Like any other human-related issue, the answer to the subtitle question
will not be an easy yes-or-no one. Democrats' Presidential candidate Al Gore
and his vice-Presidential colleague Joe Lieberman are good friends of
different, still Abrahamic, folds. The former has already been a" Shabat
meal" and "Pesakh Seder" guest of the latter. Al in turn invited the
Connecticut Senator to the White House race for November icecream. Well, we
might say 'an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth', _Measure for Measure_,
united Jewish meal appeal for United Jewish Appeal to the U.S. electorate.
Sounds very smart and persistently consistent!
IMHO, it is more difficult for a Jew to occupy the position of authority over
the non-Jewish majority, e.g. the U.S. nation, as being Jewish traditionally
means a hybrid ethno-religious identity, is the indivisible mix of two at
the same time, like the Karaite, Samaritan, or Druze ethnic and religious
identities. In the classical Roman law it was unconceivable not to
distinguish the two: being a Roman citizen did not require from the
subject to be a Roman Pantheon worshipper only, as Pax Romana
principle was to embrace rather than exclude. Cf. the divide et impera
lesson given for generations to come.
It is true the higher you go up, the more social responsibility you bear
as everybody's eyes are focused on you. Cf. the negative reading of
the "or lagoyim" rule (light unto the Nations). To be on the frontline is always a risky job:
the more you may win, the more you may lose, if you do not know well
enough "les re\gles de jeu" (rules of the game).
The Mosaic faith would not be really a novelty in the ethno-religious mosaic of
the White House cream cake 200 plus years young. Let us taste quickly the
main layers we have already seen within the Capitol Hill cream and its
"cre\me de la cre\me" associate cookies. For the time being, to make the
whole thing simpler, let us exclude any U.S. intermarriage or extramarital
connections with the Jewish people:
(i) Xian Science: there was at least one security person
of this non-standard variety of Xianity under the
Nixon Administration; not to consider the multi-
religious ties of his own family: going Hare Krsna
after the fruitless exploration of the Western
Civilization of Consumerist Materialism;
(ii) RC (Roman Catholicism): another Boston, MA-bred
part of Xendom, connected to a well-known Irish
immigrant clan, the only exception when the non-
WASP would become a President (still not really true
considering his candidature was not accepted by
all social strata); we should bear in mind, though,
JFK had not taken over the post by an emergency
succession like LBJ did on the plane; he was
elected to this position;
(iii) B-A WASP (Born-Again Protestantism): Pres. Jimmy
Carter was said to pray five times a day like
Orthodox Muslims do, which gave a pretext for some
irreligius Americans to mock his respect for G-o-d;
(iiii) Islam: has there been at least one overt Sunni or Shiite
or any other branch Muslim wo/man occupying a
senior post in the U.S. gov't so far -- ekhad mi yodea?;
(v) Greek Orthodoxy: Mr Stephanopolous, under
William Clinton, whose sister declined to leave a
Bethlehem church, which was a bone of contention
with the institutions of Russian Orthodox presence;
(vi) Hinduism: my ISKCon (Int'l Soc. of Krsna
Consciousness) friends showed me some photos
with their delegation meeting with a U.S. President
and presenting him with a copy of Bhagavad Gita;
nothing strange in the country whose a priori
foundation stone was the e pluribus unum principle;
(vii) Afro-American: Mr Andrew Young being an example
of successful non-white politicians in the still more or
less latent racist U.S. society that does not welcome
the Afro-Americans into their private social space;
(viii) Freemasonry: not strictly per se, but rather alongside
some formal Protestant affiliation, as exemplified with
the Founding Father Thomas Jefferson, whose
primus inter pares position in the Monticello
structure was nicely matched with his own skills of
a constructor.
BTW, it is worthwhile mentioning there are still some observant Jews, like
'Our Man in Havana aka Connecticut' who have got some connection to ruling
e'lites. One, named Aaron, is a direct descendant of the U.S. President
John Calhoun; while, Czar Nicholas of Russia 5th generation
ancestor, named Samue-l, is an other. And both of them happen to be
very good learned friends of mine, currently studying Rabbinics in
Jerusalem.
Senator Joseph Lieberman's name is a _nomen omen_ indeed. Joe's family
name means: 'beloved/amiable man', as Yiddish _liber_ stands for 'beloved',
derivated from _lib_ 'love' (cf. German _lieber_ from _Liebe_). Our
Patriarchical Rebbe Yankel's beloved son was also named Joe. And Yosi
Lieberman's Dad was a congregational Rov as well. Cf. the novel 'Joseph
and His Brothers' by the Nobel Prize Winner Thomas Mann. Post-Modernist
Kabbalists are welcome to find more on the name in the respective
Parshat Shavua, when his candidacy was publicly announced.
A more revisionist reanalytical reading of what is in JL's name would be
'Egyptian Freeman' or 'A Jewish guy whose strategem has let his imprisoneed
family escape'. The basis for this could be found in the Latin root _liber_,
which is the masculine gender adjective for 'free'. In a way, this reading
we should discard for the time being as 'Shelakh et ami' (Hebrew: 'Let my
people go!') principle has been recently neglected by the vice-Presidential
candidate. So, whether and when they would help release the husband of Esther
Pollard, once Jonathan Jay's correligionist goes into the Office, is still
a Hamletic question.
So, here we go: Bro. Joe the Beloved is preparing
to break for the second time in the U.S. history the rule
that no Catholic, non-White, or Jewish candidate could be
elected for the U.S. Presidental post. This is Joe's 1st JFK connection. Yet,
formally, it is only the post of the vice-President that Joe is running for.
The second thing the Roman Catholic of Massachusetts and the Orthodox Jew
of Connecticut have in common is Joe Lieberman also bears the first name of Joe
Kennedy. The latter was the elder brother of John Fitzgerald Kennedy (cf.
'Great Gatsby' by Francis S. Fitzgerald), and the firstborn of the
Kennedy brothers, who died as a pilot in WW2. The third overlapping area
is New England: both statesmen were brought up and studying in MA.
Al Gore knows well if he, like Senator D'Amato, sticks with the Jews and their
causes, Jews will never forget it and will reward his efforts some time in
the future. Several years ago on his official visit to Poland
with Bill (during his first term of office), Al was careful to
plan his itinerary. When the kippah-clad Bill with a Book of Psalms in
his hand, accompanied by Hillary Clinton and Warren Christofer, went to
visit the Warsaw Ghetto Monument, shortly after Al Gore made a meeting with the
local Jewish community at the Jewish Historical Institute, next-door to the
site of the Great Tlomackie Synagogue, bombed by the Nazis after the Warsaw
Ghetto defeat.
There are two, even three, good reasons for non-Jewish statesmen mixing up
with Jews. First and foremost, to get the support of Jewish media and Jewish
voters (especially in such heavily Jewish-populated areas as NY, NJ, CA, or
FL). Both of them are relatively much more active than mainstream
non-Jewish U.S. ones. Second, to appreciate learning from the millennia-old
civilization of Hebrew letters. And third, simply, to be good friends with
people whose cultural heritage puts a special stress on such values as
open friendship, stable family, honest work, concern for the poor, and
lifelong education.
Joe Jew, like Al Nonjew and Bill Gentile and the latter's 7th-back
predecessor of New England, is also a Democrat. Caravans of fighters
for minority rights and social justice are usually encamped in the
Sinai Desert on the same camping site, not that far
away from progressive Woodstock. So is Rev. Jesse Jackson who
exclaimed like an Avantgarde poet at his convention yesterday: 'America, get
out of bushes! America get out of Bushes!'. Nonetheless, should the Jews go
out of the Congress, Senate, and Capitol, and start shouting 'I am Jewish!'?
Maybe it could be still considered a lesser evil, since once they try to
cover it up, it could be even worse. For their opponents might start
generating new rumours about the alleged International World Freemasonic-
Left-Jewish Conspiracy headed by the Elders of Zion, somwhere in Mea Shearim,
Jerusalem, I guess :)
The choice of the first Orthodox Jew to the top echelons of U.S. Government
might bears implications on both Jewish and non-Jewish sides. On the one hand,
U.S. anti-Semites (approximately, every eigth American) might reduce their
prejudice against and hatred for the Jews once they see a set example
of embodied midot growing in the field of "Torah im derekh erets".
On the other hand, according to the Shabat Shulkhan Arukh opinion as
expressed by my friend Reb Ye-hoshua Jakubowicz of Kiryat Moshe, Jerusalem,
the candidacy of Modern Orthodox American Jew, "shomer shabat vekashrut",
daily working with non-Jews as a politician in the world's leading country,
might result in more "khozrim bitshuva" (Jewish returners to observance). For some secular Israe-lis
who tend to equate the word 'religious' with 'narrow-minded', 'old-fashioned' or 'unliveable' the example of Modern Ortho Jew Joe might induce them to revalue the meaning of being a religious Jew in the 21st c. And they could start emulating in some way 'those socially successful Orthodox Jews of America'.
Whether this would end in a deep "teshuva" (repentance)experience or just a superficial one is another issue. Cf. the religious observance fashion in newly religious Russian Orthodox people in the former Soviet Union, many of whom who go to church only because many others do so, without an
internalized belief.
There has been already a Jew in space on a U.S. shuttle, so now we have got a "zekhut" (right) of having a Jew on the race to a top U.S. post that would be able to run the MidEast shuttle policy on a regular basis
back and fro, like Dennis Ross or the late King Hussein of Jordan. Senator Joe Lieberman has already met several Arab leaders, inter alia P.A. Chairman Yasser Arafat, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, and the late Syrian President Hafez El-Assad. To be eligible for the U.S. Presidential
election, the candidate has to be born a U.S. citizen. Thus, his Czechoslovak-born wife Hadassah, daughter of Holocaust survivors, would not be given this right, though, should she like to run for Presidency.
Unlike another North American government Jew who was the Secretary of State under Richard Nixon, Senator Joe Lieberman can be technically elected President. Those who are so much biased against
him because of his religion should listen to an anecdote about the afore-mentioned U.S. senior official speaking with the German accent (since he was born in Germany). Once on an official visit to Israe-l he was asked by an Israe-li journalist whether they, Israe-li Jews, could expect then he would help them more than other non-American members of the government because of his Jewish background. Then Secretary Kissinger (known well in Israe-l for his procrastination in sending critical military supplies to this country during the Yom Kippur War) replied that, first of all, he did not come to Israe-l as a Jew but an American, second as a diplomat, and only in the third place as a Jew. Then the Israe-li answered him it is very good as they, Israe-lis, they read (Hebrew) from right to left.
Halakhically, Medinat Israe-l (the State of Israel) is NOT a Jewish state per se, thus, there is no place of any 'Antigone' or another Greek tragedy here. The Diaspora Jews need not worry about how to be at the same time good Jews and loyal citizens of their respective countries. Being loyal to and praying for the welfare of local non-Jewish authorities in the Diasporal lands has been been always a big mitsva prescribed by The Almighty G-o-d. For the safety and welfare of Diasporal Jews depends directly on those of their non-Jewish rulers. Double allegiance could be a real disaster, and I understand very well the personal American integrity of a Jew and American in one person: Senator Joe LIEBERMAN. The U.S. has been known to be a Jew-friendly country for many years.
Some biased media present the current Bill Clinton government as 'the Jew-controlled White House administration' that wants to manouevre the current Israe-li-PLO Peace Process under the auspices of the U.S. They claim it is a conspiring Jewish team of the Secr'y of Treasury James Rubin, Secr'y of State Madelaine Albright, U.S. Ambassador to Israe-l Martin Indyk, Federal Reserve Bank Chairman A. Greenspan, Secr'y of Defence William Cohen, and the Middle East Envoy Dennis Ross. Actually, the so-called Jewish overepresentation in government, education, medicine, or business, is not resulting from conspiracy theories but only from a cultural habit of the Jewish people to learn lifelong for the sake of learning, and get a good education in order to find a free profession that would safeguard the financial and religious independence of quite significant numbers of anti-Semitic employers in many countries.
Even though Martin Luther King had many opponents since he was Afro-American and professed social justice to all, still he was influential as those in minority could really see and feel in him the embodiment of their perennial expectations and dreams. So, I think we should not be worried too much about a dozen million (the approx. 8 per cent) of the U.S. electorate who would never vote for a Jew for President.
Let us hope Joseph L., like another U.S. minority visionary Joseph: Joseph Smith, Jr., the founder of the LDS Church of JC (Mormons), shall lead his nation into the Promised Land of American Dream, where
being a Jew or any other religion, creed, or ethnic group should not be a stumbling block but rather a further self-identification factor aimed at fostering personal success and mutual respect on the part of others.
This is exactly what Roman poet Virgil meant when referring to the fusion of all colours of rainbow into one with the words "e pluribus unum" (Latin: 'diversity and unity') quoted on the 'Washington portrait'.
Cf. the English-language statement on Kol Yisrae-l Radio by Avraham Burg (Labour) on 1st Aug., 00: 'Anybody can become anything and this is the beauty of our immigrant society.'
I would abstain from predicting this will be good or bad for the Jews if Al Gore wins the campaign and Senator Joe LIBERMAN becomes the vice-President. This whole issue has more sides than a regular U.S. dime.
Even though, in some social issues Senator Joseph Lieberman shares more with his Republican friends, e.g. to ban gay marriages or to execute capital punishment, still for for a traditional U.S. Jew whether to be a stubborn perseverous Donkey or circus-like immobile Elephant is not a difficult
question to answer...
By .'. Moni di MONTEBIANCO .'. W.C., M.A., Ph.D. (Hons.), Pres.,
Circolo Italiano delle Lettere ed Arti Primo LEVI, Gerusalemme
(Primo LEVI Italian Learned Circle for Letters and Arts, J'lem).
e-mail: de_Rotschild@yahoo.co.UK
Poeta_Moni@yahoo.IT
Dedicated to *L*.
In memory of All Jewish Martyrs of Polish anti-Semitism
before, during, and after Holocaust...
Acknowlegdements:
Let me express my special words of gratitude to Messrs.:
(1) Mi Amigo Don Ricardo Pinjas bar Zeev GOLDSTEIN y WIMBERLY de
Jerusale'n, M.A., Gabay de la Sinagoga Istanbuli del Rito
Espan^ol-Portugues at Beyt E-l Street in The Old City of
The Holy City of Jerusalem for lengthy erudite commentaries on the
semantioc of domestic and foreign U.S. politics within the historic
Jewish context;
(2) Rabbi Micha'e-l J. Mordekhay Yosef ben Harav David SCHUDRICH, M.A.,
New York, NY, for the regular supplies of never-ending food for
thought aka Inspiration, Encouragement, and Wisdom for my
daily Art of Lifel; and
(3) Signorina Amica Rache-la KIRSCHBAUM di Manhattan, NY, M.A.,
for a deep Jewish insight into the logistics of U.S. Presidential
Campaign law, and cross-cultural trans-Atlantic commentary on
the MidEast affairs...
