June 23, 2025

#109: Ephraim Herschmann

#109: Ephraim Herschmann

Solo episode!


Talking a little about

- Maintaining productivity out of your comfort zone

- Israel / America / Iran and my thoughts of the new potential issues for Jews in America (and globally), as well as America’s relationship to Israel in the future

- Visiting Israel and Amsterdam

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Welcome to another episode of
Come Together.

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We are back.
I'm going to do a solo episode.

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I've actually tried to do a
couple of these in the last

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couple of weeks and for some
reason, it's been really

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challenging for me.
I just had, I just went 16

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minutes and realized that none
of it sounded good and it was

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all just a bunch of incoherent
rambling.

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So hopefully on Take Two, I'll
have my thoughts a little bit

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more in order and can have a
little bit better content for

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myself and for you guys.
So I haven't done a solo episode

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in a long time.
Like I just said, thank God the

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podcast has been doing really,
really well.

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It's been busy.
I haven't needed to do solo

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episodes.
I've really been stocked up with

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guests and I'm really trying to
make the most of that.

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And I'm really trying to use
that as an opportunity to, you

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know, I mean, again, the, the
reason why I wanted to pull back

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on solo episodes a little bit is
because I didn't want, I didn't

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want the listeners to have to
scroll through a ton of my own

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solo episodes in order to get to
the interesting guest episodes.

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I consider my guest episodes to
be way more interesting and way

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more useful than my solo
episodes today.

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I mean, it's going to be kind of
a stream of conscious episode, I

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think.
And those are always, I think a

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lot of fun if as long as you're
able to keep your thoughts in

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order, you know, and kind of
keep a train of thought for for

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an extended period of time.
And there's a lot of things that

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I feel very emotionally strongly
about that it's just going on

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and the world is crazy.
You know, the news is crazy.

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I was just travelling for the
last bunch of weeks in and out

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of the country, Florida, NY,
Israel, Amsterdam, Barcelona.

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And, you know, I have a
two-month old daughter.

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I think that the last solo
episode that I recorded was

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prior to her being born.
So, you know, just, there's so

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much going on and there's so
many different things in my

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head, and I haven't really had
the opportunity to kind of, you

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know, articulate any of it and
to really be eloquent about it.

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And I've kind of just been
living in and going through all

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these motions, but I haven't
been really able to kind of sit

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and really soak in them and
really try to, you know, feel

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them out and talk them out.
So I don't even know where to

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start.
I guess I'll start with the fact

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that my, my, my family, my wife
and my kids have been to New

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York most of the summer for the
last month and change a month or

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so, I would say.
And it's hard for me to be back

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in New York.
It's hard for me because the way

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that I feel like my time is
spent here is super different

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from the way that my time is
spent in Florida.

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And, you know, and, and I mean,
aside from the fact that I just

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have to see that things are
literally further apart from one

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another, like my life in
Florida, my, the circle of what

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my life consists of is a much
smaller, like actual physical

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space.
But I mean, in New York, you

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know, New York is a mass, a
massive state and we have family

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and friends all over, right.
So if I want to go to my sister

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for a weekend, it's a four hour
drive, you know, I mean, that's

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the equivalent to go to Naples,
you know, in Florida for me.

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And I, and that's something I, I
do very often because it does

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throw apart my whole schedule
and it's hard for me to, you

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know, to kind of get back into
things.

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The other, the other factor, of
course, is that I'm not in my

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own home and I'm not in the and
I think that all people, but

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especially myself, are very,
very much a product of their

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environment.
And different environments have

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different associations within
our own heads and with our own

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selves, you know, And so for me
to be in Florida, I have that

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kind of association.
I have my, my, the spot where I

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sit, where I work, and I have
the spot where I sit where I

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record my podcasts.
And I have, you know, I have XY

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and Z in certain places in
certain times.

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I do this and this and this and
I have a home routine that

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allows me to kind of, you know,
I, I, I work within the confines

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of a routine in order to be the
most productive of that routine

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in that whole, in the whole
schedule kind of gets thrown out

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the window here.
And instead it's just chaos and

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I'm trying to navigate and be
productive within the chaos.

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That being said, you know, this
is not the first time that I'm

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having this issue and I'm having
this challenge in my life.

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You know, I've, I've
periodically, you know, moved

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away from home and then come
back for different periods of

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time.
And every single time I come

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back, it does take me time to
kind of get back into the swing

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of things and really kind of
overcome that.

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And one of the things that I
always have to tell myself and

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that I'm saying out loud now is
the notion that, you know, is

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the notion that if I'm really as
productive as I think I am, and

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if I'm really as disciplined as
I think I am, then, you know,

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my, my source of productivity
can't come from the outside,

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from where I am.
It's got to come from the inside

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from who I am, you know, which
is why I'm doing take 2 after

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talking for 16 minutes straight
of another podcast that I will

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hopefully go on for another
about half an hour or so for 40

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minutes or see, and I think
there will be a lot to talk

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about.
But that was just one thing that

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was that's on my head, that's on
my mind.

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That's always on my mind is, you
know, kind of your environment

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where you are and also the
people that you're with too, the

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people that you talk to and the
people that you spend time with,

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you know, and that's why at
different points of my life,

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depending on what I was going
through, I've had to talk to

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some people more and some people
less.

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And there's very few consistent
friends that I've had that, you

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know, that kind of stick with me
throughout any kind of path on

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life.
The path in life from high

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school to college to, you know,
took my professional career to

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living in New York or Florida,
getting married or having kids.

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And, you know, and I have, and I
find different friends almost

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based on like what aspects of
life, what part of life that I'm

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in.
And I'm always looking for

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friends that I look up to, not
that look up to me, but people

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that, you know, that I that I
could really try to benefit

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something from that.
You know, try to benefit, learn

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from their, from the healthy
marriage or a healthy

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relationship with their kids or
a good, you know, or that

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they're very driven in terms of
work or creative.

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And I like to surround myself
with those type of people.

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Yeah.
So anyway, so one of those

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friends is my buddy of Remy
Krone, Charles Krough, as he now

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goes by.
And you know, he has been there

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my whole life, not my whole
life, but since my 7th grade in

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high school.
And he just got married.

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And even though I just had a
daughter two months ago and when

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I went to his wedding, she was a
month and a half old, I could

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not not be there.
I absolutely had to go.

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So my buddy Zach and I, Zach
Alexander, friend of the pod,

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also been on the pod two or
three times.

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Zach and I flew together to
Israel for the week to have his

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wedding.
And I have so many different

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thoughts about, about the war
and about what's going on in the

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news and even about visiting
there because I've never been to

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a country that's been in a war,
you know, And when 911 happened,

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I was, you know, I mean, I, I
was, I think 4, maybe I was four

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or five years old.
I, I, I literally have no

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recollection of, of anything
happening.

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I don't remember my parents
taking me home.

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I don't remember the school
talking about it.

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Like certainly, you know, a lot
of my friends remember

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everything for some reason.
I really don't remember much.

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And I was too young and, you
know, not conscious enough to

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realize, you know, the kind of,
you know, feeling that there was

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in the country that the national
mood of, you know, of, you know,

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mourning and the national mood
of wanting to fight back.

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And the national mood of, you
know, let's get those sons of

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bitches that got us, you know,
like they, you know, I, I wasn't

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there for any of that.
And so I've never really been in

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a country that has that's been
in a war.

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And so, you know, it was really,
really, really, really

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fascinating.
Before I get into that, I wanted

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to, and I think, and I want to
preface my take, I think, or my

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opinion or my experience with a
couple of different thoughts or

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ideas.
So right now it's I feel it's a

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scary time to be Jewish and a
supporter of Israel in today's

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world.
And part of the reason, and

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there's a couple of different
reasons for that.

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There's the obvious first
reason, which is blatant

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anti-Semitism, which sucks.
Obviously that's always there.

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Then you have the second another
reason, which is you know,

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people that and you know that,
that that have no skin in the

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game that are let's say all
American or all European or all

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South American and have no
relationship to Palestinians or,

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or Israel or anything like that.
And Israel has by far lost the

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PR war since October 7th.
And no matter and, and, and, and

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people unfortunately, and the
typical spokespeople for Israel

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unfortunately don't haven't
really been giving emotionally

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satisfying answers to people
that have no skin in the game

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and that are only emotionally
invested in the war.

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So for example, right, you know,
if someone does not care about

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Israel, doesn't know anything
about Israel, it does not care

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about Gaza, doesn't know
anything about the Palestinians,

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and they're just tuning into the
war.

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You know, what you're going to,
you know what they see what,

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what, what, what objectively is
happening is there's been a, you

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know, there was an attack, a
terrible, terrible terrorist

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attack.
And that attack was, was

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subsequently responded to by two
years of absolute demolition.

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That's what they see, you know,
and, and the two years of

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absolute demolition has, you
know, has, has been covered like

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really almost no war before,
obviously, except for maybe

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Ukraine while it's going on.
But you know, the, the, the you

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know, some of the footage is
real and some of the footage

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isn't, but enough of it is.
And enough of it is off putting

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enough and scary enough to
people that in this war you're

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like, OK, there's nothing left
to Gaza.

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What are you, what are you still
doing there?

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And people like and people that
have been representing Israel

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have done, you know, the big
public voices have been

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representing Israel, I think
have done a pretty terrible job

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at stepping up and providing
both emotional and intellectual,

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political, whatever the word,
you know, just whatever facet

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you want to tackle this by.
I don't think that the usual

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crew of pro Israel people have
been doing the job well and I

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don't find myself very convinced
by them either.

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You know, and as someone that
does support Israel and does

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love Israel and is Jewish and
you know, I mean, I, I love the

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people, I love the place.
And I, I don't know anything

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about the I, I never knew
anything about the government

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until a couple of years ago.
I didn't even know how it worked

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until a year ago or so.
You know, I mean, obviously I'm

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not very invested in the
government of Israel, but I'm

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invested in the well-being of
it.

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And, and I, and I, and I really,
really consider it a home.

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It's a place that I would
absolutely, I would absolutely

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move to in my life and it's
something that I actually hope

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to do and to accomplish is to is
to move there and live there.

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That being said, we're doing a
really, really, really bad job

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in the PR war.
And so you have anti Semites

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that are just going to always be
there.

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And then you have people that
are not anti-Semitic, they're

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just not sure what to take what,
you know, what the story is.

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And they've had no history, no
involvement, No, no, you know,

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they've never been invested
before.

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They're just getting social
media updates on TikTok and on

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Twitter, on, on X and on
Instagram, whatever it is.

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And they are.
And then and you get someone

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who, and I don't even blame him
for having his opinion, like

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Theo Von or like Dave Smith or,
you know, that, that, that are

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00:13:23,200 --> 00:13:26,760
that are that are openly, you
know, talking about how, you

218
00:13:26,760 --> 00:13:29,520
know, how terrible this is and,
and, and making.

219
00:13:30,080 --> 00:13:32,680
And unfortunately, people also
have a hard time

220
00:13:33,120 --> 00:13:36,720
differentiating, you know,
between Israel and the

221
00:13:36,720 --> 00:13:40,040
government and then the Jews
around the world and the people

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00:13:40,040 --> 00:13:43,360
that live there and all.
And, you know, and the rhetoric

223
00:13:43,440 --> 00:13:45,400
and this and the slope starts
getting slippery and the

224
00:13:45,400 --> 00:13:49,120
rhetoric starts changing from
the Israelis or the Israeli

225
00:13:49,120 --> 00:13:52,640
government to the Jews or, you
know, from Israeli government to

226
00:13:52,720 --> 00:13:57,200
Israelis think this.
And, and this becomes an

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00:13:57,200 --> 00:14:00,200
enormous danger that I think
that we're all guilty of, which

228
00:14:00,200 --> 00:14:05,520
is we when we label an entire
country or a city or a town or

229
00:14:05,520 --> 00:14:11,280
state as just a state as opposed
to an individual name, it

230
00:14:11,280 --> 00:14:15,000
becomes a lot, it becomes a lot
easier to treat them as though

231
00:14:15,000 --> 00:14:17,960
they're not humans.
This goes both ways in this war

232
00:14:17,960 --> 00:14:20,080
with Palestinians and with
Israelis.

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00:14:20,120 --> 00:14:23,600
You know, and I've and, and I'm
always making this point and I

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00:14:23,600 --> 00:14:26,800
always try to make this point,
you know, which is like when you

235
00:14:26,800 --> 00:14:30,360
hear a case about something
about, you know, someone dying

236
00:14:30,360 --> 00:14:33,840
and you say what happened, you
know, and like, if the answer is

237
00:14:33,840 --> 00:14:35,600
who cares?
They're a Palestinian, That's

238
00:14:35,600 --> 00:14:38,600
not a good answer to me, you
know, And if the answer is who

239
00:14:38,600 --> 00:14:40,920
cares and Israeli, that's not a
good answer.

240
00:14:40,920 --> 00:14:43,680
Or they're a Jew, that's a
terrible answer to me, you know.

241
00:14:43,680 --> 00:14:46,440
And so you always need the
context.

242
00:14:46,440 --> 00:14:50,400
You can't we lose the individual
by the labeling.

243
00:14:50,400 --> 00:14:55,800
What if the Palestinian was just
a regular dad and daughter and

244
00:14:55,800 --> 00:14:58,760
son and and, and, and, and, and,
and, and, you know, and, and

245
00:14:58,760 --> 00:15:01,480
they were just, you know, just
trying to live their lives and

246
00:15:01,480 --> 00:15:04,640
have a job and, you know, try to
and just try to live regular

247
00:15:04,640 --> 00:15:05,600
lives.
And they don't have it, you

248
00:15:05,600 --> 00:15:07,480
know, and, and they didn't have
this.

249
00:15:07,480 --> 00:15:10,080
And, and, and just because they
live where they live or they're

250
00:15:10,080 --> 00:15:12,320
born where they're born, they
get blown out of existence.

251
00:15:12,640 --> 00:15:14,640
That's a tragedy.
That's a tragedy.

252
00:15:14,640 --> 00:15:17,240
And the Israeli and, and then
the Israeli soldiers and the

253
00:15:17,240 --> 00:15:20,520
kids that you know, that the 18
year olds that have to get sent

254
00:15:20,520 --> 00:15:22,760
to war and they come back and
they never come home.

255
00:15:23,240 --> 00:15:27,000
And you know, the country of
Israel is so small that everyone

256
00:15:27,000 --> 00:15:29,840
that they're related to like one
out of every, or, you know, like

257
00:15:29,880 --> 00:15:32,040
either personally known or
related to like one out of

258
00:15:32,040 --> 00:15:33,920
every, like four or five people
on the street.

259
00:15:34,320 --> 00:15:37,360
Every single death is a national
tragedy.

260
00:15:37,480 --> 00:15:41,840
And like it's, you know, my
hands, like I see my family

261
00:15:41,840 --> 00:15:45,040
feels that very strongly.
My dad, my dad will take time.

262
00:15:45,040 --> 00:15:49,160
He isn't, he's very invested.
And you hear news about death,

263
00:15:49,160 --> 00:15:51,080
you hear news about an accident,
you hear news about something

264
00:15:51,080 --> 00:15:55,120
like that.
You know, you our immediate

265
00:15:55,120 --> 00:15:58,080
response, unless we feel
personally invested, is almost

266
00:15:58,080 --> 00:16:04,800
to protect ourselves and to push
aside that, you know, that that

267
00:16:04,800 --> 00:16:06,040
thing you just say, oh, what
happens in the world?

268
00:16:06,040 --> 00:16:07,800
You know, I know that that
happens to me, right?

269
00:16:07,800 --> 00:16:11,520
I hear about a kid, God forbid,
that died and, you know, was

270
00:16:11,520 --> 00:16:13,240
left in a hot car in the
summertime.

271
00:16:13,640 --> 00:16:16,240
And, you know, God forbid, God
forbid a million times, you

272
00:16:16,240 --> 00:16:19,720
know, and like, I can't feel
that too strongly, you know,

273
00:16:19,720 --> 00:16:22,200
like you have to separate, like
in order to, because there's so

274
00:16:22,200 --> 00:16:24,200
much tragedy in the world and
there's so many bad things that

275
00:16:24,200 --> 00:16:26,680
happen.
If we settled on every single

276
00:16:26,680 --> 00:16:29,560
bad thing that happens to every
single person in the world, we'd

277
00:16:29,560 --> 00:16:32,240
never be able to function.
We'd never be able to live, you

278
00:16:32,240 --> 00:16:36,720
know, And so like we have, so
human beings have, you know,

279
00:16:36,720 --> 00:16:39,920
almost like a hierarchy of, of,
of emotion of how much you're

280
00:16:39,920 --> 00:16:41,960
willing to get emotionally
invested in something.

281
00:16:42,400 --> 00:16:46,160
And my dad gets emotionally
invested, you know, and every

282
00:16:46,160 --> 00:16:49,560
single time that he hears about
an 1819 year old that gets, you

283
00:16:49,560 --> 00:16:52,440
know, that, that that doesn't
get to come home or you know,

284
00:16:52,680 --> 00:16:54,360
that who, you know, hears about
his family.

285
00:16:54,360 --> 00:16:59,200
My dad thinks about it and talks
about it for far longer than

286
00:16:59,200 --> 00:17:01,440
anyone really around him is
really comfortable talking

287
00:17:01,440 --> 00:17:07,839
about, you know, and and that
shows how it shows how I, I, you

288
00:17:07,839 --> 00:17:11,880
know, how terrible, how sick,
how awful war is.

289
00:17:12,280 --> 00:17:16,319
It shows how, how careless we
become when we start talking

290
00:17:16,319 --> 00:17:20,240
about the death of people in
numbers as though it doesn't

291
00:17:21,000 --> 00:17:23,880
mean any, you know, as as, as
though it's just a number and

292
00:17:23,880 --> 00:17:27,160
it's not each in each one of
these deaths isn't a best

293
00:17:27,160 --> 00:17:30,600
friend, isn't a parent, isn't a
kid, you know, from, from every

294
00:17:30,600 --> 00:17:32,720
side of the conflict, from from
every conflict.

295
00:17:32,720 --> 00:17:36,000
And you know, you kind of hope
and, you know, and almost like

296
00:17:36,000 --> 00:17:40,080
what we dream for is this world.
And, and obviously this is

297
00:17:40,080 --> 00:17:43,360
romantic and obviously this is
naive and obviously, you know,

298
00:17:43,360 --> 00:17:46,120
you call this stupid, but I
don't think that I don't think

299
00:17:46,120 --> 00:17:49,560
that having a lofty goal is a
bad thing.

300
00:17:49,560 --> 00:17:51,600
I think it's a good, I think
it's a really, really great

301
00:17:51,600 --> 00:17:54,800
thing to have a lofty goal
because then you could then you

302
00:17:54,800 --> 00:17:57,760
never had, then you could really
never stop working until you're

303
00:17:57,760 --> 00:17:59,400
able to achieve it.
And you're always trying to get

304
00:17:59,400 --> 00:18:00,800
better and better than where you
are now.

305
00:18:01,040 --> 00:18:04,080
And I think that we could be any
better off than, you know, the

306
00:18:04,080 --> 00:18:06,600
answer is that's just what this
is.

307
00:18:06,760 --> 00:18:10,520
Does not really make me or
anyone else, I don't think feel

308
00:18:10,520 --> 00:18:13,040
better.
A lot of the times it's just

309
00:18:13,040 --> 00:18:15,520
what it is.
Because when someone says that

310
00:18:15,520 --> 00:18:17,680
like, well, how would you feel
if it was your family?

311
00:18:17,680 --> 00:18:18,920
Would you say that's just how it
is?

312
00:18:19,480 --> 00:18:21,920
You know what, if it was me, I
know that I wouldn't be OK with

313
00:18:21,920 --> 00:18:23,400
that.
I know that I wouldn't be OK

314
00:18:23,400 --> 00:18:27,480
with the fact that if Florida
got blown up right now because

315
00:18:27,680 --> 00:18:33,280
of this action, you know, that
because of a war, let's say that

316
00:18:33,280 --> 00:18:35,400
Trump started or that Biden
started or, you know, if

317
00:18:35,400 --> 00:18:38,560
something happens that that my
politicians or someone else

318
00:18:38,560 --> 00:18:42,120
decided and my family gets blown
up because of that.

319
00:18:42,440 --> 00:18:44,800
I don't want that, you know, I
don't want any of that.

320
00:18:45,120 --> 00:18:47,400
And unfortunately, I don't think
there's been enough

321
00:18:47,400 --> 00:18:53,560
representation on is on the
Jewish Israeli side that says

322
00:18:53,560 --> 00:19:00,200
this, you know, and, and instead
a lot of the response is this,

323
00:19:00,200 --> 00:19:02,000
you know, you're missing the
bigger picture, you're missing

324
00:19:02,000 --> 00:19:03,680
the context.
You don't really get what this

325
00:19:03,680 --> 00:19:07,400
is.
And maybe like, I'm not even

326
00:19:07,400 --> 00:19:10,920
saying that that the response is
not right.

327
00:19:11,440 --> 00:19:14,240
What I'm saying is that it
doesn't help.

328
00:19:14,600 --> 00:19:16,640
It doesn't help the argument.
It doesn't help the case that

329
00:19:16,640 --> 00:19:19,000
you're trying to make, and it
certainly doesn't help you make

330
00:19:19,000 --> 00:19:22,120
any friends.
And, you know, and that's why

331
00:19:22,520 --> 00:19:24,840
Dave Smith is wiping the floor
with everyone that he argues

332
00:19:24,840 --> 00:19:27,680
against.
That's why that's why, you know,

333
00:19:27,680 --> 00:19:31,320
people like Ben Shapiro are
starting to, you know, like Ben

334
00:19:31,320 --> 00:19:33,520
Shapiro is being forced to
acknowledge Dave Smith at this

335
00:19:33,520 --> 00:19:38,400
point because he's just rocket
shipping in popularity because

336
00:19:38,400 --> 00:19:40,560
no one has anything to respond
to him and no one has anything

337
00:19:40,560 --> 00:19:42,040
to say.
And it's something that's so

338
00:19:42,200 --> 00:19:45,400
dramatically different than the
status quo because Israel and

339
00:19:45,400 --> 00:19:48,400
America have always had such a
great relationship as far as you

340
00:19:48,400 --> 00:19:51,800
know, as far as I've seen.
And, you know, and Ted and

341
00:19:51,800 --> 00:19:55,440
Tucker Carlson making, you know,
Ted Cruz looking an idiot, you

342
00:19:55,440 --> 00:19:59,440
know, for two hours is like,
that's a that, that that is not

343
00:19:59,440 --> 00:20:01,400
good.
It's not, I don't think it's

344
00:20:01,400 --> 00:20:04,200
good for anyone.
And, and I think that even

345
00:20:04,760 --> 00:20:09,000
refusing to acknowledge that
Dave Smith is winning arguments

346
00:20:09,000 --> 00:20:11,640
and refusing to acknowledge that
Ted Cruz sounds like an idiot,

347
00:20:12,440 --> 00:20:14,480
that Lindsey Graham sounds like
an idiot when they, you know,

348
00:20:14,600 --> 00:20:18,280
when they talk about war if we
don't acknowledge that.

349
00:20:18,760 --> 00:20:25,120
Then we're losing, then we lose
the favor of from what I've seen

350
00:20:25,120 --> 00:20:29,600
a lot of my generation say the
45 and under, the 50 and under,

351
00:20:30,600 --> 00:20:32,880
even the 40 and under.
Let's just say because I'm, you

352
00:20:32,880 --> 00:20:38,280
know, between 30 and 40 and the
whole young generation, like

353
00:20:38,280 --> 00:20:42,080
the, the, the, the, you know,
the below 25 year olds have the

354
00:20:42,080 --> 00:20:48,000
have a worse perspective on
Israel than I think in the last,

355
00:20:48,080 --> 00:20:51,120
I think ever, you know, I think
in the last 50 years for sure.

356
00:20:51,520 --> 00:20:55,240
But you know, like there's very
so so I think it's a very scary

357
00:20:55,240 --> 00:21:01,840
time to be Jewish and to be
Israeli and to be pro Israel and

358
00:21:01,840 --> 00:21:05,160
to be, you know, to support and
love the lands.

359
00:21:05,560 --> 00:21:07,880
Because I think that we're going
through a lot of challenges

360
00:21:07,880 --> 00:21:10,320
right now.
And I hope that and you know,

361
00:21:10,320 --> 00:21:13,560
and I hope that we can kind of
get our act together and do a

362
00:21:13,560 --> 00:21:17,440
little bit of PR repair.
I think that it's really, really

363
00:21:17,440 --> 00:21:19,120
terrible.
And I think that the people that

364
00:21:19,120 --> 00:21:22,080
are the current spokespeople are
doing a bad job and I think that

365
00:21:22,080 --> 00:21:25,640
they should be replaced.
I think that if anyone if if a

366
00:21:25,640 --> 00:21:29,760
couple of people, if a couple of
people that no one had heard of

367
00:21:29,760 --> 00:21:33,080
a couple of years ago, they have
no political history or no

368
00:21:33,080 --> 00:21:35,120
anything like that.
And the podcasters that have

369
00:21:35,120 --> 00:21:38,440
millions and millions of
listeners together and they're

370
00:21:38,440 --> 00:21:41,720
going and, and these are the
same people that helped, you

371
00:21:41,720 --> 00:21:45,600
know, kind of reshape not only
the election, but the national,

372
00:21:46,120 --> 00:21:48,880
like the the national mood in
America.

373
00:21:48,880 --> 00:21:52,120
IA podcasters had an enormous,
enormous influence, far more

374
00:21:52,120 --> 00:21:55,320
than far more than news outlets
or typical corporate media.

375
00:21:55,720 --> 00:21:59,880
If they're all turning on on
Israel, we got to get new

376
00:21:59,880 --> 00:22:02,400
representatives that are going
to that, you know, that that

377
00:22:02,400 --> 00:22:05,200
could say, hey, man, you know
that, that that'll work with

378
00:22:05,240 --> 00:22:06,440
that, You know that that will
work.

379
00:22:06,440 --> 00:22:09,240
Because I do think that because
I love Israel, I love, you know,

380
00:22:09,240 --> 00:22:13,680
and, and I want us to have a
good relationship with America

381
00:22:14,040 --> 00:22:17,160
for everyone's sake, you know,
and for the people that say that

382
00:22:17,160 --> 00:22:20,960
Israel doesn't provide anything
to America, I would strongly

383
00:22:21,080 --> 00:22:24,920
urge you to do just a couple of
quick googles and just see what

384
00:22:24,920 --> 00:22:29,480
Israel provides in terms of
technology, in terms of

385
00:22:29,720 --> 00:22:36,080
resources, in terms of what do
you, I guess, research in terms

386
00:22:36,080 --> 00:22:38,320
of even like they have a good
relationship with Russia and

387
00:22:38,320 --> 00:22:40,960
China too.
Like it doesn't hurt to have a

388
00:22:40,960 --> 00:22:44,600
mutual friends with other world
superpowers.

389
00:22:44,800 --> 00:22:52,600
So I think that I really would,
I think that we just need to, I

390
00:22:52,920 --> 00:22:59,760
think you have to be very
careful as to what the public

391
00:22:59,760 --> 00:23:03,200
perception, especially in
America and Europe is of Israel.

392
00:23:03,200 --> 00:23:05,520
And I think we have to be very,
very weary and very, very

393
00:23:05,520 --> 00:23:07,920
careful.
And we really have to do a lot

394
00:23:07,920 --> 00:23:13,720
of damage control, which
obviously leads me to the next,

395
00:23:13,720 --> 00:23:19,320
I guess topic on current events
and that is this war with Iran.

396
00:23:20,560 --> 00:23:29,960
And my take is this could be
another potential, this already

397
00:23:29,960 --> 00:23:34,400
is, but could be even more an
enormous blow to the America

398
00:23:34,400 --> 00:23:38,600
Israel relationship.
And I know that a lot of people,

399
00:23:38,600 --> 00:23:43,200
a lot of Jews, a lot of, you
know, pro Israel people are

400
00:23:43,200 --> 00:23:48,200
cheering on the fact that
America got involved on Saturday

401
00:23:48,600 --> 00:23:51,680
and and bombed those three
nuclear facilities.

402
00:23:52,160 --> 00:23:59,600
And maybe it is a good thing.
I want, I hope and I pray and I

403
00:23:59,600 --> 00:24:08,560
want to hope that that the
legitimacy of the urgency of

404
00:24:08,560 --> 00:24:18,360
this attack is whatever what
everyone says that it is, or at

405
00:24:18,360 --> 00:24:20,560
least what, you know, what Trump
says it is.

406
00:24:21,400 --> 00:24:25,600
I really, really want to believe
that because if because right

407
00:24:25,600 --> 00:24:29,800
now what, you know, what we're
looking at is Iran has to

408
00:24:29,800 --> 00:24:31,600
retaliate, retaliate against
America.

409
00:24:31,600 --> 00:24:33,800
In fact, I just saw just a
minute before I started

410
00:24:33,800 --> 00:24:37,120
recording this in America that
Iran did retaliate.

411
00:24:37,520 --> 00:24:40,640
But apparently it was only like
a quote UN quote formal

412
00:24:40,640 --> 00:24:43,160
retaliation that they actually
called America and said, hey,

413
00:24:43,160 --> 00:24:47,000
this is where we're going to
bomb or send a missile and it's

414
00:24:47,000 --> 00:24:48,240
going to be at this and this
time.

415
00:24:48,240 --> 00:24:50,640
So just get yourself ready for
it because we do have to respond

416
00:24:50,640 --> 00:24:53,400
to your attack.
And hopefully that's considered

417
00:24:53,400 --> 00:24:58,320
a de escalation and not taken by
other people as an escalation.

418
00:24:58,320 --> 00:25:01,560
And I think that the fact that,
you know, it's being already

419
00:25:01,560 --> 00:25:06,600
circulated around, you know,
both online and on Twitter and

420
00:25:07,000 --> 00:25:11,760
in the news media, I hope that
means that everyone will accept

421
00:25:11,760 --> 00:25:15,600
this to be kind of OK, now we're
even and let things simmer down.

422
00:25:16,160 --> 00:25:20,800
If that's not the case and Iran
continues to strike at American

423
00:25:20,800 --> 00:25:24,600
bases and ends up killing
Americans or servicemen or

424
00:25:24,760 --> 00:25:32,960
servicemen or women, it could
obviously escalate and escalate

425
00:25:33,280 --> 00:25:34,840
to the point of boots on the
ground.

426
00:25:35,320 --> 00:25:38,520
Once you get boots on the
ground, we do.

427
00:25:38,600 --> 00:25:41,200
The country as a whole, America
as a whole does not have an

428
00:25:41,200 --> 00:25:43,320
appetite for another Middle
Eastern warrant.

429
00:25:43,760 --> 00:25:47,320
They really don't.
And if Americans now feel, which

430
00:25:47,320 --> 00:25:50,960
they almost certainly will if
boots hit the ground, if

431
00:25:50,960 --> 00:25:53,760
Americans feel that this war
happened strictly because of

432
00:25:53,760 --> 00:25:57,560
Israel and there's no reason why
America should be in it, then

433
00:25:58,160 --> 00:26:01,560
that is going to completely
fracture at least generations

434
00:26:01,560 --> 00:26:03,800
worth of relationship with
Israel, in my opinion of

435
00:26:04,680 --> 00:26:05,880
America's relationship with
Israel.

436
00:26:06,040 --> 00:26:10,360
And it's going to do so much.
It could do so much potential

437
00:26:10,360 --> 00:26:15,040
harm.
On the other hand, it could be,

438
00:26:15,120 --> 00:26:17,960
and I'm praying and I'm hoping
that this is the case.

439
00:26:18,360 --> 00:26:22,200
It could be an amazing sign of
legitimacy of Israeli

440
00:26:22,200 --> 00:26:24,680
intelligence, you know, and one
argument, you know, and I

441
00:26:24,680 --> 00:26:27,640
actually been hearing it's so
funny because it's funny how

442
00:26:27,640 --> 00:26:30,200
like bits of information kind of
comes together throughout your

443
00:26:30,200 --> 00:26:33,000
life and you kind of realize and
like you kind of start putting

444
00:26:33,000 --> 00:26:36,880
things together on your own.
When I was growing up, my Saba,

445
00:26:36,920 --> 00:26:41,360
who is staunchly, staunchly pro
Zionist as a, as a Holocaust

446
00:26:41,360 --> 00:26:43,560
survivor.
And I don't know anyone on this

447
00:26:43,560 --> 00:26:46,760
planet that would not, that
would not blame him or support

448
00:26:46,760 --> 00:26:53,120
him in his Zionist or understand
his Zionism for being a

449
00:26:53,120 --> 00:26:56,520
Holocaust survivor.
And you know, understanding

450
00:26:56,520 --> 00:26:59,920
that, not understanding his
perspective that, you know, the

451
00:26:59,920 --> 00:27:02,000
Jews need a home in case
something like this happens.

452
00:27:02,880 --> 00:27:06,320
My grandfather used to tell me
periodically for my almost I

453
00:27:06,560 --> 00:27:10,920
literally for maybe 10-15 years
now, he used to tell me he only

454
00:27:10,920 --> 00:27:14,800
died two or three years ago.
Sorry about that.

455
00:27:14,800 --> 00:27:16,480
My wife just walked in with my
baby.

456
00:27:17,200 --> 00:27:20,200
I had to cut out.
But I'm going to continue my

457
00:27:20,200 --> 00:27:26,280
train of thought and say that
this is an opportunity If I'm

458
00:27:26,280 --> 00:27:31,480
praying and I'm praying and I'm
hoping that Israel is able to

459
00:27:31,480 --> 00:27:32,880
provide that.
Oh, I'm so sorry.

460
00:27:32,880 --> 00:27:34,640
So the context.
And so my grandfather used to

461
00:27:34,640 --> 00:27:37,040
tell me throughout the rest of
the throughout my childhood

462
00:27:37,800 --> 00:27:41,520
about the systematic attacks
that that Israel has taken on

463
00:27:41,600 --> 00:27:46,360
Iran's nuclear facilities and
potential and capabilities.

464
00:27:46,880 --> 00:27:50,160
And, you know, he used to talk
to me about how great their how

465
00:27:50,160 --> 00:27:53,160
great their intelligence was and
how, how coordinated they were

466
00:27:53,160 --> 00:27:58,720
and how incredible it is.
And it is, you know, and so when

467
00:27:58,720 --> 00:28:03,760
people like Dave Smith or, you
know, people on X make the

468
00:28:03,760 --> 00:28:07,160
talking point or Tucker Carlson,
I think made this argument,

469
00:28:07,280 --> 00:28:10,320
although I don't, I don't 100%
remember.

470
00:28:10,320 --> 00:28:13,720
So if he doesn't, if he didn't
make that argument, I, I do

471
00:28:13,720 --> 00:28:16,280
apologize then, you know, but I
thought I heard it.

472
00:28:16,320 --> 00:28:19,960
But you know, one thing they
point to is that Bebe has been

473
00:28:19,960 --> 00:28:26,160
saying since 1995, I ran his XY
and Z close to nuclear potential

474
00:28:28,200 --> 00:28:31,280
to create a bomb and we have
nuke and we don't want that.

475
00:28:33,000 --> 00:28:34,920
And they are right that he's
been saying that all along.

476
00:28:35,360 --> 00:28:39,480
But all along Israel also has
been carrying out strikes

477
00:28:39,480 --> 00:28:41,760
against scientists and at
different locations.

478
00:28:42,200 --> 00:28:45,680
And so it keeps on having to set
them back.

479
00:28:45,680 --> 00:28:51,640
So I think that that, and
unfortunately, I don't hear

480
00:28:51,640 --> 00:28:55,160
that, I don't hear that from
Dave Smith or Glenn Greenwald or

481
00:28:55,160 --> 00:28:57,840
anything like that.
And, and, and as much as I do

482
00:28:57,840 --> 00:29:00,840
appreciate that they, they, they
usually do have excellent,

483
00:29:00,840 --> 00:29:03,720
excellent points and really,
really fair perspectives.

484
00:29:05,360 --> 00:29:08,400
This particular, I think case
and point, I think is not a

485
00:29:08,400 --> 00:29:10,640
correct 1.
And I don't think that it's

486
00:29:10,640 --> 00:29:15,120
necessarily fair to say, Oh
yeah, Bibi's been saying for 25

487
00:29:15,120 --> 00:29:17,040
years that isn't that Iran can't
have a bomb.

488
00:29:17,720 --> 00:29:19,800
Bebe's been doing things about
it for 25 years.

489
00:29:19,880 --> 00:29:21,960
You know, I mean, Israel's been
doing about it things like that.

490
00:29:21,960 --> 00:29:24,720
And I just remember from hearing
my whole life that, you know,

491
00:29:24,720 --> 00:29:27,120
that that Israel's, that
Israel's just going and doing

492
00:29:27,120 --> 00:29:29,400
these operations.
So I don't really know.

493
00:29:30,480 --> 00:29:33,600
So you know what I really would
love and what I think really

494
00:29:33,600 --> 00:29:37,360
would be really super beneficial
for America's relationship with

495
00:29:37,360 --> 00:29:41,640
Israel and Israel's credibility
in the younger Americans eyes is

496
00:29:41,640 --> 00:29:45,280
to actually provide
documentation and proof that

497
00:29:45,920 --> 00:29:49,080
that they were intending on
building a nuke and that they

498
00:29:49,080 --> 00:29:51,680
were planning on, you know,
using it.

499
00:29:51,680 --> 00:29:54,360
And again, you know, the, the,
the issue that most Americans

500
00:29:54,360 --> 00:29:57,600
have right now is not whether or
not Iran should have a nuke.

501
00:29:57,600 --> 00:30:00,040
Most Americans think that Iran
should not have a nuke.

502
00:30:00,400 --> 00:30:04,720
But what they do think is that
they that they don't want

503
00:30:04,720 --> 00:30:08,440
America involved in getting rid
of that because it does not pose

504
00:30:08,440 --> 00:30:11,080
a threat necessarily to America
at the moment.

505
00:30:11,880 --> 00:30:15,000
Iran can't really shoot a nuke
further than France at the

506
00:30:15,000 --> 00:30:17,680
moment.
So, you know, so it's not as

507
00:30:17,680 --> 00:30:20,920
much of A threat to us, sorry to
Americans.

508
00:30:22,080 --> 00:30:25,480
But that being said, from from
an Israeli perspective, everyone

509
00:30:25,480 --> 00:30:27,440
understands that you can't have,
you know, that having your

510
00:30:27,440 --> 00:30:33,920
neighbor with a nuke that
historically hates you for being

511
00:30:33,920 --> 00:30:36,600
you and, you know, for being the
the largest state sponsor of

512
00:30:36,600 --> 00:30:39,960
terrorism, You know, with
Hezbollah and Hamas and the

513
00:30:39,960 --> 00:30:42,240
Houthis and everyone, you know,
and, and, and just throughout

514
00:30:42,240 --> 00:30:46,960
the years, you know, obviously
everyone, I think everyone

515
00:30:46,960 --> 00:30:49,320
understands that Israel can't
afford to have that and can't

516
00:30:49,320 --> 00:30:52,200
tolerate to have it.
The big push back is not that

517
00:30:52,200 --> 00:30:53,840
Israel should do it.
It's that we don't want

518
00:30:53,840 --> 00:30:57,240
Americans to get America to get
drawn into another war.

519
00:30:57,400 --> 00:31:01,720
You don't want American troops
to die and we don't want, and we

520
00:31:01,720 --> 00:31:04,640
want an end to, to funding
current wars.

521
00:31:05,440 --> 00:31:07,880
That's generally the degrees
that like that's what people

522
00:31:07,880 --> 00:31:10,520
cared about when Trump won and
that, you know, people wanted

523
00:31:10,520 --> 00:31:13,800
peace.
People wanted people wanted the

524
00:31:13,800 --> 00:31:16,640
Ukraine war to be over and
people wanted the Israel war to

525
00:31:16,640 --> 00:31:20,800
be over.
And for some reason the deep,

526
00:31:20,800 --> 00:31:24,040
you know, I mean, the forces
that the forces that pushed this

527
00:31:24,040 --> 00:31:28,880
war and that pushed war in
general, I think are just far

528
00:31:28,880 --> 00:31:31,640
more difficult to get rid of
than I think anyone had

529
00:31:31,640 --> 00:31:36,520
imagined.
So all this is really a premise

530
00:31:36,520 --> 00:31:39,120
to my trip to Israel because
I've never been to a country

531
00:31:39,480 --> 00:31:41,160
that had actually been through a
war before.

532
00:31:41,160 --> 00:31:44,800
And now again, I spent, I
visited Israel a dozen times in

533
00:31:44,800 --> 00:31:46,360
my life.
I've spent a year and a half

534
00:31:46,360 --> 00:31:49,000
living there.
I have family there.

535
00:31:49,000 --> 00:31:50,760
I have some of my best friends
in the world there.

536
00:31:51,160 --> 00:31:53,800
I have some of my best friends
plan on moving there.

537
00:31:53,800 --> 00:31:57,840
I hope to move there, at least
buy property there in my life.

538
00:31:59,960 --> 00:32:06,000
And you know, and when I went,
I've never been to a country in

539
00:32:06,000 --> 00:32:09,160
the middle of a war before.
And there was something that was

540
00:32:09,160 --> 00:32:11,440
really, really, really
fascinating because.

541
00:32:17,160 --> 00:32:19,800
You can really see, and I think
Americans are missing out on

542
00:32:19,800 --> 00:32:22,080
this.
I mean you have such a small

543
00:32:22,080 --> 00:32:28,240
country and 1500 people die.
And I know this is a point that

544
00:32:28,240 --> 00:32:31,080
people have heard a lot,
especially right after October

545
00:32:31,080 --> 00:32:35,080
7th, but almost everyone in
Israel knew someone that gun

546
00:32:36,000 --> 00:32:40,120
kidnapped killed her on October
7th because it's such a small

547
00:32:40,120 --> 00:32:43,360
country that everyone is.
So, you know, everyone's only

548
00:32:43,680 --> 00:32:47,480
one or two steps removed from
the other, you know, and I mean,

549
00:32:47,480 --> 00:32:52,160
and, and you can go almost
anywhere and find people in

550
00:32:52,160 --> 00:32:54,960
common that you know, by one or
two degrees.

551
00:32:55,000 --> 00:32:57,360
And it's really, really cool
that way.

552
00:32:58,280 --> 00:33:06,360
But all over the all over the
country, there's just, excuse

553
00:33:06,360 --> 00:33:10,200
me, size and street art and
posters that translate, you

554
00:33:10,200 --> 00:33:12,520
know, it's English.
Together we'll, you know,

555
00:33:12,520 --> 00:33:16,920
together we'll be successful.
Bring them home now, you know,

556
00:33:16,920 --> 00:33:22,000
And there's a real sense of,
it's so interesting.

557
00:33:22,000 --> 00:33:26,960
There's a sense of soberness
that even when you know that

558
00:33:26,960 --> 00:33:30,720
even when people are partying
and having a good time, it

559
00:33:30,720 --> 00:33:33,480
almost feels like it's out of a
state of defiance.

560
00:33:33,840 --> 00:33:36,560
It's really, really fascinating.
And maybe this is just my own

561
00:33:36,560 --> 00:33:37,920
head.
Maybe this is just me

562
00:33:38,200 --> 00:33:40,320
misunderstanding and
misinterpreting what I was

563
00:33:40,320 --> 00:33:42,400
seeing.
But I was all over Israel.

564
00:33:42,400 --> 00:33:44,840
I was in Rehovoted, I was in
Beit Shemesh, I was in

565
00:33:45,160 --> 00:33:48,320
Jerusalem, I was in, I was in
Tel Aviv.

566
00:33:48,720 --> 00:33:51,440
I was on the beaches.
I was, I was there for like 5

567
00:33:51,440 --> 00:33:52,720
days.
I was all over the place and we

568
00:33:52,720 --> 00:33:55,000
had a car.
And Israel's a really easy

569
00:33:55,000 --> 00:33:57,120
country to get around when you
have a car.

570
00:33:57,440 --> 00:33:59,920
Public transportation just tends
to get a lot, take a lot longer,

571
00:33:59,960 --> 00:34:05,080
of course.
And, and, you know, and so we

572
00:34:05,080 --> 00:34:07,200
got to see a lot of different
people in a lot of different

573
00:34:07,200 --> 00:34:10,000
environments throughout the
country at different points in

574
00:34:10,000 --> 00:34:11,920
the day, You know, during the
day, you know, at the

575
00:34:12,480 --> 00:34:16,679
restaurants or bars or cafes and
coffee shops and, you know,

576
00:34:16,679 --> 00:34:20,480
little shooks or marketplaces.
Then at night with the clubbing

577
00:34:20,480 --> 00:34:24,320
scene and during the day,
there's kind of a sense of

578
00:34:24,320 --> 00:34:28,000
family, community and sobriety,
it feels like.

579
00:34:28,000 --> 00:34:29,480
At least that's what it felt
like.

580
00:34:32,159 --> 00:34:38,199
And then when people are having
good times Thursday nights or

581
00:34:38,199 --> 00:34:43,280
you go to a bar, you know,
there's there's always a sense

582
00:34:43,280 --> 00:34:46,199
and awareness in everyone's mind
that a siren could go off, which

583
00:34:46,199 --> 00:34:47,560
it did.
You know, like I was in, I was

584
00:34:47,560 --> 00:34:50,920
in Jerusalem with with my friend
Zach and Novummy.

585
00:34:51,360 --> 00:34:55,199
And you know, we're, you know,
having a great time, had a bunch

586
00:34:55,199 --> 00:34:59,520
of beers with a couple of, you
know, I'm rocking bad vodka

587
00:34:59,520 --> 00:35:04,880
shots and we're sitting down.
That's # a, you know, a couple

588
00:35:04,880 --> 00:35:08,560
of boxes of wings and poppers
and, you know, we're having the

589
00:35:08,560 --> 00:35:10,640
best time in the world and
music's blasting and there's a

590
00:35:10,640 --> 00:35:13,240
DJ and kids are, kids are
dancing in the street.

591
00:35:13,560 --> 00:35:19,280
And then a siren goes off.
And, you know, there's obviously

592
00:35:19,280 --> 00:35:23,560
2 reactions.
There's one reaction is to go to

593
00:35:23,560 --> 00:35:26,080
the nearest shelter.
And then the other reaction is

594
00:35:26,080 --> 00:35:29,040
screw this man.
You're not going to, you're not

595
00:35:29,040 --> 00:35:30,600
going to scare us into, into
going.

596
00:35:30,600 --> 00:35:32,560
It tends to be more of a younger
person and older person's

597
00:35:32,560 --> 00:35:36,280
perspective, I think, you know,
the youth out of ignorance and

598
00:35:36,520 --> 00:35:39,120
the elder out of defiance, I
think.

599
00:35:39,120 --> 00:35:42,760
But you know, you're not going
to make me, you know, live XY

600
00:35:42,760 --> 00:35:45,600
and Z live like this and run out
of my bed every, you know, every

601
00:35:45,600 --> 00:35:52,080
night of my life.
But there's a sense of, it's

602
00:35:52,080 --> 00:35:55,520
just, it was really, really
fascinating to spend 5 days

603
00:35:55,520 --> 00:36:00,560
living like a local among, among
people that were in a country in

604
00:36:00,560 --> 00:36:04,160
war.
And, you know, and like, and,

605
00:36:04,160 --> 00:36:08,360
and, and it's a topic of events.
It's that, you know, I mean, for

606
00:36:08,360 --> 00:36:12,480
example, the day of my, the day
of Emmy's wedding, my, my buddy,

607
00:36:12,480 --> 00:36:15,920
you know, that's, that's where I
went to Israel for Dave, his

608
00:36:15,920 --> 00:36:17,280
wedding.
We went to get, we went to grab

609
00:36:17,280 --> 00:36:20,040
brunch, grab a coffee.
And on the way back, we saw

610
00:36:20,040 --> 00:36:22,320
another car that was decorated
for a wedding in Israel.

611
00:36:22,320 --> 00:36:24,600
They just take any car that you
have and just decorate it with,

612
00:36:25,000 --> 00:36:27,640
you know, they paint on it and
they put some ribbons and some,

613
00:36:28,760 --> 00:36:30,360
you know, I forgot, they just
decorate it.

614
00:36:30,720 --> 00:36:34,240
And I was like, oh, and I said
he because I speak Hebrew.

615
00:36:34,240 --> 00:36:36,400
I was like, oh, that's for,
that's for my friend over here.

616
00:36:36,880 --> 00:36:38,520
And he's, he's like, ha, ha, I'm
like, no, really.

617
00:36:38,520 --> 00:36:40,640
He's getting married today.
He showed her his invitation and

618
00:36:40,640 --> 00:36:42,840
she was, you know, and she was
giving, you know, and she was,

619
00:36:43,280 --> 00:36:46,440
she was laughing and, and she
was wishing the best.

620
00:36:46,440 --> 00:36:49,000
And she, you know, and she was,
you know, and she, and, and

621
00:36:49,000 --> 00:36:53,200
like, and just the mood changed
while she was talking, you know,

622
00:36:53,200 --> 00:36:55,440
while, while we're talking to
you, you know, just like, you

623
00:36:55,440 --> 00:36:57,920
know, when you get married in
Judaism, it's like you're

624
00:36:57,920 --> 00:37:00,280
starting your life over again
and you're starting with a fresh

625
00:37:00,280 --> 00:37:01,840
clean slate.
All your sins have been

626
00:37:01,840 --> 00:37:05,000
forgotten.
And when you pray, you're

627
00:37:05,000 --> 00:37:07,160
praying as if you're a new
person, a new human being,

628
00:37:07,160 --> 00:37:09,640
because you're about to start a
whole new life and a new entity

629
00:37:09,640 --> 00:37:11,760
and a new family.
And so you're starting from

630
00:37:11,760 --> 00:37:14,080
scratch and she's like, and you
should just pray that like all

631
00:37:14,080 --> 00:37:17,200
our family comes back and no one
else gets hurt anymore and that

632
00:37:17,200 --> 00:37:20,640
this war should end.
And, and it's, and that was just

633
00:37:20,640 --> 00:37:24,920
one, you know, and, and everyone
just got emotional and everyone

634
00:37:24,920 --> 00:37:28,320
kind of, you know, and, and I,
I, I'm never going to see her

635
00:37:28,320 --> 00:37:30,000
again.
And I've never seen her before.

636
00:37:30,320 --> 00:37:33,360
But there was this real sense of
like camaraderie and love and

637
00:37:33,360 --> 00:37:39,160
sadness and, you know, and, and
just a desire for, for peace,

638
00:37:39,160 --> 00:37:43,440
you know, that it was really, it
was really, really overwhelming

639
00:37:43,440 --> 00:37:44,720
and it was really, really
beautiful.

640
00:37:44,720 --> 00:37:47,880
And I think that and, and I
don't think that enough people

641
00:37:47,880 --> 00:37:52,320
kind of hear that or see that
or, or, or really feel or

642
00:37:52,520 --> 00:37:57,200
experience that real depth of,
of just communal and family pain

643
00:37:57,200 --> 00:37:59,400
that a whole country could just
feel at one time together.

644
00:38:00,520 --> 00:38:02,440
It was really, really, really,
really beautiful.

645
00:38:04,320 --> 00:38:09,640
But enough about that, because
that's a charge topic that I am

646
00:38:09,640 --> 00:38:12,760
always, I always feel like I'm
falling over my South when I'm

647
00:38:12,760 --> 00:38:14,840
talking about it because I don't
want to say the wrong thing,

648
00:38:14,840 --> 00:38:17,720
upset the wrong people, even
though, you know, I don't know

649
00:38:17,720 --> 00:38:19,760
why I should be entitled to my
own ideas.

650
00:38:19,760 --> 00:38:23,040
But, you know, whenever you have
your own idea, you end up

651
00:38:23,040 --> 00:38:26,960
pissing off someone.
So yeah, we.

652
00:38:26,960 --> 00:38:29,680
So, you know, we flew actually.
So the day before Israel

653
00:38:29,680 --> 00:38:33,280
responded to Iran, Zach and I
flew to Amsterdam for two days.

654
00:38:33,680 --> 00:38:38,160
And I've got to say, man,
they're doing something right

655
00:38:38,160 --> 00:38:40,760
over there.
I love that.

656
00:38:40,760 --> 00:38:44,880
I love Amsterdam.
You know, I've been to, I've

657
00:38:44,880 --> 00:38:47,240
been to more than half the
states in the country at this

658
00:38:47,240 --> 00:38:50,200
point.
I've probably been to like 6570%

659
00:38:50,200 --> 00:38:54,360
of the states, if not more.
And I've been to Italy, I've

660
00:38:54,360 --> 00:38:55,920
been to Greece, I've been to
Israel.

661
00:38:56,280 --> 00:38:58,440
I've been to, I spent the day in
Barcelona.

662
00:38:59,840 --> 00:39:03,760
Granted, it was after Amsterdam,
but I have never, I've never had

663
00:39:03,760 --> 00:39:07,080
a place visited a place that
just like resonated with me.

664
00:39:08,200 --> 00:39:10,880
First of all, I think it's super
underrated and no one talks

665
00:39:10,880 --> 00:39:16,360
about the fact that Amsterdam is
on canals and you know, and

666
00:39:16,360 --> 00:39:18,920
everything there is just
bridges.

667
00:39:18,920 --> 00:39:22,720
And there's such a amazing
poetic, romantic feel to the

668
00:39:22,720 --> 00:39:27,080
place that you know, you
everyone has, everyone goes

669
00:39:27,080 --> 00:39:30,040
everywhere on bikes because the
roads are extremely thin and

670
00:39:30,040 --> 00:39:32,800
they're all cobblestone.
And, and I don't think the

671
00:39:32,800 --> 00:39:36,520
infrastructure was really ever
built for car to support as many

672
00:39:36,520 --> 00:39:39,320
cars as you would need for the
amount of people that live there

673
00:39:41,080 --> 00:39:43,040
and everyone just travel,
everyone goes everywhere on

674
00:39:43,040 --> 00:39:44,640
bikes.
And so just the combination

675
00:39:44,640 --> 00:39:47,680
between all these little bridges
that go over canals every couple

676
00:39:47,680 --> 00:39:52,240
of blocks and, you know,
families biking together and

677
00:39:52,240 --> 00:39:53,760
kids on the street by
themselves.

678
00:39:53,760 --> 00:39:58,720
And then you have all you have a
ton of these little cobblestone

679
00:39:58,720 --> 00:40:01,600
alleyways between these, between
these cities.

680
00:40:01,600 --> 00:40:03,160
It was just, it was just so
magnificent.

681
00:40:03,160 --> 00:40:06,880
It was so cool to go to.
And that's all aside from the

682
00:40:06,880 --> 00:40:11,920
coffee from the coffee shop
scene, which obviously I had a

683
00:40:11,920 --> 00:40:15,680
great time with the architecture
I thought was beautiful.

684
00:40:16,520 --> 00:40:20,800
And like as far as the city
goes, it really did a cool.

685
00:40:20,840 --> 00:40:27,360
It does a cool job blending the
feeling of suburbia and being

686
00:40:27,360 --> 00:40:29,680
like kind of family oriented or
at least, you know, being

687
00:40:29,680 --> 00:40:31,520
comfortable having kids walk
around and being, you know,

688
00:40:31,520 --> 00:40:35,440
being by themselves and and
actually being a city.

689
00:40:36,680 --> 00:40:39,520
I did take a river.
I took a river tour, a riverboat

690
00:40:39,520 --> 00:40:41,040
tour, whatever it's called is
Zach.

691
00:40:42,040 --> 00:40:45,280
And while we were on the tour,
we were talking with, we were

692
00:40:45,280 --> 00:40:48,520
talking to, I guess the tour
guide who is a new university

693
00:40:48,520 --> 00:40:51,480
graduate.
And she was telling us a little

694
00:40:51,480 --> 00:40:53,280
bit about Amsterdam.
And one of the problems that she

695
00:40:53,280 --> 00:40:58,440
was telling us that exists is
that apparently housing is a

696
00:40:58,440 --> 00:41:01,280
nightmare there in that there's
really no more land to kind of

697
00:41:01,280 --> 00:41:02,680
build on.
And there's people keep on

698
00:41:02,680 --> 00:41:08,880
coming to be there and, you
know, there's wait lists for

699
00:41:08,880 --> 00:41:12,840
apartments and there's wait
lists for homes and, you know,

700
00:41:12,840 --> 00:41:14,400
they're just an absolute
fortune.

701
00:41:14,400 --> 00:41:18,920
I don't really know what to
think about that to really make

702
00:41:18,920 --> 00:41:22,360
of that.
I mean, I guess it's not too

703
00:41:22,360 --> 00:41:25,760
different from like a place like
Manhattan where just because

704
00:41:25,760 --> 00:41:28,560
how, you know, it's not really
due to a shortage of apartments.

705
00:41:28,560 --> 00:41:33,040
It's kind of due to a an
enormously expensive cost of

706
00:41:33,040 --> 00:41:36,400
living, but that people are kind
of forced to live together.

707
00:41:36,400 --> 00:41:41,800
And I didn't think really that
it works so well for people

708
00:41:41,800 --> 00:41:44,080
living in Manhattan.
I feel like it kind of makes New

709
00:41:44,080 --> 00:41:46,680
Yorkers a little bit.
What makes them crazy is part of

710
00:41:46,680 --> 00:41:49,920
just like being confined to such
a small place with so many

711
00:41:49,920 --> 00:41:54,680
people around you constantly,
but apparently on a little bit

712
00:41:54,680 --> 00:41:57,640
of a smaller scale, it does not
drive you all crazy.

713
00:41:57,960 --> 00:42:02,920
And, and the, and the people
from Amsterdam were so kind and

714
00:42:02,920 --> 00:42:06,320
so nice and so friendly.
You know, we went to a coffee

715
00:42:06,320 --> 00:42:10,680
shop and got, you know, got a
tea, got a, got a smoke.

716
00:42:11,080 --> 00:42:15,880
And, you know, and I was like,
she was, and I asked the, the

717
00:42:16,000 --> 00:42:18,840
barista, should we smoke inside
or she said outside.

718
00:42:18,840 --> 00:42:20,080
He's like, he said whatever you
want.

719
00:42:21,720 --> 00:42:24,200
And I said to I said to Zach,
oh, I'd love to go outside.

720
00:42:24,640 --> 00:42:28,160
And the people outside heard and
there's only one table outside

721
00:42:28,320 --> 00:42:30,680
with four seats and there's two
and there's two women there.

722
00:42:31,040 --> 00:42:34,080
And the women heard and just
moved over.

723
00:42:34,440 --> 00:42:36,400
And then when he poked your head
outside to see if there's any

724
00:42:36,400 --> 00:42:38,280
place to sit, they're like, oh,
we heard you say want to come

725
00:42:38,280 --> 00:42:39,600
outside.
You know, we just made some room

726
00:42:39,600 --> 00:42:41,920
if you want.
And that was it.

727
00:42:41,920 --> 00:42:45,000
And I was like, that never.
I mean, I don't know, maybe

728
00:42:45,000 --> 00:42:47,600
maybe I'm crazy, but maybe I'm
hanging out in the wrong places.

729
00:42:47,600 --> 00:42:52,800
But that would never happen in
the States, you know, So I'm

730
00:42:52,800 --> 00:42:57,200
walking away with raving reviews
about Amsterdam.

731
00:42:57,280 --> 00:42:59,520
I love the place.
People told me to be careful

732
00:42:59,520 --> 00:43:03,000
about being Jewish there.
I didn't really get that 50.

733
00:43:03,040 --> 00:43:04,680
And the Heineken was awesome on
tap.

734
00:43:05,040 --> 00:43:09,800
Awesome, awesome, awesome.
You know, obviously not the most

735
00:43:11,600 --> 00:43:16,440
craft or you know, the most
complex or complicated, you

736
00:43:16,440 --> 00:43:20,040
know, beverages out there, but
phenomenal on tap and everything

737
00:43:20,040 --> 00:43:24,640
was pretty decently priced.
Oh, except for these health

738
00:43:24,640 --> 00:43:27,000
snacks that I bought.
I bought like healthy chips.

739
00:43:27,000 --> 00:43:32,480
That was with avocado oil and a
pack of mixed nuts.

740
00:43:33,720 --> 00:43:37,920
And I didn't even look at it
because when especially so in

741
00:43:37,920 --> 00:43:42,200
Israel, I think it's like 3.7 or
3.5 shekel to a dollar.

742
00:43:43,200 --> 00:43:45,640
So everything.
So, you know, you're paying 12

743
00:43:45,640 --> 00:43:48,320
shekel for a Coke, even though
it's really 3 bucks.

744
00:43:48,320 --> 00:43:51,160
It just feels like you're giving
a lot of money over for that.

745
00:43:51,560 --> 00:43:54,040
And so I don't think my brain
had completely finished

746
00:43:54,040 --> 00:43:57,160
translating.
They're trying to translate the

747
00:43:57,680 --> 00:43:59,560
currency over from one cost to
another.

748
00:43:59,560 --> 00:44:03,240
And so I saw like 38, and I
thought that was like, oh, wow,

749
00:44:03,240 --> 00:44:05,000
OK, so it's like 1215 bucks.
That's not bad.

750
00:44:05,400 --> 00:44:09,400
And I realized it was ���38.
And I was like, oh man, what for

751
00:44:09,400 --> 00:44:11,840
three?
I don't know how it happened

752
00:44:11,840 --> 00:44:14,000
exactly.
And if you think that's crazy,

753
00:44:14,000 --> 00:44:16,080
I'll have to get up with Zach,
who wouldn't let me return it.

754
00:44:16,440 --> 00:44:23,360
So that's just some thoughts for
my newest, my most recent solo

755
00:44:23,360 --> 00:44:24,880
episode.
I kind of wanted to get this

756
00:44:24,880 --> 00:44:27,720
stream of consciousness out.
I wanted to get some of my

757
00:44:27,720 --> 00:44:31,480
thoughts out.
And we're going to have another

758
00:44:31,480 --> 00:44:33,400
episode tomorrow.
I'm really, really excited.

759
00:44:34,520 --> 00:44:37,320
Super cool dude from what I can
tell.

760
00:44:37,360 --> 00:44:42,080
My buddy introduced me to him.
He's an aviator, he's a martial

761
00:44:42,080 --> 00:44:47,400
artist, he is a health nut and
really excited to talk to him.

762
00:44:47,800 --> 00:44:50,080
And a couple of more fun
episodes coming up for you guys

763
00:44:50,080 --> 00:44:54,040
this week.
Hope you enjoyed and bye for

764
00:44:54,040 --> 00:44:54,240
now.