[An interview with Rabbi A. D. Motzen by Sandy Eller]
Rabbi A.D. Motzen, national director of state relations for Agudath Israel of America, addressed the sense of malaise that has enveloped this year’s general election, taking place this week.
Sandy Eller: Does Agudath Israel have any official stance on the presidential election?
A.D. Motzen: It is one of the first questions we get about the election. Who are the rabbis endorsing? What is the Agudah saying? The answer is always the same. Agudath Israel of America is recognized by the IRS as a 501(c)(3) religious non-profit and we are therefore forbidden by law to endorse or oppose any candidate. We never have and we never will.
SE: Yet the Agudah is extremely active in the political arena…
ADM: What we are involved in when it comes to the elections is a non-partisan “get out the vote” effort. We have seen that communities that vote are communities that are listened to and heard. The first time I testified in the Ohio statehouse I was asked “how many members do you have?” Politicians want to know how many people we represent and how many votes we can influence. It is very important for elected officials to see that the Jewish community comes out and votes, not just on November 8th, but at every election.
SE: Yet so many people are apathetic about voting, especially this year. What if someone feels that they can’t responsibly cast their vote for either of the two major presidential candidates?
ADM: Ideally, everyone should vote for a presidential candidate, but even if they don’t, there are other races being decided where every vote counts for more since they usually have a lower turnout. Also, those down-ballot elections are the ones that typically make a difference in your day-to-day life even more than a presidential election. If you cast a ballot for even one race, it shows up on the voter rolls that you voted and that alone is valuable.
SE: How does one vote make a difference?
ADM: Not only do politicians look at the number of votes cast by our community, but more importantly, they also look at the percentages of how many people are registered and what percent showed up to vote. I often surprise my friends when I tell them that I keep track of whether or not they are registered and in which elections they voted. I use an Excel spreadsheet, but the political parties track that information using sophisticated software.
SE: In your experience, do politicians actively court the Jewish vote?
ADM: While the Jewish community is just one to two percent of the population, we vote at a much higher percentage than the general population, so the Jewish vote is carefully looked at by both political parties who actively reach out to our community. If politicians care so much about our votes that they are willing to spend time and money earning our vote, shouldn’t we at least take a few minutes to cast a ballot?
SE: Aside from being our civic responsibility, is there a religious component to voting as well?
ADM: Yes. The late great sage, Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, considered voting to be an important demonstration of hakaras hatov, gratitude, for the benefits afforded us by this great country that has provided a safe haven for Jews. In a letter written in 1984 he said, “It is incumbent upon each Jewish citizen to participate in the democratic system which guards the freedoms we enjoy. The most fundamental responsibility incumbent on each individual is to register and vote.”
A 2008 proclamation issued by Agudath Israel’s rabbinic leadership, the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah, stressed the importance of every single vote, noting that no individual has the right to free themselves from their obligation to cast their ballot.
SE: So back to the original question. Does it really matter if I don’t vote?
ADM: Absolutely. The chance of your voice being heard, your community’s voice being heard and Agudath Israel’s voice being heard is greater when you can show that you voted and that a high percentage of the community voted. Whatever issue you care about, it will likely be affected by the outcome of an election. If you want your voice to be heard by elected officials later when they already in office, the time to raise your voice and use your influence is now. Vote tomorrow.
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
Join the official YWN WhatsApp status
9 Responses
Ok! I’ll vote for Hillary!
if i become gay n want to marry someone n a rabbi refuses i can sue him big time remember thats what happens when you vote for democrats
#1 What’s “OK”? You were planning to vote for the Tuma Devil from start.
Mark Twain famously tweeted: “If voting really mattered, they wouldn’t let us do it” or something like that.
It doesn’t matter what the quote was. The idea is sound.
No. If the “justice” department and the EPA, and the IRS, and the FBI, and… have all become corrupted… and the news media is feeding us lines that we swallow… and no one cares…
Let’s face it, frum people. The tree has fallen in the forest. We see it with our own eyes, but there is no sound.
And worse: NO ONE CARES THAT THERE IS NO SOUND.
We should daven hard.
#4 Excellent post. Every line well said.
I’ve read were the late R. Shach advised the frum to always vote—“We did not want to go before the government as beggars.”
Though his pronouncement was in Israel, I feel sure, he would advise all frum to vote in tommorow’s US presidential election.
May I now as a goy suggest that all Jews to try to be as Torah observant as possible. A very, great Rabbi in Lakewood, NJ whom I’ve known for years has always and emphatically answered in the affirmative when I asked if as a low character goy I can make this suggestion.
A goy,
Gerry Mullen, Riverside, N.J.
Go in to the voting booth, and spoil your vote, or vote for some crackpot never-will-win candidate. Show you’re voting but chv to vote for either of these two disgusting individuals.
Put all of Donald trumps personal issues aside and vote for him bec he will be he better candidate for us in regard to our safety and the safety of our brothers in Israel. How ever not perfect trump is Hillary is worse. She doesn’t have personal issues she has issues with the safety of all of us. Using a private server, accepting bribery, using the Clinton foundation for personal use after she stated that it’s 100% charity the list can go on and on. She will also open the doors to a HUGE influx of Arab Syrians. Are we not in danger already with so many here that don’t value a life?!? And what about her anti Semitism. I wish all u Hillary supporters would go to her and see how she’ll regard u the same way she would the toilet paper she used to wipe her behind maybe then u will see how disgusting animal she is!! Please vote trump. It’s ur requirement as a Jew unless ur sick like the neturae karta( however u spell it).
if the Agudah really cared about the things of importance, instead of just being – primarily – the same as many chassidim or other minorities when it comes to “what handouts are in it for me” politics, they would be working with from schools to encourage the teaching of CIVICS. let kids learn when young about our (soon to be extinct) Medina shel chessed, and how the civil society is supposed to work. instead of ignorant rabbis slamming the ideas of rugged individualism, it should be taught in the context of from civics. instead of slamming materialism, from school should be teaching the value of capitalism.
teach the children.
instead what has America now? huge populations of kids that absorbed Bernie Sanders message of socialism even though it makes no one’s lives better. we have from community rabbis advocating for national healthcare because they are too ignorant to recognize the basic economics or constitutionality of such foolish endeavors.
the Left too over the schools 50 years ago. this is what we now have. and from people? we ignore our own misrashim that our children are the guarantors.
Agudah. you wake up and engage the community erev election and then go back to sleep except for day school money or physician suicide. maybe go teach some from civics to people!