Joshua Lookstein @JoshLookstein

My father's tenth yartzeit starts tonight. I like that it begins with Maariv. He used to say the Shma with me at bedtime, then tell me fantastic stories of kabalistic angels masquerading as lions. If you are interested in remembering him with me, please consider... Good deeds: Listen to someone who needs to be heard; share a kind word to change someone’s life. Or learn with a friend! Study this week’s parsha, or a Chassidic tale or one of my father’s teachings. Share with us in the comments what you're reading, or ask for a recommendation. Prayer: If you would like to pray but don’t have a regular practice of doing so, you can follow his guidance -- “If the only prayer you say throughout your life is ‘Thank You’, then that will be enough”. Charity: Please consider following and supporting @eliewieselfdn. We are amplifying young moral voices, fighting hatred in the media, and connecting educational initiatives across the United States and Israel. Thank you to all who continue his legacy in ways large and small.

keyboard_arrow_left Previous keyboard_arrow_right Next

The Spurs know how to TAKE the lead, they just don't know how to HOLD the lead. And that's really the most important part of the lead: the holding

Barstool sports was blown away by Amare Stoudemire's bookshelf. "They're Torah-cyclopedias."

LGK

My wife Toby and I are in @Israel becoming citizens. At the Interior Ministry, the official reviewing our papers - a Jew who came from Ethiopia in 1991 - asked me for proof that I was Jewish. I showed him letters from our rabbi. As I did so, tears began to flow. I told him: “I remember the 1970s and ’80s, when we marched and protested so Ethiopian Jews could come home to Israel. Back then, many questioned whether Ethiopian Jews were Jewish at all. We insisted our Black brothers and sisters were as Jewish as any of us.” And now, 35 years later, here was a holy Ethiopian Jew confirming my Judaism. We had come full circle. Holding his hand, I sang: “Zeh hayom asah Hashem, nagilah ve’nismechah bo” - This is the day God has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. Jews from East and West have returned home together. Am Yisrael chai v’yichyeh.

12 million Germans were expelled after WWII. Up to 2 million died. There is no German right of return, no inherited refugee status, no movement built on this. 700,000 Arabs were displaced in 1948. Four generations later it’s a fake “refugee” population of 6 million. The difference isn’t scale. Germany’s expulsion was an order of magnitude bigger and far deadlier. The difference is that Germany’s neighbors integrated the expellees and postwar Germany refused to weaponize the grievance — because the war was Germany’s fault. Israel absorbed 850,000 Jews expelled from Arab lands: absorbed in a generation, gone as a political claim. The Arab world did the opposite. UNRWA exists to make the wound permanent and heritable, the only refugee status on earth that is. Palestinian refugee status didn’t survive because 1948 was uniquely terrible. Only max 15,000 Arabs died in Israel’s War of Independence. A war the Arab states started. For comparison, 200k-2M died during partition of India and Pakistan. No tears for them. Palestinian refugees “survived” because the losers decided their status should never end. The Mayor believes identity is whatever you want it to be. If you identify as a refugee you are. Almost everyone on earth can trace their ancestry back to a forced migration. Most find a way to move forward. But “no Jews, no Jews.”

Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani @NYCMayor

a month ago

Today marks Nakba Day, an annual day of remembrance to commemorate the expulsion of more than 700,000 Palestinians between 1947 and 1949 during the creation of the State of Israel and the year that followed. Inea is a New Yorker and a Nakba survivor. She shared her story with us

11K 42K 185K 10.9M 13K

People say the left and the right can’t agree on anything these days. But there is this one thing:

x.com/i/article/2054…

Somewhere in a cold dark basement Spike Lee is crying in his keffiyeh…. While Deni Avdija reminds the world WE ARE NOT JEWS WITH TREMBLING KNEES 🔥🔥☄️☄️

Anyone know where I can find a late Mussaf minyan? A Mincha/Mussaf minyan perhaps?

What a time to be alive... And really too bad for everyone who was murdered on October 7:

Ζoë @zoecabina

5 months ago

What a time to be alive

971 326 5K 366K 960

New Yorkers have spoken, electing Zohran Mamdani as the next Mayor of New York City. We recognize that voters are animated by a range of issues, but we cannot ignore that the Mayor-elect holds core beliefs fundamentally at odds with our community’s deepest convictions and most cherished values. As we have done for over a century, we will continue to work across every level of government to ensure that our city remains a place where our Jewish community, and all communities, feel safe and respected. We call on Mayor-elect Mamdani and all elected officials to govern with humility, inclusivity, and a deep respect for the diversity of views and experiences that define our city. Our agenda remains clear. We will hold all elected officials, including Mayor-elect Mamdani, fully accountable for ensuring that New York remains a place where Jewish life and support for Israel are protected and can thrive. We will continue to confront, without hesitation, the alarming rise in antisemitism and hate crimes, and loudly call out any rhetoric or actions that delegitimize Israel or excuse antisemitism. New York’s Jewish community — the largest and most important outside the State of Israel — has always been integral to New York City.  We are strong and resilient. And we will continue, as we have for generations, to live proud and public Jewish lives and make vital contributions to the future of our beloved city. Link to our full statement with @JCRCNY, @ADL and @ADL_NYNJ, @AJCGlobal, and the New York Board of Rabbis: ujafedny.org/news/statement…

BREAKING: 2 Barnard students expelled for History of Modern Israel disruption, CUAD says @preslrosenbury: "Expulsion is always an extraordinary measure, but so too is our commitment to respect, inclusion, and the integrity of the academic experience." columbiaspectator.com/news/2025/02/2…

Hersh, we will never forget you ❤️.

After a photograph of a terrorist holding the body of Shani Luc, who was kidnapped into Gaza on October 7, won a prestigious award in an international photo competition, Shani Nicole's grandmother responded: "My dead granddaughter has been featured in a photograph that won a prestigious photo contest, and the world is silent!!! My granddaughter's body, after she was brutally murdered and taken to Gaza as a symbol of victory, is being displayed for public viewing. And the world is silent!!! My granddaughter's body, after vile killers broke her bones to force her into a van—a body that was full of life, love, and light just hours before—was thrown like a victory trophy to terrorists and vile photographers. And the world is silent!!! My beautiful, dead granddaughter, surrounded by three bloodthirsty assassins. This is the "heroic" photo that won first place in a prestigious photo contest. And the world is silent. And I am screaming—are you??? When, in the history of photography, has a photo of a corpse won a prize? How much more pain can we endure? Three people shouting "Allahu Akbar," one despicable photographer, and my crushed granddaughter. And the world is silent. And the world is silent. And the world is silent."

“Never before in history has a side claimed that they suffered a genocide and at the same time that they won the war they had started.” — @HillelNeuer on @FoxNews with @MariaBartiromo

2024 UN General Assembly resolutions on: 🇦🇫 Afghanistan 0 🇰🇵 North Korea 1 🇻🇪 Venezuela 0 🇲🇲 Myanmar 1 🇱🇧 Lebanon 0 🇵🇰 Pakistan 0 🏴‍☠️ Hamas 0 🇩🇿 Algeria 0 🇹🇷 Turkey 0 🇷🇺 Russia 1 🇨🇳 China 0 🇶🇦 Qatar 0 🇸🇦 Saudi 0 🇮🇱 Israel 17 🇨🇺 Cuba 0 🇸🇾 Syria 1 🇮🇶 Iraq 0 🇮🇷 Iran 1 🇺🇸 US 1

Recap: AZ: Harris (D) loses, pro-Israel Gallego (D) wins MI: Harris (D) loses, pro-Israel Slotkin (D) wins NV: Harris (D) loses, pro-Israel Rosen (D) wins NC: Harris (D) loses, pro-Israel Stein (D) wins WI: Harris (D) loses, pro-Israel Baldwin (D) wins Wrong lesson, @MouinRabbani

Mouin Rabbani @MouinRabbani

2 years ago

For the first time in modern American history contempt and disdain for Arabs, and demonization of Palestinians, has proven to be a losing rather than winning electoral strategy.

539 2K 11K 2.0M 525

As @KamalaHarris reminded us all today when I joined her in Michigan with @Liz_Cheney, do not despair. Yes, we are all feeling anxious, stressed, unsure. But this is a moment for us all to decide how we want to move forward. To recognize that we all have a decision to make, and while we might disagree, that is part of the process. The American people have the power in their hands to choose the next president by exercising their right to vote. Let’s rise to this moment, but not give in to the hate and division. We can disagree on many issues, yet still come together in the end. In fact, today, I bore witness to what coming together for the good of the country looks like — country over party. That’s a decision only you can make, and only you get to decide. But in the end, do not despair. #vote