Final Thoughts upon Returning to Chicago

Now that the war is over (hopefully), and I’ve had a chance to think about it, I realized that I was here when the war began on October 7th — and I’m so grateful to be here for its conclusion. I pray that this will truly be the end. That Hamas will ultimately disarm.

The fact that they haven’t yet, and seem to have no intention of doing so, is very concerning. My hope is that they will come to their senses, just as they did regarding the return of all the living hostages.

My sense is that those hostages were their only leverage — and that they gave them up out of fear of being annihilated by an American-backed IDF that promised to do just that. They must know that if they don’t disarm, all bets are off, and the IDF will go back in and finish the job — with the full blessing of the U.S. I’d hate for that to happen, but if it must, it will.

Still, I pray that there will be no more fighting or bloodshed, and that — moving forward — peace between Israel and her neighbors will finally be achieved.

My wife and I are off to Chicago, having just completed a wonderful Yom Tov with my son and his family, which now includes five of the most adorable great-grandchildren anyone could ever ask for.

New post on Monday.