FreeInChrist
Active Member
A question for @jeremiah1five , @armylngst , @koverbd , and even including @synergy here.
YES THIS IS THE RIGHT FORUM FOR IT IS AN ARTICLE ON JD VANCE.
I ran across this statement in the article....
Halacha (Jewish law) forbids rebuking anyone unless you absolutely love them.
My question... before I post the article.... is, Would that apply to anyone such as a Gentile and Jew mixing it up or only on the Jewish side of things.?
Here is what brought this us.
Home » Mr. VP, I love you, but you were wrong about the Holocaust
Jews arriving at Auschwitz II in German-occupied Poland, May 1944. Most were selected for execution in gas chambers. By Bernhard Walter via WIkipedia
US Vice President JD Vance was slammed online for a tweet he posted about International Holocaust Memorial Day.
“Today we remember the millions of lives lost during the Holocaust, the millions of stories of individual bravery and heroism, and one of the enduring lessons of one of the darkest chapters in human history: that while humans create beautiful things and are full of compassion, we’re also capable of unspeakable brutality. And we promise never again to go down the darkest path,” Vance tweeted.
Tablet, a right-leaning American Jewish publication, reposted the VP’s tweet, responding snarkily, “Thank you Mr. Vice President for this unique commemoration of the Holocaust that manages to avoid mentioning Jews or condemning Nazis.”
The omission was grievous. While the Holocaust and, indeed, all of World War Two were global tragedies, Holocaust Memorial Day emphasizes the significance for Jews. The German efforts at the “Final Solution” resulted in the murder of six million Jews, the genocide of two-thirds of the European Jewish population, reducing the global population from 16.6 million to less than 11 million by 1945. As of 2025–2026, the global Jewish population is still lower than it was in 1939. By comparison, there are about 14.8 million Jews alive today, according to the Pew Research Center.
The Jewish population in Europe has not and likely will never fully recover from the Holocaust.“During this time, the rest of the world’s population grew about twice as quickly,” Pew noted.
Before the Holocaust in 1939, the global Jewish population was approximately 16.6 million, representing about 0.8% to 0.83% of the total world population of roughly 2 billion. This population was concentrated in Europe, where Jews made up 1.7% of the continent’s population before the Nazis came to power. Jews currently account for a tiny 0.2% of the global population.
As devastating as World War Two was for the world, the Holocaust nearly succeeded in erasing the Jews from the planet. For that reason, UN General Assembly Resolution 60/7, an initiative of the State of Israel, was adopted by the General Assembly on 1 November 2005, establishing 27 January as International Holocaust Remembrance Day to honor the memory of six million Jews.
Yes, the Holocaust was a tragedy specifically for the Jews, and a Holocaust memorial should mention this.
Vance’s omission could have been written off as a benign oversight if it weren’t for past criticisms accusing him of antisemitism and anti-Zionism. The Jewish Democratic Council, a left-wing organization, dedicated a page of its website to Vance’s supposed anti-Jewish stance.
Vance was not alone in forgetting to emphasize the Jewish element of the day. David Coller, an award-winning investigative journalist, caught the BBC in the same sin. “Apparently “six million PEOPLE” were murdered,” Collier tweeted. “people”? Were they just randomly chosen? Have they no shame at all?”
The BBC apologized on Tuesday, describing the omission as “hurtful, disrespectful, and wrong.”
Ironically, the BBC criticized Canadian PM Justin Trudeau when he opened the National Holocaust Monument in the capital, Ottawa, in 2017.
JD’s failure to mention the Jews at a Holocaust memorial is understandable. The term ‘Holocaust’ is synonymous with the Nazi effort to genocide the Jews. It does not necessarily indicate an attempt at Holocaust denial.
But Vance has a history of sins of omission regarding antisemitism and anti-Zionism. While he has stated that “antisemitism and all forms of ethnic hatred have no place in the conservative movement,” his silence on specific figures and actions has led to allegations of political expediency and complicity. Critics have highlighted Vance’s failure to condemn figures like Nick Fuentes, a white nationalist and Holocaust denier, and have criticized his close association with Tucker Carlson, who has been accused of spreading anti-Israel sentiment.
In difficult times, silence and ambiguity in the face of evil is evil. When Vance had the opportunity to call attention to a great evil perpetrated against the Jewish people, he sidestepped and remained silent. Calling attention to the Holocaust underscores the need for a Jewish state.
When he should have reminded the world of this, Vance chose silence.
While the Vice President failed to emphasize the Jewish aspect of the Holocaust, his omission provides me an opportunity to fulfill a Biblical commandment. Leviticus 19:17 commands Israel to rebuke their fellow man.
“Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thy heart; thou shalt surely rebuke thy neighbour, and not bear sin because of him.”
This is immediately followed by the commandment to love our neighbor.
“Thou shalt not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD.”
Israeli President Isaac Herzog meets with U.S. Vice President JD Vance at the President residence in Jerusalem, October 22, 2025. Photo by Olivier Fitoussi/POOL
Halacha (Jewish law) forbids rebuking anyone unless you absolutely love them.
So if JD Vance is reading this, he should know that I am giving him tochacha (rebuke) out of absolute love. As a Torah-observant Jew living in the Golan, I am sure in my heart that JD Vance loves Israel and the Jews. I would like to instruct him that in the future, he should be more careful in his speech because unintended words and omissions will be jumped upon by the haters of Israel in an attempt to take down what is undoubtedly the most pro-Israel administration in US history. Criticism of Vance’s Holocaust Day gaffe is nothing more than cynical politicization of the issue, a form of Holocaust denial in itself.
Which brings me to my final point. The same people who are criticizing Vance for failing to note the Jewish nature of Holocaust Memorial Day are, for the most part, the same people who accuse Israel of genocide in Gaza.
Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza cannot be classified as a genocide. In 1948, the Arab population of the Gaza Strip was approximately 80,000 to 100,000 people. When Israel captured Gaza in 1967, UNRWA reported an Arab population of 356,000. In 2005, just before Israel’s disengagement from Gaza, the Arab (Palestinian) population of the Gaza Strip was approximately 1.4 million people according to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS). Before the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported the population of Gaza as 2.3 million. In July 2023, the UN “adjusted” this estimate, reducing it to 2.1 million for “humanitarian planning purposes”.
Even by Hamas’ estimates, less than 3% of the Gaza population has been killed in this “genocide”. And the numbers provided by Hamas are notoriously unreliable, unsubstantiated, frequently revised, and defy all logic.
Accusations against Israel originated with a claim made by South Africa in December 2023 before the International Court of Justice. And while many use this as a basis to accuse Israel of committing genocide, the ICJ did not conclude that genocide had occurred—only that the claims warranted further examination—and it did not impose an immediate cessation of military operations.
It should be noted that the word “genocide” was coined by Raphael Lemkin, a Polish-born jurist who served as an adviser to the U.S. Department of War during World War II, in the wake of the Holocaust. Perhaps most telling is that the Lemkin family, along with Rabbi Marvin Hier, founder of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, filed a formal complaint with Pennsylvania authorities demanding that the Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention stop using his name because of the Institute’s repeated genocide accusations against Israel. They argue that these statements, combined with the use of Lemkin’s name, serve to advance a political agenda disconnected from his original legacy.
I am convinced that the reason so many want to falsely accuse Israel of genocide is in order to absolve themselves of the Holocaust. While there is no question that Russia invaded Ukraine, there are no protests outside Russian Orthodox churches, no vandalism, no calls to ‘gas the Russians.’ The genocide accusation has erased the line that separates anti-Zionism from Jew-hatred. Anti-Zionism is no longer a political statement. It is outright racism, preparing the way for worse, perhaps for another attempt to wipe out the Jews. Perhaps that is why these folks support Hamas, an organization that has openly declared its intention to kill every Jew on the planet. And the solution for Gaza being carried out right now is leaving Hamas in place and armed.
So it seems that accusing Israel of genocide is a form of the truly heinous sin of Holocaust denial to a degree that is far more egregious than JD Vance’s omission, which came while he was commemorating the Holocaust. But Vance is choosing to play it safe, remain silent in the face of evil, so that his political future remains strong.
While he may not be actively antisemitic, as a leader, Vance should not be silent. Vance must step up and be unequivocal in these times when antisemites are growing bolder. He must declare, ‘Never again will we be silent when Jews are being murdered.’ Vance must loudly denounce Jew-haters like Fuentes and Carlson and not remain silent while their ranks grow,
YES THIS IS THE RIGHT FORUM FOR IT IS AN ARTICLE ON JD VANCE.
I ran across this statement in the article....
Halacha (Jewish law) forbids rebuking anyone unless you absolutely love them.
My question... before I post the article.... is, Would that apply to anyone such as a Gentile and Jew mixing it up or only on the Jewish side of things.?
Here is what brought this us.
Mr. VP, I love you, but you were wrong about the Holocaust
Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz
Opinion
January 28, 2026
6 min read
Home » Mr. VP, I love you, but you were wrong about the Holocaust
opinion
US Vice President JD Vance was slammed online for a tweet he posted about International Holocaust Memorial Day.
“Today we remember the millions of lives lost during the Holocaust, the millions of stories of individual bravery and heroism, and one of the enduring lessons of one of the darkest chapters in human history: that while humans create beautiful things and are full of compassion, we’re also capable of unspeakable brutality. And we promise never again to go down the darkest path,” Vance tweeted.
Tablet, a right-leaning American Jewish publication, reposted the VP’s tweet, responding snarkily, “Thank you Mr. Vice President for this unique commemoration of the Holocaust that manages to avoid mentioning Jews or condemning Nazis.”
The omission was grievous. While the Holocaust and, indeed, all of World War Two were global tragedies, Holocaust Memorial Day emphasizes the significance for Jews. The German efforts at the “Final Solution” resulted in the murder of six million Jews, the genocide of two-thirds of the European Jewish population, reducing the global population from 16.6 million to less than 11 million by 1945. As of 2025–2026, the global Jewish population is still lower than it was in 1939. By comparison, there are about 14.8 million Jews alive today, according to the Pew Research Center.
The Jewish population in Europe has not and likely will never fully recover from the Holocaust.“During this time, the rest of the world’s population grew about twice as quickly,” Pew noted.
Before the Holocaust in 1939, the global Jewish population was approximately 16.6 million, representing about 0.8% to 0.83% of the total world population of roughly 2 billion. This population was concentrated in Europe, where Jews made up 1.7% of the continent’s population before the Nazis came to power. Jews currently account for a tiny 0.2% of the global population.
As devastating as World War Two was for the world, the Holocaust nearly succeeded in erasing the Jews from the planet. For that reason, UN General Assembly Resolution 60/7, an initiative of the State of Israel, was adopted by the General Assembly on 1 November 2005, establishing 27 January as International Holocaust Remembrance Day to honor the memory of six million Jews.
Yes, the Holocaust was a tragedy specifically for the Jews, and a Holocaust memorial should mention this.
Vance’s omission could have been written off as a benign oversight if it weren’t for past criticisms accusing him of antisemitism and anti-Zionism. The Jewish Democratic Council, a left-wing organization, dedicated a page of its website to Vance’s supposed anti-Jewish stance.
Vance was not alone in forgetting to emphasize the Jewish element of the day. David Coller, an award-winning investigative journalist, caught the BBC in the same sin. “Apparently “six million PEOPLE” were murdered,” Collier tweeted. “people”? Were they just randomly chosen? Have they no shame at all?”
The BBC apologized on Tuesday, describing the omission as “hurtful, disrespectful, and wrong.”
Ironically, the BBC criticized Canadian PM Justin Trudeau when he opened the National Holocaust Monument in the capital, Ottawa, in 2017.
JD’s failure to mention the Jews at a Holocaust memorial is understandable. The term ‘Holocaust’ is synonymous with the Nazi effort to genocide the Jews. It does not necessarily indicate an attempt at Holocaust denial.
But Vance has a history of sins of omission regarding antisemitism and anti-Zionism. While he has stated that “antisemitism and all forms of ethnic hatred have no place in the conservative movement,” his silence on specific figures and actions has led to allegations of political expediency and complicity. Critics have highlighted Vance’s failure to condemn figures like Nick Fuentes, a white nationalist and Holocaust denier, and have criticized his close association with Tucker Carlson, who has been accused of spreading anti-Israel sentiment.
In difficult times, silence and ambiguity in the face of evil is evil. When Vance had the opportunity to call attention to a great evil perpetrated against the Jewish people, he sidestepped and remained silent. Calling attention to the Holocaust underscores the need for a Jewish state.
When he should have reminded the world of this, Vance chose silence.
While the Vice President failed to emphasize the Jewish aspect of the Holocaust, his omission provides me an opportunity to fulfill a Biblical commandment. Leviticus 19:17 commands Israel to rebuke their fellow man.
“Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thy heart; thou shalt surely rebuke thy neighbour, and not bear sin because of him.”
This is immediately followed by the commandment to love our neighbor.
“Thou shalt not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD.”
Halacha (Jewish law) forbids rebuking anyone unless you absolutely love them.
So if JD Vance is reading this, he should know that I am giving him tochacha (rebuke) out of absolute love. As a Torah-observant Jew living in the Golan, I am sure in my heart that JD Vance loves Israel and the Jews. I would like to instruct him that in the future, he should be more careful in his speech because unintended words and omissions will be jumped upon by the haters of Israel in an attempt to take down what is undoubtedly the most pro-Israel administration in US history. Criticism of Vance’s Holocaust Day gaffe is nothing more than cynical politicization of the issue, a form of Holocaust denial in itself.
Which brings me to my final point. The same people who are criticizing Vance for failing to note the Jewish nature of Holocaust Memorial Day are, for the most part, the same people who accuse Israel of genocide in Gaza.
Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza cannot be classified as a genocide. In 1948, the Arab population of the Gaza Strip was approximately 80,000 to 100,000 people. When Israel captured Gaza in 1967, UNRWA reported an Arab population of 356,000. In 2005, just before Israel’s disengagement from Gaza, the Arab (Palestinian) population of the Gaza Strip was approximately 1.4 million people according to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS). Before the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported the population of Gaza as 2.3 million. In July 2023, the UN “adjusted” this estimate, reducing it to 2.1 million for “humanitarian planning purposes”.
Even by Hamas’ estimates, less than 3% of the Gaza population has been killed in this “genocide”. And the numbers provided by Hamas are notoriously unreliable, unsubstantiated, frequently revised, and defy all logic.
Accusations against Israel originated with a claim made by South Africa in December 2023 before the International Court of Justice. And while many use this as a basis to accuse Israel of committing genocide, the ICJ did not conclude that genocide had occurred—only that the claims warranted further examination—and it did not impose an immediate cessation of military operations.
It should be noted that the word “genocide” was coined by Raphael Lemkin, a Polish-born jurist who served as an adviser to the U.S. Department of War during World War II, in the wake of the Holocaust. Perhaps most telling is that the Lemkin family, along with Rabbi Marvin Hier, founder of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, filed a formal complaint with Pennsylvania authorities demanding that the Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention stop using his name because of the Institute’s repeated genocide accusations against Israel. They argue that these statements, combined with the use of Lemkin’s name, serve to advance a political agenda disconnected from his original legacy.
I am convinced that the reason so many want to falsely accuse Israel of genocide is in order to absolve themselves of the Holocaust. While there is no question that Russia invaded Ukraine, there are no protests outside Russian Orthodox churches, no vandalism, no calls to ‘gas the Russians.’ The genocide accusation has erased the line that separates anti-Zionism from Jew-hatred. Anti-Zionism is no longer a political statement. It is outright racism, preparing the way for worse, perhaps for another attempt to wipe out the Jews. Perhaps that is why these folks support Hamas, an organization that has openly declared its intention to kill every Jew on the planet. And the solution for Gaza being carried out right now is leaving Hamas in place and armed.
So it seems that accusing Israel of genocide is a form of the truly heinous sin of Holocaust denial to a degree that is far more egregious than JD Vance’s omission, which came while he was commemorating the Holocaust. But Vance is choosing to play it safe, remain silent in the face of evil, so that his political future remains strong.
While he may not be actively antisemitic, as a leader, Vance should not be silent. Vance must step up and be unequivocal in these times when antisemites are growing bolder. He must declare, ‘Never again will we be silent when Jews are being murdered.’ Vance must loudly denounce Jew-haters like Fuentes and Carlson and not remain silent while their ranks grow,
