The Jewish people survived 3500 years of oppression at the hands of our friends and enemies with our faith, our strong will (described in the Bible as "stiff neck"), and our sense of humor.  Those of us who watch the culture war in the West, marvel at the deterioration of the West's ivy league universities, its leaders, its education, and its policies.  "Cultural appropriation", was first used in "the academy" in the 1980's, according to the encyclopedia Britannica, and happens when members of a majority group adopt cultural elements of a minority group in exploitative, disrespectful, or stereotypical way.  Cleveland Indians or Washington Redskins as names for sports teams is cultural appropriation. Shame on the owners of these teams, a hundred years ago, who did not know how insensitive they were. 

Of course, we Jews have been too busy trying to establish a place in western society, after being persecuted everyplace else, to worry about cultural appropriation.  We have not been vigilant about watching and reporting those non-Jews, from the majority culture, who might purchase gefilte fish from the kosher food aisle in their local supermarket.  We are considering, as a minority group, submitting legislation that would require some kind of ethnic test before our ethnic foods could be purchased by anyone outside our distinct group. We also deplore Klezmer Bands made up of ethnic Germans and Poles. Who would think!

It has come to the attention of the Jewish People that Yale University may in fact be in violation of cultural appropriation.  What follows is a recording of an actual call to Yale to straighten out this abuse. 

Ben Zussman, z'l, is a soldier who fell in battle last week in Gaza.  He is one of hundreds of thousands of soldiers and reservists who did not hesitate to show up to his unit and deploy on one of Israel's many fronts.  Karen and I knew Ben's great grandmother and the family that comes from Denver.  I know his grandfather in Jerusalem through our once common cable television business.  We are all connected.

Ben's mother, now one of over one hundred mothers of soldiers who have lost their lives serving Israel in the last month, speaks at his funeral.  At the point where I start the video, she reminds us, our politicians, and the world of their responsibility to the families of the fallen.  Their cause is great, the enemy is evil, and this is the price that we pay for freedom from tyranny and the barbarians at the gate.  

As Israel is always in the top 10 happiest countries on Earth from annual surveys, I wanted to reveal to you why this is so.  We love our life even with high taxes, high cost of living, and everyone in the neighborhood wanting to murder us. We all share a bizarre sense of humor. Even during a time of war, we use humor to laugh at our situation and perhaps educate those outside of Israel, how we see things.  Eretz Nederet is an SNL like popular TV show on Israeli television known for its satire.  Nobody is immune from their mocking and ridicule.  Lately they have created a number of skits in English, for a larger audience. 

The first video below was released today to explain the real beneficiaries of Hamas fundraising.