Kerry -
He probably knows many are against him and it rubs off on her.
I can't speak for her Reb but I'll try to speak for another who said "Call no man on earth your father since only one is your Father in heaven". I understand that there are are sorts of claims put forth by Christian orthodoxy about "fathers of the Church", Paul and Steven using this term and Paul calling followers "children" etc. put forward by what Jesus actually meant by it but I see it both in Judaism and Christianity on a continuum - - that is, one can see that the flesh has "parents" which is emblematic of our divine Parent and treat it as a learning device at one end of the spectrum and at the other the realization that our only-ever Parent is God. Which fits my paradigm. What we've dreamed is that we have "other" parents in matter when all the while as spiritual beings we've misinterpreted our spiritual brothers and sisters in part as flesh-parents. We move along, hopefully.
The story about Zaccheus is one of my favorites. I think it illustrates that point. I think Jesus saw the inner saint -- the real person -- a son of God -- when he looked at Zaccheus. When he treated him with dignity, he was calling that forth by means of the Living Word. And sure enough, the Word did not return void. Zaccheus dropped the pretense of being something else.
Ivanka and her Reb (as we all) are somewhere along this continuum I believe.
Yes, aren't we all? I found out more about her rabbi.
Do you remember when the Israeli Rabbinical Court decided that some rabbis weren't really Jewish and consequently their converts couldn't be? It turns out that Ivanka's rabbi was one of those so labeled.
June 23, 2016
https://forward.com/news/343462/israeli-rabbinical-court-rejects-rabbi-who-converted-ivanka-trump/A n Israeli rabbinical court did not accept a conversion by an Orthodox rabbi who also helped Ivanka Trump become Jewish.
In the latest case exemplifying the tension between Israel’s rabbinate and Orthodox groups in the Diaspora, a religious court prevented the marriage of an Israeli man and an American woman, who converted under a well-respected New York rabbi, Haskel Lookstein.
And in an unusual twist, which has brought the case into the limelight, Lookstein is also the rabbi who converted Ivanka Trump and officiated at her wedding to Jewish real-estate scion Jared Kushner, an advisor for presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump.
The woman in the case had converted under Lookstein in the United States but was prevented from marrying her Israeli fiance as she was deemed not Jewish.
The Orthodox Israeli rabbinate controls religious matters in the country, including marriages and funerals, and has traditionally not accepted conversions done in liberal streams of Judaism. In recent years the religious authority has also targeted conversions by Orthodox rabbis not on its list of approved authorities, which has not completely been made public.
“The irony is that this woman is very meticulous about her religious observance. She is as Jewish as I am, and as Jewish as the rabbis signed on the certificate, except in the eyes of the Petah Tikva rabbinate,” Lookstein told the New York Times, referring to the Israeli city where the rabbinical court had ruled her conversion invalid.
Israel’s education minister, Naftali Bennett, who is a member of the right-wing religious Jewish Home party, slammed the court’s ruling.
“The rabbinical court’s decision is arbitrary and odd, and must be reversed. Rabbi Lookstein is one of the leading, and most appreciated, Orthodox rabbis in the US,” he said in statement obtained by the Forward. “This mistake must be repaired immediately.”So is she Jewish or not? In my eyes, she is -- I tend to take people's word for things. If someone says he's a Buddhist, I take his word for it. Conversion to Judaism can't depend on having the right rabbi. Ruth couldn't have been considered a "real Jew" since she had no rabbi. Indeed there was no such thing as rabbis then.
It is interesting then that when her father is President and she visited Jerusalem, no one in Israel was saying she wasn't a real Jew. It makes me wonder how seriously people take the findings of this rabbinical court.
Her rabbi also gotten into hot water himself more than once over politics.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haskel_LooksteinPresident Obama's National Prayer Service
On January 21, 2009, Rabbi Lookstein was one of three rabbinical participants in the National Prayer Service at the National Cathedral, representing, loosely speaking, the Orthodox Jewish contingent. The Rabbinical Council of America (RCA), the primary American modern-Orthodox rabbinic association, initially took exception to his presence, stating that, "participation in a prayer service held in the sanctuary of a church is prohibited", and adding: "Any member of the RCA who attends such a service does so in contravention of this policy and should not be perceived as representing the organization in any capacity."[13] After its initial statement was publicized, however, the RCA subsequently softened its stance. Rabbi Basil Herring, its executive director, issued a new statement, saying simply: "Rabbi Lookstein did not represent the Rabbinical Council of America in attending that service, and therefore, we have no comment on the matter."[14]
Jewish conversions
A woman who was converted to Judaism by Lookstein was refused recognition as a Jew by an Israeli Rabbinical Court in Petah Tikva, Israel, part of an international controversy over just who outside of the official Israeli Rabbinate will have their conversions recognized in Israel.[15][16] The controversy gained a significantly higher profile because Lookstein also converted Ivanka Trump, daughter of Donald Trump, prior to her 2009 marriage to Jared Kushner.[17] It seemed that officials of the Israeli government, which "has traditionally not accepted conversions done in liberal streams of Judaism",[15][16] were indirectly casting aspersion on Ivanka Trump's conversion. The rejection of conversions performed by Lookstein was condemned by the Jewish Agency for Israel, the large international NGO "responsible for the immigration ... and absorption of Jews and their families from the Diaspora into Israel".[15]
RNC invocation
In July 2016, Lookstein accepted the invitation of Ivanka Trump, a member of his congregation, to offer the opening invocation at the 2016 Republican National Convention. After the invitation was made public, many Kehilath Jeshurun congregants as well as Ramaz alumni signed a petition requesting Lookstein to refrain from appearing at the RNC, condemning Trump's "racist, misogynistic rhetoric".[18] Lookstein, responding to the uproar, backtracked, and in an e-mail sent out to the congregants, he explained that he was withdrawing from the RNC "in the interest of bringing our community together". His prepared remarks, which Lookstein also sent out, included the following benediction: [19] [20]
Almighty God: We know that we are living in very dangerous times, when all of these blessings are threatened from without, by forces of terror and unimaginable brutality, and from within, by those who sow the seeds of bigotry, hatred, and violence, putting our lives and our way of life at risk.
In the aftermath, some argued that the pressure put on Lookstein to withdraw was counterproductive, inferring, from the content of his prepared remarks, a subtle rebuke to then-nominee Trump.[21] [22][23]He also got involved in the Charlottesville controversy.
August 16, 2017
To the KJ/Ramaz Community,
On the day of the funeral of Heather Heyer, the 32 year old woman who was murdered by a vicious, white supremacist, neo-Nazi, we are all shaken by this human tragedy and all the horrible scenes from last Saturday's riot in Charlottesville and the frightening message and fallout that have consumed us since then.
We condemn the monstrous act of murder that took the life of Heather Heyer.
We are appalled by this resurgence of bigotry and antisemitism, and the renewed vigor of the neo-Nazis, KKK and alt-right.
While we always avoid politics, we are deeply troubled by the moral equivalency and equivocation President Trump has offered in his response to this act of violence.
We pray that our country heeds the voices of tolerance, and stays true to its vision of human rights and civil rights.I think I prefer Rabbi Lookstein over the rabbinical court and other official institutions in Israel. I found it extremely troubling that a law got passed in Israel saying only Jews had the right of self-determination. Are Arabs, Muslims and Christians non-humans with no rights? So far, I haven't heard Ivanka or Kushner or their rabbi weigh on on this bigotry that flat out contradicts the tenets of Judaism. The form of Judaism taking shape now in Israel is pure heresy to me. Issuing Temple shekels with Trump's face was one indication -- and now this. They are defying the Torah:
Leviticus 19:34 But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.
Numbers 9:14 And if a stranger shall sojourn among you, and will keep the passover unto the Lord; according to the ordinance of the passover, and according to the manner thereof, so shall he do: ye shall have one ordinance, both for the stranger, and for him that was born in the land.
Numbers 15:29 Ye shall have one law for him that sinneth through ignorance, both for him that is born among the children of Israel, and for the stranger that sojourneth among them.It's incomprehensible to me. Don't they remember how things went when Hitler saw the Jews as non-humans, how things went when laws got written that gave Jews fewer or no rights? Why would they follow a similar course? Because they're in the majority or the group in power?
They are also defying what God said in Genesis if they are trying to drive out the descendants of Ishmael by building 100% Jewish settlements on previously Palestinian land. The decree of God is that Ishmael and Isaac live together.
Genesis 16:11 And the angel of the Lord said unto her, Behold, thou art with child and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the Lord hath heard thy affliction.
12 And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.I think what Israel is doing now if wrong from a Biblical viewpoint; and we don't need religion to inform us, our consciences should inform us it is also bigoted and nasty on purely humanitarian grounds. I find it troubling that no one in the US seems to speaking up, and that Trump's policy seems to be propping up Netanyahu at whatever cost. I find it very troubling that neither Ivanka nor Kushner speak up against the racist policies of Israel but rather seem to be supporting them.
I ran into this article at al-Jazreera.
July 20, 2018
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/07/hamas-kushner-greenblatt-spokespeople-israeli-occupation-180720193946073.htmlPalestinian officials in Ramallah also blamed the American officials for "acting as if they were Israeli spokespeople", which they said has hurt the US standing and credibility in the region, especially among the Palestinians.
"This American administration's blind support for Israeli policies will end up [with] no one in the region taking it seriously," said Wasel Abu Yousef, a Ramallah-based official with the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).
Kushner and Greenblatt have been tasked with reviving the stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace process. They are expected to present a plan about what Trump has referred to as the "deal of the century".
Yet, Abu Yousef said the current US thinking regarding the Palestinian-Israeli conflict has no chance of succeeding.
He added that Hamas is part of the Palestinian people, and the US must first try to end the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Jerusalem, as well as the blockade of Gaza which would help bring peace and prosperity to the region.
"No one in the Arab world will accept the American plans which stipulate that the Palestinians must give up Jerusalem and agree to whatever Israel dictates," he said.If someone wants to say some Palestinians have acted "like animals" in the past, I could agree with that; but that does not mean they are animals. They are human beings with the same rights as anyone else; and no one has the right to treat them like animals to be corralled and dictated to. I say if Israel treated them with more dignity, they'd behave with more dignity. Obey the advice and commandment of Moses. . . .
It looks to me as if the Jews living in Israel today are resembling those of Jesus' time. They saw themselves as special, favored by God as if God plays favorites. God does not play favorites. There is no favoritism expressed here:
Exodus 19:5 Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine:
6 And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.Priests for whom? It seems clear to me that Jews are on the right track when they see Gentiles as their brothers. If Gentiles are mired in idolatry or other trappings of false religion, they are still children of God. They need the love and intercession of people who know better. The Jew should see the difference between Jew and Gentile as the Jew knowing something the Gentile doesn't know yet -- and the mission of the Jew is to instruct his brother, not seeing himself as special or superior because God decreed it.
It comes back to "love thy neighbor" for me. If the people who call themselves Jews fail to show love for others, they are not failing to obey the instructions given to them. They've lost the vision of all men as children of God.
What can I say then? I see the destruction of the Second Temple being the result of the Jews in Jesus' day failing to act as loving priests to others. They saw themselves as special and believed God played favorites. They brought destruction down on themselves with this false vision. I fear the leaders in Israel today may be on a similar course.
I think to myself how silent Ivanka is in some situations. Her husband has supported the building of more Jewish settlements. How is that not stealing land from the Palestinians? It looks to me as if the attitude is, "We're Jews, and we're special. We have the right to take this land. God gave it to us, so let us drive out those who are not like us."
I think it is also clear that the Israeli government has been emboldened by President Trump's seemingly unconditional support of whatever they do. It's making things worse. One reason the US withdrew from the UN's Human Rights Council was because Palestine was being talked about at every session.
https://www.breitbart.com/jerusalem/2018/07/20/nikki-haley-slams-un-human-rights-council-for-being-against-israels-existence/U.S. Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley slammed the United Nations Human Rights Council as being a “bully pulpit for human rights violators” and said that its controversial Agenda Item 7 is designed to undermine Israel’s existence in an interview with the Heritage Foundation in Washington on Wednesday.
She defended her country’s withdrawal from the council, saying it was the UN’s “greatest failure.”
“More often, the Human Rights Council has provided cover, not condemnation, for the world’s most inhumane regimes. It has been a bully pulpit for human rights violators,” she told the think tank.
During its attempts to reform the council the U.S. tried unsuccessfully get rid of Agenda Item 7, which mandates that alleged Israeli human rights abuses are discussed at each session.How is the law Israel passed not an egregiously racist law? The world may condemn it; but now that the US withdrew, they won't have to try to defend it.
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/07/19/israel-passes-law-granting-only-jews-self-determination.htmlIsraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem on January 22, 2017.
Israel has passed a law declaring that only Jewish people have the right of self-determination in the country.
“This is a defining moment in the annals of Zionism and the history of the state of Israel,” said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu following the vote in parliament on Thursday, which was enacted two months after the 70th anniversary of Israel’s founding.
Members of the Arab minority have criticized the law as “racist and verging on apartheid,” according to Reuters.
“Israel's Arabs number some 1.8 million, about 20 percent of the 9 million population,” Reuters reported. These consist mainly of descendants of Palestinians, the news agency detailed. Most are Muslim and live in the north of the country.
The new legislation was toned down from previous drafts, which were more radical. The current bill “also strips Arabic of its designation as an official language alongside Hebrew,” Reuters said.I think Donald Trump, Jared Kushner and even Ivanka Trump are partly responsible for this law. They have failed to hold Israel to a higher standard -- a humanitarian standard -- and the Biblical standard too.