High season of politics has clearly begun, judging by the e-mails, computer generated phone calls, and fundraising letters I’ve recently received. It’s déjà vu all over again (as Yogi Berra, the patron saint of malapropism put it); yet, this time there seems to be something genuinely new: on the Democratic side, we’re going to see an African American man or a white woman nominated, either of which would be unprecedented. On the Republican side, we came close to seeing a member of the Mormon Church nominated. It would appear that a new era of tolerance has descended on these United States.
That is, until you open the letters and emails and discover that the politics of race and narrow mindedness is alive and well. There you will find the tactics of hate-speech, ad-hominem attacks, and rumor-mongering. Given my “demographic”, these communications target my “fears” and imply that specific candidate(s) are “anti-Israel” and that Israel would be endangered, and the entire Jewish people placed in jeopardy, should they be elected.
For example, consider what’s been written about Barack Obama. An array of inflammatory (and alleged) specifics are laid out: Obama attended a Wahabist, pro-terrorist Muslim school as a child, that he is secretly a Muslim today, and that he is anti-Israel and anti-Semitic. “Proof” is offered: Obama purportedly was sworn into his senate seat with his hand on the Koran.
I hope you’ve heard that the above isn’t true. Even so, receiving multiple copies of these emails from congregants and friends prompts me to reiterate a message I’ve shared before: for the manifold blessings email affords us, it also enables a most virulent form of “Lashon HaRa”, evil speech. Email is particularly effective for spreading unverified rumor. What’s more, it affords almost unlimited amplification of same. And once the “big lie” is repeated often enough, it’s indistinguishable from the truth. In such an environment, defending a candidate’s character can be an opportunity to do further damage. In the wake of the rounds of email, The National Jewish Paper of record, the Forward, denounced such scurrilous and libelous communication, but printed this: "Is Barack Obama a Muslim? Almost certainly not." “Almost?” The inclusion of that qualification transforms an otherwise responsible editorial into inexcusable innuendo. Is there any basis for leaving the door open, even just a crack?
In a similar vein, other candidates have offered a half-hearted condemnation of such libelous attacks, all the while leaving open the possibility that Obama just might be the enemies’ secret weapon. Beyond the virtual libel of such accusations, it’s just plain wrong in this day and age for anyone to imply that American Jews vote monolithically as a “one-issue” community. I, for one, care deeply about Israel’s future as a Jewish and democratic state, but my unwavering love for Israel is but one of many concerns I have as an American Jew. Along with support of the State of Israel, my Jewish values compel concerns about poverty, education, housing, employment and health-care. I worry about how the war in Iraq continues to drain our country’s financial and spiritual reserves.
Luckily, all of the major Presidential candidates - Democrat and Republican - have been unequivocal in their support of the State of Israel. Thankfully, the idea that Jewish votes can be manipulated by fear is a thing of the past. We are fortunate to live at a time and in a place where our political choices can be founded not on fear, but on hope. We should expect our candidates to eschew the debilitating politics of fear and speak, instead, about the positive possibilities for the future.
