Truthfully, I never understood how faithful Catholics wait with anticipation for the pope to deliver his homily on December 25 and on Easter. Almost all popes deliver the same message: all kinds of platitudes about the necessity for peace and for man to stop waging war. Occasionally, they will talk about materialism as well. There really is nothing of substance.
Well, Pope Leo carried the same message. Man needs to stop waging war, as nothing is accomplished except for death and destruction. Peace needs to break out. And peace is the only thing worth pursuing according to the Gospel.
Well, President Trump did not let those remarks pass. He took them as a personal criticism of him and his conducting the Iran war. In classic Trump fashion, he punched back. Opening with the understated, “I’m not a fan of Pope Leo,” Trump went on to say that the pontiff is a “very liberal person” who is “weak on crime” and “should stop catering to the radical left.” He concluded with “I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon,” which the pope did not actually say. But I guess Trump inferred that from his words.
The reaction was naturally immediate. Many in the media and in the Catholic community pounced on Trump for being so insolent toward the holiest figure in the Church. “How could he be so rude and critical of the Holy See?”
The question is: Was Trump actually guilty of being crude in his comments? I believe that Trump had a right to question the remarks of the pope. After all, the pope took a very public swipe at him. But the issue is the manner in which he delivered his remarks. Saying he is very weak on crime and caters to the radical left is a bit over the top, so Trump was asking for it.
With us, too, the issue arises. When rabbanim issue a statement that seems to be without basis or that truly defies the norms, I believe it is prudent to question them, provided no chutzpah is used.
Last week in my article, I called into question some of the decisions recently made by roshei yeshivah and rabbanim. I did receive some flak, but overall, the reaction was positive. I think my contention is correct: Rabbanim and roshei yeshivah should not be above question if the questioning is done with derech eretz.
Donald Trump may have saved himself a lot of criticism, and perhaps aggravation, if only his criticism of the pope was done with a bit more finesse. But I don’t think aggravation is something that affects Mr. Trump.
Rabbi Yoel Schonfeld is the Rabbi Emeritus of the Young Israel of Kew Gardens Hills, President of the Coalition for Jewish Values, former President of the Vaad Harabonim of Queens, and the Rabbinic Consultant for the Queens Jewish Link.
