Category: Politics

Rabbinical Assembly Speakers

Post author By Rabbi Jason Miller
Post date February 11, 2008

Last month I blogged about Rep. Tom Lantos, the only Holocaust survivor ever elected to Congress, when he announced his retirement as a result of his being diagnosed with cancer of the esophagus. Tom Lantos passed away this morning in Bethesda naval hospital. He was 80-years-old. I feel fortunate to have had the chance to meet Rep. Lantos this past March at the AIPAC Policy Conference in D.C.

Tom Lantos was a real mentsch and an important voice for human rights in Congress, even if he would never have been allowed to speak at a Rabbinical Assembly convention. Since Tom Lantos was married to a non-Jewish woman (in photo), he would have been forbidden from addressing the Rabbinical Assembly during its annual convention. As a dues-paying member of the Conservative Movement’s Rabbinical Assembly, I was surprised this week to learn of this policy.

A JTA article explains the little known RA policy prohibiting intermarried Jews from being speakers at the RA Convention. Therefore, the article states, it was difficult for the RA to maintain a balance between speakers on the right and left of the political aisle at this week’s convention in D.C. So, while Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts is speaking at the Convention, Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer (married to a non-Jew) will not be allowed to. The policy even applies to non-Jews who have married Jews making Democratic Party Chair Howard Dean and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid ineligible. Each of these men are married to Jewish women (to be fair, Reid’s wife converted from Judaism to Mormonism so I’m not sure why he’s still blacklisted).

I can understand the RA choosing not to invite intermarried speakers to address the Convention if they are only going to promote intermarriage as a virtuous decision, but I don’t believe that choice has to be crafted into a written policy. I wonder if the RA asks all speakers at the Convention to disclose the religion of their spouse when they are invited to speak.

This policy would preclude a lot of politicians, business leaders, authors, and entertainers from speaking at RA conventions. For instance, Christina Aguilera would not be able to perform at an RA Convention (I’d pay to see that!) or speak about what it is like raising her son in the Jewish tradition (married to the Jewish Jordan Bratman, the couple’s son recently had his bris). This policy would also prohibit Jon Stewart from speaking at the RA Convention since he married Tracey McShane, a non-Jewish woman.

As the Conservative Movement tries to reach out to interfaith families through edud (insiration and encouragement), it would be helpful for Conservative rabbis to hear from couples who are living in interfaith relationships. However, under this policy it would be impossible for speakers like Jim Keen, an outspoken gentile father committed to raising Jewish children, to be allowed to speak at an RA convention.

Rabbi Bradley Artson, dean of the Ziegler rabbinical school in Los Angeles, said “It’s the right priority, but the policy isn’t the right policy for the goal.”

My sense is that this policy will soon be reversed. It is possible for the Rabbinical Assembly and Conservative Judaism to stand firmly against intermarriage without barring speakers who happen to be married to members of another religion.

Israel Politics

Lights Out for Bush in Jerusalem

Post author By Rabbi Jason Miller
Post date January 9, 2008

In a move that Al Gore would approve of for its energy-saving environmental impact, Jerusalem has agreed to turn off the lights in the Old City before dawn this week so visiting President George W. Bush can enjoy a better view of sunrise from his King David Hotel suite, reported AFP.

Bush arrived in Jerusalem today giving most Jerusalemites a tough time getting to and from work because of his entourage’s security needs. Turning the lights out on the Old City is in response to a request Bush made to watch the sun rise without the destraction of natural lights on the limestone walls of the ancient city.

Personally, I had to suffer through the unfortunate glare of lights when I tried to take in the Jerusalem sunrise from the balcony of my King Solomon Hotel suite this summer. It never occured to me that I could have requested an alternate ambience for my viewing pleasure. Ah, the perks of being the leader of the free world.

Holocaust Jewish Politics

Tom Lantos

Post author By Rabbi Jason Miller
Post date January 4, 2008

I met California Rep. Tom Lantos at the AIPAC Policy Conference this year. Rep. Lantos introduced Sen. Hillary Clinton before she spoke at her candidate’s reception at the policy conference, where I took the photo at right.

Tom Lantos announced today that he will retire from office and not seek re-election following his being diagnosed with cancer. The JTA article states that in “his 27 years in the U.S. Congress, Rep. Tom Lantos had two constituencies — California’s 12th District, encompassing parts of San Francisco and its suburbs, and the ghosts of the Jews who perished in his native Europe.”

The 80-year-old Lantos was diagnosed with cancer of the esophagus. He is the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the House and is known as “the only Holocaust survivor elected to Congress.” Tom Lantos has been a strong advocate for humanitarian rights during his long career in politics. He has been a strong supporter of Israel and a voice of conscience on the situation in Darfur.

I pray for a refuah shleyma (speedy recovery) for Tom Lantos. His career as a U.S. Representative has been an honorable one.

Jewish Politics

Tallis-Man at Romney Event

Post author By Rabbi Jason Miller
Post date December 16, 2007

No, there wasn’t a spontaneous mincha minyan at Mitt Romney’s religion speech last week at the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library in College Station.

As Rabbi Amy Weiss reported on her blog, there was a mysterious man wearing a tallit and posing as a rabbi at Romney’s speech. The man was sitting in the section reserved for religious leaders. Well, since every Jew knows that the only time you see a rabbi wearing a tallit outside of a prayer service is on Seinfeld or when Rabbi Avi Weiss is protesting something, this guy probably wasn’t a rabbi.

Turns out it was investment mogul David Nierenberg (in photo at left by Ben Sklar-Getty Images), one of several Romney For President National Finance Chairs, who was wearing the tallit. Nierenberg runs Nierenberg Investment Management and a quick Google search also shows that Nierenberg and his wife Patricia made a $15 million donation to the Southwest Washington Medical Center (and a $25,000 donation for the John Kerry presidential campaign in 2004).

Rabbi Amy Weiss opined on her blog that Mr. Nierenberg is “not a rabbi, but a clearly ignorant Jew who thought that ‘dressing up as a Jew’ to show support for his Christian candidate would be helpful.” My sense is that Nierenberg is not an ignorant Jew at all (and some Christians would even say that Romney is not a Christian candidate, but I’m not going there). Rather he is a devoted Romney supporter who was wearing the most obviously Jewish garb he could find to show non-Jews that there are Jews who support Romney too.

Basically, this publicity stunt only comes off as kitschy. My sense is that Romney adviser Noam Neusner (son of Conservative rabbi and scholar Jacob Neusner) did not give Nierenberg his blessing to don his bar mitzvah tallis at the Romney event.

Next thing you know there’s going to be a picture of Mitt Romney wearing a tallis on the Web.

Israel Politics

November 29

Post author By Rabbi Jason Miller
Post date November 29, 2007

I can’t think of any street I’ve seen in the United States named for a historical date. Yet, Jerusalem has a street named for a very important date in its history — November 29th (Kaf-Tet b’November). Today marks sixty years since the United Nations Partition Plan that paved the way for the establishment of a Jewish State.

Tom Segev, author of The Seventh Million, writes in today’s Haaretz newspaper:

On Saturday night, November 29, 1947, many of the Jews in the Land of Israel went out to dance in the streets of the cities. They were celebrating the United Nations decision to establish a Jewish state in part of the country. The Arabs were also supposed to get a state, but they went to war.

In his new book, Yoav Gelber, a professor of history at the University of Haifa, ponders what would have happened had the Arabs agreed to the Partition Plan adopted by the UN 60 years ago today. “We can only guess,” writes Gelber cautiously. [more]

My colleague Rabbi Barry Leff, who recently made aliyah with his family, is in charge of the creation of a new blog from the World Zionist Organization called “The Persistence of Vision: Israel at Sixty”.

With the sixtieth anniversary of Kaf-Tet b’November, there are only about 6 months left until Israel’s 60th anniversary of statehood and so the Department for Zionist Activities has launched its “6 Months to 60” campaign with this new blog. Rabbi Leff explains the goal of this forum on his personal blog:

The Persistence of Vision: Israel at 60
www.IsraelAtSixty.org.il

This forum brings together five experts in their respective fields who share their own perspectives on the meaning of Jewish statehood. What unites them is their common belief that vision has always constituted the heart of the Zionist enterprise, and that it continues to beat vigorously today. Here they will reflect on the significance of 60 years of Israel’s existence, how the reality that has emerged compares to the 2000-year-old dream, how to handle the disappointments, and how to work towards fulfillment of the promise. Readers are invited to turn the blog into a dialog by posting their own opinions and comments. They are also encouraged to take advantage of numerous links to additional resources for further learning and for ideas for celebrating 60 years of Israel’s independence.

Our hope is that this blog will stimulate six months of heightened reflection on the contemporary significance of Israel and Zionism, as well as on the relationship of Jews everywhere to the Jewish state. Together with the rest of Am Yisrael we are looking forward to a joyous celebration of Israel’s 60th birthday, but we want to make sure as well that it will be an occasion infused with substance. Much will remain to be done “the morning after,” and the more the task is discussed, and the more it is understood, the better will be the outcome.

Israel Politics World Events

Annapolis Peace Summit

Post author By Rabbi Jason Miller
Post date November 27, 2007

President Bush just announced a joint decision between Israeli and Palestinian leaders to work toward a peace agreement by the end of 2008. The nature of the agreement, as well as what is at stake for Israel, is fairly confusing.

Bernard Lewis presented a very well written commentary piece on the Annapolis Peace Conference in yesterday’s Wall Street Journal. The article, titled “On the Jewish Question,” is available on the WSJ.com website. Lewis writes:

Herewith some thoughts about tomorrow’s Annapolis peace conference, and the larger problem of how to approach the Israel-Palestine conflict. The first question (one might think it is obvious but apparently not) is, “What is the conflict about?” There are basically two possibilities: that it is about the size of Israel, or about its existence.

If the issue is about the size of Israel, then we have a straightforward border problem, like Alsace-Lorraine or Texas. That is to say, not easy, but possible to solve in the long run, and to live with in the meantime.

If, on the other hand, the issue is the existence of Israel, then clearly it is insoluble by negotiation. There is no compromise position between existing and not existing, and no conceivable government of Israel is going to negotiate on whether that country should or should not exist. [more]

Celebrities Jewish Politics

Examining the Forward 50

Post author By Rabbi Jason Miller
Post date November 13, 2007

Each year the Forward newspaper compiles its Forward 50 list of Jewish people who are “doing and saying things that are making a difference in the way American Jews, for better or worse, view the world and themselves.” And each year the critics come out to denounce the Forward for its choices. The Orthodox think there should be more Orthodox rabbis on the list. The liberals think there should be more liberals on the list. And so on.

You can read the criticism of the Forward 50 on the comments page at the Forward or at the JTA Blog. I actually think it’s a pretty good list this year with some interesting choices. I am, however, in agreement with most of the critics in my surprise that Seth Rogen and Judd Apatow (“Superbad”) were chosen as Top Picks. They’ve made some funny movies together and are both Jewish, but have they really fulfilled the Forward’s criteria?

It makes sense that Sheldon Adelson was one of the top picks. He’s given away a lot of money this year. I was very impressed with the additions at Yad Vashem I saw this summer that are a result of his mega-philanthropy, and Birthright Israel will be able to get thousands of young people off the wait list because of his generosity. I would have also liked to see Bill Davidson make the list after his $75 million gift to Hadassah Hospital this year, in addition to his financial commitment to the field of Jewish education. Philanthropists Michael Steinhardt and Lynn Schusterman both made the list, and deservedly so. I heard Lynn speak last week in Phoenix along with Sandy Cardin, the president of the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation. With her strategic philanthropy, Lynn Schusterman really is making an impact on the Jewish community.

I also feel that Bob Aronson, Detroit’s Federation chief and the new interim head of the Steinhardt Foundation, is deserving of his inclusion in the Forward 50. His praises were spelled out very well in the paragraph about his accomplishments in the Detroit Jewish community and beyond.

Many of the Jewish leaders who made the list come as no surprise — Abe Foxman, Rabbi Eric Yoffie, Ruth Messinger, Ron Lauder, Rabbi David Saperstein, and Rabbi Steve Gutow. After attending this year’s AIPAC Policy Conference, it comes as no surprise to me that Howard Kohr made the list. AIPAC has been very successful under Kohr’s leadership. Not to mention that he came in sixth (ahead of both Hillary Clinton and Condi Rice) in GQ’s prestigious list of the 50 most influential individuals in Washington, so how could he not make the Forward’s list.

Last year’s Forward 50 had many Conservative rabbis on the list including Elliot Dorff, Sharon Brous, Jill Jacobs, and Irwin Kula. This year, there were not as many Conservative rabbis, but I was happy to see that Rabbi Morris Allen made the list. Rabbi Allen is at the forefront of the Hechsher Zedek Commission, looking into the ethical and environmental implications of kosher food. I think Irwin Kula should have made the list again this year as the response to his book Yearnings: Embracing the Sacred Messiness of Life has been tremendous. The new dean of the JTS rabbinical school, Rabbi Danny Nevins, also should have made the list as he was the main author of the teshuva that paved the way this year for gay and lesbian rabbis in the Conservative Movement.

Compiling a list of only fifty Jewish leaders and visionaries is no simple task. Everyone will have their choices for who was not included but should have been. I would have liked to see Larry David (“Curb Your Enthusiasm”), Jon Stewart, and Red Sox Gold Glove winner Kevin Youkilis make the list. I also think that with his autobiography being published, Alan Greenspan should have made the list this year. Also missing were Noah Feldman (NY Times Magazine article criticized Orthodoxy and sparked debate), Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook founder), Jay Michaelson (Zeek creator who criticized Michael Steinhardt in a public memo published in the Forward), and Josh Bolton (White House Chief of Staff).

Many have called Jewish Theological Seminary Chancellor Arnie Eisen’s inclusion a speculative choice. I think that Chancellor Eisen was a good choice in the religion category as he is truly leading a renaissance in the Conservative Movement. He may still be getting used to his new office in Manhattan, but he has already proven himself over the course of the past year as Chancellor-elect. However, a speculative choice in my opinion was the first individual listed in this year’s Forward 50. Michael Mukasey, who has been US Attorney General for all of two days, really hasn’t had the chance to prove himself yet. But it will be interesting to see what they write about him next year.

I am certainly looking Forward to next year’s top fifty.

Christianity Conservative Judaism Interfaith Jewish Politics

Ann Coulter and Alan Colmes Square Off

Post author By Rabbi Jason Miller
Post date November 2, 2007

I had to laugh today when an article on the Media Matters website was sent to me by way of my Google Alert for the term “Conservative Rabbi.” This has been an effective Google Alert that sends me any articles or websites that mention a rabbinic colleague of mine from the Conservative Movement. However, the reason the Media Matters article was included in the Google Alert today was the mention of the Orthodox rabbi and TV personality Shmuley Boteach. The Media Matters article contains the transcripts of the October 30 edition of Fox News’ Hannity & Colmes, when co-host Alan Colmes interviewed Ann Coulter. Colmes quotes his “good friend, the conservative rabbi Shmuley Boteach.”

Yes, Shmuley Boteach is conservative (with a lower-case “c”) and also a rabbi, but he is most certainly not a Conservative Rabbi!

I thought Colmes did a good job of questioning Ann Coulter about her controversial comments about Jews and Christians from her “Danny Deutsch Show” interview last month. Never one to miss an opportunity to say something outlandish, Coulter explained that she wears the criticism from Jewish groups like the ADL and the American Jewish Congress “as a badge of honor.”

Rabbi Yehuda Levin, a spokesman for the Rabbinical Alliance for America and the Union of Orthodox Rabbis of the United States and Canada, came to Coulter’s defense explaining that “She said nothing that in any way indicates anti-Semitism.” Rabbi Levin’s defense of Coulter was enough for her to claim the support of 1000 orthodox rabbis. Rabbi Yehuda Levin is the ultra-Orthodox rabbi who tried to ban the Gay Pride parade in Jerusalem. Rabbi Levin also has a website, Jews for Morality, that includes essays claiming that hurricane Katrina was God’s Judgment on a sin-loving America.

Perhaps the only thing funnier that the phrase “conservative rabbi Shmuley Boteach” is the final exchange in the Coulter-Colmes interview. Even after watching the video of the interview (see below) it makes no sense. Just more ridiculousness from Ann Coulter. Oy!

ANN COULTER: How about eating soup? Is that a classic food of anti-Semites?

ALAN COLMES: Yeah, that’s lovely, Ann. I’m going to move on in spite of yourself, and maybe save you from saying something else that’s ridiculous.

Israel Michigan Politics

Israel and Public Opinion

Post author By Rabbi Jason Miller
Post date October 30, 2007

About a month ago I sat in utter disbelief watching Michael Scheuer being interviewed by Bill Maher on HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher.” Scheuer is the former head of the CIA’s Bin Laden Unit and the author of a new book, “Marching Toward Hell: America and Islam After Iraq.” Bill Maher raised the question of whether Bin Laden and Islamic fundamentalists are always going to be willing to kill Americans and whether U.S. support of Israel has anything to do with that. Here’s the exchange that followed along with the extended video clip:

Bill Maher: Would you grant me this, that as long as there’s an Israel in the world (and I’m a big supporter of Israel)… and as long as America backs it, the kind of Muslims that take their religion that seriously, that they would strap on a suicide belt, are always going to be out for us and always willing to kill us.
Michael Scheuer: I think we can reduce it very seriously, sir. I disagree with you on Israel, but —
BM: In what way? You’re not a supporter?
MS: I hope Israel flourishes. I just don’t think it’s worth an American life or an American dollar.
BM: You don’t — you don’t think the existence of Israel in the world is worth an American life or an American dollar?
MS: Not only Israel, sir, but Saudi Arabia or Kuwait or Bolivia. I’m much more—
BM: You’re really — you’re really not telling me that Israel is on a par with Saudi Arabia.
MS: I’m telling you — what I’m telling you, sir, is I’m most interested in the survival of the United States.
BM: But Israel is a democracy in a part of the world that has none.
MS: What — so what, sir? It doesn’t matter to Americans if anyone ever votes again.

While I’m sure there are many CIA officials today who are critical of American support of Israel, I was shocked that this CIA unit director would state that Israel “isn’t worth an American life or an American dollar.” I was pleased to see Bill Maher (whose show I enjoy very much) stand up for Israel even while his audience and guests were clearly on the other side. Jewish newspapers, for the most part, did not cover Bill Maher’s strong defense of the Jewish State. However, Rob Eshman, Editor-in-Chief of the Los Angeles Jewish Journal apparently felt the same way I did after seeing the Bill Maher-Michael Scheuer exchange (and the Janine Garofalo comments that followed). In his editorial, he wrote:

Maher’s reaction was no more composed than my own. The audience tended to side with Schneuer and fellow guest Janeane Garofalo (who knew CIA staffers adhered to the Garofilian understanding of world affairs). What the transcript [of the exchange] doesn’t show is Maher’s stammering, his awkward comebacks, his vanished confidence as he tried, to his great credit, to process how a man once in charge of keeping us safe could be so clueless as to what endangers us.

There is so much criticism of Israel these days. Much of it takes place on college campuses, but it is spreading and the grossly exaggerated book criticizing the Israel lobby in America by John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt is not helping matters.

Recently in Ann Arbor, a very liberal college town that is overwhelmingly anti-Israel, the People’s Food Co-Op in Ann Arbor tried to boycott the sale of all Israeli-based products. Fortunately, the Detroit Free Press reported that 77% of the co-op members voted to reject the boycott. It should be no surprise that this boycott was proposed in Ann Arbor, where a small group spends each Saturday morning protesting against Israel outside of Beth Israel, a Conservative Jewish synagogue, while families observe Shabbat inside. Members of that same group once held vigil outside of the Hiller’s Supermarket in Ann Arbor. They were objecting to the owner, Jim Hiller (pictured), selling products from Israel. Well, in what was something of a “reverse boycott,” these protesters only encouraged pro-Israel supporters to flock to Hiller’s supermarket in droves each Sunday morning to purchase the Israeli products. Jim Hiller, a strong supporter of Israel, is the newly elected president of the Jewish National Fund‘s Michigan Region.

Another potential boycott of Israel that turns out to be in Israel’s favor is the failed academic boycott of Israel by Britain’s University and College Union. A delegation of university officials from the United Kingdom visited universities in Israel this week. In a JTA report, David Newman, a professor in the Department of Politics and Government at Ben-Gurion University, said, “The boycott debate has, paradoxically, opened a window of opportunity for Israeli and British universities to develop new research links and collaborations.”

With so much criticism directed toward Israel, it is imperative that supporters of the Jewish State serve as ambassadors, letting others know how essential Israel is in the world as the only true democracy in the Middle East. It is so important now to visit Israel and to support organizations like AIPAC and the Jewish National Fund. Here is a wonderful video that highlights the many positive aspects of Israel: