Having been to Israel so many times, I know what is reported in the media isn’t true.  I know they exaggerate and like to say and show what they think will draw eyes and clicks.  It used to not bother me that much because it was so obviously not the truth and people would ask me about it.  It used to be like that.

Since October 7^th, the media’s coverage of Israel has been worse than ever.  The big difference is now people believe what they are being fed is true and don’t bother asking questions.  They see something on social media and that becomes the truth.  A perfect example is the recent fire that occurred in Rafa after Israel dropped a bomb on Hamas terrorist leaders.  The bomb was a smaller caliber one, targeted to hit an exact spot, which it did, to eliminate the terrorists (which it did).  However, the terrorists had additional weapons with them that created a secondary explosion that started the fire that killed civilians.   

The media was all over the fact that Israel bombed a civilian area.  That Israel attacked a safe zone.  That Israel was burning civilians alive.   That the explosions beheaded babies.  The “blame Israel” narrative from the media and on social media has been brutal.  Now that Israel is responding to the daily massive rocket attacks from Hezbollah in Lebanon, the “blame Israel” narrative is growing.  The tent cities are returning on campuses.  There were shootings at Jewish Day Schools in Toronto and Montreal and a synagogue in Vancouver (luckily nobody was there when they happened so there were no injuries).  Yet the media stays quiet.  Since returning from Israel, what I have noticed the most is the combination of silence in defending Israel and the massive attacks on Israel and Jews from all over the place, including Jews.

I understand well-meaning Jews who care about morals and ethics having issues with the Israeli government’s decisions with the war.  I don’t understand those who haven’t been to Israel or at least those who haven’t been since October 7^th leading the charge against Israel.  Being at Kibbutz Kfar Aza was an unbelievably powerful experience. Hearing the stories, seeing the devastation, and seeing Jabaliya so close, there was clarity in the war and the need to eliminate Hamas.  Standing at the site of the Nova Music Festival, sitting in front of the pictures of those murdered or kidnapped brought clarity of the evil of Hamas.  Stopping to visit the bomb shelter where Lee Sasi hid and survived while so many others died was deeply moving.  When I see Jews defending Hamas or using terms like ‘genocide’ for what’s going on, I am reminded of an old joke.

Throughout our history, we continue to make the same mistake over and over and over again.  We forget that we will always be Jews first.  We think we are Americans.  We thought we were Germans.  Polish.  Austrian.  We aren’t. We are always Jews. So those who forget this often times are at the front line of our persecution and then are shocked when they find themselves facing the hatred they denied existed or fought to defend. When I see these Jews posting on social media or being used as props in demonstrations, it makes me sick. We know the ending as we have seen it repeatedly over the past 3,000 years.

Since I have been back from Israel, the other thing I have noticed is the pressure being put on Israel to unilaterally solve the problem without the answer being war and defeating Hamas. It’s as if Hamas never videoed the events of October 7th for the world to see. Or that they didn’t publicly state that there will be many more October 7th events in the future. UNRWA is treated as a legitimite agency despite the proof that their employees participated on October 7th, were involved in hiding the hostages, and their schools and hospitals not only store weapons for Hamas, not only are the base for tunnels built by Hamas, but Hamas uses them to fire rockets at Israel. UNRWA gets the aid coming into Gaza and somehow it ends up in the hands of Hamas instead of the people. This is the agency people are listening to about humanitarian issues – one that behaves as anything other than a humanitarian agency.

We have a leadership crisis. In the Jewish world. In America. Around the world. In Israel. Our leaders are determined to continue doing what has failed. The President of Iran, Ebrahim Raisi, dies in a plane crash. Raisi, The Butcher of Tehran, is then eulogized at the UN, in the US Congress. A man who murdered tens of thousands of people in Iran is treated as a great leader. Our lack of leadership is appalling and yet we do nothing about it. One of my favorite movies, The American President, addresses leadership incredibly well.

• Lewis Rothschild: People want leadership, Mr. President, and in the absence of genuine leadership, they’ll listen to anyone who steps up to the microphone. They want leadership. They’re so thirsty for it they’ll crawl through the desert toward a mirage, and when they discover there’s no water, they’ll drink the sand.
• President Andrew Shepherd: Lewis, we’ve had presidents who were beloved, who couldn’t find a coherent sentence with two hands and a flashlight. People don’t drink the sand because they’re thirsty. They drink the sand because they don’t know the difference.

We often get hung up on our elected leaders and think that they are the only ones who can be leaders. I’m reminded of Rami Davidian, the farmer who lives near the Nova music festival site. Rami is a farmer. A regular guy. Nobody special. Elected to nothing. And yet on October 7th, he rescued 750 people from the Nova festival while Hamas was trying to murder them. We can all be Rami. We can all step up to lead when it is our turn, elected or not. We can speak out and speak up. We can change our small part of the world which changes the entire world. We can get educated and confront those who lie and spread lies.

As Spain recognizes a Palestinian State and calls the war genocide, they quickly backtrack when they realize that by doing this they make every person in Gaza a political refugee able to enter Spain on a humanitarian visa. They quickly stopped being public about either because they realized their words and actions had consequences.

As the Maldives now refuses to allow anybody with an Israeli passport to enter the country, they will see the impact as people with resources and morals refuse to visit the Maldives and pick other options instead, hurting tourism, their top industry.

As politicians lose their seats in the upcoming election because they tell lies and support terrorists, our leaders will shift what they say and what they do.

All of this happens because we take action. We lead by our example. We stand up and speak out when we hear people telling lies about Israel and about Jews. We refuse to be silent and refuse to stand by and allow others to attack us. For generations we were visitors in other countries and so we tried to fit in and keep quiet. We wanted to stay under the radar until it was impossible and then, too late. Today, with the modern state of Israel, we have a homeland. We don’t need to stay under the radar and quiet. Yet too many of us do. Too many of us remain convinced we are Americans first. Too many of us are afraid to lose what we have by standing up and speaking out when history tells us time and time again, if we don’t stand up and speak out, we are guarnteed to lose what we have. We each get to choose if want to be lambs to the slaugher or fight back. We have our examples. Abraham argued with God about Sodom and Gemmorrah. Queen Esther risked everything for the Jewish people. Moses gave up the chance to be Pharoah and rule Egypt to serve God and the Jewish people. King David took on Goliath. Hannah Senesh risked it all and paid the ultimate price for the Jewish people. The list goes on and on.

So in these crazy times that we live in, who are you going to be? Are you going to be Nachson, who bravely walked into the Red Sea until it was over his head before God parted it to save the Jewish people or are you going to be the one who served the Egyptians and the Nazis to harm the Jewish people? Are you going to speak up for Israel and the Jewish people like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. did or are you going to be Mark Ruffalo who constantly criticizes Israel for existing and posts his own antisemitic digs at Jews?

I choose to be Dr. King. I choose light over darkness. I choose love over hate. I choose peace over war. I choose hope over despair. I choose being Jewish over hiding who I am. I choose good over evil. I choose action over inaction. I choose speaking up over being silent. Like our historical ancestors, I choose risk to flourish over safety to hide and eventually lose everything.

We each have to make our own choice. I hope you choose wisely.