Trump’s Jewish supporters bring “shanda” (shame) to the Jews
In a recent social media rant on one of the few social media platforms that still allow his hate, Trump chastised American Jews for failing to show sufficient gratitude for his supposed contributions to Israel. Even worse than the chutzpah of an ethically challenged demagogue lecturing us on how to be better Jews, was his implied threat that “Jews have to get their act together and appreciate what they have in Israel -- before it is too late!” This latest diatribe repeats Trump’s anti-Semitic charge against progressive Jews of “disloyalty” to Israel because we reject his mockery of Jewish values and ideals. He also takes umbrage that we reject his tweet referring to himself as the “King of Israel” and “the second coming of God.”
Sadly, at a time of growing attacks against synagogues and the Jewish people, many right-wing Jews blindly support Trump’s tropes against Jews, and thus, give oxygen to his co-conspirators, such as Kanye West and white Christian nationalists who seek to kill Jews, overthrow our Democracy, and install Trump as dictator for life
Normally, we could laugh this off as the harmless ranting of a deranged bigot. However, history has shown that we must take threats against Jews seriously, especially when they come from a “hateler” who has attempted to overthrow our government with violence and can summon the support of 70 million followers. He leads them under the ominous slogan “America First”, which was first used by fascist pro-Nazi hate groups in America allied with Hitler in the 1930s and 40s and is the English equivalent to “Deutschland Uber Alles” (Germany First).
Trump says that progressive Jews don’t support Israel in the same way as evangelical Christians. This is true since we seek the protection and security of this great Jewish democracy and American ally in the Middle East, while Evangelicals look forward to the destruction of Israel in the apocalyptic violence of “Armageddon” when right-wing Christians are raptured to eternal bliss and Jews and other non-believers boil in hell forever unless they convert to Christianity. A Jew who supports Trump is like a chicken who votes for Colonel Sanders
Trump’s slur against Jews as disloyal because we stand up to evil, is eerily similar to his accusation that Kevin McCarthy was disloyal when he begged Trump to call off his insurrectionist mob, telling him, "Well, Kevin, I guess these people are more upset about the election than you are".
Today’s Republican Party has forsaken American ideals and worships at the feet of the golden calf. Like King Midas, who turned everything he touched into gold, including his own daughter, Trump has corrupted everything and everyone who gets too close to him, including his own children. His megalomaniacal obsession with money and power led him to write love letters to a Korean murderer and ally our country with Saudi Arabia because they made him millions of dollars. His Midas touch has turned Mar-a-lago from a luxury resort into a crime scene with golden fixtures made of foolsgold, which turns Trump’s acolytes into fools who end up disgraced, in prison or both.
In December 2019, Trump told a Jewish group “You’re not going to vote for the wealth tax.”, implying the stereotype that Jews share his obsession with money. In actuality, the Jews invented the wealth tax, it is described in the Bible as tithing and is the precursor of our modern income tax. This is the tax that Trump brags he doesn’t pay because he’s smart, leaving it to dummies like you and me to support our military, our democracy and the government which he seeks to control.
The Torah offers a voter’s guide for selecting leaders and tells us to reject someone who has many wives, many houses and craves money, rather than wisdom and justice. (Deuteronomy 17:16). Ignoring this Biblical advice, right-wing Jews allow their cultish servility to a sociopath to “trump” their loyalty to Jewish ideals. These Republican Jews shamefully sit idly by Trump’s openly anti-Semitic hate speech and his brazen collaboration with anti-Semitic vigilantes who share his goal to overthrow democracy, spread racism on the internet, and threaten Jews and others with violence.
Trump’s Jewish supporters may have been born to Jewish parents, but they do not practice Judaism in any meaningful sense of the word. Such Jews are a “shanda to the nations” who besmirch the reputation of the Jewish people and Israel for their close ties with Trump. While Orthodox Jews may think that the words from Trump’s lips are beautiful because he has received the blessing of their rabbi, you can put lipstick on a pig, but that doesn’t make him kosher.
As he predicted, Trump’s cultish followers will support him even if he shoots someone on 5th Avenue, but no self-respecting Jew should support Trump when he shoots off his mouth. The people of Moses have denounced the Pharaohs of every age, and now more than ever all Jews must unite to condemn this cancer upon the body politic. History has repeatedly confirmed the Biblical prophecy that those who curse the Jews are cursed and those who bless the Jews are blessed. If Trump and his legions of lunatics regain control of America, the Jews will be the first to suffer, with the rest of society soon to follow. “Never again” should we allow this to happen.
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