Chicago Congregants Walk Out of Services at Bachmann’s Mention
Congregants at a Chicago synagogue walked out of Yom Kippur services when the rabbi acknowledged the presence of U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann.
“I am aware of the fact that our congregation’s policy in regards to public officials clearly caused pain to some members of our community on the most precious day of reconciliation on the Jewish calendar,” Anshe Emet Rabbi Michael Siegel told the Chicago Tribune. “That we regret deeply.”
Siegel had greeted Bachmann (R-Minn.) during the service last week, citing what he said was a custom of the Lakeview synagogue to recognize public officials. The synagogue is affiliated with Judaism’s Conservative movement.
A number of congregants walked out and one, Gary Sircus, contributed to the campaign of Bachmann’s opponent, Jim Graves.
“Even though I do not vote in Minnesota, please do everything in your power to take away this evil woman’s soapbox,” Sircus wrote to Graves.
Bachmann, who was a candidate in the race for the 2012 GOP presidential nomination, is stridently pro-Israel but deeply conservative on social and economic issues, making a focus her opposition to gay marriage.
Graves, a hotel magnate, has proven unexpectedly competitive in the congressional race.
It’s not clear why Bachmann was at Anshe Emet.
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 still need 300 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.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30