Israel At War

Torah for this Hour | March 14, 2024

Posted on March 14, 2024

And Moses was unable to enter the Tent of Meeting, because the cloud rested upon it and the Presence of the Eternal filled the Tabernacle. (Exod 40:39) In fog there is unity: all of us experience the same feeling of uprootedness. The same helplessness. The need to take action of some sort. For over 150 […]

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Silence and Denial: Global Response to Hamas Sex Crimes

Posted on March 12, 2024

BACKGROUND – TALKING POINTS – ACTIONS – STORIES Women’s rights and achievements were just celebrated on International Women’s Day, while many still refuse to acknowledge the sexual assaults of Israeli girls and women by Iran-backed Hamas terrorists. The terrifying acts committed by Hamas are continuing against 19 Israeli female hostages who remain in captivity. There […]

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Targeting Israel at Schools Alienates Jewish Students and Strikes Fear

Posted on March 5, 2024

BACKGROUND – TALKING POINTS – ACTIONS – DISPELLING FALSEHOODS – STORIES See our “Dispelling Falsehoods, Stating Facts” section to help address difficult questions about the conflict. “Jews are always told that we are not allowed to speak up for ourselves. You cannot allow yourself to be pushed out. We are showing resilience and strength. The […]

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Is Israel’s approach toward dismantling Hamas ‘over the top’?

Posted on March 4, 2024

In its vital aim of effecting regime change in Gaza, Israel is not the first country to grapple with collateral loss of life The ruins of Dresden in 1945. Facing south from the town hall (‘Rathaus’) tower. Photo some time between 17 September 1945 and 31 December 1945 (CC Deutsche Fotothek via Wikimedia) Joe Biden […]

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Torah for this Hour | February 29, 2024

Posted on February 29, 2024

A half-shekel donation on Purim, reading Parashat Shekalim just before Rosh Ḥodesh Adar—these practices recall the annual gift to the Tabernacle/Temple. Its origin is in the census ordered in Parashat Ki Tissa, where everyone was counted by giving a half-shekel. Why? This is not a donation but a “ransom” intended to save the donor from […]

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Iranian Threat to Israel Escalates on Northern Border

Posted on February 27, 2024

BACKGROUND – TALKING POINTS – ACTIONS – VOICES – STORIES See our “Dispelling Falsehoods, Stating Facts” section to help address difficult questions about the conflict. Communities in northern Israel are virtually ghost towns, while the world’s attention is focused on the war in Gaza. Those towns in the north mirror the villages near Gaza that […]

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From Israel: A Message from our Executive Director

Posted on February 26, 2024

MERCAZ USA Executive Director Sarrae Crane has been in Israel for the last week and a half on the annual mission of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. She shares her thoughts about what she has seen and heard with us in this video message:  

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Entering Rafah: War on Hamas Reaches Critical Point

Posted on February 20, 2024

BACKGROUND – TALKING POINTS – ACTIONS – STORIES – PHOTOS IN THE NEWS See our “Dispelling Falsehoods, Stating Facts” section to help address difficult questions about the conflict. The murderous 10/7 terrorist attack was executed with ruthless precision, designed to maximize casualties, kidnap civilians – including children – and instill fear in the Israeli population. […]

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UN’s Alarming Complicity: Hamas Exploits UN Premises for Terrorism …

Posted on February 13, 2024

… Anti-Jewish Attacks Masked as Anti-Zionism Spread Worldwide   BACKGROUND – TALKING POINTS – ACTIONS – VOICES – STORIES – PHOTOS IN THE NEWS See our expanded “Dispelling Falsehoods, Stating Facts” section to help address difficult questions about the conflict Relieved Israelis applauded the safe return of two Israeli civilians in a heroic commando rescue […]

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Why Israeli ‘occupation’ of the West Bank and Gaza has lasted since 1967 

Posted on February 8, 2024

by Rabbi Alan Silverstein, PhD What, according to international law, is “occupation”? Land acquired as the result of an unjust warfare — a war of aggression — is characterized as “occupied territory.” This has been the case in China’s conquest and continued occupation of Tibet since 1950, Turkey’s conquest and occupation of one third of Cyprus since the early 1970s, and […]

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