OCTOBER 3 • 2019 | 43

“Now, just two years after
Housewives, anti-Semitism is on
the rise. Now more than ever, it’
s
important to stand up.
”
Referencing her 2015 book,
Write Your Own Fairytale, and
its message #KnowYourWorth,
Siggy is now applying beyond
the personal to the national:
#KnowIsraelsWorth.
“Organizations are coming
to me, saying, ‘
We love you and
your big mouth; we love that you
speak up,
’
” Siggy says. “I don’
t
care about your political views. I
want to educate.
”
And though Siggy is loud and
passionate, funny and animat-
ed, she is sharp — and knows
her stuff. She can rattle off the
history of Israel, dates, num-
bers, wars lost and won. And
she can tell you what we need
to do to counter the Boycott,
Divestment, Sanctions (BDS)
movement, whose goal is to
weaken Israel and is gaining the
support of college students, pro-
fessors and celebrities.
“I will crush those false
narratives that they tell,” Siggy
says. “I will give Israel the
PR that it needs right now
to match BDS. Americans
don’
t understand that this is
not about land. This is about
hatred. We’
ve offered peace 52
times and we’
ve been denied
52 times. This is not a Jewish
problem; it’
s a world problem.”

Siggy’
s schedule is jam-packed
with speaking engagements
across the country, being hon-
ored in Israel, visiting Poland
and Auschwitz. She has a chil-
dren’
s book, Be the Jewish Star
You Are, hitting bookstores soon.
In her efforts to reverse the com-
mon misconceptions about the
Occupation and that Israel is an
apartheid state,
she is planning
a series of missions to Israel,
hoping they become mini-docu-
mentaries.
“I want to showcase how every
religion started out in Israel. I
want to show the Jewish things,
but I want to show what living
in Israel is really like. I want to
show my beloved homeland as
it is, with Jews, Arabs, Muslims
and Christians living together, all
desiring the same thing: peace.
“
And,
” she says, “to remember
that we are survivors.
”

“… the lion inside me roared. It
was a moment in my life that
I had to choose a road — keep
quiet or stand up.”

— SIGGY FLICKER

TOP TO BOTTOM: Siggy Flicker has become an outspoken supporter
of Israel and was grand marshal of this Israel parade in New York City.
Siggy’
s father, Dr. Mordecai Paldiel, ran the division of the Righteous
Among the Nations at Yad Vashem in Israel. He is holding Siggy.

details
Temple Israel’
s Sisterhood
Opening Program will feature
special guest Siggy Flicker,
7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 16.
Complimentary for Sisterhood
members; $60 for non-
members. RSVP by Oct. 7 at
temple-israel.org/sisterhood.
Email Michelle Silber at
michellesisterhood@gmail.com
with questions.