Well, this is the Purim issue of the QJL. Instead of going with the classic parody or satire I have utilized in years past, I am going to take this opportunity to direct three questions at the so-called Hebrew Hammer, Ben Shapiro. The realization has set in over the last few years that I will likely never be able to have a sit-down with him. I have never attended one of his speeches, so I can’t ask him a question there. And my podcast ended over two years ago, so I don’t even have a medium to host him anymore.

What I do have is a nationally syndicated column, a column in the most widely-read Jewish newspaper in the country, a column in a paper that is distributed in Shapiro’s hometown a column in a small regional Jewish newspaper, whose readership may take frequent trips to South Florida, and by some miracle this article may end up in his hands with the hope that he will read it and respond to it, Yeah, that’s it.

About a year after I started this column, someone accused me of just regurgitating Shapiro’s talking points and not having any ideas of my own. While that was not true, I decided to make it a policy that I would not discuss any topics in my column that Shapiro discussed on his podcast, or at least I would not repeat his talking points on the topic. Besides, if readers of this paper wanted to know Ben Shapiro’s opinions, you could always just check out Moshe Hill’s column.

Anyway, because I was so dedicated to not being a Shapiro echo, I have listened to his show every day, and I have had to scrap countless ideas so that I would not be given this label. During this time, I have also tuned into his college speeches and other times when people are given the opportunity to ask him questions. The following three questions are ones I have never heard him be asked, nor have I ever heard him address.

Donald Trump Support

In 2016, Shapiro gave three reasons why he was not going to be voting for Donald Trump in his election against Hillary Clinton:

  • He was unsure of Trump’s conservative political opinions.
  • He was worried about the damage to the soul of the Republican Party in having a leader like Trump. He was worried about the down-ballot races, and how Trump would have dragged them down.
  • He was worried about Trump’s character.

In the 2020 election, Shapiro changed his mind and voted for President Trump, and in the 2024 election, he went further and campaigned with the man. In an October 2020 YouTube video entitled “I didn’t vote for Trump in 2016. I am in 2020 – here’s why,” Shapiro explains that while he still does not like Trump’s temperament, the other issues he had with Trump proved to no longer matter or to be incorrect based on Trump’s time in office.

However, I am old enough to remember 2016. And during that whole election cycle, Shapiro actually had a fourth reason he didn’t want to vote for Trump, and that was the common refrain that neither Clinton nor Trump possessed a baseline level of human decency required to be the President of the United States. In fact, during the Republican Primary, Shapiro tweeted, “Not sure when basic human decency became irrelevant in selecting a political nominee.”

So, my question to Mr. Shapiro is: What changed with President Trump between then and now to change your opinion on Donald Trump’s basic human decency?

 

Doctors, PAs, and NPs

Over the last 15 years, there has been a push for physician assistants and nurse practitioners to start doing more of the work that has historically only been allowed to be performed by a physician. Certain nurse practitioners have even been allowed to open their own practices. This is an especially interesting topic to Ben, considering - and I’m not sure if anyone has told him yet - his wife is a doctor. So, I realize that by asking him this question, I may not only be looking to get his opinion, but I am also possibly starting trouble for him at home.

My question to Mr. Shapiro is: Do you and your libertarian tendencies support people being able to choose to get their care from PAs and NPs, thus causing the slow decay of your wife’s profession, or should the government regulate that certain care only be allowed to be provided by those with MDs and DOs? If the former, then where is the line, and are you afraid that patient care will ultimately suffer at the hands of potentially less-qualified individuals? If the latter, how do you square that away with your hatred of regulation?

 

Chesterton’s Fence

English writer G.K. Chesterton once suggested the following parable: Imagine you inherit a field with is a fence running through it. The fence seems to be in the way, and you can’t see any reason behind it, so you assume that you should take it down. But there is also the view that this is fence is probably there for a reason. Who says I know better than the previous owners? Maybe they had the right idea in keeping it up. The modern reformer will decide to clear the fence away since there is no obvious reason for it. The more intelligent reformer will try to figure out why the fence was there in the first place, and if that reason no longer exists or wasn’t valid to begin with, then maybe the fence can be torn down.

Shapiro commonly used this as an attack on progressives, who he claims tend to want to make large changes without even looking into why certain rules were there to begin with. I have heard him use this in regard to the Defund the Police movement, the border and ICE, and even statues and monuments to histories more controversial figures.

My question to Mr. Shapiro is: Why does this now change when Elon Musk is tearing apart federal departments? Repeatedly, Shapiro praises Musk for going in and breaking things in the federal government, and if they need to be put back, he tries to put them back - but that doesn’t always work so well. So why is it a problem when the Left breaks down Chesterton’s Fence, but great when Musk does it?

Thus ends my open questions to Dr. Dreidel, the Notorious B.E.N., Factus Jack, The Most Electrifying Man in News Media, Ben Shapiro. If you or someone you know lives in the same community as or davens in the same shul as Shapiro, or are going to be in his neighborhood soon, please feel free to hand this to him. If not, and you’d would like to defend Shapiro in any of these topics, please feel free to write in. Not to me, to him. Alternatively, you can just wait for Moshe Hill’s article next week.

Izzo Zwiren  is the former host of the Jewish Living Podcast. Follow him and his brothers on their health journey on their YouTube Channel, Brotherly Lovehandles. Izzo lives on Long Island with his wife and three adorable, hilarious children.