Ronny Simon joins Allen Jackson at the Culture & Christianity Conference.
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Allen Jackson NOW | Allen Jackson: Culture & Christianity Conference (Part 2)| Allen Jackson Now | October 17, 2025
- Ronnie is a historian of some note.
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- Particularly with, israel in the middle east.
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- But our topic today is really more focused.
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- It's a less friendly topic.
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- It's more on anti-semitism.
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- So maybe we start out.
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- You were israeli.
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- Your family immigrated to israel from romania.
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- So your family has been touched
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- By 20th century expressions of anti-semitism.
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- Maybe we start out, you just tell us a bit of that.
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- So it isn't theoretical.
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- You've lived through a bit of hatred of the jewish people.
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- Well, i was just a boy when we came over,
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- But i clearly remember stories that i heard from my parents
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- About what was it like to be a jewish, not just a jew,
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- But a jewish zionist that wants to go to israel?
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- I in romania.
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- It was very unpleasant losing most of the families
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- In the holocaust.
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- And just to be determined that israel is the homeland.
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- Leaving romania back then was almost impossible.
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- And they were determined.
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- And my dad lost his job some times
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- And my mother was called names.
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- This is something that is
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- Part of our dna, unfortunately, is the jewish people.
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- For me, myself, i never had such an experience in israel.
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- That's what this is all about.
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- We are proud to be back home, but have a nation.
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- Nobody is persecuted and nobody feels any
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- Anti-semitism in israel.
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- That's why is what exists, right?
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- To make sure the jews are safe
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- And jews will not share
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- Those sentiments
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- That my people did for the last 2000 years or so.
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- Maybe expand that a bit.
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- You said that's the reason israel exists,
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- And i've heard you say it many times,
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- But it's intended to give the jewish people a homeland,
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- A safe haven.
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- Because for 2000 years that was absent.
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- Can you expand on that a bit?
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- What is the secret?
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- You do know that, jews were longing
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- And praying and yearning to go back to israel.
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- And we waited for nearly 2000 years until opportunity
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- Presented itself.
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- And the circumstances were right.
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- And israel was built to be a homeland
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- For every jewish person around the globe
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- That wants to come back home.
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- Who even made the law of return?
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- You know, parliament
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- In 1958, as every jewish person that comes to israel,
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- Once you land at the airport, they give your id
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- And automatically you become a citizen without israel.
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- We don't have a moral.
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- I will say, justification to exist.
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- And what?
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- Jewish people are in danger around the world.
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- Israel is there to reach out and to help.
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- And if we have to send our let's call them green berets
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- Or equivalent to uganda,
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- Because the plo hijacked an airplane with israelis
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- In 1976, will send our people to every corner of the world
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- To rescue jews.
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- That's what this is all about.
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- So jewish people,
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- Even those
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- That don't live in israel, and not all
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- The jews are supporting the state of israel.
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- But they know
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- If we come to work, somebody is going to come to the rescue,
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- Somebody is going to help.
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- There was a safe place to go to,
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- And people could not make the state.
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- And the just made for the last nearly 2000 years.
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- And you don't send the frustration
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- That only few miles away from our homes, 48 israelis
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- Are held hostage in the tunnels of hamas, miles away from home.
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- And we can not do that much to free them.
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- You understand the frustration,
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- But israel is there to make sure that
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- Any jewish person on the planet has a place to go to.
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- Some will come only when things worse comes to worse,
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- But many others will come to be part of that amazing experience
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- Of the rebirth of the jewish nation in israel.
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- As god promises so often in the scriptures.
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- But i suspect most of the people listening,
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- Have a consciousness that islam,
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- Has a hatred
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- For the jewish people being in that land.
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- But the issue is, is much bigger than that,
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- And it's much broader than that, because for hamas to exist
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- And to have flourished, they've had to have support
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- From the west, from ngos.
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- The greatest persecutor of the jewish people
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- Throughout history has not been islam.
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- It's been christians.
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- Although he's a historian in this setting,
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- He's probably too polite
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- To make that statement that i can make it.
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- And it's historically accurate.
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- And i think one of the changes that came with october
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- The 7th was the realization that the anti-semitism,
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- The hatred for the jewish
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- People was still alive and well in the west.
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- We wanted to believe after world
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- War two we were done with that,
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- And we have seen it on our
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- Some of our most previously celebrated college campuses.
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- And now we
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- See it in the conservative side of the ideological spectrum.
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- So i've got a question.
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- And when i say it to my
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- Friends in america, they don't usually believe me,
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- But the
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- The just
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- The average israeli on the street,
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- I think is probably more comfortable
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- With a muslim than with a christian
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- Because of that history.
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- And i know there's been some change in the last decade.
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- We've made some progress in that dialog.
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- Maybe with alex coaching,
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- We can do a little better with our online media.
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- But there's been a deep divide between the jewish
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- And christian community.
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- The what the jewish people know was
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- That hitler was a baptized catholic,
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- And we
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- Would say, well, he wasn't a good one,
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- But you'll forgive the jewish people
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- If that distinction is lost on them.
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- And so today
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- We see in the west and in much of the christian
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- Church in america,
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- If not opposition to the state
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- Of israel and the jewish people, we see ambivalence.
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- So maybe we talk for a minute.
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- You walk us back through
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- Some of the expressions
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- Of anti-semitism, whether it's in spain or europe
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- Or some of that's personal in your life. but,
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- You're better with dates
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- And facts than i am.
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- Well, i think the first time it was mentioned
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- There was in the book of esther, chapter three, verse eight,
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- When eamon goes to excelsis and says, was this people
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- Who are different in the customs and are not loyal,
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- And they hate the monarchy, and we need to get rid of them.
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- And maybe the first time
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- That the jewish people, the people were targeted
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- When they called jews back then,
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- That would be the biblical example.
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- The funny thing
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- Is that the septuagint, the septuagint of all places,
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- Started in official state sponsored anti-semitism
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- In alexandria.
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- The world was still pagan, and, king ptolemy in philadelphia
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- Invited 72 jewish scholars to translate the bible to greek.
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- And nobody read the bible until then, except in hebrew.
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- And when the egyptian scholars read the translation,
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- They were shocked
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- Because they realized
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- That egypt was humiliated by the god of israel.
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- And he speaks about the plagues
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- And speaks about the army of pharaoh.
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- The drowned in the red sea, and the egyptian.
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- Greek scholars were shocked.
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- And that started something that was quite amazing.
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- They had to write their versions of the story
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- Because egypt was humiliated and historians called manitou.
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- The priest said that pharaoh actually expelled
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- A group of lepers from egypt, led by a priest
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- That changed his name to moses
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- And expelled them into the desert.
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- And these are the hebrews.
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- They would not
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- Buy the biblical story because it humiliated egypt.
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- The roman historian simply followed,
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- Embracing everything the lives of the greeks.
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- And for the catholic church,
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- That was easy to add to the final layer
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- And to give us the religious expression as well.
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- In antiquity, there was absolute religious freedom.
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- Nobody will force you to believe
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- In zeus or to believe in jupiter.
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- It didn't matter.
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- The first time it became to be a state issue
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- Was in the days of constantine, when the roman empire, now
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- A christian, one, believe that it's their duty as an empire
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- To lead people to christianity and to lead them for heaven.
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- He became to be an imperial task and obviously
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- There was always a scapegoat, always somebody to point at.
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- And if you start teaching your people in small communities,
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- The jews are christ killers and you add to that
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- What you heard from the egyptian historians and the romans one,
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- It will have all the rightful kind of hatreds.
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- And the roman emperors were writing codex
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- Discriminating the jews.
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- And by the way, the jews didn't care that much
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- Because that separation was important.
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- So once you lock the jews in ghettos or jewish neighborhoods,
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- For the jewish perspective,
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- We don't want to mingle with the others.
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- We can't really share a meal because it's not kosher, etc.
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- So we think about ignorance.
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- All those people that heard something
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- About the jews but never met them in person.
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- They're being told the jews are christ killers
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- And they are a little more affluent and all
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- Literate and educated.
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- They live longer because they keep laws
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- Of sanitation that the others did not.
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- And the doctor will also helping as well.
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- You brought a lot of envy
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- Plus the religious aspect, and that went on and on and on.
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- The expulsion from spain in 1492, etc.
- 00:09:10.975 --> 00:09:15.546
- But if i only mean not just an expulsion.
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- Jews were arrested,
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- Tortured and forced to accept the christian faith.
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- Their property was confiscated.
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- They were driven out of the country.
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- He gave a sanitized version.
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- And all of that was led by the church.
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- You see, one of the notions that we have to address,
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- And we're going to do it for the next day
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- And a half together, is we can't hide from culture.
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- We have to bring our faith into the culture.
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- We have to use the truth of scripture
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- And the authority of scripture to impact culture.
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- It's not politics
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- I could care less about republican or democrat.
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- I care about the worldview that has authority over us
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- And bringing the perspective of scripture in the church.
- 00:09:58.723 --> 00:10:01.893
- A perverted version of the church has brought a great deal
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- Of suffering, and the question in the 21st century for us is,
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- Are we going to come back
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- To that biblical worldview and have the courage
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- To bring the truth to bear in our culture,
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- Or will we hand our children and grandchildren something else?
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- In spain 15th century, the church
- 00:10:16.908 --> 00:10:20.044
- Led the persecution of the jews.
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- We're changing in the 21st century.
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- Kernel, i'm i interrupted you.
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- I'm sorry.
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- No. since you.
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- As you said
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- Earlier, a few things i will hesitate to say.
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- You feel much more comfortable.
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- Obviously.
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- Amen to everything you just shared.
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- Yeah, that was it.
- 00:10:43.768 --> 00:10:45.236
- But again, the way an opinion, the way i see that
- 00:10:45.236 --> 00:10:49.240
- For the first time ever, that, muslim anti-semitism
- 00:10:49.240 --> 00:10:53.745
- Is meeting good old fashioned christian anti-semitism.
- 00:10:53.745 --> 00:10:58.116
- And that would be in europe of the last 20, 30 years.
- 00:10:58.116 --> 00:11:01.385
- And that's a devastating combination.
- 00:11:01.385 --> 00:11:11.000
- And that's a devastating combination.
- 00:11:11.000 --> 00:11:14.491
- One of the things we hear a lot is that the israelis
- 00:11:15.525 --> 00:11:18.128
- Are taking the land of the palestinians.
- 00:11:18.128 --> 00:11:22.165
- Maybe you've heard that some version of that,
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- Or more of you than that.
- 00:11:25.502 --> 00:11:28.071
- I'm not going to receive an offering.
- 00:11:28.071 --> 00:11:29.339
- It's not an auction. i was just curious.
- 00:11:29.339 --> 00:11:32.208
- Okay,
- 00:11:32.442 --> 00:11:33.409
- So how much land maybe
- 00:11:33.409 --> 00:11:35.145
- Are you personally confiscating property?
- 00:11:35.145 --> 00:11:37.113
- Ronnie, do you have, like, a ranch?
- 00:11:37.113 --> 00:11:40.150
- Tell us how much land you have confiscated in the process.
- 00:11:40.150 --> 00:11:44.020
- I had to kill about a thousand
- 00:11:44.020 --> 00:11:45.221
- People, which i do for breakfast every day. so
- 00:11:45.221 --> 00:11:48.324
- I spend eight hours this week
- 00:11:48.958 --> 00:11:51.127
- To try to explain to the people to came to the morning seminars
- 00:11:51.127 --> 00:11:54.697
- To ask you a question. eight hours.
- 00:11:54.697 --> 00:11:57.167
- How can i answer that in a,
- 00:11:57.167 --> 00:12:00.737
- Listen, israel, quickly, quickly.
- 00:12:00.737 --> 00:12:02.872
- So when i'm at the gate, we can cover 4000 is in ten minutes.
- 00:12:02.872 --> 00:12:06.976
- That's what we do for living.
- 00:12:06.976 --> 00:12:09.646
- To make a long story short,
- 00:12:09.646 --> 00:12:12.916
- Israel is the only country, i guess, in the region.
- 00:12:12.916 --> 00:12:15.952
- Definitely.
- 00:12:15.952 --> 00:12:17.353
- That was giving up land for peace constantly.
- 00:12:17.353 --> 00:12:20.857
- 1967 israel was attacked by the arab armies in retaliation.
- 00:12:20.857 --> 00:12:25.829
- By the way, we always retaliate.
- 00:12:25.829 --> 00:12:27.897
- That will come as a surprise to you.
- 00:12:27.897 --> 00:12:29.799
- Israel never initiated any act of aggression against the arabs.
- 00:12:29.799 --> 00:12:35.038
- Israel is retaliating.
- 00:12:35.038 --> 00:12:37.607
- You give me one speech of one prominent israeli leader
- 00:12:37.607 --> 00:12:42.045
- That speaks about destroying the arabs
- 00:12:42.045 --> 00:12:44.547
- Or destroy the palestinians. don't bother.
- 00:12:44.547 --> 00:12:46.749
- You won't find it.
- 00:12:46.749 --> 00:12:48.351
- I can give you thousands examples of arabs delivering
- 00:12:48.351 --> 00:12:51.187
- A message of destruction to the jews and israel.
- 00:12:51.187 --> 00:12:54.691
- Israel is willing to give up land
- 00:12:54.691 --> 00:12:57.327
- For peace through peace.
- 00:12:57.327 --> 00:13:00.063
- We occupied, quote unquote, to the sinai peninsula
- 00:13:00.063 --> 00:13:02.966
- From the egyptians after we were threatened and attacked
- 00:13:02.966 --> 00:13:06.102
- By them in june of 1967.
- 00:13:06.102 --> 00:13:09.505
- In 1979, we pulled out from all of sinai
- 00:13:09.505 --> 00:13:13.042
- Because egypt was willing to sign peace with israel
- 00:13:13.042 --> 00:13:16.512
- If you wanted to occupied, we would not speak about peace.
- 00:13:16.512 --> 00:13:20.116
- We started the peace process with the palestinians
- 00:13:20.116 --> 00:13:22.919
- And we pulled out from land.
- 00:13:22.919 --> 00:13:24.354
- It was never this by the way, it used to be jordan.
- 00:13:24.354 --> 00:13:27.657
- We pulled out from parts of the west bank.
- 00:13:27.657 --> 00:13:30.126
- That's the heartland of biblical israel, for goodness sake.
- 00:13:30.126 --> 00:13:33.363
- The state of israel gave up some of the land of our ancestors
- 00:13:33.363 --> 00:13:37.467
- To a bitter enemy, hoping it's going to lead to peace.
- 00:13:37.467 --> 00:13:41.371
- We were naive. not anymore.
- 00:13:41.971 --> 00:13:44.774
- If israel wants to occupy, we can.
- 00:13:44.774 --> 00:13:47.610
- We are strong enough.
- 00:13:47.610 --> 00:13:49.479
- Israel doesn't want to occupy anything.
- 00:13:49.479 --> 00:13:54.517
- Thank you.
- 00:13:54.817 --> 00:13:57.553
- And if i may, in
- 00:13:57.553 --> 00:13:58.988
- A few seconds, if i may, many people ask me
- 00:13:58.988 --> 00:14:02.025
- Why i want to just annex
- 00:14:02.025 --> 00:14:03.326
- Judea and samaria and just have a greater israel,
- 00:14:03.326 --> 00:14:06.596
- As basically the bible says, well, we are a democracy.
- 00:14:06.596 --> 00:14:10.466
- And if you're annexing judea and samaria and want to leave
- 00:14:10.466 --> 00:14:13.937
- The people, give them the right to vote.
- 00:14:13.937 --> 00:14:17.140
- We would be outnumbered in our own country
- 00:14:17.140 --> 00:14:19.642
- If we have a greater israel.
- 00:14:19.642 --> 00:14:21.811
- If you want to annex the gaza strip, we can.
- 00:14:21.811 --> 00:14:25.315
- It's not an issue of can we or can we not?
- 00:14:25.315 --> 00:14:28.685
- If we do that and we give them rights
- 00:14:28.685 --> 00:14:30.620
- Because we want to
- 00:14:30.620 --> 00:14:31.621
- Save democracy, we will be outnumbered in israel
- 00:14:31.621 --> 00:14:35.291
- And therefore to have a greater israel and say democracy
- 00:14:35.291 --> 00:14:38.795
- Will lead to the demise of the state of israel
- 00:14:38.795 --> 00:14:41.331
- By simple demographic, the democratic demographic process.
- 00:14:41.331 --> 00:14:45.501
- We prefer to have a smaller israel
- 00:14:46.235 --> 00:14:48.604
- And not to occupy land with a solid jewish majority.
- 00:14:48.604 --> 00:14:52.809
- And this will
- 00:14:53.176 --> 00:14:54.410
- Guarantee that israel will stay a strong democracy and jewish.
- 00:14:54.410 --> 00:14:57.981
- That's our main dilemma.
- 00:14:57.981 --> 00:14:59.916
- So in israel is willing to negotiate and give a plan.
- 00:14:59.916 --> 00:15:03.086
- It's not because we give up on the biblical promise.
- 00:15:03.086 --> 00:15:06.055
- You go to genesis 15.
- 00:15:06.055 --> 00:15:07.824
- God promised abraham a land from the euphrates river
- 00:15:07.824 --> 00:15:11.394
- All the way to the book of egypt on god's timing.
- 00:15:11.394 --> 00:15:14.297
- The promise is there.
- 00:15:14.297 --> 00:15:15.765
- We are not taking action to do that.
- 00:15:15.765 --> 00:15:18.801
- We want to try.
- 00:15:18.801 --> 00:15:19.869
- If you want to be a homeland for the jewish people,
- 00:15:19.869 --> 00:15:22.138
- We want to be a light for the nations.
- 00:15:22.138 --> 00:15:24.874
- We don't want to conquer land.
- 00:15:24.874 --> 00:15:33.992
- We don't want to conquer land.
- 00:15:33.992 --> 00:15:38.024
- Through a father and a grandfather,
- 00:15:38.791 --> 00:15:42.028
- He said he used to when people showed him pictures
- 00:15:42.028 --> 00:15:44.196
- Of the grandchildren, he showed them pictures of his dogs.
- 00:15:44.196 --> 00:15:47.767
- But he has two grandchildren now.
- 00:15:48.467 --> 00:15:50.870
- And he will show you pictures.
- 00:15:50.870 --> 00:15:53.606
- But i thought the instructions you gave to your son
- 00:15:53.606 --> 00:15:55.708
- When he was leaving for college.
- 00:15:55.708 --> 00:15:58.010
- Do you remember that?
- 00:15:58.010 --> 00:15:59.612
- Yes, sir.
- 00:15:59.612 --> 00:16:00.579
- I thought it was helpful for all of us.
- 00:16:00.579 --> 00:16:02.515
- Yeah, a few things you don't forget.
- 00:16:02.515 --> 00:16:05.251
- I know that all this, this introduction
- 00:16:05.251 --> 00:16:08.220
- Of speaking about israel
- 00:16:08.220 --> 00:16:09.789
- May lead people to think that we live a very, intense,
- 00:16:09.789 --> 00:16:13.893
- Kind of nervous way of life.
- 00:16:13.893 --> 00:16:16.562
- Many of you have been to israel.
- 00:16:16.562 --> 00:16:18.230
- Life goes on.
- 00:16:18.230 --> 00:16:19.198
- It's amazing what you can get used to.
- 00:16:19.198 --> 00:16:21.033
- Nobody should get used to live under the threat
- 00:16:21.033 --> 00:16:23.569
- Of ballistic missiles right against you at will.
- 00:16:23.569 --> 00:16:26.138
- But you can get used to that.
- 00:16:26.138 --> 00:16:27.973
- And you keep your coffee in the coffee shop in tel aviv,
- 00:16:27.973 --> 00:16:31.210
- And the siren goes on and your phone is buzzing
- 00:16:31.210 --> 00:16:33.512
- Like the imbroglio that you have.
- 00:16:33.512 --> 00:16:35.014
- Each time
- 00:16:35.014 --> 00:16:36.248
- Somebody is launching a missile, you go to the bomb shelter.
- 00:16:36.248 --> 00:16:40.119
- We intercept it. in most cases,
- 00:16:40.119 --> 00:16:41.787
- Your coffee is still nice and warm on the table.
- 00:16:41.787 --> 00:16:43.923
- You go back and you sip your coffee.
- 00:16:43.923 --> 00:16:46.192
- It sounds crazy, sounds crazy.
- 00:16:46.192 --> 00:16:48.094
- But we've never really said that israel is a normal place.
- 00:16:48.094 --> 00:16:51.197
- Well, my son went to college.
- 00:16:51.831 --> 00:16:52.998
- We had the normal father and son talk.
- 00:16:52.998 --> 00:16:55.334
- I'm sure that you all had it
- 00:16:55.334 --> 00:16:56.435
- When you send your kids to college.
- 00:16:56.435 --> 00:16:58.404
- And it was the usual stuff, you know,
- 00:16:58.404 --> 00:17:00.206
- About girls and drugs, etc.
- 00:17:00.206 --> 00:17:02.875
- Then i said, well,
- 00:17:02.875 --> 00:17:03.976
- How far from your house is the nearest bomb shelter?
- 00:17:03.976 --> 00:17:07.480
- Well, this college was about five miles away from gaza,
- 00:17:07.480 --> 00:17:10.983
- And back then they started already,
- 00:17:10.983 --> 00:17:13.953
- April 2001, the first rocket was flying from gaza into israel,
- 00:17:13.953 --> 00:17:18.057
- And he tells me all about 50 other.
- 00:17:18.791 --> 00:17:21.160
- And i said, listen, if you wake up for the siren,
- 00:17:21.160 --> 00:17:23.796
- You have eight seconds. no way you're going to make it.
- 00:17:23.796 --> 00:17:26.532
- So what are we going to do with, with
- 00:17:26.532 --> 00:17:28.367
- So the world just roll under your bed and prayer
- 00:17:28.367 --> 00:17:30.636
- That that would be your nearer shelter.
- 00:17:30.636 --> 00:17:32.671
- And i think to myself, what father, in what country
- 00:17:32.671 --> 00:17:36.408
- In the world has this kind of conversation?
- 00:17:36.408 --> 00:17:39.044
- Sending his son to college.
- 00:17:39.044 --> 00:17:41.847
- Yeah.
- 00:17:41.847 --> 00:17:42.882
- So that's that's both, of what happens in israel
- 00:17:42.882 --> 00:17:46.318
- Used to be a time that busses exploded in cities in israel.
- 00:17:46.318 --> 00:17:50.356
- Your kid goes to school.
- 00:17:50.356 --> 00:17:51.657
- We just started having cellphones in the early 90s.
- 00:17:51.657 --> 00:17:54.360
- And you hear the the bus that the same bus
- 00:17:54.360 --> 00:17:56.395
- That your kid took to go to school and exploded.
- 00:17:56.395 --> 00:17:59.665
- You try to reach your kid to see what's what's with him,
- 00:17:59.665 --> 00:18:02.668
- And the system collapses because everybody tries
- 00:18:02.668 --> 00:18:04.737
- To reach everybody
- 00:18:04.737 --> 00:18:05.971
- And you're freaking out until you hear his or her voice.
- 00:18:05.971 --> 00:18:08.841
- And from that, i'm okay.
- 00:18:08.841 --> 00:18:10.376
- Again, it's absolutely insane.
- 00:18:10.976 --> 00:18:13.279
- And i don't wish anybody in the world
- 00:18:13.279 --> 00:18:14.947
- To live under such conditions.
- 00:18:14.947 --> 00:18:16.682
- That's a price to be an israeli.
- 00:18:16.682 --> 00:18:18.450
- That's the price to be jewish.
- 00:18:18.450 --> 00:18:19.952
- We are proud and happy to pay the price.
- 00:18:19.952 --> 00:18:24.323
- One more story.
- 00:18:24.690 --> 00:18:27.893
- I wanted to tell you one more story.
- 00:18:27.893 --> 00:18:29.195
- When the when their kids graduated from high school,
- 00:18:29.195 --> 00:18:31.230
- They all serve in the military.
- 00:18:31.230 --> 00:18:33.065
- The guys and the women.
- 00:18:33.065 --> 00:18:35.067
- And his daughter was in the military
- 00:18:35.067 --> 00:18:36.869
- And had some dietary limits.
- 00:18:36.869 --> 00:18:40.673
- Though.
- 00:18:40.906 --> 00:18:44.143
- I'll tell it.
- 00:18:44.510 --> 00:18:49.481
- It's the most agitated i ever heard him get.
- 00:18:50.382 --> 00:18:52.418
- He was relating the story to me for for a guy in israel,
- 00:18:52.418 --> 00:18:55.788
- The happiest time in their life is when the two relieves.
- 00:18:55.788 --> 00:18:59.525
- I've been with him.
- 00:18:59.992 --> 00:19:00.659
- I stay behind sometimes.
- 00:19:00.659 --> 00:19:01.827
- And when the group leaves, there's
- 00:19:01.827 --> 00:19:02.795
- This great sense of relief.
- 00:19:02.795 --> 00:19:04.029
- And we're in the car going back to jerusalem.
- 00:19:04.029 --> 00:19:06.265
- He starts to tell me this story and he gets so agitated
- 00:19:06.265 --> 00:19:09.068
- I'm grateful i'm in the backseat.
- 00:19:09.068 --> 00:19:12.104
- But the commanding officer
- 00:19:12.671 --> 00:19:14.607
- Wouldn't let the daughter get the special food she needed,
- 00:19:14.607 --> 00:19:17.810
- And somehow she managed to get her dad on the phone.
- 00:19:18.844 --> 00:19:22.881
- And you can tell the rest of that.
- 00:19:23.649 --> 00:19:26.885
- They're going to pray for your kids.
- 00:19:27.653 --> 00:19:28.787
- That's really what i'm going to ask him to do.
- 00:19:28.787 --> 00:19:30.189
- So i think of myself as a pleasant person in most cases.
- 00:19:30.189 --> 00:19:35.427
- When my daughter says that i'm hungry
- 00:19:36.228 --> 00:19:38.631
- And they won't let me to go to the nearby town and just,
- 00:19:38.631 --> 00:19:42.401
- Buy those supplies,
- 00:19:42.868 --> 00:19:44.103
- They will put your commanding officer on the phone.
- 00:19:44.103 --> 00:19:47.172
- And i just, i will introduce myself
- 00:19:47.172 --> 00:19:50.175
- By my military friend that had to make an impression.
- 00:19:50.175 --> 00:19:53.379
- And that was the one time that i really was so upset
- 00:19:53.379 --> 00:19:56.849
- With the army.
- 00:19:56.849 --> 00:19:57.883
- Or i'm part of the army you used to be.
- 00:19:57.883 --> 00:20:00.085
- And that's as far as i'm willing to go in that story.
- 00:20:00.085 --> 00:20:10.995
- And that's as far as i'm willing to go in that story.
- 00:20:10.995 --> 00:20:15.537
- But we had an agreement in our congregation.
- 00:20:16.438 --> 00:20:18.373
- When come when someone comes and shares with us,
- 00:20:18.373 --> 00:20:20.609
- We welcome them into the family and we agree to pray for them.
- 00:20:20.609 --> 00:20:24.846
- So your take away, now that you've met ronnie symon
- 00:20:24.846 --> 00:20:28.183
- And you know a bit about his family,
- 00:20:28.183 --> 00:20:29.651
- You pray for them.
- 00:20:29.651 --> 00:20:31.320
- What's happening in the middle east isn't a political
- 00:20:31.320 --> 00:20:33.655
- Geopolitical thing.
- 00:20:33.655 --> 00:20:34.923
- It's about people.
- 00:20:34.923 --> 00:20:36.758
- And ultimately,
- 00:20:36.758 --> 00:20:38.827
- The prince of peace will bring peace to the middle east.
- 00:20:38.827 --> 00:20:42.197
- And so now it's personal.
- 00:20:42.197 --> 00:20:43.465
- You can pray for ronnie
- 00:20:43.465 --> 00:20:45.067
- And his kids,
- 00:20:45.067 --> 00:20:45.701
- And they're all
- 00:20:45.701 --> 00:20:46.668
- They're commanding officers in the military
- 00:20:46.668 --> 00:20:47.936
- Because you don't want ronnie unleashed on you.
- 00:20:47.936 --> 00:20:49.771
- I promise.
- 00:20:49.771 --> 00:20:51.306
- Thank you.
- 00:20:51.306 --> 00:20:51.940
- Turn on one last sentence.
- 00:20:51.940 --> 00:20:53.909
- Thank you.
- 00:20:53.909 --> 00:20:55.077
- And this is a message to all the other inmates i will do.
- 00:20:55.077 --> 00:20:57.846
- Paraphrasing the words of a prominent jewish leader.
- 00:20:57.846 --> 00:21:01.216
- We don't care if you like us or you hate us.
- 00:21:02.117 --> 00:21:04.720
- We will here before you.
- 00:21:04.720 --> 00:21:06.188
- We will be here after you, will keep creating, will
- 00:21:06.188 --> 00:21:09.624
- Keep building, will keep blessing this world.
- 00:21:09.624 --> 00:21:12.894
- And you know what?
- 00:21:12.894 --> 00:21:13.762
- There is nothing you can do to stop us.
- 00:21:13.762 --> 00:21:13.762