She also didn’t appear to know some of the workings of U.S. When asked if Israel was an apartheid state she said, “I don’t necessarily know the answer to that” and “I don’t know that I am well-versed in the intricacies of this.”Ĭome on, a bright, young woman, and a law school graduate - I’m sorry, I just don’t buy that. There were several issues about which she was vague or appeared to have limited knowledge - some were about Israel and some were about the U.S. On April 4, I attended the Community Relations Council discussion with Lee at her campaign headquarters in Swissvale. However, I was certainly interested in the contest which included Irwin and Lee. Nor do I vote in Pennsylvania’s District 12. The nonprofit for which I work does not make endorsements for or against any candidate. Our top priority must be to address the needs of the people closest to us.” Who is she to tell us for whom to advocate? Whether we support issues that affect people in Pittsburgh, Israel, Ukraine, Puerto Rico or Haiti - those are our choices. It is appalling to have a rabbi tell us “Judaism is not ambiguous. Jews are known to support many causes, issues and charities.
Seldom do Americans vote for a candidate based on a single issue and we often rely on many factors in choosing who gets our vote. reported on May 27 that Summer Lee “received almost $2 million of independent expenditure support herself.” Rabbi Bardack begins by stating AIPAC spent millions supporting Steve Irwin in his campaign - implying monetary support for candidates was one-sided in this race. That might include which political candidate is better, what issues are more important and where charity is most needed. Get The Jewish Chronicle Weekly Edition by email and never miss our top storiesįrom an early age, Jews are taught to question everything.
When I first read Rabbi Amy Bardack’s column, “Voting as a Jew is not only about Israel,” (May 27, 2022), I was deeply upset about negative comments about Israel. The bias in her article was also not very surprising as she recently wrote a different op-ed that appeared in the Chronicle and in other media whose main point was that Jewish organizations should be more inclusive in hiring people who “do not support the state of Israel” and who are “anti-Zionist.”īardack’s op-ed disturbing on several counts Rabbi Bardack also failed to mention that she is involved with the leadership of J Street and is an official cabinet member of that organization, which endorsed Lee.
She did not criticize the other PACs who poured money into Summer Lee, who is not a pro-Israel candidate and who was endorsed by antisemitic members of Congress like Rashida Tlaib. While she tried to appear objective in her critique, she also only criticized AIPAC for giving money to Steve Irwin, who was the only strongly pro-Israel candidate running in the election. She did not criticize any other topics that people may choose to support as their main issue - only the support of Israel. Out of all of the many issues that Jews may feel it is important to vote for, she specifically criticizes Jews who vote in support of Israel as their main issue. In this piece, she criticizes her fellow Jews for voting with a main issue in mind that may take precedence over other issues. The Chronicle recently published an op-ed by Rabbi Amy Bardack (“Voting as a Jew is not only about Israel,” May 27).
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