RSS
As We Begin to Read the Torah Again, Let Us Reflect on What Has Changed — and What Hasn’t
Reading from a Torah scroll in accordance with Sephardi tradition. Photo: Sagie Maoz via Wikimedia Commons.
In some fundamentalist religious circles, the word “evolution” is a term of abuse. To me, it is a word that — apart from its many meanings — also describes the positive process of change in stages.
This week, we start reading the Torah again from the very beginning, with the stories of creation itself. Many books — from Jewish, to Christian, to Muslim — have been written trying to reconcile the literal translation of the Book of Genesis with the evolutionary system most famously associated with Darwin.
Long before Darwin, however, scientists, archaeologists, and even divines were talking about the different stages in the creation of the universe, and speculated about a much earlier time scale than some 6,000 years.
I feel no need to try to reconcile the different ways of reconciling religion and science, and if there are people who still believe that the world is only 5,785 years old, then like those who believe the earth is flat, I see no point in trying to make an argument out of it. Anyway, the Bible doesn’t just talk about the physical stages of creation. It is far more concerned with another kind of evolution — the spiritual one.
Religiously, there’s no doubt that we have gone through different stages in how we understand and relate to God or the idea of God. Consider the change from Biblical Judaism to Talmudic Judaism, the development of Kabbalah and mysticism and then Hasidism and on to the many different sects, denominations, and communities within the small Jewish world of today.
The process of a relationship with God begins with Adam and Chava(Eve) — treated like children, given a clear simple instruction by their heavenly parent, which they disobey. The next stage in the relationship is that of Cayin (Cain), and Havel (Abel), who for the first time, try to relate to God through sacrifices and giving gifts (Bereishit 4). Although Cayin is the first to offer a sacrifice, it is Havel whose sacrifice is found to be more acceptable. God’s message to an angry, frustrated Cayin is that if things don’t always work the way you want them to, you must persevere and try to do better, not give up. Cayin, unable to accept rebuke, became so angry and frustrated he could only resort to violence. The genealogical line of Cayin died out, and it was the children of Adam and Chava’s third son, Sheyt (Seth), that initiated a line of spiritual successors.
The next stage in how to relate to God came through Enosh (Bereishit 4:26), when people began to call in the name of God, which could be understood in two ways. Some people say this is the beginning of idolatry. Others say this is the beginning of the idea of prayer, relating to God through words. After Enosh comes Chanoch (Enoch) who was the first to walk with God (Bereishit 5:22), and as the Torah said, God took him away. Once again, opinions vary as to whether God took him away before he could get up to any monkey business, or whether his idea of relating to God was by turning his back on society and humanity, and retreating to the mountains and caves in pursuit of a personal relationship with God. Whereas Noach (Noah) who also walked with God (Bereishit 6:9), was involved in trying to save humanity.
At the same time as these seekers of God were trying to find their way, humanity was still caught in a more primitive and violent, rapacious world of giants, perhaps Neanderthals — the very failings of humanity that we still exhibit and bemoan to this very day. Only when we get to Avraham does this relationship with God begin to achieve what the opening chapter of creation hoped for — that mankind would know the difference between good and bad, and that the purpose of religion was not only to encounter God, but also enable us to be better human beings.
The geologist will tell us that the world has been evolving for millions of years. Humans too are evolving and changing, getting stronger and healthier, living longer. And yet the evil we experience at this moment all around us is the very same evil that was experienced then. In some respects, we remain stubbornly the same. Even though some of us are trying our best to strive for good, there are others who still believe violence, compulsion, and forced conversions are the ways to succeed.
If it is true that we have been on earth for millions of years in one iteration or another, perhaps we expect too much of a few thousand years, and there is hope for us if we are patient and try to do our best. As an aside, notice that the idea of a Tsadik, a righteous person, is used in the Bible, long before a clearly defined Israelite religion emerges. And that is what we all should aspire to be, regardless of our differences.
The author is a writer and rabbi, currently based in New York.
The post As We Begin to Read the Torah Again, Let Us Reflect on What Has Changed — and What Hasn’t first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Alleged NYC terror plotter moved to Montreal detention pending extradition hearing
Muhammad Shahzeb Khan, the 20-year-old Pakistani national who was arrested by the RCMP in Quebec on Sept. 4 about 20 kilometres from the U.S. border while allegedly en route to conduct an attack on Jews in New York City, has been moved to a prison in Montreal.
Khan is alleged to have devised a plot for the large-scale murder of Jews on the anniversary of the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks in Israel and on Yom Kippur, in support of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) terrorist group. According to U.S. Justice Department documents, Khan communicated to undercover agents that “if we succeed with our plan this would be the largest attack on U.S. soil since 9/11.”
Khan, also known as Shazeb Jadoon, was arrested and detained in Rimouski, 550 km east of Montreal, until his Dec. 19 transfer. The Mississauga, Ont., resident speaks no French, and his lawyer said he could not work with his client while he was held there, where he could not help him understand government documents, and the suspect could not communicate with French-speaking prison guards.
He appeared briefly at the Montreal courthouse Friday morning and will return to Superior Court on Jan. 17, when a date will be set for an extradition hearing. Ottawa agreed to a U.S. extradition request for Khan to stand trial in the Southern District of New York on charges of attempting to provide material support and resources to a foreign terrorist organization. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison.
Khan arrived in Canada in June 2023 on a student visa, Immigration Minister Marc Miller confirmed a week after the arrest, which was pursuant to section 495 of Canada’s Criminal Code: attempting to leave Canada to commit an offence for a terrorist group, participating in the activities of a terrorist group, and conspiracy to commit an offence by violating United States immigration law.
He was then re-arrested on a provisional warrant under the Extradition Act as Canadian authorities were uncertain whether they could detain him based on existing evidence.
“The news of threats to the Jewish community is alarming,” read an RCMP statement. “We will not tolerate any form of threats, harassment or violence targeting Jewish communities. The RCMP continues to work in collaboration with our domestic and international partners to detect, investigate and disrupt criminal acts that are targeting Jewish communities.
“With the strong partnership between Canada and the U.S. we can reassure the public that as his actions escalated, at no point in time was Khan an immediate threat prior to his arrest.”
According to the U.S. Justice Department complaint drawn up by an FBI counterterrorism agent, Khan planned to use automatic and semi-automatic weapons to carry out a mass shooting at Chabad locations. Authorities say he began posting on social media and communicating with others around November 2023 on an encrypted messaging application about his support for ISIS, when he allegedly distributed ISIS propaganda videos and literature.
He then began communicating with two undercover law enforcement officers, the complaint reads. “During those conversations, Khan confirmed that he and a U.S.-based ISIS supporter had been planning to carry out an attack in a particular U.S. city. Among other things, Khan said that he had been actively attempting to create ‘a real offline cell’ of ISIS supporters to carry out a ‘coordinated assault’ using AR-style rifles to “target Israeli Jewish chabads… scattered all around” the city.
According to the document, Khan envisioned teams launching three attacks simultaneously “on diff[erent] locations maximizing casualty count” and repeatedly instructed undercover agents to obtain assault rifles, ammunition and “some good hunting [knives] so we can slit their throats,” identifying specific locations where attacks would take place.
He also instructed them to acquire burner cell phones and allegedly provided details about how he would cross into the United States. During conversations with the agents, he allegedly emphasized that Oct. 7 and 11 were the best days for targeting Jews “because ‘Oct 7 they will surely have some protests and Oct 11 is yom kippur’.”
The complaint alleges that, just a few weeks after the Hamas attack in Israel, he was posting support for jihad and images of weapons. The FBI also says Khan boasted that New York is perfect to target Jews because it has the “largest Jewish population In america” and, therefore, “even if we dont attack a event [sic], we could rack up easily a lot of jews.” Khan then allegedly proclaimed, “We are going to nyc to slaughter them,” and sent a photograph of the area he envisioned for the attack.
Khan attempted to reach the U.S-Canada border using three separate cars before being apprehended in Ormstown, after officers from different police forces followed him from the Toronto area.
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland thanked Canadian law enforcement for their assistance, adding “Jewish communities—like all communities in this country—should not have to fear that they will be targeted by a hate-fueled terrorist attack.”
The post Alleged NYC terror plotter moved to Montreal detention pending extradition hearing appeared first on The Canadian Jewish News.
RSS
Israel for First Time Claims Responsibility for Killing of Hamas Leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran
Iranians attend the funeral procession of assassinated Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, Iran, Aug. 1, 2024. Photo: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz on Monday acknowledged for the first time that Israel killed Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in July.
“These days, when the Houthi terrorist organization is firing missiles at Israel, I want to convey a clear message to them at the beginning of my remarks: We have defeated Hamas, we have defeated Hezbollah, we have blinded Iran’s defense systems and damaged the production systems, we have toppled the Assad regime in Syria, we have dealt a severe blow to the axis of evil, and we will also deal a severe blow to the Houthi terrorist organization in Yemen, which remains the last to stand,” Katz said during an event honoring defense ministry personnel.
Israel will “damage their strategic infrastructure, and we will behead their leaders. Just as we did to Haniyeh, [Hamas leader Yahya] Sinwar, and [Hezbollah leader Hassan] Nasrallah in Tehran, Gaza, and Lebanon [respectively] — we will do it in Hodeidah and Sana’a,” Katz continued. “Whoever raises a hand against Israel will have their hand cut off, and the long arm of the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] will strike them and settle the score.”
Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis are all internationally designated terrorist organizations backed by Iran. Katz’s comments came after the Houthi rebels in Yemen fired a ballistic missile at Tel Aviv over the weekend. The Houthis have also been attacking commercial shipping in the Red Sea for more than a year, saying they are acting in solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza and will prevent all ships from heading to Israeli ports.
Haniyeh, the exiled political chief of Hamas, was killed in an explosion in Iran’s capital city on July 31. Iran had accused Israel of carrying out the assassination and vowed revenge; however, for months the Israeli government had neither confirmed nor denied responsibility for Haniyeh’s death.
Haniyeh was based in Qatar and had been the face of Hamas’s during the Israel-Hamas war, which the Palestinian terroris group launched with its invasion of and massacre across southern Israel last Oct. 7.
Following Haniyeh’s death, Sinwar was named the terrorist group’s overall leader after being its top official in Gaza. Sinwar, who masterminded the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel, was killed by Israeli forces in Gaza in October.
The post Israel for First Time Claims Responsibility for Killing of Hamas Leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
‘Should Scare Every American’: Top Trump Adviser Mike Waltz Explains Dangers of Iran Getting Nuclear Weapons
US Rep. Mike Waltz (R-FL) speaks on Day 1 of the Republican National Convention (RNC) at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, US, July 15, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Mike Segar
US Rep. Mike Waltz (R-FL), who was recently tapped to serve as the White House national security adviser for the incoming Trump administration, outlined in a new interview why Iran’s nuclear program could pose a major threat to the United States and must be stopped.
During an interview with Daily Wire co-founder and conservative podcast host Ben Shapiro, Waltz said that his constituents often do not understand how Iran’s nuclear ambitions impact American interests. The lawmaker explained that Iran obtaining nuclear weapons could kick-start an arms race and geopolitical firestorm in the Middle East, potentially forcing the US to become more involved in the region militarily.
“No. 1, if Iran gets a nuke, the Saudis are going to want a nuke, the Turks are going to want a nuke, and the Middle East exploding, not literally but figuratively, in a nuclear arms race should scare every American,” Waltz said.
Though Waltz conceded that nuclear proliferation in the Middle East would not necessarily result in “World War III,” he asserted that it would be “catastrophic for the world.”
The lawmaker added that a nuclear-armed Iran would endanger Israel, which he described as America’s “critical ally, morally and historically and geopolitically,” and that the US should take threats by Iranian leadership to eliminate Israel seriously.
“We should believe [Iran’s so-called ‘supreme leader,’ Ayatollah Ali Khamenei] who intends to wipe Israel off the face of the earth if they have nukes,” Waltz said.
Waltz also praised Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for “exposing Iran’s air defenses so that they literally are naked right now and on their back foot.” He appeared to be referring to Israel’s precision airstrikes on Iranian military and air defense sites in October which devastated the regime’s air-defense system and ballistic missile program. The strikes were in response to Iran’s ballistic missile barrage against Israel weeks earlier.
Waltz went on to say that the incoming Trump administration plans on “hitting” Iran’s finances throughout the Middle East and stopping the flow of money “out of Tehran into Beirut and into [Iran’s] proxies in Syria.”
Iran has supported several terrorist proxies throughout the Middle East, including Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon — both of which have been devastated by Israeli military operations in recent months. The Iranian regime also backed the recently ousted Assad regime in Syria, where Israel launched limited operations to ensure security at its northeastern amid uncertainty about Syria’s future.
“I hope that all of this has Hamas so isolated. They really thought the cavalry was coming from the north with Hezbollah. Now, that has been shown not to be true; Hamas has every exit blocked except one, and that is to release our hostages if you want to live,” Waltz said.
Harsh US sanctions levied on Iran under the Trump administration from 2017-2021 crippled the Iranian economy and led its foreign exchange reserves to plummet. US President-elect Donald Trump and his Republican supporters in the US Congress have criticized the Biden administration for renewing billions of dollars in US sanctions waivers, which had the effect of unlocking frozen funds and allowing the country to access previously inaccessible hard currency.
US intelligence agencies have for years labeled Iran as the world’s foremost state sponsor of terrorism, noting it devotes significant sums of money and weapons each year to supporting proxies across the Middle East such as Hamas and Hezbollah.
The post ‘Should Scare Every American’: Top Trump Adviser Mike Waltz Explains Dangers of Iran Getting Nuclear Weapons first appeared on Algemeiner.com.