WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.600 --> 00:00:09.240 Hudson River Radio dot com. It beats listening to nothing. Being Frank. 2 00:00:09.240 --> 00:00:15.960 We're the only way to be, is Frank. Well everyone, and welcome 3 00:00:16.039 --> 00:00:19.760 to Being Frank. We're the only way to be. It's Frank. I'm 4 00:00:19.800 --> 00:00:23.000 your host, Frank Lebono, and we'd like to thank you for joining us 5 00:00:23.039 --> 00:00:28.800 here on the Intelligent Conversation podcast. We know that your time is valuable in 6 00:00:28.920 --> 00:00:33.399 competition is fierce. There are so many podcasts, but we'd like to think 7 00:00:33.399 --> 00:00:38.119 of ourselves as an alternative to all that noise, So we really appreciate you 8 00:00:38.159 --> 00:00:42.600 sharing some of your day with Being Frank. 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We 18 00:01:25.239 --> 00:01:30.200 bring our audience a new topical program every week, beginning well late Thursdays we 19 00:01:30.239 --> 00:01:34.239 say Fridays to be on the safe side, but usually late on a Thursday 20 00:01:34.319 --> 00:01:38.439 night, around nine thirty ten o'clock you can catch a brand new Being Frank. 21 00:01:38.799 --> 00:01:42.439 But remember you can listen at your convenience because every program is archived, 22 00:01:42.799 --> 00:01:48.280 so you can listen to any Being Frank virtually anytime that you want, on 23 00:01:48.359 --> 00:01:52.719 any format that you want. It's the intelligent thing to do. We're taping 24 00:01:52.719 --> 00:01:56.920 this program on the thirteenth of April. We've just passed a very holy week 25 00:01:57.000 --> 00:02:01.079 where we celebrated, or many of us sell rated to pass Over Easter and 26 00:02:01.280 --> 00:02:07.280 Ramadan. You know, the origins of Judaism draped back more than thirty five 27 00:02:07.359 --> 00:02:10.800 hundred years, primarily near or in modern Israel. Today, Jews can be 28 00:02:10.840 --> 00:02:15.560 found in virtually every corner of the globe. However, despite their long and 29 00:02:15.639 --> 00:02:23.439 storied history, Jews still number only about fifteen million worldwide. That's about point 30 00:02:23.960 --> 00:02:30.800 zero two percent of the human population. Arguably, their contributions and practically every 31 00:02:30.840 --> 00:02:36.759 field of human endeavor far outweigh their numbers. From science to entertainment to business, 32 00:02:36.840 --> 00:02:40.319 Jews can nearly always be found near at the top of these and many 33 00:02:40.360 --> 00:02:46.280 other professions. Still, for thousands of years, despite their sterling achievements, 34 00:02:46.759 --> 00:02:51.680 Jews have been persecuted like few other cultures. The Egyptians, the Romans, 35 00:02:51.719 --> 00:02:55.039 the Byzantines, and the Nazis, among others, have all done their worst 36 00:02:55.240 --> 00:03:00.400 to eradicate them from the face of the earth. Yet Jews have should not 37 00:03:00.439 --> 00:03:06.120 only survive against those odds, but thrive under the ugly specter of anti Semitism. 38 00:03:07.280 --> 00:03:09.439 Instead of getting better, it only seems to be getting worse. The 39 00:03:09.560 --> 00:03:15.080 most recent study by the Anti Defamation League showed that anti Semitic incidents have risen 40 00:03:15.080 --> 00:03:22.560 by over thirty six percent and continue to rise. Why why still? Why 41 00:03:22.599 --> 00:03:27.599 now? Joining me now to share his perspective is Paul Adler. Like most 42 00:03:27.639 --> 00:03:31.360 of my guests, his accomplishments are far too robust for me to repeat all 43 00:03:31.400 --> 00:03:36.280 of them here. Let me just say he's a successful businessman, lawyer, 44 00:03:36.560 --> 00:03:42.039 philanthropist, husband, father, grandfather, leading citizens of his Jewish community center 45 00:03:42.319 --> 00:03:45.919 and Nayak, the town in which he and his family reside and he's also 46 00:03:45.960 --> 00:03:51.599 a member of the board of the Holocaust Museum, Holocaust Museum and Center for 47 00:03:51.800 --> 00:03:54.479 Tolerance and Education. Oh, thank you so much for taking the time to 48 00:03:54.520 --> 00:03:59.280 be with us here on being Frank. Well, Frank, thank you for 49 00:03:59.319 --> 00:04:05.120 having me. And it is very topical the discussion on anti semitism here in 50 00:04:05.199 --> 00:04:12.319 Rockland County and around around the country and throughout the world. So and just 51 00:04:12.439 --> 00:04:18.000 coming off of the Holy Week, as you just mentioned, really amplifies the 52 00:04:18.040 --> 00:04:23.639 need for us to have a little bit more education and a lot more tolerance 53 00:04:23.720 --> 00:04:30.439 as it relates to each of our differences and the common ties that bring us 54 00:04:30.439 --> 00:04:35.519 together. Paul, I'm very happy that you're here and if it makes sense 55 00:04:35.519 --> 00:04:40.639 to people, but very chagrined if you will that that I have to we 56 00:04:40.720 --> 00:04:45.120 have to be having this conversation again, as they mentioned in the opening, 57 00:04:45.319 --> 00:04:47.959 and it's a question I want to say for later about the increase in numbers 58 00:04:48.079 --> 00:04:51.720 and whether you know they can be interpreted a number of ways. Are they 59 00:04:51.759 --> 00:04:55.600 new numbers or are we just more aware of them? But let's save that 60 00:04:55.639 --> 00:04:58.759 for a little bit further down. I want a little bit of background before 61 00:04:58.800 --> 00:05:00.240 we get to that. And I'll explain in a little bit more detail what 62 00:05:00.279 --> 00:05:03.680 I mean about that. Tell us a little bit more about you and the 63 00:05:03.759 --> 00:05:08.639 role you play and the role of faith plays in your life. Obviously, 64 00:05:08.639 --> 00:05:12.319 as I said, you're a leading member of the Jewish Community Center as well 65 00:05:12.360 --> 00:05:16.720 as a member of the board of the Holocaust Museum, So faith obviously plays 66 00:05:16.720 --> 00:05:20.759 a strong role in your life. Can you define it for us? Yeah, 67 00:05:20.800 --> 00:05:27.680 I think that. You know, it's it's my north star, and 68 00:05:27.720 --> 00:05:33.519 our family gathers around and celebrates our faith, and it's very much a part 69 00:05:33.560 --> 00:05:40.560 of our family life. It guides me in my business and my charitable and 70 00:05:41.240 --> 00:05:47.040 philanthropic endeavors. As a lawyer, you know, we are commanded in Deuteronomy 71 00:05:47.120 --> 00:05:55.600 to pursue justice. Justice, justice shall you pursue, and not an easy 72 00:05:55.639 --> 00:06:03.399 task. Justice is not always the truth. Sometimes it is. It is 73 00:06:03.519 --> 00:06:11.720 it is making a decision that is just and fair. And we live in 74 00:06:11.759 --> 00:06:17.120 a world of many exceptions and special circumstances. So justice is a little bit 75 00:06:17.160 --> 00:06:20.920 like the cheese and Monty Python. It moves a bit here and there. 76 00:06:21.959 --> 00:06:31.480 But the precepts that my faith and the Christian faith and the Muslim faith teach 77 00:06:32.279 --> 00:06:35.920 really all boiled down to you know, doing onto others as you would have 78 00:06:35.959 --> 00:06:43.160 been doing to you, um, and everything else, as they say in 79 00:06:43.240 --> 00:06:46.240 the law, is dicta. You know you you you have to start there. 80 00:06:46.360 --> 00:06:53.360 You have to have that respect, and respect comes when you're educated, 81 00:06:54.000 --> 00:07:00.319 and when you're educated you can be tolerant. And I don't even like the 82 00:07:00.360 --> 00:07:04.920 word tolerant all that much anymore. I think it was of a certain vintage. 83 00:07:05.399 --> 00:07:13.279 But the idea is that you're not upset by somebody else's differences. You 84 00:07:13.319 --> 00:07:18.560 know, you should celebrate the differences that I should celebrate your differences from mine, 85 00:07:19.199 --> 00:07:27.879 and then find that common element that brings us together. I think we're 86 00:07:27.879 --> 00:07:32.079 too focused on the differences lately. We want to develop that. But you 87 00:07:32.120 --> 00:07:36.879 know, something that comes to mind, and even as common as a fiddler 88 00:07:36.959 --> 00:07:41.959 on the roof with the song, tradition, tradition seems to be a very 89 00:07:42.040 --> 00:07:46.480 important element of in judaism Um, explain that a little bit, and how 90 00:07:46.519 --> 00:07:51.160 important the tradition you mentioned, the Friday night Shabbat, etc. This is 91 00:07:51.160 --> 00:07:57.680 a tradition and you and it seems important to you that you observe certain traditions. 92 00:07:58.759 --> 00:08:01.199 And again it's it's to be a very strong tenant in Jewish life. 93 00:08:01.519 --> 00:08:11.600 Why because the tradition guides the future, the tradition ties us to the ancestral 94 00:08:11.639 --> 00:08:24.800 past. It brings family together in a way that is soothing and comforting knowing 95 00:08:24.879 --> 00:08:30.439 that these tenants, these traditions that you follow, are the same traditions, 96 00:08:30.800 --> 00:08:39.240 maybe modernized in some way as as as Abraham started out with. And there's 97 00:08:39.279 --> 00:08:43.440 a great comfort to us. On Friday nights, we have Shabbat dinner. 98 00:08:43.519 --> 00:08:52.080 And I've been involved in political endeavors and business endeavors, and certainly in the 99 00:08:52.080 --> 00:08:58.200 thirty six years that I'm married with the family, there has been not one 100 00:08:58.200 --> 00:09:09.039 political social event that I've attended in thirty six years in married life, because 101 00:09:09.279 --> 00:09:16.120 my first responsibility is to have family and friends at a Shabbat meal at our 102 00:09:16.159 --> 00:09:22.759 home or maybe at the home of somebody else. But that was something that 103 00:09:22.919 --> 00:09:24.320 you know, people have said to us, well, you'll you'll see that 104 00:09:24.360 --> 00:09:28.120 won't work out when your kids get to a certain age and they want to 105 00:09:28.159 --> 00:09:33.679 go out and everything else. We said to our kids, this is this 106 00:09:33.799 --> 00:09:37.639 is who we are. If you want to have your friends over, that's 107 00:09:37.679 --> 00:09:43.240 fine. But we never really had to get to that point of having that 108 00:09:43.600 --> 00:09:46.960 conflict with our children about whether or not they could go out on a Friday 109 00:09:48.080 --> 00:09:54.919 night. And it wasn't a restriction the sabbath. The Friday night was really 110 00:09:54.919 --> 00:10:00.399 a rest fit from the rest of the week. It was the moment where 111 00:10:00.480 --> 00:10:05.159 nothing else mattered. The cell phone goes off, we're sitting around the dinner 112 00:10:05.200 --> 00:10:13.759 table, and it's just what we do. And it's been enriched by having 113 00:10:13.840 --> 00:10:18.440 friends and family, and particularly having people over that are not of the Jewish 114 00:10:18.440 --> 00:10:24.799 faith, who who who sort of come together and say, you know, 115 00:10:24.080 --> 00:10:28.720 we sort of do this. You know, we we do our you know, 116 00:10:28.919 --> 00:10:33.600 our our get together on Sunday and its Italian family. We have our 117 00:10:33.679 --> 00:10:37.960 pasta and our family get together on a Sunday afternoon and do what that is. 118 00:10:39.159 --> 00:10:43.399 There's something very comforting about it. And in the world where everything is 119 00:10:45.120 --> 00:10:50.639 at that wickedly fast pace, you know, thirty seconds is an eternity that 120 00:10:52.000 --> 00:10:58.799 starting Friday night, that's just a rest It It just it just recharges the 121 00:10:58.879 --> 00:11:03.919 batteries and brings you back to what's important, and it just it makes me 122 00:11:05.720 --> 00:11:13.799 and my family feel whole in a very spiritual way. Well, you know, 123 00:11:13.039 --> 00:11:20.279 it gives you a sense of a value of I'm sure other things compassionately. 124 00:11:20.480 --> 00:11:26.000 These are all things that are important and shared certainly, and as you 125 00:11:26.039 --> 00:11:28.600 mentioned in the beginning, all the great faiths, if you will share that 126 00:11:28.679 --> 00:11:35.639 as a tenant. But what's been amazing to me, and I want to 127 00:11:35.639 --> 00:11:41.679 wind this to our original topic, which is anti Semitism, that despite everything 128 00:11:41.679 --> 00:11:48.799 that is so admirable about the culture from the as I said, it's disproportionate 129 00:11:48.879 --> 00:11:52.600 point zero two percent of the population. And you could reel off from Einstein 130 00:11:52.720 --> 00:11:56.919 off the top of your head, one of the maybe the greatest genius of 131 00:11:56.960 --> 00:12:01.120 all time, that a Jew, etcetera, etcetera, all these fantastic values. 132 00:12:01.600 --> 00:12:07.679 They contribute so much to society, with good values that I believe we 133 00:12:07.799 --> 00:12:11.879 all share. Uh, Yet there's this still and it's it's it's even got 134 00:12:11.919 --> 00:12:18.759 its own special word, anti Semitism. Why, Paul, where where does 135 00:12:18.840 --> 00:12:20.919 that that? Where does that come from? I don't, I don't. 136 00:12:22.080 --> 00:12:24.039 I don't get it, because, as I said, the qualities that I 137 00:12:24.080 --> 00:12:30.240 see are such admirable ones given within human nature forgiving, of course, not 138 00:12:30.360 --> 00:12:33.919 everybody it's the same or a menure whatever. So I don't want to trivialize 139 00:12:33.919 --> 00:12:39.240 it. But overall, as a sense of value, extraordinary ones that we 140 00:12:39.360 --> 00:12:43.840 all should share. If we don't yet, there's this ugly specter of anti 141 00:12:43.919 --> 00:12:48.240 Semitism that continually rears its ugly head. You are thoughts, onto, why 142 00:12:48.639 --> 00:12:54.879 how is this happening? Why is it happening? Well, I think as 143 00:12:56.440 --> 00:13:03.320 faiths, different faiths evolved um um in in order to you know, it's 144 00:13:03.360 --> 00:13:09.759 like a marketing campaign. In order for your faith to to move forward or 145 00:13:09.840 --> 00:13:13.679 to become dominant, you have you have to take on the brand leader. 146 00:13:15.519 --> 00:13:20.320 You have to take on UM the UH, the O g H, the 147 00:13:20.320 --> 00:13:28.320 first monotheistic religion and UH and and so UM. And you you dabble that 148 00:13:28.440 --> 00:13:37.639 in with a little bit of propaganda or misstating of history that Jews are responsible 149 00:13:37.679 --> 00:13:43.240 for the killing of Christ as the savior. Um those things and and and 150 00:13:43.440 --> 00:13:50.759 a and a liturgy that was up until Vatican too was regularly taught UH as 151 00:13:50.799 --> 00:13:56.320 part of the dogma Um. It's very hard to ask people. It's very 152 00:13:56.320 --> 00:14:03.840 hard to have people like that group of jew was when the the basic tenant 153 00:14:03.879 --> 00:14:07.120 that you know about Jews is that they're the ones who killed your savior. 154 00:14:07.519 --> 00:14:15.159 And you know that that's why you know, in this very present day of 155 00:14:15.240 --> 00:14:20.960 misinformation and propaganda and AI and everything that's going on. When when people saw 156 00:14:22.240 --> 00:14:28.519 a source of of of education as the Internet, you know, how do 157 00:14:28.559 --> 00:14:31.120 you know it's true while I read it on Facebook? It must be true. 158 00:14:31.600 --> 00:14:35.080 When you see those kinds of things happening. Um, it exacerbates the 159 00:14:35.159 --> 00:14:43.039 anti Semitism which is which is settled into many different cultures. And then you 160 00:14:43.200 --> 00:14:50.759 might get into, for example, the the Islamic Jewish rift, which really 161 00:14:50.200 --> 00:14:56.879 had to do with turf right become geopolitical. It's amazing, right, it's 162 00:14:56.080 --> 00:15:01.320 veried wrapped in religion Northern Ireland. It goes on, right, you know, 163 00:15:03.799 --> 00:15:07.039 some kind of turf war going on. We're in the same place and 164 00:15:07.039 --> 00:15:11.799 and well it was holy when you were there, but now it's more holy 165 00:15:11.879 --> 00:15:15.720 where we are. And if you've gone to Jerusalem. If you've been to 166 00:15:15.799 --> 00:15:20.480 Jerusalem, there is a very special feeling about best place in Like I've traveled 167 00:15:20.480 --> 00:15:26.120 around the globe, there's no other place in the world that you feel this 168 00:15:26.360 --> 00:15:31.519 great spirituality like you do in Jerusalem. And then you you take it down 169 00:15:31.960 --> 00:15:37.039 even just go to Temple Mount and you've got the Church of the Holy Sepulcher 170 00:15:37.240 --> 00:15:43.879 and the Dome of the Rock and the Western Wall. And you know, 171 00:15:43.919 --> 00:15:46.919 if you fell over one way or the other, you could hit two of 172 00:15:46.000 --> 00:15:52.159 the other sites. I mean in the whole world. You're in a you're 173 00:15:52.159 --> 00:15:56.080 in a it's like being in Niac and being on the corner of Broadway in 174 00:15:56.200 --> 00:16:02.759 Maine, and that's where everything everything happened. And so there are a lot 175 00:16:02.799 --> 00:16:06.200 of things that that happen. And then and then of course you know over 176 00:16:06.240 --> 00:16:11.840 the years between from the Romans to the to the Germans. Um you know, 177 00:16:11.879 --> 00:16:18.320 with Nazism, uh you you you can take a trope that not only 178 00:16:18.200 --> 00:16:23.480 are these people responsible for, uh you know, the killing of Christ, 179 00:16:23.879 --> 00:16:30.200 these these same people are the reason you're having problems today. It's a scapegoating 180 00:16:30.639 --> 00:16:36.720 and it's worked real well. And and here we are eighty years later after 181 00:16:36.759 --> 00:16:40.919 the end of World War Two and it's it's working well again. Well, 182 00:16:41.039 --> 00:16:44.679 is it's Is it mostly? I wouldn't say simply that's ridiculate? Is it 183 00:16:44.720 --> 00:16:48.840 mostly? Because Jews are such a small segment of the population, yet, 184 00:16:48.879 --> 00:16:56.279 as we mentioned, because of their achievements and their levels are are disproportionately noticed 185 00:16:56.919 --> 00:17:00.320 for lack of a better word, is that a viable there's point zero two 186 00:17:00.360 --> 00:17:06.400 percent. I mean, that's a pretty small minority, it is, and 187 00:17:06.200 --> 00:17:11.279 and I and I think it's because we all have those common roots. Right, 188 00:17:11.039 --> 00:17:15.119 Even if you are attenuated from your faith, at some point in your 189 00:17:15.160 --> 00:17:21.279 life, there was something that you you were, you're baptized, your barn 190 00:17:21.359 --> 00:17:26.839 mitzad you you you you had, you had a special ceremony in in Islam, 191 00:17:26.920 --> 00:17:32.200 you did. There's always something that you you know, we we we 192 00:17:32.200 --> 00:17:34.279 we walk away from faith at a certain age and then we come back to 193 00:17:34.319 --> 00:17:41.720 it at a later date. Um. But those hard lessons, um, 194 00:17:41.839 --> 00:17:45.960 they're hard to shake when you when you grow up with them, you may 195 00:17:45.000 --> 00:17:48.839 become erudite, and you may even become more educated. But at some point 196 00:17:48.839 --> 00:17:55.079 in time that happens. Even with the black community in this country, it's 197 00:17:55.079 --> 00:18:00.559 a huge minority of uh, you know, as opposed to the majority. 198 00:18:00.440 --> 00:18:06.119 You know, And and when you see what you see that, how is 199 00:18:06.160 --> 00:18:11.920 it that this you know, uh, huge class, this minority class which 200 00:18:11.960 --> 00:18:18.720 has been disregarded and disrespected, is still because of so many of our problems. 201 00:18:18.799 --> 00:18:22.720 You know, if they if they only and then dot dot dot, 202 00:18:23.000 --> 00:18:27.839 if if this was different, dot dot dot, then it's just typical that 203 00:18:29.880 --> 00:18:37.400 whenever there are problems, economic problems in particular, people need to blame somebody 204 00:18:37.440 --> 00:18:41.640 else, or they don't like their lot in life, they blame someone else. 205 00:18:42.200 --> 00:18:47.920 Well, how you know, anti Semitism can be seen as a big 206 00:18:47.960 --> 00:18:52.160 thing. White Hood's burning crosses not only for black people, but for Jews 207 00:18:52.200 --> 00:18:57.400 and sometimes in some cases even for Catholics, anybody who's different. But how 208 00:18:57.440 --> 00:19:03.720 would you deal with with someone? And you mentioned people have, for example, 209 00:19:03.000 --> 00:19:10.839 Holocaust deniers, despite the mountain of evidence, including my father's own stories. 210 00:19:10.880 --> 00:19:15.200 Who was with the Third Army and liberated bouch involved and told me early 211 00:19:15.240 --> 00:19:18.799 on as a young man, Frank, never forget that cruelty that man can 212 00:19:18.880 --> 00:19:22.880 visit on another man. I saw it, never forget it. So it 213 00:19:22.960 --> 00:19:26.200 was always part of my early education. And I think you mentioned how important 214 00:19:26.240 --> 00:19:30.519 that is. But yet there are still people despite all of that. I 215 00:19:30.519 --> 00:19:33.279 could look them right in the eyes and excuse me. I've heard the stories 216 00:19:33.319 --> 00:19:36.920 directly from someone who was there, and they'll still deny it. How do 217 00:19:36.920 --> 00:19:41.759 you deal with that? Well, jeez, I wish I knew. If 218 00:19:41.759 --> 00:19:45.799 I knew, I'd run for president. I'll tell you this. We see 219 00:19:45.839 --> 00:19:49.920 it today. You know, you know, I don't want to get hyper 220 00:19:49.920 --> 00:19:53.240 political. But you know when you have somebody who said I could go out 221 00:19:53.240 --> 00:19:59.279 in the middle of Fifth Avenue and commit a murder and half the country wouldn't 222 00:19:59.279 --> 00:20:02.039 believe I did it, and I could do it in broad daylight. The 223 00:20:02.160 --> 00:20:07.799 fact is that when when the tropes are used, you know, Jewish power, 224 00:20:07.920 --> 00:20:12.119 dual loyalty, the notion that you're only loyal to Israel and you're not 225 00:20:12.200 --> 00:20:18.440 loyal to our country. Same thing they tried with Catholics in the in the 226 00:20:18.519 --> 00:20:21.839 early in the midst of the mid part of the twentieth century, where you 227 00:20:21.880 --> 00:20:23.799 know, John Kennedy was not loyal to the country, he was going to 228 00:20:23.839 --> 00:20:29.200 be loyal to the pope. And those kinds of things, Those those notions 229 00:20:29.240 --> 00:20:37.359 and tropes work particularly when people feel aggrieved and there's always a leader that makes 230 00:20:37.359 --> 00:20:42.200 you feel agreed that it's normally a leader that you know, we need an 231 00:20:42.319 --> 00:20:48.599 Aryan race. And of course Hitler was was the least Aryan of them. 232 00:20:49.279 --> 00:20:53.839 Um you know, you know, the blonde, blue haired you know told 233 00:20:55.160 --> 00:20:59.319 you know, he was none of those things specimen and then and then of 234 00:20:59.359 --> 00:21:04.240 course you know it's the wealthy billionaire. It tells the who tells people who 235 00:21:04.279 --> 00:21:11.240 are in the middle and lower middle and low incomes that you know, the 236 00:21:11.279 --> 00:21:14.839 reason for their problems is somebody else and it's you know, not him, 237 00:21:15.279 --> 00:21:18.880 and somehow they identify with him. They like his gold toilets, or they 238 00:21:18.920 --> 00:21:23.279 like whatever it is. And the fact is that, um, it's it's 239 00:21:23.359 --> 00:21:30.920 always been about the propaganda that people are are able to perpetrate on other people. 240 00:21:32.240 --> 00:21:34.680 And I and I tell you it comes down to the fact. At 241 00:21:34.680 --> 00:21:41.319 the Holocaust Museum we educate. Last year we educated forty thousand kids going out 242 00:21:41.359 --> 00:21:45.200 to the schools or then coming to the Holocaust Museum, which is located on 243 00:21:45.240 --> 00:21:49.160 the campus of Rock and Community College in the lower level of the library. 244 00:21:51.119 --> 00:21:56.319 And it's amazing to watch these kids get the aha moment. What are you 245 00:21:56.400 --> 00:22:02.200 talking about? I mean, what is Holocaust education? It's up one paragraph 246 00:22:02.359 --> 00:22:04.920 in the history book. You know, it says from nineteen thirty eight till 247 00:22:06.119 --> 00:22:11.359 nineteen forty five, you know, a death spot, you know, perpetrated 248 00:22:11.400 --> 00:22:15.440 mass murder on the world, and you know it was hateful and the d 249 00:22:15.559 --> 00:22:18.880 goes on and it doesn't go into how it happened, why it happened, 250 00:22:19.240 --> 00:22:22.839 could it happen again? And it could happen again and the sad part of 251 00:22:22.839 --> 00:22:26.920 it is, Frank, it could happen again in this country. Well, 252 00:22:29.240 --> 00:22:33.519 you know, in our pre interview and I mentioned it the statistic from the 253 00:22:33.559 --> 00:22:37.839 Anti Defamation League, the most recent report of increase of thirty six percent, 254 00:22:37.200 --> 00:22:41.720 and you had suggested if I interpreted it correctly, and of course you can 255 00:22:41.880 --> 00:22:47.640 correct me if necessary, but you seem to suggest that the number appears to 256 00:22:47.680 --> 00:22:52.240 be rising. But in a sense it's always been there. There seems to 257 00:22:52.279 --> 00:22:56.480 be more of a sense of awareness or that it's okay to express it. 258 00:22:56.519 --> 00:23:00.960 In other words, it's not necessarily a new sentiment, but it's found a 259 00:23:02.000 --> 00:23:06.160 new expression politically, and let's not dance around it. With the most recent 260 00:23:06.720 --> 00:23:11.880 past administration, that of Donald J. Trump, seemed to give a voice, 261 00:23:11.039 --> 00:23:15.640 or at least more voice to those that had been silent for a long 262 00:23:15.759 --> 00:23:21.599 time. But kind of murmuring under the surface, is that a correct assessment? 263 00:23:21.759 --> 00:23:23.960 You tend to agree it is. It's very correct. Anti Semitism not 264 00:23:25.079 --> 00:23:29.200 on the rise. It was always there this political landscape. And by the 265 00:23:29.240 --> 00:23:34.039 way far left far right can now unmask. You know, on the far 266 00:23:34.200 --> 00:23:38.960 left, the Zionism is racism. It's not about Jews. I said the 267 00:23:40.000 --> 00:23:45.720 word Zionism. I didn't say jew, but the Zionist state is the Jewish 268 00:23:45.720 --> 00:23:52.079 state of Israel. The last president ushered in a in my opinion, a 269 00:23:52.240 --> 00:23:57.960 return to political incorrectness without consequence. And so you can say what you want, 270 00:23:59.039 --> 00:24:03.680 scapeboting, financial insecurity, instability. They're lethal cocktails for Jews around the 271 00:24:03.680 --> 00:24:11.599 world. And and so what's happened now is the lids off, the lid 272 00:24:11.680 --> 00:24:22.920 blew off. And it's it's no coincidence that these mass shootings m the kinds 273 00:24:22.960 --> 00:24:30.720 of hate speech that you see on the internet and then denying what it meant 274 00:24:30.920 --> 00:24:36.200 or what you what you were saying. And so when you have that pausible 275 00:24:36.240 --> 00:24:40.839 deniable, that plausible deniability by just saying I said that, but I didn't 276 00:24:40.839 --> 00:24:45.559 mean that. You know, you can't say that people who are marching around 277 00:24:45.640 --> 00:24:51.400 Charleston saying the Jews will not replace us, and and and they're fighting people 278 00:24:51.400 --> 00:24:52.920 who are protesting them. You say, well, they're good people on both 279 00:24:52.960 --> 00:24:59.440 sides. How I mean this moral equivalency that that you lay down for it 280 00:24:59.440 --> 00:25:06.319 is says, well, we sort of agree with that, we sort of 281 00:25:06.319 --> 00:25:10.920 agree that that's really going on. And and I'm going to say that, 282 00:25:11.000 --> 00:25:15.680 and they're good people on both sides, which is really just a wink to 283 00:25:15.799 --> 00:25:19.119 the to the to those people who who had to keep it, who had 284 00:25:19.119 --> 00:25:22.359 to keep their hoods off, but they could put their hoods back on and 285 00:25:22.440 --> 00:25:26.000 do it. And you know, and and you saw they were marching in 286 00:25:26.119 --> 00:25:33.759 a khaki white shirt uniform kind of thing that all these different um homages to 287 00:25:33.759 --> 00:25:41.920 to totalitarian hate around the globe, you know, whether it's a brown shirt 288 00:25:42.960 --> 00:25:51.039 or this kind of uniform or the um um the kinds of you know, 289 00:25:51.400 --> 00:26:00.079 um vigilanteism that takes place the lids often you can say what you want. 290 00:26:00.079 --> 00:26:06.400 The Holocaust Museum we're dealing with. You know, we took it upon ourselves 291 00:26:06.440 --> 00:26:11.079 to deal with the issue in Pearl River, for example, when a an 292 00:26:11.200 --> 00:26:17.640 opposing team came to a pro River high school and a black man on the 293 00:26:17.680 --> 00:26:22.240 team is doing a you know, a foul shot, and you know they're 294 00:26:22.400 --> 00:26:29.839 they're hooting and hollering, like making ape calls to to to distract the black 295 00:26:29.920 --> 00:26:34.759 player, and and and it's written off as well, kids will be kids. 296 00:26:36.400 --> 00:26:41.279 No kids were taught to hate. And and somebody said somewhere we're not 297 00:26:41.319 --> 00:26:45.759 going to get in big trouble for doing this, and that's what happened. 298 00:26:47.240 --> 00:26:52.279 And and I'd rather live in a world where we where we had more control 299 00:26:52.599 --> 00:26:57.039 over where people controlled their emotions in that way, rather than be a motive 300 00:26:57.079 --> 00:27:03.079 and just say what's say what's on their mind, because they somehow have a 301 00:27:03.200 --> 00:27:10.039 right to say that, you know, because that's that's what they're getting from 302 00:27:10.160 --> 00:27:15.319 leadership these days, that you can say these things. It's really it's it's 303 00:27:15.400 --> 00:27:21.920 disconcerting, you know, it's it. We have on Monday, on the 304 00:27:22.000 --> 00:27:26.160 seventeenth, I run a program at the courthouse. We do the Holocaust Remembrance 305 00:27:26.279 --> 00:27:29.839 Day at the courthouse. Says to what do you do at the courthouse? 306 00:27:30.559 --> 00:27:34.880 Well, the last line of defense against the Nazi rule? You know, 307 00:27:36.000 --> 00:27:41.440 Hitler burned the rocks, the Reichstag down, suspended the Congress there right, 308 00:27:41.480 --> 00:27:47.839 the legislature that they had. So what was the last line of defense before 309 00:27:48.400 --> 00:27:55.799 the courts? The courts in the judiciary and the bar. And what Hitler 310 00:27:55.880 --> 00:28:00.680 did in World War two remarkably enough, but not illegal because the Nuremberg Laws 311 00:28:02.039 --> 00:28:08.680 codified that hatred, codified race laws, codified purity laws, codified everything that 312 00:28:08.720 --> 00:28:15.759 they did, including the imprisonment and use of these people, the undimensioned the 313 00:28:15.839 --> 00:28:22.319 people less than humans. And why did that happen? Because the courts, 314 00:28:22.759 --> 00:28:29.079 the judiciary succumbed to his power and no longer swore an oath to the Constitution, 315 00:28:29.119 --> 00:28:32.839 but swore an oath to a man. And so we do this Holocaust 316 00:28:32.880 --> 00:28:37.200 remembrance event at the courthouse to remind the judiciary that they are the last line 317 00:28:37.640 --> 00:28:41.480 and the people in the legal profession are the last line of defense for the 318 00:28:41.559 --> 00:28:47.039 Constitution. No, Paul, nothing happens in a vacuum. And with that 319 00:28:47.160 --> 00:28:49.480 mind, I think we need to talk a little bit about the situation in 320 00:28:49.519 --> 00:28:53.799 Israel. I know you've been a big supporter, You've received some recognition from 321 00:28:55.160 --> 00:28:57.759 from the state of Israel. But there seems to be a bit of a 322 00:28:57.839 --> 00:29:03.880 paradox there that somehow mirrors a little bit of what's going on here. Kind 323 00:29:03.880 --> 00:29:07.240 of a power hungry leader in Netanyah, who, at least in my opinion, 324 00:29:07.359 --> 00:29:11.680 I should be qualifying what I'm saying in my opinion, and and a 325 00:29:11.680 --> 00:29:19.480 bit of a paradox there where a state which prides itself on freedom and openness 326 00:29:21.319 --> 00:29:25.559 still has an issue with the Palestinians that continues and there seems to be a 327 00:29:25.599 --> 00:29:32.720 move towards much more of a religious right than a secular government, and something 328 00:29:32.759 --> 00:29:37.119 that we're dealing with very much here in Rockland County and throughout the Northeast as 329 00:29:37.160 --> 00:29:41.279 well. But one step at a time, some of your thoughts on Israel, 330 00:29:41.480 --> 00:29:45.000 what do you feel is going on, are their solutions, what can 331 00:29:45.119 --> 00:29:48.799 be done there, and what does what effect does it have on us here? 332 00:29:49.279 --> 00:29:52.680 I'm very, very sad about the state of affairs in Israel. The 333 00:29:52.960 --> 00:29:59.759 current Prime Minister, whom whom I know and who I worked with when I 334 00:29:59.839 --> 00:30:03.559 was chairman of Israel Bonds and he was Finance Minister thirty some nine years ago, 335 00:30:07.440 --> 00:30:11.279 was always a you know, a sort of a you know, an 336 00:30:11.279 --> 00:30:15.319 old school conservative, you know what I would call some of the old school 337 00:30:15.359 --> 00:30:25.440 Republicans. And today, in an effort to to beat his um legal problems 338 00:30:25.440 --> 00:30:29.920 in the in the state of Israel, he is attempting to dismantle the independent 339 00:30:30.039 --> 00:30:36.160 judiciary in that state, the Democratic State of Israel, which is a Jewish 340 00:30:36.200 --> 00:30:40.920 state. It has a parallel track. It is the Jewish state by the 341 00:30:41.039 --> 00:30:47.160 UN mandate, and it was set aside um after World War Two so that 342 00:30:47.200 --> 00:30:51.240 there would be a safe haven for Jews around the world who had nowhere to 343 00:30:51.279 --> 00:30:56.960 go. Right the Saint Louis other other other people who tried to flee Germany 344 00:30:56.000 --> 00:31:00.039 couldn't get in any other country in the world, sent back to the concentration 345 00:31:00.079 --> 00:31:07.319 camps, exterminated. So you have a free state of Israel. And Netanyahu 346 00:31:07.960 --> 00:31:11.480 is, in my opinion, attempting to dismantle the very thing that makes it 347 00:31:11.599 --> 00:31:18.079 the only democracy in the Middle East. It is he is playing with the 348 00:31:18.119 --> 00:31:26.680 most important, uh, foundational block of the modern state of Israel. Um 349 00:31:26.839 --> 00:31:30.599 and and and in doing so, he's wrapped it in that he's doing this 350 00:31:30.720 --> 00:31:34.160 to provide for the security of the State of Israel, which is what they 351 00:31:34.200 --> 00:31:40.759 all do. So give me your liberties and I'll give you security, you 352 00:31:40.799 --> 00:31:45.039 know. And I think it was Franklin who said those that give up liberty 353 00:31:45.079 --> 00:31:51.119 for security get neither. And and and so this this this guy here, 354 00:31:52.640 --> 00:31:57.200 he got together with a really unholy alliance um and I chose those words carefully 355 00:31:57.680 --> 00:32:04.480 of a fractional right wing fringe groups that have you know, in the parliamentary 356 00:32:04.519 --> 00:32:07.240 system. You know, this group has six, that group has five, 357 00:32:07.640 --> 00:32:14.240 this group has seven ministers. You know, uh, people elected to the 358 00:32:14.599 --> 00:32:20.119 to the Knesset, and and put together and said to these folks, I'll 359 00:32:20.240 --> 00:32:27.200 give in to your desires to eradicate the Palestinian population here in Israel. You 360 00:32:27.319 --> 00:32:30.240 just give me what I want, which is the ability to control the independent 361 00:32:30.319 --> 00:32:37.720 judiciary. And their answer is, well, we we we really rely on 362 00:32:37.759 --> 00:32:43.160 our religious courts in our internal differences. So if you want to take control 363 00:32:43.240 --> 00:32:47.319 of you know, and some of these, some of these groups here couldn't 364 00:32:47.359 --> 00:32:52.640 fathom that a woman could be the Chief Justice of the State of Israel Supreme 365 00:32:52.680 --> 00:32:54.799 Court, or that you could have and by the way, there is an 366 00:32:54.799 --> 00:33:00.240 Arab member of the Supreme Court. Um They're like, well, you can 367 00:33:00.279 --> 00:33:05.799 have that, because it doesn't mean anything to us. And he's turning around 368 00:33:06.720 --> 00:33:13.119 and dismantling one of the great achievements in human kind, the creation of State 369 00:33:13.119 --> 00:33:19.359 of Israel nineteen forty eight into one of the most technologically advanced countries in the 370 00:33:19.400 --> 00:33:30.279 world, where ideas and medicine and technology abound. And he's really he is 371 00:33:30.279 --> 00:33:35.279 Israel's Trump in my opinion, and that's my opinion. I am an unabashed 372 00:33:35.279 --> 00:33:40.319 democrat, but I will tell you I have been a very strong supporter of 373 00:33:40.319 --> 00:33:44.039 the State of Israel. As I said, been on the Israel Bond Board 374 00:33:44.079 --> 00:33:50.319 for many years, founder at the JCC Holocaust Museum, I'm on the Justice 375 00:33:50.400 --> 00:33:54.680 brandeis Law Society, the Jewish Bar Association Executive Committee. And I will tell 376 00:33:54.720 --> 00:34:00.559 you that his blatant disregard for the rule of law, all to help one 377 00:34:00.640 --> 00:34:07.880 man is probably the most dangerous cancer on the State of Israel we've seen in 378 00:34:07.000 --> 00:34:12.039 a long time. I'm I'm shocked by what's happened. I think a lot 379 00:34:12.039 --> 00:34:17.760 of people make the mistake sometimes and people have been burnt by it criticism of 380 00:34:17.960 --> 00:34:24.400 the State of Israel without necessarily criticizing the people of Israel. And I think 381 00:34:25.039 --> 00:34:30.840 there's a there's a fine line there that sometimes in criticizing some of the policies 382 00:34:30.199 --> 00:34:36.719 of Israel, often people are labeled as anti Semitic for that. And I 383 00:34:36.719 --> 00:34:39.519 don't think the two things are necessarily connected. I agree with be a big 384 00:34:39.559 --> 00:34:45.760 supporter of Israel in general, and yet just like this country, it ain't 385 00:34:45.840 --> 00:34:52.320 perfect. Well, you know, you know, you know, with Winston 386 00:34:52.400 --> 00:34:54.480 Churchill set of America, it's the worst country in the world beside from all 387 00:34:54.519 --> 00:35:00.760 the rest and and and I feel the same way about Israel in many, 388 00:35:00.800 --> 00:35:06.559 many ways. But you know, I can distinguish between the current political leadership 389 00:35:06.639 --> 00:35:09.719 and my love for the State of Israel and for what it represents. And 390 00:35:09.760 --> 00:35:15.119 when you take a look at demonstrations that have six hundred eight hundred, nine 391 00:35:15.239 --> 00:35:20.000 hundred thousand people in the streets, that would be the equivalent to thirty million 392 00:35:20.039 --> 00:35:24.960 Americans. Just remember six million or seven million people live in the State of 393 00:35:25.000 --> 00:35:29.119 Israel. I could be off by a little bit. So if you can 394 00:35:29.159 --> 00:35:35.239 imagine ten percent of the country demonstrate, or twenty percent of the country demonstrating, 395 00:35:35.400 --> 00:35:38.960 imagine what that number would be here in the United States if they if 396 00:35:39.039 --> 00:35:45.079 everybody took in the same percentage to the streets. So the people of the 397 00:35:45.119 --> 00:35:51.840 State of Israel realize they're at a crossroads and are doing what they can to 398 00:35:52.880 --> 00:35:55.280 push this government out. You know, this is the fifth government in four 399 00:35:55.400 --> 00:36:00.000 years in the State of Israel. They've never had this situation and Nathan Yah 400 00:36:00.039 --> 00:36:07.480 who has played loomed large in those last five you know, short ill fated 401 00:36:07.519 --> 00:36:14.320 governments that have you know, that's the parliamentary system. So I'm hoping that 402 00:36:14.360 --> 00:36:21.280 this coalition falls apart and Israel can find its way again. Before we go 403 00:36:21.320 --> 00:36:24.800 to the break polling, I think we need to talk about the issues that 404 00:36:24.960 --> 00:36:30.920 challenge us here in Rockland, Orange. On some of the surrounding areas which 405 00:36:30.960 --> 00:36:37.159 have huge populations of ultra orthodox communities which tend to be insular. That creates 406 00:36:37.159 --> 00:36:45.480 friction between themselves and the communities around them, jew and Gentile, and again 407 00:36:45.519 --> 00:36:50.840 there's that move towards a religious right rather than the secular. How do you 408 00:36:50.920 --> 00:36:53.719 how do you see that playing out here? And again I know at times 409 00:36:53.719 --> 00:36:58.840 it can be the root of some of the anti Semitism here because their particular 410 00:36:58.920 --> 00:37:04.039 brand of Judaisms seems so extreme to others who may not necessarily know. And 411 00:37:04.039 --> 00:37:07.679 as I said, they tend to be very insular. The communities that is 412 00:37:07.159 --> 00:37:10.639 tend to be very insular, and there seems to be a limited amount of 413 00:37:10.679 --> 00:37:17.400 outreach. How how do we deal with that situation here where there are sometimes 414 00:37:17.440 --> 00:37:23.280 these ultra large communities that put burdens on infrastructure, fire codes, etc. 415 00:37:25.039 --> 00:37:31.360 And it causes conflicts between the surrounding communities and their communities themselves. What are 416 00:37:31.360 --> 00:37:37.599 some of your thoughts on that? It comes down to education, understanding. 417 00:37:39.039 --> 00:37:49.119 My feeling about the community is and I've known the Rockland communities very well for 418 00:37:49.199 --> 00:37:53.679 a very long time. And there is so much good in many of those 419 00:37:53.679 --> 00:38:00.039 communities. And yet because they are so identifiable, right, they're different than 420 00:38:00.119 --> 00:38:05.079 secular Jews, and I use that term, and you know, people are 421 00:38:05.159 --> 00:38:09.960 secular looking maybe and so so they may not be secular in their faith, 422 00:38:10.360 --> 00:38:19.119 but they're secularly looking Jews as opposed to Jews who you know who who've done 423 00:38:19.239 --> 00:38:23.079 a traditional garb by the way, a garb that's not that doesn't come back 424 00:38:23.119 --> 00:38:28.000 thousands of years. It goes back to the eighteen sixties in Poland. Yes, 425 00:38:28.639 --> 00:38:32.480 and that's what it is, right. They procreate, there's a there's 426 00:38:32.519 --> 00:38:37.599 a there are large families. And the sad part of it is that most 427 00:38:37.599 --> 00:38:43.760 of those folks are good, god fearing human beings, live in the United 428 00:38:43.760 --> 00:38:47.239 States of America and live here in Rockman Country. The problem is that on 429 00:38:47.280 --> 00:38:54.280 both sides, on in the in the religious community, in the Hasidic religious 430 00:38:54.320 --> 00:39:00.280 community, uh, there's little understanding of the rest of the world, and 431 00:39:00.360 --> 00:39:04.679 the rest of the world has little understanding about who they are and how they 432 00:39:04.719 --> 00:39:08.719 practice and what their traditions are. So we don't understand it. And then 433 00:39:08.760 --> 00:39:16.480 of course you know, any wrongdoings committed or perpetrated by someone from a Hasidic 434 00:39:16.559 --> 00:39:24.719 sect become amplified. They are very identifiable. And the truth of the matter 435 00:39:24.880 --> 00:39:30.360 is that if there were more respect and understanding. For example, take fire 436 00:39:30.400 --> 00:39:35.519 codes for a moment. Right, not everybody is violating the fire codes, 437 00:39:35.719 --> 00:39:40.039 but those that are are doing so because they have disregard for our volunteer firemen. 438 00:39:40.199 --> 00:39:46.119 They have disregard for the rules of safety. They have disregard and that 439 00:39:46.199 --> 00:39:51.119 the building codes are not there to stop them from their way of life. 440 00:39:51.599 --> 00:39:54.599 They're there to protect them in that way of life. But if you look 441 00:39:54.639 --> 00:40:00.599 at it and say those building codes are onerous to me, well, well 442 00:40:00.599 --> 00:40:07.320 too bad, because you need to build structures a certain way for fireproofing. 443 00:40:07.400 --> 00:40:12.840 You need to tell the local building department and fire departments that you've put up 444 00:40:12.840 --> 00:40:17.280 a wall. And you can't send that volunteer fireman someone who said I'm going 445 00:40:17.360 --> 00:40:21.800 to help my community by learning how to fight fires, get on a truck 446 00:40:22.079 --> 00:40:25.280 and run into danger to help you a person, I don't know whether you're 447 00:40:25.320 --> 00:40:30.639 black, white, yellow, purple, jew gentile or Muslim. I'm going 448 00:40:30.679 --> 00:40:34.159 to go in and help. I'm going to go in to help save you. 449 00:40:34.880 --> 00:40:38.920 And the only thing we find out is that you turned off the fire 450 00:40:38.960 --> 00:40:44.519 alarms, you turned off the sprinkler system. Well, you don't have a 451 00:40:44.639 --> 00:40:47.320 right to do that that. I don't care who you are, you don't 452 00:40:47.360 --> 00:40:55.039 have a right to do that. And what's happened is you can't live in 453 00:40:55.119 --> 00:41:02.239 modern day America and be isolated. We're just drawn together. Right. You 454 00:41:02.280 --> 00:41:07.800 can say I don't like electronics. I don't like all of these things. 455 00:41:07.920 --> 00:41:13.440 But the fire alarm rings through an electronic system that goes to the firehouse and 456 00:41:13.480 --> 00:41:17.239 they call people on their on their devices and say come run, pick up 457 00:41:17.239 --> 00:41:22.079 a truck, put on your uniform, and come fight a fire. So 458 00:41:22.639 --> 00:41:27.519 you have to be respectful of that. And if the building code says something 459 00:41:27.559 --> 00:41:30.519 like a three story structure or four story structure requires a fire escape, well 460 00:41:30.559 --> 00:41:35.960 then you have to put it up. I don't care that it's somehow infringes 461 00:41:36.039 --> 00:41:42.960 on what you perceive as your religious right. You can practice as you want, 462 00:41:43.320 --> 00:41:50.079 so long as you understand that you have a responsibility as a citizen of 463 00:41:50.360 --> 00:41:52.280 Rockland, the citizen of the state of New York, a citizen of this 464 00:41:52.400 --> 00:41:57.400 country of the world. Yeah, yeah, Paul, let's take a little 465 00:41:57.440 --> 00:42:00.320 break. When we come back, wrap up when we talk about how do 466 00:42:00.360 --> 00:42:02.880 we get there, how do we reach people in general? Jew Gentile who 467 00:42:02.920 --> 00:42:07.639 said Muslim around the world through a sense of understanding of and I think you 468 00:42:07.760 --> 00:42:10.440 mentioned it very importantly in the beginning. We have a hell of a lot 469 00:42:10.480 --> 00:42:15.119 more in common than we don't. But let's take a little break first. 470 00:42:15.639 --> 00:42:19.800 You're watching being Frank. We're the only way to be is Frank. My 471 00:42:20.079 --> 00:42:24.159 very special guest talking about anti Semitism and much more is Paul Adler. And 472 00:42:24.199 --> 00:42:28.960 we'll be right back after these brief commercial messages. Please don't cony where yet. 473 00:42:30.800 --> 00:42:34.880 Hudson River Radio dot com bring a dash of green into your life. 474 00:42:35.039 --> 00:42:38.800 Check out the Many Shades of Green with Maxine, Margot Reuben and Malcolm Berman. 475 00:42:39.199 --> 00:42:45.320 Get informed about environmental issues and current events that affect us all. Pick 476 00:42:45.320 --> 00:42:49.760 a shade of green and raise your eco consciousness with the Many Shades of Green. 477 00:42:50.320 --> 00:42:55.159 Available on Apple Podcasts, iHeart, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts, 478 00:42:58.760 --> 00:43:01.000 be sure to check out and they're one of our podcasts. Big Jim 479 00:43:01.000 --> 00:43:07.760 Wheelers Classic Radio Theater. It features historic radio shows from the nineteen thirties through 480 00:43:07.880 --> 00:43:13.360 the nineteen sixties, including Dragnet, Gunsmoke, the Shadow, and tons of 481 00:43:13.440 --> 00:43:19.199 other classic hits. Check out Big Jim Wheelers Classic Radio Theater on Apple Podcasts, 482 00:43:19.239 --> 00:43:29.840 iHeart, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts, Hudson River Radio dot 483 00:43:29.880 --> 00:43:34.360 com. We're back to being Frank. We're the only way to be is 484 00:43:34.400 --> 00:43:37.559 Frank. Well, at least I'm back. I'm Frank Labono, your host, 485 00:43:37.000 --> 00:43:40.679 our engineers mister Neil Richter, and our very special guest tonight from the 486 00:43:40.800 --> 00:43:46.719 Holocaust Museum is mister Paul Adler. We're talking about anti sebatism and possibly the 487 00:43:46.840 --> 00:43:52.000 way forward. Remember we're here with the fresh topic every week on Being Frank, 488 00:43:52.480 --> 00:43:58.280 So check us out here on Hudson River Radio dot com or wherever you 489 00:43:58.400 --> 00:44:01.440 get your favorite podcasts, Paul. Before the break, we were talking a 490 00:44:01.480 --> 00:44:08.159 little bit about improving two way communication, okay between groups that seems to be 491 00:44:08.400 --> 00:44:14.519 sorely lacking, not only between Jews, Gentiles and Muslims, but between people 492 00:44:14.599 --> 00:44:17.440 in general. How do we get back to a level of civility where we 493 00:44:17.480 --> 00:44:23.119 can really can disagree with one another yet at the same time accomplish things together. 494 00:44:23.480 --> 00:44:27.920 It used to be somewhat possible at least I thought it was. It 495 00:44:28.000 --> 00:44:30.400 seems to be gay more and more of a distant memory. How do we 496 00:44:30.440 --> 00:44:34.840 get back to it? Well, you know, I think there are a 497 00:44:34.880 --> 00:44:39.800 lot of basics that we we've forsaken over the years. You know, we 498 00:44:40.280 --> 00:44:46.440 used to teach civics, and we used to teach a sense to people. 499 00:44:46.480 --> 00:44:50.360 I knew. I grew up with it here in the county that you were 500 00:44:50.440 --> 00:44:54.320 part of a greater of a greater good. You were part of the society, 501 00:44:54.760 --> 00:44:58.960 and you had a role to play, and you had to be an 502 00:44:59.000 --> 00:45:04.920 engaged citizen. Uh And in doing so, Um, you you understood what 503 00:45:05.119 --> 00:45:08.440 that meant. You understood that that that meant that we would we would try 504 00:45:08.480 --> 00:45:14.760 to work together, that there was a bipartisanship, if you will. I 505 00:45:14.800 --> 00:45:17.760 remember coming up in the political world there where boy, we could fight like 506 00:45:17.880 --> 00:45:24.079 hell, but somehow civility was intact because you could go out afterwards for a 507 00:45:24.159 --> 00:45:28.679 drink or coffee, or hang out at Hogan's or do something, and you 508 00:45:28.800 --> 00:45:34.239 just people from all walks of life, everybody all got together and realize that 509 00:45:34.280 --> 00:45:40.559 we were human beings one to another. Um. You know, I think 510 00:45:40.599 --> 00:45:45.280 what happens. I don't think people get to know each other. I don't 511 00:45:45.280 --> 00:45:50.320 think they understand that, Hey, my kids in the little league, or 512 00:45:50.800 --> 00:45:53.960 my wife works, my wife is in the church choir, or I am 513 00:45:54.039 --> 00:46:00.480 doing this and or we've got similar in you know, similar interests. And 514 00:46:00.519 --> 00:46:10.159 so what's happened is we've we've become uh siloed uh and uh we don't we 515 00:46:10.239 --> 00:46:15.079 don't want to serve on the planning board or the zoning board, or the 516 00:46:15.199 --> 00:46:19.719 village board, or the town board or the county legislature. We want to 517 00:46:19.719 --> 00:46:23.480 just be pissed off about what they do. Well, absent your input, 518 00:46:24.000 --> 00:46:30.039 absent your responsibility to be that engaged citizen. Um, you can do it. 519 00:46:30.079 --> 00:46:36.719 And by the way, in modern day Rockland politics, the most successful 520 00:46:36.760 --> 00:46:44.639 brand of politics is that brand that uh you know, that creates the difference 521 00:46:44.960 --> 00:46:50.679 that that exacerbates the differences between us. Right, why do we have awful 522 00:46:50.800 --> 00:46:54.039 zoning in Rockland County? We have exclusionary zoning, which always gets you what 523 00:46:54.159 --> 00:46:59.119 you don't want. Right, we're not going to have that multi family come 524 00:46:59.159 --> 00:47:02.559 in because we don't want dot dot dot. Well, we don't want blacks, 525 00:47:02.840 --> 00:47:07.480 we don't want brown people, we don't want black hats. We don't 526 00:47:07.480 --> 00:47:12.239 want this we don't want that, so we'll do something, probably nothing, 527 00:47:12.800 --> 00:47:15.639 and then we'll find out that the property is sold, and then somebody's going 528 00:47:15.679 --> 00:47:19.880 to turn around and say, you know your zoning was exclusionary. I'm going 529 00:47:19.960 --> 00:47:22.360 to sue you. I'm going to bankrupt your town, your village, your 530 00:47:22.480 --> 00:47:25.599 county, and I'm going to get what I want anyway, when when we 531 00:47:25.639 --> 00:47:32.440 should we should understand that the diversity that works so well, isn't it interesting? 532 00:47:32.760 --> 00:47:37.320 In New York City? You don't hear about the pitting to get You 533 00:47:37.320 --> 00:47:45.159 don't hear about the pitting of the Black and Jamaican community in Brooklyn against the 534 00:47:45.159 --> 00:47:50.480 Hasidic community in Brooklyn, because the city itself is so diverse, and it 535 00:47:50.480 --> 00:47:54.480 creates that where you're walking on the street and you're not offended by or not 536 00:47:54.639 --> 00:48:00.599 taken aback by the customs and practices of one group or the other. Right 537 00:48:00.800 --> 00:48:07.480 you want to addressed modestly and that person doesn't. You You you want to 538 00:48:07.920 --> 00:48:10.320 not work on Saturday, and that person doesn't want to work on Sunday. 539 00:48:12.280 --> 00:48:16.480 It somehow works down there. But over here we we have found in the 540 00:48:16.519 --> 00:48:23.000 political world that capitalizing on those differences, the fear monitoring is what has driven 541 00:48:23.039 --> 00:48:30.119 people apart? Right, we are just ready to just full out of our 542 00:48:30.199 --> 00:48:37.639 socks the moment any diverse group comes into what we consider our town. You 543 00:48:37.639 --> 00:48:40.320 know, in that in those quotes, and that comes up all the time, 544 00:48:40.360 --> 00:48:45.480 all is tribal again. We tribal. We totally try want to stick 545 00:48:45.480 --> 00:48:49.360 to our tribe. Another tribe comes in, they have to be attacked by 546 00:48:50.079 --> 00:48:52.599 you know, it's an ancient thing. It's certainly within humans, but we're 547 00:48:52.599 --> 00:48:55.880 supposed to get Part of the point that I think of all religion is to 548 00:48:55.880 --> 00:49:00.639 get to a more sublime state where we are more accepting of one another. 549 00:49:00.719 --> 00:49:04.800 I think that's the ultimate goal of most religions, is to get to a 550 00:49:04.840 --> 00:49:08.719 point of acceptance where you know, everybody's got and in a sense, in 551 00:49:08.760 --> 00:49:14.320 a certain I remember, Frank, you know, you know when you're of 552 00:49:14.360 --> 00:49:17.880 an age, when you're growing up, and you know, I knew full 553 00:49:17.880 --> 00:49:22.280 well I was Jewish and we lived in West Knak, and most people in 554 00:49:22.360 --> 00:49:29.840 West Nak were not Jewish. We were a minority of a minority. And 555 00:49:30.480 --> 00:49:34.480 you know, I remember, you know a friend of mine, you know, 556 00:49:34.599 --> 00:49:40.159 teenagers and we were invited over to spend Christmas Eve with uh. You 557 00:49:40.199 --> 00:49:43.559 know Christian family. And I said to my mother, what do I do? 558 00:49:43.719 --> 00:49:50.519 She says, you go, you go and you and you celebrate their 559 00:49:50.559 --> 00:49:53.199 faith. You don't have to believe it. You don't have to become part 560 00:49:53.239 --> 00:49:57.800 of it. It won't change you. But you you you have to. 561 00:49:58.280 --> 00:50:01.960 You have to go and celebrate. That's important to them. And I always 562 00:50:02.000 --> 00:50:08.960 took that as a very important life lesson that um and I understood what it 563 00:50:09.000 --> 00:50:13.880 meant to them. I understood that. You know, to this Jewish kid, 564 00:50:13.960 --> 00:50:16.039 Christmas was just the day you got gifts. But no, it was 565 00:50:16.079 --> 00:50:22.519 the birth of the Savior. It was important, it had it had everything 566 00:50:22.559 --> 00:50:25.920 to do with their faith. And when you do that and you understand people's 567 00:50:25.960 --> 00:50:31.199 customs, it's not taboo. It's not I don't know, I don't I 568 00:50:31.199 --> 00:50:35.920 don't know what to do about this now, No, you can understand that. 569 00:50:36.079 --> 00:50:39.599 I you know, over the years, politically, I've gone to countless 570 00:50:39.679 --> 00:50:45.320 masses and and other religious events, and you know, in Catholic Church, 571 00:50:45.719 --> 00:50:51.800 I've celebrated with the emms here in Rockland and the mosques and they're all beautiful 572 00:50:51.880 --> 00:50:54.320 in their own way. It doesn't it's not going to convert me. It's 573 00:50:54.360 --> 00:51:01.679 not going to change me. But but we're so. I remember telling somebody, 574 00:51:02.239 --> 00:51:07.920 a political person, that I was at the mosque and how really wonderful 575 00:51:07.960 --> 00:51:10.920 I mean, I had dinner there. They was wonderful. They went out 576 00:51:10.960 --> 00:51:15.559 of their way to accommodate my dietary, uh, you know, concerns, 577 00:51:16.199 --> 00:51:21.360 and and how beautiful it was. What did you take off your shoes? 578 00:51:21.440 --> 00:51:23.679 Yes? I did, because that's a sign of respect, just as you 579 00:51:23.679 --> 00:51:30.000 would expect someone to put a yamica on when you go into a Jewish synagogue. 580 00:51:30.280 --> 00:51:36.760 So I think that that somehow we've lost that, we've lost that ability 581 00:51:36.800 --> 00:51:45.679 to to help you celebrate what's important to you and understand why you do what 582 00:51:45.800 --> 00:51:50.960 you do and how you do what you do. And I think that part 583 00:51:51.000 --> 00:51:55.320 of that is that people have learned that they don't even have to vote. 584 00:51:55.320 --> 00:52:00.800 They can still voice themselves thinking I'm just I'm this great cipically involved person and 585 00:52:00.840 --> 00:52:07.639 I'm going to sit behind my keyboard and pound out crap and I'm doing my 586 00:52:07.719 --> 00:52:10.360 part. No, you're not, you're not. Yeah you're not. You're 587 00:52:10.400 --> 00:52:15.000 not really doing anything except I want you to tell me a little bout. 588 00:52:15.599 --> 00:52:19.679 During the break, we discussed some of the exciting events that you have coming 589 00:52:19.760 --> 00:52:22.119 up at the courthouse, and it helped me just say it properly. Yamah 590 00:52:22.320 --> 00:52:28.719 Showa yoma show. It means that the day of the of the Showa, 591 00:52:28.920 --> 00:52:32.679 which is the Holocaust, right, that's the that's the Hebrew word for it. 592 00:52:34.480 --> 00:52:39.039 So it's a Holocaust remembrance event and it commemorates um uh. You know 593 00:52:40.199 --> 00:52:45.320 there's a day April seventeenth where the world remembers the Holocaust. You know, 594 00:52:45.480 --> 00:52:52.280 never forget, never again that that that um you know, that famous saying 595 00:52:52.320 --> 00:52:58.079 that that Elivazel came up with. So on on Monday at two o'clock at 596 00:52:58.079 --> 00:53:02.000 the Rockland County Courthouse. Everybody, anybody in listening distance is welcome to come 597 00:53:02.039 --> 00:53:07.760 to the court at bar seventeenth of April. Seventeenth of April, at two 598 00:53:07.079 --> 00:53:13.159 seventeenth of April, at two o'clock, Um, all the deliberations in the 599 00:53:13.199 --> 00:53:16.760 courthouse stop. We all we all assemble in the jury room of the courthouse. 600 00:53:17.719 --> 00:53:22.159 The Administrative Judge of the ninth Judicial District is presiding, and we will 601 00:53:22.199 --> 00:53:28.159 do a Holocaust remembrance because we do it at the courthouse, because the last 602 00:53:28.159 --> 00:53:37.840 line of defense against systematic legal hate and bigotry and division like it was in 603 00:53:38.039 --> 00:53:44.960 Nazi Germany, where it was all legal under the Nuremberg laws. The last 604 00:53:45.000 --> 00:53:49.719 line of defense is the is the judiciary and the legal bar, you know, 605 00:53:49.800 --> 00:53:52.599 the members of the barn. Some interviews, Paul, I just want 606 00:53:52.760 --> 00:53:57.400 where at the time, Yes, yes, yea, we interviews tell us 607 00:53:57.400 --> 00:54:01.880 about you, Frankly, we have we I've interviewed seven Holocaust survivors that are 608 00:54:01.920 --> 00:54:07.320 in their late eighties, early nineties into the mid nineties, and we interviewed 609 00:54:07.320 --> 00:54:12.880 them and rather than ask them about their experiences during this terrible period, we 610 00:54:12.960 --> 00:54:17.000 asked them to look back over the last eighty years since the end of the 611 00:54:17.039 --> 00:54:22.119 war and asked them if they were concerned about the state of democracy in this 612 00:54:22.239 --> 00:54:24.679 country and around the world. And to a person, they all were, 613 00:54:24.960 --> 00:54:30.639 and they saw great similarities and they drew lines connecting what they saw in Germany 614 00:54:30.639 --> 00:54:35.480 in the twenties and the thirties that led up to the organized hate of the 615 00:54:35.559 --> 00:54:40.639 Nazi regime. So it's quite it's quite profound. I hope you can all 616 00:54:40.679 --> 00:54:45.920 attend. Great word. Well, we'd like to thank Paul for being frank 617 00:54:45.000 --> 00:54:51.519 and his intelligent conversation. Loved it. It was really we got into a 618 00:54:51.599 --> 00:54:55.400 lot of paul I really appreciate it, of course, especially that's really pauled 619 00:54:55.760 --> 00:54:59.639 and come back. We can always have these conversations. So is a pleasure. 620 00:54:59.679 --> 00:55:07.639 It's all to an intelligent man like yourself, and of course let do. 621 00:55:07.519 --> 00:55:10.400 We'd like to thank our listeners who take the time to give us a 622 00:55:10.480 --> 00:55:15.159 voice in their lives. Remember we offer a fresh topic every week and you 623 00:55:15.159 --> 00:55:20.599 can catch us wherever and whenever you get your favorite podcasts like Apple, Spotify, 624 00:55:21.159 --> 00:55:24.760 iHeartRadio and the rest. Remember check us out on the Being Frank Facebook 625 00:55:24.800 --> 00:55:29.000 page. Let me leave you with these two last little nuggets. This comes 626 00:55:29.039 --> 00:55:36.039 from King Solomon pub Urbs twenty four sixteen. A righteous man falls seven times 627 00:55:36.079 --> 00:55:39.000 and gets up, simple enough, folks, keep getting up, keep falling, 628 00:55:39.039 --> 00:55:42.800 and keep getting up. You've got some great music. It's a new 629 00:55:42.840 --> 00:55:46.639 release to world premiere sort of at least from Bobby Belfry, and it's called 630 00:55:46.719 --> 00:55:51.360 Free Raid. Your host, Frank Lebono. We hope to have you for 631 00:55:51.400 --> 00:55:55.159 the next Being Frank. We're the only way to be is Franking. Thanks 632 00:55:55.159 --> 00:56:10.960 for listening. The summer was always right behind that goddamn cloud, So get 633 00:56:12.039 --> 00:56:17.519 you exercising all those spears out loud. The cold rain was long. Now 634 00:56:17.639 --> 00:56:27.280 we read the hay hole tidy come up better days, said LEA. I'm 635 00:56:27.440 --> 00:56:35.119 in a fucker backgroubbas, streamers, weaving colors, dying, flying cats, 636 00:56:35.639 --> 00:56:42.639 said LEA. I'm beaded from the ground. All the faces come to life 637 00:56:42.639 --> 00:56:58.159 with a glorious sound. Oh, looking back is only good to grow from 638 00:56:58.159 --> 00:57:04.920 it. We allow myself to be thrown in a fire up, but even 639 00:57:05.079 --> 00:57:10.679 to the worst of sunsel show. Despite the mask we wear, we are 640 00:57:10.800 --> 00:57:22.519 not alone, said leave. Everybody's free to visions that chimes heard the dream, 641 00:57:22.639 --> 00:57:31.079 said Lee times business still be this finally on the surface without care. 642 00:57:32.280 --> 00:57:38.320 Welcome back to free Red, Welcome back to you. We saw the untroubled 643 00:57:38.360 --> 00:57:45.199 brother had somehow made it through. Welcome back to free read. Welcome back 644 00:57:45.199 --> 00:58:08.519 to you. We saw the untroubled brother had somehow made it through. Time 645 00:58:08.599 --> 00:58:30.679 to get together, Time to get together. Oh oh, now that we 646 00:58:30.840 --> 00:58:37.639 are home again, we must stake we are always great to malpeasons, hate 647 00:58:37.719 --> 00:58:43.320 and greed. It is true we are one, but that's not how we 648 00:58:43.800 --> 00:58:50.679 act. We are easily led by ringleaders to manipulate that, but to leave 649 00:58:50.800 --> 00:58:57.519 everything is crystal clear. Again at this time the thinking being bituver. Now, 650 00:58:57.519 --> 00:59:04.880 I am said, made as his brouet of Lavender Hills, we breathe, 651 00:59:04.880 --> 00:59:17.880 if we could only see the belief that kills Oh oh, oh, 652 00:59:19.840 --> 00:59:27.079 you re n welcome back to you? Oh Memona, had I made it? 653 00:59:28.199 --> 00:59:40.719 Oh re come back to you? Hudson River Radio dot com