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Jewish Journal

Connect. Inform. Inspire.

October 14, 2022

The Battle of the Billboards

Columnists /

Every day, when I pick up my daughters from daycare in my Pico-Robertson neighborhood, I pass by a disgusting billboard that sits right on top of a yeshiva. On the billboard, a scantily dressed woman is posing in a very suggestive position. She has scary makeup on and piercings all over her body. The billboard is advertising the television show “American Horror Story,” and she is obviously some kind of sensuous murderer.

“Mommy, look!” my 3-year-old daughter said to me one day after noticing the billboard. “Scary lady.”

I was hoping my daughter wouldn’t see it, but she did. I responded, “Yes, she is very scary. Don’t look.”

I thought, this is Los Angeles, where many of the billboards feature immodestly dressed people or ads for drugs or casinos or other things that children shouldn’t see. I expect that.

But this was taking it to a whole new level. The fact that it was on top of a yeshiva, a holy place of learning, where young, impressionable boys do mitzvot all day long, I was appalled.

Even though I’m a religious person, I don’t think anyone should have to see this billboard – religious or not. I’m sure it scares secular people, too.

One time, when I was in a very dark place in my life, I tuned into “American Horror Story” to see what all the fuss was about. I wish I never had. I saw so many disturbing and twisted images that I will never be able to erase from my brain.

I’m no prude; I’m married to a standup comedian, and I’ve heard lots and lots of revolting jokes from other comedians over the years. People have the right to create any kind of art they want. I don’t believe in cancelation.

But I also don’t think that innocent children or parents driving their kids to school or people going to the office should have to see this. Let the sickos seek it out for themselves. Don’t subject all of us to your depravity.

This past Sukkot, I was walking with my husband Daniel and daughters to our friend’s house for a meal. We were about to pass the billboard.

“Ugh,” I whispered. “I hope it’s not there anymore.”

Sadly, I could spot it in the distance.

“Let’s turn onto another street before we get to it,” I told Daniel. “I don’t want the girls to see it.”

But then, I saw something else. What was that? It couldn’t be.

It was the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s wonderful, smiling face on a huge billboard. The text next to him said, “Moshiach is here. Just add in goodness and kindness.” There was also a line about the Rebbe being messiah, which I don’t believe, and most Chabadniks don’t, either.

I can put that line aside if it means that I’m seeing the Rebbe every day on my way to pickup. Whenever I see a photo of him, I feel his warmth. Going to a Chabad dinner made me want to convert to Judaism, and Chabadniks bring so much light into this world and are some of my favorite people on the planet.

The Rebbe billboard reminded me that there is still holiness in the world, and it outweighs the darkness. We don’t have to let outside forces come in and try to taint the holiness of our beloved neighborhood. We have more power than we think.

Most people, including non-religious Jews, will have no idea what this billboard means. But maybe they will see a kind old man and think, “Hey, he has a nice smile.” Maybe they will Google him and learn more about him and become inspired. I know that I certainly am.

Kylie Ora Lobell is the Community Editor of the Jewish Journal.

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Some Heated Exchanges as Israel Envoy Noa Tishby Engages UC Berkeley Students

California, News /

A few heated exchanges erupted as author and actress Noa Tishby, who serves as Israel’s Special Envoy for Combating Antisemitism and the Delegitimization of Israel, visited UC Berkeley on October 13 to engage in a dialogue with students about Israel. While some students refused to engage, Jewish students were thrilled to see Tishby.

Tishby, who was born in Tel Aviv, sat at a table in Sproul Plaza, set up by campus pro-Israel group Tikvah, which had a sign that blared, “Anti-Zionism is antisemitism.” In light of the nine student groups at Berkeley Law who recently passed bylaws stating they would never invite a Zionist speaker to campus, some of the conversations became heated.

One student told Tishby that he viewed Zionism as being inherently anti-Palestinian and kept repeating that claim despite Tishby’s insistence that one can be both a Zionist and supportive of the Palestinians. During the exchange, Tishby told him that Palestinians have the same rights as Jews in Israel and have more rights than they would in other Arab countries. The student replied by telling Tishby, “I thought you were educated. You are the dumbest motherf—er I’ve ever seen” and accused her of having “blood on your hands.”

Another student accused Tishby of spreading racism but refused to elaborate when pressed.

“It’s very hard to have a conversation when the facts don’t matter,” Tishby told the Journal.

Tishby had other exchanges with students who disagreed with her but were more civil. One student told Tishby that he didn’t think Israel was “living up to its responsibilities” to justify the United States sending billions of taxpayer dollars to the Jewish state. He explained that he didn’t like the West Bank being broken up into Areas A, B and C and was concerned that Israel would annex the West Bank entirely. Tishby got the student to acknowledge that Israel has the right to exist, prompting her to tell him that means he’s a Zionist.

“When you break it down and you explain to people what Zionism is, a lot of them are like, ‘Yeah I’m ok with Jewish self-determination,’” Tishby told the Journal. “But they’re selling Zionism as this horrible movement, and that’s the problem. It’s done on purpose.”

Others weren’t interested in a dialogue.

“Outside of a couple heated conversations… most people don’t want to talk to me,” Tishby said. “Literally they’ll walk by the sign, they’ll say, ‘Oh this is stupid.’ And I’ll be like, ‘Hi, would you like to have a conversation?’ And they’re like, ‘Nope.’ It’s really interesting that this is Berkeley, which is supposed to be the frontline of liberal progressive ideas, and people don’t want to engage.”

At one point, three students across from the Tikvah sign incessantly chanted, “Viva viva Palestina!”––Spanish for “Long live Palestine”––and Tishby, on several occasions, asked them if they wanted to discuss their political differences. The chanting didn’t stop, outside of one of the students saying they wouldn’t discuss their views as long as cameras were running. When Tishby agreed that she would turn the cameras off for a dialogue, the students just responded with the chant. Tishby later offered some water to the students, who again just continued with their chanting.

Berkeley undergraduate student Amir Grunhaus, who heads Tikvah, told the Journal that after the bylaws were passed, the group “wanted to stand up for what we believe in and show that they won’t be able to silence us.” “I think it’s great that we’re getting to engage in some dialogue with students that might have opposing views,” Grunhaus said. “That was the sole goal and purpose of this. We are always very open to dialogue.” Grunhaus said that “spaces where Zionists are not welcome are spaces where the majority of Jews are not welcome.” He also lauded Berkeley Law Dean Erwin Chemerinsky and other Berkeley Law faculty for speaking out against the bylaws, but called for more action. “We want to see faculty and administration standing up and saying, ‘This is discrimination against Jews, this is wrong, and you cannot pass these bylaws,’” Grunhaus said.

Shay Cohen, a Berkeley undergraduate student senator, told the Journal that while there aren’t any “literal” Jewish-free zones at Berkeley Law, “that is what these groups are implying when they’re putting bylaws that forbid or don’t host any pro-Israel speakers. That sends a message to Jewish students that they are not welcome there.” She said that the Berkeley administration reached out to her several times about the matter and acknowledged her concerns, but Cohen wants to see the university speak out more publicly against the bylaws. Cohen also pointed out that the sole post about the matter on the Berkeley Law Instagram page was their claim that there are no Jewish-free zones on campus. “It’s pinned on their Instagram. They failed to acknowledge anything else that is concerning about this issue and only acknowledged the fact that that title might have been a little misleading,” Cohen said, adding that it showed that the administration only cared about staving off backlash on the matter. She called for “institutional change” on campus that requires students to be better educated on Zionism.

Tishby told the Journal that her appearance on campus “turned into a show of pride and unity and fun and Zionist pride and Israel pride.” “Jewish students on campus feel uncomfortable,” Tishby said, adding that “they are extremely grateful” that she came to campus. “Even just being able to be Jewishly proud on campus at this particular moment in time was extremely important for them and I’m happy I was able to provide that for them.”

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Every Day is New Beneath the Sun

Poetry /

Every day is new beneath the sun;

Ecclesiastes got it wrong.

His message I believe should be undone:

that is the message of my song.

 

Everybody needs a testing teacher,

but please remember teachers aren’t

infallible. Prune praises given to the Preacher,

is the message I now chant.

 

“Vanity of vanities,” which he

of life declared is an insanity

whenever it’s applied to what’s to be

and not to be of our humanity.

 

Not only is there for all earthly things,

as he himself declared. a season,

but the newness that their change then brings

is for each of them the reason.

 

Humanity is new beneath the sun

each day as it’s revealed as thus.

It’s will must, just like God’s, be duly done,

for reasons daily new to us.

 

Life’s meaning only can be dearly found

by finding new things that astound.

The world’s not floating, flat, or square, but round,

not high in heaven, on the ground,

 

a festival, to which the Hebrew word

called hag applies.  It is a dance

whose movement may appear to us absurd,

but is not choreographed by chance.

 

 

Martin Lockshin points out in “Kohelet: The Earth Versus Humanity” (thetorah.com”) that the NJPS adds two English words in its translation of Qoh. 1:4 that do not appear in the Hebrew.  Qoh. 1:3 states:

קהלת א:ג מַה יִּתְרוֹן לָאָדָם בְּכָל עֲמָלוֹ שֶׁיַּעֲמֹל תַּחַת הַשָּׁמֶשׁ. Eccl 1:3 What real value is there for people in all the gains they make under the sun?

 

After expressing this grievance about the pointlessness of human toil, Qohelet continues:

 

קהלת א:ד דּוֹר הֹלֵךְ וְדוֹר בָּא וְהָאָרֶץ לְעוֹלָם עֹמָדֶת. Eccl 1:4 One generation goes, another comes, but the earth remains forever.

 

Lockshin points out that the unchangeability of the earth may not be implied by the words וְהָאָרֶץ לְעוֹלָם עֹמָדֶת which NJPS renders as “the earth remains the same forever.”  I share Lockshin’s objection to this translation, and would like to suggest that Qohelet is actually contrasting humanity unfavorably to the earth precisely because the earth remains the same despite its constant changes, as Qohelet points out in the beginning of chapter 3, which famously inspired the song by Simon and Garfinkel, “To Everything There is a Season.”

I would like to add a new explanation for why Rashbam composed a commentary to Qohelet. While many scholars question the attribution to him of a commentary on this book, I support the attribution on the suspicion that he composed it.  I think that one reason is that he approved of the way that he thought Qoh. 1:4 supports הפשטות המתחדשים בכל יום, daily revisions of contextual explanation of reality. Rashbam claims in his commentary to Gen. 37:2 that this is what his grandfather Rashi would have wished to do— if he had had the time!—while explaining  biblical texts, and both of them surely believed that the Torah remains the same forever despite any new contextual explanations provided by Rashi or himself, and that the Torah was not disrupted by them in the way that the world is disrupted by novel forms of ideology and conduct.

Gershon Hepner is a poet who has written over 25,000 poems on subjects ranging from music to literature, politics to Torah. He grew up in England and moved to Los Angeles in 1976. Using his varied interests and experiences, he has authored dozens of papers in medical and academic journals, and authored “Legal Friction: Law, Narrative, and Identity Politics in Biblical Israel.” He can be reached at gershonhepner@gmail.com.

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