8 | SEPTEMBER 16 • 2021 

D

uring their meetings 
at the White House 
on Aug. 27, President 
Joe Biden told Israeli Prime 
Minister Naftali Bennett that 
the U.S. is committed “to 
ensur[ing] Iran 
never develops a 
nuclear weapon 
… We’re putting 
diplomacy first 
and seeing where 
that takes us. But 
if diplomacy fails, 
we’re ready to 
turn to other options.
”
The Biden administration 
made it clear from the get-go 
that it intended to return to 
the Joint Comprehensive Plan 
of Action (JCPOA) — the 
2015 nuclear deal, negotiated 
by former President Barack 

Obama, from which former 
President Donald Trump 
withdrew in 2018.
Lest one think that the 
current attempt to reverse 
Trump’s move indicates 
the success of the previous 
policy forged by Obama, 
Iran consistently violated the 
JCPOA. Furthermore, the 
Biden administration’s efforts 
have not only failed abysmally 
but have emboldened the 
terror-supporting Iranian 
regime in its pursuit of nuclear 
weapons.
Before the JCPOA was 
finalized, the Obama 
administration had repeatedly 
approved the increase of 
sanctions on Tehran, making it 
desperate for a negotiated deal 
as its economy was crumbling. 

A major criticism of the JCPOA 
was the elimination of these 
sanctions, enabling Iran to 
receive more than $100 billion.
Moreover, the JCPOA 
lacked stringent nuclear-
oversight provisions and clauses 
deterring Iran’s ballistic-missile 
program and global terrorist 
activities. With the influx of 
cash, Iran increased its defense 
budget by 40%, and enhanced 
funding to its proxies, such as 
the Lebanon-based terrorist 
organization Hezbollah and 
Hamas, which rules Gaza. It 
was also able to expand its 
ballistic-missile program, while 
still pursuing nuclear weapons 
— as Israel’s 2018 seizure of 
a trove of documents from a 
warehouse in Tehran illustrated.
As a result of the above, 

Trump exited the JCPOA and 
reinstituted massive sanctions 
on Iran, with much success. 
Iran’s economy suffered greatly, 
and the regime was unable 
to provide the same level of 
support to Hezbollah and 
Hamas.
In addition, the Trump 
administration carried out the 
Jan. 3, 2020, assassination of 
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary 
Guard Corps’ Quds Force 
commander, Maj. Gen. Qasem 
Soleimani. Subsequently, 
on Nov. 27 that year, Israel 
assassinated the head of Iran’s 
nuclear program, Mohsen 
Fakhrizadeh.
It is thus that Iran did not 
want Trump to remain in office 
for a second term. This was 
borne out by U.S. intelligence 
that Iran was attempting to 
interfere in the November 2020 
American presidential elections 
in favor of Biden.
Seeking diplomacy as a way 
to prevent a nuclearized Iran, 
the Biden administration wants 

Farley Weiss
JNS.org

PURELY COMMENTARY

opinion
The Urgency of Preventing 
a Nuclear-Armed Iran

THE JOY OF SUKKOT continued from page 6

movie inspired Sukkah De Los 
Luchadores (Mexican masked 
wrestlers). 
When Sukkot arrives, I feel a 
palpable rush of simchah during 
that first Minchah/Maariv ser-
vice. I look around at my peers 
and can see in their expressions 
the exuberance of the season. 
The first minyan on any given 
holiday is about arrival. We made 
it — Shehecheyanu! Anything 
that hasn’t been done by can-
dlelighting won’t be done, and 
believe me, we never finish 
everything. When it’s time to 
cease from melachah (acts of 
creation), we really do stop. The 
feeling of letting go is intense-
ly liberating, especially when 
plunging into the ultimate season 
of joy, Sukkot.
I strive to keep the joy flowing 
all eight days of the week. I go 

into a half-time work mode so 
I can attend parties and chill 
in my own sukkah. Jewish law 
stipulates that any formal meals 
(involving motzi or m’zonot 
blessings over bread) must be 
eaten in a sukkah. Not that I have 
to be coerced to dine al fresco — 
I love my sukkah! My kids each 
get their own carefully selected 
lulav and etrog and we proudly 
march about every morning 
holding aloft our arba minim 
(four species). This holiday offers 
permission for even the stodgy, 
stoic types to get on the same 
happy page, 24/7. We relish in 
the feeling of victory after our 
assumed favorable judgment on 
Rosh Hashanah and whitewash-
ing on Yom Kippur. Most of us 
have spent a month-and-a-half of 
heightened scrutiny of our per-
sonal balance sheet. We recon-

nect with our true purpose; our 
elation is heartfelt.

SUKKOT IN ISRAEL
I wish everyone could experi-
ence what it’s like to be in Israel 
during Sukkot. As much as I 
love celebrating in L.A., there is 
nothing like the unfettered joy of 
Sukkot in the Promised Land. In 
Israel, the celebration of Sukkot 
is of another dimension.
Sukkot is indeed the capital 
of joy. Just sitting in a sukkah is 
a delightful mitzvah. The rest 
of the world relies on the per-
manence of well-built buildings 
and homes. Jews believe the only 
shelter we truly need is under the 
wings of our Creator, as repre-
sented by the fragile sukkah. This 
is where we feel totally secure 
and totally joyous.
When our forefather Yaakov 

made it back to the Holy Land 
after dealing with his crooked 
father-in-law Lavan for 22 years, 
the first city he established was 
named after the temporary pens 
for his flocks, Sukkot. In the 
words of Chassidic master Rabbi 
Leibele Eiger, at that moment 
he made permanent the con-
dition of impermanence. Our 
human fragility can be a source 
of consternation or celebration. 
As Jews, we are commanded to 
celebrate!
May we all merit to rejoice 
together in the ultimate sukkah 
in our Homeland, bimheira b’ya-
meinu (speedily in our days). 

Sam Glaser is a performer, composer, 

producer and author in Los Angeles. He 

has released 25 albums of his composi-

tions and produces music in his Glaser 

Musicworks recording studio.

