For over 25 years I have enjoyed saying that there is nothing cooler than a cool Puerto Rican. So when I tell you that I did not like Tony Hinchcliffe’s joke about Puerto Rico being floating garbage, I am speaking the truth. But if speaking the truth is what we are doing here, the direction this issue went after Sunday evening needs to be addressed. I am not referring to the comment made by President Biden, I am going back to something that happened before the current President went rogue on a laptop. I am referring to the importance put on the opinion of Puerto Rican recording artist Bad Bunny.
If you had told me 10-20 years ago that I would be doing something in defense of Israel and the Jewish people in regard to actions by someone named Bad Bunny, I would have chuckled and thought you were crazy. Yet here we are in 2024 when that very person is not only seen as a critical spokesperson and defender of Puerto Ricans, he is also seen as someone the Harris campaign wants to have in their camp. I do not blame him or anyone for being offended by the joke, but if you are going to extrapolate that a bad joke at a Donald Trump rally is a reason to call him a fascist, hateful or another Hitler, dangerous and irresponsible wording, you must look at the other side as well.
I could write 1000 words about why the comparisons to Hitler being thrown around is an issue almost to the point of being a crisis, but instead I will take you to a recent Bad Bunny concert. At this concert, Bad Bunny who mixes with people who have made a point of always being on the side against Israel, displayed a Palestinian flag with blood red hands at a recent concert. In my searches I found no evidence that Bad Bunny even supports Israel’s right to exist. All I found is his unwavering support for the Palestinians at a time when Israel is fighting for its very survival. So I think it’s rather obvious whose hands he believes that blood is on.
Let me be very clear. So clear that I will designate this comment to a stand alone paragraph. To my fellow Jews who refuse to face this important truth, the survival of the Jewish people everywhere in the world, including the United States of America, is dependent on the survival of the State of Israel.
Your vote is your choice. But if you were all up in arms over Tony Hinchcliffe’s joke about Puerto Rico and attach it to Donald Trump, but choose to revere Bad Bunny and put importance on his endorsement of Kamala Harris, you are being naive at best, disingenuous at worst. As a proud Jew and Zionist, I have stood by long enough watching people get all up in arms over attacks against other groups that pale in comparison to the attacks against the Jews. And when I say attacks against the Jews, I am including attacks against Israel, for they are one in the same. If you support Donald Trump or Kamala Harris, that does not mean that you should accept hateful behavior by any supporter of theirs, no matter how powerful or how entertaining they may be in your estimation. And if you are Jewish or Pro-Israel, if you are not putting the safety and existence of the State of Israel at the forefront of your decision, you are making a tragic mistake.
Non-Jewish construction worker in NY confronts man ripping down pictures of hostages
As Jewish people, we live in very difficult times. The vast majority of us have never witnessed this level of hatred directed towards us, and being done so out in the open without shame or restraint. Understandably, comparisons are being made to the 1930s in Germany, when Hitler rose to power, waged war on his neighbors, and began his attempt at annihilating the Jewish people. When you see angry mobs storm an airport in Dagestan looking for Jews to kill, anti-Semitic chants on the campuses of American universities, and throngs of people marching in support of the Palestinians, one can’t help at being alarmed by what is taking place.
But this is not 1938. We will not be led to slaughter like sheep and we will not remain silent. The spirit of many of the Jewish people can best be summed up by the words of former Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin. Words spoken in 1982.
I am not a Jew with trembling knees. I am a proud Jew with 3,700 years of civilized history. Nobody came to our aid when we were dying in the gas chambers and ovens. Nobody came to our aid when we were striving to create our country. We paid for it. We fought for it. We died for it. We will stand by our principles. We will defend them. And, when necessary, we will die for them again.
Israel is a country made up of millions of people with a similar sentiment. But unlike so many of its Muslim neighbors who are brainwashed to believe in the merit of dying as a martyr, Israelis value human life, are fighting not only for their survival, but for the survival of Jews around the world. This only helps to energize so many of us throughout the world who are standing up and making our voices heard. Jews of the world are as united as they have ever been, and our battle cry of Never Again is being put to the test as never before.
But there is another major difference between today and 1938. While it sometimes feels like the whole world hates us, thankfully this is not the case. World and local leaders, members of the media, athletes, actors and musicians from all over the world have spoken up against the attack on the Jewish people. Not just the heinous barbarism of October 7th, but the ignorant, irrational hatred displayed openly ever since. The lines between good and evil are clearly defined, but from what group of people each side comes from is not, and that my brothers and sisters, may be our biggest advantage in this war. In 1940’s Europe the Raoul Wallenbergs and Oskar Schindlers were few and far between. The righteous gentiles in Europe that hid Jews at their own peril, rightly stood out in their exceptionalism. Today is a different story. Today we are not fighting alone. Today there are people who proudly and honorably stand up in defense of the Jewish people and stand ready to fight against a very openly exposed evil.
There are those who maintain that this is the same as every other time in history. They maintain that nothing has changed and nothing ever will. While their suspicion is in some ways is helpful in keeping us alert, their overall sentiment is an incorrect one. The world is filled with people who have learned from the past, believe in right and wrong, and most importantly know how to distinguish between the two. The rise of social media has offered the truth to those who looked for it in the past, and fed fodder to the ignoramuses who would have gravitated to the garbage being spewed regardless of whether or not it came from a microphone or a computer. No decent person can feel good about the amount of evil we’ve seen from both perpetrators of evil and their supporters. But we have every reason to remain hopeful.
These are difficult times, and while they are likely to get worse before they get better, this is not 1938. This is 2023, and in 2023 good people will fight back in support of the Jewish people and the State of Israel. Good people already have, and will take the side of good against evil. No one knows at what cost, a cost that is already too high, but in the end we will prevail, because our fight is a righteous one, our survival depends on it, and we are not alone.
There are some things people know their entire life. Those things that define you as a person. It might be the language you speak or the country you were born in. It might be financial status of your family or the influence your family has on society. For many there is the one thing that may define you over all other things, answering that one question not only to others but more importantly to yourself. What are you? To me that one thing that defines me over everything else is that I am proudly and unapologetically Jewish. So for Jews and the Jewish religion to be the focus of my existence makes sense. What is not as easy to explain or understand is why the rest of the world seems to have an almost equal focus, dare I say obsession.
There were 17 million Jews in the world in 1939, estimated to be the highest the number ever reached. At that time there were about 2 billion people worldwide. Today there are an estimated 16 million of a worldwide population of over 8 billion. We are, by every account a very small percentage and certainly on paper at least, a very unthreatening number. And yet, the obsession the rest of the world has towards my people is one of life’s greatest mysteries. Whether we are better or worse, contributors or not, powerful or not, there is no question that compared to the rest of the world, the amount of attention that comes our way is disproportionate almost to the point of being bizarre. So the question I am putting out there, is why?
Secular Jews in Israel and the Diaspora might find it hard to accept, but the root of all the attention and focus is religious, and regardless of whether you embrace it or disassociate from it, you are seen by the rest of the world as a Jew, be it for good or for bad. In 1933 and beyond, Hitler managed to convince Germany that a people comprising 0.85% of the world’s population was the reason for all their problems. In 2023, Islamic terrorist groups and their sponsor nation Iran, have convinced millions of their fellow Muslims that a people that comprises .2% of the world’s population and a mere .88% of their number, are the biggest danger the world faces today. The numbers alone are enough to speak to the bizarre nature of this obsession and to the inevitable inaccuracy of their concern. Could it be that we are that bad of a people? Or dare I say it, could it be that we are that special?
I may be bordering on claiming Jewish exceptionalism, but if I am going to experience or learn about hate towards me and my people my entire life, for reasons that are not even close to proportionate, there is no reason for me to hold back. But because of the part of my Jewish teachings that focus on modesty, gratitude, but mostly the power of the Almighty, I will temper any desire I may have to speak to how exceptional we are as a people. Besides, of all you out there whose hate toward us defies logic and rationality, whether you like it or not, you are making that case without my help.
It is true that Jews have excelled in medicine, the arts, in business, and throughout many other elements of society. But what the rational and ethical people know, is that it generally does not stand in the way of others reaching the same heights. Yes there are Jews who are bad people, but that is one of the realities of humanity, that every group has its good and bad. But so much of what we are is a result of our value system. A value system that includes love of family, hard work, study, and worship. Could it be that the basis of all of this is the Torah, the Jewish teachings that are comprised of the Old Testament and all Rabbinical interpretations. When you look at it honestly, even for those who have chosen to live a secular life, it often appears as though their values are what was taught to them directly or indirectly through these teachings. The value for human life is so paramount that we are taught that saving a life supersedes all other laws.
That being said, good people come from all walks of life. All religions, races, nationalities produce high quality people. I have known too many and heard of too many great people from other faiths to think we Jews are the only ones who reach great heights. Thinking that way would be ludicrous. But we are still faced with that gnawing question. Why the obsession towards the Jewish people? The importance of Judaism within Christianity is obvious, and the evolution of Christian society has reached new heights in its embrace of the Jewish people, creating a growing friendship and alliance. And yet, although I am grateful for that alliance, it still fascinates me that a religion of 2.4 billion people is as fascinated by us as Christians are as a whole.
Ultimately I think the fascination and obsessive hatred do not come from the same origin. The fascination I believe comes from the Biblical teachings that the Jews are the Chosen People. I believe that due to Christian enlightenment, in past years far more than today, instead of leading towards a path of hatred, Christianity has embraced its Jewish roots and seen the importance Judaism holds in their beliefs for an ideal future.
So now to those who hate us. I believe that hatred is based on 2 things. The first being a more obvious and less original concept. Pure and blatant jealousy. Maybe it is because we are God’s Chosen People. Maybe it is because we excel in so many areas of society and often live lives filled with joy and meaning. Or maybe it is based in something even more profound. In the movie Tombstone, the movie about Wyatt Earp, the Doc Holliday character played by Val Kilmer had the following interaction with the Wyatt Earp character played by Kurt Russell when discussing a developing confrontation with an adversary.
Wyatt Earp: What does he need? Doc Holliday: Revenge. Wyatt Earp: For what? Doc Holliday: Bein’ born.
The amount of hate in the world today for the Jewish people is excessive. Hate is either a result of actions that cause hate, or indoctrination that breeds it. The amount of hate today is very clearly more of a result of indoctrination. But indoctrination requires fertile ground, and what ground is more fertile than that of misery. If you are happy you do not want to hate. You search for reasons not to hate. You seek the truth. But if one lives a life of misery and one with no meaning or direction, one sees no future, and one wants revenge for being born, that leads one to attempt to fill all those voids with the one emotion they can harness and hold on to. And the evil people with the money, power and ambition, exploit that for their selfish and devious means. I wish I could ask all those who hate me for being Jewish the following question? For what, if not to make this world better, are you put on this earth? I guarantee you, despite what you are being taught, it is not to hate and kill Jews. Sadly the chances of you ever seeing this is next to none, but if you ever do I also want you to ask yourself a question. Has the hate you’ve been taught done anything to make your life better? Has it made you happier? I know the answer, and if you were given the freedom to think for yourself you would as well.
For YEARS I have said that randomly throwing around the word Nazi was dangerous. I have said that comparing someone to Hitler without factual backing is dangerous. It has happened on all sides towards anyone who committed acts or said thing they didn’t like. This is not a political post. As a Jew I feel that we are not in a time of politics, we are in a time of survival.
In speaking out about this, my reasoning was as follows. If you call everyone that says or does something you don’t like or does something that is actually wrong, when someone who is a Nazi or someone who is another Hitler rears their ugly heads, you might not recognize it. Well we are now seeing behavior truly comparable to the behavior of Nazis, lead by the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ali Khamenei, someone whose words and actions truly do compare to Hitler.
And now we have people rallying in favor of Hamas and screaming Free Palestine at rallies around the world, not knowing, or even worse not caring that in doing so they are supporting another Hitler, one who is openly leading a Muslim incarnation of Nazi Germany.
It is now time for all of us who have always understood who the Nazi were, tell the world that these terrorists attacking Israel are truly Nazis. Start calling them by what they are. Let the world know that not only has that disease been allowed to come back, it has come back strong, and there are far too many people supporting their cause.
My name is David Groen. Please allow me to tell you a little bit about myself. I am the son of Holocaust survivors from Holland. As I am sure you know, Canada and Holland were strong allies in World War II. In fact, my father, who was an active member of the Dutch resistance, rode into the town where my mother was hiding when the Canadian military liberated it from Nazi occupation. The most important thing I want you to know about me is that I never knew my grandparents, one uncle, one aunt, and countless cousins, since the Nazis decimated the Dutch Jewish community, murdering 75% of the Jews living in Holland between 1940 and 1945.
So yes, I take what recently happened in your country’s parliament very personally. As an author and public speaker passionate about making the world aware of the atrocities that took place and keeping alive the memory of what happened under Hitler’s barbaric reign, my reasons for reaching out to you, as important as they may be, are not politically motivated. In fact, I am reaching out to you specifically to avoid being political, as the more political move would be to reach out to the leader of the opposition. However, my motivation is not to impact Canadian politics, it is to address and help fight a growing global crisis. I do not know you, so I am unable to comment on whether you are a good man or a bad man. I do know that certain Canadian officials, up to the very top, have pleaded ignorance regarding the history of Yaroslav Hunka, the Nazi living in your midst. I choose to believe that plea as being an honest one. Nevertheless, that does not make it an acceptable one. The only thing that will truly make it acceptable is a response in your parliament, preferably from someone who will tell a story of exactly why it is so important that this high level of ignorance be combatted. The speaker should not be a mere talking head, but someone whose family was impacted by the evils committed by the Nazis.
My public speaking revolves around the story of my uncle, Bram Rodrigues-Lopes. The younger and only sibling of my late mother, Bram was a violin player and band member when the Nazis invaded Holland. Through my book and website, Bram’s violin made it back to me and my family a little over 4 years ago. What makes Bram’s story so powerful and so relevant is the fact that he was murdered by the Nazis just 3 weeks shy of his 19th birthday. He never had a chance to build a life and leave behind a legacy. His story speaks to the reality and to the heart of what the Nazis did to those they wanted to exterminate, the Jewish people being priority number one. The story also speaks of the decency and bravery of the friend that safeguarded his violin, as well as his son who made the effort to find me.
Should you choose to bring me to Canada to address your parliament I will provide a powerful message emphasizing the dangers of forgetting the atrocities of the past together with the hope provided by the decency of others. What took place in your parliament this past week only magnifies the importance of keeping the story alive. My presentation will not be political as not only have I made a conscious decision to leave politics to those more qualified, but I also feel I have a different mission on this earth besides moving any country’s political needle. Since I see this as being an apolitical topic, and one of critical importance, I will leave everyone in the room with a message they will carry in their hearts and minds for years to come.
Many of us in the Jewish community use the line, “Never Again”. To work towards that, it is critical for it never to be forgotten. I believe certain people in Canada need a reminder, and I offer myself as the person to provide that reminder to your parliament.
I am the son of Holocaust survivors. I am an unapologetic Jewish man who has consistently spoken up against anti-Semitism. I have often made a point of highlighting the dangers of over using Hitler and Nazi Germany as a comparison to the events of the day. So while you might find it surprising that I am using my platform to defend Gina Carano, I find it important that I do.
Carano, who until being fired a few days ago for comments described by representatives of her former employers Lucas Films as “abhorrent”, was let go after she posted the following tweet:
Jews were beaten in the streets, not by Nazi soldiers but by their neighbors…even by children.
Because history is edited, most people today don’t realize that to get to the point where Nazi soldiers could easily round up thousands of Jews, the government first made their own neighbors hate them simply for being Jews. How is that any different from hating someone for their political views?
In response, Lucasfilm fired her and said that it was based on “her social media posts denigrating people based on their cultural and religious identities”
To address this matter as it needs to be addressed, I go back to my initial statements regarding the dangers of comparing Hitler and or Nazis to events and people of today. As a Jew and son of Holocaust survivors, it has not only been important to me to defend the Jewish people in whatever means available to me, but to understand history as well. The misrepresentation of history in order to make a political argument today, creates the risk of minimizing the events that took place in Europe between 1933 and 1945. It also muddies the waters in a way that brings people far closer to Holocaust denial than we may realize. It creates a spiral of thought that moves society’s away from an understanding of the horrors that really took place. Pedro Pascal, the Mandalorian himself, compared Trump supporters losing the election to the Nazis losing their power in 1945. While I do not have any reason to believe it was his intention, Pascal’s statements can be seen as not far removed from Holocaust denial. To compare the events of the last 4 years to the events that took place during the time of Nazi Germany does 2 things. It elevates evil behaviors of the previous American administration to inaccurate levels, while simultaneously lowering the understanding of the evil behaviors of Nazi Germany. This is not only wrong, but extremely harmful as well.
So then why am I defending the statement of Gina Carano? The truth is, I am not. I am defending her, not the tweet. Personally I find her post to have some important truth to it and far removed from “denigrating people based on their cultural and religious identities”. I understand the point trying to be made and think it is a valid and moral one. I still think throwing around the Nazi comparisons have to stop and take some issue with her statement on that level alone. However, how is her tweet worse than that of Pedro Pascal’s and why should she lose her job for exercising what is an increasingly rapid death of her right to Freedom of Speech?
The truth is that she should not have lost her job any more than Pedro Pascal should have lost his. Which makes you wonder what truly took place here. Gina Carano has made no secret of her support for Donald Trump, while Pedro Pascal in his tweet makes it clear not only what he thinks of Donald Trump, but of his supporters as well. What is most fascinating to me is that when you read Carano’s tweet, there is no side taken in the argument. “Because history is edited, most people today don’t realize that to get to the point where Nazi soldiers could easily round up thousands of Jews, the government first made their own neighbors hate them simply for being Jews. How is that any different from hating someone for their political views?”, doesn’t reveal any current political viewpoint, other than an opposition to fermenting Jew hatred. To which I say to Gina Carano, thank you. So with this in mind you have to wonder, was Carano fired because the powers that be truly found the statement to be “abhorrent”, or was it that they found her support of Donald Trump to be abhorrent?
If you are someone who is arguing in support of the firing of Gina Carano because you find her views to be anti-Semitic, I challenge you to make that argument. If you are someone who is misappropriating her tweet in order to further your agenda, then I insist you find another group’s history of persecution to manipulate to your benefit, and if you are doing this in the name of defending me and my fellow Jews I say the following. No thank you. I do not wish to have the memories of my family and 6 million Jews distorted in the name of your, at best misguided, at worst heinous and cynical approach towards Jewish history.
While questions about the outcome of the election may or may not need to get worked out in the courts, Democrats celebrate a win by Joe Biden in the 2020 US Presidential race. Unlike the hundreds of thousands of experts on social media, I make no claim to know much about voter fraud and election rules. I am at the mercy of the news media to tell me what happens. Unless I see evidence to the contrary, I am neither qualified nor irresponsible enough to question the legitimacy of the outcome. I do however have the ability to observe and read the reactions of people, and as I see many of my fellow Jews declare their joy over the election of Biden, what I have not seen in many of their statements are the words “the Jewish people” or “the State of Israel”. While I do not sit in judgment over what makes someone a good Jew or a bad Jew, as it is not my place to do so, I do find this to be curious, and can’t help but examine and indeed question, why this might be the case.
Everyone of course has their reasons for feeling as they do and saying what they do. I know many people who have done a lot for Jews worldwide that fall into that group that voted for Biden, and I recognize that, but the appearance it gives is that for many Jewish people in America, the best interests of the Jews and Israel were just not an issue of major importance to them in this election. To be clear, I am not merely coming to this conclusion based on reactions to the result, but also from discussions or debates I had in person, on the phone or in social media prior to the election. If anything it appears as though one issue was more important to them than anything else. Their hatred for Donald Trump.
Some make the argument that Trump is bad for Israel and stokes the flames of anti-Semitism in the United States. The debate has been conducted ad nauseum and I have no intention of restarting it, but I will say that this reminds me of something an old friend once said to me when we worked together as salespeople. People buy with emotion, and justify it with logic. I present this concept here because I have to wonder if the hatred for the sitting president is so great that Jews around the country just convinced themselves he was bad for Israel and the Jews in order to justify their vote against him. Or do they really believe that a man that moved the embassy to Jerusalem, something promised by administrations for decades, recognized the Golan Heights as part of Israel, ripped up a deal that paved the way for Iran to have a nuclear bomb, and made peace treaties increasing security and prosperity for the Jewish state is actually an anti-Semite who is bad for Israel, or as many of his haters call him, another Hitler?
I don’t presume to know anyone’s motivation for what they say or do not say, but when one of my fellow American Jews goes on a rant about all the reasons they chose Joe Biden over Donald Trump, and the issue of Israel and the Jewish people is either an afterthought or an omission, I can’t help but get the impression that those issues were just lower on their list of priorities, if there at all. I know the responses many will give is either a list of all the reasons they see Donald Trump as an awful human being, as an existential threat to American democracy and all the reasons they feel the things he has done do not actually make him good for the State of Israel. I’ve heard and read them all. What I have not heard from my fellow Jews and Zionists is why, as part of one or two of those groups they are happy that Joe Biden looks to be their next president. I, as both a Jew and a Zionist am not, and it mattered enough to me to be reason alone to vote for Donald Trump.
While I am not writing this to argue the merits of hating or loving Trump, it strikes me that the number one reason people have grown to hate him is more because they don’t like what he says than it is what he does. I won’t litigate the various issues that people apply this to, but I will say that as a Jew and son of Holocaust survivors, nothing seems more irresponsible to me than choosing someone who sounds nice over someone who has your back. I said before the election that I felt that no matter who wins the election I believe there are dark days ahead for the Jewish people in America. As a Jewish man who is not convinced that Joe Biden will have our backs, I express no optimism over how he will be good for us in the coming years. So naturally I didn’t express any optimism. But for my fellow Jews that voted for him and also didn’t express that optimism, are you holding your breath and hoping for the best, or is it just not an issue that mattered to you enough to dictate your vote? That is a question that each and every one of you can only answer for yourselves.
Ultimately I tend to believe people vote for what they perceive to be in their own best interests. If any Jewish voter doesn’t see the security of Israel and the protection of their Jewish communities as being in their own best interest, then they’ve learned little to nothing from history.
I refer to this as ONE of the best Mother’s Days my mother ever had because I am certain each of my siblings orchestrated equally special days honoring our late mom. The Mother’s Day I speak of was the one in which New York City, specifically Brooklyn took front and center in giving her a day she spoke of till her dying day.
I honestly don’t know what year it was other than to know, by mere mathematics alone and the fact that it was after my married days, the fact that my father was still alive and where I lived at certain times in my life, that it was between 14 and 18 years ago. My parents came to visit me and would spend this mother’s day with me in my apartment in Forest Hill, Queens. I asked my mom if she would allow me to take control of the day’s itinerary, and since she was just happy to be spending the day with her favorite child (kidding guys), she happily agreed. I decided to make the theme one in which I would show my parents, specifically on this Mother’s Day, my mom, proof that Hitler didn’t win. In what better place to do that than Brooklyn?
I’ve avoided openly criticizing the Orthodox communities of New York for some unfortunate displays during the COVID-19 crisis. While the public gatherings that took place, specifically for funerals was irresponsible and wrong on many levels, including Jewish law, I didn’t join the mob in excoriating them. Other than mentioning it in this piece, something I do because of the relevance to the points I’ll be making, I’ve stayed away from public criticism for their actions. The reason is a very simple one. While it is unlikely I will ever choose to live like them and often think very differently than they do, in some ways I and every other Jew on this planet owe them a sense of gratitude and respect for their undying devotion. A devotion very much part of why the Jewish world has survived for centuries. So on this Mother’s Day, in an effort to offer some evidence to the fact that Hitler was not successful in his quest to wipe us out, I began the tour of what is really only parts of Jewish Brooklyn.
The first stop on our trip was Williamsburg. Williamsburg is the center of Satmar Chasidism. The Satmar’s are widely known as being an insulated Ultra Orthodox community and one known for being close minded to the ways of the modern world. Travelling through the Jewish sections you primarily see Chasidic Jews, Jewish shops, schools and places of worship. If you are a very modern Jew or person of any other faith, or someone who does not believe in any religion at all, you likely will not relate at all to how the people of this community live. That’s fine. I neither was on that day nor am I today trying to sell their way of life. However, as a Jew, specifically one born to survivors of the Holocaust, I remember driving through there thinking, welcome to Hitler’s worst nightmare.
We then traveled to Flatbush. Flatbush was interesting for me personally because at that time I worked for a company in Brooklyn where quite a few of the employees, including my boss at that time, lived in Flatbush. I had willingly spent some time there over the years, more often than not thoroughly enjoying myself. In Flatbush what you were able to witness was a very significant presence of Orthodox Jews, many of which clearly lived in nice homes. You once again saw a thriving Jewish community, this one where the community primarily had a higher standard of living than what you saw in Williamsburg, while being one more very clear example of Jewish life and survival.
Our final stop was Borough Park. While being more diverse than Williamsburg, it has more of a ghetto feeling to it than Flatbush. Part of Borough Park’s diversity is within the Orhodox Jewish community, one that is rich with both the Chasidic contingents and the Haredi ones. I am no expert on Borough Park, but for me there is one street that represents it above all others. That street is 13th Avenue. This is a street filled with shops, many of them highly affordable, large crowds of people walking up and down either browsing or shopping. Somewhere in one of these shops I brought my mother a Star of David necklace that she was to enjoy often in the coming years and always helped her remember that day. This was also somewhere rich with places to eat, of which a significant percentage are Kosher. By this time my brother Marcel had arrived from Philadelphia to join us in what was to be remembered as a delicious dinner in a Kosher Chinese restaurant somewhere along 13th Avenue.
This was a good day. Mostly for the joy it brought my mother. Hearing her refer to it as one of the best Mother’s Days she ever had is something I will always remember happily. As I think of her today, while I miss her, I am grateful that she doesn’t have to witness what’s happening today. While I am not comparing what we are going through today to what she and so many others went through during Nazi-occupation, I am grateful she did not have to spend one more day of her life living in isolation and risk.
I want to wish a Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers out there, specifically to those I know and love. Enjoy your day, enjoy your kids and families, and stay healthy and safe.
The piece hanging on my wall and made for me by my late mother
I have a confession to make. In 1985 I left Israel with the intention of spending a few years back the the U.S. before I would return to Israel and settle there for the rest of my life. 35 years later I am still living in America and having either been limited by time or budget have made only one trip back in January of 1994. And while today I celebrate with love and appreciation the 72nd birthday of the modern State of Israel, I question the authenticity of my affection.
This would mean less if it wasn’t for the fact that I am not alone when it comes to being someone who left Israel “for just a few years”. I would imagine a rather large city, maybe even comparable to Jerusalem or Tel Aviv could be formed in Israel from people such as myself that had every intention of going back soon after they left to make Aliyah. But the truth is, that with the opportunities to earn, the accessibility of so many products and so much entertainment, and for those it matters to, which is a large percentage of people who love Israel, a large Jewish community, leaving America wasn’t easy. For many Jews, in the age of COVID-19, and a New York Metro area clobbered by the virus, coupled with a rise in anti-Semitism that has a frightening likelihood of only getting worse, moving to Israel might seem a whole lot easier than it once was.
While there would be nothing pioneering about jumping ship and moving to Israel in light of a changing landscape for the Jewish population outside of Israel, would it be any less acceptable or moral? To answer that question one need only understand the initial purpose of the modern State of Israel. It was, and is, first and foremost a safe haven for the Jewish people. It says the following in Tehillim, Psalms,. Chapter 147, Verse 2:
בֹּנֵ֣ה יְרֽוּשָׁלִַ֣ם יְהֹוָ֑ה נִדְחֵ֖י יִשְׂרָאֵ֣ל יְכַנֵּֽס, The Lord is the builder of Jerusalem; He will gather the outcasts of Israel.
Israel was formed in the wake of the worst catastrophe the Jewish people ever faced. In 1948, when the Jewish state was formed, the word was a mere 3 years removed from the end of a war that saw 6 million Jews murdered by Hitler’s Nazi party. In the coming years Jews would continue to find themselves living in countries in which situations changed either significantly for those countries, for the status of Jews, or both. Israel continued to be a safe haven then as it was after the Holocaust. It remains one today.
So as we celebrate Israel’s 72nd birthday, many that once left intending to return, as well as those who never went, may have more to be grateful for than ever before. Maybe once they get out of the house and reassess our lives as they are today, they may find that L’Shana haba’ah b’Yerushalayim, Next year in Jerusalem, may become more than just a catch phrase, it may actually become a reality.
I hesitated in writing this letter, partially because I questioned whether or not it would make a difference and partially because I realized I may anger or offend some people in the process. I chose to move forward regardless out of an obligation and responsibility I felt to the history and memory of all those lost in my family and other Jewish families in the Holocaust. Although I take issue with much of what I see coming from your office, I recognize and respect the office of the President of the United States and will address you appropriately, even if I often question whether or not you share that same respect.
I am one of those rare few who is willing to break from his position if he feels it is the right thing to do. I did not vote for you, and do not support much of what you appear to stand for, but will speak positively about you when I feel the situation merits it. For example, I supported your tough talk directed towards the leader of North Korea. I believed it was an example of not trying to be reasonable with an unreasonable person and felt that a show of strength was necessary in this instance. I also have come to the conclusion, one shared by many of my fellow Jews, that you do indeed like the Jewish people. I recognize that many people who lean to the left as I do felt differently, but that is not what forms my opinions. My opinions are formed by my personal history, my family’s history, and the values instilled in me both by my parents and my understanding of the world around me. Sadly I find you to be heading down a path that puts you progressively on the wrong side of history.
I find myself wondering if you have a clear understanding of what the Nazi Party was and what people who suffered under their rule, primarily Jews, went through during that time. Unlike many others who are not fans of your presidency, I do not underestimate your intelligence. So I must ask myself, are you detached from the reality of what this all means, do you not care, or does your very large ego lead you to believe you are smarter than everyone else? No matter how bad some protesters on the left may behave, protesters that represent the Nazi philosophy have chosen to represent brutality unlike anything the world has ever seen. I know your supporters that see this letter will come back with all kinds of information about how bad certain liberal elements are, but no matter what they come up with it will not justify any defense or the establishment of a false equivalency with the Nazis that marched this past weekend in Charlottesville and the fanatic that killed an innocent woman. Your supporters may choose to sell their soul in the name of what they call Conservatism, but make no mistake, supporting you when you do not make the clear distinction between the KKK & Nazi marchers from the marchers on the left is indeed the selling of a soul.
You debated with reporters as though you represented the groups on the right. What about the Alt-Left was your retort? You spoke of what you called “violence on all sides”. Would you have condemned “violence on all sides” after the Jews of the Warsaw ghetto rose up and fought against their Nazi oppressors? I am a Jew and a Zionist that takes issue with what I see as a hijacking of the left by the anti-Israel, anti-Semitic, pro-Palestinian block looking to push their occupation agenda. That being said, they are no more comparable to the Nazis than you are to Hitler. I have disagreed and debated with many who have chosen to compare you to him since you exerted yourself into the presidential race and ultimately the presidency. I find the comparison to be unfair and unjust. I still do. I even debated it with my late mother who passed away this past April. She would refer to you as “another Hitler”. My response very simply was, to be compared to Hitler you have to be a murdering fascist, something you are not and I believe never have any intention of becoming. That being said Mr. Trump, because of your lack of desire to rid these modern day Nazis of oxygen, on the contrary your words have given them life, I actually found myself happy my mother was not alive to see this.
Maybe this is not entirely your fault. After all, you are only human. You too feel empowered when you can say anything, no matter how unethical or immoral and get no push back from the holier than thou Mick Huckabees and Mike Pences of the world. These men who claim to be so devout and so committed to God and decency are notably silent when it comes to criticizing you at times when you deserve criticism. But they too have sold their soul, finding whatever financial gain or acquisition of power available to them is worth forsaking their values for.
I’ve tried as hard as any person on the left to give you the benefit of the doubt. That being said, there is no compromise or acceptance coming from me when Nazis are involved, and to any of my fellow Jews, that includes your daughter and son-in-law, that feel there is compromise, shame on you. Shame on you for allowing even the slightest bit of life or existence of a group who would kill you at their first opportunity. Frankly Mr. President, I suspect that by Hitler’s standards and rules you would also be killed. After all, you are the father and grandfather of Jewish children. Maybe you should remember that the next time you wand to say, “what about the Alt-Left?”
I met you once many years ago in the Plaza when you were married to Marla Maples. I too was married at the time, and my then wife who was normally very shy, asked if she could take a picture with you and Marla. Before you left I asked you if it would be tacky if I gave you my business card. Your response was, “yes, but do it quickly I am on my way out”. As funny as that was it told me something about you that possibly applies to what is happening here today. It tells me that just because something is tacky or even wrong, you still might be willing to do it. That is all good and well when taking my business card, but that doesn’t fly with me or much of the country when it comes to dealing with Nazis. You owe it to too many people, including your own family to do better, before it’s too late.
I realize that to you I am no one of significance. Sadly I believe it possible that only your supporters are significant to you. That being said, I am an American, I am a Jew, and as a voter I am not happy with what I am seeing. You may find that many people who did not once feel as I do, may feel that way now. You should see that as significant. In the meantime I urge you to put your ego and sensitivity aside and lead this country as it is meant to be lead, with decency and deference. After all, as President of the United States that is your sworn oath and responsibility. Whether you like it or not.
Holland's Heroes 