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Trump Seeking a Rabbi to Open Republican Convention

sharansky-lookstein-e1467993910859Ivanka Trump’s rabbi backs out at the last minute after pressure from other Jews; the real story here is Trump’s decision to lead off with a rabbi in the first place: The two parties represent not so much different points of view among Americans as different wings of the Jewish power structure.

RABBI HASKEL Lookstein on Friday reversed an earlier decision to deliver the opening prayer at the Republican National Convention next week after facing a deluge of criticism from his former students who questioned how he could lend tacit support to presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump. (ILLUSTRATION: Haskel Lookstein, right, with Israeli politician Natan Sharansky)

“In the interest of bringing our community together, I have asked to be relieved of my commitment to deliver the invocation. My request has been honored with the same love and respect in which it was first offered and intended,” Lookstein wrote in an email.

According to Lookstein, he was invited to the convention by Ivanka Trump, who is a member of the Kehilath Jeshurun synagogue, where Lookstein is the Rabbi Emeritus, to appear at the convention in Cleveland on Monday. He accepted, apparently unaware of the political firestorm the decision would ignite.

Within hours of the Thursday announcement that he would appear at the convention, Ramaz alumni flooded the internet with petitions and calls for him to reconsider his decision. The reactions from many of his former students ranged from disgusted to disappointed and confused.

“To embrace Trump and Trumpism goes against all we’ve been taught. As graduates of Ramaz, and as current or former members of the Modern Orthodox community, this is a shanda beyond the pale,” Jacob Savage wrote in a change.org petition, using the Yiddish word for “shame.” The petition amassed over 800 signatures by the time Lookstein announced he was no longer planning to deliver the prayer.

It is not clear from Lookstein’s statement if will still be attending the convention. A spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“Rabbi Lookstein – everything you’ve taught me, from preparing me for my bat mitzva, to your weekly sermons, to your incredible leadership runs counter to everything Trump stands for,” Miryam Kabakov commented on the petition Savage posted. “That’s why I am utterly confused. Please reconsider this decision – or at least explain it to your students and those who have followed you for so long.”

The petitions ― which invoked Trump’s proposed Muslim ban, plan to build a wall on the border with Mexico, decision to skip the NAACP convention, refusal to condemn neo-Nazi behavior, and history of misogynistic comments ― essentially asked the rabbi why he would put himself in the position of appearing to offer legitimacy to someone who routinely spouts hateful rhetoric.

“You may believe, based on personal knowledge or intuition, that he is not actually an anti-semite, or for that matter, xenophobic or sexist. But by voicing, giving voice to, and then refusing to condemn the most vile and blatant bigoted people and beliefs, Mr. Trump, as the possible future leader of the free world, takes a dangerous step in the slippery slope towards actual institutional bigotry,” wrote a group of anonymous “students, congregants, and sincere admirers in a public letter.

Even some with longtime family ties to Lookstein, Ramaz, and Kehilath Jeshurun were appalled by Lookstein’s initial decision. “I think we can agree that [Trump] is far from embodying the kind of “menschlichkeit” that R. Lookstein sought to instill in us at Ramaz,” Yitz Landes, an alumnus, wrote in a public Facebook post, using the Yiddish word for a person of integrity and honor.

The last-minute reversal hours before the Shabbat holiday means that the Trump campaign is short on time to find another rabbi willing to risk the potential backlash of leading the prayer at the convention next week.

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Source: Huffington Post

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RABBI ROSENBERG
RABBI ROSENBERG
16 July, 2016 3:23 pm

I would be honored if they would ask me. Can anyone help. Rabbi for Trump

Robert Ford
Robert Ford
16 July, 2016 6:05 pm

Ha-ha-ha!!!How do you like your “Chosen ones” now, Ivanka the shiska? How’s that schmoozing you did Donald, working out for you now? I tell the bastards point fucking blank, I want them and the Muzzies out of my bloody country!!!! Europa awaken!!!!

RABBI ROSENBERG
RABBI ROSENBERG
17 July, 2016 12:52 pm

I would be honored if they would ask me. Can anyone help. Rabbi for Trump It would be a disgrace not to have a rabbi give a prayer. · . The opposition will do everything possible to make Trump look like Hitler. I have defended Trump many time…s regarding the fact that he is not Hitler. I am a Holocaust scholar who lost most of his family to the Nazis; my parents were in the concentration camps and I am the only Rabbi supporting Mr. Trump with my background. Most of us are fighting tooth and nail for Trump but he needs to begin listening to many of us. The democrats are in bed with each other. As Jews and non Jews we need to attack the democratic position regarding… Read more »

Phil
Phil
18 July, 2016 11:39 am

” But by voicing, giving voice to, and then refusing to condemn the most vile and blatant bigoted people and beliefs, “

Shove your sanctimonious, very nasty venom and “intolerance” back down your throat. The “most vile” and “blatant bigoted people and beliefs” are YOUR people, especially in Israel!