Speaker 1: I bet it's a tune that is enjoyed by my
Speaker 1: final guests today, Last but not least, my good friend
Speaker 1: from a Havas Tarah congregation in Stoughton, Massachusetts, Rabbi Jonathan
Speaker 1: house Me Houseman joins me this afternoon.
Speaker 2: Welcome back to kay sir.
Speaker 3: Thank you. You're becoming a real pro at the sitting
Speaker 3: guy's name.
Speaker 2: Let me tell you, thank you after years of interview
Speaker 2: with you.
Speaker 1: And is that kind of yeah? I have to draw
Speaker 1: it in or at least that's how I view it.
Speaker 2: How about BB King, Oh.
Speaker 3: God, I'll tell you know, love him all right, listen.
Speaker 3: I like the three Kings of the Blues, BB, Freddie
Speaker 3: and Albert. Yeah, but I gotta tell you I got
Speaker 3: a special place in my heart for Albert Collins. And
Speaker 3: nobody played guitar like that. He played guitar like the
Speaker 3: guitar was either a trumpet or a piano. Just absolute magnificent.
Speaker 2: Master of the telecaster.
Speaker 1: I have to tell tell you, yeah that I almost
Speaker 1: plugged in an Albert Collins song, but I decided this
Speaker 1: one because I was enjoying it.
Speaker 3: Well, well, well good enough, I will tell you that
Speaker 3: there you can find it on YouTube. That's a I
Speaker 3: think it's from Greeley, Colorado. A great, great show by
Speaker 3: the magnificent Ronnie Baker Brooks, whom I saw, Yeahlee back
Speaker 3: at the beginning of May.
Speaker 1: Is this the one this week? Was he there this
Speaker 1: weekend at the Greeley Blues Jam?
Speaker 3: He might have been, but you can find this one.
Speaker 3: I think it was twenty nineteen. And I following Ronnie
Speaker 3: Baker Brooks for a long time in another great great guitarist,
Speaker 3: great blues guitars.
Speaker 1: He has a new album out and on that album
Speaker 1: is a great song Robbing Peter, Robbing from Peter to
Speaker 1: pay Paul.
Speaker 2: And I played that last week as a bumper filling in.
Speaker 2: It's awesome, It's fantastic he played.
Speaker 3: He played it at death as as a matter of fact.
Speaker 3: And the great thing is, you're gonna die when I
Speaker 3: tell you who followed him, Kenny Wayne Shepherd being.
Speaker 2: There you go, there you go.
Speaker 1: And we talked about that one because I saw them
Speaker 1: last month when they were here through Denver Paramount.
Speaker 3: Yeah. Yeah, great, so great act, great shows. See of course,
Speaker 3: Well let's face it. I mean the world is a flame,
Speaker 3: and yes, you know you talk about the situation of
Speaker 3: Jews Blues. I've said this on the show previously, previously
Speaker 3: over the years with you. You know, if you talk
Speaker 3: about the quintessent the Jewish musical art form, of the
Speaker 3: quintessential musical art form form that should speak to the
Speaker 3: Jews and the Jewish condition and whatnot, it has to
Speaker 3: be the blues. Just has to be the blues. And
Speaker 3: you know, it's nice that if you're Jewish, if you're Jewish,
Speaker 3: it's nice to have friends out there like Gabe Evans.
Speaker 3: You've got a good congressman there.
Speaker 1: There you go, and we'll get to Gabe at a moment.
Speaker 1: I do want you to explain that, I mean maybe
Speaker 1: intuitive for folks, but explain why is blues the music
Speaker 1: the Jews?
Speaker 3: Well, well, look what if what what does the blues do?
Speaker 3: It takes your life's situation, explains it in music and
Speaker 3: tries to lighten your lighten your load, and lighten your mood.
Speaker 3: And you know, there is light at the end of
Speaker 3: the tunnel, whether you're talking about uh, love that has
Speaker 3: been das something that's unrequited, whatever the situation is. And
Speaker 3: you know, it speaks to people who were on the
Speaker 3: move and see, you know this has been the quintessential
Speaker 3: Jewish experience over the past at least twenty three hundred years.
Speaker 3: And I'll be honest with yeah, I probably can argue
Speaker 3: four thousand years, so you know, and not without not
Speaker 3: without fault. It should be mentioned that you know, a
Speaker 3: lot of these blues artists and it was called race
Speaker 3: music back then. You know, you know, it was Jews
Speaker 3: who helped to record and promote a lot of these
Speaker 3: absolutely magnificent artists. And it's we're not just talking about
Speaker 3: people like the King quote, Boys of the Close quote,
Speaker 3: or or Albert Collins or any of these other people.
Speaker 3: But you know, you're talking about go back to to uh,
Speaker 3: you know, Chess Records, and he was who he was
Speaker 3: recording with Muddy Waters and and and.
Speaker 2: Yeah, the list goes on Wolf, that's right.
Speaker 3: And he's the one who you know, Leonard Chess with
Speaker 3: with Chuck Berry and whatnot. You want to go back
Speaker 3: even further, talk about Jimmy Reid and who recorded Jimmy
Speaker 3: Reid and things of that sort. So this is what
Speaker 3: you end up finding.
Speaker 2: That's amazing.
Speaker 1: Rabbi Jonathan Houseman our guest, the man who has hosted
Speaker 1: blues festivals at his Synagogue in Stoughton, Massachusetts. I want
Speaker 1: to jump into a couple of things with you this afternoon, Rabbi.
Speaker 1: One of them you mentioned, Congressman Gabe Evans, and he
Speaker 1: joined by the four other Republican congressmen and women. The
Speaker 1: three others from Colorado, Jeff Crank, Lauren Bobert, and Jeff Hurd,
Speaker 1: all put forward a resolution that had such resounding support
Speaker 1: overall from.
Speaker 2: Enough of a majority to get it passed.
Speaker 1: They were able to go through suspension of the rules
Speaker 1: to fast track this resolution condemning anti Semitism in particularly
Speaker 1: the terrible tragic attack two Sundays ago June first, a
Speaker 1: terrorist attack by Mohammed Sabri Solomon, an Egyptian national here
Speaker 1: illegally in the United States, where he burned Jews in
Speaker 1: public on Pearl Street Mall. Absolutely horrifying. And yet despite
Speaker 1: this powerful resolution, one hundred and thirteen Democrats voted against it,
Speaker 1: whereas zero Republicans voted against it. Your twofold reactions, Rabbi,
Speaker 1: to both the attack in Boulder and sort of what
Speaker 1: message that sends or what that teaches us about what's
Speaker 1: happening in this moment, and also this resolution put forward
Speaker 1: by Congressman Evans had passed by the House.
Speaker 3: Well, look, I have to be honest with you. I
Speaker 3: think really for me taking a look at this, you know,
Speaker 3: I can't separate the two. They are conflated. And I
Speaker 3: really and I listen. Kudos again, kudos to Gabe Evans
Speaker 3: was a sponsor this. How he got seventy five Democrats
Speaker 3: to vote on that bill, I think is nothing sort
Speaker 3: of remarkable, But I think what it really speaks to
Speaker 3: us if anybody has any lingering DOWNCID vote whether jew
Speaker 3: hatred and I preferred that term rather than anti semitism,
Speaker 3: the jew hatred in America has exploded. I mean, take
Speaker 3: a look at that vote. Take a look at that vote.
Speaker 3: It's the pure numbers of the vote. Twenty five twenty
Speaker 3: six percent, roughly a quarter of the House of Representatives
Speaker 3: Monday night voted against condemning anti Semitic terrorism. Think about that.
Speaker 3: Think about that. You know, when the House took its
Speaker 3: role call vote and I was watching this, you know,
Speaker 3: resolution for eighty something or other, you know, you know,
Speaker 3: it's a resolution denouncing this particular antisemit anti Semitic therist
Speaker 3: attack in Boulder. Yeah, had one hundred and thirteen Democrats
Speaker 3: were refused. Members of the House of Representment refused to
Speaker 3: condemn the violence. It's just an absolutely disturbing development. And
Speaker 3: I really think underneath it all, it's something that Melanie
Speaker 3: Phillips has written and spoken about over the past couple
Speaker 3: of months since The Relationships, her latest book. You know,
Speaker 3: it really demonstrates how completely progressive ideology has warped morality
Speaker 3: and ethical views and a moral worldview, you know. And
Speaker 3: it's and it and the Halls of Congress now it's
Speaker 3: not enough. And she wrote listen and Melody Phillips writes
Speaker 3: about it from the point of view was being a
Speaker 3: British citizen. I mean, she's Jewish, but a British citizen,
Speaker 3: and what it's done to the House of Commons and
Speaker 3: the Labor Party over in Britain. And unfortunately, it's not
Speaker 3: just it's not just consigned to the Labor Party, you know,
Speaker 3: it is really infiltrated to a lot of members in
Speaker 3: the Conservative Party, the Tory Party over there. So this
Speaker 3: warping of morality is such that you can't condemn violent,
Speaker 3: racialized attacks against some segment of the population. And it's
Speaker 3: not just Boulder, it's the kids who were those two
Speaker 3: kids who were hunted down in Washington, DC and had
Speaker 3: twenty one bullets pumped into their bodies? Okay, or the
Speaker 3: rabbi was attacked in Brooklyn. I mean, this is this
Speaker 3: is just yeah, at an unbelievable moment where we're living,
Speaker 3: and I just want to just said one thing. The
Speaker 3: absolute violence that you see today is not something that
Speaker 3: I grew up with. But I grew up with a
Speaker 3: lot of this anti Jewish family and anti Jewish sentiment.
Speaker 3: I mean I remember as a kid where I grew
Speaker 3: up clubs with signs that said no Jews allowed. This
Speaker 3: is my lifetime, my life. Now.
Speaker 1: There was another resolution, also passed unanimously by the House
Speaker 1: with Democrats on board, that also had done a condemnation
Speaker 1: of anti Semitism, but it seemed both to be much
Speaker 1: less powerful and impactful. But also the Democrats would claim
Speaker 1: that they voted and I think all Colorado Democrats voted
Speaker 1: against the resolution, and we've been talking about four eighty five,
Speaker 1: and they would say, oh, well, there was a there
Speaker 1: was a gratitude express to Ice, and we can't express
Speaker 1: gratitude to Ice, And at least that was their excuse
Speaker 1: for not supporting this resolution from gave Evans.
Speaker 3: Unbelievable, just unbelievable, this nexus at which we find ourselves.
Speaker 3: And by the way, when you talk about ICE, you're
Speaker 3: talking about law enforcement agents of the federal government who
Speaker 3: were doing their jobs.
Speaker 1: I think I'm being told that Joan de Goose actually
Speaker 1: did vote for the Evans resolution, but I'm I think so,
Speaker 1: But the other Democrats have believed didn't.
Speaker 3: Right, And it's and listen with regard to Ice and
Speaker 3: what's happening in their and their excuses and everything that
Speaker 3: those kinds of statements and behaviors ends up giving fuel
Speaker 3: to the fire for what we see now in Los
Speaker 3: Angeles and in Chicago, New York. Just I mean, just
Speaker 3: today it was announced that the governor, I think it
Speaker 3: was the governor of Texas, maybe it was the Attorney General,
Speaker 3: Ken Paxton of Texas already preventatively, I've called up units
Speaker 3: of the National Guards to cities like San Antonio. It's planning.
Speaker 3: I mean, there's this big plan for massive rallies this
Speaker 3: coming weekend. And you know, they want to make sure
Speaker 3: that everybody understands. You want to you want to express yourself,
Speaker 3: you express yourself. Yeah, you know, in a civilized manner.
Speaker 3: You don't go hunting for the other side to harm me.
Speaker 2: That should be just not any questions. There are no
Speaker 2: question whatsoever. And yet we have excuse making here.
Speaker 1: In Colorado Rabbi Jonathan Houseman from people saying, oh, this
Speaker 1: is Zionism, and so that was really what this is about,
Speaker 1: is this guy was anti Zionism. But quite frankly, Zionism
Speaker 1: is code for juke. That's what it is, plain and simple,
Speaker 1: and just a political cover for them to provide that
Speaker 1: kind of justification for violence, right.
Speaker 3: And not just the code for justification for violence. But
Speaker 3: you take it a step further ward. Israel has become
Speaker 3: the Jew of the world, as it were. So all
Speaker 3: of this is all, all of this is all in
Speaker 3: this crock pot, you know. And if you read Dave
Speaker 3: Evans's resolution, and by the way, I sent them a
Speaker 3: note of thanks to be to be honest with you,
Speaker 3: you know what did he do? You know, his resolution,
Speaker 3: if I recall correctly affirm that free and open communication
Speaker 3: is a bedrock of our society. But it's also a
Speaker 3: bedrock of public safety. And you know, it's it's one
Speaker 3: thing to express yourself, it's another thing when you talk
Speaker 3: about potential terrorist attacks, and yeah, yeah, listen with regard
Speaker 3: to Boulder was a terrorist attack.
Speaker 1: It was without question, which is why I was glad
Speaker 1: to see the FBI not a dance around the issue.
Speaker 1: But immediately Bongino in particular put out a statement saying,
Speaker 1: we're investigating this as an active terror and we have
Speaker 1: our agents on the ground already looking into it.
Speaker 2: I want to shift gears.
Speaker 1: We just got a couple more minutes with you, Rabbi
Speaker 1: Jonathan Houseman, our guests from Stowton, Massachusetts. There is a
Speaker 1: piece in the New York Times yesterday by columnist Thomas Friedman.
Speaker 1: This Israeli government is a danger to Jews everywhere, And
Speaker 1: of course he condemns the attack. He says, you know
Speaker 1: all all those things, but he says that if Israel
Speaker 1: goes ahead with net and Yahoo's value to perpetuate this
Speaker 1: war indefinitely, to try to achieve total victory over every
Speaker 1: last Hamasnik, along with the far rights fantasy of ridding
Speaker 1: Gaza of Palestinians and resettling it with Israelis, Jews worldwide
Speaker 1: better prepare themselves, their children, and their grandchildren for a
Speaker 1: reality they've never known. To be Jewish in a world
Speaker 1: where the Jewish state is a pariah state, a source
Speaker 1: of shame, not of pride.
Speaker 2: And then he goes on.
Speaker 1: To site letters from former Israeli military leaders that are saying.
Speaker 2: We condemn Hamas and what happened. The war was fully.
Speaker 1: Justified, but this is a moment of recording it's not
Speaker 1: too late, and saying it became clear that this was
Speaker 1: that this was losing its strategic and security purposes and
Speaker 1: instead served primarily the political and personal interests of the government.
Speaker 1: That from a couple of military leaders. Friedman quotes, what
Speaker 1: is your reaction to all I just threw at your rabbi?
Speaker 3: I discount Thomas Friedman almost one hundred percent. To be
Speaker 3: honest with you, this is a guy who believes that
Speaker 3: individual countries and individual people must sacrifice some degree of
Speaker 3: if you're talking about countries, economic sovereignty and things of
Speaker 3: that sort to global institutions, and if you're an individual,
Speaker 3: you have to sacrifice some of your individuality and personal
Speaker 3: freedoms for the greater goods. This is what this guy promotes.
Speaker 3: He is He is a classic leftist who has always
Speaker 3: since his first book, from Beirut to Jerusalem in nineteen
Speaker 3: eighty two. All right, has just been an absolute critic
Speaker 3: of Israel, unless you're talking about the very leftist people
Speaker 3: you can find running the government itself. This is just
Speaker 3: classical Freeman, you know. And it's interesting his position because
Speaker 3: probably the prime organization today in Israel that deals with
Speaker 3: Israel's national security issues and policy development as an organization
Speaker 3: in the Hebrews called how b horn Eastim, which means
Speaker 3: the Security Experts and English, it's the Israel Defense and
Speaker 3: Security Form. And you know, maybe Jimmy, we should talk
Speaker 3: offline because I know a number of the people from
Speaker 3: the IDSF. See if I can get one of them
Speaker 3: next time you're on the air. Okay, A lot of
Speaker 3: this organization outweighs former military people out of the IVF
Speaker 3: regarding support for the prosecution of the sword by approximately
Speaker 3: twenty three to one. Look, I mean, you can find
Speaker 3: people here in the United States that support just about
Speaker 3: any position you want as well. Of course, overwhelmingly Arry
Speaker 3: veterans are supportive of the government and what the government
Speaker 3: sees as what needs to be done in terms of
Speaker 3: prosecuting the war that was forced on Israel. All Right,
Speaker 3: on October seventh, twenty twenty three, which mister, honestly, I
Speaker 3: will tell you what I said to my congregation the
Speaker 3: following week, which was, if you never had grandparents who
Speaker 3: experienced the pagrum in Europe, now you're seeing what a
Speaker 3: pagrum looks like, because that's what that was. Wow.
Speaker 1: And on that powerful note, we need to leave it there,
Speaker 1: my friend, Rabbi Jonathan Hausman, Havath Torah Congregation in Stoton, Massachusetts.
Speaker 1: Always good to talk with you, even in these most
Speaker 1: distressing times. And you know we are all here very
Speaker 1: supportive of the Jewish people of the State of Israel
Speaker 1: and can't be more important at this time.
Speaker 3: Jimmy, you've been true glue and are there any for you?
Speaker 3: But I will have one request next time we're on Cleverdones.
Speaker 3: No King Christ Christ, kingfish Ingram.
Speaker 1: Okay, he is coming to the Blues from the Top
Speaker 1: festival last weekend of the month.
Speaker 2: So I've seen him live.
Speaker 3: I've seen it. I've seen him. You gotta go see him.
Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely, he is phenomenal. Rabbi Jonathan Houseman, once again,
Speaker 1: thank you, my friend.
Speaker 3: And God bless you too. Should be fine.
Speaker 2: That is it for me today.
Speaker 1: But from Friday through Wednesday, I will be back in
Speaker 1: the saddle for the traveling Mandy Connell calavanting around the world.
Speaker 2: It is so good to be with you today.
Speaker 1: Be sure to check out my website Jimmy Sangenburger dot com,
Speaker 1: from my latest columns to podcasts and more. All ease,
Speaker 1: all the time, and singing burger. Once you know that.
Speaker 2: Sang and Burger is easy, have a great day.
Speaker 1: See you on Friday, And as I always say, may
Speaker 1: God bless the United States of America.