Hey there and welcome back to Ruthless. I'm Leah Liebowitz, and I am not what you would call an activist.

I used to be one back when I was young in Israel, demonstrating for peace between Israelis and Palestinians,

for better treatment of migrant workers, and for lower tuitions, especially for underprivileged students struggling to attend college.

But then, it seems, something happened.

Something happened to the very idea of activism.

First of all, it seemed like now everyone felt compelled to be an activist.

Like activism was something we ought to teach kids in elementary school,

insisting not that they learned

their ABCs, but that they learned to see themselves as little partisans of their parents' favorite

causes.

And even more troubling, activism itself seemed to have morphed into something different.

It's now less about organizing communities and advocating for legislation and more about

blocking roads and intimidating those who disagree with you, portraying them as purely and

irredeemably evil. So on today's episode, we're going to take a peek into the state of activism

by talking to three very different people espousing very different causes in very different ways.

First, we'll talk to philanthropist Jay Ruderman, author of the new book, Find Your Fight,

about his experience advocating for disability rights and working to bring American and Israeli Jews closer together.

And then we'll talk to Tully Weiss and Pesach Wolaki, who will tell us about a

little known election coming up in just a few days, an election we are all eligible to vote in,

and that our guests say is more influential than most people realize.

Thank you. realize. Hey there and welcome back to Routless.

I'm Liel Leibowitz, and today, I have the pleasure of talking to a person who has done

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