Zoltan Rubin - January 12, 1983
Talking About Experience
Have you ever told the children about this?
I uh, this was a mistake what I did. We were never talking about it and uh, right now we are talking more. Now in the last three, four years, we are talking about it and uh, it's important they should know. It's important, it's important they should be aware of the, of the anti-Semitism because it can happen again. And we should be together, and we should be ready, we shouldn't go like we did, we did go over there, that we couldn't... We weren't, we weren't organized, we didn't have a leader, we couldn't, all these things should be done. Uh, when, when we are talking about Rabbi Kahave, I am, I am very sympathetic to his problem. Maybe he is too radical but the program, the basic program, that the children, the Jewish people, the Jewish children should know and should be, should be always, not ready, but should have it in mind that if something like this happens, we should kill it while it's still in, in, in, in the larva. Not to wait it should develop. I think like this uh, Neo-Nazis...We shouldn't, I can't see it that we should say, oh, the Constitution and it should be, uh...What is the name of the organization? What, uh...he's the leader, anti...Not the Anti-Defamation...
The American Civil liberties union--the ACLU.
The civil liberties, what, what's his name? Who is the lawyer? You know, I had a little something with him once in B'nai Moshe, I ask, he says that everybody has the right to, to do something. So, I ask him, "Does everybody has the right to kill me?" If, if you come up with a program, which is endangering somebody else because this is what a Ku Klux Klan, or the Neo-Nazis are coming up now, with a program that they want to fight us, they want to eliminate us, a Jew and a Negro. Uh, where is my right? Where is my right that I should be protected? So uh, I think a thing like this, it should be, should be killed right in, while it's down on the bottom, before it's develops. I don't think it's uh, it's, it's, it's liberty...Yes, everybody has the liberty, everybody has the uh, everybody has the right for, for, for uh, to be alive and to live in society and everything but not to endanger somebody else by uh, by taking advantage on, on, on, that I...Free, free speech, free, if it's a free speech to do if just right, fine but a free speech to kill somebody, that's not right.
I'm going to ask you one more thing that I, I meant to come back to before about this. You told me before that um, you, you took something away from your father with you and it had to do with his attitude toward the schnorrers.
Yeah.
What do you think it is, what, what has he left in you that you hope to give on to your children?
You can, you always, that you should always be, always be nice. Oh, not nice, you should be kind and you should support because this is, this is, I think, this is what I really, what is in my mind all the time. And I'm...when I'm, when I'm involved in any organizations, I feel that this is what I have left from him. That I should just, I should be always this, always somebody who needs help more. You shouldn't look up, you shouldn't always look, oh, if I would have, if I would always say, if I would have so much. Look down look there is lots of people who are always less and worse off than you and you should keep, you should keep this in mind. If you don't keep this in mind, uh, then I'll just say... Uh, it says uh, who, who--in Hebrew it says--who is a rich man? [Hebrew] Right? Who is the rich man? Who is satisfied with his part? And how are you satisfied? How can you be satisfied with your part? If you are going to look down at somebody who hasn't got this what you have, then you are satisfied. And if you can do this here, then you are a human being.
We should stop there, thank you. Okay, thank you. 39
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