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Speaker 1: Happy Hanukah to the Jewish listeners and viewers of The

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Speaker 1: Josh Hammer Show. Rabbi Stephen Berg, CEO of Aish, one

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Speaker 1: of the most well known global Jewish outreach organizations. Rabbi

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Speaker 1: Berg joined us later for a full discussion of Hanukkah

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Speaker 1: and the meaning of the holiday, not just for the

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Speaker 1: Jewish people, but for America in the.

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Speaker 2: Entire Western world.

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Speaker 1: All that on today's episode of The Josh Hammer Show.

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Speaker 1: There are certain holidays that stand out to you. There

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Speaker 1: are certain holidays I think for every individual that you

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Speaker 1: more intimately resonate with than others. Thinking for a second

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Speaker 1: about the American civic calendar, our secular calendar, if you will,

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Speaker 1: it is a Thanksgiving holiday that has always been, for

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Speaker 1: my entire life, my favorite holiday. We just celebrated that

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Speaker 1: a couple of weeks ago, and Thanksgiving to me is

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Speaker 1: the quintessence of what it means to be an American.

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Speaker 1: Is the reason that it goes all the way back

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Speaker 1: to George Washington's Thanksgiving Day Proclamation, which he signed in

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Speaker 1: the first months the first week really his presidency back

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Speaker 1: in seventeen eighty nine, and then thinking about the Jewish calendar,

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Speaker 1: for me, is jew with some of the holidays that

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Speaker 1: really really really resonates with me. Well, there are a couple.

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Speaker 1: There's Passover, which has always been one of my favorite

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Speaker 1: holidays as well. Passover which takes place in the springtime,

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Speaker 1: in the month of Nissan on the Hebrew calendar, which

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Speaker 1: is typically in April, sometimes in late March on the

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Speaker 1: American calendar. Pass Over to me, well, it's a lot

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Speaker 1: of things. But among the things is it kind of

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Speaker 1: has that Thanksgiving vibe. It kind of has that Thanksgiving

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Speaker 1: dinner table vibe. We also around the table we call

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Speaker 1: it a satyr very extremely traditional meal. Jesus Last Supper

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Speaker 1: was famously actually a Passover satar, and there's all sorts

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Speaker 1: of traditions that are involved there. We read the Hagada,

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Speaker 1: the story of the Exodus, celebrate the Exodus, something that

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Speaker 1: we actually do in our prayers every single day. But

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Speaker 1: the emphasis on family, de emphasis on a communal meal,

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Speaker 1: on all the beautiful traditions, the scene, the songs Passover

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Speaker 1: has always resonated with me. The other holiday I would

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Speaker 1: say above all that has always really really resonated with

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Speaker 1: me is the holiday that we are currently in now,

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Speaker 1: which is Hanukkah. So tonight's will be the third night

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Speaker 1: of Honkah and is an eight day holiday. It's eight

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Speaker 1: crazy nights, as we know from the old Adam Sandler songs.

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Speaker 1: And there's a few reasons why the story of Honkah

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Speaker 1: has always resonate with me. The way the story of

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Speaker 1: Honkah is told, I think for many folks, both Jewish

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Speaker 1: and non Jewish, is that if you receive something of

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Speaker 1: a cursory superficial education, what the holiday is you hear

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Speaker 1: about the miracle of the oil lasting eight nights when

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Speaker 1: the after the war was over and the mccabee's were

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Speaker 1: able to rededicate the temple there in the second century BCE,

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Speaker 1: and thereby Judaism was saved from the soluctied Empire and

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Speaker 1: the Syrian Greek conquerors. And to be clear, the miracle

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Speaker 1: of the oil is absolutely one of the miracles of

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Speaker 1: the Hankkah holiday, in my estimation, is actually not the

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Speaker 1: more important of the miracles. The more important of the

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Speaker 1: miracles is the part that the common telling of the

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Speaker 1: story just tends to totally gloss over not there. When

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Speaker 1: I was just describing Hankkah, I kind of brushed over

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Speaker 1: the fact that there was this big war. There was

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Speaker 1: a really big war. And then oh, by the way,

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Speaker 1: dot dot dot, after the war was over, that's when

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Speaker 1: the temple was rededicated. But what was the war? The

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Speaker 1: war is the graphic, gory and bloody part that the

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Speaker 1: politically correct version of Hankah tend to gloss over. This

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Speaker 1: is a war that was led on the one hand

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Speaker 1: by the Maccabees of the Book of Maccabee's First, McCabe's Second,

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Speaker 1: Maccabees of their fame due to the Maccabee being the

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Speaker 1: leader of the Maccabees at the time. They sought to

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Speaker 1: defend traditional Judaism. This was during the era of the Temple,

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Speaker 1: and they sought to defend Temple era Judaism against those

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Speaker 1: who sought to subjugate and the subjugation, crucially, crucially, the

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Speaker 1: subjugation had multiple forms. On the one hand, there was

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Speaker 1: a threat of physical annihilation, physical subjugation from the Celitude Empire.

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Speaker 1: On the other hand, there was the threat arguably even

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Speaker 1: more perniciously of spiritual of spiritual subjugation and spiritual assimilation. Instantly,

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Speaker 1: there's actually this notion of facing both spiritual and physical threats.

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Speaker 1: This combination of the two threats has been I think

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Speaker 1: one of the most recurring late motives, one of the

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Speaker 1: most recurring themes in the entire history of the Jewish people.

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Speaker 1: Just a few weeks ago, actually, in synagogues all around

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Speaker 1: the world, we read the Partia the Torah portion which

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Speaker 1: is Vaishlach, and in partia Vaishlach. This is the story

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Speaker 1: of when Jacob, Jacob the patriarch, the grand son of

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Speaker 1: of Abraham, the father of all the Monotheists. So the

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Speaker 1: grandson Jacob, who is a a a one of the

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Speaker 1: foremost characters in all of Jewish history and therefore in

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Speaker 1: all of biblical history, Jacob has his long awaited reunification

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Speaker 1: with his brother Aesof after thirty six years of not

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Speaker 1: seeing one another, and they things not go very well.

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Speaker 1: When Jacob and Aesof we're younger, Jacob famously takes the

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Speaker 1: birthrights from Asov, Asov sells his birthright for a pot

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Speaker 1: of lentil soup, and there's a lot of hatred and animus,

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Speaker 1: and Jacob flees because he fears his brother's gonna kill him. There, Okay,

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Speaker 1: long story short. In the tour portion, a few weeks ago.

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Speaker 1: What you have is Jacob praying to God and saying,

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Speaker 1: please rescue me, Please save me from my brother aesof.

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Speaker 1: So the commentators ask, why this repetition, Why say my

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Speaker 1: brother aesof? Why is this repeated? After all, we know

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Speaker 1: that Jacob's brother is aesof. What's the purpose of including both.

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Speaker 1: There are no extraneous superfluous words in the divine Torah,

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Speaker 1: in the in the in the actual Bible, and the

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Speaker 1: reason is as follows, the commentators say. The commentators say

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Speaker 1: that my brother is referring to the spiritual threat, the

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Speaker 1: threat of spiritual subjugation, of spiritual assimilation. That's the kind

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Speaker 1: of threat where someone brings you in closely and says, oh,

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Speaker 1: just try you know, see our idols, see our little idols,

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Speaker 1: see our culture experience? Are are this or that there?

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Speaker 2: Come?

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Speaker 1: Bring us in there. It's spiritual assimilation. And then aesof,

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Speaker 1: on the other hand, is the actual physical subjugation. So

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Speaker 1: this theme has been all there, all throughout Jewish history

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Speaker 1: and from much of Western history in general. So going

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Speaker 1: back then to the Honaka story, to me, it is

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Speaker 1: the spiritual threat. It is the my brother threat. That

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Speaker 1: is the even bigger threat. There in the in the

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Speaker 1: actual story of the Maccabean wars of the Hanuka Triumph,

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Speaker 1: and the Maccabees were drastically outnumbered there in the actual

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Speaker 1: war by the Hellenis, by the forces both of the

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Speaker 1: Celusuit Empire and the Jews who teamed up with them.

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Speaker 2: There.

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Speaker 1: Of the Jews who teamed up because they had no

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Speaker 1: interest actually in the Jewish way of life, in the

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Speaker 1: Jewish custom traditions, in Judaism more generally, they had every

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Speaker 1: interest in just seeing it assimilate and absorbed into the

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Speaker 1: broader Hellenistic culture. But the Maccabees prevailed, and they prevailed,

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Speaker 1: and therefore they saved the religion and the way of life,

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Speaker 1: the nation, the customs, the culture, the folk ways, the values,

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Speaker 1: all of it. They saved it from annihilation. Folks, there

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Speaker 1: is a clear lesson here, not just for the Jewish people,

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Speaker 1: though there's obviously a lesson for the Jewish people as

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Speaker 1: well when it comes to the forces of assimilation, when

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Speaker 1: it comes to jaystreat if not now, and the Mamdani

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Speaker 1: freaks and all these other people that are trying to

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Speaker 1: just corrupt and to destroy Judaism from within, there's obviously

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Speaker 1: a lesson for the Jews, but there's a lesson here

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Speaker 1: very much for Christians and other non Jews as well.

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Speaker 1: And the lesson is this, understand what built your culture.

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Speaker 1: Understand what built your society. Without that understanding, you will

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Speaker 1: not appreciate, and without that appreciation, you will not fight

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Speaker 1: for it. Now, if you are in a culture that

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Speaker 1: is a third world and backwards, maybe it's okay to

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Speaker 1: forget about it. Maybe if you are a goat herder

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Speaker 1: in the mountains of Afghanistan, it's actually okay to forget

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Speaker 1: about what built your morally and culturally dilapidated culture. Forget

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Speaker 1: and the Taliban is actually not a particularly bad thing.

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Speaker 1: But the relevant point and the crux is this. In

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Speaker 1: the West, in Western civilization, in Europe, certainly the United States,

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Speaker 1: our culture is good. Our culture, our values are intellectual bedrock,

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Speaker 1: our foundation. It's worth preserving, it is worth cherishing, it's

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Speaker 1: worth passing down from one generation to the next. And

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Speaker 1: that foundation, above all, is the foundation of the Bible,

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Speaker 1: of the Biblical inheritance. Without the Maccabees triumph there, who

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Speaker 1: knows of would have happened. Jesus lived, of course after

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Speaker 1: the Maccabees. If Judaism had been eradicated right there in

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Speaker 1: the second century before the Common Era. It's entirely possible.

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Speaker 1: In fact, by definition, it's likely that Christianity never would

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Speaker 1: have existed as well. So this is really historically pertinent stuff.

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Speaker 1: And the lesson is if you don't know about your culture,

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Speaker 1: first to learn about it, do the reading, do the homework.

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Speaker 1: Understand in America, what built this country. Read the Federalist papers,

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Speaker 1: read what they were reading. Try to get into the

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Speaker 1: primary source documents, and above all, refamiliarize herself with scripture,

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Speaker 1: which was the singular historical and intellectual foundation upon which

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Speaker 1: all of this was predicated. On a very personal note,

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Speaker 1: Honaka resonates with me deeply because my Hebrew name actually

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Speaker 1: is Maccabee. Due to the mac was known as Judah

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Speaker 1: the hammer, that was the nickname, and my Hebrew name

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Speaker 1: is Yohoshu Binemen Maccabee. So I care very much about

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Speaker 1: this holiday as someone who aspires to be a modern

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Speaker 1: day Maccabee. In fact, in my book that I wrote

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Speaker 1: earlier this year, I dedicated to my daughter and I said,

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Speaker 1: may she be a Maccabee of her own day. That's

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Speaker 1: a usual strife to be as well, whether you are

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Speaker 1: Jewish or Christian, it doesn't matter. Try to be a

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Speaker 1: Maccabee of your own day. But that first requires knowing

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Speaker 1: your culture, valuing your culture, and being ready, willing, able,

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Speaker 1: perhaps even eager to fight for it if need be.

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Speaker 1: Is a timeless lesson, but the year twenty twenty five,

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Speaker 1: it has perhaps been never really ever, ever or relevant.

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Speaker 1: So we have begun the holiday of Hanukkah as just discussed,

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Speaker 1: and there is really no one that I am more

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Speaker 1: delighted to bring on to discuss the Hanukkah holiday, but

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Speaker 1: more generally, what is happening out there when it comes

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Speaker 1: to a lot of things we've just dis us in

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Speaker 1: the show for a month or two now, when it

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Speaker 1: comes to the assaults not merely against the Jewish people,

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Speaker 1: but the assault really on the shared Biblical inheritance, the

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Speaker 1: origins of Western civilization. This has been a recurring late

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Speaker 1: motif of our show, and for all of the above

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Speaker 1: reasons is our distinct pleasure and honor to bring on

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Speaker 1: Rabbi Stephen Berg. Rabbi Burke is the CEO of aish

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Speaker 1: An organization that is near and dear to my heart.

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Speaker 2: For numerous reasons.

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Speaker 1: We'll get into that perhaps as well, Rabbi Burg, But

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Speaker 1: for now, and thank you so much for joining the

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Speaker 1: Josh Hammershaw. I'm wishing you a Hanukah Sama, a happy Hanukah.

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Speaker 2: Thank you, Josh. Happy to you too, to an honor

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Speaker 2: and a pleasure to be here.

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Speaker 1: Well, you know, I might as well start off on

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Speaker 1: the personal note, actually, because before we dive into our conversation,

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Speaker 1: so I, like many Jews over the years, perhaps I

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Speaker 1: propose to my wife from from the balcony at at

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Speaker 1: Ash in Jerusalem. So Rabbit broby Berg has joined the

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Speaker 1: show from from from Jerusalem, which is which is where Ash,

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Speaker 1: which is a global Jewish outreach organization. They are headquartered

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Speaker 1: there right opposite of the Western Wall there in the

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Speaker 1: heart of the old City of Jerusalem. And like Hues,

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Speaker 1: I got down on one knee and proposed to my

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Speaker 1: now wife there and I think it's a fourth level

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Speaker 1: balcony in December of twenty twenty two, three years ago,

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Speaker 1: almost today. In fact, it was actually during the third

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Speaker 1: night of Honkah actually when when I proposed to her.

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Speaker 1: So it was just for all the above reasons. It's

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Speaker 1: really were just just just wonderful to bring you here

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Speaker 1: on the show. So let's let's talk a little bit

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Speaker 1: about hanka I. I was just discussing the holiday a

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Speaker 1: little bit in my in my opening remarks. The holiday

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Speaker 1: is very much commercialized here in the United States, not

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Speaker 1: necessarily always for the correct reasons. But the actual story

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Speaker 1: of Honikah Rabbi is near and dear to my own heart.

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Speaker 1: My Jewish name, actually, which I read about in my book,

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Speaker 1: is your host should beIN you mean Maccabee. I was

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Speaker 1: given that the Hebrew name at Maccabee at the time

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Speaker 1: of my bar Mitzvah, because Judah the Maccabe's nickname was

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Speaker 1: Judah the Hammer. So that's that's become my my Hebrew name.

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Speaker 1: It's it's on my prayer showl, my talite bag, my

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Speaker 1: my fill in bag, and so forth there. So I

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Speaker 1: want to turn over to you. You're very much more

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Speaker 1: of the expert than I am here. I love the

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Speaker 1: story of Hankah. I think that there are lessons here,

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Speaker 1: not just for Jews, frankly, but for anybody when it

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Speaker 1: comes to defending the integrity of your inheritance and your civilization.

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Speaker 1: But I want to turn over to you in this

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Speaker 1: particular moment toward and what are some of the most

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Speaker 1: important points and themes that you think are are just

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Speaker 1: important to get across when it comes to the eternal

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Speaker 1: relevance of the Hankah holiday.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, it's an amazing story.

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Speaker 3: I mean, you know our history, we have been oppressed

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Speaker 3: pretty much in every country in the world, and certainly

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Speaker 3: even in Israel. Even today, we're fighting for our survival.

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Speaker 3: And this goes back over two thousand years. We're literally

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Speaker 3: you know, the Greeks had descended upon there and said,

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Speaker 3: you know, you can't sell about your religion, you can't

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Speaker 3: be Jewish, you can't do this.

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Speaker 2: And finally the Jews had just had enough.

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Speaker 3: And that's why, you know Judah MacCabe is it's just

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Speaker 3: a great hero just that pushback and the Jews saying

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Speaker 3: we're done, Like you have pushed us enough, We're going

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Speaker 3: to push back. And I think what's really great about

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Speaker 3: this holiday is number one is first it celebrates the

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Speaker 3: military victory that really that the Jews should have been

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Speaker 3: just wiped off the map, but we fought back. It

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Speaker 3: was the few against the many, which is a story

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Speaker 3: that's being retold in modern day Israel today.

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Speaker 2: And I think so many of us feel a kinship

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Speaker 2: to that.

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Speaker 3: So it's the story of the war that we finally

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Speaker 3: we fought back and we basically kicked them out and

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Speaker 3: retook the temple. But it's also a spiritual story because

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Speaker 3: when we got back to the temple, we found that

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Speaker 3: was defiled and we couldn't use the oil and the

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Speaker 3: manoa as we know today, that really started in the temple.

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Speaker 3: There was a large manoa there and we couldn't find

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Speaker 3: the oil, and we found a little bit of oil

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Speaker 3: that should have lasted one day and it lasted eight days.

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Speaker 3: Hence the holiday for eight days. So you have the

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Speaker 3: spiritual that God had had our back in terms of

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Speaker 3: our prayer and filling up the manoa and lighting them

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Speaker 3: over for him, but.

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Speaker 2: You also had the physical. You really had the military victory.

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Speaker 3: And I think for Jews and looking back since then,

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Speaker 3: in the over two thousand years, we've gone to so

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Speaker 3: many different places and we've suffered such oppression. Seeing the

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Speaker 3: hero of Judah MacCabe and his brothers rise up and

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Speaker 3: saying enough, we're done as Jews and we're going to

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Speaker 3: push back, I think it's been a very powerful tale

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Speaker 3: for Jews, who frankly need heroes to look up to.

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Speaker 1: So it's been a very powerful tool for Jews as well.

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Speaker 1: But I do think that there is a more relevant

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Speaker 1: story here. So when you look at what the what

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Speaker 1: the Hanukkah story, and to be clear, I'm not saying

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Speaker 1: it's very relevant for Jews. I'm saying I'm saying that

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Speaker 1: there's a story here that is relevant for Christians and

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Speaker 1: non Jews frankly as well, which is that if you

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Speaker 1: look at the underlying fact pattern, there's something of a

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Speaker 1: bloody civil war happening here. And this is the part

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Speaker 1: that I think most tellers of history don't particularly like

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Speaker 1: to talk about, because it doesn't have to do with

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Speaker 1: kind of all the all the nice anecdotal visual imagery

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Speaker 1: of spinning dradles and eating ilakas and Hanikah geltz the

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Speaker 1: little chocolate candies and all this stuff there. But there

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Speaker 1: was a fairly bloody civil war between on the one hand,

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Speaker 1: the Maccabees, who were ardence defenders of traditional Temple era Judaism,

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Speaker 1: and on the other hand you you had the Hellenizers,

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Speaker 1: those who were who were willing and at times often

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Speaker 1: eager to be culturally and geographically subsumed into Hellenistic society

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Speaker 1: into post Alexander the Great, really really Greek Syrian society

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Speaker 1: at that time. And as we all know, the reason

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Speaker 1: that we are celebrating the holiday, the reason that you

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Speaker 1: celebrate today is because the former prevailed over the latter,

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Speaker 1: because the defenders of art and traditionalism prevailed. So, as

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Speaker 1: something of a traditionalism and a nationalist myself, I care

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Speaker 1: deeply for the Hanukkah message, but I'm curious for your

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Speaker 1: take kind of just at the current moment we're in.

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Speaker 1: One of the debates that we're having is between on

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Speaker 1: the one hand, nationalism versus globalism. And it's important to

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Speaker 1: get these terms rights here. When I speak about nationalism

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Speaker 1: speaking of the importance of a particular identity, a particular inheritance,

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Speaker 1: a particular people, particular culture, particular plot of land, as

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Speaker 1: often the case there. And on the other hand, you

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Speaker 1: kind of have just just universalism in general, this notion

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Speaker 1: that culture's values, all of it is in flux and

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Speaker 1: we can just mix and match there. This is what

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Speaker 1: leads to such things, as you know, large scale immigration

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Speaker 1: from non European societies into Europe, and we're seeing that

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Speaker 1: come out in the United States there, so I'm curious

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Speaker 1: if you think that there is or not. Either is,

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Speaker 1: but what the what the broader take might be then

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Speaker 1: kind of looking at the story of the triumph of

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Speaker 1: traditionalist nationalism over ultra assimilated universalism in the Honkah story.

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Speaker 2: Look, Josh, I think you're spot on.

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Speaker 3: And I even think pre October seventh people would have

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Speaker 3: had a harder time understanding this story.

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Speaker 2: But since October.

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Speaker 3: Seventh, we have seen literally that there are Jews that

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Speaker 3: fight for Israel, and there have been totally secular Jews that,

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Speaker 3: because of October seventh, have rejoined the Jewish people and

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Speaker 3: fought for Israel. And yet there are other Jews that

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Speaker 3: have supported the enemies of Israel and the enemies of

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Speaker 3: the Jewish people. And so you look back at this story,

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Speaker 3: that's exactly what happened with Judaemacaby. Judamaic was not only

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Speaker 3: fighting against the Greeks, but he was also fighting against

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Speaker 3: many Jews that were like, look, we should just give

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Speaker 3: up everything and just join them and just just you know,

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Speaker 3: be a.

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Speaker 2: Part of them.

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Speaker 3: And I think that's samply you there's something special about

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Speaker 3: being a Jew, and we're supposed to be a light

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Speaker 3: into a nation. But if we don't exist and we

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Speaker 3: just assimilate and we just become a part of whatever

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Speaker 3: culture are in, we can't be that light onto nation.

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Speaker 3: We can't be that incredible beacon that that people look towards.

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Speaker 3: So I definitely think that's a big part of this story.

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Speaker 3: One of the things that hurts me and most since

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Speaker 3: October seventh is watching all these young Jews who don't know.

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Speaker 2: Their history, are not connected to our people.

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Speaker 3: Basically, you know, anytime someone starts a sentence with as

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Speaker 3: a Jew, you know the rest is not going to

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Speaker 3: be any good, right, And so they basically kind of

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Speaker 3: handed our heritage put it to the side. We don't

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Speaker 3: deserve to have a heritage, but everyone else in the

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Speaker 3: world just does deserve, and we should just, you know,

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Speaker 3: just kind of dissipate.

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Speaker 2: So I think you're spot on.

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Speaker 3: I think that's why this story, and it's it's almost

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Speaker 3: comical when you see everyone commercialize it, but they don't

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Speaker 3: really understand what happened here. This was a fight for

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Speaker 3: the soul of the Jewish people and not allowing us

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Speaker 3: ourselves to just kind of melt away.

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Speaker 2: So I think it's a very very important message.

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Speaker 3: I think that people can celebrate who they are and

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Speaker 3: appreciate others, but you would need to know who you

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Speaker 3: are before you can do anything else.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, you have to know who you are, and you

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Speaker 1: have to know what values and principles your culture and society,

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Speaker 1: your civilization are ultimately built upon. And this is you know, rabid.

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Speaker 1: This is one of my biggest frustrations, just kind of

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Speaker 1: zooming out and looking at our broader, you know, geopolitical

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Speaker 1: climate right now. You know, my book that came out

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Speaker 1: earlier this year, Israel and Civilization, The Fate of the

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Speaker 1: Jewish Nation the Destiny of the West, begins with the

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Speaker 1: very simple premise actually, which is after the Hamas Pagrama

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Speaker 1: of October seven, twenty twenty three, and after the way

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Speaker 1: that the leading purported lights of Western society oftentimes reacted

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Speaker 1: in deeply confused fashion as to who was right and

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Speaker 1: who was wrong, who was good, who was bad, which

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Speaker 1: cause was just, which was unjust? That to me, that

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Speaker 1: evinced a a profound lack of ability to identify that

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Speaker 1: which birthed their civilization in the first place. Because when

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Speaker 1: you properly understand, as I do, Western civilization as the

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Speaker 1: outflow of the Biblical inheritance, then it ought to be

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Speaker 1: fairly clear who you are choosing here in a conflict

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Speaker 1: between between the free and flourishing state of Israel and

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Speaker 1: the Jewish people and this seventh century aspiring Stria supremacist

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Speaker 1: Islamic death Gold of Hamas on the other hand. So

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Speaker 1: that's a big part of my book. The commut is

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Speaker 1: just trying to kind of remind people this and try

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Speaker 1: to put Humpty dumpty back together again. I'm curious kind

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Speaker 1: of hearkening back to what you said a few moments

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Speaker 1: ago about the imperative of being a light onto the nations.

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Speaker 1: This famous, this famous exhortation from the Book of Isaiah,

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Speaker 1: one of the greatest books of the entire Hebrew Bible.

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Speaker 1: I am my estimation. Can you kind of kind of

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Speaker 1: weave these two strands together here? So on the one hand,

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Speaker 1: we have kind of Western civilization on the brink, doesn't

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Speaker 1: really know what it is or what it stands for.

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Speaker 1: Should it exist there or should we just kind of

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Speaker 1: welcome in non Western forces folks in Afghanistan, Syria, whatever.

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Speaker 1: Then what is the role then of of the of

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Speaker 1: the Jewish people to actually try to be a light

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Speaker 1: onto nations? And does that role have have salience not

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Speaker 1: just for the Jews, which of course it does, but

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Speaker 1: then also for really the broader fates of the West.

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Speaker 2: Absolutely.

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Speaker 3: Look, I think that the Jews have brought morality ethics

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Speaker 3: to the world. You know, we we literally brought it

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Speaker 3: out all the major religions, go back to Judaism, because

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Speaker 3: we were the ones that said that, you know, we

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Speaker 3: need to have laws and we need to have have

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Speaker 3: morale ethics. And even like you know today with the IDF,

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Speaker 3: you know, and it's almost the biggest joke in the

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Speaker 3: world because Israel, which is a democracy, you're looking at

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Speaker 3: all these dictatorships and you know, monarchies surround the Israel

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Speaker 3: that oppress their own people but are really good at

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Speaker 3: like keeping it off camera. And so Jews are are

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Speaker 3: really we have this ability to show the world and

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Speaker 3: so much of what we've done. You know, you you

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Speaker 3: look at Nobel prizes, right, Why have Jews won so

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Speaker 3: many Noble prizes?

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Speaker 2: Right?

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Speaker 3: And you can't say that someone created a vaccine just

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Speaker 3: for the Jewish people.

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Speaker 2: They create a vaccine for the entire world. That We've

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Speaker 2: always been that light.

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Speaker 3: We've always tried to do great things and every time

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Speaker 3: we've come to another country, we tried to build up

429
00:22:11,880 --> 00:22:14,560
Speaker 3: the country all the way back to the American Revolution.

430
00:22:14,680 --> 00:22:18,600
Speaker 3: You have him Solomon, who helped to fund the American Revolution, and.

431
00:22:18,680 --> 00:22:19,919
Speaker 2: We went all the way back to the beginning.

432
00:22:20,040 --> 00:22:22,400
Speaker 3: We've always tried to play that role and to help

433
00:22:22,400 --> 00:22:24,840
Speaker 3: that role, and people have been suspicious of us as

434
00:22:24,840 --> 00:22:27,320
Speaker 3: a result, because they need to have someone that they

435
00:22:27,320 --> 00:22:29,480
Speaker 3: can blame. They need to say, you know, if I'm

436
00:22:29,480 --> 00:22:31,159
Speaker 3: not doing well, it's got to be the Jews fault,

437
00:22:31,280 --> 00:22:34,119
Speaker 3: and therefore they've fallen into this anti semitism. Today, the

438
00:22:34,160 --> 00:22:36,840
Speaker 3: Internet and social media has made it much easier, and

439
00:22:36,880 --> 00:22:39,160
Speaker 3: we have so many enemies out there that are trying

440
00:22:39,240 --> 00:22:41,640
Speaker 3: Katar does not want anyone looking closely at them.

441
00:22:41,760 --> 00:22:43,480
Speaker 2: It's the best thing to do is blame on the Jews.

442
00:22:43,480 --> 00:22:43,719
Speaker 2: I ran.

443
00:22:43,720 --> 00:22:46,399
Speaker 3: It's the same in so many other other countries. But

444
00:22:46,880 --> 00:22:50,040
Speaker 3: we can never give up that being that light. It's

445
00:22:50,080 --> 00:22:51,359
Speaker 3: even more than that. You know, when you go to

446
00:22:51,359 --> 00:22:53,159
Speaker 3: these rallies, we always give this example. You know, you

447
00:22:53,200 --> 00:22:55,280
Speaker 3: go to an anti Asiera rally and you have burning

448
00:22:55,359 --> 00:22:58,400
Speaker 3: of flags and like people throwing things in violence.

449
00:22:58,520 --> 00:23:00,920
Speaker 2: You go to a Jewish rally, you see and love.

450
00:23:00,840 --> 00:23:04,359
Speaker 3: Right, we we're the people of love, and we can't

451
00:23:04,400 --> 00:23:07,480
Speaker 3: forget that, and we can't let them make haters of us.

452
00:23:07,720 --> 00:23:09,919
Speaker 3: And we had to be very careful to continue to

453
00:23:09,960 --> 00:23:12,720
Speaker 3: bring God's love to the world because that was what

454
00:23:12,760 --> 00:23:14,960
Speaker 3: Moses did with analyzing and Jacob, that's that's.

455
00:23:14,840 --> 00:23:15,280
Speaker 2: Who we are.

456
00:23:15,400 --> 00:23:17,520
Speaker 3: We brought love to the world, and the Christians and

457
00:23:17,520 --> 00:23:19,760
Speaker 3: the Muslims, everyone came back to us and they used

458
00:23:19,760 --> 00:23:22,240
Speaker 3: our profits for that. So we have to be careful

459
00:23:22,520 --> 00:23:24,879
Speaker 3: not to get quoted dat to continue to be aligned

460
00:23:24,920 --> 00:23:25,359
Speaker 3: to nations.

461
00:23:25,400 --> 00:23:26,000
Speaker 2: No matter how.

462
00:23:25,880 --> 00:23:27,960
Speaker 3: Many times we get punched in the face, We're going

463
00:23:28,040 --> 00:23:29,720
Speaker 3: to jump back up and we're going to do the

464
00:23:29,800 --> 00:23:31,880
Speaker 3: right thing no matter what. We're going to defend ourselves

465
00:23:31,880 --> 00:23:34,280
Speaker 3: no matter what. But we're going to continue being that light.

466
00:23:34,600 --> 00:23:37,080
Speaker 1: Rab I see the Murga is the CEO of ASH,

467
00:23:37,200 --> 00:23:40,040
Speaker 1: a well known global Jewish houreach organization. They really do

468
00:23:40,160 --> 00:23:42,720
Speaker 1: fantastic work. If I don't say so myself, you know,

469
00:23:42,800 --> 00:23:46,760
Speaker 1: rabbit Berg, there's something of a of a of a contrast,

470
00:23:47,240 --> 00:23:49,600
Speaker 1: there's something of an interesting dichotomy when I look at

471
00:23:49,600 --> 00:23:53,440
Speaker 1: the at the current state of global jewelry, and I

472
00:23:53,520 --> 00:23:56,280
Speaker 1: can't help but chuckle, because global jewry was actually the

473
00:23:56,320 --> 00:23:58,719
Speaker 1: exact turn of phrase that that Nick Flent has us

474
00:23:58,760 --> 00:24:00,720
Speaker 1: in his recent time Carlston view. So I can't help

475
00:24:00,720 --> 00:24:03,400
Speaker 1: but but but smile and with this tongue in cheek

476
00:24:03,440 --> 00:24:06,040
Speaker 1: in case of global jew anyway, when I look at

477
00:24:06,200 --> 00:24:09,200
Speaker 1: actual global DREI like Jews around the world, I can't

478
00:24:09,200 --> 00:24:10,920
Speaker 1: help but know that there is that there is something

479
00:24:11,080 --> 00:24:16,320
Speaker 1: of a dichotomy between the the States, the flourishing of

480
00:24:16,440 --> 00:24:19,280
Speaker 1: Jews currently in the land of Israel, and and the

481
00:24:19,359 --> 00:24:22,320
Speaker 1: state of Jews in the in the broader diaspora, in

482
00:24:22,359 --> 00:24:25,840
Speaker 1: countries all all outside the land the land of Israel.

483
00:24:26,000 --> 00:24:28,720
Speaker 1: I'm talking here mostly outside of the United States. But

484
00:24:29,320 --> 00:24:31,639
Speaker 1: as I think the world has caught on too increasingly,

485
00:24:31,720 --> 00:24:34,399
Speaker 1: things are are are a little testy here in the

486
00:24:34,480 --> 00:24:39,159
Speaker 1: United States as well. I'm curious just because you're in

487
00:24:39,320 --> 00:24:41,879
Speaker 1: you're in Jerusalem. I'm curious just for your just for

488
00:24:41,960 --> 00:24:45,400
Speaker 1: your take on that. You know, what can we say

489
00:24:45,400 --> 00:24:47,640
Speaker 1: about this dichotomy? I guess do you accept that there

490
00:24:47,720 --> 00:24:50,680
Speaker 1: is this dichotomy is as stark as at times I

491
00:24:50,720 --> 00:24:52,280
Speaker 1: think that it is. What does that say? Is there

492
00:24:52,280 --> 00:24:55,879
Speaker 1: potentially even a theological or divine possible purpose that is

493
00:24:55,920 --> 00:24:57,880
Speaker 1: going on here? I kind of defer to you. You

494
00:24:57,880 --> 00:25:00,199
Speaker 1: you're the you're more of the expert on that, but

495
00:25:00,240 --> 00:25:02,920
Speaker 1: I guess it's even more, even more practically than I would.

496
00:25:02,920 --> 00:25:06,000
Speaker 1: Also be curious for our thoughts, if my premise is correct.

497
00:25:06,240 --> 00:25:08,640
Speaker 1: Why you think we're seeing it. Why you think we're

498
00:25:08,680 --> 00:25:13,240
Speaker 1: seeing this strong contrast between the flourishing of the Jews

499
00:25:13,240 --> 00:25:16,280
Speaker 1: currently in the Land of Israel versus the at times

500
00:25:16,320 --> 00:25:18,000
Speaker 1: plated of them outside of the Land of Israel.

501
00:25:18,400 --> 00:25:20,240
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think one of the things it's so interesting

502
00:25:20,280 --> 00:25:22,480
Speaker 3: you mentioned Nick Puentes, you know, using World jew I

503
00:25:22,520 --> 00:25:25,040
Speaker 3: also canto that like he actually.

504
00:25:24,920 --> 00:25:25,439
Speaker 2: Has read us.

505
00:25:25,480 --> 00:25:28,440
Speaker 3: I mean, he's abhorrent and disgusting and terrible, but he

506
00:25:28,440 --> 00:25:31,040
Speaker 3: he kind of uses our language. And I think one

507
00:25:31,040 --> 00:25:33,680
Speaker 3: of the struggles people had around the world and understanding

508
00:25:33,720 --> 00:25:35,879
Speaker 3: Jewish people is we don't fit into any box.

509
00:25:36,280 --> 00:25:36,480
Speaker 2: Right.

510
00:25:36,760 --> 00:25:40,000
Speaker 3: We're not exactly just a nation, Right, We're not exactly

511
00:25:40,200 --> 00:25:42,760
Speaker 3: just a religion, and we're not even just a race

512
00:25:42,880 --> 00:25:44,840
Speaker 3: because you have Jews of all different colors, so no

513
00:25:44,840 --> 00:25:47,320
Speaker 3: one really knows what to do with us. And I

514
00:25:47,320 --> 00:25:50,639
Speaker 3: think post October seventh, really, I mean the definition I've

515
00:25:50,680 --> 00:25:53,520
Speaker 3: been using is family, right, we are literally family, and

516
00:25:53,520 --> 00:25:56,960
Speaker 3: I don't think the world quite understood that. You know,

517
00:25:57,040 --> 00:25:59,280
Speaker 3: when the Jews of Israel is suffering, I tell you,

518
00:25:59,520 --> 00:26:02,200
Speaker 3: I'm in is and I would go back and forth constantly,

519
00:26:02,320 --> 00:26:04,840
Speaker 3: and the Jews of Israel were always saying, you know.

520
00:26:05,040 --> 00:26:06,399
Speaker 2: Are Jews in America? Are they like?

521
00:26:06,440 --> 00:26:07,960
Speaker 3: Do they know what's going on here? Are they focused?

522
00:26:07,960 --> 00:26:10,440
Speaker 3: I'm like, yes, they are very focused. And the Jews

523
00:26:10,480 --> 00:26:13,920
Speaker 3: of America sent a tremendous amount of philanthropy to support

524
00:26:13,960 --> 00:26:16,879
Speaker 3: the Jews of Israel in the following months because that

525
00:26:16,960 --> 00:26:17,399
Speaker 3: was family.

526
00:26:17,400 --> 00:26:18,399
Speaker 2: Our family's in trouble.

527
00:26:18,960 --> 00:26:22,520
Speaker 3: Now as I'm going from Israel to New York City,

528
00:26:22,960 --> 00:26:24,960
Speaker 3: people are worried about the Jews of New York City

529
00:26:25,200 --> 00:26:27,879
Speaker 3: from Israel because I ma'm Danie and all the horrific

530
00:26:27,960 --> 00:26:29,720
Speaker 3: things that are going on now in New York and

531
00:26:29,720 --> 00:26:33,560
Speaker 3: the anti Semitism, and so Jews are really concerned about

532
00:26:33,560 --> 00:26:35,479
Speaker 3: each other everywhere we go, no matter where. And by

533
00:26:35,520 --> 00:26:37,919
Speaker 3: the way, he storic with two thousand years, it's been

534
00:26:37,960 --> 00:26:40,440
Speaker 3: like that. Every time there's a Jew in trouble, the

535
00:26:40,560 --> 00:26:42,919
Speaker 3: Jews have their back, and everyone is a little like, oh,

536
00:26:42,960 --> 00:26:45,400
Speaker 3: we don't understand, you know, like, what's your connection, whether

537
00:26:45,440 --> 00:26:46,880
Speaker 3: your connection we're family, they.

538
00:26:46,760 --> 00:26:48,640
Speaker 2: We're cousins, we're brothers, we're sisters.

539
00:26:48,640 --> 00:26:51,560
Speaker 3: You know, when we lose that connection, that's when the

540
00:26:51,600 --> 00:26:53,560
Speaker 3: Jews are in trouble. And I think that one of

541
00:26:53,680 --> 00:26:55,200
Speaker 3: you know, one of the horrific things that we're seeing

542
00:26:55,200 --> 00:26:57,320
Speaker 3: in New York City is that they're trying to break

543
00:26:57,359 --> 00:26:59,600
Speaker 3: up the Jewish people saying no, no, I like Jews, I just.

544
00:26:59,600 --> 00:27:03,119
Speaker 2: Don't like Zionists, right, I don't like the people support Israel. Right.

545
00:27:03,440 --> 00:27:05,920
Speaker 3: We can't let them define who we are right as

546
00:27:05,960 --> 00:27:09,240
Speaker 3: a Jew, Israel's your country, that's the bottom line. I mean,

547
00:27:09,320 --> 00:27:12,439
Speaker 3: our prayers, our Bible, everything is about that. You can't

548
00:27:12,720 --> 00:27:16,440
Speaker 3: take Israel out of the Jewish people. And so when

549
00:27:16,480 --> 00:27:18,679
Speaker 3: you do allow that to happen, then you start to

550
00:27:18,720 --> 00:27:20,880
Speaker 3: float away from the Jewish people and then you're gonna

551
00:27:20,880 --> 00:27:22,840
Speaker 3: be lost to us, and you're gonna be lost to

552
00:27:22,920 --> 00:27:23,399
Speaker 3: your family.

553
00:27:23,400 --> 00:27:26,920
Speaker 2: And I think that's the tragedy here. And look at ash.

554
00:27:27,320 --> 00:27:29,560
Speaker 3: Our job has been through the Enginet to try and

555
00:27:29,640 --> 00:27:32,120
Speaker 3: recapture so many unaffiliated Jews and say hey, you need

556
00:27:32,160 --> 00:27:35,159
Speaker 3: to know why you're Jewish because you have this incredible, warm,

557
00:27:35,480 --> 00:27:38,040
Speaker 3: beautiful family. You have family in Israel, you have family

558
00:27:38,040 --> 00:27:40,879
Speaker 3: in Brazil, you have family in England. You have family everywhere,

559
00:27:41,080 --> 00:27:43,879
Speaker 3: and so we need to stay strong and at the

560
00:27:43,960 --> 00:27:47,240
Speaker 3: Jews of any country are weakening, then it's a problem

561
00:27:47,320 --> 00:27:48,199
Speaker 3: for all of us and we have.

562
00:27:48,240 --> 00:27:50,360
Speaker 2: To you know, we have to just lift each other up.

563
00:27:50,640 --> 00:27:53,280
Speaker 1: I totally agree with that obviously. And you know, family

564
00:27:53,320 --> 00:27:55,520
Speaker 1: is a very interesting way to describe global Jewish people.

565
00:27:55,560 --> 00:27:57,840
Speaker 1: I think of it typically as being a nation. I

566
00:27:57,920 --> 00:28:00,840
Speaker 1: agree with you that don't don't as sssarily fit into

567
00:28:00,920 --> 00:28:03,080
Speaker 1: kind of the Western conceptions of a of a faith,

568
00:28:03,119 --> 00:28:05,120
Speaker 1: you know, you know, Christianity is more of faith. Judaism

569
00:28:05,160 --> 00:28:07,880
Speaker 1: is something slightly different. I typically refer to as a nation.

570
00:28:07,920 --> 00:28:10,960
Speaker 1: But but family actually is a very interesting interesting way

571
00:28:11,000 --> 00:28:12,879
Speaker 1: to put it as well. So again, folks, WHICHI was

572
00:28:12,960 --> 00:28:15,639
Speaker 1: with Rabbi Stephen Burke, he's the CEO of Aish, a

573
00:28:15,920 --> 00:28:19,720
Speaker 1: global Jewish outreach organization. I want to talk about because

574
00:28:19,760 --> 00:28:22,119
Speaker 1: again your location for ash I you know, for the

575
00:28:22,119 --> 00:28:23,920
Speaker 1: folks out there who have not been the Jerusalem. First

576
00:28:23,960 --> 00:28:25,560
Speaker 1: of all, I cannot encourage you enough if you have

577
00:28:25,560 --> 00:28:28,520
Speaker 1: the opportunity to try and go visit Jerusalem, whether you

578
00:28:28,560 --> 00:28:31,480
Speaker 1: are a Jew or Christian, you will have just an incredible,

579
00:28:31,480 --> 00:28:34,520
Speaker 1: amazing experience. And when you go to the western wall,

580
00:28:35,160 --> 00:28:38,040
Speaker 1: you will you will look, you will look directly across

581
00:28:38,120 --> 00:28:41,800
Speaker 1: from the western wall, directly westward, and you will see

582
00:28:42,000 --> 00:28:44,280
Speaker 1: you will, you will, you will see Asia's global headquarters.

583
00:28:44,320 --> 00:28:46,800
Speaker 1: It is some of the most magnificent real estate, frankly,

584
00:28:46,880 --> 00:28:50,480
Speaker 1: in the entire entire country of Israel. And on that note, Rabbi,

585
00:28:50,600 --> 00:28:53,160
Speaker 1: I can't help but think, especially this time of the year,

586
00:28:53,400 --> 00:28:55,560
Speaker 1: it's it's in the middle of Hanukah. For for our

587
00:28:55,640 --> 00:28:59,440
Speaker 1: Christian listeners and viewers, we're approaching Christmas in the notz

588
00:28:59,520 --> 00:29:02,520
Speaker 1: distant future. Sure here as well, there is this concerted effort.

589
00:29:02,640 --> 00:29:05,280
Speaker 1: You know, we mentioned flent as I briefly mentioned Tucker Carlson,

590
00:29:05,320 --> 00:29:08,040
Speaker 1: who's a frequent target of this particular program. You know,

591
00:29:08,080 --> 00:29:11,960
Speaker 1: there is this concerted effort to divorce the story of

592
00:29:12,520 --> 00:29:15,560
Speaker 1: Western civilization and really the story of America. Here in America,

593
00:29:15,600 --> 00:29:19,320
Speaker 1: but there's this effort to divorce the story of all

594
00:29:19,360 --> 00:29:24,240
Speaker 1: of that from the actual origins of Western civilization, from

595
00:29:24,240 --> 00:29:26,760
Speaker 1: the actual origins of the Bible.

596
00:29:27,200 --> 00:29:27,320
Speaker 3: Uh.

597
00:29:27,800 --> 00:29:29,760
Speaker 1: You know, there was this there was this remarkable recent

598
00:29:29,800 --> 00:29:33,560
Speaker 1: interview that Tucker Carlson gave to to Magan Kelly where

599
00:29:33,560 --> 00:29:36,160
Speaker 1: they're on stage together an event, and Tucker tried to

600
00:29:36,160 --> 00:29:38,280
Speaker 1: make the claim that it's actually just the New Testament,

601
00:29:38,320 --> 00:29:41,360
Speaker 1: the New Testament alone, which built America, which you know,

602
00:29:41,440 --> 00:29:43,840
Speaker 1: my base response to that is, you know, dude, go

603
00:29:43,880 --> 00:29:47,200
Speaker 1: to Philadelphia. Tell me what's on the Liberty bill in Philadelphia.

604
00:29:47,240 --> 00:29:49,160
Speaker 1: I mean, it's the Book of Leviticus, for goodness sake.

605
00:29:49,200 --> 00:29:49,320
Speaker 2: There.

606
00:29:49,320 --> 00:29:51,400
Speaker 1: I mean, there's there's, there's a there's a million examples

607
00:29:51,440 --> 00:29:53,840
Speaker 1: where that came from. There. It's just it's hard, it's

608
00:29:53,880 --> 00:29:56,640
Speaker 1: it's hard, frankly, to imagine that anyone intelligent could actually

609
00:29:56,640 --> 00:30:00,760
Speaker 1: believe this. But you know, I'm curious for I know

610
00:30:00,800 --> 00:30:03,760
Speaker 1: a lot of Jews who don't necessarily think of Judaism

611
00:30:04,120 --> 00:30:07,480
Speaker 1: as being part of Western civilization. They do think of

612
00:30:07,520 --> 00:30:12,360
Speaker 1: Western civilization as being more inherent and inherently Christian. I'm

613
00:30:12,400 --> 00:30:16,760
Speaker 1: curious for your for your take on that and how

614
00:30:16,840 --> 00:30:20,400
Speaker 1: you think that not just Judaism, but also the current

615
00:30:20,520 --> 00:30:24,480
Speaker 1: state of Israel, how the religion and the nation, how

616
00:30:24,480 --> 00:30:28,320
Speaker 1: they interact in your mind with the broader West.

617
00:30:28,440 --> 00:30:28,880
Speaker 2: Exactly.

618
00:30:29,360 --> 00:30:31,120
Speaker 3: Well, first of all, Josh, you had mentioned before that

619
00:30:31,160 --> 00:30:33,440
Speaker 3: you post your wife on our wife on our balcony

620
00:30:33,440 --> 00:30:36,800
Speaker 3: overlooking the Temple Mound. You know, I literally yesterday Bob Diner,

621
00:30:37,160 --> 00:30:40,360
Speaker 3: Bob Micheal Diener, they're the donors at balcony. Bob asked

622
00:30:40,360 --> 00:30:43,760
Speaker 3: how many engagements we've had since October seventh on that balcony,

623
00:30:43,800 --> 00:30:45,880
Speaker 3: And it's been over one hundred and fifty since October

624
00:30:45,880 --> 00:30:46,880
Speaker 3: seventh on that acophony.

625
00:30:47,040 --> 00:30:49,640
Speaker 2: So it's a very special place we look out.

626
00:30:49,720 --> 00:30:53,120
Speaker 3: But you know, I've told people that from nineteen forty

627
00:30:53,160 --> 00:30:55,760
Speaker 3: eight till nineteen sixty seven, if I was standing in

628
00:30:55,800 --> 00:30:57,960
Speaker 3: Age right overlooking the Temple mount as a Jew, I

629
00:30:57,960 --> 00:31:00,800
Speaker 3: would have been shot and killed right would not come

630
00:31:00,840 --> 00:31:03,360
Speaker 3: to the Old City. I could not worship at the

631
00:31:03,360 --> 00:31:09,680
Speaker 3: Western Wall. Since nineteen sixty seven, all three religions Islam, Christianity,

632
00:31:09,960 --> 00:31:13,440
Speaker 3: Judaism have freedom of worship, freedom of movement in the

633
00:31:13,480 --> 00:31:17,160
Speaker 3: Old City because of the Jewish state, because of Israel.

634
00:31:17,480 --> 00:31:19,960
Speaker 2: Israel is the place that is holding it open.

635
00:31:20,480 --> 00:31:24,000
Speaker 3: And I think that's something that gets totally lost in

636
00:31:24,040 --> 00:31:25,800
Speaker 3: the greater story. I could tell you that at Ash

637
00:31:26,280 --> 00:31:29,080
Speaker 3: we have many, many Christians and many Muslims come through

638
00:31:29,160 --> 00:31:32,080
Speaker 3: after peace was made with the UAE between the UAE

639
00:31:32,200 --> 00:31:35,480
Speaker 3: and Israel, so we had a flood of people from

640
00:31:35,480 --> 00:31:37,920
Speaker 3: the UAE coming, But they could not go to Temple

641
00:31:38,000 --> 00:31:40,240
Speaker 3: Mount because they would be harassed on the Temple Mount

642
00:31:40,480 --> 00:31:42,880
Speaker 3: by the Palestinians. They would come to ash literally we

643
00:31:42,880 --> 00:31:45,960
Speaker 3: were having flowing robes, you know, just coming up there,

644
00:31:46,280 --> 00:31:48,360
Speaker 3: and we walk on them with open arms. Because the

645
00:31:48,400 --> 00:31:50,760
Speaker 3: bottom line is that we have believed, the Jewish faith

646
00:31:50,800 --> 00:31:53,240
Speaker 3: has always believed that the Temple Mount is a place

647
00:31:53,280 --> 00:31:56,120
Speaker 3: for every single human being in the world to be

648
00:31:56,120 --> 00:31:58,400
Speaker 3: able to get close to God and to pray. That

649
00:31:58,520 --> 00:32:02,320
Speaker 3: is a space for everyone, and I think that it's

650
00:32:02,440 --> 00:32:05,880
Speaker 3: it's so important to remember this. And of course what

651
00:32:05,960 --> 00:32:09,200
Speaker 3: Tucker cross And said is not connected to all to religion.

652
00:32:09,240 --> 00:32:10,000
Speaker 2: I mean, it's absurd.

653
00:32:10,280 --> 00:32:12,600
Speaker 3: We all know, you know, everyone goes back to Abraham,

654
00:32:13,120 --> 00:32:16,760
Speaker 3: is the he start Monotheism for the entire world. Without Abraham,

655
00:32:17,200 --> 00:32:20,520
Speaker 3: everyone's sitting, you know, worshiping stone idols, and so it's

656
00:32:20,600 --> 00:32:22,520
Speaker 3: just so absurd, and it just it tries to fit

657
00:32:22,600 --> 00:32:26,440
Speaker 3: a narrative, it doesn't really fit any truth. So you know,

658
00:32:26,520 --> 00:32:29,480
Speaker 3: as far as us being there, we're thrilled to whole

659
00:32:29,600 --> 00:32:33,400
Speaker 3: to host non Jews, thrilled to our brothers and sisters,

660
00:32:33,440 --> 00:32:36,800
Speaker 3: our cousins as I affectionately refer to them. We encourage

661
00:32:36,840 --> 00:32:38,800
Speaker 3: them to come and they should worship. And it's only

662
00:32:38,840 --> 00:32:40,640
Speaker 3: going to happen as long as Israel is the hair

663
00:32:40,720 --> 00:32:43,280
Speaker 3: in the Old City. If anyone else takes over that spot,

664
00:32:43,360 --> 00:32:45,600
Speaker 3: believe me, people are going to be slaughtered again and

665
00:32:45,600 --> 00:32:46,880
Speaker 3: they won't be allowed to worship.

666
00:32:47,040 --> 00:32:47,240
Speaker 2: Yeah.

667
00:32:47,360 --> 00:32:50,480
Speaker 1: And you know, sometimes I hear folks who know pound

668
00:32:50,520 --> 00:32:53,360
Speaker 1: their chests and they call themselves America First, and they,

669
00:32:53,960 --> 00:32:59,440
Speaker 1: you know, invariably propagate policies that have the effects of

670
00:32:59,600 --> 00:33:03,320
Speaker 1: undermine Israel more broadly, and especially oftentimes undermining Israel's claims

671
00:33:03,320 --> 00:33:06,040
Speaker 1: two things like the Old City of Jerusalem to Jday

672
00:33:06,040 --> 00:33:08,719
Speaker 1: and Samaria, the Biblical homeland and so forth more generally.

673
00:33:09,280 --> 00:33:12,560
Speaker 1: And I oftentimes just really struggle, and I say, what

674
00:33:12,800 --> 00:33:15,520
Speaker 1: exactly I mean taking this is face value taking on

675
00:33:15,600 --> 00:33:18,680
Speaker 1: its own terms, Like, explain to me what the quote

676
00:33:18,760 --> 00:33:21,880
Speaker 1: unquote America first case is. What is the America first

677
00:33:21,880 --> 00:33:24,760
Speaker 1: case for giving the plo, for giving Hamas, giving a

678
00:33:24,840 --> 00:33:27,880
Speaker 1: Ron whoever, you know, you know, de facto if not

679
00:33:28,080 --> 00:33:31,600
Speaker 1: ds your actual legal control over the holy sites of

680
00:33:31,680 --> 00:33:35,480
Speaker 1: all three Abrahamic religions. I mean, like, what exactly is

681
00:33:35,520 --> 00:33:39,280
Speaker 1: the America first claim for carving out yet another you know,

682
00:33:39,360 --> 00:33:42,400
Speaker 1: radical Muslim terrorist state in the heart of the Middle East.

683
00:33:42,440 --> 00:33:46,280
Speaker 1: I mean, I mean, the logic really falls frankly on

684
00:33:47,000 --> 00:33:51,560
Speaker 1: on its own face, and I've never really quite understood it.

685
00:33:51,560 --> 00:33:55,520
Speaker 1: It just doesn't necessarily resonate with me. I guess one

686
00:33:55,560 --> 00:33:58,600
Speaker 1: additional question for you. Look, I mean, again, as we

687
00:33:58,640 --> 00:34:00,400
Speaker 1: begin to wrap our conversation here, we're in the middle

688
00:34:00,400 --> 00:34:03,920
Speaker 1: of Hanukkah, which is this story of mccabee in Triumph.

689
00:34:03,960 --> 00:34:07,240
Speaker 1: There is the sense that you get from front from

690
00:34:07,360 --> 00:34:11,320
Speaker 1: Israel that the United States and the West more generally

691
00:34:11,800 --> 00:34:16,759
Speaker 1: are perhaps maybe not as staunch reliable supporters as as

692
00:34:16,800 --> 00:34:19,160
Speaker 1: they would have been as recently as ten twenty years ago.

693
00:34:19,480 --> 00:34:22,080
Speaker 1: I'm sure you're you've been in many conversations where this

694
00:34:22,120 --> 00:34:24,600
Speaker 1: comes up and you're and you're grappling this. And the

695
00:34:24,600 --> 00:34:26,880
Speaker 1: reason I asked that is not to be dower, but

696
00:34:26,880 --> 00:34:28,759
Speaker 1: because I think that there's something to be said for

697
00:34:28,840 --> 00:34:31,520
Speaker 1: them kind of doubling down in kind of this Maccabean

698
00:34:31,680 --> 00:34:34,799
Speaker 1: kind of Honkkah esque, you know, fortitude that you know

699
00:34:34,880 --> 00:34:37,400
Speaker 1: we're here, we're not going anywhere. So I'm curious if

700
00:34:37,400 --> 00:34:39,960
Speaker 1: you've had those conversations and if it kind of relates

701
00:34:39,960 --> 00:34:42,239
Speaker 1: to this mccabean mentality that I'm talking about here.

702
00:34:42,560 --> 00:34:43,200
Speaker 2: Yeah, Look, I.

703
00:34:43,200 --> 00:34:45,920
Speaker 3: Think the Israelis feel that America has their back because

704
00:34:45,960 --> 00:34:47,400
Speaker 3: of President President Donald Trump.

705
00:34:47,600 --> 00:34:51,160
Speaker 2: I was in the connects that when he spoke, people.

706
00:34:50,920 --> 00:34:53,920
Speaker 3: Feel very much that he has their back, that he

707
00:34:53,960 --> 00:34:56,200
Speaker 3: has had their back, and they've watched it and they

708
00:34:56,239 --> 00:34:58,719
Speaker 3: you know, the hostages, we're still waiting on one.

709
00:34:58,760 --> 00:35:00,120
Speaker 2: But like they came back.

710
00:35:00,160 --> 00:35:03,560
Speaker 3: He kept his promises, you know, the America First folks,

711
00:35:03,600 --> 00:35:05,759
Speaker 3: And I think there is a little nervousness is what

712
00:35:05,800 --> 00:35:09,120
Speaker 3: comes next, who comes next? And their take on that,

713
00:35:09,160 --> 00:35:12,000
Speaker 3: But you know, America First, they just it's so immature

714
00:35:12,400 --> 00:35:14,560
Speaker 3: that those folks, they don't understand. They're like, America First.

715
00:35:14,640 --> 00:35:17,040
Speaker 3: You can still have allies, you can have friends. Doesn't

716
00:35:17,080 --> 00:35:20,560
Speaker 3: mean you threw everyone to the size. You know, when

717
00:35:20,719 --> 00:35:23,200
Speaker 3: with the battle with Iran, everyone said, oh, it's gonna

718
00:35:23,200 --> 00:35:25,680
Speaker 3: be horrible, It's gonna be terrible. What happened was Israel

719
00:35:25,680 --> 00:35:28,560
Speaker 3: controlled the skies, took care of everything, so America was

720
00:35:28,600 --> 00:35:31,720
Speaker 3: able to come over and take care of these nuclear

721
00:35:31,719 --> 00:35:34,240
Speaker 3: power plants that frankly, people in the street were yelling

722
00:35:34,239 --> 00:35:36,800
Speaker 3: death through America over a way more than death to

723
00:35:36,920 --> 00:35:40,239
Speaker 3: Israel and America was able to go over there and

724
00:35:40,239 --> 00:35:42,160
Speaker 3: and no loss of anything because.

725
00:35:41,960 --> 00:35:43,480
Speaker 2: Israel had and that's what happens.

726
00:35:43,520 --> 00:35:45,640
Speaker 3: Allies paved the way and then you can come and

727
00:35:45,640 --> 00:35:48,560
Speaker 3: do what you need to do and keep your soldiers safe.

728
00:35:48,600 --> 00:35:49,520
Speaker 2: So there's just this.

729
00:35:49,520 --> 00:35:52,560
Speaker 3: Immaturity and lack of understanding of what an ally actually means.

730
00:35:52,920 --> 00:35:56,440
Speaker 3: Right when you have aligned interest that America could be

731
00:35:56,440 --> 00:35:59,320
Speaker 3: first and Israel could be first, that's actually okay because

732
00:35:59,320 --> 00:36:02,719
Speaker 3: they have these alne values. They've always been together traditionally,

733
00:36:03,080 --> 00:36:06,200
Speaker 3: and so I you know, demanies America first. Folks you

734
00:36:06,200 --> 00:36:08,080
Speaker 3: know on the internet, they're just trying to, you know,

735
00:36:08,280 --> 00:36:10,640
Speaker 3: just rack up followers or play to the crowd and

736
00:36:10,640 --> 00:36:12,640
Speaker 3: stuff like that. But I think people and is on

737
00:36:12,719 --> 00:36:14,000
Speaker 3: number one is they have a lot of faith in

738
00:36:14,040 --> 00:36:17,560
Speaker 3: President Donald Trump. But yes, I believe there is concern

739
00:36:17,640 --> 00:36:20,600
Speaker 3: that some of the politicians following the next president, who

740
00:36:20,680 --> 00:36:22,399
Speaker 3: the next president is going to be, are they going

741
00:36:22,440 --> 00:36:26,640
Speaker 3: to kowtow to the Tucker Carlson's of the world or horribly,

742
00:36:26,680 --> 00:36:29,600
Speaker 3: the Nick Puentes and all these other crazies out there,

743
00:36:29,719 --> 00:36:32,239
Speaker 3: or are they going to stick to the values of

744
00:36:32,480 --> 00:36:36,000
Speaker 3: monotheism of they shared heritage and history.

745
00:36:36,040 --> 00:36:38,200
Speaker 2: We have, in which case we can we can be

746
00:36:38,320 --> 00:36:39,960
Speaker 2: productive for many, many years to come.

747
00:36:40,160 --> 00:36:43,440
Speaker 1: Yeah, there's arguably even stronger case we made for the

748
00:36:43,440 --> 00:36:45,680
Speaker 1: the Iran War, the Twelve Day War as Trump called,

749
00:36:45,719 --> 00:36:47,880
Speaker 1: that just happened in June. So you you correctly know

750
00:36:48,520 --> 00:36:50,960
Speaker 1: that the United States effectually went in for the for

751
00:36:51,360 --> 00:36:53,439
Speaker 1: the coup de gras, for the for the death blow

752
00:36:53,480 --> 00:36:55,839
Speaker 1: at the ends with these B two bombers, this thirty

753
00:36:55,880 --> 00:36:58,880
Speaker 1: seven hour flight from Missouri, they go, they drop, they

754
00:36:58,960 --> 00:37:01,440
Speaker 1: drop the bunkerbuster bomb on Fordau and elsewhere, and then

755
00:37:01,440 --> 00:37:04,080
Speaker 1: they fly right back to Missouri. And they did that

756
00:37:04,200 --> 00:37:06,759
Speaker 1: off of the predicad that the that the IDF, that

757
00:37:06,840 --> 00:37:10,320
Speaker 1: the IDF laid down by taking out high ranking Irani

758
00:37:10,360 --> 00:37:13,520
Speaker 1: in generals and air defense and all the various things

759
00:37:13,560 --> 00:37:15,680
Speaker 1: that allowed those B two bombers to just glide in

760
00:37:15,760 --> 00:37:19,240
Speaker 1: glide out. It's arguably even stronger than that though, because

761
00:37:19,440 --> 00:37:21,880
Speaker 1: let's not forget that, for a very very long time,

762
00:37:22,480 --> 00:37:26,520
Speaker 1: Iran's insurance policy when it came to the nuclear program

763
00:37:26,719 --> 00:37:30,000
Speaker 1: was Hesbala was the Shia supremacist Jihadis group there on

764
00:37:30,040 --> 00:37:33,440
Speaker 1: Israel's northern border in Lebanon. But by the time that

765
00:37:33,480 --> 00:37:37,880
Speaker 1: this all went down, this past June, Hesbala was close

766
00:37:37,920 --> 00:37:40,600
Speaker 1: to eradicated, and not not literally of eradicated. There's still

767
00:37:40,600 --> 00:37:44,560
Speaker 1: has Boala today, but they are seriously, seriously grievously wounded

768
00:37:44,960 --> 00:37:47,680
Speaker 1: and Hassan ma Asraala, the decades long leader of Hesbala

769
00:37:47,800 --> 00:37:50,919
Speaker 1: very I mean, essentially the entire organizational hierarchy, the entire

770
00:37:51,040 --> 00:37:54,120
Speaker 1: organizational float chart was taken out and kind of a

771
00:37:54,200 --> 00:37:58,520
Speaker 1: Michael Croleoni Godfather esque revenge spree by Israel in the

772
00:37:58,520 --> 00:38:01,120
Speaker 1: summer of twenty twenty four. So all of that then

773
00:38:01,200 --> 00:38:04,560
Speaker 1: allowed for Israel to do the initial dirty work in Iran,

774
00:38:04,680 --> 00:38:07,560
Speaker 1: and then after that came the United States with the

775
00:38:07,600 --> 00:38:09,800
Speaker 1: B two bombers. So it really is kind of a

776
00:38:10,200 --> 00:38:14,720
Speaker 1: beautiful example as to what this tag team dynamic duo

777
00:38:14,800 --> 00:38:17,960
Speaker 1: can look like in practice. You know, I was meeting

778
00:38:18,000 --> 00:38:20,400
Speaker 1: with a US senator in September. I won't say his

779
00:38:20,440 --> 00:38:21,839
Speaker 1: name because it was all off the record and so

780
00:38:21,840 --> 00:38:24,839
Speaker 1: forth there, and he asked me, he said, Josh, what

781
00:38:24,920 --> 00:38:27,279
Speaker 1: is definition of an ally? I said, Centator, I will

782
00:38:27,320 --> 00:38:31,080
Speaker 1: give you a very clear, easy to define, an easy

783
00:38:31,120 --> 00:38:34,200
Speaker 1: to apply definition of an ally. The definition is this.

784
00:38:34,719 --> 00:38:37,879
Speaker 1: The definition is that where you have another country and

785
00:38:37,920 --> 00:38:41,160
Speaker 1: when the other country acts in its own national interests,

786
00:38:41,440 --> 00:38:45,359
Speaker 1: that that then has the secondary effect of benefiting your

787
00:38:45,440 --> 00:38:48,120
Speaker 1: national interest. That's an ally, and he liked it, and

788
00:38:48,120 --> 00:38:49,360
Speaker 1: he said, Okay, I'm going to go run with that.

789
00:38:49,400 --> 00:38:52,000
Speaker 1: I'll talk my colleagues, so we'll see. But I mean,

790
00:38:52,000 --> 00:38:53,520
Speaker 1: it seems to me that pretty much every quote you

791
00:38:53,520 --> 00:38:55,960
Speaker 1: look at, especially given the iron example that we just discussed,

792
00:38:56,000 --> 00:38:58,120
Speaker 1: it seems to me that that Israel fits that definition

793
00:38:58,320 --> 00:38:59,880
Speaker 1: certainly bear than nay of the country, and the read

794
00:39:00,280 --> 00:39:01,840
Speaker 1: I mean, really about as well as any of the

795
00:39:01,840 --> 00:39:05,560
Speaker 1: country in the world. So hopefully, hopefully that that argument

796
00:39:05,680 --> 00:39:08,200
Speaker 1: carries water. So Rabitt, before I let you go, I

797
00:39:08,200 --> 00:39:10,560
Speaker 1: guess I would be remiss if I didn't ask for

798
00:39:10,600 --> 00:39:12,480
Speaker 1: any kind of just you know, that was something of

799
00:39:12,560 --> 00:39:14,520
Speaker 1: an admittedly some of a downar question. I just asked

800
00:39:14,560 --> 00:39:16,640
Speaker 1: you there, and I think you handle it with a

801
00:39:16,640 --> 00:39:19,720
Speaker 1: plumb But let's let's let let's end on optimistic note.

802
00:39:20,080 --> 00:39:23,640
Speaker 1: To me, Hanukah is one of the quintessential optimistic holidays,

803
00:39:23,680 --> 00:39:26,080
Speaker 1: again because the Jewish people were on the precipice of

804
00:39:26,120 --> 00:39:30,800
Speaker 1: being eradicated, as has often been the case throughout Jewish history,

805
00:39:31,080 --> 00:39:35,319
Speaker 1: and they they survive, they recover, their traditions. It's a

806
00:39:35,360 --> 00:39:39,160
Speaker 1: story of hope and traditionalism and nationalism there. So, you know,

807
00:39:39,200 --> 00:39:41,640
Speaker 1: as we as we now are in the midst of Hanukkah,

808
00:39:41,719 --> 00:39:43,799
Speaker 1: and there's a lot of people, especially here, I think

809
00:39:43,840 --> 00:39:46,320
Speaker 1: in the United States, who are really kind of fretting

810
00:39:46,320 --> 00:39:47,520
Speaker 1: and wondering what comes next.

811
00:39:47,600 --> 00:39:47,719
Speaker 2: There.

812
00:39:47,719 --> 00:39:49,239
Speaker 1: I'm wondering if you have any kind of you know,

813
00:39:49,280 --> 00:39:52,040
Speaker 1: you know, parting message of inspiration or hope for you know,

814
00:39:52,080 --> 00:39:52,920
Speaker 1: really for the audience.

815
00:39:53,320 --> 00:39:55,560
Speaker 2: Yeah, look, God loves the Jewish people. I have to

816
00:39:55,600 --> 00:39:58,040
Speaker 2: tell you that that God really loves us. God has

817
00:39:58,080 --> 00:40:00,600
Speaker 2: blessed us. You know, we started with Judah Maccabee.

818
00:40:00,880 --> 00:40:03,160
Speaker 3: You know, I look around at the young men and

819
00:40:03,200 --> 00:40:06,040
Speaker 3: women in Israel and the IDP. I have two nephews,

820
00:40:06,160 --> 00:40:09,160
Speaker 3: you know, the special forces that fought the last two years.

821
00:40:10,760 --> 00:40:13,440
Speaker 3: There's such promise, you know, there is such promise.

822
00:40:13,560 --> 00:40:13,719
Speaker 2: You know.

823
00:40:13,920 --> 00:40:17,640
Speaker 3: Khaniko was about keeping Israel strong and staying there and

824
00:40:17,680 --> 00:40:19,480
Speaker 3: being able to worship the way we want to worship.

825
00:40:19,960 --> 00:40:21,720
Speaker 2: And that's what's going on today.

826
00:40:21,920 --> 00:40:24,840
Speaker 3: And there's so many incredible young Jews, and I have seen,

827
00:40:25,120 --> 00:40:29,439
Speaker 3: especially since October seventh, so many Jews inspired to reach

828
00:40:29,480 --> 00:40:32,160
Speaker 3: out to God, to reach out to Israel, to defend

829
00:40:32,160 --> 00:40:35,480
Speaker 3: the Jewish people, to defend Israel. I don't think the

830
00:40:35,520 --> 00:40:37,840
Speaker 3: future has ever been brighter there before. Yeah, I mean,

831
00:40:37,880 --> 00:40:39,919
Speaker 3: there are anti Semites around the world, but frankly they've

832
00:40:39,960 --> 00:40:41,360
Speaker 3: been for the last two thousand years.

833
00:40:41,480 --> 00:40:43,560
Speaker 2: But we haven't been back in our own country. We

834
00:40:43,600 --> 00:40:44,560
Speaker 2: haven't been back in Israel.

835
00:40:44,840 --> 00:40:47,400
Speaker 3: You know, just show up in Israel, just walk the streets,

836
00:40:47,440 --> 00:40:50,239
Speaker 3: go buy a doughnut filled with custard, you know, on

837
00:40:50,280 --> 00:40:53,360
Speaker 3: the streets of Ben you Hood in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv,

838
00:40:53,920 --> 00:40:57,799
Speaker 3: and you see just smiles and happiness, and Israel every

839
00:40:58,239 --> 00:41:00,480
Speaker 3: single year when's a war to being one of the

840
00:41:00,520 --> 00:41:03,319
Speaker 3: most happy places in the world because we're at peace

841
00:41:03,360 --> 00:41:05,080
Speaker 3: with who we are. We're paid peace with each other,

842
00:41:05,120 --> 00:41:07,600
Speaker 3: we're in peace with the Almighty, with God, and that's

843
00:41:07,640 --> 00:41:08,400
Speaker 3: where we need to be.

844
00:41:08,480 --> 00:41:10,600
Speaker 2: And if anyone, you know, kind of mess with that,

845
00:41:10,680 --> 00:41:12,760
Speaker 2: we'll deal with it. But the bottom line is ultimately

846
00:41:13,080 --> 00:41:14,680
Speaker 2: being a Jew is great and we're going to do

847
00:41:14,719 --> 00:41:16,440
Speaker 2: great continue to do great things for the world.

848
00:41:16,680 --> 00:41:19,440
Speaker 1: And I would argue only by the Jewish people being

849
00:41:19,520 --> 00:41:23,080
Speaker 1: a light unto the nations, which in my personal reading

850
00:41:23,080 --> 00:41:27,680
Speaker 1: of that verse means actually following the law, actually obeying

851
00:41:27,719 --> 00:41:30,719
Speaker 1: God and following his rules, actually doing the commandments, doing

852
00:41:30,760 --> 00:41:33,080
Speaker 1: the mits votes as we call them. There really really

853
00:41:33,200 --> 00:41:36,280
Speaker 1: that I think is a necessary condition really for the flourishing,

854
00:41:36,360 --> 00:41:39,640
Speaker 1: not merely of the Jewish people, but really really for

855
00:41:39,640 --> 00:41:42,680
Speaker 1: for Western civilization. Frankly, I would argue the whole world. So,

856
00:41:43,000 --> 00:41:45,359
Speaker 1: Rabbi stephen Berg, what a pleasure this has been. Rabbi

857
00:41:45,400 --> 00:41:48,040
Speaker 1: Sienberg again, folks. One final time is the CEO of

858
00:41:48,280 --> 00:41:51,319
Speaker 1: Aish can follow their work over at ash Google then

859
00:41:51,360 --> 00:41:55,480
Speaker 1: they do wonderful Jewish outreach work. Wishing you again a

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Speaker 1: Honica samanaka happy Honkah, thank you so much for joining

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Speaker 1: the Josh Hammer Show.

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Speaker 2: Thank you Josh, Happy God, Bless God.

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Speaker 1: Bless you too, and thank you as always for watching

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Speaker 1: today's episode of The Josh Hammer Show.

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Speaker 2: The Josh Amber Show is a member of the Trust Project.