Opinion

It might surprise you, but I do not believe rabbis belong in politics. I am sure you are wondering how that can be. After all, so many of my articles for the Queens Jewish Link involve my assessment of the current political situation. I am quite definitely conservative in my political views and make no secret of being a strong critic of the Democratic Party. During my tenure, I was the only pulpit rabbi on the local Jewish political action committee, known as the Queens Jewish Alliance. To the chagrin of many on the QJA, I still am an active participant on their chat. So, how can I maintain that rabbis do not belong in politics?

I was originally going to write this article as an “Open Letter to the Democratic Elected Officials in Queens.” At one point, I thought of doing so by name. Then I decided to just write as a general letter addressed to all our Democratic reps. My intention was to ask them, despite being Democrats, to please not be openly supportive of the Harris/Walz campaign, which represents disaster for Israel and the Jewish people. If the dissing of the Jewish Pennsylvania governor did not make that crystal clear, then no argument would be persuasive.

In last week’s edition, I focused on the special nature of the Jewish people and how they are “One Nation on this Earth.” In that article, I mentioned that the suffering of the Israeli people is our suffering. On the other hand, their joy is our joy. This is true of Jews throughout the world.

The main thrust of the Democratic Party campaign against Donald Trump and the Republicans is that they are a threat to democracy. It looks like they are right. Here is the proof you may not have heard.

Every Shabbos afternoon, during the Sh’moneh Esrei of Minchah, we say, “Mi K’amcha Yisrael,” Who are like Your people, one nation on this earth! This is taken from Samuel II (7:23). See the commentaries there, such as the Ralbag, who explain that Hashem needed to create a special bond with us to treat us differently from all the other nations, so he made us unique on Earth and unified as one.

As I write this article, events are spinning out of control. Iran is threatening Israel to mark the end of the Zionist state (chalilah). There is an extremely dangerous hurricane pounding Florida. The economy is spiraling downward. Kamala Harris is deciding whom to choose as running mate. Right now, the Jewish governor of Pennsylvania is under top consideration. His problem, however, is that he is “too Jewish.” It seems that, over 30 years ago, in a school essay, he wrote that the Arabs are not interested nor equipped to live in peace in a Two-State Solution. What a crazy notion!