This has been a month of principled decisions, ones which we should celebrate — as we did, with a series of press releases applying our values to these news stories as they happened.
The highlight of the month, however, would have to be the Rabbinic Roundtable that we arranged in Queens, NY, bringing together Rabbinic leaders and officials of the Republican National Committee. This was an unprecedented opportunity for RNC officials to hear from rabbis regarding our concerns, and it was they who requested this meeting (and paid for dinner!). It was hosted by the rabbi of the synagogue, our own Vice President Rabbi Yoel Schonfeld, and CJV President Rabbi Pesach Lerner served as Master of Ceremonies. We heard from a list of high-ranking representatives of the Republican Party:
- Michael Celler, Director of Jewish Engagement
- Mike Mears, Director of Strategic Partnerships & Faith Engagement
- Edith Jorge, Director of Strategic Initiatives
- Leora Levy, RNC National Committeewoman
- Michael Fragin, NY GOP Activist
- Jeff Ballabon, Political Advisor and Consultant
- Chele Farley, the Keynote Speaker, Republican Candidate for the U.S. Senate (NY)
Although the talks were “off the record,” the Farley campaign later permitted her remarks to be uploaded, so we are happy to share them with you.
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It is the mutual hope of both the CJV and RNC that this will be the first of many such opportunities for RNC leaders to meet rabbinic leaders and representatives of our community, to better understand our views and interests. And we must add that we will be receptive to a similar request from the Democratic National Committee; perhaps Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez will be available, and have found Palestine by that point.
Through that event and other activities, we have ramped up our outreach to synagogue rabbonim across the country. By the end of the summer, we hope to have several hundred more rabbis receiving our weekly bulletins, thus increasing the effectiveness of our alerts about relevant issues.
Press Releases:
Rabbis Endorse United States Withdrawal from UNHRC, June 20
Rabbis Welcome Supreme Court Decision on Trump Travel Ban, June 26
Rabbis Commend Israeli Government Minister for Placing Principle Before Politics, June 28
Rabbis Welcome Israel Policy Refusing Entry to “Anti-Semitic” BDS Activists, July 2
Rabbis Endorse Judge Kavanaugh for Supreme Court, July 12
Letter:
‘Illegal’ Missing From Rabbi’s Essay
Rabbi Yoel Schonfeld to the NY Jewish Week, July 18
Op-Eds:
At some point, I commented to our Rabbinic Board that we can tell when law schools have closed for the summer. Rabbi Dov Fischer, our West Coast Regional Vice President, is an adjunct professor at two law schools — in addition to being the Rabbi of the Young Israel of Orange County in Irvine, CA. It is clear that he has completed his work grading exams, because he has been churning out articles at a prolific rate, and it is to our benefit.
WOW (Women of the Wall) Reveals Its True Colors
Rabbi Yaakov Menken in the Jewish Press, June 20
Leaving the UN Human Wrongs Council
Rabbi Dov Fischer in the American Spectator, June 22
‘To Heal the World?’ The Tikkun Olam distortion
Rabbi Avraham Gordimer in Israel National News, June 25
Your Mother, Adolf Hitler, and the Closet
Rabbi Dov Fischer in the American Spectator, June 27
Affirming President Trump’s travel ban: Sanity prevails
Rabbi Avrohom Gordimer in the American Thinker, June 27
How Crazy Are We?
Rabbi Yoel Schonfeld in the Queens Jewish Link, June 27
The Glory of Timely Leftist Overreach
Rabbi Dov Fischer in the American Spectator, July 3
Did You Ever Face a Real Judge?
Rabbi Dov Fischer in the American Spectator, July 6
Rabbis Weiss and Angel’s accusations against the Chief Rabbinate
Rabbi Avraham Gordimer in Israel National News, July 10
Have Jordan Accusers Reported Abuse at Their Work Places?
Rabbi Dov Fischer in the American Spectator, July 10
Kavanaugh: The Perfect Choice for the Season of Resistance
Rabbi Dov Fischer in the American Spectator, July 11
Same Sex Marriage – A Debate For Our Times
Rabbi Avrohom Gordimer (and Rabbi Michael J. Broyde) in Cross-Currents, July 16
Everyone Is Smart Except Trump
Rabbi Dov Fischer in the American Spectator, July 18
This coming Sunday is the fast of the Ninth of Av, commemorating the destruction of both Temples in Jerusalem and other tragedies throughout our history. May our efforts contribute to its rebuilding, and to an era of peace, rights and liberty for all humanity.