Jewish Identity

I am Israeli. I am Jewish. I am an IDF veteran.

Those identities are part of my family, my history, and my writing.

Since October 7, I have been raising Jewish and Israeli children in New York while watching them encounter arguments about Israel, antisemitism, and Jewish identity before they have enough history to understand much of what they hear.

That changes my responsibility as a father.

I want my children to understand where they come from, recognize hostility without seeing enemies everywhere, remain confident in their identity, and have enough knowledge to think for themselves when other people tell them what being Israeli or Jewish should mean.

I write and speak about Jewish identity because I am living these questions inside my own family and community.

Courage

Courage has become closely connected to those questions.

Fear changes judgment and behavior. Courage requires recognizing the fear and still deciding according to what the situation requires.

For Jews today, that can become very practical.

• Do you wear a Star of David when you know someone may react to it?
• Do you say you are Israeli when you know the conversation may change?
• Do you challenge something you believe is wrong when silence would be easier?
• Do you teach your children to remain visible when they are beginning to understand that visibility may carry a cost?

Courage can require physical action. It can also require speaking, holding a boundary, accepting a consequence, or protecting someone when doing so costs you comfort or approval.

It still requires judgment. Recklessness does not become courage simply because fear is present.

I am interested in the moment when a person understands the risk and still has to decide what responsibility requires.

Leadership

I have led soldiers, instructors, employees, students, and a business.

Those environments are different, but each eventually puts someone in a position where a decision has to be made with incomplete information.

People watch what a leader prepares for, what they tolerate, what they ignore, and whether they accept responsibility for decisions that belong to them.

Teaching shaped another part of my view of leadership.

A teacher can give someone an answer. A stronger education gives them enough understanding to make their own decision later.

Parents, instructors, coaches, and leaders should be developing people who can eventually function without waiting for permission.

Personal Safety

Personal safety has been my profession for more than two decades.

I teach people to recognize when a situation is changing, understand distance and position, establish boundaries, use the environment, make decisions under stress, escape when possible, and use physical force when circumstances require it.

Self-defense starts before physical contact. Earlier recognition creates more options.

When physical action becomes necessary, timing, judgment, legality, restraint, and understanding the actual problem matter alongside technique.

Training should give people more useful choices.

Still a Student

Krav Maga remains my primary system.

I also train MMA, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and boxing.

Boxing sharpens distance, timing, movement, and striking. BJJ gives me another way to study control, leverage, position, and resistance. MMA forces striking and grappling to work together against someone actively trying to stop you.

Krav Maga brings those skills back to a different objective: personal safety, where the situation may involve surprise, weapons, multiple attackers, another person to protect, or the need to escape.

I keep training because I want what I teach to keep developing.