Jews Talk Justice: Sharing My Experience in Israel

Last week I was brought to Israel with the Tel Aviv Institute. And I have to tell you, I love this shirt. I love the idea of being unapologetically Jewish. That is me. I am Jewish and I don't want to apologize for it. I am proud of who I am. I'm proud of my heritage. I'm proud of my peoplehood. I'm proud of the traditions we have. I'm proud of the morals and the values that are instilled in us and that my parents had instilled in them and that I've hopefully instilled in my children. And so I was brought there with the Tel Aviv Institute and their purpose and their mission is to fight antisemitism online. It's an organization that that's been here for I think seven years. So it's not a reaction to what happened on October 7. It is an organization that has needed more now post 10/7th than was needed prior to. Fighting antisemitism online is a whole different way of thinking. It's not necessarily how our parents or grandparents fought their anti Semitism. The world of social media, the world of the online platform is a very, very different space. And how to approach it, how to be properly armed, how to fight antisemitism. There is a whole other ball of wax, let me tell you. I have felt it in terms of my own platform. I felt it in seeing how people are being responded to. And what the Tel Aviv Institute is doing is priceless and genius. So they brought together, hand picked 25 people with platforms. We were so diverse, let me tell you, I was a grandma of the group. Most people, which because it's social media probably isn't surprising, but I was extra honored to be there for that reason. Most of the people were probably in their 30s and some were in their late 20s, some were in their 40s. And I was there, I think maybe there was one other person in their 50s, but yeah. So we spent almost a week together really having amazing discussions. And it was a very diverse group politically. Even how we celebrate our Judaism and our religion, diverse in terms of ethnicity. There were Ashkenazi Jews like me. There were Sephardi and Mizrahi Jews. There were non Jews that were there that are allies. There were people that were straight, there were people that were queer, There were people that were non binary. There were people like me who were traditional, like married, couple of kids, hope one day to be a grandparent, you know, that kind of thing. So all of these different people came together in a way to exchange ideas to receive information and to learn how to best better do our jobs as online content creators. The beauty of it is, is that none of this was prescriptive. None of it was quid pro quo. It wasn't like we're teaching you this so you have to do xyz. It was like we're helping give you information and all different kinds of information. It wasn't just from one lens. It was like. I mean, my mind, I couldn't even, like, properly process each night because of jet lag. So I. It took me over a week since I got back to really think through. Oh, my gosh, wait, we learned this. Oh, I forgot. As I was telling. Greg forgot to tell you about this. I forgot to tell you about that. Learn from each other, learn from them, learn from, you know, so many people, but really, how to best interact with you, our audiences that we know and love, and how to share information. My information is mine. It's my opinion. It's the way, it's what I believe. And for me, most of the time, I'm sharing about my Jewishness because that's, that's why you all are here. I mean, I love it. I love making my brisket. I love, like, making my mandelbread, not for Passover, but other times, and sharing the beauty and the wisdom that is Judaism. Do I necessarily agree and support with the government of Israel at this time? No, I don't. And I also believe in the fact that Israel is a democracy and the people that live there vote for their leaders. That being said, do you know how many elections there have been in the last 10 years in Israel? Many, many, many. Because it's been such a tight race. I mean, you think, like, the Al Gore hanging chad was a big deal in the us Nothing compared to what's going on in Israel. It's been tight race after tight race after tight race because there is not necessarily a clear majority that believes in or supports one party or the other. If you want to, we can get into the whole idea of the democracy. It's a parliamentary democracy. So it's different than our democracy. It's more like Great Britain's, but yet. But it's a democracy. So if there are protests in the street of Israel, which there are often against the government, you know what? They're allowed to do that. And you know why that's important? Because nowhere else in that region is there a democracy where, where you can speak out against the government and not be. So that's a big deal. A big deal. Do I want to be held accountable or anybody that's American held accountable for perhaps what Trump did during his administration or if he's elected again. No, I don't. Even if I don't vote for him, he, whoever is elected president, is the president of our union. That's the way it is. But do I think, I do I think that I, or you or anyone should be attacked or blamed for what our president is doing? No. And I think the same holds true for Israel. So, again, I'm going to be sharing more, but I wanted to tell you about the trip I had. I also, I'm going to share some pictures from. From bearing witness to the atrocities, the horrible, horrible atrocities that occurred where Israel was attacked, not where it was defending itself. And I think what is happening to the innocent people of Gaza, that, that it should stop. But I also know that it should stop because humor. Hamas should surrender, and then it would stop. Hamas is using the people of Gaza as a pawn. They're embedding themselves into the civilians. That is why the casualties and the numbers and the numbers could be. We have to take that all with a grain of salt. Because when you hear the Gazan health ministry, that is Hamas, and Hamas is a terrorist organization. But when Hamas terrorists are embedding themselves in civilians, how is one supposed to fight the terrorists? I'm going to tell you another story that I heard from a gentleman at Kibbutz Kafar Aza, which is one of the kibbutz that was attacked on October 7th, and it's right near the Gaza border. Peace activists. This entire kibbutz was filled with peace activists, like people that would go in to Gaza and take people to the hospitals in Israel because the hospitals are so good there. Right? They want peace. So this gentleman said he woke up, got a call from his neighbor saying, my wife's not answering the phone. Something's going on. Something is going on. He went next door. His neighbor was shot dead in their home. He went back to his house trying to think about what happened. He looked out of his back porch to see in the, like, Meadowish Square where of the kibbutz. Because when you think about it, it's almost like it's not a campground, but it's sort of like overnight camp. Like each person has their house, but it is part of a gated community. He looked out and he saw three people in IDF Israel Defense Forces uniforms. And he was like, oh, thank God. The, the soldiers are here to help us. One of the gentlemen went like this and had a gun. Okay. The gentleman whose house I was at Shahar, Shahar looked and he was like, oh my gosh, they're not IDF soldiers, they're Hamas dressed as IDF soldiers. And he knew that because the gun that the person was carrying was not an IDF gun. And he knew that because everybody in Israel has to serve in the idf. So he said, oh my gosh, we are in trouble. He went into his safe room and he had to hold the door of his Safe room for 28 hours while his kibbutz was attacked. Homes were burnt, people were shot. He said it's only by the grace of God. He doesn't know why they didn't come into his home. Some people who were holding the doors in their homes to not let the terrorists into the safe room. And just by the way, the reason the safe room does not have a lock is because the safe rooms were built to protect from rockets coming in. There's no lock on it. So if God forbid, a rocket hit the home and that people, something happened, IDF or you know, the police or whoever could get in to help the people or see what happened. So there's no lock on the doors. I'm sure that will change in the future. So people were literally holding the door shut. Then the terrorists would take their guns and shoot through the door and shoot people in their hands to make them let go. That was, that's like the littlest bit of barbarism that happened. So again, I saw all of this. I saw it firsthand. I saw the, the burnt out houses. I saw the death and the destruction. I saw the markings on the homes where someone dead was found. I heard stories firsthand. I saw people with their sukkahs still up because it was the end of a holiday, like a major holiday. And I saw the proximity of which these kibbutzim were to Gaza. Never in a million years did they think people would come in. I also saw, by the way, sorry, I get like a little emotional about it. As we are driving on the highway down, I said to the, the guide that was taking me, well, what happens if one of the rockets come in while we're driving on the highway? What do we do? And she said, well, you know, we've put, the Israeli government and volunteer organizations have put bomb shelters all along the highway. So if you are driving you can pull up to the bomb shelter or there's other things we know as Israelis we've been trained to do because rockets are coming in all the time. So we stopped at one of the bomb shelters to see and it was a bomb Shelter that the kids, and I say kids because many were in their 20s. They were the ages of my kids were leaving from the Nova festival, which was a peace music festival happening also down south. Think of it as like Lollapalooza or Coachella. They're celebrating, having fun, dancing, drinking, all that kind of stuff. And terrorists came in, they came in on, you know, like paratrooper sorts of things and came in, they crossed the border. Jeeps, trucks that were like MacGyvered to have AK, I think it's 47s.

I don't know.

I'm not well versed in that. On the back of the truck. So they could basically go to people. And they did. Some of the people heard and saw what was happening and they were trying to escape. So they were going up the highway to leave. And they didn't know if bombs were, if rockets were coming in, if terrorists were coming in. So they went to hide in the bomb shelter. 15, 20 in a bomb shelter. The bomb shelter we saw riddled with machine gun fire. Riddled like holes and holes and holes and holes and holes. The terrorists went, they took the outside of the bomb shelter. Then they went in and literally just shot everyone there. It's right now a shrine to the kids that died. And there's multi. It's not just one, there's multiple of these. It's sickening, it's mind blowing. It shouldn't happen to anyone in any society.

I've received a lot of messages telling me to be safe. And the truth is that in Israel right now there are parts in Tel Aviv, thank God it is safe right now. There are many, many months where there were rockets coming in all the time and people were running to bomb shelters. I luckily am not having that experience here now. I have a friend that was traveling up north and they had to run to a bomb shelter because there were rockets coming from the north. Yesterday there were rockets going into the south. Tel Aviv right now is quiet and I'm grateful for that. From a, like, personal level, I feel incredibly safe. Like I feel, which is odd, that in a, like a country that is in the midst of a conflict and for years has had rockets coming in. And you know, if you've been here a long time, you know that I've run from many a rocket here. Even back in 2014 when I was here for my son Joey's bar mitzvah and we were running to bomb shelters. And when I look at ways, when I try to get a cab everywhere on the map it shows bomb shelter, bomb Shelter. Bomb shelter. Bomb shelter. Because that's the sad reality of living here, is you need to map out your walk to know that you're near a bomb shelter. I have a friend who has a big family, and there are people in town, and they were talking about all getting together. Like, every time they come, they get like, you know, 20 family members get together, prefer a Shabbat dinner. They can't do it because the bomb shelter at the home doesn't hold. Isn't big enough for all the people. Like, that's the reality. But as, like, my me being here, I feel so safe and good and happy and amongst my people and being home. And so there's this, like, dichotomy happening. And what I also realized in being here and talking to other people in, you know, a similar position is how I've always realized I'm blessed, and I am very blessed and grateful for that. But you. You guys, and the community that I have and the community we've built and the clients I have in my personal styling business and the brands that I work for, the fact that there has been support and ongoing support for me being Jewish and the content I'm sharing is beyond. Because there are many people here who said that they've, like, lost their income. They've. They've been. They've been canceled and lost brand deals, lost followers, lost agents, lost. So my heart is thankful to all of you, and I would. I've always known that. But I'm extra, extra, extra, extra, extra grateful to you when I hear what others are going through. Yes, please. But first we're gonna say. Say hello first. This is. Want to see my Israeli family. All the gorgeousness, handsomeness. Gorgeous. Wait, where are you? We just spent a whole meal, and I made them space. Speak English the whole time because my Hebrew sucks. I've been coming here for how long?

30 years.

Yeah. Linguistically challenged. Their English is much better than my Hebrew. Thank God. Baruch hashem.

So it is the end.

I'm in the old city of Jerusalem. Cannon just went off. I'll be honest. It gave us pause.

But it is the end of the Ramadan fast. Do you hear in the background? We just walked around the corner, and look at this. They just got engaged. Mazel tov.

The Nova Festival, All the memorials would come to. Beautiful souls. All the families have settled. So if I can paint a picture, this was like Coachella. A burning man.

Here.

It's in the forest. This is a Wallet Creek. There were tents everywhere. People were camping out overnight. The peace, music Festival started like in the evening, and people were here having fun, love camping out. There's a dj. And then they were attacked and killed and kidnapped. And I don't know if you remember on October 7th and October 8th, I shared that my son's friend Gali was here. We didn't know where she was for many days. Like, we didn't know if she was kidnapped or killed. After they were able to find the bodies, they found out that she in fact, had been murdered here. Like, this is real friends 20. If my kids were living here last year, they would have very, very likely been here. This was like Winalapalooza or Coachella. And now there's a memorial for all those that are taken and murdered. So the reason a lot of these gardens look so beautiful is because there are volunteers that are coming to help take care of the grounds so that it will uplift people and not be just overgrown. And so it's. It's deceptive, but it's also because community and everyone's taking care of each other. And to me, that's the.

If you come to India, the Jewish people.

We're now at the containment area.

For.

All the cars that were found at the site of the Nova Festival. So every single one was burnt. See all those cars, piles and piles of cars that were burnt. And oh my God, there are stickers.

That say Zaka.

It says Zaka on it. That is the organization that's in charge of identifying bodies. And it means that there were bodies in the car and the people were burnt in the car because many people at the festival were hiding in their.

Cars, the cars and start driving and then they meet the other thousands of terrorists who are there waiting for them.

On the road that we.

On the road. So many, many of these cars were found on Route 232, and they were burned because. And, and how did they burn then? They actually lit up the gas tank.

The gas tank?

No, no, no, the.

The wheels.

Wheels. What do you mean?

They burn the easiest. You line the wheels, the. The rubber burns and then he burns the car or the shot the gas tank. But what I want you to understand is that everything here is done by volunteers. And when Ari talks about it, you. I. I let you judge our government for the things they haven't done. But no, no, it's fine. The helps nature, but the behind the scenes of what you see is hundreds and hundreds of volunteers, first of all, of Zaka, the religious one with the white robes, who are coming to clear out pieces of the bodies, some in Unrecognizable conditions, excuse me for the gore description, but in order to enable their family to bury them, because it's enough to have one piece of DNA to bury. And the vision that is behind this is that all the work that is being done for this to be actually visible, the people of the kibbutz here will give their parking lot in order for that to happen. The volunteers from Zaka are cleaning the cars in order to bring them to burial. And then you have Achim Lanes, which is a civil organization who are using tractors to drag the cars here. Those who are in drivable condition, they drive back here. And all of this industry is working in the behind the scenes of what you see here.

So there's what you. There's sight and vision. There's what you see and then there's a vision behind it. So yes, it looks like the shoes at Auschwitz. But what we're also seeing is the fact that they're here means that organizations of volunteers had to allow through hard work for us to be able to see this or this. That's what you see.

And beyond that, I just had like such an emotional evening. I went to Hostage Square, which is where the. There's a memorial for the 134 hostages that are still held for months and months and months. There's an empty table set for all of them that are missing. An installation of what a tunnel is like. Like, it's horrific. And I tried so hard so often to not have my mind go there, but that there were people sleeping in their beds in their homes, people that were peace loving activists, people came into their homes and kidnapped them. And they're being held still, men and women and children. And I can't even imagine, I can't, I can't imagine. It's so emotional and it's like the world doesn't care. And I know there are people that do care, but it feels like people don't. And it's all, it's. It's so emotional. I can't even imagine. I can't imagine. Can you imagine if it was you? Can you imagine if someone from Canada, our Mexico, came in, came into our homes, violated us, kidnapped us, and we're still held there for 160 plus days. And a lot of the world is silent. I don't understand. I don't. It's, it's like an upside down, topsy turvy backwards world. I don't understand. This wouldn't be accepted for any, any.

Other group.

And it's so disheartening disheartening in my. Thank you for everyone that has reached out and that does care and please continue to advocate.

It makes me sad, it makes me sick, it makes me angry. And yet every Israeli I spoke to says, I believe in peace. They want good for their Palestinian neighbors.

As there is kids over there and there's women over there. And I wish for them to have a better future. I would wish for people to stop demonizing Jews. And obviously we both deserve to have a better life and, you know, prosperity and to succeed in each and every kind of direction. And I really hope for a solution and a two state solution, but I think there's many things that need to change, especially there within their system. And the way people are donating the money, and I'm sure there's very good people are donating money there with the best, most innocent, naive cause and kind of really wanting to help, but the money is obviously not going to the right direction. And it's being held by mobs of terrorist organization who are living, you know, like in fatal or whatever, in the real fancy life. And the four people there are birthing and they don't care about them. So if people actually care about them, they need, you know, to start first, educate themselves and stop like thinking like it's a football, you know, like game like this side or this side, it's like all sides. It's a humanity size and you want people to have, you know, a better future. So.

And do you think you're alone or like do you think you're representative of most Israelis in your view?

I think at the end of the day, yes, but because it's such an emotional subject. So obviously if you're gonna ask somebody a question during a war time, while maybe some of the family's members are being kidnapped or hostages or some of their family members are being, you know, put Gaza or something like that. Of course they're gonna speak emotionally when, you know, you have like a gun held to your head, you're not gonna be like composed and diplomatic about stuff. So I think, you know, it's easy to judge when you live in a safe place far away and not being really affected by it, but when you are like actually affected by it, you're probably gonna speak, you know, in a more emotional way.

We're really affected by it.

You're on the front lines, in the hospital.

We are, yeah. But I still do think that eventually people just want to have a safe life.

But the granddaughter who we met, the hostage granddaughter also, she knows her brother.

We do okay. Yeah.

And she said that was what I got from that was how much humanity she had for the other side. Even though her grandfather is a hostage, grandmother is now a released hostage. She doesn't know if her grandfather's still alive. And she asked that we believed in humanity for the other side. That was her, for us.

Yeah.

It's incredible.

It's beautiful. Oh, I wish everyone could know this. From what I heard and what I saw, many, many people feel that it's going to take a change of government. Hamas, the terrorists cannot be governing the people of Gaza or the west bank, although that's not who's ruling the west bank right now. And that is going to take two generations, minimum, to de radicalize the population because basically the population has been taught since birth. They found it in every kindergarten, in every home, in every mosque. Things vilifying Jews and Israel talking about the state that should be there. It's talking about how horrible the people are. Like the math problems at school talk about if you kill this amount of Jews, what will happen? It's horrifying. So if that's what you've been taught since birth, there's going to need to be a time to be de radicalized so that both parties believe in peace. Because if both parties believe in peace, it really can happen. But it takes two. It takes two. And I pray, pray, pray. Please God. Hostages will be returned. Hamas will surrender. There will be goodness for the Palestinian people and peace in the region and for Israel. Amen. There.

Sam.