#150: Behind the Bima - Eylon Levy & Jake Turx

from boaton Florida this is behind the beima on this episode The rabbis are joined by Alon Levy former social media personality turned Israeli government spokesman who dives deep into the complexities of the Israel Gaza conflict talks about media representation and about the need for effective communication in times of Crisis and Jake Turks the senior White House correspondent for AMI magazine known for his unique position as a visibly observant Jew in The Press Room of the White House Jake shares his journey from a troubled student to a critical question of power and advocacy for Jewish causes Plus br's pesak Market and discussion about the men's seder all this and more behind the beima welcome to behind the Bea AR pesak Edition our last episode till after pesak always a tremendous joy to be here with my dear friends and colleagues Rabbi Phil mcot and Rabbi Joshua broe thank you for being here gentlemen getting ready for pesak in pesak mode pesak Zone we got two special guests tonight a little episode on Jewish media personalities right very very different Alon leevy who was Israel's official government spokesman uh is not any longer but has a start of a Nation Podcast a wonderful podcast want to highly recommend and promote and share find them on any podcast players start state of a Nation sorry state of a Nation great interviews and great commentary great insights on what's going on and really in some ways continuing to be a spokesman for Israel but without any of the without any of the shackles that we're holding him back before and Jake Turks Jake a friend Jake is a wonderful unusual personality blending asid background and today the White House correspondent for magaz magazine has a seat in The Press Room at the White House and really two Jewish media personalities but very different excited to bring them at first even more excited to bring two other tremendous personalities and Brody what's going on gentlemen maybe a future white house uh correspondent right here maybe representing behind the Bea exactly press credentials press credentials we also just got ready we we're starting to prepare for the Seder right now we had a fantastic event the other night couple of the rabbis and uh that was really special got to learn a lot from from from both of you tell us about that event we had almost a hundred guys really uh I guess You' say people that are going to be leading their saders and they were looking for some uh some material some good stuff so you could go and you could do it in sh like I'm sure some of the places out there are doing here you could take a couple Devar tours here you go or you could do it with a four four course meal Five Star Event you know where you have great great wine and some other great drinks and it was just really really amazing it was fun went through all the parts of the S thank you re mosquit for putting it together was really great four rabbis four courses four cups and every step of the Seder lots more than four D Tor and I might have drank El Yahoo's cup also I might have drank the fifth one you might have you might have hit the fifth cup too people I got great feedback on it great a lot of enjoyment um you know these these Notions of the sort of manator have been around for a little while trying to pre prep people not to the exclusion we do plenty of women's learning women's programming women's shm women's pesak prep um but we didn't get any negative feedback I expected to get beaten up I feel like the people who beat up the man Sader have just gotten tired with it already what do you s of mos you get any feedback on it I got great feedback the guys who came really loved it you know again I think we take it for granted that most people don't really prepare for the satar until they get to the seders so if for nothing else this gave guys a weak Advantage head start on preparing for their seder thinking about what they wanted to say you know it was great also we didn't just give different Tor we gave little um tidbits little piece of advice along the way of how we run our saders of advice for them that they run their Sader so I think for the average guy you know it's not something you usually talk about you don't like get together with friends and be like hey how' you run your seder do you have any ideas so this is a great opportunity to both hear from us but also just to sit next to guys and be like you know what's something cool you do your s that I could take advantage of and and to me one of the best parts was you know at one point we took questions and answers and it was clear that like there were just parts of this Sater that we've been doing by root or mechanically or in a robotic fashion for years and guys loved the opportunity to be able to step forward and be like why do we do that by the way and here our answers I think it's great yeah why and how and what it's great a little magic turning some water into uh into wine or something like that yeah yes yeah when we say at the s that we want to keep the children interested we want to keep R Brody interested if it keeps R Brody interested we're good to go we're good we're good we are good to go I will say RAB Brody you definitely set the record I mean RAB Gober got a few sheets of paper I had I think one safer I blo Alla to you came with a stack I mean you had like six seven of and RAB Goldberg reminded me he's like now you can't use those at the Sor because now they're Alles but might be a little in trouble right now but uh but it's it's it's great it's great getting ready and today even at at BRS I mean there is an incredible Kos hasem taking place it's not the first time but it's it's uh it's become a you got to pay what you want Market PES market we've ordered trucks and trucks and trucks fruits vegetables eggs dry good thousand pounds of hand shur matah in conjunction with our dear friend y did harush who complicated this year because his matah Factory produced a lot of matah he was in Gaza when he should have been out there selling and uh Mitzvah guerreras Mitzvah the opportunity to thanks to a generous Anonymous donor buy a th000 pounds of that hand schmura mat and help him and at the same time distribute it to people who need you know the cost of matah think about it it's flour and water and I'm not minimizing places charge what they do because it's expensive to produce but it's very expensive to produce and um yeah I don't know next person wants to leave a billion dollars not just to endow a medical school maybe we should endow huram masa for Jewish people it's another good use but it's um so yeah we're really proud of it hundreds of families come today we put out the coal to try to raise the rest of the money and we can still use more but made enormous enormous Headway thank God and getting close to our budget to be able to help people and and and it's not just the poor the Indigent we're not looking for the people who really it's the middle class it's the people who are slammed and hammered and struggling and they need relief they just need relief how do I get through this month's paycheck with all the additional expenses days off of because of Yanti and he just he some relief and the whole idea is pay what you want take a box fruits vegetables take what take and if you want to pay exactly what it cost us which is which is the wholesale cost pay that and and you'll feel like you didn't take anything and if you want to pay more pay more and if you want to pay less pay what you can afford nobody's looking nobody's counting nobody's doing anything and we do it now before sh before Kipper schom legasi his brainchild he was the first he once ordered one pallet put it outside my office people came took a few oranges and it's grown into this and schom is just a machine ofed and it's uh it's fantastic and we're excited about it it's amazing the beautiful part is it's not just the kidish obviously locally seeing the people who come and and you can tell the story last year we had a group of um of uh of non-jews who came who heard about it and um they were interested in partaking of our Goods as well and we gave them because it was a kid of Shem but uh even internationally I was in t last year right around this time and it was amazing that people knew about it people were talking about L of people are saying what a point of light it is and a point of Pride for the Jewish community and you know different communities every community on their own is trying to replicate it trying to figure out what's the secret sauce that they can do something similar in their Community because it is it's it's a beautiful thing and it is it's Mitzvah Guerreros Mitzvah not just in the sense of the pallets of the matzah but it's every you know the kids who come to volunteer it's the people who drive by and see it in action and give it's the people are able to partake and those everyone wins when they drive by our campus over the next two days and they see it because the givers that those people who are the recipients it's just beautiful for everyone it is and I'll tell you our local you know people wor are the local kosher supermarkets upset at you we undercutting them not only they're not upset they're doing incredible job on their own right you know this time of year they give out many many food cards so people can shop with dignity who need help they give it off get give it through the local rabbis at at a discount and uh you know I know there are people upset about the prices we're not commenting on that not defending them I'm not criticizing them I think it's a complicated question they definitely definitely go up a lot and I don't know if there were some objective party who could help review that but they also do their part and and they help a lot of people in ways that people don't know and they deserve credit for that so they're not upset and they they partner with us in that and we're excited and Wednesday Thursday 4 to 10 p.m I don't know when you're listening to this or watching this but Wednesday and Thursday before pesak 4 to 10 p.m. if you need some relief or you want to help or you want to contribute definitely come on down to Bone synagogue and we would we would love it we would love it so re mosco it's Press Room you got one shot in The Press Room that call and you you raise your hand what's your question to who who am I in the president with you're with the uh president's press secretary president's press secretary I got one question my question is that's a good question in the Press buy M some time I'll tell you what you're in The Press Room either in the white house or in Israel the prime minister's Press Room you could ask either one a question what's your question it's a good question I wouldn't ask I would I would show appreciation statement thank you for supporting Israel yeah yeah I would I would show appreciation because whether you agree fully disagree these are these are really complicated issues I know for some people they're simple but they're complicated and they're geopolitical factors and we get all that and I think the more we as a community do a good job of expressing our appreciation for those moments where they are there for us I mean the fact that there were hundreds of rockets and drones shot at Israel and because of multinational you know alliances they were shot down largely before they even got to Israel with Jordan with Saudi Arabia with America I mean it's astounding what's been accomplished and I do think whether we fully agree disag again it everyone's allowed their political opinion but as you wrote so astutely um you know we have to be appreciative at those moments for what's you know it was human hands that built all those um missile defense systems but they were funded they were funded by countries they were funded by America they were you know other countries gave us airspace and I think it's important to express that appreciation I got one ask a question you ra I want Mr President Administration I just want to thank you okay then maybe I would push a little bit I got a question not only do I appreciate what you've done and hopefully what you will do but it's important that you stand strong and proud even though there are forces on the fringes that are pushing you into places where you might not want to go just know that you've been doing the right thing we appreciate it the Jewish community in America and around the world what's your question would you like to be a guest on behind the beima and then we could ask more questions Ah that's like the genie in the bottle what's your One Wish what's your One Wish Limitless wishes what about you re Goldberg yeah it's a good question I think I would ask a question about what is a country's responsibility if their citizens are held hostage to bring them home and is there more America could do for its Americans leave Israel out American citizens are being held in in in Gaza by Hamas do we take that out on do we confront you know what more can or should we be doing because not necessarily about Israel al there's a lot of questions about Israel but but even about American citizens in this in this conflict you know how tragic you saw that Rachel Poland Goldberg is is um one of Time magazine's people of the year what a tragic way to be a person of the year because she's still waiting her son hir and and we're thinking of him and obviously all the hostages we we like many others we know we didn't invent this but we're encouraged urging people to designate a chair at the Seder table for hostages we made a poster with a collage of those hostages that say let our people go because it's thousands of years later pesak and we're still saying let our people go and anyone here can download it just go to our website yeah go to the show website BOS online.org download it put up a picture because hopefully the hostage families will get when they see that the Jewish people that thousands millions of Jews around the world can't enter pesak their table doesn't look just joyous and complete and whole and Regal but there's an empty chair as a seat because we can't fully experience our our seder without uh without there so yeah I I would push about the hostages I think I think I saw did know again we're a political up behind the Bea but Donald Trump's trial criminal trial began and there's no media in the courtroom but they report and run out afterwards apparently at like two trial sessions he fell asleep yeah did you hear that tired ex but he posted he doesn't use Twitter what does he use now he posted on his other true social is that what it's called true or truth I don't Brody do you have a account no you're not on there do you have to pay for it I don't know but he posted on Truth social I sent this to somebody who notoriously falls asleep every time I open my mouth to speak here he he posted on there I wasn't sleeping comma in capital letters I was praying that's a good one every they could go with that you know people the shabas right because it's a super long drer there you go that's your opening a lot of people will be able to afterward say I wasn't sleeping I was praying right I was listening I was listening listening I always announced that in the shear I give on rashash afternoon so of course a lot of people have the mug not to sleep so that people are exhausted and they come to the shear and what's inevitably going to happen they're going to sleep so I said I'm your cover because if you're GNA sleep at least sleep at a sheer right and I was like you made the effort you get the effort for coming I'm like I am your cover you've arrived now you can let your eyes close a little bit and let me soothe you to sleep yeah nice let me let me ask you a question the the the attacks that came in from Iran we heard motay shabas did either of you find out before chabas ended yeah what was your reaction like what what what was going on if you came back to SCH shab this afternoon our security guards keep us uh posted on uh it's on the other side of town what they think we need to know because remember there was a lot of um talk that Iran wasn't going to attack directly neither direct from Iran directly to Israel they were going to use a proxy and hid an Israeli Embassy or Jewish Community or sh so like so many other our security was was on a little heightened alert so the guards filled Us in that um you know the on the news that they had heard which was that missiles were on their way drones were on their way and um obviously we we said to after M we said a few of to Hill and really tried to uh prepare ourselves to hear what was happening relieved after havdala to hear that it's a miracle it's a miracle and and I don't think we begin to understand it yet we will some say a miracle Bigger Than The Six Day War the 300 missiles could come from so many directions layer drones ballistic all kinds of missiles and um and for the allall to be shot down it's unbelievable that young Drew's girl who we pray for the one injury but it's it's it's mind-bogglingly miraculous I heard she's out of the hospital already yeah oh thank God yeah there's much nothing thank God they said on on the news they were saying how to to knock these Rockets out with the Iron Dome it's the this is the guy that invented it so it's not like someone commenting on what he did he said it's the same thing as like if someone shoots a gun and the bullet's flying and then you try hit that bullet with another bullet that's how hard it is that's I'm like you yeah wow so I'll take us into our our um our prees episode um what's your prediction this year you know we've had years where the sho's packed the whole world comes down to Florida we've had years where we thought that was going to happen but it's not as as full as you know our members stayed and didn't go away let's get a prediction from each of you this your pesak at batone synagogue pesak in Florida lot of people going to Israel for pesak packed you think this is the year people are coming to Florida I I found in southern clemets a lot of people are staying staying back this year they staying home not some thing I think a lot of our members are staying a because Israel not everyone's going to Israel and B because um short Andoid I mean it's always the same amount but because you know it's not a lot of week days you know why would you go to Mexico if it's all Yanti so I think a lot of people are staying there's anything wrong with Mexico we love Mexico um but I think a lot of people are going to stay my feeling is it's going to be crowded I'm gonna agree with you on that one I think first of all I think almost everyone's moved to Florida so I think everyone lives here now there's no one left anywhere CR going with crd think now someone made a comment are we the only we give both First Days full Dres right you're going to give a full drush I'm GNA give a full drush and they're not they're not excessively long but they're not short either someone told me that the mug and many shs is that the rabbis don't speak on the first two days of P correct I think most shes the rabbis don't speak I think many shes in the New York the rabbi's not there can't tell you how many rabbis I know who are going away because they say my sh empties out um you know there's no criticism or Judgment of them I kind of feel like a little bit with the ship and like but the people who stay home also need a rabbi um in Florida it's different we we describe that we get to be Scholars and residents who sleep in our own beds because we look out and it's all these people we don't know but we're able to stay home um I love being home truth is I love being home I love being with my my family and I love being with our shul family for Yam toam so um but a lot of rabbis don't interesting the first mornings but why not if people aren't sure why not have a Torah thought doesn't have to like you said doesn't have to be a but why not a why not a thought Alon V Jake Turks two very different Jewish media personalities but both worth listening to I want to again alon's new uh podcast state of a Nation really recommend it he's had some great interviews find it podcast players listen like share state of a Nation Jake you can read in Ami magazine Ami magazine PES Edition might have a little spread on bat by the way just might don't tell M might have a little spread on on Bome so you can find Jak alone on his wonderful new podcast state of a nation and we are honored to be able to have them both on wishing everyone look forward to seeing you on the other side welcome alone thank you so much for the opportunity to go behind the beima since the beginning of this war October 7th we've been clinging particularly those outside of Israel obviously in Israel living it in real time but really clinging to the news and relying on spokespeople to tell us what's happening and Advocate all of our Collective interests and you've been at the front line of that form of the war the online War and the media War for that we are so incredibly grateful to you and and grateful for the opportunity to talk to you today so thank you so much thank you robon I'm a great honor to join you so let's start with your your first coming to Israel right you made Aliah during during a previous Gaza War to be able to enlist and to join and to fight it must be particularly poignant and Powerful for you to have fought in a Gaza war on the ground and and then to fight in a Gaza war on the air on on the air in the sense of uh of the media and and online and and through through traditional media what what does that mean to you tell us a little bit about that that Aliyah what what moved you to leave um Great Britain and to to to move to Israel and to really volunteer that service well I actually made aliad just after the end of the last Gaza war in 2014 the plane took off while the war was still raging and it landed half an hour after the ceasefire came into effect the following morning I turned up at the enlistment Bureau to sign up I was sure that I'd flown into Israel to enlist during a war thankfully for everyone uh that didn't uh happen because the war had already ended but suddenly mixed feelings knowing that I arrived in Israel just after a devastating Gaza War we fin ourselves in another one and mixed feelings as well because my military service uh immediately after making Aliah was in Kat the unit of the Israeli Army that is responsible for Israel's humanitarian Aid policy Visa V the Gaza STP so one of the things that I was working on after the war was the question of the Reconstruction of Gaza how we get cement into Gaza while making sure that Hamas can't steal it and the UN can supervise it how to give them more water how to give them more electricity the conception the false conception we had was that if we could show gazans that life was improving during times of not war then they wouldn't want to declare war on us that Hamas might be evil Psychopathic anti-semitic murderers but if they see things are improving then they will be deterred together with military strength and all of that exploded on October 7th we we realized that Hamas wasn't interested in ruling Gaza after all it wanted to lure us into a trap and so when the war started I had uh a lot of mixed feelings then about the military service that I had performed under the uh strategic assumptions that had unfortunately LED our country to this catastrophe H how would you compare your experiences fighting the offline war and and then being in this army fighting this online War what are the SIM ilities what are the differences in terms of of the enemy because there are there are enemies who threaten us physically offline you you you your service and now this experience online some really hostile environments and interviews we've watched we could talk about the the meme that went viral of your eyebrows probably never you never imagined you'd be known for your eyebrows but the Absurd question that was reflection of the hostility that that you faced and continue to face what are some of the similarities what are some of the differences between these two chapters of service that you've had for the people of Israel look the situation online on social media is awful it's vile we're getting slaughtered not only is this David against Goliath but we're fighting on a battlefield that prioritizes Goliath because if these platforms uh prioritize virality it means they promote things that are already popular and so if you have only 15 million Jews and not all of them are on our side it's very difficult to make a message resonate and make a message message cut through especially when you have going against you not only Hamas the Palestinian uh Authority the international media who are willing to buy and replicate their lives at the cost of human lives a whole chorus of un agencies and an alphabet soup of so-called human rights organizations that amplify hamas's lies and that means that when you fight for Israel you get subjected to a lot of hate a lot of hate and vital um and you have to develop a thick skin and say you know what as long as I'm in Israel I'm safe they can't get to me they can say whatever they want but we have to keep fighting the good fight because the cost of not winning this war or of this War ending with Israel's reputation in tatas is too much to bear uh and that's why even though I'm no longer in an official capacity as an Israeli government spokesman as far as I'm concerned it's just a change of phase and we'll continue doing the same work with interviews with briefings with social media to keep telling Israel's story around the world because it has to be told um there is a difference between social media and traditional media um in traditional media you are forced to confront a journalist you have to respond much more quickly than social media where you can take as long as you want to respond to a particular tweet and part of what we've been trying to do in this war is to adapt to the different battlefields you know there are media interviews there are press conferences there's social media and within social media there's Twitter and Tik Tok and Instagram and Linkedin and they're all very very different platforms you need to try to adapt yourself to each one what do you in in the current War what do you think Israel has done well in that battle on social media Tik Tok and Instagram and what do you wish they could be doing better I think that Israel's response in the public diplomacy War has been far better far better than in previous rounds as soon as the War Began the IDF spokesperson's unit enlisted hundreds of reservists they're putting out information in a timely manner infographics videos the foreign ministry as well is extremely active on Twitter as well and on Instagram they're getting information out there and we've been working with much greater coordination than I think we've seen in previous rounds and I think we've won a certain number of points I think for example we've won the point that Israel can no longer be expected to live next to Hamas world leaders said that very clearly at the beginning of this war Israel cannot tolerate the Hamas terrorist regime as its neighbor the problem is they're now finding themselves tying themselves into knots trying to explain how Israel can stop having Hamas as a neighbor without the Contin continuation of a war that they want to see stop David Cameron for example the British foreign secretary wrote a column the other week that was astonishingly pro-israel if you read it closely he said in as many words Israel can't be expected to live next to Hamas anyone calling for a ceasefire and just hoping it will stick is not addressing the cause of the conflict which is hamas's Rule of Gaza and Israel can't be expected to live next to that now he hopes there will be a diplomatic dialogue that we'll see Hamas agree to dissolve itself we're more skeptical about the prospects for that and think we're going to have to fight with real bullets um not Magic Bullets um but on that point that this isn't another round that this isn't going to end with a bit of Tit for Tat and then okay Israelis you've had your fun it's time to return to the status quo anti we've won um but challenging a whole mechanism of un organizations and agencies is an enormous challenge because was when the UN coordinator for ABCD are telling you that Israel is restricting Aid good luck when all you have on your side is the facts does the does Israel's hasar machine or at least you we could ask you directly are there targeted attempts at education you take someone like Joe Rogan most popular podcast on the planet more people listen a DAT to Joe Rogan than most countries have people and yet he's invoked the the genocide trope clearly out of ignorance he was he was educated on one of his episodes recently although I don't know if that successfully turned him around or not so is there is there a is there a targeted effort to reach out to the people who have the biggest platforms and the most influen because if they can get it right they can that'll trickle down um I would love to appear on Joe Rogan's podcast and if he is watching behind the Beamer then then take this as an invitation to fly out to your studio at the time of your choosing I think that in this war we've been very good at social media at least much better than in the past traditional media there was a point at the peak of the war when as a spokesperson's team together with Ambassador Mark RAV and tal hin and ABY Heyman we were doing maybe 30 interviews a day press conferences as well that got picked up live by BBC Sky News and the others um but suddenly we're seeing the information landscape evolving into places that um perhaps we'd underestimated their importance podcast for example I've been doing a ton of podcasts haven't quite uh been able to book myself onto the major Big League ones Twitter spaces are where people are getting their information from people are getting their information from the chats during uh gaming as well which isn't a market that we've penetrated at all it's where a lot of the young people are getting their information and I hope that when this ends there'll be a serious think about how we pivot towards those new platforms as well but it's you know it's a Manpower question it's a Manpower question about how many interviews a team of spokespeople who let's remember were not in place before this war started right are not officially appointed um civil servants came together as part of the emergency mobilization of Civil Society in the diaspora after October 7th just how much they can physically do yeah I think it's also important sort of as the APAC model and politically that you need to make those friends and keep them close before the time of Crisis so they're in place maybe like you say some of these influencers and the more popular podcasters and the places and platforms that are disseminating information we shouldn't be waiting for a crisis or a war or a flare up if we can keep them close and connected and and informed and educated even before hopefully they'll be more eager and open to to representing the truth MOS I just wanted to pick up you we were caught with our pants down I mean the Army has a a weighty uh public diplomacy spokesperson's office in place the foreign Ministry has all its embassies but the core of the State under the prime minister's office the infrastructure simply did not exist there at the beginning of the war those long-term relationships that should have been sustained were not there and and one of the things that I want to do with my team uh now is to do a serious lessons learned process where we look back and think okay what did the state do right what did the state do wrong and what would a proper crisis Communications effort look like um in anticipation of the next War loen may we have peace amen I want to pick up on on one word that you said a few minutes ago which was young people there two words um obviously with the impact and the effect of Tik Tok and Instagram and that so many people as you said are cons uming news not through the New York Times not through the Wall Street Journal not through CNN or Fox News but they're getting it through gaming they're getting it through these little micro videos that show you know horrific videos of Palestinians um there's a lot of good news in America the good news in America is by and large Israel enjoys an enormous amount of support both within the American public and within the halls of Congress the challenging news is is that there's a huge generational Gap in those numbers and specifically when you get to a younger population who are getting their news from these non-traditional sources um they're getting the wrong piece of information do you worry about that longitudinally in other words over the next not just now but over the next 5 10 15 20 years that as this generation of young people grow up they're growing up with misinformation and how do we get to them and educate them before they're in the halls of Congress and before they're the next Joe rogans who have been educated through Tik Tok absolutely this is a serious strategic problem for Israel and the Jewish people because one of the the biggest predictors of whether you're going to be in support of Israel or Hamas is not age or gender or race it's age sorry it's not it's not it's not it's not race or gender um or class it's it's age um you see that very clearly in every Harvard Harris poll showing who do you support Israel or Hamas and uh Congressman Tores one of our greatest friends made this point in the episode of the podcast that I filmed with him of the the state of the nation pod in his office uh in the Bronx during a recent hasbara tour of New York that the main problem is age and it's the consequence of years of indoctrination in universities and a long cultural shift now is there a possibility that as people get older they become more conservative so to speak they drop their more radical opinions they adjust more towards the real world yes that happens in many other cases people have go through a phase when they're students when they're radicals and think that burning everything down is cool and then and then they meet the real world but it's not a good starting position to be dealing with um when America's youth are split 5050 between Israel and the family burning gang raping uh terrorists of Hamas and this is where it's so important that we have the involvement of the diaspora and why I see my role in this new effort that we're setting up um as being to reach out directly to the diaspora before I was speaking as a government spokesperson to journalists now I'm back in a civil society capacity reaching out to the Jewish world as well we have uh matching funding from the diaspora ministry as against for a certain amount as against funding that we are able to crowd uh fund for this new initiative called new Israeli discourse taking the team who've been working with me since the beginning of the war most of them unpaid volunteers and trying to make information accessible to the diaspora but also give them a kick up the backside because the situation is appalling appalling and when I was in the US just now speaking to people I realized that it's so much worse than I had realized um I don't want to be alarmist but I think it's fair to say the Golden Age of American jewry is over I don't I haven't spoken to anyone who's more optimistic and thinking that actually this problem is going to go away and things will revert to type they won't maybe this is history reverting to type when you have mobs marching through campuses chanting globalized the inter students feeling abandoned and betrayed by their faculty and by their academics as well the situation is deeply disturbing and in order to reach the Young Generation it's not enough for me to be in a suit and tie standing in front of a Podium and a flag we need people to fight we need the kids who are scared to go on campus because there's a pro Hamas protest at a time that kids their age are literally in a tank fighting Hamas in Gaza we need you to go to college we need you to fight we need you to put up hostage posters when they tear them down put up two when they tear down two put up four build alliances with other minority groups on campus whether it's Hindus or Christians or I don't know who get them to join you on putting up hostage posters show solidarity show that you're not alone and part of what I have been trying to do is not only to make that information accessible but but to give the youth a kick up the backside I was in the states just now um to take part of the Hill International Israel Summit in Atlanta and I gave a speech about what it means to make gen Z gen Zionist I said being a Zionist has always been about standing up to the bullies you don't let anyone push you around you don't let them call you names and in previous generations Jews have always stood up to the bullies even the odds were even when the odds were stacked against them more than the Tik Tok algorithm is stacked against you now I told them and we need you to fight and if you want to make Aliyah make Aliah come to Israel believe me it's amazing to live next to the beach and swim in the Mediterranean on a Tuesday afternoon but if you want to stay in America there is nothing more Zionist and nothing more Jewish than to stand your ground stand up and be counted and fight for your place we need you to to make the world safe for Israel so that Israel can make the world safe for the Jewish people in so many ways the young people are the source of hopelessness because they get it so wrong but on the other hand like you're describing they're also very possibly the solution u in a recent interview that you did with Times of Israel you said it's only in the startup nation that someone can go in three days from giving interviews in their living room to standing behind a Lector and saying prime minister is office and you you said I think one of the incredible things about Israel is the cultural tendency to take young people give them an an amount of responsibility trust them and say run with it all of which happen so what you're describing is possible it's the young people who can run with it that's the startup nation of Israel and that's the startup Jewish mentality wherever they are but let's talk about you a little bit um with that with that reflection in terms of the fact that that you were not necessarily on a trajectory towards this career and I'm wondering what you thought you were going to go into what you thought you were going to do in be I know that when you were young when you were 14 you were on The Debate Club being on The Debate Club did that prepare you to debate with the BBC and with the media was The Debate Club really actually planting the seeds for the career that you would have in debating others and representing what did you think you were going to do how did you end up here and where are you going from here without a doubt the best training that I have ever received for media is debating and I say this to all Jewish parents who ask how do we raise the next generation of Israel Advocates one make sure that connection to the Jewish community and Israel is something they feel in their kishkas and two send them to Debate Club you don't have to feed them fact sheets about what happened in 1948 and what happened in 1967 teach them to stand on their feet and argue um because in debating you got given an issue you know nothing about or you know everything about it but you are on the other side and you have 15 minutes to come up with the most convincing barnstorming speech you can do and to to think on your feet and argue and stand your ground and we need more Jewish students to do that whether it's in their Hills or whether it's within the broader University um campuses the problem isn't that they don't know about Israel it's that they don't have the skills to stand up and argue um look I did have I did have a certain thought growing up about about doing something similar and being a spokesperson for Israel um Mark RV was Mor really an inspiration growing up because I would see him on TV defending Israel against hostile media interviewers and over the last few months he's been my mentor as well it's just a shame that it had to happen in such horrific circumstances um obviously um being a spokesperson in a war is not something that anyone wants because we don't want war where and where do you go from here the podcast now um you've pivoted to it I know it's got a big following it's growing state of a Nation what what's your goal with state of a Nation who who are you hoping will be the listener and what are you hoping they take away from it we have managed in about a dozen episodes since launching to get around 20,000 subscribers on YouTube over a quarter of a million views on YouTube alone the idea is Jews and supporters of Israel around the world are hungry for information so that they can defend Israel how do I know what to go on TV when I do an interview as a government spokesman as an ex-government spokesman it's because I have in-depth conversations with the people who know what they're talking about so we built a TV studio it looks like a talk show where I can sit down with policy experts and journalists and writers and policy makers and pick their brains about what the information is so that I am better prepared going to the next interview and so we are inviting viewers to join and be a fly on the wall so that they can leave the episode saying wow I think I really understand that issue much better I have the information that I need to go out and fight Israel's case um we're planning a bunch of other initiatives to try to continue getting the message directly to the world one of the amazing things the internet has done if you put aside the Bots and the trolls and how easy it is to to spread fake news it's the democratization of information it's maybe made it more difficult to get accurate information out because there's so much bad information but it's created new channels for non-governmental actors to get information out to the masses um and we're focusing now really at the moment to be honest not thinking far beyond the end of this war because we don't know how long this war is going to last we know that hostages are still trapped there and all the awful things that are being done to them we're still struck stuck fighting Hamas um as we record this the country is on tender hooks because um there are reports of a potentially imminent Iranian missile strike on the country um we don't know whether this is going to wrap up in two weeks or escalate into something much bigger and longer and deadlier but hopefully we're going to build the infrastructure here that will not only help us fight the information War but create the foundations for something going forward to do the the um in Hebrew they call it the campaigns between the wars and that's something we'll be able to do here as well so that hopefully we don't enter the next War completely unprepared you would mention the trolls and the Bots I would imagine the position that you held in the position that you're putting yourself in earns you not so many friends in the international world let's just put it nice ly like that um and as you said while you're safe in Israel I would imagine it's challenging when you travel around certainly the public face that you played what do you need all this for you could sit in your home there are plenty of Jews around the world that have chosen to sit on the sidelines youve put yourself front and center as the face for many people around the world of Israel advocacy why do you need that headache if we don't win this war we're all going to die we don't have a choice that there simply is no way that I can say you know what let Hamas convince the world that Israel is guilty of genocide let it convince the world that we're committing acts of rape in hospitals and deliberately starving the Palestinian population and committing war crimes on a mass scale it's not going to affect me of course it's going to affect me put aside lofty national interests me personally what is the world going to look like for me personally as a Jew in a world that has turned against Israel do you think it'll be a friendly place for me even if I'm not a face of everything that has been happening now we are at a critical inflection point in Jewish history right now where either we mobilize the whole free world behind us to fight the forces of barbarism and support our democracy and liberal values all the free world is going to fall down an anti-semitic rabbit hole and with the rise of China and Russia declining American power Rising anti-Semitism in the United States that is a recipe for a bleak solution oblique future for the Jewish people you know the um there's the movie The Day After Tomorrow about a sudden climate crisis and it ends in a very strange way where suddenly the storm stops and everything reverts back to normal that's not going to happen here there is no way to hope that the storm will simply pass you by if you keep your head down it will come and it will get you it will come and it will get you and there there will be nowhere to hide if the world is convinced that Israel is essentially The Reincarnation of Nazi Germany and that's why we need everyone to fight including the Cowardly celebrities who are afraid of career suicide if they stick their necks out because they're going to come for you too it'll take a year it'll take five it'll take 10 but you will be guilty by association simply for being a Jew and they will force you undergr and I don't want to live in a world like that I don't think any Jews do yeah they've been very disappointing these celeb how do you prepare for an interview when you know that you're going to appear for 5 minutes are you practicing sound bites I know in the media world you don't have long form conversations I mean the beauty of your podcast and and in some ways you've been liberated from from the the constraints of both being a government spokesperson and The Limited sound bite world where you could have long form conversation on podcast how do you prefer when you do appear though on American cable news or British cable news are you preparing sound bites that no matter what they ask here's what I want to say really regardless of what they ask um or or you just going to wing it based on when they ask you have the information you'll see how it's going to flow is your goal to educate to Advocate are you trying to turn the minds of the extremes or are they hopeless and you're just trying to get the people on the fence what goes through your mind when you get the call alone can we get you for for five minutes on the BBC that was around 20 questions though yeah he's a rabbi that's what we do you can't just wing it uh you prepare sound bites main points sometimes it's an interactive process where I'll finish an interview upload the clip onto Twitter and then in order to shrink it down to Twitter size I find the most succinct way of saying it and then I say Ah that's the sound bite and then that's the phrase I'll repeat in the next interview because I've had some time afterwards to internalize and think about it one critical thing is tailoring yourself to each country it's not easy it's why it's good that I have a team helping me as well if I'm going and giving an interview for India I need to know what the Indian Prime Minister has been saying lately uh because I can't assume that the Indian public knows what the British public know or certainly not what the Israeli public uh knows so you have to go in prepared you can't go in with a script in your head because if you go with the same same Spiel no matter what the question is they will know that you're they will know that you're trying to um exploit them and not actually answer the question you have to answer the question but you stick to the core phrases you stick to the main lines you try to think of the simplest way to distill the facts and do do you match them meaning if somebody's intense is it helpful to be dramatic and escalate or is there a value to stand calm throughout and and just making the persuasive argument is there a training or is there exercise as you're doing as you're as you're getting ready to go on and and for That interview to stay again the perfect example is that Viral meme the eyebrow episode which is the least thing you should ever be known for but part of what made you made you famous and and I imagine that was not premeditated because you never could have anticipated such an absurd question as what she said you know is the value of the Palestinian life only a third of a Jewish life that's why so so few hostages from many prisoners and your reaction in real time helped actually get that clip out and and your answer and your answer to it did you realize while it was happening that your reaction was an outlier or was just that spontaneous and and it just happened that reaction was not premeditated but it was conscious as K Bley was asking that question I found myself asking where is she going with this question no she's not yes she is okay here's a moment of TV gold you have to do something I remember telling myself on the count of three pull a face one two three now and I told myself hold it hold it hold hold the expression um and I off the interview I cut it and I realized that this would do well on social media did I expect that it would catapult me to the kind of like pop culture icon that has somehow happened in the last few months absolutely no absolutely not I'm gonna have to hop off off just another question okay sure if we can try to wrap I'll find it I'll I'll ask the following you um I'm assuming that because you're excellent at media nothing is accidental on this interview including your backdrop and I'm noticing a lot of books in the backdrop I see a BB autobiography David Cameron I see the manak bean by Danny gordis I see a lot of ab Eben books um I see Ally by Michael Orin uh if you had to distill that down to two books that you would recommend one or two books that you would recommend all of our listeners has to read in order to better understand how we got here where we are and where we are going what would those books be and why you're right to notice that nothing is accidental and I have embedded a lot of subliminal messaging into the background behind me you notice just behind my ear there's a book that says trust yes not a coincidence and if you look over here the books spell out a coherent narrative who betrayed the Jews the world can the whole world be wrong people love dead Jews a history of delusions WTF wow none of that so which books do you recommend if you want our listeners to to go get some books and read them in addition to using their bookcases to communicate their feelings um there are a lot of outstanding books one that I think I can spot behind me Yosi Klein HEV is like dreamers a deeply mov book about the liberation of Jerusalem in 1967 that brings together the complexities of Israeli society and tells not only the story of the geopolitics of what happened um but also the rich cultural Mosaic of this country and gives it that Nuance that is so often missing amazing Alon thank you for joining us thank you for all you do we should have success and continuing to spread the the message of light the light should dispel the darkness and and please God next time we speak it be to Mark a Israeli victory in the return of our hostages home yes thank you very much let's hope the hostages get back by the time you launch this uh episode and we can set about the important task of rebuilding our country and and rebuilding our people amen welcome behind the beam of Jake Turks the great Jake Turks senior White House correspondent Chief political correspondent fori magazine and uh wouldn't necessarily picture a having those titles and those rules and yet Jake here you are many iconic images of you in The Press Room some of the questions you've asked over the last few years you and I have been privileged to meet in some uh amazing places together and it's great to be behind the Bea so thank you for joining us thank you very so much for having me the long TI you gave for me I very much appreciating don't ask me how to spell it because there you go that's great so there there's two Jake Turks right there's I suspect that at your bris they didn't say Jake yeah I think Dr jao was once asked the same question and he he said he was by the bris was Mr Hyde there you go what what's the yish anuman howan yanan tell him by his name so how did a Yan become Jake how did tell us a little bit about your background where you grew up and how you end up having press credentials sitting in the Press Room of the White House I'm I'm kind of picturing myself sitting here as a kid watching this show waiting like what's he gonna say like like how how did he get there how is my future self a kid from Bar Park going to end up in the White House and what's press credentials and like what's a journalist we didn't even know what journalists were you couldn't spell credentials I still no for sure listen I was born in bar Park I went to B and if that wasn't good enough I was kicked out of class every day so it's not like I even gave the system a chance you know what I'm saying like the system's like hey maybe we could have made it work but like you were never present what are we gonna do I'm sorry you know so I can't even blame the system at all I wonder there's probably a kid right now watching that's in the same circumstance just kicked out of school and he's like you know what now I know what I can do I can go work at the White House there you go yeah imagine if it was kicked out for having internet to watch your show right could be it could be so tell us how do what was the trajectory what happened so you didn't fit into the system or you didn't give the system the chance that's your background so that in a way defined me because I had this like if I felt a teacher was doing something hypocritical or whatever wrong like I would I would say it and I was never scared and I knew and this is back when they used to throw patch from all sides so like I kind of had this uh propensity towards asking questions of people in Authority even if it came at the expense of my personal comfort and um obviously I don't recommend it because I lost out a lot on my formal years of education so as you could probably tell from well um but I was always very curious I was always natur naturally drawn to wanting to find out how things worked wanting to understand things and so when I would get kicked out of class I would go to the school library and I would read whatever few books they had I would just I would just read a lot and my mother was librarian so she brought home books all the time like you know the Curious George Baron steain beer type books so like I I I love to learn more things but I didn't appreciate the classroom setting in which was in uh now as an adult understanding that ADHD is more than just a punchline to a joke about squirrels it's um it you know the generation that tried to teach me wasn't as informed about different kinds of uh behavioral issues that children uh especially children from large families sometimes end end up having to deal with and today uh mostes are much much better equipped to dealing with these kinds of things but back then you know you're the troubl you're the kid who's who's and you know I don't want to deal with you let the principal babysit you for the next for the next day or two so some people some people rebel some people with that background who don't fit into the system they rebel by leaving the system by by dropping yish or or Torah or a or way of life an observant way of life you rebelled by going to the White House I rebelled right I rebelled by working within the system to try to improve the system which sounds very cliche and and it is actually I'm sorry that's what I was so um I I became an English teacher when I got married I was like 20 became an English teacher and I did it for a decade I loved it I was even when I was in eth grade and I was out of English I would like kind of work as a substitute teachers assistant W and you know my parents were my grandparents it's it's you know it's one of those beautiful blessings in life and so that in a way I was teaching Junior High and then I started teaching high school as well and you really got to know what you're teaching because the kids are going to call you out they're gonna you know kids are merciless so I had to learn how to spell things I had to learn the rules of grammar I had to learn how to express myself in a way that I could then give over to them and I loved it it was great you know like like rades says I learned from my students more than from my masters it was literally that so how how do you go from being the English teacher in the classroom to journalism so I always had this natural inclination towards questioning that which you're not allowed to question and I did it like with stuff like you know was something about the gamar that that didn't make sense to me like I would ask the question even if I knew um Rabil mechanic he's he's a he's he's amazing he's phenomenal in what he does and so he came to speak to us uh in in I was in Tel Shiva Chicago at the time and he did a whole thing and he was challenging the to ask him questions and no one had the guts and I was the only guy I I I would get up and I would keep asking questions because I had a lot of questions and I never had an opportunity to ask these questions of someone like him right so I didn't want to let the opportunity go to waste so I was asking him all these questions and you know of course like he dealt with me like that I wasn't a big challenge for him right but for me it took courage and then after and then everybody like like getting those looks and hisses and like oh Happ you know like I I kind of knew to expect it already by then but at the same time if I felt that like um a teacher had like made a promise and didn't keep their promise I would call them out on that too it wasn't just a I was I was kind of I was a rebel against anything that I perceived as not making sense and I found it in the system a lot and you're a great example of somebody taking what could be a negative quality but channeling it for the good in that you've now used it to challenge the system and ask questions and and and leave your comfort zone in an uncomfortable setting so so tells Yeshiva doesn't have a school newspaper what was the first uh how did you start you know writing and being a journalist and credentials and so the first time I started writing was camp on him the camp on him newsletter their first uh year camp on him a sleep away camp in the mountains and by mountains I mean the Casco mountains I I know you have an international audience so there are these basically you go to you got a sleepo camp and um there were new camp there were certain things that hadn't been taken into account before the year started which one of them being who's going to write the camp newsletter they didn't have someone to do the camp newsletter so I was like hey I'll do it not that I knew anything about Camp newsletters I I knew how to use Microsoft Word and you know some some basic programs a little bit but I was good at making fun of people so you know if uh I didn't like if the league Captain did something that that bothered me i' make a few jokes about him and I'm like why don't they just write it up and why didn't I get the camp to provide a computer for me and then I'll just do it so that's that's exactly what happened I got my computer and I was just making these jokes about people and I knew I wasn't a writer because I didn't learn formally how to write but I knew how to I knew how to tell over a story and so I would just write it exactly the using the same words that I would use in verbal communication ation and then when I was when I was teaching high school and we were doing the task program which is their GED equivalent and one of the things you got to do is you got to take these kids some of whom have had nothing Beyond a fourth grade uh education and you got to within two years bring them up to the point where they could they could take the seven and a half hour test including writing a persuasive essay and an explanatory essay so I was like get up there say a story the guy says a story and but like something that happened like a personal story tell me about a time you were like you witnessed a car accident you know so they'll describe it and they'll describe it in in Vivid detail and they will be mostly grammatically correct like the sentences will end at the point where the sentence is supposed to end and then when you want to ask a question it'll be a question mark at the end right so when when people speak they already naturally know the basic structure of a sentence a paragraph a story but when they sit down and they say oh now I have to become a writer let's see once upon a time where do I go from here no just tell the story right and so I was able to we were able to bypass so many of the the the hangups that kids have when you got to memorize nouns verbs adjectives subjects predicates like I'm already learning 18 hours of I'm not interested in memorizing these vague Concepts but if you listen to how people naturally speak their sentences will have a subject and a predicate they don't have to know that that's just how that's how we communicate right so um that kind of got me into exploring uh different writing styles and short story uh stuff and jokes I was doing I was writing a lot of jokes on Twitter back then were were you at Ami first or were you in the White House first no the White House was was uh uh I was with army their first year the year they open oh yeah um are you nervous as a writer for AMI where you're saying I got to be honest I want to just tell people what I'm what I'm what I'm feeling or what I see but they're not going to publish it is the camp not going to publish it when you want to write about the uh the basketball team are you kidding I'm nervous now talking to you guys yeah of course of course I can't write like just what I want to write no way you got to be sensitive to I'm saying um let's say I believe uh something is true and I know it's going to hurt somebody's feelings right then you're not g write very simple right so now I have to think am I should I write the story anyway and I change a guy's name or should I just not write the story at all or should I ask the guy and try to like ease him into it or should I just not say anything and assume he's not going to read it because why would he I I mean you got to ask yourself these questions and this is just on a basic bard level right so if you don't want to hurt people's feelings you definitely don't want to offend them and there are topics that are going to offend people and and hurt them in a way that is not constructive that is counterproductive so let's say it's something we both agree on let's say we both agree on a certain like kly rol is doing something wrong and it has to be brought to their attention right we could all agree that I would not be the right uh person to do that um you know there there are there are people who who are supposed to do these things the ra the right so even if we all agree that this is a subject that has to be brought to the front and center I'm I'm not the guy to do it so I'm not looking to cover things that would be considered controversial in in the sense that I would do it against a system but I wouldn't do it against individuals in a way that it would hurt them does that make sense it makes sense let's fast forward to today you're very outwardly your appearance obviously um reflects you're being an a tot observant Jew a proud Jew practicing Jew have you experienced anti-Semitism in The Press Room in the Press Corp um are there people who who've been rude or holded against you or protesters about Gaza how have you navigated your your very public Jewish identity with your your career it's it's very interesting um I have felt certain tensions let's say that I wouldn't say I fell previously or if I felt it during the Trump years I would have probably attributed it more to just the chaos of the Trump years more than anything personal but people do seem a little bit on edge even when're not discussing this topic and it usually becomes apparent that somehow this topic is related to it at the same time I I do have strong empathy towards what the Palestinian people in their world from their point their whole world view they they are definitely suffering and I'm not saying that it's not their fault or it is their fault I'm not differentiating whether they did vote for Kamas 20 years ago or they didn't vote for Kamas or if they don't have voting rights at all over there but just to understand them on a basic human level so you know if someone's in pain don't argue with him don't like don't don't try to tell him that what he's going through is not real or that what he's going through is so easily solvable just one person has to pick up the phone and say hear the Jewish children back we're we're sorry um they don't want to hear that because they're right now they're suffering right now and they created this this intricate world just it is such a fascinating world that to them that is the entire world that's all they know right and in that world we are the bad guys and not because they necessarily hate Jews they just they feel that they have been wronged by a group of people it's not about the title doesn't mean that they might that they wouldn't let out out their anger on Jews in Belgium or Canada or anywhere else they might but the root of it is not inherently anti-semitic but you haven't had in The Press Room you haven't had let's say the Cor respondents of other major networks who will come over to you and say hey you're the Jew look at you dressed and and Jew what do you think or how do you feel or what has your experience been like in the in the Press yeah no I mean we're working with very professional people they're they're not just GNA lose themselves in the moment like that especially when I'm not provoking no one's provoking them you have good relationships with them when the cameras are off and nobody's fighting who's getting called on next yeah we I try you know try to hold doors open invite people for coffee just just be a mench you know uh put on deodorant before going to work you know what I'm saying I I heard the history of The Press Room was that there whoever is giving the press conference not allowed to leave until they answer all the questions it's clearly not the case now never no okay so how do you get called on and and and how often do you get called on and what's the procedure for getting called on so every press secretary has their own method um the Trump press secretaries were more open to the little guy the uh the outlet that wouldn't necessarily get that kind of exposure by other press secretaries and it did create friction with the big networks because obviously they they hated that because there would be days that CNN wouldn't get called on and CNN would go would go nuts and other big networks going so when you see a guy from a from you know a little network but that looks weird and whatever call it what it is then they get resentful like why is this guy getting a question and I'm like this major guy no one's looking at me did they ever say to you listen I got a question but they're not gonna call on me so can you ask my question does that ever happen yeah we had that a lot during co uh because we had to do rotations so like there was a a point when I was only getting a seat once every few weeks because you know you have you have the the TV rot the wire rotation the TV rotation and the print rotation the print rotation is the largest so we had eight seats and in a rotation of because print by print includes news websites also so the you know New York Times is print but Huffington Post is also print and Bre part real so what we see on the on on the news Fox News or CNN that's not that's not the print edition of a of there's a separate press conference for that group um so so that's that's actually a great question so some Outlets do have two um they do have two spots because they created two separate entities like Fox and Fox Radio operate as two separate entities but they don't have Fox online um Newsmax has one seat but they share it between their TV Edition and the print edition or TV Ed their online edition they rotate every every press conference you go to you're prepared with a question in case you get called on um you got to be prepared and it's so much harder than it sounds because you gotta you gotta know you got to know the story if it's a breaking story which usually is you gotta get the right you gotta get the words right and you don't have a lot of time to to figure it out it could be in a an industry that you're entirely unfamiliar with with well you have very few uh minutes to get yourself and you also have to be confident that you got the right words right um then there is I mean you're always concerned someone else might might ask the the question before you so you need a backup question and then another question and most of the time during the press conference you you think of something better to follow up on than what your question had actually been so um but we really have to be prepared is for those moments where you bump into uh the president in the hallway which which which happens it has happened and you have one second to to get his attention to start asking a question in such a way that he wants to stop and listen if he stops then his whole procession stops and Secret Service doesn't doesn't say anything but if he keeps walking he keeps walking you just stay in one place you don't follow him and uh and you know that's how and not only the president I bumped into the vice president Secretary of State like cabinet level officials in the hallway you got to have the right question for them and I imagine Jake that you're not your question almost every time is not about right the economy or health care or immigration is is it always about Israel or the Jewish Community or anti-Semitism or you are asking about those no the opposite it is about the economy it is about immigration it is about healthare it is it is about the issues we care about because we know that Hashem going to take care of Artis all one way or another whatever the government decides what the government is following the script we're all following the script we're just part of this interactive play that's playing out in real time that we're both participants and attendees of and so ultimately there are more important things to focus on in the bigger picture pre October 7th because now there are a lot of I mean they're moving pieces every every day and any decision the administration makes has a direct impact on people's lives and ntis Ro so obviously um this is this is a time for for focus on that BEC because of your access do you get phone calls from heads of loc major Jewish organizations saying listen we could call the White House and and and ask the question but you could put it on on an international stage do they tell you what to ask do you get questions all the time no that would be inappropriate um and I I mean it see here's the thing if if you have you have an idea for a question um tell me let me hear sure I'd love you know I love when people send me questions because it makes my job a lot easier but B it gives me a sense of what people are interested in in knowing now sometimes these questions are highly Technical and it's like this guy had a problem with his Amazon account and he thinks of the federal govern I'm like okay whatever no but maybe it's actually an important question maybe it's something that a lot of people deal with I don't know right but sometimes um the person is living in his own bubble and they think that this is like major important and in their bubble it is and I'm not taking that away from them but ultimately um the more questions I get the better sense I get of what people are interested in in hearing but for an organization to say hey why you ask this question you could assume that the question is something that's self- serving through the organization so so right away I'm already looking for like what's their angle here H how has life changed for you since October 7th do you do you view your role not just to try to ask questions to report the news but to use it to Advocate you know when when I've watched you know press briefings it's very clear both whether it's Peter Ducey is he still doing it Fox News or CNN's person right you know which network they're from because of the angle they're asking the question and they clearly have an agenda and and and you might agree with one agenda more than the other but and again maybe last Administration this Administration they're trying to play catcha they're trying to to help them explain themselves because they really want to help the world understand them do you view also do you come in with an agenda that that you're not just there to to report the news but you're there to Advocate you know you represent we're tiny people and we don't have no no one else in that Press Room certainly for the Torah interests or angle um is going to advocate so when you're thinking of that question or that interaction on the hallway especially since October 7th are you looking to not only get good news but also to to use it as an opportunity to influence what's rule number one Do no harm rule number one for me is do know that's that has to be rule number one and most questions that I want to ask are questions that might not be again I might not be the right person for that kind of question um let's say there's a scandal involving the uh son of the president president um or daughter of the president now it's a very legitimate news story but it's not something that my audience is very much interested in we we try we stay away from from from lanara it's not it's not our place not our place it it's it's something that journalists should talk about and should get to the bottom of but for the one from Jew this can't be my priority and this is something that has to be consistent across administrations unless the president's son is acting in a in a way that's directly harming the community or my audience more specifically then you know it's it's not it's not my uh it's not my problem I'm sorry um not just not my problem no it's something I want to avoid well when you come in let's say on the on the Israel side will you ask questions that are also advocating so you'll say Administration can you defend that you are not holding Iran more accountable or defend that at the un you called for a ceasefire without making a condition on the hostage release or Mr President or press secretary there are American hostages what are you doing to bring them home yeah so those are yeah those are legitimate questions and I've asked those questions um that's not advocacy advocacy would be like saying you know you just pledged $ 166 billion doar but don't you realize that's not enough send another 24 billion that's advocacy um asking about um how do you justify funding onra which is something that I asked about um and something that I they haven't been held enough enough to account for the the money they poured into un a billion dollars in three years to unan and other Palestinian agencies and we know exactly where that money went and we knew back then where it was going and we tried warning them and there were Republican Congress members that tried raising the alarm and the administration just disregarded just everything um that is something that that's way that they should be held to account that's something that that they should have to answer for and uh people should take responsibility for it and whatever consequences uh result from that wow I'm just wondering when it comes to the protocol for asking questions sometimes you'll notice people ask it seems like one question which seems appropriate and then sometimes people say I've got three questions and they just rattle off three is that allowed because I'm like what we where and they three totally it's not a followup from the first question it's three totally different questions right so goes back to the first the question that um I think e asked a while back about how do you get the press secretary to call on you or what's like what's the protocol for that and it it really comes down to what your personal relationship is well how how badly they they need your audience but also what your what your personal relationship is and if if you're if you're mench behind the scenes and you're just trying to do your job and you're just being professional they have no reason not to work with you you um a lot of the right-wing reporters that have complained either publicly or privately because they haven't been called on across very long stretches of time like I'll go over to them and say when's the last time you went over to the press secretary just just whatever in the morning you say hey just good morning checking in saying hi just how you feeling how you doing they like no I I never talked to her uh you know out of the briefing room so like so then like they don't even know who you are they might know your name you don't have a relationship with them why why would she like right you didn't take a second to acknowledge her why would she acknowledge you not that it even has to work that way just you know so and then sometimes they there are certain reporters that they try to avoid because they they're already guessing that they might ask on a certain subject that they're looking to stay away from and then other times uh it's kind of expected that you would call on a reporter who uh represents a certain audience on a certain type of occasion BR you have a big question yeah so you know you're I don't know if it's your official title but you're a you know a chief political correspondent for the for for AMI magazine and I feel like in some ways I'm I could potentially be a chief political correspondent for behind the Bea and uh you know if if someone you know another another uh fellow yiva guy wants to go and uh just give it a shot in in the press press room how do do we apply how do we get in there Brody wants to know how he can get some press credentials to the White House I've got questions also for these guys he wants to his dream is to raise his hand and say Josh Brody on behalf of behind the beam I have a question correct what's the ticket yeah um right Chief political correspondent was my former title senior White House correspondent is my present title oh wow and somehow let's just say I don't have editing access to my Wikipedia page so I it says both as if they're both current that's the difference okay and sometimes it gets picked up like sometimes Outlets will describe me in an interview they'll or whatever and they'll use the full thing I'm like you can't be both that or that sounds very pretentious like you know I'm just looking for either I don't I'm not so particular been the senior Executive Vice President from marketing and also I'm in charge the trucking Department like but you know what I'm saying like please chill just just how did you how did you get the credential is interview is it a me magazine was it you is there is there a reference from somebody that gets you the in how does one yeah you know somebody's got a Blog now they can apply to be uh in The Press Room of the White House it's very very tricky there is no no um there's no answer really um it's so there's uh a congressional pass and a White House pass the White House pass works for the White House the Congressional pass works for Congress and the White House and anywhere else in the country but having the White House hard pass gets you certain privileges that having Congressional pass doesn't so uh you want to have both essentially but having a congressional pass makes it infinitely easier to be able to get a White House pass though you don't it's not necessary because like I said there is no formal process you get a congressional path there is there is a very defined process it's a very long process and most Outlets don't end up uh even starting like I sat down the first time I sat down with them they're like I said what so what's the first step of the process like okay here's this application fill it out had a lot of questions about um a lot of them centered around the outlets finances and stuff they want to know um like how much they're bringing from sub scriptures how much is store sales how much is ADS uh who has stakes in the company they want to know if there's anybody with an agenda because if like imagine you're a big Oil Company you'll pay a guy 100K to go down to Washington get him a press pass and ask questions that are going to yield your bottom line millions of dollars in whatever kind of subsidies come as a result of or whatever so there they they take this very very seriously so the first time you sit down with them like fill out these for these forms and send us a few recent samples of your magazine and then someone's going to get back to you in the next four to six months about the next step in the process and then you're like okay and how long is the process and they'll say well typically on average it takes about two years could take a little longer and then most people who hear that are like whatever you know two years do you have to live in DC and be available every day I'm saying shabas let's say there's a important conference and you're not there do they is that a strike against you because you didn't show up so yeah no that's that's a great question um I didn't realize that we're gonna like like we'll have so much to talk about just about the the day-to-day of the job um couple add people here yeah see now I forgot the question so did I is it held against you shabas you can't be ailable right no but before that there was more of a of a general he wanted to know do you live in DC oh okay right so it was more about how present you have to be the answer is you don't have to live in DC so long as you live in either Maryland or Virginia um that's good enough but you have to live in one of those three wow I'm out yeah how was Jake how was your how was your family and how was your background Theus in general received what you're doing it's it's sort of out of the box it's an outlier may be unprecedented um are you ever through your questions or support of Israel accused of being a Zionist which may not be consistent with your background or can you love the people of Israel and be concerned about the safety is it is it a complicated thing for you to navigate in that sense given your your family and your background Rabbi bro are are you gonna be upset if I answer by Goldberg's four questions before I get back to your two question that's why we'll never get a press pass by the way I mean listen if you're gonna ask three questions ask three questions let me answer the first go whatever order you um how did my community take it you know you know you know how the firm Community is we're we're our biggest fans and critics right and if if we don't like what someone's doing we think someone is doing something better could do something better more importantly if you feel you would do his job better than him if you if you were there then let me hear absolutely like what what does means I mean it means he is he who learns from everybody is wise including and especially the people who come over to you unsolicited true but they have advice for you and they're clearly passionate about what they want to tell you so hear them out hear them out you learn something so yes I've gotten criticism and I've learned from it and um it's they're usually right because like like I don't see myself and I'm not like an honest Observer of myself like I look at myself as Oh I'm great I'm awesome I'm a celebrity wow people come over to me they say nice things and then they say mean things and it's part of life but then you gota you got to stop for a second and say I have an opportunity I have an opportunity to become a better person right so like these people are helping me they're free therapy and they're coming over to me I don't have to even look for them it's beautiful it's a good attitude not easy I'm not look I'm not like being flipping about it but it's it's helpful it's very helpful like having this just mindset it just makes it so much easier wow does the magazine that you happen to represent at any given time if you don't get question in for a couple of weeks do they come back to you and say listen we're paying you to get questions you're not getting any questions is that looked at like a like like you're not doing your job or it's like you do your best and it's sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't let me tell you something right now I'm looking at a screen yeah that says the word Amy magazine on the screen right and you guys have thousands of viewers and they're gonna see the words Amy Magazine on their screens Amy is so thrilled I provide so much more than than they will ever realize or even deserve and so I think I think they're grateful for whatever I bring in um and uh at the same time I'm I'm H you know what I have a a tremendous appreciation for them because they took me in I was 23 years old I'd never written other than that camp newsletter I'd never written before my life like I didn't even like in school I didn't even write almost ever because I like I wasn't in class and then in high school I was a little more into it um and I had a few very good teachers and tells But ultimately whatever who cares Yan I love it keep making a kidish hasem we appreciate you representing our community in in a place that uh I don't know historically has there ever been another from member of the press Corps of the White House's who's been in The Press Room are you are you the first so for my mother was probably gonna be watching this Ma I'm from so um thank you thank you are you the first you um am I the first prob I mean I don't know I don't judge people like like um maybe someone in 1972 And like I mean but so visibly with a yamaka on aipa wearing yamaka wearing observant Jew in The Press Room standing up raising his hand asking a question no I don't think I mean I I mean we would probably know about that I mean you probably already know about that right so we don't so I don't know another one you got a big responsibility it's a big stage yeah no but I'll tell you that there have been from reporters that have like blazed blazed away and you know Yan was was writing for hamadia back then um he's he's a Pioneer um you know guy where's a full of he was writing when you know when I was like I think before I got married even he was already like a published writer andal from Bar Park um there's uh this guy granot who used to from mishak in Israel and um there was a point in his life where he he adapted the the G Garb and he would visit Muslim countries and dress like Aid and he inspired me people like that um like very often the the first person to do something is the is the one who isn't noticed but then the guy who kind of Builds on what what those people did and then he kind of perfects it a little bit that guy gets all the attention but you know we're all standing on the backs of giants over here wow yeah there's also social media has made a big difference also because social media the streaming of press of of The Press Room and and conferences I think has made a big change so hasem should help put the right words in your mouth and represent us and Advance our our interest and our cause and make a k every day and all that you do yank thank you so much for your time and for going behind the Beamer with us any any last closing thought that you want to share uh yeah I mean we should we should go in front of the beam and you know I would share some fascinating insights into n that I uh now now your mother's worried that you're not a from if you're learning that I want to tell you something you mentioned October 7th one of the ways that October 7th changed me and not that it was October 7th that did it but it was I said you know I want I want to be a better person what's one way that I what's one thing I could start right now that'll make me a a an infinitely better person and I said I should call my parents more often that makes me a better person and I I call my parents all the time I share I share my day with them um and I had almost no relationship with them prior to this wow not not that I was avoiding them it's just that you know I'm busy they're busy whatever it is but um not a week goes by that I talk to anybody on the phone more than more than to my mother and during during the eclipse I went down to the Mexican border and we got totality it was M because it was cloudy until like a minute before totality and then the clouded clouds returned the minute after it was I and I'm serious it was a crazy um experience and I said wow this is so profound this just experiencing totality I said I must share this with my father and so I called him and he picks up he says I'm working now is is it important now when he says he's working means he's learning because that's that's what he does um I'm Ser like he he finished CH 17 time about 16 17 times wow and Ju Just just one tiny little Tibet when my father makes a SC on CHAS he celebrates by opening his kitchen cabinet he takes out a bottle of Jim beim he makes a privately without any fan fear and then he starts kamaras from like all over again that's the kind of person he is he would he would cringe If he if he put on a saer long enough to know that I'm I'm saying this about him and I had to I had to like reverse engineer his life to figure out how many times he finish that's how I came to the number 1617 but like he's never told anybody this W so good thing only when you call your parents what language do you speak to them in um yeah more yish uh yeah kind of a mix but maybe more yish than English yeah I don't know I guess more yish wow yeah probably more I mean I grew up speaking only yish like we had a rule no English in the house you were only allowed to read English you were not allowed to speak English and then you became an English teacher you like that that's yeah that's that's why I guess right that's my way to rebel against the system it's a healthy Rebellion it's it's channeling channeling what what others might see as a liability you turned into an asset and a career which I think is a is a great example and and you're doing it in a way that's a KES hasem so we really do appreciate the time and we're looking forward to seeing you in front of the beima and behind the beima and uh not on the beima in other places as well keep doing great stuff thank you and um I hope if if I do mess up that you'll be very gentle but also very honest with your critique like don't hold back but just just go gentle with it Absolut good listener I accept just you know not too aggressive fair enough fair enough that's and that's we feel the same way we feel the same way so thank you all right we'll be in touch great to see you too and thank you so much for the opportunity I mean I've told you this many times R Goldberg and you know I'm not just pandering when I say this you from what I've seen about your Community it's it looks like the ideal Community for surviving the tail end of gas I I hope if it's necessary for me to end up there on the way to Messiah I hope I'll be guided in the right direction in a clear in a clear way but what you've established is something very special and Brody you're you're privileged to be working with you know this probably better than anybody else thank you so much for having me it's my privilege we got a great team and we'd love nothing more than to have you join us have to brush up on our Yiddish but we'll we'd love to have you here with us you'll teach me English I'll teach you yish oh it's a good deal it's a good deal thank you thank you thank you for watching behind the Bea catch us next time for another Peak behind the Bea