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‘Yizkor.’ Remember. Again.
A man stands still as a two-minute siren marking the annual Israeli Holocaust Remembrance Day is heard in Ashkelon, Israel April 8, 2021. REUTERS/Amir Cohen
JNS.org – We have just concluded Passover. On the last day of the holiday, we recited Yizkor, the memorial prayer for our departed loved ones. In many synagogues around the world, in addition to our personal Yizkor prayers, we added memorial prayers for the Six Million and for Israel’s fallen heroes.
We are still fighting a war in Gaza. Hezbollah is increasing its attacks from the north. There is seemingly no end in sight. Now, on Sunday, we will be called upon to observe Yom Hashoah. Here we are, struggling in the aftermath of the massacres and atrocities of Oct. 7—a mini-Holocaust in its own right—and now we are expected to remember the Holocaust itself. I’m sure it will be a bit much for many of us.
It is now more than 80 years since the Holocaust. The number of survivors among us is diminishing all too quickly. The child survivors are today elderly men and women. Please God, may they be with us for many more years to come.
When we think of Israel, we are always remembering those who gave their lives in our defense, as we should. But I don’t think we give enough thought to the injured, the many seriously wounded and those who, tragically, have been maimed for life. Presumably, almost all these brave fighters have been traumatized to one degree or another and will, no doubt, require much therapy when this is all over, please God soon.
Similarly, I wonder if we ever gave enough attention to those who survived the Holocaust but were also traumatized for life.
My late father, Shimon Goldman, was the sole survivor of his family in Poland. By the miracles of God, he escaped Poland. He fled to Vilna and when his Lubavitch yeshivah there received life-saving visas from the legendary Japanese diplomat Chiune Sugihara, he traveled with his fellow students to Moscow and then across Russia to Vladivostok. They took a boat to Kobe, Japan, where they spent a year. In 1941, when Japan joined Nazi Germany in World War II, they moved on to Shanghai, where they spent the rest of the war years until they received visas to go to the United States.
Though orphaned and alone in the world from his teenage years on, my father never lost his mind, his faith or his sense of humor. He rebuilt his family and, when he passed away at age 91, he left behind children, grandchildren and 80 great-grandchildren. Today, there are many more, thank God.
But does that mean he was not scarred? We don’t have an inkling of the inner trauma that he must have experienced in his life. In his 1950 wedding pictures, he, the bridegroom, isn’t smiling. Having had no parents to escort him to the chuppah, was it any wonder? In 1961, during the trial of Adolf Eichmann in Israel, he woke up with nightmares screaming, “Eichmann araus!” Outwardly, he was fine, functional and a pillar of his community on many levels. Inwardly? We have no idea.
My friend’s father-in-law also survived Auschwitz and went on to rebuild his family in London, becoming a successful diamond merchant. But whenever he traveled, in his carry-on case together with his tallit and tefillin, there was always one more item he would never travel without: a loaf of bread. As successful as he was, the hunger pangs of Auschwitz remained with him for life.
I once read a story of a man in Talpiot, Israel, who lived in a big, beautiful villa but would collect the leftovers after the Kiddush in shul on Shabbat morning. One day, a little boy in his innocence asked the man directly: “Excuse me, sir; I don’t understand. You have a beautiful home. Why do you need to collect the leftovers?”
The man looked at the boy and replied: “How could you understand? Were you in Auschwitz?”
Can we understand this? Can we—born in freedom and privilege—grasp what they must have lived through for the rest of their lives?
Besides the Six Million who perished, a generation of survivors was scarred for life.
And the world would have us simply forgive and forget!
Today, we see clearly how the past informs the future. Who would have believed possible what is happening now in the United States at “enlightened” universities?
That’s why we dare not allow ourselves the luxury of national amnesia. We can never forget, and we can never tire of remembering the past.
And so, as difficult as it may be, even now, in the throes of another war against the new Nazis of today, we will still remember the Six Million martyrs of the Holocaust and honor their memories.
At the same time, we will pledge to stand strong against every enemy on any battlefield—whether in the Gaza Strip, Lebanon and Iran, or even against anti-Israel and anti-Jewish protesters on the Ivy League college campuses of America.
When we do, let us also spare a special thought for the traumatized survivors of then and now.
The post ‘Yizkor.’ Remember. Again. first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Muslims from ‘Abandon Harris’ Campaign Gutted by Pro-Israel Cabinet Picks
US Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US, Sept. 10, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
JNS.org – Muslim leaders in the United Stated who called for supporting President-elect Donald Trump at the expense of Democrat runner Kamala Harris are deeply disappointed with the former president’s Cabinet nominees, Reuters reported on Thursday.
“It’s like he’s going on Zionist overdrive,” Abandon Harris campaign co-founder Hassan Abdel Salam, a former professor at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities, said about Trump’s recently announced picks.
“We were always extremely skeptical. … Obviously we’re still waiting to see where the administration will go, but it does look like our community has been played,” Abdel Salam told Reuters.
Rabiul Chowdhury, a Philadelphia investor who chaired the Abandon Harris campaign in Pennsylvania and co-founded Muslims for Trump, was cited as saying: “Trump won because of us and we’re not happy with his secretary of state pick and others.”
Some political strategists believe that the Muslim vote for Trump, or the renunciation of Harris, helped tilt several swing states such as Michigan in the favor of the Republican candidate.
“It seems like this administration has been packed entirely with neoconservatives and extremely pro-Israel, pro-war people, which is a failure on the side of President Trump, to the pro-peace and anti-war movement,” said Rexhinaldo Nazarko, executive director of the American Muslim Engagement and Empowerment Network.
On Wednesday, Trump named Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) as his choice to be secretary of state.
Rubio is known for his staunch pro-Israel stance, including calling on Jerusalem earlier this year to destroy “every element” of Hamas and dubbing the Gaza-based terrorist organization as “vicious animals.”
Rubio joins a slew of pro-Israel officials Trump has tapped since he won the U.S. election, including former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee as ambassador to Israel and Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) as his U.N. ambassador with a seat in the Cabinet.
Blaise Misztal, vice president for policy at the Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA), told JNS that Trump’s focus so early in the transition process on Israel-related foreign policy picks is a mark of how his second administration will approach the region.
“That, in and of itself, signals that President Trump and his administration are going to take the region, the Middle East, the threats confronting Israel, seriously and take the U.S. friendship with Israel seriously,” Misztal said.
“The people that we’ve seen are known to be tremendously strong friends of Israel, first and foremost, but also very clear-eyed about the threats that the United States and Israel face together in the region.”
Before the election on Nov. 5, Trump promised Arab and Muslim voters he would restore stability in Lebanon and the Middle East, while criticizing the current administration’s regional policies during campaign stops targeting Muslim communities in Michigan.
Trump recently addressed Lebanese Americans, stating, “Your friends and family in Lebanon deserve to live in peace, prosperity and harmony with their neighbors, and this can only happen when there is peace and stability in the Middle East.”
Israel has been at war for more than a year on its southern and northern borders, ever since Hamas led a surprise attack on communities near the Gaza Strip border on Oct. 7, 2023, murdering some 1,200 people and abducting 251 more into the Palestinian enclave. A day later, Hezbollah joined Hamas’s efforts by firing rockets into Israel’s north.
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Gottheimer Announces Bid for NJ Governor
US Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) at a press conference in Bergenfield, New Jersey, US on June 5, 2023. Photo: Kyle Mazza/NurPhoto via Reuters Connect
JNS.org – Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) announced his bid for the New Jersey governor’s office on Friday, joining a crowded Democratic field to replace term-limited Gov. Tim Murphy (D) in the 2025 election.
Gottheimer, who is Jewish and one of Israel’s staunchest advocates on Capitol Hill, announced his candidacy at Runway Diner in South Hackensack with a focus on lowering the cost of living in the Garden State.
“Life in Jersey has become too damn expensive,” Gottheimer said. “Today, I’m launching my campaign for governor to cut your taxes and costs and to make Jersey affordable again.”
Gottheimer has represented New Jersey’s 5th Congressional District along the northern border with New York since he won the seat from a Republican incumbent in 2016. He handily won re-election on Nov. 5 by an 11-point margin.
As New Jersey’s only Jewish congressional representative, Gottheimer has been recognized by Jewish groups for his efforts to promote Holocaust education and has been one of the leading voices in the House on combating antisemitism and supporting Israel.
“We need to bring the full force of the law against the antisemites who are harassing Jewish or any other communities all over this state,” Gottheimer said in his announcement speech, adding that he supports putting more cops on the beat.
Other Democrats, who have announced their intention to run for the governor’s office, include Newark Mayor Ras Baraka and Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop (who is Jewish), with Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-N.J.) reportedly set to announce her candidacy later this week.
Long thought of as a Democratic bastion that occasionally elects Republican moderates, New Jersey has emerged as a more competitive battleground in statewide races in recent elections.
US Vice President Kamala Harris beat President-elect Donald Trump in the state by just five points in November, and Gov. Murphy beat his Republican challenger in the 2021 election by a 51-48 margin.
That challenger, former New Jersey General Assembly member Jack Ciattarelli, is once again seeking the Republican nomination alongside five other declared contenders.
Gottheimer in his announcement promised to do “battle” with Trump over issues like the state and local tax deduction, while also touting his bipartisan record as a co-chair of the Problem Solvers Caucus.
“The election outcome was a horrible loss for America,” Gottheimer said in a video accompanying his announcement. “Every candidate running for governor agrees we need to stand up to Trump on the major issues.”
Trump, who capped the SALT deduction as part of his 2017 tax cuts, pledged in the 2024 campaign that he would lift the cap in a social media post aimed at voters on Long Island.
“I will turn it around, get SALT back, lower your taxes and so much more,” Trump wrote.
Other key issues in the New Jersey gubernatorial race include New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s plan to impose a $9 congestion charge on drivers entering Manhattan below 60th Street starting in January, potentially affecting a huge number of New Jersey commuters and businesses.
Gottheimer vowed to defeat the toll charge.
“To our friends in the Empire State, let me say this: We beat New York’s outrageous Congestion Tax once,” he said. “I’m ready to lead the fight to stop it again.”
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‘Musk-Iranian Envoy Meeting in New York Initiated by Tehran’
Elon Musk, chief executive officer of SpaceX and Tesla and owner of X/Twitter, gestures as he attends the Viva Technology conference dedicated to innovation and startups at the Porte de Versailles exhibition centre in Paris, France, June 16, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes
JNS.org – A meeting between entrepreneur Elon Musk and the Iranian ambassador to the U.N. held in a secret location in New York last week was reportedly initiated by Tehran.
A U.S. official briefed on the matter by a foreign colleague, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the two men discussed various subjects, with Iran’s nuclear program high up on the list, ABC News reported on Saturday.
He went on to say that the session concluded with no immediate decisions made by either party.
Musk, commissioner-designate of the soon-to-be-established U.S. Department of Government Efficiency, convened with Iranian Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani for more than an hour on Monday, with the goal to reduce tensions between Tehran and Washington, The New York Times reported, citing two Iranian officials.
One of them said that it was Musk who had requested the session and that the Iranian diplomat chose the location. The Iranian sources portrayed the meeting as “positive” and “good news.”
Trump’s communications director Steven Cheung did not confirm or deny the meeting.
“We do not comment on reports of private meetings that did or did not occur,” he said.
Asked about the diplomatic session, a spokesperson for the Trump transition, White House Press Secretary-designate Karoline Leavitt, replied vaguely in a statement: “The American people reelected President Trump because they trust him to lead our country and restore peace through strength around the world. When he returns to the White House, he will take the necessary action to do just that.”
Musk did not respond to a request for comment.
Iran’s foreign ministry denied on Saturday that the meeting took place, according to the Iranian state-run IRNA.
The ministry’s spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei “categorically denied” the session happened and said he was “surprised” by its alleged existence’s wide coverage in the U.S.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Trump plans to renew his “maximum pressure” policy regarding Iran when he returns to the White House on Jan. 20, including imposing punishing sanctions and targeting Tehran’s oil income.
Sources briefed on Trump’s early plans said that the harsh measures against the regime are part of an aggressive strategy to weaken the Islamic Republic’s support for its regional terrorist proxies and significantly harm its nuclear ambitions.
Former Trump officials said that his approach to Iran will likely be influenced by its attempt to assassinate him.
“People tend to take that stuff personally,” Mick Mulroy, a top Pentagon official for the Middle East during Trump’s first term, told the Journal. “If he’s going to be hawkish on any particular country, designated major adversaries, it’s Iran.”
Meanwhile, officials in Jerusalem told Israel Hayom on Thursday that the Iranian leadership decided to postpone a third direct attack on Israel following Trump’s presidential election victory.
According to Israel Hayom, the Islamic Republic shelved its plans in the hope of kick-starting negotiations with the Trump administration.
The post ‘Musk-Iranian Envoy Meeting in New York Initiated by Tehran’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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