For a Country in Mourning, Two Important Milestones

Aug. 30 2024

According to Jewish tradition, those mourning a close relative recite the Aramaic prayer known as Kaddish (literally, “sanctification”) daily from the funeral until eleven months after the death. Following the Jewish calendar, those whose spouses, siblings, parents, and children were murdered on October 7 concluded saying Kaddish this week. Sivan Rahav Meir reflects:

Kaddish opens with the mourners expressing their desire to glorify and sanctify the magnificent Name of God: “Yitgadal v’yitkadash shmei rabbah!” [May his great name be magnified and hallowed!] The words that follow describe a perfect world that has achieved its tikkun (rectification) and beseeching that God’s presence in the world be further magnified.

Since every human being is created in God’s image, when a person passes away, God’s revelation in the world is diminished somewhat. Something holy is now missing from our world. Therefore, we request that the divine light be increased to fill that void. And this year, that void is almost unfathomable.

But at the same time, Israel marked a very different milestone, with the first wedding in Kibbutz Be’eri since the attacks that destroyed it almost completely and claimed the lives of many of its residents:

The groom, Elad Dubnov, and his bride, Mika, had married in a civil ceremony on October 7, 2022. On their first wedding anniversary, they woke up to a nightmare. Mika was absent, but her family was in their safe room, cut off from communication for hours. Only two days later did she learn that her aunt, Galit Meisner, had been murdered by the Hamas terrorists. On October 8, Elad was called up for reserve duty. Before he left, the couple decided to have a traditional wedding in the Kibbutz Be’eri synagogue. “I always wanted a traditional Jewish wedding, and now Mika had come around,” Elad said.

Read more at Jerusalem Post

More about: Gaza War 2023, Israeli society, Judaism, Kaddish, Marriage

How Did Qatar Become Hamas’s Protector?

July 14 2025

How did Qatar, an American ally, become the nerve center of the leading Palestinian jihadist organization? Natalie Ecanow explains.

When Jordan expelled Hamas in 1999, Qatar offered sanctuary to the group, which had already become notorious for using suicide-bombing attacks over the previous decade. . . . Hamas chose to relocate to Syria. However, that arrangement lasted for only a decade. With the outbreak of the Syrian civil war, the terror group found its way back to Qatar.

In 2003, Hamas leaders reportedly convened in Qatar after the IDF attempted to eliminate Hamas’s founder, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, following a Hamas suicide bombing in Jerusalem that killed seven people, including two American citizens. This episode led to one of the first efforts by Qatar to advocate for its terror proxy.

Thirteen years and five wars between Hamas and Israel later, Qatar’s support for Hamas has not waned. . . . To this day, Qatari officials maintain that the office came at the “request from Washington to establish indirect lines of communication with Hamas.” However, an Obama White House official asserted that there was never any request from Washington. . . . Inexplicably, the United States government continues to rely on Qatar to negotiate for the release of the hostages held by Hamas, even as the regime hosts the terror group’s political elite.

A reckoning is needed between our two countries. Congressional hearings, legislation, executive orders, and other measures to regulate relations between our countries are long overdue.

Read more at FDD

More about: Gaza War 2023, Hamas, Qatar, U.S. Foreign policy