Shannon Nuszen is working to expose the mission of evangelical Christians in Israel—Jews are trying to shut her down

Shannon Nuszen is coming up against Jewish opposition to her work at Beyneynu, which is all about exposing the true nature of Christian missionaries inside Israel. These evangelical Christians are careful not to use overt language in describing their mission to the Jewish Israelis they meet and work with. But Nuszen captures the truth by way of videos created by the Christians for their supporters abroad, in which their mission is stated in explicit terms. And the truth is that these Christians are in Israel for the express purpose of converting Jewish Israelis to Christianity.

Why would any Jew not want this truth exposed? It’s not a mystery: money talks, nobody walks. Evangelical Christians give a lot of money to Israel, and they’re very nice people. No one wants to believe they have any underlying, hidden purpose in being here. The Jews don’t want to believe these Christians are anything other than what they purport to be: nice people who support the Jews and the Jewish State.

Jews are tired of being hated. When someone shows them a bit of love, they drink it up. They are like Sally Fields at the Oscars gushing, “You like me! You really like me!”

via GIPHY

They need to believe these Christians don’t have an ulterior motive. They need it for their self-esteem. And of course, there’s the money. Lots and lots of it. And a lot of these Christians are working the vineyards of Samaria, for free. Which is as good as financial support, right?

So we have a situation where Shannon Nuszen, through her organization, Beyneynu, is distributing videos to Jewish journalists in which Christians expose their true purpose on camera. And Jews are going around behind the scenes and sometimes, shamelessly, right in front of Nuszen, casting aspersions on her work.

These Jews tell the journalists and anyone else who will listen that Shannon is disturbed, that because of her past, she has a vendetta—that these Christians are REALLY NICE PEOPLE who have told them, the Jews, that converting the Jews is the furthest thing from their sweet little innocent minds. These Christians LOVE the Jews, say the Jews, and only want to help and support them.

Would that all that were true. But it’s not. And Shannon is only curating words said by these very same Christians—words which clearly have no other context—that is, if one is being honest about this stuff. The Christians are in Israel for one sole purpose. They want to bring the Jews to Jesus.

They’ll swear up and down it isn’t so. But the videos say otherwise, if you can get past all the Jews out to destroy the messenger, Shannon. To them I say, “Methinks thou dost protest too much.”

The Jews know on which side their bread is buttered. And it’s actually a really shameful thing to witness how they grovel to those trying to convert them while speaking out against their own: Shannon. But you know what? Let’s give Shannon a chance to explain it all in her own words. And then you can decide whom to believe: Shannon, or the Jewish naysayers who benefit from these Christians and work behind the scenes to deride their fellow Jew:  

Varda Epstein: Can you tell us a bit about your background?

Shannon Nuszen: I was born and raised in Evangelical Christianity. My father was a minister, and for many years I was a missionary myself with a tremendous love for Israel and a focus on the Jewish people.

In 2005 I visited Israel for the first time and returned home more determined than ever to prove to myself and every Jew I knew that Jesus was indeed the messiah prophesied in the bible.

However, homing in on that one issue and fully immersing myself in learning about the fulfillment (or lack thereof) of these prophecies did not result in any reaffirming of my faith, or in me perfecting my arguments for bringing Jews to Jesus. The opposite happened, and through learning the Jewish perspective, it became clear that everything I knew and believed in was false.

Long story short, I ended up converting to Judaism and have been living as an Orthodox Jew ever since. I now live in Israel.

Varda Epstein: Why did you decide to focus on exposing and fighting missionaries in Israel? Is this really a significant presence or threat to the Jews of Israel?

Shannon Nuszen: I was on the other side. I was one of those missionaries. I understand better than most how aggressive and unyielding these missionaries are. Most Jewish people, though they may have encountered these missionaries, really do not understand the full scope and danger they present to our people. We are not just dealing with Christians trying to convert Jews. It’s worse than that and more insidious because they are playing word games.

The missionaries misappropriate Jewish symbols, icons, and traditions in order to evangelize the Jews. They are portraying Christianity in a Jewish way to get Jews to believe in Jesus. I know this because I was one of those people. As a result, I feel a heavy responsibility, almost a burden, to alert the Jewish community to the problem that confronts them.

It is shocking. It is a stage four cancer, and there is no stage five. These missionaries have managed to infiltrate and become a part of the highest echelons of the Israeli government and its leadership. Because of their financial and political support for Israel these evangelicals have managed to blind Israelis to the inherent dangers of their mission. Evangelical support comes at an extremely high price, and I understand why Israeli leaders and many ordinary Israelis and Israeli businessmen turn the other way. We have many enemies, and therefore we are willing to work with anyone, even when it comes at a very dangerous price.

Varda Epstein: Would you tell us about some of the people and organizations you’ve worked with on the issue of missionaries in Israel?

Shannon Nuszen: In my quest to research and supply information about specific missionary groups that are active in Israel, I have worked with and continue to work with every organization I know of in this field. In an official capacity I began this work 13 years ago in Houston, countering local missionaries in a grassroots effort with Rabbi Stuart Federow. During this time, I also worked for Outreach Judaism for a span of a few years. Most of my work in this field, however, has been with Jewish Israel, as their North American liaison.

Varda Epstein: Tell us about Beyneynu. Why did you decide to found this organization and what is its purpose?

Shannon Nuszen: Beyneynu is a nonprofit organization that monitors missionary activity in Israel and works with government and community leaders to create proper boundaries in their partnerships with faith-based organizations.

Are we against Christian support for Israel? No! We simply draw the line at missionary efforts, and do not believe Jewish organizations should be forming alliances or partnerships with those who have as their agenda the desire to bring Jews to faith in Jesus.

I do not consider myself a “counter missionary,” and Beyneynu is not another counter missionary organization. Our focus is on alerting the Jewish community to missionary efforts, and to help the Israeli leadership to identify those who threaten the Jewish character of the State of Israel.

Varda Epstein: You’ve released some shocking videos of missionaries in Israel and abroad. How are these videos created?

Shannon Nuszen: These videos are created the same way news publications produce videos. They scour hours of videos and take the most germane elements they find and broadcast them to the public. This is critical to this effort.

Most videos put out by the missionaries are over an hour long. The Jewish community needs to know about the elements in these videos that specifically speak about their intentions in regard to the Jewish people of Israel.

It’s important to understand that if these missionary groups—based as they are inside of Israel—were self-sustaining, they wouldn’t take the risk of discussing these topics in videos, but all their financial support comes from abroad, from outside of Israel. The videos are created precisely for this audience: evangelical Christians who live beyond the borders of Israel. Virtually nothing comes from native Israeli missionaries, therefore they must convey to evangelical Christians abroad the work that they are doing, and that is “winning Jewish souls for Yeshua.”

These people all, without exception, use language that serves as dog whistles for their followers. None of them would ever come straight out and use the term “convert Jews to Christianity” to describe their mission. That type of language is no longer used among the Jews because Jewish people translate “convert to Christianity” as losing their Jewish identity (and they’re right).

This was clear in another video Beyneynu released not long ago where the CEO of God TV, Ward Simpson, clearly stated “We don’t want Jews to convert to Christianity, we simply want them to accept Jesus as their messiah.”

Varda Epstein: There have been some accusations that you are selectively editing these videos to show something that isn’t really there. They say you have a vendetta, because you were one of them, and have now converted to Judaism. What would you say to your accusers?

Shannon Nuszen: The accusers are not bystanders. They are the same activists who repeatedly carry water for these evangelical Christian groups by repeating their talking points, because they work with them and depend on them for their financial support. They have a vested interest in protecting these missionaries.

The real question for these accusers (or perhaps “handlers” is a better word) is: Do these Christians believe it is their obligation to carry out “The Great Commission?” Matthew 28:19 “. . . to make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”

In our latest video, these Christians are clearly speaking of this obligation to their followers, if not in so many words. If the naysayers cannot answer to the charge or prove that it’s not the case, then the only tactic left for them is to attack the messenger: me.

As far as having a vendetta, I would say the opposite is true. Just as much as I feel it is an obligation to warn fellow Jews of this danger, I would love to be able to demonstrate to Christians the pain their actions inflict on the Jewish people in order to foster some understanding.

Varda Epstein: Why are so many Jews against your work, and speaking out against this work and even you, personally? What do they stand to gain by allying with Christians, and working against you, a fellow Jew?

Shannon Nuszen: I do not think even our most fierce opposition opposes the goal of our work. This is the one issue that Jews across the spectrum agree on. The entire Jewish world is against efforts to convert Jews. They just refuse to believe that the Christians who give them financial support, and who support their programs, could possibly have any missionary agenda. It becomes for them a very personal issue.

The information we present, however, is not our opinion. We are not quoting out of context or interpreting what these Christians are saying. Our only aim is to inform.

Varda Epstein: Is there anything else you would like to say to your accusers?

Shannon Nuszen:  I try not to focus on the negative attention or answer those who are aligning themselves with missionaries. They have their reasons for what they do, and they will have to answer for that. My focus is on the effect of these missionaries on Jewish communities worldwide.

Varda Epstein: Can you give us some examples of things these missionaries have said for which the context is undeniable, and cannot possibly be explained away by selective editing?

Shannon Nuszen: The undeniable issue that cannot be disputed is “The Great Commission,” which you’ll find being preached in each of the videos we have curated, and is common to all missionaries. “The Great Commission” is the commandment given by Jesus himself “. . . to make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Those who teach this concept are fully committed to living by this commandment and everything they say and do is by way of fulfilling this obligation.

The methods and language used to explain this in ways that won’t offend Jews are many, but the bottom line is that they do not believe they are exempt from this commandment or that they should refuse to participate in its fulfillment. They see this commandment, “The Great Commission,” as their primary goal, and crucial factor in the “restoration” (you’ll hear them say that word a lot) process that in their belief, serves as preparation for the second coming of Jesus.

Varda Epstein: Where are you and Beyneynu going with this work? What can we expect to see coming up next?

Shannon Nuszen: Beyneynu’s efforts are primarily behind the scenes working with government and Jewish leadership to understand the dangers of partnering with missionaries. With the tremendous outpouring of love and support coming from the Christian world, it is important that we understand who we can and cannot trust.

Sometimes our efforts include informing the public of problematic events or relationships that require their help to demand action. This was the case with God TV. Even though they had already secured a contract with the cable provider, and had been licensed by the Israeli government to broadcast this programming, it was public outcry that brought about the complete reversal of this state of affairs and caught the attention of the world.

That is the message that every organization looking to partner with us should understand. We appreciate the support for Israel, but we must draw the line when it comes to missionary activity.

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Ardie Geldman: Getting to the Mind Through the Heart with iTalkIsrael (Judean Rose)

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. 

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Yisrael Medad: Presenting Jabotinsky is a Matter of Saving a Soul (Judean Rose)

Yisrael Medad is Betar to the bone. Having joined the Revisionist Zionist movement of Vladimir (Ze’ev) Jabotinsky at the tender age of 17, Medad is still enamored of this Zionist figure and his controversial ideology. So much so it seems, that he’s translating Jabotinsky’s words into English, that others might access the work of this prolific genius.

What makes the work of Jabotinsky, a journalist by profession, so controversial? For one thing, Jabotinsky was at odds with the idea of intersectionality, of combining Zionism with other ideologies. He liked his Zionism pure. According to biographer Hillel Halkin, Jabotinsky called this singular devotion to the cause “Zionist monism,” refusing to link Zionism to, for instance, Jewish agrarianization or to socialism. Which put him at odds with, for instance, David Ben Gurion.

But the disagreement went deeper than defining what it means to be a Zionist. Jabotinsky founded the Jewish Legion to help the British fight against the Ottoman Empire, but was disappointed to discover that cooperating with the British brought the Jews no closer to a Jewish State. And then the British issued the infamous White Paper. That's when Jabotinsky founded the Irgun to revolt against the British, who could no longer be seen as a benevolent force. 

Ben Gurion, meantime, favored a policy of “havlagah” or “restraint," and looking the other way. He felt the Brits remained the Jews' best hope for attaining statehood.

About havlagah, Jabotinsky had this to say:

Vladimir (Ze'ev) Jabotinsky

.... I have mentioned the word "Havlagah", a rare word, never heard before in modern, every-day-life Hebrew language in the Land of Israel. It seems this word is now the most common and hated word in the Land of Israel... The Jews should not distort the facts and complain. In the Land of Israel there are young political activists from the left and the right who are not afraid to clash with British soldiers, who are forcing them to act like cowards. They do not fear about their own lives, they fear for the destruction of the 1917 Balfour declaration and the violation of the alliance between England and Jewish people... Any indigenous people will fight foreign settlers as long as they believe there is a chance to get rid of the foreign settlement danger. This is how the Arabs in the Land of Israel are acting and will act in the future, as long as they have the spark in their hearts that they could stop the transformation of Palestine into the Land of Israel... Therefore our settlement can (only) grow under a force which is not dependent upon the local population, behind an "iron wall" that the local population could not break.

 

Ze'ev Jabotinsky was a pragmatist. The Jews weren't going to hold their land by biding their time and twiddling their fingers. They weren't going to reclaim their territory by kissing up to the British, as they turned a blind eye to Arab terror. If the Jews wanted the land they would have to fight. And this willingness to face the truth made Jabotinsky, the boy from Odessa, a Zionist outlier, a figure of the right.

So how does a boy from New York end up in Israel, translating the works of a boy from Odessa? What makes a man devote his life to keeping the work of Jabotinsky, a man long dead, alive in our hearts? I spoke to Yisrael Medad to learn more:

Yisrael Medad

Varda Epstein: Tell us something about your background and your family, if you would.

Yisrael Medad: Both my parents were American-born, my mother from the Lower East Side and so prior to every Pesach and Rosh Hashana we were down there shopping and eating. My parents were quite American but also very ethnically and traditionally Jewish—yet of the style of Jewish at home and less so outside.

I attended synagogue and Hebrew school but we would drive up to The Bronx on Saturday afternoons. We kept kosher at home but ate at non-kosher restaurants. I remember once returning from shul on Yom Kippur (I started fasting when I was already 11 and my father had purchased me my own mahzorim (high holiday prayer books V.E.) and I came up in the elevator with someone who pressed the buttons for me as I knew it was forbidden, but my mother heard the elevator door slam just before I walked into the apartment. She asked if I used the elevator and when I responded in the positive, she slapped me. When I became bar mitzvah in 1960, we all became chozer b’tshuva (a religious returnee V.E.) but that’s another story. That my mother’s family was from Brody was a very prominent memory item.

I attended Yeshivat Chofetz Chaim and then went on to attend Yeshiva University. I joined Mizrahi Hatzair in 1962 (Yudi Henkin, now Rav Yehuda Henkin, was my madrich (adviser V.E.) but in 1964 I joined Betar.

Varda Epstein: When did you make Aliyah? What was the catalyst? Why Shiloh?

Yisrael and Batya Medad

Yisrael Medad: I spent 1966-1967 in Israel on a program called Machon L’Madrichei Chutz La’Aretz and so my earlier inclination to make Aliyah was sealed – we had a war that year which had me in a foxhole for a few days in June. My future wife, Batya, was similarly inclined and in August 1970, two months after our wedding, we boarded the Queen Anna Maria and arrived in Israel on September 5, after 12 days at sea.

We were first in the Old City of Jerusalem, then the Jerusalem neighborhood of Bayit Vegan, then London for a two-year emissary stint for Betar, back to Bayit VeGan and then in 1981 we moved to Shiloh.

We chose Shiloh for three basic reasons: we wanted a location about which no one could say Jews do not belong there; a place that needed us; and one where we felt we could make a contribution. As an example of such a contribution, in order to open the grade school in Shiloh, our oldest two daughters were required.

Varda Epstein: Can you tell us about your earlier work at the Begin Center and how you came to be translating Jabotinsky’s works?

A young Medad, right, with a fellow soldier in 1974

Yisrael Medad: My employment at the Begin Center began in 2000. Until then I was Geulah Cohen’s aide and director of Israel’s Media Watch among other jobs. I helped create the Begin Center’s Junior Knesset program, historical walking tours, a resource volume of national thinkers, and served in many other areas during the 17 years I was employed. I still remain as a research fellow.

As I had been in Betar and lectured on Jabotinsky and the pre-state underground struggle, joining the editorial committee for the new critical edition of Jabotinsky’s writings was, well, only natural. Then it was decided the volumes would be in English and I was appointed deputy editor. I had done translations of Israel Eldad, Uri Tzvi Greenberg and other Zionist figures and was quite familiar with the terminology, the historical framework, and other such necessary requirements for this work.

Varda Epstein: Last time we spoke you were working on the second volume, so you must be translating a lot of material. I know Jabotinsky was a prolific writer. Can you describe the scope of the items you are translating? Are you translating Jabotinsky’s plays and non-Zionist works and articles? Letters? How much material are you dealing with, exactly?

With Dani Dayan

Yisrael Medad: Well, at present, due to the situation and budget considerations, my work is in low gear. We are trying to work off the Hebrew, and this was spurred by a decade-long research project in Russia to find the approximately 2000 articles Jabotinsky published prior to World War One. These articles were penned during his Odessa and St. Petersburg periods as one of that country’s outstanding Jewish journalists. And these works are in addition to some 1500 or so articles we have already archived, not including his 5000 letters, published separately in Hebrew (now in 15 volumes).

Luckily, the Czarist secret police kept good archives (Jabotinsky, after returning from Italy in 1903, was suspected of being a socialist and was arrested twice). We want to search for his “unknown” works in Russian, as well. Some of his letters are really memoranda of several pages which we’ll also be including.

Varda Epstein: Jabotinsky was fluent in several languages. Did he write in several languages, too? You’ve told me you don’t really know Russian, so how do you manage?

With the late Moshe (Misha) Arens

Yisrael Medad: Jabotinsky wrote in several languages: English, French, Italian, and Yiddish, in addition to Hebrew and his native Russian. There is one instance when he was in Belgium and spoke for an hour, and each quarter of an hour he changed languages: from French to Walloon to English and on to Yiddish.

The one major essay I translated on the Bund and Zionism was first translated from its Hebrew. I then used four different translation engines to discover oddities or unusual grammar, semantics, or terminology and then I needed to go through every sentence with my collaborator on the Russian aspect of the work, Yehiel Fishzon, and with additional assistance from Netanel Bunimovitch and his wife Miriam Feyga, to fine tune, as the original translator of this work into Hebrew took a bit of license at times and even left out of few paragraphs. It took some three months just to complete the work on this one essay. And the main part of my work is taken up in just adding the footnotes to such articles.

Varda Epstein: What are some of the difficulties you’ve encountered in your translation work?

From left: Bobby Brown, Yossi Klein Halevi, Yisrael Medad

Yisrael Medad: An example is when the translator wrote “v’shalom al Yisrael” (literally: “and there should be peace on Israel”). Is that actually what Jabo wrote? No. He wrote: “на Шипке все спокойно (everything is calm on Shipka).”

It took me a week to write this footnote: “Jabotinsky employs an idiom expressing irony about those who are trying to hide a deplorable or dangerous state of affairs. It originated in the official reports of Lt. Gen. Feodor Radetsky on the battle for Shipka Pass in the Balkan Mountains, Bulgaria in December 1877 during the Russian-Turkish war. Despite his sentries freezing to death on duty, men blown off the mountain by strong winds and one-third of the soldiers falling ill, Radetsky’s dispatches assured: “Everything is calm at Shipka.” Besides that, recognizing exactly to what event Jabotinsky was referring to is daunting.

Varda Epstein: Why Jabotinsky?

Yisrael in a TV interview

Yisrael Medad: He is the most intelligent, well-read, most cultured Zionist thinker I know and one who, besides being a novelist, poet, translator, diplomat, soldier and a host of other life’s professions, was the most calumniated. Presenting his works, even in a small quantity, beyond the mostly political works that have already appeared, is a matter of saving a soul.

Varda Epstein: When do you expect the work to be completed?

Yisrael Medad: After my own 120.

Varda Epstein: Can you describe your projected readership? Who benefits from your work and how so?

Yisrael Medad: First, university students. Over the last decade and half there has been an explosion of academic works on Jabotinsky and Revisionist Zionism. In 2001 there was Michael Stanislawski’s “Zionism and the Fin de Siècle: Cosmopolitanism and Nationalism from Nordau to Jabotinsky” and just now, Brian Horowitz has published his collection, “Vladimir Jabotinsky's Russian Years, 1900-1925” following his and Leonid Katsis' 2015 translation and editing of Jabotinsky's “Story of My Life.”  There is a 2018 article by Gil Rubin on “Jabotinsky and Population Transfers Between Eastern Europe and Palestine.” These are interesting, critical, and potentially explosive subjects and should not be left solely to the academics of the left or of the center.

These are good books but in many places tend to be too critical and there is a need to put out the raw material. And there is the nefarious Dmitry Shumsky who corrupts Jabotinsky in too many instances.

Jabotinsky is today as relevant in the issues and themes he wrote about as a century or 80 years ago. Peter Beinart wrote recently of a semi-binational state entity of Israel-Palestine but did he reference Jabotinsky’s 1940 plan in his “Arab Angle – Undramatized?”

Varda Epstein: What do you see yourself doing next, at the end of this very long project?

Yisrael Medad: To continue doing more of what I do: blog, compose op-eds, research, translate, be funny and enjoy the family.

~~~

More from Yisrael Medad:

MyRightWord

JPost Media Column
JNS

Algemeiner Journal

Times of Israel

Israel National News

Green-Line JPost

Jewish Press

ShilohInSense (עברית)

@ymedad

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Yeruchem Eilfort: Antisemitism Keeps Us From Getting Too Comfortable in this Dark Galut (Judean Rose)

Rabbi Yeruchem Eilfort, of Chabad at La Costa, in Carlsbad, California, came to my attention at about the turn of this century. I traded trees with a distant cousin, and there, smack dab in the middle of a lot of generic, not particularly Jewish-sounding names was “Yeruchem” married to “Nechama” and the two had a large number of offspring, all the children having Hebrew or Yiddish names.  

This was interesting, because until now, my two siblings and I had been the only orthodox people in the family. I had to know more about this new third cousin, so I asked for contact information and sent off an email. Thus began a two-decade long relationship with the Eilfort family, who visit us whenever they make the trip to Israel.

Nechama and Yeruchem on their most recent visit to Jerusalem in January, 2020.

Now you could have knocked me over with a feather when I learned that Yeruchem was a Chabad rabbi. Chabad would seem to be the last place a descendant of the Kopelman clan would find a home. This family’s history is steeped in the Lithuanian yeshiva tradition, sort of the anti-Chabad. Our families, however, like so many other Jewish American families, had become more secular after many years in the West. And when Yeruchem and my siblings and I found our separate ways back to the traditions, he found his way back, like so many others before him, through Chabad.

Yeruchem and Nechama were my cousins on paper, but in time came to feel like true family. We have shared values. And we kind of just hit it off.

The seed for the following interview was planted in the wake of Poway and the murder of Lori Kaye, HY”D. Naturally, when I heard the news of Poway, I worried about the Eilforts and wondered how close they were to Poway. Now it seemed, we’d both been hit a little too close to home: the Eilforts in Carlsbad, so close to Poway, and me with the Tree of Life massacre where my former up-the-street neighbor, Mrs. Mallinger, HY”D, had been killed, so close to my childhood home. I decided to speak to Yeruchem to hear what he had to say about antisemitism and what steps he’d taken to secure his community:

Varda Epstein: Can you talk a bit about how you came to Chabad? About your wife and family?

Rabbi Yeruchem Eilfort: I came to Chabad through Camp Gan Israel, the worldwide Chabad camp system. It showed me that everything I had previously learned about Judaism wasn’t actually true and that Yiddishkeit was not something reserved for history books, weekends in the synagogue, or afternoons in Hebrew School. Instead the Chabad camp experience showed me that Judaism was about life and how we live it.

My wife comes from a long line of Chabad Chasidim. Her grandmother, a’h, was a Yerushalmi [Native Jerusalemite - V.E.] and came from a line of Yerushalmim dating way back. Her grandfather came from Russia and studied in the Lubavitch Yeshiva in Lubavitch before going to Chevron [Hebron – V.E.] and learning at the Lubavitch Yeshiva there before the 1929 massacres.

Regarding our family, we have eight children, five of whom are married, and we have, Baruch Hashem, twelve grandchildren, Baruch Hashem! Of the five married couples four of them are on Shlichut, Baruch Hashem.

The Eilfort family

Varda Epstein: When did you receive your Shlichut in Carlsbad? Can you explain how that works?

Rabbi Yeruchem Eilfort: After we got married in 1988 we were offered a position in Irvine, which we took after a few months of living in Brooklyn. The Rebbe, ztz’l, gave us his blessings to go on Shlichut. A year later we came to Carlsbad in the summer of 1990. We came to this area for the opportunity to start a new community.

Upon our arrival in San Diego, my wife and I immediately started building our community. We went to the local public library and used the phone book to call Jewish sounding names. We had a meeting in a family’s living room and engaged the attendees in conversation to determine how we could be of service to them.

We started by offering High Holiday services in a local hotel. Then we started having Hebrew school in a family’s living room. Then we held Shabbat services in various people’s homes on a monthly basis. By the following summer we moved permanently to the area and held services in our home every Shabbat.

Quickly we outgrew our house and needed to rent a space that would become our Chabad House. After 20 years we were finally able to purchase our property and then we built our building, which is approximately 12,000 square feet located on two stories.

Chabad at La Costa in the early days.

Chabad at La Costa today.

Varda Epstein: Can you tell us a bit about what it’s like to be a Chabad rabbi? What are your duties? Your wife Nechama’s duties? What is a typical day in the life of Rabbi and Rebbetzin Eilfort? How many people do you serve?

Rabbi Yeruchem Eilfort: Being a Chabad Rabbi entails wearing many hats. It is a different system where everything is the responsibility of the Rabbi. I am responsible to raise the money and pay the bills in addition to giving classes, conducting davening/services, counseling, fulfilling pastoral-type duties, and making sure the building is in good order. There are fixed classes that I give every day, but other than that my schedule is extremely flexible. I spend a lot of time writing – it is one of my passions, and Baruch Hashem, I am able to spend time learning every day. I also try not to neglect myself so my wife and I walk daily.

On a typical day I get up around 5am, I read the news, walk, learn, teach, daven, learn some more, and then by 10am begin my more mundane duties. Usually, if I don’t have an evening class, I am pretty wiped out by 10-11pm. We oversee three communities touching about 500 Jewish families regularly, but there are many more who are at least peripherally engaged. We also are involved with numerous non-Jewish families who are genuinely interested in the Torah and Judaism.

Varda Epstein: How has all that changed with coronavirus? After all, Chabad is known for  outreach, for being hands-on and very social. What is the impact of the global pandemic on Chabad and on you and Nechama and your congregation in particular?

Rabbi Yeruchem Eilfort: The coronavirus has forced us into finding new ways to touch and inspire people. It is not all bad (actually, I am a big believer in ‘Gam zu l’tovah!’ [This is also for the good – V.E.]. We have taken our classes online and created the Chabad Virtual Academy.

We have, in fact, tripled the number of classes that we offer. It has been extraordinarily difficult to fulfill many of the duties clergy typically offer. We have had to ‘think outside of the box’ a great deal. For instance, we now deliver weekly “Challah and Chicken Soup (penicillin for the Jewish soul)” on Erev Shabbat [Literally “Sabbath Eve,” here means Friday afternoon – V.E.], which people love. Many people, who are out of work, volunteer to make the deliveries plus our three Rabbi/Rebbetzin teams do many deliveries.

Challoh rolls

Chicken soup

Shabbos food awaiting delivery 

"We do 25 soups and 32 bags of challahs (2 smallish rolls in each) on average. Sometimes a few more," says Rebbetzin Nechama Eilfort. "My daughter and daughter in-law (Muka Rodal, Chabad of Carlsbad N, and Chaya Eilfort, Chabad of Encinitas) designed the labels.
"The people who receive these packages range from some dealing with chemo to others who miss shul so much that this gives a Shabbos feeling to the people we want to connect with. There are about 12 families who get a delivery every week."

We do house visits where we stand by the sidewalk and the people we visit stand by their doorways and we schmooze. We make a point of continually calling people so that our connection remains strong.

Pesach was ‘different’ as we were not able to offer Community Sedarim for the first time in 30 years. So instead we developed a ‘Seder to Go’ program where we delivered all of the seder ingredients and a how-to guide to hundreds of local families. We did the same for Shavuot, though we did offer services to a minimal number of people - scrupulously keeping the governmental guidelines, like having the minyan [quorum] outside in our breezeway and making sure the chairs were distanced and everyone wore masks that we provided.

This is a challenging time, no doubt, as many people have lost their jobs and are scared. We made a giant banner that we posted in front of our building, “This Too Shall Pass!” And it will. 

A sign, "This too shall pass" was put up outside the shul to give people hope during the coronavirus epidemic.

Varda Epstein: How far away is your congregation from Poway? How did the news of what happened there come to you and your congregation? What did that feel like? What was/is the effect on your congregation? Have you rebounded?

Rabbi Yeruchem Eilfort: We are located about 30 miles away from Poway. The shooting happened on Acharon shel Pesach [last day of Passover – V.E.]. We were just starting Yizkor [memorial service – V.E.] when a Carlsbad police car pulled into our lot.

My wife, who was outside, went over to ask what was going on. Details were very murky at first but as time went on we found out what had happened. It felt like I had been punched in the gut.

That night, motzee Yom Tov [with the conclusion of the holiday – V.E.], my wife and I went to the hospital to visit Rabbi and Rebbetzin Goldstein. We brought several pizzas with us, as it was Rabbi Goldstein’s custom to make pizzas at the end of Pesach for his family. She was shaky (and who can blame her?). He was steady, though it is impossible to understand how. We were in a state of shock. We knew the victims and we knew the community well. And, when it hits that close to you, you cannot help but think, “There but for the grace of Hashem . . .”

We immediately went into full action mode to reassure our congregants while trying to be supportive of the Poway community. I was honored with going to the White House as part of an entourage of rabbis. Since that time we have had to hire an armed guard to stand in front of our building on Shabbat and during larger events. We also formed a security committee and had them professionally trained.

Contingent of Chabad rabbis at the White House. Rabbi Yeruchem Eilfort is third from left.

Yeruchem gets this close to President Trump

We have always been very sensitive to the need to be able to protect ourselves. We have watched and admired how our brothers and sisters in Eretz HaKodesh [the Holy Land – V.E.] have dealt with implacable hatred. It has now come to our shores.

Honestly speaking, this trend started several years ago. The fact is that we are more prepared now and stronger than ever before. Our community has been extremely resilient. I encourage our community to be trained so that they can protect themselves and thank G-d that I live in a country where that is still (largely) legal.

Varda Epstein: What should we, as Jews, take away from the global pandemic? What should we be doing in response to this plague, as Jews?

Rabbi Yeruchem Eilfort: How many pages may I use to answer? Seriously, our job as Jews has always been the same, the only difference has been the strategies we need to employ to fulfill our mission. Our mission is, as the Midrash states, to make this world into a dwelling place for the Almighty. This means to reveal the fact that G-d is the Commander-in-Chief, and that the Torah is His manual and our Constitution.

The pandemic has forced us to expand our minds and use ever-more creative means in bringing the Torah to the Jewish people and the world. This offers us the opportunity to really stretch our minds and consciousness in finding ways to be ‘there’ for the Jewish people.

I think that people’s minds are opening up to new possibilities because all of their old assumptions and their comfort zones are being challenged. The shell of the seed has to rot before the true growth potential found within can grow. I cannot help but think these are the birth pangs of Moshiach’s [Chabad-speak for “Mashiach,” the Messiah – V.E.] speedy arrival!

Selfie of Nechama Eilfort at the yearly Kinus Hashluchos, the International Conference of Chabad-Lubavitch Women Emissaries. I asked Nechama to describe this event. She wrote: "Three thousand women descend on Crown Heights, both shluchos and baale batim for the lay leader program. There are 11 concurrent workshops all day, on Thursday, Friday, and Sunday, with farbrengens on Friday night and Shabbos. (This year I arrived a day early for a Kallah Teacher Training course that I am taking. We had Halacha and medical professionals 8am - 8pm on Wednesday as well.) The workshops focus on family, mental health, Halacha, hashkafa, and learning. There's separate programming for the Shluchos and lay leaders. There are also sheitel  macher booths, vendors, and this year, a carrot juice bar and a bakery (think cheesecake!) that set up the entire weekend to feed us baked goods that they sell par-baked and can ship anywhere."

Varda Epstein: Why has antisemitism proliferated in recent years? Do you think coronavirus has helped or hurt this situation?

Rabbi Yeruchem Eilfort: I think antisemitism has proliferated in recent times due to numerous considerations, not least of which is the internet. The readily available antisemitism of the fringe groups (on the left and right) can enter every household. Of course the potential goodness brought about through technology is also proliferating. The greater the potential good something brings, the greater the potential evil that same thing can bring.

This means that we must double and redouble our efforts to make people understand how beautiful and beneficial Judaism really is. We must make people into “Judeophiles,” lovers of Judaism.

I believe that coronavirus has exacerbated the antisemitism. Whenever there is increased pressure, people who have a predisposition to the fringe are more likely to actually move into that fringe. When people suffer they look for reasons and often scapegoats.

Unfortunately some feel the need to find others who they can blame for their misfortune. The Jews are an easy target in that we stand out, we are relatively few in number, and we are disproportionately successful. That is why we have to be exceedingly careful lest we cause a chilul Hashem [Desecration of God’s name – V.E.].

The interior of Chabad at La Costa, in Carlsbad, California 

Aaron HaKodesh (Holy Ark) at Chabad at La Costa 

Varda Epstein: Why does antisemitism exist?

Rabbi Yeruchem Eilfort: The Torah says that Esav hates Yaakov, but does not tell us why. I imagine that there it is a combination of factors behind antisemitism. Factors like jealousy, fear of the unknown, and ingrained behaviors all play a part. Sometimes, when one has an active conscience that constantly ‘nudges’ him/her to do more, he/she can come to hate that conscience.

I think that in some way antisemitism helps us remember that our mission is not yet complete and helps prevent us from becoming comfortable in this dark galut [exile – V.E.].  

The welcoming exterior of Chabad at La Costa, at night.

Varda Epstein: Can you talk a bit about the origins of the push for bail reform in New York? Do you think the new legislation has made things worse?

Rabbi Yeruchem Eilfort: I am not an expert on this subject and do not know too much about it. The Torah commands us to be empathetic and sympathetic; it demands ‘colorblind’ justice. However, there seems to be a strong push in this country to try to explain and justify unlawful behavior. When duly constituted laws are denigrated, a whole slew of negative repercussions follow.

The current riots are a perfect example of this. People are reacting emotionally instead of objectively to what happened to George Floyd. It appears that he was tragically murdered by a policeman who had him already subdued. The policeman should face the full consequences of his actions, and I believe he will.

But as awful as police brutality is, it is not widespread and when it does occur, other policemen should not be indicted for the sin of the one or the few. Likewise it does not justify the wanton destruction and lawlessness that we are seeing. I am all for giving a person a second chance, but not at the expense of the safety of law-abiding citizens. 

Varda Epstein: It’s easy for Jews, as victims, to point fingers and say what others should do about antisemitism. Is there something Jews can do about it on a personal level, other than taking security measures?

Rabbi Yeruchem Eilfort: I would recommend the advice offered by the Rebbe [the late Grand Rabbi of Chabad, Menachem Schneerson, ztz’l – V.E.] as to how to counter antisemitism. We must all become a dugmah chaya, a living example of how a Jew is to live. By so doing we make people pro-Jewish, for they will clearly see the blessings we bring to the world when we fulfill the divine commandments!

Yeruchem and Nechama Eilfort 

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Read more Judean Rose interviews:

·         Kalman Samuels on Shalva, Yossi, and “Dreams never Dreamed”

·         Arnold Roth: Ahlam Tamimi is Not in Hiding. Why is She Free?

·         Shai Glick and Btsalmo: Unmasking the Disguise and Fighting for the Real Human Rights

·         Betina Thorball to BDS: Herbalists Have a Right to Professional Neutrality

·         David Collier’s Report on Amnesty International Reveals Its Toxicity and Hate

·         Richard Landes: The Man Who Gave Pallywood a Name

·         Genie Milgrom: “I Could Just Feel my Grandmothers Through the Papers”

·         Phyllis Chesler: The Radical Feminist Who Refuses Your Intersectional Anti-Israel Slot

·         Otzma Yehudit’s Dr Adva Biton: Finding Strength to Fight for Others

·         Ryan Bellerose: Indigenous Has Nothing to Do with Time and Everything to Do with Connection

·         Akiva Fuld: “I’m Doing This For Me”

·          A Father Speaks Out: The Murder of Malki Roth and the Refusal of Jordan to Extradite the Beast Ahlam Tamimi (Arnold Roth)

·         Israel's Jewish Indigenous Land Rights: A Conversation with Nan Greer, Part 1

·         Israel's Jewish Indigenous Land Rights: A Conversation with Nan Greer, Part 2

 

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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.

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