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Why the Past Gives Us Hope as We Enter a New Year for Jews and Israel
“No such torment … has ever transpired previously in history. The bizarre tortures and the freakish, brutal methods invented by the depraved, perverted murderers, solely for the suffering of Israel, are unprecedented and unparalleled. May God have mercy upon us, and save us from their hands, in the blink of an eye.”
These shocking words were written in the depths of hell — the Warsaw Ghetto in the summer of 1942 — by Rabbi Kalonymus Kalman Shapira, the fabled Piaseczner Rebbe, who, together with hundreds of thousands of Polish Jews, had been forced into the ghetto by the Nazis less than a year earlier.
At its peak, the Warsaw Ghetto held over 400,000 Jews crammed into just 1.3 square miles. The overcrowding led to catastrophic conditions: extreme poverty, widespread disease, and starvation. But worse was yet to come. Between July and September 1942, 265,000 ghetto residents were deported to the Treblinka death camp for extermination, while another 35,000 were viciously murdered in the ghetto.
In April 1943, Jewish resistance fighters staged the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, the most significant act of Jewish resistance during the Holocaust. The fighters held out against the Nazis for a month before being brutally crushed. The remaining inhabitants were then dispatched to their deaths, including Rav Shapira, who perished at Trawniki on November 3rd, 1943, during the infamous Operation Harvest Festival (“Aktion Erntefest”), when the Nazis eliminated all remaining Jewish laborers in the Lublin District.
Rav Shapira wasn’t just any rabbi. He was a spiritual firebrand and a towering figure of resilience, even when facing the unthinkable horrors of Nazi brutality. He gave weekly speeches in the ghetto about faith, resilience, and divine love, never allowing himself to be crushed by fear and despair.
“With what can someone strengthen themselves, at least a little bit, so long as salvation has not appeared? And with what can the spirit be elevated, even the tiniest bit, while being crushed and broken like this? Firstly, with prayer and with faith that God would never utterly reject His children. It cannot be possible that He would abandon us in such mortal danger as we are now facing for His blessed name’s sake. Surely, He will have mercy immediately, and rescue us in the blink of an eye.” (Sacred Fire: Torah from the Years of Fury 1939-1942, p.333)
Rav Shapira’s words reflected the pain of the moment, but they also exuded unwavering hope. Each week, he recorded his speeches on scraps of paper, hoping to publish them once the horrors ended.
Though Rav Shapira was murdered, miraculously, his teachings survived the Holocaust thanks to the Oyneg Shabbos group, who preserved documents and testimonies from the Warsaw Ghetto by burying them underground in milk urns in early 1943, under the leadership of historian Emanuel Ringelblum, who was discovered in hiding and murdered in 1944.
Rav Shapira’s manuscripts were found after the war. They eventually reached Baruch Duvdevani, a Polish-born religious Zionist activist whose family had been followers of the Shapira Hasidic dynasty. In 1960, he published Rav Shapira’s work in a book titled Eish Kodesh (Sacred Fire).
Although Rav Shapira’s words were not meant to inspire future generations — he composed them as a direct response to the crisis he and those around him were facing in real-time — their preservation has ensured that his faith, resilience, and spiritual defiance continue on as a legacy, speaking powerfully to anyone struggling with suffering and hardship. They remind us that even in life’s darkest moments, the human soul can find strength and connection to the divine, trusting that good times will follow bad.
This past year, in the wake of October 7th and all that has transpired since, I have found myself returning to Rav Shapira’s teachings repeatedly. In particular, that first quote haunts me; he seems to be describing the horrific events of October 7th with vivid clarity — an echo from Jewish history.
But I have also been inspired by Rav Shapira’s faith. When everything seemed dark — as Israel reeled from unimaginable horrors and went to war, and as Jews around the world felt vulnerable and under attack — Rav Shapira’s unshakable faith became my anchor.
Rav Shapira never allowed moments of pain and confusion to turn into a crisis of faith, and I found strength in his incredible resolve. We have all struggled this year, when even victories — whether against Hamas in Gaza or antisemitic mobs on college campuses — have been twisted into weapons to attack us. Thankfully, Rav Shapira’s model of faith provided a firm foundation for me to stand on. His resilience reminded me that even when we don’t understand the world’s darkness, God is still present, shaping a future redemption.
Just as the Nazis were ultimately brought down, despite their early victories and seeming dominance, so too will the enemies of Israel today — Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, and Iran — meet the same fate.
Rav Shapira’s words remind us that evil’s apparent success is always temporary, and its defeat inevitable. We stand today as witnesses to the unraveling of their power, knowing that just as the Jewish people survived then, we will rise again now, stronger than before.
Tragically, Rav Shapira did not live to witness the fall of the Nazis. But his faith was not misplaced. The Nazis were ultimately defeated, and the Jewish people, whom they sought to annihilate, rose from the ashes of Europe to rebuild their lives — not just in the newly founded State of Israel, but in vibrant, thriving communities around the world. The Jewish spirit was not broken; it came back stronger, fortified with faith and determination.
And today, as we celebrate a new Jewish year and reflect on the past year, we can see that our faith was not in vain. Though we have endured profound loss and faced the painful reality of rising hatred against Israel and Jews across the globe, we are also witnessing the collapse of our enemies — their plans and strength unraveling before our eyes.
Hamas, who heinously butchered our people and then celebrated our grief, has been decimated, and its leaders are dead. Hezbollah is weakened, its leadership gone, and its threats subdued. Iran, the puppet master behind this indescribable evil, scrambles to defend itself against the inevitable. Like Hitler in the final days in Berlin, they know that their time is coming.
And so, as we continue to navigate these turbulent times, Rav Shapira’s words resonate across the decades with renewed significance: “Even if you are broken and oppressed, you must nevertheless be sincere and whole. Take strength in God because you know that God is with you in your suffering. Do not attempt to project into the future, saying, ‘I cannot see an end to the darkness.’ Rather, simply accept whatever happens to you, and then you will be with God…[and] your salvation will draw close.” (Sacred Fire, p.213)
These words are as true today as when Rav Shapira first spoke them. Though the challenges we face are immense, our faith must remain firm. Time and again, we have experienced God’s presence, even in our darkest hours, leading us toward a brighter future.
The Nazis were defeated, and today’s enemies will also fall — and when that day comes, the Jewish people, resilient and steadfast, will rise stronger than ever. We have overcome destruction before, and with unwavering faith, we will meet the challenges ahead, knowing that our adversaries will be vanquished, and the Jewish people will stand tall and strong.
The author is a rabbi in Beverly Hills, California.
The post Why the Past Gives Us Hope as We Enter a New Year for Jews and Israel first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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American Jewish Organizations React to Trump’s Choice for US Ambassador to Israel
Mike Huckabee looks on as Donald Trump reacts during a campaign event at the Drexelbrook Catering and Event Center, in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, US, Oct. 29, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
American Jewish organizations were quick to react to US President-elect Donald Trump’s announcement that he would choose former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee to be the next US ambassador to Israel after he assumes office in January.
“Mike has been a great public servant, governor, and leader in faith for many years. He loves Israel, and the people of Israel, and likewise, the people of Israel love him. Mike will work tirelessly to bring about peace in the Middle East!” Trump wrote in his announcement.
Huckabee, an evangelical Christian, has long been a vocal pro-Israel voice. He has repudiated the anti-Israel protests that erupted in the wake of Hamas’s massacre across southern Israel last Oct. 7 and criticized incumbent US President Joe Biden for sympathizing with anti-Israel protesters during his speech at the 2024 Democratic National Convention (DNC). The incoming ambassador also lambasted the anti-Israel encampments at elite universities, stating that there should be “outrage” over the targeting and mistreatment of Jewish college students.
Ted Deutch, the CEO of the American Jewish Committee (AJC), posted on X on Tuesday that his organization “looks forward to working with Gov. Huckabee and newly appointed Special Envoy for the Middle East Steven Witkoff to strengthen the US-Israel relationship, bolster Israel-diaspora relations, and promote strong connections between American Jewry and Israel.”
Other Jewish communal organizations, such as the Jewish Federations of North America and the Anti-Defamation League, have so far not made statements.
The Republican Jewish Committee (RJC) said it was “thrilled” with the choice. “As a man of deep faith,” the RJC wrote, “we know Governor Huckabee’s abounding love of Israel and its people is second to none.”
It continued, “As the Jewish state continues to fight an existential war for survival against Iran and its terrorist proxies, Governor Huckabee will represent America’s ironclad commitment to Israel’s security with distinction.”
On the other side, however, the Jewish Democratic Council of America (JDCA) called Huckabee “utterly unqualified for this role” and argued that “his extremist views with regard to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will not further the national security interests of the United States or advance prospects for peace between Israelis and Palestinians.”
Huckabee told Israel’s Army Radio in his first interview since the announcement of his ambassadorship that “of course” the annexation of the West Bank is a possibility during Trump’s second presidential term.
“Unfortunately, when it comes to the US-Israel relationship,” the JDCA concluded, “Donald Trump will continue to only be motivated by his own narrow self-interest, and we’re deeply concerned about what that means for the United States and Israel.”
J Street also opposed the choice, writing in a statement that “Huckabee, a right-wing, evangelical minister with a long history of championing settlement expansion, annexation, and a radical ‘Greater Israel’ agenda, holds principles and espouses views that — if now implemented — would shatter the foundations on which a healthy and strong US-Israel relationship has been built over the past 75 years.”
J Street on Monday urged the Biden administration to withhold offensive weapons from Israel as part of a partial arms embargo, arguing that the United States needs to hold Israel accountable for alleged human rights “violations” before Trump takes office.
Huckabee has taken positions on the Israel-Palestinian conflict considered further to the right than most American Jews and politicians. The former governor has defended Israel’s right to build settlements in the West Bank, acknowledging the Jewish people’s ties to the land dating back to the ancient world.
“There is no such thing as the West Bank — it’s Judea and Samaria,” Huckabee has said, referring to the biblical names for the area. “There is no such thing as settlements — they’re communities, they’re neighborhoods, they’re cities. There is no such thing as an occupation.”
Huckabee has also argued, including during his 2008 US presidential campaign, that any future Palestinian state should be created from land in Arab countries, rather than from territory that Israel captured in 1967 during the Six-Day War.
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Columbia University Accused of Prolonging Investigation of Pro-Israel Professor
Israeli-American activist and Columbia University Professor Shai Davidai speaks at a pro-Israel rally, nearly one year after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack in southern Israel, in the Manhattan borough of New York City, US, Oct. 6, 2024. Photo: Stephani Spindel via Reuters Connect
Columbia University is being accused of prolonging a disciplinary investigation of Jewish professor Shai Davidai, who has been an outspoken supporter of Israel and critic of the school’s handling of antisemitism on campus, to destroy his reputation and academic career, The Algemeiner has learned.
The charge is coming from Davidai himself, an Israeli-born academic who has become one of the most famous pro-Israel advocates in the country. His renown has carried unintended consequences, however — among them, according to Davidai and others, the negative scrutiny of the Columbia University administration.
“On February 8, I was notified by Ms. Sarah Kinney, the Associate Director of the Office of EOAA [Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action], that I am being investigated due to a Title IX complaint. Ms Kinney refused to share the nature of the complaint and the identity of the complainants with me and my lawyers, thus denying me the right to face my accusers and impeding my ability to defend myself and prove my innocence,” Davidai wrote in a letter to high-level school officials — including interim president Katrina Armstrong and others — which was shared with The Algemeiner on Tuesday.
He continued, “I would like to remind you that the Office of Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action is required to send updates every 30 days to the targets of their investigations. Throughout the entire investigation, the office of EOAA has failed to follow it’s own procedures, thus denying me the due process that I believe is required of a federally-funded university … Unfortunately Columbia’s failure to conclude this investigation has created irreparable harm to my reputation in traditional and social media. I am thus emailing you with a demand to immediately bring this investigation to an end and publicly clear my name.”
Columbia launched an investigation of Davidai in February, several months after he described then-university president Minouche Shafik as a “coward” for coddling pro-Hamas activists who, after the Palestinian terrorist group’s Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel, waged a campaign of harassment, intimidation, and violence to demoralize Jewish students and pressure the university into boycotting Israel. The immediate cause cited for the inquiry, as told to The Algemeiner by the professor, was a series of spurious accusations that his denunciations of mass casualty events inspired by jihadist extremism equated to racism against Muslims and minorities of color.
Undeterred by what appeared to Davidai and his lawyers as a cynical attempt to use the disciplinary system to silence a political dissident and shroud him in suspicion, the professor continued advocating for Israel’s existence and Jewish civil rights all the way up to the first anniversary of Oct. 7, a day which saw dueling demonstrations held by pro-Hamas and pro-Israel students across the campus. It also saw a fateful exchange of words between Davidai and a Columbia administrator, Cas Holloway, whom the professor reproached for permitting pro-Hamas students to use the Oct. 7 anniversary for celebrating the terrorist organization’s atrocities, which included wantonly murdering Israelis, sexually assaulting Jewish women, and kidnapping over 200 hostages.
Columbia and Davidai’s legal team interpreted what transpired between the professor and Holloway differently. Davidai defended his approach as a genuine expression of grief and concern for the welfare of Jewish students, while Columbia felt that an unmoored professor had engaged in “threats of intimidation, harassment, or other threatening behavior.” Following the incident, Columbia “temporarily” banished him from campus, a severe disciplinary sanction which prevents him from attending university functions and accessing his office.
Now, months after the initial investigation and over a month since his being banned from campus, Davidai alleges that due process has been intentionally slowed to a lumbering pace and, in some instances, denied.
“Never in my life had I imagined that Columbia University would stoop so low as to engage in Kafkaesque procedures in order to retaliate against my speaking out for the Jewish people and against support for anti-Jewish, anti-Israeli, and anti-American terrorism on campus,” he continued in Tuesday’s letter. “As an employee of the university, I would appreciate a reply, if only to be acknowledged for my humanity.”
On Wednesday, Columbia University spokeswoman Samantha Slater told The Algemeiner that “we are not going to comment on ongoing investigations.”
In October, following the professor’s suspension, Slater said, “Columbia has consistently and continually respected Assistant Professor Davidai’s right to free speech and to express his views. His freedom of speech has not been limited and is not being limited now. Columbia, however, does not tolerate threats of intimidation, harassment, or other threatening behavior by its employees. Because Assistant Professor Davidai repeatedly harassed and intimidated university employees in violation of university policy, we have temporarily limited his access to campus while he undertakes appropriate training on our policies governing the behavior of our employees.”
This latest clash between Davidai and Columbia University comes during what has been widely described as an unprecedented “crisis” at the school which, since Oct. 7, 2023, has undermined its credibility with the public and set off a slew of congressional investigations and lawsuits.
In April, an anti-Zionist group occupied Hamilton Hall, forcing then-president hafik to call on the New York City Police Department (NYPD) for help, a decision she hesitated to make and which led to over 108 arrests. However, according to documents shared in August by the US House Committee on Education and the Workforce, 18 of the 22 students slapped with disciplinary charges for their role in the incident remain in “good standing” despite the university’s earlier pledge to expel them. Another 31 of 35 who were suspended for illegally occupying the campus with a “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” remain in good standing too.
In August, Shafik resigned as president of the university, and just two months prior, in June, its legal counsel reached an out of court settlement with a student who accused administrators of neglecting their obligation to foster a safe learning environment during the final weeks of last spring semester. While stopping short of admitting guilt, the settlement virtually conceded to the plaintiff her argument that the campus was unsafe for Jewish students, agreeing to provide her and others “Safe Passage Liaisons” tasked with protecting them from racist abuse and violence.
Amid this cluster of scandals and conflagrations, Davidai has allegedly received a lion’s share of the university’s attention, revealing, he has alleged, “the depths of [Columbia’s] hostility towards its Jewish community.” He has since retained counsel to guard his rights and prevent being bulldozed by one of the wealthiest and powerful universities in the world. Despite his troubles, however, he has said that Columbia is redeemable.
“I do this because I love teaching and I love research. And because I truly believe that Columbia can become better,” he said. “For me, Cas Holloway is ruining Columbia’s reputation. He is the anathema of everything that’s right about Columbia, its educational practice, research, and openness to everyone. And I don’t know if he’s a good person or a bad person, but his inaction, his indifference shows that he’s OK with ruining everything that higher education should be standing for.”
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
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American-Israeli Olympic Gold Medalist Amit Elor Says She Faces ‘Cruel, Vicious Antisemitism’ for Israel Support
Amit Elor of the United States celebrates winning gold against Meerim Zhumanazarova of Kyrgyzstan in the women’s freestyle 68kg wrestling finals of the 2024 Paris Olympics on Aug. 6, 2024. Photo: Reuters/Arlette Bashizi
American-Israeli wrestler and Olympic gold medalist Amit Elor talked about facing severe backlash for her outspoken support for Israel to a crowd of thousands of people who attended a pro-Israel rally at Nationals Park in Washington, DC, on Sunday.
At the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, Elor, 20, won the gold medal in the women’s freestyle wrestling 68-kg finals. She became the youngest wrestler in the history of the US to win a gold at the Olympics and a first-time Olympic medal winner. The win extended Elor’s five-year winning streak, and she also became the third woman from the US to win an Olympic gold medal in wrestling, as well as the youngest woman from the US to win any medal in wrestling at the Olympics.
Elor addressed the crowd on Sunday at the pro-Israel rally “Stand Together — An Event of Unity, Strength, and Resilience.” She began by talking about being “so proud” of her Israeli heritage and her connection to the Jewish state. Both her parents are Israeli, and Elor spent her summers in Israel as a youngster, visiting her grandmother in Ashkelon. She also trained with young Israeli wrestlers during those summers in Israel, and said they welcomed her with open arms.
The athlete told the audience that following the Oct. 7 Hamas-led terrorist attacks in Israel, she voiced support on social media for the Jewish state and received a lot of online hate for it. “There was no question it was what I had to do,” Elor said of publicly speaking out in support of Israel, “but I wasn’t prepared for all the hate I’d get for it.”
“Cruel messages, vicious antisemitism,” she said. “It’s not always easy to be publicly proudly Jewish on the internet. That took strength too.”
Elor further noted that although she competed in the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris for Team USA, she felt like she had the support of Israel throughout the entire competition.
“Just like when I was a kid in Ashkelon, Israel embraced me again. I wrestled for Team USA. I can hardly even speak Hebrew. And yet, I learned that the whole country had my back,” she explained. “Israeli TV channels came to interview me. Israeli followers cheered for me on social media, and when I won the gold medal, the Israeli Olympic team was the first to invite me to dinner.”
“When I think of all those friendships, all those messages of encouragement, it reminds me that there is strength in unity,” she added. “I want other young Americans to know: Yes, the hate we experience for speaking out hurts, but we must speak out anyway. Because when each of us raises our voice; when we are brave; when we stand up to be counted; and when we do it together, we all become even stronger. As they say in Israel today — Yachad Ninatze’ach, together we will win!”
Sunday’s pro-Israel rally including speeches by a number of political figures, including Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, US Sen. Joni Erst (R-IA), and and US Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC). US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) spoke to the crowd virtually. The Jewish Federations of North America and the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish American Organizations hosted the event at Nationals Park, which is home to the Washington Nationals baseball team, in partnership with dozens of other national and local organizations.
Grammy-nominated Israeli artist Idan Raichel was the headlining act with his band, the Idan Raichel Project, and the event also featured performances by Hasidic singer Shulem Lemmer, who led a prayer for soldiers in the Israel Defense Forces, John Ondrasik of Five for Fighting, Palestinian artist Luai Ali, violinist Ada Pasternak, and accordion virtuoso Cory Pesaturo.
Jewish stand-up comedian and actress Tiffany Haddish headlined the event. In her opening remarks, she talked about her personal journey to discovering she has Jewish roots and having a sense of “family” among Jews, despite their different backgrounds.
“When I first started working bar and bat mitzvahs years ago as a hype dancer, I never imagined that I’d be standing here today. But that’s the beautiful thing about life and being Jewish: the path isn’t always straight, but it leads home,” said the Emmy and Grammy-winning comedian.
“Judaism embraces all of us — every background, every color, every story,” she added. She then discussed the reason for the gathering in Washington’s Nationals Park — to show support for Israel amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war and the 101 hostages who remain in Hamas captivity, and to unite against antisemitism plaguing Jews around the world.
“Right now we are living through one of the hardest chapters of our story,” Haddish added. “But like so many of you, I learned early that life’s hardest moments can lead to our greatest strengths. From foster care to homelessness, to finding my truth, both as an artist and as a Jew, that’s why what we’re doing here matters.”
“When I discovered my Jewish roots, I learned about all these different kinds of Jews – Israelis, Americans, Reform, Conservative, Orthodox … we are like the original extended family complete with the arguments about who makes the best matzah balls,” she said. “But that’s the beauty of it. Unity isn’t about agreeing on everything. It’s about standing together when it matters most and right now, it matters more than ever.”
The post American-Israeli Olympic Gold Medalist Amit Elor Says She Faces ‘Cruel, Vicious Antisemitism’ for Israel Support first appeared on Algemeiner.com.