What most people don’t know about the flydubai hijacking attempt: according to several people on board, the flight crew insisted that the Israelis who had stopped the would-be hijacker untie him…

#October7 has shaped the way I will think for the rest of my life. It has reoriented my approach to being a leader in the American #Jewish community and redefined my sense of responsibility — in what we say, what we teach and how we act. This dark day, and its aftermath, have upended decades of my assumptions and humbled me. One of the saddest developments has been the shock experienced by many American Jews, who, for the first time in their lives, are encountering pervasive hostility. The realization that age-old hatreds are still alive and kicking thrust American Jews into a crisis of confidence. We have heard eerie echoes of Europe, the haunting howls of hatred that brought our ancestors to America in the first place. What has kept me up at night is your profound concern regarding the intensification of #antisemitism. That a massacre of Jews in #Israel — the worst we've seen since the Holocaust — has resulted in protests and violence against Jews at the doors of our houses of worship and communal spaces in this country is shocking. That Israelis murdered in their own homes in Israel — in its internationally recognized borders — and would be blamed for their own victimhood — appalls us. The disappointment, even betrayal, that we feel from our social justice allies, with whom we have stood shoulder to shoulder in the struggle to create a better world, have shaken us and resulted in severed relations. Jewish history has proven conclusively that it is far better for us to have power and agonize over its moral use than to be powerless and at the mercy of the dark lords. The clear lessons of centuries of Jewish history must not be misconstrued. Our vulnerability is the impetus to widespread animus, not our power. Israel was founded to empower Jews. After 2,000 years, a persecuted, abandoned, decimated people finally rose up and said ‘enough.’ The days of murdering and massacring Jews with impunity are over. We will protect ourselves. We will defend our people. We will be masters of our own fate. We shall return to the ancient homeland and live again. Amidst the turmoil, polarization and anxieties of our times, do not abandon your affection, responsibility and loyalty to our own people. Our destinies are tied one to the other. We have many different views, we believe many different things. We are a contentious, argumentative, strong-willed, opinionated family, but we are family that assumes the obligations and responsibilities of love for each other. There is no force in the world more powerful than the united spirit of the Jewish people in urgent times. The tragedies of October 7 and the years of October 8 have produced so many young Jewish heroes filled with the spirit of righteousness, who feel called to defend their families, their friends, their people, and all that is good and noble in this world. Be like them. Join the struggle. Do not sit it out. Fight back everywhere, each in our own corner.

On the eve of Kol Nidre, I connected with @TimesofIsrael’s @luketress to discuss my #YomKippur sermon that was dedicated to flourishing in the face of unprecedented anti-Jewish animus and #antizionism, how #antisemitism harms America, support for elected officials, and why we need to be wary of so-called pundits. Here’s the story: timesofisrael.com/leading-us…

I have frequently been asked whether I think it is time to leave this town. 'What would it take for you to recommend that people leave?' they inquire. My thoughts: