The Daily Signal - #453: Jewish Congressman Decries ‘Double Standard’ for Liberals and Anti-Semitism

Episode Date: May 1, 2019

Anti-Semitism is disturbingly on the rise in America. In fact, most religion-based hate crimes in America are against Jews. Congressman Lee Zeldin has fought anti-Semitism on the front lines in Congress -- and he sits on the same committee as freshman congresswoman Ilhan Omar. We also cover these stories:•The Trump administration moves to protect the conscience rights of health-care workers.•House Speaker Nancy Pelosi suggested that Attorney General William Barr should be considered a criminal.•Nick Sandmann’s legal team is suing NBCUniversal and MSNBC for $275 million.The Daily Signal podcast is available on Ricochet, iTunes, SoundCloud, Google Play, or Stitcher. All of our podcasts can be found at DailySignal.com/podcasts. If you like what you hear, please leave a review. You can also leave us a message at 202-608-6205 or write us at [e-mail]. Enjoy the show! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is the Daily Signal podcast for Friday, May 3rd. I'm Kate Trinco. And I'm Daniel Davis. Anti-Semitism is disturbingly on the rise in America. In fact, most religion-based hate crimes last year were against Jews. Congressman Lee Zeldin has fought anti-Semitism on the front lines in Congress. He sits on the same committee as freshman congresswoman Ilhan Omar. Today, I'll be joined by Zeldin here in studio. And then Kate will have a conversation with Rabbi Andrew Baker on the rise of anti-Semitism in

Europe. By the way, if you're enjoying this podcast, please consider leaving a review or a five-star rating on iTunes that helps us grow and attract a larger audience, so we really appreciate it. Now, on to our top news. Well, President Trump announced a new federal rule on Thursday, strengthening conscience protections for health care workers who object to certain procedures like abortion. Here's what the president said at the White House Rose Garden. And just today we finalize new protections of conscience rights for physicians, pharmacists, nurses, teachers, students, and faith-based charities. They've been wanting to do that for a long time, right, Mike?

They've been wanting to do that for a long time. Happened today. Together we are building a culture that cherishes the dignity and worth of human life. every child born and unborn is a sacred gift from God. Well, the rule comes down from the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Civil Rights. Roger Severino, who directs that office and, full disclosure,

previously worked at the Heritage Foundation, said, quote, this rule ensures that health care entities and professionals won't be bullied out of the health care field because they decline to participate in actions that violate their conscience, including the taking of human life, end quote. The rule will go into effect after 60 days, assuming a court doesn't block it. During the ceremony commemorating the National Day of Prayer, President Trump also spoke on Venezuela.

I'd like to begin by sending our prayers to the people of Venezuela in their righteous struggle for freedom. The brutal repression of the Venezuelan people must end and it must end soon. People are starving. They have no food. They have no water. and this was once one of the wealthiest countries in the world. So we wish them well. We'll be there to help, and we are there to help. Thank you. Rabbi Goldstein of the California Synagogue where a shooting occurred this weekend also spoke.

Many have asked me, Rabbi, where do we go from here? How do we prevent this? And my response is what my rabbi told me when President Ronald Reagan was shot. The rabbi said, we need to go back to the base. and introduce a moment of silence in all public schools so that children from early childhood on could recognize that there's more good to the world that they are valuable that there is accountability and every human being is created in God's image if something good could come out of this terrible terrible horrific event

let us bring back a moment of silence to our public schools system. President Trump as well talked briefly about his own sense of God. People say, how do you get through that whole stuff? How do you go through those witch hunts and everything else? And you know what we do, Mike? We just do it, right? And we think about God. That's true. So thank you all very much. On this day of prayer, we once again place our hopes in the hands of our creator. Well, Attorney General William Barr declined to testify before a House panel. just one day after he faced a grilling from senators over his handling of the Mueller report. He was scheduled to appear before the House Judiciary Committee on Thursday to discuss his handling of that report,

but backed out after Democrats, who control the committee, wanted an extra hour to question him. The Justice Department said it would be inappropriate to question a cabinet member in that fashion. The committee's chairman Gerald Nadler fumed to reporters, saying this reflected the administration's, quote, complete stonewalling of Congress, and he vowed a reckoning. He then said this during Thursday's hearing. Ladies and gentlemen, the challenge we face is that the president of the United States wants desperately to prevent Congress, a co-equal branch of government, from providing any check

whatsoever to even his most reckless decisions. He is trying to render Congress inert as a separate and co-equal branch of government. The challenge we face is that if we don't stand up to him together today, we risk, for ever losing the power to stand up to any president in the future. The very system of government of the United States, the system of limited power, the system of not having a president as a dictator is very much at stake. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi suggested that Attorney General William Barr should be considered a criminal in a back and forth with an NBC news reporter on Thursday. Madam Speaker, did the Attorney General commit a crime? He lied to Congress. He lied to Congress.

and anybody else did that it would be considered a crime nobody is above the law not the president of the United States and not the Attorney General being the Attorney General does not give you a bath to go say whatever you want and it is the

fact because you are the Attorney General should he go to jail for it there's a process involved here and as I said I'll say it again and how many of questions you have the committee will act upon how we will proceed. The Senate fell short of overriding a presidential veto on Thursday.

The bill, passed by Congress earlier this year, demanded that the U.S. withdraw support for the Saudi-backed military coalition in Yemen. That country has been iracked by a civil war for the last four years. The veto override vote garnered 53 votes in the Senate, with all Democrats and seven Republicans voting for it. But the bill needed 67 votes to succeed. Shocking comments from a state representative in Alabama, John Rogers, a Democrat, have surfaced. Rogers made the comments Wednesday during a debate over pro-life legislation in Alabama.

All I said to you, it all would be a woman's choice. I'm not about to be as a male tell a woman what to do with her body. She has the right to make that decision herself to regularly hear it. Some kids are underwarned. So you kill them now, I kill them later. You're bragging me in the world, I'm warning, unlove. You send him to the next to the chair. So you kill them now, I'll kill them later.

But the bottom line is that I think we should be making this to see. So if I get this right, Rogers just conceded abortion is murder and then made the case that it should still be legal. Terrific. Nick Sandman, the Covington Catholic student, who was roundly smeared in the media last January over what appeared to be a confrontation with a Native American man, is suing yet again for defamation. Sandman's legal team is suing NBC Universal in MSNBC for $275 million. It's the third lawsuit that his team has launched against a media company since January. They previously filed against CNN and The Washington Post. Sandman was put in the national spotlight in January when that video went viral of him

and his fellow students interacting with a Native American man. Media outlets depicted Sandman and his fellow students as ridiculing the man, but later details exonerated them. One of Sandman's attorneys, Lynn Wood, tweeted, quote, The journey for justice for Nicholas Sandman and for media accountability continues. False accusers should not rest easy, end quote. A San Francisco high school might be on the cusp of removing a series of murals about George Washington, which were painted in the 1930s.

Per the Richmond District blog, a working group that examined the murals recommended moving all of them and said, we come to these recommendations due to the continued historical and current trauma of Native Americans and African Americans with these depictions in the mural that glorify slavery, genocide, colonization,

manifest destiny, white supremacy, oppression, etc. And the murals traumatizes students and community members. One image shows a man, presumably a slave, who is African American husking corn. Another shows a dead Native American.

Ironically, the Richmond Review, Sunset Beacon, reported that a professor familiar with the artist said that the artist was a liberal who he believes was trying to draw attention to the U.S. treatment of Native Americans and slaves. Well, Ben Shapiro, the conservative talk show host, has received serious death threats. According to Fox News, a Washington state man has been arrested after making a death threat to Shapiro. Shapiro confirmed the situation to Fox News and tweeted, thanks to local and federal law enforcement for their quick and hard work here. Stay safe out there, everyone. Next up, we'll have Daniels interview with Representative Lee Zeldin about anti-Semitism. Do conversations about the Supreme Court leave you scratching your head?

If you want to understand what's happening at the court, subscribe to SCOTUS 101, a Heritage Foundation podcast, breaking down the cases, personalities, and gossip at the Supreme Court. Well, I'm joined now by Congressman Lee Zeldin. He represents the first district of New York, and he sits on the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the Financial Services Committee. He's also one of two Jewish Republican members of Congress, and he's chair of the House Republican Israel Caucus, which has over 100 members. Congressman, really appreciate your time today. It's great to be here. Thanks for having me. So we're recording this on Yom Hashoa, Holocaust Remembrance Day, and it really is a fitting time to reflect and respond to the disturbing rise of anti-Semitism, something that you've spoken in a lot of.

about lately. I want to ask you first, just because you're on the Foreign Affairs Committee, and you've dealt kind of close up with this, some of the remarks from one member of your committee have come again and again, and they've been condemned by various people. What do you make of Congress's response? And what is the message that Congress needs to send to the country amid these comments and the anti-Semitic climate? The response has been woefully unacceptable and adequate, where you have that member, Congressman Omar is a freshman Democrat from Minnesota, putting out a statement and celebrating the resolution that comes out in response to her anti-Semitism where she is claiming a win and she's focusing more on Islamophobia than she is on anti-Semitism

where we're missing the ball, where if she was a Republican, it would have named names, but because she's a Democrat, it doesn't. That double standard is a problem. Where if she was a Republican, she'd be removed from the House Foreign Affairs Committee, but because she's a Democrat, she won't. That double standard is a problem. That resolution should have been forcefully and unequivocally condemning anti-Semitism and instead it got watered down into this all hate matters resolution.

She's supportive of BDS. She has pushed that anti-Semitism that's been an issue beyond that. I mean, she's just this week. He's talking about blaming United States foreign policy for what Maduro is doing to his people in Venezuela. Are you kidding me? Right. Al-Shaba attacks innocent people in Kenya, and you're going to blame American foreign policy for that? She's here in the United States of America.

She was born and grew up in Somalia, and she is on record condemning United States service members and their work selflessly, in many cases, giving their life to help deliver, humanitarian aid and help stabilize a foreign government where people were horrifically in conditions that many died. The families were destroyed.

Communities fell apart. So this is one thing about Republicans, and I just tweeted about this earlier today, I mean, it's one thing when you have Democrats blame Republicans and vice versa, that happens a lot in this town. It happens all throughout our country. But this new

tactic of blame everything on America and you're a member of Congress and you're on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, you're overseeing U.S. foreign policy? I mean, she once requested leniency for ISIS fighters. I was the first member to come out against her appointment to House Foreign Affairs Committee. Many others are joining the call.

And Nancy Pelosi is being led by the radical left as opposed to leading it. And the problem is going to get worse, not better. So we need to identify and crush that threat. It's the policy and the rhetoric that I have a problem. with empowering, embracing above all else. That's what needs to be confronted. So how's the congressional response? It's been, it's been weak, it's been inadequate. It's been embarrassing.

It's been shameful. We need to do more. As we mentioned, a congressman from New York, hate crimes in New York against Jews way higher than a lot of people would know or expect, based on the media reports. Last year, about half of hate crimes in New York City were against Jews. and I think that would come to surprise to some. Why do you think there hasn't been more of an effort to expose that trend? The increase on college campuses, the property desecration in local communities, the targeting of grade school kids is horrifying. I was raised.

I'm Jewish. I'm one of two Jewish Republicans in Congress. I was kindergarten through 12th grade, college law school, four years on active duty, and I never once experienced anti-Semitism. If you asked me, tell me one story of growing up where you experienced anti-Semitism, I'd had nothing for you. If you said, tell me one story of, you know,

some other Jewish kid growing up experiencing anti-Semitism that you know about, I actually don't have a single story for you. Now you could ask basically any Jewish student, give me a story, and they're going to say, how much time do you have? You know, the big decision is choosing which story to tell you about.

And it needs to be exposed more. There's been some progress. There's been some education. Four years ago, if you asked a member of Congress what your position is on BDS, you're much more likely to get the response of, what's that? Now members know what BDS is. Many members, by the way, now know what it is and tolerate it, accept it, some support it. their base is more aware of it.

So there's more of an education that's gone out. There's been more of an awareness. But the problem's risen. So as far as the message getting out there to, I mean, you're asking me this question right now on air. But there are a lot of people who aren't asking a question. They're not talking about it. And in the case last weekend, just before last weekend of the New York Times International edition, you want to be the moral compass for the world. you know, saying

what exactly the rules should be on morals, ethics, and values, and you're going to put that cartoon out yourself, the editor who's in charge of it should have been fired. An apology should include all Jews around the world. It should include the Prime Minister of Israel. He's Jewish.

You went after him directly. So the reason, the answer is is that while there's been more of an education, some of the people have been educated actually ended up fostering more of a tolerance and an acceptance, a promotion of it. And then for others, they just still haven't gotten out of the dugout yet to join the effort. Last question for you, Congressman. You mentioned BDS, the boycott sanctions and divestment movement that's gained a foothold on college campuses and a lot of foreign countries.

There have been some suggesting that, you know, the federal government needs to make sure that it's taking steps not to fund any college or any institution. institution that is giving quarter to or at least endorsing BDS, would you agree with those proposals or is there any kind of federal policy from your position in Congress that you think needs to be passed into law to push back on it? As a leader in the House or Senate, a Speaker of the House, a Senate majority leader, will set the bill numbers for the first 10 or so bills S-1 this year. is about combating the BDS movement. That's the priority placed on this issue,

which passed with over three quarters of the United States senators, a bipartisan vote, Republicans and Democrats, joining together and passing a bill that does a few things, one of which helps empower states and local governments to fight back against the BDS movement. It is important for the House, the Senate, to make a statement, to take a statement, to take a position to come together to unite for a force for good.

A resolution can be helpful when that resolution is a strong, powerful statement. But it's important for us not just to make a statement, but also to pass legislation with teeth. I would call on Speaker Pelosi again right now. Bring S1 to a vote. It will pass the House chamber with strong bipartisan vote. It'll go to the president. It'll be signed into law. And states and local governments will have more power.

to combat the BDS movement. We do need to figure out how, and this force is mostly, almost entirely outside of government, not in the government, is dealing with what's happening on college campuses. And as Saudi Arabia has more influence on college campuses and have their professors and their textbooks and their curriculum, as Qatar has more influence in the higher education system with their professors and their textbooks in the curriculum, we need to look at all different factors where students for justice in Palestine is getting all of their funding from and have the backs of that innocent Jewish students, those innocent Jewish students who are being targeted with blatant antisemitism,

being denied opportunity in some case getting lower grades because a professor, faculty, administration, they won't do the right thing. But this is something that, I mean, the federal government needs to do a lot more. The state, local governments need to do a lot more to help. But if we're trying to put this to scale, this is, you could say it's almost entirely a responsibility of the collective hall, including folks outside of government who are going to step up and do more, who are motivated to want to do something about it. Well, I appreciate your voice in Congress on this. And Congressman Zeldon, thanks for your time here.

you're in the studio. Happy to. Thanks for having me. Do you have an opinion that you'd like to share? Leave us a voicemail at 202-608-6205 or email us at letters at dailysignal.com. Yours could be featured on the Daily Signal podcast. So we're joined today by Rabbi Andrew Baker, who is the Director of International Jewish Affairs at the American Jewish Committee. Rabbi Baker, thanks for joining us. Happy to be here. Okay, so first off, do you think anti-Semitism, is increasing in the United States right now? I think anti-Semitism, like other forms of intolerance, certainly seem to be becoming more evident.

I think where we do have data, we do see that there's been an increase, but I think data tells us only part of the story. So what's the part of the story that data isn't telling us? Well, I think it goes to attitudes. It goes to what kind of language is, taboo or is acceptable. And I think here we may have changes.

Okay. Could you expand on that and what you're thinking about? I can. I have been struck since much of my work actually focuses in Europe at various surveys over the years that we've done looking at anti-Semitism in Europe and other intolerance, at the rather high percentage of people responding to these surveys who are quite comfortable in voicing their prejudice. And I think, looking back now some years, if you compare at such surveys with those done in America,

for the most part, if we were to just focus in on the issue of anti-Semitism, levels of anti-Semitism throughout Europe were considerably higher than in the U.S. But levels of intolerance more generally were higher. And I recall one of the people when we presented this at a press conference In Europe, one of the journalists said, well, maybe people here are just, they're just more willing to voice what they think, what they feel. And you're pointing to America, maybe people just don't want to be honest.

And I think you have to pause for a moment and say that could be true. But I would then say, it's important in America that people don't feel comfortable saying anti-Semitic things, speaking their prejudice, even if it's something they may feel. Obviously, the first step in changing attitudes is making certain things taboo or unacceptable. I say that because I think one of the changes that we seem to see, but again, it's not something you can measure empirically, people are becoming more comfortable with voicing that prejudice,

with voicing that anti-Semitism. And of course, the nature of how things are received today with social media, they can find immediate reinforcement for this. So I think that's one of the changes, even if numbers of incidents which may go up and go down, really are not on a dramatic increase. So let's talk about the situation in Europe. I believe a large study came out a few months ago that said anti-Semitism was increasing there. Do you agree with that? and also is there things that we can learn from Europe in the sense of are they going in a downward trajectory that we should be seeking to avoid? We've had a major survey conducted at the end of last year by the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights.

It follows a survey they did six years previous. And they survey Jews in EU countries, in this case 12 countries, on their experiences and perceptions with anti-Semitism. I've done much of my work in Europe going back really 20 years, and we've seen, I think, not only a dramatic increase in incidents of anti-Semitism and violent incidents of anti-Semitism, but a level of fear and anxiety on the part of Jews in Europe that we weren't seen before this. It is not the same uniformly. It's different country by country.

The sources will vary. but I think we can see in Europe in the first instance a serious question of physical security which isn't something we've really thought about here although maybe now after Poway Rabad and Pittsburgh Tree of Life synagogues Jews might now begin to wonder about security in Europe it's ever present

we sometimes say the way to identify the synagogue in Europe is look for the armed security guards in front of the building on the street. But the fact is that in that FRA survey, you have well over 40% of people surveyed who are fearful that they will encounter an incident of anti-Semitism on the street, perhaps even a violent incident. you have about a third of all Jews surveyed who say they will not wear anything that would physically identify them as a Jew in public. And almost a similar number saying they're now avoiding going to Jewish events, even going to synagogue for fear of this. That's what we see in Europe.

We don't, for the most part now and hopefully not ever, have that level. of fear and concern here? That's just so heartbreaking that, you know, I didn't know that, that all the synagogues in Europe feel they need to have armed security outside them. You know, I think for many of us Americans growing up learning about the Holocaust, it hasn't even been 100 years, it seems incredible that there could be this level of anti-Semitism in a continent that did this level of, I mean, murder, a massacre of the Jewish people. Look, what we're speaking today is actually Yom Ha Shoa.

It's Holocaust Commemoration Day. And we've seen last year, this year, there was recently, in fact, only released today, a survey of what different people know, understand about the Holocaust. And we see both in America, but in Europe, this survey I mentioned was just conducted in Austria, significant percentages that have not even the basic knowledge of the Holocaust that cannot identify the name of a single concentration camp or depending on the survey tell you what Auschwitz was or have no idea of the number of Jews killed less than 40 percent, I think, in this country could identify

6 million as the number that was murdered. And even as we're discussing this, we still have several hundred thousand Holocaust survivors with us. I mean, of course, those firsthand witnesses will quickly pass away as well. So the hope obviously had been basic lessons should be learned there. Of course, anti-Semitism has taken on other forms. And one aspect, and you do see it reflected here in the U.S., and was part of the discussion here at the Heritage Foundation earlier today,

is anti-Semitism as it relates to Israel. We've seen in the last 20 years the way in which Israel itself is demonized, this very legitimacy is questioned. Analogies are drawn between Israel and the Nazis, or Israel is declared an apartheid state, a racist state. It's not just a rhetorical challenge,

but it erodes even the very sense of security, particularly if you think of European Jews who have warm and positive relations with Israel, what it would mean to give voice to those publicly. So one of the challenges we've had in Europe is convincing European governments that they have to acknowledge. This is also a form of anti-Semitism. It feeds, let's say, anti-Semitism coming from the left. One way we have tried to do this was the development of and now advocating adoption of what's known as a working definition. of anti-Semitism.

It is getting increasing support by governments. Our own State Department uses it when it evaluates anti-Semitism internationally. It is something that explains to people. Anti-Semitism can present itself not only as hatred and discrimination toward Jews, but in the form of Holocaust denial, in the form of conspiracy theories about Jews, stereotypes. And yes, as it relates to Israel, in this way. So those are also aspects, again, it varies country by country in Europe,

but we see it perhaps in that regard playing out most severely in the U.K., in the British Labour Party. I think today the vast majority of British Jews would say unapologetically they believe the leader of the Labor Party is an anti-Semite. He clearly has a problem with Israel. He clearly has a problem with disciplining anti-Semitic actions and voices within his own party. And if we look at those two surveys, and you compare 2012 to 2018, one of the countries where the most dramatic change in the negative direction is the UK. because British Jews, I think, who felt quite comfortable and secure in 2012, in 2018, having seen what has developed in the Labor Party, now have a very different view. And they really are uncertain in a way that I think three or four years ago you would never have heard. And of course, that leader is Jeremy Corbyn.

Here in the United States, we're dealing with Representative Ilan Omar, a Democratic. from Minnesota who has made several comments that have been characterized as anti-Semitic. The House has sort of reprimanded her, but not really. What do you think about her comments, and are you concerned about the impact she's having on the conversation in the country? Look, I think AJC, my organization spoke out. I think the comments are rather obvious and evident that they play on traditional anti-Semitic stereotypes. Jews and money, Jews in dual loyalty. These are things that we've been dealing with

for a long time and pushing back on, and they're reprehensible. So I think one can say that, full stop. I think we also know there are 435 members of Congress. I would not want to elevate the voice of a very junior freshman member of Congress and suggest that, uh, uh, uh, This individual now has somehow risen to the point where you mentioned Jeremy Corbyn. We talked about the British Labor Party. I don't see this as the Democratic Party as the voice of the party, but I think it's a voice that's out there that needs to be addressed. I know that there were members of the House, the Democratic members, that wanted a strong and clear and forceful. resolution condemning anti-Semitism.

I fought long and hard over the years to push European governments, the OSCE, the European Union, to issue declarations and statements condemning anti-Semitism. I'm also mindful of an effort that says we ought to be able to condemn anti-Semitism, fully stated, period. We don't have to only condemn anti-Semitism in the context of condemning racism and xenophobia and Islamophobia and attacks and intolerance toward gays and lesbians, et cetera, et cetera. That isn't always easy in international arena.

I didn't think it would be a challenge in the U.S. Congress. In fact, I think as we followed those events, at first it seemed the debate was only whether you have a full-throated resolution condemning anti-Semitism that mentioned this Congresswoman by name or that didn't mention the name. At the end of the day, we have a resolution that if you take certain sections of it when it comes to anti-Semitism, it's powerful. It's good. But the fact that the only way you could get that language was to encase it within a very, very broad array of, sentiments is unfortunate. I don't think this is the full measure of where Congress is, of where the Democratic Party is, or what the challenge is, but I do think that it points to

something that we have seen elsewhere, and I hope voices now can really rise and push back. So you mentioned, of course, the two terrible shootings in Pittsburgh and California at Jewish synagogues in recent months. Has that affected you when you're attending Jewish religious services? Is it something in your mind? I'm not Jewish myself, but I imagine if a Catholic church was shot up like that, there would be a new fear present when I was worshipping. You know Rabbi Goldstein, who is the rabbi of the synagogue in California, had, I think, a very moving op-ed that was published recently in the New York Times. He said in his response to happened. He, who is of course a Hasidic, he's an Orthodox Jew, so he's a very visible figure

in terms of his beard, in terms of his hat, and fringes in your garment and Hebrew nonositsis. And he said, I'm going to walk proudly down the street with my Citsis showing. I'm going to show who I am. This is not what we would say is the norm in Europe today. I think it's a precisely the opposite, as I mentioned. People are kind of aware. There are dangers out there. Why put myself forward? Why wear a Kipah? The chief rabbi of Paris tells his members, put a baseball cap over your Kipah, so people don't really know that you're Jewish. That's a terrible thing. I don't think we're there in America. And I think what we saw in America after Pittsburgh or now after this, was a remarkable outpouring of so many people in American life and society,

of all religions, of all political persuasions, they saw that attack as an attack on them. And we've been embraced by that. I can't tell you the number of people after Pittsburgh. And now this, who would call me that I know, that they simply wanted to call someone who is Jewish to say, you know, I'm with you. I feel what happened. when a terrorist went into the school in 2012 in Toulouse, France, and killed three kids and a father, political leaders spoke out,

but the population didn't react in the way it did here, particularly when it was learned that this was a Muslim terrorist. There was a bit at the beginning they thought it was a white nationalist, but you could see things change. So I think this is a significant difference here. But at the same time, there are people out there with violent intent. We live in a society where weapons are easily accessible. It would be wrong on our part if we weren't concerned about security.

So on the one hand, I'm concerned that we, unfortunately, live in a world today and includes our country where we need security. where yes, now there is a police car in front of my synagogue when people go on Shabbat the services. And I'd probably be more upset if there wasn't one today. But hopefully it's not keeping us from going. It's certainly not keeping us from feeling comfortable in our day-to-day life and what we do in the streets. And I hope that difference will always be with us.

Okay. Well, thank you very much for joining us, Rabbi. Thank you for having me. And that's going to do it for today's episode. Thanks for listening to The Daily Signal podcast brought to you from the Robert H. Bruce Radio Studio at the Heritage Foundation. Please be sure to subscribe on iTunes, Google Play, or SoundCloud, and please leave us a review and a five-star rating on iTunes. Robin Virginia will be with you on Monday. You've been listening to the Daily Signal podcast, executive produced by Kate Trinko and Daniel Davis. Sound design by Michael Gooden, Lauren Evans, and Thalia Rampersad.

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