“Creativity, Wellness, and Reinvention: A Conversation with Debra Cohen”

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What's up, my good people? Welcome to the CJ Moneyway Show. The podcast that brings you stories behind the success. Today we have on the show independent artist, producer, author, and baby boomer yoga teacher, Deborah Conan. How you doing today, Deb?

Yeah, I'm just fine. That person sounds interesting. Is that me?

How you doing today, Deb?

I'm just glad to be alive. I tell you, I'm going to hit the big 7-0 this year, and I'm really glad to be doing what I love to do. Thanks to my husband, you know, I couldn't do my music when I had a day job because the day job just took all my time. But then I got married when I was 62. And thank God I've been doing my music ever since. Now I just like to make a living at it.

Yeah, I hear you. I mean, and I wish you great success in that. So since you went there about the music and kind of introduced yourself already, and your background. So one thing I want to know, and I'm pretty sure the audience probably want to know too, because you've had a very, very interesting journey. But one thing I would like to know, tell us about your experience being in a rock band.

Oh, in a rock band. Well, it all started, and some of the people that are listening might not even know about the Beatles, but I think you do, because when I was a teacher in high school, they were my students in the classroom wearing Beatles t-shirts, and it was tie-dye. I'm like, oh, I love tie-dye, this is going to be good. But no, it really wasn't good, but that's another part of this interview here. The only reason I got a day job is because my music in the '90s in Nashville, uh, turned spiritual after a visit to Israel in '99. But anyway, let's back up a little bit and talk about Rock. I love rock and roll. I was a '60s hippie chick and loved Stevie Wonder, loved the Beatles, loved the Supremes, loved all those disco people. I even won a bump contest once with my— shake your booty, shake your booty. Yeah, and Chaka Khan. And so I listened to a lot of soul music. Yeah, you know, hey, it all came from the Black folk, you know, that grooving music with the lead bass player. And let's see, what's the name of that record label that— and I can't remember, Elvis Presley was on it. But anyways, wasn't Sun Records. But I like music that has a loud bass, not, not like overpowering everybody else, but the way they used to do Motown. That's it. The way Motown used to drive the bass sound. I don't know I don't know why, but I really have this like attraction to bass guitars. So I really wanted to be a bass guitarist and picked it up and tried to play with my fingers instead of a pick, and just my fingers got big as grapes on the end. And I said, oh no, we can't have this. So I switched to guitar and bought a Les Paul for my first guitar. And I was 22 in Boston and went to music college. Thought I would get a degree, you know, but as soon as they started hitting me with music theory, I'm like, my dyslexia kicked in. I'm like, you know, I can't figure this out. It's backwards. So I dropped out as soon as I could learn 1-4-5, you know, with the classic blues progression, and got myself into a band in Boston in the '80s and, and got good enough to open up for Joan Jett at the Rat in Kenmore Square. And just had a blast. Those were the best years of my life, I tell you. So far, I'm not done living, by the way, in case— I don't want to give you that impression. But I love rock and roll. Put another dime in the jukebox, baby. So, but the problem is with that lifestyle for me, you know, Joan Jett is still gigging out there. So, you know, she's out there. Cyndi Lauper is still out there. But I fell in the ditch because there was a lot of free lines. And I couldn't say no to the cocaine. And then came the Dom Perignon, magnums of Dom Perignon. And so half the time I was up on stage, I was so trashed. And you know, I, I probably thought I sounded great, but I had behavior problems because I used to get kind of rowdy, which, you know, the rock and roll makes you do that. You know, they didn't have mosh pits back then. We didn't need them, you know. But anyway, so I decided— I fell in love with somebody in the band. You know, that always ruins it. You know, like Pat Benatar said, uh, uh, love is a cat— well, we used to sing love is a cattle field. It's where she says battlefield, right? But it's like, it's like a cattle field. Anyway, so, so our competing band at the time in Boston was U2. And I remember going by the Paradise on Mass Ave, and all of us were driving by, and they were headlining, the U2, and snick— and we were snickering at them because we thought we were going to be great, you know. No, they made it. They're still doing it. No, but I, you know, anyway, I decided to get married again when I was 28, think, because I was afraid of being an old maid, you know. There used to be this thing around in my generation in the '60s that if you didn't get married by the time you were 18, 19, you were an old maid. And that was a cultural fear. So I'm like, oh my God, you know, like, I'm 22 and I'm not married. I'm freaking out, you know, but I'm in a rock band. So when I'm polluted, I don't care about it anyway. So anyway, but I decided to get married at 28 because I had a drug overdose, and I almost died. And, you know, I was born Catholic, Jewish soul in a Catholic family, which— try to get a hold of that one. And so anyway, I didn't really have a relationship with God, you know, even though I was like pre-Vatican II, very holy with the rosary beads and all that stuff. And so, but when I was going down, I called out to God and I said, you know, if you let me live I will serve you. I'm like, okay, I can't believe I said that, but I did. He let me live. I'm like, I didn't die. So I spent the rest of my years and to today looking for God the way, you know, he reveals himself to each, each one of us at different times in our life's journey. And so we have to respect where each other is at because my version of God might not be yours. And I'm not saying that mine is the version. I'm just saying that's what my spiritual journey is right now. But we'll all find out when we take our last breath. But in the meantime, you know, we all have different reasons for being, and mine is to partner with God and try to do what pleases him instead of myself, because I made a mess when I was trying to please myself. So I got the day gig, and then I got sick of that because, well, at the time, actually, before the teaching gig, In Nashville in the '90s, that's where I started out this interview. I started writing spiritual music. You know, I left Boston, New England, and moved to Nashville. I'm like, wow, they got different kind of churches down here. They do. They got a lot of people raising their hands to the Lord stuff. And I'm like, we don't do that up in the north. We just fold our hands under our chin and that's as far as those hands go. So it was like bondage the first time I tried to go to church and I'm like, I'm trying to raise my hands like everybody else and I I felt so naked and self-conscious. I thought, but I broke through. My sister never could. My younger sister, she's like, what's with this raising the hands thing? And she, she was really turned off by it. So she went back to Boston. Goodbye. Yeah. So I started writing Christian music. And because, you know, some people think Catholics are not Christians, but that's another story. Anyway, like the Hispanics, that a lot of those people, they think Catholics are different from Christians. And I, you know, I can't wrap my head around that. You know, I thought there was only one JC, but maybe not. Anyway, so I, I had an interview with an AR guy in Nashville, and he heard my music. I put, you know, somebody must have pitched my CD. And, uh, I, I'm for— I'm nervous as all heck because I want to get signed. At the time, it's 1995 or 96. And but, you know, he's sitting at his desk with a Rolodex, and I'm like, you know, do you know what a Rolodex is? It's like a paper file on a spin— spinning wheel. They don't use those anymore, but that's what they had back then. Well, I'm sitting in this chair next to him, and he's not even looking at me straight face. You know, he's looking at his Rolodex, thumbing through, asking me, sitting over there a quarter turn to the left, Uh, so who do you think would be good for singing your songs? And I'm thinking, huh? I'm thinking to myself, wait a minute, I'm, I'm here sitting here, but I didn't have the courage right away to say, look dude, I'm singing my music. Well, I didn't say that at first, but then he was, he said, how about Twyla Paris? I'm like, Twyla Paris? She's, I'm thinking to myself, man, she's wimpy. You know, I'm a rock and roll chick. I'm not gonna sing no, she's not singing my music. So then he keeps, he keeps flipping and he says, how about Margaret Becker? I'm like, well, you know, I guess she's a rock chick. I would have said Ashley Cleveland, actually, that would have been comparable. But so I finally said, I said, you know what? I was getting mad. You know, I said, look, I'm sorry, but I want to sing my music. I want to sing it. I'm singing it. He says, oh, but you know what? He says, there's no such thing as an overnight sensation. I said, yeah, I know I'm here. I moved down here from New England. I changed my life. I— here I am. He said, well, it takes years of grooming. And so I kept pushing him because I wanted to know what he was trying to say. He was dancing around the issue. Come on, give it to me, he said. So he turned his chair and he looked right at me and he said, nobody's going to sign you. You're too old. Oh, he put a dagger in my heart. I was trying to hide my age. I'm a late bloomer. And so I bought the lie. I didn't have enough self-esteem in myself to believe that maybe he might be wrong. I had not heard the story about Michael Jordan that was told when he was in high school that he wasn't good enough to play basketball. I hadn't heard that story yet. So I believe what he's— what this guy's telling me. And I packed my suitcase and moved to Cleveland, Tennessee and went to Lee University to become a missionary. Well, we can fast forward a little bit of that. But that's how I ended up doing some time in Israel in '99. And then I— that's where I found out studying the Bible I found out a secret, and I'll let you have it because you're nice enough to have me on your show. Okay. I found out that Jesus Christ is a Jew. Oh my God. Not only is he a Jew, but he's a Jewish rabbi. Not only that, but guess what he taught? He didn't teach the New Testament because it wasn't written yet. He taught the Torah, the same book that y'all Christians say, you know, we throw that away because he fulfilled it. I'm like, huh? Okay, well, just think about that for a minute. Scratch your head. So I came back to the States and I thought, oh, I've been in the wrong book. So I'm gonna go open the book that I found out that JC taught, and I'm gonna read what he taught. And I've been spending all that time ever since, started writing words in Hebrew. I'm learning the Hebrew language because that's the mother tongue. And, you know, still trying to make it. So y'all listen to my music, and Deborah Cohen Music, but please don't spell my name Deborah. Because I didn't say Deborah, I said Deborah. D-E-B-R-A-C-O-H-E-N music.com. So there you have it, CJ.

Wow, you gave us a lot there, Deborah. And so I don't want to add on to that. So one thing, tell us about why was your teaching career cut short?

Ah, oh, yes, yes, yes, yes. Okay, well, after I did the Israel trip there and stuff. And I thought, okay, now, well, there's a sandwich in between there of life from 2000 to 2008 where I did another missions trip to Egypt and fell in love with an Egyptian and got married in Egypt. But we'll skip that part. But that's where I learned about Islam, you know. Okay, so I went back to college because, you know, I dropped out of music college. I wanted to get a BS degree. You know, BS stands for— well, where I come from, it stands for bullshit, but we'll say, bah, you know what it is. You got to have that piece of paper to impress people so you can get a job. So I'm like, I'm not cutting the mustard as a singer here, so I'm going to have to get a real job. So what can I do now that I've been rejected by Nashville? I'm an old lady. He said I can't do it in the music. What am I going to do now? I know what I'll do. I'll be a teacher. They'll take teachers at any age. So I went to Tennessee Tech University in Cookeville and salvaged my credits from Boston Music and graduated from college when I was 50. Got myself a teaching degree, a BS, and landed in— I won't say where because I don't want like things to come back and bite me— somewhere in the United States. I taught And, uh, of course I was not prepared for teaching because I graduated from high school in '73. Now just imagine you're walking down the hallway in school, high school, and you're chewing gum in the hallway in 1973, and Mr. Wilcox is over there in the corner with his round glasses and wiffle hairdo with a glare, and he's locked on to my mouth that's chewing my cud. And he says with his finger, come over here. And I'm like, oh my God, what did I do now? I was always in trouble. He says, you're— you've got a pink slip. You got a demerit. You're not supposed to chew gum in the hallway. I'm like, oh, shit. So I got a demerit. Now I had that mindset. As a teacher. So the first time I stood in front of my classroom in 2005, I thought the kids had the same fear of teachers and authority.

Mm-hmm.

So when I asked Johnny for his homework, the first time we had lessons take home, I said, Johnny, where's your homework? And, you know, think about the chewing gum situation. I'm thinking, He's going to be afraid of me. He's going to be shivering in his sneakers. And he said, I don't have it. And he's chewing gum at the desk. And I'm like, I can't believe that he's chewing gum at the desk. And it's not illegal anymore. Okay, Johnny, where's your homework? He says, I don't have it. Fuck you. Ooh. Can you imagine? I think my eyes got as big as meatballs. And of course, I'm trying to save face. And I'm sorry, I hope I didn't offend any young kids that are listening on the radio. But that's exactly what he said to me. If you are shocked, I was too.

Yeah.

And I had to keep my composure. I didn't want him to know that he— I was horrified. I was going to cry because he hurt my feelings. I was wearing my feelings on a sleeve like any musician does.

Yeah.

And I just took a breath. And I thought, what am I going to do? I don't know.

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So that whole thing, that expression was in my mind for the next 10 years as a teacher in that school. What am I going to do? I waited till the kids went home. I cried. I cried at night. I had the guidance counselor come in and console me. I cried all the time. And I mean, I had periods of strength because, you know, you go to church, you get stronger, but I just could not handle it. By the 10th year, my, you know, teachers, like, they're walking on eggshells anyway because every year they have to be evaluated, reevaluated to see if they're worth being asked back, you know. So I'm always afraid if you don't know the right people. I wasn't in that crowd, never have been. I've always been in the oddball. You know, I don't rub elbows very well with people, so I was kind of like on my own. Miss, uh, so-and-so— because I wasn't married then— come into my office. I'm getting the finger again. Oh my God, I'm thinking this is it, I'm gonna get the ax, you know, because a lot of the teachers that behind the scenes is saying, you think you're gonna get asked back? I'm like, I don't know, you know, I mean, who else would want the job anyway, you know? Yeah, so they don't pay enough. I had to have a second job as a massage therapist just to pay the bills. So anyway, he calls me in and he says, so he says, come in and close the door. I'm like, okay. He says, so, you know, it's time for your evaluation. And I just would like to tell you that I know what your problem is. I'm like, problem? I do. And I'm thinking, oh, does that mean he's going to can me? This is— he's giving me a reason to fire me, right? He says, look, he said, I see you have PTSD. I'm like, wow, my God, I thought I was hiding it. And because I had been treated for PTSD from trauma as a child, I'd been to counseling for 2 years. So I thought I'm over it now. Guess what? There's triggers, residual triggers for anybody that suffered abuse, and certain things will set you off. And the kids abusing me in the classroom set me off. And I didn't even know that I was that extreme. You know, somebody would come up behind me and just in a joke say boo, and I'd like cry, you know, I'm like, oh, you know, you scared me. So anyway, he says, look, I'm going to tell you, we want to have you back next year, but you're going to have to do something about this. He said, most of my teachers, they're on antidepressants. I want you to go get a prescription for antidepressants and then nothing will bother you anymore. And that's when I resigned. I said, I'm not going to take drugs again to cope with life. I'm out of here. So I became a full-time RVer, cashed in on all my savings. I bought— got myself a 33-foot RV and pulled it with an F-150 and went down to Florida, went to school to be an aromatherapist. So I thought, but after a year going to that school and learning that you have to take so much medical history on somebody that's having an issue, right? And you're trying to sort of— you don't prescribe because you're not a doctor, but you recommend what essential oil this person should take. And I thought, you know what, I don't want to listen to somebody complaining about their aches and pains all day. I'm out of here. I'm out of here. So I thought, where can I go? And this is in 2016. Where can I go next? Because I have a nomad spirit, you know. I know, because at the time I think there was a lot of dissension in the United States, you know, a lot of fights and stuff going on like always. Where can I go? What states can I go to where I can have a chance if the USA goes down the tubes? I'm gonna go to Texas. Texas has a reputation for being the one state. So I'd never been there before. I hooked up my RV in the middle of the night because I drove at night because I had such a swag on my I can't remember what you call it. You hook up these things on the back of your truck. So the sway bars, maybe that's what you call it. So they don't like sway into the other lane when you're driving. So anyway, I got into Fort Worth, Texas, and then August of 2016 and got myself an RV spot and got myself a job at— what is that called? Healing Hands or something— as a massage therapist and started looking around for synagogue because, you know, now I'm making the plunge for the Torah now, going to commit in a deeper level to Judaism, although I'm not, I wasn't like a Jew yet, just had a Jewish soul though, but that's another story. So in the looking for a synagogue, I go in there, you know, have one eye open because I would like to get married. But you know, when you've been by yourself for a long time, it's hard to find somebody because like I have a huge space bubble. If you get, people get in my space, I get kind of nervous, not only because of PTSD, but I don't want you breathing in my air. Get out of my way. Get out of my— get out. So, but I go to this— they're having this wedding announcement at the synagogue. Oh, well, Marty, come on up. We're gonna give you a blessing for your wedding, Marty and Karen. So I see them up there. And Marty has on a tie-dye shirt, and I melted like butter. Because I love tie-dye. It turns me on, if you know what I mean. But he was getting married to somebody else. So I'm like, oh, oh, there's the S-H word again. Oh, okay. But I was really impressed. And I went home and looked him up on Facebook. I gotta see who this guy is. And I found him on Facebook. And I sent him a friend request and he accepted. And I watched his posts. And then one day he had a post that said, I'm done looking for her. God's gonna have to send her to me. And I thought, what? The last time I saw him, he was getting married. Something must have happened. So I sent him a note on Facebook and I said, the Bible in the book of Proverbs says, the man will find the woman. So he wrote back and he said, I'm done looking. He said, you don't have to look. I was there. I said, I was there. I was playing with him because he didn't, he didn't know. I didn't meet him at the synagogue. I just saw him up on the altar there with Karen. I said, I was there. The Lord sent me your way. And so he says, how about if we take this Facebook dialogue off on the screen and I'll call you. DM me. That's the word. DM me and we'll talk. We talked on the phone. I told him I went to that synagogue one time looking for a place to belong, and it wasn't that place. But I saw him there. And so we started talking about the Bible and talking about the Lord and our journey. And he says, you know, I think you and I need to meet. Let's go to Bonefish Grill for lunch. I said, oh yeah. So I still had my F-150 and he got there before I did. And I'm like, oh my God, he's going to see me back up my truck. I'm like, I can't back up this thing. They didn't have a camera back then. So, you know, like, I think I hit the light pole in the parking lot. I'm like, oh damn, I felt like such a dinghy. And he's standing there with one rose in his hand. We went to lunch and had a glorious lunch. And then he cooked me dinner at his house. He actually cooked, the only one time that he ever cooked for me. And so after that, that was the second date, he proposed to me. Because, you know, come on, we're senior citizens, you don't have to do— he said, would you marry me? And I said, of course I'll marry you. Okay, and we got married 3 weeks later.

And wow.

And we've been married now. 7 years or 8 years, I don't know. We got married in 2017, so you do the math. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So thank God I found him. I mean, because, uh, I couldn't be doing all this stuff right now if it wasn't for him, you know. So I'm real grateful for him, for sure. Don't miss out on CJ Moneyway Johnson's book Both Eyes Open and Both Eyes Shut, and get ready to pre-order his upcoming release, The Issues of Life, coming soon. Moneyway, aiming to inspire.

Wow, what a story. What, so you went to the synagogue just to go because you were seeking something, but you went in there and sought out your husband, huh?

I mean, I had my eyes open because I wanted to get married. Actually, when I was still in Florida, you know, I had this list because, you know, after a woman gets hurt, nobody wants to get hurt, man or a woman, after a messy divorce, which I had gone through. And so I made a list. I didn't trust myself because I was attracted to the bad boys. You know, a lot of women are— they have more life and pizzazz and fun and excitement. And I didn't want some— anyway, so, you know, when you get to be my age, all you got is some guy with no hair and a beer belly. I'm like, no, that's not gonna do for me. I don't want that. So I put it on, I made a list of 10 things I want in a man. And I had to be 10 things that he had before I would even go out on a date with him. And I was 8 years and had no date. And my girlfriend said, by the time I was 61, they said, look, you got to chisel down that list by half. You can't be that. You cannot be that choosy at your age, girl. So I said, okay, all right, I'll chop it down to 5. So when I drove to Texas, I had a list of 5 things in my hand. So when we went on our luncheon date at the Bonefish Grill there, he had a list of 5 things on a list. We're both sitting there with our list comparing each other and checking it off. I fit all of his requirements and he fit all of mine. So that's why we got married so soon because we already figured it out on paper.

Oh, that's funny. So he got over you running into the light pole at the restaurant and everything.

I tried to make him into a full-time RVer like me, but he was too tall and his ankles hang off the bed. So he said, no, this ain't gonna do. So I mean, I had to like demote myself to an apartment. I'm like, you know, I told you, I like all this space and the outdoors. And to me, it's— living in an apartment is claustrophobic, you know. Plus, if they got cockroaches, you got cockroaches. And I'm like, no thank you. So now, I never thought I would like living in a 55-plus community here in Florida, but the one we're in is owner-occupied, so the people take real good care of themselves here. The yards are quiet and clean. No stray animals peeing in your yard. It's no kids screaming, you know. They're nice, but I like to— not, not near me, please. I don't like— I'm like, I used to love rock and roll, but now I can't stand noise, you know. Right now I'm shopping for hearing aids. I'm like, oh my God, I can't believe it's happening to me. Oh my God, this is terrible. But anyway, we've only been in Tampa Bay area for 8 months now, and I'm thinking about getting out there to gig again, but I can't seem to find the right musicians, you know. I mean, I can't pay anybody, so that's the big problem. Otherwise I could get whoever I wanted. But I really, if anybody's listening in Tampa Bay area, I would really like to find myself a grooving bass player and an accompaniment with Middle Eastern percussion. You know, dance music. Do you ever hear this band Delight? Delight? Groove is in the house. Groove is in the house. That kind of music.

Yeah. That's old school.

Oh, that's what you call old school?

Yeah, to me. Yeah. That was a long time ago.

Oh yeah, that's what I want to play. I love— yeah, that kind of stuff. I want to play that kind. So people can move, you know, like I don't like to go to any kind of a praise and like, you got those round mouth singers. Ooh, nothing else moves but my mouth. That's the way we do it here. I mean, I actually was in a choir once. I think it was up in Brunswick, Maine. Was it what, Evangelist? Who knows? I've been to so many different places. Betsy the Queen Bee, she was the soprano singer, and I was in the back row with next to her singing in the choir. I was soprano one, she's Queen Bee. And I'm starting, you know, I always had this kind of what in Judaism they call it a shuckle. But you know, the soul brothers and sisters, they just have a, what do you call it, swaying side by side when you're singing, you know, you don't want to stand still. So I'm just in me, it's, I think it's just because of the disco music I listened to when I was younger. So I just start grooving, and she gives me an elbow. Betsy doesn't— says, would you stop that? You're, you're distracting me. I'm like, dang, she's so tight. Yeah, I'm like, get away. So I actually ended up going to— while I was going to Lee University, I joined the Cumberland Presbyterian Church and led their all choir. I think there was only like 2 white people in the whole church. And I was leading their choir. Yeah, now I can move as much as I want. Praise him. Praise him. Praise him. Praise him. Hallelujah.

Oh yeah.

Sing with your guts, you know, not just— Yeah.

Ooh.

Boy, you funny, Deb.

You are funny. Full of life. Couldn't tell you was 70 years old, I tell you that. Full of life.

You know what the Bible says? You can live to be 120 if you take care of yourself. That's the big if. Yeah, so that's what I'm striving on. That means I got like 120 minus 70, I have 50 more years of good living. What about you? Are you grooving?

Yeah, I'm definitely grooving.

Oh, well, you're younger than me, you should have a little more spark than that. Come on, CJ, would you just have a big dinner?

That's your, that's your lane, uh. I'm not the singer at all. I'm one of them shower singers. I can sing to myself. So Deb, it's been interesting and everything, so I just got one last question for you. So before we leave, you have to tell us about your new published book.

Oh, well, thank you for giving me the opportunity to share it because it's controversial only because of the condition of the world right now around Israel. Israel at war. And I've never written a book because, you know, I'm a singer-songwriter, recording artist. But I really felt so badly for the misinformation that's going out there around the world. We're in a propaganda war. And I thought, you know what, Israel's getting a bad rap. I know nobody's an angel, and I'm sure they, you know, they've done things wrong as well. But there's secret documents that were hidden in the UK around the time of the British mandates in the 20th century, and they were recently discovered, which explain the origins of Palestine and how Israel acquired statehood when the Palestinians did not. A lot of people think that Palestine, which it was called British Palestine, was only Palestinians, but it was not. It was Jewish Palestinians and Arab Palestinians. As a matter of fact, if you know anything about Golda Meir, her passport— she was a president of Israel, American who became president in Israel— her passport says right on it that she's a citizen of Palestine. So there's Jewish Palestinians and Arab. So that is how I came up with the name of my book, Jewish Palestine, Arab Palestine, a History of Conflict. And so it's based on the historical documents that were found in the UK archives. And I put them in an easy to read outline. Because there's so much confusion about the Middle East conflict. I mean, even I was confused until I came across these document findings. And I'd never really understood who was doing what, which was— what is going on? So like Marvin Gaye, what's going on?

What's going on?

Oh, what's going on? What's going on? Ooh, ooh, ooh. Yeah, so, so you can get this book. Let's see if you can get actually a free download if you go to my website and just sign up for my newsletter. So just go to my website, deborahcohenmusic.com, and look for the little navigation bar where it says new book or something like that and click on it and it'll take you to where you can sign up for my newsletter. I don't spam people. And I only write something if I feel like, you know, you'd want to know it. Like, it's not a regular newsletter. So, and, or you can just look online. I'm trying to get it into Barnes Noble right now, but it is on Amazon. And, you know, hopefully, so you can make decisions about this Israeli-Palestinian conflict based on facts instead of he said, she said. And another book that came out today which is actually written by a Palestinian whose father was a Hamas leader, who are the terrorists. It came out today, as a matter of fact. So I'll just say, if you don't believe my book or you're still not sure after reading my book, then read a book that's called From America to Hamas. And it's by Mossab Hussein Yosef or something like that. But how many books can be named From Hamas to America? I'm sure there's only one, you know, and it came out today. So I'm— he doesn't know I'm pitching his book, but I just think it just validates what I'm writing. And it would give especially Americans confidence to discuss with haters of Israel, confidence to just say matter-of-factly, well, did you know that it was Jewish Palestine and Arab Palestine? And, and did you know that UNRWA is the only branch of the United Nations made specifically to take care of the Palestinians, who don't take care of the Palestinians. Did you ever wonder why they don't? You know, all these things are in my book that explain these things that people have decided because Hamas, what they do, they, like, for example, right now they are, they've seized the humanitarian aid, uh, causeway there where the food is going to the Palestinians. And they're, they're shooting off their rockets from there. So knowing that Israel is going to defend itself and shoots back, well, the Hamas is hiding in, let's say, a hospital or a school. So, but the news says that Israel is bombing hospitals and schools. They don't realize why they're having to do that because Hamas is clever, very clever. This is really— so you need to know what's going on to try to make peace. Yeah, let's have peace. I mean, we sang it in my high school. Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me. That is until they banned that song because of the word God in there.

Yeah.

Can you believe that? Oh, with God as our Father, brothers all are we. You know, come on, man. You're gonna ban the song because of God? Come on, man. Get real. So anyway, get real. Oh, and I guess I have to say I'm sorry because maybe God hasn't revealed himself or herself to you yet, you know. So, but you know what, he will or she will if you ask. So you have not because you didn't ask.

Yeah.

Or maybe that's right. But please don't do the drug overdose like I did to make himself reveal. Right. I'm like, Boom chicka boom, don't you just love it? Chicka boom chicka boom, don't you just love it? Don't you just love it?

Yeah, boy, you full of spunk. Uh, full of spunk. Hey, so you have been listening to the CJ Moneyway Johnson Show with Deborah Cone. Don't you just love it? Go grab the book, find out for yourself. We're trying to bring peace to the world. And she said her book is the key to understanding what's really going on with the conflict over there in Israel. And then grab the other book by— what's the guy name you said?

Uh, Mosab Hassan Yosef.

Okay, go grab the book, check it out, find out peace on your own, find out what's really going on. You've heard it here first on the CJ Moneyway Show. We outta here. Peace.

Peace. Thank you for listening to the CJ Moneyway Show. Don't forget to share this episode with your friends, leave a comment, and drop a review. Be sure to tune in every Tuesday and Friday for more inspiring journeys. Who knows, your story might be next.

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