Howard Stern’s Producer Gary Dell’Abate Said “Chew” Me Down

July 13 2010 - 8:48:59:am by JDL

JDL often has listeners tuned to Howard Stern on Sirius XM, and we were listening to yesterday’s “The Wrap Up Show” on Howard 100 when producer Gary Dell’Abate (a.k.a. Bababooey) used a phrase that at first sounded like “Jew them down.“ We backed up our radio to the comment and listened again, finding out that Gary had actually said “chew them down”  instead, but we were not the only ones confused. The topic was debated on today’s Howard Stern Show, with Howard explaining the confusion over Gary’s comment. Many listeners had written in thinking that Gary had used the derogatory phrase about Jews, a stereotype that Jews cheat others out of fair pricing for goods and services, but it was clear from the recording that he did not use the word Jew. However, Howard pointed out that even saying “chew me down” isn’t a good choice of words because the phrase “chew me down” doesn’t make any sense except if the meaning is derived from or synonymous with “Jew me down.“ You can get “chewed out” but “chew me down” is in truth a modified form of “Jew me down,“ and that’s especially obvious when it’s used in the same context concerning a person who haggles with another to pay less than fair value for something.

On today’s installment of “The Wrap Up Show” Gary mentioned in response to a caller in a very serious tone that even “members of JDL” have verified that he said “chew me down,“ and although it wasn’t JDL HQs that wrote or called into the show on the topic, it then made sense to post this story. We don’t think Gary has any Jew-hating tendencies, but the usage of “chew me down” is very questionable and we would hope that he and others including Fox News host Brian Kilmeade will refrain from saying “chew me down” in the future because, again,  it is seen as synonymous with the slur against Jews.

In a related story JDL made Gary’s son Lucas an honorary JDL member after his declaration months ago that Judaism is the most correct religion on earth (a truism) but that (in his opinion) he could not convert because the obligations of Judaism would be too much for him to take on. Given that Gary has raised a son with that level of intellect and insight on religion and Judaism, Gary obviously harbors no hatred for Jews. Also, in a segment on today’s Howard Stern Show Howard mentioned that he received a note containing a verse from scripture that teaches that one must honor one’s mother and father, obviously a reference to the Aseret HaDibrot (the “Ten Commandments”). Howard said that he found it unbelievable that scripture would demand honor for one’s parents regardless of their conduct, but he doesn’t know that the Torah does not command unrestricted obedience. There is a limit to the amount of honor a child must show his or her parents. RAMBAM’s Mishneh Torah and the Kitzor Shulchan Aruch, compendiums of Torah law,  record that if a parent demands a child transgress the Torah, the child must disobey. There are some other limitations placed on the command as well, so it definitely is not commanding unrestricted obedience as Howard assumes.

JDL notes, however, that Howard has made some very impressive progress in recent months, in mentioning that he has been praying and has a desire to pray in a synagogue. For Howard, a very secular Jew with an agnostic orientation, who in years past has viciously mocked Judaism and some of its most sacred elements, to admit that he is praying for the welfare of another and that he is doing so in a Jewish context represents considerable growth. We hope to see that trend toward teshuvah on his part continue into the future. And hopefully other Jews on or near Howard’s spiritual level will be influenced by him in a positive direction back to G-d and His eternal Torah.

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