MISHPATIM 5784

We Need More Jews Like Montana Tucker

This week we marked 4 months since October 7^th. The pace of the war in Gaza seems to have slowed and most of us have gone back to our lives almost “as usual.” Last Sunday night was a rude awakening for me. It was the Grammy Awards—the most prestigious awards in the music industry. Now, I’m not a big fan of pop music as my sermon on Taylor Swift becoming Time Magazine’s “Person of the Year” hints. And since October 7^th I’ve not been in a mood to celebrate, but I thought perhaps the Grammys might be an enormous platform to pay tribute to the barbaric, horrific murder of 1200 Israelis and the kidnapping of 240—40 from a “music” festival—the Supernova Music Festival in Israel on the Gaza border—on October 7^th by Hamas.

As expected, the Grammys drew an enormous audience of many millions of viewers. To his credit, Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. did acknowledge the atrocity at the Supernova Festival, saying: Every one of us, no matter where we’re from, is united by the shared experience of music. It brings us together like nothing else can, and that’s why music must always be our safe space. When that’s violated, it strikes at the very core of who we are. We felt that at the Bataclan concert hall in Paris. We felt that at the Manchester Arena in England. We felt that at the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival in Las Vegas. And, on October 7, we felt that again, when we heard the tragic news from the Supernova Music Festival for Love, that over 360 music fans lost their lives and another 40 were kidnapped ...

         Take this string quartet [pointing behind him]: As individuals they sound really good, but together they achieve something beautiful they could never do apart. These musicians of Israeli, Palestinian and Arab descent are here, playing together. Now is the time for us, for humanity, to play together, to come together.

Sounds wonderful, inspiring, doesn’t it? In a world of growing antisemitism, anti-Israel sentiment, and moral equivalency, we should feel gratitude to Mason for the moral clarity to use the Grammys to address the darkest day the Jewish people have had seen since the Holocaust. 

However, what he said bothered me. I couldn’t put a finger on why till I read an article by Rabbi Efrem Goldberg: “Grateful Or Not Good Enough.” He pointed out that if you listen carefully to Harvey Mason’s words, you’ll see that they fall way short of truly honoring those murdered, advocating for the hostages or standing for the truth ... way short in what he did not say. He omitted who they were; he omitted where this happened; and he omitted why they were killed.

Listen again: We felt that at the Bataclan concert hall IN Paris. We felt that at the Manchester Arena IN England. We felt that at the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival IN Las Vegas. And, on October 7, we felt that again, when we heard the tragic news from the Supernova Music Festival for Love.

Where did the Supernova Music Festival take place, where did that tragedy occur? No mention! It’s as if Israel—the one and only Jewish state—is a dirty word, a political football, a divisive or taboo term.   

You may think I’m being a bit sensitive. At least Mason made mention of this tragedy and didn’t ignore it like so many others. He describes, “over 360 music fans lost their lives,” as if they died in an accident or natural disaster. They didn’t lose their lives, their lives were taken as they were brutally murdered. They were raped, tortured, and massacred, and it was not because they were “music fans,” it was because they were Israelis, because they were Jews!

Harvey Mason also spoke about the “tragic days” that have followed and the loss of “all innocent lives”—no doubt he was bemoaning the loss of Palestinian lives when Israel began to defend itself. This is not because the conflict that has 2 legitimate sides … but entirely and only because a barbaric terrorist organization—Hamas—attacked innocent civilians of Israel and uses Palestinians has human shields.

While the symbolism evoked by the string quartet is meaningful, it’s empty if not accompanied by substance. Peace will never come simply from Israelis and Palestinians playing music together. It will come when we can call evil by its name, when we can say out loud the difference between perpetrators and victims and when we don’t have to wordsmith statements to make them politically correct.

Am I expecting too much and being ungrateful? Could Mason not have used that moment, that STAGE, to say before the world: “Let them go,” or “Bring them home”? Is calling for the release of innocent women and children controversial? Is it politically incorrect or divisive? Is it too much to ask?

Contrast that to Montana Tucker, the renowned singer, songwriter and social-media influencer with millions of followers on TikTok and Instagram. You see this little yellow ribbon on my lapel worn by many for the hostages, well, forget about these subtle ribbons. Montana Tucker came to the Grammys wearing a big yellow ribbon across her chest, boldly displaying the message: “Bring Them Home!” [Show ... Obviously not a shul dress!]

I didn’t know who Montana was, so I googled her and found out to my surprise that besides being a media giant and despite her name, she is Jewish and a granddaughter of Holocaust survivors! She uses her platform for, among other things, to spread awareness and combat antisemitism. She even created a docu-series on her platforms about the Holocaust called: “How to Never Forget.” She said her Zaidy always wore a pin that said, “Never forget. Never again. I’m a survivor!” He passed away a few years ago. He would have been so proud!

She mentioned in an interview: I’ve had a lot of people come up to me saying, “Thank you so much for what you’re doing. You know I don’t want to risk my whole career and that’s why I don’t post, that’s why I don’t share as much, because I don’t want to risk my business and lose followers.”

She also said: You know it’s really a shame, but I knew that if I had the opportunity to do this for all of the hostage families—for all the Jews in Israel and around the world—then it was my responsibility.

Montana Tucker, all I can say is, “Wow!” Now—more than ever in our lifetimes—we need Jews like you to stand tall and firm, with pride, unapologetically, without insecurity about who we are, with confidence in what we deserve and what we stand for. We must never be satisfied with universalized messages against “all hate”—failing to say Jew or Israeli—instead of specifically calling out antisemitism. We must not tolerate moral equivalence—a lack of clarity of who is the aggressor and who is the victim. We must demand those who display hate against us be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. We must urge decent people everywhere to advocate for the release of our hostages immediately.

Today’s Torah portion has many laws of what is just and what is unjust. It goes as far as to tell us (Ex. 23:6-7) we must not pervert justice even to help a poor person. The Torah is emphatic: Midvar sheker tirchak (Distance yourself from falsehood). We must never tolerate falsehood and injustice—even, and I would add especially—against ourselves.

When we were liberated from Egypt, we were instructed to go to our Egyptian neighbors and ask for gold and silver—small compensation for hundreds of years of slavery. You see, Hashem wanted us to walk out not only with resources and wealth, but mostly with pride—knowing what we deserve, what we are entitled to and to have the courage to demand it.

Tomorrow night, I want all of us to watch the Superbowl—at least the beginning. We’ve all seen the commercials on tv with the little blue box asking us to Stand Up to Jewish Hate. They are from Robert Kraft’s—the owner of the New England Patriots—Foundation to Combat Antisemitism. One of the 1^st commercials at the Superbowl will be another of these pressing messages to the world. It cost him $7 million. That’s how much standing up to Jewish hate means to him.

My friends, the time has come to free ourselves from an apologetic, fearful mentality and stand up for who we are. We need more Jews like Montana Tucker and Robert Kraft. You see, when we respect ourselves, we’ll find others have greater respect for us as well. Amen!