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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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Students for Justice in Palestine Awarded ‘Best’ Campus Group by University of California, Davis Newspaper
University of California, Davis in Davis, California, on May 28, 2024. Photo: Penny Collins/NurPhoto via Reuters Connect
The University of California, Davis’s (UC Davis) official campus newspaper has named the school’s Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapter the “Best Student-Run Organization or Club” for the second consecutive year, despite the group’s history of calling for violence against Jews and Israelis.
The Aggie defended granting SJP one of its highest annual honors, describing it as having “led some of the most prominent political organizing efforts at UC Davis” and fostering students’ interest in “global justice and university accountability.” The paper did not mention SJP’s links to Islamist terrorist organizations or its efforts across the US to advocate for the destruction of both America and Israel.
It continued, “Their advocacy, however, goes far beyond protest. Throughout the year, SSJP hosted film screenings, teach-ins, and information panels aimed at educating students on the historical and ongoing occupation of Palestine. They also continued to call out the University of California system’s financial ties to companies profiting from violence against Palestinians — pressuring administrators to divest and pushing for transparency in how student tuition is spent.”
SJP thanked The Aggie for the award.
“We are honored to receive this acknowledgement and humbled to be held in the high esteem of our peers,” the group said in a statement. “This acknowledgement is not ours alone — it belongs to everyone who continues to show up, speak out, and do the vital work in their communities. It is their dedication that shapes who we are.”
The Aggie has not responded to The Algemeiner‘srequest for comment on this story.
As previously reported by The Algemeiner, UC Davis is a hub of anti-Zionist extremism in which faculty and staff regularly call for the destruction of Israel and acts of violence cheered as “resistance.” Following Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre across southern Israel, for example, the university kept on staff a professor who appeared to call for violence against Jewish journalists and their children.
“One group of ppl [sic] we have easy access to in the US is all these Zionist journalists who spread propaganda & misinformation,” American Studies assistant professor Jemma Decristo wrote on the X social media platform. “They have houses [with] addresses, kids in school. They can fear their bosses, but they should fear us more.” The message was followed by images of a knife, an axe, and three blood-drop emojis.
In 2024, UC Davis’s student government (ASUSD) passed legislation adopting the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement and falsely accusing Israel of genocide.
“This bill prohibits the purchase of products from corporations identified as profiting from the genocide and occupation of the Palestinian people by the BDS National Committee,” said the measure, titled Senate Bill (SB) #52. “This bill seeks to address the human rights violations of the nation-state and government of Israel and establish a guideline of ethical spending.”
Puma, McDonald’s, Starbucks, Airbnb, Disney, and Sabra are all named on Students for Justice in Palestine’s “BDS List.”
Powers enumerated in the bill included veto power over all vendor contracts, which SJP specifically applied to “purchase orders for custom t-shirts,” a provision that may affect pro-Israel groups on campus. Such policies will be guided by a “BDS List” of targeted companies curated by SJP. The language of the legislation gives ASUCD the right to add more to it.
Students for Justice in Palestine at the University of California, Davis is one of many SJP chapters that justified Hamas’s Oct. 7 terrorist attacks In a chilling statement posted after the world became aware of the terrorist group’s atrocities on that day, which included hundreds of civilian murders and sexual assaults, the group said “the responsibility for the current escalation of violence is entirely on the Israeli occupation.”
According to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), SJP chapters — which have said in their communications that Israeli civilians deserve to be murdered for being “settlers” — lead the way in promoting a campus environment hostile to Jewish and pro-Israel voices. Their aim, the civil rights group explained in an open letter published in December 2023, is to “exclude and marginalize Jewish students,” whom they describe as “oppressors,” and encourage “confrontation” with them.
The ADL has urged colleges and universities to protect Jewish students from the group’s behavior, which, in many cases, has allegedly violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
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Jewish Communities in France, Germany, UK Form New ‘JE3’ Alliance Amid Surge in Antisemitism
From left to right: President Phil Rosenberg of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, Josef Schuster of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, and Yonathan Arfi of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France (CRIF). Photo: Screenshot
The leading representative bodies of Jewish communities in France, Germany, and the United Kingdom have formed a new alliance to amplify Jewish perspectives in international debates, amid a troubling rise in antisemitism across all three countries.
On Monday, the Board of Deputies of British Jews, the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France (CRIF), and the Central Council of Jews in Germany announced the formation of the new “JE3” alliance during a conference of the Anti-Defamation League’s J7 Task Force — the largest international initiative against antisemitism — held in Berlin.
This new alliance, inspired by the E3 diplomatic format that unites France, Germany, and the UK to coordinate on key geopolitical issues such as nuclear negotiations with Iran and peace in the Middle East, aims to provide a united Jewish communal voice on these and other pressing international matters.
The newly formed group also seeks to strengthen existing umbrella organizations, such as the World Jewish Congress, the European Jewish Congress, and the J7 initiative — a coalition of Jewish organizations in Argentina, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the UK, and the United States.
“It is our hope that the JE3 will become a powerful voice for our communities on issues that we care about together,” Josef Schuster of the Central Council, Phil Rosenberg of the Board of Deputies, and Yonathan Arfi of CRIF said in a joint statement.
“It is particularly significant that we brought together the new grouping in Berlin, 80 years after the end of the Holocaust,” the statement continued. “This is a show of intent by our three flourishing communities that we are committed to boosting Jewish life in our respective countries, cooperating in the fight against antisemitism, and enhancing bilateral and multilateral relations between our countries and Israel.”
Berlin: The largest representative organisations of European Jewish communities in France, Germany, and the UK have today launched a new ‘JE3‘ alliance. @Le_CRIF @ZentralratJuden pic.twitter.com/hXotcz6RDb
— Board of Deputies of British Jews (@BoardofDeputies) May 12, 2025
This new JE3 initiative comes as France, Germany, and the UK, as well as other countries across Europe and around the world, have reported record spikes in antisemitic activity in recent years, largely fueled by a wave of anti-Jewish sentiment following Hamas’s launch of its war against Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
Last week, the J7 Task Force released its first Annual Report on Antisemitism, coinciding with the 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe (V-E) Day, when Nazi Germany formally surrendered to Allied forces on May 8, marking the end of World War II and the Holocaust.
The report, which echoes findings from recent studies, revealed a dramatic rise in antisemitic incidents between 2021 and 2023. These increases include 11 percent in Australia, 23 percent in Argentina, 75 percent in Germany, 82 percent in the UK, 83 percent in Canada, 185 percent in France, and 227 percent in the US. Those numbers continued to spike to record levels in the aftermath of the Hamas atrocities of Oct. 7.
Additionally, the data showed a concerning rise on a per-capita basis, with Germany reporting over 38 incidents per 1,000 Jews, and the UK seeing 13 per 1,000.
The seven communities identified several common trends, including a surge in violent incidents, recurring attacks on Jewish institutions, a rise in online hate speech, and growing fear among Jews, which has led many to conceal their Jewish identity.
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Brazilian Jews Rebuke President Lula for ‘Antisemitic Libel’ Condemning Israel’s Fight to Defeat Hamas
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva attends a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, May 9, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov/Pool
Jewish leadership in Brazil has accused President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of pushing “antisemitic libel” against Israel during a speech in Moscow on Saturday.
Lula accused Israel of “attacking women and children under the pretext of killing terrorists,” described its war against the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas as “a genocide,” and claimed the Jewish state struck hospitals which did not contain Hamas members.
The Brazilian Israelite Confederation (CONIB), the country’s leading Jewish organization, denounced Lula for his claims.
“It is regrettable and disturbing that the president of our country continues to promote this antisemitic libel throughout the world,” CONIB President Claudio Lottenberg said in a statement. “Brazil is a country where the Jewish community lives in peace and security, but President Lula, with his antisemitic statements, seems to want to create problems for our community by promoting antisemitism among his supporters, in an irresponsible and destructive attitude.”
Lottenberg added that “Hamas started this terrible war and is hiding behind the civilian population and Israeli hostages to promote its genocidal vision of exterminating Israel and the Jews.”
Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists launched the current conflict with their Oct. 7, 2023, invasion of and massacre across southern Israel.
Israel says it has gone to unprecedented lengths in its military response to try and avoid civilian casualties in Gaza, noting its efforts to evacuate areas before it targets them and to warn residents of impending military operations with leaflets, text messages, and other forms of communication. Another challenge for Israel is Hamas’s widely recognized military strategy of embedding its terrorists within Gaza’s civilian population and commandeering civilian facilities like hospitals, schools, and mosques to run operations and direct attacks.
In February, Lula also received pushback for comparing Israel to Nazi Germany and the war in Gaza to the Holocaust — a comparison described as an example of anti-Jewish hate under the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism.
“What is happening in the Gaza Strip with the Palestinian people does not exist at any other historical moment … In fact, it existed when Hitler decided to kill the Jews,” Lula said at the time.
“Brazil is a country of peace, with a historical message of coexistence and balance. President Lula’s deplorable comparison between Israel’s just war against Hamas with the truly genocidal crimes of Hitler and the Nazis against the Jews during the Holocaust is rejected by the vast majority of the Brazilian population,” Dr. Ariel Gelblung, the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s Director for Latin America, said in response. “What is worse, he denies the antisemitic nature of his statements, hiding behind Brazil’s IHRA observer status. However, his national administration does not adopt the definition or present plans to become a full member.”
In May 2024, Lula recalled Brazil’s ambassador from Israel, resulting in a persona non grata status according to Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz.
In January, an unnamed Israeli tourist fled Brazil when a court started an investigation into his time as a soldier fighting in Gaza.
“I am embarrassed for Brazil and its government, who surrendered to the pro-Palestinian legal terrorism,” Yuli Edelstein, chair of the Israeli parliament’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, said in response.
According to the World Jewish Congress, 92,000 Jews call Brazil home, which ranks as 10th largest globally and second in Latin America after Argentina. The group says that “Brazilian Jews usually enjoy comfort, security, and wealth in a country known for its amicable coexistence of various ethnicities.”
Brazil saw a 961 percent spike in antisemitic incidents during October 2023 in comparison to the same time in 2022. Israel’s Ministry of Diaspora Affairs reported that in 2024 from January through October, complaints of antisemitism rose 70 percent compared to the same period in 2023.
The Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry at Tel Aviv University released a report on 2024 antisemitic incidents globally, drawing from data collected by CONIB which showed 1,788 incidents in Brazil in 2024 compared to 1,410 in 2023 and 432 in 2022.
In January, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) released the findings of its newest Global 100 Survey of antisemitic attitudes by country. Researchers found that about a percent of the country’s population — 41.2 million people — expressed “elevated levels of antisemitic attitudes.” These numbers rank Brazil as the 21st least antisemitic country out of 103 and third lowest in the region.
On March 10, the ADL and CONIB announced plans to partner and increase efforts to counter domestic antisemitism.
“With antisemitism and anti-Zionism on the rise worldwide, partnerships like this are key to ensuring that Jewish communities in Latin America and other regions have the tools to protect themselves,” said Marina Rosenberg, the ADL’s senior vice president for International Affairs. “By collaborating with CONIB, we are strengthening the fight against extremism in Brazil and expanding the global reach of ADL in monitoring and combating antisemitism and hatred.”
Lottenberg added that “by joining forces with such a prominent organization, our goal is to strengthen the fight against growing antisemitism in Brazil, promoting the security and well-being of the Brazilian Jewish community.”
The post-Oct. 7, 2023, surge of antisemitism in the South American state inspired the city government of Rio de Janeiro to adopt the IHRA antisemitism definition.
“The IHRA definition has proven to be the most effective tool to identify and counter antisemitism, and we encourage other governmental bodies at all levels, throughout Latin America and worldwide, to follow Rio de Janeiro’s lead and join the distinguished club that has made an impact in the collective effort against antisemitism by taking this vital step,” said Shay Salamon, director of Hispanic outreach for the Combat Antisemitism Movement.
Two Brazilian states — Goiás and São Paulo — adopted the IHRA definition in 2024.
Goiás Governor Ronaldo Caiado said at the signing ceremony that “President Lula’s statements do not represent the people of Brazil. Today we begin to rebuild the respect that he made us lose.”
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