Rabbi Lawrence Kotok, a classmate of mine sent this letter to the New York Times shortly after the October 7th tragedy…. 
   Is Israel the only country that is not allowed to defend itself? After the brutal attack by Hamas the world was shocked by the savagery and violence seen by all. But as Israel began to protect its citizens and sovereignty opinions shifted to blaming Israel for reacting. Now the world calls for calm and ceasefire.  
      In 2003 the US initiated war on Iraq with what it called a massive “shock and awe” bombing campaign that lit up the skies, laid waste to large sections of the country and paved the way for American ground troops to converge on Baghdad. 
Was there any outcry for civilian casualties?      Lest we forget August 6 and 8 1945 we dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki to save American lives. How many innocent Japanese died? 
     The world’s hypocrisy and double standard when it comes to Israel is absurd and troubling….We should decry placing Hamas terrorists and armament in and under civilian buildings using those civilians as human shields.  
 
   That’s the essence of the letter. The bottom line is as he wrote: there’s a double standard. Well, who’s kidding whom…when it comes to Israel, there’s always been a double standard.  
    ITEM:  A member of the House of 
Representatives, Rashida Tlaib, was censured by the House for her statements related to the IsraelHamas war. There might be a measure of truth in her reply, namely that it’s more than rare for any kind of censure in Congress to be passed for voicing a political opinion, but even those Democrats who are critical of Israel knew that her defense of the pro-Palestinian chant “from the river to the sea” is a code for the total destruction of Israel, and that there is more than a touch of antisemitism to it. 
   The bottom line is: while we can elect anyone who meets the legal requirements as did Tlaib, though she is the only Palestinian by birth in the House of Representatives, we have to call it as we see it. This is not the only time her rhetoric reeked of Jew-hatred and, of course, Israel hatred. Whether censure was the right move, probably not because voicing opinions is at the core of American democracy, but those members of Congress whose support of those views doesn’t take into account the truth, should be put on the carpet by those who are able to see through the rhetoric.  In fact, those Democrats who are members of the 
“Squad,” and even less “Progressive” representatives, can use a lesson or two on the history of Israel and with it the meaning of apartheid so they know Israel is not an apartheid state, and along with that a lesson in the charter of Hamas and other terrorist organizations which state point blank their desire to eliminate Jews and after us, eliminate Christians, and along with them, those of other religions they deem to be infidels.     ITEM:  Professors on prestigious college campuses are using incendiary language when it comes to the situation. What they have said praising the Palestinian slaughter of innocent people through the most violent and disgusting means, doesn’t seem to be excusable by the college’s powers-that-be. And on top of it, these very professors have made life in their classrooms, life on the campuses, most difficult for the Jewish students. That behavior is intolerable. As an example, at Lehigh University there was a walk-out in support of Palestine. Several professors cancelled their classes in solidarity with the march, and one penalized his students who didn’t attend.         While it’s true that some in the top echelons in these universities have spoken out against such behavior they’ve often focused more on the imbalance of status between teacher and student, even more than on the reason for such action. And to add to that, some have spoken out only when Jewish and other donors have pledged to stop their big bucks’ contributions to their alma maters.  
   On the other hand, the University of Delaware has been relatively calm. One specific point that was made known to me by Renee Frank Holtz, Norm Frank’s daughter whom I’ve known for decades, is that while an attempt was made to fund raise for a group called “Decolonizing Palestine,” they were thwarted in their efforts, making the mistake of trying to use the restaurant Honeygrow as their base. Justin Rosenberg is the owner of the establishment. He is Jewish and his grandparents were Holocaust survivors. He shut down that attempt. Nevertheless, because these mamzers posted and reposted on FaceBook, people thought he was its sponsor.  I’m asking that you support Honeygrow. 
    The bottom line is: parents, be careful what college you encourage your son and daughter to attend. Beyond the academic, check out the campus environment for minorities, particularly Jewish students. And if your student attends a college that has shown its true colors, seriously consider having your student transfer out. They don’t deserve such treatment and the school doesn’t deserve your money, either through tuition or donations.  
    ITEM: While there certainly is an anti-Israel movement in America, as Professor Stephen Berk of Union College said in a recent lecture, “Don’t kid yourself…anti-Zionism is anti-Semitism.” And I want to add that the situation in Israel and Gaza is a smokescreen for Jew-haters who have been looking for an excuse to do what they love doing. The facts of the war are completely irrelevant; many couldn’t point to Israel and Gaza on a map.     The bottom line is: while we cannot fight the antisemites per se, we can do our best to educate our friends and neighbors as to what this hatred has led to 85 years ago, what the facts are in this war. 
    ITEM:  Typically there are those who question whether Hamas actually did what we know they did. Your words to convince them will frustrate you terribly; their stupidity will be overwhelming. 
   The bottom line is: since so many are twisting the Hamas slaughter to minimize it, find photos of the victims – not their pre-October 7th faces, but their immediate post-October 7th bodies, bodies that have been burned and beheaded - and show those photos to those who say something negative about Israel’s response to it. If people say the pictures were “photoshopped,” let them say it. They know in their hearts it’s true and factual, and you did what you had to do. These are terrible times for Israel and we have to do what might even be abhorrent at any another time. 
   ITEM: We who live in Delaware, in Newark and Wilmington in particular, often feel we’re too small for anything to happen to us. It only happens in large cities or cities where politicians and university types are agitating their students (and apparently the University of Delaware has been really good in this regard). Let’s not put our heads in the sand. Large or small – and I truly hate to say this – it can happen here. 
   The bottom line is: the temple must get an alarm system – not just a guardian at the gate – an alarm system that can be turned on when the last person leaves the synagogue. We have responsible police officers, but they aren’t patrolling 24/7. And not only an alarm system, but I cannot stress enough the need for the Temple to have effective surveillance cameras. It’s true that they can’t catch everyone and that some workers of evil know ways to hide their faces, but notice of such cameras might scare away potential evildoers, and even if they don’t, having those cameras is better than not having them. I think it’s worth the cost in this awful environment of antisemitism we’re facing.    The bottom line is: we have to do whatever we can to defend Israel and defend ourselves. Even if you question their treatment of Palestinians preOctober 7th which so many of us do, this is different. We’re talking about the survival of the Jewish State. The realpolitik can be tabled for the moment. Oh, did I say “the survival of the Jewish 
State”? Let’s add “the survival of the Jewish 
People” to that. 
   And remember, when we say Am Yisrael Chai, The People of Israel lives, Jews throughout the world are Am Yisrael, not just our sisters and brothers in Israel. We shall prevail.