Longtime readers will know I am not a fan of Shmuley Boteach aka The Bobblehead Rav. His seeming pursuit of fame and the cameras renders him a walking and talking cringe-fest - which is all well and good, but not when you position yourself as some kind of spokesperson for the Jewish people and the Jewish state.
And while it does not please me to write ill of a fellow pro-Israel Jew, I feel the need to do so when I see them actually causing damage to the cause.
Shmuley recently debated "Rat Fink" Norman Finkelstein on Piers Morgan's show. It was an unmitigated disaster for those of us who love and advocate for Israel.
The disaster actually began before the debate, when Shmuley penned a blog post title My Digital Decapitation of Norm Finkelstein on TV (hardly the talk of a Rabbi). He also tweeted something similar, and was confronted over that by Piers Morgan - as well as his constant ad hominem attacks on a very bored looking Rat Fink.
Here is the debate if you can stomach it:
I think Shmuley stating this sums him up well:
Hamas, unfortunately, wants these children to die, because the more that die, the more you are going to challenge me on TV!"
No, Shmuley, not everything is about you!
With Israel and the Jewish people being accused of disproportionate violence and even genocide, having someone like Shmuley shouting and personally attacking his interlocutor, while appearing defensive and not adequately addressing the substance of his accusations, could lead an objective viewer to actually believe the accusations levelled against us.
Believe it or not, Shmuley believes he won the debate:
No, Shmuley, you didn't. You lost it - not because Fink was any good (his avoiding answering the question about Hamas at the end was a huge own goal for himself), you were just that bad.
What Shmuley and some others need to realize is that in such debates, form is almost as important as substance. If you shout over your opponent, grandstand, and don't directly answer the questions but instead spend most of your time personally attacking your opponent, you will lose. And by lose, I am not referring to a game - the stakes in influencing public opinion on the issues are all-too-real and high.
If you want to see how to destroy Norman Finkelstein in a debate, see Douglas Murray, who I believe is the most effective debater I have seen on our side.
Posted from my blog with Exxp : https://www.israellycool.com/2024/02/22/shmuley-boteach-does-us-a-disservice/
He certainly flooded my twitter feed with way too many posts.