Politics

I told everyone I knew living in the United States to vote for Trump, and I’m very happy he won. I believe that he will be good for America as well as a strong ally for Israel. His Cabinet picks have been amazing, and there’s no need to explain how pleased we are with his choice of Mike Huckabee as Ambassador to Israel. That said, and contrary to the feelings of many of my fellow Israelis, the Mashiach will not been riding into Washington on January 20.

This past Shabbos, my shul in Herzliya was all over the news – but not for anything we did. We were on the receiving side of anti-government demonstrators breaking illegally into our locked building to distribute their hate-filled propaganda. Let me explain what happened.

October 7 will never be forgotten.

As we leave the month of Av, there is one thing I need to get off my chest. During the Nine Days, Tish’ah B’Av, and even afterwards, I watched many videos that focused on the challenges we are currently facing. These were all amazing productions, and I thank each and every one who was involved in bringing these projects to life.

Over the last few years, there has been a growing movement and trend called “Thank You, Hashem.” I applaud the work they have done; but, sadly, there has been a major part that has been forgotten. It’s called thanking Hashem on the national level. Allow me to explain what this means.

A friend of mine, visiting from New York, came to my shul on Shabbos and asked where our rabbi was. Innocently, and without giving it any thought, I answered that he is in “miluim” (IDF reserves). Like tens of thousands of Israeli men, he is part of the war being fought against evil. What blew my mind was my friend’s comment – which I was not expecting. “He is in the army now? That’s funny… My rabbi from New York is in a bungalow colony in the Catskills with his family. Pretty big difference!”