1.With Gratitude

I was not surprised to see the terrific response to our Israel Emergency Campaign. We are at our best in times of great need and those among you who made online donations are not only prompt but also generous. This campaign and threat is the most significant in the history of the State of Israel and we are blessed to have the supportive Jewish communities that we have.

While October 7th has forever changed us, our generosity remains the same. When you go to jewishnewbedford.org to make your donation, or when you mail back the envelope you received this week, remember that 100% of your contribution goes to Israel’s Trauma Coalition, Magen David Adom, Soroka and Barzilai Medical Centers and is dedicated to the victims of these atrocities. I would like to thank all of you, those who have already participated and those who will join them in the coming days. Israel Needs You.

Am Yisrael Chai

2.Come Together, Right Now

The Los Angeles JewishJournal’s David Suissa says that the one-two punch of massacres and rise in hatred towards Jews has ignited a new level of Jewish solidarity. 

"Something noteworthy is sweeping through much of the Jewish world. Jews have bonded over disgust. They’re disgusted, first, by the savage murder, rape, torture, kidnapping and mutilation of more than 1400 Israelis of all ages at the hands of Hamas on October 7. But they’re disgusted, too, by the stunning explosion of Jew-hatred around the world and on college campuses. This explosion, it must be noted, didn’t wait for Israel’s retaliation; it came immediately after the massacres."

Here's "How October 7 Has Reignited Jewish Peoplehood."

3.Take Care, Beware

That the global spike in antisemitism continues is (sadly) not surprising. FBI director Christopher Wray warned of increased threat of attacks amid 'historic levels' of antisemitism in the US.

"While Jews account for less than 3% of the U.S. population, around 60% of religious-based hate crimes target Jews. Last week, the Anti-Defamation League reported a 21% spike in antisemitic activity in the United States since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7. (Other countries have seen much larger spikes as well as arrests of people suspected of planning terror attacks targeting Israelis and Jews.)"

“The Jewish community is targeted by terrorists really across the spectrum — homegrown violent extremists; foreign terrorist organizations, both Sunni and Shia; domestic violent extremists,” Wray said.

One of the emails I read every morning, from SCN –Secure Community Network, has become a three- or four-times-daily update recently. Among today’s messages was a report of threatening phone calls to Jewish schools in Virginia, Washington, D.C. and Indiana.

At Cornell University 21-year-old student Patrick Dai was arrested and will remain behind bars for posting threats to kill members of the Jewish community. I hope that if he is found guilty he will be punished to the full extent of the law so that perhaps this becomes a deterrent. Here is a CBS report on that case.

Also from CBS is this report about the Biden administration's measures to combat antisemitism on U.S. campuses. College campuses are and will continue to be a battleground. Leaders at America’s most prominent schools have so far failed the basic tests of right and wrong - not to mention tests of fact and reason. Against that poor display, and sadly in the minority, is University of Arizona President Robert Robbins who said, “Let's call it what it is: antisemitic hatred, murder, and a complete atrocity.” Exactly. Here’s more on that story and to hoping the next Jewish mega donor calls Robbins instead of Cornell, Harvard or Penn.

4.Not Twisted at All

When I saw how  Dee Snider of Twisted Sister reacted to the IDF using his biggest hit - "We're Not Gonna Take It" - as a battle cry, I checked in with the my cousin (the group’s guitar player Jay Jay French). "I don’t mind it at all," said Jay Jay. He agreed with his singer.

"You know what? Israelis, the assault on the Israelis, people are losing sight of something. People saying that, 'Oh, the response is gonna be too intense for what happened.' Well, you don't get to decide on the response when you do heinous things to civilians. You don't get to say, 'Oh, that's enough, that's enough retaliation,'" Snider told TMZ. Thank you for taking it in the best way possible Dee.

5.Long and Winding

I always say that if you go past 1,000 words you might as well stop in the middle of the sentence because no one will read further. That said, from time to time there are exceptions to the rule. This article from The Atlantic is one.

We are obligated to be educated on narratives (both true and not) so that we can understand events and comment on them with knowledge and intelligence. There are some narratives that have become common and sadly many of those who use them against us (often motivated by hate and not fact) have made decolonization one of them. Simon Sebag Montefiore is always worth reading. I hope you read "The Decolonization Narrative Is Dangerous and False" all the way through.

6.Under Attack and Alone

Hamas terrorists massacred at least 1,400 Jews in Israel, including babies and the elderly; they tortured, raped and kidnapped Jews as hostages. It was a modern-day pogrom. As Jews we never thought such things could happen. And instead of bringing condemnation on Hamas, the attack has inspired a global wave of antisemitism - most painfully, here in the United States.

“Part of what we’re feeling is ‘Are we alone here?’” said Rabbi Rick Jacobs, president of the Union for Reform Judaism, the umbrella group for America’s largest Jewish movement, which is overwhelmingly progressive. “‘Where are our partners? Are they standing with us? Are they feeling our pain?’”

For more here’s "What a Lonely Time to Be a Jew in America" by Dana Milbank.

7.HaTikvah

Kevin Chen who performed in Israel earlier this year is a Arthur Rubinstein Award winner. He opened his Carnegie Hall concert last week with Hatikvah. Perhaps there is in fact hope after all.

8.Blue Allies

Blue ribbons have gone up around Boston in solidarity with the Israelis being held hostage. It is part of a nationwide solidarity campaign. “The message here is that there are over 200 hostages, ages 9 months to 85 years old, they’re going on three weeks of being hostages and we are uniting to bring them home,” said Shira Goodman, the immediate past chair of Combined Jewish Philanthropies. “It’s also a message of support to their family and friends that they are not alone.”

Forward, on the same topic, shares, "American Jews are mobilizing to free Israeli hostages - will it make a difference?"

We have blue ribbons at the Federation available for you as well. Visit our Federation office if you would like one.

9.Sing Along With The Maccabeats

"When words fail, as they often have after the events of the past weeks, we turn to song and prayer. We come together to perform Avinu SheBashamayim, the prayer for the welfare of the State of Israel.

10.March On

In "The Army Marches on Its Stomach" an Israel Defense Forces reserve soldier reveals what the food is like. Dror Goldman is the son of Moshe Goldman, a member of CJP’s Boston-Haifa Shared Society Committee.

"Breakfast: Eggs (prepared in an unspecified way) and a vegetable salad, perhaps the same one from yesterday, tuna with corn kernels (why?), tahini, bread, and various other items. But where are the cornflakes I’m used to?" he writes.

For more, read the linked article. Below are some recipes inspired by this piece.

For Your Calendar

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