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Dec. 15, 2023 3 Tevet 5784 • Miketz • Vol 22, No 39

TheJewishStar.com

Rabbi Dee’s call to US students: Get involved

Rabbi Leo Dee in Efrat on April 10.

Oren Ben Hakoon, Flash90

By Mike Wagenheim Shortly after Rabbi Leo Dee’s wife and two of his five children were murdered by a Palestinian terrorist on a Friday morning during Passover last April, he started to visit a psychologist. Dee says the psychologist told him he was suffering through constant reminders — in his thoughts and in the absence of his murdered family member when he came home each night. So he found a way to alleviate the pain. He began to fill his time with worthwhile projects, eliminating empty moments that might otherwise be spent wallowing in his sorrows, while also regaining a sense of accomplishment by undertaking missions in honor of his perished loved ones. In September, Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen reached out to Dee with a proposal to join the government in some then-undefined role. In the wake of Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre, that volunteer role, established as Israel’s special envoy for social initiatives, has taken on a greater meaning. “In my mind, everything I do now is dedicated See Rabbi Dee on page 6

Adams brings the light of faith to NY City Hall

Publisher@TheJewishStar.com • 516-622-7461

Harvard stands with genocide

Backs prez who green lit Jew-hate By Combined Sources Harvard University is sticking with its president, despite her refusal to unequivocally denounce calls for the genocidal murder of Jews. In a statement released on Tuesday, the Harvard Corporation gave President Claudine Gay its unqualified vote of confidence. “We today reaffirm our support for President Gay’s continued leadership of Harvard University,” said the corporation, the university’s governing body. “Our extensive deliberations affirm our confidence that President Gay is the right leader to help our community heal and to address the very serious societal issues we are facing.” Gay, who became Harvard’s first Black president in July, initially came under fire when she failed to immediately fully denounce Hamas’ Oct. 7 terrorist attack, and again last week when she equivocated during congressional testimony over whether calls at Harvard for the murder of Jews were violations of university policy. Harvard faculty rallied to her defense, however, with Black faculty members

calling criticism of Gay “specious and politically motivated.” Alumni, horrified by Gay’s nonchalant approach to a terror attack that killed 1,200 and included rapes, beheadings and hostage-taking, mobilized to drive her out. Some alumni pledged to withdraw financial support. “President Gay’s failures have led to billions of dollars [in donations to the university] canceled, paused and withdrawn,” hedge fund manager Bill Ackman wrote in a letter to the school’s governing board on Sunday. “I am personally aware of more than a billion dollars of terminated donations from a small group of Harvard’s most generous Jewish and nonJewish alumni.” He said Gay had done “more damage to Harvard’s reputation than anyone in the university’s history.” The Executive Committee of Harvard University Alumni’s Association had the president’s back, however, calling her “thoughtful” and “kind,” in a letter on Monday obtained by the Harvard Crimson. She “is the right leader to guide the See Harvard hate on page 2

Oy vey: 1st husband gets story of Chanukah wrong

Mayor Eric Adams is flanked by leaders of various faiths at City Hall on the first day of Chanukah, Dec. 8. In front row from left: Archpriest Thomas P Zain of St. Nicholas Antiochian Orthodox Cathedral in Bay Ridge, Imam Shamsi Ali of the Jamaica Muslim Center, Mayor Adams, Pastor Gilford Monrose of the mayor’s Office of Faith-Based and Community Partnerships, and Rabbi Chaim Steinmetz of Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun on the Upper East Side. Ed Weintrob, The Jewish Star

By Ed Weintrob New York faith leaders gathered in City Hall on the first day of Chanukah to celebrate what Mayor Eric Adams called “a city built on religious and racial tolerance.” “In this moment of heightened tension around the globe, it is more important than ever

that we stand together as one, united against the rising tide of hatred and religious intolerance,” Adams said. While statistics show that hate crime is up, “we don’t have polling that shows what love is doing in our city,” observed Pastor Gilford Monrose, who runs the mayor’s

Office of Faith-Based and Community Partnerships. He called the faith leaders assembled on Friday “angels of light … a snapshot of who we are as a city.” But while light breaking through darkness is a prevalent theme during ChanuSee NYC faith on page 2

Douglas Emhoff, the Jewish husband of Vice President Kamala Harris whom the Biden administration often tasks with representing it at Jewish events, is being mocked on social media for a post that confused the story of Chanukah. “The story of Chanukah and the story of the Jewish people has always been one of hope and resilience,” Emhoff observed. “In the Chanukah story, the Jewish people were forced into hiding. No one thought they would survive or that the few drops of oil they had would last. But they survived and the oil kept burning.” “During those eight days in hiding, they recited their prayers and continued their traditions,” Emhoff added. “That’s why Chanukah means

dedication. It was during those dark nights that the Maccabees dedicated themselves to maintaining hope and faith in the oil, each other and their Judaism.” “In these dark times, I think of that story,” Emhoff said. The Chanukah story is not about Jews hiding for eight days with a little bit of oil. It is about the Jews, having won a military victory, rededicating the Temple and finding only a small amount of oil — enough for one day — which then miraculously lasted for eight. “Um this is definitely not the story of Chanukah,” wrote an attorney, who has a large following and uses the pseudonym AG Hamilton. “How could this have happened?” posted National Review senior writer Noah Rothman.

“How to say ‘I don’t anything about Judaism’ without saying ‘I don’t know anything about Judaism’,” wrote another user, Olia Klein. “This level of ignorance is embarrassing.”

Harvard hate…

Continued from page 1 university during this challenging time … resolutely dedicated to the growth and wellbeing of our very diverse community,” the letter said. The Harvard Corporation conceded on Tuesday that “the University’s initial statement [on the Oct. 7 terrorist attack] should have been an immediate, direct, and unequivocal condemnation. Calls for genocide are despicable and contrary to fundamental human values. “President Gay has apologized for how she handled her congressional testimony and has committed to redoubling the University’s fight against antisemitism.” Similarly, the alumni association said, “We recognize that there was disappointment in her testimony this past week. President Gay has pointed this out and apologized for any pain her testimony caused — a powerful demonstration of her integrity, determination and courage.” During last week’s House hearing, Rep. Elise Stefanik asked three university presidents — MIT’s Sally Kornbluth, the University of Pennsylvania’s Liz Magill, and Gay — “does calling for the genocide of Jews violate Harvard’s rules of bullying and harassment? Yes or no?” “It can be, depending on the context,” Gay responded, adding under further questioning by Stefanik, “Antisemitic rhetoric, when it crosses into conduct that amounts to bullying, harassment, intimidation, that is actionable conduct, and we do take action.” When Stefanik concluded — “So, the answer is yes, that calling for the genocide of Jews violates Harvard code of conduct, correct?” — Gay responded, “Again, it depends on the context.” After being ridiculed on social media and coming under fire from donors, she told the Harvard Crimson, “When words amplify distress and pain, I don’t know how you could feel anything but regret.” She explained to the Crimson that she had been “caught up” in the exchange with Stefanik, but that she “should have had the presence of mind [to] return to my guiding truth, which is that calls for violence against our Jewish community — threats to our Jewish students — have no place at Harvard and will never go unchallenged.” Penn’s Magill resigned on Monday.

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The Simon Wiesenthal Center criticized Harvard’s decision to stick with Gay. “President Gay survives to continue as university president, but will Jewish students on campus survive her tenure?” the center asked. “Will Harvard finally act against harassment of Jewish students?” Stefanik reacted on X, writing, “There have been absolutely no updates to @Harvard’s code of conduct to condemn the calls for genocide of Jews and protect Jewish students on campus. The only update to Harvard’s code of conduct is to allow plagiarists as president.” The plagiarist reference was to a university investigation of accusations that Gay plagiarized numerous portions of her 1997 Ph.D. thesis in violation of Harvard’s academic integrity policies. The Harvard Corporation said in its statement on Tuesday that it had conducted an independent investigation after becaming aware of the allegations in late October. “On Dec. 9, the Fellows reviewed the results, which revealed a few instances of inadequate citation,” the corporation said. “While the analysis found no violation of Harvard’s standards for research misconduct, President Gay is proactively requesting four corrections in two articles to insert citations and quotation marks that were omitted from the original publications.” The Harvard Corporation said: “In this tumultuous and difficult time, we unanimously stand in support of President Gay. “At Harvard, we champion open discourse and academic freedom, and we are united in our strong belief that calls for violence against our students and disruptions of the classroom experience will not be tolerated. Harvard’s mission is advancing knowledge, research, and discovery that will help address deep societal issues and promote constructive discourse, and we are confident that President Gay will lead Harvard forward toward accomplishing this vital work.” The corporation letter was signed by the Fellows of Harvard College: Penny Pritzker, Senior Fellow; Timothy R. Barakett, Treasurer; Kenneth I. Chenault; Mariano-Florentino (Tino) Cuéllar; Paul J. Finnegan Biddy Martin; Karen Gordon Mills; Diana L. Nelson; Tracy P. Palandian; Shirley M. Tilghman, and Theodore V. Wells Jr.

NYC faith leaders…

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Continued from page 1 kah, Rabbi Chaim Steinmetz of Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun on the Upper East Side cautioned that “darkness has to be taken on directly” and that “purveyors of hatred, advocates of division, need to be called out.” Referring to the Baal Shem Tov’s assertion that “a little bit of light can get rid of a lot of darkness,” Rabbi Steinmetz said that “if we can get all the faith leaders to bring light, we can get all New Yorkers to bring light [and] there will be no more darkness. That is our dream.” Imam Shamsi Ali of the Jamaica Muslim Center said New York was a great city not “because of the bridges that connect the five boroughs,” but because of “bridges of understanding, bridges of mutual love and compassion, bridges of cooperation and partnership.” “We must be courageous enough to fight for one another and to defend one another,” Ali said. “We remind ourselves that an attack on anyone is an attack on all of us.” Rabbi Steinmetz thanked Mayor Adams for “fighting antisemitism and racism and xenophobia” and for bringing people together to celebrate “the wonderful mosaic of New York.” New York is a city “built on religious and racial tolerance,” Adams affirmed, “a city where people from all over the world can live side by side in harmony, regardless of nationality, regardless of where they pray.” Nevertheless, he conceded, “we’re feeling a level of apprehension. It doesn’t matter if you wear a hijab or yarmulke or a turban, a cross”

or some other symbol of religious belief, even those who haven’t personally experienced hate, “when they hear about the hate, it brings a level of fear and intimidation.” Rabbi Steinmetz responded to reporters’ questions about added security at Jewish institutions since Oct. 7 by referring to expenditures on security as “an antisemitism tax which is levied on Jews by antisemites.” He was asked what he’d tell someone afraid to wear a star of David or put up the menorah. “We have to recognize that even if there is antisemitism, Jews have survived because they’ve been courageous,” he said. “Now it’s a time for resolution and courage, not for cowardice. We need to be wise and safe but we should not cower.” Asked about the university presidents who equivocated about campus antisemitism in their congressional testimony last week, Rabbi Steinmetz said, “The bottom line for me is the top line — everyone needs to start talking unequivocally about how awful antisemitism is. “At the top, you say this is the world’s longest hatred, it is an absolute evil, it’s claimed millions of lives and we stand against antisemitism. There may be other issues that come down along the way, but first, start with the basics. Start with a clear message. We stand against antisemitism.” “The key to defeating antisemitism is found in people lighting lights, people saying we will not tolerate this,” he said.

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A border kibbutz is rebuilding from the ashes

By Etgar Lefkovits, JNS KIBBUTZ BE’ERI — Autumn leaves felled by rain and wind are being raked. The grass has grown green. The mammoth printing press is working full steam. But down the bucolic pathways that became killing fields on Oct. 7 when hundreds of Hamas terrorists overran this southern Israel agricultural community, the devastation is still in full view. Two months after the deadly attack, signs of life are slowly returning to this Gaza border community, one of the hardest hit on that holiday weekend. Nearly 10% of the kibbutz’s 1,300 residents were murdered. The printing press, which is the kibbutz’s main source of income and which escaped damage due to being nearly empty at the time of the attack, is abuzz with activity. Managers were determined to reopen the press — where drivers’ licenses, credit cards, bank checks and shopping gift cards are printed — the very week after the attack. “The opening of the printing press was a very symbolic move to show residents of the community and the whole border area that there is a rebirth,” said Ben Sochman, 47, manager of the site, whose 77-year-old mother, Tamar, was shot dead outside her home by the terrorists on the morning of the attack. “Our hope is that out of all this pain, there can be some growth.” Deputy marketing manager Naor Pakciarz, 45, whose father-in-law was also murdered in the attack, said, “It will take years to rehabilitate the

Tatiana Kosziykovec, who survived the Oct. 7 massacre in Kibbutz Be’eri, sits next to a memorial to the kibbutz printing press employees who did not, or who were captured by Hamas terrorists. Rina Castelnuovo

The aftermath of Hamas’ assault on Kibbutz Be’eri.

kibbutz,” but added that “we understood that the kibbutz would not be resettled if the printing press was not first running. Today, 300 of the 350 printing press workers are already back at their jobs — many commuting to their temporary homes in Dead Sea hotels or elsewhere for work. A hardcore group of scores of young kibbutz members have returned home braving the thunderous booms of artillery explosions from the IDF tanks fighting nearby, and the continuing if dwindling number of rocket attacks from Gaza two months into the war. At the entrance to the building, a makeshift memorial honors the 13 press workers who were among the roughly 100 kibbutz members killed or abducted by Hamas.

butz until the all-clear was sounded. In the afternoon, Mai, a kibbutz dog, suddenly was at the door and whimpered to come in. At first she thought it was a trick by the terrorists to have her open the door, only to realize the four-legged friend was on her own, so the two huddled together in safety until the next day. Inside the printing press, the most vivid signs of damage are the bullet holes on the TV in the “nostalgia room,” which houses a collection of technological antiques including Apple computers, printers, a rotary phone and a 1956 military flier printed here which reads, “The desire to be victorious is the first condition for victory.” (An LD representative offered to give the kibbutz 10 free TVs to replace the damaged one. The kibbutz politely declined and are keeping the

Tatiana Kosziykovec, 52, of Netivot, who was working at the reception on the morning of the attack, is back at her desk. When she heard the sirens and saw the Hamas gunmen burst through the kibbutz gate she took cover in a small technicians’ room hidden behind the lobby, taking her belongings with her so that the terrorists would not realize anyone was in the building. “They came to murder,” she told JNS. They sprayed the entryway with bullets, she recalled, and then, thinking no one was inside, exited to carry out their rampage in the kibbutz. The Belarus native, who immigrated to Israel two decades ago, remained hidden in the tiny room for 24 hours, losing contact with her family as her phone battery died. The electricity was out on the kib-

broken one as a sign of rebirth.) “We are here” reads the huge sign on the water tower opposite the newly reopened kibbutz secretariat, and the dining hall. Even the laundry is being serviced. “I couldn’t sit back and see the kibbutz laying desolate like a museum or a safari,” said Noam Gold, 25, a kibbutz native who had been living in Tel Aviv but has been staying at the community with her father for the last month. “That we are here and together — it gives one a lot of hope for the future,” she said. “They thought they would kill us out, but here we are. We are back.” As the sun set on the kibbutz, IDF soldiers placed Hanukkah candles on the window frames of the scores of demolished, blackened homes, their light shining in the dark night.

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Rabbi Dee issues call to action to US students… Continued from page 1 “In my mind, everything I do now is dedicated to one of their particular characteristics,” Dee told JNS of his wife, Lucy, and murdered daughters Maia and Rina, as he embarked this week on a tour of the US East Coast, meeting with Jewish students and organizations. “I say to the people I’m meeting that if you take upon yourself a project now to help Israel in this war, it will help you in two ways. Number one, you’ll have less time on your phone watching TikTok and being depressed about what’s going on,” he said. “And on the other hand, when your children say to you, ‘Mommy, daddy, what did you do when Israel needed you, you’ll be able to list off a number of things you did that were transformational for the situation.” In New York, Dee visited the Ramaz School on the Upper East Side, Princeton University, Columbia University, NYU, Yeshiva University and its Stern College for Women; and went to Yale University in New Haven, and the University of Pennsylvania. He also spent time at Lincoln Square Synagogue and the UJA-Federation of New York. His overarching message: “Don’t be a victim.” “My topic is an action plan for Jewish students,” said Dee. “I say to them that you don’t need to spend your life responding to antisemites. They’re not going to change.” He said he believes that the assaults — physical and verbal — being waged on North American Jewish students are a diversion meant to limit the “massive impact” those students can make. Dee says he is focused on getting young American Jews to realize that while the IDF are fighting a military campaign, there is plen-

From left: Lucy Dee and daughters Rina, 15, and Maia, 20.

ty that they can do — whether it is to come on a mission to Israel to assist with agricultural projects or to use their social-media insight to convey messaging on Israel’s behalf. He says that young American Jews should not underestimate their ability to make an impact. He cites to them the struggle for Soviet Jewry, when “a million people marched down the streets of London, Paris and New York. And eventually, it was heard by [President] Ronald Reagan. And he raised it with the Russians.” Those rallies led to the freedom of a million Jews to leave the USSR to go live in Israel, Dee points out.

“I say to them, ‘Do you know where that march started? It started with a handful of boys from Yeshiva University High School,” noting the 1962 Matzah Demonstration, which many point to as a starting point in the struggle. “This current worldwide campaign to support Israel will start most likely from a high school or university on the East Coast, possibly Manhattan. And you are the people who could do it,” Dee says he told audiences during his US swing. He also points to another US initiative: the Marshall Plan. The 1948 law signed by President Harry Truman provided massive

recovery financing for Western European economies after World War II and involved, in part, a de-Nazification component in West Germany. Dee told JNS that this type of plan will need to be implemented in a post-Hamas Gaza to bring about economic prosperity and a major re-programming of the education system away from one that preaches incitement and Jew-hatred. He said it shouldn’t be Israel that needs to do the heavy lifting there. “America, Europe and Britain have heavily funded UNRWA, which has been the source of much of the problem,” Dee said of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, the so-called Palestinian refugee agency that critics say has long perpetuated the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. “They have a moral responsibility now to find the solution, which is the deprogramming and the de-Nazification of the Palestinians.” While Dee credited Israel’s societal resistance following the Oct. 7 massacre, he largely demurred when asked to grade the Israeli government’s response. “I think one of the beauties of Israel is that it operates despite the government. It has done so for most of its existence. The people are very motivated,” he said. “As long as the government doesn’t stand in the way, Israelis will always win.” It’s not exactly a ringing endorsement of his employer, but Dee said that he made it clear when Cohen approached him exactly what type of employee to expect. “I said to him I’m a terrible employee. I never listen to my boss, and I have no respect for any organization which I worked for,” acknowledges Dee, a former private-equity director. “But if you still want me, I will, I will do it.”

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WINE AND DINE

Without going nuts, give ‘clean eating’ a try Kosher Kitchen

JONI SCHOCKEtt

Jewish Star columnist

he term “clean eating” came into the American consciousness in the 1960s. The country was enduring a huge cultural revolution that saw the passage of the Civil Rights Bill, the push for women’s rights, and protests over the Vietnam War. It also saw the strong, though some would say, short-lived, hippie movement. These pro-love and peace-minded people raised the country’s awareness of the earth-food connection. Some created communes and believed that we should eat only what comes from the earth in its most natural form. We can thank them today for things such as readily available organic foods and food labeling. In those early years, “health” food stores sprang up as small mom and pop venues as did organic food co-ops. Soon the term “health food” established a firm hold on our consciousness and never left. People began to think about what they were eating even as food manufacturers were introducing thousands of highly manufactured “foods” every year. In fact, the number of new foods “manufactured’ since the 50s is mind boggling (about 20,000 a year!). The 1950s brought us Dunkin Donuts, McDonalds French fries, boxed cake mixes, TV dinners and frozen pizza; obesity rates began to rise, and health issues ensued (an increase in diabetes and food allergies). Combine that with the explosion of home television sets and color-TV and it was a recipe for nutritional disaster. People began to push back. The Hippie generation brought back small family farming and farm to table eating along with an explosion of vegetarianism and more. Throughout the 1970s health food stores emerged as serious competition to supermarkets. In 1993, Whole Foods, the new behemoth in the ever-growing landscape of healthy eating, bought several small chains and opened supermarket-sized stores throughout America solidifying the place of “health foods” in our communities. Now, the biggest fish in the retail ocean, Amazon, has swallowed up Whole Foods, and many other market chains have created their own health food stores and joined the healthier food markets throughout the country. The clean eating movement now had huge stores, its own magazines, and enough proponents to bring it to the attention of dieticians, nutritionists, doctors, trainers, consumers everywhere and Congress! In the past few decades, food labels became mandatory, organic foods certified and even meat, fish, and poultry were soon labelled with many different monikers such as organic, wild caught, grass-fed, free-roaming, etc. Still, the term, “clean eating,” continues to mean many different things. The good thing is that you can essentially create a definition that works for you. However most people agree that clean eating includes: 1. Eating only whole grains and whole grain flours 2. Consuming minimally processed foods. That means products with few ingredients. A good example would be jarred organic tomato sauce or organic fruit juices. 3. Reading labels and avoiding foods with any ingredients that you don’t recognize as real food or that you cannot pronounce. 4. Eating very lean meats and poultry from a close source or choosing organic, grass-fed, freerange, etc. 5. Choosing fruits and vegetables according to season, and buying locally and organically, if possible 6. Eating nuts, berries, and seeds, which are filled with antioxidants and lots of nutrients

7. Avoiding refined sugar and high-fructose corn syrup and using only natural sweeteners such as honey and pure maple syrup. 8. Eating meals that consist of mostly plants and lean proteins 9. Including legumes in your diet on a regular basis 10. Eating the rainbow! Choosing foods that are all different colors, oranges, beets, purple cabbage, blueberries, squashes, carrots, bananas, the list is endless, beautiful, and delicious. Many people also include the mantra of “nothing white,” which excludes white breads, crackers, cakes cookies, etc. Others eschew dairy products and high-fat products such as butter, high fat cheeses, and red meat and, of course, any kind of processed meat. There are many websites and countless books on this idea of clean eating and, while I am not given to (too many) extremes, I believe that adopting some of the tenets of this eating style can only improve our health and benefit our bodies. It will soon be the New Year, a perfect time to make some small changes or bring some new eating habits to the table. I hope that his new year brings you all good health, happiness and peace.

Baked Breakfast Oatmeal (Pareve)

I love thick rustic oatmeal. This is delicious. You can add any seasonal fruits to this. Half peaches are delicious, as are half super-ripe pears. Apricots, sliced apples are also great — this recipe lends itself to creative additions. • 2 cups thick, rough cut, or old to fashioned oats • 3/4 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped • 1 cup raisins • 3 Tbsp. coconut oil, melted • 2 cups unsweetened vanilla almond milk • 2 tsp. cinnamon, or to taste • 2 Tbsp. pure vanilla extract • 1/2 tsp. sea salt • 3 to 4 Tbsp. pure maple syrup, Grade B, to taste Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, mix the oats, nuts, and raisins. Spray an 8-inch square glass baking dish and set aside.

Place the coconut oil in a small bowl and microwave until melted. In a large bowl, mix the coconut oil, almond milk, cinnamon, vanilla and 2 Tbps. of maple syrup. Whisk to blend completely and pour evenly over the oatmeal. Drizzle the rest of the maple syrup over the top and bake for about 30 to 45 minutes until the liquid is absorbed. Serve hot. Makes about 6 servings. Divide into 6 bowls if you want true portion control and add a tablespoon of almond milk to each bowl before microwaving to reheat. A great, fast breakfast with staying power.

Avocado and Orange Salad with Lime and Cilantro (Pareve)

This salad is perfect with Clementines, which are in season, as are avocados (make sure the avocados are very ripe). • 3 ripe avocados cut into chunks • 2 Clementines, peeled and separated into segments membrane and pits removed • 1 small, sweet, red onion, cut in half and then into thin slices • 2 to 3 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lime juice • 2 to 3 tsp. orange juice from one juice orange • 1 tsp., or to taste, agave nectar or honey • 1/4 to 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil • 1/4 cup fresh cilantro • Salt and pepper to taste • Fresh baby lettuce or spinach leaves Prepare the avocado, by peeling and cutting it into chunks. Place in a large bowl. Add the orange segments and the onion and toss gently. Whisk the juices, syrup, and the oil together with the salt and pepper and pour over the avocado and oranges. Chop or tear the cilantro leaves and sprinkle over everything. Serve on beds of baby lettuce leaves. Serves 4 to 6.

White Bean and Garlic Hummus with Scallions (Pareve)

A friend gave me this recipe years ago and I still love it. Add chives or scallions, radishes or roasted red peppers. A great office lunch paired

with fresh veggie sticks. • 1 can white Cannellini or Great Northern beans, drained and rinsed • 2 to 3 garlic cloves, finely minced or pressed through a garlic press • 1 to 2 scallions, chopped, white and green parts • 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice • 2 Tbsp. plain or roasted tahini • 1 to 2 tsp, ground cumin (optional but recommended) • 2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil • Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste OPTIONAL: A pinch of cayenne pepper Rinse and drain the beans and place in the bowl of a food processor. Add the garlic and chopped scallion and pulse until finely chopped, but still with some texture, about 15 pulses or about 20 seconds. Add the lemon juice, tahini and cumin and process until smooth. With the motor running, add the oil through the feed tube, processing until creamy. Scrape into a bowl and add salt and pepper to taste. Makes 1-1/2 to 2 cups.

Black and White Braised Baby Bok Choy (Pareve)

My son loves baby Bok Choy so I make it when I find really good quality, small plants. If you like heat, use hot sesame oil. If not, toasted is delicious. • 5 to 6 heads of baby Bok Choy • 1 Tbsp. high heat safflower oil • 2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced or minced • 1 tsp. seasoned (hot) or toasted sesame oil • 1/4 tsp. rice wine vinegar • 1/2 tsp. tamari sauce • 1/2 tsp. mirin (sweet rice wine) • 1 tsp. black sesame seeds • 1 tsp. white sesame seeds Rinse and trim the Bok Choy. Do not remove all the water. Set aside. Heat a large skillet and add the safflower oil. Add the garlic. Add the Bok Choy, turn to coat with the oil and cover the pan. Simmer for about 3 to 4 minutes. Uncover and turn again. Braise until tender, about 3 to 5 more minutes. See ‘Clean eating’ on page 10

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‘Clean eating’… Continued from page 8 In a small bowl, mix the sesame oil, rice wine vinegar, tamari sauce and mirin. Mix well. Taste and adjust ingredients. Remove Bok Choy to a platter. Drizzle with the sauce and sprinkle the black and white sesame seeds over all. Serves 6.

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Dark Winter Greens with Leeks and Lots of Garlic (Pareve)

Dark greens are full of nutritious phytochemicals and antioxidants. • 1 to 2 large leeks, thinly sliced and thoroughly washed • Garlic cloves (3 to 8) to taste, minced • 1 sweet red onion, diced • 2 to 3 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil • 6 to 8 ounces cooking greens (you can now buy them pre-packaged), baby kale or baby spinach • 1 to 2 Tbsp. tamari sauce, aminos (Dr. Bragg’s) or light tamari sauce • 1 to 2 Tbsp. mirin • Sesame seeds for garnish • If you like this a bit sweeter, add a dash of honey, to taste • If you like, add a pinch of red pepper flakes Place the leeks in a bowl of ice-cold water. Swish several times, drain, and repeat. Drain and set aside. Mince the garlic and set aside. Dice the onion and set aside. Heat a large skillet over medium heat and add the olive oil. Add the onion and sauté until softened and beginning to turn golden, 6 to 9 minutes. Add the garlic and leeks and sauté until softened, 5 to 8 minutes. Wash and drain the greens. Squeeze gently with a paper towel to absorb remaining water. Add the greens to the skillet and, using tongs, turn, to coat them with oil. Add the tamari sauce and mirin and toss to coat. Cook until the greens are wilted, 4 to 6 minutes, tossing often to cook evenly. Taste and adjust seasonings. Place in a serving bowl and garnish with sesame seeds or sunflower seeds. Serves 4 to 8.

Simple, Light, Roasted Garlic Salad Dressing (Pareve)

• 1 head garlic, roasted • 2 tsp. extra virgin olive oil • 2 to 3 tbs. red wine vinegar • 1 to 2 tsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice • 1 to 2 tsp. water • 1 tsp. honey or agave syrup • Pinch salt • Pinch freshly ground black pepper • 2 to 3 Tbsp. high heat safflower oil or cold pressed corn oil Optional. Snipped fresh chives mixed in after processing Cut off the top of the garlic, place the head on a sheet of heavy-duty foil and drizzle with the olive oil. Wrap in the foil. Roast at 350 degrees for 40 to 60 minutes. Let cool. Remove the cloves of garlic from the skin and place in a food processor. Discard skin. Add the vinegar, honey, lemon juice and water, and process until smooth. Add the safflower oil, salt and pepper and pulse until smooth. If it is too thick, add water and/or lemon juice. Pour into a pitcher or container and add chives, if desired. Mix well. Taste and adjust seasonings. Makes about 1/3 cup.

Bruce Blakeman

Salmon Rivagote (Parve)

Nassau County Executive

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December 15, 2023 • 3 Tevet 5784 THE JEWISH STAR

This is adapted from a recipe by Jacques Pepin from his TV show many years ago. Rivagote means “to invigorate” and the Meyer lemon and tomatoes invigorate the taste buds. It is delicious and easy to make. • 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil • 1 onion, chopped, rinsed and drained • 4 to 8 garlic cloves, minced • 1/2 tsp. lemon zest preferably from Meyer lemons • 2 to 4 plum tomatoes halved, seeded, and diced • 1 Tbsp. drained capers • 1 small can, (about 15 oz.) diced tomatoes,

• 2 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice, preferably Meyer lemon juice • 1/2 tsp. salt • 1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper • 1-1/2 pounds salmon fillet • 1/3 cup coarsely chopped fresh parsley • 2 to 3 scallions, trimmed and chopped • Fresh minced parsley for garnish Heat a large skillet. Add the olive oil and the onions, sauté the onions until softened and beginning to turn golden, about 6 to 9 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté for 1 minute. Add the lemon zest and sauté 1 minute. Add the diced tomato and sauté until the tomato is softened and cooked through, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the capers and the can of tomatoes with the juice, the lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Add the fresh parsley and mix well. Cook until bubbly, 2 to 4 minutes. Nestle the fish under the sauce. Cover, reduce heat to a strong simmer, and cook for 20 to 25 minutes. Check often and add some more water or lemon juice, if needed. About 5 minutes from the end of the cooking time, add the scallions and mix into the sauce. Cook for another 5 minutes. Taste and adjust seasonings. Serve hot with wild rice or other grains and veggies. Serves 6.

Wild Rice Pilaf with Mushrooms and Cranberries (Pareve)

Did you know that wild rice is actually a grass and not rice at all. It is very high in protein. • 1 cup wild rice • 1 cup brown basmati or other fragrant brown rice • 3-1/2 to 4 cups water or vegetable stock • 2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil • 8 large shallots, peeled, and thinly sliced • 1 carrot, finely minced • 10 ounces button or mixed mushrooms, sliced • 1/2 cup toasted slivered almonds • 1/2 cup dried cranberries • 1 tsp. tarragon • 1 tsp. fresh chives, snipped Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste Place the stock in a large pot and add the wild rice and basmati rice. Place over medium heat, bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat to simmer and cook until al dente and the liquid is absorbed, about 30 to 40 minutes. Add more liquid if the rice is too hard. Meanwhile, heat a large skillet and add the olive oil. Sauté the shallots until golden brown, 7 to 10 minutes. Add the carrot and the mushrooms and heat until most of the mushroom liquid is absorbed. Add the almonds and cranberries and mix. Add the tarragon and chives and mix well. Add the cooked rice to the skillet and mix into the vegetables. Season with salt and pepper and mix. Place in a serving bowl and serve. Serves 6 to 8.

Mini Date-Nut Cakes (Pareve)

• 6 extra-large eggs • 18 ounces dates, chopped (you can buy brick packed, chopped fresh dates) • 1 cup chopped apricots • 1/2 cup agave or Dark Pure maple syrup • 3 cups walnuts, chopped Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 minimuffin tins with mini paper cups or spray with non-stick spray and set aside. In a food processor, separately chop the dates, apricots and nuts to a uniform, small size, about one-sixteenth to one-eighth inch in size. Set aside. Place the eggs and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat until light yellow and thickened. Add the dates, apricots, and nuts. Mix well. Spoon the mixture into the mini tins or paper liner cups, filling each three-quarters full. Bake at 350 for 20 to 25 minutes. Cool; remove from the tins, place some in a plastic bag and freeze for later. Serve the rest. This will make about 5 to 6 dozen mini-cakes. NOTE: You can frost these with a simple maple cream cheese frosting or a simple sugar glaze, but they are delicious without anything added.

THE JEWISH STAR December 15, 2023 • 3 Tevet 5784

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Explaining First Amd. to university presidents Analysis by Nathan Lewin In the wake of the astounding testimony before Congress by the presidents of Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, three important questions must be asked: 1. Why are the presidents of leading American universities abysmally ignorant of Supreme Court rulings on the limits of protected speech under the First Amendment? The presidents claimed in their testimony that anti-Israel and antisemitic “protesters” on their campuses are only exercising their constitutionally protected right to free speech when they call for an “intifada” and chant Hamas’s battle cry “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” — both clear calls for violence against Israelis and Jews. Harvard’s president Claudine Gay repeatedly declared that her university will act only “when speech crosses into conduct.” She might be surprised to learn that not a single Supreme Court justice agrees with her. Indeed, it is unlikely that the three presidents have bothered to read the most recent definition of First Amendment speech guarantees as expressed by all nine Supreme Court Justices, albeit in various opinions. Not one of the justices believes that threats and incitement have blanket constitutional protection and cannot be punished unless they “cross into conduct.” On June 27, the Supreme Court decided a case titled Counterman v. Colorado, which dealt with harassment on Facebook. The case generated much discussion precisely because it dealt with the issue of what limits can be placed on speech protections. All of the justices agreed that the Bill of Rights does not guarantee any right to send threats over social media. Nor did they hold that the First Amendment entitles a speaker to say anything so long as it does not “cross into conduct.” The justices differed only

Pro-terrorist, anti-Israel protesters in New York City.

over how relevant the speaker’s intention might be to the question of criminal penalties. A majority of the Court, speaking through Justice Elena Kagan, said that expressing a threat would be a crime if the speaker uttered it with “reckless disregard” for how it would be understood by a listener. Four justices differed only in part. All the justices agreed that freedom of speech does not protect a speaker who makes a threat with reckless disregard for the listener’s fear of violence. The campus protesters in question are obviously guilty of “reckless disregard” for the fears of their Jewish fellow students. Under the most recent Supreme Court rulings, they can be charged with crimes and punished accordingly. That the presidents of Harvard, MIT and Penn are ignorant of this is shocking. 2. Why are major donors to these universities only terminating future grants rather than demanding that billions of dollars in past donations be refunded? Benefactors who have given huge dona-

Wirestock Creators, Shutterstock

tions to Harvard and other universities with enormous endowments have announced publicly that they will not continue to contribute to these institutions because they promote and fail to control antisemitism. It is possible that this may influence the public declarations of university administrators who are unhappy that the flow of funds has been interrupted. But given the vast resources of these institutions and the contributions likely to come from antisemitic and anti-Israel sources, it will only have a modest impact. A far more powerful response would be for major donors to file lawsuits seeking to recover the billions of dollars they have donated in the past. They could do so on the grounds that these donations were secured by false representations that claimed the universities were providing proper meaningful education to their students. For example, Harvard’s original charter of 1650 stated that its students will be taught

“knowledge and godlynes.” Contributors have now discovered that Harvard does not abide by this charter. Instead, it egregiously violates it by nurturing hate and violence against Jews. As such, donors are legally entitled to recover the funds they were convinced by Harvard’s false representations to provide. 3. Why are no federal grand juries investigating the probable violations of American anti-terrorist laws committed by the organizers of and participants in pro-Hamas public protests? In 1996, Congress enacted the “Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act” (18 U.S.C. 2339B), which makes it a criminal offense to provide “material support to foreign terrorist organizations.” Violating this law can be punished with a long prison sentence. The Supreme Court, with Chief Justice John Roberts writing for a six-person majority, upheld the law in 2010 and rejected claims that its restriction of “material support” for terrorism violated First Amendment rights of free speech and free association (Holder v. Humanitarian Law Project, 561 U.S. 1 (2010). Advocating for a terrorist organization and supporting its activities, even if they constitute otherwise lawful protest, violates this provision of the Federal Criminal Code. Organized protests supporting Hamas accompanied by costly printed signs, customized uniforms and caps, and Palestinian flags, assuredly qualify as “material support” for Hamas. Why has the Department of Justice under Attorney General Merrick Garland, a descendant of Holocaust survivors, failed to initiate a federal investigation into these probable violations of America’s anti-terrorism laws? Why has no U.S. attorney impaneled a federal grand jury and subpoenaed witnesses? These are just some of the questions that an American lawyer must ask in these turbulent times.

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The annual Chanukah Telethon to benefit the National Committee for the Furtherance of Jewish Education Chabad Mineola raised $425,000 on Sunday night, Rabbi Anchelle Perl reported. The festive event, which included dancing rabbis and other entertainers, was telecast and livestreamed. Pictured, top row from left: John Kroll, esq, with Rabbi Perl; Jay Oliver (who co-hosted the event with Kive Strickoff); John Allen, Jerry Gedadit, and Steven Greenberg. Bottom row, from left: Cantor Chaim Dovid Berson; and David, Lily, Carrie and Samuel Davis with Rabbi Perl.

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THE JEWISH STAR December 15, 2023 • 3 Tevet 5784

Mineola Chabad Chanukah telethon raises $425K

December 15, 2023 • 3 Tevet 5784 THE JEWISH STAR

Swords into menorahs: Weapons at Chanukah

The Israel Museum Jerusalem is home to one of the world’s largest collections of Chanukah lamps, with some 1,000 items from across the globe — from the Middle Ages to the present day. A ubiquitous Judaica object, many are adorned with diverse symbols and figures — and come in different styles, forms and materials — each representing the culture of the community and region where it was made. A singular group in the collection was fashioned over the past century from repurposed weapon parts. They include lamps made from rifle parts, combinations of shells and pods, or shells as candleholders. One lamp — made from a rifle stock of an M1 carbine, which was in use mainly from World War II to the Vietnam War — was used by the Civil Guard volunteers in Israel. The lamp bears the symbols of the armored corps and artillery corps. Another bears a personal inscription: “In appreciation to Zvi from the 30mm team,” and was probably forged in the metal workshop of a military base. The incorporation of ammunition and weapon parts into Chanukah lamps resonates with the admiration for the army and its combat soldiers during the initial decades of modern-day Israel. But the practice dates back to World War I and in works created at the Bezalel School, which was associated with the Zionist movement from its early days. The use of rifle bullet casings was also a practical consideration; they could be collected following battles and adapted easily. The combination of weapon parts used in battle with Zionist message inscriptions or dedications on such lamps may express a more profound connection, tying the miracle of Chanukah — the triumphant menorahlighting in the Holy Temple — with Israel’s miracle of resilience and nationhood. Just as the Maccabees overcame oppression, the es-

Part of a collection of Chanukah lamps made from weapon parts, as featured at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem.

tablishment of Israel in 1948 marked a historic victory, symbolizing the enduring strength of a people who rose from centuries of adversity. In the series of miracles celebrated on Chanukah, the Jewish freedom fighters (Maccabees) entered the Temple Mount and discovered that the place had been violated, its valuables sacked and its sacred items contaminated. Eager to light the menorah, they thrust spears into the ground, forming an ad hoc candelabra. In time, that was replaced by a silver menorah, and eventually, a golden one, according to Chabad.org.

Professor Haim Parnas, an Israeli expert in product design who graduated from the Bezalel Department of Industrial Design, says mementos from the battlefield incorporated into a ceremonial object are one of the assets of Israeli material culture, and as such, have become a sought-after collector’s item over the years. “Following the founding of the State of Israel, and based on the heroic concept of the Israel Defense Forces, Chanukah lamps were made in military bases from weapon parts and given as souvenirs and parting gifts,” says

Laura Lachman

senior curator Sharon Weiser-Ferguson of the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Wing for Jewish Art and Life at the Israel Museum. She adds: “Interestingly, the metamorphosis of destructive tools into ceremonial artifacts may actually convey a longing for peace, as can be learned from the biblical passage (Isaiah 2:4) engraved on one of the lamps: ‘And they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more’.”

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December 15, 2023 • 3 Tevet 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

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.

Fri Dec 15 / 3 Teves

Fri Jan 5 / 24 Teves

Fri Dec 22 / 10 Teves

Fri Jan 12 / 2 Shevat

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

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

Fri Jan 19 / 9 Shevat

Contributing writers: •Rabbi Sir Jonathan Sacks zt”l,

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

Friday: Fast of Teves / Vayigash Candles: 4:13 • Havdalah: 5:23

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

Vaera Candles: 4:31 • Havdalah: 5:41

Bo Candles: 4:39 • Havdalah: 5:49

Sibling rivalry and our inability to see Joseph rabbi Sir JonaThan SaCkS zt”l

isten to these words that are among the most fateful and reverberating in all of Jewish history: Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him. Gen. 42:8 The Torah is a deep book. We make a great mistake if we think it can be understood on one superficial level. On the surface, the story is simple. Envious of him, Joseph’s brothers initially planned to kill him. Eventually they sell into slavery. He is taken to Egypt. There, through a series of vicissitudes, he rises to become Prime Minister, second only, in rank and power, to Pharaoh. It is now many years later. His brothers have come to Egypt to buy food. They come before Joseph, but he no longer looks like the man they knew many years before. Then, he was a 17-year-old called Joseph. Now he is 39, an Egyptian ruler called Tzofenat Paneach, dressed in official robes with a gold chain around his neck, who speaks Egyptian and uses an interpreter to communicate with these visitors from the land of Canaan. No wonder they did not recognize him, though he recognized them. But that is only the surface meaning. Deep

Joseph is the Jewish people throughout history. Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him.

they sought to kill him. And others — the expulsions that took place throughout Europe between the English in 1290 and the Spanish in 1492 — when they simply wanted to get rid of him. Let him go and be a slave somewhere else, far from here. Then came the Holocaust. Then came the State of Israel, the destination of the Jewish journey since the days of Abraham, the homeland of the Jewish people since the days of Joshua. No nation on earth, with the possible exception of the Chinese, has had such a long association with a land. The day the State was born, 14 May 1948, David Ben Gurion, its Prime Minister, sought peace with its neighbors, and Israel has not ceased seeking peace from then until now. ut this is no ordinary conflict. Israel’s opponents — Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran, are not engaged in a border dispute. They deny, as a matter of non-negotiable religious — not just political — principle, Israel’s right to exist within any boundaries whatsoever. There are today 56 Islamic states. But for Israel’s neighbors a single Jewish state the size of Wales, is one too many. Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him. There is no state among the 192 member nations of the United Nations whose very existence is called into question this way. And while we as Jews argue among ourselves as to this policy or that, as if this were remotely relevant to the issue of peace, we fail to focus on the real issue — which is, so long as Joseph’s brothers do not recognize his right to be, there can be no peace, merely a series of staging posts on the way to a war that will not end until there is no Jewish state at all. Until the sibling rivalry is over, until the Jewish people wins the right to be, until people — including we ourselves — realize that the threat Israel faces is ultimate and total, until Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah agree that Jews have a right to their land within any boundaries whatsoever, all other debate is mere distraction.

down the book of Bereshis is exploring the most profound source of conflict in history. Freud thought the great symbol of conflict was Laius and Oedipus, the tension between fathers and sons. Bereshis thinks otherwise. The root of human conflict is sibling rivalry — Cain and Abel, Isaac and Ishmael, Jacob and Esau, and now Joseph and his brothers. Joseph has the misfortune of being the youngest; his brothers are older and stronger than he is. They resent his presence. They see him as a troublemaker. The fact that their father loves him only makes them angrier and more resentful. They want to kill him. In the end they get rid of him in a way that allows them to feel a little less guilty. They concoct a story that they tell their father, and they settle down to life again. They can relax. There is no Joseph to disturb their peace any more. And now they are facing a stranger in a strange land and it simply does not occur to them that this man may be Joseph. As far as they are concerned, there is no Joseph. They don’t recognize him now. They never did.

They never recognized him as one of them, as their father’s child, as their brother with an identity of his own and a right to be himself. Joseph is the Jewish people throughout history. Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him. udaism was the world’s first monotheism but not the last. Two others emerged claiming descent, literal or metaphorical, from Abraham — Christianity and Islam. It would be fair to call the relationship between the three Abrahamic monotheisms, one of sibling rivalry. Far from being of mere antiquarian interest, the theme of Bereshis has been the leitmotiv of the better part of the last 2,000 years, with the Jewish people cast in the role of Joseph. There were times — early medieval Spain was one — when Joseph and his brothers lived together in relative harmony, convivencia as they called it. But there were also times — the blood libels, the accusations of poisoning wells or spreading the plague — when

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Rabbi DR. tzvi heRsh weinReb Orthodox Union

hile this week’s Torah portion, Miketz (Genesis 41:1-44:17), is typically read during Chanukah, this year (when we read it the day after Chanukah) is an exception. Since my early childhood, I’ve associated the day after Chanukah with sad feelings, feelings of loss. After all, for eight consecutive days, we celebrated with hallelv’hodaah, with praise and thanksgiving, with special foods and songs, and gifts. We lit candles every night, culminating with eight candles. Then, suddenly, abruptly, we cease all celebration — no more candles! I recall the first time I was conscious of these sad post-Chanukah emotions. I was five years old, old enough to have heard the Chanukah story and to have learned Chanukah songs.

We must not surrender the light after the eighth night’s candles are done.

My uncle Yossel, one of my father’s younger brothers, had just returned from serving in the United States Army during World War II. He returned with military souvenirs, including helmets and flags. To me, he was more than just a war hero. He was the embodiment of Judah the Maccabee. It was a special holiday for our family, and we celebrated accordingly. I had my own little menorah and still remember my mother’s words of caution as I lit the last candle on the eighth night. But the next night, I felt deprived and experienced what I now realize was a sense of anticlimactic loss. remember another Chanukah, about ten years later, in my early teenage years. Earlier that year, just before Rosh Hashanah, I had been contacted by a rabbi in another neighborhood, who was assembling a small group of selected yeshiva high school students to join him in a special “club for spiritual advancement.” That rabbi, now long gone, eventually became, and remains, quite famous and influential. I refer to the late Rabbi Avigdor Miller, whom I consider one of my first mentors. There were about ten or twelve young boys in the group, and we would assemble in his synagogue, the Young Israel of Rugby in Brooklyn, once every three weeks. We would briefly study a classic work of Jewish ethics, or mussar, and were given an assignment designed to foster our spiritual development. We returned three weeks later to report about our progress.

Several weeks before Chanukah, we were introduced to what is now referred to as “mindfulness meditation.” We were asked to spend some time in front of the lit menorah, gazing at the candles and monitoring the thoughts that came to mind and the emotions we were feeling. On the “ninth day,” we were to sit before the unlit menorah and again reflect upon our thoughts and feelings while sitting in utter darkness. That experience made a lifelong impression upon me, and I well recall that cold winter evening, sitting in the darkness, and sobbing in sadness. ast forward some thirty years to Chanukah 1984, when my wife’s late uncle came to visit Baltimore, where we were his hosts. My wife’s uncle was a Hasidic Rebbe, the Modzitzer Rebbe, Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu Taub, of blessed memory, who had settled in Israel before the Holocaust. That Chanukah, he was visiting the United States and spent the seventh and eighth day of Chanukah in our home. There, throngs of local Jews came to consult him and heard his inspiring words of Torah and charming melodies. He departed on the morning of the “ninth day,” which was sad in itself. Sadder, however, was the fact that soon after he returned to Israel, on the fourth day of Iyar, not long after Passover, he passed away. My wife and I were never to see him again. And so, from a very personal perspective,

you can understand the sadness that I associate with the day after Chanukah. This year, however, the day after Chanukah falls on a Shabbat, this Shabbat. This is a special blessing for me, and for all who feel somewhat let down after the Chanukah holiday. The Shabbat day thankfully dispels whatever sadness we might otherwise be feeling. Upon further reflection, it dawned upon me that it is not only the Shabbat itself that dispels the “darkness” that we feel post-Chanukah. Rather, dispelling darkness is the very theme of this week’s Torah portion. ast week’s parsha, Vayeshev, ended on a very dark note. Joseph was interred in a deep and dark dungeon. His desperate, and only, hope was that his once fellow prisoner, Pharaoh’s chief cupbearer, would remember his plea: “But think of me when all is well with you again, and do me the kindness of mentioning me to Pharaoh, so as to free me from this place.” (Genesis 40:14) But the discouraging final verse of last week’s Torah reading still rings in our ears: “Yet the chief cupbearer did not think of Joseph; he forgot him!” (Ibid. verse 23) This week, our parsha begins with the very next verse: “At the end, Miketz, of two years’ time, Pharaoh dreamed…” We gradually come to know the details of Pharaoh’s dreams. We become aware that they dramatically lead not only to Joseph’s freedom from the dungeon, but to his elevation to the position of viceSee Weinreb on page 22

The bottom line: Hashem will give an answer torah

Rabbi DaviD etenGoff

Jewish Star columnist

arashat Vayeshev concludes with the story of Yosef’s imprisonment in an Egyptian dungeon as a result of Potiphar’s wife’s false accusations. While incarcerated, Yosef rises to the top of the prison hierarchy, and analyzes the dreams of two fellow prisoners, Pharaoh’s chief baker and chief cupbearer. Drawing on his ruach hakodesh, Yosef reveals to the chief cupbearer that he will return to his former position of honor. Yosef then asks him: “But remember me when things go well with you, and please do me a favor and mention me to Pharaoh, and you will get me out of this house.” (Bereishit 40:14)

Yosef’s strategy seems sound, “but the chief cupbearer did not remember Yosef, and he forgot him.” When we fast forward to this week’s parasha, Miketz, we are informed that Pharoah had a series of disturbing dreams that Pharaoh’s wise men failed to accurately interpret. This glaring issue jogs the chief cupbearer’s memory, and he brings news of Yosef’s abilities to Pharoah. “So, Pharaoh sent and called Yosef, and they rushed him from the dungeon, and he shaved and changed his clothes, and he came to Pharaoh. And Pharaoh said to Yosef, ‘I have dreamed a dream, and there is no interpreter for it, but I have heard it said of you [that] you understand a dream, to interpret it.’ “And Yosef replied to Pharaoh, saying, ‘Bil’adai, Elokim ya’aneh et shalom Pharaoh (Not I; the Almighty will give an answer [that will bring] peace to Pharaoh)’.”

The singular import of these six Hebrew words cannot be overstated. They began a chain of events that established Yosef as the key figure who enabled the Jewish people to initially thrive in Egypt, and subsequently survive the Egyptian exile. hy does the phrase, “Bil’adai, Elokim ya’aneh et shalom Pharaoh,” have such power? In his Commentary on the Torah, the Malbim suggests this interpretation: “[When Yosef declared this phrase, he was actually telling the king that] the dream was a communication of Divine Providence from Hashem. Moreover, just as Hashem sent you [Pharaoh] this communication to make known to you your peace [that is, your future] … so, too, will He make known its interpretation to the dream analyst no matter who he may be. In addition, even if the [interpretation] of this [Heavenly] message will not come from me, nonetheless, others will be

able to interpret it, for even without me, certainly Elokim, Himself, will provide an answer to Pharaoh that will bring you peace.” A careful reading of the Malbim’s words leads to an inescapable and seemingly counterintuitive conclusion: Yosef achieved his ultimate greatness by moving any thought of self-aggrandizement completely “off the table.” Instead, he declared that everything that takes place is solely dependent upon the infinite Almighty, rather than upon any finite individual. This message, especially in our day and age, is one that we surely must ponder. May we strive to be like Yosef Hatzadik and ever recognize that Hashem, not humanknd, runs the world. As Dovid HaMelech proclaimed, “M‘ate Hashem hiyitah zot he niflot b’aineynu (This was from Hashem; it is wondrous in our eyes).” (Tehillim 118:23). V’chane yihi ratzon.

A book about Jews and Christmas in America Kosher bookworm

alan Jay GeRbeR

Jewish Star columnist

hile Christmas is not universally accepted and observed by Americans, it is the country’s only national holiday founded on religious beliefs. Its hold on many, whether through its theological and biblical message or through its musical tradition, is overpowering. Thus, a book that analyzes this holiday from the perspective of those who do not accept its observance — “A Kosher Christmas” by Joshua Eli Plaut (Rutgers University Press, 2012) — is of interest. This work delivers a full presentment, in an academic format laced with a good sense of humor, of how American Jews came to adjust to either their observance or non-observance of this Christian festival. In any such discussion, “assimilation” and

the American Jew’s self-image as both a Jew and as a newly minted American comes into serious play, with observations taken through both secular and religious prisms. Dr. Plaut attends to this chore with a skill that goes into great historical detail. He defines both the motives and the actions of the many generations of American Jews, dating from the very foundation of the republic to our own times, who were to face this societal challenge. Each immigrant generation’s response was different. While it is very detailed, the author’s smooth style immediately places the reader at ease, parsing all facts in clearly understandable form. To this reader, a native of New York’s Lower East Side, any and all detail that contains

geographic references to such locales as East Broadway and Henry Street brings both a sense of warmth and sentimentality to the fact laden text. The shock comes when the author details the nature of how assimilation was to envelop these newly arrived immigrants. Religious opinions, controversies and compromises in religious holiday decor and placement of Christmas trees brings to mind stories told to me long ago from those in “der alte heim” who witnessed firsthand the heartbreak of many over the conduct by so many others in matters that proved to be so urgent to the maintenance of community peace. wo pivotal chapters in this book, in this writer’s opinion, are the first chapter, “Coming to the New World: Can the American Jew Keep Christmas?” and the fifth chapter, “The Christmas Mitzvah: ‘Tis the Season to Be Giving.” The first gives a comprehensive historical review of the whole issue of the interface of American Jews and the Christmas holiday experience. The second chapter noted deals with

how American Jews, especially in the workplace, have come to help assist their Christian co-workers, neighbors and colleagues in their observance of their religious obligations. While not intended as such, in my opinion this chapter is a true demonstration, in many respects, of what defines and constitutes “Kiddush Hashem.” Dr. Plaut concludes this section by stating the following: “Jewish volunteerism on Christmas has certainly become an established American tradition through which Jews in America have made their presence known. During this joyous season — in which they are lauded by the American public for supporting the Christmas message of goodwill toward all people — they express and embody the national character of ‘neighbor helping neighbor’.” Given the sad history of the past, can you imagine such an observation of historical facts being made of the European Jewish experience during Christmas? Hardly! Such is the greatness of America and its people.

THE JEWISH STAR December 15, 2023 • 3 Tevet 5784

Parshat Miketz and an end to the darkness

December 15, 2023 • 3 Tevet 5784 THE JEWISH STAR

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Problem is bigger than 3 college presidents JONATHAN S. TObiN

JNS Editor-in-Chief

t was a very bad week for the presidents of Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Pennsylvania. But as much as the discomfort and job security of the trio of academic bureaucrats put on the spot by Rep. Elise Stefanik during a congressional hearing on antisemitism on college campuses is a focus of interest, no one should think what they now say or what happens to them is of critical importance. On the contrary, the viral video of their appalling testimony is merely a symptom of the problem plaguing America’s educational establishment and the rest of society. It is the toxic ideologies that have created these three pathetic examples of university leaders without a moral compass that we should be worried about, not their individual fates. As long as the schools they lead, and as long as most other such institutions — whether considered among the country’s “elite” schools or not — remain captured by the woke mindset that has made critical race theory and intersectionality the prevailing orthodoxy, antisemitism there will be a given. To the New York Times and others on the left, the predicaments of Harvard’s Claudine Gay, MIT’s Sally Kornbluth and Penn’s Liz Magill were a “prosecutorial trap” — one into which they fell headlong.

Anti-Israel protests are less expressions of concern for Palestinian civilians as they are of support for Hamas’ goal of Israel’s destruction and the slaughter of Jews.

Throughout the hearing, while most of the Democrats lobbed softballs at the representatives of these schools, Stefanik and other Republicans had been pressing them to account for the rampant targeting of Jewish students on their campuses since the Hamas atrocities of Oct. 7. Stefanik had tried to get them to admit that pro-Hamas chants for “intifada” — an invocation of the Palestinian terror campaign that cost the lives of more than 1,200 Jews — was evidence of calls for violence that breach these institution’s rules against bullying and harassment. So, when she asked them whether calls for Jewish genocide constituted a violation of college policies, she expected them to say “yes” and then to follow up with questions about their failure to enforce those regulations. Instead, the trio answered in a lawyerly fashion, saying that it depended on the “context” of the slurs or if such language turned into actual conduct. When given opportunities to clarify and give a clear “yes” or “no” answer, they prevaricated — sometimes with arrogant contempt for the questions in the case of Gay or nervous smiles by Magill. The point of the questions was to highlight the failures of these schools to protect Jewish students while they coddled and encouraged the mobs on their campuses that have been harassing their peers while chanting for the destruction of the one Jewish state on the planet. Even Stefanik was surprised that presidents of some of the most prestigious universities in the country were at that moment more worried about being accused of taking sides against antisemitic students, whose vile behavior is being cheered on by so many among the administrators and faculty. ithin 24 hours, both Gay and Magill backtracked, with the latter posting a groveling apology video on social media that did nothing to salvage her reputation. Indeed, a day before Penn’s Board of Trustees was scheduled to meet to discuss what had become a crisis for the university’s reputation, Magill submitted her resignation. Yet as foolish as their performance was, Stefanik shouldn’t have been surprised. Indeed, no one should have been, even if their testimony became an embarrassing viral moment that prompted condemnation not just from Jewish organizations and liberal academics, but from the White House and many Democratic politicians that Gay, Magill and Kornbluth might have assumed would side with them. Though the controversy has generated criti-

cisms from donors and in the case of Magill, led to her resignation, what Stefanik exposed was not just the trio’s lack of preparedness and their inability to grasp how their institutional blindness to antisemitism appears to those outside of the leftist bubble in which they live. Instead, it was a moment that revealed the moral corruption that now exists at the heart of academic discourse. It’s the product of these institution’s adoption of woke ideology that falsely labels those smearing Israel — calling it an “apartheid state” that needs to be “decolonized” — as laudable idealists, and considers those who defend it as racists and “white supremacists.” he unspeakable crimes committed on Oct. 7 in southern Israel by the Hamas terrorist organization that has run the Gaza Strip since 2007 have proved to be a clarifying moment. On that day, Islamist operatives carried out the largest mass slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust, along with gang rapes, torture and the kidnapping of more than 200 men, women and children. In response, Israel has done the only thing any sovereign nation could do. It decided to put an end to Hamas rule to prevent terrorists from carrying out their pledge to repeat these outrages as part of their campaign to destroy Israel “from the river to the sea.” Yet almost from the first moment that Hamas

began this war, the response from the left-wing elites that dominate academia, as well as other so-called “progressives,” has been to adopt the Palestinian narrative in which they are the victims and Israel the oppressor. In doing so, they have essentially ignored or erased any discussion of the Israeli terror victims. More than that, the anti-Israel protests almost immediately became expressions not so much emanating out of concern for Palestinian civilians being hurt or killed because the terrorists use them as human shields, but rather, of support for Hamas’s goal of Israel’s destruction and the slaughter of Jews. This was made clear by the chants heard in street protests in many American cities and on college campuses, supporting the “from the river to the sea” mantra and “free Palestine” that fantasizes about the elimination of the Jewish state. It’s also demonstrated by the calls for “intifada,” which means support for more Oct. 7 horrors visited upon Jews. That these sorts of things are being said by large numbers of people is as shocking and upsetting as the videos of antisemites tearing down posters that publicize the plight of those kidnapped by Hamas. While it’s true that even hateful speech is protected by the First AmendSee Tobin on page 22

DAnIEL GREEnfIELD Jewish studies

he Oct. 7 Hamas massacres hit hard at communities where many of the residents were left of center. As a result even some of the usual anti-Israel types temporarily came around to the idea of fighting Hamas. That included the anti-Israel lobby group J Street. On Oct. 9, J Street issued a statement denouncing the attacks and stating that “we stand in solidarity with the Israeli people and with the Israeli armed forces that have been battling desperately to protect them. We support Israel’s right to defend its citizens from this barbaric attack, in accordance with international law.” But in this statement 48 hours after the attacks, it already threw in that “we are deeply worried for the safety of the Israeli people, including the hostages now in Gaza, as well as for the safety of the Palestinian civilians who are now caught in the crossfire — with hundreds of people now reported dead and over 2,500 wounded in Gaza amidst intensive Israeli airstrikes and a full cut of electricity, gas, water and food to the Strip.” On Oct. 11, J Street U criticised Students for Justice in Palestine’s Day of Resistance celebrating the Hamas attacks, but also complained about the “attempts to use Hamas’s crimes as an excuse to make hateful, racist generalizations against and about the entire Palestinian people” and called for an “urgent end to the ongoing occupation of Palestinian Territory”. And it was downhill from there. On Oct. 13, J Street condemned “the Israeli government’s call for the over 1 million civilians of northern Gaza to be evacuated” and urged the

Secretary of State Antony Blinken delivers a speech at the J Street National Conference in Washington on Dec. 4, 2022. Ron Przysucha, US State Department

Biden administration to pressure Israel to protect civilians. By Oct. 19, J Street was describing Israel’s attack on Hamas as an “escalation” and claiming that “thousands of Palestinians — many of them innocent civilians — have been killed during the escalation so far.” “We urge the Biden administration to also make the safety and protection of Palestinian civilians a priority as it rightly supports the State of Israel in defending its citizens. Israel’s actions must adhere to international law. Its response must be

guided by a clear, coherent strategy and achievable goals,” it said. n Oct. 20, J Street accused Israel of “antidemocratic crackdowns” on opponents of the campaign against Hamas. On Oct. 26, it called for “humanitarian pauses.” “Pauses in the fighting also can and should be used to help ensure that the Israeli government’s plans for further military operations against Hamas are strategic, pragmatic, and in accordance with international law. As it rightly supports Israel’s right to defend its citizens and hold Hamas ac-

countable for its crimes, the Biden administration should also be using all of its influence to push its Israeli counterparts to protect the lives and safety of Palestinian civilians… “No matter how well-planned, a large-scale invasion of Gaza risks triggering a spiral of escalation that could lead to a multi-front war, with deeply dangerous consequences for Israelis, Palestinians, the wider region, and the United States. The U.S. must be clear with Israeli leaders about these risks—and about lessons learned from our country’s own calamitous invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq after the horrific terror attacks on 9/11.” J Street endorsed multiple congressional letters pressuring Israel over its campaign against Hamas. By Nov. 22, J Street had called for an extended ceasefire and declared itself “shocked by the devastating toll that the war is taking on over two million Palestinian civilians in Gaza” and “extremely concerned that the Netanyahu government’s conduct of the ongoing war in Gaza is imperiling the long-term goals of peace.” Biden “should also make clear that the U.S. will not provide unbounded support for a war with no limits and no exit strategy.” Biden should “immediately announce — and enforce — clear red lines for the ongoing Israeli operation against Hamas” and “should be clear that the U.S. cannot support an operation” unless it hands over control of Gaza to the PLO. The Nov. 30 statement demanded that “the administration should make very clear that a resumption of widespread high-intensity bombing — and the resulting high civilian casualties — is unacceptable” and the only acceptable Israeli military campaign “highly targeted” and followed by an Israeli withdrawal “in a defined and reasonable time following the end of hostilities.” On Dec. 7, J Street issued a statement falsely See Greenfield on page 22

Now, the Jewish state is king of the free world RABBI HAYIM LEITER Letter from Efrat

loved growing up in America. Prior to my first year learning in Israel, I believed that there was no better country in the world. I felt that my values were American values, and I never dreamed of living anywhere else. Now, having called Israel my home for more than 15 years, the United States seems completely foreign to me. My youth was no different than any other Gen Xer. I grew up on a healthy dose of television and skateboarding. But as far as the values I imbued, the focus of my education was on the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The moral compass that led me to be the rabbi I am today stemmed from his teachings and leadership. As far as I was concerned, there was no one better to emulate and no better leader to provide the basis for the philosophical underpinnings of the nation.

From the focus on the family unit to the welcoming of all religions to live and pray in one house, the State of Israel is the only true democracy left.

But America has changed and not for the better. The values of free speech and meritbased accomplishments seem like distant memories. Focusing on race as one’s defining characteristic as opposed to treating everyone as equals has set the culture ablaze. The stories I see in the news leave me flabbergasted, and most of them of late are connected to Israel. Just last week, the congressional hearings investigating antisemitism at elite US universities were the most deplorable displays to date. The fact that the presidents of Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Pennsylvania could not condemn calls for the genocide of the Jewish people exposed the antisemitic rot that pervades college campuses. erhaps not by chance, two days after these hearings were held, a black woman attempted to burn down King’s house. This attempted arson is a metaphor for what’s happening in America. The democratic values that King both cherished and utilized to bring the country to moments of enlightenment during the civil-rights movement are being trashed in the name of something sinister. The oppressor/oppressed matrix that dictates the radical left’s agenda spits in the face of all that came before it and all that made the United States so precious. Israel is the last bastion of such values. Living here feels like a throwback to older times. From the focus on the family unit to the welcoming of all religions to live and pray in one house, the State of Israel is the only true democracy left. Here, what still matters is not the color of your skin but the content of your character. And it is because of the focus on these values that so many, from so many different walks of life, have found a home here. I’m proud to be one of them. This is not to say that Israel is perfect. And

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at the 1963 Civil Rights March in Washington.

Rowland Scherman, National Archives at College Park

it’s not to say that all is lost in my native land. In the past two months since the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attacks, American Jewry’s actions have been inspiring. So many have raised their voices against the evils of antisemitism. Both Jew and gentile alike deserve praise, for it’s not hard to imagine an opposite reality. If assimilated Jews had remained silent, no one would have been the wiser. Many of their acquaintances would never have known their religious identity. But these Jews, who before Oct. 7 had never posted a picture of themselves lighting Chanukah candles or making challah for Shabbat, have posted and reposted so many messages of Jewish pride. It gives me hope for a brighter future in the Diaspora.

o the Jews and our allies throughout the world, I say: Do not stop! Continue to make your voices heard. The world needs to hear our message — that Jews, just like any other ethnic group, cannot, should not, and will not be singled out for discrimination. Just as the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said to the world at the march on Washington, I, too, have a dream. I dream that one day men and women will once again not be judged by the color of their skin nor their religious affiliation, but by the content of their character. The future of the free world depends on a recommitment to these values. Rabbi Hayim Leiter lives in Efrat with his wife and four children.

THE JEWISH STAR December 15, 2023 • 3 Tevet 5784

J Street lobbies against Israeli war on Hamas

December 15, 2023 • 3 Tevet 5784 THE JEWISH STAR

Israel survival v. America’s Lebanon delusions caroline glick Israel Hayom

yal Ozen was a 54-year-old farmer from Kibbutz Gesher Haziv in the Upper Galilee. He was killed by an anti-tank missile fired by Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon last Thursday while tending to his apple orchard. Ozen was the fifth Israeli civilian killed along the border with Lebanon since Oct. 7. His death is further proof that Israelis evacuated from their communities along the border with Lebanon cannot return home until the balance of forces between Israel and Hezbollah is radically transformed in Israel’s favor. Early last week, Lebanon’s Al Akhbar newspaper reported that Amos Hochstein, President Joe Biden’s senior adviser and point man for dealing with Hezbollah, presented the Lebanese government with a proposal to avoid such a war. Hochstein’s proposal entails Israel surrendering sovereign territory from Nahariya in the west to the Syrian border in the east in exchange for symbolic concessions from Hezbollah. Since Oct. 7, Hezbollah has gradually escalated its missile and drone assaults against Israeli civilian and military targets in northern Israel. So far, Iran’s Lebanese legion has opted not to launch either a major ground offensive into the Galilee or to expand its missile and drone offensive to areas of Israel further removed from the border. From the outset, the Biden administration has worked energetically to prevent the expansion of the war in Gaza to the northern front. Biden’s decision to send the USS Eisenhower carrier group to the eastern Mediterranean was informed by this determination. srael was initially deeply appreciative of the deployment. In the immediate aftermath of Hamas’s Oct. 7 invasion, Biden’s announcement that he was sending the aircraft carrier group was a life saver. It took Israel several days to mobilize its reserves and remove its civilians from the border with Lebanon. If Hezbollah had attacked before Israel was mobilized and its civilians a safe distance from the border, the holocaust Israel suffered in the south on Oct. 7, would have looked like a walk in the park by comparison. Hezbollah’s terror army comprises a combination of 150,000 missiles of all ranges and a terror army consisting of fanatical, armed-to-the-teeth veterans of the wars in Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq. This combined force is capable of invading and occupying large swaths of the Western and Upper Galilee and destroying strategic installations throughout Israel while causing tens of thousands of civilian and military casualties. A Hezbollah assault against an unprepared Israel has the potential to effectively destroy the Jewish state. Which is why the US deployment was a godsend. Now, however, Israel is in position to block a Hezbollah invasion. And the question of US aims is cause for concern. It is one thing to prevent a war Israel would lose, and perhaps be destroyed fighting. It is another to prevent a war that Israel needs to fight and win to prevent Hezbollah from attacking it in the future. No war means no return of civilians to their homes. It means Israeli farmers permanently unable to return to their orchards and fields, and IDF forces being sitting ducks at the border for as long as they remain deployed. No war, in short, means Israel loses. This would be true under all conditions, but Hochstein’s offer makes clear that the United States is willing to empower Hezbollah still more and give it an Israeli defeat. In other words, the US policy of avoiding war is actually a policy of standing with Hezbollah against Israel.

With regard to Lebanon, US-Israel relations are on a collision course.

IDF reserve soldiers during a drill in the Golan Heights, in northern Israel on Dec. 6.

The current US position — standing with Hezbollah against Israel in time of war — is a long time in coming. It’s important to understand its origins. ince at least 2006, under both Republican and Democratic administrations, the United States’ consistent policy has been to ignore the most essential fact about Lebanon: It is not a state. It is Iran’s forward terror base in its war to annihilate Israel, with people living on it. One of the most important components of the United States’ Lebanon delusion is that the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) and Lebanon’s intelligence service, the Internal Security Force (ISF), are independent institutions, when in fact they are controlled by Hezbollah. Other aspects of the US delusion involve insisting that the Lebanese government, parliament and Supreme Court are independent state institutions that control the country, rather than straw organizations whose members live at Hassan Nasrallah’s pleasure, and as a matter of course, do what he tells them to. The final, and arguably most essential component of the US delusion of Lebanon is that the LAF, the ISF, the government, parliament and the courts are able and willing to restrain Hezbollah, or even dismantle it, when they feel that they must, to protect the country. The first US leader to make this fairytale the basis for US policy was then-secretary of state Condoleezza Rice. During the 2006 Hezbollah war with Israel, Rice opposed an Israeli victory over Hezbollah. She insisted that the best way to push Hezbollah forces away from the border with Israel was by empowering the LAF to stand up to Hezbollah. The position was absurd on its face. As Rice was singing its praises at the Security Council, the LAF was acting as Hezbollah’s Signals Corps on the battlefield. Its units provided targeting information for the terror army’s missile crews. But reality was no match for Rice’s delusion. Rice’s brainchild, UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which set the conditions for a ceasefire, called for the LAF — with the assistance of UNIFIL (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon) — to prevent Hezbollah from operating in south Lebanon. It was a joke from the very beginning. Hezbollah never left south Lebanon. Under the cover of the LAF, which it controls, and UNIFIL, which Hezbollah has intimidated into silence, Hezbollah rebuilt the war-damaged south as one big missile base. Rice began a US policy of “strengthening” the LAF and ISF. Billions in US arms began flowing into the arsenals of Hezbollah’s auxiliary forces, which were quick to use them — at Hezbollah’s

direction — against Israel. US special forces were deployed to Lebanon to train them. hen Barack Obama came into office, he built on Rice’s delusion with his policy of realigning the US away from Israel and the Sunnis in favor of Iran and its proxies. Obama insisted that the reason the Middle East was unstable was because Israel and the Sunnis were too powerful. The United States would be able to depart the Middle East, Obama argued, if it balanced Israel and the Sunnis by empowering Iran and its proxies against them. Obama’s policy began with a rebranding effort to present Iran, the Muslim Brotherhood, Hezbollah and other Iranian proxies as “rational,” or “pragmatic,” forces that the United States could reach deals with. In the case of Hezbollah, one of the big propagandists for the repackaging campaign was Obama’s senior adviser and later CIA chief John Brennan. In 2010, for instance, Brennan insisted that Hezbollah was “a very interesting organization,” that had moderates and extremists, which had evolved from being “purely a terrorist organization.” As Lebanon expert Tony Badran has painstakingly chronicled over the years, Obama based his “war against ISIS” on collaboration with both Iranian forces in Iraq and Syria and Hezbollah forces in Syria and Lebanon. In that “war” the LAF fought under Hezbollah command. In at least one battle, US special forces working with the LAF did so under Hezbollah command. Obama’s support for Iran and Hezbollah provided effective immunity to both from Israeli aggression. Israel, after all, was the source of instability, because it was too powerful. If Israel attacked Hezbollah’s growing missile arsenal, or its battle-hardened terror forces at Israel’s doorstep, then Israel would upset the “balance” even more egregiously. Even worse, it would strengthen the “hardliners” in Hezbollah against the “pragmatists.” onald Trump made a few weak attempts to realign Obama’s Lebanon policy with reality, but he was unsuccessful. After a decade, Rice’s and Obama’s fantasies were not a bug in the ointment of US Lebanon policy, they were the ointment. Without abandoning 1701, which was predicated on a fallacious assertion of LAF military superiority to Hezbollah and the existence of an independent Lebanese state not controlled by Hezbollah, there would be no way to align US policy with reality. Unwilling to topple that apple cart, Trump ended up doubling down on the insanity — expanding US financing of the LAF and the ISF

David Cohen, Flash90

while paying lip service to Israel’s right to fight Hezbollah, which controls both. This brings us to President Joe Biden. Biden reinstated and expanded Obama’s policies. He decided that the best way to “stabilize” Lebanon — that is, empower Hezbollah — is by providing it with steady income. So last year, Hochstein exploited Israel’s political instability to achieve that end. He compelled Israel’s interim government led by Yair Lapid to accept a deal to delineate Israel’s maritime border with Lebanon that was based entirely on Hezbollah’s legally unsupported claims to sovereign Israeli territorial waters and Israeli economic waters. Which brings us to Hochstein’s plan for demarcating Israel’s land border with Hezbollah. When Israel withdrew from its security zone in south Lebanon in 2000, the United Nations determined that Israel had fully withdrawn to its border. Hezbollah, keen to maintain a casus belli, rejected the UN determination and presented claims to 14 points within sovereign Israeli territory. ochstein’s offer means that the US position is that Israel’s sovereign territory can be negotiated away, and indeed, the US supports Israel being denied its sovereign territory. As Lebanon’s Al Akhbar reported last week, Hochstein’s offer includes Israel “vacating all contested points in Lebanon’s favor, including withdrawal from the northern part of Ghajar and key posts in the occupied Shebaa Farms, on condition that the matter be implemented in two stages: declaring the Lebanese identity of these territories and agreeing that the UN oversee them militarily and security and social-wise until the emergence of another political situation.” “Shebaa Farms” are the Lebanese term for Mount Dov, a strategic location along Israel’s border with Syria in the Golan Heights. The United States recognized Israeli sovereignty over Mount Dov in 2020. In exchange for transferring its sovereign lands to Iran’s Lebanese proxy, Hochstein’s plan would involve Hezbollah proclaiming that it is abiding by UNSC Resolution 1701, which it of course will never abide by. Israel is not eager to open a front with Lebanon, at least not until it has largely defeated Hamas throughout the Gaza Strip. Such a war will require the bulk of IDF forces to be moved from the south to the north, reversing the current balance in forces between the two fronts. But it is obvious that Israel cannot end the war without doing so. This places US-Israel relations on a collision course that can only be averted if the United States abandons its delusions about Lebanon.

FLame

less President Biden: For two months he’s been steadfast and vocal in his support of Israel’s right — and need — to destroy the Hamas terrorist group. Yet all around him clamor critics and enemies of the Jewish state who demand an immediate ceasefire. With the war’s every passing day, many of these detractors feign hysteria, lamenting the specter of skyrocketing death tolls. But are these death tolls — supplied by the Hamas “Health Authority,” for real? What do they tell us, or not tell us? Indeed, the closer we look, the more it seems that agitation over Gaza death tolls reflects a political agenda rather than actual concern for loss of life. The fact is, counting the dead in a war — especially war in a bombed-out urban environment — is a long, tedious and usually imprecise exercise, even for objective observers, which Hamas is not. No wonder then, that on Oct. 25, Biden said he had “no notion that the Palestinians are telling the truth about how many people [were] killed” in the war. The

Death tolls are not the important factor. More important is that Hamas conducts itself without regard for civilian life.

real wonder is why the media daily parrot Hamas death tolls with virtually no disclaimers. Moreover, media and others who obsessively cite death tolls are missing the larger point. What really matters is not the body count, but how Israel and Hamas respectively conduct themselves relative to innocent civilians. Indeed, Israel does its utmost to minimize civilian casualties, while Hamas does the opposite. hose who lobby for a ceasefire want Hamas to remain intact so it can rise again. Enemies of Israel use “rising death tolls” exclusively to support their argument for an immediate ceasefire. Yet, Hamas will use any ceasefire to regroup and rebuild its terrorist infrastructure, as it has done during every ceasefire in previous conflicts with Israel. Thus, Iran and Qatar, who bankroll Hamas, want a ceasefire, as do rabidly anti-Israel politicians like Rashida Tlaib. Mobs of pro-Hamas demonstrators also want a ceasefire — alternating their demand for “ceasefire now” with genocidal chants of “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free.” Unfortunately, notwithstanding Hamas’s claims, we have no idea what the true death tolls in this war are — let alone what they actually mean in assessing responsibility or “blame.” Death tolls reported during war are notoriously unreliable. According to Taylor Seybolt, associate professor at the University of Pittsburgh, who coedited the book “Counting Civilian Casualties,” estimating civilian casualties can take years. In fact, in some cases, detailed verification of civilian deaths never happens. During the Kosovo War in 1998-99, media reports claimed that 10,000 Kosovars were massacred by Serbian troops. Years later, however, at Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic’s war crimes trial, the International Criminal Tribunal concluded there were just 2,788 bod-

Israeli troops operating in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip on Dec. 12.

ies accounted for in mass graves. The truth is, death tolls for wars historically are estimates at best, notoriously inaccurate and often vary by hundreds of thousands. Hamas-sponsored Gaza death tolls also conveniently leave out the number of armed terrorists. Even if one assumes the unverified Gaza death tolls are accurate — also granting Israel’s early December estimate of killing 6,000 fighters — the civilian death toll is significantly less than “official” numbers: 10,000 instead of the 16,000 reported by Gaza’s Health Ministry. That means the combatantto-non-combatant ratio as of December was 2.66 to 1. In contrast, the United Nations put combatant-to-noncombatant deaths caused by

IDF

US and British forces in Afghanistan and Iraq in 2015 between 3:1 and 4:1. Gaza’s death toll also does not indicate who bears responsibility for victims’ deaths. The Hamas Health Ministry simply describes all fatalities as victims of “Israeli aggression,” including those killed by Hamas. For example, Hamas instantly blamed Israel for an air strike at Al-Ahli hospital, claiming a death toll of 500. Days later, however, Israel produced hard evidence that it was rather a failed terrorist rocket launch that caused the blast, killing perhaps 50. Thus, the blood of anyone killed in the blast is on the terrorists’ hands, not Israel’s. See Sinkinson on page 22

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Why media cite fake ‘death tolls’ in Gaza war

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Continued from page 17 roy, the second most powerful man in all of Egypt. The word ketz means “the end.” Thus, the Midrash links our verse to the words of Job: “Ketz sum lachoshech, He sets an end to darkness; to every limit that man probes, to rocks in deepest darkness.” (Job 28:3) The Midrash continues, “The Almighty assigns limits to times of darkness,” to which the commentaries suggest that even times of darkness have a purpose. Thus, Joseph’s imprisonment, dark as it was, was the setting for his encounter with the royal cupbearer, which eventually led not only to his freedom but to his rise to power. We can begin to understand the purpose of darkness only when the darkness is finally lifted. I hasten to add that this lesson is intrinsic to the very procedure of Chanukah candle lighting. We follow the custom of the great Hillel. His custom was opposed to that of Shammai, whose school kindled eight lights on the first night of the holiday, and then kindled one less light each night until they were left with but one candle on the final night. With one candle left, there is nowhere to go except to zero. Hillel on the other hand began with but one candle and increased the number of candles each night until there were eight. He was, as the Talmud puts it, mosif v’holech, always increasing the number of candles, always increasing the amount of light. His lesson is clear. When one encounters the darkness of the ninth day, he must continue to increase the amount of light. He must, figuratively of course, light a “ninth candle.” He dare not succumb to darkness or despair. He must continue on the path of mosif v’holech, constantly moving forward. Ketz sum lachoshech. An end to darkness. An apt prayer for our current circumstances.

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Continued from page 18 ment to the US Constitution, schools are not required to tolerate such behavior on their private campuses. n the current environment in which woke ideology has become the prevailing ideology in academia, institutions of higher education are notorious for their hostility to free speech. Those who dissent against leftist and “anti-racist” orthodoxy or who point out that the woke catechism of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) is hostile to a diversity of opinion, opposed to equality and inclusive only of certain approved minorities (a term interpreted as excluding Jews) are routinely silenced, shunned and excluded from college life. Indeed, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) ranked Harvard last among 254 universities and colleges when it comes to the protection of free speech.

No one doubts that any individual student or group of students that advocated for the lynching — let alone genocide — of African-Americans or Hispanics, would be immediately expelled and any teachers who joined them would be similarly booted off campus. Yet those who advocate for violence against Jews are rarely, if ever, punished for such behavior. The reason is that the now-dominant ideologies of critical race theory and intersectionality, which falsely analogizes the war on Israel to the struggle for civil rights in the United States, grants a permission slip for antisemitism. Their advocates, who now largely run most universities through DEI offices whose woke commissars have free reign on campuses, have adopted these big lies and treat those who disagree with disdain or worse. They have spread throughout the academic departments that administer the humanities and rule both admissions and issues of discipline. The people who run these institutions act as if the main problem with the reactions to Oct. 7 is the opprobrium that decent people are heaping on those who are either openly supporting Hamas or are merely calling for a ceasefire that would allow the terrorists to get away with mass murder. his point of view was best summed up by New York Times columnist Michelle Goldberg, an opponent of Israel’s existence, whose piece about the issue published on the day of the university presidents’ testimony sounded the alarm about the alleged threat to free speech, posed by the backlash against campus Jew-hatred. Goldberg is upset about the way that support for Hamas is proving that anti-Zionism is synonymous with antisemitism. In a subsequent column, she lamented the way the university presidents “stepped into a trap” that would suppress “proPalestinian” speech. That Goldberg’s views are treated as mainstream by the Times, rather than the rantings of extremist hatemongers that should be confined to the fever swamps of the far-left and the far-right, demonstrates how the same woke mindset now controls the corporate mainstream media. But the reaction to Stefanik’s cross-examining of those university presidents also shows most Americans don’t share Goldberg’s hateful opinions. What Goldberg, her editors and left-wing academics around the nation want to do is to redefine antisemitism to make it kosher to call for Israel’s destruction and the genocide of its people. But you don’t have to hold a degree from Harvard, Penn or MIT to know that if individuals wish to deprive the Jewish people of rights no one would think of denying to any other people or group — such as the right to freedom and sovereignty in their ancient homeland, as well as the right of self-defense — you are practicing discrimination. Those who reacted to the viral video by calling for the three presidents to resign aren’t wrong. And alumni and other donors who are now threatening to stop giving to the three schools in order to force the resignations of all three are well-meaning. Still, the problem is not the figureheads running these schools but the governing ideologies and woke bureaucracies that they represent.

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What must change is not the persons at the head of these schools but the way they are run. It is DEI departments, coupled with the teaching of critical race theory and toxic intersectional myths that promote not just antisemitism but hatred of America and permanent racial division, that must go, not just Gay, Magill or Kornbluth. And if that doesn’t happen (and there is little evidence that the leftist establishment is ready to give up their control of academia or other segments of society that they have captured), then the response must be to strip the institutions of their federal funds. American families must also stop sending their children to these schools, only to be indoctrinated by them. If regular citizens want to do something about antisemitism on campus, they can’t stop at firing a few token administrators who are the products of a corrupt system. They must work towards the overthrow of an establishment that is fueling hatred against Jews.

place even earlier. It took J Street a mere week to turn on Israel. In less than two weeks it was lobbying against Israel. In less than a month and a half, it was pushing for a cutoff of military aid. Much like Hamas, J Street is what it has always been: an anti-Israel group. Anyone who was fooled into thinking otherwise by its initial statements should be waking up by now. J Street cloaks its attacks on Israel in criticism about how pounding Hamas somehow undermines American and Israeli interests. The leftist group doesn’t give a damn about either country. It’s motivated, like most of the left, by hostility toward both countries which it cloaks in the guise of human rights. Oct. 7 didn’t fundamentally change what J Street is.

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Continued from page 19 claiming that “J Street has been unwavering in support of Israel’s right — and the country’s moral obligation — to respond to this attack, to defend itself and to ensure that Israeli civilians never again come under threat from Hamas’s terror stronghold in Gaza.” Then it followed that up by stating that, “If Prime Minister Netanyahu fails to modify the nature of the military campaign or to take the steps urged by the United States, J Street will call on the Biden administration to change course. Over decades, the U.S. has built up considerable leverage and capital with Israel, and the president should be prepared to wield it in telling Israel that the time has come to stop this all-out military campaign.” It also advanced a move to tie military aid to Israel providing humanitarian aid to Hamas territories and abiding by “international law”. “If we do not see evidence soon that the government of Israel is, in fact, making meaningful changes to its conduct of the war and its attitudes regarding post-war arrangements, then J Street will no longer be able to provide our organizational support for the current military campaign,” the anti-Israel group warned. What “organizational support” is that? Street began undermining the military campaign 48 hours in. Its support for the campaign could be measured in days. J Street is pitching its Dec. 7 statement as a “moment of truth.” The real moment of truth came when it began condemning Israel mere days after the attacks. By Oct. 13, it was attacking Israel’s conduct of the war while demanding impossible measures that would protect Hamas. J Street got most of what it wanted, at the expense of Israeli lives, and yet it only increased its attacks on Israel. By Oct. 19, less than two weeks after the attacks, it was back to officially lobbying against Israel. The actual lobbying would likely have been private and accordingly was likely taking

Continued from page 21 n general, death tolls tell us very little about any given war. What constitutes too many deaths in a war? What are too many civilian deaths? In truth, the number and categories of people killed in a war will depend on many variables. Conventional warfare on open plains will produce more military casualties, whereas fighting in a dense urban environment will kill more civilians. For example, the US assault on Islamic State fighters embedded in Iraq’s Mosul produced an estimated 40,000 civilian deaths. Estimated death counts following the Allies’ World War II bombing of Dresden go as high as 250,000. No anti-war or pro-ceasefire demonstrations protested either action. More important than death tolls are the methods the sides use to prosecute the war. In this war, Hamas uses tactics that ensure maximum casualties to its own civilians, whereas Israel’s military uses tactics that exclusively target enemy fighters and strive to avoid civilian casualties. Extensive documentation proves Hamas uses civilians as human shields by placing themselves and their terrorist infrastructure in the vicinity of civilian structures. Using human shields is a war crime, as is using civilian structures like Gaza’s Al-Shifa hospital as military bases. In contrast, the IDF routinely issues warnings to civilians to evacuate combat zones — by text, telephone, and leaflets. When the IDF does target a civilian structure, it does so only if the military advantage of targeting it is proportionate to potential civilian casualties, per international law. In short, Hamas’s military choices cause many more civilians to be killed than would otherwise be the case. Likewise, Israel’s choices reduce the number of civilian deaths, given the circumstances. Death tolls are not the important factor in a war. More important is that Hamas conducts itself without regard for civilian life, believing that Gazan civilians are simply martyrs for their cause. Israel conducts itself in a fashion that minimizes civilian deaths. No wonder the IDF is often called the most moral army in the world.

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