From The Desk of Rabbi Dr. Michael Gottesman
As a member of Coalition for Jewish Values, I feel I should share with you our message. Coalition for Jewish Values (CJV) represents over 2,500 traditional, Orthodox rabbis as the largest rabbinic public policy organization in America:
CJV Responds to Murderous Infliction of War on Israel
Baltimore, MD, Oct. 9, 2023—Coalition for Jewish Values, representing over 2,500 traditional, Orthodox rabbis in public policy, expresses its deep horror at events unfolding in Israel. We pray that the Holy One, Blessed be He, grants all the innocent peace and security, and pray for the welfare of those putting themselves in harm’s way to eliminate the current threat and protect their fellow Israeli citizens from harm.
The images of beheadings, mass murder, and abuse of innocent civilians held hostage in Gaza have demonstrated a level of barbarism unseen since the Nazi Holocaust. We also note that these terrorists seeking Jewish blood chose the date of a Jewish Holy Day for their surprise attack, like the outbreak of the Yom Kippur War half a century ago.
We urge the United States and the international community to give full support to Israel—not just now, but throughout the upcoming existential battle to completely annihilate Hamas and its terror affiliates in the Gaza Strip. Like the war the West fought after 9/11, Israel cannot lose and must not falter. Gaza must be liberated from the barbaric and explicitly genocidal terror organization that currently holds sway.
Hamas has torn away the veil—support for “Palestine” is not about creating another Arab state, but destroying the world’s only Jewish one. We have warned for years that the Council on American-Islamic Relations, American Muslims for Palestine, Students for Justice in Palestine, and Democratic Socialists of America are malevolent advocates for terror masquerading as human rights organizations; the rallies held in Chicago, New York, and elsewhere, plus statements of support for Hamas even from the campus of Harvard University, have proven us unfortunately correct.
Less than a century after the Holocaust, the question is, once again, who stands with the Nazis, and who with the Jews. Whether America holds firm, or joins deplorable calls for “restraint” to permit Hamas to re-arm and regroup, will be this American generation’s great moral test.