Hardened Hearts - CHRONICLE Online/The WORD 1/15/26

Weekly On-line Rabbi's D'var-Torah

January 15, 2026

26 Tevet 5786

Parashat Vaera

According to the most recent estimates, the Islamic government of Iran has killed over 12,000 Iranian citizens in response to the anti-government protests that have spread across the country. It is likely that the figure of 12,000 is an underestimate. Over the past two years, there have been many protests across the U.S. and Europe over the alleged indiscriminate killing of Muslims in Gaza. There were emergency sessions at the U.N. about Israel’s alleged treatment of Palestinians. The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for two Israeli leaders. Jewish-owned and Israeli-owned businesses were targeted for boycotts and vandalism. Famous actors spoke about Israel’s alleged crimes at award ceremonies. And yet, it seems that none of the people who were concerned about the plight of the Palestinians can muster any sympathy for the Iranian people. The protests in Iran have been going on for approximately three weeks, and at least 12,000 people have been killed. At that rate, more than 200,000 would be killed over the course of a year. Still, there seems to be very little sympathy for the Iranian people. Now, it’s possible that college students have been on break over the last three weeks and that there will be protests on college campuses across the country in the coming weeks as they return to school. It’s also possible that the people most likely to protest have been distracted by the actions of ICE. However, I highly doubt that we will see protests for Iranians on the same scale as the protests for Palestinians that we’ve seen over the past two years. It seems to me that the major reason those anti-Israel protesters will not stand up for Iranians is that their hearts have been hardened—just like Pharaoh’s in this week’s Torah portion. The Islamist Iranian regime is the major funder and provider of arms to both Hezbollah and Hamas. The fall of the regime would lead to an end of that support. In other words, it would be good for Israel. So even though it would lead to a better life for the 90 million citizens of Iran, the anti-Israel crowd cannot support something that would be good for Israel. The hardening of Pharaoh’s heart, of course, led to the unnecessary suffering of innocent Egyptians in the biblical narrative. The hardening of the hearts of anti-Israel activists will have the same unfortunate effect on Iranians today. It is my hope and prayer that the Iranian protesters are successful in overthrowing the authoritarian Islamist regime—not because it would be good for Israel, but because it would be good for Iranians. 

Shalom, 

RAF.