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SNL’s Antisemitism Sketch Was Hateful and Not Funny
Former University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill testifies during a House Education and Workforce Committee hearing on holding campus leaders accountable and confronting antisemitism, at the US Capitol, in Washington, DC, on Dec. 5, 2023. Photo: Graeme Sloan/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect
There are ways to lampoon and mock the college presidents who failed to admit that calling for the genocide of Jews is against their university codes of conduct. Apparently, the writers of Saturday Night Live are not aware of any. Or if they are, they wanted to tread lightly.
The NBC show opened with a sketch with their cast members depicting Harvard President Claudine Gay, UPenn’s Liz Magill (who resigned before the sketch aired), and MIT President Susan Kornbluth.
All three leaders said that calling for the genocide of Jews was acceptable depending on the context. They should all be fired. None of them would have ever said that if the people in question were Black, or a different minority.
But instead of exposing these three college presidents, SNL chose to mock and demonize New York Republican Elise Stefanik. Shame on them.
I’ve been writing about antisemitism at colleges for some time, with people saying it was overblown.
No one believes that anymore. But now that it’s absurdly obvious for the world to see, SNL cowardly went after the person trying to stop these three vile college presidents. It’s all a distraction technique to make people look away from what actually happened.
We’re not looking away.
SNL newcomer Chloe Troast looked nothing like Stefanik, and didn’t sound like her. And there was a joke that she is Roman Catholic and some of her best friends are … wait for it … Roman Catholic! Oh so funny! So only Jews should care about antisemitism? Where’s the joke? Pathetic.
Chloe Fineman at least got the speech pattern and cadence right of Kornbluth. Ego Nwodim was decent in the mannerisms and diction of Gay, and Heidi Gardner was nothing like Magill.
The bright spot was Keenan Thompson as a leader of the online University of Phoenix. Thompson is funny in almost anything he is in.
The actual hearing was far funnier (and tragic and infuriating) than the sketch, because the presidents looked down at what their lawyers told them to say, and didn’t seem to care that what they were saying was abominable.
The “joke” was that Stefanik was going to “scream antisemitism” like she was Billy Eichner. Eichner is an actor and comedian who has nothing to do with Stefanik. There’s simply no connection. And there was a lame joke about Gay’s last name. Seriously? I thought the writer’s strike was over.
There are a number of Jewish comedians who could have written better sketches in their sleep. I could have as well. I could find someone on the NYC subway with a better idea. There was more than enough to cull from. How about Ross Stevens, who threatened to cancel a $100 million endowment to UPenn?
Magill and Gay were smiling/smirking while giving testimony. It wasn’t a laughing matter. SNL could have spoofed the horror film Smile, where people infected with murderous desire smile, and shown the actress playing Magill smiling while speaking.
Israel’s Eretz Nehederet had far funnier sketches mocking Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar as well as the BBC, which helps him by spewing misinformation.
Mistreatment of Jews on campus has been going on for years, though it has certainly gotten much worse since October 7. Satire can serve to expose lapses of morality, and can also entertain. SNL failed on both accounts.
I saw a meme online showing Hitler’s book titled, “Mein Context.” It’s far better than anything SNL produced.
The author is a writer based in New York.
The post SNL’s Antisemitism Sketch Was Hateful and Not Funny first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Love Thy Neighbor as Thyself. Really?
JNS.org – If I asked you to name the most famous line in the Bible, what would you answer? While Shema Yisrael (“Hear O’Israel”) might get many votes, I imagine that the winning line would be “love thy neighbor as thyself” (Leviticus 19:18). Some religions refer to it as the Golden Rule, but all would agree that it is fundamental to any moral lifestyle. And it appears this week in our Torah reading, Kedoshim.
This is quite a tall order. Can we be expected to love other people as much as we love ourselves? Surely, this is an idealistic expectation. And yet, the Creator knows us better than we know ourselves. How can His Torah be so unrealistic?
The biblical commentaries offer a variety of explanations. Some, like Rambam (Maimonides), say that the focus should be on our behavior, rather than our feelings. We are expected to try our best or to treat others “as if” we genuinely love them.
Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, in his classic text called the Tanya, argues that the actual feelings of love are, in fact, achievable provided that we focus on a person’s spirituality rather than how they present themselves physically. If we can put the soul over the body, we can do it.
Allow me to share the interpretation of the Ramban (Nachmanides), a 13th-century Torah scholar from Spain. His interpretation of the verses preceding love thy neighbor is classic and powerful, yet simple and straightforward.
“Do not hate your brother in your heart. You shall rebuke him, but do not bear a sin because of him” by embarrassing him in public. “Do not take revenge, and do not bear a grudge against your people. You shall love your fellow as yourself, I am God” (Leviticus 19:17-18).
What is the connection between these verses? Why is revenge and grudge-bearing in the same paragraph as love your fellow as yourself?
A careful reading shows that within these two verses are no less than six biblical commandments. But what is their sequence all about, and what is the connection between them?
The Ramban explains it beautifully, showing how the sequence of verses is deliberate and highlighting the Torah’s profound yet practical advice on how to maintain healthy relationships.
Someone wronged you? Don’t hate him in your heart. Speak to him. Don’t let it fester until it bursts, and makes you bitter and sick.
Instead, talk it out. Confront the person. Of course, do it respectfully. Don’t embarrass anyone in public, so that you don’t bear a sin because of them. But don’t let your hurt eat you up. Communicate!
If you approach the person who wronged you—not with hate in your heart but with respectful reproof—one of two things will happen. Either he or she will apologize and explain their perspective on the matter. Or that it was a misunderstanding and will get sorted out between you. Either way, you will feel happier and healthier.
Then you will not feel the need to take revenge or even to bear a grudge.
Here, says the Ramban, is the connection between these two verses. And if you follow this advice, only then will you be able to observe the commandment to Love Thy Neighbor. If you never tell him why you are upset, another may be completely unaware of his or her wrongdoing, and it will remain as a wound inside you and may never go away.
To sum up: Honest communication is the key to loving people.
Now, tell me the truth. Did you know that not taking revenge is a biblical commandment? In some cultures in Africa, revenge is a mitzvah! I’ve heard radio talk-show hosts invite listeners to share how they took “sweet revenge” on someone, as if it’s some kind of accomplishment.
Furthermore, did you know that bearing a grudge is forbidden by biblical law?
Here in South Africa, people refer to a grudge by its Yiddish name, a faribel. In other countries, people call it a broiges. Whatever the terminology, the Torah states explicitly: “Thou shalt not bear a grudge!” Do not keep a faribel, a broiges or resentment of any kind toward someone you believe wronged you. Talk to that person. Share your feelings honestly. If you do it respectfully and do not demean the other’s dignity, then it can be resolved. Only then will you be able to love your fellow as yourself.
May all our grudges and feelings of resentment toward others be dealt with honestly and respectfully. May all our grudges be resolved as soon as possible. Then we will all be in a much better position to love our neighbors as ourselves.
The post Love Thy Neighbor as Thyself. Really? first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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‘Nonsense’: Huckabee Shoots Down Report Trump to Endorse Palestinian Statehood
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee looks on during the day he visits the Western Wall, Judaism’s holiest prayer site, in Jerusalem’s Old City, April 18, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
i24 News – US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee on Saturday dismissed as nonsensical the report that President Donald Trump would endorse Palestinian statehood during his tour to the Persian Gulf this week.
“This report is nonsense,” Huckabee harrumphed on his X account, blasting the Jerusalem Post as needing better sourced reporting. “Israel doesn’t have a better friend than the president of the United States.”
Trump is set to visit Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. The leader’s first trip overseas since he took office comes as Trump seeks the Gulf countries’ support in regional conflicts, including the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza and curbing Iran’s advancing nuclear program.
However, reports citing administration insiders claimed that Trump has also set his sights on the ambitious goal of expanding the Abraham Accords. These agreements, initially signed in 2020, normalized relations between Israel and the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan. The accords are widely held to be among the most important achievements of the first Trump administration.
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US to Put Military Option Back on Table If No Immediate Progress in Iran Talks
US President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy-designate Steve Witkoff gives a speech at the inaugural parade inside Capital One Arena on the inauguration day of Trump’s second presidential term, in Washington, DC, Jan. 20, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Carlos Barria
i24 News – Unless significant progress is registered in Sunday’s round of nuclear talks with Iran, the US will consider putting the military option back on the table, sources close to US envoy Steve Witkoff told i24NEWS.
American and Iranian representatives voiced optimism after the previous talks that took place in Oman and Rome, saying there was a friendly atmosphere despite the two countries’ decades of enmity.
However the two sides are not believed to have thrashed out the all-important technical details, and basic questions remain.
The source has also underscored the significance of the administration’s choice of Michael Anton, the State Department’s policy planning director, as the lead representative in the nuclear talks’ technical phases.
Anton is “an Iran expert and someone who knows how to cut a deal with Iran,” the source said, saying that the choice reflected Trump’s desire to secure the deal.
The post US to Put Military Option Back on Table If No Immediate Progress in Iran Talks first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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