{"id":184040,"date":"2026-04-23T12:13:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-23T20:13:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=184040"},"modified":"2026-04-23T12:15:45","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T20:15:45","slug":"the-coalition-will-see-you-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=184040","title":{"rendered":"The Coalition Will See You Now"},"content":{"rendered":"

SCENE: A Manhattan study, lined with sefarim. A RABBI sits at a desk, wearing a dark suit and kippah. A small bust of Lincoln sits prominently on the shelf. He is mid-sentence, speaking to camera.<\/strong>
\nRABBI: As Lincoln said in his Second Inaugural, and as the prophet Isaiah said before him, and as my great-uncle the Rav said after both of them, and as I am saying right now in a way that connects all three\u2014
\n[A LOUD KNOCK]<\/strong>
\nRABBI: \u2014the American experiment is a Hebraic\u2014
\n[DONOR bursts in wearing a tuxedo]<\/strong>
\nDONOR: Rabbi! Quick question. Is the Republican Party good for the Jews?
\nRABBI: That’s a profound question that requires\u2014
\nDONOR: Yes or no.
\nRABBI: \u2014a textured engagement with\u2014
\nDONOR: Rabbi.
\nRABBI: \u2014the prophetic tradition\u2014
\nDONOR: RABBI.
\nRABBI: Yes.
\nDONOR: Excellent. [Writes a check] For the Center.
\n[DONOR exits. A SECOND KNOCK. A BISHOP enters.]<\/strong>
\nBISHOP: Rabbi, we Catholics would love your thoughts on whether Jews and Christians share a common heritage.
\nRABBI: A magnificent question. In my forthcoming essay for First Things\u2014
\nBISHOP: Do we?
\nRABBI: Share\u2014
\nBISHOP: A common heritage.
\nRABBI: Yes.
\nBISHOP: Wonderful. [Exits]
\n[A THIRD KNOCK. A YESHIVA STUDENT enters holding a Gemara.]<\/strong>
\nSTUDENT: Rabbi, the Documentary Hypothesis. Wellhausen. Friedman. The archaeological evidence for a late composition of the Pentateuch. How do we\u2014
\nRABBI: I have a meeting.
\nSTUDENT: You don’t have a meeting.
\nRABBI: The Straus Center has a meeting.
\nSTUDENT: But\u2014
\nRABBI: Have you considered what Lincoln said about\u2014
\nSTUDENT: LINCOLN DIDN’T WRITE THE TORAH.
\n[The student is gently escorted out by an unseen hand. A FOURTH KNOCK.]<\/strong>
\nREPORTER: Rabbi, about the convention prayer\u2014
\nRABBI: A ceremonial blessing in the tradition of\u2014
\nREPORTER: \u2014do you endorse\u2014
\nRABBI: \u2014Washington’s letter to the Hebrew Congregation of Newport\u2014
\nREPORTER: \u2014the candidate?
\nRABBI: \u2014which itself echoed Micah\u2014
\nREPORTER: Sir\u2014
\nRABBI: \u2014every man under his vine and fig tree\u2014
\nREPORTER: Sir\u2014
\nRABBI: \u2014and none shall make him afraid.
\nREPORTER: So that’s a yes?
\nRABBI: That’s a textured engagement.
\n[REPORTER exits, confused. A FIFTH KNOCK. It is a YOUNG RABBI, bright-eyed.]<\/strong>
\nYOUNG RABBI: Rebbe! I want to write seriously about the crisis in Modern Orthodoxy. The demographic collapse. The Haredi pressure. The intermarriage numbers outside the day school system. The\u2014
\nRABBI: Have you considered Lincoln?
\nYOUNG RABBI: What?
\nRABBI: Lincoln had many crises.
\nYOUNG RABBI: I’m talking about our community\u2014
\nRABBI: And yet he quoted the Psalms.
\nYOUNG RABBI: Rebbe, I want to write what’s true.
\nRABBI: [Long pause. Looks at the bust of Lincoln. Looks at camera.] My son. The truth is a coalition.
\nYOUNG RABBI: That’s not\u2014
\nRABBI: And the coalition is the truth.
\nYOUNG RABBI: Rebbe, that’s circular\u2014
\nRABBI: As Lincoln said\u2014
\nYOUNG RABBI: LINCOLN WASN’T JEWISH.
\nRABBI: [Placing hand gently on Young Rabbi’s shoulder] That is precisely why we must claim him.
\n[A SIXTH KNOCK. The DEAN enters.]<\/strong>
\nDEAN: Rabbi, the donor from before has a friend. Also Republican. Also rich. Also wants to know\u2014
\nRABBI: Yes.
\nDEAN: I haven’t asked the question yet.
\nRABBI: Yes to the question.
\nDEAN: Wonderful. [Exits]
\n[The YOUNG RABBI stares at the older man.]<\/strong>
\nYOUNG RABBI: Is this what it means to be a public intellectual?
\nRABBI: [Gazing wistfully out the window] My boy. Once, long ago, I wrote a dissertation. It had arguments. It had footnotes. It engaged Rosenzweig.
\nYOUNG RABBI: What happened?
\nRABBI: [A single tear] Princeton.
\nYOUNG RABBI: And then?
\nRABBI: [Whispering] Commentary.
\nYOUNG RABBI: And then?
\nRABBI: [Barely audible] The podcast.
\nYOUNG RABBI: Rebbe\u2014
\nRABBI: [Snapping back, cheerful] But as Lincoln said, and as the prophet Amos said, and as my great-uncle said, and as I am saying now in a way that connects\u2014
\n[Cut to GRAHAM CHAPMAN as a British Army officer]<\/strong>
\nCHAPMAN: Right, stop that. This is getting far too coalitional. Nobody’s following an argument all the way through. I want a sketch where someone actually breaks with his donor base.
\n[A figure in the background, who has been quietly reading Leibowitz, looks up hopefully]
\nLEIBOWITZ-READER: Finally\u2014
\nCHAPMAN: Not you. You’re too depressing.
\nLEIBOWITZ-READER: [Resigned] Back to the margins.
\n[CHAPMAN turns to camera]
\nCHAPMAN: And now for something completely different. A rabbi who actually answers a question.
\n[Long silence. The camera pans across an empty study. A tumbleweed rolls through. After thirty seconds, a title card appears:]
\n“THIS SKETCH COULD NOT BE COMPLETED DUE TO COALITION CONSTRAINTS”
\n[END]<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SCENE: A Manhattan study, lined with sefarim. A RABBI sits at a desk, wearing a dark suit and kippah. A small bust of Lincoln sits prominently on the shelf. He is mid-sentence, speaking to camera. RABBI: As Lincoln said in … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[214],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-184040","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-modern-orthodox"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t