Interviewing Israelis
Please find me Israelis to interview
Shalom,
My name is Rabbi Moshe Rudner and am the de-facto Chief Rabbi of Egypt.
It's a different sort of rabbinic role than the usual.
I am the Chief Rabbi of:
15 Million Coptic Christians
100 Million Sunni Muslims
0 Jews
That's not my fault. There are some 20 to 50 Jews in the country.
Not the rumored nonagenarian women of Alexandria but actual, active, Jews!
And not just Jews, But Israelis!
And not just Israelis but —
Official representatives of the Country of Israel to the People of Egypt.
Unfortunately, they declined.
I believe in going overboard on Purim, so having already spent on mishloach manos (food packages to friends), matanos le'evyonim (gifts to the poor), and cake and candy for garbage-sifting orphaned children, some 40 dollars (from a net worth of 400 dollars), it seemed that to perform the actual (tribal) mitzvah I oughtn't spend less.
So while the Israeli Ambassador and his staff undoubtedly wouldn't get as much out of organic strawberries as garbage-sifting kids get out of Kunefa (a sweet delicious pastry), if ever there was a self-centered tribal holiday, this was it. Heck, I was more than half hoping to get invited to a Seudah (Purim Celebration Meal).
It wasn't to be. 1
Of course I did 2 meet other Israelis in Egypt, but I think that the responsibility for reaching out to Israeli's Cold War neighbors lies chiefly upon those who move to that country in order to represent their people abroad and least upon Druze-Israeli soldiers and other Arab Israelis who, as you can certainly understand, already get it from all sides.
So I guess we're down to just 7 million people… 😂
Though I'm writing this in English, I would be very interested to speak with Israelis of every demographic.
My Hebrew, Yiddish and Arabic aren't great but even if the limitations of language mean we won't get much farther than pleasantries, the simple sight and sound of such conversations may be more important to the world than anything else.
The privilege of public commenting here on substack is most wisely reserved for trusted members, but you can reach me this week at moshejrudner@gmail.com
If you are Israeli you are under no expectation or moral obligation to do this podcast. This is not at all a moral request.
It's an invitation.
שלום,
משה יוסף רדנר
“Delivering Mishloach Manos to the Israeli Ambassador in Egypt”
