There has been a major change in Biden's policy on Israel, and that of Democrats more generally. Biden has reverted to the Trump policy of backing Israel 100%, rather than the old Obama policy of "distance."
Trump told Israel's enemies that he was going to give Israel free rein. Hence there were no wars against Israel for four years. Trump also moved the embassy, etc., and the result was the Abraham Accords.
Obama wanted "distance," and the Iran deal. So Israel had to face war after war. And in those wars, he told Israel to back down and even denied Israel weapons. Biden largely restored that approach.
But the Hamas terror attack on Israel last weekend -- with its ISIS-like, graphic brutality -- changed all of that. Now Biden is saying Israel has a "duty" to get rid of Hamas. Now Obama says we must support Israel as it "dismantles" Hamas. Now Jake Sullivan, the national security advisor, says the U.S. will back Israel's war "as long as they need to feel safe." Now Karine Jean-Pierre, the formerly anti-Israel press secretary, says that equivocating between Israel and Hamas is "disgraceful" and that there is only one side -- Israel's side.
This means the war is over, bar the fighting, and Israel will have won.
Perhaps it is difficult to trust Biden, Obama, and the others. And there is a very good argument that their policies led to this disaster.
It's too late to undo that. But this is a big change. I hope it sticks.
This week’s portion launches the great story of Abraham, who is told to leave everything of his life behind — except his immediate family — and to leave for “the Land that I shall show you.”
There’s something interesting in the fact that Abraham is told to leave his father’s house, as if breaking away from his father’s life — but his father, in fact, began the journey, moving from Ur to Haran (in last week’s portion). His father set a positive example — why should Abraham leave him?
Some obvious answers suggest themselves — adulthood, needing to make one’s own choices, his father not going far enough, etc.
But I think there is another answer. Abraham (known for the moment as Abram) needs to establish his own household. This is not just about making one’s own choice, but really about choosing one’s own starting point. It’s starting over.
Sometimes we start over in fundamental ways even if much that surrounds us remains the same. Sometimes the journey we have to ...
The story of Noah is familiar; the details, less so.
Noah is often seen as an ambivalent figure. He was righteous -- but only for his generation. What was his deficiency?
One answer suggests itself: knowing that the world was about to be flooded, he built an Ark for the animals and for his own family -- but did not try to save anyone else or to convince them to repent and change their ways (the prophet Jonah, later, would share that reluctance).
Abraham, later, would set himself apart by arguing with God -- with the Lord Himself! -- against the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, saying that they should be saved if there were enough righteous people to be found (there were not).
Still, Noah was good enough -- and sometimes, that really is sufficient to save the world. We don't need heroes every time -- just ordinary decency.
Hi all -- as I noted last month, I'm going to be closing down my Locals page, at least for tips and subscriptions -- I may keep the page up and the posts as well, but I'm no longer going to be accepting any kind of payment.
Look for cancelation in the very near future. Thank you for your support!
