Clinton To Headline Gala Honoring Prominent Anti-Trump Rabbi
Image by Getty Images
By Josh Nathan-Kazis November 8, 2017
Hillary Rodham Clinton is scheduled to headline a gala dinner honoring Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum, a prominent critic of the Trump administration and the spiritual leader of the Manhattan LGBT synagogue Congregation Beit Simchat Torah.
The gala marks Kleinbaum’s 25th anniversary leading Beit Simchat Torah, perhaps the most prominent LGBT synagogue in the world.
Kleinbaum’s partner, American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten, is a longtime friend of Clinton’s.
Kleinbaum has been a vocal critic of the Trump administration, and was arrested for protesting the Trump administration’s travel ban in February.
“Let’s keep what we did in perspective, those of us arrested were white with excellent pro bono lawyers standing ready,” Kleinbaum wrote on Facebook at the time. “Honestly, I can’t take credit for profound courage. I’m not facing daily bombings or fleeing in terror. I don’t face police brutality because I am black or brown. That’s real courage. But I will use whatever voice I DO have to speak in the name of my God and my tradition against the injustices being done.”
Clinton has spoken widely since her defeat in the 2016 presidential election. She appeared last week at Temple Emanu-El in Manhattan to discuss her book “What Happened.”
Contact Josh Nathan-Kazis at [email protected] or on Twitter, @joshnathankazis.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
