American Rabbis Write Statement Against "Violent Immigration Enforcement" to Prove They Are Utterly Pathetic

The spinelessness of the liberal rabbinate continues

Like me, the liberal rabbis of the U.S. oppose the tactics of ICE. Unlike me, however, they express this view in a completely weak and ineffectual manner. Some clergy are indeed taking a compelling stand, like Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde in her bold statement to Trump and Vance at her congregation in DC, telling it to them to their faces as they literally sat in her audience. That took major chutzpah on her part. But sitting behind a computer screen to type out a letter that at least half the country (and the vast majority of liberal Jews in the U.S.) already agree with doesn’t show any real leadership as clergy. Frankly, it’s too easy. Let’s take their most recently released “statement” on the issue from the top:

Adding our voices to millions of others across the United States, leaders of the Reform, Conservative/Masorti, and Reconstructionist Movements of Judaism condemn, in the strongest terms, the violence with which the Department of Homeland Security is enforcing American immigration law—above all, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, as well as in cities and towns across the nation.

Many Americans are deeply disturbed as they see their neighbors targeted for detention and deportation in their homes, at work, at their schools, and at their houses of worship. They are deeply concerned about numerous accounts of the use of intimidating and violent detention tactics, dangerous and unhealthy holding facilities, lack of appropriate warrants or due process, and wrongful apprehension of US citizens or individuals with proper visas based on appearance or language.

When you choose to “add your voice” to something that’s already being covered ad nauseum from every angle imaginable, it’s generally advisable to have something original to say about it. “Deeply disturbed,” “deeply concerned,” and “wrongful” are terms and phrases that automatically indicate a lack of originality. But they do mean it in “the strongest terms,” so that makes it super relevant, amirite?

In response, some are taking nonviolent steps to warn and protect their neighbors from this immigration enforcement overreach. The right to protest and speak freely are fundamental American rights, protected by the United States Constitution. Too often, though, nonviolent protest and civil disobedience is being met with violence.

The United States is a nation of laws, and as Americans we expect that our laws will be enforced with clarity and consistency. We are pained by reports and videos indicating that in carrying out their assignment, members of law enforcement are engaging in behavior that escalates confrontation, risking the safety of those suspected of having violated the law, of bystanders and protesters, and their own safety. Candidates for law enforcement must be properly vetted, fully and carefully trained, and held accountable when they do not meet appropriate standards. Such accountability includes investigating complaints fairly, transparently, and impartially, particularly but not only, in cases of officer-involved shootings. To that end, we call on the Department of Justice to investigate the shooting death by an ICE officer of Renee Good, z”l.

Yes, non-violent protest, protections from unreasonable search and seizure, the right to record officers, etc. are all protected by the Constitution, which ICE seems intent on disregarding consistently. That is not breaking news, nor does it require a letter from rabbis to grasp.

With the Constitution addressed, now these rabbis are suddenly experts on best practices for all “members of law enforcement”? We currently depend on local police to stand guard outside of our synagogues during services and to deal with demonstrators yelling for our deaths—maybe depending on them too much, in my opinion. I wouldn’t say something sanctimonious that might alienate them if I were you.

Then they call on the DOJ, an organization under the administration that they’re simultaneously condemning, to do an investigation on the shooting that occurred with a different federal agency currently acting with impunity. What do they think would come of such an “investigation”? It’s already been litigated on X, and now everyone is suddenly a self-appointed expert on when it’s appropriate for law enforcement to use lethal force on someone staging a sit-in with her car.

We who lead the North American Reform, Conservative/Masorti, and Reconstructionist Jewish Movements stand with the members and leaders of Jewish communities in Minneapolis—and before that, in the Chicago area and other cities in the United States—who have confronted Immigration and Customs Enforcement nonviolently, legally, but resolutely. We fear that additional communities will need to be prepared to do the same in the months ahead.

I had to read this extremely awkward paragraph multiple times to understand what it meant—that they stand with (purely in an existential and not literal sense) those who “have confronted ICE nonviolently, legally, but resolutely.” What the hell does confronting these thugs “resolutely” even mean?

We call on President Trump and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem to pursue immigration enforcement and their response to protest through just and non-violent means, upholding our nation’s highest values and commitment to due process and the rule of law.

If I were were a Trump supporter reading this letter, I am pretty sure the natural conclusion would be to declare my fantasy to make sweet love to Kristi Noem and to vote for Trump ten more times.

I’m saying all of this as someone who largely agrees with the letter’s overall message. It’s the intent (or lack thereof) that pisses me off. At least I have the courage to call out the ICE thugs for what they are: the American gestapo. These rabbis don’t—they just feel great about “standing with” some people they can hardly even define. When ICE invades their cities and terrorizes their neighbors, what are they going to do about it? Write another “statement”? Asking seriously to the rabbis who authored the above letter, who include the following (this is a partial list):

Rabbi David Lyon, President, Central Conference of American Rabbis
Rabbi Hara Person, Chief Executive, Central Conference of American Rabbis
Rabbi Rick Jacobs, President, Union for Reform Judaism
Rabbi Jay Kornsgold, President, Rabbinical Assembly
Rabbi Renee Bauer, President, Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association
Rabbi Jacob Blumenthal, CEO, Rabbinical Assembly and United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism

What’s truly pathetic is that there is so much material to work with if you want to call out these ICE assholes for what they really are. Meet Special Officer Bovino, who—this is not a joke—stands at 4’11” (that’s 150 cm for my non-Americans readers). I’m sure the Nazi-esque uniform is just a coincidence:

Bovino’s weak gas grenade throw indicates that he was probably benched quite often as a child during Little League baseball. Must have been traumatic for him:

This is why I constantly call out the differences between today’s liberal rabbinate with the ones active in the Civil Rights Movement. The esteemed rabbis of the 1960s who worked to effect change for the marginalized didn’t simply cower behind their desks and write letters against the violent treatment of other minorities that only those in their echo chamber would read. They went out and marched, they spoke actual truth to power, they took actual action that may have actually endangered themselves or their families. Then again, they were also people who had truly come from the school of hard knocks after living through at least one world war and the Depression. They were made of different stuff.

To any liberal rabbis reading this: please, please, PLEASE stop with the statements and the letters like the one I just skewered. They are not helping anyone; in fact, they may actually have the effect of reinforcing support for the side you’re looking to condemn. If you cannot see this, please seek help.

As one of your congregants, I am deeply concerned, deeply disturbed, and deeply annoyed. I mean that in the strongest terms.