Born in Padua in 1707, Moses Hayyim Luzzatto received a traditional rabbinic education alongside training in philosophy, rhetoric, literature, and other liberal arts. He also delved deeply into kabbalah and claimed to have communed with an angelic messenger who instructed him in the Torah’s mysteries. A polymath, Luzzatto wrote poetry, Hebrew plays, works of theology and mystical speculation, and the guide to moral and spiritual perfection titled Path of the Just, which is popular in yeshivahs today. Some of his writings led him to be condemned as a secret of follower of the Sabbatian heresy, and Italian rabbis eventually forced him out of Italy. Since his death in 1746, he has been admired and claimed as a precursor by both secular and religious Zionists, proponents of the Haskalah, kabbalists of all kinds, and the strictest Haredim.

In conversation with J.J. Kimche, Jonathan Garb explores Luzzatto’s life and legacy, as well as the past and present controversies surrounding him, and explains how his study of rhetoric informed all of his work. (Audio, 65 minutes.)

For some time, opponents of U.S support for Israel have been urging the White House to end the war in Gaza, or simply calling for a ceasefire. Douglas Feith and Lewis Libby consider what such a result would actually entail:

Ending the war immediately would allow Hamas to survive and retain military and governing power. Leaving it in the area containing the Sinai-Gaza smuggling routes would ensure that Hamas can rearm. This is why Hamas leaders now plead for a ceasefire. A ceasefire will provide some relief for Gazans today, but a prolonged ceasefire will preserve Hamas’s bloody oppression of Gaza and make future wars with Israel inevitable.

For most Gazans, even when there is no hot war, Hamas’s dictatorship is a nightmarish tyranny. Hamas rule features the torture and murder of regime opponents, official corruption, extremist indoctrination of children, and misery for the population in general. Hamas diverts foreign aid and other resources from proper uses; instead of improving life for the mass of the people, it uses the funds to fight against Palestinians and Israelis.

Moreover, a Hamas-affiliated website warned Gazans last month against cooperating with Israel in securing and delivering the truckloads of aid flowing into the Strip. It promised to deal with those who do with “an iron fist.” In other words, if Hamas remains in power, it will begin torturing, imprisoning, or murdering those it deems collaborators the moment the war ends. Thereafter, Hamas will begin planning its next attack on Israel:

Hamas’s goals are to overshadow the Palestinian Authority, win control of the West Bank, and establish Hamas leadership over the Palestinian revolution. Hamas’s ultimate aim is to spark a regional war to obliterate Israel and, as Hamas leaders steadfastly maintain, fulfill a Quranic vision of killing all Jews.

Hamas planned for corpses of Palestinian babies and mothers to serve as the mainspring of its October 7 war plan. Hamas calculated it could survive a war against a superior Israeli force and energize enemies of Israel around the world. The key to both aims was arranging for grievous Palestinian civilian losses. . . . That element of Hamas’s war plan is working impressively.