After I got to know my friend, Larry Elder, we would often have debates about which group was stupider for supporting the Democrat Party — Jews or Blacks. Larry usually won those debates because of his immense verbal skills and the fact that he has a much richer target with how the Democrats abuse Blacks on a regular basis and have for decades. Yet the current track Jews have taken have catapulted them to the top of the stupidity ladder.
With the death of George Floyd, the biggest political movement has become Black Lives Matter (BLM). People have been fired from their jobs for stating All Lives Matter or any variation of what has been become sacrosanct – BLM. The only thing is that BLM is actually a formal organization with a political agenda. Its founders, Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors and Opel Tometi stated in their own words “We are trained Marxists.”
That did not stop the most recognized group in the Reform Jewish movement, the Union of Reform Judaism (URJ), from a full-throated endorsement of the organization. They did not specifically say they are giving money to the organization, but their statement as they said from “the Reform Movement” used the words Black Live Matters twelve times. BLM must have been delighted with a group that they think is inherently a philosophical enemy endorsing them.
On the other hand, the URJ could be confused with a Left-wing arm of the Democrats as often as they are perceived as a Jewish group. Years back I was invited to an annual meeting. They presented a laundry list of policy priorities with Israel finally being mentioned near the end of the list. When I pointed out that I thought that where Israel was listed was indicative of their focus, the person responsible for the list attempted to convince me the order of placement had no significance. I communicated I was not that naïve.
How did Jews fare under Marxism? The Jews of America and Israel spent decades moving Soviet Jews who were suppressed and imprisoned, if not murdered, to Israel with well over one million being transferred to Israel. The idea that the URJ would now be siding with avowed Marxists boggles the mind. Where have Jews as a group done the best and lived the freest lives with the greatest acceptance? In capitalist countries including the United States. Yet that was not considered while endorsing BLM.
Marxist attitude toward Jews is institutionalized. David Ben-Gurion was a socialist, if not a communist, as many founders of Israel were. Ben-Gurion, the father of modern Israel, idolized Lenin. He was excited to meet Lenin, that was until Lenin turned on him because Ben-Gurion was Jewish. Marxist hate for Jews runs deep.
The BLM platform contained a statement that Israel was committing genocide against Palestinians. The statement can only be taken as not only anti-Israel, but anti-Semitic. Yet URJ blew right by that and trumpeted their support for BLM. This must be a policy position of which the URJ is aware but has never condemned.
Rabbi Josh Weinberg, URJ vice-president for Israel, calls himself a Zionist for BLM. He even goes so far as to question Israel’s treatment of utopian ideals implying mistreatment of non-whites. Israel is the country in history that actively brought Black people into their country (at Israel’s expense, by the way) to bring them to freedom. How do people like Weinberg get these positions?
Yet, BLM’s anti-Semitic and Marxist positions pale in comparison to their most offensive position that should antagonize any Jew who has a smidgen of understanding of Judaism. BLM wishes to destroy the nuclear family – the single most important central tenet of Judaism. BLM has stated “We disrupt the Western-prescribed nuclear family structure requirement.” They want children cared for by community much like Stalin, Hitler and Mao, an historically unparalleled trio of mass murderers.
The URJ has a large contingent of Rabbis who seem not to understand either the deviant nature of BLM or that the nuclear family is as central a facet of Judaism as ethical monotheism. My God, the holiest day of the year for Jews is Yom Kippur. The focus of the day other than atoning for your sins is honoring your deceased family members. In fact, we say a prayer, Kaddish, at every service honoring our family history. The fifth of the ten commandments is honoring your mother and father. Yet somehow all that is overlooked in support of BLM.
One can be supportive of Black people and any current struggles they face without throwing your lot in with a Marxist, Anti-Israel, Anti-Semitic and anti-family organization. It is time for the leaders of the Reform movement of Judaism and the URJ to decide whether they are Left-wing political activists first or Jews first. Right now it appears you are the former.
Bruce L. Bialosky, is a former member of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council and 34-year member of Stephen Wise Temple in Los Angeles