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Destiny in Disaster?

A 1539 representation of Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki, known as Rashi. Photo: Wikimedia Commons
JNS.org – Have you ever met a professor of comparative religion? I’ve often wondered whether these academics have really studied all religions and if they believe in any of them.
In this week’s Torah reading, Yitro, we are introduced to the world’s first professor of comparative religion. His name was Jethro (Yitro in Hebrew), and he had investigated every faith of ancient times until he came to embrace Judaism. He did so not because Moses was his son-in-law but because he had studied every faith in depth and came to an educated conclusion.
The reading begins with, “And Jethro heard all that God had done for Moses and for Israel, His people; that He had taken Israel out of Egypt.” Yitro was the high priest of Midian, and after familiarizing himself with every religion, cult and creed of his day, he said, “Now I know that Hashem is greater than all other deities.” Seeing how the Israelites were miraculously redeemed from slavery in Egypt put the Jewish God in another league entirely, so he came to join the Jewish people.
The Torah scholar Rashi, quoting the Talmud, adds other events that influenced Jethro to leave Midian and meet the Israelites in the desert. What were they? “The splitting of the sea and the war against Amalek.”
The splitting of the sea is arguably the biggest miracle in all of history. In fact, when the Talmud mentions something particularly difficult, it uses the expression, “As difficult as splitting the sea.” Also, that an untrained, ill-equipped slave nation defeated the fierce warrior nation of Amalek in battle was surely divine intervention.
But why did Rashi need to look for any other reasons at all? The Torah explicitly states that Jethro heard about the Exodus from Egypt. It doesn’t say he heard about the sea or Amalek.
Perhaps Yitro was not just looking for a God to believe in but a nation to be part of. In the splitting of the sea and the war of Amalek, Jethro found a special destiny embedded in Jewish peoplehood, and that was what attracted him.
The splitting of the sea was heard around the world. The guiding hand of God protecting the Jews, who were trapped between the devil and the deep blue sea, was a miracle second to none. With the Egyptian chariots bearing down on them and nowhere to run, only the Almighty could come to their rescue. Jethro saw a special destiny there—the destiny of deliverance.
But that wasn’t all Jethro heard. He also heard of the attack by Amalek. Here was a nation that had no logical reason to be troubled by the Israelites. They were not coming their way. They weren’t looking to conquer their territory. It was complete chutzpah on the Amalekites’ part. The Jews were minding their own business. Why should Amalek launch an unprovoked all-out war?
Yitro saw something more than just a military confrontation. This was not a case of neighboring countries fighting over land or an imperialistic despot ambitious to conquer the continent. It was a case of senseless hatred. It was an unnatural opposition to the Jews and everything the nation of Israel stands for. Yitro correctly perceived that this was not a typical war. Amalek’s malicious, unwarranted, wanton attack put him in the category of not just an enemy but an arch-enemy. Indeed, we have described our most vicious enemies throughout history as Amalekites. Though they were not genealogically related, the Nazis personified Amalek. And so do Hamas and company.
When Yitro saw that Israel was the subject of such unwarranted hate, he realized that the Jewish people were different from all other nations. This simply does not happen to other nations. War is, unfortunately, all too common. But a senseless war, an irrational animosity, is not at all common. It is, in fact, unique. If the Jewish people can stir such hatred and hostility in people with whom we have no business, then, clearly, we are a people with a purpose and fate that transcend logic. Yitro saw the Jewish destiny in disaster, too.
We, too, have experienced sea-splitting miracles in the survival of modern Israel over seven decades. Surrounded by neighbors whose dominant dream is to drive us into the sea, we are still here to tell the tale. We have witnessed with our own eyes how “The Guardian of Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps.” We experienced the miraculous, lightning victory of the Six-Day War, how He carried us “on the wings of eagles” to and from Entebbe, how the “clouds of glory” protected us from Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein’s deadly Scud missiles during the Persian Gulf War and from Iran’s massive missile barrages on Israel within the past year. To not see and feel the miracle of Jewish survival is to be blind, deaf and dumb. We have seen our destiny in deliverance.
But we have also seen the irrational hatred of Amalek again today. Gaza could have been a peaceful and prosperous haven of tranquillity and success. With the infrastructure left behind by Israel in 2005 and the billions poured into the region by the West, the Palestinians could have built a strong and prosperous economy and society. Instead, their hate fueled them to pour all their energy into tunnels of terror while their people remained impoverished. The bloody massacre in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, established Hamas as Amalek personified today, and I’m afraid we have also seen our destiny in disaster.
The Holocaust remains unique in all of history. It was not only genocide but an attempt at a Final Solution, which would have utterly annihilated an entire nation. Had Hamas not been stopped in its tracks, they would have been only too pleased to finish the job Adolf Hitler began.
Holocausts don’t happen to other nations. Yes, there have been terrible genocides in different countries, but a Final Solution? Never. I wish we could not claim this dubious distinction, but it is a historical fact. The sheer number of dead from the Holocaust is so catastrophic—so unearthly and absurd—that it demonstrates that we are not a people like any other, not just in our deliverances, but sadly, also in our tragedies. Yes, we have experienced our destiny in disaster, too.
In the Torah reading this week, we also learn about the great Revelation at Sinai and the Ten Commandments. This is our special providential mission—to be a “Kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” Israel and the Jewish people are called upon to live by God’s Torah and our ancient but eternal traditions. May we live up to our unique purpose as messengers of God, and may we merit to see our extraordinary destiny in the Almighty’s deliverance and redemption.
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Israeli Strike on Tehran Kills Bodyguard of Slain Hezbollah Chief

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi lays a wreath as he visits the burial site of former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, on the outskirts of Beirut, Lebanon, June 3, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
A member of Lebanese armed group Hezbollah was killed in an Israeli air strike on Tehran alongside a member of an Iran-aligned Iraqi armed group, a senior Lebanese security source told Reuters and the Iraqi group said on Saturday.
The source identified the Hezbollah member as Abu Ali Khalil, who had served as a bodyguard for Hezbollah’s slain chief Hassan Nasrallah. The source said Khalil had been on a religious pilgrimage to Iraq when he met up with a member of the Kataeb Sayyed Al-Shuhada group.
They traveled together to Tehran and were both killed in an Israeli strike there, along with Khalil’s son, the senior security source said. Hezbollah has not joined in Iran’s air strikes against Israel from Lebanon.
Kataeb Sayyed Al-Shuhada published a statement confirming that both the head of its security unit and Khalil had been killed in an Israeli strike.
Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli aerial attack on Beirut’s southern suburbs in September.
Israel and Iran have been trading strikes for nine consecutive days since Israel launched attacks on Iran, saying Tehran was on the verge of developing nuclear weapons. Iran has said it does not seek nuclear weapons.
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Hamas Financial Officer and Commander Eliminated by IDF in the Gaza Strip

Israeli soldiers operate during a ground operation in the southern Gaza Strip, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, July 3, 2024. Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg/Pool via REUTERS
i24 News – The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), in cooperation with the General Security Service (Shin Bet), announced on Friday the killing of Ibrahim Abu Shamala, a senior financial official in Hamas’ military wing.
The operation took place on June 17th in the central Gaza Strip.
Abu Shamala held several key positions, including financial officer for Hamas’ military wing and assistant to Marwan Issa, the deputy commander of Hamas’ military wing until his elimination in March 2024.
He was responsible for managing all the financial resources of Hamas’ military wing in Gaza, overseeing the planning and execution of the group’s war budget. This involved handling and smuggling millions of dollars into the Gaza Strip to fund Hamas’ military operations.
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Report: Wary of Assassination by Israel, Khamenei Names 3 Potential Successors

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei waves during a meeting in Tehran, Iran, May 20, 2025. Photo: Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS
i24 News – Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei named three senior clerics as candidates to succeed him should he be killed, the New York Times reported on Saturday citing unnamed Iranian officials. It is understood the Ayatollah fears he could be assassinated in the coming days.
Khamenei reportedly mostly speaks with his commanders through a trusted aide now, suspending electronic communications.
Khamenei has designated three senior religious figures as candidates to replace him as well as choosing successors in the military chain of command in the likely event that additional senior officials be eliminated.
Earlier on Saturday Israel confirmed the elimination of Saeed Izadi and Bhanam Shahriari.
Shahriari, head of Iran’s Quds Force Weapons Transfer Unit, responsible for arming Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis, was killed in an Israeli airstrike over 1,000 km from Israel in western Iran.
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