The Alex McFarland Show-91-Standing Against Anti-Semitism with guests Jenny Kasier and Rabbi Eli Sneiderman Part 2

The spiritual condition of America, politics, culture, and current events analyzed through the lens of Scripture. Welcome to the Alex McFarland Show.

Psalm 122 verse 6 says, Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Hi, Alex McFarland here. Welcome to the program. This is part two in a two-part series speaking out against antisemitism. And folks, I take this very seriously, and this is extremely close to my heart.

And I'll elaborate on that in a moment, but I want to welcome everyone to the program. As we did in the previous broadcast, we have two very, very special colleagues and guests. One is Rabbi Ellie Snyderman of the Jewish Federation of Greensboro, my hometown, Greensboro, North Carolina. A town that is rich with the blessings that Jewish families and Jewish people have contributed. Greensboro is a town that has a lot of relationship to the Jewish people. And also with me is photojournalist filmmaker Jenny Kaiser, a longtime friend and colleague.

I'll bring them both to the mic in just a moment. But as I said in the first broadcast, October 7 is, to paraphrase FDR, a day that will live in infamy. I mean, really, folks, you know this, and I would beg of you to really attune your attention. Because I know, you know, there's so much noise, there's news all the time. And it's been said that, you know, with the, you know, we're a wired up Wi-Fi world.

People barely have the attention span of a goldfish, they say. But this is something that warrants our attention. Because Hamas attacked, and babies have been killed, women have been raped, people have just been brutally massacred. And surprisingly, shockingly, so much of the Western world and here in America, who have they blamed?

Israel, the victim. But I want to say this, and then we'll bring our guest up. I've pastored two churches. Believe me, I realize the fine line of diplomacy that many pastors feel like they need to walk. I understand that. But fellow pastors, you need to, in your pulpit on Sunday morning, preach a sermon against antisemitism. And you can do it in love. If you need some talking points, email me at alexmcfarland.com.

Super easy to get ahold of me, info, I-N-F-O, info at alexmcfarland.com. But fellow ministers, pastors, educators, and you know, I've been adjunct at several colleges. If you're in a position of leadership, and you can speak into the lives of people, and everyone can, probably to a greater degree than you might realize, then be on record in clear, unmistakable terms. Be on record as standing against antisemitism. You know, it's a puzzlement to me that in this world of inclusivity and tolerance, the one form of racism that seems to get a pass is racism against the Jewish people. And the events of October 7 just illustrate how selective and how really politically correct and selective many people are about whether they will or will not speak against the terrorism of Hamas, and for the right of Israel to exist, the right of Israel to engage in self-defense.

And here at home in the United States of America, even prior to October 7, there have been attacks on synagogues, there have been violence against Jewish people, and we cannot let this go by and not speak to it. Well, what a joy again to visit with Jenny Kaiser, Rabbi Ellie Snyderman. I welcome you both. Forgive my lengthy introduction there, but welcome to the program. Thanks for having us. Thank you.

Thank you so much. Rabbi Snyderman, when you speak to congregants or anybody, when the subject of antisemitism comes up, how do you begin to address this with people, Rabbi? I would say, you know, I think the focus of antisemitism for the Jewish community, I think there still has to be a certain pride in Jewish identity. Like you can't let antisemites kind of define who you are, kind of shape your thinking about yourself. It's so easy when all of this hatred is being directed towards you to kind of like, you know, to focus on it. And I think as difficult as this is, I think it's important to be proud and to celebrate Jewish holidays and Jewish customs and traditions and not be afraid. Like I walk down the street with my yarmulke and religious garments, and I walk, you know, three and a half miles on Shabbat to get to synagogue.

It doesn't matter. I just got to be proud and be out there. I would say that that would be my central message. Rabbi, since October 7, has there been an emotional, and I know none of us can speak to the heart of another person necessarily, but do you feel like among Jewish Americans, there's been this realization, oh my goodness, this could happen again. You know, Israel is attacked and yet people are, you know, standing against Israel and for terrorism. Has there been this emotional shell shock? Oh my goodness, this is happening again.

Yes, 100%. And I think it's really, you know, I have a lot of friends because I used to work on the college campus. I have a lot of friends that are still rabbis on the college campus. And they said they've seen such an awakening of Jewish practice and identity since October 7. It's been overwhelming, you know, like the Shabbat services are packed and students are coming by to do, you know, there's a tefillin, which is like boxes of scripture we place on that arm. And one of my friends at college said he's put on more tefillin in this month, the last two months, than he did his entire 19 years on campus. You know, if there is a silver lining to this otherwise dark cloud, I mean, it could be that, like you say, that people are embracing their Jewishness, not hiding, but, you know, saying, look, I will not be bullied.

I will not be intimidated into the shadows. And I think there's also a question of who our allies are. You know, a lot of Jews, especially on the campus, were involved in progressive political activities and, you know, they felt they were one of the crowd. And then to have that crowd turn so quickly and with such hate and vitriol, you know, it's like, well, wait a second, I gave, you know, years of my life to this organization. How come they're not speaking out? You know, it's in the New York Times, me too, is me too, except for Jewish women. And the UN has a program on, you know, violence against women.

It took them two months to say one word about the rape of Israeli women. It really has had a certain reexamination of just who we are and who our friends are, who our allies are. Indeed. We've got a brief break, folks.

Maybe one of the most significant recordings I've had the privilege of being a part of. Stay tuned. When we come back, we'll continue with Rabbi Ellie Snyderman, Jenny Kaiser, the Jewish Federation of Greensboro, and much more as we look at the dark specter of anti-Semitism. Stay tuned, folks.

We're back after this. Fox News and CNN call Alex McFarland a religion and culture expert. Stay tuned for more of his teaching and commentary after this. with resources that inform, equip, and motivate. We unify by collaborating with like-minded organizations like the Family Research Council, the Family Policy Alliance, and My Faith Votes. We mobilize by providing practical tools you can use to impact your local community.

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He's been called trusted, truthful, and timely. Welcome back to The Alex McFarland Show. Welcome back to the program.

Alex McFarland here. Hey, you know, on alexmcfarland.com, part one of this, which is already aired, and then this program itself, please share this and please pray for God to rule and overrule, that God would intervene and restrain evil. And then, folks, I challenge you to be on record, respectfully, politely, but talk to your friends about the problem of anti-Semitism. Pastors, religious leaders, persons in positions of influence, speak. Be on record. Have the moral courage to be on record and speak against anti-Semitism. Before the break, we were talking with Rabbi Ellie Snyderman and Jenny Kaiser. Forgive me, I wanted to ask this. What does the Jewish Federation of Greensboro, North Carolina, tell us about that?

Jenny, if you would. Sure. So the Greensboro Jewish Federation has been around really in some regard for at least the past 70 years. And what we do is multifaceted. We help Jews in Greensboro. We do interfaith programming.

We do educational programming. We raise money for Jews in the former Soviet Union, Jews in Israel, Jews in Arab countries. We really try to look at how can we help each other, regardless of where each other might be living right now. Rabbi Snyderman, I'm curious, across America, how unified are Jewish communities in, at the very least, mutual encouragement and just, you know, holding each other up, moral support? How unified is Jewish America? I would say very unified. We had a rally in D.C. with a two-week lead time and we had like 300,000 people attend with the two buses from Greensboro. I think, you know, up until now, the divisions that were in the Jewish community have kind of all disappeared and we rally around each other.

It's been very gratifying and feels good, feels good. I mean, it's a shame that it came from such a negative source, but that unity and togetherness feels good. You know, one of the things that's been in the news and folks, I'm sure you've seen it among so many colleges and especially the Ivy League, University of Pennsylvania just lost a $100 million gift to their endowment because the president would not be on record and unequivocally speak against anti-Semitism. And there have been protests at Harvard and, you know, I've got to say, and Rabbi Snyderman, you mentioned this earlier, that it is the racism that gets a pass. And Jewish people, and I, not being Jewish, I can't really understand how this must feel, but, you know, people that you think have been colleagues and friends for years and years, and then suddenly, you know, because you're Jewish, you're persona non grata. I think what we've seen on the university campuses that pride themselves on diversity and inclusion, this has been an eye-opener, hasn't it? A hundred percent, and the University of Pennsylvania is my alma mater, and my friends, you know, I was in a Jewish fraternity there and all my friends have just been kind of like staggered, it was like a gut punch just to see something that held so much love and was really a central part of our identity, my identity for sure.

It just feels totally changed. Why do you think, you know, we would think the academic realm would be the place for the pursuit of truth, and yet this powerful part of our nation that could so wonderfully stand for what's right, speak against what's wrong, academia, you know, I've got to tell you, and I've got many friends and colleagues in Christian academia and secular academia, there has been a deafening silence when it comes to condemning antisemitism in much of the academic world hasn't there been? And I think it has to do with, you know, you spoke earlier about critical theory, but it's, you know, when they designed these DEI offices, antisemitism was not included in the narrative. You know, so many of them didn't include antisemitism in the training. So you've had like the last three or four years of people being trained to say that Jews are like the white power elite, and there's no racism against Jews because they're white, they have power. They own the media, they own the banks. And so they just say antisemitic things as part of DEI.

So it's insane. Jenny Kaiser, there's a word we use in social media, tropes, just these, you know, these statements. What are some anti-Jewish tropes? Now, folks, listen in, that they just kind of go by and nobody calls it out.

Can you speak to that, Jenny? Yeah, I think that the biggest one is Jews are all about the money. I think that's the biggest one that we hear that we lie about our past history. I think you alluded to this one and so did the rabbi that we're all white. You know, I think that that's the all white one is just the one that is mind boggling to me, because if you if you look at the Jewish culture and not just Judaism from a religious standpoint, but being a Jew. And I said this before that the the opposite of being a Jew in Israel and most of the rest of the world isn't Christian or Muslim. It's the opposite of Jew is Arab. And so if you look at Israel as from that context, as opposed to a theological context, it has maybe a little bit more understanding. But most Jews in Israel are not Ashkenazi, which is what most Jews are here in the United States, which we are perceived as white and we look like we're white. But Jews are not white. Explain if you were Ashkenazi, the various strata of Jewishness.

Sure. So after 70 AD, when Jews were expelled from Israel, we sort of went in all different directions. Some actually did stay in Jerusalem and the surrounding areas, and some left. Ashkenazi Jews actually fled to Ashkenaz, Turkey, and were in Ashkenaz, Turkey for hundreds of years until the Turks expelled the Jews from Turkey and Ashkenazi Jews then fled north into Europe. And so you have Ashkenazi Jews. You also have Sephardic Jews, which have more of a Spanish and Italian influence in their culture. You also have Ethiopian Jews and Eritrean Jews, which those are Jews that fled south into Africa. You also have Mizrahi Jews, which fled west into what's now more Arab Arab countries. And I think it's important to note that those Mizrahi Jews that in 1948 that were living in Arab countries, you had almost a million of them and Israel was established and they were kicked out of Arab countries.

So Israel is not just Jews from Europe that survived the Holocaust and Jews that had never left, but these are Jews that were kicked out of their homes in what's now Jordan, Iran, Iraq, Yemen that had to flee and they fled to Israel. We've got to take a break, folks. Alex McFarland here along with Rabbi Ellie Snyderman, Jenny Kaiser, so much to talk about speaking out, calling on Christians, all people, but especially to my fellow Christians to pray for Israel and to stand against anti-Semitism. Stay tuned.

We're back after this brief break. Fox News and CNN call Alex McFarland a religion and culture expert. Stay tuned for more of his teaching and commentary after this. Over the last several decades, it's been my joy to travel the world talking with children, teens, adults, people of all ages about the questions they have related to God, the Bible, Christianity and how to know Jesus personally.

Hi, Alex McFarland. I want to make you aware of my book, The 21 Toughest Questions Your Kids Will Ask About Christianity. You know, we interviewed hundreds of children and parents and families to find out the questions that children and people of all ages are longing to find answers for. In the book, we've got practical biblical real life answers that they have about how to be a Christian in this modern world.

My book, The 21 Toughest Questions Your Kids Will Ask, you can find it wherever you buy books or at resources.afa.net. He's been called trusted, truthful and timely. Welcome back to The Alex McFarland Show. Welcome back to the program, folks.

Alex McFarland here. And again, you can listen again, share this with others at my website, AlexMcFarland.com. As I said in part one of this two-part series, folks, you know, every now and then, our organization and myself personally, you know, we have issued some calls to action for various causes and things. With every bit of emphasis that I can convey, I'm asking you, if you follow our organization, if you've been to our programs, I want you to stand against anti-Semitism. Folks, in Christian circles, we have kind of a hero, Dietrich Bonhoeffer. During the time of the Holocaust, he was a Christian minister in Germany, stood up against Hitler, ultimately died in a German cell in a concentration camp himself. And, you know, when we talk about the Holocaust, yes, there were non-Jews that died in the Holocaust, too.

And we love Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Oh, what a hero he was. But folks, if you're a Christian, and, you know, we love to talk about the brave people of times past, but it's time for you and I to be a courageous person right now in the present.

Do the right thing and be on record. And again, pastors, preach, influence people. And let's say proudly, unequivocally, I'm a Christian, I'm an American, and I stand with Israel, and I respect the rights of Jewish people, and I will stand against the animus and the hatred and the racism against Jewish people. Now, what I want to do in this segment, there's so much we could say. First of all, I want to thank my guests, Jenny Kaiser and Rabbi Ellie Snyderman, but I want to give some practical calls to action. So guys, can we talk about that a little bit?

Personal websites, things we can do at the local level, wherever you are. And folks, don't think, well, you know, I live in Heartland, America, and there's no anti-Semitism here. That's the thing about sin. The Bible says a little leaven leavens the whole lump. In other words, just like yeast goes throughout the entire batch of dough, sin and the darkness, the potential for evil in the human heart, and anti-Semitism, it's everywhere.

So let's talk about what we can do about this. Jenny Kaiser, by the way, I want to congratulate you because you, a film project that you have been a part of is going to be shown in national public broadcasting. Am I right about that? When is that? Yeah, so starting in January, January 27th, the film She Wouldn't Take Off Her Boots is going to premiere on UNC-TV, so the entire state of North Carolina. And then in addition to that, it'll be on the website so that people all over the country can watch it.

It is the TV version, which means it does fit into a TV time slot of about 30 minutes. The full-length film will be in various film festivals across the country as well. So if you're looking for something to do and you see a film festival, see if She Wouldn't Take Off Her Boots is in that festival.

And what's the basic premise of that? Is it like a documentary you created? Yeah, so the film She Wouldn't Take Off Her Boots features three different Holocaust survivors.

Two are cousins that were hidden during the Holocaust, and the third actually was in five different camps. The film also shows the determination of an artist to build a monument in Greensboro to the women and the children of the Holocaust. And that website about that statue is? So it's womenoftheshowajp.org, womenoftheshowajp.org. Very good.

Well, we look forward to seeing that. Rabbi Eli Snyderman, let's talk about calls to action. How can individual citizens in an effective way stand against anti-Semitism?

Well, I think there's a project coming out of California. It's called Project Benorah. So there's a custom we're entering into the holiday of Hanukkah. And one of the traditions is to light a menorah, a candelabra, an eight-branched candelabra in one's window. But if a person is in a situation where there's anti-Semitism and they don't feel safe, you can light it inside the house by a door. So there was a man who said that he didn't feel comfortable putting the menorah in his window. But he called on allies and his non-Jews in the community to put a menorah for him. And it's projectmenorah.com. And that's an initiative that's moving around the country. There's one that's going to be putting just a light in windows.

My neighbor next door, it's not something I would recommend to everyone, but he flies an Israeli flag, kind of in solidarity to us. He came by and he said, I feel so bad. And his first flight got torn down.

And so he bought another one. Folks, this is no time to sit on the fence or be neutral, folks. You know, guys, I'm encouraged as I travel and speak, I'm in a different church every week. And I'm seeing literally thousands everywhere I go of Christians. And they wear a pin on their lapel, men and women, a Jewish flag, the Star of David.

And I know that's a small little gesture. There's more that Christians can do and should do. But that's very heartening to me to see literally everywhere I go, people are wearing Jewish pins. And folks, this is no time to be fearful. Oh, what if somebody takes me to task over my support for Israel?

That's just an occupational hazard. My Christian friend and my pastor friends, look, taking the moral high road and doing what's right, you don't do what's right just if it's popular. You do what's right before God, because it's the right thing to do. Jennie, you mentioned the Jewish Federation of North America. On their website, people can find opportunities and options for standing against anti-Semitism, correct?

Absolutely. So you mentioned the pins. If you go to blueribbonsforisrael.org, again, blueribbonsforisrael.org, you can actually get a blue ribbon to wear in addition to a pin. If you go to jfna.org, there is a ton of information on how you can help your local Jewish Federation, but also how to support Israel. It's really important to lobby your elected officials, both on the local, state, and federal level to support Israel and to support Jews and to make it known that there are still almost 140 hostages still in Gaza, that you want them to come home, that this is not a time to say, oh, the ceasefire is gone and this is all about the war.

It's not. We still have 140 people still being held in tunnels in Gaza. So go to jfna.org and find out what you can do on a local level to help. Jennie, I know you introduced me to E.J. Kimball, who we've had on the program multiple times in combat anti-Semitism. That's a great kind of umbrella organization to help you get on board with standing against anti-Semitism. Jennie, do you happen to know their website? Yeah, it's combatantisemitism.org. If you Google combat anti-Semitism, that will come up. That is a fabulous organization that was started by Joseph Lieberman.

And it has people, really great politicians and community activists reaching out across the aisle and across the spectrum of Americans to say we don't stand up for any type of hate. I know that there are so many websites we could mention, shalomgreensborough.org. And we have listeners throughout the Western Hemisphere. We have a lot of listeners in North Carolina, shalomgreensborough.org.

Guys, regrettably, we're out of time. One of the things, and folks listen in as we're talking about what to do, prayer, just being a friend of people. Get an Israeli flag, and as Rabbi Snyderman mentioned of his neighbor, fly that proudly. But let me talk about voting, because here's the thing, folks.

I've said this in many a place. We must, as a nation, the United States of America, must be a friend to Israel, regardless of the spiritual implications, although those are very real. Our longest ally in the Middle East, our greatest ally, the nation of human rights and morality in the Middle East, the only stable democracy. Rabbi Snyderman, I've often said the greatest favor any American president can do to the American people, the greatest favor he can do to the citizens of America is be a friend to Israel.

I think we need to, when we go into the voting booth, think about where our leaders stand on Israel. Would you agree? One hundred percent.

One hundred percent. You mentioned a bit, those who will be blessed, you mentioned that first. If you look at the nations that kicked out their Jews, they didn't do too well afterwards, like Spain and England. They all kind of declined from being world powers and to being second rate.

That is a fact. I'd like to have both of you on sometime and let's talk about the Six-Day War and the Yom Kippur War. And folks, this is another subject for another day, perhaps, but that's right. The nations that fight against Israel, it doesn't turn out well. You want to favor the blessing of God? Stand with Israel.

That's a fact documented by history. My friends, we are out of time. Jenny Kaiser, president elect of the Jewish Federation of Greensboro, Rabbi Snyderman. All I can say is for the persecution of Jews, it breaks my heart, would to God that it didn't exist. But in the meantime, on behalf of Christians, we are with you.

Love and prayers. Alex McFarland ministries are made possible through the prayers and financial support of partners like you. For over 20 years, this ministry has been bringing individuals into a personal relationship with Christ and has been equipping people to stand strong for truth. Learn more and donate securely online at Alex McFarland dot com. You may also reach us at Alex McFarland P.O. Box 10231, Greensboro, North Carolina 27404, or by calling 1-877-YES-GOD and the number one.

That's 1-877-YES-GOD1. Thanks for joining us. We'll see you again on the next edition of the Alex McFarland Show.

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