My father taught me two very basic values.
1. Marry a nice Jewish girl
2. Always vote democratic.
Perhaps this sounds trite and even narrow on his part. But he knew exactly what he meant. Keep up your Jewish identity and its future; remember you’re part of a minority and be committed to those “tired and poor and huddled masses yearning to be free” that Emma Lazarus wrote about and which is chiseled in stone on the Statue of Liberty.
But even more than what I learned from his words, I learned from my fathers very being.
Some joke about cardiac Jews. But it’s really not a joke. His heart and soul were absolutely Jewish. He never talked about Jewish identity. He was Jewish through and through. He couldn’t read Hebrew; he hardly spoke Yiddish; he wasn’t observant of Halacha but I knew when I sat on his lap that my dad was a vibrant Jew!
So I understood the demand to marry a Jewish girl.
But why vote democratic? Was this a political persuasion on his part? Was it about identification with democratic values? Or perhaps a sense of being different from the ‘Wasps”? Part of the up and coming ? The new Americans who need a “new deal”?
Or maybe a very deep rooted cultural phenomenon that was passed from generation to generation since Mt. Sinai–a silent message; a memory that was so overwhelming that it didn’t need to be formally stated. The silent message was “I care and therefore I am”. Not only about myself–but about mankind –all mankind! Not about an elite! Not about power and wealth! Not as a “do- gooder ” and not to achieve a goal or reputation or fame .
But because my father, along with all of us, who stood together at Sinai experienced a gene forming moment that we can’t ever escape. A thunder and lightening and a fire that consumed us forever.
So from the great distance between Israel and Washington
And even if I think that this or that candidate is friendlier to Israel—
I need to follow the wisdom of generations; and of my father, to answer to my genetic call —
To enshrine democracy as my highest value always because
it’s who I am!ll
Wherever I am.
I’m a Jew
So pleased to have Rav. Diamond share his thoughts at Israel Seen.
Rabbi Lee Diamond, is based in Israel and began his unique rabbinate as an Israel Educator for the Diaspora. Rabbi Diamond has served as director of the Alexander Muss High School in Israel, and Associate Director of the Israel office of the UJR and NFTY Israel programs. He has dedicated his life to sharing the Israel he loves and creating an educational experiences for everyone visiting Israel. Rabbi Diamond’s philosophy: Israel is the stage on which I want to act out the drama of the Jewish people, its creative survival, and to affect people’s lives. When we see each other our discussion always seems to find its way to the ever changing political situation in Israel. In the end of course we come around to what is dear to the hearts of both of us: the importance of emphasizing Jewish values and ethics in our society.
