Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
The Schmooze

It’s Too Early To Criticize Gilad Shalit

That didn’t take long. Gilad Shalit is now fair game for criticism, so it seems. Shas Minister Meshulam Nahari publicly condemned Shalit for going to the beach on his first Sabbath out of captivity, instead of going to synagogue. So reports Ynet.

Well I don’t know about you, but I’d say it’s fair that after five years in captivity, Shalit do what he likes on his first free Sabbath.

I’m troubled by this jumping-to-conclusions on the part of the Shas man. He says that Shalit should have gone to say the prayer for people who have been in dangerous situations. Well excuse me, Mr. Minister. He walked free on a Tuesday, meaning that if he wanted to recite the prayer on a day when there is a Torah reading in synagogue, he may well have done so on the preceding Thursday (the Torah being read on Mondays, Thursdays and on the Sabbath). Or he may have gone to synagogue before heading to the beach.

What is it again that Jewish tradition teaches us about judging people favorably and giving them the benefit of the doubt?

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.