Shabbat Shalom! May this Sabbath bring us the roots of a lasting peace, and may this Shabbat water those roots so that they blossom into a real peace between Israel and her neighbors.
The IDF has calculated that Iran has fired approximately 80% fewer missiles than Israeli intelligence estimates predicted. There are three potential reasons for this. A: The original estimates were inaccurate. B: We have destroyed 80% of Iran's missiles over the last week. C: Iran has been holding back its missile attacks and intends to launch a salvo at a time in the future. Let us pray that it is not C.
What Iran has started doing as of yesterday is launching cluster head missiles. These are missiles with bombs that go off and split into many smaller bombs when they either hit their target, God forbid, or break into smaller bombs when the larger missile is destroyed. Each mini cluster bomb is just a bit over two pounds and affects an area of roughly 8 kilometers, so these are extremely dangerous, especially to civilians when the smaller bombs land in residential neighborhoods (which is where Iran is aiming them).
On Thursday, Secretary Pete Hegseth expressed his intention to increase the attacks on Iran, saying that "the amount of fire over Iran and over Tehran is about to increase dramatically now." President Trump was also clear on Thursday that he does not expect a ground attack. He said, "It's a waste of time. They've lost everything. They've lost their navy. They've lost everything they could lose." He later added that the pace and intensity of strikes against Tehran will continue.
Whatever you may think of President Trump or the MAGA movement, we should all be grateful for what the President said in an ABC interview, where he outright rejected America's favorite unindicted co-conspirator and Jew-hating antisemite, Tucker Carlson. “Tucker has lost his way,” Trump told ABC News’ Jonathan Karl. “I knew that a long time ago, and he’s not MAGA. MAGA is saving our country. MAGA is making our country great again. MAGA is America first, and Tucker is none of those things. And Tucker is really not smart enough to understand that.”
This is a terrific comment by Trump, which publicly exposed Tucker as the fraud and bad guy that he is. Over two years ago, I wrote an article about Tucker clearly being an antisemite, and I was condemned for saying that. Now, two years later, the world has started to recognize not only how much Tucker hates Jews and Israel, but how much Tucker just "is really not that smart". (For those of you unaware, Tucker has recently been very public in blaming Chabad for this entire war because it wants to see the Temple rebuilt.)
Not only is Israel in the midst of this intense war with Iran, but the action against Hezbollah in Southern Lebanon, where much of Hezbollah is entrenched, is also getting more intense day by day. Dahieh, a suburb of Beirut, has been getting pounded by the Israel Air Force, with over 26 air strikes since Wednesday, and more intense attacks coming every hour or two.
The Torah portion this week, "Ki Tisa" (Ex. 30:11-Ex 34:35) includes the tale of the Golden Calf, and how God ultimately forgives them for this great sin. It is an important reminder that God is always compassionate, forgiving us for even our greatest mistakes if we return to Him with an open heart, for God has a deeper love for each of us that is greater than any human being can fully understand. Like a loving parent that is always willing to forgive his child, the Holy One and His presence are grateful to forgive us and always there to help us return to a righteous path.
May we always feel that love and acceptance from God, and strive to act in ways that demonstrate our personal commitment to being the best version of ourselves possible.
Chazak u'Baruch and Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi Michael Barclay
March 6, 2026
18th of Adar, 5786
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