We are current and former congregants of Rabbi Joshua Levine Grater who feel compelled to disagree with his recent comments on Israel (“Jews must stay on visionary Obama’s side,” May).%u2028%u2028
Rabbi Grater claims to speak for the Jewish community. (“The Jewish community knows that President Obama is this kind of leader….”) Though the rabbi is entitled to his views on American politics, he is not entitled to speak for American Jewry at a time of fraught US-Israel relations, brought on by the White House’s ineffective Middle East diplomacy. %u2028%u2028
When the White House pushed Israel over a zoning issue in a Jewish %u2028neighborhood in Jerusalem, the Arab side felt compelled to be no less demanding than the White House.
The President’s position was unpopular with many Americans. Almost immediately, three quarters of our elected representatives, including 76 senators and over three quarters of the House, both Republicans and Democrats, signed bipartisan letters in response, demanding that the President reaffirm the US-Israeli relationship.%u2028
In support of his political position, Rabbi Grater %u2028quotes Pirkei Avot: “While we are %u2028not called up to finish the job, we are certainly called %u2028upon to never cease from trying.”
Unfortunately, the %u2028nature of “the job” is left undefined. If the task is to %u2028ensure the survival of the only Jewish state in the %u2028world and the 6 million who live there, then Jews %u2028and other supporters of Israel may demand that %u2028President Obama not just say that he is a friend of %u2028Israel, but act like one.%u2028%u2028%u2028
Edward Vaisbort, Pasadena%u2028
Anita Brenner, La Canada Flintridge%u2028
Carolyn Kunin, Pasadena%u2028
Ahuva Einstein, Pasadena%u2028
Josef Ulloa, Covina
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