I’ve been a proud Zionist all my life. My great-grandmother, who I knew, was a Zionist. My grandparents were Zionists. On a visit to Israel a number of years ago, I went to the JNF building and found the books that had their name in it for their support of JNF back in the 60s. My parents were Zionists. I grew up filled with a love for Israel and a strong belief in the importance of a Jewish homeland.
All four of my grandparents went to Israel. My parents went to Israel. My in-laws went to Israel. My brother and sister-in-law have been to Israel. My sister and brother-in-law have been to Israel. My wife has been to Israel and this last trip was my 22nd trip to Israel. The proof is in the pudding as they say.
On this recent trip, while sitting in the back of the bus with one of the participants, he posed an interesting question to me. “Why do we still call it Zionism?” After all, Zionism is the belief that the Jewish people should have their own state and be able to have their own self-determination. We have that. We have had it for 76 years. In 1776, the Americans were revolutionaries. We no longer call ourselves revolutionaries nor have we for more than two centuries. We are patriots because America is a country, and we no longer have to fight for our freedom from another country’s rule.
In 1948, in the former home of Mayor Meir Dizengoff, David Ben Gurion declared independence for the State of Israel. While we have fought many wars since then, from that point forward the Jewish people have had a state. We have had our homeland. We have had self-determination. So why are we still calling it Zionism? Shouldn’t we just be patriots as well? Haven’t we accomplished the goal of Zionism, the creation of a Jewish homeland?
It is a question I find myself struggling with for many reasons. While we have a Jewish homeland, the State of Israel, there are so many people and countries that want to eliminate our homeland and right to self determination that we must always be vigilant. So while we have our Jewish state and self determination, we cannot afford to sit on our laurels. We must continue to fight to maintain it. As a Zionist, I fight for our homeland and won’t let it be deligitimized. Today, more than ever, that is critical. The United Nations, UNRWA, and the International Court of Justice (ICJ) are actively working to eliminate our homeland. If we are merely patriots, do we lose the urgency needed to defend Israel? Do we forget how long it took us to have our homeland after the Romans sent us into exile? Do we lose the passion of Zionism when we become Patriots? I don’t have the answers but I do have the questions.
On the flip side, we have our country. We have the right to self determination. Do we really need to be fighting for something that we already have? Defend it as patriots, yes. The Zionist dream is real and has been for 76 years. We accomplished the goal of Theodore Herzl. His radical idea, “the restoration of the Jewish State”, has come to pass. Are we using a word that we don’t need to? Are we creating challenges for ourselves because of that? Is it time to change the paradigm, to not live in fear that we will not have a Jewish state, because we actually have one?
As a Zionist, that word ties me to generations of my family. It ties me not only to my Great-great-grandparents and the time of Herzl but to ancient Jews and receiving the Torah. It is being a part of the Jewish people. Generations upon generations. When I was recently in Israel, walking on 2,000 year old streets, looking out at where King David’s castle was, praying at the Kotel, the base of Temple Mount, it all came together. My ancestors from thousands of years ago stood where I was standing.
Original streets from more than 2,000 years ago, beneath the Kotel.
In May, when I stood on top of Temple Mount, it was a connection to the Temple built by Solomon and then rebuilt and modified by King Herod.
In front of Dome of the Rock on Temple Mount, where the Temple used to stand
At Passover every year, we remember that God took us out of Egypt. Not just our ancestors but us. We were all at Sinai for the giving of the Torah. Judaism isn’t about what happened to others. It’s about what happens for us. So yes, the Zionistic dream of Herzl has been attained. But Zionism remains for all of us to defend. To fight for. To advocate for. Our history shows us that if we take it for granted, we will lose it.
After lots of thinking about the word Zionist and comparing it to Patriot, there is no question in my mind that Zionist is the right word. Our homeland is too precious to be diluted. As I watch so many Jews not understand the importance of Israel, having never been to Israel, not seeing the historical connection and minimizing what Israel means to Judaism and the Jewish people, I am not sure the fight for Zionism will ever be over. We owe a huge debt of gratitude to those who came before us and fought for Zionism and for the existance of Israel. They are giants on who’s shoulders we continue the fight.
I won’t change from Zionist to Patriot. I won’t stop advocating for Israel and the Jewish state. And I won’t stop being public with my Jewish identity and passion for Israel. Each trip I video walking the streets to show those who have never been what it’s really like. I post images and tell stories. Zionism is more than a national identity. It is core to the Jewish people. From Abraham to Moses to Joshua to King David to King Solomon, from the Mishkan to the First Temple to the Second Temple. If you don’t believe me, take a trip to Israel and see it yourself.
Many things feel differently this year. October 7th changed everything. As a Jew, it was a personal Kristallnacht, Pearl Harbor Day, 9/11. In my life I’ve had a number of days that I thought were like this. Three Mile Island and the possible meltdown (I lived 10 miles away in Harrisburg, PA at the time). The day that Ronald Reagan was shot (I watched the news on a small black and white TV at the Harrisburg JCC outside the locker rooms). September 11th. None of them were close.
As we approached Passover this year, the term freedom meant something entirely different. Hostages remain in Gaza. How many are alive, we do not know. I have 3 friends that each have a relative that remain a hostage and 3 other friends that have relatives that were hostages that have been released. For the families where the hostages were released, there is freedom. For those still kept as hostages and their families, there is no freedom. For those of us who are a part of the global Jewish community, we have no freedom as long as the hostages remain in Gaza, kept by Hamas. As we told the story of exodus from Mitzrayim, the dark place often translated as Egypt, I wondered what the story of the exodus of the hostages will be. When will we be able to tell it?
I thought of the 1972 Olympics in Munich when the 11 Israeli athletes were murdered. Israel responded against Black September with Operation Wrath of God to hold those involved accountable. When the Air France plane was hijacked and taken to Entebbe Airport in Uganda, those passengers not deemed to be Jewish or Israeli were released and those who were thought to be Jewish or Israeli kept, Israel responded with a classic and mythical raid to free them. The hostages were safe and only one IDF solider, Yoni Netanyahu (Bibi’s older brother) was killed. Bold action to keep Israelis and Jews safe.
Success – the raid on Entebbe
The world understood vicious terrorism and how to counteract it. When terrorism began to hit Europe and then the United States on 9/11, I mistakenly thought that both Europe and the US would really understand the impact and how important it is to eliminate evil. I was hopeful that this would lead to a worldwide effort to eliminate terrorists and make the world a safer place for all. Boy was I naïve. The conspiracy theorists began blaming Israel for the attacks on 9/11. Still, it was a fringe group, and I maintained my hope. Boy, was I mistaken.
Charlottesville and George Floyd had to show America and the world the danger of hate. How to get off the path we somehow got on that encouraged hate. The mainstream middle of the road people had to rise up against the extremism on the right and the left to demand common sense return. I wanted to believe that the desire to live in a world without extremism existed and there was a large mass of people who would be willing to stand up and speak out. People would join together because they agreed on far more than they disagreed. Friendship would win out and people would talk with their friends because relationships matter. Instead, friendships ended. People separated even more.
Covid happened. Open states vs. closed states. Vaccines vs. no-vaccines. At a time when I wondered if we could be divided any more, I learned that yes, we can. Once again, the antisemites began the ‘Covid was created by the Jews’ campaign. I saw it firsthand when they protested at the JCC. When they protested at a local Chabad. When they wore Nazi uniforms at Disney and by the entrance to the University of Central Florida. When they hung banners from the overpasses on I-4. This division enabled the antisemites to be more vocal, bolder, and more visible.
The attack by Hamas on October 7th was traumatizing to most Jews. In the words of Ambassador Michael Oren, the covenant created between the State of Israel and the Jewish people in 1948 was violated. Both “Never Again” and “The IDF will always be there” were not true. Hamas video recorded their atrocities and posted them online. Surely the world would see terrorism for what it was. Surely the world would see evil and respond.
Respond they did. But not as I expected nor as I hoped. The blaming of Israel began immediately. The lies and untruths began almost immediately. “It was because of the occupation.” Except Gaza hasn’t been occupied since 2005. “It was because of the blockade.” The blockade, by Israel AND EGYPT is to attempt to stop the flow of rockets and explosives and terrorists into Gaza. Food and medical supplies were plentiful. When Israel responded with targeted attacks, it became “genocide” even though the number of civilians killed AS REPORTED BY HAMAS was well below the UN and Red Cross’s 9-1 ratio. Lies, repeated over and over again, become accepted as truth and we began to fight against them.
Hamas has reduced the number to 22,000. Another 4,000 statistically died of natural causes. The ratio is below 1:1 now.
Recently we have seen horrific actions on the campus of Columbia University. The University President, Minouche Shafik, had just testified in front of Congress. While she was better than the prior University Presidents who testified before Congress, she wasn’t good. When the protests began on campus, she showed no leadership. She eventually called in the NYPD to enforce their rules but then wouldn’t let them back on campus. An Israeli professor had his access to campus revoked. Jewish students were advised by a campus Rabbi to go home. Jewish students are now virtual while the antisemites get to go to class in person. It is a hot mess of antisemitism. Luckily some of our Representatives and Senators are calling it out and calling for the removal of their Federal funding. We are at a tenuous time. If campuses are not held accountable for their failure to protect Jewish students, we will continue to mirror 1930’s Germany. At the University of Minnesota, they took down the antisemitic protests within 5 hours! It can be done. Our voices must be amplified. We must speak up loudly against those who claim this is free speech. Even free speech has limitations and advocating and calling for the murder of Jewish students and Jews in general is not allowed nor should it be acceptable. It certainly would not be acceptable for any other group. Alumni are pulling donations. It’s not enough. We need to call our Representatives and Senators and demand that Federal funding be withheld as long as they won’t ensure the safety of Jewish students and faculty. You can’t bar a Jewish professor while inviting a Hamas terrorist onto campus the same day. Columbia did that. They need to be held accountable. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued this statement today – that’s how bad it has gotten. The Israeli Prime Minister, in the middle of a war on multiple fronts, is taking time to address the Jew hatred in the US and on our college campuses. Civilized people should be embarrassed.
Anti-Semitism on campuses in the United States is reminiscent of what happened in German universities in the 1930s.
— Benjamin Netanyahu – בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) April 24, 2024
Today, Hamas released a video of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, an American taken hostage by Hamas over 200 days ago. An American who is being left to languish by our government. He isn’t the only American hostage. Edan Alexander, Itai Chen, Sagui Dekel-Chen, Omer Neutra, and Keith Siegel are the others. We cannot forget their names. We cannot forget that they are kept in deplorable conditions by terrorists along with the other hostages kidnapped by Hamas. I hope this video is actually recent. His reference to ‘the holiday’ concerns me as he doesn’t say Pesach, indicating it could have been filmed anytime. He says 200 days, but they could have told him that a long time ago. Being kept underground in awful conditions means it is easy to lose track of time. My heart breaks for his family. For the families of all the hostages. Watch if you want – it’s not easy – and pray for his safety and the safe return of all the hostages.
Hersh Goldberg-Polin before being taken hostage and in the video released today.
Passover is a holiday about freedom. But more than just freedom. It’s about action. Moses didn’t have to kill the Egyptian overseer that was beating a Jew. He didn’t have to return to Egypt to free the Jews. Nachshon didn’t have to be the one to unwaveringly walk into the Red Sea, believing in God, showing the faith in God that resulted in the splitting of the sea. At Mount Sinai, the Jews didn’t have to create the Golden Calf, but they did, and suffered the consequences. Each year, we tell the story of redemption from slavery, of our exodus from Egypt, or as Mitzrayim mean, from darkness. We are in a time of darkness now. We have hostages being held brutally by Hamas in tunnels, receiving no medical care, minimal food, no sunlight. Who knows what brutality the women hostages are facing – it’s almost too much to even imagine. The antisemitism Jewish students are facing on many campuses is horrific. The lack of leadership is atrocious.
In the Passover Seder we talk about the lessons some of the great Rabbis taught us. It’s important to think of the lessons we are learning now that our Rabbis will record and will be shared hundreds of years in the future. We included empty seats at our Seder table for the hostages. We put up pictures of the Bibas family. They are a family of 4 with 2 boys. We are a family of 4 with 2 boys. My children are about the same age difference as the Bibas boys (3 years apart). They couldn’t have a Seder in the tunnels so symbolically had them at our Seder. We talked about the BIbas family. The age of the children. How they were all taken together. How we hoped they were still alive but were afraid they were not. We are not the timid Jews of the past. We are not willing to go to the gas chambers willingly. We will not allow ourselves to be attacked – in Israel by Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, or Iran or in the United States on college campuses or in Europe. We will not stay quiet and hope it goes away. These are lessons we learned over the past 75 years that won’t go away. We finish the Seder by saying “L’shana Haba’ah B’Yerushalayim – Next year in Jerusalem.” For me it’s next month in Jerusalem. I’ve need to be in Israel since October 7th and next month will be able to return. Visiting Israel often is also a lesson we have learned in the past 75 years and if you haven’t been, I urge you to go. And if you have been but haven’t been back recently, I urge you to return.
Yarden and Ariel Bibas – we put them on one chair because Ariel would sit on Yarden’s lap for comfortShiri and Kfir Bibas – they had one chair as well as I can’t imagine Shiri would not hold him.
I used to say that these were ‘interesting times’ and we were dealing with the ancient Chinese curse, “May you live in interesting times.”. I no longer think that. We live in dark times. We live in Mitzrayim. We have members of the US House of Representatives spreading lies about Israel and the IDF. We have college campuses not safe for Jews and University Presidents who won’t keep them safe. A Jewish woman was raped in France this week to ‘Free Palestine’ – how raping a Jewish woman frees Palestine is beyond me. Jews are being assaulted in Europe and the United States just for being Jewish. A Jewish man in the UK was threatened with arrest because he looked Jewish and that might incite those supporting Hamas.
In this dark time, we need to fight for the light. We need to be Warriors of Light (watch for more about this in the future). We need to fight for what is good and righteous. We need to fight evil no matter the cost. I’m not saying it is easy because it isn’t. And I am not saying there is no price to be paid for it because there is. The alternative is death. The alternative is a return to the gas chambers, to the final solution. The alternative is unacceptable. So in these dark times, let me leave you with a little light. At the University of Florida, where I was the Hillel Director for 15 years, there were more than 1,000 students who attended a Passover Seder held by Chabad in the O’Connell Center (the basketball arena). The University President, Ben Sasse, was in attendance. Look at these pictures and smile because campuses don’t have to be the way Columbia is. University Presidents can lead and protect Jewish students. We have the proof it can be done, so now let’s go do it. (Pictures from the Gainesville Sun).
UF President Ben Sasse, right, takes a selfie with a student during the annual Passover Seder at The O’Connell Center on Monday night in Gainesville. The event was organized and sponsored by the Chabad UF Jewish Student Center. The Passover Seder was the largest in North America.UF President Ben Sasse wasn’t there for a photo op. He stayed for the Seder at The O’Connell Center on Monday night in Gainesville.The crowd at Passover Seder at UF – more than 1,000 students gathering together.Students call their families and take pictures during the annual Seder at The O’Connell Center in Gainesville.My friend, Rabbi Berl Goldman speaking during the Seder. My friend, Chabad Rabbi Berl Goldman and UF President Ben Sasse speaking to the more than 1,000 students at Seder this year.Rabbi Berl Goldman chants “Its great to be a Jewish Florida Gator” during the Seder. If only other Universities could say the same thing about being Jewish there.Jewish students at UF lighting candles for Pesach – openly being Jewish is ok at University of Florida.Students drinking one of the 4 cups of wine at Seder.Breaking the mazoh for the AfikomenSeder plate at UF Seder
A friend of mine who is a Rabbi came by today to give me some Shmura matzah for Passover. It’s a special, hand baked type of matzah. Since I’m gluten-free, I can’t eat it, but we’ll use it on the Seder plate. While he was here, I had three new mezuzahs that I had just gotten to hang on my 3 back doorframes. The ones I had were too big, so I needed new ones. So I asked him to hang them with me. I’ve hung my other mezuzahs myself but since he is a friend and a Rabbi, I thought this would be a nice thing to do together.
I have the privilege of working with a program called MyZuzah. The concept is that the mezuzah is a great Jewish symbol, it provides protection to the home, is easy to put up, is a low barrier entry to something Jewish, and is a visual, daily reminder of being Jewish. MyZuzzah provides free mezuzah cases and kosher, fair trade scrolls, known as klafs, to anybody who doesn’t have a mezuzah on their front door. It’s a cool program and helps start a Jewish journey.
They also have a great store with cool cases that you can buy. I have an awesome mezuzah on my front door and a very cool one on my office door. But I didn’t have one on my doors to the back patio or the backyard. As we worked together and I looked at the store, I saw that they had ones made by the Ethiopian Israeli community. Not only were they beautiful, but I have a personal connection to this community.
My childhood friend Grace works for the Ethiopian National Project (ENP).
With Grace when she and ENP visited Orlando earlier this year
This is a project created by the Israeli government to help Ethiopian Israeli children with their education in order to have better success in life. The original Ethiopian Israeli’s didn’t speak Hebrew and didn’t have formal education so they couldn’t help their children in school. This mean the first generation of children struggled to have success. Their children then had similar struggles, resulting in the creation of the ENP. Since their creation, the ENP has had incredible success helping this community improve their academic effort, get into better military units, and have success in college. Their results are extraordinary. I have had the opportunity to visit the ENP sites on two occasions. The kids were amazing and inspiring. It was clear the impact the ENP programs were having on these kids. One of the adults at the site took us to the roof to teach us Ethiopian dancing. It’s still one of my favorite Israel memories. I’ve become friends with Roni Akale, the Director General, who made the walk from Ethiopia to Sudan in 1993 when he was 20 years old. I love hearing his story as it never gets old. His success is a model for the Ethiopian Israeli children of today as they see somebody like them who is a huge success.
With Roni, the Director General, who made the walk from Ethiopia to Sudan in 1983
Ethiopian Dancing on the roof of the ENP
More Ethiopian dancing on the roof of ENP. It was so much fun
This isn’t my only connection. When I was in Seattle, I had the privilege of meeting Sid Weiner. Sid was an amazing man who in the early 1980s began working to ‘Save all Ethiopian Jews” by creating a program by that name, also known as SAEJ. SAEJ rescued Ethiopian Jews in many ways. Two of my favorite stories that Sid told me about how they did it were as follows.
Sid Weiner at his birthday partySid telling us stories about his life at his birthday party
First, they met with Secretary of State George Shultz. They advocated to issue visas for the Ethiopian Jews to come to the United States. After much conversation, Secretary Shultz agreed to allow them make fake visas so that the Ethiopian Jews could escape Ethiopia and come to the US under the condition that they only stay 24 hours in the US before flying to Israel. So that’s what Sid and his team did. They made fake visas, flew Ethiopian Jews to New York using them, put them up in a hotel for the night, and put them back on a plane to Israel the next day. It’s truly an amazing story of ingenuity and daring.
The second story was about how they would create fake adoptions so the new adopted children could come to the US to live with their new parents and family. These adopted children would arrive in New York and promptly board a plane to Israel where they would make Aliyah and become citizens. Sid didn’t know how many children he ‘adopted’ this way. He said that one time in Israel, he was with a group of Ethiopian Israelis eating dinner when he realized that at his table were four of the children he had ‘adopted’! He hadn’t seen them since they were in New York years earlier.
Needless to say, the Ethiopian Israeli community has personal meaning to me. So the opportunity to buy the three mezuzah cases and kosher, fair trade klafs that I needed for my doors AND have them be made by the Ethiopian-Israeli community AND be beautiful Ethiopian art was something I couldn’t pass up. So I bought them and today they were hung. Every time I look at those doors, I have a smile on my face. Not only have these mezuzahs made the door frames more beautiful, I did a mitzvah in putting them up, they offer protection to the home, and they are a tie to the Ethiopian-Israeli community. What a win for me!
The 3 mezuzahs I bought that were designed by Ethiopian Israelis
That’s the thing about Israel – there is incredible diversity and amazing different cultures to explore. In Tzfat I always get food from the Yemenite place. It’s delicious and they even have a gluten free option now. I’ve been getting food from the same place and from the same Yemenite Israeli man since my first trip in 1989. I love getting Hummus from Abu Ghosh, an Arab town, 10 kilometers west of Jerusalem. While others may disagree, I think the hummus from Abu Ghosh is the best in the world. I’ve spent time with the Druze and had lunch with them. It’s fun learning about their culture, sharing a Druze meal, and talking. There is nothing like visiting Haifa and the Bha’i Gardens. Learning about the Bha’i religion and the Bab is interesting. The only way to tour the entire gardens is with a member of the Bha’I faith who gives you the tour. It’s truly spectacular and never gets old.
The Baha’i Gardens during the day – it’s beautiful to see and walk throughThe Baha’i Gardens at night – it’s simply spectacular
So how does this all tie back to the mezuzah and hanging it with my friend Amram today? When we purchased our house, the first thing I wanted to do was hang a mezuzah on the front door to mark it as ours. When I created my home office, the first thing I wanted to do was put up a mezuzah to mark the special change in the room. A mezuzah marks your home as a Jewish home. In these times it may be scary to clearly mark your home as Jewish, but as we approach Passover, lets remember that marking our homes as Jewish is what saved the Jewish first born from the angel of death when they ‘passed over’ the homes that had the marking on it. It’s a symbol of pride and of commitment. When I was in Havana a number of years ago, we visited the Hotel Raquel in Old Havana. This Jewish inspired hotel not only had Jewish art throughout and matzo ball soup on the menu in the restaurant, it had a mezuzah on each hotel room door. As we toured the hotel, it was the mezuzah on each door that struck me the most.
Each room at the Hotel Raquel has a Jewish biblical name and a mezuzah on the door
In these crazy times when antisemitism is rising and all around us, Israel is fighting the evil of Hamas and Hezbollah, Iran attacked Israel with drones, cruise, and ballistic missiles, and we see hate all around us, the simple act of putting up a mezuzah is a simple, yet powerful statement. Every time I see the mezuzah on my front door, on my office door, and now on my back doors, it puts a smile on my face. It’s a reminder of what being Jewish means. It’s a reminder that I am part of a mishpacha, a family, that goes back thousands of years and is worldwide. Jewish homes all over the world and for centuries have had a mezuzah on their front door. It is truly l’dor v’dor, generation to generation, strength to strength, that we are here, we aren’t going anywhere, and we will not only survive, but we will thrive.
So if you don’t have a mezuzah on your door and want one, there is now no excuse. MyZuzah will send you one for free and show you how to hang it. You can easily mark your home as a Jewish home and tie it with generations of Jewish homes along with Jewish homes all over the world. Each time you walk past it, you will be reminded of being part of the Jewish people. It’s a pretty amazing little thing that can change your life. Hanging those three mezuzahs today brought me great joy. I hope you choose to hang one and that it brings you great joy too.
I do a lot of reading these days to find both accurate and interesting information. I use a lot of sources and enjoy reading differing viewpoints as I can always learn more. One of the people I enjoy reading is former NBA all-star and Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul Jabbar. While I don’t agree with every position he takes and think he misses many things in some of his analyses, he also makes me think and I would enjoy sitting down with him over a meal to discuss where we differ and why.
In his message today, he highlighted a quote by the great Muhammad Ali that resonated with me.
Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth.
As Kareem Abdul Jabbar wrote, “That’s how he lived his whole life: Ignoring personal consequences to help others. He inspired millions across the world. I was one of those millions.”
As a child, I loved watching Ali fight. He was a master class in showmanship. More than watching him fight, I loved listening to him talk and especially his interviews with the great sports journalist, Howard Cosell. I could listen to them talk with each other for hours, if they would have continued that long. Ali was a poet who fought. Cosell was a brilliant foil doing sports journalism. Together they defined sports in the 1970s.
Howard Cosell roasting Muhammad Ali in 1974. Their love and respect for each other is clear as they smile and laugh through the comments about each other
Some of the great highlights of Ali and Cosell during different interviews. Two very different people from very different backgrounds who found common ground, respected each other, became friends, and appreciated their differences.
Despite having incredible relationships with Howard Cosell and Billy Crystal, Ali also had a challenging relationship with the Jewish community. He had no problem speaking out loudly against Jewish promoters and slamming “Zionist control of the world”, but he also had a Jewish grandson and attended his bar mitzvah, allowing his grandson to show him the Torah and explore it together. He went to Israel and lobbying for the release of terrorists yet also publicly appealed to Muslim extremists to release Jewish journalist Daniel Pearl and attended Pearl’s funeral.
This imitation of Ali by Billy Crystal always makes me smile, both because of the talent of Crystal but also because I could imagine Ali laughing at it and wishing he had come up with the idea first. When Ali turned 50, he had Crystal perform at his birthday party.
In 1996, before lighting the Olympic flame in Atlanta, Muhammad Ali publicly stated:
“My mother was a Baptist. She believed Jesus was the son of God, and I don’t believe that. But even though my mother had a religion different from me, I believe that, on Judgment Day, my mother will be in heaven.
“There are Jewish people who lead good lives. When they die, I believe they’re going to heaven. It doesn’t matter what religion you are if you’re a good person you’ll receive God’s blessing. Muslims, Christians, and Jews all serve the same God. We just serve him in different ways.
“Anyone who believes in One God should also believe that all people are part of one family. God created us all. And all people have to work to get along.”
We live in very challenging times. Ali did as well, as a black man who converted to Islam, refused the draft, spoke his mind, lost everything, and earned it back based on his beliefs. Despite his challenges with the Jewish community, there is much we can learn from Muhammad Ali in how we choose to speak, act, and behave in our own challenging times of today.
The attacks on October 7th in Israel have fundamentally altered who I am as a person. I don’t live in Israel so how can it have done this? I have always been a passionate Zionist. Since there is so much confusion about what this means, I am going to be clearer and define this. It means I believe that the Jewish people have a right to a homeland. I believe the Jewish people have a right to self-determination. I believe that Judea and Samaria are the ancestral homeland of the Jewish people. And I believe that no matter your religion or lack of religion, if you want to be a citizen of Israel, you should be allowed to pursue citizenship. I love that there are Arab-Israelis and Druze-Israelis. It’s wonderful to visit the Baha’i Gardens in Haifa and learn about the Baha’i Israelis and their community and beliefs. There are Christian-Israelis and Bedouin Israelis. There are Ethiopian-Israelis and Palestinian-Israelis. The common thing they all have in common is that they are Israeli.
Since October 7th, I have seen an incredible amount of antisemitism and hate in the world. It fascinates me in so many ways. In many ways, the 4 sons/children from the Passover Seder can be an appropriate analogy. There are those who always have been antisemites and now don’t have to pretend. These are the wicked son/child. They are easy to see and identify. They are the ones who demand proof of Hamas raping women when they spoke out against Brett Cavanaugh. They stood chanting ‘believe all women’ and then don’t believe Jewish women. They present a challenge as I’m not sure there is anything anybody can do to about them. The slight hope that I have for these people goes back to my experience with Combatants for Peace. I became aware of them in 2019 during a trip to Israel where I spent 4 days meeting with leaders of Palestinian civil society. The members I met were across the spectrum in terms of where they came from and where they were at that time. All had begun from a place of hate. Hatred of Palestinians or hatred of Jews. All were on a quest to leave hate behind. Some were more successful than others. All were trying. For those who live in hate and recent times are enabling them to express it freely, I can only hope that at some point they decide that perhaps there is a different way to live and are willing to try to find that path.
It is sad but true that Jewish women don’t count to those people
There are a larger group of people who are behaving as antisemites, but I don’t think really are. They often begin from an honorable place, such as I don’t to see civilians die. I have some friends who are like this. As a result, they call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire to stop civilians dying in war. However, they miss the entire context. They don’t assign responsibility to Hamas, who not only began the war but also uses civilians as human shields, turns hospitals, schools, mosques, and homes into military targets. They don’t listen to the people in the north of Gaza, finally free of Hamas, who encourage Israel to finish the war by destroying Hamas. They cite the starvation and need for humanitarian aid without realizing that the aid is coming in, however UNRWA makes sure that Hamas gets it and Hamas then keeps what they need and put the rest of the black market at exorbitant prices. I have from people on the ground in Gaza who acknowledge there is plenty of food there, it’s just either in the tunnels with Hamas or so grossly overpriced on the black market that the ordinary people can’t afford it. Sending in more aid won’t solve this problem and this group of people simply isn’t looking at facts while leading with their heart. We all want the war to end. We all want the death to stop. We all want peace. It cannot and will not happen until the hostages are released and Hamas leadership surrenders. Those who call for a ‘Ceasefire Now’ or an” Immediate and permanent ceasefire” or “an immediate 2 state solution” miss the basic facts that:
A ceasefire has to be on both sides and Hamas has already said they will do more October 7th massacres. Hamas has also violated every ceasefire that Israel has been agreed to with them.
Hamas will not agree to, nor will they adhere to a permanent cease fire. They have said this publicly and many times. Why would Israel agree to something that would only be binding on them?
There can be no ceasefire, nor can there be anything permanent while the hostages remain in Gaza. Their release must occur for any ceasefire to be considered.
If Hamas remains in power, the Palestinian people in Gaza, those that these people profess to care about, will suffer greatly. The Gazans in the northern part, who are now free of Hamas, are crying for Israel to finish the job, eliminate Hamas, and grant them freedom.
You can’t give people who call for your destruction, who commit actual genocide, who are supported by Iran, who don’t respect borders, who are known to be corrupt and steal from their people, their own state as a reward for committing genocide.
These people are the simple son/child, who does not know. They are so ignorant they don’t even realize they don’t know. They use words like genocide and apartheid without knowing the meaning and when they clearly don’t apply. They say things like, “Ceasefire now, Intifada” not realizing that they are telling Israel to put down their weapons while telling the terrorists to pick their up and kill Jews. They chant “from the River to the Sea” without knowing what river, what sea, or that what they are advocating for is the elimination of Israel. They accuse Israel of genocide while they, themselves, are actually advocating for genocide! If they are truly antisemitic, it’s often because this is the new, cool, hip thing their friends are doing. They aren’t filled with hate; they are filled with stupidity. If they are willing to learn, there is a chance for them to understand. If they aren’t willing to learn, it is more likely they will end up like the wicked son/child.
They are so simple that they don’t even realize that Hamas would throw them from the roof of a building to their death for being in drag or being gay.
At the Seder table, we talk about the son/child who doesn’t know how to ask. I remember thinking to myself for years, ‘how is this different from the simple son/child?’ What’s happened since October 7th has shown me the difference. While the simple child doesn’t know enough to question what they are told and believe whatever they are old, the one who doesn’t know how to ask is oblivious to what’s going on around them. These are the people who don’t say anything at all about the atrocities committed by Hamas. They don’t comment or say anything about the incredible antisemitism we are seeing on college campuses or in major cities. A hospital protested and vandalized because it has a Jewish name doesn’t raise their ire nor does it result in a comment. People assaulted because they are Jewish or are wearing a kippah or a Jewish symbol isn’t even considered by them. They live in a world where things like this don’t exist. They aren’t antisemitic, they are totally disconnected from the reality of Jew hatred. These are the people where we have the responsibility to show them what is happening, to engage them in conversation to educate them. If we allow them to live in lala land, then we are responsible. The actress and comedienne Tiffany Haddish who discovered she was Jewish later in life has taken an active role in this. She isn’t afraid to talk about being Jewish and even publicly went to Israel recently to see and learn for herself. She even had her own ‘Black Mitzvah’. She is the example to people who don’t even know how to ask about what they can do. If she can do it, they can do it.
Since discovering that her mother was actually Jewish, Tiffany Haddish has embraced this part of her.
The final child is the wise one. This child asks for specific details about how to observe the holiday. In the post October 7th world, these are the people that continue to seek truth and challenge what they are told. They aren’t afraid to learn. They understand the difference between Jews and the Israeli government. They don’t take words like genocide, apartheid, and occupation at face value. I want to be clear that this doesn’t mean they defend Israel no matter what. They question. They challenge. They want to learn. I urge us all to strive to be the wise child. Don’t just believe what you hear or read. Be open to conversations. I had this happen regarding something it was reported that Turkish President Erdogan said. A friend, who is actually in Turkey right now, let me know that this was a translation error/issue and that he would explain in detail this week. I look forward to having him explain to me the translation issue and put it in another context.
Muhammad Ali changed his name to mark his significant change upon converting to Islam. The man named Cassius Clay ceased to exist and all that was left was a man named Muhammad Ali. The me that existed before October 7th no longer exists. The horrors of that day and what has followed has created a different version of me. In order to mark that transition, I haven’t changed my name. But I have marked my body. I have wanted to get something that would mark that change for me and for everybody who saw it. So last week, while in DC, I went with a friend to her tattoo artist and got two very personal and very meaningful tattoos. One is the quote from Mia Schem, a hostage taken from the Nova music festival and released after 55 days. She said, and then got tattooed on her arm, the words I will never forget. “We will dance again.” I now have those words on my right forearm. I also saw a design memorializing the Nova music festival. I can imagine being there listening to bands that I love. I can imagine my children being at that music festival as they love concerts and live music. So on my left forearm I got a tree with the word Nova and the date, 7-10-23 (written the Israeli way) tattooed. They are forever reminders to me and those who see them both the horrors of October and the resilience of the Jewish people. We will not go away. We will continue to be Jewish and continue to thrive. I am reminded of that every time I look at my arms. Am Yisrael Chai!
Finally, in order to add some light to the darkness, I saw this in Kareem Abdul Jabbar’s writings today and after watching it, felt I had to share it. In the Netherlands, cows are kept inside for 6 months of the year to protect them from the harsh weather. On the day they are released to the outside, crowds show up to witness the ‘Cow Dance’
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