The political and ideological interests of Orthodox Jews often coincide with various conservative agendas. I, for one, would love to receive school vouchers. Kashrut, yeshiva tuition, home prices and rents in Jewish communities are expensive, so tea party style tax breaks would be particularly welcome by most people I know. As I live in a community that absorbed Jewish refugees from the Middle East, and have family living in Israel, I have little patience or sympathy for international thugs or coy flotillas, although I realize that international policy is nuanced and that pragmatism often trumps principle.
But we are not ideological twins with any group within the conservative movement. The Martin Grossman saga raised questions as to whether, behind the law-and-order rhetoric of many Orthodox Jews, Judaism really can support the death penalty. It seems to me that a nation with a strong welfare system is probably more in tune with the community values of the Torah than the conservative notion of fend-for-yourself individualism. The halachic marketplace may be capitalistic, but it is also highly regulated by laws relating to interest, competition, permissible profit margins, among many other laws.
This ideological disparity is one reason why we should be wary of aligning ourselves too closely with any conservative group, even if we do indeed support specific candidates or policies. But beyond the mere ideological disparity, there’s a particular danger in aligning ourselves with a movement that may turn out to be a political dead end, especially if the alliance is premised on political expediency rather than a commitment to sharing core values. If (and when) the movement loses momentum, our political activism may stall with it. Worse, if (and when) the movement is discredited for lacking a coherent policy, for supporting candidates who are populist, but politically obtuse and/or narrow minded bigots, we risk becoming discredited ourselves. Our own political voice will be lost when it counts.
Yesterday’s New York Times ran an article, Agendas of Paladino and Rabbi Meld which described Rabbi Yehuda Levin’s tea party enthusiasm and backing of Carl Paladino as the Republican candidate for governor:
The visit had strategic appeal for both sides: Mr. Paladino, an anti-abortion, anti-gay-marriage Roman Catholic businessman from Buffalo, hoped to find like-minded voters among the politically and socially conservative Orthodox Jews of Brooklyn. And Mr. Levin, who has long dreamed of creating “an Orthodox Tea Party,” as he put it, was eager to help, in part by lining up appearances for Mr. Paladino at synagogues and yeshivas.
I’m not really sure who Rabbi Levin is, but I hope he has less influence in the Jewish communities than he’s being given credit for. He did more than just pick the wrong guy and the wrong movement to hook up with. The Republic party, and likely tea party leaders as well, are trying to disown Paladino over anti-gay remarks prepared by Rabbi Levin. Even if Rabbi Levin, as he says, “stands ready to defend the content” of the portions of the speech he drafted, this is not the kind of political involvement we need.
In fact, just the idea of an Orthodox Tea Party is preposterous, since there’s nothing Orthodox about the tea party’s platform (or lack thereof). The tea party may be influencing national politics right now, but it can’t last in its current form, based more on whipped up, often disingenuous, outrage than on real policy. And when there is a backlash, the interests of Jewish communities don’t have to be there to go down with it.
Rabbi Levin is not a mainstream rabbi. I am not writing this to disparage him or talk negatively about him. The fact is that he has a very small shul on Avenue K between Nostrand and 31 in Brooklyn. He has dedicated his life to fighting for his torah view on the social issues. He has gone to Israel to take up the cause of the the anti gay parade in Jerusalem. He speaks at anti gay rallies and other rallies relating to the social issues. At times he goes around the country to rallies run by conservative christian groups and the like. Again I do not mention this in a negative fashion. However, this activism is not within the mainstream of current orthodoxy- whatever your opinion is of his politics. Therefore, do not extrapolate to the position of the general orthodox community from his positions and actions.
I would like to comment about your argument that the welfare state is closer to the torah view. The torah requires individuals to give charity and the individuals ultimately choose who when and where receive alot of their charity. (like is seen many times in gemorah – the tovas hanaah of who to give trumah maasar and the like belongs to the owners) In the current system the government decides who gets your money and how much of it they recieve. Furthermore, those that are on the receiving end have a say (vote) in how much they take from you. All of that gets very close to legalized robbery in my mind.
I have heard said over in the name of Rabbi Samson Rafeal Hirsch (I have not yet seen it inside) that the mishna of sheli shelcha v’shelcha sheli which says that is not a good approach refers to socialism. He explains (as was said over to me) that the problem with socialism is that the government by law is the one that redistributes from rich to poor. The poor by law are entitled to what they receive and therefore do not have Hakoras Hatov for what they receive. Furthermore, when a person gives to a poor person it develops feeling and desire to help the poor out and the more you give the more it develops particularly when directed to specific known person. In a socialist state the giver doesnt give to anyone but rather has his money taken by the state and given to to others. RSRH says this leads to a breakdown of society where hakoras hatov is lacking and the rich do not feel for…. the poor.
I do not mean to say in all this that the poor shouldnt be helped. But I believe that the Federal or State gov’t taking your money by force and giving it to others is getting very close to robbery.
One more thing, I think it is good for Orthodox Jews to support a libertarian position. Smaller government and less government means that less intrusion into our lives. We as Jews I think benefit most from having govt having as little say as possible in the private lives of its citizens. This would allow us to practice our religion as free as possible without intrusion from the govt.
Thank you Tim for your post, the tovat hana’a comparison is interesting and relevant. Still it doesn’t really challenge Shaul’s main point about which system is “closer to” the Torah’s ideal society.
The strange bedfellows issue between orthodox Jews and Christian conservatives has long bothered me too. At the same time it cannot be denied that the vocal and unabashed support by religious Protestants for Israel is a valuable political good – though as you say there’s a difference between shared interests and shared values, and I’m not sure that our alignment with them results from shared values. I am curious about your views on this. I have seen pretty surprising (to me) statistics about just how much of the monetary support for charities in Israel comes not from American Jews but from American Protestants. How to conceive of this relationship?
I do not mean to say in all this that the poor shouldnt be helped. But I believe that the Federal or State gov’t taking your money by force and giving it to others is getting very close to robbery.
We can debate the merits of such policies, but clearly a taking by a legitimate government body pursuant to legitimate law is not viewed by the Torah as robbery.
Rambam, Hilchot Gezeila 5:14, writes:
כללו של דבר כל דין שיחקוק אותו המלך לכל ולא יהיה לאדם אחד בפני עצמו אינו גזל. וכל שיקח מאיש זה בלבד שלא כדת הידועה לכל אלא חמס את זה הרי זה גזל
Joey — For one reasonable approach, see http://rabbipruzansky.com/2010/05/06/christian-support-for-israel/
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