In the Fog of War

August 8, 2025

It is the greatest honor to serve this community as your rabbi. I know that you turn to me for wisdom, guidance, morality, and answers to the most profound questions. Many of you expect me to be a voice of reason and to speak out against injustice. I strive to be present for you during life’s challenges, and I find great joy in celebrating with you at simchas as well. These past twenty-two months have been some of the most challenging for the Jewish people and for rabbis. I have tried my best to lead with intention and to bring Torah to the world. I have worked to create opportunities for us to deeply explore Jewish Peoplehood, Israel, sacred texts, and more.

I know that we likely don’t always agree on everything – and that’s okay! That is what makes the Jewish community special. Disagreement creates the best space for the fruits of Torah to emerge. The Talmud recounts the story of Reish Lakish and Rabbi Yochanan who were great study partners. After Reish Lakish died, Rabbi Yochanan struggled to find a new partner who would challenge him. He grew frustrated because the new partner never disagreed with him. Disagreement sharpened Rabbi Yochanan’s Torah. Disagreement, dialogue, and discussion lie at the hearts of who we are as a people. 

With that in mind, I want to share with you something that I struggle with. Over the last twenty-two months of war, many claim to know all the answers. We rely on trusted journalists and turn to a range of media outlets—from the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and The Atlantic to CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC, The Associated Press and more. For news coming out of Israel, I turn to the Times of Israel, Ynet News, the Jerusalem Post and Haaretz. Some turn to see what Arab news media is sharing and they turn to Al Jazeera. (One great source to see what the Arab world is sharing is www.memri.org, it is Arabic news in translation.) Many of us listen to podcasts like For Heaven’s Sake with Rabbi Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein HaLevi, or Ask Haviv Anything with Haviv Rettig Gur, or Call Me Back with Dan Senor, to name a few. We trust all these sources as truth and fact as they help us know and understand how to face complex issues.

From time to time, on the For Heaven’s Sake podcast, Hartman and Klein HaLevi asked what they know versus what they don’t know. As I reflect on these two questions, I realize I know a lot less than I don’t know.

I know that I love Israel.

I know that my heart breaks that the 50 hostages are still held captive and that the world doesn’t seem to care about them.

I know that there is profound suffering in Gaza.

I know that 70% of Israelis want the war to come to an end and the hostages to all come home; if I were Israeli, I would be part of this 70%.

I know that Hamas lies and creates propaganda for the world to see. 

I know that Hamas wants their people to suffer. 

I know that empathy has no boundaries. 

I know that antisemitism is on the rise.

But—

I don’t know what media source to fully trust. 

I don’t know what happens on the ground in Gaza each day. 

I don’t know what the real numbers are.

I don’t know what it is like to walk into a booby-trapped building. 

I don’t know what it is like to leave my family for months on end to serve in the reserves. 

I don’t know what happens in the back rooms of Israel’s war planning or governing decisions. 

I don’t know what, if any, other motives are at play in these governing coalition discussions (I know what I read, and I have my thoughts.)

Recently, I listened to the Identity Crisis Podcast, where host Yehuda Kurtzer interviewed David Horovitz, Editor-in-Chief of The Times of Israel, on “Journalism in the Fog of War.” I want to share some key points he makes, please see the transcript or listen to the podcast for exact quotes

• Israeli journalists cannot actually cover the war with any reliability because they are not on the ground. The IDF allows journalists short entries into the Gaza Strip.
• Independent and foreign journalists are barred from Gaza. There has not been a single verified independent journalist able to file freely in an ongoing manner from Gaza.
• Foreign news agencies, Reuters, the Associated Press and the Agence France-Presse have reporters in Gaza who are not part of their international staff. They are local hires; some have an interest to get everything right, and some have no interest whatsoever. All of them are influenced by the fact that Hamas does or can do terrible harm to people who do not do what they want.

I reflect on these words and on this piece by Matti Friedman in the Free Press about searching for truth in an information war. I think about how mainstream media outlets such as the NY Times use images and words to skew the narrative, or even a German news outlet publishing staged photos, fueling the Hamas propaganda machine. So what do we do? We struggle, we question, we wonder what role antisemitism plays in all of this. We do our best.

We hope and pray that there will come a time when everyone will lay down their weapons, hostages return home, and the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza will come to an end. I also hope and pray  that we begin to truly see the humanity in one another.

And, if you read one thing this week, read Rachel Goldberg Polin’s plea in the Free Press entitled The Appeal of a Mother Who Buried Her Only Son.

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Rick Kellner