Do you know why the rabbi couldn’t answer Richard Spencer’s point? Because there is no Jewish response to Richard Spencer here beyond, “You are right.”<\/p>\n
Why shouldn’t other people enjoy the same cohesion and strong identity that Judaism wants for Jews?<\/p>\n
Forward.com<\/a>: After white nationalist Richard Spencer left him speechless by equating Zionism and white supremacy, Texas A&M Rabbi Matt Rosenberg is acknowledging that it wasn\u2019t his best moment.<\/p>\n \u201cI wasn\u2019t on the high school debate team,\u201d Rosenberg told the Forward. \u201cI really didn\u2019t want to get into it. That might have been the wrong decision, but I\u2019ll let the next rabbi deal with it.\u201d<\/p>\n Rosenberg, the Hillel rabbi at Texas A&M University for the past three years, later said he found Spencer\u2019s attempt to get him to defend Israel erroneous and bordering on anti-Semitic.<\/p>\n \u201cI am a simple teacher of Torah,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Rosenberg later took part in a silent demonstration against Spencer\u2019s address. He said that he was concerned at the attention given to the \u201calt-right\u201d leader, who calls for the creation of a white \u201cethno-state.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe undue amount of attention given to Richard Spencer and his message was and is troubling to me,\u201d he said. \u201cWe can\u2019t normalize hate speech.\u201d<\/p>\n Rosenberg also told the Forward he did not an anticipate a repeat on his campus of Tuesday\u2019s events.<\/p>\n \u201cI really do hope and think that this is a one-off for Texas A&M,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s a philo-Semitic campus, where people appreciate Jewish culture and Judaism.\u201d<\/p>\n Despite his concerns about giving attention to hatemongers, Rosenberg handed the white supremacist the spotlight Tuesday when he asked Spencer that night to study Torah with him.<\/p>\n \u201cYou come here with a message of radical exclusion. My tradition teaches a message of radical inclusion, as embodied by Torah,\u201d said Rosenberg, who attended the media event at the urging of one of his colleagues. \u201cWould you sit down and study Torah with me and learn love?\u201d<\/p>\n Spencer shot back by comparing Israel\u2019s vision as a homeland for Jews with his own goals for a state for whites.<\/p>\n \u201cDo you really want radical inclusion into the State of Israel?\u201d Spencer responded, as Rosenberg said nothing. \u201cJews exist precisely because you did not assimilate to the gentiles\u2026 I respect that about you. I want my people to have that same sense of themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n Rosenberg refused to respond, effectively leaving unchallenged Spencer\u2019s assertion about Jews and Israel.<\/p>\n Rabbi Matt Rosenberg wins for one of the best protest signs at #AggiesUnited<\/a>: pic.twitter.com\/SGnxFCaEOq<\/a><\/p>\n — Laura Seay (@texasinafrica) December 7, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n