RSS
Echoing ancient times of distress, Hadar Institute calls for communal fast in response to attack on Israel
(JTA) — Never before had Douglas Sagal, rabbi of Congregation B’nai Israel in Rumson, New Jersey, heard of a call for a communal fast in a moment of crisis for the Jewish people.
But on Thursday, he will join nearly 500 rabbis and Jewish leaders — most of them around the United States — who have signed up to participate in a Taanit Tzibur, Hebrew for communal fast. The fast is being organized by the Hadar Institute, an egalitarian Jewish educational institution in New York, to unite communities in prayer for the more than 100 Israelis taken captive by Hamas in its invasion on Saturday, which also killed and wounded thousands of Israelis.
“We stand in horror as Hamas has taken over 100 Israelis and other citizens hostage, among them infants, toddlers, entire families, the elderly and Holocaust survivors,” the call for the fast reads. “While political and military leaders are pursuing pathways to their release, we have a religious and communal obligation to stand up for the victims and to cry out to God.”
Sagal sees the fast as a way for Jews in his community and beyond to demonstrate that they are attached to Israel.
“My congregation, like any Jewish community in the Diaspora, is reeling and is still trying to process this horrific event,” Sagal told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. “And our bodies may be here in the west, but our hearts and souls are definitely in the east.”
The list of participants, which quickly swelled over the course of the day since it opened for signups Wednesday morning, is meant to be both a physical and spiritual means of connecting to the pain of the attack, explained Rabbi Avi Killip, Hadar’s executive director and organizer of the dawn-to-nightfall fast.
“You’re trying to say there is something happening that needs dire attention, and I’m calling attention to that and I’m willing to sort of put my body and my own physical needs on the line in order to say that,” Killip said.
“There’s a long standing tradition in Judaism of decreeing additional fast days in moments of communal crisis and need,” she added. “In facing these attacks, which were so deliberately against Jews, it feels powerful to have an ancient Jewish ritual mode of response, and I just feel grateful to have that outlet.”
In ancient times, public fasts were called in moments of distress, and the shofar was blown at the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. Prayers were added to the Amidah, the central Jewish prayer recited thrice daily, and Jews gathered to pray the Neilah service, which is held at nightfall once a year, at the end of Yom Kippur.
Because there is no Temple today, the liturgy for a public fast in times of distress is the same as that of Judaism’s minor fast days, which occur four times over the course of the year. Congregants participating in this fast will also recite chapters of the Book of Psalms, as well as Avinu Malkeinu, a set of prayers traditionally recited during the period between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Avinu Malkeinu, which is also recited on fast days, was written by the Talmudic sage Rabbi Akiva during a time of drought. In contemporary times, fasts have been called for severe droughts by rabbis in California.
Sagal is encouraging his congregants to participate in the fast, but emphasized that it is up to individuals to take part, though everyone is welcome to join for prayer services on Thursday. On Sunday, the day the attack began, Congregation B’nai Israel, a Conservative synagogue, hosted a vigil attended by hundreds of members in person and online, and the community is also hosting a fundraiser for Israel next week.
“The teachers and rabbis at Hadar were very prescient using this ancient idea of the public fast to give those of us in the Diaspora an opportunity to feel connected to our brothers and sisters in Israel,” Sagal said.
—
The post Echoing ancient times of distress, Hadar Institute calls for communal fast in response to attack on Israel appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
RSS
Love Thy Neighbor as Thyself. Really?
JNS.org – If I asked you to name the most famous line in the Bible, what would you answer? While Shema Yisrael (“Hear O’Israel”) might get many votes, I imagine that the winning line would be “love thy neighbor as thyself” (Leviticus 19:18). Some religions refer to it as the Golden Rule, but all would agree that it is fundamental to any moral lifestyle. And it appears this week in our Torah reading, Kedoshim.
This is quite a tall order. Can we be expected to love other people as much as we love ourselves? Surely, this is an idealistic expectation. And yet, the Creator knows us better than we know ourselves. How can His Torah be so unrealistic?
The biblical commentaries offer a variety of explanations. Some, like Rambam (Maimonides), say that the focus should be on our behavior, rather than our feelings. We are expected to try our best or to treat others “as if” we genuinely love them.
Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, in his classic text called the Tanya, argues that the actual feelings of love are, in fact, achievable provided that we focus on a person’s spirituality rather than how they present themselves physically. If we can put the soul over the body, we can do it.
Allow me to share the interpretation of the Ramban (Nachmanides), a 13th-century Torah scholar from Spain. His interpretation of the verses preceding love thy neighbor is classic and powerful, yet simple and straightforward.
“Do not hate your brother in your heart. You shall rebuke him, but do not bear a sin because of him” by embarrassing him in public. “Do not take revenge, and do not bear a grudge against your people. You shall love your fellow as yourself, I am God” (Leviticus 19:17-18).
What is the connection between these verses? Why is revenge and grudge-bearing in the same paragraph as love your fellow as yourself?
A careful reading shows that within these two verses are no less than six biblical commandments. But what is their sequence all about, and what is the connection between them?
The Ramban explains it beautifully, showing how the sequence of verses is deliberate and highlighting the Torah’s profound yet practical advice on how to maintain healthy relationships.
Someone wronged you? Don’t hate him in your heart. Speak to him. Don’t let it fester until it bursts, and makes you bitter and sick.
Instead, talk it out. Confront the person. Of course, do it respectfully. Don’t embarrass anyone in public, so that you don’t bear a sin because of them. But don’t let your hurt eat you up. Communicate!
If you approach the person who wronged you—not with hate in your heart but with respectful reproof—one of two things will happen. Either he or she will apologize and explain their perspective on the matter. Or that it was a misunderstanding and will get sorted out between you. Either way, you will feel happier and healthier.
Then you will not feel the need to take revenge or even to bear a grudge.
Here, says the Ramban, is the connection between these two verses. And if you follow this advice, only then will you be able to observe the commandment to Love Thy Neighbor. If you never tell him why you are upset, another may be completely unaware of his or her wrongdoing, and it will remain as a wound inside you and may never go away.
To sum up: Honest communication is the key to loving people.
Now, tell me the truth. Did you know that not taking revenge is a biblical commandment? In some cultures in Africa, revenge is a mitzvah! I’ve heard radio talk-show hosts invite listeners to share how they took “sweet revenge” on someone, as if it’s some kind of accomplishment.
Furthermore, did you know that bearing a grudge is forbidden by biblical law?
Here in South Africa, people refer to a grudge by its Yiddish name, a faribel. In other countries, people call it a broiges. Whatever the terminology, the Torah states explicitly: “Thou shalt not bear a grudge!” Do not keep a faribel, a broiges or resentment of any kind toward someone you believe wronged you. Talk to that person. Share your feelings honestly. If you do it respectfully and do not demean the other’s dignity, then it can be resolved. Only then will you be able to love your fellow as yourself.
May all our grudges and feelings of resentment toward others be dealt with honestly and respectfully. May all our grudges be resolved as soon as possible. Then we will all be in a much better position to love our neighbors as ourselves.
The post Love Thy Neighbor as Thyself. Really? first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
‘Nonsense’: Huckabee Shoots Down Report Trump to Endorse Palestinian Statehood
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee looks on during the day he visits the Western Wall, Judaism’s holiest prayer site, in Jerusalem’s Old City, April 18, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
i24 News – US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee on Saturday dismissed as nonsensical the report that President Donald Trump would endorse Palestinian statehood during his tour to the Persian Gulf this week.
“This report is nonsense,” Huckabee harrumphed on his X account, blasting the Jerusalem Post as needing better sourced reporting. “Israel doesn’t have a better friend than the president of the United States.”
Trump is set to visit Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. The leader’s first trip overseas since he took office comes as Trump seeks the Gulf countries’ support in regional conflicts, including the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza and curbing Iran’s advancing nuclear program.
However, reports citing administration insiders claimed that Trump has also set his sights on the ambitious goal of expanding the Abraham Accords. These agreements, initially signed in 2020, normalized relations between Israel and the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan. The accords are widely held to be among the most important achievements of the first Trump administration.
The post ‘Nonsense’: Huckabee Shoots Down Report Trump to Endorse Palestinian Statehood first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
US to Put Military Option Back on Table If No Immediate Progress in Iran Talks
US President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy-designate Steve Witkoff gives a speech at the inaugural parade inside Capital One Arena on the inauguration day of Trump’s second presidential term, in Washington, DC, Jan. 20, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Carlos Barria
i24 News – Unless significant progress is registered in Sunday’s round of nuclear talks with Iran, the US will consider putting the military option back on the table, sources close to US envoy Steve Witkoff told i24NEWS.
American and Iranian representatives voiced optimism after the previous talks that took place in Oman and Rome, saying there was a friendly atmosphere despite the two countries’ decades of enmity.
However the two sides are not believed to have thrashed out the all-important technical details, and basic questions remain.
The source has also underscored the significance of the administration’s choice of Michael Anton, the State Department’s policy planning director, as the lead representative in the nuclear talks’ technical phases.
Anton is “an Iran expert and someone who knows how to cut a deal with Iran,” the source said, saying that the choice reflected Trump’s desire to secure the deal.
The post US to Put Military Option Back on Table If No Immediate Progress in Iran Talks first appeared on Algemeiner.com.