The political and ideological interests of Orthodox Jews often coincide with various conservative agendas. I, for one, would love to receive school vouchers. Kashrut, yeshiva tuition, home prices and rents in Jewish communities are expensive, so tea party style tax breaks would be particularly welcome by most people I know. As I live in a community that absorbed Jewish refugees from the Middle East, and have family living in Israel, I have little patience or sympathy for international thugs or coy flotillas, although I realize that international policy is nuanced and that pragmatism often trumps principle.
But we are not ideological twins with any group within the conservative movement. The Martin Grossman saga raised questions as to whether, behind the law-and-order rhetoric of many Orthodox Jews, Judaism really can support the death penalty. It seems to me that a nation with a strong welfare system is probably more in tune with the community values of the Torah than the conservative notion of fend-for-yourself individualism. The halachic marketplace may be capitalistic, but it is also highly regulated by laws relating to interest, competition, permissible profit margins, among many other laws.
This ideological disparity is one reason why we should be wary of aligning ourselves too closely with any conservative group, even if we do indeed support specific candidates or policies. But beyond the mere ideological disparity, there’s a particular danger in aligning ourselves with a movement that may turn out to be a political dead end, especially if the alliance is premised on political expediency rather than a commitment to sharing core values. If (and when) the movement loses momentum, our political activism may stall with it. Worse, if (and when) the movement is discredited for lacking a coherent policy, for supporting candidates who are populist, but politically obtuse and/or narrow minded bigots, we risk becoming discredited ourselves. Our own political voice will be lost when it counts.
Yesterday’s New York Times ran an article, Agendas of Paladino and Rabbi Meld which described Rabbi Yehuda Levin’s tea party enthusiasm and backing of Carl Paladino as the Republican candidate for governor:
The visit had strategic appeal for both sides: Mr. Paladino, an anti-abortion, anti-gay-marriage Roman Catholic businessman from Buffalo, hoped to find like-minded voters among the politically and socially conservative Orthodox Jews of Brooklyn. And Mr. Levin, who has long dreamed of creating “an Orthodox Tea Party,” as he put it, was eager to help, in part by lining up appearances for Mr. Paladino at synagogues and yeshivas.
I’m not really sure who Rabbi Levin is, but I hope he has less influence in the Jewish communities than he’s being given credit for. He did more than just pick the wrong guy and the wrong movement to hook up with. The Republic party, and likely tea party leaders as well, are trying to disown Paladino over anti-gay remarks prepared by Rabbi Levin. Even if Rabbi Levin, as he says, “stands ready to defend the content” of the portions of the speech he drafted, this is not the kind of political involvement we need.
In fact, just the idea of an Orthodox Tea Party is preposterous, since there’s nothing Orthodox about the tea party’s platform (or lack thereof). The tea party may be influencing national politics right now, but it can’t last in its current form, based more on whipped up, often disingenuous, outrage than on real policy. And when there is a backlash, the interests of Jewish communities don’t have to be there to go down with it.