Debunking Viral Claim About the Talmud and Minors
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Thank you for having the courage to stand up to hatred and being the voice for every Jew worldwide.
Dear Gal and David,
Bravo. Bravo. Bravo. It’s about time people of your stature stood up and spoke out about the ferocious levels of antisemitism that have infested campuses and cities everywhere, as you did at the recent ADL dinner.
I want to personally thank you for standing up to hatred and being the voice for every Jew worldwide. It takes tremendous courage to put your names on the line, and I commend you for that.
I know from personal experience that not everyone is willing to do so.
I recently emailed an A-list celebrity with whom I have a connection, asking her and her husband to partner with Aish.com for a worldwide challah bake to pray for the return of the hostages.
They responded directly and politely declined, explaining that they already receive so much hate mail and threats that they could not accept to take such a political stance.
As much as I understood their fears about being vocal, how is praying for a fellow Jew a political stance?
As you, Gal, mentioned in your fiery acceptance speech at the ADL dinner, merely stating that you are a Jew today is somehow considered controversial. Never in your life could you have imagined that mass numbers of people would be cheering Hamas on for their atrocities.
The truth of the matter is we don’t have the luxury of sitting back and remaining politically correct. There is too much at stake for Jews worldwide.
How is it really politically correct to remain silent when women, children and people of all races, religions, young and old are abducted, raped, murdered and tortured like they were in October 7th?
Standing by silently is making a very loud statement.
As the holiday of Purim approaches, we remember that Esther, a Jew, was “randomly” chosen to be the Queen of Persia. As the Jewish people were in imminent danger of being destroyed as a nation, Mordechai asked her to speak up and beg the king to save her nation.
She was terrified. Approaching the king uninvited was equivalent to a death sentence.
Mordechai told her, “Esther perhaps this is why you have been placed in this lofty position. You can choose not to speak up, but then the redemption will come from elsewhere. God has a plan and if it doesn’t come from your voice, it will come from someone else’s. But don’t think you will be saved because you are the Queen.”
Every Jewish celebrity in Hollywood needs to recognize, like you have, that they have a powerful platform which is a gift that can be used to help their fellow Jews worldwide in these desperate times.
Don’t think that just because you are a celebrity you will have a different “Jew” status if and when world opinion turns. None of us can remain silent.
So Ms. Gadot and Mr. Schwimmer, I thank you for your bravery. Thank you for being the modern-day Queen Esther and Mordechai. I hope that your courage to speak out against antisemitism will encourage your fellow Hollywood cognoscenti to get off the fence and do the same.
Where are all your fellow Jewish Hollywood colleagues? Where are the writers, the actors, the producers and the directors? Where were the powerful messages delivered by Jews at the recent Academy Awards? With respect, I ask Adrian Brody, where are you? Did you not play a pivotal role as a Jew in a film about antisemitism after the Holocaust? In your overtime speech at the Oscars you couldn’t find 30 seconds to directly encourage people to speak out against antisemitism, without masking your message behind the cloak of universal bigotry and hate?
No one is asking celebrities to solve the issues in the Middle East. This is about standing alongside your Jewish friends, neighbors, and coworkers who have been witnessing horror after horror on campus after campus. Your friends are worried for their future and their children’s safety. Let them know you stand with them, support them and love them.
Gal’s words ring clear: “We cannot ignore the explosion of Jew hatred around the world. My name is Gal, I am Jewish and we have had enough of Jew hatred. We will confront antisemitism, we will call it out. But we will never let it defeat us or define us because our love is stronger than their hate.”
Warmly,
Sarah Pachter
Now these people with platforms have to speak to the world, not just to Jews at a dinner. They can't just say "don't hate Jews." They have to say: Palestinians have rejected peace multiple times and refuse to recognize Israel. They keep trying to destroy Israel and calling it "resistance," and now they're rounding up fools all over the world to help them. We ALL have to say this - not just a few brave souls. That's the lesson of the Holocaust - EVERYONE must speak up.
I couldn't be prouder of these 2 stars. We must speake out and show we are proud Jews, or we are looking for another Holocaust. We say never again, and we mean it! The world can see that Jews are no longer meak sheep, on their way to be sloterd. We will stay strong and united, and prove that never again are not just words, but Am Yisroel Chai!🇮🇱🇮🇱🇮🇱
Wonderful article. Reading Zachor yesterday was like reading the news. Never was that paragraph more powerful or timely, and painful.
Very proud of these two. It takes courage. People have to stand up and confront anti-semitism where they can, and start to call out the evil where they see it, or it will fester and grow.
I appreciate the ADL and Ms. Gadot and Mr. Schwimmer.
For me, nothing has changed in 52 years. At that time I was in school in Israel. We were on a trip to the Golan. When we were near Kunetra the shells started falling. For “foreign” students, this was scary. Those in Israel, unfortunately it wasn’t anything new.
Has anything changed in 52 years? Unfortunately “No!”
All the Jews and non Jews that are against anti semitism and pro Israel should of spoken up when the Oscar's were, because if not it looks that Hollywood and also the music industry supports terrorism and anti semitsm and it is not so they are a bunch of people on the right side of history supporting good not evil
Hitting people over the head with ancient relatabilities isn't cutting it for people today, and in light of the truly demonic level of behavior being used to accomplish objectives.
"As much as I understood their fears about being vocal, how is praying for a fellow Jew a political stance?"
Are you sure you don't understand?
This is why you do stand up:
1) You stand up first for yourself, because no one on this earth has a God-given right to bully you.
2) You stand up for others, because how can you be a righteous person if you do not?
3) You stand up for God by doing step 1, and 2 over and again throughout your entire life.
Torah does not command you to be perpetual victim, nor cowards.
Those who fear only for their life have already lost them.
We are proud of you. As someone who has walked with the name "Israel" all of his long life, I truly understand being 'outed'.
I never watch award shows but I heard a clip of Adrien Brody's speech. Ms. Pachter, I appreciate your comments about his words. He needed to address anti Semitism head on without going kumbaya.
The article is spot on. The world has gone mad. Apart from the horrors, the increasing suffering, and the worldwide "new Jew-hatred" we have seen since Oct. 7 (frequently disguised as only being against the Medinat Yisrael), few seem to realize the spiritual dimension of what's happening.
Without starting to sermonize, the impending avengement on behalf of the Jewish people is attested in the Tanakh (and even in the falsified gospels). But I suppose such a G-d does not fit into our politically correct world either, providing any G-d fits.
Some Jews in Hollywood support their enemies on the other side there are Jews that support Israel and stand up to anti semitism when a Jew or others support so called pro Palestinian they are supporting terrorists and G_ d forbid the destruction of Jews and Israel in Gernan is making the world " Judenrein" ( free of Jews) so if any Jew supports this they are naive pr don't know the enemies agenda when a Jew supports terrorists it is like a Jew supporting the Nazis ( may their name be erased) they both have the same agenda
This would be a lot more understandable if you used punctuation!
Sorry about my grammar issue
Ms.Gadot should have spoken out at the Oscars or Emmy's or ,at least worn a hostage pin. She did neither. Speaking up in front of a Jewish audience requires no special courage. So she is no hero in my view.
I agree, the Jews and non Jews that support Jews and Israel should of made comments when there was the Oscars
That "hostage pin" was not about the hostages. Please check it out!
I agree and praise with all my heart to the person that talked about where the big Hollywood stars are, that they don’t open their mouth against antisemitism! I am a grandmother, living in a South American country where antisemitism is strong. But I think of all Jews in history and now who are loosing their life to defend our State of Israel! Living in the Diaspora doesn’t make you less Jewish. We are a proud, resilient group of human beings, and writing “never again “ is not an answer. We have to shout, say proudly “I am Jewish”, because when they see that we are not afraid of anybody, then they will start respecting us.
I spoke out at work. I defended myself against "in your face antisemitism", I stil lost my job. Nobody cared. Instead others joined in. But I have my self respect. I also see so much open antisemitism in the American universities wich is also the cause/trigger of antisemitism in Western Europe. They are copying the same slogans and chants one hears in USA. By the way, it was already under surface before Oct 7th. We already paid the price 80 years ago. I'll be darned if I let them get away with it this time round.
PS: If you watch the western european news, you can sense that the people in UK & Germany about ready to start their uprising. They are fed up with the Islamic invasion.
In colleges and universities in the 1930s/ 1940s in Germany there was also a lot of anti semitism and then the Holocaust happened, so Jews have to stand up for themselves I hope you found another job, when Jews were not allowed in hotels, publishing, advertising, hospitals, etc Jews made their own hotels, the comic book industry, hospitals Jews had quotas to go to Ivy league schools now the people that they let in can't keep up with the colleges/ universities they ended up in, Jews had to learn to cope like not being able to go into certain fields unfortunately the world is still anti Semitic it did not change after the Holocaust unfortunately
Germany murdered 6 million Jews during the Holocaust, now they have to cope with their punishment of a Islamic invasion
On the contrary, in an attempt to avoid blocking refuge for people fleeing war and persecution (malicious behavior that led to much loss during WW2) Germany accepted a million immigrants from the south east. The current flow of migration into the colonizing nations is primarily from the areas that were colonized by Europe over the last 4 centuries. They have a higher Islamic demographic.
Call it an invasion if you like, but historically, mass migration to populated areas always causes the same panic & cultural upheaval. It doesn't mean there aren't consequences, but it does beg the question; if Islamic philosophy is dangerous in and to Europeans, why isn't it dangerous to those it engulfed in Africa and the east? And if it is dangerous there, why not provide alternate ideas?
There is a problem in Africa also some Asian countries are Islamic and they are anti Israel and anti Judaism, in Germany the population of Muslims are targeting non Muslims with crimes toward women and other crimes and some European countries have Sharia Law( Muslim laws) and don't adhere to the law of the land, mostly these so called fleeing people are Muslims trying to take over countries and turn them into Muslim countries, which will be very dangerous for non Muslims,I know Germany murder we d 6 million Jews and 5 million non Jews during the Holocaust, so what are you talking about you spare not making sense to me,
I wouldn't go to Germany if you paid me, my mother's( obm) family got murdered by the Nazis ( may their name be erased) and my mother( obm) was in Auschwitz-Birneau( the worst concentration camp there is) and Germany deserves Muslims and other dangerous minorities because they murdered 6 million Jews and 5 million non Jews all of Europe deserves the plague of a Muslim invasion this could be pay back for murdering Jews and others that were innocent people
The problem with this idea is Poland. If there ever was a country that deserved ruination its Poland. Yet now Poland is emerging as the only sensible country in Europe (Moslem free).
Germany deserves it 100% because of the Holocaust
You must have no connection to the Holocaust, because you seem to be defending Germany, where I have a personal connection to the Holocaust
It’s a huge issue in Africa. Read what’s going on in Sudan
They miss the Jews.
Yes, it’s wonderful that Gal Gadot and David Schwimmer spoke at the ADL. However it would have been so much better had they stood up at the Oscars. Speaking to the ADL is preaching to the choir. Unfortunately not too many Israel supporters have the guts to stand up and speak out where it really counts.
The words "Palestinian" or "Arab" appear nowhere in this column of praise. How do Pachter, Gadot or Schwimmer expect anyone to take their advice -- to treat Jews as well as they treat members of their own group -- when they have no intention of doing so themselves? That is, to treat the "other," including Palestinians and Arabs, as well as they treat "us"? They could stream out words like these for a million years, but unless they show through their actions they're taking their own advice, absolutely no one will listen.
Are you Jewish or not, but if you are Jewish why are defending your enemies the so called " Palestinans" "Arabs" are the ones that want to destroy Jews and Israel the real Palestinans are the Jews by supporting evil terrorists that want the world and Israel to be "Judenrein ( free of Jews) just like the Nazis( may their name be erased) so what is your problem your logic is very warped some Jews don't believe in self preservation by supporting terrorists it is like supporting Nazis( may their name be erased) they both have the same goal
Do you want us to treat Palestinians as they are treating us?? We are better than that!
It is like treating Nazis( may their name be erased) nice when they want to murder all Jews, besides murdering 6 million Jews they also murdered 5 million non Jews, the so called " Palestinans" have the same goal to make the world Judenrein( " free of Jews") and you want to treat them better when they want you dead then you are pretty naive and don't know the truth about our enemy
Tell me, Jeff, just what is praise-worthy in Arab/Palestinian behavior?
You're either hopelessly ignorant or simply bigoted, jeff!
As a Gentile Christian, I stand with Israel and the Jewish people wholeheartedly. I also commend Gal Gadot and David Schwimmer. I have not heard David's speech yet but did hear Gal's - it was wonderful! It breaks my heart that such a speech is even necessary. Antisemitism is completely irrational and comes from the powers of evil.
Thank you, Ms. Wilson! Our Christian Brothers and Sisters have been a shining light for us (Israel/Jews) throughout this horrible ordeal. You have been our greatest advocates as well as our protectors and defenders. You have blessed us immensely, and we are so very grateful to/for you!
Thank you for your support it is greatly appreciated
Giving a speech at the ADLdinner is on home turf. Not much curage is needed. Giving a speech at the Oscars would have been more appropriate and would have taken real curage. Surprised the author did not mention this.
The everyday Jew bears more responsibility than the famous one.
Smiling, greeting-- living friendly, being kind and visibly polite in all daily life is a mitzvah. Sharing your world- celebrations and worries builds cross-exposure relationships. You can't win against bias and negative propaganda overnight. Castigating famous people for not beating their head against what is essentially a wall built over decades of organized misinformation and friendship-canvassing is not loving your fellow.
Great letter!
Boldness is a virtue not a gift. It grows in a man/woman according to his/her choice. The love for truth and ability to confront fear marks them out among the teeming fearful people, who prefer to hide than stand for the truth. Thanks you Gal Gadot and David Schwimmer.
Don't forget Sid "In The Morning" Rosenberg, who had spoken about Jew hatred, Israel and the hostages on every radio show of his in NY on WABC radio (his is the most listened to morning drive time radio show in Metro NY & beyond).
Awesome!
well said
"We must take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Sometimes we must interfere." - Elie Wiesel
At the time of the Holocaust it started with Jews and ended up with everyone else, same here it will start with Jews and ends with everyone else same like before in history
It objectively did not start with the jews, it started with all disabled people.
Fantastic article, Ms. Pachter! Another Jewish celebrity who has been absolutely heroic is Michael Rappaport. So grateful for him, as well as for Gal and David! I'm sure there are others I am forgetting (and for which I apologize). Again, terrific article! Thank you!
Hasw he been heroic
Sorry, has he been heroic outside of Jewish circles? (That would give him the right to the accolade!)
Wonderful essay. In eloquent language, Ms. Patcher raised - and answered- the question of our times.
Please elaborate how two Jews defending Judaism to a Jewish audience qualifies as raising & answering "the question of our times"!