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We the undersigned are a group of American Orthodox rabbis, speaking as individuals, who have come together — in solidarity with other religious leaders — to make this statement on a matter of grave religious import.
We believe that religion should be lived in daily life and applied in the public square and in making policy judgments. We also believe that religion should be invoked with care because its tendency to judge matters in absolute or ultimate terms may interfere with the ability of the political system to work through partial steps, compromises and pragmatic accommodations. We also affirm that it is improper to claim that God or our religion is totally on one side, be it progressive or conservative. We affirm that people of good faith can come to contradictory conclusions on policy matters.
Nevertheless, there are times when the political discourse veers into morally offensive language and policy proposals that violate fundamental religious norms. In such cases, we feel that we must speak up — and as Orthodox rabbis in particular — since we believe that every action in life should be shaped and guided by our religious values.
We issue this statement on the heels of the week of the 9th of Av. On the Jewish religious calendar, this commemorates the anniversary of the destruction of the Second Holy Temple and the Great Exile — the greatest catastrophe of Jewish history until the Holocaust. The Talmud states that this disaster was a direct consequence of the release of gratuitous and unrestrained hatred into the body politic.
In the current presidential election, we have been deeply troubled to hear proposals that condemn whole groups and which are justified by pointing to evil behaviors by members of that group or religion. Wholesale condemnations — such as the proposal to ban all Muslim immigration into the United States — violate the principle of individual responsibility and violate the fundamental religious principle of “love thy neighbor as thyself,” which is one of the greatest commandments of Judaism (see Jerusalem Talmud, Nedarim 9:4). These proposals violate the biblical prohibitions to spread hatred or slander about groups and individuals and violate the oft-repeated biblical command to love the stranger.
We add that we were shocked by the disrespect shown to parents who suffered the greatest pain — losing a son who died in the service of our country. The Torah commands us always to comfort mourners. The fact that the parents criticized a candidate does not justify harsh and hurtful retaliation.
Similarly, we condemn the candidate’s remarks demeaning women, and we denounce his attacks labeling many Mexican immigrants as rapists or criminals. Again, opposition to immigration or to amnesty for illegal aliens cannot justify wholesale denials of the dignity of human beings or threats to round up and deport millions of families. These remarks and proposals are gross violations of the fundamental principle of our religion that every human being is created in the image of God and should be treated as equal, as unique, and as a person of infinite value and dignity.
Finally, we are troubled by candidates who signal authoritarian tendencies and pursue personal vendettas that come across as a dismissal of constitutional rights and legal processes. Protection of the law, equality before the law, and respecting democratic political processes (though they may fall into gridlock or frustrate us from time to time) are the bedrocks of democracy. Democracy is the system most protective of human dignity. Upholding it and protecting its processes is of the highest religious value. The fact that these dangerous tendencies have been coupled with statements of admiration for authoritarian dictators has aroused our conscience.
All these behaviors, taken together, have led us to make this extraordinary statement in the name of our religious principles. Our core religious values and essential theological beliefs require us to condemn Donald Trump’s hateful rhetoric and intolerant policy proposals in the strongest possible terms.
Rabbi Dr. Irving (“Yitz”) Greenberg, a scholar and theologian, is the founding president of the Jewish Life Network/Steinhardt Foundation and of the National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership in New York City. Rabbi Daniel Ross Goodman, J.D., is a Ph.D. candidate at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America in New York. Other lead signatories on this statement were Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz, founder and president of Uri L’Tzedek: The Orthodox Social Justice Movement, and president and dean of the Valley Beit Midrash in Scottsdale, Arizona; and Rabbi Aaron Potek, who works with Jewish young adults in Washington, D.C. At least 36 other Orthodox rabbis have also co-signed this statement.
1. Rabbi Dr. Elisha Ancselovits
2. Rabbi Yonah Berman
3. Rabbi Dr. Tsvi Blanchard
4. Rabbi Barry Dolinger
5. Rabbi Michael Emerson
6. Rabbi Steven Exler
7. Rabbi Dr. Josh Feigelson
8. Maharat Ruth Friedman
9. Rabbi Jeffrey Fox
10. Rabbi Aaron Frank
11. Rabbi Daniel Geretz
12. Rabbi Dr. Bin Goldman
13. Rabbi Daniel Goodman
14. Rabbi Ben Greenberg
15. Rabbi Steve Greenberg
16. Rabbi Dr. Yitz Greenberg
17. Rabbi Ari Hart
18. Rabbi Shmuel Herzfeld
19. Rabbi Dr. Richard Hidary
20. Rabba Sara Hurwitz
21. Rabbi David Jaffe
22. Rabbi David Kalb
23. Rabbi Will Keller
24. Rabbi Fred Klein
25. Rabbi Dr. Eugene Korn
26. Rabbi Danny Landes
27. Rabbi Dr. Dov Lerea
28. Rabbi Aaron Levy
29. Rabbi Jon Leener
30. Rabbi Dov Linzer
31. Rabbi Ariel Evan Mayse
32. Rabbi Avram Mlotek
33. Rabbi Micah Odenheimer
34. Rabbi Avi Orlow
35. Rabbi Dani Passow
36. Rabbi Aaron Potek
37. Rabbi Haggai Resnikoff
38. Rabbi Chaim Seidler-Feller
39. Rabbi Ben Shefter
40. Rabbi Garth Silberstein
41. Rabbi Daniel Raphael Silverstein
42. Rabbi Victor Ureki
43. Rabbi Devin Villarreal
44. Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz
45. Rabbanit Devorah Zlochower
The quote from the Yerushalmi is the famous note by Rabbi Akiva that “Love your friend as you would yourself” is a great Torah principle. It is, but it refers exclusively to Jews, as can be easily discerned from the complete verse: “Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against the people of your nation (B’nei Amecha), and love your friend (Re’acha) as you would yourself, I am God.” Of course, there are universal interpretations of this verse, but as it happens, the Yerushalmi chapter the group cited actually emphasizes one line earlier the idea of the verse referring to the people of your own nation, meaning Jews.
Frankly, even if one does not support Trump’s xenophobic attacks on “Rapist Mexicans” and “the Muslims,” a group of 45 learned rabbis could have come up with a more convincing, perhaps intellectually challenging argument, especially since they present the Trump proposals on banning—temporarily—Muslim immigration without context, as if the candidate just picked a fight with a billion and a half peaceful people who are minding their own business just worrying about grazing their camels and perfecting their hummus.
The 45 rabbis also say they were “shocked by the disrespect shown to parents who suffered the greatest pain—losing a son who died in the service of our country. The Torah commands us always to comfort mourners. The fact that the parents criticized a candidate does not justify harsh and hurtful retaliation.”
This time they didn’t go to the Yerushalmi to support their “always comfort mourners” point. It’s probably not true, as can be seen in the commandments regarding the beautiful war captive, where comforting her as she is mourning her killed parents is distinctly not part of the Jewish soldier’s obligations.
They also attack Trump for his “authoritarian tendencies” and “personal vendettas that come across as a dismissal of constitutional rights and legal processes.” They’re about a year late in comforting Prime Minister Netanyahu, who suffered from the personal vendettas of the current US president. Maybe there’s something in the Yerushalmi about that.
