Shabbat Biden – Our New President Will Heal Our Wounds
Today was the Jewish Sabbath (Shabbat) and the fifty-eighth anniversary of my Bar Mitzvah, which took place on November 17, 1962 in New Kensington, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh. In Judaism, we read every week a portion of the Torah, with each portion being scheduled on the Jewish calendar approximately at the same time every year.
My Bar Mitzvah portion was Vayera, taken from the book of the Torah known as Breishit (Genesis). We refer to each particular Shabbat with the name of the Torah portion. Thus, the anniversary of my Bar Mitzvah is known as Shabbat Parshat Vayera – in Hebrew, meaning, “the Sabbath of the portion of Vayera.”
Every year, I would regard my Bar Mitzvah anniversary as an occasion for celebration. I would go to shul, where I would receive the honor of being called to the Torah for a blessing and then reciting a portion from the prophets. After services, I would go home and celebrate with a festive meal.
All this changed, however, with my Bar Mitzvah anniversary on October 27, 2018. It was the Shabbat of the Squirrel Hill, Pittsburgh massacre.
My family roots are in Squirrel Hill. Those roots affect me every day of my life. Jews all over the world mourned the Squirrel Hill massacre, but unless your roots are there, it is impossible to grasp the full impact of the tragedy. The Shabbat of the Squirrel Hill massacre was the worst Shabbat of my life. The following is the link to the InsiderNJ piece I wrote that night:
https://www.insidernj.com/roots-squirrel-hill-pittsburgh-cant-stop-crying/
I thought after that day, I would never be able to celebrate my Bar Mitzvah anniversary again – until today!
For the past five years, I have dedicated my journalistic career to the ouster from the presidency of Donald Trump. In the process, I developed the reputation of being the leading anti-Trump political columnist in New Jersey.
It wasn’t easy. In the process, I encountered severe social ostracism in certain political and ethnic circles. But my faith never faltered for an instant that my cause was just and compelling.
From this point onward, my Bar Mitzvah anniversary is a cause for celebration. On this day, Donald Trump lost his bid for reelection. And the votes that gave Joe Biden the Pennsylvania electoral votes came from my native city of Pittsburgh!
My heart is filled with joy! And I will always think of this day as Shabbat Biden!
On this past New Years’ Eve, I authored a column, predicting that Joe Biden would be elected president in 2020 and that the key would be the support he would receive from the African-American community, which had been especially victimized by Trump racism:
I do not claim to have Biblical powers of prophecy, but as you can see, in this case, my prediction came true!
Indeed, there is an aspect of this Torah portion of today that specially applies to Joe Biden.
In this Torah portion of Vayera, we read about Avraham Avinu – our forefather, Abraham. He was known for his compassion, empathy, and desire to heal.
And that is exactly what Joe Biden is. This is a man who has endured horrific suffering in life, with the death of his first wife and daughter in a car accident and the death of his son, Beau due to cancer. How he ever kept his faith is beyond human comprehension. The following video of our new president hugging the child of a murder victim of the Parkland, Florida shooting tells you everything:
After four years of Donald Trump having the most polarizing and bitterly divisive impact on America, President-elect Joe Biden is exactly what America needs.
There was also a sad event in World Jewry today. One of the greatest Jewish spiritual leaders over the past century, Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, former Chef Rabbi of Great Britain, has passed away.
Yet this event of profound sadness also has a relationship to President-elect Joe Biden. Rabbi Sacks denounced emphatically what he called the “corrosive power of hate.” Donald Trump was the ultimate fomenter of baseless hatred.
President – elect Joe Biden is a man of boundless compassion and forgiveness. He is the exact cure for the destructive hate that continues to rent the social fabric of America.
I am not a rabbi. Yet there is a Jewish prayer, the “Shehecheyanu”, which seems most appropriate for today. In the prayer, we thank HaShem, the Almighty, “who has kept us alive, sustained us, and brought us to this season.” I decided to say it!
Two years ago, on the day of the Squirrel Hill massacre, my eyes were filled with tears of uncontrollable sadness. Tonight, on the occasion of the election of President-elect Joe Biden and Vice-President-elect Kamala Harris, a person of African-American and Indian heritage who is the first woman elected to the Presidency or Vice-Presidency, my eyes are filled with tears of joy!
Alan Steinberg served as Regional Administrator of Region 2 EPA during the administration of former President George W. Bush and as Executive Director of the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission.
MAKING THE UNBEARABLE, BEARABLE
The Biden/ Harris victory filled me with unbounded joy.
I am in a perpetual state of gratitude.
By reading your InsiderNj columns, Alan Steinberg, I know, to a very limited
extent, how hard you worked to campaign against Trump.
The joy in your heart is well deserved.
I clearly remember your Squirrel Hill column and its emotional honesty.
However, I must say, perhaps even more than your heartfelt column,
I remember the comment that followed by Ruth Jaffa Lieberman.
To reach out to you in your pain in such a kind and thoughtful
way impressed me. It is small kindnesses that give us the strength
to keep going on, to strive to go forward.
……………..TO MAKE THE UNBEARABLE…..BEARABLE
Yes, our new President and Vice President will heal our wounds
So, too, will the kindnesses of our family, friends, neighbors,
even strangers, help to heal us.
For those that think it is the major media that crown the President-Elect, i advise them to look at the actual process required under the constitution requiring that the individual states validate the election results, and that only after any and all disputes are clarified and settled even if those require action by state, federal, and even Supreme Court challenges, and finally voting by the Electoral College. So as Yogi Berra so eloquently put it, ” It ain’t over til its over”. I would update that to say “The legislatures of ALL the states should investigate ALL cases of suspected vote fraud, particularly involving the horrendous mail-in ballots, but most importantly the “Computer Glitches” of vote count switches that may point to use of the admitted C.I.A. created computer ballot switching program called “Hammer” and the “Scorecard” application that was used against elections in foreign countries whose candidates the C.I.A. and State Department did not “Approve of”. Maybe “Tell them they have 6 hours to fire that guy Joe” had more that just door knocking enthusiasts helping on election day.
N.S.A. analyst Kirk Wiebe talks about the use of “Ballot Switching” C.I.A. computer program.
https://larouchepac.com/20201109/president-need-hear-highlights-our-election-2020-town-hall