In 2020, during the height of the coronavirus pandemic, Mosaic published a series of essays about how Jews, and Orthodox Jews in particular, responded to the possibility of holding the Passover seder over Zoom. Nearly four years later, the pandemic is in the past, but every Jewish denomination has adapted to using videoconferencing in synagogue events—even if they reject it for prayers, or on Sabbaths and holidays. Elliot Cosgrove, the rabbi of a large Manhattan synagogue, explains the benefits, and the perils, that come with such new technologies:

Fast-paced and far-reaching in its transformations as the digital age may be, it has also revealed itself to be a moment of great opportunity. It’s important to see, however, that this opportunity is by no means simply about going online along with the rest of our culture—because the digital era has unexpectedly brought the countercultural value proposition of synagogue life into full relief. As so much goes online, our present moment reminds us of all that can occur only in person—and that must continue to do so. Online prayer will never match the power of in-person worship.

Pastoral care is made sacred not only by physical proximity, but because of relationship capital accumulated over a lifetime of joys and sorrows—something extraordinarily difficult to build across screens. Be it a cantor’s concert, a tikkun olam project, or a kibbitz at kiddush, there are riches of communal life that are enjoyed most fully in person. Counterintuitive as it may seem, our shift to digital has strengthened our in-person offerings, but only insofar as we have, in the main, answered these questions successfully.

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.