RSS
Amid Israeli Deaths in Gaza War, How Do We Accept All the Evil in the World?
Israeli soldiers operate in the Gaza Strip amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in this handout picture released on March 5, 2024. Photo: Israel Defense Forces/Handout via REUTERS
This week, the news of multiple IDF casualties in Gaza came like a gut punch, leaving us breathless with grief. Initially, we were told that there was one casualty and multiple wounded in an attack. Then we learned there were so many wounded soldiers that they had to be medevaced by helicopter to multiple hospitals. Names were sent out for us to pray for, and thousands worldwide recited Tehillim. Eventually, news filtered out that five soldiers had been killed in the tragic incident.
What was particularly difficult for my wife and me is that these young soldiers were all from our son Meir’s unit, Haredim Tzanhanim (“Chetz”), part of Battalion 202 of the Paratroopers Brigade. Their names: Staff Sergeant Betzalel David Shashuah, Sergeant Ilan Cohen, Sergeant Daniel Chemu, Staff Sergeant Gilad Arye Boim, and Captain Roy Beit Yaakov.
Only last week, Meir was asked to switch to Captain Beit Yaakov’s unit as they forged ahead into Gaza, but he opted to stay with his current unit – a decision that may very well have saved his life. This did nothing to soften the blow. The devastating news overwhelmed him. Attending his friends’ funerals was shattering and painfully brought home to him, and us, that war is not a game.
Unlike the youngsters of Western countries, who have the luxury to indulge in idealistic political protests, Israel’s emerging generation faces death and tragedy as they protect their homes, their families, and their country.
But what was particularly devastating about this tragedy is that the source of the artillery was not Hamas terrorists. Rather, it was ‘friendly fire,’ that horrible term meaning the casualties were caused by their own comrades mistakenly targeting them.
This particular incident occurred during a tense confrontation in Jabaliya, where IDF troops were stationed on the first floor of a three-story building. While maintaining their position, an IDF tank spotted a barrel protruding from a window and, despite being outside its designated sector, fired shells in response. Tragically, the incident resulted in the troop casualties.
This tragic event highlights the profound and often painful complexities of understanding and explaining the presence of evil and suffering in the world. Different theological perspectives provide varying interpretations of evil, each attempting to reconcile the existence of a benevolent and omnipotent deity with the reality of human suffering.
The first, mainstream view, is that of the Rambam (Maimonides), who posits that instead of blaming God for the evils of the world, we should be blaming our fellow man. If someone pulls out a gun and shoots a group of people, that’s a bad person committing murder, not God wreaking havoc.
But what about natural disasters, like earthquakes and tornadoes? The Rambam has an explanation for that too. According to him, these are the unfortunate side effects of a world that operates according to the unwavering laws of nature. For example, our world could not exist without the force of gravity. As a result of that force, a coconut can fall off a palm tree and land on someone’s head, killing them. That chance occurrence is the price we pay for a functioning universe.
But then there is the view of the Izhbitzer Rebbe, the iconoclastic nineteenth-century Hasidic master who often challenged mainstream rabbinic interpretations. His view is radically different from the Rambam’s and is based on the first verse of Parshat Emor (Lev 21:1): אֱמֹר אֶל הַכֹּהֲנִים בְּנֵי אַהֲרֹן וְאָמַרְתָּ אֲלֵהֶם לְנֶפֶשׁ לֹא יִטַּמָּא בְּעַמָּיו – “Speak to the priests, sons of Aaron, and say to them: None shall defile himself for a dead person among his people.”
The priest, explains the Izhbitzer, is the paradigm of an individual who refuses to dismiss anything in life as a chance occurrence. It is God and only God who runs everything. You can’t blame the forces of nature, one’s fellow man, or some random happenstance for what goes wrong, because every detail of anything that happens is under God’s control. Human agency and natural laws are all subject to divine providence, and nothing happens without God’s will.
The trouble is that this heightened faith in God’s all-encompassing power can paradoxically lead to a diminishment of faith. The “kohen” must accept incomprehensible evil as being the handiwork of God. That’s a tough expectation because one might come to think of God as the source of inexplicable evil. Therefore, the Torah warns, “none shall defile himself for a dead person among his people.” Don’t allow yourself to be pulled into the “impurity” of challenging God’s actions. Inevitably, there will be questions about the application of God’s attribute of justice – about death, suffering, and pain – but those questions and objections must not lead to a loss of faith.
The root of the Hebrew word for speech used in the pasuk is A-M-R, which the Zohar interprets to mean “a whisper.” “Where is God’s mercy?” “Where is His compassion?” These are legitimate questions, but they should remain whispers and never become the dominant voice. A faint whisper in the background, softly echoing in your ear, is fine – but ultimately, we must never lose faith.
The problem of evil and suffering is not some kind of lofty theological or philosophical issue; it is a deeply personal and existential one. When confronted with tragic events, such as the loss of five wonderful IDF soldiers in a friendly fire incident in Gaza, people naturally seek explanations and meaning.
The Rambam’s approach offers a way to understand these events as part of a broader human context, where suffering results from human actions and the inherent risks of living in a world governed by natural laws. This perspective can be comforting because it suggests that if we improve our decision-making and our understanding of nature, we can mitigate suffering.
But the Izhbitzer’s perspective is much deeper. It calls for profound faith and trust in divine providence. His view challenges individuals to see God’s hand in every event, even those that seem senseless and cruel. It requires a profound acceptance of the mysteries of God’s will and an unwavering belief that everything happens for a reason, even if that reason is beyond human comprehension.
These two perspectives offer different ways to navigate the complexities of faith in the face of suffering. The Rambam’s approach encourages human responsibility and rational understanding, while the Izhbitzer’s view fosters a deep, sometimes challenging, reliance on divine providence. Both perspectives have their strengths and can provide comfort and guidance depending on one’s faith and understanding.
The tragic loss of the five IDF soldiers in Gaza serves as a heartbreaking reminder of the profound and often painful questions surrounding the presence of evil and suffering in the world. Whether one finds solace in the Rambam’s rational approach or the Izhbitzer’s call for deep faith in divine providence, the search for meaning in the face of tragedy is a fundamental aspect of the human experience.
Indeed, it is via this ongoing search that we can meaningfully grapple with the complexities of faith and justice, and the nature of existence itself. Hopefully, in the process, it can give us the comfort we all need.
The post Amid Israeli Deaths in Gaza War, How Do We Accept All the Evil in the World? first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Syria’s Sharaa Says Talks With Israel Could Yield Results ‘In Coming Days’

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa speaks at the opening ceremony of the 62nd Damascus International Fair, the first edition held since the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, in Damascus, Syria, Aug. 27, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi
Syria’s President Ahmed al-Sharaa said on Wednesday that ongoing negotiations with Israel to reach a security pact could lead to results “in the coming days.”
He told reporters in Damascus the security pact was a “necessity” and that it would need to respect Syria’s airspace and territorial unity and be monitored by the United Nations.
Syria and Israel are in talks to reach an agreement that Damascus hopes will secure a halt to Israeli airstrikes and the withdrawal of Israeli troops who have pushed into southern Syria.
Reuters reported this week that Washington was pressuring Syria to reach a deal before world leaders gather next week for the UN General Assembly in New York.
But Sharaa, in a briefing with journalists including Reuters ahead of his expected trip to New York to attend the meeting, denied the US was putting any pressure on Syria and said instead that it was playing a mediating role.
He said Israel had carried out more than 1,000 strikes on Syria and conducted more than 400 ground incursions since Dec. 8, when the rebel offensive he led toppled former Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad.
Sharaa said Israel’s actions were contradicting the stated American policy of a stable and unified Syria, which he said was “very dangerous.”
He said Damascus was seeking a deal similar to a 1974 disengagement agreement between Israel and Syria that created a demilitarized zone between the two countries.
He said Syria sought the withdrawal of Israeli troops but that Israel wanted to remain at strategic locations it seized after Dec. 8, including Mount Hermon. Israeli ministers have publicly said Israel intends to keep control of the sites.
He said if the security pact succeeds, other agreements could be reached. He did not provide details, but said a peace agreement or normalization deal like the US-mediated Abraham Accords, under which several Muslim-majority countries agreed to normalize diplomatic ties with Israel, was not currently on the table.
He also said it was too early to discuss the fate of the Golan Heights because it was “a big deal.”
Reuters reported this week that Israel had ruled out handing back the zone, which Donald Trump unilaterally recognized as Israeli during his first term as US president.
“It’s a difficult case – you have negotiations between a Damascene and a Jew,” Sharaa told reporters, smiling.
SECURITY PACT DERAILED IN JULY
Sharaa also said Syria and Israel had been just “four to five days” away from reaching the basis of a security pact in July, but that developments in the southern province of Sweida had derailed those discussions.
Syrian troops were deployed to Sweida in July to quell fighting between Druze armed factions and Bedouin fighters. But the violence worsened, with Syrian forces accused of execution-style killings and Israel striking southern Syria, the defense ministry in Damascus and near the presidential palace.
Sharaa on Wednesday described the strikes near the presidential palace as “not a message, but a declaration of war,” and said Syria had still refrained from responding militarily to preserve the negotiations.
RSS
Anti-Israel Activists Gear Up to ‘Flood’ UN General Assembly

US Capitol Police and NYPD officers clash with anti-Israel demonstrators, on the day Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses a joint meeting of Congress, on Capitol Hill, in Washington, DC, July 24, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Umit Bektas
Anti-Israel groups are planning a wave of raucous protests in New York City during the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) over the next several days, prompting concerns that the demonstrations could descend into antisemitic rhetoric and intimidation.
A coalition of anti-Israel activists is organizing the protests in and around UN headquarters to coincide with speeches from Middle Eastern leaders and appearances by US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The demonstrations are expected to draw large crowds and feature prominent pro-Palestinian voices, some of whom have been criticized for trafficking in antisemitic tropes, in addition to calling for the destruction of Israe.
Organizers of the demonstrations have promoted the coordinated events on social media as an opportunity to pressure world leaders to hold Israel accountable for its military campaign against Hamas in Gaza, with some messaging framed in sharply hostile terms.
On Sunday, for example, activists shouted at Israel’s Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon.
“Zionism is terrorism. All you guys are terrorists committing ethnic cleansing and genocide in Gaza and Palestine. Shame on you, Zionist animals,” they shouted.
BREAKING: PRO-PALESTINE PROTESTORS CONFRONT “ISRAELI” AMBASSADOR DANNY DANON AT THE UNITED NATIONS
1/5 pic.twitter.com/4G1VYEMGzV
— Within Our Lifetime (@WOLPalestine) September 14, 2025
The Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM), warned on its website that the scale and tone of the planned demonstrations risk crossing the line from political protest into hate speech, arguing that anti-Israel activists are attempting to hijack the UN gathering to spread antisemitism and delegitimize the Jewish state’s right to exist.
Outside the UN last week, masked protesters belonging to the activist group INDECLINE kicked a realistic replica of Netanyahu’s decapitated head as though it were a soccer ball.
US activist group plays soccer with Bibi’s mock decapitated HEAD right outside NYC UN HQ
Peep shot at 00:40
Footage posted by INDECLINE collective just as UN General Assembly about to kick off
‘Following the game, ball was donated to Palestinian Genocide Museum’ pic.twitter.com/TQ84sgZhKr
— RT (@RT_com) September 9, 2025
Within Our Lifetime (WOL), a radical anti-Israel activist group, has vowed to “flood” the UNGA on behalf of the pro-Palestine movement.
WOL, one of the most prolific anti-Israel activist groups, came under immense fire after it organized a protest against an exhibition to honor the victims of the Oct. 7 massacre at the Nova Music Festival in southern Israel. During the event, the group chanted “resistance is justified when people are occupied!” and “Israel, go to hell!”
“We will be there to confront them with the truth: Their silence and inaction enable genocide. The world cannot continue as if Gaza does not exist,” WOL said of its planned demonstrations in New York. “This is the time to make our voices impossible to ignore. Come to New York by any means necessary, to stand, to march, to demand the UN act and end the siege.”
Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) and Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM), two other anti-Israel organizations that have helped organize widespread demonstrations against the Jewish state during the war in Gaza, also announced they are planning a march from Times Square to the UN headquarters on Friday.
“The time is now for each and every UN member state to uphold their duty under international law: sanction Israel and end the genocide,” the groups said in a statement.
JVP, an organization that purports to fight for “Palestinian liberation,” has positioned itself as a staunch adversary of the Jewish state. The group argued in a 2021 booklet that Jews should not write Hebrew liturgy because hearing the language would be “deeply traumatizing” to Palestinians. JVP has repeatedly defended the Oct. 7 massacre of roughly 1,200 people in southern Israel by Hamas as a justified “resistance.” Chapters of the organization have urged other self-described “progressives” to throw their support behind Hamas and other terrorist groups against Israel
Similarly, PYM, another radical anti-Israel group, has repeatedly defended terrorism and violence against the Jewish state. PYM has organized many anti-Israel protests in the two years following the Oct. 7 attacks in the Jewish state. Recently, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AK) called for a federal investigation into the organization after Aisha Nizar, one of the group’s leaders, urged supporters to sabotage the US supply chain for the F-35 fighter jet, one of the most advanced US military assets and a critical component of Israel’s defense.
The UN General Assembly has historically been a flashpoint for heated debate over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Previous gatherings have seen dueling demonstrations outside the Manhattan venue, with pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian groups both seeking to influence the international spotlight.
While warning about the demonstrations, CAM noted it recently launched a new mobile app, Report It, that allows users worldwide to quickly and securely report antisemitic incidents in real time.
RSS
Nina Davidson Presses Universities to Back Words With Action as Jewish Students Return to Campus Amid Antisemitism Crisis

Nina Davidson on The Algemeiner’s ‘J100’ podcast. Photo: Screenshot
Philanthropist Nina Davidson, who served on the board of Barnard College, has called on universities to pair tough rhetoric on combatting antisemitism with enforcement as Jewish students returned to campuses for the new academic year.
“Years ago, The Algemeiner had published a list ranking the most antisemitic colleges in the country. And number one was Columbia,” Davidson recalled on a recent episode of The Algemeiner‘s “J100” podcast. “As a board member and as someone who was representing the institution, it really upset me … At the board meeting, I brought it up and I said, ‘What are we going to do about this?’”
Host David Cohen, chief executive officer of The Algemeiner, explained he had revisited Davidson’s remarks while she was being honored for her work at The Algemeiner‘s 8th annual J100 gala, held in October 2021, noting their continued relevance.
“It could have been the same speech in 2025,” he said, underscoring how longstanding concerns about campus antisemitism, while having intensified in the aftermath of Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre across southern Israel, are not new.
Davidson argued that universities already possess the tools to protect students – codes of conduct, time-place-manner rules, and consequences for threats or targeted harassment – but too often fail to apply them evenly. “Statements are not enough,” she said, arguing that institutions need to enforce their rules and set a precedent that there will be consequences for individuals who refuse to follow them.
She also said that stakeholders – alumni, parents, and donors – are reassessing their relationships with schools that, in their view, have not safeguarded Jewish students. While supportive of open debate, Davidson distinguished between protest and intimidation, calling for leadership that protects expression while ensuring campus safety.
The episode surveyed specific pressure points that administrators will face this fall: repeat anti-Israel encampments, disruptions of Jewish programming, and the challenge of distinguishing political speech from conduct that violates university rules. “Unless schools draw those lines now,” Davidson warned, “they’ll be scrambling once the next crisis hits.”
Cohen closed by framing the discussion as a test of institutional credibility, asking whether universities will “turn policy into protection” in real time. Davidson agreed, pointing to students who “need to know the rules aren’t just on paper.”
The full conversation is available on The Algemeiner’s “J100” podcast.