“Well, I may be an idiot, but I am no fool.” — The Village Idiot in Monty Python’s Flying Circus.
There was a character in Elie Wiesel’s book Night by the name of Moshe the Beadle. This character was poor and an outcast. The citizens of Elie Wiesel’s town, Sighet, had ill regard for him. He was one of the first to be deported to Auschwitz, and yet managed to escape and return to Sighet to warn the town. Everyone considered him mad.
I first read Night in high school. Since then, I truly listened to “madmen”, whether I was providing therapy to Level I mentally ill people, or spoke to the homeless that hung outside my retail business in Manhattan during the night. They all had so many legitimate things to say. I knew them all by name.
The Gazan Proposal of Donald Trump is one of those brilliant ideas emanating from a clearly unhinged man.
The idea to resettle the Gazans, and have the Americans take over the area is worthy of consideration. It will, at minimum, bring peace to that area. If any country foots the bill to rebuild Gaza, history has shown that the Gazan leadership will just destroy it.
The twentieth century is replete of examples of organized population shifts. These forced migrations proved effective in eliminating war, or maintaining some semblance of peace. These shifts affected huge swaths of populations who were displaced from lands that they were living on for generations:
- 1947- Newly Independent India and Pakistan. Millions of Indians who lived in the new Moslem State of Pakistan, and millions of Moslems who found themselves in the Indian border had to switch sides. This resulted in a reduction of tensions.
- Late 1940’s Postwar Europe: Ethnic killing was rampant. Europe was in a state of anarchy. Thousands of Ukrainians who lived in Prewar Poland were forced to relocate to Ukraine SSR. Polish borders shifted after the War resulting in Poles being slaughtered in Ukraine SSR. They too had to relocate to Poland.Plus, Germans who lived for generations in various areas in Europe, from Silesia to Czechoslovakia had to relocate to the new re-bordered Germany.
- The British Peel Commission in 1937 of Mandate Palestine proposed two states, Arab and Jewish to be carved out. Knowing that either side was hostile to each other, population shifting was required. The Arabs, as usual, rejected this plan while the Jews accepted it. It was never carried out since WWII got in the way.
It is time to rethink the idea of what to do with Gaza. Over the decades, the proposals coming from mainstream diplomats and politicians have created more conflict. Today, it is obvious there would be no peace between the Palestinians and Israelis. There is only one tiny Jewish State, and 22 Arab nations. The latter could easily absorb the Gazans. 
Lastly, the population of Israel may accept such a plan, except the Dati, religious. According to Jewish Law, it is forbidden to give away any part of the holy land. Instead of allowing the United States to cede Gaza, Gaza could be leased, instead of given away, for 99 years. The United States had such a lease with Panama at the turn of the Twentieth Century, and the United Kingdom had a 99 year lease with China for Hong Kong.
Risks must be taken for the sake of peace in this region. Sadly, the world has run out of alternative, workable solutions.
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– The Village Idiot“ Monty Python’s Flying Circus. Mockumentary skit about the village idiot. 1969
Saul Chapnick was raised in an Orthodox home with deep familial Hasidic roots. Educated in yeshiva and later earning a Master of Social Work degree from Yeshiva University's Wurzweiler School of Social Work, Saul has continued throughout his life to embrace Jewish learning in many settings—from studying at Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion to maintaining a weekly chavruta for ongoing Torah study. His lifelong journey has given him a deep appreciation for richness of Jewish tradition across the spectrum of Jewish life.
For more than thirty-five years, Saul has devoted himself to the study of Jewish history, with a particular focus on Jewish life in interwar Eastern Europe. Inspired by the mitzvah of Zachor (to remember), he has explored both the extraordinary vibrancy of the Jewish world that was destroyed in the Shoah and the enduring questions of Jewish memory, continuity, and identity. Through extensive travel, archival research, and conversations with survivors, scholars, communal leaders, and public figures, he has sought to understand not only what was lost, but also what those vanished communities continue to teach us today.
His writing explores the intersection of Jewish history, personal memory, Israel, and contemporary Jewish life, seeking to connect the voices of the past with the challenges of the present.
A gifted storyteller and engaging speaker, Saul has lectured throughout the United States and abroad on Jewish history, Yiddish language and culture, modern Poland, Israel, and post-Holocaust Jewish identity. His presentations blend scholarship with personal experience, inviting audiences to explore the enduring relevance of Jewish history to contemporary Jewish life. He has also prepared adult participants of the March of the Living by providing historical and cultural context that deepens their understanding of both Poland's Jewish past and its emerging Jewish present.
Saul is the author of a widely read weekly Substack newsletter and a contributor to The Times of Israel, where he reflects on Jewish life, history, Israel, memory, and current events. His essays weave together personal experience, historical research, and contemporary issues, encouraging readers to reflect on the challenges and opportunities facing the Jewish people today.
For the past thirteen years, Saul has served as the Substitute Chaplain through the Greater Miami Jewish Federation Chaplaincy Program at Miami Jewish Health. During rabbinic transitions, he has served as the community's interim spiritual leader, leading Shabbat and holiday services, reading Torah, delivering Divrei Torah, teaching adult education classes and study groups, and providing pastoral care to residents and their families.
Professionally, Saul brings more than two decades of executive leadership in healthcare and human services. He specialized in turning around distressed assisted living and memory care communities by rebuilding staff morale, restoring occupancy, improving quality of care, ensuring regulatory compliance, and returning organizations to financial stability. Today, he draws upon that experience as an expert witness in legal matters involving senior care, assisted living, and long-term care communities.
Whether teaching Torah, leading prayer, writing, or speaking, Saul believes that Judaism is best experienced through learning, storytelling, meaningful relationships, and a deep respect for every individual's Jewish journey.
At the same time, Chapnick has witnessed a limited reawakening of Jewish life in his family’s ancestral homeland of Poland. He has spoken at numerous venues on the contemporary relevance of Yiddish and Yiddish culture, the significance of the 19th- and 20th-century Jewish world to modern life, and the shaping of post-Holocaust Jewish identity. He also prepares adult participants of the March of the Living to engage meaningfully with modern-day Jewish Poland.
Chapnick shares his insights and reflections in weekly blogs on https://saulchapnick.substack.com, where readers are welcome to subscribe.
