One of the most famous verses in the Torah doesn’t actually exist.

We refer to the command that we read – sort of – this month: “You shall love your fellow as yourself,” or in Hebrew, “Ve’ahavta lere’acha kamocha.”

These three words do, in fact, appear in Parashat Kedoshim (Vayikra 19:18) – but the widespread belief that the Torah commands us “Love your fellow as yourself” is misleading.

The reason it is misleading is that the Torah adds two crucial words that most people omit when they make reference to this mitzvah: “Ani Hashem – I am Gd.”

We must assume that if Gd made a point of appending this proclamation – “Ani Hashem” – to the command to love one’s fellow, it did so because the belief in Gd is integrally linked to this mitzvah.  The Torah does not merely command us to love our fellow as ourselves – it also tells us to believe that “I am Gd.”

It behooves us, then, to understand the precise meaning of this mitzvah.  What is the connection between loving our fellow and faith in the Almighty?

The answer to this question brings us to the more famous question that has been asked about this command.  How can the Torah possibly expect us to love others as much as ourselves?  Are we really not supposed to care for ourselves and our own needs more than those of other people?  Moreover, this command appears to obligate us to love all other people equally, at the same level.  How can this be?  Are we not to love our spouse and family members more than other people?

The People Who are “Like Us”

A brilliant understanding of this command was offered by Rav Haim Palachi (Turkey, 1788-1868), one of the great Sephardic luminaries in the 19^th century.  He explained this verse as a command to love one’s fellow who is “kamocha,” who is like him, who is involved in similar endeavors, and thus seems threatening.

It is easy for a baker to love the shoemaker.  A person who imports electronics has nothing against the guy who imports clothing.  The cardiologist feels neither threatened nor challenged by the orthopedist. 

The Torah here commands us to feel and show love toward the person who is “kamocha,” who is like us, who is in the same field, the same business, the same social circle, the same portion of the shidduch world… The mitzvah to “love your fellow as yourself,” according to this understanding, does not tell us to love all people the way we love ourselves.  Rather, it tells us not to look at our fellow as our competitor – even if he seems to be our competitor.

The way we do this, the Torah clarifies, is “Ani Hashem” – through genuine emunah, faith in Gd.  When we believe in Gd, we realize that we have no competitors.  Not one.  Once we firmly believe that our livelihood ultimately depends on Gd, who has an infinite number of ways to provide us with our needs, we have no reason at all to feel threatened by people in the same industry.  Even if a guy opens the same kind of store on the same block, this should not matter to us one iota.  With emunah, we understand that this new store has zero impact on our livelihood, which in any event is determined solely by Hashem.  Nobody in the world, regardless of how similar his enterprise is to ours, can affect Gd’s decision of how much money we should earn.

Creating Competition?

One of the exemplars of this kind of emunah was my legendary great uncle, the famous Isaac Shalom a”h.  He was a very successful businessman, selling handkerchiefs, and was also exceptionally generous.  He not only donated to many causes in the community, but also helped innumerable community members get started in their own businesses.  Even more impressively – he helped people go into the handkerchief business.  He created his own competition.  On some occasions, he even gave people some merchandise to help them get started.

This goes against every rule of business.  No business school on the planet would ever teach its students to actively create competing enterprises.  The standard protocol is to run the business with ruthless, cut-throat competitiveness, doing everything one can to put competitors out of business and to discourage prospective competitors from trying.

When Isaac Shalom was asked why he did this, he replied, “My livelihood comes from Gd.  What difference does it make to my livelihood if I help a fellow Jew get into the business?”

He fulfilled at the highest standard the Torah’s command to love one’s fellow “kamocha” – who is like him, and he did so by firmly understanding that “ani Hashem” – everything in the world is controlled by the Almighty.

When we live with emunah, there is no such thing as competition.  Singles with emunah do not feel threatened by their peers looking into the same prospects as they are.  People with emunah who are looking to buy a home do not feel threatened by other families in the market.  Job-seekers with emunah do not feel threatened by others with similar resumes.  Because with emunah, we realize that nobody other than Gd determines the outcome of our efforts.

Loving Our Fellow & Prayer

This idea perhaps enhances our understanding of a beautiful custom that was introduced by the Arizal.  He taught that before one begins the shaharit prayer in the morning, he should make a formal declaration accepting upon himself the mitzvah of “Ve’ahavta lere’acha kamocha.” 

We intuitively recognize the value of making this commitment each day, reinforcing one’s devotion to other people, but why is this done as an introduction to the daily prayer service?  What connection is there between this mitzvah and tefillah (prayer)?

In light of what we have seen, the answer becomes quite clear.  This mitzvah is all about emunah – and prayer is the ultimate expression of emunah.  After all, what is prayer if not a clear statement that Gd is the address for all our needs and desires?  As we put ourselves in the mindset of tefillah, and we focus on Gd’s unlimited, absolute control over everything in our lives – this is the ideal time to commit to loving our fellow, to recognize that we have no competitors, that we have no reason to feel threatened by, or resentful of, any other person.

This might also help explain another curious practice.  Each month, toward the end of the recitation of birkat halebanah over the new moon, we turn to our fellow and extend a friendly greeting.  Why would we do this?  Why is the recitation of birkat halevanah a time for greetings?

The answer might be that as we look up to the sky and contemplate the vastness of the universe, the wonders of nature, we are overcome by a feeling of smallness, of helplessness and dependence.  When we reflect on the wonders of astronomy, we reflect on Gd’s unlimited wisdom and power, and our emunah is reinforced.  And so we capitalize on this feeling by reaching out to our fellow, free of any tension or ill-will that we might have previously felt toward him.  Now that we clearly sense our total dependence on the Almighty, we no longer have any reason to resent any other person, since nobody besides Gd has any control over us.

Rabbi Shimon & Eliyahu

As we look ahead to the observance of Lag Ba’omer, and we reflect upon the remarkable story of Rabbi Shimon bar Yohai, this message comes into even greater focus.  Rabbi Shimon and his son fled from the Romans, and needed to hide inside a cave.  They had no sources of food or water.  Miraculously, just outside the cave, a fountain began to flow, and a carob tree emerged.  These sustained Rabbi Shimon and his son for 13 years, until it was safe for them to leave.  There was nobody to feed them – but Gd saw to it that they would be provided for.

An earlier example of this miracle is the story of Eliyahu Hanavi, who lived alone during a period of drought.  Gd sent ravens to bring him food and water to support him.  The food and water they brought were taken from the palace of Ahav – the idol-worshipping king of Israel, who was Eliyahu’s fierce adversary.  Nobody would have ever imagined that Ahav would support Eliyahu.  But Gd has an infinite number of ways of bringing His will to fruition, and, ironically, Ahav ended up feeding the prophet whom he relentlessly pursued.

The period of sefirat ha’omer, when we mark the death of Rabbi Akiva’s students who were punished for failing to treat each other respectfully, is traditionally a time for increased focus on our interpersonal relations, for working no showing greater concern and greater respect to other people.  The mitzvah of “Ve’ahavta lere’acha kamocha” teaches us that this process must be linked to emunah, to our belief in Hashem.  So much anger, hostility, envy, resentment, and negative feelings can be completely erased through genuine faith in Hashem.  The more we believe that no person can get in the way of Gd’s plan, that nobody can compete with us, the less reason we will have to feel jealous or resentful toward anyone. Just imagine what our community – and what the Jewish People – would look like if we all lived with this perspective, if we could all just overlook what wrongs may have been committed against us, if we would all accept everything as the manifestation of Gd’s will, so we can feel content and happy irrespective of what so-and-so did or didn’t do.  We can start making this change right now by reaffirming our belief that “ani Hashem,” that Gd alone controls our lives, and there is thus no reason for competition or jealousy.

Tammy Sassoon

Staying Connected with Your Children

Oftentimes parents say that they feel they are doing everything for their children, yet they have a hard time connecting with their children when they act ungrateful, unkind, or selfish. Parents ask, “How do I feel connected to my child when they are treating me this way?” The answer is that both we and our children do not have to do anything at all to be connected to each other because the connection is natural and is always there.

​Sometimes, however, we do need to remove blockages that make us feel disconnected from our children. ​Blockages can include our thoughts about ourselves or our children. Most of the time those thoughts are judgmental in nature, meaning that our brains are telling us that our children ​should​ be doing things differently. All “should” thinking is destructive. There are no “shoulds” in life.

Here is one example: A mother tells her daughter to deliver a package to an older woman who lives down the block. Her daughter answers, “No, do it yourself.” The mother starts yelling at her daughter because the mother acts according to the root thought of “kids should listen to their mothers, and it’s terrible if they do not.” While her daughter’s response was clearly very disrespectful, and requires wise direction from her mother, the mother needs to respond from a grounded place of clear thinking in order to tap into that wisdom.

Instead of thinking, “My daughter should…” she can think clearer truths such as, “Let me think how to set a healthy limit/help my daughter take responsibility here so she can act respectfully.” (It is not healthy for the daughter to not listen to her mother.) “This challenge is uniquely and lovingly designed for me by Hashem to provide me with an opportunity to grow.” “If I got this challenge, I certainly have the tools inside of me.” “My daughter made a poor choice, and I still see her Real Self beneath that. Her mistakes do not define her.”

Now, if the mother is responding to her daughter from a place of clear truths, she will be able to see that her connection to her daughter was never lost in the first place, but rather that her original faulty thinking is what created the blockage. Consequently, when her daughter says, “No, you do it,” the mother might respond with, “That comes across like you think you do not have to listen, and I know you do not mean that. Now, please go and bring the elderly lady down the block this bag.” All that is said with zero judgement in the mother’s voice. She is not thinking less of her daughter and is not worried about her either. Her daughter simply made a mistake. It is just a bump in the road, and she needs to take responsibility.

How to Deal with Disrespectful Comments

If the daughter often makes disrespectful comments, the mother can have separate conversations with her at a different time.

Notice, I said conversations in plural because it’s two separate conversations, never to be mixed.

Conversation #1: Is there something her daughter needs?

Conversation #2:  What is expected of the daughter? (We do not make excuses for misbehaviors.)

I like to always tell the child that we need to have these two conversations and ask the child which one they would like to have first. They usually pick the conversation about what they need first. I then give my undivided attention as the child explains, “You always ask me to help you, and not my sisters.” Or, “Sometimes I am just not in the mood.” To that conversation I just listen, but I never excuse. Just help the child to feel fully heard.

Then comes the second conversation of, “The real you wants to speak respectfully. You need to find different words to use when you are having these feelings.” We then trust our child to want to do the right thing by smiling and asking, “Can you give me your word that you will work hard to remember that?” People want to keep their word, so the chances of improvement are high. If they forget after that, do not slip back into “should” thinking. Remember that this is part of your child’s journey with you. Use the challenge as an opportunity to see beyond the misbehaviors, so you can focus on the natural connection between you and your child, which never leaves you. That is when you will come up with the best strategies.

By Rabbi Moshe Arking and Rabbi Hayim Asher Arking

The days of counting from Pesah to Shavuot are in anticipation and preparation for the goal of yesiat Misrayim – receiving the Torah. Sefirat ha’omer is a time to prepare for Shavuot when we accept the Torah. We can master that greatness, one day at a time. The counting should be accompanied with a plan that one can visualize and have a takeaway of a tangible accomplishment.  We should make every day that we count – count.

When is the best time to count?

One should count right after nightfall, which is approximately forty minutes after sunset, so that he is counting the entire coming day. If one is concerned that he will forget to count, then already after sunset one may count with a beracha.

One who did not count at night, counts by day without a beracha and then on subsequent nights with a beracha. Therefore, we have a custom to mention the count during Shaharit, so that one who forgot last night will fulfill his obligation then.

Can I eat supper before counting?

From a half-hour before the time of a mitsvah, such as tefillah, keriat shema, and counting sefirat ha’omer, one may not eat more than a k’beitsah (50 grams) of bread or mezonot. Other foods, including rice, chicken, meat, etc., may be eaten even in larger quantities. However, if one appoints a family member or friend who is not eating to remind him to count after his meal, he would be allowed to eat a full meal of bread or mezonot. 

Why do we stand?

When we perform mitsvot, such as shofar, lulav, pidyon, etc., we stand. The source of standing by mitsvot is actually from omer as the pasuk states, “from the beginning of the sickle harvesting – bakamah – the standing crop.” The word bakamah also teaches us that we perform the mitsvot while standing.

I mistakenly counted the wrong number. Do I recite a new beracha?

One who counted the wrong day did not fulfill his obligation and is required to count again with a beracha. If the mistake was realized immediately – within approximately one and a half seconds – the correct day should be recited without a beracha. After that time, he will need to recite a new beracha and count.

Can I recite the beracha and then figure out the correct number by following the person next to me?

Like all berachot, before one begins, he should be saying it upon something known and specific, i.e. before reciting ha’ets, he should preferably know exactly which fruit he is reciting upon and even hold it in his hand. Therefore, one should preferably know the correct day before he starts to make the beracha.

Another important point is that one should realize what number he is counting. It is not merely about saying certain words that fulfills the mitsvah, but rather to understand the number counted.

I am not sure if I missed a day, do I continue?

According to some opinions, the forty-nine days of sefirat ha’omer require a continuous counting without missing a day. In deference to this opinion, one who misses a day, although he will lose the beracha, is required to continue to count on the following nights. However, if one is not sure if he missed a day or not, he will continue his counting with a beracha.

I always end up missing a day! May I start counting with a beracha?

Yes. Before a day is actually missed, one would still count with a beracha even if he knows that he will definitely miss a day. Therefore, if someone has a scheduled surgery or something that will prevent him from counting a complete day of the omer, he should still begin to count with a beracha.

Do women and children count the omer?

Young boys should be taught to count once they reach the age of hinuch – six years old, like every other mitsvah. A minor who missed a night of counting is different from an adult and should continue to count with a beracha. However, women do not count at all, even without a beracha.

I told someone what day it is. May I still count with a beracha?

When asked what day it is, it is best to respond, “Yesterday was such-and-such.” In order for one to fulfill his obligation, his counting has to be prefaced by saying, “Today is day…” Therefore, if one did not yet count and responded, “today is day six,” he would lose his beracha. However, if he just answered “six” or “it’s six,” he may still count with a beracha.

What if one becomes bar mitsvah in the middle of sefirat ha’omer?

A minor who will become bar mitsvah in the middle of sefira should start counting with a beracha until he turns thirteen. After his bar mitsvah, the question arises whether it is considered that he is starting anew in the middle of the omer; therefore, he may not be able to recite a beracha. For this FAQ, we would refer one to his rabbi.

When is the earliest time I can take a haircut, listen to music, etc.?

All the customs of the sefira (i.e. weddings, music, haircuts) apply until the morning of the thirty-fourth day. Regarding music, however, the custom is to be lenient on Lag la’omer if the music is being played at a hilula for Ribbi Shimon Bar Yochai.

Can I buy new clothes during the days of sefira?

One may buy new clothes during sefira. However, for clothes that require a sheheianu, it is preferable to wear them first on Shabbat and recite sheheianu then. Sheheianu on fruits may be recited even during the week.

Why do we study Pirkei Avot during sefira? As mentioned, these days are in preparation and anticipation of receiving the Torah. We therefore learn PirkeiAvot which motivates one to the observance of Torah and mitsvot, and the study of the foundation for Torah – our character traits. Secondly, Pirkei Avot focuses a lot on our interpersonal relationships that were at a low point during this period and therefore require our attention to study properly.

Y. Dror 

“The Omer counts days – but it measures our unity.” 

The forty-nine days that connect Pesach with Shavuot correspond to the forty-nine drives and traits of the human heart. In the desert each day saw the refinement of one of the sefirot that reflect these traits, which brought Klal Yisrael closer to achieving the level needed to obtain the holy Torah. 

Each year we retrace this inner journey with our “Counting of the Omer.” Beginning on the second night of Pesach, the day during which the korban haOmer was sacrificed, we show our thirst for Matan Torah and we begin to count the days and weeks – “Today is one day to the Omer,” “Today is seven days, which are one week to the Omer,” and so on – until “Today is forty-nine days, which are seven weeks to the Omer.”  

The number seven represents completion, as the entire world was created and completed in seven days. “Shavuot” means “Weeks,” teaching us that by the time Matan Torah is reached, and one had just completed seven cycles of seven, a forty-nine-step process of self-refinement, he is complete and ready to become a servant of Hashem and receive the Torah. 

On the day of Shavuot, the korban of “Sheteh Halechem,” which is made of wheat, is sacrificed. This korban is unlike the korban haOmer brought on the second day of Pesach, which is made of barley. This hints to us that prior to the forty-nine days we were on an animal-like level, as animals would eat simple barley. But now, after we have acquired a higher level, we offer a korban made up of wheat, which is eaten by humans.  

But in the middle of all this excitement of improving one’s self and preparing for Matan Torah, for the most part we are actually practicing several forms of mourning.

The Gemara in Yebamot (62) explains: Rabbi Akiva had twenty-four-thousand students, all of whom passed away due to not treating each other with the proper respect.   

One might ask: Can it really be true? 

Could it be that thousands of students of one of the greatest Tana’im – a man who restored Torah and halacha to Klal Yisrael – passed away for not treating each other with the proper respect? Furthermore, one may ask, why would it occur during a time that Klal Yisrael are preparing to receive the Torah?    

The Midrash Tanhuma cites a pasuk in Mishleh: “Do not rob a poor man because he is poor,anddo not crush the poor man in the gate.”Firstly, why would the pasuk need to tell us, “Because he is poor”? And second, if he is poor – then what is there to steal?   

The midrash explains that the pasuk means that if a person who used to support a poor man decides to discontinue his support, it is considered as though he is stealing from the poor person. 
Perhaps through this interpretation we can better understand what really happened with Rabbi Akiva’s students. Maybe they did not actually act wrongly or do anything inherently bad, but if, for example, one regularly greeted his friend every morning, and then stopped, it is like he stole and purposely did not greet him. “Hashem is meticulous with the righteous like a hairsbreadth.”    

Perhaps that is also one of the reasons they passed away during the time of year when we are preparing to receive the Torah. It is to teach us that without unity and the proper respect for one another it’s impossible to properly serve Hashem and accept the Torah even if your teacher is Rabbi Akiva.    It is imperative that we always keep in mind that Klal Yisrael accepted the Torah, “Keh’ish echad be’lev echad” – “As one man with one heart.” 

Investigative Journalist Lisa Daftari on Iran’s Uprising and the War Reshaping the Middle East

DAVE GORDON

The joint U.S. – Israel military campaign against Iran began not as a war of choice, but as a necessity. The attacks were a rapid and calibrated response to an onslaught of Iranian provocations over decades, that had pushed the region to the brink. Within days of precision strikes on Iranian command centers, defense analysts described what followed as a cascade of falling dominoes within the Islamic regime. Dozens of senior military and intelligence figures were eliminated, command communication fractured, and the once-formidable Revolutionary Guard showed signs of internal collapse.

The February 28th strikes came after weeks of protests that left a reported 90,000 Iranian demonstrators killed by the regime, and a total regime-led internet blackout of 90 million Iranians.

Tehran’s leadership appeared increasingly desperate, after a series of drone and missile strikes extended to eleven countries, including neighboring Muslim countries once considered off-limits.

For Washington and Jerusalem, the calculus was clear. After years of containment and deterrence, Tehran’s behavior left no diplomatic option. The ensuing strikes – swift, surgical, and devastating – signaled not escalation for its own sake, but the defense of global stability from a regime unmoored from restraint.

Award-winning investigative journalist and foreign policy expert Lisa Daftari weighs in exclusively for Community, clarifying the many layers needed to understand the conflict.

Born in New Jersey to Persian Jewish parents who met in the United States and married in Iran, Daftari brings to her journalism a deeply personal connection to the Iranian story. Even as a graduate student, she gravitated toward stories connected to Iran, producing an investigative documentary on an underground Iranian political and freedom movement that was later screened in the U.S. Congress.

Her early professional years took her into the world of Washington think tanks, where she researched Middle Eastern politics and terrorism, and produced detailed reports for the Pentagon and other government bodies. Immersed in policy debates on Iran, divestment, and regime behavior, she attended legislative hearings and compiled extensive research on Iranian youth movements and opposition networks.

Over the years, she has been a frequent guest and analyst on Fox News, as well as appearing on networks including CBS, NBC, and PBS.

As Editor-in-Chief of The Foreign Desk, a digital news platform she founded, Daftari oversees coverage of global affairs with a particular emphasis on how events abroad reverberate in American policy and domestic life. The outlet covers topics ranging from Iran’s internal unrest and nuclear ambitions to persecution of religious minorities in the Middle East and cyber threats originating from hostile regimes.

Over the course of her career, Daftari has covered some of the most significant developments in contemporary Iranian history, from the Green Movement and subsequent waves of protest to the ongoing 2025–2026 demonstrations sparked by economic collapse, corruption, and demands for political change.

This interview has been edited for brevity.

What is different about this recent wave of protests compared to earlier uprisings?

That’s a great question. One of the things I often talk about is the evolution of the protesters in Iran. So for years, we saw protests, but the Western world didn’t know what to make of them. We saw the Green Revolution (2009-2010). It was called a protest for reform because it was over a fraudulent election. Then after that, we saw the Iranians just starting to dabble with the concept of regime change. If you fast forward to the “women, life, freedom” protest (2022) [this protest movement launched after the death of a young Kurdish woman who was arrested by the morality police for not wearing her hijab properly], they began to be very clear – this is not just about women’s rights, but it’s about the entirety of the regime.

Really, all ages, all socioeconomic brackets [are involved] – and I think that’s an important part of this [current protest], that is really [happening] across the country. Iran is a diverse patchwork of different ethnicities, but right now they’re very much united in their message, and that is the message of regime change.

It’s almost the perfect storm. You have the regime at its weakest point ever, economically. The economy in Iran is in the downward spiral in terms of its proxies. They have been severely diminished by Israel the aftermath of the October 7th war.

And then, with regards to their weapons and nuclear program, we are just coming off of the 12 Day War [with Israel] in June, which severely degraded and also humiliated the regime, although they will not admit it. Then you have Bibi Netanyahu in Israel and Donald Trump in the United States, both leaders who have the moral courage to look beyond their terms in office, and look at the Middle East as a place where they can make significant change, and reset the entire region for decades to come.

I think this is going to put the Abraham Accords on steroids. What we’re seeing right now in the Middle East is a complete reset, with the Iran regime shooting indiscriminately into civilian areas, into these Arab states. We’re seeing realignment with Israel and its neighbors, and really seeing, hopefully, a new day for the Iranian people, for the region, and for global security.

How many people have taken to the streets in Iran so far, and how many people have been killed by the regime? Do we have those numbers?

It’s hard to verify. You’re not going to get real numbers from the regime, and there’s no way to really tell. But I would even say the numbers that we’re seeing are significantly higher than that [which the regime reports]. What we’re seeing quoted is 30 to 50,000 protesters killed.

There is consensus among Iranians of all 31 provinces. This is significant. Iran being twice the size of Texas. All generations are coming out onto the streets. We’re talking about millions of people, in a country of 90 million, because this is something worth sacrificing for.

The regime has responded with internet blackouts, arrests, and killings. What are you hearing from your sources inside Iran about how people are going about their daily lives?

It’s a great question. You know, the way I describe the Iranian people right now is with an “anxious optimism.” Obviously, nobody wants bombs coming over their heads. But imagine a people so desperate for change, so desperate for basic freedoms. We can’t understand this here in the West, but they are so desperate for basic freedom that they were asking for military intervention on their soil.

I think that that’s being lost in the mainstream media coverage of all this. They are trying to stay safe. A lot of people have gone out of the major cities for safety.

The Achilles heel of this regime has always been the people of Iran coming out in grassroots fashion, and rising up. They showed us in 2009 they were the first people on earth to use social media in an integrated effort, to tell the world their stories. They became citizen journalists. They were sending us videos and sending us stories, and telling us their stories without any reporters on the ground. So they [regime members] do the blackout, because they don’t want people to organize and to let one another know about where the next protest will be, or how they should organize politically.

You support the return of Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi. Why?

I support him for many reasons. From the time I was a child, my dinner table conversations revolved around this nostalgia about Iran that my parents carried with them to the United States. I was born in the United States. I was born after the revolution, but I inherited this nostalgia for a time under the Shah of Iran that my parents told me about. My mother went to university (in Iran), and she wore trendy outfits. They spoke of such a glorious time. The younger generation inherited their parents’ stories, too.

They want to go back to the glorious times of Iran. They are very cognizant of the fact that their country went backwards in the last 47 years instead of going forward.

I have had the honor of interviewing Pahlavi many times, getting to know him. I interviewed his wife. More recently, I interviewed his daughter, getting to know their family. They have become the guardians of this civilization. Pahlavi hopes to be a transitional leader – giving the Iranian people what they want, and putting them on the right course to reclaim their country and determine their future.

What signals do you look for to determine whether or how the US-Israel strikes are making a real difference?

It’s so interesting to me to watch the mainstream media and the political opponents here and around the world, whether they’re in Europe or the Middle East or in the United States, be so impatient. They’re asking: how are we going to dismantle a five decade tyranny in a week?

I think it really warrants more patience. I’m very much enthused, as I listen to briefings by the president, also by the IDF, as to what targets they’re hitting, and what their plans are. I’m enthused to hear that they are ahead of schedule. They’ve hit thousands of targets and eliminated fifty members of Iranian top-tier leadership. That’s a huge win for this war and for the Iranian people’s morale. If we don’t remove the regime now, we’ll maybe face nuclear weapons, more ballistic missiles, more proxy attacks, and an existential threat to Israel and the entire Middle East. I know the Arab countries being shot at now feel the same way.

There is no scenario in which this regime should be left with remnants [of munitions].

During a press conference on March 12, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a striking remark. “In these days, my team and I are weaving additional alliances with countries in the region, alliances that only a few weeks ago would have seemed unimaginable.” Is there code behind that? What does that mean?

I think it’s actually very clear that he’s talking about alliances with countries that now understand this threat better, clearer, than ever before. So, just as an example, the Qataris were housing and funding Hamas, and now Iran regime missiles are falling into Qatar.

The same goes for a long list of Persian Gulf Arab states that are now on the receiving end of the fury of this tyrannical maniac regime. I think that we’re looking again at a reset of the Middle East. We’re looking at an entirely new day on the horizon for the Middle East. I think for many years, a lot of us have been saying it, but now it’s become clear on the military battlefield.

If we remove the Iran regime, we will remove the biggest obstacle for Middle East security for decades to come, if not for generations to come. I think that that’s exactly what Netanyahu was referring to. This is the tremendous impact the removal of this regime will have on global security.

There is some discussion over what happens if the United States decides to halt operations before Israel is ready to do so. What does that situation look like, and how could that be handled?

I interviewed Ambassador Dr. Yechiel (Michael) Leiter, Israel’s ambassador to the United States, and posed the same question to him. He said very emphatically that the United States and Israel have never been so closely aligned from the beginning of this war to this very moment. So I’d like to echo his sentiments.

What message do peace-loving Iranians in Iran wish to send to the West?

I receive many videos, whether people are talking straight to the camera, or they are showing me graffiti, or they are dancing and praising Bibi and Donald Trump, for this very courageous effort. They look at this as a rescue mission.

Donald Trump saw an opportunity to end a war that started 47 years ago. From the first days of this regime, they said “Death to America.” They burned American flags, and then they took American hostages, and they started targeting our assets, and targeting our service members.

In the region, Iran was the number one state sponsor of terror. They put every dollar they had either into their nuclear program, their ballistic missile program, or into their proxies. The Iranian regime tried to train people to hate Israel and hate America, but that’s not the people of Iran. We love America. We love Israel. I think that they [the Iranian people] look forward to joining the global community and being free of this regime. So, they are grateful for this rescue mission.

Band-Aids in World War II

Although early sales of Band-Aids were slow, the product’s popularity took a big leap during World War II. As Johnson & Johnson expanded its first-aid supplies, it included Band-Aids in kits sent overseas to U.S. servicemen and allies, where they were widely used for minor cuts, blisters, and scrapes in training and combat situations. This exposure helped millions of soldiers become familiar with the product and brought Band-Aids into common usage when many veterans returned home after the war. The wartime distribution played an important role in transforming Band-Aids from a niche household item into a trusted staple in American first-aid care.

How the Boy Scouts Helped Spread the Brand

One of Band-Aid’s early marketing breakthroughs came through an unexpected partner: the Boy Scouts of America. In the 1920s, Johnson & Johnson included Band-Aids in first-aid kits for Boy Scouts, and later distributed free supplies to Scout troops. Scouts frequently encountered the kinds of scrapes and minor injuries that Band-Aids were designed to treat, making them ideal users of the product. This grassroots exposure helped familiarize entire families with Band-Aids and contributed significantly to growing demand nationwide. The Boy Scouts partnership is an early example of targeted product sampling that helped make Band-Aids a household name long before mass advertising.

Trademark vs. Everyday Language

The name Band-Aid has become much more than a product – it’s a well-known example of a brand name entering everyday language. While Johnson & Johnson still holds the trademark and officially refers to its products as “BAND-AID® Brand Adhesive Bandages” to protect that trademark, many people use the term generically to mean any adhesive bandage. This process, known as “genericization,” occurs when a brand name becomes synonymous in common speech with the category itself. Other examples include “Kleenex” for tissues and “Xerox” for photocopies. Even though Band-Aid remains a protected trademark, its widespread use in language reflects its deep cultural impact.

Inventions are the ingenious gadgets and machines that have made our lives a little more fun, interesting, and useful. Real inventions are the things that we did not think were possible yesterday, and yet, it would be difficult to live without today. From the tiny paperclip to the massive jet engine, every month we will explore the history behind our world’s most famous inventions and learn about the innovators who designed them.

This month we explore the history behind an invention that is an absolute staple of any home’s First Aid Kit…

The

BAND-AID

Earle Dickson was employed as a cotton buyer for large medical and healthcare firm, Johnson & Johnson in New Brunswick, New Jersey. In 1917, Dickson married Josephine Francis Knight. His wife routinely suffered minor injuries in the kitchen while preparing food. By 1920, Dickson became used to the routine of bandaging the occasional cut, burn, or graze on his wife’s fingers and hands.  Available bandages at the time were often big and bulky. It consisted of separate gauze and adhesive tape that you would cut to size and apply yourself. When Dickson noticed the gauze and adhesive tape his wife used would soon fall off her active fingers, he decided to do something about it.

Ingenuity and Determination

Earle  Dickson was determined to create something that would be easy to apply yourself, remain in place, and protect wounds better. He took a piece of gauze and attached it to the center of a piece of tape then covered the product with crinoline to keep it sterile.

This ready-to-go product allowed his wife to dress her injuries by herself. She now had access to a roll of pre-prepared dressings which she could cut a small piece off at any time to apply a small bandage to a knife-nicked finger or grazed elbow. For the first time, a dressing could now be applied easily and single-handedly by the injured person without any assistance.

Promotion to Vice President

When Dickson’s boss James Johnson saw the invention, he decided to manufacture the product to the public and make Earle Dickson vice-president of the company. The new bandages went into production in 1920.

The BAND-AID is Born

Executives struggled to come up with a title for the new product until the superintendent of the mill, W. Johnson Kenyon, had a spark of inspiration and suggested BAND-AID.

Sales, however, did not skyrocket right away. In the first year of production, only $3,000 of the product was sold. However, changes were made on both the marketing and product design sides. By 1924, the bandages were being produced in a range of convenient sizes – particularly the three inches long, three-quarters of an inch wide plaster people are most familiar with today, and the hallmark red thread pulled to easily open each plaster’s packaging was introduced.

Johnson & Johnson hired traveling salesmen to demonstrate how to use the product and also distributed large numbers of BAND-AIDS for free amongst Boy Scout troops across the entire United States. That seemed to do the trick, as sales rose sharply soon thereafter.

Major Milestones

Although the product itself has remained relatively unchanged throughout the years, its history still came with a few big milestones including the introduction of machine-made band-aids in 1924, the sale of sterilized band-aids in 1939, and the replacement of regular tape with vinyl tape in 1958, all of which were marketed as the latest in at-home medical care.

Successful Inventor & Innovator Earle Dickson served  as vice president for Johnson & Johnson until he retired in 1957. After his retirement, he was a member of the board of directors until his death in 1961. By this time Band-Aids were well-known and a hot seller for the company. At the time of Earle’s death, around $30,000,000 worth of Band-Aids sold each year. Quite an accomplishment from its first year total of only $3,000!