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    SPEAK YOUR VUES WITH THE VUES MASTER

    WAR
    Dear Vues Master:
    Klal Yisrael is in the midst of fighting a very serious and
    challenging war. It is the Milchemes HaYetzer. We are all

    in turmoil over the unfairness of the hostage deal that Isra-
    el was forced into, just so we could bring our innocent sis-
    ters and brothers back from captivity. We may feel that af-
    ter all our tefillos and kabalos tovos, why does our sisters’

    and brothers’ freedom have to come at such a heavy price?
    Were all our efforts, both in the physical realm (thank you
    to our brave, heroic soldiers!) and the spiritual realm, in
    vain? No, they were not! This is all a test of our emunah—
    one of the final tests we must pass as we come closer to
    the final redemption. We need to trust only in Hashem,
    knowing that everything He does is good, and that none
    of our struggles, prayers, or tears are for naught. They are
    all part of His perfect plan. Let us strengthen ourselves
    with faith, and may we merit the coming of Moshiach very
    soon, when all our tears will be wiped away and all our
    questions answered. Amen!
    S.R.

    Vues Master’s Note: We are in a war zone every morn-
    ing when I try to get up. The war is between the Yetzer

    Tov and the Yetzer Hora. The Yetzer Tov always wins, but
    sometimes it’s a battle until 11:00 AM!

    SECRET SERVICE AGENT WEARING A
    KIPPAH
    Dear Vues Master,
    The new Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, had a Secret
    Service agent wearing a kippah this past Monday, and the

    internet went wild. This marks a significant first in the vi-
    sual cues of U.S. government security, blending traditional

    religious symbols with the modern demands of national

    defense. This move not only represents a personal expres-
    sion of faith but also sends a powerful message about di-
    versity and inclusion at the highest levels of government

    protection. It’s a bold statement on the integration of cul-
    tural identity in public service, sparking conversations

    about representation, security, and the evolving face of
    American leadership.
    AN
    Vues Master’s Note: It’s a big Kiddush Hashem!

    UNITED AIRLINES IS RESTARTING
    FLIGHTS TO ISRAEL
    Dear Vues Master,

    It’s about time! United Airlines is likely to restart its
    flights to Israel in February, according to industry insiders.
    Although United confirmed that “Our flights to Tel Aviv

    remain suspended at this stage,” it is believed that the ser-
    vice will likely resume on February 22. Currently, tick-
    ets for flights to and from Tel Aviv cannot be purchased

    through the airline’s booking system. Should United
    Airlines resume flights to Israel, it will join several other

    carriers that have already set dates for their return, includ-
    ing Lufthansa Group, Air India, Air France, and British

    Airways.
    Vues Master’s Note: Maybe prices will finally start to go
    down!

    ISRAEL EXISTS BECAUSE OF
    ANTI-SEMITISM
    Dear Vues Master,

    Anti-Semitism doesn’t exist because of Israel—Israel ex-
    ists because of anti-Semitism. It’s not just our ancestral

    land; it’s our necessity. History has shown us what hap-
    pens when we depend on others. A tiny dot on the map,

    surrounded by nations, yet it’s the one nation the world

    singles out. Fifteen UN resolutions last year against Is-
    rael—more than the rest of the world combined.

    Think about that. Owning our story is vital. Hillel Fuld
    Vues Master’s Note: Exactly!

    OVER TIME
    Dear Vues Master:
    A shamash asked the shul president for a raise. “I work 25
    hours a day,” he said. “How could you work 25 hours?”
    the president asked. “There are only 24 hours in a day.”
    “So what?” the shamash responded. “Ask anyone here,
    and they will tell you that I’m here at least an hour before
    netz hachama every day.” MB
    Vues Master’s Note: And he finishes ad tzeis haneshama!

    OFF YEAR
    Dear Vues Master:

    Yankel was sharing his problems with a friend and, refer-
    ring to his wife, said, “שנה עשרה ותשע מאה עד שתחיה “

    (“May she live to 119 years”). Surprised, his friend asked,
    “Why just 119 years?” Yankel replied, “Because one year,
    I’d like to live too.”
    LK
    Vues Master’s Note: I guess he wants a year off for good
    behavior!

    STRANGE CHOICE
    Dear Vues Master:

    A former U.S. official who opposed interven-
    ing against the Rwanda genocide has been

    named to the United States Holocaust Me-
    morial Council, which governs the U.S. Ho-
    locaust Museum. The appointment was one

    of President Biden’s final acts in office, and
    one of his strangest.
    In the spring of 1994, Rice was director

    of Africa Affairs for the National Secu-
    rity Council, under President Bill Clinton.

    Reports began pouring in about machete-
    wielding militias of the Hutu tribe in Rwanda

    carrying out nationwide massacres of the
    country’s ethnic minority, the Tutsis.

    What were Susan Rice and other U.S. offi-
    cials saying about all this behind the scenes?

    Samantha Power gave us the answer. Pow-
    er—who later became US Ambassador to the

    UN and then director of US AID—authored
    a Pulitzer Prize-winning book in 2002 about

    America’s responses to genocide. She re-
    vealed that senior State Department officials

    said they were “worried” that acknowledging
    genocide was underway in Rwanda “could

    commit [the U.S.] to actually ‘do some-
    thing’.”

    One of those officials was Rice. During one
    key discussion among about whether the
    U.S. should intervene, Rice remarked: “If
    we use the word ‘genocide’ and are seen as
    doing nothing, what will be the effect on the
    November [midterm] elections?” One other
    colleagues, Tony Marley, later recalled how
    shocked he was by Rice’s argument. “We
    could believe that people would wonder that,
    but not that they would actually voice it.”
    When Power interviewed Rice about her

    statement, Rice replied hat she “did not re-
    call the incident.” She added: “If I said it, it

    was completely inappropriate as well as ir-
    relevant.”

    Electoral considerations should have been
    irrelevant. But they weren’t. They were
    part of the Clinton administration’s calculus
    in choosing to stand idly by as more than
    800,000 Tutsis were slaughtered in Rwanda.

    That troubling episode came up for discus-
    sion when Rice was nominated in 2012 to

    become President Barack Obama’s National
    Security Adviser. During her confirmation

    hearings, Rice was asked about the Rwanda-
    midterms remark. She replied that she did not

    recall having made that statement.
    Concern about genocide having unpleasant

    political consequences is not a new phenom-
    enon among U.S. government officials. Re-
    call how the State Department responded in

    1942, after receiving overwhelming evidence
    that the Germans were annihilating millions
    of Jews in Europe.

    As information about the killings mounted,
    the British suggested to the United States that
    the two governments issue a joint statement
    acknowledging and condemning the mass
    murder. A Roosevelt administration official
    objected, on the grounds that if they issued
    such a statement, the Allies “would expose
    themselves to increased pressure from all
    sides to do something more specific in order
    to aid these people.”
    Dr. Rice has suffered more than one memory
    lapse when asked about genocide. A wikileak
    cable in 2010 quoted a disturbing exchange
    between Dr. Rice and the chief prosecutor of
    the International Criminal Court concerning
    Sudanese dictator Omar al-Bashir, architect
    of the Darfur genocide. The ICC prosecutor
    informed Rice that Bashir had stashed away

    $9-billion in secret bank accounts. The pros-
    ecutor wanted to publicize that information

    in the hope of turning the Sudanese public
    against Bashir. But the U.S. never publicized
    it. After the cable was leaked to the press, a
    reporter asked Dr. Rice about it. She replied
    that she “didn’t recall” being told about the
    $9-billion.
    After visiting Rwanda in 2013, Rice recalled
    how in 1994, six months after the genocide
    there ended, she walked through “a church
    and an adjacent schoolyard where one of the

    massacres had occurred [and] the decompos-
    ing bodies of those who had been so cruelly

    murdered still lay strewn around what should
    have been a place of peace….[W]e saw
    first-hand the spectacular consequences of
    the poor decisions taken by those countries,
    including my own…” Left unspoken was
    Rice’s own role in shaping that U.S. policy.
    Now, ironically, Rice will be joining the U.S.
    Holocaust Memorial Council, which is the

    governing board of the U.S. Holocaust Me-
    morial Museum. Part of the museum’s de-
    clared mission is to “influence policy makers,

    and stimulate worldwide action to prevent
    and work to halt acts of genocide”—which
    makes it a strange place for someone with
    such a troubling track record on the Rwanda
    genocide. Rafael Medoff
    Vues Master’s Note: Thanks for your insight!

    US IRON DOME
    Dear Vues Master President Donald Trump
    signed an executive order this past Monday

    that initiated the development of a U.S. ver-
    sion of the “Iron Dome” missile defense sys-
    tem.

    Trump has previously committed to estab-
    lishing a missile defense system similar to

    Israel’s Iron Dome, which was created in
    partnership with the United States and bears
    the same name. This initiative is part of his
    broader efforts to strengthen U.S. military
    defense.

    FR
    Vues Master’s Note: The iron dome saved
    thousands of lives in Eretz Yisrael. Trump
    knows that and is no dummy.

    SIMILAR
    Dear Vues Master,
    An Am Haaretz said to his friend, “You spend
    a lot of time learning. Let me see if you can
    answer this question: Adam HaRishon had
    two sons. Which one of them most resembled
    his father?” Surprised, the friend didn’t have
    an answer. The Am Haaretz triumphantly
    said to him, “You’re not learning enough. A
    pasuk in the siddur says clearly that ‘אדם
    “‘.להבל דמה
    JM
    Vues Master’s Note: He looked like his twin!

    MATZAV
    Dear Vues Master,
    I just read this and found it very touching. I
    believe your readers will appreciate it.
    Well-known Israeli journalist Yair Cherki,

    whose brother was murdered by a terror-
    ist—one of the individuals released yester-
    day—perfectly captures the mixed emotions

    evoked by this past Sunday’s events.
    As our hearts swell with joy for their return,
    and emotions sweep us away (rightfully so),
    here are some thoughts on the difficult corner
    we find ourselves in—and a bit of hope:
    1- This is a very bad deal, but the alternatives
    are likely worse.
    2- The deal cannot be judged in isolation. It
    must be considered in the context of what

    we’ve done so far and what we will do mov-
    ing forward.

    3- What we’ve done so far: We had 15

    months to explore creative solutions and ap-
    ply military pressure, but these efforts failed

    for three main reasons:
    a. No alternative: The government made it
    clear why Gaza shouldn’t be handed to the

    Palestinian Authority (PA), but it didn’t pro-
    pose any viable alternative to Hamas. As a

    result, Hamas remained in control. b. Hu-
    manitarian aid: We gave in to pressure at the

    critical point of providing humanitarian aid.
    In essence, it wasn’t much different from the
    infamous “suitcases of cash.” With one hand,

    we sent our best soldiers to defeat the terror-
    ists; with the other, we ensured their steady

    supply chain, thereby solidifying their con-
    trol over Gaza. This is where political pres-
    sure and creativity should have been focused

    much earlier in the war. (Personally, I vehe-
    mently disagree with this point, but I oth-
    erwise agree with everything else he says.)

    c. The Trump strategy: The diplomatic ap-
    proach relied on one idea: waiting for Trump.

    We waited, and we got Trump. Like Biden’s
    constraints, Trump’s “gates of hell” swung

    both ways, leaving us with no remaining dip-
    lomatic leverage.

    4- The ideological tragedy is that those op-
    posing the deal (with valid arguments) were

    in charge last year. They could have fought
    for a different strategy but instead led us into

    the corner where we now face a choice be-
    tween bad and worse options.

    5- After 15 months, the captives’ time has
    run out, and the diplomatic clock has brutally
    stopped. Israel is now forced to accept the
    deal if it seeks to bring back the captives and
    attempt to heal a broken society. And it does
    seek that.

    6- Looking ahead: All the energy spent debat-
    ing the merits of this deal must now be chan-
    neled into relentless pressure for a different

    policy afterward. Zero tolerance—truly this
    time—and a proactive campaign to finish the
    job against Hamas on our terms, when we
    surprise them, not the other way around.

    7- The release of terrorists is not just a spe-
    cific problem for the victims’ families but for

    all of Israeli society—and for future victims,
    currently nameless. Everyone must mobilize,
    both publicly and practically, to break the

    cycle of deals that lead to murder and kidnap-
    ping, which in turn lead to more deals, and

    so on. Similarly, the release of the captives is

    not just a matter for their families, but a col-
    lective aspiration of a society that values life

    and upholds basic mu-
    tual responsibility. This

    is our DNA.
    Ultimately, this deal is
    bigger than the lives of
    those who will return.
    It represents something
    even greater than the
    rescue of dozens of our
    brothers and sisters: it
    holds the potential to

    begin healing Israeli so-
    ciety. That healing de-
    pends on bringing back

    everyone still alive from
    Hamas’s grip. It will
    also mark the end of the
    strategic paralysis in the

    face of this sadistic or-
    ganization. (Sadly, even

    Hamas likely doesn’t
    know the fate of all the deceased.)

    8- We haven’t won, but we haven’t been de-
    feated either. This is a 150-year war, since

    the dawn of Zionism. We’ve suffered a se-
    vere blow, but the axis against us has also

    been significantly weakened over the past

    year. It will likely take a different leader-
    ship to finish the job—one untainted by

    failure and misguided perceptions, with the
    strength to face the enemy and the basic
    ability to mend internal divisions.
    9- A heartfelt embrace to the families finally
    receiving their loved ones. Our hearts beat
    strongly with excitement alongside yours.

    No less so for the families witnessing injus-
    tice and feeling unable to cry out. And also

    for the families who don’t yet know they are
    “the families.”
    RYK
    Vues Master’s Note: Just believe!

    FIRES
    Dear Vues Master,
    With the Los Angeles fires raging, forest
    management has become a popular topic.
    In addition to its utility in preventing and
    controlling actual fires, it provides valuable
    guidelines for managing the midah of anger,
    which is frequently compared to fire.
    Forest management involves regularly

    clearing away debris and old, dry tree ma-
    terial from the forest floor. Additionally,

    periodic controlled fires are recommended.
    These practices can be applied to anger by

    regularly clearing out the debris of griev-
    ances and resentments that build up in the

    back of our minds, never being fully re-
    solved.

    If that doesn’t completely remove the “fuel

    source” of our anger, we should try a con-
    trolled “burn,” in the form of bringing up

    a topic that upsets us and then allowing
    the anger to dissipate. Some methods for
    this include davening to remove the anger,
    learning mussar, reframing the issue, and/
    or working with a Rav, therapist, or other
    trusted advisor.
    DZ
    Vues Master’s Note: Put out woke so we get
    no more fires!

    AMERICA’S RESPONSE TO THE
    HOLOCAUST
    Dear Vues Master,
    America’s response to the Holocaust, a
    subject of much historical scholarship and

    public discussion in recent decades, increas-
    ingly is coming to the stage and screen—

    with mixed results.
    Last year’s George Clooney film, The Boys

    in the Boat, is an example of how Holly-
    wood sometimes sacrifices history on the

    altar of entertainment. It tells the story of
    a gritty American rowing team that made it
    to the Olympics despite various obstacles.
    There’s nothing Hollywood likes better than
    a triumphant underdog. But what happens
    when half the story is omitted in order to
    prioritize the thrilling narrative?
    The Olympics in question were the 1936
    games in Nazi Germany.
    By that time, Germany’s Jews had been
    driven out of their professions and stripped

    of their civil rights. Hundreds had been in-
    jured in a pogrom in Berlin. Hitler intended

    to use the Olympics to impress foreign visi-
    tors and thereby soften his international im-
    age.

    American Jewish organizations, the
    NAACP, and the Catholic War Veterans all
    called for an American boycott of the games.
    So did New York City Mayor Fiorello La
    Guardia. A public debate over whether the

    U.S. should take part raged for more

    than two years. The athletic commu-
    nity was deeply divided: the delegates

    to the convention of the Amateur Ath-
    letic Union, which certified American

    athletes to compete in the Olympics,
    voted to support U.S. participation–by
    just two and a half votes.
    As a result, a handful of American

    athletes boycotted the games to pro-
    test Hitler’s persecution of German

    Jews. The boycotters included the en-
    tire Long Island University basketball

    team, which had been favored to win
    the try-outs and represent the U.S. in
    the first-ever Olympic competition in
    that sport. The LIU Blackbirds chose

    to stay home and forego the glory rath-
    er than lend a hand to Hitler’s make-
    over.

    Yet none of that is mentioned in The
    Boys in the Boat. The scrappy rowers of

    the University of Washington, underfund-
    ed and underestimated, are shown battling

    their way through a series of competitions
    to qualify for Berlin. Along the way, not one
    of the athletes expresses the slightest qualm
    about legitimizing Nazi Germany. None of
    them seem to be aware that what they are

    doing is at the heart of a major public de-
    bate. And the audience watching “The Boys

    of the Boat” is never informed that such a
    debate took place.
    Were the rowers somehow unaware of the
    heated dispute raging around them? Or were

    they simply unconcerned about the suffer-
    ing of the Jews? Whatever the answer, it

    should have been in the film. Instead, the
    only conflict portrayed in The Boys in the
    Boat is what director Clooney imagines
    must have been class resentment between
    the impoverished University of Washington
    rowers and the well-to-do rowers of the Ivy
    League teams.

    The critically-acclaimed play The Accom-
    plices, by contrast, demonstrates that histor-
    ical controversy can be brought to the stage

    with the facts intact. This dramatic produc-
    tion will be revived at the Khan Theater in

    Jerusalem in February, fifteen
    years after it was last performed.
    Written by former New York
    Times correspondent Bernard
    Weinraub, The Accomplices
    tackles the subject of President
    Franklin D. Roosevelt’s failure
    to aid Europe’s Jews, and the

    conflict between American Jew-
    ish leaders and activists over

    how to respond. There are a few
    scenes in the production that are

    more compressed than literal, but that is the

    sort of minor artistic license one would ex-
    pect when history is portrayed on stage.

    What makes The Accomplices especially
    poignant is that the role of Rabbi Wise will
    be played by Rabbi Prof. David Golinkin,

    who comes from two generations of Ho-
    locaust protesters. His grandfather, Rabbi

    Mordechai Golinkin, participated in the
    famous march to the White House in 1943,
    and his father, Rabbi Noah Golinkin, was a
    student activist who clashed with Wise over

    the need for a more forceful American Jew-
    ish response to FDR’s abandonment of the

    Jews.
    The Accomplices provides an important

    service in focusing attention on the Berg-
    son Group, the activists who organized that

    march in Washington and other protests. Too
    many museums and films have minimized
    or ignored the Bergson Group’s efforts.

    Another dramatic interpretation of Ameri-
    ca’s response to the Holocaust will soon be

    attracting public attention, as well. Laem-
    mle’s List, a documentary by Deborah

    Blum, debuted last month at the Miami
    Jewish Film Festival. It tells the remarkable

    story of her relative, the late Hollywood mo-
    gul Carl Laemmle.

    Laemmle was co-founder of Universal Pic-
    tures, which created such blockbuster films

    as Frankenstein, Dracula, and The Phantom
    of the Opera. Laemmle, who was born in
    Laupheim, Germany, rescued hundreds of

    his landsmen from Hitler—until the Roos-
    evelt administration intervened and stopped

    him, on the grounds that Laemmle was “too
    old” (71) to serve as a financial guarantor
    for would-be immigrants.
    We can expect the public conversation on
    these topics to grow in the months and years

    ahead, as dramatists and filmmakers contin-
    ue to bring history to stage and screen—for

    better or worse.
    Dr. Rafael Medoff
    Vues Master’s Note: Thanks for sharing this
    on the week that the world remembers 80
    years since the liberation of Auschwitz.