Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
News

Yid Vid: Michelle Obama’s Rabbi Cousin Has Some Advice for the President

Rabbi Capers Funnye, Jr., a cousin of First Lady Michelle Obama, is calling on President Obama to make Middle East peace “a top priority” of his administration. Funnye appears with a handful of other rabbis in a five-minute video, created before the inauguration by the organization Brit Tzedek v’Shalom – Jewish Alliance for Justice & Peace — pleading with the new president to promote a peace agreement between Israelis and Palestinians. “There is no time left to walk softly and hope for the best,” Funnye, who attended his in-law’s inauguration Tuesday, says in the video.

On behalf of Brit Tzedek, Funnye, adds: “As Jewish clergy, we pledge to mobilize our people behind your leadership for a mutually acceptable two-state solution. We pledge to support you through difficult, trying times and to celebrate with you when the job is done.”

Funnye is the spiritual leader of Beth Shalom B’nai Zaken Ethopian Hebrew Congregation in Chicago.

Other rabbis in the video ask President Obama to move quickly to appoint a high-level Middle East Envoy.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.