Rabbi Zauzmer brings us into an imagined conversation with an anti-Israel protestor on campus, giving us guidance for how to speak to our own friends even through vehement disagreement.
Dear Rabbi, Thank you for your beautiful sermon and for the words of wisdom to our children and great children. But coming from my own very unfortunate experience living an open antisemitism in the former USSR I would rather advise the kids look for their friends among our own. Once they have been injected and infected with antisemitism they will Never be on our side. I have lived it so I know a lot about it It is very unfortunate but a true reality. We can't allow ourselves to be naive instead we have to look at everything as a real threat and be strong, prepared, and absolutely united. Because we could get stabbed on the back by our "friends" any time. This is the message from my family members who were Holocaust survivors and from us living the life of an ugly antisemitism for 33 years. Help us G-d. 🙏❤️✡️ AM YISRAEL CHAI 🙏🇮🇱
Unfortunately, it's so true. On the upside, apps at YU and Stern are, and will continue to be, way up! It will elevate the levels of their classes even more so! (Of course that will just make the next gen of Jews smarter, wealthier and even more successful. And so the cycle of jealousy and hate will begin again....😢)
Now everything is Anti-semitism, if you don't agree with Israel intentinally killing so many childrens, womans, elder people, destroying Gaza you are anti semitist! Zionists are creating Anti-semitism. It's sick what is going on with this propaganda using anti-semitism as an excuse commiting genocide!
Know your friends, but don't stop engaging outside the bubble. America isn't the USSR, and Jews need to be proud of being Jewish and engage with people because preserving rights and freedoms for everyone is the responsibility of all Americans.
“Its a matter of principle. If Jews born in Brooklyn have a right to a state in Palestine then Palestinians born in Jerusalem have a right to a state in Palestine.” - Christopher Hitchens
they absolutely have a right, but their "leadership" doesn't want it. pɑlestiniɑn "leadership" has never agreed to a two-state option. they want ALL the land and WILL not accept the existence of Isrɑel. how can you negotiate with an entity that has no points of compromise?
You don't seem to understand that this isn't Israel vs Palestinians. It's Israelis and Palestinians against Hamas. This was clearly stated in the video.
@@zlauriault Agreed that "Israelis and Palestinians against Hamas." However, based on the actions and pronouncements of senior Israeli government figures, the IDF appears to be making war on ALL Palestinians.
Hitchens isn't God - he's not always right and the Palestinians are Arabs - the Jews are the only indigenous peoples of Judea, their ancestral home of nearly 3000 years.
She is completely correct….COMPLETELY…..students need to think for themselves….need to decide for themselves ….need to research their cause from all perspectives….then make an informed personal decision…..you can’t just go with the crowd or your friend’s opinion…..you need to think for yourself….a lot of adults today are having that problem….they are letting others and politicians tell them what’s real and what’s not….they too don’t research or are afraid of debate and a different view. College students are supposed to debate issues….some will agree with you….some won’t…that’s freedom…..freedom of speech does not mean….freedom of MY speech only….my ideas only…..that is one opinion…a dictatorship.
Universities in Israel are cheaper and safer. Jewish American students don't have to spend 300,000 $ on universities where they are not safe. Jewish American students coming to Israel with 300,000 $ will have enough money for tuition, rent, utilities, taxes, food, and still have enough money to buy a car.
Israel has universal healthcare and heavily subsidized college tuition. Many Americans carry the burden of student loan debt and tens of millions are uninsured and saddled with healthcare debt. The US sends more money to Israel than all other nations combined. What is wrong with this scenario
@@lilianehuddleston9363 You're exactly the person that nobody should bother to speak with. You arrived at an opinion from a place of complete ignorance, are not interested in learning and, let's be real, you just don't like Jews and the current political climate has given you license to express your antisemitism. Because, let's be honest, you don't REALLY give a crap about "innocent" Palestinian people.
we all live in a bubble. Most of the universe is hostile to organic life. Planet earth is a literal bubble, and we should all be glad we get to have it. The _problem_ is when your church's prophet tells you to _not share_ this bubble with others, to holocaust them out of existence if they get too close to you. That's an ideological bubble that needs to be destroyed before it physically destroys us _all_ along with our precious bubble. am israel jai
being in a bubble is not bad. The whole of planet earth is one big bubble in a universe that does not support organic life. Which bubble(s) are you speaking from, and which one(s) are you worried about?
@@soccerfan065 Only when Palestine is liberated from Hamas will Palestine have a chance to be free. Hamas oppresses and kills Palestinians by using them as human shields in war.
While it happens assuming this is about feeling part of a group is condescending. People don’t risk getting pepper sprayed and risk future employment and if you are Jewish possibly being disowned by your family because you want to be part of a group. While the main fault for 10/7 lies with Hamas, if Israel was not dismissive of Hamas the attack would have been repelled at much much less cost for all concerned. That said this shul is located at the center of all of this. Stay safe as best you can.
as a young university student in Sydney Australia in 1970, i marched in the Vietnam moratorium peaceful demonstrations. I agree with Rabbi Zauzmer that this Israel Gaza situation is not Vietnam and nothing like it. Although without a proper knowledge of modern history it is easy to be deceived into believing that to be so. Young idealistic students are easily manipulated. You may ask what about my situation as an 18 year old university student. I was very well informed at that time, because our government introduced Conscription for enrolling my cohort to go and fight in Nam, just so we could say we were supporting Uncle Sam. Our Prime Minister said "All the way with LBJ" referring to your President.
In the Vietnam War Era-- Anti War Protestors would sing- "All we are asking is to Give Peace a Chance." Nowadays - in 2024- the Pro-Palestinian Protestors' are singing- "All We are asking is to "Kill All the Jews."
We no longer have Selective Service, and Nam is the war of people's grandparents or in some cases, great-grandparents. These children don't talk to that generation, and they could learn something directly from them. I couldn't. My great-grandparents were born in the 1850s. History is not only lost, no one has learned anything, even.
@@argonwheatbelly637 so your great grandparents were born 100 years before me.I don't see how that is relevant. There are plenty of modern history films and books covering the Vietnam period. You only need to look at RU-vid. But that was not my point. My point is that the Gaza War is very different. For one thing, Vietnam does not share a border with USA, Vietnam never invaded the USA. The problem with the USA is that they wanted to control the world and continue to do so, including by nefarious means.
My Comment which was a Pro-Zionist Comment was either deletedby YOuTube or I guess whoever posted this Video which I assume to either Rabbi Zauzmer or Park Avenue Synagogue What I said was that back in the Vietnam War Era- Columbia U were singing- "All We are Asking is to Give Peace a Chance." Now Columbia U Students are singing- "All WE are Asking is to Kill all The Jews.: Some Dark Humor in my Comment, but I think a Worthwhile comment.
I see lots of "beautifully stated" posts. I get it, people want to stay positive and this rabbi is well meaning and says a lot of nice things, but my primary thought is that this was a dull, milquetoast sermon borne from incredible naivete and lacking in inspiration. Nothing the rabbi said is new. It was the stuff of what one might write in a newspaper opinion piece, but it is not grounded in reality. This rabbi lives in a sunshine and lollipops world where the Jewish student would be able to remember to ask all these questions and the pro-Hamas student would actually sit there and listen with an open mind. Ain't happening. What the student would get is immediate pushback (if the other person sat down with them at all) and if the student is not completely schooled on the history of the region and the conflict from 3,000 years ago to the present (and I mean about everything), then he/she would be unable to respond to questions (assuming that the other person even asked any) that no doubt would be grounded in ignorance. She would fall into the trap of "I don't want Palestinians to die either" trope that people think they have to say, but when you express concern for Palestinians, the other person takes it as an admission that Israel is and has been committing atrocities. This is not a time to be conciliatory. It is a time to be factual. The rabbi's advice should have been this -- your "friends" are obviously easily manipulated and they likely were already predisposed to dislike and/or distrust Jews before October 7. The Jewish friends who have joined in this obviously are only Jews in name, but not in heart or spirit, and are nothing more than radical social justice warriors who only THINK they care about the Palestinian people because "that's what good people do" and "I'm a good person, aren't I?" The only thing to do is to cut off ties with all of these people. Move on with more knowledge about human nature and find peers who are more open minded and less easy to manipulate. You now have the tools to do that. Perhaps with the passage of time, the former friends will change their minds and their hearts and will try to re-enter your life, whether it's next week, next year or 5 years from now. If that happens, it will be your choice whether to let them back in.
Bernie Sanders is the conscience of the Congress. He will not be corrupted. He took a lot of heat from many supporters when he initially refused to support a cease fire because he said you cannot negotiate with terrorists like Hamas. But he modified the ceasefire proposal as evidence kept piling up confirming hostages weren't being freed but tens of thousands of Palestinian children were being killed with American bombs instead.
what a depressing, condescending and inane “dvar torah” utterly lacking in substance- the students (many of them proud and engaged Jews) are in fact quite well-informed, critical thinkers and know way more about “the facts” than this so-called rabbi
‘If every single Jew born anywhere in the world has the right to become an Israeli citizen, then all the Palestinians who were chucked out of Palestine by the Zionist Government should have the same right, very simple.’ Tariq Ali
You can be a leader in the Shul, but the kippah is a bit funny looking. Women don't wear kippahs because they are more spiritually attuned and don't need to have the reminder that G-d is always present.
past student protests were right on Vietnam and South African apartheid but only time will tell if they are right on this protest on the Israeli government.
So were some of this student's ( former?) protestor friends Jewish? Sorry if that was addressed later by the Rabbi, but I thought that should have been mentioned in the beginning, one way or another, since she said he said he felt " isolated" as a Jewish person because of the demonstration. At Columbia Jewish student protestors held inclusive Seders at the protest site.
Jews are some of the best scholars, representing 20% of Nobel Prize winners while only 2% of the population in some countries. Universities are devaluing their scholastic standing by not only tolerating bigotry against Jews but also fostering an environment of ignorance where disinformation has been accepted to the point that there are people who believe the Hamas disinformation that Israelis and Palestinians aren't all part of the same family, divided only by those who seek power through using hatred of Jews and keeping heading from taking place.
I think Rudy Rochman and Noa Tishby are some constructive voices with knowledge needed in the discussion, and it won't be known as long as people refuse to learn the facts and history which serves the entire region, except the terrorists and Iran which only serve their desire for power and violence.
Well said Rabbi, yet I agree with you on staying apart from those who think differently from me how therefore would you reconcile tje statement, You shall Love the Lord your God with your whole Heart mind and Soul & you shall live your neighbors as yourself. And that Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you , bless those who curse you. Knowing that as a nation you are faced with an enemy who doesn't care for you or your neighbors. That the path of Righteousness is only ( more than ) a Just war as Israel is only a Nation. Then where is Mercy . For Mercy triumphs over Justice . Of course I'm a Catholic. Praying for Israel .😊
The Rabbi apparently doesn't watch Tik Tok where Gaza genocide and ethnic cleansing is being livestream. Students are joining the anti-war and ceasefire NOW after watching this. The Rabbi is clueless. That's the reason the number of Jewish students joining the pro-palestinian demonstrators are increasing by the hour. The Rabbi lives in an alternate reality
Jews suffered persecution in the hands of Romans, Inquisitors, Crusaders, pompoms, Holocaust, not to mention the second class civita treatment they alway had during the Diaspora, when the were 'Dhimmis', in Muslim lands. Those are historical facts, not artificial or subjective constructs like Identity politics narratives. On the other hand, Islamic terrorists have no credibility, neither do wokesters preaching 'intersectionality'. Intersectionality is all a bout 'victim cosplay' PS: The Hamas/wokseter alliance has even less credibility than the two separately.
@@paulsutherland1475 I know ideological, cultist robots when I read there words, and I am addressing one right now. Listen to your own words, just internet woke bullet points and rhetoric, no facts, just Hamas propaganda, look at yourself in the mirror and try to develop some unbiased insight and self-awareness.
@@ECKohns hello Israeli jew here , according to the laws according to which the Jew is commanded to behave, established by the Torah or by the rabbis the Lord gave a man 613 commandments and a woman only 3, only men are allowed to wear a kippah and the golden cloth she wears on her clothes is called a tallit, according to the religion it is only allowed for men to be rabbis, in Israel in all streams of the Jewish religion this women a taboo , I think everyone can believe what they want, just sharing from my point of view that all my life I was used to seeing a specific item of clothing that is a specific religious symbol which only men wear and then seeing a woman wearing it, it makes me cringe but I respect and don't think they are any less Jewish than me
Be kind. Especially now. And let's not create a chillul Hashem.... She may never be YOUR Rav, or mine, but right now, those of us with good intentions need to stick together!
There's no Hamas in the West Bank. Why are you stealing land over there?? "A jew will always tell you what happened to him but never why!!" -Russian Proverb
