As He Prepares to Bid Farewell, Sen. Ben Cardin Reflects on Over a Half-Century of Public Service

The following is an article that I wrote, which appeared in the December 19, 2024, editions of the Washington Jewish Week, Philadelphia Jewish Exponent and Baltimore Jewish Times:

Sen. Ben Cardin
(Courtesy of Office of Sen. Ben Cardin)

There are noticeable signs that change is in the air. Moving boxes are visible and there are empty spaces on some of the walls where photos had been hung. Yet the mood in Sen. Ben Cardin’s office is anything but glum. In fact, there’s a sense of buoyancy even though Cardin’s time as a U.S. senator from Maryland is coming to an end.

The sense of optimism comes right from the top — from Cardin himself. The longtime senator’s warm smile and gregarious demeanor set the tone and infuses his office with the feeling that anything is possible. And as one of the highest-ranking Jewish lawmakers in the nation, Cardin proudly wears his Judaism on his sleeve and embraces it at every turn.

For Cardin, a Baltimore native and graduate of the University of Maryland School of Law who has served in elected office for 58 years, including tenures in the U.S. Senate, U.S. House of Representatives and Maryland House of Delegates, public service and helping others is ingrained in his DNA.

Even before seeking elected office, Cardin was engaged in student government and fraternity life and was deeply involved in politics at the University of Pittsburgh as an undergraduate student in the early 1960s.

Noting that his family always has Shabbat dinners together, Cardin remarked that “there are interesting conversations that take place at our Shabbat dinners, and politics was very much part of it growing up.”

Cardin’s decision to pursue a career in politics largely stemmed from a family legacy of public service. His father and uncle were members of the Maryland state legislature and his father was also a Circuit Court judge. “I worked polling places from the time I can remember and attended political meetings with my father from a very young age,” he said.

In addition to political involvement, Cardin’s parents were both involved in Jewish communal activities. His mother was very active in Hadassah and his father was involved in Jewish National Fund, Israel Bonds and the Zionist Organization of America.

As he sets to depart the Senate after 18 years, Cardin ruminated on how the Senate has evolved as an institution during his tenure.

“The collegial atmosphere among senators has remained strong,” he said. “I’ve always had close relations with almost all the members of the United States Senate — not all, but most — and that includes Republicans and Democrats, and have had working relations with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to get major bills enacted. But the partisan division of our nation has also been reflected in the way that the Senate operates. So more and more of the agenda is set on a partisan basis, rather than on a collegial basis, on a collaborative basis, and that’s unfortunate.”

Cardin lamented the fact that there are less opportunities to bring issues to the Senate floor for a vote, vigorously debate those issues, and then vote on them accordingly.

Referring to that “great tradition of the United States Senate when I started,” Cardin said he finds the “actions … by both parties to restrict the opportunities for votes on the floor of the United States Senate … to be regrettable.”

He pointed to the use of the filibuster as something that has become an obstacle to advancing legislation in the Senate.

“The use of the filibuster has been abused by both Democrats and Republicans, and it now becomes almost a foregone conclusion that you need 60 votes on every issue,” Cardin said. “It shouldn’t be that way. The routine business of the United States Senate should be done by majority vote. It should not require 60 votes.”

Despite his concerns about several of the changes in the Senate’s parliamentary procedures, Cardin was quick to reiterate that notwithstanding the political divisions that exist, bipartisanship remains an integral part of his work, even telling a story about his bar mitzvah to illustrate his family’s history of working across the political aisle.

“Maryland has a proud history of Democratic and Republican leadership. … Theodore McKeldin [former governor of Maryland and former mayor of Baltimore], a Republican, was a dear friend of our family and actually helped my father politically. He attended my bar mitzvah. It was the only time that Rabbi [Samuel] Rosenblatt at Beth Tfiloh allowed the doors to be opened in the middle of his sermon so the governor could walk in. I’ll never forget that moment.”

Sen. Ben Cardin during an official visit to the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, Austria, on July 6, 2021. (Photo credit: wikicommons/IAEA Imagebank)

On Dec. 10, Cardin took to the Senate floor to deliver a farewell speech to his Senate colleagues, Marylanders and the American public.

“I come to the floor today to say ‘goodbye,’ as difficult as this may be,” he said. “Let me thank Marylanders for giving me your trust to represent you in this august body. You have supported me in 18 elections. The Hebrew letter for 18 is ‘chai,’ which also means life. Fifty-eight years of my life.

“In my family, I was taught from a young age that it’s our responsibility to make the world a better place — tikkun olam, repair the world — and help those who are less fortunate and are in need — tzedakah, charity,” Cardin said in his Senate address. “These principles were demonstrated to me by the communal activities of my parents. Their principles, these values, have been my North Star that have guided my public service as a legislator.”

Cardin’s speech touched on some of his proudest accomplishments as an elected official, including legislation focusing on seniors, health care and the Chesapeake Bay.

In an interview, Cardin expanded on his legislative achievements and spoke about some additional monumental moments in his storied career, citing the enactment of the first ethics bill that he led as speaker of the Maryland House of Delegates and his work in the House of Representatives on behalf of Soviet Jewry and human rights globally. He also spoke with pride about his work to fight antisemitism and representing the U.S. at the Berlin Conference on Anti-Semitism in 2004, as well as his efforts to counter the BDS movement, which he noted was “started by those who are very much anti-Israel and antisemitic.”

Jewish values play an integral role in Cardin’s life and truly define who he is as a person and how he and his wife Myrna raised their family. Referring to the importance of giving to others, Cardin said his family “always talked about tzedakah — not only what we could do to help, but also giving money.”

“It was expected that part of our money as I grew up was going to go into a tzedakah box, and we talked about where we wanted that money to go,” he said. “To this day, every Friday night, we give money to tzedakah, and we talk about, as a family, where we would like that money to go. So, tzedakah was always part of our family. … This is a crazy world, we recognize that, but we have a lot to be thankful for, and we know that others are not as fortunate, and we can help them.”

One of Cardin’s passions is foreign policy and he has been at the center of a multitude of foreign policy issues in his capacity as chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, including those concerning Russia, China, North Korea, Iran, and Syria. Cardin spoke about the need to counter autocratic countries that govern through the use of force, calling the U.S. “the beacon of that opportunity” to counter rogue nations and noting that the U.S. must consider “how do we promote our values with reliable alliances?”

Among the issues on which he been especially active and vocal is Israel and the importance of a strong U.S.-Israel relationship.

Cardin expressed his profound disappointment with recent efforts by some lawmakers to condition aid to Israel, and even withhold aid to Israel, while Israel is facing battles against several enemies on multiple fronts simultaneously.

“I think those efforts are misguided. I strongly oppose them,” Cardin declared emphatically. “As chairman of Senate Foreign Relations Committee, I led successful efforts on the floor of the United States Senate to oppose those types of efforts, and we won by overwhelming majorities. … It’s misguided because it misses the point that Israel is a strong, democratic country that has a special relationship with the United States because of those values … because it’s the only democratic state in the Middle East. It’s a country that we can rely upon for intelligence information, for sharing military strategies, technology. So, that special relationship benefits not just Israel but the United States.

“I don’t agree with everything that the prime minister of Israel is doing,” Cardin said. “I think the prime minister needed to be more strategic in dealing with the use of his military force as it relates to civilian casualties. And I think that we all, including Israel and the United States, need to do more for humanitarian assistance for innocent people who have been hurt by the military campaign. But it does not at all affect my strong belief that the United States has to stand side by side with Israel and has to make sure they have everything they need to defend themselves, and that the villain in this is not the prime minister or Israel — it’s Hamas and Iran — and that we have to focus that spotlight and can’t be distracted. These votes had nothing to do with Israel or with the plight of the Palestinians; it had everything to do with Israel’s ability to defend itself moving forward. And that’s why I say it was misplaced. And I just think it was the wrong message. And I’m glad that the overwhelming majority, including the majority of both parties, opposed those resolutions.”

Sen. Ben Cardin at the groundbreaking of Red Run Overlook, a mixed-income residential community in Owings Mills, Maryland, on Nov. 1, 2018. (Photo credit: wikicommons/Baltimore County Government)

When it comes to addressing the rise of antisemitism and the isolation of Israel globally, Cardin has consistently been at the forefront of these issues.

“People really do not have a good grip of history,” he said. “They don’t know the circumstances. They don’t recognize the risk factors that Israelis confront every day. They lose sight of the fact that Hamas took hostages, which is outrageous to start off with, and has not released them, which is even more outrageous, executing some. It’s horrible what Hamas has done. And yet they put a focus on Israel. The focus should be on Hamas and should be on the terrorists.”

“Take a look at the United Nations Human Rights Council prior to Oct. 7,” Cardin added. “The only standing issue they have is Israel? There is such international bias against Israel, a lot of it rooted in antisemitism. I find that good people fall prey to disinformation and follow these individuals who are just trying to promote antisemitism and isolation of Israel, and that’s frustrating. So yes, I’ll speak out against those efforts.”

Cardin is a student of history who believes in the power of government to help people and he wants to use his extensive experience to help new and future elected officials understand what government service is all about and what their primary areas of focus should be.

“First, I would tell them to be learned,” he said. “What I mean by that is to understand history, to try to be as knowledgeable as you possibly can about issues, to guard against disinformation. Secondly, I would urge them to listen, particularly to people who may have different views, because we all can learn from that type of participation. And third, I would suggest that we always practice civility.

“Understand how the system works,” he added. “Know how you can participate in it, be knowledgeable, but always act with civility, and then be willing to compromise, not your principles or your values, but compromise in order to get results done. … We can come up with better solutions when we listen to each other and take the best information available, and those solutions will be more long-lasting if we have broader consensus in developing them.”

(Photo credit: wikicommons/MDGovpics)

As for his postretirement plans, Cardin indicated that he is still working on figuring that out, despite the impending conclusion of his Senate term.

“My colleagues who have gone through this, the one consistent advice I get from every one of those colleagues is not to make commitments for a period of time … take a little bit of time before you make those judgments. But I want to follow my passion, and I want to stay active. … And my passion, quite frankly, deals with foreign policy, it deals with the environment, it deals with good governance. So, those are the areas that I would like to be able to pursue and I hope I’ll have the opportunity to do that.”

As Cardin prepares to leave the Senate and step away from elected office after well over a half-century, he has no regrets.

“Certainly, there are mountains I’ve yet to conquer that I would like to have conquered. … But generally, I am extremely proud of what I’ve been able to get done and have no regrets about leaving the United States Senate from the point of view of leaving unfinished business that I think I could have done more to accomplish.”

The WJW Podcast: A Conversation With Ambassador John Bolton (12/19/24)

Ambassador John Bolton, a former national security advisor and former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, has spent many years in public service and served in high-level positions for several U.S. presidents.

Bolton, who has written several books, is a well-known and well-respected commentator who offers insightful and informative perspectives on some of the complex issues facing our nation and our world. 

On the WJW Podcast, Bolton spoke about the U.S.-Israel relationship, Syria, Iran, the hostages in Gaza, the U.N., and President-elect Donald Trump’s cabinet picks.

Star Power in Philly in Support of Israel’s National Emergency Medical Response Organization

The following is an article that I wrote, which appeared in the November 28, 2024, edition of the Philadelphia Jewish Exponent:

Lior Raz of the hit Netflix series “Fauda” speaks with Emily Austin in Philadelphia on Nov. 21.
(Photo credit: Jack Hartzman/Washington Talent)

The hit Netflix series “Fauda” drew widespread acclaim when it debuted nearly a decade ago. The action-packed show, which has aired four thrill-filled seasons thus far, chronicles the adventures of an elite Israeli counterterrorism unit that conducts covert missions that often keep viewers at the edge of their seats. Fauda’s leading star, Lior Raz, not only plays the main character, Doron Kabilio, he also co-wrote and co-produced the popular series.

Raz was one of the headliners at a Nov. 21 event in Philadelphia to benefit American Friends of Magen Adom, the American arm of Israel’s national emergency services organization. A crowd of approximately 225 came to pay tribute to several well-deserved honorees — Hilary Sennett, Jim Showers and Gershon Trimpol — and support an organization whose sole mission is saving lives.

The event was emceed by Emily Austin, a TV personality who has extensive experience interviewing athletes and stars in the entertainment industry. With a social media following of over two million, Austin has become a well-known influencer who often speaks about her strong support for Israel and the importance of combatting antisemitism.

In an interview with the Philadelphia Jewish Exponent, Austin, who became an Israeli citizen the week before Oct. 7, 2023, talked about why she feels it’s so important to be outspoken in support of the Jewish state.

“I consider myself an advocate for the truth and for what’s right … I always take the moral high ground,” Austin said. “And I find it really unfortunate that everyone’s on the same page, except when it comes to the Jews. Christians can have a country. Muslims can have a country … But when it comes to the Jewish people, after enduring a massacre, the world turns a blind eye, or even worse, sides with evil. So, I’m just trying to open people’s eyes.

“I go by a saying — don’t tell people they’re wrong but show them why you’re right. And I believe Israel has so many ‘rights’ to show the world that we have, and if I can be the one to show them the truth, then what an honor,” she added.

As for her huge social media following, Austin doesn’t shy away from using her platform to voice her pro-Israel views.

“I’m very blessed to have a platform that’s not preaching to the echo chamber of Jewish people who already support Israel. I work in sports. I work in entertainment. And I would even argue that my audience is mostly non-Jews. And … I don’t want to be proselytizing. I don’t want to shove Israel down your throat to the point that it’s nauseating, like the pro-Palestinians do. They shut down bridges and tunnels and they make you almost nauseated by the cause. I try to show a positive light and the truth without completely overwhelming my [social media] feed with it — like I know you follow me for sports, and you’re still going to get it. But I also love Israel, and I’m going to show you why I love Israel. And I think I try to balance the two.”

American Friends of Magen David Adom CEO Catherine Reed introduced one of the evening’s honorees, Gershon Trimpol, noting that Trimpol, who serves as chairman of the International Magen David Adom Committee and vice president of American Friends of Magen David Adom, has 26 years of experience working with the organization.

As he addressed the crowd, Trimpol, a resident of Southampton, quoted the famous Talmudic passage “Kol Yisrael arevim zeh bazeh” (All Jews are responsible for each other), noting that “few organizations embody that principle more than Magen David Adom.”

In addition to Magen David Adom’s efforts to supply blood to the Israel Defense Forces and Israeli hospitals, Trimpol underscored the Herculean efforts of the organization’s first responders.

“The heart and soul of Magen David Adom are its paramedics,” he said. “On Oct. 7, while others were running from the danger, the brave paramedics of Magen David Adom ran into the danger to help others.”

Attendees watched an emotional video that spotlighted the bravery of Magen David Adom paramedics as they responded to various terrorist attacks, including Oct. 7 and in July 2024, when a rocket hit a soccer field in Majdal Shams, a city in northern Israel, which left 12 children dead.

During the event, Sue and Bruce Epstein of Margate City, New Jersey, stood up and pledged to make a sizable donation that Magen David Adom could use to buy a new ambulance for its fleet in Israel, drawing applause from the crowd.

Ambassador Gilad Erdan, left, Emily Austin, center, and Gershon Trimpol, right, at an event for American Friends of Magen David Adom on Nov. 21. (Photo credit: Jack Hartzman/Washington Talent)

The evening’s keynote speaker was Ambassador Gilad Erdan, who assumed the role of global president of Magen David Adom in September 2024. Prior to his new role, Erdan served for four years as Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, where he vigorously defended Israel on the world stage. Erdan also served as a member of Knesset for 17 years and had a tenure as Israel’s ambassador to the United States.

In an interview with the Philadelphia Jewish Exponent, Erdan spoke about the challenges currently facing Israel and the heightened role that Magen David Adom plays post-Oct. 7.

“Our enemies know that they cannot defeat the IDF. You see what’s happening in Gaza and Lebanon — we are destroying them. So, what’s their strategy? It’s a twofold strategy. They are focused on attacking our civilians … They want to terrorize our kids, frighten them, make sure that they maybe drive us out of our homeland in fear for the long term,” Erdan said. “And then the other part, how do they plan to survive? They are trying to exploit my last battlefield, the U.N., to pressure us to a cease-fire, to tie our hands, to portray us as baby killers. So, this is why it’s twofold. Now focusing on the civilian side, they’re attacking the home front. As [there are] many more people that they will be able to kill there, it most likely will succeed to terrorize our citizens.”

Erdan cited those challenges to make the case that Magen David Adom is indispensable.

“The Israeli resilience, it is dependent on us [Magen David Adom]. So yes, I believe that the Jewish world came to the understanding that of course the IDF is the most important organization, but other than the IDF, when it comes to the first responders like Magen David Adom … we cannot afford for Magen David Adom not to be the No. 1 emergency medical service in the world. I feel that the Jewish communities really came to this understanding, and they’re behind us.

“There’s only one national organization in Israel, which is Magen David Adom — this is the emergency national organization that is obligated to supply services everywhere, be it rural areas, Judea and Samaria, the Golan Heights. We are the ones that the resilience of Israel is dependent upon,” Erdan added.

Erdan had much to say about what sort of strategies could be employed to try and counter the anti-Israel animus that is prevalent at international bodies such as the United Nations and the International Criminal Court, which recently issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, accusing them of “crimes against humanity” relating to the war in Gaza.

“Always be on the offensive. That’s what I did at the U.N. — never be apologetic. I knew I represented the most moral military and country in the world, so I exposed their lies, their hypocrisy,” Erdan said. “I need to preserve our allies’ support for us, and that’s what we’re doing by always being there on the offensive, fighting and exposing the lies.”

In his remarks to the audience, Erdan focused on the threat posed by the U.N. to Israel, opening with a line that drew laughs from the Philly crowd.

“It’s really great for me to be here in Philadelphia, a city that cherishes so much both liberty and loyalty, though I must confess that being here during Eagles’ season without being an Eagles fan feels almost as lonely as defending Israel at the U.N.,” he said.

“Today, dear friends, the U.N. is not just biased, it’s a weapon in the terrorist arsenal to help them survive,” Erdan said. “What would the U.N.’s founders say if they saw their creation today, an institution founded after the Holocaust to prevent genocide has been hijacked by those who plot it?”

Erdan noted that although Israel represents less than one-tenth of 1% of the world’s population, it receives 70% of the U.N.’s condemnations every year. “We receive more condemnations than Syria, Russia, North Korea, and Iran combined,” he said.

After declaring that the “U.N. has become a stain on humanity,” citing the U.N.’s $75 billion annual budget and noting that the United States, as the biggest funder of the U.N., is “literally financing an institution controlled by dictators that works against our values,” Erdan emphatically declared that “the time has come for us to understand that the U.N. is lost” and stated that, “The U.N. must be defunded. Completely defunded,” which drew rousing applause from the crowd.

Referring to Magen David Adom, Erdan painted a far more positive and promising picture than he did when speaking about the U.N.

“We are in the life-saving business. It’s sometimes very hard, very sad, very challenging, but the future is bright, I promise you … Our sages, as you know, teach us that whoever saves even one life, it is as if they saved an entire world. So many lives have been saved, thanks to you. So many worlds have been saved, thanks to you … I thank you from the bottom of my heart,” Erdan said, asserting that “a stronger Magen David Adom means a stronger Israel.”

The crowd watched excitedly as Raz and Austin engaged in an armchair conversation, in which Austin interviewed the “Fauda” star about his upbringing and the hit series.

Noting that his father was born in Iraq and his mother was born in Algeria, Raz said that Arabic was frequently spoken in his home. Raz’s father served in Shin Bet, Israel’s security agency, and Raz’s military service consisted of service in Duvdevan, an elite counterterrorism unit.

“What you’ve seen in ‘Fauda’ is what I used to do,” Raz said, referring to his time in the IDF.

After his army service, Raz said he went to the United States, where he served as a bodyguard to Arnold Schwarzenegger and actress Nastassja Kinski. He then returned to Israel and began pursuing an acting career. Raz, who was experiencing posttraumatic stress disorder following his IDF service, eventually met journalist Avi Issacharoff. Together, Raz and Issacharoff began writing the script that ultimately became “Fauda.”

“So many things that you see in ‘Fauda’ are from our real lives,” Raz said, referring to Issacharoff and himself.

Event organizers said it was a successful evening for Magen David Adom, which Erdan proudly referred to as “the backbone of Israel’s resilience.”

Israel, the United States and Lebanon

The following is an article that I wrote, which appeared in the November 14, 2024, edition of the Washington Jewish Week:

As Israel continues defending itself against the Hezbollah threat emanating from Lebanon and the United States explores ways to help defuse the conflict, I cannot help but think of another time — 41 years ago — when these three countries were linked in conjunction with an incident that became ingrained in the psyches of many Americans.

In this month’s installment of “Remember When,” we look back at our issue from the week of Oct. 27–Nov. 2, 1983, when a story by Wolf Blitzer titled “U.S. refuses Israeli aid for Marines” appeared on the front page.

In the aftermath of the deadly bombing on Oct. 23, 1983, in which a suicide bomber killed 241 U.S. servicemembers at the U.S. Marine Corps Barracks in Beirut, the Israeli government offered the U.S. access to Israeli hospitals in relative proximity to the attack in order to help treat those wounded in the terrorist attack. According to Blitzer’s article, Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Arens was “extremely disappointed” that the Reagan administration rebuffed Israel’s offer, choosing instead to fly the wounded servicemembers to medical facilities in West Germany and Italy, which were much farther away from the Israeli hospitals.

The article noted that Israel also offered the U.S. “sophisticated bulldozer and engineering equipment to help remove the rubble,” yet that offer was similarly rejected. The U.S. did accept “plastic bag covers for the bodies of the Marines” from Israel, according to the article.

Blitzer offered some context for the reasons behind the United States’ rejection of Israel’s offer of assistance.

“U.S. officials suggested that Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger and some others were still extremely sensitive to any military or strategic relationship with Israel that was publicly seen as too close. Such steps, he is said to fear, would upset America’s friends in the Arab world.”

Officially, the White House said, “the U.S. deeply appreciated the Israeli offers for assistance but found they were not really necessary,” noting that “The Pentagon’s contingency procedures for the removal of the injured soldiers worked well.”

The article went on to quote President Ronald Reagan, who said the deadly attack was “a horrifying reminder of the type of enemy we face in many critical areas of the world today — vicious, cowardly and ruthless.”

Fast-forward to today’s post-Oct. 7 world, in which Hezbollah’s constant bombardment of northern Israel has led to the displacement of Israelis from their homes and forced Israel to undertake a military operation in Lebanon in an effort to neutralize Hezbollah’s relentless attacks. The U.S. is playing a central role in seeking an end to the current conflict, and it regularly meets with Israeli and Lebanese officials in pursuit of a peace agreement.

Second Gentleman Visits Montgomery County To Mobilize Jewish Voters

The following is an article that I wrote, which appeared in the October 17, 2024, edition of the Philadelphia Jewish Exponent:

Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff at a Get Out the Jewish Vote event in Narberth on Oct. 13.
(Photo by Aaron Troodler)

With Pennsylvania playing a pivotal role in the upcoming presidential election, each campaign is making a concerted effort to mobilize voters. Montgomery County, with its sizable Jewish population, figures prominently into the equation, and the Harris and Trump campaigns are making their respective cases to local Jewish community members in the hopes of winning their support.

It was against that backdrop that approximately 175 people gathered in the Social Hall in Narberth Borough Hall on Sunday morning, Oct. 13, for a “Get Out the Jewish Vote” event organized by Kamala Harris’ campaign, which featured Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff.

As attendees munched on bagels and sipped coffee, upbeat music, including “Eye of the Tiger” and “Born in the USA,” played on the sound system as the excitement built while the crowd awaited the arrival of the campaign’s special guests.

Katie and Frank McGlade of Ardmore have been following Kamala Harris’ career since she was elected to the Senate.

“She’s a tough inquisitor and she holds people accountable, and that’s why we’re voting for her,” Katie McGlade said in an interview. “This community is predominantly Jewish, and we feel very strongly that our community needs the right leadership.”

“In a race that’s a statistical dead heat, every single vote counts,” added Frank McGlade.

“I’m honored that they wanted to come and make sure we understand that the Harris campaign is very pro-Israel and is very protective of Israel’s right to exist and defend itself,” said Andrea Deutsch, who is the first Jewish mayor of Narberth, in an interview. “I’m very confident that the Kamala Harris-Tim Walz administration will do the right thing on behalf of the people of Israel. As a Jewish mayor and a Jewish citizen, I’m very comfortable with how they would represent us.”

Ellie Goluboff-Schragger, president of the Penn Dems, addressed the audience, as did Eva Wyner, the Harris campaign’s director for Jewish outreach for Pennsylvania, who noted that “the path to the presidency runs through PA,” adding that she attended preschool and had her bat mitzvah at the Kaiserman JCC and graduated from Jack M. Barrack Hebrew Academy.

Comedian and actor Alex Edelman then addressed the crowd, along with composer Benj Pasek. They were followed by actor Ben Stiller, who exhorted the crowd to get out and vote and to “tell our friends to vote.”

Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., who wore a yellow ribbon on his lapel in support of the hostages, began his remarks by referencing Oct. 7.

“This has been a very difficult year for the Jewish community … We hope that this will be a good, sweet year where we can find peace and the hostages are returned,” said the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

“I very much appreciate what she [Harris] and Doug [Emhoff] have done in bringing our Jewish traditions to the American public to understand our love of Judaism,” Cardin said. “They have taken our Jewish values, tikkun olam, to make this world a better place, and those have been their values.”

Cardin spoke about the efforts of the Biden-Harris administration and Emhoff to combat antisemitism and discussed Harris’ “commitment to the special relationship between Israel and the United States.”

“Since Oct. 7, she’s made it clear that Israel needs the support of the United States and that the United States has Israel’s back. She has said over and over again that Israel will get whatever it needs to defend itself from Hamas in Gaza, or Hezbollah in Lebanon, or the Houthis in the Red Sea, or Iran and its proxies … She recognizes that the United States will stand strong, must stand strong, with Israel.”

Jewish voters show support for the Harris-Walz ticket at an event in Narberth on Oct. 13.
(Photo by Aaron Troodler)

Emhoff’s presence at the event generated a lot of excitement.

“To me, this ticket with Kamala, and Doug being her husband, represents what America is supposed to be like. It’s like the ultimate melting pot,” Adrian Seltzer of Wynnewood said in an interview.

“It’s exciting,” Karin Fox of Narberth said in an interview about the prospect of Emhoff becoming the first Jewish first spouse if Harris is elected. “Of course, it’s exciting to have somebody Jewish in the White House. It’s awesome.”

Emhoff’s appearance at the event came on his 60th birthday, and as he took the stage, the crowd sang “Happy Birthday,” followed by “Yom Huledet Sameach.”

“I stand before you as the first Jewish principal ever in the White House, hopefully going to be the first first gentleman, the first Jewish first gentleman,” Emhoff said before turning to the one-year anniversary of Oct. 7.

“These weeks are heavy, but when you have Oct. 7 fall within the High Holidays for the first time, it just made this time particularly heavy, meaningful, emotional, raw … So many of us still feel this rawness, this rage, these emotions that will never go away,” he said.

Emhoff discussed some of the ways he and Harris marked one year since the Hamas attacks on Israel.

“Very meaningfully, the vice president and I planted a pomegranate tree to honor the victims, the pain, the hostages, but also as an act of hope, an act of resilience, something that’s permanent, something that’s going to stay at that residence [the vice president’s official residence] forever.”

Actor Ben Stiller speaks at the Oct. 13 event in Narberth.
(Photo by Aaron Troodler)

Emhoff spoke extensively about Harris’ connections to, and efforts on behalf of, the Jewish community.

“All the work that I’ve done fighting against antisemitism, which led to a national strategy to counter antisemitism, all the work that I’ve done since Oct. 7 and will continue to do, this is because of her.”

“She goes way back with the Jewish community, including in her childhood, when she used to collect money in those little blue boxes that some of us remember,” he said, ostensibly referring to the iconic Jewish National Fund tzedakah boxes. “She was doing that as a kid.”

“She knows how important Israel is to us and to me,” Emhoff said, noting that Harris “was the one who put the kippah on my head while we visited the Old City [of Jerusalem] for the first time.”

“She has been working relentlessly on the release of the hostages … she’s not going to rest until all the hostages are released and home … She’s always going to support Israel and its right to defend itself, especially as it fights Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah and whatever else comes its way. She’s going to be there for them.”

In an interview, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) noted that she has “been up to Pennsylvania a couple of times for multiple days” to campaign for Harris and stated she believes that “the overwhelming majority of Jews will vote for Kamala Harris.”

“The reason I’m here in Pennsylvania instead of in Florida is because I feel so strongly about making sure that she becomes president of the United States because I’m a Zionist, because I’m a Jew, because I represent a district in Congress that has a large Jewish population, and I’m raising Jewish children, two of whom are in college,” Wasserman Schultz said. “So, if I want to make sure that we have someone we can count on in the White House, who’s going to have Israel’s back and who’s truly going to fight antisemitism because she not only talks about it but has done it, then it’s important that we make sure that we commit to, and put skin in the game, to help get Kamala Harris elected.”

A Resolute Voice for Israel in the US

The following is an article that I wrote, which appeared in the October 10, 2024, edition of the Washington Jewish Week:

Ambassador Michael Herzog
marking Yom HaZikaron,
Israel’s Memorial Day.
Photo by Shmulik Almany.

Service to the state of Israel is the Herzog family business. It’s therefore no surprise that Michael Herzog, Israel’s ambassador to the United States, has committed himself to representing Israel in Washington, D.C., throughout the U.S. and around the world.

His father, Chaim Herzog, was the sixth president of Israel. His grandfather, Yitzhak HaLevi Herzog, served as the chief rabbi of Israel from 1936-1959. His uncle, Abba Eban, served as Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, ambassador to the U.S. and Israel’s foreign minister. Another uncle, Yaacov Herzog, served as Israel’s ambassador to Canada. His younger brother, Isaac Herzog, currently serves as Israel’s 11th president.

“I’m very proud to be part of that family. I’m very proud of that heritage,” Ambassador Michael Herzog said, noting that “it also comes with responsibility.”

“We were all educated on public service, so most of our family members have been in public service in one capacity or another. We could have all gone into business or do other things, but we decided to devote our careers to public service and to me, representing the Jewish state here in America, our closest ally, is a big privilege.”

A retired brigadier general in the Israel Defense Forces, Herzog’s military service also includes a tenure as head of the IDF’s Strategic Planning Division, deputy head of the Strategic Planning Division and a member of the Intelligence Corps. Additionally, Herzog served in several senior roles in Israel’s Ministry of Defense.

Ever since his appointment as Israel’s ambassador to the United States in 2021 by then Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, Herzog has been a resolute and respected voice for the state of Israel in the U.S. and beyond.

Like all Israelis, Herzog has been deeply touched by the barbaric attacks carried out by Hamas on Oct. 7, and he agonizes over the fact that Hamas is still holding 101 hostages one year later, some of whom already lost their lives.

“This is a very big issue and a very high priority,” he said, referring to the hostages. “We all understand that every day that passes by endangers their lives … We have to do our utmost to release them as soon as possible.”

Herzog spoke about the Israeli government’s continuing efforts to bring the hostages home, noting that “we’ve been working very closely with the U.S. administration about this.”

After discussing the various proposals that have been put forth to bring about a resolution, including the United States’ “final bridging proposal” in mid-August that Israel endorsed, Herzog stated that “Hamas is still not on board with the U.S. framework.”

Notwithstanding Hamas’ reluctance to reach an agreement, Herzog said Israel will keep doing whatever is necessary to secure the hostages’ release.

“I strongly believe this is an open wound in our society and remains so for as long as they are there and don’t get back home. It’s a very big and painful issue. But we are committed and doing what we can to bring about a deal.”

Israel’s conflict with Hezbollah has intensified significantly over the past several weeks, including the elimination of Hassan Nasrallah, the head of Hezbollah, and multiple efforts to neutralize the serious threat that Israel faces from its neighbors to the north.

In discussing the current circumstances, Herzog was quick to put the situation into what he called “the right context.”

“Hamas launched war on Israel on Oct. 7, and Hezbollah started firing on Oct. 8 in an unprovoked manner,” he said. “We didn’t provoke them. We didn’t take action against them. They just decided being part of the Iranian axis, that they want to support Hamas in Gaza and open fire.”

Referring to Hezbollah, Herzog said “they’ve been firing on a daily basis into Israel.”

“As a result of what they’ve done, tens of thousands of Israelis, over 60,000, had to leave their homes in northern Israel. Part of the area is deserted. You have ghost towns there. And this is an intolerable situation that no sovereign country can agree to accept. It infringes on our sovereignty and the ability of people to live their normal lives in their own country.”

As Herzog spoke about the people who had to flee the north due to the incessant rocket attacks from Lebanon and discussed Israel’s decision to increase the military pressure on Hezbollah, he emphasized that “people have to understand we did not start this war, and we cannot, will not, allow ourselves to remain in that situation for a very long time. We owe it to our citizens.”

Ambassador Michael Herzog visiting Kibbutz Be’eri in southern Israel after the
Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack. Courtesy of Embassy of Israel in Washington.

As Israel battles Hezbollah on the northern front, the fight against Hamas in Gaza rages on. According to Herzog, Israel’s ongoing war with a terrorist organization whose primary objective is the destruction of the Jewish state is achieving many of its military and strategic goals.

“After Oct. 7, when we were shaping our response to that invasion, Israel defined three major goals for Gaza. The first was to destroy the Hamas military machine that attacked us. The second was to, of course, release the hostages, and then to prevent a situation where Gaza can threaten Israel in the future, meaning we have to remove Hamas from power and seal the border with Egypt and make sure that either Hamas or anybody else in Gaza cannot regroup and pose a threat again and again. They themselves said that, if possible, they would like to carry out an Oct. 7-like attack again and again and again. That was our goal,” Herzog said.

“We have been very successful militarily,” he added, noting that Israel “dismantled almost all, I would say, of their organized force … an army of terror.”

While acknowledging that there “are still quite a few armed people in Gaza,” Herzog said, “We secured for ourselves freedom of action so we can go in and out whenever we see a terror or military threat in Gaza.”

“Now we have to implement the other goals, which are to release the hostages and to make sure that Gaza as an entity can no longer threaten Israel,” he said. “We have taken the corridor along the Egypt-Gaza border, and we are working on plans for what people call ‘the day after,’ meaning a transition to a post-Hamas Gaza, in which Gaza will be governed by local Palestinians with some kind of a regional, international umbrella. And in order to implement such a plan, you had to bring Hamas to a breaking point militarily, so that they cannot destroy whatever you try to build there. But we are nearing a point where I think we can present a plan and advance it with the U.S. government and with regional and international partners.”

As the world marks one year since Oct. 7, Herzog reflected on the horrific events that led to one of the darkest days in Israel’s history.

Recognizing that “we in Israel have to do a lot of soul-searching about what happened and how come we were surprised,” Herzog looked back at what has happened over the past year from a broader context and a strategic perspective.

“We found ourselves thrown into a situation, a challenge of existential dimensions, not because Hamas in and of itself threatens the existence of Israel, but because Hamas is part of the Iranian axis, and we have been confronted not only by Hamas in Gaza, but by the whole axis,” he said.

Herzog noted that Israel is now challenged on multiple fronts, including Lebanon, the Shiite militias in Syria and Iraq, the Houthis in Yemen and Iran, which carried out an unprecedented missile and drone attack on Israel in April 2023 and fired nearly 200 ballistic missiles at Israel on Oct. 1.

“On top of all of that, there is an international front, an international campaign against the Jewish state and the Jewish people to delegitimize Israel or question the right of the Jewish people to self-determination and to question, to criminalize, the right of the Jewish state to self-defense,” he said.

“Essentially, that’s what we are facing, and everybody has to wake up and understand,” Herzog added. “My own simplistic summary of what happened over the past year is that Hamas hit us to the point of bleeding, and our enemies smelled the blood and banded against us. That explains how come, hours after Oct. 7, there was an eruption of such an unprecedented wave of antisemitism. Think about it, the biggest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust sparks an eruption of antisemitic waves. How can you explain that? And that was weeks before we launched our ground operation in Gaza. Nobody can say that is because of what we were doing in Gaza. So, I think we have to look reality straight in the eye and understand that and internalize that.”

Ambassador Michael Herzog lighting a memorial candle at the Israeli Embassy
in Washington, D.C. Courtesy of Embassy of Israel in Washington.

Over the past three decades, Herzog has played a pivotal role in Israel’s efforts to pursue peace agreements with Israel’s Arab neighbors. In 2020, we saw the birth of the Abraham Accords, which resulted in the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan establishing ties with Israel. At the time, there was a sense of optimism that perhaps more Arab nations might normalize relations with Israel. Yet additional peace agreements failed to materialize, and last month, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman declared that Saudi Arabia would not recognize Israel without a Palestinian state.

However, Herzog remains optimistic and is proud of what has been accomplished thus far, despite some bumps in the road.

“If you look at the balance of what happened over the last year since Oct. 7 in terms of our relations with the region, with our new Abraham Accords partners and others in the region, I think you see a mixed picture, where on the one hand, because of the war and the political pressures and the pressures of public opinion, a lot of things slowed down between us and our peace partners and neighbors. There was a lot of eruption of public sentiment against Israel because of what they see on TV. And some projects were put on hold, and multilateral fora which we established before the war were frozen.

“At the same time, let’s not forget that all the peace agreements that we have withstood the pressures of this war — all of them. That below the radar there is a lot of cooperation on many issues, including security cooperation, because we all share similar interests, first and foremost against Iran, the biggest destabilizing force in the region.”

According to Herzog, “the fact that these countries now have relations with Israel also has enabled and enables them to play a role in Gaza,” whether it be related to humanitarian aid or serving as likely partners in helping to shape the post-Hamas Gaza.

As for Saudi Arabia, Herzog said, “the door for a peace agreement with Saudi Arabia is still open … There are several conditions that the Saudis need for that to happen, but it’s still open. It’s not closed. It would be a major game-changer in the region.”

As he serves as Israel’s ambassador to the United States, Herzog is acutely aware of the importance of the U.S.-Israel relationship and part of his role is helping to successfully navigate the hyper-partisanship that has become so pervasive in American politics.

“It is our policy that we should keep Israel a bipartisan issue,” he declared. “The last thing we want or need is for Israel to become a political football. We’re trying to avoid that to the extent possible.”

Herzog was quick to recognize the tremendous support that Israel received from the U.S. after Oct. 7.

“I was positively surprised by the amount of support and solidarity that we have received from the American people,” he said. “We received important support from the U.S. administration. We received important support from Congress on both sides of the aisle.”

“The U.S. supported Israel … and stood with us when Iran tried to hit us and stood with us against the blood libels in the ICC [International Criminal Court] and ICJ [International Court of Justice] and many other arenas,” he added.

But for Herzog, the big story is the support Israel received from the American people. Noting the divisions and polarization in American society and the antisemitism we are seeing on college campuses and on social media, Herzog said, “if you look at the broad picture, I believe that most of the American people basically support Israel. Yes, there is a lot of noise and aggression out there against us. I don’t think that this is the majority of the American people. The majority support us, and that was one of the positive surprises for me over the last year.”

For Herzog, one of the notable and heartwarming things of the past year has been the open display of Jewish unity.

“When people see a threat of existential dimensions, they join hands and they get closer, and that’s what happened in Israel,” he said. “Yes, there are political differences and there are debates in Israel like in any democratic society, but I think the Israeli society has shown an amazing resilience over the last year. Part of that, I think, is the unity among the Jewish people, the solidarity. What happened after Oct. 7 is that many people here in the U.S. woke up feeling threatened, and a lot of them understood the situation, decided to be more active, either here in the U.S. or as relates to the U.S.-Israel relations.”

“People don’t understand how important this unity, solidarity and support of the American Jewish community is for the people of Israel,” he added. “Every delegation that comes to Israel, any expression of support in any way, people just need it, and it gives them strength. And I think what happened over the last year is that many in the community rose to the commandment of Kol Yisrael arevim zeh bazeh (all Jews are responsible for one another).”

Rallying for Israel in the DMV During the Yom Kippur War

The following is an article that I wrote, which appeared in the October 10, 2024, edition of the Washington Jewish Week:

As we mark one year since Oct. 7 and recall the tragic events that took place last Simchat Torah as Hamas terrorists attacked Israel and left a trail of destruction and devastation in their wake, we cannot help but think back to an event that took place 51 years ago when another Jewish holiday was marked by the start of an intense war with Israel’s Arab neighbors.

In this month’s installment of “Remember When,” we look back at our issue from the week of Oct. 11-17, 1973.

On Oct. 6, 1973, Egypt and Syria led a coalition of Arab nations that launched a surprise attack on Israel on Yom Kippur, the holiest day on the Jewish calendar. Israel fought back, and a cease-fire agreement was reached several weeks later, thereby ending the fighting for the time being.

Our coverage of the Yom Kippur War included a number of stories relating to how people with ties to the DMV Jewish community were feeling and how they responded to the attack on Israel.

Alfred Groner, a former Washingtonian, offered his thoughts and perspectives from Israel through a narrative that enabled readers to feel as if they too were in Israel experiencing what Groner and others in the Jewish state were feeling at the time.

“Yom Kippur. It is a cool, bright day. Suddenly the rising and falling whine of the sirens. A few minutes later, we turn on the radio. The Voice of Israel on Yom Kippur. With a fist around our hearts we hear the Syrians and Egyptians have attacked. A full-scale massive offensive along the entire length of the cease-fire lines. Egged buses appear. The drivers careen down the streets, occasionally counter the one-way. Cares and small trucks go by in ever-larger numbers. Many of the drivers are wearing their green battle uniforms. Classical music over the radio, broken by announcements every ten minutes. Army radio cuts in. The characteristic buzz. Then the code for the units’ call ups.”

Among the other articles in that issue related to the Yom Kippur War was a story about an emergency meeting of leaders in the Greater Washington Jewish community in which a goal was set to raise $4 million to help Israel during what was a very trying time. Another article reported on “a tense and emotional rally” at Ohr Kodesh Congregation in Chevy Chase, where thousands of people gathered in support of the Jewish state.

A half-century later, as Israel is still defending itself against existential threats, the DMV Jewish community is still standing strongly and proudly with Israel in its time of need.

Katie Ledecky: The Most Decorated Female American Olympian of All Time

The following is an article that I wrote, which appeared in the October-November 2024 edition of Montgomery Magazine:

Katie Ledecky left Rio de Janeiro as the most decorated female athlete of the 2016 Olympic Games, with four gold medals, one silver medal and two world records. Courtesy of Katie Ledecky.

For Katie Ledecky, Montgomery County will always be considered home.

The journey for Ledecky, who is among the greatest Olympic champions of all time with nine gold medals and 14 total Olympic medals, began in Bethesda, Maryland.

She started in Metropolitan Nursery School, went to Little Flower School from pre-K through eighth grade and attended Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart for high school. Her parents still live in the same Bethesda home she grew up in. “I loved growing up in Montgomery County,” Ledecky says.

Ledecky’s first foray into the world of competitive swimming came when she swam for the Palisades Porpoises Swim Team in the Montgomery County Swim League. “Those were my first memories in the sport of swimming … it was my first time being on a swim team.”

“We joined the Palisades Pool when I was six years old. My brother was nine, and we really didn’t know anyone at that pool, and so we joined the team to meet a lot of people, and by the end of the summer we had 100 new friends ages six to 18,” Ledecky says.

“We have a joke in the family that everything always comes back to MCSL … We seem to meet people all over that either swam MCSL or had a friend that was in the MCSL. So, it always comes back to Montgomery County,” she adds.

Ledecky credits her parents for her success, whether it be in the pool or in life.

“My parents have played a huge role in my journey. My mom swam in college growing up and was probably the first one to get me into the water, but she never pushed me into the sport. She never made me join the swim team—that always came from me. And then both my mom and my dad were just tremendous all the way through high school, driving me to and from practice, getting me to school — there were lots of early mornings.”

Katie Ledecky at 6 years old after her first swim race.
Courtesy of Katie Ledecky.

Ledecky recalls having to wake up at around 4 a.m. to get ready for swim practice at 5 a.m. and how her parents developed a routine to get both her and her brother to their respective swim practices. “They did a great job managing it all and supporting both of us in our goals,” she says.

Ledecky’s Olympic experience began in London in 2012 when she shocked the world by winning a gold medal in the 800-meter freestyle at the age of 15. She has not looked back since.

She competed in her fourth Olympic Games this summer in Paris where she became the most decorated female American Olympian of all time, winning a bronze in the 400-meter freestyle, silver in the 4×200-meter freestyle relay and gold in both the 800-meter freestyle and 1,500-meter freestyle.

Despite her incredible success, Ledecky is quick to credit those around her for the pivotal roles they have played in her swimming career.

“I think it’s a testament to all the people around me throughout this journey, not just the people I’m currently training with or being coached by, but everyone that played a role and supported me,” she says. “You don’t achieve something like that without doing it over many, many years. So that also involves many, many places and people that you’ve gotten to know and that have been a part of the journey. So, to me, it’s more about the journey than the end result or the records or where I stand in history. It’s about the process. It’s about working toward goals that excite me and drive me.”

“At the end of the day, I never imagined I would make it to one Olympics, so to have competed at four now, and to have found a sport that I just truly love and have enjoyed all these years, it’s a great, great feeling,” she says. “So, any of the medals and experiences that I’ve had on top of that, it’s just kind of icing on the cake. It’s amazing to get to represent your country on that big of a stage.”

There was not a particular point in time when Ledecky said, ‘I love this sport and I’m good at it, and I want to take my swimming to the next level.’ It was a process that happened organically, although a broken arm while she was in elementary school may have played a role.

“There wasn’t a single moment where I made some sort of decision that set me on that course. I think I just kept qualifying for bigger and bigger meets. I recognized that I was qualifying for some of these big meets at a younger age or earlier than some of my teammates or peers,” she says.

Ledecky was not exclusively swimming when she was younger—she was also playing basketball and soccer and taking piano lessons.

“I think around fourth grade was probably the turning point for me. I broke my arm in gym class playing basketball. So, basketball kind of took a backseat, because I realized during that time that I really loved swimming. I would put a plastic bag over my arm to be able to swim for those six weeks. I wanted to protect my swimming and put more into it,” Ledecky says. “I never went to my parents and said, ‘Hey, I’m going to quit basketball. I’m going to quit soccer.’ I just naturally found myself choosing swim practice over the other sports. And I think probably by age 12 or 13, I was focused on swimming as my sport and qualified for sectionals and junior nationals, senior nationals and ultimately Olympic trials. And once I qualified for Olympic trials, then I started to try to work my way up into the rankings to get into a position where I could believe that I could be an Olympian.”

Even though Ledecky is an Olympic veteran and one of the most successful Olympic athletes in history, each experience is unique and memorable. For Ledecky, having a medal hung around her neck on the Olympic podium, hearing The Star-Spangled Banner and seeing the American flag being raised is exhilarating every time.

“It does not get old,” she says, referring to the Olympic experience and winning a medal. “I think each time it’s pretty emotional, pretty exciting and it feels like the first time … I remember when I was a young kid watching those medal ceremonies, and whenever an American athlete won, we would stand and sing the national anthem at home. So, I always think back to those moments and think that there are probably some kids doing that back in the U.S. So that’s pretty special and it’s an honor to be in that position.”

Ledecky won a gold medal in the 800-meter freestyle at age 15.
Courtesy of Katie Ledecky.

Ledecky has cemented her legacy as one of the premier long-distance swimmers of all time. She won her fourth consecutive Olympic gold medal in the 800-meter freestyle in Paris, becoming just the seventh Olympic athlete to win four successive gold medals in the same event. The only other swimmer to have achieved that feat is the legendary Michael Phelps.

Watching Ledecky compete in the 1,500-meter freestyle, which is 30 lengths of the pool, is a thing of beauty. She makes the grueling race look virtually effortless. In Paris, she set a new Olympic record with a time of 15:30.02, finishing the race more than ten seconds ahead of the silver medalist.

“I enjoyed trying the longer events from a young age … whenever my coach wanted me to try a new event, I would try a new event. And when I tried the distance events, I enjoyed them, and I recognized that that was different from some of my teammates who didn’t enjoy them. So, I kept doing them. I realized that that was my thing, that I was stronger at those events than the shorter events. I enjoyed putting in the work for those events,” she says.

“I’m able to come down to the 400 and the 200, but the 800 and the 1,500 are definitely my strongest events. And I’ve swum them a lot now, so I feel confident in my race strategy. I feel like I have a lot of experiences and tricks in my back pocket that I can rely on when the race gets tough … I use my experience as my advantage and I feel confident in those races, and I continue to enjoy putting in the work for those longer swims.”

At the age of 27, Ledecky often finds herself competing against and alongside younger swimmers, some of whom looked up to her before they began swimming at an elite level in pursuit of their Olympic dreams.

“I think at the end of the day we’re all competitors, and whether the person next to me is 15 years old or 35, I need to bring my best and compete against them, and I think my competitors do the same with me … It’s a sport that some swimmers come onto the scene from a young age and stick around a while … It’s been special for me to be on some relay teams with some people that I’ve known since they were seven years old. So, things like that are really special moments,” she says.

For Ledecky, spreading messages about positivity and perseverance are paramount, and she uses her platform as a swimming icon to try to inspire others, particularly young folks.

“Try to find something that you really love and you enjoy doing, whether that’s a sport, whether that’s a subject in school, whether that’s another activity, and try to be the best you can be at it and set some goals for yourself,” she says. “That’s how I started in the sport, and I’ve continued to love it and enjoy it. You just never know where things might take you. Swimming has taken me around the world and has given me opportunities I never imagined I would have. So, you just never know. You’ve got to just keep setting goals in the areas that you enjoy, and some special things can happen.”

The most decorated female American Olympian of all time is not done yet and looks forward to continuing her journey in the world of swimming.

“I would love to swim in LA [in the 2028 Olympic Games] … I’ll be training, doing a little bit of travel this fall, and then I’ll get down to business, get my work in and start the process to work on some new goals. So, I’m excited for what’s to come.”

Masai Russell: Confident, Committed to Excellence and Very, Very Fast

The following is an article that I wrote, which appeared in the October-November 2024 edition of Montgomery Magazine: 

Masai Russell won gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics in the 100-meter hurdles.
Courtesy of USATF.

One one-hundredth of a second. “That’s faster than we can even blink,” says Masai Russell.

For Russell, it was a mere centisecond that changed her life when she won a gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics in the 100-meter hurdles by edging out France’s Cyrena Samba-Mayela by one one-hundredth of a second.

The 24-year-old Russell was born in Washington, D.C., and went to high school at Bullis School in Potomac, Maryland. “Going to high school there, it was honestly an amazing experience,” Russell says. The choice to go to the Montgomery County school “ended up being one of the best decisions I made in my life.”

For the newly crowned Olympic champion, it was her parents that helped set her on a path that propelled her to stardom.

Russell’s mother, Dr. Sharon Russell, is an oral and maxillofacial surgeon, while her father, Mark, is not only the CEO of her mother’s medical practice; he was also Russell’s first track coach.

“Both of my parents played a major role in my life, throughout my career,” Russell says.

Citing Sharon Russell’s ability to successfully juggle the responsibilities of taking care of her patients and running her medical office, Russell says she gets her work ethic from her mother.

As for her father, “he played a tremendous role in my track career,” Russell says. “He’s really the one that made it happen on the track.”

Russell believes that her involvement in track and the success she has achieved stems from “always being undersized and feeling like you have something to prove.”

She thinks back to her childhood and points to growing up with only brothers as something that continually motivated her.

“I was always doing my best to stay relevant with my brothers, and then when I ended up competing against people that were much bigger than me, faster than me, older than me, I always had a drive within myself to just become great, never stop and get what you want,” Russell says. “I always had a fire within me.”

Masai Russell. Photo by Erica Calhoun.

Russell went to the University of Kentucky, where she shone on the track and excelled in the classroom, including becoming the NCAA record holder in the 100-meter hurdles and earning a spot on the SEC Spring Academic Honor Roll multiple times.

“My mindset is if I’m going to be great, I’m going to be great at anything that I do. And academics always come first. Academics is the gateway to be able to compete,” Russell says.

“Track is going to end one day, and you have to have the knowledge in whatever space that you want to end up pursuing … without the education, without the knowledge, then you have nothing … One day, I’m not going to be a track runner, but I’m going to need be something else in life. And if you don’t have that knowledge, then you’re failing yourself,” she adds.

A first-time Olympian, Russell says, “it means the world” and is “pretty unreal” to have had the opportunity to represent the United States in Paris.

“It’s everything that I have dreamed of, everything that I’ve worked for my entire career … it’s such a blessing and such an honor to just compete and be among the best athletes in the world, to be on the boat with LeBron James and Stephen Curry. It’s just like, wow, this is the life that I truly believed that I could have one day, and the fact that I’m living it at such a young age, at 24 years old, when I didn’t even believe I could be an Olympian just three years ago, it’s just crazy. I just say it’s nothing but God.”

As she walked out of the tunnel and onto the Olympic track before the final of the 100-meter hurdles, Russell was incredibly focused.

“I was telling myself, it’s possible, it’s possible, it’s possible,” Russell says, recalling the moments leading up to the race. “I worked hard every day … this is my moment. This is my time.”

“When I walked out, I heard the crowd and I was just so locked in,” she says. “I was thinking, my life can change within the matter of the next 30 seconds … I was just so determined, and I was so poised.”

As she settled into Lane 5, Russell worked hard to keep her emotions in check and not get overwhelmed by the enormity of the moment, reminding herself that in front of her were the same 10 hurdles that are in every race.

When the race got underway, several runners were seemingly in a dead heat. In fact, Russell was not the first one to clear the final hurdle—that was France’s Cyrena Samba-Mayela. Yet, Russell closed strong and surged ahead, crossing the finish line in a blazing 12.33 seconds in a photo finish. After a brief wait, Russell was declared the winner. Samba-Mayela won the silver medal, while Jasmine Camacho-Quinn of Puerto Rico took the bronze.

“I came off that last hurdle, and I just sprinted to the line as hard as I could. And once I crossed the line, I knew I was in medal contention, but I didn’t know exactly where … I was just looking up at the board and I was like, ‘come on, come on, show me’ … It was about 10 to 15 seconds. So, it didn’t feel like a lifetime. But it was just long enough that I started to stress out,” Russell says.

“I have worked so hard my entire career and come up short every single time … I’ve never won an NCAA title … I’ve never won an outdoor SEC title. I didn’t win the USA Championships last year … It was like, I had to go through all those hardships, and I had to go through all those tough times to get to where I am now. Honestly, it was a dream come true … I just won the Olympics … no one can take that from me,” Russell says.

Russell competes in the 2024 Paris Olympics. Courtesy of USATF.

Before this track season began, Russell wrote down several goals: Break the indoor world record, become the indoor world champion, win the U.S. Olympic trials, win the Olympics and break the world record. Those are big goals, but for Russell, it is important to identify her objectives, aim high and work hard to try and achieve them.

“Setting goals means everything to me,” she says. “If you’re not striving to be the best ever, it’s just like, why are you doing it? Why are you selling yourself short? … I think the power of the mind, everything that you believe and think, you don’t notice how much of an impact it plays until you truly do it, have faith in it, work in it and manifest it.”

Russell has a huge presence on social media, with more than 1.2 million followers across her various platforms. The Olympic gold medalist believes her massive following is largely attributable to the fact that people appreciate that she promotes herself in a genuine manner that is consistent with who she is as a person.

“I just like to keep it super authentic to who I am … I’m glad that I feel like I do have such a positive impact on … the community … I’ve inspired so many people by just being myself,” she says. “I’m just showing people that even if the end of the tunnel does look dark, just keep going, because you’ll eventually see that light.”

For Russell, her gold medal win in Paris is not the end of her journey, but rather another step in her pursuit of excellence, and she is looking forward to the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

“The goal right now is to get through world championships for the next two years and then do my thing in LA once again and try to get that title back. ‘Two-time Olympic champ’ has a great ring to it,” she says, noting that she will keep “trying to do the same thing I did this past Olympics, and just keep that good momentum going with a smile on my face and inspiring and impacting those people around me.”

The WJW Podcast: A Conversation With Dr. Michael Oren (9/26/24)

 Dr. Michael Oren served as Israel’s ambassador to the United States from 2009-2013.

A best-selling author, renowned historian and passionate advocate for Israel, Oren also served in various capacities in the Israel Defense Forces and as a member of Knesset.

On the WJW Podcast, Oren spoke about the various threats facing Israel, the efforts to bring the hostages home, the U.S.-Israel relationship and the rise in global antisemitism.

Israel’s Former Ambassador to the US To Visit DMV Jewish Community

The following is an article that I wrote, which appeared in the September 26, 2024, edition of the Washington Jewish Week:

Dr. Michael Oren speaking to philanthropists at a Jewish National Fund-USA event.
Courtesy of Jewish National Fund-USA.

His resume is impressive, his reputation stellar and his record of accomplishments noteworthy. Dr. Michael Oren, a respected diplomat, best-selling author, renowned historian and passionate advocate for Israel, is scheduled to visit the DMV area and discuss a range of issues pertaining to Israel and the Jewish community.

Oren, who served as Israel’s ambassador to the United States from 2009-2013, is in the midst of a trip to the U.S., where he is partnering with Jewish National Fund-USA, a 123-year-old Zionist organization, and speaking with Jewish communal leaders. Among the topics of conversation include Jewish National Fund-USA’s efforts to rebuild Israeli communities near the Gaza border and addressing the crisis in northern Israel, where thousands of Israelis were forced to leave their homes due to the ongoing threat posed by Hezbollah.

In addition to his tenure as Israel’s ambassador to the U.S., Oren’s contributions to the Jewish state include serving in various capacities in the Israel Defense Forces and as a member of Knesset.

The ongoing situation involving the hostages was on Oren’s mind as he spoke with the Washington Jewish Week for a wide-ranging interview.

“We have to try our best to secure the release of the hostages. That is not necessarily a strategic or a military goal — it’s a humanitarian and Zionist and Jewish goal at this point,” he said.

Oren expressed concern about certain perceptions regarding the Israeli government as over 100 hostages remain in captivity.

“Right now, the Biden administration is putting the blame on Hamas, saying the ball is in Hamas’ court and a great many Israelis don’t believe that. Many Israelis think that it’s Benjamin Netanyahu who has been putting up the major obstacles to a negotiation, to a deal. So actually, we don’t know the truth. It’s based on a lot of leaks and hearsay. We don’t know,” he said.

“But the impression is very important, and the impression is crucial for the state of Israel … The government, in order to ask, in order to persuade Israelis to go out to war, to leave their homes … or send their children or their parents up to war, has to have a tremendous amount of legitimacy behind it, and this government has hemorrhaged legitimacy. It went into the war with a legitimacy deficit and now it’s in severe legitimacy overdraft … The government has to have a tremendous amount of legitimacy and credibility — right now this government has neither,” Oren added.

With Israel fighting wars on multiple fronts, including against Hamas and Hezbollah, Oren spoke about what he considers to be Israel’s biggest military challenge.

“The greatest strategic threat and our priority must be in the north … 100,000 Israelis have been rendered homeless now for nearly a year, dozens have been killed and wounded, entire cities have been rendered uninhabitable … Hezbollah, backed by Iran, represents a strategic threat to the state of Israel.”

Oren, who recently spent time serving in the north for the IDF, added that “this is a war that will involve all Israelis because Hezbollah rockets can hit anywhere in Israel with great accuracy.”

As we prepare to mark one year since the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel, Oren discussed some of the hard lessons that we learned from that fateful day.

“The primary message is never to underestimate the abject evil of our enemies … Never assume they can be in some way induced not to want to massacre us on a grand scale,” he said.

Oren also noted that “there are many technical corrections that have to be made,” citing the need to wean ourselves off an over-reliance on technology, which he said was “a big problem on Oct. 7.”

“We can never afford not to be supremely vigilant at all times … It’s very important that the people who were responsible for Oct. 7 take that responsibility and reach the right conclusion,” he said.

In addition to the war on the battlefield, Israel is also facing battles on multiple fronts — in the international arena, in the press and in the United Nations, International Court of Justice and International Criminal Court.

“The most important thing Israel has to do is to recognize that the struggle over Israel’s image in the world and Israel’s legitimacy in the world is a matter of national survival. We can have the best tanks and the best planes in the world, but if we don’t have a recognized right to use those planes and tanks, they’ll be rendered next to useless. So, it certainly at the very least is about giving time and space for the IDF to defend us,” he said.

Immediately after Oct. 7, Oren created an organization called the Israel Advocacy Group, which he said is “working around the clock to defend Israel” in the media and on the diplomatic front and “filling a vacuum that’s been left by the state of Israel, which has done in terms of public diplomacy next to nothing and doesn’t even have a functioning department right now.”

From his time serving as ambassador in Washington, D.C., Oren is mindful of the importance of a maintaining a strong U.S.-Israel relationship, despite the rancor and volatility that currently exists in the American political arena.

“Israel must always strive to maintain bipartisan support. Not all Israelis believe that anymore, but I certainly do. I think that bipartisan support for Israel is a strategic national interest for the country,” he said.

“We could withdraw from Judea and Samaria tomorrow, create a Palestinian state there, re-divide Jerusalem, give up Gaza, and still, there’d be people out calling for ‘from the river to the sea’ or calling for a global intifada. So, there’s a limit to what Israel can do to impact this. What we can do is strive to maintain bipartisan support.”

As Oren speaks to American Jewish community leaders, his principal messages are clear.

“The first message is to stay with us. The American Jewish community has, since Oct. 7, exhibited just extraordinary volunteerism, philanthropy, generosity toward the state of Israel. And Israelis are deeply, deeply appreciative.”

“We also need you to give us unity,” he added. “Some of the biggest threats facing Israel today are not external; they’re internal … we really need the American Jewish community to embrace us, to give us strength.”

For Oren, there is much more work to be done in service to the land that he loves.

“It’s a definite privilege to be a Jew today, to stand up and defend our people and our state … My whole life has been about service to Israel, the Jewish people, and I will continue doing just that, particularly at this very pivotal, fateful moment in our history.”