The ebb and flow of surfing

I’m known as (one of) the surfing rabbi(s). Surfing is everything to me. Perhaps I should qualify that: beyond my family and religious commitments, surfing is at the top of the list. If it weren’t for the Mediterranean Sea, and the decent waves it produces, I’m not sure I could have made Aliyah. I regularly thank the Almighty that I never had to make a decision between those two loves – the Land and the sea.

Although not widely known, surfing is not a new sport in Israel. “Doc” Dorian Paskowitz, whose surf camp I attended in my formative surfing years, is the grandfather of surfing in this region. He brought a number of boards to the Holy Land in the late 1950s with a dream of forming an Olympic team. Everyone thought he was crazy. So much so that customs drilled holes in the boards to ensure he wasn’t smuggling in weapons.

As with all visionaries, Doc was just ahead of his time. It took until 2020 for surfing to finally arrive on the Olympic stage. That same year, Anat Lelior was the first Israeli to realize Doc’s dream. Her second run is about to kick off in the 2024 Summer Games, although it won’t be in Paris. The French Polynesian Island of Tahiti is home to one of the most treacherous waves on the planet and it will host the competition.

My whole family is very excited about this. We’re all surfers and surf fans, religiously watching the World Surf League competitions online. Naturally, I’m always happy to share this “stoke,” as we surfers put it. When the Times of Israel recently featured Anat in an article entitled, “Tel Aviv to Tahiti: Surfer Anat Lelior aims to ride Olympic waves to new heights,” I shared it on every social media outlet I could.

Since I’m a member of multiple surfing Facebook groups, some having as many as 315K members, they were my target audience. However, I feared the news might not be well received by all. In 2021 I shared an article about a Hawaiian-Jewish surfer who rode what, at that time, was the largest wave on record. “What does it matter if he’s Jewish?!” many group members fired back. “We’re all just humans,” they said. And this was well before the present Israel/Gaza conflict. So I shared Anat’s article with trepidation and hoped for the best.

“Kinda f*@#ed you’re all scalding the [Palestinian] civilians for the actions of their government…” the first reply read. “A genocide is happening now, women and children are being bombed… [Is the Olympic committee] blind or what??!!” another person wrote. “I guess she’ll be stealing everyone’s waves and claiming they’re hers. Boycott Israel.” This was not going as I had hoped. And things only got worse from there.

A subsequent post specifically called on the admins of the group to reject anything I post. The author claimed that my topics are irrelevant, overly political, and offensive. One person, after a lengthy diatribe about how import political and religious discourse is, commented, “This Hayim Leiter character is a f@#*ing Zionist! A supporter of child-mass-murder and the annihilation of whole Palestinian families and he’s as ‘Jewish’ as the KKK are Christians. And this is a f@#*ing fact! If anyone shouldn’t be anywhere, it’s him. Waiting on the false antisemitic accusations.” Although the accusations were never leveled, they would have been warranted.

I’m fully aware that social media is not the real world and that people say things they’d never say in person; however I felt compelled to respond to the statement requesting to shut down my voice. It’s one thing to spew hate, it’s another thing to attempt to silence people.

So, I penned a post pointing out the hypocrisy of the group, indicating that many members speak of their local surf spots and the surfers they love and no one demands that they cease and desist. I indicated that I had never written anything political and that the pushback I receive is simply from mentioning Israel and Israeli surfers.

I sent the message to the group and nervously awaited the hate-explosion, but it never came. A few members tried to get political but others shut them down. The response was overwhelmingly positive. “I’ve heard for years [that the] surf is great in Israel!!! [K]eep spreading the love of the ocean. Best wishes in these crazy times,” one person wrote. Another commented, “I support Israel, and deplore what is happening. Surf on my friend. Yeshua created the waves for everyone to love.”

This was all encouraging but one specific comment stood out beyond the rest. “I took a terrible injury surfing in 2016, [I] broke 7 bones and [it shattered] my confidence. I haven’t surfed much since the accident. A piece of me is missing. I’ve gotten back in shape [and I’m] hoping to get back in the water soon. So please, DO share your stories and stoke. Some of us need this more than others.”

As much as social media can be a useless vacuum of space and time, there are moments of uplift and this was one of them. Undoubtedly, this Facebook group has issues. There is plenty of hate and unchecked antisemitism permeating its members. But despite all that, I’m glad I didn’t cut and run when things got uncomfortable. The positive responses showed me that the haters are a small few making a loud noise. Nothing is gained by running away from those who differ with you. And, who knows, maybe a little post about surfing could help someone through a difficult time.