Rabbi Shmuley Boteach addressed attendees at the Israeli-American Council (IAC) Summit in Washington, D.C., emphasizing a critical shift in mindset for the Jewish community.
“Let me be clear: For thousands of years, we Jews have developed an insidious mental construct that we need to be loved, we need everyone to like us,” he began. “Now that would be nice. Machiavelli said 500 years ago in Florence that you should want to be loved and feared, but if you have to choose, and October 7th has forced us to choose, then you need to choose being feared over being loved.”
“The Jewish people have to be feared. Hamas has to fear the IDF, Hezbollah and disgusting, poisonous reptilian Iran has to fear the Mossad. Just think about this for a moment: When Israel goes in the heart of Tehran and kills Ismail Haniyeh, what do you think Khamenei himself is thinking? He's thinking: ‘Uh-oh, I'm next. These Jews actually fight back."
“I am tired of being a scared Jew. I am tired of quaking and shivering and trembling before our enemies. We are going to bring the fight to our enemies. I have two sons in the IDF. People say to me all the time: ‘Oh Shmuley, you fight these antisemites. You're a hero.’ I'm a hero sitting behind some stupid iPhone screen? I'm a hero? My sons are heroes. The soldiers fighting Hezbollah are heroes. They are truly brave and we have to be behind the IDF 1,000%,” stated Rabbi Boteach.
“We are alive today because of two words, each of which is comprised of three letters: G-O-D and I-D-F,” he stressed.
“My own movement, Chabad: Why don't they have Israeli flags out at every single Chabad House on 300 campuses around the United States? It's not enough to just, you know, give matzah balls on Shabbat, which I'm not denigrating, it's very important, Shabbat is a cornerstone of Judaism. Are you telling me that Israel is not a cornerstone of Judaism? We're putting on tefillin with men, which is a beautiful thing we're, getting women to illuminate the Earth through Shabbat candles, why don't we have Israeli flags?” he added.
