“His tongue is like a lethal arrow… with his mouth, he speaks cordially… but in his heart, he lays a deadly trap.” Yirmiyahu 9:7

Lashon Hara kills.

Not metaphorically. Not approximately. The Sages were direct and unambiguous: negative speech about another person is compared to murder. Just as taking a life destroys a person physically, Lashon Hara destroys them socially, professionally, and emotionally. It kills their reputation, their relationships, their livelihood — sometimes all three at once. The Talmud calls it “character assassination” — and treats it with a severity that, at first glance, can seem exaggerated. After all, what is the harm in a few words?

That is exactly the question the prophet Yirmiyahu answers.

Why an arrow — and not a sword or a knife?

A sword requires the attacker to be physically close — face to face with the victim. The person being attacked can see it coming. They can plead for mercy. The attacker can have a change of heart and return the sword to its sheath. There is still a moment of human contact, a possibility of stopping.

An arrow is different. It is launched from a distance, from concealment, without the shooter ever having to confront the person they are harming. The victim never sees it coming. They may not even know who fired it. Lashon Hara works exactly this way. The person being spoken about is not in the room. They cannot defend themselves. The damage reaches them from a direction they never anticipated, from a source they may never identify.

Once released, the arrow cannot be recalled.

With a sword, the attacker can still stop. With an arrow, the moment it leaves the bow, it is beyond anyone’s control. No regret, no apology, no change of heart can bring it back. The damage is already in motion.

Our words are the same. The moment we say something negative about another person, we lose all control over it. We do not know who will repeat it, how it will be distorted, how far it will travel, or what it will eventually destroy. A comment made at a Shabbat table can reach a person’s workplace, their children’s school, their closest relationships — sometimes within hours. The moment of release is the point of no return.

But the arrow in Yirmiyahu’s image is not just any arrow. It is lethal. Like a poisoned arrow. 

This is the detail the Sages found most chilling. An ordinary wound may heal with time. A poisoned arrow is different — it does not just wound, it kills. And it does so slowly, invisibly, continuing to spread damage long after the initial strike. The victim may not feel the full effect immediately. But the poison works.

This is precisely how Lashon Hara operates. A reputation does not collapse the moment the words are spoken. A marriage, a career, a friendship — these unravel gradually, through conversations we never hear, through impressions we never see form, until the full weight of it lands on the victim. Often irreversibly.

And here is the cruelest dimension of the metaphor. Yirmiyahu says the wicked person speaks cordially — with a warm tone, a friendly smile — while in his heart he lays a trap. This is the signature of Lashon Hara: it comes dressed as concern, as honesty, as friendship. “I’m only telling you this — don’t repeat it.” “I’m not saying anything bad, just the facts.” Pleasant on the outside. Poisoned on impact.

The Tora holds us to an extraordinary standard when it comes to speech — not because words are trivial, but because they are not. Speaking requires no physical effort. No weapon changes hands. And yet the damage can be permanent, the victim unsuspecting, and the arrow, once released, impossible to call back.

“You shall not go about as a talebearer among your people.” Vayikra 19:16

Great-minded people talk about ideas. Average-minded people talk about events. Small-minded people talk about other people.

Most people think of Lashon Hara as “gossip” — idle chatter, rumors, things you say behind someone’s back. But the Torah’s definition is much broader and, frankly, more demanding than most of us realize.

Lashon Hara — in correct Hebrew, Leshon HaRa — literally means “the tongue of the evil individual.” It refers to any negative statement made about another person, even when what you are saying is completely true. This is perhaps the most surprising element of the prohibition: truth is not an excuse. With a few exceptions that we will discuss later, if your words damage someone’s reputation, cause others to think less of them, embarrass them, or harm their relationships or livelihood — it is Lashon Hara, regardless of whether the facts are accurate.

But Lashon Hara is only one of three related prohibitions the Tora imposes on our speech.

Motsi Shem Ra is the deliberate spreading of false negative information about a person — outright defamation. Because it combines harmful speech with dishonesty, it is considered even more severe than Lashon Hara.

Rekhilut — often translated as “tale-bearing” — refers to repeating information about people in a way that creates conflict or discord, even when the information itself is not particularly negative. Telling person A what person B said about them, for example, is Rekhilut — even if what B said was mild — because it stirs up resentment and damages relationships that might otherwise have remained intact.

Together, these three prohibitions — Lashon Hara, Motsi Shem Ra, and Rekhilut — cover virtually every form of harmful speech.

Why does the Tora treat all of this with such severity? Because the damage is real and often irreversible. Our Sages compared Lashon Hara to killing — and the comparison is not hyperbole. Destroying someone’s reputation, career, marriage, or good name is, in certain respects, like taking their life. A person’s name is their most precious possession. Unlike financial loss, which can sometimes be recovered, a ruined reputation may never fully heal.

The Talmud adds a striking observation: Lashon Hara harms not one person but three simultaneously — the subject, the listener, and the speaker. We will explore this in a separate article. For now it is enough to note that no one walks away from harmful speech unscathed.

It is also important to understand that Lashon Hara is not limited to spoken words. Writing a negative post on social media, sending a damaging WhatsApp message, forwarding a humiliating image, leaving a malicious comment — these are all forms of Lashon Hara. The platform is irrelevant. What matters is the harm caused. Bullying — whether in person, in a group chat, or online — is one of the most destructive forms of Lashon Hara in our time, and the Tora’s concern for the dignity of every human being is as urgent today as it has ever been.

Understanding what Lashon Hara is — and what it is not — is the first step toward guarding our speech. In the coming articles, we will explore why it is compared to a deadly weapon, when speaking up is actually required, and how to protect ourselves from participating in harmful speech even when those around us are doing so.

You are at a wedding or a reception, sitting at a table with friends — or with people you barely know — when the conversation suddenly turns. Someone begins speaking negatively about a neighbor, a colleague, someone from the community. You didn’t start it. You don’t want to participate. But here you are.

Most people assume that staying silent is enough. Unfortunately, it is not.

The Tora prohibits not only speaking Lashon Hara but also listening to it. Our Sages taught that remaining silent while someone is being spoken about badly constitutes tacit approval. In some ways, the listener bears even greater responsibility than the speaker — because without a willing ear, the conversation would stop. Silence is not neutrality. It is permission.

So what should you do?

Option 1: Speak up. The most courageous response is to gently redirect the conversation — calmly, without lecturing or creating a scene. Something as simple as “Can we change the subject?” or “We should not talk about people who aren’t here” is enough. Done with sensitivity, this can be surprisingly effective, and others at the table may privately welcome it even if they lacked the confidence to say it themselves. That said, this option requires reading the room carefully. Whether it is appropriate depends on how well you know the people around you and how receptive they are likely to be.

Option 2: Leave. If speaking up is not realistic, the cleanest solution is to quietly remove yourself. You don’t need to make an announcement or offer an explanation. A natural exit — stepping away to greet someone across the room, get a drink, or check on something — is completely sufficient. And if none of those feel natural, there is always the most reliable exit of all: glance at your phone, step away from the table, and take a “very important call.” Walking away is not rude. It is honest.

Option 3: Stay — but don’t participate. If leaving is genuinely impossible, you can remain physically present while making sure you are not a participant. This requires two things. First, make a conscious inner decision not to absorb or credit anything being said. What you hear is not evidence about anyone. Second, watch your face. Do not nod, smile, or signal agreement in any way. Let your expression quietly communicate that you are uncomfortable with the direction of the conversation.

One important distinction. There is a real difference between someone who finds themselves innocently seated at a table where Lashon Hara suddenly breaks out around them — and someone who passes by a conversation, hears that people are being spoken about, and deliberately stops to listen. The first person is in a difficult situation not of their making. The second has made a choice. Even if they never say a word and don’t believe what they hear — stopping to listen is itself a transgression. The exit was available. They chose not to take it.

Harmful speech requires not just a mouth, but an ear. Guard both.

Most people, when they think about Lashon Hara, focus on one victim: the person being spoken about. And indeed, that person suffers real harm. Their reputation is damaged, people’s opinions of them shift, and often they have no idea it is happening and no opportunity to defend themselves.

But the Talmud teaches something remarkable: Lashon Hara harms three people simultaneously — and the person being spoken about may actually suffer the least.

The first victim is the subject — the person being discussed. The damage to them is obvious: their good name is diminished, relationships are affected, and trust is eroded. In many cases, this damage cannot be fully repaired, even if the speaker later regrets what was said.

The second victim is the listener. This is the one most people overlook. The moment you hear negative information about someone, something changes in the way you see them — often permanently, even subconsciously. You may try to remain objective, but the mind doesn’t work that way. Once a seed of suspicion or contempt is planted, it is very difficult to uproot. The listener has received distorted information that will color their judgment, their behavior, and their relationship with that person going forward. They have been spiritually and psychologically harmed by something they did not ask for and may not have wanted.

Moreover, the listener bears a halakhic responsibility. Listening passively to Lashon Hara is itself a transgression. The Tora says: “Do not accept a false report” (Shemot 23:1). Our Sages extend this prohibition to any negative speech about another person. Sitting silently while someone is being spoken about badly is not neutral — it is a form of participation.

The third victim is the speaker. This is the most counterintuitive. The person doing the talking, the one who seems powerful in the moment — who has information, an audience, and the floor — is actually damaging themselves profoundly. They are cultivating a habit of negative thinking. They are training their mind to seek out the worst in others. They are eroding the trust others place in them (because everyone knows: if he speaks about others this way, he speaks about me the same way). And according to our tradition, they are incurring a severe spiritual consequence that no amount of clever framing can undo.

The Sages summarize this with a striking formulation: Lashon Hara kills three — the one who says it, the one who hears it, and the one about whom it is said. Understanding that we are not just protecting others when we guard our speech — we are protecting ourselves — is one of the most powerful motivations for taking this mitzvah seriously.

Based on Prof. Yosef Ben-Shlomo z”l

1. Judenrein — a goal without precedent

For the first time in history, a government made the annihilation of an entire people a supreme national objective, even though the overwhelming majority of that people did not even live within its borders.

A people that had no historical, political, or territorial conflict with Germany.

Jews constituted less than one percent of Germany’s population.

Yehuda Bauer distilled the Holocaust to its defining core: an unprecedented form of genocide, driven not by territory, power, or circumstance, but by pure ideology—global in scope and total in intent.

No other genocide in human history—not the Armenians, not the Tutsis, not Cambodia—was driven by a systematic, explicit ambition to eradicate an entire people everywhere on earth.

For the first time in history, every Jew, everywhere, was marked for death solely for being born.

The difference was not in cruelty or suffering, but in the absolute nature of the aim: nothing less than complete eradication.

2. Not a single voice of opposition

Wannsee Conference, January 1942: Breakfast was served at 9:00 a.m., followed by about 90 minutes of discussion.

At Wannsee, they planned the murder of 11 million Jews, including those in Britain, Ireland, Spain, and even 200 in Albania.

No one objected.
Not the army (which needed every man for the front).
Not the bureaucrats.
Not a single word.

3. Germany acted against its own interests

1944. The Eastern Front is collapsing. The Red Army is advancing.

Yet Germany diverts 147 trains and thousands of men to deport 437,000 Hungarian Jews to Auschwitz in just 56 days.

The Holocaust was not a side effect of the war.
It was the war.

4. They were not monsters—they were ordinary Germans

No German was ever punished for refusing to kill Jews.

Yet in Reserve Police Battalion 101, when the commander offered the men the chance to step aside, fewer than 15 out of 500 did.

Professor Ben-Shlomo recounts reading the diary of Rudolf Höss.

Höss describes the moment he watches a mother holding her children on the way to the gas chamber. For a brief instant, thoughts of his own children surface—a flicker of pity.

And then, in one of the most chilling gestures ever recorded, he gives sweets to the Jewish mother’s children and gently pats them on the shoulder to encourage them forward on their way to the gas chamber.

5. Not a single bomb was dropped

The Allies knew much by 1941—and in detail from the Vrba-Wetzler report in April 1944.

Munitions factories located immediately adjacent to Auschwitz were bombed four times by the U.S. Army Air Forces between August and December 1944.

On September 13, 1944, stray bombs intended for those factories fell inside the Auschwitz camp itself and killed five SS men.

The target was accessible. Yet the gas chambers, crematoria, and rail lines leading to them were never deliberately targeted.

Historian David Wyman asked a question that is also an accusation:

“How is it possible that the governments of the two greatest democracies knew there was a place where 2,000 defenseless human beings could be murdered every half hour, and yet felt no obligation to search for any way to disrupt it?”

6. No way out

Unlike the religious persecutions in the eras of Greece, Rome, or the Inquisition—where escape was possible through conversion—in Nazi Germany even that option did not exist.

There was no alternative. No conversion. No escape.

Even the concept of choosing to die al Kiddush Hashem, out of refusal to convert, was not relevant—because no such choice was ever offered.

אִם יִהְיֶה נִדַּחֲךָ בִּקְצֵה הַשָּׁמָיִם מִשָּׁם יְקַבֶּצְךָ ה‘ אֱלֹקיךָ וּמִשָּׁם יִקָּחֶךָ וֶהֱבִיאֲךָ ה‘ אֱלֹקיךָ אֶל–הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר–יָרְשׁוּ אֲבֹתֶיךָ וִירִשְׁתָּהּ וְהֵיטִבְךָ וְהִרְבְּךָ  מֵאֲבֹתֶיךָ

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This Wednesday night May 4th we will begin the celebrations of Yom HaAtzmaut, Israel’s Independence Day. The return of the Jewish people to their land is undoubtedly one of the greatest miracles in the history of mankind. It has never happened that a defeated nation survived among other nations, and returned to its land, after almost 2,000 years of exile. We must become aware of the magnitude of this miracle, appreciate the Jewish State, and be infinitely grateful to God for belonging to the generation of Jews who were born with an already existing “Israel”, and who enjoy the incredible privilege of taking a Jewish State for granted. 

THE FIRST IMMIGRANTS

In 1870, only about 25,000 Jews lived in Israel. Jews were the majority of the residents of Safed and Jerusalem, most of them Sephardic Jews.  Between 1880 and 1914, tens of thousands of Jews began arriving in Israel from Europe, escaping horrific persecutions, pogroms, and massacres. Rabbi Isaac haCohen Kuk (1865–1935), one of the most important leaders of the religious Zionist movement, said that he could not help but see European antisemitism “as a providential way of pushing Jews back to their land.” In the first wave of migration known as “The First Aliyah” (1880-1905), some 25,000 Jews from Europe arrived in Israel. Then, in the second Aliyah, (1905–1914), another 35,000 Jews arrived in Israel. However, not all Jews fleeing Europe made it to Israel. Many emigrated to the United States, Argentina, Australia to England. Why? Because Israel —which in those years was part of the Ottoman Empire— was a no man’s land. Mostly abandoned. There was no work. And life there was very, very difficult. At the beginning of 1900, some 2,500 Jews also arrived from Yemen.

A DIFFICULT TIME 

In his book “Innocents Abroad” Mark Twain described Israel with these words: “….. A desolate country whose soil is rich enough, but is given over wholly to weeds… a silent mournful expanse…. a desolation…. we never saw a human being on the whole route…. hardly a tree or shrub anywhere. Even the olive tree and the cactus, those fast friends of a worthless soil, had almost deserted the country.” Many efforts were made to support the first immigrants. It is worth highlighting the great benefactors of that time: Sir Moshe Montefiore (1784-1885) and Baron de Rothschild (1845-1934), who were instrumental in buying land, building cities, and organizing agricultural colonies. But despite all efforts, within a few years of arriving, most of the new immigrants ended up leaving Israel due to the extremely difficult living conditions, lack of work and hostility from the local Arab population. Of the 25,000 Jews who had arrived in the first wave of migration, only 5,000 remained, which included the 2,500 Jews from Yemen. And of the 50,000 Jewish immigrants who arrived between 1905 and 1914, the half ended up leaving Israel. Some returned to Europe, but most emigrated to the United States, which had already absorbed a million Jews between 1850 and 1900, and the trend continued to rise (in 1924 the Jewish population of the United States reached almost 3 million people).

A FADING DREAM? 

The situation in Israel in the years before the First World War was neither good nor promising. The Jewish colony in Israel, instead of growing, was getting smaller. Emigration from Europe was also interrupted, among other reasons, by the massive wave of assimilation. Unfortunately, as a result of anti-Semitic persecution, many Jews ended up converting to Christianity to avoid dispossession and death. On the other hand, many of those who left Europe sought other horizons, especially in the Americas.

All this could be solved if the Jews could have an independent state and take charge of it, politically and economically. But despite the efforts of Zionist activists, political support for a Jewish state could not be garnered. When the famous Zionist leader Theodore Herzl (1860-1904) desperately asked Pope Pius X for his support in creating a state in which Russia’s Jews could escape pogroms and death, the Pope’s scathing response was emblematic: “as long as the Jews do not convert to Christianity, they would not count on their support”….

In 1914 it seemed that the return of the people of Israel to the land of their ancestors had stopped, and the dream of a State of their own was further away than ever…

And in July of that year, the First World War began.

To be continued…

THE RENAISSANCE OF THE HEBREW LANGUAGE

Despite all the difficulties in re-establishing a Jewish state and starting a new life in Israel, in the early years of the 20th century an incredible event, unprecedented in world history, took place: the revival of the Hebrew language – a language that was not used in daily life for almost 20 centuries. Eliezer Ben-Yehuda (1858–1922) was instrumental in this area. He published articles on the need to revive the Hebrew language and participated in the project known as the Ben-Yehuda Hebrew Dictionary. However, what ultimately facilitated the revitalization of the language was the development of schools in settlements, cities, and agricultural colonies (see the photo above of a kindergarten in Israel from 1905). The Hebrew language served as the language that united the new European immigrants, who spoke Russian or Yiddish, with the already established Sephardic Jews, who spoke Arabic or Ladino. Hebrew, which began as a colloquial language and for everyday conversation, became the official language of the Jews and 

Holocaust denial takes many forms. Sometimes it is claimed that the Holocaust never happened, and it is instead part of the “Zionist propaganda”, as is typical of the Iranian regime and its proxies. Other times, the number of Holocaust victims is minimized and dismissed as exaggerated, with anti-Semites claiming that the actual number of victims is much lower. In recent times, Holocaust denial has taken on a new form, attempting to deny its unique nature and make it seem more “inclusive”. This is often done by comparing the Holocaust to other wars and conflicts and avoiding mention of “the Jews” specifically.

Here are some important facts that clarify the Nazis’ specific obsession with the Jews (inspired by the ideas of Professor Shelomo ben Yosef):

THE FINAL SOLUTION

On January 20, 1942, the Wannsee Conference was held. This meeting of the highest officials of Nazi Germany and the leaders of the SS established the strategy for the implementation of the “Final Solution” specifically to the Jewish problem. The Jews of Europe would be deported to occupied Poland and killed in death camps. It was decided “unanimously” at this conference to implement the genocide of men, women, and children, and there was not a single voice of dissent.

JUDENREIN

For the first time in history, a government – democratically elected – implemented a plan for the total annihilation of other people, most of whom did not live within its territory. The goal of the Nazis was to “annihilate the Jews, no matter where they were.” They sought to wipe every single Jew off the face of the planet.

NO OPTIONS FOR JEWS

Unlike in other wars and persecutions, there was no choice for the Jews.   Jews could not save themselves by surrendering or accepting the authority of the enemy, as was the case with all other European citizens. They could not save their lives by abandoning their territory, renouncing their religion, converting, or being baptized. They had nowhere to go. The only option left for the Jews by the Nazis was “death”.

PRIORITIZING GENOCIDE

As shown at the beginning of Steven Spielberg’s documentary “The Last Days,” the Germans acted against their own military interests. When Hitler had to decide whether to send his last troops to fight in Russia, where they were losing the battle, or to use these troops to deport half a million Hungarian Jews and send them to death camps, he decided to invest his efforts in murdering the Jews instead of trying to win the war. The Nazis were not savages or crazy; they were educated, professional, and family-oriented people. Millions of German citizens and common people participated in this extermination plan. It was not a mental illness that made them act in this way, but a visceral ideological hatred against the Jews (Amalek).

THE PLANS OF THE BRITISH ARMY

“Two Hundred Days of Terror” is the name given to a period in the history of the Jews who lived in the Land of Israel during World War II—this period lasted from the spring of 1942 until November 3 of that same year, when units of the German army under the command of General Erwin Rommel advanced eastwards toward the Suez Canal from North Africa.  If the German invasion succeeded, the British were prepared to evacuate the Land of Israel and retreat east to Iraq and India. However, these evacuation plans did not include the evacuation of Jews from the Land of Israel. If the Germans invaded Israel, the Jews would have to face them alone without the help of the British Army. The Yishub (or Yishuv), as the Jewish settlement was called before Israel declared its independence in 1948, had approximately 500,000 Jews. Yitzchak Tabenkin, who later became a member of Israel’s Knesset, declared:

“We have no choice but to fight this war with all the forces we have. We must defend this Yishub and our flag with or without uniform… If our spirit is in us, we will lean on it with all our might or fall on it with all our might. We are ready to stand tall and make sacrifices. We will not be defeated by the enemy’s forces with fatalism but with great responsibility. There is no alternative…”

THE PLANS OF THE NAZIS

In April 1942, the German army unit Afrika Korps, under the command of General Erwin Rommel, began advancing across North Africa toward the Suez Canal. Terror seized the Yishub. It seemed that after the great victories of the Nazis in Africa, no force could stop them. If they reached the Suez Canal, the road to the Land of Israel would be open to them. At that time, the extermination of European Jews was in full swing, and news of it began to infiltrate the Yishub leadership. There was a certainty that if the Germans invaded, they would exterminate the Jews of the Land of Israel: men, women, and children, as they had done in Europe. And they were not wrong. The Germans established a particular unit in Egypt, the Einsatzgruppe Egypt, consisting of 24 SS soldiers under the command of Walter Rauf. Rauf was the infamous inventor of death trucks, which had their exhaust gases connected to the truck’s sealed cabins, in which the victims, who unsuspectingly entered the truck, died from inhaling toxic gases. The trucks of death were already waiting in Egypt. The extermination of the 500,000 Jews in the Land of Israel was supposed to be carried out by the same means and methods used for the murder of European Jews. The Germans planned to use the help of the local Arab population to carry out the systematic murder of Jews under the guidance and command of that small German team. This plan corresponded to the promise the Germans made to the leader of the Palestinian Arabs, Haj Amin al-Husseini, who was in exile in Berlin. Many Arabs awaited the arrival of the armies of Hitler, whom they called “Abu Ali,” hoping he would defeat the British so they could exterminate the Jews.

THE PLANS OF THE JEWS

On April 17, 1942, Moshe Sharet, the head of the political department of the Jewish Agency, addressed General Claude Auchinleck, commander of the Eighth Army of the British Army, with the following words: “There is no doubt that if the Nazis invade the Land of Israel, all the Jews of this land will be destroyed. The extermination of the Jewish race is a basic clause in Nazi ideology. The recently released official news indicates this policy is being implemented with cruelty beyond words. Hundreds of thousands of Jews perished in Poland, the Balkans, Romania, and German-invaded districts in the Soviet Union due to wholesale executions, forced deportations, and the spread of starvation and disease in ghettos and concentration camps. There is reason to fear that the Jews of Israel will be destroyed much faster if they fall into the hands of the Nazis.”

SURRENDERING

Some Jewish leaders proposed surrendering to the Nazis and negotiating with them, following the example of other European-occupied nations. The rationale behind this naive belief was that the Nazis would not see them as a threat and treat them as cruelly as they did Jews in Europe. They also hoped a reconciliation effort might be more successful than resistance and fighting, which could only fuel German hatred towards Jews. These views were heavily criticized for promoting defeatism and demoralization among the population. Other political leaders thought to persuade the British, who were in command of Israel then, to grant them the status of ‘English prisoners of war.’ This status would provide Jews with the rights of prisoners associated with it. Moreover, they planned to urge the British to threaten the Nazis that if they allowed the extermination of Jews, the British would retaliate by killing the German prisoners in their possession. Though altruistic, these ideas were not practical and never fully developed.

HIDING

Many Jews were planning to go into hiding and primarily to hide their children in European and even German monasteries and hospices located in the country. Others sought to make contact with friendly Arabs who were willing to accept a material reward in exchange for hiding Jewish children until the end of the war. However, opinions varied on what to do if the country were to fall into the hands of the Germans. David Ben-Gurion, a prominent Jewish community leader, took a pragmatic approach. He believed that the makeshift soldiers of the Yishub, the Jewish community in Palestine, could not defeat Hitler’s army and that they would be unable to achieve what the French, the Dutch, and other European countries had failed to succeed against the Nazis. In Ben-Gurion’s view, if a German invasion occurred and the British withdrew, the fighting forces of the Haganah, the Jewish paramilitary organization, and the Yishub leadership should withdraw together with the British army to India. They could then return to Israel when the tide of war had turned in their favor.

FIGHT TO THE DEATH

On the other hand, Yitzhak Tabenkin embraced a more nationalist position. He believed that the Jewish communities should “stay in Israel until the end, for our future, for respect for ourselves and loyalty to our history.” This proposal suggested that the entire Jewish population concentrate in the Haifa and Galilee areas and fight to the death. The plan was named “Masada of the Carmel.” This area in the Carmel mountain range provided an opportunity to resist and repel the invader, who would have difficulty moving heavy armored forces in the mountainous terrain. According to the plan, the civilian Jewish population would take refuge in these enclaves. At the same time, commandos and guerrilla units would attack and contain the enemy’s advance. The members of the military organization “Etzel” also conceived a similar plan, but with a different symbolism: in the event of a German invasion, Jews would take refuge in the Old City of Jerusalem, fortifying themselves inside the walls and fighting the battle from there. This symbolic act would represent a declaration of Jewish sovereignty over the Temple Mount (Har-HaBayit) in Jerusalem and a display of great pride and patriotism. For the leaders of these plans, it was clear that if the Germans arrived, they could perhaps delay the invader’s advance. Still, the terrible end of the defenders and the civilian population was inevitable. The very name, “Masada of the Carmel” (Masada or Metsada, is the name of one of the last refuges of the Jews who resisted the Roman army in the 1st century and proceeded to collective suicide when they saw that the enemy could not be stopped), expressed the belief that the Jewish settlement would not be able to survive if the Germans invaded Israel.

PROVIDENTIAL VICTORY

On July 1, 1942, the British halted Rommel’s advance 180 kilometers from the Suez Canal and established a new line of defense. General Bernard Montgomery was appointed as the new commander. He ordered the cancellation of all British withdrawal plans from Israel, preparing to engage the Germans in Egypt. Both sides knew that this battle would be decisive for the fate of the Middle East. On November 3, 1942, with the help of God Almighty, Montgomery’s forces launched the final attack. They defeated Rommel’s forces at the Battle of El-Alamein in Egypt. This triumph was a crucial turning point in the Allies’ victory in World War II.

🔢 SEFIRAT HA’OMER — COUNTING THE OMER What it is, why we do it, and how to count

🌉 A BRIDGE BETWEEN TWO HOLIDAYS

After Pesach, something special begins. Every single night, for 49 days, Jewish people all over the world do the same thing:

👉 They count.

This mitzvah is called Sefirat ha’Omer — “Counting the Omer.” It starts on the second night of Pesach and ends right before Shabuot.

Think of it like a 49-day bridge:

🏕️ Pesach ——————— 49 days ——————— 🏔️ Shabuot (We left Egypt) (We received the Tora)

📖 WHERE DOES THIS COME FROM?

The mitzvah comes directly from the Tora! ה׳ commanded us:

👉 “You shall count for yourselves… seven complete weeks… fifty days” (Vayikra 23:15–16)

This is not a custom someone invented — it is a mitzvah from the Tora itself. That makes it very important!

💭 WHY DO WE COUNT?

When Bene Israel left Egypt, they were not yet ready to receive the Tora. They had left Egypt with their feet — but Egypt had not yet left their hearts.

Think about it this way. Bene Israel had lived in Egypt for 400 years. And Egypt was a place full of very bad values and very bad habits. People there were cruel to each other. They didn’t care if someone was suffering. They worshipped idols — stone statues that cannot see, cannot hear, and cannot do anything. They were superstitious — afraid of cats, afraid of the Nile river, believing in magic and nonsense instead of trusting in ה׳. People gossiped and said terrible things about each other. They lied, they stole, they did not respect their parents, and nobody cared about anyone else.

And Bene Israel had been living right in the middle of all of this for hundreds of years! 😮

Some of those bad habits got inside them — not because they were bad people, but because when you live somewhere for a very long time, you start to think and feel like the people around you. It is like when you spend a whole day with someone who complains about everything — without even noticing, you start complaining too!

So when ה׳ took them out of Egypt, something very important still had to happen. They had to disconnect from the past. All those bad ideas, bad values, and bad habits that had gotten inside their minds and hearts — they had to let go of them, one by one, day by day. They had to look inside themselves and ask: “What did I bring with me from Egypt that I need to leave behind?”

Only when they were truly free on the inside — free from the Egyptian way of thinking — could they be ready to receive the Tora. 📜

ה׳ gave them 49 days to do this work. And the Tora was the destination — the most beautiful and powerful guide for living a completely new and holy life: to love each other, to respect parents, to tell the truth, to believe only in ה׳, and to be a great and holy nation.

The Omer is the journey from leaving Egypt to receiving the Tora. Not just a journey of miles — but a journey of the heart. ❤️

🪞 AND WHAT ABOUT US?

Every year, when we count the Omer, we do the same thing Bene Israel did.

We also live in a world full of influences — things we see, hear, and absorb every day — that are not always good for us. Some of those influences slowly get inside our minds and hearts without us even realizing it. During the Omer, we ask ourselves the same question Bene Israel asked:

👉 “What is inside me — in my thoughts, my habits, my character — that I need to work on and improve, so that I can receive the Tora the way it deserves to be received?”

Maybe it is the way we speak to our friends. Maybe it is how quickly we get angry. Maybe it is something we watch or hear that does not make us better. The Omer is our personal time to disconnect from negative influences — just like Bene Israel disconnected from Egypt — and to prepare ourselves to stand before ה׳ and receive Matan Tora. 🏔️

Every day of counting is like saying: 👉 “I am one day more ready. I am one day closer to the Tora. I am one day better than yesterday.”

🌙 WHEN DO WE COUNT?

✅ At night — right after the stars come out ✅ Every single night — for 49 nights in a row ✅ Standing up — we count while standing

If you forgot to count at night, you can still count the next day — but without a berakha.

🗣️ HOW DO WE COUNT?

Step 1: Say the berakha:

“Barukh Ata ה׳ Elohenu Melekh ha’olam, asher kideshanu bemitzvotav vetzivanu al sefirat ha’omer.”

Step 2: Announce the count:

“Ha’yom [number] yamim la’omer.” (Today is [number] days of the Omer.)

Once you reach 7 days, you say both the days AND the weeks:

“Ha’yom shiv’a yamim — shehem shavua ehad la’omer.” (Today is seven days — which is one week of the Omer.)

After that you keep adding both:

“Ha’yom shemona yamim — shehem shavua ehad ve’yom ehad la’omer.” (Today is eight days — which is one week and one day of the Omer.)

❓ WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU MISS A DAY?

This is a very important halacha!

✅ Missed one night but counted the next day → keep counting with a berakha ✔ ❌ Missed an entire day and night completely → continue counting, but without a berakha for the rest of that year ✖

👉 This is why many people have an Omer calendar on their wall or an app on their phone — so they never forget! 📅

🎯 THE BIG IDEA

Pesach taught us: ה׳ took us out of slavery and made us free. But freedom alone is not enough. Freedom is only meaningful when you use it for something great.

The Omer teaches us that real freedom means disconnecting from the bad influences of the past and preparing ourselves — our minds, our hearts, and our character — to receive the Tora.

Just like Bene Israel spent 49 days becoming ready for Matan Tora, we spend 49 days asking ourselves: “What do I need to improve? What do I need to let go of? How can I be more ready for the Tora?”

✔ Use your freedom to grow ✔ Disconnect from negative influences ✔ Prepare your heart for the Tora ✔ Every single day counts — literally! 😊

✏️ ACTIVITIES

Activity 1 — Find it in the Tora! 📖

Open a Chumash to Vayikra (Leviticus) chapter 23, verses 15–16. Read the pasuk together with your teacher. Can you find the Hebrew word for “count” — וּסְפַרְתֶּם? Circle it or underline it in your Chumash. Now you know exactly where this mitzvah comes from!

Activity 2 — Egypt vs. Tora 🗺️

Draw a line down the middle of a paper. On one side write “Egypt Values” and on the other side write “Tora Values.” Fill each side with words or drawings showing the difference.

For example: Egypt → cruel to others, idol worship, superstition, lying, gossip, not caring about anyone. Tora → kindness, believing only in ה׳, truth, respecting parents, caring for others.

When you are done, look at both sides. Which world would you rather live in? 🌟

Activity 3 — Counting Race! 🏆

The teacher calls out a day number — students race to figure out how many complete weeks and extra days that is, and say the full counting formula out loud.

Examples to use:

• Day 8 = 1 week and 1 day
• Day 15 = 2 weeks and 1 day
• Day 22 = 3 weeks and 1 day
• Day 35 = 5 weeks exactly
• Day 49 = 7 weeks exactly — Shabuot is tomorrow! 🎉

The first student to say the complete formula correctly wins that round!

Activity 4 — Make Your Own Omer Calendar! 📅

Draw or print a grid of 49 boxes arranged in 7 rows of 7. Number each box from 1 to 49. Decorate the border with your own designs — flowers, stars, flames from Sinai, whatever inspires you! 🎨

Each night at home, after you count the Omer with your family, color in or check off that day’s box. Bring your calendar to school each week to show the class how many days you have counted. Who will make it all the way to 49 without missing a single day? 🌟

Activity 5 — My Personal Omer Commitment 💛

Just like Bene Israel spent 49 days disconnecting from the bad influences of Egypt and preparing their hearts for Matan Tora — you are going to do the same thing.

On a piece of paper, write or draw one thing you want to work on improving during the Omer. Think honestly: what is something inside you — a habit, a way of speaking, something you watch or do — that you want to work on leaving behind?

Some ideas:

• “I will try not to say unkind things about others”
• “I will work on not getting angry so fast”
• “I will daven with more kavanah”
• “I will try to stop watching things that are not good for me”
• “I will be kinder to my brother or sister”

You can keep it private — it is between you and ה׳. Or you can share it with the class if you want.

📌 Cut it out and tape it next to your Omer calendar. Look at it every single day — and remember: every day of the Omer is a chance to become a little better. 🌱