Hi everyone and welcome to this week's Chanukah batch of Laura's Links. And yes, in case you were wondering, I did eat way WAY too many latkes this week. I actually feel completely gross about it, but I truly believe that it is, in fact, not humanly possible to resist the divine mix of shredded potato, onion, salt, pepper, egg and flour when it comes out of a hot pan, fried to a crisp and is christened: LATKE. And of course, that does not even include the obligatory loading it down with sour cream, apple sauce, sugar or any combination of the three.
Anyway, last Shabbat, Mr. C brought home some reading material home for me from our synagogue. It was a magazine published by the world religious Zionist organization ("Mizrachi Olami"), and it was a very tough read. There were a number of articles about the Hamas atrocities of October 7, and several full pages listing the murder victims in such a small font. It was such a small font because they had so many names to list. Pages and pages of names in the tiniest of fonts. It was the smallest font I'd ever seen in a magazine so that they could fit in all the names. And now there are more names of soldiers to add. That in itself was upsetting. But then I realized that one of the articles in the magazine was written by a Rabbi whose son is one of the hostages still in Hamas' hands in Gaza.
The details are so unbearable, and so heartbreaking that it was another good reminder to myself that as hard as things have been for me over the past good while, given what my people are going through, given that there are still hostages in Gaza and funeral after funeral after funeral happening in Israel, I have nothing to complain about.
I can't allow myself to think too much each day about all of the death, torture, suffering, rape and the children, the babies. I can't spend too much of my day ruminating about the purity of that evil, and I refuse to let that demonic antisemitic evil influence the equilibrium within my house. And for all of those murdered simply and only because they were Jews, I will use my time on Earth to be more Jewish and to bring more Judaism and Jewish wisdom and goodness to more people; as many as I can, elevating the material world.
In the Human Grace and Israel sections you'll find some of the most heartbreaking stories of the warriors and the stories of others whose lives have been extinguished by the current incarnation of Amalek. So many tears, but there's still more tears to shed. And at the same time, I find it hard to get my head around how blessed we are as a people, how loved we must be by G-d to deserve to have had such beautiful, brave, remarkable people walk the earth and fight for us; true Maccabees just like in the days of old. It's so humbling and haunting.
Here's hoping the lights of Chanukah will bring brightness, blessings and miracles to the entire world.
~
North America:
The Four Pillars of Civilization Are Under Attack (really good).
We may never know his motive. It's a real mystery.
Yes. D'uh. Obviously.
I can hear Chairman Xi laughing from here.
Good start. Baby steps.
"Israel is not a canary in a mine, it is an eagle, flying on the most tumultuous winds." Rex Murphy is a Canadian institution and a good man.
~
Israel and Jews:
HELLO JEWS PLEASE LISTEN TO THIS (this applies equally to non-Jews, please research and very carefully consider where you give your charitable dollars).
"Kidnappings.
Gaza Nazi propaganda videos will need some updating.
They will do this to us all if only they get the chance. Choose a side.
Not sure it's naivety. For some, yes. For some it's just pure antisemitism.
How human rights advocates became antisemites.
This is weird.
The Woman in the Hamas Video is My Daughter
Bearing Witness: A Muslim Bedouin IDF Officer's testimony
"BUT MOST PALESTINIANS DON'T LIKE HAMAS".
Batya spells it out sloooooowly.
~
Jewish Wisdom:
"Our deeds have cosmic ramifications; they can harm or heal the entire world.
"We see here, once again, the unimaginably far-reaching results that can come from one small good deed.
~
The Formerly Great Britain:
This is a story of moral depravity on so many levels, too many to list here. It's a story that encapsulates the complete decline of society. You can have this OR civilization. There's no middle ground.
The UK is screwed.
Ireland: Whatever they say is actually what they want to do. Whatever they deny is what they are doing. Whatever they say you are doing is what they are doing. They want to criminalize your thoughts.
~
The Great Walkbackening, Reckoning and Accounting:
I dunno, it seems like a lot of those issues were intended consequences. Not unintended.
More bad news about the mRNAs.
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Argentina:
As I said before, I like the cut of his jib. WILD!!
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Evil Perverted and Dangerous Kooks:
Yes: It's a Democrat/
Stop making me root for Muslim extremists.
They will do this for as long as you let them.
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Europe:
Remind me why Europe *needs* Syrians.
Refugees welcome: Trieste version.
~
Human Grace:
How a legendary IDF commando was killed in battle. Rest in Peace. These are the stories of warriors, larger than life.
This is one of the saddest and most heartbreaking but inspiring things I have read all week and perhaps all year. If someone doesn't make a song out of this I guess I'll have to do it myself (maybe I should page Tal Bachman). I've read it too many times but I can't stop. Rest in Peace. May Hashem avenge your death.
"On the other hand, Gold's did it, and people approved.
Don't waste time. Good advice here.
This is what magnificent goodness looks like.
It's open thread time! Log into SteynOnline and let Laura know what you think of these stories or other happenings from week that was. Commenting privileges are among the many perks of membership in The Mark Steyn Club. While going off topic is permitted on Laura's Links, do stick to the other rules as you engage: no URLs, no profanity, and no ad hominem attacks.
