No one should die instead of someone else, but the willingness to stand up against monsters to protect people who are more vulnerable is uplifting.
The myth is that the Jews don’t fight back. During the Channukah massacre in Australia, Jews showed otherwise. Another fairytale is that Jews have no real friends. A Muslim here disproved that claim. A third fable is that heroes must die in the act. Here we see that to be false too.
This press focusing on the miracles repairs the reporting about October 7, 2023, in which, understandably, the wonders were hardly recognized and almost all attention went to the acts against humanity/war crimes.
Boris and Sofia Gurman OBM
In one video we see that an elderly Russian-Jewish couple, Boris and Sofia Gurman, 69 and 61, immigrants who lived close by the festive meeting, happened to see the two armed would-be murderers emerge from their vehicle that had an Islamic State flag over it.
Boris tackled the older terrorist, took his rifle, and aimed it at the attacker. But the terrorist then produced a second weapon and killed Boris and Sofia. Then he went on to shoot up the Chanukkah party. Later pictures showed the couple lifeless on the ground in each other’s arms. They had been married for 34 years and are survived by their son. Boris was a retired mechanic, and Sofia worked for the Australia Post service.
Reuven Morrison OBM
Early on, Reuven Morrison, a 62-year-old grandfather, was seen throwing bricks and yelling at the older terrorists after Ahmed Al-Ahmed (see below) had disarmed him. Morrison was then shot dead by the younger terrorist.
His daughter said, ‘If there was one way for him to go on this Earth, it would be fighting a terrorist. There was no other way he would be taken from us. He went down fighting, protecting the people he loved most.” A year ago, after the firebombing of a Melbourne synagogue, Morrison warned a news outlet about the threat to Jews in the country. ‘We came here with the view that Australia is the safest country in the world and the Jews would not be faced with such antisemitism in the future, and we can bring up our kids in a safe environment.’
Tibor Weitzen OBM
Tibor Weitzen, 78, attended the party with his wife and grandchildren. He was killed shielding his wife from the gunfire.
Jessica Rozen
Jessica was desperately searching for her 3-year-old when she found a small child screaming and alone. She went to lie on top of her, protecting and reassuring her. “I got you, I got you,” she can be heard saying repeatedly to the little girl. “We’re gonna stay here, and we’re gonna be nice and safe, and nobody’s going to hurt us.” “Can you hide?” the girl asks. “Yes, we can hide, baby girl,” Rozen is heard answering. She stayed with the child until the girl’s father found them.
Grandfather
It turned out Jessica’s own son was with his grandmother, who lay on top of the child while the shots rang out.
Chaya Dadon
Chaya, 14, spotted two young children and threw herself on top of them to shield them. She was shot in the leg but remained on top of the children until help arrived, and she was brought to a close-by hospital. The mother of the two children was murdered in the attack.
Chaya said softly, without drama, that her instinct was to protect the children in those terrifying moments. Only afterward did she realize the full weight of what she had done. Afterwards, she held the girl in one arm and the boy in the other and was just kissing them.
Leibel Lazaroff
He crouched over a critically injured Australian police officer and used his own shirt as a tourniquet. He himself later had several life-saving surgeries for severe abdominal and leg injuries and needs additional surgery.
Ahmed al-Ahmed
Widely published, another civilian hero, Ahmed al Ahmed, a fruit vendor on duty, tackled the older terrorist and disarmed him before being shot several times in the arm and shoulder. Al-Ahmed is hospitalized and expected to recover fully. His family in Syria is very proud of him.
G^d
Last but not least, the All-mighty and His human Angels saved between 98 and 99 percent of the attendants. One remarkable way was for Yanky Sofer, a Hatzolah volunteer treating victims. He was wounded in the chest and back, and he had hundreds of shrapnel fragments in his body, but he still kept helping people until he needed to go to the hospital himself. But a bullet that would have killed him was stopped by his two-way radio hanging from his vest. He was hard to find without his radio.
MM is a prolific and creative writer and thinker, previously a daily blog contributor to the TOI. He often makes his readers laugh, mad, or assume he's nuts—close to perfect blogging. He's proud that his analytical short comments are removed both from left-wing and right-wing news sites. None of his content is generated by the new bore on the block, AI. *
As a frontier thinker, he sees things many don't yet. He's half a prophet. Half. Let's not exaggerate. Or not at all because he doesn't claim G^d talks to him. He gives him good ideas—that's all. MM doesn't believe that people observe and think in a vacuum. He, therefore, wanted a broad bio that readers interested can track a bit what (lack of) backgrounds, experiences, and educations contribute to his visions. *
This year, he will prioritize getting his unpublished books published rather than just blog posts. Of the 15 (!) books he has in mind, the next two are about homosexuality in Judaism and new rabbinics. Next year, he hopes to focus on activism against human extinction. To find less-recent posts on a subject XXX among his over 2600 archived ones, go to the right-top corner of a Times of Israel page, click on the search icon and search "zuiden, XXX". One can find a second, wilder blog that also may contain updates to Times of Israel posts, to which one may subscribe, here: https://mmvanzuiden.wordpress.com/ or by clicking on the globe icon next to his picture on top. *
He's getting ready to publicize books on: "Free Will, "Judaism and Homosexuality, "His parents in the Holocaust, "Judaism, "A New Torah Translation and "A New Hebrew Grammar, "Co-Counseling, "Vegan Facts, "Immortality, and more. *
Like most of his readers, he believes in being friendly, respectful, and loyal. However, if you think those are his absolute top priorities, you might end up disappointed. His first loyalty is to the truth. He agrees that in a post-truth world, that's irrelevant, but then this is for the record. He will try to stay within the limits of democratic and Jewish law, but he won't lie to support opinions or people when don't deserve that. (Yet, we all make honest mistakes, which is just fine and does not justify losing support.) He admits that he sometimes exaggerates to make a point, which could have him come across as nasty, while in actuality, he's quite a lovely person to interact with. He holds - how Dutch - that a strong opinion doesn't imply intolerance of other views. *
Sometimes he's misunderstood because his wide and diverse field of vision seldomly fits any specialist's box. But that's exactly what some love about him. He has written a lot about Psychology (including Sexuality and Abuse), Medicine (including physical immortality), Science (including basic statistics), Politics (Israel, the US, and the Netherlands, Activism - more than leftwing or rightwing, he hopes to highlight reality), Oppression and Liberation (intersectionally, for young people, the elderly, non-Whites, women, workers, Jews, LGBTQIA+, foreigners and anyone else who's dehumanized or exploited), Integrity, Philosophy, Jews (Judaism, Zionism, Holocaust and Jewish Liberation), the Climate Crisis, Ecology and Veganism, Affairs from the news, or the Torah Portion of the Week, or new insights that suddenly befell him. *
Chronologically, his most influential teachers are his parents, Nico (natan) van Zuiden and Betty (beisye) Nieweg, Wim Kan, Mozart, Harvey Jackins, Marshal Rosenberg, Reb Shlomo Carlebach, and, lehavdil bein chayim lechayim, Rabbi Dr. Natan Lopes Cardozo, Rav Zev Leff, and Rav Meir Lubin. This short list doesn't mean to disrespect others who taught him a lot or a little. One of his rabbis calls him Mr. Innovation [Ish haChidushim]. Yet, his originalities seem to root deeply in traditional Judaism, though they may grow in unexpected directions. In fact, he claims he's modernizing nothing. Rather, mainly basing himself on the basic Hebrew Torah text, he tries to rediscover classical Jewish thought almost lost in thousands of years of stifling Gentile domination and Jewish assimilation. (He pleads for a close reading of the Torah instead of going by rough assumptions of what it would probably mean and before fleeing to Commentaries.) This, in all aspects of life, but prominently in the areas of Free Will, Activism, Homosexuality for men, and Redemption. *
He hopes that his words will inspire and inform, and disturb the comfortable and comfort the disturbed. He aims to bring a fresh perspective rather than harp on the obvious and familiar. When he can, he loves to write encyclopedic overviews. He doesn't expect his readers to agree. Rather, original minds should be disputed. In short, his main political positions are among others: anti-Trumpism, for Zionism, Intersectionality, non-violence, anti those who abuse democratic liberties, anti the fake ME peace process, for original-Orthodoxy, pro-Science, pro-Free Will, anti-blaming-the-victim, and for down-to-earth, classical optimism, and happiness. Read his blog on how he attempts to bridge any tensions between those ideas or fields. *
He is a fetal survivor of the pharmaceutical industry (https://diethylstilbestrol.co.uk/studies/des-and-psychological-health/), born in 1953 to his parents who were Dutch-Jewish Holocaust survivors who met in the largest concentration camp in the Netherlands, Westerbork. He grew up a humble listener. It took him decades to become a speaker too, and decades more to admit to being a genius. But his humility was his to keep. And so was his honesty. Bullies and con artists almost instantaneously envy and hate him. He hopes to bring new things and not just preach to the choir. *
He holds a BA in medicine (University of Amsterdam) – is half a doctor. He practices Re-evaluation Co-counseling since 1977, is not an official teacher anymore, and became a friendly, powerful therapist. He became a social activist, became religious, made Aliyah, and raised three wonderful kids. Previously, for decades, he was known to the Jerusalem Post readers as a frequent letter writer. For a couple of years, he was active in hasbara to the Dutch-speaking public. He wrote an unpublished tome about Jewish Free Will. He's a strict vegan since 2008. He's an Orthodox Jew but not a rabbi. *
His writing has been made possible by an allowance for second-generation Holocaust survivors from the Netherlands. It has been his dream since he was 38 to try to make a difference by teaching through writing. He had three times 9-out-of-10 for Dutch at his high school finals but is spending his days communicating in English and Hebrew - how ironic. G-d must have a fine sense of humor. In case you wonder - yes, he is a bit dyslectic. If you're a native English speaker and wonder why you should read from people whose English is only their second language, consider the advantage of having an original peek outside of your cultural bubble. His posts are spell, grammar, and style polished by AI, but all written by himself. *
To send any personal reaction to him, scroll to the top of the blog post and click Contact Me. *
His newest books you may find here: https://www.amazon.com/s?i=stripbooks&rh=p_27%3AMoshe-Mordechai%2FMaurits+van+Zuiden&s=relevancerank&text=Moshe-Mordechai%2FMaurits+van+Zuiden&ref=dp_byline_sr_book_1
