Josh Shapiro's Values and Politics

Being interviewed by Gayle King

The more I learn about Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, the more I like him. Although I have a strong tendency toward conservative politicians, I am not a conservative ideologue. Never have been. While I admit that I have been far more influenced by conservative political ideology in recent years than I ever have been, that is because those values tend to be more compatible with my religious worldview. I am not, however, ‘married’ to conservative politics. Nor do I believe that being politically conservative guarantees being philo-Semitic.

That bubble burst this year when two very prominent conservatives turned out to be openly antisemitic. Tucker Carlson’s virulent anti-Israel rhetoric is hardly devoid of anti-Jewish sentiment, despite his protestations to the contrary. But Candace Owens has proven to be the worst offender of them all. She can give Joseph Goebbels a run for his money when it comes to whose virulent antisemitic propaganda is more extreme—as evidenced most recently in a video recording of one of her podcasts.

So no. Being politically conservative does not automatically mean being more sympathetic to the Jewish people.

That is why I do not place much weight on labels when supporting a particular candidate for office. I look at the individual - what their values are and what policies are likely to flow from those values. Of particular interest to me is a candidate’s attitude toward Israel and toward the Jewish people. The candidate whose values and policies are most supportive of those two critically important issues is likely to earn my support, regardless of whether they are Democrat or Republican.

This does not mean that I ignore or minimize other issues. As an American, I obviously care deeply about whose values and policies will best enhance the public good, both domestically and in foreign affairs. That I have chosen Republican candidates more often than Democrats simply reflects my judgment that, on issues important to me, Republican policies were superior in those particular cases.

In the case of Josh Shapiro, I think it is safe to say that he is on the “short list” of people likely to be the Democratic nominee for president in 2028. If that turns out to be the case, I do not see any Republican running against him for whom I would vote. Especially if the Republican nominee ends up being Vice-President J.D. Vance.

I have written recently about the possibility of a contest between these two. To repeat: Vance has proven to be parve at best when it comes to Israel and the Jewish people. His refusal to distance himself from Tucker Carlson - offering the absurd explanation that he does not believe there should be a litmus test for participation in the conservative movement - does not excuse tolerating an antisemite thinly disguised as an “anti-Zionist.” How stupid does he think we are...

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Rabbi Shmaryahu (Sidney) Meltzer, ZTL

This is what our classroom looked like - Rabbi Meltzer at the head

I am saddened to report the passing of Rabbi Shmaryahu (Sidney) Meltzer.

Rabbi Meltzer was my first rebbe at HTC’s Yeshiva High School (now called Fasman) in Skokie, when I was in 11th grade. I had transferred there from Telshe Yeshiva in Cleveland.

Although Telshe had an excellent limudei kodesh program that trained its students how to learn Gemara—and they also had a pretty decent secular studies curriculum back then, from which I did, in fact, gain a lot—I was never comfortable with the hashkafa. It was far too “separatist” for my taste.

My family was far more integrated into the broader culture than Telshe approved of. For example, we had a TV and went to the occasional movie. I was (and still am) a fan of secular music, and my parents never discouraged me from that—even though my father came from a very strict Chassidic background and later returned to that lifestyle culturally upon making Aliyah in the early ’70s. Philosophically, however, he remained an adherent of Torah im Derech Eretz.

That is how I was raised.

Telshe forbade all of those things, making me feel uncomfortable and even guilty for enjoying them. I recall one mussar shmuess where the Rosh Mechina (the high school principal) forbade even going bowling, labeling it chukas hagoy.

Needless to say, my transition to HTC was quite a relief...

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Why There Have Been No New Posts

 For those that may be wondering why there have been no new posts since last Monday, I appreciate your concern.

I am in Israel now for a granddaughter’s wedding and simply haven’t had enough time to post anything since I left last Monday night. My next post will probably be next Wednesday after i get back.

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Social Narcissism and Accusations of Sex Abuse

Yeshivat Har Etzion Rosh Yeshiva, Rabbi Yaakov Medan (Jerusalem Post)

Sexual abuse in the world of Orthodox Jewry seems to have declined over the last few years. But it has not gone away. I wonder whether this apparent decline reflects a real reduction of incidents, or whether it is more a function of the continued reluctance of survivors to report abuse. Either way, sexual abuse has not disappeared, as demonstrated by a recent news story in The Jerusalem Post.

A Berlin district court has found a rabbi guilty of “sexual assault and sexual coercion by exploiting a moment of surprise,” a misdemeanor under German law.

The criminal case was brought by the Berlin public prosecutor and by one of multiple women who have accused the rabbi of a range of sexual abuses dating back almost two decades…

The co-plaintiff and two witnesses were among 17 women who testified against the rabbi in July 2023 before an Orthodox Jewish court, a beit din, in Germany. That court ruled that the defendant was unfit to serve in any clerical role, including as a ritual circumciser, Torah scribe, and kashrut supervisor.

This rabbi sexually abused women for nearly twenty years before justice was finally served. I suspect that the perceived downturn in abuse cases is not because it happens less often, but because survivors remain reluctant to report it. That reluctance is as strong as ever -for understandable reasons. But it ends with a gross miscarriage of justice.

This point was driven home for me by Rabbi Yaakov Medan, co-head of Yeshivat Har Etzion. The Jerusalem Post recently reported on a warning he issued about the dangers of what he calls “social narcissism,” which he says can lead to what he describes as ritualized sexual abuse of minors carried out under the guise of religious or social ceremonies.

His point is that when people are led to believe that their particular social or religious group is beyond reproach, they will refuse to believe that anyone who belongs to it - especially someone viewed as a leader - could ever be involved in such acts. I am not entirely sure what Rabbi Medan means by “ritualized sexual abuse,” but the phrase is chilling. In a religious setting, the victim is not only abused, but may also be manipulated by an abuser perceived religious authority - into believing that what is happening is acceptable, meaningful, or even holy. I can think of few things more insidious than exploiting a young person’s faith to satisfy one’s own sexual perversion...

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Thank You, Satmar

The Satmar Rebbe (YWN)

It is rare for me to agree with a rabbinic ban - especially one coming out of Satmar. 

Now, I have no love lost for Satmar. (I say this despite all of the legitimate good things they do for our people. Like their Bikur Cholim society in the New York area - Chesed unmatched anywhere else in the world.) That is because of their extreme hatred of the state of Israel. But in the case of this ban, I could not agree more. I even agree with the Rebbe’s stated reason for the ban, although that is clearly not the only reason I agree.

The following was reported by Yeshiva World News:

The Satmar Rebbe issued a dramatic and unprecedented directive on Motzei Shabbos to all his chassidim in Israel—banning them from protests following the recent killings of two young bochurim, Yosef Eisenthal, z”l, and Naftali Tzvi Kramer, z”l, by Israeli bus drivers during or after protests.

During a chizzuk talk by the Rebbe at his vacation spot in Palm Springs, California, the Rebbe addressed the tangible danger facing participants in the protests, saying that the reality on the ground has become so dangerous as to pose a real threat to life. He emphasized that the foremost responsibility is to preserve human life, and that there is no heter for putting yeshiva bochurim and avreichim in situations that could end in disaster.

I agree wholeheartedly with the sentiment that danger to human life is a foremost responsibility. One that supersedes the observance of almost every mitzvah. Participation in violent protests against the draft - protests that can and sometimes do lead to death - should therefore be avoided.

But that is where our agreement ends.

My antipathy for Satmar has not been softened by this statement. In fact, it was hardened by the comment that followed:

“They are mamash being mafkir Jewish neshamos. There are murderous Arabs and Zionists. This must be heard throughout all of Eretz Yisrael, to all our people.”

Satmar has every right to oppose Zionism based on its interpretation of Jewish law concerning our sovereignty over Eretz Yisrael. But when they place ‘Arabs’ and ‘Zionists’  in the same sentence and accuse both of being murderers, they earn my continued disdain.

First, even the use of the word ‘Arab’ is inappropriate in this context....

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The Key to Jewish Unity

URJ president, Rick Jacobs and OU executive VP, Moshe Hauer, ZTL (eJP)

We live in a polarized world. Politically and religiously. I don’t think that’s arguable. And it seems to be getting worse by the day.

With respect to the religious sphere, Judaism is certainly not immune to this phenomenon. I would even hazard to say that we might be leading the charge. Not only denominationally, but even within Orthodoxy itself. Nowhere is this more evident than in Israel, where polarization has become so fierce and so angry that it is hard to believe we follow the same basic Halacha and share so many of the same values.

I have lamented this reality more times than I can count, always longing for unity in a world of ever-increasing chasms between Orthodox Jewish camps. To say nothing of the polarization between Jewish denominations, where the divide is so great that hope of any kind of unity seems like a practical impossibility.

With respect to the latter, that reality is understandable. Denominational differences are based on matters of belief, halacha, and the values impacted by them. Matters that cannot be compromised, at least as far as Orthodoxy is concerned. Still, I do not believe this must be an absolute impediment if handled the right way. With dialogue we can achieve a degree of Jewish unity in many important areas without compromising principles. More about that later.

The question is -  and always has been - how do we get there? How can we truly be ‘one nation under God’, unified as a nation known as the Jewish people?

If I knew the answer to that, I might be heralded as the greatest Jewish genius since the Vilna Gaon — or Albert Einstein. I obviously don’t.

But I am intrigued by a Jewish organization that appears to have no denominational sponsor, nor is it an observant one. What intrigues me is its focus on dialogue — and the way it embraces that mission is something I think we could all benefit from. The following excerpt from an article published in eJewish Philanthropy by Tiffany Harris addresses this very subject:

Part of our mission is to be a place of learning and growth for Jewish young adults, and that would be impossible if we become an echo chamber. We have to ensure that everyone in our community, from Mem Global residents, hosts, and rabbis to the staff who train and support them, has the skills to have complex conversations and stay in relationship with one another — even, perhaps especially, when they disagree.

To help us with this critical work, I turned to the Constructive Dialogue Institute. In 2022, we began using their Perspectives curriculum to train our staff in viewpoint diversity so they could navigate complex and often emotionally charged conversations.

Constructive dialogue is not about winning an argument or proving that the other side is wrong. It is about developing mutual understanding without giving up our own beliefs. Constructive dialogue does have its limits: it does not extend to hateful speech or to well-trafficked falsehoods, and it never requires us to legitimize ideas that cause real harm. What it does ask of us is to stay rooted in curiosity and respect when we engage in good-faith disagreement.

I know nothing about this organization - its origins, its ideology, or its religious compatibility. Nor am I suggesting we join it. There may very well be aspects of it that contradict Halacha. I simply don’t know. But I like the approach. A lot. And I think we need to do the same -,, certainly across Orthodox factions, and even across denominations.

The path forward must begin within our own denomination first. To that end, rabbinic leaders from every observant faction of Judaism ought to come together and speak with one another - each recognizing that there are differences that will be insurmountable and issues upon which we will never agree.

But — and this is the important part — we must nevertheless respect the views of rabbis from other Orthodox factions, even when we disagree strongly. We should explore the areas where we do agree and unite behind them, promoting those shared values and ideals together as one – a Jewish nation under God.

Imagine if the leading rabbis of the Charedi world met with the leading rabbis of the Religious Zionist world and emerged united in that way. Or if the rabbis of BMG and YU did the same. What a different world we would live in if that happened. It all comes down to respecting those with whom we disagree - even strongly - while still demonstrating brotherhood and mutual respect.

What about Orthodoxy and heterodoxy? Is there any way to engage in dialogue without compromising principles?

Absolutely there is... 

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Is This Deception Justified?

Rav Moshe Hillel Hirsch

Assuming the information reported here is correct, to say that I am dismayed by what transpired would be an understatement of gigantic proportions:

Recordings broadcast Wednesday evening on Channel 12 reveal that senior Haredi rabbis backing the passage of a proposed conscription law view it primarily as a delaying tactic, with no expectation that it will ultimately lead to the enlistment of yeshiva students into the IDF.

In the recordings, Rabbi Moshe Hillel Hirsch explains that he supports the legislation because it would “buy time” for the Haredi community. When asked whether yeshiva students who fall outside existing study frameworks would eventually be required to enlist, he responded unequivocally: “God forbid.”

Addressing the enlistment targets included in the proposed law, Rabbi Hirsch dismissed them outright. “Do they think we will want to meet the target? Of course we will not want to,” he said, adding that he believes the law will collapse after a few years. “In the meantime, we gained time,” he explained.

Rabbi Hirsch also referred to past attempts to create special enlistment frameworks for Haredim under the leadership of the late Rabbi Aharon Leib Shteinman, calling them a mistake. “Our community does not have such compromises,” he said.

Another leading figure, Rabbi Dov Lando, was equally blunt, stating that there is no intention to enlist any Haredim — including those not studying in yeshivot. “What they are talking about is nonsense — it will not happen. We will not go to the army; no one will go to the army,” he said.

Their opposition to Charedim serving in the IDF is not new and should surprise no one. Their strident resistance has been on display for decades. They have consistently argued that those who study Torah full-time should be exempt, because they are the ‘real soldiers’  in the war against the mortal enemies of our people. That it is Torah study, not the IDF, that protects us.

I am not going to argue that proposition here. For the sake of argument, I will concede that perhaps a combination of both Torah study and a physical army is what protects us in our time. Still, I seriously doubt that these leaders truly believe that without a physical army Israel would be protected. On October 7^th -  Israel had both: a standing army and more people studying Torah than at any other point in Jewish history. And yet a massacre of 1200 Jews still happened on that day.

I am not sure how these leaders would answer the question of why such massive Torah study did not prevent that catastrophe. But it turns out that their oft stated reason is not the reason at all...

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Tragedies and Hate

Hatzalah rescuing infants at a daycare center (United Hatzalah)

Lately, it seems as though the frequency of tragic deaths of Charedi youth in Israel has increased substantially. A few weeks ago, a young teenager was hit and killed by a speeding bus. On Monday, it was reported that two infants died in an unlicensed, overcrowded daycare center. And this morning, yet another Charedi teenager was hit and killed by a speeding bus.

That these deaths are heartbreaking does not need to be said. As has so often been the case when I hear about tragedies like this, I cannot imagine what the families of these young victims are going through.

But I am not going to talk about fault here. There is plenty of responsibility to go around in these tragic incidents - a discussion is beyond the scope of this post. My concern is how the Charedi leadership and their politicians react to such events - placing the blame entirely on their usual whipping boy, the leftist/Zionist court.

Here is how Rabbi Natan Slifkin put it:

Yesterday, following the tragic deaths of two infants at an unlicensed daycare center, Charedi MKs and pundits, along with Likud MKs and other supporters of Bibi’s government, blamed the “Leftist/Zionist” court for recently halting daycare subsidies to Charedim in kollel, claiming that this “forced” Charedim to resort to cheaper, unlicensed, dangerous daycare.

As Natan noted, this daycare facility had been in existence for 30 years and had been widely used during that time because it was cheaper - and, I assume, because parents believed that a daycare center run by religious Jews did not need a license in order to be safe.

What troubles me greatly is the hatred inherent in blaming the court, as though the court’s entire existence were devoted to destroying ‘Torah-true Judaism’, as though leftist/Zionists hate the Torah and hate God. It never seems to occur to these Charedi leaders that many of the challenges they face could be addressed in the same way that non-Charedi Jews address them. Many of those being just as devout.

To these Charedi leaders, everything the government does that they disagree with is seen as an attack on God and His Torah, and therefore are to be hated and blamed for all that has gone wrong in their world.

This is what I do not understand. The idea of hating any Jew simply because they are secular Zionists with a left-wing ideology is morally reprehensible... Even if that ideology appears to be anti-Torah, don't blame the messenger. It is far more likely those beliefs are the result of ignorance of the Torah, having been replaced by modern progressive values. While many of those values are indeed anti-Torah, that is not why they hold them. They hold those values because they do not know any better having been raised with little or no authentic Jewish education.

Such Jews should be viewed as a tinok shenishba - a Jew who was captured as an infant by non-Jews and raised with non-Jewish values presented as truth. Instead of hating them, they should be reaching out to them.

I know this is hard to do when you believe you are in the midst of an existential struggle. But that is precisely the time when one must reach out. There is no telling what even a small act of loving-kindness can accomplish when confronting someone whose values are so anathema to your own.

Hatred and name-calling can only make matters worse. Instead of holding demonstrations against the Zionist Left, there should be dialogue. Let them see the positive side of the Charedi world. The side that exemplifies Chesed - loving-kindness toward fellow Jews. The Charedi world has many great Chesed organizations that help fellow Charedim in times of need. They should expand that help to include secular Jews as well. Not judging them. Not arguing with them. But winning them over as exemplars of non-judgmental loving-kindness. By being role models, rather than screaming, name-calling protesters who blame all their troubles on others and in the process cause a great deal of damage. Both to property and their own image.

The refusal to take any responsibility for these tragedies tells me something about the character of their leadership...

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They Had to Ask

Pennsylvania Governor, Josh Shapiro

There has been a lot of buzz over the last few days about Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro. It centers on a revelation in his soon-to-be-published book about how he was vetted for the position of Kamala Harris’s running mate in the last presidential election. A vetting that treated him differently than any of the other candidates being considered for that position. Because he is Jewish.

He was asked by a Harris staff member whether he had ever been an double-agent of the Israeli government. Shapiro responded that he was offended by the question, to which the retort was, ‘Well, we have to ask.’

I’m pretty sure Governor Tim Walz wasn’t asked if he was a double-agent for any foreign country. They obviously didn’t ‘have to ask’ him. It was widely reported at the time that Shapiro’s interview did not go well, and that Harris chose someone without the ‘Jewish baggage’ that Shapiro supposedly carried.

This does not mean that Harris herself is antisemitic. If she were, she would never have married a Jew—even a secular one. But it does mean  that she clearly feared losing the support of the pro-Palestinian crowd that was accusing Israel of genocide and chanting ‘Palestine from the river to the sea,’ many of whom were openly antisemitic. She did not want a running mate who was in any way supportive of Israel. Being Jewish was therefore seen as a liability from the start.

Although Shapiro is a Democrat who has been critical of Israel’s current leadership, he has nevertheless been a longtime supporter of Israel. He was not going to be cowed by protesters whose longstanding animus toward Israel predated Israel’s military response to October 7^th. (Interestingly, he was joined in this by fellow Pennsylvania Democrat, Senator John Fetterman, whose support for Israel has been even stronger - despite the fact that he isn’t Jewish.

Shapiro’s Judaism was apparently ‘poison’ to Harris, who wanted someone not in any way associated with the Jewish state. So even if Harris was not personally antisemitic, her campaign might as well have been. She may as well have hung a sign outside her VP-vetting office saying, ‘Jews need not apply.’

Be that as it may, things went badly for Harris. She lost the election by a much wider margin than expected. Some political pundits believe that had she chosen the better-known and very popular governor of Pennsylvania, she might have flipped that state and possibly won the election. I don’t know whether that would have been enough. But choosing a far less known governor from a state she would have won anyway clearly did not help her.

It appears that Shapiro is now laying the groundwork for a run for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination.... 

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Feminism and General Zini

Shin Bet head, Major General David Zini (TOI)

Anyone who thinks that the culture war pitting progressive values against biblical values has not reached Israel would be sorely mistaken. I would even argue that the Israeli left often tries to outdo the left in Western democracies to show  just how non-biblical its values are. That may help explain why the very secular Tel Aviv is often described as the most gay-friendly city in the civilized world.

One of the movements that drives the culture war is feminism. Without getting into excessive detail, contemporary feminist values tend be progressive. And tend to look askance at any restrictions governing relations between men and women. Even if they are biblically based. Their primary concern is total equality between men and women. Regardless of what biblically based laws say. In that vein, physical differences between the sexes are often ignored or treated as nonexistent, regardless of the biological reality of human sexuality.

As this attitude plays out in our time, it has serious consequences for religious Jews who follow those biblically based laws. The bible recognizes the nature of human sexual attraction. And therefore dictates laws regarding behavior between the sexes. Upon which the Sages added additional safeguards in order to prevent lustful desires from overwhelming us. The idea is that the best way to avoid immoral conduct is to establish a system of behavior between the sexes that minimizes physical contact. The popular expression for this is Shomer Negiah - guarding against physical contact with the opposite sex.

There is, in fact, a dispute about how far one must go to avoid physical contact with the opposite sex  between two commentators on the Shulchan Aruch (Even HaEzer 21:1). The Chelkas Mechokek rules that any physical contact at all is forbidden, regardless of whether it is platonic or secular in nature. He considers intent or desire irrelevant and forbids all male-female physical contact.

The Beis Meir, by contrast, rules that as long as the physical contact is entirely platonic, it is entirely permitted. This dispute remains unresolved to this day, and depending on which Orthodox community one belongs to, one will find different approaches. Some stringent (Chasidim). Some lenient (Modern Orthodox and Torah Im Derech Eretz adherents). And some being stringent except when it might embarrass someone and then they are lenient (the Lithuanian Yeshiva world).

This is one area in the culture war where feminists and religious Jews collide. As they did in Israel... 

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