Emet: Truth

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According to family legend, I am descended from Rabbi Judah Loew, the Maharal of Prague, who in the 16th century sculpted a statue of a man, a golem, from clay. When the rabbi carved the word, "emet," ("truth") on the forehead of his golem, it would come alive and protect the Jewish Quarter from anti-Semites.

Today, there has never been more of a need for "emet," for "truth," in an era of renewed peril for Jews around the world. The power of lies—about our history, our influence and power, our beliefs, our relationship with Israel, the legacy of the Holocaust—sometimes seems to overwhelm the truth. There is no magical golem, no superhero to protect us, but old great-great-granddad in Prague did get one thing right:

Emet, Truth, will always be our most powerful protector.

With this in mind, now is the time for Emet, which is what I'm calling this new podcast. Why?

Well, just give us some truth about:

Anti-Semitism on the right: Many American Jews felt true anti-Semitism for the first time in their lives beginning with the 2016 US presidential campaign, when suddenly their social media feeds began to fill up with horrible anti-Jewish hate, using words and images that they thought had gone away with their grandparents' generation. I spoke up for the first time in public, grabbing a megaphone at a local rally and a microphone for my IndieVoices podcast, which highlighted voices of those marginalized in the 2016 presidential campaign.

Anti-Semitism on the left: As it has been in previous generations, strange mythology about Jewish money and power seemed to be coming not only from the right, where it's expected, but from the left, too. Most American Jews believe Israel has a right to exist, but favor a two-state solution with the Palestinians. Leaders of the Women's March embraced anti-Semite Louis Farrakhan, and that was the last straw for many American Jews, who do not feel like they have a place within the resistance. Similar problems are occurring in the LGBTQ Jewish community, where they are facing anti-Israel loyalty tests.

The Legacy of the Holocaust: We live in perilous times and we see other marginalized groups being singled out for persecution, called animals, labeled as an infestation, well, we've seen this before. Are Holocaust comparisons appropriate? And, if not now, when? And how much of our identity should center around memories of the Holocaust and politics in the Middle East?

Journalism, interviews, essays, author readings: At heart, I'm a journalist, so I am also planning on writing when I'm not podcasting. I'll have some member-only interviews with authors, thought-leaders, and others who have important things to say to and about the Jewish community. And I'll even throw in exclusive snippets of my memoir-in-progress.

About me
I've been a journalist since my college days in the early '80s, when I wrote so many controversial things about Mideast politics in my school newspaper, the entire Arab student body came out to protest my application for editor-in-chief. Yet, my best friend was a Palestinian woman and I spent a great deal of time learning about all points of view. It's complicated.

Later, in the late '90s, I was managing editor for the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, and led coverage of Mideast peace talks, Birthright Israel, and I think I might have interviewed that Kosher Sex rabbi and Dr. Ruth. I'll have to check my clips. Anyway, I got completely sick of covering the organized Jewish world, left JTA and ran as far away as I could to write about science, technology, and business.

Time marches on, and I ended up with a job as book review editor and hosting a podcast called IndieVoices, first launched as a reaction to the election of Donald Trump. There, I learned radio production and I gave voice to marginalized communities. IndieVoices continues now under the Alliance of Independent Authors, where I am managing editor. I also interview authors on Jewish themes for Publishers Weekly and am working on a Jewish-themed memoir that combines my grandfather's experiences in Hungary 100 years ago with my own Jewish journey and the ghosts of my family's past.

This podcast will be devoted to Emet. To Truth, and will be open to all points of view and all voices. I hope this is something you can support.

Howard Lovy

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