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Rabbi Steven Pruzansky

News and updates about Rabbi Steven Pruzansky

Defining Pesach

On Pesach night, we were chosen, and history was never the same.

Defining Pesach

The Judictatorship

Who will challenge a court system and legal establishment that is running amok, disobeys written laws, and fabricates others as it suits them? If democracy in Israel is in danger, it is from those who are screaming that it is in danger, and from no one else. Opinion.

The Judictatorship

Needed: Vision and leadership

Do you know who “never misses an opportunity to miss an opportunity”? We Israelis, who time and again, especially recently, have been given opportunities to deal decisive blows to our enemies, and do not. Op-ed.

Needed: Vision and leadership

The Saudi Seduction

The Saudis need our assistance with their sworn enemy Iran – and if Iran is successfully neutralized, how valuable does this treaty then remain for them? The answer is, not much, so why should we concede anything substantive in order to achieve it? Opinion.

The Saudi Seduction

Echoes of the past

It may be painful for us to accept this truth, but presently the Arabs are happy with the outcome of their invasion and massacre. Those Israelis who associate the release of our hostages with “victory” are deluding themselves. Opinion.

Echoes of the past

Trump 2.0

We should not expect him to be everything we want. We should appreciate him as a relief from the nasty rebukes and harmful policies of the Biden years, and from Biden's method of selling us weapons -just enough so that we could fight but not enough for us to prevail. Opinion.

Trump 2.0

Sadly, nothing has really changed

Defeating Hamas and freeing all our hostages are both worthy objectives but they are incompatible. Have we learned nothing? Opinion.

Sadly, nothing has really changed

We the People

Is anyone guiltless in the wake of the Hamas massacre? Opinion.

We the People

A vision for a second Trump term

There are several items worthy of the new administration’s agenda that can solidify the advances made in the first Trump administration and further promote peace and security in the region. Op-ed.

A vision for a second Trump term

The Trump Triumph

There can be a sea change in the Middle East – a strong Israel, more Jewish and confident, with a military and civilian presence in lands conquered from our enemies who invaded us, and at peace with an Arab world mostly deradicalized and defanged.Opinion.

The Trump Triumph

Evacuate them NOW!

Why does the world dislike Palestinian Arabs so much? Why doesn't it care about them? Opinion.

Evacuate them NOW!

Election Enigma

Anyone who feels that Trump is not the better candidate for world stability, for a stronger America, and for a more secure Israel is hopelessly partisan and beyond reason. Too bad he is such a terrible campaigner. Opinion.

Election Enigma

Taking Torah Seriously - on how to wage war

Instead of adopting the Torah’s approach of besieging a city with starvation, thirst, and the spread of disease, we have embraced the opposite approach, and then complain when the war drags on, our soldiers are killed, and our hostages suffer privation and death.

Taking Torah Seriously - on how to wage war

Ransoming captives:

Impotent clichés

Forget all the clichés and substitute this sentence: They need to fear us, and only then will they be deterred and learn to respect us. Op-ed.

Impotent clichés

Rogue nations

The rogue nations – Russia, China, Iran – are winning, and there is little the West can do at this point to stop them, if there is not going to be a change in tactics. Op-ed.

Rogue nations

Israelis, Americans - Don’t be manipulated

Are good and decent people so easily manipulated? Opinion.

Israelis, Americans - Don’t be manipulated

Don't go

It is a maelstrom in the United States. Mr. Prime Minister, don’t go to the US now. Nothing will be gained and much can be lost. Opinion.

Don't go

War Objectives

What are Israel’s objectives in this war and how close are we to attaining them? And what are Hamas’ objectives in this war and how close are they to attaining them? Op-ed.

War Objectives

And who's in charge 'The Day After'

If parts or all of Gaza are not controlled by Israel, and the Gazans stay put, then we are spinning our wheels, kicking the can down the road (perhaps not even that far down the road), and simply accepting that we will forever live with terror. Opinion.

And who's in charge 'The Day After'

American Pressure

History teaches us that succumbing to American pressure is often unwise and occasionally fatal. Ask Chiang Kai-shek. Op-ed.

American Pressure

The New Trump Doctrine

Almost all Jews would prefer bipartisan support for Israel in the United States. And although many Jews maintain that support for Israel remains bipartisan, the current difference between the parties could not be more glaring. Opinion.

The New Trump Doctrine

How to lose a war

A nation can lose when it halts the battle when it has momentum and then informs its enemy where it is next attacking, so the enemy can regroup, rebuild, replenish, and re-strategize. And red below to see what defeat looks like. Opinion.

How to lose a war

Leadership woes

It seems that the people screaming for the PM's resignation now were screaming for his resignation on October 6. They assume that new elections will spell certain electoral defeat for Israel’s longest serving prime minister. They should learn a little history. Op-ed.

Leadership woes

The missing piece

What are we missing? Why is Schumer, like a lapdog with a bone, suddenly obsessed with a Palestinian state? What do the Democrats – and the Israeli left – not understand? There is a missing piece to this puzzle. Op-ed.

The missing piece

Biden’s Zionism

Every present Republican member of the Senate (except maybe for Rand Paul) is far more supportive of Israel than Joe Biden ever was. Biden is a “lifelong supporter” of a certain type of Israel – docile, concessionary, secular, and deferential to American interests. Op-ed.

Biden’s Zionism

Haredim and the Living Torah

In a perfect world, in my view, every Jew would spend time as a soldier and every soldier would spend time learning in a yeshiva – the former to teach us how to fight, the latter to teach us what we are fighting for.

Haredim and the Living Torah

Op-ed:

The Ramadan Ruse

Perhaps good Muslims should use this Ramadan for soul searching on how best to uproot savage evil from their midst. And we should show as much concern for Ramadan as our enemies showed for our Simchat Torah. Opinion.

The Ramadan Ruse

Evict UNRWA from Jerusalem

Israel should no longer indulge an organization that is pro-terror and anti-peace, not in Gaza and not in Jerusalem. Opinion.

Evict UNRWA from Jerusalem

The empty toolbox

America's policy: Heads, we lose; tails, they win. With those odds, further attacks are not only inevitable; they are logical.

The empty toolbox

At any price

The question is not one of sympathy with the families – but of effectiveness. If we stop the aid now, Gazans might storm Hamas strongholds and free the hostages. I will believe Gazan protests when they run en masse into the tunnels and bring out our hostages with them. Op-ed.

At any price

Innocents Abroad

That the civilians of Gaza are so docile means that they are either cowardly - or complicit. Innocent they certainly are not. Op-ed.

Innocents Abroad

Where is the outrage?

We cannot expect the world’s outrage or even recognition of its own hypocrisy. We must muster our own. Opinion.

Where is the outrage?

Politicians in Robes

The justices are essentially politicians in robes, unelected, claiming to be preserving democracy while evidently mocking it. Op-ed.

Politicians in Robes

Of Rivers and Seas

“Free” has never been synonymous with “intelligent,” and this slogan is one of the dumbest imaginable. Opinion..

Of Rivers and Seas

Can you paradigm?

No one should be allowed to live here who does not want to be here, in the Jewish state. Op-ed.

Can you paradigm?

Lessons of Sodom

The absence of righteous people defines a city 's moral worth far more than disingenuous assertions about its “innocent civilians.”

Lessons of Sodom

Not so innocent civilians

Would Guterres ever assert that the death of Gaza civilians past and future also does not “happen in a vacuum”? Hardly. Opinion.

Not so innocent civilians

Looking back and ahead

We can put aside strife and fight a ruthless enemy, but we cannot put aside the Jewish history that finds us facing that enemy again. Op-ed.

Looking back and ahead

The sickening hatred of Jews...by Jews

The Daf Yomi Siyum at MetLife stadium in New Jersey had over 90,000 people, with separate seating..America is a democracy. Is Israel? Op-ed.

The sickening hatred of Jews...by Jews

Confrontation - is a judicial coup next?

A democracy that can only endure by relying on an undemocratic institution is not a true democracy. It is a farce. Op-ed.

Confrontation - is a judicial coup next?

The sun rose today

Life goes on as protesters continue to think they have to destroy democracy and become permanent rulers in order to save democracy. Op-ed.

The sun rose today

Biden-vitation Blues

Israel's government is "extreme?" We should all merit being called extreme by Biden, a clear indication that we are on the right path.Op-ed.

Biden-vitation Blues

A BIG mistake

As the BIG chain holds a gun to its own head, it would be wise to consider whether they want to be merchants or political activists.Op-ed

A BIG mistake

A simple protest - because, pride lobby, Torah is not changing

In the Orthodox coddling of LGBT in its ranks, the emperor has no clothes! He is not wearing alternative garb, he is distorting Torah! Op-ed

A simple protest -  because, pride lobby, Torah is not changing

Six additional knocks

Rabbi Soloveitchik spoke of Israel's creation as a sign that G-d is knocking on our door. Six knocks then, six since..Op-ed.

Six additional knocks

The Halakhic State

The headline alone must send shivers down some people’s spines.

The Halakhic State

Op-ed:

Neither Jewish nor Democratic

The anarchist left does not want a Jewish state. It is patently clear that they also do not want a democracy. They are murdering it. Op-ed.

Neither Jewish nor Democratic

Democracy dies in demonstrations

Democracy is not just the right of civil disobedience, that is one right among many and protests should not be able to ride over them.Op-ed.

Democracy dies in demonstrations

Op-ed:

Pounding the table - or Israel's January 6

These protests are the Israeli elite's attempt to supplant democracy with mobocracy. Spare us the crocodile tears. Op-ed.

Pounding the table - or Israel's January 6

I am concerned

I cannot assuage unfounded “concern over the Israeli government.” What I can do is express my concern about US Jewish leadership.Op-ed.

I am concerned

The Torah and Judicial Reform

One difference: The judges do not appoint their successors nor are they given veto power over new nominees as the current Court has. Op-ed.

The Torah and Judicial Reform

Death of the Oligarchy

It is the death of the oligarchy, not the democracy, that has brought the likes of Aharon Barak to scream from the rooftops. Op-ed.

Death of the Oligarchy

Banana Republic?

Israel is basically being told by the US that its new government may not implement the policies on which it was elected. Oh, really? Op-ed.

Banana Republic?

Op-ed:

Is there a place between Never Trumpers and Always Trumpers?

Is there a sane middle between those for whom he can do no wrong and those for whom he can do no right? Op-ed.

Is there a place between Never Trumpers and Always Trumpers?

Diaspora Blues

They didn’t want Netanyahu. Now that they have him, they want him to govern in the opposite manner from which he pledged to govern. Op-ed.

Diaspora Blues

The Fear-of-Ben-Gvir Phobia

CJV Israel rep. on the election results:The more alienated a person is from Torah, the more they fear the specter of a strong Jew. Op-ed..

The Fear-of-Ben-Gvir Phobia

For and against our own - the Religious Zionist 'elite'

It is undoubtedly true that one can have more confidence in Smotrich implementing his political vision than Shaked implementing hers. Op-ed.

For and against our own - the Religious Zionist 'elite'

Elections and the Jewish Character of the Jewish State

Those who feel Israel’s Jewish character would be better promoted by candidates that are neither religious or Zionist - think again! Op-ed.

Elections and the Jewish Character of the Jewish State

Torahphobia

Torahphobes do not really take the Torah seriously, or better said, they only take seriously the parts of Torah that appeal to them.Op-ed.

Torahphobia

Cult of Personality

Bennett ran through three or four party names. The point was to vote him, as it is for Lapid, Liberman, Gantz, or Aryeh Deri. Op-ed.

Cult of Personality