Where are the artists and entertainers who parroted Hamas lies about ethnic cleansing, forced starvation, and genocide and pleaded if only for a ceasefire?? Where are they today? Where are the college useful idiots that demanded a halt to the bombing of Gaza??? Where are they today?
Assuming all goes as planned and the war grinds to a halt and hostages are freed and the war ends and humanitarian aid floods Gaza, we shall see if the hatred abates. I hope it does. I fear it won’t.
All of this shows that our work is not finished. The need to educate, engage, and participate has never been greater.
Let’s all do our part: Let’s continue to be committed to truth, committed to engagement, and committed to preparedness.
The future looks better today than it did yesterday. But much remains to be done.
This week, we mark the 77th anniversary of the creation of the state of Israel. That recognition by the United Nations was the realization of the redemption of the connection between the Jews and the land of Israel– a connection that traces back thousands of years.
In fact, Israel is the only country on earth that has a continuous presence of a people, a language and a religion that traces back for so long. That is the textbook definition of indigeneity.
But we live in perilous times. Our ancestral homeland is under persistent attack from enemies in the region and from the international community, the media and our educational institutions.
As Mark Twain once said: “History may not repeat itself, but it rhymes.” And it is certainly rhyming right now– rhyming and reminiscent of a time where it was dangerous to be “visibly Jewish.”
We have a choice. We can hide our identity and hope that this maelstrom blows over. Or we can rise up in defense of our people, our values and our history.
In the past, we suffered horrible losses as a people because we did not have Israel as a source of protection, pride and inspiration. Today, we suffer threats and dangers because we HAVE an Israel — a source of pride, protection and inspiration.
We must all act to protect and defend our people and our ancestral homeland. We must not be reluctant to engage, educate and defend.
And there are many ways to do that. We can all learn about the merits of our case for Israel in this defensive war. We can be armed with history and facts. We can all be secure that we command the moral high road. And we can all show our support for Israel by visiting, volunteering with Sar El, and engaging in our own communities.
We have a lot to be proud of. We also have a lot of work to do. But together, we strengthen each other. And together, we will prevail.
This week marks the one year anniversary of the creation of American Friends of Sar El. I thought it would be appropriate to share with you the ways in which you have contributed to the success of Sar El and have helped to create Sar El alumni that are the tip of the spear in the fight against Jewish and Israel hatred.
In the 12 months from the anniversary of that awful October 7, 2023 day, over 65,000 volunteers from 34 countries have volunteered on IDF bases with Sar El. More than 30 percent of those volunteers are not Jewish.
Volunteers prepared over 300,000 uniforms, packed over 1,000,000 meal packages for combat soldiers assembled 23,000 ceramic vests, and prepared 90 percent of ALL of the medical kits used by IDF soldiers in the field of battle.
Their contributions to the people of Israel have had a direct impact on the success of the IDF in the defense of our ancestral homeland.
And because of your support, AFOSE has funded a number of educational and cultural programs that are a vital part of the volunteer experience on the bases including: service with Magen David Adom to learn CPR and first aid; exposure to fundamentals of Krav Maga; trips to historically-significant sites in Israel such as the David Ben Gurion, Haganah and Anu Museums; lectures on the impact of October 7 on the artistic expressions of Israeli painters and photographers; tools to combat online antisemitism; joint excursions with Birthright participants; and lectures from Druze and Ethiopian IDF soldiers on the experiences of non-Jewish soldiers. And we are beginning a program of volunteer trips to moshavim to assist in agricultural harvesting efforts.
Coupled with the experience of working shoulder-to-shoulder with IDF soldiers in serving the logistical needs of the army, these volunteers come away with a deep commitment to Israel, an increased knowledge and understanding of the tapestry of Israeli society and culture,and a rock solid foundation to confront and engage with those that peddle in Jewish and Israel hate.
But the job is far from done. The task of defense of Israel and combatting Jewish and Israel hate has never been more important. The one year anniversary of Sar El also marks the 17th- month anniversary of the war launched against Israel. Dozens of hostages remain in terror tunnel dungeons.
I know that you are inundated with requests for donations from many worthy organizations. But the contribution of Sar El to Israel and to the diaspora is immense. And so, I am asking you to help us yet again to continue this important work.
Please go to www.afose.org and donate so that we can increase the number of programs and volunteers to help save lives and to help Israel in its time of need.
The people of Israel — and I — cannot thank you enough for contributing to this vital effort.
This year’s Holocaust Remembrance Day marks the 80th anniversary of the end of World War 2 and the liberation of the concentration camps. It marks the 80th anniversary of the culmination of a wave of Jew hatred that resulted in the murder of 6 million Jews.
Yet– despite the enormity of that tragedy– the world is consumed in a once-unthinkable tsunami of Jewish and Israeli hatred.
Record numbers of violent acts directed at individual Jews, synagogues, schools, homes and institutions bombard us daily. Incredibly, these once-unthinkable occurrences began immediately after the deadliest day in Jewish history since the Holocaust– the unimaginable tragedy of October 7.
The often blurred distinction between Israel and Jewish hatred has been completely obliterated. . Israel hatred has been proven to be what it always was: hatred of Jews cloaked in a transparent anti- colonial, anti- oppressor facade.
And the words “Never Again” have been incomprehensibly transformed into a genocide inversion: the vile accusation that defense of Israeli citizens against a repetition of October 7 has made Israel the new Nazis. The hypocrisy is both palpable and disgusting.
But complacency or silence in the face of these realities is not an option. We must respond.
We must respond with a commitment to truth, a commitment to community, a commitment to engagement, and a commitment to preparedness.
At AFOSE, we offer an opportunity to help create a vast network of informed, committed and engaged volunteers that assist Israel in its greatest time of need.
Each of us has the capacity to make a difference. Visit Israel. Volunteer to help Israel through Sar El or any of the dozens of volunteer opportunities. Display your mezzuzot and other visible displays of Jewishness. Be proud to be a Jew, a Zionist, and a supporter of Israel.
Bottom line: Be engaged. Be strong. And together- Jews and non-Jews alike-we will strengthen each other.
In the coming days, Jews will mark the High Holy Days, the beginning of a new year, a time of renewal and redemption. These holy days also coincide with the commemoration of the October 7 atrocities.
This past year began with bloodiest day in Jewish history since the Holocaust. On that awful day in October, over 10,000 terrorists infiltrated Israel’s southern border and began a rampage of murder, rape, abduction, desecration and barbarity. No one was spared: hundreds of young people murdered at a music festival; elderly Jews and non Jews murdered; children killed in front of parents, parents murdered in front of children, hundreds of Israelis and Americans and other foreign nationals abducted and ferried across the border to be paraded on the streets, abused and- for those fortunate enough to survive- squirreled away in terror tunnels deprived of food water and basic human needs. Words are inadequate to describe the horrors.
This week, during the afternoon service of the High Holy Days, the Hazzan will chant the Hineni prayer. In that prayer, the Hazzan- on behalf of the congregation- humbles himself or herself before God and asks for the power to pray. The Hazzan essentially says “here I am,” and I am not worthy of the role as messenger of the congregation. Nonetheless, I implore God to give me the ability to convey the congregation’s communal and devout wish to seek repentance and to be inscribed in the Book of Life.
Despite the singular phrasing of the prayer, we are all joining and essentially saying “here WE are.” We are humbled before God and ready for the difficult work ahead to repent and to realize our full potential.
Hineni. “Here I am.” Here we are. We all have the power to animate that devotion by doing something palpable to defend the land of Israel and to strengthen the hands of those that defend our Holy Land. Now is the time to actually declare “Here I am.” This is an inflection point in the history of the Jewish people and in the history of Israel.
Volunteer through Sar El. It isn’t a slogan to suggest that volunteers save lives. Volunteering through Sar El is a concrete and effective way to show your support for Israel at this critical time .
Show the world that we have the moral courage and commitment to say Hineni, here I am, ready and willing to do whatever it takes to ensure the survival of our people, the survival of Israel and the survival of Western values.
Today, we mourn the murders of 6 innocent Israelis as our worst
fears have come true. Hersh Goldberg-Polin 23, Eden Yerushalmi 24, Ori Danino 25, Almog Sarusi 27, Alex Lobanov 32, and Carmel Gat 40, all having been kidnapped by terrorists were ruthlessly murdered and found beneath the ground in Hamas terror tunnels.
Our hearts go out to the families of theses young souls. Our prayers are with the people of Israel and the remaining hostages that are the continuing pawns of a Hamas death cult bent on killing Jews. And our prayers are with the brave young soldiers of the IDF that defend our ancestral homeland.
This is the time to demonstrably show our support for Israel. This is time to engage and visit Israel. This is the time to volunteer with Sar El and help the IDF succeed in its mission to rid the region of Hamas and its ilk and to restore stability to the lives of our Israeli brothers and sisters. This is the time to act.
July 4 marks the 9th month of Israel’s defensive war in Gaza, the 271st day of captivity for hostages still held by Hamas terrorists, and Independence Day here in America.
There has rarely been a more challenging time to be a Zionist or a Jew. We are inundated with anti-Jewish and anti-Israel hate from virtually all corners of the political spectrum.
Even our once reliable political allies seem to have been seduced by simplistic assumptions about who are the oppressed and who are the oppressors, who are indigenous and who are colonialists, who are protected by democratic institutions and who are repressed , who are tolerant and who are messengers of hate, who value life and who worship death.
Moral clarity has been muddled. And America seems to have become an unsafe place to be a Jew or a supporter of Israel.
But despite the challenges, there are glimmers of hope. I live in Port Clyde, Maine, a small and picturesque coastal town. It’s a Norman Rockwellian village of about 350 people– mostly hard working fishermen, lobstermen and women, carpenters and the like. It’s a rare mixture of multi- generational locals and summer folks that spans the economic and social spectrum. Political views vary.
It is colloquially and affectionately called “Port Clyde, America” because it reflects the best of American values- faith, family, hard work, patriotism, neighborliness, honesty and reliability. People are judged by their character and their commitment to community. Extremism and intolerance have no quarter here. There are very few Jews.
On October 8– one day after the Hamas massacre of Jews and non-Jews, I was struck to see– in the middle of a
large field on the main road to this tiny town– a large Israel flag displayed prominently by an anonymous resident.
Over the following 9 months, I have counted more than a dozen visible displays of support for Israel and the United States /Israel alliance. Flags, yard signs and banners proudly proclaim that support for the Jewish state is an expression of American values.
I was overwhelmed with gratitude and heartened by support from these non-Jews who recognized the simple choice between right and wrong, between truth and lies, and between good and evil.
Here, in Port Clyde, America, there is no need for “context.” Here, in Port Clyde, America, when you kidnap, murder, rape, mutilate, and attack, self defense is not only warranted, it’s expected. Here, in Port Clyde, America, we defend the values that make America — and Israel–what they are: “a light unto the nations.”
So as we celebrate the independence of the greatest nation in the the history of civilization, there is cause for optimism. Support for Israel is an American value. It’s not complicated. It doesn’t need to be contextualized. It’s not nuanced. It’s simple. And it’s right.
October 7, 2023 changed everything for Jews and non-Jews everywhere. In Israel, the infiltration of 3000 terrorists shattered the illusion of Israel’s invincibility, and left in its wake 1300 people murdered, raped, burned, beheaded, desecrated or abducted. The entire nation has been shaken to its core.
In the United States, our complacency and security as Jews has been jarringly shattered as we confront Jew hatred and anti Israel hatred on a scale and volume that we have never experienced in our lifetimes.
AFOSE exists to fight this hatred. By contributing to AFOSE’s educational and cultural programs with the IDF, Magen David Adom or agricultural opportunities –all through Sar El–you will help equip an army of Jewish and non Jewish alumni to engage and combat anti Jewish and anti Israel hatred. You will help volunteers tell the truth about the resiliency and morals of Israel as a nation and as individuals.
Apart from the usual extreme right haters, we have witnessed the rise of a perverse progressivism that has simplistically and wrong-headedly determined that Israel and Jews are oppressors, white settler colonialists, apartheid adherents, genocidal monsters and ethnic cleansers.
One thing is clear: the distinction between anti Jewish and anti Israel hate has been destroyed. Slogans like “Rape is resistance,” “Gas the Jews,” “Babies are Occupiers Too,” and “Globalize the Intifada” demonstrate the complete blending of ignorance, Jew hatred and Israel hatred.
For non Jews, the issue is also clear: attacks on Jews and Israel are attacks on western civilization. Moral clarity reinforced what Rabbi Jonathan Sacks prophetically said: “What begins with the Jews never ends with the Jews.”
But we- Jews and non Jews- are not helpless. We must confront, educate, engage and combat hatred wherever it arises. We must renew our Committment to Truth, to Community and to Engagement.
AFOSE is committed to fulfilling these commitments: In our Committment to Truth: AFOSE will educate the haters about the nature of Israel as the greatest anti colonial experiment in the history of the world. AFOSE funded programs will remind the world that Jews- from Judea- settled in the land of Israel some 16 centuries before Islam was even a religion. No people in the history of the world has a greater connection to a land than Jews to Israel. That connection did not begin in 1948.
AFOSE sponsored volunteers will remind the haters that– rather than white settler colonialists — Israelis are a diverse blend of Mizrachis from North Africa, Africans from Ethiopia and Ashkenazim from Europe.
Let us remind the haters that any suggestion of “ethnic cleansing” is belied by demographics. In 1947, there were 950,000 Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. Today, there are 5.4 million. If Israel is engaged in ethnic cleansing, they stink at it.
In response to the claims of “apartheid,” let us remind the world that 20 percent of Israelis are Arab, and among other jobs- they are doctors, lawyers, members of the Knesset, and Supreme Court justices. That is not apartheid.
Nor is the defensive war initiated by Hamas a “genocide.” Despite the media’s abject failure to report the actual war news, the IDF’s conduct of the war ranks among the most successful military operations in the history of urban warfare with the lowest ratio of civilian deaths to armed combatant deaths in history. That’s not propaganda. That’s the finding of experts at West Point.
The cornerstone of AFOSE’s purpose is to renew our Commitment to Community and Commitment to Engagement. We are reminded by our tradition that- Kol Yisrael Areivim Zeh l’zeh– we are all responsible for each other. And we are reminded by our tradition that we should not separate ourselves from the community.
By supporting AFOSE’s educational and cultural programs through volunteerism opportunities with Sar El, we will help create a vast network of alumni that will serve as effective advocates for Israel and that will combat the anti Jewish and anti Israel hate that pervade our media and social discourse. After working shoulder to shoulder with Israelis, AFOSE alumni will be armed with experience and life Lessons that will serve us all well.
AFOSE will work to broaden and deepen the connection between Americans — of all faiths — and Israel through the funding of cultural and educational programs associated with the logistical, emergency medical, and agricultural needs of Israel.
By developing substantive volunteer opportunities and project content in close coordination with Sar El — the National volunteer project of Israel — we will help generate a large and diverse volunteer alumni group that has spent time on the ground in Israel, and has shared the experience of providing much needed support to Israel at a time when it is most needed..
Having worked shoulder-to-shoulder with Israelis, and armed with experience, knowledge and facts, those alumni will become Ambassadors that can serve as the tip of the spear to combat the anti- Jewish and anti-Israel narrative that pervades the media and the academy in the areas of the United States in which they live.
Volunteerism through Sar El is truly “as real as it gets.” The experience is not only rewarding, it is life changing- both for the volunteer and for the Israelis with whom they interact. It strengthens the bonds of brother and sisterhood, and brings to life the wisdom of our teaching that “Kol yisroel areivim zeh l’zeh” -we are all responsible for each other.
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