OU Takes Backhand Slap At Rahm Emanuel

This afternoon, the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America – the nation’s largest Orthodox Jewish umbrella organization -- applauded the appointment by President Obama of Mr. Jacob (“Jack”) Lew as White House Chief of Staff. Mr. Lew is the first individual affiliated with the Orthodox Jewish community to hold this position of great responsibility.…

 

OU Applauds New White House Chief of Staff, Jack Lew
ORTHODOX UNION WISHES “MAZAL TOV” TO NEW WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF JACK LEW

This afternoon, the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America – the nation’s largest Orthodox Jewish umbrella organization -- applauded the appointment by President Obama of Mr. Jacob (“Jack”) Lew as White House Chief of Staff.

Mr. Lew is the first individual affiliated with the Orthodox Jewish community to hold this position of great responsibility. Mr. Lew has been affiliated and active with two OU member congregations over the past decade – Congregation Beth Shalom in Potomac, Maryland and the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale in Bronx, New York.

OU Managing Director Rabbi Steven Burg and Executive Director for Public Policy Nathan Diament issued the following statement: “We commend President Obama for appointing Mr. Jack Lew as White House Chief of Staff. Our community takes great pride in the appointment of the first member of our community to this position of great responsibility. We wish Mr. Lew a hearty ‘Mazal Tov’ on his historic appointment and best wishes in his new role in serving the president and people of the United States.”

OU | Enhancing Jewish Life

Of course, Rahm Emanuel. who was president Obama's chief of staff until he left to successfully run for mayor of Chicago, was and still is "affiliated" with a prominent Orthodox synagogue in Chicago and its Orthodox rabbi, Asher Lopatin.

But the OU isn't happy with Rahm's wife's conversion or Rabbi Lopatin, who is seen as being too outspoken and too religiously left-leaning – meaning too close to Rabbi Avi Weiss and Yeshivat Chovevei Torah, Weiss' rabbinical school which is seen as a left wing competitor to Yeshiva University's RIETS rabbinical school.

The OU could have written Rahm's rabbi out of the OU and left it at that. Or it could have written Rabbi Avi Weiss out of Orthodoxy – but it doesn't have the politcal strength to attack Weiss directly without risking mass defections from the OU-affiliated Rabbinical Council of America and of OU member congreations. And past that, Weiss was once Jack Lew's rabbi, as well.

So in the OU's typically passive-aggressive fashion it wrote Rahm, his family and Rabbi Lopatin out of all of "Orthodox" life to take a slap at Rahm's rabbi and his rabbi's rabbi, Avi Weiss, and it used Jack Lew to do it.

This is truly offensive, sleazy behavior.

And in that sense, it matches years of truly sleazy OU behavior, from the extensive decades long cover up of Rabbi Baruch Lanner's child sex abuse to the OU's years long coverup of Argriprocessors' humane slaughter law violations, to issue after issue after issue before, in between and after.

I wonder how Jack Lew and his employer, the President of the United States, feel about being used by the OU in this manner.

I also wonder if there is anyone working for the OU or on its board who even care.

The OU Press Release As A PDF File:

Download OU Applauds New White House Chief of Staff, Jack Lew -- Orthodox Union

Comments

[Jason]

The OU's press release references Mr. Lew's affiliation with the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale, an OU member congregation. Of course, HIR is Rabbi Avi Weiss' shul. The OU may have issues with Rabbi Lopatin, but please explain how their issue with Rabbi Lopatin for being too close to Rabbi Weiss leads them to acknowledge Mr. Lew, who was a congregant of Rabbi Avi Weiss. I think the first point about Rahm's wife's conversion is probably more accurate.

[ruthie]

1. she converted. who cares. are you g-d??
2. rahm e. is so hot. omg
3. avi weiss is a phony. he sniffs you out for money. avi weiss is not a nice person. avi weiss, if you're reading this, i know about that young man who moved to riverdale...fancy address...and you were all over him. so nice...so kind....but he didn't give you enough?
so you stopped being so nice. hurt his feelings.
joke is on you. he received his inheritance years later. sucker.

[Shmarya]

The OU's press release references Mr. Lew's affiliation with the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale, an OU member congregation. Of course, HIR is Rabbi Avi Weiss' shul. The OU may have issues with Rabbi Lopatin, but please explain how their issue with Rabbi Lopatin for being too close to Rabbi Weiss leads them to acknowledge Mr. Lew, who was a congregant of Rabbi Avi Weiss. I think the first point about Rahm's wife's conversion is probably more accurate.

Posted by: Jason | January 10, 2012 at 05:31 PM

I wasn't clear enough.

The OU lacks the political power to attack Weiss directly. So it did the next best thing – it attacked a Weiss surrogate in a backhanded sleazy manner.

[Confused]

Mazel Tov!

[Steven]

Gotta love Jewish politics. The OU website lists Anshe Sholom as member congregation and Rabbi Lopatin as the rabbi. I am sure they are very happy to cash the yearly membership check.

[Yochanan Lavie]

Ruthie: It's too bad Avi Weiss is sleazy. I like his hashkafah (if what you're alleging is true). But I don't believe in double standards, even for people I agree with. Menschlichtkeit is next to godliness.

[D]

http://failedmessiah.typepad.com/failed_messiahcom/2008/11/guest-post-rabb.html
From way back in 2008..re: Emanuel

[ruthie]

one day i hope to meet you in harlem

[A E ANDERSON]

See, even lofty personages are exempt from the expectation that they adequately schmear the right rabbis!

[Reuvain]

There is a big difference between Lew who is Shomer Shabbat and Emanuel whose level of observance was vastly different. To have a observant religious Jew-a frum guy-- in this position is a historical turning point. It was this idea the OU was highlighting.

Alas Shmaya finds nefarious activity everywhere even in places that it might not exist.

[HAGTBG]

Shmarya you're right that Rahm Emanuel was affiliated with R' Lopatin's Orthodox shul but he does not have a reputation of being Shomer Shabbat or Shomer kashrut. Lew apparently does have that reputation. This does not appear to concern at all R' Lopatin and I highly doubt the OU's IPA meant to insult Rahm Emanuel.

[Shmarya]

Please.

Your claim is that the OU was simply stupid rather than intentionally insulting?

[libby in the hood]

Ruthie: I agree. Rahm E. is very hot especially in the those snug ballet tights!

[Yochanan Lavie]

Ruthie: Likewise.

[Izzy]

I don't think the OU was being stupid or insultIng. At worst, they are guilty of a poorly worded press release. Rahm, although he was/is a member of Rabbi Lopatin's shul, is not personally observant. Jack Lew is.

[Waiting4Moshiach]

Mazel tov, but is this really good for the Yidden? Now whenever anything goes wrong (and with obama lots of things go wrong) they will blame us. Better to have an irishman like Daley in that job, with one of us behind the seens to argue our case in private.

[simple jew]

B"H

Does anyone recall what ou said when rahm was picked?

I remember being excited that Rahm a frum affiliated former israeli soldier etc etc was picked... but very disappointed when rahm didn't appear to be great friend of israel.

Ou should have said first shomer shabbos or first orthodox

[A.K.]

Why does the OU need to say "first" affiliated / member / shomer shabbat / observant / orthodox at all? And why does it need to say it twice? Why can't they just say, "we are happy one of members was appointed" and leave it at that?

The OU is CLEARLY drawing lines and passing judgments on who is affiliated and who is not.

Next thing you know, observant jews will be spitting at other observant jews for not being "affiliated" enough

[abcdef]

Why no article about the Chabad Rabbi who donated a kidney to a secular Jew?

Oh, right, the purpose of this blog is to bash, and only to bash.

http://www.vosizneias.com/98568/2012/01/10/gloucester-county-nj-chabad-rabbi-donates-kidney-to-secular-israeli

[Baruch Shelo Asani Haredi]

Wait. Now it's OK to work for Obama? I'm confused.

[RiverdaleApikorus]

YL- Unfortunately I can second Ruthie's opinion about Weiss- a sleazy rabbi who cares most about getting his name in the news and not a real Mensch by any means. Would love to meet you and ruthie in harlem sometime- reach me at oravesasson@gmail.com

[Elisha ben Abuya]

To be fair to the OU, Rahm Emmanuel was affiliated with a Conservative synagogue while serving as Chief of Staff to President Obama.

[sifter]

Sorry, scott, you are wrong on this one.

It's not about his wife's conversion. It's about him relishing in press releases on chewing down pork ribs, go google Michael Sneed's column in the Chicago papers. I sat next to the man during High Holidays at Anshe Shalom many a moon ago, after his Clinton years. His 'orthodox' appellation was a lame attempt to win kudos from gushing bubbes during an election. It had NOTHING to do with the truth. I don't care if he is particularly observant or not, but he used, or his handlers used his 'orthodox' label to sell his candidacy. Ya can't eat treif, publically, and violate Shabbat, publically, and parade around as Orthodox. Unless your running for office. By the way, it was a British paper, don't remembe if it was the Guardian or Times or.... that ran a big ORTHODOX splash when kvelling over his candidacy.

[Simon]

Shmarya you're right that Rahm Emanuel was affiliated with R' Lopatin's Orthodox shul but he does not have a reputation of being Shomer Shabbat or Shomer kashrut.

Posted by: HAGTBG | January 10, 2012 at 06:47 PM

Do not talk about things you know nothing about, especially accusing someone of not being shomer, that is lashon hora. I went to Anshe Sholom (R. Lopatin's shul) for a number of years and what you are saying has no basis in reality. He is as shomer as any other MO Ortho rabbi.

But what the article says makes sense-- it is certainly true that the CRC (Chicago Rabbinical Council) is not too fond of the shul and Id imagine neither is the OU. It is a very left-leaning shul, not in terms of Torah observance, but more because people are more open-minded than at your typical Ortho shul. There are some esthetic changes--mehitza is only hip-high, for example. But nothing too extreme. It's definitely an Ortho shul.

That being said, R. Lopatin is making aliyah soon. The shul has been looking for a new rabbi for a while, and there was something of a controversy about whether to accept a rabbi affiliated exclusively with the IRF (international rabbinical fellowship). The congregation ended up voting to accept only rabbis who had an established affiliation in addition to IRF--such as CRC (Chicago) or RCA.

[Simon]

I thought you were saying R. Lopatin was not shomer. Maybe you meant Rahm. If so, my apologies.

[Robert Wisler]

Again W4M "hits the spot" when mocking these Brooklyn hareidi peasants. "Behind the seens" is one of the funniest thing that I've ever read! Absolute brilliance W4M!

[Robert Wisler]

abdcef..

Yes, it's truly big news when an ultra-Orthodox Jew does ANYTHING which is not in his own self-interest or the self-interest of his sect.

How about the myriads of gentiles who have donate kidneys to strangers without regard to race or religion? Lubavitch has nothing but contempt for them. In fact, the messianic sect of Lubavitch has nothing but contemptable hatred for the non-messianic sect and vice-versa.

[taylor]

It's sleazy of Shmarya to insert the Lanner abuse scandal into a story that has absolutely no relation to it.

[Yochanan Lavie]

Riverdale: Great. I'll contact you. But please be patient, because I'm very busy during the school year.

Taylor: It was sleazy of the OU to tolerate Lanner's bullshit for so long. He is a pos who has ruined lives, and it can't be repeated enough, IMO.

[Garnel Ironheart]

You're off base. Emanuel is not Orthodox. He has never claimed to be Orthodox. Just belonging to Asher Lopatin's shul doesn't make you Orthodox like belonging to a Conservative synagogue makes you Conservative.
The question is: how Orthodox is Lew?

[RiverdaleApikorus]

Lew is seriously Ortho...much more than Emmanuel. Though he does daven in one of those feminist Ortho minyanim when in DC so I'll let the right wingers decide for themselv
es....

[anonymous]

big news. jews dont recognize other jews. jews do bad things. other jews cover it up. get it over it. finished.

[Mike S.]

Lew is a cancerous tumor on the nation. The OU makes a joke of itself by endorsing him.
http://www.salon.com/2012/01/10/the_new_wh_chief_of_staff_and_citigroup/singleton/

[ruthie]

what snug ballet tights.
what the fuck are you talking about.
he's hot because of his face, head, and brains.
tights....ugh

[sifter]

well, if you like thin, scrawny, small boned guys in tutus... go for it, Ruthie :)