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Queen Esther and Sacrifice – a Purim leadership lesson

Posted on by Keith Dvorchik

Purim is one of my favorite holidays. It’s got a great story, an evil villian, a heroine that is tough to beat, and delicious triangle cookies. What’s not to love?

This year before Purim, I took the opportunity to learn a bit more about the story from a variety of teachers. It took me down a much deeper road with lots of lessons that apply to to our world today. I always enjoy when I find something in ancient texts that somehow team me a lesson for today’s world.

Purim is highlighted by a few major characters. Queen Esther, the heroine. A much deeper character to explore that the basic story presents. Her ‘uncle’ Mordechai, the hero. He pushes back against the evil villian and wins. Haman, the evil villian, who’s triangle hat becomes the Hamentaschen, the cookies we eat, at Purim. Haman, who’s name we drown out during the reading of the Megillah. King Achashvarosh, who divorces/murders his wife and marries Esther. And Queen Vashti, who refuses the King’s order/request, resulting in her divorce/death. I want to focus on Queen Esther here.

She was always one of my favorite charcters because of my Grandma Esther. Subconciously, there was always a connection to my Grandma Esther and Queen Esther. Plus dressing up, Purim carnivals, hamentaschen, and the fun makes Purim a special holiday for children. For much of my life, I thought of her as Morchechai’s niece who married the King to save the Jewish people. A wonderful and simple heroine. I never bothered to ask what happened to her when the story ends. I never bothered to ask if her ‘Uncle’ was really an uncle. I took it at face value and enjoyed the story.

Queen Esther as painted by the great Rembrandt. He painted many images from the Purim story.

It is much deeper than that. Jewish tradition and the talmud teaches us that Esther and Mordechai were actually husband and wife. The Talmud interprets the phrase “Mordecai adopted her as his own daughter” (Esther 2:7) as “Mordecai took her as his wife”. Think about what it must be like to be settled, married, and planning what your life will look like when all of a sudden your husband asks you to leave him and try to marry the King. Your husband who pushes you out of his bed and into the King’s bed. It is hard to believe that this is something that Esther wants to do or is looking forward to doing. I find myself wondering why shouldn’t just tank the interview to be Queen, find some way to ensure that the King will not pick her so she can return to her husband and her life. That’s the easy thing to do. Finish second, don’t strive to win, just be a part of the pack and be forgettable. Yet that isn’t what she does. Instead, she charms the King and he picks her to be his wife, forever ending any chance she has of returning to her life with Mordechai. She makes a huge sacrifice based entirely on trust and faith.

How often do we face challenges that require a sacrifice and we fail to do so? These aren’t always life changing challenges and yet we still are not willing to make the sacrifice for the greater good. History has shown us what happens when you fail to make the sacrifice for the greater good. When you put yourself first and the world or your community second. True leaders are willing to make that sacrifice. It doesn’t mean they aren’t afraid of the cost. Instead, they are very afraid of the cost yet go ahead and do it anyway. That’s leadership. Queen Esther did what was needed at great cost to herself and her life. She gave up the life she knew for the greater good.

Queen Esther took a risk when she told King Achashveros that she was Jewish. There was no guarantee that the King would choose her over Haman. She couldn’t be sure that the King wouldn’t be disgusted with her and get rid of her like he did with Queen Vashti. She didn’t have to take the risk to tell him. She was safe. Like many people in today’s world, she was a hidden Jew. She could have stayed quiet, stayed hidden, and lived a full life. But she didn’t. She is the example to us today that no matter how good we have it in our country, at the end of the day, we will always be seend as Jews first. Jews in Germany who had prominent roles in the military, the government, and business got no special dispensation from the Nazis. They were Jews first. Our Jewish legislators who think they are safe because they defend the rights of others at the cost of the Jews are merely fooling themselves. Queen Esther showed us the way.

I look at many of our leaders today, both in and out of the Jewish community, and wonder why they aren’t following Queen Esther’s lead. Very few are willing to actually put it on the line and take the risk of losing their power and position to do what is right. There are the exceptions. Senator John Fetterman has been outspoken and lately there have been pieces written about the cost he has paid as a result. The Wall Street Journal wrote a piece about him being the “Lonliest Democrat in Washington”.

He has spoken out repeatedly against Hamas and those who defend them. He is a throwback to the days when America didn’t negotiate with terrorists, when terrorist was evil without any excuse. He is a true leader who is going to do what is right, regardless of the personal consequences.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has done the same, talking about the evil of Hamas and revoking the green cards of those who incite violence and support terrorist organizations. He is unequivative is his condemnation of Hamas and those who support them.

We simply don’t have enough of these leaders in the Democratic or Republican party. We have far too many Bernie Sanders, who blames Israel when Hamas won’t agree to ceasefires, won’t release the hostages, and remains responsible. We have Thomas Massie on the right, who is an open antisemite. We have people like Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar, and Pramila Jayapal on the left who are so far into their Jew hatred that they could be mistaken for Marjorie Taylor-Greene or Lauren Boebert with their hatred. Queen Esther teaches us all that we must stand up for what is right, regardless of the personal cost. The greater good matters.

As a Jew, the ending of the story of Purim was always a happy one. Like most Jewish stories, they tried to kill us, we won, let’s eat. However the story ends differently for Queen Esther. She doesn’t go back to her regular life after Haman is hung and Mordechai promoted. She doesn’t get to leave the castle and stop being Queen or the wife of King Achashverosh. Her sacrifice is truly one for her entire life. Often times we think it is just for the length of the story. That the things we are willing to give up, the choices that we make are only going to be temporary. Queen Esther reminds us that is not always the case. There are times when the sacrifice we make is much greater and lasts much longer. It doesn’t change the importance or significance of that sacrifice. The megillah continues after Queen Esther tells King Achashverosh she is Jewish and Haman wants to kill her and her people. The story continues about the role of Mordechai and the gifts and power he is given. Esther falls into the background. Her work is done but her sacrifice is not done. It is one she continues to make on a daily basis for the rest of her life.

That’s the lesson about sacrifice. It’s for the greater good and must be willing to pay the price regardless of how much it may be. The cost of not making the sacrifice is far greater. We see this with the IDF soldiers and the people of Israel. Since October 7th, they have made incredible sacrifices. Many have lost their lives. Their families have been changed forever. Children have spent most of the year without their parent(s) who have had to serve in milium (reserves). Incredible instability with rockets falling daily, war all around, funerals on a regular basis due to the war, many forceably relocated for safety. Soldiers facing PTSD and their lives changed forever. Hostages who endured unbelievable torture. Every Saturday night there are massive protests against the government and demands to release the hostages. The leaders of these efforts pay a high price. Those who commit to be there pay a high price.

One of my friends was a high level commander in Gaza during the first four months of the war. The price he paid was easy to see when we got together after those four months. Just recently, he was one of the commanders in charge of the hostage releases during phase 1 of the ceasefire. He shared how difficult and painful that was for him. What he experienced on October 7th, the first four months of the war, and managing the hostage releases will stay with him for life. He is not the same person he was on October 6th. Like Queen Esther, he was willing to make the sacrifices that were necessary, regardless of the personal cost.

There are lessons to be learned from Queen Esther beyond being proud of being Jewish and standing up for the Jewish people to those in power. The lesson of sacrifice is key among them. The lesson of the greater good. The lesson of standing up for what is right regardless of the cost. Nowhere in the Megillah does it recount Queen Esther complaining to Mordechai that she did her job and now is stuck for the rest of her life. That’s true leadership.

True leadership is remembering that it is a sacrifice, not a privilege. It is an obligation not a coronation. This applies in our political arena as well as our Jewish organizations. The lesson of George Washington only serving two terms and our Founding Fathers wanting to get home to their families and their lives rather than serve forever in Washington DC has been lost. Their willingness to sacrifice their personal success and time with their familes for the greater good has been lost. The Israeli people are showing us what it looks like. People stepping up to serve much longer than required. People letting their spouses serve and figuring out how to raise children and pay the bills without one of the parents being there. People leaving the government because they fundamentally disagree with decisions being made. People peacefully protesting every single week because they want to see change. It’s time to bring it back. It is time for us to do our part. Otherwise we are letting evil win. I, for one, refuse to do that. What about you?

Don’t forget it is the United States they call Great Satan

Posted on by Keith Dvorchik

Mahmoud Khalil was arrested and set for deportation. This was because of his criminal actions, although many on the left have made this a free speech issue. I have found this to be beyond appalling. They won’t stand up when Hamas invades Israel and murders, rapes, beheads, and kidnaps civilians. They won’t stand up when Hamas uses human shields. They won’t stand up when Hamas and Hezbollah fire rockets at Israel on a daily basis for almost an entire year. They won’t stand up when the UN and UNRWA have employees that participate in the October 7th invasion, rape, murder, and kidnapping. They won’t stand up with UNRWA is found to be hiding hostages in their hospitals and schools. They won’t stand up when Hamas strangles two children under the age of 5, brutally murders their mother, and brutalizes their bodies to attempt to hide how they murdered them.

They will stand up when a Jew hater who breaks the law is arrested and is going to be deported. They will stand up to defend an institution like Columbia University who violates Title VI and doesn’t protect Jewish students when some of their Federal funding is cut. It disgusts me. It infuriates me. It makes me want to throw my arms in the air and wonder if there is a future for Jews in the United States. When it is also done by Jews, I wonder how can they be so stupid. How can they look at our history and repeat the same behavior in 1930s Germany? How can they repeat the behavior that led to the destruction of the first and second Temple?

Senator Chuck Schumer has become one of the worst. I heard him speak at the AIPAC Policy Summit in 2024 didn’t believe a word that he said because of his actions. I heard his speak at the rally in DC before the JFNA General Assembly in November 2024 when his words were so irrelevant that the audience didn’t listen to a word he said. Where the audience openly booed him. A man who previously claimed that he was “Schumer the shomer,” which means guardian in Hebrew. He promised the Jewish people that he didn’t just have their back, he also had their front. Schumer promised that he would always stand sentry before the Jewish community. What he didn’t say is that he would have our back so he could stab us in it. He would have our front so he could catch us as we fell after he stabbed us in the back. He would stand sentry and do nothing as people tried to kill us, tried to finish what Hitler started, and actively defend those who attempted this genocide.

Schumer’s statement about Mahmoud Khalil is a perfect example of this. He covers his behind with pithy statements that mean nothing and that he did nothing about. He cites the 8 month pregnant wife as significant while having ignored the pregnant wife of US citizen Sagui Dekel-Chen who was taken hostage on October 7th. He ignores the Title VI violates, he ignores the requirements of the immigration status Khalil has and the violations of that agreement, he ignores the process of deportment that is currently ongoing and instead defends the Jew hater and the behavior that terrorizes Jewish students.

Schumer embarrassingly wrote:

I abhor many of the opinions and policies that Mahmoud Khalil holds and supports, and have made my criticism of the antisemitic actions at Columbia loudly known. Mr. Khalil is also legal permanent resident here, and his wife, who is 8-months pregnant, is an American citizen. While he may well be in violation of various campus rules regarding how the protests were conducted last year, that is a matter for the university to pursue, and I have encouraged them to be much more robust in how they combat antisemitism and maintain a harassment-free campus that protects the safety and security of Jewish and other students. The Trump administration’s DHS must articulate any criminal charges or facts that would justify his detention or the initiation of deportation proceedings against him. If the administration cannot prove he has violated any criminal law to justify taking this severe action and is doing it for the opinions he has expressed, then that is wrong, they are violating the First Amendment protections we all enjoy and should drop their wrongheaded action.

Seth Mandel wrote this scathing piece about Schumer in November 2024. Who would have imagined that it would get worse. Who imagined that if the piece was being writing in March 2025 Schumer would look even worse.

Of course we have one of our favorite Jew haters, Rashinda Tlaib, chiming in. She makes sure to use the words, “bring him home”, appropriating the language used for the hostages taken by Hamas. Hostages that Tlaib doesn’t care about. Khalil wasn’t illegeally abducted, he was legally arrested. He was taken to appropriate facility and it is public knowledge. He will have a deportation hearing and based on the results of that hearing, he will either be deported or he won’t. That is our rule of law. It is being applied based on the actions of Khalil. Tlaib doesn’t care. She doesn’t believe in the rule of law when it comes to Jew haters and Jews. She is an utter disgrace to the US House of Representatives and the United States but gets defended by those who hate the Jews.

The Senate Judiciary Democrats pile on to the Jew hatred and defense of terrorists and those who not only hate Jews but act on that hatred. They wonder why the country didn’t re-elect them in the last election and have no introspection. David Hogg, Vice Chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), doubles down on the positions that led to the Democrats losing. He continues the lie of ‘abduction’ instead of arrest. He ignores the actual process related to deportation and Khalil’s immigration status to apply false regulations that do not apply. It is not a constitutional violation. It is not a first amendment issue. It’s not based on freedom of speech, it is based on what he did. Just like you are not allowed to yell fire in a crowded movie theater, there are limitations to speech, especially when you have a green card and are not a citizen.

“Immigration law does allow the federal government to deport noncitizens, even people who are green card holders,” over certain offenses or certain kinds of behavior, said Adam Cox, a law professor and immigration expert at New York University. The key is applying the law and as of now, the government has done that. This is the process. The government will have to prove their case, show that he committed these offenses or was involved in this specific type of behavior. The demands of Schumer, Tlaib, the Senate Judiciary Democrats, David Hogg, and so many others, are to not apply the law and instead treat him differently because his target is the Jews.

Maya Sulkin of The Free Press (and the daughter of friends of mine) discusses the realities of Khalil’s actions clearly. “This is someone who has been the engine behind so much of the violence we have seen on campus since October 7th”. Watch and listen to her explain the realities. While the mainstream media will highlight the Jew haters in Congress calling this freedom of speech and the protesters who hide their faces and don’t understand the law calling it freedom of speech, this is about inciting violence. About taking away the rights of others.

So lets look at the actual law, not just throw out ‘free speech’. The 1952 Immigration and Nationality Act states that if the Secretary of State has “reasonable grounds” to believe than a non-citizen poses “potentially serious adverse foreign policy and national security interests of the Unites State of America” they have grounds to deport that individual. No crime has to be committed and no criminal conviction is required. This includes anybody with a U.S. visa or a green card. That is Mahmoud Khalil’s immigration status and what the government, through Secretary of State Marco Rubio, is asserting. Note that it’s not up you or me to determine the reasonable grounds nor what the adverse interest may be, but only the government through the Secretary of State.

The facts matter. Understanding freedom of speech matters. Applying the law in an appropriate manner matters. As we have seen with the Jew haters, they don’t care about the law. They don’t care about following the rules and regulations except when it benefits them. They make things up and create their own reality in the face of the law and in the face of fairness. Khalil has been deeply involved in the unrest at Columbia since October 7, 2023 including the April 2024 takeover of Hamilton Hall in which maintenance workers were held against their will and the building was damaged. He was actively giving interviews to the Hamas-aligned Quds News Network with openly pro-Hamas signs and supported the right to resist ‘by all available means.’ The right to free speech is core to our country but there are limits as the supreme court has ruled. The law says that the government has the right to revoke his immigration status and green card and deport him if they deem him a serious risk to our national security. Like it or not, that’s the law. If you don’t like it, change the law, don’t choose to not apply it and lie about it.

Meanwhile, anytime there is an opportunity to criticize Israel or the Jews, you can count on Peter Beinart to speak up. He makes his own realities and somehow continues to be given a platform. Beinart, a self-hating Jew, is always on the wrong side of every issue when it comes to Israel and the Jews. I met him in 2015 when he spoke in Seattle. I listened to what he had to say to understand his point of view. What I came to understand is that he hates Israel. He hates the Jews. He will side with our enemies and the Jew haters EVERY SINGLE TIME. Now he chooses to use the holiday of Purim, about to be celebrated this week, as a reason to slander Israel and the Jewish people. He disgusts me. Somehow he thinks that when they kill us all, they will spare him because he was on their side. He doesn’t bother to learn the lessons from history that they hate us all.

Yet there are those who get it. There are those who actually stand on a moral high ground. Senator John Fetterman continues to speak out. He is unwavering in his fight against evil. He has recently begun to discuss the cost of being principled. How other Democrats shun him. He doesn’t care. He will do what is right regardless of the consequences. He earns my respect regularly and that respect grows each time he stands up and speaks out. I hope that he inspires others to do so. I hope that his principles inspire you and others to also speak out for what’s right. Not to believe the lies. To get educated.

We are in a war between good and evil. Hamas and their supporters are evil. As long as we allow evil to exist, it will continue to grow. Good doesn’t defeat evil by simply making it a little smaller. Good defeats evil by eliminating evil. We know that Hamas hates Israel and the Jews. Don’t forget that they call Israel and the Jews, “little Satan”. It is the United States they call “Great Satan”. People like Mahmoud Khalil go after Israel and the Jews because they can. Their ultimate target is the United States and the West. We have our laws for a reason. Let’s make sure we enforce them. The fools who defend those who want them dead can kick and scream and cry all they want. They are on the wrong side of history. Time for you to choose. Do you want to ensure your freedom or do you want to empower those who want you dead to make that happen. This isn’t a Republican or Democrat issue. This isn’t a Biden or Trump issue. Look at the words of Secretary of State Tony Blinken and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. They know it is an existential threat to us all. Fight evil with all you have because if evil wins, we all lose.

You’ve gotta fight, for your right, to get real information (sorry Beastie Boys).

Posted on by Keith Dvorchik

We have seen the pictures and videos of the hostages coming out of Gaza. They are horrifying. The images of Eli Sharabi, Ohad Ben Ami and Or Levy when they were released was horrifying. It was like watching the survivors of the Nazi death camps all over again.

Eli was brave enough to share his story in a powerful interview. It won’t be shown on 60 minutes or Dateline. It won’t be widely publicized through the western media. The question is if you will have the courage to watch the entire interview. To hear his story of captivity and torture. To experience the evil that he did. And then, will you share the interview? Will you talk about the interview? Will you make sure others see and hear the truth. The video is below. The decision is yours.

Yarden Bibas, who was kidnapped, abused, tortured, and held hostage by Hamas along with his wife Shiri (z’l), and children Ariel (z’l) and Kfir (z’l) spent 484 days in captivity. After his release we all learned that the rest of his family had been murdered by Hamas a month or so after being taken hostage. Brutally murdered, their bodies desecrated afterwards to attempt to hide how they were strangled by their evil Hamas captors. Yarden wrote a powerful letter to Prime Minister Netanyahu this week. In many ways it speaks for the Jewish people. Get the hostages back and then destroy Hamas.

Yarden Bibas giving the eulogy for his wife and two beautiful children, murdered by Hamas

Here os full letter that Yarden Bibas wrote:

Mr. Prime Minister,
My name is Yarden Bibs, and while they read my speech to you, I sit Shiva on my wife Shiri and my children Kfir and Ariel. Innocent and innocent children who were kidnapped from their homes and murdered captive. They could have and should have been saved.

The cursed terrorists conquered Nir Oz with flip-flops, my family and I were brutally kidnapped from our home to Gaza.

On that cursed morning, the state was not in Nir Oz. There were only local heroes – members of readiness classes and brave fighters, who did everything they could and even paid with their lives.
And today, 514 days later – I returned from Gaza to an unimaginable reality in which I was forced to bury my entire family in one day. I don’t wish this horrible nightmare on anyone. And despite the terrible pain, I ask you at this moment to stop. The stage of revenge has not yet reached. At this point we are obligated to immediately return our brothers, including my best friend David Kunyo and his brother Ariel. David, my friend from the first grade, the neighbor from the Kibbutz, who fell in the Hamas tunnels. I know I won’t be able to hug my children and wife anymore. But Emma and Yuli – David’s daughters, who were kidnapped by themselves to Gaza when they were only 3 years old, are waiting to hug him. Sharon’s wife deserves to hug him.

After we bring back David and all the hostages, I will be the first to support all your actions to overthrow Hamas. As a resident of Nir Oz, I know that we will be forced to defeat Hamas because otherwise we will not have security, but we must always preserve the sanctity of life, the honor of the dead and leave no one behind, otherwise we have lost who we are. Mister Prime Minister, 514 days and nights have already passed and you and your government still have not taken responsibility. The demand to set up a state inquiry committee is a demand that with israel united around it – 83% of israel citizens demand it, along with 1,500 October Council families and I am among them. Its goal is not personal persecution, but to produce lessons to prevent the next disaster. I call you Mr. Prime Minister – unite the nation israel give calm to our souls, uphold the will of the people and the families. Inform today about the establishment of a state inquiry committee that will strengthen the security of Israel prevent another disaster, and give me and everyone with israel answers.

How did it happen that nine-month-old Kfir, and four-year-old Ariel were kidnapped and murdered together with Shiri’s mother in unimaginable cruelty?

How did we get to the point that during the long hours at the police station no one came to save us?
I keep thinking and regretting that I didn’t take better care of my wife and kids. It is eating me up inside. And I only had a gun and I will be a simple citizen in a quiet kibbutz. Do you think about it? Do you also find it difficult to get through day and night without a heavy sense of responsibility for what happened? Are you able to say this loud and clear?

So many citizens are asking for forgiveness. So few politicians apologize.

So many civilians and fighters taking responsibility. So few members of government take responsibility.
My sister Ofri said at the funeral a sentence that I deeply connect with: “Forgiveness means accepting responsibility and a commitment to act differently, learning from mistakes.” There is no point in forgiving before the defectors are investigated, and all position holders will be held accountable. Our disaster as a nation and ours as a family should not have happened, and it must not, must not happen again. “I have no interest in closing account of the past, I try to gather strength and look ahead. I ask that we all do our best to make it better, more close and stronger here. From the window of the car that led us on the funeral journey, I saw the people of israel I saw a broken country – religious, secular and ultra-orthodox, standing together with flags and tears. I felt like they were really with me. I didn’t know them but I felt they were my brothers and sisters. What are you doing in leadership to maintain this togetherness? Do you get up every morning to separate or to strengthen us a little more from the inside? In my eyes it’s not less important your role than sending planes to eliminate enemies. This is our strength. This is our spirit.

In conclusion, I appeal to you Mr. Prime Minister, I have not yet entered my home in Nir Oz and I do not know what awaits me inside. I’m asking you to come along with me, to join me for the first time since October 7. I ask we do it together. If we do not look disaster in the eye, we cannot recover.“ 

Yaron Bibas letter published in many newspapers

This should be the lead on the news. After having his wife and two babies murdered by Hamas, he is not calling for vengence. He wants the rest of the hostages home. He also acknowledges the evil of Hamas and that they must be destroyed but the lives of the hostages come first. Despite the lies of the media, despite Hamas using child soldiers and human shields, the humanity of Israel is real and continues to be hidden, the lies continue to be told, and the world continues to believe them.

Amotz Eyal

My friend Amotz Eyal is the founder and CEO of TPS-IL. It’s something you have probably never heard of. Until I met Amotz, I hadn’t either. TPS-IL, officially known as The Press Service of Israel, is an Israeli news bureau. It is the equivilant of AP and Reuters only when it comes to reporting from and about Israel, TPS-IL is actually factual. Their reach across the globe, outside of America, is incredible. Last month, Amotz was in Orlando and we spent two days together. I learned so much, not just about TPS-IL but also about him.

On October 7, 2023, Amotz got a phone call that something was happening but the photographers couldn’t get there to document it. Of course he volunteered to go take pictures and video, even though he is the CEO. He told his wife he would be home by dinner. As he began taking pictures, he quickly realized that this wasn’t something small and he put his camera away and moved towards the fighting. He ended up in Sderot and took over operational command to defend the city against the Hamas invaders. He ended up home 3 months later. He is still active in the IDF, commanding an elite unit. The first morning in Orlando, he stood outside our first appointment on the phone with his unit, planning their raid of Jenin to eliminate terrorists and capture weapons. He hung up the phone, joined me for our meetings that day as if nothing was happening. The next day he showed me pictures of the weapons they captured in Jenin. If only the mainstream media (MSM) would cover what really happens.

Hamas child soldiers. This is what the Jew haters are defending.

Amotz just wrote a powerful piece in the Jerusalem post titled, Propaganda without boundaries: How Hamas exploits, abuses, weaponizes children. It should be on the front page of every newspaper, covered by every major news network, but it won’t. You can read it and see just how Hamas is inculcating hate, using children as weapons and as soldiers. It is horrifying.

The truth is cleverly hidden by the media that we see and the narrative that they tell us and want us to believe. A perfect example is the recent ‘documentary’, No Other Land, about Masafer Yatta in Judea and Samaria (often called the West Bank). The truth of the village is very different than what this alleged documentary claims and what the mainstream western media tells you. Read the article by Honest Reporting and learn the real history.

Masafer Yatta & Khan al-Ahmar: Behind the Headlines

If you want another source to read, check out the JNS article about Masafer Yatta. The truth is out there. Documented history is out there. You can choose to find out what the truth really is or you can believe what you are being fed. The choice is entirely yours.

It gets worse. Oscar-winning Pallywood star Basel Adra of No Other Land was caught on video, lying about what happened. Here he is setting fire to Palestinian structures —but telling people to say “the Jews did it” for the cameras. Facts don’t matter. The truth doesn’t matter. The media determines the story they want to tell and makes up what they need to tell it. My blood boils when I see it happen over and over and over again and nobody held accountable.

Basel Adra, now an Oscar Winning Director of a documentary that lies, is shown lying on film.

Yesterday, President Trump met in the Oval Office with eight hostages that have been released. I found this video of their interaction incredibly powerful. A few quotes really stood out for me. “Horrible, horrible stories. Not even believable.” Then, “Don’t worry, we’ll get them out.” I don’t care what you think of President Trump. Love him or hate him, it doesn’t matter. These are statements that are long overdue. You can see and hear from these 8 hostages what powerful words and actions mean to them and the hostages still in captivity. Our media will not run the stories of these hostages. The media will not highlight the torture that they endured. Freedom of the press was designed so that the press would be able to report the truth, not so they could hide behind it and lie over and over and over again. Yet that is what we are seeing. Lie after lie.

Over a decade ago, I had the opportunity to learn about a new organization, Fuente Latina, that was doing something unbelievable. Having learned that Iran was targeting the Spanish speaking world with anti-Israel propoganda and lies, founder Leah Soibel decided to create a pro-Israel media outlet to share the truth with the Spanish speaking world. In the dozen years since, the work they have done is incredible. In 2024, they took over 100 journalists from Spanish speaking countries to Israel to see with their own eyes what happend on October 7th and what Israel is really like. The content they provide to the Spanish speaking world is incredible.

They created an incredible 4 part docuseries about October 7th that focuses on the Latin Americans that were murdered and taken hostage on October 7th. Most people don’t know that Latin Americans were the largest immigrant group attacked on October 7th or that the Bibas family is Argentinian. I watched the trailer and was captivated. I don’t speak Spanish and as I listened to the tone of their voices and read the subtitles, I was overwhelmed. There was something about watching these people tell their stories, while in Israel, living as Israelis, and speaking Spanish, not Hebrew, that was incredibly powerful. Once again, you won’t see this on 60 minutes or Dateline. You won’t see this type of reporting in our mainstream media. The truth has to fight ten times harder to overcome the lies. Watch the trailer. I’ve seen it half a dozen times or more and it gets me every single time. I can’t wait for the docuseries to be available.

Fuente Latina’s trailer for the docuseries. I can’t wait to see the full series. Incredibly powerful.

So what do you want to do? Do you want to be a lemming who believes the lies they are told? Do you want to ensure you are on the wrong side of history? Do you want to find real information and fight for truth and against the lies. Are you willing to do the work it takes in today’s world to get beyond consuming whatever those in charge want to feed you and instead learn for yourself?

I always go back to the great CBS anchorman Walter Cronkite for inspiration. He knew his job was to share the news, the facts, and the truth and let the viewer consume, digest, and interpret. His tag line, “and that’s the way it is” was the gold standard and his newscasts should be required viewing for all those who are a part of the media today. His final broadcast as the anchorman of the CBS Evening news, ironically enough March 6, 1981, was a classic, but in hindsight, he was very wrong. He talks about a supurb team of journalists and unfortunately that isn’t the case any longer. The news is part of the entertainment division and they are going to tell you a story, the story they want to tell, and it is up to you to decide if you want to consume it. Far too many people don’t understand they are now watching a story created by the entertainment division, not getting the facts. The hardest thing to hear him say is, “and none of that will change.” Walter was very wrong. It has changed.

Each time I write this blog, I think of Walter Cronkite, because I’m going to tell it like it is, or at least how I see it. I’m tired of lies. I’m tired of being fed BS by those with their own agenda. I’ve long tired of being told by others who is good and who bad, who is right and who is wrong, what I should believe in and what I should fight against. The days of Walter Cronkite being the voice and face you could trust to give you the facts are long gone. Now it’s up to each of us to be our own Walter Cronkite. Are you up for the challenge?

Wonder Woman for the Win

Posted on by Keith Dvorchik

In January 2025, the Palm Beach Post’s editorial page editor Tony Doris decided to run a political cartoon about the hostages being released from over a year of captivity in Gaza by the terrorist organization Hamas. Doris, who is Jewish, somehow thought that politicizing the kidnapping and torture of innocent civilians was appropriate. The cartoon itself, places no blame or responsibility on Hamas, who invaded Israel, murdered, raped, beheaded, kidnapped, and tortured those they encountered. Even the headline, “a year of merciless war” is clearly a political mistatement as there was no war until Hamas invaded on October 7, 2023 and kidnapped the hostages. It doesn’t reflect any of the terrorists killed in the 40,000 number or any of those killed by Hamas. It is a symbol of the increased Jew hatred and what is wrong with our media.

The Jewish Federation of Palm Beach immediately addressed the cartoon, taking out a full page ad in the newspaper the following Sunday. Gannett, the owners of the newspaper, took the allegation seriously and met with leadership to address the publication of the cartoon, even admitting that the proper protocals were not followed and had they been followed, the cartoon would not have run. They suspended Doris and investigated the situtation before firing him a week later for violating company policy.

“The cartoon did not meet our standards. We sincerely regret the error and have taken appropriate action to prevent this from happening again.” stated Lark-Marie Anton, a Palm Beach Post spokesperson.

Yet it was not until this week, the first week of March, that the firing became public. Both Doris and Jeff Danziger, who drew the cartoon, gave the typical pithy defense. They were criticizing war. They were criticizing the policy of the Israeli government. One is a war veteran so he ‘knows’ what he is talking about. The other is Jewish and believes Israel has a right to exist (but not to defend herself when attacked and not to hold those who invade, murder, rape, kidnap, and torture civilians responsible). Thankfully the leadership of the Federation spoke up. Thankfully Gannett didn’t buy the BS being offered this time. It’s a big deal and shows what standing up and speaking out can do. Neither Doris or Danziger will ever understand what was wrong with the cartoon and choosing the publish it. Neither will ever admit the inherent Jew hatred in drawing and publishing the cartoon. They were held accountable for their actions, which is a big change from what we have seen since October 7th.

To understand how disgusting the cartoon and the hatred that is behind it really are, read the article about the interview with Eli Sherabi, released after 491 days of captivity. A few highlights. Near lynching (by civilians). Starvation. Beatings. Monthly showers with a half a bucket of cold water. “A year and four months shackled by my legs, with chains that wrap around me, with very, very heavy locks that tear at your flesh.”

Eli Sherabi, a hostage in Gaza for 491 days.

His interview has gotten no publicity in the United States. His description of the horrors he faced are not a main story. The evilness of Hamas is not on display because the media doesn’t think it will sell. I urge you to read the interview. It is hard to read, hard to imagine what he and the others endured, hard to believe the world sat idly by. The Red Cross and UN are proven to be worse than I even thought when I think of how complicit they are in what he and others endured. If Eli could endure his captors’ torture, the least I can do is speak out. The least I can do is use my voice and fight back against the Jew hatred. I have the easy part. Any time I think what I have to do is difficult, all I have to do is reread the interview and remember what Eli endured is hard. The rest is not.

The stupidity of antisemites never fails to amaze me. I saw this exchange and rather than make me angry, it made me laugh and cry just a little bit. It’s like those who deny Jews lived in Israel and Jerusalem before Islam and can’t understand why we built a holy wall for our Temple beneath Dome of the Rock and Al Aqsa Mosque.

If I had to bet, lorrie is either a bible thumper who can quote the story of the sale of Joseph into slavery and his interpretation of Phaoroah’s dreams or a major fan of broadway who has seen Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat multiple times. Yet can’t put two and two together.

I wrote about the Academy Awards and specifically about the accusation made by Basel Adra, one of the Directors of the award winning film, No Other Land. Since then, as result of Adra’s blatent lie, accusing Israel of ethnic cleansing, I have done a little bit of research into the story behind the movie. What I have learned is fascinating. It also both debunks the premise of the movie and highlights just how prevelant antisemitism is in Hollywood and how much they like to promote lies about the Jewish homeland. This is what was written about the movie and the story they tell.

The Film ‘No Other Land’ Sparked Significant Controversy.

In reality, the film is based on a complete Palestinian falsehood known as “Masafer Yatta.”
Let’s talk about it for a bit.

First of all, the film tells the story of Masafer Yatta. The film attempts to convey the narrative that Palestinians have lived there for hundreds of years and that Israel suddenly decided to evict them.
In reality, this was abandoned land that nomadic Bedouins occasionally used for grazing and sometimes took shelter in the caves there. 

In fact, Palestinian construction in the area only began in the 1990s. Before that, there were caves that Bedouins used as seasonal dwellings.  The most important point: Until 1993, the Israeli Air Force conducted attack training in the area. These were full-scale military exercises—of the kind that made permanent residence impossible. This fact alone proves that no permanent settlement existed there.

Only in 1999 did Palestinians file a petition with the court. The simple reason? Until then, the area was of no importance to them, and no one lived there permanently. It’s also worth noting that even afterward, they never presented any ownership documents.

Summary:
Palestinians have never provided evidence that the area belonged to them. Even more striking, it was only many years after the military had been active there that they began constructing homes.

Attached is a screenshot of the court ruling, with an English translation:
ynet.co.il/news/article/r…

בג”ץ: אפשר לפנות מאות פלסטינים המתגוררים בשטח אש בדרום הר חברוןבתום מחלוקת ארוכת שנים, דחה בג”ץ שתי עתירות של פלסטינים החיים בשטח שנמצא בשליטת צה”ל. השופט מינץ קבע כי “ערב ההכרזה על שטח אש לא היו מגורים קבועים בגבולותיו”, אך הוסיף כי העותרים יוכלו להיכנס לאזור לצ…https://www.ynet.co.il/news/article/ryxs6swuq

The judge rebuked the petitioners for exploiting the legal battle to continue illegal construction,
even though the court had conditioned its injunctions against demolition on a halt to further illegal building.

In other words: All the demolition footage was staged. They built in a prohibited area precisely so that the IDF would demolish their homes, allowing them to document and publicize it. 

A side note relevant to the previous point:

At 11:15 in the film, they explicitly discuss their strategy to prevent what they fear most:
“I think we can stop the eviction. It will happen if we document and work on the ground.”

It’s astounding how openly Palestinians reveal their well-worn tactic that Israel has been blind to for years: provoking a confrontation, standing by with cameras, and capturing the perfect moment. This is textbook Pallywood. Anyone familiar with Palestinian tactics—not Westerners unfamiliar with their methods—knows that this means: “Let’s stir up trouble, capture the perfect moment, edit around it, and publish.”

This is the same trick they’ve used thousands of times: A soldier turns his rifle, they freeze the frame the moment it’s aimed at a civilian, and they frame it as if he is targeting an innocent bystander.

By the way, the Arabic word ‘Masafer’ means ‘nothing.’ Many believed the area was worthless. 

What bothered me personally the most was the use of children.
And it’s a shame Hollywood enables this.
The same way they arm their children and encourage them to commit acts of terror,
The same way Hamas builds tunnels under schools,
The same way they always send their children—whom they love less than they hate us—into the line of fire, hoping they’ll get hurt so they can parade them in front of cameras,
That’s exactly how children were used in this film.

Why use children and force them to live in a conflict zone solely for political purposes? 

Did you know they even stole the film’s title from the Jews?

https://twitter.com/GAZAWOOD1/status/1896607745949773832

Summary: Why are Palestinians trying to seize Masafer Yatta?

The Palestinian push to take over Masafer Yatta is not coincidental and not simply a ‘survival struggle’ as international media portrays it. This is a well-planned strategy motivated by demographic, political, and territorial considerations in the battle for control of the West Bank.

1. Creating ‘facts on the ground’ as part of the fight for Area C
2. Masafer Yatta is in Area C—territory under full Israeli control according to the Oslo Accords.
3. The Palestinian Authority knows it has no official authority there, so it promotes illegal construction to establish footholds and turn them into permanent settlements.

The goal?

1. International pressure leading to de facto recognition of Palestinian control over the land. 2. Establishing Palestinian territorial continuity and breaking Jewish settlement
3. Masafer Yatta lies between southern Hebron and the Negev—a strategic area linking West Bank 4. Palestinian communities with Bedouin populations in the Negev.
5. Palestinian control there isolates Jewish settlements, preventing Jewish territorial continuity between the Negev and the Hebron region.

European Union & international support

1. The EU directly funds illegal Palestinian construction in the area, despite it being a designated military firing zone.
2. Palestinians receive financial and logistical aid from European left-wing NGOs looking to push an anti-Israel narrative by manufacturing a “forced eviction crisis.”


Exploiting legal and media platforms

1. Palestinians use courts and media to frame the issue as “forced displacement of traditional residents,” even though the area was historically used only for grazing, not for permanent settlement.
2. Branding the conflict as a ‘human rights project’ recruits global support and hinders Israeli sovereignty enforcement.


Conclusion: This is a strategic battle, not a defense of ‘ancient villages.’ The Masafer Yatta narrative as “historical villages” is not backed by facts—permanent settlement began only in the 1990s. The real goal is political: To create Palestinian territorial continuity, isolate Jewish communities, and weaken Israeli control over Area C. The use of media and courts is a calculated move to generate international pressure and solidify Palestinian presence as an irreversible reality.

This isn’t about “another Israeli injustice”—it’s a deliberate strategic operation backed by European funding and a manipulated narrative. 

To mock this film and the way it takes lies and spins it into truth, a fake sequel was created based on October 7th. It is ironic, sad, pathetic, anger inducing, and ultimately a good view into how the world enables terrorists to tell lies to advance their Jew hatred.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1896516233895580145

How do you wrap up a post that starts with a horrific cartoon, has an interview with a released hostage that documents how he was terrorized, beaten, and abused, has a small bit of humor, and thencalls out the lies of an Oscar winning movie? What can possibly sum it all up? I wasn’t sure as I wrote or as I thought how this post would end. And then I saw and listened to Gal Gadot at the ADL conference today. I am not going to comment on it, break it down, or analyze it. I am going to let you listen and feel the impact of her words. We can stand up and speak out. We must stand up and speak out.

My name is Keith. I’m a father, a husband, a brother, a son, a professional, American, a Zionist, and I’m Jewish. I’m going to say it again. My name is Keith and I am Jewish.

The Oscars and Hollywood are dead to me

Posted on by Keith Dvorchik

Hollywood has been a bastian of Jew hatred. Despite there being a long history of Jewish leadership in Hollywood and in the industry, many of today’s celebrities are open with their Jew hatred and have no fear of sharing their bigotry and hate of Jews while condemning hate against any other organization. Whether it is Susan Sarandon, Mark Ruffalo, Selena Gomez, Mel Gibson, Bella and Gigi Gigi Hadid, Jon Cusack, Roger Waters, Cynthia Nixon, Kanye West, or many others that I could fill this blog with by name, they are not afraid to share their Jew hatred on a public stage.

The Oscars (Academy Awards Ceremony) is no different. Once again they banned the yellow ribbon hostage pins as being too political while allowing the red hands pins, which celebrate the murder of Jews. I have lost interest in the movie industry and rarely go to the movies any longer. I no longer watch anything these hateful people are affiliated with. It is much easier than you would think.

Last night, I had no plans to watch the award ceremony when my son turned it on. I didn’t pay much attention and didn’t ask him to turn it off. When Selena Gomez was announcing the awards, I thought in my head, this is why I stopped with this industry – a clear Jew hater who has shown this over and over again, is given the honor of presenting. A few minutes later, the documentary No Other Land won. I didn’t pay much attention until the director began to speak. When he called to ‘stop the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people” I asked my son to turn it off. There is no ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people. Their population continues to increase year over year. It is yet another lie that the media continues to allow and often encourage. I knew there would be no consequence for this statement, no correction of his lie, and nobody with the courage to stand up on that stage at a later date with morals and ethics to address what he said. Last night Hollywood and the movie industry officially died for me. I have no interest in them, the big screen actors, or the films they make. I won’t watch anything that those who actively speak out with Jew hatred are affiliated with. I can live without them. We all can live without them. They can’t live without us.

https://twitter.com/Variety/status/1896385264970543313

This is a big part of the problem we face. Those who hate us will openly say so. They will lie, make up facts with no basis, speak their lies from every public stage possible to get them spread far, wide, and fast. Those who have the same stage and platform to combat this hatred simply don’t. There are a few who will speak out. Most do not. Nobody last night after Basel Asdra’s lie was going to address it because they might lose a future job. They might get criticized. They were too afraid to simply say, “war is terrible but there is no ethnic cleansing and there is no genocide in Gaza. We must stop the lies.” So the lie becomes the story as if it was truth. Adra gets congratulated for speaking out against something that isn’t happening.

This cannot continue to happen. It is our obligation to speak out against Jew hatred and the lies that are being told. Our silence simply ensures our destruction. Nobody spoke out about how Hamas murdered the Bibas children. Nobody spoke out about how Hamas won’t extend the ceasefire. Nobody spoke out against the terrorists murdering civilians in Israel and Hamas and the Houthis congratulating them and encouraging more. Nobody spoke out against the pay for slay policy of the Palestinian Authority, which got great coverage when they supposedly stopped it but really haven’t.

We have failed in teaching our people to speak out in our defense. We have failed in teaching our people how to lead and how do what is right. They know the talking points. Tikkun Olam. Tzedukah. Wonderful words that are meaningless without real action. Where were the Jewish celebrities at the Oscars last night who got up after the lie of ethnic cleansing was stated and walked out. Who made public statements that they won’t stay in a room where those lies are allowed to grow. Where were the celebrities who boldly stated, “If I can’t wear a pin to bring awareness to people kidnapped, tortured, and murdered, I won’t attend!” Nowhere to be found.

While we won’t find them in Hollywood, we finally had somebody who did stand up. Professor Deborah Lipstadt, United States Special Envoy for Monitoring and Combating Anti-Semitism under the Biden Administration finally spoke loudly from her public forum. I have met her in the past and she is a woman of integrity. I was disappointed in her performance in her role with the Biden Administration as I had hoped she would be much more vocal and public. I had hoped she would be the public face and leading the fight against the Jew hatred on college campuses and outside Jewish spaces that we saw after October 7th. Unfortunately, we never saw that side of her. No longer in that role, she finally spoke up and spoke out loudly against the Jew hatred on college campuses, specifically addressing what has been happening at Columbia. While I wish she had done it in her official role, she has finally done it. In a powerful piece published in The Free Press yesterday, she explained clearly why she has rejected the opportunity to be a visiting professor at Columbia. It was long overdue.

A few quotes pulled from her piece struck me. “But watching Barnard capitulate to mob violence and fail to enforce its own rules and regulations led me to conclude that I could not go to Columbia University, even for a single semester.” If she, a learned professor, highly educated, well written, read, and spoken, couldn’t go there even for a semester, how could we as a Jewish people send our children there for college? How can the Federal Government continue to fund an institution that has gotten so bad that the former United States Special Envoy for Monitoring and Combating Anti-Semitism wouldn’t go there to teach for even a single semester? What makes Jew hatred so special that it is allowed to flourish while all other hate is quickly addressed? What will it take for Federal funding to be removed from these type of institutions? Lynching of Jews? Is one enough? Half a dozen? Do we need 50 or 100 on a campus?

As she lists her three (3) reasons for declining the appointment, Professor Lipstadt makes an incredible indictment of Columbia, our current University environment, and the lack of response from our Government, especially the administration she served. She wrote:

My decision to withdraw my name from consideration for a teaching post at Columbia is based on three calculations.

First, I am not convinced that the university is serious about taking the necessary and difficult measures that would create an atmosphere that allows for true inquiry.

Second, I fear that my presence would be used as a sop to convince the outside world that “Yes, we in the Columbia/Barnard orbit are fighting antisemitism. We even brought in the former Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism.” I will not be used to provide cover for a completely unacceptable situation.

Third, I am not sure that I would be safe or even able to teach without being harassed. I do not flinch in the face of threats. But this is not a healthy or acceptable learning environment.

Her first reason questions the integrity and purpose of the University. If it isn’t doing that, should it even exist? Perhaps Columbia should be shut down entirely, the way a campus would shut down a fraternity that was behaving poorly and allow them to restart a few years later. Perhaps Columbia should be shut down for 3-4 years, all staff fired, all students forced to transfer elsewhere, while they then had an opportunity to restart with integrity and a new, clear focus on education.

Her second reason has been obvious to most who have been paying attention on college campuses for a while. It’s not new, merely new to her because it would be her name being used. Bringing Peter Beinart or Norman Finklestein to campus as the token Jew does not represent the larger Jewish community and does not provide cover except to those who are Jew haters and want to say they brought a Jew who agreed with them. It’s sad that it took her until now to speak out about this instead of when she had a powerful position within the Biden administration.

The thired reason is a clear indictment of the Federal Government’s enforcement of Title VI. Students have had to deal with an unacceptable learning environment while the Government sat on its hands and did nothing. They made settlements with Universities that accomplished no change. If Dr. Lipstadt, a true icon in the field, an educator with incredible credentials and a history of addressing antisemitism says it is not a healthy or acceptable learning environment, then WHY IS IT ALLOWED TO CONTINUE? Why does the Federal Government continue funding their research, student loans, and every other type of funding they provide? If a true expert on antisemitism says it’s not an acceptable learning environment and so she won’t teach there, why should any student be learning there? Why should we be funding this type of education?

What I have come to realize is that as the author David Baddiel wrote, Jews Don’t Count. Written and released well before the horrific events of October 7, 2023 and all that has happened since then, this should be required reading by all members of Government. If we are truly to have, what President Lincoln so elequently stated in the Gettysburgh Address, a “government of the people, by the people, for the people” and that it “shall not perish from the earth” then we must address this. We cannot allow Jew hatred to go unchallenged. We cannot encourage those who find reasons to allow or support Jew hatred to continue to do so. Jews do count. It is our job and responsiblity to make sure the world knows this. Staying silent doesn’t work and we can never stay silent again.

Earlier today I was talking with a friend who shared the frustration of having a conversation where two others were debating whether Jews had to join with the far left or the far right to accomplish our goal of staying alive. I found that topic absurd. Should we pander to the far left who thinks we are evil and only want to harm other groups or are we better pandering to the far right, who thinks we killed Jesus and use the blood of Christian children to make Matzo for Passover? When we pander to any group, we always lose.

The comedian Michael Rappaport wrote a great piece about this today. A Canadian politician, Heather McPherson, is trying to ban his entrance into Canada using lies, mistatements, and overgeneralizations. Instead of doing her job and protecting Canadians, she is focused on attacking the Jews. Rappaport won’t take it. He won’t be silent and he won’t let her win. He openly calls her out, writing, “The irony is that McPherson, in her post, asserted that “hate has no place in Canada”—except, of course, when hate is directed toward Jews, which Canada apparently has no problem with.” He doesn’t stop there, writing, “the real issue is this: Fifty-nine hostages, both dead and alive, are still being held by Hamas in Gaza. Rather than call attention to that—or the horrific antisemitism sweeping her own country—this member of Parliament is spending her capital making pleas to keep me out, rather than fixing whatever is going wrong in her own backyard. (Hey Heather, you might want to get to the bottom of why the great people of Edmonton are sawing down the statues of women’s rights pioneers!)”

The same way that I won’t be quiet and won’t hide, Rappaport is one of the most public and vocal supporters of Israel and fighting the lies. He writes, “I don’t look for trouble. I do, however, refuse to give in to bullies. That’s why, since October 7, I’ve called out people in Hollywood who have remained silent on this issue, who haven’t had the moral backbone to denounce the moral depravity of those who stand on the side of a terrorist regime.” Let’s be like Michael Rappaport. Let’s fight back, stand up to bullies, and use our moral backbone. We can call out those who need to be called out and stop supporting those who hate us.

Michael Rapaport speaks at rally outside ‘The Hostages and Missing Square’ on December 16, 2023, in Tel Aviv, Israel. (Alexi J. Rosenfeld via Getty Images)

I can be done with Hollywood and the movie industry. I can refuse to support the actors and musicians who show their Jew hatred. I can take action with those who support Jew hatred included our elected politicians. I can support those who stand up to Jew hatred and publicly commend them. The one thing I can’t and won’t do is be silent. I urge you not to be silent either.

Mi Amor – Tears are flowing openly

Posted on by Keith Dvorchik

In May 2024, while I was in Israel, two IDF soldiers were killed in Gaza. A day later, we were at the site where the bodies of IDF soldiers and those murdered by Hamas and terrorists are prepared for burial. I will never forget standing outside the van as the coffin holding the body of one of these soldiers was put into the van and then the procession began to take him home to be buried. The back doors remained open so we could be with him as he began his final trip home. One of our members was saying kaddish for his mother and so he said it for the soldier as well. All of our “Amens” were filled with passion. We walked with him as he left the parking lot and began this final journey.

Today the Bibas family took that same final journey. As I watched the video of the beginning of the procession, I was brought back to that day in May. The tears flowing now were the same tears flowing from our group then. The images now are the same as the images then. My heart is broken today just as it was then.

Thousands of Israelis joined along the route taking Shiri, Ariel, and Kfir home for the final time. They had become a part of everybody’s family. Their pictures were at my Seder table, the similarities between their family and mine too similar to not notice. I do not know the family. I have never met the family. Yet I feel that they are a part of my family. Like Jews all around the world, their story, their horror, and their ultimate violent murder. We grieve with Yarden and the family over the loss of this beautiful woman and her beautiful children. It hurts for us as well.

When I read the eulogy by Yarden Bibas, I openly wept. I’m not sure how anybody can read his words and not. It is too easy to see ourselves in his place. They are powerful, loving, painful and emotional. His loss is overwhelming. Yarden’s eulogy follows:

“Mi Amor”

I remember the first time I said “mi amor” to you. It was at the very beginning of our relationship. You told me to only call you that if I was certain I loved you, not to say it carelessly. I didn’t say it then because I didn’t want you to think I was rushing to say “I love you.” Shiri, I’ll confess to you now that I already loved you back then when I said “mi amor.”

Shiri, I love you and will always love you!

Shiri, you are everything to me!

You are the best wife and mother there could be.

Shiri, you are my best friend.

Mishmish, who will help me make decisions now? How am I supposed to make decisions without you?

Do you remember our last decision together?

In the safe room, I asked if we should “fight or surrender.” You said fight, so I fought.

Shiri, I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you all. If only I had known what would happen, I wouldn’t have fired.

I think about everything we went through together—there are so many beautiful memories.

I remember Ariel and Kfir’s births. I remember the days we would sit at home or in a café, just the two of us, talking for hours about everything under the sun. It was wonderful. I miss those times deeply.

Your presence is profoundly missed.

I want to tell you about everything that’s happening in the world and here in Israel.

Shiri, everyone knows and loves us—you can’t imagine how surreal all this madness is.

Shiri, people tell me they’ll always be by my side, but they’re not you. So please stay close to me and don’t go far!

Shiri, this is the closest I’ve been to you since October 7th, and I can’t kiss or hug you, and it’s breaking me!

Shiri, please watch over me…

Protect me from bad decisions. Shield me from harmful things and protect me from myself. Guard me so I don’t sink into darkness.

Mishmish, I love you!

Chuki, Ariel,

You made me a father. You transformed us into a family.

You taught me what truly matters in life and about responsibility.

The day you were born, I matured instantly because of you. You taught me so much about myself, and I want to thank you.

So thank you, my beloved.

Ariel, I hope you’re not angry with me for failing to protect you properly and for not being there for you. I hope you know I thought about you every day, every minute.

I hope you’re enjoying paradise. I’m sure you’re making all the angels laugh with your silly jokes and impressions. I hope there are plenty of butterflies for you to watch, just like you did during our picnics.

Chuki, be careful when you climb down from your cloud not to step on Toni…

Teach Kfir all your impressions and make everyone laugh up there.

Ariel, I love you “the most in the world, always in the world,” just as you used to tell us.

Poopik, Kfir,

I didn’t think our family could be more perfect, and then you came and made it even more perfect…

I remember your birth. I remember during the delivery when the midwife suddenly stopped everything—we were frightened and thought something was wrong—but it was just to tell us we had another redhead. Mom and I laughed and rejoiced.

You brought more light and happiness to our little home. You came with your sweet, captivating laugh and smile, and I was instantly hooked!

It was impossible not to nibble on you all the time.

Kfir, I’m sorry I didn’t protect you better, but I need you to know that I love you deeply and miss you terribly!

I miss nibbling on you and hearing your laughter.

I miss our morning games when mom would ask me to watch you before I went to work. I cherished those little moments so much, and I miss them now more than ever!

Kfir, I love you the most in the world, always in the world!

I have so many more things to tell you all, but I’ll save them for when we’re alone.

Yarden Bibas giving his eulogy of his wife and children who were murdered by Hamas

The Palm Beach Synagogue dedicated a Torah in memory of Shiri Bibas and her children Ariel and Kfir. Yarden Bibas and the entire family gathered together and completed the last letters of the Torah. Yarden wrote the last three letters in loving memory of his wife and children. He said he wants to dedicate the Torah to the Synagogue in the Kibbutz where his children had their Brit Milah. As Yarden and his family prepare for a future they never expected, never wanted, and prayed and hoped would not look like it does, this Torah gave them hope, strength and comfort. May Yarden and the family find peace and hope through this Torah and through the actions of many in the world to do better, to be better, in memory of Shiri, Ariel, and Kfir Bibas and in honor of Yarden Bibas and his will and fight to live after losing what is most precious to him.

In the midst of our grieving for the brutal murders of Shiri, Ariel, and Kfir Bibas, we get the example of ignorance, entitlement, and hatred this Sunday at the Oscars. A number of Jew hating, entitled, ignorant, uninformed, and awful celebrities who are a part of Artists4Ceasefire are planning on wearing the red hands pins at the Oscars. Jewish Hollywood has spoken out against them. These “people” have no idea idea what they are supporting. They don’t know the history of the red hand symbol. What they mean and where they come from.

Go to the Artists4Ceasefire website to see who these celebrities are that by wearing this red hands pin are basically putting on a white sheet and hood against the Jewish people. While most of the signers are people I have never heard of or are well known Jew haters, there are some that disappoint me. I enjoy their acting, their music, their art. I choose to not support these ‘artists’ or any of the art they produce because I refuse to support hate. I have deleted Bryan Adams and Annie Lenox from my playlist. I will no longer watch Bradley Cooper, Ben Affleck, Channing Tatum or Selena Gomez on the big or small screen. Jennifer Lopez and Peter Gabriel join my list to avoid. Know that each one of them is declaring themselves to be racists. To be filled with hatred and bigotry. Each one who wears a pin, who signs their name to this effort, is effectively saying they are a member of the KKK. I learned long ago to believe people when they tell you who they are. Every person on their list has self identified as a Jew hating, antisemitic, horrible human being and those on the list who are Jewish break my heart a little more.

Montana Tucker is leading the charge and speaking out. We need more like her.

Screenshot

I no longer watch award shows because they enable this type of bigotry and hatred. I no longer support many of these ‘artists’ who espouse their Jew hatred. I was proud and excited when Jon Cusack blocked me on X/Twitter because I called out his racism, Jew hatred and bigotry regularly. They aren’t entitled to anything. Would you support them showing up at the Oscars in a white sheet, declaring their support of the KKK and hatred towards to African American community? Then why support their showing their hatred towards the Jewish community? Why the double standard. My life is no less because I don’t watch anything Mark Ruffalo, a noted Jew hater, is involved with. The same with Susan Sarandon, Jon Cusack, and many others.

Perhaps the greatest honor we can give to the Bibas family, the best way we can honor the memory of Shiri, Ariel, and Kfir, is to stand up to the Jew hatred that resulted in their murder. To hold those accountable who speak out in support of this hatred and their murders. To invest in life and being Jewish. To raise our children and grandchildren to know their story and the story of all those murdered on October 7th and those taken hostage. To remind everybody, including Jews, that it is not just stories in the history book or in the Tanach, it is happening right now, right here, right in front of them. To teach them about the modern state of Israel, raise them as proud Zionists and proud Jews.

History has shown us that when we take action, God is with us and good things happen. History has also shown us that we try to blend in, become part of the majority, shirk our identity, put our heads in the sand, and think of ourselves as anything but Jews first, what happens.

In memory of the Bibas family, all the hostages who have been murdered, in honor of all those taken and still alive, and all those who are actively fighting for the future and safety of the Jewish people, don’t sit quietly on the sideline. Step up. Speak out. Take a position. Get educated. Share what you learn. Spread the truth and fight the lies. I know that I will.

The Bibas kids teddy bear at their grave.
The gravesite of Shiri, Ariel, and Kfir Bibas (z’l)

We are at war with utter savages. Not human beings who are capable of savagery. Just savages. Irredeemable savages.

Posted on by Keith Dvorchik

I do a lot of reading to keep up with things. I don’t depend on one source or one type of opinion (although my wife gives me grief for reading the NY Post, but honestly as a Yankee fan, it is for the sports more than anything else).

The latest image and story that has captivated my heart and mind is about Ariel Bibas’s best friend, Yoav. The story that has been shared is that Yoav has been waiting for his friend to come back from Gaza. He saved a Batman costume for him. He wrote him letters. It’s an incredible friendship story that inspires me to be a better person and a better friend. A 5 year old has become my teacher.

This morning, in Daniel Gordis’s substack, Israel from the Inside, he told an incredible story about Yoav. When told that his friend Ariel would not be coming home from Gaza alive, Yoav refused to accept it. He said, “If he’s coming back in a coffin, maybe he’s standing inside it, which means he’s still alive. He’s still alive, Mommy, you didn’t understand correctly. Because if Ariel is a khalal [Hebrew for “fallen soldier”], it means he’s flying in space [the Hebrew word for “space” is also khalal]. He can’t die. In Israel, there are very smart people, right Mom? So maybe they can invent a special potion that will bring Ariel and Kfir back to life.”

Oh to be 5 years old. To think the impossible is possible. To not really understand complete evil. The innocence of childhood. I hope that Yoav never loses that gift and that he never forgets his best friend Ariel. Maybe Yoav will be the one who changes the world, brings peace, leads the effort to eliminate hate. We can only hope.

Daniel also wrote very clearly and powerfully what I have been feeling. He said it much more succinctly that I have been able to do. He wrote, “We are at war not with mere enemies. We are at war with utter savages. Not human beings who are capable of savagery. Just savages. Irredeemable savages.” RIght to the point. Those who protest on college campuses, in the streets, and other places about Israel defending herself simply don’t understand the reality. They want us dead. Period. No ‘ifs, ands, or buts’. There is no common ground to be found. I am reminded of the famous political cartoon that states it better than any words can.

If we met them halfway, their demands wouldn’t change and we would simply have lost half of the Jewish population. That’s the reality. That’s who we are dealing with.

Nobody said that the Nazis should be allowed to stay in power or have their own Nazi Germany state as a part of Germany after World War II. There are laws to ensure that a child molestor won’t live close to their victim but also not close to any child. Nobody expects a victim of sexual assault to give their attacker a room in their home or welcome them to live in their neighborhood. Yet that is what is expected of Israel. To not just welcome these utter savages as neighbors but to enable them to rebuild their military strength and to be able to once again brutally attack, murder, kidnap, rape, and massacre the Israeli people. It’s beyond absurd.

The past week has been one where I flipflop between anger and range and sadness. Ariel, Kfir and Shiri Bibas’s murders and the stories coming out about how they were murdered along with what Hamas and the terrorists did to their bodies afterwards has my blood boiling. I’ve been in a place of anger and rage much more than sadness. Anger for what they endured. Anger for Yarden and what he has lost forever. Rage at the world who continues to enable and defend the monsters that strangled a 10 month old boy and 4 year old boy and then mutilated their bodies trying to cover up what they did. Enraged at fools like AOC and Bernie Sanders who continue to blame Israel for what the terrorists did and continue to do. Bernie pretends to take a moral stand by defending terrorists and is once again attempting to thwart efforts to support Israel against these savages.

In today’s Israel from the Inside, Daniel Gordis gives me hope and something to strive for. He highlights the Statement from the Bibas family about the upcoming funerals for Shiri, Ariel, and Kfir. They recognize that the country and the Jewish diaspora has an emotional attachment with the family and these children. They also recognize their own need to grieve in their own way this horror. It’s an incredible statement with compassion, care, pain, and beauty.

Daniel then points out, “That’s the difference between them and us. Chants for revenge at Nasrallah’s “funeral”, versus a request for a private, intimate parting at a kibbutz. Murderous savages hailed by their “people,” versus a wife who, too excited for words, just posts three words from a classic poem and that brief post makes the headlines of Israel’s most-read newspaper. 

Irredeemable savage evil, versus a people that still believes in the possibility of goodness. A death cult embraced on American campuses “led” by administrations that have so lost their moral compass that they can’t even say that it’s wrong, versus a national liberation movement (ours, and it’s called “Zionism”) that still insists on believing that better days can lie ahead.”

He reminded me that we are different. That our essence is different. We love and treasure life. We revere it. We respect it. We honor the loss of it. They love and treasure death. They revere death. They celebrate death. We are not the same. Recognizing this, the question becomes, so what do I do with this difference? Daniel tells us in his closing of this piece.

“But that that is what we as a people must do is not in doubt. On a week when what we want most is to obliterate them, the way that we win is by being as different from them as we possibly can.” So we have our charge. We must maintain being as different from them as we possibly can. As much as the anger in me wants them to all be destroyed, Gaza to become a parking lot, eliminate them all so that we don’t make a mistake and let any of the evil continue, that is not who we are and that is not who I am. I’m still struggling with me standing in Kfar Aza during May 2024, watching and listening to the bombs being dropped in Jabaliya and that being the only thing that brought relief and peace to my soul. I said it then and I repeat it now, that is NOT who I am. That is NOT who I want to be. It was who I was in that moment. Our job is to lean into life. Our job is to do all that we can to be better human beings, not to match their level of depravity.

I had a friend reach out to me last week with a challenge she was facing and ask for my help. I was happy to help and did my part. The thanks she gave me over and over was overwhelming. I didn’t help for the thanks. I didn’t help because I was a ‘big shot with connections’. I helped because it was the right thing to do. Thank you Daniel Gordis for your piece this morning that reminded me not only THAT we are different from them but WHY we are different from them. And reminding me that vengance will only make me more evil and will not bring light to the world and to my soul. They will get what is coming to them. I need to work to be a better person and to celebrate life every minute of every day. The anger and rage is still there but it’s quieter now. I don’t need vengence to honor the lives of Shiri, Ariel, and Kfir Bibas. I need to bring more light into the world to replace their light that was eliminate by evil.

Art by Joanne Fink. Visit her website for more beautiful pieces that will inspire you. https://zenspirations.com/

Time for Lions, not sheep

Posted on by Keith Dvorchik
Beautiful art in memory of the Bibas children and the missing Shiri Bibas by Joanne Fink

I’m exhausted physically, emotionally, and spiritually today. I didn’t think I had anything left to write. And then a few things happened that changed that.

First, my friend Joanne Fink, an amazing artist, shared what she created in memory of the Bibas children and to remember Shiri Bibas, who’s body was not returned yesterday and who remains missing. This powerful piece of art both warmed and broke my heart at the same time. I look at the pictures of the two boys, Ariel and Kfir, and see their sweetness. I look at Shiri and see a mother in love with her husband and two children, with a family and dreams that were shattered. It leaves me warm inside, broken inside, and confused. I rotate between aching for Yarden Bibas who survived nearly 500 days of captivity and torture by Hamas only to come home to discover his children were brutally murdered and his wife is dead and pure rage at Hamas for how they murdered these children and their mother. That doesn’t even take into account the Red Cross who never visited a single hostage, UNRWA who participated in the events of October 7th and who’s employees took and hid hostages. It doesn’t include the ICC and their ludicrous antisemitic claims of war crimes and genocide against Israel. We saw the Ariel and Kfir Bibas what real war crimes look like.

In The Wall Street Journal, Bernard-Henri Lévy poses challenges with what the last weeks of Kfir and Ariel Bibas’ lives may have looked like, after the infant and toddler’s bodies were identified by forensics following their release from Gaza. He writes:

“One must imagine the life of Kfir and Ariel as hostages if, as is probable, they were torn from their mother’s arms. Imagine the life of a baby who spends most of his time in dark, damp tunnels. Imagine the life of a toddler, ripped from his family without understanding. Picture them playing, because children always play. Did they have stuffed animals or spent shell casings? Legos or guns to lick instead of honey-coated letters? Were they hungry? Thirsty? Did they scrape mud with their tiny nails or drink contaminated water? Did the captors change Kfir’s diapers, or did they let him sit in his own filth until his skin burned? Did they have talcum powder? Medicine for fevers? What did the masked jailers do when the boys cried, were scared of night noises, or asked the stars about their fate when they were briefly allowed outside? Did they hit them? Strike them with rifle butts? Did they amuse themselves by firing their Kalashnikovs into the air to frighten them further? Did Ariel become the guardian of his baby brother? Did they live out their brief lives together or separately?”

I doubt that they were treated humanely. I doubt that Kfir had his diaper changed frequently if at all. The horror that this toddler and infant must have experienced is unbearable. Before reading his words, I couldn’t go to a place of imagining how their life must have been from October 7th until their death a few weeks later. Now it is all I can think of. That, along with the ways that Hamas, UNRWA, the Red Cross, the UN, the ICC, and all those who used their Jew hatred to ensure these children suffered horribly, should pay for their crimes. It may not be healthy, but I want vengence. I want those involved with this evil to pay a horrible price. I want the world to understand that Jewish blood and Jewish lives are not cheap. It has a high price. Perhaps when the Jew haters see the price that is paid for those who choose evil and hate, we can encourage others to walk away because they don’t want the consequences of their actions and of their hate. It would be nice if we lived in a world where people were filled with gratitude all the time, appreciative for what that have, and didn’t hate those who were different. Unfortunately we don’t. We live in a world where peace comes through strength and often times through fear. People choose not to act because of the fear of the consquences rather than their righteous belief and actions. It is why there is a status titled “Righteous among the nations” for those who were not Jewish yet stood up and took action against the Nazis of their own free will. The reason is that is not the norm. It’s not what people usually do.

I knew that I would be angry if it turned out the Bibas family was murdered by the terrorists. I didn’t think I realized how angry. I didn’t think I prepared for my anger at the world for minimizing the fact that it was the ‘INNOCENT CIVILIANS’ that kidnapped the Bibas family. I didn’t prepare myself for the brutality of their murder or how they would be returned. I was worried that their murder might be like God with Pharoah, hardening my heart. It seems each hostage return shows more and more of the visciousness of Hamas. Their evil. Starving the hostages. No medical care. Beating them. Isolating them. The horror stories go on and on and those are just the ones we know. Unfortunately I am sure there are many more that aren’t public and may never be public. The way that Ariel and Kfir were murdered, strangled by adult terrorists and then having their bodies desecrated to attempt to hide the way they were murdered, is the icing on the cake for me. I’m done. Any hope that I had for peace are gone. There can be no peace with these monsters. I always had problems with the commandment in the Torah to completely destroy Amalek, even making the point that the obligation is the complete destruction of the Amalekites. It didn’t seem to fit with the Jewish values of Tikkun Olam (repair the world), the Jewish opportunity for Teshuvah (repentence) or our value for human life. In light of October 7th and now the knowledge of the murder of the Bibas family and these beautiful children, the context seems a bit clearer. Sometimes the opportunity for Teshuvah are simply lost. Sometimes the only way to repair the world is to remove things from it, the way we remove tumors from our bodies to allow the body to heal. Sometimes the only way to save lives is to eliminate others. It’s hard writing these words. It’s difficult feeling their impact as they sink in. It is even harder and more difficult to hear the stories of those taken hostage, to stand at the site of the Nova Music Festival and try to comprehend the evil that occurred there, or to walk through Kibbutz Kfar Aza and see what happened to these peace loving people who only wanted to live there in peace with their neighbors in Gaza. I don’t know if this makes me a bad person or it is a character flaw. I only know that it makes me human and that I will fight for the eradication of evil no matter who it is, no matter who they target, and no matter the cost. Evil simply can’t win. Hamas and the terrorists are evil.

Each Friday, my friend Ari Shabat send out a short video about the Torah portion or something related, connecting it to our daily life. This week he talked about prayer and the Bibas family. How we have prayed for this family to return safely for over 500 days. How these children have become part of our life and we only want to see the them returned and returning to life. Despite all our prayers, this did not happen. So does prayer work? Was it worth it? They were murdered in November 2023 and we have been praying for them even after they were actually dead.

The answer is yes. The proof is that on the same day they were officially declared dead and the corpses of these beautiful children were identified, 3 bombs blew up on busses outside Tel Aviv at 9 pm. After a thorough investigation, 2 more bombs were found on busses in Tel Aviv, set for 9 am. There is a big difference in 9 pm and 9 am. At 9 pm the busses were parked and nobody was on them. At 9 am, they would be packed with people and in major city centers. Perhaps, our prayers that couldn’t save the Bibas children and their mother, because they were already dead, instead saved hundreds of people on the day their death became official. You can watch his video and think about it yourself

Since it was made official that the Bibas babies were murdered, my social media feed has been filled with images. I wanted to share some of the powerful ones here. The Bibas family will not be forgotten. The massive outcry is far overdue. The reality of Hamas and how they attacked, murdered, and kidnapped those who most wanted peace is beginning to sink in for the masses. The President of Argentina made a day of mourning for the Bibas family (they are Argentinian). Americans finally woke up to the fact that there were Americans murdered and taken hostage on October 7th. The public displays that Hamas has held upon each hostage release is finally being seen by the masses who chose to ignore evil.

This morning I say this video of the Bibas family. It broke my heart to watch. I urge you to watch it. You will be deeply touched knowing this bright family, filled with hope for the future, filled with love and joy, was exterminated my Hamas and their evil.

When I saw this video of Ariel Bibas, in full batman costume, running down the sidewalk and heard his voice crying out in joy, I was devastated. Watch it and yoou will realize that the’innocents in Gaza‘ not only kidnapped this little boy, they handed him over to Hamas who then strangled him with their hands and then brutalized his dead body to try to cover it up. Unbelievable evil. Unbelievable horror.

Ariel Bibas (z’l) as Batman. He and Kfir were part of all our families.

I have been changed since October 7th and again just this past week with the confirmation of the murder of Ariel, Kfir, and Shiri Bibas. It is no longer enough to try to wake up those who have their heads in the sand. It is no longer enough to try to educate those who don’t know. It’s time to wake those who will fight. It is time to take those who are ready to fight, who are ready to take action, who understand that the world of October 6, 2023 no longer exists and never will again. We live in a new reality and a new world. Are you a sheep that needs to be woken up? Are you a sheep that needs a lion to protect you? Or are you a Lion, ready to fight. Ready to defend your life and your people. Are you willing to take the risk and hope that you and your family are not next or are you going to do all you can to ensure that the murder of Shiri, Ariel, and Kfir never happens to another Jewish family again? It’s your decision. It’s your actions. It’s up to you to decide. I know that I’m a lion. I am roaring loudly so you have to listen. And I will fight to protect my family – not just my wife and children, but my entire Jewish family around the globe. If you are a sheep, that means I’ll be doing my best to protect you until you decide you want to be a lion too.

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A day of powerful mixed emotions with a lesson learned.

Posted on by Keith Dvorchik

Today was both a day I had dreaded for a long time and one I had happily anticipated for a long time. Talk about a conflict of emotions. Today, the bodies of Shiri, Ariel and Kfir Bibas along with the body of Oded Lifshitz were returned to Israel from Gaza by Hamas. Since October 7th, along with so many others, we hoped and prayed for the return of the entire Bibas family. We were afraid that they would not return home alive. When Yarden was returned a few weeks ago, we hoped the family would be reunited and we would get to experience that joy. Today, we officially knew, that joy would never be realized.

More than not realized, the way Hamas returned the coffins of these children they attacked, kidnapped, held hostage, and murdered was disgusting. The way they paraded the coffins of Oded and Shiri through the streets of Gaza was horrifying. Just when you think they can’t sink lower, can’t show the world just how evil they are even clearer, they do.

Hamas locked the coffins and didn’t give Israel the keys. They put propoganda inside the coffins. They put pictures of other hostages on the exterior of the coffins. They used a full size for both Ariel and Kfir so the world wouldn’t see how they murdered the innocent children that they kidnapped and took hostage.

I know I am not alone in grieving the loss of the Bibas children and their mother. Of feeling the unimaginable pain of Yarden. The Bibas family loved Batman and the images of them wearing Batman costumes and shirts and pajamas are iconic. The piece below captures our loss powerfully as Batman himself grieves as the three orange stars in the sky remind us what we have lost.

A cartoon by Israeli artist Adva Sanot – The Bibas family loved Batman. This cuts deep.

There were busses bombed in Bat Yam today and more bombs found on busses in Tel Aviv that were set to go off tomorrow morning. It won’t get the worldwide attention that it should because the target of the bombs were Jews. The fact that the innocent Palestinians were the ones who planted the bombs, who planned to murder as many innocent people as they could with these explosives will be lost in the media.

The UN continues to brag about how much food and medical attention they have provided in Gaza while also claiming famine and no medical supplies or facilities existing. They can blatently lie because the world allows them to do so. Nobody calls them out on the lies, they instead use them to create more Jew hatred. The other day, comedian Jerry Seinfeld said what so many people are feeling. What so many people have been waiting to hear.

Today was also a day I have been anticipating. This past summer, we lost our 13 1/2 year old chocolate lab, Bella. She brought us so much joy it was very hard to say goodbye. Our house hasn’t been the same since. A couple of months ago, we decided to get another lab. The loss of Bella was so hard on all of us, we decided to get a puppy so we would have her for as long as possible. Today was pick-up day for our new puppy. Today is the day that she came home to live with us. Since we knew we were getting her, she was a part of our family. We visited her about 10 days ago and each day since was another day closer to having her. I got up early, drove to Dunellen to the breeder, and picked her up. She sat on the front seat next to me, chewing on my hand. My thumb was her favorite. Partway home, she decided to climb into my lap, lay her head in the crook of my right arm, and take a little nap. The drive home was special as we bonded.

Charlotte (Charlie) on the way home in the car, in the house, and out in the yard.

The love and joy I felt is indescribable. I struggled with the knowledge that they bodies of Bibas family were being identified at the same time that I was filled with joy as we added Charlotte (Charlie) to our family. Having her home, exploring our house, playing in our yard, bouncing around filled with life, was such incredible light that my heart was full while also being broken.

Watching this little girl hop and run and chase the tennis ball warmed my heart.

I find myself focused today on the power of evil and how it robs us of joy. It robs us of the wonder of life. Hamas is evil. Full stop. They have no redeeming quality. They have no reason to exist other than hate. And they need to be eliminated, not just as an idea but all those who participated in the horror of October 7th, the taking of hostages, the keeping of the hostages, the torturing of hostages. I don’t care if they put on a journalist t-shirt or have a medical degree. They are not journalists or doctors. They are not teachers or leaders of civil society. They are terrorists. They are evil. And they must be eliminated.

In May and July of 2024, I visited the Nova music festival site. It was painful both times. I had a chance to join with others to sing, to bring music back to this place that was ripped apart on October 7th. Both times I got to hear the story of Rami Davidian, a farmer at a local Moshav, who saved 750 people from the Nova site on October 7th. I was able to video record his talk in July. Near the end, he talks about what he did on October 8th, when he returned to the site to provide some dignity to the dead. As he talks about the women who were tied to the trees that he cut down, closed their legs and covered them for dignity as he said the Shema over their bodies, you can see the pain in his eyes. The emotion gets to him more about October 8th and what those women endured before being murdered than anything on October 7th. As he looked at the trees, I could see him still seeing the women tied to those trees. It’s something I will never forget and I can’t imagine how he will live with those memories. Stolen joy. Stolen life. Stolen dignity.

I know that I have changed since October 7th. And I know I have changed with the events after October 7th. And I know that the murder of Shiri, Ariel, and Kfir Bibas have changed me again. I also know that adding Charlotte (Charlie) to our family has changed me in a different way. I won’t let the Jew haters or the terrorists change who I am as a human being. I also won’t let them win. The same way Jerry Seinfeld called out the guy who thought he was being funny, I can also not allow stupid, hateful, racist, bigoted comments to go unchallenged. We can all stand up and speak out the same way that Secretary of State Marco Rubio wouldn’t allow CBS Anchor Margaret Brennan to get away with telling a lie and speaking untruths on Face the Nation. We need to be forceful like Seinfeld and Rubio. We need to not allow the lies to go unchallenged.

We need to remember the facts and not be afraid to say them. A large-scale survey of Gazans, conducted by researchers from Oxford University and published in Foreign Affairs just last week, showed that 98% of those surveyed described themselves as religious, and nearly as many said they saw the conflict with Israel in religious, not political terms: The Jews were usurpers who must be banished. How? When asked, 47% said they wanted to see Israel destroyed and replaced with a strict Islamic state governed by Sharia law, and 20% said they would settle merely for the forced removal of all Jews and their transfer to wherever it was their ancestors had lived prior to immigrating to Israel. You can read an article about the study here.

This isn’t about land or a state. This is about eliminating the Jews. Those who want to argue otherwise need to be called out and held to account. No more hiding. No more quiet. No more putting our heads in the sand. It’s not just that we owe it to ourselves and to our children and grandchildren. We owe it to Shiri, Ariel, and Kfir Bibas.

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My soul burns today

Posted on by Keith Dvorchik

Yesterday and today I am consumed with the Bibas family. Shiri Bibas and her children, Ariel and Kfir. Hamas has reported them dead and that their bodies will be returned tomorrow, February 20th. I think of Yarden Bibas, Shiri’s husband and Ariel and Kfir’s father. My heart is torn in two for him. He endured nearly 500 days of brutal captivity and torture only to be released into a different type of brutal captivity and torture.

Yet we cannot think that the Bibas family is the only situation where beautiful young Jewish children were murdered simply for being Jewish.

On Oct 7, savage barbarian Hamas animals shot & killed 9 month old Mila Cohen in Be’eri.

This isthe Siman Tov family, an Israeli-American family. Johnny and Tamar, along with their children Shahar (5), Arbel (5), and Omer (2), were murdered by Hamas terrorists on October 7th in their home in Kibbutz Nir Oz, southern Israel. They were burned alive.

Hamas set fire to the family’s house in an attempt to force them out of their safe room and kill them, but they stayed inside. Johnny, the father, sent a final text to his sister: “They’re here. They’re burning us. We’re suffocating.”

Johnny’s mother, Carol, a 70-year-old woman, was also murdered by Hamas terrorists with her dog in her own home

The Siman Tov family. Johnny (z’l), Tamar (z’l), Omer (z’l), Shahar (z’l) and Arbel (z’l).

On that day, over a dozen other children under the age of 10 were brutally murdered among the 1,200 victims. Thirty eight (38) children were murdered on October 7th with 42 children abducted to the Gaza Strip by Hamas and other terrorist organizations. Here are pictures of some of them so we never forget their faces. Note that they are not all Jewish but they all lived in Israel, killed by genocidal terrorists that the world and college campuses glorify.

Yet today it is the Bibas family that is in my soul. For 500 days I hoped and prayed that they were still alive and would be returned alive. I wanted to see Ariel and Kfir play and laugh and grow up. I wanted to see Shiri and Yarden raise their beautiful children and maybe even add to their family. It appears that will not happen as Hamas has reported that Shiri, Ariel, and Kfir’s bodies will be returned to Israel on February 20th. This has not been confirmed by Israel.

This is a picture that should haunt us all forever. It shows the evil of Hamas. A panicked mother, holding her children close, fear exuding out of the image into each of us. What would she have done to save her children that day? What would any of us have done to save our children? Anything and everything that we could. She was powerless and so were we.

I read this powerful piece about this picture and Shiri Bibas and her family. My blood boils. My heart breaks. Imagine it was your children, your grandchildren, your siblings. Imagine it was your nieces and nephews. Babies. This is the face of evil. We cannot let the world close their eyes, bury their heads, and tell more lies. We have gone beyond the place of reason and directly into the fight against evil where there is only one acceptable outcome. Evil is eliminated.

Someone filmed this moment
Someone stood there
Looking at a mother
holding her two babies
Protecting them with her body, her heart, her soul.
Someone stood there
And saw
And watched
Someone and another someone and another someone and maybe even another mother
And no one reached out and said “Come on mama, come on mama…”
And all the light went out long ago
And what if I were there in her place
And what if I had to choose who to keep holding
And of whom to let go
Because there isn’t a single mother
Who can contain her pain over her children
And the look in her eyes – this is every mother’s greatest fear
It’s a look that stares at the devil
And starts a negotiation
Take me
Leave them
Take me, leave one
Do with me whatever you want
Just have someone take them to a safe corner
Only a mother can understand a look like that
And I
I wasn’t there either…..

Lisa Davidson Oren

When I look at the pictures of the beautiful Bibas children, tears come to my eyes. Sweet, innocent children. A toddler and an infant. Ripped from their home by terrorists. How scared must they have been? How much did Shiri and Yarden try to comfort them? I think back to when my boys were that age and tears come to my eyes, pain in my chest, rage filling my heart.

Rabbi Mendy Kaminker of Chabad of Hackensack wrote this powerful and beautiful poem. It struck me powerfully as I think of this beautiful child, kidnapped, tortured, and murdered simply because he was Jewish. This picture cuts deep in my heart. Evil took him and yet the world responds by encouraging evil to continue.

Oh, young redhead toddler
You like a little angle
With a smile from heaven
But you are stuck in hell

If you were 
An endangered whale
The world would have stopped at nothing
To save you

Heads of countries
Would have spent millions
To bring you back home

But you are not a whale
You are just a small 
Jewish toddler

We prayed for you
Your brother, your mother
And even now, we keep on praying

And whatever happens
We will not forget your smile
Because you are our brother

Oh dear
Oh G-d
Your people have suffered enough
We beg you to bring Moshiach
And end suffering forever

Far too many of our ‘leaders’ have remained silent or spoken up for the ‘innocent Gazans’ without speaking up for the innocent Israelis. They have been silent about the hostages, complaining about a response by Israel that was too much. How would they respond if the United States was invaded, our citizens mass murdered, kidnapped, taken hostage, and tortured. We saw the results of September 11th which was smaller in scope. A 20 year war. When the claims are that too many people are dying, let’s take a look at what happened after September 11th.

U.S. military personnel 

  • Between 2001 and 2021, 2,459 U.S. military personnel died in Afghanistan
  • 1,922 of those deaths were in action
  • 18 CIA operatives were killed
  • 20,769 U.S. service members were wounded in action

Civilians 

  • The Costs of War Project estimates that 46,319 Afghan civilians died in the war
  • The Uppsala Conflict Data Program estimates that 212,191 people died in the war

Opposition fighters 

  • The Costs of War Project estimates that at least 52,893 opposition fighters died in the war

Other casualties 

  • 1,822 civilian contractors died
  • Thousands of Afghans died
  • The war also resulted in injuries, illnesses, displacement, malnutrition, and environmental degradation

The war in Afghanistan began after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The U.S. government spent $2.3 trillion on the war. 

The Jew haters and antisemites try to make Israel’s response to Hamas’s attack, declaration of war, murder, kidnapping, and torture of her citizens as more than normal in war. They try to paint Israel and the Jews as overreacting and going beyond the scope of war. This is a bald faced lie. The numbers above prove it. Displacement is a part of losing a war. We have seen that throughout history. It’s part of what discourages countries from engaging in war. Otherwise there is no risk in losing a war so it would happen more frequently. The world is asking Israel to enable Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran to wage continuous war in an attempt to eliminate Israel and the Jews. That is unacceptable.

When our leaders do speak out, it is important to note it and thank them. Unfortunately they are rare. Representative Ritchie Torres has been one of them. His post below is clear, powerful, and on-target. I thanked him and encourage you to do the same.

My friend Rabbi Leor Sinai reminded us of an important fact that the world fails to recognize. He wrote, “Shiri, Ariel & Kfir Bibas were taken by Gazan civilians, not Hamas. In fact the majority of 3,000+ invaders on Oct 7 were Gazan civilians. Let that sink in. It is a culture and society in disease. This Thursday is going to be hard. All of Israel will mourn.” The media and the world fail to acknowledge that much of what happened on October 7th were civilian driven. I’ll never forget hearing from a man at Kfar Aza who was there on October 7th. His front porch became the headquarters for Hamas leadership as he and his wife hid in their safe room. His description of watching a man come from Jabaliya on crutches, crossing the fields and the broken fencing, going into a home and coming out with a television strapped to his back as he used his crutches to return to Jabaliya, will always remind me that this was not just Hamas. This was civilians. On November 20, 2024, Prime Minister Netanyahu offered $5 million and safe passage out of Gaza to anyone returning a hostage. We know hostages were being held and are being held by private citizens. Three (3) months later, not a single person has taken him up on this offer. It’s not just the Hamas militants that are involved.

On the same day that Hamas announced that the Bibas children and Shiri Bibas were murdered, in the United States, in New York, in Borough Park, we had this violence. There is no condemning of this from the media. Even New York Governor Kathy Hochul issued the weak statment of, “Last night we saw protesters in Boro Park targeting Jewish New Yorkers with hateful rhetoric and antisemitic chants. This is unacceptable.  We are grateful to @NYPDnews for their diligent work keeping all New Yorkers safe.” Nothing about the violence. Only about ‘chants’.

The violence in Borough Park from an anti-Israel, Jew hating, ‘pro-Palestinian’ mob.

On November 7, 2023, just a month after the horror of October 7th, Senator John Fetterman not only put up the posters of every hostage on the walls of his office, he also posted this on X and pinned it to his account where it remains today. It’s sad that our allies are so few and inspiring when they are so public.

I am conflicted. With stage 1 about to conclude, with Shiri, Ariel, and Kfir Bibas likely confirmed dead tomorrow, with most of the remaining hostages likely dead, where do we go from here? I hope that Israel demands all the hostages back immediately for there to be a phase 2. I hope the US will back them up. I hope Hamas will agree. I don’t think they will agree. I’m not sure a phase 2 will happen otherwise. The slow process cannot continue. After 500 days it is enough. The hostages have suffered enough. The families of the hostages have suffered enough. The people of Israel have suffered enough. The families of IDS soldiers and those serving in milium (reserves) have suffered enough. The Jewish people have suffered enough. It’s time to put an end to this once and for all. Whatever it takes.

I am reminded of a few quotes from former Prime Ministers Golda Meir and Menachem Begin to ring true more than 40 years after they said them. Read and them and think. Read them and ponder. It’s clear to me what we have to do, no matter how much the world doesn’t want to let us because the world doesn’t want us to exist. I won’t apologize for wanting to live. I won’t apologize for fighting those who want me and all Jews dead. For those of you who do apologize, think of how your words of apology will look on your tombstone if you are lucky enough to have one and not be in a mass grave. That’s the harsh reality we face. The truth isn’t easy and neither is the path forward. But if we want a path forward, we must do whatever it takes to ensure there is one.

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