Michael Sneed

Rabbi Barry Axler and his wife, Morene Dunn, of River North, are heading to Israel and near Gaza this weekend to feed members of the Israeli Defense Forces, which include two of his grandchildren.

Toni Preckwinkle is known for her restrained yet clearly commanding presence, sporting a rather sensible, no flair look. Guess what Maria Pappas gave her for Christmas? “I thought Toni could use some Pappas style,” the treasurer told Sneed.

So on this Thanksgiving Day let’s give thanks for the hope of a humanitarian pause to free victims from unspeakable carnage and pause as Americans to count our blessings — and try not to abandon each other.

Antisemitism reaching historic levels worldwide. The “scourge of Islamophobia and hate in all its forms” so bad the White House is working on a national strategy to battle it. What in the world is going on? Chaos.

I was given a bird’s eye perch at Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin’s funeral in 1995. One speaker, a close friend of Rabin, waved high above his head the bloodstained paper bearing the lyrics of the peace song the Israeli leader had sung just before he was assassinated.

“It’s not easy to think of here in America, but there is a national service in Israel where everyone is required to serve in the military,” said Eliezer “Eli” Krumbein. “Families can be in full uniform and required to carry weapons.”

Democratic presidential contender Mondale had chosen as his 1984 running mate a woman who would make history as the nation’s first female veep choice. But who would it be?

“It was certainly a first in front of the Ritz: a good-sized, sort of fancy tent astride two large industrial carts, all topped with a large Chicago Fire [soccer] tarp,” said a nearby resident.

It’s still a calumny Murdoch continues to poison the nation’s inkwell with fake Fox news; but I am ever so grateful for the day he was forced out the door of the Sun-Times, thus enabling this journalist to witness the golden age of Chicago’s two great American newspapers.