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What the Exodus Can Teach Us About Israel’s War for Survival
There are two themes in this week’s Torah reading that stand out as being particularly relevant at this moment in time. The first one is how the Egyptians reacted to the Israelites. Although the antagonism towards Israel came from the top, in fact, the general population seems to have been much more friendly and positive towards the Israelites. It was the servants of Pharaoh who turned to him first and said that there was a problem, and he should let the people go (Exodus 10:7 ). And a significant group of disaffected Egyptians, the Eyrev Rav, left Egypt with them (Exodus 12:38).
After the plagues were over and Pharaoh agreed to let the Jews go, the Egyptians were happy to give them silver, gold, and garments. The text says that the people looked favorably upon the Israelites (Exodus 12:36). The language used is ambiguous as to whether they were pressured to give, or whether they willingly gave. Nevertheless, the phrase that they looked favorably on the children of Israel does say something about the attitude of the ordinary Egyptian in the street. This is similar to South Africa, where the ANC political leadership is loathed by its own citizens, who are much more favorably inclined towards Israel and Jews.
The Talmud (Sanhedrin 91a) records a mythical encounter between Alexander the Great coming through the Middle East, and the various enemies of the Jews approaching him with their complaints against the Jews — a bit like the International Criminal Court today (nothing much has changed).
Egyptians later claimed that the Israelites stole all their gold and silver when they left, and were demanding compensation. The Jewish response was led by a very modest humble scholar named Gevia ben Pasisa, the hunchback. He pointed out that the claims they all made were based on Biblical texts. But the very same Biblical sources gave Israel as much right to the land, if not more so, and deserved compensation for their suffering at the hands of others that outweighed the complaint.
It’s amazing that the idea that Jews had a right to Israel was challenged from Greek times on.
The second theme of this week’s parsha, familiar from the Passover Seder, is the importance of remembering what happened both in the positive sense — to be grateful for our freedom — and at the same time, also to remember that others suffered at our expense, remembering, not with malice but to be positive.
In Exodus Chapter 12, verse 26, you have the famous phrase, “It will come to pass when your children ask you what this celebration is about you will say that it is because God passed over our houses when he plagued the Egyptians and gave us our freedom.”
The idea of teaching one’s children is repeated in Exodus Chapter 13:8 — “You should teach your son that this was why God took us out of Egypt.” Four times this is mentioned in connection with Pesach, and this is the origin of four sons on the Seder night asking the four questions. Similarly, in the Shemah we repeat that “you must teach your children” and make sure that they carry on the tradition.
It is one of the saddest aspects of Jewish life that throughout history, so many Jews either turned against the religion or tried to escape from it. A very significant proportion of Jews living in the Diaspora have joined the campaign against the right of the Jews to have a homeland. In most cases, it is because they simply know nothing about Judaism. They never received a proper Jewish education or the beauty of our tradition. They were never taught Jewish history. It is unsurprising therefore that they see no reason to assert a Jewish identity and, on the contrary, have more in common with the prevailing social and intellectual fashions than they do with their own heritage. Even in Israel, most Israelis are woefully ignorant of Jewish traditions and history. At least they have the language, but most of the Diaspora do not.
To defend ourselves physically and mentally, we need to ensure our children know our history, know what and how to respond, and know why they should be proud to be Jewish.
The author is a writer and rabbi, currently based in New York.
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Iranian Media Claims Obtaining ‘Sensitive’ Israeli Intelligence Materials
FILE PHOTO: The atomic symbol and the Iranian flag are seen in this illustration, July 21, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
i24 News – Iranian and Iran-affiliated media claimed on Saturday that the Islamic Republic had obtained a trove of “strategic and sensitive” Israeli intelligence materials related to Israel’s nuclear facilities and defense plans.
“Iran’s intelligence apparatus has obtained a vast quantity of strategic and sensitive information and documents belonging to the Zionist regime,” Iran’s state broadcaster said, referring to Israel in the manner accepted in those Muslim or Arab states that don’t recognize its legitimacy. The statement was also relayed by the Lebanese site Al-Mayadeen, affiliated with the Iran-backed jihadists of Hezbollah.
The reports did not include any details on the documents or how Iran had obtained them.
The intelligence reportedly included “thousands of documents related to that regime’s nuclear plans and facilities,” it added.
According to the reports, “the data haul was extracted during a covert operation and included a vast volume of materials including documents, images, and videos.”
The report comes amid high tensions over Iran’s nuclear program, over which it is in talks with the US administration of President Donald Trump.
Iranian-Israeli tensions reached an all-time high since the October 7 massacre and the subsequent Gaza war, including Iranian rocket fire on Israel and Israeli aerial raids in Iran that devastated much of the regime’s air defenses.
Israel, which regards the prospect of the antisemitic mullah regime obtaining a nuclear weapon as an existential threat, has indicated it could resort to a military strike against Iran’s installations should talks fail to curb uranium enrichment.
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Israel Retrieves Body of Thai Hostage from Gaza
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz looks on, amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, in Jerusalem, Nov. 7, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
The Israeli military has retrieved the body of a Thai hostage who had been held in Gaza since Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attack, Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Saturday.
Nattapong Pinta’s body was held by a Palestinian terrorist group called the Mujahedeen Brigades, and was recovered from the area of Rafah in southern Gaza, Katz said. His family in Thailand has been notified.
Pinta, an agricultural worker, was abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz, a small Israeli community near the Gaza border where a quarter of the population was killed or taken hostage during the Hamas attack that triggered the devastating war in Gaza.
Israel’s military said Pinta had been abducted alive and killed by his captors, who had also killed and taken to Gaza the bodies of two more Israeli-American hostages that were retrieved earlier this week.
There was no immediate comment from the Mujahedeen Brigades, who have previously denied killing their captives, or from Hamas. The Israeli military said the Brigades were still holding the body of another foreign national. Only 20 of the 55 remaining hostages are believed to still be alive.
The Mujahedeen Brigades also held and killed Israeli hostage Shiri Bibas and her two young sons, according to Israeli authorities. Their bodies were returned during a two-month ceasefire, which collapsed in March after the two sides could not agree on terms for extending it to a second phase.
Israel has since expanded its offensive across the Gaza Strip as US, Qatari and Egyptian-led efforts to secure another ceasefire have faltered.
US-BACKED AID GROUP HALTS DISTRIBUTIONS
The United Nations has warned that most of Gaza’s 2.3 million population is at risk of famine after an 11-week Israeli blockade of the enclave, with the rate of young children suffering from acute malnutrition nearly tripling.
Aid distribution was halted on Friday after the US-and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation said overcrowding had made it unsafe to continue operations. It was unclear whether aid had resumed on Saturday.
The GHF began distributing food packages in Gaza at the end of May, overseeing a new model of aid distribution which the United Nations says is neither impartial nor neutral. It says it has provided around 9 million meals so far.
The Israeli military said on Saturday that 350 trucks of humanitarian aid belonging to U.N. and other international relief groups were transferred this week via the Kerem Shalom crossing into Gaza.
The war erupted after Hamas-led terrorists took 251 hostages and killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians, in the October 7, 2023 attack, Israel’s single deadliest day.
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US Mulls Giving Millions to Controversial Gaza Aid Foundation, Sources Say
Palestinians carry aid supplies which they received from the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, in the central Gaza Strip, May 29, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ramadan Abed/File Photo
The State Department is weighing giving $500 million to the new foundation providing aid to war-shattered Gaza, according to two knowledgeable sources and two former US officials, a move that would involve the US more deeply in a controversial aid effort that has been beset by violence and chaos.
The sources and former US officials, all of whom requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, said that money for Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) would come from the US Agency for International Development (USAID), which is being folded into the US State Department.
The plan has met resistance from some US officials concerned with the deadly shootings of Palestinians near aid distribution sites and the competence of the GHF, the two sources said.
The GHF, which has been fiercely criticized by humanitarian organizations, including the United Nations, for an alleged lack of neutrality, began distributing aid last week amid warnings that most of Gaza’s 2.3 million population is at risk of famine after an 11-week Israeli aid blockade, which was lifted on May 19 when limited deliveries were allowed to resume.
The foundation has seen senior personnel quit and had to pause handouts twice this week after crowds overwhelmed its distribution hubs.
The State Department and GHF did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Reuters has been unable to establish who is currently funding the GHF operations, which began in Gaza last week. The GHF uses private US security and logistics companies to transport aid into Gaza for distribution at so-called secure distribution sites.
On Thursday, Reuters reported that a Chicago-based private equity firm, McNally Capital, has an “economic interest” in the for-profit US contractor overseeing the logistics and security of GHF’s aid distribution hubs in the enclave.
While US President Donald Trump’s administration and Israel say they don’t finance the GHF operation, both have been pressing the United Nations and international aid groups to work with it.
The US and Israel argue that aid distributed by a long-established U.N. aid network was diverted to Hamas. Hamas has denied that.
USAID has been all but dismantled. Some 80 percent of its programs have been canceled and its staff face termination as part of President Donald Trump’s drive to align US foreign policy with his “America First” agenda.
One source with knowledge of the matter and one former senior official said the proposal to give the $500 million to GHF has been championed by acting deputy USAID Administrator Ken Jackson, who has helped oversee the agency’s dismemberment.
The source said that Israel requested the funds to underwrite GHF’s operations for 180 days.
The Israeli government did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The two sources said that some US officials have concerns with the plan because of the overcrowding that has affected the aid distribution hubs run by GHF’s contractor, and violence nearby.
Those officials also want well-established non-governmental organizations experienced in running aid operations in Gaza and elsewhere to be involved in the operation if the State Department approves the funds for GHF, a position that Israel likely will oppose, the sources said.
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