By Rabbi Dr. Bernhard H. Rosenberg
EDISON, New Jersey — I will fight for you always. I will not lead a rally for black lives matter, nor tuches leck any one. I am here for you. “Never again” means never again.
I supports conservatism, fairness, love of country, and most of all the right of Jews to be free of anti-Semitic attacks and the public discrimination proclivity.
Already when Donald Trump ran in the primaries, I had faith not only that Trump would be a good president for all Americans, but he would turn over the hostile tide President Obama established against the State of Israel.
To determine his support, I met with Trump’s team in the Trump’s Tower, in Manhattan, New York City, in order to be assured his vote is the right choice.
The follow-up was founding the ‘Rabbi for Trump’ group.
As a Rabbi and a teacher at Rutgers University I was harassed and threatened by a former student, who used anti-Semitic slurs and name calling against me because he received B+ grade. The media and the Jewish organizations remained silent. Till today I did not receive a single call from the university president’s office or its communications department, where he taught. The Rutgers police investigation of this case remains unconcluded.
For years I have been reporting about anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism at Rutgers University to no avail.
I believe that behind the silence and oblivion hide the fashionable politically correct behavior.
People prefer to stand idly by in the face of wrong and evil. Sometimes till it is too late.
I am the son of Holocaust survivors, Jewish parents who escaped from being murdered by the Nazis during World War Two. In this mass murder action the Nazis and their collaborators murdered one out of three Jews who lived in the world at that time.
My parents were Jacob and Rachel Rosenberg. During the war Rachel was a slave laborer in a Nazi munitions factory. Later on she was sent to Buchenwald Concentration Camp. My father, Jacob Rosenberg, was sent to Auschwitz. Their entire families, except for my father’s half-sister and niece, were murdered, including my father’s first wife and children.
I wake up each day with a sweat. I will not keep silent in light of any anti-Semitic incident.
My worries have now doubled with the Democrat Party veering toward anti-Israel polity and the nomination of three congresswomen who possess anti-Israel dogma, which is collective anti-Semitism.
I believe that another era that has culminated in the Holocaust is at the doorsteps of today’s humanity.
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Rabbi Dr. Bernhard H. Rosenberg is rabbi emeritus of Congregation Beth-El in Edison, New Jersey and is the author of Theological and Halachich Reflections on the Holocaust, among other books. He serves on the New Jersey State Holocaust Commission and chairs the Holocaust Commission of the New York Board of Rabbis.
To Rabbi Rosenberg……..How in the world is it possible for you to watch one day of the latest “Exploits” of the worst president in history and continue to praise him? It can’t just be his support for Israel …..He has turned our country into the laughingstock of the world!….and worse because of his lack of leadership on the pandemic….too many people have died that didn’t have to! SHAME ON YOU!….
Rosenberg supports a fascist pretender to the presidency. Indeed Trump is aiming to be the worst president ever and already has much blood on his hands due to incessant lying, narcissism, and gross logistical mismanagement.
Rosenberg is entitled to his opinion. The castigation of most of the media as “liberal” is of course wrong and sad, given the the fact that Trump has mostly hurt conservatism in America. True conservatives have long since abandoned the megalomaniac in the White House.
Rosenberg is entitled to his opinion. The conflation of Trump’s cynical support of the Embassy move to Jerusalem (which of course in and of itself is the right thing to do) with real support for the Jews is of course foolish in the grand scheme of things because no good can come from the support of a con artist who praises elder Ford’s passion for “bloodlines”. This is no more support for Am Yisrael than Nazi Germany’s funding the St Louis “cruise ship voyage”.
Rosenberg is entitled to his opinion. But to forcefully express such political support as a Rabbi (wonder how that dovetails with protocols expected of 501(c) (3) nonprofits) is indeed a Shame and Disgrace. Recall how the non Zionist dominant bloc of the Orthodox rabbinate – and for that matter the Reform rabbinate too – used its power to castigate and hound the politically grounded astute Zionists – both Mizrachi and secular – in the late Nineteenth and early Twentieth C. No degree of historical revisionism will ever erase those rabbis’ myopic reading of history and none will ever exonerate the myopic “courage” of such modern day self proclaimed rabbinic “conservatives” who choose the easy way (e.g. in the sense of just grabbing on to the Embassy move) of supporting Chancellor Trump rather than tapping a genuine US political party to restore a science based program for health and a genuine empathy for all Americans and for Israel. The worst sin is cynicism.
Yes, this time around that means supporting the Democrats but that is no knee jerk liberal advice. It is a dialectic, centrist plea to move us all back to a mutually respectful, civil track in order to achieve multifaceted progress. In some minor regards, that will take a lot of emunah, tircha and kavana – e.g. guiding the errant wing of the Democrat party back on track. But it really is no choice in the grand scheme.
Shame indeed.
Thank you Rabbi for so bravely voicing your opinion during this time when the Democratic far left are trying to bully people into submission.
This is its first time in history that Israel has such a strong ally as President Trump.
Until this covid 19 pandemic, the US was in a economic boom and unemployment was at an all-time low.
I certainly don’t like President Trumps tweets or his whining about the bad democrats, however his actions speak louder than his words.
Keep speaking out Rabbi… you have a fan in me!
THANK YOU Jenny
I certainly don’t feel the need to qualify my support for our great president by saying I don’t like his tweets. He is a greater man than most to be able to not only withstand but stand up to the never ending assaults on him by the the Democrats and their cohorts in the Leftist media, whose sole mission is demeaning and unseating one of our greatest presidents. I join Rabbi Rosenfeld in his support for President Trump. It has become abundantly clear that a vote for the Democrat Party today is acquiescence to and acceptance of antisemitism.
thank you ETTIE
The “conservatism and fairness” of old does not exist with this administration. I’m curious to know why conservatives never mention far-right anti-semitism. Remember, the president extolling right wing neo-Nazis in Charlottesville? Abusing minorities because of their religion and or skin color is not going away anytime soon, especially with a president who thrives on divisiveness, lies and misinformation. He told the American Israel Alliance in 2019 that they don’t like him, but will vote for him because he’s good for their wallets. He used the slogan “America First” during and after his campaign, despite being told that was a movement in the 30’s advocated by anti-Semites to keep Jewish refugees out of the United States. I am bewildered why any Jew with any knowledge of Torah, Talmud and Jewish ethics would back him. Trump has broken and trampled every ethic, moral and value that Judaism holds dear. He has done the opposite – dividing, insulting, demeaning and bullying. Jewish Trump supporters have sold their souls for short-term political gain, sacrificing what in the long run make us a compassionate, civil, law-abiding society. How can any Jew or anyone of good conscience vote for this immoral and yes racist man again is beyond me!!
Americans, Your President Donald J. Trump
We, the people, are literally hanging onto the cliff by our fingers tips.
I am not inviting this writing to result in a debate. I am not inviting a commentary. Remain my friend or unfriend me; stop following me or block me after you read this penning. Your choice, whatever makes you feel well.
I know that many Americans, and not only Americans think that President Trump is a jerk*; he may be addressed as such…
Read on: https://newsblaze.com/usnews/politics/americans-your-president-donald-j-trump_166527/
Thank you so much Rabbi Rosenberg. It concerns me that people who do not see how much President Trump supports Israel do not see the big picture. They attack people personally and do not want to listen or read about another person’s perspective. They will stop speaking to you, be it a friend or relative. I truly appreciate your words and wish people would attempt to be more open-minded.