Obama Rolls Out His Rabbis

Nathan Guttman August 21, 2012

Obama’s reelection campaign launched its list of Rabbis for Obama, which includes some 600 rabbis of all denominations pledging their support for the president.

The campaign takes pride in the number of rabbis on the list. In 2008 only 300 rabbis signed on, now the number has doubled. “Their ringing endorsement of President Obama speaks volumes about the President’s deep commitment to the security of the state of Israel and his dedication to a policy agenda that represents the values of the overwhelming majority of the American Jewish community,” said Ira Forman, the Obama campaign Jewish Outreach Director in a press release issued Tuesday.

In an effort to avoid any potential legal pitfalls, the campaign stressed that all rabbis represent only themselves and not their synagogue or organization. The campaign website lists only their place of residence, not the synagogue’s name. Any official with a nonprofit organization could endanger that institutes tax exempt status by endorsing a political candidate.

What will the rabbis for Obama be doing from now and until November?

Not much. A campaign insider explained that by signing on to the list, rabbis did not commit to speaking out on behalf of Obama’s campaign or attending events. Many rabbis, however, already expressed their willingness to play an active role.

The list of 600 rabbis includes several Orthodox clergymen, an achievement for the Obama campaign given poll numbers that indicate Orthodox Jews lean heavily toward the Republican side. It also has representatives from 40 states (even Utah and Wyoming) and is heavy on the swing states of Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

How significant are these rabbis in their communities?

JTA’s Capital J blog compared the list to the most recent Newsweek list of America’s top 50 rabbis and came up with only 10 matches.

Nathan Guttman, staff writer, was the Forward’s Washington bureau chief. He joined the staff in 2006 after serving for five years as Washington correspondent for the Israeli dailies Haaretz and The Jerusalem Post. In Israel, he was the features editor for Ha’aretz and chief editor of Channel 1 TV evening news. He was born in Canada and grew up in Israel. He is a graduate of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect those of the Forward. Discover more perspectives in Opinion. To contact Opinion authors, email [email protected].

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