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September 21, 2025
Key Developments and What We're Discussing Today:
- Today, September 21, marks 716 days since October 7, 2023. The Hamas-led attack on Simchat Torah resulted in 1,182 fatalities (including 44 Americans) and over 4,000 wounded. 251 hostages (210 alive, 41 dead bodies) were taken during a day of brutal savagery and sexual violence. It was the largest single massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, with more than one in every 10,000 Israelis killed, and the third overall deadliest terrorist attack in the world to date.
- The 48 remaining hostages, 25 known to be dead, 20 thought to be alive, and three of unknown status, include the bodies of two Americans: Omer Neutra and Itay Chen. It is beyond outrageous that after all this time, they are still enduring torture and starvation in tunnels with no outside contact. It is beyond outrageous that no hostages have been released since June.
- When it comes to Israel, our priorities in 5786 must be the release of all remaining hostages, ending the war in Gaza, flooding Gaza with humanitarian aid, and opposing actions inimical to progress toward a two-state solution, including settler violence, settlement expansion, and annexation plans. In other words, distinguishing between the best interests of Netanyahu and his messianic right-wing government and the best interests of the State of Israel and its people.
- When it comes to the United States, we cannot pretend that we have a "both sides" problem or that we are "polarized." If one party, the Republican Party, is not defeated at the ballot box, our democracy may not survive. Americans will not vote the right way if we do not call it as it is, not as we might wish it to be--including the reality that violent political rhetoric comes primarily from the GOP and political violence comes primarily from the right.
- The best proof that laughter is the best medicine is that Trump wants it banned. Disney's Mickey Mouse display of anticipatory compliance should disgust everyone opposed to authoritarianism and supportive of our First Amendment rights.
- The Antisemitism Awareness Act is the wrong way to fight the real problem of antisemitism. The IHRA definition is not designed and should not be used as legal guidance or educational guidance on antisemitism.
- Rosh HaShanah starts Monday night. Wishing everyone a good and sweet year, a year when all the hostages return, the war in Gaza ends, and democracy prevails over authoritarianism at home and abroad. L'Shana Tova.
Fight speech with speech, not censorship or violence. You're welcome to read for free, but if you get something out of this newsletter, you can give something back by credit card or PayPal, by Venmo @Steven-Sheffey, or by check. Thank you.
Greetings!
When we observed Rosh HaShanah two years ago, we never dreamed that three weeks later, on Simchat Torah, Hamas would launch its attack and that two years later, dozens of hostages would still be in Gaza.
We've seen the government of Benjamin Netanyahu take Israel down paths that we thought the Israel we know and love would never take. Some of us have responded by pretending that it isn't happening and blaming the world for seeing that it is happening, mistaking legitimate outrage for antisemitism.
Some of us have responded by failing to distinguish between the government of Israel and the State of Israel, rejecting and dissociating from the latter out of frustration and anger at the former.
Both approaches are self-defeating and counterproductive.
We cannot deny that the Netanyahu government condones settler terrorism in the West Bank, wants to annex the West Bank and forever foreclose the possibility of a two-state solution, and is responsible for needless death and suffering of Palestinians, Israeli soldiers, and hostages, all in service of a war that has become pointless. As Rob Eshman writes, Israel's central covenant with Jews is in peril like never before.
Democrats who have historically supported Israel, condemned October 7, and continue to reaffirm their support for Israel are backing measures designed to end this madness. They are pro-Israel. If you doubt that the Democrats calling for recognition of a Palestinian state are our friends, read their Senate resolution for yourself.
Israel does not lose its right to exist or to defend itself because we disagree with its current government. But how can we credibly argue that the U.S. has no say in how Israel uses the arms the U.S. provides to it? Is that a standard we would apply to any other recipient of U.S. military assistance? Until recently, this was a theoretical question. Thanks to Netanyahu, it is a practical question.
The pro-Israel community must fight (nonviolently) alongside the Israelis demonstrating in the streets for the soul of Israel, an end to the war in Gaza, and the return of the hostages. By opposing Netanyahu, we support Israel.
That's how we reaffirm our commitment to Zionism and to an Israel that strives to live into the Zionist dream as articulated in Israel's Declaration of Independence, the Israel we love and need.
Things aren't much better here. You can accept, as I do, that neither party is perfect and accept, as I do, that this is not a "both sides" problem. The Democratic Party is a normal, flawed American political party.
The Republican Party is what Thomas Mann and Norman Ornstein described as "ideologically extreme; scornful of compromise; unmoved by conventional understanding of facts, evidence and science; and dismissive of the legitimacy of its political opposition."
Mann and Ornstein quoted Mike Lofgren: "The Republican Party is becoming less and less like a traditional political party in a representative democracy and becoming more like an apocalyptic cult, or one of the intensely ideological authoritarian parties of 20th century Europe."
Those were harsh words in 2012 and 2011 and they are harsh words now. They were true then and they are truer now. We did not listen then. We cannot afford to plug our ears now.
We cannot ignore the truth about the Republican Party because we want to "lower the temperature" or because we don't understand that by definition, democratic elections are partisan.
The rhetorical temperature is high right now because one side, the Republican Party, is fanning the flames. The way to put the fire out is not to ignore the source of the heat but to identify it and extinguish it--with ballots, not bullets.
That does not mean disrespecting those who disagree with us. Disagreements should not devolve into incivility or unkindness. It does mean that we speak the truth and fight bad speech with good speech, in tone and in substance.
Illinois Governor Adlai Stevenson II said in 1952, “I offer my opponents a bargain: if they will stop telling lies about us, I will stop telling the truth about them.” Republicans did not accept the bargain then and they seem in no mood to accept it today. That's on them, not us.
Political violence is never acceptable in a democracy. Far more political violence comes from the right than from the left. Many reputable studies have reached that conclusion.
The Department of Justice appears to have recently deleted a study showing that domestic terrorists are most often right-wing. The myth that left-wing violence is more prevalent underpins GOP efforts to use Charlie Kirk's murder to advance their authoritarian agenda, including silencing comedians (but not stopping there).
Violating the First Amendment is never acceptable in our democracy. If you don't understand that Jimmy Kimmel's cancellation is no laughing matter, read this.
Watch this message from Disney.
Watch this from Jon Stewart.
Concerned about rhetoric? Listen to the guy Republicans nominated for president three times in a row. And let's not forget this gem.
Trump is not the fringe of the GOP. Trump is the GOP. You'll find nothing comparable on the Democratic side of the aisle.
Neither of our two political parties is perfect. But one is far worse than the other, and pretending that "both sides" are equally responsible is the epitome of irresponsibility.
We hear all the time that we should take Iran's rhetoric seriously, that we should take Hamas's rhetoric seriously. We should. They are not Iran or Hamas, but why shouldn't we take Trump and the GOP's rhetoric seriously?
Violence is not the answer. The answer is to take democracy, science, and sound public policy seriously, recognize that the Republican Party has become a party of corruption and oligarchy, and speak and vote accordingly--while we can still speak and vote.
Corrections. I'm entitled to my own opinions but not to my own facts, so I appreciate it when readers bring errors to my attention. In last week's newsletter, I used the term "half-mast" when I should have used "half-staff" in reference to the flag. I misspelled Rep. Jacobs' first name: It is "Sara," not "Sarah." The link to an article by Jamelle Bouie was incorrect. This is the correct link.
In Case You Missed It:
- Yehuda Kurtzer writes that it is astonishing how badly the Jewish community is getting played by the Trump administration and that "many of our leaders and our people are embracing these authoritarian power plays under the morally misguided approach that the ends justify the means."
Republican Antisemitism of the Week. This is a new feature. Republican antisemitism is so common that we don't consider it news anymore. That has to stop. Who better to start with than this week's loser, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA)?
To make this manageable, this feature focuses on Republicans who hold federal or statewide office and who have said something antisemitic in the past week. I'd do the same for Democrats, but I'd have too many long stretches of nothing.
Tweets of the Week. Hadar Susskind and Joanne Carducci.
Video Clips of the Week. Israeli conductor Ilan Volkov and Israeli comedian Udi Kagan on PTSD.
High Holiday Video Clip of the Week. High Holiday Tickets.
Vintage Music Clip of the Week. We lost Bobby Hart last week.
For those new to this newsletter. This is the newsletter even Republicans have to read and the original home of the viral and beloved Top Ten Signs You're At a Republican Seder (yes, I wrote it). If someone forwarded this newsletter to you, why not subscribe and get it in your inbox every Sunday? Just click here--it's free.
I periodically update my posts on the IHRA definition of antisemitism and on why Democrats are better than Republicans on Israel and antisemitism. My definition of "pro-Israel" is here (it's a work in progress, as am I).
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