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August 25, 2000/24 Av 5760, Vol. 52, No.50
Reb JoeEditorialIn one of author Nathan Englander's wonderful short stories he creates Reb Kringle, an Orthodox Jew who sidelines during the holiday season as a department store Santa. When a teary-eyed youngster visits and confides that all he really wants for Christmas is Hanukkah, the rabbi tears off his bright red hat, revealing the plain black yarmulke underneath. "This is not a fit job for a Jew," he roars in anger and frustration.Imagine what kind of story Englander, a Jewish literary wunderkind, can fashion about the Joseph Lieberman candidacy. The good Connecticut senator, of course, while eschewing the trappings of his religious faith in public (Lieberman does not wear a yarmulke), has professed steadfastly his religious conviction. No play-acting, red-suited Santa, Lieberman is Jewish through and through, his Judaism as much a part of his persona as his obvious political acumen and ambition. His humble beginnings as the son of a Connecticut baker, despite his Yale academic pedigree, endear him as the Jewish common man. He's made good despite the odds to succeed in the rough and tumble of national politics, despite the discrimination earlier in the century, when being Jewish could break, rather than make, a candidate. He's made it, despite the fact that he goes to synagogue on Saturday and does not eat pork or shrimp; despite the fact that he celebrates Hanukkah, not Christmas; despite the fact that he begins the new year on Rosh Hashana, not Jan. 1. The No. 1 spot in the nation is, finally, a fit job for a Jew. Surely our national tolerance for America's inherent diversity is catching up with the reality of what it means to be a melting pot. But just as surely, there are those conflicted by their own religious identity who squirm each time the senator invokes divine providence. And others who quibble over his level of observance. But the choice has been made. It's up to Lieberman to wear his Judaism openly and proudly - and for us, whatever our political proclivities or religious affinities, to support his unalienable right to do so. |
