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A Nation Like No Other
Omer Adam standing in front of the Western Wall in a scene from his music video for “Jerusalem.” Photo: Screenshot.
JNS.org – As a rabbi, I’ve often had to juggle conflicting life-cycle events in a single day. I’ve gone from a funeral to a wedding, from a brit milah to an unveiling, and over the years, from happy occasions to cemeteries and back. This is precisely what is happening this week in Israel.
It is the annual season of emotional roller coasters in Israel and for Jews around the world. First, we had the festive celebrations of Passover, tempered by the Yizkor memorial service on the final day of the chag. Then it was Yom Hashoah, as we remembered the Holocaust and our 6 million martyrs. And now we have Yom Hazikaron, where we recall and pay tribute to Israel’s fallen heroes, a day which, in recent years, has included all the innocent victims of terror.
And this leads immediately to celebrations of Israel’s statehood and sovereignty, or, as some have cynically labeled it, Israel’s annual barbecue day.
Juggling contrary emotions and such powerful opposing feelings is never easy. If we Jews sometimes seem to be schizophrenic, well, now you know why.
But how do we manage? With all the wars, intifadas, never-ending terror attacks, and, most recently, the horrific Hamas-led terrorist attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, how have the people of Israel managed to retain their sanity and emotional equilibrium? Where does the now-renowned resilience of Israelis come from?
Of course, there is a sense of nationalism. Others talk of powerful feelings of peoplehood and shared destiny. I would suggest that for most Israelis, there is something much deeper: faith.
Since Oct. 7, in particular, we have witnessed completely secular soldiers and citizens shouting Shema Yisrael, “Hear, O Israel,” in moments of danger. We’ve seen nonreligious Israel Defense Forces heroes begging for tzitzit, tefillin, siddurim and tehillim, Psalms. Released hostages are sharing how, though they hardly went to synagogue, their faith kept them sane and hopeful, even in those dreadful underground circumstances. One recounted how she would repeat a single prayer—the only prayer she knew—day after day in those months of captivity, and how it never failed to strengthen her. Another shared how a little Torah booklet left behind by a chayal, an Israeli soldier, sustained her throughout his hundreds of days in captivity.
The phrase Am Yisrael Chai has become a cliché now, but its foundation is not only a sense of patriotism. It not only refers to the nation of Israel, the State of Israel, but the people of Israel, and it goes way beyond mere nationalism. It resonates with peoplehood, history and destiny—a higher calling that will never end.
We are not only the people of Israel. We are God’s people, and we have a mission to fulfill.
It never ceases to amaze me how Israel, with all its existential threats, surrounded by mortal enemies on every side that plot its destruction (and would repeat Oct. 7 again and again, if they only could), is ranked at No. 8 on the top 10 list of happiest countries in the world, according to the World Happiness Report 2025. Somehow, Finland always wins, but Israel is the happiest country in the Middle East and also ahead of the United States of America. And this is even after Oct. 7!
It’s quite unbelievable, but it tells a compelling story. Clearly, the people of Israel enjoy a sense of purpose and fulfillment that lifts them beyond the regular routines of running to bomb shelters. Happiness in life is not just measured by creature comforts or in living a sequestered life far from the madding crowd, like the people in the Nordic region. Israel possesses a higher calling, and a higher and deeper purpose in life. There is something eternal about our existence that brings both meaning and happiness.
This same faith is reflected in the story of the Haftarah we read this week in synagogues around the world. It comes from ll Kings (7:3-20) and tells the tale of a great miracle promised by the prophet Elisha. Samaria was under siege by Aram, a formidable enemy with a large army. The siege led to a terrible famine, and people were dying of starvation. The price of food had skyrocketed beyond affordability.
Elisha prophesized to the corrupt Jewish King Jehoram that a miracle would occur the very next day, and that food would be available in such abundance that the prices would drop to rock bottom. One of the king’s courtiers responded skeptically that God Himself could not perform such a miracle. It was impossible. Elisha said that the courtier would see it happen with his own eyes but would be unable to partake of it.
The Haftarah tells the story of how the miracle unfolded. Indeed, true to Elisha’s word, the Aramean army was suddenly seized by inexplicable fear and fled in terror. The siege was lifted, and food became plentiful. In the mad dash by the people to find the provisions left behind, the cynical courtier was trampled to death. He did, indeed, see the prophet’s word fulfilled, but sadly, he didn’t live to benefit from it.
The word of God mandating our people more than 3,000 years ago with a national mission and destiny in our promised land and beyond, continues to nurture and sustain us through all our traumas and tsuris. We have experienced shock and loss, with thousands of us bereaved, injured and traumatized. But we have also experienced many remarkable miracles. Slowly but surely, our enemies are being defeated.
We continue to believe in our mission and our mandate. We are still happy people. Please, God, we will remain happy, strong and faithful, and live to celebrate our complete victory very soon.
The post A Nation Like No Other first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israel to Issue 54,000 Call-Up Notices to Ultra-Orthodox Students
Haredi Jewish men look at the scene of an explosion at a bus stop in Jerusalem, Israel, on Nov. 23, 2022. Photo: Reuters/Ammar Awad
Israel’s military said it would issue 54,000 call-up notices to ultra-Orthodox Jewish seminary students following a Supreme Court ruling mandating their conscription and amid growing pressure from reservists stretched by extended deployments.
The Supreme Court ruling last year overturned a decades-old exemption for ultra-Orthodox students, a policy established when the community comprised a far smaller segment of the population than the 13 percent it represents today.
Military service is compulsory for most Israeli Jews from the age of 18, lasting 24-32 months, with additional reserve duty in subsequent years. Members of Israel’s 21 percent Arab population are mostly exempt, though some do serve.
A statement by the military spokesperson confirmed the orders on Sunday just as local media reported legislative efforts by two ultra-Orthodox parties in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition to craft a compromise.
The exemption issue has grown more contentious as Israel’s armed forces in recent years have faced strains from simultaneous engagements with Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, Houthis in Yemen, and Iran.
Ultra-Orthodox leaders in Netanyahu’s brittle coalition have voiced concerns that integrating seminary students into military units alongside secular Israelis, including women, could jeopardize their religious identity.
The military statement promised to ensure conditions that respect the ultra-Orthodox way of life and to develop additional programs to support their integration into the military. It said the notices would go out this month.
The post Israel to Issue 54,000 Call-Up Notices to Ultra-Orthodox Students first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Influential Far-Right Minister Lashes out at Netanyahu Over Gaza War Policy
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich attends an inauguration event for Israel’s new light rail line for the Tel Aviv metropolitan area, in Petah Tikva, Israel, Aug. 17, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Amir Cohen
Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich sharply criticized on Sunday a cabinet decision to allow some aid into Gaza as a “grave mistake” that he said would benefit the terrorist group Hamas.
Smotrich also accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of failing to ensure that Israel’s military is following government directives in prosecuting the war against Hamas in Gaza. He said he was considering his “next steps” but stopped short of explicitly threatening to quit the coalition.
Smotrich’s comments come a day before Netanyahu is due to hold talks in Washington with President Donald Trump on a US-backed proposal for a 60-day Gaza ceasefire.
“… the cabinet and the Prime Minister made a grave mistake yesterday in approving the entry of aid through a route that also benefits Hamas,” Smotrich said on X, arguing that the aid would ultimately reach the Islamist group and serve as “logistical support for the enemy during wartime”.
The Israeli government has not announced any changes to its aid policy in Gaza. Israeli media reported that the government had voted to allow additional aid to enter northern Gaza.
The prime minister’s office did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. The military declined to comment.
Israel accuses Hamas of stealing aid for its own fighters or to sell to finance its operations, an accusation Hamas denies. Gaza is in the grip of a humanitarian catastrophe, with conditions threatening to push nearly a half a million people into famine within months, according to U.N. estimates.
Israel in May partially lifted a nearly three-month blockade on aid. Two Israeli officials said on June 27 the government had temporarily stopped aid from entering north Gaza.
PRESSURE
Public pressure in Israel is mounting on Netanyahu to secure a permanent ceasefire, a move opposed by some hardline members of his right-wing coalition. An Israeli team left for Qatar on Sunday for talks on a possible Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal.
Smotrich, who in January threatened to withdraw his Religious Zionism party from the government if Israel agreed to a complete end to the war before having achieved its objectives, did not mention the ceasefire in his criticism of Netanyahu.
The right-wing coalition holds a slim parliamentary majority, although some opposition lawmakers have offered to support the government from collapsing if a ceasefire is agreed.
The post Influential Far-Right Minister Lashes out at Netanyahu Over Gaza War Policy first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Australia Police Charge Man Over Alleged Arson on Melbourne Synagogue
Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese speaks to the media during a press conference with New Zealand’s Prime Minister Christopher Luxon at the Australian Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, Aug. 16, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Tracey Nearmy
Australian police have charged a man in connection with an alleged arson attack on a Melbourne synagogue with worshippers in the building, the latest in a series of incidents targeting the nation’s Jewish community.
There were no injuries to the 20 people inside the East Melbourne Synagogue, who fled from the fire on Friday night. Firefighters extinguished the blaze in the capital of Victoria state.
Australia has experienced several antisemitic incidents since the start of the Israel-Gaza war in October 2023.
Counter-terrorism detectives late on Saturday arrested the 34-year-old resident of Sydney, capital of neighboring New South Wales, charging him with offenses including criminal damage by fire, police said.
“The man allegedly poured a flammable liquid on the front door of the building and set it on fire before fleeing the scene,” police said in a statement.
The suspect, whom the authorities declined to identify, was remanded in custody after his case was heard at Melbourne Magistrates Court on Sunday and no application was made for bail, the Australian Broadcasting Corp reported.
Authorities are investigating whether the synagogue fire was linked to a disturbance on Friday night at an Israeli restaurant in Melbourne, in which one person was arrested for hindering police.
The restaurant was extensively damaged, according to the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, an umbrella group for Australia’s Jews.
It said the fire at the synagogue, one of Melbourne’s oldest, was set as those inside sat down to Sabbath dinner.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog went on X to “condemn outright the vile arson attack targeting Jews in Melbourne’s historic and oldest synagogue on the Sabbath, and on an Israeli restaurant where people had come to enjoy a meal together”.
“This is not the first such attack in Australia in recent months. But it must be the last,” Herzog said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the incidents as “severe hate crimes” that he viewed “with utmost gravity.” “The State of Israel will continue to stand alongside the Australian Jewish community,” Netanyahu said on X.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese late on Saturday described the alleged arson, which comes seven months after another synagogue in Melbourne was targeted by arsonists, as shocking and said those responsible should face the law’s full force.
“My Government will provide all necessary support toward this effort,” Albanese posted on X.
Homes, schools, synagogues and vehicles in Australia have been targeted by antisemitic vandalism and arson. The incidents included a fake plan by organized crime to attack a Sydney synagogue using a caravan of explosives in order to divert police resources, police said in March.
The post Australia Police Charge Man Over Alleged Arson on Melbourne Synagogue first appeared on Algemeiner.com.