I'm not David Appletree of the JIDF. I actually really liked Glenn Beck's show. You can ask David... this was a big difference for us. This isn't all black and white. He's a very talented guy and he presents information in an entertaining fashion, but I realize Beck's limitations.
What do Glenn Beck and Obama Have in Common?
How about trying to connect with the message of Jews to humankind 'through you will all the families of the earth be blessed'".
From Dovid Efune, Dir. Algemeiner Journal
(Israel National News via
Israel Jews Judaism)
Nothing, you say? Not quite.
In the way by which they address Jews, they both seem to define Jewish identity through the lens of victim-hood.
I have been present on three occasions in the last twelve months where
Beck was addressing a Jewish audience and each time I came away with the
same impression; Beck views himself as some sort of guardian and
'savior' of the Jewish people.
I noted in a previous column that in a letter on Beck's website posted
last summer, that introduced his 'Rumors of War' documentary, he
explained his support for Israel, opening with the words "never
forget,"referring to the Holocaust. He then continued, "As the world
spirals into financial chaos and conditions continue to worsen, fingers
are already being pointed to determine a scapegoat. The nation
dubbed 'Little Satan' is one obvious candidate to be on the receiving
end of the blame."
President Obama's interactions with the Jewish community have of
course been broader and more multidimensional, but following his visit
last Monday to the Holocaust Museum in Washington D. C., I couldn't
help but notice a trend. Politics aside, when he addresses the Jewish
community, it is through the lens of the Holocaust, and the Jewish
icon that he has most publicly attached himself to - outside of a
political setting - is Elie Wiesel.
Throughout his Presidency, Obama has presided over about ten public
addresses to the U.S. Jewish community and some additional off the
record meetings with communal leaders. Of those that were public, the
two Jewish American Heritage Month events, two Rosh Hashanah phone
calls with American Rabbis and various video messages for Jewish
holidays were relatively insubstantive.
The speeches that were of most significance included the following:
Two that were delivered before an AIPAC audience that focused on
international politics specifically addressing Israel's challenges
with Iran and other belligerent neighbors. These speeches were
essentially addressed to the entire pro-Israel community in the United
States as well.
The President also spoke before the Union of Reform Judaism focusing
on domestic politics and policies in working to energize his
shrinking American Jewish liberal base.
The two remaining times that his message was directed towards the
Jewish people exclusive of specific political motive were almost
entirely Holocaust-centric.
The first was in 2009 on Obama's journey back from addressing the
Arab world in Cairo, where he referenced Jewish suffering as the root
of "aspiration for a Jewish homeland," he stopped in Buchenwald. His
speech there, amounting to an extended tribute to Jewish victimhood,
transitioned to reference Israel by saying, "They could not have
known how the nation of Israel would rise out of the destruction of
the Holocaust." The world's most famous survivor Elie Wiesel was by
his side.
Monday's message followed the same pattern. Much was said of the sorry
history of Jewish suffering and the need to prevent further
atrocities against other minorities. There Again, Wiesel accompanied
him.
In no way do I wish to diminish the importance of this recognition
and remembrance, but I know that not so far below the surface,
America's Jews would like to see the President connect to another
dimension of the Jewish message to mankind as well.
On the very same day that Obama visited Buchenwald, The Algemeiner
published an interview with Britain's Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks,
where he said, "If you tell a young generation of Jewish teenagers, we
want you to know about Jewish history come to Auschwitz, Bergen
Belsen and Treblinka and you'll know what it is to be a Jew, then they
will have 2 or 10 thoughts before marrying another Jew and having
Jewish children. Who wants to confer the status of victim-hood onto
their children and grandchildren?"
He continued, "We have failed to connect with the positives and we
have failed to connect with the message of Jews to humankind 'through
you will all the families of the earth be blessed'".
The next time a President of the United States addresses the Jewish
people, I have one request; let him stand beside a figure that
represents the Jewish future, and pick a venue that highlights the
gifts that our people have bestowed upon the nations of the world, a
prestigious Jewish house of worship or of study, a museum documenting
our illustrious history, or better yet, the Knesset.
(h/t Israel Jews Judaism/by pj MEDIA) The White House just issued a revised version of yesterday’s presidential proclamation declaring May to be Jewish American Heritage Month.
