Countering the media’s tendency to cite left-wing partisans in the American Jewish community as representative of mainstream Jewish thought, a group of prominent Orthodox rabbis and thinkers have launched the Coalition for Jewish Values (CJV).

“The media tends to solicit statements on Jewish concerns most frequently from those who equate Jewish beliefs with the latest trends in liberal political thinking,” said Rabbi Yaakov Menken, Director of the CJV. “We wish to clarify that Jewish values emerge only from the Torah and millennia of Jewish thought.”

CJV’s Rabbinic Board consists of nationally known rabbinic leaders from both Modern Orthodox and traditional (“charedi”) Orthodox circles. “I am very impressed by our consensus on the important issues of the day, and the need to speak out in favor of traditional Jewish thought,” said Rabbi Pesach Lerner, Executive Vice President Emeritus of the National Council of Young Israel and a Senior Rabbinic Fellow of the CJV.

During just its first several weeks, the CJV has impacted news in America and overseas, speaking out on breaking events concerning Jewish issues. The CJV countered liberal voices in the Jewish community by enthusiastically endorsing President Trump’s nomination of the Hon. David Friedman to serve as United States Ambassador to Israel. Following cemetery vandalism that drew widespread condemnation across the political spectrum, CJV spoke out sharply against inflammatory statements by a left-leaning individual, whom the CJV called “unqualified to speak on anti-Semitism,” after he irresponsibly leveraged the name of Holocaust martyr Anne Frank to label the Trump Administration anti-Semitic.

In a third major statement, CJV sharply criticized the Union for Reform Judaism for fraternally meeting with President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority, and for denouncing Israel’s new anti-BDS law as “undemocratic.”  Later that week, Rabbi Menken of the CJV faced off with Rabbi Eric Yoffie, Past President of the URJ, debating those and other issues on the Jewish Broadcasting Service. That interview may be heard online at http://jbstv.org/2017/03/israel-orthodox-v-reform/ .

The CJV invites supportive Orthodox clergy to join its Rabbinic Circle. “We are gratified that large numbers of our rabbinic colleagues have already joined our Rabbinic Circle,” commented CJV Senior Rabbinic Fellow Rabbi Avrohom Gordimer, “as their backing magnifies our voice.” To join the Rabbinic Circle, an Orthodox rabbi need only register via a Google Form accessed from the CJV website, http://coalitionforjewishvalues.org.

The Coalition for Jewish Values (CJV), a national organization directed by prominent rabbinic leaders, articulates an authentic Jewish perspective on current events, and promotes Jewish values through writing and teaching derived from traditional Jewish thought.