Shabbat shalom!
A tip of the kippah this week to Dan Senor for his presentation in New York on “The State of World Jewry”. For those of you unfamiliar with Dan, he is an American columnist, writer, and political adviser and was a senior foreign policy adviser to U.S. presidential candidate Mitt Romney during the 2012 election campaign. Currently, he authors a weekly podcast called, “Call Me Back”, and is considered a rational and respected voice in the Jewish community, and frequently interviews analysts that are considered the top minds on Israel and the middle east.
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I highly recommend you carve an hour out of your time to listen to his presentation. It is a frank, but uplifting outlook on the state of Jewry in Israel and the diaspora generally, but more specifically in the United States. His address was a compelling call to action for the American Jewish community. While expressing confidence in Israel’s resilience, Senor voiced concern about the trajectory of American Jewry. He pointed to rising antisemitism, political polarization, and a weakening sense of Jewish purpose as significant challenges. Senor emphasized the need for American Jews to find a renewed sense of purpose and commitment to their heritage to ensure the community’s vitality. He called on all Jews to help counter the prevailing negative trends by “living a Jewish life” and underscored the urgency of investing in Jewish education, culture, and institutions to ensure a vibrant and resilient future.
Drawing inspiration from Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl, Senor stressed the necessity of having a clear “why” to navigate challenging times. He shared that hostages held by Hamas, like Hersh Goldberg-Polin, found strength in Frankl’s teachings. Senor challenged the audience to reflect on their own “why” and to ensure that future generations carry forward a strong sense of Jewish identity and purpose.
Senor’s message was clear: the time to act is now, and the responsibility lies with each individual to contribute to the strengthening of Jewish life in America. His speech ended thusly:
The state of World Jewry depends on how we answer.
If we answer in the way I’m suggesting, by resolving to live Jewish lives, and making sure our children do as well, we will begin to find that answer. The road in the near term will not be smooth. We know enough to know that we are witnessing another story, another chapter in Jewish history. There will be libraries invaded by campus mobs, there will be Nazi graffiti scrawled on the walls of subway cars, there will be another podcaster spreading libels about the Jewish people. Of this, we can be sure. I am confident, however, that in the long term, if we strengthen our Jewish identity, our people will not be prominent but weak. They will be Jewish and strong.
Many young American parents over the past 18 months have chosen to pay tribute to some of the Israeli heroes we lost in this war. Everywhere you look, it seems, you might meet a young baby Hersh—named for Hersh Goldberg-Polin—or baby Carmel, for Carmel Gat, or Ori, for Ori Danino, or Maya, for Maya Goren.
These young American Jews will carry their names into the future. I imagine, 18 years from now, young Hershs and Carmels and Oris and Mayas walking onto the quad together, on one of a thousand American campuses. And my prayer is that as much as they carry their names, they will also carry their courage, their essence. That they will know who they are, where they come from—and where they’re going.
Amen to that Dan.
For a deeper understanding, watch the full length speech here:
The Blockade of Gaza After the Ceasefire: A Moral Crossroads for Israel
I share and agree with Senor’s views on the trajectory of Jewry here in the good ole US of A. But I am less than sanguine about his optimism on Israel. Yes, Israelis are strong and resilient, and are probably in a stronger position militarily now than prior to October 7, relative to the ring of enemies surrounding them. But I worry about the moral degradation of Nut-and-Yahoo and his right wing coalition of nut jobs that appear to be using starvation of Gazan civilians as a leverage point for hostage negotiations. Is Bibi leading the country down a path of moral decay and further isolating Israel from the rest of the world? What does this policy say to young people about the way to lead an honorable Jewish life? Has Israel lost the “why” in determining the “how”?
Maybe this will all be resolved in a few weeks time, as Israel hammers out a new aide distribution process with its partners. But maybe not. The images coming out of Gaza of emaciated children are already horrific, and will only get worse. Why are we even talking about this?
A little background: Following the latest ceasefire in Gaza, Israel has sharply restricted the flow of humanitarian aid into the strip. Government officials argue the blockade is necessary to prevent Hamas from hijacking international assistance. Yet with civilian suffering mounting by the hour, this policy poses not just a strategic question—but a moral reckoning for the Jewish state.
French President Emmanuel Macron called Israel’s policy “shameful”. Italian Prime Minister Giorgio Maloney called it ever more “unjustifiable”. At a big hearing of the UN Security Council this week the man in charge of humanitarian affairs, British diplomat, Tom Fletcher, talked about this being a step on the way to “genocide”.
Unlike a drought situation, this is not an act of God. This is an act of Israeli government policy. In April, Israel’s Defense Minister, Israel Katz, said, Israel’s policy is clear. No humanitarian aid will enter Gaza. Blocking this aid is, he said, one of the main pressure levers on Hamas. Israeli spokesmen have been on the airwaves this week trying to walk that back, and talk their way out of it. Katz, Gallant and other Israeli leaders insist that Hamas has repeatedly diverted humanitarian supplies and uses them to fund its war machine or sell them at extortionate prices to starving civilians. Aid, they say, cannot be allowed to function as a subsidy for terror.
And they’re not wrong to worry. There’s real evidence Hamas has stolen fuel and food, manipulated distribution, and used civilian infrastructure for military gain. Israel also points out that before this latest shutdown, Gaza was stocked with nearly three months’ worth of food—enough, in theory, to ride out a temporary halt in deliveries.
But here’s the problem: reality is moving faster than theory.
The stockpiles are drying up. The United Nations, the World Food Program, and multiple aid organizations report worsening famine, disease, and the breakdown of hospitals. The average Palestinian family in Gaza now receives a fraction of the daily calories needed for survival. Children are starving. The elderly are dying for lack of medicine. And there is growing consensus among legal experts that the policy, in effect if not in name, constitutes collective punishment—something explicitly banned by international law.
Israel is not obligated to supply aid to its enemies. But it is obligated not to block life-saving resources from reaching innocent civilians. The claim that Hamas might exploit aid is a legitimate concern. The assumption that the solution is to shut off the tap completely, even after a ceasefire, is not.
Experts claim there are other ways forward. Internationally monitored aid corridors. Independent oversight mechanisms. Strict targeting with outside partners like Egypt, Jordan, and UN agencies. These options are not without risk. But they are better than starving a civilian population to keep Hamas on its heels. Because starvation doesn’t defeat terrorism. It breeds despair, radicalism, and international outrage—none of which serve Israel’s security or standing.
But, this is not about appeasing the world. It’s about preserving our own moral compass. It’s about preserving the “Why” of Israel and the Zionist project.
Israel faces a legitimate threat in Hamas. But if we lose sight of Jewish values in the fight—if we allow necessity to justify cruelty—we risk becoming unrecognizable to ourselves. The blockade may be tactically defensible. But ethically, it’s skating dangerously close to indefensible.
The ceasefire was a chance to pivot toward relief, recovery, and real diplomacy. Instead, the continuation of the blockade raises a difficult but unavoidable question: what does victory look like if we lose our humanity in the process?
That’s all this week. Enjoy the weekend everyone! And hey, let’s live a good Jewish life, but do it safely.
Brad out.
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