Jonah Goldberg: Big in Iran!

 

IMG_3045During my recent trips to Iran, I bought some books, because they’re the very best kind of souvenir. My favorite one, by far, is The Encyclopedia of Jews and Zionism, which I found at Tehran’s museum of torture. As you can see from the middle foldout, it features a list of powerful Jews (since lists of Jews always lead to good things). It’s fascinating to see, first, who made the cut (the Renegade Jew is among them), and second, that they have no idea what shabbos goy means, but still feel confident enough to throw that term around.

Oh, and yes: Sometimes, when they suspect someone might be gay, they just slap the word “homo” across his face.

Obviously, this is a gem, but I would suggest Mr. Goldberg send an updated picture to the regime of the Islamic Republic, as this one does not do him justice:

IMG_3042 IMG_3043 FullSizeRender IMG_3047

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  1. Gary McVey Contributor
    Gary McVey
    @GaryMcVey

    I was speaking at the Moscow Film Festival in 2000 and was heckled by an angry, evidently anti-American drunk (regrettably, not hard to find there) who shouted that I “Did everything the Jew tells you to do!”. He was hurriedly whisked away.

    Later, I asked my friends, “Was that a gross antisemite? Or an astute marriage counselor?”

    • #31
  2. RyanM Inactive
    RyanM
    @RyanM

    Annika Hernroth-Rothstein:

    MLH:And what does Shabbos goy mean?

    It is a term describing a non-Jew who performs one of the 39 forbidden forms of work during shabbat. Like sometimes in a (reform) synagogue you would have a non-Jew push the button in the elevator on Shabbat, assuming there is one, or mothers would have a non-Jew push the stroller when she needs to take the kids to synagogue. Goy means “non-Jew”.

    sort of defeats the purpose…

    • #32
  3. Annika Hernroth-Rothstein Member
    Annika Hernroth-Rothstein
    @AnnikaHernrothRothstein

    RyanM:

    Annika Hernroth-Rothstein:

    MLH:And what does Shabbos goy mean?

    It is a term describing a non-Jew who performs one of the 39 forbidden forms of work during shabbat. Like sometimes in a (reform) synagogue you would have a non-Jew push the button in the elevator on Shabbat, assuming there is one, or mothers would have a non-Jew push the stroller when she needs to take the kids to synagogue. Goy means “non-Jew”.

    sort of defeats the purpose…

    Could not agree more.

    • #33
  4. Tommy De Seno Member
    Tommy De Seno
    @TommyDeSeno

    Shabbos Goy.  I wonder if there is a business opportunity there.

    I live near Lakewood NJ.  It’s a small town but with 100,000 people, 59% are Orthodox Jews, of the Hasidic sect.

    A few years back I stopped in a pizza parlor there after a youth baseball game.  A Hasidic man approached my son and I and explained that there was an alarm switch in his house that he could not turn off because of the Sabbath, and it was about to activate (it was on some sort of timer).  He asked if I could go with him to his house to flip the switch to make sure the sirens didn’t go off.

    I was amazed as this man ran next to my car, a good mile (I offered but he of course wouldn’t get in).

    At his home we went in and I flipped the switch.

    I REALLY  admired this man’s religious commitment.  How easy it would have been to flip that switch.

    Now that I’ve read this thread and learned Shabbos Goy is something in their culture they would instantly recognize, I wonder how many of them might need some small service like that each week and would be willing to pay for a contract.   I’m imagining the workers in marked vehicles that could be waived down.  Or perhaps some regularly scheduled work, too.

    Hmmmm…..

    • #34
  5. Annika Hernroth-Rothstein Member
    Annika Hernroth-Rothstein
    @AnnikaHernrothRothstein

    Tommy De Seno:Shabbos Goy. I wonder if there is a business opportunity there.

    I live near Lakewood NJ. It’s a small town but with 100,000 people, 59% are Orthodox Jews, of the Hasidic sect.

    A few years back I stopped in a pizza parlor there after a youth baseball game. A Hasidic man approached my son and I and explained that there was an alarm switch in his house that he could not turn off because of the Sabbath, and it was about to activate (it was on some sort of timer). He asked if I could go with him to his house to flip the switch to make sure the sirens didn’t go off.

    I was amazed as this man ran next to my car, a good mile (I offered but he of course wouldn’t get in).

    At his home we went in and I flipped the switch.

    I REALLY admired this man’s religious commitment. How easy it would have been to flip that switch.

    Now that I’ve read this thread and learned Shabbos Goy is something in their culture they would instantly recognize, I wonder how many of them might need some small service like that each week and would be willing to pay for a contract. I’m imagining the workers in marked vehicles that could be waived down. Or perhaps some regularly scheduled work, too.

    Hmmmm…..

    Excellent idea :) as long as the deal Is struck before Shabbat as we are not allowed to ask someone else to break Shabbat during Shabbat, but the “shabbos-goy” has to volunteer/just do it (this is sometimes achieved through strong hinting)… ;)

    • #35
  6. Zafar Member
    Zafar
    @Zafar

    Annika – is it your feeling that people in Iran (or at least the parts your went, and the people you met) took this stuff seriously?  It’s appalling, but it’s also so stupid. ??

    • #36
  7. Zafar Member
    Zafar
    @Zafar

    EJHill:

    Rodin: I guess Obama figures that Pakistan hasn’t nuked Israel yet so it’s all good.

    Pakistan is too busy worrying about India to worry about Israel.

    That is so unfair, we are a perfect neighbour.

    Or as perfect as we can be, given the circumstances.

    • #37
  8. Annika Hernroth-Rothstein Member
    Annika Hernroth-Rothstein
    @AnnikaHernrothRothstein

    Zafar:Annika – is it your feeling that people in Iran (or at least the parts your went, and the people you met) took this stuff seriously? It’s appalling, but it’s also so stupid. ??

    No, as a (very open) Jew traveling through 6 different cities in Iran I did not feel unsafe because of my Jewishness. My connection to Israel, on the other hand, I kept on the down-low and I was constantly hearing references to the little Satan and Zionism, comments that made me very uncomfortable. But the general publics idea of Jews is a positive one, bordering on philosemitism.

    • #38
  9. Mark Coolidge
    Mark
    @GumbyMark

    I wouldn’t get overwrought about this.  After all, President Obama put it all into perspective in a May 2015 interview with Jeffrey Goldberg in The Atlantic.

    Goldberg, who is very sympathetic to the President, pressed him on the Iranian regime’s anti-semitism because to Goldberg it indicated they are irrational in their decision making. When a regime’s leaders are fixated not just on the destruction of the State of Israel, but go around leading chants of “Death to the Jews!“; alternatively deny the Holocaust and then say that Hitler gave the Jews what they deserved; and seriously believe in a global Jewish conspiracy to rule the world they tend not to confine their irrational thought processes to that one issue; more importantly it may mean they just don’t think using the same calculus about risk that we do.

    The President rejected this, pointing out that, after all:

    “there were deep strains of anti-Semitism in this country”

    Kinda makes you feel better, doesn’t it?

    • #39
  10. drlorentz Member
    drlorentz
    @drlorentz

    Mark:The President rejected this, pointing out that, after all:

    “there were deep strains of anti-Semitism in this country”

    Kinda makes you feel better, doesn’t it?

    Umm… no.

    It’s hard for me to comprehend this guy’s thought process. It’s almost as if he inhabits an alternate reality. What am I saying? Of course he does; he’s a progressive. Even the name of the movement is dripping with irony.

    • #40
  11. Samizdat Inactive
    Samizdat
    @Samizdat

    Zafar:Annika – is it your feeling that people in Iran (or at least the parts your went, and the people you met) took this stuff seriously? It’s appalling, but it’s also so stupid. ??

    There is a real strain of conspiracy-theory anti-semitism in the country, but most of its followers don’t need to read any books to believe in it. The population is constantly bombarded with falsehoods (such as “No Jews were killed on 9/11!”) through the state media, and some fraction of them fall for it.

    Still, this is a somewhat separate issue than what most people think Iran’s foreign policy should be about. For example, it’s possible to meet people who believe in such conspiracy theories but are also very anti-Islam and even anti-Arab, and hence think that Iran has no business getting involved in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

    • #41
  12. Marion Evans Inactive
    Marion Evans
    @MarionEvans

    Annika Hernroth-Rothstein:

    Zafar:Annika – is it your feeling that people in Iran (or at least the parts your went, and the people you met) took this stuff seriously? It’s appalling, but it’s also so stupid. ??

    No, as a (very open) Jew traveling through 6 different cities in Iran I did not feel unsafe because of my Jewishness. My connection to Israel, on the other hand, I kept on the down-low and I was constantly hearing references to the little Satan and Zionism, comments that made me very uncomfortable. But the general publics idea of Jews is a positive one, bordering on philosemitism.

    Good to know, but I think you should have written this in the original post. Separate the people from the regime wherever possible, even if in open war, the people are ultimately accountable.

    • #42
  13. Front Seat Cat Member
    Front Seat Cat
    @FrontSeatCat

    They have a Museum of Torture (torturing who?) with a book shop ?? Is that a must stop in the travel brochures? In the first picture, in the book, is that bronze lifelike statue George Bush? It looks like him…

    Also, it is really insane that Iran recently had that very vulgar Jewish cartoon caricature contest display, yet there can be no cartoon drawings of anything Islamic without drawing wrath……really sick and pathetic – to think our government sat down with them in negotiations…

    • #43
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