Simchat Torah is the most celebratory time of the Jewish New Year. On October 7, 2023, it was a day of utter and complete horror. Israel was invaded by Hamas forces which poured into the nation from Hamas ruled Gaza. By October 8, 2023, many in the world not only celebrated rape, murder, torture, and beheading carried out by Hamas, but encouraged that it continue. Hezbollah in Lebanon and Iran joined the blood fest, threatening the existence of Israel.

I will never forget the message that my daughter living in Israel left for me as the Iranian ballistic missile attack began, “Dad, I’m calling to tell you that I love you. Whatever happens, know that I am happy here and committed to my life in Israel.” As anyone can imagine, plenty of tears were shed.

Israel’s survival at the hands of the world’s worst people is a miracle, beyond question. Here we are celebrating Simchat Torah two years later, and Israel’s hostages; men, women, babies, and older people, have been released by a battered Hamas.

For two years, Israel has said, “Release the hostages, and the war is over.” But the world did not want the war to be over. The world wanted Israel dead. Hamas thought that it had the world in the palm of its hands. Terrorist supporters and sympathizers marched in Brussels, New York, London, and Paris. They celebrated the murder of Jews, and they thirsted for more blood.

As we say when we celebrate Purim, when the Persian government had planned the murder of Jews in its lands; “But G-d had other plans.”

Enter Donald Trump, a much-maligned president, but clearly a peacenik. Trump thought that he was good enough to achieve world peace by the force of his personality. Trump learned a lesson. The President came to realize that force had to be applied to bad actors before they would knuckle under and sue for peace.

Hamas was only defeated because of Israel’s incredible capabilities, determination, and courage. Were it not for Prime Minister Netanyahu and the overwhelming support that he had among the Israeli people, the joy of this year’s Simchat Torah would not have occurred. Israel’s alliance with the United States was a crucial component.

What comes next? In order to have its hostages released, a tremendous concession had to be made to the Hamas terrorists. Israel released many hundreds, thousands, of murderers from its prisons. Israel does not have a death penalty. People convicted, under the rule of due process, for multiple homicides, have been released from Israeli prisons. In a manner of speaking, Hamas did obtain a partial victory. They took innocent Israeli hostages in order to degrade Israel, destroy the state, and get back some of its most heinous citizen supporters. The leader of the Gaza Hamas invasion had been in an Israeli prison. Israeli surgeons saved his life when he had a brain tumor. That same man was released in a hostage exchange and went on to plan and ultimately lead October 7, 2023.

Who knows what horrendous genocidal murderers Israel has now let out of its prisons in order to secure the release of its innocents. The solution to the hostage crisis in Israel was not without its downside for Israel.

It must also be remembered that the very Arab states that are touted as heroes for helping to negotiate “reasonableness” on the part of Hamas also financed Hamas’s terrorism. Qatar, which Israel had to apologize to for a strike within that nation which killed some of the terrorists, was a major financier of terrorism in the Middle East, especially in Gaza. It is Qatar that finances Hate America programs at American colleges and universities. Qatar has been a major player in destabilizing the Middle East and in attempting to undermine democratic principles in both Europe and the United States. However, Qatar is not the only Arab state that uses its money to buy influence and encourage destruction of the Judeo-Christian ethic. Many other Arab states have used their oil money to destroy the pillars of Western civilization. The United States needs to remain aware of that.

While Donald Trump is understandably intoxicated by his success in “ending” the Hamas war, the battle is far from over. As we write, Hamas is attempting to rebuild and reconstruct itself. It is a monster whose head has been cut off, but whose body is attempting to regenerate new leadership. More than 7,000 Hamas fighters have been returned to the streets. The terrorist group will first kill all of its opponents, as it has done in the past, and then it will rearm thanks to the largess of the Arab world. The United States, Western Europe, and supposedly “friendly” Arab regimes need to stand together.

What of starvation in Gaza and destruction of the cities and towns? All of that starvation and all of that destruction turned out to be either untrue or a direct cause of Hamas policies, and the decisions of its donors. The news is now coming out that there was little or no starvation in Gaza. What the world was told about hunger in the Hamas ruled territory was a lie. The destruction of buildings was substantial, as Israel sought to bring the terrorist leadership to the negotiating table. Every building in Gaza that was damaged, every piece of debris is wholly and totally the fault of Hamas for refusing to negotiate in good faith and, more importantly, to release the innocent hostages.

The challenge for Israel is how to educate the world and decision makers as to the reality of Middle Eastern politics. What the fundamentalist Muslim Arab terrorists have accomplished in the Middle East, they are literally dying to transport to the West. Theirs is a culture of death, while Judaism and Christianity are paths that encourage life.

Simchat Torah represents the giving of the torah on Mt. Sinai, known to the rest of the world as the Five Books of Moses. The holiday also celebrates the giving of the Ten Commandments. Ultimately, Judaism is about the rule of law and respect for others. This is a lesson the world can learn.

Judaism is not a nationality which was missionary. However, there is one holiday that Ezekial tells us the world will come to celebrate in the future. That holiday is Sukkot. Simchat Torah comes at the end of Sukkot and provides an uplifting message to all people of good will on this planet.

Clifford A. Rieders is a board-certified trial advocate in Williamsport.