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Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum, co-chair of J Street’s Rabbinic and Cantorial Cabinet, explains how the Heritage Foundation’s newly-launched “Project Esther,” hijacks the spirit of Purim and is a “deep disservice to its namesake by focusing narrowly on left-wing critics of Israel while ignoring surging right-wing antisemitism”:

The organization T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights said Israel’s priority should be getting back those taken hostage.

But to borrow from rabbinic literature, hamevin yavin: Those who know, know.

It is easy to dwell on the rabbinic rewriting of the Chanukah story as a rejection of Jewish military power—and to imagine the ancient rabbis having the same reaction to the power being wielded right now by the modern State of Israel.

“We should look to what rabbinic Judaism says about teshuvah, the which means repentance and about how if somebody is doing all that they can do to repent for their crimes, that should be given consideration. … But the reality is we don’t have a system that’s based on restorative justice. We have a system that’s based on retributive vengeance,” Zoosman said.