Patchwork

Posted on May 18, 2026 | Leave a comment

(First published at Israelnationalnews.com)

It is hard to dispute that the punishment of thirty days’ imprisonment meted out to a Nachal soldier for wearing a “Moshiach” patch is outrageous, even Draconian, so much so that it is likely to be reduced if not eliminated altogether.

Thirty days? Bear in mind that the Chief of Staff has many accomplishments on his ledger for which we owe him a debt of gratitude but also as then Deputy Chief of Staff shares primary responsibility for the catastrophic Hamas invasion and carnage of October 7. For that he received not thirty days incarceration but a promotion.

The tatzpaniyot (female scouts) repeatedly warned their superiors of dangerous Hamas activity and many paid with their lives because their superiors ignored their warnings. Yet, these superiors have never, to our knowledge, been identified, vilified, prosecuted, or incarcerated. But thirty days in jail for wearing a patch?!

Indeed, the IDF changed its regulations just over a year ago banning such personal patches depicting “Moshiach” or the “Bet HaMikdash,” which on some level is sensible. An army must be uniform, individual expressions must be limited. Such was the reasoning of the US Supreme Court when it ruled, in Goldman v. Caspar Weinberger (1986), that US Air Force Captain Simcha Goldman was not allowed to wear his kippah while on duty. His personal religious garb, innocuous as it was, was held by a slim 5-4 majority to be an affront to the need to “foster instinctive obedience, unity, commitment, and esprit de corps.” Yet, Congress in 1988 passed a law permitting members of the US Armed Forces to “wear an item of religious apparel” while on duty. Somehow, the US military survived, with kippah-wearing Jews and turban-donning Sikhs.

Would a future IDF Chief of Staff prohibit soldiers from wearing kippot? One should be aghast at the thought but who knows? A kippah also distinguishes one soldier from another – as the US Supreme Court implied – and in a profound way. (Conversely, would a future Chief of Staff order every soldier to wear a kippah? Ah, but that would never be sanctioned by Israel’s rogue Supreme Court.) A kippah signifies reverence for Heaven and deference to a higher power, attitudes not always welcome in the military.

For sure, a Moshiach or Mikdash patch is not a kippah; yet, I can hear a dyed-in-the-wool secular Chief of Staff opine that a kippah is barely mentioned in the Talmud  or Shulchan Aruch, should not be defined as essential Jewish wear, and certainly not when it can diminish a soldier’s “instinctive obedience” or the cherished “esprit de corps.”

As numerous reservists and other Israelis have opined, these patches are instrumental in motivating our troops to make the necessary (and even ultimate) sacrifice and therein lies the difference in approaches and why this Nachal soldier’s summary prosecution and sentence is so disgraceful. For what are we fighting? For what purpose are we losing the finest of our youth and seeing many others maimed for life?

One approach is that we are fighting for our land and our State and that too is true enough – but not the whole truth. Poles, Germans, and Spaniards also fight for their land. Russia and Ukraine are fighting over land. We too struggle for our land, our independence, our physical survival – but our endless wars are not simply over territory. Those who believe that – and many do – are generally secular and are seduced by such fantasies as Oslo or the two-state delusion, the illusion that ultimately, we are in the middle of a real estate dispute that can be resolved if we just compromise enough. It is hard to fathom but even after October 7, really, even after a century of conflict, there are people who still believe that.

There is a second approach apparently lost on the Chief of Staff. Many of our brave soldiers – even those who don’t wear patches – instinctively realize that there is much more to our enemies’ hatred of Israel than our possession of a certain parcel of land. It is hatred of the Jewish people, such is now again sweeping the world, which itself is really hatred of the G-d of Israel. As our sages expressed it (Sifrei, Beha’alotcha, 84), “he who hates Israel it is as if he hates the One who brought the world into existence.” Moreover, “whoever touches Israel it is as if he is touching the apple of His eye” (Gittin 57a, based on Zecharia 2:12). The Torah conflated the census of our military with the desire to have the divine presence dwell among us (Rashi Bamidbar 1:1). Our army serves a greater purpose than merely defense of land. It is the instrument through which the Jewish idea is able to proliferate. The land of Israel is holy and a divine gift – but the wars of Israel have a far more profound basis than simply territory. We fight for something far deeper.

Our enemies realize this, even if our Chief of Staff does not. Our enemies focus their evil on conquest of Yerushalayim. Hamas called its invasion the “Flood of Al Aksa.” Pictures of the Dome of the Rock adorned numerous Gaza homes thankfully destroyed. Jewish sovereignty anywhere in the land of Israel but especially in Yerushalayim enrages them and gives them no rest. Their evil is limitless, self-destructive, and suicidal – but at least they are clear about that they are fighting for.

We are less clear and so pay a steep price in life and limb, and the endless pursuit of panaceas and chimeras. Some fight for the homeland, some fight for democracy, and some fight for individual rights. But many also fight to protect Jewish life, preserve the holy land of Israel despite the whimsy of politicians and diplomats, bring the divine presence to earth, establish a model Torah state, bring Moshiach closer, hasten the redemption, and rebuild the Bet HaMikdash. We need not all share the same motivation to fight successfully but we will rue the day when the latter motivations are disdained and those who believe in them are prosecuted. Truth be told, they are the most motivated of all our soldiers. Disproportionately, they have borne the heaviest burden of war in terms of casualties and repeated reserve duty. We disparage them and their inspiration at our peril.

For sure, there are certain patches that should be banned – those that repudiate our national purpose, weaken morale, or dispirit our troops. But King David stated (Tehillim 122:2) that “Our feet were standing in your gates, O Jerusalem,” to which Rashi comments, “our feet were standing in battle everywhere because of the gates of Jerusalem, where they were engaged in Torah.”

Jerusalem – both spiritual and physical – is the focal point of this and every war. Moshiach will appear in Jerusalem and the Bet Hamikdash will be rebuilt in Jerusalem (or vice versa, as conflicting Rabbinic sources suggest). The order is less important than the realization of the centrality of Yerushalayim to our lives, our soul, and our esprit de corps.

We should be encouraging our soldiers to fight for what they believe in, not disheartening them. In this latest contretemps, let cooler heads prevail – heads that are also saner, holier, and more imbued with the eternal spirit of Israel, the key to victory.

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Japanese Lessons

Posted on May 11, 2026 | Comments Off on Japanese Lessons

(First published at Israelnationalnews.com

Israel is great, Israelis are great, there is no place I would rather live, and our critics across the world can take their carping and shove it.

That being said, there is much we can learn from the Japanese. Spending ten days in Japan does not make me an expert on Japanese culture or etiquette, and like any visitor, I am sure there is an underside to Japanese life to which I was not exposed. And yet, the experience was eye-opening and its lessons present a valuable challenge for us, in line with the rabbinic adage that we can believe there is wisdom among the nations. What did I learn?

The Japanese are unfailingly polite. It is not just the head bow with which almost every person – tourist or not – is greeted at every interaction. Full prostration is too much, and even bowing to the waist to another human being is much too reverential to my taste. But the bowing of the head recognizes another person, shows deference, respect, and consideration. It says, “I see you, you matter to me, you deserve my esteem.” The train employee passing through a car does not leave before turning to the passengers, standing straight for a moment, and then bowing his head. We could all get used to that.

Japanese decorum is not just in the greeting. Living in Israel now, and having lived most of my life in New York and New Jersey, I was at first taken aback by the following sight. When an elevator or train door opens, people waiting on the platform stand back a good three meters to allow riders to exit swiftly and courteously. No one approaches the train or elevator until everyone exiting has already disembarked. Then people enter patiently. No one pushes; no one rushes for an empty seat. Patience, propriety, and civility rule the day. It is natural, not forced. And here I thought that the only way to leave a train, bus, or elevator was to force your way through the hordes of people not letting you leave.

This civility is most pronounced on the roads and highways. It is hard to believe but in ten days, I heard horns beep just twice. Twice! I saw this while being on the roads every day for at least several hours at a time. No one speeds, no one is cutting lanes, and no one is trying to get a meter ahead of the next driver. I have often sensed that there are drivers in Israel who would rather donate a kidney than allow someone to pass them on the highway, and the sound of the honking horn is ubiquitous background music, if you call that music. In Japan, it simply does not exist.

The Japanese embrace an apology culture. A taxi driver one day took us to the wrong hotel. It was really not a big deal – it was on the way to the correct hotel that was in any event just five minutes away. As soon as I said, “this is not our hotel,” the driver was shaken. He apologized (he knew the English word, “sorry”), and then apologized again, and then again. He took out a translator and dictated a full and profuse apology for his error. (Mind you, I had accepted his first apology and insisted it was an innocent error.) He then said, “my wife would be furious at me,” for this mistake. All my protestations at the insignificance of the offense were brushed off as grounds for further apologies. The apology continued until we arrived at our hotel and he remained agitated after we left his vehicle.

It should not surprise us to learn that we live in a denial culture, one that denies personal responsibility and seeks to shift culpability to named others, unseen forces, or just the way the cookie crumbles. There is little today of Yehuda’s “she [Tamar] is more righteous than me” (Breisheet 38:26), even less of King David’s “I have sinned to G-d” (II Shmuel 12:13). Everything is spin, evasion, fudging, counter-accusations, and, of course, politics. 

Thus, all those who seek to blame the Hamas invasion and massacre on October 7 on PM Netanyahu – and with good measure, because as prime minister he bears primary responsibility – they should bear in mind that there is almost no one in the Israeli political system that is not somehow culpable. Everyone fell prey to the conceptziyah – Gantz, Lapid, Eisenkot, Lieberman, Bennett, Ronen Bar, Golan, etc. All, to one extent or another, adopted the “quiet for quiet” doctrine, all allowed Hamas and Hezbollah to arm themselves, all allowed Hamas and Hezbollah to be lavishly funded by Iran, Qatar, and others, and all suffered from the same delusion that Hamas was deterred. None of Israel’s politicians have unblemished records in this matter – except perhaps for those who repudiated the conceptziyah, like Ministers Smotrich and Ben Gvir, but were powerless to block it. Perhaps that is why the media so reviles them; it is not just that they are right wing but especially because they have been so right, and for so long, never falling for the delusions of the left.

In a denial society, apologies are anathema. At best, the passive tense is used, as in “mistakes were made,” and what and by who are purposely left vague and unstated. At worst, it is always someone else’s fault, and pointing fingers is much more common than gazing in the mirror.

There is something not just moral but even liberating about an apology culture, in which people take responsibility and learn from their mistakes. It actually makes citizens more accepting of leaders who fail – because even leaders are human. In denial culture, any admission of fault is usually career ending, as social and print media, and the Internet, never forget. Consequently, “never apologize” is the unfortunate rule of the day.

The Japanese are law-abiding, but sometimes in exaggerated form. Pedestrians stand at the corner when the light turns red – something Israelis also largely heed. I was walking in Kobe with a guide, with four people ahead of us. They crossed a street (it was more like an alley, about three meters wide) and when the light turned red, she put her arm out to stop me! No cars were in sight; yet, she was right. The law is the law, the glue that holds society together.

It is an extremely clean society. A sign in a bus station: “please take your trash home with you.” I laughed. They are serious. There is no garbage in the streets.

Ultimately, what impressed me most is the common denominator of these features of Japanese society – the abhorrence of rudeness. Rushing an elevator or train, cutting off a car in traffic, failing to acknowledge a person in front of you or apologizing for a misdeed, would be rude. Of the two honks I heard, one was in a cab in which I was riding, in which my driver was almost sideswiped. He honked, and then he apologized to the other driver for necessitating his beep. The other driver did as well. It would be rude not to. Who wants to be rude? Why would a person be rude to another person? That can only happen if people feel entitled or superior, and that itself is contemptible.

To act rudely is to lose face, which is the great disgrace in Japanese society. We do not lose face as much as we put up a false face to rationalize our flaws or bad conduct. I learned also that Shintos wash their hands before prayer (like we do) – but also rinse out their mouths before entering the shrine. How about that? Perhaps our speech and behavior in shul would improve if we did the same.

There are some who always retort that Israelis have no time or patience for etiquette, that we live under the gun, and are always stressed out. But these are copouts, and not especially persuasive ones. There is no desire here to romanticize Japanese society, which at one time was quite militaristic until the end of World War II cured that aspect of their culture. Perhaps we cannot achieve their level of calm because of the circumstances in which we live. They can be patient, unflappable, and imperturbable. We are somewhat more stressed.

Maybe, though, if we welcomed these features of Japanese society, we would de-stress even slightly, realize not everything in life – particularly on the roads and workplaces – is a competition, and we would gain in mutual respect and understanding. Even our politics might then become slightly more bearable.

To be sure, such is in keeping with the period of the Omerand the preparations for the holiday of Shavuot, and beyond.

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The Fabulists

Posted on April 10, 2026 | Comments Off on The Fabulists

(First published at Israelnationalnews.com)

The Fabulists

By Rabbi Steven Pruzansky, Esq.

The era of the fabulists is upon us, those who possess an astonishing ability to assert alternate realities and spin fictional tales of accomplishment and conquest. It is hard to decipher what is happening around us. Is the cease fire real? The Straits of Hormuz are still not fully navigable despite President Trump’s assertion that it is the condition precedent for a cease fire. Can a cease fire last? Iran’s claims of victory recall – and how appropriate for this time of year? – the 3300 year old Merneptah Stele, in which Egypt’s Pharaoh, humiliated by the pain inflicted upon him by the G-d of Israel whose people were liberated from Egyptian bondage, recorded for posterity that “Israel is laid waste—its seed is no more.” Actually, it was Merneptah whose seed was no more.

It seems clear that everyone is lying. Trump’s words generally bear a purely incidental relationship to reality. Iran was able to call his bluff because the more outlandish his threats, the less likely he is to carry them out. His increasingly bellicose texts revealed frustration that the Iranians were not bowing to his bullying. But the American interest in this war – certainly legitimate but never identical to Israel’s interests – peaked with the low-risk bombing of multiple Iranian facilities that surely has hampered Iran’s pursuit of weapons of mass destruction but not ended it.

Iran, the evil, Jew-hating tyranny – an embarrassment to Islam – is devastated perhaps for years to come, despite its claims of victory. Its economy is shot, its proxies are scrambling to survive, it has antagonized its neighbors in the Persian Gulf, its weapons production facilities have been wrecked, and its reputation is in tatters. Despite the trillions of dollars it spent over many decades producing its deadly weapons, Iran can neither protect nor feed its own people. It survives on bluster and ruthlessness, its leaders hiding underground even as their henchmen continue to murder their own citizens.

Israel’s leaders paint the rosiest scenario and avow that the war will continue until all objectives are achieved. Indeed, despite the hatred-fueled denunciations of PM Netanyahu by the opposition parties here, much has been achieved. The threats of Hamas and Hezbollah have not been neutralized but they have been severely diminished, which is not to say that they cannot be reconstituted. Yair Lapid’s wild assertions that Israel’s strategic position in the world is “catastrophic” is classic fabulism. Even by the standards of election year rhetoric, it is beyond hallucinatory. But our enemies do persist and will not disappear anytime soon.

Two dangers loom. The first is the world’s (including the US) temptation to declare the Hamas and Hezbollah problems solved, Gaza to be rehabilitated even with Hamas present, Lebanon rebuilt with Hezbollah still active, and Israel to withdraw precipitously from Gaza and south Lebanon. One can already hear voices – across the world and on Israel’s delusional left – declaring that “now is the time to create a Palestinian state.” We would do well to adopt the Trump mantra of this week that “to the victor go the spoils” as well as to recall the follies of the past: “land for peace” cost us land conquered through the loss of Jewish lives and brought us not peace but a recurrence of aggression from the same places we surrendered.

The fabulists will try to tell us that “this time it will be different.” We should reject that as a non-starter, even at the risk of offending Witkoff, Kushner, and Qatar, as we should also reject a maintenance of the status quo. The lands we conquered should be settled with Jews. Our maps should be adjusted to reflect the new reality, otherwise we will just be repeating the same mistakes of the past.

Nations that allow their territory to be used as launching pads for attacks on Israel should lose that land in perpetuity. That is effective deterrence. No more, “sorry, we won’t do it again, at least not right away.” This will be Netanyahu’s real test, one that no amount of spin will allow him to dissemble and explain away. It is also the smart political move – in Israel, if not in DC or Paris.

The other danger is the US and the world community allowing Iran to retain effective control over the Straits of Hormuz, which seems in part to have happened already. The infusion of cash will buoy the Iranian economy and allow the Iranians to continue to sow trouble across the globe. The problem is that combatting this is not a primary interest of the US or Israel. Neither country uses Gulf oil. Sure, diminished access to the Straits will affect the world’s oil supply and ravage many economies if adjustments are not made. For example, the global price of oil is fixed and uniform and supply shortages in one place affect the price of oil everywhere. But why should that be, any more than there should be a fixed price for bananas or computer chips across the globe?

It is hard to see how Trump will risk American lives in order to reopen the Straits of Hormuz to oil tankers that do not benefit America. Nor should he; hence the empty bluster that led to Trump caving into a cease fire. The unspoken mystery here is where are the Gulf countries – the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, et al, countries that have literally spent hundreds of billions of dollars buying American arms? Why didn’t they bomb Iran, especially after Iran wantonly bombed them? Despite the protestations of Jew haters in America that the US went to war for Israel, notwithstanding that the bulk of the heavy fighting and weakening of Iran was done by Israel, in retrospect it would seem that the US did the bulk of its fighting for the Arab states of the Persian Gulf. Chew on that, Tucker Carlson, one of today’s leading fabulists. They should be using their military to open the Straits!

Other fabulists have been strangely silent in recent weeks. Those are the faux moralists who are quick to condemn Israel for alleged violations of the hoax known as international law, which seems to be a set of legal principles designed to ensure that the good guys can never win a war. (When I heard the other day that the Americans had a ready set of targets fully “vetted by lawyers,” I knew that a cease fire was imminent and victory a pipedream.) I remember when Israel was condemned decades ago for using cluster bombs in Lebanon. Yet, when Iran used them extensively against us in the last few weeks, crickets. Where are the international courts and human rights activists?

Even worse, isn’t it odd that we have heard nothing in the last six weeks about the civilian-to-combatant casualty ratio? By my rough count, Iran killed only Israeli civilians, and not a single fighter. Where are these phony numbers crunchers now? I was a good student in algebra, but I do not even need a calculator to determine that is a ratio of 100% civilians, 0% combatants, the worst in all of recorded history, and yet… crickets. It is a good reminder that we should stop playing that foolish, macabre game, dismiss the algebra aficionados with the contempt and disdain they deserve, and just win wars.

The coming months present Israelis with great opportunities. A resumption of hostilities with Iran involving American forces is increasingly unlikely. It is more likely that Trump will claim that Iran has surrendered and agreed to his demands even if such has not occurred. What we can do is ensure that Iran’s proxies do not survive, and that Iran is unable to hide behind proxies in the future. Proxy attacks on Israel should result in devastating attacks on Iran’s infrastructure. They should be held accountable for the belligerence of their agents as if they did it themselves. We are quite capable of defanging Hamas and Hezbollah – and if successful, Netanyahu will deserve all the accolades he will receive from fair-minded Israelis. If he does not succeed, well, then the last three years will be just the longest and deadliest of all the cycles of violence over which Netanyahu has presided during his long tenure, and that will be to his discredit.

Nevertheless, we should bear in mind one of the verities of Jewish history. Ultimate victory over all our foes is not ours, and true peace will await the coming of Messiah. On the banks of the Red Sea, Moshe told our ancestors 3338 years ago (Shemot 14:13) to “stand firm and see G-d’s salvation that He will do for you today, for as you have seen Egypt today, you shall not see them, ever again.”  But in fact, we have seen Egypt, many times since, from biblical times to the modern era. We have even fought them repeatedly. What then does the Torah mean?

One of the more recent biblical commentators, Umberto Cassuto, explained that we would never again see Egypt as invincible and intimidating, all-powerful, an empire so indestructible that we cowered before it and were too paralyzed even to confront them.

That, too, is an outcome of this war that – even now – affords us courage and confidence. The bogeyman of Iran – with its countdown to Israel’s destruction clock in the heart of Tehran, with its furious and revolting rhetoric of hate against Jews, with its goal of Israel’s extermination the very reason for its existence – that Iran has been humiliated and degraded, its leadership dead or discredited, struggling to remain in existence.

That is a divine blessing for which we should give thanks – and that harsh reality should confound even the greatest fabulists among them.

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From Egypt to Jerusalem: Passover inspires hope and security

Posted on April 1, 2026 | Comments Off on From Egypt to Jerusalem: Passover inspires hope and security

(First published in the Jerusalem Post)

https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-890564

“Next year in Jerusalem” reflects centuries of faith, miracles, and God’s ongoing protection of the Jewish people.

The Haggadah mentions Yerushalayim only twice (aside from casual citations in traditional texts such as Hallel, Birkat Hamazon, and the bracha acharona). The second one is one of the most famous and stirring phrases in all of Jewish liturgy: the seder concludes with the prayer that sustained centuries of Jews living in adverse conditions often threatened by cruel enemies: “L’shana haba’a b’Yerushalayim” – Next Year in Jerusalem! 

Jews knew that no matter how they were being afflicted or persecuted, and no matter where they were, the dream of “Next Year in Jerusalem!” relieved any feelings of despair.

The first reference to Jerusalem is more enigmatic. In the middle of Magid – Telling the story of Exodus – where the sages expound the verses recited by he who brought his first fruits to the Holy Temple, it is said that “God brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm…” a zero’a netuyah. 

The Midrash comments, “with an outstretched arm – this refers to the sword, as it is written (Divrei Hayamim 21:16), “[and David saw the angel of God standing between the heaven and the earth] holding a drawn sword in his hand stretched out (netuyah) over Yerushalayim.”

Surely this is an odd reference to Jerusalem! What is the significance of the angel’s sword stretched out over Jerusalem? And what really is the difference between “a mighty hand” and an “outstretched arm”?

Gods outstreched arm providing security or Jewish nation

Rav Joseph B. Soloveitchik explained that the “mighty hand” of God generated the miracles that liberated us from Egypt, but it is God’s “outstretched arm” that continues to provide security and guidance even after the miracles have passed.

That “outstretched arm” functions as a heavenly “Iron Dome” that shields us from the evil designs of our enemies, protects us from harm, and enables us to prosper under the wings of the divine presence.

That “outstretched arm” is visible in Jerusalem today. What was a provincial backwater under the Ottoman Empire after centuries of Muslim occupation – dwelling alone and forlorn, shorn of its beauty and majesty – is now (Baruch Hashem!) a thriving metropolis, spiritual center of the world, Israel’s eternal capital city, home to a million citizens, and an expanding, economic powerhouse. Nations and their ambassadors flock to Jerusalem, including those who wish to bask in its holiness and those who wish to trade with its high-tech sector.

Jerusalem’s spiritual, political, and material successes are all extensions of God’s “outstretched arm.” Torah is studied by myriads of people, mitzvot are observed by hundreds of thousands, and the city’s sanctity is palpable. Jerusalem is united, and despite the challenges to its exclusive Jewish sovereignty posed by such hostile elements as Turkey and Qatar, among others, few concepts unify the people of Israel more than the indivisibility of Jerusalem. 

There is so much building in Jerusalem that, as the joke goes, Israel’s national bird is the crane. And there is something enchanting about Passover in Jerusalem. Visitors come from all over the world – and some become inclined to stay.

It is not enough just to leave Egypt; after all, that was just the starting point of our history that would culminate in the Revelation at Sinai and our entry and conquest of the land of Israel, God’s chosen land. And the Haggadah cryptic reference to Jerusalem heralds that future.

The angel of God who held the “drawn sword stretched forth over Jerusalem” came not just to end the plague that afflicted the people but to inform David that the time had come to build the Holy Temple. It was then that David went to Ornan of Yevus in order to purchase the threshing floor that became the foundation of the Beit Hamikdash (Holy Temple).

This momentous event in Jewish history is embedded in the Haggadah, in the middle of Magid. God’s “mighty hand” liberated us from Egypt and His “outstretched arm” preserves until today, some 3338 years later. It affords us the faith and confidence that we will weather any storm – and combat any foe that dares to contest our rights to God’s holy city. That is the enduring spirit of Passover.

L’shana haba’a b’Yerushalayim!

The writer is Senior Research Associate at the Katz Jerusalem Center for Applied Policy (JCAP.ngo), Rabbi Emeritus of Congregation Bnai Yeshurun of Teaneck, New Jersey, and author of the book on Pesach, Road to Redemption (Kodesh Press).

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