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Justin Brady: Real Iowans real talk. No drama. I’m Justin Brady from the Jethro’s Barbecue Studio. Thank you so much for joining us. You know, I, I don’t know how to, I don’t know how to intro shows like this, but the Australia thing, um, the, the targeting of Jewish people, antisemitism in Australia, that’s what we’re talking about today. And the fact that most, um, a, a lot of people are still ignoring this very present problem. It’s a very big growing problem. It has been for a few years now, and a lot of people still just wanna push it under the rug, including a lot of you watching. I know that sounds harsh, but I can look at the numbers and, and a lot of the numbers tell a sobering story, which is, that doesn’t, like, people don’t wanna listen to this stuff. They wanna push it under the rug, they want to ignore it, and you can’t. So we’re going to address that today. And if you don’t think antisemitism is on the rise and you don’t think it’s a big problem, you really need to listen to the whole show today. Uh, to help me talk about this very issue is Jarad Bernstein, the Jewish Federation of Greater Des Moines, executive Director, director. I, I didn’t write that part down.

Jarad Bernstein: Yeah. Executive director.

Justin Brady: Awesome. Well, thank you so much for coming in here and breaking down this topic for me and for the listeners. I know it’s. Brutally hard is probably, I don’t know how else to say it. Um, before we get started, as a reminder, we of course appreciate our sponsor jethro’s and all they do for us, they keep this program going. Uh, our sponsors do that, and, uh, they have extended a little offer to you, especially for Christmas. This is kind of nice. If you want a bunch of barbecue, go buy a gift card. Go to Iowa podcast.com, scrolls to the top. Buy a gift card from them and they will give you a gift card. Obviously. We appreciate Jethro, as you can see, Jethro in the background for keeping this show rolling. Without them, we couldn’t get this content to you, so we appreciate that Jarad, Australia seems far away, but I know for you and for people in the Jewish community in Iowa and the Jewish Federation of Greater Des Moines, it’s not so far away can it. It feels a little close to home, right?

Jarad Bernstein: certainly, uh, many of your audience may be where the antisemitism has been on the rise in the last several years since, uh, October 7th,

Justin Brady: Mm-hmm. In

Jarad Bernstein: in particular, but hasn’t never been there. It’s just been more prominent, more out in the open. And it, it’s not just in America. It’s in Jewish communities all over the world, and there’s, there’s a decent sized. Jewish community in Australia, uh, that ha has been facing, uh, issues in some ways worse than we have, uh, here in

Justin Brady: Mm. It, I’m sometimes when I get together with, uh, close friends, it’s not really the, one of the problems is just people don’t know. They’re just totally unplugged. I get it. Like some of the news coverage is terrible these days, which is what we’re trying to do here on this show is have very objective, unbiased news coverage. So I kind of get it to some degree, but there is generally. When I, when I talk about this with friend groups, they’re like, wait, what happened? That’s happening? This is a thing. And I’m like, yeah, dude, it’s time to wake up. This is like literally a thing. It’s a big problem. We’re not looking for needles in a haystack at this point. This isn’t these little one-off things that it’s all the time. So just for some context, uh, when this news broke Yes. Yesterday, it feels like it was a week ago when this broke yesterday, the Australia shooting, um, Bondi Beach. I went, one of my Jewish friends was on X doing a space. I’m not gonna name who it was. I’m not gonna give any identifying details. It wasn’t you, you, um, and just he, he was talking about her, his perspective as a Jewish man, and the space was just openly mocking him. I could not believe what I was hearing. And so I’m seeing this and I’m hearing this. More. Um, obviously antisemitism is not a, a new thing by any stretch of the imagination, but is it just flagrantly out in the open all the time now and no one seems to care?

Jarad Bernstein: uh, it’s easy to see online, uh, on social media in particular. Uh, lots of Jewish, uh, journalists, uh, and commentators, uh, and people with online presence. When, when they post, there’s immediate responses, whether it’s from real people or from bots, and you can start to guess where those bots might be from. Uh, but just full of antisemitism. I even, even on a local level, something much, much smaller. Uh, Cedar Rapids Gazette just did a nice profile piece of a rabbi in Coralville. Uh, Esther Hugenholtz who, who leads the congregation out there? Basically it’s Hanukkah. Let’s feature the Jewish community. What is it like being a rabbi? Nothing about antisemitism in there. The story gets posted in Facebook and one of the comments right away is Free Palestine.

Justin Brady: Yeah.

Jarad Bernstein: oh, there, there’s absolutely nothing in that article, uh, on that topic. That’s, that’s the response. You, where, where’s that coming

Justin Brady: from? Right.

Jarad Bernstein: Number one. Number two, if you met her, you, you might not say something like

Justin Brady: Mm.

Jarad Bernstein: She’s, uh, she just definitely has more liberal views on, on that subject, so it doesn’t even make sense. The, the antisemitism is easy to, to spot, uh, in, in those kinds of forms when, when it’s printed digitally. Uh, I, I think what we’re seeing more in, in recent months and recent years is people unafraid to, to share those views. Uh, I think what, what struck a chord with the Australia situation. Was, um, maybe some people wrote off the, the antisemitism as something to do with, with Israel, even when it didn’t, uh Right. But when you’re attacking, uh, a religious celebration on the beach, that has absolutely nothing to do with the situa, like, it’s so clear. Everyone understands, says antisemitism. Yeah. We’re saying there’s been, there’s been a lot more than that. It, it clearly struck a chord

Justin Brady: It’s so different criticizing various governments and the way they handle things, which is good. That’s a healthy thing to do. Criticize governments in the way they handle things and, and bring those into question. But like you said, you can’t say this is a Israel thing when you’re, when, when people are intentionally targeting Hanukkah celebrations on a beach, like a absurd, um, what, what period are we in? Like, hi, historically. I didn’t really think of, probably growing up antisemitism, hatred against Jewish people wasn’t something on my radar. It was something I knew happened. I’m not an idiot, but do we just hear about it more or has it actually gotten worse? Like is it worse or do we just hear about It

Jarad Bernstein: Uh, it, it has gotten worse. Okay. Historically, you can go back 2000 years and, and starts with, uh, claims of deicide. Uh, and that Jews killed Jesus and, and that didn’t. Really get resolved fully. You know, maybe when, when, uh, the Catholic Church came out, uh, you know, 50 years ago and said, Hey, Jews didn’t kill Jesus. Stop blaming the Jews of today. Right? Uh, but but then you, you fast forward way into the future, uh, uh, to, to World War ii, right? That, that was. About something else blaming Jews for, for the problems, uh, of the world that they had nothing to do with, that we had nothing to do with. And now, uh, it, it all seems to be couched in, in politics. Um, but, but it’s the same hatred. It’s, it’s always been the same hatred and, uh, it’s, it’s, you know, not, not a good sign for society.

Justin Brady: Have you ever seen it this bad in your own life?

Jarad Bernstein: Uh, certainly not in, in my life. Uh, I wasn’t around 80 years ago. Right, right. Um, but looking at the numbers that the Anti-Defamation League puts out, the, the other, uh, organizations that track antisemitism in, in this country, the, those numbers are up and they are up substantially.

Justin Brady: What’s I struggle to say this ’cause I don’t wanna call, like, I don’t want to give identifying details, but, uh, I was, I’ll just say we travel a lot and I was at a gym and I’m not gonna say where this was, I don’t want to, you know, I don’t want to, I don’t wanna get anybody in trouble. But I was in a gym in the sauna and. There was a, we were talking light politics, not left, right politics, just certain news events. And a gentleman in there just lit, didn’t have any problems saying, well, you know, it’s the Jews. And I was like, holy cow, is this happening in front of my fricking face? I cannot believe this. And so, of course I’m just like, Uhuh, Uhuh. And so I was like, dude. That’s, that’s so far over the line. I’m gonna have to strongly disagree with you. That’s just way over the line. It’s not even a discussion worth having at this point. And the gentleman beside me also is like, yeah, what are you talking about? How could you ever, and this guy, I watched him kind of shrink a little bit, but he was pretty bold about his view. But in my entire life, I’ve never seen conversations just jump. Right out in the open. Most people keep that buried deep down. They don’t wanna say it. Maybe they say it in their tight little weird friend groups, but people are just putting it out there. Now

Jarad Bernstein: I, I appreciate, uh, you, you sharing that story and, and your response to, to speak out and, and to not hide from it. Right. Um, we need allies like that. Uh, but, but that is real. And, you know, you, you could pin it on, uh, a number of things. Uh, uh. When it comes to younger people, you know, perhaps they’re not, not to disparage podcasts as a format. We’re on a podcast right now. But, but the, there are a number of, uh, political podcasts where,

Justin Brady: can just start

Jarad Bernstein: where, yeah. Where Jew hatred is, has become, uh, a feature, uh, of, of the system. Uh, and it doesn’t matter the, the politics, right? It’s coming from both sides. It is not a political issue. Uh, and when you. Are a listener of one of these podcasts or uh, a video podcast, whatever it is. Uh, and you hear this vitriol being spewed, uh, it’s not a far leap to, to take that into your own life and make comments like that in a gym.

Justin Brady: I wanna ask, um, so I, I want to, there are a lot of questions I have of course, but what is it we’re gonna skip right? To like being an ally. Like, what does that mean? Like, I think a lot of people don’t know how to reverse a cultural trend like this. They see things getting outta control. It’s uncomfortable. They know it’s wrong. They don’t know what to do. Like we can’t, people are like, well, like, what do you want me to do? Am I supposed to go out in public and wave, wave like a, a menorah or like, like how am I supposed to actually effectuate change and reverse? Reverse this cultural shift, or at least tell, like, let people know this stuff is wrong. You can’t do this. Like, what are people supposed to do outside of, is that it? Is it, um, when you hear conversations like this, push back, obviously do so in love, don’t like start fights, but is that it? Or is there a step further people can go because it, it’s at the point now where everyone really does have to start speaking up and saying things. Even if you were on the sidelines, that ain’t gonna cut it anymore. So like, what are we supposed to do?

Jarad Bernstein: Part of it is what you said. Hatred spreads when it is not called out. It has to be called out loudly. It has to be, uh, condemned publicly. Uh, whether, whether it’s in, uh, the gym sauna or coming from the mayor or coming from, uh, civic, other civic leaders, business leaders, uh, you need to speak up. Whe when you hear it, you can’t explain it away. You can’t minimize it. And it’s not fully on the Jewish community to, to deal with this. Right. We it. It’s not our fight alone. There’s a role that government has to play, whether it’s speaking out, helping us secure our community. Uh, but, but really it’s, it’s everyone’s responsibility. Silence is not neutrality, it’s permission. Uh, and so thank you for speaking out. Thank you for giving voice through, uh, this podcast and, and the show. Uh, but everyone needs to speak out when they see it.

Justin Brady: I, I mean, people want to tuck th they want to, they wanna push things under the rug. And like I said when I started out, this show you not, not the most super polished intro ever, but that’s the reality is I’ve looked, I looked before you got here, I looked at the data for the, you’ve been in here twice, both on terrible circumstances, uh, to break down these issues with me and the listeners and both didn’t do that great. They were kind of just very average. So I’m, I’m not having you in here to get crazy clicks ’cause I know I’m probably not gonna get crazy clicks ’cause I know a lot of people are gonna see the headline. They’re gonna be, I just don’t wanna think about that. I don’t wanna deal with that and we’ll just keep beating the drum anyway. But, um,

Jarad Bernstein: well, we, we could, we, we could tend, uh, turn to a, a, a brighter spot. Right? Uh, what, what time is it right now? It’s the first day of Hanukkah.

Justin Brady: right? It is

Jarad Bernstein: first night of Hanukkah. It’s a, festival of flights. And, it teaches us. Holiday teaches us a Jewish community, that light matters most, where, there’s darkness. Everyone’s heard the, those, little proverbs and phrases about, oh, you light a match and it brings light to the entire room. Right. It is true. we, this, a time where, we’re focused on, the victory, over invaders where the victory over assimilation and, the Jewish community needs to stand up and be proud, uh, for who we are. and we’re going to continue to gather and celebrate and live openly as Jews in Des Moines. Everywhere. we’re not shrinking, we’re, standing together. And, that, that’s what this moment is about. Uh, uh, you, you hate to have something so real. Like what, what’s hap what was happened in Australia in this one instant and what’s led up to it as well? Uh, and you know, even to localize it, uh, a bit more, uh, there’s a rabbi in town whose cousin is married to the rabbi who was. Who’s murdered at the beach. Right? So like the, like you said, Australia’s far away, but it’s, we’re all

Justin Brady: but it feels close. and it’s not like it’s a random act in another country. It’s a targeted act. And that’s what, that’s what probably rocks the Jewish community, is the fact that it wasn’t this random thing and the Jewish community happened to be involved. It’s not that at all. It’s, it’s this very specific thing that individuals were targeted because of their beliefs and because of who they are. That is, that rocks you to your core. You mentioned, um, the connection to Australia. Have you been, have you been in communication with the Jewish community in Australia to do a temperature check? How are they

Jarad Bernstein: Uh, sure. So before coming to the studio today, I had a, uh, a weekly update with our, our national organization. They, they brought on our, uh, zoom one of the leaders of the Australian Jewish community and really telling the story that. We already knew that things haven’t been going so well for the Jewish community on in Australia for, for quite some time. Uh, there’s been a synagogue that was burned down to the ground not not too long ago. Uh, the protests in the streets that, you know, on, on the face of it is against, uh, the, the government of Israel. Is really not right. And, and there’s been many attacks against synagogues, uh, against individual Jews. And this gentleman was telling us, he’s hearing from members of, of his community who are already looking into, you know, can they get a passport to, you know, visa, to, to move to Europe? Can they, uh, move to Israel? Can they move to America? Uh, it’s at the point there where it’s, this is, this is not. The, um, the only thing that has happened, right? There’s a tipping point,

Justin Brady: there, are a lot of very, there are for those that, again, don’t know, and those that are not plugged in, there are a lot of, uh, aggressive. Very scary demonstrations happening in Australia that have been happening for a couple years now,

Jarad Bernstein: Yeah. Uh, yeah. For a few years and, and the government react, uh, response there is not strong. Uh, yeah. It’s a, it’s different society. We, weapons are not a big thing there. There’s not, uh, really gun ownership in Australia to speak of. And when someone gets a hold of them, that who, who means to do bad, you know, bad things happen.

Justin Brady: Yeah, the, and there are already celebrations I know happening, uh, Hamas is like leading various celebrations because of this killing in Australia. Like, again, openly, openly, uh, and I will point out of course

Jarad Bernstein: So, so I wanna, I wanna speak to that, right? Yeah. Because, because that, that’s easy to call out. Uh, another thing that should be easy to call out, but, but it’s harder spot. I, I saw a post on online from, uh, I think the Foreign Minister of, of Great Britain. Okay. Uh, and obviously, uh, Australia, part of the, the commonwealth there, there’s a connection there. It is a message, uh, to, uh, uh, British people who, who are in. Australia about this and you, you read through a, not a mention of Hanukkah, of Jews, of, uh, of tar. Like you, you read through the this and, and what there, there’s like a meteor that struck the beach and you know, here’s how you get out if you need to. Yeah, yeah. Uh, so the, there’s a lot of, um, kind of tr trying to sweep things under the rug

Justin Brady: Yeah. Okay. There is a lot of that. And again, I would encourage people to plug in and learn the news because, uh, it, a lot of that’s not being reported, which is, is is wild to me. Uh, what are you doing locally? Here in Iowa, and I don’t want you to discuss like certain security protocols for obvious reasons, but what, what can be done for the Jewish community in Des Moines and Iowa? I know there’s a little fear there, but what are you doing locally? What are you encouraging your members to do? What are you encouraging the Jewish community to

Jarad Bernstein: Right. So our role as the Federation is, uh, somewhat the convener of our, our community there. There’s about 3000 Jews in central Iowa, about 5,000 in the state or so. Uh, and, and it’s our role to make sure that the community is, is not facing this issue alone. Uh, we. Do have security protocols that are always in place. And certainly they’re heightened now and we’re grateful to our, uh, partners in local law enforcement agencies who, who we work in partnership with. Uh, and so we’re coordinated, we’re, we’re informed. We’re prepared, uh, that there’s not an active threat against Iowa’s Jews right now, but, but certainly. In the context of what’s going on globally, our antenna are up and we are taking extra precautions and we are bringing in, uh, more visible security. Uh, and on the bigger level, we, we are always advocating for, uh, increased measures, increased resources, uh, from the government, uh, to, to help us, uh, in this fight.

Justin Brady: I’ve, I’ve seen photos, I don’t know how prevalent this is, but I’ve seen photos online of certain individuals in the Jewish community with posted security out front of their buildings that are very visibly armed and ready. As a de, I don’t know if it’s a deterrent or I’ve started seeing this as a trend, or not a trend. I can’t call it a trend, but I’ve started seeing a few photos popping up. Is this a trend in the in, in, in, like protecting synagogues

Jarad Bernstein: Justin, I, I don’t go to church. Right. But when you or others go to church, are, is there, is there not security out front?

Justin Brady: uh, not mine,

Jarad Bernstein: You, you just walk in the door door’s unlocked and you, you go straight to the pews. Yeah. Yeah. It doesn’t happen. Not even Iowa’s Jewish community. You can’t just show up unannounced and, and walk right in the door. This has always been a thing. It’s been, it is been a, it’s an expense, uh, but it’s needed. Um. If you’re coming to an event in the Jewish community, it has to be secured. Mm-hmm. That is one way of securing it. Okay. That’s not the only way that, of course I’m not gonna go into all, but there’s a lot of things that are not exactly visible either that that’s helping keep our community safe.

Justin Brady: yeah. Abso, did I slip and say church instead of

Jarad Bernstein: Well, no, I I was just asking you because Right, like I Oh, okay. I was like, what? Say did I say? my, my boys? How, how many churches do you, do you need to go in? Right. And, and that’s not that churches are immune to, to this kind of thing. Right. It certainly there have been a attacks in, in churches over, uh, last number of years and that. Also not. Okay. And also, you know, it’s the government’s responsibility to, to secure, uh, help secure those facilities in one way is through, uh, the federal nonprofit security grant program that, uh, our community is taking advantage of. It’s not just the Jewish community, but, um. You know, whether it’s, uh, armed security out front, providing that deterrent, uh, mark car in the lot, cameras, ways of restricting access. There’s all kinds of ways that, that we keep our community safe and have to, and double time right

Justin Brady: that. Yeah. I know a friend of mine that, um, a Christian Church and they actually have a security team, and you’d never know it when you’re there, but that security team is armed. They have plans and it’s, they’re pretty, this is not a big church and the plans they have. And this is results from all these church shootings that have happened in the last couple years. Uh, the plans they have are remarkably sophisticated, which you would probably be surprised to learn about. And it’s something you said over email kind of connected those dots for me because you said, Yeah. right now it’s the Jewish community. But if a culture allows this kind of thing to keep happening unopposed, and if people don’t speak out against it. It’s not gonna be just the Jewish community because hate like this will spread to other groups. When people have permission to openly hate a group they don’t like, it doesn’t stop at the Jewish community.

Jarad Bernstein: Exactly. Yeah. Thank you for amplifying that. It, it’s absolutely true. Uh, and that’s why this should matter to your entire audience, not just those who happen to be Jewish.

Justin Brady: So turning to Hanukkah. Um, what are the plans for Happy Hanukkah? By the way, what are the plans for Hanukkah celebration? Uh, doing any, anything special is

Jarad Bernstein: I mean, look, I, I, it’s on camera. I, I am wearing my Gimble men sweater.

Justin Brady: Can I, do we have that in the ca? Yeah, got, we, we

Jarad Bernstein: Got the, uh, little d dr. On, and you can’t see my socks, but I got my DRA socks on. Yeah. Like,

Justin Brady: this is, if you’re flexible enough, you could show them

Jarad Bernstein: the camera. Yeah, I’m good. I’m good. I’ll show you afterwards. Alright. Alright. Um.

Justin Brady: a picture.

Jarad Bernstein: We have wonderful celebrations in our community. The, the most public, uh, whi, which got, uh, received some news coverage yesterday locally. It was, uh, MCee Deli, uh, over on Polk Boulevard. Does a giant menorah lighting each night. Mm, uh, in front of the deli and the, the rabbi there. Uh, you’ll see Jacobson wonderfully. You should all go there, pick up, uh, some jelly donuts, pick up a pastrami sandwich, and, uh, enjoy the, the light of the season. Right. But the, the synagogues too, it, you know, is at a, a giant party last night at one of the synagogues with, you know, well over a hundred people. And, uh, you know, there’s others planned. We, uh, our federation runs the, um, uh, community, uh, religious education program for, for the kids. So we had a huge party at our campus yesterday with, you know, uh, tons of kids in, uh. Uh, bounce house in inside our building, uh, which is always fun. Uh, arts and crafts and, uh, lot is being made like it is. Uh, it is a great time to, to be Jewish. You know, this is, uh, it’s, I I wanna clarify too, right? This is a minor holiday. We have lots of holidays. This is a minor holiday on our, our encounter, right? Yeah. That’s the only one. Yeah. Uh, like there’s no work restrictions. We’re not fasting, we’re, there’s no. This is like an at home holiday. You don’t have to be the in synagogue. Right. But, um, you know, it’s because of the time of year it’s associated with, with things that there’s no real correlation with. Uh, and and that being said, you know, our, our families get into it, uh, in the best way and, uh, who doesn’t wanna, you know, bring a little light into the house in the darkest days of the years.

Justin Brady: Yeah, absolutely. Especially like, um, boy, I’m getting all, Hmm. You just mentioned Deli and I was like, um, before I let you go, what else? Um, I, I do know that you guys are a nonprofit and can I, can I make a request of you? Um, can you please, um, I think maybe one of the ways to show support for the Jewish community and for you, and I know you guys are always strapped for funding and you’re always trying to fundraise and make sure, can I ask you to ask the audience to do a fundraise thing? I know you didn’t come in here to do that, but can I, can we show Justin work way? I don’t know. How do people

Jarad Bernstein: to. Yeah, certainly. We, we, we are a nonprofit. We, uh, do raise money every year to make sure that, uh, Jewish life is strong, uh, in our community. And of course many of those programs are focused on our own community. The, the education component. Uh, our family services particularly, but, uh, we also have a museum and a historical society that, uh, records the history of, of Jewish Iowans. That’s a benefit to all Iowans really, and all Americans. And, um, our, uh, community relations, which advocates on, on behalf of community. Tho those are, uh, our real areas of opera operation. If someone should feel so compelled, uh, we make it super easy on our website. Jewish des Moines dot. Org, uh, and there’s a giving button in the corner, or you could just go Jewish des moines.org/giving. Uh, and tho those funds are, are needed. They are well managed and, uh, really help bring, um, uh, more Jewish life to Des Moines. Uh, and I think ultimately that, that benefits, uh, the entire

Justin Brady: Well, thank you so much for coming in here on such a hard time. Um, I don’t, I don’t want you to have the idea that I’m just gonna ask you to come in here when tragedy strikes or, or when something’s in the news, but I appreciate. Uh, your responsiveness. I appreciate your ability to walk through this with a very loving and not a vengeful response. That’s one of the things that I really appreciate about you. Uh, for those that don’t know, I’ve known you for a while and we, I text when certain things happen and your default response, which must be hard every single time something happens, is a, is an immediate response in love. I think some of the texts I’ve sent you. Are probably a little, not hateful toward you, but are probably a way more aggressive and anger and you always shoot back with something loving and kind and you know, you have to, you know, understanding. And so I really appreciate that about you. I appreciate you coming in here and I appreciate you breaking down what I know are difficult issues and always bringing light to the darkness every single time. So I really appreciate that. Um, I hope people connect with you. What’s the website one more time? Jewish des moines.org. Jarad Bernstein, the Jewish Federation of Greater Des Moines, executive Director. Thank you so much for coming back on the Iowa Podcast.

Jarad Bernstein: Thank you Justin for having me.