A month after October 7, we all gathered at the Saban Theater on Wilshire tonight to hear from a number of speakers. But it was one speaker who made things even more crystal clear for me. A young woman and her husband attended. They are survivors of the SuperNova music festival massacre. It was impossible to maintain complete composure as the woman stood onstage and told the story of what happened to her that day. She went to the festival with many, many family members, but only three remain alive. She lost her “abba” (her father). He was murdered. She recounted how her husband covered her in dead bodies, so that he could fix tourniquets to the injured, and he saved one person’s life.
I have learned in recent years what the immeasurable value is of a survivor’s ability to speak to what happened to them. A survivor’s story is crucial to remaining intact. The story is a return of air in the lungs. It must be allowed to be spoken. But when I heard this young woman speak tonight, I didn’t feel as though she used her voice just for herself. She was speaking for all of us. She was speaking about survival in the rawest sense. There is no choice right now. There has been no choice for the last month. The only choice is that we survive.
Listening to this survivor made matters more lucid than they have ever been. The consequences of doing what I do have been challenging, but the words themselves have always come incredibly easily. Why? Because they’re honest. When you speak the truth, it is not difficult, because you know the truth. The truth is what comes naturally. And this is the truth. There’s the Jews, us. And there’s Hamas, them. It is us versus them. And it has to be us who win. There is no other choice.
There is no other choice between us and the university professors who teach that Israel is an illegal and colonialist project. There is no other choice between us and the college students who march for the genocide of the Jewish people. There is no other choice between us and the elected officials of this country who say in Congress “from the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free”. There is no other choice between us and the friends and colleagues who spread disinformation on social media and refuse to be told what antisemitism is. There is no other choice between us and the scourge of violent attackers who are throwing Molotov cocktails at our synagogues and ramming their cars into what they think are our Jewish buildings. There is no other choice between us and the ignorant bigots who refuse to listen to a Jewish perspective.
We only have one choice: beating them all. And we will. We will beat them all.
Morality is not a spectrum. It is a clear binary. Good versus evil. Right versus wrong. Israel is right. Hamas is evil.
Our abusers, our enemies, our attackers - the morally righteous – would all do better to start listening to people who don't speak like them or have the same ideas that they do. We learn from each other. The absolute refusal to listen to the Jewish perspective in the last decade-plus has led to the situation that is unfolding.
After the survivors spoke tonight, two family members of hostages were interviewed onstage. Again, it was harrowing to listen to their pain. Unimaginable pain that we as a community must hold space for. But one woman, who has had two family members confirmed dead, and the rest still missing in Gaza, spoke the exact thoughts that I have held onto this past month. When people asked her how they could help or show up for her, having gifted her chocolates and a card, and offered hugs and condolences, she refused. That’s not what she wanted. It’s not what I want either.
I was asked by people what charity they should give to, whether they should buy from local Jewish businesses, etc. The answer for those people is: stop. We don’t want your money. (We’re not BLM). We want your time. We want your ear. We want your trust. This woman who is suffering indescribable anguish said she told her friends and colleagues to grab a seat, sit down, and ask her every single question they’ve always been too embarrassed to ask about Israel and the Jewish people. She answered all the questions, and they heard her.
That is what you can do to support. I have always despised and rejected the often spat out phrase “educate yourself”. How dare so-called activists preach and then tell would-be allies that it’s too much emotional labor for them to inform curious minds about their lived experiences. That is not how it should work. For years, my door has been open, and I have welcomed any person who wants to learn. But time and again, people who claim to not be antisemitic reckon that this is a step too far for them. Why is that? Why don’t they want to learn? Who wants the monetary or emotional support of someone who isn’t willing to humble themselves to our history and our current reality? All we want is for you to learn our story, and to accept that it’s true.
Tomorrow night I will attend the screening of the bodycam footage from the massacre that Gal Gadot is hosting in LA. It is 44 minutes of uninterrupted raw video from the massacre. It is not something I desire to see, but I know that once I have seen it, I will have words to share to keep October 7 in people’s minds. Because October 7 is frankly all that matters. People who have watched this footage say that once you see it you will never unsee it. You will never be the same again.
There are already reports that demonstrations by freedom-fighting “Palestine” protestors are being planned for the screening. As of yesterday, Gal Gadot has been trolled in excess – the worst trolling I have seen in some time. Let it be said: Gal Gadot is a force in Hollywood, a proud Jewess who never hid her contributions to her home country, or her Israeli roots. She is an exemplary leader who all Jews in Hollywood should follow. She is hated because she's successful and Jewish. (And hot). What Gal has done for this entire month, sharing hostages’ stories every day, keeping October 7th in the forefront of the mind of the world, is the courageous dedication of a true activist. She is not just Wonder Woman but our Queen Esther. I'm sure it has not come without a price.
We are being attacked, threatened and abused for attempting to share and witness the evidence of what happened to us. We are being accosted for talking about the worst attack on Jews since the Holocaust. Without our ability to speak truth to power, we cannot breathe.
So it is us and it is them. And we must win. We have no choice.
On October 7, 1400 members of my family were slaughtered, and 240 were taken hostage. Say their names.
Keep at it! I wish you strength.
As usual well said and Gal Gadot is amazing. Disagree on the giving part. The economic toll there is massive and guns aren't free. If you got it, this is the time to be donating, and I don't mean to a new library wing at GW or Penn.