An Invitation to the Israeli Minister of Immigrant Absorption

The Israeli Minister of Immigrant Absorption, Sofa Landver, is still pretty cheesed at Goldblog over the demise of her guilt-inducing ad campaign designed to convince Israelis in America that America isn't good for them. She apologized, sort of, for the campaign, telling The Jersusalem Post's Gil Hoffman,  "We didn't intend to harm anyone and if anyone was offended, I am sorry. I don't have to say I'm sorry, but I've been taught that it's the right thing to do." Then she said: "I'm not really apologizing. If anyone was harmed, they should look in the mirror and see their kids when they come back from public schools."

Hoffman goes to to write, "Landver blamed the controversy over the ad campaign on 'one hostile article attacking our prime minister' by Atlantic journalist Jeffrey Goldberg."

Since Minister Landver is worried about my children's Jewish future, I thought I would issue an invitation: The next time she visits Washington, she is invited to Shabbat dinner at my home. She can quiz my children about their Jewishness, and she can observe a Jewish family in America being, well, Jewish. We'll make a very nice dinner, and we'll have a very interesting conversation. I'm serious, by the way. And I'm open to being proven wrong. I'll even invite Michael Oren, the Israeli ambassador to the U.S., who lives nearby, to moderate the discussion. And for balance,  I'll invite my (Diaspora-based) rabbi, Gil Steinlauf, as well. I think all of us might learn something from this conversation. So, e-mail me! As soon as you say yes, I'll buy a chicken.