 It's not the usual thing in Jewish speaking life that you get an invitation to speak the day before Rosh Hashanah. Frankly, I think it's a brilliant idea, because the great mitzvah of Rosh Hashanah and the ten days which they inaugurate is Cheshbon HaNefesh, is to take an account of your soul. Who am I? What am I? What am I doing with my life? And in a sense, what you're doing is inviting me to share with you my own Cheshbon HaNefesh as we go to this Rosh Hashanah. So I'm very pleased to be here, and I must tell you that I would be very happy to take questions and comments till any hour. For me, it is effortless. I am three hours earlier than you. So it is, you know, at midnight I will just be waking up, you understand? As you doze off, it will be 9 p.m. for me. So I will be happy to take your challenges and so on in the course of the evening. I want to speak to you tonight about the most important subject. If I can only speak to a group about one thing, this is what I want to speak about. I entitle it generally, why I am a Jew. It was entitled here, what is it? The Intellectual Case for Judaism, underneath what was the major title? Choosing Our Heritage and the Intellectual Case for Judaism. Let me explain to you why I think this is so critical. I have one, at least one, at least one that I admit to and am not ashamed of, one childish quality. Children are notorious for asking why. If any of you have kids, you know that, you know. You tell them to put on a coat, why? You know, it is two degrees out, they still ask why. Go to bed, why? The sky is blue, why? I retain that quality. I want to know why. Oddly enough, with regard to being Jewish, the question why, when I have asked it my whole life, why should I be Jewish? It's occurred to me in the last decade or so that I am merely representative of the entire Jewish generation raised after World War II in the Western world. I want to say something now which will help clarify my work, will help clarify a great deal of Jewish life. And in this regard, there is no difference between Canada, the United States, Guatemala, or a host of other places where I have met with Jews. This one is, across the board, totally negates international boundaries. And that is this. There is a major generation gap in Jewish life. This is not meant critically. Remember in the 60s, those of you from the 60s, you know, generation gap, don't trust anyone over 30 until we got 30, then it was moved to 40, et cetera. It is now approaching 50 and so on. But you will recall that idea where the older generation were basically nerds and didn't know anything, and we knew a great deal. That's not what I mean by the generation gap, and I'll explain it exactly because I think this will help, as I said, clarify a lot. For those Jews born and raised prior to World War II, you can almost date it, this is so precise. For those Jews, being Jewish was a given matter. In other words, for the vast majority of Jews of my parent's generation, let's say, the following was the case. I was born a Jew, I will live as a Jew, I will marry a Jew, and I will die a Jew. Asking the question, why should I be a Jew, would be absolutely meaningless to that generation? Any more than it would be meaningless, for example, if you took the average person in Toronto and said, have you struggled with the question, why are you a Canadian? They would think it a ridiculous question, why am I a Canadian? I was born in Canada, I'm a Canadian, don't bug me, you crazy? That is exactly the way our parent's generation would tend to see the question, why be Jewish, what do you mean why be Jewish? That's why they don't understand intermarriage, it doesn't make sense. For that generation it didn't make sense, you're born a Jew, you marry a Jew. Any more than if all of a sudden a Canadian came home with someone from Sri Lanka, it wouldn't make sense. Maybe that was a poor choice because I know you've had some to do with Sri Lankans. You know, actually somebody may come home with a Sri Lankan one day right here. But it's just not an issue. For my generation and certainly those born in the next generation are now talking about kids in college who are now what, 19, 20 years younger than I. For these people as well, nothing is a given. I say to those of you of my parent's generation, it is hard for you to understand, but try to do so, otherwise you'll be in the darkest to what's happening in Jewish life. For us, being born Jewish is almost irrelevant. When Jewish life finally understands that, we can begin dealing with the most important problem in Jewish life, namely answering the question, why should Jews stay Jewish? Until then, Jewish life is whistling Dixie, as we say in America. It is doing, if you wish a Roman example, it is playing the proverbial guitar or lute while the place is burning. The real question is, why be Jewish? Jewish life doesn't answer it. For an American Jew, for now Canadian Jews, who tend to be a little more recently immigrated, so maybe this is 10 years later, but it's now true here too, and it is true in Western Europe, to be born a Jew is an interesting fact of life. If you go on an American campus, you go to UCLA, I live in Los Angeles. UCLA has thousands of Jews on its campus. The vast majority of them find being born Jewish an interesting fact of life. If you'd ask them, are you Jewish? They'd say, yeah, I was born a Jew, then that would be it anymore. Yeah, I was born a Mexican American. Yeah, I was born an Italian American. So what? You see, there's a very serious problem confronting contemporary Jews in the free world. This is an unprecedented problem in Jewish history. The goyim are nice. That is a very serious problem. You see, when the goyim are disgusting, what is a Jew going to choose to be disgusting? What was a medieval Polish Jew going to assimilate into? Medieval Poland? I don't mean to put down medieval Poland, which I'm sure had some charming traits. But the fact remains, it was not an option. But in Canada, you know what you can be if you stop being Jewish? A Canadian. And in the United States, if you stop being Jewish, you're an American, and that's perfectly fine. That was never an option in recorded Jewish history, at least not since Hellenistic Greece. So we're talking at least 2,000 years. That's why it's so brand new. It's totally new, this problem. Today, you could stop being Jewish and be happy. You can stop being Jewish and be with nice people and not be Christian or Muslim. Remember, all through Jewish history, if you stopped being Jewish, you became something else, not today. You just become a person. It's a very big difference. You don't become a Christian if you stop being Jewish. You don't become a Muslim if you stop being Jewish. You just become Jim. That's it. It's a very big difference. We live in the age of individualism. And when the non-Jew is nice, why not marry the non-Jew? Why not be like the non-Jew? Why not have the same non-religious identity? Jewish life doesn't address this issue. Why be Jewish is a non-issue in Jewish life. What is an issue in Jewish life is how to be Jewish, or how to survive, not why to survive. This is true from secular to religious with a handful of exceptions. For example, take secular Jewish life. You have Ben-Abraith. You have Hadassah. You have Wiesel. You have, in our case, the American Jewish Committee, the American Jewish Congress. In other words, you have all these organizations. And what are they answering? One organization will answer how you raise funds for the Jewish poor. Another, how you raise funds for the great medical center in Jerusalem. Another, how you combat antisemitism. Another, how you get parliament to vote pro-Israel. Everything is how. Everything is how. We have perfected the technique of how to be Jewish, or how to survive. Who is addressing the question why to survive? Take a look at religious life. I went to Yeshiva for 15 years. And there, too, what did I learn? How to keep kosher? How to build a sukkah? How to daven? How to put on to fill in? How to check misuses? I learned the house. Did I learn why? Had I asked my Rebbe in Yeshiva, Rebbe, why should I keep kosher? He would not have thrown me out. That's very important. You're permitted to ask any question in any Yeshiva I've ever heard. You may not get an answer, but you can ask all you like. And the Rebbe would have said to me, had I asked the question, would have said one of two things. God said so, or the Torah said so. That would have been the answer, which for him was absolutely sufficient. Had I continued the questioning, he would not have understood where I was coming from. But the trouble is, that answer didn't suffice for me. First of all, I wasn't absolutely certain God exists. Number two, I wasn't absolutely certain that if God does exist, He definitely prefers halibut to shrimp. This was not a leap of faith that I was prepared to make. That the master of the universe cares about shellfish. So where were the answers going to come from? I do keep kosher after years of not keeping kosher. I do believe that the rye of Kashmir is staggeringly powerful. But I didn't earn it in the upbringing that I was given. It was by and large a matter of God said so. God said so has power. I don't knock that at all, and I will talk about that and kosher separately in the course of this talk. But God said so isn't enough, because if you ask Khomeini, why do you do X or Y, he will also say God said so. So every Jew here should understand that answering a question of Jewish observance with God said so and ending it there means that intellectually we have nothing over Khomeini. Khomeini says God said so for his things, and we say it's God said so for all things. He has the sharia and we have the halacha. But I contend that God gave us a mind, and Judaism contends God gave us a mind to use it to figure out these answers. The Jew who prays daily, prays three times a day, v'tein b'li b'nu l'havin li'l m'odul l'lamaytur is a twice a day, excuse me. God put in our hearts, and in Biblical Hebrew heart is mind, put in our minds the ability to understand and to make sense out of your laws so that then we may understand them and do them. When I was taught in Yeshiva, and I was taught in Yeshiva, it's a mitzvah not to ask why. It's a mitzvah to do so blindly. Maybe that was true in the shtetl, maybe it was true even for 2,000 years. True or not, it's not going to work for this generation. I needed why, I stayed with it. In other words, as Rabbi Schwartz pointed out, I kept asking. But a lot of my friends didn't. They were very happy to figure that there is no real rational answer. So why stick with Judaism? Right? And that's what's happened. We need an answer to the question, why be Jewish? That's the most important Jewish question today. If it's answered, I am convinced that the average intelligent Jew will decide to lead a Jewish life. I am here tonight as a committed Jew for rational reasons. Not only rational reasons, but rational reasons. I read a book during my search by Louis Jacobs. Rabbi Louis Jacobs of England. The title alone blew my mind. We have reason to believe. The very juxtaposition of reason and belief in the same sentence just made me feel good. You mean I don't have to abandon reason in order to believe? There are rational reasons for koshert? There's a rational answer to the question of evil? There are rational reasons for Jews to stay Jewish, even in a pluralistic society? I'd like to know them. And that's what I want to talk to you about. That's the question, why be Jewish? I've asked this, by the way, of Jewish leaders. It's very interesting. Some of my best friends are Jewish leaders. And I've asked them on occasion, for example, I would say, you know, Jerry, you work so hard for Israel, or so hard for Ethiopian Jewry, or Soviet Jewry, or whatever. You work so hard for Jewish survival between you and me, Jerry, why should the Jews survive? And I usually get an answer which basically amounts to this. Dennis, what do you mean? We've been here so long. You know, you know, we've been here so long. What are we going to give up the ship now? I often get the sense that for many Jews and Jewish leaders, the ultimate purpose of Jewish life is to enter the Guinness Book of World Records. After the entry most hamburgers eat in a day, they will be most years lived by an ethnic group, Jews. And we're in there, and that's it, and that makes Jews all happy. But big deal, maybe we should give up the ship, I'm serious. Maybe we should. Every one of you should ask yourself the question. Why are we needed? Right? A lot of people know about God today. The Ten Commandments, while it's true in America, you can't post it in public schools any longer, because it's infringement upon the sanctity of the separation of church and state. Still in all, most people, except increasingly those who go to college, have heard of the Ten Commandments. Okay, be that as it may. I'd like to give you three, actually four responses, on why be Jewish. They are based on the Jewish trinity. And I mean it literally, we have a trinity. I know it sounds odd to speak of a Jewish trinity, and I'm not even saying lahavdil. In other words, I'm not even saying, and to make it totally separate from even Christian thinking. I use the parallel very precisely. In mainstream Protestant or Catholic Christian thinking, you are not considered a Christian if you deny anyone of the trinity. You have the Father, you have the Son, and you have the Holy Spirit. A Christian cannot say, I deny you the Son. I like the Holy Spirit, and I'm a big fan of the Father. You can keep the Son. They shake your hand, and they tell you you're not a Christian. Right? Or, I like the Son, but not the Father. It doesn't work that way. You're laughing because you realize how absurd it is. That's why I want to talk in trinitarian terms in Judaism. We have an equivalent absurdity, but it isn't regarded as absurd. There's no laughter if a Jew says the following. I only affirm Jewish peoplehood you can keep the religious parts. That's never laughed at. Our trinity, however, is as necessary to keep together as it is for Christianity in its trinity. Our trinity is God, Torah, and Israel. God, law, and peoplehood. It has been so for thousands of years. This is not something I made up. Let me tell you a story. This will help me God as the truth. I'd never lie, Erev Rosh Hashanah. I was at a reform temple. I don't remember what city in the United States was giving this lecture. Man got up after my talk as a Friday night. It's a beautiful, lovely temple. And he said, Mr. Prager, with this God, Torah, Israel thing, you're talking orthodoxy. We're reform. That may be good for the orthodox, but that's not reform. Well, ladies and gentlemen, I give you my word. The man was standing underneath beautiful stained glass of the temple itself, which said in Hebrew, Elohim, Torah, Israel. God, Torah, Israel. Unfortunately, he couldn't read Hebrew. So he was somewhat of a handicap in making this case. But you realize, you realize, I pointed out to him, and I did so, believe me, it was not easy to do so without cracking up. But I said, sir, with all respect, your own temple paid very good money for beautiful artistry to inscribe in its own very walls. God, Torah, Israel. And this is a reform temple. God, Torah, Israel. And incidentally, everything I will say tonight, unless I specifically phrase it otherwise, runs for reform, conservative, and orthodoxy. This is very important. We tend to think of how the denominations differ. I have no problem with their being differences. But on very, very many major elements there is unity. One of them is God, Torah, Israel. Now, that's pretty big. If all the denominations affirm that, so Reconstructionism doesn't. So therefore, I am not including it. I'm not criticizing it, but it is not included. It has very different notions of Israel because it denies chosenness and of God because it denies a God above nature. So it's a very different sort of thing with regard to Reconstructionism. But as regards reform, conservative, and orthodoxy, there is unanimity as to that being our trinity. I am going to base my four reasons on those three components of Judaism. First and most difficult, that's why I do it first. If you survive this, the rest is easy going, is God. First, a word about God. In Jewish life, God is not doing well. This is a very severe problem. I'll give you an example. Mainstream, reform, conservative, orthodox rabbis very, very rarely talk about God. I don't know how it is in Canada. I suspect it is probably very similar in this regard. But certainly, I have generalized the following way in the United States and I've not been taken to test for it even by rabbis. Very often, the reform rabbi in his Sabbath sermon will discuss social justice, social ethics. The orthodox rabbi in his sermon will discuss Jewish observance and the conservative rabbi will discuss social justice and Jewish observance. Nobody talks about God. This is not a plug for a shator to say that a shator does. In other words, there are some exceptions. But by and large mainstream synagogues, that is the case. Now, there are many reasons for why God is having a poor time among the people that brought God into the world, which is the irony of ironies. One of them is Jews buy into the intellectual currents of the day because we are the single, best educated ethnic group in the world, certainly in the Western world. And the better educated you are, the more likely you are to choke on the word God. That is the way it is. You are likely to utter God if you are blue-collar than if you went to Harvard. That's the way it works. There is an intellectual bias against using God. If you speak about God, you have to prove that you are intelligent. The burden of proof is on you that you can think clearly. I do a talk show on ABC Radio in Los Angeles and it drives listeners crazy because at least I appear or sound intelligent religious. It drives them mad. I shatter stereotypes constantly. The myth being, and especially in the United States among Jews, not only if you speak about God on your intelligent, but if you also have a southern accent and you are a Christian, then you bore the retarded. It is a bias. It is an actual bigotry in Jewish life. Absolutely. Those are three handicaps in your intelligence. That is the way Jews think. That is why it boggles Jews' minds that Jerry Falwell is extremely bright. He is very, very bright. And this is disturbing. And I have found, interestingly, a lot of religious people are bright and they have one thing over irreligious people. They seem to ask deeper questions more frequently. They may not have more brain cells, but their concerns do seem to be a little different. You don't think for example, in the Blue J Fan Club there are very few from Jews. Very few really religious Jews or really religious Christians. You know why? People need a secular thing to latch on to when they don't have a religious one. That is part of the thing of a fan club. People need substitutes. I am absolutely convinced that religion is endemic to the human being. The only question is how it will express itself. Be that as it may, God is the issue in Judaism. Now let me make something clear. You can certainly question God. You can even have doubts about God. In fact, if you can't have doubts about God, I am a Tzadik. I am the most righteous Jew around. I doubt God all the time. I wish I had more peace with God. But as I heard you very carefully, you said maybe my struggles are a blessing. For others, if not for me. But it is true. I see a kid with cerebral palsy. I don't immediately say, oh, God in His infinite wisdom knew what He was doing. My instinctive reaction is, how can you believe in God? How does a good God, I don't have a problem with God after Auschwitz. If I had more time, if you'd like to raise that later, fine. But I do have a problem with God and kids who were born with birth defects. I blame Auschwitz on Germans. But I can't blame kids with cerebral palsy on Germans. So it's a problem. I have problems. However, purely intellectually I have realized that the arguments for God are better than the arguments against God. Purely intellectually. There's arguments now either. That is truly subject for another time or again afterwards if you'd like. This is what I want to talk to you about God. The Jewish people I believe has a mission to humanity. If I didn't believe it, I wouldn't be Jewish. I truly believe we have a mission to the world. The mission is to bring the world to what is known as ethical monotheism. To the belief that there is one universal God upon whom is based one universal ethic for everyone. We have two things to teach in ethical monotheism. And they are this. Please bear with me. This is critical. We have to teach the religious world that any teaching of religion, any teaching about God that does not teach that God's primary, primary demand is that we treat each other justly that religious ideal will lead to evil. Is that clear? Any teaching about God that doesn't teach that God's primary not exclusive and not secondary but God's primary demand is ethical conduct will lead to evil. Examples? Crusaders. Chomeini. Chomeini does not teach that God's primary demand is ethics. He teaches that God's primary demand is Islam as he understands it. That's not the same thing. Mayor Kahana does not teach that God's primary demand is ethics. He teaches that God's primary demand is Judaism as he understands it. And the fact that every major Orthodox Rabbi in Israel has condemned his understanding is irrelevant to him. That's his understanding. That just said Jewish? Rabbi Akiva, the great Rabbi of the Talmud said that the greatest law in the Torah the greatest teaching of the Torah is love your neighbor as yourself. I did not make this up in order to appeal to those of you who like ethics. That's teaching number one to the world that God without ethics leads to evil. However, we have a converse teaching which most Jews totally ignore indeed teach the opposite of. Just as God without ethics leads to evil ethics without God will lead to evil. That is where Jews fail dismally. We not only don't teach that we don't even believe it. We teach the opposite. Who needs God? Just be a nice person. Is it possible to be a nice person and an atheist? Yes. Let me get that question out of the way. Yes, yes and yes. We all know delicious atheists, okay? Wonderful. It is possible to be sweet and kind and lovely and not believe in God. However, that proves nothing. It is possible to be sweet, kind and lovely and believe in totem poles. Is that not correct? Are there not totem pole worshipers who are ethical and kind? Do you therefore learn that you get ethics from totem pole worship? Of course not. It's a non-sequitur. There are ethical third basemen. Are they ethical because of third base? No. They happen to play third base and be ethical. Atheists happen to be ethical though they are atheist. They are not ethical because they are atheist. Atheism makes no moral demands. How could a negation make a demand? Atheism merely says there is no God. What is the moral upshot of that? There is no moral demand. There is no God. Therefore be kind. Do you realize? Do you understand? It is a logical gap. There is a chasm between the two thoughts. The fact that an atheist is nice proves nothing about the ethical viability of atheism. And yes, I know that there are religious people who are disgusting. That is correct. Therefore I never held and no one with the same mind would hold that belief in God guarantees goodness. It doesn't. It is possible to believe in God and be a son of a bitch to put it in theological terms. Okay? Absolutely. But the death of God guarantees evil. Belief in God does not guarantee goodness. But the death of God guarantees Auschwitz and Gulag. That is the difference. Ladies and gentlemen, if there is no God Auschwitz was not wrong. And I will, I promise you, right now. I will stay here all night till I convince you of this. I cannot convince you God exists. Nor do I intend to. I can convince you if you are open to logic that if there is no God torturing children is not evil. All you can say about torturing children if there is no God you don't like it. Right? And I can appreciate that you wouldn't. But that's all you can say. And I have been to colleges around the country, around the United States here in Canada. And I have asked students are you prepared to say the following? The Nazis and the Holocaust were evil? Or would you say in my opinion the Nazis and Holocaust were evil? They all say in my opinion? Then I say to them but you realize in the Nazis opinion it was good. They say that's right. That's their point. And that ends it. Everything is relative. We live in the age of no moral truth. Judaism came to teach moral truth. We are living in the age of no moral truth. And Jewish professors or professors of born Jews are in the vanguard of teaching the antithesis of Judaism. Namely moral relativism. There is reason to believe that Messiah is coming because the best seller in the United States on the non-fiction book list for the last six months has been a book called The Closing of the American Mind. That a book first of all not about real estate or happiness immediately cause for deep concern about the American future. But that's such a book which is unreadable to most people who buy it but there is a thirst for its thesis. Its thesis is very I believe utterly true and it is well developed by Alan Bloom who is a professor of all things at the University of Chicago translator of Rousseau and Plato a major major scholar. His thesis is fascinating. It says the American mind is closed at the open university. In the name of openness which is the big term of the 20th century and especially post World War II minds are closed at the university. How does he make this point? Now obviously I can't tell you the whole book. His point is this so people come in to the university believing that there is no moral truth therefore we are totally open. The moment you say Auschwitz was evil not in my opinion but was evil you are closed aren't you? You are close to Nazi thinking. You have cut off the possibility of that thinking being correct. It's called moral imperialism. Therefore since you can't be a moral imperialist and you must be open to others having their morality our society has ours and that society has theirs. Who are we to judge? That's openness. So this is what Bloom does with sophomore classes. He's a very interesting question. He says to them you all believe that morality is relative to society. You can't make any cross-cultural judgment. Naturally it's a given. Imagine that you were in the British imperial government in India in the 19th century and you have complete control over the goings on in your particular province. And one day as is Hindu ritual as was for thousands of years they are about to burn a widow with her dead husband. By the way it just happened again last week in India. Was it reported here as well? It's now outlawed in India. It's been outlawed for over a hundred years. But this is this was common Hindu practice. The husband dies you burn the widow with him. You are the British imperial regent there. Would you ban the burning? He asks the college sophomores who are so certain that morality is relative to society. Their answer? The British didn't belong in India. That really tackles the question doesn't it? Exactly. They can't answer the question because they realize what they're saying if they truly open. That's how the mind gets closed when you're so open. As one would put it some people whose minds are so open their brains fell out. That is exactly what happens with total openness. It's a non-discrimination. It is a non-discriminatory mind so everything just comes in. We don't have that in science. Science were very discriminatory. Show me the laws of physics and then I'll tell you if it works. But in morality there are no laws. There was no moral truth. Judaism came to teach moral truths. One of them is that God demands and only if there is a God is there a moral truth. In particular colleges, secular universities there is no God definitionally or it's a non-issue or it's a private issue that's the favorite statement. It's a private issue. If you believe in unicorns, that's terrific. That is the way it is regarded. But that God forbid or whomever forbid it should certainly not intrude into real life. Judaism came to teach that there is a God who demands ethics. The Ten Commandments is an example. That is why though, remember something very important. We have distorted our religion when we teach that the straight sentence of the Torah is love your neighbor as yourself. That's not what it says. And it is the most commonly misconstrued sentence as a result. It says love your neighbor as yourself I am God. If it only said love your neighbor as yourself it would be a nice suggestion on the part of Moses. But who the hell is Moses to tell me what to do? And that is a correct statement. If Moses thinks loving your neighbor is correct that's good for Moses. I once asked a group of 17 year old, upper middle class I hate to say a Jewish kids the question would you shoplift something you really, really wanted if you were absolutely certain you could get away with it most of the kids raised their hands upper middle class kids I then told them shoplifting is immoral they looked at me like I was visiting from Neptune they had literally never heard an adult in their lives I am convinced stare them in the face and say you're immoral they were raised by sophisticated parents who probably all gotten the masters in education or psychological education or neo-psychological education and raised their kids in the dialogical method meaning well you would shoplift why? how do you feel about shoplifting? are you comfortable with shoplifting? that is and again that is a reflection a consequence of immoral truth parents say to me good well intentioned people who am I to impose my values on my kid? well they're right if it's their values they're right if you believe that their values that transcend you they're wrong but if they are only personal values then they're absolutely right who are they to be moral imperialistic parents? anyway you know what the kid said after that Mr. Prager if you think shoplifting is wrong don't shoplift hey that's okay with us we don't want to impose our values on you isn't that beautiful? is that liberal? is that liberal? that's the thinking they won't impose their beliefs on me and I shouldn't impose my beliefs on them no moral truth I leave the section on God with this statement again if there is no God Auschwitz wasn't wrong only if there is a God who says it is wrong is it wrong otherwise it is pure personal preference you like pizza and I like ravioli you like hospitals and I like gas chambers that's what it amounts to and that is why you got grulag in the soviet union that's Marxism destroyed any transcendent ethic Lenin defined good is that which advances the revolution and Marx in the manifesto denied any morality that it transcends material conditions so material conditions demand that you star 14 million Ukrainians star 14 million Ukrainians it's not wrong and that is why we are living in the age of holocausts with all church atrocities combined the church looks like boy scouts compared to Stalin Hitler Pol Pot the Soviets in Afghanistan so next time you hear look at all the evil done in the name of religion in the name of God acknowledge it but then point out that for 2,000 years worth of all that evil it pales in comparison to what was done in the name of non-God in the 20th century alone that's why I said belief in God doesn't guarantee goodness but the death of God guarantees evil that's the first teaching of the Jews to the world number 2 Judaism's view of human nature strikes me as the most sober coherent and rational I know of Judaism does not believe as Christianity does in original sin but it also doesn't believe as humanists believe in original goodness Judaism does not believe that we're basically or naturally good we can be good we have the possibility of being like an angel but we don't start off that way one of the great teachings of Judaism is a sober view of human nature this idea that we are not basically good I didn't say we're basically evil but we're certainly not basically good and it certainly is easier to do better than good it is easier to cheat on income tax than put in an honest return it is easier to cheat on your spouse than to be monogamous your whole lifetime it is easier to tell an untruth about your past record we've been witnessing that in one of our candidates of the Democratic Party over the course of the last few weeks then it is to tell the whole truth if it were easy to be good there would be no laws right? the point is it's tough because that's our nature there are those who've always argued on this point saying what are you talking about look at babies babies are beautiful, adorable innocent to which I've responded yes babies are beautiful, adorable and innocent but they're not good in fact babies are the quintessence of selfishness I want mommy, I want nipple I want to be held, I want to be comforted I want to be played with and if you do not do all of these things immediately I will ruin your life I would not describe that as good now I do not hold babies to be evil alright? I've never come across a baby rapist baby in bezler never saw babies picture up in a post office on a water poster but they're not good they're not good me, I know me that's it looking out for number one no one does it better than a baby and some of those who take advanced courses at college the uh that is a baby's outlook I'm not blaming it, I wasn't any different I did not come out of the womb altruistic what can I do for you mother, I know it was a difficult delivery okay so this is not self righteous I was a miserable baby too, okay then we go to kids, there are those who say I never met a bad kid these people have not worked with kids as one who has directed camps for over 10 years may I say that as a real yours needless to say, being exceptions by and large kids stink if you think I'm overstating the case may I offer you the following empirical test make an appointment for next summer to any summer camp in Canada normal summer camp Jewish, not Jewish sports camp, any camp and visit a boys' bunk of 13 year olds especially if in that bunk one of the boys is particularly short a particularly fat or stutters or clumsy or emotionally slow and you will find behavior that can be described as Nazi like every summer I have ever worked at a camp and that is over 20 summers I have seen kids do the most disgusting sadistic thing to other kids typical is take a fat kid strip and make it and urinate on him typical sort of thing done by 12 year olds 13 year olds I conducted for 8 years adult retreats where adults stayed in boats adults never did that as you drive home tonight and you find a public building defaced graffiti the vulgar of graffiti all over it window smashed how many of you will immediately conclude a group of senior citizens did it every one of you will conclude immediately upon seeing it a bunch of kids did it for the reason that a bunch of kids did do it one of the great lessons that Judaism teaches is that it is harder to make a good person than a good surgeon and if only we Jews took that seriously we would be a different people one of the saddest things I could say about Jews my fellow Jew is that we get more Nothus from saying our son the doctor than our son the mensch that is a tragedy of Jewish life that parental Nothus derives from professional success and not human decency not character I was at a Jewish function at a table at a women's function women at the table were describing about two girls who were thrown out of a private high school in Los Angeles for cheating and these people at the table were all furious at the school at the school it didn't even occur to them to be furious at the girls what chutzpah at that school to ruin their chances to get into a good college that's the avotazora of our time that is the idol worship of our time good college good job everything bends for that everything so until such time as society and it's not just Jewish I'm just hard because on my fellow Jew because we're Jewish I went to a rams football game in Los Angeles during halftime it was the national finals of the football throwing contest for 11 year olds 12 year olds from all over the United States from Hawaii to Maine and the winners the ones who could throw the football the farthest were taken in those big carts those electric go-go carts like with a rams helmet around for the crowd to give them a standing ovation 50,000 people standing and giving an ovation to kids who could throw a football far why don't we have such a thing of a contest and give standing ovations to kids who helped retarded kids to kids who volunteered to go to nursing homes wouldn't that send a different message there is no message whatsoever that goodness is what gives people nachas whether it be Jews or non-Jews society in general it's a non-issue character it's a non-issue a successful man is successful because of finances if he happens to have a good character it's an interesting sidelight and if he doesn't it's also an interesting sidelight but that's not the issue that is the great Jewish teaching it's hard out good it is tough to make people good it can be done but it's the toughest project in the world it is easy to get a PHD it is tough to be good I directed an institute founded by Dr. Shlomo Bardin in this thick Russian accent he always used to say you know it is possible to have a PHD and be an SOB it's not only possible education has nothing to do with character there is no one in this room and I don't know you but I am certain there is no one in this room who believes that if you take 10 PHDs and 10 garbage collectors garbage collectors you are likely to have more fine people in the first group than in the second but if you don't believe that do you realize what a statement we're making about education that it is entirely irrelevant to decency which is true PHDs helped Hitler and PHDs helped Stalin Dr. Mengele was a doctor that's why it's very interesting people say to me I don't take religion seriously look at all the evil people who are religious how come they take medicine seriously after Dr. Mengele how come nobody says hey I can't take medicine seriously look what the German Medical Association did I can't take law seriously look at what Soviet lawyers do only with religion does that happen when there's a failing in religion which doesn't usually match up in any way do I think religious people in the western world are more likely to be good than others well I'll put it to you in the question I always pose on the radio to people who find this difficult to believe you're walking in a very dark alley well I'll have to take an American street Toronto is known for being relatively safe you're walking in a very dark alley in an American city any American city unfortunately at 3 in the morning and 10 men are walking towards you would you or would you not be relieved to know that they had just attended a Bible class so much for does religion make people better argument number three based on the second component of Judaism God Torah Israel God Law Peoplehood first was God second was human nature third reason for Judaism since we're not basically good Judaism which wants people to be good is its primary concern its other concern is that people be holy but I never get to give that lecture you must have me back for once in my life to talk about holiness if we're not basically good if Judaism wants us to be good how do you make people good and that's a good question how do you make people good that's the riddle of human history Judaism has an answer it's called law that you give people a systematic recipe of goodness my attitude to Jewish law is it's a systematic way of becoming a good person that's why if you say to me here is a religious Jew but he's not a good person definitionally he's not a religious Jew he happens to look religious so what? but by definition of Judaism he isn't if the greatest law on the Torah is to love your fellow neighbor and the guy is a disgusting person then it's absurd to describe him as a religious Jew it's like saying so and so is a good Canadian it's true we gave Canadian state secrets to the Soviet Union and he's a terrific Canadian because he waves the flag you can't have that you can look Canadian you can wave the flag but if you give state secrets to the Soviet Union you're not a good Canadian so too if you give away the single most important thing of Judaism it's ethics you're not a religious Jew not by Judaism's definition not by anyone's but Judaism is a systematic way to be better in love with Jewish law now let me explain something I am not denominationally inclined I'm not orthodox, conservative or reform let me give a parenthetical statement here I'm going off on a tangent for a moment I know exactly where I am and we'll come back but this is important believe me if I didn't these speeches could not fly because I have a lot of tangents where was I? no no no I'm kidding I believe that reformed conservative orthodox does not really does not really any longer describe the the real differences among Jews I think that today there was a better and more operative term I would prefer to use in real life outside of the seminaries and so on and that is serious Jew or non-serious Jew and that is what a Jew should strive to be is a serious Jew a serious Jew takes God, Torah, Israel seriously struggles with all of them it is possible to be a non-serious orthodox Jew and it is possible to be a serious reformed Jew what do you have to answer? you have to answer the following questions why do you observe what you do observe and why don't you observe what you don't observe so for example if I ask an orthodox Jew why do you observe X or Y why do you keep kosher and it turns out it keeps kosher because of habit he was raised kosher and he's always kept kosher he doesn't eat pork for the same reason you don't eat ants I'm very serious it's disgusting to a mend of issue that's not serious he is not grappled with kosher with God Torah Israel what if I ask you and you are not observing Jew why don't you keep kosher and it turns out that you don't keep kosher out of the very same non-thinking habit that he keeps kosher you're no more serious either why don't you keep kosher is as serious a question as why do you keep kosher you give me a serious answer I have no problem I know you've tried it I know you struggled with it I know you read about it and then you've ultimately rejected I at least as this Jew I have absolute respect for you but if you give me the line my favorite line in reform Judaism I'm reform I don't have to that doesn't answer anything why don't you I'm reform I don't have to okay you're reform you don't have to fine now tell me why don't you that that is serious that's how I know a serious Jew are you grappling it is not my goal that every Jew observe identically it isn't okay I'm coming from in this regard perhaps a non-traditional perspective but what are you doing that's the question and you can't say I believe in Jewish values but not in Jewish observance there are no Jewish values outside of Jewish observance Jewish values without Jewish observance has a vehicle it's called Christianity that is exactly how Christianity is formed by Jews all of them Jews the Apostles Jesus Paul who said we don't need Jewish laws anymore we will just have the covenant in our heart every Jew in this room who says I don't need to be observant I keep up Jewish values is Christian without Christ now that's not a put down I like Christianity I don't mean to insult you it's not an insult it's called Christian I'm really telling you that's what you are please be intellectually honest to understand that is not a new argument a very big religion was founded on that basis but if you wish to be a serious Jew there is no such thing as Jewish values without observance take charity it's a good example charity is a Christian word comes from Caritas the Latin for heart since Christianity got rid of Jewish law there is no law of charity you give from the heart and if your heart prompts you to give X that's fine not in Judaism Judaism says you must give 10% of your income and I don't know how your tax structure is but you'll be happy to know in America at least it's on adjusted gross pointed out by Rashi it is a Jewish law to give 10% of your income to Zdaka the very first time I mentioned this law I vividly recall it was to students in Charleston, South Carolina and a young woman got up and she said I don't like that law is if I like it I'm in love with it it's a real revelation that she doesn't like it I don't like that law she said a Jew should give to people from his heart not because of some Jewish law so I decided to present the following scenario thinking that I would make the point that Judaism wants to make I said to her imagine I said two equally wealthy Jewish men equally wealthy in every way same incomes, same overhead same number of dependents that partners in the same business each of these men is approached by a woman whose daughter has cancer the daughter needs money the mother needs money for the daughter's surgery no surgery the daughter will die one of these Jews listening to this woman's plight began to cry actually we'll begin with the other Jew one of these Jews didn't cry he listened to it and he had to leave a little early he gave the woman because he tries to live by Jewish law he gave the woman $50 the other Jew in the midst of his tears deeply concerned gave the woman a dollar who I asked the girl in the group did a better thing the man who gave the dollar crying or the man who gave the $50 because of the law and most of the kids said the man who gave the dollar because he gave it from his heart to which I responded then and explained now Judaism would love you to give 10% of your income each year from your heart it suspects however that in a rather large majority of cases where we'd await for your heart to prompt you to give 10% of your income away each year we would be waiting a very long time ergo Judaism says give 10% and if your heart catches up terrific we're all overjoyed we're all overjoyed that Bernbaum's heart has caught up with his giving in the meantime good has been achieved that is what Judaism wants major major Jewish rule Judaism in the ethical sphere in the ethical sphere is more concerned with how you act than how you feel you feel Jewish? wonderful but unless we give somehow heart transplant it doesn't mean anything to anybody else you can't give your heart you can only give your deeds when it comes to between man and God there the heart is very important very praying meaninglessly is meaningless but giving charity meaninglessly is not meaningless the poor need our money whether or not our heart is in it my heart isn't always in it I do not like giving charity I admit to you as we approach Yom Kippur I prefer to buy stereo ok that is what I much rather write my checks out to it is done because of the law however I must tell you is it not amazing not a single charity I've ever sent money to has written back inquiring as to whether my heart was in it they cashed the check and couldn't care us isn't that disgusting do good then you'll be good don't think you're good and then do good I did a very interesting show once on my talk show I said call up and tell me if you think you're a good person or not two hours people called in all night every single caller said he or she was a good person which can lead you to only a number of possible conclusions one people are lawyers two everybody is good three everybody who listens to my show is good that's about it I don't subscribe to any of those theories but you must admit there is a riddle I have found and I do believe this I believe almost everyone on earth thinks he's a good person so we have a real riddle don't we if everybody thinks he's a good person and so much evil is done how do you account for evil right the answer the answer is people judge themselves by their motives not by their actions that's why people judge themselves by their motives I meant well I mean well and people do Mengele thought he got a bad press that's what pushed me over the brink when I read that the torturer of children men who injected dye into children's eyeballs thought he was a good person if Mengele thinks he's good God knows everybody here must think he's good that's important that's why I don't trust people without standards that's why I believe in law because if you don't measure yourself up to the law everything is good I gave 25 dollars last year to charity I'm a saint that's why I believe in law I have to match up to that system not to Prager's conscience oh I think I'm terrific like every one of you does big deal big deal we all think we're wonderful even as we're cheating on our income tax we think we're terrific one out of every three Americans steals something from his hotel room sure it doesn't happen in Canada and what doesn't happen in Canada yet all of those Americans think that stealing is wrong what do they do they rationalize it they don't feel accountable only to themselves I believe in accountability and in Judaism it is a dual accountability to God and to the law that still doesn't guarantee a good person but it's a lot better than accountability to self only now we have a lot of laws in Judaism that are strictly concerned with ethics how you treat people and for that matter how you treat animals I want to talk to you though about one other aspect of Jewish law with that I will come to the conclusion because the fourth reason takes five minutes I have learned a very fascinating thing many Jews maybe most Jews believe that at Mount Sinai the Jewish people was given not a moral code but a health code how is this purpose of kosher if you ask most Jews to prevent shrikenosis keep Jews healthy purpose of circumcision prevent venereal disease keep Jews healthy the purpose of the Sabbath keep you rested keep you healthy I'm sure there must be many Jews who believe that the original purpose of Tefillin was to check blood pressure this is the health code theory of Judaism purpose of Jewish survival is to be the Jack LeLanes of history we died for thousands of years in order to be healthy purpose of Jewish law is secondarily or tertiaryly to be healthy it is primarily to be good and I would like to show you that Jewish law that is least frequently associated with ethics and goodness Koshrut first let me give credits where they are do but got me thinking about the ethical bases for Koshrut was an article by rabbi Dr. Jacob Milgram now with Berkeley he was then a conservative rabbi in Virginia major scholar also preoccupied with the ethical roots of the laws this too is an entire evening let me be very brief in describing Koshrut but if I do nothing else I hope that it will inspire you to think a second time about Jewish observance the best definition I could give to Koshrut on the ethical level is this Koshrut is Judaism's compromise with vegetarianism most Jews do not know that vegetarianism is a Jewish ideal in fact my favorite orthodox Jew of the 20th century Rav Cook was a vegetarian the chief rabbi of Palestine it was not then Israel he was a vegetarian while not my favorite Jew of the 20th century but to give you an idea how orthodox Jews even know this and it's certainly recognized outside of orthodoxy vegetarian ideal that is Rabbi Goren the last Ashkenazi chief rabbi is a vegetarian it is quite common in fact today among many however Judaism did not legislate vegetarianism it did not legislate its ideal it didn't say to the Jew you may never eat any animals any fowl any fish that was the ideal look in the garden of Eden Adam and Eve were instructed to be vegetarian you recall that there was specifically stated only from the fruit and vegetables are you to eat only later did it become a possibility to eat animals and even then one of the only laws in the book of Genesis is not to eat the blood of the animal you have to pour it back down on the earth and one of the seven laws that's because it represents life and one of the seven laws Judaism obligates the whole world that's amazing only seven laws do we obligate non-Jews to one of them is not to whip the limb or for living animal to eat it which is the common practice before refrigeration how did you keep an animal fresh you want a chicken leg you literally pulled off a chicken leg the chicken lived you could have another chicken leg gross right? you know why you think it's gross because of Judaism it's one of the reasons every day I am more and more appreciative of Judaism I realized how much we take for granted a civilization Judaism brought into the world again tangentially it has come out consistently how child sacrifice was endemic to ancient civilization only a few years ago people thought it was only in the ancient Near East as described for example in the Torah itself passing children through fire for Mollach the God Mollach now it comes out Central America, Mesoamerica filled with child sacrifice not only the Aztecs who we knew to be bloody but now the Mayans as well who we thought were very peace loving tortured on mass for religious reasons now just recently it's come out Carthage too and the scholars are confused because of the great art and the great culture of Carthage how could a place like that have so much child sacrifice again part of the secular view that if you paint pretty pictures you won't do despicable things it's a non sequitur so we tell the world you can't even pull the limb over off a living animal Judaism is concerned with eating because it's concerned with animals and us how do we get to Kashmir Kashmir can be understood in this way at least part of it God or Judaism is saying to the Jews Jew ideally you eat no fish fowl land animals if you insist and that's the way the Torah puts it if you lost for meat then you can have meat but under very very specific conditions number one you may not eat you may not kill and eat anything you want the Jews simply can't kill and eat everything you are limited to a handful of species how do we know the species? very simple by signs land animals must have split hooves and chew their cud fish must have fins and scales and fowl must not be birds of prey to which you will ask perhaps very logically why those signs are not the other way around? for example why one fish with fins and scales not kosher and shellfish kosher to which I will answer in good Jewish fashion with a question if it were the other way around wouldn't you ask the same question at a given point it may be utterly arbitrary morally speaking I have no problem with that asking why fins and scales yes shellfish no was like asking why is red light stop and green light go does anybody here care? may be an interesting question but it's not important we need it for traffic so too we need to say no you can't kill and eat everything you want that's what's being said to the Jew and kosher that's a pretty big civilizing lesson let alone people but not even animals now as it happens there probably are reasons why those animals are not the other that too would necessitate another lecture I will tell you this though just to show you the depths of the Torah's thinking every land animal that is not kosher excuse me every carnivorous animal that is every animal that kills is not kosher and every kosher animal is vegetarian there is no question that that is not coincidental that we are not to eat animals that kill that there was a lesson involved and perhaps more than we even know now was involved now if you're really following you might ask okay I understand that so we can't kill the pig because he doesn't have split hooves he was cudd so he's lucky what about the poor cow cows kosher so we can kill all the cows we want that's part two of kosher yes you can kill cows but you must do so in the following prescribed manner and then Judaism prescribes the most civilized manner humane manner of killing animals it prescribes how sharp the blade must be so that the animal does not feel the death it prescribes that if it takes two cuts of an animal's neck two or more the animal is not kosher rule of thumb very simple an animal may not be killed may not be eaten if it is killed in any way that may wound it because a wound causes it to suffer we don't have that with fish because we don't consider fish nearly on the neurological basis of land animals so let's just take them out of the water it's thought through it's ethics it's not only ethics that is correct and I would describe other details to you but ladies and gentlemen it is powerful when I sit down to a meal and I live in restaurants when I sit down to a meal and I have to cancel out two thirds of the menu it has a very profound impact on me a profound impact on those who ask why aren't you having a shrimp cocktail and then very respectfully explaining why and if the person I'm dining with is a Christian I get profound respect and if it's a Jew I get profound contempt there is a profound contempt among Jews for Judaism it is a tragedy a major tragedy that is what koshert falls with I'd be happy to tell you about milk and meat the profundity there but we don't have the time right now but that is it my suggestion to you I have a very keen suggestion in the idea of what I said earlier of being a serious Jew or not I ask the Jew to do the following drop one non kosher food from your diet do not regard Jewish law as all or nothing it's a foolish way to look at it start okay you are addicted to lobster fine drop clam I am dead serious the Jew who drops a non kosher food from his diet because of Judaism is a serious Jew you are on your way and that is all that could be asked of you but otherwise you have to answer to me you have to answer to me because I'm your fellow Jew who cares I'm Dennis Prager or a great this or that no a fellow Jew wants to know why aren't you helping the team carry the ball that's really what is involved you have to bug me on my Judaism and I have to bug you on yours none of that of self righteousness I'm no better than anybody here and the people who observe more than me are not necessarily better than me and I observe less than Rabbi Schwartz and he knows it and he still invites me isn't that a riddle but he knows too that God isn't sitting there saying well because he didn't wait 6 hours forget it our view of God is slightly higher than that are you making an effort are you starting otherwise where is the seriousness do you think it is alright for a Jew to kill every animal is that your position that's what you're saying if you do eat any animal that has served to you that's not the Jewish position the Jewish position is that it is not a hamburger it is a cow and if you keep kosher you know it's a cow especially when we did the whole process in our home draining the blood why do you drain the blood that reminds you it was alive there's no such thing as a hamburger or a hot dog it's an animal remember that it's a very big deal to kill and eat big deal that's why even if stunning were more painless and I have grappled with this for 20 years it's been always asked to me if the Jewish way of slaughtering is humane and humane this is the issue why not stunning with an electrical stun machine which may be even more rapid than one shot with just a neck and I have finally come out against the stunning because I don't want machines killing animals people should look the animal in the face and kill it I don't want them to come through like their bubblegum the Torah itself says you can't kill an animal in its child on the same day is that a health code my son is four and a half and I'm teaching him these things sometimes it has some chaotic results the other day we were walking out of a restaurant and a woman had bacon on her dish as he walked by he yells out daddy is this kosher I thank the woman for the theology lesson she provided and hope that she didn't join the Ku Klux Klan after lunch God people not basically good Torah and finally and it would only take five minutes and I appreciate how long you've been sitting Israel which means Jewish people we are not only a religion we are a people that's why as I said I'm stuck with you and you're stuck with me we are a people you know why we're a people and not only a religion among other reasons you can't make the world better individually you can only make the world better collectively with all the great ideals in the world the singular individual can do good can do good you can affect that person and that person and you should but if we want to metakein olam to repair a miserable world a broken world we can only do it as a people you don't need a lot of people but you need a people and it has a lot of upshot that we're a people and not just a religion that's why I always react to people who say hey and I'm sure a lot of you have either felt this or heard this who needs organized religion I could pray alone the purpose of Judaism is not to pray you're right if the purpose of Judaism was to pray you wouldn't need Judaism the purpose of Judaism is to repair the world under God's rule for that you need a peoplehood that's why we need to be organized it has very profound ramifications and I'll tell you one of them one of the profundities of having a peoplehood are you first a Jew or a person that's a very good question even though I asked it it is a good question are we first Jews or people I don't dismiss that it's not an easily answered question my heart goes out to Afghans not only my heart I ran the biggest event in America for the Afghans I try to put my practices where my heart is so I feel a very strong sense of kinship with humanity especially suffering humanity but but I only have 24 hours like anybody else and I have to discriminate where I will help my first obligation is to the Jewish people not my last obligation God forbid but it is my first one of the ramifications many there's a profound notion in the Torah it says love your neighbor as yourself right that was our big sentence why doesn't it say love everybody as yourself or love the whole world as yourself I would submit that the answer is probably because it's a hell of a lot easier to love the whole world than it is to love your neighbor right I love humanity burnbound ah shmuck that's how people think don't bug me with burnbound but I love mankind it's easy to love 6 billion people it's unbelievably hard to love 6 right that's tough oh I was at Columbia during the day of love humanity they were burning professors notes tearing down the university but they loved humanity it struck me as the people who love humanity have a very hard time with humans it's like men who love women have a very hard time with a woman but they love women Hugh Hefner loves women but with such love women don't need enemies I don't trust people who love the world I want to know concretely where you feel obligated to help Judaism teaches the poor of your own come first never last we are obligated to give to non-Jews obligated but first we have to help the Jew what are the world ramifications of this very profound I am deeply involved in Soviet Jewry have been since 1969 something that I have said in churches for years in churches to Christians there are more Christians in the Soviet prison camp system for being Christian than there are Jews for being Jewish how come you never hear about anybody any Christians fighting for Soviet Christians how come when Billy Graham went to the Soviet Union the world's leading Baptist he said nothing on behalf of Baptists in prison camps in fact he told Baptists to listen to the Soviet authorities why don't Christians help follow Christians like Jews help follow Jews this is not a statement of chauvinism there are many things we can learn from Christians but in this regard I asked this question openly to Christians there are a billion of you you could do a lot for fellow Christians why don't you a major reason is Christians are not a people they are a religion personal salvation is the aim of Christianity not Judaism the aim of Judaism is not personal salvation I don't say it's not an issue but it's not the aim the aim is to repair the world in the God's rule so oddly enough we do a universal service by helping a fellow Jew because of the third component of Judaism do you know who taught me this the Catholic William F. Buckley Jr in an interview once I asked him how do you feel about the Soviet Jewry movement he said I am all for Soviet Jewry but you know what he said and he said this in front of a thousand Jews in Beverly Hills he said you know be a bad thing for the world before the Jews got out of Russia he said before you string me up let me explain there is only one group in the western world he said constantly screaming at the Soviets you Jews why because you Jews are fighting for fellow Jews what happens if those fellow Jews get out of Russia you Jews will stop screaming against the Soviets and nobody will be screaming against the Soviets isn't that interesting that's when I learned the answer to the question posed to Jews how come you only care about your own number one it is not true and it should never be true but number two I would have to answer at least we care about our own a call once came into me on a national talk show and the caller was an Armenian who said you know you're a Jew and you keep talking about the Holocaust why don't you talk about the Armenian genocide under the Turks so I said to the man and even my interviewer was surprised at the answer I said you know sir with all respect it is my task to talk about my people's Holocaust and it is your task to talk about your people's genocide there was silence on the line and the man said you know what you're absolutely right any hung up ladies and gentlemen the only reason the world is talking about the Armenians today is overwhelmingly because the Jews scream about the Holocaust why don't Christians scream about Armenian suffering under Turks those were all Christians I am proud that we don't let the world forget about the Holocaust the world is only too willing to forget evil and go on its hunky dory way and we are the moral mignics of the world someone asked me on radio about that that's exactly what I said you know what we Jews are the moral mignics that's right people want to pass it over and we won't let you people were made into lampshades I'm not prepared to forget that yet you want to forget about your people's suffering that's your business but I'm not going to forget about mine so it plays a very important role the Jew who takes care of fellow Jews is likely also to be sensitive to taking care of blacks and taking care of other groups too I want Catholics to fight for Catholics I want blacks to fight for blacks there was nothing wrong in that too was a lesson we can teach the world God and ethical monotheism people not being basically good Jewish law to make you better and a peoplehood to make this world better for reasons why I think a Jew hearing these reasons would take it seriously