Reading from a Torah scroll in accordance with Sephardi tradition. Photo: Sagie Maoz via Wikimedia Commons.

The concept of a prophet is central to the Torah reading this week. But what exactly is a prophet? And what is a prophet’s role? The Hebrew word for a prophet is Navi, and there are different interpretations of what that word comes from. Does it mean to bring good news? To bring a change for better to the world? To foresee things that are going to happen. And why is it often paired with a dreamer or a person who gives remarkable signs (Devarim 13)? Are the predictions confined to the Jewish people, or do they also apply to the nations of the world?

The earliest prophets, Moshe and Miriam, were clearly concerned with the establishment of the Jewish people. But Moshe is more often called a teacher, which over time has turned into a jewel level relationship that combines the rational with the mystical.

This week, the prophet is described as somebody who is empowered by the Divine spirit to add a dimension to the ruler, the hereditary priesthood, and the judicial system — not someone appointed, but accepted for his or her charisma and moral stature. The Navi’s primary role is to inspire and rebuke those who fail. In the book of Jeremiah (Chapter 1:5), God commands him to be a prophet to the nations (although some commentators take it to be more specific).

The Navi stands in contrast to the political leader, and according to the Torah, the king is subservient to the Torah and to what we would call a constitution. Both Nathan and Gad stood up to King David, berating him when they felt he had betrayed his mission as a religious king.

The Torah also mentions the false prophet, who goes against the word of the Torah — even if they can perform miracles or signs. Signs are secondary devices, easily impressing the naïve. The Bible is full of incidents where false prophets say what kings want to hear. In contrast, the great prophets Yeshayahu Yirmiyahu and Yechezkel are prepared to stand up and preach truths both to the king and the people, and may end up in jail for their pains or be hunted.

Prophets often catered to the poor and the destitute, and were popular anti-establishment figures amongst the masses. They were often solitary, too.

As for predictions, they usually refer to corrupt societies and politicians that inevitably lead to decline and ultimately defeat. Indeed, this backsliding was predicted by Moshe in the Torah itself. But Prophets were equally confident in predicting the decline and fall of the great empires of that era — the Assyrians, Babylonians, and Egyptians. But they had a unique message to the Jews that they would be able to recover and survive. They predicted the resurrection of Israel and a golden era of world peace.

The Navi had both insights and inspiration. Sometimes the Bible uses the term Chozeh (2 Samuel 24:11) and sometimes a dreamer (Cholem). But they all imply a spiritual giant and a concerned human being. The word means to bring or foresee something better. Unfortunately, sometimes the only way of bringing something better is by clearing out the dirty stables first.

Since the destruction of the Temple, prophecy has been taken as fool’s gold. If someone does try to prophesize or predict, we do not take them seriously. But people still hanker after answers and certainties. I’m afraid that we live in an era of many false prophets — whether they have beards, read your palm, or gaze into crystal balls. The Torah warns us against being fooled. But we credulous humans continue to ignore the Torah’s advice.

Prophets had specific functions and roles in the times in which they preached. They offered inspiration and guidance. In that context, the inspiration of the magnificent literature of the prophets continues to inspire us through the words that they wrote that we continue to read in the synagogue today.

The author is a rabbi and writer based in New York.

The BBC logo is seen at the entrance at Broadcasting House, the BBC headquarters in central London. Photo by Vuk Valcic / SOPA Images/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect

The BBC corrected its article, originally titled “Malnourished Gazan Woman Flown to Italy Dies In Hospital,” about Gaza leukemia patient Marah Salah Mahmoud Zohry (or Marah Abu Zuhri), who died after being transferred to Italy for medical treatment.

The correction was done in tandem with a statement by a BBC spokesperson on Monday, admitting that the outlet was “not initially aware” of Zohry’s aggressive leukemia condition:

We were not initially aware that Marah Abu Zuhri was being treated for leukemia. In line with usual editorial practice, we added this to the story after the Israeli authorities put the information into the public domain, in what the hospital has described as ‘a very complex clinical picture’. We have amended the original headline and tweet and added an explanatory note.

As we wrote on X:

In a statement, a BBC spokesperson acknowledged that the broadcaster was “not initially aware that Zohry was being treated for leukemia.”

Because it’s not like @BBCNews to assume that Israel is responsible for every Palestinian misfortune without bothering to verify, right?  https://t.co/Uj5gDo7wqE pic.twitter.com/YCj03xPa3p

— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) August 19, 2025

The UK outlet initially reported that Zohry “was severely emaciated” and “suffered severe loss of weight and muscle” when she passed away in the hospital, in addition to regurgitating Italian news outlets’ reports that “she was suffering from severe malnutrition.”

However, no further investigation was conducted to verify the information, such as requesting medical reports or obtaining a statement from COGAT, which would have helped facilitate Zohry’s transfer.

The correction came after the BBC was exposed by COGAT and subsequently criticized online for not getting a proper verification of her condition before her death.

Still no correction or update from @BBCNews.

If it had been an Israeli hospital or Israeli news agencies issuing statements, you can bet BBC Verify, the corporation’s pitiful fact-checking department, would have been all over it.

But in this case? They just wouldn’t bother. https://t.co/cmotmaw4UO pic.twitter.com/w9cWKrfoF6

— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) August 17, 2025

It’s probable to assume that verification would have been easy to obtain for the BBC. Still, it would also appear that these facts would fracture the BBC and the rest of Western media’s favorite narrative that Israel is deliberately starving Gaza.

While a minimal correction of COGAT’s statement saying she was a cancer patient was made inside the article, it failed to mention that the Israeli body offered to get Zohry evacuated even earlier for treatment. Not to mention, the BBC still managed to get it wrong on X the second time around:

The BBC had the opportunity to issue a proper correction, but they chose to omit her cause of death again. Why?

BBC’s Reputation Already Shredded

It’s routine for the BBC to come under fire for its bias while covering the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This summer alone has witnessed several scandals:

• Earlier this month, a report that supposedly investigated two killings of little Gazan girls in November 2023, during the early days of the war, failed to provide context of the guerrilla urban warfare environment in which Hamas hides behind civilians, and uses them in combat with the IDF.
• In July, the broadcasting outlet took a documentary down from its streaming platform about the Israel-Hamas war, titled “Gaza: How to Survive A Warzone,” when the narrator was exposed as a Hamas minister’s son, without being transparent about who he was. It was also discovered that the interviewee’s language was sanitized by translating the Arabic word for “Jews” as “Israelis,” among others.
• In the same month, a Zoom call with the CEO of news, Deborah Turness, was leaked, in which Turness implored employees to make a distinction between the Hamas political wing and the military wing, even though both are declared a terror organization in the UK.
• In June, it aired an antisemitic and inciting performance by rap duo Bob Vylan, with chants of “death, death to the IDF.”

And the rest of the time? The BBC consistently takes Hamas’ word as fact, while casting doubt on Israel’s.

Yet another flub from the BBC — but it’s obvious that when it sees an opportunity to further an anti-Israel agenda, it’s happy to throw journalistic integrity out the window.

The author is a contributor to HonestReporting, a Jerusalem-based media watchdog with a focus on antisemitism and anti-Israel bias — where a version of this article first appeared.

University College London Hospital. Photo: Tagishsimon via Wikimedia Commons

Two recent incidents at hospitals in the UK fit a troubling pattern of Jews feeling unsafe due to medical professionals expressing antisemitism or even outright threats of death against Israelis.

The University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (UCLH Trust) has issued an apology following a patient’s complaints about the placement of anti-Israel posters at a facility.

“I’m an outpatient but God forbid in other circumstances to feel so vulnerable already and be surrounded by hostility would be so scary,” the unnamed female patient told the group UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI), fearful of receiving subpar treatment if the hospital staff discovered she was Jewish. “I shouldn’t have to remove my Star of David necklace to go to a hospital visit.”

The poster read:

Israel is starving and killing Palestinians in Gaza.

Children are being slaughtered beyond measure.

We have a voice, they don’t.

We are the generation that can influence the system & government.

Please do your own research and come to your own conclusions.  Do not let the mainstream media influence you. It is poison. Zionism is Poison.

People are being killed, just to show the world what is happening, see for yourself:

Instagram

@eye.on.palestine

@lowkeyonline @Wearethepeace

@hossam_shbat @anasjamal44

If you can’t lift the injustice, at least tell everyone about it.

Free Palestine.

End Zionism.

David Probert, chief executive of UCLH Trust, released a statement on Sunday to UKLFI.

“Firstly, I would like to apologize on behalf of UCLH for the distress and upset caused by these posters. At UCLH, we value diversity and inclusivity, and we are committed to providing a fair and non-discriminatory service to all individuals, regardless of background,” Probert stated. “Following receipt of your letter, I promptly made internal enquiries and was informed that the posters were initially noticed last week. This matter was immediately treated as an incident, and all the posters were removed without delay.”

Probert added, “Senior members of staff conducted a walk-around to ensure no further posters remained. Additionally, the department’s newsletter addressed the incident, reminding staff of the Trust’s policy against displaying political messages and encouraging vigilance in identifying and removing any similar materials. Security personnel have also been instructed to remain alert.”

Caroline Turner, director of UKLFI, said that her organization welcomed the hospital’s taking down of the posters.

“We welcome UCLH’s prompt, proactive, and constructive engagement with this issue. UCLH’s actions will help preserve dignity, equality, neutrality, and respect within NHS spaces, particularly for Jewish patients seeking medical care,” she said in a statement.

Another instance of anti-Israel rhetoric at UK hospitals involves midwife Fatimah Mohamied, who resigned from her position after UKLFI highlighted her anti-Israel social media posts. Mohamied has now filed a claim against Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, alleging a violation of her rights.

“I have been subjected to a concerted and targeted effort to intimidate, harass, and punish me into silence for my Palestinian advocacy and criticism of Zionism,” Mohamied said. “I am taking legal action against my former employer to finally seek accountability for a campaign of harassment against me in the midst of a live genocide perpetrated by the Israeli state — I will not accept the attempts to silence me and those like me.”

Mohamied added, “Health=care workers in the NHS have the right to critique a colonial political ideology that has upheld an illegal occupation for decades and is responsible for violating universal values of health.”

Examples of Mohamied’s posts include her declaration “hell yeah!!!” on Oct. 8, 2023, one day after the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas’s invasion of and massacre across southern Israel, as she reshared the statement “Palestinians have a right to resist their occupation-we have a right to support them. It’s that simple.”

She also wrote on Oct. 7, 2023, that “Palestinian women have birthed under blockade and seige [sic] This is apartheid and like all apartheid, no justice or dignity can be found.” The post was in response to another social media user defending Hamas’s atrocities as a justified response to Israeli actions.

In another online comment, Mohamied wrote, “The problem lies in using Jewish cultural safety as a smokescreen to propagate colonialism, occupation, apartheid, and genocide as somehow acceptable. The problem here are the Zionist speakers you hold no qualm or shame to platform. There is no neutrality in degradation, there is no balance in ignoring opposition to Zionists, there is no innocence in hosting Zionists.”

Liana Wood, a partner at the legal firm Leigh Day representing Mohamied, said that the trust’s “referrals against Fatimah, made a year after she had stopped working for them, were an entirely disproportionate response to her lawful expressions of belief on her personal blog and social media accounts.” She added that “Fatimah’s case, which has parallels with other cases we have seen recently in the NHS, highlights the need for employers to resist pressure from lobby groups in such cases, and to carefully consider any potential infringement on an individual’s rights before taking action against them.”

These instances in the UK track with other reports from Jews around the world expressing discomfort with health-care providers’ antipathy toward Israel manifesting as violent threats.

In the Netherlands, for example, police opened an investigation into Batisma Chayat Sa’id, a nurse who allegedly stated she would administer lethal injections to Israeli patients.

Sa’id denied making the comments. “It seems someone is pretending to be me, posting false and defamatory statements,” she said. “I want to make it clear — I hold no hatred toward Jews or any people, race, religion, or identity.”

Last year, however, an account under her name also posted threatening messages aimed at Jewish people, including “Your time will come — don’t spare anyone,” and another in which she described the burial of Israelis in Gaza as “a dream come true.”

The nurse’s alleged threat mirrors a similar incident in Australia, in which video showed two nurses — Ahmad Rashad Nadir and Sarah Abu Lebdeh — posing as doctors and making inflammatory statements.

The widely circulated footage showed Abu Lebdeh declaring she would refuse to treat Israeli patients and instead kill them, while Nadir made a throat-slitting gesture and claimed he had already killed many.

Following the incident, New South Wales authorities in Australia suspended their nursing registrations and banned them from working as nurses nationwide. They were also charged with federal offenses, including threatening violence against a group and using a carriage service to threaten, menace, and harass. If convicted, they face up to 22 years in prison.

A December 2024 study by the Data & Analytics Department of StandWithUs, a Jewish civil rights group, found that 40 percent of 645 Jewish American health-care professionals surveyed reported experiencing antisemitism in the workplace. A similar study of Canadian Jewish health workers conducted last year reached 80 percent.