Obama's Rabbinical Neighbor

Naomi Ragen

Rabbi Arnold Jacob Wolf is a good friend and neighbor of Barak
Obama, and he has written a letter urging all of us Jews to vote
for him.

Rabbi Arnold Jacob Wolf is also a Reform rabbi who was one of the
earliest Jewish advocates for "dialogue" with the PLO (he himself
met with the PLO back in the 1970's) and was a founding member of
Breira, a short-lived organization whose only purpose was to urge
Israel to give into Arab pressure and give up land for peace. We all know how that worked out. Rabbi Wolf is also a member of
the Rabbinic Cabinet of Brit Tzedek v'Shalom, the Jewish Alliance
for Justice and Peace whose entire mission "is to educate and
mobilize American Jews in support of a negotiated two-state
resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict." I urge you to
check out their truly sickening agenda



Rabbi Wolf thinks Obama would be good for Israel, and that he is
a friend of the Jews. In fact, if he has any criticism of Obama
at all, it's that he's not radical enough in demanding Israel
make "painful concessions."

Rabbi Wolf: "Many people remain concerned that Obama isn't
committed to Israel. Some want him to fall in line behind the
intransigent, conservative thinking that has silenced Jewish
debate on Israeli policy and enabled the Bush Administration's
criminal neglect of the diplomatic process. For my part, I've
sometimes found Obama too cautious on Israel. He, like all our
politicians, knows he mustn't stray too far from the conventional
line, and that can be disappointing. But unlike anyone else on
the stump, Obama has also made it clear that he'll broaden the
dialogue. He knows what peace entails."

Yes, we all know what people like Rabbi Wolf thinks "peace"
entails. When put into practice, it put Israel into an Orwellian
hell, in which daily bombings became 'sacrifices" for peace. In
which people sitting down to Passover seders got real blood, and
real tears, not the symbols. But of course, Rabbi Wolf was in
Chicago pontificating on what was good for us Jews actually
living in Israel when all hell broke loose when his ideas were
put into practice. He's still pontificating with more of his
"good" ideas for us.

"Obama's strong positions on poverty and the climate, his early
and consistent opposition to the Iraq War, his commitment to
ending the Darfur genocide - all these speak directly to Jewish
concerns," writes Rabbi Wolf.

Well, dear Rabbi, as a Jew in Israel, where only last month eight
young boys where slaughtered in the library of a yeshiva by a
Palestinian mass murderer, my deepest concerns are not global
warming. As for the Iraq war, didn't that rid us of Saddam
Hussein and his Haifa 1, 2,3 long-range missiles? And when you
can take time off from wringing your hands over Darfur, where the
slaughter of innocents by Muslim fanatics continues its toll, why
not worry about your brothers and sisters in Sderot, who are
victim to the same Muslim barbarism?

Rabbi Wolf is also not concerned with Mr. Obama's longstanding
friendship with Rev. Wright:

"If we're sidetracked by Wright's words, we'll be working against
these interests. After all, a preacher speaks to a congregation,
not for the congregation."

That's true, Rabbi Wolf. You certainly don't speak for me - and
most Jews. And I'm happy to say I'm not a member of your
congregation.