fbpx

GET HOME DELIVERY! CLICK HERE »

ADVERTISE
pick up locations
HOME DELIVERY
donate

Jewish Journal

Connect. Inform. Inspire.

August 25, 2026

AIPAC’s New Challenge

Columnists /

One of the most dramatic confrontations in modern movie history was the faceoff between Jack Nicholson and Tom Cruise in the 1992 legal classic “A Few Good Men.”  In the climactic courtroom scene, Nicholson’s Colonel Nathan Jessep angrily attempts to explain the role he believes he plays in defending his country:

“My existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, saves lives. You don’t want the truth because deep down in places you don’t talk about at parties, you want me on that wall. You need me on that wall.”

AIPAC leadership is much more diplomatic than Nicholson’s fictional military officer, so it would never be nearly as blunt in its public statements. But as the venerable pro-Israel advocacy group has become an increasingly controversial lightning rod in American political circles, it would be difficult not to fault its leadership for sharing such highly-charged thoughts behind closed doors.

In the aftermath of Abdul El-Sayed’s victory in the Michigan Democratic Senate primary earlier this month over an opponent heavily funded by AIPAC and its allies, the respected political media platform Axios reported that Republican nominee Mike Rogers has told AIPAC that he does not want them – or their money – involved in his campaign. El-Sayed’s opponent outspent him by an overwhelming 9-to-1 margin including more than $30 million from the United Democracy Project, AIPAC’s affiliated independent expenditure committee. Before his primary victory, a confident El-Sayed taunted pro-Israel forces, saying “AIPAC, if you’re listening, come back and burn it again.” Rogers has apparently decided not to take that risk.

Rogers’ declaration of ostensible independence is at least somewhat performative. There are many other ways for pro-Israel donors to contribute toward El-Sayed’s defeat, both by giving directly to Rogers’ own campaign but also by making much larger donations to other pro-Rogers super PACs. But the reputational liability that prompted Rogers’ associates to ask AIPAC to stay away – after the organization produced a video harshly criticizing El-Sayed – speaks to AIPAC’s broader challenge in a post-Gaza political landscape.

I have written previously about the dilemma faced by Jewish Democrats forced to decide between supporting an avowed antizionist and committed antisemite like El-Sayed or helping their domestic political nemesis Donald Trump maintain a GOP Senate majority. But Rogers is a Republican and his decision foreshadows an election season in which Israel’s strongest supporters running in competitive races choose to similarly distance themselves from AIPAC.

The potential for backlash cannot force AIPAC and other pro-Israel forces from the political battlefield. So when California congressional candidate Aisha Wahab proclaimed Israel’s military reaction to the Hamas terrorist attacks to be “genocide,” AIPAC spent more than $6 million against her before last week’s special election. Wahab squeaked by with a narrow victory, much smaller than the 20-point landslides she had achieved against the same opponent in June. But if two weeks of high-dollar spending turned this race into such a closely-contested outcome, a similar effort could lead to her defeat in November’s general election.

Regardless of whether AIPAC decides to re-engage against Wahab this fall, last week’s near-miss underscores the necessity of continuing to fight even on a battlefield that has become more hostile toward pro-Israel interests. Even though Wahab is headed to Congress, her small margin of victory sends a cautionary message to other antizionists considering campaigns of their own that their paths forward will be difficult and expensive.

Meanwhile, AIPAC’s leaders face fundamental strategic questions unlike those they have confronted in the modern era. Their task is still exceedingly urgent, perhaps more than ever. But their reputational advantage and mystique are no longer there, and so they must find a way to move forward even when their involvement in necessary campaigns carries the potential for backlash. Their ability to adapt to these new circumstances will define not only their future, but that of the U.S.-Israel relationship in this uncertain era. 

Both Jessup and AIPAC would agree that we need a determined presence on the wall to protect us. The question is how that role can now best be filled given this dramatically different type of menace.

Dan Schnur is the U.S. Politics Editor for the Jewish Journal. He teaches courses in politics, communications, and leadership at UC Berkeley, USC and Pepperdine. He hosts the monthly webinar “The Dan Schnur Political Report” for the Los Angeles World Affairs Council & Town Hall. Follow Dan’s work at www.danschnurpolitics.com

AIPAC’s New Challenge Read More »

“Genocidaire: A Twilight Zone Episode”

Commentary, Opinion /

It was backstage after a show in Minneapolis that I had an hour to speak with a friend. He’s a reader of my Substack, and we quickly got around to the subject of Israel and Jews. We first talked about how a plurality of younger Jews, mostly those who, perhaps for lack of Jewish education and Jewish observance, have come to be aligned with Israel’s antagonists. Either way, imagine being a young Jewish high school student who supports Israel. It would be as if she were a Nazi or Ku Klux Klan supporter.

He then brought up the idea that the false genocide charge against Israel and its supporters resembles the way Jews were first dehumanized by the Nazis in the years leading up to the Shoah. “Traitors.” “Pornographers.” “Fifth column.” “Responsible for Germany’s defeat in World War I.” And then, “scum and vermin.” Like a thick coat of dark grey paint, these were the 1930s version of today’s words now being used to paint Israel.

It’s human nature that those seeking reasons for their failures, whether governmental or personal, will be receptive to scapegoating others. And when the label is applied so vigorously that people come to see it as fact, those being labeled are more easily seen as inhuman, deserving of whatever punishment comes their way.

It’s fascinating to me that the Jews have once again become the choice of scapegoat-hungry consumers everywhere. You’ll hear it’s not the Jews, it’s only the Jewish state.

Right. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard people say, Peter, why do you constantly conflate Israel with Jews? One is a religion, the other is a country!

In junior high my friends and I would simply reply with “duh” to a statement like that, one that completely misses the point. The country in question is home to half the world’s Jewish population.

Sometimes I feel like I’m in an episode of “The Twilight Zone,” where the entire world believes that the water is sand and sand is water. And I’m the only one who knows how insane that is. Today, the charge is genocide.

Let’s understand the implications of that accusation. If a person, a nation, or a supporter of a nation is responsible for genocide, they are morally fit for elimination. That’s how strong it is.

Jewish institutions in America now spend hundreds of millions of dollars each year on security. Jewish day schools have watched their security costs double since October 7th. Reinforced doors, bulletproof glass. Most institutions have armed guard posted at the entrances and security protocol reviews are commonplace. As the genocide charge has grown louder and more common, so has the price of just showing up to pray.

That these things have become part of ordinary Jewish life in America also feels like an episode of “The Twilight Zone.”

I won’t turn this brief essay into a refutation of the genocide charge, although a few things merit mentioning. Throughout the war, even as kidnapped victims were still being held and tortured, Israel continued to supply water and electricity. It facilitated mass polio vaccination campaigns in Gaza and permitted enormous quantities of humanitarian aid to enter.

Remind me, please, what genocidal nation in history did that.

One also wonders how quickly this fact is forgotten: Hamas started this war. When that’s mentioned at all, it tends to get a nod at best. “Okay, I accept that Hamas did some terrible things…but.” Often, it’s not even that.

Here’s my guess, and it’s only a guess. If a proportionally equivalent share of Americans had been murdered and raped, or kidnapped, the way Israelis were on October 7th, would our response have been gentler? Would France’s? Germany’s? Australia’s? In a word: unlikely.

The charge of genocide goes hand in hand with another charge: that Israel willingly created a famine to annihilate Gazan Palestinians. The images and headlines were everywhere. “Israel was starving Gaza.” “Israel was using starvation as a weapon of war.” “Israel was deliberately starving children.”

In August of 2025, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, working with UN agencies including UNICEF, declared famine in Gaza Governorate. UNICEF reported that more than 12,000 children had been identified as acutely malnourished in July alone, and projected tens of thousands of severe cases by the following June. The famine became evidence for the genocide charge. The numbers went around the world, repeated at demonstrations and taught on campuses as settled fact.

Now we have some new information. Between the end of May and the middle of June of this year, UNICEF coordinated the first population-based SMART nutrition survey of its kind in Gaza. Researchers measured 1,335 children under five in accessible areas containing roughly 83 percent of Gaza’s population. The rate of acute malnutrition they found was 1.3 percent. The IPC subsequently classified acute malnutrition in the areas it analyzed as “Acceptable,” its lowest category.

UNICEF hasn’t entirely walked back the earlier famine finding. It says the ceasefire and the aid that followed explain the turnaround. Maybe so. Today, nobody seems to mention that Hamas, by many credible accounts, survived economically on aid it had stolen, aid intended for Gazan citizens. That’s a significant omission.

But more than numbers, it’s the photos that tell the story. A New York Times front-page photograph of an eighteen-month-old boy named Mohammed Zakaria al-Mutawaq went around the world as a portrait of starvation caused by Israel. The photo itself was beautifully rendered, almost biblical in its sorrow. As has happened many times in this conflict, the paper of record later added an editors’ note disclosing that the child had preexisting health issues affecting his brain and muscle development. These were considered by some to be small details. I can only imagine the conversation: …let’s not get bogged down by the medical stuff.

Headline: Israel is starving children. It reached hundreds of millions of people in one fell swoop. It definitely captured my attention. The update, however, reached a fraction of that audience. It also helped convict Israel in the court of world opinion.

As my friend had mentioned, once an accusation this explosive becomes accepted as fact, it changes the moral status of the accused. Israelis become genocidaires. Zionists become supporters of genocide. Jews who support Israel become apologists for genocide.

When the accusation is as widespread as it’s now become, it can be morally acceptable to hate a Jew with a kippah just for standing in line at Starbucks. Voila! That’s a successful hate campaign if there ever was one.

The Nazis weren’t, let’s say, my favorite folks, but they weren’t stupid. They knew how to convince ordinary Germans that Jews were evil enough to make murdering them seem necessary. They had their words for us.

Today there are different ones. “Genocidaire” is the most dangerous one of all.

Peter Himmelman is a Grammy and Emmy nominated performer, songwriter, film composer, visual artist and award-winning author.

“Genocidaire: A Twilight Zone Episode” Read More »

Lesson from Montreal: When Will Jews Learn to be Offended?

Commentary /

The Jews of Montreal don’t know whether to cheer or cry.

They’ve been virtually under siege for the past few years, having to weather a continuous series of attacks.

“In 2025, Jews were the targets of 70 per cent of all police-reported hate crimes in Canada,” I wrote in my last piece, quoting a recent report: “Jewish schools in Montréal have been shot at, Jewish people have been assaulted, synagogues have been attacked, and antisemitism has entered academic and professional spaces through intimidation, threats, and exclusion.”

The latest insult was a nasty motion from an opposition group in the Montreal City Council that demonized Israel.

An amended version was adopted Monday night that expressed solidarity with Palestinians but removed provisions to cut ties with Israel, and held back on calling Israel a genocidal and apartheid state.

That’s why Montreal Jews aren’t sure how to react. Should they be grateful for the amended version, or upset that the motion came up in the first place and put a target on their backs?

Here’s the thing: You should have heard the Israel haters talk about their sinister motion on Monday night. I watched it on livestream. You would think they were talking about a monster, not a country.

In a letter to the community, the head of the local federation brought up all the work that led to the amended motion:

“In the weeks leading up to last night’s vote,” he wrote, “Federation CJA worked closely with partner organizations, community allies, grassroots groups and leadership, each contributing to different parts of the effort to engage municipal leaders across the political spectrum about our concerns with this motion.”

To his credit, he noted that “I cannot in good conscience call last night a clean outcome. For nearly an hour, members of Projet Montréal had the floor, on the record, to repeat one-sided characterizations of Israel and the war with Hamas. They spewed misinformation and lies about the conflict, Israel, and the war, and did not refer to Hamas as a terrorist organization (as recognized by the Canadian Government and added to the motion), the group that murdered more than 1,200 Israelis on October 7, 2023. That omission is not a technicality. It is a lapse that disgraces this council.”

Where I push back is with his next steps:

“Now that this vote is over, we invite every elected official to return to reality, focus on Montrealers’ true priorities, and permanently leave these divisive tactics behind.”

Sorry, but I’d rather not leave this libelous assault on my people behind.

If the council was “disgraced,” the Jewish community should return to correct the record. The lies must not stand. Jews must attack the lies with the same fervor our enemies spew them.

While Jews have been under assault these past few years, it is those attacking us that have had the chutzpah to act like the victims. Have you ever heard of Palestinians who are afraid to walk the streets of Montreal because they’re terrified of being attacked by those genocide-supporting Jews? I didn’t think so.

We get attacked relentlessly, and then we are the ones who sue for peace so that Montreal can return to its “true priorities.”

Why are Jews so obsessed with being the peacemakers?

Why do we always have to be the responsible adults in the room while our enemies unleash their irresponsible and monstrous accusations?

When will we learn the value of being offended?

Not of being practical, but offended.

I’m deeply offended to see how recklessly Montreal Jews have been treated, the same Jews who have done so much for this city, the same Jews who have built a world-class hospital (the Jewish General) that serves everyone, including the Israel-haters on that council.

The Montreal Jewish community can set an example for the rest of the Jewish world by showing indignation. They can stop walking on eggshells and tell the Jew-haters: “We’re not done with you.” Community leaders should call for an immediate hearing in the city council (before Rosh Hashanah) to correct the lies and defend Israel’s honor.

And while they’re at it, they can invite Israel boycotters on the council to stop using their smart phones, since they are powered by Israeli chips.

We don’t need to cheer or cry.

We just need to fight like our brothers and sisters do in Israel.

Lesson from Montreal: When Will Jews Learn to be Offended? Read More »

Why Annette Shapiro Transcends Obituaries

Commentary /

There are some people who will just never die. They can’t. It’s unimaginable to consider the world without them. They are such a constant; always at the meeting, showing up to the shiva, shushing the other ladies in the cardroom or ruling the boardroom. They are always there.

That is Annette Shapiro.

I say “is” as I can’t let her go…and shouldn’t. Here organizing skills could run a Fortune-500 company; instead, she used them for the betterment of the Los Angeles Jewish community, for furthering medical research, for ensuring that those who were marginalized through “missing the mark” were not shamed, but redeemed. We can all read about her accomplishments, her, no doubt, $1 Billion in fundraising (sum total adjusted to today’s figures) and more. But what we can’t capture through the obits is what we are all missing. Her essence: the astonishing humanity cloaked in a light of doing what is right.

As her daughter-in-law, I thanked her weekly for “the gift of birthing her granddaughters and raising them with her values.” And even though they arrived when she was 83 and 85, she was “Grandma” – remembering every birthday, holiday and event with “a card and a present” and showing up at every “Grandparents event” at their school, every show they were in, every graduation…she was there.

The night before her stroke, I was studying Sefer Yetzirah at Kripalu in Lennox, Mass (what a sentence!). I returned to our Airstream (yes, we are the rogue, bohemian rebels of the Shapiro clan!) to Joel with excitement about what I was studying, and engaged him in “Chazarah” – the evening review of text study. Animated, I shared with Joel the concepts and relationships of Jewish storytelling; of symbols connecting story and season, writing and numbers. It was as if a holographic Torah was arising, and through it, the membrane between life and eternity was stretched thin. We went to bed, and I had a dream.

In the dream, Annette was in her breakfast room, but its walls were filled with her awards from her study. She was with three women that I did not recognize, and they were discussing “someone dying.” I immediately called out to Joel “Call Hatzolah! Call Hatzolah” (the Jewish paramedics). I awoke, and shared the dream with Joel, recognizing that the three women were his cousin’s widow and their two daughters. Picking up my phone to write the dream down, I discovered a dozen texts “where is Joel?”; “Please have Joel call.” “Emergency, it’s Grandma.” That was five am August 5th, a few hours after her stroke.

Currently, we all sit in Aninut. It’s the in-between phase from the moment of death until the burial, in this case nine days. I don’t know about you, reader, who is reading this, but if you are a friend of Annette’s (and at 96, she actively had hundreds, if not, thousands), I am wondering if you are also sitting and feeling wounded; as if a piece of yourself is missing. Personally, I realize in this silence and stillness that “Annette was my mother-in-law for the same amount of time I spent in my parent’s house as a child” (even more, as I spent a year away at summer camp). In my in-between, I keep thinking about “how can I preserve her memory? How can I teach my children posthumously of what was more than a value but a quality of being and a road map for living? A quality of efficiency, precision, action and strategy. A divine balance of humility and vanity. A golden heart of goodness that balanced her own personal struggles with the fact that the world is filled with radical amazement – so get over yourself! Annette was a Beverly Hills contradiction – a regal queen bee of the LA Jewish Community who could cry in front of others and model that vulnerability and plastic surgery are not mutually exclusive.

Now there are tears. Joel and my daughters’ “memories of their grandmother” won’t increase more than their 10 or 13 years. But, I can keep her alive. You can keep her alive. We all can keep her alive. Through learning about her and other amazing people like Annette. Through ensuring that Jewish LA continues to model for our city the best of humanity, including the stranger and margainalized in our midst. We can remember that it is through all of us working together that impact happens. And that’s what this master weaver did – she made sure that we knew one another, met one another and then donated plenty to effect the change for a better world with one another bringing everyone with us.

So break down the silo, and connect. That is what each of us can do “when giants fall.” As we sit in Elul, it’s the perfect time to reflect upon our lives and release what no longer serves us as we “Face our Concept of God to grow towards our own inner Godliness.” Annette lived 96 years eternally young, eternally sitting at her breakfast table, and banging her hand so hard that the plates and glasses shook, a clarion call like a shofar: “Just let it go! Move on! That’s right, Let it go!”

Let it go. Move on. Forgive. Love. Admit that even if we get to live 96 years, it will never be enough; and yet, if we live life through love it will, indeed, never end.

Why Annette Shapiro Transcends Obituaries Read More »

Remembering Annette Shapiro: A Smile Eternal

Editor's Note /

When one wants to honor a giant of the community, it’s inevitable to use expected words: pioneering, treasured leader, legacy, mentor, inspiration, generosity, and so on.

All those words apply to Annette Shapiro, who passed away last Friday at the age of 96.

Indeed, for much of her adult life, she and her husband Leonard have been a pillar of our community. If the word “pillar” applies to anyone, it applies to them.

The Journal is publishing tributes where you can learn more about the many causes she was involved with, as well as details of her expansive life. There are many who knew her a lot better than I did.

Here, I just want to add one personal observation.

Her smile.

Or, should I say, her cheerfulness.

Over the decades that I’ve known Annette, including regular breakfasts at her favorite place in Westwood, Friday night Shabbats at our house, and the countless galas and community events we both attended, that was the one constant: she was always cheerful.

Of course, I write these words at a time when cheerfulness is probably the last thing on the minds of American Jews. If there’s one thing we can all agree on these days, it is that things have gotten significantly worse for American Jewry.

How can we remain cheerful when the mere idea of going against Jews and Israel has become so popular?

I don’t know how Annette would respond to that. For all I know, there might have been many times when Annette herself was not cheerful.

All I know is that every time I saw her, she was in an uplifting mood. Even when she would discuss a difficult subject (often related to her beloved Beit T’ Shuvah), she spoke with a sense of goodness and gratitude.

Maintaining a positive disposition so consistently is difficult to pull off. I know I can’t.

I once heard a rabbi say that the best way to honor the departed is to take on one of their great traits.

I love the trait of cheerfulness.

That’s the one I will take.

I love it because it raises the spirits of everyone around you. It’s the trait that keeps on giving.

I love it even more now, when Jews could certainly use an emotional boost.

For me, that is Annette’s legacy: no matter what, no matter when, she gave our community a boost.

She showed us a smile eternal.

Remembering Annette Shapiro: A Smile Eternal Read More »

Jewish Federation and AJU: In Memory of Annette Shapiro

Obituaries /

From Jewish Federation Los Angeles:

Annette Shapiroz”l, a pioneering leader, philanthropist, mentor, and treasured member of our Jewish community, passed away on Friday at the age of 96. She leaves behind a legacy of leadership and service rooted in the Jewish values she cherished and embodied. For more than six decades, Annette devoted her time, talent, and resources to strengthening Jewish life and improving the lives of people throughout Los Angeles and beyond.

Annette was one of the most influential Jewish leaders of her generation. She was often described as the model “professional volunteer” who understood that effective leadership meant bringing people together, mentoring the next generation, and turning shared values into action. Through fundraising, volunteer development, leadership training, and her own philanthropy, she played an indispensable role in shaping the modern Jewish communal infrastructure of Los Angeles.

Annette’s commitment to JFEDLA began decades ago. She chaired the Women’s Campaign of the United Jewish Fund, a precursor to our Federation’s current-day campaign structure, and later chaired our Women’s Division (now Sylvia Weisz Women’s Philanthropy), first in the San Fernando Valley and then across the city. In these roles, she helped expand women’s participation in philanthropy and cultivate a new generation of Jewish women leaders. In 1988, she received our Golda Meir Award in recognition of her leadership and commitment to the Jewish community. She later served as a Vice President of our Board of Directors, helping guide strategy to successfully build our thriving Jewish community.

In 2018, JFEDLA honored Annette and her beloved husband, Leonard Shapiro, with our Lifetime Achievement Award. Together, they set an extraordinary standard for philanthropy and leadership, demonstrating an enduring commitment to the people of Israel and Los Angeles.

Perhaps Annette’s most lasting gift was her dedication to developing future leaders. In partnership with the University of Judaism, now American Jewish University, she co-created and co-chaired the Executive Volunteer Leadership Institute, an innovative program designed to train and inspire the next generation of Jewish communal leaders. She was a generous mentor throughout her life, sharing her wisdom, encouragement, and example with countless people who went on to lead organizations and improve their own communities.

Her contributions were recognized nationally as well. Annette was the inaugural recipient of the Jewish Federations of North America’s Kipnis-Wilson/Friedland Award, which recognized her trailblazing leadership in women’s philanthropy. The significance of the award was reflected in a lasting distinction: the names of its recipients and their communities were recorded in the Library of Congress. In fact, Annette is listed there twice; a book was written about her titled Annette Shapiro: Professional Volunteer.

We extend our heartfelt condolences to Leonard, the entire Shapiro family, and all who were fortunate enough to know and learn from Annette. May Annette Shapiro’s memory be a blessing and a continual source of inspiration to our entire community.

Warmly,

Daniel Gryczman
Chair of the Board

Rabbi Noah Farkas
President & CEO

 

From American Jewish University:

American Jewish University mourns the passing of Annette Shapiro z”l, a pioneering Jewish communal leader, philanthropist, mentor, and treasured member of the AJU community, who passed away at the age of 96, this past Friday.

For more than half a century, Annette and her beloved husband, Leonard, have been deeply connected to American Jewish University and its predecessor, the University of Judaism. Their record of support dates back to 1974, reflecting more than 50 years of extraordinary generosity, leadership, and belief in the importance of strengthening Jewish life and preparing future generations to lead.

Annette’s relationship with the University went far beyond philanthropy. She gave generously of her time, wisdom, and leadership through her and Leonard’s involvement with the Moriah Society and University Women, helping to build a strong and engaged community around the institution and its mission.

The Shapiro family also left an enduring mark on fabric of Los Angeles Jewish life, including their support for the David Alan Shapiro Memorial Synagogue on the Familian Campus, created in memory of their beloved son, David. For generations of students, rabbis, educators, and community members, the synagogue has served as a sacred gathering place for prayer, learning, reflection, and Jewish connection.

Annette was especially passionate about cultivating the next generation of Jewish communal leaders. In partnership with the University of Judaism, she co-created and co-chaired the Executive Volunteer Leadership Institute, an innovative initiative designed to develop knowledgeable, committed, and effective Jewish communal leadership. That commitment to mentorship was central to who Annette was. She understood that sustaining Jewish institutions required not only generosity but also investing in the people who would carry them forward.

Annette’s impact extended throughout Los Angeles and the broader Jewish community, but we at AJU are especially grateful for the remarkable chapter she and Leonard wrote as part of our institution’s history. Their partnership with AJU spans decades of transformation and growth, and their commitment has helped shape the University we know today.

We extend our heartfelt condolences to Leonard, the entire Shapiro family, and all those who were fortunate to know, learn from, and be inspired by Annette.

May Annette Shapiro’s memory be a blessing, and may her extraordinary example of leadership, generosity, and devotion to the Jewish future continue to inspire us for generations to come.

Warmly,

Larry Platt
Chair, Board of Directors

Jay Sanderson
President & CEO

 

Jewish Federation and AJU: In Memory of Annette Shapiro Read More »