As the recent pro-Trump convoy of hundreds of cars in New York City demonstrated, Orthodox Jews love President Trump, and they love him for a variety of reasons, ranging from economic and social conservatism, to support for Israel.
Even so, in trying to be worldly and unorthodox, a very small minority of Orthodox Jews in the US and Israel have recently criticized President Trump, including one rabbi from an esteemed rabbinic family who referred to the president as “mentally disturbed”. Could it be that this worldly, yet Orthodox rabbi is using the Freudian defense mechanism of projection, and is actually himself “disturbed” by the unorthodoxy of this president? Should he be?
President Donald J. Trump has, indeed, been one of the most “out of the box” presidents in American history, and because of that distinction, he has been accused of many things. However, also because of that distinction, he has accomplished many things that others could only dream of, but failed, not necessarily for lack of convictions, but mainly due to their lack of courage and creative thinking.
Trump is, after all, a businessman from New York, originally from the outer borough of Queens, where his father was a successful real estate developer of middle-class housing projects. By no means a pampered child, young Donald learned from his father the values of hard work, thriftiness, and loyalty – values that he eventually passed along to his own children.
Another thing that Trump acquired during his years in New York was an affinity for the Jewish people, which was strengthened by some very strong relationships with Jewish advisors, several of whom happened to be Orthodox. Those relationships have continued to this day.
Undoubtedly, Trump’s heartfelt bonds with the Jewish people have been strengthened by his daughter Ivanka’s conversion to Judaism and her family’s adoption of a Sabbath observant lifestyle. As the amusing, but sad joke goes, what’s the difference between Donald Trump and a reform rabbi? The answer: Trump has Jewish grandchildren!
For a believing Jew, or simply a Jew connected to his roots and to Israel, one simply needs to examine this president’s accomplishments in less than four years to understand his greatness:
-Recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital city and moving the American Embassy to Jerusalem.
-Closing the PLO’s official office in Washington, which served until that time as a shadow embassy and a fundraising channel for terrorism.
-Removing the USA from the horrible Iran deal, which had legitimized Iranian non-compliance with attempts to end their nuclear bomb program.
-Recognition of the strategic Golan Heights as Israel’s sovereign territory.
-Declaring that Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria are not illegal.
-Ending funding to the Palestinian Authority until it stops paying salaries to terrorists who have killed or wounded Israelis.
–Denying funding to American colleges that permit anti-Semitism to flourish on campus.
-Brokering normalization agreements between Israel and three Arab countries, thereby removing the Palestinian veto on such relationships.
-Recognizing that hatred of Israel and hatred of the Jewish state are usually one and the same.
-Pointing out the lie that the most dangerous form of anti-Semitism today is from white supremacists rather than from the radical Left and Muslim haters of Israel.
We can go on and on, but these ten accomplishments have far outdone any recent American administration in standing with Israel and the Jewish people. The blessings incurred from the USA-Israel relationship have been mutual, with the sharing of intelligence and technology ongoing and vital. Nonetheless, the commonality of values rooted in the Bible is the glue that has kept the relationship intact, even through the difficult Obama years.
Yes, Trump is a unique leader who has done great things for his country and for its relationship with Israel.
Is Trump good for the Jews? Absolutely.
Trump is good for America, good for Israel, and good for the Jews. Both Jewish Americans and American Israelis should vote for him on November 3.
David Rubin, former Mayor of Shiloh Israel, is the author of the book, “Trump and the Jews” and five other books. Rubin is the founder and president of Shiloh Israel Children’s Fund, established after he and his then three-year-old son were wounded in a terror attack. He can be found at www.DavidRubinIsrael.com or at http://www.ShilohIsraelChildren.org