The Hamas-Israel war has changed everything.
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Also in today’s dispatch:
Why? How? What can we do? How to react to the tragic war in Israel (video)
A nation that can’t sleep: Israelis on this unprecedented moment of loss (podcast)
The retired general who grabbed his pistol and took on Hamas (article)
David Newman saved dozens of lives before he was murdered (video)
The baby an Israeli EMT can’t forget (article)
Netanyahu: The Israeli government is united (video)
Arch of Titus lit up in support of Israel (article)
🔝 Today’s Featured Story
Today’s video will break down the devastating attacks from Hamas on Israel, Biden and Netanyahu's responses, and the current situation in Gaza.
It recaps the surprise attack by Hamas terrorists, explains the war on social media, and examines who Hamas really are.
It confronts the horrific targeted attacks against Israeli civilians, and explores how Hamas' actions harm Palestinian civilians as well.
It unpacks the unbreakable unity consolidating across Israel and the Jewish world. This year has seen division across the country, with left against right, religious against non-religious. But none of that matters now. The country is banding together like never before, and worldwide Jewry is displaying its unwavering support for Israel.
There has been an international outcry over Hamas’ brutality, and international support for Israel in their time of need.
The final question it asks is: What will happen next?
Watch this video to gain a clear picture of what’s been happening this week, and to hear a message of strength in these hard times:
📺 Today’s Top Videos
Why? How? What can we do? How to React to the Tragic War in Israel
PHILOSOPHY • 34:21
Thank You for Your Support: The world stands with Israel.
PEOPLE & SOCIETY • 0:59
Netanyahu: The people of Israel are united, and today their government is too.
POLITICS • 13:43
David Newman saved dozens of lives before he was murdered in Hamas attack.
ISRAEL & ZIONISM • 9:18
A Message to Jews: Do not debate Israel opponents. Pity them.
PEOPLE & SOCIETY • 15:31
Israel's President holds a press conference.
ISRAEL & ZIONISM • 19:26
Israel at War: David Harris, longtime Jewish frontline activist, discusses the global and regional implications of the Hamas-launched war in Israel.
POLITICS • 52:38
There’s more where that came from! Check out NEGEV, the world’s largest video platform exclusively for Judaism and Israel!
📰 Today’s Top Articles
→ The Retired Israeli General Who Grabbed His Pistol and Took On Hamas
→ Echoing ancient times of distress, Hadar Institute calls for communal fast in response to attack on Israel.
→ How to Avoid Spreading Misinformation: Don’t believe everything you see and hear about Israel and Palestine.
→ Author David Grossman: Israel is in a nightmare. Who will we be when we rise from the ashes?
→ Scenes From a War: The baby an Israeli EMT can’t forget.
→ Rabbi Meir Soloveichik: ‘Our strength will come from our unity.’
⏳ Summaries of Today’s Top Headlines
Arch of Titus, Roman landmark celebrating ancient destruction of Jerusalem, lit up in in tribute to Israel.
Source: JTA
The Arch of Titus, in Rome’s historic center, was built to commemorate the Roman general Titus's conquest of Jerusalem and destruction of its Holy Temple. On Tuesday night, it bore an image of the flag of Israel.
It’s not the first time that sympathy for Israel drew a crowd to the site: Days after the United Nations voted on Nov. 29, 1947 to approve a plan for a Jewish state, Italian Jews made their way to the arch in celebration.
Biden denounces efforts to justify Hamas in fiery speech.
Source: Bloomberg
American president Joe Biden offered full-throated support to the Jewish community and denounced those offering justification for the bloody attacks by Hamas.
The address was Biden’s latest effort to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Israel, even as divisions over the Middle East fester within his Democratic Party, and push back against what the president sees as a growing tide of antisemitism and hate in the US.
In one of the most emotional speeches of his presidency, Biden recounted how he took his children and grandchildren to visit Dachau once they turned 14 to highlight the horrors of hate, raising his voice and slamming the lectern.
‘We must all do our part and forcefully speak out against antisemitism and push back against the attempts to deny or distort the facts,’ the president said.
Blinken: For as long as America exists, Israel will never have to defend itself alone.
Source: The Times of Israel
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says he is ‘incredibly grateful’ to be back in Israel, ‘in this incredibly difficult moment, for this nation, but in fact for the entire world.’
Blinken tells a personal story as a Jew. He tells of his grandfather fleeing pogroms in Russia, and of his stepfather surviving concentration camps in the Holocaust.
‘I understand on a personal level the harrowing echoes that Hamas’s massacres carry for Israeli Jews, indeed for Jews everywhere,’ he says.
He also notes the ‘remarkable solidarity’ of the Israeli people, the long lines of people giving blood, the reservists who flew home from abroad, the people who opened their homes to survivors.
‘The message that I bring to Israel is this — you may be strong enough on your own to defend yourself, but as long as America exists, you will never, ever have to. We will always be there by your side,’ he says.
🎙 Today’s Top Podcasts
→ Israel at War: Living with Evil
→ A Nation That Can't Sleep: Israelis on This Unprecedented Moment of Uncertainty, Pain, Loss, and Resilience
→ How Can You Help and a Call to Action
→ Reading Jewish History in the Parsha
→ Bereishit 5784: Let’s Talk About Rain
→ The Spanish Inquisition in South America (Lima, Peru)
→ History for the Curious: Rambam II - Egypt