Shavuah tov, may we all be grateful that neither the President nor anyone in our government was a victim of the shooting attempt at Saturday's Washington Correspondents' Dinner. The rhetoric on both sides of the political aisle, through pundits and influencers, and in print and on television is causing a destruction of both society and of our nation. All Americans, of all political affiliations, must learn to emulate the rabbinic sages of thousands of years ago: we must again be able to disagree without being disagreeable,. or there will be no America to disagree about. It is why I agreed to start the weekly radio show and podcast last month of The Rabbi's Table: Dialogue Not Debate, which can be found on all platforms. This week the guest is author and filmmaker Dinesh D'Souza, and we talk about Israel, Antifa, and freedom among other things. I invite you to listen to the discussion on your favorite platform or here.
(A spoiler: Dinesh is not only insightful, but actually a very funny man, especially when it comes to his commentaries on the craziness of influencers Candace Owens and Tucker Carlson.)
There is enough true conflict in the world that we don't need to add to it, and we must return to civil discourse and turn down the rhetoric that has been increasing violent acts against leaders from both political sides. Either everyone has peace in any conflict, or no one has peace.
And peace is still being elusive in the Middle East, as both the U.S. and Iran stopped any dialogue before it even began this weekend.
Trump canceled Witkoff and Kushner's trip to Pakistan on Saturday morning. "I told my people, when they were preparing for the flight, you're not going to fly 18 hours, we hold all the cards. They can call us whenever they want, but you're not flying 18 hours to sit and talk about nothing." He continued later in the day: "Besides, there are also internal struggles and enormous confusion within their 'leadership.' Nobody knows who is in charge, including them. In addition, we have all the cards, and they have nothing! If they want to talk, all they need to do is call!!!,” and reiterated, "Iran will not have nuclear weapons."
The New York Times reported that Iranian President Pezeshkian said that his country will not return to negotiations with the United States as long as the naval blockade in the Strait of Hormuz continues on vessels arriving at or departing from Iranian ports. Pakistan, for its part, has now stated that they are dismantling the security perimeters for the negotiations and is stepping back from facilitating renewed negotiations.
Multiple Middle Eastern media outlets are reporting that there are unverified social media reports claiming that Mojtaba Khamenei has been added to a list of “martyrs” in Mashhad Ardehal. No official Iranian source has confirmed or denied the claim, but there have been numerous reports for weeks that he was severely injured and even disfigured in the attack that killed his father.
In Judaism, it is the custom to greet people with the saying "Shalom Aleichem,” "peace be upon you.” Arab cultures hold the same tradition, saying "Salaam Aleichem,” meaning the exact same phrase. The Torah recognizes that there are times when peace can only be brought upon us through war, and our greeting of a blessing for peace is a constant reminder that there is always one goal in any conflict: a lasting peace.
May this greeting become a prayer for all of us, and may peace truly be upon us and all the world. As the Japanese philosopher Masahisa Goi said after the devastation of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, "Sekai heiwa ga jitsugen shimasu yō ni."
May peace prevail on earth.
Chazak u'Baruch
Rabbi Michael Barclay
April 26, 2026
9th of Iyyar, 5786
24th day of the Omer
Iran is continuing to stall out peace negotiations with absurd demands, but the one thing it is getting done is giving itself the opportunity to re-arm and resupply its military. On Sunday, the Lebanese network Al-Mayadeen reported from Tehran that, "Iran informed mediators of a three-stage negotiation framework. If Washington accepts it, negotiations will resume. The first stage of talks focuses on ending the war and obtaining guarantees that it will not resume against Iran and Lebanon. Tehran will not discuss additional issues in the first stage." The report additionally said that "if an agreement is reached, the talks will move to the second stage to discuss how to manage the Strait of Hormuz." This is in harmony with what Axios reported later in the evening about Iran having sent a new proposal to the United States aimed at reaching a deal around the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and lifting the naval blockade it imposed as a starting point, and postponing nuclear negotiations to a later stage.
In other words, Iran is clear that they want the Strait opened and a permanent ceasefire, with no nuclear restrictions placed upon them now nor in the future. Let us all pray that the administration's representatives fully reject any multi-stage peace plan like this, as well as hold to the goal of removing any possibility of Iran ever getting nuclear capabilities.
The supposed peace deals and ceasefires are actually a sham as well. Hamas continues to attack the IDF, and the IDF retaliates. Netanyahu announced on Monday morning that Hezbollah continues to violate the ceasefire, and that the IDF is going to continue to eliminate Hezbollah's threatening leadership. Although Israel is controlling many of the dangers, we have to be honest that there really is no peace (nor even a real ceasefire) going on.
And yet, despite all the constant dangers around them, the people of Israel are optimistic and filled with faith and hope. Here in the United States, even the threat of a possible conflict makes Americans scared and often paralyzed, but in Israel, they celebrate life.
May we all spend more time in faith and not in fear, and may we commit to ourselves and to God, that when we are in the midst of darkness or chaos, we will all celebrate Life in every moment.
Chazak u'Baruch
Rabbi Michael Barclay
April 27, 2026
10th of Iyyar, 5786
25th day of the Omer
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