Call Me Back - with Dan Senor - Call me Back LIVE - with Michael Rapaport

Episode Date: June 22, 2024

Share on X: https://rb.gy/un15s6 Today in this special episode, we are releasing the first episode of the Call me Back podcast recorded before a very enthusiastic live audience at the Comedy Cellar in Manhattan. Our guest was actor, director and comedian Michael Rapaport. The focus of our conversation is about how Michael became such an energetic, provocative, and hilarious voice on behalf of Israel and the Jewish people since 10/07, as well as his observations on why more Jews from the creative arts and entertainment industry have not been as outspoken as him (or, even worse, why so many have remained silent). We also discuss his reaction to those who criticize Israel “as a Jew”, and his experience dealing with the professional cost of proudly advocating for Israel and the Jewish people. You can follow Michael on X here: https://x.com/MichaelRapaport And on IG here: https://www.instagram.com/michaelrapaport/ Find Michael's podcast, I AM RAPAPORT here: https://www.iamrapaport.com/

And one of the things that I ranted about was, you can say as a Jew this, you could say as a Jew that, and you could put up watermelons and free Palestine and explain all this bullshit you want. But just know, if you were in Israel on October 7th, you would be treated as a Jew. Like all of us, and your f***ing flags and your c***s and your watermelon posts and what's on your... That s*** is not... They don't give a f*** about any of that. It's 7 o'clock p.m. on Friday, June 21st in Jerusalem, where I am right now, as Shabbat is about to come in, in 12 minutes, to be precise. It's 12 o'clock noon on Friday, June 21st in New York City. Well, today is a first. We are releasing the first episode of the Call Me Back podcast recorded before a very enthusiastic live audience at the Comedy Cellar in Manhattan.

My guest for this live event was actor, director, and comedian Michael Rapoport. I'll say more about Michael's career and bio in our conversation you're about to hear, but the focus of our conversation is about how Michael became such an energetic and provocative and hilarious voice on behalf of Israel and the Jewish people since October 7th, how he has taken on Israel's critics, his observations on why more Jews from the creative arts and entertainment world have not been as outspoken as him, or even worse, why so many have simply been silent. We also discussed with Michael his reaction to those Jews, and there are not many of them, but there are some who criticize Israel, quote, as a Jew, meaning they use their credential as a Jew to inflict even more

harm and criticism upon Israel. And also what the professional cost has been to an entertainer like Michael Rappaport for proudly advocating for Israel and the Jewish people and defending Israel and the Jewish people. It is a spirited, thought-provoking, and at times, a laugh-out-loud, funny conversation. I hope you'll enjoy it. Michael Rappaport Live. This is Call Me Back. Good evening, everyone. First of all, thank you for being here. How many of you, just like an applause here,

how many of you have been listening to this podcast since we started four years ago? Wow. Okay. All right. Okay, so we're going to bring up our guest here in a moment. Before we do, a friend of mine, Josh Obror, who's here from Detroit. Where's Josh? Josh? Okay, there he is, right there.

By the way, he didn't come in just for this, to be honest. He had some business in New York. But he was shocked and horrified as he stood in line coming in here tonight, and he started texting me what was going on just moments ago. He was shocked, saying, I cannot believe this. He was overhearing conversations. People are here on dates. No joke.

There are people using this to get intimate. Then five minutes later, I'm actually listening to women in line talk about how they got babysitters weeks ago for this, and it's the first time they've gone out of the house in months. Which, by the way, Michael Rappaport and I were back in the green room and I was getting these texts from

Josh and I was reading him and I tried to explain to Michael that this is a very Jewish event. So listen, let me say a couple things before we start. Again, I want to thank you here. I think what everybody here has in common is that you all, since October 7th, have been red-pilled in some way. And you kind of look around and think that everybody's kind of crazy, except for the people in this room.

So this is like a nice community. That's right. And so we're here tonight, not only for our first live, formerly our first live podcast, but we're here tonight because, or maybe in spite of the fact that there are a lot of people who don't want us to be here tonight. And there are a lot of people who don't want our guest tonight to be in front of audiences. In fact, as we will talk about in our conversation, he's been on the receiving end of efforts to get his events canceled. This event will not be canceled. One of the things I think has happened to many of us since October 7th is we have found new friends and we found new community and one of those people for me

has been our guest tonight who reached out to me soon after October 7th because he DM'd me I was a little scared because you follow him on Instagram and you think like you know he's like an ambulatory psychopath I'm like

and then he reached out to me to like discuss the finer points of the British mandate I'm like, and then he reached out to me to like discuss the finer points of the British mandate. I'm like, okay, this is like surreal. And I will say, and then we got together, and I would say Michael Rappaport is one of those people who not only has become a new friend, but he is someone who has really stuck his neck out and been a singular voice. I mean, there really is no one who has his voice, even at tremendous expense to him professionally, and he keeps going. So I'm going to do a formal introduction when he gets up here,

but please join me in welcoming Michael Rapaport. Michael is more comfortable with the comedy club scene I don't do a lot of Israel talks at comedy clubs this is more like your jam I do have to time stamp this it is 6.32pm on Monday June 3rd

here at the Comedy Cellar in New York City it is 1.32 a.m. in Israel on Tuesday, June 4th, and I am here this evening with my friend Michael Rappaport, who has appeared in numerous television shows and movies. Just to give you a sense of the difference between the cultural references from my wife Campbell and me, when Campbell hears Michael Rapaport, she thinks Life and Beth, the series with Amy Schumer, and my kids think Only Murders in the Building, and my cultural reference is Copland with Sylvester Stallone. So he's done a million TV shows and movies. And yet, since October 7th,

he's taken on an entirely new cause. So Michael Rapaport, thank you for being here. Thank you. Before we get into October 7th, because as you've told me, it has changed you. I want you to spend a minute or two telling us about your Jewish life, your Jewish identity, your connection to Israel, whatever there may have been of it leading up to October 7th. All right. I'd be remiss if I didn't say that I'm tripping up because, first of all, to hear you do the intro, which I listen to all the time, to see you do it in real life is crazy. And then also, like, I just was like, Aviv Redigor, Betty Morris, Dr. E. Knott Wilf, and Michael Rapaport. Like, it's just like...

You have arrived, brother. You have arrived. Oh, man. So, you know, I'm born and raised here in Manhattan, and I would be what people refer to as a bagel and lox Jew, although I get offended because I always consider myself a everything bagel, toasted, cream cheese, lox, onion, capers, and tomato Jew. But I grew up on the Upper East Side, and, you know, Judaism wasn't of much importance the way I was raised. We talked about being Jewish. My father grew up with anti-Semitism.

He grew up on the west side of Manhattan. You know, always told me a story about getting bullied. There was a bunch of Irish kids that would come from the Upper West Side and bully his gang. And then one day, his gang of friends gang, they were, you know, like a bunch of, you know, Jewish kids that played stickball. One day, the Irish kids, the biggest one, they called him Red, said to my father, you killed Christ. And my father was 10. He's like, I didn't kill fucking Christ. And, you know, the next thing, you know, my father's friends, you know, were gone. And my father was standing there with these six or seven fucking Christ. And the next thing, my father's friends were gone, and my father was standing there with these six or seven Irish kids, and my father fought the biggest one to a draw. And he always talked about that proudly,

and he always talked about standing up for himself. And as a Jewish person, being Jewish wasn't sort of emphasized in our home. My brother was bar mitzvahed. I thought I was going to be in the NBA. I couldn't go to Hebrew school on Sundays and Wednesdays because I needed to practice. By the way, my kids are here, so please don't. Don't give them any ideas. Stay in Hebrew school.

Thank you. Trust me. Trust me. You know, then when I started acting, you know, again, these are things that were, you know, sort of stuck with me. My father never loved the stereotypical Woody Allen, Larry David, you know, sort of stammering, you know, Jew Jewish persona that we all love to be entertained by. He just didn't want me to do that. So he put that my head and you know I grew up you know and started acting and you know was in well doing all my things and you know being being Jewish was just it's how I led with things because especially growing up with you know blondish red hair

people was like you Irish you what are you I'm like yo I'm Jewish but I never had anti-semitism it wasn't a big thing for me except for you know my whole family's Jewish and when the Charlottesville situation happened when those tiki torch kids were running around Charlottesville that Friday night and they said Jews will not replace us that really really resonated with me I was offended by that and concerned by that. And I did a social media post sweating with my dog on a Saturday morning, just similar to the way I do the posts now, but it was like, you know,

fuck this, fuck you, you tiki torch and if Jews were going to replace anybody, you'd be the last people we'd want to replace. But I had never seen, it was like very it was concerning to me. I never had known how social media works, and that got a lot of attention

from all races, creeds, and colors across the board. It was simply about that. It wasn't about the politics of it that came afterwards. It was simply about that. And then with the Kanye West anti-Jewish stuff, I was very, very, very concerned about that because this is a very prominent person he was saying crazy things you know very openly and continued to double down

and triple down on it and i was saying things about that okay pause there go ahead because i want to ask you about we'll get we'll get to the aftermath of october yeah but just where were you on october 7th and i guess my first question is where were you just describe were you on October 7th? And I guess my first question is, where were you? Just describe how you learned about events and how you were like processing it. OK, so I was performing that night, October 7th in Israel. I was performing October 6th, October 6th, Atlanta. I was doing comedy and I had done two shows. And, you know, I'm not a late person.

And I went to sleep later than I normally do. I like to go to sleep early I woke up the next morning flooded with dms from text flooded flooded flooded you see what's going I didn't see it the night before flooded and I was like oh shit you know and I woke up kind of later than I normally do and I was you know just kind of gathering everything and by the time that you know I was really sort of ready to you know day, I went on stage again, the 7th of October in Atlanta. I did two shows. And then the next morning, I flew back to New York the 8th, which was the Sunday. And I was catching what was going on, but I was kind of sleep deprived. So I wasn't on my phone as much as people would expect me to

be, because I'm on my phone a lot. Yeah. A lot, a lot. No, no, I know. Way more than I should be. No, no, we know. We know. Okay, okay.

I got like wrist issues from it. You know, and the 8th, when I flew back, there was rallies in New York. And there were pro-Israel rallies. And there were, you know, pro-palestine rallies and by the time i was sort of really understanding the enormity and the violence of what was happening i saw this girl on the news going like this to these israeli people in times square in new york city and i was then i started really on my phone and on the news and i I was like, holy shit, and realized the severity. And, you know, Dan, I mean, I talked to you about this.

I grew up, I wasn't an expert on the history of Israel, or certainly don't even consider myself an expert on the conflict of Palestine and Israel. I still don't consider myself an expert, but I know a lot, a lot more than I did on October 8th than I did now. And, but I just, from the violence and the videos that were being shown, like I knew that it was something bad and something substantial. And then the reaction, to be totally honest, the reaction on the 9th, that Monday Monday and like seeing people celebrate the shit in New York in New York where I'm from which you know is a city for everybody for white black Puerto Rican Jews this is a Jewish city especially New York there's there's no like I never had to me like the melting

pot is real to me but to see people celebrate this kind of violence in real time i don't know like it just something like it was like a fight or flight and something just i just was on attack mode because i was scared yeah i was scared of what i was seeing but there's been violence against israel and israelis for you know as long as Israel's existed, but in very gruesome ways in terms of more modern forms of terrorism. You look at the second Intifada in the early 2000s, over a thousand Israelis slaughtered in suicide bombings, and you go to, obviously, there have been wars between Hamas and Israel 2008, 2009, 2012, 2014, 2018, 2020. I mean, every couple of years, there's one of these skirmishes.

And there was these skirmishes. 2014 lasted over 50 days. There was a major ground operation in Israel. Israel lost a lot of troops in that war. So there have been things happening, and yet you knew this one was different. I never saw celebrating in my own city about this and that along with what i was seeing the video the stuff that was popping up on social media was shocking it was shocking to me to see that like and i just i remember the first couple of ones that i saw you know like it was

like you'd see like 17 seconds and 30 seconds and you, a dog getting shot and was like, what the fuck is this? So to see it and then see the reaction and hear the reaction and the social media of it all, something, you know, was very, very. It's just a primal sort of thing. My reaction was primal. And, you know, I said something on social media, the ninth, you know, combative and to been on this crazy journey that I didn't expect. So one of the stops on the journey was November 14th, which was the date

of the rally in D.C., which you went to. You talked to me about what you were planning to do at that rally and what you ended up doing at that rally.

So can you tell us a little bit about that? So up until the 14th at D.C. rally, first of all, I had never been to any kind of rally. No rally.

And obviously the Knicks haven't won since I've been. No Yankee parade, no rallies, no nothing, no anything. Social, nothing. President, nothing. Never. I had been talking a lot, very adamantly, on social media and on my podcast. You know, very pro-Jewish, pro-IsIsrael pro-Zionist in the way that I do which is confrontational in a way you're confrontational yeah yeah I give the appearance that I am yeah and they had asked me about speaking at the rally and you know me and

my wife were like let's speak at the rally like they were you know calling my agency speak at the rally and I got the first list of people that were going and originally it was a lot of politicians and Biden's name was up there and Kamala Harris was going to speak and I was like I'm not speaking at this shit I'm not even going like this is too like I'm what am I doing like I'm not going up there with these what am I going to say then I wasn't going to go and then my friend and my wife were like let's just go let's just go and watch and I was down there and I'm watching and it was very beautiful but the vibe and the conversation and the speakers were not saying what I felt like needed to be said and I went backstage because I you know was close and they were like are you speaking I was like no and then you know we were

just a lot of people were coming over to me. Are you speaking? And then my wife and my friend were like, you should speak. So I said, you know, I'll speak. And, you know, this is like two and a half hours into like, you know, a long rally. But I just wanted to say, the thing that wasn't being said was, and then I said this, and I realized how crazy it was to say it. But I said it in front of the 500,000 people that turned up there. And I said, there ain't going to be no ceasefire until the hostages are returned. And I said that out loud, you know, and I said, the world will thank us later. And, you know, I said some other things

and I cursed and I just was like, you know, it was cool. And I was like, oh, that was crazy. But the thing that I left with and my wife, when we were talking, we were like, why am I talking? Like, who am I? Like, I understand there's a pedestal of Hollywood celebrities, actors who have made their career and their bones off of presenting themselves as Jews. Why am I the only male from my business,

which is a Jewish, you know, like so many Jewish celebrities, why am I talking? And I was glad I spoke, but we walked away. I was like, there's no one

that could come up here and like just, they don't have to be as boombastic, but can sing a song and just, you know, I'm here for you guys.

I'm with you. You know, everybody looks something. And that was another sort of step in this journey. And then a week later, 10 days later, we were in Israel for the very first time in my life. I had never been to Israel. Never been to Israel. So wait, what date, roughly? That was like late November.

November 20-something. Yeah, so I remember seeing footage of you there, and I'm thinking, wow, he's there quickly. It was barely a month after October 7th. And I was rocked by that. And my wife and I originally, we had a plan to go in December. After October 7th, we were like, we're not going. And we were like, no, we're not going. And then, you know, even before the D.C. rally,

we were like, we have to go. We have to be with our people. We have to go. And we went. And, you know, Dan, you know, what I saw in November, it rocked me top to bottom. It rocked me. It inspired me. It was shocking to see that. It was shocking to see what I saw in the kibbutz. And as soon as I got there, you know, I landed landed like 4 30 in the morning and we drove by hostage square which became this place and we stopped at 4 30 in the morning and to see no one there but to feel the horror and the sadness when no one was there that was just the beginning of a crazy two-week trip and then that same day you know we went from the hostage square i went back

to a hotel and took a shower and had some coffee. And then we went right down south to Kaputs Berry. And, you know, everybody has seen it. I don't need to go into. I saw everything and smelled everything. And that whole trip was just it would just hit me in my heart so badly. You know, and then I've been back two other times since. We've been there six weeks total, and we have another trip planned.

As much time as I spent not going to Israel, I know that Israel going forward will be such a big part of my life going forward. So, you know. Obviously, you've become a real persona in israel and you are celebrated for everyone you've locked arms with you've spoken at the hostage families rallies you've been but you can applaud that's all right but but one thing i think you have done that very few others have done is you become a real ally and champion for the local creative arts industry in Israel, particularly

the TV industry, particularly Eretz and the Deret, which is Israel's version of Saturday Night Live. And they heard you were in town and what? Keep in mind, for those who don't know Eretz and Deret, it is literally Israel's Saturday Night Live, but much better.

Because it's actually funny. And they got balls. They got balls. They got balls. All right. So they go places that like no one over here will go. And they are extremely tough on their government at peacetime and at war. And yet they were shocked by what they were seeing was happening over here.

They were shocked by what they were seeing was happening over here. They were shocked by what they were seeing was over here. And then the week before I got there, Saturday Night Live did a shit job of the context hearings, the famous context hearings. So it was just timing. They found out like the day before I was going and they sent me a script and I said,

I'll do it, I'll do it. Because I saw what they had done and I didn't read the script. I said, I'll do it, I'll do it because I saw what they had done and I didn't read the script but I said, I'll do it and I actually did that. That was actually, we did that the first day also.

It was actually Hostess Square, Arez, Nadaret and then Barry. Right. The typical itinerary for people who traveled Israel.

Yeah, and we did this incredible, funny skit based on, what is the name of those movies? the J.K. Rowling's? Yeah, Harry Potter. Which I've never seen, and I didn't even know what the reference is.

I've never seen any of them. Listen, I didn't read the books either, so let alone see. But, you know, just to tell you, funny, you know, when you, a production in America, even a small, I've done some small independent films. You know, you walk into a production in America, even a small, I've done some small independent films. You walk into a production in Israel, you're in a soundstage, there's a guy at the top smoking a cigarette in the soundstage. The trailer that you're getting the makeup on is literally slanted like this. It's a whole other thing. But we knocked it out and it was really really really really really really good and really well received and really hard hitting and it was in english obviously and it

just smashed that whole context thing i was so glad and that there was a voice for it because you know it used to be that saturday night live was the voice for that and they really fucked us badly on that. And they fucked the Jews and they fucked Israel. And it was weak and it was embarrassing the way they did it. That being said, I was glad I did it. And then I did another skit about the Oscars. So that was on another trip.

It was about the Oscars. Have you guys all seen the Oscars? So it was before the Oscars. We shot it two weeks before the Oscars. So you're coming to Israel and they say hey can we do another one Yes I go to the soundstage the same guy smoking In the soundstage

That's like not allowed This guy was up there I think he had been there the whole time since I came back It's just like At this point this is February I believe there had been award shows. There had been the Golden Globes. There had been the Emmys.

There had been maybe the People's Choice Awards. And I think I might have said something about it on social media, but at one of the bigger award shows, the Emmys, and we know traditionally in Hollywood from all the way back from when Marlon Brando spoke about the Native Americans to recently, you know, show business. We talk about women's right, LGBTQ, Black Lives Matter, pigeons dying, trees getting cut down, rambling on about everything. Some Americans, sometimes they'll be like Japanese director, you know, going making a speech. And, you know, it's part of artists speaking out whether it's

musicians no musicians spoke out at the grammys which was during the same time and not one person up until the oscars said the word hostages and after i believe it was the emmys like i was embarrassed i was embarrassed man i was embarrassed that no one said anything. And by the time I got to do this second trip, this was the second trip, they said we're going to do something for the Oscars. It's beforehand. But you saw the writing on the wall.

And we knew who needed to be sort of hit with the jokes. And we did it. And it was awesome. And it was fun. And it was great. And it was just like a little great and you know and it was just a you know like a little bit of levity and a little you know humor for something but it was stinging and biting and i was honored to do it douglas murray who you know uh yes

he gave this extraordinary talk a few weeks ago at the Manhattan Institute, and he had this one line that has stuck with me, where he said some version of, and I'm not going to do it exactly as he did it, because I don't have Douglas, I don't have that voice. Right. Killer. But he said there are moments in history where a flame goes up, a flash goes out.

Yeah, and everything is illuminated. And in that moment, in that flash of illumination, you can look all around you, and you actually see in that flash where everyone stands. And that October 7th was one of those moments where the flash went up, and you looked around, and you're like, whoa, I now know where he stands, I know now where she stands.

Some of them are surprising in a positive way and some of them are really surprising in a disappointing way. And when we first had lunch... That was like a three-hour epic sushi lunch. It was, it was, it was. Dan paid, that's why it was three hours. I mean, he kept going.

I was like, sashimi again, really? How about just the rolls, the cut rolls, you know? We really went after it at that lunch. And I'm not going to ask you to name names now, but at the lunch you did name names, and you talked a little bit about you really couldn't believe who had disappointed you. And can you talk a little bit about that?

I know you referenced it earlier. Because Scott Galloway, who was on our podcast, he talked about that too. He says he's going to the CEOs of investment banks. He's going to the CEOs of talent agencies and saying, who are Jewish? Why aren't you, like, you have so much influence. Why aren't you doing this or that? And they all have unsatisfactory answers.

You know, I won't say names because I have made a pledge to myself because I say a lot. I say a lot about a lot of people. I've tried to 99% to not publicly disparage any Jewish people, even if I don't agree with them. That's why I'm not naming names and all that stuff. And I just don't want to do that because we're being disparaged enough by everybody else. So, you know, the actors, people know who they are. You know, it is what it is. But it wasn't just that.

You know, I'm a huge sports fan. The whole Colin Kaepernick in the NFL. I'm a ginormous NBA fan. I've been on all the sports shows, ESPN. You have a huge sports podcast, Sports Focus. Across the board. And for nothing to be said, and knowing that when Brittany Griner, who fucked up, she made a mistake, but she shouldn't have been held in jail that long.

But every day on ESPN, every single day, they said, free Brittany Griner, WNBA, NBA, free Brittany Griner. Nobody is saying, nobody is saying anything just about the hostages or about the American hostages. It doesn't have to be Jewish or Israel. You can say free the hostages and you want peace or, but just the fact that no one was saying any of this and just see what was going on on social media to see these marches and to see the anti-Semitism and to see what was going on against Israel and listening to your podcast. I mean, I told you this, like, you know, and listening to other people's podcasts and really, you know, really informing myself as an adult when I'm looking to learn and getting everything clear. And also that one big thing that my father

always told me was don't be a pussy Jew. And that doesn't just mean physical, you know, it sounds like it means like, you know, physical. It's a mentality, you know, and it's an emotion. And all those things combined and the trip to Israel was really like, I mean, I was already all in at that point. But after all of seeing all that and meeting the people that I met and reading and listening and understanding, I'm a Jew, you know, and we are under siege, and Israel's under siege. And to see Jews say nothing, to see Jews say nothing, it was disappointing and embarrassing and concerning. So, and I know this is not a happy topic,

but it's important for people to know, you've been on tour, You're selling out these venues and you've had two events, one in Michigan, in suburban Detroit, and one outside of Chicago that have just been canceled, even though there was huge demand

for the events. Yeah. The venues at the 11th hour said, we're canceling. Yeah. Tell us about that. The shows in Royal Oak, Michigan, you know, I don't know exactly how it works but they were calling the club you know michigan dearborn that place is like um somebody's

gonna get elected or not at this point it's that much relevance the kowtowing and the rashida talib of it all and all that shit but the club was getting threatened we're gonna do this to the club we're gonna do this to your workers We're going to do this to your workers We're going to fucking Michael Rapport The way it works is You get a phone call from your agent They're scared, I go, I'm going How soon before the event does the agent call you?

This is about two weeks before And the agent is saying, hey, we really should rethink this? He's kind of feeling me out And I'm like, we're going And he's like, you need a new agent No, he's just checking you need a new agent. Yeah. No, he's just checking your pulse, you know, checking your temperature. And then told the club, we're going.

We're not canceling. And then the club finally said, we're canceling it. We'll pay you, but we're canceling it. That's how serious it was. So I was really disappointed about that. I was embarrassed. You know, I was talking to my wife, and I was like, she's like, why are you embarrassed? I was like, because they fucking got what they wanted. You know, I was talking to my wife and I was like, she's like, why are you embarrassed? I was like, because they

fucking got what they wanted. You know, they canceled the show. You know, and they threatened and, you know, it's not a precedent to be set. And I haven't done anything wrong. That's what I know about this whole canceling thing. Like, I know that

in my guts, I haven't done anything wrong. Even though that I'm bombastic and confrontational the way I defend Israel and the way I defend being Jewish and the way I defend my Judaism. I know that I haven't said anything that I need to apologize about. OK, so I told my agent and I said on my pockets, I'm not canceling shit. I'm not canceling anything going forward. I don't care if it's just me. I'm doing my fucking shows. And I was really adamant about that.

And I made that pledge, and I told my agent, I said, don't cancel any more fucking shows. It's not happening. A couple of days later, he goes, Batavia, Illinois, which I didn't even know Batavia, Illinois was a place. The club, which was very supportive. They were like, we're getting threats. We're getting, you know, they're threatening the club. They're threatening the staff, which, you know, they're a wait staff.

They're young. They don't want the shit. They were contacting people that work, waiters and waitresses. They're threatening them. We're going to kill Michael Rappaport. This is what they were saying. I said, I'm going to fucking Illinois and doing these fucking shows.

I don't care. He said, well, the police, honestly, you don't even have to clap because in my gut, I know that it's right. In my gut, I know that it's right. And I'm not a tough guy. I sound tougher than I am because of my accent. But I was, it was, you know,

this is already seven months into this shit. So this is two or three weeks ago so i reached out to somebody an israeli security service said we'll do private security we do it for big you know shows and live events and these festivals we'll do it so i said i put them in touch with the club you know it's all sort of getting lined up finally the club's like we're canceling the show. Even though we're rescheduling it, and they were supportive, I believe, as a Jewish woman,

but she didn't feel right about it, but she said, we're rescheduling. So I was like, all right, fuck, we're canceling the show. And I never, ever think that these things will become in the media. I thought, all right, they're going to cancel it. I'm just going to have to eat my words. It's out of my control. They're refusing to let me perform And then it gets in the media

I don't know how it got in the media And I really felt Embarrassed again I felt embarrassed This is Thursday And I woke up And I got on my phone and I saw that it was in the press I don't think I had slept good

It was really upsetting to me because again they got what they wanted and they were taunting like social media we canceled your shows we canceled this fucking Zionist shows we canceled these shows and it was in NBC Chicago and it wasn't the shows it wasn't the money what concerned me and what really was bothersome Friday, it was Friday, it was this past Friday, was that if they're going to cancel me, and I know that people are already hesitant and concerned about speaking out, and they're doing that and it's become a public thing,

what's going to happen to the people that are already on the fence and freaked out and concerned? I didn't want other people to be concerned and scared about them getting canceled or them not being able to say anything because they're going after me and they're going after people bigger than me. They want to like shut you up and that will not shut me up. You know, my wife, when we talked about, she goes, you know, where are you at?

Like where are you? I said, I'm intuitively in my blood, in my guts. Like there's not going to be anything that's going to make me back away or to take a step backwards in where I am as a Jewish person and where I am as a Zionist and where I am as a person. Like, that's not happening. All right. So I want to talk about you as a Jewish person. You and I have talked about this, I think there's a tendency since October 7th for a lot of Jews,

you know, like sort of October 8th Jews, you know, Jews who, like, October 8th were awakened, but so much of their Judaism is now expressed solely in terms of fighting anti-Semitism, which is important, by the way, that we're fighting anti-Semitism, but I

often amuse, we're all in these WhatsApp group chats now. Yes, for better or for worse. Yeah, I tell Campbell, I call them the can you believe WhatsApp groups because all they are are people circulating different articles and saying, can you believe the New York Times said this? Can you believe the Guardian, the BBC, Christiane Amanpour? Can you believe? And then all everyone does is they take it and they send it to all their

other WhatsApp groups and say, can you believe? But, which is important because it's like community building and it's energizing, but the sole expression of one's Judaism cannot be, can you believe? Right? There's got to be more to it. And we haven't survived thousands of years solely

by fighting anti-Semites. We fight anti-Semites, and we haven't survived thousands of years solely by fighting anti-Semites. We fight anti-Semites, but we also live Jewish lives. And that's actually the real way. It's not just the burdens of Judaism, but the joy of Judaism, the rituals of Judaism, the community of Judaism, being Jewishly literate. That

is something the Jewish people have maintained and had continuity of commitment to throughout literally every century. You can find insane anti-Semitism. We're experiencing some of it right now. And yet Jews haven't stopped being Jews. Yeah. Tell me about your Jewish life because you're not just yelling on Instagram at the anti-Semites.

No. You also have been trying to learn. That's been sort of the last six years, eight years, I would say. My wife is a big part of that. And we started doing our little Shabbat stuff or going to Shabbats. And when we moved, put mezuzahs all over. And the Shabbats, for someone who didn't grow up going to a lot of Shabbat,

and we do it a lot of times, we do the Park Avenue Synagogue, like a Zoom Shabbat. It's a lot. It's tough. It's long, and, you know, but it's also important. So that had been going on,

you know, before October 7th. I see you put on Tfilin now. Every morning. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Every morning. And I love doing that. And I love learning more about just, you know, what it means to be Jewish

and what it means, you know, what my Judaism is and just getting a better and deeper understanding of so much of it. Because, you know, the thing that's clear, and, you know, I know you might talk about these as a Jew Jews. By the way, just what Michael's talking about, he and I joke about this offline. The Jews every week, like the CNN's basically person of the week

is some Jew who's criticizing Israel, right, in so many words, right? Yeah. And they're always, as a Jew, I am deeply worried about this, you know, Israel's campaign in Rafah. as a Jew, I am deeply worried about Israel's campaign in Rafah. As a Jew, I... And so Eli Lake, who has a fantastic podcast called The Re-Education, did a whole podcast and wrote a piece for Commentary called The History of As a Jew. Yes.

And as a Jew has existed throughout Jewish history. Yes. It's always as a Jew. And they're always a tiny, tiny, tiny percentage of the Jewish people but they have an outsized microphone because the anti-Semites want to

They love them. Right. They want to credential them because they get to say as a Jew I hate Israel as much as the CNN interviewer does.

Yes. So go ahead. No. And Eli because he said you talk about this all the time and I was like

what the fuck is an as a Jew Jew? And he said it's and I said oh that's and the. And I was like, what the fuck is an as a Jew Jew? And he said, it's. And I said, oh, that's it. And the thing that I was seeing these social media and on CNN or wherever was like as a Jew. And after. And one of the things that I I ranted about was you can say as a Jew this. You could say as a Jew that.

And you could put up watermelons and free Palestine and explain all this bullshit you want but just know if you were in Israel on October 7th you would be treated as a Jew. Like you would be treated just like us. Like all of us

and your fucking flags and your keffiyehs and your watermelon posts and what's on your... That shit's not... They don't give a fuck about any of that. And, you know, these have been sort of like just steps and bridges, and it's been a lonely time, you know? One of the things is that, you know, it has been lonely, because I have lost friendships with non-Jews that have, you know, 20-something years friendships. People have disappeared. Literally disappeared. So it's just been this sort of storm of all these things that's gotten me to this place where I am.

Before we bring up a couple of the special guests I want to bring up for a few minutes, we've talked about how inspired you have been. Yeah. Not just by, like, at Eretz Naderet, the guy who's doing the lighting, who's smoking, but just Israelis you have come across that have, like, you're blown away by these people. They really do. It's a nation and a people that has been shattered, and that out of that shattering,

there's these incredibly inspiring people. I mean, I could go on and on and on about the people that I've come across in Israel, just at the coffee shops, the Hatzalah gentleman, my friend who was shooting video content of me who's in the north who I'm worried sick about. It's just a beautiful Druze man named Emil.

To a couple of people that I met. This good-looking guy, almost looks like a George Clooney, has a tech company, startup company in Israel, Startup Nation. You know, he was in the reserves, and he just had a baby four months before he went in. Baby, coincidentally, was named Barry. And I met him at the Sheba Hospital

because he was friends of my friend and he told me about his story and it was literally like a movie it was like what he was telling me was literally and the way he was telling it to me was literally like a movie when he was in Gaza he had gotten shot and shrapnel all over him and he couldn't breathe and he couldn't breathe and they were trying to get him to speak and the first thing that came out of his mouth was barry his baby's name and you know and i met him four months later he's doing so much better to the the lone soldiers that i've met from new york which really tripped me out man they tripped me out. Like this one kid, Aaron,

who's got a very good social media presence, from Long Island. And my mother's from Long Island. And, you know, I'm like, I'm from the city, so I'm always like, Long Island, you know, it's Long Island. You know, but to find these people, these kids, this young kid that went back in to Gaza, you know, a reservist who decided on his own to go back in.

And he got injured too pretty badly. And I met him when I was at the Sheba Hospital. He was on crutches and, you know, his leg was, and he just started talking shit to me about the Knicks. You know, and we've become friends. And so there's been so many people like that and women and obviously, you know, hostage families. This one young man, Ophir Engel, who I met his aunt because she had reached out to me about being on the podcast because he was one of the first released hostages. And when I met her, when she did my podcast, I just tried to help get the word out. And then

my first trip to Israel, he had gotten out. And I never met him. I was crying meeting him because I was like, there he is. And his aunt was like a different person. The distress and the demoralization and the worry that she had had. Yeah. You know, Bill McGurn, who writes a column for the Wall Street Journal, wrote a piece around the State of the Union Address,

right before the State of the Union Address. He interviewed in that piece Ruby Chen, who's the father of Itai Chen, who tragically died on October 7th at the time. They thought he was still being held hostage. He was killed. He was killed in his tank on October 7th. And Bill McGurn said, and there were families, American families of these Israelis, parents of Israeli-Americans or American Americans or American Israelis that were being held hostage who attended the State of the Union as guests of members of Congress, Republican and Democrat.

But the president acknowledged them, not by name, but acknowledged that they were in the hall. But he kind of made the point, McGurn in this column, which is a very good column, it's worth pulling up, that Michael made, like, why aren't these people household names? They're American citizens.

And the reason, the reality is they're not American citizens. You can come up with a number of reasons, not the least of which is it's just anti-Semitism. It's what you're saying, Michael, which is like it's qualified American. You know, well, you're American, but you're also a dual nationality. So it's like it's a qualified Americanism. But American or not, these people are also on the front lines of a civilizational war. So these Israelis, whether they're Israeli Americans or they are single nationality Israelis, they are on the front lines of a civilizational war whose outcome matters a lot to the United States, right? We have for three

administrations, right, Obama, Trump, and then Biden, gradually been withdrawing from the Middle East, which means we really depend on Israel, and we really depend on the IDF, and we really depend on Israel's intelligence services to play a role for us in the Middle East generally. And these people were massacred because they live in Israel. And they are on the front lines. So of course, the Americans should be household names in America. But it's also outrageous that we even have to have this discussion because these Israeli soldiers are on the front lines of a war that matters to everyday American life. You know, from being from Long Island, to talk to him, they sound like me, his family sounds like me,

that really, to me it should be every baseball team, every news, local news, it should be every single day. You were telling me earlier today that the back of football helmets, even now the NFL, it's like, yeah, they still have political slogans. They still have political slogans, but

from being from Long Island and not, it should be all the Americans at least, at least the American hostages, but it's just not the case. It's because they're Jewish and the more rational reasons you can to not let it really resonate in your heart,

the better it is. You could just keep pushing it away and pushing it down. I remember someone, a British journalist, said to me, who's Jewish, what was most striking to him when he went to Israel, around that time, actually, a little after you were there on your first trip, and he said the most eerie thing for him, and I guess in a positive way, but in a tragic way, was when he walked around Tel Aviv, what he was so struck by is the posters of the hostages were fully intact.

100%. They're like, wow. Like, this is not controversial here. Dan, after 9-11, you know, I was in New York, like I'm sure most people were in New York. There was missing posters all over the city, thousands of them. You wouldn't

make it out alive if you breathed on one of those posters, let alone ripped it down or defaced it. That wouldn't even be a thought in your head to fame one of those posters in New York. And that poster ripping down thing was shocking. Yeah. And to have it in New York. Yeah. Of all places, it was crazy to me. Yeah. I interviewed, this is sort of like previewing a future episode, I interviewed the other day Tzipi Livni, the former foreign minister of Israel, which will, I don't know, Alon can tell us, it'll air, it'll post in a couple days.

And she said, which I'll say now, I was surprised she said this, she was a huge advocate for releasing the 47-minute video very publicly soon after October 7th, even though the government was against it. At this point, she's out of government. And she wanted that video released. She understands why there was pushback on releasing it. And I was arguing in the podcast, you can still release it now. It's not too late. And she said something. She says, you know, after these events, there are these images that become iconic in the best and worst

possible ways. So 9-11, you mentioned the person falling from the, jumping from the Twin Tower. That was like an image that like seared in our minds how desperate people were as those planes destroyed those buildings. She said, ISIS, we have the image of that video where they slice the guy's head, they slice his neck, and that image, and it went viral, that image. And she said, ISIS, we have the image of that video where they slice the guy's head. They slice his neck in that image. And it went viral, that image. And she said, where were our images after October 7th? And they were there. And they weren't really released.

And then recently that video of the four young women, the four girls at the Army base, which is brutal. But, like, even now it's like it gets like a 40 second play on bbc and then that's it and then we've you know we've kind of lost that the fact that people will go well it's resistance and then make all these excuses for the shit is just goes to show it shakes my head up because that's like there's an excuse for that kind of violence yeah michael you do talk a lot about the people you would, I don't know, kill may be too strong a word, but you do in your social media,

you express a lot of hostility. And I respect that because you do it. Yeah, I know you do it. You can, you know, FDR famously said, I want to be admired for my enemies. I admire you for your enemies, Michael Rappaport. Yeah.

Absolutely. That is Michael Rappaport. So listen to his podcast and, if you don't already, follow him on social media and just get ready for, like, a lot of, like, stuff. But you'll like it. It's like, because actually the truth is we all want to be angry and he can be angry for you. Like you don't have to be angry. He's like,

he can, Michael is so talented at being angry that he can be the vessel for your anger. Michael Rappaport. Thank you, everyone. You should subscribe to his podcast, which is a lot about sports, but also a lot about issues we discuss in today's conversation. It is called I Am Rappaport, and you can find it wherever you find podcasts.

Call Me Back is produced and edited by Ilan Benatar. Our media manager is Rebecca Strom. Additional editing from Martin Huergo. Until next time, I'm your host, Dan Senor.