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A Rosh Hashanah Guide for the Perplexed — 2024
The evening of October 2, 2024, will launch the Jewish New Year of 5784. Rosh Hashanah underscores the fallibility of human beings, and the potential of universal self-enhancement through the commemoration of critical precepts of Judaism:
1. Self-examination. Rosh Hashanah initiates a wake-up call of 10 days of self-examination and repentance, which are concluded on Yom Kippur (the Day of Repentance). The holiday teaches us that we should never underestimate the capabilities to enhance our fortunes, when guided by morality-driven tenacity, determination, humility, and faith.
The root of the Hebrew word Shanah (שנה) is both “repeat” and “change.”
Rosh Hashanah (ראש השנה) constitutes an annual reminder of the need to enhance one’s behavior through systematic self-examination, re-studying moral values, and avoiding past errors.
The New Jewish Year is the only Jewish holiday that is celebrated upon the (monthly) appearance of a new moon — signaling our emergence out of the darkness.
2. Genesis. Rosh Hashanah is celebrated on the sixth day of Creation, when the first human-being, Adam, was created.
Adam is the Hebrew word for a human-being (אדמ), which is the root of the Hebrew word for “soil” (אדמה) — a metaphor for humility. The Hebrew word for Adam is, also, an acronym of Abraham, David, and Moses, who were role models of humility.
Rosh Hashanah is celebrated on the first day of the Jewish month of Tishrei — “the month of the Strong Ones” (Book of Kings A, 8:2) — when the three Jewish Patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob) and the Prophet Samuel were born.
Tishrei means beginning/”genesis” in ancient Acadian.
The Hebrew letters of Tishrei (תשרי) are included in the spelling of Genesis (בראשית). Furthermore, the Hebrew spelling of Genesis (בראשית) includes the first two letters in the Hebrew alphabet (אב), a middle letter (י) and the last three letters (רשת) — representing the totality of the Creation.
3. Responsibility. The late Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz, the iconic Talmudic scholar, compared the calendar year to a human body, consisting of the head/brain (the epicenter of the thought process), the heart (the intersection of blood supply), and the liver (the crux of the digestion process).
Thus, on Rosh Hashanah (the head/brain of the year), one contemplates the vision, strategy, tactics, and norms/values of the coming year. The rest of the year facilitates the implementation of this vision.
4. The Shofar. Rosh Hashanah is announced and celebrated by the blowing of the (bent, thus humble) shofar, the horn of the humble and determined non-predator ram. The roots of blowing the Shofar are in the book of Leviticus 23:23-25 and the book of Numbers 29:1-6: “a day of blowing the shofar” and “the day of commemorating the blowing of the shofar.”
The Hebrew spelling for Shofar שופר)) is a derivative of the verb to enhance and improve שפר)), enticing people to persist in the eternal voyage of improved behavior.
The sound of the Shofar was used to alert people to physical challenges (e.g., facing military challenges). On Rosh Hashanah, the Shofar alarms people to spiritual challenges and enhancement. It serves as a wake-up call for the necessity of cleansing one’s behavior.
5. Commemoration. The 100 blows of the Shofar commemorate:
The creation of Adam, the first human-being;
The almost-sacrifice of Isaac, which was prevented by a ram and an angel;
The receipt of the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai;
The tumbling of the walls of Jericho upon re-entering the Land of Israel, which was facilitated by the blowing of the Shofar;
Judge Gideon’s war against the Midianites featured the blowing of the Shofar;
The reaffirmation of faith in God, the Creator (“In God We Trust”); and
The path of our despondency (the destruction of the two Temples in Jerusalem and the resulting exiles) to fulfilled optimism (the ingathering to the Land of Israel);
The 100 blows of the Shofar are divided into three series, honoring the three Patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob), the three parts of the Old Testament (the Torah, Prophets, Writings) and the three types of human beings (pious, mediocre, and evil).
6. Pomegranate. On Rosh Hashanah, it is customary to eat seeds of a pomegranate, which is one of the seven Biblical species of the Land of Israel (wheat, barley, grapes, dates, figs, olives, pomegranates).
This fruit representing health, righteousness, fruitfulness, fertility, learning, and wisdom.
7. Honey. Rosh Hashanah meals include honey, for sweetening the coming year. The bee is the only insect that produces this essential food. It is a community-oriented, constructive, and diligent creature.
The Hebrew spelling of bee (דבורה) is identical to “the word of God” (דבור-ה’), and Deborah דבורה)) who was one of the seven Jewish prophetesses, as well as a military leader.
May this be a year of victory and liberation of the Gaza hostages.
The author is a commentator and former Israeli ambassador.
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Trump Open to Meeting Iran’s Leaders, Sees Chance of Nuclear Deal
US President Donald Trump speaks to reporters at the White House in Washington, DC, US, April 23, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
US President Donald Trump this week said he is open to meeting Iran’s supreme leader or president and that he thinks the two countries will strike a new deal on Tehran’s disputed nuclear program.
However, Trump, who in 2018 pulled the US out of a now moribund nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers, repeated a threat of military action against Iran unless a new pact is swiftly reached to prevent it developing nuclear weapons.
Trump, in an April 22 interview with Time magazine published on Friday, said “I think we’re going to make a deal with Iran” following indirect US-Iranian talks last week in which the side agreed to draw up a framework for a potential deal.
The Republican US president, speaking separately to reporters at the White House on Friday, reiterated his positive prognosis, saying: “Iran, I think, is going very well. We’ll see what happens.”
A US official said the discussions yielded “very good progress.”
Asked by Time whether he was open to meeting Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, an anti-Western hardliner who has the last say on all major state policies, or President Masoud Pezeshkian, Trump replied: “Sure.”
Expert-level talks are set to resume on Saturday in Oman, which has acted as intermediary between the longtime adversaries, with a third round of high-level nuclear discussions planned for the same day.
Israel, a close US ally and Iran’s major Middle East foe, has described the Islamic Republic’s escalating uranium enrichment program – a potential pathway to nuclear bombs – as an “existential threat.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called for a complete dismantling of Iran’s nuclear capabilities, saying partial measures will not suffice to ensure Israel’s security.
Asked in the interview if he was concerned Netanyahu might drag the United States into a war with Iran, Trump said: “No.”
‘I’LL BE LEADING THE PACK’
However, when asked if the US would join a war against Iran should Israel take action, he responded: “I may go in very willingly if we can’t get a deal. If we don’t make a deal, I’ll be leading the pack.”
In March, Iran responded to a letter from Trump in which he urged it to negotiate a new deal by stating it would not engage in direct talks under maximum pressure and military threats but was open to indirect negotiations, as in the past.
Although the current talks have been indirect and mediated by Oman, US and Iranian officials did speak face-to-face briefly following the first round on April 12.
The last known face-to-face negotiations between the two countries took place under former US President Barack Obama during diplomacy that led to the 2015 nuclear accord.
Western powers accuse Iran of harboring a clandestine agenda to develop nuclear weapons capability by enriching uranium to a high level of fissile purity, above what they say is justifiable for a civilian atomic energy program.
Tehran says its nuclear program is wholly peaceful. The 2015 deal temporarily curbed its uranium enrichment activity in exchange for relief from international sanctions, but Iran resumed and accelerated enrichment after the Trump walkout in 2018.
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Trump Poised to Offer Saudi Arabia Over $100 Billion Arms Package, Sources Say
US President Donald speaking in the Roosevelt Room at the White House in Washington, DC on March 3, 2025. Photo: Leah Millis via Reuters Connect
The United States is poised to offer Saudi Arabia an arms package worth well over $100 billion, six sources with direct knowledge of the issue told Reuters, saying the proposal was being lined up for announcement during US President Donald Trump‘s visit to the kingdom in May.
The offered package comes after the administration of former President Joe Biden unsuccessfully tried to finalize a defense pact with Riyadh as part of a broad deal that envisioned Saudi Arabia normalizing ties with Israel.
The Biden proposal offered access to more advanced US weaponry in return for halting Chinese arms purchases and restricting Beijing’s investment in the country. Reuters could not establish if the Trump administration’s proposal includes similar requirements.
The White House and Saudi government communications office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
A US Defense official said: “Our defense relationship with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is stronger than ever under President Trump‘s leadership. Maintaining our security cooperation remains an important component of this partnership and we will continue to work with Saudi Arabia to address their defense needs.”
In his first term, Trump celebrated weapons sales to Saudi Arabia as good for US jobs.
Lockheed Martin Corp could supply a range of advanced weapons systems including C-130 transport aircraft, two of the sources said. One source said Lockheed would also supply missiles and radars.
RTX Corp, formerly known as Raytheon Technologies, is also expected to play a significant role in the package, which will include supplies from other major US defense contractors such as Boeing Co, Northrop Grumman Corp and General Atomics, said four of the sources.
All the sources declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter.
RTX, Northrop and General Atomics declined to comment. Boeing did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A Lockheed Martin spokesperson said foreign military sales are government-to-government transactions. Questions about sales to foreign governments are best addressed by the US government.
Reuters could not immediately establish how many of the deals on offer were new. Many have been in the works for some time, two of the sources said. For example, the kingdom first requested information about General Atomics’ drones in 2018, they said. Over the past 12 months, a deal for $20 billion of General Atomics’ MQ-9B SeaGuardian-style drones and other aircraft came into focus, according to one of the sources.
Several executives from defense companies are considering traveling to the region as a part of the delegation, three of the sources said.
The US has long supplied Saudi Arabia with weapons. In 2017, Trump proposed approximately $110 billion of sales to the kingdom.
As of 2018, only $14.5 billion of sales had been initiated and Congress began to question the deals in light of the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
In 2021, under Biden, Congress imposed a ban on sales of offensive weapons to Saudi Arabia over the Khashoggi killing and to pressure the kingdom to wind down its Yemen war, which had inflicted heavy civilian casualties.
Under US law, major international weapons deals must be reviewed by members of Congress before they are finalized.
The Biden administration began to soften its stance on Saudi Arabia in 2022 after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine impacted global oil supplies. The ban on offensive weapons sales was lifted in 2024, as Washington worked more closely with Riyadh in the aftermath of Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack to devise a plan for post-war Gaza.
A potential deal for Lockheed’s F-35 jets, which the kingdom has been reportedly interested in for years, is expected to be discussed, three of the sources said, while downplaying the chances for an F-35 deal being signed during the trip.
The United States guarantees that its close ally Israel receives more advanced American weapons than Arab states, giving it what is labeled a “Qualitative Military Edge” (QME) over its neighbors.
Israel has now owned F-35s for nine years, building multiple squadrons.
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Iran Summons Dutch Envoy to Protest Assassination Attempts Claim
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi looks on before a meeting with Qatar’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, in Tehran, Iran, Aug. 26, 2024. Photo: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
The Iranian foreign ministry summoned the Dutch ambassador to Tehran on Friday, the official IRNA news agency reported, a day after the Netherlands called in Iran‘s envoy over suspicions that Iran was behind two assassination attempts.
An Iranian foreign ministry official described the Dutch accusation as “laughable” and based on “suspicions or assumptions,” according to IRNA.
“It is regrettable that the Dutch diplomatic apparatus acts so easily on speculations injected by its security bodies and the Zionist regime [Israel], and even summons the Iranian ambassador over such an absurd fabrication,” the official, Alireza Yousefi, was quoted as saying.
The Netherlands summoned Iran‘s ambassador after the Dutch intelligence agency, known as the AIVD, said in its annual report published on Thursday that it was likely Iran was behind two assassination attempts in the Netherlands and Spain.
Two men were arrested in June 2024 in the Dutch town of Haarlem after an assassination attempt on an Iranian residing in the country, the report said.
One of the suspects was also believed to have been behind the failed assassination attempt on Spanish politician and Iran critic Alejo Vidal-Quadras in Madrid in November 2023, it said.
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