Joel Mosbacher

an obligation.

And in so doing, Israel will fulfill its obligation to be matir asurim, to bring every last hostage home now– not soon, not someday– now– to their loved ones and friends.

No more talking points. No more excuses. Food into Gaza. An end to the war. Bring the hostages home. Thank you.

Because we love Israel, we demand that Israel be once again oseh shalom, that it find an urgent end to this 661 day war that it didn’t start but that it has power to help bring an end to. This is not optional, and must not be contingent on the exigencies of coalition politics; it is a mitzvah-

Because we love Israel, we demand that Israel urgently poteaich et yadecha– that it opens its hands and allows international powers to provide enough food to safely feed the people of Gaza. This is not optional, it is a mitzvah– it is an obligation.

-to now granting that perhaps there is hunger in Gaza but it’s actually all the fault of the U.N. agencies that Israel barred from operating there.

Israel’s talking points on the humanitarian crisis in Gaza have moved from
-first claiming that the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation was an unprecedented success on day one,
-then claiming that there is no hunger in Gaza and that it is all fake news,

That is what we are doing here today– demanding that the State of Israel that I love so much does no less and no more than what we demand of ourselves, of what we demand of God.

I don’t know about you, but when I say these prayers each morning, I am speaking as much to myself as I am to the Holy One of Blessing.

I must open my hand in the world to ensure that every creature has what they need.

I must be a maker of peace.

I must free the captive.

God is the One that opens a hand and provides every creature what they need.

Each morning in prayer, we call God Oseh Shalom, maker of peace.

We call God matir asurim– freer of the captive.

Words I spoke last night at a protest at the Israeli Consulate in New York City @truahrabbis.bsky.social @newisraelfund.bsky.social @nyjewishagenda.bsky.social

Each morning in Jewish prayer, we ask that God be poteach et yadecha umasibia l’chol chai ratzon–

Manhattan Together and Metro IAF Getting ready for a New York City mayoral accountability forum. We have hard questions for the candidates on mental health, public housing, affordable, housing, public safety, and more.

So the Pope is a White Sox fan who was also at a game I attended at the 2005 World Series. He spent time in a monastery in Wisconsin we’d swim across the lake to from the camp I attended. He also likes Aurelio’s pizza. His father was the superintendent of my middle school. We are practically twins!

Anyone need last minute help to Vote Reform, Slate 3 in the World Zionist Congress Elections? Only 10 hours left, and it couldn't be more important if you care about a just, pluralistic, democratic, secure State of Israel! azm.org/elections/

Guns, the NYPD, and NYC’s next mayor Imagine 52,000 guns. That’s how many guns, once belonging to police officers across the country, were retrieved from crime scenes between 2006 and 2022. How many of those crime scenes were in New Y…

@alainstephens.bsky.social thank you for your work. Check this out. Can we talk? @metroiaf www.nydailynews.com/2025/04/24/g...

Guns, the NYPD, and NYC’s next mayor Imagine 52,000 guns. That’s how many guns, once belonging to police officers across the country, were retrieved from crime scenes between 2006 and 2022. How many of those crime scenes were in New Y…

Guns, the NYPD, and NYC's next mayor www.nydailynews.com/2025/04/24/g...

Only 13 more days to vote for a pluralistic, democratic state of Israel… Vote slate number three Vote Reform!

Pre-ordered today from Kew and Willow books- local bookstore in Queens, NY. Can’t wait to read this important book and excited to support my local bookstore.

OMG I'm in big trouble ;)

drive.google.com/file/d/1OaX7... Vote Reform today!

First, they came for the green card holders and I didn’t protest because I wasn’t a green card holder…

Thanks for sharing this story… May your mother’s memory be a blessing in your life…

for the families who are a part of our Jewish family, who will never embrace their beloveds again; for unfulfilled dreams and promise, for lives brutally stolen by terrorists, we join in mourning. May their memories be a blessing.

we’ve cried tears of joy together, with them and with their families. And for this coming Shabbat, we pray that six more families will embrace their loved ones.

But today, my heart breaks, and I know yours does, too,

and we’ve welcomed some of their families to our synagogue.

And in that week when I was in Israel in late 2023, we rejoiced with the families of more than 100 Israeli hostages as they returned home. And as we’ve witnessed the return of 24 hostages in the last few weeks,

so many of us feel like we’ve gotten to know them. We may be cousins of cousins of cousins, but they feel like they are a part of our family, because they are. We know something of their lives, their stories, and their families. We’ve seen their faces on posters,

from 9 month old Kfir Bibas to 85 year old Shlomo Mansur. Every single one of them had a story, a family who loves them, and unfulfilled dreams and promise that their loved ones clinged to as they awaited their return from captivity.

And over the last 503 days,

When I, along with dozens of other leaders from the Reform movement, went to Israel in November 2023, posters with the faces of the hostages and missing already lined the entry hall at Ben Gurion Airport. The faces were of white, black, and brown Israelis, and Israelis of every age,

It is breaking because the bodies of four Israelis murdered by Hamas terrorists, likely Oded Lifshitz, Shiri Silberman Bilbas and her two young sons, Ariel Bibas and Kfir Bibas, although we are still awaiting final forensic confirmation, returned to their homeland today after 503 days in captivity.

because they are.

And when a Jew somewhere does something unethical or illegal or embarrassing, we cringe as if they were a part of our own family– because they are.

That’s part of the reason why my heart is breaking so very much today, and I bet yours is, too.

We are a small people– some 12 million in the world. When a Jew somewhere in the world does something amazing– they win a gold medal, invent a life-saving drug, or are the first Jew elected to this or that position in some country somewhere, we take pride as if they were a part of our own family-