Friends And Family

Antisemitism Affects All Of Us: A Conversation with Jacob Solomon

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 Join us for a compelling conversation with Jacob Solomon, the soon-to-retire president and CEO of the Greater Miami Jewish Federation. In this episode, Jacob reflects on his upbringing in a close-knit Jewish community and the insights he gained from contrasting individualistic Eastern philosophies with the community-centric values of Judaism. You'll discover how these experiences shaped his life's work, driving profound impacts on Miami's Jewish community and beyond. Jacob's narrative is a testament to the power of finding one's true calling and making a lasting difference.

You'll also be inspired by the ongoing expansion of the Holocaust Memorial at Miami Beach, a pivotal site that is integrating cutting-edge interactive technology and survivor testimonies to educate future generations. In light of, not only history, but also current events, we see that hatred of any kind, like antisemitism, leads to horrible things. We discuss the critical role of Holocaust education in combating intolerance and the nuanced sensitivities surrounding terms like "Shoah" and "genocide." The episode concludes with a touching exchange, highlighting the deep bond between their communities and the power of interfaith friendships. This heartfelt dialogue underscores the shared commitment to supporting Israel and the Jewish community.

Announcer:

You're tuned in to Friends and Family, a God's Way Radio exclusive where we introduce you to some amazing people. In John, chapter 15, verse 15, jesus says I have called you friends for all things that I heard from my Father I have made known to you. That's our aim that God would be made known to you. Stay with us until the end of our conversation for more information on this program and other unique offerings from God's Way Radio.

Joey:

Well, family, we have a very special guest with us today. He's with us via the phone, Sir. Welcome, Mr Jacob Solomon.

Jacob:

Hi, pastor Joey, it's great to be with you.

Joey:

And we're so excited to get to know you a little bit, and I know your heart is even more so to get to know the work that the organization is doing, which we'll talk about, the Holocaust Memorial in Miami Beach and then even some of the tougher things like anti-Semitism, like what's going on in the Jewish community in our town, in our community and around the world. So also, you know you want to get to know a little bit about us and what we're doing over here at God's Way Radio in Calvary Chapel, miami. So looking forward to it. But, mr Solomon, if you would just tell us a little bit about yourself, your upbringing and how you got to where you are today.

Jacob:

Sure. Well, first of all, you need to call me Jacob, not Mr Solomon.

Joey:

Sounds good.

Jacob:

And I feel like I'm talking to neighbors. I also live in the southern part of town and it's wonderful to connect with you and your community. So I was born in Philadelphia, raised actually, though, in a very small town in eastern Pennsylvania between Philly and Harrisburg. My dad was a country doctor and went to University of Pennsylvania. My first graduate degree actually was in Oriental Studies East Asian Studies, as it's known now Chinese philosophy and comparative religions Now Chinese philosophy and comparative religions. Worked for a while in that field and then had the calling and found out about the Jewish Federation system, which is a really remarkable voluntary system of organizations. Throughout North America, pretty much wherever there's a Jewish community, there's a Jewish federation. That organizes efforts, it raises money, it funds educational and social welfare organizations and, of course, collectively we work for the betterment of the Jewish communities in Israel and around the world. So I kind of fell into it by accident and it's been a calling and I've been with the Federation now for wrapping up my 43rd year and I'm just about to retire.

Jacob:

So it's great to connect and thanks for your interest.

Joey:

We got you just in time, just before you retire. How soon? I mean within the year or a couple years.

Jacob:

Well, don't hold on to your chair. Next Friday is my last day as the president and CEO.

Joey:

Oh, wow.

Jacob:

It's the very end.

Joey:

This is incredible. God's timing for sure. Wow, wow, incredible, no doubt. Well, that's incredible, you know. You say that you fell into it, but it's a calling you got to give us some more details. I mean, so much of life is like that. We look back and we realize it was no accident. Can you give us any more information, a little bit of the story of how you came to the Jewish Federation? Greater Miami Jewish Federation.

Jacob:

So I don't believe in coincidence or serendipity, but I was in the field of East Asian Studies, I was working at the Philadelphia Museum of Art and I liked it.

Jacob:

I liked it well enough. But my focus in Asian Studies was actually in Chinese Buddhism and a religion called Taoism and a religion called Taoism and those are very, very beautiful philosophical traditions but very different than the way I was raised in a very close-knit, almost family Jewish community in the little town where I'm from and the Jewish community is very sticky. It's very closely connected, high emotions, high attachment, high degrees of association. And these East Asian traditions which I was drawn to are rather solitary, they're not community-based. Generally speaking, they're very much about individual salvation and the Jewish community and the way I was raised it was all about community. It was all about you know how the tribe does as a whole and I felt that misalignment a little bit.

Jacob:

And then I learned about the Federation system and I went back to school, got a degree in community social work and my first job out of school was in Miami. I trained in the Philadelphia Federation and the New York Federation, but my first job was here in 1981. So it's been a blessed journey. Not too many people have the chance to start at the very, very bottom, the entry level, and then work our way up to being the exec. And I was able to do that without moving my family around the country. It's been a real blessing.

Joey:

Amazing, amazing. Thank you so much for that. And again, you know we'll touch upon different aspects of it, but I just want folks to know if they want to see you know at their own pace and just dive into the Federation. The website I have here is jewishmiamiorg jewishmiamiorg, and it's just tons of information. You know what's really interesting? We were getting a kick out of it in the office.

Joey:

On the first banner that pops up on the website you know the picture banners is one of the guys from the church is in the picture, from our church. So I thought that was so neat. Uh, yeah, yeah, one of those God connections, the, um, the. The heading over the banner is, uh, read federations 2023 to 2024 report to the communities right there in the picture. So we we thought that was that was great.

Joey:

So, um, yeah, you know, jacob, one of the reasons that we really wanted to have you here for an interview is because, man, we love our Jewish brothers and sisters. We pray for you guys. We pray for Israel. You know I can't speak for every church, but here at our church we're concerned with what's going on in Israel. We want to support the Jewish community. So that you know, as far as getting to know us and you know some of the background. That's why you know, we want to know what's going on. We want to know how to support and, for lack of a better term combat anti-Semitism, do what we can to keep it at bay and to get it out of here. I mean, that's really my heart and I know a lot of you know. I know a lot of the church at large. I know the leadership of the church shares the sentiment, so that's definitely a big part of wanting to have you on the radio.

Jacob:

I really appreciate that expression of friendship.

Jacob:

You know, it's such a painful time for the Jewish people. Pastor, what's going on in Israel is just heartbreaking. It's the only situation that I can ever remember. I'm a student of history and I don't ever remember another situation where a country gets attacked and then gets blamed for trying to win the war. It's terribly confusing to me, and I know that I'm not being callous in any way or heartbroken for any innocent people who get caught in the crossfire.

Jacob:

But the leadership of Hamas has explicitly made it clear that for them, every civilian death in Gaza is a win. For them. They know that, which is why they hide their rockets under hospitals and schools and mosques. That's why the terror organizations use human shields, because they know that for Israel to fight a defensive, existential war against these terrorists they're going to have to kill innocents, because Hamas is hiding behind them. It is it's it's terribly confusing and deeply painful that so many people in the world are not, are not seeing, you know, lost track of good and evil and right and wrong, and civilization and barbarism. And it's some of it. Some of it, I guess, you know, is just sympathy for innocent people, which I certainly understand, is just sympathy for innocent people, which I certainly understand, but I got to believe that some of it is willful. Ignorance, is hatred, and that's where it kind of morphs into anti-Semitism.

Joey:

Yeah, yeah, you know I want to delve into this a little bit deeper Again, as much as you would like, or if you would defer any question or comment. You have that freedom totally. But you know, I'm thinking of who this might get to, who might hear this, and again, our primary audience is going to be people that are supportive, people that are, you know, of our same thought. But if somebody were to hear this and again I'm just thinking what I've seen online and I don't, you know, I don't veer away from these kind of questions and topics. So here we go. You know somebody that would be one of these folks that they're yelling out free Palestine. You know they're totally opposed, they have a totally different worldview. If you could speak to them at this moment, if they get a copy of this, what would you say to them?

Jacob:

I'd say oh, my dear friend, please, please, think about what you're saying. Dear friend, please think about what you're saying. Look at the facts on the ground, Look at the reality. And it's not a matter of opinion. The United Nations created the State of Israel, accepted it as a legitimate world nation in 1947, and the state was created in 1948. In 1947, and the state was created in 1948.

Jacob:

When you say free Palestine, what does that mean? When people chant from the river to the sea, do you even know what river it is and what sea it is? Because Palestine from the river to the sea means from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea. That means no Israel. So do you really want to call for the eradication of the one and only Jewish state in the world, the one place where Jews can go? And history teaches us that we need a safe haven? If Israel had existed in 1938, six million Jews would not have been slaughtered, we would have had a place to go and not a single country, including the United States, which I love dearly, was open to us, and we lost a full third of our people. There were 18 million Jews in the world in 1935, in 1945, there were fewer than 12 million.

Jacob:

So the existence of the State of Israel is an existential necessity for the Jewish people, and it's not something that's trivial. You know the reason that Israel has to fight in that very challenging, difficult neighborhood, surrounded by people who have explicitly said they want to destroy the Jewish state. Iran says it all the time we're going to wipe Israel off the map, we're going to push the Jews into the sea. Hamas's charter, their organizational charter, calls for killing Jews, eradicating the state of Israel. So these are not people who are subtle about their intention, and if World War II taught us anything, it's when people say they want to destroy you, you better believe them.

Jacob:

And so Israel has a nearly impossible task, which is to appeal to people in the West and also to maintain security against very, very, very hostile neighbors. So right now you have Iran sending armed aerial bombs and drones from Iran, as they did the other week. You have Hezbollah raining scores and hundreds of missiles down on northern Israel, and you have a terror group. By the way, hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas have both been defined as terror groups by the United States of America and by Europe. So it's not as if the Western world doesn't understand who these people are, but we're not the ones living in Israel and Israel. It's not like having neighbors like Mexico or Canada. These are people who want to destroy the Jewish state and in that neighborhood you need to be tough, you need to be resilient and you need to be strong. You need to be resilient and you need to be strong.

Joey:

I can't thank you enough for sharing all that. I'm so glad I did bring it up because, again, you mentioned knowing the facts. I mean so much of what you said it's not an opinion, it's not. You know well, jewish folks feel this way and Christians feel this way, and these people, no, these are man. You have United Nations, you have recognition, you have classifications, terror organizations. I mean, it's just, it's one plus two equals three, in a sense and it's needed to get out there.

Jacob:

You know the other thing I would say, yes, yes, I want to add one thing, pastor, and that is this is not just about Israel or about the Jews. If you look at the messaging that's been on during the campus protests that we saw toward the end of the spring semester and I reckon they're going to pop up again come September I'm not saying all of them, but so many of them are it's not about Israel, it's about Jews. You know. They're saying kill all the Zionists.

Jacob:

And worse than that and this is the thing that I guess I want to underscore for your community is that so much of this is anti-American. You know, it's when Iran. It's like the little Satan is Israel, the big Satan is the United States. These are enemies of the United States, these are enemies of America, and they also are Jew-haters and anti-Zionists. But there's a line that I often use in my public speaking, and that is what begins with the Jews doesn't end with the Jews, and hatred begets hatred and bigotry begets bigotry. And it may start with Jew hatred, but it doesn't end there.

Joey:

Yeah, well, you look at again World War II and the regime there in Germany, and it was not just Jews, it was mostly mainly, you know you look at the numbers, but it was at some point right bringing it back home to our Christian audience. At some point it was even Christians that didn't join the state church that opposed Hitler at all. You're an enemy of the state now, you know. And so many minorities, uh, in the, in the holocaust, um, so, uh, thank you, thank you for adding that and and I always, I'm always uh, hypercritical of of everything, and myself even, and I'm realizing, oh, I, I, I said something. I said, true, when you said something. I said, true, not agreeing with a statement of Iran, but true, I have heard that, something that they said, I said oh my goodness, there was no doubt.

Joey:

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, for everyone else listening, I caught myself.

Jacob:

I don't think anyone had any doubt.

Joey:

Good, good, so thank you, thank you. And talking about that, I want to make the connection because I think this is just me personally. I think there's a gem in our community it happens to be in Miami Beach that if people don't know about it or if they haven't visited it, they are truly missing out. You know your kids should go, your family should go. This is important, Talking about being a student of history the Holocaust Memorial at Miami Beach. Please tell us all about it, how it started, when it started, what's going on there today and what we can look forward to.

Jacob:

Nice. Thanks for the question. Yeah, it is a gem, not just for the Jewish community, but it's among the most visited sites on Miami Beach as far as if you go on TripAdvisor, it's always in the top 10. And tourists coming to Miami-Dade often seek it out. It's an imposing, very, very powerful memorial to the murdered six million of the Holocaust. It was founded about 30 years ago and the founders, a group of about eight or nine individuals, took it upon themselves to negotiate a long-term lease with the city and they raised the money to build. It's hard to describe, I don't think I'll try, but it's, like I said, an imposing and very, very powerful memorial. On 17th, children and grandchildren of survivors, who are available to take people around to tour. There's a series of panels that describes in brief terms the history of the Holocaust, but it's mostly a piece of art in real terms and it comprises a couple full city blocks.

Jacob:

What's really interesting and exciting is that we are actually under construction right now for a major expansion of the memorial. We're creating an educational center. It'll be done in about a year and essentially it's going to house two theaters in which individuals, students we hope by the tens of thousands will come and using digital technology and artificial intelligence, language and what's called dimensions and testimony a licensed agreement with the Shoah Foundation individuals can actually interact with holographic-type Holocaust survivors and they sit there and you can ask them any question that you want. You can ask them about their life before the war. You can ask them what question that you want. You can ask them about their life before the war. You can ask them what happened during the war. You can ask them what happened about their life subsequent to the war, how they survived, stories of who their parents were, their children, the people they lost, and you can actually have a discussion, and there will be multiple.

Jacob:

I think there are 35 different installations, so 35 different survivors will be talking to groups. What we know to be true, pastor, and I think it's an interesting point, not just for anti-Semitism, but all kinds of hatred and bigotry, and we're seeing so much of it in the world today. But if you can get to people when they're young and you can show them and demonstrate in a powerful way the effect of unchecked hatred and bigotry and intolerance, it essentially has the effect of inoculating them against hatred of all kinds, whether it's based on race or sexual orientation or identity on race or sexual orientation or identity creed.

Jacob:

It doesn't matter Once someone is sensitized to the effect of hatred. Like I said, it inoculates them for life, and so our hope is to take tens of thousands of students through the education center every year. I would love for every Jewish student, or every non-Jewish student and Jewish student in Miami-Dade, to experience this at least once. It's really going to be a remarkable addition, not just for the Jewish community, but for the overall community as well. Yeah.

Joey:

You know I really on to what you said there if you're sensitized because so much of our world is desensitized, uh, sadly, you know, I mean violence is on the, on the screens, uh, whatever violence, sexual immorality, hatred, I mean things that are just saturating our culture and desensitizing us and man, to be sensitized again to what the, as you said, what hatred could do, what hatred leads to. You know, and again for our audience, you know that are believers I mean we see this in Scripture. You know it starts in the heart but it leads to murder. I mean throughout scripture, the Hebrew Bible, the teachings of Jesus, that is the ethic, that is the teaching that it starts small but it leads to death. So, so grateful for that. You know you mentioned something and as a student myself, I would love to share this with anyone listening that it would be new information for them. The Shoah you know the catastrophe. Could you share a little bit about that? You know that term, and just give a little bit of information for our audience.

Jacob:

About the Holocaust Pastor.

Joey:

Well, specifically when they hear that term Shoah, most people know it as the Holocaust, but this might be a new term for some folks.

Jacob:

Right. So Shoah is just the Hebrew word for Holocaust and it's a term. There's a sensitivity in the Jewish community about the words Holocaust or genocide. There's a kind of moral inversion. When people accuse Israel of genocide in the Gaza War, you know, we kind of look at each other and say, really, I mean, like we know about genocide, genocide is the identification of a particular race or ethnicity or kind of individual and a desire to wipe all of them out. And I think Israel with its military might, if they wanted to commit genocide which of course they don't and never would they have the ability to do it in about 10 minutes. So to accuse the Jewish nation of genocide has a really twisted kind of cynical moral inversion which is highly offensive. There are different words for it, but essentially the Shoah is intended to describe very specifically the murder of the six million men, women and children, that this included one and a half million children. Well, you know, if you stop and think about what, what one half million, anything looks like and then imagine innocent babies and children, you know, killed at the hands of the Nazis, it just you know, it gives you a sense and there's a particular sensitivity in the Jewish community to the Holocaust. I mean, clearly we still have Holocaust survivors alive. I'm blessed to be married to a woman, both of whose parents were in Auschwitz, were Holocaust survivors. My father-in-law, thank God, is still alive, and so he's watching, you know, he's watching CNN and he's looking at the Jew hatred that's being made manifest not just in the Middle East but around on college campuses. And he looks at me and he says I don't understand how can this be happening again? You know, how is it possible? You know? So it's really. It's not just learning history for history's sake, it's really learning history to learn so that we don't have to repeat it.

Jacob:

I think you know you said at the very beginning about the friendship and the allyship that we have from so many wonderful people in our community and beyond. You know some of it is, you know, when I talk to my non-Jewish friends or associates. Some of it is that they're just really good people and they see they have a clear-eyed view of what's good and what's bad. Um, but part of it is also they recognize that if we want to live in a society which protects everyone, then then there can't be everyone except for these people, or except for those people. You know the, the um, you know it has. It has to be. It has to be everyone. And I think people get it.

Jacob:

I'm sure your listeners have heard it, but it's worth repeating the the very, very powerful quotation from Martin Niemöller. It's the one that starts first they came for the socialists and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews I didn't speak out because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak for me. Wow, you know. And so that from a pastor of the day. You know he understood. You know that this is about the moral corruption of a society. So when good people don't do anything, it allows evil to exist. There's always going to be evil in the world. We know that from Scripture. The question is how do good people respond to it? And when we teach Holocaust education, we don't use the word bystander anymore. You can't just be a bystander, you need to be an upstander, you need to take action and speak out.

Joey:

Well, jacob, I mean, that's the perfect segue. What can we do? What can our listeners do? And I say this just to try to paint the picture. I mean, I'm a very detail-oriented guy sometimes, you know. So do we make a sign? Do we stand on a specific corner? Do we sign up for a class? I mean, I'm serious, what can our listeners do effectively, immediately, to support, to combat? I mean, this is where I'm leaning on your expertise. What can you share with us?

Jacob:

So actually, sometimes huge acts of heroism just comprise lots of little acts of decency and sometimes it's just like speaking out. You know, sometimes, you know right now, if you go on Reddit or TikTok or any of the social media platforms and you put in, just type in Israel, and you will see a flood of the most disgusting, anti-semitic, virulent, hateful rhetoric coming back and it'll be something like for every one person who's supporting Israel's right to defend itself, there are going to be 10 who say apartheid and genocide and it's just terrifying. So one thing is for people who are explicitly not Jewish to say, hey, wait a minute, that's not the way I'm seeing it. You know, that sounds like hatred to me. That doesn't sound like history, you know, like.

Jacob:

So I think, just being informed, and there's so many easy ways to get educated on the facts. So just to be informed and just to not say, oh well, that guy's a you know, a whack job and I'm just going to ignore him, and not say, oh well, that guy's a whack job and I'm just going to ignore him. You know, for me, as the exec of the Jewish Federation, to say something like that's not going to carry a lot of water, because they expect that from me. But for you, pastor Joey, or for people who are part of your flock, you know it is meaningful. The second thing I would say is you know, like on October 7th or on October 8th, after the horrific, brutal, disgusting, animalistic, sadistic attack I don't even know, there aren't enough words to describe what Hamas did to the—and they were targeting innocent people. I could count on one hand the number of people, not of the Jewish faith, who picked up the phone or sent me an email. You know so I think Jews. You know we need friends.

Jacob:

I don't want to sound desperate about it, but we reach out to all kinds of communities and the response was really disheartening. On the other hand, in Miami-Dade County we have the municipalities. You and I chatted the other day about law enforcement. Law enforcement in Miami-Dade, the municipal ones, the county ones, state. They've been spectacular. Every time there's an issue of anti-Semitism or vandalism they are right there for us.

Joey:

Which those are not few and far between. Just this week, you were telling me there was an act of vandalism in the city of Miami.

Jacob:

Right right.

Joey:

And when you say act of vandalism, you're not many times you're not saying oh, you know they broke a window. No, they're writing hateful, evil things on people's windows.

Jacob:

And in this case it was a desecration of an American-Israeli flag, which is just terrible with red spray paint. I need to wrap up, pastor.

Joey:

Yes, yes.

Jacob:

I just want to close by thanking you and your church and all the people who associate with you for your friendship. When you started out by saying that you support Israel, that you pray for Israel, that you view yourselves as being upstanders on behalf of the Jewish people, I want you to know that that expression of friendship is extremely meaningful to me and deeply, deeply appreciated by the entire Jewish community. So I really want to thank you and your community from the bottom of my heart for your friendship. It's a real blessing and we don't take it for granted.

Joey:

Well, that means a lot to us as well, and we wish you the best in your next season of retirement. And who knows, maybe even speak with you again soon about whatever God has you doing next.

Jacob:

God bless you. Thank you, pastor Joe. God bless you, god bless.

Announcer:

We hope you enjoyed Friends and Family, unique conversations recorded and produced in our studios, where you get a chance to hear what God is doing in people's lives. Jesus tells us in John 15, verse 15, I have called you friends For all things that I heard from my Father I have made known to you. So that's why we love to share these exclusive interviews with you. Our hope is that through their stories God will be made known to you, but you can only find them here on God's Way Radio. Just check godswayradiocom for our full program schedule.