Like many others, I was shocked today upon hearing that Donald Trump will be addressing the Torah U’Mesorah President’s Conference on Friday. I understand the importance of being on good terms with influential leaders, but the context in this case is damning.
As president, Trump was one of the best ever – if not the best ever – for Orthodox Jews and Israel. There’s little doubt about that in my mind. He has a long list of accomplishments under his belt that I am very thankful for.
But now he’s running for president again, and this time, he has been meeting with outspoken antisemites, and perhaps more importantly, refusing to condemn them. It wasn’t even a month ago that Trump invited Kanye West to his home at Mar-a-Lago and dined with him. Along with Kanye came Nick Fuentes, arguably the most notorious white supremacist, antisemite, and Holocaust denier in America.
Trump’s excuse for meeting with Kanye was that he was trying to help the rapper – who lost hundreds of millions of dollars in recent months – because Kanye said nice things about him. But let’s remember why Kanye lost all that money. It was because he made numerous antisemitic statements, invoked antisemitic tropes, and even threatened to go “death con 3” on Jews. This is the person Trump thinks it’s okay to meet with?
As far as Fuentes, let’s assume that Trump’s claim that he didn’t know him are true. Fine, but why didn’t the former president condemn him? Over and over he’s been asked about the meeting, and not once has Trump condemned either Kanye or Fuentes. Not once.
There are questions to be asked about Trump’s allegiances nowadays; how could we not, seeing that he refuses to condemn horrific antisemites? As Rabbi Chaim Dovid Zwiebel noted at the Agudah Convention about Trump, sometimes people who were once our best friends could become our worst enemies.
And now, despite Trump’s unwillingness to call out antisemites, his defense of the meeting, and his recent attacks on “Jewish leaders” for not supporting him enough, Torah U’Mesorah will sit there and listen to a speech from him?
Is it not obvious that Trump wants to address Torah U’Mesorah to sanitize his reputation? Isn’t it plainly clear that he knows his refusal to condemn antisemites is a bad look so he wants to play both sides? Why would Torah U’Mesorah allow themselves to be the avenue and serve as his off-ramp from actually coming out and condemning his horrible dinner mates?
What are they thinking?
L.G.N. – Williamsburg, Brooklyn
NOTE: The views expressed here are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of YWN.
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21 Responses
If I was running this event I would INVITE Trump, to show much lacking הכרת הטוב.
What else is one to deduce but that the writer doesn’t know how to appreciate friends. He’s an idiot.
Like many others, I was shocked by “L.G.N. – Williamsburg, Brooklyn” outrageous evil wicked letter.
As Rabbi Chaim Dovid Zwiebel noted at the Agudah Convention about Trump, sometimes people who were once our best friends could become our worst enemies. Sounds like you who shows such disdain to יום-העצמאות because you are an enemy of our wonderful מדינה and show total disdain to our wonderful מדינה
Everything the letter writer stated makes sense but he misses one fact. This was not solicited by Torah Umesorah and the shailah was posed to the rabbanim and roshei yeshiva. They were told that they should accommodate. End of story.
If the writer is really from Williamsburg as he claims, did he also write letters when the Rebbe endorsed hochul? Her leftist views are opposite of everything we stand for.
MDshweks, the humble truth
I agree with you guys 100%. Trump always addressed Jewish organizations and spoke in their favor besides actually doing so much good for Jews and the world. Writer show very bad midos.
Writer needs a course in reality. Bless Trump
I’m not here to defend trump meeting with Kenya west and his friend Fuentes, it definitely wasn’t the wisest move and he should have known better not to meet them. But to condemn him for not apologizing and not condemning is simply non sense. To buy into this narrative that he’s an anti semite for not condemning them is another liberal woke hoax.
Let’s try to remember for a second which party is constantly condemning violence and antisemitism and yet they are the biggest antisemites of all time, they condemn with words only but with zero action.
In contrast Donald trump has done so many goods for the Jewish people that no other president would’ve risked their presidency for the Jewish people. He defended Israel and the Jewish people to no end he and moved the Israeli embassy, recognized the Golan heights, Shredded the Iran deal, assassinated Iran General Qasem Soleimani, (Extremely dangerous and rare, possible war crime and risking war), Commuted the sentence of Rubashkin a few months into his presidency, (Very rare, presidents usually Larsen the end of their term.) whereas the very loving democrat president Obama refused.
So stop it here please! He’s no anti Semite. Stop reading the fake news including YWN, they are the Jewish NYT in a frum version, but unfortunately they are out of touch from the frum world.
Just to be clear, his attack on “Jewish leaders” is 100% justified. And the meeting with Fuentes was not his fault; he didn’t invite him and didn’t know who he was. But inviting West — that is his fault, and for doing that he shouldn’t have been invited.
Difficult to read through. I would hope this is not a more broadly accepted viewpoint of the former president.
Trump didn’t invite Kanye west to his house!!!
I love how these people write up opinions and pretend that they don’t know anything about Trump. Anyone with half a brain can tell you by now that how Trump operates is pretty simple.
You say good things about him and show him honor and he likes you. You do the opposite and he hates you. So naturally if kanye and fuentes praise Trump, he will avoid condemning them. Not because he’s an antisemite, but because he likes praise. In turn, if we also show him praise, he will continue to be on our side and help us. In fact that’s what he did when he was president, like no other president before. There is no point in starting a needless fight with him when we can have a great relationship. All it takes is showing him some kavod. It’s pretty simple how this works.
Curious if the writer or anyone else except for maybe yzj cared to find out the other side of the story before they condemned TU. We are so quick to pasken without verifying. Maybe it’s us who should be doing some introspection!
TU invited Trump.
Why not invite a leading politician, and especially one whose party has been friendly to Yiddishkeit (unlike the other party, some of whose leading personalities are open anti-semites, and whose leader have been advocating bans on Torah education and Bris Milah (not to mention overall policies that are contrary to even the mitsvos of Bnei Noach).
Note that the Democrats frequently invite Sharpton to their events, and give him great kavod (not just a free meal), even though he organized and led a pogrom and has Jewish blood on his hands. Note that among the leading Democrats are those who have endorsed terrorist groups dedicating to killing Jews, and in particular Jews who are clearly non-combatants in the Arab-Israeli conflict, and who cheer when women, children and old people are murdered by their allies.
Note, I do not support Trump for President, and am quite willing to argue that having him on the ticket means that the anti-Semites will win the election, much to our detriment.
Maybe you should find better things to discuss.
Trump will sell his children to gain votes.
Meeting with anti-Semites doesn’t mean you approve of what they do, nor does condemning them anyway. Let’s say you work with anti-Semites, so you refuse to do so? You condemn them for their views. There are things I don’t like about Trump but his actions contradict any talk that he is an anti-Semite or sympathizes with their views. Trump has been hounded for whatever he does while others like Obama, who attended the church of Jeremiah Wright, or Mayor Adams, who hobnobs with the likes of Al Sharpton, get a pass.
I agree that it is distasteful for TU meet with him. Even if he offers an apology to the group, it won’t be publicized, America won’t know. MoseFromMidwood is wrong:
1. We do have do work with anti-semites in the workplace. But Trump is not in the workplace and can decide to meet whom he wants.
2. A leader’s words ARE important, not just his actions. There are antisemites who support Trump who DON’T see his embassy move as pro-Jew, but as necessary to get the evangelical vote. Don’t you want Trump to send a message to them that it’s wrong to hate us? His meeting actually emboldened haters. Not to mention his deleting referecne to Jews on Holocaust remembrance day. Actions matter, words matter.
3. Obama publicly denounced Jeremiah Wright.
I do not agree with the constant Trump-bashing by everyone including many republicans. However, I am in camp DeSantis for 2024.
Trump didn’t invite Kanye west to his house!!!
Yes, he did. And he shouldn’t have. That doesn’t make him an antisemite, but it was a big mistake.