Israel prevents goods from entering Gaza. A fabrication, but what @ap 's headline wants you to believe. The truth? Hamas is blackmailing private merchants, charging up to 10,000 NIS per truck of aid, and imprisoning those who refuse - so private companies are halting operations in Gaza. Israel notifies the international community of Hamas forcing deprivation upon Gazans, and of course gets blamed. @ap doesn’t report reality, it inverts reality.

Bereshit. In the beginning. The beginning of life wasn't a one-time occurrence. It happens all the time. “In His goodness,” we say in morning prayers, “G-d renews every day, continually, the work of creation.” Our recognition that every day anew is a gift, fills us with a sense of gratitude. And when we approach the day's events with gratitude, we become partners with God in creation, in the creation of a better world. That is a choice that we make. Immediately, right after the creation, we are told of human choice. Adam and Eve choose poorly. Cain chooses badly. Later we learn of the generations who choose unwisely, immorally: the generation of the flood, the generation of Babel. With their choices, they brought the pre-creation chaos back into the world. Noah, and then Abraham, are the answers to poor human choices. They cast aside the chaos with the light of goodness and hope. We are their children. What are the choices that we make? When we begin our day with a sense of gratitude, we can find the right answers and make the right choices. Shabbat Shalom.

I have to take a moment from my son’s bedside, on life support after being struck by a Palestinian terrorist, to respond to the dangerous lies being spewed by @NYCMayor. It’s actually hard to find a sentence in Mamdani’s post that isn’t a lie. Paying lip service to the victims of October 7 just to spread blood libels about Israel might play nicely to the red-green/communist-Islamist alliance that he promotes in the U.S, but those of us who know better see his perverted language for what it is. This man is a defender of Palestinian terrorism, a promoter of antisemitism, and an advocate of anti-Americanism. Even today, October 7, he can’t help but attack the Jewish state with absurd accusations and outright propaganda. Let’s be clear: the only attempted genocide in this conflict was perpetrated by the barbarians he supports, Hamas, who butchered, raped, and murdered in the most horrific ways imaginable. There is no genocide, ethnic cleansing, or famine in Gaza. Hamas embeds itself among, behind, and beneath the people of Gaza, knowing that the IDF will not, ever, intentionally target civilians. It robs its own people of the humanitarian aid that Israel has facilitated into Gaza since the war began. Hamas knows that its allies, including Zohran Mamdani, will regurgitate its lies, demonizing Israel and endangering Jews everywhere. Israel and its allies will not be deterred from defending civilization against terrorist savagery. Those of us who envision a peaceful and prosperous Middle East, will root out the evil that is Islamic terrorism and build a better future for all, Jew and Arab alike. If you want to understand the extent of the lies told by Mamdani and his radical Islamic commrades, you can read the truth in my book, “Manufacturing a Modern Blood Libel,” here: linktr.ee/israelinusa.

As I sit here at my son Neriyah’s bedside, I am thinking about what the most appropriate message would be as we enter the Simchat Torah holiday. Neriyah is still on life support and my first thought is one of immense gratitude for the support and all the prayers on his behalf. Your prayers have given my family and me tremendous strength in the knowledge that prayers matter. Prime Minister Netanyahu visited us in the hospital today to share a much-needed sense of comfort and support. Please continue to pray for Neriyah’s recovery, perhaps next Simchat Torah he will be able to rejoice together with his darling wife and children.