Tag: hamas

184 days. 6 months. Hope and Gratitude?

Posted on by Keith Dvorchik

6 months ago, I woke to a very different world.  I didn’t know it when I awoke that morning.  I made coffee, sat down to catch up on the news, and was horrified to hear about the attacks in Israel.  I turned on the TV and the only channel covering it well was CNN.  I don’t like watching most television news because of the bias, but on October 7, 2023, I didn’t have a choice.  It appeared nobody else was covering it well.  I was shocked at what I saw and how CNN covered it that day.  They acted like a real news network rather than being in the entertainment business. 

The horrors I saw on October 7th only got worse as I watched the 47-minute Hamas video, the documentary on the Nova music festival massacre, and heard from survivors on the attacks on Kibbutzim on October 7th and the Nova Music festival.  Images and stories I will never forget.

Many of you don’t know this about me, but in the early to mid 1990s I worked with the Department of Corrections.  My population for 18 months was solitary confinement, and I did coverage of Florida’s Death Row when the person who had that as their primary job was on vacation.  I also worked with rapists and child molesters who were getting treatment to stop offending if/when they ever got out of prison. I spent time with some of the ‘worst of the worst’.  I read files of people who had done horrible things.  I met with people who did horrible things.  While each of these people did horrific things, none of that was as horrifying to me as what happened on October 7th.  Working there definitely changed me and it took me 6 months after I left to feel like a normal person again.  I’m not sure I will ever be the person I was before October 7th again.

Sundays are when I get my inspiration from songs and music.  I debated whether to continue this week with that model or because of the 6-month mark of October 7th, to do something different.  I spend time with a couple of Rabbis each week learning and one thing that has come across clearly and that resonates with me is that Judaism believes in hope and gratitude.  So I decided to stick with music this week and pick a song that, for me, is entirely about gratitude and reinforces hope. 

On day 184 of the hostages’ captivity, on the 6 month mark since October 7th, hope and gratitude are what I need.  Hope that the hostages will be released soon.  Hope that they are alive.  Gratitude for the IDF and all those who risk everything to protect Israel and the Jewish people.  Gratitude for our leaders who are speaking out publicly against Hamas and defending Israel’s right to defend herself.  Hope that those who aren’t or who aren’t clear will get clarity and fight for good to defeat evil.

The song is Alright by Darius Rucker

Alright (alright), alright, Yeah, it’s alright (alright), alright.

Don’t need no five-star reservations, I got spaghetti and a cheap bottle of wine.
Don’t need no concert in the city, I got a stereo and the best of Patsy Cline

Ain’t got no caviar, no Dom Perignon, but as far as I can see, I got everything I want.

It’s a simple beginning focusing on all the things he doesn’t need.  All the things that are materialistic but not important.  As I sit here on day 184 of the hostages being in captivity and the 6-month mark of the terrorist attack on October 7th, I realize that none of the things that I thought were important on October 6th really are.  I would trade the delicious food, the concerts and shows I attend, the nice cars I own for the safe return of the hostages.  For the end of Hamas and the end of the war.  For the safety of my friends and my friends’ children who are serving in the IDF.  For those in Gaza who are innocent and suffering to have food, shelter, medicine, and a government that actually cares for them. 

The Bibas kids – Kfir has spend nearly half his life as a hostage of Hamas

I am grateful for the health of my family.  For my mom, my in-laws, my siblings and sisters/brothers in law, nieces and nephews, and family that isn’t by blood.  I’m lucky that I want what I have rather than focusing on having what I want.  The last 20 months, since my dad got sick and then died through the many changes in life, I have paid attention to what is really important to me.  Family.  Friends.  Relationships.  Health.  As he sings, ‘as far as I can see, I have everything I want.’

‘Cause I got a roof over my head
The woman I love laying in my bed
And it’s alright (alright), alright
I got shoes under my feet
Forever in her eyes staring back at me
And it’s alright (alright), alright, yeah
I got all I need
And it’s alright by me

The chorus reiterates this.  The basics are what I need.  A roof over my head, somebody I love in my life, clothes, and that powerful relationship.  It’s what I need and when I focus on what I need, it’s certainly, “alright by me.”

I have heard the parents of hostages speak in person, on tv, and through interviews.  One thing is very clear to me.  They would trade EVERYTHING to get their loved one back.  I have heard from people who lost loved ones on October 7th – either on the kibbutzim, at the Nova music festival, or trying to save the lives of people being attacked by the Hamas terrorists.  They would give up everything to get their loved ones back.  Many of them have said they would return to the kibbutz where they lived prior to October 7th but would never live in that house again.  They need the roof over their head and the community that they love and love them, but they don’t need that specific home. 

I have friends who had loved ones taken hostage that have since been released.  When I talk to them, the appreciation they have for their loved one’s release and the empathy from those who have loved ones that have not been released.  I have friends who still have loved ones that are hostages and the daily pain they endure is unthinkable.  We often have these grandiose things that we want.  The nice, new car.  The bigger house.  The vacation home.  The exotic trip.  The designer clothes, bag, shoes.  I find myself, like the song says, caring about the things that money can’t buy.  Health.  Happiness.  Family.  I find myself grateful for the people who care about me and who I have the privilege of caring about.  And while I am saddened by the people who I have learned don’t really care, it also frees me up to invest more of my time and my energy with the people who do.

Hila was released after being kept as a hostage the day before she turned 13. The look on her face is priceless as she gets her birthday and Hanukkah gifts from her worldwide Jewish family.

Maybe later on, we’ll walk down to the river
Lay on a blanket and stare up at the moon
It may not be no French Riviera
But it’s all the same to me as long as I’m with you.

May be a simple life, but that’s okay
If you ask me baby, I think I’ve got it made.

I have had the privilege in my life to do some amazing travel.  Having been to Israel 20 times and my 21st coming up next month isn’t the extent of it.  I’ve been to many of the islands in the Caribbean, as a another famous song says, “Aruba, Jamaica” and many, many more.   I’ve been on cruises.  I’ve been to Mexico and Canada, Italy (more than once), Turkey, Spain, Greece, England, Switzerland, Egypt, Thailand, Bali, and more.  Every one of these trips was amazing.  I got to see incredible sights and experience incredible cultures and food and meet wonderful people.  And yet, I would much rather be with my loved ones and walk down to the lake.  I’d rather lay on a blanket together and look up at the moon, spending time with them.  I don’t need to go to the exotic places to get those special feelings. 

I’m not saying I don’t love traveling (I do).  And I’m not saying I’m going to stop traveling (I’m not).  What I am saying is that I don’t want to miss the time with family and friends because of some exotic place.  I get much more value from meeting my mom for lunch in Lakeland than eating at a café in Venice, Italy.  I have more fun eating lunch with a bunch of friends at Portillo’s in Springfield, Illinois than I do at a gourmet restaurant in Istanbul.  I love when we cook out at the beach or go as a large family out to dinner during our Greenberg family beach week much more than dinner at Big Itzik in Tel Aviv (and the food there is amazing). 

Dinner at Big Itzik (Itzik HaGadol). The food is amazing and the salads are incredible

On day 184 of captivity, on the 6-month mark of the October 7th massacre, I know that the families of those taken hostage or murdered would much rather eat cheese sandwiches with their loved ones than a fancy meal.  They’d rather sit in the living room with those in captivity or murdered than take an exotic trip.  We live in a world where our priorities are messed up.  We now value things so much we forget about the value of our friends and family until it’s too late. 

On Friday I learned of the death of a friend and colleague.  It wasn’t expected.  It was a shock.  He was a wonderful man, a friend, a colleague, and just a good human being.  Salt of the earth.  It was sudden.  He was only 5 years older than me.  We’ve known each other for around 20 years.  It was devastating.  It was shocking.  I think what bothers me the most is that I don’t remember the last time we spoke.  I think it was nearly a year ago in Atlanta.  Not for any good reason.  Life got busy.  We knew we’d talk again.  We knew the opportunity would occur.  Until it didn’t.  I don’t want to live my life that way any longer.  I don’t want to regret the call I didn’t make once it is too late.  I don’t want to regret the simple text or email to stay connected and make sure those who matter to me know they matter to me.  That’s more important than anything else.

When I lay down at night, I thank the Lord above
For giving me everything I ever could dream of

‘Cause I’ve got a roof over my head
The woman I love laying in my bed
And it’s alright, alright, alright, alright
I got shoes under my feet
Forever in her eyes staring back at me
And it’s alright, alright, alright, yeah

I got all I need, yeah
I got all I need
And it’s alright by me, oh, yeah
It’s alright by me, yeah, yeah, yeah

The last few lines and the chorus once again are powerful.  God (or the Lord) is a challenging thing to talk about today.  It tends to mean you are either an evangelical Christian, far right wing, a terrorist, a racist, you hate people who are different than you, or somebody who is trying to convert others to your beliefs.  Yet it really means none of that. 

I pray and meditate every day and have for decades.  I have a relationship with God that is personal and meaningful.  It’s my own and if you ask me about it, I’m happy to share mine and encourage you to have your own.  And if you don’t want your own, that’s ok too.  I no longer believe in the punishing God that I was raised with.  I believe in a God that is loving, caring, and only wants the best for me.  And that when the best doesn’t happen, it is never because of God, it’s always because of me.  My favorite book, Illusions by Richard Bach, is a thought-provoking book which challenged my conventional thinking about God and the universe.  It explores the nature of reality and perceived reality which led me to question my beliefs and consider new possibilities.  In it, there are many sayings pulled from the handbook for life.  My favorite is:

“Argue for your limitations and they are yours.”

Since reading the book the first time and reading that quote, I have challenged myself to not fight for my limitations and the limitations of God.  It doesn’t mean I can do everything or even anything.  It does mean that if I believe I can do it, I can do my best and it may just happen.  And it may not happen.  But if I argue before I do the work, it never happens.  There are many of these gems in the book and at one point I wrote them on index cards and carried them with me to remind me of the lessons. 

I thank God every day for the blessings in my life.  The relationship I had with my dad.  The relationship I have with my mom.  My family, my wife, my children, my siblings and sister/brother in laws.  My nieces and nephews.  My cousins.  My family that isn’t blood but is just as close.  My friends.  A roof over my head.  Shoes under my feet.  Food to eat. 

Many years ago, when I was not yet 21, a friend told me to write down what I wanted in the next year and seal it in an envelope.  A year later, we opened it together and I was amazing.  My list was incredibly short sited.  I had asked and hoped for far less than I actually got.  I had argued for my limitations when I wrote the list but didn’t in my life.  As a result, I got far more. 

On day 184, the 6-month mark since October 7th, we can’t argue for the IDF or Israel’s limitations.  They can do what they need to do to protect Israel and the Jewish people.  They can do what they need to free the hostages.  They will do what is needed to eliminate the evil that is Hamas. 

At the end of the day, I do have all that I need and it is alright with me.  I’m filled with gratitude and hope, despite the horrors of October 7th, the horrors of war, and the captivity of innocent civilians.  We, as a people, will continue to survive and thrive and will do what is needed. 

Frustrations with the war against Hamas

Posted on by Keith Dvorchik

Every day I wake up and the war between Hamas and Israel is continuing.  The hostages remain in the tunnels in captivity.  Some are dead, some being sexually abused, some being physically abused.  None getting needed medication.  Iran continues to provide resources to Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthi’s in Yemen. 

I never thought I would say this, but I wish the world was silent about all of this.  “Why?” you may ask.  Because rather than condemn the terrorists of Hamas who still have American hostages among those they kidnapped, instead of condemning Iran, instead of demanding that the Houthi’s and Hezbollah stop firing rockets at Israel, the world condemns Israel for fighting for survival. 

I wish I could say it was just the non-Jewish world.  Our history as a people, for thousands of years, has us as our own worst enemies.  Facing persecution, facing death, facing evil, we have a history of defending those who persecute and kill us, those who are evil, all while condemning ourselves.  I don’t know why we do this.  I wish I knew.  I wish I could figure out a way to stop it.  Just like in Germany, we defend those who hate us all the way into the gas chambers.

I am amazed at those who call this war genocide.  The definition of genocide is, “the deliberate killing of a large number of people from a particular nation or ethnic group with the aim of destroying that nation or group.”  It is clear that is not what Israel is doing.  How do we know this?  First because according to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), the Palestinian population has increased about 10 times since the War of Independence in 1948.  Even more recently, according to the PCBS, displacement of more than 200,000 Palestinians, with the majority of them to the Palestinian country of Jordan, after the 1967 war, the Palestinian world population was 14 million by the end of 2022.  This means that the number of Palestinians in the world has doubled since 1967.  That goes against the definition of genocide.   Secondly, during this current war, if Israel wanted to destroy the Palestinian people in Gaza, they could have just bombed the entire country and killed all the people there in a matter of days.  Instead, they have chosen to be more surgical in their efforts, doing their best to avoid civilian casualties whenever possible.   Once again, you do not attempt destroy a nation or group of people by doing all you can to save civilians.

The other thing that amazes me is when people talk about this being the worst loss of civilian life in conflict. The facts simply don’t back that up.  According to the UN and the Red Cross, there are usually 9 civilians killed in armed conflict for every military person killed.  That means 90% of all deaths in armed conflict are civilians.  Iraq Body Count figures from 2003 to 2013 indicate that 77% of casualties were civilians. So how does the war between Hamas and Israel compare?  If we use the statistics provided by Hamas, which nobody really believes is accurate, the ratio is somewhere between 1:1 and 1.2:1.  That means Israel is 8-9 times BETTER than the world average and 7 times better than the US in Iraq.  And that’s using the numbers provided by Hamas!

Estimates put the ration at somewhere between 1.0 and 1.2 civilians per Hamas Terrorist killed in the war, far better than the normal, accepted ration of 9-1

Just this week, Israel tragically and accidentally bombed trucks from the World Central Kitchen, killing 7 of the aid workers.  It is a horrible tragedy.  There is no excuse for it.  And Israel hasn’t made any excuses.  Israel admitted it was a mistake and they were in the wrong.  They did an investigation, identified what happened, held those accountable whose actions resulted in the bombing and these deaths, and vowed to learn from this mistake.  Listen to an interview by friend Fleur Hassan- Nahoum, the Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem. She, and Israel, isn’t hiding from what happened or how awful it is.

Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem and my friend, Fleur Hassan-Nahoum, is brutally honest about the awful mistake in attacking the convoy of aid workers. This is what sets Israel apart – a willingness to admit mistakes, hold people accountable, and learn from their mistakes.

In October of 2015, the US initiated an airstrike against a Doctors Without Borders trauma center and killed at least 42 people including 14 hospital staff members and at least 24 patients.  The investigation found that human errors, fatigue, process, and equipment failures were at fault in the deadly airstrike.  US Central command said that, “These factors contributed to the ‘fog of war,’ which is the uncertainty often encountered during combat operations.”

In August of 2021, the US made a mistake and fired a hellfire missile in Kabul, accidentally killing 10 civilians, 7 of which were children.  When I was attending the Israel-American Council Summit in Austin, Texas last year, my Uber driver had recently gotten out of the military.  He was in Afghanistan during this time and during the botched withdrawal of the troops there.  The stories he told me were horrible.  The mistakes and errors made turned my stomach.  I felt terrible about how we, America, treated the people who served in Afghanistan and those who were our allies in Afghanistan.  It was understood that we messed up and made mistakes and that this happens in war. 

Every other country in the world gets the grace of making mistakes in war.  Not Israel, the Jewish nation.  Once again, Israel is held to a different standard.  I have said repeatedly that war is terrible.  We should do everything we can to avoid war. When you can’t avoid war and you must take on evil, you must defeat it.  Otherwise, evil continues to grow.  Yet in today’s world, it appears there is a desire to have more evil than Jews. 

I listen to people like Bernie Sanders and even friends who are Jewish who unfairly criticize Israel.  Where was the outrage about the nearly 620,000 people killed in the Syrian civil war?  What about the more than 375,000 people killed in the Yemen civil war between 2015 and early 2022?  The 30,000 children killed by Assad in Syria. Israel is the target because it is the Jewish state and that is antisemitism and hate.

Bernie Sanders doesn’t get it – he doesn’t understand evil, he doesn’t pay attention to the data, and despite being Jewish, he hates Jews.

We need people like Representative Ritchie Torres, who is outspoken in his support of Israel, the need to remove Hamas, and holding Hamas responsible for this war. He speaks out against conditions of aid to Israel.

Ritchie Torres on Israel (at the 1:20 mark). He is a vocal supporter of Israel and the right to defend herself and the need to eliminate Hamas.

Senator Hakeem Jeffries has spoken out loudly and clearly in support of Israel. Senator John Fetterman has been one of the most vocal supporters of Israel. He speaks out publicly about the need to remove Hamas, the fact that Hamas hides behind human shields, and the need to support Israel unconditionally.

Senator Fetterman speaks about Israel and Hamas at the 2:45 mark until the 5:20 mark. He is a very vocal supporter of Israel, the right to defend herself, and the need to eliminate Hamas.

My own Senator, Rick Scott, has been vocal about his support for Israel. He tweets daily about the hostages, never letting them fall out of our thoughts.

Senator Scott speaking powerfully in support of Israel. We need more leaders to do so.
Senator Scott is active on Twitter reminding everybody about the hostages

So now that I’ve written all this, so what? Other than venting my frustrations, anger, and disappointment, what is the point? The point is that each of us have the ability to make a difference. Each of us can learn the truth. Each of us can speak out loudly. Each of us can challenge those we know when they are spewing venom at Israel that is simply wrong and unfair. Each of us can confront those who we hear are speaking untruths, talking points without substance, and spewing hate. If you want to see how it’s done and how it is done well, watch this clip of Douglas Murray during an interview with Al Jazeera. He doesn’t let the person interviewing him get away with the lies and antisemitic comments she makes.

Douglas Murray is amazing as he takes her apart when she lies.

We can support Israel and the hostages. Wear the dogtags that say “Bring them home now” or “We will dance again” or both. Get a yellow ribbon pin and wear it. Put a piece of masking tape on your shirt every day with the number of days the hostages have been in captivity. Buy things from Israel to support their economy. Be loud and proud. The people who hate us aren’t going away. They are going to be out there spewing Jew hatred in the context of Israel at synagogues, JCCs, in the streets, at people’s homes, wherever they can be. If we hide, they win.

Rachel Goldberg, mother of hostage Hersch Goldberg Polin, started the masking tape. This was day 98. We are not past day 180.

When you are able, visit Israel. I have wanted to go since October 7th but have not because my family was worried about my safety. I love my family and was willing to wait so they felt better. I’m not willing to wait any longer. I’m going in May. You can join me if you want – it will be an amazing trip and very meaningful. I’m not sure how I will feel when I go to the site of the Nova music festival or one of the kibbutzim. I’m not sure what visiting Sderot will feel like this time – the police station, always a stop to see the rockets that were fired at them is no longer there. Being there for Yom HaZikaron and Yom Ha’atzmaut will be different this time. It will be the third time I’ve been in Israel for Israel’s memorial day and Independence Day. I already know this one will be different. I am arriving the night before the trip begins and staying two days after. I wish I could go earlier and stay even longer. I’m going on the Momentum men’s trip. Join me. If you are a woman and want to go, there is also a women’s trip and I can connect you to it so you can go.

Unlike the past, we are not powerless. We are not lambs being taken to slaughter. We have the IDF. We have Israel. We have voices and don’t have to allow the lies to be all that people hear. When people cry for a ‘Ceasefire Now’ remind them that Israel has already agreed to the ceasefire, it’s Hamas who hasn’t agreed. Don’t push Israel for a ceasefire, push Hamas. Push Qatar who houses the leaders of Hamas. And remind them that this war can end immediately if Hamas would release the hostages and surrender.

Write and call your member of Congress and your Senators. Your voice matters. Every member of Congress that I have spoken with, every Senator I have met, have said how much those calls, emails, and letters mean. You have a voice, use it. If you think it doesn’t matter or people don’t notice you are wrong. I get asked about the number on the tape or my dogtags all the time. Be inspired by Cincinnati Reds Assistant Pitching Coach Alon Leichman and his baseball glove for this season. He is making a powerful statement, “Bring them home NOW”. You can join in making that powerful statement of support and stand up to the Jew haters who want us all gone.

A powerful statement on his baseball glove

Don’t be silent. Don’t hide. Don’t allow them to win. We’ve been down that road before and it doesn’t end well for us.

Hatikvah (the hope) and my Palestinian Friends

Posted on by Keith Dvorchik

I remember being in high school and learning the ancient Chinese curse, “May you live in interesting times.” and thinking to myself, what could be better than interesting times?  I hate being bored, so interesting times would be exciting and fun.

Ah, the naivety of the young. 

These are interesting times and as such are not so wonderful times.  The rise of hatred over the past decade is frightening.  The rise of antisemitism over the same time period and the exponential growth in the past 6 months is overwhelming.  I read and listen to so much discussion and none of it seems to focus on the real challenge and the real solution.

We have been taught not to like each other.  We have been taught that ‘the other’ is against us, will harm us, and that if they get what they want, we won’t get what we need.  This seems to be fairly universal, regardless of who you are and who ‘the other’ is.  We villainize them.  We make broad generalizations about them.  We make assumptions about them.  The one thing we don’t do is actually engage with people who are different from us.  That one thing we don’t do is the one thing that we need to do.

In November 2019, I had the honor and privilege of participating on an Encounter Immersive Experience.  We spent 4 days meeting with, listening to, and learning from members of Palestinian civil society.  I said it and used the word – Palestinian.  So let’s set some ground rules for the rest of this post. 

  1. The Palestinian people do exist.  They may have had different names over the years from Arabs to Bedouins, to Palestinians.  We, as Jews, used to be called Hebrews and Israelites.  Accept the fact that these people do exist, they live in what I will call ‘Greater Israel’, and aren’t going anywhere.
  • As a result of the 1967 war, Israel conquered territories.  This happens in many wars and is a reality of millenniums.  The area on the west bank of the Jordan River has different names.  For purposes here I am going to call is Judea and Samaria, the ancient names for that land.  Some may call in the West Bank.  Some may call it Palestine.  I am calling it Judea and Samaria.
  • Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Palestinian Authority (PA) are evil.  Most Palestinian people don’t like them.  I will discuss this later in this post however understand that there is a difference between Palestinian people and terrorists.  If you insist on generalizing that they are all people or are all terrorists, you can stop reading here if you want.  There is a difference.

Now back to my 4 days with leaders of Palestinian Civil Society.  I remember thinking how 4 days seemed so short.  This is such a complex issue; how could we only spend 4 days with them?  There were 4 of the most intense days of my life.  By the third day I was grateful that it was only 4 days because on how intense they were. 

During these 4 days, which I wrote about at the time, and you can find about 17 blog postings in the beginning of this blog from that time period, I had the ability to meet with many different people.  I had a chance to ask questions, listen to other points of view, and listed to people who had an entirely different history and narrative than I do.  I met people who I really like and stay in touch with even today.  I met people who I despised and who I am sure despised me only because I am Jewish.  I met people whose effort to change and challenge everything that they know were inspiring.  I met people who are a direct cause for the increase in hate, terrorism, and everything that led up to October 7th.  I saw things that made me sad.  Some were out of necessity, and some were simply terrible government policy.  It was a life altering experience that only made me a stronger and more powerful Zionist but also made me a better human being because I began a journey of understanding some of the deep challenges and how much work it will take to find a solution, to make peace, and to get beyond the damage that has been done in the past so that we can live in a different future.

I have written a lot about how October 7th has impacted and changed me.  I wrote about what seeing the 47-minute Hamas video was like.  Recently I saw the documentary about the massacre at the Nova Music Festival and I shared what that was like.  The past 6 months have been focused mostly on being a Jew in today’s world and in the United States.  It has been focused on the challenge of being a Zionist, loving Israel, in a world that is openly hostile, willingly believes lies and knowingly uses inflammatory language that is not accurate.  I have paid attention to my friends called up in the reserves, their children, either called up or who are currently serving in the IDF.  What I haven’t done is think too much about my Palestinian friends and what life has been like for them.

Over the past few weeks, I have been talking a lot with various people about the future.  As the US is demanding a permanent ceasefire and a 2 state solution (Hamas is the obstacle to the ceasefire as they have openly called for more October 7th massacres and still are holding hostages), I found myself thinking about who would be that partner for peace.  Obviously, Israel and the government have to make their own changes and hopefully that will come soon.  But what about the partner?  Who would it be? It’s not Hamas or Hezbollah.  It can’t be the Palestinian Authority (PA) who not only is corrupt and whose people hate them, still has not condemned the October 7th massacre nor have they had elections in 19 years!  So again, who can this partner be?

I found myself thinking of my friend Ali Abu Awwad, founder of Taghyeer, the Palestinian National Nonviolence Movement.  I met Ali on that trip and was amazing at what he said.  There was real leadership about building a country that would live in peace with Israel.  The line he said that I will always remember is, “Peace will not come through Jewish blood.  It will come through Jewish hearts.”  He then added, “we need to prove to the Jewish people that they can trust us because we have only showed them that they cannot.” 

Ali and me together when he visited Orlando and spoke to our community.

Imagine leaders who are not calling for ‘intifada’ or ‘jihad’ but instead are calling for peace and understanding.  Imagine leaders who came from a place of hatred and have overcome it to work with Jews, with Israeli, to build a better society.  Imagine a leader whose mother was a high-ranking PLO leader, who spent time in an Israeli prison at the same time as his mother and was able to move beyond hatred.  Imagine a leader whose brother was killed by the IDF and found peace and acceptance by spending time with a Rabbi whose son was killed by terrorists.  That is Ali Abu Awwad.  Just before Covid shut the world down, Ali spoke in Orlando.  The room was at least half Israeli.  They were primed for a fight.  They were primed to hear somebody blame Israel and make the Palestinians innocent victims.  They didn’t get what they expected.  They heard somebody taking responsibility for their part in the hate.  They heard somebody who gave hope for a different future. 

I realized I hadn’t reached out Ali in quite a while.  I hadn’t checked on him and asked how he was doing? then I began to think of some of the other Palestinian people that I met and considered friends.  I hadn’t reached out to them either.  What type of friend am I to be so overwhelmed with my own grief that I don’t check on my friends.  So I began doing so.  I reached out to Ali and am awaiting his reply.

I reached out to my friend Mahmoud.  His family owns the Educational Bookshop in East Jerusalem.  I spent a day with Mahmoud in 2019 walking around East Jerusalem, visiting the Palestinian theater, learning about the Palestinian arts community, and having coffee and a conversation at the bookshop.  We finished the day at his home with another deep conversation.  I wrote about that day in this blog post.

The day with Mahmoud was difficult and very meaningful. It is something that I think about regularly because of the power of his words.  He is not a fundamentalist.  He does not hate Jews.  He does not want the destruction of Israel.  He wants to live freely.  He wants a government that represents him and takes care of him.  It was very difficult to hear him say that if there was a public works project in his neighborhood, he wouldn’t ask the municipality of Jerusalem to fix it because they wouldn’t.  And he wouldn’t/couldn’t ask the PA to fix it because even if they could, they wouldn’t.  He felt helpless so he would just get people together to fix it himself or live with it being broken. 

Mahmoud and the Educational Bookshop. I look forward to returning for another cup of coffee with him.

He talked about how challenging it was for him to be in West Jerusalem and how he felt there, how uncomfortable and that he was a focus of constant attention.  He shared how he didn’t feel he belonged or was welcome there and how much that bothered him.  It bothered him so much that he didn’t like going.  He talked about how he would go to Tel Aviv, and he felt he didn’t stand out, he wasn’t a focus of attention like he was in West Jerusalem.  And how that both made him feel welcome and how it also troubled him – why was it so different?  He could disappear in Tel Aviv and just be a person while he felt he couldn’t do that in West Jerusalem.  It didn’t sit well with me then – that’s not the Israel I love – yet with the rise of antisemitism in the past six months I have begun to understand it in a way that is very uncomfortable.

I watch what is happening in places like New York, California, Michigan, and Canada, and feel very uncomfortable and unwelcome as a Jew.  This isn’t the America that I love.  There are places around the world that I won’t visit now as a Jew.  This isn’t the world that I want to live in.

I think often of something that Mahmoud said to us in his home.  He said that if Zionism means that the Jews have a claim to the land and that the Palestinians also have a claim to the land, then he supports Zionism.  It was incredibly powerful when he said it and even more powerful today.  When a Palestinian man living in East Jerusalem can come to that type of understanding, it gives me great hope for the future.  Zionism isn’t colonialism.  It isn’t racism.  It is the belief that the Jews have a right to self-determination in our historic homeland.  In fact, the Declaration of Independence has some very clear definitions in it that need to be highlighted.  They include:

This right is the natural right of the Jewish people to be masters of their own fate, like all other nations, in their own sovereign State.

Simply put, we have a right to our own sovereign State and self-determination.  It’s very clear.

THE STATE OF ISRAEL will be open for Jewish immigration and for the Ingathering of the Exiles; it will foster the development of the country for the benefit of all its inhabitants; it will be based on freedom, justice and peace as envisaged by the prophets of Israel; it will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex; it will guarantee freedom of religion, conscience, language, education and culture; it will safeguard the Holy Places of all religions; and it will be faithful to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations.

While Israel is a Jewish state, it is a place for everybody who lives there.  It is based on freedom, justice and peace – this language is very different from the charter of Hamas and the PLO.  And it guarantees social and political rights to all.  Unlike Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran and others, we do not want to a place for us alone. 

WE APPEAL – in the very midst of the onslaught launched against us now for months – to the Arab inhabitants of the State of Israel to preserve peace and participate in the upbuilding of the State on the basis of full and equal citizenship and due representation in all its provisional and permanent institutions.

Full and equal citizenship and due representation.  Powerful words.  Powerful ideals. 

WE EXTEND our hand to all neighboring states and their peoples in an offer of peace and good neighborliness, and appeal to them to establish bonds of cooperation and mutual help with the sovereign Jewish people settled in its own land. The State of Israel is prepared to do its share in a common effort for the advancement of the entire Middle East.

That last line is so important, especially during these times.  While we may not have a current partner for peace with the Palestinians, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do our part to find one.  The Abraham Accords and potential normalization with Saudia Arabia and Indonesia create even more opportunities.  We cannot let the horrors of the past stop us from the beauty of the future.  When I think of Mahmoud’s words back in 2019 and Ali’s passion and mission, that’s what I find myself going back to. 

We cannot let the horrors of the past stop us from the beauty of the future.

Ali and Mahmoud both want a world where people live in peace, together, building countries that care about their people.  They are both incredible leaders with a following.  We cannot afford to ignore them and let those who preach hate; Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran, the Palestinian Authority, etc., be in control. 

Mahmoud and I have been emailing and when I’m in Israel in May, we are planning for me to go visit him at his bookstore in East Jerusalem, walk around the neighborhood once again, talk, share a long cup of coffee or tea, maybe have lunch or dinner, and talk.  And talk.  And talk.  Learn from each other.  Deepen our friendship.  Because we both want the same thing.  A brighter future together.

One of my favorite people that I met on this trip was Mohammad.  I wrote about them in this blog post at the time.  He and his wife Hiba, and their baby son hosted us for dinner at their home in East Jerusalem.  They come from an amazing family.  Hiba’s family is the Muslim family that holds the keys to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. It’s an amazing story and if you don’t know it, you can begin to read about it here.  They both had Master’s degrees.  She worked for the UN, he worked for an NGO that took him into Gaza on a monthly basis. We formed an instant connection and talked at length about the different challenges.  The fact that the PA hasn’t had elections since 2005.  How corrupt the PA is and how they do nothing for the people except steal money.  How if there ever were elections, they could never vote for the PA, meaning that even Hamas would be a better choice because MAYBE they would do something for them (we haven’t talked about that since October 7th and I look forward to it in the near future) while they know the PA won’t do anything.  I asked about them running for office and their response was demoralizing as they didn’t believe that they would win and if they did, they wouldn’t be able to do anything without being killed.

Mohammad, Hiba, their son and me at their home in East Jerusalem.

We made a promise to get together again on my next trip so he could take me to his favorite restaurants, bakeries, ice cream shops, and we could continue our conversation.  Covid delayed my next trip, but I reached out before it, only to learn that Mohammad and his family had moved to Japan where he was working on a Ph.D.  We haven’t been able to coordinate his trips back with my trips back yet, but in our last correspondence we are going to try later this summer when they will be there for a few months.  In the meantime, they have a new baby that I want to meet.  He offered his home for me to stay when I visit, and I plan to take him up on the offer.  This is a beautiful family.  Wonderful people.  True friends.  And Palestinians.  It is possible. 

The last friend from this trip that I have been in contact with is a woman named Suzan.  She is a Palestinian Christian who lives in Bethlehem.  She also hosted us at her home for dinner where we had an amazing conversation.  She worries about the declining number of Christians in Bethlehem.  She worries about the role of women in Bethlehem.  She is privileged because she also has a German passport so is able to travel much easier. 

Suzan (far left in the black dress) and four of us at her home for dinner.

Suzan is an artist and runs an art studio.  The Bethlehem Fair Trade Artisans shop is an amazing place highlighting a variety of artists, mostly women, and I encourage you to check it out and if you see something you like, to purchase it. (Full disclosure – I encourage you to purchase as much as you can from Israeli artists and Israeli businesses. I have purchased many pieces from Israeli artists since October 7th. If you need help finding Israeli artists or businesses, please let me know and I’ll be happy to share my favorites and many others with you.)

Her focus is on women artists and fair-trade practices.  She was very frustrated that she was being told by the city government that her future shows and community events could not include Jewish women.  She told us that she didn’t care what they said, she was still going to invite the Jewish women to participate.  And she was going to continue to sell the works of Jewish women artists in her shop.  She didn’t care what they said, she was going to do what was right.  What was moral.  What was ethical.

Put those words together.  Moral.  Ethical.  Palestinian.  Generalizations simply don’t work.  There are terrorists.  There are people who hate and are evil.  I have met many of them, especially on that trip in 2019.  There are also many good people.  Great people.  Caring people.  People who you’d want as your neighbor.  As your friend. 

I hope to see Suzan either in May or later this year.  When I met her, it was just after she harvested her Olive trees so I saw the harvest.  Maybe this time I can see the trees filled with olives, filled with life.  Wouldn’t that be an incredible symbol.

Suzan with her harvest of olives from her trees

These are four examples of wonderful, amazing people.  People I call friends.  People I would be honored to have as neighbors.  People I trust.  Good people. 

I met terrorists.  You can read about my lunch with a member of Hamas, a murderer, and a member of the Al Aqsa Brigade in this post.  There is a difference between my friends who are Palestinian and the terrorists.  And I met people who were terrorists and are on a journey towards something different.  There is hope for the future but only if we are willing to do something different than the past.  That difference isn’t just up to us but it can start with us.  We can change our language.  We can use our contacts to meet Palestinians who want peace, who don’t hate, who don’t support Hamas or the PA, who will invite you into their home, share a meal, a coffee, and who you will come to really like.  We can help them rise up and together we can ensure the terrorists aren’t in power, don’t have the ability to kill Jews and oppress the Palestinian people. 

I’m not being pollyannish.  I’m not being naïve.  I am being hopeful.  I am talking about creating a systemic change.  I’m talking about taking action to stop the funding to UNRWA and the PA.  Ensure a new government ‘of the people, by the people, and for the people’ is set up in Gaza (sound familiar?)  We can lobby our government to force elections in Judea and Samaria, so Abbas’s 4-year term finally comes to an end before he serves 20 years of a 4 year term.  We can encourage the leaders in Israel to work with these leaders who want peace in a methodical manner to build trust.  As Ronald Reagan famously said, ‘Trust, but verify’. 

The Israeli national anthem is Hatikvah, the hope.  Let’s make sure we don’t lost hope.  Then the terrorists win and we all lose. 

IDF soldiers singing Hatikvah after October 7th just before they prepare to enter Gaza and defend Israel.

I look forward to sharing stories, pictures, and maybe even some videos and conversations with my Ali, Mahmoud, Mohammad and Hiba, and Suzan.  As deeply as October 7th has damaged and changed me, I won’t let it drive out hope.  Hope in the good people.  Hope for a better future.  And in the words of Theodore Herzl, “If you will it, it is no dream.”  I’m going to put the work in.  I hope you decide to as well.

PS

I came across this video of IDF soldiers rapping about the lies that are told about them. It’s very powerful and timely.

Sadly, it was recorded 10 years ago, showing that these allegations have a long rooted basis in antisemitism, Jew hatred, and bigotry. Enjoy the video as it’s powerful.

Where were you when the world stopped turning?

Posted on by Keith Dvorchik

I have written extensively about how behind the times I am when it comes to music.  I recently discovered the 2001 song by Alan Jackson, Where were you? (when the world stopped turnin’).  He wrote it about September 11, 2001 not long afterwards and performed it only 10 days later at the Country Music Awards (CMAs).  I find it very impactful, not just as it reminds me of what I felt and was going through after 9/11 but also what I felt like on October 7th and continue to feel today.

Jackson said that he had strong feelings and wanted to write something that expressed them without being political or partisan.  He wanted it to clearly reflect his thoughts and feelings.  This song accomplished that in an incredible manner.  Since October 7th, I have been writing to try to do the same.  When I heard this song and when I listened deeply to the lyrics, they not only speak about September 11th and the feelings afterwards but easily could reflect October 7th and afterwards.  Many Israeli artists have written songs about October 7th and after but I haven’t heard or seen a single American songwriter or singer with the exception of Bono and U2 changing the words of the song Pride: In the Name of Love to reflect October 7th instead of April 4 and the Supernova music festival.  You can see and hear the pain Bono is feeling.  I remember being incredibly moved when I heard it for the first time and even today, as I listen to it, it brings tears to my eyes.   I wish they would re-release it with altered lyrics. 

Where were you when the world stopped turnin’
That September day?
Were you in the yard with your wife and children
Or workin’ on some stage in L.A.?

Most people know where they were on September 11, 2001 as it is part of our American psyche.  I know where I was.  Who I was talking to.  What TV station I was watching.  Where I was when the first tower fell.  Where I was when the 2nd tower fell.  Keeping in touch with my brother, who worked in NYC at that time, to check on his safety.  Being grateful that my dad wasn’t flying that day – he had flown the day before.  Running a Hillel meant I had students to attend to and their needs.  The pain everybody felt was palpable.  September 11th and days that followed were filled with hugs, tears, conversations, and questions. 

October 7th was very similar for me.  I remember exactly where I was, where I sat, what TV stations I watched, and who I was with.  I remember sending WhatsApp messages to friends and family in Israel to check on them.  The uncertainty of where the attacks were going to occur that day.  Was it just going to be near the Gaza envelope?  Were they going to be attacked from the north and Lebanon?  What was the PA going to do and would we see terrorists coming in from the East as well? 

There are moments in our lives that we never forget the details.  My wedding. The birth of my children.  Family simchas.  The last day I spent with my father before he died.  Three Mile Island (I lived nearby in Harrisburg at the time).  The assassination attempt on Ronald Reagan.  John Lennon and Yitzhak Rabin being assassinated.  9/11.  October 7th.  In one way or another, the world stopped turning on all of those days.  Some due to joy, some due to sadness.  How the world stopping turning impacted us and what we do with the changes that result is what’s key.


Did you stand there in shock at the sight of that black smoke
Risin’ against that blue sky?
Did you shout out in anger, in fear for your neighbor
Or did you just sit down and cry?

On 9/11, when the first plane hit the first tower, I remember thinking it was an accident.  We watched in horror but didn’t realize we were under attack.  It wasn’t until the second plane hit the second tower that the shock really hit.  Where was going to be next?  My brother worked in NYC and his building was attached to Grand Central Station.  Was that the next target?  My dad was supposed to fly that week and his flight was changed.  I tried to remember when it was changed.  Was it changed so that he was flying that day?  Was it the day before?  Was it the day after?  What about my friends who worked and lived in NY?  Then the plane was crashed into Shanksville, PA and then into the Pentagon.  Were there going to be more attacks?  If so, where?  How? 

On October 7th, I sat there in shock.  I couldn’t believe what I was watching and hearing.  As I communicated with friends and family in Israel, it didn’t get any better.  I shouted in anger, in fear for my friends and family.  I sat in shock at what I watched and as names were released, prayed that I didn’t know any of them and was also sad that these people, these members of my Jewish family, were killed or taken hostage.

I couldn’t move from my chair in front of the television.  I couldn’t change the channel.  I didn’t want to talk to anybody as I had nothing to say.  It was so unbelievable.  When I did talk, it was usually filled with anger at what happened, not understanding where the IDF was.  Not understanding how this was continuing as long as it was.  Not understanding how it even happened.  The more that was reported, the angrier I got at Hamas for doing it and for the Israeli government for missing the signs and for allowing it to happen.  I got angry at the Gazan people who were welcomed into the kibbutzim for work and ate dinner with the families that they sold out to Hamas, ensuring their death or kidnapping.

We all have our own way of dealing with this type of trauma.  Jackson’s point is that whatever we did, however we dealt with it, is what we needed.  He isn’t saying one is better than the other.  He isn’t saying if you didn’t do it his way, you were wrong.  It’s a recognition that however we dealt with 9/11 or with October 7th, it’s what we needed to do in the moment.  And that’s good enough.

Did you weep for the children, they lost their dear loved ones
Pray for the ones who don’t know?
Did you rejoice for the people who walked from the rubble
And sob for the ones left below?

On 9/11 it was common to weep for everybody.  Those who were killed.  Those who we didn’t know what happened.  The families of both.  We prayed for the yet to be born children who lost their father on 9/11.  And the children who lost one or both parents.  We celebrated those who managed to escape and to live.  And mourned those who didn’t.  We found heroes in the passengers that crashed the plane in Shanksville, PA instead of letting the terrorists crash it into what they wanted, which would have killed more people. 

October 7th seems to be viewed differently by many.  I recently saw the documentary about the SuperNova music festival.  These young people who were there to celebrate music were massacred by evil terrorists.  I saw the Hamas video which showed them celebrating the murder of civilians – the elderly, women, children, and adults.  Kfir Babis was taken hostage at less than a year old and his brother at 4 years old are forgotten by most of the world.  The American hostages have been forgotten by Americans and by our leaders.  In Israel, there is an uprising against the government for how they are handling the hostage crisis.  Families have been displaced for more than 5 months, both from the Gaza envelope and from the north, where Hezbollah is sending rockets every day into Israel. 

The trauma of Israelis is forgotten.  The trauma of the diaspora Jews is ignored.  The world weeps for the children of Gaza who are dying because of Hamas but ignores the children of Israel who died because of Hamas.  The Red Cross still hasn’t visited the hostages, 177 days later.  They haven’t received their medication in 177 days.  As the father of a child with Type 1 diabetes, I know what would happen if he went 177 days without insulin.  After 9/11, America stood together in support of those impacted and those who lost loved ones.  We stood together against evil.  When it comes to October 7th, that stand only lasted a few days before they became held responsible for their own victimization by evil.  It disgusts me.  When I listen to Alan Jackson sing these words, I find myself burning inside, wondering why it doesn’t apply to Jews.  Why does everybody else matter but we don’t.  How can people who supposedly stand for morals, ethics, justice, equality, and the like actually show how fraudulent they are and not be held accountable.

My heart breaks daily for the families of the current hostages.  It aches every day for the hostages that were released and their families, for what they must go through.  It hurts for the families of the victims and the survivors of the SuperNova music festival massacre.  I have a deep hole in my heart and my soul for everybody impacted by October 7th – the Jews, Bedouins, Arab-Israelis, Druze, Bhai’I, and the innocent Palestinians and people of Gaza (because there is a difference between the terrorists and the people).  I wish the world mourned with me and stood up against evil.  This verse reminds me that no matter how much we want to think that we can just fit in with society, we are always Jews first and the world will always look at us differently.  They will weep and cry out for anybody other than us.  They will mourn and fight for the rights of everybody other than us.  We are the only ones who will stand up for ourselves. 

The great Israeli leader Golda Meir had a number of quotes that reflects this reality.  They include:


Did you burst out with pride for the red, white, and blue
And the heroes who died just doin’ what they do?
Did you look up to heaven for some kind of answer
And look at yourself and what really matters?

After 9/11, American pride was as high as I have seen since the 1980 US Olympic Hockey team beat the Soviets and then won the gold medal.  We were united as Americans.  Nobody was going to stop us.  We were going to kill the terrorists, restore democracy, rule the world.  Our first responders were all heroes.  I remember the flag from the Twin Towers being flown at Yankee Stadium.  We begin singing ‘God Bless America’ in the 7th inning of baseball games.  We thanked our soldiers for their service. 

The flag from ground zero flying at Yankee Stadium in 2001

We looked to God for answers.  As a Hillel Director, it was an incredible time as students flocked to ask existential questions.  Nobody was afraid to ask a question and seem uneducated because everybody was asking questions.  People reassessed their lives, their values.  Seeing these widows and orphans, pregnant women who lost their husbands, hearing the recording from the planes, inspired us all to be better people.  “Let’s Roll”, said by Todd Beamer, before he and the other passengers on Flight 93 attacked the cockpit and the terrorists, crashing the plane into a field before it could be used as a weapon, was an inspiration to us all.  We asked ourselves what we would do, what could we do, if we were in a similar situation.

October 7th was different for the world.  As Jews, as Zionists, we asked where was the IDF.  We were united in our grief, not in our dominance.  We knew that Israel would respond, that war was here, and that Gaza would be devastated, but we took no pride in that.  We took no joy.  We wanted our hostages back.  We wanted our country back.  We wanted to dream of peace back.  We sang Hatikvah, ‘Hope’, the Israeli national anthem with hope for the safe return of the hostages, safety for the IDF soldiers who were going to war, hope that peace would come quickly.  The heroes we saw were ordinary people who raced into danger to help others. 

Bedouins like Ismail Al-Karnawi, who left Rahat with three other family members to head towards Kibbutz Be’eri in order to rescue residents from the inferno.  Sari Al-Karnawi, who served as a police officer at the Nova party and rescued partygoers from the attack. Muhammad Abu Najah, an employee of the cleaning company at Nova, who fought against the terrorists, called first responders, and warned others of the presence of terrorists. Omar Abu Sabeelah, who in Sderot heard a woman’s scream and saw Odaya Suissa with her two daughters, aged 6 and 3, and her husband Dolev who was shot dead by the terrorists. Despite being wounded, Sabeelah managed to reach the girls in the car and get them out to safety.  He later died from his injuries.  Yousef Alziyadneh, who saved the lives of approximately 30 Nova party revelers who were under fire. Anis Abu Dabbus, a senior paramedic crew at the Rahat Magen David Adom station, who acted with his crew in the Rahat and Ofakim area, treating the wounded and providing lifesaving treatment to many.

Heroes like retired general Noam Tibon, who got in his car with his wife and headed towards Kibbutz Nahal Oz, where his son, daughter-in-law, and two young granddaughters were hiding in their safe room as the Kibbutz was attacked and overtaken by Hamas terrorists.  Tibon encountered a battle between IDF soldiers and Hamas and picked up a weapon and helped defeat the terrorists.  He took 2 of the wounded soldiers to his wife who drove them to the hospital for treatment while he continued on foot until being picked up by another retired general who was answering the call and taken to the Kibbutz.  60 Minutes did a story on his heroism.

Countless other heroes like my friend Yaron Buskila, who left his house without a weapon to fight the terrorists and save lives.  Yaron shared a little of what it was like and that little bit that he shared showed me not just his bravery, but the bravery of so many Israelis; Jewish, Bedouin, Arab, and Christian on October 7th.

On October 7th we all looked to heaven for an answer.  An answer that will never come.  Instead, we began to question ourselves about what really matters.  What is important to us and how do we show that.  How do we reprioritize our lives around the things that matter instead of the things we thought mattered before October 7th.  It’s amazing to have lived in the post 9/11 world and the post October 7th world.  Two terrorist attacks.   Two tragedies.  Two horrible things.  Two very different outcomes and feelings.

I’m just a singer of simple songs
I’m not a real political man
I watch CNN, but I’m not sure I can tell you
The diff’rence in Iraq and Iran

I find this to be one of the most profound lines in the song.  So many of us don’t know what’s really going on.  We didn’t know who the Taliban was before 9/11.  We couldn’t tell you the difference between the Shiite country of Iran and the Sunni country of Iraq other than their rulers. 

The same holds true after October 7th but it’s even worse.  People don’t only know what Hamas and Hezbollah are, they don’t know that Gaza hasn’t been ‘occupied’ since 2005.  They use phrases like “From the River to the Sea” and don’t know what river or what sea they are talking about.  They use words like Apartheid and Genocide because they sound good and are powerful without understand the facts or definition of those words.  They talk about the high number of civilians that have been killed, not understanding that war is terrible and civilians are killed, but that Israel is nearly 9 times better than the norm in minimizing civilan deaths. Instead of addressing the evil of Hamas, people are feeding into ancient Jewish tropes and feeding global antisemitism. 

Israel-Hamas figures compared to the normal rates in war

I am concerned that this ignorance, this hate, will result in catastrophic events happening in the United States as we blame the victim and both encourage and allow the evil to grow. 


But I know Jesus and I talk to God
And I remember this from when I was young
Faith, hope, and love are some good things He gave us
And the greatest is love

One of my favorite things about Judaism is the way we look to God, to the Torah, for answers.  There are always lessons to learn.  Since October 7th I have spent much more time asking questions, learning Torah with Rabbis, and working to understand my role as a Jew in this world. 

There is a line in Pirkei Avot, the lessons of our fathers, that always speaks to me.  It comes from 2:16 and says that Rabbi Tarfon used to say, “It is not your duty to finish the work, but neither are you at liberty to neglect it.”  After October 7th this hit home in a very different way.  I am not a soldier and can’t fight with the IDF.  I am not an Israeli citizen.  I do not have the duty to finish the work of the war.  However, I am also not able to just neglect the situation and not do my part.  There are many ways to do my part and I have learned that there is much I can do.  We all have roles to play and our responsibility is not to do everything but rather to play our part, to do what we can.  Speak out.  Get educated.  Encourage others to learn and not just repeat things they hear.

We can also work to live with faith, hope, and love.  This doesn’t mean excuse the behavior of the terrorists or those who repeat the lies because they don’t know better.  We can have faith that Israel will defeat evil.  We can have faith in God and the IDF.  And we can focus on love.  Love of the Jewish people.  Love of our mishpacha (family).  Love of Israel.  Love of our family.  Love of the teachings of the Torah (which if you know me doesn’t sound like something I would say.)

In these terrible times, in these times of desperation, we can still live with faith, hope, and love.  We can choose to look to the future with positivity or negativity.  We can do our part to make the world a beautiful, better place or we can allow it to die.  The choice is ours.

Where were you when the world stopped turnin’
That September day?
Teachin’ a class full of innocent children
Or drivin’ down some cold interstate?

Did you feel guilty ’cause you’re a survivor?
In a crowded room did you feel alone?
Did you call up your mother and tell her you love her?
Did you dust off that Bible at home?

This verse reminds us that the world did stop turning on both 9/11 and on October 7th.  We don’t have to pretend that it didn’t.  President Bush was reading to a class full of innocent children.  We were all doing something when it happened, when we got the news. 

President Bush reading to children as terrorists attacked on 9/11

We don’t have to live with survivors’ guilt.  I wasn’t living in NY on 9/11 or in Israel on October 7th.  Why would I have survivors’ guilt?  Because I know people who were.  I know people who lost loved ones.  My life was altered only in the inconveniences I had to deal with after 9/11.  October 7th meant that I didn’t get to go to Israel in November like I had planned.  Yet the survivors’ guilt is real because I am part of a community.  While I am an American, Israel is my homeland.  I have a strong tie to Israel and my homeland, my love, was critically injured and damaged on October 7th.  That is where my survivors’ guilt comes from.  Because I haven’t been able to go to Israel since October 7th. 

There are plenty of times when I do feel alone.  People chanting antisemitic tropes.  Dressing in Nazi uniforms and flying Nazi flags.  When I see friends posting hateful comments that they don’t even necessarily understand are hateful and hurtful.  I have learned who my friends really are and who aren’t.  This can be painful but it’s also refreshing because I don’t have to include those people in my life any longer. 

After 9/11 I made sure to talk to my parents, my siblings, and my loved ones.  It was a reminder of how short life is.  The same thing happened after October 7th.  This type of brutality and horror reminds us how precious life is.  How limited our time really is.  What and who is really important to us.  Last week I reached out to my friends who are Palestinian and live in that area.  I wanted to see how they are doing.  I wanted to let them know I was thinking of them.  I wanted to let them know I consider them my friend no matter what is happening in the world.  And that I want to see them when I get to Israel in the near future because they matter.  I choose to live in faith, hope, and love, not in hate. 

After 9/11 people began asking questions about God and opened a door that had been closed for them.  October 7th was the same.  The opportunity to study, to learn, to ask questions, and to explore Judaism, God, and spirituality was there and many of us took it.  It opened me up to learning more, to being a better person, and to ask why I behave certain ways and is that reflective of the person I want to be.  We have an opportunity to do better and to be better.  I am taking that opportunity.

Did you open your eyes and hope it never happened
Close your eyes and not go to sleep?
Did you notice the sunset for the first time in ages
And speak to some stranger on the street?
Did you lay down at night and think of tomorrow
Go out and buy you a gun?

After 9/11 I know a lot of people who did close their eyes and hope it never happened.  People who struggled with sleep.  I wasn’t one of them.  But after October 7th, I was.  I hoped it was a nightmare.  I hoped I would wake up and it was only a nightmare.  I struggled to sleep and when I did sleep, it wasn’t restful.  October 7th was much more personal for me than 9/11.  Unfortunately, I think most of the country has forgotten the horror of 9/11 and October 7th happened ‘over there’ and ‘to them’ and doesn’t affect their daily lives. 

I have chosen to invest more in random acts of kindness.  Today I was at the grocery store behind a couple with a child that has a disability.  It meant that they were going very slow.  I was stuck behind them.  Instead of getting frustrated and trying to push by, I took a deep breath and watched them with their daughter.  And found joy in it.  Instead of being angry and resentful, I was grateful and filled with love.  All because I took a deep breath and didn’t push past them.  I say hello to strangers and talk with them as people, not strangers.  I will hold a door open, let somebody get in front of me, and enjoy the beauty of the day.

The world is a scary place and has only gotten scarier since October 7th.  Being so public as a Jewish leader, I felt targeted and at risk.  Long before October 7th, I did get training on firearms and made sure that I have them to protect myself.  They are things I hope to only use on the range when I practice.  But I won’t be a victim.  I won’t allow my family to be at risk from the hatred that exists in the world.  And I know I am not alone in these thoughts, concerns, and actions. 

Did you turn off that violent old movie you’re watchin’
And turn on I Love Lucy reruns?
Did you go to a church and hold hands with some strangers
Stand in line to give your own blood?
Did you just stay home and cling tight to your family
Thank God you had somebody to love?

This last verse asks what we are doing differently.  While there are specific things listed, it’s really about who you are and what you are doing as a result of 9/11 and now October 7th.  There are many things I do differently today than I did prior to October 7th.  I speak out much more often against antisemitism and hatred.  I reach out to those I love and to my friends.  I make sure my friends who are different religions, races, cultures, etc. know I care about them and that I am interested in our similarities, not our differences. 

Like Pirkei Avot teaches us, I have an obligation to help with the work.  So I give blood, hold doors, exhibit patience, spend more time with my family, tell those that I love that I love them.  I invest in friendships and allow those that have been shown to not be investable to die so that I am investing in those of value. 

I appreciate what I have in my life.  I am a rich man because I want what I have rather than having what I want.  I am grateful for the life that I get to live rather than worrying about the life I wish I had.  I am more connected spiritually and am open to all that the universe brings to me. 

I am committed to making the world a better place.  That starts with those around me and in my local community.  It means doing things for the right reasons.  President Ronald Reagan had on his desk a sign that said, “There is no limit to what a man can do or where he can go if he doesn’t mind who gets the credit.”  That is how I live my life post October 7th.  I don’t care who gets the credit.  I don’t care about the recognition.  I only care about what we can do together.  What we can accomplish.  How we can make the world a better place for all. 

The paperweight from President Ronald Reagan’s desk

Where were you when the world stopped turnin’
On that September day?

The song ends with the haunting question that it began with.  It reminds us that the world did stop turning.  Both on 9/11 and October 7th the world was forever altered.  We were forever altered.  Where were we?  What did we do as a result?  How did we change?  How did we change the world?  What did we do to make the world a better place and to get it turning once again. 

At the end of the day, all we can control is our own actions.  What are you going to do today to make the world a better place?  How are you going to change the world today?  Remember that just because the world stopped turning on October 7th doesn’t mean we are free from the obligation to make sure it is turning once again.  I’m up for the challenge and I hope you will join me.

Teachings from the Nova Music Festival

Posted on by Keith Dvorchik

There are many dates that are significant in people’s lives.  December 7, 1941.  May 14, 1948.  November 22, 1963.  April 4, 1968.  June 6, 1968.  July 20, 1969.  March 28, 1979.  April 20, 1999.   September 11, 2001.  December 14, 2012.  February 14, 2018.  In Seattle, it was July 28, 2006. 

All the dates above are significant ones.  All have meaning in my life.  However, for me, October 7, 2023, is a date that changed who I am as a person.  Israel has always been an important part of my life and my identity.  I remember the stories of my grandparents listening on the transistor radio on November 25, 1947, as the UN voted on the partition plan to create a Jewish state.  My grandparents were passionate Zionists, and both sets of them went to visit Israel.  I am the rare American Jew who is the 3rd generation to visit Israel.  My first trip was the summer of 1989 and I have been a total of 20 times so far with my 21st planned for this year and hopefully my 22nd and 23rd as well. 

As I sat in my living room on October 7, 2023, watching the horrors on television and sending WhatsApp messages to my family and friends in Israel to check on them, I knew that I was different as a result.  I could tell that I was changed as a result of what was happening.  I will never forget the image shown over and over on television of a minivan on the side of the road.  The father was the driver and had been murdered, his head laying against the steering wheel.  His young daughter was laying on top of him, also murdered.  This was one vehicle among many that were shown. As more information and video came out, the horror increased.  I sat in my chair watching the reports and getting live info via WhatsApp from friends.  My friend Maor, the consul general from Israel to Florida reached out to check on me and told me to stop watching the news because it was bad for my mental health.  But I couldn’t.  Senator Rick Scott called me to check on how I was doing.  I was both shocked and grateful that he called.  I worked with some friends to put together a community gathering to express our pain and anger, to give the community an opportunity to grieve together and hopefully a chance to begin to heal.  We had US Representatives there, Florida Representatives there, members of the US Senate sent aides and so did members of the US Senate.  Mayor Jerry Demings and his wife, Representative Val Demings came.  I don’t remember what I said when I spoke but I remember is was passionate, direct, and was filled with emotion.

When it was announced there would be a rally in Washington, DC, on the mall, I knew I had to be there.  I knew that both for my own soul and to be able to answer with integrity what I did after October 7th by my future grandchildren, I had to show up.  Being there with 300,000 other people was an amazing experience.  We sang Hatikvah together, heard from amazing speakers, carried our signs, chanted “Bring them home” about the hostages.  It was a feeling I will never forget. 

Riding the Metro to the rally when we broke into song. Am Yisrael Chai!

As time moved on, I learned of 4 friends that had family members taken hostage.  Six people taken on October 7th by Hamas.  Ultimately, four of them have been released.  One turned 13 the day after she was released.  Her mom was released day after her birthday.  My friends and I put together a campaign to get her birthday and Hanukkah presidents.  The video of her with the presents is priceless.  It made my heart sign.  Even today, watching it brings joy to my heart and soul.  This precious child was kidnapped, held as a hostage, kept in tunnels, and was traumatized.  To see her smile with these presents warms my being.

I worked with the Israel consulate to host a showing of the 47-minute Hamas video for politicians, law enforcement, and some members of the community.  Many told me that they couldn’t watch it.  Many told me that I shouldn’t watch it.  It was painful to see but for me, bearing witness was essential.  There are images I saw that I will never forget.  The cries of two little boys after their father was murdered in front of them, one having lost the sight in one eye.  Their mother coming to site hours later and seeing her husband lying dead in the doorway of the safe room.  Beheadings.  Blood smeared all over a room where people were executed.  Terrorists calling their parents to brag about how many Jews they killed and hearing the excitement not just in their voice but the voice of their parents.  It was the same type of pride I felt with my children when they graduated high school and college except this pride was for the murder of Jews.  It was horrifying to see and yet, I can’t imagine having not seen what the terrorists of Hamas did to my Jewish mishpacha (family). 

A friend of mine in Israel was recalled into the IDF and was the head of operations in Gaza.  He told me about what he did on October 7th to try to save people.  He spent 120 days in Gaza, coordinating the efforts to eliminate Hamas and free the hostages.  I got occasional messages and worried about his safety every day.  After 4 months of service, he was released from service temporarily to decompress.  He came to the United States for work related projects and happened to be in Orlando.  We had a chance to get together and during that time he shared a bit of what it was like during those 120 days.  How many times he was nearly killed.  He told me that the flight from Israel to America was incredibly difficult for him because it was the first time he had experienced quiet in 120 days, and he finally had a chance to process what happened.  I showed him the video of the little girl opening her birthday and Hanukkah presents after being a hostage.  The look on his face is one I will never forget.  It’s why he does everything he does. 

I attended the AIPAC Policy Summit in Washington, DC, just a few weeks ago.  We heard from parents of a current hostage.  We heard from a young woman whose parents were murdered while her brother hid under the bed, lying in their blood and urine for hours.  We heard from a survivor from the Nova Music Festival.  It’s always powerful to hear from our national politicians however it was nothing compared to hearing from those who were impacted by October 7th.  On the last morning on the Summit, we learned that a US citizen who was taken hostage was murdered by Hamas.  We all gasped at the news and the room was filled with sorrow.

Later that day, I finally went to get the tattoos I had wanted for a few months.  One is the words of Mia Schem, a hostage taken from the Nova Music Festival.  She said, and then got tattooed on her arm, “We will dance again.  7.10.23”.  I proudly have that on the inside of my right forearm.  The other one is a tree and under the roots it says NOVA  7.10.23.  They are constant reminders to me of the horrors of October 7th, of the rise of antisemitism, how we will always be Jews first and foremost, and that there is no need to hide being Jewish, my pride in my Jewish identity, and the importance of Israel to me.

I felt like I had been through the ringer since October 7th.  Powerful emotions, loss, fear, concern, anger, frustration – you name it, I have felt it.  I have wanted to go to Israel since October 7th however my family has not wanted me to go yet, so I have waited.  It’s been incredibly difficult for me not to go, not to be there, not to take action to do my part for Israel and the Israeli people.  The concept of Shalom Bayit (peace in the home) has been more important however it hasn’t been easy.  Initially I was going in March 2024 that was postponed until May 2024.  That date may even be changed.

So having been through the ringer, when there was a showing this week of the new documentary about the Nova music festival, I wanted to go.  I had no expectations about the movie or the speaker afterwards.  I think that was good because if I had expected the experience to have the impact that it did, I may not have gone. 

The documentary was shown through the eyes of those who were attending the music festival.  It’s not what I expected.  I didn’t expect it to be quite so ‘first person’ view.  You could hear the music, see the dancing, and celebrate with joy the fun those who were there enjoyed.  It reminded me of many things I used to do with my friends at that age.  When the rockets started at sunrise, it was strange hearing them talk about ‘fireworks’ because we already know they were rockets, but those at the festival didn’t at first.  Then they saw Iron Dome taking them out and they still had no idea what was coming.  As somebody who knew what terror was about to happen, it was hard to watch them in real time, make assumptions that we all would have made at that time.  You begin to see the terrorists arrive on bikes, trucks, and gliders.  You hear their joy and excitement because they are about to murder and rape and kidnap Jews.  I saw that in the Hamas video, but this one was different as it contrasted with those attending the festival.  Flipping back and forth between the arriving terrorists and the festival goers who didn’t know what was happening truly felt like a horror movie. 

As they began to run and hide, the videos shown were more from those hiding.  You could feel their anxiety as they recorded messages.  Some send goodbye messages to their families.  Some spoke to their parents who begged them to hide, play dead, do anything to survive.  The one thing that really hit home was their expectation that the army and the police would come rescue them.  As Ambassador Michael Oren has said, it was part of the covenant between the State of Israel and the people.  The army, the IDF, would always be there to protect them.  On October 7th, they weren’t.  Not only could you feel the loss of trust from those hiding, I felt it personally.  I always had incredible support and admiration for the IDF.  High expectations.  We don’t know what happened or why they were so unprepared on October 7th but the reality is they were unprepared.  They weren’t there when they were needed.  That loss of trust is palpable.  It doesn’t surprise me that over 300,000 reservists returned to duty after October 7th, more than were recalled and far more than were expected. 

There is a saying in the Talmud, “Kol Arevim Ze LaZeh (or BaZeh depending)”.  It means “All of Israel (or all of the Jewish community) is responsible for each other.”  It’s commonly said by Rabbis during a sermon urging us to do a little bit more.  On October 7th, it showed me what it really means.  We are all one.  What happens to one of us happens to all of us.  If we don’t stand together to take care of each other, nobody will stand with us and we will all fall.  It’s why I have struggled with not going to Israel since October 7th.  In my heart, in my soul, I need to be there helping in any way that I can.  I also need to be here with my family.  It’s my own internal struggle that I face and deal with on a daily basis. 

The end of the movie is when the IDF does finally show up, approximately 7 hours after the attack began.  I have seen this footage before and in the movie, they chose to blur out the dead bodies lying around the festival.  The footage I saw showed the bodies.  It was horrific. You could hear the urgency in the IDF soldiers voices as they cried to out for any survivors.  Is there anybody alive?  And reporting to everybody else that everybody they found is dead.  It’s a sobering sight.  It reminded me of the pictures from US soldiers discovering the Nazi death camps but now in real time for me.  The first time I saw that footage, I was struck by the number of people who were murdered, who were lying there dead only because they were Jews.  This time it was the voices of the IDF soldiers, devastated that by the time they arrived, there was nobody to save.  I felt their failure through their voices.  The breaking of that covenant.  The change occurring for all Israelis and Jews in the diaspora.   The need to look deep within and ask, “What am I doing?  How can I help?  What’s my obligation?” 

WARNING – The video below is GRAPHIC. You may not want to watch it.

THIS IS GRAPHIC – THE IDF ARRIVES AT THE NOVA MUSIC FESTIVAL TO FIND EVERYBODY DEAD

The movie ended, the lights turned on, blinding us for a moment.  I think we needed that moment of blindness to return us from the horrors occurring at the Nova Festival on October 7th to the current day. 

Lee Sasi, a young woman from Los Angeles, who is a survivor of the Nova music festival massacre, took the podium and began to speak to us. 

Here is a video interview she did with Jake Tapper of CNN on October 11th.  The story she told us was similar to what she shares here, only with more detail.  The way Jake Tapper is stunned and doesn’t know what to say is how we felt listening to her months later.    Her pain, expressed days later, was no different when she spoke to us.

https://www.cnn.com/videos/world/2023/10/11/the-lead-lee-sasi-jake-tapper-live.cnn

Here is her interview with Chris Cuomo.  It is hard to watch without tears coming to my eyes.  The brutality of Hamas.  The sacrifice of her uncle. 

https://www.newsnationnow.com/video/survivor-of-israel-festival-attack-was-saved-by-uncle-%e2%80%98he%e2%80%99s-a-legend%e2%80%99-cuomo/9075461

I get angry when I hear about Israel’s ‘indiscriminate killing’ of Gazan citizens, because it’s not true.  The data, even using the numbers provided by Hamas, shows that the civilian to military casualty rate is approximately 1:1, one of the lowest ever.  The UN reports that the normal rate is 9:1, meaning 90% of all casualties in war are civilians.  This means that Israel is 9 times better than the accepted ratio by the world.  War is awful and innocent people die.  It’s why we need to try to avoid war at all costs.  But when we can’t, we have to fight the evil.  Hamas is the evil that is involved with indiscriminate killings.  Listen to Lee’s description of how the terrorists fired into the bunker of civilians.  How they threw grenades into a mass of civilians.  How they executed a man in front of the bunker as he yelled to them in Arabic, “I am an Arab, I am an Arab.”

Listening to Lee speak about what happened at the Nova festival and the horrors and evil of Hamas impacted me deeply.  It became more personal than before.  It reinforced how essential it is that we fight against evil because if we don’t eliminate evil, if we allow evil to live, it will grow.  And evil will destroy all of us, just like Hamas executed the Bedouin man outside the shelter who was yelling to them that he was an Arab.  Evil doesn’t care. 

We see this in our own country as people are choosing to attack Jews in the name of Palestinian freedom.  How does a synagogue being attacked help the people of Gaza?  How does protesting a Jewish actor just for being Jewish, not for any statement or action, help get food to the people of Gaza?  How does blocking streets in America help stop the corruption of UNRWA who isn’t delivering the humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza and instead is giving it to Hamas who is keeping it or selling it on the back market?  Listen to what the people of Gaza are saying.  The humanitarian aid costs too much to buy.  IT’S FREE unless Hamas is stealing it.  The food packages don’t include any meat or protein.  That’s because HAMAS IS STEALING IT. 

I worry about not just the future of Israel but the future of the United States, of Europe and of the world.  We are allowing evil to win.  Hearing Lee Sasi share her story forces me to increase my efforts to fight evil.  After coming home from the event, I reached out to friends of mine who are Palestinians in Bethlehem, East Jerusalem, and Beit Jala.  I wanted to check on them, reaffirm our friendship, and set up a time for us to talk about what the future may look like and what we can do together, to fight evil and change the world.  I urge you to do the same with your friends, wherever they are.  Start in your local community.  Reach out to people who are different than you and get a cup of coffee.  Have a conversation.  Begin by agreeing that you want a better world and perhaps you disagree on how to get there.  Start the process.

We owe it to Lee Sasi, her uncle who sacrificed his life to save hers and others, and all those murdered on October 7th to make the world a better place.  We owe it to all those who have lost their lives as a result of the evil of Hamas to not let their deaths be in vain.  We can change the world but it takes our effort, our commitment, and our dedication to make it happen.  We need all of us to do our part. 

Muhammad Ali, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, and the 4 sons from the Seder.

Posted on by Keith Dvorchik

I do a lot of reading these days to find both accurate and interesting information.  I use a lot of sources and enjoy reading differing viewpoints as I can always learn more.  One of the people I enjoy reading is former NBA all-star and Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul Jabbar.  While I don’t agree with every position he takes and think he misses many things in some of his analyses, he also makes me think and I would enjoy sitting down with him over a meal to discuss where we differ and why.

In his message today, he highlighted a quote by the great Muhammad Ali that resonated with me.

Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth.

As Kareem Abdul Jabbar wrote, “That’s how he lived his whole life: Ignoring personal consequences to help others. He inspired millions across the world.  I was one of those millions.”

As a child, I loved watching Ali fight.  He was a master class in showmanship.  More than watching him fight, I loved listening to him talk and especially his interviews with the great sports journalist, Howard Cosell.  I could listen to them talk with each other for hours, if they would have continued that long.  Ali was a poet who fought.  Cosell was a brilliant foil doing sports journalism.  Together they defined sports in the 1970s. 

Howard Cosell roasting Muhammad Ali in 1974.  Their love and respect for each other is clear as they smile and laugh through the comments about each other

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zgHuEB59NY&ab_channel=Starlights

Some of the great highlights of Ali and Cosell during different interviews.  Two very different people from very different backgrounds who found common ground, respected each other, became friends, and appreciated their differences.

Despite having incredible relationships with Howard Cosell and Billy Crystal, Ali also had a challenging relationship with the Jewish community.  He had no problem speaking out loudly against Jewish promoters and slamming “Zionist control of the world”, but he also had a Jewish grandson and attended his bar mitzvah, allowing his grandson to show him the Torah and explore it together.  He went to Israel and lobbying for the release of terrorists yet also publicly appealed to Muslim extremists to release Jewish journalist Daniel Pearl and attended Pearl’s funeral. 

This imitation of Ali by Billy Crystal always makes me smile, both because of the talent of Crystal but also because I could imagine Ali laughing at it and wishing he had come up with the idea first.  When Ali turned 50, he had Crystal perform at his birthday party.

In 1996, before lighting the Olympic flame in Atlanta, Muhammad Ali publicly stated:

“My mother was a Baptist. She believed Jesus was the son of God, and I don’t believe that. But even though my mother had a religion different from me, I believe that, on Judgment Day, my mother will be in heaven.

“There are Jewish people who lead good lives. When they die, I believe they’re going to heaven. It doesn’t matter what religion you are if you’re a good person you’ll receive God’s blessing. Muslims, Christians, and Jews all serve the same God. We just serve him in different ways.

“Anyone who believes in One God should also believe that all people are part of one family. God created us all. And all people have to work to get along.”

We live in very challenging times.  Ali did as well, as a black man who converted to Islam, refused the draft, spoke his mind, lost everything, and earned it back based on his beliefs.  Despite his challenges with the Jewish community, there is much we can learn from Muhammad Ali in how we choose to speak, act, and behave in our own challenging times of today.

The attacks on October 7th in Israel have fundamentally altered who I am as a person.  I don’t live in Israel so how can it have done this?  I have always been a passionate Zionist.  Since there is so much confusion about what this means, I am going to be clearer and define this.  It means I believe that the Jewish people have a right to a homeland.  I believe the Jewish people have a right to self-determination.  I believe that Judea and Samaria are the ancestral homeland of the Jewish people.  And I believe that no matter your religion or lack of religion, if you want to be a citizen of Israel, you should be allowed to pursue citizenship.  I love that there are Arab-Israelis and Druze-Israelis.  It’s wonderful to visit the Baha’i Gardens in Haifa and learn about the Baha’i Israelis and their community and beliefs.  There are Christian-Israelis and Bedouin Israelis.  There are Ethiopian-Israelis and Palestinian-Israelis.  The common thing they all have in common is that they are Israeli.

Since October 7th, I have seen an incredible amount of antisemitism and hate in the world.  It fascinates me in so many ways.  In many ways, the 4 sons/children from the Passover Seder can be an appropriate analogy.  There are those who always have been antisemites and now don’t have to pretend.  These are the wicked son/child. They are easy to see and identify.  They are the ones who demand proof of Hamas raping women when they spoke out against Brett Cavanaugh.  They stood chanting ‘believe all women’ and then don’t believe Jewish women.  They present a challenge as I’m not sure there is anything anybody can do to about them.  The slight hope that I have for these people goes back to my experience with Combatants for Peace.  I became aware of them in 2019 during a trip to Israel where I spent 4 days meeting with leaders of Palestinian civil society.  The members I met were across the spectrum in terms of where they came from and where they were at that time.  All had begun from a place of hate.  Hatred of Palestinians or hatred of Jews.  All were on a quest to leave hate behind.  Some were more successful than others.  All were trying.  For those who live in hate and recent times are enabling them to express it freely, I can only hope that at some point they decide that perhaps there is a different way to live and are willing to try to find that path.

It is sad but true that Jewish women don’t count to those people

There are a larger group of people who are behaving as antisemites, but I don’t think really are.  They often begin from an honorable place, such as I don’t to see civilians die.  I have some friends who are like this.  As a result, they call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire to stop civilians dying in war.  However, they miss the entire context.  They don’t assign responsibility to Hamas, who not only began the war but also uses civilians as human shields, turns hospitals, schools, mosques, and homes into military targets.  They don’t listen to the people in the north of Gaza, finally free of Hamas, who encourage Israel to finish the war by destroying Hamas.  They cite the starvation and need for humanitarian aid without realizing that the aid is coming in, however UNRWA makes sure that Hamas gets it and Hamas then keeps what they need and put the rest of the black market at exorbitant prices.  I have from people on the ground in Gaza who acknowledge there is plenty of food there, it’s just either in the tunnels with Hamas or so grossly overpriced on the black market that the ordinary people can’t afford it.  Sending in more aid won’t solve this problem and this group of people simply isn’t looking at facts while leading with their heart.  We all want the war to end.  We all want the death to stop.  We all want peace.  It cannot and will not happen until the hostages are released and Hamas leadership surrenders.  Those who call for a ‘Ceasefire Now’ or an” Immediate and permanent ceasefire” or “an immediate 2 state solution” miss the basic facts that:

  1. A ceasefire has to be on both sides and Hamas has already said they will do more October 7th massacres.  Hamas has also violated every ceasefire that Israel has been agreed to with them.  
  2. Hamas will not agree to, nor will they adhere to a permanent cease fire.  They have said this publicly and many times.  Why would Israel agree to something that would only be binding on them?
  3. There can be no ceasefire, nor can there be anything permanent while the hostages remain in Gaza.  Their release must occur for any ceasefire to be considered. 
  4. If Hamas remains in power, the Palestinian people in Gaza, those that these people profess to care about, will suffer greatly.  The Gazans in the northern part, who are now free of Hamas, are crying for Israel to finish the job, eliminate Hamas, and grant them freedom. 
  5. You can’t give people who call for your destruction, who commit actual genocide, who are supported by Iran, who don’t respect borders, who are known to be corrupt and steal from their people, their own state as a reward for committing genocide. 

These people are the simple son/child, who does not know.  They are so ignorant they don’t even realize they don’t know.  They use words like genocide and apartheid without knowing the meaning and when they clearly don’t apply.  They say things like, “Ceasefire now, Intifada” not realizing that they are telling Israel to put down their weapons while telling the terrorists to pick their up and kill Jews.  They chant “from the River to the Sea” without knowing what river, what sea, or that what they are advocating for is the elimination of Israel.  They accuse Israel of genocide while they, themselves, are actually advocating for genocide!  If they are truly antisemitic, it’s often because this is the new, cool, hip thing their friends are doing.  They aren’t filled with hate; they are filled with stupidity.  If they are willing to learn, there is a chance for them to understand.  If they aren’t willing to learn, it is more likely they will end up like the wicked son/child. 

They are so simple that they don’t even realize that Hamas would throw them from the roof of a building to their death for being in drag or being gay.

At the Seder table, we talk about the son/child who doesn’t know how to ask.  I remember thinking to myself for years, ‘how is this different from the simple son/child?’  What’s happened since October 7th has shown me the difference.  While the simple child doesn’t know enough to question what they are told and believe whatever they are old, the one who doesn’t know how to ask is oblivious to what’s going on around them.  These are the people who don’t say anything at all about the atrocities committed by Hamas.  They don’t comment or say anything about the incredible antisemitism we are seeing on college campuses or in major cities.  A hospital protested and vandalized because it has a Jewish name doesn’t raise their ire nor does it result in a comment.  People assaulted because they are Jewish or are wearing a kippah or a Jewish symbol isn’t even considered by them.  They live in a world where things like this don’t exist.  They aren’t antisemitic, they are totally disconnected from the reality of Jew hatred.  These are the people where we have the responsibility to show them what is happening, to engage them in conversation to educate them.  If we allow them to live in lala land, then we are responsible.  The actress and comedienne Tiffany Haddish who discovered she was Jewish later in life has taken an active role in this.  She isn’t afraid to talk about being Jewish and even publicly went to Israel recently to see and learn for herself.  She even had her own ‘Black Mitzvah’. She is the example to people who don’t even know how to ask about what they can do.  If she can do it, they can do it.

Since discovering that her mother was actually Jewish, Tiffany Haddish has embraced this part of her.

The final child is the wise one. This child asks for specific details about how to observe the holiday.  In the post October 7th world, these are the people that continue to seek truth and challenge what they are told.  They aren’t afraid to learn.  They understand the difference between Jews and the Israeli government.  They don’t take words like genocide, apartheid, and occupation at face value.  I want to be clear that this doesn’t mean they defend Israel no matter what.  They question.  They challenge.  They want to learn.  I urge us all to strive to be the wise child.  Don’t just believe what you hear or read.  Be open to conversations.  I had this happen regarding something it was reported that Turkish President Erdogan said.  A friend, who is actually in Turkey right now, let me know that this was a translation error/issue and that he would explain in detail this week.  I look forward to having him explain to me the translation issue and put it in another context. 

Muhammad Ali changed his name to mark his significant change upon converting to Islam.  The man named Cassius Clay ceased to exist and all that was left was a man named Muhammad Ali.  The me that existed before October 7th no longer exists.  The horrors of that day and what has followed has created a different version of me.  In order to mark that transition, I haven’t changed my name.  But I have marked my body.  I have wanted to get something that would mark that change for me and for everybody who saw it.  So last week, while in DC, I went with a friend to her tattoo artist and got two very personal and very meaningful tattoos.  One is the quote from Mia Schem, a hostage taken from the Nova music festival and released after 55 days.  She said, and then got tattooed on her arm, the words I will never forget.  “We will dance again.”  I now have those words on my right forearm.  I also saw a design memorializing the Nova music festival.  I can imagine being there listening to bands that I love.  I can imagine my children being at that music festival as they love concerts and live music.  So on my left forearm I got a tree with the word Nova and the date, 7-10-23 (written the Israeli way) tattooed.  They are forever reminders to me and those who see them both the horrors of October and the resilience of the Jewish people.  We will not go away.  We will continue to be Jewish and continue to thrive.  I am reminded of that every time I look at my arms.  Am Yisrael Chai!

Finally, in order to add some light to the darkness, I saw this in Kareem Abdul Jabbar’s writings today and after watching it, felt I had to share it.  In the Netherlands, cows are kept inside for 6 months of the year to protect them from the harsh weather.  On the day they are released to the outside, crowds show up to witness the ‘Cow Dance’

Try hard not to smile.  I will bet you can’t.

The content of our character gets an F

Posted on by Keith Dvorchik

Terrorism is one of those things that as Americans, we have always thought of happening elsewhere.  Even when the Oklahoma City bombing occurred, it was by an American who many people made excuses for.  It didn’t feel like real terrorist.

September 11, 2001, was supposed to have changed everything.  Arab terrorists hijacked airplanes and flew two of them into the Twin Towers, one was crash landed in Shanksville, PA, and one crashed into the Pentagon.  Nearly 3,000 Americans were murdered that day by terrorists.  We felt what terrorism was like.  We engaged in a war in Iraq and then Afghanistan that lasted for 20 years.  But we were never hit again.  Despite the concern that more attacks were coming, the United States has been spared a second terrorist attack after 9/11.  And so, we have forgotten the horror of terrorism and terrorists.  We have forgotten the evil. 

Each September 11th, we remember in a lesser and lesser manner. It is not a national day of remembrance. It is not a sacred day. There isn’t a school assembly where all the names of the victims are read. Perhaps it’s the 20 years of war that came after that has us tired. Perhaps it is our lack of an attention span. Perhaps it is because we choose to get partisan and blame ‘the other party’ for either entering the war, not winning the war, or the way we finally exited the war. We paid a terrible price on September 11th and it’s a day that I will never forget. But as a country we remember it like we remember Pearl Harbor Day. “A day that will live in infamy” is no longer a recognizable quote to the millenial generation. I wonder if they would even recognize ‘Let’s Roll’ two decades after it was one of the most inspiring statements we heard.

Israel on the other hand, has had to deal with terrorist every day.  I have spoken with IDF leaders who have told me what they stop every single day.  And we see in the news what happens when a terrorist gets through.  The first and second intifada along with rockets from Gaza and Lebanon, stabbings, shootings, kidnappings, and more.

I’ve been in Israel for Yom HaZikaron and Yom Ha’atzmaut (Israeli Memorial Day and Israeli Independence Day) and they are days you won’t ever forget. The country shuts down on Yom HaZikaron. TV only shows stories of heroic soldiers. The sirens at 7 pm and then at 11 am are dramatic and unforgettable. The names of those lost are read in each community. It is a powerful experience. Yom Ha’atzmaut starts right at the end of Yom HaZikaron and the mood changes from sadness to joy in an instant. Freedom is celebrated, not sales on mattresses or appliances. You can literally join any party going on in the country whether you know the people there or not. Israel never forgets.

But even Israel never imagined the horrors of October 7, 2023.  Nobody, other than Hamas and Iran could imagined that occurring.  Having seen the 47-minute Hamas video from October 7th, it was horrifying.  And I know there is far worse that Israel has video of that they refuse to put into the public domain because of just how horrifying it is.  Rapes, murders of babies, women and the elderly.  Burning of people alive.  Cooking babies alive in the oven while their mother is forced to watch, sometimes while also being raped.  Seeing what the IDF soldiers saw, in real time, when they came upon the Nova Music Festival was haunting. I’ll never forget the bodies strewn everywhere, the anxiety in the voices of the IDF soldiers as they hoped to find anybody alive and the disappointment each time they realized that nobody was left alive.

The Nova music festival. I’ve seen the video of what the first responders of the IDF saw when they arrived and it’s horrifying.

In the United States, it is as if 9/11 never happened.  We blame Israel for it happening.  We hold Israel responsible for the evil of Hamas, using children, women, and the elderly as human shields.  We ignore the hostages, now taken over 160 days ago.  We excuse UNRWA for their participation in the horrors of October 7th, in hiding hostages after their abduction, and for their theft of humanitarian aid for the people of Gaza and diverted to Hamas.  When the people of Gaza riot because humanitarian aid is coming in and going to UNRWA to distribute and they know that means it goes to Hamas, we blame Israel.  When Hamas fires on the people of Gaza trying to get the humanitarian aid before Hamas can steal it, we blame Israel. We continue to fail to hold Hamas responsible or recognize that they are pure evil. 

We, and the world, have convinced ourselves, that this is between the Palestinians and the Israelis.  We have convinced ourselves that this is about the need for a Palestinian state or about Israeli construction in Judea and Samaria.  We fool ourselves into ignoring the influence of Iran and their goal of creating a new Caliphate, with the Iranians and radical Shiite Muslims in charge with everybody living under Sharia law.  We forget that we are the infidel they rail against, thinking it’s just Israel, it’s just the Jews.

We also forget that they hate anybody who isn’t like them, even other muslims. On October 7th, Hamas didn’t care if you were Jewish, Muslim, Christian, American, or Thai. They hated everybody. That’s what happens with evil. And if you don’t destroy evil, evil wins.

Hamas Also Slaughters Muslims

Even the people of Gaza are now holding Hamas responsible. Now that they don’t have to fear for their lives because Hamas killed any opposition and are not in charge any longer, they are speaking out loudly. While some of the people were involved with October 7th and many more support the hatred, there are plenty who want to live in peace with their neighbor Israel. I found the same thing in Judea and Samaria when, in 2019, I went to meet with leaders of Palestinian civil society. Take away the corrupt government and the evil of terrorists and there is a possibility for peace.

We choose to blame the government of Israel, Bibi Netanyahu, the far right fanatics in the government like Itamar Ben-Gvir, or the ultra-religious Jews in Israel for the hate coming from Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, and Iran.  We choose to excuse barbaric behavior because it is against Jews.   Remember #BringBackOurGirls from 2014 after 276 high school girls were abducted from a government school in Chibok, Nigeria?  Remember the number of celebrities who stood out, loud and proud, that no woman or girl should be taken captive, raped and held against their will?  That only counts if you aren’t Jewish.

Julia Roberts is one of many celebrities who spoke out in 2014 that remain silent now. Shame on them.

Remember 1979 and the hostage crisis in Iran?  It spawned the TV show Nightline to keep everybody up to date on a daily basis.  Yet the hostages taken by Hamas – including Americans and Muslims – draw no attention.   Kfir Bibas, stolen when he was 8 months old, celebrated his first birthday in captivity.  His four-year-old brother Ariel was also kidnapped and remains in captivity.  What type of barbarism is this and better yet, what type of human beings are we that allow this happen and aren’t marching in the streets of every country to free these babies?

Kfir and Ariel Bibas. Babies. Hostages. How the world is not outraged is inexcusable. It’s only a matter of time before it happens here.

Noa Argmani and Naama Levi, two beautiful young women were attending a music festival, like many of our young adults do.  They were attacked by butchers who murdered young adults in cold blood, savagely raped them for the crime of being in Israel.  Noa and Naama were taken hostage.  Who knows what brutality they have faced since October 7th?  We can all imagine the worst after what we saw these Hamas terrorists do to girls, women, and the elderly. 

Noa Argmani and Naama Levi, taken hostage by Hamas on October 7th. We don’t know what brutality they have faced or if they remain alive. Where is the outrage?

They aren’t the only young women taken hostage and being brutalized in the tunnels beneath Gaza.  And if you think it’s only over there and only Jewish women so you are safe, look at the signs held by AMERICANS in NEW YORK CITY on Sunday.  “Rape is resistance”.  “Babies are occupiers too”.  After the killing of George Floyd, we had resistance in major cities like Seattle, Portland, and Minneapolis.  Today these people would tell you that raping your wife, daughter, or mother would be acceptable because it’s ‘resistance’.  I remember reading about how in Seattle people went to homes and told the owners that it wasn’t their house.  That they were occupying land and had no right to live in the houses they purchased.  These same people would say that kidnapping their children would be acceptable because they were ‘occupiers’.  Don’t fool yourself that it is only there and only for Jews. 

Remember these signs when your baby is taken or when your wife, sister, daughter, or mother is raped. This is in NYC this past weekend!

Jews have long been the ‘canary in the coal mine’.  What happens to Jews happens to others afterward.  Take a minute to do a search for “Jews canary in the coal mine”.  You will see articles going back years documenting this.  It’s not post-October 7th.  It’s history.  When we allow this to happen, we encourage it to happen to us.

Just last week, an illegal migrant from Lebanon was caught at border.  He admitted that he is a Hezbollah terrorist and was hoping ‘to make a bomb’ and was headed for NY.  Terrorism is in the United States.  It’s just a matter of when and where the event happens. Or events happen. We are worried about planes that have issues with maintenance and construction while nobody has died in a major airline plane crash since 2009. How will we reconcile our priorities when people die in America at the hands of terrorists? Who will we blame? One thing we know for sure is that nobody will take responsibility.

Two weeks ago, a grenade was found in the back seat of an Uber in New York. As the bomb squad tried to get to the car to assess the situation, defuse the grenade, and save lives, Anti-Israel protesters blocked the police from reaching grenade in the Uber during a Times Square march. Luckily the grenade was inert and nobody was harmed by it. The hatred for Israel and Jews was more important than saving the lives of people in the area from a possible live grenade. We were lucky this time that it was inert. Next time?

People climbing on the police care as officers try to address a grenade in a nearby Uber
Protesters climbing on the police car and blocking police from getting to a nearby Uber with a grenade in it.

Last night was the ZOA gala in Hollywood, Florida. Peopel who support the existance of a Jewish homeland gathering together to celebrate it. We have many nation states in the world for people of all backgrounds, faiths, cultures, etc. There is only one Jewish state and that’s what Zionism is – the belief that we should have. Zionism is not colonialism as there is no desire to expand beyond our historical homeland. There is no aparthaid. The declaration of independence speaks clearly about being a home for all peoples. Zionism isn’t about Bibi Netanyahu, merely the most recent elected Prime Minister. His time will end and there will be a new Prime Minister. And a new one after that. And so on and so on. At this wonderful event last night, in order to ‘help Palestinians’, people assaulted a Jewish person with an Israeli flag. How does that help Palestinians? How does that help the people of Gaza? We know they don’t care about the hostages because they are Jewish. Instead of listening to the people of Gaza about Hamas and working to create a place where Palestinians can live peacefully with their neighbor Israel, instead of building a country with hospitals that are not armories, schools that teach math and science, not hate, these people merely want to hate. Watch th video and see hatred, see evil. If they really wanted to help the Palestinians and the people of Gaza they would listen to them and push for an end to Hamas.

Violence outside the ZOA gala just because he has an Israeli flag

Last week, I heard Senator Chuck Schumer speak passionately about Israel and Israel’s right, as a sovereign nation, to defend herself. He spoke about the evil of Hamas and how they must be defeated. He spoke about the special relationship between the United States and Israel. He was animated. He was passionate. Three days later, he completely backtracked, calling for early elections in a sovereign country. He let partisan politics overtake his moral, ethics, and values. I was disgusted. Not just disappointed, not just angry, but disgusted. Here is one of our elected leaders, in one of the most high ranking positions in our government, a self identified Jew, talking out of both sides of his mouth without integrity. This isn’t about likeing or not liking Bibi. This isn’t about thinking he is the problem or the solution. This is a democratic country that has free elections and has a process for them. Unlike the Palestinian Authority, where Mahmoud Abbas is now in year 19 of his 4 year team. Let that sink in for a minute. No calls for elections in year 19 of his 4 year term. I’m not sure Senator Schumer can regain my trust. Our leaders continue to lose our trust based on their lack of integrity, lack of morals and values. When our leaders don’t have them, how much longer can we exist as a democracy (or a republic for those who want to be critical).

Beware of Dangerous Advice: An Urgent Letter to President Biden

A TikTok trend in 2023 asked women to ask men how often they think about the Roman Empire.  Women were shocked that men think about the Roman empire so often. I think men think about it so often because it was an amazing, powerful empire. It gave the world so much. When we look back on it, we don’t understand how it ever fell. It was so powerful. It covered all aspects of life. It was on the cutting edge of everything. It was simply the best of the best. How did it every disappear? How did the Roman Empire fall?

I think we are seeing it firsthand now in both Europe and the United States. We are so full of ourselves that we have lost all common sense. Instead of striving to look at people as people, to find our similarities and focus on them instead of our differences, we now highlight our differences and minimize our similarities. We fill ourselves with hatred towards those that are different. We allow babies to be hostages. We allow women to be raped if it supports a cause. There is no right and wrong any longer. In the words of the Presidents of Penn, MIT, and Harvard, ‘it depends on the context’. It never depends on the context. Evil is bad. Period. You cannot justify evil. There is good and evil and there is a difference. The world is now attempting to justify evil. The world is ignoring the definitions of words like genocide and apartheid to make them into catch phrases that sound powerful and allows people who use them incorrectly to feel superior.

Rome fell for many reasons. The three most common reasons cited are corruption, the division of the empire, and invasion by Germanic tribes. We are filled with corruption in our world today and in our country. We are as divided as we have been since the civil war. All that is missing is the invasion. As we saw last week when a Hezbollah terrorist was caught with the intention to set off a bomb in NY, the invasion has begun.

Can the fall of the United States be that far away? Will future generations study us and the Roman empire and see the pattern and do better? Do we have a chance to save our country and our world? I don’t know but I get less optimistic each day as we sink further and further into the abyss of hate, divisiveness, and stupidity.

May the hostages come home safely and soon. May the war in Gaza end soon with the surrender of Hamas. May we wake up from this bizzaro world and return to one of sanity where, in the words of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.:

“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”

The great Dr. King. We need him now more than ever.

Right now, our nation and the world is getting a failing grade on the content of our character. And I fear for our future.

Thoughts after the AIPAC Policy Summit

Posted on by Keith Dvorchik

In a Bari Weiss piece for the Free Press after their recent visit to Israel, she said,

“There was not a single conversation that I had in the week I spent in Israel where the person did not say a version of the following: There was an October 6 version of me and an October 7 version of me. I am forever changed. I am a different person.“

That hits home for me as there is no question that October 7th changed me forever.  I have always been a passionate Zionist.  My grandparents and parents raised me that way.  They were passionate about have a Jewish homeland, my grandparents living in America during the Shoah and my parents being born at the end of it.  I will never forget my grandfather telling how they listened to the UN vote on a transistor radio and how they celebrated when the vote came in that ensured a Jewish state would be created.  It was dream to visit Israel and after I graduated college, my present was a 4 week trip to Israel.

I have been back to Israel 19 more times since then (total of 20 visits) and can never get another or stay long enough.  There is something in the air, on the ground, that is special.  The food is amazing, and I love the people, the beaches, the green of the north, the beauty of the desert.  My favorite place changes all the time.  Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Haifa, the Galil.    On my last visit I fell in love with Ir Yamim, a southern suburb of Netanya.  Suffice it to say that I love Israel and am a proud Zionist.

Horseback riding with my friend Remo Eyal in Netanya on the beach of the Mediterranean Sea in Netanaya.

As a proud Zionist, I got involved with AIPAC (The American Israel Public Affairs Committee) more than 25 years ago.  I was awarded the campus ally one year and been to many conferences.  With the shift away from the big 20,000-person policy conference to the much smaller 1,400 Policy Summits, I have still been invited and have attended the first two that have been held.  This week was the second and it was truly incredible.

AIPAC gets important politicians to address the summit.  As a non-partisan organization that works in a bi-partisan manner, that means we hear from leaders of both parties as well as leaders of Israel.  This year was no exception. 

We heard from all four leaders of the House and Senate.  Representative Leader Hakim Jeffries and Speaker of the House Mike Johnson as well as Senators Chuck Schumer and Mitch McConnell.  All were powerfully pro-Israel.  It made Thursday’s speech by Senator Schumer hurt even more as he was so positive when he spoke on Monday night.  To call on Israel to replace their democratically elected leader in a country that has had more elections in the past few years than we can count and not call on the Palestinian Authority to have elections to end the 19 years that Mahmoud Abbas has served in his 4 year elected term is offensive. To meddle publicly in the politics of a key ally in the middle of an existential war is unacceptable. It is a reminder of why we have the challenges we do. Israel remains held to a different standard than anybody else in the world. Compared, to House Minority Leader Jeffries, who doubled down on Israel needing to eliminate Hamas, it was quite a contrast. 

Representative Hakim Jeffries, Minority Leader in the House
Senator Mitch McConnell, Minority Leader in the Senate
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson
Senator Chuck Schumer, majority leader in the Senate

Senators Rick Scott and John Fetterman were two of the leaders who attended the special dinner on Monday night, each holding court with attendees to talk, answer questions and support Israel.  Representatives Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Brian Mast were also there, and I am sure there were many others that I didn’t get to see.

Representatives Don Davis (D-NC) and Rep Young Kim (R-CA) spoke together with incredible passion.  Rep Davis is African American and Rep Kim is an Asian American.  They showed that Israel is not just a Jewish issue and I hope many others follow their lead.  It was inspiring to hear them speak.

Representative Young Kim and Representative Don Davis

Brett McGuirk, Deputy Assistant to the President and National Security Council Coordinator for the Middle East and North African gave us incredible insight into what’s going on.  It was incredible to hear directly from him and we learned a great deal. 

Israeli Opposition party leader Yair Lapid spoke to use by satellite from Israel.  He was powerful and inspired us all.  Israeli Ambassador Michael Herzog spoke to us in person, inspiring us as the Israeli Ambassador.  At the end of the conference, Prime Minister Netanyahu also addressed the crowd by satellite, although I had to leave before then as I had lobbying appointments on Capitol Hill to get to. 

Israeli Opposition Leader Yair Lapid
Israeli Ambassador to the US Michael Herzog

Two of the best we heard from were Wesley Bell, running against Rep Cori Bush, a vile antisemite, and George Latimer, running against Jamal Bowman, another vile antisemite.  Both members of the squad are behind in the polls and hearing Bell and Latimer speak gave great hope for a different Congress in 2025 that is more pro-Israel and one that is more educated on the issues and the realities. 

George Latimer and Wesley Bell – hopefully they defeat Jamal Bowman and Cori Bush, two vile antisemites.

Senators Kirstin Gillibrand and Joni Ernst were on a panel with Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz.  They each spoke powerfully and beautifully about Israel, the evil of Hamas, and the need for Israel to destroy Hamas. 

As you can see, it was a powerful group of leaders who spoke to us.  But that wasn’t the most powerful part of the conference.  The most powerful part of the conference were the Israeli’s we heard from who were there on October 7th.  Who experienced the terror, who lost loved ones, and parents whose dual citizen son, Omer Neutra, remains a hostage.  Omer graduated high school and decided to spend a gap year in Israel.  While spending his gap year in Israel, he decided that rather than return to the US for college, he wanted to enlist in the IDF and serve Israel.  On October 7th he was taken hostage and has not been heard from since.  Omer is all our children.  We can all related to a child taking a gap year and being inspired while doing so.  He could be in college right now, but instead chose to serve the Jewish people in the IDF.  He has not been a hostage for nearly 160 days.  As we listened to his parents, all we could think of was that Omer could be our child and he quickly became our child and our cause.  When we heard a dual citizen hostage was found to have been murdered on October 7th and Hamas still has his body, we were all horrified and fearful it was Omer.  Our hearts broke for the family of Itai Chen, who learned of his death FIVE MONTHS after it happened.  Who don’t have his body to bury and the ability for closure. 

Omer Neutra’s picture as his parents spoke to us. It was heartbreaking. Bring them home NOW!

We heard from a young woman named Or Tzuk who lives in Kfar Aza.  I want to warn you that this story is graphic.  She and her husband were away on holiday the weekend of October 7th.  Hamas terrorists broke into her house and murdered her father, mother, and their dog.  Her brother, who in her words is like a ‘big American’, hid under the bed and wasn’t found.  Hamas shot bullets all around the house with a number of them grazing him.  He laid in his parents and their dog’s blood and urine for 7 hours before being rescued.  7 hours lying in his parent’s blood and urine, looking at their dead bodies and the dead body of his dog.  When rescued, he took off his shirt to be examined and they found that his mother’s teeth were embedded in his skin.  I can’t even imagine.  She now wears combat boots all the time.  She has to have an exit strategy in every room she is in.  She has difficulty sleeping.  Listening to her talk was heartbreaking. 

Or Tzuk speaking on the Israeli news 10 days after the Hamas massacre of October 7th. Her pain wasn’t any less when she spoke to us 5 months later.

We heard from a Nehoray Levy, a young man who was at the Nova Music Festival.  He ran and was able to escape.  He hid for hours alone.  When things got quiet, he got up and ran to where he saw others who had escaped the music festival and hid together with them until they were rescued. 

Nehoray recorded a farewell message to his parents and family during the Hamas attack. It’s painful to watch as he says his goodbyes, not sure if he will survive.

Daniel Waiss, who sang Hatikvah, lost both his parents on October 7th, part of the time lying between the dead bodies of his friends.  I can’t imagine spending hours lying between the dead bodies of my friends, hoping and praying that the terrorists don’t come find me and kill me too.  He had decided to use his music as a way to heal not only himself but others who have been traumatized.  He has gone back to the area where the terrorists murdered his family and performed a concert for them.  He sang beautifully and while Hatikvah is always powerful and meaningful when I sing it, this one was the most meaningful I have ever sung. 

Daniel Wais singing on YouTube

After this, filled with energy and passion on behalf of the American-Israel relationship and Israel itself, we went to the Hill to lobby our Central Florida Senators and Representatives.  All support Israel.  Almost all agreed that Israel must do whatever it takes to defeat Hamas.  They all listened to us and heard our message.  I hope they all support the aid package to Israel.  I hope they all understand what Israel faces.  Most do, but not all.  I spent Tuesday on the Hill, doing my part to advocate for Israel and the American Israeli relationship.  When my future grandchildren ask me what I did after October 7, 2023, I have an answer for them.  I didn’t sit silently.  I didn’t hide.  I became more publicly Jewish.  I worked with our legislators.  I attended the rally in DC.  I took action.  I hope that you will have answer for your grandchildren as well. 

Representative Darren Soto
Representative Daniel Webster
Representative Maxwell Frost – I did a bad job taking the picture

As a proud Jew and a proud Zionist, I have struggled greatly since October 7th.  One image I will never forget was on the news that day.  It was a minivan on the side of the road.  The driver, the father of family, had been murdered and was slumped over the steering wheel.  His young daughter was also murdered, slumped over him.  It’s an image that will never leave my mind.  I saw the Hamas 47-minute video and there are many images there that I will never forget and that will never leave my mind.

Since October 7th I have ordered a special Magen David (star of David) from Israel that I wear daily.  I got my ‘Bring Them Home Now’ and ‘We will Dance Again’ dog tags from Israel that I wear every day. I got a new “Am Yisrael Chai’” pendant.  As requested by Rachel Goldberg, the mother of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, the American Israeli who lost an arm at the Nova Music Festival and was taken hostage, I put the masking tape over my heart and use a sharpie to chronicle how many days the hostages have been in captivity.  I get asked about that more than anything else. 

My newest necklace

This AIPAC Policy Summit was powerful for me as it wasn’t just an opportunity to learn about policy, hear from politicians, lobby on the hill, and see some cool Israeli things.  It was a chance to hear from Israeli’s personally impacted by October 7th.  To hear their stories from their own mouths, in their own words.  I’ll never forget their faces, their voices, or their stories. 

When he was Hillel International President, Avraham Infeld used to say all the time that ‘Judaism is NOT a religion.’   He would step back, say it again, and then say, ‘See, I wasn’t struck by lightning.   Judaism is a mishpacha (family) who share a common religion.’  Ambassador Michael Oren reiterated this in his column today. As a mishpacha, the people murdered on October 7th are my family.  The people taken hostage on October 7th are my family.  The people currently still being held hostage are my family.  The IDF soldiers fighting and dying to eliminate the evil that is Hamas are my family.  The civilians attacked in the streets in Israel and stabbed are my family.  I stand with my family.  I stand with Israel.   Am Yisrael Chai.

With Michael Oren at the Orlando JNF event. He is truly a brilliant man and worth following his writings.
Am Yisrael Chai – The people of Israel live!

Sunday was an Israel day

Posted on by Keith Dvorchik

Sunday turned into a significant Israel day for me in a wonderful way.  Since October 7th, most Israel days have been focused on things like the hostages, the war, relatives of friends who were hostages or who were murdered, the IDF soldiers who were killed in action and both hoping that they weren’t people that I knew and being sad that they are people I will never get to know.  It’s writing the number of days the hostages have been held on a piece of masking tape that I wear over my heart, my two dog tags that say, ‘Bring them home now” and “We will dance again”.  It’s following the rocket attacks from Hezbollah in the north and hoping that there won’t be a war in the north.  Checking on my friends in Israel and their loved ones who are serving.  Following Congress’s lack of ability to pass the needed aid package for Israel (and Ukraine).  The inane demands for a ceasefire now without a demand to release the hostages now.  Seeing social media posts from friends who have no clue what’s going on, advocating against Israel, and believing the lies.  I love Israel and it’s a heavy burden on a daily basis even in America.

Sunday was a day of joy.  My childhood friend, Grace Rodnitzki, was in town for the BBYO International Convention on behalf of the Ethiopian National Project (ENP), where she has worked for nearly 2 decades.  I have previously written about not needing ‘new, old friends’ and being grateful for the long-term relationships I have.  Grace is one of those people as we have been friends since the early 1980s when we were in BBYO together.  She brought her boss, Roni Akale, with her.  Roni is the Director General of the ENP and made the walk from Ethiopia to Sudan in 1983 at the age of 20.  I’ve met Roni many times and he is a truly amazing person. 

My friend Grace – it’s always so good to see her either here or in Israel.

Roni Akale. I love seeing him and hearing his stories. The work of ENP is amazing.

Roni as a child in Ethiopia

I have visited a few ENP sites in Israel and was amazed at the work that they do for the Ethiopian Jewish community.  Having an opportunity for Roni and Grace to discuss the work of ENP and share Roni’s story with members of the Central Florida community was a privilege.  We spent a few hours before the event talking and catching up.  It was so meaningful to be talking about Israel, hope, and the future after October 7th. 

Watch the video of us learning Ethiopian dancing at an ENP site years ago. So much fun and such a great memory.
Another video of us dancing at an ENP site. Visit an ENP site and it will change your life.

There is so much misinformation and disinformation about Israel.  The antisemites want to paint Israel as a white, European, colonial effort.  It’s so inaccurate that it would laughable if people didn’t believe it so easily.  Walk the streets of Israel and experience the beauty of diversity.  Mizrahi Jews (those descended from Jews in the Middle East, North Africa, and Central Asia), Ashkenazic (Eastern European) Jews, Ethiopian Jews, Arabs, Druze, Christians, and B’hai all call Israel home.  If you explore the Ethiopian Israeli culture, you will experience a vibrancy that may surprise you.  There are now approximately 175,000 Ethiopian Israelis with 47% of them born as Sabras (born in Israel).  It’s a growing population just like all the diverse groups within Israel are growing.   

Israel is a growing and thriving country.  Not only is it the only democracy in the region, it is also the only place where equal rights exist for everybody.  I often get very frustrated by people who I know and like who believe the propaganda put out by those who hate Jews.  They aren’t bad people; they are simply misinformed.  When I have the chance to have a real conversation, face to face, it’s usually not only productive but personally meaningful.  I have chosen not to engage with them on social media because it doesn’t go anywhere and is often more harmful than helpful.  Finding ways to get them to experience the diversity of Israel is more productive through conversation, meeting with different Israeli populations, and serious dialogue rather than simple hasbara (advocacy).   

My favorite story that Roni tells is how during the walk from Ethiopia to Sudan, the man leading them did not continue and left the group with a donkey and his son.  As they walked through the jungle, they were robbed and had everything taken.  No food, no water, no supplies.  When they asked the son who was leading them how to get to Sudan, he didn’t know!  So how did they get from the middle of the jungle to where they needed to be in Sudan?  Because the donkey, who they had with them, knew the way!  It was the donkey who led them from Ethiopia to Sudan!  

I also had another wonderful surprise on Sunday.  My friend Yaron, who is in the IDF reserves and was recently released from duty in Gaza, was in town.  We got to spend time together before the ENP event and he even participated in the ENP event, sharing his experience that the Ethiopian community were incredible resources and merely needed the support and education that ENP provides to excel academically, in the IDF, and afterwards in university and in business.  Yaron and I then spent a few hours together catching up and touring Decision Tactical, a truly amazing place.  I encourage you to visit Decision Tactical and learn self-defense and more from them – you will be amazed.

My friend Yaron. So good to see him and know that he is safe. He is a true hero.

While touring Decision Tactical with Yaron, it was fascinating to see his reactions and hear his insights.  While we were touring, we had an opportunity to meet with some Israelis who have new technology with virtual reality and self-defense and law enforcement training.  I loved the fact that it was Israelis who designed this technology and that it will be available for our law enforcement to use as training and for civilians to experience and learn.  There is so much that Israel gives to the world that is not appreciated by those who are ignorant.  Those who use their iPhone to tweet about Boycott, Divest, and Sanction (BDS), not realizing they are using Israeli technology.  Those who text not knowing it was Israeli technology that created SMS.  People who lives are saved by Israeli medical research and technology that are on the front line of Jew hatred and BDS.     People who use their computers to spread hate against the Jews and Israel, not realizing their computer chips come from Israel.  The list goes on and on.

Yaron’s story was told in a much earlier blog post when I was in Israel.  He spent 120 days in Gaza after October 7th as head of operations.  He shared with me how often he faced death during those 120 days, and it was truly unbelievable.  On October 7th, he ran from his house to fight the terrorists without a weapon.  He didn’t have one until he came across a murdered IDF soldier and was able to use his weapon.  I found it insightful and very moving when he shared that hardest part was actually on the flight from Israel to the US when it was quiet.  It was the first time he had quiet in 120 days.  It was the first time that he could actually feel his feelings.  He told me how difficult that flight was as he began processing everything since October 7th.  It highlights the big challenge facing Israel after this war ends.  So many Israelis will have PTSD to deal with.  The trauma didn’t end on October 7th.  It just began.  Besides being a friend and an amazing human being, Yaron is a true hero and a real badass. 

I told Yaron the story of my friend’s cousin, Hila Rotem Shoshani, who was taken by Hamas along with her mother as hostages from Kibbutz Be’eri on October 7th.  You can read the story in this previous blog.  When I showed him the videos of her opening the birthday and Hanukkah presents that we got for her, the look on his face was priceless.  It’s one I will never forget.  You could see a bit of joy.  A bit of relief.  It was exactly why he put himself in mortal danger in Gaza.  It is why he spent his career in the IDF.  It is why he returned.  It’s the essence of the Jewish people.  Kol arevim ze la ze (all of Israel are responsible for each other.) 

Hila opening the suitcase and some of her presents. Look at her face – how can it not warm your heart?
You will smile as big or bigger than she is when you watch this.

Yaron and IDF soldiers like him inspire me.  I have too many friends who are serving in the reserves.  Too many friends who have their children serving in the IDF.  4 friends that have 6 relatives that were hostages.  Four have been released, two remain hostages.  Friends that lost relatives at the Nova Music Festival.  These IDF soldiers are not just fighting for the survival of Israel.  They are fighting for the survival of the Jewish people.  Their willingness to fight for Israel and the Jewish people inspires me to do what I can here in America.  They inspire me to go to Israel as soon as possible so that I can contribute in whatever way possible.  As we see the increase of antisemitism around the world and especially here in America, it is frightening to think of a world without Israel.  These IDF soldiers ensure that we don’t have to worry about a world without Israel.

This poem (translated from Hebrew) inspired me.  It’s a beautiful poem but more importantly it is true. 

The Real Israelis – Asaf Perry

(Translation Gadi Ben Dov)

The History teacher is really a Delta Force fighter.

The kindergarten teacher is a Military Intelligence Officer

None of us knew that the stuck-up neighbor is a company commander in the Tanks corps.

And that the contractor with the funny hat working at the house next door is an F16 pilot.

That the “always dressed perfectly” female lawyer from upstairs is a combat officer that is

working overtime at her post in the army, the funny owner of the neighborhood food market

is a trained sniper who is lying on a rooftop somewhere in Gaza right now.

Some say that the angry tough lady who is the bank branch manager is deputy regiment commander in the Home Front Command and is now working to organize all the housing by

the Dead Sea hotels for the evacuees from the villages near the border with Gaza.

That the friendly smiley bus driver that always takes the kids to school is a commander of a

battery of 155mm artillery guns stationed in the north and the fancy looking interior designer next door is a paramedic who is now stationed in the West Bank.

Legend has it that the geeky looking physics student is really a Navy Seal that performs some crazy operations in an undisclosed location right now.

They look like normal ordinary everyday people dressed like normal people with ordinary jobs but that’s really just their cover story. Because suddenly when they are needed, they open a hidden drawer or closet in their apartment or pull out a trunk from under their bed and take out their superhero cape, their reserve duty IDF uniform and go out to save theworld and protect us.

In Israel we all look like ordinary people – really we do, but deep down inside we are a country of SUPERHEROS.

Since October 7th I find myself longing to be in Israel.  It’s been very difficult not being there and not being able to do something in Israel for Israel.  I do what I can from America but it doesn’t feel enough.  Israel isn’t just a core part of who I am as a Jew.  It’s who I am as a human being.  It’s part of my core identity.  If you have never been to Israel, I urge you to go and go soon.  I’m happy to help you find the best way to go.  There are many opportunities to go on solidarity and volunteer trips now where you can experience Israel and make a difference.  If you have been, I urge you to go back.  Israel needs us more than ever to show that we are all part of the same family. 

Am Yisrael Chai

Israel’s 1948 covenants with the Jewish people

Posted on by Keith Dvorchik

On Monday I listened to Ambassador Michael Oren speak about what’s going on in Israel.  He talked about many different topics, and each was fascinating.  The one that struck me the deepest was the covenant created in 1948 between the Israeli Government and the Israeli people and how October 7th violated that covenant for the first time.

Ambassador Michael Oren and me

I found the use of the word covenant significant as this is the basis for the Jewish people, our covenant made between Abraham and God.  I don’t think Ambassador Oren used it indiscriminately but rather intentionally to connect the two covenants: the one between God and Abraham and the one between the Israeli government and the Israeli/Jewish people.  He told us that there were two covenants between the Israeli government and the Israeli people made in 1948, both of which were broken on October 7th.

The first covenant relates to the fact that literally almost 3 years to the day that the Shoah ended, David Ben Gurion issued the Declaration of Independence, creating the State of Israel.  At that time, the covenant was ‘Never Again’.  Now that we had a country and would have an army, something like the Shoah would never happen again.  Yet on October 7th, Hamas terrorists murdered the largest number of Jews since the Shoah.  The government and the army did not protect the people and allowed it to happen.  The how and why will be determined at a later date, but the covenant was broken.  

The second covenant was that the Government would never leave anybody behind.  Whatever the cost to get Jews and Israelis back when taken hostage or captive would be paid for their return.  When Gilad Shalit was taken hostage, the eventual deal to release him meant that Israel traded 1,027 prisoners, terrorists, murderers, in exchange for Gilad.  It was a heavy price to pay, especially in hindsight since one of them was Yahya Sinwar, the head of Hamas and architect of the October 7th attacks.  While being controversial at the time, it was this covenant that led to it happening.  Since that trade and what Sinwar has become and done, Israel has not been willing to pay whatever the price required to release all the hostages.  As a result, we are now in day 132 of the hostages being held.  Israel’s security needs are outweighing the price being demanded by Hamas, breaking this covenant as well.  This is why we see families of hostages blocking the road where humanitarian aid is being delivered by Israel.  It is why former MK Einat Wilf recently stated that Israel should not have given or permitted any humanitarian aid to Gaza unless they released the hostages.  It is why Israel hasn’t filled the tunnels with gasoline and thrown in a match, eliminating Hamas leadership, who are hiding in the tunnels.  The hostages are also in the tunnels and getting them back is required.

In November 2013 I had the honor of meeting Gilad Shalit (pictured with his girlfriend)

As he spoke to us and shared these two covenants, I began to think about how many people have no understanding of what’s going on.  The LGBTQ+ community in support of Hamas, who would execute them for existing.  Women who stand up against sexual violence everywhere yet remain quiet when it’s Israeli/Jewish women because somehow it was justified.   The cries of genocide as the number of people in Gaza continue to increase year after year after year.  Calling Israel an apartheid state while not understanding the definition or how it goes against everything being Jewish is about.  Ethnic cleansing when the exact opposite is happening and while the arab states in the region have removed all or almost of all their Jews. 

The cries of indiscriminate killing by Israel is absurd.  There is data, based on what Hamas has unreliably provided, that prove this fact.  In December 2023, an article highlighted the data analysis that proved this to be false.  This data analysis shows that

Our analysis of reported deaths in Gaza in the 2014 and 2023 conflicts rules out any allegations of “indiscriminate killing” of civilians; it suggests rather that the opposite is true. The data highlight a clear and significant excess of deaths amongst males, and particularly those aged 20-39 who would be the most likely in the combatant population. This finding was consistent in both the 2014 and 2023 conflicts, which refutes any such allegation in both wars.

In addition, in his most recent substack piece, Ambassador Oren breaks down the unreliable data provided by Hamas to show that the civilian to combatant fatality rate in Gaza is one to one.  He also documents that according to The New York Times, the Boston Globe, and the Watson Institute of Brown University, in America’s wars in Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan, the ratio was four civilians killed for every combatant. The record for NATO’s 1999 intervention in Serbia was similarly four-to-one.   Israel is 4 times better in Gaza than the United States was in Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan as well NATO in Serbia, yet Israel is accused of indiscriminate killing.

A friend of mine who is very liberal, has reached out a lot since October 7th with questions.  Things he didn’t know and after October 7th and the rise in antisemitism, he wants to learn.  He is always stunned that the more he learns, the less things make sense.  The clearer the situation becomes; the murkier reality is.  We chat online regularly throughout the week.  I appreciate his questions as they come from a place of inquiry.  We need to continue to encourage the asking of questions and the often times hard answers.  Hasbara is no longer enough.  We must confront the challenges that exist in order to take advantage of the opportunities that come as a result. 

Most days I find myself frustrated with the media and the lack of honest reporting.  Another friend, who is not Jewish, asked me today, “How come we don’t hear much about the hostages anymore?”  Since I hear about them every day, put my masking tape on with the updated number of days they have been hostages every day, wear my Bring Them Home Now dogtag and my We Will Dance Again dogtag every day and choose not to watch or listen to most of the main stream media, I didn’t realize the coverage has disappeared.  As the cries for ‘Cease Fire Now’ continue, I wonder why ‘Bring the home now’ isn’t just as loud or louder?  As the cries for more humanitarian aid get louder, I wonder why the fact that the UN and UNRWA aren’t even picking up the truckloads of aid that are dropped off for them to pick up daily.  As the proof of UNRWA being both a funder of Hamas and that so many of the UNRWA employees are members of Hamas continues to grow, why the demand that they must continue even exists.  Now that it’s been shown that the hostages never got the medication that was supposed to be given to them, why is the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) still in existence?  133 days as hostages and not a single visit from the ICRC.  Isn’t that their entire reason for existing?

This picture, from February 15, 2024, shows the content of 500 trucks of humanitarian aid on the Gazan side of Kerem Shalom, AFTER Israeli inspection, waiting to be picked up and distributed by UN orgs. It was the 3rd day in a row that hundreds of trucks are not picked up and distributed to the people of Gaza by UNRWA.

I remember growing up and being told by my grandparents and my Rabbi that being Jewish wasn’t easy.  That being Jewish meant we had to do more than the minimum.  That we had obligations that went far beyond what was acceptable as the norm.  That we have a history of being hated that wasn’t going away.  In their wildest dreams, I don’t think my grandparents, my father, or my Rabbi could have imagined the world as it is today.  I am 100% sure that my grandparents and my father would be cheering on the IDF and encouraging them to finish the job.  Not because they hate the Palestinian people or the Gazan people.  It would be because the loved the Jewish people and they know that if we don’t protect ourselves, nobody else will.  We have thousands of years of proof of that.  Luckily, today we have Israel and the IDF to ensure the survival of the Jewish people.  It may not be pretty, and it certainly isn’t what any of us want to be happening.  It also is what is necessary to ensure that the Jewish people and the State of Israel continue to flourish.  My heart breaks for the innocent civilians who have been killed because of Hamas and their use of human shields and terror.  My heart breaks for innocent people who have lost everything because of Hamas.  I wish them no ill will.  But my heart is broken and will remain broken for my Jewish brothers and sisters who were murdered on October 7th.  For my IDF brothers and sisters who paid the ultimate price for the survival of the Jewish people.  For the families who have lost loved ones or still have loved ones as hostages.  For all those displaced as a result of Hamas’s hatred

The creation of the modern State of Israel means the Jewish people will no longer be sheep led to slaughter.  That may bother a lot of antisemites and I don’t care. 

Am Yisrael Chai.  Never Again.