Rabbi Shmuley Boteach and Roseanne Barr participate in “Is America a Forgiving Nation?,” a Yom Kippur eve talk on forgiveness hosted by the World Values Network and the Jewish Journal at Saban Theatre on September 17, 2018 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Rachel Luna/Getty Images)
The media is reporting that my friend Roseanne Barr said on a podcast that no Jews died in the Holocaust. I have not talked with Roseanne. I find it hard to believe that someone who has joined me in fighting antisemitism, and protecting Israel, throughout the world, including in a special trip we took to Israel in 2019 where we spoke before large audiences, would deny the historical fact of six million Jews being murdered in the largest genocide in world history.
The Holocaust is an incontrovertible historical fact. It’s absurd to even have to mention it. The podcast host, Theo Von, tweeted that it was sarcasm: “This Roseanne Barr clip was sarcasm folks. A clip taken out of a long sarcastic rant she had during our chat. Can we not recognize sarcasm anymore?”
Seth Mandel, who heard the podcast, tweeted: “She’s talking about the dangers of censorship and specifically used this example as what could happen if you let, say, YouTube decide what is true and what isn’t.”
Sarcasm and explanations aside, my friend Roseanne needs to personally and immediately clarify her statements, lest they be used by antisemites, Neo-Nazis, BDS Israel haters, and Islamists the world over, to deny the Holocaust.
This is a time for earnestness, not sarcasm. I call on my friend Roseanne to speak the truth she knows all too well, and the sooner the better.
American malaise involves gloomy thoughts about spiking gas prices, or depressing flashbacks to previous wars where days stretched into decades. Israeli malaise is accompanied by gloomy thoughts about the Americans.
Even those self-described human rights groups that are strongly biased in favor of the Palestinian Arab cause acknowledge the PA’s systemic mistreatment of women.
Jews today do have a voice. For the moment. But we have not used it where it counts – in the mainstream media, the halls of power, on campuses, on school boards, in the public square.
After years of terrorizing Israelis with existential threats, the Islamic regime is now worried about its own existence. In a region where the projection of power is everything, that is humiliation.
Congress has already established this principle for corporate America; it must apply the same standard to education, where vulnerability and the risk of exploitation are high.
The generation that built these schools believed Jewish life in America had a future worth institutionalizing. Are we willing to invest, sacrifice and build accordingly?
There is a golden opportunity to expose the intellectual bankruptcy of antisemitism based on current identity politics discourse, and to credibly argue that the current struggle is a global confrontation between the forces of terror and oppression and the Free World.
Newsom’s machinations are a warning that the current difficulties for American politicians facing rising voter unhappiness with Israel will only become harder.
The event — which combines a film screening with live comedy, music and nosh— offers audiences a chance to experience the pair’s distinctive blend of storytelling, cultural exploration and Jewish humor.
Boteach to his friend Roseanne: “This is a time for earnestness, not sarcasm”
Rabbi Shmuley Boteach
The media is reporting that my friend Roseanne Barr said on a podcast that no Jews died in the Holocaust. I have not talked with Roseanne. I find it hard to believe that someone who has joined me in fighting antisemitism, and protecting Israel, throughout the world, including in a special trip we took to Israel in 2019 where we spoke before large audiences, would deny the historical fact of six million Jews being murdered in the largest genocide in world history.
The Holocaust is an incontrovertible historical fact. It’s absurd to even have to mention it. The podcast host, Theo Von, tweeted that it was sarcasm: “This Roseanne Barr clip was sarcasm folks. A clip taken out of a long sarcastic rant she had during our chat. Can we not recognize sarcasm anymore?”
Seth Mandel, who heard the podcast, tweeted: “She’s talking about the dangers of censorship and specifically used this example as what could happen if you let, say, YouTube decide what is true and what isn’t.”
Sarcasm and explanations aside, my friend Roseanne needs to personally and immediately clarify her statements, lest they be used by antisemites, Neo-Nazis, BDS Israel haters, and Islamists the world over, to deny the Holocaust.
This is a time for earnestness, not sarcasm. I call on my friend Roseanne to speak the truth she knows all too well, and the sooner the better.
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