Rabbi Haskel Lookstein, the rabbi who converted Ivanka Trump, was invited to deliver the invocation at the Republican National Convention and agreed to do so. The invocation is a non political prayer said by a clergyman at the start of the convention. However, an uproar ensued, signatures opposing his attendance at the event were collected, and as a result, Rabbi Lookstein rescinded his agreement.
I have some pertinent questions to ask those Ramaz students who arranged the petition to their former dean that caused him to change his mind:
Dear Ramaz Students,
Last week, over 830 of you signed a petition to Ramaz dean and spiritual leader Rabbi Haskel Lookstein to protest his decision to give the invocation at the Republican convention. In the petition, you accuse Donald Trump of every social ill on the face of the earth: racism, anti-Semitism, sexism, and for good measure, Chillul Hashem. As a result of your petition, Rabbi Lookstein was forced to back out of attending the convention.
My questions to you are:
As a Torah organization, if you are truly concerned about Chillul Hashem, how about the Chillul Hashem of publicly humiliating a rabbi – your rabbi – in the media?
What about the Chillul Hashem of a massive rebuke to someone who could be the next President of the United States?
What about the mitzvah of “v’ahavtem es hager… You must love the convert”? Don’t you think your actions were a public humiliation of Ivanka, the Jewish daughter of the “anti-Semite” Donald Trump?
If you are so concerned about the anti-Semitism of Mr. Trump, will you express the same concern about the Democratic convention, which will feature the virulently anti-Semitic Cornel West and James Zogby, with Mr. Zogby serving on the Resolutions Committee?
Just wondering.
Kew Garden Hills, Queens, NY