I was having lunch on Shabbat with friends and the talk turned to—surprise, not—October 7, which is coming up. I found myself saying something I’ve kept hidden, even from myself. “Why,” I said out loud for the first time, “did they have to schedule that Nova festival just in that place, at that time? It was, after all, a Jewish holiday, Simchat Torah. If it hadn’t happened, all those beautiful young people would still be alive today, home with their families.”

My intelligent friend shook her head. “No, you’ve got it all wrong! If not for all those beautiful young people at the Nova festival, which the terrorists admitted distracted and detained them, keeping them from following their plan and moving on, they would have invaded more army posts, more kibbutzim and gone on to murder hundreds maybe thousands, in Ashkelon and Ashdod. Those young people saved so many lives!”

I will never think about that again without that thought in my head. Those beautiful young boys and girls, whether or not they intended to, saved so many lives. May their memory be a blessing.

As the anniversary comes closer, it is time to take stock. Hamas and Hezbollah, Iranian proxies armed to the teeth for decades by billions of dollars, have both collapsed. The Iranian regime itself is now tottering on the brink, with their fake, crippled (maybe even comatose or dead) leader issuing ridiculous, truculent messages that are making them a world-wide laughing stock. Now, Iran is terrified of attacking Israel and provoking the response our government and our people are longing to give them to put a final nail in the coffin of one of the most evil regimes that ever existed on the face of the earth.

But threats are still being issued by the failing regime. The Institute of National Security in Israel has issued an updated warning for the upcoming High Holidays that there are increased efforts on the part of terrorist groups to target Jewish and Israeli places all over the world in light of the upcoming third anniversary of October 7. The danger is coming from Hamas and Hezbollah that are targeting individuals outside of Israel (and have already killed 25 such individuals since the outbreak of the war). These attacks are encouraged by increasingly radical social media posts, that are pointing sick, hate-filled individuals towards “soft” targets like synagogues and social gatherings. The highest risks are in Jordan, Egypt including Sinai, Qatar and Somaliland. Higher risks are in areas surrounding Iran, especially Turkey, UAE, and Azerbaijan.

Of course, it’s against the law for Israelis to enter Lebanon, Syria, Iran, Yemen or Iraq.

It is also suggested to hide Jewish or Israeli symbols and to remove from the internet all information identifying where you are in real time, and/or showing photos that identify one as an Israeli soldier. Finally, be alert when in Jewish communal spaces or Beit Chabad. Let’s get through our holidays in safety and joy.

The success of the IDF in routing the underground Hezbollah stronghold on the Ali Taher ridge, two decades in the making by Iran, with hundreds of terrorists, weapons depots, command centers and safe rooms, is a major victory that Israel is not openly gloating about. This is necessary because the people who built it are all insane and unpredictable. Now they’re mad. Now they’re really, really mad. No need to rub it in. But in light of this great victory, the IDF is in discussions about removing some troops and bringing them closer to the Israeli border to create a new line of defense for our northern border.

J.D. Vance’s spirited defense of his “good friend” Tucker Carlson is very revealing. Sorry, J.D. Hillbillies we can accept, not Nazi sympathizers. He has revealed some serious gaps in his belated education.

And now for the “Damascus Fair” taking place in Syria. Masked gunmen are doing acrobatics while chanting: “Al-Aqsa and Gaza, arm yourselves with patience. We are coming. We will liberate Palestine from the filthy Zionists.”

Gaza’s Hamas-run Economy Ministry reported destroying more than 30 tons of food over the previous two weeks, Israel’s Defense Ministry said, citing the report as evidence that food entering the Gaza Strip exceeds the population’s needs. The reported disposals included 13.5 tons of frozen chicken in central Gaza, 2.1 tons of frozen poultry in Khan Yunis and other spoiled food products.

“When food accumulates until it spoils and must be destroyed on this scale, the conclusion is clear. This is not a shortage,” Israeli officials said, calling Gaza an “oversupplied market” suffering from poor storage and mismanagement.

The Trump administration has seized $560,000 in cryptocurrency connected to fundraising efforts for Hamas. For this our Foreign Ministry, and each one of us, thanks you.

UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband, has seen fit to post a clip that he knows is Hamas propaganda, repeating the lies that Israel is restricting medical supplies to Gaza. Since the UK is a member of the International Gaza Support Center that facilitates all deliveries to the Strip, the UK is perfectly aware there are no restrictions and that some 22, 500 tons of medical supplies have entered Gaza since the ceasefire began, and that Gazans exit the Strip for medical treatment in Israel regularly, some 200 in the last two weeks alone. I guess Miliband really needs those Pakistani Muslim voters for his dying party!

But let me tell you something, friends. All these loud-mouthed haters of Israel, from Mamdani, to Erdogan to al-Julani, to the deranged Iranian mullahs, cannot prevail against us. If only they would read our Torah, they’d save themselves so much wasted time and effort! This is what I just read in Isaiah 61:10.

“They will call you by a new name spoken from the Lord’s own mouth. You will be a crown of glory in the Lord’s hand… No longer will they say of you ‘abandoned’… for you shall be called ‘My Desire.’ Your land renamed ‘embraced’ for it is you the Lord desires, for your land will be embraced as a young man embraces a maid… Tell daughter Zion your rescue is come. They will call them a holy people, redeemed ones of the Lord.”

I will be in synagogue praying for a good year for all of you and my people and family next Sunday, so there will be no diary entry.

Shana Tova.

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