A Subtle Shift

Children Of Israel Are Never Alone

Hey, beloved tribe.

Baruch Hashem, it’s Friday. The day I bring you Good Things.

And I am ready for it.

The first piece of good news I want to share with you all, because many of you have asked me about the possibility very hopefully, is that Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib has ever so graciously agreed to let our conversation with him be recorded. I know this is a matter of importance to those of you who live in Israel, for whom the event time is 3:30 am. But there were also several people stateside who had iron-clad commitments and very much wanted to be there but could not.

The decision of whether or not to record is always the guest’s. The same is true for where the video is allowed to appear. Ours will never be on YouTube or circulated in a public space unless Ahmed explicitly consents to that after he’s reviewed the clip. But he has given permission in advance for it to be distributed in the private space of the Never Alone Book Club. I ask that you respect the group’s privacy and safety by honoring that.

While we’re on the topic of Ahmed, I wanted to draw your attention to an incredible art project in the works by Jewish fabric assemblage artist Meryl Lettire, who is essentially creating a series of portraits of The Righteous Among The Nations, whom she calls “The Upstanders”.

Ahmed is her latest subject and her work is just beautiful, as you can see in this very brief clip:

Next, I imagine a great many of you are aware of, and have seen, Boy George’s blessed message of solidarity with us in the form of his new song, We Will Dance Again. But I’m also confident that at least some of you aren’t, and haven’t — like at the very least, for instance, my Mom and Dad. (Hi, Mom and Dad!)

Now, if I’m a thousand percent honest — and I truly hate to say this — I don’t think the lyrics are all that well-written, and I was very disappointed to learn its creation was AI-assisted. But as an Israeli said: We’ll take it. It was an immensely brave statement to issue in this climate. The backlash has been severe — he has lost a lot of fans and his planned participation in London’s West End revival of Jesus Christ Superstar was cancelled. But he appears to have no regrets, posting in response to the clamor that “The madness knows no bounds.”

He has been a very steadfast ally. After the stabbing of two Jews in Golders Green, he pushed back at his interviewer’s suggestion, during a talk show, that somehow the war in Gaza supplied some mitigating context for that violent attack, and weathered the audience’s stone-cold silence for many uncomfortable minutes without faltering once:

Onward…

I was hugely amused by the lightning-quick wit of our lion of Zion, Democratic Congressman Josh Gottenheimer in his brief and decisive little skirmish with some Squad members recently.

It began with this post of his on X:

Rep. Summer Lee was the first to come at him, responding:

“What about Dems who sign bombs and drop them?”

Rep. Gottenheimer fired back with: “You know that’s the other Jewish guy named Josh, right?” Referring, of course, to Governor Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania.

But hey, Summer, we get your confusion. All Jewish guys look alike, yeah?

Ilhan Omar attempted backup of her sister Squad member with: “He signed the bombs you voted to be dropped. Hope this helps!”

Undaunted, Gottenheimer came straight back with: “Ilhan, you know who else voted for it? You.” He included a photo of the Official House Roll Call to prove it, and that was the decisive end of that.

Yeah, Jewboy! Suh-lay!

Color me optimistic at the moment, but I keep my finger on the pulse of public opinion and right now I feel something shifting. It’s subtle but I believe it’s happening. In my most hopeful moments, it seems to me that the anti-Jewish fever is breaking just a little bit.

When Miki Manting — whom I wrote about at length in yesterday's newsletter — pushed back at the GRIP petition circulating in the improv community, there were many, many comments agreeing with her and not all were Jewish.

Similarly, in response to this ridiculous post (screenshotted just below) by The Other 98% — a far left Facebook group with upwards of 8 million followers — the comments are overwhelmingly scornful, and the mix of people slamming the post contains countless non-Jewish names.

And one final serving of gratification came in the form of a news story in The Times Of Israel, headlined Student Union at Columbia University Drops Israel Divestment Demand.

Here are a few excerpts from the article:

The student worker union at Columbia University on Tuesday gave up on its demand that the university divest from Israel, in a defeat for the protest movement that rocked the Ivy League campus after the start of the war in Gaza…

The demands led to a stalemate with the university and pressure on the student union from its parent organization, the United Auto Workers, to rein in its activist activity…

The move marked a major concession from the union, which had made anti-Israel activism a priority — as have other student unions and student governments in the US.

A union leader confirmed the dropped demand to The Columbia Spectator, acknowledging that the group had to “face the realities.”

I think the tendency of far-left activists to shoehorn Israel into every domestic issue under the sun — and put it front and center no matter how far afield it is for that organization’s official mission — is getting old. People are sick of having their pressing needs go unaddressed while their advocates obsess about Jews thousands of miles away.

When all is said and done, there will be a lot more said than done — a ton of hot air blasting all over the place and little accomplished for either vulnerable communities here or the people of Palestine. Every storm runs out of rain. I hope and believe this too shall pass.

Okay, fam. I’m wishing you all the loveliest, most restorative Sabbath evening and day.

I’ll be back with you early next week, and I send you peace and light in the meantime.

Shabbat shalom.

Am Yisrael Chai.