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Category Archives: News
Yes, Biden and Trump Are Old…
An essay I wrote about the issue of age in the presidential contest was recently published at Religion News Service and can be read here.
Know Them By Their Mannequins
What do an established clothing store in Gaza and a new shawarma eatery in Jordan have in common?
Don’t think too hard. Just click here for the answer, provided in my Ami column last week.
The New Third Reich
Georgia Congressman Hank Johnson believes that capitulating to a group whose motto is ““Death to the US, death to Israel, curse the Jews, and victory for Islam” is the way to go.
To read about his idea, and my thoughts about it, please click here.
An Ugly Law of Human Nature
Long ago, I wrote an essay “The Beauty of Anti-Semitism.”
If you’re intrigued by what I meant by that provocative phrase (and it’s something most timely today), please click here.
Letter to the editor, appeared in print on 1/13/24
To the Editor:
Re “For Gaza’s Babies, War’s Effects Will Never End,” by Alice Rothchild (Opinion guest essay, Jan. 11):
The effect of the Israel-Hamas conflict on expectant mothers and on babies is horrific, as is all the death and destruction in Gaza today.
It must end immediately.
Hamas must do what Germany and Japan did in 1945: surrender — and, here, release the kidnapped Israelis it hasn’t yet murdered.
(Rabbi) Avi Shafran
New York
The writer is the director of public affairs at Agudath Israel of America.
Taking Turtle Island Twits to Task
If you live in the continental United States, you are standing on Turtle Island. And you are an occupier.
Thus Spake Students for Justice in Palestine. To read about the group and some responsible colleges’ treatment of it, click here.
Presenting… The Rubas!
Have you heard of the Ruba Award? Probably not. It’s a recent prize that I recently announced, and it’s available only to a (blessedly) small subset of humanity.
But you can read about it here.
Vayechi – Missing Letter, Vital Message
All the letters of the Hebrew alphabet are found in the bracha that Yehudah is given by his father Yaakov – with one exception: the zayin.
That fact is pointed out by Rabbeinu Bachya, who notes that zayin is not only a letter but a word – meaning “sword” or, more generally, “weapon.”
He writes:
“The reason is that the malchus Yisrael, which emerges from Yehudah, will not score its essential victory through the use of weapons like [ victories achieved by] other nations. Because the sword is Esav’s heritage but [not] that of the Jewish malchus, which will not inherit the land with their swords. And is not conducted by natural means, with the strength of the hand – but rather, through the… sublime power of Hashem.
And that is why one finds in the name Yehudah, the source of the Jewish kingdom, the letters of Hashem’s name…”
That fundamental message is always important to internalize, but it is particularly timely today. We have seen, in the Jewish fight against unspeakable evil, failures of military tactics, intelligence and weaponry, and the use of the latter bringing only more hatred against Klal Yisrael.
May we soon merit to see the success that can ultimately only come from Above.
© 2023 Rabbi Avi Shafran
Dastardly Digital Deception
Groucho Marx’s challenge—“Who ya gonna believe, me or your own eyes?”—needs updating in light of some Gaza-war propaganda.
To read about it, please click here.