Shabbat shalom and chag sameach.
I am a big Passover fan. Every year family and friends gather at our house, as people all over the world have been doing for over 5000 years, to celebrate the Exodus story of liberation and freedom. “Ma nishtana” (literally, “what has changed”) we ask ourselves, and then proceed to answer the 4 questions, usually answered in song by the youngest at the seder table. This year, a lot has changed. This year, for the first time in my life, I fear for Jews all over the world. This year, for the first time in my life, I am beginning to feel like I could become an unwanted guest in my own country.
It’s been a brutal week for Jews, beginning with Iran’s massive, direct attack on Israel that thankfully was neutered by the superior Israeli Iron Dome technology, and by the help of allies, including Saudi Arabia and Jordan, truly a silver lining in the very dark and gathering clouds. But equally disturbing, and closer to home, is the awful, ongoing anti-semitic nonsense at Columbia University and other college campuses around the country. Pro-Palestine protesters gathered near the entrance to Columbia University on Thursday to continue action after dozens of demonstrators were arrested while attempting to occupy school grounds earlier that day. Then on Friday, over 100 of the misguided a-holes were arrested. They were chanting, to a cheering mob, “Never forget the 7th of October--not one more time, not five more times, not 10 more times, not hundreds more times, not 1,000 more times, but 10,000 times!” And, they were calling for an “intifada revolution”, a reference to a period when suicide bombers were blowing up Israelis on an almost daily basis. Nice people.
I use to reserve my most blistering prose for the orange turd and his MAGA nut jobs, who the orange turd has managed to mainstream in the Republican party. Now the whack jobs on the left pose an equally disturbing challenge to common sense and decency, and the view of Israel as a “colonizing, oppressor” has taken hold in the mainstream of the American left.
Times are not tough - they are maddening. Yesterday, the ADL released their 2023 report which revealed, to no-one’s surprise, the largest annual rise in antisemitic incidents since records began in 1979. There were 8,873 incidents of antisemitic assault, harassment and vandalism, up 140% on the previous year and nearly 900% in a decade. It is, according to the head of the ADL Jonathan Greenblatt, an issue of national emergency.
Fortunately, we live in Sharon, a very diverse community with a large Jewish population. Hence, we are a bit insulated from many of these overt acts and displays of antisemitism. But the alarm bells are ringing pretty loudly these days, and if you haven’t yet been impacted directly, consider yourself lucky. I have a feeling the worst is yet to come. I was particularly incensed by a column this week in The Atlantic, “The Rape Denialists”, about Israeli critics accusing the Israeli government of “weaponizing” accusations of rape to justify Israel’s “genocide” in Gaza, as an open letter from dozens of feminist activists put it in February. The letter has since been signed by more than 1,000 other “feminists”. Since allegations of sexual violence first appeared in the fall, a contingent of anti-Israel activists have sought to disprove them. “Believe women” and “Silence is violence” have been rallying cries of progressive feminist organizations for decades. But the same empathy and support have not been shown for Israeli victims. Hmmm, I wonder why? The organization responsible for the letter signed by these horrible hypocrites is hard to decipher, but the contact is 2024SMSa@gmail.com. I have sent them a short email stating, “You should all be ashamed of yourselves.”
Before I move on to the news of the Jews headlines, I want to share a short story which I think symbolizes the courage and resilience of the Israeli people. One of the creators of the popular Israeli TV show, Fauda, was recently interviewed on the podcast, “What Matters Now”. Here is Avi Issaharoff’s story:
“So just like many other Israelis, I was kind of very much frustrated from not only the situation, but also the fact that I couldn't do much. I mean, I crossed the 50 not that too long time ago, but I crossed the 50 and my military unit, the reserves in the Miluim didn't call me. And I was almost begging them to take me, but they didn't.
So I was looking to do something and I've heard that Achim Laneshik, brothers and sisters in arms, open up a kind of an operation room not far from Sderot in Bet Kama. And from there, they're trying to help people that are living in Gaza's periphery, including Sderot, to get them out of the danger zone. Because Gaza's periphery was still under fire and there were some terrorists on the streets and the fields of Gaza's periphery.
And this is what brothers and sisters in arms did, meaning go into those towns and villages, bring the people out of the war zone or the danger zone, and try to bring them to safe zone as fast as possible. So I joined them at around 2 p.m. in Bet Kama.“And I remember that when I entered the kibbutz, I was kind of shocked. I was kind of shocked because I saw hundreds of Israelis, more or less my age, again, people that could not go to the army, that were there waiting in line to get a mission. What was the mission?
You know, you get a name, you get a phone number of someone that is stuck in Sderot, let's say, and you need to pick him up and bring them out of Sderot. And those men were standing in line, just like, you know, I don't know, waiting in line for coffee or for something very tasty in the streets of New York. And waiting to get a mission that would put their own life in danger in order to help people that they don't know, that they don't have any idea who they are, but just in order to help them.
And, you know, you say, kol Yisrael arevim ze laze, meaning we're all responsible for each other. And this is the feeling that I got when I saw this amazing thing. You know, this was a kind of a ray of light in the total darkness of what happened these days, that days in Gaza's periphery and in the war against Hamas.”
Now what about the rest of the news for Jews you may be asking? Where are those selective segments of savory semitic stories stolen shamelessly from the likes of The Forward, Haaretz, Kveller, Jewish Boston, Times of Israel, and other fine Jewishy journals? Ask, and ye shall receive:
Israel used radar-evading missile to hit S-300 defenses near Natanz nuke site – report - NYT says attack was ‘calibrated’ to show Israel’s capability to dodge Iran’s air defenses, make Tehran ‘think twice’ before another assault; Iran’s FM claims it merely faced ‘toys’. Two unnamed Western officials cited by the newspaper said the missile aimed to show Tehran that Israel is able to dodge and neutralize its defenses. Two Iranian officials said the strike hit a Russian-made S-300 air defense system. They told the newspaper that Iran had not detected intrusions into its airspace from drones, missiles or aircraft. The newspaper said the missile was from a warplane fired “far from Israeli or Iranian airspace.”
No shit! Columbia University’s president, at House hearing, says school could do more to fight antisemitism: On Capitol Hill Wednesday, Nemat Shafik pointed to actions she’s taken to curb antisemitism, such as suspending pro-Palestinian student groups; agreed that some professors had crossed the line with their rhetoric; and avoided the stumbles that doomed her counterparts at Penn and Harvard. Related: A confidential letter obtained by the Forward shows that investigations were opened over the conduct of several Columbia professors accused of making antisemitic and anti-Israel comments in the aftermath of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks.Read the story ➤
More jerks on Campus -Don’t blame Jews for canceling USC’s valedictorian: The University of Southern California canceled a commencement speech by a pro-Palestinian student, Asna Tabassum, citing safety concerns. “There are two problems with this,” writes L.A.-based Rob Eshman, who has taught at the school. One, the university hosted the Obamas at the 2023 graduation. “It’s hard to believe Tabassum would need more security than the former president of the United States.” And two, the school blamed outside groups, “largely Jewish and pro-Israel critics, accusing them of threatening violence.” Read his essay ➤ Plus: Students at Rutgers University voted overwhelmingly to call on the administration to divest from companies and organizations that do business in Israel, and to end a partnership with Tel Aviv University.
The latest…
The Republican-led House said it will vote on the aid package for Israel and Ukraine on Saturday. President Biden said he “strongly” supports it and “will sign this into law immediately.”
Nine Google employees were arrested and 28 were fired after staging a sit-in to protest the tech giant’s work on Project Nimbus, a $1.2 billion contract with the Israeli government, including its military.
A survey released this morning found that the majority of American Jews feel close to Israel but are also likely to feel uncomfortable with the Israeli government’s actions.
An IDF strike destroyed thousands of embryos at Gaza’s largest fertility clinic.
Twenty-nine authors and translators withdrew from PEN America’s prestigious literary awards, criticizing the nonprofit for failing to protect Palestinian writers in Gaza and “normalizing genocide.”
Empty chairs, mirrors and pomegranates: Here’s how some Jews are acknowledging the Israel-Hamas war at their Seders.
Spielberg’s Shoah Foundation distances itself from pro-Palestinian valedictorian: Asna Tabassum, who promoted an anti-Israel website and had her commencement address canceled, said she earned a minor in “resistance to genocide” and touted her ties to the USC Shoah Foundation, which is affiliated with the University of Southern California, where she is a student. The foundation said it was not involved in her minor and used the opportunity to decry any attempt to use the Holocaust to “dehumanize” Jews and Israelis. Read the story ➤
Can Jews sing Dayenu while there are hostages? The Passover Seder gets a post-Oct. 7 rethink: Many Seder tables will have empty seats representing victims, hostages and soldiers who are unable to return home. Dozens of rabbis and Jewish community leaders recently reimagined the Haggadah; the result of their work will be a supplement for families to use during the first major Jewish holiday since Hamas attacked Israel — an assault that itself pierced the observance of a holiday, Simchat Torah. Read the story ➤
Cleaning cracks - A worker on Tuesday morning cleaned the cracks of the Western Wall and removed stuffed paper notes scribbled with prayers. It’s a twice-a-year ritual, before Rosh Hashanah and before Passover. The notes — an estimated one million are left each year — are not read to respect people’s privacy, and are buried in the cemetery on Jerusalem’s Mount of Olives.
That’s all I have for this week. Have a great Passover everyone! And remember, let’s be careful out there. And, enjoy this cheesy Passover parody from Six13!