Message from R’ Schonfeld: R’ Yoel Schonfeld

Last week, the Supreme Courts in the United States and Israel made some bold decisions. In America, the United States Supreme Court denied President Trump the right to levy tariffs at will. Tariffs were the cornerstone of the President’s economic policy in dealing with world trade. It is quite incredible that a court could interfere with the freedom of a president to choose his own economic tools. But the president was forced to deal with the new reality.

Many years ago, my brother-in-law Rabbi Meyer Berglas, then of Toronto, became acquainted with a Jewish convert named Rose (today Shoshana). My brother-in-law converted her. She was a very astute and bright young woman, a nephrologist at Toronto’s Northwestern University hospital.

In a scene reminiscent of BLM riots or of protests in Iran, the unthinkable happened. It seems two Israeli policewomen, who were coming to visit a colleague in Bnei Brak, were surrounded by over a thousand people on Chagai Street. They were chased, screamed at, and called Nazis. Attempts were made to physically assault them. Police had to rush in and extract them from the crowd. During the ensuing turmoil, rioters overturned a police car and set a police motorcycle ablaze. T’filin and a siddur that had been inside the motorcycle were left burned.

Say what you want about Donald Trump, but he has accomplished major inroads when it comes to gaining peace in various parts of the world. Although Trump claims to have stopped eight wars, I am only aware of one: the Hamas-Israeli war in Gaza. Perhaps he is also including Syria and Iran and its war with Israel. Perhaps he also stopped some wars in the Congo. Nonetheless, the Gazan war is major.

The country – and indeed a good part of the world – is riveted by the story of the abduction of Nancy Guthrie, mother of TV personality Savannah Guthrie. The scene is horrific: an ailing 84-year-old mom being taken to a place unknown, by persons unknown, to a fate unknown.

The recent demonstrations against ICE (US Immigration and Customs Enforcement) in Minneapolis are beyond belief. Yes, it’s true that a seemingly innocent woman, Renee Nicole Good, was gunned down by an ICE agent, but the jury is still out on whether her death was murder or an episode of self-defense.