In the past decade, demographers have increasingly spoken of “Jews of no religion”—that is, those who identify themselves as Jewish, but claim no devotion to Judaism as such. Elliot Kaufman examines some salient facts about this group from a recent Pew Research Foundation survey:

What about those whom Pew calls “Jews of no religion”? Only 7 percent say being Jewish is very important to their lives, and it’s unlikely that number will grow in the next generation. Among married Jews of no religion, 79 percent have a non-Jewish spouse. Their children intermarry at an even higher rate. A substantial portion of their grandchildren won’t be Jewish at all.

Rabbi Motti Seligson, . . . the media director for Chabad-Lubavitch, a Brooklyn-based ḥasidic Jewish movement known for ministering to less-religious Jews, [says] he has reason for optimism. Whereas the 2013 Pew study treated Chabad solely as an Orthodox sub-denominational identity, this study asks all Jews if they attend Chabad events such as dinners, prayer services, and more. It finds impressive engagement.

Thirty-seven percent of U.S. Jews say they’ve participated in Chabad activities or services, including 16 percent who do so “often” or “sometimes.” The latter includes 25 percent of Conservative Jews, 12 percent of Reform Jews, 8 percent of the unaffiliated, and 6 percent of Jews of no religion. Considering that only 10 percent of unaffiliated Jews and 8 percent of Jews of no religion say they attend a synagogue of any kind even a few times a year, Chabad’s numbers are large.

Rabbi Seligson agrees with progressives that the less-involved “want something different.” But they aren’t looking for a watered-down Judaism. “They’re looking for something authentic,” he says. “The minute you have to go outside of Judaism to answer their questions, you’ve lost them. They don’t need a rabbi for something that’s not Jewish.”

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.