RABBI GABRIEL KANTER-WEBBER

Our adversaries are people: Sh’lach L’cha [5785] GKW Serm 26

My sermon from Shabbat Sh’lach L’cha, reflecting on the current war between Israel and Iran, can be read or downloaded below.

20250621 sermonDownload

As usual, this sermon represents my own views and does not purport to incriminate anyone else.

Some frequently asked questions:

Q: Are you saying that Israel is as bad as Hamas?
A: No.

Q: Are you saying that you support Iran having nuclear weapons?
A: No.

Q: Can we get you sacked for disloyalty to Bibi Netanyahu?
A: No.

Remember that all of my sermons, handouts and so on can be found here. You can sign up for email updates whenever a new blog post appears by entering your details in the box on the homepage.

Shavua tov!

Responses

  1. Trevor Avatar
    Trevor

    Re.Thank you for this but re: ‘Iran’s development of nuclear weapons with which to
    threaten the world’s only Jewish state is unconscionable not only for
    its antisemitism but for the knock-on effects on Iranian civilians.’

    Iran was not developing a nuclear weapon (apparently) and even if they were it is difficult to see how that is anti-semitic? are the US and Israel’s undoubted nuclear weapons anti-semitic? (or Islamophobic?).

    Reply
    1. Gabrielquotes Avatar
      Gabrielquotes

      Forgive me if this question seems patronising but did you read the entire sentence in which I referred to Iran’s development of nuclear weapons as antisemitic?

      Reply
      1. Trevor Avatar
        Trevor

        I did – I believe I quoted it in full in my comment?

        Reply
        1. Gabrielquotes Avatar
          Gabrielquotes

          So then your question must be disingenuous because the sentence explains precisely why Iran’s nuclear policy is antisemitic.

        2. Trevor Avatar
          Trevor

          I’m sorry Gabriel. I’m not trying to be disingenuous. Are you? I copy pasted the exact sentence from paragraph 21 as posted above to the full stop (sentences in English usually end with a full stop). I also read the rest of the document and there is no further explanation of why Iran developing nuclear weapons would bde anti-semitic per se (it clearly isn’t). Are you looking at a different version of the document (your sermon) than the one you posted? Please clarify, otherwise your sermon is very welcome.

        3. Gabrielquotes Avatar
          Gabrielquotes

          The sentence you quoted says quite explicitly that Iran’s nuclear policy is antisemitic because its goal is to target the Jewish state.

  2. Trevor Avatar
    Trevor

    I see. But if they’re NOT developing nuclear weapons as the US intelligence community apparently thinks, then they’re not threatening anyone. Perhaps if they did develop nuclear weapons it would be (like North Korea?) to defend themselves from the USA – or indeed Israel which does have nuclear weapons. Now that the US (and Israel) has bombed them, perhaps that proves the point?

    Reply
    1. Gabrielquotes Avatar
      Gabrielquotes

      I think it’s quite hard to argue that the Iranian leadership isn’t antisemitic (see eg https://www.adl.org/resources/news/irans-leadership-their-own-words).

      Reply
      1. Trevor Avatar
        Trevor

        That’s fair comment and clearly anti-israel. We must hope Ali Khamenei cannot or does not carry out his threats.

        Reply
        1. Gabrielquotes Avatar
          Gabrielquotes

          The Holocaust denial isn’t anti-Israel, though, it’s out-and-out antisemitism.

Comments? Queries? Questions? Observations?