There are thousands of ordained Orthodox rabbis in America (less if you count only synagogue rabbis.) Like any clergy, they vary as individuals. And yet somehow, the Democrats struggled to find any who would endorse Kamala Harris.
Jacob Kornbluh, a notorious hack with the left-wing Forward, circulated a list that claimed to be of 33 Orthodox rabbis for Harris.
There were a few minor problems with the list.
Nine of the people on it are women. Orthodox Judaism does not ordain women.
The leading signatory is Alana Suskin, a member of the “rabbinic cabinet” of the anti-Israel group J Street and who describes herself as a “Activist Feminist Psychopomp Rabbi working for justice & equality in the U.S.”
The letter was organized by Shmuly Yanklowitz, a leftist activist who writes stuff like this: “Were Adam and Eve Black Transgender refugees?”
A number of the clergymen (who were men) on it were conservative rabbis.
Some were not American.
Rabbi Shamir Caplan appears to be an Australian clergyman in Melbourne who endorses gay marriage.
Tyson Herberger is an associate professor of religion and religious education at the University of South-Eastern Norway who deals with “queer issues.”
When you have to reach as far as Australia or Norway to find a “rabbi” who will endorse an American presidential candidate, things are not going well. They’re going even worse when you have to go to Norway to find a guy named Tyson who deals with “queer issues.”
That’s like calling a plumber in the middle of the night only to reach an art historian, but figuring it’s close enough.
A number of the “rabbis” on the list seem to be LGBT-friendly, which is a no-no in Orthodox Judaism.
One of them, Eric Leiderman, lists his pronouns as he/they. He’s a conservative rabbi.
Then there are the anti-Israel folks like Michael Langer, a fellow of the anti-Israel T’ruah hate group.
How many of this bunch are Orthodox rabbis in any meaningful sense of the word? Maybe a third. That’s barely a minyan. How many are affiliated with an Orthodox congregation? Even fewer.
It shouldn’t be this hard to find a few dozen rabbis, or a few thousand, to sign anything. But Harris can’t even round up enough supporters in the Orthodox Jewish community to fill a minivan.