Lori Price Abrams, director of the UJC MetroWest NJ Community Relations Committee, said Obama’s “emphasis on breaking down barriers and working cooperatively is consistent with the approach we have embodied.”
November 13, 2008
Pondering Jewish electoral support for Barack Obama, community activists wondered whether the election of the nation’s first African-American president would inspire closer relations between New Jersey’s black and Jewish communities.
That seemed an unlikely prospect in the weeks before the election: Pollsters predicted an erosion of Jewish support for Obama among a traditionally Democratic Jewish majority. At the same time, the media frequently reported on mostly elderly Jews who were reluctant to vote for a black presidential candidate or one who would not offer sufficient support to Israel.
No matter the basis for the Jews’ doubts about Obama, they were bound to be swept up in a discussion of race.
But with post-election polls showing Obama winning among Jews by a margin of more than three to one, community relations experts and clergy could put aside fears of a widening rift.
The Community Relations Committee of United Jewish Communities of MetroWest NJ “will continue to work cooperatively with diverse segments of the community in addressing the issues and challenges we all face in society,” said CRC director Lori Price Abrams. “More than the president-elect’s race, per se, his emphasis on breaking down barriers and working cooperatively is consistent with the approach we have embodied.”
Rabbi Clifford Kulwin of Temple B’nai Abraham in Livingston said, “If the Jewish community and African-American communities are not as close now as they have been in the past, this can only reinforce the common bonds that unite them.”
Eric Freedman, president of Ahavas Sholom, the Conservative congregation in Newark, has many ongoing collaborative programs with his synagogue’s black and Latino neighbors. Obama’s victory can only help those efforts, he said.
“Rather than being seen as a moment in time, the election will be an opportunity for people to take the next step,” said Freedman. “I think we can do more, and I think his election signals to all sides that there is fertile ground to explore — and let’s do it.”
Rabbi Matthew Gewirtz of the Reform Temple B’nai Jeshurun in Short Hills said he was “not sure yet” whether the Obama victory portends closer cooperation between the black and Jewish communities, “but I hope so.”
Rabbi Amy Small of Congregation Beth Hatikvah, the Reconstructionist synagogue in Summit, referred to the communal priorities that have contributed to the frayed bonds between blacks and Jews.
“In the past few years we have become so individualistic that it has eroded the connections people have felt within the Jewish community to something larger than ourselves,” said Small. “There is a glimmer of hope that we can recapture that sense that we are all in it together.”
Allyson Gall, executive director of the American Jewish Committee’s Metro New Jersey Area, said Obama’s election should be an opportunity to recalibrate Jewish attitudes on race.
“Jews must stop thinking that blacks should be grateful for support during the struggle for civil rights or for voting for Obama,” she wrote NJJN in an e-mail. “If we are really going to get beyond racial and ethnic differences, it is time to be honest with each other and work together. Sound pie-in-the-sky? Sure. But being honest is not so easy all the time.”
Even Obama’s opponents appreciated the historical significance of his victory.
Etzion Neuer, director of the Anti-Defamation League’s New Jersey region, said, “We can’t kid ourselves that bigotry is going to end because of the election.”
Ben Chouake, a McCain supporter and president of the nonpartisan, pro-Israel NORPAC, said on the morning after election day he was “very proud that America could elect a minority person to the White House. It says a lot about our country. I am old enough to remember when segregation was a reality. We have come a long way. It is huge.”
Etzion Neuer, director of the Anti-Defamation League’s New Jersey region, said one needn’t be African-American to appreciate the significance of Obama’s win.
“Because an African-American’s victory is a triumph against racism, it is a triumph for all Americans,” said Neuer. “It is a success story for all Americans, and Jews share in that story.”
But, he noted, within 48 hours after the election, a cross was burned on the lawn of a Warren County family who had displayed a pro-Obama sign.
“We can’t kid ourselves that bigotry is going to end because of the election,” Neuer said. “In fact, we are seeing signs that it has inflamed many hard-core extremists. But what we are seeing is the further marginalization of these extremists. Obama’s winning the majority of the popular vote has highlighted just how out of touch these bigots are.”
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