250 Female Rabbis Condemn Donald Trump for ‘Hate Speech’

By Josefin Dolsten October 21, 2016

— More than 250 female rabbis from around the world signed a letter condemning what they called “hate speech” on the part of Donald Trump.

“He has denigrated people by race, by nationality, by their gender and by their most intimate, personal challenges,” the message reads. “His callous descriptions of uninvited physical contact and even sexual assault offend our understanding of appropriate relationships between human beings.”

The letter was timed to coincide with the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah, which will start on the evening of Oct. 24, Rabbi Julie Schonfeld, executive vice president of the Conservative Rabbinical Assembly, wrote in an email in her personal capacity. Schonfeld wrote the letter and worked with Rabbi Andrea Merow to organize it.

The letter, which had 255 signatories as of late afternoon Thursday, emphasized that the rabbis were “signing in their personal, individual capacity and not on behalf of any organization with which they may be affiliated.”

Schonfeld, who delivered an invocation at the Democratic National Convention in a private capacity, said the rabbis were inspired by a similar letter signed by female Christian clergy that had garnered over 1,000 signatures.

Following the release of a 2005 recording earlier this month in which Trump is heard bragging about groping and kissing women without their consent, a string of women has accused him of inappropriate sexual contact. The Republican presidential nominee has denied the allegations.

Josefin Dolsten is a New York-based writer who has reported for the Forward, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, The Times of Israel and other Jewish publications. She currently works as an account director at Fenton Communications, supporting organizations that work to advance racial justice, LGBTQ+ equality, reproductive rights and more. Dolsten earned her B.A. in government from Cornell University and her M.A. in comparative religion and Jewish studies from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO