with full military honors this week put an end to the most excruciating chapter in the history of the Jewish people since the end of World War II.

Ran Gvili, age 24, was a member of an elite counterterrorism unit of the Negev Border Police. Although he had suffered a broken shoulder due to a motorcycle accident just 10 days before October 7, and was scheduled to undergo surgery for its repair, Gvili did not hesitate. Upon learning of the attack that morning, he put on his uniform and set out for the Be’er Sheva police station in order to join the fight against the invading Hamas terrorists.

In an interview with Yisroel Hayom last month, Ran’s father said his son told him before leaving their home that, “he would not let his friends fight alone, and that even with the fracture, he could still hold a handgun. I will never forget the look in his eyes. It was as if he was saying, ‘This is what I have waited for my entire life.’”

Ran Gvili’s Gallant Last Moments

According to a Times of Israel report, Ran Gvili then joined with others dispatched from the Be’er Sheva police station to fight a group of terrorists that was threatening the religious Kibbutz Alumim, near the Gaza border. Ran was credited with having helped to rescue about 100 people who had just fled from the site of the Nova music festival when it came under attack, and killed 14 of the Hamas terrorists.

He was shot in the arm and leg during the fighting, but he held his position instead of evacuating to seek medical aid, in order to radio information about the attacking enemy forces to his commanders and keep fighting. Eventually, when he ran out of ammunition, Ran was fatally wounded. After he died from his wounds, his body was seized and brought to Gaza by the terrorists.

When Trump’s ceasefire plan went into effect this past October 10, Gvili was one of 28 dead hostages whose bodies were still being held captive in Gaza along with 20 still living hostages, all of whom Hamas had promised to return to Israel within 72 hours.

The twenty living hostages in Gaza were returned almost immediately in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees, including 250 serving life sentences for killing Israelis.

But the return of the bodies of the dead hostages became a long and drawn-out procedure.

Hamas claimed that it needed more time and heavy equipment to locate and retrieve the bodies of the hostages, which had been buried under the accumulated rubble from two years of combat and bombardment. The bodies were discovered and returned by Hamas, usually one at a time. For each hostage that was returned, Israel released the bodies of 15 dead Palestinians it was holding for this purpose to Hamas.

The Motives Behind Hamas’ Delaying Tactics

But for more than 50 days after the bodies of the rest of the 27 dead hostages held by Hamas had been returned, Gvili’s body remained lost, somewhere in Gaza. Hamas insisted that it had made a thorough search but was unable to locate his remains, and that its search efforts had also been hindered by bad winter weather. But Israel suspected that Hamas was deliberately slow walking the return to give it more time re-establish its control over western Gaza, and to delay indefinitely Hamas’ disarmament under the terms of the second phase of Trump’s peace plan.

On December 7, Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal publicly rejected the demand in Trump’s 20-point peace plan that Hamas disarm, and declared that “protecting the resistance project [Hamas] and its weapons is the right of our [Palestinian] people to defend themselves.”

Speaking to an anti-Israel summit hosted by the Turkish government in Istanbul, Mashaal said, “The [Hamas] resistance and its weapons are the ummah’s [Islamic nation’s] honor and pride.” He also declared that, “A thousand statements are not worth a single projectile [weapon] of iron.”

Meanwhile, as the delays mounted, Gvili’s family began to fear that Ran’s body might never be returned. To give them more hope and reassurance that their cause had not been abandoned, Prime Minister Netanyahu brought Gvili’s family with him during his late December visit to meet with President Trump and senior administration officials at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home in South Florida.

After the meeting, Gvili’s family said that both Trump and Netanyahu had shown “genuine commitment” to securing the return of Ran’s body and a willingness to put further pressure on Hamas to locate his remains, and not permit the ceasefire to move ahead without it.

Nevertheless, Ran Gvili’s mother said, “Time doesn’t heal my broken heart — it only reduces the chance of bringing Ran home.”

How the IDF Identified Four Possible Locations for Gvili’s Body

About a month ago, Shin Bet interrogators extracted specific information from a captured Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terrorist who had, with other PIJ terrorists, admitted to having moved Gvili’s dead body several times. The IDF then identified several areas in Gaza where Gvili’s body might be found. One of them was in one of the Hamas tunnels in central Gaza City, another was under the al-Shifa Hospital, and two other possible sites were in different Muslim cemeteries in Gaza City.

Initially, Israeli combat engineers dug into the suspected tunnel and thoroughly scanned it, but found no human remains. Because one of the cemeteries and the al-Shifa hospital were in the half of Gaza currently under Hamas control, Israel was unable to conduct searches there. But the other al-Bateh Muslim cemetery in the Shejaiay Darah-Tuffah portion of Gaza City was on the Israeli side of the yellow line, which divided Gaza in half following the implementation of the ceasefire agreement.

When the IDF recently received additional information from Hamas through the Qatari ceasefire mediators suggesting that Ran Gvili’s body was likely to be found in the al-Bateh cemetery, the IDF decided to launch Operation Brave Heart, in which the bodies in that cemetery were systematically exhumed and scientifically examined to see if one of them could be identified as belonging to Ran Gvili through dental records, matching fingerprints or DNA testing.

When the IDF exhumed and checked the 250 bodies in the mass grave over the weekend, one of the dentists working on Operation Brave Heart found one that matched Ran Gvili’s X-rays, after which an examination of the body’s fingerprints and other tests at Israel’s Abu Kabir Forensic Institute confirmed the identification.

Netanyahu Insisting on Hamas Disarmament Before Reconstruction

Prime Minister Netanyahu hailed the return of Gvili’s body as “a great achievement.”

In an address to a special session of the Knesset in honor of visiting Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, Netanyahu declared, “There are no more hostages in Gaza. We have an interest in bringing forward the next stage of the ceasefire, which is not the reconstruction of Gaza, but rather the demilitarization of the Gaza Strip and the disarmament of Hamas.”

Netanyahu also said that it is in Israel’s best interest “to advance this phase, and not to delay it.”

He also repeated that Hamas’ disarmament “will happen the easy way, or the hard way, but it will happen.”

Tributes to a Fallen Hero

After his body was identified, a statement issued by the Hostages’ and Missing Families Forum hailed Ran Gvili for having “fought with courage and self-sacrifice at the front line. . . earning the nickname ‘Ran the Defender of Alumim’ from the kibbutz community. . .

“Only after his ammunition ran out, Ran fell in battle and was kidnapped to Gaza. Ran, with his big smile and broad shoulders, had a huge heart. A true friend, beloved by all, he loved life, was a young man of values, always spoke simply yet with powerful calm presence.”

The Jerusalem Post cited IDF sources, which suggested that Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) might have buried Gvili in the Muslim cemetery, thinking incorrectly that he was one of their own fighters.

The same report also said that after the identity of the other Palestinian bodies in the mass grave was checked, the IDF endeavored to return them in as dignified a manner as possible and clean up the cemetery in which they were found out of respect for the dead. Tributes to the courage and sacrifice of Ran Gvili were then issued by several other Israeli political leaders. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said of Ran Gvili, “He who goes out first is last to return. And the sons have returned to their borders. My heart is with the noble Gvili family, who demonstrated extraordinary courage and strength. We are committed to completing the mission and bringing victory.”

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid said, “I embrace [Raan’s] family [and] know how hard you fought for his return, and … did everything to bring him home.”

Chairman of Yesh Atid Gadi Eizenkot added: “Shehecheyanu v’kiyimanu v’higiyanu lazeman hazeh! My heart broke and healed at the same time with the news of Ran Gvili’s body being returned for burial in Israel. This operation is the essence of the story of the People of Israel — a people who do not forget, do not relent, and do not give up on anyone, even in the toughest times and across the passage of years.”

Ran’s mother, Talik Gvili, responded to news of the IDF’s discovery of her son’s body by thanking its chief of staff, General Eyal Zamir, saying that Ran, “would be proud of you. You are the best.”

General Zamir responded that the army was only carrying out its sworn duty to its soldiers. “We kept our promise that no one is left behind [on the battlefield].” He also added that “IDF soldiers, the fighters at the front and the entire nation are deeply moved by Ran’s return for a Jewish burial.”

“After two and a half years, it is a real relief,” Talik Gvili replied. “Please tell all the [IDF] teams [involved in the search for her son’s body] that they are the best.”

The timing of the discovery of Ran Gvili’s body was also fortuitous, because President Trump had long since grown impatient for the start of phase two of his Gaza ceasefire plan, for which the return to Israel of all 251 Hamas hostages, alive and dead, was a prerequisite.

Enabling the Reopening of the Rafah Border Crossing

Last week, when Trump launched the newly formed Board of Peace, the reopening of the Rafah border crossing was being treated as a fait accompli. Israel Hayom also reported that American officials had already approved the Israeli remote monitoring and tracking security measures for everyone who would pass through the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt once it goes into operation.

The crossing had been closed since it was seized by the IDF on May 7, 2024, except for the 42-day Gaza ceasefire, which started on January 19, 2025, and ended that March. But from the start of the war on October 7 until Israel took control of the Rafah crossing the following May, tens of thousands of Gaza residents were able to use it to flee the fighting and enter Egypt.

With the reopening of the Rafah crossing, seriously ill Gaza residents will once again be able to use it to gain access to advanced medical treatments not currently available to them in Gaza. In addition, those who were able to flee the fighting in Gaza while the crossing was open will be able to return to whatever is now left of their former homes.

One of those Gaza refugees now living in Egypt is Kamel Ayyad, age 53, an official for the Greek Orthodox Church in Gaza who fled two months after the war started with his wife and three daughters. In an interview published by the New York Times last week, Ayyad said that while he hoped to return to his home in Gaza, his friends are telling him that the ceasefire there is still unstable, and that bringing his family back to their former home, if it is still there, would be too risky.

However, Ayyad fears that even though “No one wants to gamble with the lives of their family,” he might not have a choice, because the Egyptian government is anxious to get rid of its Gaza refugees, and no other country in the region is willing to take them in.

However, as long as Ran Gvili’s body had not yet been returned by Hamas, Prime Minister Netanyahu refused to permit the reopening of the Rafah border crossing that Israel still controls because it was the last of Israel’s unfilled obligations under phase one of Trump’s ceasefire plan.

Despite the Ceasefire the War in Gaza May Not Yet Be Over

But even though the ceasefire in Gaza is moving into phase two, the potential for the conflict to resume is still very real. Hamas fighters have re-emerged to seize the eastern half of Gaza from which the IDF has withdrawn, and Hamas leaders have publicly repudiated their previous agreement to the demand in Trump’s peace plan that its fighters be disarmed and Gaza demilitarized.

Meanwhile, Gaza’s civilian population of roughly two million Palestinians is still living in overcrowded tent camps or the rubble of up to 90% of Gaza’s housing units that were destroyed or badly damaged during more than two years of warfare between the IDF and Hamas fighters.

In addition, as long as Ran Gvili’s body remained missing, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum continued to sponsor large weekly demonstrations. In conjunction with Netanyahu’s political opponents, the public protests maintained the pressure on the Israeli government to keep working “until the last hostage” had been found, which would fulfill its solemn commitment to the Israeli people to “bring them home.”

But with the last obstacle to the start of phase two of the ceasefire finally removed, the Israeli government formally announced its willingness to reopen the Rafah border crossing, while insisting that the passage through it of every individual would be subject to Israeli approval.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for Hamas claimed that the discovery of the body of the last hostage by the IDF somehow meant that Hamas had fulfilled its obligations during the first phase of Trump’s Gaza ceasefire plan and called on the United States to stop Israeli troops from violating the ceasefire by attacking Hamas fighters who threaten them.

Trump Credits Hamas for Cooperating on the Return of Hostages

On Monday, President Trump also said that Hamas had helped Israel to find Ran Gvili’s body. “They worked very hard to get the body back,” Trump said of Hamas in an interview with Axios. “They were working with Israel on it. Now we have to disarm Hamas like they promised” when they accepted the ceasefire on October 10, Trump added.

Trump’s son-in-law and peace negotiator Jared Kushner also praised the cooperation between the U.S., Israel, Egypt, Turkey, Qatar and “many individual Gazans” who helped to locate and return the bodies of all the deceased hostages from Gaza, and made sure that none of the October 7 captives were left behind, which was not at all certain when the effort began.

An unnamed U.S. official then told the Times of Israel that the next stage of the ceasefire agreement, calling for the disarmament of Hamas, “comes along with some sort of amnesty, and candidly, we think we have a very good program to disarm. We’re in contact, or people representing us, are in contact with [Hamas], and we expect it to happen,” even though Hamas officials are now publicly rejecting the parts of Trump’s original 20-point peace plan that call for Hamas to be disarmed.

The official insisted that Hamas had signed the agreement with the disarmament clause, and warned that, “if they decide to play games, then obviously President Trump will take other actions” to enforce the deal.

Laying the Foundations for Gaza’s Future

The U.S. official also declared that, “President Trump is fully aligned with Prime Minister Netanyahu with [the] statement that the rebuilding will not occur until there’s a demilitarization and a disarmament of Hamas. . .

“Israel is looking to give space and to try and help support the people of Gaza who want to see it rebuilt. . .

“The ball is in the court of Hamas… They’re the ones standing in the way of Gaza being rebuilt and the people of Gaza living a better life,” the U.S. official concluded.

The U.S. official also said in a briefing for reporters that efforts are now going forward to build a local Palestinian police force so that the residents of Gaza can start policing themselves. “Ultimately, it’s going to be up to the government of Gaza and the people of Gaza to make sure that Gaza is secure. The more that they can show that it’s secure and not going to pose a threat to its neighbors, the more that they can help themselves by having a lot of these [construction] materials come in.”

The official also confirmed that the Palestinian Authority now has “observer status” with the new interim Palestinian government, known as the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG). The official also said that the PA has been supportive of the efforts of the NCAG to gain civilian control over Gaza, and seems to have accepted its very limited role in that process until it has been thoroughly reformed, as called for under Trump’s peace plan.

The U.S. Military Buildup for Another Attack on Iran

Meanwhile, the arrival on Sunday of the U.S. Navy’s aircraft carrier, the Abraham Lincoln, accompanied by three Tomahawk cruise missile-launching destroyers in the waters of the Indian Ocean, as well as additional U.S. Air Force fighter jets and air defense systems arriving at U.S. bases across the Middle East. As a result, President Trump now has enough military forces in place to carry out his promise earlier this month to the embattled protesters against Iran’s radical Islamic regime that “help is on the way.” The civilians participating in the street protests, which broke out on December 28 across Iran, were subjected to a violent crackdown by forces controlled by the elite Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

According to a disturbing report published last week by Time Magazine, the scale of that IRGC crackdown was an order of magnitude larger than had previously been reported. Instead of the original death toll of 3,117 protesters that was publicly reported by the Iranian government, the Time report cited an internal figure provided by two senior officials of Iran’s Ministry of Health, which said that as many as 30,000 people who participated in 4,000 separate street protests across Iran were killed during just two days, January 8 and 9. During that time, the Iranian government had cut off all international telephone and internet connections in the country to cut off the protesters from all contact with the outside world.

The Mass Slaughter of Civilians in the Streets of Iran

According to eyewitness reports, supported by cellphone video clips, millions of Iranians were participating in the street protests when Iranian security forces stopped using mostly non-lethal force during the first week of the grassroots uprising, and began to use rooftop snipers and truck-mounted machine guns to open fire upon the defenseless civilians.

The Time Magazine report also said that so many Iranians were killed during those two days that the nationwide supply of body bags was exhausted, and the ambulances that were supposed to haul away the dead bodies lying in the streets had to be replaced by eighteen-wheel semi-tractor-trailers.

The Time story also said that the 30,000 figure for casualties in Iran over those two days from the health ministry officials was independently confirmed by a nearly identical death toll of 30,304 recorded last Friday at Iran’s hospitals, as reported by Dr. Amir Parasta, a German-Iranian eye surgeon. Dr. Parasta also told the Time magazine reporter that the figure he cited “does not reflect protest-related deaths of people registered at military hospitals, whose bodies were taken directly to morgues.” As a result, Dr. Parasta told the Time reporter, “I guess the real [death] figures are still way higher” than the original figure he reported.

On the second day of the mass shootings, Friday, January 9, an IRGC official went on to Iranian state television to warn anyone venturing into the streets of Iran, for any reason: “If … a bullet hits you, don’t complain.”

The slaughter of the protesters in the streets and the blunt warning on state television had an immediate effect. The streets across Iran had suddenly fallen silent once again, but the underlying problems of the struggling Iranian economy and the deterioration of the quality of life for ordinary Iranian citizens, which had triggered the protests, remain in place. Furthermore, because Iran is still being treated as a pariah state by most of the international community, the current Iranian regime is powerless to address those problems.

According to the Time Magazine article, the slaughter in Iran on that scale over two days is unprecedented in the post-World War II era. The last comparable documented event was the genocidal slaughter carried out by Nazi death squads, which shot and killed 33,000 Ukrainian Jews on September 29 and 30, 1941, in a ravine outside of Kyiv known as Babi Yar.

After the arrival over the weekend of the additional U.S. military forces in the Middle East, President Trump boasted in an interview with Axios that, “We [now] have a big armada near Iran, bigger than [the one we had near] Venezuela.” Trump was referring to the U.S. military forces in the Caribbean, which launched the operation that seized Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro and his wife on January 3 and brought them to the United States for criminal trial on drug trafficking charges in a New York federal court.

Trump Offers Iran a Choice Between Diplomacy and War

However, Trump also insists that he would much prefer to engage diplomatically with the Iranian regime on behalf of the protesters rather than resorting to military force, as he did in June when he sent American B-2 bombers to destroy Iran’s hidden nuclear weapon production facilities with huge bunker-busting bombs.

Several Iranian officials responded to the Trump threat of another American attack with a promise that Iran would strike back hard at Israel as well as American military targets across the region. That prompted a warning from Prime Minister Netanyahu in return that the Israeli military is prepared to respond to an Iranian attack with a devastating retaliation. “[The IDF] continues to stand guard against any threat from Iran. Any attempt by Iran to harm us will be met with a decisive response. It would be a very big mistake, one mistake too many,” Netanyahu said.

Even the threat along Israel’s northern border with Lebanon from Hezbollah, which had been decapitated and thoroughly defeated by Israel with the creative use of exploding pagers and walkie-talkies, is now being revived with help from Iran. Last week, Hezbollah’s new leader, Naim Qassem, who replaced its longtime head, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, who was assassinated by Israel on September 27, 2024, threatened to mount new attacks on Israel if Trump carries out his threats to attack Iran again, or its supreme Islamic leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who is reportedly now hiding out in an underground bunker.

Last week, Qassem issued a blunt warning to President Trump that if he dares to threaten the ayatollah, Hezbollah will retaliate. “This time,” unlike what happened when Iran was attacked by Israel and the United States last June, “a war on Iran could ignite the entire region.”

Israel Was Fortunate in Avoiding a Hezbollah Attack

From a pair of illuminating articles by Yair Kraus published by Ynet over the past two weeks, we learned why the threat from Hezbollah to attack Israel must be taken very seriously. They revealed that on October 7, 2023, Hezbollah was fully prepared to launch a devastating assault from Southern Lebanon that would have quickly overwhelmed the IDF’s defenses in the Galil and led to the immediate capture of the northern Israeli towns of Metula, Shtula and Nahariya, Meanwhile, during the first two days of the attack, a continuous barrage of 16,000 Hezbollah rockets would quickly overwhelm Israel’s missile defenses and render Haifa and other northern Israeli towns uninhabitable.

According to the Hezbollah attack plan, the main assault would be led by up to 5,000 members of its Radwan Force commando units, some of whom were veterans of the Syrian Civil War, in which Iran and Hezbollah were fighting in support of Bashar Assad. When Iran signaled to Hezbollah to attack, those well-trained fighters, who had entered roughly 30 southern Lebanon villages dressed as civilians, would emerge from tunnels ending just outside the Israeli border fence fully armed. They would then detonate the mines that had been planted under the Israeli security fence at the border. Northern Israel would then be left exposed and defenseless as the heavily armed commandos would swarm across the border, overwhelming the undermanned IDF border posts on the other side.

Simultaneously, the attack plan called for 150 Hezbollah naval commandos to come ashore from the Mediterranean on the beach at Nahariya, and two other battalions of Hezbollah fighters would cut the main Acco-Tzfat highway and seize the high ground to prevent its use as a fire base for long-range Israeli artillery.

Meanwhile, the Israeli military units that had been assigned to defend the north would be ineffective because most of their training was based on the assumption that they would be fighting in Southern Lebanon, rather than trying to avoid inflicting casualties on Israeli civilians while trying to attack and expel the Hezbollah fighters from captured Israeli towns throughout the Galil.

Israel’s Military Negligence on Its Northern Border

According to the Ynet story, before October 7, the leaders of the IDF were well aware of Hezbollah’s mass attack plan for northern Israel, which had been developed under Iranian guidance, portions of which had been published by a Lebanese newspaper called Al-Joumhouria in early 2011. In early 2023, a retired Lebanese general also described publicly and in detail exactly how Hezbollah would launch its ground attack on northern Israel, and how Hezbollah fighters planned to neutralize Israel’s superior air power and tanks by embedding themselves among the civilians living in northern Israel and using them as human shields.

Yet Israel’s military leaders decided not make any adjustments to northern Israel’s defense plan because they were confident that they would receive enough warning of the Hezbollah attack from Israeli intelligence to activate reserve IDF units in time to reinforce the most vulnerable areas along the northern border.

In other words, the IDF leaders on October 7 were making the same mistake that an earlier generation of overconfident Israeli military leaders made during the days leading up to the surprise attacks by Egypt and Syria that caught the IDF unprepared at the start of the 1973 Yom Kippur War.

IDF leaders also believed that, for domestic political reasons, Hezbollah did not want to initiate another war with Israel because that would alienate too many Lebanese citizens and undermine Hezbollah’s growing influence inside Lebanon’s government.

The October 7 Attack Order That Never Came in the North

The only thing that saved northern Israel from being quickly overrun was the fact that Hezbollah’s leader at that time, Sheik Nasrallah, had been given no advance warning by Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar about the October 7 attack he was planning. Nasrallah, therefore, had not positioned his forces to be ready to launch his own attack plan in immediate support of the Hamas assault.

Another factor was that Iran’s leaders were caught as much by surprise by the timing of Hamas’ attack in October as Nasrallah was. According to Shimon Shapira, a former member of Israel’s Military Intelligence Directorate, at the time, Iran’s leaders were trying to open a diplomatic channel with the Biden administration, and therefore decided not to give Nasrallah the order to launch Hezbollah’s own attack plan at that time.

As a result, Nasrallah’s initial response to the Hamas attack was limited to harassing missile fire at a handful of targets in northern Israel rather than a full-scale attack. However, because Israel’s military leaders knew just how vulnerable their defenses in the North were at that time, they responded by immediately ordering a major military buildup there. That prevented Nasrallah from changing his mind and belatedly launching his own attack plan, because its success was heavily dependent upon the element of surprise.

The net result was that for most of the first year of the war, the focus of the fighting remained in Gaza. Hezbollah and Israel’s military forces in the North appeared to be content to trade sporadic missile and artillery fire, with neither side willing to escalate the low level of the fighting.

The Israeli military finally decided that the stalemate in the North, which had forced more than 60,000 residents in the area to flee their homes, had become untenable. The fighting then became much more serious, beginning with the surprise detonation by the Mossad of Hezbollah’s booby-trapped pagers and walkie-talkies, and continuing with the assassination of most of Hezbollah’s top military leaders.

But the real surprise for Israeli military leaders came when the IDF launched an invasion of Southern Lebanon, and discovered the huge scale of Hezbollah’s military preparations in that area, where Israeli soldiers seized more than 85,000 weapons and intelligence items, including thousands of rocket launchers, explosives, anti-aircraft missiles, and vehicles. Israeli military officials also stressed that this huge number of weapons captured represented only a fraction of Hezbollah’s total arsenal.

Before October 7, Northern Israel Was Militarily Defenseless

By contrast, Israel’s military defenses in the North at the time were totally inadequate. While on paper the IDF had 3,500 to 4,000 troops deployed in the region, in fact, many of those troops were home on leave on October 7, which meant that Israel’s long northern border was largely undefended. In addition, the civilian self-defense and emergency forces in the northern Israeli communities, which were intended to hold the line in case of a serious attack until regular IDF reinforcements arrived, were also largely unprepared at the time.

Some of those squads had no weapons at all, due to concerns about theft. In the event of an attack, the members of those units were told to drive to the IDF military base, sign them out, and then return to their community to defend their homes, which, obviously, was completely absurd. That was why some Israeli military leaders who were aware of this situation called it a “miracle” that Hezbollah did not launch a full-scale attack on the North on October 7, because if they had done so, it would have resulted in an even greater military disaster than from Hamas’ attack on the South.

According to the Ynet reports, the only good news that came out of this potentially tragic military situation is that the roughly 40 internal investigations that the IDF conducted in the wake of the October 7 attack recognized these severe military readiness shortcomings in the North, and have led to major improvements, including a doubling of the number of troops deployed, the forward positioning of some of those troops at IDF positions inside the Lebanese border, as well as a major expansion and rearming of the civilian defense squads across the region.

But the fact that such drastic remedial measures in the North were necessary is itself troubling, as is the fact that Israel’s military leaders ignored the situation for so long.

How the October 7 Attack Wounded Israel’s Soul

Throughout the 844 days between the Hamas October 7 attack and the discovery and return of Ran Gvili’s body, a Jerusalem Post editorial said, “the hostage crisis hung over Israel like a dark cloud. The pain of the hostages’ families, as well as the uncertainty surrounding their fate, served as an open wound for Israeli society, constantly reopened by Hamas propaganda videos, failed negotiations, and internal divisions. . .

“Israel found itself trapped between wars on multiple fronts and fragile ceasefires, unable to fulfill the most fundamental obligation to its citizens: Bringing them all home.”

Upon the return of Gvili’s body, Israel’s president, Yitzchok Herzog, issued a statement declaring that, “The entire people of Israel are moved to tears. After many difficult years, for the first time since 2014, there are no Israeli citizens held hostage in Gaza. An entire nation prayed and waited for this moment. May Ran’s memory be a blessing.”

For Gvili’s family, the long-awaited news of the discovery and return of Ran’s body was something of a mixed blessing. Ran’s mother, Talik Gvili, who had spoken out and advocated tirelessly on behalf of her captive son and never really gave up the last glimmer of hope for him, said the return of his body brought “a relief, after these two and a half years, even though we hoped for a different ending.” On her Facebook, she wrote proudly about her son that he was “the first to go out, the last to come back. Our hero.”

Ran Gvili’s levayah, where his heroism and courage were honored by the Israeli people, was held this week in his hometown of Meitar, not far from Be’er Sheva.

But as the Jerusalem Post editorial notes, while the return of Ran Gvili’s body “has elicited a quiet, heavy sigh of relief and a somber ending to a period that shook Israeli society to its core. . . [it] does not absolve Israel’s leadership of responsibility for how long it took, or how high the price became.”

Despite Trump’s Ceasefire in Gaza, October 7 Is Not Yet Over

The editorial points out that skeptics will also argue that even with the completion of phase one of Trump’s ceasefire agreement, “nothing meaningful has changed. Gaza’s future governance is still unresolved. Hamas has not been disarmed and is growing emboldened every day. . .

“[Israel’s internal] divisions, many of which predated October 7, will not disappear.

“The story of October 7 has not yet ended. . . Gaza border towns will still take years to rebuild, and [the Israeli public’s] trust in leadership, security, and institutions will take even longer to restore.”

Someone offers to pour you a drink. Poised with pitcher in hand, she says, “Say when.”

You watch the liquid rise in your glass un­til there’s just the right amount. “When!” you an­nounce. In other words: “This is enough for me.”

Wouldn’t it be nice if we could say “When” to some of life’s more difficult episodes?

On an intellectual level, we understand that the tribulations that come our way are for our bene­fit. The suffering may be intended to serve as an atonement for our sins, clearing the way for eter­nal bliss in the World to Come. It could serve as a wake-up call for some much-needed introspec­tion and change. The pain or aggravation might be a substitute for a larger form of affliction, r”l, to ourselves or others.

There are all sorts of reasons for suffering. Though we may not know what they are, we know that it all comes from our loving Father and there­fore has a positive and necessary purpose.

Still, it hurts.

When the problem seems to have gone on for­ever… When the pain reaches a level bordering on the unbearable… When we passionately long for an easing of our suffering… Our overwhelm­ing impulse is to lift our eyes heavenward and cry, “Enough!”

Whatever lesson You mean to teach me, I’ve got it.

Whatever atonement is happening, I’m good.

All I ask is for this situation to go away, asap.

But sometimes, it doesn’t. Despite all our plead­ing and supplication, the difficult situation re­mains firmly in place. That hoped-for shidduch, or baby, or salvation still fails to materialize. The persecution and hate continue to threaten.

That’s when we’re forced to recognize that, just because we’ve had enough, it doesn’t mean that the One Who decides these things necessarily agrees with us. He has a whole different calculation, abso­lutely correct yet usually invisible to our mortal eyes.

I remember when one of my children, then about two years old, came home from playgroup with half her face swollen to grotesque proportions. The playgroup teacher suggested that the culprit might be an insect bite and recommended that I apply cold teabags to the area. I don’t remember if I did so or not. All I know is that, after a nap, my daugh­ter’s face was even more severely swollen than be­fore. We rushed her to the Emergency Room.

There we were told that she had an infection that had attacked the soft tissues in the face. The prescribed treatment was ten days of a powerful antibiotic. Skipping even one dose of the medi­cine, especially during the first half of the treatment regimen, the doc­tors explained, could allow the infec­tion to penetrate the soft tissues of the brain. With this in mind, they insisted on hospitalizing my daughter so that they could administer the antibiotic through an IV line for the next five days, after which I could complete the regimen at home.

Duly following this plan, my daugh­ter was released five days later feeling and looking substantially better. I was scrupulous about giving her the re­maining doses, her health was b”H re­stored, and there the story ended.

Now, let’s imagine the spiritual equiv­alent of such a scenario. Picture a spiri­tual ailment whose remedy involves a certain amount of powerful “medicine.” After a short time with the treatment, you may feel ready to shout, “Enough!” You’re tired of suffering. You feel more than ready for the symptoms of your af­fliction to ease.

However, like my child in the ER, cutting the treatment short could be extremely dangerous. Though we may not know why, the Doctor has deter­mined that we need every single dose of that life-giving antibiotic. To achieve the desired result—life itself—we have to complete the regimen.

We have to stay the course.

Timetables

Our human timetables are different from Hashem’s. In our ignorance and human frailty, all we know is what we can personally perceive. Thus, we may feel ready to stop the “treatment” long before it’s had the needed spiritual ef­fect. We may want to halt the process before all the pieces are in place to bring about the desired outcome.

The only One who knows exactly when to say, “Enough!” is the One Who cre­ated both the affliction and the remedy.

In Mitzrayim, the Jewish people toiled and suffered for a long time. To those enslaved men and women, it must have felt endless. Hashem had initially de­clared a period of exile and persecution lasting 400 years. Then, seeing His cho­sen ones about to dissolve into the fatal, fiftieth level of impurity, He cut our suf­fering short (though not, Chazal tell us, without implications for future painful exiles), and whisk us out of there early.

Hakadosh Boruch Hu is the only One Who knows when we’ve truly had enough. That’s because He is the only One aware of every tiny detail of our lives and our histories, going back generations. His is the Mind that holds the map showing the entirety of the road and where it leads. An intimate knowledge of every twist and turn which humanity, with Klal Yisroel at its heart, has traveled, is traveling, and will travel in the future.

In our lives as individuals and as a nation, He is the One Who connects all the myriad dots that we can’t even guess at, to create a picture that we had no idea was in the works.

The Reason Why

There are times when we’re fortu­nate enough to be able to figure out at least a portion of the “why” behind our suffering.

When an older single, upon finally entering the married state, realizes why she had to wait so long for her bashert, and how much readier she is for this new relationship now, than she was back when she first entered the arena of shidduchim. How much better are her chances for a successful marriage with the tools she’s acquired through her life experience and the increased self-awareness that comes with age and, yes, with suffering. It wasn’t easy being alone for so long, but the suffering was all in a good cause: her long-term happiness.

Getting fired from a job can be very painful, yet that pain may be a stepping-stone to much greater contentment in a different job down the road. Raising a child with special needs can feel excru­ciating at times, yet it often brings out tremendous strength, compassion and grace in the parent, qualities that will benefit them in every area of life. And all this is quite apart from the fact that any troubles we experience may be par­layed into a tool to help others similarly afflicted… Which, after all, is one of the reasons we were put here on earth.

Purely intellectual understanding doesn’t take away the sting of whatever we’re going through. But it can mini­mize it. By placing our suffering into a larger, broader context, knowing that there’s a heavenly plan spanning thou­sands of years and many generations that only Hashem is privy to, we can gain perspective. We can remind ourselves that He knows what He’s doing. And that, even though we’re hurting, we can and must cling stubbornly to our trust that He’s doing it for our own good.

And believe with all our hearts that, one day, He will declare, “When!” to halt the stream of suffering… and re­place it with an everlasting joy

We learn in this week’s parsha about the makkah of choshech, a darkness so thick that it paralyzed an entire civilization. Mitzrayim was plunged into a suffocating blackness that immobilized its people, leaving them unable to move, see, or function. Yet, amid that oppressive gloom, the Jewish people walked with light wherever they went. Two worlds existed side by side: one blinded and frozen, the other illuminated and alive; one enveloped by darkness and one enjoying bright light.

Chazal teach that only one-fifth of the Jewish people merited leaving Mitzrayim. The rest, tragically, did not survive. They lacked the inner strength of faith, the resolve to cling to Hashem and to the mesorah handed down through the generations. They perished quietly, concealed by the darkness itself, their loss unnoticed by a world that could no longer see.

The Rishonim and Acharonim regularly remind us that Jewish history does not merely repeat itself. It reveals itself. Maaseh avos siman labonim. What happened to our forefathers is a map for their children. The descent into, and emergence from, Mitzrayim foreshadows our own journey toward redemption. The Jewish people, scattered across continents and cultures, will face confusion, hardship, and suffering until the destined moment arrives.

We live today in ikvesa deMeshicha, the final footsteps before Moshiach. And just as the road out of Mitzrayim passed through choshech, so too our era is cloaked in darkness. It presses in from all sides, blurring truth, distorting values, and numbing sensitivity.

Those who cleave to Torah and mitzvos possess light, as the posuk states, “Ki ner mitzvah v’Torah ohr.” Torah illuminates when the world grows dim. It provides clarity, direction, and stability when everything feels uncertain. Those who abandon it, especially under pressure, often find themselves without anchors, sinking into moral confusion, greed, anxiety, and despair.

We confront a relentlessly shifting society, one eroded by fading morals and relentless temptation. New challenges arise daily. To merit Moshiach, we must work to preserve what makes us who we are. We must remember why we were created and what our mission is. Every decision we make requires us to consider whether this action brings the geulah closer or pushes it further away. If it adds light to the world, it deserves pursuit. If it deepens the darkness, it must be resisted.

The rise of tumah blinds many to what should be self-evident. The challenges and tests are severe. Emunah and bitachon are stretched. Tzaros multiply. The righteous suffer, the vulnerable falter, and Jews everywhere look ahead with apprehension.

We can only imagine the anguish during the darkest days of avdus in Mitzrayim, as multitudes of Yaakov Avinu’s descendants lost hope. Mitzrayim’s decadent culture beckoned them.

Then choshech descended, not as a sudden blow, but as a creeping presence, quiet and consuming. It did not announce itself with thunder or terror. It slipped in gently, disguising itself as progress, sophistication, and freedom. Those caught within it believed that they were moving forward, stepping into light, even as their vision dimmed and their footing faltered. The darkness was not merely the absence of light. It was a distortion of reality itself.

For those who mistook illusion for enlightenment, the darkness felt reassuring at first. Then the choshech thickened. It immobilized. It silenced. It erased. Those who had loosened their grip on emunah found that there was nothing left to hold them upright when the world went dark. Their disappearance was almost imperceptible, concealed beneath the shroud of night. No cries echoed. No monuments were raised. They simply slipped away, casualties not of persecution, but of confusion.

This was the strongest aspect of the makkah. The darkness did not destroy indiscriminately. It revealed who possessed inner light and who had extinguished it. The geulah was clearly unfolding just as Hakadosh Boruch Hu told them it would, but not everyone could see it, and not everyone could endure its demands. The promise of freedom passed over those who had freed themselves from the truth.

This is the enduring danger: What looks like light may, in truth, be darkness.

That danger did not end in Mitzrayim. It follows us into our daily lives — quieter now, more polished, more seductive. Choshech rarely announces itself as evil. It arrives cloaked in confidence, wrapped in slogans of self-expression, progress, and enlightenment. It promises ease, validation, and belonging. And like the darkness of Mitzrayim, it dulls our vision just enough that we stop noticing what we are losing.

In our world, false light abounds. Ideas that erode morality are marketed as compassion. Self-indulgence is rebranded as authenticity. The abandonment of limits is celebrated as freedom. Values once considered corrosive are elevated as virtues. While it all shines brightly, beneath the surface lies decay.

The test now is not whether we can recognize obvious evil, but whether we can distinguish truth from its clever imitations. Not everything that feels good is good. Not everything that is popular is right. Not everything that glows leads forward. Choshech today is the confusion that convinces a person to trade depth for comfort, meaning for acceptance, and eternity for immediacy.

Pursuing truth demands courage, because truth often resists convenience. When the world urges us to loosen our grip on principle in exchange for applause or ease, we must remember how quickly false light turns into immobilizing darkness.

In a world skilled at disguising corruption, the pursuit of truth becomes an act of quiet defiance. It is how we ensure that when darkness descends, we are not among those who vanish unnoticed, but among those who still shine, steady, enduring, and real.

In our world, darkness can masquerade as light, cloaked in language that sounds faithful to our mesorah but is, in truth, opposed to the sacred values and traditions handed down through the generations. It arrives gradually, through a steady drip of foreign ideas, methods, and attitudes, smoothly packaged in familiar words and comforting concepts. Disguised in this way, they slip past our defenses, quietly take root, and begin to reshape our thinking from within.

We must remain vigilant and steadfastly devoted to the mesorah of our rabbeim and parents, not allowing ourselves to be diverted from the path of growth, excellence in learning, and living as true Torah Jews. Our strength lies in constancy, in loyalty to the values that have guided our people through every golus and every challenge.

Just as a flashlight pierces the darkness of a night journey, so does the Torah illuminate our way. When a blackout descends, people do not surrender to the dark. They switch on lanterns to restore vision and allow life to continue. The Torah, as transmitted to us by our rabbeim, who are likened to malochim, is that lantern. As the world grows dim, gray, and confused, the Torah provides clarity, direction, and warmth.

At a time that cries out for illumination, each of us must add sparks. We must expose falsehood, clarify reality, and prepare ourselves and the world for Moshiach. So much is plainly evident, yet we watch as the world’s media, culture, and institutions twist facts to advance their agendas. In the broader world, darkness often prevails. Truth is optional, and falsehood carries little consequence.

Just as the Jews in Mitzrayim were subjugated by a hypocritical ruler and a duplicitous society, hypocrisy defines our age, increasingly so in its treatment of Jews. Nations with blood-soaked pasts lecture Israel for defending itself against terrorists bent on its destruction. Mass slaughter in Africa is met with silence, while Israel’s fight for survival sparks outrage and fixation. Iranians risk their lives in the streets demanding freedom, yet those who loudly chanted for a “Free Palestine” show no concern for them. Russia levels cities and commits atrocities, and it is met with weary acceptance. The spotlight remains fixed, relentlessly, on the lone Jewish state.

Meanwhile, Jews who once lived peacefully in Europe, the United States, and Canada now confront levels of anti-Semitism unseen in generations. From elementary schools to universities, hostility is not only tolerated but, in many cases, taught. Ancient libels, long thought buried, have been exhumed and repackaged as accepted truth. Modern media has given a megaphone to lunatics spewing disjointed hatred, allowing them to amass millions of followers eager to absorb the lies and once again fixate on the eternal scapegoat: the Jews.

The State of Israel was founded on the hope that sovereignty would end Jew-hatred and secure acceptance among the nations. History has delivered a harsher verdict.

Many are bewildered. Why the hatred? Why the double standards?

Those rooted in Torah are not perplexed. They know the answer articulated by the Ramban at the close of this week’s parsha.

Hashem brought the makkos to demonstrate that He created the world and governs it entirely. When He wills, nature proceeds as usual. When He wills otherwise, it bends instantly to His command. Nothing is random. Nothing is autonomous.

The Torah commands every generation to teach the next one about Yetzias Mitzrayim and its miracles. Doing so reminds us that Hashem orchestrates all events and that nothing “just happens.” There is meaning even when we do not grasp it. Hashem watches over each of us with care. Reward and consequence are real. We are never abandoned, and events do not unfold because of human moods, tyrants, rivals, or chance. They occur because Hashem wills them to, for reasons often beyond our understanding.

This is why so many mitzvos are zeicher l’Yetzias Mitzrayim. Remembering the makkos and the geulah from that sad situation reinforces that Hashem created, sustains, and directs everything in the world and in our lives.

As forces of falsehood and darkness contend for dominance, we must fortify our emunah and bitachon and live in a way that finds favor in Hashem’s eyes. We remain a nation of truth, morality, dignity, and integrity. We are not shaken by mockery, nor derailed by hypocrites, buffoons, or megaphone moralists.

Following the First World War, the Belzer Rebbe was forced to leave Belz due to hostilities and sought refuge in Hungary. As he began returning home, word spread that he would be stopping in the city of Holoshitz for Shabbos. Thousands of people from surrounding towns and cities made their way there, hoping for the rare opportunity to spend Shabbos in the presence of the great rebbe. Among them was Rabbi Naftoli Tzvi Ungar, who brought along his ten-year-old son. Many families did the same, unsure if they would ever have another chance to see the rebbe.

At the Friday night tish, however, the crowd was overwhelming. The young boy, eager to see the rebbe, was shoved and smacked by others pressing forward, all trying to catch a glimpse of the tzaddik. Terrified of being smacked again, the boy refused to accompany his father on Shabbos day, staying away from the rebbe’s tishen despite his yearning to be close.

At seudah shlishis, the rebbe asked Rabbi Ungar about his son’s whereabouts. Amazed that the rebbe had noticed that the boy was present at the Friday evening tish and then absent throughout Shabbos, Rabbi Ungar explained what had happened and that his son was afraid to return, lest he be smacked again.

The rebbe responded that Rabbi Ungar should tell his son, “Ah Yid tur nit dershreken ven her chapt ah gutteh klop — A Jew mustn’t be afraid when he gets a good smack.”

The rebbe was teaching that life is filled with moments that are uncomfortable, challenging, or even frightening. We encounter obstacles, slights, setbacks, and tests that shake our comfort and confidence. Yet, just as the “good smack” was not meant to harm the boy, so are the difficulties in our lives guided by Hashem’s hand. Nothing happens by accident, nothing is meaningless, and even what appears unpleasant can have purpose.

This lesson resonates profoundly when we consider the choshech of our own times. Just as Mitzrayim was shrouded in a darkness that paralyzed an entire nation, so does our modern world present illusions of light — values, ideas, and trends that glitter but are morally dim, that dazzle but corrupt. The darkness can be subtle, persuasive, and relentless. It challenges our vision, tests our faith, and tempts us to abandon what we know is true and sacred.

The Belzer Rebbe’s wisdom teaches that even in the face of such darkness, we need not fear. We may be jostled, misled, or even harmed by the pressures and smacks of life, yet Hashem’s guiding hand is always present. Just as the boy was reassured about the smack he had received, so must we trust that our emunah, bitachon, and perseverance are our light in the darkness. Torah and mitzvos are our lanterns, steady and reliable even when the world grows gray and black.

Illumination is not always gentle or easy. Sometimes the path forward requires courage, discipline, and steadfastness. Even when the world surges with hatred toward the Jewish people, even when false lights threaten to blind us, we hold fast to what we know is right, true, and eternal.

In a world of moral ambiguity, deception, and hostility, we must do our best to generate sparks of light. We must cultivate clarity, learn Torah on a deeper level, strengthen our emunah, be more careful in our kiyum hamitzvos, and shine by example. We should not shrink in the face of the dark, be deceived by illusions of brightness, or lose sight of the Divine guidance that watches over every Jew.

Torah and mitzvos are the enduring beacons of light, piercing the choshech that defines our time and carving a passage through the shadows. May they continue to illuminate our path, banish the darkness, and lead us swiftly to the coming of Moshiach.

Last week, in these pages, I described how a bochur — a good, fine bochur — was so taken and moved by what he felt were sincere compliments and value that he got from AI that he became addicted to that “relationship.”

That got me thinking. I started thinking about the power of compliments, the power of ah gut vort, the power of he’aras ponim.

Complimenting another person, especially a child or teen, has always been very important. People in chinuch today have told me how today’s children and teens need a compliment, ah gut vort and a smile much more than those in previous generations did.

Today, this isn’t a luxury. It is an absolutely critical necessity. A child needs to feel not only that his parent loves him, but that his parent “holds of him.” That doesn’t mean that one cannot or should not discipline. Not at all. However, we must look for and find the maalos inherent in each of our children and openly convey how happy and proud we are that the child possesses these maalos.

Similarly, a rebbi or teacher needs to know that he’aras ponim — a smile, a compliment, an expression of trust — is like oxygen for today’s talmidim and talmidos. If they get these from their rabbeim, teachers, and mentors, they will thrive. If they don’t, they can (and often do) wilt away, or worse, they will seek them out from other non-savory places.

Why this is the case in today’s world is something I will leave to greater experts than I. But the fact is that without he’aras ponim, without showing our children and talmidim love, compliments, praise, and, most importantly, that you genuinely hold of them and recognize their maalos, it is almost impossible to have a hashpa’ah on them.

Everyone Needs a Compliment

The reason that this bochur was so taken by the AI force was because AI was giving him something that he wasn’t getting in sufficient doses at home and in yeshiva.

The need for compliments applies to everyone. I remember a story that someone told me when I was writing the biography of Rav Mattisyohu Salomon. It was right after Rav Mattisyohu had given a shmuess. Reb Meilich* approached Rav Mattisyohu, gave him a yasher koach for the shmuess, and told him how much he enjoyed it and gained from it. Rav Mattisyohu told him, “Thank you so much! You are the first person to come over and tell me something. You know, a mashgiach also needs chizuk…”

The Art of Finding What to Praise

Rav Elya Meir Sorotzkin, rosh yeshiva of Yeshiva Tiferes Boruch of Springfield, also always tried to focus on people’s maalos. He fargined people. He was meromeim people. He uplifted people. He was machshiv people. He always spoke about other people’s maalos. When complimenting people, he would think of a way to glorify the compliment so it would make the greatest impact.

Perhaps his own comment about the rosh yeshiva of Kiryas Melech, Rav Shmuel Yaakov Borenstein, says it all. He once said, “You have to watch Rav Shmuel Yaakov interact with others. He can speak to a person with very few redeeming qualities, find his maalah — a positive aspect of his personality — and jump on it, praising it to the sky. I remember that there was once a bochur who wasn’t a great baal maalah, to say the least, but was a very good baal tefillah. What did Rav Shmuel Yaakov say? ‘Ah, you are such a hartzige baal tefillah!’”

The Need to “Make a Deposit” Before “Making a Withdrawal”

The truth is that just giving mussar no longer works. A child or bochur will only accept mussar or rebuke if he knows that you hold of him and that you recognize his good qualities.

Rav Mattisyohu initially served as the junior mashgiach in Gateshead under Rav Moshe Schwab. When Rav Moshe noticed that a certain bochur’s conduct was not in keeping with what the yeshiva wanted from him, he asked Rav Mattisyohu to speak to him and rebuke him for his conduct. Two weeks later, Rav Moshe approached Rav Mattisyohu and asked, “Have you had a chance to speak to the bochur?”

“Actually, I have not,” was Rav Mattisyohu’s answer.

He went on to explain: “Since until now I have not had a chance to give him a compliment and create a friendly relationship with him, it would not be beneficial to criticize him at this point. I must first make a deposit before I can make a withdrawal!”

Who Most Needs He’aras Ponim

A prominent mechanech once told me that parents often come to him for advice on what to do with one or two of their children who are struggling. He said that he often asks the parent(s), “How many children do you have?” A typical answer could be six, eight, or ten. He then asks, “Out of all of those children, who are the ones who get the compliments and the he’aras ponim?”

Usually, they sheepishly admit that it is the six or eight children who are not causing them heartache.

He tells them that it is the two children who are tearing up the house, or who are giving their rabbeim a run for their money, or engaging in other questionable conduct, who deserve the most compliments. They are the ones who are truly starving for compliments. Compliments are good for every child, but for these children, they are critical.

The Rosh Yeshiva’s Request for a Brocha

Another story that happened at Yeshiva Tiferes Boruch:

Shabbos was coming, but the yeshiva had been in the middle of renovations, as a result of which eight bookcases full of seforim had been temporarily placed in a hallway. The rosh yeshiva, Rav Elya Meir Sorotzkin, did not want the bookcases to remain in the hallway for Shabbos. He therefore asked a bochur, Tzvi Weiss, on Thursday if he could do something about it.

Tzvi rose to the occasion. He spent many hours cleaning the place up and rearranging things so that on Shabbos, everything would look orderly and nice, as the rosh yeshiva wanted.

After Shacharis on Friday, the rosh yeshiva summoned Tzvi.

“Tzvi,” the rosh yeshiva exclaimed jovially, “please give me a brocha!”

“A brocha?” a flustered, flabbergasted Tzvi stuttered.

“You are mamesh a baal mofes, a real miracle worker,” the rosh yeshiva explained. “Yesterday everything was so neglected and messy, but today it is so beautiful, so orderly, and so clean. It is nothing less than a miracle. If you can perform miracles, I need a brocha from you!”

“The way he expressed his appreciation,” Tzvi later commented, “ensured that I would never forget it for the rest of my life. Even now, so many years later, I still am ‘full’ from that compliment, uttered sincerely so many years ago.”

Finding the Glitter in As-Yet Unpolished Diamonds

The lesson for us is clear. Children, teens, and really everyone today need love. They need to know that a parent, a rebbi, or a teacher truly loves them and genuinely cares about them. But perhaps even more than love, they need to know that you hold of them — that you recognize their maalos and that you show it.

Remember: Start looking for maalos, recognizing maalos, and really working on yourself to notice the qualities of even as-yet unpolished diamonds. If you don’t, they may look to a robot or a computer for validation.

What a pity and tragedy that would be.

The last editorial of our esteemed editor, Rabbi Pinchos Lipschutz, titled “The Art of Holding On,” elicited a footnote from me. In a powerful chizuk discourse, he taught us how to spot rays of light in the darkness and to “embrace [hardships] as opportunities.” However, his earlier paragraphs raised a troublesome question. When Moshe Rabbeinu delivered one of his first prophesies from Hashem, which was full of hope and good news, Klal Yisroel did not seem to react in kind. The posuk tells us, “Velo shomu el Moshe mikotzer ruach umei’avodah kasha — The people did not listen to Moshe because of shortness of spirit and crushing labor” (Shemos 6:9). Rabbi Lipschutz depicts eloquently how “they wanted to hear him but they couldn’t…it [was] impossible for them to hear.”

I remembered a series of maamarim from my rebbi, Rav Yitzchok Hutner (now printed in Maamorei Pachad Yitzchok, Pesach 6:9; 98:1). In these presentations, the rosh yeshiva added something that could help us immeasurably to “hold on” and maintain hope in our apparently somber and ominous surroundings. He raises the question, along with the Ohr Somayach (Hilchos Chometz Umatzah 7:4) and many others, about why the structure of the Haggadah Shel Pesach revolves around drashos on the parsha of bikkurim in the Torah. Many wonder why the Haggadah would choose this text rather than the multitude of available pesukim from Sefer Shemos that directly describe Yetzias Mitzrayim.

Rav Hutner’s answer is that “even after the exodus from Egypt, there was one last obligation on our part to be fulfilled. That was the fact that we had not listened to Moshe. It would seem that this had never been rectified.” In the second of these maamorim, Rav Hutner added that it is inconceivable that Hashem’s words to Klal Yisroel through Moshe Rabbeinu were, chas veshalom, ineffectual and fruitless. The rosh yeshiva teaches us two answers to this dual question. First of all, as he notes, there is a rule that “a person doesn’t totally understand something his master has taught for forty years” (Rashi, Devorim 29:6, from Avodah Zarah 5b). Rashi understands this to refer to Klal Yisroel, since 40 years after Yetzias Mitzrayim and Mattan Torah, we began to understand things Hashem had said 40 years before. The rosh yeshiva adds that “this is an antidote against the despair when we hear something that we know is important but ‘we just don’t get it.’ Chazal are promising us that the kotzer ruach will wear off and we will eventually ‘get it.’”

The bikkurim connection is that although Klal Yisroel did not initially accept the totality of the fifth of the redemption promises, “veheiveisi — I shall bring you to the land,” they will later realize its truth. When they bring the bikkurim of the new land, they will declare with a full throat, “He brought us to this place… And now, behold! I have brought the first fruit of the ground” (Devorim 26:9-10). This is the requiting of our earlier failure to listen or even hear Hashem’s words. But it also illuminates how Hashem’s own words were never in vain, only temporarily unanswered but appreciated later on. That is why the author of the immortal Haggadah formulated so much of our gratitude to Hashem from the speech given by the farmer when he presents his basket of new fruit to the kohein, as the representative of the Creator. At that point, he is not only expressing gratitude for his own harvest, but in effect he becomes a spokesman for all of Klal Yisroel throughout history. Thus, the Haggadah, in which we do finally thank Hashem for adjusting and reducing the time of our bondage (chishav es hakeitz) and for the fact that we have begun to see the larger picture, finds its appropriate roots in the farmer’s joyous statement of gratitude.

According to the Noda B’Yehudah (Nodah B’Yehuda Al HaTorah, Va’eira, page 174), this concept goes to the heart of why the Yom Tov commemorating Yetzias Mitzrayim is called Pesach. He quotes the Medrash (Shir Hashirim Rabbah 2:1) that when Moshe Rabbeinu brought us those wonderful tidings that we would soon be redeemed, we asked a realistic question. “But Moshe Rabbeinu, how can this be? Isn’t it true that Hashem has already declared that we would be slaves for 400 years? We have only been here for 210.” Moshe Rabbeinu acknowledged the point, but responded that “now that Hashem has decided to redeem you, he does not gaze at any calculations. ‘The voice of my Beloved! Behold, it came suddenly to redeem me, as if leaping over mountains, skipping over hills.”’ In other words, as even the secular world has recognized the term for millennia, G-d decided to skip over any time-limitations and other reckonings and just bring us out of slavery.

We can certainly apply this to our current state of concern and worry. We may be unworthy; perhaps we should do more. But as soon as Hashem wants to bring the geulah sheleimah, no force in the world will be able to withstand Him. As we have mentioned here before, the novi (Micha 7:15) promised that “As in the days when you left Egypt I will show it wonders.” Chazal interpret this to mean that the geulah sheleimah will also come with great wonders, miracles and, presumably, even when we have somewhat despaired of ever seeing it. This is not to say that we should lose hope. On the contrary, our mitzvah is to truly believe and even expect the geulah. But if we become disheartened, we have the word of Hashem Himself and Moshe Rabbeinu that we shouldn’t worry about things like odds, human predictions or political patterns. In the face of Hashem’s promises and ability, all else is empty and frivolous.

The Imrei Emes (Va’eira, page 24) also enforces our hopes and aspirations for redemption from another perspective. He notes that after Klal Yisroel could not fully absorb and internalize Moshe Rabbeinu’s wonderful news, Hashem presented a list of the “heads of their father’s houses” (6:14). The Gerrer Rebbe explains that when we identified with the gedolei Yisroel, our spirits were renewed and we became capable of believing and recognizing the coming geulah. I must confess that I didn’t understand these words of the Gerrer Rebbe until I discovered the following amazing story in the Haggadah of Rav Avrohom Pam, rosh yeshiva of Yeshiva Torah Vodaas (Mareh Kohein, page 55).

As usual, Rav Pam teaches us to give everyone — in this case, Moshe Rabbeinu and all of Klal Yisroel — the benefit of the doubt. He writes, “Moshe Rabbeinu blamed himself for Klal Yisroel’s apparent inability to believe in the coming geulah. He felt that he had failed in his primary mission, which was to inspire Klal Yisroel to believe and trust the words of Hashem through his prophesy. This, he said, is similar to a story that was once told by Rav Elchonon Wasserman. A certain barber in his city had insisted on keeping his store open late on Fridays, when he was being mechallel Shabbos. Rav Elchonon paid him a visit, attempting to change his mind, but was unsuccessful. This bothered him tremendously and, on one occasion, the Chofetz Chaim came to consult with him about another subject. When Rav Elchonon related his distress over this situation, the Chofetz Chaim paid his own visit to the errant barber. Soon the shop was closed every Friday. Rav Elchonon used to conclude from this incident that “we see that there are no longer any people other than giants such as the Chofetz Chaim who are capable of giving chastisement.”

However, there is an even more important punch line to the story. Rav Pam relates that a certain Orthodox rabbi, who at the time lived in Savannah, Georgia, was trying to persuade his congregation to begin keeping Shabbos properly. He told them one Shabbos about another story with the Chofetz Chaim. In this case, it was actually a bochur in Radin who was caught smoking on Shabbos. When they told the Chofetz Chaim of the incident, he asked that the boy be brought to him. Again, the magic seemed to work and the boy was soon a shomer Shabbos. The rabbi concluded that he had no idea what the Chofetz Chaim had said, but that something indeed seemed to work.

At that moment, a man in the shul stood up, admitting, “I can tell you all who that boy was. It was me. I will tell you exactly what happened. He grabbed me by my hand and looked me in the eye. All he could get out of his throat was a deep sigh: ‘Oy Shabbos, Shabbos.’ I have lived in this city for sixty years and I have never once desecrated Shabbos ever since. The words of the Chofetz Chaim are still echoing in my ears.’”

Rav Pam continued with another incident, concerning the principal of the Be’er Hagolah girls’ division who was trying to stop the intermarriage of one of her students, a Russian girl. She went to the house, intending to explain to her why she shouldn’t do this sin, but before she could utter a sound, she began to wail and cried for a long time. The girl finally responded, “You don’t have to say anything. I will not marry him.” And she didn’t.

And so Rav Pam concluded, “Indeed, Moshe Rabbeinu thought that it was he who was lacking in the proper language or words of persuasion. This is what Rashi meant when he wrote that Hashem told Moshe that he should treat Klal Yisroel gingerly and have compassion for their horrific situation. Perhaps that should be our role at this time as well. We should be giving chizuk to every Jew, speaking softly, not angrily, but with words of comfort and consolation, reinforcing the teaching that although we are in darkness, the light of dawn is ever closer. As our editor said, just hold on. Moshiach is on his way.

There are moments from one’s youth that blur with time, soften by distance, and get lost in the general haze of growing up. And then there are moments that refuse to recede, moments that remain vivid not because of drama or spectacle, but because of the quiet way they shaped how one thinks about people, about responsibility, and about the subtle forces that mold character.

I remember one of those moments. However, I will not recount the exact details, partly out of discretion and partly because anyone who spent time in a yeshiva high school already understands the category.

There were youthful antics, a lapse in judgment, and a situation that escalated far beyond what anyone involved had anticipated. Somehow, a test was taken, not in the administered sense, but rather from a teacher’s desk or briefcase, whether by accident or design, and in short order, the entire episode took on a life of its own. There was confusion, commotion, and what can only be described as a tumult, one that may even have included the pulling of a fire alarm. What mattered was not the mechanics of what occurred, but the fact that a line had been crossed, and everyone knew it.

Ordinarily, such incidents are handled quietly and individually, with an emphasis on minimizing fallout rather than drawing attention. But the roshei yeshiva in Philadelphia, took general education seriously. They took character flaws even more seriously. They understood that moments of failure are not merely breaches of discipline, but opportunities for formation, moments when a young person’s internal compass is either subtly corrected or silently distorted, and thus the start of a slippery slope toward corruption. And so, a decision was made to gather all the high school boys together, not in the bais medrash, but in a separate room, one that I am not even sure still exists today in the structural sense, but clearly exists with remarkable clarity in my memory.

And then something unusual happened. The rosh yeshiva, Rav Elya Svei, spoke.

Those of us who were accustomed to hearing him only during a shmuess delivered to the bais medrash bochurim sensed immediately that this was not routine. For Rav Elya to address high school boys directly, privately, was exceedingly rare. This was not a disciplinary lecture, nor was it an expression of anger or disappointment. It was chinuch, delivered with deliberateness and total heart.

He opened a Sefer Hachinuch and read from this week’s parsha, a lav that seemed, at first, far removed from the incident at hand: the prohibition of breaking the bones of the Korban Pesach. Why, the Sefer Hachinuch asks, does the Torah concern itself with something seeming so technical? What is the relevancy of bone-breaking to the goals of the korban? The Chinuch explains that bone-breaking in order to get more meat is the behavior of slaves.

Someone who is ravenously hungry, desperate and reduced to survival, breaks bones to extract every last bit of nourishment. Kings do not eat that way. Princes do not gnaw at bones. Royalty eats with restraint, with dignity, with composure. They eat like bnei chorin, with a sense of self that does not need to squeeze sustenance from every corner.

And then Rav Elya articulated the principle that framed everything that followed.

Adam nifal lefi pe’ulosav.

A person is shaped by his actions.

We are not merely influenced by them, and not only affected by them in passing, but actions shape a person in a cumulative and lasting way. A person who consistently behaves with dignity develops dignity, while a person who habituates himself to coarseness gradually becomes coarse, regardless of how refined his intentions may once have been.

Rav Elya then brought the point into sharp focus, explaining that a boy who cheats is not revealing an existing corrupt character trait so much as cultivating one. Dishonesty, once practiced, does not remain confined to a classroom or a single incident. It becomes a tool the soul grows comfortable using. In his inimitable manner, he stated, “A cheater is a cheater because he cheats!”

Over time, it appears in business dealings, in financial shortcuts, in strained relationships, and even in the private rationalizations a person offers himself when no one else is listening.

That shmuess never left me.

Adam nifal lefi pe’ulosav is not a slogan or a line of homiletic flourish. It is a spiritual principle with far-reaching implications, one that extends well beyond adolescent missteps and into the broader fabric of communal and personal life.

At times, watching scenes unfold in the streets of Yerushalayim, I cannot help but think of that lesson. Demonstrations, clashes, fires, and chaos are often analyzed through the lens of ideology, with debates centering on whether actions align with daas Torah. But beyond the question of authorization lies another concern.

What is this doing to the people involved?

Chazal tell us that after the destruction of an Ir Hanidachas, the Torah promises a unique brocha, v’richamcha, that Hakadosh Boruch Hu will restore compassion within the people. The need for such a promise itself is telling, because acts of violence, even when justified, leave an imprint. Aggression reshapes the inner world of the one who engages in it. Undoing that damage requires Divine assistance.

Actions do not remain external. They settle inward, slowly and often imperceptibly, until they become part of the person himself.

Many years ago, my grandfather, Rav Yaakov Kamenetzky, was invited to deliver a shmuess at an Israeli yeshiva. As he entered the building, there was pushing and shoving, boys pressing forward eagerly to say shalom or to catch a glimpse. The enthusiasm was genuine, but the disorder was striking, particularly to someone accustomed to a different communal rhythm. I do not recall such scenes when walking with him at Agudah conventions in America, where there was a certain civility and respect for order. Whatever the cause, Rav Yaakov sensed that something deeper was being expressed.

He did not give the planned shiur.

Instead, he spoke about the meraglim.

The Torah lists the shevotim in a seemingly disordered sequence, a question raised by the Ramban and illuminated by Rashi’s comment on “Vatikrevun eilai kulchem,” that the people approached Moshe be’irbuvya, in chaos. The young pushed ahead of the elders, hierarchy dissolved, and order collapsed. That disorder, Rav Yaakov explained, was symptomatic. When seder breaks down externally, clarity and judgment falter internally as well.

Once again, the same message emerged.

People are molded by the behaviors they normalize, the environments they tolerate, and the actions they repeat. The music one listens to, the media one consumes, the tone one adopts in protest, and even the manner in which one fights for causes believed to be holy all leave their imprint.

Nothing is neutral.

Adam nifal lefi pe’ulosav.

Even when intentions are sincere and causes are righteous, the methods matter, because methods do not disappear once the moment has passed. They train the soul, shaping character quietly but inexorably.

We often imagine that behaviors can be worn temporarily and discarded at will, but the Torah teaches otherwise. Over time, we become what we do.

Just saying.

As the United States deploys warships and aircraft to the Middle East, experts warn that the Trump administration is actively preparing for military action against Iran, after appearing to have abruptly switched gears last week.

With Iran’s rulers carrying out the bloodiest crackdown in the nation’s modern history—the death toll has soared to 16,500 according to the newest estimates—President Trump urged demonstrators last week to continue protesting and to “save the names” of their tormentors.

“Help is on the way!” he posted online, vowing that those responsible for the mass murder of unarmed civilians would not escape justice.

According to reports in the Washington Post, President Trump had zeroed in on a strike plan on Jan. 13, that called for attacks to be launched that day from U.S. naval vessels and submarines in the Middle East.

He stopped short, however, of issuing his final approval.

With senior military advisors citing the risks to 30,000 U.S. servicemen stationed on military bases in the region, as well as other strategic concerns, questions arose about whether the timing was right for the planned strike.

After late-hour phone conferences with Middle East leaders, including Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and other regional allies, Trump decided to call off the imminent attack.

The president concluded that the strikes might indeed decapitate Iran’s ruling clique, destabilize the regime and disrupt military infrastructure, but they would likely not lead to regime change—the administration’s core objective.

In addition, according to the Washington Post, Netanyahu told President Trump that Israel was not equipped to defend itself against an Iranian missile retaliation following a U.S. attack.

Netanyahu supported the assessment of Trump’s national security team that, in light of the need for a broader campaign to topple the regime, and given the limited U.S. military presence in the Middle East, the American attack plan might well fall short of its mission.

The U.S. is now moving assets into the Gulf region to alter that calculus, strategic analyst and retired Gen. Jack Keane explained in an appearance on Fox News.

With the transfer of two giant aircraft carriers—the USS Abraham Lincoln and the USS Gerald Ford—to the Persian Gulf, coupled with the reinforcing of allied air defense systems, Washington appears to be building up its regional forces in advance of a military strike, Keane said last week.

Bloodbath Continues

The military expert said President Trump “has been clear about his intent to see Teheran’s regime collapse” and nothing has changed except the timetable.

As reports stream in about the soaring death toll, it’s clear “the bloodbath in Iran is far from over,” Gen. Keane said. “Claims from Iranian officials that ‘the killing has stopped’—belong in the trash can because all the evidence disputes that,” he stated.

“The slaughter appears to have halted only because the Basij religious police and the Revolutionary Guard Corps are patrolling the streets with loudspeakers and machine guns. They’re forcing Iranians in cities and provinces across the country to stay inside their homes or be shot on sight.”

In addition to Teheran’s own massive security forces, Ayatollah Khamenei has brought in militias from other countries such as Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan, to bolster the regime’s deadly crackdown, the military analyst said. “These people treat anyone they find in the streets as a terrorist and gun them down.”

In response to claims from Iranian officials that the rioting has subsided, the killing has stopped and “the streets are quiet,” Keane called that silence the “calm of death.”

If anyone wants to know the truth behind the sham of “the killing has stopped,” they only need to recall that “after the 12-day June war with Israel, Iran’s rulers arrested 22,000 people, claiming they were all Mossad agents. They killed 1500-2000 of them. How do we know that? Because they hung them in public, using a crane. Meaning they didn’t die of a broken neck as happens with the gallows, they died by strangulation.”

“These are brutal, barbaric people,” the general said. “They will certainly do the same to the 20,000 or more people they’ve arrested since the protests began—in addition to the thousands they’ve already killed—because that is who they are.”

Along with the street killings, state executions have surged dramatically, according to Ali Safavi, a senior official with the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI). Safavi told Fox News that 2,000 people were executed in 2025, while 153 have already been hanged in the first 18 days of January 2026, averaging more than eight executions per day.

Mass Executions Reportedly Continuing

“Ali Khamenei is continuing mass executions in parallel with the killing of young protesters,” Safavi said. “Three executions in the form of hanging are now happening every hour, according to our data.”

Trump has not yet taken action, Keane said, because the U.S. is still positioning military assets in advance of possible Iran retaliation against U.S. military bases in the region and against Israel.

“What this means, is we’ve expanded our targets to include Iran’s ballistic missiles, in addition to their leadership command, and in addition to the commanders of forces killing people in the street. It’s got to be done right. We need to ensure that we have all the necessary assets in the region to [take out those missiles].

Experts agree that any attack option would have to be very different from a sensational “one and done” strike of the kind Trump has favored in past military interventions, such as the recent capture and arrest of Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro, and the Jan. 2020 missile strike that killed wanted arch-terrorist Qasem Soleimani as he was driving in his car.

A U.S strike against the Iranian regime would have to be a broad and prolonged one, experts say. It would have to target all pillars and symbols of the regime, from Khamenei’s residence to parliament and the command and control centers staffed by senior IRGC personnel.

Shocking Reports Coming Through Starlink

The British Sunday Times has obtained a shocking new report combing testimony from doctors in eight major eye hospitals and 16 emergency departments across Iran, which says at least 16,500 protesters have died and 330,000 have been injured.

Most of the killing was carried out in two days of slaughter after the country was plunged into internet darkness on January 8, the doctors’ report says.

The doctors spoke using Starlink — satellite technology that enables people to access the internet via terminals, bypassing traditional internet infrastructure. Their report described the violence as an “utter slaughter,” with most of the victims believed to be under the age of 30.

Eyewitnesses who fled Iran also described snipers targeting protesters’ heads, mass shootings and systematic blinding using pellet guns. One former Iranian resident said in the report that doctors reported more than 800 eye removals in a single night in the capital alone, with possibly more than 8,000 people blinded nationwide.

The Sunday Times was also able to reach a number of people who had fled Iran. One person, from Mashhad, said, “Tell the whole world that on Friday they sprayed everyone with gunfire. The IRGC forces were calmly trying to aim for people’s heads.”

Another from the province of Karam said: “Snipers on rooftops were shooting people in the back of the head. We were walking when suddenly several people next to us would collapse to the ground, covered in blood. When we tried to go toward them to carry the bodies away, they opened fire on us.”

The accounts reflect the scenes in disturbing videos that have emerged from Iran in recent days, as well descriptions by some witnesses crossing the border into Turkey. They tell of IRGC forces and its Basij militia on motorbikes using live ammunition from Kalashnikovs and even machineguns mounted on pick-up trucks, to mow people down. There were reports, too, of Iraqi militias being bussed in, taking attack positions at street corners.

Even the ayatollahs admit thousands of people have been killed, in spite of attempts earlier in the week to downplay the carnage. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi tried to prop up the regime’s propaganda, telling Fox News that the number of people killed was actually in the hundreds, and that suggestions otherwise were part of a “misinformation campaign.”

President Trump sharply condemned Khamenei over the weekend, calling him a “sick man” and urging new leadership in Iran. In an interview with Politico, Trump accused Khamenei of overseeing “the complete destruction of the country” and using “violence at levels never seen before.”

180 Attacks Against Americans in Just One Year

There is broad consensus across the political spectrum that the collapse of the Iranian regime would serve U.S. national security interests. A November 24 report from the Foundation for Defense of Democracies strongly reinforced this position, detailing how Iran and its proxies have conducted more than 180 attacks against U.S. forces in the Middle East just between October 2023, and November 2024.

These attacks resulted in three deaths of U.S. servicemen and more than 180 wounded.

The murderous hand of the regime has reached into this country as well, with the U.S. Department of Justice announcing charges against an Iranian national and two American accomplices in November 2024 for plotting to assassinate President Trump.

Teheran has issued crude threats against the president, such as displaying on Iranian TV the iconic picture of then-Presidential candidate Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania with his fist raised, after an assassin’s bullet in 2024 nearly took his life.

The Iranian regime posted in Farsi beneath the picture: Next time the bullet won’t miss.

In a similar display of twisted hate, a senior hard-line cleric called or the death penalty for arrested demonstrators and directly threatened President Donald Trump, saying his hand “should be cut off.”

While making direct threats on the life of an U.S. president has taken the regime’s venomous hostility to a new level, its hatred and contempt for America is nothing new. From the earliest days of the Islamic Republic, Iran considered the United States and Israel its sworn enemies, and set out to destroy the Jewish State. Under the ayatollahs, the regime swiftly became a warmonger, feared by its neighbors as the bully of the region.

Over the past 47 years, Teheran funneled billions of dollars into organizing terrorist militias, including Hezbollah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Shiite militias in Iraq, and the Assad regime in Syria, to carry out its murderous agenda while keeping itself in the shadows.

With Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and Hezbollah severely weakened; the Assad regime consigned to history; Iran itself reeling from humiliating military defeats last June; and a nationwide uprising pressing for the regime’s downfall, the Islamist tyrants running the country have been backed into a corner.

Many feel this moment in history might be the most opportune of all to unseat the corrupt clerics oppressing and killing their own people. But without factoring in the IRGC with their vast command of military force, intelligence and commercial holdings, the picture is dangerously incomplete. [See Sidebar]

***

Terror State Within a State

Is Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, truly the all-powerful dictator the world believes him to be?

According to Iranian journalist and dissident Mohsen Sazegara, quoted in the Sunday Times UK, it was the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps—not Khamenei himself—that ordered the nationwide internet shutdown, a move that plunged Iran into digital darkness and enabled the regime’s largely hidden slaughter of the protesters.

This move by the IRGC underscored where real power lies when the regime feels threatened, the article said.

The IRGC is believed to have more than 180,000 active personnel, comprising a navy, air force, and ground forces. Combined with the Basij Police Force, which it controls, it is thought to number almost a million people.

According to Sazegara, the IRGC holds a vast amount of power. “One of the heads of this monster is involved in drug dealing — they bring opium from Afghanistan, run gambling houses, arrest and torture people. They’re like the mafia.”

Some believe the Revolutionary Guards are a state within a state, the Sunday Times of London observed. Over decades, the IRGC has built a sprawling parallel empire beyond Iran’s borders, commanding a network of military force, intelligence reach and commercial power that now rivals states, and is a major player in the Middle East.

Besides commanding elite armed units, the IRGC controls vast sections of the economy, winning contracts to build airports, dams and railways, the article asserts. Through front organizations and smuggling networks, it has circumvented international sanctions, selling Iranian oil to China and drones to Russia for use in the war in Ukraine.

“A lot of Revolutionary Guard commanders have become billionaire generals, more businessmen than military leaders,” said Shahin Gobadi, spokesman for an exiled opposition group. “They and their children are living in luxury.

He claimed that those involved in suppressing protests were paid a daily bonus of $70. “That’s a lot in a country where a laborer earns only $40 a month.”

While protests appear to have abated under the ferocious crackdown, experts say the crisis is far from over. “The regime has butchered so many people in such a savage way, rather than suppress the protests they have simply fueled the next round,” Ali Ansari, director of the Institute for Iranian Studies, told the Sunday Times. “The level of shock in Iranian society will rebound on them.”

Ansari believes that cracks and divisions are emerging in the IRGC leadership. “Some people in the Revolutionary Guard Corps think that spending billions of dollars to wipe Israel from the map is a useless project, that the nuclear program is a waste of money that has resulted only in sanctions,” he said. “Right now, some powerful factions inside the regime are pushing for a change in these policies.”

Many analysts believe the only way the regime will fall is if the IRGC and Basij fighters refuse to fire on protesters — or take matters into their own hands.

Whatever happens, the article said, “The IRGC hasn’t consolidated so much power and money over decades just to sit it out as passive observers of what comes next. They have a very good chance of becoming kingmakers when the moment comes.”

***

The Most Dangerous Kind of Dictatorship

An insightful op-ed by Dr. Sarit Zahavi of Alma Research Center, notes a collective understanding across Israel and many countries in the Gulf region that the collapse of the Ayatollahs and their Islamic Republic “is the only path to sanity in the Middle East.”

If the regime falls, the writer notes, the oxygen pipeline of weapons, money, and training that fuels the region’s fires will finally run dry. This applies to Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Shiite militias in Iraq, and the Houthis in Yemen, who continue to threaten global shipping with ballistic missiles provided by Tehran.

She goes on to sound a warning regarding a proposed ‘compromise’ some diplomats have suggested, in which the Iranian President Ayatollah Khamenei, might be removed from power to appease the protesters.

“Let me be clear: Khamenei leaving the scene is not the same as the regime falling,” Zahavi states. “Iran is not a dictatorship of one man; it is a dictatorship of an ideology. Replacing the man at the top while leaving the institutions of oppression intact—meaning the IRGC, the religious councils, and the revolutionary courts—is the worst-case scenario, because it creates a dangerous illusion of change.”

Carried away by such an illusion, the West might be tempted to embrace this ‘new’ leadership, lift sanctions, and release frozen funds, the writer argues. “That money will not go to the Iranian people; it will be used to crush them with greater ferocity and to reinvigorate the terror proxies abroad.”

“Even now, despite mass protests and a collapsing economy, the Iranian regime has not paused its export of terror for a second. Just this week, the Iranian Foreign Minister landed in Beirut with a single goal: to ensure Hezbollah does not disarm,” the author notes.

“President Trump has promised to deal with the Iranian threat and the murderous repression of the Iranian people. Accepting a cosmetic change in Tehran would undermine his credibility and his achievements in the region, the article contends.”

“We cannot settle for a change of faces. The goal must be the fall of the ideology. Unless a true democracy replaces the regime of the Ayatollahs, the threat to the region – and the world – will remain.”

Yeshiva Bochur Drowns Near Modiin Illit

After three days of searching, rescue workers found the body of Moshe Ludmir, a 17-year-old Boyaner chossid who was swept away by the current while immersing in a creek near Modiin Illit. Ludmir had gone to immerse in the creek along with a friend from the yeshiva, and his terrified friend, who barely managed to escape from drowning himself, rushed to summon rescue personnel. The search continued for three days and involved the use of divers, drones, and helicopters. Authorities feared that he had been swept into a large body of water on the other side of a bridge, where he would surely have drowned. On Friday, his body was found near the community of Chashmonaim in Binyomin. The search was made especially difficult by the storm that took place in Israel last week, which also claimed other victims in flooded areas around the country. Fifteen firefighting teams participated in the search, including dozens of firefighters with special training for complex rescue operations. The firefighters worked hand in hand with police officers from the district of Yehuda and Shomron, who utilized many units and technological means to assist in the search. The effort was also joined by ZAKA and other emergency rescue workers. The sad conclusion to the story was reported by the police: “After days of searching, the body of the missing 17-year-old has been located after the victim was swept away by a flood in Modiin Illit. The police share the family’s grief and convey their sincere condolences. May his memory be blessed.”

Moshe Ludmir was buried on Friday at a heartrending funeral. His father, Reb Tzvi Hirsch Ludmir, a prominent Boyaner chossid in Beitar Illit, delivered an emotional hesped. “We are preparing for a wedding [of the niftar’s sister] in just a few days, with Hashem’s help, and when I last spoke to him on the phone, I said, ‘Moishe, soon we will dance at the wedding together and we will rejoice. You will help me prepare for it.’ These were my last words to him. For some reason, we prepared for the wedding early this time. A new hat, shoes, and kapote are already in his closet; we bought them early on Chanukah to avoid interfering with his sedorim in the yeshiva. These things are already waiting for him; why has the Ribbono shel Olam done this? We do not ask questions; this is clearly the way it must be. Moshe, daven for our simcha to be complete and for everyone in the family who is waiting for simchos to receive them. Open the gates for us; you are in a close position now, and you can daven for everyone.”

The bereaved father continued, “May we be zoche to see you soon, at techiyas hameisim, when Moshiach arrives. For now, I ask for mechilah on behalf of myself and the entire family. We didn’t appreciate you enough; while we did appreciate you, it wasn’t sufficient. We made efforts to provide for you when you were in this world, and we will continue to honor your memory now. Please daven for your friends as well, who were so dedicated to you until the final moment. Your friend who tried to help you was truly devoted to you; everyone tried to help you, along with the entire yeshiva and all of Klal Yisroel. Please daven for things to be good for all of them, and may Hashem provide us with a yeshuah.”

During the search as well, Moshe’s father delivered an impassioned speech to the rescue workers, creating a major kiddush Hashem with his words.

Netanyahu’s Maneuver Eichler Becomes a Deputy Minister

The draft law, as usual, is still at the top of the public agenda. It is rumored that the Knesset will approve the law sometime within the next week or two. As far as the chareidi community is concerned, this will be good news for the simple reason that it will put an end to the current situation, in which every yeshiva bochur and kollel yungerman is in constant danger of being arrested. After that, we cannot predict what will happen. If the law passes, the chareidi parties will at least have done their duty for the country’s Torah learners.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Netanyahu carried out a political maneuver last week that will boost the chances of the law passing. Yisroel Eichler of Agudas Yisroel was appointed to the post of deputy minister of communications and will resigned from the Knesset under the Norwegian Law, which permits a sitting member of the Knesset to vacate his seat to accept a ministerial portfolio and thus to make way for the next member of his party. It has since been revealed that Eichler was scheduled to vacate his Knesset seat in any event, due to the rotation agreement between Agudas Yisroel and Degel HaTorah. In fact, a ruling of a bais din to that effect, of which Eichler was already aware, was publicized at the beginning of this week obligating Eichler to honor the rotation agreement signed with Degel HaTorah. However, instead of resigning and simply going home, Eichler will hold a position as a deputy government minister.

This was a win for Netanyahu, since Eichler will be replaced in the Knesset by Yitzchok Pindrus. As a member of Degel HaTorah, which has committed to voting for the draft law, Pindrus will add another vote in its favor. Eichler, on the other hand, was presumably bound by the decision of Agudas Yisroel’s Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah that the party should vote against the bill; however, now that he has resigned, he will no longer be voting. That makes it a double win for Netanyahu, with one more vote in favor of the bill and one dissenting vote removed from the picture. With this move, Netanyahu effectively limited the influence of the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah of Agudas Yisroel. Until now, Agudas Yisroel’s rabbonim had control of four members of the Knesset—Yitzchok Goldknopf of Ger, Yaakov Tessler of Vizhnitz, Meir Porush of Shomrei Emunim, and Yisroel Eichler of Belz. With Eichler no longer in the Knesset, these rabbonim have only three Knesset members under their authority. And at this point, it is also distinctly possible that Porush will consider taking a different path from the Moetzes as well.

Let me backtrack for a moment to fill you in on all the details: Recently, the chassidish Moetzes which oversees the Agudas Yisroel party, convened for a meeting. It was understood to be inevitable that the council would issue a ruling against supporting the draft law; however, at Netanyahu’s request, they did not release a ruling to the public. After Eichler was appointed to his position, the council published its decision, which opposes any law that includes sanctions for the failure to comply with the draft. Now, I am certainly not qualified to argue with these illustrious rabbonim, but I will simply comment that a law that contains no sanctions will never pass, and if there is no draft law on the books, the situation will be dismal. At this point, Netanyahu feels that he is making progress toward assembling a majority in favor of the draft law, and he is exuding optimism. He will still have to convince Tessler and Porush to go along with him, and he will also have to overcome internal opposition within his party. At this time, there are primarily three members of the coalition who oppose the law: Sharren Haskel, who actually belongs to the party headed by Gideon Saar, who returned to the Likud; Ophir Sofer, who is part of the Religious Zionism party; and Yuli Edelstein, who is rumored to have already reached an agreement to join Naftoli Bennett’s party in the next election campaign.

Revelation in the Cabinet: Most Draft Dodgers Are Not Chareidi

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, in her endless efforts to hamstring the government in every possible way, informed Netanyahu last week that the government is in violation of the law. On November 19, the Supreme Court ordered the government to discuss imposing stiffer sanctions on chareidi draft evaders within 45 days, and the government failed to hold that discussion within the time frame required by the court. The attorney general therefore announced that a “constitutional crisis” had been created, or, in other words, that the government was violating the law by ignoring a ruling of the court. Last week, the cabinet held a brief discussion on the subject at the end of its weekly meeting, but the attorney general dismissed it as a sham. “This conduct,” she wrote, “poses a genuine threat to the existence of the democratic regime in the State of Israel. Violating judicial orders, along with the indications that the government has no true intent to obey them, means that the ability of the judiciary to engage in effective judicial review over the government’s activities has been emptied of its meaning.”

Of course, the government did not want to be viewed as violating the law, and Sunday’s cabinet meeting therefore included a discussion on a topic defined in the protocols as “effective economic enforcement against individuals subject to the draft who do not report for conscription, in a manner that will be equal for every sector of the populace, in accordance with the Supreme Court’s ruling and the discussion held by the cabinet earlier this month.” In the course of this discussion, the cabinet reviewed the overall statistics pertaining to draft evasion among the general populace. (Of course, this refers to chareidim and chilonim, but perhaps to Arabs as well; as you may recall, I wrote a couple of weeks ago about the attention focused on the lack of conscription in the Arab sector.) The government revealed that about 90,000 individuals who are subject to the draft and are currently between the ages of 18 and 29 (the exemption age for every Israeli citizen) have not reported for service. This figure pertains to the entire age bracket and not merely to the current year’s cohort. Out of the tens of thousands of individuals subject to the draft, about 45 percent are from the chareidi sector—meaning that while the government has been focusing exclusively on the chareidi community, the number of draft evaders is higher in the general populace.

According to a report from the cabinet meeting, “Prime Minister Binyomin Netanyahu gave instructions for a ministerial task force to be assembled, including professionals from the Personnel Directorate and the relevant ministries, to examine how to address the issue. The conclusions are to be presented to him within 30 days.” Meanwhile, Cabinet Secretary Yossi Fuchs issued a scathing attack against Baharav-Miara, insisting that her response to the petition filed with the court by the Movement for Quality Government, especially her demand to obligate the government to set a timetable for approving a new draft law, was carried out on her own initiative, disregarding the prime minister’s position and without a duly adopted government decision. Fuchs wrote, “The attorney general does not speak on behalf of the government. This is not an authorized position and presenting it as such misleads the court.” He called on the court to reject Baharav-Miara’s position.

Why Will Netanyahu Win the Next Election?

According to the polls, Naftoli Bennett is the one person who poses a threat to the Netanyahu government. All the polls indicate that the Likud will be the largest party in the Knesset after the next election once again, but Bennett’s party will come in second. If Bennett doesn’t ally with Netanyahu, then a complicated situation will arise. While most of the polls predict that the current coalition will have a majority even without Bennett, some polls have yielded different results. The election is currently scheduled to take place in about a year, but as the weeks go by, Netanyahu may decide that it is more politically advantageous for him to move it up.

This week, an Israeli academic published an analysis in which he concluded that Netanyahu will win the next election and remain in office as prime minister. His explanations are very interesting. “Before the 2022 election, I projected that the right would receive 63 or 64 mandates, and I even told Netanyahu as much on the day before the election,” he wrote. “I am now predicting that the right will reach about 70 mandates and that Netanyahu will remain the prime minister. The polls that are trying to manipulate public opinion will remain just that—attempts at manipulation. Furthermore, if the Iranian regime is brought down by military action and the Abraham Accords are broadened, it will be a knockout victory.”

He went on to outline his thought process in greater detail: “A Channel 12 poll showing the Shas party receiving at least eight mandates is part of an ongoing sin of the polling institutes, which make an error in sampling chareidi voters, who are not present on the internet panels of the polling institutes and are weighted in a distorted fashion. This may even be deliberate. The truth is that Shas will not drop below eleven mandates, and it may even grow stronger. United Torah Judaism will reach nine mandates, especially with the record high voter turnout among chareidim in light of the threat posed by the left to the Torah world and the yeshivos. Voter turnout among chareidim is higher than average in any event, and they will win 20 or 21 mandates. Otzma Yehudit and Religious Zionism—meaning Ben-Gvir and Smotrich—received 14 mandates in the 2022 election. The strong rightward trend among the public, as well as the strengthening of religious and traditional leanings following the October 7 massacre and the war, do not align, to put it mildly, with the manipulative polls that give them only nine mandates, predicting that Smotrich will practically disappear. Where will their other four or five mandates go? To Bennett? To Yair Golan? In addition, the very notion that nine mandates will leave the Likud and transfer to Bennett is an absurd fantasy, or a deliberate attempt at manipulation.”

The bottom line, according to this academic, is that since the war began with the October 7 massacre, the Israeli public has been leaning heavily toward the right and developing strong leanings toward tradition and religion. The polls that show the right-wing and chareidi parties losing mandates are distorting the reality. Even demographic trends favor the right: The birth rate among right-wing voters (chareidim, national-religious voters, and Mizrachi voters leaning to the right) is significantly higher than the left-wing birth rate, and the right-wing population has therefore grown significantly. If not for the Arabs, there would be a dramatic difference between the two camps. At this point, over 350,000 new voters have come of age since the 2022 election. These young voters are barely represented at all in internet polls, and their political leanings are not indicated by the polls conducted by Channel 12, Channel 13, and Maariv. Out of those new voters, 65 percent lean toward the right and will strengthen the right-wing bloc. The media polls also disingenuously calculate the Arab vote as somewhere between 20 to 25 percent of the total vote in the country, while Arabs actually make up only about 10 percent of the voters. Moreover, the Likud, unlike the left, hasn’t even begun its election campaign yet. Their campaign will portray Netanyahu as the dominant political brand in the country, as well as emphasizing his groundbreaking achievements. The author of this analysis also believes that Netanyahu’s criminal trial will help him score even more mandates, and I agree with him completely. I haven’t written about it for a while, but every passing day brings more revelations about the outrageous conduct of the police and the prosecution in this bizarre and absurd case.

Ludicrous Criticism Directed at Eichler

Let’s return to the subject of Yisroel Eichler for a moment. As soon as it became known that Eichler was appointed to the post of deputy minister of communications, which would certainly help stabilize Netanyahu’s government, a barrage of attacks on Eichler emerged from the anti-Bibi camp. A famous Israeli public relations expert dubbed him “Eichler, the enemy of Israel” and voiced objections to the allocation of 3.5 million shekels for his office. Nevertheless, one must wonder why he found the budget for this particular deputy minister’s office more objectionable than the government funding for all the other ministers and deputy ministers.

The description of Eicher as an “enemy of Israel” elicited a number of responses. One person wrote, “Full disclosure: I am not an admirer of MK Eichler, to put it mildly, for my own reasons. But a simple Google search for the words ‘Eichler benefiting the needy’ will give you at least a general idea of his socioeconomic agenda. The results do not indicate that he has aided the enemies of Israel, and he even supports the draft law. I believe that the Belz chassidus even studies the Liba core curriculum. So what led you to label him an ‘enemy of Israel’?  Is this your concept of an enemy of Israel?”

Incidentally, the Public Petitions Committee, which fields complaints from the public, was Eichler’s brainchild, and during his time as the committee chairman, he made good use of it as a tool to protect the chareidi community.

Some of the responses, on the other hand, echoed the criticism for Eichler, including one that I found ludicrous. “Stay with me for a moment as I go through this,” the unnamed writer begins. “Yesterday, thousands of people marched to prevent the draft exemption law from passing. At the same time, Binyomin Netanyahu appointed a 70-year-old chareidi man without a television as the deputy minister of communications. We now have a deputy minister of communications with absolutely no connection to the media. This appointment was essentially made to legitimize a law that distinguishes between one person’s blood and another’s, all for the sake of keeping the prime minister in office a bit longer.”

Personally, I am indeed a fan of Yisroel Eichler and certainly of his Rebbe. Eichler is one of the most hardworking members of the Knesset, and his age, in my view, is an advantage rather than a disadvantage. But what I find most laughable about this response is the argument that Eichler has no familiarity with the media. While it’s true that he does not own a television, he is probably the greatest expert on the media in chareidi society. Not only did he work as a journalist and editor (for Hamachaneh Hachareidi) for decades, but Eichler also spent many years on a highly popular program known as Popolitica, which dominated the media in its day, along with Tommy Lapid and Amnon Dankner. Only a foreigner who is completely detached from the realities of Israeli society could accuse Eichler have having no connection to the media.

A Judge Delivers a Stern Rebuke to the Police

Having mentioned Netanyahu’s criminal trial, let me broach a topic that is indirectly related to it. While the prime minister is being tried in court, another scandal is unfolding concurrently. This affair, known as Qatar-gate, involves a number of close associates of Netanyahu who were paid by an American citizen to work to improve Qatar’s public image in Israel. The investigation of this affair led to the arrests of Eli Feldstein, Ari Rosenfeld, and even Netanyahu’s spokesman Yonasan Urich. The main allegation is that these individuals were involved in leaking a confidential military document to the German newspaper Bild, which supposedly would have enhanced Qatar’s image and directed blame at Egypt for the failure to free the hostages in Gaza. I won’t get into all the details at this time; however, I will note that Feldstein was recently interviewed by the media and claimed that Tzachi Braverman, Netanyahu’s chief of staff, met with him secretly and led him to understand that Braverman had information about the investigation that he should not have known. The police reacted by summoning Braverman for questioning. He was released under restrictive conditions, including a ban on approaching Netanyahu’s office. Of course, this was a painful blow to Braverman and probably unjust as well, and it also seems likely to delay his departure for London; Braverman was recently tapped to take over the position of Israeli ambassador to the United Kingdom.

Last weekend, Judge Menachem Mizrachi of the Magistrates’ Court rejected a request from the police to extend the restrictions imposed on Tzachi Braverman and Yonasan Urich. The judge ruled that there was no reason to bar them from returning to Netanyahu’s office and spoke harshly about the material provided by the police to support their request. He indicated that the police were attempting to deceive everyone. “In fact, who made the decision to investigate Braverman solely because Feldstein made a comment about him in an interview with the news?” the judge asked. “What sort of conduct is this?”

This isn’t the first time that Judge Mizrachi has come out with a harsh ruling against the police. In the past, the police have almost always filed an appeal with the District Court against his rulings, and the judge who heard the appeal—which was almost always the same individual, a judge named Michlis—sided with the police and overturned Mizrachi’s verdict. In this case as well, the police filed an appeal, and Michlis delayed the implementation of Mizrachi’s ruling and set a date this week for a hearing in the District Court.

Nevertheless, Judge Mizrachi’s ruling bears quoting. “There is no evidentiary, substantive, proportionate or practical justification for accepting the requests,” he wrote, dismissing the police’s requests to impose restrictions on both suspects. Mizrachi listed a series of lapses and improprieties in the investigation and asserted that Eli Feldstein’s testimony—which the police accepted without hesitation as a reason to summon Braverman for questioning, without even looking into the matter further—was inconsistent and unreliable. At the core of his criticism was the question of why Netanyahu himself hadn’t been questioned. The judge wondered how it was possible that Feldstein claimed that he had reported to the prime minister in person that he intended to leak the classified document, but the police did not see any reason to question Netanyahu to determine whether he was truly aware of it. Judge Mizrachi went one step further and hinted that he suspected the police of deliberately impairing the purity of the investigation. He explained that if the police had questioned Netanyahu, they would probably have been forced to reject Feldstein’s version of the story out of hand, which would have left them with no justification for asking for restrictions on Braverman and Urich. When the appeal comes before the District Court, the police will have to present new material or more convincing arguments to justify the continued restrictions.

Regardless of how the District Court rules, however, the general public has already become convinced that this is a witch hunt with no real basis—and with no end in sight.

A Peek into the Past

There are many more things I could write about, but as usual, I must bow to space constraints. Bli neder, I will write at greater length next week about the appearance of disabled IDF veteran Saidian in the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. In a nutshell, Saidian called on the government to draft chareidim but to leave Torah learners alone.

I would also have liked to write at greater length about MK Avi Maoz’s proposed law, which would have limited official recognition of conversions to those that are halachically valid. The Knesset managed to drum up a massive majority against the bill, which was voted down by a majority of 60 to 15. I commented to Maoz that we had once been told that a law of this nature would not yield any benefit, since the wicked judges would simply claim that Reform conversions are considered “halachic” conversions as well. He told me that he had found a way around that problem: His bill stipulates that a conversion will be recognized by the law only if it is accepted by the Chief Rabbinate.

Another topic I would have liked to bring up is the subject of Wing of Zion, the official state plane. Last week, the plane disappeared, and everyone was certain that it had flown out of the country due to concerns of an imminent attack from Iran (in response to the expected American attack on Iran). It was later revealed that the plane had been on a training flight that was scheduled long ago.

Much of the country was angered last week when a judge decided to reject the police’s request to extend the house arrest of the bus driver who ran over Yosef Eisenthal, causing his death.

Finally, there is a small item that I simply cannot resist mentioning here. This week, someone sent me a copy of Kol Yisroel, a popular chareidi publication in its day, from eighty years ago. A small news item at the bottom of the front page, titled “Hagaon Rav Aharon Kotler shlita,” caught my eye, and I read the following report: “Throughout the week, Torah learners, rabbonim, and gedolei Torah have been coming from all over to greet the great gaon Rav Aharon Kotler, who is staying at the home of his revered father-in-law, Rav Isser Zalman Meltzer, in Yerushalayim…. The administration of Yeshivas Eitz Chaim invited Rav Kotler to deliver a shiur in the yeshiva on Tuesday. At the entrance to the yeshiva, Rav Aharon was greeted by the heads and directors of the institution. Rav Yechiel Michel Tukachinsky introduced him with an enthusiastic speech, and in the presence of a large group of listeners from all of Yerushalayim’s greatest yeshivos, he delivered a lengthy pilpul on the halachos of yuchsin and forbidden marriages, which attracted great interest and became the talk of the day in yeshiva circles.” This was a fascinating glimpse into the Torah world of yesteryear.

Rav Kaduri’s Corrections

Time is certainly passing quickly. It has already been twenty years since the passing of the venerable mekubal Rav Yitzchok Kaduri, who passed away on motzoei Shabbos of the week of Parshas Vaeira—the 29th of Teves 5766. I had the privilege of visiting Rav Kaduri’s home—next door to the offices of Chinuch Atzmai on Rechov Adoniyahu Hakohen—many times, and I observed him writing amulets and greeting people who came to him to request his brachos. I also had several opportunities to escort him to Shas party conventions. One of those conventions was held in Eilat, and the rov was originally scheduled to travel there by helicopter. At the last minute, his family members decided that they were afraid to allow him to travel in a helicopter, and the Shas party rented a small plane with about 30 seats to take off from the airport that was located at the time in Atarot, not far from the neighborhood of Ramot. At the very last minute, someone told me that I would be permitted to bring companions on the plane. My father told me that I should not bring my children along, so I invited several friends instead. It was a remarkable experience to sit in a small airplane with a man whose input was sought by so many people on a regular basis. I won’t reveal any secrets from that plane trip.

I cannot share stories about Rav Kaduri’s miracles, although the more famous stories need no evidence. I remember, however, that I was once sent to solicit his signature for a letter that I had composed. The letter was addressed to Judge Aryeh Segalson, who had unjustly convicted Rabbi Yair Levi, a member of the Knesset and director-general of the El Hamaayan school network. Levi had cashed some checks to maintain the recipients’ anonymity, but as far as the state was concerned, that was an act of theft. They could not possibly understand his reasoning. At the time, we solicited letters from public figures in the hope that we could stir some compassion in the judge, who was known to be rigid and somewhat detached from reality. When I brought the letter to Rav Kaduri, I discovered that he wasn’t willing to simply sign a letter blindly; he read every word with great care and made some cogent comments. He explained why he felt it was appropriate to change certain words or sentences, and I was amazed. After he signed the letter, he said to me, “This letter will not help. This judge will not show mercy; he will hand down a stiff sentence.” Indeed, that is exactly what happened.

Another memorable encounter took place when I was working in the interior minister’s office and was responsible for fielding complaints or requests for help from the public. One day, the minister referred a distraught couple to me: They had set a date for their wedding, but the mekubal Rav Kaduri then told them that their names were not compatible and their marriage would not be successful. They were heartbroken and at a lass as to what to do. Aryeh Deri instructed me to visit Rav Ovadiah Yosef and to ask him for instructions. I am not at liberty to repeat his exact response, but the main point he conveyed, with indescribable firmness, was that we must be guided only by halacha. We have no business concerning ourselves with mystical matters, he insisted, or questioning our decisions based on names that are supposedly incompatible. “Tell them that they should marry as they are planning,” Rav Ovadiah instructed me, “and that I give them a brocha that their marriage should be very successful.”

Two Petiros

In conclusion, I would like to share a chilling story involving my neighborhood of Givat Shaul.

Sometimes we do not understand why certain things occur, but we are at least able to recognize that there is some hidden reason that we haven’t grasped. Two consecutive petiros this last week made that concept very clear. Last Wednesday, the community of Bayit Vegan reeled in shock after being informed of the passing of a yungerman named Rav Shneur Zalman Zingrevitz. The next day, on Thursday, tragedy struck in Givat Shaul with the passing of a yungerman named Rav Shimon Pereg. Both men were young; one was 56 years old and the other was 52. Both were also outstanding masmidim and beloved by their communities, and both were survived by outstanding families. Most remarkably, the two men had learned together as chavrusas for thirty years.

On Zos Chanukah this year, Rav Shimon visited his good friend, Rav Shneur Zalman, in Shaare Zedek and left a note at his bedside. “Dear Shneur,” he wrote, “I visited you here, and I was very alarmed at first when I thought that you were intubated, but then I realized that it was merely a CPAP. I derived a lesson from this: Even if something seems frightening at first, there may not truly be a reason for concern.”  He ended his brief note with a tefillah for his friend to have a complete recovery from his illness. Last week, on the night of the 12th of Teves, Rav Shimon escorted his friend to his eternal rest. On Thursday night, Rav Shimon suffered a heart attack after leaving a wedding in Beit Shemesh, and he, in turn, was escorted to his own final resting place on Friday, the 13th of Teves. The automated phone line from their kollel carried the two messages back to back: First Rav Shimon informed the kollel members about Rav Shneur Zalman’s levayah, and then the next message relayed the news about Rav Shimon’s levayah. The two old friends are buried in close proximity to each other, at the recommendation of Rav Shimon’s cousin, Rav Ezriel Auerbach.

On motzoei Shabbos, I joined the crowds in Rav Shimon’s shul in Givat Shaul for hespedim. Rav Shimon regularly davened in this particular shul on Shabbosos, and he set up the benches and aron kodesh every erev Shabbos, transforming the room from a seminary classroom to a proper place for davening. And on that Friday, his funeral was held in the room where he had toiled with great dedication on behalf of the community.

Rav Shimon was a highly respected individual in the neighborhood, known for his kind heart and chessed as well as his brilliant smile and affable nature. The famed mashgiach Rav Yitzchok Yeruchom Borodiansky delivered a mournful hesped for Rav Shimon, who was his cousin. (Rebbetzin Sara Pereg was the youngest daughter of Rav Chaim Leib Auerbach, and Rav Borodiansky was the son-in-law of her brother, Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach.) He related that Rav Shimon’s father, Rav Moshe Meir Pereg, was stabbed at Shaar Shechem on Thursday night, the 12th of Elul 5745/1985, when Rav Shimon was below the age of bar mitzvah. The stabbing left Rav Moshe Pereg disabled and confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his life. Shimon tended to his father with great dedication until his passing in the summer of 5763/2003. After his marriage, Rav Shimon kept his tefillin in his parents’ home to make it clear where he considered his primary residence to be. He also honored his mother in a superhuman fashion, and his sensitivity to others was astounding. Rav Borodiansky cried tearfully, “Rav Shimon, you were wonderful to us; you were wonderful to everyone.” As Chazal state, “Anyone who is pleasing to other people is pleasing to Hashem” (Avos 3:10). Rav Shimon Pereg, with his outstanding middos, epitomized this concept.

“Someone once told him that his eyesight had become impaired,” Rav Borodiansky related in his hesped. “Rav Shimon said, ‘We have a tradition that learning the Ohr Hachaim is a segulah for healing from this condition.’

“‘How can I learn it if I am unable to see properly?’ the other man asked.

“In response, Rav Shimon promised to learn with him every Thursday night for half an hour. Even at the wedding in Beit Shemesh on the last night of his life, he left for half an hour to learn with that man. A short time later, when he was on his way home, he suddenly passed away. He left this world with a mitzvah in his hands,” the mashgiach concluded.

President Donald Trump said that he would charge a 10 percent import tax starting in February on goods from eight European nations because of their opposition to his demands for American control of Greenland, in a confrontation that will test the strength of U.S. partnerships with its NATO allies in Europe.

In a social media post, Trump said that Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Finland would face the tariff, which would climb to 25% on June 1 if no deal was in place for “the complete and total purchase of Greenland” by the United States, Trump said.

“The United States of America is immediately open to negotiation with Denmark and/or any of these Countries that have put so much at risk, despite all that we have done for them,” Trump said on Truth Social.

Trump contends that China and Russia have their own military designs on Greenland, which is very sparsely populated. It has vast untapped reserves of valuable, strategically important minerals, including diamonds, graphite, lithium, copper, nickel, and gallium. It also has rich deposits of rare earth minerals, such as neodymium and dysprosium, which are essential for the production of powerful magnets and other defense applications, and whose global supply is currently controlled by Russia and China. For these reasons, Trump has said that anything less than the enormous Arctic island winding up being completely in U.S. hands would be “unacceptable” to him.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has also said that President Trump considers the acquisition of Greenland to be a “national security priority” for the United States to serve as a deterrence to American adversaries in the Arctic region.

The strategic value of Greenland to the United States was further explained by Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum in an interview with Breitbart News Daily. Burgum likened the acquisition of Greenland to previous U.S. territorial expansions through the purchase of large pieces of land from foreign powers, These include the 1803 Louisiana Purchase by President Thomas Jefferson from French emperor Napoleon for $15 million, the 1867 purchase of Alaska from the Russian Empire for $7.2 million, negotiated by then-Secretary of State William Seward, and the 1819 acquisition of Florida from Spain negotiated by then-Secretary of State John Quincy Adams in exchange for the U.S. assuming about $5 million of Spanish debts to the residents of Florida.

Greenland’s Resources May Be as Valuable as Alaska’s.

Secretary Burgum said, “President Trump understands that the same way that Thomas Jefferson understood this was going to change the course of our country.” Burgum also said that Greenland could be as valuable a resource to the United States as Alaska “is for us today.”

To explain Greenland’s military value, Burgum recalled his experience growing up in North Dakota during the Cold War with the Soviet Union. “We had missile silos practically everywhere because we were the front line in defense of a Russian attack. The shortest distance [of attack between the Soviet Union and the United States] would have come over the poles. And in [the upcoming] era of the Golden Dome [the ballistic missile defense system Trump has promised to build for the U.S.], having our ability to defend our country, early detection is key, and Greenland will be just as important as Alaska.”

In reaction to Trump’s fresh demand that the U.S. take over Greenland, hundreds of people in Greenland’s capital city, Nuuk, marched in a rally to demonstrate their support for their own self-governance under Danish rule. In addition, thousands of people also marched in protest against Trump’s demand through the Danish capital city of Copenhagen, many of them carrying Greenland’s flag.

Burgum, who, as head of the Department of the Interior, would be the cabinet member responsible for Greenland if it became a U.S. territory, suggested that the Danish reluctance to turn Greenland over to the United States might be due to “a holdover of colonial pride.” He added, “I’m guessing that the vast majority of people in Denmark have never been to Greenland and have no plans to go.”

With a land area of 836,000 square miles, Greenland is about three times the size of Texas and is the largest island in the world. It has a population of about 57,000 people, 90% of whom are members of the Inuit, an indigenous circumpolar people who live throughout the Arctic regions of Alaska, Canada, and Siberia. The capital city of Greenland, Nuuk, is located on the southwestern coast of Greenland and has a population of about 20,000 people.

A Brief History of Greenland

Though it was always considered geographically to be a part of the adjacent North American continent, Greenland was originally claimed and explored by the kingdom of Norway, going back to the year 986. Following the union of Denmark and Norway in the 18th century, Greenland gradually became more closely associated with Denmark. The first Danish colony in Greenland was established in 1721. When Denmark and Norway became separate kingdoms in 1814, control of Greenland was formally transferred from Norway to Denmark. Since 1979, Greenland has been an autonomous, self-governing territory. In 2009, Denmark granted Greenland’s elected government control over all of its affairs except for foreign policy and defense.

Greenland’s economy is heavily dependent on exports from its fisheries, attracting cruise ship and independent tourism, and block grants from the Danish government. Greenland’s rich natural resources have gone largely underdeveloped due to a lack of transport infrastructure in the island’s interior and labor shortages due to its small and aging indigenous population.

Greenland’s people are recognized as citizens of Denmark and the European Union. Polls taken last year found that an overwhelming majority of Greenland’s residents were opposed to a U.S. takeover. The same polls also found that a majority of residents also want complete independence from Denmark.

Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen said last week that if forced to choose, he believed that most residents of Greenland would opt to remain under the rule of Denmark rather than be controlled by the United States.

“Greenland does not want to be owned by the United States. Greenland does not want to be governed by the United States. Greenland does not want to be part of the United States,” he said. “We choose the Greenland we know today, which is part of the kingdom of Denmark.”

Trump Determined to Get Greenland “Whether They Like It or Not”

But Trump does not care. He has said that he is determined to have the U.S. take control of Greenland, “whether they like it or not,” claiming that it is needed to protect “world security.”

Reportedly, Trump first became interested in acquiring Greenland for the United States during his first term as president due to a suggestion from businessman Ronald Lauder, who wrote in a New York Post opinion column last year, “To know Greenland is to understand that it is not just another strategic asset: It is America’s next frontier.” In 2019, Trump ordered his national security advisor at the time, John Bolton, to meet with the prime minister of Denmark to discuss the idea, but that effort went nowhere.

Ever since Trump began to show interest in acquiring Greenland for the U.S., Danish officials have frequently reiterated that Greenland was not for sale. But they have also expressed their commitment to working in good faith to bolster the U.S. security presence on the island and increase U.S. investments in mining its mineral resources. Danish leaders also said that in response to Trump’s criticism that Greenland was not being properly defended, their government increased its spending on Arctic security by $13.7 billion last year.

But Trump has argued that Denmark, even with the help of its European allies, was not strong enough to defend Greenland from an attempted takeover by Russia and China. In response to the perceived increase in the threat from Russia and China, Denmark announced last week that it was increasing its military presence in Greenland in cooperation with its European NATO allies.

Trump has also questioned Denmark’s “right of ownership” to the island. However, U.S. State Department records show that in a declaration attached to the 1916 agreement for the U.S. purchase of the Virgin Islands in the Caribbean, including St. Croix, St. John, and St. Thomas from Denmark for $25 million, the government of the United States of America stated that it “will not object to the Danish government extending their political and economic interests to the whole of Greenland.” That agreement was subsequently ratified by the U.S. Senate and signed by President Woodrow Wilson, making it binding on the U.S. government according to the U.S. Constitution.

Trump Pressed His Greenland Agenda at the Davos Meeting

Trump’s renewed demand that Denmark sell Greenland to the United States, combined with his tariff threat against Denmark and its European supporters for rejecting that demand, were a major topic of concern at the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, this week.

Shortly after his arrival at Davos, Trump posted on his Truth Social account that after a “very good” call with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte to talk about Greenland, he had “agreed to a meeting of the various parties” in Davos to discuss the issue.

“As I expressed to everyone, very plainly,” Trump wrote, “Greenland is imperative for national and world Security. There can be no going back — On that, everyone agrees!”

Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, said to the world leaders attending the forum on Tuesday, in reference to the Greenland issue, “When it comes to the security of the Arctic region, Europe is fully committed, and we share the objectives of the United States in this regard.”

She then declared that, for the members of the European Union, the “full solidarity of Greenland and the Kingdom of Denmark, the sovereignty and integrity of their territory, is non-negotiable.”

While emphasizing that “We consider the people of the United States not just our allies but our friends,” von der Leyen warned that, “plunging us into a downward spiral would only aid the very adversaries [Russia and China] we are both so very committed to keeping out of the strategic landscape.”

She also said the EU is preparing a major investment package to support Greenland’s local economy and infrastructure, and plans to strengthen security partnerships to defend Greenland with non-U.S. partners like the U.K., Canada, Norway, and Iceland.

EU President Says Trump Has Changed the World Permanently

She concluded her remarks by observing that, in light of Trump’s Greenland demands and threats, “The world has changed permanently, and we need to change with it.”

During his speech at the Davos meeting, French President Emmanuel Macron bemoaned “a shift towards a world without rules where international law is trampled” and “imperial ambitions are resurfacing.” He also said that while President Trump openly aimed to “weaken and subordinate Europe,” the French response would be to double down on the concept of multilateralism and push for more European sovereignty and autonomy.

Macron also called Trump’s latest threats of raise tariffs on France and other European states as nonsensical, and warned that Europe could reluctantly retaliate against the United States with a group of drastic measures, including $108 billion worth of retaliatory tariffs and punitive economic counter-measures which are together called an “Anti-Coercion Instrument,” and is more popularly known as the “trade bazooka.”

Macron then added, “I do regret that, but this is a consequence of just unpredictability and useless aggressivity [by President Trump].”

Macron also remarked to Trump in obvious frustration that, “I do not understand what you are doing on Greenland.”

Trump Clashes with the Leaders of France and Norway

In a social media post on X, French President Emmanuel Macron seemed to equate Trump’s desire to take over Greenland to the threats by Russian leader Vladimir Putin that ultimately resulted in the war in Ukraine.

“No intimidation or threats will influence us, whether in Ukraine, Greenland, or anywhere else in the world when we are faced with such situations,” Macron said. “Tariff threats are unacceptable and have no place in this context.”

Trump’s often rocky relationship with the French president was strained even further Tuesday when he threatened to impose 200% tariffs on French wines and champagne imported into the United States. The new tariffs are in retaliation for Macron’s rejection of Trump’s invitation for the French president to join his Board of Peace, which will oversee the implementation of the next stage of Trump’s peace plan for Gaza.

Trump also had a harsh exchange with Norway’s prime minister, Jonas Gahr Store, after he and Finland’s president, Alexander Stubb, sent Trump a joint message asking for a phone call with him to discuss ways to de-escalate the Greenland dispute.

Trump responded with an angry message telling the Norwegian prime minister, “Considering your country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped 8 wars plus, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of peace, although it will always be predominant, but can now think about what is good and proper for the United States of America.” Trump then reiterated, “The world is not secure unless we have complete and total control of Greenland.”

Trump has repeatedly tried to use trade penalties to pressure American allies and rivals alike to give in to his demands, generating investment commitments from some nations and pushback from others, notably China.

Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said the tariff threats were a “surprise” given the “constructive meeting” he had with top U.S. officials last week in Washington.

In an interview with British television Channel 4, Rasmussen said that with Trump’s latest threats growing out of his demands for U.S. control over Greenland, he has become, “a real threat to world peace. “I think the time for flattery has ended. [Trump’s] unpredictability is actually now shaking the whole world.”

To British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Trump’s announcement was “completely wrong.” He insisted that Britain’s position is that Greenland is part of Denmark.

Trump Blasts Britain for Giving Up a Strategic Base

Trump also offended British sensibilities when he said in a media post that he strongly objected to the United Kingdom’s decision to give up control of the Chagos Islands in the Indian Ocean to Mauritius. The Chagos chain includes the jointly operated U.S.-British naval and air base on the island of Diego Garcia, which has long been regularly used by long-range U.S. military aircraft, such as B-52 bombers, and naval warships, as a strategically placed staging, logistics, and refueling site.

Trump wrote about that decision, “Shockingly, our ‘brilliant’ NATO ally, the United Kingdom, is currently planning to give away the island of Diego Garcia, the site of a vital U.S. military base, to Mauritius, and to do so for no reason whatsoever.

“The U.K. giving away extremely important land is an act of great stupidity, and is another in a very long line of national security reasons why Greenland has to be acquired [by the United States].”

On the other hand, visiting House Speaker Mike Johnson gave a conciliatory speech to members of the British parliament in which he emphasized the importance of maintaining the “special relationship” between the U.S. and Great Britain.

Johnson recalled that traditionally, “We work through our differences calmly and as friends, and I want to assure you this morning that is still the case.”

Speaker Johnson also commended the U.K. and Europe for “stepping up as faithful allies” by substantially increasing their defense spending to ensure their collective security in light of the increased threat from Russia. “America first will never mean America alone,” Johnson said, and added that a “strong America is good for the entire world.”

Denmark and Greenland Taking Trump’s Threats Seriously

In response to Trump’s suggestion that the U.S. could seize Greenland by force if all else fails, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said, “If the United States chooses to attack another NATO country militarily, everything will stop — including NATO and thus the security that has been provided [by the alliance] since the end of World War II.”

Lars-Christian Brask, deputy speaker of the Danish Parliament, said Denmark was taking Trump’s comments “seriously,” while emphasizing that the U.S. and Denmark have been long-term partners and allies for more than 80 years.

Brask also said in an interview with Bloomberg News that, “One NATO country doesn’t go and require territory of another NATO country. It’s unheard of, and it’s disrespectful.”

Similarly, Greenland’s prime minister Nielsen said at a press conference Tuesday that while it was “not likely” that Trump would use military force to seize Greenland, that scenario cannot be ruled out. Therefore, he concluded grimly, “We must be prepared for all the things that may happen.”

Former Danish prime minister and NATO secretary-general Anders Fogh Rasmussen told the Wall Street Journal that Trump’s threat to put new “tariffs on allies makes no sense. Deals do.”

He suggested that a new security agreement between the U.S., Denmark, and Greenland, together with a joint investment program, “would be far more profitable — economically and strategically — than trade wars.”

The leaders of several European countries and Canada also offered their support to Denmark by issuing a joint statement that said “the inviolability of borders” is a universal principle and that “Greenland belongs to its people. It is for Denmark and Greenland, and them only, to decide on matters concerning Denmark and Greenland.”

Ulrik Pram Gad, a senior researcher at the Danish Institute for International Studies, said in an interview that he believes many Danish people feel a sense of “betrayal” due to Trump’s aggressive rhetoric, given the fact that Denmark sent its soldiers into combat, and 43 of them were killed, to support the U.S. forces in the Middle East and in Afghanistan.

“We were loyal allies to the U.S.,” Gad emphasized.

Gad also said that, while in theory, European nations could use trade or taxation policies to apply pressure on Trump to drop his demands for Greenland, in practice, such a move could lead to the disintegration of the NATO alliance.

Trump intensified his public calls for U.S. ownership of Greenland the day after the January 3 U.S. military operation that ousted Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro.

No Progress in Latest U.S. Negotiations with Denmark

Secretary of State Marco Rubio told congressional lawmakers in a January 5 closed-door briefing that the escalation in White House rhetoric about Greenland was part of a wider strategy to ramp up pressure on Denmark to sell the territory to the U.S. But Greenland and Denmark have stood firm in response to pressure from the Trump administration in refusing to negotiate the terms of such a sale. After a high-stakes meeting at the White House with Vice President JD Vance, Denmark’s foreign minister, Lars Lokke Rasmussen, said there remained “a fundamental disagreement” between the two NATO allies over Greenland’s fate.

Trump’s decision to announce new tariffs was apparently in retaliation for last week’s deployment of troops from the various European countries to Greenland.

Trump has said he considers Greenland to be essential for deployment of the “Golden Dome” missile defense system, utilizing Israeli-developed technology, that Trump has ordered to be developed for the U.S. He has also argued that U.S. ownership of Greenland is necessary in order to deter an attempt by Russia or China to take over the island. Greenland has become much more strategically important because of the recent warming temperatures in the Arctic waters that surround it, which break the ice and make the northern shipping routes much more accessible on a year-round basis.

The U.S. Military Presence in Greenland

The U.S. built 17 military installations and stationed thousands of troops in Greenland during World War II, when the island served as a base for fighting the Battle of the Atlantic against the German submarines, which were sinking the ships carrying vital U.S. weapons and supplies to Great Britain. After the end of World War II, the U.S. offered to buy the island, but Denmark rejected the offer. Instead, Denmark signed a defense agreement with the United States in 1951, giving the U.S. military broad authority to build and operate military facilities in Greenland.

Greenland is strategically situated at the western end of the GIUK Gap, the heavily traveled water passage between Greenland, Iceland, and the United Kingdom. The U.S. and Denmark, as founding members of the NATO alliance, used their bases in Greenland during the Cold War era to monitor Russian submarine and other naval movements into the North Atlantic through the GIUK Gap.

The current American military presence in Greenland has been reduced to just 200 soldiers stationed at the remote Pituffik Space Base located in the northwest section of the island. It was built during the early years of the Cold War to monitor Soviet military operations in the Arctic. The base currently supports missile early warning, missile defense, and space surveillance operations for the militaries of the U.S. and its NATO allies.

The Danish military organized a meeting in Greenland last week with NATO allies, including the U.S., to discuss Arctic security in the face of a potential Russian threat to the alliance’s northern flank. The Americans were also invited to participate in an upcoming Danish-hosted military exercise, Operation Arctic Endurance, to be held in Greenland.

Expressing his opposition to Trump’s strong-arm tactics in an effort to bully Denmark into agreeing to his demands for Greenland, Chris Coons, the Democrat U.S. Senator from Delaware, declared during a visit to Copenhagen with other members of Congress, that, “There is almost no better ally to the United States than Denmark. If we do things that cause Danes to question whether we can be counted on as a NATO ally, why would any other country seek to be our ally or believe in our representations?”

The End of an Era in American Foreign Relations

Clearly, President Trump’s aggressive second-term initiatives to pursue what he perceives to be essential American national interests, at the expense of both hostile regimes, such as Nicolas Maduro’s Venezuela, and even longtime NATO allies, such as Denmark, are clearly a major departure from America’s post-World War II foreign policy approach.

Charles Kupchan, a professor of international affairs at Georgetown University, told the New York Times that in the postwar era, “[America] took the lead in de-legitimating colonial rule and ending the age of empire. Those days may be coming to an end. If the United States were to use economic and military coercion to take control of Greenland, it would be an unabashed act of imperial aggression against a democratic ally,” Kupchan said.

Instead, Trump is reverting to a 19th century view of America’s essential national interests, as epitomized by his embrace of the Monroe Doctrine, which Trump has used to justify the flawless U.S. military action that seized Venezuela’s corrupt president, Nicolas Maduro, on January 3.

Trump’s willingness to use all necessary means of persuasion, up to and including the use of military force, if necessary, in the pursuit of America’s national interests, is reminiscent of the attitude of President Theodore Roosevelt. On the one hand, Theodore Roosevelt, like Trump, was eager to project American power around the world when he sent the Great White Fleet, consisting of 16 American battleships, on a 43,000-mile cruise.

Trump Emulating Theodore Roosevelt

Also like Trump, Theodore Roosevelt was eager to serve as a global peacemaker. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1906 for mediating the treaty that ended the 1905 Russo-Japanese War. But Trump, despite an equally impressive record, having halted the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza and seven other bloody conflicts around the world, is clearly frustrated that he has not yet received that level of international recognition for his peacemaking accomplishments.

There is an even closer parallel in Theodore Roosevelt’s presidential record to Trump’s current efforts to assert U.S. national interests in Venezuela and Greenland. That is in the ruthless tactics that Theodore Roosevelt used to build the Panama Canal, in which he overcame the objections to the project by the government of Colombia, which owned the Isthmus of Panama at that time. Roosevelt’s response was to actively help stage the revolution, which resulted in the creation of the new country of Panama, which then agreed to permit the United States, under Roosevelt’s leadership, to build the canal, which turned out to be both strategically and economically vital.

Due to his audacity and persistence, Theodore Roosevelt was ultimately successful in his goal of enabling America to fulfill its “Manifest Destiny,” turning it into an up-and-coming global superpower. More than a century later, President Donald Trump is using the same kind of ruthless tactics to put national interests above all other considerations, in order to achieve his stated goal of “Making America Great Again.”

We lost our heat this week. Just like that, the HVAC system that had been toiling faithfully and invisibly since we moved in had reached the end of its rope. It gave up the ghost. It was no more.

Out came the space heaters, sweatshirts and phones, the first two in a valiant effort to keep us warm, and the latter to aid in the search for a good HVAC company. Thankfully, we found one. Even more thankfully, just a few days later we had a new system installed, boruch Hashem. But this episode is still tickling my brain with its chilly fingers. It has left me musing about… you guessed it. The cold.

In one of the marvels of human biology, Hashem programmed our bodies to do specific things in the face of specific threats. For instance, when we get hurt, adrenaline rushes in to mask the pain, thus affording us the time and strength that we need to get help. When we exert ourselves, perspiration is produced on the skin to cool us off and keep us from overheating.

When the opposite happens and we find our­selves in a situation where we’re exposed to un­comfortably cold temperatures, our bodies also know what to do.

In the face of extreme cold, such as being forced to spend a long time in freezing water or air, a kind of triage takes place in our bodies reminiscent of a hospital emergency room. The body figures out which parts of us are expendable and which are crucial for life, and it diverts all its resources to­ward keeping the most vital organs warm.

That’s why you’ll find that your fingers and toes are the first to feel cold in the winter. That’s be­cause fingers and toes are not as high up on the list of non-expendables as some other parts of us. When hypothermia sets in and body temperature plummets, blood is directed away from the ex­tremities in favor of keeping our internal organs warm.

But if the body temperature continues to fall, this won’t be enough. Organs such as the liver and kidneys begin to shut down, too. All in the name of dedicating all possible resources to the vital goal of keeping the heart and brain alive.

We may not be so aware of it, but in life we en­gage in triage all the time. Faced with a set of problems to be solved or actions to be taken, we mentally assess each one, put them on a ladder of priorities, and then act accordingly. The calcula­tion can be lightning swift. If you have three small children all shrieking at once, two because they’re cranky and tired but one because he’s got his fin­ger stuck in the door, you’ll instanta­neously decide to direct your energies toward child number three.

Not only is the chronology of our re­sponse decided, but the response itself as well. Walking down a dark street in a sketchy neighborhood, our eyes dart back and forth and over our shoulders, continually assessing risk. If we de­tect such a risk, we reassess to figure out how best to respond. On a more abstract level, when entering a room where our status is uncertain, we’ll automatically scan the scene, tabulat­ing what we see and hear in an effort to stay on top of things. To find our place. To stay socially safe.

Fear, or the desire to keep ourselves and our loved ones safe, is a potent motivator. When fire, crime, or dis­ease threatens, parents will triage the situation and take steps to ensure that their children are protected. When our property is threatened, we take steps to save what we can. What we save will reveal what we hold important.

For instance, if a fire is raging at a neighbor’s house, r”l, and seems in­tent on continuing on to yours, what, beyond your loved ones, will you has­ten to save? The head of the family may start hauling out as many of his seforim as possible. The children will grab a favorite toy or doll, or beloved pair of fuzzy slippers. The wife may fill her pockets with pieces of jewelry her hus­band has given her over the years, and then run for the passports and the old, pre-digital-era photo albums.

In other words, everyone undergoes a quick internal triage process to decide on their order of priorities. When not everything can be saved, we’ll hurry to retrieve those at the top of our lists.

Protective Measures

The cold is an example of a threat to our physical well-being which can eas­ily be translated into emotional terms. Anything that poses a threat to our happiness, our emotional safety or our good reputation is like the frigid air or icy water that galvanizes the body into rushing to the aid of the vital organs.

If we feel in danger of losing some­thing that’s precious to us, we tend to marshal all our resources to fight off the threat. Sometimes at the expense of our good sense, and our good mid­dos.

See how a toddler behaves when Mommy brings home a new baby brother or sister. Even in the most op­timal case, where the parents do every­thing right to introduce the newcomer in a positive way, the toddler may feel threatened. She may worry, in the dim, unthought-out way of small children, that she stands to lose something im­portant to her. Her position has been assailed, and her fears have been kin­dled. Is it any wonder that she’ll some­times “act out” on those fears?

As grown-ups, we’re often guilty of the same misdemeanor, though with considerably less justification than that hapless toddler. Anyone or any­thing that threatens our emotional well-being or seems poised to steal away something we feel we need, be­comes the enemy. And then, just as the body does when it’s exposed to extreme temperatures, we drop into self-defense mode. All our mental and emotional energies fly to the rescue to preserve what we hold dear, including our pride and our sense of belonging… Sometimes, in the process, resorting to tactics that are beneath us.

When one acts out of fear, something primal happens. When you feel as if you’re fighting for your life, self-pres­ervation leaps to the top of your list of priorities at the expense of your other, more commendable values. Instead of putting Yiras Shomayim at the head of the list, we place our fearful, ambi­tious, insecure egos. And that’s never a good thing.

An ER nurse needs to be clear-think­ing if she wants to properly triage each incoming patient. It doesn’t do to place a scratched finger ahead of an internal hemorrhage. No matter how loudly the scratched victim howls, the need to halt blood loss to the vital organs takes precedence.

In such a case, the priorities are clear. Not so in all of our everyday in­teractions. Our emotions cloud our judgement.

The goal is clear: Even if our hearts are howling in pain from a perceived slight or an actual rejection, we must try to correctly assess not only the threat, but also, and foremost, our re­action to it. Stooping to harsh language or slander may feel like the right move if we’re seeing the problem through self-protective lenses. When viewing it through spiritual eyes, matters may look very different. And so must our response be.

May we all manage to stay physically warm and perched safely on the moral high ground this winter

The first posuk in this week’s parsha states that Hashem appeared to Moshe and reminded him of how He had revealed Himself to the avos and promised them Eretz Yisroel (6:2). He told Moshe that just as He remembers His bris with the avos, so does He hear the cries of the Bnei Yisroel and will act to redeem them. Hashem instructed Moshe to tell the Jewish people that their suffering would soon end, and that He Himself would free them from the shackles of Mitzrayim.

Rashi explains that this was in direct response to Moshe’s question at the end of last week’s parsha (5:22), when he asked, “Lomah harei’osah la’am hazeh — Why have You made things worse for Your people, and why have You sent me to speak to Paroh?” Hashem’s reply reassured Moshe that His promises are unfailing, and that Moshe’s mission was part of the Divine plan to fulfill the covenant He had made with the avos.

Moshe’s mission was never random or accidental. Every step of his journey — from his hidden birth to his upbringing in Paroh’s palace, from his golus in Midyan to the moment he encountered the burning bush — was part of Hashem’s plan. Each challenge, each hardship, was preparing him to lead the Jewish people out of bondage and into freedom. As we learn the parsha, we understand that the miracles of Moshe’s life were not just extraordinary events. They were signs of the Hand of Hashgocha, guiding him, shaping him, and preparing him to fulfill the promise made to the avos.

There are times in history when the world seems poised against us, when despair feels heavier than hope, and the night stretches endlessly before the dawn. In those periods we must remember that even when life is darkest, the flame of Hashem’s Hashgocha is never extinguished. From the very first cries of our people to the promise of redemption, the story of Klal Yisroel is one of survival, resilience, and faith.

In every generation, we have faced threats that seemed insurmountable. Empires sought our destruction. Tyrants demanded our silence. Even when our backs were against the wall, our spirits flickered, small, fragile, but alive. That flicker is what Hashem sees, what He nurtures, and what He calls upon us to protect and strengthen.

And so it was at the very beginning of the story of Moshe Rabbeinu. An infant, born in the shadow of death, placed in the Nile to float between life and death, became the instrument through which Hashem would reveal to the world that no oppression is final, no darkness is eternal, and no nation, however broken, is beyond hope.

Sometimes, a single act of courage, as small as placing a child in a basket, is enough to change the course of history.

At the time that Paroh decreed that every Jewish baby boy be put to death, Moshe was born quietly, hidden from the eyes of the Mitzriyim. His mother, Yocheved, understood the danger surrounding him. Every footstep, every knock at the door, carried mortal threat. Yet, she also understood that her child was not merely another infant. He was part of Hashem’s plan. With courage and deep emunah, she placed him into a small teivah and set it upon the waters of the Nile. His sister, Miriam, watched from a distance, ready to follow the teivah wherever the currents carried it, ensuring that her brother would survive.

That basket was more than a vessel for a baby. It was a declaration of faith and courage in a world determined to snuff out hope. In the midst of cruelty, Yocheved entrusted her child to Hashem, believing that life could triumph even in the face of imminent death.

Faith – emunah and bitachon – must come before understanding.

Paroh’s daughter found the basket, heard the baby cry, and felt compassion stir in her heart. She rescued him, bringing him into the palace, where he was raised as her own. There, in the very heart of Jewish oppression, the future redeemer of Klal Yisroel grew up.

Moshe was surrounded by wealth and power, yet his soul remained tethered to his people. When he left the palace and witnessed a Mitzri striking a Jew, he intervened, refusing to remain silent. That single act forced him to flee Mitzrayim, leaving the comfort of the palace for the uncertainty of exile. He arrived in Midyan, married the daughter of Yisro, and became a shepherd, tending his father-in-law’s flocks in the vast wilderness.

From the grandeur of palaces to the stillness of desert plains, Moshe’s life seemed to have taken a bewildering turn. Yet, it was in that quiet wilderness that Hashem would reveal Himself, teaching Moshe that even the most ordinary moments can harbor extraordinary purpose.

One day, Moshe noticed a sight that captured his attention: a bush continuously burning with fire, yet not being consumed. The flames danced upon its branches, blackening them, yet the bush remained whole. Moshe did not walk by. He stopped, turned aside, and stared. He recognized that this was not an ordinary fire. Something holy was unfolding.

The Medrash teaches that just as Avrohom Avinu studied the world and concluded that it could not exist without a Creator, Moshe perceived that Hakadosh Boruch Hu was announcing His Presence. The burning bush was a message: Jewish history may be scorched, battered, and surrounded by flames, but it will never be destroyed. Even when circumstances appear hopeless, Hashem’s providence is always present, sustaining life, guiding events, and preparing redemption.

Sometimes, the smallest spark carries infinite meaning.

From that bush, Hashem spoke to Moshe and entrusted him with a mission that would shape the course of history: to return to Mitzrayim and redeem His people.

Moshe, in his humility, asked what he should tell the Jewish people when they inquired who sent him. Hashem replied, “Ehkeh asher Ehkeh – I will be with them.” Not only at that moment, but in every suffering, every exile, and every trial that lay ahead. Hashem was telling Moshe that even when the world seems most hostile, He is present, guiding and sustaining the Jewish people.

Moshe was no longer merely a shepherd. He had become the messenger of redemption, tasked with announcing that hope exists even in the darkest of times.

One might imagine that such news would be received with overwhelming joy. A nation crushed under whips and chains would surely leap at the promise of freedom. Yet, when Moshe delivered Hashem’s message, the Torah recounts something striking: “Velo shomu el Moshe mikotzer ruach umei’avodah kasha – The people did not listen to Moshe because of shortness of spirit and crushing labor.”

They wanted to hear him. But they couldn’t. Their suffering had not only exhausted their bodies. It had crushed their souls. They were too dispirited and fragile to absorb hope. Even when salvation is imminent, the weight of despair can make it impossible to hear.

Sometimes, we must learn patience as well as hope.

This posuk teaches that suffering is not only physical. It can shrink the soul. When people are beaten down for too long, even good news sounds unreal. Even hope can feel unreachable.

This is not only history. It is the story of our time.

We live in a world of waiting. People are glued to their devices, scrolling endlessly, waiting for good news. Just over the past couple of years, we waited for the Gaza war to end. We waited for the hostages to come home. We waited for airlines to resume flights to Eretz Yisroel. We waited for a real president, for economic stability, and for interest rates to drop so we could afford homes. We waited for justice to be restored. Though at times it felt as if we were waiting in vain, our waits were answered.

And still, we wait. We wait for America to become great again. We wait for peaceful brotherhood to be restored to Eretz Yisroel. We wait for an end to the Gaza mess. We wait for a total end to the wicked leaders of Iran and the threat they represent to Israel. We wait for an end to progressive nonsense and a return to common sense. We wait for an end to the recent rash of anti-Semitic hatred.

And of course, above all, we wait for Moshiach.

We know that he will soon come and bring us what Moshe brought to the suffering people in Mitzrayim: the announcement that suffering has an end and redemption is near.

Yet, the danger of our age is not only the bad news we hear too often from within and beyond our community. The danger of our age is exhaustion. People become overwhelmed by fear, uncertainty, political instability, social hostility, and personal struggles. Instead of remaining optimistic and hopeful, too often, people become depleted mikotzer ruach. Their spiritual lungs shrink. They can no longer breathe in hope, and they cannot hear the message of redemption. Their predicament weakens them as they see no way out, no rising sun on the horizon.

Sometimes, strength must be renewed by noticing small sparks of light.

Each headline reminds us that golus is real and that safety is fragile. But even amidst fear, there are sparks of light. Even amidst darkness, Hashem’s presence is manifest.

We know that nothing happens by accident. Wars, upheavals, and economic crises are all chapters in a Divine story. The nevi’im spoke of such times, and we pray that these upheavals are the footsteps of Moshiach.

Yet, waiting is difficult when people are exhausted.

During World War I, Jewish life in Eastern Europe was decimated. Entire towns emptied. Families wandered with nothing. Yeshivos moved from place to place, surviving on crumbs. Young men were drafted into armies they would never return from.

A bochur once approached the Chofetz Chaim, broken and despairing. “Rebbe,” he cried, “ich ken nit oishalten – I can’t go on.” The Chofetz Chaim told him about Adam Harishon. On his first day in this world, when Adam saw the sun set, he thought the world was ending. He cried, believing that his sin had destroyed it all. But the next morning, he awoke and the sun rose. Adam then realized that this is how Hashem made the world. There is night, and then there is day.

The Chofetz Chaim told the boy who thought he could not hold on, that this is the way of the world. There is night, and then there is day. There is darkness, but it is always followed by light. Hold on just a little bit longer, and you will merit seeing the light.

We saw that truth after the Holocaust. Six million Jews were murdered. Communities were wiped out. Yet, from the ashes arose families, yeshivos, and flourishing Torah life. The sun rose again.

Those survivors had ruach, spirit. They believed that darkness was not the end.

The Ohr Hachaim explains that the Jews in Mitzrayim could not hear Moshe because they were not bnei Torah. Slavery had crushed them so completely that they could no longer hope or breathe freely.

We, who have been given the Torah, must not allow ourselves to become overwhelmed mikotzer ruach. When we study Torah, it connects us with Hashem and strengthens us, for we are fulfilling our purpose.

Studying Torah restores our bitachon, which allows us to widen our perspective and appreciate that the light of redemption – personal and communal – will soon shine.

That is the message of the burning bush. A Jew may be scorched, blackened, and battered, but never consumed. Within every neshomah burns a hidden flame, waiting to be ignited.

Ever since the terrible attacks of October 7th and the subsequent anti-Semitic hatred those attacks spawned, we have seen that flame awaken in Jews around the world. People who felt distant from Torah and mitzvos began feeling the pull of identity, destiny, and purpose. Pain shook something loose. Hearts opened. The fire began to burn again.

We must never give up on any Jew. And we must never give up on ourselves.

So many people suffer not only because of their difficulties, but because those difficulties erode their self-confidence. When people begin to doubt themselves, when they feel powerless against life’s trials, even small obstacles can feel insurmountable. To remain trapped in a cycle of sadness and defeatism is to prevent oneself from discovering the inner strength that Hashem has placed within every soul.

Everyone must believe in themselves – in their resilience, in their capacity to endure, and in their ability to rise above the challenges they face. A nisayon, a test or challenge, is not meant to crush us. It is meant to refine us. It calls upon us to confront adversity with courage, to grow through it, and to emerge stronger, wiser, and more faithful than before.

When we see our hardships as temporary, when we embrace them as opportunities for self-improvement and spiritual growth, we reclaim the power to shape our lives. Even the darkest moments contain sparks of potential. But if we allow despair to dominate, those sparks remain hidden and we deny ourselves the chance to overcome, to shine, and to fulfill the purpose Hashem has set before us.

Faith in oneself, combined with faith in Hashem, is what transforms challenge into triumph. It allows a person to move forward when the world feels heavy and unyielding, turning every difficulty into a steppingstone toward strength, courage, and ultimate redemption.

When despair takes hold, it can distort everything we see. We begin to view the world through a shadowed lens, noticing only failure, conflict, and loss. Every piece of news, every personal setback, and every interaction feels magnified into a threat. The economy seems hopeless, relationships appear broken, communities feel fractured, and the world itself can seem hostile and unwelcoming.

But this perspective, as powerful as it feels, is not the full truth. Even when our hearts are heavy and our minds are clouded by pessimism, there is much goodness around us. There are people willing to lend a hand, communities ready to support, and opportunities for renewal waiting to be embraced. Often, all it takes is a shift in focus, and a willingness to open our eyes and hearts, to allow that help and kindness to enter.

Despair isolates, but hope connects. It reminds us that we are not alone. Even in the depths of hardship, we can find allies, encouragement, and light. When we lift our gaze above the shadows of our own suffering, we discover that the world contains far more warmth, generosity, and potential than we could have imagined.

The moment we allow ourselves to see that truth, even a small spark of hope can grow into a flame, guiding us toward action, renewal, and the strength to rise above our challenges. It is in those moments – when faith in ourselves intersects with faith in Hashem, when hope begins to shine despite darkness – that we begin to reclaim our ruach and our capacity to change our circumstances.

Just as Moshe stood before the burning bush, unsure and humble, yet chosen to lead Klal Yisroel out of darkness into freedom, so are we called to rise above our own doubts and despair. Hashem has placed within each of us a spark, a flame of potential, a neshomah capable of strength and resilience even when the world feels overwhelming. If we embrace that spark and nurture it with emunah, bitachon, faith, courage, and action, we can overcome every nisayon, break free from every cycle of sadness, and open ourselves to the light of redemption.

Let us remember that even when the darkness feels endless, the flame of Hashem’s providence is always present. Just as Moshe was sent to bring hope to a people weighed down by suffering, each of us has the capacity to rise, to act, to believe, and to see the good that surrounds us. In doing so, we participate in the eternal story of our people, a story in which despair never has the final word and redemption always awaits.

May we be zoche to experience the ultimate redemption very soon with the coming of Moshiach.

From 7,000 miles away, it turned out, Venezuela has been oiling the springs of Iran’s terrorism tentacles, both in the Western Hemisphere and across the Middle East. The full import of President Donald Trump’s plucking Nicolas Maduro from his bed and transporting him to a Brooklyn jail will take a while to be felt, but it certainly is giving the jitters to Iran’s regime.

This is the gist of Malcolm Hoenlein’s viewpoint, he told the Yated in an interview. He has been closely following events for many decades and is one of the most knowledgeable people on the subject. A Flatbush resident, he is the vice chairman emeritus of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.

Hoenlein also discussed Zohran Mamdani’s first week as mayor of New York City and the strategies for battling antisemitism, which have recently become popular among some in the mainstream right.

I want to start with Iran, but I have a feeling that Venezuela is a big part of what’s going on there. Do you agree?

It’s absolutely related and could be part of a bigger strategy that the United States did not instigate, but that the United States could take advantage of. For instance, the energy that China gets from Iran and Venezuela constitutes a very significant chunk of its oil imports. If you can deny them access to that, that would strategically be a very valuable move.

Venezuela was the hub for a massive amount of the activity that Iran was involved in in South America. As I’ve told you and everybody else for years, the Hezbollah network had planes going from Iran to Damascus to Caracas, there were secret flights every week bringing gold for fuel. Venezuela was a very critical ally for Iran in South America.

Now that some of the other countries are sort of walking away from Iran or have reformed, Venezuela will be the big prize. It could change strategically in terms of the security threats from Iran to the United States, namely being able to operate from a southern coast rather than 7,000 miles away, let alone being a base to operate in connection to Mexico and other places even closer to the U.S.

So I think there is a larger picture here to be looked at. Each one stands on its own. The unrest in Venezuela has been growing because the economic conditions there are terrible. The same is going on in Iran. Independent of anything else, the regime caused the demonstrations and the revolt because the currency is now worth a million and a half to the dollar, there is a water shortage, a food shortage, and electricity is cut off for a good part of the day. You have all the conditions for unrest and for people to engage in anti-government activity.

And notice that once the bazaar owners got involved, it escalated very quickly because they are usually reluctant to do this. But their stores are empty, and there’s no way to restock. They are usually close to the government, and they were usually interested in stability, and the fact that they got publicly involved has escalated this greatly.

You also have to look at the fact that this has been escalating for some time. People are very angry over the money that was sent to Hezbollah and Hamas. That’s why you hear the chant in the streets, “We will not die for Gaza, we will not die for Lebanon, we will die for Iran.” They’re saying, “We don’t want the money going over to these causes; we want to have it invested at home to improve our circumstances.”

Iran is also having a huge brain drain. Tens of thousands of Iran’s best and brightest are leaving. Many of their campuses are half empty. You have the young people rebelling and throwing off the burkas. Authorities are again starting to clamp down on some of these things, and we saw religious police again in evidence, arresting a lot of people, and executing a lot of people. At the end of December, they were executing one person every two and a half hours. That’s ten a day. And we know that the official number of those who were executed last year was over 2,000. Those are the ones acknowledged, in addition to many arrests.

It’s a very unsettled situation, especially when you don’t have water in Tehran, and they talk of evacuating Tehran because they can’t resurrect the reservoirs.

Much of the water system feeding Tehran was built by Israelis, I’m told, when they were there in the late 1970s, under the Shah.

Weren’t the reservoirs replenished over the last couple of weeks? There was a lot of rain in the Middle East.

There was a lot of rain, but when the reservoir beds are dry, they don’t necessarily hold the water. And it wasn’t enough to make up. They’re so low that even with the heavy rains of the last couple of weeks, it doesn’t compensate.

What type of character is the average Iranian? How much could you push him or her to the wall, and they’ll just accept it? For example, Arabs are known to be willing to tolerate a lot before they rebel. What about the Iranians?

The Iranians are more sophisticated. They’re smart, many of them are educated. They’ve proven that they can tolerate a great deal because the currency has been in a steady decline for a long time. I think it was in 2015 or 2018 when it was 100,000 rials to the dollar. Now, it’s a million and a quarter to the dollar. They lop off four zeros from the currency, which means that somebody who had $50,000 now has five dollars.

And yet the people are restrained. I don’t understand their resilience and their ability to cope with seeing their savings wiped out, their holdings wiped out. To be able to buy a cellphone, you need a wheelbarrow to carry the money.

That reminds me of Germany under the Weimar Republic.

That’s why you look at historical precedents, and you see that people, educated people, are willing to accept all this. But there’s a limit to what they will put up with, and when they see that the corruption and the crackdowns and that the government has done little to alleviate their circumstances — so, yes, you get the reaction that we’re seeing.

I’ve seen people trying to compare it to the Green Revolution of 2009. On one hand, Iran was in a much better circumstance then. They were seen as stronger militarily; they had Hamas and Hezbollah as allies. They had Russia and China on their side. They had a President Obama in the United States who didn’t want to take sides, and we found out later was even sending letters to the ayatollah at the time.
Now, you don’t have all of that. They’re seen as a minor power in the Middle East. No Hamas, no Hezbollah. A president of the United States coming out against them, Russia and China are both busy with other things.
On the other hand, from what I remember then, the protests were much more widespread. It spread to hundreds of towns and villages across the countryside. Now, you just hear about protests in Iran’s main cities; you don’t hear about them in the countryside. What’s your take on this?

Are you saying that these demonstrations are not spreading to the countryside?

At least I don’t see it, unless it’s because the internet was shut down, so we don’t know.

It wasn’t in the beginning, but it is today. It’s in every one of the 31 provinces, and it is spreading to the countryside. We’re seeing demonstrations in small towns and outlying areas. Initially, it was more in the big cities, but one of the things that people are looking for is whether it spreads. The other sign you look for is defections by the Revolutionary Guards and the Basij. And so far, that has not happened.

Basij is the religious police, right?

Right.

We know that many in the leadership have visas to leave — many to Argentina. I don’t know how that’s going to work out now with a pro-U.S. president in power there. I know over a thousand of them have kids studying in the United States and have tried to arrange visas to be able to come here if they need it. Hopefully that won’t happen.

So on the first point, no, it has spread. I think by now it could already be the size of the Green Revolution. If you remember, the United States said then we don’t get involved in internal affairs. Both Hillary Clinton and Colin Powell said that when the demonstrations took place during their respective tenures as Secretary of State. This was a blow to them. That’s why the people kept saying, “We want to hear from Trump,” and they did. And it meant a lot to them that the United States even just gave them verbal support.

They’re also looking for support with communications, with Starlink. They’ve been working on trying to get them in. It’s not easy, but they have gotten in tens of thousands of units.

Part of the problem is that there is a leadership vacuum among the protesters. You don’t have a figure that commands broad enough support. Reza Pahlavi, the former crown prince, is trying to position himself, but he’s not the guy who will be the prime minister; he’s a figurehead. The fact that protesters are calling for the Shah is an interesting development.

The crown prince has been more public, but the question is whether he can unify the opposition. You have to remember that Iran is not a unitary country. In a country of over 90 million people: there are 30 million Azeris, 12 million Baluchis, millions of Arabs, and millions of other ethnic people in the country.

How large is the constituency of the ayatollahs — in other words, Shiite Muslims who are Persian people?

Fifty percent are Muslim. Now, whether they are supporters of his, we see more and more young people and others who are not, and who reject the dress codes. The clergy still have power. They have the power to arrest, and they have the power to execute. That’s a big deal. We have to wait until we start seeing the collapse of the Basij and the other instruments of the regime.

The overwhelming majority of the people want the government out. The majority even want relations with Israel, and if you noticed, they were also calling on Bibi to issue a statement. And we saw at the demonstration on Shabbos for the first time that I know where Israeli flags were waved — not many and not broadly, but the fact is it’s the first time since this started that I saw this.

This is unlike what we saw in Syria and elsewhere, where they waved many Israeli flags.

I think the biggest elephant in this whole story here is the fact that there’s no central leadership. For example, in Syria, I doubt that the whole revolution could have succeeded if there had not been a central person to rally around, Jolani.

Yeah, but he was not a leader before. He was a leader in Idlib. He was associated with ISIS. He was a wanted terrorist. And we’re still not sure who he is. If you look at the areas where he ruled in Idlib, it was very Islamist. And suddenly, when he came to Damascus, he traded in his terror uniform for a suit.

Right, but at the right time, he came, he put himself forth as a leader, and people were able to rally around him, and that’s what forced Assad out. I don’t see that in Iran.

I’m contesting whether the people rallied around him or whether he was imposed or that he imposed himself on them, and they resisted. If you remember, they had a massacre of Alawites, they had a massacre of Druze.

So you’re saying that it’s irrelevant if there’s a leader. In other words, first overthrow the regime, and then they can decide.

No. A leader is very critical.

If you have to bet on somebody right now, do you notice anyone who can fit the bill?

It will be collective leadership, I think.

You think there’ll be, I don’t know, a representative democracy, but it would be a representative government?

A representative group that would have to be interim and that would pave the way toward elections. The election will hopefully be of people who will really recreate democracy there. Representatives of the various factions would have to be part of that, including Reza Pahlavi and his followers. Could he maybe emerge out of this as an interim leader? Maybe that could happen.

But as a democratic leader, not as a Shah, right?

Right. He has said he doesn’t want to be the leader.

Since I see this coming to a head very quickly, I want to ask you — what lessons do you think the United States learned from Afghanistan and Iraq in how to help Iran govern itself if the regime is overthrown? What do you expect to happen here that would be different from there?

Well, the circumstances are very different here, and Iran is a much more sophisticated and developed country. Many of them are educated, and I think they will welcome the chance for freedom. The question is whether they can keep Iran together. Does it become a confederation of all its elements?

In Syria, people thought that would happen, but it didn’t. But Syria is also a coalition of many different groups. That’s why you still see the Kurds fighting for their rights, and the Druze and other Alawites all trying to ensure their own security. We’ve seen some actions even recently where the Kurds were fighting troops outside of Aleppo. So, you don’t see stability emerging out of it. They blame Jolani for having been connected to ISIS. The circumstances of each country are unique.

Afghanistan was a particular set of circumstances which we botched — I don’t think we’ll see a repetition of that. I hope in Iran, if the opportunity presents itself,  or if they help make it present itself, that we’ll work to ensure that a new regime comes into play that will get rid of the outside influences, such as Russia, China, and Turkey, to cite a few.

If Syria can become a contributing country and if Iran becomes a positive contributing country, the whole region will change.

If Iran is removed as a threat to Israel and the United States, how will that affect Israel’s relations with the Gulf countries? Take Saudi Arabia — the joint threat from Iran was the main factor that led them to ally with Israel. If Iran is removed as a threat, will they go back to the old days of being regional enemies?

They’ve been doing that now already. You hear talk of Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan having a defense pact. You see the conflict between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in Yemen. You see how they distance themselves from the Abraham Accords. I don’t know if this is tactical and temporary or if it’s a longer-haul thing. I still hope and believe that Saudi Arabia will join the Accords.

Iran’s removal from the scene frees up, obviously, all these countries from a great threat to them, both internally and externally. It certainly would be a blow to China and Russia, which have invested so much in their relationship with Iran. It will diminish the threats against the Gulf states because of Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis, and all the others — certainly in Iraq, where Iran is backing militias — all of that is removed by Iran’s government collapsing. That will change the whole region, especially for Israel.

So Israel could loom even more important as an ally to rebuild and to start new commerce, etc. You’re right, there could be less of an impetus if they don’t feel they need protection, but I think they all know that there’s no guarantees for the future and that they’ve come to discover how much they have in common.

I, for instance, see the move in Somaliland as very important, with Israel establishing relations with it. It means that Israel could be planning to defend against a Houthi resurgence — Somaliland is right across the Bab el-Mandeb, and this gives them a very important position. Other countries didn’t respond to Somaliland, yet they’re critical of Israel for doing it.

Turkey wants to build a base there on the Red Sea. Others are going to, and they don’t want to see Israel there. So strategically, it could be very important for Israel.

Going back to Iran, how will this affect Hamas? They’ve been getting money from Qatar, but they have been mainly supported by Iran for the past few decades. How will the removal of Iran as a bad actor from the scene affect them?

Oh, greatly. First of all, a lot of the weapons for Hezbollah and Hamas were coming from there. They are a strategic ally that Iran thought it could count on if it came under attack. They still are being told that Iran is rebuilding their capacity so that they could fire missiles at Israel.

You eliminate that, you’ve pulled the rug out from under them. A lot of their financing and a lot of their operational capacity is determined by having access to Iran.

Realistically speaking, do you see President Trump’s plan for Gaza as anything more than just comic relief?

No. I think he has a vision for rebuilding Gaza, and we know from his past that when he has a vision, they tend to happen if it’s possible.

First, though, we’ve got to get the ceasefire in place, the disarmament of Hamas, and the return of the last hostage, before we can look at the next phase. I think the president is looking at the next phase and seriously looking at what could be done. They’re talking about huge numbers of housing units to be constructed in Gaza, starting near Rafah.

But a central part of all this is getting countries that are not seen as aligned with Israel to police Gaza, and so far, no country has committed to that. How does this get off the ground without that? Hamas is not going to disarm. I saw that Israel is starting to prepare plans for a reoccupation of Gaza rather than pulling out.

Israel has to be prepared for every option, and if they see that Hamas or Hezbollah are rearming, they have to be prepared. They have plans to reoccupy Lebanon, too, if they need to.

In other words, it will be Israel disarming Hamas and not Indonesia or some other friendly Arab nation?

That’s one scenario, yes.

Doesn’t that undermine President Trump’s whole plan?

First of all, President Trump’s plan can’t be implemented if we don’t have disarmament and the return of the last body. It takes a long time to plan and clear the area, but in the meantime, Israel needs to be assured that the security requirements are going to be met. That is not the case now.

Moving across the Atlantic to right here in New York, what are Jewish groups talking about over Mayor Mamdani’s first week in office?

The first thing they are talking about is the cancellation of the executive orders that dealt with IHRA, the definition of antisemitism, and their disappointment that he took those first measures. They were talking about the appointments he made, which are very mixed at best. They are happy with the election of the new city council speaker, who is the first Jewish speaker.

They were talking about Mamdani’s reaction to the demonstrations over the Nefesh B’Nefesh event this week. He condemned the protesters for expressing support for Hamas and said it has no place here. He also said that he disagrees with the sale of properties in the West Bank because he says it’s a violation of international law — which it is not. I guess he feels he can’t do one without the other.

Jewish groups are looking at ways to bypass Mamdani on the antisemitism orders through the governor. They’re coming up with their own legislative packages to make sure that security grants are sustained. That’s a state issue, but the city also has a lot to do with it.

Your tone sounds like, we’re concerned, but we’re taking a wait-and-see attitude.

Yes. We judge everybody on an individual basis.

On a national level, the counter-antisemitism group in Washington was just set in place. Yehuda Kaploun was just confirmed at the State Department as the ambassador against antisemitism, and the new board at the Holocaust Museum just got seated. How do you expect this to change things?

I hope the Holocaust Museum board will play an important role, and I think the final confirmation of Rabbi Kaploun after a long wait — he’s very energized and will bring a lot to the job. He wants to do a lot. He has the ear of the president. He will work together with a very sympathetic Department of Justice and others in different positions in government.

One thing that came out of left field, which I did not see coming, was the sudden about-face from pro-Israel to anti-Israel on the right. You have some pretty significant voices, to such a degree that Vice President J.D. Vance hesitates to criticize them. What does it say about the future of America under the Republican Party?

We have problems with the extremes on both the left and the right. I’m not sure that we have decided on the best strategy for dealing with them. There are many who argue that the best thing is to ignore Candace Owens and Nick Fuentes, that we are building them up, that we are giving them notoriety, and that we’d be much better off if we were to focus on the positive guys.

Even with Mamdani, it was pointed out to me that he would say something anti-Israel, and everybody would jump all over it and focus on it. In the meantime, he would talk about affordability, so he got everybody distracted while he took advantage of his notoriety to get attention to talk about what people were concerned about, which was not being able to afford their rent.

We have to be sophisticated in our approach and decide: should we build up Carlson by attacking him, or should we ignore him? Does he not feed off the attention he gets from us? And would it not make a bigger difference, not to ignore but about how we go about doing things?

How did we counter Father Coughlin in the 1930s?

Actually, I don’t know that we did. I think that we turned to Christians and the government to do it. But he was listened to in every house in America during the war period. Charles Lindbergh, the first person to cross the Atlantic, also became an antisemite. I mean, he, too, was a really bad person, and he was the most popular person in America.

Were you surprised at all these voices turning on Israel? When Tucker Carlson was at Fox, he was extremely pro-Israel.

Maybe when it served their purposes. Candace Owens was also pro-Israel. We don’t know who their supporters are, what money they’re getting. Tucker is building a house in Qatar, and we believe that they paid him for a lot of his activities. I think they paid for his podcast for the Heritage Foundation. They chase the money and the notoriety, and you don’t build up your numbers when you’re pro-Israel. You build it up when you are controversial and negative, when you espouse conspiracies. They’re crazy. I mean, it’s just insanity. He sort of plays the innocent or the ignorant; certainly, the ignorant would be true.

But you raised an important point that we should go back and look at how historically antisemites were countered. Roosevelt and Coughlin had a falling out; Coughlin supported him in his first election, and then he snubbed him and began attacking Roosevelt’s Jewish Treasury secretary, Morgenthau. Obviously, the president then split with him.

But Coughlin was the first to harness the power of radio broadcasts. Franklin D. Roosevelt later used the same thing with his fireside chats.

What gives you optimism during these times?

An optimist says that this is the best of all possible worlds, and a pessimist agrees. It’s a very thin line between optimism and pessimism. We have plenty of reason to be optimistic when we look at the world, and you see that in the seven-front war that Israel faced, which many people did not think they could overcome, let alone against Iran — it did. The president has a sustained pro-Israel policy, and Israel’s economy continues to grow remarkably, even in this period.

I think Somaliland is a positive development. I think the conflict between the UAE and Saudi Arabia in Yemen is a negative development. The Saudis moving to closer cooperation with Pakistan and Turkey is not healthy.

The diminution of Iran and its ability to strike and to support the network of enemies of Israel is really important. Maybe the change in Syria, the fact that you have a joint working group — I have some reservations about it, but I think that it’s a positive sign. The Lebanese army is moving to confiscate weapons from Hezbollah; it’s not nearly what they’re obligated to do, but it is happening to some degree.

I think that the president’s plans for Gaza, some of which could be implemented, could stabilize the region a little bit.

I think when you look overall at the different circumstances in the Middle East, the relationship between the United States and Israel, the Greece-Israel-Cyprus relationship is certainly growing, and I think that could be the fulcrum of a bigger Mediterranean initiative. If you look in Southeast Asia, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan want closer relations with Israel. Turkey is facing severe financial and other challenges.

So there is a lot of potential, and already, real things are happening that are good for Israel’s future. At the same time, each one has a flip side that you could argue poses potential dangers as well.

In other words, we’re in the hands of the Eibershter.

We are, but He’s looking for us to do our part, and right now our part is in, as Bibi calls it, the eighth front of this war, which is winning the hearts and minds of the American people, winning the political battles here and in Europe and elsewhere. People have to be much more assertive; we have to be more clever and more effective because the stakes are higher.