Abraham Colman - Orthodoxy Succeeds in Corporate America

Andrew Friedman has served as a Los Angleles commisioner for over 30 years.  He is a local legend and civil personal injury trial attorney.  We explore the real story behind the LA Sheriff Lee Baca scandal and Mr. Friedman's firsthand knowledge of the Hungarian president's stance on the Russia Ukraine conflict (pro Russian).  I was joined by my friend Johnny and we learned a lot from Andrew and his well of wisdom that he accumulated over the past 50 years serving Los Angeles n various capacities and his love and hopes for LA moving forward.

30 Juli 20231h 33min

As I wrangle Rabbi Boyarsky from his office to the podcast studio, he asks me if I kept my end of our deal and if I put tefflin on every day for a hundred days.  I responded, “I’m not perfect, but I substantially complied.”  Rabbi Boyarsky snaps at me, “I disagree.  You are perfect.”   I have recorded over 100 episodes in the studio where we filmed this one.  Never has anyone remembered the studio engineer’s name.  Rabbi Boyarsky interacted with him and thanked him on a first name basis as we closed.  I kept that in at the end of the episode.    Rabbi Zvi Boyarsky has a lot on his shoulders.  He’s a director for the Aleph Institute –or Aleph– as their employees and clients call it.  Aleph is a humanitarian nonprofit org for prisoners’ rights.     Rabbi Boyrasky’s signature is an unfailing smile.  But the first night I began to do work for Aleph, he looked like he hadn’t slept or smiled in a week.     I asked what has been keeping him up all night.  The question energizes him.     “There’s a Holocaust going on right now in Afghanistan.”     This was the summer of 2021.  The United States had for decades artificially shored up Afghanistan, and suddenly the U.S. military presence vanished.  I knew this much from the news but didn’t understand the urgency in Rabbi Boyarsky’s dark green eyes.     He said: “Taliban gunmen control Kabul’s airport.  These terrorists are going door to door hunting down judges that prosecuted them, especially the women judges.  Taliban are slaughtering women for having the audacity to be judges. We’re trying to get them out.”    Reb Zvi was talking about using political connections Aleph had developed with Qatar, a rich neighboring Arab country with influence over the Taliban, to coordinate bus transport of a hundred women judges and their dependents to Pakistan.  I wanted to help.       “What can I do?”     I learned that Aleph had been working on this nonstop since Rabbi Boyarsky saw the news unfold.  They had linked with a Baroness in London (Helena Kennedy, Queens Counsel, and President of the International Bar Association) as well as U.S.-based, International Association of Women Judges who had their members in Afghanistan at mortal risk.     The Taliban had publicly called for the killing of many of these judges.  The terrorists were bombarding the judiciary members’ phones with death threats and videos of them murdering other judges.  They were out for blood.  Their lethal attacks were aimed on these judges because they had ordered them behind bars for rape, murder, or lesser crimes.  Now these criminals were free and suddenly in power.  Under chaos, darkness, and gunfire the women were running with their families to safehouses to avoid capture.     Rabbi Boyarsky’s efforts with many others chartered planes filled with refugees to Greece and the U AE.  Next, Aleph and the IAWJ are linking families with government officials for visas.  Many judges found refuge in Germany and Canada who have been more receptive to admitting Afghan refugees.  Justice Susan Glazebrook, acting Judge for the Supreme Court of New Zealand and President of the IAWJ, as well as the immediate past president of the IAWJ, Judge Vanessa Ruiz of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals led this endeavor with Aleph.  Aleph turned its focus on the United States to lift asylum red tape.  (Notice how in a big way this was a women-helping-women effort, which is its own dimension of inspiration.)       One Aleph donor is a Hasidic Jew that prefers to keep a low profile.  He provided the primary resources to assist one chartered plane.  He wished to refer to the evacuation operation as “Schmendel” a nonsensical Yiddish word.  His goal was to draw attention far away from his involvement, associates, and money he generously contributed to the mission.  This resulted in some broken telephone that made the Afghan refugees believe that the person’s actual name that funded the plane was Schmendel.  Thus, they held signs and took pictures of themselves on the plane and in Greece thanking Aleph and Mr. Schmendel.   These Afghan judges were at the height of their society, and they had risked a lot to get there, and suddenly they found themselves with nothing, with a new need to rebuild lives from scratch in foreign lands.  My grandparents survived the Holocaust and had to do this with no outside help.  Nothing can erase the events that caused the plight of these people but knowing that there are people are out there fighting to help and doing whatever they can to help must be inspiring to them. It’s inspiring to me.     Rabbi Boyarsky embodies the Aleph slogan: No one forgotten.  No one left behind.     I was introduced to Rabbi Boyarsky through Rabbi Yitzy Horowitz.  A special person that has created community for me and my family and for whom I’m very grateful.   To donate to Aleph, click here: https://aleph-institute.org/wp/donation/

27 Juli 202356min

Sweetest episode.  There’s a Hebrew/Yiddish word called nachas: a cocktail of joy, contentment, and peace, and is most often associated with a proud parent that enjoys nachas from their child.  Nat, Alyza’s father, anthropomorphizes nachas, in his remarks and shimmers, as Alyza describes her teamwork accomplishments that changed history: hear an exclusive about their 18-year Supreme Court battle that motivated president Donald Trump to change U.S. policy to recognize Jerusalem (and other territories) as part of Israel.  They also discuss their victory against Russia, (yes, the country) in court battles over Chabad’s library, and they argue that current Israeli judicial reform is a positive change for Israel, and not for Bibi Netanyahu.  Avaliable also on Youtube.

23 Juli 20231h 21min

Michael Helfand is a religious liberties professor in Pepperdine and Yale law school. Michael taught me in a seminar in UCLA (you could hear a pin drop) about how religious rights can act as a sword and a shield. That class's goal was to decide if we prefer laws from the judiciary or the legislature. I'm curious after you hear this episode what your opinion is (if we ought to have judge's writing our laws or our state and federal elected congressional representatives.) This episode is fun because Michael provides unique insight on new Supreme Court opinions that restructure religious rights, and his prediction on LGBQT litigation in Yeshiva University (he's an alumnus of YU), U.S. abortion rights, and his favorite Supreme Court cases. The only question Michael refuses to answer is if he's a rabbi.

19 Juli 20231h 16min

Rachel Feldman is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT), MA, a graduate of  Columbia and Sarah Lawrence respectively, so I brought her on to help me probe Ariel Demure who grew up in South Florida, a young kid adjacent to the adult entertainment industry, and whom has transitioned genders; we hear her story and responses to judgment from society.

2 Juni 20231h 2min

David Kupfer is a partner with Kasowitz Benson (any opinions and thoughts expressed in the episode are David's not his firm's) Abe Melamed is a professional mediator. David and I grill Abe on maneuver/processes we can apply to settle cases, his mediation show pitch to Netflix pitch. We also trade wild stories and dissect their results.

28 Maj 202328min

Julius Thomas played basketball for four NCAA seasons, but switched to pro football at graduation.  He was active over seven seasons in the NFL, culminating in a Superbowl with Peyton Manning.  After retiring from the NFL he earned a master's degree and advises companies on wellness and winning cultures.

21 Maj 20231h 1min

Rabbi Daniel Levine is back.  This time, like with our Chanukah episode, we explore truth in the legendary Passover story.

10 Maj 202357min