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Deeds and Consequence
Flames rise from a structure as the Palisades fire burns during a windstorm on the west side of Los Angeles, California, US, Jan. 8, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ringo Chiu
JNS.org – And now for the weather!
No, I’m not a meteorologist, but we are all seeing very real changes in the weather around the world. The eastern United States recently experienced record-breaking low temperatures and lots of snowfall owing to a polar vortex. Here in South Africa, we experienced the most uncomfortable heat wave in memory in December. Now, Johannesburg has had nearly two weeks of nonstop rain. Both are highly irregular for a country that boasts one of the most delightful climates in the world.
Then there are the terrible natural disasters that have struck different locales directly or indirectly from the weather, from flooding in Europe to raging wildfires in Los Angeles. One of my cousins lost his home in Pacific Palisades, where entire neighborhoods burned to the ground.
According to the National Safety Council, weather-related deaths in the United States are up by 20% since 2019, and injuries are up by 120%. The question is: are we going the way of Noah and the great flood? Are all these weather-related disasters some form of Divine retribution? Should I get a poster proclaiming “Repent, ye sinners! The end is nigh” and stand in Times Square during rush hour?
Overwhelmingly, scientists believe that the main cause of climate change is not godly but human. Over the last century, burning fossil fuels like coal and oil has increased the concentration of carbon dioxide and greenhouse gas, which are “like a blanket wrapped around the Earth trapping the sun’s heat and raising temperatures.” More than 90% of scientists agree that inappropriate human activity is causing climate change.
Scientists also have natural explanations for hurricanes, earthquakes, volcano eruptions and even tsunamis, but I’m not sure they can put the blame for those natural disasters on human wrongdoing.
For the most part, I think it is safe to say that we can connect the dots and argue that behaving irresponsibly with our planet brings its natural consequences. I may be a rabbi, but that doesn’t mean I must believe that every natural disaster is the Creator punishing us for messing up His world. It is not sacrilegious to believe in actions and outcomes, in deeds and consequences. That is nature, which is central to the Almighty’s vast eternal plan for the universe. Personally, I don’t appreciate all the catastrophizing, but maybe we really should get busier with renewable energy sources.
So why am I writing about the weather? Because, just as our every ecological action brings a reaction, so it is in our Jewish lives. If a factory has been dumping toxic waste into a river for 15 years and then the authorities discover that the river is contaminated, is that Divine retribution? No. We did that to ourselves. It is a natural consequence of our misconduct.
For instance, a man loses a loved one, God forbid, and decides to be a strong and silent tough guy. He doesn’t observe shiva, a week of Jewish mourning, and goes right back to work after the funeral. If he develops bleeding ulcers three months later, is it God punishing him for not observing our traditions of mourning? I don’t see it as a punishment, but the natural consequence of not having availed himself of the therapeutic benefits of the shiva experience. Non-Jewish psychologists have marveled at how our ancient Jewish mourning traditions are an effective form of bereavement therapy.
And so it goes down the line with all our traditions. God didn’t give us a “To Do” list of commandments to make our lives difficult. Each one carries with it a blessing not only in the Hereafter but here and now in our physical lives. Every mitzvah brings along its own set of blessings in this world, too.
A brit milah is a covenant with God. It is an indelible spiritual bond between the Jew and his Maker. It just so happens that it also has health benefits. As the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported, circumcision can reduce the risk of HIV transmission by about 60% (in addition to other health benefits). Is that why God commanded us to do it? Not at all. But God would not tell us to do something that is not good for us in any way. It is essentially a spiritual procedure but comes as no surprise that it is good medical practice, too.
And it is the same when the Torah guides us in our marriage choices. I was once counseling a young woman who had become romantically involved with a fellow she could not marry halachically, by Jewish law. She was angry at God, Judaism and the rabbis for ruining her happiness. It had taken her many years to find a partner, and now that she finally found someone she wanted to marry, we wouldn’t give her a chuppah. I really felt her pain.
As gently as I could, I explained to her that if the Torah prohibits a certain marriage, then it should not be taken as God sitting in heaven and throwing lightning bolts at her, but, rather, that Hashem Himself was whispering some infinite wisdom in her ear. “My dearest daughter, I know it looks good and feels good, but trust Me, this one is not for you.”
Marriage is tenuous at the best of times. Wouldn’t we all love to have a crystal ball to confirm if our choice of a partner is meant to be or not? Well, the Torah is God’s wisdom and much more reliable than any person reading a crystal ball. I was so pleased that she heard me out and broke off the relationship. I was even more pleased when I heard that she had later found someone else, got married according to Jewish law, and is, thank God, living happily ever after.
And so it is with all our Jewish traditions. While they may mainly be for spiritual reasons, they are good for us on every level, and bring physical and material blessings as well.
In the beginning, God created heaven and earth. It is one holistic, integrated universe. Heaven and earth are inextricably linked. God isn’t throwing darts at us. He is bestowing the most beautiful blessings on us and our families.
The post Deeds and Consequence first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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New Poll: Majority of NYC Voters ‘Less Likely’ to Support Mamdani Over His Refusal to Condemn ‘Globalize the Intifada’
Zohran Mamdani. Photo: Ron Adar / SOPA Images via Reuters Connect
In a warning sign for the campaign of Democratic nominee for mayor of New York Zohran Mamdani, a majority of city voters in a new poll say the candidate’s hardline anti-Israel stance makes them less likely to vote for him.
In the survey of likely city voters conducted by American Pulse, 52.5 percent said Mamdani’s refusal to condemn the slogan “globalize the intifada” coupled with his backing of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement made them less likely to vote for him in November. Just 31% of city voters polled were more likely to support him because of these positions.
At the same time, a significant share of young New York City voters support Mamdani’s anti-Israel positioning, a striking sign of shifting generational views on Israel and the Palestinian cause.
Nearly half of voters aged 18 to 44 (46 percent) said the State Assembly member’s backing for BDS and “refusal to condemn the phrase ‘globalize the intifada’” made them more likely to support him.
Mamdani, a democratic socialist from Queens, has been under fire for defending “globalize the intifada,” a slogan many Jewish groups associate with incitement to violence against Israel and Jews. While critics argue it glorifies terrorism, supporters claim it’s a call for international solidarity with oppressed peoples, especially Palestinians. Mamdani has also voiced support for BDS, a movement widely condemned by mainstream Jewish organizations as antisemitic for singling out Israel.
The generational divide exposed by the poll comes amid a broader political realignment. Younger progressives across the country are increasingly critical of Israeli policies, especially in the wake of the Gaza war, and more receptive to Palestinian activism. But to many Jewish leaders, Mamdani’s rising support is alarming.
Rabbi David Wolpe, visiting scholar at Harvard University, condemned the phrase with a sarcastic analogy.
“‘Globalize the intifada’ is just a political slogan,” he said. “Like ‘The cockroaches must be exterminated’ was just a housing authority slogan in Rwanda.”
Jewish organizations have reported a surge in antisemitic incidents in New York and across the U.S. since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war last fall. The blending of anti-Zionist slogans with calls for “intifada,” historically linked to violent uprisings, has deepened fears among Jewish communities that traditional red lines are being crossed.
Whether this emerging coalition reshapes New York politics remains to be seen. However, the poll indicates that among younger voters, views that were once considered fringe are quickly moving into the mainstream.
The post New Poll: Majority of NYC Voters ‘Less Likely’ to Support Mamdani Over His Refusal to Condemn ‘Globalize the Intifada’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Report: Jews Targeted at June’s Pride Month Events
A Jewish gay pride flag. Photo: Twitter.
The research division of the Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM) released a report on Wednesday detailing incidents of hate against Jews which took place last month during demonstrations in celebration of LGBTQ rights and identity.
Incidents reported by the group include:
- At a Pride march in Wales, the activists Cymru Queers for Palestine chose to block the path and show a sign that said “Profiting from genocide,” an attempt to link the event’s sponsors — such as Amazon — to the war in Gaza.
- A Dublin Pride march saw the participation of the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign, which labeled Israel a “genocidal entity.”
- In Toronto at a late June Pride march, demonstrators again attacked organizers with a sign declaring, “Pride partners with genocide.”
CAM also identified a recurring narrative deployed against Israel by some far-left activists: so-called “pinkwashing,” a term which the Boycott, Divest, Sanctions (BDS) movement calls “an Israeli government propaganda strategy that cynically exploits LGBTQIA+ rights to project a progressive image while concealing Israel’s occupation and apartheid policies oppressing Palestinians.”
The report notes that at a Washington DC Pride event in early June Medea Benjamin, cofounder of activist group Code Pink and a regular of anti-war protests, wore a pair of goofy, oversized sunglasses and a shirt in her signature pink with the phrase “you can’t pinkwash genocide.”
Other incidents CAM recorded showed the injection of anti-Israel sentiment into Pride events.
A musical group canceled a performance at an interfaith service in Brooklyn, claiming the hosting synagogue had a “public alignment with pro-Israel political positions.” In San Francisco before the yearly Trans March, a Palestine group said in its announcement of its participation, “Stop the war on Iran and the genocide of Palestine, stop the war on immigrants and attacks on trans people.”
CAM notes that this “queers for Palestine” sentiment is not new, pointing to a 2017 event wherein “organizers of the Chicago Dyke March infamously removed participants who were waving a Pride flag adorned with a Star of David on the grounds that the symbol ‘made people feel unsafe.’”
In February, the Israel Defense Forces shared with the New York Post documents it had recovered demonstrating that Hamas had tortured and executed members it suspected of homosexuality and other moral offenses in conflict with Islamist ideology.
Amit Benjamin, who is gay and a first sergeant major in the IDF, said during a visit to New York City for Pride month that “All the ‘queers for Gaza’ need to open their eyes. Hamas kills gays … kills lesbians … queers cannot exist in Gaza.”
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IAEA pulls inspectors from Iran as standoff over access drags on
IAEA chief Rafael Grossi at the agency’s headquarters in Vienna, Austria, June 23, 2025. REUTERS/Elisabeth Mandl/File Photo
The UN nuclear watchdog said on Friday it had pulled its last remaining inspectors from Iran as a standoff over their return to the country’s nuclear facilities bombed by the United States and Israel deepens.
Israel launched its first military strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites in a 12-day war with the Islamic Republic three weeks ago. The International Atomic Energy Agency’s inspectors have not been able to inspect Iran’s facilities since then, even though IAEA chief Rafael Grossi has said that is his top priority.
Iran’s parliament has now passed a law to suspend cooperation with the IAEA until the safety of its nuclear facilities can be guaranteed. While the IAEA says Iran has not yet formally informed it of any suspension, it is unclear when the agency’s inspectors will be able to return to Iran.
“An IAEA team of inspectors today safely departed from Iran to return to the Agency headquarters in Vienna, after staying in Tehran throughout the recent military conflict,” the IAEA said on X.
Diplomats said the number of IAEA inspectors in Iran was reduced to a handful after the June 13 start of the war. Some have also expressed concern about the inspectors’ safety since the end of the conflict, given fierce criticism of the agency by Iranian officials and Iranian media.
Iran has accused the agency of effectively paving the way for the bombings by issuing a damning report on May 31 that led to a resolution by the IAEA’s 35-nation Board of Governors declaring Iran in breach of its non-proliferation obligations.
IAEA chief Rafael Grossi has said he stands by the report. He has denied it provided diplomatic cover for military action.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Thursday Iran remained committed to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
“[Grossi] reiterated the crucial importance of the IAEA discussing with Iran modalities for resuming its indispensable monitoring and verification activities in Iran as soon as possible,” the IAEA said.
The US and Israeli military strikes either destroyed or badly damaged Iran’s three uranium enrichment sites. But it was less clear what has happened to much of Iran’s nine tonnes of enriched uranium, especially the more than 400 kg enriched to up to 60% purity, a short step from weapons grade.
That is enough, if enriched further, for nine nuclear weapons, according to an IAEA yardstick. Iran says its aims are entirely peaceful, but Western powers say there is no civil justification for enriching to such a high level, and the IAEA says no country has done so without developing the atom bomb.
As a party to the NPT, Iran must account for its enriched uranium, which normally is closely monitored by the IAEA, the body that enforces the NPT and verifies countries’ declarations. But the bombing of Iran’s facilities has now muddied the waters.
“We cannot afford that … the inspection regime is interrupted,” Grossi told a press conference in Vienna last week.
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