I have been disappointed in Central Synagogues leadership and their sermons on Rosh Hashanah for a very long time. Last year the young male rabbi (no i don't remember his name) said that Chabad, messianism, was the biggest threat to Jewish people. Perhaps he got the messianism part right he just got the infected religion wrong. But i felt it was lashon hara and something a rabbi should know better than to say especially on such a holy day.
I think there is something intrinsically missing in the reform movements need for "social justice" or "tikkun olam." It's a nice gesture to want to repair the world, but first you need to make sure that there aren't evil bastards trying to slaughter your children. These rabbis have it backwards as to what is actually important. Or perhaps that is the hubris of living in the general safety. of the US. Other Jews around the world do not have this luxury.
Also remember the mothers and fathers of Gaza chose Hamas as their government. They were voted in. That they didnt hold another vote, well that is what happens with fascists. Just look at the PA as well, Abbas is in his 18th year of his first 4 year term. When your government is a genocidal messianic cult that calls for barbarism and they carry it out, what did these people think would happen to them? Did they really think that the Israelis would just let their country be destroyed without fighting back? If so then they are more delusional than the left-wing fascists marching down our streets in their keffiyehs.
I no more feel bad for the people of Gaza than I do the Nazi civilians killed during WW2. Sorry, but the sins of the parents are visited upon the heads of the children. The parents kept Hamas in power, they celebrated with Hamas when Jewish babies were slaughtered and Jewish women raped, murdered, and taken as slaves. Well then, you get what you deserve. And while we dont want any innocent child to die, (I don't know any Jewish person who is dancing in the streets and handing out pastries to celebrate the death of anyone in Gaza) they are the ones who made this a zero sum game. Someone should have warned them, that in a zero sum game, it doesn't mean that you will will.
I think one of the biggest mistakes we made as a people in our generation was "looking outward" - as in, focusing on the tikkun olam for others (whom we defined as marginalized and thus deserving of our attention, the rationale being that we as a people have experienced hardship and so it's our responsibility to help others). Then, when everything went down last year, those same groups were either nowhere to be found or on the streets praising Hamas.
I'm not saying that we should not use our collectivity as a people as a force of good for others. I just think we need to re-examine our methods for doing it, and never do it at the expense of our own people's safety.
You are so right. In fact, looking inward might mean taking the time to really investigate Torah Judaism. I also come from a liberal, Reform background. I feel that I was lucky to be able to learn in a school that taught Torah in my late 20’s. It is our profound tradition and should not be written off. Hostages in Gaza have been keeping Shabbot according to Jewish Law. Then their families took on many mitzvot. Survivors from the Nova are looking into their Jewish heritage. I think this obligates all of us to take this tradition seriously. https:
I wrote years ago that the Jews of the US were willfully blind to the antisemitism in the progressive movement. (Argued with any number of Jewish progressives who like to call me all kinds of names)So no the abandonment didnt come as a surprise, but the vociferousness of the hatred did.
I recently read or watched a piece that said American Jews living in abundance and far from the major forces wanting to destroy Israel and all Jews, are very different from Israeli Jews. I can’t imagine living so close to the enemy.
Thank you EKB. I well recall remarks by a Japanese man, who lived through WWII. He expressed admiration for what the Allies did to end the war against the Imperial Japanese. He well understood the concept of justice. Those who don’t get, don’t matter. They are litter on the roadside.
No human being is a material object, like trash, although Hamas is certainly scum. You seem to have forgotten the passage where the Egyptians are drowned in the Red Sea. Our people are dancing around, understandably, but Jehovah is not happy: “my creatures are dying and you rejoice?”
actually that is not the passage. it was not the people hashem admonished but the seraphim. He did not admonish the Jews for celebrating that their persecutors were killed.
Clarification, the idiots demonstrating in support of Hamas are the ones who don’t matter. And yes, they are as worthless as roadside trash. Those who support the state of Israel in their war against the Gazans are the only people who are of any value. And, I don’t see any of the good guys dancing. I do not see the point of giving anyone that which he has not earned, including any claim to person hood. Too many on the right side of this still seem to tiptoe around. That is irritating and feeds the narrative of those supporting the “poor Palestinians”. Enough already. Everyone stop goddam apologizing, it is immoral.
I’m sorry, I think that’s ridiculous and morally blind. Of course, I’m extremely disappointed not so much by the hard left where I would’ve expected it, but by mainstream progressives. But some of these college students are not genuinely evil — they’re just misguided. Or they’re weak and just saying the fashionable thing to gain acceptance. At a minimum they can make a claim to personhood! 🙄 If you can’t see that then that shows a lack of imagination and empathy.
I agree there are times when empathy needs to take a backseat to self-defense. This is one of those times. But that doesn’t mean you kill your empathy gland altogether. Again, you seem harsh and rigid, so I’m sure you’ll understand if I mute you.
actually that is not the passage. it was not the people hashem admonished but the seraphim. He did not admonish the Jews for celebrating that their persecutors were killed.
What this goofy rabbi is doing is called providing succor to the enemy and it's ridiculous. It also shows a remarkable childishness in that she automcially assumes that Israel will win this war. If Israel were being overrun and millions being murdered, would she give the same sermon? Her conceit is a luxury provided to her sitting in safety - for now - in America, while other Jews and Israelis risk their lives to fight on her behalf. She should be ashamed of herself.
As I am an active part of the military-industrial complex, I can proudly say "F&^$ the Fakestinians. They are a poisoned, evil society who have done nothing productive for generations and only focus on death, hate and destruction. The entire world will be better if they cease to exist, as many failed, evil, rotten cultures have done throughout history. So long as a single hostage remains in Gaza, I don't care if every single damned Fakestinian has to die if that is what it takes to free innocent people from barbaric scum."
I say that today and will say that with a snow-white conscience on Yom Kippur, waiting for the shofar to announce the Book of Life is closing.
Sadly Hamas winning the PR war has been a few decades in the making. Our leaders in the west have been weak in their critical thinking and not educating themselves enough about militant Islam. Our university left leaning professors and other lefties have poisoned millions to be lazy instant gratification thinkers.
The ground war is what counts, and those who support it count.
The PR war is conducted and supported by people (if you can call them people) who don’t matter a lick. The perpetrators of the monstrous attack on Israel are responsible for all casualties on both sides, military and civilian.
What counts is absolute victory, nothing less, if it takes eliminating every Gazan, so be it, they deserve whichever they get.
Those who would wring their hands over casualties on the Gazan side and wish to show compassion, demonstrate their contempt and disdain for justice. The blood of all those fallen on the Israeli side are on their hands. I give no one a goddam inch on this. If you support the monsters or feel pity for the monsters, you are evil, period.
I don't hope for one second that every Gazan gets "eliminated"! We all know that IDF takes every precaution to protect civilian life, and that should be acknowledged!
It is wonderful for reasonable people to disagree. So long as one hostage remains, I for one could not care less if every single Gazan where eliminated. The Gazans are happy the current Israeli government takes a far more tolerant view.
If I were the parent of an IDF soldier and heard Bibi say, "We can level Gaza with no risk to our soldiers and will pause occasionally to give the Gazans time to reconsider the hostages" OR "We will continue to have IDF soldiers killed trying to rescue hostages held by satanic scum who hide their missiles behind children," I'd vote for the former approach.
Right, but the issue is that what you're saying goes counter to IDF's actual policy of sparing civilians as much as possible. There are already enough misguided idiots who think that what you're describing is what Israel *wants* to do (eliminate every Gazan), when we all know that isn't true.
I am quite explicit in saying what I believe would be a good course of action is NOT what the IDF is doing. It is not my fault or problem if Jew Haters don’t pay attention to my words.
After a longish life of arguing with idiots, I’ve come to understand the pure brilliance of Immanuel Kant’s assertion that the only rational way to live a moral life is through taking action based on a priori truths.
I can explain things to someone; I cannot understand anything for that person. I am not going to “watch my words” because some other idiot may be too stupid or inattentive to listen to what I am saying, as opposed to what they want to believe I am saying.
I am not going to avoid saying the right thing on the off chance that some nitwit who is already predisposed to hate me will not understand my words.
I would urge you to widen the cone of public opinion you listen to. Hamas has won nothing but cheers from the already-converted Jew Hating Left who are vocal in Hollywood and the international media.
80% of Americans across the board support Israel and that has been true from 7 October 2023, with no statistical variance.
You are right it is chilling that Marxism has infiltrated American universities and cultural institutions. Joe McCarthy had a good idea, but he lacked the stones and persistence to dig the evil out by the roots which will need to be done all over again.
It is exhausting and boring to have to fight for Western Civilization, but as our enemies are indefatigable, so, too must we be. The satanic legions beset us on all sides.
I too have this issue. The failure of the international community to recognize that Hamas.. elected and supported by the Palestinian people... Started this war. I too am abhorred by the ignoring of the sexual violence. And also of the ignoring of the cheering Palestinians over the deaths of Jews..
Right. There’s also part of me that says, why do you need to recruit us for the ‘Palestinian cause’? It looks like they already have the support of millions. So why do they need me?
All I can say is “spot on”. You make so many valid points. And point out that our clergy are not being helpful when they try and appear better than their congregation.
Perfectly said, as always. I addressed Oct 7 in my classes this week, framing the day and subsequent responses as a moral issue, taking a stand for identifying, and practicing the values that heal the world. And there I will remain. This moral confusion found e v e r y w h e r e is pathetic.
I feel like asking those clerical leaders (who, I agree have good intentions) to imagine standing up there, on the bima, looking down and saying those word to pews filled with the immediate families of the slaughtered and stolen. The reminder they need as we all did in our effort to mourn publicly on the yahrzeit of this agonizing wound is to let them know those families are our immediate families.
It is irresponsible of a Rabbi on these most awesome of days and in the distinctiveness of the context all to equivocate the intent, the loss and the uniqueness of one’s grief but asking us to grieve equally. It’s a bit like when people appropriate Holocaust terminology as generic. It’s a bit like telling the targets of the Nazis and their collaborators to feel the grief for the innocent Germans who stood by and knew what was happening even before it did and said and did nothing.
I’ve spent the year catching myself, talking to a friend about how I worry my heart is hardening and then I spend sleepless nights trying to think about the devastation on those innocents out side of Israel and I hav edit work so hard to push out the very real noise from people on the streets around the world and governments and in the UN who do not see us. And then I cry and pray for all the innocents. But not on my holiest of days (and I’m a furkin’ atheist), not on a day when Yizkor is so personal, not when me and my people need all of each others attention for not doing enough for each other not when “I’m not ready to make nice”.
The one thing I remind myself is that Rabbis are human and it is incumbent on us other humans to call attention, with kindness and hope for understanding and change, to the hurt they are inflicting on those in agony.
If there is any element of behaviour change we should be focussing in it is to remind us to hold accountable those individuals and communities in our family who are the most extreme and who, despite their legitimate fear and anger, are not permitted in any law to initiate situations so that they can forgo their humanity and commit murder of those they do not know are guilty. (Very different from what Yael did and in very different times.) The other thing we should remind ourselves is that we also hold those to whom we have accorded legitimate power to account for their abuses when they are committed.
Your reminder about Yael was an excellent point. I hope you will share your message with (all) the Rabbis before Yom Kippur.
Toda, Jill. שנה יותר טובה. I hope this nightmare ends soon so we can read what you write about all the other things.
P.S. for today’s google search, look up “Vancouver demonstration October 7th” under News. This is what we are dealing with in Canada.
Good intentions, rubbish. Evil ideas are evil. When someone says “good intentions”, the next thing you invariably hear in an apology for some bad shit.
Thought provoking. Thanks for writing it. I don’t agree, because I believe it is in fact the place of clergy to encourage our humanity in the ways described. It is not “virtue signaling” (a meaningless term I abhor because it’s typically used by people engaged in vice signaling). But I definitely appreciate your perspective and liked reading it.
I agree that it is the place of clergy to encourage our better selves. To make this specific sermon in the midst of Israel's battle for survival is inappropriate.
Compassion is a complex emotion. We can feel it for those who wrong us even as we want justice for ourselves.
To me, this sermon is like the pro-Palestinian demonstrations - delivered without context and with no small amount of arrogance.
This Rabbi is part of the problem. She is one of those “me too” Jews who I am sure is throwing her support for Mamala! Now is not the time to feel sorry for what our enemy has inflicted upon its people! Now it the time to unconditionally win a war started and waged by our enemy against us! This is the only way we can live in peace and not wait for the next 10/7 to be perpetuated against us. Unfortunately Mamala and her crew will never allow this to happen. Am Yisrael Chai!🇮🇱
I did…. My issue is with the Rabbi and her message, and those in her camp. Now is not the time for anti-Zionist Jews. Now is not the time for a negotiated cease fire. Now is the time to win a war we must win! Now is the time to decapitate the Malays of Iran! Than there will be peace for all those suffering!
I absolutely do. I honestly believe she does not have Israel’s back. She is more interested in not alienating her antisemetic, lefty,supporters. I happen to be a right of center centrist. I have always been a Never-Trumper.. I hate him. But I recognize how dangerous the democrats have become to Israel’s survival. They will not allow us to win the war, they only want to negotiate a cease fire. We can’t go into Rafa, we can’t engage Hezbolla, We can’t take out Iran’s nuclear capabilities or its oil refinery. We can’t call Netanyahu on 10/7. She is no friend of Israel! I love Israel more than I hate Trump. He is the only alternative. It pains me to say he has my vote. It pains me more that my liberal Jewish friends don’t see the emminent danger Kamala poses.
So many of my liberal Jewish friends unfortunately can’t get past their Trump Derangement Syndrome or their “social consciousness” to see clearly. Voting for Mamala and the Dems is an existential threat to Israel and Jews in the west!
For Kol Nidre this year their sermon was about the need to listen to "the other side" even if it makes us uncomfortable and not end friendships over it. It's a nice idea, but it left out a big question: are they willing to listen to do the same for us?
PS I highly doubt the rabbi in question would practice what she preaches with a MAGA person, just speculating.
Is it possible she meant listening to others within our Jewish community (especially those who have become useful idiots on the right and left) so that we can engage in a conversation that maybe can go somewhere more constructive for all? I listened to a conversation the other day on NPR with three people, two of whom had voted for the Orange Maggot (of which one of whom was not going to) and one who will be voting for Harris. They were all well-spoken, respectful, not crazy-sounding. Of course, I disagreed with the Trumper, but she was not loathsome and, though her perspective was factually problematic and her reasons for wanting to vote for him were so narrow in scope (perhaps like when Jews for for Trump with single-minded notion that “it’s good for the Jews”, even if everything points to what a faulty logic that is), she was someone one could engage with. She wasn’t running around with guns and horns and storming The Capital. Those are the people that, when we have the energy, we can try to see as human being and talk to. And it is the same with those who are overwhelmed by the antisemitic strain in the media who don’t yet know better. But the rare conversations we can only have one-on-one, in-person, because responding to people with electronic platforms goes nowhere. And yes, once in while, we tell them to F*CK off (or they tell us 🤷🏻♀️) because they are being disingenuous, insecure about how little they know and are driven by ego and slogans.
I have never met people afflicted with more self delusion about the conflict - literally erasing Hamas from their own memory so they can confess to their non-Jewish peer how awful “Israel versus poor Palestinian civilians” this war is.
They are pathetic, evil, and do not count for anything. It is only the righteous that count. Stand for the moral cause, it is the detractors that are immoral. It means nothing to argue with them, they are evil no matter how many there appear to be. Write them off, they deserve only your contempt.
No, not you Jill, things are getting scrambled here. My comment was to affirm Arrr Bee’s post where it is indicated that the Hamas atrocities are wiped out of the minds of the Hamas supporters, and the war is framed as “Israel versus the poor Palestinian civilians”.
Tikkun Olam is not THE central tenant of Judaism, and taking care of other Jews is a much higher value than the progressive habit of caring so much about virtue signaling that throwing the threatened, embattled and also largest community in the world under the bus is the knee-jerk response of progressive Jews to Islamist terrorism and far-leftist antisemitism. Running to the front to dump on Israel is a progressive habit.
Jews have survived because of mutual assistance in the face of an antisemitic world. The token Jew obsession with attacking Israel and obsequiously courting the approval of those who support the genocide of Jews - that isn't Jewish. Token Jews are pretty much the product of these distorted progressive Jewish community values.
Why are you saying (venting) all this here? But since you have: No one here, especially the author of this column, remotely fits your notions of what a progressive Jew is. With respect, it’s not for you to tell Jews how to be better at being Jewish. We are all human; we are all finding our way. Intention matters.
As for Tikkun Olam: It is consist with the mitzvah of living in way that is aiming to be a light unto nations (but less pompous sounding). It is about putting good into the world and it is inextricably linked to the heart of what it means to live a life of mitzvah. Of the 613 mitzvot for many of us (not a single one that indicates one should be only one’s self or one’s Nation or that we should tolerate behaviours that are assumed to be done in the name of us when they counter Jewish or the civil laws where we reside. There are many troublesome tenets, rituals and traditions in Judaism which we have come to realize are not something we do anymore because … 2024/5785. Some choose to do the less weird ones and some choose not to. The quality of the Jewish soul is not for you to dictate.
I’m not sure why you think a minority of misguided Jews on the far left are any less misguided than those on the far right. I also don’t think you have an accurate understanding of what it means to be a progressive Jew for many of us, including the author of this Substack. You may want to take the time to “listen” more and read her columns and not resort to generalizations
I get that you are angry and distraught about a lot of things that are worth being angry and worried about, but raging at fellow Jews yo don’t know woh are also in pain and who want peace and assuming we support terrorism is way off base in so many ways?
Wishing you a Shana Yoter tova and the calm within to nurture our nation rather than alienate each other further.
I'm not stating that Jill, who I follow, has such an attitude. But I am saying that the insanity of anti-Zionist "Jews" grew directly out of progressive Jewish institutions, and their love of making alliances with non-Jews who casually support the genocide of Jews, over building bridges to Jewish communities who *gasp* might vote Republican, or even more horrifying, Israeli Jews who might have voted for Netanyahu. The people who reach for "Islamophobia" whenever someone raises the reality of Muslim and the far-left attacks on diaspora Jews have been progressives. There is a long history of progressives obfuscating who is behind the deepest antisemitism in the west. I'm a liberal, consistent Democratic Party voter, though the latter is something I very much question now.
It's not a substack thing - I have no problem telling anti-Zionists off to their face. I have cut off friends whose wife is a JVP member, and no amount of posturing modifies such a Jew into something other than an antisemitic, terrorism supporting kook.
In the United States, where I assume we both live, the only group in Congress who is actively standing with those trying to destroy Israel and commit a genocide of millions of Israeli Jews are members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, including Jewish representatives and senators. The only NGOs who have made statements in support of Hamas have been progressive ones. The only newspapers who engage in never-ending anti-Israel propaganda are progressive ones. Maybe you missed the pattern, but I can't avoid seeing it. Progressives are the fellow travelers of the Free Palestine cult, and there is a serious need for progressive institutions, especially Jewish ones, to confront their tacit participation in creating this monster.
Addition: I doubt that the token Jews of the antisemitic far-left care much about
Token Jews literally profit (professionally in leftist spheres, attention-wise, some of them money-wise too) from assisting those who promote the genocide of Jews.
Most of us who attended progressive institutions (myself included) didn’t turn out like these anti-Zionist cretins you speak of. They are a small but very empowered and loud minority, and they need to be categorized appropriately.
Sure, I accept that's the case for most Jewish institutions. Rabbinical schools in the US do manage to produce an odd number of token Jew rabbis, though.
Outside of Jewish circles? I'm forever done with the CPC and its members, NPR, progressive NGOs. Unless they root out their antisemitic staff, and they simply won't, they're not worth supporting.
I think you’ve assigned far too many characteristics to Jews who identify as progressive who are supportive of Israel as our indigenous homeland because of a handful of loud and ignorant people, thus throwing out the proverbial baby with the bath water. If you want to convince the handful who are behaving like useful idiots then kindly respect that most of us are not. Tikkun Olam means working on ourselves to be better with each other so we can all be and do better in the worlds we inhabit. Also, some of us are atheists and still very Jewish (including being very Zionist while expecting we hold ourselves and each other accountable, lest we let our inner Golem’s devolve from our need to to defend against credible threats toward something far more sinister.
I’m assigning real characteristics to ‘progressives’. If progressive Jews can’t see clearly who their alleged “allies” are and what is happening in their institutions, that blindness is on them. To remain ‘progressive’ after this year of war is a choice. Progressives (no emphasis on progressive Jews here) are the ones who opened the doors in their organizations (news media, academia, the arts) to the antisemitic far-left, with all the kook ideas emerging from academia, including the Free Palestine cult. Progressive ideas are simply wrong (DEI, pronouns, “Defund”, “Ceasefire Now”, “Free Palestine”) and that includes elevating Tikkun Olam to THE mitzvah among 613 other ones. The fact that Reform Judaism pumped out so many pathetic anti-Zionist token Jews should give that movement a serious pause to reconsider its values. Lo Ta’amod Al Dam Re’akha. Progressive anti Zionist token Jews are literally profiting from the spilled blood and persecution of their fellow Jews. That’s a deep violation of a core mitzvah. There, we can play dueling mitzvah interpretations - beyond the fact that antizionist Jews clearly misunderstand ‘Tikkun Olam’ if they think assisting totalitarian theocratic regimes is making the world a better place in any way.
You have an urge to explain to me why I should keep reading NYT and others like them? I canceled that subscription. How about that I should listen to NPR? Done donating to that propaganda arm of the Free Palestine cult. What about donating to progressive politicians? Sorry, after their arms embargo attempts and open support for antisemitic colleagues I am donating money against them in every primary. The CPC should be dismantled from the grassroots up. Progressive causes? Never donating to a single one again, because they won’t clean their house of sociopathic Free Palestine cult members, and they don’t stick to their mission. Notice, this isn’t about progressive Jews, but I seriously don’t understand how any Jew can remain a progressive seeing how their news sources and intellectuals (propagandist self promoters like Coates and every BLM and “Antiracist” figure, every unfunny progressive comedian and idiotic progressive politician) stand with Islamist terrorists against Israel.
This is one of the big problems in liberal Judaism. Sympathizing with the people who hate us is a problem. Sermonizing while quoting Barack Obama doesn’t do it for me. Refusing to be realistic is not a virtue. It can be suicidal. Looking at the world as it really is, is not a sign of callousness. Instead, it’s common sense. I hope the attachment of Jews to trendy “liberal” causes is broken by the recent chain of events in Israel. Hopefully people will be more receptive to facts, logic, and reality as opposed to utopian aspirations and virtue signaling.That would be one good thing to come out of the horrifying nightmare of October 7th and its aftermath.
The entire reform leadership are a disappointment - starts with Rick Jacobs . They made a strategic decision to embrace wokeness in order to attract younger folks - they distorted Torah to fit a narrative that was political and morally inconsistent . They have looked the other way and took no responsibility for the unintended impacts of issues they pushed - from bail reform, raising the age , anti-racism , trans issue (mainly woman in men’s sports ) and openly ridiculed those who warned of the dangers . Countless other far left social issues that have divided the nation and demonized half the country . They have failed
We do not mourn for Sisera whose son was positively evil. We contrast her crying in vein with our prayers which when we have nothing to say we use the Shofar as a way of saying prayers without words.It is a profound misuse of a Biblical text and a terrible exercise in moral equivalence to say that we mourn for Sisera
One of the reasons why 100 Shofar blows is to parallel the 100 cries of Sisera’s mother In the Machzor Mesoras HaRav which is based on the teachings of Rabbj Joseph Soloveitchik of blessed memory at Pages 506-507 the question is raised as to why the 100 cries of Sisera’s mother have any relevance in Halacha(Jewish law ) .Rabbi Soloveitchik of blessed memory posited than the mother of Sisera was complacently expecting her son’s triumphant return and cried very intent upon sending that he had died and the shofar must be blown in a way that wakes us up from our spiritual complacency which is a central theme of the prayers of Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur.
I have been disappointed in Central Synagogues leadership and their sermons on Rosh Hashanah for a very long time. Last year the young male rabbi (no i don't remember his name) said that Chabad, messianism, was the biggest threat to Jewish people. Perhaps he got the messianism part right he just got the infected religion wrong. But i felt it was lashon hara and something a rabbi should know better than to say especially on such a holy day.
I think there is something intrinsically missing in the reform movements need for "social justice" or "tikkun olam." It's a nice gesture to want to repair the world, but first you need to make sure that there aren't evil bastards trying to slaughter your children. These rabbis have it backwards as to what is actually important. Or perhaps that is the hubris of living in the general safety. of the US. Other Jews around the world do not have this luxury.
Also remember the mothers and fathers of Gaza chose Hamas as their government. They were voted in. That they didnt hold another vote, well that is what happens with fascists. Just look at the PA as well, Abbas is in his 18th year of his first 4 year term. When your government is a genocidal messianic cult that calls for barbarism and they carry it out, what did these people think would happen to them? Did they really think that the Israelis would just let their country be destroyed without fighting back? If so then they are more delusional than the left-wing fascists marching down our streets in their keffiyehs.
I no more feel bad for the people of Gaza than I do the Nazi civilians killed during WW2. Sorry, but the sins of the parents are visited upon the heads of the children. The parents kept Hamas in power, they celebrated with Hamas when Jewish babies were slaughtered and Jewish women raped, murdered, and taken as slaves. Well then, you get what you deserve. And while we dont want any innocent child to die, (I don't know any Jewish person who is dancing in the streets and handing out pastries to celebrate the death of anyone in Gaza) they are the ones who made this a zero sum game. Someone should have warned them, that in a zero sum game, it doesn't mean that you will will.
I think one of the biggest mistakes we made as a people in our generation was "looking outward" - as in, focusing on the tikkun olam for others (whom we defined as marginalized and thus deserving of our attention, the rationale being that we as a people have experienced hardship and so it's our responsibility to help others). Then, when everything went down last year, those same groups were either nowhere to be found or on the streets praising Hamas.
I'm not saying that we should not use our collectivity as a people as a force of good for others. I just think we need to re-examine our methods for doing it, and never do it at the expense of our own people's safety.
You are so right. In fact, looking inward might mean taking the time to really investigate Torah Judaism. I also come from a liberal, Reform background. I feel that I was lucky to be able to learn in a school that taught Torah in my late 20’s. It is our profound tradition and should not be written off. Hostages in Gaza have been keeping Shabbot according to Jewish Law. Then their families took on many mitzvot. Survivors from the Nova are looking into their Jewish heritage. I think this obligates all of us to take this tradition seriously. https:
//liba.substack.com/p/a-most-important-protest?r=fxgvw
https://liba.substack.com/p/alephbetalephbetalephbet?r=fxgvw
Just a small taste of what some Nova survivors are doing with their terrible experience.
Much success!
Yes to investigating Torah Judaism.
I wrote years ago that the Jews of the US were willfully blind to the antisemitism in the progressive movement. (Argued with any number of Jewish progressives who like to call me all kinds of names)So no the abandonment didnt come as a surprise, but the vociferousness of the hatred did.
It's a very specific slice of the progressive movement (and a very loud one at that)...but yes.
I've always considered tikkun olam to mean that we should do what we can personally to improve the state of the world.
For me, that includes exercising kindness, being thoughtful in my actions and helping others as I am able.
It does not include apologizing for existing or lying down and dying because antisemites demand it.
If non-Israeli Jews were not horrified that there are still hostages in Gaza, did the recent execution of six of them not curdle their blood?
Until all of the hostages, living and dead, are returned, my empathy belongs to them.
I recently read or watched a piece that said American Jews living in abundance and far from the major forces wanting to destroy Israel and all Jews, are very different from Israeli Jews. I can’t imagine living so close to the enemy.
@EKB - you expressed what I had been muddling through. Thank you for clarifying my thinking, as sad as that is. I like your writing.
Thank you very much.
Nor are they tipping off the IDF to where hostages are housed.
Brilliant, well stated, thank you for your post!
Thank you EKB. I well recall remarks by a Japanese man, who lived through WWII. He expressed admiration for what the Allies did to end the war against the Imperial Japanese. He well understood the concept of justice. Those who don’t get, don’t matter. They are litter on the roadside.
No human being is a material object, like trash, although Hamas is certainly scum. You seem to have forgotten the passage where the Egyptians are drowned in the Red Sea. Our people are dancing around, understandably, but Jehovah is not happy: “my creatures are dying and you rejoice?”
That's a good passage to bring up, thanks.
actually that is not the passage. it was not the people hashem admonished but the seraphim. He did not admonish the Jews for celebrating that their persecutors were killed.
Clarification, the idiots demonstrating in support of Hamas are the ones who don’t matter. And yes, they are as worthless as roadside trash. Those who support the state of Israel in their war against the Gazans are the only people who are of any value. And, I don’t see any of the good guys dancing. I do not see the point of giving anyone that which he has not earned, including any claim to person hood. Too many on the right side of this still seem to tiptoe around. That is irritating and feeds the narrative of those supporting the “poor Palestinians”. Enough already. Everyone stop goddam apologizing, it is immoral.
I’m sorry, I think that’s ridiculous and morally blind. Of course, I’m extremely disappointed not so much by the hard left where I would’ve expected it, but by mainstream progressives. But some of these college students are not genuinely evil — they’re just misguided. Or they’re weak and just saying the fashionable thing to gain acceptance. At a minimum they can make a claim to personhood! 🙄 If you can’t see that then that shows a lack of imagination and empathy.
I agree there are times when empathy needs to take a backseat to self-defense. This is one of those times. But that doesn’t mean you kill your empathy gland altogether. Again, you seem harsh and rigid, so I’m sure you’ll understand if I mute you.
actually that is not the passage. it was not the people hashem admonished but the seraphim. He did not admonish the Jews for celebrating that their persecutors were killed.
Clarification appreciated. That doesn’t change my point about this guy.
AMEN. Well said.
What this goofy rabbi is doing is called providing succor to the enemy and it's ridiculous. It also shows a remarkable childishness in that she automcially assumes that Israel will win this war. If Israel were being overrun and millions being murdered, would she give the same sermon? Her conceit is a luxury provided to her sitting in safety - for now - in America, while other Jews and Israelis risk their lives to fight on her behalf. She should be ashamed of herself.
As I am an active part of the military-industrial complex, I can proudly say "F&^$ the Fakestinians. They are a poisoned, evil society who have done nothing productive for generations and only focus on death, hate and destruction. The entire world will be better if they cease to exist, as many failed, evil, rotten cultures have done throughout history. So long as a single hostage remains in Gaza, I don't care if every single damned Fakestinian has to die if that is what it takes to free innocent people from barbaric scum."
I say that today and will say that with a snow-white conscience on Yom Kippur, waiting for the shofar to announce the Book of Life is closing.
Israel will win the ground war, that I am sure of. But Hamas has won the PR war, and that to me is chilling.
Sadly Hamas winning the PR war has been a few decades in the making. Our leaders in the west have been weak in their critical thinking and not educating themselves enough about militant Islam. Our university left leaning professors and other lefties have poisoned millions to be lazy instant gratification thinkers.
The ground war is what counts, and those who support it count.
The PR war is conducted and supported by people (if you can call them people) who don’t matter a lick. The perpetrators of the monstrous attack on Israel are responsible for all casualties on both sides, military and civilian.
What counts is absolute victory, nothing less, if it takes eliminating every Gazan, so be it, they deserve whichever they get.
Those who would wring their hands over casualties on the Gazan side and wish to show compassion, demonstrate their contempt and disdain for justice. The blood of all those fallen on the Israeli side are on their hands. I give no one a goddam inch on this. If you support the monsters or feel pity for the monsters, you are evil, period.
Thank you for your work. God bless you.
I don't hope for one second that every Gazan gets "eliminated"! We all know that IDF takes every precaution to protect civilian life, and that should be acknowledged!
It is wonderful for reasonable people to disagree. So long as one hostage remains, I for one could not care less if every single Gazan where eliminated. The Gazans are happy the current Israeli government takes a far more tolerant view.
If I were the parent of an IDF soldier and heard Bibi say, "We can level Gaza with no risk to our soldiers and will pause occasionally to give the Gazans time to reconsider the hostages" OR "We will continue to have IDF soldiers killed trying to rescue hostages held by satanic scum who hide their missiles behind children," I'd vote for the former approach.
Right, but the issue is that what you're saying goes counter to IDF's actual policy of sparing civilians as much as possible. There are already enough misguided idiots who think that what you're describing is what Israel *wants* to do (eliminate every Gazan), when we all know that isn't true.
I am quite explicit in saying what I believe would be a good course of action is NOT what the IDF is doing. It is not my fault or problem if Jew Haters don’t pay attention to my words.
After a longish life of arguing with idiots, I’ve come to understand the pure brilliance of Immanuel Kant’s assertion that the only rational way to live a moral life is through taking action based on a priori truths.
I can explain things to someone; I cannot understand anything for that person. I am not going to “watch my words” because some other idiot may be too stupid or inattentive to listen to what I am saying, as opposed to what they want to believe I am saying.
I am not going to avoid saying the right thing on the off chance that some nitwit who is already predisposed to hate me will not understand my words.
Death to our enemies. Am Israel Chai.
Thank you Christopher.
I would urge you to widen the cone of public opinion you listen to. Hamas has won nothing but cheers from the already-converted Jew Hating Left who are vocal in Hollywood and the international media.
80% of Americans across the board support Israel and that has been true from 7 October 2023, with no statistical variance.
You are right it is chilling that Marxism has infiltrated American universities and cultural institutions. Joe McCarthy had a good idea, but he lacked the stones and persistence to dig the evil out by the roots which will need to be done all over again.
Always good to hear your wise counsel, Christopher,
It is exhausting and boring to have to fight for Western Civilization, but as our enemies are indefatigable, so, too must we be. The satanic legions beset us on all sides.
I too have this issue. The failure of the international community to recognize that Hamas.. elected and supported by the Palestinian people... Started this war. I too am abhorred by the ignoring of the sexual violence. And also of the ignoring of the cheering Palestinians over the deaths of Jews..
Right. There’s also part of me that says, why do you need to recruit us for the ‘Palestinian cause’? It looks like they already have the support of millions. So why do they need me?
All I can say is “spot on”. You make so many valid points. And point out that our clergy are not being helpful when they try and appear better than their congregation.
Thanks for reading.
Perfectly said, as always. I addressed Oct 7 in my classes this week, framing the day and subsequent responses as a moral issue, taking a stand for identifying, and practicing the values that heal the world. And there I will remain. This moral confusion found e v e r y w h e r e is pathetic.
Thanks for reading. How did your students take it?
I feel like asking those clerical leaders (who, I agree have good intentions) to imagine standing up there, on the bima, looking down and saying those word to pews filled with the immediate families of the slaughtered and stolen. The reminder they need as we all did in our effort to mourn publicly on the yahrzeit of this agonizing wound is to let them know those families are our immediate families.
It is irresponsible of a Rabbi on these most awesome of days and in the distinctiveness of the context all to equivocate the intent, the loss and the uniqueness of one’s grief but asking us to grieve equally. It’s a bit like when people appropriate Holocaust terminology as generic. It’s a bit like telling the targets of the Nazis and their collaborators to feel the grief for the innocent Germans who stood by and knew what was happening even before it did and said and did nothing.
I’ve spent the year catching myself, talking to a friend about how I worry my heart is hardening and then I spend sleepless nights trying to think about the devastation on those innocents out side of Israel and I hav edit work so hard to push out the very real noise from people on the streets around the world and governments and in the UN who do not see us. And then I cry and pray for all the innocents. But not on my holiest of days (and I’m a furkin’ atheist), not on a day when Yizkor is so personal, not when me and my people need all of each others attention for not doing enough for each other not when “I’m not ready to make nice”.
The one thing I remind myself is that Rabbis are human and it is incumbent on us other humans to call attention, with kindness and hope for understanding and change, to the hurt they are inflicting on those in agony.
If there is any element of behaviour change we should be focussing in it is to remind us to hold accountable those individuals and communities in our family who are the most extreme and who, despite their legitimate fear and anger, are not permitted in any law to initiate situations so that they can forgo their humanity and commit murder of those they do not know are guilty. (Very different from what Yael did and in very different times.) The other thing we should remind ourselves is that we also hold those to whom we have accorded legitimate power to account for their abuses when they are committed.
Your reminder about Yael was an excellent point. I hope you will share your message with (all) the Rabbis before Yom Kippur.
Toda, Jill. שנה יותר טובה. I hope this nightmare ends soon so we can read what you write about all the other things.
P.S. for today’s google search, look up “Vancouver demonstration October 7th” under News. This is what we are dealing with in Canada.
I'm sorry you're dealing with that up north...and unfortunately, it's not unique, there were similar demonstrations in majors cities here in the USA.
Good intentions, rubbish. Evil ideas are evil. When someone says “good intentions”, the next thing you invariably hear in an apology for some bad shit.
The Palestinians willing sacrifice their children on the alter of Jew hate.
Dead women and children are a necessary political tool.
Sinwar himself, has said this is part of their strategy.
The idea of “ women and children to the boats” is anathema to their “modis apperandi “.
What has your comment got to do with the substance of this particular post?
Right there with you!
Thought provoking. Thanks for writing it. I don’t agree, because I believe it is in fact the place of clergy to encourage our humanity in the ways described. It is not “virtue signaling” (a meaningless term I abhor because it’s typically used by people engaged in vice signaling). But I definitely appreciate your perspective and liked reading it.
Agree that virtue signaling is an overused term...but not inappropriate if someone is actually doing it!
I agree that it is the place of clergy to encourage our better selves. To make this specific sermon in the midst of Israel's battle for survival is inappropriate.
Compassion is a complex emotion. We can feel it for those who wrong us even as we want justice for ourselves.
To me, this sermon is like the pro-Palestinian demonstrations - delivered without context and with no small amount of arrogance.
It is evil to show any support or empathy for those who initiate force against a peaceful neighbor, period, no exceptions.
I disagree.
Fair enough
This Rabbi is part of the problem. She is one of those “me too” Jews who I am sure is throwing her support for Mamala! Now is not the time to feel sorry for what our enemy has inflicted upon its people! Now it the time to unconditionally win a war started and waged by our enemy against us! This is the only way we can live in peace and not wait for the next 10/7 to be perpetuated against us. Unfortunately Mamala and her crew will never allow this to happen. Am Yisrael Chai!🇮🇱
Did you read the title of my Substack?
I did…. My issue is with the Rabbi and her message, and those in her camp. Now is not the time for anti-Zionist Jews. Now is not the time for a negotiated cease fire. Now is the time to win a war we must win! Now is the time to decapitate the Malays of Iran! Than there will be peace for all those suffering!
Okay, but you seem to be directing a lot of your anger towards Kamala. Most of her Jewish supporters, myself included, are not "anti-Zionist."
I absolutely do. I honestly believe she does not have Israel’s back. She is more interested in not alienating her antisemetic, lefty,supporters. I happen to be a right of center centrist. I have always been a Never-Trumper.. I hate him. But I recognize how dangerous the democrats have become to Israel’s survival. They will not allow us to win the war, they only want to negotiate a cease fire. We can’t go into Rafa, we can’t engage Hezbolla, We can’t take out Iran’s nuclear capabilities or its oil refinery. We can’t call Netanyahu on 10/7. She is no friend of Israel! I love Israel more than I hate Trump. He is the only alternative. It pains me to say he has my vote. It pains me more that my liberal Jewish friends don’t see the emminent danger Kamala poses.
Amen to you. I agree with every word you said. Thank you for speaking up.
Wondering who Jill thinks would be a better PM than Netanyahu at this horrific time in Israel.
So many of my liberal Jewish friends unfortunately can’t get past their Trump Derangement Syndrome or their “social consciousness” to see clearly. Voting for Mamala and the Dems is an existential threat to Israel and Jews in the west!
Buchdal is trying to stay in a good place with all the jew hating liberal interfaith orgs. Virtue signalling. Hint for her. They don’t care.
For Kol Nidre this year their sermon was about the need to listen to "the other side" even if it makes us uncomfortable and not end friendships over it. It's a nice idea, but it left out a big question: are they willing to listen to do the same for us?
PS I highly doubt the rabbi in question would practice what she preaches with a MAGA person, just speculating.
Exactly. MAGA beyond the pale
Is it possible she meant listening to others within our Jewish community (especially those who have become useful idiots on the right and left) so that we can engage in a conversation that maybe can go somewhere more constructive for all? I listened to a conversation the other day on NPR with three people, two of whom had voted for the Orange Maggot (of which one of whom was not going to) and one who will be voting for Harris. They were all well-spoken, respectful, not crazy-sounding. Of course, I disagreed with the Trumper, but she was not loathsome and, though her perspective was factually problematic and her reasons for wanting to vote for him were so narrow in scope (perhaps like when Jews for for Trump with single-minded notion that “it’s good for the Jews”, even if everything points to what a faulty logic that is), she was someone one could engage with. She wasn’t running around with guns and horns and storming The Capital. Those are the people that, when we have the energy, we can try to see as human being and talk to. And it is the same with those who are overwhelmed by the antisemitic strain in the media who don’t yet know better. But the rare conversations we can only have one-on-one, in-person, because responding to people with electronic platforms goes nowhere. And yes, once in while, we tell them to F*CK off (or they tell us 🤷🏻♀️) because they are being disingenuous, insecure about how little they know and are driven by ego and slogans.
Progressive Jews know nothing of the Jewish religion, nor of how Jews have survived.
All of them? Really? Going to have to disagree with you on that one.
I have never met people afflicted with more self delusion about the conflict - literally erasing Hamas from their own memory so they can confess to their non-Jewish peer how awful “Israel versus poor Palestinian civilians” this war is.
They are pathetic, evil, and do not count for anything. It is only the righteous that count. Stand for the moral cause, it is the detractors that are immoral. It means nothing to argue with them, they are evil no matter how many there appear to be. Write them off, they deserve only your contempt.
I'm pathetic and evil? Did you note the title of my Substack...?
No, not you Jill, things are getting scrambled here. My comment was to affirm Arrr Bee’s post where it is indicated that the Hamas atrocities are wiped out of the minds of the Hamas supporters, and the war is framed as “Israel versus the poor Palestinian civilians”.
Oh, hey, hi there! Ummm, progressive Jew here. You just ❤️ my comment. I know plenty about Judaism. So not sure what your point is.
Tikkun Olam is not THE central tenant of Judaism, and taking care of other Jews is a much higher value than the progressive habit of caring so much about virtue signaling that throwing the threatened, embattled and also largest community in the world under the bus is the knee-jerk response of progressive Jews to Islamist terrorism and far-leftist antisemitism. Running to the front to dump on Israel is a progressive habit.
Jews have survived because of mutual assistance in the face of an antisemitic world. The token Jew obsession with attacking Israel and obsequiously courting the approval of those who support the genocide of Jews - that isn't Jewish. Token Jews are pretty much the product of these distorted progressive Jewish community values.
Why are you saying (venting) all this here? But since you have: No one here, especially the author of this column, remotely fits your notions of what a progressive Jew is. With respect, it’s not for you to tell Jews how to be better at being Jewish. We are all human; we are all finding our way. Intention matters.
As for Tikkun Olam: It is consist with the mitzvah of living in way that is aiming to be a light unto nations (but less pompous sounding). It is about putting good into the world and it is inextricably linked to the heart of what it means to live a life of mitzvah. Of the 613 mitzvot for many of us (not a single one that indicates one should be only one’s self or one’s Nation or that we should tolerate behaviours that are assumed to be done in the name of us when they counter Jewish or the civil laws where we reside. There are many troublesome tenets, rituals and traditions in Judaism which we have come to realize are not something we do anymore because … 2024/5785. Some choose to do the less weird ones and some choose not to. The quality of the Jewish soul is not for you to dictate.
I’m not sure why you think a minority of misguided Jews on the far left are any less misguided than those on the far right. I also don’t think you have an accurate understanding of what it means to be a progressive Jew for many of us, including the author of this Substack. You may want to take the time to “listen” more and read her columns and not resort to generalizations
I get that you are angry and distraught about a lot of things that are worth being angry and worried about, but raging at fellow Jews yo don’t know woh are also in pain and who want peace and assuming we support terrorism is way off base in so many ways?
Wishing you a Shana Yoter tova and the calm within to nurture our nation rather than alienate each other further.
I'm not stating that Jill, who I follow, has such an attitude. But I am saying that the insanity of anti-Zionist "Jews" grew directly out of progressive Jewish institutions, and their love of making alliances with non-Jews who casually support the genocide of Jews, over building bridges to Jewish communities who *gasp* might vote Republican, or even more horrifying, Israeli Jews who might have voted for Netanyahu. The people who reach for "Islamophobia" whenever someone raises the reality of Muslim and the far-left attacks on diaspora Jews have been progressives. There is a long history of progressives obfuscating who is behind the deepest antisemitism in the west. I'm a liberal, consistent Democratic Party voter, though the latter is something I very much question now.
It's not a substack thing - I have no problem telling anti-Zionists off to their face. I have cut off friends whose wife is a JVP member, and no amount of posturing modifies such a Jew into something other than an antisemitic, terrorism supporting kook.
In the United States, where I assume we both live, the only group in Congress who is actively standing with those trying to destroy Israel and commit a genocide of millions of Israeli Jews are members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, including Jewish representatives and senators. The only NGOs who have made statements in support of Hamas have been progressive ones. The only newspapers who engage in never-ending anti-Israel propaganda are progressive ones. Maybe you missed the pattern, but I can't avoid seeing it. Progressives are the fellow travelers of the Free Palestine cult, and there is a serious need for progressive institutions, especially Jewish ones, to confront their tacit participation in creating this monster.
Addition: I doubt that the token Jews of the antisemitic far-left care much about
לא תעמוד על דם רעך (https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/85340?lang=bi)
Token Jews literally profit (professionally in leftist spheres, attention-wise, some of them money-wise too) from assisting those who promote the genocide of Jews.
Shana tova to you too.
Most of us who attended progressive institutions (myself included) didn’t turn out like these anti-Zionist cretins you speak of. They are a small but very empowered and loud minority, and they need to be categorized appropriately.
Sure, I accept that's the case for most Jewish institutions. Rabbinical schools in the US do manage to produce an odd number of token Jew rabbis, though.
Outside of Jewish circles? I'm forever done with the CPC and its members, NPR, progressive NGOs. Unless they root out their antisemitic staff, and they simply won't, they're not worth supporting.
I think you’ve assigned far too many characteristics to Jews who identify as progressive who are supportive of Israel as our indigenous homeland because of a handful of loud and ignorant people, thus throwing out the proverbial baby with the bath water. If you want to convince the handful who are behaving like useful idiots then kindly respect that most of us are not. Tikkun Olam means working on ourselves to be better with each other so we can all be and do better in the worlds we inhabit. Also, some of us are atheists and still very Jewish (including being very Zionist while expecting we hold ourselves and each other accountable, lest we let our inner Golem’s devolve from our need to to defend against credible threats toward something far more sinister.
I’m assigning real characteristics to ‘progressives’. If progressive Jews can’t see clearly who their alleged “allies” are and what is happening in their institutions, that blindness is on them. To remain ‘progressive’ after this year of war is a choice. Progressives (no emphasis on progressive Jews here) are the ones who opened the doors in their organizations (news media, academia, the arts) to the antisemitic far-left, with all the kook ideas emerging from academia, including the Free Palestine cult. Progressive ideas are simply wrong (DEI, pronouns, “Defund”, “Ceasefire Now”, “Free Palestine”) and that includes elevating Tikkun Olam to THE mitzvah among 613 other ones. The fact that Reform Judaism pumped out so many pathetic anti-Zionist token Jews should give that movement a serious pause to reconsider its values. Lo Ta’amod Al Dam Re’akha. Progressive anti Zionist token Jews are literally profiting from the spilled blood and persecution of their fellow Jews. That’s a deep violation of a core mitzvah. There, we can play dueling mitzvah interpretations - beyond the fact that antizionist Jews clearly misunderstand ‘Tikkun Olam’ if they think assisting totalitarian theocratic regimes is making the world a better place in any way.
You have an urge to explain to me why I should keep reading NYT and others like them? I canceled that subscription. How about that I should listen to NPR? Done donating to that propaganda arm of the Free Palestine cult. What about donating to progressive politicians? Sorry, after their arms embargo attempts and open support for antisemitic colleagues I am donating money against them in every primary. The CPC should be dismantled from the grassroots up. Progressive causes? Never donating to a single one again, because they won’t clean their house of sociopathic Free Palestine cult members, and they don’t stick to their mission. Notice, this isn’t about progressive Jews, but I seriously don’t understand how any Jew can remain a progressive seeing how their news sources and intellectuals (propagandist self promoters like Coates and every BLM and “Antiracist” figure, every unfunny progressive comedian and idiotic progressive politician) stand with Islamist terrorists against Israel.
This is one of the big problems in liberal Judaism. Sympathizing with the people who hate us is a problem. Sermonizing while quoting Barack Obama doesn’t do it for me. Refusing to be realistic is not a virtue. It can be suicidal. Looking at the world as it really is, is not a sign of callousness. Instead, it’s common sense. I hope the attachment of Jews to trendy “liberal” causes is broken by the recent chain of events in Israel. Hopefully people will be more receptive to facts, logic, and reality as opposed to utopian aspirations and virtue signaling.That would be one good thing to come out of the horrifying nightmare of October 7th and its aftermath.
The entire reform leadership are a disappointment - starts with Rick Jacobs . They made a strategic decision to embrace wokeness in order to attract younger folks - they distorted Torah to fit a narrative that was political and morally inconsistent . They have looked the other way and took no responsibility for the unintended impacts of issues they pushed - from bail reform, raising the age , anti-racism , trans issue (mainly woman in men’s sports ) and openly ridiculed those who warned of the dangers . Countless other far left social issues that have divided the nation and demonized half the country . They have failed
Destroying Amalek is not for the faint of heart.
We do not mourn for Sisera whose son was positively evil. We contrast her crying in vein with our prayers which when we have nothing to say we use the Shofar as a way of saying prayers without words.It is a profound misuse of a Biblical text and a terrible exercise in moral equivalence to say that we mourn for Sisera
She was saying we should mourn for his mother, not for him.
We don’t shed tears or have sympathy for someone who raised such a terrible person
One of the reasons why 100 Shofar blows is to parallel the 100 cries of Sisera’s mother In the Machzor Mesoras HaRav which is based on the teachings of Rabbj Joseph Soloveitchik of blessed memory at Pages 506-507 the question is raised as to why the 100 cries of Sisera’s mother have any relevance in Halacha(Jewish law ) .Rabbi Soloveitchik of blessed memory posited than the mother of Sisera was complacently expecting her son’s triumphant return and cried very intent upon sending that he had died and the shofar must be blown in a way that wakes us up from our spiritual complacency which is a central theme of the prayers of Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur.