‘5,000 attend pro-Israel rally in Washington’

The following is an article that I wrote, which appeared in the June 13, 2024, edition of the Washington Jewish Week:

June 1967 is a significant period in the annals of Jewish history. In response to attacks by Jordanian forces and mobilization by Arab forces, Israel mounted an assault on the morning of June 5, 1967, and succeeded in disabling the Egyptian air force. By the end of the Six-Day War, Israel defeated Egypt, Jordan and Syria and brought about the reunification of Jerusalem.

On June 5, we celebrated Yom Yerushalayim (Jerusalem Day) and marked 57 years since Motta Gur, commander of the Israel Defense Forces’ paratroopers brigade, proudly and famously proclaimed “Har HaBayit B’Yadeinu” (The Temple Mount is in our hands).

In this month’s installment of “Remember When,” we look back at an event that preceded the historic reunification of Jerusalem by just a few days. In an article titled “5,000 attend pro-Israel rally in Washington” that appeared on the front page of our June 1, 1967, issue, we reported on a large rally organized by the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington in response to events unfolding in the Middle East.

The purpose of the gathering was to “urge a firm United States commitment to the security of Israel.” U.S. Sen. Eugene McCarthy (D-Minn.) assailed Egypt’s blockade of the Gulf of Aqaba, calling it “an affront to any nation respecting international law and the traditions of the open sea,” and noting that “the U.S. must respond to Israel’s aid if she is attacked.”

Other speakers also spoke about the importance of the U.S. standing with Israel in the face of threats to its borders by its Arab neighbors, including Msgr. George G. Higgins, director of the social action department of the U.S. Catholic Conference, Rev. Walter E. Fauntroy, Washington representative of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and Rev. Graydon E. McClellan, general presbyter of the Presbytery of Washington, who said that Egypt’s blockade presents an “intolerable threat to the security and integrity of a nation whose existence has been certified by the United States.”

At the event, Rabbi Ralph Simon, vice president of the Rabbinical Assembly of America, said that “the existence of Israel is not negotiable.” At the end of his remarks, Simon asked the audience to join with him in singing Hatikvah, Israel’s national anthem.

The notion that the American Jewish community needs to be vocal and active in seeking and securing the United States’ support for Israel is as relevant today as it was in June 1967. In the wake of the horrific and barbaric terrorist attacks by Hamas on Oct. 7 and in the face of the serious threats facing Israel from Hezbollah, Iran and others, we need to continue rallying and working with other faith communities to advocate for a strong U.S.-Israel relationship. With antisemitism and anti-Israel sentiments rising in the U.S. and around the world, we are duty-bound to make our voices heard.

The WJW Podcast: A Conversation With Adam Lehman (5/23/24)

Adam Lehman is president and CEO of Hillel International, which is the largest Jewish student organization in the world and engages 200,000 students on 850 college and university campuses in the U.S. and 16 other countries.

A graduate of Dartmouth College and Harvard Law School, Lehman began his career in Mergers and Acquisitions at Skadden, Arps and then spent two decades as an executive and entrepreneur, developing and growing a variety of new technology, marketing and media ventures, including as a Senior Vice President at AOL.

Lehman is active in the Jewish arts scene, having wrote a series of plays inspired by the Jewish holidays and he was a founding member of the D.C.-based Jewish a cappella group JewKvox.

On the WJW Podcast, Lehman spoke about Hillel’s work to bring vibrant Jewish communities to university campuses across the country and around the world, and the need to ensure that Jewish students can feel safe and protected on campus.

The WJW Podcast: A Conversation With Rachel Goldberg-Polin (5/16/24)

Rachel Goldberg-Polin is the mother of American-Israeli hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin. Hersh, who is 23 years old, was kidnapped on Oct. 7 from the site of the Nova music festival in southern Israel. Seven months later, Hersh, who was injured by a Hamas grenade prior to his abduction, is still being held captive by the terrorist group.

On the WJW Podcast, Rachel spoke about the events of Oct. 7, the current plight of the hostages, her faith, and her advocacy on behalf of her son and the other hostages and their families.

‘Flag of Israel Raised Over Jewish Agency’

The following is an article that I wrote, which appeared in the May 9, 2024, edition of the Washington Jewish Week:

When Jewish Agency Chairman David Ben-Gurion, who later became Israel’s first prime minister, declared the establishment of the sovereign state of Israel on May 14, 1948, it was a watershed moment that would become forever etched in the hearts and minds of worldwide Jewry. Ben-Gurion’s historic pronouncement, which was followed by President Harry Truman’s recognition of the fledgling Jewish state, came after the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution on Nov. 29, 1947, to create a Jewish state.

In this month’s installment of “Remember When,” we look back at our coverage of this extraordinary event that altered the course of Jewish history. In an article titled “Flag of Israel Raised Over Jewish Agency” in the May 21, 1948, issue of the National Jewish Ledger, which subsequently became the Washington Jewish Week, the founding of the state of Israel was celebrated prominently on the front page.

Accompanied by a large photo, the story recounted the scene when the Israeli flag was raised by the Jewish Agency of Washington, D.C., on May 14, 1948. Rabbi Zemach Green of Ohev Sholem Congregation who also served as co-chair of the Rabbinical Council of Washington, donned a white robe and tallit, and delivered a heartfelt prayer at what was an incredibly exciting and emotional time for the Greater Washington, D.C., Jewish community and for Jews throughout the world.

“We pour forth our hearts unto Thee, our Father in Heaven with thanksgiving and hallelujahs for Thy wonderous deeds unto the people of Israel, and for Thy grace with us of this generation to be privileged to live and witness the realization of the ancient dream, the age-old dream that was begotten from sacred tradition, nurtured with the people’s lifeblood, reared in the crucible of martyrdom and fostered in the eternal hope and trust in God,” Rabbi Green said.

“Out of the soil of the Holy Land, drenched with the pure blood of its builders and defenders, shall grow and blossom forth a Tree of Life for all inhabitants of the land and for all who strive to settle thereon — a Tree of Life in whose shade Jew and Arab shall peacefully live and work together, for the mutual welfare and advancement of the two peoples, and the promotion of peace,” he continued.

Seventy-six years later, the state of Israel is thriving, although the sentiments expressed by Rabbi Green about a Tree of Life under which all inhabitants of the land would live in peace and harmony have not yet come to fruition. This year in particular, as we mark Yom Ha’atzmaut and celebrate the fact that we have a Jewish homeland, we are keenly aware of the challenges that we continue to face, and we yearn for a time when our brothers and sisters in Israel can finally live in peace.

Commanders Managing Partner Josh Harris on Jewish Identity, Israel and Making Sports a ‘Shared Community Experience’

The following is an article that I wrote, which appeared in the April 18, 2024, edition of the Washington Jewish Week:

Josh Harris (Courtesy of the office of Josh Harris)

For some people, being involved in professional sports is a dream come true. For Josh Harris, it’s a way for him to effectuate positive change and make other people’s dreams come true by transforming sports into “a shared community experience.”

Harris is one of the most powerful people in professional sports. He became the managing partner of the Washington Commanders after leading a successful effort to buy the team for $6.05 billion in 2023.

In addition, Harris is the managing partner of the Philadelphia 76ers and the co-managing partner of the New Jersey Devils, which makes Harris a formidable player in the NFL, NBA and NHL. His involvement in the sports arena extends across the Atlantic as well, as Harris is also the general partner of the Crystal Palace Football Club in the English Premier League.

His love of sports stems from his childhood experiences, which led him to pursue a path that propelled him to the pinnacle of the professional sports world.

Harris grew up in Chevy Chase, Maryland, not far from Washington, D.C. Both sets of his grandparents came to the U.S. in the early 20th century from the Russian territories. His mother attended Temple University and his father went to the University of Pennsylvania. “They were both the first in their generation and their families to go to college,” Harris proudly noted.

“I grew up as an upper-middle-class kid,” said Harris, who went to Rollingwood Elementary and then attended Leland Junior High School, describing his upbringing as “pretty normal.”

For Harris, wrestling played a pivotal role in his life. He recalled a time when wrestling became more important to him than his studies.

“When I wasn’t doing so well in school — I was more focused on wrestling — and my grades were down, my parents were smart enough to yank me out of public school going into 10th grade, and I went to The Field School [in Washington, D.C.] from 10th through 12th grade.”

“Sports ended up having a big impact on me in terms of my experience wrestling, where I was not doing very well at school, but there’s nothing like having to go out on a mat one-on-one with another human being who’s trying to physically dominate you to sharpen your desire to work hard and dig in,” he said.

“I was very competitive and started preparing for wrestling, and working, lifting and running, and started doing well in wrestling. And that really changed my life trajectory because I started applying that to school.”

Harris’ renewed focus on academics earned him admission to Penn.

Josh Harris receiving the game ball following a Commanders preseason victory to celebrate a new chapter for the team. (Photo credit: Washington Commanders)

“I had never heard of the Wharton School, but I took an economics class and the next thing you know, I transferred into Wharton. I was lucky enough to find my calling early, which was investing, and I ended up on Wall Street and achieved a lot of financial success. And that gave me the opportunity to get involved in sports.”

While wrestling played an important part in Harris’ personal development, his Judaism also played a big part in making him the person and leader he would ultimately become.

“I was bar mitzvahed at Washington Hebrew Congregation — we were Reform Jews,” Harris said. In the summer between 10th and 11th grade, Harris went on a NFTY trip to Israel, in conjunction with the Reform Jewish Youth Movement. He worked at Kibbutz Yahel for three weeks picking pears but also traveled around the country and got to experience Israel in a significant, meaningful way.

“My family is deeply connected to Israel. And I’ve gotten more religious as I’ve gotten older. I study with a rabbi, and it’s something that’s really important to me. And obviously, when I look at my life, going from my parents, who had been the first in their generations and in their families to go to college, and now, all of a sudden, to have the blessing of immense financial success and then the ability to be involved with the teams that I rooted for growing up or in college, I feel deeply blessed. It’s made me really take a step back and try to engage in making the world a better place and having an impact.”

The Jewish tenet of tikkun olam, using acts of kindness to help repair the world, is something that resonates with Harris and his wife Marjorie, and it drives their philanthropic endeavors in a significant way.

“As a Jewish American, I really care about the state of Israel and its ability to thrive. We’ve gotten deeply engaged in it and it’s a community that I’m a part of. Over the years, people have made immense sacrifices to have the state of Israel be a homeland for Jews, but also for all people, and make it a thriving democracy. And my job is to support it and help the people that are there,” he said.

The Harris family has gotten deeply involved in several initiatives in Israel, including establishing a basketball league called the 48ers, which Harris noted “is a takeoff on the 76ers, but it’s also the year that Israel was founded,” referring to the formation of the state of Israel in 1948.

The 48ers, which Harris said has more than 25 teams and initially began as a program for Ethiopian Jews, now serves “people that are less fortunate and aren’t necessarily ready to serve in the military.” The basketball league provides young Israeli boys and girls with a means through which they can work hard and develop life skills and physical abilities to get ready for service in the Israel Defense Forces.

Josh and Marjorie Harris and their family following a game of basketball with the 48ers’ players, coaches and staff. (Courtesy of Harris Philanthropies)

The Harrises also sponsor archaeological digs in Israel. “They bring the Bible to life, where you get to literally, whether it be the City of David or the Western Wall, dig up first Temple artifacts that show that a lot of the stories that you and I heard about when we went to Sunday school are true … there is real archaeological data and remnants that prove out that Solomon really existed and that David really existed and people before that.”

The events of Oct. 7 impacted the lives of Israelis in a multitude of ways that before that fateful day would have seemed unthinkable, and it affected Jews and other people around the world. For the Harrises, the current situation in Israel serves as a call to action.

“Given the tragic events that have occurred, we’ve ramped up our giving in terms of supporting a lot of the people that have been affected in a very tragic way by this horrible conflict,” Harris said. “The biggest thing we’re doing is called ‘The Day After Fund,’ which is something we’re doing with a series of families and the President of Israel and the First Lady, in terms of helping people rebuild their lives — a lot of people’s lives have been shattered.”

Harris ruminated on the responsibility he feels to give back, help others and strengthen communities, particularly as a Jewish American who cares greatly about the well-being of the state of Israel.

“I think when you’re a member of a community and you’re fortunate, it’s your obligation, it’s your job, to try to pay it forward. And if people hadn’t done that for me, I wouldn’t be where I am. And so, it’s what fulfills me and what makes me get up in the morning. I feel like you’re on Earth for a small amount of time, and your job is to leave it better than where it started. And so that’s what my job is, and I really am taken with the communities that I’m a part of. And certainly, being Jewish, you’re part of the community and all of us need to do our part to support Israel, and obviously there’s a lot of people that are supporting it with their lives. And so, I need to support it by helping people rebuild.”

While discussing his Jewish identity, Harris addressed the issue of antisemitism and the importance of people maintaining their Jewish pride.

“Obviously, we’re living in a dangerous time in terms of the rise in antisemitism, but it’s really the rise of hate of all kinds. If you look at history, antisemitism increases when other forms of hate increase as well … As Jews, we’re a small minority of the people in the world and I think it’s important for us to support each other visibly and to speak out against hate of all kinds … I think that’s the best way to possibly counteract some of the tougher things that are going on. I hope that I can influence people to do that, by example.”

Josh Harris greeting fans at the Washington Commanders’ Jewish Heritage Day on Dec. 3, 2023.
(Photo credit: Daniel Swartz)

In that same vein, Harris spoke proudly about the Jewish Heritage events that each of his teams organizes every year.

“I like the idea of celebrating all people that want to be recognized. That’s what sports are for — you can bring groups together … We use the teams for positive convening and celebration for all forms of expression and religion and cultural things. And so, obviously being Jewish and proud of the Jewish people, I think that we go out of our way, whether it be celebrating Chanukah or Jewish Heritage Night across all the teams, and I like to get personally involved in it and be visible, and I really enjoy doing Chanukah with people in the city.”

“Spending time in our stadiums and arenas and meeting fans is such an invigorating experience for me and reminds me why it’s so important to connect with the communities where our teams play. I really get a kick out of just wandering around the stadium or the arena and shaking hands and being part of that community — both the community in Philly and the community in Washington — but also the Jewish community. It’s something that I really derive a tremendous amount of positive energy from,” he added.

In addition to being an owner of several sports franchises, Harris is also a huge sports fan and is quick to link milestones in his life to significant sporting events that corresponded to them on the calendar.

“I grew up in the Washington area, so I was a fan of all the Washington sports teams, but at that point, Washington football was dominant … Some of my earliest memories had to do with Washington football.”

Harris recalls watching Super Bowl VII in 1973 when the Washington football team squared off against the Miami Dolphins. He remembers vividly how the Dolphins’ Garo Yepremian had his kick blocked and the Redskins’ Mike Bass returned it for a touchdown (although Washington ended up losing, 14-7).

Josh and Marjorie Harris and their five children at Commanders Field shortly after Josh’s acquisition of the team in 2023. (Photo credit: Washington Commanders)

“For me, Billy Kilmer, Sonny Jurgensen, the ‘Over-the-Hill Gang’ [the Washington team of the early 1970s] into John Riggins, ‘The Hogs’ [the nickname given to the Washington offensive line during the 1980s and early 1990s], Joe Gibbs, Darrell Green, and Art Monk, all of that was really part of my psyche growing up — it was deeply ingrained in me.”

“In my senior year in high school, Washington football won the title — that was the famous 27-17 game against the Dolphins where Riggins broke that tackle,” Harris said, referring to Super Bowl XVII, when Washington running back John Riggins scored on a fourth and one with 10 minutes left in the game and helped propel Washington to its first NFL championship since 1942.

“I got to witness the parade, and as you know, Washington was a deeply divided city at that point, and I got to see sports bringing everyone together,” Harris said as he recalled the aftermath of the 1983 Super Bowl victory.

Harris’ exuberance about sports was equally evident as he talked about his beloved 76ers.

“I went up to Philly and the Sixers won the title,” Harris said, referring to the Sixers’ 1983 NBA championship. “It was Dr. J [Julius Erving], Moses Malone, Maurice Cheeks and Andrew Toney.”

As he reflected on this year’s Sixers squad, Harris focused on the two-month absence of reigning NBA MVP and Sixers star Joel Embiid due to a knee injury.

“We had our fastest start since the [Allen] Iverson years and then Joel was making another MVP run and was dominating, and then he got injured … When you lose the league MVP, it’s hard,” Harris said, noting that the Sixers are a dangerous team with Embiid in the lineup.

Not only is Harris a big sports fan, but he’s someone who views sports as an opportunity to inspire people and touch the lives of others, and he recognizes that he needs to lead by example.

“In terms of sports, I look at it as a great responsibility … Your job as an owner is to be a steward for a city. If you make it about yourself, it doesn’t work. Your job is to win championships and to put your all into doing that, and to help the city … You have an enormous megaphone and an enormous platform … You’re an example to people, so how you act is under a microscope,” he said.

“I think that the cities really want you to behave in a righteous way, in a way that sets an example of how to have a big, positive impact on the world. And then you need to engage with the cities and create memories, like memories that I had. Obviously, winning is the biggest thing, but then how did fans feel when they’re in the stadium? How do you treat them? The thing about a sports team is everyone, from the person you meet in the parking lot, the person that’s serving you the hotdog or checking your ticket, to the players, have an impact on your experience. So, you’re basically inviting people into your house for two hours, three hours, and your job is to create amazing memories and positive experiences.”

Josh and Marjorie Harris with the 48ers organization. (Courtesy of Harris Philanthropies)

The Harrises created Harris Philanthropies a decade ago, which focuses on youth and community development, and helping kids has become a primary emphasis of their charitable efforts.

“Your job is to help the community and help those people that are less fortunate,” Harris said. “And obviously, sports has a tremendous impact on kids. Kids love sports … You can use sports to help them achieve better lives, whether it be keeping them safe, whether it be education, or life skills, or any number of things. And so, that’s a big element of what we use the teams for as well. Each team has a foundation and does a lot of things in the city.”

Harris is admittedly self-aware when it comes to the roller coaster of emotions that he and the fans experience depending on the teams’ successes and failures.

“When the Commanders win, the city of Washington is excited. When the Sixers win, the city of Philly is excited. I’m affected by it deeply. I’m not very fun to be around when we lose. I’ve learned how to manage it. I just don’t talk to a lot of people, which is not fair to my family. I think that unfortunately, winning or losing really matters. And then beyond that, how you treat people [is important].”

Despite the success he’s had in life, on Wall Street and in professional sports, Harris counts his blessings and doesn’t take his experiences for granted.

“It’s pretty incredible now to be able to look back and be a part of these storied franchises from an ownership point of view and I think it’s a great responsibility. Obviously, it really changed my life.”

“I think it’s amazingly fun,” he continued. “You’re around amazing athletes, the best in the world at what they do. And they’re all unique — they’re unique people … They put themselves through amazing agony to be really good at something. And you get to experience all that and compete at the ripe old age of 59 — right now, that’s my age — and so it’s super-fun, but it’s also an awesome responsibility, and I sweat it. I think about it. I wake up in the middle of the night. And we have an enormous amount to do in Washington around finding a new stadium, around fixing the team, fixing how we engage with the community. And every day there’s just an enormous amount to do, but it’s a labor of love for me.”

‘The Passover Cleaning Blues’

The following is an article that I wrote, which appeared in the April 11, 2024, edition of the Washington Jewish Week:

In case you hadn’t noticed (or perhaps you’re in denial to a certain extent), the holiday of Passover is rapidly approaching. While it’s one of the more well-known Jewish holidays, it’s somewhat unique in that it requires an inordinate amount of preparation before we can actually enjoy the holiday with our family and friends.

In this month’s installment of “Remember When,” we look back at our Passover coverage from the late-1990s. In an article titled “The Passover cleaning blues” in the Washington Jewish Week’s April 9, 1998, issue, writer Sherri Mandell injected a dose of humor into her account of the trials and tribulations of Passover preparations.

“Have you noticed that there’s something very competitive about cleaning for Passover? … Friends say, ‘Well I’ve done the kitchen, the living room, the bedrooms, in the closets, over the closets, under the bed, over the bed, around the bed, behind the desk, in front of the dresser, in the cabinets and behind the couch. In fact, I’m already done.’ Please don’t tell me this … Of course, I haven’t even started cleaning,” Mandell wrote.

For some people, the trepidation about cleaning for Passover is quite relatable. It’s by no means easy, but it’s a central part of our holiday preparations and something that many of us accept, albeit reluctantly.

That being said, when it comes to Passover, once we get past the preparation stage, the celebration stage is meaningful and enjoyable. As we recount the story of the Exodus from Egypt during the Passover seder and express gratitude for the freedom we’re privileged to enjoy, the memories of the painstaking process of preparing for the holiday melt away and we are consumed with our observance of this beautiful event on the Jewish calendar.

I would note that just three years after she wrote this article, Sherri Mandell’s 13-year-old son, Koby, was brutally murdered by terrorists not far from their home in Tekoa, Israel. In response to the terrible tragedy, Sherri Mandell and her husband, Rabbi Seth Mandell, established the Koby Mandell Foundation, which helps family members of terror victims “rebuild their lives and create meaning out of suffering.”

While Sherri Mandell’s words about preparing for Passover reflect the pre-holiday experiences that some of us have, the tragedy she and her family experienced and the work to which they dedicated themselves following Koby’s murder resonates with all of us today.

Six months after the horrific events of Oct. 7, we are still reeling and trying to come to grips with what happened. Yet, just like Sherri Mandell and her family, we too have dedicated ourselves to helping our brothers and sisters in Israel “rebuild their lives and create meaning out of suffering.”

May this Passover bring about the redemption of the hostages still being held in Gaza and may our brethren in Israel be able to live in peace as they continue working to rebuild their lives.

The WJW Podcast: A Conversation With ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt (3/28/24)

Jonathan Greenblatt serves as CEO of the Anti-Defamation League and is its sixth national director. Since becoming CEO in July 2015, Greenblatt has led all aspects of the well-known anti-hate organization, and he is a leader in the fight against antisemitism and other forms of bigotry.

In 2022, Greenblatt released “It Could Happen Here,” a book about the hate and systemic violence that’s gathering momentum in the United States.

A member of numerous corporate and nonprofit boards, Greenblatt has a range of experience in the private, public and nonprofit sectors. For example, he served in the White House as Special Assistant to President Barack Obama and Director of the Office of Social Innovation. His career in the business world includes co-founding Ethos Brands, the business entity that launched Ethos Water, a premium bottled water that helps children around the world access clean water. Greenblatt also served as vice president of global consumer products at Starbucks and as a board member of the Starbucks Foundation.

On the WJW Podcast, Greenblatt spoke about different aspects of antisemitism, including social media, college campuses, combating Jew-hatred and the importance of working collaboratively to combat bigotry.

The WJW Podcast: A Conversation With U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin (3/21/24)

U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), who was first elected to the Senate by the people of Maryland in 2006, is chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. In addition, he serves as a member of the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Committee, the Finance Committee and the Environment & Public Works Committee.

Before his election to the Senate, Cardin represented Maryland’s 3rd Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1987-2006. His career in public service began when he served as a member of the Maryland House of Delegates from 1967-1986, which included a tenure as Speaker from 1979-1986.

On the WJW Podcast, Cardin spoke about the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, the foreign policy challenges facing the U.S., his lengthy career in public service, the partisanship in Washington D.C., and the 2024 presidential race.

Wolf Blitzer in the Washington Jewish Week

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

In this month’s installment of “Remember When,” we look back at our coverage from the mid-1980s, when a writer named Wolf Blitz (yes, that Wolf Blitzer, who is now a renowned and long-time CNN journalist and anchor) was a regular contributor to the Washington Jewish Week.

The Washington Jewish Week’s March 28, 1985, issue contained one of Blitzer’s columns, which was titled “Young Leaders Confront the Issues.” In that column, Blitzer reported on the Second International Young Leadership Assembly, which took place at the Moriah Hotel in Sodom in southern Israel near the Dead Sea.

“But the opportunity to explore some of the most sensitive issues facing Israel and the diaspora – from the perspective of Jewish leaders under the age of 45, in almost equal numbers from the U.S. and Israel – was the highlight of the conference,” Blitzer wrote, noting that “The discussion involving the ‘Who is a Jew’ question was perhaps the most emotionally wrenching of the conference.”

Blitzer wrote about how despite the fact that so many critical and weighty subjects were discussed, there were not necessarily clear answers or tangible results at the end of the conference.

“As on so many other vital issues raised during the conference – including the future of the diaspora, Jewish fund raising, aliyah, economic investments in Israel, Soviet Jewry, joint political action, Jewish education, and cultural exchanges between Israel and the diaspora – there were no definitive answers … But the important thing – as almost all those who participated agreed – was that a forum had been established to at least pursue these issues and actually try to do something about them.”

Blitzer gave great context and color about the spirited debates and discussions that took place at the conference, including a proposal to establish U.S. radio transmitters in Israel “that would penetrate to audiences in the Soviet Union.”

The list of attendees, which Blitzer included in his column, was a who’s who list of young Jewish leaders from the U.S. and Israel. A young member of the Knesset, Ehud Olmert, who later went on to serve as the Prime Minister of Israel from 2006-2009, was there, as was Israeli singer Shlomo Artzi. In addition, the attendees included then Brooklyn District Attorney Elizabeth Holtzman, who went on to serve in the U.S. Congress from 1973–1981, and Professor Deborah Lipstadt, who now holds the title “Ambassador” and serves as U.S. Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism.

The WJW Podcast: A Conversation With Rep. Ritchie Torres, a Strong Supporter of Israel in Congress (3/14/24)

Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) has represented his hometown of the Bronx and New York’s 15th Congressional District since taking office in 2021. Prior to that, Torres served in the New York City Council from 2014-2020. He is a member of the House Committee on Financial Services and the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party.

Torres’ strong support of Israel has garnered praise from throughout the Jewish community and he was one of the featured speakers at the March for Israel in Washington, D.C., in November. His public statements, op-eds and speeches about the need to stand with Israel have earned widespread acclaim from many in the pro-Israel and Jewish communities.

On the WJW Podcast, Torres spoke about his staunch support of Israel, the importance of combating antisemitism, the current state of the U.S.-Israel relationship and the danger posed by the social media platform TikTok.

The WJW Podcast: A Conversation With Dr. Clarence Jones, a Civil Rights Leader Dedicated to Black-Jewish Relations (3/7/24)

Dr. Clarence Jones is a longtime leader in the fight against hate who has been a staunch advocate for civil rights throughout his professional career. He served as legal counsel, strategic advisor and speechwriter to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., from 1960 until Dr. King’s assassination on April 4, 1968. Jones wrote the first seven paragraphs of the iconic “I Have A Dream” speech that King delivered at the Lincoln Memorial on Aug. 28, 1963, as part of the March on Washington.

Jones has worked to carry on King’s legacy for social justice and equality, and he’s served as a lawyer, civil rights leader and business executive in the entertainment field.

He currently serves as chairman of the Spill the Honey Foundation, an organization dedicated to Black-Jewish relations that works to inspire action against racism and antisemitism through art and education.

An author of several books, Jones also founded the Dr. Clarence B. Jones Institute for Social Advocacy and serves as the founding director emeritus of the Institute for Nonviolence and Social Justice at the University of San Francisco.

Jones was recently featured in a Super Bowl ad by Robert Kraft’s Foundation to Combat Antisemitism which focused on antisemitism and the fact that hate thrives on the silence of others.

On the WJW Podcast, Jones discussed his relationship with King, the important role that the Jewish community played in the civil rights movement and the speech given by Rabbi Joachim Prinz during the March on Washington in 1963, just before King got up and declared, “I have a dream.” Jones also talked about antisemitism, Israel, the current state of the Black-Jewish relationship and his appearance in the ad that aired during Super Bowl 58.

‘He Was Just a Good Boy’: Silver Spring Native Remembers Her Son Who Was Killed in Gaza

The following is an article that I wrote, which appeared in the February 29, 2024, edition of the Washington Jewish Week:

Courtesy of Varda Morell

When IDF Staff Sgt. Maoz Morell succumbed to the wounds that he sustained on Feb. 15 while fighting in Gaza, the stinging loss was felt by Jews worldwide. People all over mourned the death of the 22-year-old Morell on Feb. 19, but his tragic death had a particularly significant impact on the Silver Spring community.

Varda Morell (née Linzer), Maoz’s mother, grew up in the Silver Spring Jewish community, attending Hebrew Academy for elementary school before going to the Yeshiva of Greater Washington for high school. She spent a year at Stern College for Women in lieu of her 12th-grade year, after which she went to a seminary in Israel for a gap year. Varda went on March of the Living, which took her to Poland and then to Israel. It was an impactful trip for her, as her grandparents were killed in the Holocaust and her mother and aunt were hidden during World War II.

“That’s when it hit me and I realized that for a Jew to really be safe in this world and to feel connected, he or she needs to be living in Israel,” she said. 

Varda decided that she really wanted to be in Israel, and she resolved then to make Israel her home. Thinking back to her move to Israel, Varda quoted her late mother. “When we believe something, when we really believe it in the core of our being, even if everyone else doesn’t, we need to do it.”

It was during her second year in Israel that she met Eitan Morell, and they got married eight months later. Varda, who is an English teacher, lives with her family in Talmon. She and Eitan had six children — five boys, with Maoz being the fourth.

Courtesy of Varda Morell

“Maoz was killed as a hero fighting our enemies … because of people like him, going and doing what they need to be doing, they’re making sure that something like what happened with the Nazis will never be able to happen again,” she said.

“In his day-to-day life, he was a regular kid and he’s a big role model because of that. But as a soldier he really was, from what we’re being told, a real hero and fearless. His last moments were spent saving lives and helping all of his fellow soldiers who were wounded.” Varda said it’s almost as if he had this sense that “when it’s the right thing to do, you do it, and you don’t worry about yourself, you don’t worry about what’s going to happen to you.”

“It was a true selfless act, him being killed for the rest of us,” she said.

Aside from his exploits as a soldier over the past two years, Varda described her son, who was a member of an elite paratroopers unit, as “really an average kid.”

“He had a very hard time expressing himself in speech and in writing. He had learning disabilities — he did not have an easy time in school.”

Although Maoz received remedial academic services, Varda said, “What’s so incredible about him is that he had this drive for things that were important to him.” She recalled that when Maoz was in middle school, he knew that he wanted to get into a good high school, so he worked extremely hard to achieve his goal, which included sitting with his mother on the couch every night to improve his English reading skills and seeking out help from others to help him be successful.

Courtesy of Varda Morell

Varda spoke about the fact that even though Maoz’s bar mitzvah parsha was one of the longest in the Torah and he had a difficult time reading, he committed himself to learning it with his father so he could read the entire Torah portion on his big day.

“If something was hard for him, he just asked for help,” she said. “He was able to say, ‘I’m not perfect and I need help and I’m going to ask for help.’”

“I think he could be a hero to kids with learning disabilities and to kids who maybe give up a little more easily than they should,” she added.

In recognition of Maoz’s learning challenges and his determination to overcome them, Varda’s brother, Rabbi Dov Linzer, who serves as president and Rosh HaYeshiva at Yeshivat Chovevei Torah in New York, established a fund in his nephew’s memory at the school to provide funding for training and support services for rabbinical students with learning differences.

Noting that this is “such an appropriate way to honor Maoz’s memory,” Rabbi Linzer said, “It is also a matter that is deeply personal for me.” He spoke about his two adult sons, both of whom are on the autism spectrum and have learning differences, and how he and his wife “struggled mightily to find them a place within a shul and within a Jewish school.”

Courtesy of Varda Morell

“We wound up sending them to a private, secular school because we could not find proper support in the Jewish schools that worked for our kids,” noting that they are both doing very well now, with one in college and one in graduate school. “They have only come this far because of the amazing support services that they received … and their unbelievable determination and hard work. Just like Maoz.”

“While we [Yeshivat Chovevei Torah] have provided support services on an ad-hoc basis for students with learning differences, we never had funds specifically allocated for it and we were beginning to realize that there was a good deal more that we could be doing,” Rabbi Linzer said. “When during this horrible week, people connected to the yeshiva reached out to me to ask how they could help and what they could do in Maoz’s memory, I realized that setting up a fund in his memory to provide funding for support services for our rabbinical students with learning differences would be such a powerful way to honor his memory and for us to do more fully what we needed to be doing and what was central to our ethos and values.”

Varda recalled that when Maoz was in 12th grade, he came home one day and told his father that he was about to finish learning all six books of the Mishnah, the written recording of the Oral Law. When Eitan asked Maoz how he was able to do that, he responded that in ninth grade he figured out that if he learned several chapters of the Mishnah each day, he would finish it all by the end of 12th grade. “And that’s what he did,” Varda said.

Courtesy of Varda Morell

Varda said that Maoz’s friends in the army talked about how he always had a copy of “Mesillat Yesharim” (The Path of the Just) in the front pocket of his uniform and how he was constantly working on improving his personal character traits. After the members of Maoz’s unit would go on a long hike, they would all sit down, exhausted, and put their heads down, Varda said. Yet, Maoz would pick his head up, take out his “Mesillat Yesharim” and start learning it.

From when the fighting began on Oct. 7 until he came home wounded, Maoz was only able to come home once for two days. During the first seven weeks when he was in Gaza, Varda and Eitan only spoke to Maoz once. They also got one 11-second-long WhatsApp voice message from Maoz. “And basically, it says in Hebrew, ‘Hi, Mommy, I’m fine. OK, I updated you,’” Varda said, laughing at the memory.

“Maoz was like the most popular boy, and he affected so many people,” Varda said. “When we were in the hospital for five days and we knew there was no hope, but he was hanging on, every single friend that he affected came to the hospital, like hundreds of friends came to say goodbye to him.”

“I think that’s the message here, that in order to make a difference and to affect people and to be a special person, you don’t have to be outstanding in something specific. You just have to make sure to be nice to people, to work on your middot [character development], and when there’s something important to you, to set a goal that you can handle and get there.”

Courtesy of Varda Morell

“The fact that we had this very incredibly challenging time in the hospital allowed us to kind of come to terms with what was happening,” Varda said, noting that her family came to Maoz’s funeral on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem “in a different place than a lot of people do,” referring to other families whose loved ones fell in battle and they found out about it by a knock at the door and then have a funeral just a few hours later.

“I’m most thankful to Hashem [God] for during those days in the hospital, giving me the right words to say to my children,” Varda said.

“He was just quiet — he really wasn’t a talker,” Varda said, describing her son. “He was just a good boy.”

The WJW Podcast: A Conversation With Natan Sharansky, Former Refusenik and International Champion of Human Rights (2/22/24)

Natan Sharansky, an internationally renowned champion of human rights, served as a key figure in the efforts of Soviet Jews to earn the right to move to Israel. He was arrested and sentenced to 13 years in a Soviet prison, including solitary confinement and hard labor. Before the verdict was announced, Sharansky famously proclaimed in the courtroom, “To the court I have nothing to say; to my wife and the Jewish people I say, ‘Next Year in Jerusalem.’”

After serving as a political prisoner for nine years, Sharansky was released in 1986 after a vigorous advocacy campaign led by his wife, Avital, and they emigrated to Israel.

In addition to his efforts on behalf of Soviet Jewry, Sharansky became a leader in Israeli society, serving in four consecutive Israeli governments and eventually serving as chairman of the Jewish Agency for Israel.

The author of several books and the recipient of several notable awards, including the Israel Prize, the Congressional Medal of Honor and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, Sharansky became chair of The Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy in 2019.

On the WJW Podcast, Sharansky discussed his experience as a political prisoner in light of the current plight of the Israeli hostages being held by Hamas and the importance of advocacy on behalf of the hostages. Sharansky also shared his thoughts on people making aliyah and immigrating to Israel and talked about combating antisemitism amid the drastic rise in Jew-hatred that we’re seeing on a global scale.

Amid Surge in Antisemitism, US Education Secretary Discusses Efforts to Combat Anti-Jewish Hate

The following is an article that I wrote, which appeared in the February 15, 2024, edition of the Washington Jewish Week:

As antisemitism increases to frightening levels across the nation, much of the focus is on the anti-Jewish hatred that has become prevalent on college campuses and in elementary and secondary schools around the United States.

Against that backdrop, U.S. Department of Education Secretary Miguel Cardona held a briefing on Feb. 6, which was attended by several media outlets, including the Washington Jewish Week, where he addressed the issue of antisemitism and Islamophobia in the education arena.

Noting that he approaches this issue not only as secretary of education but also as a father of a high schooler and a college student, Cardona said he thinks about “the responsibility we have to ensure a safe learning environment for all students, and the role that we have as educators and education leaders to make sure that we’re standing up for our students and their right to learn in a safe environment.”

Citing his visits to different schools, Cardona spoke about how the students’ words had a profound impact on him, stating that students communicated to him “that antisemitism in some parts of our country has become normalized.”

U.S. Department of Education Secretary Miguel Cardona.
Photo credit: wikimedia.org: U.S. Department of
Education Secretary Miguel Cardona

Cardona recounted an interaction he had with a Jewish student at Towson University, who told him about an incident where he was walking to class and took a different route because he was afraid he would be harassed and saw a swastika drawn on a wall. Cardona said the student told him, “I was happy I went that way because that’s no big deal,” referring to the swastika. Cardona recalled saying, “what do you mean it’s no big deal,” noting that even that student was normalizing seeing a swastika on campus. “That really bothered me because no child, no student should ever feel that they’re going to a learning environment where people are openly spewing hate and creating an environment where they don’t feel safe walking through their campuses.”

“At the Department of Education this became an all-hands-on-deck moment. After the terrorist attacks, we really recognized that we had to step up,” Cardona said as he discussed his department’s response to the events of Oct. 7 and their aftermath. According to Cardona, the education department worked on “building capacity and helping college presidents, helping K-12 leaders understand what their role is and what their legal responsibility is, and giving them tools on how to make sure that they’re providing safe learning environments.”

In addition to making information available on its website, Cardona said his department also held a webinar about Title VI that was attended by over 1,000 people on what to do and what resources are available. “I also fought to make sure that we have funding that we need to make sure that our Office for Civil Rights has the tools that they need,” he said, referring to the office that enforces Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which serves to protect students from discrimination.

When asked about some of the Title VI cases that have been filed with the department’s Office of Civil Rights, Cardona declined to discuss the specifics, instead speaking generally about the process and his department’s role. “We need to start with the students feeling safe on campus – that’s the starting point,” he said.

Addressing the fact that school administrators are dealing with some students who are saying “this is antisemitism” while other students are saying “these are my free speech rights,” which makes an already difficult situation more complex, Cardona said school leaders “want to do what’s right.”

“I’ve heard from presidents who have told me that at the staff level they have work to do to make sure that the working environment is one that’s conducive to teaching students how to communicate what they want to communicate, have freedom of speech, while not crossing the line and making an unsafe learning environment,” he said. “There are presidents that have shared with me the need to increase the level of professional development around the resources that are available around Title VI. I think ultimately, they’re sharing that it is challenging because there’s a lot of emotion and that they want to do what’s right. And they want to make sure students feel safe, but also balance the ability for students to disagree, even if that makes people feel uncomfortable.”

When Cardona was asked whether a student saying or writing “from the river to the sea” creates a hostile environment and serves as a call to genocide, he didn’t directly answer the question, speaking instead in a general sense about school leaders’ needs to act.

“Any calls for genocide is something that we should be very clear is not tolerable,” Cardona said. “That to me is a very clear line for the leader to call out calls for genocide and make it very clear to condemn those statements and address it, not only with the student or students that said that, but with the student who felt that they’re being the subject of that.”

University presidents testifying before Congress about antisemitism on college campuses in Dec. 2023. Photo credit: wikimedia.org: 2023 Congress Hearing on Antisemitism

When pressed on the “from the river to the sea” issue, which was noted could mean different things to different people, Cardona again demurred. “We investigate each case and it’s difficult for me to make a statement here about that. If students are feeling unsafe with that, it’s a responsibility of leadership.”

Citing the increased number of students across the U.S. who are feeling unsafe on campus, the Washington Jewish Week asked Cardona if he believes the average college student has a good understanding of the technical aspects of making a complaint to either their university or the education department’s Office of Civil Rights if they endure what they perceive to be intimidation or threatening rhetoric.

Noting that students may have a trusted adult they can turn to at their university if they’re feeling uncomfortable or threatened and that adult should know how to guide the student accordingly, Cardona acknowledged that the average student likely doesn’t know what the Office of Civil Rights does.

“Unfortunately, that information sometimes gets learned after something happens that they have to then respond. But it is the responsibility of the school to have an infrastructure where they’re communicating with students,” he said.

“After Oct. 7, with the rise in antisemitism that we saw in this country, I believe any college leader should have used that as an opportunity to make sure their leaders, their deans, their student support services, were more visible and communicating more directly and proactively with students. If you feel a certain way, you can call this number or you can text here or you can come visit this student support services center to get that message out. I do believe that has increased … I think ultimately, part of it is giving them a platform to communicate and to express how they feel, but also communicating with them what options they have if they’re feeling threatened or under attack,” he added.

While Cardona acknowledged there has been a spike in antisemitism since Oct. 7, he pointed out that “it was bad before Oct. 7.”

In addition to a rise in antisemitism, Cardona noted that there has also been a rise in Islamophobia and said, “we want to make sure that Title VI expectations exist for all students.”

“If you look at the resources that we put out there, the guidance that we put out there, it has been helpful. It has created better learning environments for students. It has helped build capacity in K-12 institutions, higher ed institutions. It’s given school leaders an opportunity to learn from school leaders’ successes and triumphs, but also challenges. So, I do believe it has happened. And to be honest with you, as an educator, as a father, it helped where I believe it counts – preventive maintenance – making sure that we have safe environments, because the tools are out there. Making sure that leaders know who they can call on, who’s going to pick up the phone at the Department of Education to provide support. I do believe that has made a difference and has helped create safer learning environments.”

Cardona said his department has seen an “elevated” number of cases since Oct. 7 and has opened 60 shared ancestry investigations over the past four months (compared to 27 investigations opened by the previous administration), which include claims of antisemitism and Islamophobia.

When asked if he believes that anti-Zionism is antisemitic, Cardona said “I believe antisemitism can include anti-Zionist statements … we take that into account when looking at cases.”

While much of the focus of the meeting was on universities, Cardona also spoke about what middle school and high school students are experiencing.

“What I heard from younger students is ‘I have to hide who I am so that I don’t have to deal with what is being said or what is being done,’” he said. “They might hide the sticker of the Israeli flag on their computer, or they might tuck in the Star of David, where before they didn’t … As an educational leader, I’m very concerned when students can’t be who they are unapologetically because of the conditions on campus. That to me is an unsafe learning environment … From the younger students, that’s what I hear – that it’s easier just to hide. But to me, that’s very alarming that students feel like they have to disassociate with who they are in order to learn in a safe environment.”

In response to a question from the Washington Jewish Week whether university leaders are doing enough to address antisemitism and to create a safe space for their students on campus, Cardona responded that he thinks “more can be done,” noting that we’ve “seen some college leaders who have done really well” and “some who haven’t done well.”

“I believe what we saw highlighted soon after Oct. 7 is what happens when we’re not in front of it in some cases … I still think we can continue to do more, not only to promote safe learning environments, but to also make sure students feel comfortable in their own skin. That they don’t have to change who they are, that they don’t have to hide their identity.”

The WJW Podcast: A Conversation With Moshe Lavi, Relative of an Israeli Hostage (2/15/24)

Moshe Lavi, a former captain in the Israel Defense Forces, is the brother-in-law of Omri Miran. On Oct. 7, Omri was at home in Kibbutz Nachal Oz in southern Israel with his wife, Lishay, who is Moshe’s sister, and his two young daughters, when Hamas terrorists overran the kibbutz and entered their home. Omri was taken hostage by Hamas, and now, four months later, he remains in captivity.

Ever since that day, Moshe has been a strong and outspoken advocate not just for his brother-in-law, Omri, but for all the hostages that were kidnapped by Hamas.

On the WJW Podcast, Moshe discussed the events of Oct. 7 and what took place in his family’s home, as well as how his sister is coping with her two small children while her husband, their father, remains in captivity. Moshe also talked about the importance of his advocacy efforts on behalf of Omri and the other hostages and how those efforts are making a difference in the ongoing quest to bring the hostages home safely and swiftly.

‘Israel is focus of today’s Jews-hatreds’

The following is an article that I wrote, which appeared in the February 8, 2024, edition of the Washington Jewish Week:

In this month’s installment of “Remember When,” we look back at our coverage from Feb. 19-25, 1976, which included an article by Shlomo Avineri titled ‘Israel is focus of today’s Jew-hatreds’ in which he examined “contemporary forms of anti-Semitism.”

Avineri, who was born in Poland in 1933 and immigrated to pre-state Israel with his family in 1939, was a leading Israeli political scientist and a longtime professor at Hebrew University. Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin appointed Avineri as director-general of Israel’s foreign ministry in 1975, a position he held until Prime Minister Menachem Begin came to power in 1977.

“Today, the Diaspora Jew is not, as such, the target of anti-Jewish criticism; it is a criticism of Israel – its very existence, its legitimacy, its policies, its links of Diaspora Jews to it – which are the main targets of this new wave of attacks on the Jewish people. The sad irony is obvious, and the natural tendency is to deny or belittle the significance of this phenomenon. Yet, it cannot be escaped that it is Israel, and especially its post-1967 successes and post-1973 agonies, that appear to have granted a new appearance of legitimacy to a criticism of Jews; and if this criticism starts with Israel, it sometimes very quickly reverts to some of the traditional anti-Semitic patterns.”

Forty-eight years later, Avineri’s words seem almost prophetic. Today we are witnessing the same sort of “phenomenon” that he described. We see people marching in the streets, waving Palestinian and Hamas flags, yelling “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” and decrying the state of Israel. The heated anti-Israel demonstrations and the rhetoric being used are ostensibly meant to criticize Israel, yet they very easily cross over to antisemitism. Jews are being collectively blamed for what they call Israel’s aggression against the people of Gaza, despite the fact that Israel was the target of a savage attack on Oct. 7 that resulted in Israel having to defend itself and its people yet again from terrorists intent on destroying the Jewish state. As Avineri said, if the criticism starts with Israel, “it sometimes very quickly reverts to some of the traditional anti-Semitic patterns.”

The WJW Podcast: A Conversation With Former Senator Joe Lieberman (2/8/24)

Joe Lieberman spent four decades of his life as an elected official, including 24 years representing the state of Connecticut in the United States Senate. He was the Democratic candidate for vice president of the United States in 2000, thereby becoming the first Jewish-American vice presidential nominee.

Lieberman is also the founding chairman of No Labels, a political organization whose membership is comprised of individuals from different political parties that is working to bring people together in order to solve some of the big challenges facing our nation.

On the WJW Podcast, Lieberman discussed the role of No Labels in the upcoming presidential election, including the possibility that the group may put forth a bipartisan third-party presidential ticket. In addition, Lieberman, a prominent Jewish political leader, spoke about several aspects relating to the rise in antisemitism in the United States.

A Q&A With Michal Cotler-Wunsh, Israel’s Special Envoy for Combating Antisemitism and a Former Member of the Knesset

The following is an interview that I conducted with Michal Cotler-Wunsh, Israel’s Special Envoy for Combating Antisemitism and a former Member of the Knesset, which appeared in the February 1, 2024, edition of the Washington Jewish Week:

Courtesy of Michal Cotler-Wunsh

There are still currently 136 hostages being held by Hamas. There’s no question that the families of the hostages desperately want their loved ones to return home. How do you assess the current situation and how can Israel ensure that the hostages are returned safely to their families?

 

In the language of international law, it’s a standing violation of international law, meaning every second of every minute of every hour of every week of every month that has passed by is an additional affront to international law and an additional violation of international law … The very institutions, whether it be the Red Cross, whether it be the UN, that are mandated to condemn, to ensure, to act for the immediate and unconditional return of those who were stolen literally from their homes by a genocidal terror organization … in an affront to international law, have failed to do so … This is an international issue. There should be Western countries and all those organizations and all those institutions and all those mechanisms created to ensure that international law is upheld equally and consistently, including when there are Jews that have been the ones that have been abducted or Jewish women who are the ones that have been raped.

We know that Hamas, just like it uses its own people as human shields, sacrifices and weapons … abducted 240, and now 136 civilians, holding them in the underground terror dungeon city that they have built with international humanitarian aid. So here we have this continued theme of a violation of international law, even while receiving support from the international, legal infrastructure in the form of, for example, humanitarian aid.

When you ask me, how will Israel secure the return of these hostages, you have to know that in [the pocket of] every one of the IDF soldiers that are defending Israel and Israelis, there is a picture of one of the hostages. That is the commitment to … do what we must, which is ensure that Hamas, that actually declared the intent to commit 10/7, not once and not three times, but a million times again and again [is held responsible for its actions]. And simultaneously, that commitment that drives those soldiers is finding and returning the hostages stolen from their homes, from their families, from their communities.

 

South Africa, brought a case in the International Court of Justice against Israel, accusing it of genocide. Israel has vigorously defended itself against those charges. How do you see that ICJ situation playing out?

In many ways, it is the ICJ that is currently on trial. And in many ways the ICJ will decide … if it is in fact a court of justice, as in the case of the Eichmann trial, or a court of injustice, as in the case of the Dreyfus affair. And what I mean by that, is that the very Orwellian inversion, in fact and in law, that has enabled South Africa, not only with a corrupt and inept government, but South Africa, that housed the Hamas genocidal terrorists, welcomed them just days after 10/7, and who meets regularly with leaders that perpetrate genocide as we speak … of all countries would co-opt and weaponize the international law mechanisms created … the Convention for the Prevention and the Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, which was written in the blood and the ash of six million Jews … The preposterous, usurping, co-opting and weaponization of that convention to accuse the state of Israel, even as war crimes and crimes against humanity and the intent to commit genocide were perpetrated against Israelis on 10/7, is … an Orwellian inversion, in fact and in law, that we could not have imagined … And here we are, we’ve come full circle, and what we will see at the ICJ devastatingly may very well be the final nail in the coffin of that infrastructure that was created in order to ensure that ‘never again’ is to anybody, and so it is part of this never again is right now moment that I believe that we’re living in.

 

We just talked about the International Court of Justice. I want to turn a little bit to the court of public opinion. As you’ve alluded to, Israel is taking a beating, so to speak, on the global stage and in the court of public opinion from people who say that Israel’s response to the atrocities that took place on Oct. 7, is excessive, and they’re calling for a cease-fire. Israel has attempted to justify its efforts as a way of eliminating Hamas, which it considers to be an existential threat. What do you think Israel can do to address this issue and to try and improve it standing in the court of public opinion and on the global stage?

 

After a series of conventional wars actually failed to annihilate the state of Israel between 1948 and 1973, after the return of Jews, a prototypical indigenous people, to our ancestral homeland after millennia of exile and of persecution, we understand that there is another kind of war that could be waged, and it is precisely what you’ve just noted, the unconventional war for public opinion and it has been raging for decades … We would have to understand that what has happened actually, over time, is not only the co-opting and the weaponization of that infrastructure that I described before, to demonize to delegitimize and apply double standards, but in the aftermath of 10/7, when the worst atrocities perpetrated against the Jewish people since the Holocaust, when entire families were burned, and women were raped so badly that their legs couldn’t be straightened for burial, and people who were dancing at a peace festival were hunted down and mutilated and murdered and massacred, and when hundreds of others were abducted, as we discussed before, if that cannot be unequivocally condemned, having been perpetrated by a genocidal terror organization that declares its intent for ‘the final solution.’

We would be remiss if we did not understand that at this moment in time, if we fail to condemn 10/7 and what it showed us in that barbaric, savage perpetration of those atrocities, war crimes and crimes against humanity, if that can become flipped onto Israel in its self-defense ‘perpetrating genocide,’ then this is a wake-up call or a rude awakening for all democracies, in this moment, as we prosecute the wars of this genocidal intent not just to annihilate the state of Israel, but to actually destroy civilization as we have built it and build on the rubble of our civilization and alternative reality in which none of us wants to live.

It is not just about Israel … I often think about what we understand about all other forms of hatred. We would never tell anybody who is experiencing any form of bigotry or racism that they have to fight that racism or bigotry alone. They can’t … We know that what is required is that everybody fights against that form of hate. Only when it comes to antisemitism, including in its modern mutated strain that is anti-Zionism or the targeting or the barring of the very existence of a state of Israel, or of its right to exist … do we ask ourselves, how is Israel going to be able to combat antisemitism? And my answer is, there is no way Jews or Israel or Zionists … will be able to combat this scourge, this hate, alone, just like in the case of any other form of bigotry and racism.

This will require a concerted, united commitment to identify and combat all strains of an ever-mutating virus. Jew hatred is ever-mutating – it has come in all kinds of shapes and forms over the thousands of years of its mutation. And this strain of antisemitism that presented itself not only in the atrocities of 10/7, but in the responses to the atrocities of 10/7 that have been silent, that have denied, that have justified, that have supported and that have attacked Jews, for the perpetuation of these atrocities against Israel and Jews on 10/7 … If we do not acknowledge that this is not just about the nation-state of the Jewish people, or about Jews around the world that are being attacked in its wake, but in fact is an attack on our shared humanity and on our shared civilization, that Israel will not be able to tackle it alone.

Prominent DC Rabbi Is Assaulted by Lyft Driver

The following is an article that I wrote, which appeared in the February 1, 2024, edition of the Washington Jewish Week:

A prominent Orthodox rabbi was physically and verbally assaulted by a Lyft driver in Washington, D.C., on Sunday, Jan. 28. After the incident, the driver fled the scene.

Rabbi Menachem Shemtov, director of Chabad Georgetown and rabbi at the Pentagon, ordered a ride through the Lyft app on Sunday morning. Shortly after Shemtov entered the car, the driver told Shemtov that he didn’t like his “energy” and demanded that he exit the vehicle. After Shemtov got out of the car, the driver also got out and “struck V-1 [Shemtov] about the face multiple times with his hands,” according to the Metropolitan Police Department’s Public Incident Report.

The incident, which took place on Connecticut Avenue NW, was witnessed by several passerby. Videos from the scene that were taken by Shemtov and at least one witness show the driver striking Shemtov in the face multiple times while holding his car key and seemingly using it as a weapon.

“Maybe like 30 seconds after I get in the car, he tells me that he doesn’t like my ‘energy’ and he wants me to exit the vehicle … I asked him ‘I didn’t say anything, I didn’t do anything, why are you telling me to exit the vehicle?’ … and he was like ‘from the moment you got into the car, I didn’t like your energy,’ … he was just saying ridiculous stuff as an excuse or reason to get me out of the vehicle,” Shemtov told the Washington Jewish Week.

Shemtov said the driver chased him up the street, began swearing at him and then hit Shemtov across the face, knocking his yarmulke off. After Shemtov walked back to the car to try and keep the driver from leaving the scene until the police arrived, Shemtov said the driver hit him in the face “multiple times again.”

It was “nothing I said, nothing I did – he was just kind of offended by my ‘energy’ … I’m not really sure what energy he’d be referring to,” Shemtov said.

As a result of the assault, Shemtov sustained several cuts on his face. “He slashed me with his keys about an inch below my eyeball,” Shemtov said.

“Lyft unequivocally condemns this behavior. Upon learning of this incident, we deactivated the driver and we’ve been in touch with the rider,” a Lyft spokesperson said in a written statement sent to the Washington Jewish Week. “We encourage riders and drivers to report harassment, discrimination, or safety concerns in the Lyft app.”

The company also stated that it stands ready to assist law enforcement with any investigation.

In addition, the company noted that its “community guidelines and terms of service prohibit harassment or discrimination on the basis of religion, national origin, race, gender, gender identity or expression, physical or mental disability, medical condition, marital status, age or sexual orientation.”

In a written statement sent to the Washington Jewish Week on Jan. 30, a spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police Department noted that “This offense is actively being investigated by detectives,” adding that they have no further updates at this time.

‘Terrorism draws strength from world’s apathy’

The following is an article that I wrote, which appeared in the January 11, 2024, edition of the Washington Jewish Week:

“To be a Jew is to know that over and above history is the task of memory.” Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks wrote those words to stress the importance of remembering our past and conveying the lessons of yesterday to the next generation so that the “great chain of learning and wisdom” remains intact tomorrow.

Having been the Jewish newspaper of record in the nation’s capital since 1930, the Washington Jewish Week has reported on countless stories about our local and global Jewish community, and our pages have been filled with essential information about an array of thought-provoking topics. We are therefore pleased to launch a new monthly feature, “Remember When,” in which we look back at some of our coverage from previous years so that we can remember the past and learn from it as we look ahead to the future.

In January 1975, we published an opinion piece by Rabbi Israel Miller titled, “Terrorism draws strength from world’s apathy.”

“Arab terror breeds from the climate of support it receives in Arab capitals, just as it draws from the ambivalence, double-standards and apathy that the international community has displayed toward it for so long … Their energies are spent in distributing hate material preaching not only Israel’s sovereign destruction but outright antisemitism as Jewish organizations the world over have appealed and protested against their presence with few results … The terrorists may now and then succeed in their murderous enterprise, but they will never win.”

Miller’s words that were written 49 years ago are eerily reminiscent of the current situation. In the wake of the horrific Hamas terrorist attacks of Oct. 7 and as we witness a significant increase in global antisemitism, we once again are faced with a situation in which too many in the international community have chosen to vilify Israel and failed to take adequate steps to combat antisemitism. Yet, as Miller wrote, the terrorists may occasionally succeed, but in the long run, the state of Israel and the Jewish community will prevail.