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September 3, 2020

NPR Report Says Warsaw Ghetto’s Handling of Typhus Was Example of ‘How to Beat Back an Outbreak’

Leave a Comment / News, United States /

A Sept. 2 report for National Public Radio (NPR) stated that how the Jews handled typhus in the Warsaw Ghetto served as an example of “how to beat back an outbreak.”

The report, titled “The Warsaw Ghetto Can Teach the World How to Beat Back an Outbreak,” said that two waves of typhus hit the ghetto in 1940 and 1941, resulting in an official total of 20,160 reported cases, although it is believed that the true figure was in the 80,000-110,000 range, if not higher.

The report then cites a study from Advance Sciences magazine in July stating that the waves of typhus subsided in October 1941, which initially puzzled the authors of the study because typhus tends to become more prevalent during the winter. The study concluded that Jews were able to defeat typhus in the ghetto through establishing their own classes on public hygiene and infectious diseases as well as inspections on buildings and apartments to ensure people were adhering to the community’s hygienic standards.

“There were also home-cleaning programs by self-governing bodies in the ghetto with the goal of eradicating typhus,” the NPR report stated. “In addition, an underground university was set up to train medical students, and scientific studies on the phenomenon of starvation and epidemics were conducted.”

Additionally, the study suggested that efforts to bring more food into the ghetto also may have played a role in eradicating typhus.

“The Nazis began seeing some ghetto residents as potential workers and increased food aid in the ghetto and briefly allowed food smugglers to bring in rations,” the NPR report stated. “In addition, community soup kitchens were set up and provided food for some 100,000 residents, funded with money smuggled into the ghetto by an American Jewish aid group, the Joint Distribution Committee, and coordinated by ghetto leaders.”

One historian, Trinity College professor Samuel Kassow, told NPR that he didn’t think social distancing measures played much of a role in defeating typhus in the ghetto because of overcrowding but he thinks that “a drive to improve sanitation in buildings may have played a role.” Two other researchers, Tel Aviv University professor Miriam Offer and Mount Sinai South Nassau (N.Y.) Hospital Chief of Infectious Diseases Aaron Glatt, speculated to NPR that herd immunity also could have been the reason why typhus disappeared in the ghetto in addition to the community’s public health measures.

“The level of desire and commitment to address a public health issue is the most important characteristic as to whether you will be successful,” Glatt, whose grandmother died in the ghetto and aunt died from typhus at Auschwitz, told NPR. “If you don’t take things seriously enough and don’t have the desire to beat it, people will die.”

Some on Twitter criticized NPR for using the Warsaw Ghetto as an example of how to defeat an epidemic.

“Do you know what kind of typhus and other diseases raged in that ghetto?!” former New York Democratic Assemblyman Dov Hikind tweeted. “Do you know people were forcefully confined to a few square blocks?!?! Nearly 100k Jews died there!! And that’s a good case study for ‘how to beat back an outbreak’?!”

 

Hikind said in a later tweet that the study cited in the report was “flawed and inconclusive” and that it would have been better to use “more recent examples.”

On the other hand, David Harsanyi, senior writer for the conservative publication National Review, argued that the outrage over the NPR article was overblown.

“I’m no doctor, but it [is] unsurprising to learn that better rations, ‘social distancing,’ and improved sanitary conditions would help inhibit the spread of lice and boost survival rates of typhoid,” he wrote. Harsanyi also argued that “there’s nothing saying Americans can’t learn lessons from tragedy and evil.”

NPR Report Says Warsaw Ghetto’s Handling of Typhus Was Example of ‘How to Beat Back an Outbreak’ Read More »

Macron Reportedly Met With Hezbollah Official

Leave a Comment / News, Worldwide /

French President Emmanuel Macron reportedly met with a Hezbollah official in Beirut in early August, according to an Aug. 31 report in the French newspaper Le Figaro.

The report said that Macron met with Mohammed Raad, who heads the Hezbollah bloc in the Lebanese parliament, for eight minutes on Aug. 6, two days after the explosion in Beirut that killed at least 190 people, injured at least 6,500 others and devastated a large area of the city.

The disaster was caused by the detonation of thousands of tons of ammonium nitrate that had been unsafely stored. In an Aug. 9 video conference with world leaders that included President Donald Trump, Macron urged them “to come together in support of Lebanon and its people” but also emphasized that government reforms were needed.

The Lebanese government resigned in the wake of widespread condemnation after the disaster.

Macron was visiting Lebanon in late August “to press the country’s leaders to form a government as soon as possible to implement reforms to tackle corruption,” the BBC reported. The BBC also reported that Macron offered “to host an aid conference in mid-October to help.”

Le Figaro reported on Aug. 31 that Macron told Raad that he wants to work with him to better Lebanon, but Raad has to “prove that you are Lebanese … everyone knows that you have an Iranian agenda. We know your history very well, we know your particular identity, but you are Lebanese, yes or no? You want to help the Lebanese, yes or no?”

He also told Raad that Hezbollah must withdraw from Syria and focus on domestic issues in Lebanon, the report stated.

On Sept. 2, Macron confronted Le Figaro reporter Georges Malbrunot, who wrote the story.

“What you did there, considering the sensitivity of the subject and what you know about the history of this country, is irresponsible,” Macron said to Malbrunot. “Irresponsible for France, irresponsible for those concerned, and serious from an ethical point of view. You have always heard me defend journalists. I always will. But I speak to you frankly. What you did is serious, unprofessional and petty.”

Reuters reported on Sept. 1 that Macron said that sanctions — coordinated with the European Union — could be imposed on Lebanon if there is proven corruption by Lebanese authorities.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center tweeted that Macron’s meeting with Raad gave Hezbollah a “lifeline of international legitimacy. This as US [is] trying to get allies for snapback sanctions to block Iran from getting weapons to give to Hezbollah.”

 

Jerusalem Post senior editor Lahav Harkov tweeted, “Maybe the problem is the meeting, not the reporter.”

 

According to The Jerusalem Post, Raad is “welcomed in Iran” but “is not considered particularly interesting according to leaked diplomatic cables. He is said to live modestly and have brokered deals with other parties in the past.”

After the publication of the Le Figaro report, various French politicians and leaders called for France and the European Union to designate Hezbollah as a terror group, i24 News reported.

France’s relations with Lebanon are complex and date back to the post-World War I era, when Lebanon was administered by France after the partition of the Ottoman Empire. In the late 1920s, future French President Charles de Gaulle was chief of the 3rd Bureau military operations in Beirut. Early in World War II, Lebanon was administered by Vichy France. French is the second-most spoken language in Lebanon. Recent relations between the two nations have been friendly.

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Letters: Hope for Shalom, Biden’s Convention Speech

Leave a Comment / Letters to the Editor /

Hope for Shalom
One Sabbath in Sequoia,
“Shalom!” echoed
From among the redwood trees
Israeli father and daughter, walking beside us
Extolled how Israel, labeled “pariah nation,”
Taught drip irrigation
so children in Africa
saved from starvation
Could grow strong
Now Israel, never a “pariah nation,”
Partners with Arab neighbors
Sharing our wisdom
On the road to healing
“Shalom” somewhere
On the horizon
Mina Stern, Venice 

Officers and Their Daily Challenges

Police officers are again under fire. The outrage over George Floyd’s killing has reverberated around the world and has many asking if “Black Lives Matter.”

Four former Minneapolis officers are in jail, one awaiting a trial on second-degree murder charges and the others on aiding and abetting charges. The recruitment of police officers, their graduation from the academy, on-the-job training and supervision also are under scrutiny.

Law enforcement is demanding and dangerous work, and split-second decisions can lead to peaceful resolution but sometimes violence and death. These four men are in jail awaiting a jury to decide their fate.

Several years ago, I worked as a civil service recruitment examiner for Los Angeles County. The majority of evaluations I made, with the help of senior officers, were of candidates for the Sheriff’s Department. We interviewed the men and women who had passed the written examination. Many seemed qualified to join the department, while some clearly weren’t law enforcement material.

More recently, I worked with a large police department’s volunteer surveillance team. From a distance and hidden vantage point, we staked out places where people congregated as well as known hot spots for illegal activity. We were backed up by officers in a nearby black-and-white squad car, and would report suspicious activity over our radio. From our pre-surveillance briefings, to the work in the field, to the evening’s post-surveillance analyses, the officers guiding us made sure we knew what we had to do and could do. When we observed a car being broken into, theft, a drug sale or other law breaking, we would radio the officers with the details. Before rolling, they would want to know precisely what we were observing and where, how many people were involved, did we see firearms, was there a car in use and if so, its color and make and if it was moving. They would evaluate what we had relayed and respond accordingly.

In police work as in the military, business and every occupation, we want to minimize mistakes whether ours or others’, and sometimes we fail.

It’s inconceivable that law enforcement officers will never make a mistake or a misjudgment or apply unnecessary force in doing their job. And should they veer off course, they, too, must be brought to justice.

Albert Einstein spent three decades searching for the governing laws of the universe. He failed to find them. Yet atomic power, the polio vaccine, the computer and centuries of nourishing the world’s greatest democracy have been within our grasp, but not without failures and miscalculations along the way.

We are indeed all in this life together, and we are the better for it.
Hal Rothberg, Calabasas 

Biden’s Convention Speech

I liked David Suissa’s column and his comments. It’s true that to be effective, you need to be involved (“The Jewish Value Missing in Biden’s Speech,” Aug. 28).

However, I suggest a more positive tone, especially now. Next time, Suissa can run for president.
Sherri Morr, Los Angeles 

Regarding Jewish values in Hillel’s famous quote, “If I am not for myself …,” David Suissa rightly points out Biden’s speech was missing the Jewish value of taking on the responsibilities and obligations for ourselves. But in President Donald Trump’s egotistical speech at the GOP convention, a different Jewish value quoted by Hillel was missing. “If I am only for myself, what am I?” I have some choice words to describe what he is.
Elie Zev, Reseda

Israel and the UAE
On Aug. 29, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan issued a decree that formally ended the 1972 boycott of Israel.

On Aug. 31, the first direct flight from Israel to Abu Dhabi brought American and Israeli officials, including President Donald Trump’s adviser Jared Kushner, also his son-in-law. 

Telephone calls already can be made between the two countries.

What a start to Elul.
Enriqué Gascon, Westside Village

Anti-Semitism at Shoah Foundation’s Doorstep

I was glad to read “Fighting Anti-Semitism on Campus, One Person at a Time” (Aug. 28) by Stephen Smith, head of the USC Shoah Foundation. When I first read about former Vice President Rose Ritch’s resignation from the USC Student Council citing anti-Semitic threats, I couldn’t help but think of the USC Shoah Foundation that is housed on the same campus. The USC Shoah Foundation, through its collection and preservation of  testimonials from Holocaust survivors and other survivors of genocide, is committed to educating the world about the dangers and consequences of hatred. How disturbing that this ugly expression of anti-Semitism would take place on the foundation’s doorstep. Maybe the USC Shoah Foundation’s Stronger Than Hate course should be a university-wide requirement for all USC students.
Jan Berlfein Burns, Los Angeles

Love the ‘Little League’ Poem 

I will share Alan Ascher’s poem on the Aug. 28 My Turn page with my son, whose dad always went to his games, and who now always goes to his son’s games. From generation to generation — a very important part of family life.
Harriet Ohlberg, via email

The Homeless Man

I passed a weathered homeless man,
In the shadow, on the ground near the street.
He looked like he was resting,
He looked like he was beat. 

I noticed, under his jacket,
In a small, constricting space.
He seemed to be protective,
Of this tiny, little face.

A puppy had been abandoned,
Needing food and proper care.
He was left to die in a vacant lot.
The homeless man found him there.

If you saw the two, together,
You’d believe in God above.
Both of them so needed
The other one to love.

Whatever finally happens,
However they end up,
I always will remember,
The old man and the pup.
Alan Ascher, via email

Now it’s your turn! Don’t be shy. Submit your letter to the editor. Letters should be no more than 200 words and must include a valid name and city. The Journal reserves the right to edit all letters. letters@jewishjournal.com.

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The Lockdown Has Gone From a Mistake to a Crime

Leave a Comment / Opinion /

Four months ago, I wrote a column titled, “The Worldwide Lockdown May Be the Greatest Mistake in History.” I explained that ‘mistake’ and ‘evil’ are not synonyms. 

Regarding the economic catastrophe in the United States and around the world — especially among the world’s poor who are dependent upon the U.S. and other First World countries for their income through exports and tourism — I wrote, “It is panic and hysteria, not the coronavirus, that created this catastrophe.”

Unfortunately, I was right. The world should have followed Sweden’s example. That country never locked down and has even kept children younger than 16 in school the entire time. As Reuters reported on July 15, the number of Swedish children from 1 to 19 who have died of COVID-19 is zero. And the percentage of children who contracted the illness was the same in Sweden as in Finland, which locked down its schools.

Regarding teachers, Sweden’s Public Health Agency reported that “a comparison of the incidence of COVID-19 in different professions suggested no increased risk for teachers.”  Nevertheless, with few exceptions, teachers in Los Angeles and elsewhere refuse to enter a classroom, and in Los Angeles, the teachers union announced teachers will not resume teaching until the police are defunded.

Those who defend lockdowns and closing schools point out that Sweden has the eighth-highest death rate in the Western world. But this has no bearing on whether Sweden was right to keep schools open or whether our country was wrong to close them, let alone keep them closed now. The overwhelming majority of deaths from COVID-19 in Sweden were among people older than 70, and most of those were people older than 80 with compromised immune systems.

Reuters reported that three separate studies, including one by UNICEF, “showed that Swedish children fared better than children in other countries during the pandemic, both in terms of education and mental health.”

For more than a month, Sweden has had almost no deaths from COVID-19, while the entire society remains open and almost no one wears masks. (In Holland, too, almost no one wears masks.) For all intents and purposes, the virus is over in Sweden.

I live in California. Despite the fact that California ranks 28th among the 50 states in deaths per million, Gov. Gavin Newsom has destroyed and continues to destroy tens of thousands of small businesses and untold numbers of livelihoods. His continuing to forbid — half a year after the onset of the pandemic — indoor dining in restaurants is leading to a projected permanent closure of approximately 1 in 3 restaurants in the state. The same destruction likely will affect retail businesses and services such as hair and nail salons. But all this human tragedy — not to mention increased depression and suicides among the young and increased abuse of children and partners — means nothing to Newsom, to Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, or to the Los Angeles Times, whose editors and columnists continue to advocate for the lockdown. 

Why can people eat with no mask in an airplane — inches, not six feet, from strangers — but cannot eat in a California restaurant, which is so much bigger than the inside of an airplane, while sitting six feet from others? 

According to the California Association of Museums, “Museums are losing over $22 million a day due to the statewide quarantine. As of Aug. 1, California museums have lost more than $2.9 billion in revenue. Museums have a $6.55 billion financial impact on California’s economy, support 80,722 jobs and generated $492 million in tax revenue for the State of California in 2017 and over $1 billion in federal taxes.”

And the American Alliance of Museums issued results from a survey on July 22, that warned one out of every three museums may shutter forever as funding sources and financial reserves run dry.

On Aug. 3, The Wall Street Journal stated, “In March, there was broad public support for the prudent goals of preventing hospitals from being overwhelmed and buying scientists time to develop therapies.” But the left — the media and Democratic governors and mayors — immediately moved the goal posts to “bending the curve” and “saving one life,” enabling them to get away with destroying lives and livelihoods. 

In the words of Swedish medical doctor Sebastian Rushworth: “COVID is over in Sweden. People have gone back to their normal lives and barely anyone is getting infected any more. I am willing to bet that the countries that have shut down completely will see rates spike when they open up. If that is the case, then there won’t have been any point in shutting down in the first place …. Shutting down completely in order to decrease the total number of deaths only makes sense if you are willing to stay shut down until a vaccine is available. That could take years. No country is willing to wait that long.”

For more than a month, Sweden has had almost no deaths from COVID-19, while the entire society remains open and almost no one wears masks.

The lockdown is a crime. Even more upsetting is that it is supported by so many Americans. This country is unrecognizable to those of us who lived through the 1968-70 flu pandemic (H3N2 virus), which killed, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 100,000 Americans — the 2020 equivalent of about 170,000 Americans. And nothing shut down then. 

Copyright 2020 creators.com. Dennis Prager is a nationally syndicated radio talk show host; president of PragerU, and author most recently of volume two (“Genesis”)  of  “The Rational Bible.” Reprinted with permission.

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People Have to Eat Every Day — A Poem for Torah Portion Ki Tavo

Leave a Comment / Blogs, From The Lupertverse, Poetry /

in the third year, the year of the tithe, you shall give [them] to the Levite,
the stranger, the orphan, and the widow, so that they can eat
to satiety in your cities.

And so we are commanded, in the third year of the tithe
(I’ll give you a minute to look up tithe. Are you back?
Good. Now that we all know that tithe is a percentage
of your income, or in Biblical terms, probably
what you grow, I’ll continue. Actually, I’ll begin again.)

And so we are commanded in the third year of the tithe
to give it to the stranger, the orphan and the widow
so they can eat. This is wonderful, except it occurs to me
that the stranger, the orphan and the widow
may be hungry more than just in the third year of the tithe.

It is the same when we volunteer on Thanksgiving or
even Christmas (which, as you may know, is not a Jewish holiday)
to volunteer at the soup kitchen, or food bank or
wherever they are serving the special meal to those who
are unable to provide it to themselves.

We feel good about this on the day without acknowledging
the eaters, the strangers, the orphans and the widows
need to eat every day, multiple times per day.
What happens to them when it is not Christmas or
Thanksgiving or the third year of the tithe?

I think you see where I’m going with this.
The tithe should be every day, multiple times per day
until the tax is forever paid and the stomachs
never wondering how they will be sated.
Sated is a word that means satisfied.

Let us use all the words we know until sated is the norm.
Until the stranger, the orphan, the widow…until any human
with an appetite tells us they’re good.
This is the tithe I’m willing to pay.

God Wrestler: a poem for every Torah Portion by Rick LupertLos Angeles poet Rick Lupert created the Poetry Super Highway (an online publication and resource for poets), and hosted the Cobalt Cafe weekly poetry reading for almost 21 years. He’s authored 23 collections of poetry, including “God Wrestler: A Poem for Every Torah Portion“, “I’m a Jew, Are You” (Jewish themed poems) and “Feeding Holy Cats” (Poetry written while a staff member on the first Birthright Israel trip), and most recently “The Tokyo-Van Nuys Express” (Poems written in Japan – Ain’t Got No Press, August 2020) and edited the anthologies “Ekphrastia Gone Wild”, “A Poet’s Haggadah”, and “The Night Goes on All Night.” He writes the daily web comic “Cat and Banana” with fellow Los Angeles poet Brendan Constantine. He’s widely published and reads his poetry wherever they let him.

People Have to Eat Every Day — A Poem for Torah Portion Ki Tavo Read More »

This Week in Jewish Political News: Bay State Update, Jews and the Black Lives Matter Movement, and More

Leave a Comment / News, United States /

(JTA) — Here’s a rundown of what we’ve covered while we miss our man in Washington. He’ll be back next week!

IN THE NEWS

Bay State update

There were lots of Jewish candidates in the running in primaries this week in Massachusetts, including Alex Morse, the progressive Democrat who was trying to unseat a longtime senator and become the first Jewish member of “The Squad.” He lost, as did an epidemiologist running for Congress. But two Jewish candidates are neck and neck in the race to fill the congressional seat vacated by Joe Kennedy III.

On the trail

Lara Trump, the president’s daughter-in-law, campaigned with Laura Loomer, the Jewish 27-year-old and self-proclaimed “proud Islamophobe” who is the Republican congressional candidate in the Florida district that includes Mar-a-Lago, President Trump’s home. Meanwhile, Karlie Kloss, who’s married to Jared Kushner’s brother Josh (and loves Shabbat), is joining a campaign event for Joe Biden.

Florida report

There’s more going on in the Sunshine State than Ron’s visit. As both parties vie for Florida, Kamala Harris’s husband Douglas Emhoff made a pitch for Jewish voters there. He made a similar pitch today on a call to Pennsylvania Democrats — right down to his stump speech recounting his camp accolades.

Jews and Black lives

Four years ago, the Movement for Black Lives frustrated many potential Jewish supporters by condemning Israel. Its new platform doesn’t mention Israel at all. Before the new platform came out, more than 600 Jewish groups and institutions issued a show of support for the Black Lives Matter movement. One later backed out, leaving no mainstream Orthodox supporters.

Can’t get enough news? Join our live weekly news quiz at 7:30 p.m. ET tonight, right here on Zoom.

IN OTHER NEWS

• Reportedly to communicate that the U.S. Embassy in Israel won’t ever leave Jerusalem, casino magnate Sheldon Adelson may be buying the former ambassador’s mansion in Herzliya.

• Republicans played Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” twice during their convention, against his estate’s wishes. The estate suggested as an alternative “You Want It Darker.”

• Biden condemned the apparent arson of a Chabad building at the University of Delaware.

• An Anti-Defamation League analyst offers insights about what to make of the killings during protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and Portland, Oregon, and why armed vigilantes are a growing concern for extremism monitors.

Some political views

• The editor-at large of Mishpacha, an influential and widely read magazine by and for Orthodox Jews, explains why he’s voting for Donald Trump: “Orthodox Jews see Trump as their man on the street.”

• An experienced political communications strategist unpacks what synagogues planning to stream their High Holiday services can learn from this year’s political conventions.

TV guide

In case you’re watching HBO’s “Lovecraft Country” or thinking about it, be warned that there’s a plot point that sounds a lot like a blood libel. This story examines why and what viewers should take away. But beware: There are spoilers.

<!–The Tell is a weekly roundup of the latest Jewish political news from Ron Kampeas, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency’s Washington Bureau Chief. Sign up here to receive The Tell in your inbox on Thursday evenings.–>

STAY IN TOUCH

Share your thoughts on The Tell, or suggest a topic for us at thetell@jta.org.

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Gil Troy Natan Sharansky

Natan Sharansky and Gil Troy: ‘Never Alone’

Leave a Comment / Podcasts, Rosner's Domain Podcast /

Natan Sharansky and Gil Troy discuss their new book — “Never Alone: Prison, Politics, and My People.”
Gil Troy is an American presidential historian and a commentator on politics and other issues. He is Professor of History at McGill University and was a 2015 visiting scholar at the Brookings Institution.
Natan Sharansky is an Israeli politician, human rights activist and author who, as a refusenik in the Soviet Union during the 1970s and 1980s, spent nine years in Soviet prisons. He served as chairman of the Jewish Agency from June 2009 to August 2018. He currently serves as the chairman of the Institute of the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy.

Follow Shmuel Rosner on Twitter.

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Make an Art Easel Out of a Cardboard Box

Leave a Comment / Home /

I just started an online painting course and needed an easel to create my sure-to-be masterpieces. However, I did not want to invest in purchasing one in case my painting ability turned out to be more no-go than Van Gogh. In a pinch, I made this portable easel out of a cardboard box I had saved. It does the trick, and I didn’t spend a penny on it. Like my future paintings, it is priceless.

What you’ll need:
A large cardboard box
Box cutter or scissors
Duct tape

 

1. Find a cardboard box that has sides that are larger than the paper you plan to paint on.  I get weekly food delivery boxes, so I was happy to be able to reuse one for this project.

 

2. With box cutters or scissors, cut out two sides and one flap. Keep sharp objects away from little hands, so make sure the cutting is done by an adult.

 

3. Using duct tape, attach the short ends of the two box sides. Also attach one of the box sides to the flap with the duct tape. 

 

4. To finish the easel, tape the other side of the flap to the second box side to create a triangle. This easel is perfect for students doing distance learning who need a simple tool for their art projects.

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In Memoir, Sarah Huckabee Sanders Tells How She Came to Love Her Polar Opposite — ‘a Liberal, Aggressive, Foulmouthed Jew From New York City’

Leave a Comment / News, United States /

(JTA) — Former White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders in her new book refers to a former colleague as a “liberal, aggressive, foulmouthed Jew from New York City.”

Sanders says she and Josh Raffel, a senior White House communications official in 2017 and 2018, later became good friends. He also was a spokesperson for Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump.

The book, which is due out next week, is quoted in a report in Jewish Insider.

Raffel worked in public relations in Hollywood until Kushner recruited him into the White House in early 2017 to manage communications for the Office of American Innovation. In late 2017 he led communications for the Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations.

Sanders said she did not know Raffel before he started working at the White House.

“He was a liberal, aggressive, foulmouthed Jew from New York City who had spent most of his career working in Hollywood. I was pretty much his total opposite,” she wrote in the book, according to Jewish Insider.

Sanders also wrote that “despite our differences, I had grown to love Josh. He is one of the funniest people I know, intensely loyal, and probably the most talented communications strategist I’ve ever worked with. Nobody in the White House could work a story better than Josh, and he was always one of the first colleagidues I turned to for help on the toughest assignments.”

Raffel, in turn, told Jewish Insider that Sanders is a “close friend.”

Last year, Sanders as press secretary avoided a reporter’s question when asked about President Donald Trump’s position that “Democrats hate Jews.”

In Memoir, Sarah Huckabee Sanders Tells How She Came to Love Her Polar Opposite — ‘a Liberal, Aggressive, Foulmouthed Jew From New York City’ Read More »