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How Jewish leaders tried — and failed — to keep a Farrakhan follower off a Florida city council
(JTA) – When Brother John Muhammad emerged this fall as the leading candidate for a vacant city council seat in St. Petersburg, Florida, local Jews were distressed.
Muhammad is well known in the city as the president of a local neighborhood association and as a frequent advocate for minority groups. But Jewish leaders learned that he was also a follower of Louis Farrakhan, the Nation of Islam leader who has a long history of antisemitism, and that he had made comments dismissing concerns about Farrakhan’s record.
Jewish leaders tried to stave off Muhammad’s appointment, pushing for more extensive vetting of the seven candidates and, in the case of the local Holocaust museum, actively lobbying against him. But the council confirmed him in a 4-3 vote, leaving local Jews frustrated — before they considered ways to make the situation a learning experience for their city.
“When I see a situation like this, it screams ‘opportunity’ to me,” Michael Igel, chair of the Florida Holocaust Museum, located in St. Petersburg, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
The saga playing out in St. Petersburg, Florida’s fifth-largest city, unfolded during the same period that a handful of Black celebrities, including Kanye West and Kyrie Irving, first became enmeshed in controversy over their own antisemitic comments and social media posts. The coincidence meant a dicey environment for broaching a conversation about the antisemitism of the Nation of Islam, whose rhetoric disparaging Jews overlaps with that of Hebrew Israelites, the ideology that Irving promoted by sharing a link to an antisemitic film.
It also turned St. Petersburg into a window for understanding how ties forged between Jewish groups and others can be tested.
Local Jewish leaders initially sought to stop Muhammad from gaining the city council seat, which was vacated after its previous holder resigned following redistricting and accusations she no longer lived in her district. They learned about Muhammad’s city council application only a week before the council’s vote, leaving them with little time to mobilize. The information came from a political rival of Muhammad, former mayoral candidate Vince Nowicki, who shared information about Muhammad’s Nation of Islam affiliation with local Jewish groups.
Nowicki also shared a comment Muhammad had made about Jews in a 2016 video in which Muhammad interviewed local Black LGBTQ activists. In the video titled “A Conversation About Growing Up Black And LGBT,” which JTA viewed, Muhammad said, “Minister Farrakhan got accused of being antisemitic for a long time because he pointed out and made some corrections about the activity of Jews. And anybody who says anything critical of the Jewish community is labeled as being antisemitic. Good, bad, right or wrong, it doesn’t matter what you say. If you criticize them that’s what you are.”
He continued, saying, “And I’m finding that it happens when you are critical of the gay community, when you say anything critical or anything that doesn’t align with that ideology, now all of a sudden you’re homophobic.” Muhammad’s comments about gay people received some light but friendly pushback from his interview guests.
Muhammad did not reply to multiple requests for comment by JTA, including to questions emailed to him at his request. He said during a public meeting ahead of the council vote that he thought scrutiny of him by Jewish groups had been unfair.
To Jewish leaders, the comments in the video coupled with Muhammad’s Nation of Islam affiliation were clear signs that he should not be appointed to the city council.
“I would sure hope that being antisemitic would be a red line, that you could not be a candidate,” said Rabbi Philip Weintraub of Congregation B’nai Israel, a Conservative synagogue in the city.
Jewish leaders began to take action, issuing statements and launching a letter-writing campaign to the council. They felt so much urgency that some even conducted business on Simchat Torah, a Jewish holiday when Jewish organizations typically pause their activities in accordance with Jewish law.
As a nonprofit, the local federation was constrained in how it could weigh in. Since it could not endorse or oppose specific candidates, it instead pushed for every candidate to be “properly vetted” and informed council members about Muhammad’s affiliations and past comments, according to Maxine Kaufman, executive director of the Jewish Federation of Florida’s Gulf Coast. She said the efforts did not have their intended effect.
“I don’t think anybody said, ‘Well, who is this Farrakhan, what does he stand for?’” Kaufman said. “I don’t think enough was done, personally.”
The entrance to the Florida Holocaust Museum in St. Petersburg, Nov. 27, 2016. (Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
The Florida Holocaust Museum took another approach, circulating information about Muhammad to the wider community, along with a statement opposing the candidacy of anyone who would support Farrakhan’s antisemitism. Their goal, Igel said, was to educate the community about the severity of these views.
“There’s nothing else to talk about when somebody is supporting Louis Farrakhan,” Igel told JTA. “Particularly when you are seeking a position representative of a city, particularly one like St. Petersburg that is so known for its inclusivity and its openness.”
Igel praised some members of the city council who asked Muhammad pointed questions about his views at the vote, giving him the opportunity to refute Farrakhan’s comments about Jews. One council member who voted against Muhammad, Lisset Hanewicz, said her stepfather is Jewish and read Farrakhan’s past antisemitic statements into the record, saying, “I think people need to understand why a certain part of this community is upset.”
Igel acknowledged that getting involved in a city council appointment was an unusual move for a Holocaust museum. He said museum leaders had held a meeting beforehand to determine how to proceed but made a decision fairly quickly to weigh in.
“In this case, we don’t consider this to be a matter of politics,” Igel said. “This is a matter of morality. And this is what we teach.” If the candidate had been a white supremacist, Igel said, “that person would have been disqualified out of the gate.”
The Anti-Defamation League and Southern Poverty Law Center, two hate watchdogs, define the Nation of Islam as a group that propagates antisemitism and other forms of bigotry, not a religion. Founded in 1930 by Wallace Fard Muhammad, the Black nationalist group is not the same as traditional Islam and is rejected by most Muslim clerics; it entered mainstream prominence in the 1960s after civil rights leader Malcolm X and boxer Muhammad Ali publicly joined the movement. (Both later left the group, with Malcolm X publicly denouncing its leadership; he was assassinated shortly after, and two Nation of Islam members who were wrongfully convicted of his murder recently received a large settlement from New York City.)
The Nation of Islam entered its current era after Farrakhan took over the group in 1977. Now 89, he has used his platform to issue a steady stream of antisemitism, including calling Jews “wicked” and the “synagogue of Satan,” saying they have “wrapped your tentacles around the U.S. government,” and calling Hitler “a very great man.” Only a few years ago, the Women’s March progressive activist collective was nearly derailed over some of its founders’ associations with Farrakhan.
It is rare, but not unheard of, for public officials to have current or former associations with the Nation of Islam. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, a practicing Muslim, was dogged by accusations that he had formerly been a member of the group when he first ran for Congress in 2006; he apologized for his past associations with the group. Trayon White, a Washington, D.C. council member and onetime mayoral candidate who has spread antisemitic conspiracy theories, has donated to the group in the past. Former President George W. Bush once praised the group, and a photograph showing Barack Obama in the same room as Farrakhan was fodder for Obama’s critics during his presidential run.
Muhammad, who is referred to on the city council website as John Muhammad and whose legal name is John C. Malone, declined to condemn Farrakhan at the city council meeting.
“I am not willing to denounce the leader of my faith no more than a Catholic would be willing to denounce their pope,” he said.
Muhammad’s reaction to questions about Farrakhan particularly concerned the federation and other local Jewish groups. Kaufman told JTA she didn’t know whether Muhammad himself is antisemitic, but she said his refusal to disavow Farrakhan was alarming.
“I do have issue with his reverence of someone who is blatantly antisemitic, and he won’t disavow him, he won’t reject him,” she said, echoing the the federation’s official statement on the vote.
At the meeting, Muhammad did say that he had reached out to the Florida Holocaust Museum but had not heard back — and that he thought the museum’s criticism of him was unfair.
“What I found when we reached out to have dialogue with the Holocaust Museum director, they did not want to talk to me,” he said. “They wanted to evaluate and disqualify me based on the association that I have as an individual. I don’t think that that’s just.”
Muhammad also defended his record with Jews by claiming that they were among the “diversity of those who support me.” He added, “And if you look at those who oppose me, they’re coming from one particular group.”
Since the vote, a local Black newspaper condemned the scrutiny on Muhammad, calling it a “perusal into his faith practice.”
Igel said the museum had no record that Muhammad had reached out but encouraged him to come and learn more about the Holocaust and the nature of antisemitism. Stuart Berger, head of the local Jewish Community Relations Council, acknowledged at the city council meeting that Muhammad “has made himself available to us” at the federation, but that none of the federation staff “had been in direct contact with him.”
The federation’s involvement in Muhammad’s case became its own issue at the council vote, when the candidate referenced an email Berger had written to the county commissioner. In the email, Berger wrote that Muhammad’s vetting process had been “good enough for me!”
While Muhammad took the email as proof that the federation believed him to be fit for office, Berger and Kaufman maintain that it meant nothing of the sort. Berger had not been speaking on behalf of the federation, they say, and had not intended for his email to be shared publicly.
Now that Muhammad is on the council, attention has turned to building relationships with him. Kaufman has been meeting with individual city council members, and hopes to eventually meet with Muhammad himself. She also aims to have the federation make a presentation to the council about the dangers of antisemitism and push them to make a statement about it.
She doesn’t think it’s complicated. “I think hate’s hate,” she said. “Many different colors.”
Weintraub’s congregation is celebrating its 100th anniversary in March, and one of its congregants, Eric Lynn, is also involved in politics: he was the Democratic nominee for Florida’s 13th Congressional district in the midterms but lost his race to Republican Anna Paulina Luna, who said she was raised as a Messianic Jew and campaigned with far-right Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.
Weintraub himself is a member of an interfaith ministerial dialogue group with Black churches and says he’s “a professional optimist” when it comes to managing conflict between different communities. He sent JTA an episode of the public radio podcast “Hidden Brain” about how to keep conflict from spiraling, saying it “describes what I’ve tried to do.”
Since Muhammad was appointed, Weintraub has met with him; the pair had what Weintraub described as “a pleasant conversation.” The two talked about parenting and “shared traumas,” he said. They did not discuss Muhammad’s comments supporting Farrakhan, but the rabbi couldn’t help but think about him.
“I thought I was a termite, according to Farrakhan,” Weintraub said. In contrast, Muhammad “said I was a person, so that was nice.”
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Netanyahu and far-right ministers do damage control on West Bank vote and Saudi Arabia comments that angered Trump
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sought to distance himself Thursday from a Knesset vote that granted preliminary approval to a bill annexing the West Bank, after the measure drew strong condemnation from the White House.
At the same time, a far-right Israeli lawmaker apologized after making a dismissive and, some said, offensive comment about Saudi Arabia, putting him at odds with the White House’s goal of brokering relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia.
The backtracking comes at a time when the Israelis are facing fierce pressure from President Donald Trump and his administration not to jeopardize a fragile Gaza ceasefire that took hold earlier this month.
“The Knesset vote on annexation was a deliberate political provocation by the opposition to sow discord during Vice President JD Vance’s visit to Israel,” wrote Netanyahu’s office in a post on X.
His post came soon after Vice President J.D. Vance, who departed from Israel on Thursday after a visit to “monitor” Israel’s ceasefire with Hamas, said the vote amounted to an “insult,” adding that if it was a political stunt, then “it was a very stupid political stunt.”
Trump has vowed not to allow Israel to annex the West Bank, a goal of the Israeli right that is seen as a red line for Arab states hoping to see an independent Palestinian state in the future.
“It won’t happen because I gave my word to the Arab countries,” Trump said in an interview with Time magazine published Thursday. “Israel would lose all of its support from the United States if that happened.”
The exchange comes days as Israeli settlers launched a volley of attacks on Palestinian activists and olive harvesters this week, leaving one woman in the hospital, adding to growing violence in the West Bank.
Netanyahu’s distancing from the Knesset bills told only part of the story. He claimed that the “Likud party and the religious parties did not vote for these bills,” two parties from his coalition, but while it was true that his Likud Party did not back the bills, others in his coalition, including Otzma Yehudit and Religious Zionists, did and represented the majority of their support. Still, the bills cannot achieve full passage without Netanyahu’s buy-in, which he said he would not give.
Bezalel Smotrich, the finance minister who leads the Religious Zionists, was at the center of the other flareup on Thursday when he declared at a conference, “If Saudi Arabia tells us ‘normalization in exchange for a Palestinian state,’ friends — no thank you. Keep riding camels in the desert.”
Smotrich’s remarks were made ahead of a planned meeting between Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the White House next month to discuss normalization between Arab countries and Israel.
After drawing public criticism from others in Israeli politics, Smotrich later apologized for the remarks in a post on X, writing, “My statement about Saudi Arabia was definitely not successful and I regret the insult it caused.
But he said he would not retract his concern about Palestinian statehood, which the Saudis support. “However, at the same time, I expect the Saudis not to harm us and not to deny the heritage, tradition and rights of the Jewish people to their historic homeland in Judea and Samaria and to establish true peace with us,” he wrote.
Israeli Diaspora Minister Amichai Chikli also appeared to criticize Smotrich’s comment in a post on X, writing, “I firmly oppose the establishment of a Palestinian State. That said, it does not mean we should insult a potential ally
.”
He then extended an invitation of his own for a new relationship — ending the week after he brought a far-right British personality to Israel against the objections of Britain’s organized Jewish community.
“Incidentally, we’re also pleased to be hosting a unique camel race in the Negev together with the Bedouin community in just a few weeks — and we warmly invite our Saudi friends to join us,” Chikli wrote.
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Katherine Janus Kahn, illustrator of ‘Sammy Spider’ Jewish children’s books, dies at 83
More than 30 years ago, a colorful little eight-legged spider named Sammy made his picture book debut and scurried into the homes of Jewish families across the country.
Sammy Spider and his mother live in a house with a young Jewish boy named Josh Shapiro and his family. Starting with “Sammy Spider’s First Hanukkah,” he romped through Jewish holidays, prayers and practices across more than two dozen books — all illustrated with bright watercolor collages that have made the books instantly recognizable to generations of Jewish children.
That was the work of Katherine Janus Kahn, who died Oct. 6 at age 83.
Janus Kahn, a fine artist also noted for her works on political justice and women’s issues, illustrated more than 50 books for Kar-Ben, a publishing house for Jewish children’s books that counts the “Sammy Spider” franchise as among its best-selling.
“We are heartbroken,” Kar-Ben said in a Facebook post, adding, “We are profoundly grateful for her legacy, and for the countless stories and memories she leaves behind.”
David Lerner is the CEO of Lerner Publishing Group, the parent company of Kar-Ben, the country’s largest publisher of Jewish children’s books.
“Katherine’s art and storytelling helped shape the landscape of Jewish children’s literature,” he said in an email. “Her books have been recognized with many national awards, honoring her creative vision and her lasting impact.”
Kar-Ben was a tiny company when it first connected with Janus Kahn in the early 1990s. She had drawn attention with her paper-cut illustrations for “The Family Haggadah,” which became a bestseller when it was published in 1987, and the publisher wanted to pair her with an author named Sylvia Rouss who had dreamed up a little spider with a big Jewish future.
“We liked her many styles and thought the collage work would be fun for Sammy’s Hanukkah,” Judye Groner, Kar-Ben’s founder, wrote in an email. “We had no idea that Sammy would become a children’s favorite character featured in over 20 books.”
In that first title, the curious little arachnid spies the young Josh celebrating Hanukkah, wishes he could warm his spider legs on the menorah and wants to spin the colorful dreidels that Josh gets every night.
“Silly Sammy. Spiders don’t light Hanukkah candles. Spiders spin webs,” his mother tells the disappointed Sammy. The catchy refrain repeats for Hanukkah’s eight nights when his mother gives Sammy eight spider socks spun with colorful dreidels, just like the ones Josh gets.
Over the next three decades, Sammy learned about empathy in “Sammy Spider’s First Mitzvah,” celebrated the entire Jewish holiday cycle from Rosh Hashanah to Shavuot and stowed away in Josh’s luggage in “Sammy Spider’s First Trip to Israel.” The most recent book, “Sammy Spider’s Big Book of Jewish Holidays,” came out this year and compiles many of the classic stories that are now widely distributed to Jewish families through PJ Library.
Janus Kahn’s art brought the characters sparkling to life, according to Heidi Rabinowitz, past president of the Association of Jewish Libraries and host of the Book of Life Podcast about Jewish children’s literature.
“Her rainbow-soaked collage artwork give the Sammy Spider books a huge advantage,” Rabinowitz wrote in an email. “They make Sammy and Mrs. Spider friendly and even beautiful, completely removing the ‘ick factor’ from their arachnid identity.”
For Janus Kahn, who studied art at Jerusalem’s Bezalel Academy after graduating from the University of Chicago, the work connected to her core identity. In a 2017 watercolor essay, she said her study at Bezalel came after she volunteered to support Israel during the Six-Day War in 1967 and headed to Israel, where she said “reconciliation felt possible,” even after the war’s end.
“My Judaism and my books are tied together so integrally that I don’t think I could ever untie them,” she said in a 2013 video with Rouss that showed her demonstrating her artistic techniques in her home studio.
Among her other titles was “The Hardest Word: A Yom Kippur Story,” published in 2001, the first in a series written by Jacqueline Jules about a Ziz, a large, magnificently colored Jewish mythological bird. Like Sammy Spider, the Ziz books struck a chord and are now part of the canon of Jewish children’s books.
“She was just so creative,” recalled Jules, who had multiple books illustrated by Janus Kahn. Their first book together, “Once Upon a Shabbos,” published by Kar-Ben in 1998, was about a bear who gets lost in Brooklyn just before the start of Shabbat. Jules was struck by how Janus Kahn’s illustrations added new texture to a story inspired by an Appalachian folktale.
She and Janus Kahn realized they lived near each other in the Washington, D.C., area. After meeting at an event for the book, they headed to a coffee shop for a two-hour conversation that launched a decades-long professional relationship and close friendship. They socialized together, along with Groner, who also lived nearby.
The two were paired up for the Ziz books, another series that has charmed generations of Jewish children. For those books, Janus Kahn created a fanciful creature using paints rather than collage.
“She borrowed different characteristics from a variety of birds. The legs were from a flamingo, the feet were from a rooster,” Jules said.
Now, the Ziz has taken on a life of its own, making appearances in synagogue plays and other programs based on the books. Just a few weeks ago, Jules saw a photo of someone who dressed up as the Ziz at a synagogue event for Yom Kippur, in keeping with the first book’s theme.
Janus-Kahn would often join Jules for a Ziz storytelling at Jewish venues, bringing a feltboard to embellish the Ziz props and a hand-made Ziz puppet that Jules used. At one memorable event, at the National Museum of Women in the Arts, Janus Kahn arrived with two colorful feather boas, Jules recalled.
“She made the Ziz come alive,” she said.
With Janus Kahn’s death, Jules, Groner and Rouss not only lost the gifted master illustrator for their books. They have also lost a treasured friend of many decades.
“Kathy was a gift and our friendship was a gift,” Jules said.
Janus Kahn is survived by her husband, David Kahn, and a son, Robert.
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In memory of the quiet hero from Nepal, Bipin Joshi
זונטיק, דעם 19טן אָקטאָבער 2025, צוויי יאָר און כּמעט צוויי וואָכן נאָכן בלוטיקן זיבעטן אָקטאָבער האָבן מיר זיך געזעגנט בײַם בן־גוריון־פֿליפֿעלד אין ישׂראל, מיט ביפּין דזשאָשי.
ווער איז ביפּין דזשאָשי?
אפֿשר געדענקט איר ביפּין דזשאָשין?
איר ווייסט נישט, ווער ער איז?
ביפּין דזשאָשי איז געווען אַ 23־יאָריקער נעפּאַלער יונגערמאַן, ווען ער איז געקומען קיין ישׂראל אין סעפּטעמבער 2023 מיט אַ גרופּע נעפּאַלער יונגע־לײַט. זיי האָבן זיך באַזעצט אויף אַ צײַט אין דעם קיבוץ עלומים [אַלומים], אַ צען קילאָמעטער פֿון עזה. דאָרט האָט ער געאַרבעט אין די פֿעלדער. נאָך שׂימחת־תּורה האָט ער געדאַרפֿט אָנהייבן זײַנע אַקאַדעמישע לימודים אין באר־שבֿע־אוניווערסיטעט, אין דעם תּחום פֿון אַגריקולטור.
דעם טאָג פֿון שׂימחת־תּורה איז ביפּין דזשאָשי מיט זײַנע נעפּאַלער פֿרײַנד אַטאַקירט געוואָרן, ווי אַלע אײַנוווינער פֿון די ייִשובֿים אין דער עזה־געגנט. ווי אַלע האָט ער געפּרוּווט אַנטלויפֿן, זיך שיצן, וואַרטן אויף הילף. להיפּוך אָבער צו די ישׂראלים, האָט ער נישט געקענט די שפּראַך פֿון לאַנד און נישט די שפּראַך פֿון פֿײַנד. ער האָט אויך קוים פֿאַרשטאַנען די אומשטאַנדן אין וועלכע דער אַטאַק איז פֿאָרגעקומען.
ער איז בכלל נישט געווען קיין צד אין דעם סכסוך.
זיצנדיק אין איינעם פֿון די קליינע בונקערס בײַ די גאַסן, איז ער ערשט באַשאָסן געוואָרן פֿון אַראַבישע טעראָריסטן, האָט צוגעזען ווי עטלעכע פֿון זײַנע פֿרײַנד ווערן געטראָפֿן, גוססן. דערנאָך, אַז די טעראָריסטן האָבן זיך ווײַטער איזדיעקעוועט איבער די וואָס נאָך בײַם לעבן און זיי אָנגעהויבן באַוואַרפֿן מיט האַנטגראַנאַטן — האָט ער געפּרוּווט כאַפּן און צוריקוואַרפֿן. אַזוי האָט ער געראַטעוועט עטלעכע פֿרײַנד.
ביפּין דזשאָשי איז אַ שטילער העלד וואָס האָט געטאָן מיט שטילער גבֿורה און וואָס די וועלט איז אים לרובֿ מזכּה מיט שטיל פֿאַרשווײַגן. אויף די גרויסע מאַניפֿעסטאַציעס איבער דער וועלט לטובֿת מענטשלעכקייט שרײַט מען לרובֿ נישט זײַן נאָמען; דערציילט מען לרובֿ נישט זײַן מעשׂה; דערמאָנט מען לרובֿ נישט זײַן אַקט פֿון מענטשלעכקייט און נישט זײַן אוממענטשלעכן סוף.
ביפּין דזשאָשי איז נישט אומגעברענגט געוואָרן דעם 7טן אָקטאָבער 2023.
ער איז אויך נישט געראַטעוועט געוואָרן דעם 7טן אָקטאָבער 2023.
ער איז פֿאַרכאַפּט געוואָרן דעם 7טן אָקטאָבער 2023 קיין עזה.
דעם זעלביקן טאָג נאָך האָט אַ קאַמערע אין דעם שיפֿאַ־שפּיטאָל אין עזה רעקאָרדירט אים, אַ לעבעדיקן, בשעת ער ווערט געשלעפּט פֿון אַ פּאָר עזהער.
מיט צוויי יאָר שפּעטער, אין אָקטאָבער 2025, האָט די ברייטע עפֿנטלעכקייט זיך דערוווּסט וועגן אַ פֿילמעלע, וואָס די ישׂראלדיקע אַרמיי האָט געפֿונען אין עזה. אין דעם פֿילמעלע זעט מען ביפּין דזשאָשין אַ רעלאַטיוו געזונטן. דאָס פֿילמעלע האָבן זײַנע פֿאַרכאַפּער און שומרים געמאַכט משמעות אין נאָוועמבער 2023.
מיר ווייסן, אַז ביפּין דזשאָשי האָט געלעבט אין עזה לכל־הפּחות אַ חודש צײַט. אַ רעלאַטיוו געזונטער. נאָר ווי געזונט קען אַ פֿאַרכאַפּטער אין עזה זײַן?
די וואָס האָבן באַוויזן איבערצולעבן און זײַנען צוריקגעקומען — זײַנען אפֿשר נישט צוריק קיין געזונטע, זיכער נישט קיין לחלוטין געזונטע — אָבער דער פֿאַקט אַז זיי זײַנען נישט צוריק קיין משוגענע איז אַ גבֿורה פֿאַר זיך. שטילע העלדן.
פֿאַר וואָס שרײַט מען אויף די מאַניפֿעסטאַציעס איבער דער וועלט לטובֿת מענטשלעכקייט, לרובֿ נישט וועגן דער אָ אוממענטשלעכער, אויפֿגעצוווּנגענער גבֿורה? נישט גענוג. אַ שטילערהייט פֿאַרשוויגענע גבֿורה.
ביפּין דזשאָשי איז צוריק. ער האָט אָבער נישט איבערגעלעבט. דעם 14טן אָקטאָבער 2025 איז אַ טויטער גוף וואָס דער כאַמאַס האָט אומגעקערט אידענטיפֿיצירט געוואָרן ווי זײַנער. ביפּין דזשאָשי איז פֿאַרכאַפּט און דערמאָרדעט געוואָרן אין עזה דורך עזהער.
זײַן משפּחה, וואָס האָט לעצטן זונטיק מקבל־פּנים געווען זײַן אָרון אין נעפּאַל, אַריבערגעפֿירט דעם זעלביקן טאָג פֿון ישׂראל, האָט, ווי המונים אין ישׂראל, געהאָפֿט ביז דער לעצטער רגע אויף אַ בעסערן סוף. זי האָט געהאָפֿט, אים אַרומצונעמען אַ לעבעדיקן — נישט אים אויפֿצונעמען אַ דערהרגעטן.
זײַן משפּחה צוזאַמען מיט המונים קרובֿים, פֿרײַנד און באַקאַנטע האָט אים אָפּגעגעבן דעם לעצטן כּבֿוד פֿאַרברענענדיק זײַן קערפּער לויטן הינדו־מינהג נאָענט צו אַ טײַך. דאָס געוויין האָט געגעבן אַ ריס אין הימל, ווי טיף עס איז געווען דער ריס אין זייערע הערצער. זײַן משפּחה האָט נישט באמת פֿאַרשטאַנען דעם סכסוך צוליב וועלכן זייער זון איז געפֿאַלן אַ קרבן.
זײַן משפּחה — ווי ער גופֿא — איז נישט געווען קיין צד אין דעם סכסוך. די פֿאַרכאַפּער האָבן געוווּסט. זיי האָבן גערצחנט לשם רציחה. פֿאַר וואָס שרײַט די וועלט לרובֿ נישט וועגן דעם?
פֿאַר וואָס באַשרײַט די וועלט לרובֿ נישט אַזאַ קרבן? דעם קרבן ביפּין דזשאָשי. פֿאַר וואָס קען די וועלט לרובֿ נישט ביפּין דזשאָשין?
זונטיק, דעם 19טן אָקטאָבער 2025, צוויי יאָר און כּמעט צוויי וואָכן נאָכן בלוטיקן זיבעטן אָקטאָבער, האָבן מיר זיך מיט אים געזעגנט אין אַ ישׂראלדיק־נעפּאַלישער צערעמאָניע מיט מלוכישע פֿאַרטרעטער, דיפּלאָמאַטן, קיבוץ־מיטגלידער, אַקאַדעמישע רעפּרעזענטאַנטן, פֿרײַנד און באַקאַנטע אי פֿון דער ישׂראלדיקער געזעלשאַפֿט אי פֿון דער נעפּאַלער קהילה אין ישׂראל. מען האָט אים באַדאַנקט פֿאַר זײַן איבערגעגעבענער אַרבעט אין קיבוץ, דערמאָנט זײַן חלום זיך צו לערנען אין דער פֿרעמד כּדי זיך אומצוקערן איין טאָג מיט נײַעם וויסן און בײַצושטײַערן פֿאַר דער אַנטוויקלונג פֿון זײַן אייגן לאַנד, אָפּגעשאַצט זײַן פֿריילעך־גוטמוטיקן כאַראַקטער און געדענקט אין זײַן שטילער גבֿורה.
די צערעמאָניע איז פֿאָרגעקומען אונטער אַ הייסער אָקטאָבער־זון, ענלעך צו דער וואָס האָט באַשײַנט די לעצטע רגעס פֿון זײַן פֿרײַהייט, ענלעך צו דער אונטער וועלכער כאַמאַס־אָנהענגער האָבן צוגערויבט בגוואַלד און מיט רציחה זײַן פֿרײַהייט.
אויף אַ פּלעצל בײַם פֿליפֿעלד פֿון וועלכן ער איז אָפּגעפֿלויגן אַהיים, איז געשטאַנען ביפּין דזשאָשיס אָרון. דעם אָרון האָט מען באַדעקט מיט בילדער, בלומען און בריוולעך. איבערן אָרון האָט דער פֿאָרשטייער פֿון דעם ראַיאָן אין וועלכן עס געפֿינט זיך קיבוץ עלומים, אויסגעשפּרייט לויטן נעפּאַלער מינהג אַ ווײַסן, זײַדענעם שאַל. בײַ אַ באַזונדער טישל האָט דער עולם נאָך די הספּדים געקענט אָנצינדן נשמה־ליכטלעך צו זײַן אָנדענק.
אַן עולם — נישט קליין, כאָטש אָן נעפּאַלער קרובֿים.
די רעדעס זײַנען געווען אויף ענגליש און העברעיִש, בכּבֿודיק, מענטשלעך. איידל. נישט פּאָליטיש. די צערעמאָניע האָט געדויערט אַן אָנדערהאַלבן שעה און זיך געענדיקט אָפֿיציעל מיט צוויי הימענס נאָך אַנאַנד, פֿאַרפֿלאָכטן ווי דער צופֿעליק־בשותּפֿותדיקער גורל פֿון די צוויי פֿעלקער און לענדער: ישׂראל און נעפּאַל.
דאָס לעצטע בילד אין מײַן זכּרון: אַ ייִד מיט לאַנגע פּאות וואָס פֿירט אַוועק דעם אָרון צו אַן אויטאָ.
די לעצטע קלאַנגען אין מײַן אויער: דער פּליוך פֿון געוויין פֿון נעפּאַלער פֿרויען, קלאָגערינס;
די האָפֿענונג פֿון איין הימען און די טאַנצנדיקע טענער פֿון דעם צווייטן.
אַזוי האָבן מיר אים אָפּגעגעבן דאָ אין ישׂראל דעם לעצטן כּבֿוד.
ביפּין דזשאָשי — אַ שטילער העלד, אַן אומבאַשריגענער קרבן.
לאָמיר אים געדענקען — אַ מענטש, גערצחנט אין עזה דורך עזהער, אָן קיין שום זינען און אָן קיין שום באַרעכטיקונג, לשם הריגה.
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