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

Opinion –  Haaretz August 23, 2020 – by Eric H. Yoffie

Under Donald Trump, America is a failed state. It’s no accident that anti-Semitism is at its highest levels since World War II. Against such a contemptuous president, U.S. Jews will back Biden in record numbers

The Democratic party convention is over. My take-away is a simple one: In November, American Jews will be voting for Joe, and in record numbers.  

In the 2016 election, 71 percent of the U.S. Jewish community voted for Clinton, and 23 percent voted for Trump. My guess is that this time around, Joe Biden will do substantially better, perhaps breaking all previous records for Jewish votes received by a candidate for president.  

Part of the reason is the Democrats did an impressive job in presenting the first social-media convention in America’s history. The convention was not really a convention at all, but a carefully planned mixture of live presentations and videos, filmed in every state of the Union. Absent the drama and the tumult of a large, in-person meeting, and given the possibility of technical glitches, it was initially unclear how all of this would work.  

But while some of the sizzle of the traditional convention was missing, the virtual version succeeded remarkably well in conveying the Democratic message and in personalizing Joe Biden. 

Speeches were shorter and more focused than usual. Average Americans spoke frequently and movingly of their pain in difficult times and of their admiration for the candidate. And Biden came across as what he mostly is: a decent, regular guy who has overcome personal tragedy multiple times, has a plan for the future, and cares about working Americans.  The Republicans, of course, will try to do the same with their man. Yet what was possible with the amiable Joe Biden will be far more challenging with the belligerent, vituperative, and often menacing Donald Trump. 

But the majority of Americans, Jews most definitely included, are getting profoundly weary of the president’s snarling persona.  

Professor Louis Menand, writing in The New Yorker, wisely noted that “voters get tired of one-trick ponies.” This was true of Joseph McCarthy, he suggested, and is true of Donald Trump as well.  

And he’s right. While much of any political convention is political rhetoric and show business, the prominence at the Democratic convention of regular people just trying to live their lives gave this event a different dimension. And what we saw was that these people, clearly sincere and speaking in their own words, had had enough. Beaten down by the pandemic, rising joblessness, and record inequality, they have lost patience with the “Fake News/They’re Out To Get Me” bellowing of the president.

True, in 2016 Trump managed to convince 63 million Americans, suspicious of elites and tired of establishment neglect, that he was on their side. And yes, at the beginning there was something weirdly fascinating about his outrageous mendacity, his endless stream of Twitter lies, and his disregard of constitutional constraints. But Americans assumed that this was a sideshow put on for their benefit, and that, sooner rather than later, a plan or a program to help them would emerge.

But that never happened, of course.  And now, as millions of people lose their health insurance and bodies pile up from Covid-19, all that Americans are left with is deadly incompetence, obscene dishonesty, and pervasive corruption. More and more of them no longer believe that Trump is on their side, and his threats and bullying generate mostly exhaustion and disgust.

And where do the Jews fit in?   

American Jews share the moral revulsion of most Americans at Trump’s actions and personal conduct. In the words of Michelle Obama, they yearn for a president with a “moral compass,” especially if they are conversant with the moral commands of the Jewish tradition. And that is why Biden will do so well in winning Jewish votes.  

But there is more to it than that. There are specific Jewish interests at stake here. There is an unmistakable whiff of danger to Jews in what is happening in America, and Jewish antennae, always sensitive to potential threats, are up.

As a community, American Jews are classical liberals. They value stability and social cohesion. They worry about serious poverty and deep inequality among their fellow citizens. They know that tumultuous times, economic instability, and social tension inevitably lead to social unrest — and ultimately to anti-Semitism.  

America now is a deeply divided society and more unequal economically than it has been in almost a century. In many ways, it is simply a failed state. In President Trump, Jews see a president who fosters division, thrives on disunity, and has failed to protect the American people against illness and financial ruin. And even if he wanted to solve America’s problems, he would be unable to do so. As things get worse, he gets meaner and angrier, careening between inaction and ineptitude.

Jews in America, to put it plainly, are at risk. It is not an accident that anti-Semitism at this moment is at its highest levels since World War II.

Jews are a small minority in America, but a successful minority.  They are among the “haves” at a time when the “have nots” are growing in number and increasingly desperate. And Jews know that they will only be safe in a society where people have work and feel secure, where they can feed their children and see a doctor, and where a safety net is something that really keeps you safe. And if creating such a society means that many Jews — and others who can afford it — pay higher taxes, so be it; for American Jews, to do so is both moral and necessary.

Joe Biden could provide the leadership necessary to create such a society. He has the qualifications, as the convention again demonstrated, and Jewish Americans hope that he will do so. What they are certain of is that Donald Trump will not.  Donald Trump is not an anti-Semite. It is important to be clear about that. But it is equally clear that he is incapable of creating the kind of country in which Jewish Americans can be confident of their community’s well-being.  

And it is clear as well that despite living in New York City his whole life, and having a Jewish daughter, Trump frequently displays an attitude toward Jews that is awkward at best and sneering and even contemptuous at worst.

Other than his remarks on Charlottesville’s neo-Nazis, his most remembered comment relating to American Jews is his observation in 2019 that “any Jewish people that vote for a Democrat, I think it shows either a total lack of knowledge or great disloyalty.” Disloyalty to America? To the Jewish people? To Israel?

He didn’t say, and it hardly matters. His words were appallingly ignorant and offensive to Jews of every persuasion and outlook. The only reason that they are not mentioned more frequently is that Trump’s public discourse is filled with a seemingly endless series of such comments. But it is hard to find much comfort in the fact that insults, baseless accusations, and misinformation are simply a part of his character, whether referencing Jews or somebody else.  

And finally: What about his support for Israel?  

Jewish Trump supporters argue that Trump’s backing for Israel justifies setting aside other indications of the president’s shortcomings and unfitness for office. This assumption, of course, is highly questionable, as even many in the Orthodox world have come to realize.  

But with regard to the specifics of Trump’s Israel policy, there are three things that need to be said. First, President Trump deserves thanks and praise for a number of steps he has taken, including supporting Israel at the United Nations, moving the American embassy to Jerusalem, and facilitating normalization of relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates. Credit where credit is due.

Second, Trump’s approach to Israel must be seen in the context of his overall foreign policy, which is a chaotic and unpredictable disaster. An isolationist, unilateralist and America Firster, Trump has withdrawn from a long list of treaties and alliances, failed to respond to Russian provocations, and is friendlier to Kim Jong Un and Vladimir Putin than to our democratic allies.  

When you add his handling of Covid-19 to everything else he has done in the foreign policy realm, what you have is the indisputable fact that America has become a laughing stock in the world.

Third, and most important, is that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are a dream team when it comes to support for Israel. Both are strong, reliable friends of the Jewish state. Both are sensible centrists who would rebuild support for Israel as a bipartisan cause. Both back a two-state solution, which is the consensus position of the American Jewish community. Pushing radical and anti-Israel voices to the margins, Biden made certain that the Democratic platform reflects his own moderation and love for the Jewish state.

In the short term, any American president will be focusing on domestic concerns, but Biden understands the world in a way that Trump never will. Who will do the best job in restoring American credibility, American alliances, and American standing in the world? And if Israel is truly threatened, who will ultimately be the best and most reliable defender of the Jewish state? To both questions, the answer is Joe Biden.

In short, Israel is not a reason to support Donald Trump. It is yet another reason to embrace Joe Biden.

With one convention over and another getting underway, my prediction is: Biden will get 80-85 percent of the Jewish vote. And he will deserve it.

Eric H. Yoffie, a rabbi, writer and teacher in Westfield, New Jersey, is a former president of the Union for Reform Judaism. Twitter: @EricYoffie

I’ve been feeling an increasingly higher level of anxiety as the 2020 election approaches. I sense I’m not alone.

On the one hand, I believe that a fair election will result in Joe Biden and Kamala Harris becoming President and Vice President and more Democrats becoming House and Senate members signaling the beginning of the end of our national nightmare.

On the other hand, I know that Trump and his Republican sycophants will do everything they can to steal this election from the American people.

Thirty years ago I began collecting quotations from Jewish and world literature on a wide variety of themes. This past week I looked at what I collected specifically on the themes of “anxiety,” “fear,” and “despair.” Here are a few statements that offered a measure of wisdom, perspective, and hope:

 “The world is a very narrow bridge; the important thing is not to be afraid.” —Rabbi Nachman of Breslov (Ukraine, 1772-1810)

“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself – nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.” —President Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945)

“You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, ‘I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.’” —Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962)

“There is only one way to happiness and that is to cease worrying about things which are beyond the power of our will.” —Epictetus (1^st-2^nd Century AD Greek Stoic philosopher)

“Anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows, but only empties today of its strength.” —Charles Spurgeon (19^th century English Baptist Preacher)

“Nothing diminishes anxiety faster than action.” —Walter Anderson (20^th century American painter and writer)

“You cannot always control what goes on outside, but you can always control what goes on inside.” —Wayne Dyer (20^th-21^st century American author and motivational speaker)

“Do what you can, with what you’ve got, where you are.” —President Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919)

“Life is ten percent what you experience and ninety percent how you respond to it.” —Dorothy M. Neddermeyer (20^th-21^st century psychotherapist)

“Nothing can bring you peace but yourself.” —Ralph Waldo Emerson (American essayist and philosopher, 1803-1882)

“Calm mind brings inner strength and self-confidence, so that’s very important for good health.” —The Dalai Lama (1935- )

“Present fears are less than horrible imaginings.” —William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

“There are moments when all anxiety and stated toil are becalmed in the infinite leisure and repose of nature.” —Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)

 “What else does anxiety about the future bring you but sorrow upon sorrow?” —Thomas á Kempis (14^th-15^th century Dutch-German author)

“Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.” —Reinhold Niebuhr (American theologian and ethicist, 1892-1971)

“The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” —Lao Tzu (6^th century BCE Chinese philosopher)

“If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude.” —Maya Angelou (American poet and civil rights activist, 1928-2014)

 “Be the change that you wish to see in the world.” —Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948)

“If you can’t fly, run. If you can’t run, walk. If you can’t walk, crawl, but by all means, keep moving.” —Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968)

“America must not become a nation of onlookers. America must not remain silent. Not merely black America, but all of America. It must speak up and act … for the sake of the image, the idea and the aspiration of America itself…When I was the rabbi of the Jewish community in Berlin under the Hitler regime, I learned … under those tragic circumstances that bigotry and hatred is not the most urgent problem. The most urgent, the most disgraceful, the most shameful, and the most tragic problem is silence.” —Rabbi Joachim Prinz (German-American Rabbi, 1902-1988; words he spoke on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, 1963 March on Washington)

“It’s forbidden to despair… Remember: Things can go from the very worst to the very best…in just the blink of an eye.” —Rabbi Nachman of Breslov (Ukraine, 1772-1810)

“If you’re going through Hell, keep going.” —Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

 “When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time they can seem invincible, but in the end they always fail.” —Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948)

“Part of being optimistic is keeping one’s head pointed toward the sun, one’s feet moving forward. There were many dark moments when my faith in humanity was sorely tested, but I would not give myself up to despair. That way lays defeat and death.” —Nelson Mandela (1918-2013)

“Get in good trouble, necessary trouble…Do not get lost in a sea of despair.” —Congressman John Lewis (1940-2020)

“The line of progress is never straight.” (Martin Luther King, Jr.)

In reading Ron Chernow’s formidable biography of Ulysses S. Grant (1822-1885), it’s remarkable to consider these past 155 years since the Civil War and know, on the one hand, how much the United States has changed for the better, and on the other, how much some Americans have not changed at all. The racism, hate, and suppression of former slaves that provoked the secession of the South from the Union and the resulting Civil War are still present in the hearts and minds of far too many Americans.

Frederick Douglas regarded President Grant as the greatest friend to black Americans of any President to that point in American history, including Abraham Lincoln. But, it took far more than one President’s support and advocacy to turn the tide of history from brutal enslavement to freedom and equality. As much as Grant advocated on behalf of the rights, safety, and well-being of the 4 million former black slaves, the South reversed the gains made in the Civil War and during Reconstruction until the 1960s’ civil rights movement. Through whipping, shooting, wounding, maiming, mutilation, and the murder of black women, children, and defenseless men, white supremacists led by the Ku Klux Klan (founded in 1865) did everything possible to terrorize black Americans and create an Apartheid-like South.

As I waded through this 959-page presidential biography, I gained a sense of Grant’s heart, soul, mind, character, dignity, and leadership, his strengths and weaknesses, successes and failures. He was an uncommon president, perhaps one of the greatest in American history. A graduate of West Point and a veteran of the Mexican wars, Grant was modest, quiet, and innately intelligent. His calm demeanor, strategic mind, and dogged determination inspired millions of Union troops during the Civil War including President Lincoln himself, America as a whole, and most international leaders in the last third of the 19^th century.

Following President Andrew Johnson’s short term of office after Lincoln’s assassination, the Radical abolitionist Republican Party clamored for the heroic but hesitant Major General Ulysses S. Grant to run for President in 1868. He did so less from ego than a sense of duty winning comfortably both the popular vote and Electoral College. Grant’s political naiveté, however, made it difficult for him to cope effectively over two terms (1869-1877) with a scandal-ridden Washington, D.C. political culture and the violent resistance to Reconstruction by southern white Democrats. Yet, his accomplishments were significant including support for and advocacy of the 13^th, 14^th, and 15^th Amendments to the Constitution respectively outlawing slavery, granting citizenship to all born and naturalized persons, and securing the right to vote for all citizens of the United States – women’s suffrage would come on August 18, 1920 almost exactly a century ago.

One can’t help but compare the Obama and Trump years to Lincoln’s and Grant’s successes and reversals of fortune. Whereas Presidents Lincoln and Grant were tenacious, visionary, and of common moral cause in keeping the Union whole and bringing freedom and equality de jure to all Americans (including Native Americans and Jews), their legacy was undone to a great extent by racist, intolerant, and violent Southern State thugs and Northern racists.

Whereas the Obama-Biden administration brought back economic stability, expanded health care, sought greater equity for all Americans, promoted environmental responsibility, and engaged constructively in international agreements in their two terms, the Trump-Pence Administration has sought to undo and undermine most of the Obama-Biden accomplishments in just shy of 4 years.  

Today’s Trump Republican Party, of course, bears little resemblance to the 19^th century Republican Party of Lincoln and Grant. Whereas President Grant sought to expand citizenship and voting rights in fair and free elections for every born and naturalized American citizen, Trump’s Republican Party openly disdains expansive voting rights and an inclusive democracy, albeit far less violently than the 19^th century South.

Ron Chernow’s biography Grant (publ. 2017) is a tour de force in research and writing and well worth the time to read especially for those who value history but know little about President Grant, the Civil War, his hopes for Reconstruction, and its chaotic and violent aftermath.

I was playing with our 19 month-old grand-daughter Violet when my wife told me that Kamala Harris was Joe Biden’s choice as Vice President.

I am thrilled as a white American man, a Jew, and a grandfather of a beautiful little girl whose first political memory is likely to be that a Black/Asian woman is Vice President and may well be President of the United States. I am so excited for Violet, for all of us, and for all the little girls in our nation and around the world who will know that Kamala Harris has broken the ultimate glass ceiling.

Yes, her selection is symbolic – but Kamala is also highly competent, smart, wise, seasoned, and a great candidate. I have no doubts that she will be a great VP.

Granted, Kamala is not yet elected, but I believe the election was decided on Tuesday, unless Trump steals it – and that remains a deep worry. That being said, I’m an optimist, and I believe that come January 20 we will have a President Joe Biden, a Vice President Kamala Harris, an expanded majority in the House, and a majority in the Senate.

To most of the nation, Trump has shown through his negative and toxic example how important ethical and competent American leadership really is, how critical the President’s understanding of American and world history and the US Constitution must be, and what America actually stands for – justice, compassion, forward thinking, and peace between the peoples of a diverse nation.

In a time when joy and optimism have been very hard to come by, Joe has infused his campaign and the country with much of both. I say to Uncle Joe – “Thank You and Let’s Go!”

PS – Get everyone you know to register to vote and vote early!

In the past month, two events rocked the Jewish world and challenged the liberal American Jewish relationship to Zionism and the State of Israel.

Peter Beinart, a long-time supporter of the two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, articulated in a long essay in Jewish Currents and in an op-ed in the New York Times why he now believes that a two-state solution is dead. Instead, he advocates for one democratic state in which the Jewish and the Palestinian peoples can live equally in their respective national homes in what he calls “Israel-Palestine.”

Seth Rogen, the American Jewish film-maker and comedian, in an interview with Marc Maron on his podcast in advance of the release of Rogen’s film “An American Pickle,” reflects the conflicted state of his own Jewish identity and many in his generation vis a vis antisemitism, Jews, and Israelis.

Whereas Peter Beinart is a highly educated and informed Jewish intellectual and journalist, Seth Rogen, though growing up in a Vancouver Jewish Day School and a left-wing Habonim Dror summer camp, seems not to understand what Israel and Israelis are really all about, what Jewish peoplehood means today, and why a Jewish State in all its complexity is a miracle in 2000 years of Jewish history.

The tragedy of Covid-19, the historic economic collapse, massive unemployment, racial divisions, and the charged American presidential race have consumed so much of our energy and attention these past 6 months. Few American Jews except those who are most passionately pro-Zionist and pro-Israel aren’t thinking much about Israel these days. Perhaps, this is an opportunity with so much time on our hands for us American Jews to deepen our knowledge and understanding of Zionism, Israel, and Palestine.

To that end, I’ve compiled a list of volumes that educate and enlighten the history of the Jewish State, the Zionist dream, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. These volumes explain why a Jewish state matters so much to the Jewish people, and why a two-state solution is the only viable option for peace, security, and justice for both Jews and Palestinians.  

For the list of 26 outstanding volumes, see my blog at the Times of Israel – https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/zionism-israel-and-the-palestinians-book-recommendations/