I am not sure why I still get amazed and astounded by the way people praise Hamas, defend Hamas, and blame Israel and the Jews for everything that Hamas does. I shake my head as people are openly racist and show their Jew hatred by putting the blame entirely on Israel.

The actor Mark Ruffalo has been one of these people, blaming Israel and the Jews for everything. His bigotry, racism, and Jew hatred is beyond disgusting. I will no longer watch anything he has been in or will be in or be affiliated with. He recently posted on X (Twitter) blaming the US, President Biden, the IDF, and Prime Minister Netanyahu for Hamas murdering Hersh Goldberg-Polin (he neglected the other 5 hostages that were murdered because they weren’t well known enough). It didn’t matter that it was Hamas who attacked on October 7, that Hamas took him/them captive, that Hamas didn’t release them, or that Hamas murdered him/them with a bullet to the back of the head because they were getting close to being freed by the IDF. To Racist Ruffalo, they are blameless.

Neither Hersh Goldberg-Polin nor Aysenur Egan Eygi would be dead today it weren’t the USA’s failed policies concerning the continued siege on Gaza, Netanyahu, and the IDF’s intransigence. If Biden had remained steadfast to American Law, his own policies concerning military aid,… https://t.co/jAq32GFaKH

— Mark Ruffalo (@MarkRuffalo) September 6, 2024

One person who has been speaking out against this racist behavior is the journalist Chris Cuomo. I have been surprisingly inspired by his coverage and how he clearly speaks the truth. As I watched the video below, I found myself responding out loud and wondering why the other journalists have been so blind and continue to see what is happening. I encourage you to watch his piece and share it with people who don’t understand. Chris Cuomo is not Jewish. He does get it.

As a passionate Zionist, somebody who has Israel deep in their soul, who travels there as often as possible, and has many friends and family who live in Israel, I get lots of information from people on the ground. My friend Yaron was the reserve commander in Gaza for the first four months of the war and has shared what October 7 was like and some of what he has faced and seen in Gaza. I have many friends who have served and been recalled to serve. Many friends who have children currently serving or been recalled in reserves. The word “Melowim‘, one I had never heard before October 8th, is now common. It is being recalled to serve in the IDF. I hear about a friend or a friend’s child having to do Melowim almost weekly.

When I was running Hillel at the University of Florida, we took many busses on Birthright to Israel every winter and summer break. The relationships made with these students have lasted decades. Recently, one of these students posted as he was finishing his duty in Gaza. He is American. When he went on Birthright with us, he was struggling and figuring life out. The trip inspired him to make changes and he ended up making Aliyah, serving in the IDF, returning to get his bachelors and masters degrees. A true life success story where Israel was the fulcrum that he needed to make change. Miles posted this on Instagram along with these photos. It is important to read what somebody who has been there sees. To view the pictures documenting what he is telling us. I hope it gives you a better feel for Hamas and most of the people in Gaza.

(Please read and view photos) As I finish my rotation in Gaza I wanted to share a few things that I witnessed to make the situation here abundantly clear: There was not a single house we entered in Gaza that did not have terrorist paraphernalia (whether it be Hamas, PFLP, or Fattah). The rest of the houses had family photos like the ones I’ve shared in this post (wedding photos where the entire family are holding AK47s, including the grandmother), back to school photos of children with assault rifles, etc. We found in houses copies of Mein Kampf published in Arabic. I found military manuals on weapons and small unit tactics in the same pile of rubble with children’s school backpacks. It is clear to me as it should be clear to everyone else (considering they rape and murder children, kidnap people and starve them in dungeons, murder hostages) that Gaza is a society that is solely devoted to the murder and destruction of the Jewish people. Since that is the truth, how can anyone expect to make a deal with the people who live here when their only aspiration in life is our death and destruction. Something that I hope is worth considering.

We are in an untenable situation. We want and need the hostages back. Hamas knows this and continues to negotiate for their release or a ceasefire unless they are allowed to go back to the way things were on October 6, 2023. That is also an unacceptable situation since that only ensures more things like October 7 will happen. The discovery of the tunnels at the Philadelphi Corridor into Egypt shows that Israel cannot trust Egypt on that border and must maintain control in the area to prevent rockets, bombs, guns, and more terrorists coming in. Hamas, of course, has made leaving it a condition of any ceasefire.

The thing that frustrates me is how people continue to fall into Hamas’s trap. They continue to empower Hamas in the most predictible ways. After the murder of Hersh, Eden, Carmel, Almog, Alex, and Ori, the demands for whatever deal needed to get the hostages back has emboldened Hamas to change their demands and to want more.

The more evil Hamas behaves, the more reinforcement they get, and the more they dig in and demand even more. We want the hostages back so much that we are tempted and some are willing to do anything that it takes. Noted American-Israeli author and journalist Yossi Klein-Halevi wrote exactly that in an article in the Times of Israel a few days ago.

The counter to Yossi Klein Halevi’s argument is New York Times columnist Brett Stephens. In a column titled, A Hostage Deal Is a Poison Pill for Israel, he wrote

Since the days of Abraham — who, according to Genesis, rescued his nephew Lot after he’d been seized by an invading army — Jewish tradition has placed supreme value on the redemption of captives. It is, in a sense, the fulfillment of a primary, implicit commandment: to be one’s brother’s keeper. It is also a source of Jewish communal cohesion over millenniums to never forsake those who have been taken, even if only to give them a proper burial.

It’s also, to mix references from antiquity, a Jewish Achilles’ heel.

In 2006, an Israeli soldier named Gilad Shalit was captured by Hamas and held in Gaza. He was released five years later in exchange for more than 1,000 Palestinian security prisoners — a euphemism, in many cases, for terrorists. The deal, which was approved by Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel, included the release of Yahya Sinwar, the mastermind of Oct. 7.

These two reference points are now at the heart of the debate Israelis are having about what comes next in Gaza. Huge demonstrations in Tel Aviv, coinciding with the heartbreaking funerals of six murdered hostages, have demanded that the prime minister agree to a cease-fire deal to obtain the release of additional hostages, at the cost of conceding one of Hamas’s core demands: an Israeli withdrawal from a strip of land known as the Philadelphi Corridor, which separates Gaza from Egypt. Netanyahu has refused, insisting in a news conference on Monday that Israeli forces will not leave.

Netanyahu is right, and it’s important for his usual critics, including me, to acknowledge it.

He’s right, first because the highest justification for fighting a war, besides survival, is to prevent its repetition. Israel has lost hundreds of soldiers to defeat Hamas. Thousands of innocent Palestinians have died and hundreds of thousands have suffered, because Hamas has held every Gazan hostage to its fanatical aims. Hamas was able to initiate and fight this war only because of a secure line of logistical supply under its border with Egypt.

Israel’s control of the Philadelphi Corridor largely stops this. To relinquish it now, for any reason, forsakes what Israel has been fighting for, consigns Palestinians to further misery under Hamas and all but guarantees that a similar war will eventually be fought again. Why do that?

The answer, many of Netanyahu’s critics (including Yoav Gallant, his defense minister) would rejoin, is that the imperative to save the hostages supersedes every other consideration — and that Israel can always retake the corridor if Hamas fails to fulfill its end of the bargain or if Israelis feel their security is again at risk.

That last argument is a fantasy: Once Israel leaves Gaza, international pressure for it not to re-enter for nearly any reason short of another Oct. 7 will be overwhelming. And Hamas will ensure that any Israeli effort to retake the corridor will be as bloody as possible, for both Israelis and Palestinians, whom Sinwar treats as human shields. Those risks, too, should weigh on the moral scales of what Israel does next.

The more powerful case, especially emotionally, concerns the remaining 95 hostages, of whom 60 are believed to still be alive. Their agony is immense, as is that of their families. Any decent human being must feel acutely sympathetic to their plight.

But sympathy cannot be a replacement for judgment. Israelis — the hostage families above all — have spent the past 11 months suffering the bitter and predictable consequence of the Shalit deal, which also came about on account of intense public pressure to free him.

A good society will be prepared to go to great lengths to rescue or redeem a captive, whether with risky military operations or exorbitant ransoms. Yet there must also be a limit to what any society can afford to pay. The price for one hostage’s life or freedom cannot be the life or freedom of another — even if we know the name of the first life but not yet the second. That ought to be morally elementary.

Also elementary: Whatever one thinks of Netanyahu, the weight of outrage should fall not on him but on Hamas. It released a video of a hostage it later murdered — 24-year-old Eden Yerushalmi, telling her family how much she loved them — on Monday, the day after her funeral. It’s another act of cynical, grotesque and unadulterated sadism by the group that pretends to speak in the name of all Palestinians. It does not deserve a cease-fire so that it can regain its strength. It deserves the same ash heap of history on which, in our better moments, we deposited the Nazis, Al Qaeda and the Islamic State.

There are bright people who say that what Israel ought to do now is cut a deal, recover its hostages, take a breather and start preparing for the next war, probably in Lebanon. Israelis should remember that wars will be worse, and come more often, to those who fail to win them.

Both Yossi Klein-Halevi and Brett Stephens are correct. It’s an incredibly challenging situation. The one thing they both agree on is that the problem is Hamas. Chris Cuomo points out the problem is Hamas. Representative Ritchie Torres addresses Hamas as the problem. Senator John Fetterman calls out Hamas. Yet Vice President candidate Tim Walz says that those protesting American support for Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza are doing so for “all the right reasons.” While he states Israel has the right to defend herself, he qualifies it by saying that, “we can’t allow what’s happened in Gaza to happen. The Palestinian people have every right to life and liberty themselves.” without ever mentioning Hamas, the reason for the attack on October 7, the ones who took the hostages, the ones who fire rockets on civilians, use human shields, place their military headquarters and armories in schools, hospitals, private homes, and mosques. Hamas, who won’t agree to a ceasefire, who still has children as hostages, and who just brutally murdered six hostages including an American, remains nameless and blameless.

A decade ago, the late Joan Rivers (z”l) was asked what she thought about the conflict, the possibility of a two state solution and more. Her epic response is even more true today. It’s worth watching and replacing Palestinians with Hamas

As we get closer to the election in November, campuses heat up with antisemitism and Jew hatred, protests grow all over the world, especially in front of Jewish spaces, we must remember that it is Hamas, funded by Iran. That is who is responsible for the horror of October 7. They are responsible for the taking and keeping of the hostages. They are responsible for using human shields and terrorizing the people of Gaza. They are who murdered Hersh, Eden, Carmel, Almog, Alex, and Ori. No matter how people want to twist things, we must always remind them that it is Hamas. Hamas is evil and we are fighting evil. Failure to fight evil will only allow it to grow.

These are challenging times and every day seems to be a little bit heavier than the day before. It’s almost 11 full months since the massacre of October 7th. The war in Ukraine continues in such a way that we barely see anything about it on the news. Israel continues to fight in Gaza to free the hostages and eliminate Hamas. The Houthi’s continue to disturb shipping in the Red Sea. Hezbollah continues to bomb Israel from the north. Iran gets closer and closer to obtaining a nuclear weapon. The US election is two months away and while it feels close it also feels very far away. Students are returning to school and dealing with antisemitism couched as anti-Zionism. Protesters are outside synagogues and Jewish owned businesses.

To say there is a lot going on would be an understatement. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed and lost It’s easy to get angry and filled with bitterness. Feeling sad about the state of the world today seems to be the default status for most people. And yet as I write this on Thursday September 5, 2024, I am filled with gratitude and thanks. How does that make sense? I’m about to confuse you even more.

My beloved father, Barry Dvorchik z’l, died on September 6, 2022. The last time I saw him alive was on September 5, 2022. That’s right, two years ago today. My mom and I said goodnight to him, that we would see him in the morning, gave him a kiss, and left the room. Two years ago tonight.

So why would I be feeling gratitude on the anniversary of saying goodnight, that turned into goodbye, to my dad? Seems strange. I had lunch today with somebody who is connected with the man who went out of his way to get my dad into this hospital two years and three weeks ago. He didn’t have to do anything. My dad needed to get into a high level care facility, I knew he could pull strings if he was willing, so I, very uncomfortably, asked him if he would help. An hour later my dad had a bed with his name on it. The doctors and staff at the smaller hospital in Tampa were stunned. They had never seen this happen so fast. The last three weeks of my dad’s life were much more comfortable and he felt much safer and much better taken care of as a result. I owe this man a debt of gratitude I can never repay. I will forever be thankful and grateful for what he did.

In order to be transferred to that hospital, my dad also needed to have a doctor who would take him on their caseload. I called another friend who called back in less than 10 minutes with a doctor who agreed to take my dad onto his caseload, sight unseen. I’ll forever be grateful to my friend who made the ask and to the doctor who agreed. They changed the last three weeks of my dad’s life, changed my mom’s life and changed my life.

Even in the worst of times, even when things are difficult, even when it seems hopeless, when we look around us, we will find things to be grateful for. Things to say thank you for.

When I was in Israel in July, I learned about the prayer we say in the morning to thank God for letting the rooster know the difference between day and night. It’s not only something to be grateful for, that the rooster doesn’t crow at midnight instead of sunrise, but also for the beauty of nature. When I wake up each morning, I thank God for letting me wake up and experience the beauty of that day. Just like we are grateful for the rooster and for nature, I can be grateful that I have the opportunity to be alive today.

My parent taught me the value of family. It was a lesson I learned as a child and was reinforced continuously through my life. We spent holidays together with family. We spent summer vacations together with family. We didn’t miss family celebrations. I have incredbile memories of all the time we spent at my grandparent’s beach cottage with family. Thanksgiving and Passover with my cousins and grandparents. Friday night Shabbat dinner was a requirement for all of us before we could go out with friends. Nothing comes before family.

Last week I had the opportunity to go watch my oldest son coach college football against NC State. There was no way I was going to miss it. There is no way to describe what it was like to watch him doing what he loves as he builds his career. As I sat there watching, all I could think of was my dad and how proud he would be not just of his grandson but that his son learned the lesson of family. I’m heading up to watch him coach in the home opener this weekend. How lucky am I?

A couple of weeks ago, my youngest son Matthew and I (along with a friend) took at 6 am flight to San Fransisco to watch the Giants play the White Sox and cross another baseball stadium off our list that we have visited. After the game, we headed to Oakland to watch the A’s play the Rays and cross a second stadium off our list. Finally, we headed to the airport to take the redeye home. This was a week after we took Brightline to Miami for a Marlins game and a another stadium marked off the list while taking it back the same day. Two days. Three stadiums. Florida and California. A bit crazy. Incredible fun. Lots of time with my son. Priceless. I could see my dad smiling down, grateful that I learned the lesson.

A few weeks before these trips, my wife and I flew to Denver to see Carlos Santana and The Counting Crows at Red Rocks. It was always something I wanted to do – a concert at Red Rocks – and seeing Santana there made it even better. I remember my parents taking trips like this when I was growing up. We had so much fun and once again I could see my dad smiling down, reminding me how rich I am because of family. Because of the time I get to spend with family.

On Monday we went to meet my mom in Lakeland for our monthly lunch. It’s halfway for each of us and a great way to see each other and spend a little time together. Time is the great equalizer. We never have enough of it. It’s the one thing we can never get back and money won’t buy. When it’s gone, it’s gone. I love our lunches and look forward to them. I miss my dad but know he’s so happy that the lesson he taught about the value of family are truly embedded within me.

I remember being told when I had kids to treasure every moment I had with them because the time would come when they wouldn’t want to hang out with me. I would no longer be ‘cool’ and once it was gone, it would be gone. I am lucky. While I may no longer be ‘cool’ (and they will tell you I never was to begin with!) that day has not come in my life. My kids enjoy spending time with me. We go on trips together, vacation together, hang out together. Every day when I wake up, I thank God for my family, for those I love, and for giving me such a great gift.

For me it isn’t just my immediate family. It’s not just my brother, sister and their families. It’s not my sister-in-laws and their families. It’s not my in-laws. It’s my cousins. My aunts and uncles. My ‘sisters from another mister’ and my ‘brothers from another mother’. I won’t even try to name them all because I will ultimately miss somebody and don’t want to. I am lucky to have all of that. No matter what is going on in the world, I know that I have a lot to be grateful for. I have such incredible gifts in my life – amazing people that are my family.

I encourage you to take a look at the gifts in your life. Yes, these are crazy times. These are scary times. There is much we would change if we had the power to do it. Even more importantly, there is so much to be grateful for. There is so much to appreciate. Wednesday I will board yet another flight to Israel. My third trip since May. My 23rd overall trip. How lucky am I? I was talking to a friend today and he said, “I don’t know that there is anybody who loves Israel more than you.” I do love Israel. Lots of people love Israel. Yet I am the lucky one that gets to go and go often. Go regularly.

What are the things in your life that you take for granted? Stop for a minute. Pause. Look around and think. Appreciate the wonderful gifts in your life. It may be family. It may be friends. It may be the beauty of nature. It may be peace and happiness. It may be something else. We all have them. We all have so much to be grateful for if you take a minute to look and pay attention.

In a few hours it will be the two year anniversary of my father’s last breath. A great loss for me, my family, and the world. Yet I am filled with gratitude. Gratitude for the time I got to spend with him. Gratitude for the life lessons he taught me. Gratitude that he was my dad.

It doesn’t get any better than that. Thank you God. Thank you Dad.

When the official word came out that six hostages were murdered and their bodies found and returned, I was devastated. When their names were officially released, I was crushed. I felt betrayed. I was angry. I was crying. I was furious. I was destraught. I wanted revenge. I wanted them all to come home now.

This is where we stand today. We want two things that may not both be able to happen. We want our hostages home now. We want those who are alive to be returned immediately and alive. We want those who are no longer alive to have their bodies returned so their families can bury them and begin the mourning process. We need our hostages freed immediately. We also want the long term security of Israel We want to make sure that we are not allowing Hamas to simply regroup, re-arm, and attack us again like they did on October 7th in a few years.

The challenge Israel faces is that Hamas will not allow both to happen. In order to get the hostages back, they are demanding Israel put her long term security at risk. If Israel refuses to give in to Hamas’s demands, it is unlikely we will get any of the hostages back alive. In a normal conflict, you find some middle ground. Each side gives a little and finds an uncomfortable agreement that they don’t really like but they can live with. The reality Israel faces is that Hamas doesn’t want to give anything. They don’t want to find a middle ground. They want to get everything they demand and they really have no reason to change their demands. The world excuses their behavior. The more that Hamas entrenches themselves and continues to say no, the more the world supports them and pressures Israel to give more and more and more. It reminds me of this political cartoon.

After Hamas murdered Carmel Gat, Eden Yerushalmi, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Alexander Lobanov, Almog Sarusi and Master Sgt. Ori Danino this weekend, my pain and anger was overwhelming. Then the news about the polio vaccinations of children in Gaza started coming out. Israel provided the safe zone. Israel provided the vaccines. The children in Gaza were getting vaccinated. But not the Bibas children. Not the Israeli children who were taken hostage and remain hostages. They don’t vaccinated. I started wondering why Israel didn’t demand that all the child hostages be released before vaccination began? It’s a simple demand. We will take care of your children but you have to give ours back first.

As Jews, we believe in the best of people. It is one of our best qualities and one of our worst. We care about the children in Gaza while they don’t care about our children in Hamas’s captivity. We will take care of their children even while they terrorize and hold captive our children. We value the lives of Jews and they know that so they not only hold them as hostages, they hold us hostage with them. We gave them 1,000 terrorists for Gilad Shalit because he is one of ours. That trade got us him back but cost us 1,200 lives on October 7th. Now we are being asked to do it again.

Do we release terrorists who kill Jews? Do we do so en masse? Do we withdraw from the Philadephi corridor where we know Egypt was supplying Hamas with weapons? Do we allow them to rebuild the tunnels because we aren’t monitoring it? Do we let Hamas stay in power and grow in size and re-arm to attack us again? Is all of that worth getting the remaining living hostages back? Is it worth it to get the bodies of the murdered hostages back so the families can buy their loved ones and get closure? Is it worth delaying the next attack for 5 years? For 10 years? Having another October 7th? Something worse? A return to suicide bombers?

I don’t have the answer. I’m glad that I am not the one who has to make the decision. It feels very much to my like the Solomonian decision to split the baby. We want our hostages and the bodies of the dead hostages back. We want to ensure there won’t be another October 7 type attack. Hamas isn’t giving us the option to have both. We have to pick one or the other. If we save 30 or 50 hostages now and end up with 3,000 or 5,000 dead in five or ten years, is it worth it? Was it worth getting Gilad Shalit back to lose 1,200 on October 7th because Sinwar was part of that deal? Plus all those lost since October 7th? I don’t know. It’s not simple math. It’s not so easy.

I remember watching the 47 minute Hamas video months ago and being grateful that the terrorists showed their faces. We were able to see exactly who was doing these horrible things. Some of their faces are burned into my memory. When I saw the two terrorists kill a father, blind one child in one eye, and take them into their kitchen where he took a Coke out of the fridge and drank it while they cried and were in shock, I remember thinking that he was going to pay. Israel would not let what he did go without making him pay. His payment came yesterday as Israel not only found him, they killed him. Those who perpetrated this horror are being made to account for their actions.

Leaders of Hamas have said that if Israel tries to rescue the hostages, they will just kill them. They murdered six hostages with bullets to the back of the head because Israel was close to rescuing them. The world continues not to hold them accountable so why would they stop? Our options seem hopeless. Surrender to Hamas and hope that they give back the hostages like they promise, putting the safety of Israel at risk. Continue to fight against Hamas and risk the lives of the hostages. Do whatever it takes to end Hamas and secure Gaza so that attacks can’t come from there on Israel in the future but know that the hostages are likely murdered as a result. Not a good choice amongst them yet these are the choices Israel faces.

I watched the funeral of Hersh Polin Goldberg with tears in my eyes. Watching Rachel and Jon broke my heart. All I could think of was my sons. All I could think of was how it could have been them. Hersch was 23. My sons are almost 22 and 24. When I look at pictures of them, my heart breaks.

At the funeral of Hersh Polin Goldberg, Israeli President Isaac Herzog said, “Beloved Hersh, with a torn and broken heart, I stand here today as the president of the State of Israel, bidding you farewell and asking for your forgiveness, from you, and from Carmel, from Eden, from Almog, from Alex, and Ori, and from all your loved ones,” Herzog said. “I apologize on behalf of the State of Israel, that we failed to protect you in the terrible disaster of Oct. 7, that we failed to bring you home safely. I apologize that the country you immigrated to at the age of 7, wrapped in the Israeli flag, could not keep you safe. Rachel, Jon, dear Leebie and Orly, grandparents and the whole family – I ask for your forgiveness, forgiveness that we could not bring Hersh back home alive.”

How many other families will Israel have to apologize to? Those who have loved ones as hostages now? Those who will be mourning in the future because Israel took security risks or released terrorists to save these hostages? It truly is a Solomonian decision. No matter what the decision ends up being, I’m not sure history will be kind to any of our leaders because of where we are today.

Leadership is about taking accountability. It’s about taking responsibility. In today’s world, our leaders don’t do this. They look for scapegoats. They blame others. It’s rare to find somebody in a leadership role who takes responsibility for their actions. We need new leaders. We need to train our leaders properly. One of my commitments is to be involved with this. My trip to Israel in July was for a leadership trip. I am working with others who understand that our future depends on better leaders and it is our responsiblity to train them. We don’t need to be stuck in these Solomonian decisions and no-win situations if our leaders understand their jobs and focus on doing them rather than politics and power.

I have written about how I sing Acheinu every day for the hostages. I will continue to sing it every day. At Hersh’s funeral, thousands of people spontaneously broke out in song with Acheinu. Throughout Israel people are singing Acheinu. The night of Hersh’s funeral, thousands gathered together and sang Acheinu. We are a people of love. We are a people of peace. We treasure life. We are in an impossible position with impossible choices to make. May God bless the leaders of Israel as they navigate this situation. They need God’s help more than ever.

Just before going to sleep last night, I got the news. It was confirmed that Hersch Goldberg-Polin had been murdered, along with 5 other hostages, by Hamas. I had heard that there were 6 bodies recovered and they thought they were hostages. I had heard that they thought one of them was Hersch. Yet it was not confirmed and I hoped and prayed that it was not true. Yet it was.

These six beautiful souls were taken from us by true evil. More than the evil of Hamas, the evil of those who have been silent. Of those who have limited Israel’s ability to free them. Reports are that the IDF was minutes from rescuing them when the terrorists decided to murder them all instead. The IDF soldiers heard the shots that killed each one these people as they fought to get there in time. Imagine if Israel hadn’t been pushed to delay or not go into Rafah. Imagine if they had been able to get there a week or two earlier. Perhaps these six people would still be alive today.

If you can’t tell from the title of this post and how I have begun, I am angry. I am sad. I am furious. I am devastated. I am filled with rage. I am filled with tears.

Presiden Biden said that Rafah was a red line. While he said that he would never leave Israel’s back, words mean nothing, it’s actions that matter. The delay over going into Rafah cost lives. Once Israel went into Rafah, they found the tunnels that went into Egypt, they discovered the tunnels in the Philadelphi corridor that enabled Hamas to get the weapons from Egypt that they used to attack Israel. Israel, once again held to a different standard than the rest of the world, is the one that suffers.

This red line and threat of weapons restrictions along with actual delays in sending weapons delayed Israel’s ability to enter Rafah. Vice President Harris said that, “Any major military operation in Rafah would be a huge mistake.” Once again, she was wrong. There were multiple options for places for them to go. The US wouldn’t pressure Egypt to open Sinai so Israel found a different way. The delay only ensured more hostages were murdered. More damage done.

It’s not just the American administration. The head of the United Nations ignores the hostages. The entire UN ignores the hostages. The International Red Cross has yet to visit a single hostage. Their participation the past almost 11 months has been as a taxi service during the release of the hostages in November 2023. UNICEF doesn’t care about the children who were kidnapped by Hamas and remain as hostages. Where are the Bibas children? The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is a joke. While the UN data shows an increase in the population of Gaza since October 7th, the ICJ brings war crimes charges against Israel. As Israel puts the lives of their soldiers on the line to protect civilians, the UN, ICJ, and many other countries feed into the antisemitic genocide libel the same way they feed into the apartheid libel and the colonizer libel.

The announcement of the murder of these 6 hostages comes as much of the United States is prepared to start school again. Some places have already been in school for weeks or a month. The Jew hatred on campus has only grown. Friday, two Jewish students were assaulted on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh for being Jewish. The former President of the University of Pennsylvania who had to resign because she failed to protect Jewish students is hired at Harvard, who’s former President was forced to resign because she failed to protect Jewish students. Universities are the beneficiary of huge federal funding. More than the research grants, student loans and Pell grants are federal programs. Why does Congress refuse to sanction those Universities who don’t protect Jewish students. We know what it would look like if it were any other group facing the same prejudice.

Congress’s failure is apparent. They are more worried about elections and power than they are about the American’s taken hostage and the now 33 Americans murdered by Hamas. They are more worried about winning in the short term than standing strongly with one of our most important allies. There are some exceptions in Congress. Elise Stefanik, Ritchie Torres, Rick Scott, John Fetterman, and Brian Mast are exceptionally vocal. There are others who publicly support Israel and understand who Hamas is and what they stand for. Yet there are far too many who know nothing and work to continue the failed policies of the past 30+ years. As my friend Fleur Hassan Nahoum says so eloquently, “the Palestinian leadership have never wanted a state. It is not their dream, It was our dream….. The problem of the conflict is not that there isn’t a Palestinian state. The problem of the conflict is that there’s a Jewish state.”

Hersh Goldberg-Polin’s parents, Rachel and Jon spoke at the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday August 18th. They received a standing ovation. Chants of ‘Bring them home’ from the crowd. It was an inspiring moment. It gave hope that the hostages would be a bipartisan effort to get them home. Perhaps we could finally have something that everybody agreed upon – the hostages must be released.

Now that we know that Hamas murdered Hersh and 5 other hostages just before they were going to be rescued, what will the response of Congress and the Biden administration be? We have seen the statements from both President Biden and Vice President Harris.

As my father (z’l) used to say all the time, “Talk is cheap.” Anybody can say anything. I want to see what they actually will do. More wisdom from my father that I hated growing up and appreciate more every day is, “show me, don’t tell me.” I want to see what they will actually do. If anybody had questions about Hamas, about their evilness, these murders should answer them. There cannot be any end to the war that doesn’t result in the release of the hostages and the complete surrender of Hamas. Israel cannot abandon the Philadelphi corridor. We have seen the tunnels there between Gaza and Hamas. While 80% of them have been destroyed, we cannot give the opportunity for Hamas and Egypt to rebuild them.

I hope our leaders look to history to learn. In his first speech as Prime Minister, Winston Churchill was asked what Britain’s aim was against the Nazis.

Churchill knew that they had to win or be eliminated. Israel knows they have to win or they will be murdered. Churchill knew he was facing true evil in the Nazis. Israel knows they are facing true evil with Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Iranian regime. I hope that the US government realizes that they are not dealing with rational human beings. They are not negotiating with people who want to make a deal. They are dealing with evil. They are facing those who will sacrifice everything to make sure that Israel and the West lose. We like to forget that to them, Israel is the Little Satan. America is the Great Satan. America has a choice – fight and eliminate them where they are, in Gaza, the West Bank/Judea and Samaria, Lebanon, Yemen, and Iran or fight them when they come to America. We don’t have to like the choice. We don’t have to want the choice. We have to understand that is the choice. End the evil now or fight in in our own neighborhoods.

My friend Joanne Fink is an artist. Her work is inspiring. She created this piece after October 7th. She added to it after the murder of Hersh Goldberg Polin, Ori Danino, Carmel Gat, Alex Lubnov, Almog Sarusi, and Edan Yerushalmi. It speaks to how I feel. I think it speaks to how many of us feel.

I’m angry. I’m devastated. I’m furious. My heart is broken. I want to scream. I want to cry. Hersh and the others could have been my children. It could have been me. Innocent people, enjoying a music festival. Some brave heroes who escaped and went back to rescue others, resulting in their capture, torture, and ultimate murder. We are facing real evil. In the 1930s and early 40s we didn’t realize what we were facing until far too late. There is no excuse today. We know the evil we are facing. They have showed us with their own videos and with their own actions. The question is are we going to allow evil to win or are we going to do whatever is necessary to defeat evil. Are we going to be like Churchill or are we going to allow the evil to grow and come to our country. The choice is ours. The choice is our leaders. I want to see what they do, not what they say. As my dad (z’l) said, Talk is cheap. Show me don’t tell me.

Over the past nearly two decades we have been witness to the battle for America. It is only in the past decade that it has been paid much attention to and even today, the battle is being reported poorly as each side wants to demonize the other in attempts to shame those in the middle to rejecting the other, forcing them to align with the lesser of two evils. This remains a losing proposition. When Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton ran for President the victims were America and the world. The nastiness in the campaign forced people into one camp or the other. It has only gotten worse since then.

I watch the divisiveness and wonder if we are going to end up with another civil war only this time I wonder if half the country will care if the other country says they want to leave. Each side so dislikes the other that I wonder instead of fighting for ‘our Union’ if the side remaining will simply say “good riddance, let them go.” We live in a time when half the country hates the other half of the country.

I was listening to music yesterday and the song, “Try that in a small town” came on. This was a highly controversial song when it came out due to the lyrics being seen by many as racist and promoting gun violence. Others thought that it represented the feelings of many who live in small town America.

I have listened to the song many times and have heard it both with the racist overtones and the gun violence as well has how Jason Aldean defends the song as one that is reporting on the status, not advocating for anything. I heard the song even differently this time.

When I listened to the song this time I heard a plea for a return to common sense. Rather than advocating for gun violence, I heard a warning from people who feel unheard and unrepresented. I heard people who were crying out that their basic needs, their American dream of hard work, success, and freedom were being ignored and minimized. I heard a cry for help and a cry to be included.

In American politics today there appear to be three distinct groups. There is the group who is looking at including everybody by making the government all powerful and making decisions for parents, for individuals all in the name of equality. There is another group who wants to go back to the ‘good old days of Beaver Cleaver and Father Knows Best’. They forget that those were TV shows and reality meant terrible prejudice against minorities, especially African Americans. They forget how women didn’t have individual rights and terrible treatment LGBTQ people faced.

Then there is the third group, where there is no representation but is likely the largest group of all. This group wants people to have individual rights. They want the American dream and want a country ruled by laws. They condemn hatred of all types. Personal freedom and public safety matter. They don’t want to ‘defund the police’, they want to invest in giving law enforcement the training they need to meet our societal expectations. They want abortion to be, in the words of President Bill Clinton, “Safe, Legal, and Rare” but ultimately the choice of the pregnant person. They want reasonable gun control laws, a comprehensive immigration policy that we will follow, affordable access to healthcare for all that both the country and the individual can afford. They want a fair tax code that provides for the needs of the country. They want a solution to student loan debt that is both fair to all and that address the core problem, the cost of tuition. They want the return of trades taught in public high schools since college isn’t for everybody and there is an incredible need for tradespeople since we devalued them as a society with President Obama’s push for college for everyone. They want a balanced budget and for the government to live within it’s budget, not continuously spend more than they have. It is an indictment of our leadership that the last time that the Federal budget was balanced or had a surplus was the 2001 United States federal budget.

The third group is large enough to determine the election however does not have the economic power to determine who actually gets nominated and what the policies will actually be. Our Congress hasn’t worked for the people in decades. The last 16 years, at minimum, have been ruled by executive order and Supreme Court rulings, not by laws passed by Congress. The famous line from the Apollo 13 mission said by command module pilot John “Jack” Swigert, and then repeated by astronaut Jim Lovell, applies here. Houston, we have a problem.

One of my favorite comedians, Richard Pryor, made a movie in 1985 called Brewster’s Millions. In it, his character accepts a challenge to spend $30 million in 30 days in order to inherit $300 million from his great-uncle. In order to do this, he runs for NY Mayor under the banner None of the Above, since both candidates are not good. He ends up winning because the voters prefer None of the Above to the candidates. That is where we are today. The continued voting for the lesser of two evils continues to give us evil.

If either President Trump or Vice-President Harris has policies that inspire you, great. You should vote for them. You should support them. If you are voting for either of them because the other is much worse, I challenge you to think differently.

When I heard the song yesterday, I heard a cry for freedom. I heard a cry to let people live their lives. Be who you are. Elect people who truly inspire you based on your values and what they are going to do, not based on what you are told about the other candidate. If we want to live in a country without hate, without prejudice, with real freedom for all, then we need to actively make changes.

The United States pledge of allegience, as written, ends with the line, “and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” If we really want our nation to be indivisible, we have to make changes. If we really want liberty and justice for all, not just those who we like or agree with, then we must make changes. If we want our country to be a beacon of light, to live up to what Thomas Jefferson’s wrote, “The establishment of our new Government seemed to be the last great experiment, for promoting human happiness, by reasonable compact, in civil Society.” then we must have reasonable compact, a civil society, and be dedicated to human happiness.

I fear that in today’s world, we are not reasonable, not civil, and don’t care for human happiness, only for our own. I fear that we have declined to the point where we fit another one of Thomas Jefferson’s quotes.

We are at a critical time for self reflection. It may be too late for the election in November as the candidates are set. I hope we will all reflect on yet another quote from Thomas Jefferson about our government and in the elections that follow, remember that we the people have the power. The government only gets its power because we give our consent. We want better but until or unless we are going to demand better and take action to get what we want, we certainly are getting what we deserve. Jefferson painted a picture of an America that could be wonderful and alos one that could result in the taking away of the rights of 49% of our population. Which is the country you want to live in? Which is the country you are willing to fight for?

Right now I’m voting for ‘None of the Above’. This will be the third Presidential election in a row that I have voted this way. It’s time to take action. I don’t want to vote this way once again in 2028.

The massacre and kidnapping at the Nova Music Festival has had a great impact on me. Perhaps it is because my children are the age of those who were there. It easily could have been my children and I could have been there with them. Perhaps it is because I spent 15 years running Hillel at The University of Florida and worked with tens of thousands of college students. It may even be the horror of what happened there. Watching the documentary and hearing the story of a survivor and twice hearing from Rami Davidian about how he rescued 750 people that night and what he saw and experienced only drove home the horror even more.

We are now hearing about survivors of the Nova Festival who are committing suicide because they can’t live with themselves after what they saw, felt, and experienced. This makes it even worse This is a suicide letter of a Nova survivor, published by his family. After miraculously surviving the October 7 massacre, the young Israeli man (his name is being intentionally withheld to protect the family and his memory) decided to end his life after witnessing too many horrors, including the gang rape of a girl. The overwhelming weight of everything he saw, heard, and experienced, along with his inability to save the girl being assaulted nearby, made him feel incapable of continuing his life. Here is the letter translated from Hebrew. May he rest in peace

“Hey you, please forgive me! It all started on Thursday, we were dancing and having fun, and come Friday – so much fun all around, seeing friends we haven’t seen in years – we all met to dance and celebrate life. Come Saturday morning, the sun begins to rise, it’s so beautiful as it starts to shine all over everyone. We’re dancing and happy, hugging, and some of my friends start to leave.

Suddenly, rockets start flying over us, I know this, this is my life -I’m from the South. But then there are paragliders- I hope nothing happens to them… Then starts the gunfire – what is going on? We see the truck coming, paratroopers dressed in foreign uniforms – they are killing everyone. They just killed Shay, they killed Adi. They’re kidnapping that girl, who is sitting there hugging her murdered boyfriend.

Suddenly you run to the bushes where I sit and hide, not uttering a sound from my lips. You’re in the bush next to me, so close, the cries gush out from within you. A terrorist is right above the bush I’m hiding in and I pray he won’t see me, I pray so hard, something I haven’t done my entire life… God can hear my prayer. But you won’t stop crying out loud because with every second, someone gets shot and murdered. They saw you, they’re dragging you out of the bushes. They’re four and you’re one. You scream for help. One of them punches you to silence you, and you try to fight them while looking towards my direction, for me to save you. But if I step out, we will both get murdered. I want to live! I sit there silently, they start undressing you! I’m crying, I feel like I need to scream but a hand silences me! Maybe it’s the hand of God, or I don’t know who… They turn you on your stomach and they start raping you, one by one. They turn you around again and they yell at you in English, they want you to see for yourself how they have defeated you. You try to crawl in my direction and I pray for something to happen, for someone to kill them so you can get out alive, but as you crawl towards me and they’re on top of you – the shot comes. They murdered you, but before they murdered your body they murdered your soul.

I sat there, in the bushes, for hours, I did not come out. I saw a bottle of water next to you and I was so incredibly thirsty, but I couldn’t bear the thought that I should have saved you, so how can I be so disrespectful and drink your water? I have reached rock bottom, I can’t live anymore. Your look follows me every single day – in the shower, in my sleep, in my room. I couldn’t go back to work, I wasn’t able to. I’ve been to your house. I didn’t tell your parents what you’ve been through, but they’ve been told that your body was abused.

I was a witness. I ask for your forgiveness. I am coming to you, to the next great world, I promise to save you there and protect you. Please forgive me! And don’t worry, I left a note for my family telling them how much I love them, and thanking them for the life they gave me. My sister is having a baby, I thought about sticking around to get to know my nephew, but I don’t think he should know the uncle that couldn’t save you. It’s okay, I’ll watch him from above.”

Each time I read this letter it hits a bit deeper and hurts a bit more. From those who deny any of it happened to those who share the horror, what happened on October 7th and at the Nova Festival is incomprehensible evil.

Rami Davidian, a farmer on a nearby Moshav, told his story to a group I was with on two different occasions. Near the end, he talks about what he did the day after. Listen as he talks about the women who were tied to the trees. Understand that they had been violated and when he mentions modesty, he is talking about covering up their naked bodies. Their naked bodies that were tied to trees, their legs spead open and left that way after being violated. You can hear the emotion in his voice, see it on his face, as he remembers the horror that he saw. I can’t imagine how many women he cut down from the trees, covered their naked bodies, said the Shema over their dead bodies, or how he sleeps at night after what he saw.

If you need more, watch the Sheryl Sandberg movie, Screams before Silence, You can see the pain in the women’s eyes. When the first responder shares the pictures he took to document the horrors he saw, watch Sheryl’s face and reactions.

I have been changed by October 7th. My tattoos on my forearms are dedicated to those murdered, kidnapped and who survived the massacre. It’s a visual change on my body and reminder to me of what happened to them and my responsibility to them and to make sure it never happens again.

The horrors of October 7th can never be forgotten. Having been to Kfar Aza twice, Nova twice, and meeting with families from Kibbutz Alumim as well as the people from the town of Shlomi in the north that have been living in a hotel in Jerusalem for nearly 11 months because of the bombing of Hezbollah, this is real for me. It needs to be real for you.

At the end of the day, there are lots of things that are important in life and in the world. But life is essential for any of them to have meaning. The Iranian regime, Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, and many others around the world have made it clear that our lives don’t matter. That they want our lives to end. Why build a world worth living in if part of that goal is for all of us to be murdered?

My heart breaks for the survivors of Nova and the pain they deal with every day. I can’t imagine the pain the family of the survivor who wrote that letter and then chose to end their life. We live a privileged life in the United States. Despite the rise of antisemitism and Jew hatred, the United States remains a place where Jews are safe most of the time (and that time is getting smaller). I saw a friend post that we are American Jews – American’s first. I disagree. We cannot be like the German Jews of the 1930s and think we are Americans first. We are always Jews first. Maybe not to our own identify but certainly to the rest of the world. We have historically forgotten that we are always Jews first. We thought we could be Germans first. We thought we could be Spanish first. We thought we could be accepted in whatever country we lived in as long as we dedicated ourselves to that country. Each and every time we have been proven wrong.

Every day I continue to say the Acheinu prayer for the hostages. After reading the suicide note, I also am now saying it for the survivors as well. While they may be physically free, it’s also clear that many of them are not mentally or emotionally free yet. I hope that every time I say the prayer, it will bring comfort and help in their recovery as well as the return of the hostages. As I wrote in my prior blog, we don’t need to stay in Mitzrayim, that narrow or dark place. May they and their families find comfort and relief and be released from distress and captivity, whether it is physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual.

I don’t remember when I first heard the saying, “If you tell a lie enough, people will believe it”. I do remember asking myself why somebody would want to do that. It didn’t make sense to me. Lying wasn’t something you strove to do and growing up, I got in more trouble for telling a lie than for what I actually did. I learned early that it was much better to just tell the truth.

As I got older, I learned about the Nazi’s and how their strategy was to tell big lies often so that people would believe it. The bigger the better.

I began to understand that you could actually shape people’s minds, beliefs, and actions, if you told a big enough lie often enough. It was a lesson that had incredibly painful consequences (the Holocaust/Shoah) and one I thought the world had learned from and wouldn’t repeat. Boy was I wrong.

Since October 7, 2023, the lies about Israel and the Jewish people have been big, constant, repeated, and far too many people now believe them. Facts don’t matter. The truth doesn’t matter. All that matters is the lie that has been told and people’s belief in it. For a while, I used to try to fight and argue with people who would say these lies. It got me nowhere other than being extremely frustrated. A few months ago, I began a new tactic.

When I see, hear, or read these lies, I simply call them out as liars. “You lie!” “Why are you lying?” “Liar!!” “This isn’t true!” Simple and powerful statements. The people who believe these lies aren’t going to listen to the long argument, the history, the truth, or the explanation. They will interrupt you with the lie again and ask if you are ok with it. If you support it. The only way to fight back is to call them out as what they are, liars.

You can’t only call them liars without knowing why what they are saying is a lie. It isn’t difficult to learn why claiming Israel is involved with “Genocide”, “Colonization”, or “Apartheid” are all lies. It is easy to debunk the claim that this is “Palestinian Land” since prior to 1967 it was Jordanian (West Bank/Judea and Samaria including Jerusalem) or Egyptian (Gaza). Prior to 1948 it was the British Mandate. Prior to the British Mandate in 1917 it was the Ottomon Empire. Prior to the Ottomon Empire in 1517 it was the Muslims. Prior to the Muslims in 638 it was the Sasanians. Prior to the Sasanian’s in 614 it was the Roman Empire. Prior to the Roman Empire in 64 BCE it was the Hasmonian Kingdom (think of the Hanukkah story and Judah Maccabee). Prior to the Hasmonians in 165 BCE it was the Greeks under Alexander the Great. Prior to the Greeks in 332 BCE it was the Babylonians. Prior to the Babylonians in 722 BCE, it was the Israelites with Judea and Samaria and before that Greater Israel. Before that it was the Canaanites that Joshua (who took over for Moses) conquered.

Simple history lesson. Facts. Never controlled by the Palestinians going back over 3,000 years to the time of Moses. Yes Arabs lived there. Bedouins lived there. Just like today when Arabs and Bedouins live in Israel.

I never like using the “God promised us the land” argument. Too many people have other beliefs and I don’t want to get into a debate about the factual accuracy of the Torah/Bible. The history of control of the land and applying the same rules to it as to every other country is enough. Those who want to treat Israel differently than the rest of the world are simply being antisemitic. When they do that, I call them out on it. Without the facts, without knowing history and the truth, we are unable to do so.

I went to the monthly Sunday minyan that I previously have written about today. One of the Rabbis there always encourage us to find one or two lines in different prayers and to focus on them, what they mean and what they mean to us. I find it a beautiful way to pray and connect with God. It is a way to take the traditional and make it personal. Today was no different.

One of the words in the prayers this morning that I fixated on was Mitzrayim. We often translate it to me Egypt, but that isn’t what it really means. It means narrow or constricted. It was applied to Egypt because that was the narrow place or constricted place for Jews. Today we have many narrow places in our world. Many of them are in our own minds. As we fight antisemitism and the libel against Israel, we are once again in a narrow or constricted place. It seems as if the world is against us. We watch what happens in Europe, what is happening all around the United States, what occurs on our college campuses, and it is easy to feel isolated. It is easy to mentally go into that narrow place. We cannot afford to this.

The lies above will be treated as the truth as long as we stay in Mitzrayim. It is when we work to leave Mitzrayim, that narrow place, that our lives improve. It is not easy but we don’t have to do it alone. The reason we tell the story of the Exodus from Egypt every year, why we recall the parting of the Red Sea every day in our prayers, is to remind us that our job is to do our part and God, Hashem, will do the rest. I’m doing some work with the IDF and as I was talking to Rabbi Atlas, who is part of the IDF Rabbinic leadership, he shared with me how all the IDF soldiers, Jewish and not, want to wear the IDF tzitzit. They want the protection that they offer. The Druze soldiers. The Muslim soldiers. The Christian soldiers. And of course all of Jewish soldiers. They understand there is a power with God that is inexplainable.

I am not a super religious person. It’s a much longer list of what I don’t do than what I do. However, the one thing that I do every single day is connect with God. I thank God for the wonderful life I get to live. I appreciate that everything I have in my life is because of God. I do my part each and every day. I rely of God to do God’s part and that never fails. This is the reminder the Rabbi told us about today in the morning service. As we pray, it’s that reminder that not only do we have our own part to do in life but God has God’s part as well. And when we do our part, God will do God’s part. Our part is the easier part too!

I don’t pray the traditional way or three times a day. I do pray every morning. I do remember that my life is what it is today only by the grace of God. The formal prayers say the same things I do, just in a different way. That’s the message I took from this morning. It is about what you are doing and why you are doing it, now how you do it. When Rabbi Ehrenkranz asks us to pick one or two lines and really pay attention to them, that’s what he is teaching us. Understand what you are doing and why you are doing it. Don’t worry that it isn’t the entire group of prayers. Don’t worry that it’s in English not Hebrew. Don’t worry that I am just a person, not a Rabbi, trying to interpret what it means to me. None of that matters, only that I am doing it. Only that I am building my relationship with God, with Hashem. It makes Judaism even more relevant to me.

As part of what he teaches us in this monthly service, he talks about the times when you put your tallis over your head during prayer. It gives you that special ‘alone time’ with God while still in a group setting with God. I have done something similar in my own prayers and meditation and I found it really interesting that what I have found to work is actually also what Judaism teaches. How I pray when my tallis is over my head is likely very different than everybody else in the room but it doesn’t matter. We are all praying together and yet, at that moment, we are also all connecting privately and personally with God. Once again, Judaism becomes more relevant as I understand not only why we do things but when it also matches with what I find personally meaningful.

I started talking about the lies people are telling about Israel and the Jewish people. About how we need to stand up and fight back against these lies. And how we need to know the facts in order to do effectively. Today, Rabbi Ehrenkranz made a comment near the end of the Amidah, the main prayer of the service, that stuck with me. We were about to sing the prayer, Sim Shalom, when he said, “It all comes down to peace. Sim Shalom. Oseh Shalom.” I thought to myself, Shalom Alecheim. Shalom Rav. How many prayers do we have that use the word Shalom, peace? It really is what everything boils down to. We want peace. We value life. Our goal isn’t to conquer anybody but rather to live freely as Jews, to worship God, study Torah, and to work on repairing the world. No matter what people who hate us say, no matter how they lie, we know our core values. I’ve had other teachers tell me that the reason the world hates the Jewish people is because we are the world’s conscience. We are the world’s Jiminy Cricket.

Or as George Steiner, a literary critic, a professor of comparative literature at Oxford and Cambridge, and one of the more original intellectuals in the contemporary cultural landscape said, “The Jew represents the uncompromising demand for universal morality, the intoxicating idea that human beings can overcome their selfish impulses.” The world doesn’t understand this. The world doesn’t like this. And the world will do whatever it takes to get rid of us because of this.

Since that’s our role, let’s play it. Let’s be Jiminy Cricket and hold the world accountable. Let’s continue to fight for universal morality. We need to speak up against these lies. We need to hold those accountable who say the lies and those who invest in Jew hatred. It takes courage but being Jewish is all about having courage. From Abraham leaving his father’s home to Isaac trusting God and his father as he is about to sacrificed. From Jacob wrestling with the Angel to Joseph explaining Pharoah’s dreams. From Moses and the burning bush, demanding Pharoah ‘let my people go’, receiving the Torah and leading the people of Israel for 40 years int he desert to David fighting Goliath. From biblical times to the creation of Zionism. From the War of Independence in 1948 to the 6 day war of 1967 to the Yom Kippur War of 1973. All the way to today and October 7th and seeing 360,000 reservists report for duty, more than the 300,000 that were recalled and far greater than the 250,000 that were expected to report.

Universal Morality. That means in everything that we do. Big or small. We tell the truth. We fight the lies. We value life and do what we can to save it. Even when they try to kill us. Even when they lie about us. No matter what. Our history shows us people who had it and those who struggled with it. It’s our goal so we try to be a little bit better each day. That’s all God asks. That’s all we can do. So lets speak out against the lies. Let’s make sure we know our own history. Let us use this universal morality to be the driving force as we are a light unto the nations.

I remember the first time I really heard this phrase and what it really means. The incredible Robin Williams taught it to his poetry class in the wonderful movie, “Dead Poet’s Society”, a movie filled with life lessons. When he says, “because we are all food for worms, lads” I smiled as kid. I was invincible. I had my life ahead of me. I was about to graduate college. Start my career. I was going to make a lot of money, get married, have children, and live the 1980’s American Dream; extreme success. The 1980s was the ‘me, me, me’ generation and since that was high school and college for me, it was imbedded into my being. Robin William’s words struck something deep inside when I heard them for the first time and every time afterwards. Maybe that wasn’t the goal of life. Maybe winning at life was not being Gordon Gecko from the movie Wall Street, Maverick from Top Gun, or Tom Cruise in Risky Business, but instead being Tom Hanks in Big, Jake and Elwood Blues from the Blues Brothers (“We are on a mission from God”), or Reese from Terminator, who lived for much more than extreme success.

After changing careers and getting a master’s degree, I also changed my priorities. The quality of my life was much more important than the money in my pocket. I earned a nice salary and lived a nice life, but I didn’t compare to some of my friends who became extremely financially wealthy. Even today, I joke that I am one of the least successful of my friends as some of them have truly done incredible things and been incredibly financially successful. I have a number of them who have each sold their company for over a hundred million dollars. Generational wealth. A few of them have created products that we all know and use. Some of them more than one. Some are very successful attorneys, doctors, and in the financial world. It would be very easy to be jealous of their success. Yet I am not jealous at all. I wouldn’t trade places with any of them. Why? Because I made the decision many years ago to seize the day. To not miss out on living life. I never wanted to look back and regret the opportunities that I missed because of my quest for success and money. If we are all going to be food for worms, I wanted to make sure that before that happened, I experienced what life has to offer. That inspiration was also seen in the classic 1980’s movie Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”

I didn’t want to miss it. I made sure I was able to spend time when my kids were little at the ball games, music recitals and concerts, class presentations, doctor appointments, and much more. I wanted to soak up every minute because I heard from enough people that the days are long but the years are short. Yet at some point, the career itch got to me and I began to look for the next big step. I took it. I spent ten years in the next big step. I still didn’t miss the sporting events or the music recitals and concerts. I did miss the doctor appointments. I did work much longer hours and dealt with much more stress and pressure. I made sure to do little things like getting season tickets to the Mariners, getting the Broadway season tickets in Seattle and Orlando, and finding time to go away as a family. But it felt different. I knew it felt different. I knew I was not getting what I truly valued. While it was Carpe Diem for my career, it was not Carpe Diem for my life.

About a year ago, things changed drastically for me. It wasn’t what I had planned and I was reminded of the old saying

With unexpected change come unexpected opportunity. I got to spend more time with my family. My new office is in my house meaning I was around most of the time. I had time to cook dinner. I had time to do more things with my family. God made sure that I had the opportunity to once again seize the day.

So I have. While my new job keeps me very busy, I make time for the things that are really important to me. Not work. Not career. Not money. Not status. Not titles. I meet my mom for lunch halfway between Orlando and Tampa once a month. I spend time with friends. My wife and I went to Red Rocks to see Carlos Santana.

My youngest son, his girlfriend and I took Brightline to Miami for a Marlins game (it was Spongebob Squarepants Jersey giveaway and he really wanted to get the jersey).

Yesterday we did the craziest trip I think I have done. We got up at 3:45 am, took a 6 am flght to San Francisco and went to the 12:40 pm Giants-White Sox game. We walked around the outside of the stadium to explore, walked around the inside of the stadium to explore, and had a great time.

After the game and a quick jersey change, we headed over to Oakland to see the A’s play the Rays. There isn’t much to explore in Oakland as it’s a terrible stadium (the A’s are leaving after this year because it’s so bad) but we sat in the 4th row behind home plate at a game with about 1,000 people attending and had a blast. We yelled at the players, the managers, and the umpires. We cheered for our favorite players and they could hear us and we saw their reactions.

When Kevin Cash, the Rays manager, got upset about a bad call by the umpire and got throw out of the game, we were having fun yelling at him and the umpire. We were close and there were so few people at the game, they had to hear us.

We left the A’s game and headed to the airport to take the redeye flight home. One day. 28 hours. Orlando-SF-Oakland-Orlando. Two stadiums. Two ballgames. My son, a friend of mine, and me. What a great day.

Next week I head to Raleigh on Thursday to watch my older son coach college football against NC State. A week later, my younger son and I head to his first home game to watch him coach. I have many other games on the calendar to head up to North Carolina and watch him coach.

In May, I went to Israel for 11 days. Near the end of the trip, I took advantage of an opportunity to go the top of Temple Mount. I had never been there in my 20 prior trips. It was powerful and amazing. We said the shema, sang Am Yisrael Chai, and even did the Gator chomp!

In July I went back to Israel for 14 days with a group of 19-26 year olds as they participated in a leadership trip. I’ve been involved with the program for 26 years but have never been able to actually go on the trip. Man plans, God laughs, so now I had the opportunity. What an incredible two weeks. Not only did I meet some incredible future leaders, I got to have an impact on their lives and help change their lives. What a gift. During some of our free time, I did some work. I got to meet an MK in the Knesset where I had never been before. Work the land. Met with a Brigadier General in the IDF. Pay respects to an IDF medic, killed leaving Gaza, who was a friend of one of the participants and then meet his parents who told us all about their son who gave his life for the Jewish people.

Now, in September, I go back to Israel once again for 8 days to work with a client. I’m arriving a little early so I don’t have jetlag and can enjoy a little weekend time on the beach in Tel Aviv. I’ll have Shabbat dinner with friends of mine in Modi’in and another friend who is visiting Israel is going to join us. As it turns out, he is on the same flights there and back that I am! Only Israel.

The final scene in Dead Poets Society is one of my favorites. Every time I watch it, my heart catches and it brings tears to my eyes. In the beginning of the movie, on his first day, Professor John Keating (Robin Williams) playfully asks his students to address him as “O Captain, My Captain”, as a tribute to his favourite poet. At the end of the movie, after he has been fired and is clearing out his office and the students are being forced back into expectations, they find a way to stand up to power. To show that they have learned something. That they will seize the day. They will live life to its fullest. Every one who participates is risking their spot in the school and their future. Watch and be inspired. It’s never too late to make the changes you want. It’s never too late to seize the day.

October 7, 2023 was a terrible day. I sat in my living room, captivated and horrified by what I was seeing on television. Hamas terrorists had attacked Israel and murdered innocent civilians. Women, children, infants, teens, seniors, Jewish and non-Jewish, it didn’t matter. They were bloodthirsty and out to murder. The reports came in about the rapes and the kidnappings. The taking of hostages. I remember 1978 and 1979 and the Iranian hostage crisis. I remembered how I felt as an American when they were taken and held as hostages for 444 days. I was angry at our government. I was angry at President Carter. I stayed up as an 11 and 12 year old boy to watch the new TV show, Nightline, that updated us every day on the hostage crisis. I hoped every night to hear something positive but didn’t.

On October 7th, my friend Maor Elbaz-Starinsky, who is also the Consul General for Israel to Florida (and other states) called me, begging me to turn off the TV as it wasn’t healthy to keep watching this horror. I told him I couldn’t. October 8th, Florida Senator Rick Scott called me to check on me and make sure I was doing ok. I wasn’t and told him so. He asked what he could do to help and I didn’t have an answer for him at that time, only thanks for calling. He posts on social media about the hostages every single day. Every day. Without fail.

Since October 7th, the hostages have been on my mind daily. I can’t imagine what they are going through. A friend of mine had two cousins that were hostages. The daughter was released the day before she turned 13 and we made sure to get her birthday and Hanukkah presents. It mattered. The videos of her getting them are priceless. The other was released two days after her daughter.

I have been to Hostage Square in Tel Aviv. I have been to the Hostage Center in Tel Aviv and heard two fathers speak about their sons who were, and are, hostages. I have heard Rachel Goldberg Polin speak in Washington DC at the rally on the National Mall in October 2023. I have twice visited both the Nova site and K’far Aza where hostages were taken. I say the Acheinu prayer for the hostages every day. They are never out of my mind. So when I read this piece by Jon Polin, it hit home. We all need to remember the hostages every day. Read his thoughts and I hope you take action.

Below is the op-ed written by Jon Polin, Hersh Goldberg Polin’s father, published last week in Makor Rishon.

An Appeal to My Religious Zionist Brothers by Jonathan Polin

Two years ago, my son Hersh told my wife Rachel and me that he respects us very much, but  he was not going to be observing Shabbat as we do. Despite this, every time he was home, he continued to come with me to synagogue, both on Shabbat evening and morning.

Last summer, shortly before he was kidnapped on October 7, Rachel asked Hersh, “Why do you keep going to synagogue if Shabbat is not speaking to you at this time?” and he answered, “I don’t want Dad to sit alone.”

It has been 308 days, and now Hersh, the son who didn’t want me to sit alone in synagogue, sits alone, held captive, in Gaza. It has been 308 days that Rachel and I fight, day after day, minute after minute, so that Hersh will no longer be alone, and he will come home to us. As Rabbi Kook said, I am writing here, on the eve of Shabbat Hazon [the Shabbat before Tisha B’Av], not because I have the strength to write, but because I no longer have the strength to stand.

It is not only Hersh who is alone. In a way, we, his parents, also feel alone. True, the people of Israel embrace us, love us and support us. They send messages and letters. They stop us in the street to say “We are with you.” This love gives us enormous strength and the ability to endure this terrible year. But the gap between the support and the voices heard from all over the country and the world, in contrast to the silence coming specifically from large parts of the national religious public, is challenging.

These are people like me, who are close to me, with a knitted kippa on their head. They send their children to the same institutions and the same youth movements; they recite the same prayers, and yet, when the subject is Hersh and the other hostages, the conversation is complicated. People are silent, and we find ourselves alone. How can that be? How is it that our value-based sector is silent in the face of this terrible moral injustice?

I understand that people are hesitant to write about the hostages. I have met with people who  sat with me, promising to do everything, but in action, they hesitate to do anything. And those from the religious sector who write about the hostages—mostly write only against a deal, without even knowing its details. I see that people don’t talk about the issue of these innocent human souls being held hostage, as if it doesn’t exist. There is war, there are reserves, there is Lebanon and there is Iran. The hostages? “It’s complicated,” and they choose not to speak. Even people I know, who support us personally. They hug us. Maybe they read tehillim [psalms] at home. We are grateful to them for their quiet prayers. But this is a silent support that disappears. Dissolves. In public, people are afraid to talk about the hostages.

For varying reasons, the hostages have become a matter of right and left. As if they are part of the package you get when you choose a political identity. Together with the basket of values ​​and opinions we have regarding the economy and leadership, there is suddenly a line determining what we would want to happen here if our citizens are taken hostage.

But the value of life, arvut hadadit [mutual responsibility], ransom of captives, or in the lexicon of today – the “chatufim (kidnapped)” are not a political issue and they never were. They are not about the division into right and left; the hostages are part of us. They are real people, men and women, young and old, with faces and families, people who worked and fought and dreamed and loved together with us and you, shoulder to shoulder. Part of this great thing called the nation and state of Israel.

I am Hersh’s father. We are already 308 days into this nightmare. I am calling for a deal, because I, personally, feel that beyond my desire as a father to save my son and bring him home, the price of NOT returning them will be an unbearable blow to our national identity and will tear Israeli society apart from the inside.

But you, the readers, are not Hersh’s father. You may have different opinions than me. You clearly don’t have to support everything I say, but I expect, and ask, that you speak up. You don’t need to take a public stance for or against, you do not need to yell. But you need to stop denying the existence of the hostages. It is impossible to talk about the war without talking about the hostages. You can’t talk about victory without talking about the hostages.

This framing, as if the “return of the hostages” is somehow in opposition to “victory in the war”, is wrong. There really is no victory without the return of the hostages. Imagine it for yourself: can you declare victory when more than a hundred people are still in Gaza? Will you be able to celebrate in the streets when the war is over? Continue your life as if things are behind us? Certainly not. “The flesh of your flesh” is not here. You will not be able to ignore it. What will you say after your 120 years in this world, when you face your maker and are asked, “Where were you when your brother’s blood cried out to you from the ground?” Where were all of us?

I beseech you: speak. At the Shabbat table or on the steps outside the synagogue. It doesn’t matter if you are young or old. Even now, as you read this article on the sofa, say to the person next to you, ‘Jon, Hersh’s father, asked us to talk about the hostages.’ Write on social networks. Talk. Are you rabbis? Public leaders? Talk about it. Come and learn mishnayot with us. Sit and read tehillim.

It matters less how, it matters more what. Show your presence. Don’t be afraid.

Like my son, Hersh, who came with me to the synagogue even though he no longer observed Shabbat. He did not come with me to the synagogue because he agreed with me, and he did not come with me to the synagogue to pray; he came with me to the synagogue so that I would not be alone. Please don’t be silent. Let your voice be heard! Speak up!

You cannot ignore it because “it is complex”, or because “my political camp does not support it.”

I ask you now, do not leave us alone.

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There are many ways to remember the hostages. Here are two easy ones.

At your Shabbat table, when you say Kiddush, or even anytime you drink wine, use the wine from the Wines of Hope Collection that is done in partnership with the families of hostages. You are inviting the hostages and their families into your home whether they know it or not.

When I was in Israel in July, I met with the parents of a Itamar, IDF medic who was murdered leaving Gaza. His father, Asaf, said that when he says kiddush each week, it is no longer for his family. It is now for the hostages and will be until they are released. You can do that too.

The other thing you can do is say the Acheinu prayer. It’s very simple and you can say it in English or Hebrew. It’s a reminder of the hostages. It does what Jon asked and helps us with our humanity.

The one thing we cannot do is forget the hostages. They are family. They are mishpacha. They were stolen away and must be returned. I think of the Bibas kids often. Kfir has now spent most of his life as a hostage. How, as a society, we tolerate that is unaccepatable. It was unacceptable to an 11 and 12 year old me in 1978-80 and it remains unacceptable to me as a 55-56 year old man today. I held President Carter in contempt back then and President Biden in contempt today. If whoever wins the election in November doesn’t take action, I will hold them in contempt as well. These are people. Human beings. They did nothing wrong and we have done very little right to get them home. We must Bring Them Home Now.