Schumer’s Senate Remarks

     It has become over the last years much more difficult to speak from the pulpit about politics.  There was a time, not so long ago – maybe at this point 15 years ago or so – when it was common to talk politics from the pulpit.  And when I say politics I mean issues – not candidates.  In this congregation there is a long history of such sermons, something those of you who are familiar with the remarks so often delivered by Rabbi Mark Loeb of blessed memory would know.  But these days it is rare, because in the vitriolic political environment in which we find ourselves today, the rabbi, talking politics, risks angering and even alienating members of his or her congregation.

     So I hope you’ll excuse me this morning, because I am going to talk politics for a few moments.  Certainly the political landscape for Jewish Americans today is fraught in a way it has never been before, at least in my lifetime.  This largely has to do with Israel and what is going on there and in the Gaza strip, and Israel has become a highly politicized issue, I’ll come back to that in a moment.  But also antisemitism itself has become a political issue, after all when heads of universities are testifying in front of Congress, when Congress begins investigating unions because of supposed anti Israel/anti semitic sentiment, as is happening right now, well, Congress is a political, so anti semitism has become a political issue, and Israel is for sure.

     Let’s think about Israel and the American political scene.

     If you follow politics, if you keep up on Israel related news, you probably are aware of a speech that Chuck Schumer, the Majority Leader of the Senate, gave this past week.  Mr. Schumer has openly embraced his Jewish identity, and has been a strong supporter of Israel in his political career going back many years.  His support of Israel has been good for his career, after all he comes from the State of New York, where more Jews live than in any other state in the Union – about 2.2 million.  But Schumer’s support of Israel has seemed genuine, something that he truly feels in his kishkas.  In fact, in the speech he gave this week he said the following:

“We love Israel in our bones. What Israel has meant to my generation, within living memory of the Holocaust, is impossible to measure. The flowering of the Jewish people in the desert from the ashes of the Holocaust, and the fulfillment of the dream of a Jewish homeland — after nearly two thousand years of praying and waiting — represents one of the most heartfelt causes of my life.”

      In the speech he then goes on to say many, if not all of the things a full supporter of Israel would be expected to say.  He says that there should not be a permanent cease fire, that Israel has a right to continue its war against Hamas.  He says that the hostages should be released immediately.  He says that what Hamas did on October 7 was brutal and evil beyond anyone’s imagination.  He says that Israel lives in a neighborhood surrounded by vicious enemies.  He says that Hamas uses hospitals and refugee centers as missile launching points and command centers, and civilians as human shields.  And he lays the primary responsibility for the war at the feet of Hamas. Much of the speech is a virtual check list of AIPAC talking points.

     He does spend part of the speech talking about the suffering of the Palestinian civilian population in Gaza.  And he goes on to say this is something that many American Jews are concerned about.  And he is right!  I know that, people call me with concern about what is happening in Gaza, they don’t want to say it out loud, but they’ll tell the rabbi in private.  I don’t think those remarks are controversial, virtually everyone acknowledges that Palestinians are suffering in Gaza.  And that is a topic of conversation, and maybe for a sermon, for another day.  But again, I don’t think it is controversial to recognize the suffering in Gaza.

     But what was controversial – highly controversial – in Schumer’s speech, was his call for the end of the Netanyahu administration.  He doesn’t quite come out and say that Bibi should resign, but he does say that he believes new elections should be held, and he very clearly says that Netanyahu and his administration are an obstacle to peace, and part of the problem, not part of the solution.

     Now maybe it is important to note here that many Israelis actually agree with that.  I can tell you that anecdotally, having been to Israel 6 weeks ago, every Israeli we spoke with on the trip thought Netanyahu should be out of office  – and a number of those Israelis voted for him.  Current polls also indicate that Bibi is at a low in terms of his popularity – numbers vary as they always do with these things, but only about 15 to 20 percent of Israelis support the Prime Minister currently.  

     Now this might seem like a strange thing to say – Bibi’s poll numbers are both beside the point, and precisely the point.  What do I mean?  If Bibi is unpopular in Israel it doesn’t give us, in America, the right to say he should not be in power, or that new elections should be held.  Israel is a democracy, and the current government was elected by Israelis.  It doesn’t really matter whether we like it or not – what matters is what Israelis think of their government.  And if they feel there should be new elections there will be new elections, and when those elections happen if they feel there should be a new Prime Minister of Israel, they’ll elect a new Prime Minister.

     I appreciate Chuck Schumer’s staunch support of Israel over the years, I appreciate the speech he gave a couple of days ago – you should read it – it presents a balanced, thoughtful, nuanced understanding of the current crisis and a strong defense of the State of Israel.  But in my opinion he overstepped his bounds when he called for new elections.  

     You know in the Jewish community there is a kind of old joke – anything that happens, doesn’t matter what it is, the only real question is is its good for the Jews or not.  You know – spring is coming – very nice!  but is it good for the Jews?  

     You realize that Chuck Schumer and Bibi Netanyahu are the two most powerful Jews in the entire world?  The whole world.  The top two.  And I don’t know much, but I do know this – at this time, with what is going on around the world with anti semitism, with the struggle that Israel is engaged in, with world opinion currently turned against Israel, to have the two most powerful Jews in the world fighting with one another – that cannot be good for the Jews.  

     We finished reading this morning the book of Exodus, and the last third of the book is devoted to the building of the Tabernacle.  And the Torah tells us that the head of that project – Bezalel by name – was blessed with a deep spirit of wisdom and understanding.  May the leaders of the Jewish community – around the world, in Israel, and here in the States, be blessed in the same way, and guided by the deep sense that as Jews we must first and foremost care for one another.