Israel Uncensored: The Unstoppable Jerusalemite

josh haston here israel uncensored on the land of israel network at the land of israel.com it is july the 20th 2020 the 28th of ta'amu's 5780 coming to you from jerusalem hope you're doing well in your part of the world with the coronavirus pandemic and everything else affiliated with coronavirus we're going to talk about that later on in the show and of course all the other news in the middle east and those of you watching on facebook this segment of the show welcome thanks so much for joining us here on the land of israel network at the land of israel.com my guest is on the line here via zoom jody samuels she just came out with a new book called chutzpah wisdom and wine the journey of an unstoppable woman she lives in jerusalem originally from johannesburg with a stop over in manhattan jody samuels mission is to change the world one small unique step at a time an entrepreneur international spiegel speaker special needs advocate super mom and much much more jody it's an honor to have you on the show thanks so much for coming on thank you for inviting me how are you managing first of all during these uh crazy coronavirus times here uh you're in jerusalem right yeah i mean i'm someone who travels about 180 days a year so i don't think i've ever spent this long in one country one place so going a little crazy but happy to be in israel yeah even with our numbers i think it's good to good to be here i know it's crazy and things are not looking good right now but we're gonna be positive and something positive out of corona is your new book chutzpah wisdom and wine tell us just if you can briefly about about this new book so if this book is a long journey of mine it's i've been writing a blog for many years i need a little bit of a maybe unusual life for someone who's modern orthodox between traveling to 87 countries traveling with my kids um on a budget off the beaten track living in so many places besides new york by the time i got to israel i'd lived in like 29 apartments in nine cities in five countries and had a special needs child i have thousands of guests in my house and i'm always on the go and always doing things so people have been saying write a book write a book so it took a long time to actually get from the point of writing blogs and sitting down and writing a book but the last year someone who was a very important mentor to me passed away and the week of her funeral i had the opportunity to i'd been at her funeral and i took a group to morocco to marrakech and we were there for shabbat and you were in this like crazy scenario of shabbat dinner in someone's home with all these different groups so we had my group who was this mixed group some were religious some weren't some with their phones and jeans others more religious and there were a group of feti alexander facili from lakewood in new jersey who had come for someone's 50th birthday party and i've got to have to make a lefiem and i'm probably not the usual person who makes a look i'm in front of those people and i started telling a little bit about my story and i saw 30 men staring at me and they came to me afterwards and they were like wow we never thought we'd come to like marrakech and be so inspired this was the most inspirational story we've ever heard and i walked out of there and i was like you know what i have a message and this is like a sign i have to share this message so that week i made the decision and actually took the content and started the book so tell me that's an amazing story first of all but what is what is that message if you could summarize uh that one message to the audience here today what what would you say it is so my message is go be unstoppable and what does that mean at the end of the day we're all given cards in life and it's how we deal with those cards that we are dealt and the whole message in this book is about taking the kinds of dealt deal with them life isn't perfect but it can still be wonderful and go be unstoppable it doesn't matter what life brings you that's definitely a great message and one of the things that you've done is you founded something called the jewish international connection if you can't describe exactly what that is it an organization is it a movement a program explain exactly what is the jewish international connection my husband as i said said my husband and i traveled all around the world and with the true definition of wandering jews and we arrived in new york city in 2000 after having lived in south africa and a bit in israel in australia and new zealand and england and i arrived in new york city and someone asked me if i would host i'd been there exactly three weeks and then you are hosting big meals for singles and asked me if i'd host a meal for columbia university students that was rosh hashanah and he said there's all these people internationals who don't have anywhere to go and i landed up having 36 people from 30 countries three weeks after i arrived and i had this epiphany that foreign jews moving to a new city need a jewish home away from home and that was the initial idea so we formed an organization that at least at least until march pre-corona in new york city we were having about 10 000 people a year all through events we're running about 200 events a year there we have groups for younger singles older singles married couples and the idea is to give people an opportunity to connect to jewish life to have an inspire opportunities to be inspired in the jewish world and then connect them to community and then five years ago when we moved to israel we launched within two weeks of being in israel we had started running programs in jerusalem and we now have jerusalem tel aviv and new york and our way wow amazing at the same time you are a known passionate advocate for children with special needs uh if you can't talk about your work in that field as well yeah so you know in 2008 we were this like perfect couple but most people's standards we were like this couple they were having this perfect life living in manhattan hosting guests traveling two beautiful older children and my daughter was born i did not know she had down syndrome and we found out the news in the hospital and part of that's going to be unstoppable within half an hour i decided you know what this is the cards have been dealt but my life's not going to change and we continued and i remember you walk out of the hospital and you have these tags on your hand where they check your security to make sure like you match the baby and my husband said to me they should have just branded the word activist on our forehead as we were working out and he didn't realize how prophetic those words would be and soon we found out um when my daughter was two years old and trying to get her into a jewish day school the same one her siblings attended um and the answer was like no based on her diagnosis and at that moment i realized that nobody like people in my inner circle didn't even understand the challenges they didn't know the challenges and i realized that if there was going to be change it was going to be because of me because somebody took a stand and no one else was going to take the standbys it was going to be me and from that i launched a series of like media initiatives and i got media involved i wrote ran community forums i started a facebook page and one of the things that i do a lot is speak to professional groups whether it's like rabbinic interns or it could be medical students studying genetics it could be high school students but people who are gonna go out there and be facing community and dealing with people with a variety of challenges and sharing a message wow amazing truly amazing and let me switch gears here on you with the title of your book uh chutzpah wisdom and wine how does the wine fit into all of this are you a uh passionate wine drinker a connoisseur is uh is wine what keeps you going no judgment at all but i mean you did put that in into the title of your book you fit in the wine part i mean how does that all uh come together with wine look the reality is i love wine i wouldn't call myself a connoisseur but i'm definitely a passionate consumer of wine when i made aliyah my mantra became god give me coffee to deal with the things i can and why to deal with the things i cannot and i get it i get it i get it yeah i joke about it but actually i think that part of my life philosophy is very much work hard and play hard anybody knows me knows that i sleep four hours a night i'm always on the go i'm always working but i take time out and i'm hiding in between and i really think that that is what life is supposed to be just like you have if you didn't have night time you wouldn't appreciate daytime and winter helps you appreciate summer i really really believe that if you take time out and you chill and you enjoy life and it helps you to appreciate everything else so it's on one hand it's part of my like reality the wine and on the other side it's like a very much a philosophical approach to life that i believe in enjoy life i i totally subscribe to that for me for me it's whiskey not wine but i totally hear where you're coming from um jody samuels the new author of the book chutzpah wisdom and wine the journey of an unstoppable woman it does sound like you are truly an unstoppable woman where can people get the book most importantly how can we get a copy so if you're in israel jody's voice which is my website info at jody's voice and if you send an email there we'll give you instructions for ordering a book if you would like to get a book um on amazon it's on amazon and if you have access to an e-device that you can read it does not have to be a kindle you can read on the amazon ebooks on multiple devices you can also download it there and if anybody out there did not catch any of that you can always get in touch with me i'm happy to put you in touch with jody and uh make sure you get your copy of her brand new book chutzpah wisdom and wine jody i want to thank you for taking the time out this morning being with us here on my show israel uncensored on the land of israel network at the land of israel.com much success much health during these crazy times uh wine wine thanks wine definitely helps during the corona i know or whiskey or whatever whatever it is but uh congratulations uh it sounds like an amazing amazing accomplishment looking forward to reading the book and uh all the best to you and your family thank you so well stay well we're gonna take a break right now turn off the facebook live and come back with a second half the show with all the news from israel and the middle east talk about everything going on corona related and with prime minister netanyahu politics news everything going on here and we're going to finish the show today with some really positive news so you're going to want to hang out with that uh for that my name is josh haston this is israel uncensored on the land of israel network at the land of israel.com we're going to take a short break thanks again to benjamin breski for all the work he does and getting these zoom slash facebook live um whatever you want to call them broadcasts up on the internet so thanks so much ben we're going to take short break i'm right back hey everybody this is jeremy gimpel have you heard about the land of israel fellowship we started about one month ago and people from all over the world 24 countries have joined we meet live every sunday and the video session is recorded and then broadcast to all the members and it's an exclusive group it's a group that's focused on learning we're focused on praying together we're focused on growing together and it has been one of the biggest blessings in my life and we have people from new zealand to australia alaska hawaii hong kong jews christians we have a buddhist we have one muslim that's joined we have people from so many different backgrounds languages and cultures and we are literally creating a virtual house of prayer for all nations and it is truly marvelous and so if you want more information about that please visit www.thelandof.com fellowship and i would love to see you next sunday and we are back josh haston here israel uncensored on the land of israel network at the land of israel.com for monday the 20th of july 2020 the 28th of tamus 5780 coming to you this monday morning from jerusalem the eternal capital of the jewish people let's get to the news now and today's jerusalem post has published a report on the coronavirus uh the report here indicates where people were infected the site of infection and where's the top site where would you think it is no not the restaurants not the pools not social gatherings but at home at home 67 percent of those infected beli between the weeks of uh between july 10th and 16th where seven thousand nine hundred ninety eight people were infected with the virus were infected at home sixty seven percent so here we had this campaign for months encouraging people to stay home but maybe staying home isn't the best anymore maybe it's better to be outside in nature away from people maybe it's better to be at the beach away from people or at a swimming pool where the chlorine from what i understand uh kills the virus again i'm not cur encouraging anyone to go out and disobey the rules and be in big groups of course you have to wear your masks or whatnot but it's kind of uh it's kind of ironic that until now we're talking about staying home where people are getting sick at home of course the reason is somebody who has the virus is sent home and then infects the rest the rest of his or her family and that policy is absolutely ridiculous and that is why in my opinion i think that we should be listening to naftali bennett former defense minister who is now in the opposition with the amina party but i think he should be running the show when it comes to corona he has a 15 point plan we mentioned it i believe on the show i think two weeks ago he came out with his plan he's the only one that i see who has an actual plan on paper which makes sense and i know israel has started reopening some of those coronavirus hotels or whatnot but definitely not enough of them are open it's not happening fast enough and i really think the politicians need to put politics aside egos aside and put naphtali bennett whether you agree or disagree with all those other positions when it comes to judea and samaria or anything else i think it's time to to put naftali bennett in charge i know they're looking for a czar a corona czar and that decision is taking time while more and more people are getting infected each and every day stop what you're doing my advice to the israeli government stop what you're doing stop procrastinating stop with the bureaucracy put one person in charge naftali bennett let him run the show i think he is the best person suited for the job that's my opinion this is some scary news here reported by the j post yesterday a doctor from shibra sheba medical center in ramadan has been confirmed as an as being infected with the coronavirus three months after she recovered from the virus this according to channel the doctor suffered from a fever cough muscle pain when she tested positive in april recovered and tested negative for the virus in may and june but unfortunately earlier this month the doctor came in contact with a confirmed patient and subsequently tested positive for the virus again this folks is extremely scary if in fact people after only three months if the antibodies are only good rep for only three months and then you can get infected again this is really really scary stuff and uh you know i don't know once we do have a vaccine does that mean we're going to be you know taking the vaccine every three months i don't know what the situation is going to be but we really really need need some help with this vaccine that will be effective which will be long-lasting and uh and and it does not look good right now folks uh based on uh my understanding my limited very limited medical understanding of the situation but um please god we will have a solution very soon so i'm still hopeful that it is going to be it's going to be one of the israeli companies that comes up with the most effective virus and those bds's will have to make a decision whether whether they use the israeli virus or not hopefully it will be a matter of maybe months and not years with this insane corona virus reality where the numbers here in israel and i know around the world keep going up and up switching gears here the prime minister of israel prime minister netanyahu his criminal trial for bribery in breach of public trust will begin in january 2021 there was another court session on sunday morning and it was decided that that is when the next stage of the trial will take place according to the j post the trial schedule could have a huge impact on netanyahu's transfer of power to blue and white's many guns in november 2021 as well as what netanyahu's status will be after the transfer again this is a huge long bureaucratic process and a court case and this is going to be uh this is going to be going on for months and years the trial of prime minister netanyahu i saw a pretty crazy video yesterday switching gears of what it was described i think on the jewish press what looked like a scene out of fauda where special idf forces went into a village under the palestinian authority and arrested three would-be terrorists they were planning to carry out a a drive-by shooting hurdle explosives at um a community in the binyamin area and the soldier soldiers the brave idea of soldiers went in there disguised as i think delivery men and arrested these three terrorists i don't know if the video is technically for publication on israeli media the arab media put it out so i cannot be too sure about that if it's kosher so to speak for israel to publish the video but i did see it via via an arab news site idf taking care of business preventing a terror attack and it happens folks each and every night whether you realize it or not the idf is working 24 7 under the cover of darkness in the middle of the day whenever it is they are on guard 24 7 they are carrying out these operations each and every day imagine god forbid if there was a palestinian state so called and the idf did not have free access to all these villages that's what a pa state would be that is the biggest threat of the pa state is the idf would not be able to go out and carry out these anti-terror operations and here we are with about 95 percent of terror attacks being thwarted thanks to the idf and the other security forces and that number would go way down god forbid if we created another state between the river and the sea it would be a terrible and huge mistake let's not go down that path i know that the talk of annexation so-called i call it sovereignty has been uh pushed off and that's an important point by the way to ref to refer to it as sovereignty because you don't annex what's what's already yours um but we'll see where that goes but it would be a huge huge mistake to establish a pa state anti-semitism running wild in the us and throughout the world really but thank you a big thank you should go out to charles barkley hall of fame nba basketball star along with kareem abdul-jabbar for standing up for the jewish people calling out anti-semitism for what it is this reported by nbc sports all-time 76ers great charles barkley has called out eagles wide receiver desean jackson and other prominent celebrities for recent anti-semitic comments and actions barkley in a video go check out this video folks tweet tweeted out by nba on tnt criticized desean jackson who posted messages on social media earlier this month citing a quote he thought was from hitler and then you had others who came to his defense you had steven jackson no relation former nba player defending desean jackson tv personality nick cannon who was fired for anti-semitic comments and rapper and filmmaker ice cube also with these anti-semitic comments or defending anti-semitic comments of others ice cube he's out of control with his anti-semitism he even blasted kareem abdul-jabbar for an essay which jabar wrote in the hollywood reporter defending the jewish people and calling out anti-semitism so here you have ice cube speaking out against cream abdul-jabbar but thank you sir sir charles barkley for coming out against all these individuals who've decided to use this opportunity when instead of focusing on rights for african americans they decided to go on a anti-semitic tirade against the jews and blame the jews for all types of things slavery and for lack of opportunities for the african-american communities using the jew as a scapegoat i appreciate sir charles barkley kareem abdul-jabbar and any other celebrities or sports figures of course julian edelman standing up against anti-semitism so thank you very much to those uh celebs those athletes finishing the show with some positive news here the j post reports that cancer patients are being given a head start on beating the disease thanks to a new diagnostic test that can detect the presence of cancer cells within hours rather than the weeks it currently takes of course this is uh an israeli initiative in israeli invention so to speak a research team from the zamin institute for engineering solutions advancing better lives in tel aviv university they have developed a new tool based on a genetic sequencing device which can detect cancer cells in the abdominal cavity in real time currently when a tumor is removed there are often undetected cancer cells left within the abdomen which can spread to other parts of the body if not tackled with chemotherapy standard cancer cell detection tests take weeks to produce a result drastically increasing the risk that cancer may spread during the interim but we have a solution which produces a result within hours eliminating that window of risk thank you very much to the zamin institute for engineering solutions advancing better lives at tel aviv university bds haters out there you're going to have to use our technology our medical technology all of our technology so you might want to get over your hate of israel and realize the contributions that israel and the jewish people are making in this world you might have to i'm telling you especially when it comes to corona but in this case thank god making great headway in the fight against cancer and it's all happening here in the state of israel big shout out to benjamin breske engineer extraordinaire tabitha epstein for everything she does behind the scenes here at the network my name is josh haston for the 20th of july 2020 20th of tammuz remember you can get in touch with me during the week josh at the land of israel.com on facebook joshua haston or josh haston israel advocacy in journalism check out all my latest articles um particularly the ones on the jns news site i have them all posted on my facebook page i'm also on twitter at josh haston and on instagram as well most importantly between now and when we speak again please god next monday everyone out there in the wonderful world of ours be safe shalom shalom from a beautiful day here in jerusalem israel the eternal capital of the jewish people have a great week everybody this week on rejuvenation with eve hero an exclusive interview with israel's newest member of knesset mikhail there are tens of thousands of jews throughout the world it doesn't matter for a reason they are interested at this point in making aliyah and so another part of my own personal story as it affects my purpose or my role is to facilitate that that's rejuvenation with eve hero every tuesday on the land of israel network at the land of israel.com