Which member of Congress is using his bar mitzvah photo for fundraising?
In what may be that rare political fundraising email that evokes an actual “Awwww,” a California Democrat sent out his bar mitzvah picture along with a pitch for funds.
“I’ll admit, it’s easy to chuckle at this photo — the classic 1970s bow tie, the braces, the yarmulke, the looks — but it reminded me about something much more important: my faith,” wrote Rep. Adam Schiff in an email to supporters.
Schiff used the headshot from his June 1973 bar mitzvah at Temple Isaiah in Northern California to explain how the Jewish concept of tikkun olam, or repairing the world, animates his political career.
Courtesy of Adam Schiff
“And over the last few years,” wrote Schiff, “there has been a lot that was broken, and a lot to fix.”
Schiff explained that he came across the photo while visiting his 94 year-old father Ed Schiff, who lives in Boca Raton, Florida.
Recounting his family’s journey, Schiff said his father began his career selling pantsuits, then moved the family to the Bay Area, where he opened a building supply business.
(Schiff wrote that his father had been in the “shmaltz” business, almost certainly meaning to write shmatte, the Yiddish word for clothing.)
Schiff, a member of the House subcommittee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the capital, then asked for a minimum campaign contribution of $10.
“Hopefully, this photo helped brighten your day and gives you a bit more insight into why I have dedicated my life to this cause,” he wrote.
Get the Forward’s “Letter from California” delivered to your inbox. Sign up here to receive our lively and provocative insights, news, opinion and inspiration from the state at the leading edge of the Jewish future.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we need 500 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Our Goal: 500 gifts during our Passover Pledge Drive!
