[By Rabbi Shloime Pollak]
Ted Cruz is simply the best — by far — on our top two issues: Israel’s security and school choice.
We send politicians and “Shtadlanim” (special pleaders/lobbyists) to Washington and state capitals with the hope that they will advocate on our behalf. We hope they can lobby the powers-that-be, to be sensitive to our community’s concerns. Imagine having a President that unapologetically advocates for our values… himself!
Foreign policy: Israel
The most concerning foreign policy issue to our community — and it’s not even close — is the safety and security of our brothers and sisters, “the six million Jews” living in Eretz Yisrael.
Caroline Glick has publicly stated that Israel has no greater friend than Senator Ted Cruz. That is an understatement. Senator Cruz has been defending and FIGHTING against Israel’s many mortal enemies for a very long time.
A Cruz Presidency would be the most pro-Israel presidency IN HISTORY. Do you think that this is an exaggeration? You won’t, after you hear what happened, when newly elected Senator Ted Cruz was invited to give the keynote address at the Gala-dinner in Washington D.C.
“In Defense of Christians” is a non-profit group created to raise awareness of the plight of Christians in the middle east at the hands of Muslims. They invited the freshly elected, outspoken, and articulate Senator, to be their main speaker. As a devout Evangelical Christian, and a passionate voice for his Christian brethren the world over, Cruz was a perfect choice, and the senator accepted. Cruz would later say that he had been informed on the day of the dinner, that there will be Jew haters at the event. Did he temper his remarks, or pander to the audience, like any politician would? NO!
“Tonight”, began Cruz, “we are all united in defense of Christians. Tonight, we are all united in defense of JEWS.” Boos began. Didthat stop the courageous LEADER? Of course not! Two sentences later Ted Cruz announced in no uncertain terms, “Christians have no greater ally than Israel.” The boos resumed as did cries of “just stop it!!!” (Apparently, the Senator was “offending” the sensitivities of the anti-Semites in the crowd.)
Calmly, the statesman paused, collecting his thoughts, and, without a hint of anger or trace of confrontation, said, “If you will not stand with Israel and the Jewish people, then I will not stand with you. Good Night and G-d bless you.”
Cruz then smiled, waved to the crowd and walked off the stage!!!
Had Senator Cruz been just another “pro-Israel” politician, he would have rationalized that the dinner was about an important issue and simply refrained from mentioning the two words that drove those anti-Semitic bigots crazy [Jews and Israel]. BUT NOT CRUZ! If you don’t stand with the freedom-loving Jews of Israel, Senator Cruz wants to have nothing to do with you!
Lest you think this was some publicity stunt on behalf of the senator to garner Jewish votes, consider the way this story was reported at the time (and is still reported as such, online): “Cruz Gets Booed Off Stage”! It was treated as a great humiliation and failure on Cruz’s part, and he wasn’t given any credit in the media for being principled and standing up for an ally — the State of Israel. But, WE must recognize that we truly have a one-of-a-kind friend, in Senator Ted Cruz.
In his short time in the senate, Cruz led many efforts on Israel’s behalf. He successfully led the effort to cancel President Barack Obama’s anti-Semitic travel ban, during the Gaza war. He also shone a bright light on the plight of the three kidnapped Kedoshim by giving an impassioned speech on the floor of the senate next to a big picture of the three of them. Most critically, against the catastrophic Iranian “deal”, there is not one person — Jew or Gentile — that has worked, advocated, campaigned or argued as much as Cruz has.
As for promises for the future, Cruz has given his word — which has so far been as good as gold — to rip up the Iranian “deal”, and to move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, on his FIRST day as president. He also intends to de-fund universities that engage in Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement and to prosecute those engaged in illegal boycotts. Most importantly, for the first time since Oslo in the mid-1990s, a President Cruz would not impose on Israel a commitment to the failed “Two-State Solution”.
To put it in perspective, here are the current candidates for president — all self-proclaimed to be “pro-Israel” — and where they stand relative to past presidents’ relationship to Israel…
-Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton: Barack Obama… biased toward the “poor Hamas killers”.
-Donald Trump: Bill Clinton… neutral, and even-handed and very susceptible to bullying the more reasonable and peace-loving side — Israel.
-John Kasich (Marco Rubio, mainline GOP): George W. Bush… biased toward Israel, but easily distracted or overridden by other regional concerns.
-Ted Cruz: A class of his own… committed to the safety and viability of the State of Israel.
For those of you considering supporting Trump and ignoring his very troubling statements regarding Israel, because “Trump’s daughter, and her family are Jewish, so Trump will certainly be good towards Israel”. Don’t forget that Hillary’s [ONLY] daughter is also married to a Jewish boy, and Senator Bernie Sanders is HIMSELF a Jew from Brooklyn!!!
Domestic policy: school choice
Our community is uniquely affected by the ongoing debate nationwide between the public school system and empowering the parents to send their children to a school of their choosing. Senator Cruz’s oft-repeated cry, that “school choice is the civil rights issue of this generation”, can potentially SAVE — financially — our struggling families.
With public school absolutely off the table in the Orthodox Jewish community, every family is forced to pay tuition to educate our typically large families. In effect, we are all essentially being double taxed. We pay taxes to educate our neighbors’ children in public schools, and then pay again, in the form of tuition, for our large families.
For years, we have understood, that if only every parent would receive a “voucher” to pay tuition to the school of their choice, almost everyone will be happy. Those of us inclined to send to private schools would be able to do so in an affordable way. For the public in general, the free market would dramatically improve academic levels and equally as dramatically drive down the cost.
A President Cruz, that is an ardent supporter of school choice, can help arguably the three most vulnerable among us: the yungerleit/young families (haven’t secured themselves financially); the large families (drowning in tuition bills); and the yeshivas and their supporters (unable to recover all the tuition owed/unable to cover the collection costs).
It is also important to realize that, free-market principles are an integral part of Cruz’s world view. He isn’t “pandering” (telling a group of voters what they want to hear) to Orthodox Jewish voters. In fact, Ted Cruz, unlike Trump, DOES NOT pander. So when Donald Trump was promising Iowa farmers that he will force Americans to buy their corn for ethanol/gas, Ted Cruz did not tell that powerful interest group what they wanted to hear. Senator Cruz also does not try to sound like something he is not. Trump cynically tries to fool the voters that he is a religious guy, and very pro-life, and then ends up embarrassing himself when his ignorance is exposed in public.
Why is this so important? Simple. When a politician is pandering to a specific group, even if he were inclined to keep that promise, he would only be doing so, to curry favor from that group. The politician will easily change his mind when a more powerful group with an opposing viewpoint comes along, and then he wants to “pander” to them. (For example, in the case of school choice, the powerful teacher’s union is dead-set against it). Ted isn’t pandering, so his intentions won’t be easily overridden. Couple that with his perfect record on keeping his word, and we are in business!
Cruz’s unshakable support for Israel is also not a nod to the pro-Israel lobby. It flows from a firm belief in fairness and rule of law, and the commitment to friends and allies.
So, even if you don’t feel like you are working for the federal government for three months a year, and you don’t care for Ted Cruz’s 10% flat tax, and even if your insurance premiums didn’t double under Obamacare (or you are on Medicare), and even if your deductibles didn’t skyrocket in the last few years, Ted Cruz should still be your choice!
For the first time that any of us can remember, the primaries in New York and New Jersey are consequential. Let us show our gratitude to Ted, for his unwavering support of the State of Israel. Cruz can, and B’ezras Hashem will, win this race. Let us do our “hishtadlus” to make it happen. Additionally, an outpouring of support from our community will certainly shape the cost-benefit analysis for other politicians, too, to be more positive towards Israel.
In your states primary, vote for Cruz like your life depends on it… because your brothers’ and sisters’ probably does.
Rabbi Shloime Pollak is a Maggid Shiur. He studied at Brisk-Yerushalaim and Beth Medresh Govoah in Lakewood, N.J., where he and his family live. His weekly lectures on the Parshah can be viewed online and are posted on multiple websites.
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20 Responses
1. Polling suggests that Cruz is too conservative to win in the Blue and Purple states, meaning that if Cruz is the nominee the likely winner will be Hilary (bad) or Bernie (worse).
2. As a professional politicians, Cruz probably can’t adapt to reach a broader constituency, whereas Trump might be able to (but he hasn’t shown signs of being able to do so, but so far he’s more of a media character playing a candidate). Trump may have an upside, whereas Cruz is probably stuck.
3. Kaisch is a very traditional conservative who can win in Blue and Purple states. Polls suggest he is the Republican most likely to defeat Hilary/Bernie.
Rabbi Avigdor Miller zt”l said that we should vote for the politicians whose values are closest to ours.
IMHO – Cruz.
To Aperkuma:
1. Kasich is heavily supported by George Soros, who hates Israel.
2. That should be enough, but if it isn’t, it’s also not true that he’s a “very traditional conservative”. He’s less conservative than Rubio.
3. Polling so far doesn’t take into account the outrage of Republican voters if a candidate who got such a tiny percentage of their votes was chosen as nominee.
Thank you, I can make my own decisions who to vote for. B”H Trump 2016!
Akuperma,
Kasich would make a great democrat as HES ONLY ONE ONE PRIMARY
CRUZ 2016!
To #1:
1. At this point, polls about the general election are almost unanimously said to be unreliable by professional syndicated political analysts.
2. Trump’s disapproval ratings among voters are higher than any candidate (he’s got a 75% disapproval among women).
3. Kasich is “establishment.” The Republican Party will be committing suicide if they nominate him.
A vote for Trump is a vote for an authoritarian liberal and in the best case Hillary Clinton, who is more conservative than Trump on every issue – including Israel and School Choice. We must support the Republican who can prevent Trump from achieving a win of 50% in New York. Accordingly, although Ted Cruz is the conservative and Kasich is the electable one, Trump is an unelectable liberal. We must put ideology and practicality aside and vote for the #NeverTrump candidate. This will enable us to either elect a conservative president, lose with dignity to Hillary Clinton and at least retain a strong conservative opposition in Congress. A Trump presidency, as with his candidacy, will destroy conservatism and the nation as a whole.
While his policies are arcane and changing by the minute, whatever he has given us as of yet is ridiculous and preposterous.
His economic policies (if we can call it such) are anti-capitalistic. He objected to Reagan’s tax reform of 1986 because it reduced taxes while eliminating some tax breaks for real estate investors (the last remaining tax shelter). He supports a millionaire tax, is anti-trade and thinks (like Bernie Sanders and Bill deBlasio) that Wall Street is the source of our economic troubles. While his rhetoric regarding foreign policy is isolationist, he is against laissez faire economics.
His tariff stance will increase the cost of U.S. goods while manufacturing will not come back to the United States. The United States already taxes imports of many items at high rates and is (along with Eritrea) the only country to tax it’s citizens and residents worldwide.
If Donald Trump would have paid attention during his econo mics classes at Wharton, he would have known that free trade promotes innovation and competition, provides for access to more products and a higher standard of living and fosters economic growth. You need not look further than the prosperity that resulted after each free trade bill.
I’ll simplify it for Trump University graduates: A comparative advantage provides for a company or country to excel at what it is good at. Thus, if you’re a bank then it is not sensible to provide extensive legal services. The bank would focus on investment banking while allowing the legal aspects to be handled by a law firm. Accordingly, a country that is better suited for production than another (usually developing nations with cheap labor) and can produce goods more efficiently should produce those goods. A country that is better at financial services (usually mature economies) should exchange financial services in return for goods. This results in an efficient economy.
Donald Trump would be disastrous for more than just the economy. However, his claim to fame is the Trump empire (of which he inherited $200M – indexed for inflation at $2B and in real estate terms worth $40B). His business acumen is quastionable, but his economics is laughable.
I will vote for the Republican who is stronger against Trump in the polls. I also vow not to support neither Hillary Clinton not Donald Trump for president if they are the nominees.
To the belzer. What do u see in trump other than being a self centered egoistic person who cares only about himself. We have to vote for someone who will actually care about us , America and Israel . Come on let’s be real
Akuperma
Go check your polls again. Trump fares worse in the general than Cruz. If your going with elect-ability as your argument its a losing one.
(On a yiddish point, Cruz is a Mormon, whose wife was (is) a Mormon missionary!)
Now, unfortunately Cruz has also succumbed to Obama and is a puppet. Obama and the left ain’t going nowhere. The democrats and the republicans are AFRAID of Obama. He has enough shmutz on each and every politician (and World leader) to frighten them into obeying him. The threat of the left to destroy your private and public life is huge. That is why both parties are letting Obama get away with murder.
This is how they control and want to continue to control the new socialist republic of America Rachmono Litzlon!
Trump is standing up to them! Facing them down! He HAS to! He KNOWS that the first thing Stalin did was go after the rich guys, plunder their wealth and throw them to the dogs. So, Mr. Trump has nothing to lose, and is putting up an honest fight to save our country.
Mr. Trump (who I know for a fact likes and respects yidden) has ALREADY done America a great favor. The movement he has brought out has given the current regime reason to pause and re-group their plans before chas veSholom imposing marshal law. (They are waiting for a terror attack or any other civil unrest as a reason to impose this on us. Chas veSholom. )
So, yes, if you want the arabs, muslims, and terrorists blowing up places in the usa and giving Obama the power to steal the country and a civil war, vote Cruz, Clinton or whoever else.
IF YOU WANT TO DO THE RIGHT MORAL THING, YOU STRENGTHEN TRUMP!
We truly need RACHMIM and Tfilos for the next few months, much before the elections, to be safe.
How can anyone vote for a guy who admitted in one of the debates that he would never admit that he is wrong. All he wants is to be in charge . He will never compromise with anyone, only he will do what HE thinks is right. He has nothing to do with the common man. When in his life has he worked for anyone? He is selfish arrogant and would be a terrible leader. His character traits are contrary to that of any decent human being. How can any frum yid justify voting for such a person?
Lol I meant won one
@thebelzer Trump will be the worst decision this country can make. Get your head out of the little screen around u and look at the big picture
I have never fully understood why so many frum Yidden lean Republican. With all of the financial assistance that the frum community receives in the form of government benefits and entitlement programs, it seems that we support candidates who are for the greatest expansion of these programs. In the current election, that candidate would be (G-d help us)…Bernie Sanders.
dan100 since when do jews vote everything based on money not everything is about money it is about our religious values and freedoms that will be upheld
CRUZ2016!!!!!!
I will vote for whoever gets rid of Section 8, food stamps and WIC.
to #14 first of all a lot of jews didnt take programs and are suffering from the high taxes (republican better)
2`nd the democrats are supporting education for public schools and our askanim are having big problems with our private schools ted cruz and repulicans learn in private schools too so they are better understand our concern
about medicaid and f. s. look in ted cruz tax plan and he will not stop this he will stop some organizations that are behing now for nothing just because we can`t stop this money up to democrat
ted cruz tax plan up to 36000 zero tax even not social security tax and then 10% for all business tax 16% (all business who pay the now 38% know that this is much more then the few dollars from the other site what he will not stop.
all the jewish people need to unite behind ted cruz because he is a consistence conservative and does what he says
unlike trump that change hes mind day after day and all hes years he spent to do what is better for hem not for the people around
To voseppes: Yes! Very true.
Add to that the fact that Rav shwaab said that Israel is in the hands of the Aibeshter, not in the hands of the president of the USA. He said that we must vote according to their morals.
Trump is a loose cannon. There’s no predicting what he would do under any circumstances.
May be a “No Brainer” however my family is all in for TRUMP 2016 and that is who will be voting for.
What we Jews need in a president is:
1. To keep us safe here in the US (you forgot to mention that). Just think of the Yidden in France who are afraid to walk in the streets with Yarmulkas. Trump is by far the most powerful candidate on that (Cruz has started parroting him lately).
2. Keep Israel safe and I think Trump will be just as good as Cruz on that. Believe it or not the Israelis and many of our Gedolim also want Peace there and Trump will be a tough negotiator with the Palestinians.
3. A strong economy here in the US. aka “Parnossah”.
Cruz may or may not be the man. He is a politician and unfortunately we have seen politicians on both sides of the isle all turn out to be the same, they are controlled. Mr Trump is a winner, knows how to get things done and will get it done.
Either way, as dan100 says, the bulk of frum Yidden in NY, NJ, will vote democrat and they are already pandering to Hillary (didn’t one of the “Askanim” already write an article here on YWN with a picture of himself sitting shoulder to shoulder with Hillary?).