RSS
Seeking justice for Israel’s slain and missing without losing our moral compass
This article initially appeared in My Jewish Learning’s Shabbat newsletter Recharge on Oct. 21, 2023. To sign up to receive Recharge each week in your inbox, click here.
In the Genesis story, wicked violence pushes God over the edge to wipe out humanity. In my mind, that became the violence that Hamas inflicted upon Israelis in the towns near the Gaza border this month. Noah’s ark became a metaphor for the safe rooms that allowed a few of those targeted Israelis to escape the massacre. This season, we are reading the Torah thinking about life, death — and reckoning.
After the flood, God makes a promise: “Never again will I doom the earth because of humankind, since the devisings of the human mind are evil from youth.” (Genesis 8:21) The narrative assumes that humans will still act wickedly. But instead of God judging and punishing evil behavior, that responsibility will now fall on humans.
We get some specific instruction on the human responsibility to deal with violence in the very next chapter, where we learn that when someone takes another human life, a “reckoning” is required: “Whosoever sheds human blood, by human [hands] shall that one’s blood be shed; for in the image of God was humankind made.” While some rules in the Torah come with no rationale, this one is justified by a teaching: Humans are made in the image of God.
The context of the verse is important too. At the beginning of chapter 9, God instructs Noah and his sons to “be fertile and increase, and fill the earth.” To sustain themselves, humans are given plants and (most) animals to eat, provided they do not eat the “life-blood” in animal flesh. The Torah permits taking animal life to sustain human life, but killing a person is different because humans are made in the image of God. So when a human is killed, a reckoning must take place. If the taking of a single human life requires a reckoning, how much more so does the murder of 1,200?
There are tough questions now facing Israelis and the Jewish people. What constitutes a reckoning? How do we act morally, rooted in our values, as we carry that out? And can Jewish tradition guide us as we do?
Alongside the value of human beings created in the image of God, Jewish tradition offers other models of how our ancestors understood God’s instruction to reckon with wickedness. There’s the story of Jacob’s sons, Shimon and Levi, who massacred a whole town in response to their sister’s defilement. And there’s the Purim story, in which the Jews kill not only Haman and his sons, but 75,000 others. Yet these stories don’t feel up to the task of this moment because they don’t struggle with the moral challenges of being sovereign, of wielding power over others.
But there is a story from our texts that comes close, about a moment when the Israelites did wield power in the land. In the books of Joshua and 2 Samuel we find the story of the Gibeonites, a Canaanite people who lived alongside the Israelites for generations but were slaughtered by King Saul. Years later, when David was king, the Israelites faced an extended famine, and when David inquired of God, he was told that it was a result of the injustice inflicted upon the Gibeonites. David is then faced with the daunting task of making restitution with the few surviving Gibeonites in order to save his people.
This is a story worthy of our present moment. While the text doesn’t tell us what precipitated Saul’s slaughter of the Gibeonites, the killing was evidently so unjust that it became a moral blot on the Israelites that spanned a generation. An act of injustice now can trigger another crisis later.
The challenge of this moment is to hold on to our values and moral commitments as we fight those who would destroy us — and only those who would destroy us. As my colleague and teacher Yossi Klein Halevi recently wrote, “Fighting evil does not mean a suspension of moral ground rules; the opposite is true. One must be careful not to become tainted by the evil you are fighting, for both practical and spiritual reasons.”
Wielding power is, by definition, morally fraught. The lesson of the Gibeonites is that if we lose our moral compass during this reckoning, we will pay the price — by the hand of the next generation of our enemies, by the international community, or by our own spiritual decay. And yet, a reckoning is still required. It may not be possible to be morally pure in war time, but it is possible to be morally grounded. This is the challenge for Israelis, and for the Jewish people who love them and support them, in this moment.
—
The post Seeking justice for Israel’s slain and missing without losing our moral compass appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
RSS
Judge Temporarily Blocks Trump Admin From Revoking Harvard Enrollment of Foreign Students
US President Trump speaks to the media at the annual White House Easter Egg Roll, Washington, DC, April 21, 2025. Photo: Andrew Leyden/ZUMA Press Wire via Reuters Connect
A US judge on Friday temporarily blocked the Trump administration from revoking Harvard University’s ability to enroll foreign students, a policy the Ivy League school called part of President Donald Trump’s broader effort to retaliate against it for refusing to “surrender its academic independence.”
The order provides temporary relief to thousands of international students who were faced with being forced to transfer under a policy that the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based university called a “blatant violation” of the US Constitution and other federal laws, and said would have an “immediate and devastating effect” on the university and more than 7,000 visa holders.
“Without its international students, Harvard is not Harvard,” the 389-year-old school said in its lawsuit filed earlier on Friday in Boston federal court. Harvard enrolled nearly 6,800 international students in its current school year, equal to 27% of total enrollment.
The move was the latest escalation in a broader battle between Harvard and the White House, as Trump seeks to compel universities, law firms, news media, courts and other institutions that value independence from partisan politics to align with his agenda. Trump and fellow Republicans have long accused elite universities of left-wing bias.
Harvard has pushed back hard against Trump, having previously sued to restore nearly $3 billion in federal grants that had been frozen or canceled. In recent weeks, the administration has proposed ending Harvard’s tax-exempt status and hiking taxes on its endowment, and opened an investigation into whether it violated civil rights laws.
Leo Gerden, a Swedish student set to graduate Harvard with an undergraduate degree in economics and government this month, called the judge’s ruling a “great first step” but said international students were bracing for a long legal fight that would keep them in limbo.
“There is no single decision by Trump or by Harvard or by a judge that is going to put an end to this tyranny of what Trump is doing,” Gerden said.
In its complaint, Harvard said the revocation would force it to retract admissions for thousands of people, and has thrown “countless” academic programs, clinics, courses and research laboratories into disarray, just a few days before graduation. It said the revocation was a punishment for Harvard’s “perceived viewpoint,” which it called a violation of the right to free speech as guaranteed by the US Constitution’s First Amendment.
The Trump administration may appeal US District Judge Allison Burroughs’ ruling. In a statement, White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said, “unelected judges have no right to stop the Trump Administration from exercising their rightful control over immigration policy and national security policy.”
Since Trump’s inauguration on January 20, his administration has accused several universities of indifference toward the welfare of Jewish students during widespread campus protests against Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.
Harvard’s court challenges over the administration’s policies stand in contrast to its New York-based peer Columbia University’s concessions to similar pressure. Columbia agreed to reform disciplinary processes and review curricula for courses on the Middle East, after Trump pulled $400 million in funding over allegations the Ivy League school had not done enough to combat antisemitism.
In announcing on Thursday the termination of Harvard’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification, effective starting in the 2025-2026 academic year, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, without providing evidence, accused the university of “fostering violence, antisemitism, and coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party.”
Harvard says a fifth of its foreign students in 2024 were from China. US lawmakers from both parties have expressed concerns about the influence of the Chinese government on US college campuses, including efforts by Beijing-directed Chinese student associations to monitor political activities and stifle academic speech.
The university says it is committed to combating antisemitism and investigating credible allegations of civil rights violations.
HARVARD DEFENDS ‘REFUSAL TO SURRENDER’
In her brief order blocking the policy for two weeks, Burroughs said Harvard had shown it could be harmed before there was an opportunity to hear the case in full. The judge, an appointee of Democratic President Barack Obama, scheduled hearings for May 27 and May 29 to consider next steps in the case. Burroughs is also overseeing Harvard’s lawsuit over the grant funds.
Harvard University President Alan Garber said the administration was illegally seeking to assert control over the private university’s curriculum, faculty and student body.
“The revocation continues a series of government actions to retaliate against Harvard for our refusal to surrender our academic independence,” Garber wrote in a letter on Friday to the Harvard community.
The revocation could also weigh on Harvard’s finances. At many US universities, international students are more likely to pay full tuition, essentially subsidizing aid for other students.
“It is a privilege, not a right, for universities to enroll foreign students and benefit from their higher tuition payments,” DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement.
Harvard’s bonds, part of its $8.2 billion debt pile, have been falling since Trump first warned US universities in March of cuts to federal funding.
International students enrolled at Harvard include Cleo Carney, daughter of Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, and Princess Elisabeth, first in line to the Belgian throne.
The post Judge Temporarily Blocks Trump Admin From Revoking Harvard Enrollment of Foreign Students first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
After Shootings, Washington’s Shaken Jewish Community Looks to Bolster Security
FILE PHOTO: A man, with an Israeli flag with a cross in the center, looks on next to police officers working at the site where, according to the U.S. Homeland Security Secretary, two Israeli embassy staff were shot dead near the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C., U.S. May 21, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/File Photo
When Adam Zimmerman chaperoned his son’s fourth-grade class field trip to the natural history museum in Washington on Wednesday, he didn’t give a second thought to security.
Hours later, outside a different museum a few miles away, two Israeli embassy employees were gunned down in what was widely viewed as an act of antisemitism.
“It was a horrific reminder for me – as a Jewish parent in this city – that we all have to be looking over our shoulders all the time,” said Zimmerman, 43, a media consultant from Rockville, Maryland.
The fatal shooting of the young couple after an event at a Jewish museum has deeply shaken the US capital’s Jews, and has led to a review of security protocols at synagogues and other institutions.
“The same seeds of antisemitism that led to Europe in the 1930s and 1940s are still killing people on the streets of Washington, D.C. in 2025,” said Zimmerman, whose grandparents were Holocaust survivors.
It was the latest act of violence aimed at Jewish Americans linked to outrage over Israel’s escalating military offensive in Gaza, a response to the October 2023 attacks by Hamas militants that killed 1,200 in southern Israel.
The Washington shooting took place outside the Capital Jewish Museum, where the American Jewish Committee was sponsoring an annual young diplomats reception.
The lone suspect, who was charged with two counts of first-degree murder on Thursday, told police on the scene, “I did it for Palestine, I did it for Gaza,” according to court records.
Alan Ronkin, regional director of AJC’s Washington office, said security was tight at the event, even though the suspect, Elias Rodriguez of Chicago, managed to enter the museum in the chaos that ensued in the aftermath of the shooting outside. He was apprehended inside.
“We are going to revisit our security protocols, and make sure we follow the recommendations of the experts,” said Ronkin, who added the community is “shaken but resilient.”
Ron Halber, chief executive officer of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington, said that local law enforcement has increased patrols around Jewish institutions in Washington since the killings.
“A lot of us are looking over our shoulder today,” said Halber. “But we have to keep leading proud open Jewish lives. I’m certainly not going to let it deter me from any public or private event.”
Most Jewish institutions in the city already have robust security, including armed guards at most synagogues, according to Halber. “The big discussion that’s going to happen is how long does the perimeter extend – one block, two blocks,” he said.
“Every Jewish organization is increasing their security, whether it’s having more guards standing outside during more hours of the day, or if they didn’t have any, adding them,” said Gil Preuss, CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington.
“Right now it’s short term, and we’ll see whether there’s a permanent change in the level of security. My guess is yes.”
The federation is one of several Jewish institutions that said on Friday they were fundraising to bolster security. Local and federal grants, especially a nonprofit security grant program administered through the Federal Emergency Management Administration, are a “tremendous” help to offset the costs of security improvements, according to Preuss.
After some delays and confusion due to the Trump administration’s federal funding freezes in recent months, the program’s grant funding has started flowing again, he said.
About 50 Jewish organizations issued a statement on Thursday calling on the US Congress to increase funding under the Nonprofit Security Grant Program to $1 billion, more than double the current figure.
‘DESIRE TO BE TOGETHER’
Sarah Krinsky, a rabbi at Adas Israel in Washington, said on Friday there were D.C. Metropolitan Police Department cars outside her synagogue, at the end of the block and at the base of the parking lot.
Krinsky said the 2018 Tree of Life Synagogue shooting that killed 11 worshipers in Pittsburgh first prompted Adas Israel to boost security significantly.
Since Wednesday’s attack, the Washington mayor’s office, police department, FBI and private firms have all recommended even higher levels of security.
She said the conservative congregation’s more than 3,500 members would welcome the “slight enhancements,” details of which she could not discuss.
With the shock of the shooting still raw, Krinsky said she expected a big crowd for Shabbat services this weekend.
“There’s a real desire to be together, and to be in a place where people can mourn and grieve and express everything they’re feeling and feel safe and held,” she said.
The post After Shootings, Washington’s Shaken Jewish Community Looks to Bolster Security first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
In Major Turning Point, Lebanon to Start Disarming Palestinian Refugee Camps
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas holds a leadership meeting in Ramallah, in the West Bank, April 23, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mohammed Torokman
i24 News – In a move that potentially represents a major turning point for Lebanon, the crisis-hit country will undertake the disarmament of Palestinian refugee camps starting in June, based on an accord with visiting Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
The Lebanese-Palestinian Dialogue Committee, a government body that serves as an interlocutor between Palestinian refugees and officials, reported the meeting with Abbas where the issues was discussed was attended by Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and that “participants agreed to launch a process for the disarmament of weapons according to a specific timetable.”
Lebanon hosts 12 official Palestinian refugee camps—Beddawi, El Buss, Rashidieh, Mieh Mieh, Burj Barajneh, Burj Shemali, Shatila, Dbayeh, Ain al-Hilweh, Mar Elias, Wavel and Nahr el-Bared— all of which are overcrowded and regarded as terror hotbeds, where both Islamists and ostensibly secular groups maintain significant presence.
The development is understood to have been caused by the marginalization of Hezbollah within Lebanon, following a series of devastating military operations by Israel that left the Iran-backed jihadists militia dramatically weakened.
The post In Major Turning Point, Lebanon to Start Disarming Palestinian Refugee Camps first appeared on Algemeiner.com.