My wife and I have just returned from a journey to Poland for parents of United Synagogue Youth members.

We visited Warsaw, Krakow, Lodz and Lublin — with pilgrimages to the concentration camps of Auschwitz-Birkenau, Majdanek and Treblinka.

We visited the Polin Museum of the History of Polish Jews, perhaps the greatest Jewish museum in the world. We witnessed the rebirth of Polish Jewry, which gave me a powerful lesson in the meaning of the Jewish prayer that thanks God for the resurrection of the dead.

What does it mean to hear about the Iran deal on the way out of Treblinka?

In the words of my friend, journalist Yossi Klein Halevi: When someone says they want to destroy you, believe it. Because that is precisely what the leaders of Iran have been saying, all along, about Israel.

Mohammad Reza Naqdi, commander of the Basij militia of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, has said that "erasing Israel off the map" is "nonnegotiable."

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has repeatedly called for the destruction of Israel, stating that the "barbaric" Jewish state "has no cure but to be annihilated."

One of his officials has said his government has a "godly ordained right" to annihilate Israel.

Iran's anti-Semitic, anti-Israel obsession is common knowledge. That is why we have every reason to be wary of a deal that allows that regime access to nuclear arms in 15 or 20 years.

The genocidal fantasies of Iran have no expiration date. Their timetable is not our timetable. They are on the apocalyptic clock. They can wait.

Make no mistake: Each Iranian nuclear weapon will be a Treblinka on wings.

But in recent days, the general, non-Jewish press has been silent about this aspect of the Iran issue. As if we would rather not remember.

Some will say this is just Jewish paranoia.

The words of the Iranian leaders are simply hyperbole, intended to arouse the Iranian masses. Continue reading

• Rabbi Jeffrey K. Salkin is the spiritual leader of Temple Solel in Hollywood, Fla., and the author of numerous books on Jewish spirituality and ethics.

With much patience, persistence and hard work for over 20 months, the P5+1 Group (the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council: China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, plus Germany) have reached a nuclear agreement with Iran that is nothing short of historic.

According to the respected Arms Control Association (www.armscontrol.org), "The agreement - known as the "Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action" - establishes a strong and effective formula for blocking all of the pathways by which Iran could acquire material for nuclear weapons and promptly detecting and deterring possible efforts by Iran to covertly pursue nuclear weapons in the future."

Father Federico Lombardi, S.J., director of the Holy See Press Office, said "The Holy See views the new agreement on the Iranian nuclear program in ‘a positive light.' "

In a letter to members of Congress, Bishop Oscar Cantú, chairman of the Committee on International Justice and Peace of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, quoted an earlier statement by Pope Francis: "I express my hope that a definitive agreement may soon be reached between Iran and the P5+1 Group. …"

In his letter Bishop Cantú added, "The United States and its international partners have taken a remarkable step with Iran in reaching this agreement. … We encourage Congress to support these efforts to build bridges that foster peace and greater understanding. In the words of Pope Francis, may the negotiated framework ‘be a definitive step toward a more [secure] and fraternal world.' "

But unwisely some members of Congress have signaled their opposition to the "Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action."

While this agreement is not perfect - very few agreements are - it is a solidly good agreement for the U.S. and its negotiating partners, Iran, the Middle East and the world.

According to the Arms Control Association, "Some critics of this deal in the United States may still believe that by rejecting the agreement and increasing sanctions pressure on Iran, the United States can somehow coerce the leaders in Tehran to dismantle Iran's nuclear program or agree to better terms. That is a dangerous illusion. There is no better deal on the horizon."

The Arms Control Association explains that the "Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action" will establish long-term, verifiable restrictions on Iran's sensitive nuclear fuel activities.

For example, Iran's plutonium path to the bomb will be eliminated. And of equal importance, the International Atomic Energy Agency will be allowed to send international inspectors to check any Iranian facility of concern - including military sites.

The Arms Control Association is concerned that if Congress manages to block implementation of this hard-won, balanced and effective multilevel deal, the U.S. will have broken from its European allies, and the necessary international support for Iran-related sanctions will be lost. Iran would then have the incentive to quickly and significantly expand its capacity to produce bomb-grade material.

The alternative to this accord is a likely nuclear arms race in the Middle East, and probably war.

The Arms Control Association wisely puts it this way: "This is the time to seize—not squander—the chance to put in place an effective, long-term, verifiable deal that blocks Iran's pathways to nuclear weapons."

• Tony Magliano is an internationally syndicated social justice and peace columnist.

The document is expected to be released in June or July.

According to a Catholic News Service report, the encyclical will build on what Pope Francis's predecessors have said.

The document is expected to present ecology as the ultimate pro-life, pro-poor, pro-family issue.

But the Pope does not pretend to have a technical solution to the problem of climate change, the CNS article stated.

However, he does feel a responsibility to remind Christians of their religious obligation to safeguard creation, beginning with human beings who are created in the image and likeness of God.

For Pope Francis, like Pope Benedict XVI, safeguarding creation is not simply about protecting plants and animals, or just about ensuring the air, water, and land will support human life for generations to come, the CNS article continued.

Those things are part of the task.

"We need to see — with the eyes of faith — the beauty of God's saving plan, the link between the natural environment and the dignity of the human person," Pope Francis wrote in a speech prepared for young people in the Philippines in January.

Flying from Sri Lanka to the Philippines on the same trip, Pope Francis told reporters that Cardinal Peter Turkson, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, and a team from his office had prepared drafts of the ecology document.

During an early March visit to Ireland, Cardinal Turkson spoke about the principles underlying the Pope's upcoming letter, insisting "this is not some narrow agenda for the greening of the Church or the world".

"It is a vision of care and protection that embraces the human person and the human environment in all possible dimensions."

All people are called to be "protectors" of the environment and of one another, especially the poor, the cardinal said.

Japan's Catholic bishops recently asked Pope Francis to include in his encyclical a warning against the use of nuclear power.

Sources

• Catholic News Service
• National Catholic Reporter
• Image: Intheface

The bishops acknowledged that, if nuclear energy were to be abolished, Japan would be left with an energy deficit, and that the problem of CO2 would still need to be addressed. But they insisted that humans have a responsibility to protect "nature and all life, which are God's creatures," and to pass a safe environment on to future generations.

The bishops want their countrymen to change their lives fundamentally, if necessary: "The essential thing is to adapt our lifestyle, which is excessively dependent on nuclear energy; to turn that lifestyle around in its whole way of being."