Born in Russia in 1891, Aaron Kotler had by the 1930s developed a reputation as one of Eastern Europe’s leading talmudic scholars. After World War II began, he managed to escape both the Nazis and the Soviets, arriving in the U.S. in 1941. He thereupon devoted himself to the activities of the Vaad Hatzalah, an Orthodox organization founded to help Jews, especially those affiliated with religious institutions, flee Nazi-occupied Europe. In 1943, he founded a yeshivah in Lakewood, New Jersey, now a leading institution of American ultra-Orthodoxy. Moshe Rackove writes:

No matter was too large or too small for Rabbi Kotler. He worked in the Vaad Hatzalah offices urging rescue efforts, and marshaled Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau’s assistance in sending refugees money. His West Side apartment in New York City became the address for letters from all corners of the globe with individual requests. The letters reflected their belief in his concern for them, and his ability to tend to their plight. He corresponded with his students trapped in Samarkand, Uzebekistan after being shipped to Siberia by the Soviets in 1941, sending them care packages, with letters signed, “Your friend who will not forget you.” . . .

[Ultimately], the individual was paramount in Kotler’s mind. . . .

Kotler fully understood the enormity of the Holocaust on a personal level. He lost family members. . . . Yet he understood that [his] main focus [ought to be on rebuilding].

Early Friday morning, Israel attacked military installations near the Iranian cities of Isfahan and nearby Natanz, the latter being one of the hubs of the country’s nuclear program. Jerusalem is not taking credit for the attack, and none of the details are too certain, but it seems that the attack involved multiple drones, likely launched from within Iran, as well as one or more missiles fired from Syrian or Iraqi airspace. Strikes on Syrian radar systems shortly beforehand probably helped make the attack possible, and there were reportedly strikes on Iraq as well.

Iran itself is downplaying the attack, but the S-300 air-defense batteries in Isfahan appear to have been destroyed or damaged. This is a sophisticated Russian-made system positioned to protect the Natanz nuclear installation. In other words, Israel has demonstrated that Iran’s best technology can’t protect the country’s skies from the IDF. As Yossi Kuperwasser puts it, the attack, combined with the response to the assault on April 13,

clarified to the Iranians that whereas we [Israelis] are not as vulnerable as they thought, they are more vulnerable than they thought. They have difficulty hitting us, but we have no difficulty hitting them.

Nobody knows exactly how the operation was carried out. . . . It is good that a question mark hovers over . . . what exactly Israel did. Let’s keep them wondering. It is good for deniability and good for keeping the enemy uncertain.

The fact that we chose targets that were in the vicinity of a major nuclear facility but were linked to the Iranian missile and air forces was a good message. It communicated that we can reach other targets as well but, as we don’t want escalation, we chose targets nearby that were involved in the attack against Israel. I think it sends the message that if we want to, we can send a stronger message. Israel is not seeking escalation at the moment.