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The settlers’ attack on Huwara is not the Orthodox Judaism I grew up on
(JTA) — Nighttime in Huwara, a small Palestinian town in the West Bank. Jews in large skullcaps and sidelocks, prayer fringes dangling from their waists, responding loudly to the cantor: “Yehei shmei raba mevurach leolam u’leolmei olmaya” (“May His great name be blessed, forever and ever”) — the words of Kaddish, a regular daily prayer that can also be said to mourn the dead.
The gloom outside is illuminated by an enormous bonfire of cars, shops and homes belonging to the Palestinian residents of the village, which the Kaddish-reciters have set on fire, in revenge for the horrific and heartrending murders, hours before the pogrom, of brothers Hillel and Yagel Yaniv (may their memory be a blessing) and for other recent terror attacks in the area.
One Palestinian was killed during the rioting by these Jewish settlers. Dozens of wounded Palestinians were evacuated to hospitals, some from smoke inhalation, others from beatings and stabbings. A family was evacuated by IDF troops, moments before they might have perished in the flames that took their home.
This wasn’t just any Kaddish, yet another one of those said and repeated by any observant Jew multiple times a day, sometimes in mumbling fashion. This time it was a Kaddish for Judaism itself.
I grew up in a small town in central Israel, in a classic “dati leumi” or national religious community whose ideology combines Zionism and Orthodox Judaism. I studied in typical religious institutions: a school in the state-religious education stream, a high school yeshiva and a “hesder yeshiva,” which combines advanced religious studies with military service. I was also very active in the religious Zionist Bnei Akiva youth movement, as an educator and leader.
Even today I live in a religious community in Jerusalem, and my young children study in schools that belong to the state-religious education stream.
The Judaism that I know and by which I try to live is a Judaism that operates according to the commandment “walk in His ways” (Deuteronomy 11:22) and the Talmud: “As He is gracious you should also be gracious, as He is compassionate you should also be compassionate” (Shabbat 133b:4-6). This Judaism operates according to the verse from Leviticus, “The land shall not be sold permanently, for the land belongs to Me, for you are strangers and [temporary] residents with Me.”
By contrast, the Judaism that the militant settlers imbibed — or distorted — led one of the pogromchiks, he too in skullcap and sidelocks, to speak in Hebrew words I understood but whose language I could not not comprehend. “There is something very moving here,” he told a reporter. “Jews won’t be silent. What the army can’t do, what the police will never do, simple Jews come and carry out a simple act of vengeance, setting fire to anything they can.”
The same Judaism led Davidi Ben Zion, deputy head of the Samaria Regional Council, also an observant Jew, to say blithely, shortly before the pogrom, that “Huwara should be wiped off the earth — no room for mercy,” and “the [Jewish] guys in Huwara right now are behaving precisely like guys whose brothers were massacred in cold blood at point-blank. The idea that a Jew in Samaria is a diasporic Jew who will be stabbed in the heart and politely say thank you, is childish naivete.”
That same Judaism led Israel’s finance minister, Betzalel Smotrich, the de facto governor of the West Bank, to publicly support a tweet by another coalition member calling to “wipe out” the village.
In the name of this Judaism, denizens of hills and outposts abuse the Palestinians daily, with the aid or under the blind eye of the IDF. A national Jewish settlement endeavor has been taking place for two generations now, which despite the good intentions of some of its practitioners, has included land theft, institutionalized discrimination, killing and hatred. An endeavor under which the current coalition, the most observant ever, only grows and intensifies.
In ordinary times life is not black and white. The Palestinian side also has a significant part in the story. The violence comes in great force and cruelty from there as well, and its many victims and circles burn the soul and draw many good people into the cycle of vengeance. The solution, too, is complex and hard to see, even far off on the horizon. But there are moments when things are actually very clear, clarifying the gray areas, when the choices are between life and death, and good and evil.
This evil version of Judaism is a lethal drug, which through a historical twist of fate gained ascendance over our ancient tradition. Combined with nationalism and majority hegemony in the Land of Israel, it has become a conflagration, one that has long since spread beyond religious Zionism — what Americans might refer to as “Modern Orthodox” — to the haredi, or ultra-Orthodox sector, and Israeli society in general.
An entire generation of Jews has been raised on this Judaism of hate, contemptuous of anyone who is not Jewish, of any display of weakness, of compassion. To whom Judaism is not the keeping and continuation of our tradition, observing commandments or studying Torah, but a worship of “Jewish might” (“Otzma Yehudit,” the name of a far-right political party) and limitless greed. In this Judaism, traditional values like modesty, pity and charity are signs of weakness, or remnants of a pathetic and feeble Christian morality that under no circumstances are to be shown to a stranger, the other, those who are not like us.
What we need now is not accommodation, nor soft words and platitudes. Neither will an obvious and empty condemnation of the pogrom do a bit of good. What we need now — having seen the elected officials who represent this religious population, having witnessed their nationalist Judaism — is a policy rooted in a tradition they abandoned. We should treat those who distort Judaism as the Mishnah tells us to treat all evildoers: “Distance yourself from an evil neighbor, and do not cleave to a wicked person” (Ethics of the Fathers 1:7). We need to announce that we want no part in the feral growth that has sprung up here, that this is not the tradition we grew up on, this is not the Torah we studied, and this is not how we wish to live our lives and raise our children.
Let us return to tradition and start over.
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The post The settlers’ attack on Huwara is not the Orthodox Judaism I grew up on appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Mother of Last Gaza Hostage Says Israel Won’t Heal Until He’s Back
Talik Gvili, the mother of Ran Gvili, the last hostage remaining in Gaza following the deadly Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas, looks on during an interview with Reuters at her home in Meitar, Israel, Dec. 7, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
The mother of the last hostage in Gaza says Israel will not heal until he or his remains are brought home, and that the next phase of a peace plan should not proceed until he is back.
Police officer Ran Gvili was one of 251 hostages seized and taken to Gaza by the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas in its attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
Israeli authorities say they believe he is dead, but his body has not been recovered and his family is clinging to the faint hope that he is still alive.
“We’re at the last stretch and we have to be strong, for Rani, for us, and for Israel. Without Rani, our country can’t heal,” his mother, Talik Gvili, told Reuters.
‘WE WANT TO FEEL HIM’
Posters of Ran Gvili, known by family and friends as Rani, line the streets of Meitar, his hometown in southern Israel.
When Hamas attacked, he was recovering at home from a broken collarbone. He quickly put on his uniform and joined the fight against the Hamas gunmen around Kibbutz Alumim near Gaza.
Gvili, who was 24 at the time, was badly wounded and Israeli authorities said he did not survive for long after being taken to Gaza, his mother said.
“We want to feel him, we want to feel some tiny doubt [that he died],” his mother said, before adding: “It might just be wishful thinking.”
SEARCH FOR GVILI IN GAZA
Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire in October, under which violence has subsided but not entirely stopped in Gaza after two years of war precipitated by the terrorist group’s attack.
The US-backed ceasefire deal included a commitment by Hamas to release all remaining hostages in exchange for about 2,000 Palestinian detainees and convicted prisoners held in Israel, and the bodies of 360 deceased Palestinians.
At the time of the deal, 48 hostages remained in Gaza, 28 of them believed dead. Only Gvili is now still in Gaza.
Once all hostages are returned, the ceasefire agreement is meant to move on to its next phase, tackling issues such as the future governance and rebuilding of Gaza, although each side has accused the other of violating the truce agreement.
But with much of Gaza left in ruins by the offensive which Israel launched in response to the Hamas attack, finding Gvili’s remains is taking time.
Asked about the possibility that Israel might proceed with talks on Gaza before he is returned, his mother said: “No way. We won’t let that happen.”
‘WE’RE NOT ALONE’
The hostages’ plight gave birth to a grassroots movement dedicated to their return. Posters showing their faces were placed on highways, bus stops, skyscrapers, shops, and homes across Israel, and people gathered weekly at the Tel Aviv plaza that became known as Hostages Square to demand their return.
“We’re not alone,” Talik Gvili said, adding that she felt support and solidarity from across the political spectrum.
She describes her son as a strong and kind-hearted person who would look out for those weaker than him.
“We’re happy everyone has returned, except for Rani, we have become one big family so every hostage who returned brought relief, closure. But somebody had to be last, and it looks like that was our fate,” she said.
“But that was his thing, to make sure everyone else was okay first.”
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Syria Marks One Year Since Assad Was Toppled
People gather during a protest to mark the first anniversary of Bashar al-Assad’s fall, in Aleppo, Syria, Dec. 8, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Hassano
Syrians marked the first anniversary of the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad and his iron-fisted rule on Monday with jubilant celebrations in major cities, as the fractured nation struggles to find stability and recover after years of war.
The new leader, President Ahmed al-Sharaa, told a large crowd of supporters that his government had “laid out a clear vision for a new Syria as a state that looks towards a promising future,” calling it a historic break from a “dark chapter.”
Assad fled Syria for Russia a year ago as Sharaa’s rebels seized Damascus following an eight-day blitz through the country, ending his rule more than 13 years after an uprising had spiraled into bitter civil war.
‘WE STARTED LOVING THE COUNTRY,’ SAYS ALEPPO RESIDENT
Sharaa began Monday with dawn prayers at Damascus’ Umayyad Mosque, dressed in the military fatigues he wore as head of the former al-Qaeda rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a uniform he has since switched for the sombre suits of presidential office.
He promised to build a just and strong Syria, state news agency SANA reported.
“From north to south and from east to west, God willing, we will rebuild a strong Syria with a structure befitting its present and past,” he said.
In Aleppo, the first major city to fall to Sharaa’s forces last year, cars paraded through the streets honking their horns, with passengers waving Syria‘s new flag.
“We started loving the country. We didn’t love the country before, we used to try to escape from it,” said Mohammed Karam Hammami, an Aleppo resident.
Sharaa has ushered in big changes which have reshaped Syria‘s foreign ties. He has forged relations with the US, won support from Gulf Arab states and Turkey, and turned away from Assad‘s backers Iran and Russia. Crippling Western sanctions have largely been lifted.
He has promised to replace Assad‘s brutal police state with an inclusive and just order.
However, hundreds of people have been killed in bouts of sectarian violence, causing new displacements and fueling mistrust among minorities towards Sharaa’s government, as he struggles to bring all Syria back under Damascus’ authority.
The Kurdish-led administration that runs the northeast banned gatherings or events on security grounds, citing increased activity by “terror cells” seeking to exploit the occasion. It congratulated Syrians on the anniversary.
The Kurdish-led administration has sought to safeguard its regional autonomy, while in the south, some Druze – followers of a minority sect that is an offshoot of Islam – have been demanding independence in the southern province of Sweida since hundreds of people were killed there in deadly clashes in July with government forces.
FOUR MORE YEARS OF TRANSITION BEFORE ELECTIONS
Sharaa told a forum in Qatar over the weekend that “Syria today is living its best times,” despite the bouts of violence, and said those responsible would be held accountable.
He said a transitional period led by him would continue for four more years, to set up institutions, laws, and a new constitution – to be put to a public vote – at which point the country would hold elections.
Sharaa wields broad powers under a temporary constitution approved in March. The authorities organized an indirect vote in October to form a parliament, but Sharaa has yet to select one third of the 210 members as per the constitution.
The Assad family, members of Syria‘s Alawite minority community, ruled Syria for 54 years.
The Syrian war killed hundreds of thousands of people and displaced millions more since 2011, driving some five million into neighbouring countries as refugees.
The UN refugee agency said on Monday that some 1.2 million refugees, in addition to 1.9 million internally displaced people, had gone home since Assad was toppled, but a decline in global funding could deter others.
Syria‘s central bank governor, speaking at a Reuters NEXT conference last week, said the return of some 1.5 million refugees was helping the economy grow.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says humanitarian needs across Syria are acute, with some 16.5 million people needing aid in 2025.
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Final assailant charged in 2021 antisemitic assault of Joey Borgen sentenced to 2 years in prison
(JTA) — Four and a half years after Joey Borgen was beaten in the street in New York City while en route to a pro-Israel rally, a sixth individual involved in his assault has been sentenced.
Salem Seleiman, 30, was sentenced to two years in state prison on Thursday in New York State Supreme Court. He pleaded guilty on Sept. 29 to assault in the second degree and assault in the third degree as a hate crime, according to the Manhattan District Attorney’s office.
“Salem Seleiman took part in the repugnant and bias-motivated assault of a Jewish man who was peacefully attending a rally,” said District Attorney Alvin Bragg in a statement. “The victim was targeted based on his religion and did nothing to warrant physical violence.
The attack on May 20, 2021, came amid a string of antisemitic assaults during the conflict between Israel and Hamas at the time. Seleiman had just attended a pro-Palestinian rally when he came across Borgen, who was wearing a kippah, in Times Square.
During the attack, Seleiman was one of six men who kicked, pepper-sprayed and struck Borgen with a crutch, leaving him needing surgery on his wrist. The group also shouted antisemitic slurs at Borgen during the assault, including “filthy Jew,” “dirty Jew” and “f— Israel.”
According to the district attorney’s office, surveillance footage of the assault showed Seleiman kick Borgen in the face and allegedly urge onlookers to leave the scene. He was arrested in Florida and extradited to New York in May, months after three of the other attackers were sentenced in January 2024.
Four other assailants involved in Borgen’s assault pleaded guilty and were sentenced to prison, while a fifth was put on probation but violated the terms of his release and was later sentenced to jail.
The post Final assailant charged in 2021 antisemitic assault of Joey Borgen sentenced to 2 years in prison appeared first on The Forward.