'We know what you are doing! I challenge you to take everyone to see what you are doing. Arik Ascherman, you are a failed rabbi!” It was an hour and a half into a book launch at the Menachem Begin Heritage Center in Jerusalem. Outside, the wind was chilly and it was cold, but in the large auditorium the audience was just warming up. This was the highlight of the night, the bout they had been waiting for: the liberal American-born rabbi, director of special projects for Rabbis for Human Rights, standing up to challenge the round-faced, jovial and pugnacious author Tuvia Tenenbom. It didn't go in Ascherman's favor. After a short back-and-forth, where Ascherman demanded that Tenenbom produce evidence for his claims, and Tenenbom, sounding like a brash prosecuting attorney, retorted, “I will do it in a court of justice,” the audience applauded and shouted in excitement. It was Tenenbom's debut in Israel. Even though he was born in Bnei Brak, in 1957, he has been working as a playwright for the Jewish theater in New York. Originally he gained attention for his insightful book I Slept in Hitler's Room, which was a bestseller in Germany. It recounted the adventures of a Jewish man finding anti-Semitism in Germany today. His book Catch the Jew!, which came out in English in February from Gefen Publishing House and was released in Hebrew, has been a hit in Israel. It has received rave reviews across the political spectrum. In the book, Tenenbom relates the story of Tobi the German, a bumbling, gullible German journalist whose identity he assumed to write a book about the inside of the conflict. He understood that an Israeli journalist or an American Jew might be provided a rose-colored view by Palestinians or human rights activists, so his idea was to penetrate deep beneath the veneer of respectability and reveal the sordid dark side of human rights activity. At the Begin Center, where hundreds of mostly English speakers had gathered to hear him talk, he was preaching to the converted. Except for a few European youth volunteers and a few other skeptics, this was Tenenbom country, if such a thing exists. Caroline Glick, who spoke earlier in the evening, sat in the front row. Rotem Sella, Tenenbom's Hebrew publisher, darted in and out of the hall, pleased with the performance. Tenenbom related the story of how he had become friends with Jibril Rajoub, a one-time head of the Palestinian security forces and Fatah Central Committee member. Rajoub hosted the “German journalist” and even gave him an Arabic kunya, or nickname, Abu Ali. According to Tenenbom, this is also a local nickname for Adolf Hitler and a term of endearment. The author was a great storyteller at moments like this, shouting in an Arabic accent “Abuuuuu Allliiii,” eliciting gales of laughter from the audience. But Tenenbom is a complex figure. After the event, once he had escaped the mobs of excited attendees eager for a book signing, he relaxed with his beloved Lucky Strike Click and Roll cigarettes, which allow a smoker to click a button to make them menthols. He is genuinely concerned about Palestinians, who he thinks are being taken for a ride by their leaders and would-be “saviors” on the liberal Jewish side. What's next? “We're going to take America,” he said, noting that he hopes to introduce an American audience to his latest publication.
The audience at the Begin Heritage Center listens to Tuvia Tenenbom.(photo credit: SETH J. FRANTZMAN)