Another Illuminating Program: Torah Fund Stands with Israel  

As I write this, the fragile cease fire between Israel and Hamas is holding, hostages were released in accordance with the agreed upon schedule, we have witnessed glorious, heartfelt reunions, and we continue to be optimistic.  We mourn those who have perished and wait anxiously for news about those still in captivity. Our Torah Fund Stands with Israel Program on January 12 offered words of Torah and profiled how Israel is perceived by many in the world today. 

Fulfilling Our Mission 

We were fortunate to have Rabbi Fabián Werbin provide a D’var Torah. He is the rabbi at Kol Shalom in Rockville, Maryland, where International Women’s League President Julia Loeb worships, and she introduced him. A graduate of Seminario Rabinico Latinoamericano in Buenos Aires, Rabbi Werbin led congregations in Panama and Columbia, and since immigrating to the United States, has served as rabbi at several congregations in Maryland. Rabbi Werbin and his wife Patricia are the parents of four children, and he speaks four languages. 

Rabbi Werbin began by sharing that he lived in Israel and studied at the Schechter Institutes and loves Israel. He taught us about the last words of Jacob as Jacob was blessing his children, describing their goals and missions, and said Torah provides the message for everyday life. He believes our mission is to study and spread the words of Torah. He remarked that Torah Fund was created before his father Victor was born, and his father’s name was chosen to signify victory over the Nazis. Rabbi Werbin is thankful for Torah Fund and encourages continuing its mission and contributing to the study of Torah. He ended with many blessings to everyone.   

Israel, Antisemitism and the Jews of Spain 

Our featured presenter was Tal Itzhakov, spokesperson for the Embassy of Israel in Spain. This was Tal’s second time as a guest on this program; her first time was when she was the cultural and press attaché at the Embassy of Israel in Mexico. Earlier Tal was a higher education coordinator and Israel community emissary of the Jewish Agency for the Pensacola Florida Jewish Federation. She has a special education and math background and earned a teaching certification, and she is fluent in Hebrew, English and Spanish. 

Tal described the various challenges Israel faces: 

• With Hamas, Israel’s goal is to “close a deal.” She explained that Hamas is abusing the use of facilities like hospitals to perpetuate the war and is stealing and misusing humanitarian aid.  
• As for Hezbollah, it was 60 days since a ceasefire, which Hezbollah continued to violate. Since October 8, 2023, Hezbollah fired 15,000 rockets against Israeli civilians, both Jews and non-Jews; 60,000 residents had to escape to shelters on short notice.  Hezbollah has created a network of tunnels like those in Gaza.  
• The Houthis continue to be a threat as a Jihadist proxy of Iran; they are located 2,000 miles from Israel with no shared border and they fired missiles. Tal characterized them as a terrorist organization.  
• Israel has temporary forces in Syria in buffer zones as a limited action. 

Tal then discussed her experiences in her current role in Spain, where she arrived two weeks before October 7, 2023. She described the present situation between Israel and Spain as a huge diplomatic crisis. Spain’s main government party is a coalition with far-left wing parties targeting Israel. On October 7, 2023, a government representative of Spain wrote that Palestine has a right to exist after a history of apartheid; other ministers cut off relations and have boycotted Israel. In November 2023, Spanish Prime Minister Sanchez visited Israel and said during a press conference that military action in the Gaza strip was unacceptable, which prompted the recall of Israel’s ambassador who then returned to Spain two months later. Spain has recognized Palestine, which again led to the recall of Israel’s ambassador, and as of the date of this program, there was no ambassador from Israel in Spain. The vice president of Spain Yolanda Diaz used the hateful expression: “From the river to the sea Palestine will be free.” She later “walked back” this statement by saying she was in favor of a two-state solution. 

Tal shared that the Federation of Jewish Communities of Spain is the umbrella organization for Spanish Jews. Jews in Spain primarily come from Morocco and Latin America. There are 45,000 Jews in Spain consisting of 21 communities, with three schools and 30 synagogues. The Jewish Community in Spain is very dispersed, unlike in Mexico, where the Jewish community is primarily in Mexico City.  In Spain there is cooperation between the Jewish community and the Israeli embassy. 

Tal continued that there is a dangerous rise in antisemitism throughout Europe. Spanish government leaders openly promote antisemitic hate speech. Antisemitic signs and cartoons appear in the second largest newspaper. Pervasive antisemitism in Spanish universities is evident and students are afraid to support Israel. In addition, there is the existence of a very vocal antisemitic minority, but Tal does not believe this is the belief of the “man on the street.” A hostile atmosphere is widespread, which makes many afraid to defend Israel’s cause.  She characterizes Spain as a “paradise” for views supporting the destruction of Israel. But Jewish communities are attempting to remain strong.  Tal showed the performance of a song about the return of the hostages, and a current motto repeated by Spanish Jews is “We will dance again.” Tal hopes for better days and a new future. 

This was a sobering, sad and eye-opening program, and different from the optimistic and enthusiastic presentation Tal gave about her life and service in Mexico prior to October 7, 2023. Then, the Mexican Jewish community was resilient and championed by the Mexican people and government. The availability of kosher food was plentiful, schools and Jewish organizations were vibrant and Holocaust remembrance programs were attended by Mexican communities.   

May the Jews in Spain remain safe and continue to be welcomed there. 

For more information, these are the links to websites referred to in the presentation by Tal Itzhakov: 

1. The movie Screams before Silence—sexual terrorism of Hamas 

2. Visual photos and videos from October 7th massacre 
*Warning: This content contains graphic material. 

3. Social media channels (English)- Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs 

* https://x.com/IsraelMFA?t=AVnT3EWv4zbJvx9_Koi4Qg&s=09 

* https://www.instagram.com/israelmfa?igsh=dXFkdXp2eW1yYmYz 

* https://www.facebook.com/IsraelMFA 

* https://www.tiktok.com/@israel?_t=ZG-8t0x6zfa5se&_r=1 

4. Hizballa Atrocities 

5. The Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT)- Humanitarian aid 

6. Incidents of antisemitism in Spain 

7. The performance of the song “Back Home” by the Jewish community of Madrid