Why Bibi Deserves Our Unity in Israel's Darkest Hour (Judean Rose)

For some people, Bibi bashing is their favorite sport. Personally, I wouldn’t have wanted anyone else at the helm at this terrible, dark time for Israel and the Jewish people. When things went down with Iran, I felt relief that it was Bibi, and not Bennett, Lapid, or Gantz in charge.

I won’t deny it. There’s a lot to pin on Netanyahu. October 7 happened on his watch. And still, I believe he loves Israel and the Jewish people, and I think it’s eating him alive that October 7 happened under his leadership. So many deaths, so many atrocities—it weighs on him. You can see on in his face, in his eyes. He’s had multiple health issues since the war began: prostate surgery, urinary tract infection, food poisoning, dehydration. His skin hangs loose on his neck; his voice at the press conference with Marco Rubio was hoarse and weak. He looks beleaguered.

Am I asking you to pity him? In a sense, yes. Because pity here is another word for mercy. If Bibi is to lead us effectively, we need to get off his back. We need to stand behind him as one people.

Unity as a Jewish Imperative

Unity has always been a problem for the Jewish people. The Torah itself tells us that Israel only merited receiving the Torah when it “camped as one man with one heart” at Sinai (Exodus 19:2). Put simply, the unity of Israel (Achdut Yisrael) is not a luxury—but a condition for Jewish survival.

History shows that whenever we are fractured as a people, our enemies take advantage. The destruction of the Second Temple is remembered by our sages as the result of sinat chinam—baseless hatred among Jews. In our own time, the catastrophic October 7 massacre exposed how internal strife left us distracted and vulnerable.

Whether it’s bitter battles over judicial reform or a public letter from 80 so-called Orthodox rabbis accusing Israel of not doing enough for the Gazan people or against the settlers, division makes us weaker than the sum of our parts.

The reverse is also true. When Jews put aside differences and stand as one, we are far mightier than our numbers suggest. That is why it is so painful to see Jews curse their own prime minister in public, or parents of hostages scream at him on camera. It does not bring their children home. It only strengthens the enemy’s resolve, showing Hamas how valuable the hostages are. The cries against Bibi serve as fodder for the hatred of Jews already spreading unchecked around the globe.

Lawfare in Wartime

Instead of focusing fully on the war, Bibi is dragged into court four times a week. MK Moshe Saada calls this “utterly absurd,” a witch hunt that robs the prime minister of his most precious resource: time. Saada asks the judges to look at his children, fighting on the front lines for 350 days, and understand that this case must wait until the war is won.

I personally hate that Bibi is dragged into court four times a week. I don’t want him futzing around in court over bogus, politically motivated charges. I want him figuring out the best way to handle this war.

American commentator Mark Levin, after witnessing the trial in Tel Aviv, said it was “much worse” than he imagined—“ludicrous,” “unconscionable,” and unlike anything that would pass for justice in America. He saw what we all know: that this is lawfare meant to topple Netanyahu, even in the midst of a life-and-death war.

How can Israel fight on all fronts when we spend so much of our national energy undermining our leader?

A New Year’s Plea for Mercy and Silence

As my late mother (A”H) was wont to say, “Don’t wash your dirty linen in public.” It was good advice then, and it’s good advice now. Criticism has its place, but shouting it in the streets while our soldiers fight and our hostages languish helps no one. It weakens us all.

I love Israel. I love living here, every day. But I long for a deeper strain of patriotism in Israeli society: the instinct to defend the leader of your country reflexively in wartime, whether you voted for him or not. Bibi is not perfect. But he is ours. He is also one of us, literally. A Jew, a part of Am Yisrael, the nation of Israel.

This Rosh Hashanah, God willing, I’ll be right there in shul at sunrise, ready to ask Hashem to guide and fortify our prime minister in battle, and for the people to stand behind him. I will pray, hard, that we learn to put aside our differences and complaints—they only make us weak. Unity is the thing we need, the thing that makes us strong. It’s the thing that makes us unbeatable, unbreakable—and unstoppable as a force for good in the world.

With blessings for a sweet new year! Shana Tova. 🍎🍯

---

---

Buy EoZ's books  on Amazon! "He's an Anti-Zionist Too!" cartoon book (December 2024) PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism (February 2022)

 

Read More

Jews Praying in Judea Too “Sensitive” to Show, Says ChatGPT (Judean Rose)

Disclaimer: the views expressed here are solely those of the author, weekly Judean Rose columnist Varda Meyers Epstein.

Here’s a story that says everything about how Jewish rights are treated in today’s world.

Last week, after writing about how Jewish prayer ties us daily to the Land of Israel, I asked an AI program to suggest a feature image. Among the ideas it gave me was this: “Sunrise over the Judean hills with someone wrapped in a tallit praying.” It was perfect—authentic, moving, and exactly what my column was about. So I said, “Yes, generate it.”

The reply? “I wasn’t able to generate that image—the request violates our content policies.”

Imagine that. First, ChatGPT suggests it as an appropriate image. But when I approve it, suddenly it’s a violation. What changed? Nothing—except that the moment I asked for the image to be made real, the rules shifted. The message seems to be that Jews praying in Judea can be floated as a suggestion, but must never actually be shown.

The official explanation? That such an image was deemed “politically sensitive.”

But “politically sensitive” is just code. It means appeasing those who cannot bear to see Jews in Judea, who insist we don’t belong there. Yet Judea is not just our homeland; it is our very name. In Hebrew, it is Yehuda; from this comes Yehudi—the Jew. To call a Jew praying in Judea a violation is itself a violation: of indigeneity, of identity, of truth.

It no doubt upsets Arabs to see Jews praying in Judea. But it certainly upsets this Jew to be told we may not even depict ourselves praying in our native land. Why don’t Jewish sensitivities matter? Why do Jewish feelings count for less? Is it because there are more Arabs than Jews? More Muslims than Jews? More antisemites than Jews? Or is it simply because they shout louder?

Actually, the plain truth is starker than that. It’s this: the world simply doesn’t care what Jews feel and think. In fact, it is expected that when the world insults the Jews, the insult will be swallowed—our people too polite or too fearful to respond. We are expected to endure having our rights trampled, our sensitivities ignored. The world knows we won’t riot or burn embassies.

But those who rage at the sight of Jews in Judea—the Arabs and their sympathizers, along with the just plain Jew-hating chorus—are loud and angry and violent, especially the last. And so their outrage is indulged, while Jews are expected to tamp down their feelings—not to air them, but to starve them of oxygen until they die. Jewish love for the land is, to the Jew-hating world, inconsequential, immaterial, to be dismissed. Not because the world feels bad that the Arabs don’t have a state, but because the world really, REALLY hates Jews.

But the thing is, the refusal to depict a Jew praying in Judea is a denial of history. It’s the erasure of the Jewish right to be seen praying in the place we come from. And we must not let that go unchallenged. The world expects us not to speak out. It’s time we stopped caring.

---

---

Buy EoZ's books  on Amazon! "He's an Anti-Zionist Too!" cartoon book (December 2024) PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism (February 2022)

 

Read More

Jewish Prayers Shred the Global Palestine Fantasy (Judean Rose)

Disclaimer: the views expressed here are solely those of the author, weekly Judean Rose columnist Varda Meyers Epstein.

Anyone who’s ever read a Bible knows that God gave Israel to the Jews. And yet, as of September 3, 2025, 147 United Nations member states have declared a state of “Palestine” on Jewish land. Two non-UN member states, Vatican City and the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic also recognized “Palestine” on Jewish land, for a total of 149 entities who think it’s okay to declare what God gave to the Jewish people, a state for the people who have tried everything they know to eradicate the Jewish people.

Now, Belgium has joined the chorus of countries, along with Australia, Canada, France, Malta, and the United Kingdom, that have decided to steal Jewish land and gift it to the people who have vowed to wipe out the Jews. All of these countries will bring their declaration to the United Nations General Assembly, which begins six days from now—the latest example of a long tradition: deciding for the Jews what to do with Jewish land.

Even more so after October 7, when Jews were raped, mutilated, and burned alive by those the world wants to take over Jewish land. Why not? Antisemitic academics, international bodies, and even some misguided Jews claim that our people’s attachment to this land is a recent invention, a political project, or an act of colonialism.

But what none of these governments, scholars, or pundits can erase is the truth Jews carry in their mouths and hearts every day. In our prayers—morning, noon, and night, on weekdays, Sabbaths, and festivals—we declare again and again our eternal bond to this land. Our liturgy is our living title deed.

To be sure, not every Jew prays. Not every Jew is observant. But the Torah was given to every Jew, as was Israel. And whether or not a Jew opens a siddur, the words of prayer have bound our people together across generations, keeping Israel at the center of Jewish life.

Liturgy as Living History

These liturgical references are not accidental. Israel was not “invented” and inserted into our prayers. These references to Israel form a continuous thread from our earliest days as a people until now. The words come from God Himself—from Torah, Psalms, and Prophets. Our sages safeguarded those words and wove them into the rhythm of daily life. After the destruction of the Second Temple, the rabbis acted with purpose, ensuring that Israel and Jerusalem would never fade from our hearts. Even in exile, they structured our prayers around yearning for home.

A Jew in medieval Spain, Yemen, or Poland prayed the same words Jews say to this day: “Return in compassion to Jerusalem Your city… rebuild it soon in our days.” For two thousand years, those words kept us facing east, toward Zion. They kept us bound together as one people, one nation, with one homeland.

This is not colonial nostalgia. It is lived reality. For Jews, Israel was never “over there.” It was always right here, on our lips, in our hopes, in our obligations. The dream of return was not optional piety; it was embedded in the rhythm of our days.

Answering Today’s Critics

When today’s activists, politicians, or academics declare that Jews have no indigenous claim to Israel, they erase centuries of daily testimony. The very prayers we recite prove them wrong. Imagine a people in exile for millennia, clinging to their identity through ritual words that call them home. This is not a people inventing ties to land — it is a people preserving them against all odds.

Our critics can argue politics, but they cannot rewrite our liturgy. They cannot erase the Rachem prayer in Birkat HaMazon, the Boneh Yerushalayim in the Amidah, the Ya’aleh V’yavo on festivals, or the Al HaMichya after-blessing that recalls both the land and Jerusalem. These references to the Land of Israel are not side notes, but the heartbeat of Jewish prayer.

Jewish indigeneity to the Land of Israel is not just history written in archaeology, or law codified in scripture. It is at the heart of our daily prayers. Each blessing and each festival returns us to the land. Even in exile, the words kept us near.

Critics often speak as though Jews once lived in Israel, were exiled, and were replaced by an Arab nation called Palestine. This is a distortion of history. There was never a state called Palestine, and certainly never an Arab state by that name. While most Jews were exiled, many remained — some hiding in caves, others clinging to towns and villages. Across centuries of conquest and oppression, there was always a Jewish presence in the Land of Israel.

That is why Israel matters to Jewish people everywhere. It is not a political project, nor an afterthought of modern nationalism. It is the fulfillment of a promise never forgotten: that Israel is our home, and Jerusalem our eternal city.

📖 Some References to the Land of Israel in Jewish Liturgy

Prayer Section	Text (Hebrew / Verse / Citation)	Translation / Context
P’sukei D’zimra (Verses of Psalms; morning intro prayers)	Ps. 132:13 — כִּי בָחַר ה׳ בְּצִיּוֹן, אִוָּהּ לְמוֹשָׁב לוֹ	“For the Lord has chosen Zion; He has desired it for His dwelling.” — God’s dwelling in Zion/Jerusalem.
	Ps. 146:10 — יִמְלֹךְ ה׳ לְעוֹלָם... צִיּוֹן לְדֹר וָדֹר	“The Lord shall reign forever… O Zion, to all generations.” — Enduring divine rule over Zion.
	Ps. 147:12 — שַׁבְּחִי יְרוּשָׁלַיִם אֶת־ה׳, הַלְלִי אֱ-לֹהַיִךְ צִיּוֹן	“Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem; praise your God, O Zion.” — Praise for Jerusalem/Zion.
	Ps. 135:21 — בָּרוּךְ ה׳ מִצִּיּוֹן, שֹׁכֵן יְרוּשָׁלִָם	“Blessed is the Lord from Zion, who dwells in Jerusalem.” — God’s presence in Zion/Jerusalem.
	Ps. 48:13–15 — סֹבּוּ צִיּוֹן... מִגְדָּלֶיהָ	“Walk about Zion… count her towers…” — Zion as enduring stronghold for future generations.
Amidah (Central Prayer) Weekday / Shabbat / Yom Tov	קִבּוּץ גָּלֻיּוֹת — וקבצנו יחד מארבע כנפות הארץ לְאַרְצֵנו	“Gather us from the four corners of the earth to our land.” — Ingathering of exiles.
	בּוֹנֵה יְרוּשָׁלַיִם — ולירושלים עירך ברחמים תשוב	“Return in compassion to Jerusalem Your city.” — Plea to rebuild Jerusalem.
	עֲבוֹדָה — וְתֶּחֱזֶינָה עֵינֵינוּ בְּשׁוּבְךָ לְצִיּוֹן בְּרַחֲמִים	V’techezenah eineinu b’shuvcha l’Tzion b’rachamim — “May our eyes behold Your return to Zion in mercy.”
	יעלה ויבוא (insert on festivals/Rosh Chodesh)	“The remembrance of Jerusalem Your city… and of Messiah son of David Your servant.”
Musaf (Festivals/Rosh Chodesh)	וּמִפְּנֵי חַטָּאֵינוּ גָּלִינוּ מֵאַרְצֵנוּ... וְהַחֲזִירֵנוּ לְצִיּוֹן עִירֶךָ	“Because of our sins we were exiled from our land… return us to Zion Your city.” — Exile and return theme.
Shabbat Mincha Amidah — Ata Echad	עַם אֶחָד בָּאָרֶץ	“One nation on earth.” — National unity rooted in the Land.
Torah Reading (Ki Mitzion)	כִּי מִצִּיּוֹן תֵּצֵא תוֹרָה, וּדְבַר ה׳ מִירוּשָׁלִָם (Isa. 2:3)	“For out of Zion shall go forth the Torah, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.”
Hashkiveinu (Shabbat Evening)	הַפּוֹרֵשׂ סֻכַּת שָׁלוֹם... עַל עַמּוֹ יִשְׂרָאֵל וְעַל יְרוּשָׁלִָם	“Who spreads the shelter of peace… over His people Israel and over Jerusalem.”
Nachem (Tisha B’Av)	נַחֵם... אֲבֵלֵי צִיּוֹן וַאֲבֵלֵי יְרוּשָׁלַיִם... בּוֹנֶה יְרוּשָׁלַיִם	“Comfort the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem… who rebuilds Jerusalem.”
Shacharit (Concluding line in many rites)	אוֹר חָדָשׁ עַל צִיּוֹן תָּאִיר	“Let a new light shine upon Zion.” — Hope for Zion’s renewal.
Monday Psalm (near end of morning service)	Ps. 48 — “Walk about Zion… count her towers.”	Reprise of Zion’s endurance within the weekly cycle.
Birkat HaMazon (Grace After Meals) Weekday core text	על שהנחלת לאבותינו ארץ חמדה טובה ורחבה	“…for the inheritance of the desirable, good, and spacious land You gave our ancestors.” Al she’hinchalta la’avoteinu eretz chemda tova ur’chava
	ברוך אתה ה׳... על הארץ ועל המזון	“Blessed are You… for the land and for the sustenance.” …al ha’aretz v’al ha’mazon
	ועל ירושלים עירך	“…and on Jerusalem Your city…” V’al Yerushalayim irecha
	ועל ציון משכן כבודך	“…and on Zion, the dwelling of Your glory…” V’al Tziyon mishkan kevodecha
	ובנה ירושלים עיר הקודש במהרה בימינו	“And rebuild Jerusalem, Your holy city, speedily in our days.” U’vnei Yerushalayim ir hakodesh bimeheirah b’yameinu
	ברוך אתה ה׳, בונה ברחמיו ירושלים	“Blessed are You, Lord, who in His mercy rebuilds Jerusalem.” …boneh b’rachamav Yerushalayim
Al HaMichya (After-blessing for light meals)	ועל הארץ ועל המחיה… ועל ארץ חמדה טובה ורחבה… ובנה ירושלים עיר הקדש במהרה בימינו	“…for the land and for the sustenance… for the desirable, good, and spacious land… and rebuild Jerusalem Your holy city, speedily in our days.”

Note: Texts and wording vary by nusach (rite), community, and siddur. This chart highlights many central references to the Land of Israel and Jerusalem, but is incomplete and should not be relied upon as an exhaustive index.

---

---

Buy EoZ's books  on Amazon! "He's an Anti-Zionist Too!" cartoon book (December 2024) PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism (February 2022)

 

Read More

Letter of Infamy: When Rabbis Parrot the Settler Violence Lie (Judean Rose)

Disclaimer: the views expressed here are solely those of the author, weekly Judean Rose columnist Varda Meyers Epstein.

Last week I addressed the accusation of “famine” in Gaza in a letter (HERE) signed by more than 80 Open Orthodox rabbis. This week, I want to look at the second charge in that same letter: so-called “settler violence.” 

To hear the rabbis tell it, extremist settlers are raining down bloody hell on “Palestinians.” But that is exactly false. Which suggests that the signatories have not at all done their due diligence before affixing their names to what stands as a very public condemnation of Israel at a time of extreme peril for the Jewish people.

If they had done the bare minimum research before signing their John Hancocks to that statement accusing Israel of not doing enough to combat “settler violence,” they would have discovered that only four months earlier, in April 2025, Israeli NGO Regavim had released a detailed report on this very subject, “False Flags and Real Agendas, The Making of a Modern Blood Libel: The ‘Settler Violence’ Narrative as a Weapon in the Battle to Delegitimize the Jewish Presence in Judea and Samaria and the State of Israel”

Regavim, which monitors land use and policy in Judea and Samaria, examined the UN database that is perpetually cited as proof of “settler violence.” What they found was that the numbers collapse under scrutiny, reduced to dust.

“The UN incident list we obtained distinguishes between 2,047 incidents of violence against Israelis and 6,285 incidents defined as violence against Palestinians… once one delves into the list of incidents, the clear conclusion is that the vast majority do not describe violence related to settlers, and certainly do not describe violence initiated by settlers against Palestinians. Among the 6,285 incidents… 1,361 were simply Jewish ascents to the Temple Mount, every one counted as ‘settler violence.’ Another 1,613 were general complaints, such as ‘entry onto land’ during tours or hikes, which do not involve assault or harm. Ninety-six involved legal infrastructure projects carried out by the State of Israel.”

This is the extent of the UN’s “evidence” of settler violence. Temple Mount visits. Land surveys. Legal infrastructure. In other words: ordinary life contorted into charges of violence. And when those distortions are stripped away, we are left with a big pile of nothing.

“After subtracting these cases, only 833 incidents remain, which the UN classified as settler violence against Palestinians in the Judea and Samaria, allegedly resulting in bodily harm and in some cases also property damage. This constitutes only ten percent of the original list, which sought to reflect alarming levels of severe violence by settlers against Palestinians in the Judea and Samaria. Not only did this review cut 90% of the events, undermining the foundation of the UN’s arguments and their consequences, but the remaining cases suffer not only from lack of credibility but also from a disgusting level of false accusation against the real victims.”

Ten percent. That’s all that survived the first cut. Yet these reports, too, are riddled with distortions. Almost half of the reported cases were clashes with both sides involved. Of the rest, some cases of "settler violence" were attributed to Israeli security forces, while others were Arab terror attacks against Jews—recast as ‘settler violence.' Blood libels dressed up as data.

As Regavim concludes:

“…examination of these cases revealed that in many of them, it is not settler violence of one kind or another, but rather the opposite: these are terror attacks by Arabs against settlers that ended with the injury or elimination of the attacker.”

Had the rabbis taken five minutes to investigate, they would have found this information—current, comprehensive, and devastating to their claim. Instead, they affixed their names to a letter built on entries in a database programmed to tell lies. Even the name of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik is invoked, as if to give the letter's distortions a veneer of authority. But the Rav, as he is known to those who revere him, would never have put his name on something so harmful to the Jewish people.

Which brings us to the names of the rabbis, themselves.

As my friend Julie P. on seeing the list of names helpfully pointed out, "Not one is Sephardi or Mizrachi."

Look down the list of 80 signatories. It’s tragic really. You’ll see Schudrich, Greenberg, Yanklowitz, Dolinger, Chernick, Feigelson, Schlesinger—names that could have come straight from an early, 20th century Lower East Side synagogue membership roster.

 

With one half-exception—a single hyphenated surname suggesting a mixed background—the entire coalition is Ashkenazi.

And this is telling. Sephardim, even those who are not religious in practice, are deeply respectful of rabbinic authority and tradition. Watching how they comport themselves in the presence of a sage is instructive. I have seen secular Sephardi women cover their arms and heads with a shawl when a rabbi entered the room. Nobody asked them to. They simply revere the rabbis who have guided their people according to the same traditions for generations. Perhaps it is that steadfastness that inoculates Sephardim against the hubris of lecturing Israel on “moral clarity” while parroting Hamas propaganda without looking deeper at the actual facts.

List of signatories

Rabbi Yosef Blau

Rabbi David Bigman

Chief Rabbi Michael Schudrich

Chief Rabbi Michael Melchior

Chief Rabbi Jair Melchior

Rabbi Joav Melchior

Chief Rabbi David Rosen (former CR)

Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz

Rabbi Dr. Yitz Greenberg

Rabbi Hyim Shafner

Rabbi Daniel Landes

Rabbi Herzl Hefter

Rabbi Shua Mermelstein

Rabbi Yoni Zolty

Rabbanit Mindy Schwartz Zolty

Rabbi Frederick L Klein

Rabbi Yosef Kanefsky

Rabbi Michael Whitman

Rabbi Dr. Jeremiah Unterman

Rabbi Barry Dolinger

Rabbi David Silber

Rabbi Yonatan Neril

Rabbi Ysoscher Katz

Rabbi Isaac Landes

Rabbi David Polsky

Rabbi Baruch Plotkin

Rabbi Mikey Stein

Rabbi Elliot Kaplowitz

Rabbi Ariel Goldberg

Rabbi Ben Birkeland

Rabbi Ralph Genende

Rabbi David Glicksman

Rabbi Dr. Donniel Hartman

Rabbi Dr. Martin Lockshin

Rabbi Dr. Pinchas Giller

Rabbi Avidan Freedman

Rabbi Daniel Raphael Silverstein

Rabbi Dr. Shalom Schlagman

Rabbi Dr. Daniel Ross Goodman

Rabbi Aaron Levy

Rabbi Chaim Seidler-Feller

Rabbi Dr. Mel Gottlieb

Rabbi Dr. Joshua Feigelson

Rabbi Jonah Winer

Rabbi Dr. Michael Chernick

Rabbi Dr. Eugene Korn

Rabbi Hanan Schlesinger

Rabbi Elhanan Miller

Rabbi Joel Hecker

Rabbi Michael Gordan

R. Sofia Freudenstein

Rabbi David Levin-Kruss

Rabbanit Myriam Ackermann-Sommer

Rabba Ramie Smith

R. Shayna Abramson

Rabbi Zachary Truboff

Rabbi David A. Schwartz

Rabbi David Jaffe

Rabbi Steve Greenberg

Rabbi Gabriel Kretzmer Seed

Rabbanit Rachel Keren

Rabbi Benyamin Vineburg

Rabba Dr. Lindsey Taylor-Guthartz

Rabbanit Leah Sarna

Rabbi Dr. Wendy Zierler

Rabbanit Sarah Segal-Katz

Rabbi Shimon Brand

Rabba Melissa Scholten-Gutierrez

R. Emily Goldberg Winer

R. Dr. Erin Leib Smokler

Rabba Adina Roth

R. Dr. Meesh Hammer-Kossoy

Rabbi Drew Kaplan

Rabbi Dina Najman

Rabbi Emile Ackermann

Rabbi Daniel Geretz

Rabbanit Sarah Segal-Katz

Rabbanit Tali Schaum Broder

Rabbi Max Davis

Rabbi Tyson Herberger

Rabba Aliza Libman Baronofsky

At first, I wondered whether one surname on the list—Neril—might break the pattern. I had never heard that one before and thought perhaps it was Sephardi. But no. Rabbi Yonatan Neril is Ashkenazi, and best known for founding the Interfaith Center for Sustainable Development, an organization that promotes environmental action across faith communities. His presence on the list highlights the broader orientation of many of the signatories toward progressive and ecumenical causes, rather than toward Israel’s defense in its hour of need.

 
The rabbis who signed this letter of betrayal may have meant no harm to their own, but intentions matter little here; the effect is the same. That letter was like piling logs onto a raging fire—then dousing it with gasoline. 

History will not remember the rabbis' statement kindly. At best, the signatories will be judged naïve or misguided. Sad, but with tragic consequences for the Jewish people and in particular for Israel’s hostages and soldiers. The rabbis' missive jeopardizes Israel’s ability to free the hostages by emboldening the enemy, who now see that even Jewish clergy can be turned into weapons against the Jewish state.

---

Buy EoZ's books  on Amazon! "He's an Anti-Zionist Too!" cartoon book (December 2024) PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism (February 2022)

 

Read More

Harmful Rabbinic Statement: When Leadership Fails in the Name of Morality (Judean Rose)

Disclaimer: the views expressed here are solely those of the author, weekly Judean Rose columnist Varda Meyers Epstein.

When more than 80 self-described Modern Orthodox rabbis signed a public letter accusing Israel of failing to prevent starvation in Gaza, the result was not “moral clarity,” as the document’s title claimed. Instead, it provided a dangerous boost to Hamas propaganda at a time of unprecedented hostility toward the Jewish state.

The statement, “A Call for Moral Clarity, Responsibility, and a Jewish Orthodox Response in the Face of the Gaza Humanitarian Crisis,” insists that while Hamas is guilty of heinous crimes, Israel bears responsibility for preventing hunger in Gaza. Cloaked in the language of compassion, the letter distorts reality, undermines Israel, and arms its enemies with new talking points.

Jewish law holds leaders to the highest standards of truth in speech. Yet this letter repeats claims that collapse under scrutiny. Though it does not have to, since May, Israel has facilitated the entry of nearly 183,000 tons of humanitarian aid into Gaza. The United Nations, by contrast, reports just 67,000 tons—a discrepancy of more than 115,000 tons. The explanation is simple: Hamas steals, hoards, and diverts supplies, while the UN amplifies those manipulated figures. In fact, since the start of the war, Israel has facilitated the entry into Gaza of almost 2 million tons of aid.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs (@israelmfa)

Instead of consulting Israel’s Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), which publishes daily data on aid deliveries, the signatories embraced Hamas-tainted statistics and then presented them as an Orthodox moral imperative. This feels more like moral confusion and cluelessness than moral clarity.

Aid entry data is published regularly on a dedicated website.

It provides a daily breakdown of the number of trucks entering Gaza, categorized by crossing point and type of goods.

The data presented on the site reflects the full and accurate picture of the aid that Israel… pic.twitter.com/UwGattKdbK

— COGAT (@cogatonline) August 19, 2025

The harm goes far beyond numbers. Anti-Israel media outlets in Turkey and the Arab world immediately broadcast the rabbis’ statement as proof that even Orthodox leaders accuse Israel of starving Gaza. The familiar weapon of “even Jews say” has now been upgraded: even Orthodox rabbis say.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Low Effort Zionist Memes (@loweffortzionistmemes_)

Such messaging hands Hamas and its allies exactly what they need—Jewish voices validating their narrative—while antisemitism continues to surge globally.

Those who hold the title of rabbi carry an obligation to weigh the impact of their words. Their statements reverberate far beyond their intended audience, particularly in times of war and rising antisemitism. To sign one’s name to a letter that repeats propaganda is not an act of conscience but a failure of responsibility.

Rabbis are expected to serve as witnesses for the Jewish people, not to echo the accusations of those who seek the destruction of the Jewish state. At a minimum, Jewish leaders must confirm the facts before attaching their authority to public pronouncements.

The rabbis who signed this letter may not intend to harm Israel. But intentions do not negate consequences. By repeating distorted figures and equating Israel with Hamas, they have lent credibility to falsehoods that endanger Jews everywhere.

This is not moral clarity, nor is it an Orthodox response. It is, at best, naïve—and at worst, a dangerous gift to Israel’s enemies.

---

---

Buy EoZ's books  on Amazon! "He's an Anti-Zionist Too!" cartoon book (December 2024) PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism (February 2022)

 

Read More

The Lie on the Front Page: What the New York Times Chose to Show—and Hide (Judean Rose)

Disclaimer: the views expressed here are solely those of the author, weekly Judean Rose columnist Varda Meyers Epstein.

It wasn’t a mistake when The New York Times ran a front-page photo of a skeletal 18-month-old Gazan boy and claimed he was suffering from starvation. It was a deliberate editorial choice — a lie that fit the preferred narrative: Israel is genocidal.

Even Fox News missed the point. Their headline—“NY Times' erroneous cover photo… joins series of media blunders”—called it an error, a media blunder. But this was no “oops.” It was propaganda. And the proof is in the cropping.

Let me just start with other images the media chose not to use. Photographs of Mohammed with his 3-year-old brother Joud. Both mother and brother are healthy and fed.

Any honest journalist should have immediately questioned – and reported - what we were actually seeing. 3/13 pic.twitter.com/FaUsVFsqb2

— David Collier (@mishtal) July 27, 2025

 

The boy’s healthy brother was edited out of the image. The Times didn’t disclose the child’s medical history until days later, after pressure from Israeli officials. Mohammed Zakaria al-Mutawaq has cerebral palsy, hypoxemia, and a severe genetic disorder. He requires specialized nutrition and therapy—not a ceasefire.

Unlike his brother standing by his side, Muhammad Zakariya Ayyoub al-Matouq suffers from cerebral palsy.

But BBC, CNN, Daily Express, and The New York Times spread a misleading story using a picture of a sick, disabled child to promote a narrative of mass starvation in Gaza —… pic.twitter.com/UzP5PhNSvU

— Israel ישראל (@Israel) July 29, 2025

 

The Times eventually tacked on a note that the child had “pre-existing health problems,” but the damage was done. The image had gone viral, a global symbol of “Israeli starvation.” The Times knew what it was doing. That’s why it buried the correction in the digital story and posted it from a PR account with under 90,000 followers—not their main feed with over 55 million.

We have appended an Editors' Note to a story about Mohammed Zakaria al-Mutawaq, a child in Gaza who was diagnosed with severe malnutrition. After publication, The Times learned that he also had pre-existing health problems. Read more below. pic.twitter.com/KGxP3b3Q2B

— NYTimes Communications (@NYTimesPR) July 29, 2025

 

And when real starvation did appear—this time in the form of emaciated Israeli hostages like Evyatar David and Rom Braslavski—the Times’ front page was silent. No photos. No headlines. Just a weak, secondary article headlined, “Hundreds Protest in Tel Aviv After Hostage Videos Surface From Gaza.”

Nothing about Evyatar digging his own grave. No image of Rom weeping, his ribs protruding. Nothing of the horror that millions of Israelis felt—not just a “handful” of Tel Aviv protesters.

As Yaakov Ort, a former NYT staffer, put it: “If the Times had a Jerusalem bureau that reported the thoughts, communications and actions of the vast majority of Israelis… they would have told readers that the reaction… is not fear or protest. It is horror, rage, and resolve.”

The excuse? Mohammed’s condition had worsened due to war. But as Israeli pediatrician Dr. Michal Feldon said, “I’ve been a pediatrician for 20 years and we never see kids looking like this, even very chronically ill children. When we do, we suspect abuse.” Prof. Dan Turner added, “Even patients with background diseases should not be malnourished like that.” In Gaza, it’s not just illness—it’s lack of access, lack of formula, and yes, Hamas theft of humanitarian aid.

This wasn’t bad journalism. It was anti-Jewish narrative warfare—the blood libel of our time, illustrated by a carefully framed photo and a willfully ignored truth.

Because in today’s media: a carefully staged image used to falsely accuse Israel of starvation is front-page news — but the real starvation, suffering, and desperation of Israeli hostages doesn’t make it in at all.

---

---

Buy EoZ's books  on Amazon! "He's an Anti-Zionist Too!" cartoon book (December 2024) PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism (February 2022)

 

Read More

No Mercy for Jewish Children. Because They’re Jewish. (Judean Rose)

Disclaimer: the views expressed here are solely those of the author, weekly Judean Rose columnist Varda Meyers Epstein.

Imagine you’re a 14-year-old girl, still floating from the final night of Jewish sleepaway camp. You barely slept—you were too busy singing camp songs, exchanging weepy hugs, and saying heartfelt goodbyes. Still, you managed to pack your duffel bag, lug it through security, and board the flight home from Valencia to Paris with your fellow campers.

You’re tired, but your heart is full. Someone calls out “Lilmod!”—the beginning of a silly chant your bunk invented—and without even thinking, you shout back: “Mashiach!”

And that’s when everything changes.

Because two Hebrew words were spoken, airline staff suddenly see you and your friends not as teenagers but as Jews and as it turns out, they really, really hate Jews. Things get ugly. Flight attendants are yelling. Spanish police are called. And you and your friends are forced off the plane, grabbed by the arms, manhandled. Your phone is confiscated. All your camp videos—all your selfies—deleted.” Your camp director, a young woman trying to protect her campers, is beaten, handcuffed, and bloodied in front of your eyes.

All because two Hebrew words were spoken aloud on a plane.

“She still had bloody marks, red, bright red, on her wrists, because of the handcuffs. It was horrible… It’s the worst experience of my whole life.”
— one of the campers, in a viral video explaining the incident.

---

Jewish Childhood Interrupted

The 44 children from Camp Kineret, ages 10 to 15, had done nothing wrong. Vueling Airlines claimed they were “disruptive” and tampered with emergency equipment—but provided no proof. Meanwhile, a passenger on the flight who had no connection to the camp said the kids were “calm.” The real crime? Hebrew words. Kippahs. A visible Jewish identity.

In the aftermath, Israel’s Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli reported that airline staff shouted, “Israel is a terrorist state!” Spain’s Transport Minister referred to the children as “Israeli brats.”

They were not Israeli. They were French. And they were Children.

---

"Hide Who You Are"

Another video—less viral but just as haunting—shows a young male counselor on a bus speaking to Jewish campers before they reach the airport. He speaks with authority, but you can tell he’s scared too: “Take off your kippahs. Hide your tzitzit. Pack away your Stars of David and anything else Jewish.”

“Don’t give these antisemites a reason to kick us off the plane,” he pleads.

One small voice responds: “I have a kippah in my bag… What do I do?”

That shouldn’t sit right with anyone. But it did—and it will again. Because it always does.

---

What Does Antisemitism Do to a Child?

We know what antisemitism looks like: smashed windows, spray-painted swastikas, or the battered body of a handcuffed Jewish camp director left bleeding on the enclosed walkway leading from the plane to the terminal.

But what about the damage you can’t see?

According to a 2024 Stanford University study, nearly half of Jewish teens in the U.S. reported high stress or fear linked to antisemitism in the wake of October 7. Many said they’d stopped wearing Jewish symbols in public. Some avoided speaking Hebrew. A few even considered changing their last names—just to feel safe.

In the UK, a national survey found that 23% of Jewish schoolchildren had experienced antisemitism either at school or on their commute. These weren’t one-off slurs—they included physical threats, vandalism, and group harassment.

In Australia, researchers interviewed Jewish children who said they’d been called “dirty Jews,” been excluded from class projects, or watched teachers ignore antisemitic jokes. Nearly every single child interviewed had a story.

The research is clear: antisemitism doesn’t just affect Jewish children emotionally—it shapes how they see themselves, how safely they move through the world, and how much of their identity they’re willing to show.

Imagine being that young and afraid that your last name is “too Jewish.”

---

It’s Not Only France

The French campers aren’t alone.

In Staten Island, a seventh-grade Jewish boy walked into school just two weeks after the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. A group of students surrounded him. They pushed him to the ground, kicked him in the leg and the face, and shouted, “F*** Israel.” No teachers intervened. No one asked what happened. He never went back to that school.

In London, a bus full of Jewish schoolchildren from the Jewish Free School was ambushed by a gang of ten teens. The attackers hurled large rocks at the vehicle while screaming “F*** Israel.” The younger kids screamed in terror. No one came to help. No arrests were made.

In Rome, an eight-year-old Jewish boy wearing a yarmulke went shopping with his mother. An Egyptian asylum seeker spotted his kippah and attacked him. When the shopkeeper tried to intervene, the man stabbed him in the face with a shard of broken glass. The boy survived. The storekeeper was left disfigured.

In Milan, a six-year-old French Jewish boy, his twelve-year-old brother, and their father were surrounded at a rest stop by twenty men. The mob targeted them for wearing kippahs. They stomped on the father, kicked him in the stomach and legs, and screamed “Free Palestine.” When police finally arrived, they didn’t arrest the attackers. Instead, they told the injured father to “tell Netanyahu to stop bombing Gaza.”

Physically assaulting Jews in Italy!
A father and his six year old son, both wearing yarmulkes, were shouted at "free Palestine" and "murderers, go home!" in a restaurant in the Milan area. pic.twitter.com/dQ1hJY2HCj

— Hamas Atrocities (@HamasAtrocities) July 28, 2025

No child walks away from such moments unchanged.

---

A Soul Marked Forever

These are not isolated events. This is a wave. A sickness. A shadow falling on Jewish childhood.

One moment, you’re proud of who you are—your Hebrew, your songs, your symbols. The next, an adult tells you to hide that Jewish star necklace under your shirt, to tuck away your tzitzit, and pray no one sees you.

And the worst part?

They do notice.

You’re a child. But to them, the religion you were born into is reason enough to hate you.

---

Because They Were Jewish

This was no misunderstanding. It was not a noisy group of children on a plane. It wasn’t even a schoolyard squabble.

It was plain old antisemitism—ugly, familiar, and completely unbothered by the fact that it was aimed at children.

But the kids will remember. They’ll remember the bruises, the shouting, the violence—
and the silence of the bystanders who watched it happen.

And they’ll remember that the reason no one seemed to care…
was because they were Jewish.

---

The Children Remember

One of the French campers ended her now-famous video by saying it was “the worst experience of my whole life.”

But she’s wrong.

The worst part will come later—when she realizes that even after being humiliated, even after her director bled on the airport floor, even after she hid her identity and was still thrown off the plane…

The world looked away. Because once you see Jews as less than human—and more like vermin, as Hitler did—their age doesn’t matter. Even a baby cockroach, after all, is still a cockroach. And cockroaches grow up.

And if that’s how you see them—what difference does it make if they’re six, or sixteen, or sixty?

They can’t see Jewish children as children. Only as the next wave of Jews.
And once you see them that way, you don’t have to feel bad when they bleed.

So they’ll remember.
And they’ll grow up knowing what it means to be hated for simply being Jewish.
But they’ll also grow up knowing what it means to belong—to one another, to something older than hate, and stronger.
Not all of them will hold on to it. Many will walk away.
But some won’t.
And that will be enough to keep us going.

---

---

Buy EoZ's books  on Amazon! "He's an Anti-Zionist Too!" cartoon book (December 2024) PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism (February 2022)

 

Read More