OK. I have been hospitalized for three more weeks. I entered for surgery on an esophageal hernia repair, was told to expect a stay-over of one night but to pack for two nights “just in case.” “Just in case” of what? That’s the part of the next three weeks. It felt less that they were repairing my esophagus than that they were preparing my sarcophagus (ח"ו, ed.).
I left my laptop at home. However, the news would not let me desist from writing. So my wife Denise traveled 90 minutes back home to retrieve the laptop, 90 minutes back to drop it off with me, and now I write.
I could have been a major league baseball player. I was a really good catcher, never dropped a foul tip third strike, threw out runners, and hit for average and with power. And I also was passionate about the sport. The only thing that stood in my way was Shabbat. I also could have been a world-class chess grandmaster. The only thing that stood in my way for that was chess. But I know the rules and a bit about the game.
Imagine that I take the other guy’s queen, then one of his bishops, then the other, and also a rook (castle), and he gets so bemused that he retaliates by capturing five of my pawns. From my experience, I basically have won. I just have to close the deal. That is what happened this weekend with Israel and Iran.
Israel knocked off a slew of mega terror commanders in Iran’s upper echelon, including the guy with Qassem Soleimani-level standing — in all, two super-power IRGC generals and five officers. The airstrike in Syria killed Gen. Mohammad Reza Zahedi, who led the elite Quds Force in Lebanon and Syria until 2016, according to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard. It also killed Zahedi’s deputy, Gen Mohammad Hadi Hajriahimi, and five other officers. Israel also obliterated the building adjacent to Iran’s consulate there. (They should have moved it to Jerusalem.) And some other Syrian non-Zionists.
In retaliation, Iran and her proxies in Syria, Iraq, and the Houthis of Yemen went ballistic, launching more than 300 armed drones, cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles at Israel. Here is what they accomplished:
1. They forced America to outright participate, for the first time ever, in defending Israel.
2. They took the wind out of Biden criticizing Israel for the unfortunate fog-of-war bombing of the seven humanitarian food people.
3. They forced Biden to stop pressing for a Gaza ceasefire and instead to beg for a retaliation ceasefire.
4. They forced Jordan to outright participate, for the first time ever, in defending Israel, albeit by defending their own Jordanian air space.
5. They took the wind out of England’s miserable David Cameron criticizing Israel for the unfortunate fog-of-war bombing of the seven humanitarian food people.
6. They forced Cameron to stop pressing for a Gaza ceasefire and instead to beg for a retaliation ceasefire.
7. They put Israel’s Iron Dome, Arrow II, and David’s Sling systems to their first-ever true battle tests when the chips are on the table.
8. They demonstrated to Israel, America, Arabs, and the world that those systems are pretty, pretty, pretty good.
9. They provided Israel with an advertising and marketing opportunity more valuable than buying a minute on the Super Bowl, to line up customers throughout the world to buy Israeli-made air-defense systems because they now are proven, beyond bluster and hype, to actually work during warfare.
10. They showed the Sunni Muslim Arab world what awaits them if the Shiite Muslim Iranians ever succeed against Israel, forcing those Sunnis to consider joining the Abraham Accords to protect their own necks because they each know that, if Iran shot 300 things at them, their oil fields would be gone, and so would they, except for a surviving keffiyeh or two.
11. They killed an Arab Muslim Nomad girl.
12. American Democrats (other than the insane Squad of Marxist Jew-haters) now are forced to recognize that Israel is not a basket case standing in line for charity but is a critical partner in protecting American interests in the Middle East. That is why, although Israel almost-always takes heat from the American State Department, she is a favorite of the Defense Department. Secretaries of State (except Alexander Haig, George Shultz, and Mike Pompeo) hate Israel. But Defense Secretaries (except for Jewish apostate Caspar Weinberger) love or, at least, like Israel.
So what should Israel do now? Like the guy who takes all those high-value chess pieces in exchange for a few pawns, Israel can legitimately “call it a day,” saying that she will take the win, and even would invite similar exchanges forever. Or she could try to emulate the exchange by picking another Iranian embassy or consulate to bomb along with the next guy or two on the IRGC list, and then await another 300 drones, cruise, and ballistic missiles. Or she could use this as an excuse to invade Rafiach (Rafah).
Often, when I awake to a crazy news story, I say to myself: “Today — right now — those idiots finally should annex Judea and Samaria” Like on 9-11. Who can care about Israeli annexation as the Twin Towers go down? Or the day that Michael Jackson died or Kobe Bryant’s helicopter went down or Lady Diana died. Or the day of the January 6 tumult. So this is one of those moments — if not to annex Judea and Samaria, then at least to go into Rafah and get the darned war into its final critical phase.
I don’t know whether Israel’s defense establishment believes it has the tools and skills to take out Iranian nuclear reactors, but if it does, this is the time to strike. Or take out some missile factories. Or take out Iran’s electric grid. Or their water purification system. Let the Iranians rebuild those things with the great technological minds of the Houthis.
The point is that, under normal circumstances, such attacks by Israel would inflame Israel’s “allies,” who would condemn and withhold arms shipments, and pass hateful resolutions in the Security Council. They would blame Israel for starting World War III. But right now, at this moment, Israel could get away with it if she has the capability to go it alone. The American Congress would support it. There are plenty more than 51 votes in Senate if Schumer gets out of the way, maybe even if he does not. Americans, no less than Israelis, want that Iranian nuclear program wiped out. The thing is, America now is weak. Israel is strong. Crazy, huh?
Americans have no taste for Muslim madmen in turbans running the world through murderous proxies. If Trump gets elected, the Biden spigot to Iran gets turned off for at least four years and maybe eight or twelve.
To any fool contemplating voting for Biden in November, I have one word:
Don’t.
To receive Rav Fischer’s Weekly Extensive Torah Commentaries or to attend any or all of Rav Fischer’s weekly 60-minute live Zoom classes on the Weekly Torah Portion, the Biblical Prophets, the Mishnah, Rambam Mishneh Torah, or Advanced Judaic Texts, send an email to: [email protected]
His 10-part exciting and fact-based series of one-hour classes on the Jewish Underground liberation movement (Irgun, Lechi, and Haganah) and the Rise of Modern Israel can be found here. In it, he uses historic video clips of Irgun, Lechi, and Haganah actions, decades of past Arab terrorist atrocities, as well as stirring musical selections from the Underground and video’d interviews of participants, to augment data, statistics, maps, and additional historical records to create a fascinating, often gripping, and scholarly enriching educational experience about issues that remain deeply relevant today as Israel engages in an existential war in Gaza against Hamas terrorism.
His latest deeply moving weekly series of informational and inspirational programs on the Hamas Gaza war may be found here.
His 40-part Bible Study series covering all of I Samuel (First Samuel) intensively with Talmudic and Midrashic commentaries is now up here.