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Explaining the war to our children By Rachel Fish As the light of Chanukah fills our homes, it will be hard to avoid making connections between the thousandsyear-old story of Jews fighting oppression in their homeland and current events that tell a similar tale. For two months now, our children have been seeking answers and understanding, requiring parents to step into conversations in ways they may not necessarily feel equipped to do.

Meanwhile, last week, discussions of hostages returning to Israel (in exchange for convicted Palestinian prisoners) filled the headlines. For many adults, let alone children, this information deserves greater contextualization and unpacking. I am a professor of Middle Eastern history, Jewish history and Israel studies, and the mother of four pre-teens and teens. So it is both as an academic and as a Jewish mother that I offer this advice. 1: Don’t assume your child’s school

or teachers are prepared. Sadly, not all teachers act in good faith or understand the issues. So it’s up to parents to lead the discussion in their homes rather than outsource it. 2: Be ready to explain what Zionism is … and is not. Zionism is the movement for Jewish self-determination, free from persecution and discrimination. It is not a sinister disguise for apartheid or ethnic cleansing. It is a longing to return See Talking about Gaza on page 2

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Dec. 8, 2023 25 Kislev 5784 • Vayeshev • Vol 22, No 38

Schumer rips leftist Jew-hate

Says social-justice allies abandoned his people By Andrew Bernard, JNS Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer warned against rising antisemitism on the political left in the wake of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks, in a 40-minute speech on the Senate floor last Wednesday. “Not long ago, many of us marched together for black and brown lives. We stood against anti-Asian hatred. We protested bigotry against the LGBTQ community. We fought for reproductive justice out of the recognition that injustice against one oppressed group is injustice against all,” Schumer said. “Apparently, in the eyes of some, that principle does not extend to the Jewish people.” Schumer said that the American Jewish community has felt increasingly alone. He implicitly criticized Black Lives Matter and other left-wing advocacy groups that have taken extreme anti-Is-

Read Schumer’s speech, beginning on page 6 rael positions, often justifying or even celebrating Hamas terrorism. “Many of the people who have expressed these sentiments in America aren’t neo-Nazis or cardcarrying Klan members or Islamist extremists,” the senator from Brooklyn said. “They are in many cases people that most liberal Jewish Americans felt previously were their ideological fellow travelers.” Young Americans, in particular, are being exploited for antisemitic purposes, and “our friends and allies” on the left have “brushed aside” conSee Schumer rips leftists on page 2

Israel key to post-Santos race Among pro-Israel candidates, Mazi Pilip stands out

t’s rare for an individual to be blessed with a “fresh start,” no less so for a community. That’s the enviable position residents of the 3rd Congressional District find themselves in, following George Santos’ ouster from Congress. In 2022, Republican Santos handily defeated an inept Democratic nominee in a nominally blue district, only to be exposed as a personal, professional and political fraud. Nearly everyone — local Republicans as well as Democrats — wanted Santos gone. A special election on Feb. 13 to choose Santos’ replacement offers voters in the 3rd CD a fresh start.

THE JEWISH STAR EDITORIAL Who will be on the ballot is up to Republican and Democratic leaders (there’ll be no primary), and that decision may be known by the time you read this. he 3rd CD, which hugs Nassau’s North Shore and Northeast Queens, includes a significant Jewish vote in Great Neck, Roslyn, Plainview and neighorhoods in Queens. So Jewish issues — especially Israel (after all, this is a race for Congress, not town council) — will loom large. Without prejudging the end game before

the first down (we’ll evaluate each party’s nominee after we’ve taken our measure of their campaigns), we offer the Republicans a pre-nomination suggestion: If Republicans opt for Mazi Melesa Pilip, a two-term Nassau County legislator from Great Neck, they’ll have nominated a powerful voice for Israel who, as a fresh face on Capitol Hill, would likely emerge as a unique asset to the national party. Imagine Pilip — an Ethiopian-born former IDF soldier and Orthodox Jewish mother of

seven — facing off against Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, her diametrical opposite! Just as AOC represents antisemites and Israel-bashers nationwide from her pulpit as Congressmember in the adjacent 14th CD, Pilip would speak truth to power, fighting antisemitism in America and amplifying the righteousness of Israel’s cause. Certainly the Democratic nominee (or a different Republican nominee) will have something to say about this, and perhaps they’ll be equally persuasive. We know where Pilip stands; we’ll look forward to hearing their pitch.

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Atlantic Beach village has agreed to pay ing pending in state Supreme Court, and refrain Chabad of the Beaches $400,000 over four years from taking action that would interfere with the to settle a 2022 federal lawsuit. Chabad’s ownership and use of 2025 Park St. Jewish Long Beach-based Beaches -10PM H CO OHOST: S -H T: O SCO-HOSTS: T S 7:CO-HOSTS: CChabad O of- the H O SThe T SCenter : of Atlantic Beach sided with HOST: bought the former CapitalOne building at the the village, with its board president, Jonathan foot of the Atlantic Beach Bridge in November Heller, saying that when Rabbi Goodman began 2021 for $950,000, planning to build a syna- accusing the village of discrimination, it “struck a chord” — in this case, one of disagreement. gogue and a community center. Soon after Chabad’s acquisition became “We do not believe there’s any discrimination known, the village moved to seize the site or antisemitism that has occurred here. This was really a commercial dispute, and we have a pretthrough eminent domain. Both parties were in court in July 2022, when ty sharp guy,” Heller added of Rabbi Goodman, HOST: C O - HDancing O STS : Rabbis! the Chabad sued the village, seeking to prevent “who turned it into a way to extract some value LiveMusic! Music! Rabbis! Live Dancing Live Music! Dancing Rabbis! Dancing Rabbis! its acquisition of the property. US District Court for himself.” VIP Presenters! With Many Surprises! At a public meeting prior to the settlement Judge Joanna Seybert issued a preliminary inVIP With VIP Presenters! Presenters! Many With Many Surprises! Surprises! With Many Surprises! junction against the village’s claim of eminent vote, former Mayor Stephen Mahler was critical of the village’s attempt to take over the property, and domain in September 2022. Chabad Rabbi Eli Goodman said antisemitism the nearly $320,000 in legal fees that followed. “You paid for a worthless lawsuit,” Mahler was a factor in the village’s attempt to take the proptold the board, “that never should have haperty. Mayor George Pappas dismissed the claim. Live Music! Dancing Rabbis! In addition to the payments, the village pened for a negligent mayor and board who did VIP Presenters! With Many Surprises! Reporting by LI Herald agreed to also drop an eminent domain proceed- this.”

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Talking about Gaza…

Continued from page 1 ture instead. By openly empathizing with the to a land where Jews have a historical, religious plight of everyday Palestinians who are sufferand national connection (the same land where ing, we build trust with our children as honest, thoughtful resources for them to understand the Chanukah story happened). 3: Be clear about who Hamas is … and is the conflict. 6: Embrace the discussion to talk about not. Hamas is a foreign terrorist organization, designated as such by the United States. It uses truth, perception and moral clarity. As hard STARRI NG: brutality and inhumanity to inflict suffering as this conversation is, it also offers parents the S STARRI T ANG: RRI NG: on Israelis and Palestinians alike. They are not chance to lead by example. We can walk chilfreedom fighters; they don’t believe that Israel dren through the wildly different media covershould exist in any form; and they have never age and social media feeds they may see; introSTA R R I N G : Singer, Performer allowed the Palestinians they rule in the inde- duce complex ideas such as biased reporting, rformer Sensational SensationalSensational Singer, Performer Singer , Performer pendent Gaza Strip to live freely. There are no just wars, and free speech; and demonstrate & Musician & & Musician Musician moral equivalencies between Israel and Hamas. how young people can hone their perception of Sensational Singer, Performer Saying anything other than this dilutes the re- truth, right, and wrong. Our children are eager & Musician ality and confuses our children. They need to to be treated as serious learners and can handle complexity. We should choose to wrestle with know that evil exists in the world. 4: Explain what life is like for children in the truth rather than dumb it down. 7: Don’t be afraid to say, “I don’t know.” the war. Children understand issues and events more clearly if they can relate to people like This can be hard, but sometimes, it’s the right themselves. Depending on your child’s age, it answer. It demonstrates humility, your commitmay not be appropriate to walk them through ment to seeking truth, and your own pursuit World Musical Artist & Cantor Renowned Cantor ned World Cantor World Musical Musical Artist & Renowned Artist & Renowned Cantor all of the horrors that Hamas inflicted on Israeli and growth as a learner. Like your children, you World Musical Artist & Renowned Cantor children in the Oct. 7 attacks. But Israeli par- are on a journey through facts, opinions, dilements and teachers being called up to the mili- mas and heartbreak. We each bring our own experiences to partary, American teachers serving in the IDF or villages being evacuated provide conversation- enting. As a Jewish mother, I take comfort in a tradistarters to humanize the conflict in ways chilSpecial Dedications toIDF IDF and allof of our brothers and sisters in the land of Israel! Special Dedications and all of our brothers and sisters inholy the holy land of Israel! tion rooted in stories where humans cry out to ns s cialand Dedications to IDF sisters to IDFand andtoall of in our all brothers the and our holy sisters brothers in the land land of ofholy Israel! Israel! and sisters in the holy land of Israel! dren can relate to. 5: Advocate for the Palestinian people … the heavens and argue with the Divine as part and children. Life is perilous for the millions of their often-anguished search for truth. This TELETHON SPONSORS 2023 SPONSORS 2023 caught in the crossfire, with Hamas using them has taught me that we don’t need to have all the S P TELETHON O N S O R S 2 0 2 3 ELETHON SPONSORS 2023 ATLANTIC TOMORROWSOFFICE.COM ATLANTIC TOMORROWSOFFICE.COM as human shields after years of redirecting answers to teach and comfort our children, but Watch Live on COMPUMATIC TIME RECORDERS WSOFFICE.COM LANTIC TOMORROWSOFFICE.COM Watch Live on Watch Live humanitarian aid to build a terror infrastruc- we do need to have the conversations. COMPUMATIC TIME RECORDERS Altice News 12+ ch Live on Watch Live on on DF ALLEN CARTING

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Schumer rips leftists…

GUTTERMAN’S FUNERAL HOME JERRYS AUTO CENTER RAL HOME TTERMAN’S FUNERAL HOME www.chanukahtelethon.com cerns about antisemitism, he added. high school in pursuit of a Jewish, pro-Israel KLERER FINANCIAL SERVICES IRVING RUBBER & METAL TAL ING RUBBER & METAL and Facebook Live Online Schumer cited the use of the slogan “From teacher, who was forced to hide in an office, Streaming LEND LEASE JERRYS AUTO CENTER eaming Online Streaming Online Online the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” as a as well as a California rally in which protesters Contact: 516.739.3636 Streaming R RRYS AUTO CENTER MANES AMERICAN PEACE FOUNDATION www.chanukahtelethon.com KLERER FINANCIAL SERVICES w.chanukahtelethon.com www.chanukahtelethon.com www.chanukahtelethon.com “racist dog whistle” that is unacceptable even shouted “Hitler should’ve smashed you” at a MICHAEL MIROTZNIK, ESQ. ERVICES ERER FINANCIAL SERVICES and Facebook The Chanukah Telethon isLive theand Annual LEND if the speaker doesn’t have antisemitic intent. Jewish counter-demonstrator. The latter, Paul Facebook and Facebook Live Facebook Live GARYLEASE NUDELMAN Live ND LEASE BenefitContact: of NCFJE Chabad Mineola 516.739.3636 Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) is one of Kessler, was attacked and killed by one of the MANES AMERICAN PEACE FOUNDATION MICHAEL L. SOSHNICK, ESQ. tact: 516.739.3636 Contact:A516.739.3636 Contact: 516.739.3636 ACE FOUNDATION NES AMERICAN PEACE FOUNDATION portion of your donation will be several progressives who have defended the pro-Palestinian marchers. STRICKOFF FINANCIAL SERVICES, LLC MICHAEL MIROTZNIK, ESQ. dedicated to Israel Relief Funds. ESQ. CHAEL MIROTZNIK, ESQ. slogan despite its use by Hamas as a call to Since Oct. 7, the Anti-Defamation League The Chanukah Telethon is the Annual UNIQUEPRINTNY.COM GARY NUDELMAN Chanukah Telethon is The Chanukah Telethon isit as the Annual The the ChanukahAnnual Telethon is the Annual eradicate Israel. Tlaib has described “an has registered a 388% surge in antisemitic inRY NUDELMAN Benefit of NCFJE Chabad Mineola MICHAEL L. SOSHNICK, ESQ. efit of NCF JE Chabad Mineola NCFJE Chabad Benefit of NCFJE Chabad MineolaBenefit of aspirational call for freedom, humanMineola rights cidents nationwide. K, ESQ. CHAEL L. SOSHNICK, ESQ. A portion of your donation will be rtionSTRICKOFF of your will be your donation will be A portion of your donation will be A portion of FINANCIALdonation SERVICES, LLC and peaceful coexistence.” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell L SERVICES, RICKOFF FINANCIAL SERVICES, LLC LLC dedicated to Israel Relief Funds. In a Israel bipartisan vote, the House ofFunds. Repre- thanked Schumer for speaking out. cated to 1Israel Reliefdedicated Funds. to Relief to Israel Relief Funds. dedicated UNIQUEPRINTNY.COM jewish star.indd 11/9/23 12:04 PM IQUEPRINTNY.COM sentatives censured Tlaib earlier in November, “I share his disgust with the alarming rise

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in part for her use of the slogan in a video she posted on social media. 1237815 Schumer also listed specific incidents 11/9/23that 12:04he PMdescribed as antisemitic. Those in11/9/23 11/9/23 12:04 PM 12:04 PM

of antisemitism in America and around the world,” McConnell said. “I stand with him in condemning this hatred, and I stand with our ally Israel.” 11/9/23 12:04 P

3 THE JEWISH STAR December 8, 2023 • 25 Kislev 5784

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Westchester’s Latimer threatens The Squad, entering race against Israel-bashing Bowman One of Israel’s uncompromising foes in Congress, Rep. Jamaal Bowman of the Bronx and Westchester, may face a significant challenge in next year’s Democratic primary. Westchester County Executive George Latimer, whose been cagey for months about whether he’d enter the race in the 16th Congressional District, took formal steps on Monday to challenge Bowman, filing a statement of candidacy with the Federal Election Commission. A political consultant slated to work on the campaign told the Washington Post that there would be formal announcement on Wednesday. Unlike Biden and other Democratic lawmakers, Bowman is aligned with “the anti-Israel extremist fringe,” AIPAC spokesman Marshall Wit-

tman said. “Democrats in this district deserve a representative who stands by the mainstream view which supports the US-Israel relationship.” Bowman is a member of “The Squad” of anti-Israel members of Congress, along with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) of Queens and the Bronx, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, Cori Bush of Missouri, Greg Casar of Texas, and Summer Lee of Pennsylvania. Bowman has been muted in speaking about Hamas, but emphatic that Israel be held “accountable for their behavior — whether it’s the occupation, the open-air prison that is Gaza, or the war crimes that are taking place right now during this siege.”

The 70-year-old Latimer, serving his second term as county executive after 35 years in politics, would face Bowman, a 47-year-old former Bronx middle school principal who entered Congress three years ago after unseating longtime incumbent Eliot Engel in a primary. A Bowman-Latimer primary is likely to be scorched-earth-style and ultra-expensive. Bowman’s campaign said in response to Latimer’s filings that Bowman will continue to focus on delivering for his constituents and “standing up to powerful special interests in Congress,” the Journal News of Westchester reported. “We will continue to fight and deliver what the people of New York’s 16th District are demanding, like affordable housing, child care,

climate action, jobs, education, healthcare, and defeating antisemitism, Islamophobia, and racism,” campaign spokeswoman Emma Simon said in a statement. Westchester County Democratic Chairwoman Suzanne Berger declined to comment until Latimer has announced his campaign, the Journal News reported. While a primary election is scheduled for June 25, it is uncertain whether the district lines will change before then. A decision on this is pending at the NYS Court of Appeals. Bowman’s district originally included heavily-Jewish Riverdale, but after redistricting in 2022, Riverdale was drawn into the district represented by pro-Israel Rep. Ritchie Torres.

Campus crazies a worry, Torres tells JPost From The Jerusalem Post The surge of antisemitic incidents on college campuses and on social media is alarming and should be taken seriously, Riverdale Rep. Ritchie Torres said while speaking at the Jerusalem Post conference “The Second Front” on Monday. “I am alarmed by what I see on college campuses and on social media platforms,” Torres noted. “If that is any indication of what is to come, then that should be cause for concern. If we do nothing, these trends will get worse.” Torres, a Democrat who is considered one of the staunchest allies of the Jewish State in Congress, explained why he calls himself a Zionist as well as the moral obligation he believes that the world owes to the Jewish people.

“I believe in the vision of Israel as a sanctuary for the Jewish people,” he said. “As a student of history, I feel the world has long failed the Jewish community when you consider the long and ugly history of antisemitism, crusades, inquisitions, pogroms, genocide and ethnic cleansing,” he explained. “I think we have a moral obligation to never fail the Jewish community again — and part of this means supporting the survival and security of Israel as a Jewish state.” The congressman revealed that his views on Israel have often been questioned — and at times he and his family members were harassed because of them. “I’m commonly asked why as a gay Afro-Latino from the Bronx I am so outspoken against antisemi-

tism,” Torres said. “But people ask me the wrong question. The right question is not why I have chosen to be outspoken, the right question is why others have chosen to remain silent.” The congressman said there is nothing antisemitic about being “non-Zionist,” but he emphasized that those who are anti-Zionist and therefore actively antagonistic to the existence of Israel as a Jewish state do cross the line into antisemitism. “Israel is home to half of the world’s Jewish population,” he noted. “If advocating for the destruction of the home of the largest Jewish community in the world is not antisemitic, then I’m not sure what it would be.” For Torres, visiting Israel has been instrumental in forming his views about the region, saying that

those who can travel should, and talk to a variety of people in the country, Israelis and Palestinians, Jews and Arabs. However, for those who do not have this opportunity, education is key, he added. “There’s not only a lack of knowledge about Israel, there’s tragically a lack of knowledge about the history of oppression against Jews,” he highlighted. “There’s been a systematic effort to erase the status of Jews as minorities.” “A Pew Research study found that the majority of Americans are not even aware of the number of Jews who died in the Holocaust,” he added. “Out of a lack of education has come a lack of empathy — and we have to solve this historical amnesia that the public has about the experience of Jewish oppression.”

Happy Chanukah! May your season of light be peaceful and prosperous

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Schumer’s Jewish-history lesson: ‘Antisemitism is a five-alarm fire that must be extinguished’ Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer addressed the Senate about antisemitism last Wednesday. This is a transcript of his prepared remarks, lightly edited for style and length. oday, I come to the floor to speak on a subject of great importance: the rise of antisemitism in America. I feel compelled to speak because I am the highest-ranking Jewish elected official in America; in fact, the highest-ranking Jewish elected official ever in American history. And I have noticed a significant disparity between how Jewish people regard the rise of antisemitism, and how many of my non-Jewish friends regard it. To us, the Jewish people, the rise of antisemitism is a crisis — a five-alarm fire that must be extinguished. For so many other people of goodwill, it is merely a problem, a matter of concern. Today, I want to use my platform to explain why so many Jewish people see this problem as a crisis. … I want to describe the fears and anxieties of many Jewish Americans right now, after Oct. 7, who feel there are aspects of the debate around Israel and Gaza that are crossing over into antisemitism, with Jewish people being targeted simply for being Jewish and having nothing to do with Israel. I want to explain, through the lens of history, why this is so dangerous. The normalization and exacerbation of this rise in hate is the danger many Jewish people fear most. And finally, I want to suggest how and why I hope that all Americans of goodwill can come together and do a better job of condemning such views and behavior.

TEXT OF HIS SENATE SPEECH

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Democrat from Brooklyn.

But first, let’s establish the facts. There is no question that antisemitism is a serious problem in America: Jewish Americans represent 2% of the US population, yet we are the targets of 55% of all religion-based hate crimes recorded by the FBI. This problem has been steadily worsen-

Shutterstock via JNS

ing in recent years, but after Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, hate crimes against Jewish Americans have skyrocketed. The Anti-Defamation League estimates that antisemitic incidents have increased nearly 300% since Oct. 7. The NYPD has recorded a 214% increase in New York City.

fter Oct. 7, Jewish Americans are feeling singled out, targeted and isolated. In many ways, we feel alone. The solidarity that Jewish Americans initially received from many of our fellow citizens was quickly drowned out by other voices. While the dead bodies of Jewish Israelis were still warm, while hundreds of Jewish Israelis were being carried as hostages back to Hamas tunnels under Gaza, Jewish Americans were alarmed to see some of our fellow citizens characterize a brutal terrorist attack as justified because of the actions of the Israeli government. A vicious, bloodcurdling, premeditated massacre of innocent men, women, children, the elderly — justified! Even worse, in some cases, people even celebrated what happened, describing it as the deserved fate of quote “colonizers,” and calling for quote “glory to the martyrs” who carried out these heinous attacks. Many of the people who have expressed these sentiments in America aren’t neo-Nazis, or card-carrying Klan members, or Islamist extremists. They are in many cases people that most liberal Jewish Americans felt previously were their ideological fellow travelers. Not long ago, many of us marched together for black and brown lives, we stood against antiAsian hatred, we protested bigotry against the LGBTQ community, we fought for reproductive justice out of the recognition that injustice against one oppressed group is injustice against all. But apparently, in the eyes of some, that principle does not extend to the Jewish people. The largely Ashkenazi survivors of decades of Continued on next page

Best Wishes for a

Wishing You a Happy HanukkahHappy and Many Blessings!New & Healthy Chag Urim Sameach!

L’Shanah Tova

Congressman Gregory W. Meeks 5th Congressional District of New York

@GregMee 1238293

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December 8, 2023 • 25 Kislev 5784 THE JEWISH STAR

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But for many Jewish Americans, any 7 strength and security that we enjoy always feels tenuous. No matter how well we’re doing, it can all be taken away in an instant. That’s just how it is. We only have to look back a century, a few generations, to see how this can happen. rowing up, I remember my grandfather telling me that he rooted for Germany over Russia in World War I because Germans treated the Jewish people so much better than Russia did. In the early 1900s, German Jews were one of the most secure and prosperous ethnic communities in Europe. But in the span of a decade, all of that changed. When the Nazis first marched in the streets and held rallies decrying the so-called international financiers, war profiteers, and communists, many Germans of goodwill either stayed silent or marched alongside them, not necessarily realizing what they were aiding and abetting. But when Adolf Hitler took the podium just a few years later at the Reichstag, it was clear by then that the terms “international financiers, war profiteers and Communists” represented the Jewish people, who Hitler called “parasites” feeding on the body and productive work of other nations. By bits and pieces, the Nazis softened the ground rhetorically for what Hitler eventually stated was his true goal: “the annihilation of the Jewish race in Europe.” And so many of those Germans of goodwill, who marched in the early years of Hitler’s ascension, stayed on the sidelines after his horrifying intent was made clear. The end result, as we all know, was the most targeted and systematic genocide in human history. Six million Jewish people were exterminated in a few years while others turned a blind eye. History shows that antisemitism is deeply embedded in Europe. I have always said it is the poison of European society — just as racism against Black Americans is the poison of our society. And while we are thankfully a far ways away from Nazi Germany today, this is why many Jewish people worry about the marches today, espeSee Schumer on page 8 cially in Europe.

THE JEWISH STAR December 8, 2023 • 25 Kislev 5784

Israeli President Isaac Herzog with Senator Chuck Schumer in Israel on Oct. 15.

antisemites who are attacking Jewish people simply because they are Jewish, independent of anything having to do with Israel. hose who are inclined to examine the world through the lens of the oppressors versus the oppressed should take note that the many thousands of years of Jewish history are defined by oppression. From Oct. 7, 2023, in Southern Israel; to 2018 at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh; to 1999 at the Los Angeles JCC; to 1986 at Neve Shalom synagogue in Istanbul; to 1974 at Netev Meir Elementary School in Ma’a lot; to Yom Kippur, 1973 in the Golan Heights; to 1972 at the Munich Olympics and Lod Airport; to 1967 at the Straits of Tiran; to the 1940s and ’30s in Germany and Central Europe; to the 1800s in the Pale of Settlement; to 1679 in Yemen; to 1492 in Spain, 1394 in France, 1290 in England; to the Crusades of the Middle Ages; to 629 in Galilee; to the Year 73 in Jerusalem; to 586 BCE in Judea, 722 BCE in Samaria … and the 13th Century BCE in Egypt, the Jewish people have been humiliated, ostracized,

Haim Zach, GPO

expelled, enslaved and massacred for millennia. To paraphrase lines recited year every year, century after century, at Passover over the seder table: “This is the bread of affliction that our fathers ate in the land of Egypt. […] In every generation, they rise up to destroy us.” For Jewish people all across the world, the history of our trauma going back many generations is central to any discussion about our future. Too many Americans, especially in our younger generation, don’t have a full understanding of this history. Because some Jewish people have done well in America, because Israel has increased its power and territory, there are people who feel that Jewish Americans are not vulnerable, that we have the strength and security to overcome prejudice and bigotry, that we have, to quote the language of some, become the “oppressors.” In fact, antisemitic conspiracy theories often weaponize this very dynamic by pitting what successes the Jewish people have achieved against them, and against their fellow countrymen.

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Continued from previous page pogroms in Imperial Russia, the Holocaust under Nazi Germany, their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren; the Mizrahi, who were forcibly evicted from Arab countries, and their descendants; the many Sephardim who were scattered across the Mediterranean after they were expelled from Spain and Portugal in the late 1400s — do they not deserve the solidarity of those who advocate for the rights and dignity of the oppressed, given the long history of persecution of the Jewish people throughout the world? any of those protesting Israeli policy note the at least 700,000 Palestinians displaced or forced from their homes in 1948, but they never mention the 600,000 Mizrahi Jews across the Arab world who were also displaced, whose property was confiscated, whose lives were threatened, who were expelled from their communities. The hope at the time was that there would be two states. A Jewish state and a Palestinian state living side-by-side. The plan was for the State of Israel to absorb the Jewish people in Arab lands, and the new Palestinian state to absorb the Palestinians who now lived in Israel. In fact, Israel did absorb the displaced Jewish people of Arab lands, but the Arab nations instead sanctioned the United Nations to set up refugee camps for the Palestinians, refusing to accept the possibility that any of them would ever be relocated. Several times throughout history, Israeli prime ministers called for a return to close to the pre-1967 borders established by the United Nations plan. Those calls were rejected by Yasser Arafat, the PLO and the wider Arab community. Many, if not most, Jewish Americans, including myself, support a two-state solution. We disagree with Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu and his administration’s encouragement of militant settlers in the West Bank, which has become a considerable obstacle to a two-state solution. The reason why I invoke this history about the founding of the Israeli State is because forgetting or even deliberately ignoring this vital context is dangerous. Some of the most extreme rhetoric against Israel has emboldened

Schumer: ‘Antisemitism is a five-alarm fire’… Continued from previous page hat may begin as legitimate criticism of Israeli policy, or even a valid debate over other religious, economic, and political issues, can sometimes cross into something darker, into attacking Jewish people simply for being Jewish. Obviously, many of those marching here in the US do not have any evil intent, but when Jewish people hear chants like “From the river to the sea,” a founding slogan of Hamas, a terrorist group that is not shy about their goal to eradicate the Jewish people, in Israel and around the globe, we are alarmed. When we see signs in the crowd that read “By Any Means Necessary,” after the most violent attack ever against Israeli civilians, we are appalled at the casual invocation of such savagery. When we see protesters at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade compare the genocide of the Holocaust equivalently to the Israeli army’s actions to defeat Hamas in self-defense of their people, we are shocked. And when we see many people and news organizations remain neutral about the basic absurdity of these claims and actions, we are deeply disappointed. More than anything, we are worried — quite naturally, given the twists and turns of history — about where these actions and sentiments could eventually lead. Now, this is no intellectual exercise for us. For many Jewish people, it feels like a matter of survival, informed once again by history — in this case, very personal history. Take the story of my own family. y grandfather came to Ellis Island at a very young age from Eastern Europe, without an education or a penny to his name. He was a street urchin, stealing apples off pushcarts just to survive, but he dreamt of a brighter future for himself and for his family. My grandfather ended up with the paper

Senator Schumer speaks at a United for Israel vigil in Manhattan on Nov. 6. Vladimir Kolesnikov, Michael Priest

workers in Utica, New York, and helped form the union there, but he lost his job in the lead-up to World War II, so he came back to New York City and bought a little exterminating business. His son — my father — followed in his footsteps and eventually took over that exterminating business. My father struggled in that job, barely making ends meet. But together with my mother, he provided a stable and loving home in Brooklyn for my siblings and me, where we were able to flourish. And because of the tolerance and openness and opportunity that courses through all of American life, I now stand before you as the majority leader of the United States Senate, the highest elected office a Jewish person has ever attained in the history of this country. Only in America could an exterminator’s son grow up to be the first Jewish party leader in the Senate.

But it must also be said: this is not the norm in the grand and long scheme of Jewish history. While my grandfather came to America and encountered opportunity, many of his siblings, cousins, aunts and uncles, and other family members remained behind in Eastern Europe. When I was still a young boy, I was told why many branches of our family tree stopped growing forever. In 1941, when the Nazis invaded Ukraine, then part of Galicia, they asked my great-grandmother — the matriarch of the family, and the wife of a locally revered rabbi — to gather her children, her grandchildren, her great-grandchildren on the porch of her home, which was in the town square. As more than 30 people gathered on the porch, aged 85-years-old to 3 months, the Nazis forced the remaining Jewish citizens of the town to gather around and watch.

When the Nazis told my great-grandmother, “You are coming with us,” she refused — and they machine-gunned down every last one of them. The babies, the elderly and everybody in-between. This story resonated deeply in my heart when I first started learning the details of the Oct. 7 massacre in Israel. I was in China with a bipartisan delegation of my fellow senators, trying to get President Xi Jinping to open up Chinese markets to American companies and stop the flow of fentanyl across our borders. As the horrors of Oct. 7 started coming into focus, the Israeli ambassador to China shared with me the story of what she heard had just happened in one of the kibbutzim, called Be’eri. Hamas terrorists entered the kibbutz early on Oct. 7 and killed more than 120 Jewish residents, from the elderly to babies. Sadly, it was not the first time I had heard of such evil being committed against Jewish people. ost, if not all, Jewish Americans know stories similar to that of my family. And most, if not all of us, learned this story at a young age. It will be imprinted on our hearts for as long as we live. All Jewish Americans carry in them the scar tissue of this generational trauma, and that directly informs how we are experiencing and processing the rhetoric of today. We see and hear things differently from others because we are deeply sensitive to the deprivation and horrors that can follow the targeting of Jewish people — if it is not repudiated. Which brings me back to today. While many protesters no doubt view their actions as a compassionate expression of solidarity with the Palestinian people, for many Jewish Americans, we feel in too many instances, some of the most extreme rhetoric gives license to darker ideas that have always lurked below the surface of every question involving the Jewish people. See Young Americans on page 10

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Young Americans don’t understand history… Continued from page 8 Antisemites have always trafficked in coded language and action to define Jewish people as unworthy of the rights and privileges afforded to other groups. I believe there are plenty of people who chant “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” not because they hate Jewish people, but because they support a better future for Palestinians. But there is no question that Hamas and other terrorist organizations have used this slogan to represent their intention to eliminate Jewish people not only from Israel but from every corner of the Earth. Given the history of oppression, expulsion, and state violence that is practically embedded in Jewish DNA, can you blame Jewish people for hearing a violently antisemitic message, loud and clear, any time we hear that chant? We shouldn’t accept this sort of language from anybody any more than we accept other racist dog whistles — like invoking “welfare queens” to criticize safety net programs, or calling COVID-19 the “Chinese virus.” And that also goes for extreme right-wing Jewish settlers who also use deplorable language, and who don’t believe there should be any Palestinians between the river and the sea. ntisemites are taking advantage of the pro-Palestinian movement to espouse hatred and bigotry towards Jewish people. But rather than call out this dangerous behavior for what it is, we see so many of our friends and fellow citizens, particularly young people who yearn for justice, unknowingly aiding and abetting their cause. And worse, many of our friends and allies whose support we need now more than ever during this moment of immense Jewish pain have brushed aside these concerns. Suddenly, they do not want to hear about antisemitism or the ultimate goal of Hamas. When I have asked some of the marchers what they would do about Hamas, they don’t have an answer. Many don’t seem to care. And so Jewish Americans are left alone — at least in our eyes — to ponder what this all means, and where it could lead. Can you understand why Jewish people feel isolated when we hear some praise Hamas and chant its vicious slogan? Can you blame us for feeling vulnerable only 80 years after Hitler wiped out half of the Jewish population across the world while many countries turned their back? Can you appreciate the deep fear we have about what Hamas might do if left to their own devices? Because the long arc of Jewish history teaches us a lesson that is hard to forget: ultimately, that we are alone. As a teenager, growing up halfway across the world from Israel in Brooklyn during the 1950s and ’60s, I remember feeling that aloneness myself. When many of the world’s airlines boycotted Israel so that they could maintain business with the Arab world, I admired Air France because only they would fly to Israel. I even preferred Coca-Cola to Pepsi because they did business in Israel, and refused to participate in any biased boycott. Later, I remember walking in solitary silence to class at James Madison High School with a transistor radio held to my ear, listening to the news reports about the Six-Day War and praying to G-d that Israel would survive. n top of feeling alone, the second dominant feeling that Jewish people have endured throughout history has been the sting of the double standard, which is the way the world has practiced antisemitism over and over again. To Jewish people, the double standard has been ever present and is at the root of antisemitism. The double standard is very simple: What is good for everybody, is never good for the Jew. When it comes time to assign blame for some problem, the Jew is always the first target. And in recent decades, this double standard has manifested itself in the way much of the world treats Israel differently than anybody else. That double standard was made clear to me when I was in college.

Senator Charles Schumer speaks at the AIPAC Policy Conference on March 5, 2018.

I remember the day when the great and articulate Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Abba Eban was invited to come lecture on campus, while the Students for a Democratic Society and the Progressive Labor Party were waging a campaign against Israel’s right to exist. Two thousand people gathered in a large auditorium to see Ambassador Eban, and the members of SDS and PLP sat in the gallery and hung a banner saying: “Fight the Zionist Imperialists.” When the members of the SDS and the PLP tried to shout him down, Eban pointed his finger up at the protesters in the gallery, and with his Etonian inflection, he calmly but strongly delivered a statement I will never forget, and that I will paraphrase now. He said: “I am talking to you up there in the gallery. Every time a people gets their statehood, you applaud it. The Nigerians, the Pakistanis, the Zambian, you applaud their getting statehood. There’s only one people, when they gain statehood, who you don’t applaud, you condemn it — and that is the Jewish people. We Jews are used to that. We have lived with a double standard through the centuries. There were always things the Jews couldn’t do … everyone could be a farmer, but not the Jew. Everyone could be a carpenter, but not the Jew. Everyone could move to Moscow, but not the Jew. And everyone can have their own state, but not the Jew. There is a word for that — antisemitism — and I accuse you in the gallery of it.” And the protesters slinked off. This double standard persists today in America, and it is once again leaving Jewish people feeling isolated and alone. n the immediate aftermath of Oct. 7, an attack on defenseless civilians, the elderly, women, and babies, a good number of people skipped over expressing sympathy for the victims in their haste to blame the attack on the past actions of the Israeli government. Can anybody imagine a horrific terrorist attack in another country receiving such a reception? And when Hamas terrorists actively hide behind innocent Palestinians, knowing that many of those civilians will die in the Israeli response, why does the criticism for any civilian deaths seem to fall exclusively on Israel, and not at all on Hamas? My heart breaks for the thousands of Palestinian civilians who have been killed or are suffering in this conflict, and I have urged the Israeli government to minimize civilian casualties on many occasions. But by committing such heinous atrocities on Oct. 7 before sneaking back into their tunnels underneath hospitals and refugee camps in Gaza, Hamas has knowingly invited an immense civilian toll during this war, exploiting the double standard that so much of the world applies to Israel. Of course, let me repeat: that does not relieve Israel of the responsibility to protect innocent Palestinian lives, and I have been among the first to tell Israeli leaders they must act according to international law. I am also fighting for critical humanitarian aid for Palestinians that this Senate, under my leadership, is working to deliver. So I rise in this chamber today. I am speaking up to issue a warning, informed by the lessons of history.

No matter what our beliefs are, no matter where we stand on the war in Gaza, all of us must condemn antisemitism with full-throated clarity whenever we see it before it metastasizes into something even worse. Because right now, that’s what Jewish Americans fear most. he spike in antisemitism we are experiencing right now in America began after the worst instance of violence committed against Jewish people since the Holocaust. The vitriol against Israel in the wake of Oct. 7 is all too often crossing a line into brazen and widespread antisemitism, the likes of which we haven’t seen for generations in this country — if ever. Which is why we need to name it clearly any time we see it: After Oct. 7, when boycotts were organized against Jewish businesses in Philadelphia that have nothing to do with Israel — that is antisemitism! After Oct. 7, when swastikas appeared on Jewish delis on the Upper East Side — that is antisemitism! After Oct. 7, when protesters in California shouted at Jewish Americans, “Hitler should’ve smashed you!” — that is antisemitism! After Oct. 7, when a Jewish US Senator was violently threatened for her views on Israel — that is antisemitism! After Oct. 7, when students on college campuses across the country who wear a yarmulke or display a Jewish star are harassed, verbally vilified, pushed, and even spat upon and punched — that is antisemitism! After Oct. 7, when an author in a prominent left-wing magazine labeled the pro-Israel rally in Washington a “hate rally” — that is antisemitism! I attended the rally because I believe there should be a place of refuge for the Jewish people. Not because I wish violence on Palestinians or any other people. And after Oct. 7, when students at Hillcrest High School in Queens ran rampant in the hallways and demanded the firing of a teacher just because she attended a rally supporting Israel and forced her to hide in a locked office for hours while staff struggled to regain control — that is antisemitism! Walking out of school to march in support of Palestinians is completely legitimate. But forcing a Jewish teacher to remain — as she described — locked in an office because she attended a rally in support for Israel is antisemitism, pure and simple. In fact, that teacher is sitting in the gallery today. I invited her to come and listen, and I am truly honored that she accepted my invitation. That is true courage … and I believe it shows just how strongly so many Jewish Americans feel about this issue. She has requested anonymity, which I ask everybody present, and everybody in the media, to please respect. But I say to her from the bottom of my heart: Thank you for being here, and thank you for caring. have just listed a few of the many examples of how pure, unadulterated antisemitism has dramatically increased since Oct. 7.

But the roots of pluralistic, multiethnic democracy are deep in America. This is a place where Jewish people have been able to flourish alongside so many other immigrant groups. We must never lose sight of just how special that is. Nor must we ever stop fighting for it. All Americans share a responsibility and an obligation to fight back whenever we see the rise of prejudice of any type in our midst. To preserve this nation as a promised land of refuge, as a land that honors the dignity of every individual, as the land of opportunity for all. So my plea to the American people of all creeds and backgrounds is this: First, learn the history of the Jewish people, who have been abandoned repeatedly by their fellow countrymen — left isolated and alone to combat antisemitism — with disastrous results. Second, reject the illogical and antisemitic double standard that is once again being applied to the plight of Jewish victims and hostages, to some of the actions of the Israeli government, and even to the very existence of a Jewish state. Third, understand why Jewish people defend Israel — not because we wish harm on Palestinians, but because we fear a world where Israel is forced to tolerate the existence of groups like Hamas that want to wipe out all Jewish people from the planet. We fear a world where Israel, the place of refuge for Jewish people, will no longer exist. If there is no Israel, there will be no place, no place for the Jewish people to go when they are persecuted in other countries. As an adult, I remember watching my grandfather, one of the few in his family to survive the Holocaust, become overwhelmed by emotion and break down in tears when he saw Israel for the first time. This had nothing to do with politics, or with money, or with racism, or with oppressive colonial power. It was deeply human. The emotional catharsis of a man whose family was uprooted and exterminated, finally stepping foot in a place of refuge for his people. So many of my aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces and nephews, would be alive today had Israel existed before World War II. any Jewish Americans fear what the future may bring, based on the repeated lessons of history. Many Jewish Americans see clear antisemitism in the double standard that is being wielded by too many opponents of Israel, and we see it in attacks on Jewish people simply for being Jewish, apart from anything having to do with Israel. And perhaps worst of all, many Jewish Americans feel alone to face all of this, abandoned by too many of our friends and allies in our greatest time of need, as antisemitic hate crimes skyrocket around the country. I implore every person and every community and every institution to stand with Jewish Americans and denounce antisemitism in all of its forms, especially the double standard that has been wielded against the Jewish people for generations to isolate us. The time for solidarity must be now. Nothing less than the future of the American experiment hangs in the balance. Building a more perfect union — one that fulfills our founding ideals — is our longest and most solemn struggle as a country. And as Americans, we are called to do all we can to achieve that higher standard. We are stewards of the flames of liberty, tolerance and equality that warm our American melting pot, and make it possible for Jewish Americans to prosper alongside Palestinian Americans, and every other immigrant group from all over the world. Are we a nation that can defy the regular course of human history, where the Jewish people have been ostracized, expelled and massacred over and over again? I believe the answer can and must be a resounding, “Yes.” And I will do everything in my power — as Senate majority leader, as a Jewish American, as a citizen of a free society, as a human being — to make it happen. Ken y’hi ratzon. May it be His will.

11 THE JEWISH STAR December 8, 2023 • 25 Kislev 5784

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FIRST PERSON: What’s the future for Nir Oz? By Shahar Vahab I’ve been in Europe for a month and a half now, and as beautiful as autumn is, it’s also cold and wet. I only returned to Israel for a few days, to visit everyone and collect items from home. After two days of traffic jams in the center, I hopped over to Kibbutz Nir Oz for the first time since that day. On that awful Shabbat, Oct. 7, Hamas hordes broke through the Gaza border fence and attacked the sleeping Israel communities opposite the Gaza Strip. They murdered scores of Nir Oz residents, burned homes and abducted residents. About 180 of some 400 residents were killed, or abducted as hostages. They didn’t burn my house down — they just turned it upside down and stole everything possible. So, as always when returning from abroad, I started tidying up, cleaning, and washing dishes, as if I really lived there. Collecting some clothes, important documents, and photos. They cut up our pictures. The terrorists in my house went to the trouble of finding the scissors (even I can’t always find them), and cut up our family photos while my wife and child hid in the bomb shelter hoping not to be found. I stayed overnight in my house, drinking a cup of coffee on the balcony. The next day I returned to central Israel. After a day of traffic jams and errands, I’m tired of the big city again. At night, I turn southward and begin to drive home. I must remember to stop at Kibbutz Sde Boker and take a photo of the sunrise. We love Sde Boker. It is close to Nir Oz and is as beautiful as a painting. It is also our destination whenever there is a war or a military operation, or “only” missiles.

The writer returned to his home community of Nir Oz, which was devastated by Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7.

Two words

Morning in the Negev. I open a window and dry, warm air surrounds me. Desert air, unlike in that damp Europe. I’ve missed it. The desert rises and falls and soon we’ll be in Eilat to join everyone else from Nir Oz. I meet my mom, siblings and friends. How are you? How are you? How are you? Like I can answer that in two words, or even a full sentence. It’s all crappy, is what I want to say, and I have not found a better word yet to de-

scribe the situation. A schedule develops: lunch in the dining room, and laundry in the makeshift laundromat. My laundry is the one being washed right now. Tonight, hostages from Nir Oz are released. A message with the list was sent to the group. In the evening we sit in the lobby. We watch the news on a big screen. Or hang out on the patio outside, among reporters and cameras and kids who are already bored at the hotel,

Shahar Vahab

and all the activities and all the artists and soccer players who come to visit don’t interest them — because dad is not on the list of those expected to be released tonight. A strange place, this alternate world of Nir Oz in Eilat. Everything is going as usual, the teachers even opened makeshift kindergartens in a big tent. I suddenly come from outside, after not being with everyone for a long time, and everything seems to me like a reality Continued on next page

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Tonight is a crazy episode: some of Nir Oz’s grandmothers are returning from captivity, but there might still be a surprise from Hamas, and everything is still uncertain! We are all in this crazy roulette, what will happen tomorrow night, will the girls come back or not? Tune in for tonight’s episode to find out. The drama is over, and so are the commercials. The hostages have returned home, but there are more to come tomorrow and in the days to follow. Outside the lobby, the young people are sitting and having a drink. No one is watching TV anymore, and all the children have gone to sleep. We hear more stories that we did not know about Oct. 7. At night the roulette spins again and the list for tomorrow is published. Only hostages from Kibbutz Be’eri, not Nir Oz. It’s hard to describe what we are going through. It feels surreal. We are sitting in a hotel 250 kilometers away from home to feel safe, while Hamas announces every day which of our closest friends will be released from captivity in Gaza tonight, maybe. The whole country is in crisis, all members of the army, even Tel Aviv is deserted! But don’t worry, we will vanquish Hamas. Who gets to decide which hostages are released? I think to myself after the third drink in the lobby with the guys. How do you decide who gets released, does Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar simply mark with a pencil on a list of names, or are there secret and complex discussions? Like the kids swapping soccer cards — I’ll give you two Messis for one Mbappé, but make sure not to wrinkle it. What can we do, is this a good or a bad deal? I ask everyone I meet at the hotel. The answer is always, “It doesn’t matter, we have no choice.” We have no choice because the hostages must be returned.

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In all this mess I need to choose apartments and furniture for the new housing in Kiryat Gat. Everyone is under pressure. Everything has to happen in the next week or two, and everyone has to move out of the hotel. And after that, do you go back to rebuilding Nir Oz, or somewhere else? All of us together or each for himself? Good questions, but the daily hostage release episode is about to start, so we’ll think about it tomorrow. None of us wants to live outside the community, that’s why we were in Nir Oz in the first place. What we decide in the end is directly related to how this war will end. Return all the hostages and give up in Gaza? Or keep going until we wipe out Hamas? And the hostages? How will they return from captivity? Will they be the same people, just a little sadder? Or will they shake off the dust of Gaza and continue as usual? Slim chance, I think, and wonder if they’ll even be back with us anytime soon. All around, the sons and daughters of Nir Oz from all eras are running around. Helping, organizing, arranging and just supporting. In the kibbutz itself, the guys are already sowing wheat and picking avocados. Great people, everyone. Well, we were all raised by those grandmothers you see on the news coming back from captivity with their backs upright. I don’t envy a Hamas terrorist who tried to mess with them. I stopped trying at a young age.

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Nir Oz is beautiful at this time. Everything is green and lots of butterflies are in the air. The cats walk around like they own the place, but sooty. The abandoned and burnt houses are a great hunting ground for them. It’s fun to visit, but it’s hard to think about coming back to live here for now. A lot of questions and not many answers, this is life now. We will wait for everyone to return and hear what they say. And I am informed that my laundry is done and I need to go swiftly and get my clothes.

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WINE AND DINE

Remember my grandmother’s schmaltzy latkes Kosher Kitchen

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Jewish Star columnist

hanukah is here! I am excited. Like a kid, I get excited over this holiday because, as a kid, it meant that I would see my paternal grandparents for almost a whole day and that all my cousins would come from near and far for a few days which meant a sleepover with my female cousins from Connecticut. As an adult, it means I can see my grandchildren light up as we light the candles and eat latkes! Mostly, it meant latkes made by my grandmother and brisket and chicken soup and more. But there was nothing like her latkes. She grated by hand, used lots of gribenes and schmaltz and the results, yes, a heart attack on a plate, were out of this world. I have tried to replicate her latkes for decades. But, unless I am willing to make pints of gribenes and chicken fat, I am not sure that it is possible to recreate that flavor. Probably better to just remember. My mother made latkes, too. She once got a recipe for latkes made from instant mashed potatoes. Always one to try the new and exciting newspaper or magazine recipes (onion soup brisket, Coke brisket, cut glass cake made with different colors of KoJel!) she tried these latkes. We all rebelled and then had a lot of fun grating onions and potatoes and making REAL latkes together.

Potato, Leek and Cheese Latkes

Mashed Potato Latkes

Over the years, I have experimented with all kinds of latkes, from zucchini to sweet potato, leek and mashed potato, and many more. But still, my family demands “real” (as they call them) potato latkes with apple sauce at least once during the holiday. My favorite is zucchini, leek and carrot latkes, but I make the onion-y, potato ones every year and I add a teaspoon of schmaltz to the oil when I fry them — a tribute to my grandmother that adds just a wisp of the delicious flavor I remember. Happy Chanukah to all. Let’s not forget that this holiday is about the miracle of survival that allowed us to go on and become the people we are today!

• 2 to 4 Tbsp. unbleached flour • 2 extra-large eggs • 1/4 tsp. cream of tartar • 1 tsp. salt, more or less to taste • 1/4 tsp. white pepper, more to taste • 1/2 lb. finely shredded cheddar cheese • Canola oil for frying Shred the potato, garlic, and onion with a fine grater in a food processor. Place in a colander over a bowl and let sit for about 10 minutes. Place the veggies in a clean dishtowel. Roll up lengthwise and twist the ends to squeeze out any liquid. Heat a large skillet and add the butter. Add the leeks and garlic. Heat until softened and beginning to turn golden. Remove from heat. Place the drained potato mixture in a clean dishtowel and into a bowl. Add the leeks and mix well. Add the eggs, flour, and cream of tartar, and season with the salt and pepper. Add the cheese and mix well. Heat a large skillet. When the pan is hot enough for a drop of water to skittle away and evaporate, add about a half-inch of Canola oil and heat through. Spoon the potato mixture by large spoonfuls and let heat until they turn golden brown. Do not disturb them while they are cooking. Flip carefully and fry until golden. Serve with plain yogurt, sour cream or, applesauce. Makes 20 to 30 latkes.

Zucchini, Leek and Carrot Latkes

• 3/4 pound carrots, peeled • 3 zucchini, ends trimmed • 2 leeks, about 4 to 6 inches each, white and very light green parts only • 2 large onions • 1 russet potato, peeled • 2 eggs • 1/4 to 1/3 cup unbleached flour or GF flour • 1 tsp. baking soda • Salt and pepper to taste • Canola oil for frying Shred the vegetables using the medium shredding disc of the food processor, or the medium side of a box grater. Place the veggies in a large strainer and let drain for about 5 minutes. Place in the center of a clean dishtowel, fold over the ends and twist to remove any more liquid. Place the vegies in a large bowl, add the eggs and mix well. Add the baking soda and flour and mix. Season generously with salt and pepper and mix well. Heat a large skillet and add about a quarter to a half-inch of oil. When the oil is shimmer, drop spoonfuls of the mixture into the hot oil and flatten gently. Fry until the bottom is golden brown. Do not disturb during this stage. Turn the latkes and fry until golden. Place on a cooling rack or brown paper to drain. Repeat, adding more oil as needed. Makes about 3 dozen medium-sized latkes.

Potato, Leek and Cheese Latkes (Dairy)

Spinach, Onion, Feta and Parmesan Latkes

• 2 pounds Russet potatoes, peeled • 2 cloves garlic • 1 large onion, peeled • 4 leeks, white part only, peeled, cut in half lengthwise and very thinly sliced • 2 Tbsp. butter or trans-fat-free-pareve margarine

Mashed Potato Latkes (Dairy)

To make these for a meat meal, substitute chicken stock for the milk. • 3 large, russet potatoes — peeled, boiled and mashed • 3 to 4 onions, finely chopped • 4 to 5 shallots, peeled and chopped • 2 cups sifted unbleached flour • 1 tsp. salt • Black pepper to taste • 1 Tbsp. baking powder • 2 extra-large eggs • 1 cup milk or chicken stock • Canola oil Peel and chop the potatoes into chunks. Place in a pot of water and bring to a boil. Boil until soft. Drain well, let dry in the pot for about 10 minutes, and mash. Meanwhile, while the potatoes are boiling, cut the onions and shallots into chunks and place in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until finely chopped. Heat a medium skillet and add about 2 tablespoons of canola oil. Sauté the onions and shallots until golden. Place the flour, salt and baking powder in a large bowl. Add the mashed potatoes and sautéed onion and shallots including any residual oil and mix until thoroughly combined. Place the eggs and milk in a small bowl and whisk until completely blended. Add to the potato mix-

ture and mix to blend. Heat a large skillet and add about a quarterinch of oil. Form the potato mixture into patties and place carefully into the hot oil. Fry until golden, about 4-5 minutes each side. Turn and fry until golden. Makes about 10-14 latkes.

Spinach, Onion, Feta and Parmesan Latkes (Dairy) This is great for leftover mashed potatoes. I make extra mashed potatos for dinner so I can make these! • 2 onions, cut in quarters and thinly sliced • 5 generous cups mashed potatoes • 3 cups fresh baby spinach leaves, finely chopped • 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, more to taste, if you like • 1/2 to 3/4 cup feta cheese, crumbled • 2 extra-large egg • 3 to 4 Tbsp. unbleached flour • 1/2 tsp. baking powder • 1 tsp. salt, or to taste • Freshly ground pepper, to taste • OPTIONAL: Oregano, fresh mint, cumin, or any Mediterranean herbs and spices you like • Oil for frying • Optional: Breadcrumbs, plain or Panko for coating for crispier latkes. Cut the onions and slice with a food processor. Heat a large skillet and add 2 tablespoons of oil. Add the onions and cook for 15 to 25 minutes over medium-low heat, until deep golden brown. If the onions begin to stick, add a spoonful of water and scrape up brown bits with a silicon spatula. Set the onions aside in a small bowl. Place the pan over low heat and add a bit of oil. Add the spinach and toss until just wilted. Add to the onions, leaving any liquid in the pan. Mix well. If using leftover potatoes, heat through and mash to a smooth consistency. Add the eggs, flour, baking powder and salt and mix well. Add the onion mixture and the cheeses and mix thoroughly. Add more flour if the mixture is too thin. Form into patties and dredge in breadcrumbs, if desired, for a crispier latke. Take a clean frying pan and heat it for until a tiny drop of water skittles across the pan and evaporates. Add about a quarter-inch of oil to the pan and let it heat for a few seconds, until shimmery. Add the patties and let them cook, undisturbed, until golden on the bottom. Flip once and cook until golden. Drain on brown paper while completing the latkes. Makes about 8 to 12 latkes.

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December 8, 2023 • 25 Kislev 5784 THE JEWISH STAR

Great Neck $200K sends ambulances to MDA in Israel The Men’s Club and the Sisterhood of the Great Neck Synagogue raised over $200,000 to sponsor a Medical Intensive Care Unit Ambulance and Intensive Care Medi-Cycle Motorcycle for Magen David Adom. Many other synagogues and Jewish organizations also participated in fundraisers for American Friends of Magen David Adom, with funds doubled by former Mayor Michael Bloomberg. In peaceful times, AFMDA builds the ambulances in America and ships them to Israel via cargo ship, which takes

many months to reach Israel. The ongoing war has accelerated the need and demand for ambulances, which are being sent via cargo plane. From left: Barbara Shaw, Ali Bernstein of AFMDA, Meryl Friedman, Judy Lillien, Drora Brody, Jeffrey Wiesenfeld, Dr. Robert Knepper, Dr. Paul Brody, Donny Aharon, Jack Lipsky, GNS Rabbi Dale Polakoff, Assistant Rabbi Moshe Genack, Capt. Fred Shaw, Dr. James Frisch, Steven Blumner and David Rein. Jill@JillPics.com

Kohanim rebuffed in bid for London workaround By Georgia L. Gilholy, JNS One of several things that sets kohanim apart from other Jews is that they must maintain higher levels of ritual purity. Unlike their Jewish peers, kohanim cannot be under the same roof as a corpse. The estimated 1,500 kohanim who live in London thus cannot use the London Underground lines that stop at or run through South Kensington station, due to its proximity to the Science Museum — which has “4,351 human remains from many different countries and historical periods,” only a small number are on display. Kohanim thus requested the addition of a “secondary roof” at the train station entrance, to create a physical separation from the museum, which would satisfy rabbinic legal requirements, permitting them to use the station

without violating their religious beliefs. However, the Chelsea and Kensington Council’s planning committee recently rejected the proposal, which reportedly would have cost about $1.23 million. The kohanim, who remain unable to use the Circle, District and Piccadilly lines, noted in a statement to the planning committee that they cannot “come in any shape or form in contact with a deceased (exceptions are made for immediate family), even not being under one roof.” The proposed structure would have featured an inscription at eye-level reading: “A Kohen (a person of priestly lineage) is forbidden to allow himself to become contaminated with negative spiritual forces, such as those emanating from a corpse.” Locals reportedly opposed the secondary roof as “inharmonious” design.

The Knightsbridge Association, a local voluntary association that aims to “preserve and enhance the character” of the area, expressed its disapproval, deeming the addition “incongruous” and “out of keeping with the listed aspects of the original entrance to the tunnel.” Council planners rejected the proposal based on concerns about the “size, design and position” of the proposed secondary roof, along with the perceived “irreparable harm” it could cause to the Grade II-listed building. The council concluded that the “public benefits would not outweigh the harm” posed by the alterations. While the rejection addresses architectural and preservation concerns, it also underscores the delicate balance between religious accommodations and urban development, leaving room for ongoing discussions on how to navi-

gate such situations. Rabbi Josef Dünner, of the Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations, an umbrella organization of London’s Haredi communities, proposed concession, including removing the Hebrew script on the structure. Councilors still refused the plans. Aaron Schimmel, a doctoral candidate in Jewish history at Stanford University, told JNS that the council’s decision to reject the plans amounts to “an expression of a more subtle antisemitism” at a time when anti-Jewish hate crimes of various stripes continue to spike across the world. The Metropolitan Police covering London recent reported a 1,350% increase in recorded antisemitic offenses in the wake of Hamas’s Oct. 7 terror attack on Israel.

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THE JEWISH STAR December 8, 2023 • 25 Kislev 5784

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December 8, 2023 • 25 Kislev 5784 THE JEWISH STAR

‫כוכב של שבת‬ Jewish Star Torah columnists: •Rabbi Avi Billet of Anshei Chesed, Boynton Beach, FL, mohel and Five Towns native •Rabbi David Etengoff of Magen David Yeshivah, Brooklyn •Rabbi Binny Freedman, rosh yeshiva of Orayta, Jerusalem Contributing writers: •Rabbi Sir Jonathan Sacks zt”l,

former chief rabbi of United Hebrew Congregations of the British Commonwealth •Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Hersh Weinreb, OU executive VP emeritus •Rabbi Raymond Apple, emeritus rabbi, Great Synagogue of Sydney •Rabbi Yossy Goldman, life rabbi emeritus, Sydenham Shul, Johannesburg and president of the South African Rabbinical Association.

Contact our columnists at: Publisher@TheJewishStar.com Five Towns Candlelighting: From the White Shul, Far Rockaway, NY

Thurs Dec 7 / 24 Kislev First Night Chanukah

Fri Dec 8 / 25 Kislev

Friday: Second Night Chanukah Vayeshev • Shabbos Mevarchim Candles: 4:09 • Havdalah: 5:18

Fri Dec 15 / 3 Teves

Friday: Last day of Chanukah / Miketz Candles: 4:10 • Havdalah: 5:20

Fri Dec 22 / 10 Teves Friday: Fast of Teves / Vayigash Candles: 4:13 • Havdalah: 5:23

Fri Dec 29 / 17 Teves Vayechi Candles: 4:17 • Havdalah: 5:27

Fri Jan 5 / 24 Teves

Shemos • Shabbos Mevarchim Candles: 4:24 • Havdalah: 5:34

Speaking, even when it’s difficult to do so rabbi Sir JonaThan SaCkS zt”l

rom Vayeshev to the end of the book of Bereshis we read the story of Joseph and his brothers. From the very beginning we are plunged into a drama of sibling rivalry that seems destined to end in tragedy. All the elements are there, and it begins with ominous parental favoritism. Jacob loved Joseph more than his other sons. The Torah says this was because “he had been born to him in his old age.” But we also know it was because Joseph was the first son of his beloved Rachel, who had been infertile for many years. Jacob gave this favoritism a visible symbol, the richly ornamented robe or coat of many colors that he commissioned for him. The mere sight of this coat served as constant provocation to the brothers. In addition there were the bad reports Joseph brought to his father about his half-brothers, the children of the handmaids. And by the fourth verse of the parsha we read the following: When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him, velo yachlu dabro le-shalom. Gen. 37:4 What is the meaning of this last phrase? Here are some of the standard translations: They could not speak a kind word to him. They could not speak peacefully to him. They could not speak to him on friendly terms. Rabbi Yonatan Eybeschutz, however, recognized that the Hebrew construction is strange. Literally it means, “they could not speak him to peace.” What might this mean? Rabbi Eybeschutz refers us to the command in Vayikra 19:17: You shall not hate your brother in your heart. You shall surely reprimand your neighbor and not bear sin because of him. Lev. 19:17 This is how Maimonides interprets this command as it relates to interpersonal relations: When a person sins against another, the injured party should not hate the offender and keep silent … it is his duty to inform the offender and say to him, why did you do this to me? Why did

Conversation is a form of conflict resolution, the breakdown of speech is often a prelude to violent revenge.

you sin against me in this matter? … If the offender repents and pleads for forgiveness, he should be forgiven. Hilchot Deot 6:6 abbi Eybeschutz’s point is simple. Had the brothers been able to speak to Joseph they might have told him of their anger at his talebearing, and of their distress at seeing the many-colored coat. They might have spoken frankly about their sense of humiliation at the way their father favored Rachel over their mother Leah, a favoritism that was now being carried through into a second generation. Joseph might have come to understand their feelings. It might have made him more modest or at least more thoughtful. But lo yachlu dabro le-shalom. They simply couldn’t bring themselves to speak. As Nachmanides writes, on the command: You shall not hate your brother in your heart: “Those who hate tend to hide their hate in their heart.” We have here an instance of one of the Torah’s great insights, that conversation is a form of conflict resolution, whereas the breakdown of speech is often a prelude to violent revenge. The classic case is that of Absalom and Amnon, two half-brothers who were sons of king

David. In a shocking episode, Amnon rapes Absalom’s sister Tamar: Tamar put ashes on her head and tore the ornate tunic that she wore; she put her hand to her head and went off, weeping as she went. And Absalom, her brother, said to her, “Has your brother Amnon been with you? For now, my sister, be silent; he is your brother. Do not take this affair to heart.” And Tamar remained, forlorn, in the house of her brother Absalom. When King David heard all about this affair, he was absolutely livid. And Absolom would not speak a word to Amnon, neither good nor bad, for Absolom despised Amnon for having violated Tamar, his sister. 2 Samuel 13:19-22 bsalom maintained his silence for two years. Then he invited all of David’s sons for a feast at the time of sheep-shearing, and ordered his servants to wait until Amnon was drunk and then kill him, which they did. Hate grows in silence. It did with Absalom. It did with Joseph’s brothers. Before the chapter ends, we see them plot to kill Joseph, then throw him into a pit, and then sell him into slavery. It is a terrible story and led directly to the Israelites’ exile and slavery in Egypt.

The Talmud (Brachot 26b) uses the phrase ein sichah ela tefillah, which literally means, “Conversation is a form of prayer,” because in opening ourselves up to the human other, we prepare ourselves for the act of opening ourselves up with the Divine Other, which is what prayer is: a conversation with G-d. Conversation does not, in and of itself, resolve conflict. Two people who are open with one another may still have clashing desires or competing claims. They may simply not like one another. There is no law of predetermined harmony in the human domain. But conversation means that we recognise one another’s humanity. At its best it allows us to engage in role reversal, seeing the world from the other’s point of view. Think of how many real and intractable conflicts, whether in the personal or political domain, might be transformed if we could do that. In the end Joseph and his brothers had to live through real trauma before they were able to recognise one another’s humanity, and much of the rest of their story — the longest single narrative in the Torah — is about just that. Judaism is about the G-d who cannot be seen, who can only be heard; about the G-d who created the universe with words and whose first act of kindness to the first human being was to teach him how to use words. Jews, even highly secular Jews, have often been preoccupied with language. Wittgenstein understood that philosophy is about language. Levi Strauss saw cultures as forms of language. Noam Chomsky and Steven Pinker pioneered study of the language instinct. George Steiner has written about translation and the limits of language. The Sages were eloquent in speaking about the dangers of lashon hara, “evil speech,” the power of language to fracture relationships and destroy trust and goodwill. But there is evil silence as well as evil speech. It is no accident that at the very beginning of the most fateful tale of sibling rivalry in Bereishit, the role — specifically the failure — of language is alluded to, in a way missed by virtually all translations. Joseph’s brothers might have “spoken him to peace” had they been open, candid and willing to communicate. Speech broke down at the very point where it was needed most. Words create; words reveal; words command; words redeem. Judaism is a religion of holy words. For words are the narrow bridge across the abyss between soul and soul, between two human beings, and between humanity and G-d. Language is the redemption of solitude, and the mender of broken relationships. However painful it is to speak about our hurt, it is more dangerous not to do so. Joseph and his brothers might have been reconciled early on in their lives, and thus spared themselves, their father, and their descendants, much grief. Revealing pain is the first step to healing pain. Speech is a path to peace.

RAbbI DR. TzvI heRsh weInReb Orthodox Union

hen I recall the great teachers I was blessed with over the course of my lifetime, one thing comes to mind: they were a diverse group who had something in common: They were thinkers and intellectuals, each in his own distinct field, and they were imaginative — they combined sechel with regesh, intelligence with emotion, information with creativity. My fourth-grade teacher used pictorial materials, which he had personally designed using his

own substantial artistic skills, to illustrate the Biblical stories. My seventh-grade teacher read to us as a reward at the end of a long day, made longer by the strain of a double curriculum. He read with great drama, moving us sometimes to tears and at other times to fits of laughter. The Talmudic scholar who turned me on to rabbinic study when I was about 18 years old made Talmud study so exciting by using stories of great Talmudists over the ages, employing vivid imagery to convey the meaning of the most abstract texts. And my mentor as I trained to become a psychotherapist, devout Roman Catholic psychiatrist, taught us how to understand people, and especially the importance of the dream. But he was not

interested in the dreams of our patients, he was interested in our own dreams, and he insisted that we pay attention to our dreams as one way to know ourselves better, something which he considered an absolute requirement for an effective psychotherapist. “The way to cultivate the imagination necessary to know another person,” he would insist, “is to be aware of your own dreams and what they might mean.” n this week’s Torah portion, Vayeshev (Genesis 37:1-40:23) we meet Joseph, the dreamer. He was not the first person in the Bible to dream. His great-grandfather Abraham dreamt and his father Jacob dreamt several times. But Joseph not only dreamt himself. He paid attention to the dreams of others: the chief baker and chief cup-

bearer in this week’s parsha, and King Pharaoh in next week’s parsha. Joseph, though, was the first person in the Bible to attempt to interpret dreams. In modern terms, he was the first to use intellect to analyze the quintessential product of the imagination, the dream. It is no wonder, then, that Joseph was the first person in the Bible who is referred to as a chacham, a wise man. Jewish tradition has always revered the intellect. The paramount mitzvah in our religion is Talmud Torah, Torah study — an intellectual pursuit if there ever was one. We are proud of the towering geniuses in our history: Rabbi Akiva, who could “uproot mountains and grind them together” with the power of his intellect; Maimonides, who comSee Weinreb on page 26

V’Al Ha-Nissim points to Purim/Chanukah divide Torah

RAbbI DAvID eTenGoff

Jewish Star columnist

hanukah and Purim, the two rabbinically based chagim, are joyous days of celebration and giving thanks to Hashem. Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik zt”l said “Purim and Chanukah represent man’s active involvement. … G-d chose Mordechai, Esther, and the Maccabees not as onlookers but as actors. … He told them to plan the strategy and execute it. … Chanukah and Purim revolve around the merger of the individual with the community, promoting

an open, sympathetic existence.” The Rav’s stresses that Mordechai, Esther, and the Maccabees were active agents in the salvation of the Jewish people, engaged in “sacrificial heroic action” based upon their personally conceived strategies and chosen modes of deployment. If we carefully examine the Al Ha-Nissim prayer that is recited on both Chanukah and Purim, however, we immediately find a number of significant disparities. The text of Chanukah’s Al Ha-Nissim is 92 words, whereas Purim’s is a mere 52. Purim, of course, has its own sefer, Megillat Esther, and therefore does not need an elaborately articulated Al Ha-Nissim. Chanukah’s chronicle, however, is not found anywhere in Tanach; as such, its “megillah” is none other than its ex-

tensive Al Ha-Nissim formulation. The Rav focuses on another conceptual difference: “In the Al ha-nissim of Purim, there is nothing mentioned of Mordechai and Esther’s role in the unfolding of the dramatic events,” de-emphasizing the singular import that human intervention played in bringing about the deliverance of the Jewish people at that moment in history. The Rav points out that the situation is reversed when we read the Al Ha-Nissim for Chanukah, wherein the Maccabees’ instrumental role is the point of focus: “You delivered the strong into the hands of the weak, the many into the hands of the few, the impure into the hands of the pure, the wicked into the hands of the righteous, and the wanton into the hands of the diligent students of Your Torah…”

hat is the underlying reason for this glaring difference between Purim and Chanukah? Once again, the Rav offers his illuminating insights: “We learn from this that when the fight is spiritual, G-d invites the Jew to participate. When spiritual survival is at stake, man must take the initiative. Even though man is under the guidance of the Almighty, man takes the initiative, and therefore his role is recorded. … “Antiochus was interested in destroying the Jews spiritually. When the menace is of a spiritual nature, then the initiative belongs to man. Man engages in the struggle for spiritual survival. For this reason, the Hasmoneans took the initiative, and we remember their efforts when See Etengoff on page 26

Why do we celebrate Chanukah over 8 days? Parsha of the week

RAbbI AvI bIlleT Jewish Star columnist

hy is Chanukah an eight-day holiday? With respect to the eight days being contingent on a miracle of a small amount of oil lasting eight days, there are many answers for the question. But in truth, the miracle of the oil is not the reason why the holiday is eight days long. Rabbi Yechiel Michel Epstein gathered a few reasons in his Arukh HaShulchan. After describing the miracles of the battles surrounding the Chanukah tale, he writes, “And the end of the

miracle was on the 25th of Kislev.” This acknowledges that first and foremost, like at Purim, the celebration of this holiday is primarily a celebration of a military victory. Unlike Purim, however, Chanukah is uniquely observed for eight days. While Rabbi Epstein describes the miracle of the oil, he does not attribute the eight day celebration to details surrounding the oil, rather that “there is someone who wrote, “[Eight days are commemorated,] since they [forbade] the commandment of circumcision, which is for eight days.” And there is one who wrote that it is because they then inaugurated the Temple for the service that the evil Antiochus had forbidden, “and [the last reason] is the truth.” Continuing: “In the midrash it is found that

the work of the tabernacle was finished on the 25th of Kislev, and they did not inaugurate it until the beginning of the month of Nissan, when the forefathers had been born. And the Holy One, blessed be He, payed [Israel] back in the time of Mattityahu (this midrash is brought by Maharsha, Shabbat 21b). And hence they made it like the inauguration of the Tabernacle, which was [composed of] the seven days of installation and the eighth day, [which] was the completion of the beginning of the service in the Tabernacle by Aharon and his sons, as is explained in the Torah. … “And another reason for this is elucidated in the Book of the Maccabees: Since, as a result of the decrees, they were stopped from bringing the sacrifices of the holiday of the past Sukkot and

Shemini Atzeret. And hence, to commemorate this, they made the eight days of Channukah. And [it followed] that when from the Heavens they were shown the miracle of the oil, ‘they’ showed them that ‘they’ agreed to them making eight days. …” he idea is quite simple. In the moment, when they realized they were going to dedicate the Temple again, and when they realized they had missed the holiday of Sukkot, they committed to making this rededication an eightday event. They had no idea that they would experience an eight-day miracle of oil. And they also had no idea that they’d even find oil! When they looked back at events that had transpired, the eight-day oil miracle was coinciSee Billet on page 26

On Shabbat Chanukah, getting it all together Kosher bookworm

AlAn JAy GeRbeR

Jewish Star columnist

his week’s column is focused on the teachings of Rav Shalom Noach Berezovsky zt’’l, the Slonimer Rebbe, in translation and interpretation by Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein in his “Netivot Shalom” series published by Maggid Books. Rabbi Adlerstein is the founding editor of Cross-Currents.com, a popular website that the deals with the relationship between Torah teachings and contemporary issues. The essay excerpted below considers the unique relationship of Chanukah and Shabbat observance.

Getting It All Together

By Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein The motifs of Chanukah and Shabbat are so different that they seem to talk past one another. But every Chanukah has its Shabbat. When we probe more deeply, we will find that the two do not work at cross-purposes. Rather, they work synergistically to afford a unique opportunity for personal growth. Detecting the apparent conflict is easy. On a number of levels, Chanukah and Shabbat aim at very different goals. Shabbat aims at more elevated precincts, while Chanukah concerns itself with more pedestrian ones. … In our Shabbat zemirot we say, “Gladden them with binyan shalem, a complete structure; make them shine in the light of Your countenance.” … When Shabbat adds the rarified light of the three highest sefirot to what

is ordinarily accessible from the other seven, the structure of the sefirot is fully potentiated. We could suggest a different interpretation, one in which the tension between Shabbat and Chanukah is resolved. The “complete structure” is available specifically on Shabbat Chanukah, because Shabbat addresses the highest sefirot while Chanukah successfully takes G-d’s light to much lower places. On the day that they overlap and fuse, all of the sefirot are addressed at once by G-d’s light. Our Sages imposed rigid requirements for the oils and wicks we may use for the mitzvah of Shabbat lights. Those oils that do not produce a clean, constant flame or take well to the wick may not be used. They treated Shabbat Chanukah as an exception. Even oils and wicks that do not burn well may be used. … Unlike other Shabbatot of the year, Shabbat Chanukah’s reach and appeal are universal.

Some people remain unmoved by the message of the ordinary Shabbat. Chanukah, however, casts its light to the nethermost realms, below ten handbreadths. It attracts even those people who are like the imperfect oils and wicks, who are effectively banished from participating in an ordinary Shabbat, those to whom the light of Shabbat does not take well. These people respond to Chanukah and have a place at this one Shabbat that falls within it. … Our Sages see [the] beauty of a doorway framed with mitzvot. On the right is a mezuzah and on the left, the Chanukah menorah. If our approach is correct, there may be room in this image for another matched set as well: a house with a Shabbat candles illuminating the inside and set above ten handbreadths, while the outside is lit up by the menorah, set below ten handbreadths. See Gerber on page 26

THE JEWISH STAR December 8, 2023 • 25 Kislev 5784

Thinking and dreaming, for ourselves and others

December 8, 2023 • 25 Kislev 5784 THE JEWISH STAR

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Kissinger pushed the limits of realism, doing more harm than good JONATHAN S. Tobin

JNS Editor-in-Chief

ew men have lived lives as fascinating as that of Henry Kissinger, who died on Nov. 29 at the age of 100. In some ways, it’s an utterly improbable tale. A Jewish boy who fled Nazi Germany with his family, he went on to become first a soldier in the US Army fighting the Nazis and then a renowned scholar of diplomatic history and the dilemmas of the nuclear standoff between the United States and the Soviet Union. But after ascending to the heights of academia at Harvard University by virtue of his intellect, he then, as his biographer Niall Ferguson noted, used his equally extraordinary talents at networking to leapfrog over everyone in the foreign-policy establishment to become one of the most powerful men in the world from 1969 to 1977. As first national security adviser to President Richard Nixon and then, while still holding onto that job, also becoming US Secretary of State, he attained the sort of influence over world affairs that few Americans other than presidents (and not even all of them) ever have. After President Gerald Ford (who had retained him in his dual role after succeeding Nixon once the Watergate scandal forced Nixon’s resignation) was defeated by Jimmy Carter in 1976, Kissinger didn’t return to academia or fade into relative obscurity after writing his memoirs, as most of his predecessors and successors at the State Department have done. In the 46 years since then, he recreated himself in the role of a foreign-policy wise man and informal adviser to presidents along with an im-

Most of the conventional wisdom about him is wrong.

mensely profitable consultant business. It’s also true that he was, both while in power or out of it, something of a celebrity — a status that few academics or diplomats ever attain. And he enjoyed every bit of the acclaim and perks that went with such a perch.

Singular historical figure

As such, he must be considered as belonging to a category of historical personage in which there are no other examples of similar individuals either in America or anywhere else. As a result of that unique life story, he is viewed by various people in vastly different ways. For example, his left-wing critics consider him to be the quintessential Cold War villain, responsible for all the suffering caused by American efforts to aid those resisting the attempt to impose Communist tyrannies on countries around the world. By contrast, for many contemporary conservatives, he is the epitome of wise statesmanship whose realist foreignpolicy stance — rooted as it is in his vast knowledge of history and diplomacy — stands in stark contrast to the incompetents currently charting the course of affairs for the United States. To Jews, he is a complicated topic. His is the consummate Jewish immigrant success story. But he’s also someone who was never very comfortable dealing with Jewish issues, and who was long blamed both for Israel not forestalling the surprise attacks that began the 1973 Yom Kippur War and depriving it of victory at the end of that conflict. To some extent, these very different narratives about Kissinger are a tribute to the way he carefully curated his image over the years, especially during the half-century after he left office. Whether positive or negative, the effort to see him as an all-powerful, almost mythic personality fits into his view of himself as a world-historic personality akin to that of Prince Klemens von Metternich. The Austrian statesman who dominated post-Napoleonic Europe was the subject of Kissinger’s doctoral dissertation at Harvard, which was then subsequently published as a widely admired book under the title of A World Restored: Metternich, Castlereagh and the Problems of Peace 1812–1822.

Henry Kissinger appears before the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Feb. 8, 1984. Mark Reinstein, Shutterstock

His accomplishments and ability to remain relevant, as well as lauded and reviled until the day he died, validated that image as a great man. And the enormous attention his death generated — by my count, 24 separate obituaries, retrospectives and opinion articles in the New York Times — stands as far more than most world leaders would hope to receive. But the problem with this veritable blizzard of “Kissinger-mania” is that most of the conventional wisdom about him is wrong.

No Dr. Strangelove

He was not the evil-doer that left-wingers demonized for generations. And, though his brilliance was undoubted and his experience was unmatched by any modern-day American statesman, most of the policies he pursued as the mastermind of American security and diplomatic strategy under the Nixon and Ford administrations were actually profoundly mistaken. It’s first important to put to rest the claim that he was the real-life “Dr. Strangelove” who partly inspired the title character of Stanley Kubrick’s satirical film. Nor was he the transgressor who deserved to be, as the late Christopher Hitchens thought, tried for war crimes for the deaths of

those killed in Cambodia, Chile and Bangladesh, and many other places. Cynical though he may have been, blaming him for all of the sins of the Cold War is to look at that period through the wrong end of the telescope. Faced with the Communist push for world domination with the future of Western civilization hanging in the balance, blaming Kissinger or any other American leader for the unsavory nature of some of their allies is as stupid as castigating Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill for their aid to the Soviet Union during World War II. Those allies did do a lot of very bad things, but if the struggle against the Soviets had been lost, then the death toll as well as the loss of freedom around the globe would have been far worse. In life-and-death struggles, nations, especially those responsible for defending the free world against totalitarian tyrants, cannot always pick and choose their friends.

Yom Kippur War

The idea, still believed by many Jews, that Kissinger was the bad guy concerning the Yom Kippur War is mostly mistaken. Kissinger wasn’t raised as a Zionist or a reliSee Kissinger on page 25

IRWIN MANSDORF Jerusalem Center of Public Affairs

hy is anyone surprised by the sudden eruption of leftist antisemitism? The writing was on the wall. Unfortunately, Jewish leaders were blinded by their own egos, ignorance and a determination to avoid conflict with a politically correct mainstream ideology. Yes, right-wing antisemitism is and always has been around, but it’s the poison of left-wing antisemitism that is coursing through the streets and the ivory towers of academia. This should have been our focus for years. Instead, it was ignored, with disastrous results. The day after this war is over, Israel will certainly launch an inquiry into the failures that led to it. But the Jewish establishment in the United States also requires a reckoning. The establishment’s failures are manifest. For years, millions upon millions of dollars were raised by organizations whose aim was to “fight antisemitism.” So pathetic was this “fight” that most people did not even know who was doing the “fighting.” Almost two years ago, I conducted a study

that asked participants, “Can you cite any specific, formal programs or efforts on the part of any organization, including Jewish organizations, to combat antisemitism?” Nearly 90% of the respondents, both Jewish and non-Jewish, said “no.” There was a reason for the establishment’s atrophy. Antisemites with Nazi armbands and white hoods are easy to identify. But when they are among those who demonstrate for climate awareness, women’s rights, gender equality, and diversity and inclusion, it requires courage to call them out. The Jewish establishment lacked this courage. Now, we see the results: An explosion of antisemitism in the streets and academia. This is an antisemitism of the elite, of the privileged uppermiddle class. The more “elite” the university, the more progressive the environment, the more extreme the antisemitism. he establishment and its organizations have not only failed to stem the tide but did not prepare the Jewish community for the assault. Like Israel, it neglected its defenses and the result was catastrophic. My own research has revealed two fundamental reasons for this failure: First, a failure of nerve, which left few establishment organizations willing to fight what David Bernstein calls “woke antisemitism.” Second, these top-heavy organizations avoided any attempt to ascertain whether what

When antisemites are among those advocating for climate awareness, women’s rights, gender equality, and diversity and inclusion, it requires courage to call them out. The Jewish establishment lacked this courage.

Signs held by Students for Justice in Palestine and other anti-Israel organizations during a prior “Day of Rage.” A Katz, Shutterstock

they claimed was “effective messaging” actually worked. Underlying all this was the ideological source of the problem: The progressive left and its support for the most radical and violent forms of Palestinian nationalism. Having adopted the progressives’ ideology of “victim worship,” the Jewish establishment accepted that “strong is wrong.” As a result, they surrendered to the idea that Israel’s strength, by definition, made it an evil “oppressor” and the Jews in general benefit from “white privilege.” This took place even as those who supposedly oppose “white privilege” viciously oppressed the Jews. The Jewish establishment was simply unwilling to admit to itself that the progressive causes

that they often supported saw them as privileged enablers of Israeli “colonialism” and therefore a force for evil. Moreover, the establishment consented to the brainwashing of Jewish youth, who were left defenseless against a brutal psychological attack they could not be expected to resist alone. The establishment’s response was to teach pithy “talking points” and hold falafel parties. Needless to say, this was insufficient ammunition against people energized by the zero-sum racist game of Palestinian antisemitic nationalism. The establishment organizations also failed to employ the most basic methods of social science research. As a result, advocacy efforts often took place on campuses where there was no significant anti-Israel activity. On hostile campuses, the organizations used tactics that might have appealed to Israel-friendly students but were not effective in persuading the ignorant or the unaffiliated. In the end, having employed no standard research methods, no useful knowledge was gained. ost of all, there was never any accountability. No one, including the donors who were paying for all this, ever asked for proof that anything the organizations were doing actually worked. No one really cared so long as their names were praised at gala awards dinners and in “urgent” press releases. Millions of unknown and unvetted users registered “views” and “clicks” on establishment material, but they never asked if the content viewed meant anything to anyone. All these failures require us to ask hard questions because if a doctor is treating a patient who only gets sicker, it is probably time to get another doctor. We must ask what the Jewish establishment is worth if it cannot fulfill its most basic responsibility of protecting the Jewish community from antisemitism. Over 10 years ago, I wrote, “Advocacy organizations (should) stop the ritualistic and often See Mansdorf on page 26

Media are still promoting Hamas’ cynical lies JASON SHVILI FLAME

s if we needed more proof, the IsraelHamas war has given mainstream media countless opportunities to amplify the manifestly false narrative that Israel is an oppressor, attacking Hamas and the Gazan people, underdogs struggling for liberation. On Oct. 17, an explosion occurred at Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City. The New York Times immediately issued the headline, “Israeli Airstrike Hits Gaza Hospital, Killing 500, Palestinian Health Ministry Says.” Other international news outlets issued similar headlines. Within days, however, Israel presented voluminous evidence — videos, ballistics analysis, tapped phone conversations — confirming that, in fact, a rocket misfired by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist group had hit the hospital parking lot. In the end, no more than

The media’s tendency to take whatever Hamas tells them at face value indicates they are more interested in supporting their biased narrative than reporting facts.

50 — and perhaps fewer — were killed. News organizations sluggishly issued “corrections,” and a Times editor’s note allowed they “should have taken more care” in their coverage of the event. This is just one example of the slavish submission of the media to a “politically acceptable” anti-Israel narrative. Though Hamas over the years has proven itself to be a singularly unreliable source, the media continue to rank their “facts” as equal in value to — or even more credible than — Israel’s reports, which have a sterling track record for accuracy. The media’s tendency to take whatever Hamas tells them at face value indicates they are more interested in supporting their biased narrative than reporting facts: Israel must always be portrayed as the aggressor, the Palestinians always as innocent victims. nother glaring example was the media’s coverage of the absurd farce at Gaza’s AlShifa Hospital. There, Hamas, hospital administrators and the media conjured a fantasy in which the hospital was only that — an innocent medical facility saving lives — even in the face of photographs, videos, architectural mock-ups and Palestinian testimony presented by Israel that inside and beneath Al-Shifa was a rat’s nest of Hamas command centers, weapons depots and miles of secret tunnels. Rather, the Times painted a picture in which Palestinian civilians were suffering as the mighty Israeli war machine advanced towards the hospital, with headlines like “Plight of Gaza’s Main Hospital Worsens as Israeli Forces Close In.” All hard evidence that Israel presented of perverse dual use — a war crime — was perfunctorily denied by Hamas and parroted by the Times. Indeed, the media insist on treating Hamas’s notoriously unreliable information feed as fact. Conversely, they refuse to give precedence to proven, reliable sources of information, such

Israeli troops operating in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip on Dec. 1, 2023.

as the Israeli or US governments, the latter of which confirmed Al-Shifa’s use as a Hamas headquarters. Israel presents photographs of Hamas blocking exit highways, so Gazans cannot leave the war zone — but Hamas denies it, says NPR. Such is the inane, “he-said, she said” pablum we are fed by the media. The media also steadfastly refuse to ask the questions demanded by the story — and by any curious reader, listener, or viewer. When reporters interview Palestinians on the street or doctors in hospitals, the viewer cries to know: “Do you ever see any Hamas guys around here? Have you seen any tunnels?” But never does the reporter ask this, let alone questions like, “Do you support Hamas? Do you think there should be a Palestine next to Israel? What do you think about the Oct. 7 at-

IDF

tack on Israel?” These are obvious queries that responsible, curious, fact-hungry journalists would and should normally ask their sources. But they never do. Why? he short answer is that if they asked these questions, the answers they’d get wouldn’t fit the narrative they are trying to sell — the narrative in which the Palestinians are an oppressed people, Israel is an evil, colonial aggressor and Hamas is a product of legitimate Palestinian resistance. To sell their perverse narrative, international media unquestioningly regurgitate the wildly inflated casualty figures cranked out by the Gaza Health Ministry. Reuters reported, for example, that as of Nov. 22, Gaza’s Hamas-run government See Shvili on page 26

THE JEWISH STAR December 8, 2023 • 25 Kislev 5784

What our Jewish establishment has wrought

December 8, 2023 • 25 Kislev 5784 THE JEWISH STAR

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Moral disaster of détente

Détente was seen in its time as a brilliant course correction that allowed the United States to manage a conflict that most smart people thought it was losing because of the Vietnam quagmire into which Nixon’s predecessors had sunk the country. Kissinger did extricate the United States from that misguided war, for which he won a Nobel Peace Prize along with North Vietnam’s Le Duc Tho. Both men didn’t deserve the honor, which was as much of a joke as the Nobels given to Israeli statesmen Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres, and PLO head Yasser Arafat for the equally awful Oslo Accords. The Communists were negotiating in bad faith since they had no intention of abiding by the terms of the peace agreement as they proved when they overran South Vietnam in 1975. Nixon was equally cynical since all he wanted was a “decent interval” between the US retreat and the North’s ultimate victory. But the problem with détente was bigger than Nixon’s popular decision to exit that misbegotten war. Détente was primarily a defeatist approach to the great ideological struggle of the second half of the 20th century. For all of his vast store of knowledge, Kissinger didn’t understand the Soviet regime as much as he thought he did. Rather than an inevitable victor in the great struggle, Moscow was doomed to collapse because of its

Soviet Jewry

It was in this context that the revelation of a conversation between Nixon and Kissinger about the fate of Soviet Jewry must be seen. In a White House tape that for some reason didn’t come to light until 2010, Kissinger can be heard dismissing the plight of Soviet Jewry as an issue the United States should care about. The demands for freedom for the 2 million Jews then living under Moscow’s tyranny, most of whom wanted to leave for Israel or the United States, were “not an objective of American foreign policy.” More than that, “if they put Jews into gas chambers in the Soviet Union, it is not an American concern. Maybe a humanitarian concern.” It’s possible that Kissinger was merely catering to Nixon’s own hostility to Jews, and Kissinger apologized for it. But he also said that his views should be viewed in a historical context. The problem with the outrage it generated was that his pessimistic view of the permanence and power of America’s Communist foe mandated accommodation with the Soviets as the West’s best bet. And if that meant consigning 2 million Jews to their horrific fate — not to mention the captive peoples behind the Iron Curtain in Eastern Europe, the Baltic republics and other parts of the Soviet Empire — so be it. Kissinger’s excuse also rings hollow when one considers his criticism of Daniel Patrick Moynihan (Ford’s UN ambassador) for his eloquent opposition to the world body’s adoption of the “Zionism is racism” outrage. As historian Gil Troy noted in his 2013 book on that episode, “Moynihan’s Moment,” Kissinger believed that the future US senator’s stand was upsetting the Soviets, who were the main sponsors of that big lie, which remains the foundation of anti-Zionist propaganda to this day. Troy quoted Kissinger as saying at the time: “We are conducting foreign policy. … This is not a synagogue.”

The assumption that the only choice was be- 25 tween appeasement of the Russians and “blowing up the world” was, at least for a time, shared by realists as well as those Soviet apologists and left-wingers who were otherwise devout Nixon and Kissinger foes. Yet far from an effective global strategy that produced stability and a lessening of tensions, détente had the opposite effect from what its mastermind intended. As Ronald Reagan, Henry Jackson and other critics of détente asserted at the time, and later proved, there was a choice. America could stand up for its values and speak out for human rights without triggering nuclear war. It was by aggressively supporting dissidents struggling against Communist oppression as well as by sharply opposing Soviet expansionism that the West not only kept the peace but ultimately brought down the empire that Reagan — then viewed as a fool who should listen to Kissinger’s “wisdom” — so rightly characterized as “evil.”

China’s benefactor

Even many who don’t celebrate détente think Kissinger’s China policy was a bold and brilliant stroke. The consensus is that it separated the two great Communist powers and contributed to American victory in the Cold War, as well as to the later shift in Beijing’s internal policies, which made it more capitalist and, at least in terms of economics, a freer country. This, too, is an exaggeration of the impact of Kissinger’s moves. America’s China policy did worry the Soviets, though Moscow and Beijing had already been at odds for years, as their fundamental interests had never been the same. Nor did Kissinger inspire Deng Xiaoping’s later economic reforms. The main beneficiary of the opening to America was the Chinese Communist Party. The economic wealth it gained as a result of ties with the United States and the decisive enmeshment of the two economies allowed it — unlike the efforts of failed Soviet “reformers” like Mikhail Gorbachev — to maintain its monopoly on political power. See Tobin on page 26

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Continued from page 22 gious Jew, and consequently, was detached from the same sentiments of love for the Jewish state most American Jews of his era felt. But he was, as Michael Doran wrote in a smart analysis of that conflict in Mosaic on its 50th anniversary, on balance a good friend to the Jewish state. His main interest in the Middle East was to detach Egypt from the Soviet Union. If he didn’t want Israel to strike first in 1973, it was because he thought it would win any war easily and wouldn’t suffer from allowing its enemies the first blow. This was a mistake as he — and the Israelis — underestimated the extent to which both Egypt and Syria had learned from their past defeats and benefited from the technologies the Soviets had given them. Moreover, given the impact of the Soviet surface-to-air and anti-tank missiles, an Israeli first strike wouldn’t have won the war as it did in 1967. It’s equally true that, like his boss Nixon, Kissinger deserves credit for the US arms shipments that helped turn the tide of battle in Israel’s favor. Even more importantly, although Israelis and Jews in the United States were deeply frustrated by the way the Americans saved the Egyptians from total defeat, Kissinger’s belief that his diplomacy could lead to a better outcome for both the United States and Israel was proven correct. The disengagement agreements he helped forge ended the fighting with the Syrians until this day and set in motion the series of events that would lead to Anwar Sadat’s 1977 mission to Jerusalem, and eventually, peace with Egypt. Yet for all of his pretensions to Metternichlike omniscience, Kissinger made a major blunder during this period that neither his friends nor his foes acknowledged at the time. As Uri Kaufman pointed out in his recent history of the Yom Kippur War, Kissinger could have used his saving of Egypt’s surrounded Third Army to force the Saudis and other Arab oil na-

internal contradictions. He also failed to see that appeasing communism would make it more rather than less dangerous, as the period of Soviet adventurism around the world that followed, including in the Middle East, demonstrated.

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THE JEWISH STAR December 8, 2023 • 25 Kislev 5784

Kissinger...

tions to drop their threat of an oil boycott that would wreak such havoc on the American economy and psyche. That was far from the only failure in Kissinger’s career as a statesman. He had a profound understanding of America’s strategic dilemmas, but his obsession with realpolitik often caused him not to see them in the broad context of history. That is why the two main achievements of his time in power — détente with the Soviet Union and the opening of US relations with Communist China — are not only not the unalloyed triumphs that both his admirers and detractors claim them to be but actually were deeply mistaken.

December 8, 2023 • 25 Kislev 5784 THE JEWISH STAR

Weinreb... Etengoff... Continued from page 21 posed his commentary on the Mishnah while still in his teens and went on to write his magisterial code and his awesome philosophical treatise; the Gaon of Vilna, whose genius encompassed every aspect of Torah and extended into the fields of mathematics and astronomy. But what about the imagination? What place does that have in our tradition? Is it suspect because it is not bound by reason? Is it acceptable but clearly secondary to rational thought? Is it in some way superior to the intellect? The answer to these questions lies buried in the vast and daunting writings of two of our greatest philosophers: Maimonides, in his Guide to the Perplexed, and Rabbi Yehuda Halevi in his fascinating work, The Kuzari. can only briefly summarize the differing positions these two sages took on the subject of the koach hadimyon, the power of the imagination. I trust that the reader will understand that I am simplifying very complex ideas. For Maimonides, reason is the essential quality of man. Intellect is all-powerful and all-important. Philosophical expertise is a prerequisite for spiritual achievement. The imagination, according to Maimonides, is clearly secondary. It is limited to the sensory world and cannot transcend it. It is inadequate when thought is required. Even the prophet, whom one would think exemplifies the imaginative person, is basically a philosopher blessed with an additional skill: imagination. Rabbi Yehuda Halevi, on the other hand, sees the imagination in very positive terms. For him, it is an alternate way of perceiving the world and, in some ways, is a superior method of perception. The intellect can perceive the world of physical reality, whereas the imagination has access to spiritual reality, to the inyan eloki, the “G-d factor.” The prophet, according to Rabbi Yehuda Halevi, is essentially a mystic, not a philosopher. At this point, the reader might be wondering about the relevance of these philosophic discussions to our everyday lives. It is here that I resort to yet a fifth great “teacher” that I was blessed to have. This teacher is the product of the decades I have amassed of working with people in the fields of education, psychology, and the pulpit rabbinate. After all, is not experience the best teacher? Experience has taught me that our imaginations help us achieve some very important interpersonal goals. First of all, our imaginations enable us to put ourselves in the shoes of another person, to sense what he or she is going through. This is the skill of empathy, which is so essential if we are to get along with others. o be able to feel what another person is feeling requires an active imagination. Too often, we are limited in our ability to empathize with another because we only know our own feelings and reactions and fail to comprehend that the other has different feelings and different reactions, even to the very same circumstances. Imagination is not only important if we are to get along with others. It is also necessary if we are to succeed in life, for success requires the ability to envision new possibilities and creatively discover the options that are available in challenging circumstances. Problem-solving cannot be done with intellect alone. Flexibility and creativity and an imaginative vision are absolutely essential counterparts. What made Joseph great? He was, as we will read next week, a chacham and a navon, a wise and discerning man. But he was also, as we read this week, a dreamer who could inquire empathically after the wellbeing of his fellow prisoners and ask them, “Why are you so downcast today?” It was his imaginative capacity that allowed him to develop new options and to plan to avert the famine which threatened to annihilate the entire then-known world. Joseph’s role in the history of our nation is as a model of the exquisite blending of intellect with imagination. This balance is required of all of us if we are to understand each other, if we are going to succeed in life, and if we are to personally experience personal growth. Joseph’s example is one that we are challenged to emulate and which we are assuredly capable of following in our own lives.

Continued from page 19 we commemorate their victory on Chanukah.” In stark contrast, however: “When it is only a question of physical struggle [as in the case of Purim wherein Haman’s goal was to murder our people,] G-d acts differently. When there is a physical menace or the threat of physical destruction, G-d uses the human hand as an instrument of His will. He recruits man. He uses human energy, human resources, to implement the plan that He has devised. But Judaism has said that in this case, the man who is the messenger of G-d should not be credited with the salvation. … “On Purim we celebrate a physical victory. [Therefore,] in the liturgy we make no mention of Mordechai and Esther’s deeds because, if the achievements are in the realm of military conquest and of material nature, victory should be attributed to the Almighty.” As different as Purim and Chanukah are from one another, we must never forget one essential parallel: Just as the Maccabees took the spiritual initiative and rekindled the lights of the Menorah in the Beit HaMikdash so, too, did Hashem bring light to our people on Purim to commemorate the physical salvation He undertook on our behalf. As Megillat Esther so powerfully attests: “The Jews had light and joy, and gladness and honor.” Shabbat Shalom and Chanukah Sameach!

Billet... Continued from page 19 dental to the eight-day observance they had already celebrated. It gave them the idea to “establish the mitzvah of lighting candles,” while also perhaps inspiring that what had been a one-time eight-day rededication ceremony would become a yearly eight-day holiday. Many take the light of Chanukah to be a metaphor for bringing light to the world. We live in exceptionally dark times. With antisemitic notions being normalized in politics and in media, one wonders how Chanukah can fill the world with light. The Jewish people have seen dark times in the past. While we hope things will not get darker, we can look to Chanukah as a model of a very dark time in which “the many fell to the hands of the few” and those who carried the torch of Torah emerged, while those trying to destroy them ultimately fell into the dustbin of history. Military miracles and a reminder that G-d is lighting the way combine to make this holiday. May we merit to continue to see good people of the world defeat the evil people on the battlefield and in the battlefields of media, and may G-d carry us all through to the light, so the Chanukah celebration can return to what it was always meant to be: a triumph of Jewish ideas and ideals over a hedonism and arrogance that celebrated physicality and the physical world while ignoring true Godliness. If Chanukah can be the guide to correcting the darkness that is consuming elements of humanity, it will indeed bring a much needed light into this world. And that will be a blessing for everyone who seeks illumination from that light.

Gerber...

Continued from page 19 This set is an inclusive one, because the implications of a menorah that shines outside the house is that it acts as a beacon to those who find no place within the walls of holiness and the restrictions and limitations they involve. They, too, are part of the divine purpose for this holiday … Although generally the Divine Presence never descended below ten handbreadths, on Chanukah the Shekhina reaches out not only to the generally faithful but even to those who think they have bottomed out in their relationship with Jewish life. …

The Ten Commandments begin with what seems to be the ultimate reductionist statement of Jewish belief: “I am Hashem your G-d who took you out of Egypt.” Seeing this verse as a simple call to belief in G-d, however, is a mistake. It is actually two calls. It sets forth two very different requirements of bedrock Jewish faith. It touches upon our core emuna regarding G-d as the Creator and continued Guide of all creation. But by linking “I am Hashem” — whom you know as the Creator — to our Exodus from Egypt, it evokes another key belief: the relationship of G-d with every individual Jew, owing to his being part of in the Jewish people. Not only did G-d forge us into a people, but He did so from within the context of an Egypt, where we had become mired in the impurity of the host culture and had fallen to the lowest of its levels. He could have insisted on beginning the process of growth and purification (which in fact occurred in the weeks before the giving of the Torah) while they still resided in Egypt. He didn’t — to make the point that although we had little to show for ourselves spiritually, He was with us and took us as is. These two aspects are combined and repeated each year on Shabbat Chanukah. Shabbat testifies to G-d as Creator. Chanukah demonstrates the relationship G-d has with His people, standing by them even when they have disappointed Him through their sins. Shabbat Chanukah thus affords us an opportunity to experience the binyan shalem, the completed structure of the tikkun of all ten sefirot, of service of G-d with all parts of our being and emuna in both of its significant manifestations.

Tobin... Continued from page 25 It should also be noted that the ability to do business in China enabled many Americans to get rich, not the least of which was Kissinger himself, whose consulting business was largely built on the goodwill he had earned with the tyrants in Beijing and the accompanying betrayal of America’s ally in Taiwan. Even after most Americans — Democrats as well as Republicans — had awakened to the threat from China, Kissinger remained an advocate of appeasement of that regime in the last year of his life. A half-century after Nixon went to China to meet Mao Zedong, the Communist regime used the benefits of Kissinger’s diplomacy to become the world’s second-largest economy. That is why it’s America’s main geopolitical rival in the 21st century, as well as one that may well be far more dangerous than the Soviets ever were because of its power to influence the American economy. Subsequent realists like President George HW Bush (who did nothing in response to the Tiananmen Square massacre) and Bill Clinton (who championed integrating China into the world economy) also bear responsibility for this disaster, though it started with Kissinger. We don’t know what the world would have been like without Kissinger being in charge of American foreign policy for those crucial eight years. But the one thing we do know for certain is that the West’s subsequent triumph over the Soviets would not have happened had Reagan and Britain’s Margaret Thatcher not repudiated his policies. Contrary to his critics and fans, Henry Kissinger was neither a complete villain nor a hero. Foreign policy — as his admirer Ferguson, himself one of our great contemporary historians, wrote — always involves a choice between greater and lesser evils. Even when disagreeing with Kissinger’s choices, it doesn’t make him wicked. Yet his celebrity status was a sort of magic trick that was the product of both great intelligence and a profound understanding of how organizations and politics work. That should be acknowledged as a singular accomplishment. The fact that he was treated as something of a minor God by the Davos set of celebrities, corporate manipulators and leftist ideologues who flock to gatherings of the World Economic Forum — a group that is bent on remaking the world in the

image of failed economic theories and crackpot environmentalist ideas — tells you all you need to know how worthless much of his “wisdom” actually was. We should not judge Kissinger solely on his “gas chambers” remarks, any more than we should treat him as the reason for Israel’s woes in the Yom Kippur War. What historians not under the spell of his remarkable intellect and astonishing ability to maintain his status as the wise man of foreign policy for decades after leaving the State Department should do is evaluate him honestly. If they do, they’ll understand that while he is a memorable historical figure, his main accomplishments were policies that with some exceptions did more harm than good.

Mansdorf...

Continued from page 23 juvenile cheerleading and incorporate serious and impartial objective research into their activities. … Donors should instead insist upon … data to demonstrate if there is a problem; (and) if so, where the problem is; and if their contributions are doing anything other than making themselves feel good.” Clearly, Jewish and Israel advocacy needs a serious rethink. And there must be accountability before another generation of young people is lost. Since it is very unlikely that the people responsible for this failure will own up to it, it is up to donors to wise up, challenge the failed establishment and look for new ways to deal with this ancient problem.

Shvili... Continued from page 23 claimed that at least 13,300 Palestinians had been confirmed killed, including at least 5,600 children. But as Luke Baker, a former Reuters bureau chief who led the organization’s coverage of Israel and the disputed territories from 2014 to 2017, noted on X (formerly Twitter), “Hamas has a clear propaganda incentive to inflate civilian casualties as much as possible.” Moreover, the media almost never give a breakdown of the casualties. They don’t say how many were Hamas terrorists or how many were human shields, killed in residences, schools or hospitals where Hamas were hiding. They never tell how many were killed not by Israeli forces, but by Hamas and other terrorist groups — because of misfired rockets, or by Hamas shooting at Palestinian civilians heeding Israeli orders to evacuate. In addition, it’s probable that a significant number of the “children” reported killed or wounded are aged 13 to 18, who were located in Hamas facilities or even took an active part in the fighting. The media narrative is not only false, it is malicious and maligns the world’s only Jewish state as it fights for its existence against the forces of Islamist jihad that openly seek to destroy it. What the media miss, however, is that Israel is fighting for liberal, Western values — the same liberties that protect major Western media. No American media outlet could function for a minute under a repressive government like Hamas, where no freedom of press exists. Today’s media hypocrisy — and malpractice — is so pronounced, so undisguised, that no thinking reader, listener, or viewer can miss the bias. No surprise that a 2022 Gallup poll found “Americans’ Trust in Media Remains Near Record Low” — with only 34% expressing a fair amount or a great deal of confidence in the media. If the media refuse to get their facts straight, it’s up to us to hold them accountable for the unethical journalism they are practicing: Demand they get their facts straight and stop blindly accepting Hamas lies. Let them know that if they continue to promote a false narrative that unfairly smears Israel, we will get our news elsewhere.

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THE JEWISH STAR December 8, 2023 • 25 Kislev 5784

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