The head of Reform Judaism’s congregational body reminded Presidential candidates that American Jews do not vote on the basis of appeals to one issue alone, and that therefore no aspirant should consider to have the Jewish vote “in his pocket” because of strong stands on Israel, Soviet or Syrian Jews.
Asked this question by reporters at a press conference opening the 53rd Biennial Assembly of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations here Friday, Rabbi Alexander Schindler asserted, “While these issues remain paramount and urgent to the Jewish community, Jews, like other Americans, are also deeply concerned about such problems as the collapse of the cities, the economic crisis, crime, civil rights and governmental invasion of privacy and civil liberties.”
He noted that on some of these domestic questions “Jews divide, although Jewish voters generally tend toward a liberal voting stance, stemming from Jewish religious values and their stress on social justice.” Rabbi Schindler stressed that in offering this advice to the candidates he was “not singling out anyone specifically.”
ISRAEL NOT THE ONLY CONCERN
As to assessing the Jewish attitude toward President Ford, Rabbi Schindler said, “on the whole in terms of foreign policy, especially on the Middle East, the Jewish community would be very much in favor of him, but as I indicated, Israel is not our only concern. Jews are citizens of this land, and they feel strongly about domestic issues, and as a result, their attitude toward the Chief Executive is ambivalent. Therefore, we would say ‘yes’ on foreign policy, but have serious reservations about his very strong conservative streak which ignores the plight of the needy, which allows 8.6 million Americans to be unemployed without any move to resolve their terrible problem.”
Rabbi Schindler emphasized that “we Jews have learned a long time ago that we can be safe only in a country which is truly free, so that liberties, the well-being of the American people, are very much in the forefront of our concerns.” As an example, he cited Ford’s attitude towards New York City, Rabbi Schindler said that “financial support for the city represents a moral necessity.”
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