The Audacious Joy of Judea Pearl

Joy: That wonderful and precious emotional state that was elusive before Oct. 7, and that seems like an unattainable myth after that catastrophic day.

With 1,200 Israelis dead and over 100 still in captivity for over 250 days; thousands of Palestinian casualties due to a raging war that Hamas began; and violent, rage-fueled antisemitism at our doorstep, do Jews dare to express, let alone feel, joy at this traumatic moment?

My friend, Dr. Judea Pearl, is one of the most joyful Jews I have ever met. And given his pain, that means everything. 

In 2002, Judea and his late wife, Ruth, z’l, lost their beloved Danny — The Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, whose murder at the hands of Islamist terrorists in Pakistan horrified the world, including Jews in Los Angeles, from which Danny and his family hailed. 

When I was first introduced to Ruth and Judea at an Israel-related event just three years later, I shook their hands cautiously, wondering whether it was appropriate to make small talk with what could only be described as two survivors who had endured the worst injustice and heartbreak a person could know. 

Before I could utter a few innocuous words about the latest heat wave, Judea pushed his tilting glasses upward, as he is apt to do, and told an uproarious joke. The best part of that joke, which I have since forgotten because Judea has told so many jokes over the years, was how loudly he laughed when he arrived at the punchline. 

For her part, Ruth, who passed away in 2021, was the elegant water to Judea’s fire — a fire-in-the-belly that must have rendered him a favorite among the neighborhood kids in Mandatory Palestine-era Bnei Brak, where he spent his childhood (he was born in 1936 in Tel Aviv because at the time, Bnei Brak lacked a hospital).

Ruth and Judea had a commonality that was visible to anyone who knew them, even briefly: Together, the two had unabashedly chosen life. Nowhere was that more visible than in their creation of The Daniel Pearl Foundation, which they established the same year that Danny was murdered. Its mission is to foster mutual understanding between people of different faiths and backgrounds through Danny’s two loves: journalism and music. 

Over the years, I have been privileged to spend time with Judea, and to also have written an October 2021 cover story for this newspaper that profiled his legendary contributions in the field of artificial intelligence, as well as his selfless advocacy on behalf of Jewish and pro-Israel students, particularly at UCLA, where he joined the School of Engineering in 1970. In 2011, Judea received the Turing Award, known as the Nobel Prize of computing. 

During one interview for that cover story, I gently asked Judea how he was spending his time. Ruth had passed away three months earlier and summer had just ended. With the self-deprecation of a genius, Judea said, “I get up every morning with a smile on my face because there are so many things to do and I’ve psyched myself into believing I’m useful.”  

“I get up every morning with a smile on my face because there are so many things to do and I’ve psyched myself into believing I’m useful.” – Judea Pearl 

Last week, I saw Judea at the end of a long and emotionally exhausting day in which a rage-filled, antisemitic mob descended on Pico Boulevard in West Los Angeles, blocking the entrance to a local synagogue. I was not present at the scene, but there were violent clashes with Jewish counter-protesters, and the terrible whirring of police helicopters that I heard from my home still rang through my ears when I arrived at the historic Millennium Biltmore Hotel to attend the 66th Annual Southern California Journalism Awards, presented by the Los Angeles Press Club. 

I was weary and retriggered from a certain fanaticism I thought I had left behind after escaping Iran decades ago. I needed a jolt of strength, and a large serving of clarity — the kind of clarity that is derived from lived experience and resilience. I needed the audacious joy of Judea Pearl. 

I arrived at the table and leaned in to give Judea a hug. And that’s when I heard it: a low, pleasant voice. Amid hundreds of chatting, black-tie-clad guests, Judea, dressed to the nines in a black suit with a yellow pin on his lapel in support of the Israeli hostages in Gaza, was humming a tune to himself. And he was smiling. The tune he was humming over and over was, “Hallelujah.”

I heard it in my ears as we hugged. And I heard it in my ears an hour later, when he left our table and walked on stage to present the annual Daniel Pearl Award for Courage and Integrity to a reporter who writes for the same outlet as his beloved Danny. Sadly, the recipient was not there to receive his award. That’s because the award was for Evan Gershkovich, the Wall Street Journal reporter who has been wrongfully detained in a Russian prison for over a year. 

Here are Judea’s words, which he spoke before hundreds who work in local journalism, including nearly every newspaper and TV outlet, from the largest and best-known, to the smallest: 

“Friends, colleagues and fellow journalists,

“It is a great honor for me to present the LA Press Club Daniel Pearl Award for Courage and Integrity in Journalism to Evan Gershkovich, who is currently awaiting justice in a Russian jail, a jail that has known no justice. I hope this award is communicated to him, and offers him and his family hope and encouragement toward his quick release.

“It is in the nature of things that press clubs have no armies to defend journalists, nor do they have drones to attack jails. Yet press clubs represent millions of readers and viewers in the free world, who empower them with the audacity to send stern messages to governments and NGOs, reminding them of press freedom and journalists rights.

“Armed with this audacity, the Daniel Pearl Award was given, the past 22 years, to legendary fearless journalists like Jesús Blancornelas in Mexico, Anna Politkovskaya in Russia, Raif Badawi in Saudi Arabia, and to rebel journalists like Khaled Abu Toameh of The Jerusalem Post and Bari Weiss of The Free Press.

“As we draw parallels between Daniel Pearl and Evan Gershkovich, we must note that, apart from both working for The Wall Street Journal, and both becoming icons of press freedom and truthful reporting, there is a fundamental difference between the two ordeals. Danny was kidnapped by a nameless jihadist gang, while Evan was detained by a government that claims legitimate membership in the international community.

“And there is also a reason why Vladimir Putin might be thinking he can get away with holding a journalist hostage in the year 2024 — it is the year when the West appears to have lost its will to fight back.

“Let’s be honest about it. If Putin were to observe how some American media outlets have joined the global war on the West and the all-out assault on a life-clinging Israel, how they embrace and support college students shouting ‘Houthis, Houthis, turn another ship around,’ ‘From the River to the Sea,’ or ‘Kill another Zionist today,’ he would surely conclude that the West has lost its moral compass and its will to live.

“Consequently, he would surely come to believe that the West has surrendered its resolve to uphold its sacred principles of democracy, coexistence, and freedom of the press.

“To dispel any such misreading, the award given today to Evan Gershkovich sends a clear message to Putin’s government: Beware! Despite attempts to disrupt world order and destroy American education, the free world still holds the safety of journalists and their right to pursue truth as sanctuaries of civilized society.

“Thank you all for being part of this message.”

I should note that when Judea held American media accountable for misrepresenting the current war in the Middle East, I bit my lip in fear of a disruption. But none came. It was as if everyone in that lovely ballroom knew exactly what Judea Pearl had endured to stand on the stage and present that award year after year. 

When he again took his seat next to me, I felt as though I was in the comforting presence of a courageous father. That’s Judea for you. He immediately makes you feel safe, and yet, at this moment, he trusts very few people to actually uphold the values he embodies. 

I welcomed him back with a heartfelt “Chazak u’Baruch” (“strong and blessed” in Hebrew). He pushed his tilting glasses upward, straightened the small, yellow ribbon pin on his lapel, and said that in his speech, he only spoke what seemed right and necessary. And then, he proceeded to tell me a hilarious joke.

Tabby Refael is an award-winning writer, speaker and weekly columnist for The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles. Follow her on X and Instagram @TabbyRefael.