Chicago, IL – Rabbi Asher Lopatin beams with pride when he thinks of Chicago Mayor-elect Rahm Emanuel asking permission to pick up the phone on Rosh Hashanah to fight for a bailout of bad mortgages on Capitol Hill.
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Make no mistake. The rabbi isn’t congratulating himself for granting the then-congressman an exception to work on the High Holidays. Rather, he congratulates Chicago for electing a chief who puts his commitment to others first — a fine example for Chicago’s first Jewish mayor.
“I’m thrilled,” said Lopatin, the spiritual leader of Anshe Sholom B’nai Israel, the modern Orthodox congregation in the Lakeview neighborhood where Emanuel has worshiped. “It wasn’t a divisive election. It was one that showed we could all come together. Everyone wanted Rahm Emanuel.”
Though Emanuel’s Judaism wasn’t central to his campaign, it is so central to his personal identity and heritage, it’s impossible to ignore. References to his rabbi and Yiddish phrases roll off his tongue in campaign speeches and casual conversations.
Read full article at Chicago Tribune
We yell at African Americans for voting for Obama because of race. But it seems Jews do it too… So who’s the pot calling the kettle black?
My friend (and former classmate) Rabbi Lopatin still dosent get it. Emmanuel asked him this shabbat “shailya” not because he was truly interested in the answer. He wasnt. This guy isnt observant in the least. Its that he wanted the fine Rabbi to think well of him. After all, does anyone really believe that if the answer had gone the other way, Rahm wouldnt have used the phone on Shabbat? Get real. This was manipulation, plain and simple. And thats why I voted for someone else. I dont like this kind of uhm, thing.
i’ve said this time and again, and i’ll repeat it once more:
there’s no point in getting excited when a jew wins any government election. to the contrary. jewish politicians are being looked after, with a magnifine glass, to see if they represent their religion or their constituents. they constantly have to prove that they treat all citizens alike, and truthfully so.
on the other hand, when we have a non-jew representing us in office, he needs to prove that he doesn’t discriminate against jews.
now be the judge. which way are we better off?
I agree with #4 . Bloomberg is a prime example of Jews in high elective office, who don’t necessarily look out for the welfare of other Jews. For example, the snow removal fiasco of 2010-2011, and the rough treatment accorded to Jews, during the Borough Park disturbances of 2006. Where was Blooomberg when that occured? When John Vliet Lindsay was in office, he would have personally gone to the scene of such disturbances. Bloomberg was silent afterwards, although every other Jewish politician in NYC condemned the heavy handed tactics of the NYCPD.
Whom are we talking about?
Is this the same Rahm emenuel who was chief of staff to barack obama who undermines & condemns israel more than he does iran?
Is it the same rahm emanuel who was chief of staff to barack obama who just last week ordered his secretary of state to vote for a UN resolution which says that all israeli settlements are illegitimate?
O rahm most have had some influence on obama to spare israel from a US nuclear missile strike…
What a jewish brother with a jewish heart!