Although born to Jewish parents, Brian Keating was raised a Catholic, and remembers being draw to the religion as child. Later in life, Keating—a professor of cosmology and the author of several books—rediscovered Judaism and became observant. He discusses the relationship between his academic work and his religious beliefs with Adam Jacobs:

I don’t look to the Torah for science. It’s crystal clear to me that Torah is not a science book. . . . And that’s why I think every scientist needs it, because doing science is the practice of people, and people need wisdom. To practice science (which means “knowledge” in Latin) divorced from wisdom is the ultimate form of pointlessness, as if a surplus of knowledge is tantamount to moral wisdom.

I think science struggles with a meaning crisis, and that what we do is important, but if it’s just used for technology or acquisition of knowledge for its own [sake], then there’s a pointlessness to it. I think to be a complete human being, you need to have both the knowledge that science uniquely can provide, and that the Torah cannot, about the natural world. [But] it’s functionally useless to acquire knowledge without any associated wisdom coming from it or leading to it.

To Keating, that sort of moral wisdom can come only from religion.

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.