On the first day of the upcoming holiday of Rosh Hashanah, the synagogue service traditionally includes the opening passage of the book of Samuel, which describes how God promises the childless Hannah that she will have a son—the judge and prophet of the book’s title. She then takes that child, still at a tender age, and brings him to the Tabernacle, where his life will be dedicated to the service of God. Kate Rozansky notes the similarity of this story to that of another biblical passage read on Rosh Hashanah, Genesis 22, which describes Abraham’s near-sacrifice of his son Isaac:

In fact, the Torah and Haftarah readings for Rosh Hashanah bring us three episodes of child sacrifice—in addition to the binding of Isaac, both Abraham and Hagar are forced to give up Ishmael, with very different results. Hannah’s giving up of Samuel is not often interpreted as a parallel sacrifice, but reading these stories together is illuminating. She is a parent who longs many years for a child, and finally has one after a divine remembrance. The child is a source of joy, but also one of terror, for the God that gives also requires return.

When it is time, both Hannah and Abraham set out on a journey with their n’arim, their little boys. The journey from Hannah’s home to the [Tabernacle] is described as a going-up, and Abraham’s task is, famously, to bring Isaac up as an olah, [literally, “a thing that goes up”], a burnt-offering. Abraham ends up slaughtering a ram, while Hannah slaughters a bull. Crucially, both boys live on after their parent’s journey, but no one in the story is ever the same.

At the moment of sacrifice, Abraham sees a ram with its horns (karnav) stuck in a thicket, and offers the ram “in place of (taḥat) his son” (Genesi 22:13), but no angel stays Hannah’s hand or annuls her vow. After Hannah gives up Samuel, [the high priest] Eli blesses Hannah’s husband with: “more children from Hannah in place of (taḥat) the one you lent” (1 Sam 2:20). Here, the meaning of “taḥat,” the substitution, is reversed. While Abraham’s substitution means he gets to keep the boy, Hannah’s means she is never getting Samuel back.

After she gives him up, Hannah sings, “my horn (karni) exults in the Lord,” but her horn is only metaphorical—the boy is gone, there is no ram (1Samuel 2:1). Of course, Hannah visits Samuel at Shiloh every year, but this means she also leaves him behind every year. It is an annual Akeidah.

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.