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.