Originally published in the Daily Wire

Two recent headline events encapsulate the partisan chasm dividing traditional, Orthodox Jews from their liberal brethren. The most profound difference is not political, but ideological, and that requires looking past those headlines.

Just a few months ago, the National Council of Young Israel hosted its annual dinner, which the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) somewhat accurately characterized as “mostly a tribute to Donald Trump.” More recently the Religious Action Center of the Reform movement hosted its “Consultation on Conscience” in Washington, DC — and the JTA called it “a Democratic lovefest.” Taken at face value, this tells us nothing new. Political analysts and pundits have known for a long time that liberal Jews are politically liberal as well, while Orthodox Jews are politically conservative.

It is worth looking deeper.

Last week I attended an intimate meeting arranged by a Jewish community group between a Jewish congressional leader and a select group of rabbis. I was one of three traditional rabbis present, while the others were from liberal movements.

Two of the clergy asked about Antisemitism, whether in Congress or the United Nations. The others inquired about a laundry list of issues: gun control, immigration and the Mexican border, abortion rights and climate change. The astute reader can probably guess which questions were asked by the traditional rabbis, as opposed to those from the liberal movements.

There was only one question from a liberal leader that could be deemed of specific concern to Jews – regarding the Trump Administration’s Middle East peace initiative, on which the politician could do nothing more than opine. The liberal rabbis focused upon issues au courant in the progressive wing of the Democratic party.

This is underscored by returning to the JTA coverage of the disparate Jewish events. The article covering the Religious Action Center conference begins by saying “Senior Democrats in Congress embraced the agenda of the Reform movement, including gun control, immigration reform, abortion rights and dealing with climate change.” Wonder of wonders, these are the same four legislative issues addressed by liberal clergy at my meeting. Apparently, describing them as “the agenda of the Reform movement” was no exaggeration.

Why did the Young Israel dinner come across as “a tribute to Donald Trump?” There was no praise for new trade agreements, unemployment numbers, or bringing North Korea to the negotiating table. The issues that concerned Young Israel were recognition of Israel’s sovereignty in Jerusalem and the Golan, fighting Antisemitism in America and the United Nations, and Trump’s personal respect for Orthodox Judaism and the Jewish community.

Orthodox Jews do not love Donald Trump for being a Republican, but because he is so responsive to the legitimate needs of Jews and encourages policy favorable to traditional Jewish values. Liberal Jews love Democrats because both are progressive; their common interests have no real connection to Judaism at all. Traditional Jewish teachings do not directly require a particular stance on gun control, immigration or climate change. They do lead to a specific stance on abortion, but one essentially opposed to the that of progressives.

To understand why this is so dangerous to America and America’s Jews, we need merely study the words of Lord Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, who addressed his peers last year concerning the alarming rise of Antisemitism in Great Britain. He said as follows, in September 2018:

Antisemitism, or any hate, become dangerous when three things happen. First: when it moves from the fringes of politics to a mainstream party and its leadership. Second: when the party sees that its popularity with the general public is not harmed thereby. And three: when those who stand up and protest are vilified and abused for doing so.

Two months later, America elected a pair of congresswomen who clearly espouse bigoted views about Jews, and a third who casually parrots Antisemitic tropes. Not only did Democrats fail to condemn Antisemitism clearly and forthrightly on Ilhan Omar’s third go, but they then turned and “vilified and abused” those who condemned her Antisemitism. They claimed it was “Islamophobia” or related to Omar’s race or gender.

We have arrived at the moment where America will decide whether Antisemitism should be stamped out, or permitted to become dangerous. Not only America’s Jews, but all of good conscience must demand that Lord Rabbi Sacks’ prescient warning not be in vain. Either the Democrats will sincerely, forthrightly and permanently reject the haters among them, or voters must reject the Democrats.

But for Jews who adhere to the faith of progressivism, there is no such option. To reject Omar’s Antisemitism would require that they vote against what even the JTA aptly described as their very “agenda.” For them, it is all too easy to join those who claim that Omar really can’t be all that bad, and who vilify those who wish to stop the spread of hate.