Enraged Jew

Lio: Welcome to The Jew Function. We're here again. I know everybody missed us. Some missed us, some wished we'd stop existing. But that's the fate of being a Jew. It's been crazy down here in Israel. I mean, there's the ceasefire thing going on, but just the general mood—it feels like time is dilating and contracting. It feels like a ton of stuff is happening in an hour, and then the next moment stretches like rubber. That's what I feel. I don't know how it is for you guys back there.

Seth: Same thing. Normally, there's something called the first hundred days of the presidency when you get a new president in the U.S. These guys came out swinging so fast and so hard with so much. The strategy might be to do enough things, so much that the media can hardly keep up. Headlines used to last for a couple of weeks, or even a day; now there's another headline three hours later. With AI, I think AI now is speeding up, doubling every six months. We are very pre-robot, which has a lot to do with the role of the Jews. What is the purpose of humanity if robots are doing everything? People may disregard this, but bookmark it, and within the next couple of years, we'll have robots everywhere.

Lio: I think the question on everybody's mind is: can the robot do the mitzvahs for me so I don't have to?

Seth: No, I don't think it's on most people's minds. Robots will do most work, the repetitive and laborious ones. So, what's left for a human? Yeah, things are speeding up. We're like right before cell phones; this is that moment again with AI and robots.

Lio: Yeah, earlier today, literally a few hours ago, I was a guest on another podcast. Unfortunately, it was in Hebrew, so not everybody can listen to it.

Seth: They'll translate it in real time.

Lio: We probably will. At some point, the guy was describing us as a seed in the ground, below the surface, surrounded by the pressure of soil. It has to sprout and find its way to the surface. Once it breaks out, humanity will be showered with light like never before. It's an apt description of the state of affairs. The things we thought would work a certain way aren't working—borders, wars, politics, economy.

Seth: It's interesting. There's a feeling in the U.S. wondering what's next. Law and order feel like they're coming back, borders are closing, regulations are going away, and waste is being rooted out.

Seth: Okay, which is...

Seth: ...also interesting because we know, as Jews, there’s never a "we made it to America, now we'll be fine." It's just a rest stop along the way.

Lio: Yeah, don't rest. It's too complicated.

Seth: So, we need to talk and explain that situation. But it does feel like a rest stop. For a minute, things are being cleaned up, and Israel is being supported, which sounds different from what you're describing.

Lio: Look, you're experiencing it there. I hope we get some break here in Israel, although Israel gets fewer breaks. But in the big scheme of things, I don't think things will go back to normal, even for Jews under Trump in America. We re-invited a guest, one of the few guests we kept regular contact with. He’s always a hoot and will help us understand what's going on and how we move beyond uncertainty, this pressure stage we're in. If you've followed the podcast, that's what we do here—we believe there’s a role, a plan, a beginning, and an end. We're somewhere in the middle, maybe two-thirds of the way.

Seth: Prevent.

Lio: Yeah, 4-5. We are required to participate. Nobody asked us if we want to be part of this game, but we can decide how to play it. So, this is where we are. Let’s zoom in and call in Fred Menach for some good times. Fred,

Fred: What's up, guys? Yay.

Lio: Hey, Fred,

Fred: Looking good, yeah?

Lio: You think so? Sharp.

Seth: Yeah,

Fred: I think. Yeah, you're marriage material. This is Fred Manachem You guys going make a shidduch or what? We're trying, but none of us have left our rooms. Right, exactly. Listen, I trust you. I feel...

Lio: The same way. I'm in a bomb shelter, you know. There's not much female traffic.

Fred: I'm in an industrial...

Seth: Park in central New Jersey, so think about you.

Fred: It's been a while. Thanks for inviting me. It's been almost...

Lio: Almost exactly a year. I looked up the episode.

Fred: Yeah. Can you believe it's been a year? I mean, a lot's happened. It feels like 10, both personally, and obviously, a lot’s happened since October 7th. It's been a learning lesson for all of us.

Seth: What have...

Fred: ...you learned? Well, a couple of things. One, antisemitism is truly rampant. That's the primary issue since October 7th. But it's not just antisemitism. There's a few things actually. Number two, people refuse, and this isn’t just about October 7th, to chip at their narrative. This is a problem. People can have facts in front of them, but they won't accept them. Number three, we're realizing, especially as Jews, we live in a post-truth world. Truth is irrelevant. I don’t know if I coined that term, but I keep saying it.

Seth: It irrelevant,

Lio: Fred, right?

Fred: It’s exactly a post-truth world. We live in it.

Seth: Facts don’t...

Lio: ...matter, Fred. You can own it.

Fred: They do own.

Seth: Your two and three are similar. If we decide this is just how it is—that bringing truth or facts won’t change minds, and we accept that—what works? I'm asking you.

Fred: It’s a good question. I was discussing this with my friend Glend Mil, an anchor in Miami for ABC. She said we need to teach people to critically think. I really don't believe that's possible. You can't have a critical thinking curriculum; it'll become political. Even if we’re supposedly talking about Judaism and antisemitism...

Seth: No, no, no, no, no, we’re here to talk about you, Fred. We’re here to talk about you.

Fred: Well, thank you. Alright. Sing.

Seth: We talk how...

Fred: Jews unite, ready to mingle. Effervescent, a little neurotic. Any ladies out there? Back on that tangent. The world we live in isn't different; it’s just that social media has changed how propaganda spreads. The USSR was excellent at it, doing it slowly over time. With Vietnam, civil rights, they were good at breaking people apart. It’s not new. Now, there’s no truth because people don't take the time to critically think. They aren't used to thinking beyond a 30-second soundbite.

Seth: Hold on, you just said it. Who cares about the truth? Why don’t we just have good propaganda? If that works, why don't we just have good propaganda?

Fred: There is such a thing. Propaganda doesn't necessarily mean a lie. There's always a narrative, right? Nothing’s perfect. Even we have a narrative with Israel and the Palestinians. We're not monolithic; everyone has a narrative. The question is: which narrative is realistic and based on facts?

Lio: Sorry, sorry to disagree with you so early.

Fred: Oh, you're disagreeing with me already? What are we getting into now?

Lio: I think this opens the door to focusing on how people feel, not just how they think.

Seth: Because, listen...

Fred: I know it's a sticky situation...

Seth: ...but you know...

Fred: ...listen,

Lio: When people watch the Titanic, the movie, they don't get moved because it's based on true events. They get moved by the actors, the story, him dying, her love. Who started the ship? Doesn't matter. So I think...

Fred: I'm not disagreeing. That’s my biggest mantra. I'll get to it in a minute. Keep going.

Lio: So, I'm saying maybe it relieves a burden from our work. We need to create an environment that makes people feel a certain way. Whether it's rooted in some absolute cosmic truth or not, we need to get people to feel a certain way. The question is, how do we do that and how should they feel?

Fred: You make a great point. I sometimes process things out loud and am full of contradictions like everyone else, because it's all subjective. My entire life has been about using emotion to get people to see things they might not see if you just present facts. Everything emotional has to be based on facts, though they might not process it that way. I remember, as a child in debates, winning them with emotion even when others had more facts. A good litigator knows that swaying a jury isn't just about facts. On October 7th, the narrative worked because we don't have resources to compete with global propaganda. Emotion is critical, but facts need to be present, especially considering how much of our world is influenced by AI and post-truth narratives. When people see televised deaths, it evokes emotion, regardless of the underlying facts. It's easy to manipulate minds because facts might not have ever been entirely relevant.

Lio: So where do we go from this? We see this breakdown. Where does that leave the average confused individual, especially if...

Seth: They're Jewish.

Lio: Yes, and they're trying to figure out what's going on, which side they're on, and how to relate to the world. What used to be clear is no longer so, whether it's about receiving pleasure, where to put effort, and the outcomes of those efforts.

Fred: Sorry to interrupt. I just wanted to say, regarding Seth's kids and my own nephews and niece, that they're very educated and aware. My family grew up as liberal Democrats, but my nephews have now registered as Republicans or independents. When Trump first ran, I despised him, but my perspective has changed because of how politics affects Jews. Right now, Republicans might be better for Jews, but that won't last forever. Historically, alliances shift, and as Jews, we know that people will eventually abandon us. Our history shows that, and we have to focus on unity within our community.

Seth: If Jesus comes back, they don't need us anymore.

Fred: Exactly. We have non-Jewish friends, but institutionally, history shows people abandon us. We must focus on unity. Jews need to understand that historically, we haven't had lasting friends. The key is internal unity, something currently being undermined. The point of The Jew Function podcast is to find truth and foster unity.

Lio: I got your point, even if it's hard to hear. Part of our podcast’s goal is to face the uncomfortable truth. I'll read you a quote from George Lincoln Rockwell, a neo-Nazi who observed Jews as having unparalleled group loyalty leading to success, not because of superiority but because they maintain this loyalty. That power is undeniable, and if we use it correctly, without being isolationists, we can change the world for the better.

Fred: It's complicated. I'm not an isolationist. We’re often forced into that corner, which is our gift and curse. Statements from supremacists have negative implications, suggesting superiority we don't claim. We're not monolithic. Historically, unity has been our strength when forced into corners. We need to recognize the complexity and work towards unity, not division.

Seth: It's not really that complicated. We've found that we always joke there's like two kinds of antisemitism: there's your street-level idiot thug, and then there's the sophisticated, very smart antisemites. When you read the smart antisemitism, it's not like the sages, but they point to the same thing. Maybe it's like the backside of the coin. They're pointing to the same thing, and that's actually how nature works. It's super, not supernatural. There's light and dark. You can't have a day without a night. If any people was able to survive as long as the Jews survived, even without the Sinai experience, it would be impossible to survive that long without additional help from above. But any people who are able to survive through this many divorces and business failures, wars, you become very smart from having your resilience tested so many times, with the weak ones in your population wiped out. Just every generation, whoever can't survive, gets killed.

Seth: Right. So, what we have now is we started talking about how time is speeding up, especially with AI and things like that. The Jewish people are like a fast iteration of humanity. Like humanity goes through phases, but Jews have been through so many of these churnings so fast. It's like you had Shammai and Hillel, like Rav, scrutinizing from both sides and then coming out with something new. Whereas otherwise, one neighbor might hate another for decades until they died. The sages in the Talmud would resolve centuries of disagreements in a week.

Lio: Well, they had nowhere to go. That's part of the beauty of being a Jew. You're forced to deal with it.

Fred: And to swing in the direction of whoever will befriend us at the moment. We swing wherever we're accepted.

Seth: Well, this is where we plant ourselves, but I'm talking about inner development. There's actually two things.

Fred: Seth always gets so spiritual and deep, but sometimes it's hard to follow. It's a really important point, though.

Seth: We're living in two realities at once. You're talking about this very Jewish thing while being part of the broader culture. Part of our Jewish experience is that we had the Sinai experience and this miraculous aspect. At the same time, where do we settle while we're doing this processing? You read Rashi and he's like writing about everything, balanced between two levels. As Jews, because we've been through these fast iterations, we need to unapologetically—

Seth: Remember Mat Yahoo, right? He was unapologetically Jewish, even when he was very young and inexperienced. People rallied behind that. When he tried to just fit in, his popularity waned. We need to unapologetically talk about who we are and what's important to us. It's a unique voice in the world.

Fred: You're saying we don’t have these types of influences in the world?

Seth: Yeah, I don’t think so.

Fred: That's what he said.

Seth: No, but I misunderstood the context. Where do we see this proud Jewish voice?

Fred: Like Miami, for example, with the Syrian Jews.

Seth: But there's a different voice out there, like Mat Yahoo, who was unapologetic about who he was.

Lio: Let me translate Seth using words of another anti-Semite from a hundred years ago, Vasily Shog. We read his stuff in a few episodes. He said Jews of the 20th century became smart and effective at exploiting ideas, but it's not the role of teachers and prophets. In a way, he's saying Jews should be leaders and guides.

Seth: Be teachers and prophets, carriers of the lame. We need to rise, not just as a side gig.

Fred: I want to talk a bit about what's happened since October 7th. It's becoming hard to make an impact because we're always on the defensive. It's normalizing antisemitism. For me, I'm tired of fighting online. It's a waste of time.

Seth: You mean like a back-and-forth online?

Fred: Yeah, on social media. Engaging online doesn't work, so I've decided to back off. But the issue is with people who don't hate us but don't understand the seriousness. Talking about it all the time is irritating to them. It's the normalization that's scaring me.

Seth: I don't think—and that's the thing—sometimes we, as men, find ourselves in a situation where we have to go out and do what needs to be done, even though no one's going to recognize us for it, and even though nobody understands, but we still have to do it. There are so many movies about that premise where something bad is coming, and you go out to address it. Not until the end of the war does anybody recognize you for it. Usually, at the end of the movie, someone realizes why you had to do what you do, and they're all grateful at that point. But the whole time, they just think you're a nut, or you're totally misunderstood. It's helpful to have a few friends who get what's going on. I don't think, Fred, you know—like Israel is a great example with these Mossad guys. They can't come home and tell everybody what happened yesterday. Or Navy SEAL kind of guys, right? You're not sitting around in the bar talking about the crazy stuff you did last night. They go in, do their job, and know that people's lives depend on them. They can't talk to anyone else about it. In that small group, they do those special secret missions. In a sense, we have a small group. We're doing special secret missions because, like you said, when you talk to most Jews, they say, "Enough already with this, right? Enough talking about this already." But it's not even close to enough. They just want to be left alone, to go to the club or out to dinner.

Fred: I want to, you know, I don't want to be attacked everywhere I go. Somebody finds out you're Jewish, and they think they can scream at you. I'm sorry; it's getting me so upset. Two things: One, I'm tired. This is making me angry. I have been attacked, not physically, but verbally. People say it's complicated. I'm like, what the hell? I've been out at night, and someone said, "It's complicated." If you said that about any other ethnic group, it wouldn't be complicated. I'm tired of being attacked. People say things they find acceptable, and it makes me angry and uncomfortable. This is happening on a regular basis. I don't know if it's happening to you all, but it is to me. That's the first thing. I've avoided going out more lately because, for whatever reason, people know, they whisper. I don't know why they know I'm Jewish, but apparently, people do. And these aren't people I know. The thing that's bothering me the most, and I don't mean to go off on a tangent, but I want to finish what I was saying, Seth, because I think it leads into what you're saying: what's bothering me more than anything? There are friends who don't understand and think it's self-consumed or that it can't be that bad. I try to push it in their face more because it makes me upset, and prove it. And I've just given up, but that's what...

Seth: I think it requires us to be more creative. How do we tell the story in a way that...

Fred: People don't believe in, Seth.

Seth: They look at us as successful. They say...

Fred: I'm not talking about GoPro footage from October 7th. I'm talking about the whole picture of where humanity is going. Half of America is depressed, and half of the world is on their way to being obese, which basically means...

Seth: It basically means that China has hundreds of millions of obese people who are on their way to being unhealthy.

Fred: Right. China, of all places.

Seth: That's the hope—they won't be able to invade the rest of the world because they're too obese.

Lio: As soon as a country develops, they go into over and depression. With AI, people will realize there's no way out. This has to be solved. And then the Jews have something to talk about at that point. Right. So, this brings us...

**Seth and Fred:** (overlapping) Fred's thinking. Wait a second. No, you saw that. No, I'm going to let Lio...

Fred: ...talk, but there's one thing, a quick question for you guys. Why is the footage from October 7th not being released? I was talking to the international press office, and they're not giving it. I don't understand.

Seth: The movies... No, but the movie the IDF made.

Fred: There's hardly any movie the IDF made, which I saw several times. I had a copy of it; I can't seem to find it, but it might have been on my old phone. But that footage, if people saw it—they're not seeing that anywhere. They have held that footage tight. I've never understood. I watched it, and I didn't want to watch it. I'll be disturbed for the rest of my life. I watched 45 minutes of the worst thing I've ever seen.

Seth: The most documented...

Fred: And I don't understand. I'm sorry, I know there was a side note, but you're bringing up how we can make people understand. That would be one way. For people just to see it.

Seth: No, bro, there are such girls scraping with their fingernails, tearing down hostage posters. It's a deep psychological issue. If Israel is the problem, then people don't need to look at themselves. If this is really happening to Israel, then people have to come to terms with reality, and everything has to change. But as long as we point to Israel as the problem, nobody has to change.

Fred: But that's the narrative we're talking about. They refuse to change it. And the question is: Seth, most of these people don't care about Israel, it's irrelevant. If they cared about Israel, they'd care about action; they talk...

Seth: No, no, please know Israel is for the Jews.

Fred: What I mean is the people scraping the posters, they don't understand what they're doing. They just want a battle, a fight.

Seth: But emotionally, they feel some repulsion to the Zionist entity.

Fred: They've turned "Zion" negative. If I hear one more time—I've heard people say, "I don't hate Jews, just..." They've managed to turn a benign word into something crazy negative, and it's working. We should do what the rappers did with the n-word. But it's crazy. People think that's okay. People who weren't generally anti-Semites are becoming anti-Semites without realizing it. Those are the people I'm concerned about. The normalization of it, people you would never traditionally put in a box as anti-Semites are becoming that, and they don't even see it. And, Seth, that's exactly what you're talking about.

Lio: So, what were you going to say? Yes, I'm listening to you guys getting riled up, and it's great.

Fred: I'm riled up right now.

Lio: That's good. I wish more people would be riled up because it would mean that they're ready to maybe consider a broader explanation. When you start to rule out the things that don't make sense, you end up with what has to be the thing, the right thing. Even so, it doesn't matter if you believe in facts or not. This works, this doesn't work, and eventually, you reach that point. I'm not expecting the rest of the world to do this type of scrutiny. I'm expecting us, the people who are suffering through this, to do this scrutiny. If you're seeing that things are getting worse, if you see that all the rational proof that we're the victim here is not working, some other force is at work here. The question is what? So we go, in The Jew Function, we're trying to look at antisemitism and explain it according to the laws of nature. We looked at historic patterns, network science, which proved some points in a way but didn't explain the root of it. The only thing we had left was our own Jewish sages. If you're willing to acknowledge that maybe we don't have all the answers, and maybe there were some really wise people who understood how this craziness works and wrote about it, then maybe we should look and listen to what they're saying. Look at the direction they're pointing. I'm going to read another little thing here. If I'm reading something from Bar M from the introduction to the Book of Zohar, he writes: In such a generation, all the destructors among the nations raise their heads and wish primarily to destroy and kill the children of Israel. As it is written, no calamity comes to the world but for Israel. This means, as in the above ik, that they cause poverty, ruin, robbery, killing, and destruction in the world. This is a harsh quote. But another quote says the complete sentence: No calamity comes to the world if not for Israel, and no good comes to the world but for Israel. The guidance of all the worlds is given to Israel. Our sages wrote those things, not as nice euphemisms or to create mythology. They knew something; they were trying to tell us. Look, you're at the heart of this. Like it or not, you live in a system. The system has to operate around certain principles. One of them is that one group acts as a catalyst. In everything in the world—every chemical reaction, biological reaction—you have something that starts the process. You have a fire starter. That's who we are. If we understand that we have that capacity, then I would argue that we shouldn't even expect the others...

Seth: It doesn't even matter that nobody believes us or that I don't need to argue with all these people. I just need to do the right thing. It doesn't matter what anyone says.

Fred: That's it. Lio, go ahead. I've got so many thoughts here. I'm going in a totally different direction, so finish up.

Lio: From another article, Baal HaSulam's, "Exile and Redemption," he writes: As long as we do not raise our goal above the corporeal life, we will have no corporeal resurrection. The spiritual and corporeal cannot dwell together. We are the children of the idea. And even if immersed in Forty-Nine Gates of Materialism, we still don't give up the idea. Hence, the holy purpose for his sake is needed. For his sake, meaning for the quality of love and bestow. Whenever they speak about the Creator, it's that law of love best that we're trying to resemble. That's what it's about. How can we bring humans to feel that quality of love? By resembling it. You can't change your nature. We can't change who we are: egoists, desire to receive pleasure, but the intention—that can change. And that's what we're invited to consider. Everything else...

Fred: Can you imagine that? You've hit me hard, man. Can I chime in on a couple of things? That's it.

Seth: Boys...

Fred: Two things. Number one, what you said was beautiful, and I'll tell you why. I truly am no perfect person. None of us are. But I've said this last time: what's mine is yours. I'm not getting into all my stuff again, but I spend my life doing the best I can, trying not to let the world poison me. I continue to behave to bring love to people. I always ask, what can I do for you? To get to know people on a human level, whether they're homeless or going through whatever they're going through. I've spent my life trying to bring that love. And I can tell you one thing: sometimes people think I'm nuts, and I am nuts, and whatever. When they realize there's no agenda, people change. And I will never let people who have done things to me poison me. I will always continue to behave that way, and you are right. I lived my life like that, and I will continue doing that. We always talk about the negative and antisemitism, and this is not just as Jews but as humans. But I think that maybe comes from how I was taught. It's nature versus nurture, but it's part of who we are in our DNA, I believe, as Jews. Second thing, and you're going to be surprised I'm bringing this up because it's so not my usual thing—if God gave us free will, but really, God knows what's happening anyway, what's the difference if we're fighting this or not? To Seth's point, why does it matter? Why are we wasting our time? Because God already knows what's going to happen anyway.

Seth: But we have to do the effort, but the effort is not about the debate. The win comes from deciding, putting the effort in the right place.

Fred: The win is coming from exactly what I think Lio and Seth were both alluding to in bringing the love. Why are we so worried about fighting antisemitism instead? I mean, just being the ones

Lio: to bring the love can change. I'll tell you why. Because it's more difficult. At the end of the day, for

Fred: me, the love is

Lio: easier to

Fred: do. Well, it is.

Lio: You definitely are a rare specimen, which is the point to mention again that you're single. But my point is that, yes, it's easy to a degree, but at some point, it requires effort. There's just a level of participation that is required. This is what people who are not Jews don't get and don't like to do in the first place. As I said in the very beginning, if there's an argument, I just take off, I just move to another state. Why do I have to deal with this person? I'm just taking off. Yeah, but that's kind of a bad thing. Come on, that's kind of a blank statement. No, no, no,

Fred: no,

Lio: no, no, no, it's a

Fred: forget about

Lio: human nature. I

Fred: want to know

Lio: maximum pleasure, minimum pain. Plenty of Jews, too. Okay, right. So, Jews, too,

Seth: but Jews

Lio: had no choice but to rise above. Right. That's the thing that we were taught from Mount Sinai, the mountain of hate, to cover it with love. That's what it is. That's the meaning of Sinai from the word sina, hate. And King Solomon says, what's the quote? Hate steers all

Seth: My moment to shine, and I don't remember.

Lio: Yeah, hate steers all strife,

Seth: but love covers all crimes.

Lio: Love covers all transgressions, all crimes. All of our work is only in doing that. Now when you have a group that helps you rise, make that choice each and every time. It becomes easy. But everybody has to be in on it. That's why we had to start with us, you know, a small group in humanity. We have to say, you know what? We're going to do just that. And why? Because, and hold before you say it.

Fred: Oh, so Kevin, just making my hand motions, my Jewish hand motions, man. Thank you. I read it. I'm really excited.

Lio: Quote from Rav Kook, he says, because the revealed unity of the moral, spiritual, and intellectual world, along with the material, technical, and social world, is expressed in the world through Israel. The skill of the land of Israel is to establish in the world the revelation of this unity, which gives a new face to the entire human culture. It's like it's in us, but this is a choice we have to make every morning when you wake up. It's not some external commandment to do this and not eat this and not eat that. No, those are external expressions. Of an inner truth that we are refusing to acknowledge. Why? Because it takes some more effort. It can't be automatic, like the mitzvahs. The mitzvah are automatic. If I grew up religious, I'm doing the things. That's not what will get me to love the other as myself. I have to get involved. I have to care. I have to, every day, my ego will rise, and I have to somehow get help from my friends. This is the challenge. This is the national challenge of the Jewish people.

Fred: Can we rise to it? I will say, I'm sorry, but I have to say something because, you know, in life, there are always moments that you never know when they're going to come when your brain just shifts for a minute, right? And you're like, wow. And Seth and Lio, you guys did that to me today, actually. And I want to bring up what happened. You just said something to me. For me, it's natural. It's easy for me, right? I spend my life helping people, and I love it. The other day, I was out with a friend, and she's like, you're so friendly. And I was irritated by it. And I thought to myself, I mean, it was fine that she was hurt. It wasn’t about her, but I was like, you know what? That's easy for me. You just said it. For me to love. So, why am I trying so hard to deal with this negative constantly? I need to be doing what, as a Jew, I should be doing, and as a human. But the way I was not just taught, the way that my heart. I don't think—no, but it's not, I've always been this way. It's just that I, I've never, I don't know, I never felt like I fit. Regular human nature. I'm serious. It's not difficult for me to be kind. It's innate to me. And the thing is, when I bring that light, my life's better. It makes other

Seth: people's lives better. And I'm

Seth: always doing it.

Fred: But when I get trapped in

Seth: this negative

Fred: bullshit about fighting antisemitism, and you guys really, I'm not kidding you. It's not that I haven't known this, but I'm realizing everybody's always telling me, my mother, my family, you know, it's not healthy for you. And they're not wrong. I just didn't realize it. Until just now, why am I trying to fight something when I'm just bringing love? As a Jewish person, it's not to fight antisemitism, it's to bring the

Seth: love and bring them. I charge my regular

Fred: rate, give them a discount on this. Right, exactly. Call them oil. 10%. So, but really, I'm telling you, you guys made a big shift for me today to realize I'm going to like, it's not worth it, the poison. Which I say I always avoid, sometimes I'm not avoiding it. And this love, which is so natural for me, even when other people think it's weird, they usually come back to it, right? They usually are like, wow. And that's what, as a Jewish person, I think I need to get rid of fighting these antisemites and all that. It's a no-win situation and just continue to bring love. And if I get rid of all of that crap and just let it go to the side, I can just bring love.

Seth: You can't let it go. I don't think you can totally let it go because, like we said, we have to live in these two worlds, but we can still put the effort into deciding where we're aiming. Because, again, you know, those people who are just, you know, Shabbat 24/7. It's also not realistic. There's something

Fred: about that that's not realistic.

Seth: Yeah.

Fred: No, but I do it. Like, I know. Look, guys, I think you've gotten to know me a little bit. I am far from perfect. I am definitely not politically correct. I just do it. I could be an asshole and still do it, you know?

Lio: Rabbi Mendel from Kotsk said, the Creator doesn't need angels, he needs humans. So it's good. If he wanted it perfect, he could have, you know, he could have had it. He wants the human with all the stuff, with all the drama, with all the ups and downs. That's what makes it so rich and beautiful. And we want to keep it. We don't want to kill it. But what we want to do, and I think we'll close on this because Seth has to, you know, he's got to

Fred: make money. He's got to make money. Come on. My day. I don't even want to share what I was about to say in my head, right? Are you not responsible for your thoughts? They say, go ahead.

Lio: So we'll close on this. I'll let you read a quote which will really kind of seal the deal because before you read it, I'll just kind of give you the right direction. If we continue to take the words of our sages really as law, not as some, again, nice ideas, philosophical thought, but really, this is, they're describing reality to us. They're trying to break through that narrative that we are stuck in. And they're saying, look, the whole world is in you. These antisemites, the nations of the world, the Nazis, they're all in you. They're fighting for your attention. Where do you put your attention? What do you make more important and less important? What do you keep up, what do you put down? Right, you have to make this arrangement. This is a human work to do. Animals don't do it, they naturally follow the algorithm. You have to make this choice every moment. So, I want you to read this closing quote. And if you want to say something afterward, you're invited. But really, with that intention, you know, that this is all happening inside of you. And what do I do with it? So, give that a read for us. What

Seth: do you mean? Here, I've just posted it, it's in

Fred: the chat

Seth: now.

Lio: So

Fred: slowly. I don't know. I'm going to read. It's going to come back to haunt me. I'm not sure what's going to be. Is it okay?

Seth: Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's not going to haunt you. Your life's going to get

Fred: better. All right, I'm Fred Men, and this is The Jew Function. When a person from Israel enhances and dignifies his internality, which is the Israel in him, over the externality, which are the nations of the world in him that is, he dedicates the majority of his efforts to enhance and extol his internality to benefit his soul, and gives little effort, the mere necessity to sustain the nations of the world in him, meaning the bodily needs. By so doing, he makes the children of Israel soar upward in the internality and externality of the world as well. And the nations of the world, which are the externality, recognize and acknowledge the value of the children of Israel. Al-Hash. Am I saying it right? And that's from the book of Zohar. Introduction to the Book of

Seth: Zohar. So, put that next to your Twitter account or your X account. And every time you want to, just remember where to focus.

Fred: Guys, man, this brought me love. This brought me back to love. I'm not kidding you guys. I'm telling you. I had a shift today. And you guys listen, when somebody, that's a mitzvah. You guys did a mitzvah today, and you didn't even realize it. Because when those moments happen, that's big. That's a light. That's a spark to remind me who I am. I always knew, and to just remember as a Jewish person, yes, we have to fight antisemitism sometimes, but it's to bring light. And I'll leave it on that. My job in this world. And I've always known that, despite people telling me you should focus on yourself or why you're always helping people. At the end of the day, I've always known since I was a child, where they used to pin "Light" on my freaking shirt in Cedarhurst in nursery school, that my job is to bring light to the world. Yes, as a human, but also as a Jew, most importantly. And I will continue doing that. And because of you guys, I'm going to make an extra effort to not think of anything negative today. So, thank you guys. Really send me a bill, Seth. I will. With interest.

Seth: Get the friends and family discount.

Fred: It's always fun to be on the show. I'm glad that we finally did. I know we always cancel and change things. It's just my mission, guys. But

Seth: we're excited. Big things for Edmund. Go

Lio: fix the

Seth: Jews and the world, and we'll talk to you soon.

Lio: Yeah, this is The Jew Function. You guys, you know, you've seen it. So I would love to continue to do this with you, with the rest of the world. You know, why not? Why just focus on Fred when we can do it with everyone?

Fred: We have to bring Miriam along next. Start with Fred and throw Mary's name out. She wears it, right?

Lio: First, we do the Menachem family, then we do the world. All right, so like, follow us. We're on every platform. Yeah, subscribe, leave a comment, and we'll see you all next time. Thank you so much.

Fred: Wait, one more thing. Always remember, dress British, but think Yiddish.