1. Will the South Hold?

As we were making our final preparations for Thanksgiving, a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah went into effect in Lebanon. As Hezbollah found out the hard way, even though they ditched their smartphones, they still had to accept all the terms and conditions. Since September 17, when Hezbollah started getting some really bad news on their pagers and walkie-talkies, Israel has successsfully taken out that team of leading terrorists one criminal at a time (sometimes even a few at once).

To be fair, Israel needed this ceasefire, too. Since the day after the October 7 attack, Hezbollah has fired thousands of rockets, drones, and ballistic missiles at Israel, and nearly a quarter-million Israelis have been displaced from their homes. Many towns and villages have been destroyed.

I doubt that Hezbollah will be able to maintain the ceasefire for 60 days. I expect them to declare victory regardless of what happens (whether there is anyone left to declare it is another question). I also expect some Israeli politicians and voters to say that, by accepting a ceasefire of any kind, Israel surrendered, while others will say that the ceasefire was a victory of colossal proportions. All of the above are sadly wrong.

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Leaving Lebanon to the Lebanese is a strategy that has been tried and failed for decades. While Hezbollah must now move north of the Litani River, they will most likely start rebuilding immediately. Like everything in the Middle East and in Lebanon, what happens next is truly anyone's guess. I feel that the six months I spent in Lebanon back in 1982 tend to confuse my thinking rather than clarify it, but I will share one optimistic hope. By signing a ceasefire, Iran and Hezbollah are, de facto, leaving Hamas alone in their fight. The Shiite Iranian regime has supported Sunni Hamas in the past because they carried their water by fighting Israel. However, Yahya Sinwar's decision to attack Israel on October 7 seems to have been made alone. Since then, Hamas has been more of a hindrance than a help to Iran. Now that it has been decimated, it may no longer be a deemed worthy of support, particularly when resources are thin and Iran has other pressing needs to rebuild capabilities for itself and for Hezbollah.

2. Murder In The Emirates

Zvi Kogan, a Chabad emissary in the Emirates, was murdered last week. Israel's foreign minister promised to find those who are guilty and bring them to justice.

"Chabad expanded its limited presence in the United Arab Emirates starting in 2020, when the Middle Eastern country normalized relations with Israel in a historic agreement." The murder will further test already frail relations between Israel and the UAE. It wouldn't surprise me if Iran were really behind the abduction and murder, but "if the aim of the attack was to to undermine the Abraham Accords between Israel, the UAE, and other Arab nations, Middle East analysts say it could well have the opposite effect: making those ties even stronger." Learn more about this line of thinking here.

3. The Face of Evil

John Reardon, 59, admitted to making threats against synagogues in Attleboro and Sharon earlier this year.

“Reardon now stands convicted of inflicting terror on the greater Boston Jewish community by threatening violence against fellow residents of Massachusetts solely because of their Jewish faith,” Acting U.S. Attorney Joshua S. Levy said in a statement. “This insidious, pernicious conduct must be met with the full force of the criminal justice system to make sure victims and potential offenders alike know that hate crimes and acts of antisemitism will never be tolerated.”

Reardon is facing up to 20 years in prison for the charge of obstruction of free exercise of religious beliefs by threat of force. That is the longest potential sentence among the charges he has admitted to, officials said. 

4. What Separation

"Donald Trump’s recent expression of support for instituting prayer in schools across the country is clearly alarming. Floating the very idea constitutes a blatant threat to the separation of church and state, which has been a vital principle of this country since its founding. It would take us back to benighted historical eras of the past.

"It may be that Trump was simply preaching to the choir of his evangelical supporters, not making a serious proposal of policy. And were such an initiative enacted, it would of course quickly be mired in the courts. But the threat is nonetheless serious — as the context in which the Hebrew Bible was written itself shows us," writes Robert Alter in a Forward magazine opinion piece. Alter is an emeritus professor of Hebrew and comparative literature at the University of California, Berkeley and the author of numerous books, including The Hebrew Bible: A Translation with Commentary and The Art of Bible Translation.

5. Amba Alert

She wasn’t much of a home cook when she moved to Boston with her family 18 years ago. But now, Instagram star Ruhama Shitrit brings the flavors of Israel to her US home and shares the experience through social media.

"Shitrit was already a popular food blogger before October 7, having left her previous career as a teacher in 2018 and transitioning into full-time food blogging. In the weeks and months after the Hamas terrorist attack, Shitrit kept on posting recipes accompanied by her Hebrew-accented English voiceovers around four times a week.

"As she continued gaining followers, Shitrit realized that Ruhamasfood — the title of her Instagram account, where she describes herself as a Boston-based mom of four and recipe creator in love with Middle Eastern and Mediterranean food — was actually about much more than just food, especially during the wave of anti-Israeli and antisemitic hatred on social media."

“This is my page, I’m cooking Israeli food and bringing the good of Israel to my followers,” said Shitrit. “I’m using my page and my position as a food blogger to express feelings and cook with a smile.”

You'll find her recipe for Amba-Tahini Cauliflower in the first link above. Below you'll find some more delicious takes on the white veg.