Yehuda Meshi Zahav, chairman of Israel's ZAKA rescue unit outside
sitting shivah for his mother in the ultra-Orthodox neighborhood of Mea
Shearim in Jerusalem, Jan. 19, 2021
Yehuda Meshi Zahav’s crucial COVID message to fellow haredim
In
the throes of profound personal loss, the founder of ZAKA is horrified
by “the disregard for human life” among many members of the
ultra-Orthodox community.
(January 26, 2021 / JNS)
The triple tragedy that struck the family of one of Israel’s most
righteous Jews in the course of a single month is garnering nationwide
attention and sympathy. That COVID-19 caused the deaths of Yehuda Meshi
Zahav’s brother, mother and father made the blow particularly relevant
to the general public.
But it is Meshi Zahav’s response to his personal loss—and accompanying appeal to those members of the country’s haredi
communities who are engaged in a battle against the state over its
coronavirus regulations—that is most noteworthy.
So distraught is he
about both that he gave an interview to Channel 12 on Sunday evening, a day after his father passed away, in the midst of his sitting shiva for his mother, mere weeks after his younger brother’s funeral.
Meshi Zahav is the founder and head of the volunteer rescue and
recovery organization ZAKA (the Hebrew acronym for Disaster Victim
Identification). Established in 1995, ZAKA became famous in Israel for
its painstaking gathering of human remains, tissue and blood from scenes
of terrorist attacks to enable the identification and proper, dignified
burial of dead bodies in accordance with Jewish law. ZAKA also collects
the remains of non-Jews, including suicide bombers, for return to their
families.
It’s the kind of gruesome work that few people are cut out for,
but all consider an awe-inspiring, if not a holy, endeavor. What makes
it even more extraordinary is the fact that Meshi Zahav not only hails
from the extremist Eda Haredit sect in Jerusalem’s Mea Shearim
neighborhood, but until the late 1980s, was a rabid anti-Zionist
activist protesting against the secular state’s every policy and
pursuit, including archaeological excavations.
Indeed,
it wasn’t until 1989, at the age of 30, that he gradually underwent a
shift in perception. The turning point—and event that would eventually
lead to the creation of ZAKA—was the Palestinian Islamic Jihad attack on
an inter-city Tel Aviv-Jerusalem bus. Sixteen people were killed,
including two Canadians and one American, and 27 others were wounded
when a terrorist grabbed the steering wheel from the driver, forcing the
vehicle over a steep embankment into a ravine, where it caught on fire.
At the time, Meshi Zahav was studying at the nearby Telz-Stone
yeshivah. Hearing the screams of the victims (some of whom ended up
being burned alive), he and a number of his fellow students rushed to
the scene to help. This experience, as well as subsequent suicide
bombings and other types of Palestinian attacks on Israelis, sparked a
change in his thinking about Jewish unity and pluralism within Israeli
society.
His shift was so great that today the 61-year-old openly calls for haredim
to serve in the Israel Defense Forces; in fact, two of his sons are
combat soldiers. This runs counter to the behavior and attitude of many haredi
sects, whose members believe that Torah study protects the Jews—in and
out of Israel—just as much, if not more, than paratroopers and
commandos.
Perhaps an even greater societal divide was revealed when the coronavirus pandemic erupted. As I wrote in June, the minute that Israelis started getting infected with and dying from the virus, the haredim became the target of derision for spreading the disease.
Rather than examining and trying to empathize with the key reasons
for the high rate of infection among the ultra-Orthodox—such as the
large size of nuclear families living in cramped quarters, and a lack of
access to news via TV and the Internet—the public turned on them as the
perfect scapegoat for its frustration and health anxiety.
Even when the massive education campaign in haredi-majority
areas proved successful—with the added benefit of bringing IDF troops
and black hats together in a touching show of mutual kindness—the media
played up every violation displayed by the disobedient minority.
Nor was this enmity restricted to secular Israelis. The national-religious community has been equally angry at the haredim
for flouting the rules. Ironically, secular Israelis rarely can
distinguish between one group of “ultra-Orthodox” and another, treating
them as a homogenous bunch, which they are not.
As a result, this week’s shameful riots in Bnei Brak and elsewhere—during which haredim
objecting to the state’s attempt to enforce the closure of Talmud Torah
schools during the country’s current COVID-19 lockdown clashed
violently with police—are being attributed to the entire ultra-Orthodox
population. One reason for this is the lack of a clear, uniform voice
from haredi leaders about the dangers of the virus and the
importance of adhering to rules aimed at saving lives. It’s the highest
Jewish tenet, after all.
This is precisely the message that Meshi Zahav has been conveying.
“I feel like I’m in a horror movie,” he told Channel 12, saying that words can’t express the torture of losing three loved ones to the virus, practically all at once.
He went on to criticize members of his community for wasting their
time complaining about being discriminated against and pointing fingers
at demonstrators outside the Prime Minister’s Residence in Jerusalem and
beachgoers in Tel Aviv.
“People are dropping like flies [in the haredi community], and this is what they’re harping on?” he bemoaned.
“I cannot understand the disregard for human life,” he went on. “It’s
enough to pass through ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods and see the death
notices going up, one after the other,” to grasp the gravity of the
situation.
“In some respects, it reminds me of the Titanic,” he said, “with people getting killed [below deck], while someone on the upper deck is arguing over which waltz to play.”
Meshi Zahav’s real punch, however, came in the form of a lesson in Judaism for those of his fellow haredim who appear to be militantly ignoring the big picture.
“Every year during the counting of the Omer, we mourn the 24,000 thousand disciples of Rabbi Akiva,
who died of the plague 2,000 years ago,” he said. “But we don’t need a
2,000-year-old custom to see what’s going on right now, with practically
no household being spared death” from the current plague.
As a haredi Jew himself who has devoted his career to
rescuing people at home and abroad, while honoring the remains of those
who don’t survive, he deserves to be heeded. And as a man suffering a
profound personal loss from a virus that doesn’t distinguish between
those who pore over the Talmud and others who cram for math tests, he
must be taken as seriously as any rabbi.
Ruthie Blum is an Israel-based journalist and author of “To Hell in a Handbasket: Carter, Obama, and the ‘Arab Spring.’ ”
The
United States Supreme Court declined to hear "Rabbi" Daniel Greer's
appeal of the $21 million civil verdict entered against him almost three
years ago in Federal Court. Greer filed a petition for certification
before the Supreme Court after he had lost on appeal at the Second
Circuit Court of Appeals. Greer's attorneys argued on appeal that the
verdict was "excessive" and "shocking" and should either be completely
set aside or reduced. The Second Circuit held the following: "The
amount of compensatory damages is undoubtedly high, but we are not
persuaded that a new trial or remittitur (reduction) is warranted under
Connecticut law. The award here is not excessive when compared to the
awards in the cases cited above. Here, the record indicates that EM
suffered repeated abuse for approximately three years, from the time he
was fourteen until he was seventeen years old. At certain points, EM
was abused for hours at a time, on a weekly basis. The first time Greer
abused EM, he plied EM with alcohol, pretended to care about EM and his
family, acknowledged EM's parents' financial struggles, and then kissed
him. Eventually the abuse included oral sex, anal sex, mutual
masturbation, and watching pornography together — while EM was a
sophomore, junior, and senior in high school and Greer was a
60-something year old man."
The
New Haven Police arrested Greer a few months after the civil verdict of
$20 million entered in the child rape case. If Greer had won the civil
case I don't believe that the State's Attorneys Office would have filed
the criminal case. If Greer had offered the victim a settlement, long
before the civil case was filed, a civil case would have never been
filed.
Greer's
attorneys also argued on appeal that the trial judge's jury
instructions pertaining to Greer's refusal to answer questions based on
his right against self incrimination was improper. The trial judge
instructed the jury that they could make negative inferences against
Greer due to his failure to answer difficult questions on cross
examination. The Second Circuit listed the questions Greer refused to
answer: Greer refused to answer whether he "sexually abused and
assaulted other minors including Avi Hack" whether he "taught religious
and secular studies, communal service, ethics, theology and Jewish
history," whether he "forced EM to have sex with him when he was a child
at various locations in New Haven apartments he owned," whether "he had
molested EM in Greer's bedroom" whether he "had sex with EM at a motel
in Branford" whether he "forced EM to have sex with him at a motel in
Paoli" whether he forced EM to have sex with him when EM was a child at a
hotel in Philadelphia," whether he "had sex with EM when he was a child
at land in Hamden..."
Greer
was sentenced to 20 years of incarceration suspended after 12 after he
was convicted of child molestation. Greer is currently on home
confinement, after he was recently released due to COVID19 in the
prisons. Greer's case will be reviewed again on February 1, by Judge
Alander. Greer may or may not go back to jail. Eventually Greer will
have to go to jail and spend 12 years in the custody of the Department
of Corrections. Greer has already registered as a sex offender. Greer
is allowed to leave his abode in order to go to doctor appointments and
appointments with his attorney. A local recently told me that she saw
Greer driving around in his minivan in his Edgewood neighborhood. Greer
used to be known as the "Mayor of Edgewood." Greer is now known as
"The Pedophile of Edgewood."
Greer
was tried and incarcerated just before the pandemic. Greer has been in
and out of prison ever since, due to issues in the prison related to
the pandemic, and Greer's age. Greer is 80 years old. At one point
Greer's son Ezi Greer drove his father to the Superior Court to turn him
in to the Marshal. I was there and took pictures. I was shocked that
Ezi drove his father to the prison. During the civil trial an expert
testified that he had evidence that Ezi was molested by his father. Ezi
Greer was active in politics in New Haven for many years, along with
his brother Rabbi Dov Greer. Dov, Ezi and Avi Hack also helped run
Greer's yeshiva, where EM was enrolled. Avi Hack was also molested by
Greer. Avi, Dov and Ezi protected Daniel Greer for years while Greer
attracted minors to his yeshiva for the purposes of rape and abuse.
After "Rabbi" Greer was sued Dov moved to Long Island, Ezi moved to
Waterbury, and Avi moved to Providence RI. Avi's father Harold Hack,
who also protected Greer for year, also moved to Waterbury. Greer got
Harold a job at the City of New Haven. Harold's daughter is married to
Ezi Greer.
Ezi,
Avi, Dov and Harold refused to testify against Greer at Greer's civil
and criminal trials. I contacted numerous potential witnesses to
testify against Greer in the criminal trial. A few showed up and
testified against Greer. One testified that he was a classmate of EM at
the high school and that he suspected that EM was being molested by
Greer at the time he was in school. Another testified that Greer tried
to molest him. A few others wanted to testify but found it too
emotionally painful to show up in court and testify. I was surprised
that EM had the strength to testify at the civil trial and the criminal
trial. Greer's lawyer William Ward mercilessly attacked EM at the civil
trial, yelling at him calling him a "LIAR" and a "THIEF." Greer's
lawyer Willie the Dow at the criminal trial was more respectful and
didn't yell and scream at the victim. The Dow probably learned from
Ward's mistake, attacking the victim, victim blaming, did not work out
very well for Ward.
13 years after bolting, 6 since arrest, Malka Leifer extradited to Australia
Former Haredi school principal on her way back to Melbourne, where she faces 74 charges of child sex abuse
Former
principal Malka Leifer, wanted in Australia for child sex abuse crimes,
seen at the Jerusalem District Court
Israeli authorities extradited alleged sex abuser Malka Leifer
to Australia early Monday morning, nearly 13 years after she fled
Melbourne as allegations against her were coming to light and after a
six-year legal process during which a court determined that she had
feigned mental illness in order to avoid facing justice.
Not unlike the manner in which the former school principal was
ushered out of Melbourne by board members of the Adass Israel Haredi
girls’ school in 2008, the Israel Prisons Service operation that
transferred her from Neve Tirza women’s prison to Ben Gurion Airport
took place in the middle of the night.
Leifer was photographed climbing up a metal staircase onto a plane that will take her to Australia via Frankfurt, Germany.
The extradition was confirmed to The Times of Israel by Leifer’s
lawyer Nick Kaufman, as well as by Israeli and Australian officials.
Kaufman lamented the fact that “photographs of [Leifer] being led in
handcuffs and legcuffs were leaked to the press,” saying Israeli
authorities had been “expected to ensure the secrecy of the date of
transfer and to ensure maximum respect for Ms. Leifer’s dignity until
she left Israeli jurisdiction.”
Israeli authorities went through with the extradition even as the
government was moving forward with plans to close Ben Gurion Airport
almost completely, amid fears over fast-spreading coronavirus variants
entering the country. A decision was made to extradite Leifer
nonetheless, with Jerusalem evidently recognizing how serious the issue
was to Canberra. Senior government officials and prominent Jewish groups
there have sharply criticized the drawn-out nature of the proceedings
against Leifer, straining the Jewish state’s relations with the country.
Dassi Erlich, who along with her two sisters Nicole Meyer and
Elly Sapper has accused Leifer of sexually abusing them when they were
students at Adass, tweeted that the alleged pedophile was on her way
back to Australia.
The Magen advocacy group for child abuse victims released a statement
expressing relief that the Israeli chapter in the Leifer case had come
to a close after over 70 court dates.
“As a community, we must continue to take a stand and fight for
victims of sexual abuse, that the State of Israel not be used as a safe
haven for sex offenders, and that this gross manipulation of the justice
system may never happen again,” the organization said.
Magen, previously known as Jewish Community Watch, aided the case
against Leifer by hiring private investigators to disprove her claims of
mental unfitness. They filmed Leifer roaming through her home town of
Emmanuel in the West Bank with no apparent difficulty in 2018, after a
court had accepted her legal team’s defense that she was mentally
incapacitated and unable to be extradited. The findings led to the
Interpol operation in which she was rearrested.
VoiCSA, an Israel-based organization combating child sexual abuse in
the global Jewish community, said it was “an incredible day for
justice.”
Israel had 60 days to place Leifer on a plane. Then-justice minister
Avi Nissenkorn signed the extradition order against her 40 days ago, a
day after the Supreme Court rejected the defense’s appeal against the
Jerusalem District Court’s decision in favor of extradition.
“All who seek to evade justice shall know that they will not find a
place of refuge in Israel,” justices Anat Baron, Isaac Amit, and Ofer
Grosskopf wrote in a unanimous decision.
Justice Minister Avi Nissenkorn, at the Knesset
Frustration in Australia over the saga peaked last year when
allegations came to light that Israel’s then-deputy health minister,
Yaakov Litzman, was pressuring state psychiatrists to diagnose Leifer as
mentally unfit to face justice. The accusations came after the
physician assigned to the case changed his assessment three times
regarding Leifer’s mental state. Police have recommended that Litzman be
indicted for his alleged interference in the case.
Leifer left Israel to take a job at Adass Israel in Melbourne in
2000. When allegations of sexual abuse against her began to surface
eight years later, members of the school board purchased the mother of
eight a plane ticket back to Israel, allowing her to escape before
charges were filed.
It took until 2014 for her to be arrested as part of an Interpol
operation, but hearings were postponed due to claims by Leifer’s defense
team of sudden bouts of a debilitating condition. A Jerusalem court
suspended proceedings in 2016, deeming her mentally unfit to stand
trial. She was rearrested in 2018 after being filmed appearing to lead a
fully functional life.
After over a year’s worth of additional hearings, Jerusalem District
Court judge Judge Chana Lomp concluded that the evidence regarding
Leifer’s health was still inconclusive and ordered a board of
psychiatric experts to determine whether the former principal had been
faking mental incompetence.
Last February, the panel filed its conclusion that Leifer had been
faking, leading Lomp to make the same determination last May. That
ruling was followed by the judge’s September decision to green-light the
extradition sought by Australia.
Kaufman, the defense attorney, told the Times of Israel last month
that he would seek to have Leifer serve any prison service in Israel if
she is to be convicted in Australia, citing concerns that the
54-year-old would be unable to observe her religious lifestyle there.
Rabbi Yisrael Hager, leader of Vizhnitz hasidic group, orders educational institutions to reopen, defying coronavirus lockdown.
Yisrael Hager, the Vizhnitz Rebbe
The Vizhnitz Rebbe, Rabbi Yisrael Hager, on Saturday evening
ordered that all of the Vizhnitz educational institutions be reopened.
Rabbi Hager, a senior member of Agudat Yisrael, gave the order during
the third afternoon meal on Shabbat (the Jewish Sabbath) in his Bnei
Brak synagogue.
MK Avigdor Liberman, chairman of the Yisrael Beytenu party,
tweeted, "Bibi's landlord has gone crazy, and we're all paying the high
price."
Meanwhile, earlier this month, Lithuanian-haredi leader Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky ordered schools to close due to the spread of coronavirus among the haredi community.
The haredi community is made up of several sectors, including both
the Lithuanian-haredi community and several hasidic groups, one of which
is Vizhnitz.
Blood on rabbis’ hands, Haredi emergency chief says after mom’s COVID death
Yehuda Meshi-Zahav pleaded with his family not
to hold a party, but with Haredi leaders not taking the virus
seriously, the ZAKA rescue group leader says he didn’t stand a chance
Yehuda Meshi-Zahav with his mother Sarah in an undated picture
Yehuda Meshi-Zahav waged an uphill battle for virus vigilance in
the ultra-Orthodox community. But even his mother didn’t listen — and
held a party that led to her infection and death.
Meshi-Zahav says that rabbis have “blood on their hands” for the
death of his mother, Sarah, on Monday. Because of their disdain for
COVID-19 rules, his cautious voice didn’t stand a chance when she
decided to hold a family Hanukkah party.
“She was a healthy 80-year-old, with no medical history, and the
virus took her. In the morning, I said Shema with her, and later in the
day, she died,” he told The Times of Israel this week.
In October, Meshi-Zahav, the head of the ZAKA emergency response organization, rang alarm bells about Haredi conduct in an impassioned Times of Israel interview.
He said then that the authority structure within the community meant
any warnings or portrayal of the seriousness of the disease would fall
on deaf ears so long as top rabbis stayed silent.
Now, it’s personal.
“I work with death every day,” said Meshi-Zahav, whose volunteer
organization works to remove the bodies of COVID-19 victims and others
to be prepared for burial. “But nothing prepares you for the sense of
loss when it’s your own family.”
Yehuda Meshi-Zahav (center) at the
funeral of his mother Sarah, in Jerusalem on January 18, 2021. (courtesy
of Yehuda Meshi-Zahav)
Haredi communities have suffered disproportionately from the
coronavirus, with infection rates in many ultra-Orthodox areas several
times that of non-Haredi areas.
As of Tuesday, some 22.1 percent of daily tests from Haredi areas
were coming back positive, compared to 9.2% in the general population,
according to Roni Numa, head of the ultra-Orthodox desk at Israel’s
coronavirus taskforce.
High infection rates among Haredim are partly due to large family
size and environmental factors, but experts also blame rule-breaking in
large pockets of the community, often supported by rabbis and other
community leaders.
Numa told Hebrew-language media that even in the current
lockdown, some 15% of Haredi educational institutions were operating,
and said that some 12,000 ultra-Orthodox students had contracted the
coronavirus in the last month.
“There are leaders of the community who have blood on their
hands, and it’s the blood of my mother and of many others,” Meshi-Zahav
said.
Yehuda Meshi-Zahav at the grave of his mother Sarah, after the funeral on January 18. 2021 (courtesy of Yehuda Meshi-Zahav)
Meshi-Zahav said that ahead of the party, in mid-December, he
frantically tried to convince his large family to cancel the plans, but
to no avail.
“I called everyone asking them to stop the party. I called my mother
and asked her not to do it and spoke to other family members,” he said.
“I said it’s dangerous, don’t do it. But they live in a place where the atmosphere was different than in other places.”
“There was an atmosphere that we’ve reached the end of coronavirus — this was the feeling at Hanukkah,” he said.
Adherence to the rules often varies from community to community and
sect to sect. Many Haredi rabbis and political leaders have shut
schools, called for health guidelines to be kept and tried to encourage
vaccination.
But in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Mea Shearim, where Meshi-Zahav’s
parents lived, as well as many other areas, the tone is set by rabbis
who take a different stance, he said.
The head rabbi of the ultra-Orthodox
Toldos Aharon sect leaving a crowded synagogue in Safed, on January 7,
2020. David Cohen/Flash90)
Some give approval to rule-breaking and downplay the virus threat, he
lamented. “People just aren’t absorbing the seriousness of the
situation and the leaders are living on a different planet.”
Enforcement in many ultra-Orthodox areas has been lax, according to
reports which found low numbers of fines given out for health violations
in Haredi cities compared to other parts of the country. Some have
blamed the upcoming elections and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s
desire to maintain his alliance with Haredi political parties.
When police do go into Haredi neighborhoods, violence often ensues,
with hard-liners rioting against enforcement measures. On Tuesday,
clashes were reported in Bnei Brak, Jerusalem and Beit Shemesh.
Police officers clash with ultra-Orthodox
men during enforcement of coronavirus emergency regulations, in the
neighborhood of Mea Shearim, Jerusalem, January 14, 2021 (Yonatan
Sindel/Flash90)
Some have noted the seeming cognitive dissonance of religious leaders
who demand vigilance on religious matters but not health matters. A
recent comment that went viral following a video of a large, crowded
Haredi wedding noted that Orthodox tradition bans weddings during a
month-long period following Passover in memory of a pandemic that
occurred some 2,000 years ago, but rabbis won’t ban a wedding during a
pandemic raging now.
It’s a sentiment Meshi-Zahav is familiar with. Rabbis, he said, could use their pulpits to save lives, but are not.
“The job of community leaders isn’t just to state positions on Jewish
law,” he said, “but to show people how to live and to safeguard the
health of the community.”
The government convened Tuesday afternoon to vote on extending the
current lockdown beyond Friday in light of the rising number of
coronavirus patients diagnosed in Israel.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said in his opening remarks at the
start of the meeting: "We must decide immediately on extending the
lockdown. Many European countries are extending their lockdowns until
March, even until April. If we open up now, it will cost us human
lives."
Netanyahu condemned the large wedding
which took place in Bnei Brak yesterday and said: "The wedding that
took place yesterday is true bloodshed. The instructions must be
obeyed."
Defense
Minister Benny Gantz said at the Cabinet meeting that "entry and exit
from the country should be restricted immediately."
Earlier, the Blue and White party agreed to back a seven-to-ten day
extension of the tightened lockdown, on condition that the government
also vote to approve a number of policy changes demanded by the party.
The demands include vaccinations for high school students, mandatory
coronavirus checks for everyone arriving in Israel, and expanded
lockdown enforcement in areas with high infection rates.
According to Ganz, "Subject to all of these, and in accordance with
the recommendations of the professionals, Blue and White will support
the extension of the lockdown for a week to ten days."
The head of the National Security Council, Meir Ben-Shabbat, said at
the Cabinet meeting that "the morbidity is high and widespread, mainly
because of the mutations. The extent of the disease challenges the
hospitals and we still do not see the effect of the restrictions on the
disease."
Coronavirus Czar Prof. Nachman Ash said in closed discussions ahead
of the Cabinet meeting: "We will not insist on two more weeks, this week
plus a weekend is also acceptable." Regarding the vaccines, Ash said:
"The effectiveness of the first dose is lower than we thought and what
Pfizer presented."
A total of 10,021 new cases of the coronavirus were diagnosed across
Israel Monday, according to data released by the Health Ministry Tuesday
morning.
There are now 81,059 active cases of the virus identified in Israel,
with 77,524 being treated at home, 1,588 being treated at coronavirus
hotels, and 1,947 hospitalized patients.
Of those hospitalized patients, 1,114 are in serious or critical condition, with 277 on assisted breathing.
He Shows He Is Unfit. Yet He's Still the President.
*"Living proof of
evolution. A hump short of a camel. Mentally qualified for handicapped
parking. So dumb, blondes tell jokes about him. So stupid, mind readers
charge him half price. A "crackpot" without the cholent" Takes him 1.5 hours to watch "60 Minutes".*
The system can deal with a crooked president. But not a crazy one.
Not reassuring.
President Donald Trump is not always crazy like a fox.
And that -- more than obstruction of justice, or any potential
criminality related to Russia -- is the greatest threat facing the U.S.
It's also a threat that U.S. institutions are failing to acknowledge,
let alone confront.
Trump is unlikely to succeed at completely
derailing the FBI investigation into his campaign's ties to Russia. But
he might undermine it enough to avoid any serious consequences. Even
without his subterfuge, the investigation could prove inconclusive.
But
at least there is an investigation into Russia, in addition to
congressional inquiries, news reporting, and a general mobilization of
expert opinion and institutions. The investigations are vital. Unless
they are, ultimately, beside the point.
For two days early this week, Trump's staff went to great lengths
to establish a plausible claim that Trump did not instigate the firing
of FBI director James Comey. Instead, White House aides and Vice
President Mike Pence insisted that Trump was responding to concerns
raised in a memo by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.
This White House has not assembled a highly competent or ethical
team. So the explanations were pretty dodgy. But they nonetheless
represented a coordinated effort to define Trump's actions and confine
the political damage from firing Comey.
Then on Thursday Trump told
NBC News anchor Lester Holt that Rosenstein's memo wasn't even
significant. "I -- I was going to fire Comey," Trump said. Holt
immediately questioned him on the issue, all but encouraging Trump to
get his story aligned with the previous White House talking points.
Trump wasn't having it.
"Oh, I was gonna fire regardless of recommendation," Trump said.
There
is good reason for journalists and others to ask whether Trump's
statements to Holt constitute something close to an admission that he
fired Comey to impede the Russia investigation. (Trump said he was eager
for the investigation to end.) There is good reason to use this
interview as evidence that Trump's White House staff is often no more
truthful than Trump himself.
But the issue of the motives and means of the Trump White
House is small compared with the enduring madness of the man himself.
Trump's admission to Holt was not an effort to distract from a bunch of
bad news stories. Does Trump use such tactics? Frequently. And from this
comes the notion that Trump is "crazy like a fox."
But the Holt
interview wasn't evidence of being crazy like a fox. This was not a
devious move.
Trump can be cunning. But he also flails wildly, harming
others often and himself occasionally. His recent interviews with the
Economist and Time were bizarre and frequently incoherent.
As my colleague Jon Bernstein wrote:
Trump
can't be bothered to even master his own talking points, even in
something which could put his entire presidency at risk. Or perhaps he's
intellectually incapable of doing so.
Trump is
almost supernatural in his multivariate unfitness, combining combustible
levels of ignorance, amorality, venality and mental imbalance in a way
not seen even when Richard Nixon drank alone.
The Russia
investigation serves as an outlet for collective anxiety about Trump's
unfitness, just as the prospect of indictments offers a potential deus
ex machina to resolve the dangers inherent in Trump's administration.
But what if they resolve nothing? Or take too long doing so?
It's
easy to miss the dense and haunted forest of Trump for all the trees.
Speaking to National Public Radio, Republican Senator Ben Sasse, who has
kept a safe distance from Trump, spoke of his concerns and lamented the
state of American political conflict.
We have a
crisis of public trust in this country that is much deeper than just the
last four months or the last 18 months. We have an erosion of a shared
narrative about what America is about. And we have the huge unpopularity
of almost all of our governing institutions. That should trouble
everybody.
Yes, indeed. That's all true. Meanwhile,
however, we have a slightly more pressing problem. The president of the
United States is mentally and morally unfit with a nuclear arsenal at
his fingertips. And no one in Washington knows what to do about it.
This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial
board or Bloomberg LP and its owners, but does reflect the opinion of
this Blogger!
He told the Economist he invented the use of "priming the pump"
with regard to the economy. It's probably most associated with Franklin
Roosevelt, and even if Trump meant "came upon it" rather than "came up
with it" it's remarkable for anyone in his position to be that ignorant
of normal economics usage. Then again, he's never shown that he knows
anything about economics.
He spoke gibberish about aircraft carriers to Time magazine: "I
said what system are you going to be–'Sir, we’re staying with digital.'
I said no you’re not. You going to goddamned steam, the digital costs
hundreds of millions of dollars more money and it’s no good."I know very little about aircraft carriers, but the people who do know this stuff confirm that he doesn't know what he's talking about. Not that he's wrong, mind you; he isn't coherent enough to be wrong.
Then he completely contradicted his own explanation on James Comey's firingto NBC News.
The old story that Trump was reacting to a recommendation from the
Department of Justice; the new story is that he was always going to fire
Comey.
Why does that fit in with the other two quotes?
Because it demonstrates that Trump can't be bothered to even master his
own talking points, even in something which could put his entire
presidency at risk. Or perhaps he's intellectually incapable of doing
so. Either way, the president talks and talks without showing any mastery -- any understanding -- of anything.
Franklin Graham Compares 10 Republicans Who Voted to Impeach Trump to Betrayal of Christ
Evangelist Franklin Graham compared 10 members of the GOP toJudas Iscariot on Thursday after they voted to approve President Donald Trump's second impeachment.
Graham,
the head of the non-profit organization Samaritan's Purse, has been a
longtime supporter of Trump's presidency. Rifts between the evangelical
community and Trump have developed after recent events, including a
January riot at the U.S. Capitol. Trump's impeachment in the aftermath
of the riot at the U.S. Capitol did not change Graham's support of the
president, leading Graham to draw parallels between Trump's impeachment
and the betrayal of Jesus Christ as described in the Bible.
"Shame, shame on the ten Republicans who joined with @SpeakerPelosi & the House Democrats
in impeaching President Trump yesterday," Graham tweeted. "After all
that he has done for our country, you would turn your back & betray
him so quickly? What was done yesterday only further divides our
nation."
Graham elaborated on his opinion in a Thursday Facebook post, detailing why he believed Trump was actually impeached.
"But
the House Democrats impeached him because they hate him and want to do
as much damage as they can," Graham wrote. "And these ten, from
[Trump's] own party, joined in the feeding frenzy. It makes you wonder
what the thirty pieces of silver were that [Democratic House] Speaker
[Nancy] Pelosi promised for this betrayal."
In the Bible, Judas
Iscariot was paid 30 pieces of silver by the Pharisees to betray Jesus,
who was tried and punished before being crucified by the Romans.
Evangelist Franklin Graham compared the second
impeachment of President Donald Trump to the betrayal of Jesus Christ in
a pair of social media posts.
Members of the House voted 232-197 to impeach
Trump on the grounds of "inciting violence against the Government of the
United States" after thousands of his supporters marched on the Capitol
building following a speech given by Trump at a Stop the Steal rally.
Five individuals died as a result of riot-related violence.
In
her Tuesday statement announcing her decision to break party lines and
vote in favor of Trump's impeachment, Wyoming Republican Liz Cheney
cited Trump's actions connected to the Capitol riot.
"There has
never been a greater betrayal by a President of the United States of his
office and his oath to the Constitution," Cheney wrote.
Some
evangelicals held fast to their support of Trump after the riots. Texas
Baptist pastor Robert Jeffress tweeted that even after the riot, he did
not regret supporting Trump throughout his presidency.
"Great
talks today with President @realDonaldTrump and @VP @Mike_Pence,"
Jeffress tweeted on Tuesday. "When reporter asked if I regretted my
support I said "Absolutely not! Most pro-life and religious liberty
President and VP in history!"
Trump's repeated claims that widespread election fraud turned off some evangelicals including televangelist Pat Robertson, who said that Trump was laboring under a delusion by alleging that he had actually won the election.
"With
all his talent, and the ability to raise money and draw large crowds,
the President still lives in an alternate reality," Robertson said on a
December 2020 episode of his syndicated program The 700 Club.
Robertson added that Trump would be best served by conceding the election to President-elect Joe Biden.
"He's
fired people, he's fought people and he's insulted people, and he keeps
going down the line, so it's a mixed bag," Robertson said. "And I think
it would be well to say, 'You've had your day and it's time to move
on.'"
Trump made strong inroads into the conservative Christian
community. In January 2020, he launched a coalition called Evangelicals
for Trump. A number of evangelical leaders announced their support for
Trump, with Graham saying in December 2020 that Trump would "go down in
history as one of the great presidents of our nation."
After Trump
was widely found to complicit in inciting the Capitol riot, the
National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) decried Trump. "The mob at
the Capitol was provoked by leaders, including President Trump, who have
employed lies and conspiracy theories for political gain," the January
statement read. "Evangelicals are people who are committed to truth and
should reject untruths."
Newsweek reached out to the NAE for further comment.
Trump refuses to pay Giuliani for failed attempt to overturn election
In addition to blocking the payments owed to Giuliani, White House aides were also ordered not to field calls from him.
US President Donald Trump
is reportedly refusing to pay his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani for his
work, which included an unsuccessful attempt to overturn the elections
results amid unfounded allegations, according to the Washington Post.The
newspaper report states that Trump directed his White House aides to
hold on to legal fees owed to Giuliani after a tiff materialized between
the two - a report then confirmed by The New York Times.
"The president is pretty wound up," a senior administration official told the Post. The Times
stated that in addition to blocking the payments owed to Giuliani,
White House aides were also ordered not to field calls from the former
New York mayor. The Times,
citing two unnamed White House officials, reported that the quarrel
began with Giuliani's appeal to be paid $20,000 a day for his
unsuccessful attempt to overturn election results in key states.Trump
is reportedly also upset with his son-in-law Jared Kushner, Vice
President Mike Pence and White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany,
in addition to a few other White House senior staff members, for unnamed
reasons.
Trump's decision to
call for calm and his promise for a peaceful transition, in a video
last Thursday, came at the urging of senior aides, some arguing that he
could face removal from office or legal liability over his supporters'
storming of the US Capitol, two sources familiar with the matter said on
Friday.The House of Representatives on Wednesday made Trump the first US president to be impeached twice,
charging him with inciting an insurrection as lawmakers sought to
certify President-elect Joe Biden's victory in the November 3 election.Giuliani,
who told the crowd they should engage in "trial by combat," may lead
the impeachment defense, Reuters reported on Sunday, citing a source. He
has not responded to requests for comment.One
of the sources, an outside adviser to the White House, said Giuliani
was expected to play a lead role in any impeachment effort.
The other
source familiar with the situation said that Giuliani, a personal
attorney of the president, would likely provide the kind of
representation Trump wants.Giuliani
led the legal team that tried unsuccessfully to overturn Trump's
election defeat. It failed to produce any evidence of significant fraud
and lost dozens of court cases in key battleground states and at the
Supreme Court before Biden's victory was confirmed.Giuliani's
own reputation was battered during the often chaotic legal campaign. In
one news conference, brown dye dripped down his face as he laid out
false claims of election fraud, and he was ridiculed for another event
held in the parking lot of a Pennsylvania landscaping company next to a
sex shop.
The former mayor of
New York City did not respond to requests for comment on his role in a
possible impeachment trial, and the White House also declined to
comment.Democratic members
of the House of Representatives introduce an article of impeachment this
week, accusing Trump of inciting a mob of his supporters to storm the
US Capitol last Wednesday.The
House voted to impeach Trump, with several Republican representatives
voting in favor of the move, and he now faces a trial in the Senate.
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has suggested that there would be no
Senate trial until after Trump leaves office.House
Majority Whip James Clyburn also said on CNN that lawmakers might wait
to send the impeachment article to the US Senate for a trial to give
Congress time to approve Biden’s Cabinet nominees and other agenda
items.Trump's choice of lawyers to defend him may be limited.
My Former Hasidic Community Still Supports Trump. I’m Not Surprised.
While Trump’s cult of personality appeals to many in the community, it is not the entire story.
On January 6, 2021, Orthodox Jewish Trump supporters headed to the U.S. Capitol to join throngs of Proud Boys and QAnon conspiracy theorists to protest, and ultimately try to derail, President-elect Joe Biden’s legitimate presidential victory. As JTAreports,
some Orthodox Trump supporters, including provocative leader Heshy
Tischler, attempted to join the storming of the Capitol, but could not
get in. JTA says that Tischler has since denounced the violence, but does not denounce the crusade behind it. Others, like Aaron Mostofsky, son of an Orthodox judge in Brooklyn, did get in, entering the Capitol building in riot gear, for which he has since been arrested.
Watching this all unfold, I was overwhelmed by fear as religious Jews attacked the Capitol alongside neo-Nazis.
I felt my country dying by the hands of bigoted insurrectionists. I
felt my religion and culture disintegrating in the hands of President
Donald Trump. My fear was most palpable when a photograph of a bearded
man in a “Camp Auschwitz” sweatshirt popped up on my Facebook feed. The front of his sweatshirt said, “Work brings freedom,” — a rough translation of “Arbeit Macht Frei,”
the German phrase that famously appears at the entrance to Auschwitz —
and the back said, “Staff.” It is seemingly unfathomable that many of
the Orthodox and ultra-Orthodox people I was raised alongside support
the same cause he supports. My grandmother, whose family was gassed and
cremated in the Auschwitz-Birkenau compound, would be ashamed if she
were alive to see that her brethren march alongside neo-Nazis.
I feel this shame deeply myself. I am ashamed that members of the
Orthodox communities — communities that brought me into the world — have
linked arms with those who would love for nothing more than to
annihilate our people. I am ashamed that members of my Hasidic family
would choose loyalty for Trump over religious and moral righteousness. I
am ashamed, but I am not surprised.
My entire family is Hasidic. My parents, four siblings, 14 nieces and
nephews, 20 uncles and aunts, and nearly 100 first cousins abide by
Hasidic law. I am the black sheep — the one who left the Hasidic faith
when I was 17 years old. However, while I am no longer Hasidic, I have a stake in the Hasidic community. My family is there to stay, and so I care about what transpires on the streets of Hasidic Brooklyn.
I also feel somewhat responsible for how they act. I feel somewhat
responsible for every racist, sexist, and irrationally devoted pro-Trump
comment that members of the community espouse. I know that in some
ways, it is unreasonable to hold myself accountable for the actions of
people I cannot control. But on the other hand, those who live as proud
Hasids and those like me who have left the Hasidic community know that
these people are our people.
Because they are my people, I cared when hundreds of Hasidic people,
including members of my family, gathered on Brooklyn streets to burn masks in October 2020. I cared when far-right demagogue Tischler led these mass-mask burnings while proudly donning Trump insignia on his shirt. I cared when Tischler incited
Hasidic people to attack journalist Jacob Kornbluh for doing his job
and for promoting public health measures. I cared when 80% of New York Assembly District 48, the district that includes Borough Park and is overwhelmingly Hasidic, voted for Trump in the 2020 election.
And I definitely cared when these activities led to some Hasidic
support for the January 6 Capitol insurrection. This support can be seen
in photographs and videos of Hasidic community members from Dr. Hannah Lebovitz’s Twitter account. One video includes a Hasid arguing in Yiddish that anyone not planning to attend the Capitol riot is a kofer (heretic). The same man was seen at the Capitol on January 6. Support for the rioting can also be found in screenshots from Orthodox WhatsApp groups organizing trips to the Capitol.
People ask me why I care about the actions of those I left behind,
and why the fundamentalism I am no longer subjected to still gnaws at
me. They ask me why I feel a deep sense of shame each time the New York Times writes about Borough Park, Tischler, and the Trump cult of personality that has overwhelmed Hasidic life.
I care because with each burned mask and MAGA hat, the Hasidic
community replaces the positive memories from my youth with fire and
animosity. Since I have left the Bobov sect, I have held onto the warm
Shabbat dinners, the communal support, and the intense spirituality of
routine traditions. I have fused my love for Yiddish, my heimish
personality, my strong connections with my family, and my passion for
heartfelt holiday celebrations with my non-Hasidic life. But still,
shame eats away at my appreciation for Hasidic tradition. I am ashamed
that many Hasidic people have devolved into racist fearmongers who
proudly hang Trump flags across my hometown that I have walked past
while visiting my family in Brooklyn.
The thing is, contemporary Hasidic sects are designed for
authoritarian control. Each Hasidic sect, from Bobov to Viznitz to
Satmar to Skver, are run by what is called a “grand rabbi.” These rabbis
are demanding patriarchs. They expect women to wear particular shades
of stockings, men to dress identically, congregants to receive their
blessings before making any personal life decisions, and they believe in
a world where Hasids are the only Jews worth mentioning. Most
importantly, Hasidic grand rabbis center their congregants’ worlds
around themselves. They are populist leaders of miniature nations.
Congregants have paintings and photographs of grand rabbis around their
homes, sacrifice family time for tisches (Friday night gatherings) with their leaders, and would do anything to protect the power of their particular grand rabbi.
Hasidic society was not always this way. Power struggles did not
always regulate everyday Hasidic life. Authoritarianism was not always
the dominating factor of these communities. But along with fears of
assimilation came rabbinical dominance and populist rhetoric. Since
contemporary Hasidic society is built on this hierarchical system,
Hasidic congregants are particularly susceptible to Trump’s populist
rhetoric. In some ways, Trump has become the ultimate grand rabbi,
telling people what to think, how to act, and who to hate. Many Hasidic
people are raised to conform. Individualism is antithetical to the
insularity required by much of present-day Hasidic life. Many Hasidic
sects demand a fear of the outside — a fear of anything and anyone that
can disrupt the Hasidic equilibrium. Therefore, many Hasids are inclined
to be swept away by the conformist, seemingly traditional, and
authoritarian demands of a demagogue like Donald Trump.
According to Dr. Hannah Lebovitz and Beth Pikowski,
Trump “made it comfortable and convenient for our predominantly white
(Orthodox Jewish and evangelical Christian) communities to believe the
real threat came from outside, either from the left—imagined as a vague
group of lawless and godless people—or from those elsewhere who
practiced a different religion.” Trump speaks to the darker features of
Hasidic culture, especially some Hasidic people’s desires to highlight blood lineage
and deny women’s rights, and proper education for
Hasidic children, leading good Hasidic people down a treacherous
fascistic path.
While Trump’s cult of personality appeals to many Hasidic people’s
nurtured need for authority, it is not the entire story. Another reason
why so many Hasidic people remain loyal to Trump’s messaging, even after
the January 6 insurrection, is because of the inferior education
standards in the Hasidic community. Hasidic schools are purposefully
negligent when providing secular education to its children. Young Hasidic boys receive only 90 minutes of secular studies a day.
When the boys are teenagers, most receive no secular education at all.
I can corroborate this from the secular education my own family
receives. Most of the male teenagers in my family cannot write an essay. They see most non-white and
non-Jewish people as the enemy. Their views on equality are formed by a
Yehuda HaLevi framework,
a structure that establishes Jews as superior to all other people. When
Hasidic children are taught that they are superior in this way, they
will likely become adults with far-right political tendencies. They will
consider others beneath them. They will join political movements that
thrive off racism and sexism.
We cannot expect Hasidic children to grow up with rational and
individualistic thoughts on politics and socio-cultural issues if their
educations deny them these thoughts. We cannot expect them to consider
equal rights worth fighting for. With their inferior educations, they
are perfect fodder for Trump’s cult-like authoritarian movement.
I want to be clear that not all Hasidic people have jumped on the
Trump bandwagon. Not all of them have been blinded by promises of
authoritarian insularity. There are members of the community, like my
father, who are disgusted by the insurrection. They are disgusted by
what Trump has done to our country. My father, a rational and moral man,
loves Hasidism. In Hasidism, he sees the upside of loyalty and the
kindheartedness of community. His heart breaks at what Trump has done to
people’s integrity, and he is not alone.
Those of us inside and outside the Hasidic community need to band
together. We need to dispel the Trump disease infecting our families and
congregations. But more than that, we need to dismiss the authoritarian
and patriarchal structures that made Trump’s popularity possible. We
need to untangle the web of control that grand rabbis hold. Hasidic
people need favorable education standards, the possibility of
individuality, and the freedom to choose. Without these, the community
will continue falling for the Trumps of the world. They will continue
choosing vehemence over love, foolishness over rationality.
Jerry Nadler brought Zabar’s bag with ‘a babka and the constitution’ to the impeachment hearing
Jerry Nadler speaks to the media in New York, Sept. 7, 2020.
(JTA) — As chair of the House
Judiciary Committee, Rep. Jerry Nadler has been busy this week creating
impeachment history. But he he hasn’t gone hungry, apparently.
C-SPAN caught Nadler carrying a bag from Zabar’s, the famed New York
grocery and appetizing store located in his Upper West Side
congressional district, as he took his seat on Wednesday. The bold
orange logo would be unmistakeable to anyone familiar with the store.
Multiple news organizations — including New York Magazine and West Side Rag, a hyperlocal blog — reached out to Nadler’s office to find out what was inside the bag.
The response, from Nadler’s deputy press secretary Julian Gerson: “A babka and the constitution, what else?”
Nadler is one of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s nine chosen managers for the impeachment process, along with fellow Jewish Reps. David Cicilline, Jamie Raskin and Adam Schiff.
Here's how the community sabotaged its own political interests and
reached a point when mask-burning and death-threats were somehow
acceptable.
The great writer Aaron Sorkin wrote: “decisions are made by those
who show up.” Sadly, if there’s anything the American Orthodox community
has done over this past year, it has been to show up in all the wrong
places. The terrifying scenes of bonafide Nazis, KKK members, and
anarchists running over Capitol Hill, staging an insurgency against the
United States of America, and the assault on the heart of America, have
terrified Americans and people all around the globe.
The scenes of
Orthodox Jews among those thugs is the logical conclusion of what has
happened in our community over the past four years. If this does not
bother you on a moral level, let it be clear: American Orthodoxy has now
successfully and deservingly earned itself political irrelevance. This
irrelevance was hard-earned and will leave its impact for years to come.
On January 20th President-Elect Joe Biden will be sworn into
office with a majority Democratic Congress and Senate. New York State
Assembly is now held by a supermajority of Democrats, predominantly
progressive, and, yes, the vast majority of Orthodox Jews live in blue
states. The hard work of so many individuals and organizations have
earned us the right to perhaps beg for their mercy if we need something,
not much more. Destroying years’ worth of political capital and
inflicting great damage on American support for the Jewish community and
for Israel, individuals and organizations will have a lot of time to
think about this demolition.
While it is hard to know where to begin with this political autopsy, I will attempt to do so here:
City and state level. More than 1.1 million Jews
live in New York City alone. Many more live in New York State. The
decision of so many Orthodox Jews and organizations to confront the
governor, the mayor, public health officials, and the NYPD yielded
little fruit and huge damage. With more than 100,000 Jewish yeshiva
students in NYC alone and a governor who allocated more funding for
Jewish institutions than any governor before him, one would think that
the bull in the china shop would be slightly less aggressive. The
Agudath Israel of America decided to sue the Governor, something I
cannot imagine he appreciated.
Then came the infamous mask burnings in Boro Park, the beating and lynching of those who dissented, the Trump flags, and the exotic appearance of
the Heschy Tishlers of the world with their color and gravitas, using
graphic profanities against the mayor’s wife. Not only did these images
deal a devastating blow to the standing of Jews in New York City and
State; they were also projected around the world. TV stations from
France, Russia, and many other countries gave prime time coverage to the
mask burning, vulgarity slinging individuals in Boro Park, with
unlikely feelings of sympathy for the damage it would inflict on the
image of Jews around the world. Tweets of sympathy from recognized
figures like Mark Levine, Rush Limbaugh, or Ted Cruz can feel great to a
small community; they won’t fund our day schools, synagogue security,
or help us solve the myriad issues that need to be solved locally.
In Congress- Let us start with the simple fact that
80% of congressional seats are decided during the primaries and that
most Orthodox Jews live in heavily Democratic areas. Jews often have a
huge opportunity to make their vote count in who the candidate is, while
their vote in the actual outcome of the race has far fewer
implications. Overall, Orthodox Jews who have historically registered as
Democrats have a strong voice in primaries. This year, Jews in many
blue areas opted out of the Democratic Party, disempowering themselves
and making their votes significantly less effective.
This was most evident in Riverdale, where longtime congressman Elliot
Engel, a Democrat who was also chairman of the House Foreign Affairs
Committee and a true friend of Israel, lost his primary 55% to 40% to
progressive Jamaal Bowman. This surprised many, especially as thousands
of Orthodox Jews live in the area and should have been able to come
through and vote for Engel. When Engel lost, I asked a friend who lives
in the district if he voted, and he said no. He had registered as a
Republican. His vote in the Republican primary in his area is as
effective as his vote for the Narnia presidency, and the lack of his
vote has dealt a huge blow to Israel.
Then came the Federal level. Whether you support it
or not, the religious fervor for former president Trump in the Orthodox
community is unprecedented and unparalleled. Never in the history of
Orthodox Jews in the United States has the community bet all of its
chips and shown all of its support in such a one-sided way. Gone was the
traditional wisdom and recognition that in elections, there are winners
and losers or the notion that putting all eggs in one basket might not
be smart.
Much has been said about the unprecedented religious fervor for
candidate Trump. All I can add to that in retrospect is that we now know
it was a losing bet. From the dozens of Brooklyn lay leaders who chose
to pay $12,000 a plate to have dinner with someone who would be out of
office in less than a year, to the leading rabbis’ “unprecedented”
letter of support”—it was all a losing bet. Mazal tov.
Next time the Agudath Israel of America wants to meet with members of
government claiming they are a non-partisan religious group, they may
have to explain why they chose to write a letter to Mitch McConnell
supporting the nomination of Amy Coney Barret to the Supreme Court. It
is unlikely that Mitch McConnel ever saw the letter they sent. More
likely is that other city and state officials whose help our community
really needs did see it. This was yet another example of us better our
political fortunes for no apparent gain.
The destruction of our ability to respond to anti-Semitism-
While the rabbis and Jews in every generation understood that the way
we behave as a community can have an impact on the way we are treated
and thus made leniencies in halacha with the logic of mipnei darkei shalom or mishum eivah (for
the ways of peace or for the concern of being targeted), anti-lockdown
Brooklyn was going to have none of it. They wanted full equality. They
wanted to be able to burn masks in the streets, sue Governor Cuomo,
violate city and health regulations, and to be treated with all
fairness. “Why can they loot and riot and we can’t do this?!”,
came the question our parents and grandparents would never dream of
asking. Previous generations all knew if you are Jewish, you must behave
with extra courtesy wherever we are. Here we had a generation of young
Jews who sought the ideal equilibrium between how to maximize bad
behavior while expecting zero negative impact on our community. For the
most part, they did this with little protest from rabbis and community
leaders. This was the tone that dominated Orthodox publications and
public figures.
This approach was all the more curious considering that less than a
year prior when at the Agudah Convention, leading Agudah rabbis were
asked about the rise in anti-Semitism; they knew exactly who the
culprits for anti-Semitism in America were: Jerry Nadler, Adam Schiff,
and Chuck Schumer of course. The good rabbi went on to point out these
were all Jewish politicians who had the Chutzpah to engage in the
impeachment of the President of the United States. Do they not know we
are in Golus?!
This did not seem to explain why a week later, a member of the Black
Hebrews Church went into a synagogue in Monsey and stabbed Hassidic
Jews; they knew liberal Jews brought it on ourselves. A few months later
this sense of personal responsibility seemed to have disappeared. This
anecdote highlights how deeply partisanship blindness has seeped into
our community, destroying our ability to see Antisemitism for what it is
and spelling disaster for our ability to confront it.
Then came the medical community—a physician in the
field of critical care lamented to me not long ago: “how can people who
ask me to do a surgery on their 90-year-old, braindead relative with
stage three cancer not be willing to wear a mask to save lives?” I do
not have an answer for him. The voice of religion is one that is often
invoked in the field of medicine, and rightfully so. Religion sanctifies
life, which is why it has such a respected voice in the field of
medical ethics, beginning, and end of life, and other related matters.
The conduct of the Orthodox community during this pandemic, including
its role and championing of SCOTUS decision, is likely to make its voice
far less respected in the medical community. As of now, more than 3,500
people are dying from COVID every day.
To be the culprits in tying the
hands of public health officials during this time and then advocate
against the medical community’s standards of end-of-life care evokes a
mixture of irony and tears. If we end up finding out our community
members are dying at equal rates to those who go to hair salons at least
we will know we earned that equality ourselves.
Turning on one another. With all of its
imperfections, the most beautiful thing about the American Jewish
community has been our ability to stand together and support one
another. All that changed in the past year. Suddenly political
affiliations superseded our longstanding bond with each other. We saw on
the streets of Boro Park those who dissented get beaten and receive
death threats. The minority of the Orthodox community that did not share
the political views of the vast majority found themselves on the outs
in the best case or actively being threatened in other cases.
My friend Rabbi Barry Kornblau, a longstanding member and leader in
the Rabbinical Council of America and rabbi in Queens, wrote an opinion
piece arguing in favor of candidate Joe Biden. The response he got?
Death threats, denigration, and violent rhetoric. My dear friend Jake
Adler, a yeshiva graduate who worked for years successfully advocating
for millions of dollars for Jewish day schools got a job as Governor
Cuomo’s liaison to the Orthodox community. His reward? Relentless
attacks on social media, and Orthodox Jews trying to hurt him
professionally. This vile behavior is unprecedented in the history of
American Jewry. My friend Rabbi Ben Kelsen, a black-hatted Orthodox
rabbi in Teaneck, has worked on former President Obama’s team and now on
president Biden’s team and lives in Teaneck Bergenfield. His reward for
trying to advocate for the community? Being called a Kapo when leaving
the house with his kids. While these examples are individual, they are
not the only ones.
Should there be another rise in anti-Semitism on the streets of
Orthodox neighborhoods as we saw a year ago and the Orthodox community
would like to build a broad coalition against it, other Jews might want
to know why the Orthodox community was largely absent from the No Hate,
No Fear solidarity march on the Brooklyn bridge. This rally was
organized largely to support the Orthodox community, which was facing
daily violent attacks, yet most of those same Jews ignored this rally.
At this rally I met Jews from Ohio and Florida who came in to support
their Orthodox brethren, yet those could not make the ten-minute car
ride to the rally.
Progressive Jews may also wonder why it is that when 400 (mostly
non-Orthodox) rabbis signed a letter expressing grave concern for
matters of life and death during the pandemic of a generation,
supporting public health officials, they were attacked in response.
Agudah spokesperson Avi Shafran thought that pointing out his righteous
abstinence from using Zoom on Shabbat as addressing the broader
community’s concern for matters of life and death. Perhaps he thought it
was amusing; others saw it as a mockery of concern for life and death
and an inability for shared dialogue on existential issues.
Members of the Orthodox community who didn’t align their belief with
the Trump trend were made to feel again and again that they do not
belong. A community that prided itself so much on its faith now placed
another precondition for joining: political alliance to now-former
president Trump. This kind of blind loyalty to political idols over
human decency and in violation to Jews’ historic commitment to one
another is a low American Jewry has never seen. The community has now
succumbed to the ultimate destroyer of Jewish communities throughout
history: it became deeply fractured from within. The consequences of a
divided community are both moral and pragmatic. Fractured communities
are less capable of thriving, growing, and representing themselves to
the outside world.
Courts– while there is no question that religious
communities are likely to gain more sympathy in the now conservative
SCOTUS and other courts, that sympathy did not have to come at the cost
of our voice in the political system and elsewhere. Furthermore, the
Supreme Court does not pass budgets, build communities, and support day
schools. Sure, the courts do have great powers, but judging by the
number of Orthodox Jews moving to Kentucky, Alabama, and Mississippi,
our communities depend on more than just a vacuum and neutral space for
religion. The Agudah may see their future spent in the court halls and
offices of big law firms, something which may surely yield some results,
but it will not relocate where most Orthodox Jews live.
Finally, I do not believe it is over – or close to over – for a proud and impactful Orthodox community. However, in order to move forward from its current state, all Orthodox Jews need to think hard about the following questions:
Is there room for those with different political opinions in our
community? When we engage in Kiruv and outreach, will we be telling
people that not only do they need to keep Shabbat and Kosher but that
they also need to be Republicans? What kind of space will there be in
our communities for those who openly express different political
options?
Rabbis, leaders, and laypeople will need to ask themselves what they
are doing to make sure their communities are synagogues and yeshivas and
not just a Jewish version of Liberty University. Communities will need
to think really hard if they are driving away those with different
politics and if that exclusion is forgivable from a religious
perspective.
Those who purport to vote Republican because it is the “pro-Israel”
party will need to ask: is this support because of Israel or is it
similar to the fact that in Hassidic New Square, 2,973 people cast their
votes for Trump and 6 to Biden or that in Satmar’s Kiryas Joel 6,159
voted from Trump and just 72 voted Biden. I do not judge anyone for
voting one way or the other, but when you say you are the “pro-Israel
voter,” or when you shame those who vote for pro-Israel candidates in
the Democratic Party when in fact, they are the ones working hard to
assure support for Israel, that is an entirely different issue.
Just a year ago, Yisroel Besser wrote very wisely in Mishpacha
Magazine an article about hosting non-Orthodox college students for a
Shabbos meal and how they were turned off when they realized what his
political positions are. He went on to advocate for a more politic-free
Orthodoxy:
“These students searching for truth heard only about Trump. They
missed the power of Kiddush, missed noticing the way a frum couple
speaks to each other, didn’t perceive the unique dynamic of children who
sit around a table and connect as a family, week after week.
I had blown it by bringing Trump to the Shabbos table.
I feel like many of us have fallen into the same Trump trap as
the rest of America, forced to take one side or another. But we’re not
politicians, so why go there at all? We all believe the same things,
more or less. We all believe HaKadosh Baruch Hu put the man in power. So
why shrink ourselves and all we have into the same little world where
we check off boxes — are we Fox people or CNN people?
We’re neither.”
While the message seems to have eluded its author, the publication,
and its audience in the months to come, it remains true. An Orthodoxy
that is toxically political is likely to turn off many – inside and
outside its ranks. The beauty of Judaism, our ability to communicate it
to others, and our ability to represent ourselves to the outside world
as standing for a higher value, will be severely damaged if we continue
down this path.
That does not mean we should not be politically active. It does not
mean it should be impossible for the vast majority of us to vote one way
or the other. It does mean that our public sphere needs to be what it
used to be – a Mikdash Me’at, conducted with wisdom and
prudence even during challenging times. The work towards this goal needs
to come from each and every one of us, from rabanim, leaders of
organizations, and publishers of frum weeklies who have taken an
increasingly political role steering a community towards consequences
editors and writers may not have to bear, but others will. Let us begin
the process of healing our community.
