Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Supreme Court justice, died on Rosh
Hashanah. What gets lost in the sauce, in all the coverage of the more “Jewy” aspects
of RBG’s passing, is the fact that it was also Shabbat, since the first day of
Rosh Hashanah this year fell on the Jewish Sabbath. It’s understandable that
people give more import, emotionally, to Rosh Hashanah, which, after all, is
one of what we call the "High Holidays." But the fact is that Shabbat actually
takes precedence over Rosh Hashanah, which is why Orthodox Jews don’t blow the
shofar on Rosh Hashanah when it coincides with the Jewish Sabbath, because it is forbidden to carry items from place to place on Shabbat. None of this stood in the way, however, of several prominent Jews marking RBG’s death
by blowing the shofar on Shabbat Rosh Hashanah.
Rabbi Matt Soffer, of Judea Reform Congregation in Durham,
North Carolina, heard the news Bader Ginsburg's death on Friday night. “The news brought me to my
knees and I wept,” said Soffer, who determined to find a way to commemorate his
icon, who according to the JTA,
“had come to represent the liberal American feminist spirit for so many.”
From the JTA:
By the time Soffer signed on for
services on Saturday morning, he had resolved to address Ginsburg’s death with
his community. He did so by revising not the words he had prepared or the
prayers he would lead, but by tweaking a core tradition of the High Holidays:
the shofar blasts.
Just as the Supreme Court has nine
members, one of the shofar blasts, teruah, has nine short notes. Soffer halted
after just eight to symbolize the fact that the court has just lost a member
who made it complete and, he said, “to honor the speechlessness of our communal
grief.”
Actor Mandy Patinkin, who not so long ago made it onto my Comprehensive
List of Antisemitic Celebrities, also blew the shofar, this time to underscore RBG’s
deathbed wish, dictated to granddaughter Clara Spera: "My most fervent
wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed."
Thus it was that Patinkin
blew the shofar on MSNBC on Shabbat Rosh Hashanah. “And I want her wish to
be heard, so I will blow the shofar for her,” said Patinkin with a lot of put-on pomp and circumstance, blowing a pretend
tekiyah gedolah as a sort of dog
whistle to Jewish Democrats. “And so now her wish will be heard,” announced the
BDS-supporting anti-Trump actor, “and let it be heard throughout the land.”
11-year-old Micah Blay was driven by his mom Dana Marlowe from their
home in a Maryland suburb (on Shabbat Rosh Hashanah) to blow the shofar for 250 people
outside the Supreme Court, in Washington, D.C., which he said was, “definitely
like kind of scary.”
“[We] were literally dipping
ceremonial apples into honey” at the start of the Rosh Hashanah holiday “when
my phone started blowing up” with messages.
Marlowe tweeted that she was
“devastated” to hear of Ginsburg’s passing and decided immediately to make a
pilgrimage to the Supreme Court the following day, the first day of Rosh
Hashanah.
“It was shock and heartbreak and I
couldn’t believe it,” she said.
Micah added that the family was
“doing the right thing” in deciding to spend one day of Rosh Hashanah in front
of the Supreme Court honoring “a great person” like Ginsburg.
The blowing of the shofar at this time of year calls Jews to
repentance. What is repentance? It is being sorry for sinning, and having done something
contrary to Torah law, resolving not to do it again.
Everyone has their own way of doing things, honoring the people they admire, and making a point about the things they
believe. But I wonder if these people realize how insensitive is this act, the act of blowing a shofar on Shabbat, to their coreligionists, those still faithful to Torah precepts upheld for thousands of years. I wonder how “liberal” it can be to cause
so great an offense to the sensibilities of the Orthodox who watch on in dismay
at the seeming disregard for God’s Torah without the least little care or
concern for their beliefs, and the hurt these actions cause.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg was a giant by any measure. But it does no credit to RBG,
no honor to her Jewishness, to expropriate a religious vessel and to use it in an
inappropriate way to mark her passing. My hope in writing this here is not to
shame anyone, God forbid, but in hopes that the shofar not be abused this way
in future.
Gmar Chatima Tova. May you be
inscribed for good.
UPDATE: A reader pointed out that the reason we don't blow the shofar on Shabbat is because it is forbidden to carry the item to the synagogue, similar to the reason we don't use the lulav and etrog on Shabbat Sukkot. The text has been updated to reflect this important correction.
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It’s hard to have hope in a plague, though everywhere are
reminders that the New Year approaches. And should you forget, everyone you
meet will wish you a “Shana Tova,” a sweet new year, in the run-up to Rosh
Hashanah. The tired middle-aged clerk, the important VIP, and people you
normally ignore, will all offer up the traditional Jewish New Year’s greeting, and
mean it.
Goodwill is in the air. And hope, which is where this piece begins. Because as the New Year approaches, we are full of hope for a sweet new year. We ask for sweetness. We hope it will be there in the coming year.
But there’s a plague on, you see. There’s a plague. We can’t
help but wonder at the implications of the virus. Even if some of us get only so far as to contemplate that science is nobody’s fault.
Whatever you believe, this is a difficult and stressful
time, and though we crave New Year sweetness, it’s hard to see an end to our
difficulties. But we try. I do, anyway. I try like hell. Every day I do something
to get ready for the New Year, for Rosh Hashanah. I am trying to not only be
prepared for the holiday, but to also get in the mood for sweetness, to ask for it
with all my heart, no matter how grim the current reality.
As I make apple cakes and babka, kugels and brisket, I search my memory for inspiration. I
let my mind wander and review the things it knows. Sometimes I remember family
stories that no longer have relevance to anyone but me. Anyone else who would
care is long dead. Nobody can visualize these people. No one will “get” the apocryphal
family joke. It will simply fall flat, when told, until lack of response
suggests you should bury that story with its long-dead protagonists and implications.
The Jewish People Will Be Fine
I try to be pragmatic. No one lives forever, but still, it makes me sad. Once I am there, I begin to think of other sad things, the things that worry me, the state of
my people, the good and the bad, until I come to a revelation: the Jewish people are going to be fine.
It takes me some time to get there, but get there I do.
Revelation comes.
Yes. There are the people like Ariel
Gold, a low-caliber person who engages in stunts like promoting the
destruction of Israel at the Western Wall, a person who makes her name by
betraying her own, and cozying up to the mullahs.
Ariel Gold at the Western Wall
And there are people like Seth Rogen, who have somehow lost the ability to engage in critical thinking, people who do a podcast and make it sound like the Jewish connection to Israel begins in 1948, “They never tell you that, ‘Oh, by the way, there were people there.’ They make it seem like it was just like sitting there, like the fucking door’s open.”
The Seth Rogens of the world are completely ignorant of their own history, but they're ready to throw the Jews out of the Holy Land, nonetheless. They'll toss away their own people based only on lies they’ve been told by bad people and terrorists.
Seth Rogen
These people, the Ariel Golds and Seth Rogens of the world, make me angry. Which is bracing. (“Learn something! Pick
up a book, for crying out loud!”)
It's disheartening, it is true: there is no end to these people, these traitors
from within. The Ariel Golds and the Seth Rogens. Yet I am quite ready to dismiss them. To me they are only the Erev Rav, the mixed multitude that managed to blend in with us during
the Exodus. They only pretend to be Jewish. Their job is to destroy us from
within.
But there are the other Jews, real Jews. I bear witness to
them here in the Holy Land. These other Jews have reached a state where love of
God, country, and people is strong, and meshed into one harmonious whole. Their
Jewish remnants will continue to bring beauty and meaning into Israel and the
world and glory to the Holy One, Blessed Be He.
The Other Jews: The Ones Who Inspire Hope
It’s a matter of trial by fire. And it gives me tremendous hope.
Consider the following seven examples:
At the funeral of terror victim Adele
Biton, her mother Adva, eulogized her little girl murdered by
stone-throwing Arab terrorists: "Here you grew and learned, and now even
at the height of our sorrow, we are burying you close to us, in the place where
they attacked you, so that a cry will resonate and they will hear that the Land
is ours as of right."
Adele Biton HY"D
Dalia
Lemkus was stabbed to death by an Arab terrorist while waiting at a bus
stop. At her funeral, her sister Michal nonetheless found the strength to call
on Israeli Jews to keep on living their daily lives, "I want to scream to
everyone, to my nation, and especially to myself: Don't stop hitchhiking. Don't
give them the pleasure of successfully stopping us from living our lives;
simply do not stop your life," said Michal.
Dalia Lemkus, HY"D
The father of terror victim Cpl.
Ziv Mizrahi, Doron, was no stranger to losing a family member to terror. He
had also lost a brother in the Café Hillel bombing, years earlier. At his son Ziv’s funeral,
he said, “We’ll mourn, but I promise you, next Wednesday I am returning to
work. You won’t break our spirit. The Jewish people live,” said Doron.
Corporal Ziv Mizrahi HY"D
Hallel Yaffa
Ariel was a 13-year-old dancer, murdered in her bed as she slept. At her
funeral, her mother Rina called on the public to come help the family in Kiryat
Arba. "We invite everyone to come and help, to console; there are
vineyards which need help, there are Jews here who need strengthening. We are
strong and we won't break, but we need your help to continue and to build here,”
she said. "Hallel loved living here... right now we are just
crying out 'By your blood you shall live! By your blood you shall live!'"
said Rina Ariel, quoting from the bible.
Hallel Yaffa Ariel HY"D
Unborn
baby (30 weeks) Amiad Israel Ish-Ran was born by emergency C-section after
his mother was wounded in an attack outside of Ofra. The infant was pronounced
dead after several days in intensive care. The baby’s grandfather explained the
significance of the baby’s name at the funeral. "It
is written in Halakha that a name must be given to the baby, so your parents
have given a name, which is of great significance and symbolizes everything -
Amiad Yisrael, our people are here forever. The people of Israel are here
forever. Our message is clear - we will not break, we cry and
it hurts us, but we are strong," said Rabbi Raphael Ish-Ran.
Amiad Israel Ish-Ran HY"D (wrapped in tallis)
The baby’s second grandfather, Haim Silberstein, said,
"You will never succeed. We are stronger than you, we are righter than
you, we belong here more than you, we will defeat you. This is our land, our
people and our holy Torah. Amichai and Shira, our hearts are torn with grief
over the pain and loss. But your young son Amiad Yisrael, our delicate
grandson, may Hashem avenge his blood, already did much before completing four
days. He united the people of Israel, who rose up in prayers, hugs, love.”
Rabbi
Achiad Ettinger was 47 and the father of 12 when he was murdered at the
Ariel Junction. One of his older children, his daughter Efrat, eulogized
him thus, “The evil terrorist thought he was ending a life, but he had no idea
how much life and power you left on this earth that we and the entire nation of
Israel will use to grow and carry on.”
Rabbi Achiad Ettinger HY"D
Rina
Shnerb was 17 when terrorists detonated an IED device next to the girl, her
father, and brother, while they were visiting a national landmark near Dolev. “We
are trying to be strong here in the Land of Israel, the people of Israel, Rina
believed in that,” said Rabbi Eitan Shnerb, the girl’s father, wounded along
with her brother, “Our response to the murderers is that we are here and we are
strong and we will prevail.”
Rina Shnerb HY"D
You may think it strange to find hope in words spoken in the depths of despair, when a life filled with promise has been stolen away by terror. But something happens when you hear someone, in the moment of deepest grief, call on his fellow Jews to build more homes in Israel, to have more
Jewish babies. It makes the heart thrum to think that such Jews exist. They are exceptional, it is true. But they are not
so rare as you think. Especially if you consider that terror in Israel, the kind that stems from pure Jew-hatred, is
not nearly so rare as we wished.
When there are words such as these to be had from a people so battered and grieving, it makes you realize that we Jews, at the core,
are strong. And we are right here in Israel. And we are never going away.
We are strong in spirit and we are here. And
the knowledge of that should (and hopefully will) bring us hope, even when there’s a plague going on. We can hope for sweetness and we can find the strength to wish
each other a shana tova, a sweet New
Year, even as the Jewish people keep on keeping on.
It's what we do. It's what we have done for thousands of years.
Here's wishing all of you a Shana Tova! 🍯 May you find only sweetness in the coming year.
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Ardie Geldman is a people person who happens to love Israel. That makes it only natural he'd use his people skills to impart the truth about Israel to visiting groups of tourists who often have a negative view of the Jewish State. Geldman calls his initiative iTalkIsrael, and the work is having an impact even if it's only to draw attention to the idea that hey: when it comes to Israel, there's another narrative out there to consider.
At 68, Ardie looks many years younger, and shows no signs of slowing down, so don't count him out. He's right in the thick of things on the Israel front, offering straight talk on settlements and Arab terror to often-hostile tourists and students who show up with all kinds of ignorant preconceptions. Anyone else, this author, for instance, would have lost their mind arguing with these people, eons ago. But Ardie keeps on keeping on, using his God-given talents to make a difference for his beloved country, Israel.
Ardie Geldman
Ardie's late father, Z"L. "My Zionist Inspiration."
Varda Epstein: Can
you tell us a bit about yourself, your family, where you’re from, why you made
Aliyah?
Ardie Geldman: I was born and raised in Chicago. My mom,
z”l, was also born and raised in Chicago. My father, z”l, was born in
Bessarabia, later Romania, in a city called Bolghrad, today in Southeast
Ukraine. He came to Eretz Yisrael as a chalutz
[pioneer V.E.] in 1920 and stayed for about a year, helping to construct the
first paved roads in the Galilee near Tiberias.
According to my father’s American visa application his residence in Israel was “HaMashbir Tiberias.” I believe that this was the first HaMashbir enterprise [HaMashbir is a chain of department stores in Israel, V.E.] established under the then newly formed Histadrut [General Organization of Workers in Israel, V.E.]. After contracting and, B”H, recovering from malaria, common then and there, he accepted his aunt’s and uncle’s invitation to come live in America, specifically Milwaukee, WI. My father lived there for a few years but subsequently moved south to Chicago where employment opportunities were better. There he met my mother. I am the result.
Ardie and Ivonne Geldman
I am sure that the few stories my father told me about his experiences here, when I was quite young, planted a seed in me that, along with
other influences, including the 1960 movie Exodus, contributed to my decision
to live my life in Israel. My wife was also born in the States. She came to
Israel immediately after high school. While neither of my parents personally
experienced the Holocaust, my late father-in-law was a prisoner in a number of
concentration camps and lost much of his family at the hands of the Nazis. His
experiences, I’m sure, influenced my wife’s Zionism and contributed to her
decision to live here.
Both myself and my wife were raised in secular Jewish homes
and independently were drawn to a religious-Zionist way of life before we met. We moved to Israel in 1982 and lived in Petach Tikvah for the first three years. We
have been living in Efrat since 1985. Here we raised six children and have been
blessed, so far, with 10 grandchildren.
Varda Epstein: When did
you start italkIsrael and why?
Ardie Geldman: What
became iTalkIsrael began with my speaking to media people, Jewish tourists and Jewish
organizations that would visit Efrat in the late 1980s and especially in the
early 1990s while I was an elected member of the Efrat Town Council. The mayor
of Efrat at that time barely spoke English and my flexible work schedule,
overseeing sundry community development projects in Israel on behalf of the
Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago, allowed me to arrange my time to
meet with these groups.
In those days I
would say that nine out of ten such Jewish groups were gung-ho about
“settlements” like Efrat [Efrat has official town status, but since it is
located in Judea, is often condemned as a “settlement,” V.E.], whereas today, representatives
of Jewish organizations coming here most often say that we are an “obstacle to
peace.” At some point during the 1990s, and I don’t remember exactly when, I
believe that my name was shared with a guide that brought to Efrat what turned
out to be a non-Jewish, pro-Palestinian group from Australia. I don’t remember
much else about this group other than being on the receiving end of hostile
questions for the first time; it was like suddenly being kicked in the stomach.
In short, word then
got around to these types of groups that there is a “settler” who lives in an
“illegal settlement” near Bethlehem who is willing to meet with pro-Palestinian
foreigners. For years I did just that, speaking to mostly pro-Palestinian
groups in Efrat for 1½ to 2 hours who, with but few exceptions, left with the
same jaundiced and deluded views of “settlers” and “settlements” with which
they came. It seemed that almost all left with the same scripted non-committal
line, “Thank you for your time.” This meant to me that the content of my
presentation had fallen upon deaf ears.
iTalkIsrael was created
to change that response. It was an initiative that emerged following the
experience of three Christian college students, women, who were the only ones
that, during a short lecture visit, took me up on my invitation to the entire
group to return and spend a traditional Jewish Shabbat with Efrat families. The
three had an amazing time and this convinced their program director to include
a three-day Shabbat weekend stay in Efrat for some 30 Christian students the
following year. This first experience indicated to me that I was onto something
and my marketing efforts have led to the participation of additional Christian
student programs.
Christian students listen intently to Efrat resident.
Varda Epstein: Can
you tell me about the demographic of the people you work with?
Ardie Geldman: The demographic is mixed if you overlook the
fact that the majority of the groups with whom I meet are mostly Christian. With
respect to age the participants range from high-school groups to mature adults.
The only groups that spend a full Shabbat weekend (Thursday through Sunday morning)
in Efrat are Christian college students. All the others, mostly from the U.S.
and Canada, but also from the United Kingdom, Western European countries and
Australia (though not to the best of my recollection from either Central or
South America or Africa) come only for short, hour-and-a-half lectures.
Some groups represent mainstream “high church,” such as
Presbyterians or Methodists, while others are Quakers and Mennonites. Some come
from independent congregations that do not belong to any major Christian
denomination. However, about a quarter of the groups with whom I meet are
secular, self-defined social justice or human rights groups. Among these,
especially if they come from the States, is often a sprinkling of (very
deluded) Jews. The latter often make a point of letting me know that they are
Jews, especially when they stand up and condemn Israel, the IDF, and settlers.
I have to say that I never sensed any antisemitism in any of the Christian college groups; not even a hint. In fact, so many left Efrat saying how much they enjoyed learning about Judaism. Some even said that they would stop using electronics on the Sabbath (Sunday, for them). On the other hand, I did encounter antisemitism from time to time among the groups that came for only a lecture. This happened with a few church groups as well as some so-called "social justice" groups. Three years ago I literally threw out a student group from a major East coast university and did the same two years ago with a group of adults from Belgium.
Learning to bake challah bread (challot).
Varda Epstein: On
your website you have a blurb: “Come for a real
education.” What does this mean?
Ardie Geldman: It means to be exposed to ideas with which
they are unfamiliar, or even opposed, and to a variety of opinions about
religion and politics, even within just one Jewish “settler” community. Here is
a quote from a recent email I received from a director of one of the
participating Christian college programs that reflects the work of iTalkIsrael:
“It's been so long that we had a decent argument - I
genuinely miss coming to Efrat and engaging in the wonderfully hot
conversations we had over the years. I consider the times spent with you and
Ivonne as one of my top memories during the two decades of bringing
students to the Middle East. You have given me a lasting appreciation for
Judaism, a deeper respect for Zionism, and both a deeper understanding - as
well as a recognition of my own limitations on understanding - of living in
Israel in "disputed territory."
Dialogue with Efrat youth over pizza on a Saturday night.
Varda Epstein: What
is your goal for each group that comes to you, or does that vary from group to
group?
Ardie Geldman: For the short visit groups the only objective
is to plant a tiny seed of doubt among even just a handful of the visitors
about their views of the conflict. Over the years, from time to time, a few
people would approach me after I am done speaking while the others are making
their way back to the bus and say something like “Thank you so much. We are not
hearing any of this.”
The goal for the Shabbat weekend groups is more ambitious. First
I’ll tell you what it is not. It is not to transform the visitors into
Christian right-wing Zionists. It is to disarm them, to confuse them, to reduce
their suspicion and distrust, and even to develop positive, longer-lasting
relations with people in Efrat; in short to “humanize the settlers” in their
eyes. Based on the obligatory written feedback I receive from each and every
participant, I can say that, yes, at least immediately following their “Shabbat
in Efrat” experience, this goal is 100% realized.
Christian college students dialogue with Efrat yeshiva high school seniors in the Efrat library.
Varda Epstein: Do you
ever correspond with those who hear your lectures, when their trip to Israel is
only a memory?
Ardie Geldman: Other than those very few who contacted me not
long after their visit because they were writing a term paper and needed some
additional information, the general answer is no. The reason for this is
interesting. The college programs that come fly under the radar. That is to
say, there is an implicit understanding with each program director that their
students’ participation in a weekend program in an “illegal settlement” where
they are home-hosted by “illegal settlers” remains on the QT.
The directors actually obfuscate this part of their
“Israel-Palestine” itinerary from their colleagues and their other program
partners in Jordan, Egypt, Turkey, and of course, the Palestinian Authority. I’m
not sure how they do it, but I have a feeling that not even all of their
superiors in their respective colleges are aware of the Efrat stay. It does not
appear on the respective programs’ website, although visiting Israel does.
Two years ago a group almost dropped out after the director
became enraged after reading my Commentary piece that mentioned these programs, even
though I purposely didn’t identify any of the programs by name nor their
schools. In other words, the program directors wish to maximize anonymity and
want total control over the students’ ties to the program. Consequently, they
do not share their email addresses with me. I would very much have liked to be
given their email addresses all these years in order to follow up and see how
much of an impact the Efrat experience has on the students in the long run. Having
said all of this, some of the participating Efrat host families, at the request
of individual students, do maintain email contact with the latter.
Some students, I have been told, have even returned to visit
their Efrat hosts on subsequent trips to Israel and “Palestine.” Some students
over the years came back for the Purim seudah
[feast, V.E.]; others attended a wedding celebrated by their Efrat host family.
If you consider where these students’ heads were when they first arrived in
Efrat, yes, the “Shabbat in Efrat” program does chalk up some impressive
achievements.
Ardie hosts a small group in his home in Efrat.
Varda Epstein: If
someone spends their entire trip exposed only to the progressive narrative on
Israel, is hearing you speak enough to offer balance?
Ardie Geldman: Absolutely not. The cognitive dissonance
factor is way, way too strong. The theme under which the short,
hour-and-a-half-visit groups operate is “Don’t bother me with facts, my mind is
made up.” I believe that to be true for over 90% of those whose visit to Efrat
takes place in the midst of a highly propagandized 10-day (on average) tour.
So why do they come? They come because “settlements” are
controversial and coming to one is a titillating experience. They come to take
notes and photographs that they use in their own pro-Palestinian propaganda
work back home. And some come for the opportunity to chastise a settler in
person for the evil he represents.
That is why I developed the “Shabbat in Efrat” program. It
is based on the principle contained in this Maya Angelou quote: “People will forget what you said, people will forget what
you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
Christian college students visit Efrat preschool.
I have come to
believe that the myriad lectures, PowerPoint presentations, video clips,
websites, tweets, articles, books, etc., etc., etc. that tell the truth about
Israel and the “Palestinians” don’t amount to a hill of beans in comparison to
a positive and extended emotional experience. Such an experience requires the
time not afforded by a lecture. In fact, I believe that a series of even great
lectures, regardless of how outstanding the lecturer(s), is relatively
ineffective at changing hearts and minds. The only thing that I am convinced
can do this requires two key elements: (1) an intimate personal experience and
(2) sufficient time. That is why “Shabbat in Efrat” is a 3-4 day program.
Things that the
students are told on the first day but would reject out of hand as “Zionist
settler” propaganda are towards the end of the program suddenly palatable and
worth considering, possibly even true! This is especially the case when
statements that conflict with their current beliefs about Israel, about Israeli
“settlers,” about the “settlements” or “Palestinians” are uttered by members of
their host family, and especially around the Shabbat table. The effect of this
experience is almost miraculous and is reflected over and over again in the
students’ written responses on the questionnaires they complete just prior to
their departure. I have collected over 800 questionnaires from student participants.
Varda Epstein: What
would you like first-time visitors to Israel to know?
Ardie Geldman: (1) The Middle East is not the Midwest, or: Dorothy,
you’re not in Kansas, anymore. Many values here are different than those by
which people live in Western countries. It is a conceit and counterproductive
to try and understand political and social events and developments in this part
of the world through a western lens.
(2) The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is not “good guys vs.
bad guys.” It is far more complex and nuanced than they likely appreciate.
(3) Yes, to be honest, there are moral failures on both
sides of the conflict; no nation state, no society is perfect. But there is no
comparison between the quantity and enormity of such failures committed by the
Palestinian side and those on the Israeli side. Unfortunately, there are
examples of individual Israelis who have committed some unacceptable act of
violence, and of course we never hear the end of these. But Israel is condemned
most often for legitimate acts of self-defense. The Palestinian side, in
contrast, is guilty of ongoing systematic and strategic acts of terror and
violence. There IS a difference and that difference must be appreciated by
anyone who wishes to understand the conflict.
(4) Finally, with regard to first time visitors, they need
to be told that Palestinian spokespeople are masters of the tragic visage. They
take people to sites and expose them to heartrending images. These are either
presented out of context, such as (A) bringing visitors to the sordid living
conditions of refugee camps and blaming Israel for their existence, while
drawing their attention away from the mansions and expensive, late model cars
situated just across the road, or (B) as outright lies, pointing out the water
tanks on rooftops and telling visitors that Israel purposely denies the
“Palestinians” sufficient amounts of water.
Varda Epstein: What’s
the dumbest question you were ever asked about Israel and how do you answer
that question?
Ardie Geldman: The dumbest, and also the most offensive
question, uttered only a few times throughout the years is “How can Israel do
to the Palestinians what the Nazis did to the Jews?”
Varda Epstein: What’s
the question you’re asked most and how do you respond?
Ardie Geldman: Without a doubt, that question is: “Why did
you choose to live in a settlement and not somewhere else in Israel?” And my
answer is inevitably is “Because I agree with the Palestinians. There is no
difference between Efrat and Tel-Aviv.”
Varda Epstein: What
wisdom can you impart to us for dealing with people who are certain that Israel
is an occupier oppressing its Arab minority? Do you have an elevator pitch for
such people? A question that stops them in their tracks?
Ardie Geldman: That is exactly the point. In the case of
such an emotionally fraught issue where the disinformation is so deeply
ingrained there is no such thing as an effective elevator pitch. We have our
facts; they have their facts. We have our anecdotes; they have their anecdotes.
The cognitive dissonance that is created when a conflicting
opinion or idea is raised protects the “Palestinian” narrative like an Etrog. You
just can’t get to it. The words, the facts, they just bounce off.
The only way to get past it, to break through, to penetrate
it, is by way of a positive experience over time, meaning at least a few days. That
is the lesson of iTalkIsrael. The “Palestinians” learned a long time ago that the
way to a person’s brain is through their heart and NOT the other way around.
You must change the heart before you can change the mind. That is true in many
other areas of life and it is no less true here.
"She had just said in our group discussion that Israel practices racism. Then we came across these two IDF soldiers on the group's way back to the bus."
Varda Epstein: What’s
next for you and italkIsrael?
Ardie Geldman: I have a "business plan," if you will, to
duplicate the iTalkIsrael experience in five other Jewish communities in Judea
and Samaria. What we have been doing so successfully in Efrat for eight years,
the Shabbat weekends, can and should be implemented elsewhere. Before the
Corona pandemic we were hosting some 100-150 students in Efrat per year. The “Shabbat
in Efrat” program has proven itself as a kind of beta plan. There is no reason
why this can’t, within 2-3 years, grow to some 1,500 and more participants.
I would also like to create a training institute to teach
others the advocacy principles and skills that I have acquired over the years. I
have a huge, I would even say unique, library of materials waiting for this. All
that is missing are the financial resources to put this in motion.
We have lots of ideas, but we need more resources to be even more effective. Please donate today to help get the message out and to help defend Israel.
Sovereignty, or the application of civil law to Judea and
Samaria, has been hereby suspended,
in favor of a peace accord with the UAE. How long that suspension will last is
anyone’s guess. Some think it’s a done deal—that the subject of sovereignty is
permanently off the table—while others think Bibi will make good his electoral promise
of sovereignty, doing the right thing at the right time, in good time. But was
sovereignty ever really on the table in the first place?
“Peace for peace,”
said Netanyahu in his remarks
to the nation about the accord, emphasizing that this would not be a cold
peace, but a peace in which Israel and the UAE would be equals and friends. But
the prime minister’s words also suggested that Israel traded not sovereignty for peace, but peace for peace: that Israel got something so huge in the exchange that it was worth it—worth giving up Israel’s sovereignty. But are sovereignty
and peace commodities that might be traded, one for the other, even
Steven? Is peace somehow bigger and more important than sovereignty? More worthwhile?
A reasonable person might ask: is "peace for peace" only more Netanyahu oratorical sleight of hand? For how is peace made, if not by sovereign
entities as equals? And if Israel is robbed of the right to self-determination
in parts of its lawful, indigenous territory, one might argue that it has no power to make an accord. That the right to make accords belongs solely to
sovereign countries.
Giving up sovereignty is unfortunate in many ways, not least for creating a gap between the UAE and Israel, removing any semblance of parity between the two. Suspending sovereignty at the behest of the U.S. turns Israel
into a vassal state, tied to Uncle Sam’s apron strings. It means that America
decides the fate of the Jews and the land God gave them. Or rather, in agreeing to suspend sovereignty, Israel has ceded its rights, making America sovereign over the Holy Land.
This is what Netanyahu did in agreeing to suspend
sovereignty. But who knows, perhaps sovereignty was never really on the table at all. Perhaps the suggested parameters of sovereignty were only meant to suggest the borders of a “Palestinian” state.
I put the question to Nadia Matar, co-chairman of Women in Green with Yehudit Katsover. The
two have lately gone on to create the Sovereignty Movement (Ribonut), which serves as a forum and a
campaign for the application of sovereignty in Judea and Samaria. Matar’s
response to my question regarding partial sovereignty was succinct: “Bibi is on his
way to create a PA state. He has to go.”
The same question put to Professor Efraim Inbar, however, president
of the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and
Security, yielded a surprising response, one that is brimming with optimism for the
future, “The Americans got cold feet and Bibi got an agreement with UAE. Not so
bad. Sovereignty remains for better days. History does not end in 2020.”
Inbar sees Bibi and Israel as the
big winners here. A different picture emerges, however, in a recent interview of
Finance Minister Yisrael Katz (Likud) on Kan Bet, where Katz said that sovereignty had been frozen before
the agreement with the United Arab Emirates. The MK was frank in stating that
there actually is no connection
between the peace accord with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the decision
to suspend sovereignty. That it was simply “more convenient” for the Arab
nations to present the accords as if they had brought about the suspension of sovereignty.
In this light, freezing sovereignty is akin to Israel freezing construction in Judea and Samaria, or what hostile elements call “settlement expansion.” It was canny of
the UAE to squeeze this concession from the Jews. In theory, if not in application, the suspension of sovereignty makes the UAE a hero to
the Arab people for staying Israel's hands in applying its land rights in the Holy Land, land that is coveted by the Arab people.
President Trump announces the agreement on August 13, 2020
Jared Kushner, however, asserts that the entire question of
sovereignty is moot, “That land is land that right now Israel quite frankly
controls. Israelis that live there aren’t going anywhere. There shouldn’t be
any urgency to applying Israeli law. We believe they will respect their
agreement.”
With this statement, Kushner betrays his lack of
understanding of a very basic issue: that the territories have been under martial
law since 1967, and living under martial law, is no way to live.
Sovereignty means bringing civility to Judea and Samaria. For the wild, wild “West
Bank” is a lawless place, where anything might happen when
tensions flare, and the only thing to stop it is soldiers.
This is not a proper or humane state of affairs for Jews or Arabs. Asked if the application of
civil law to the territories stood to benefit the Palestinians, Khaled Abu Toameh,
an Israeli Arab journalist and Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Gatestone Institute, responded, “I
believe they would prefer any law to the existing set of laws, which includes
Israeli military law, Jordanian law and Palestinian law. These laws have
complicated the lives of Palestinians and created much confusion for many.”
The Point of the Deal: A Palestinian State
The Trump peace plan doesn’t factor in that confusion. It’s not
the point or the focus of the deal. The purpose of the Deal of the Century, is to create a Palestinian
state on 70 percent of Judea and Samaria through the application of Israeli
sovereignty to just 30 percent of that land, effectively giving up another huge chunk
of Jewish land to the Arabs for good, land that now legally belongs to Israel
under international law. The normalization agreement with the UAE, however, puts a stopper into that idea, stipulating that Israel suspend its plan to extend Israeli law to these areas.
Kushner was frank about all this in his public remarks on the accord,
in which he stated that Prime Minister Netanyahu had agreed to a map
dividing Judea and Samaria into a Palestinian state with a part that would
belong to Israel, calling it “the first map ever agreed publicly to by one of
the parties.”
This, it appears, was the intent of partial sovereignty from the beginning. In giving up
sovereignty over most of Judea and Samaria, Israel gives up more land to the Arabs for a state. Hence Trump’s peace plan
turns the application of civilian law into another Israeli land giveaway, yet more
land for peace. The plan actually turns sovereignty into something that is
anathema to the world: annexation, by making Israel the thief in asserting its rights to a mere 30
percent of Jewish land, when in fact it is Israel, giving away yet more of its God-given land,
more lifeblood, to the Arabs.
The Deal of the Century gives the Arabs license to encroach on yet more Jewish land, in the very same sort of creeping annexation of which Israel stands accused. Make no mistake: this is an Arab land grab going all the way back to the British Mandate for Palestine, when responding to Arab entreaties, Britain
reneged on its promise to the Jews, and created Transjordan on 78 percent of
the Mandate. It is the same creeping Arab annexation of Jewish land that was Oslo, the same creeping Arab annexation of Jewish land that resulted from the expulsion
of the Jews from Gaza. And yet it is Israel that is the enabler of this state
of affairs, in which the Arabs get more Jewish land over time, as the Jews are squeezed into borders that shrink over time, inching ever closer to the sea.
We have lots of ideas, but we need more resources to be even more effective. Please donate today to help get the message out and to help defend Israel.
It can be difficult to explain Israel’s right to exist to
the online haters and debaters. After all, not all of us are Eugene Kontorovich. And since
we’re not, how can anyone expect us to have all the complicated legalese at the
ready to plead the legal twists and turns of Israel’s case? It’s better, instead, to keep things as simple as
possible: We were here first. It’s ours.
But that’s not always as easy as it sounds. Take Quora, where I’ve
been answering questions about Israel since 2011. I try to keep my answers uncomplicated
so they will be easy to remember in future debates.
Quora, however, has a policy called “Be Nice, Be Respectful.”
Violate this policy and Quora will collapse your answer. At this point, the
moderators generally give you the option of editing your answer and allow an
appeal. For me, that’s good enough, since I can usually find a workaround and rephrase.
An edit may mean changing “Palestine doesn’t exist” to “At
this point in time, there is no state called "Palestine.” Which is a lot more
complicated, but satisfies everyone, all around. You get to the point where you
can spot what language is likely to trigger a report, so you can avoid such
language right out of the starting gate. And if there’s a hiccup and an answer is
collapsed, I edit and resubmit, and there’s no further problem.
Note that the Israel-hating Quorans stand ready to pounce on
any perceived policy violation by the Israel-loving Quorans. It’s a war out
there on Quora. The hope is that by reporting us, the Israel haters will get us
permanently banned from the site. Once that happens, our truthful answers about
Israel will disappear.
I was a top writer in 2018, and the best Quora answers come
up in Google queries. I therefore see it as kind of mission to keep my content
diplomatic enough to suit Quora moderators so my responses will stay up there
on the ‘net, offering a truthful account of what Ruth Wisse calls “The
Arab War Against the Jews.”
This can be a delicate balancing act. Not everyone is
capable of coloring inside the lines. That goes for either side of the fence.
Rima Najjar, for instance, was permanently banned on Quora
for her (apparently) anti-Israel/antisemitic content. I never read her stuff so
I’m only guessing. I’m not sure what, exactly, was objectionable. But according
to her Jewish friend Benay Blend, Quora is biased in favor of pro-Israel voices
like my own and in banning her, is discriminating against Najjar.
This supposed bias is the reason Najjar
filed suit against Quora and it’s nonsense, as I explained a little over a
year ago in this space (see: Blend
and Najjar Implicate Me and the Israel Forever Foundation for Getting Banned on
Quora). If Najjar was banned, it wasn’t because of a pro-Israel bias, but
because she couldn’t figure out how to speak Quora-ese. She likely found it hard
not to sound hateful when discussing the Jewish State. Thus, Najjar violated
Quora’s Be Nice, Be Respectful, one too many times and was banned for life.
It would have been difficult for Najjar to prove bias, since
Quora is an equal-opportunity hand-slapper, collapsing answers and banning
users on either side of the Israel/Anti-Israel divide. Najjar must have
realized this fact. Because the academic subsequently dropped
her suit in March (h/t Elder of Ziyon).
As I said, there’s always a work-around on Quora and Najjar
could have still been on Quora today, happily typing out her hate for Israel,
as long as she couched things in neutral, inoffensive terms. But hiding
the truth of what one really thinks is an art and it’s definitely not always easy.
The other day, for example, I answered a question:
“Can you explain the Israel-Palestinw [sic] conflict to me
like I'm 10 years old?”
“This will be fun,” I thought, rubbing my hands together
with glee, before formulating an answer, which was this:
A long time ago, God gave the land of Israel to the Jews. It
is a beautiful and special land, so everyone was jealous and they are still
jealous now. Other people keep trying to take bits and pieces of the land, and
when the Jews won’t let them, they attack the Jews in all sorts of cruel ways,
for instance sending exploding balloons over the border so Jewish children will
play with them and get hurt. Or they’ll explode a pizza shop at a time when it
is likely to be full of Jewish kids on summer vacation, having fun.
Instead of seeing how wrong it is to steal Jewish land and
hurt Jewish children, the world sides with the thieves, the people that keep
trying to take Jewish land, the people hurting Jewish children. Why? Because
the world is mad that the Jews don’t want to switch religions. They figure it
makes their newer religions look phony and false and that hurts their feelings.
Also, Jews tend to be smart and successful, and even though
there aren’t a lot of them, they tend to rise to the top no matter what they
decide to do with their lives. This makes other people jealous of the Jews.
Which is stupid. They should instead study the Jews and try to copy them.
Not long after I posted this response, I of course received
a message that the moderators had collapsed my answer for violating the Be
Nice, Be Respectful policy. I was invited to edit and appeal.
But for some reason, this time, I balked. I knew exactly
what language needed changing to suit the moderators, but I just didn’t care. I
had written the truth: this is what I would have said to a ten-year-old to
explain things, to MY ten-year-old. To any ten-year-old.
I saw no reason to change my answer if that’s not the way I’d
say it to a ten-year-old. Ten-year-olds don’t understand political correctness.
It makes no sense to add a lot of language to obscure the truth and give it a
neutral makeover. Such language would lengthen my answer and overly complicate
things so that a child would come away more confused than before.
Which is why, after thinking it over for a couple of days, I
opted to submit an appeal without
editing my answer, as follows:
Dear Moderator, the question asks how I would explain things
to a ten-year-old, not how I would couch things in a politically correct manner
to satisfy the Quora moderators. This actually is what I would say to a
ten-year-old. Using more neutral terms would render the explanation
unintelligible or confusing to a young child. I say that as a parenting expert
and a mother of 12.
Kids understand only the simplest language. As such, I would
venture to suggest this was a trick question intended to trip up a pro-Israel
Quoran, triggering by design, perceived violations of the Be Nice, Be
Respectful policy. I believe this is the reason the question was edited after
the fact: after I answered the question. This gives the question an entirely
new meaning, so that my answer may seem mean-spirited in some lights, instead
of merely honest.
Just as there are frivolous lawsuits, this was a frivolous
report, to get me in trouble: collapsed or banned. I hope you will reconsider
your decision in the interest of freedom of speech on Quora.
Thank you for your consideration.
Note that somewhere between when I answered the question and
my response was collapsed, the original poster changed the question. It now
says: “Can you explain the Israel-Palestine conflict to me (I'm 10 years old)?”
The edit is meant to exaggerate the supposedly harmful effect of my response. We’re
no longer discussing a thought experiment. Instead, my answer stands retroactively,
as an actual response to a ten-year-old child.
Which is why I didn’t expect for a moment that I would win my appeal. I figured the moderator would determine that my answer is “hate speech” and collapse it for
good. This has happened on occasion.
"So be it," I thought.
What some Quora moderators call "hate speech" I call "the truth.”
And sometimes I’m just not willing to lie.
I had a surprise, however, when I looked at my inbox this morning. There was a new notification: Quora had uncollapsed my answer.
Rima Najjar would say the moderator's decision reflects the same pro-Israel bias that led to her permanent ban from the social media network--that in responding favorably to my appeal, the moderator sided with Israel. But I think the decision is a sign that sometimes reason prevails, at least on Quora. On Quora, it turns out that speaking to a moderator like an adult, allows me to explain Israel to a ten-year-old.
This is a refreshing contrast to the prevailing ethos at social media giant Facebook, where "Death to Israel" fails to violate community standards. It's a whole 'nother ballgame from Twitter, where despots are deemed to be just rattling sabers when they call for the annihilation of Israel and the Jews.
Quora is different. At Quora I sometimes lose. But sometimes I win. In this round, I got to explain Israel to ten-year-olds. Which seems a good enough reason to stay in the game.
For now.
We have lots of ideas, but we need more resources to be even more effective. Please donate today to help get the message out and to help defend Israel.
Isaac Herzog became a new twist in the Seth Rogen story when
he decided to write a note to the clueless actor, asking him to clarify remarks
questioning the existence of the State of Israel.
Who knows? Maybe Herzog
thought inserting himself into this celebrity storm in a teapot could revive
his career as an Israeli politician, or perhaps lead to a plum diplomatic
position, say at the UN, in New York.
Alas, Herzog was wrong.
What Jewish Agency Chairman Herzog did in the way he
approached Rogen was make himself look the fool and even more irrelevant than before.
For one thing, Herzog’s approach was meant to give Rogen an “out.” This at a
time of severe scrutiny and criticism for the actor’s careless and hurtful
words about Israel and the Jewish people. “[As] a Jewish person I was fed a huge amount of lies about Israel my entire life,” said Rogen, during the now-infamous July 28 podcast with Marc Maron, aptly named the WTF podcast. “They never tell you that, ‘Oh, by the way, there were people there.’ They make it seem like it was just like sitting there, like the fucking door’s open.”
But no, dear Reader. Do not despair. These hurtful words about Israel will not stand! Enter Isaac Herzog, shining knight to the rescue, to make the true sentiment of Rogen's words go away—to help the comedian explain that Israel is really important to him.
“One can definitely
argue about policies and positions, as I did in my political career, but for
me, the red line is the imposition of doubt on the right of existence of the
Jewish State and the encouragement of its delegitimization,” Herzog clarified
to Rogen.
Herzog continued to explain that Rogen made it “clear... that
what was missing in the published interview was what he did not say: How
important Israel is to him. And that, of course, Israel must exist.”
In Herzog’s retelling of this encounter, the former head of Israel's Labor Party offers Rogen a prompt in essence saying, “Please, please, oh famous Canadian
actor. Take your words back. Tell us it ain’t so—tell us you’re not saying that
Israel has no right to exist!”
Failing to elicit such a disavowal, Herzog assures us instead that Rogen was only joking, giving him a pass for the things he said in that podcast, and blaming Rogen's ignorance regarding Israel, on Israel. Herzog:
"While [Rogen] was
speaking in jest during the noted conversation, we cannot ignore the fact that
Jews outside Israel often have to stand at the forefront and explain the State
of Israel, and sometimes they do not know how nor what to explain."
Herzog wants you to know: It's all Israel’s fault that Seth Rogen doesn’t
know how to respond when people trash talk the Jewish State. Because Israel is not telling its story.
But Herzog, the chairman of the Jewish Agency (!), is wrong.
Israel has been telling its story for thousands of years.
It’s an amazing story, full of miracles and wonders. And if Rogen doesn't know that, it's because he didn’t care enough to tune in
and listen. He didn’t care enough to read Jewish history, or the bible,
the best-selling book of all time.
The actor didn't care to learn the facts of a story that belongs to him: that the Jews have always been in Israel, have had a continuous presence in the land for thousands of years through successive invaders, somehow managing to maintain a toehold in the Holy Land even after the destruction
of the Temple, hiding out in caves. The Jews, the indigenous people of Israel, never left the land. Because the relationship between
Jews and the land is symbiotic. Because when a Jew in France (or anywhere else in the
world) prays for rain, he does so during Israel’s rainy season; he’s not
praying for rain in France or Albuquerque. He’s praying for rain in Israel.
At Passover seders the world over, Jews conclude with the words “Next year in
Jerusalem.”
Three times a day and after meals Jews pray for the speedy rebuilding of the Temple.
Jews have done these things for millennia.
The Jewish religion is all about the Holy Land. Israel is central
to Judaism.
To any normal person, the obvious conclusion must be that Jews are supposed to live in Israel. And that no other people
can make that claim. That the Jews and only the Jews have earned that right by birth.
No matter how many other people
say it ain’t so. No matter how many people malign Israel, calling the Jewish State an oppressor that occupies "Arab" land.
Now, unlike Isaac Herzog, I don’t really care about Seth Rogen or other
celebrities of his ilk. I don’t care about Jews who turn their backs on their
people and their land. But had I cared enough to approach Seth Rogen, it would
have been a very different conversation. I wouldn't have excused him, or given him an out for his imbecilic assertions. I would have called him to task.
I would have said to him, “Seth, read
a book for Chrissakes! Read O Jerusalem. Read the bible. Read some Bat Yeor and learn what really happened to the Jews under Islam—under the people you think were in Israel first. Know what’s
what."
(Because how can it be that Rogen knows nothing of his own history? And cares not enough to correct his own ignorance!)
But I am not “Bougie” Herzog. Or perhaps more accurately, Bougie Herzog is not me. So instead of calling the actor out for his ignorance, Herzog gave Rogen a very public way to duck responsibility for his gross actions, as if he were saying, “Oh please, Seth. Say it isn’t so. Say you don’t really want us to be
obliterated from the face of the earth just because some poor brown people say the
land belongs to them and that we’re thieves and oppressors.”
And even though Rogen refused to obey that prompt or disavow his disdain for Israel, Herzog doubled down, telling us we’ve got it all horribly wrong. Rogen doesn't hate Israel and want it to disappear, the actor is merely “misunderstood.”
The actor is just being Jewish, questioning things, and all.
So Herzog clarified, explaining that in Rogen's view:
“asking
questions, and arguing differing positions are fundamental in Judaism... as
part of the process of casting doubt, which he says is an important motif for
the Jewish people” and that “in some interviews he humorously asks questions
about almost everything,” trying to explain why he thought his comments were
misunderstood or taken out of context.
Rogen? He doesn’t hate Israel. He’s just oh-so-Jewish, a truth-seeker marching
along on this journey of life.
How awesome that Bougie explains Rogen to us, helping him wiggle out of this slippery little spot, this conundrum with his people (and his land) without actually eliciting either an actual apology, or a disavowal for what he said.
How marvelous that Bougie managed all that with just one little letter
and a follow-up call. Of course, Herzog didn’t really write that letter to Rogen. Instead he got the Vancouver Jewish community to do it:
“Herzog decided to address a letter to Rogen in order to
better understand what he meant by his statements. He did so with the help of the Jewish community in Vancouver, where
Rogen grew up, according to Herzog’s post.”
Now, we don't know why Herzog needed help writing a
letter to Rogen. We can only guess. Perhaps Herzog lacks self-confidence. Which would explain the failed political career.
But having others write a letter to Rogen didn't really help Herzog. This story, like Herzog's career as a politician, will only fade into
beige, and the only one who will remember the thing
with Rogen, is Rogen, who will only use the conversation with Herzog to hurt Israel some more.
Which is exactly what Rogen did, making Herzog once more the fool when he confessed to left-leaning journalist Mairav
Zonszein that his mommy made him do it: made him make that call to Herzog. Which Mairav
Zonszein was happy to air in public with a tweet, which Rogen subsequently liked, an outright admission
that the actor did not reach out to Herzog of his own accord. It was only
filial duty that made him place that call to the Jewish Agency, to Herzog.
Because the truth of the matter is that Rogen isn't sorry. Rogen was not misunderstood. He didn’t mean any of
those nice words Herzog put into his mouth. After all, how could Rogen mean those words when, according to the Times of Israel, he never actually said them?
What did Rogen say to Herzog? We'll never know because when Rogen placed that call to Herzog, he “insisted that the conversation not be recorded.” What we do know: Rogen subsequently told Zonszein: “Read what I
actually said about all this and not these secondhand telling.”
In other words: don’t listen to Herzog. Listen to Rogen. He stands by
what he said in that WTF podcast with Marc Maron. You know, like when he said that the Jewish
State, and having the Jews all together as one people in the Holy Land, “doesn’t
make sense.”
The actor never took those words back, and is not in the least contrite. As Rogen explained to Haaretz,
“I did not apologize for what I said. I offered clarity. And I think [Herzog]
is misrepresenting our conversation. At no point did I give him permission to
publish any part of the conversation.”
What, exactly, did Herzog accomplish here? He didn't actually approach Rogen or write to him, contrary to what Herzog suggested to the media. Instead, Herzog by way of the Vancouver Jewish community, wrote to Rogen's mother. Rogen told us so.
He said that Herzog (emphasis added), “sent
a letter to my mother on very
fancy letterhead. My mom implored me to call this guy and I did and told him I
thought this was a private conversation... at
no point did I give him permission to publish any part of the conversation.”
So there you have it. No disavowal. No apology. No retraction. Rogen meant what he said. He feels he was “fed lies about Israel” and thinks that Israel, as a concept,
“doesn’t make sense.” He only made that call to Herzog because his mommy made him do it.
And so Herzog’s intervention in the Seth Rogen story is yet another gaffe for Herzog, reminding us of the election he lost and how he mistakenly said, “We will keep Netanyahu united,” instead of, "We will keep Jerusalem united," which made everyone laugh. Especially Bibi.
We laughed and Bibi won and Herzog faded away, blending into the woodwork, tucked behind a desk at the Jewish Agency, desperately trying to remain relevant.
As Seth Rogen has the last laugh at Israel and the Jews.
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This blog may be a labor of love for me, but it takes a lot of effort, time and money. For over 14 years and 30,000 articles I have been providing accurate, original news that would have remained unnoticed. I've written hundreds of scoops and sometimes my reporting ends up making a real difference. I appreciate any donations you can give to keep this blog going.
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