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Being Jewish Today: The Curse That Became a Blessing
Orange balloons fill the skies above Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square on Thursday as hundreds gathered to mark the grim milestone of the first birthday of Kfir Bibas, who is a hostage in Hamas captivity. Wednesday, January 17, 2024. (Photo: Debbie Weiss)
The time has come to take the hard steps needed for healing and to come together stronger than ever before. Let us take the necessary steps to confront our new reality, to cleanse our wounds, and to stand united with the people who are truly our allies.
In doing this, it is imperative to help re-educate well intentioned people who have been misled by half-truths and lies. Let us take the experiences of the curse of antisemitism and turn them into the blessings of understanding and common decency.
In a recent conversation on Honestly with Bari Weiss, Shabbos Kestenbaum shared a personal story that resonates deeply with the Jewish community. He described how he supported the Black Lives Matter movement and even marched alongside them, believing he was standing for justice.
He described how he was an advocate and supporter of Bernie Sanders in 2016 and then also in 2020. His credentials for the progressive movement were unmatched, and he assumed that those that he stood with would support him and his community in their time of crisis. What befuddled him, and ultimately woke many people up, was discovering that justice applies to all except for the Jewish people.
An example of this was that female Israelis’ experiences of being sexually abused were not initially believed. This surprised him, as it surprised many people, who otherwise believed that they were in complete alignment with the progressive side of the Democratic Party.
Similarly David Harris, the former head of the American Jewish Committee, gave a speech in Westchester, New York, where he expressed shock that in the past 40 years, he had been building bridges and supporting a gamut of different causes including women’s causes, LGBTQ causes, children’s cause’s, interfaith causes, and many more. He found it unconscionable that these organizations which have received the support of the Jewish community for decades remained silent in the face of the extreme violence perpetrated against the civilian population in southern Israel.
There is a recognition that something went very wrong along the way — where an ideology was promoted (and then reinforced) that allowed for the dehumanization of Jewish people.
As a tiny minority we must attempt to seek unity, however true unity cannot exist if we do not agree on certain fundamental facts.
One of the most basic — and urgent — questions we must ask ourselves is: who stands with us, and who stands against us. This is a truth that is painful to confront, but necessary to move forward. Liberty yes, justice yes, equality yes — selective justice no, subjective truth no, hierarchy of the oppressed, no.
As Jews, we are heirs to a tradition that emphasizes introspection and moral clarity. Our tradition of teshuva — repentance — is not just about returning to God; it’s about returning to our core values. One of these is the value of self-preservation (survival). This journey starts with reflection and intellectual honesty. It requires us to admit difficult truths, first to ourselves, and then to others. We must be willing to do the hard work of partaking in teshuva — to ourselves and for our children.
In the wake of the October 7th attacks, many people have been shocked by the resurgence of antisemitism, both overt and subtle. It’s made many Jews feel vulnerable, in ways they haven’t felt in decades. Some have compared the current climate to 1930s Germany, but this comparison is flawed.
The United States, despite its challenges, remains a liberal democracy with a long history of equality and freedom. This is something that Weimar Germany, with its brief and unstable democracy, never had.
Moreover, we now have the State of Israel, a homeland for the Jewish people, which didn’t exist in the 1930s. This alone marks a fundamental difference between then and now. In today’s world, there is a country that will intervene on the behalf of worldwide Jewry in the event of an existential threat. It’s simply incorrect to equate today’s environment with that of Nazi Germany.
While we can recognize that we do have many challenges in front of us we should also know that it’s never been a better time to be Jewish when taking into account the arc of history. History has taught us that blessings can become curses and curses can become blessings. We will emerge stronger than before once we retrench and re-educate ourselves, as well as other people of good will.
Daniel Rosen has been a recognized opinion leader since his early college days, when he co-founded Torchpac, a pro-Israel advocacy group at New York University. Daniel is currently the chairman and co-founder of the pro-Israel group, Minds and Hearts.
The post Being Jewish Today: The Curse That Became a Blessing first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israel to Send Delegation to Qatar for Gaza Ceasefire Talks
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a news conference in Jerusalem, Sept. 2, 2024. Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg/Pool via REUTERS
Israel has decided to send a delegation to Qatar for talks on a possible Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal, an Israeli official said, reviving hopes of a breakthrough in negotiations to end the almost 21-month war.
Palestinian group Hamas said on Friday it had responded to a US-backed Gaza ceasefire proposal in a “positive spirit,” a few days after US President Donald Trump said Israel had agreed “to the necessary conditions to finalize” a 60-day truce.
The Israeli negotiation delegation will fly to Qatar on Sunday, the Israeli official, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter, told Reuters.
But in a sign of the potential challenges still facing the two sides, a Palestinian official from a militant group allied with Hamas said concerns remained over humanitarian aid, passage through the Rafah crossing in southern Israel to Egypt and clarity over a timetable for Israeli troop withdrawals.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is due to meet Trump in Washington on Monday, has yet to comment on Trump’s announcement, and in their public statements Hamas and Israel remain far apart.
Netanyahu has repeatedly said Hamas must be disarmed, a position the terrorist group, which is thought to be holding 20 living hostages, has so far refused to discuss.
Israeli media said on Friday that Israel had received and was reviewing Hamas’ response to the ceasefire proposal.
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Tucker Carlson Says to Air Interview with President of Iran
Tucker Carlson speaks on July 18, 2024 during the final day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Photo: Jasper Colt-USA TODAY via Reuters Connect
US conservative talk show host Tucker Carlson said in an online post on Saturday that he had conducted an interview with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, which would air in the next day or two.
Carlson said the interview was conducted remotely through a translator, and would be published as soon as it was edited, which “should be in a day or two.”
Carlson said he had stuck to simple questions in the interview, such as, “What is your goal? Do you seek war with the United States? Do you seek war with Israel?”
“There are all kinds of questions that I didn’t ask the president of Iran, particularly questions to which I knew I could get an not get an honest answer, such as, ‘was your nuclear program totally disabled by the bombing campaign by the US government a week and a half ago?’” he said.
Carlson also said he had made a third request in the past several months to interview Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who will be visiting Washington next week for talks with US President Donald Trump.
Trump said on Friday he would discuss Iran with Netanyahu at the White House on Monday.
Trump said he believed Tehran’s nuclear program had been set back permanently by recent US strikes that followed Israel’s attacks on the country last month, although Iran could restart it at a different location.
Trump also said Iran had not agreed to inspections of its nuclear program or to give up enriching uranium. He said he would not allow Tehran to resume its nuclear program, adding that Iran did want to meet with him.
Pezeshkian said last month Iran does not intend to develop nuclear weapons but will pursue its right to nuclear energy and research.
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Hostage Families Reject Partial Gaza Seal, Demand Release of All Hostages
Demonstrators hold signs and pictures of hostages, as relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages kidnapped during the Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas protest demanding the release of all hostages in Tel Aviv, Israel, Feb. 13, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Itai Ron
i24 News – As Israeli leaders weigh the contours of a possible partial ceasefire deal with Hamas, the families of the 50 hostages still held in Gaza issued an impassioned public statement this weekend, condemning any agreement that would return only some of the abductees.
In a powerful message released Saturday, the Families Forum for the Return of Hostages denounced what they call the “beating system” and “cruel selection process,” which, they say, has left families trapped in unbearable uncertainty for 638 days—not knowing whether to hope for reunion or prepare for mourning.
The group warned that a phased or selective deal—rumored to be under discussion—would deepen their suffering and perpetuate injustice. Among the 50 hostages, 22 are believed to be alive, and 28 are presumed dead.
“Every family deserves answers and closure,” the Forum said. “Whether it is a return to embrace or a grave to mourn over—each is sacred.”
They accused the Israeli government of allowing political considerations to prevent a full agreement that could have brought all hostages—living and fallen—home long ago. “It is forbidden to conform to the dictates of Schindler-style lists,” the statement read, invoking a painful historical parallel.
“All of the abductees could have returned for rehabilitation or burial months ago, had the government chosen to act with courage.”
The call for a comprehensive deal comes just as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prepares for high-stakes talks in Washington and as indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas are expected to resume in Doha within the next 24 hours, according to regional media reports.
Hamas, for its part, issued a statement Friday confirming its readiness to begin immediate negotiations on the implementation of a ceasefire and hostage release framework.
The Forum emphasized that every day in captivity poses a mortal risk to the living hostages, and for the deceased, a danger of being lost forever. “The horror of selection does not spare any of us,” the statement said. “Enough with the separation and categories that deepen the pain of the families.”
In a planned public address near Begin Gate in Tel Aviv, families are gathering Saturday evening to demand that the Israeli government accept a full-release deal—what they describe as the only “moral and Zionist” path forward.
“We will return. We will avenge,” the Forum concluded. “This is the time to complete the mission.”
As of now, the Israeli government has not formally responded to Hamas’s latest statement.
The post Hostage Families Reject Partial Gaza Seal, Demand Release of All Hostages first appeared on Algemeiner.com.