When I read of apartment houses in Kiev bombed by Russians, it pains me.
When I learn of an Israeli soldier killed in action in southern Lebanon, it pains me.
When I am reminded of the murder of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, shot in the back, in a tunnel in Gaza, it pains me.
When I hear of a Palestinian child suffering in Gaza, it pains me.
When I hear the astonishing number of 300,000 Russian soldiers sacrificed on the imperial dream of Vladimir Putin, it pains me.
When I see the recrudescence of Hitler’s Big Lie — when I hear of “understanding” for the terror attacks against Israelis and Zionists — I cry out for Moral Clarity.
• • •
When a great-grandchild is born, I have no words.
When two former hostages marry, I have no words.
When — after 12 years! — I can finally tell our identical twin granddaughters apart, I have no words.
When I awaken entirely free of pain, I have no words.
When my wife Elaine blesses the Shabbos candles, I have no words.
• • •
When I see anti-Semitism, unvarnished, as in, Jews have no right to their homeland, not since 1948 and not in antiquity, it pains me.
When I learn that many died in the Venezuela earthquake due to paid-off politicians having allowed contractors to profit from using cheap construction materials, it pains me.
When I witness Colorado, my birthplace, changing before my very eyes and wonder whether I am as stupid as German Jews were in the 1930s, it pains me.
When I am told of Jews who visit France and do not wear a yarmulke there in public, it pains me.
When I read of Israel’s “genocide,” based on the rejection of self-defense, on the ignorance of Hamas-created fighting conditions in Gaza, and on the gullible acceptance of Hamas casualty figures, it pains me.
When I edit item after item of the thwarted murder of Jews around the world, I am thankful for the law enforcement and thankful for the judges, but I cry out for a Different World.
• • •
When the Torah says, “Do not hate your brother in your heart,” I learn: What is inside, not articulated, not acted on, also counts.
When the Torah says: One should enter into Shabbos as if all your work is done, I learn: mental freedom is essential to Shabbos serenity.
When the Torah says: Don’t just talk, sing! I learn: The uniqueness of humankind — the power of speech — is not enough.
When the Torah says: Fast on Yom Kippur, I learn: Welcome the other fasts on the Jewish calendar, too. Fasting cleanses body and mind.
When the Torah says: As you recite Kiddush on a Yom Tov that begins on a Saturday night, the cup of Kiddush and the cup of Havdalah are one and the same.
• • •
When I read that California Gov. Newsom called Israel an apartheid state, I think: This calumny began with Jimmy Carter.
When I read that JD Vance said Iran’s leaders sincerely want peace, I think: JD is culture-bound and culture-blind.
When I read that Sen. Bernie Sanders excused the Maine US Senate candidate’s Nazi tattoo, I think: With friends like this, who needs enemies?
When I read that Hasan Piker on Oct. 8, 2023 said to a caller who condemned the Oct. 7 massacre, “bloodthirsty violent pig dog,” I think: This is the United States?
When I read that Mayor Mamdani said of AIPAC that it’s “monstrous” and turns us “against one another,” I think: Who is turning against whom?
When I read that Dr. David Hasan of Chapel Hill, NC, raised funds for both Israeli and Palestinian children who were orphaned, and created schools in Gaza that promoted peace and reconciliation, I cry out: Here is the teacher for Newsom, Vance, Sanders, Piker and Mamdani.
• • •
Genesis: “And Deborah, Rebeccah’s nurse, died” (35:8). Deborah’s death is recorded, Rebeccah’s is not. A harbinger of the supremely righteous, unjustly killed, absent any known grave.
Exodus: Unlike Descartes, who said, “I think, therefore I am,” G-d said, “I am, therefore I am” (3:14).
Leviticus: “And Aaron was silent” after his two sons were consumed (10:1-3). What did Aaron’s silence signify? He did not have to defend what he did not say.
Numbers: “Cattle . . . cattle” (32:1) — the only verse in Hebrew Scripture that begins and ends with the same word, cattle. The men of Reuben and Gad were obsessed with their cattle, their possessions.
Deuteronomy: “ . . . it is your wisdom and your discernment in the eyes of the peoples” (4:6) — yes, it is important how Jews impress the peoples of the world.
• • •
When the Pulitzer Prize is awarded for a photo of a very thin child in Gaza, under the caption, “born healthy,” when she was actually born with cerebral palsy, I think: Wither journalism?
When Nicholas Kristoff defames dogs in the The New York Times, I ask: Where is the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals?
When the Boulder firebomber and murderer is sentenced to life plus 2,128 years, and says, “I do not accept being accused of the word hatred,” I plead: George Orwell, where are you?
When a Jewish middle school student in Boulder is called a “stupid kike” and lassoed around the neck, I marvel: How innocent my own school days back at Hill and GW.
• • •
When my younger friend names his daughter after Shiri Bibas, I could cry, I could celebrate. Both.
When the human being, living in a world of woe, yet blessed under a blue sky, next to an ocean or with mountains in sight, is pained, speechless or baffled, the cup of Kiddush (santification) and the cup of Havdalah (division) are one and the same.
The late R’ Aryeh Levin of Jerusalem used to say: When a baby is born, everyone is overjoyed, but the baby is wailing. When someone dies, everyone is grieving, but the soul is singing, on its way to eternity.
© IJN 2026