Every Friday afternoon my phone begins to light up.
“Shabbat Shalom."
“Sending strength."
“Thinking of you and your family."
“Stay safe."
Since October 7th 2023 and through the sustained amplification of hate and racism that has followed, these messages have become something more than ritual. Three years ago, there were a handful, today, there are dozens. They are our communal check-in.
They come from friends I’ve had for decades, colleagues I’ve built businesses with, people I’ve met through this fight, fellow travellers and activists, those who have inspired me and from some I have never even met in person.
Each month there are more I send to, each month there are more who send to me.
There is no formal group, charter or organiser, just a network that formed and that I am sure most of us, religious or otherwise and this is certainly not related to faith or belief, have and enjoy.
So starting this week, I’m going to send a few of those messages publicly. This is my way of recognising people who, knowingly or otherwise, have made a difference. Who have stood firm, refused to bend, who have made my world and our community’s world, steadier.
Before I begin, one thing needs to be said, this list is not exhaustive. It is selective, in the sense that these are the individuals and groups whose actions most directly touched me.
But it is not selective in the sense that I had to narrow down an overwhelming field, quite the opposite. The uncomfortable truth is that the list of people publicly standing up, clearly, consistently, without qualification, is far too small.
Some are afraid, some genuinely don’t know, some have been taken in by relentless noise, many, plainly, harbour hostility. At this point, it matters less and less which category they fall into. Silence has the same effect regardless of its motivation. Which is precisely why the few who do step forward matter so much.
When moral clarity is abundant, it requires little courage. When it is scarce, it requires conviction.
So here goes.
Shabbat Shalom to Ethan Hawke
At the Berlin International Film Festival, in a climate where many of his peers had just signed yet another letter singling out the world’s only Jewish state, while barely raising their voices about thousands of civilian deaths inside Iran, he refused to be drawn into the theatre.
He did not join the ritualised outrage, he did not amplify selective fury, he stood upright when leaning would have been easier.
Sometimes courage is loud, sometimes it is restraint, both matter.
Shabbat Shalom to LeBron James
At All-Star weekend, he wasn’t silent. He was asked directly about Israeli player Deni Avdija becoming the first Israeli NBA All-Star and whether he had a message for his fans in Israel.
In today’s climate, that is precisely the kind of question many global figures stumble around. They deflect, they dilute, they search for the safest exit.
He didn’t. He responded clearly and graciously, acknowledged Israeli fans. He spoke about inspiring people not just in sport but in life, expressed appreciation, he even said he hoped to visit one day.
Measured, normal, uncomplicated and that is exactly why it mattered.
When acknowledging Israel has become treated in some circles as controversial in itself, simple decency becomes leadership. That steadiness carries weight, particularly from someone whose platform reaches every corner of the globe.
Shabbat Shalom to AJ Edelman and the Israel national bobsleigh team
It’s not just that you competed on the greatest stage, in a sport that your country has no track record of ever doing so in, it’s that you competed under extraordinary scrutiny.
Robbed, booed, accused, by a Swiss commentator live on air, of crimes against humanity and “supporting genocide."
You carried a flag that many now treat as controversial simply for existing. You did so knowing you would be scrutinised differently, judged differently, held responsible for things no athlete should ever be asked to answer for and you did it anyway.
Not with defiance for its own sake, not with grievance, but with dignity and with the powerful message of “We are victors, not victims."
That is not just a sporting mindset, it is a communal one.
In a moment when too many would prefer that flag be lowered, hidden or apologised for, you raised it, raced with it and refused to allow it to define you.
That is true courage and it inspires far beyond the ice.
Shabbat Shalom to Mike Huckabee
In an online ecosystem where antisemitic tropes and anti-Israel rhetoric can spread to millions within minutes, influence carries enormous consequence.
Tucker Carlson commands one of the largest independent media audiences in the world. His commentary, often steeped in insinuation and conspiratorial framing, does not exist in a vacuum. It shapes perception at scale, which is why what happened this week mattered.
As US Ambassador to Israel, Huckabee, someone who has known Carlson personally for decades, invited him to come and see the country for himself. To debate openly, examine claims directly, to test rhetoric against reality.
He called for Carlson to be accountable for his words and actions and yet what followed as even more troubling.
Carlson arrived and publicly, falsely claimed he had been detained, interrogated and prevented from entering Israel, allegations that were categorically denied by officials. In an age where clickbait and distortion travel faster than correction, allowing such claims to stand would only deepen mistrust and feed further grievance.
Huckabee called it out, not theatrically, not vindictively, simply by insisting that facts matter.
In a climate where insinuation is currency and outrage is monetised, public correction is not trivial, it is necessary and that is worth recognising.
Shabbat Shalom to Lord Walney
Following the High Court’s decision to overturn Parliament’s proscription of Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation, you made clear that democracies must retain the tools to address criminal sabotage, even where terrorism law is not the correct instrument.
Reasonable people can debate legal thresholds, but the principle is simple: A democratic state must defend civic order within the rule of law.
Clarity on that matters, because too few within our institutions, institutions created to protect the rights of this country’s minorities, appear to remember that Jews are among those minorities.
When protection becomes selective, trust erodes. Insisting that the law applies evenly is not political, it is foundational. Lord Walney has made clear that he understands this and for that I am grateful.
Shabbat Shalom to the brave Jews in Brighton, Sheffield and Bristol
Green Party activists in these cities have been campaigning for the creation of so-called “apartheid free zones," asking residents to sign pledges not to buy Israeli goods. For “apartheid free" read “Zionist free" and for “Zionist free" read free of Jews like me.
Those who decline have had their names and addresses recorded. For many Jews, that does not feel abstract, it feels like being asked to declare oneself, it feels like what it is, a purity test.
Brighton ranked among the highest cities in the UK for reported antisemitic incidents in 2025, yet Sussex Police have not opened an investigation into an action designed to make Jews feel endangered and afraid.
So, since the response did not come from authorities, it came from a small group who refused to let the moment pass quietly. They followed the canvassers, they filmed, they asked questions, they demanded justification. They made clear their community would not be intimidated.
They didn’t show aggression or violence, even when provoked and in one instance actually attacked, just presence, refusing to be made small. They ensured that those who demonstrate hate were met with pride and courage.
Every Friday the messages keep coming and if I’m honest, it would be easy, very easy, to focus only on the noise, the outrage, distortion, hostility, the institutional failures.
I write about those often.
But we all have to try harder, me most of all, to recognise the rays of light in the sea of darkness, because they are there. They are undeniably fewer than they should be, but they are there.
We must do this because our children are watching. They are watching how we respond, watching whether we shrink or stand upright. They are watching whether we allow the loudest voices to define the moment, or whether we honour those who refuse to bend.
If all they see from us is anger, they inherit anger. If they see pride, resilience and gratitude for the few who show courage, they inherit strength.
So this is not just about recognition, it is about modelling. About teaching our kids that being Jewish is not something to retreat from. That standing up is not optional, speaking out matters, pride is not provocation. That when a flag and the country it represents is treated as controversial simply for existing, you don’t lower it, you raise it.
The list is short, that is exactly why it deserves to be named.
To the mighty few and to the next generation who will decide whether that list grows, Shabbat Shalom, sending only love and strength.
Leo Pearlman is a London based producer and a loud and proud Zionist. His most recent film about the Oct 7 Nova Music Festival massacre, ‘We Will Dance Again’ has won the 2025 Emmy of the 46th Annual News & Documentary Awards for most ‘Outstanding Current Affairs Documentary’.