“Jewish” and “Republican” are two words not often linked here in the Bay Area; as a group, Jews historically have been and continue to be Democrats.
But the discourse was civil and the mood mellow between representatives of both sides of the political spectrum at a “Jewish Political Perspectives Dialogue” on Sunday, April 9 at Congregation Beth Am in Los Altos Hills. About 100 people attended the hourlong debate, which followed a potluck dinner. Beth El Rabbi Janet Marder judiciously moderated the discussion.
Representing the liberal viewpoint, Daniel Sokatch passionately spoke as the executive director of the Progressive Jewish Alliance, which focuses on social justice issues.
Larry Greenfield, California director of the Republican Jewish Coalition, reflected the conservative stance.
The two Los Angeles-based attorneys politely articulated their respective positions and appeared to count as exceptions to the partisan question: “Would you be friends with a member of the opposing political party?”
Both drew support from Jewish texts as well.
“Judaism is not aligned with any particular political party,” said Greenfield. “People of intelligence and goodwill — good, committed Jews — can be liberals or conservatives, Democrats or Republicans.”
Sokatch, noting that Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated on the way to spending Passover with Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, aligned with traditional civil rights causes, saying the call for equality is an inherently Jewish struggle.
Post-World War II Judaism, Sokatch said, has involved vigilance against anti-Semitism, remembrance of the Shoah, and community and personal identification with religion. But the fourth pillar, tikkun olam — repairing or healing the world — has been “forsaken,” he said.
Greenfield, noting that Passover is one of the most widely practiced rituals among Jews, asserted that as freed slaves Jews should be a light unto the nations and promote freedom.
And whether dealing with Hamas or Islamic extremist groups, he said, “I believe that a conservative mind is better, because they understand that when dealing with true evil, negotiations will not work. In fact, they will encourage” evildoers.
Growing more serious, Greenfield said that in addition to rising anti-Semitism, the United States must deal with radical Islam’s assault on the West “in a long twilight,” as it did with Japanese imperialism, Nazism and communism.
Sokatch agreed that the biggest threats facing the United States are autocracy and totalitarianism in the Middle East. He pointed to mounting odds that either the United States or Israel will attack Iran within the next four years.
Greenfield said President Bush “has been clearly and viscerally supportive of Israel’s policies. Last week the president said in his office, ‘we will use military might if we have to, to defend Israel.'”
As for social issues on the home front, Sokatch said, “If you are lucky enough to be a Jew in America … then you practice tzedekah, or charity, whose root, ‘tzedek,’ means justice.”
Telling a story of the matzah-maker and the mashgiach, Sokatch said that when the matzah-maker was asked “How do you ensure this matzah is so sublime?” he answered, “Make sure the women who make this matzah in the factory are well-paid.”
Greenfield, taking a different approach, said he supports measures such as interest-free loans. “Make the poor wealthy,” he said, in the tradition of teaching a man to fish, rather than handing him fish. He pointed to high productivity, low unemployment and low inflation under the Bush administration.
Both speakers agreed upon the need for improving the environment, decreasing dependence on Iraqi oil, and leading the nation in utilizing other energy sources.
Following the discussion, Ken Wornick, who helped launch a Bay Area chapter of the Republican Jewish Coalition, said, “People assume wrongly that if you are Republican, you don’t have love in your heart for the needy, but we have a different solution to neediness.”
And while Jews of all political persuasions “have equal love for Israel,” said the South Bay resident, “the Democrats have trust in the U.N., and the Republicans have ‘trust, but verify’ in the U.N., or, ‘trust, but cut the cards.'”