In the News

A new Orthodox Group, the Coalition for Jewish Values, is building a platform for a more politically conservative Jewish take on politics.

It was not just Evangelical or Conservative Christians that came out in support. Yaakov Menken of the Coalition for Jewish Values and Denver lawyer Stephen Collis who is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormon), also attended the Jack Phillips rally.

Orthodox Jewish Rabbi Yaakov Menken, the managing director of the Coalition for Jewish Values, spoke at the rally saying the case is particularly relevant for Jews because behaviors and actions constitute most of their religious observance.

If you think fake news isn’t a thing, compare the headline to the text of Rabbi Menken’s remarks.

A newcomer to Jewish politics, the Coalition for Jewish Values, seized the moment of President Trump’s election almost exactly a year ago to start articulating some of the most conservative positions ever espoused by a Jewish group. At the core of its mission is a set of political and social values that are strikingly similar to those of many Christian evangelicals.

Yaakov Menken, director of the Coalition for Jewish Values, said Phillips’ case is particularly important for Jews because so much their religious observance is based on their actions.

Orthodox Jewish Rabbi Yaakov Menken, the managing director of the Coalition for Jewish Values, also spoke and declared that Phillips has just as much right to refuse to create a cake for a ceremony that he feels violates his religious beliefs as Jews do to refuse to eat non-kosher food.

Yaakov Menken, director of the Coalition for Jewish Values, said the wedding-cake case is particularly relevant for Jews because so much their religious observance involves behaviors and actions. “And we Jews have seen this before. We have long, bitter, deadly experience with governments trying to force us to follow earlier versions of political correctness.”

Rabbi Yaakov Menken, managing director of the Coalition for Jewish Values, was upbeat after the hearing. “I was impressed that FEMA’s attorney didn’t try to defend the policy,” he said.

Rabbi Yaakov Menken, Managing Director of the Coalition for Jewish Values, the largest rabbinic public policy organization in America, issued a statement.