It seems a curious thing to say, but I miss Joan Rivers. After all, I never had the privilege of meeting the woman. It might come as no surprise to readers when I say that we ran in very different circles. What's more, I can't say that I was actually a fan of her comedy. My personal tastes in humor tend to skew more towards Monty Python, Mel Brooks, and the timeless Marx Brothers.
Nevertheless, I remember well when she became one of my heroes. It was in 2014, during the second of what seems to be an unending string of Gaza wars. It was my first war since living in Israel. My first time experiencing terror firsthand, my first time running to a shelter when the rocket sirens began wailing.
At the time what struck me most was a sense of isolation. It seems that by and large the diaspora community I had just left seemed entirely indifferent to what was going on in Israel. While rockets exploded and people were murdered, my American friends were blithely posting photos from their trips to Disneyland, seemingly living in happy ignorance of what was happening to their family half a world away.
It was easy to start to feel alone, and truth be told I did feel a little dejected. That was until I saw the news clips of Joan Rivers passionately speaking out for Israel. On August 6, 2014 Rivers was ambushed by a reporter from media outlet TMZ and asked her opinion on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Her response was a master class in Israel advocacy.
“You cannot throw rockets and expect people not to defend themselves,” said Rivers in a passionate outpouring. “You’re [i.e. the Palestinians] dead, you deserve to be be [sic] dead. Don’t you dare make me feel bad about that” When the reporter pressed her, citing a number of false claims, Rivers was quick and fearless in disproving the lies. She then continued, “They were told to get out. They didn’t get out. You don’t get out, you are an idiot. At least the ones that were killed were the ones with very low I.Q.s.” She finished by saying that Gaza’s Hamas government were “terrorists,” and they were elected by a “lot of very stupid people.”
Unsurprisingly, her remarks were not well received in the liberal Hollywood climate. But rather than back down, when Ms. Rivers was approached a second time a few days later, she only doubled down her position. “Let me tell you, if New Jersey were firing rockets into New York, we would wipe them out.” Rivers spared no words when it came to the support for the Palestinian Arabs and their alleged suffering. “You’re all insane. They started it! What are you all saying? They started it!”
In the same interview, she fought back against the media’s distortion of the facts, raging at the dishonest canards being spread against Israel and the terrorist propaganda being passed off as facts. She attacked the BBC and CNN saying that they should be “ashamed of themselves” before demanding that “Everybody stop it already.”
She was likewise merciless to her fellow celebrities, mocking those who vocalized support of the Palestinian Arabs - such as Selena Gomez - as the clueless idiots they were. "That college grad... Let’s see if she can spell Palestinian.
Both interviews can still be found online and are well worth a watch more than ten years later.
It was inspiring from start to finish. But one part stuck out for me and elevated her words from simply a powerful speech into something truly extraordinary. It was the following quote: “I’m sorry, don’t you dare put weapon stashes in private homes and then we say get out. We'll bomb them. Of course we’re going to do it.”
The transformative word there is “we”. “We say get out.” “We’re going to do it.” Not “they” said get out. Not “Israel’s” going to do it. "We." She didn’t just support Israel, she connected herself to it. In that one simple word she included herself, she made it clear to the entire world that not only did she stand with Israel, she was Israel.
Like the biblical Queen Esther, she was not content to hide in her palace. When her people were suffering, she joined them. She identified with them, and she did so with pride. Rivers heroically stood in front of the world and courageously proclaimed who she truly was. Despite being in the Diaspora, despite living in a completely different world than most Israelis, she was one of us.
Not a celebrity. Not an American. A Jew. And because she was a Jew, an Israeli.
Israel was blessed to have her then. Blessed to have a Jew who used her voice loudly and boldly to advocate for her people. Blessed to have someone to remind the world what it meant to be a proud Jew and hopefully motivate other Jewish souls to do the same.
Compare that to the fleckless, cowardly responses of celebrities today. Most, by and large, completely ignore what’s going on in Israel. While we in Israel fear rockets and terror attacks, they fear a bad write-up in this week’s Variety.
With the sheer number of Jewish celebrities, you would think that after October 7th, there would be an avalanche of support. But as the months go by, it’s clear that famous Jews have collectively turned their backs on Israel. Hollywood, not Jerusalem is their chosen holy city.
Celebrities that made themselves famous trading off their Jewishness like Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen, and Larry David, who are happy to capitalize off their identity when it profits them, are stone silent when being Jewish means that something might be asked of them in return. Native Israeli celebrities like Natalie Portman, Gene Simmons, and Shira Haas, individuals who conceivably have experienced things firsthand and who have family affected, superstars with skin in the game, their own literal skin as well as their families, mostly chose to remain silent.
Recently, Israel’s most famous expat, actress Gal Godot, found herself at the center of a controversy when it was reported that she was barred from wearing a yellow hostage ribbon at the Golden Globes. Possibly to quell outrage, she responded that she has been allowed to, but chose not to. She didn’t seem to understand that that decision just made it worse. She had a chance to speak out and willingly silenced herself.
Such is the curse of needing to stay famous. Sure, your family being held by genocidal monsters might be bad, but she has a new blockbuster coming out and it’s important to avoid bad press. After all, she has to consider her priorities.
Where there has been support for Israel, by and large, it has been lukewarm and tempered by moral relativism. Most Jewish celebrities couch their statements in politically correct, universal terms. They pray for a generic peace or call for an end to “all violence.” It’s either a condemnation of both sides or a refusal to condemn anyone, even the terrorists. Rarely is there clear, unequivocal, and single-sided support for the beleaguered Jewish nation.
Worse still, some actors started out strongly supporting Israel and then quickly caved when faced with the first whiff of backlash. Jewish actor Noah Schnapp dared to post a video with a sticker reading "Zionism is sexy." In response, he was hounded and issued a groveling apology. He finished off with a call for an end to hostilities on “both sides” and expressed his hope that someday Israelis and Palestinians can live “harmoniously together in that region.” His actions are hardly surprising. The final season of Stranger Things is about to air.
To be fair, there are celebrities who do come out vocally in support of Israel. Actress Mayim Bialik is rumored to have lost gigs due to her strong pro-Israel stance. That sort of sacrifice should be acknowledged. Ben Savage has been a tireless advocate for the hostage’s release - and echoing Ms. Rivers, he refers to them as “our” hostages.”
To these and any other celebrities who have the courage to stand proudly for Israel, even at great professional risk, I thank you.
Sadly, such proud Jews seem to be few and far between. And more and more I find myself wondering where the next Joan Rivers will come from. Who will be the one to stand up for Israel in an increasingly dangerous and hostile world?
Perhaps it can be argued that we should not put our trust in celebrities, a fair point. But it’s also fair to say that Jews in the diaspora need all the inspiration they can get. And there is nothing more inspiring than seeing a Jew being proud to identify with Israel. Jews need to see heroes, individuals who risk their careers and everything that they’ve worked for to stand up for what is right. We sometimes need someone to publicly remind us who we are.
Sadly, Joan Rivers is dead. She died just a Jew days after her famous remarks. While the Jew-haters of the world celebrated her death as “karma” I would prefer to think (although I don’t claim to know the plan of the Almighty) that it was more of a case of her finishing her final task on Earth.
So let Ms. Rivers enjoy her eternal reward. She has well earned it. Meanwhile, we who are left behind should learn from her legacy of fearlessness and strength. Everyone, from the Hollywood elite to the Jew who never even watches TV should take inspiration and strive to follow her example in a world where such courage is more and more necessary. And more and more rare.
Our sages teach (Pirkei Avot 2:5) that "In a place where there are no men, strive to be a man." I would dare to change it to, "Where there are no men, strive to be Rivers."
Ilan Goodmanis a museum collections professional and exhibition curator. He also serves as a rabbi and educator. He made Aliyah to Israel in 2011 and lives with his wife and children in Beit Shemesh.