Kooksmaxxing

0:00Chaya La, question for you. Do you have a cowboy hat and cowboy boots? Not yet, but I think I'm gonna go get some. You're gonna go get some- Mm-hmm... because we are doing a live show in Wyoming. This is our first live show. Yeah. Uh, super, super exciting. Why Wyoming, you ask? Because they're a Jackson Hole Jewish Community invited us, and they're wonderful. And it's not just gonna be us, in case you're like, "Well, I'm not going to Wyoming for you, El and Chaya La, but I would go for Nadav Eyal- [laughs]... of the Call Me Back podcast." So it is gonna be the three- Mm...

0:32of us. We're gonna be interviewing him. Uh, it's August 10th, uh, and we really, really hope, uh, you can join us there. Um, it's going to be part of the Jackson Hole Jewish Community Forum on Israel and changing the world. It's gonna be super interface too. Yeah. So, you know, we love our, our interface stuff. Um, so if you want to join us there, go to, and we'll put links to this, jhjewishcommunity.org. Get your tickets, uh, August 10th. It will also be live streamed- Right... so don't worry about missing it.

1:01But Chaya La really wants to go line dancing with everyone. [laughs] Can you imagine me- Right... line dancing? I c- I... Not only can I imagine you, I'm going to see it and take videos of it. [laughs] Oh my God. This is gonna be quite an adventure, the two of us in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. So I hope you guys can join. I cannot wait. August 10th. Thank you to the Jackson Hole, uh, Jewish community for hosting us, and we'll see you there. On with the show. [upbeat music] Hi, welcome back to Ask A Jew.

1:36We're a secular sinful Israeli speaks to your holy religious friend. I'm Yael with Chaya La. We are the clavicular and Ro Khanna of Judaism. [laughs] Oh my God. Both VIPs currently in the Holy Land. Ew, ew, ew. Uh, ew, ew, ew. The, this clavicular thing is, if you don't know who that is, first of all, I'm jealous for you. Mazel tov. I know Mazel tov. Mazel tov. He's some, like, rando streamer, like, who loves Hitler and loves- Ugh... like, like putting, like, like knocking a hammer on his jawline to make it look more like chiseled. [laughs] He's, like, looksmaxing.

2:11He's into looksmaxing. Um, which I'm also- I mean... sad that I know what that means. I know. Uh, and he's in Israel now 'cause some... Your people brought him here. No. Yes. Don't say my people. Your people. Who, who? Oh, my God. The Chabad people. No? No. One person, I think brought him. Oh, okay. It's definitely not Chabad. Chabad did not bring him to Israel. Okay. Maybe a Chabad person brought him, but definitely not Chabad. Okay. Is he Jewish? I don't get it. I don't know, but it's stupid, and we don't need this right now.

2:42And also, I was just watching on the news, [laughs] just watching the news here, 'cause I'm still in Israel, and they were interviewing a bar owner who kicked him out yesterday. [laughs] Oh, well, that's good. I was like, "Okay, that's nice." [laughs] It's kind of embarrassing. I find the whole thing kind of embarrassing. It's embarrassing, and also nobody here gives a crap. I cannot stress this enough. I know. Like, that- Right... bar owner was the first thing I saw about it in the news. Yeah.

3:01Like, I've saw, like, little snippets of it, but, like, I cannot stress how much the state of Israel on its whole does not care about this person being here. He reminds me of, like... [smacks lips] You know what clavi- Is... What's his name? Clavicular going to Israel- Yeah... is like imagine a very, like, deathly ill person who's, like, suffering with, like, d- I don't know, stage four cancer- Mm-hmm... and they get a hemorrhoid. You know? Yeah.

3:27[laughs] Like, you have this stupid other thing happening. We're the deathly ill person, Israel? No, like, Israel has all these issues, okay? Yeah. Enough issues, and you don't need this hemorrhoid of a human being clavicular showing up and causing issues. Like, we have our own- Yes... problems. He is a human hemorrhoid in my opinion. Yeah. That's, that's all I'm saying. Yeah. I agree with that. And Ro Khanna, a member of Congress, I saw... We have this chat. Yael and I are in a chat with a bunch of our friends. Actually, I love that chat so much.

3:55And someone wrote, our friend Leslie wrote, "Does he know, does Ro Khanna know, or do these congressmen know who they represent?" Right? 'Cause why is this California congressman- Yeah... in the West Bank pretending that he's doing some kind of diplomacy? So- We need to get the, that antisemitic vote. Exactly. [laughs] It's pretty, pretty hot vote right now. So, so Leslie wrote, "Do these congressmen know who they represent?" [laughs] So our friend Jordan wrote, "Ro Khanna, D, Ramallah." Yeah. [laughs] He's a Democrat representing Ramallah.

4:25I couldn't stop laughing for five minutes. Well, I wanna congratulate him, mazel tov, to Ro Khanna, 'cause he got exactly what he came for. Oh, exactly. He got his photo op. Exactly. He got- Piece of shit... you know. Like, uh, somebody... I heard once somebody call this kind of stuff, um, tourist activism. Yeah. Because they know that they can come here, and they can get a photo op of them being attacked, quote, unquote, and we'll talk- Mm-hmm...

4:48uh, we'll say what that was in a minute, and then be like, you know, "Help, I'm in danger." And n- nothing will happen to them because they are in a democratic country, and, uh, it's just so stupid. Yeah. So if you haven't heard, Ro Khanna posted the other day that he was, uh, illegally detained by settlers with American guns. And sorry that Americans make the best guns. Like, where do you want us- Uh-huh... to buy our guns from? China? And by the way, half of Israel walks around with guns. That's like- Yeah... yeah. Um, and then the IDF came and sided with the t- with the, with the settlers and- Yeah...

5:24you know, and, and, and- And removed him... and I'll talk ab- oh, and I'll be talking about this with Hassan Piker soon, because, of course, Hassan Piker- [laughs]... is who I want to talk to about this, who... the guy who said he, he thinks, prefers Hamas to the Israeli government. I would've been happy if the IDF took him, held... Like, they should have literally picked him up o- over their shoulders, two hefty IDF soldiers, and literally drove him to the Mediterranean Sea and dropped him off in the water and said, "You are no longer welcome on Israel soil. Have a good life."

5:55No, that would've been worse. No, I wish they did that. That would've been much, much worse. But- No, he came there to embarrass Israel... but here's- He doesn't deserve to be there. He's disgusting... here's, here's what happened really Uh, and, and y- you know, I've spoken about these... I, and I don't know who these settlers weres, were, and I have no problem with settlers in general, but there are a group of settlers that are, I don't know what the technical term is, I don't wanna offend anyone, but fucking shitheads. Fine. And they're the ones that go out and, like, burn, you know, a Palestinian shop or, like, start shit with their neighbors or maybe they're retaliating- That wasn't this...

6:34for something that their neighbors did to them. What? That wasn't this. That wasn't this. No. And, and by the way, those people should all be in jail, and a lot of them are being arrested. Well, they should get arrested. Right. A lot of them are being arrested. I know the p- my, my... I don't wanna, like, speak out of turn because, but I was t- speaking to my niece the other day who works for the police, and she was telling me about a case that they're working on and, you know, that has to do with a- Mm...

6:53with a Palestinian victim and an Israeli settler, right? So- Yes. There's no, there's no-... you can argue that not enough is being done. Um, but this, that ain't it as- Mm-hmm... what happened. And, and this is also pissing me off because of my experience in law enforcement, where people don't know what they're looking at when they're looking at something. Right. So he said that settlers detained him, and then the IDF came and sided with the settlers. And I'm like, "Okay, so they detained you, too?" Oh, no, no. They sent the settlers on their way, right? Right.

7:25So nobody sided with anybody here. You were on somebody else's land. You were in a, a, I think it was, um, and I was reading something about it- It was a closed area... in Ar. You're in a closed military area. A military area, yeah. There was body, the f- the officers were wearing body cameras, 'cause p- the police arrived too in addition to the IDF. They told the guy who was leading you that they have warned him multiple times, because the guy who was leading you knew exactly what he was doing. He knew that it was cau- cause of provocation.

7:53That's why he took you there, so you were being played too- Exactly... Representative Khanna, unless, you know, you probably knew this was gonna happen. He also knew. Yeah. And everybody got sent on their way. So how, it, you know... Again, this is great for him, 'cause he gets his photo op. But, like, I'm not entirely sure what happened here except you encountered some assholes, and the- Yeah... government came in and protected you. Yeah. Like, what, what's the story? I'd like to see what happens if someone would go actually into Ro Khanna's house- Hmm... to check out the situation, how they would be treated.

8:32Would people with guns show up and detain them and hold them and say, "You're not welcome here," and move, remove them from Ro Khanna's house? Yeah. Like, I hate this guy so much. I hate this whole story. But you know what? It's just another example of let's try and make Israel look as bad as possible while trying to win votes with stupid people. Yeah, and look, I- And it's just so boring already. It's so boring. Enough... I could not be more clear on how little sympathy I have for some of these people, but I hate the fact that we all know what's being done here. The media- Yeah...

9:07and Khanna and all his friends are trying to paint me, they're trying to say Yael is also like this, 'cause we're all settlers, right? Yeah. We're all settlers. Exactly. Yeah. Um, and that's very annoying, and please stop, because I'm tired of having to be mad all the time. Yeah. I wish Clavicular and Ro Khanna would just go home. Yes. They should just go back to America and b- stop bothering Jews in Israeli- Or if they want- By the way, we shouldn't-... I can take him to the site of the Nova massacre. I can take him to a lot of- Exactly...

9:35really interesting places that- Exactly. Uh, oh, I read, I read- Mm-hmm... actually, I think this is pretty confirmed with good sources, that the hostage families and hostages themselves, uh, were, uh, reached out to meet with Ro Khanna, and he did not agree to meet with them. So he- Yeah, well, instead he went to meet- So is that their-... with, you know, the mayor of Hebron or something who was like- Yeah, exactly... supports October 7th. Who killed people. Yeah.

9:59So anyway, all we're asking for our listeners is to just be smart and don't believe- Yeah... anything, everything you see. And it doesn't mean, if you're calling Ro Khanna out on his bullshit, it doesn't mean that you support the settlers. It just means that you're smarter- Yeah... than everybody else reading this. Exactly. Um, but I was- By the way, we should mention, we should mention that Lindsey Graham, the senator- I know... passed away last night, and I know a lot of people disagreed with him and were, you know, he was very conservative Republican, but he was a very, very good friend to Israel. Yeah. And I feel like it's in, it's, it's...

10:35I, I feel personally, even though I disagreed with him on some of his politics, but I really appreciated the way he stood by Israel through thick and thin, and- I was, uh, listening-... he's gonna be a big loss for us... I was listening to Barak Ravid now on the news, and, you know, Barak Ravid is a, is a, is a, a reporter for Axios, I think. Hmm. Um, and, but he, he's Israeli and, and nobody can accuse a Barak Ravid of being right-wing. Yeah, exactly. Um, you know. And he was talking, first of all, he had tears in his eyes. Oh. He said, like, "This guy was a really good friend of mine." Oh. And he said something really beautiful.

11:08He said he didn't love, he wasn't pro-Israel. He loved Israelis. Yeah. He loved the culture. He knew the culture. He said he had a great sense of humor, that he was very self-deprecating, and I was like... You know? Wow. That's sad. Pour, pour one out for, for Lindsey. Meghan McCain, Meghan McCain was posting some stuff b- about her dad and Joe Lieberman and, and Lindsey Graham. I guess the three of them- Yeah... were good friends. And, you know, obviously Joe Lieberman was a Democrat, and, um, uh, McCain, John McCain and, and Lindsey Graham were Republicans.

11:40But it just made me so sad that we just don't have that kind of- Yeah, we don't have that anymore... like, we just don't have that anymore, you know? We have s- a bunch of f- freaks. And the conspiracy theories are already starting, you know? I'm sure- I know... I tweeted something, like, maybe it was a little in poor taste, but I like, "Oh, Candace Owens is probably gonna find out that he, like, said something not nice once about Benjamin Netanyahu." Oh, God.

12:01That's a whole nother... Okay, we have to, w- I wanna talk about personal stuff, like wedding- Okay, let's talk about personal stuff... and, and, but wait, but should we first deal with all the po- Like, we should talk about Graham Platter. We ta- No, we shouldn't. We should not talk about- No, we don't, we shouldn't... Graham Platter. There's nothing to say about Graham Platter. He's a shithead. And everybody's a shithead. [laughs] And everybody should just- That's a, that's a summary... yeah. That's the summary. Yeah.

12:22I'm sorry for Chaya Lad's mother who's listening when I swear. I know Chaya Lad doesn't like it either. Oh, yeah. But some people are such shitheads. Like, I don't know Chaya Lad's mother. Like, I don't know what you would call Graham Plattner. What would she call him? A putz with earmuffs. A putz. That's what- A putz with earmuffs? That's what my grandfather used- No, that sounds too cute. That makes him look cute... my grandfather used to call people putz with earmuffs. [laughs] Do you know what a putz is? What did you say to me?

12:44Yeah, but you said to me something funny that your grandpa used to say when you were in New York. I forgot what it was, but it was also like a curse. He had so many good sayings. He had so many good sayings. Yeah. He used to say about people, "They're so cheap they wouldn't pay a nickel to watch the Statue of Liberty take a leak." You know? [laughs] He, he always had these- [laughs] I love that. I love that. He was so funny. Um, yeah. Um. I, I- Anyway... but, um, okay. So personal life, so, um- Okay. You're in Israel... personal, I'm in Israel... how is, how is it? It is hot. Um, it is lovely.

13:18People are pretty depressed about the political situation. Mm-hmm. Everybody's like, "Are we, are we at war with Iran? Are we not at war with Iran? Are we on a break? Like, what's going on?" Right. The politics is all-consuming. Yeah. Um, it's really... People are very on edge about the election. Um, I gotta tell you, the Haredi thing is front and center. Yeah. The Haredi draft. Yeah. Um, the issue of, of some ultra-Orthodox, um, not willing to, uh, join the IDF and, and, uh, they're trying to pass a bill now that really got watered down thankfully, but they're trying to pass a bill that says that, basically kind of implies that studying Torah is, is, you know, a basic human right or something. Yeah. Um, so there's a lot. Some of the- There's just a lot of tension... some of the, um... I watched some of the hearing, like in the Knesset- Mm-hmm... um, fr- on that bill, and there were some really- You watched the soldiers? I watched some of the soldiers. I watched some of the families.

14:19And I mean, it ma- it actually made me cry. Like, I was crying at a certain point. It was sad. Um, and it made me angry, and it made me embarrassed, and it made me feel frustrated. Um, and, look, I, I- What did you watch? Like, what did you... Describe to the listeners... I... Well, you know, part, w- one of the things that was being said was, you know, people... Like, "We sacrifice so much for this country. My son was killed," or, "My husband hasn't been home for three years." Or, you know, all this kinda stuff, and, you know, "Why are we even debating this?

14:51Why is this even a thing? Everybody has to give. Everybody in the country has to serve. It's not fair," you know? And it's an argument that's really hard to, um, to argue against. I don't, I don't- Yeah... I don't have a n- a good argument against it. Um, I... But, on the other hand, just not, not against that argument, I also hate to dehumanize an entire group of people, and I hate to, like, say that all Haredim are the same. Mm-hmm. Because obviously they're not.

15:17I have two nephews currently serving in the IDF, so it's not like no Haredi are serving, and I h- I just hate that it's a political issue. And I would just say one thing, and not to make a long Torah, like, explanation here, but what I would like to say to my people, right, like, to the ultra-Orthodox, I would love to say, like, we just literally read in the Torah yesterday in shul. It's a... We're recording on Sunday. Yesterday's Torah reading was the end of the book of Numbers, the end of the book of Bamidbar, and it talks about how when the Jews were coming out of the desert going into the land of Israel, um, two of the tri- You know, they were gonna have to fight wars when they crossed the Jordan River because the land was- Mm-hmm...

15:58there were people living there, and they were gonna fight the wars, and then they were gonna settle the land. But there were two tribes, the tribes of Reuven and Gad, who asked Moses if they could stay on the other side of the Jordan, on the eastern side, which would be, like, what is Jordan today, right? Mm-hmm. And Moses was like, he was upset that they asked, but he said, "Okay." The reason they wanted to stay there was because there was good land for grazing their cattle, and they had a lot of cattle.

16:21Anyway, he said, "Okay, but you have to fight the wars with your, with your brothers. You can't... You know, your responsibility is to your brothers." And they were like, "Of course. Not only are we gonna fight the wars, we're gonna lead the battles," whatever. So the idea was, like, even if you don't live in the land, you're still gonna be responsible for the wars. And I'm thinking, like, how, what argument could you make? You live in the land and you're asking not to participate in the war. How could you? Like, read the Torah. How could you ask that?

16:50I'm taking it even a step further and saying, like, for myself, as a Jew in the diaspora who doesn't live, what is my responsibility, right? When Israel's at war, what is my responsibility? I can't just sit back here and be like, "Oh, it's their problem. It's not my..." It's my problem too. Even though I'm an American, a proud American. But what goes on there, it is, it, it is part of my responsibility, and I see it directly from the Torah reading yesterday. And so I just don't understand.

17:15I can't, I can't wrap my head around the communities who think that they are beyond this idea of serving. I just... I can't, I can't explain it. And it's really, it comes down to a leadership issue, and it's... I don't know. Maybe it's gonna be a new generation of people coming a- ahead that can change things, but it's very, very sad. It really- Yeah... breaks my heart. It really does. It is. It is sad. Uh, it's causing a lot of tension here. I think it's gonna be the leading, um, issue- Yeah... in the, in the elections. I agree. Yeah. Um, I hear that from people I, I talk to. Um, one of the most, you know...

17:55Uh, uh, there was a, uh, some soldiers with PTSD who went to address the, the committee and, um, they were getting in the faces of the, the Haredi, uh, ministers and Knesset members and yelling at them, and one of them lifted up his shirt and said- Mm... "I wear a tzitzit too," you know, the, the- Yeah. I saw that... the Orthodox undergarment. And he's like, "I," you know- And to me- Yeah, because-... it's like I, you know what- A lot of religious people serve.

18:20I want people to understand. There's an entire- No, no, of course... a vast, you know, uh, all the Dathi Lumi, the modern Orthodox, the Isra- I mean, they're all serving 100%, so i- it's- Yeah... it's a, it's a particular community. And look, I don't even, uh, you know what? I, I don't even need them all to serve. Exactly. In fact, a lot of times when they serve it causes more problems. Now there's an issue- Exactly... with one of the tank units where there's a Haredi tank unit and they don't want women there. And I was like- Right... "Well, like, you can't, that doesn't happen." Just- Right...

18:47you don't get money. Like, that- That's right. There are people- That's right... there are people who have been serving 300 days a year of reserve duty. Yeah, yeah. And they don't have money, and their businesses are decimated- Right... and- Right... it's tough. But, uh, you know, to your point- I fully-... of, like, I, I know a lot of people who w- in Israel, who when they see a, an Orthodox person, not a person with a yamaka, like just an, a real Orthodox person, they have, like, a real negative reaction. Yeah.

19:13And it's, you know, it's just very deep and it's very sad, but the big thing now is, you know, who's gonna win the elections and who can form a government without the Orthodox and without the- Right... Arab parties. Right. And I know, I, I can already see the New York Times headlines and all that, of like, you know, all the candidates say they don't want to form a party with the Arabs, like it's racist. I'm like- I know... it's, first of all, it, it's not racist. You have Arab parties. Some of them are, have very, you know, good people in them, but, but some of them are, are part of a group that we are currently at war with.

19:52And having- Right... them sit in the government and vote on war- Yeah... related issues is a huge problem. Problematic, yeah. Yeah. Um, but, but the Har- but the thing of, like, the, the number one thing is, like, who will have a government without the Haredis, without Ben-Gvir, and just- Yeah... uh, you know, there's a lot of junk right now in politics, very similar to America. Yeah. A lot of people who have no business being in top government officials, like- Yeah...

20:20you know, almost like in the US, like these stupid influencers or people who can, like, barely read and write and all of a sudden they get these, like, jobs. Like, we just- Yeah... need to stop. We don't have, we can't afford any of this nonsense. Like, we need- I saw-... everybody to know what they're doing. Yeah, 100%. And Ben-Gvir is a whole separate issue, not a Haredi issue. It's a totally- No... different issue. But- Yeah, it's more of a rot- That's it... like a moral rot. That's it, yeah. I, I saw an interesting exchange online. I'm curious what you think of this.

20:45Somebody was writing, I'm not gonna say names because I'm gonna get in trouble, but somebody posted on their Facebook that they were at the Shuk in, uh, Jerusalem, and they saw Ben-Gvir with his goons marching through the Shuk and blah, blah, blah. Mm-hmm. And he wrote a very disparaging. So someone wrote, in a comment, wrote, "Actually, those are not goons. Those are his security for-" They're, like, literally regular Israeli security. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

21:08He's a minister, so he has, like, Shin Bet or whatever, you know. Yeah, yeah, of course. He's saying, but like- Security. Like, no, they're not goo- Like, and so he got really upset. He's like, "You know what I mean." And I thought it was a really interesting exchange for a second, 'cause I was like, how true, like you see Ben-Gvir walking through with, you know, his security detail. Those guys are not there to agitate anyone. They're not there- Yeah... to bother anyone. They're doing their job. Like, I wouldn't blame them for what Ben-Gvir does. He's an asshole, they're not. Like, I don't know. Yeah.

21:36I, I just thought that was an interesting exchange. Yeah. Although- But-... I'm sure he probably had goons too with him. Yeah, he could have. Um- That's true. That's true. You know, he, he- But he had security for sure, and those guys- He has... I don't, I feel for them... security is security. You don't have to like the guy. Yeah. Not everybody that, in the Secret Service- Exactly... voted for Donald Trump, you know? Um- I know... but I'll say- I mean, Ilhan Omar probably has security. I don't blame them. I feel bad for them. I know. That's funny. Anyway. I never thought of that. I mean, yeah. Yeah.

22:00I hope they gossip about her all the time behind her back. Um, okay, well, I'll say one more thing about my trip, and then we'll, we'll talk about your, your week. But, um- Okay... we have, uh, I have some, some friends in town. One, one of them's a listener to the show. Um, and I took them, uh, down to, uh, there's three of them. I took them down to the Nova site, which is my third time. Mm. It's always beautiful, and we went to Sderot, and, um, you know, they, they kept, um... We went to get, like, shawarma somewhere in Sderot, which is a, a city that was really, you know, in- invaded.

22:33If, if anybody remembers some of the first- Yeah... photos of, of, um, Hamas, like, uh, trucks going through an Israeli city, um, that was Sderot. Yeah. And, um- And they've been subjected to rockets from Hamas for years. It's not new. For years. This is- For, for, for decades... deferred for years. Decades. Okay, yeah. Um, so it's a really, it, it's an amazing town with amazing people, but it's really been through a lot, and, um. But d- but, like, two small stories that I'll tell you.

23:00So we went, um, we, we had shawarma at a very, like, local, local spot. Yeah. And, and our friends were telling me, like, you know, were asking me, like, "Were people here on October 7th?" Like, "Can you ask them?" Mm. So there was, like, a guy sitting with his son who was, like, maybe 9 or 10, and so we just started chatting with them, and I was like, "Were you guys here on October 7th?" And the guy was like, "Yeah, my brother-in-law was killed." Um- Mm... and then he was like, "I, I wanted to go out and fight, but my son wouldn't let me." Mm. Wow.

23:27And, um, and I asked the son in Hebrew, I said, like, you know, "Oh, you, you were afraid of, for daddy, like, to go out?" And the kid was like... And you know kids that age, how they're kind of like- Mm... they're, they're already starting to be annoying at that age. Yeah. He had, like, blonde tips in his hair. [laughs] And he probably, like, likes Clavicular or something. I don't know. They're, they're like, they're, they're annoying, like, 9, 10-year-olds. Yeah.

23:48And all of a sudden he, like, became a little kid, and he was like, "Yeah, you know," because he had, and he makes, like, a sign with his hand, and he's like, "Yes, because Daddy only had a little gun, and they had big guns." Oh. And I'm like, why does a little kid- I-... who was, like, 7 at the time need to even think about that stuff? I know. I know. Oh. Um, and then the other thing that happened is we stopped at, uh, Nativa Sarra, which is, uh, a com- beautiful, beautiful community that was actually founded in the Sinai Peninsula. Mm.

24:17Uh, and then when Israel returned the Sinai to Egypt, they took the entire... community as is and moved it back into Israel. Um, and they call, them call themselves, like, The Pathway to Peace. Like- Mm... they're a very peaceful community. And we sat with, we went to a coffee sh- a little coffee place, and I spoke to the, the manager who's 20 years old, and she was explaining to us about, you know, the coffee shop, and they grow corn there, and they grow raspberries.

24:42And, um, I asked her, like, you know, "Oh, so you're 20. You're in the army?" She's like, "Yeah, I just got released." I'm like, "What did you do in the army?" She's like, "I used to drive a Hummer- [laughs] -and train soldiers- That's so cool... on, like... Which is crazy to me. Yeah. Um, and then she said she was there on October 7th. She didn't, um, give any information, but, you know, she was- said it was... She was there. It was t- it was bad, and know, knows a lot of people who were killed. And, um, and but then she said, like, our friends asked her, like, "Do you wanna stay here?" And she's like, "Oh, yeah, I'm definitely gonna, like, raise my kids here." Wow.

25:13And they also asked her if she thinks this could happen again, and she said, "Absolutely." Wow. Um, and just- Really... so that happened about a few days ago, and just now, my father had a friend over from that, from Netiv HaAsara, from that town. So I told him, I'm like, "Oh, we went to this coffee shop. We spoke to this cute soldier, or, like, woman who was a soldier, and she's 20." And he's like, "Yeah, her, her father and uncle were both murdered on October 7th." Oh my gosh. "They were both protecting the community."

25:39Oh my gosh. You know, I've, I've taken many students to Netiv HaAsara, actually, because- Yeah, it's really nice... one of the things they do there is they have a wall. Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. I don't know if you saw it with your group, but they have a wall that you come and you paint, uh, little butterfly things- Mm-hmm... and then you stick... It's a wall of peace, and it, it backs up to Gaza. And so every ti- I used to take my students there every trip 'cause we would get a tour, and they would show us, you know, the way they live there, and then we would do these, they paint these things and put it on the wall of peace there.

26:09And- Yeah... it's just ironic how devastated- Yeah... they were on October 7th. But- It... And yeah. Another thing this guy told us, just this all just happened like an hour ago. He said that one of the terrorists that was killed had written on his arm the names and houses of every person that lived there. Wow. Wow. Of, like, on the block. Wow. And, and they said that- Oh my God... they had, um... And, and they're like, "Oh, we know why." And he gave me the name of the guy. He said, "This guy worked for us for 30 years doing construction, and he built..." He's like, "He built my son's house.

26:39He built this." And he gave Hamas all these names. Now, my father's friend was like, "I don't know if he wanted to give it to them or if- Yeah... Hamas threatened him." Forced him. But just how fucking- That's the painful reality that is in the- Yeah... reality. And then there's a headline in The New York Times or in New Yorker about how it's hard for Palestinians to find jobs in Israel. Yeah. And I wonder why. I know. I wonder. I know. Yeah. There's a mystery. It's a- Yeah... mystery. A mystery. You know, another Israeli-related story, but actually a positive one. Okay. La- You...

27:08I, so I s- I, like I said before, we're recording this on S- We should be like Dan Senor and announce the date and time of when we're- Yeah... recording We're recording this- It's, uh-... on March 4th- It's Sunday. If I knew the date... 2023. [laughs] Yeah. It would be nice if I knew the date. I know it's July 'cause it's my birthday month, but that's all I know. It's July 2026, and it's a Sunday. But- Isn't your birthday in August? No. Wow. Oh. Wow. Wow. How am I gonna do, how am I gonna outdo my gift this year? My birthday is... Oh, I know. And now he's single. Anyway.

27:37[laughs] But, uh, they said that- Last year I gave Chaya La a cameo from, uh, from, uh, Michael from Love on the Spectrum. Not Michael. No, I have a good idea this time. David. Uh, David. I have a good idea- Anyway... this time, actually. So- Okay... getting back to this Israel piece, so Friday night, just two days ago, I hosted the Israeli Olympic sailing team for Shabbat dinner. Of course you did. And it wa- it was so cute. I see. So there were, like, 16 of them or whatever. I don't remember how many. But, and it was mixed men and women. And there was a gold medal winner 'cause the Israeli won the- Yeah... his name is Tom. He won- What's his...

28:10Well- Tom. His name is Tom. He won in Paris. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Young, a really young guy. Yes. He was here. He won the gold medal- Oh... in Paris, in wind- in, uh, windsurfing. Yeah. And then there was a girl who won a silver medal in Paris. Wow. And then there was another guy, Shahar, who won the bronze in Beijing. He's a coach now. Wow. So we had a gold, silver, and bronze medal winners from the Olympics. It was so cute. Did they bring their medals? They were so love- Uh, the first thing I said to Tom was, "Ha..." I hope his name is Tom. I think it is.

28:39I'm like, "How are you not walking... I would never take it off. If I won a gold medal, it would come with me every single place I went. How are you not wearing it?" He said, "Actually, after a few days, you realize it's really heavy and annoying." [laughs] I'm like, "So where is it?" He's like, "In a drawer in my house." I'm like, "What?" Oh, no. "I would make it in a huge box. It would be outside my house in a mom- on a stand in a memo-" "What do you mean?" He was laughing. I met a- He's like- I met a ju- judoka, a, a, in Baale Nia who won silver in Paris in New York. Yeah.

29:08And she had her medal on her, and it was so adorable. She did? And she let us all wear it. It's so cute. Yeah. It was very cute. That's so cute. But they're so nice and sweet, and they were so happy. And you know, we just sat around Friday night, and I had a bunch of other people there. In fact, it was interesting. I had three Israeli fighter pilots who are here- Ooh... doing God knows what. Were they cute? They were... So two of them were very handsome, very tall, very mysterious, you know, and whatever. And then the third was this adorable little woman, like a girl- Mm... a young girl. Yeah. And she's their commander.

29:43Of course she is. She was their commander. Oh. [laughs] It was really cute. But you know, when we took a picture, they would not be in the picture. Like, we took s- Mm-hmm... a picture before Shabbat started. Yeah, yeah. Um, they declined to be in the picture. And, you know, when we asked them what they're doing here, I think the story was a little, uh, it was a little made-up story. I mean, training- But whatever... there's a lot of trainings- Therapies... and a lot of bases. Yeah, they were- Whatever. But it was really, I really enjoyed having them. And we had, like, a bunch of other people. There was, like, 35 people total.

30:08And I just, I said to the J- the Israelis, I'm like, "You just, I want you, the only thing I want you to know is that you're not alone. Like, you live in a place where you feel isolated, and, like, the world is against you, and you just have to know that, like, sitting here around this table in Long Beach, California, are people who love you, support you, care for you, cry with you, laugh with you. And, like, when you get up on this podium and have your Israeli flag, it, d- I cry every time." I said, "We are with you 100%." And I, I hope that they felt it. I think they did. They were all...

30:39They wanna hang out with me more, so that was nice. Yeah, I know. [laughs] They want, do they wanna take you on a ride now? They do. They want- If you had to choose between riding in the F-15 or- Oh, man... riding with the, on the, on the windsurf with the guy- Oh, man... what are you picking? Oh, man. What are you picking? I don't know. That's a really hard question, but I would do both I don't know. [laughs] 'Cause the, the s- I mean, that- I mean, with the windsurfer-... that's a story... you'd have to, you'd have to hold onto him really tight. That's true. W- in the plane, you'd be shomer negiah.

31:07You don't have to touch him- [laughs]... which is probably what you prefer. [laughs] I'd still hold on tight. No, I'm just kidding. [laughs] Um, I don't know. Windsurfing sounds kinda scarier in a way. I feel like the planes are safer, no? I don't know. Yeah, I don't know. It depends on where they're going. Looking at your whole body flailing around in the windsurf... I can't even imagine. I would like to see you in a zero G, though. No. [laughs] I think that would be very funny.

31:30[laughs] But yeah, it was really nice, so I'm, I'm glad they were here, and, uh, it was a really good experience, and- Oh, that's so nice... all culturally- And how is the wedding planning going? Oh, my God. Wow. Are we invi- are all the listeners invited? You'll get, we'll send in the email. Everybody wants invited. The invitation. Yes. Yes, please. Um, it's going well. It's, it's interesting. I mean, because I'm the boy mom, I'm the mom of the, the gro- mom of the groom. Mm-hmm. I'm not doing as much as, obviously, my future daughter-in-law's mother, who's really taking care of everything.

31:59But it's fun to, like, be involved in, like, decisions, and the hardest thing right now is just finding a dress. I cannot begin to tell you- Mm... how stressful this is for me. That is stressful. I, I, I can't. And, like, not to make it, 'cause, like, I'm so excited and so happy, and everything is great, and this is a first-world problem, but if you know what I look like, my body was not created- [laughs]... in, like... Well, let me say it this way. The, the, the fashion houses don't design their dresses with me in mind. They're made- [laughs] It's not even my weight. That's one problem. It's really my height that's the issue.

32:33It's height over here. It's my height issue. I mean- Mm... the dresses I try on, I mean, the shoulders are by my elbows, okay? I, I don't even know where the waist is supposed to go. I don't, like... I'm not sure how it's supposed to work. They all, I, they're 10 feet too long on me. The whole thing is a mess, so I've been trying really hard. I'm, like, forcing myself to go shopping, which is one of my worst- Mm... things in the world. Um, and hopefully I'll find something. If not, I'm just gonna make from scratch, which is a whole 'nother- Do you have to go-... problem... okay, this is a weird question. Yeah.

33:02Do you go shop at a, like, Hasidic or Haredi store? Yeah. Or can you just go to a regular store? Okay, so that's a great question. It, there are many H- Hasidic store, like Orthodox Tsnius stores, I would say. Mm-hmm. But they're not here. Like, I'm in California. They don't have them here. Yeah. So the smart thing for me to do would be to fly to New York and shop at those stores because their dresses are made... I'm looking for a unicorn. I need a dress that fits me, in the right color for the wedding, and it has to be modest. Where am I finding that? What's the color? It's blue, any blues. Okay.

33:35So you've narrowed it down a little bit. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. So I know, but it's really hard. So I don't know. It, it would be smart for me to shop in the Jewish stores, but I'm not right now. Maybe I will. We'll see how far I get. Um, but yeah, it's fun. This whole process is so interesting. Like, you know, each side has to, like, buy certain things for the other, so it's, like, really cute. Like, they're shopping for their different things, and, you know, we buy- What are they buying? So, like, we have to b- obviously, as the boy, we have to buy her, her diamond ring- Mm-hmm...

34:06and her jewelry, and we have to get her sha- candlestick, silver candlesticks. And, uh, there's all these, like, little traditions. Like, we'll buy her, like, a, a leather... We actually got it last week, like, a leather, um, book of Psalms with her na- with her new name on it, like, her- Man... you know, the new last name. Oh, that's cute. And then their side, they buy a lot of stuff, too. Like, they're buying Shmully, like, um, his, a, a tallit, 'cause in our community we don't wear a tallit until the wedding.

34:32In some communities, you start at a bar mitzvah, but in, in the Hasidic world, only at your wedding. So a tallit and a new tallit bag and a gartel, which is, like, the s- the, um, they wear, like, a bel- a new belt over their- Not to be confused with a girdle... 'cause Shmully's gonna start... I know it's not a girdle. [laughs] But, um, Shmully's gonna start wearing, like, a long black coat now, 'cause till now- Mm-hmm... he wore just a regular suit.

34:56But now on Shabbat and holidays, after his wedding, he's gonna start wearing a long black coat. Oh, you can only wear that when you're married? Yeah, that's, like, a married- Oh... yeah. So he's shopping for that. Where are they gonna live? Do they have, like, a place? Yeah. I mean, they're gonna live in New York, and they're getting an apartment. And, I mean, they're normal, regular people, I hope. No, I know. Yeah. But, like, when are they gonna... Like, do they, are they in an apartment they're gonna move into, like, the day of the wedding? Like- Yeah... the day of the wedding? Well, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, exactly. Okay. Yeah.

35:22Yeah, it's very exciting. I mean, you buy everything from scratch, you know, dishes, ta... It's just fun. Yeah. But I mean, it's, it's fun. I mean, there's a little stress involved, but, like, it's just really nice. I'll, I'll tell you this. Well, I'm excited. Like, I know people have asked me, I've gotten a lot of messages, like, asking questions about how this all works. And, like- Mm-hmm... you know, uh, it's definitely interesting watching your child go through it, and I'm really, like, appreciating the process in a way that I don't know if I appreciated when I was going through it myself. Mm-hmm.

35:50But just seeing how they're being so supported, um, not just financially, but, I mean, obviously that's a piece of it, but also every step of the way, we are helping them set up their lives, right? Yeah. Like, every aspect of it is being supported by both sides of parents on the, and the grandparents, and the community, and everyone together, and that's the way that you can set kids up for success, you know? Not just say to people, "Go do it on your own." I mean, that's, it's nice to be able to do that. Yeah. And some people are really good at that.

36:20But, like, think about what we're doing for this couple who are, you know, 24 and 23. We're setting them up for a life, a full, hopefully beautiful, successful life. Not that, not that there aren't gonna be challenges or not. There, there aren't gonna be things that are difficult, but, like, they have an entire world around them who is there to, like, help support them, and I just- Yeah... it's, we're very lucky in that way. Does he have, does he have friends that are, have already gotten married? Yeah. Yeah, yeah, both of them, yes. So they're probably giving him, like, advice- Yeah...

36:49for the things that you aren't, you don't know about, like [laughs] Of course. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. I don't wanna deal with every part of this. I know. Yeah. I... No, and they'll ta- yeah, they ask their friends lots of advice and where to go for what and who to go to. You know, they, we take classes before the wedding. The bride and the groom separately take classes. So, like, I don't know. They ask our friends who to go to and how to do it and whatever. What do they teach? Um, the laws of marriage basically, because there's a lot... This is all new.

37:17Um, there's a lot of different laws about marriage and mikveh and, and intimacy and, you know- Mm-hmm... all this kind of stuff. And it's like coaching/learning the laws. You know what I mean? Oh, okay. Um, yeah Interesting. So it's like Torah, but also- Yeah, practical-... but also like how not to- Yeah... get in a fight and stuff. A little bit of that. Mostly it's like around like... Yeah, a little bit about that, but mostly it's around like the holiness of a marriage. 'Cause that's kind of how we approach it. It's like- Mm-hmm... this is the holiest day of their lives. It's like Yom Kippur.

37:51They actually do the Yom Kippur prayers that day, the bride- Really?... and groom. Like, yeah, it's the holiest day of your life. Um- Yeah... 'cause your soul has a massive transformation. Your soul trans- transforms three times in your life: the day you're born, when it comes into your body- Mm-hmm... the day you get married, when it merges with your spouse, and then the day you pass on. Wow. So this is like a top-three day, [laughs] right? Mm-hmm. Like three s- [laughs] So- I mean, I would say definitely better than death... better than the death, yeah. On par with the birth maybe? I don't know. Maybe.

38:23Something like that. I don't know. You don't really remem- I don't know... you're not really, you don't really have a say in the birth. I know. Better than the birth. It's more fun. Yeah. Like it's- More fun... gonna be a party. I don't know. Yeah. I don't know what it's like to be born. I don't remember. I know. I know. I don't think it was fun. I think I was crying most of the time. [laughs] [laughs] I was like, "Wait, was I born to a king and a queen so that I can be a princess?" [laughs] "Why am I in Brooklyn, New York? I was supposed to be born in London in fucking palace."

38:53[laughs] Well, at least they didn't make me Jewish. This is Oh. That would be bad. Wait. Yeah. [laughs] Oh, wait. What are the odds? I know. I can see you in the womb- [laughs]... asking ChatGPT, "What are the odds that I'm gonna be born Jewish?" And ChatGPT is like, "0.02%." You're like, "Oh, okay, good." [laughs] Very little chance. [laughs] And then I, and then I glance my- myself... I get a glimpse of myself in the mirror at the hospital, and I'm like, "Oh, there's my Jew fro." [laughs] "There's my Jew face." [laughs] It's okay. Oh, well. I would be born in a...

39:28I, I would be born and be like, "Well, I probably won't be born in a tiny country that's in constant war," right? [laughs] Yeah. Well- You were from... You were born in Liechtenstein, actually. It was very peaceful. Yeah. Yeah, I got... My paperwork got mixed up. I know. Yeah, supposed to be in Malta. But you know what? Come on. How lucky are we in a way? Like, I know we suffer [laughs] and we have a lot of problems, but, like, everyone's obsessed with us. Like, I feel that- They're really obsessed with us... imagine if you're, like, Mongolian. Like, who- Yeah...

39:54I mean, not... Yeah, I love Mongolians, and their, their food looks great, but, like, what... Who care- No one cares about them. Like, they're- Yeah... obsessed with us. Yeah, it's honestly- It's kind of a privilege... it, it's kind of embarrassing sometimes. Like, sometimes I'm embarrassed for- But, like, in a good way... like some of these influencers and people who are like- Yeah... I'm like, you, you know, it's sweet. It's endearing. It's almost like having, like, a stalker. Yeah, it, that's what- You know? When, when- Yeah... when people tweet about, like, Graham Platter being taken down by the Zionists- [laughs] I know...

40:21I'm like, I'm like, it's almost... It... You know what? It's, it's some- sometimes it's almost flattering because, like, you think we're so powerful. I know. It's great. Like, have you ever seen a group of Jews trying to get something done? No, it's great. It's so good. I know. Yeah. It's like when, when I see Tucker Carlson, like, falling apart and, like, losing himself- Well, it's-... and I'm like, "Oh, I mean, it's our fault," and I love it. Like, he's gonna f- he is gonna... The downfall of him is gonna be his antisemitism, and I have... I'm happy for it. Good. I hope so. Good. I'm so happy.

40:51Don't bet, don't bet against the Jews in the long run. Short run maybe. [laughs] Yeah. But not the long run. Not in the long run. [laughs] Actually, you know, it brought... It, uh... Nah, sorry, I feel like I'm talking so much today, but, um, actually this is my podcast. It's your podcast. You have a podcast. [laughs] Anyway. There's no guest. We haven't introduced our guest yet, who's been waiting here quietly. No. [laughs] Could you imagine? Um, no, we, we had an interesting incident at work this week. So I, I...

41:16And I can say it publicly 'cause it's not, not te- something terrible, but Cal State Long Beach, where I, I work at for, with Hillel, um, had a, had an issue. They have a very big welcome back... I'm, I'm telling you the story 'cause I'm interested in what Yael thinks, but also I'd love to hear what listeners think about my, uh, my epiphany that I had this week. Mm-hmm. So they have a big welcome-back-to-school event every fall. It's called Smorgasport, and it's like thousands of students show up, and there's all these vendors, and, you know, it's like a big deal on campus.

41:44And it's always, like, the same Fri- second or third Friday of the year, you know, after school starts. Mm-hmm. Well, I guess no one noticed when they booked it, probably a year ago, that this year it falls out on Rosh Hashanah night. Mm. So Rosh Hashanah this year is Friday night, the second weekend of September, and that is when Smorgasport is taking place. So someone in the administration had a heart attack when they saw that, when they realized, and they said, "Immediately call Hillel. Get them on the phone." Call Hillel. And... Yeah.

42:17Tell her- Call me and, and my co- my coworker Sarah, and, uh, get them on the phone and, you know, what could we, what should we do. And so they were so overly apologetic and, you know, blah, blah, and they probably cannot change it. Like, that wasn't really on the table as an option. [laughs] Mm-hmm. So she was, like, going through this whole... Like, the woman who called us, who is lovely, lovely, a lovely person, but was so upset about it and, like, overly apologetic, and I just had this moment, and it hit me, and I said, "I'm gonna stop you.

42:53Like, we're a minority, a very tiny minority living in a country that does not revolve around the Jewish calendar, and it's okay." Mm. Like, it's nice that people wanna try to accommodate us as much as possible, but, like, also, I cannot expect the world that I live in to accommodate me all the time. I'm a Jew. Yeah. We have a different... If you wanna live in a place that nothing's ever gonna happen on Rosh Hashanah, go live in Israel. Yeah. Or have your kids in Jewish schools, or l- you know, you can't... I...

43:27When did w- it become the norm that we should expect every single aspect of our lives to be accommodated by everyone around us? And this is part of the wokeness, I think, that has- Mm... you know, come about, that noth- nor c- That's not where I thought you were going with this story. [laughs] No, I know, because everyone wants us to be angry, right? Mm-hmm. "Oh, it's disgusting. They'd never care about the Jews, and they would never do this on Ramadan, and they would never do this on Christmas." True. You know why they're not gonna do it on Christmas?

43:55Because 97% of Americans celebrate Christmas, so of course they're not gonna do it on Christmas. Mm. Who celebrates Rosh Hashanah? And then I'm gonna say even something more controversial. Are you ready? Yes. Here we go, for the most controversial part of it. Jews don't even care about Rosh Hashanah, okay? All right. Jews themselves say, "I go to school on Rosh Hashanah. I go to work on Rosh Hashanah." If you don't care about it, why should Cal State Long Beach care about it? Why should they? So all I'm saying is, number one, stop being offended by everything. Number two, if you want people to care, you have to care.

44:32Not in a fake way that you only care when you get upset that you're being, uh- Yeah, yeah, yeah... uh, offended. You have to care about it every day, all the time. You can't just decide, "I'm offended right now. I don't want Cal State Long Beach to have smorgasbord on Rosh Hashanah, even though I'm not even planning on doing anything on Rosh Hashanah. I'm going to In-N-Out Burger for dinner. I'm not even going to shul to hear the shofar." You know what? Sorry, you don't get to have an opinion. That's my feeling right now, okay? Lots to unpack here. [laughs] Every day is Rosh Hashanah. [laughs] Every day.

45:07If every day is Rosh Hashanah, then no day can be Rosh Hashanah. [laughs] Um, well, l- let's work from, from the back. Um- Okay... who is upset about this, aside from the, the woman? Like, you're the one who should be upset about this. So, like, are the people who are going In-N-Out Burger for Rosh Hashanah upset about this? Yes. 'Cause they don't really have a right to. Right. No. Okay. They're the ones who have this fake, like, "Oh, my God, there's so much antisemitism. Look how they made this event on Rosh Hashanah." Like, calm down, okay? Yeah, that's not on my top 10 list- Like, calm down...

45:35of antisemitic things that are happening- Exactly... at Cal State Long Beach. So you know. [laughs] You know? Right. Um, yeah, I get what you're saying. It's just, it, there's a bit of like a prisoner's dilemma here, right? If, like, the Jews are the only ones who don't get offended by- Right... things that happen that we're, when they're like... B- and everybody else causes a, a ruckus, then are we just gonna be kind of... And I, I really hope I used the prisoner dilemmas thing correctly here- Right... but I think I did. Um, but, uh, yeah, no, I, I understand what you're saying. I, I do understand what you're saying. Why would everything have to- And to me, it's more like- Victi- why do we always have to victimize everyone and everything?

46:13That's what I'm saying. Like, why can't we tell our kids, and I'm saying this for every minority group, and I'm gonna say it to, and I say it, I think I say this to my own children, and I say it to my students, "We're not victims. We are Jewish. We have a holiday that night. Sorry you can't go to freaking smorgasbord. You'll go next year." Like, I, I just don't, you know, like- Well, the real tragedy is that you need to eat, like, matzah ball soup and gefilte fish- [laughs]... instead of whatever they're, they're serving there. Mm.

46:38Um, but no, I get what you're saying. I just, you know, for me- Yeah... it's like, it, it's like more of a, another crack in the wall. Like, if everything was fine- Yeah... I would, I would maybe agree with you wholeheartedly, but since not everything is fine and we're constantly overlooked, and I'm just writing a post about this, about all the denial of, of the sexual assault against Israeli women- Yeah... uh, you know, it, it, it's hard not to see it in the grand scheme of things. And by the way, I don't think anybody did this on purpose. I'm willing to bet, you know, money on that. No, of course not.

47:09Um, but, you know- No, I don't either... it, it's, it's kind of a, just another thing of like- It... You know what it is?... the Jews don't count. Right. But it reminds me of this idea that, you know, Jews have been really upset, many Jews have been upset about DEI in general, right? Mm-hmm. Because Jews feel left out of DEI. So I say get rid of DEI. But what- Yeah... what some Jews are saying is, "No, no, no, add us to the DEI." No, my problem is I hate DEI in general, right? Like, I don't want any DEI for anybody- Yeah, yeah... and not even for Jews, right? So there's a differ...

47:41I'm just trying to say that there's a difference between the approach to this, right? And I- I don't want anybody to treat me differently because I'm a Jew. Exactly. Exactly. I don't want anybody to treat me differently. Um, s- you know who else isn't DEI anymore? Italians. Have you heard about the- Oh... the thing that happened in New York? That's the greatest thing that I've ever seen in my whole life. I love that Mom Dani- I love it... pissed off the Italian Americans. It's so good. Like, that's a front that you don't wanna open. Tell everyone what happened. It's so good.

48:08They put out a map of, like, m- immigrant communities in New York. [laughs] And they didn't... They put in, like, Little Palestine, which- Little... That was the best one... was a thing. [laughs] Um, and all these places. Mm. And, and they, uh, they didn't include the only Little thing we have is Little Italy. [laughs] Literally, there is no other Little anything. There's Chinatown, but that's not Little China. Oh, my God. There's Little Italy [laughs] and they forgot it. It's so good. And, and look, I, I'm, I'm not defending these people, uh, 'cause they're, like, immigrant obsessed, but... I say this as an immigrant. But I get, like, that they're trying to be like, "Okay, these are the, these are the, you know, we're talking about, like, newly, new arrivals," right? Or we're talking about, like- Yeah...

48:51people who are, like, have not been here for generations. But it's just another... If it was anybody- Yeah... else, I don't think people would care that much, but it's another erasure, it's another crack. Mm-hmm. It's another thing of like, you know, "Oh, you're white or white adjacent, so you don't matter." Yeah. And you know, Italians Americans, Irish American, Jewish Americans, they came to this, to, to the US, and they were treated like garbage. Yep.... garbage. You know, you think people, like, hate Jews?

49:20You know how much people hated the Irish? And, you know- Mm... maybe rightfully so. Yeah. [laughs] But, no, I'm kidding. Um, but people were, and people came and, like, lived in terrible, terrible poverty on the Lower East Side, in downtown Manhattan, and built their way up, and built this city, right? So- Yeah, yeah... I, I could see our people would be a little pissed that they're not being acknowledged. Just like remember when they did this, um, this Hollywood museum or something in LA? And they talked- Yeah...

49:46about all the minorities' contributions, and they forgot the minority that- Yeah, they left-... built Hollywood. [laughs] I know, I know. That was the most, the, the, yeah- So it, it made me feel stupid to complain about it. How do you- Because like you said, I don't wanna be like... But also, uh, it's the, it's that kind of the... Here's the problem. Okay, I think I fi- figured it out. That's the nice thing about having a podcast, you can, like, talk through your thoughts. Um- Yeah... I think I figured it out.

50:09It is, once you're excluding these minorities, what you're doing is you're categorizing them as, uh, powerful, white, um- Right... whatever, like, elite. And we all know what the socialist Democrats and, and these progressives think about those kind of people, right? Yeah. So, uh- Yeah... I, I think that part is, is, is very, very troubling to me, that we're starting to categorize people into, like, you know, who's elite and who's not. Who's, um- Yeah... you know, who's assimilated and who's not.

50:42And it, well, you know, it's one thing if you're doing it to uplift immigrants, but n- nine times out of 10 you're doing it to put down other people. Right. Well, it's also funny to me, 'cause I was loo- I was thinking about the Jewish piece of that whole thing with the map, and not having, like, any reference to, like, any Jewish neighborhoods. And so there's a big difference between, like, noticing that the Upper West Side of Manhattan has a lot of Jews. Fine. Yeah. I can understand that shouldn't be on the map. Yeah.

51:08But go take a walk in Borough Park or Williamsburg, and tell me that that's not an immigrant community. Little Israel. Right? Because they are speaking a different language. Yeah. They are literally speaking Yiddish. Mm-hmm. They are dressed differently. They are eating different foods. Their stores have, you know, all the signage is in a different language. Like, if that is not another example of an immigrant community, like, I don't know what is. Like, how much more- Raw immigrants. Yeah, the raw... I know. It's, it's fascinating actually.

51:37But, um, I had an opportunity to go to Borough Park when I was in New York a couple weeks ago, and one of the things that, you know, the Haredi Ultra-Orthodox community is very against smartphones. That's like a huge issue- Mm-hmm... is not to have smartphones. Um, because, you know, the sort of temptation to, like, be on social media, and all the bad things that come with social, with, with it. And so they ban them. Like, you cannot get your children into a school if you have a smartphone. Like, it's a big deal. Wow. And so I was standing on- Chazz and Pitt would love that. I know.

52:09I was standing on the corner of 13th Avenue at like, I don't know, 42nd or whatever, and I was just watching. I stood there probably for, like, 15 minutes. I was watching, it was Friday, so it was packed. People were literally just swarming in the streets, and everyone had a flip phone. Like, those old-fashioned Nokias- Yeah... or, like, the flip phones. And I was just like, its culture is so powerful. You know? I, I, like, couldn't, I couldn't stop staring at everyone, who was just, like, conforming to what the norm is in their community, dressed the way they're supposed to be dressed, you know, the men in their s- their outfits, the women in theirs.

52:44And, like, culture is just so incredibly fascinating. I, I don't know. Mm. I, I- I, I thought you were, I, I- I, I-... I thought you were gonna say something else. I th- uh, 'cause one time I was on a flight to Israel, and I was watching a movie or something, and I was in the aisle- Yeah... seat. And a father with a little, little daughter, Haredi- Yeah... father and daughter walked to the bathroom, and the kid just stopped in her tracks. Yeah. And, like, stared at my screen. Yeah. Because it was so powerful. Like, and I- Yeah...

53:14I mean, she, I'm sure she's seen them before, but she hasn't, like- Right, right, right... they're not in her house. And, um- You know, El Al has entertainment for the Haredim on their, on their enter- on their screens. It's so cool. Yeah, that's like- They have, like, Talmud classes, and they have, like, Avraham Fried and Mordechai Ben David music, and, like, they have a lot of different- Do they take the move... Do, do they take, like, famous movies and take out, like, anything that's, like, not kosher? I don't know if they do that. Like Titanic. But they have other- Like, it's only, there's no rose in it...

53:41the Bor- the Mormons do that. Sorry, the Mormons do that. Really? Yeah. But- Wow... I don't know if the Jews do that. Yeah. They used to have a channel- The Mormons and the Jews should come together and, like, build a studio. [laughs] There's a lot of stuff. The Orthodox world is getting better at entertainment. I mean, it's not stuff I would watch generally, but- I know, there's the half bowl. Yeah. There's a s- a Super Bowl halftime show that you told me about. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. That they do s- they do a kosher one. Are you following the World Cup? Um, a little bit.

54:09I was watching, um, the last 10 minutes of the, the Egypt, Argentina game. Ugh, yes. Um, and I could hear the explosion of people here, because, um, not far from where my parents live is, there's a public, um, uh, screening of it, and it was pretty cool. Um- Oh, wow. And of course, I don't, you know, I, I don't know if you heard, but, um, the Zionists, 'cause we have so much time. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Fair. We all throw Control Messi. Yeah. And the, yeah, and, and the, the, the referee... Are they called referees in soccer? I don't even know what they're called. I don't know.

54:43But the, everybody's, like, put up a picture of him, and they're like, "He's a Zionist," and I'm like, "I've literally not seen a less Jewish-looking person in my life." [laughs] Like, he looks like, and I mean this as a compliment, he looks like a Nazi. Oh, my God. And it is the least Jewish person I've ever seen in my life. But ac- but apparently somebody changed his Wikipedia to say he's Jewish. Great. I was so happy Egypt got out. My biggest pain point right now is that Spain is in. Mm. I want Spain to lose so badly.

55:13I can't tell you how much. I cannot tell you how much I want Spain to lose. And- It's really hard to, like, watch these- I hope Argentina wins. Yeah, because you're like, I don't know. It's like, it's like- France versus Morocco, like who's- Yeah... more anti-Semitic? Hi, France. Like, I, I was rooting for Morocco, I think. Yeah. I know. [laughs] Um- But I hope Argentina wins, even though, I mean, I'm married to an Englishman, so I feel bad- Mm... 'cause they're very excited about their English team winning, but- Yeah...

55:39I do not feel like England deserves this right now. I would like to see Argentina win, so. It's cool to watch, uh, the games, and to watch, like, the excitement and, and also it's very international now in Tel Aviv 'cause the Maccabiah is happening. Um- Yeah... you know about the Maccabiah, listener, dear listeners? Of course. Um- We have a guy from Long Beach who's a co- We have a big team from here. Really? And one of my students, Tyler, is a coach, yeah. Aw.

56:05And they won gold. So it's, it's like the Jewish Olympics. I actually watched the opening ceremony, and I had tears in my eyes 'cause they had- Aw... all these people walk with the flags, and there, there are 55 countries in it- Wow... including, like, Jamaica. Wow. And they're all over Tel Aviv, and they're so cute. And I- Aw... 'cause they all walk around with their shirts, and I stop- Wow... all of them because I'm b- an old lady. That's so cute. And I'm like, "Where are you from?" Like, "What do you play?" And I met these kids from...

56:28I had a very, um, like, Karen moment, I think, where I saw a group of kids from Brazil, and, um, there was, like, I don't know, six or seven of them, and, and there was one guy who was, who was Black. Yeah. And I went to him, and I was like, "Oh, are you guys from Brazil?" And he answers me in Hebrew, and he's like, "No, I'm their, like... I, I'm just giving them the tour." [laughs] So, but it was cute. You're being so Karen. And then I'm ac- I ask everybody what, what they do, so, like, soccer, weightlifting, and then one guy was like, "Chess." And I'm like, "That's not a sport." Oh. That's adorable.

57:00But apparently it's a sport. And it's so cute- That's adorable... 'cause you can see a lot of them are here for the first time. You can see that a lot of them, and this is gonna... This is so politically incorrect, but whatever. If, if you lasted this long, um, in the episode- [laughs]... a, a lot of them look- don't look... They, they look like they come from mixed households, right? Especially some of the South American- Yeah... kids. Like, they don't look, you know... Like, they, they look like maybe one of their parents is, is- Yeah... n- native to Brazil or native to whatever.

57:30And, and it, it, it's, it was beautiful for me to see 'cause they're all Jews, and they all come here, and I'm sure man- most of them it's their first time, and they're having the times of their lives. And I hope they're all hooking up, and it's, it's just really fun. Totally. Highly recommend it. We should talk before we go, 'cause we're almost at an hour, but I think we should talk about Wyoming, no? Do we wanna say anything about that? We should. I was gonna, I was gonna record... W- I think we should record an intro about Wyoming. Okay. But- Okay... so you listen to the intro. Awesome.

57:58That came before this, but- [laughs] That's awkward... we're... It is so awkward. Uh- Okay... it's so... Um, guys, we're having a live show in Wyoming. What the- Yeah. It... That is very- Mm-hmm... very exciting. So as you know from the intro, uh, we're [laughs] gonna have a live show in Wyoming. It's gonna be August 10th. Um- Mm. It's gonna be live-streamed. Mm. But if you happen to be in the area, you should come because it's not just gonna be me and Chaya Leah, 'cause nobody cares what we have to say. We're actually interviewing Nadav Eyal, who you know from Call Me Back.

58:30Uh, and we're going to, uh, grill him about everything Israel and American Jews, and it's gonna be really, really fun. So it's Monday, August 10th. You can get tickets at... And we'll include a link in the show notes and everything. At JH, that stands for Jackson Hole, jhjewishcommunity.org. Um, and, uh, go there and get your tickets. Uh, I really, really hope some of our listeners show up. I hope so. I know we have listeners in, like, Wyoming, Idaho. Montana. Montana. Oh my God, if you show up to this, we will be so happy. You'll be our fav- Um- You'll be our fav. Y- you'll be our favorite.

59:07And, and also, like, I really wanna see Chaya Leah, like, in Yellowstone riding an, an elk. [laughs] No, Chaya Le- I, I, I know you're not coming for a long time. Oh, no. I'm gonna stick around for a little bit, but I am taking you to the cowboy bar to go- Yeah... line dancing. Oh my gosh. And, and hopefully the rodeo. You know, you know something? I've never been to the rodeo. Mm-hmm. I have been to a rodeo in Wyoming. I've never been to Jackson Hole, which is where we're going- Mm-hmm... this time. I have been to Cody, Wyoming- Yes, me too... for a rodeo. And I- I remember this story. Yes.

59:38I came there with five of my friends. We did a road trip in the summer of 2000. We drove cross-c- Did I tell this story on the podcast? We drove cross-country- It's a long time ago. You can tell it again... we drove, yeah, the summer of 2000, we drove cross-country from New York to California. We stopped there. Five Orthodox girls walked into the rodeo, and it was like in the movies when everyone gets quiet and, like, looks at us- [laughs]... like, "Why are you here, and who are you?" The bartender, like- Like-...

1:00:01puts down his cup... yeah, kinda stuff. The music stops, and then- Yeah... Sasha Cohen starts singing Throw the Jews Down the Well. [laughs] It was very odd. Um, but it was actually a really fun experience, so yeah. Yeah. So I'm, I'm super excited. I love Wyoming. I love Jackson Hole. They're such a nice Jewish community there. I'm excited. Did you read the b- And, uh, it's part of a conference, so you can come to the whole conference. Yeah. Did you read the... Yeah, please do. Did you read the book Yesteryear? Have you seen this book around? No.

1:00:29Oh, I have to... We have, we should talk about it. It's about a tradwife who goes back in time. Okay, anyway, I'm not gonna give it away, but Yestery- If you've read Yesteryear, guys, please send me a message. I wanna know what you think about it. [laughs] I, I was reading it on my cruise. I just finished, uh, a book that our listeners recommended after we interviewed Sal Mercogliano about shipping, and the book is called Dead in the Water. I think I spoke about it.

1:00:53It was really, really good, about a- Yeah... um, about a, a, a heist, like a, a insurance scam to do a ship. Sounds very boring, but it's good. Mm. Um- Okay. All right, Chaya Leah. Thank you. Take care. Say hi to everyone in Israel. Thank you. See you soon. Bye. Bye. [upbeat music]