Israel's Memorial Day 2024

As I drove through Basel, Switzerland in my rental car yesterday, many thoughts raced through my head. Only a short five-minute walk from my hotel is the Stadtcasino in Basel, the location where the First Zionist Congress was held in 1897. This meeting was convened and chaired, of course, by Theodor Herzl, the founder of the modern Zionism movement. 

It was at this event they adopted the poem "Hatikvah" as the official anthem of the new Zionist Organization. Meaning the hope, it would later become the national anthem of the State of Israel. I often remark at bar and bat mitzvahs how fitting it is that the national anthem of Israel translates as "the hope" because that is what keeps us feeling optimistic for the future. We must remain hopeful to pass our Jewish heritage to the next generations.

As I drove I thought of how the city of Basel played such a prominent role in the story of the miraculous Nation of Israel. I also thought about how Yom Hazikaron, Israel's Day of Remembrance, would begin later that evening in Israel. Yom Hazikaron, a day in which we pay our respect to the fallen who died protecting the Jewish State, was built on the ashes of the Shoah. I smiled as I considered the irony of these thoughts while driving my rented Volkswagen.

As we honor those who defended the State of Israel today on Yom Hazikaron, I salute all those who serve Israel so that the Jewish people continue to have a homeland. At a time when anti-Semitism is once again permeating throughout the world and there are anti-Israel protests on most American college campuses, it is so dire that Israel be protected from its enemies on all sides. When the sun sets in Israel this evening on Yom Hazikaron, the Jewish people worldwide will celebrate Israel's 76th year of independence. We will sing Hatikvah with pride and be hopeful for the future. That is all we can ever do.

Remembering Dick Lobenthal - A Legend

And the king said to his soldiers, “You well know that a prince, a great man of the Jewish people, has fallen this day" (II Samuel, 2:38).

I took Richard Lobenthal out for breakfast six years ago with the purpose of interviewing him about his life. My editor at The Detroit Jewish News gave me the go-ahead to write an extensive article about Dick's career with the ADL (Anti-Defamation League), which spanned four decades. At that breakfast I took copious notes -- over 10 pages filled with anecdotes from a decades-long mission of fighting hate. Several times over the past 6 years I considered writing that article, but it always felt too soon. I felt that if the article was published, he would soon die. So, I never wrote that article, but I still have the notes and plan to write it this year.

With Dick Lobenthal at the Anti-Defamation League's Centennial Celebration in 2013

I first met Dick Lobenthal at Michigan State University because he was the guy we called whenever there was anti-Semitism on campus or an anti-Israel speaker was coming. I got to know him very well in the summer of 1996 when Daniel Harold and I were his interns at the ADL office in Southfield. After that summer, I returned to MSU to discuss my summer "field experience" with my professor, Michael Schechter. He asked what I thought of my time at the ADL and I said something to the effect of, "This summer I had the honor to get to know a Living Legend."

Watching as Abe Foxman greets Richard Lobenthal at the ADL's Centennial Celebration in Detroit

The last time I saw Dick was when I took him out for lunch before his surgery. He seemed so brave about his prognosis and kept saying that he'd rather talk about me and my family. I honestly didn't think he'd live this long after the surgery, but it shows what a determined fighter he was. Dick's daughter, Lisabeth, asked me to share some stories about this great man at his funeral:

When the Detroit Jewish News emailed me yesterday and asked me to write Dick’s obituary for the paper, I did the normal thing. I went to the Jewish News archives online and did a search for Dick’s name. My eyes got about this big! Dick Lobenthal is mentioned in about 600 different issues of the Detroit Jewish News from the early 1960's to as recently as a couple years ago. Now, that’s pretty impressive considering it means that he’s mentioned in something like 10% of all issues printed during his time here in Metro Detroit.

Now, if you think that’s impressive, consider that, in addition to being quoted in articles – mostly about combating anti-Semitic attacks both locally and abroad – and the mentions about basic ADL business, the vast majority of those mentions are promoting Dick’s speaking engagements. In addition to the radio shows, the phone calls, the letter writing, the op-ed publishing, the advocacy work, the fundraising, the reading and research that he was doing, Dick Lobenthal was doing speaking engagements all the time. Those speaking engagements were not because Dick Lobenthal liked to hear himself talk. They were because he was teaching… he was an educator. He was teaching people to love, not hate. He was preaching tolerance and understanding. And he was indefatigable in this work. Our world, as we all know, is still a very fractured place, BUT, I truly believe the world is a BETTER place because of Dick Lobenthal and the godly work that he did.

In 2005, I invited Dick Lobenthal to speak to students at the University of Michigan Hillel

Two Stories:

It was my Freshman year at Michigan State. Admittedly, I was a naïve, Jewish kid from Metro Detroit who hadn’t been exposed to anything! I went to Hillel Day School, was active in a Synagogue Youth Group, went to Camp Tamarack, etc. Now, here I was an 18-year-old at MSU and now involved with the Jewish Student Union. It seemed like each week that Fall, another Nation of Islam representative, Israel-basher or Holocaust denier was coming to campus. Put simply, there was A LOT of “Hate on campus.” We college kids didn’t know what to do. Do we sit in silently in the audience to witness these speeches? Do we protest? Picket outside? Sit down in the crowd and wait for them to say something offensive and then get up and walk out?

The Trump Inauguration and the Boycott Question

Does it make sense to boycott musicians? There are, after all, many forms of boycotts. When I was young I really enjoyed the music of Phil Collins. I really loved listening to his songs, which were played often on my favorite radio stations. One day, however, my mother declared that we would no longer listen to any Phil Collins music because he was an ardent supporter of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) and was a virulently anti-Israel. I remember feeling confused as I respected my mother for taking a stand, but I also didn't see the harm in listening to a Genesis song on the radio. It wasn't like I was supporting him by buying his cassette tape (it was the early 1980s) or buying his concert tickets. Nevertheless, for many years thereafter I refrained from listening to Phil Collins music even if such a boycott didn't make sense.

These days, there is still a lot of discussion when it comes to boycotting certain musicians. The most common example is Roger Waters of Pink Floyd. Waters has taken a very hard line, one-sided approach to criticism of Israel. While I still enjoy listening to Pink Floyd music, I confess that Waters' anti-Zionist views and determination to convince other artists to refuse to perform in Israel has led me to listen to his music differently. I still enjoy listening to Pink Floyd, but I can't help but think about his politics when doing so. Like Phil Collins, I don't boycott an artist's viewpoint by not listening to the music (on the radio, the Deezer app or an Amazon Alexa for example), but I also might not support them financially by purchasing their music or buying tickets to a concert.

Donald Trump meets with Kanye West [SETH WENIG/AP/REX/SHUTTERSTOCK]

Gun Loving Ted Nugent's Jewish Problem

Whenever Mitch Albom launches a new book, he throws a big event in Detroit and invites some of his celebrity friends to join him on stage. I've been to a few of these and was surprised to see Ted Nugent at the most recent event. Nugent, the ultra-right wing Rocker, was invited along with his wife Shemane because of the couple's Freedom’s Angels Foundation, which helps wounded soldiers and their loved ones. Apparently, he and Albom have become friendly over the years and bonded over their love of music.

Ted Nugent, his wife Shemane, and Mitch Albom with Michael Bolton and musician Olivia Millerschin
(Regina H. Boone, Detroit Free Press)

I must say that in my brief discussion with Ted Nugent at this event, I began to reconsider my preconceived notions about him. Nugent has a reputation for being an offensive, abrasive, loud mouth who is equal parts racist and misogynistic. However, he actually seemed like a nice guy at this event (he was still loud) and I enjoyed watching Mitch Albom interview him in a fireside chat style. Before the event began Nugent was even gracious enough to join my list of celebrities who have offered "Shabbat Shalom" greetings on video.

With Ted Nugent in Detroit last year. I always add the disclaimer that a photo with someone does not constitute my agreement with their opinions. Never has that been truer than with this photo!

But then yesterday afternoon a friend told me to go look at Ted Nugent's Facebook page in which Nugent posted a very an anti-Semitic image. In the post, Nugent blames prominent Jewish people for pushing gun control by overlaying Israeli flag icons on each Jewish person's photo. The image is titled "So who is really behind gun control?" and Nugent made a photo grid of 12 Jews (Senators Chuck Schumer, Barbara Boxer and Diane Feinstein, former Senator Carl Levin, Michael Bloomberg, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Alan Dershowitz, etc.). The graphic wasn't created by Nugent, but it has appeared on anti-Semitic websites in the past.

Tablet Web Comments: Pay to Play?

Over the years I've written quite a bit on the topic of the comments section on the Web. I often refer to this section located under Web articles as "The Wild Wild West." In fact, after my first article was published on The Huffington Post about five years ago I become inundated reading the many comments from around the world. Very few of these comments were on topic and most were, quite frankly, of an anti-Semitic nature.

I remember asking my colleague Rabbi David Wolpe, who had already written several articles for The Huffington Post, how he managed to read and respond to all these comments -- and whether he was alarmed by the hateful nature of so many of them. He responded to my inquiry with something to the effect of: Just write, don't bother with the comments.

The ability to post comments anonymously was often thought to be the problem that allowed trolls to comment off topic on articles posted on the Web and so many websites changed their policies forcing users to sign in before leaving comments. That solution only goes so far since users can create dummy accounts and many of these trolls don't care about masking their identities. Over the years, many websites have come up with solutions to the problem of what I call "garbage comments" (e.g., 9/11 conspiracy theory comments on a cute YouTube video of my kid playing guitar). These solutions include the ability for users from within the "community" to be able to vote up or down comments and also to report violations of the terms of service or commenting policy. This is a good start and I think all Web media sites should employ this strategy, allowing users whose comments typically receive up votes to filter to the top and banning users whose comments are often reported for abuse.

With the Rise of Anti-Semitism, I Won't Be Silent

There are certain blog posts and articles that I feel inspired to write and simply sit down at my computer, type it out, and publish it in the same day. With other blog posts and articles, I allow my feelings to sit with me for several months, watching as current news events inform my opinion. The latter was the case with my recent article on TIME.com.

Over the past few months I've been jarred by the anti-Semitic violence around the world and felt the strong need to speak out about it. When Islamist gunman Amedy Coulibaly murdered four Jewish hostages on January 9 in Hyper Cacher, the Paris kosher grocery store, I thought of the many American rabbis who didn't speak out about the brewing storm in Europe back in the early 1930s. I knew I didn't want to be a silent rabbi who didn't speak out about the rising anti-Semitism that we're currently witnessing.

My article in TIME, titled It’s Time to Stop Ignoring the New Wave of Anti-Semitism: I Won't Be a 1930s Rabbi, has already created a buzz on social media. Perhaps the best way to know if I was correct that anti-Semitism is on the rise, in Europe as well as in the rest of the world including in America, is by reading the pernicious anti-Semitic comments that appear on TIME's Facebook page under the post linking to my article. Of the hundreds of comments, most mention Israel even though my argument was about the rise of anti-Semitism around the globe and not about the Israeli-Palestinian situation. Several use the term "Zionism" in their comments and equate it with racism that justifies global hatred of Jews.

A comment from Eton Ziner-Cohen, a Jewish man in Toronto, offered his appreciation for TIME publishing my article: "Thank you Time for having the courage and decency, unlike all other mainstream news outlets and commentary hubs, to finally call this pernicious and pervasive rise in anti-semitism what it is and for denouncing thinly veiled manifestations of it, such as anti-zionism." His comment received the following reply from Aditya Sapovadia of Gujarat, India, who wrote: "Oh please. Six Jewish-led companies control 96% of the world's media. Maybe stupid Jews like you is the reason why Gentiles will be able to break the Jewish domination."

Rabbi for a Decade, Macklemore and Jonah Pesner

Today marks my first decade of being a rabbi. Rather than wax nostalgic about the past ten years of my rabbinate in which I still had my rabbi training wheels on, I'd rather use that significant day in my life to comment on two events in the news this week.

First, Jonah Pesner, a Reform rabbi, traveled to London to be a guest of honor at the Liberal Judaism biennial there. What happened to him at the airport, however, is something that has happened to many non-Orthodox rabbis in the past. The Jewish Chronicle reported yesterday that after Rabbi Pesner told an immigration officer at the airport that he is a rabbi, she looked at Rabbi Pesner and remarked, "You don't look like a rabbi." Perhaps, this comment could just be written off as ignorance, but comments like that are too problematic to just ignore.

Jewish Theological Seminary Rabbinical School/Cantorial School Class of 2004

It would be highly offensive if I looked at a female police officer (or a female airport immigration officer for that matter) and said, "You don't look like a police officer" because she's not a man. The comment made to Rabbi Pesner was made because he is clean-shaven and doesn't wear a black hat. What's interesting is that there are thousands of clean-shaven, non-black-hat-wearing rabbis in this world. In fact, the majority of rabbis represented in movies and on television are non-Orthodox rabbis. Look above at the photo of my classmates at the Jewish Theological Seminary. These are rabbis and cantors who graduated on May 20, 2004. While these men and women don't look like the stereotypical rabbi, we are the leaders of the Jewish community today.

Before making her offensive comment to Rabbi Pesner, the female immigration officer at London's Heathrow Airport should have considered that she doesn't have the traditional look of a law enforcement officer. Rather than make a snide remark to Rabbi Pesner, she could have engaged him in a conversation by explaining that the image of a rabbi that she has in her mind is a different representation than how he looks.

And that brings me to Macklemore. I'm a fan of Ben Haggerty's rap music. Better known by his stage name "Macklemore," the 30-year-old has gained fame in the past couple of years for his chart topping songs. In the past, I've praised Macklemore for his gutsy song "Same Love" that advocates for gays and lesbians, and is the first prominent rap song to condemn homophobia in hip-hop and in pop culture in general. This past January I was a guest at a private concert in Las Vegas featuring Macklemore and Ryan Lewis where I was very impressed with Macklemore's performance, humor and stage presence (after his first song of the show, Macklemore looked out at all the cellphone cameras pointed at him and commented that he hadn't seen that many cellphone cameras at a concert since the bat mitzvah he performed at the week before).

Macklemore wearing an anti-Semitic Jewish costume at concert in Seattle

Ford Motor Company Announces New Jewish CEO

Ford Motor Company has announced that Mark Fields will become the company's next CEO replacing Alan Mulally. Presumably Henry Ford is rolling in his grave since Fields, a Jewish man whose family changed the last name from Finkelman in a previous generation, will be running the company the notorious anti-Semite founded in June 1903.

Mark Fields will become CEO of Ford Motor Company

I first wrote about Mark Fields back in December 2012 when Fields was named COO of Ford Motor Company. As a native Detroiter, I was asked to write the article for JTA and I remember typing quickly as I sat in a Newark Airport terminal about to board a flight to Israel with other Conservative rabbis.

Spelling Knaidel and Bravo's Princesses Reality TV Show

We Jews have arrived! That seemed to be the general sentiment on my Facebook news feed last night as word traveled around the social network that the winning word in the 2013 Scripps National Spelling Bee was "knaidel" - the Yiddish word for matzah ball. Most excited Facebook users chimed in on the variant transliterated spellings of the Yiddish word wondering how the organizers of the annual spelling bee could agree on just one accepted spelling.

Arvind Mahankali, the 2013 Scripps National Spelling Bee champ spelled Knaidel for the win (NBC)

Humor and the Holocaust: Where the Line's Drawn

The New York Times article in yesterday's Sunday Review section titled "The Holocaust Just Got More Shocking" uncovers the recent scholarly discoveries that the Holocaust was in fact even more catastrophic than researchers once thought. Such news almost 70 years after the Shoah reaffirms what a horrific, devastating era this was in human history.

The Holocaust researchers, according to the Times article, "have cataloged some 42,500 Nazi ghettos and camps throughout Europe, spanning German-controlled areas from France to Russia and Germany itself, during Hitler’s reign of brutality from 1933 to 1945. The figure is so staggering that even fellow Holocaust scholars had to make sure they had heard it correctly when the lead researchers previewed their findings at an academic forum in late January at the German Historical Institute in Washington."

It is evident that while we are several generations removed from the Holocaust there is still new information coming to light about this dark period in European Jewish history. This makes it even more difficult to find humor in comedy from such tragedy and yet there has not been a single tragedy in the world that has been free from the reach of comedy. Comedians crack jokes about 9/11, worldwide natural disasters, the Chernobyl incident, plane crashes, Space Shuttle tragedies, and horrific mass murders. A common refrain following such off-color jokes is "Too soon?" But, when really is it not "too soon" to tell a joke about a catastrophe on par with the Shoah? Where is the line of taste when it comes to humor about the Holocaust and who do we trust to draw such a line?

An Austrian actor plays Hitler during a Berlin production of Mel Brooks' musical The Producers (AFP/GETTY)

Wishing Delmon Young Well in Philly

When the news first broke last April that Detroit Tigers outfielder Delmon Young had been arrested in New York City for making an anti-Jewish slur following a night of drinking, I wrote about my disappointment in him on this blog. I explained that, after hearing this news, it would be difficult for me to cheer for him even though he would continue to play for my beloved, hometown Detroit Tigers. In an op-ed for the Huffington Post, I wrote, "My oldest son is 8. In the past year he has become a die-hard Detroit Tigers fan... How am I supposed to explain to my son that Delmon Young was drunk, got into a street fight, yelled an anti-Semitic slur and got arrested?"

After reading my words in the Huffington Post, Delmon Young's agent Joel Wolfe sent me an email explaining that "Del is a special kid, and nothing like the animal that the NY media portrayed him to be." About a month later I was at the same dinner as Delmon's other agent, Arn Tellem of Wasserman Media Group. We spoke for a while about Delmon, and again I was told that he's a special kid who just needs the right mentoring to stay on the path to success. I took those words to heart and decided to try and give Delmon the benefit of the doubt for the rest of the season, but it wasn't easy. Whenever he came up to bat I felt a little uneasy and would picture the scene on the sidewalk in front of his NYC hotel. I didn't really think he was an anti-Semite and I wanted to just forget about the whole incident, but it was difficult.

Google's Android App Marketplace Offers Inspirational Hitler Quotes Apps

Apple has been criticized by mobile app makers for the difficult process involved in getting their apps into the AppStore. The reason for all the red tape in this process, however, is so Apple can approve each app for content ensuring there is no hate speech or racist material in the app. In France, Apple has even removed an app that was in violation of that country's strong policy on anti-Semitism.

Google, on the other hand, has made it much easier for developers to offer their apps in Google's Android marketplace called Google Play. According to Google’s website users are asked to “not distribute content that promotes hatred or violence towards groups of people based on their race or ethnic origin and religion.” When Google is notified of potential policy violation, it “may” review and take action by removing or restricting content, however, it doesn't have the same screening processes in place that Apple does for its app marketplace. Google's checklist for app developers to submit their creations for consideration in Google Play includes the requirement that one informs Google Play users of the app's maturity level before publish. The available content rating levels are: Everyone, Low maturity, Medium maturity, and High maturity. However, Google does not provide for apps that are created in bad taste. A Google spokeswoman explained that the company removes apps that violate its policies against hate speech.

Such is the case with a new app for users in search of inspiration from non other than Adolf Hitler. One app in the Google Play store is simply called "Adolf Hitler." The description states, "All about Adolf Hitler. Get everything in one place - Bio, Pictures, Videos and Quotes. Not only can you get them in one place, you can share all your favorites with your friends in a click." Another app, Infamous Adolf Hitler Quotes, proclaims: “Looking for Adolf Hitler Quotes?? Then this is the App for you!” The apps often provide a quote of the day and allow the users to search a database of anti-Semitic quotes including such things as, "Jews are like mosquitoes that suck our blood.”

While quotes from The Fuhrer are searchable throughout the Web using any search engine in any browser, mobile apps dedicated to glorifying Hitler's hate speech are something else entirely. Hitler's writings, famous quotes and excerpts from Mein Kampf should be readily available for research purposes on the Web, however, Google should think twice before marketing mobile apps that celebrate the words that motivated the Holocaust.

According to the Anti-Defamation League website, the free app from kutaa provides users with vile quotes attributed to Hitler and has been installed by over 10,000 users within 30 days through Google Play. The Arabic-language app, "Hitler’s Sayings," allows users to read and share what it describes as Hitler’s "beautiful sayings that we could benefit from in our lives" via social media networks. A description of the app says, "Hitler combines the charisma of the skillful physician and the grand juggler…Read in this application all of Hitler’s sayings and share them with your friends."

These free apps (some have been downloaded as many times as 50,000 times) are not being used by Holocaust scholars or those seeking to gain a better understanding of the Third Reich. Rather, they are being downloaded and installed to extend the reach of Neo-Nazis in the U.S. While the Arabic language app Infamous Adolf Hitler quotes from the Arab app maker kutaa seems to have been removed from Google Play (it's still available for download at AppsZoom), other mobile apps tauting Hitler as an inspirational leader are popping up in the Android app market.

The other issue with these Hitler apps that extol the Nazi leader is the vitriolic language in the comments section on the review pages of the apps. In the user review section of one of the free English-language apps dedicated to Hitler's quotes, one of the more than a thousand reviewers called Hitler a great moral leader. Another user writes in a review dated August 2012 that the “app is so great and useful,” and explains that he wanted to learn how Hitler was able to “kill all the yahudi people.”

In September of last year, Google removed a mobile app of the conspiracy theory book The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Google eventually removed The Protocols app from its website amid a large public outcry. Google will continue to remove these apps that praise Hitler, but more Android apps will crop up to plague its app market. Google needs to be more vigilant in prohibiting such hate spewing apps from ever residing in Google Play in the first place.

Cross-posted to the Jewish Techs blog on The Jewish Week's website

Jewish Country Clubs Still Alive and Well

Last night, I attended the Michigan Region of the Anti-Defamation League's annual event at Knollwood Country Club in West Bloomfield, Michigan. Knollwood is one of three Jewish country clubs in the Metro Detroit area and the fact that this event is held at a country club every year wasn't lost on me. There was a time in the not so distant past that local country clubs (including Oakland Hills Country Club just down the road from Knollwood) had unwritten rules barring Jews from membership. Thanks to the work of the ADL, such discrimination is virtually unheard of anymore.

As the ADL prepares to mark its centennial year, it is important to remember that the ADL is unique as a national Jewish communal organization in that it wants to be able to go out of business. Unfortunately, so long as anti-Semitism exists in the world -- and sadly it still does -- the ADL will have to stay in business. I first became involved with the ADL as a college student when, through the Jewish Student Union, I helped organize a one-day conference on anti-Semitism. Later that summer I served an internship at the Michigan regional office of the ADL and was directly mentored by Dick Lobenthal, a national legend in the fight against prejudice, racism, and intolerance. This year I am once again finding myself actively involved with the ADL as a Glass Leadership Program participant.

Augusta National didn't admit its first Jewish members until the 1980s. Many local golf and country clubs in Michigan had unwritten rules restricting the members of Blacks and Jews.

Sitting in that Jewish country club last night with several hundred other supporters of the ADL's important work, I considered the reasons that Jewish country clubs are still in existence. At a time when Jewish men and women are no longer restricted from membership at country clubs, these Jewish clubs remain throughout the country. While Jewish hospitals (Detroit's Sinai Hospital closed several years ago) and universities (Brandeis is only about 60% Jewish today) are no longer in existence, Jewish country clubs have endured. In the Metro Detroit area there are three Jewish clubs within a five mile radius of each other.

This past summer I was asked to write an article for the Tam-O-Shanter Country Club's newsletter about the importance of Jewish country clubs in the 21st century. Here is what I wrote:

I recently discovered that every episode of the 1980s TV sitcom “Family Ties” are available on Netflix. Growing up, I always enjoyed watching that show on Thursday nights and I thought my children might enjoy it too. So, I streamed the pilot episode which first aired 30 years ago in 1982. My 8 1/2-year-old son and I sat down and watched it together.

I was immediately reminded that the TV shows from the 80s were more values focused. This particular episode dealt with Alex Keaton's girlfriend taking him to her family’s restricted country club for dinner. It was the first time my son had ever heard that clubs existed that restricted minorities from membership. He looked at me dumbfounded.

I pressed “Pause” on Netflix and began to explain bigotry and racism to my wonderfully innocent son. I pictured my own father explaining this to me some 30 years prior when I first viewed this episode of “Family Ties.” The first sentence I said to him was, “This is why Tam exists!”

The reason we have Jewish country clubs like Tam-O-Shanter, I explained, is because decades ago Jewish people were forbidden to join the existing golf clubs in our area. Not only did Jewish visionaries around the country build clubs for their own ranks, they created some of the most beautiful golf courses and luxurious country clubs.

Thankfully, times are much better today and local clubs are open to Jewish membership, but the Jewish clubs have endured. Not only is Tam still strong today, it has maintained its Jewish essence. Passover seders, Shabbat dinners, and break-the-fast meals are highlights of Tam’s annual calendar. Over the years, Tam has played host to several golf outings for Jewish organizations including Michigan State Hillel and the Michigan Jewish Sports Foundation, in addition to hosting events for AIPAC, Jewish Senior Life, and the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces. The locker room at Tam often sounds like a local version of the Broadway show “Old Men Telling Jewish Jokes” and it’s not uncommon to hear some chosen Yiddish expressions tossed around on the golf course.

As [club owner] Sheldon [Yellen] often remarks, “It’s important to keep Tam a Jewish club.” And it is. The “No Jews Allowed” policy at country clubs is a thing of the past, but Jewish clubs are still necessities for our community. After watching that episode of “Family Ties” with my son, I think he will feel a stronger connection to Tam. I know I will.

Jewish country clubs may not exist anymore in response to anti-Semitism, but their existence does remind us of a darker time in our country. I for one am glad that the Anti-Defamation League is strong and continues to serve our community to stop the defamation of the Jewish people, and to secure justice and fair treatment for all. As the ADL approaches its centennial year, we should realize the importance of this organization and celebrate its successes.

Welcome to the Tribe Csanad Szegedi

Hungarian politician Csanad Szegedi would likely have stayed out of the media spotlight in the U.S. were it not for a recent revelation about his past. Szegedi, according to articles in the AP and Wall Street Journal, was a proud member of a far-right wing political party in Hungary that wasn't shy about its wanton antisemitism. Szegedi's party often complained about the "Jewishness" of other politicians and referred to Israelis as "lice-infested, dirty murderers."

That in and of itself isn't very newsworthy as antisemitism is still alive and well in Europe. What is newsworthy is the detail about his own history that Szegedi learned recently. He is the Jewish grandchild of Holocaust survivors. As Dave Pell, creator of NextDraft, wrote: "Mazel Tov, you idiot."

After discovering his Jewish roots last December and going public about the discovery earlier this summer, the Hungarian politician met Hungary’s chief orthodox rabbi. Szegedi revealed this in an interview earlier this summer. The head of Jobbik, the far-right party with which Szegedi affliates, commemorated the 130th anniversary of the Tiszaeszlar blood libel, seen as one of the first anti-Semitic events in modern-era Hungary.

Szeged promised to step down from all party positions but hold on to his seat in the European Parliament. This story could end well however since Szegedi has promised to visit Auschwitz, where his grandmother had been held by Nazi soldiers. Perhaps, he'll make the transformation of being an anti-Semite to helping to educate his Hungarian people about Judaism and the lessons of the Holocaust.

Delmon Young and Mel Gibson

I couldn't resist making this movie spoof poster with Mel Gibson and Delmon Young:

Mel Gibson's name was brought up repeatedly after the news broke about the Detroit Tigers' outfielder Delmon Young getting arrested in Manhattan for second-degree aggravated harassment and uttering an anti-Semitic slur while he was intoxicated. Young has been given a 7-game suspension by Major League Baseball and also placed indefinitely on baseball's restricted list.

More details have been released concerning the altercation. According to the NY Daily News, Delmon Young was arrested for "assaulting Jason Shank following his drunken anti-Semitic rant. According to police sources, Young began screaming the offensive remarks after a panhandler wearing a Star of David and a yarmulke approached him. Shank and three friends gave the man $20 outside the hotel, which ignited Young’s racist rhetoric."

According to reports Shank, 32, and three of his friends were visiting Manhattan from Schaumberg, a Chicago suburb, for a weekend bachelor party. Delmon Young screamed "You bunch of f------ Jews!" and then got into a fight with Jason Shank on the sidewalk outside the hotel. Young was released from jail after posting $5,000 bail after his arraignment for an aggravated harassment charge that was classified as a hate crime. According to his LinkedIn page, Shank is an international consultant for Trident Worldwide in Missouri and a regional manager for Taggart International, a company with offices in Wood Dale and Missouri. Both companies specialize in importing and exporting. Neither Shank or his bachelor party friends are Jewish.

In 2006, Delmon Young was suspended for 50 games without pay while playing for a minor league team after he threw his baseball bat at an umpire who called him out after three strikes.

Ironically, Delmon Young's agent is Arn Tellem of the Wasserman Media Group. Tellem, a 1979 graduate of the University of Michigan Law School is Jewish. I'm not sure if Daniel J. Ollen, Young's criminal attorney in New York, is Jewish but that would be ironic as well.

Tomorrow morning, I'll be talking about the Delmon Young situation live on the Mojo in the Morning radio show on Channel 95.5 here in Detroit. The show will be broadcast live from a kosher pizza parlor and bagel shop in Oak Park, a suburb just outside of Detroit.

UPDATE:
Here's the radio podcast from the Mojo in the Morning show:

Delmon Young's Anti-Semitic Slur and the Problem With Athletes As Role Models

I already had a blog post planned for today. I was going to write an open letter to David Stern, the commissioner of the National Basketball League (NBA) in which I was going to publicly criticize him for allowing the NBA to only give Ron Artest (er, sorry Metta World Peace) a slap on the wrist with a seven game suspension. Artest blatantly elbowed James Harden on the back of his head after Artest's slam dunk the other night. It was a vicious blow to Harden's head that left him with a concussion. With Artest's history as a trouble maker Stern should have banned him from the league.

My open letter to the Commissioner was going to ask him how I'm supposed to let my children watch NBA games if this is the type of behavior they will see. I don't need Ron Artest to be a role model for my children; they have enough positive role models in their lives already. However, I cannot in good conscience allow my children to watch a professional basketball game (or even the highlights on ESPN) if such cheap shots are going to become commonplace in the NBA without serious repercussions.

And then I saw the news today. Detroit Tigers outfielder Delmon Young was arrested outside of the hotel where the team was staying in New York City. Young was "highly intoxicated" according to a police source and he was arrested after allegedly shoving a man to the ground and making anti-Semitic remarks. The Detroit Free Press reports that Young faces an "aggravated harassment hate crime charge" for the anti-Semitic remarks he made during the incident.

When I read the news about Young, my heart sank to the floor. My oldest son is 8. In the past year he has become a die hard Detroit Tigers fan. He knows all the players by name. He knows their uniform number and their statistics (just like I did when I was a Tigers fan at that age). How am I supposed to explain to my son that Delmon Young was drunk, got into a street fight, yelled an anti-Semitic slur and got arrested? To my son, Delmon Young is a hero. He cheers for him. He prays that Young will hit a home run when he comes up to bat. I don't think that it ever occurred to my son (or to me for that matter) that Delmon Young hates Jews in an inebriated, full-of-rage Mel Gibson sort of way.

Thanks to the Detroit Tigers organization and specifically owner Mike Illitch and Dave Dombrowski, the teams President/CEO/General Manager, baseball has become exciting again here in Detroit. The team has really made a concerted effort to reach out to children. That is great, but it also means that the organization has a responsibility to handle this matter quickly and appropriately. Delmon Young needs to be treated for his alcohol problem and a response to Tigers fans must be made soon concerning his anti-Semitic slur.

For me, I still don't know how I will explain this to my son or if I will at all. The bottom line is that no one is asking professional athletes to raise our children. They are great athletes and not always shining examples of virtuous human beings. However, they need to know that children are watching. Impressionable children are watching how athletes behave on the field or on the court, as well as outside of their hotels. The NBA and Major League Baseball are both doing great things to help their athletes give back to the community and be good citizens. But they have to take care of the bad apples as well. I don't know what the appropriate punishment for Delmon Young should be, either within the Tigers organization or in Major League Baseball, but I know that a strong message has to be sent to the young fans so they know this behavior is not tolerated.