Bonus: Is It OK to Hug an Israeli?
Chutzpod!
Chutzpod!
5.0 • 531 Ratings
🗓️ 13 October 2023
⏱️ 12 minutes
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Summary
Join Rabbi Shira and Hanna Rosin in a short discussion on the fraught politics of seeking comfort if you are mourning for Israel. Why, in social justice circles, is expressing sympathy for Israelis, even in a tragic moment like this, complicated? Where should you seek comfort? If you're an ally how should you provide it? Can you feel for both Israelis and Palestinians?
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| 0:00.0 | Hey, chutzpah. It's Rabbi Shira. And I'm Hannah Rosen. |
| 0:07.0 | So usually on chutzpah, we're answering a specific question that's about life in general. |
| 0:13.0 | But today we're having a bonus episode because something terrible is happening to our siblings in Israel, |
| 0:19.0 | which if it happened elsewhere, it wouldn't be difficult to talk about, but because it our siblings in Israel, which if it happened elsewhere, it wouldn't be |
| 0:21.9 | difficult to talk about, but because it's happening in Israel, it is. So this episode is for Jews and |
| 0:28.1 | Israelis who are sort of struggling with how to be in this moment and also with allies who are |
| 0:34.5 | struggling with how to, how to be with in this moment. So, okay, let's get |
| 0:40.8 | right to it. You know, I have a very deep connection to Israel. I've been there more than 50 times. |
| 0:46.8 | I feel like it is a homeland and a place where I can breathe most freely in the entire world. |
| 0:53.1 | That's me in a nutshell. |
| 0:59.6 | Hannah, what's your connection to Israel? Well, funny you should ask. I was born in Israel. |
| 1:09.8 | And not 24 hours before this war broke out, my mother, who's in her late 70s, got on a flight and went to Tel Aviv, probably one of the last flights |
| 1:13.4 | that landed in Tel Aviv before the war broke out. |
| 1:18.3 | And sometimes I think, like, if my mom were Ukrainian, my family were Ukrainian, and my mother |
| 1:25.3 | landed in Ukraine before the Russian invasion. |
| 1:30.8 | I would just tell people that and they would immediately, like I would tell everyone that and they would say like, oh my God, that's terrible, that's terrible. |
| 1:39.5 | But I definitely am a little hesitant in this case, which, ooh, it sounds bad when I say it, but I am hesitant because I feel like if I extend my hand out, particularly in liberal circles, I'm just like I'm not sure what will come back to me. |
| 2:00.1 | I'm not sure what I'll get back. |
| 2:01.9 | There's a certain loneliness that I'm feeling as someone who is desperately sad for what's |
| 2:10.7 | happening in Israel right now. What's happened over the last few days. I had this, this is actually |
| 2:15.9 | a little embarrassing. I had this moment today |
| 2:18.1 | where I went to get my hair colored. And my colorist who is not Jewish and not especially |
... |
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