At Any Price

by Rabbi Steven Pruzansky

No one should find fault with the activism of the hostage families. It is a classic application of “al tadin et chavercha ad she’tagi’a limkomo,” do not judge your friend until you can stand in his place (Avot 2:4). The initial horror of the brutal, inhuman Hamas invasion, compounded by ongoing horror of the captivity itself, the uncertainty, the fear, and the ill-treatment, breaks our hearts and strengthens our will to crush this vile enemy. Certainly, not all hostage families have reacted the same way and the response, as should be expected, is not uniform. Those who have prioritized the national interest over their personal pain also have our respect and admiration. But we cannot judge any of them, pray that we should never find ourselves in that situation, and empathize with their need to protest, demonstrate, and keep the fate of their loved ones and our citizens in the public eye. They should feel they are doing everything within their power to do. Their trauma is our trauma, and it is right and proper that visitors to Israel are greeted in the airport with pictures of the hostages, as are pedestrians who walk our streets.

The question then is not one of right or propriety – but of effectiveness. Do the campaigns or disruptions help or hurt? Hasten the release of the hostages or delay it? Do they have any influence on their captors at all? Clearly, our evil enemy Hamas – and all those who seek our destruction – utilizes kidnapping and other ruthless tactics as psychological torture, knowing how we value life and want nothing more than to be able to live meaningful, purposeful, and happy lives. Do we unwittingly embolden Hamas in their sadistic cruelty when we exhibit the desperation implicit in the calls for a hostage release “at any price”? Do the rallies and demands make their release less likely and future hostage-taking more likely?

If a tactic works, it is bound to be repeated until it ceases to work. Employing methods that are counterproductive hurts the cause and endangers our future, especially in this part of the world where the norms of civilization are perceived by our enemies as weakness. Hamas knows how to weaponize against us our decency and love of life. It is misguided to think that somehow and for some reason our government is unconcerned with the fate of the hostages and not doing all it can to secure their freedom. In that regard, there is nothing more unhelpful than strident calls for their release “NOW” or “at any price.” That is a cost we will all bear.

The plea “bring them home NOW” has the faint echo of similar appeals in the recent past for some admirable goal that proponents would like to achieve, NOW. “Peace Now” stands out as a particularly egregious example of throwing caution to the wind and imperiling our homeland and security because of a lack of prudence or patience. One can attribute to “Peace Now,” among other execrable results, the fact that Israel has no sovereignty over the Sinai Peninsula, which ultimately allowed that territory to become the conduit for the smuggling of heavy weapons into Gaza overland and through tunnels. Its ideological successors compelled Israel’s hasty withdrawal from southern Lebanon in 2000, from which we are now, again, suffering from the predations of Hezbollah. Even the foolhardy and self-destructive surrender of Gush Katif resulted from the misplaced desire for results, even peace, now. We should always be wary of demands for something drastic that advocates want now without considering the long-term consequences of the price paid. (Indeed, Peace Now still persists in pursuing the two-state illusion.)

The heart forces us to stand with our aggrieved families. The head tells us that the address for their valid complaints is not so much our government but Hamas, the international community, and all those who are more concerned about the fate of Gazan civilians than the fate of our hostages. Certainly, we should reject calls to provide humanitarian aid to the enemy civilians as long as our civilians are illegally incarcerated under dreadful conditions or as long as rockets keep being fired at our people. We should not normalize the seizure of hostages as part of war even if this ploy has been used repeatedly in Arab wars across the region. The truth is that our hostages are more innocent than their civilians and it is high time we broadcast that truth unflinchingly.

Even worse than the NOW ultimatum is the demand for their release “at any price,” recently bellowed by a former Speaker of the Knesset. This is rank populism of the worst kind, and inherently unserious. Any price? Would he be willing to trade himself for the hostages? That’s a price. Would he acquiesce to transferring the Kotel to Hamas, to permanently flying the Hamas flag over the Knesset, to the disestablishment of the State of Israel, in exchange for freedom for the hostages? Those are also prices. It is not only insincere; it is also profoundly foolish. A negotiator that offers to pay “any price” for his cherished objective only drives up that price, more and more and more, until the negotiator realizes the inanity of the offer or pays a self-destructive price.

And no price has been proven more destructive to Jewish life in the land of Israel than the exchange of murderous terrorists for innocent Jews. That too is a price we are paying today, heavily and bitterly, for the folly of the past. The release of the accursed Sinwar, among more than a thousand other terrorists, in the Shalit deal should cause any sane nation to re-think that approach to hostage negotiations. These deals literally prompt more hostage-taking and the loss of more Jewish life. Defeating Hamas is incompatible with releasing Hamas terrorists back into society. It only strengthens Hamas, reinforces that crimes against Jews pay, and encourages the next round.

As we have seen, there is no simple and convenient to defeat Hamas and simultaneously liberate the hostages. Our government can be criticized for many things, but I do not believe that we can fault its current efforts to secure the release of the hostages. We are dealing with a diabolical enemy. What we should do, at least, is make the lives of Gazans as miserable as are the lives of our hostages. It is not enough that they – finally – protest against Hamas, if those protests are even sincere and not orchestrated by Hamas. I will be more convinced of their sincerity when they run en masse into the tunnels and bring out our hostages with them. Many of them surely know where Hamas is holding the hostages. The provision of aid to Gaza might be the biggest mistake since the war started; it should stop, now, and afflicted Gazans should storm Hamas strongholds and free the hostages.

If there is a price that we can and should pay in these perilous times, it is this it is a more pleasant and enriching one: call it the nuclear spiritual option. The Talmud (Shabbat 118b) states that Rabbi Yocḥanan said in the name of Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai: “If only the Jewish people would keep two Shabbatot in accordance with their halachot, they would be immediately redeemed.”

What a beautiful and ennobling price! Two Shabbatot, because while one is a special experience, two is a commitment. Imagine if every Jew in Israel committed to observing two Shabbot according to halacha. Yes, it would be revolutionary – no television or radio, no theaters and no beaches, no pubs or nightclubs, no telephones, no texting, no shopping, no cars, and no buses. Rather, two Shabbatot that begin with candle lighting at home, and include public prayer and Torah study, kiddush, meals with our families and friends, our children and grandchildren, discussing life, and values, and meaning, and G-d, and redemption, and holiness, and the uniqueness of the Jewish people. We could reflect on our history, on the gifts that G-d bestowed upon us, and the challenges that we have in every generation. We could understand our place in history, why our enemies persist in their hatred, and how we can overcome them as we always have. We can discuss what G-d wants from us, having restored us to His land after a long exile, as He promised.

If we can do it – and we can, and we should – than we are taught that we would “immediately be redeemed,” with everything that entails for our current predicament.” If only we put that declaration, which has tantalized Jews for almost two millennia, to the test! Two Shabbatot, fully observed by every Jew in Israel, the only exceptions being the security apparatus and other essential services (like medical) who also observe Shabbat but in a different way. What a unifying and uplifting experience that would be – and it requires the participation of every Jew.

Does “any price” include something that might actually work and that will transform our society for the better? Or does it only involve concessions that make us less safe? Or are we content to only engage in empty gestures?

The times are serious. Let the organizers get to work. We should try it – and I dare say, we should try it NOW.

The past and future will meet again

BS”D
Parashat Yitro 5784
by HaRav Nachman Kahana

In several previous weekly divrei Torah, I translated the Malbim (Harav Meir Leibish ben Yechiel Michal) in his commentary on the Book of Yechezkel (32,17):

“It will come to pass in the end of days, after the Jewish people will return to the land of Israel (which is now), that the nations will come together in an attempt to seize Yerushalayim.

(The prophet names the nations who will come.)

Gog, the king of Meshech and Tuval from the north and west who are uncircumcised and called “Edom”, who are the descendants of Yefet living now in Europe. And Paras, Kush, and the House of Turgama who are all circumcised and adhering to the belief of Yishmael, will join with the children of Edom to attempt to capture the Land of Israel from the Jews.”

(Malbim continues)

“But when they arrive (at the gates of Eretz Yisrael), they will create chaos among themselves and make war on each other, that is, Edom will make war on Yishmael because their religious beliefs are irreconcilable.

And there, God will judge them in sword and blood as revealed to the prophet Zecharia chap. 14.

The first to be utterly destroyed (in the war with Am Yisrael) will be the Egyptians, who are the closest to the Land of Israel and will come forward first and fall. Then the Assyrians and Persians will come to avenge their ally and they all will be destroyed.”

The major points alluded to by the prophet Yechezkel, as explained by the Malbim:

1- There will be a war between the European Christian countries against Moslem countries and they will ultimately destroy each other.

2- The first country to attack the Jews in Eretz Yisrael will be Egypt and we will destroy them.

3- Persia-Iran will follow suit to avenge the defeat of Egypt and they too will be destroyed.

How remarkable that the prophet Yechezkel has all the players in his prophecy who are now making headlines in our days: Europe, Islam, Egypt, and Iran.

Philadelphia: Brotherly Love
Philadelphia in Greek means brotherly love. But as with most things, Arabs have a way of corrupting the good and turning it into bad; so brotherly love becomes brotherly hate.

The capital of Jordan, Amman in Arabic, was called Philadelphia; but just as the water supply in Jordan is scarce, so too is brotherly love a rare commodity.

The most southern town in the Gaza strip is the divided town of Rafah; half in Gaza and half in Egypt, separated by a 17-kilometer road called the Philadelphia Road. The name is a misnomer because it too is not exactly bubbling with brotherly love. The sinister thing about the Philadelphia Road is the many, many under-ground tunnels connecting Egypt and Gaza.

Tzahal in an unprecedented military achievement starting from northern Gaza has reached the southern Philadelphia Road. Israel must control it overground and under in order to stop the wholesale smuggling of goods and weapons into Gaza, in return for hefty money transfers to the Egyptian army there. These tunnels are the lifeline of Hamas and must be under our control.

Egypt is standing on its hind legs and barking at Israel not to approach the Philadelphia Road, hinting that such a move could bring on war.

Egypt by all indicators is a failed country, on the brink of bankruptcy; except in one area – childbearing. It is the second most populous country in Africa. The situation has become even more dire with the dramatic decrease in shipping through the Suez Canal because of the Yemenite Houthis’ attacks on commercial shipping, making their entrance into the Red Sea and from there to the Suez Canal and Europe very dangerous.

Suez Canal toll fees can range from between US $400,000 to US $700,000 per vessel. The Suez Canal set a new record with annual revenue of $9.4 billion in USD for the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2023. Half of the container ship fleet that regularly transits the Red Sea and Suez Canal is avoiding the route now, according to new industry data.

Egypt cannot afford to also lose the income from the smuggling of goods and weapons through the underground tunnels of the Philadelphia Road.

Egypt’s Fate
We cannot know if this is the time that the prophet Yechezkel was referring to that there will be war between Egypt and Israel. But it is interesting to note the similarities between our first step into geula (redemption) when the Egyptian army drowned in the waters of the Red Sea and our final stage of redemption as predicted by Yechezkel and explained by the Malbim.

If Egypt with the largest army in the Middle East decides to declare war on Israel and matters become very serious, Egypt might find itself once again under millions of cubic tons of water. Because more than 95% of Egypt’s population lives on a mere 5% of the country’s surface, in the Nile Delta, along the riverbanks of the Nile Valley, and in the immediately outlying cities of Alexandria and Port Said.

To the south of the country is the great Aswan Dam holding back the huge Lake Nasser. If the dam were destroyed in a war, for example, Lake Nasser would rush downstream in a tidal wave of such magnitude that Egypt would essentially cease to exist as a country, with untold millions swept into the Mediterranean.

It would be the largest single catastrophe in terms of both humans killed and wounded, and property damage, equal to an Asian tsunami 500 times over. So, it would be recommended that Egypt not provoke Tzahal from completing its goals.

The song that Moshe and the nation sang to praise HaShem after the Egyptians drowned in the Red Sea begins with the Hebrew word “Az” which can be understood to mean “then” in the past or “then” in the future. Many sources explain that just as the Jewish nation in the past praised HaShem for saving them from Egypt, so too will we sing in the future. The past and future will meet again, and the song of praise will again be sung on the background of the punishment of Egypt by water.

Who knows!

Shabbat Shalom,
Nachman Kahana
Copyright © 5784/2024 Nachman Kahana

All the civility that we live with and depend upon is only because of the Torah

by Rabbi Pinchas Winston

Friday Night
THIS WEEK’S PARSHA is climactic for an obvious reason, and a less obvious reason. The giving of the Torah at Mt. Sinai is one of the most important events of all of history, greatly altering the direction of mankind.

The world doesn’t know or appreciate it, but all the civility that we live with and depend upon is only because of the Torah. Nothing else comes close to the moral standard it teaches man to live up to, and those who haven’t have lived far more barbaric lives…even today. The deterioration of society in any generation is because of a lack of Torah influence.

The less obvious reason has to do with the main purpose of Creation, which so few people know or think about. It’s why God started with all of this, “this” including so much more than we see or know about, most of which cannot be picked up by the “James Webb Telescope.” To see that part, or what we are allowed to see of it, requires the proper tradition, and a good mind’s eye.

That purpose? The revelation of God to man. That’s all life is about, and that is all life has ever been about. God created all of it, the Ohr Ain Sof (Revelation Level 1), the Kav v’Tzimtzum (Revelation Level 2), Adam Kadmon (Revelation Level 3), Atzilus (Revelation Level 4), Beriyah, Yetzirah, and Asiyah (Revelation Level 5), just for this purpose. Oh, and our physical universe too, which is on the lowest level of Asiyah.

Now, if you were to ask the seven billion plus people living on this planet what they thought the purpose of life is, if they have an answer, it is unlikely to be this one. I’ve asked this question to people with many years of Torah learning under their belt and, not once did I receive such an answer. Some have come close, but no one has said it clearly and decisively. How could something be so central to everything and yet be so unknown to so many people?

Because it is not only about God’s big reveal to all of mankind, but mankind’s big reveal of God. When Yeshayahu HaNavi called the Jewish people to be a “light to the nations” (which happens to also be imprinted on the wall of the organization that likes us the least), he was telling us this: Go reveal God to the world.

And by reveal, we don’t mean on a theoretical level only. We mean, find a way to make the reality of God so real to people that they can relate to Him and feel His Presence as they might another person in the same room. We mean, act in a way that makes the existence of God palpable to you, which will make it more palpable to others…as it was in this week’s parsha at Mt. Sinai.

Shabbos Day
TECHNOLOGY MAKES LIFE easier physically and spiritually. I don’t mean that it doesn’t challenge us spiritually because clearly it does. Technology has created more stumbling blocks for the Torah Jew than anything else in the last couple of decades, if not longer.

What I mean is this. I have great friends and chavrusos I have never met in person, or hadn’t for the longest time. In the past that would not have been nearly as true if we had only been able to be pen pals, because there is only so much you can learn about someone from the way they write. But thanks to programs like Skype and Zoom, people can meet with one another from thousands of miles away time after time, and develop relationships and bonds that once were only possible from actually spending time in person.

It makes a profound point that may get lost on most of us and that is, how we can develop close relationships with people we can’t really see or hear, just imagine. But you’ll ask me, “What do you mean, just imagine? We can actually see and hear who we’re talking to when using any of these programs!”

Yes and no. You’re not seeing the actual person as you would in real life. Rather, their computer is translating their picture and words into electrical impulses. Those impulses then travel over communication lines and are later reassembled according to their original order by our computers. This results in a pixelated version of your counterpart that you associate with the real thing. In short, it’s just information that is allowing your brain to relate to the other party as a real person, and develop emotional responses to them based upon what you are relating to.

The success of a such a digital relationship depends upon the conveyer of the data. When the Internet is slow, the picture freezes and the words become garbled. If it remains frozen, the relationship becomes frozen, and it becomes like talking to a “dead” person, God forbid. Even if an individual stops talking in person, you can still sense they are alive and relatable.

Now we can take that information and apply it to our relationship with God. You don’t have to actually see God to see Him, or actually hear Him to hear Him. As great as that would be, and will be in the future when prophecy returns, it is not necessary for developing a close and personal relationship with God. When someone says, “I would believe in God if I could see Him!” they have to realize that the only reason why they don’t, is because they haven’t taken the time to gather the right information about God to have that relationship. That’s on them, not God.

Seudas Shlishis
TO KNOW GOD is to love Him. And not just love Him, but to “see” Him, to sense His Presence, as if it is palpable. If you ask, “How is that possible?” the answer is, “Is anything impossible for God?” We may not have the ability to create that sense, but if we try, He’ll take care of the rest.

So many times in Tanach we find the Shechinah “resting” on a particular person and changing their reality. Yiftach was a virtual nobody who became the leader of his people when God imbued him with His spirit. In Parashas BeHa’alosecha, 70 elders became members of the prestigious Sanhedrin when God gifted them the knowledge to function on such a high level of Torah. It’s what God does when His plan for Creation requires it, and people become worthy of it.

This was essentially the Har Sinai Experience. It was God giving the Jewish people a taste of just how real an experience of God can be if you go after it. This is what Yeshayahu was telling the Jewish people when he said, “Seek God when He is found, call Him when He is near” (Yeshayahu 55:6). In other words, God can be “found” and God can be “near,” if you make it so.

It is not just a gift. It is the very purpose of Creation. When someone creates a situation of revelation of God, they bring meaning to all of existence. They rectify themself and the world, mitigating the need for God to have to “force” His revelation onto mankind. Because that is all the War of Gog and Magog is intended to do, to get the world’s attention and make them realize Who God really is.

As God will later say in the Torah, “You have been shown, in order to know that God is God; there is none else besides Him” (Devarim 4:35). Once we learn this and project it through our lives, the world will catch on as well. Then we will have been the light unto nations we were taken out of Egypt and to Mt. Sinai to be.

That’s where all of this is leading, what’s going in the world today. All the bad and all the confusion may hide the Presence of God for now, but that is just to amplify the eventual revelation of God. But this amplification can either be because of us, or through us. Judging by the rate that things are changing for the worse, we don’t have much time left to make that decision.

Latest book now available on Amazon: Vayechulu: Getting More From Friday Night Kiddush.

Acharis K’Reishis, Part 5
CONTINUING ON WITH the translation, it says:

It has been explained that also in the Egyptian exile, the Jewish people left oppression prior to their redemption. They elucidate the verse, “the rain is over and gone” (Shir HaShirim 2:11) as referring to the main oppression. They also make a parallel to the days of Koresh, as well as the future pekidah, as will be explained. They explain how the order of redemption applies equally to all of them (i.e., to all redemptions).

See the Ma’amar Geulah of the Ramchal [where he says]:

“It is necessary to know that the redemption from Egypt and the future redemption are equal in many ways. It is just that the future one will be even greater, because Creation will then find a rest that it has not known from the day of its existence until now (i.e., the end of history).”

In the commentary of the Ramchal on Shir HaShirim (Otzros Ramchal, p. 45) [it says]: “This is the matter of redemption that is found many times in history. It is all from the same source, that is, the redemption from Egypt and the future redemption come from the same source, as it says [with respect to the final redemption], ‘like the days of your leaving Egypt I will show you wonders’ (Michah 7:15).”

The GR”A explicitly says on Shir HaShirim [on] 2:8, and there [on] 6:10, that the leaving of Egypt was the beginning of all the redemptions, and it will be likewise in the future as well. Therefore, all the specifics of the future redemption are actually similar to the details of the redemption from Egypt. We find that the redemption from Egypt occurred in many levels, as it was mentioned previously (Ch. 2 from Aderes Eliyahu, Parashas VaAira 6:6). “[The verse says,] ‘I will take you out [from under the burdens of Egypt]’ and this refers to the oppression of the Children [of Israel] and all their difficult labor. ‘I will save you [from their labor]’ means you will no longer be slaves to the Egyptians. ‘I will redeem you [with an outstretched arm and great judgements]’ refers to the leaving of Egypt. ‘And I will take [you as a people] and I will be [God to you]’ is the giving of Torah, as it says ‘You will be to Me a people [and I will be God to you]” (Vayikra 26:12).’”

For essays on the current situation, go to www.shaarnunproductions.org.

Good Shabbos.

The Biden Administration and the Iranian Regime's Nuclear Weapons

by Majid Rafizadeh

• In a noteworthy development, for the first time, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has issued a warning, signaling that Iran now holds a sufficient quantity of highly enriched uranium capable of producing multiple nuclear warheads.
• The regime has been actively supporting Hamas against Israel, providing assistance to Yemen's Houthi terror group to attack ships in the Red Sea, escalating tensions with Pakistan, and providing weaponry to Russia for use against Ukraine. These multifaceted engagements in regional and global conflicts indicate the regime's likely view of nuclear weapons as a means to further its strategic objectives.
• In the midst of these ongoing conflicts, the last thing we need is an aggressive regime, with terrorist inclinations -- and clearly no intention, despite every opportunity the West has given it, of "coming in from the cold" -- possessing nuclear weapons.

For the first time, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has issued a warning, signaling that Iran now holds a sufficient quantity of highly enriched uranium capable of producing multiple nuclear warheads. This development prompted IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi to denounce Iran's actions. Pictured: Grossi speaks during the IAEA's Board of Governors meeting in Vienna, Austria on November 22, 2023. (Photo by Joe Klamar/AFP via Getty Images)


The Biden administration's nuclear policy concerning Iran's nuclear program and its ability to acquire nuclear weapons is a complete disaster. Under the Biden administration's leadership, Iran has made significant advances in its nuclear program that surpass the progress achieved under any previous administrations.

In a noteworthy development, for the first time, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has issued a warning, signaling that Iran now holds a sufficient quantity of highly enriched uranium capable of producing multiple nuclear warheads. This development, reported by Bloomberg on January 18, prompted IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi to denounce Iran's actions. Grossi also told The National newspaper, "Iran is the only non-nuclear weapon state which is enriching uranium at this very, very high level".

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Rav Kook's Ein Ayah: The Two Elements of Geula

Gemara: All agree that Bnei Yisrael were liberated from Egypt at night, as the pasuk says: “Hashem took you out of Egypt at night” (Devarim 16:1) and left specifically during the day, as the pasuksays: “On the day after the bringing of the Pesach, Bnei Yisrael left with a strong hand” (Bamidbar 33:3). What they did argue about is the time of haste. Rebbi Elazar ben Azarya says it refers to the haste of Egypt, and Rabbi Akiva says that it refers to the haste of Israel.

Ein Ayah: The redemption from slavery to freedom, in general, has the following two effects on a nation. The first is that there is an internal sense of freedom, which gives the spirit a feeling of uplifting, having left the lowliness of slavery and becoming a free man and a master of one’s own destiny. The second is in regard to the activity that is visible to the whole world, as the nation becomes free and vibrant. Regarding Israel, these two matters are especially powerful because the internal freedom is the beginning of the process of self-perfection in regard to the sanctity of one’s characteristics in Torah, mitzvot, and wisdom. Israel’s externally visible freedom exists to enable them to be a light unto the nations. A major part of that project has already been achieved. It will be completed when Hashem will have compassion on His nation and the Torah will emanate from Zion with nations looking forward to the Torah of Israel.

Therefore, the elements of liberation were broken up into two parts. Internal liberation from Egyptian control was accomplished at night. This relates not to the main publicizing of the matter for all to see but to the good feeling that accompanies the internal freedom. The exodus was in the daytime, with a strong hand, open for all of the world to see. This demonstrated their activity in the world, to educate and do good for all of mankind, who are created in Hashem’s image, to give light in Hashem’s light, as the pasuk says: “Nations will walk in your light and kings to the glow of your shining” (Yeshaya 60:3).

[The disagreement is whether to stress the haste of Egypt or of Israel.] The internal freedom depends on nullifying slavery, which had to come from the Egyptians, the slave masters. In their haste and their realization that Israel should not be their slaves, the cessation of the slavery began and the internal freedom began to blossom.

Rebbi Akiva said that Israel’s haste was the key factor, as it was a sign of the external freedom, allowing them to walk upright and do major things to improve the world. This required the actions of Israel and their own recognition of their advantages and their calling to act, which exceeds that of the rest of the world. The completeness of the goal of liberation was not just ending slavery but creating actual liberty and the broadening of life under the flag of Torah in the world.

Therefore, that which it says that Hashem took us out of Egyptat night means that the liberation began at night. The nightly liberation is a mere beginning in relation to the lofty goal of complete liberation in a manner that shows the nations of the world that Hashem, the G-d of Israel, is the Lord.

In truth, there are two parts to the liberation: that of day and that of night. This is important because eventually the nation would return to subjugation. Therefore, it was important to teach the nation that the future enslavement would impede only their influence over others. The uplifting of the spirit and the innate advantage that was secured with the Egyptian liberation of the night will remain forever, as “for Me are Israel slaves” (Vayikra 25:55). Therefore, the main obligation to tell the story of the Exodus from Egypt is at night to demonstrate that the impact of the liberation of the night is permanent as the pasuk hints: “Hashem took you out of Egypt at night.” 

The Treasured Nation

by HaRav Mordechai Greenberg
Nasi HaYeshiva, Kerem B'Yavneh

Two fundamental values of Judaism are expressed in the Parsha: the giving of the Torah and the selection of Am Yisrael as the chosen nation, "You shall be to Me the most beloved treasure of all peoples." (Shemot 19:5) The question arises, was God's choice of Yisrael a result of their acceptance of the Torah, "Na'aseh venishma - We will do and we will listen," as opposed to the other nations who rejected the Torah? Or, just the opposite, was Hashem's choice of Yisrael the foundation for their receiving the Torah? The text that Chazal established for the bracha on the Torah shows that Yisrael was chosen first, and the selection is not contingent on our initiative or actions. We bless God, "Who selected us from all the peoples, and," -- as a result -- "gave us His Torah." Similarly, we say in Shacharit, "Blessed is He, our God, Who created us for His glory, separated us from those who stray, and," -- as such -- "gave us the Torah of truth."

This idea is explicit in Tana D'vei Eliyahu:

He said to me: Rebbe, "There are two things in this world which I love completely, and they are the Torah and Yisrael, but I do not know which one to prefer." I said to him: My son, generally people say that the Torah is first, as it says, "Hashem made me [the Torah] as the beginning of His way." (Mishlei 8:22) But I say Yisrael is first, as it says, "Israel is holy to Hashem, the first of His crop." (Yirmiya 2:3)

This perspective is the foundation of the maxim of Chazal, "A Jew, even when he sins, is still a Jew." If the selection of Yisrael were to depend on their deeds, then when one sins, he would remove himself from the holiness of Israel. But, since the selection of Bnei Yisrael does not depend on their deeds, it remains even if a Jew sins. Conversely, when a gentile performs mitzvot, he does not acquire the status of Yisrael, as his actions are merely insignificant movements, since he is lacking the inherent, special nature of Yisrael.

This same concept applies to Klal Yisrael as a whole. "Hashem has distinguished you today to be for Him a treasured people." (Devarim 26:18) The Ohr Hachaim explains that Hashem declared Yisrael to be the chosen nation, so that even if another nation improves its deeds, and attempts to join with the Shechina (Divine Presence), they will not achieve the status of Yisrael. Conversely, even if there will be a time that Yisrael angers the Creator, Hashem will not replace them with another nation.

This concept is reflected in the Tanach, as well, as Rabah b. Rav Huna comments (Yalkut Shimoni II:312): This is the distinction between Yisrael and non-Jews. Regarding Yisrael it says, "I will be a God to them, and they will be a people to Me" (Yechezkel 37:27), whereas regarding non-Jews, it says, "For who then would embolden his heart to approach Me ... You will be a people unto Me, and I will be a God unto you." (Yirmiya 30:21?22) The Maharal explains (Netzach Yisrael, ch. 11) that Hashem chose Yisrael for their essence and not for their good deeds, and naturally seeks after them. But, regarding non-Jews, it first says, "You will be a people unto Me," that when their deeds will be good, then Hashem will bring them close to Him.

The same idea is alluded to in the pasuk, "He perceived ("hibit") no iniquity in Yaakov and saw ("ra'ah") no perversity in Yisrael." (Bamidbar 23:21) The Netziv explains: The name, "Yisrael," connotes the great people of the nation, where sin is not found even with an external look (ra'ah). However, regarding "Yaakov," the common Jew, even though exterior flaws are sometimes evident, after looking deeper (hibit) into their essence, iniquity is not perceived.

We, who follow the ways of Hashem, must not search for the sins of others, but rather we must look deeply to seek merits and positive traits. The Chazon Ish (Yoreh De'ah 12), writes about the wicked people of our generation that the law of "moridim" (that certain sinners are eliminated by Beit Din) only applies when Divine Providence is evident to all, through miracles and Bat Kol (Heavenly voice). When Hashem's Presence is more hidden, though, and faith in Hashem is not present among the general public, this law does not apply. Our responsibility is to draw Am Yisrael to the light of Torah with chains of love to the best of our ability.

Rav Kook on Parashat Yitro: A Pure Revelation

“Moshe awoke early in the morning and climbed Har Sinai.” (Shemot 34:4)

The text emphasizes that Moses ascended the mountain at daybreak to receive the Torah. The Sages taught that Moshe's  subsequent descent from Sinai to transmit the Torah to the people also took place at first light. “Just as his ascent was at daybreak, so, too, his descent was at daybreak” (Shabbat 86a). Why is the hour of these events so significant?

Crystal Clear
The quality of Moshe’s prophecy was without equal. The Sages compared the unique clarity of his prophetic vision to an aspaklariahme'irah, a clear, transparent lens. This metaphor expresses the unique authenticity of the Divine revelation to Moses, to whom God spoke “face to face, in a vision and not in allegories” (Bamidbar 12:8).

What made Moshe's vision so uniquely accurate? His prophesy was true to its original Divine source; it was not influenced by societal needs or political considerations. On the contrary, it is this pristine Divine revelation that dictates the proper path for society, the nation, and the entire world.

For this reason, the Torah stresses the hour of this historic event. Moshe began his ascent to Sinai at first light — before the day’s social interactions — thus indicating that the revelation at Sinai was independent of all social, political, and practical accommodations. It is precisely due to the Torah’s absolute integrity that it has the power to vitiate life and renew creation, to refine humanity and uplift the world to the heights of purity and holiness. 

Precise Transmission
The Sages added an important corollary to this insight. It was not just Moshe's original revelation that was free of worldly influences. The Torah’s transmission to the people also retained its original authenticity. “Just as his ascent was at daybreak, so, too, his descent was at daybreak.” The Torah’s laws do not reflect the influence of social and political necessities. The Torah is the light of the Creator, the Divine Will giving life to the world, propelling the universe to advance in all aspects, material and spiritual.

The Torah that Moshe brought down to the people of Israel was the exact same Torah that he received on Sinai — a complete Torah of absolute truth, transcending the limitations of our flawed world. “His descent was at daybreak,” unaffected by the day’s social interactions. The Torah remained pure, brought down to the world through the spiritual genius of the master prophet.

(Silver from the Land of Israel. Adapted from Ein Eyah vol. IV on Shabbat 86a (9:16) by Rav Chanan Morrison)

Great Responses

by Rabbi Dov Berel Wein

A literal reading of the Parsha tells us that Yitro, who was the high priest of Midian and the father-in-law of Moshe, saw of the events of the Exodus from Egypt and, according to Rashi based on Midrash, saw the battle the Jewish people fought against Amalek.

The Torah implies, and Rashi states openly, that upon hearing of these events, Yitro was propelled to leave his home, and to come into the desert to accompany the Jewish people, at least initially, on their travels through the Sinai desert. The Torah does not tell us how he heard about these events, but, apparently, they were of such earth-shattering proportions, that the news spread rapidly throughout the Middle East.

From the verses in the song of Moshe and the Jewish people, at the splitting of the waters of Yam Suf, it is obvious that Yitro was not alone in hearing about these wonderous events. The verse says that all the nations of the area were also astounded to hear of these miracles, and to realize that a new nation had been born from the slavery of Egypt. Yet, the reaction of the people in those countries and especially that of Amalek certainly differed greatly from the response of Yitro to the very same news.

The nations of the world chose either to oppose the news by attacking the Jewish people, or, mostly, to simply ignore it as not being worthy of their concern. People are so confirmed in their inertia that even when there is an event that obviously is historic and earth-shattering, but which would, at the same time, cause a reassessment of their own lives, attitudes, and policies, they will, in the main, either deny the news, besmirch the miracle, or ignore the matter completely.

It is to the credit of Yitro that he chose to act positively upon hearing of the events that occurred to the Jewish people in their exodus from Egypt. Of course, being the father-in-law of Moshe, he also had a personal vested interest in visiting his family, but, nevertheless, it must be recorded to his credit, that he uprooted himself to join the Jewish people in their travels through the desert.

One of the great tests in life is how one responds to news that is momentous and unexpected, that makes it necessary to change one's habits and life direction. Jews often piously – and I do not doubt their sincerity when they say it – put off momentous decisions until the Messiah arrives. But the little I know of human nature teaches me that even when the Messiah arrives, there will be many who will not be willing to change their life pattern, sell everything to join the Jewish people in the land of Israel, with all the accompanying hardships that inevitably will be involved. People hear many things, many times very important things, but this knowledge does not necessarily imply that they are willing to act upon them in a positive and productive manner. Yitro is eternally privileged to have a portion of the Torah on his name because he heard and shortly thereafter, he acted.

South Africa's ties to Hamas, Iran exposed amid financial troubles, genocide case against Israel

By Madeleine Hubbard

With the International Court of Justice having ruled Friday on South Africa's accusations that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, the case is bringing to light questions regarding Pretoria's relations with Hamas and Iran, as well as the country's serious financial troubles and corruption allegations.

The entire country of South Africa struggles with financial difficulties, with an estimated poverty rate of 62.6% in 2022, according to the World Bank. Additionally, due to a lack of maintenance on coal-fired power plants, residents were left without power for up to 10 hours a day in the first few months of 2023, according to the U.S. State Department. Rolling blackouts decreased to six hours a day by April, per The Associated Press, but some U.S. analysts have predicted that South Africa is still at risk of suffering an energy grid collapse and service failure, including water treatment.

On Friday, the United Nations’ top court decided to allow the genocide case brought by South Africa to proceed against Israel for its military actions in Gaza. The decision in the Hague was made by 17 judges of the International Court of Justice, who also demanded Israel try to contain death and damage in the offensive but did not call for a cease-fire.

South Africa's ruling party, the African National Congress, has been plagued by threats of bankruptcy and allegations of corruption for years. Most recently, the party has turned to crowdfunding in an attempt to stabilize its finances.

Nelson Mandela's ANC is set to face its most competitive election since apartheid ended in 1994. Surveys suggest that the ANC may, for the first time ever, receive less than 50% of the national vote in April's elections, according to the Africa Center for Strategic Studies.

South Africa's constitution prohibits "unrehabilitated insolvents," or people who are bankrupt from running for office, but it is mum on whether a bankrupt party can run candidates. However, that does not appear to be an issue at this time, as the ANC said earlier this month that it was able to stabilize its finances, according to The Sunday Times. It did not give specifics as to how this was accomplished.

The same week that the ANC got its finances in a better state, South Africa brought the genocide case against Israel in the International Court of Justice, according to South Africa's Daily Maverick news outlet.

High-profile South African activists such as former Institute of Race Relations CEO Frans Cronje and Accountability Now Director Paul Hoffman both said earlier this month that reports are emerging that Iran fixed the ANC's finance problem.

"The South African government is the same thing as Hamas. It's an Iranian proxy, and its role in the war is to fight the ideological and ideas war to stigmatize Jews around the world," Cronje during an interview on Chai FM Radio.

Former Trump deputy national security adviser Victoria Coates told the "Just the News, No Noise" TV show this week that "one has to at least wonder" whether Iran is funding the ANC. "This sort of unholy alliance is emerging in a deeply, deeply dangerous way."

Iran's benefits of a close relationship with South Africa include the ability of the African nation to provide Tehran with nuclear support, as the Islamic Republic has been attempting to build a nuclear weapon. Additionally, the Iran-backed Houthis have been attempting to shut down shipping in the Red Sea. The alternative shipping route in the region is South Africa's Cape of Good Hope, so if Iran were to put pressure to shut it down as well, it would be catastrophic for the global economy, Coates also said.

Although South Africa's News24 reported that the Iran funding allegations "don't hold up" because there is "no substantive proof" for it, the outlet is owned by the holding company Naspers Limited, which donated at least 3 million rand, or more than $158,000, to the ANC in 2022 and 2021, according to political finance records.

While ANC spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu told the Maverick that her party "does declare where its funding is derived" and the idea of receiving funding from Iran is "preposterous," it is impossible to fully refute the allegations without accessing the party's balance sheets, which Just the News has no way of doing.

Regardless, Iran has been bolstering South Africa's economy for years.

Iranian Chamber of Commerce official Mohammadreza Karbasi said in 2019 that Iran's Foreign Direct Investment in South Africa was more than $135 billion in South Africa in 2018. Shortly before Karbasi's announcement, South African Ambassador to Iran Vika Mazwi Khumalo said his nation is ready to exchange tourists with Iran, per the Mehr News Agency, an outlet affiliated with the Iranian government's Islamic Ideology Dissemination Organization.

More recently, Iran and South Africa signed a joint economic cooperation agreement in August, two months before the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, when terrorists, led by the Iran-funded Hamas, killed about 1,200 people in Israel and kidnapped 250 others. The same month as the agreement, Tehran reached a deal with Pretoria to develop five oil refineries in South Africa, according to China state-run outlet Xinhua.

As South Africa cozied up to Iran, whose government for years has sought the destruction of what it has called the "Zionist regime," South Africa's tense relations with Israel dramatically worsened after the Oct. 7 attack.

One day after Oct. 7, South Africa blamed Israel, saying: "The new conflagration has arisen from the continued illegal occupation of Palestine land, continued settlement expansion, desecration of the Al Aqsa mosque and Christian holy sites, and ongoing oppression of the Palestinian people."

Just 10 days after Hamas' brutal Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor spoke on the phone with the leader of Hamas, which is a U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization backed by Iran.

During the Oct. 17 call with Hamas Leader Ismail Haniyeh, Pandor "reiterated South Africa’s solidarity and support for the people of Palestine and expressed sadness and regret for the loss of innocent lives both Palestinians and Israelis" and "discussed how to get the necessary Humanitarian Aid to Gaza and other parts of the Palestinian Territories," according to a summary of the conversation published by the South African government.

The following week, Pandor spent a day in Iran. In Tehran, Pandor met with Iranian President Ayatollah Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi "to convey a message" from South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, according to the South African government. The exact contents of that message were not disclosed.

South Africa cut ties with Israel in November over the war, and earlier this month, it presented its case before the United Nations International Court of Justice, accusing Israel of committing genocide in Gaza.

If Iran did donate money to the ANC, it would not be the first time the party has received contributions from controversial actors.

The ANC received about $1.6 million in monetary and in-kind donations from 2021 through 2022 from a mining company linked to U.S.-sanctioned Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg. The money came from United Manganese of Kalahari Ltd, of which Vekselberg owns a significant stake in, per Cyprus business records cited by CNN. Although the U.S. Treasury has sanctioned Vekselberg multiple times, United Manganese has been able to avoid sanctions because he has less than a 50% stake in the company.

One of the other shareholders in United Manganese is Chancellor House, which admitted in 2021 to serving as a funding vehicle for the ANC. The Chancellor House Trust gave more than $1.4 million to the ANC from 2021 through 2023, records show.

Beyond interactions with Iran, the heightened tensions between South Africa and Israel began long before Oct. 7, however.

Israel was one of the earliest countries to criticize South Africa's apartheid system starting in the 1950s. Following the Yom Kippur War, Israel developed what journalist Thomas Friedman called a "realpolitik" attitude towards South Africa in the 1970s, and the two nations deepened ties at a time when most African nations severed relations with Israel over the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries' oil embargo. Israel eventually issued sanctions against South Africa in 1987 in response to its apartheid policies.

However, the countries' relationship greatly changed in the post-apartheid era, when Nelson Mandela was elected president under the African National Congress political party.

Mandela had close ties with Palestinian leaders, including Yasser Arafat, who met the South African leader with literal hugs and kisses days after he was released from prison in 1990.

Coates said Mandela "was good friends with Yasser Arafat, and created this kind of affinity with the Palestinians for South Africa."

The Embassy of South Africa in the U.S. did not respond to Just the News' request for comment, nor did the Johannesburg-based think tank the South African Institute of International Affairs or the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Israel’s War on Hamas is the Least Deadly War in the Region

by Daniel Greenfield

The Associated Press recently made headlines by falsely claiming that the Israeli campaign against Hamas “sits among the deadliest and most destructive in recent history” and was even worse than “the Allied bombing of Germany in World War II”.

The Washington Post argued that “Israel has waged one of this century’s most destructive wars in Gaza” while The Wall Street Journal contended that it was “generating destruction comparable in scale to the most devastating urban warfare in the modern record.”

That’s all the more impressive since even accepting the Hamas casualty figures (tainted and inflated numbers in which there are no terrorists, only civilians, and fighting age men are really children) as the media does, this is still probably one of the least violent conflicts in the region.

In 2016, the Washington Post described the Syrian Civil War, with a possible 250,000 deaths, as “the most destructive conflict in the region”. In 2020, the UN had called the Yemeni Civil War, with 150,000 deaths, “the most destructive conflict since the end of the Cold War”.



And then there’s the current phase of the war in Sudan (which the media is currently uninterested in) in which 15,000 people have been killed over the course of last year, as part of a larger conflict that may have claimed as many as 2 million lives.

The Tigray War in Ethiopia over the last three years (which you may have missed because the media chose not to hysterically cover every single bomb dropped and protesters stayed home knitting instead of blocking traffic) may have cost the lives of between 80,000 to 600,000 people.

(El Pais, Spain’s newspaper, which did report on Ethiopia’s civil war, described it as “the deadliest of the 21st century” and then had to pivot to argue later that Israel was worse in, “25,000 deaths in Gaza: Why the destruction of this war exceeds that of other major conflicts”.)

In reality, every significant war and civil war in the region had a much higher death toll than the Hamas war: including the Iraq-Iran War with an estimated 500,000 to 2 million deaths. And in nearby Africa, the Congo War has been blamed for 6 million deaths since 1996.

How does the media justify arguing that 25,000 is more than 2 million?

There are plenty of statistical gimmicks available to anyone who wants to argue that 2 + 2 is really 5. Media “analyses” that claim that Israel’s campaign against Hamas is the deadliest and most destructive, and might even be worse than WWII, adjust their claims accordingly.

As the author of every dubious research study knows, to get the results you want, you manipulate your parameters. Media analyses selectively compare Israel’s campaign to battles, rather than wars, they narrowly focus on very specific timetables, they try to estimate per capita rather than gross figures. But drawing a circle around a particular area and going per capita works both ways. The Hamas attack of Oct 7 killed 10% of the population of Kibbutz Be’eri making it far worse per capita than anything in Israel’s response to those atrocities.

But statistical fudging is all in where the line is drawn to achieve a particular agenda.

For example, the New York Times declares that, “Gaza Deaths Surpass Any Arab Loss in Wars With Israel in Past 40 Years”. Of course the last major Arab-Israeli war took place 50 years ago.

The 40 year figure is based on the Lebanon War, but the actual numbers for that war vary wildly from the thousands according to Israel, 10,000 according to the CIA, 18,000 according to Lebanon and 30,000 according to Arafat and the PLO.

While the media at the time emphasized the highest estimates, in order to criticize the Israeli campaign against the PLO, they now use lower estimates to attack the Gaza campaign.

Similarly, the AP cites its own claim that battles against ISIS in the Iraqi city of Mosul “killed around 10,000 civilians” to indict Israel. Some Iraqi estimates however peg it as high as 40,000. PBS headlined its coverage by warning that “the human toll of the battle for Mosul may never be known.”

The New York Times, after using the shaky Lebanon numbers to prop up the shaky Gaza numbers, admits that “as in Gaza today, researchers say the number killed in Lebanon may never be known with confidence because of the fog of war, even four decades later.”

That much is true.

The Times cites its own claim that, “numbering the dead correctly is virtually impossible”.

That’s why the death toll for everything from the Syrian and Yemeni civil wars to the mass deaths in Sudan and the Iran-Iraq War are broad estimates with vast differences between them.

Aeschylus, the Greek playwright, warned that truth is the first casualty of war. And accurate casualty counts are the first and final casualty of every conflict.

The Lancet, the British medical journal, once courted controversy with its claims that the Iraq War had killed, first 98,000 Iraqis and then over half a million or 2.5% of the country. By 2007, a British data company, claimed that 1 million Iraqis had been killed. These claims were quickly debunked and the claims are in the rearview mirror now that the debate over the war is over.

During the Iraq War it was politically convenient to inflate the death toll just as it’s now politically convenient to deflate the death toll while unthinkingly accepting casualty figures from a terrorist group whose main hope of survival lies in inflating civilian deaths while minimizing its own casualties.

The most troubling thing about the universal acceptance of the Hamas numbers is just that.

Estimated death tolls in the Syrian Civil War have varied wildly from the low six figures to over 600,000. Different organizations with different agendas have produced very different sets of numbers. And while many of those may be unreliable, there is at least a healthy debate.

When it comes to Gaza, the media cites no figures other than those of Hamas. And it insists at the same time that most of Gaza has been destroyed, its medical centers pulverized and its government shattered, and that this same system can not only be trusted, but is also somehow capable of producing infallible statistics that don’t exist in any other regional conflict.

The numbers for the Iran-Iraq War vary by 1.5 million, those of the Syrian Civil War and Tigray War by half a million, and yet somehow Gaza is the place where the numbers never vary and where a terrorist group got it just right. That’s something even America can’t do.

On September 11, 2023, DNA testing identified two more victims of the original 9/11 attacks. After 20 years, 1,000 human remains are still unknown. The exact number of deaths from when Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico in 2017 is still being debated and it took months to nail down the death toll from the Maui wildfires. And yet somehow the medical experts at Hamas can produce better numbers in a shorter timespan in a war zone than we can while at peace.

Casualty figures have always been the subject of propaganda and the most obvious symptom of propaganda is the lack of meaningful debate. Why does every regional war, including the Iraq War, have a wide range of estimated deaths, but not in Gaza? Because there is no dissent.

There is no dissent in Gaza or in the media which publishes absurd claims that a few months of fighting have somehow been more brutal than WWII or regional conflicts which claimed millions.

How many died in Gaza? The real answer is that, like the other wars, nobody knows.

After the fighting there will be studies that will pump up the estimated total even higher by using excess death statistics. Surveys of empty houses, heat maps or satellite images will be used to estimate even higher losses without regard as to whether they reflect deaths or evacuations. Local research based on anecdotal accounts and statistical legerdemain will be used to bake a variety of faulty figures into a far more grandiose number than the current 25,000. Expect claims that will go as high as the low six figures to be reported on and treated as fact and history.

Techniques like these account for the wide range of reported deaths from other conflicts. And then we can expect debates over the X curve and the correct readings of genealogical records. The end results will be deeply dubious but there will at least be some room for debate. There is little point in even debating the current numbers coming out of an arm of a terrorist organization.

But what the debates will reveal is that, agenda or no agenda, we don’t really know. Wars and natural disasters are messy. People disappear, some uproot themselves and some it will turn out never existed but were a mistake in the records of an unreliable part of the world.

Palestinian Authority and Hamas numbers, including population figures and birth rates, have reflected political agendas, rather than reality. As have those of UNRWA, the UN agency dedicated to serving the ‘Palestinians’ but locally staffed by Hamas, so there will be plenty of bad numbers to drown out the good ones.

“There are three kinds of lies: Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics,” Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli once reportedly quipped. The media’s coverage has offered plenty of all three.

But numbers in war mainly matter when it comes to outcomes of victory or defeat. The obsession with numbers in conflicts is an unhealthy distraction from the real issues.

The moral calculus between the Allies and the Nazis did not change based on how many German civilians were killed in the bombings and artillery shelling on the road to Berlin. The morality of the Civil War was not measured in civilian deaths and neither is any other.

A nation is actively evil when it sets out to exterminate a civilian population. Whether it is WWII or the Hamas war: only one of the two sides was engaged in a total war of extermination.

The morality of a war is not measured in civilian casualties, but in deliberate civilian killings.

On Oct 7 and in the months since, Hamas has engaged in the deliberate killings of civilians. Israel has not. The number games are meant to be a distraction from that simple fact.

Morality is defined by intent, not statistics.

Time to End UNRWA's Jihad against Israel

by Bassam Tawil

• "Hamas is involved in everything. Hamas has their hands on UNRWA administration workers. Hamas manages UNRWA. They are those in charge in the agency. From the day Hamas came to power, they took control of everything. The UNRWA employees are from Hamas. The heads of the departments and the senior staff are Hamas members." —Palestinian from the Gaza Strip to an Israeli officer in a recorded call, X (Twitter) December 27, 2023.
• It is now clear that the UN heads were lying when they said they were unaware of the involvement of their employees with terror groups. In fact, they knew but did their utmost to appease Hamas.
• In a moment of rare honesty, in 2021 the UN acknowledged that UNRWA's school curriculum referred to Israel as "the enemy," taught children mathematics by counting "martyred terrorists," and included the phrase "Jihad is one of the doors to paradise" in Arabic grammar lessons.
• "Before UNRWA, this terrorist accomplice [Abdallah Mehjez] worked for the BBC..." — Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch.
• "Now is the time for reform. Reform for rehabilitation - so that the minds of Palestinian children can no longer be poisoned. So that there can be a shared vision of peace in this land." — Lt. Col. (res.) Peter Lerner, X (Twitter), January 27, 2024.
• Western taxpayers should not be funding terror groups disguised as humanitarian organizations.
• UNRWA was established to support the relief and human development of Palestinian refugees, not to support the development of terrorism.
• It is time to dismantle UNRWA and end the farce of Palestinian "refugees." There are no real refugees. There are millions of Palestinians living -- often in unspeakable conditions (so that Israel can be blamed) -- under the control of the Palestinian Authority and Hamas, and in Lebanon, Syria and Jordan.
• It is the UN that enables and perpetuates this human rights abuse. These Palestinians live under Palestinian and Arab regimes that should long ago have absorbed them instead of keeping them in "refugee camps" with the cheery "humanitarian" promise that they will one day flood Israel, turn the Jews into a persecuted minority in their own country, then bring about its demise.

It is now clear that the UN heads were lying when they said they were unaware of the involvement of their employees with terror groups. In fact, they knew but did their utmost to appease Hamas. Pictured: UNRWA Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini speaks at the Global Refugee Forum, in Geneva, Switzerland on December 13, 2023. (Photo by Jean-Guy Python/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)

Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), has announced that he decided to fire several employees of his agency after Israeli authorities provided information about their "alleged" involvement in Hamas's massacre of Israelis on October 7, 2023.

"To protect the Agency's ability to deliver humanitarian assistance, I have taken the decision to immediately terminate the contracts of these staff members and launch an investigation in order to establish the truth without delay," Lazzarini said. "Any UNRWA employee who was involved in acts of terror will be held accountable, including through criminal prosecution."

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was "horrified" by the Israeli accusations.

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Innocents Abroad

by Rabbi Steven Pruzansky

There is something abnormal about the “innocent civilians” of Gaza that we would do well to recognize, especially since the blood libel at The Hague is premised on their suffering brought about by the war they and their elected representatives launched against us.

When G-d informed Moshe of the consequences of the tenth and final plague - the death of each Egyptian first born - He noted that there will be a “great outcry” in Egypt at that time that will lead to liberation for the Jewish people. The great biblical commentator Malbim (1809-1879) explained that “outcry” as the “outcry of rebellion” (Shemot 11:6) as the Egyptian people, horrified at their fate and their Pharaoh’s obstinacy “wanted to kill Pharaoh.” They had endured enough suffering, blamed Pharaoh and not the Jews, and wanted relief. That got Pharaoh’s attention and he searched for Moshe and Aharon to inform them that they and the people of Israel should all leave, and immediately.

How is it that there is no indigenous rebellion in Gaza? After all, we are told that there are some 40,000 Hamas fighters in a population of “innocents” that number well over a million people? The “innocents,” apparently, outnumber the terrorists some 25-1, or even 30-1. How is it that aside from a few scattered voices blaming Hamas - often terrorists in captivity conveniently changing their tune or some random Gazan found by the media - there is no movement to displace Hamas?

A few better questions: how is it that Israel lacks informants among the Gazan population? How is it that not one Gazan has revealed the location of any of the hostages (indeed, many Gazan “civilians,” as we now know, have held our capitives hostage in their own homes)? How is it that not one Gazan has revealed the location of the tunnel entrances, sparing our soldiers the hazardous task of finding them? After all, those entrances are usually located in their own homes, or in the schools to which they send their children, or in the mosques in which they pray, or in the hospitals where they presumably seek medical care. If they were as innocent as the world portrays them to be, why the reticence?

There are several inevitable conclusions to be drawn from this. It is the way of the world that people suffering under the yoke of a brutal, deadly, and unwanted leadership try to overthrow those leaders and replace them with leaders who better share the society’s values. Most of the United States’ Declaration of Independence is devoted to articulating the basis of that right. For a society that suffers under despotic rule, “it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government.” That the civilians of Gaza are so docile means that they are either cowardly - or complicit.

Cowardice is a state of mind and difficult to prove conclusively. Even though the “innocent civilians” far outnumber their terrorist leaders, it requires great courage to begin a frontal battle against well armed and evil fighters. But it requires less courage to surreptitiously help Israel, reveal the entrances to bunkers and tunnels, even reveal the location of any of the hostages. That none of this is happening means that the second possibility - complicity - is the more likely reason why Gazans accept the Hamas regime, rejoice in the war against the Jews and the torture they inflicted and are inflicting on our civilians, even participated in the atrocities of October 7 - and would vote for Hamas again given the chance.

That the world has accepted this false dichotomy between Hamas and Gazans is partly mendacity, bias, and insincerity - but it is also partly our government’s fault as it has made little effort to accentuate the complicity of civilian Gazans in the current conflict. Worse, our leaders’ vain boast the day after the massacre that “not one drop of water or fuel will enter Gaza until all the hostages are released” dissipated almost instantly under pressure. Nothing projects weakness more than making promises you can’t keep and threats that you will not carry out. It was a missed opportunity to expose the myth of the “innocent civilians.”

We are now dealing with those consequences in many ways, not least of which is the continued captivity for the hostages. As our soldiers have reported, Hamas routinely sends out young children and mothers wheeling carriages to ascertain where Israeli soldiers are bivouacked. It presents an almost incomprehensible dilemma for our military. You can’t shoot them - even though their presence and mission endangers our soldier’s lives. I dare all the self-appointed faux moralists across the West to present a solution to that dilemma. Yet, whose Jewish father, husband, son or brother must die in order to protect the lives of these “innocents” who report the location of our forces to Hamas which then shoots RPG’s or other projectiles at our forces? At the very least, this presents an opportunity for our government to dispel the myth of the “innocent civilian,” call for the immediate relocation of anyone who wants to leave, and stop pretending that the future of Gaza is the restoration of the past. For complicity does not only mean that they are actively engaged in terrorism. Complicity also means that they have been educated on hatred of Jews and the illegitimacy of Israel. That cannot be changed, and we should stop pretending that it can change. Let the innocents go abroad and make better lives for themselves; to the extent that they wish to stay only demonstrates how complicit they are.

It is sobering to think that Pharaoh’s Egyptians were more normal, more sophisticated, cared for their children more, had greater respect for life, and feared Pharaoh less (notwithstanding his claim of divinity) than modern Gazans who acquiesce in their suffering, are accomplices in a cult of death, and far from seeking Hamas’ overthrow, voted them into power in 2006 and still support them. We choose to avert our eyes but they have signed on to a cult which declares (Article 8 of the Hamas Charter) “Jihad is its path and death for the sake of Allah is the loftiest of its wishes.” This death wish is embodied in the oft-quoted statement of radical Muslims that “we love death like you love life,” which they perceive as Jewish weakness and not - as normal people perceive such an assertion - as pathological.

It is not too late for our leaders to reverse the perception of the “innocent civilians” that is leading us directly back to the past, as if we have learned nothing. That the world assumes that “Gazans” should and will control Gaza on the day after makes a mockery of our suffering and sacrifices. Jewish pride, candor forcefully but rationally expressed, and a clear sense of our strategy for the future are the demands of the hour, if we want to salvage something positive from the catastrophe imposed upon us. Innocent? Hardly. And that point must be hammered repeatedly by all who speak in Israel’s name.

Igrot Hare’aya – Letters of Rav Kook: Work on Religious Papers

#185

Date and Place: 11 Shevat 5669 (1909), Yafo

Recipient: Rav Yonason Binyamin Horowitz. We have seen some letters between Rav Kook and this rabbinic administrator (for Agudas Yisroel) of funds for various projects in the Old and New Yishuv.

Body: May Hashem see to it that there will be agreement on the terms of the rent, so that we can start the critical work for saving the moshava and shining the light of Hashem in its midst. (I am unaware of what project, in which moshava, Rav Kook referred to.) Many great things will come out of this concerning generally raising the stature of reliable Judaism in the Holy Land, with Hashem’s help.

Regarding “The Nir” periodical, I repeat what I have said – we should battle evil specifically from the top of the highest peak of knowledge. We must not give up on this principle, as it will produce new “warriors” from among the most outstanding Torah scholars of the Holy Land, through whom the Name of Hashem and the name of Israel and Eretz Yisrael can be sanctified. This in turn is the most elevated benefit of all our actions in the Holy Land.

The only thing to add is that in order for the paper to have broad appeal, I think that in the future we should include popular items. However, we should not, Heaven forbid, create a publication that is primarily along the lines of “The Peles” (a more populistic and anti-Zionist monthly magazine). That would not have any true value, but rather would just fleetingly arouse the hearts in a way that would create animosity and agitation, not light, calmness, and love of service on behalf of Hashem, His nation, and His lot.

Of course, in order to expand The Nir, we will need proper material support. It will be worthwhile to work on this, as it will be a “good result for the community,” elevating the community from its low way in thinking and in standing. When people will realize that we care to raise their knowledge and standing, then with Hashem’s grace, we will raise the number of subscribers.

I would be very happy if we could put together a daily newspaper or one that is published at least twice a week. I, of course, would be willing to work toward that, bli neder, to the extent that my feeble abilities would accomplish. However, about the prospect of my being the editor-in-chief, I doubt that would work out with my difficult schedule of responsibilities. Also, in order to accomplish this, the office would have to be here (in Yafo), and I do not know if our brethren could agree on that.

When I know from you, my respected friend, that the matter is ready to be put into motion, I plan to suggest a program of actions, to the best of my limited ability. I hope that you and I can together sanctify His name; may Hashem’s “desire” succeed.

P.S. I also think we should work hard to found schools of the Sha’arei Torah organization [in the New Yishuv]. Although it needs to be improved, still, based on its founding goals, there is a basis to get to developments that sanctify Hashem.

The War Against Amalek

by HaRav Dov Begon
Rosh HaYeshiva, Machon Meir

The first war in history forced upon Israel was the one against Amalek: “Amalek came and fought with Israel at Rephidim” (Shemot 17:8). There is a special mitzvah to recall this war, as it says, “Remember what Amalek did to you on your way out of Egypt” (Devarim 25:17). We are likewise commanded “to obliterate the memory of Amalek from under the heavens” (verse 19), and the verse concludes, “You must not forget.”

Why is it that must we “remember and not forget” this battle? It is because of the divine oath of Shemot 17:16: “The L-rd shall be at war with Amalek for all generations.” Amalek was the first nation to attack the Israelites for no discernible cause other than their being Jews, and their being caught in a moment of weakness, as it says, “When you were tired and exhausted, they cut off all those lagging to your rear” (Devarim 25:18). Just like a wild beast that attacks its prey when it discerns that it is weak, so was Amalek the first to attack Israel, thereby showing all the nations and anti-Semites down through the generations that the Jews are attackable.

At first, the nations were afraid to fight us. At the Geulah, it was revealed for all to see that Israel is G-d’s beloved, chosen son, His “firstborn” (Shemot 4:22), and that whoever harms Israel is smitten by G-d as with the plagues of Egypt and the splitting of the sea. Even so, because Amalek was undeterred by this, Israel’s whole power of deterrence was weakened.

Today, we are at the height of a war that was forced upon us by the Arabs, whose goal is to drive us out of Eretz Yisrael - it will never be! Unfortunately, this war is accompanied by some of the worst anti-Semitic propaganda we have seen since the Holocaust. With G-d’s help we shall win this war, just as all of Israel’s enemies were defeated down through the generations - from Amalek, on through Haman, and the enemy of the Jews from Germany - may his name be blotted out.

If we hope to become stronger spiritually and to strengthen the spirit of Israel’s fighters, then we must learn from Moshe: “As long as Moshe held his hands up, Israel would be winning, but as soon as he let his hands down, the battle would go in Amalek’s favor” (Shemot 17:11). Our sages ask: “Did the hands of Moshe make or break the battle? Rather, the Torah is teaching us that as long as the Israelites looked upward and subjugated their hearts to their Father in Heaven, they would be winning” (Rosh Hashanah 29a).

Nefesh HaChaim (Sha’ar 2:11) further explains that “When Israel would only look heavenward, that is - when their cries of entreaty to G-d were not focused on their own suffering but only on the profanation of G-d’s name - they would be winning.”

This too holds true in our own day. We must recognize that any harm done to Jews or to the Jewish People constitutes a profanation of G-d’s name, and furthermore, that the battles of Israel’s Defense Forces against the enemies of Israel constitute a war over the sanctification of G-d’s name. It is a war between the nation that is setting out to spread the light of G-d on earth, and between those forces whose aim is to spread darkness.

Through our winning this war, G-d’s oath will be fulfilled. Neither G-d’s name nor His throne will be complete until we emerge victorious, as it says, “The L-rd shall endure forever. He has prepared His throne for judgment” (Tehilim 9:8. See Rashi on Exodus 17:16).

BeSorot Tovot,

Looking forward to complete salvation, 

With the Love of Am Yisrael and Eretz Yisrael,

Shabbat Shalom.

Yeshivat Machon Meir: Did G-d Trick the Egyptians? (video)

Rabbi Ari Kahn on Parashat Bshalach - The Dance of Faith

Each of us has our own ‘Egypt’ that constricts us

by Rav Binny Freedman

May 1948; tough times for the Jewish people, and particularly for the Jews struggling to claw out a place for themselves in a land they hoped to claim as their own.

A few months after the United Nations voted to partition the remaining territory in the British Mandate for Palestine and allow finally, the creation of a modern Jewish state, six Arab armies were poised to attack.

They were waiting for the British to leave, so as not to find themselves in the position of attacking British sovereign territory. The Arabs who were already in country however, had no such dilemma, which was why the Jordanian legion was on the offensive. Even as the Jews were still celebrating the partition plan vote, the Jordanians were already on the march.

The Jordanian Legion, commanded by Abdullah Tell, was without a doubt the best fighting force in the Middle East. Thirty-two hundred strong at three full brigades, they were British-trained and French-armed, and they had no equal at the time.

Though strategically insignificant, they had set their sights on the heart of the Jewish people: the old City of Jerusalem. For six bitter months the Jordanian legionnaires surrounded and laid siege to the Jewishh Quarter. There were fourteen hundred Jewish civilians trapped inside Jerusalem’s old city walls, and despite how hopeless it was, the Jewish command felt they had to do something.

And so it was, in the middle of the night of May 3-4th 1948, that Twenty-two fighters of the Palmach (Jewish fighting brigade) found themselves slowly climbing up the hill below the old city walls under the noses of the Jordanian soldiers.

Taking cover behind a wall remaining from the ruins of a Crusader fortress the irony was not lost on the fighters: These same crusaders who had massacred the Jewish communities of Europe in their path a thousand years earlier, had built a wall which was protecting these Jewish fighters in their quest to redeem this same ancient city for the modern State of Israel.

As they neared the final stretch of path that would bring them to their objective of the Zion gate, they were literally right under the guards positions on the walls, they had to advance the last hundred yards one at a time so as to minimize the noise and avoid detection. And as they all waited, each fighter advanced a hundred yards, one at a time, all alone it must have been terrifying. It was nearly 3am and they had to maintain total silence; if even one Jordanian soldier just happened to look down, they would have had nowhere to run and nowhere to hide.

There is a comfort to being part of a unit; moving with men with whom you have become one; having each other’s backs. But be all alone?

This week we read the portion of Beshalach, most famous for the dramatic splitting of the sea and destruction of the Egyptian Army. And amidst the powerful spectacle we often miss the details.

The Torah tells us (Shemot 14:22) that:

“ … the water was a wall for them on their right and on their left.”

And the Talmud (Tractate Yoma 4b) explains that the water did not simply recede leaving dry land; rather the water literally split, leaving a narrow path for them to go through. One wonders why this happened in this way and more, why the Torah takes the time to share this detail with us?

Rav Baruch Halevy Epstein, in his Torah Temimah, suggests that in this way the miracle was even greater, and no-one would say the miracle was simply a coincidence that the sea dried up….

But that does not really seem to answer the question. Besides, the fact that the sea suddenly dried up just when the Jewish people needed it most, and then came crashing down again just as the Egyptians were closing in on the Jews was not a big enough miracle? Really?

Perhaps there is a deeper idea here. Interestingly, the Talmud compares the Jews entering a path into the sea with walls on both sides to when Moshe enters the cloud at Mt. Sinai, suggesting that the identical language implies that Moshe forged a path through the cloud; he wasn’t just walking through the cloud; he was walking on a path through the cloud. Because to receive the Torah; to discover meaning; to be imbued with a sense of purpose; is to be on a journey; to see the path one has to take.

Indeed, the redemption really begins when Moshe, all alone in the desert (Shemot chap. 3) sees a burning bush and turns off the path to see… he recognizes that he needs to change direction.

Perhaps a path signifies a direction, and a journey. In fact, one opinion in the Midrash suggests each Tribe had its own path so that there were thirteen paths (Yosef had two sons who both became tribes; hence thirteen tribes even though Yaakov only had twelve sons…) through the sea, and another Midrash suggests each Jew walked single file and possibly each Jew had his or her own path!

Redemption, it seems, comes when a person is ready to take his or her own journey; when a person sees the path they are meant to take.

Just before the sea splits Moshe holds out his staff over the sea pointing forward. Think about it: The Torah tells us there are six hundred thousand men, and they are terrified by the sight of six hundred chariots! A thousand men are afraid of a chariot? They are stuck; and when the sea splits they finally realize they need to take their own steps in order to leave Egypt behind.

Over three thousand years later a small band of Jewish fighters, carrying the Jewish people on their shoulders, each alone with his or her thoughts, steps out on a path, all alone, determined to bring us home.

Many of those fighters did not survive that battle; indeed, the Jewish quarter fell to the Jordanian legion some four weeks later (on May 28, 1948). But walk through the Zion gate (Shaar Tzion) today and you will see a monument to the memory of those fighters and the courage with which they carried themselves on that day.

The words are inspiring: “… with no armor nor artillery, with their own bodies, they sacrificed themselves on the walls of the ancient city of Yerushalayim. Let he who walks through this gate remember them…”

Each of us has our own ‘Egypt’ that constricts us, and the question is whether we are ready to forge the path that will leave that Egypt behind forever….

Shabbat Shalom from Yerushalayim.