Education and literacy are Jewish tradition’s most important goals for individuals and the community as a whole. Consequently, tradition affirms that the community is obligated to educate its children not as a privilege but as a right, and that its teachers are the most respected of all professions and trades. Jewish tradition regards a community’s failure to educate its young as being unworthy to exist and doomed to failure as a civilized society. 

The Biden-Harris ticket affirms that community support for education from early childhood to senior adulthood is the key to an informed and cultured citizenry and the promotion of a pluralistic democracy in which the population takes decisions that are in its best interests, the best interests of every individual, and the best interests of a secure and humane national and international order.

The following are Jewish texts focused on education: 

“Hear, O Israel! Adonai is our God, Adonai alone. You shall love Adonai your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. Take to heart these instructions with which I charge you this day. Impress them upon your children….” –Deuteronomy 6:4-9 – Israel, 7^th century B.C.E. 

“Train youth[s] in the way they ought to go; they will not swerve from it even in old age.” –Proverbs 22:6 – Ancient Near East, 1^st millennium B.C.E. 

“When the Sages saw that not everyone was capable of teaching their children and Torah study was declining, they instituted an ordinance that teachers of children should be established in each and every province and in each and every town …” –Babylonian Talmud, Bava Batra 21a – Babylon, 6^th century C.E. 

“It is mandatory to appoint school teachers for small children in each and every state, in each and every province, and in each and every city. Any city wherein there are no children flocking to a master’s house, the inhabitants thereof should be excommunicated until they appoint teachers for the school children, if they then make no such appointment an excommunication should be pronounced against the city itself…” –RAMBAM (Rabbi Moses ben Maimon or Maimonides), Mishne Torah, Sefer HaMadda Laws of Torah Study, 2:1 – Egypt, 11^th century C.E. 

“Teachers are appointed in every city, and if any city does not have a teacher in it, a ban is pronounced upon the city until they appoint a teacher for the young. And if they do not make such an appointment, they are destroying the city, that is, they are undermining rather than sustaining the future existence of the city. For the world is sustained only by the breath of schoolchildren.” –Shulhan Arukh, Yoreh De’ah 245:7 – Israel, 16^th century C.E. 

“One who teaches a child Torah is considered to have taught that child and that child’s children and grandchildren, to the end of the generations.” –Babylonian Talmud, Kiddushun 30a – Babylon, 6^th century C.E.

BIDEN-HARRIS PLAN FOR EDUCATORS, STUDENTS AND OUR FUTURE 

“Joe Biden will build an education system that starts investing in our children at birth and helps every student get some education beyond a high school diploma, whether a certification, associate’s degree, or bachelor’s degree. Systemic racism is persistent across our institutions today – including in our schools – and must be addressed. President Biden will make sure that no child’s education opportunity is determined by their zip code, parents’ income, race, or disability by: 

·       Supporting our educators by giving them the pay and dignity they deserve.

·       Investing in resources for our schools so students grow into physically and emotionally healthy adults, and educators can focus on teaching.

·       Ensuring that no child’s future is determined by their zip code, parents’ income, race, or disability.

·       Providing every middle and high school student a path to a successful career.

·       Starting to invest in our children at birth.

·       Investing in community colleges and training to improve student success and grow a stronger, more prosperous, and more inclusive middle class.

·       Strengthening college as the reliable pathway to the middle class, not an investment that provides limited returns and leaves graduates with mountains of debt they can’t afford.

·       Supporting colleges and universities that play unique and vital roles in their communities, including Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Minority-Serving Institutions.” 

See the Biden-Harris detailed policy plans

For education of children here https://joebiden.com/education/

For education beyond High School here https://joebiden.com/beyondhs/ 

I ask that you distribute these blogs to anyone interested in what the vast majority of liberal American Jews believe (according to all polls) 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. 

Especially distribute these blogs to young potential voters who historically turn out in smaller numbers relative to their percentage of the population and encourage everyone TO VOTE EARLY unless they are willing to stand in line at polling places despite the health risks. 

Past Jewish Values and the Biden-Harris Ticket Blogs include the following. You can find them on this blog at www.rabbijohnrosove.wordpress.com 

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 

THE ENVIRONMENT AND CLIMATE CHANGE – Jewish Values and the Biden-Harris Ticket – Blog #4 

SUPPORT FOR ISRAEL AND THE JEWISH COMMUNITY – Jewish Values and the Biden-Harris Ticket – Blog#5 

IMMIGRATION AND TREATMENT OF THE STRANGER – Jewish Values and the Biden-Harris Ticket – Blog #6 

CRIMINAL JUSTICE, POLICE REFORM & RACIAL JUSTICE – Jewish Values & the Biden-Harris Ticket – Blog #7

A MUST READ ARTICLE

Dear Reader,

Sometimes, a story comes along that just can’t wait. That’s why we’ve decided to move up the online publication date for The Atlantic’s next cover story, by our staff writer Barton Gellman.

There is a pervasive and justifiable fear that Donald Trump will reject the election results if he loses to Joe Biden. But as Gellman documents in his authoritative and chilling story, the situation is far more dire than anyone, Biden included, might imagine. Gellman is a three-time recipient of the Pulitzer Prize, and one of the world’s finest investigative reporters. Given what he has learned, I wanted our readers to have access to his story, which will appear on the cover of our November issue, as soon as possible.

“The worst case,” Gellman writes, “is not that Trump rejects the election outcome. The worst case is that he uses his power to prevent a decisive outcome against him.” Merely by refusing to concede, Trump could keep the electoral result in doubt through the 79-day period between Election Day and the day the next president is to be inaugurated. Gellman’s reporting shows that Republicans are already discussing plans to bypass the popular vote and directly appoint electors to the Electoral College. This could lead the country to a precipice: Two men could show up to be sworn in on Inauguration Day. “One of them,” Gellman writes, “would arrive with all the tools and power of the presidency already in hand.”

Gellman’s report is a warning about the fragility of our entire system of governance. “An election cannot be stolen unless the American people, at some level, acquiesce,” he writes.

As readers of The Atlantic know, our magazine has been focused on threats to American democracy and to the American idea itself. This story is among the most urgent we have ever published, and I hope you will understand why I felt the need to share it with you now. I urge you to read Gellman’s story, and to share it with everyone in your life who is not only interested in the outcome of this election, but concerned about the future of our democracy.

Jeffrey Goldberg
Editor in Chief

Despite the day-to-day shifts in the news cycle that’s now focused on our loss of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and the Trump Administration’s and Republican-led Senate’s cynical and hypocritical (though legal) rush to choose and vote on her replacement, there are other critically important issues we can’t forget as the November election approaches. I’ve written about many of them on this Blog (list below) and there are a couple more that I’ll address in the coming weeks.

Over the summer following the police murder of George Floyd in Minnesota, demonstrations swelled across the country against our nation’s historic and systemic racism and for criminal justice and police reform. According to all polls, these issues are among the top concerns of a strong majority of Americans across party affiliation in this election. The approach to these issues taken by the Biden-Harris campaign vs Trump couldn’t be more different.

The following Jewish texts and values comport well with Biden-Harris policy priorities as opposed to the positions of Trump, as well as to fundamental aspirations articulated in the US Constitution that all people are created equal and deserving of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.“

“And God created the human being in God’s own image, in the Divine image did God create the human being, male and female did God create them.” –Genesis 1:27, Ancient Near East, mid-second millennium B.C.E.

“For the sake of peace among humankind, one should not say to another, “My [parents were] greater than yours”… to proclaim the greatness of the Holy Blessed One; for humans stamp many coins with one seal and they are all like one another; but the Sovereign of Sovereigns, the Holy Blessed One, has stamped every human with the seal of the first human being, yet not one of them are like another. Therefore everyone must say, “For my sake was the world created.”  -Mishnah Sanhedrin 4:5, Israel, 200 C.E.

“From where is it derived that a person who sees another drowning in a river, or being dragged away by a wild animal, or being attacked by bandits, is obligated to save [the victim]? The Torah states: “You shall not stand idly by the blood of another.” The Gemara answers: Yes, it is indeed so that this verse relates to the obligation to save one whose life is in danger.” -Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin 73a, Babylon, 6^th century C.E.

“At a time when the community is suffering, no one should say, ‘I will go home, eat, drink, and be at peace with myself.’” -Babylonian Talmud, Ta’anit 11a, Babylon, 6^th century C.E.

“Your mission… is not limited by the walls of your house; beyond their limits you must assist with every particle of your strength wherever it is necessary to save the life, the property, or the happiness of a human being, to assist the enterprise of a fellow human being with your strength or fortune, … by the use of your wealth, your physical or intellectual strength, or your word, support the needy, clothe the naked, feed the hungry, console the mourning, heal the sick, care for the unprovided, advise those in need of counsel, teach the ignorant, reconcile those sundered by anger and quarrel — in a word, to be a blessing whenever and wherever you can.” -Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch, Nineteen Letters 12:3, Germany, 19^th century C.E.

“You shall appoint magistrates and officials (police) for your tribes, in all the settlements that Adonai your God is giving you, and they shall govern the people with due justice.” -Deuteronomy 16:18, Israel, 7^th century B.C.E.

“Be Vigilant to not terrorize the community [or] come down on them too hard. It is proved [that] we interpret this verse to say that a judge needs to be patient with the community.” -Tosafot to Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin 7b, post-11^th century C.E.

“The personality of Jewish police officers must be of the highest ethical order so that they themselves will serve as good example[s] of following law and living pure ethical lives. And they will merit to see a society based on the foundations of purity and divine sanctity …’” -Rabbi Haim David Halevi, Devar Hamishpat, Sanhedrin, Section 7, Israel, 20^th century C.E.

[I’m grateful to “Rabbis for Biden” for gathering these texts.]

Biden-Harris Policy Platform 

“Today, we need a comprehensive agenda for racial justice with ambition that matches the scale of the challenge and with recognition that race-neutral policies are not a sufficient response to race-based disparities. Biden will achieve this by:

• Advancing the economic mobility of minority groups and close the racial wealth and income gaps.
• Expanding access to high-quality education and tackle racial inequity in our education system.
• Making far-reaching investments in ending health disparities by race.
• Strengthening America’s commitment to justice.
• Making the right to vote and the right to equal protection real for minorities.
• Addressing environmental justice.

In addition, Biden will reinvigorate community-oriented policing and expand and use the power of the U.S. Justice Department to address systemic misconduct in police departments and prosecutors’ offices by:

• Investing $300 million to reinvigorate the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program, which will authorize funding both for the hiring of additional police officers and for training on how to undertake a community policing approach. As a condition of the grant, hiring of police officers must mirror the racial diversity of the community.
• Establishing a panel to scrutinize what equipment is used by law enforcement.
• Funding initiatives to partner mental health and substance use disorder experts, social workers, and disability advocates with police departments to train police officers and respond to calls with police officers so individuals who should not be in the criminal justice system are diverted to treatment for addiction or mental health problems, or are provided with the housing or other social services they may need.
• Reversing the limitations put in place under President Trump and appointing Justice Department leadership who will prioritize the role of using pattern-or-practice investigations to strengthen our justice system and pushing for legislation to clarify that this pattern-or-practice investigation authority can also be used to address systemic misconduct by prosecutors’ offices.”

The following are links to the Biden-Harris Campaign’s policy positions on Justice, Black Americans, Asian-American-Pacific-Islanders, Latino Americans, and Native Americans:

https://joebiden.com/justice/

https://joebiden.com/blackamerica/

https://joebiden.com/highlights-from-joe-bidens-agenda-for-the-asian-american-pacific-islander-community/

https://joebiden.com/todos-con-biden-policy/

https://joebiden.com/joe-bidens-commitment-to-indian-country/

I ask that you distribute these blogs to anyone interested in what the vast majority of liberal American Jews believe (according to all polls) 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.

Especially distribute these blogs to young potential voters who historically turn out in smaller numbers relative to their percentage of the population and encourage everyone to vote early unless they are willing to stand in line at polling places despite the health risks.

Past Jewish Values and the Biden-Harris Ticket Blogs include the following:

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

THE ENVIRONMENT AND CLIMATE CHANGE – Jewish Values and the Biden-Harris Ticket – Blog #4

SUPPORT FOR ISRAEL AND THE JEWISH COMMUNITY – Jewish Values and the Biden-Harris Ticket – Blog#5

IMMIGRATION AND TREATMENT OF THE STRANGER – Jewish Values and the Biden-Harris Ticket – Blog #6

Like so many of the people I talk to, I’ve been experiencing anxiety for months, and as we approach November my fear has only intensified that Trump will do anything and everything to steal the election despite national polls favoring Biden-Harris by a comfortable 7+% and swing-state polls showing a Biden-Harris lead most everywhere. In the days since Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died, my grief and sorrow for our loss of this great woman has added to my apprehensions.    

On Rosh Hashanah day my family gathered as we always do after services, and my politically aware and savvy grown children expressed their strong belief that Trump will provoke chaos and violence before, during, and after the election, and that he will refuse to leave the White House on January 20.

I can’t predict what will happen despite my worries and fears. If you feel as I do, I’ve been asking what strategies there might be to better contain anxiety, be as positive as possible, and do all we can to help win the presidency, the Senate, expand Democratic margins in the House, and win races down the ballot.

The first, of course, is to financially support Democratic candidates, adopt states and Senatorial candidates and work to elect them, to vote early and safely, and to be certain that our votes are counted and that everyone we know votes for Democratic candidates.

Second, we can’t allow this dystopian malignantly narcissistic illiberal criminally negligent and nasty president to define the debate over the next 6 weeks.

Before going on, I want to give a shout-out to the Biden-Harris campaign. It seems to me that Joe and Kamala and their campaign leadership are doing most everything right. I applaud them. That said, I want to recommend that everyone listen to the September 17^th episode of “Pod Save America” with Jon Favreau and Dan Pfeiffer, and especially the segment in which they question communications expert Anat Shenker-Osorio about the importance of positive messaging in the remainder of the campaign. Positive messaging can help contain our anxiety and at the same time better influence those still undecided voters who can help determine the outcome of the election. The interview begins 1 hour and 10 minutes into the podcast.

Here are Ms. Shenker-Osorio’s main points:

• There is lots of panic among Democrats – Ms. Shenker-Osorio acknowledged the anxiety but said that focusing on our fears has a potential demobilizing impact on us and on the ten percent of the population she calls “high potential voters,” those who haven’t yet made up their minds between Trump and Biden. When we focus too much on Trump’s mass of nefarious deeds, she says, we evoke a “fight or freeze response.” Activists want to “fight” but the “high potential voters” might freeze and decide that their vote doesn’t matter and they choose to stay home on Election Day.

• “Messaging from Inevitability” – Ms. Shenker-Osorio urged us to speak positively about the victory of the Biden-Harris ticket, not IF we win but WHEN we win. People like to be part of a winning team and not part of a frightened losing campaign. We need to say out loud that the reason Trump is accelerating his anti-democratic and destructive actions is because he knows he is losing.

• Characterizing Trump – Jon and Dan asked Anat how best to characterize Trump and counter his claim, for example, that he is the “law and order” candidate, though Biden polls better than Trump on this issue in key swing states. The key, she said, is to characterize Trump NOT as a strong man and authoritarian leader. Rather, we should characterize him for what he really is – weak, pathetic, bungling, dishonest, self-serving, ineffective, incompetent, corrupt, and a loser. This last characterization (i.e. loser) most especially drives Trump crazy and when we drive him nuts other forces in his Republican Party are forced to stray from their talking points. Shenker-Osorio says that talking about “law and order” is a trap for Biden-Harris supporters. Our messaging should be about who WE are, what WE believe, and what Biden-Harris will deliver on behalf of the nation, the middle class, black, white, and brown citizens, children, seniors, and our allies around the world. If we’re drawn into talking about law and order we stop talking about the tragic ravages of Covid, our economic well-being, jobs, health care, criminal justice reform, racial injustice, education, the environment, climate change, immigration, and America’s good name internationally.

• Framing the Conversation in the Last 6 weeks – Ms. Shenker-Osorio said that we should name the values that we share with most of the country, that we all want our families to be safe, for our voices to be heard, for our rights to be respected, and for our nation to come together to address our multiple challenges in this age of Covid and economic meltdown. We need to give people a sense of meaning and agency and that Biden-Harris are the means to address the nation’s immediate and long-term needs. Yes, of course, Trump and his sycophantic illiberal minions are villains, but we ought not to lead with villainy. We lead with our heroes, our front-line health care workers, doctors, nurses, teachers, postal workers, men and women in uniform, career intelligence officers and diplomats, and all those helping sustain our lives, communities, and country. We need to avoid being exclusively purveyors of doom. Shenker-Osorio concludes that we must emphasize the positive result that we seek and that we WILL come through this horrible period of American history together. Framing the campaign in this way can help alleviate our sense of powerlessness and allay a measure of our anxiety.

I believe that Anat Shenker-Osorio is right, though I confess that despite all she said I continue to feel that free-floating anxiety and yearn for a national reboot. Personally, I’m going to continue to do those positive things for myself and my family that bring me pleasure and a sense of agency, exercise, healthy eating, sleep, and control the amount of news I absorb daily.

In Hebrew we say, chazak v’eimatz, be strong and courageous!

Israeli vocalist Shlomi Shabbat, joined by singers including Idan Amedi, Eden Alene and Yuval Dayan, sing Arik Einstein’s “You and I Will Change the World,” in a music video released yesterday to mark the peace deals between Israel and Arab countries.

L’shanah tovah u-m’tukah!!!!!!!!!!!!

The commandment to treat the stranger (ger) with respect and dignity is cited 36 times in the Hebrew Bible, more than any other commandment, probably because it’s among the most difficult of the 613 commandments to fulfill.

Most people gather together for comfort, support, and a sense of belonging in their familial, tribal, ethnic, cultural, and national groupings, but at the same time they can become distant from and suspicious of strangers (i.e. the “other”).

Dr. King observed:

“People don’t get along because they fear each other. People fear each other because they don’t know each other. They don’t know each other because they have not properly communicated with each other.”

There is much we Americans don’t understand about the “other,” especially those who come from foreign lands and who, based on a “well-founded fear of persecution” should they return to their home countries of origin, wish desperately to live in the United States.

We Jews understand well their plight, their fears, their desires and dreams based upon our own historical experience as a people who were expelled over and again from country after country as we sought safety and solace. Can we as a nation not provide that same blessing of safety and hope for others?

The Biden-Harris campaign’s values and policies concerning immigration, asylum, and “the other” comport completely with our own historic Jewish moral values and are irrefutably opposed to the Trump Administration’s xenophobic, discriminatory, bigoted, and cruel treatment of immigrant men, women, and children wishing to enter the United States.

The following are Jewish texts affirming our people’s moral and religious obligations to the ger-stranger [I’m grateful to “Rabbis for Biden” for helping to collect these passages]:

“You shall not wrong or oppress a stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” –Exodus 22:20 – 9^th century B.C.E., Israel

“You shall not wrong or oppress a stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” Here it says simply and absolutely, “for you were strangers,” your whole misfortune in Egypt was that you were strangers there. As such, according to the views of other nations, you had no right to be there, has no claim to rights of settlement, home, or property. Accordingly, you had no rights in appeal against unfair or unjust treatment. As aliens you were without any rights in Egypt, out of that grew all of your bondage and oppression, your slavery and wretchedness. Therefore beware, so runs the warning, from making rights in your own State conditional on anything other than on that simple humanity which every human being as such bears within. With any limitation in these human rights the gate is opened to the whole horror of Egyptian mishandling of human beings.” –Rabbi Samson Rafael Hirsch, Exodus 22:20 – 19^th century C.E., Germany

“The ger. . . is a resident alien who has uprooted oneself (or has been uprooted) from one’s homeland and has taken permanent residence in the land of Israel…Having severed one’s ties with one’s original home, that person has no family to turn to for support. Thus deprived of both land and family, the ger was generally poor, listed together with the Levite, the orphan, and the widow among the wards of society (Deuteronomy 26:12), and exposed to exploitation and oppression.” (Ezekiel 22:7) –Rabbi Jacob Milgrom, “Reflections on the Biblical Ger,” Leviticus 17-22 (Anchor Bible, 2000), United States

“There shall be one law for you and for the stranger; it shall be a law for all time throughout the ages. You and the stranger shall be alike before God. The same ritual and the same rule shall apply to you and to the stranger who resides among you.” –Numbers 15: 15-16 – 9^th century B.C.E., Israel

“The great moral to be derived is that every government among the people Israel possesses an obligation to conduct itself with integrity and fairness towards its minorities and those who are strangers in its midst. In so doing, it will sanctify the Name of Heaven and the name of Israel in the world.” –Rabbi Hayyim David Halevi, “Aseh L’kha Rav 7:70 – 20^th century, Israel

“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

–Emma Lazarus, The New Colossus – 19^th century, United States

Biden-Harris Policy Platform on Immigration

The United States deserves an immigration policy that reflects our highest values as a nation. As President, Biden will forcefully pursue policies that safeguard our security, provide a fair and just system that helps to grow and enhance our economy, and secure our cherished values by:

• Taking urgent action to undo Trump’s damage and reclaim America’s values
• Modernizing America’s immigration system
• Welcoming immigrants in our communities
• Reasserting America’s commitment to asylum-seekers and refugees
• Tackling the root causes of irregular migration 
• Implementing effective border screening 

Read more about Joe’s vision for immigration at https://joebiden.com/immigration/#

I ask that you distribute these blogs to anyone interested in what the vast majority of liberal American Jews believe (according to all polls) 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.

Especially distribute these blogs to young potential voters who historically turn out in smaller numbers relative to their percentage of the population and encourage everyone to vote early unless they are willing to stand in line at polling places despite the health risks.

Past Blogs include the following:

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

THE ENVIRONMENT AND CLIMATE CHANGE – Jewish Values and the Biden-Harris Ticket – Blog #4

SUPPORT FOR ISRAEL AND THE JEWISH COMMUNITY – Jewish Values and the Biden-Harris Ticket – Blog#5

May we hold lovingly in our thoughts / Those suffering the loss of loved ones from Covid / And those struggling with illness and the health of family and friends.

May our hearts embrace / Those living under tyranny, subjugation, cruelty, and injustice, / And work towards the mitigation of their suffering.

May we recognize our solidarity / With the stranger, immigrant, and asylum seeker, / The outcast, downtrodden, abused, and deprived, / That no human being be treated as “other,” / That our humanity weaves us / Into one “fabric of mutuality, One garment of destiny.”

May we pursue the Biblical prophet’s vision / Of justice, compassion, and peace, / That we live harmoniously with each other, / Respecting our differences, / Cherishing our diversity, / Revering Divinity in every soul.

May we struggle / Against institutional injustice, / Xenophobia, racism, homophobia, antisemitism, and misogyny, / Governmental corruption and the perversion of truth, / The despoliation of the earth, seas, rivers, and air, / And attacks against America’s democratic institutions.

May we act / With integrity of body, heart, mind, soul, and spirit, / Despising none, defrauding none, hating none, denigrating none, / Honoring every creature of the earth.

May the Jewish people, the State of Israel, all peoples and nations / Know peace with justice in this New Year 5781. / May Americans embrace our higher angels, / And nurture kindness and love everywhere.

-A prayer written by Rabbi John L. Rosove – Rosh Hashanah 5781

The creation and development of the modern State of Israel is the single greatest achievement of the Jewish people in 2000 years. While Israel is the Jewish people’s national home and a refuge from antisemitism, it is also an historic opportunity for the people of Israel to live according to Judaism’s highest ethical and moral values while holding sovereignty and power.

A secure democratic State of Israel at peace with its neighbors alongside an independent, peaceful, and secure Palestinian State is essential not only to Israel’s long-term security and development, but to American Jewish identity and the future of the Jewish people around the world. The Biden-Harris campaign’s values and policies comports with Jewish, progressive Zionist, and Israel’s foundational values.

In a J Street Leadership conference call with Vice President Joe Biden on September 10, 2020, Biden expressed his long-standing support for the State of Israel, his beliefs about what will bring Israel lasting security and peace, and what he will do as President. He noted in our conference call the following:

• Two-States for Two Peoples: Biden supports a negotiated diplomatic process resulting in two states for two peoples as the only way to insure Israel’s long-term security and democracy and Palestinian national rights;
• Middle East Leadership: Biden has known personally every Israeli Prime Minister since Golda Meir and earned their trust by virtue of his support for the Jewish state and ongoing candor;
• Anti-Annexation: Biden called upon Prime Minister Netanyahu and the Israeli government to stop immediately all talk of Israeli annexation of any part of the West Bank because he regards such a disastrous policy as being against Israel’s and the Palestinian’s fundamental interests;
• The Palestinians: Biden promised to reengage the Palestinian Authority in talks and diplomacy leading to a two-state solution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, to reopen a US consulate in East Jerusalem, and to reinstate civilian funding to the Palestinian people that President Trump discontinued. He noted that the Palestinian leadership “hasn’t stepped up when given opportunities [to achieve peace].” As part of a process leading to a two-state solution, Biden said that the Palestinian Authority must change its educational system, stop inciting violence against Israelis, and focus on the economic needs of Palestinians. He said that both Israeli and Palestinian leaders need to show stronger commitment to peace negotiations, and he blamed President Trump for his one-sided and therefore destructive approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict;  
• The Iran Agreement: Biden believes that the Trump Administration’s withdrawal from the Iran Nuclear Agreement was an historic mistake and that the United States must reengage with it. As President he will seek to do so and “if Iran returns to compliance” Biden will work with America’s allies to make the deal “longer and stronger.” He noted that the original agreement assured a most intrusive inspection regime of all Iran’s nuclear facilities, that many in the Israeli military and intelligence establishment supported the agreement, and that since Trump pulled the United States out of the agreement and replaced it with nothing. Iran has attained ten times the amount of enriched uranium to make a nuclear weapon than it did in 2017. “Instead of Iran being isolated,” as Trump claimed he would do, “we [i.e. the US] are the ones being isolated.” The old agreement, he noted, said that the United States could at any time take action against Iran if it violated the agreement which it did not do in all the time the US was part of the deal. Biden believes that a new agreement ought to include condemnation of Iran’s destabilizing actions all over the Middle East. He added that he believes that Trump has put Israel and the United States “in danger” by withdrawing from the Iran Nuclear Deal and endangered American Jews “by embracing far-right conspiracy theories”;
• Israel and the UAE: Biden acknowledged that the Trump administration’s brokering of a normalization deal between Israel and the United Arab Emirates was a positive development. He said, “I think Trump is going to accidentally do something positive here,” though it needs to be said that the relationship between the Gulf’s Sunni Arab governments and Israel had been warming for years driven by a common animus toward Shiite Iran (Note: News of the rapprochement between Israel and Bahrain came after this call with J Street leadership. Neither deal (i.e. Israel with the UAE and Bahrain) addressed the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, a continuing threat to the security and democratic character of the State of Israel and to the national rights of the Palestinian people).

The following are the values and policies vis a vis Israel as stated by the Biden-Harris Campaign:

“Joe Biden’s record of unstinting support for Israel

• Joe Biden’s stalwart support for Israel and his commitment to protect Israel’s security and strengthen our two nations’ partnership is deeply personal and spans his entire career.
• Since his first trip to Israel in 1973 shortly before the Yom Kippur War, Biden’s commitment to Israel’s security has been unshakeable, fighting in the Senate for critical aid to Israel, calling it “the best $3 billion investment we make,” and opposing dangerous arms sales to its enemies.
• As Vice President, Biden helped ensure unwavering support for Israel’s security. During the Obama-Biden Administration, he was a key advocate in securing support for lifesaving technologies like the Iron Dome, David’s Sling, and Arrow 3 anti-rocket and missile defense systems.
• Biden helped shape the unprecedented $38 billion, ten-year memorandum of understanding for defense assistance to Israel signed in 2016, the largest such military aid package in U.S. history.
• Biden has led efforts to oppose the delegitimization of Israel, whether in international organizations or by the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement here at home.
• Biden took historic steps to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. The Obama-Biden Administration imposed crippling multilateral sanctions, which brought Iran to negotiations, paving the way for the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) that prevented a nuclear-armed Iran.

A Biden Administration Will:

• Sustain our unbreakable commitment to Israel’s security – including the unprecedented military and intelligence cooperation pioneered during the Obama-Biden administration, and the guarantee that Israel will always maintain its qualitative military edge.
• Work with the Israeli and Palestinian leadership to support peace building efforts in the region. Biden will urge Israel’s government and the Palestinian Authority to take steps to keep the prospect of a negotiated two-state outcome alive and avoid actions, such as unilateral annexation of territory and settlement activity, or support for incitement and violence that undercut prospects for peace between the parties.
• Reverse the Trump Administration’s destructive cutoff of diplomatic ties with the Palestinian Authority and cancellation of assistance programs that support Israeli-Palestinian security cooperation, economic development, and humanitarian aid for the Palestinian people in the West Bank and Gaza, consistent with the requirements of the Taylor Force Act, including that the Palestinian Authority end its system of compensation for individuals imprisoned for acts of terrorism.
• Urge Arab states to move beyond quiet talks and take bolder steps toward normalization with Israel.
• Firmly reject the BDS movement — which singles out Israel and too often veers into antisemitism — and fight other efforts to delegitimize Israel on the global stage.
• Hold Iran’s government accountable and rejoin a diplomatic agreement to prevent a nuclear-armed Iran, if Iran returns to compliance with the JCPOA, using renewed commitment to diplomacy to work with our allies to strengthen and extend the Iran deal, and push back against Iran’s other destabilizing actions.
• Ensure that support for the U.S.-Israel alliance remains bipartisan, reversing Trump’s exploitation of U.S. support for Israel as a political football, which harms both countries’ interests.
• Support the critical economic and technological partnership between the United States and Israel, further expand scientific collaborations and increase commercial opportunities, and support cooperation on innovation throughout the region.”
• See “Joe Biden and the Jewish Community: A Record and a Plan of Friendship, Support and Action” – https://joebiden.com/joe-biden-and-the-jewish-community-a-record-and-a-plan-of-friendship-support-and-action/

I ask that you distribute these blogs to anyone interested in what the vast majority of liberal American Jews believe (according to all polls) 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.

Especially distribute these blogs to young potential voters who historically turn out in smaller numbers relative to their percentage of the population and encourage everyone to vote early unless they are willing to stand in line at polling places despite the health risks.

Past Jewish Values and the Biden-Harris Ticket Blogs include the following:

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

THE ENVIRONMENT AND CLIMATE CHANGE – Jewish Values and the Biden-Harris Ticket Blog #4

 

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