Robert Kraft Should Know That A Good Defense Is Having A Strong Offense
As appeared on my Times of Israel blog.
A lot has been written about Mr. Robert Kraft’s Blue Square 2026 Superbowl commercial on antisemitism. As a former advertising and marketing professional, I would have strongly recommended that the scenario in the commercial should have played out like my own personal high school experience.
As a teenager, I was short, weighed about 135 pounds, and had very thick lenses in my eyeglasses, meaning I had very poor vision without them. I was also a poor athlete yet somehow I found the love of Karate when I was in tenth grade (1968-69).
I grew up in a suburban Long Island religious modern Orthodox community and went to a yeshiva day school. However, for eleventh and twelfth grades, I attended a local public high school. Life changing to say the least. Left vs. right. Hippies vs. Jocks. Girls and boys actually sitting together, eating, and even playing together. A great mix of ethnicities (Black, White, Hispanic, Asian, Indian, etc.). It was wonderfully eye-opening. However, we were an unusual high school in that we had some unofficial gangs and official fraternities.
One day walking home from school, a car filled with fraternity boys drove by and yelled out “F**king Jew!” at me. Having a head cold and without thinking, I returned the sentiment by “giving them the finger,” and kept on walking. A few blocks later the car pulled up ahead of me and five boys in matching fraternity jackets piled out. One stepped forward and demanded “who you givin’ the finger to?” I, being a nice Jewish boy who tells the truth, said “you.”
My challenger was not happy with my answer and swung at me. He missed but my glasses went flying and I fought back on instinct until he and his cheering squad got back in their car and drove away. Uninjured, I brushed myself off, found my glasses, and went home.
Unlike other fellow Jewish school kids who had been harassed by bullies, I did not change my daily routine. The next day, food tray in hand, I walked into the school’s cafeteria looking for a place to sit. Think of the typical high school lunchroom depicted in hundreds of movies and television shows. Like seeks like.
As I pass the table filled with boys wearing the same fraternity jackets as my ‘friends’ from the other day, one of them stands up in front of me. Then, to my disbelief, he smiles and invites me to sit with them. It seems they respected the fact that I fought back and refused to be bullied. I looked up and kindly said ‘no thank you’ and moved on.
Respect and peace are acquired through strength. This expensive commercial only portrayed Jews as being vulnerable and depending on salvation from others. Mr. Kraft, as the owner of a professional football franchise, a sport based on military-like strategies, should know that a good defense is having a strong offense.
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David S. Levine, MBA. Author of “How to Run the Business of YOU”, “Hey Israel – You’re Perfect. Now Change!”, “Revolutions: In Their Own Words – What They Really Say About Their Causes”, and the forthcoming book “Prayer: In Their Own Words – Islam, Catholic, Judaism – What Do They Pray For?” David is a former New York City advertising & marketing executive, and a retired Rutgers University instructor. David is also a long retired second-degree Shoto-Kan Blackbelt who helped Karate into the 1977 Maccabiah Games. Follow him on X (Twitter): @DavidsLevine.
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