A self-declared optimist, Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.) says he can’t ignore the fear and pessimism sweeping the nation.
“There’s no question that underneath the economic good times, there’s a pervasive anxiety or discomfort about the direction in which society is going,” said the Senate’s only Orthodox Jew. “This unsettled feeling is part of why people in Connecticut and around the country are having a hard time letting Littleton go.
“They ought not let it go.”
Tuesday, Lieberman will speak at the annual meeting of Northern Californians for Good Government, the Bay Area’s only federally registered pro-Israel action committee. He will offer thoughts on “Searching for Answers: Morality, Is There an Atmosphere of Decline or Hope in American Society?”
Respected by both parties as a vocal proponent of morality in American society, Lieberman doesn’t hide the fact that Judaism factors highly into his political decision-making.
“When you vote, when you speak out, there’s no question it’s the result of your life experiences and learning,” he said by phone from the Capitol Tuesday. “There’s no question that the sense of right and wrong of the Ten Commandments is part of my personal ethic.”
Among Lieberman’s most public moral assertions was denouncing President Clinton for his behavior in the Monica Lewinsky affair. Chair of the Democratic Leadership Council and co-chair of the Center for Jewish and Christian Values, he has taken such stands as urging the entertainment industry to take more responsibility for the messages it promulgates.
Following the Littleton, Colo., massacre, he co-sponsored legislation calling for the creation of a national commission to examine the potential causes of the recent school shootings and the larger epidemic of youth violence.
The senator favors secular values programs in public schools that teach honesty, compassion and good citizenship. One such program, titled “Character Counts,” is being widely used in Connecticut schools.
The Shabbat-observant senator won’t answer the phone, turn on lights or ride in an elevator during the Sabbath. He keeps kosher.
Religion, is “a very important gift my parents gave me,” he said. “It has helped to order my life and given me a sense of perspective between the six days and the seventh, the holy and the profane.”
In his 11 years in the Senate — he will run for a third term in 2000 — “I would guess we’ve been here maybe 20 or 25 Sabbaths.
“I feel an obligation to vote on those days because I can’t delegate that to anyone else. When we’re here on a Friday night or Saturday, it’s for something important.”
When he must work on the Sabbath — such as in the president’s impeachment trial — Lieberman makes allowances.
Sometimes, he takes a hotel room near the Capitol. He’s also been known to walk from his home, several miles away. At work, he takes the stairs. He won’t write, but he’ll vote by voice.
“If the Sabbath is about honoring God’s creation and reconnecting to the values that are part of the Torah,” he said, then “it’s important I be here to do that.”