|
|
|
Written by Shlomo Kapustin
|
|
Thursday, 23 October 2008 |
THORNHILL – Dave Rosner is a man of many hats: United States Marine, stand-up comedian, returned-to-the-faith Orthodox Jew, political commentator – and that’s just for starters.
But is he newsworthy?
Fortunately, the Lieutenant Colonel with more sides than a Rubik’s cube was in Toronto last week, at the invitation of Chabad-Lubavitch of Markham, and he just may have – unwittingly – provided a formula for untangling this conundrum. It seems that his military experience includes a stint as an Officer with Public Affairs. And wouldn’t you know it? One media-training session that he attended featured the “five C’s” of the modern media: conflict; contradiction; controversy; colourful language; and cast of characters.
So let’s put him through his paces.
Conflict: Rosner served in both the first Gulf War and the current Iraq War, although he was initially marooned in Combat Service Support, “not doing manly things,” he says. He eventually escaped the tedium of logistics and other grunt work, and along the way has added “Intelligence Officer” to his arsenal. In all, he was on full-time active duty for over 4 years, and he has been part time in the reserves for 14.
Contradiction: Perhaps Rosner put it best with his opening joke of the night: “I know it’s weird to hear the words “Jewish marine”; a lot of people expect to hear the word ‘biologist’ after that.” But Rosner, who grew up in Albuquerque, NM, used to be something of a contrarian. (To this day, his e-mail contains the word nudnick, Yiddish for pest.) He cites two reasons for his initial choice of vocation: “partially to shut up the antisemites,” and “also for the yentas in New Mexico”, who would have been far more comfortable with Dave the Lawyer.
Raised in a Conservative home, he recalls never being into “believing anything about Judaism at the time,” but he says he was always proud to be a Jew. At the urging of his father and sister – “Don’t let ‘em know you’re Jewish” – his dog tags initially listed his religion as “no preference,” a lapse he later corrected.
His journey to more rigorous religious observance was a gradual one. The first time he heard the Hebrew word for Passover – Pesach – was at a seder in the Middle East with more than 60 other Marines. Eventually, after finishing his full-time service, he went to an Ulpan program in Jerusalem to learn Hebrew language, where he “fell in” with students who were already Sabbath-observant. He recalls his amazement at seeing dancing at the kotel, or Western Wall: “How did I know this was going on?” Along the way, he attended the Discovery program run by outreach organization Aish HaTorah. “I really liked it,” Rosner said. He also attended a Lubavitch yeshivah, where his observance ascended a level.
Controversy: Being a nudnick, and encouraged on by his supportive new Lubavitch friends, his return to the Marines for reserve duty had its challenges. Kosher meals were relatively accessible, but wearing a kippah? Not so much.
A Major “advised” him to remove it, but he was not easily deterred, his appeals eventually reaching the chief chaplain, who allowed him to wear it. This ruling was in line with the official policy.
Chanukah presented its own obstacles. After Rosner requested permission to light a menorah on the base, he was once again given a negative response. Eventually, after being threatened by a lawyer, the military gave in here as well – even creating a command education religious program out of the affair with a public lighting.
In general, though, Rosner spoke approvingly of his experience as a Jewish Marine: 10 per cent are antisemitic, he said, but “as a whole, the Marines are not antisemitic … like any organization in America,” though it helps, he allowed, if you plan ahead and are respectful.
Colourful language: Completely clean comedy is probably an impossibility – and what would be the point, anyway? – but his recent appearance in Toronto took place in an Orthodox synagogue – in the sancturary, no less – so the performance was strictly G-rated. While Rosner claimed that his brand of comedy is cleaner than some, he did tone it down on this occasion.
Cast of characters: He has lived a varied life, and while he currently calls New York City home, he has lived in Hawaii, Israel and Australia – and, of course, multiple military bases around the world, from Saudi Arabia to Korea.
He has rubbed shoulders with tough guys from the Midwest, and this American Jew has received haircuts from Arab soldiers too scared to question a Marine officer. |
|
Last Updated ( Wednesday, 29 October 2008 )
|
|
|
|
