The following are excerpts from a recent Jewish Press interview by Elliot Resnick with New York City Councilman Brad Lander who represents parts of Boro Park:
Brit milot are usually straightforward affairs. A mohel performs the ceremony, family and friends sit down to eat, and a speaker or two offers good wishes. When New York City Councilman Brad Lander’s son was born, however, matters were not so simple. In addition to the usual blessings a typical set of parents might wish upon their son, Lander and his wife said the following:
“[W]e are thrilled to pronounce you a Jew without the Right of Return. Your name contains our deep hope that you will explore and celebrate your Jewish identity without confusing it with nationalism.” They also declared, “We pray fervently that by the time you read this, the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza will be history.” Finally, they deplored that Israel “oppresses daily” many Palestinians.
In the statement you and your wife seem to imply that Judaism is a religion, not a nationality, a view that is still promoted by the anti-Zionist American Council for Judaism, which represents the position of early 20th century Reform Judaism.
Well, let’s distinguish between olam haba and today. In the real world that we live in, where there are nation-states and many nation-states that hate Jews, I think it’s appropriate for the Jewish people to have a nation-state as well. I could imagine, however, a world in which nationality and religion were less tied. A world where there would be many fewer nation-states that were essentially governed by Islam and Christianity, and where all people could practice their religion in peace on every inch of the globe. I think there would be something beautiful about that.
But on the issue of religion versus nationality, would you disagree with the American Council for Judaism?
Yes. As you know, the mainstream position within the Reform movement today is a Zionist one for the State of Israel.
What did you and your wife mean, though, when you said you “are thrilled to pronounce [your son] a Jew without the Right of Return”?
My wife is not Jewish. So part of what I was grappling with at that moment was what kind of Jew my son is, and how the State of Israel looks upon him. Let me say this: If my son or my daughter wants to move to Israel I’d be thrilled. I’ve never argued against the Law of Return. I believe in it and think it’s important.
What about the word “occupation,” which you use in describing Israel’s presence in the West Bank?
I think the Israeli government uses it.
During your campaign two years ago, you also upset many Orthodox Jewish voters by supporting gay marriage and belonging to a synagogue headed by a lesbian rabbi.
Look, I respect the much more traditional forms of Judaism. Representing Boro Park has been a wonderful opportunity for me, not just politically but also as a Jew – to get to see, up-front, traditional forms of religious observance. You see thousands of people come out in search for Leiby Kletzky, you see hundreds of people every week packing food at Yad Ephraim, and then you see the religious observance that goes along with it. I have deep, deep respect for it.
My own practice, though, is rooted in a much more open or liberal practice which is welcoming to lesbian and gay couples who are Jewish and seeking a place to worship and participate in Jewish community life. So I’m glad to belong to a synagogue where they’re welcome.
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12 Responses
You did it with Weprin. Now you have to ask yourselves is this the man we want to represent us? I don’t live in his district so i can’t make a difference, but in my opinion any Jew who feels Israel is oppressing the Palestinians or who is active in a “synagogue” that promotes toiva relationships shouldn’t represent frum Jews. Brad Lander needs to stop listening to his wife & think about his constituency & their standards.
And for the record, Brad….your son is not Jewish. WANTING him to be Jewish doesn’t make it so.
So maybe the frum Jews should get together with the conservative goyim, and elect a Republican.
#1- do you for fact that he is Jewish at all – his surname appears to be Jewish, which for a secular Jew means there is a 50-50 chance the mother wasn’t Jewish (and if his family wasn’t observant in the mid-20th century, there’s a 30-70 chance his maternal grandmother wasn’t).
I also don’t live in Mr. Lander’s district.
But if he supports the practice of Toeiva, and he belongs to a “temple” that supports Toeiva and is married to a non-Jewess and thereby has a non-Jewish son (so the child may have been circumcised; but his “Brit” was no “Brit,” as the child is not Jewish),
I believe that it’s obvious that this person should not be re-elected, as we don’t want him to misrepresent how a Jew is supposed to live.
Looking back at his run for city council, it is now obvious why most local rabunnim pleaded with us to vote for John Heyer. Thankfully most of us did, and Lander lost the Jewish (BP) Vote.
(btw, the great Ezra Friedlander endorsed Brad Lander http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/article.php?p=38752)
The whole issue with his son’s “bris” is a non-issue.
His wife is not Jewish, therefore his son is not Jewish, therefore his “bris” is not a bris, it’s just a medical procedure.
Furthermore his own “judaism” (small ‘j’ intentionally) is not Judaism, it’s BradLander-ism.
A Jew may not be 100% perfect in his observance because of his yetzer ha’ra, or other reasons, but still be practicing Judaism, BUT, when one B’SHITA (like ‘reform’ and ‘conservative’) does not observe even a single mitzva, and has hashkafas that are antithetical to Yiddishkeit, then he can eat all the matza balls and gefilte fish he likes and light ten menoras on Chanuka, he is still not practicing Judaism.
Seriously, proud to be a Jew? The idiot’s child isn’t even Jewish…
Let’s get him out of our community
#3 unless I misunderstood your comments, are you saying that if his maternal roots are made up of non observant women then that takes away his right to be Jewish. I didn’t know that the degree of observance or the lack of it cancels out a persons birthright.
Why do we keep voting for these people? Dov Hikind and Ezra Friedlander both endorsed him.
Actually, if his son has even one Jewish grandparent he is eligible under the Law of Return.
#9, I think #3’s comment is quite clear. He is talking about the probability that Lander is halachically Jewish.
#9- If someone has a Jewish name, but appears to be totally assimilated, it is likely that his male ancestor (his parent) in the late 20th century was a secular Jew meaning there was about a 50% chance that ancestor married a non-Jews. In addition, even if his mother was Jewish, if she was secular there is still about a 25% chance her mother was not Jewish.
Thus is one encounters someone with a Jewish surname but who appears to lack any connection to traditional Judaism, the likelihood that they are actually Jews is under 50%. By the mid-21st century, it will be substantially more likely than not that they aren’t Jews.