Why this rabbi isn’t celebrating (or dismissing) the latest Trump indictments
Jewish tradition venerates the rule of law as holy — let’s treat it with some respect.
Donald Trump at a political rally in Erie, Pennsylvania. Photo by Getty Images
Contributing Columnist Jay Michaelson August 1, 2023
Judaism, uniquely among world religions, proceeds immediately from revelation to law. This fact has been observed for millennia, sometimes approvingly and sometimes with contempt. But the oddity of this turn, the strangeness of it, is still striking: Just after Mount Sinai, after the peak experience of direct revelation from the Divine, some of the first orders of business are … criminal and tort law.
And not merely law in general — but in its particular, legalistic details. It is as if, by detailing everything from rules of evidence to the damages for a stolen lamb, the book of Exodus makes a strong claim: that the lofty moral imperatives of Sinai only have meaning if they are translated into just laws.
Now, of course, American Jews, and all Americans, face one of the gravest tests of the rule of law in our nation’s history. A former president stands accused not merely of sexual assault, false business dealings, and absconding with classified information, but of conspiracy to defraud the United States and obstruct the lawful transfer of power — the very bedrock of American democracy.
Are we up to this challenge?
I’m not sure. Our social fabric is already threadbare, and at least a quarter of the country believes the “Big Lie” that Donald Trump is accused in this latest indictment of telling: the false, utterly disproven conspiracy theory that the 2020 election was fraudulent on a massive scale. And so far at least, the way many on both the left and the right have regarded Trump’s legal troubles suggests that we are not yet living up to the challenge of this moment.
Because I sit on the progressive side of the political aisle, I’ll start there. Too many of my fellow liberals have rubbed their hands in glee at Trump’s legal travails. I have seen, among public figures and people in my own community, too many instances of hyperbole, vulgarity and unseriousness — precisely the behavior that liberals accuse conservatives of engaging in. I have seen calls to prosecute and otherwise stop Trump that are so reckless that they cross the line dividing justice from vengeance.
“Lock Him Up” is no more appropriate in 2023 than “Lock Her Up” was in 2016, even if Trump committed far worse crimes than Hillary Clinton was ever accused of.
To be sure, I can understand the relief that Trump may finally be brought to justice; I covered his and his minions’ depradations during his entire term as president. I understand, too, that for many people, Trumpism represents an existential threat to our very existence — after all, although I am safer than most, the movement’s campaigns against LGBTQ+ civil rights affect me and my family quite directly.
But these indictments are not an occasion for celebration. These are serious charges, and represent a serious crisis. And, while progressives may be doing a happy dance right now, we should remember that nearly half of the country says they still want to vote for this man. We are by no means assured of victory. That should give us pause.
As I understand it, the Jewish sacralization of law requires a more sober attitude than rejoicing over the misfortunes of one’s enemies — even of one’s oppressors. Bringing the powerful to justice is always a sacred duty, and it must be discharged with appropriate seriousness. But even more so when the rule of law itself is on trial — and may well lose.
Having said all of that, there’s no both-sidesing the disrespect for law at this moment in American history.
The fact that the most-watched “news” network in the country elevates the petty misdeeds of President Biden’s wayward son over the attempt by a former president to stage a kind of coup, possibly culminating in the execution of the vice president, is appalling. The anti-factual, anti-science, and anti-rational conspiracy theorizing on the right is far more egregious than that on the left, extending well beyond the 2020 election and frequently including or tolerating antisemitic themes.
This is vandalism against the rule of law. If Judaism makes a Temple out of the law, the MAGA right desecrates it with graffiti — and occasionally swastikas. It insists that the clear, evidence-based indictments handed down this week are a mere political hit job, ignoring all of the facts, arguments, and evidence contained within them. It dismisses these profound legal issues as a “witch-hunt” (an ironic metaphor to be sure, since actual witch hunts were conducted by Christian conservatives — the ancestors of those who now compose Trump’s base). In the name of its own identity politics, the MAGA movement is profoundly anti-law, even, I would argue, anti-civilization.
To be as clear as possible, these beliefs are not held by all, or even most, conservatives or Republicans. While Trump is by far the leader in the GOP presidential primary, more Republicans oppose him than support him. This is also not about ideology. While I might disagree with a conservative’s interpretation of the Second Amendment, or position on social issues, or policies toward Israel, those are all principled disagreements that are, in the Jewish parlance, l’shem shamayim, for the sake of heaven — in secular terms, about the truth.
But MAGA is a visceral, demagogic attack on the truth itself, at least as knowable by evidence, data, science and human reason.
If anything, my conservative friends are more troubled by these indictments than my liberal ones are. After all, it is their movement, not mine, that has been hijacked by these forces of prejudice and unreason. Again, I disagree with most tenets of American conservatism, but ultimately it is a patriotic movement with deep respect for values, security, and, yes, the rule of law. Every conservative I know (and on CNN, I work regularly with many) is engaged in a profound soul-searching.
We need to learn from them. Our country is entering a period of profound crisis. Donald Trump not only stands accused of extremely serious crimes, he has promised to do even more damage to our democratic order if he is elected in 2024. His rage-filled followers exist in a factual universe perpendicular to our own. And wherever we sit on the ideological spectrum, we need to recognize that this is not a moment for celebration on the one hand or dismissiveness on the other.
Perhaps the most famous Jewish injunction to do justice is Tzedek, Tzedek, Tirdof: “Justice, Justice, shall you pursue.” But it’s worth noting the second part of that verse (Deuteronomy 16:20), which continues, “so that you may live, and inherit the land which God has given you.” Justice is a necessary condition for living together in peace, for fulfilling our destiny as human beings — even for life itself.
That is what is at stake today.
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