Norman Page #4

to help Israeli businesses

communicate with the World Bank

here in Washington.

- My wife, Rita...

- Nice to meet you, Norman.

I'm with the JDC,

Joint Distribution Committee.

Her brother is the chief rabbi of Rome...

- Rabbi Ariel De La Pelgula.

- Nice to meet you, Mr. Oppenheimer.

- Please, meet Luis Pascual.

- Very pleased to meet you, Mr. Oppenheimer.

Luis is a Spanish Parliament member.

You know my friend, and lawyer, Philip...

They all come together through Jo Wilf

who is very close to

Rabbi De La Pelgula's family

and of course through him to the Pope...

Amos Chertoff.

Messianic Jewish Alliance of America.

Very pleased to meet you.

I want you to meet a relative of mine,

Norman Oppenheimer.

Norman, this is Jo Wilf.

- Norman is close with Eshel.

- Close, huh?

How close is close?

"Close" close...

- God personally touched me.

- Listen, how come I don't know you?

I know every Oppenheimer in the world.

There's a lot of ideas out there

that are not biblical.

Do you know Steve Goldfarb?

For us at the NJF,

it's all pretty simple and straightforward.

The rule of law. Free and fair elections.

- Meet Sister Agnes.

- Nice to meet you, Norman.

This is Norman Oppenheimer,

a very close friend of Prime Minister Eshel.

AGNES:
We're the only organization

that's doing...

Uh, uh, gay rights.

...what James, the Lord's brother,

said to do...

GIL:
The goal is to encourage

positive views of Israel.

Have you met Barbara Klein?

I work with Peter Black

at a hedge fund called Sand...

Our mission is to make sure

that New York

doesn't turn into New Havana. (LAUGHS)

Introduce me to Ariel-what's-his-name.

I saw you talking to him.

- We get you what you want...

- ...and we get what we need.

But everything has to be public.

Next time the Pope is in New York,

there's no reason the only rabbi he sees

is Alan Schweitzer!

Maybe there's something

we have to talk about.

Oh, Bill? Bill.

- Be sure we get in touch with Norm...

- Is this a cell?

- Do you have an office?

- ...with Mr. Oppenheimer.

No, but if I want to come visit you,

where would I go?

Startup State doesn't have an address.

That's the point.

- It's abstract.

- We're losing the building,

- that's what's going on.

- That rabbi you spoke with. Blumenthal.

Is he, uh, friendly?

Do you think he could help

with Nicole's conversion?

Something physical has to hold us together...

Evidently, there hasn't been a feature film

that's been seductive about Israel

since Exodus, so we're working on

a romantic comedy set in Israel...

Please, don't speak to anyone

on behalf of the Prime Minister.

If he asks you for something,

it is very important that you speak to me

or with Hanna first.

I'm so happy to finally meet you in person.

Feel free to call me.

That's what I'm here for.

My son, Davidy, he wants to go to

Harvard Business School.

He doesn't have the grades,

but he has good instincts,

- believe me, like his mother.

- His grades are good.

But he missed some of his exams

because he had to go to miluim.

You know what miluim is?

It's an Army service.

- ...a few tips.

- What can we do?

- We live in a tough neighborhood.

- To understand

- what they are looking for...

- But he's an excellent student.

Don't worry, all his calls go through me.

So don't use any of the old numbers.

- Thank you, Norman.

- Thank you.

- Thank you.

- Any time.

ALL:
Here, take my card.

Call me.

(CROWD APPLAUDING)

(SIGHS DEEPLY)

(INDISTINCT CHATTER ON PA)

Norman Oppenheimer.

Nice to meet you.

Alex Green.

- Nice to meet you, too.

- Yeah.

So what brought you to the convention?

I work in the legal department of the

Israeli consulate in New York.

- Really? No kidding.

- Mmm.

You're Israeli?

That's funny, you don't sound Israeli.

- I'm not.

- Oh.

Where is your family from?

Excuse me?

Where are you from? Where were you born?

How did you end up here? You know.

Um, I'm from Geneva. Originally.

Really? Geneva.

Any connection to Julian Green? From Basel?

No.

No? Well, he's a big supporter

of the Israel Museum.

Could I introduce you to him some time?

You want to sit here?

If you want to? I mean, you got work to do,

I'm not gonna bother you. I promise.

It's all right.

NORMAN:
Can I ask you something?

What is it you actually deal with?

Like commerce agreements or...

That's a different department.

We're an arm of the Israeli Justice Ministry

in the United States.

Oh. Okay, so if an Israeli criminal

flees to the U.S.,

it's your job to bring him back?

- We would be involved in that, yeah.

- Yeah.

The same if an American criminal

tries to hide out in Israel.

Yeah, that, too.

You must have some

really interesting stories.

Like, you know, those Russian oligarchs.

They're wanted all over the world,

but they're looking for asylum in Israel.

Can you give me the inside story

on how that whole thing works?

Sorry.

Do you know Carol Raskin?

You know, I may be wrong about this,

but I think she's actually the one who wrote

a lot of those international treaties

they're talking about.

She's a very close friend of mine.

I'd be very happy to introduce you to her.

No, no, no. That's not necessary.

I wouldn't want to bother her.

You have a family? Kids?

- Family?

- I'm sorry. What?

Do you have a family? Kids?

A partner.

You're a lesbian?

- Yeah?

- (CHUCKLES) Yes. I am.

(LAUGHS)

That's great! Good for you. That's terrific.

- What is?

- No, it's just wonderful.

I love that, when people know what they want.

You know, and they just... (BLOWS)

No, it's a good thing.

I have a very close friend, a rabbi,

professor Nathaniel Lewis,

he teaches at JTS.

His daughter started a

Jewish lesbian organization.

Abigail Lewis. Do you know her?

No.

No? No? She's a... You would love her.

She's a wonderful, wonderful person.

I'd be happy to put the two of you together.

Look, it's the third time in five minutes

that you've tried to introduce me to someone.

Why are you trying to get me to meet people?

Do I look lonely?

Look, I'm sorry.

I didn't want to embarrass you.

If I did that, I apologize.

I appreciate you trying to help connect me.

It's just that I don't need,

uh, connections now.

Okay. So what do you need?

- What do I need?

- Yeah.

I'm offering my services.

What do you need? I'll help you get it.

I need many things, but not

necessarily things you can help me with.

Try me.

I need the satisfaction of knowing

that I'm doing good in the world.

(INHALES DEEPLY)

That's a big one.

You win.

(SCOFFS)

(CHUCKLES)

What about you?

Do you have family? Kids?

Yeah, I have a daughter.

- She just finished graduate school.

- Oh.

Yeah. Yeah, thank you.

Yeah.

Her mother died when she was three.

Sorry to hear that.

So you raised your daughter alone?

I did the best I could, yeah.

And why were you at the convention?

I noticed you were speaking

with the Prime Minister.

You know him well?

Yes. Yes. I do.

Micha is a close friend.

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