Author and rabbit discuss war in Israel at LBK Republican Club

The Republican Club of Longboat Key met for its first monthly meeting of the year on Jan. 16 at the Sarasota Yacht Club. The January dinner for the club was originally supposed to be on Jan. 9, but the meeting got pushed back due to weather. 

The club had two speakers at this meeting. Rabbi Stephen Sniderman from Temple Beth Israel on Longboat Key spoke first and informed the club about the war in Israel and anti-Semitism in universities and in the local community. Sniderman gave some background history and possible solutions to these problems.

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“It's better for those of us who have something resembling leadership positions in the Jewish community to have the balance of not overreacting, but being very conscious and very diligent,” said Sniderman. “So just to get down to brass tacks, we had to re-adjust the budget of our congregation for security guards at all events. We also have a fantastic relationship with the Longboat Police Department. It gives you a sense of security, but everything is different now. When somebody wants to come and see you, you are on guard more than you want to be. And again, I'm not overexaggerating, but it's a reality and I have to live with it.”

The second speaker was Loren Spivack. Spivack is a national speaker and author who writes political parody books in the style of Dr. Seuss. He spoke about how it's important to keep informed about Democratic Party in order to engage politically.

“My first book was called 'The New Democrat,'” said Spivack. “It's a parody history of the Obama years done as the ‘Cat in the Hat.’ Has everyone read ‘The Cat in the Hat?’ The cat shows up uninvited at this middle-class American house. He gets inside and wrecks the place. Remember Thing One and Thing Two? I made them Pelosi and Reid. I got my first book review, and it said that this is the most twisted piece of conservative propaganda print matter out there. And that’s on the cover of the book now.”

Republican Club members engaged with both speakers, asking questions about both of the topics and how they can apply it to their local community.

“It was a very interesting meeting,” said club member Chris Sachs. “These are the types of conversations we are supposed to have. It's important to keep informed about things that are hard to talk about.”