Today, September 11, 2020, is the 19th anniversary of the attack on America on September 11, 2001. The tragedy of that day and the loss of thousands of Americans changed the way we Americans see the world and strive to protect ourselves against the evil intentions of others. As a nation, we mourn our losses then and the losses of all the men and women in uniform suffered in the wars that came in 9/11’s wake as well as the innocent in Afghanistan and Iraq who were caught up in the fighting.

Now, we are experiencing yet another tragedy of far greater scale. Approaching 200,000 deaths from the virus in this country alone, so many tens of thousands of whom need not have died had the United States been led by a competent, honest, compassionate, and worthy President.

I turn now in this 4^th blog in a series examining Jewish values on the Environment and Climate Change, the greatest single existential threat to the planet, with the policies of the Biden-Harris ticket.

From the Biblical era to the present, Jewish tradition is clear that we are stewards of the environment and that it is our religious and moral obligation to protect and preserve the natural world. These Jewish values comport fully with the Biden-Harris policy goals as opposed to those of the Trump administration that has undone so much of the progress of earlier administrations to assure a healthy and sustainable America.

The following texts span Jewish attitudes and date from the middle of the 2^nd millennium B.C.E.:

“God took and placed the human being in the Garden of Eden to work and protect it.” –Genesis 2:15, Mesopotamia, middle of the 2^nd millennium B.C.E.

“Should you besiege a town many days to do battle against it, you shall not destroy its trees to swing an axe against them, for from them you shall eat, and you shall not cut them down. For is the tree of the field a human, to come away from you in the siege? Only a tree that you know is not a tree for eating, it you may destroy and cut down and build a siege-work against the town that does battle against you, until its fall.” –Deuteronomy 20:19-20, Israel, 7^th century B.C.E.

“In the hour when the Holy One, blessed be God, created the first human being, God took the human and let him/her pass before all the trees of the Garden of Eden, and said to the human: See my works, how fine and excellent they are! Now all that I have created, for you have I created it. Think upon this, and do not corrupt and desolate my world; for if you corrupt it, there is no one to set it right after you.” –Kohelet Rabbah 8:28 – Israel/Babylon, 600-950 C.E.

“One day, as Honi the Circle-Drawer was walking along the road, he saw a man planting a carob tree. Honi asked, “How long will it take for this tree to bear fruit?” The man replied, “Seventy years.” Honi asked, “Do you expect to live another seventy years to eat its fruit?” The man replied, “I did not find the world without carob trees when I entered it. As my forebears planted for me, so I am planting for those who come after me.”                                              –Babylonian Talmud, Ta-anit 23a – Babylon, 500 C.E.

“Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai said: If you are holding a sapling in your hand and they tell you the messiah has come, first plant the sapling, then go welcome the messiah.” –Avot d’Rabbi Natan B 31 – Israel/Babylon, 8^th–9^th century C.E.

“The lights (i.e. sun, moon and stars) of the world suffer when a beneficial tree is harmed.” –Babylonian Talmud, Sukkah 29a – Babylon, 500 C.E.

“When a fruit-bearing tree is chopped down, a crying voice is heard from one end of the world to the other, but it is not audible to the human ear.” –Pirkei d’Rabbi Eliezer 34 – Italy, 8^th–9^th century C.E.

“Ba’al tash’chit – ‘Do not destroy’ – was understood by our sages very broadly as including any act of needless destruction. ‘Not only does this apply to trees, but also whoever breaks vessels or tears garments, destroys a building, blocks a wellspring of water, or destructively wastes food transgresses the command ba’al tash’chit.’” –Rabbi Moses Ben Maimon (aka RAMBAM, Maimonides), Mishneh Torah, Hilkhot Melachim 6:10 – Spain and Egypt, 12^th century C.E.

“It is the way of the righteous and of people of action who love peace and are happy in the good of their fellows and who bring them close to Torah, that they should never waste even the seed of the mustard plant. And if they are able to save, they save everything from destruction with all their willpower. This is not the way of … the evildoers who do damage. They are happy with the destruction of the world, and they destroy it.” –Sefer HaChinukh 529 – Spain, 13^th century C.E.

[The statutes relating to environmental protection represent the principle that] “the same regard that you show to humankind you must also demonstrate to every lower creature, to the earth which bears and sustains all, and to the world of plants and animals…They ask you to regard all living things as God’s property. Destroy none; abuse none; waste nothing; employ all things wisely….Look upon all creatures as servants in the household of creation.” –Rabbi Samson Rafael Hirsch, The Nineteen Letters, Letter 11 – Germany, 1808-1888

BIDEN-HARRIS POLICY PLATFORM TO BATTLE CLIMATE CHANGE

“From coastal towns to rural farms to urban centers, climate change poses an existential threat – not just to our environment, but to our health, our communities, our national security, and our economic well-being. It also damages our communities with storms that wreak havoc on our towns and cities and our homes and schools. It puts our national security at risk by leading to regional instability that will require U.S military-supported relief activities and could make areas more vulnerable to terrorist activities.

Vice President Biden knows there is no greater challenge facing our country and our world. The following is his outline for a bold plan – a Clean Energy Revolution – to address this grave threat and lead the world in addressing the climate emergency.

Joe Biden believes the Green New Deal is a crucial framework for meeting the climate challenges we face. It powerfully captures two basic truths, which are at the core of his plan: (1) the United States urgently needs to embrace greater ambition on an epic scale to meet the scope of this challenge, and (2) our environment and our economy are completely and totally connected.

In 1986, Joe Biden introduced one of the first-ever climate bills in Congress. PolitiFact called him a “climate change pioneer” and dubbed his early leadership “a watershed moment.” Biden will lead the world in addressing the climate emergency by:

• Ensuring the U.S. achieves a 100% clean energy economy and net-zero emissions by 2050.
• Rebuilding the nation and ensuring that our buildings, water, transportation, and energy infrastructure can withstand the impacts of climate change.
• Recommitting the United States to the Paris Agreement on climate change and lead an effort to get every major country to ramp up the ambition of their domestic climate targets.
• Standing up to the abuse of power by polluters who disproportionately harm communities of color and low-income communities.
• Fulfilling our obligation to workers and communities who powered our industrial revolution and subsequent decades of economic growth.”

See https://joebiden.com/climate-plan/# for The Biden Climate Plan

Note: In the weeks leading up to the November election, I am posting relevant Jewish texts articulating Jewish values and principles as applied to the significant challenges facing America along with the policies of the Biden-Harris ticket that comport with those Jewish values. I do so as one of hundreds of “Rabbis for Biden” who believe that the Trump-Pence Administration is threatening our democratic system of government and democratic norms, the U.S. Constitution, Jewish moral values and ethical principles, and America’s preeminent standing as a respected world leader.

Jewish Values and the Biden-Harris Ticket – Blog #1

HEALTH CARE – Jewish Values and the Biden-Harris Ticket – Blog #2

ECONOMIC JUSTICE – Jewish Values and the Biden-Harris Ticket – Blog #3

I ask you to consider distributing these blogs to anyone who is interested in what the vast majority of liberal American Jews believe (according to all polls) to Democrats, Independents, lapsed Republicans, Never Trump Republicans, and people who do not like Trump but are not yet convinced to support the Biden-Harris ticket, especially those living in the states identified by the Democratic presidential campaign where the closest results will likely occur: Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, and Wisconsin.

I ask that you especially distribute these blogs to young potential voters who historically turn out in smaller numbers relative to their percentage of the population. Ask them to vote not only for the Biden-Harris ticket but for Democratic Senate, House, state, and local candidates.

Nothing is more important than getting out the vote and winning the above states and the Electoral College. Though Joe Biden will likely win the popular vote by millions of votes, he may yet lose the Electoral College and the election. Therefore, he must win by huge numbers in the above states. Everyone should be encouraged to vote early unless you are willing to stand in line at polling places despite the health risks.

 

[Note: I first posted this blog six years ago. In this age of the pandemic, economic collapse, unemployment, racism and bigotry of many kinds, and the run-up to the November election, the midah of kindness is particularly important.]

I am a collector of quotations on every conceivable theme. During the month of Elul (preceding the High Holidays) each year I revisit my ever-expanding collection with particular focus on the midot, the moral and ethical virtues that are Judaism’s foundational values.

The virtue of loving-kindness (Hebrew – chesed) is one such midah, and one I learned early in my life by example from my father (z’l) who taught my brother and me to “always be kind.” When our father died so long ago, this was a lesson I took deeply to heart not only for its own sake, but because by being kind (I like to think) I become worthy to be his son. I try and emulate his kindness in everyone I encounter.

I have in my collection pages and pages of quotations on the theme of kindness. I offer below a few of them:

When I was young, I admired clever people. Now that I am old, I admire kind people.
-Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel

Three things in human life are important: The first is to be kind. The second is to be kind. And the third is to be kind.
-Henry James

A thoughtful act or a kind word may pass in a moment, but the warmth and care behind it stay in the heart forever.
-Marjolein Bastin

Always be kind!
-Leon Rosove

The best portions of a good person’s life are little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and love.
-William Wordsworth

You cannot do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late.
–Ralph Waldo Emerson

Be kind because everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.
-Philo Judaeus

It is a bit embarrassing to have been concerned with the human problem all one’s life and find at the end that one has no more to offer by way of advice than to try to be a little kinder.
-Aldous Huxley

Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.
-Leo Buscaglia

Today I bent the truth to be kind, and I have no regret, for I am far surer of what is kind than I am of what is true.
-Robert Brault

The smallest act of kindness is worth more than the grandest intention.
–Oscar Wilde

Kindness is in our power, even when fondness is not.
-Samuel Johnson

I expect to pass through this world but once; any good thing therefore that I can do, or any kindness that I can show to any fellow creature, let me do it now; let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.
-Étienne de Grellet du Mabillier

For beautiful eyes, look for the good in others; for beautiful lips, speak only words of kindness; and for poise, walk with the knowledge that you are never alone.
-Audrey Hepburn

This pandemic has stretched so many individuals and families to their breaking point, with unemployment numbers climbing, millions of people seeing their hours, wages, and health care cut, becoming food insecure, and entering into homelessness. Many people were already struggling to make ends meet before Covid-19. Many parents are worried about the economic future for their children and many seniors are frightened that their life savings are evaporating. The pandemic and economic hardship has particularly hit hard Black and Latino Americans, Native Americans, immigrants, and single parent families.

With structural weaknesses, inequalities in place, and a vanishing middle class, better education and job training for a 21^st century economy will be necessary so that people will have the tools, choices, and freedom to advance without having to bear the burden of accumulated debt.

Caring for the needy, hungry, homeless, and most vulnerable is a core Jewish value and comports with the Biden-Harris ticket’s values and policy guidelines.

The following are a few examples of ancient Jewish text mandating the community’s responsibility to care for the poor, hungry, and homeless followed by Biden-Harris policy platform highlights.

“If… there are needy [people] among you, … do not harden your heart and shut your hand against [them]. Rather, you must open your hand and lend them sufficient for what they lack, … Beware lest you harbor the base thought … so that you are mean … and give nothing. They will cry out to God against you, and you will incur guilt. Give them readily and have no regrets when you do so,… there will never cease to be needy ones in your land.” –Deuteronomy 15: 7-11 – Israel, 7^th century BCE

“‘Sufficient for what a person lacks’– this is a house. ‘What is lacking’– this is a bed and table.” –Babylonian Talmud, Ketubot 67b – Babylon, 500 CE

“… this is the fast I desire: to loosen the fetters of wickedness, to undo the bands of the yoke, and to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke? It is to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the poor that are cast out to your house; when you see the naked, cover them, and do not ignore your brethren.” –Isaiah 58:6-7 – Israel, 8^th century BCE

“How much is it appropriate to give to the poor? ‘Sufficient for their needs in that which they lacks.’ If they are hungry, you must feed them. If they need clothing, you must clothe them..” –Shulchan Arukh, Yoreh Deah 250.1 – Israel, 16^th century CE

ECONOMIC JUSTICE – BIDEN-HARRIS POLICY PLATFORM 

Expanding Home Ownership, Biden-Harris will seek to

• Invest $640 billion over 10 years so every American has access to housing that is affordable, stable, safe and healthy, accessible, energy efficient and resilient, and located near good schools and with a reasonable commute to their jobs
• End redlining and other discriminatory and unfair practices in the housing market
• Provide financial assistance to help hard-working Americans buy or rent safe, quality housing, including down payment assistance through a refundable and advanceable tax credit and fully funding federal rental assistance

• Increase the supply, lower the cost, and improve the quality of housing through investments in resilience, energy efficiency, and accessibility of homes
• Pursue a comprehensive approach to ending homelessness

Targeting the Wealthy and Corporations with Tax increases, Biden-Harris will seek to

• Raise income tax rates from the wealthiest Americans and corporations

• Raise the top income tax rate back to 39.6% from 37%
• Tax capital gains and dividends at ordinary rates for those with annual incomes over $1 million
• Tax unrealized capital gains at death
• Apply Social Security payroll tax for those earning over $400,000 a year
• Close stepped-up basis loophole
• Raise top corporate income tax rate to 28% from 21%
• Impose 15% minimum tax on book income of large companies (at least $100 million annual net income)
• Tax profits earned from foreign subsidiaries of U.S. firms 21%

Reducing Student Debt, Biden-Harris will seek to

• Forgive all undergraduate tuition-related federal student debt of those who make up to $125,000 and attended two- and four-year public colleges and universities, historically black colleges and universities and underfunded minority-serving institutions
• Cancel a minimum of $10,000 of student debt per person
• Forgive the remainder of loans after 20 years with no tax burden
• Suspend monthly payments and interest of those earning less than $25,000 per year
• Cap payments at 5% of discretionary income for the rest
• Forgive federal loans of up to $50,000 over five years for those who participate in public service

Raising the Minimum wage, Biden-Harris will seek to

• Raise the federal minimum wage to $15/hour

Building and Expanding the Nation’s Infrastructure, Biden-Harris will seek to

• Spend $1.3 trillion on infrastructure over a decade. This includes $50 billion in his first year in office on repairing roads, highways and bridges, $20 billion on rural broadband infrastructure, $400 billion over 10 years on a federal new agency to conduct clean energy research and innovation, $5 billion over five years on electric car battery technology and $10 billion over 10 years on transit projects that serve high-poverty areas.

Supporting Rural America, Biden-Harris will seek to

• Fight for fair trade deals
• Invest $20 billion in rural broadband infrastructure
• Create low-carbon manufacturing jobs
• Reinvest in agricultural research
• Improving access to federal resources and funds for farming or small businesses
• Expand health services and medical training programs
• Spend 10% of federal program funding in areas with persistent poverty

See the Biden-Harris economic plan at https://www.investopedia.com/joe-biden-s-economic-plan-save-the-middle-class-4769869

Note: In the weeks leading up to the November election, I am posting relevant Jewish texts articulating Jewish values and principles as applied to the significant challenges facing America along with the policies of the Biden-Harris ticket that comport with those Jewish values. I do so as one of hundreds of “Rabbis for Biden” who believe that the Trump-Pence Administration is threatening our democratic system of government and democratic norms, the U.S. Constitution, Jewish moral values and ethical principles, and America’s preeminent standing as a respected world leader.

I ask you to consider distributing these blogs to anyone who is interested in what the vast majority of liberal American Jews believe (according to all polls) to Democrats, Independents, lapsed Republicans, Never Trump Republicans, and people who do not like Trump but are not yet convinced to support the Biden-Harris ticket, especially those living in the states identified by the Democratic presidential campaign where the closest results will likely occur: Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, and Wisconsin.

I ask that you especially distribute these blogs to young potential voters who historically turn out in smaller numbers relative to their percentage of the population. Ask them to vote not only for the Biden-Harris ticket but for Democratic Senate, House, state, and local candidates.

Nothing is more important than getting out the vote and winning the above states and the Electoral College. Though Joe Biden will likely win the popular vote by millions of votes, he may yet lose the Electoral College and the election. Therefore, he must win by huge numbers in the above states. Everyone should be encouraged to vote early unless you are willing to stand in line at polling places despite the health risks.

I’ve been feeling increasingly disgusted by our current morally bankrupt and corrupt White House occupant and his Republican sycophants and supporters and have thought to stop reading and watching the news so as to purge the toxicity as much as I can from my life. Yet, my anxiety about this election remains and I can’t stay away from the news for long. That said, I’ve been turning to reading history to offer me perspective.

In my library (inherited from my father) is a volume of collected tributes about Abraham Lincoln written and delivered immediately after his assassination beginning on April 19, 1865 and continuing until 1927. The book is called Abraham Lincoln – The Tribute of the Synagogue edited by Emanuel Hertz (New York: Bloch Publishing, 1927). Hertz (1870-1940) was a lawyer and historian.

Hertz collected and published sixty-six items in this volume, mostly tributes by rabbis but also including a moving poem by Emma Lazarus (1849-1887) whose verse (“Give me your tired your poor…”) graces the Statue of Liberty. Lazarus chose for her poem’s title the date of John Wilkes Booth’s capture and death, inadvertently giving it a day too late – April 27, Eighteen-Sixty-Five.

What follows here is a portion of a tribute delivered at the Lodge Street Temple in Cincinnati, Ohio on April 19, 1865 by Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise (1819-1900), a Czech immigrant to the United States in 1846. At Rabbi Wise’s death he was called “the most important Rabbi in America.”

Rabbi Wise knew President Lincoln personally. His tribute of this greatest of American leaders, despite his human flaws, is an aspirational message for any would-be President and, for that matter, any American citizen and citizen of the world. After reading his words, I felt morally buttressed as I agree with Dr. King’s truth that “the ark of history is long but it bends towards justice.” I felt emboldened as well in the faith that as a nation we will climb out of the pit into which we’ve been dragged, hopefully after November 3 and then beginning anew on January 20, 2021.

“Abraham Lincoln departed… the generous, genial and honest man, who stood at the head of our people in this unprecedented struggle for national existence and popular liberty; whose words and deeds speak aloud of his … mind, purity of heart, honesty of purpose, confidence in the great cause, and implicit faith in the justice of Providence, which inspired him to consistency, courage and self-denial; this Abraham Lincoln who endeared himself to so many millions of hearts, and gained the admiration of other millions of people, both at home and abroad; whom the myriads of freedmen consider their savior, and tens of thousands esteem as high as George Washington, and feel as sincerely and affectionately attached to as Israel to her David…; this Abraham Lincoln, whose greatness was in his goodness, and whose might was in his unshaken faith, was assassinated. Blush, humanity! – He was assassinated. This is the lamentable fact which today bends so many stout hearts with sorrow and grief – speaks by the tears of countless myriads, and the dark clouds of mourning which envelop this great Republic….

…the assassin of Abraham Lincoln brooded over his diabolic schemes in the very capital of our country. Where shall we begin to speak of the enormity of our sins?… must we mention first the barbarous habit of bearing concealed arms to hide cowardice under the garb of crime? … or numerous and costly means to silence the crying conscience?

Repentance is the great lesson which this deplorable event should teach us. Away with your idols of silver and your idols of gold; away with haughtiness, selfishness, delusion, deception and barbarism; prostrate yourselves with humble spirits and contrite hearts…cry for mercy and forgiveness, then rise as better people, better citizens, true children of the living God – and you have honored the memory of him who died… Let him live in your virtues, resurrect in your patriotism; let him glow and shine in your aspirations, for the benefit of humanity, and the triumph of justice and liberty, of light over night, and right over might; and Abraham Lincoln lives as he wished to live – the benefactor of his people; and Abraham Lincoln departed as the Lord had spoken unto him that God might fulfill his divine promise: “and I will make of thee a great nation” [Genesis 12:2 comparing Lincoln with Abraham]. So let us do honor to the memory of the departed martyr of liberty.

The photographer or lithographer, the painter or sculptor, cannot externalize a man; he cannot give you more of him than a faint delineating of the outside, shape and features, the most unimportant portion, the mere case of a person. Monuments, however lofty and extensive, crowded with inscriptions and symbols, tell very little, after all, of the man himself, to whose honor they may be erected. The passions, feelings, struggles, victories, motives and thoughts of a great mind, and each of them is a real fraction of his existence, are so innumerably manifold and change so often, that no artist can represent a considerable portion of them. This is the case especially with the deceased, Abraham Lincoln. The best representation of his figure will not tell posterity who he was. His outside appearance bore no resemblance even to his real nature. The most skillful philosopher will fail in describing the man who stood at the head of affairs during this gigantic struggle, his cares and troubles, his sleepless nights and days of anxiety, his thoughts and his schemes, his triumphs and mortifications, his hopes and fears, and ten thousand more sentiments, feelings and thoughts, which moved his mind in the stormy period of his Presidential term.

…Let the actions of the deceased be our political creed, and Lincoln reigns perpetually; …he is immortal in his people.

“I will restore the Union,” he promised us, and twice he took the solemn oath to protect and enforce the Constitution of the United States. Let these two points be forever the beginning and end of our political creed. He gave liberty to an oppressed race, “And you shall proclaim freedom to all the inhabitants of the land” [Leviticus 25:10 – words inscribed on the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia]. Let us adhere to this great principle. All shall be free, all equal before the law. He was kind, charitable, and lenient towards the enemies of his country, longed and hoped for peace. – Let also these be cardinal points of our creed. Let us not be led astray by blind passions, hatred, a spirit of revenge; let us act entirely and conscientiously in the very spirit of the departed man, and we honor him. He reigns in death, and holds his dominion as though he were living still.

Let us carry into effect and perpetuate the great desires which heaved the breast of Abraham Lincoln; let us be one people, one, free, just and enlightened; let us be the chosen people to perpetuate and promulgate liberty and righteousness, the union and freedom of the human family; let us break asunder, wherever we can the chains of the bondsman, the fetters of the slave, the iron rod of despotism, the oppressive yoke of tyranny; let us banish strife, discord, hatred, injustice, oppression from the domain of humankind, as far as our hands do reach, and we secure to Abraham Lincoln a perpetual reign and dominion everlasting; we set him the most durable monument in the hearts of the human family; then he is not dead, not removed even, from our midst, and will live forever…the sudden removal of THE PERSON of Abraham Lincoln from our midst;…his personality, his essence and substance, his mind, his soul, his principles, may forever remain with us and be our guiding stars. So we may secure to him a perpetual reign, and a dominion everlasting; for the ideas of union, justice, liberty, peace, kindness, charity, forbearance and goodness are everlasting …

The lamented Abraham Lincoln believed himself to be bone from our bone and flesh from our flesh. He supposed himself to be a descendant of Hebrew parentage. He said so in my presence. And indeed, he preserved numerous features of the Hebrews, both in countenance and character.

…May the Lord send consolation to his bereft widow and children, and heal the burning wound of this country with his departure afflicted on her.”

Rabbi Wise ended his address with a prayer for President Lincoln’s family, the country, and the recovery of William H. Seward, Lincoln’s Secretary of State (1861-1869), who was nearly mortally wounded that same night on April 14, 1865 by another would-be assassin in league with the murderer of President Lincoln.

This is my second blog in a series leading to the November election that shines a light on Biden-Harris policies and corresponding historic Jewish values. Please read my “Note” at the end.

Judaism affirms that health care is a human right, not a privilege, and that the community has a moral and religious obligation to care for the ill and dying.

Below are passages from Jewish tradition that affirm the obligatory role of health care workers and the community vis a vis the sick and the dying. Following these texts are the highlights of the Biden-Harris Presidential Campaign’s proposed health care policies, consistent with Jewish tradition’s values and directives. I am grateful to “Rabbis for Biden” that gathered many of these texts:

“Anyone who saves a single soul is deemed by Scripture as if that person had saved a whole world.” –Mishnah Sanhedrin 4:5 – 200 C.E., Palestine

“The duty to return a lost object to another (Deuteronomy 22:1-3) includes returning ‘a person’s body, for if one sees people dying and can save them, one should save them, whether physically or with money or with knowledge.’” -Rabbi Moses ben Maimon (aka RAMBAM or Maimonides), Comment to Mishnah Nedarim 4 – 12^th century, Spain and Egypt

“One who has medical ingredients and one’s neighbor is sick and requires them is forbidden to raise the price above the standard value.” –Shulkhan Arukh, Yoreh De’ah, 336:3 – 16^th century C.E., Safed, Israel

“The Torah gives permission to the physician to heal; moreover, this is a mitzvah (commandment) and it is included in the mitzvah of pikuach nefesh (saving life); if physicians [and health care workers] withhold their services [to the ill], they are considered shedders of blood [i.e. murderers].” –Shulkhan Arukh, Yoreh De’ah 336:1 – 16^th century C.E., Safed, Israel

“In relation to the obligation to pay the costs of saving the life of a sick person who is in danger of dying: From the straightforward reading of [the Babylonian Talmud] Sanhedrin 73a [saving a life], we see that one is obligated to do everything to save that person, and if not, one transgresses the negative commandment: “Do not stand idly over the blood of your fellow human being (Leviticus 19:16).’” -Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach, Minkhat Shlomo, V.2, 86:4 – 1910-1995, Jerusalem

“It has been enacted that in every place in which Jews live, the community sets aside a fund for care of the sick. When poor people are ill who cannot afford medical expenses, the community sends them a doctor [or healthcare worker] to visit them, and the medicine is paid for by the communal fund.” -Rabbi Eliezer Waldenberg, Tzitz Eliezer 5:4 – 1915-2006, Jerusalem

“And it was learned that ‘any city that does not have in it these ten things, a Torah scholar is not permitted to live within it: …. a physician; [and] a surgeon…’” –Palestinian Talmud, Kiddushin 4:12 [66b] – 350-400 CE, Tiberius and Caesarea, Palestine and Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin 17b – 500 CE, Babylonia

JOE BIDEN’S POLICY PLATFORM CONCERNING PROTECTING AND BUILDING ON THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT

“Joe Biden believes that every American has a right to the peace of mind that comes with knowing they have access to affordable, quality health care, and he opposes every effort to get rid of the Affordable Care Act. As President, he will protect and build on the ACA to ensure everyone has access to quality, affordable health care. Specifically, Joe Biden as President will:

• Give Americans a new choice, a public health insurance option like Medicare, if their insurance company isn’t doing right by them or they don’t have coverage.
• Automatically enroll low-income Americans who would have Medicaid but for their state’s inaction on the public option, premium-free and with the same scope of benefits as Medicaid.
• Expand tax credits to help more families afford better coverage with lower deductibles.
• Stand up to the abuse of power by prescription drug corporations.
• Defend the rights of all people — regardless of gender, sexual orientation, gender identity — to have access to quality, affordable health care free from discrimination.
• Ensure health care is a right for all, not a privilege by expanding access to contraception and protect the constitutional right to an abortion, reducing our unacceptably high maternal mortality rate, and doubling funding for community health centers.”

Note: In the weeks leading up to the November election, I am posting relevant Jewish texts articulating liberal Jewish values and principles as applied to all the significant challenges facing America along with the policies of the Biden-Harris ticket that comport with those Jewish values. I do so as one of hundreds of “Rabbis for Biden” who believe that the Trump-Pence Administration is threatening our democratic system of government and democratic norms, the U.S. Constitution, Jewish moral values and ethical principles, and America’s preeminent standing as a respected world leader.

I ask you to consider distributing these blogs to anyone who is interested in what the vast majority of liberal American Jews believe (according to all polls) to Democrats, Independents, lapsed Republicans, Never Trump Republicans, and people who do not like Trump but are not yet convinced to support the Biden-Harris ticket, especially those living in the states identified by the Democratic presidential campaign where the closest results will likely occur: Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, and Wisconsin.

I ask that you especially distribute these blogs to young potential voters who, historically, turn out in smaller numbers relative to their percentage of the population. Ask them to vote not only for the Biden-Harris ticket but for Democratic Senate and House candidates as well as Democratic state and local candidates.

Nothing is more important than getting out the vote and winning the above states and the Electoral College. Though Joe Biden will likely win the popular vote by millions of votes, he may yet lose the Electoral College and the election. Therefore, he must win by huge numbers in the above states. Everyone should be encouraged to vote early unless you are willing to stand in line at polling places despite the health risks.

In the coming weeks leading up to the November election, I will post relevant Jewish texts articulating liberal Jewish values and principles that can be applied to a variety of issues that America faces in health care, the economy, the poor, the environment, immigration, equality, criminal justice reform, antiSemitism, racism, Islamophobia, homophobia, Israel, and foreign policy with special emphasis on the values and policy positions of the Biden-Harris campaign.

I do so as one of hundreds of Rabbis that support Joe Biden for President and Kamala Harris for Vice President. The texts I will share largely were collected by “Rabbis for Biden,” a national organization of rabbis from all Jewish religious streams who believe that the Trump-Pence Administration has and continues to undermine our democratic system of government and democratic norms, the U.S. Constitution, Jewish moral and ethical principles, and America’s standing as a respected world leader.

I ask you to consider distributing these blogs to anyone who is interested in what the vast majority of liberal American Jews believe (according to all polls) to Democrats, Independents, lapsed Republicans, Never Trump Republicans, people who do not like Trump but are not yet convinced to support the Biden-Harris ticket, and first-time voters especially those living in the states identified by the Democratic presidential campaign where the closest results will likely occur: Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Wisconsin. I ask that you especially to distribute these blogs to young Americans who, historically, turn out in smaller numbers relative to their percentage of the population. Please don’t limit your list to Jews alone. Send these blogs to all peoples of color and other faith traditions who may find our positions helpful as they approach this election.

I begin this series with an ancient rabbinic Midrash and the inspired words of Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel (z’l):

“’Now these are the ordinances (Exodus 21:1)…’If a person acts as though they were a terumah (the portion separated, or set aside, for the priests) by secluding themselves in the corner of their home and declaring: “What concern are the problems of the community to me? What does their judgment mean to me? Why should I listen to them? I will do well (without them),” that person helps to destroy the world.” -Midrash Tanhuma, Mishpatim, Siman 2

“There is immense silent agony in the world, and the task of [hu]man[kind] is to be a voice for the plundered poor, to prevent the desecration of the soul and the violation of our dream of honesty. The more deeply immersed I became in the thinking of the Prophets, the more powerfully it became clear to me what the lives of the Prophets sought to convey: that morally speaking, there is no limit to the concern one must feel for the suffering of human beings, that indifference to evil is worse than evil itself, that in a free society, some are guilty, but all are responsible.” -Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel

Since his inauguration, the President has spoken more than 20,000 lies, exaggerations, and fabrications in order to create an alternative reality in which he is the be-all and end-all to solve all of America’s problems. The most recent barrage of lies came in his 70-minute ranting acceptance speech for the Republican Presidential nomination on the south lawn of the White House. The extent of his disregard for the truth among US Presidents is singular in living memory.

Granted, every politician is, at times, selective with the truth in order to make a political point or advocate for a policy position. However, this President’s breadth and depth of dishonesty reaches levels unique in modern American presidential history.

The Democratic analyst Paul Begala (on the podcast “Words Matter” hosted by Katie Barlow and Joe Lockhart – August 31, 2020) noted that what’s unique about this President is that he doesn’t just shade or shape the truth, he redefines it altogether. For a large portion of the country (30-35%), many say that they support him because he “tells it like it is.” Some might acknowledge that he gets specifics wrong, but they love that he’s (what they say) “politically incorrect.” To my ears, they’re responding positively on a gut level to his base racism, homophobia, Islamophobia, hatred of immigrants of color, disregard and disrespect for law and the US Constitution, for America’s democratic institutions, and civil society’s norms.

As a rabbi, teacher, and writer, the facts, truth, and integrity matter to me. As I’ve done often on this blog over the years, I turned this week to Jewish tradition to find a few passages in the wake of the Republican National Convention that affirm the principles of truth, honesty, and integrity in public and private life as opposed to what I saw and heard last week.

“Truth is the seal of the Holy One, Blessed is God.” –Babylonian Talmud, Shabbat 55a – 6^th century CE

“Rabbi Shimon ben Gamliel said: The world is sustained by three things, by justice, by truth, and by peace.” –Pirkei Avot 1:17, 200 CE

“You shall not give false testimony [in a court of law].” (Exodus 20:16 – 9^th century BCE

“The Holy One, Blessed is God, hates a person who says one thing with one’s mouth and another in one’s heart.” –Babylonian Talmud, Pesahim 113b – 6^th century CE

“There are other matters that fall under the heading of falsehood; for example, of people who praise themselves for having virtues that they do not really possess… [also] our rabbis teach that it is forbidden to mislead others.” –Isaac Aboab, Menorat Ha-Meor, 14^th century CE

I offer, as well, a few additional thoughts gleaned from American and world literature that emphasize the importance of speaking the truth and not remaining silent:

“When I despair, I remember that all through history, the way of truth and love has always won. There have been murderers and tyrants, and for a time they can seem invincible. But in the end they always fall.” –Gandhi, 1869-1948

“They deem the one their worst enemy who tells them the truth.” –Plato, 427-347 BCE

“During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act.” –George Orwell, 1903-1950

“Fear distorts truth not by exaggerating the ills of the world, but by underestimating our ability to deal with them… while love seeks truth, fear seeks safety.” –Reverend William Sloane Coffin, 1924-2006

“We are not afraid to entrust the American people with unpleasant facts, with foreign ideas, alien philosophies, and competitive values. For a nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people.” –President John F. Kennedy, 1917-1963

“Truth is not only violated by falsehood; it may be equally outraged by silence.” –Henri Frederic Amiel, 1821-1881

“The one who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as the one who helps to perpetrate it. The one who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it.” –Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., 1929-1968