Good morning! I’m Rabbi Yaakov Menken, executive vice president of the Coalition for Jewish Values. If you don’t know who we are, you should!

Almighty G-d, Our Father, you, Hashem, gave us the phenomenon of Antisemitism, and the knowledge of it.

Our Rabbis put it in the Passover Haggadah: in every generation they rise over us to destroy us, and you, G-d, save us from their hands. So we come to you today with the optimism of those who have seen it all, survived it all, and continue under Your guarantee that we will survive this, too.

And we know, also, that we have allies in this fight. That is why this is a conference against extremism. Those who hate Jews are the barbarian dregs of society, and their hate does not end with Jews. We appreciate those who recognize this, whether due to simple logic or as part of their own religion. When Tucker Carlson tries to rewrite the Book of Esther, everyone who reveres it is offended, not just Jews.

And it’s very helpful that he focused upon that particular book.

The Five Books of Moses teach us that although Laban and his family hated Yaakov residing right next door, Pharaoh regarded us as a hostile other, while living in a distinct region of Egypt called Goshen.

The Book of Esther teaches us that our enemies find a new pretense. Haman pointed to the fact that the Jews were “dispersed throughout the empire.” That is the very opposite of where the Jews could found with either Laban or Pharoah, for a reason: they do not hate us because of where we live.

They hate us, because we live.

Anti-Zionism is today’s new pretense. “Free Palestine” is a hateful slur. And today uncivilized barbarians who demonstrate their ignorance of history, geography, religion, human rights, anthropology, and human decency, get degrees from Harvard. That is the state of academia.

And that is why Tucker Carlson turned the Book of Esther on its head. The Book tells us that the 75,000 killed were “from those who hate them.” They hated the Jews.

Carlson inverted victim and racist, claiming they had committed no crimes but were killed for being Persian. In actuality they came from all 127 nations of the Persian empire; their sole unifying characteristic was that they had come out to murder Jews. Neutralizing murderous racists out to kill Jews is Tucker Carlson’s definition of “genocide.”

That is the same definition used by everyone accusing the world’s most moral military of genocide in Gaza. This includes the depraved bigots of Amnesty International, the risible racists of Human Rights Watch, and the collection of totalitarians, dictators and despots known as the United Nations.

Moral values, and the difference between right and wrong, are not determined by majority vote. That there are 100 times more Jew-haters than there are Jews is a constant. The intelligent person is the one who can see today how the aforementioned Amnesty, HRW and UN will be judged when they have gone into the dustbin of history, where they belong.

And that is why we celebrate that You have sent us partners in the fight, all who oppose extremism and hate, many of whom have joined with us here today. Leo Terrell, Anila Ali, Luke Moon, and now Bishop Stearns are all personal friends because of their involvement in this fight, because they have made our problem their problem. That’s not quite what Ruth told Naomi, but it’s pretty close. And it takes courage, and it takes a working moral compass, and that is why I am looking forward to hearing from them, from the allies I have not yet met, and from all the Jewish speakers who don’t go over their allotted time.

To jump the gun and offer one action item for our efforts today, if you want to fight extremism, do more Jewish. If you’re not Jewish, You don’t have to be Jewish to dispel darkness with light. Light Shabbos candles, learn a Mishnah, support charities whose vision aligns with yours and with authentic values (like Lawfare Project or Coalition for Jewish Values), and know that the bigots in the streets only, in the end, make us stronger in our souls.

Hashem, may this event and all those who participate in it see great success, both in our immediate efforts, and the final end of Antisemitism and hate, and the Redemption of the Jewish nation and all mankind, speedily in our days. Amen.

Sometimes a hat is a certificate of authenticity. … But for those who didn’t catch that, I am Jewish. And because I worship Judaism, I do not worship “wokeism.” And for nearly 250 years in this country, nobody tried to coerce us otherwise.

Because I worship Judaism, I believe there are two genders — “Male and female He created them.” No one can tell me there are 20, or the catechism, the woke credo, that a boy can be born in a girl’s body. Follow the science.

I also believe that men do not belong in women’s private spaces. … And I believe the parents, not teachers, control a child’s education. And that’s because, in a prayer I say two times each and every day, it says “veshinantam levanecha (and you shall teach it to your children).” What is it you have to teach? Judaism. Values. That’s what you have to convey to your kids.

So let me address the elephant in the room: But rabbi, how is it that all the Jews are progressive left? How do the Jews favor the redefinition of marriage, didn’t they give us the first one?…

Today people claim that because they are Jewish, they can speak for Judaism, Jewish values, and Jewish knowledge. It’s kind of like claiming to be an astronaut because grandpa bought you a telescope for your fifth birthday.

But there is hope. An hour and 15 minutes northeast from here is a town called Lakewood, New Jersey. There are more current rabbinical students in that institution than there are left wing Jewish clergy in the whole country. Just Lakewood. Just the student body.

And that city overall gave Trump in 2016 the largest Trump majority of any sizable town in the entire state of New Jersey. It was three to one. In 2020, it wasn’t just that it was four to one, it was nearly five to one. And that wasn’t about his politics, but about his values and what he promoted. And what he did to the Supreme Court, by the way, as we just saw last week. The observant Jewish community is as un-woke as it gets.

• • •

You know, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Martin Luther King Jr. all said that the primary goal of education isn’t just to impart knowledge and teach the multiplication tables, but to teach character and values. It’s not enough that the schools have abdicated on that, now they’re actively working against it. What you call values, they don’t. What they call values, you don’t. And they want to teach that to your kids.

The New York Times on Friday and the AP yesterday had articles about how New York City officials say that yeshivos, run by the Hasidic Jewish community, fail to teach students in core subjects. Notice that this is in New York City, where three-fourths of eighth-graders are not proficient in math, where the system was a disaster before Covid, all the more so after Covid, and [yet] they have to correct the Hasidic schools based on their own self-defined technical checklist.

Out of hundreds of schools, 18 [Hasidic schools] they determined are failing.

New York State’s most law-abiding demographic is the Hasidic community. Hasidic school alumni are not in bars, on street corners, or participating in smash-and-grab robberies. They are homeowners, they are taxpayers, they build stable families and their income exceeds the American median by a third. So what exactly is the problem with their educational system?

The rates of drug and alcohol addiction are the lowest in the city. They don’t have large-screen TVs, they have bookcases in the living room. So what’s the problem?

They don’t memorize the 50-state capitals. But that’s not the problem.

They don’t learn Algebra II in high school. But that’s not the problem.

They don’t learn wokeism — and that is the problem.

We are Orthodox Jews. Everything that the left has redefined as racist, misogynist phobic, and bigoted… we do.  We have 3,300 years of experience with governments telling us that our values are wrong and trying to interfere with the education of our kids.

Seriously, I have to commend you for voluntarily getting in the line of fire. Just by looking like this, I’m in trouble. Anywhere demonstrators are out there shouting you down and saying hateful lies about you, I know I want to be inside.

Southern Poverty Law Center just nicknamed your group a hate group. They also go after Family Research Council because it supports family values. They also go after Act for America because it’s against radical Islamic terrorism.

I am very offended. Coalition for Jewish Values is also in favor of parental rights, family values, and fighting terrorism. So why won’t SPLC list us as a hate group? I’m telling you it’s antisemitic. Because the SPLS is an actual antisemitic hate group. It really is.

• • •

And speaking of bogus accusations, we can also discuss why I’m here, that famous quote. [Illinois Rep.] Mary Miller in 2021 was giving a talk, and she said, “You know what Adolf Hitler said? He got one thing right.”

When you know a guy got one thing right, it means he got everything else wrong, right?

And she said, “He who controls the youth controls the future.”

Learn from the master of charisma and indoctrination himself how dangerous indoctrination really is. That is what Mary Miller wanted to do.

Predictably, the left went after her — and by the way, [a politician] from Illinois who went after her is also the one who just recently congratulated the Biden Administration for whitewashing anti-Israel antisemitism in its definition of antisemitism. So which one is our ally and which one is not? I am glad to cast my lot with Mary Miller.

This takes us to Paige Miller [the head of a new chapter of Moms for Liberty in Indiana, who had put the same quote in its first newsletter] who also said, “‘whoever owns the youth owns the future’ is what Hitler said.” Are you scared [of the prospect of indoctrination]?

It was a very good line. It was a very appropriate line.

Okay, only Jews get to quote Hitler No, [Lt. Governor] Mark [Robinson, of North Carolina, who is African-American] will agree with me, it’s only the Black community, only rappers, get to say a certain word that the rest of us cannot use, right? Works the same way — [you] just can’t quote Hitler; let us [Jews] do it. By the way, Hitler said, whoever owns the youth owns the future.

So just to show you that I’m putting it on the line, this is my donation to Paige Miller’s chapter of Moms for Liberty.

Thank you very much.

On the agenda for the Miami-Dade Interfaith Advisory Board (IAB) was a statement of support for a lawsuit against Florida’s HB5, banning abortion after 15 weeks gestation with the exception of cases that threaten the life of the mother. The IAB addresses issues affecting religious Miamians and liases with both the community at large and the city government. A statement from the IAB could have significant impact on Florida courts when they rule on cases involving religious freedom issues.

The lawsuit claimed falsely that the 15 week ban is violative of Jewish law and practice. The motion for the IAB to state its support for the lawsuit was proposed by a seated board member who is also one of the plaintiffs.

Rabbi Moshe B. Parnes serves as the Dean of the Hollywood Community Kollel, a Kollel for Rabbinic Scholars in Hollywood, FL, and is also the Southern Regional Vice President of the Coalition for Jewish Values. He rose to address this motion, and stated both that abortion is unequivocally termed murder in Jewish law, and that the lawsuit clearly misrepresented Jewish values. “We were appalled by the pseudo-scholarship of this lawsuit. They cherry-pick three unrelated issues,” he said. “It bothers us greatly that people take their own slogans, and their own ‘woke’ ideas if you wish, and put them into Judaism.”

After hearing the statement of Rabbi Parnes and those of others, the IAB voted down the motion to support the lawsuit by a vote of 2-6 with one abstention.

I am so grateful for this opportunity to be with you today, with my thanks to Mr. Jeff Hunt, to Dr. Sweeting, to Amy Smith and to Staci Holt, and to everyone I don’t know — the efforts that you’ve all put in to making this event, and to making sure that my voice was part of it.

Because, for those who haven’t figured this out or noticed this yet, I’m Jewish. Who knew, right?

But… so besides being part of this incredible panoply of religious movements and denominations represented here … or should I say “rainbow?”

Don’t boo… Someone in the media will be broadcasting it, “Christian University boos Rabbi,” can’t do that!

There’s another very good reason for me to be here, which is that Jews have spent thousands of years being on the wrong end of discrimination and bigotry.

Think of Pharaoh in the book of Exodus, as Mr. Hunt mentioned. The Book of Esther, where Haman decides to exterminate the Jews. And for those who don’t believe those stories reflect history, let’s talk about expulsions, pogroms, massacres and the Holocaust.

Yes, we are very sensitive to discrimination, because we are very familiar with being hated for who we are.

CNN tells us that this case is about a “license to discriminate.” They are right, but not in the way that they think.

Jack Phillips says that he can only celebrate unions that accord with his beliefs. That is a positive statement, not a negative one. That is not discrimination, but discernment.

Refuse to prepare me a wedding cake because I’m a Jew, and that’s bigotry.

But if you can only celebrate a Southern Baptist marriage, I understand and respect your religion, and I would never imagine that I could somehow coerce you to violate your precepts. And that’s called tolerance.

And let me point out that if Mr. Phillips were to offer me a cake when one of my children G-d willing reaches this milestone, I would say thank you very much, Jack, but since you’re not running a Kosher bakery I can’t eat your cake.

And my desire to keep Kosher is in no way discriminatory against Mr. Phillips or anyone else. And neither is his desire to honor his own faith. Although if you do want to go Kosher I have people you can talk to.

You know what Jack’s problem is? He’s not discriminating enough. If he really did only bake cakes for Evangelicals celebrating their union, you couldn’t call it discrimination. He wouldn’t bake for Jews, he wouldn’t bake for Catholics, and no one at the ACLU would be able to jump up and try to call it something that it’s not.

But no, Jack had to simply follow what it says in the Bible. This is not in Leviticus, by the way. This is about the Book of Genesis. It’s very simple.

In the Book of Genesis it says that man and woman He created them, and then it says the man will cleave to his wife and they shall be one flesh, a reference to having children. The Bible connects marriage to “be fruitful and multiply.”

And Jack says, as long as it’s a man and a woman who are capable of becoming one flesh, I’m down with that. Because that’s what the Bible says.

You know why the Courts are confused? Because there are only two genders.

Because there are only two genders the Courts can pretend to be confused between favoring what the Bible calls matrimony, and discriminating against what the Bible calls abomination.

If space aliens were to land tomorrow, they would solve the problem.

Now some of you probably think I’m nuts, but let me explain.

Let’s imagine that ET comes to earth tomorrow. And someone falls in love with ET and decides to get married to ET. Trust me, in 2 years the Supreme Court would decide that under the US Constitution ET and Sally — or Bill — can get married.

But because aliens are not human beings, then despite what you’ve seen on Star Trek, it would be impossible for aliens and humans to have children together. That wouldn’t be the Biblical definition of marriage, and Jack Phillips would not be able to bake them a cake.

And then it would be obvious that he’s not discriminating against anyone. He’s not singling out same-gender couples for exclusion. On the contrary, he is saying he can only celebrate a Biblical marriage that involves a human man and human woman. And the ACLU would have to pack up and go home.

Are your lawyers taking notes, Jack?

I hope they are, because guess what’s coming next. If they can do this to the baker, well, the ADF already knows, they’re doing this to Arlene’s Flowers in the state of Washington. They might even do that to the minist… Oh wait a minute, they already did that in the fine state of Idaho. And now that the Hitching Post Wedding Chapel has re-incorporated, thanks to the ADF, as providing only “Christian religious services,” don’t I feel excluded, the ACLU says they can’t even sell flowers.

The courts are saying that religion is limited to how we talk and where we worship, and there is no protection regarding how we act and what behaviors we support. Now some of you may feel differently, but if free exercise of religion means running off at the mouth… hey Doc, the Supreme Court say I am exercising.

Need I tell you that this is dangerous to no one more than Jews; because our religion is all about action. The way we tie our shoes in the morning is a religious act. The fact that we dress and look differently is exercise of our religion. And we have libraries of books on how to do business in accordance with our faith. And our legal codes tell us that we are to give up our lives rather than buckle to government pressure to change the color of our shoelaces.

The Colorado Civil Rights Division and the lower courts have decided to force Mr. Phillips to change the way he practices his religion, or give up his business. If “exercise” of religion does not include exercise, then government can tell Jews whether we can do kosher slaughter or circumcise a child, because both of those are also done by trained professionals.

So no. If you tell us that we have freedom of speech and freedom of worship, but we cannot let religion guide how we do business, that is not religious freedom.

And we Jews have seen this before. We have long, bitter, deadly experience with governments trying to force us to follow earlier versions of political correctness. What is new and profoundly disturbing is the misuse of the language of civil rights to trample civil rights.

Just a few weeks ago, members of Abolish Human Abortion were ejected from a coffee shop operated by a gay man. They were denied service with prejudice and with profanity.

They did nothing inside the shop except ask for coffee. The owner deduced that if they opposed abortion on demand, they were probably in favor of Biblical morality in other areas as well.

So let there be no doubt about what’s really going on. The owner claimed that they were, quote, “trying to stir up hate,” though their literature talked about human rights and targeted no one. The owner projected his own bigotry onto them, to justify denying them their civil rights.

A writer for LGBTQ nation said, quote, “right wing blogs are enraged that a gay coffee shop owner kicked out a group of anti-choice religious nutjobs.” Listen carefully. Only right-wingers are bothered. Everyone else knows that anti-choice religious nutjobs don’t deserve a seat at the counter.

And at out.com they made it explicit, praising the store owner for denying the group service — and I quote — “based on their religious beliefs.” That’s right. It’s not about tolerance. It’s not about treating everyone with human dignity. And it’s certainly not about opposing discrimination. On the contrary, the people who are doing this are not against discrimination; out.com celebrates bigotry and discrimination against people of faith.

And yet for some reason, we all know how far the members of Abolish Human Abortion would get were they to decide to sue. In the current environment it’s only people of faith who can be described as bigots.

That is why this case is so important, and why the wrong decision would be so dangerous. Because the people who sued Jack Phillips are not opposed to discrimination, but expert practitioners of the craft.

And if they can do this to Christians, you can be darn well sure they’re gonna do it to Jews.

Jack, you’re fighting for all of us. You’re fighting for every American who tries to be guided by conviction and faith. And that is why it is so important that you win, and we wish you Godspeed, and good luck.

Thank you very much.