4-18-24 - 9am - Rabbi Hausman on Antisemitism

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Good morning, James, and congratudolencesas congratulations and condolences both for working with
Dragon Redbeard and covering for Mike.You'll never be the same. I feel
like that indelible mark has indeed beenmade, and I have to give a

(00:25):
great deal of credit, kudos andgratitude to Dragon doing a great job as
always behind the glass. Thank you, sir, Oh, thank you,
buddy. You know, I hopeMichael gives you this much gratitude publicly.
Never never, Oh no, We'reglad to have a word with him about
that. But I'm going to keepdoing and welcome to the show, Jimmy

(00:48):
Sagenberger in for Michael Brown. Greatto be with you today as well as
yesterday. By the way, Iwill be filling in for Caples. I'll
be covering for Kapalis next Wednesday,the twenty fourth, from four to six,
so be sure to tune in thenas well. So in Washington,
DC, yesterday there was a significantcongressional hearing, another one on anti Semitism

(01:12):
in our academic sphere, particularly atcollege campuses and specifically at Columbia University,
where the president of the university,Nimatsha Fique, testified and she was grilled
quite a bit in Congress over alot of things going on at Columbia that

(01:38):
have been absolutely emblematic of the risein antisemitism on our college campuses across the
country. The day after the Octoberseventh attack, Professor Joseph Massad, and
I only single him out amongst numerousothers that I could single out, because
he particularly is a tenured professor andchairs the School of Arts and Sciences Academic

(02:01):
Review Committee. He wrote in anarticle praising and I quote him the innovative
Palestinian resistance end quote, for attackingIsrael and glorifying Hamas's slaughter of nearly twelve
hundred Jews as and I quote again, awesome, astonishing, astounding, and

(02:24):
incredible. President schaffiqu you recently said, and I quote, it is absolutely
unacceptable for any member of the Columbiacommunity to promote the use of terror and
violence. End quote. Do youcondemn Professor Massad's statement, and as he
faced any consequences for it, Congressman, I do condemn his statement. I

(02:46):
am appalled by what he said.Any consequences. He has been spoken to,
he was spoken to, who spokewith him, he was spoken to
by his head of department and histeam, and what was he told.
I was not in those conversations,I think, but you're not aware of
that language. What was he toldif that language was unacceptable? And were

(03:07):
there any other enforcement actions taken,any other disciplinary actions taken? In his
case, he has not repeated anythinglike that ever since. Does he need
to repeat stating that the massacre ofIsraeli civilians was awesome? Does he need
to repeat his participation in an unauthorizedpro Hamas demonstration on April fourth? I'm

(03:30):
now joined by Rabbi Jonathan Hauseman ofa Hafat Torah congregation in Stoton, Massachusetts.
He joins me this morning, sir, welcome to the program. Hi
Jimmy, how are you this fineday. I am doing well, very
well, even though I'm looking outsideand it is quite dreary out here in

(03:51):
Denver on a rainy day. Listen, well, you're just hearing this clip
of a couple of congress people,including Elistefonic with the president of Columbia University
in this case one particular professor,but they gave a lot of other examples.
What is the assessment of this hearingyesterday? What was said there?

(04:12):
Is there was another spotlight on theskyrocketing anti Semitism on our college campuses.
Crowd, just remember that Columbia wasone of the universities that invited Nazi officials
to speak back in the thirties.You know, Jimmy, what can I

(04:32):
tell you? It's if you listenedto the testimonies that were given back in
December by Claude Deine Gay of Harvard, but Eliz McGill of University of Pennsylvania
and Susan Kornbooth of MIT, thisis just more of the same. And

(04:56):
I really think that it's and structI was going to to say instructive.
I let me rephrase that. Ireally think that it highlights, further highlights
what the heck is going on onthe campuses of our most prestigious universities.
And and listen, it's not justdown here. Jewish students are faced with

(05:20):
exactly the same thing up in Canadaas well, uh, on the campuses
of their equivalence up there, toHarvard and Yale and Penn and Cornell.
Up there, it's it's McGill andUniversity Toronto, and and and Ryerson and
Carlton University and McMaster it's the samething, same thing, and and particularly

(05:49):
particularly uh in light of in lightof what you know, what what what
just was released yesterday. Yesterday therewas a release by the Anti Defamation League
of this huge study that was thathad been taking place on seventy one college

(06:14):
campuses across the country, seventy oneof the finest universities public and private across
this country. And the grading systemthat has been put into place, and
you have more of our Ivy Leagueinstitutions are receiving grades of D and F
when it comes down to protecting thephysical safety and the academic environment for Jewish

(06:41):
students on and around campus. Thisstudy that you refer to has identified a
one hundred and forty percent increase inanti Semitic incidents since twenty twenty two,
and they found that right here inColorado is at one hundred and ninety nine
percent. Rabbi Jonathan Houseman, backwhen Hamas did the attack and the most

(07:04):
devastating brutal attack on Jews since theHolocaust on October seventh of last year,
after that, we saw a significantamount of the anti Semitism rise, and
we continue to see it now.How much worse has it gotten since October
seventh, particularly as we've seen theAbiden administration really I would say, turn

(07:29):
its back on Israel in recent weeks, including at the United Nations book.
All I can tell you is thatJewish students are describing on college campuses,
you know, incredible rises. Butyou know, the one hundred and forty
percent, you know, is asreflective of only what's taking place on college

(07:50):
campuses as you take a look insociety in general. I was just on
a on a webinar for lack ofa better term, yesterday with Jewish Federation
here, the Anti Defamation League,and a number of of the Jewish Community
Relations Council, and a couple ofother Jewish organizations. Uh, you know,

(08:11):
for US rabbis in and around thegreater Boston area, and and and
here's the rub of it. Onehundred and forty percent on college campuses across
the United States alone last year lastyear eight over an eight hundred percent rise
in anti Semitic acts and anti Jewishacts committed against uh person committed against property

(08:39):
eight percent? Wow? And rightright, and listen, I I want
to be fair about this. Imean, look, I grew up in
southwestern Connecticut. In the early tomid sixties. I remember as a kid
not being able to go into certaintowns because I was Jewish. I remember

(09:05):
as a teenager not being able togo with non Jewish friends to certain country
clubs when I was invited with themto go golf. Not that I golf
and things of that sort, couldn'tgo in because I was Jewish. And
how all of this really began toameliorate by the early mid seventies. And

(09:26):
here we're back at this again.I have said this, I've mentioned this
to pastors that I've known over theyears, with whom I'm still friendly,
and they just they're astounded, astoundedthat I had this kind of experience growing
up. And here I'm seeing itagain. The scale, right, the

(09:48):
scale we're seeing is on a magnitudeof what was taking place in Europe in
the thirties. Okay, but onsteroids now, all right, because now
we're not just talking about, youknow, organizing for anti Jewish legislation and
anti Jewish activities on campuses and whatnotwithin one country. It is global.

(10:13):
It's global now, and and youknow, not that not that historically Joseph
really been who've seen n favorable lighthistorically we haven't. But not like this,
Not like this, Rabbi, ifI can jump in with another exchange,

(10:35):
because it's not only the overt antiSemitic attacks that are happening on students
and of course people who are noton college campuses, as we see the
rise of anti Semitism all across thecountry and all sorts of aspects of our
society very tragically. But there wasa particular exchange with Congressman Jim Banks and
the president President Shaffique of Columbia Universityon this term that apparently is in some

(11:00):
writings of the university students, andthat would be of Ashcan normativity. Take
a listen to this. Ashcan normativityis defined as a system of oppression that
favors white Jewish folks based on theassumption that all Jewish folks are Ashkenazi or
from Western Europe. So do youdo you have a response to that definition

(11:26):
of Ashcan normativity? Is it appropriate? This is handed out to your students
by other students. It is nota product of the faculty of Columbia University.
Obviously you allow this to be handedout to your students. Is that
appropriate? As I said, itis not a product of the faculty or

(11:46):
the administration. It is something thata group of students produced. I don't
necessarily I don't agree with it.I think it's not very useful. I
don't condone it. And does ColumbiaUniversity recognize the word? Because it's not
found in the Webster dictionary or anywhereelse. Ascanormativity? Is that? Is
that an acceptable term at Columbia University? Kunsman, I am, I am

(12:09):
with you, you know I Iagree with you that I don't find this.
Okay, this is just hand itout on your watch, Rabbi Jonathan
Alsman, What do you make ofthat? What the heck is ascanormativity?
And what are the implications of thisterm being used casually in handbooks being given
out by students to students, Andwhat do you make of her response to

(12:30):
that? Okay, let's take uhLet's let's start with her response first.
This is proof positive how you canhave a wonderful, high class educating ivy
league. This woman, as Iunderstand it, as a graduate of the
London School of Economics, she hasone of the most precious universities in the
United States. How somebody can behave that kind of education and be an

(12:52):
idiot. Uh, Jimmy, Imean, if you if you don't want
me to hold back to tell me, tell you what I really think.
Okay, she's a moron. Sheshould and I'll tell you, no different
than clauging Gay, No different thanLis McGill's completely out of her element.
Harry Truman, Harry Truman, howto sing The buck stops here. If

(13:18):
you're the president of the university andyou don't know what's going on amongst your
students and your faculty, then something'swrong. She should be removed. That's
what I think. Okay, Nowask a normativity. I have to tell
you I had never heard the termuntil about two weeks ago. Literally one
of my kids is is a juniorat Clark University in Worstern, Massachusetts,

(13:41):
a very fine, small liberal artscollege here in New England, very fine
school, national reputation. And shecalled me because she's having some problems on
campus, a lot of the Jewishstudents are, and she mentioned this term
Tom had the penny. What doesthis mean? Yeah, I had never

(14:05):
heard of it before. And shetold me about how it alleges some kind
of Eurocentric leg up for Jews descendantfrom of Oscar Nazi descent. You know,
we have privilege. And I juststopped the right there. I said,

(14:26):
my god, if there's in otherwords, in other words, this
is woke another example, and Isaid this to her, I said,
this is another example of woke ideologywrint large and running amok, such that
you, as a Zooish student,have no right to personal protection to any

(14:50):
of the liberties and freedoms that adhereto any other group on campus. I'm
going to read a paragraph definition fromwhat Yeah, go ahead, by the
way, Jim Banks, he's agreat I know him personally. He's a
great guy. He's on top ofit. He's been he's been on top
of this this issue with the burgeoningof anti Semitism for months now, as

(15:18):
his uh as as his office asas well. Yeah. Apparently, according
to Wikipedia, this is as thoughJews from Ascnauti Ashkenazi Jews and Jewish culture
has privileges that compared to Jews ofother backgrounds don't have. But then there's

(15:39):
this application of it, as you'resaying, that's broader than that about ascanormativity
being regards to just general privilege thatcan come to Jews, particularly of Ashkenazi
descent, and and that just it'sjust another way to say that Jews are
in this group. Now of you'reyou're basically you're white, whereas think of

(16:02):
the Nazis. We're saying you're notwhite, so we hate you. We're
gonna mistreat you, we're gonna killyou and slaughter you and commit genocide against
you. And now it's turned onits head and it's a user white and
they have privilege, and therefore it'syou know, okay to be hateful towards
them or to tacitly accept or endorsethis hatred. Listen to. I have

(16:26):
a couple of things I want toadd in here. Okay. Number one,
when when this college student from mysynagogue, Penny, had told me
what's happened at Clark University and mentionedthis term, you know, I did
what any curious researcher should do.If you've done anything tank work and done

(16:47):
research for think tank, the firstthing you do, what do you do
your research? The term the presidentof Columbia University is either uninformed or lying,
or maybe a little bit of both. Because a simple search by me
a couple of weeks ago turned upthis Oscar Oscar normativity as a product of

(17:17):
the Columbia School, a term thatwas a product of the Columbia University School
of Social Work. So this iscoming right out of her faculty. Wow,
right out of her faculty. Isn'tthat just astonishing and a display truly
of how far gone our colleges anduniversities have become. Rabby Jonathan Ausman,

(17:41):
we have to go to a break, but let's keep you another segment joining
us from Stoton, Massachusetts. AHavafta congregation, always passionate and clear in
breaking down what's really going on here, deeply disturbing and it seems never ending
now in our society, and itis being exposed in Congress today. Jimmy

(18:04):
Sangenberger in for Michael Brown, keepit right here. Thanks for that.
Nothing like to start your morning outwith one to punch somebody in the face.
You guys suck. Yeah, We'vebeen talking about a lot of topics
that will do that and provide theenergy. That's for darns hod to get

(18:27):
a little Mary had little lamb inthere from the great Stevie ray Vaughn.
Jimmy Sangenberger here with you, givinga taste of some of the best bumper
music known to man. Gotta lovea little SRV. That, by the
way, first song I ever heardcoming home from the hospital as a newborn
was that tune by Stevie ray Myparents had a cueue up in the car.

(18:48):
Rabbi Jonathan Hausman of a Havathta RahCongregation in Stoton, Massachusetts joining us,
and he himself is a big timeblues officionado. My friend Gotta love
isr I have to tell you youcould as if my juices weren't flowing already,
you gotta flowing even more. Thatis one of the greatest reworks of

(19:11):
a tune. Amen over here.You know, buddy guy Mary had a
little Liam. I think he ifI'm not mistaken, he released that version
nineteen sixty eight or nineteen sixty nine, Okay, and the original song you
mean buddies, Yeah, yeah,his original rework of Mary had a Little
Liam, And of course Seevie Rayone just took it to another level.

(19:33):
There you go. I couldn't agreemore. And we've just pleased A listener
who texted in to the program viathe app three three one zero three text
Michael or Mike first, and hespecifically was requesting a little bit of blues
from Dragon, So there you go. And then there was another listener Dragon

(19:55):
really wanted this too, a coupleof listeners who texted in saying, well,
what about a little more harmonica?Now, that's by me. That's

(20:22):
just original playing blues on the aflat harmonica, just for the audience here.
But also, we're talking about sucha serious topic, so we need
a little bit of fun mixed in, don't we. Rabbi, Yeah,
yeah, absolutely. I'll just saythis before we get back to seriousness at
large, to the listeners, ifthey want to listen to really good harp

(20:45):
playing and Jimmy, you play agreat harp, and you know I believe
that and think the world of youwith regard to your skill, but they
should listen to Magic Dick. Yes, hey, gilespan Wimur Tammer, Yes,
listen to that. You hear somesunny Boy Williamson in there. You
hear some little Milt little Walter.The list goes on. Yeah, yeah,

(21:07):
he just takes us home on once. It's just a waim or Jammer,
just a great, great, greatgreat too. You gotta love it.
So we are talking about the skyrocketingcase of anti Semitism happening on college
campuses and the appearance of leaders fromColumbia University yesterday in the House of Representatives.
And I just want to give youa taste from before that hearing of

(21:30):
an account from a Columbia student,Eden Yadagar, who detailed some examples of
anti Semitism at Colombia this semester,I am unable to complete my Middle East
Studies major as intended because the onlycourse offered about Israel is taught by the
professor who referred to the massacre andrape of innocent people, of young women

(21:52):
just like me as stunning, astonishing, awesome, jubilant achievement. We are
ostracized, mocked, harassed, assaulted, and scapegoaded because of our identities.
The Jews yelled at visibly Jewish friendsof mine on multiple separate occasions. Online,

(22:14):
Columbia students suggested labeling local shops thatsupport Israel's right to exist quote with
a star of David Is this nineteenthirty eight or twenty twenty four. A
law professor recently advocated for the removalof Israeli students from campus. Another professor
claimed to be with Camas days beforeColumbia extended him a quote warm welcome in

(22:38):
January. We have been attacked withsticks outside of our library, we have
been surrounded by angry mobs, andwe have been threatened to quote keeping running.
How many more times must it beproven that unreprimanded violent rhetoric can lead
to physical violence? Is this nineteenthirty or twenty twenty four? Your reaction,

(23:03):
Rabbi the nineteen thirties, let's say, I mean, we haven't seen
paroxysm. Look, look, everybodyshould understand that anti Semitism, jew hatred
and a majority of the world hasalways bubbled, and it still bubbles just

(23:23):
under the surface. And it couldbe as my grandparents used to say that,
you know, polite conversation. Afterthe Holocaust, it was not a
topic for polite conversation any longer.So, but my grandmother always used to
say, all you need to dois scratch the surface, scratch just beneath

(23:44):
the surface, and you're gonna findit. My mother, may she rest
in peace. In the two thousandsbefore her death, the early part of
this millennium, this century, earlyyou know, she said, I never
thought I'll never forget this talking withher, I don't know. Twenty eight
twenty nine, she said, Inever thought I'd lived through this again.

(24:07):
So what are you living through again? She said? I lived through the
era of abject appeasement and anti Semitismwhen I was a kid. My mother
came up of age during the depression, I mean high school during the depression,
she said, and never thought Isee it again. But here it
is. Now. This is awoman who said this in twenty eight twenty
nine, and now it's writ largethis this professor, that this young lady.

(24:32):
I'm very brave of her to headdown to Washington, d C.
To give testimony, just like youknow, the couple of Jewish students from
MI who did the same thing afew months back. What the professor she's
talking about is Joseph massad Assad whohad had a history of making these kinds

(24:55):
of statements again to the president,Have you been asleep? Yeah, that's
the way I would, you know. I have a listener question that gets
us a little more into the politicaldirection, but it also fits in with
Chuck Schumer, who we were justtalking about off air as well, and

(25:18):
a listener texting in that would beSteve in Lyttleton a loyal goober. He
said, Hey, Jimmy, wouldyou ask the good Rabbi why it appears
a fair number of Jewish voters supportthe Democrat Party when it seems the Democrat
Party doesn't support them, or doI have it wrong? And of course
you can look at Chuck Schumer seeminglyturning on Israel a few weeks ago with

(25:44):
a speech on the United States Senate. We've just got a few minutes left,
but talk to us a little bitabout the the political dynamics here for
Jews today, especially amidst the riseof anti Semitism, and what we have
seen now with Chuck Schumer the leadingthe most prominent and powerful Jew in America
from a political standpoint. Okay,first, everybody should know that Schumer.

(26:11):
You know, he claims it comesfrom the Hebrew show Mayer Schomer, meaning
watchman or guardian or protector. Itprobably refers to the area of Germany where
his family came from. Schum Itcould refer to a profession from in suder
Deutsch in South German, which meansmilkman. It probably is a contraction from

(26:37):
Schumacher, meaning shoemaker, a cobbler. So you know, when Jews had
to take last names from a profession. But interestingly, Jimmy, there is
a word in y as Schumer,which means a good for nothing. And
I think that's it. Pretty,that's the one. Yeah, that's it.
That's it. So to the listener, look and to anybody listening,

(26:59):
Jewish voting patterns they were reified inthe mid twenties. Before nineteen twenty four
nineteen twenty eight, when Al Smithran for president, he was governor of
New York. He became a verypopular governor. The center of Jewish settlement
in the United States happened to inNew York, and a political realignment took
place at that time where most Jewsended up moving. They voted across the

(27:23):
spectrum, but a realignment toward theDemocratic Party and don't forget and the immigrant
generation. Here Jews were fleeing powerfulgovernments, and they took a look at
Listen. Unfortunately, they took alook at the Democrats as being for the
little guy. Okay, without lookingat Democratic the history of the Democratic Party.

(27:47):
I think what you're seeing, whatyou may end up seeing now,
is the beginnings of a realignment again. You know, in the same fashion
that British Jews realigned away from theturned away from the Labor Party under Corbin
and now our majority voting for theTories the Conservatives. And in the same

(28:10):
fashion that you see this alignment realignmenttaking place up in candidate as well.
I think that's what you're going tosee, okay, because they're taking a
look at where the Democratic Party sits, where they stand, and where the
spokesman have taken the Democratic Party,you know, very far to the left.

(28:32):
You know, it's not just thesquad, it's other people as well.
Yeah, I think that's including othersenators who represent the Democratic Party,
you know, like Elizabeth Warren.And she's not the only one, you
know, Chris van Holland down inMaryland. The list goes on and on.
We have to leave it there,but Rabbi Jonathan Houseman, always a

(28:52):
pleasure to talk with you, myfriend, and thank you for sharing your
insights and perspectives this morning, andwill continue to stand with the Jewish people
and against this jew hatred that isrising all across our country on college campuses
and elsewhere. So great to haveyou on this morning. Always a pleasure,
Jimmy in any time for you.Thank you my friend once again,

(29:15):
Rabbi Jonathan Houseman out of Stoton,Massachusetts at a havaft Ra congregation joining us
here on the situation Jimmy Sangenberger infor Michael Brown today one more segment.
Man, How the time has flownright on by. I can already see
Dragon's eyes tearing up that I'm aboutdone with the program for today Talk Radio

(29:38):
six point thirty k House Day withus, Jimmy, the goobers appreciate how
quickly you figured out the goober rules. Dragon. When's Michael scheduling his colonoscope?
Have a great day. Thanks forfilling in, Jimmy. I appreciate
it and hope to come back.By the way, I will be in

(30:00):
for Dan Kaplis next Wednesday for afternoonfrom four to six. But Dragon,
brother, I want to work withyou again, oh totally. And I
do have to thank the good googerlistener for that talk back that Michael does
need a colonoscopy this year, Sothere will be a time that Jimmy should

(30:21):
be scheduled to come back in.You know that will be wonderful. I
look forward to it. It hasbeen great. You know, there's something
about the morning drive slot. Peopleare getting in there, getting ready.
There's a lot of things to talkabout. You have some dynamism that you
can bring, and you have somefun and whatnot, and so so it's
always a great time to be onthe air and and to be working with

(30:45):
somebody like Dragon. Am I suckingup well? Enough? Is that?
Is that going well? Dragon?You know, to me doing great?
You're not the one that I neededto talk to though, No, no,
absolutely not, but but no,I appreciate it. Ed. We
want to go full circle for amoment because in the beginning, for those
goobers who are loyal enough to stickaround for the whole four hours, we

(31:08):
talked about Star Wars and the failureof Disney to really recoup and improve upon
its investment of four billion dollars topurchase Lucasfilm from George Lucas. That was
a nice payday for mister Lucas.But let's go full circle because we were

(31:29):
talking about woke dynamics and woke attitudesand mentality in Hollywood. Then you get
into college campuses where we were justtalking with Rabbi Jonathan Houseman about anti Semitism
on college campusesjew hatred, which ispart and partial of wokeism and the woke
ideology. And the reason why Isay this is embodied in that ascan normativity

(31:53):
concept that we talked about with him. Regard. It's some term that was
conjured up up in the what wasit the School of Social Work I think
at Columbia University, and they're talkingabout it now in college campuses as some

(32:14):
terminology anti Semitism is baked into diversity, equity and inclusion DEI. It's part
and parcel of it. I've writtenabout this before in the Denver Gazette,
where I'm investigative columnist, and youlook at it, and if you actually
look into DEI and how it functionsand how anti semitism is worked in,

(32:37):
it's not that it's something that needsto be blasted and shunned. It's actually
sort of baked in to the ideologyand the inner workings of DEI. Unfortunately
we don't have enough time to reallydive into that today. But nevertheless,
if you have a term that soundsacademic like asking normativity, you know those

(33:01):
woke professors somebody in some school ofsomething had to divine that terminology, just
as they had to come up withjust out of thin air or something like
latin x. It's one of thosewords that sounds smart. Oh yes it

(33:22):
does indeed, ascan normativity. Jollygood. It is such an important term
we must now have in common partents. Give me a break. It really,
it really does sound exactly like that. And you know, some snobbish
academic had to develop. And Ilove a lot of academics. I have

(33:44):
some professors I'm still friends with andso forth. But there are snobbish academics
who come up with these terms andthey're like, well, this is a
term that we should now use andwe'll get into a common conversation. But
it really is used to just justifyby their extreme and radical positions. Fundamentally,
that's what it comes down too.Thanks so much for joining me yesterday

(34:07):
and today. Follow me on mywebsite Jimmy Sangenburger dot com. Remember there's
no AI or you and Sanginburger.It's all ease all the time once you
know that Sangenburger is easy. Mythanks to Dragging Redbeard, and to Michael
Brown of course, and to youthe goobers. Glad to get to know

(34:29):
you. See you next time,and make God bless America,