As part of the Arutz Sheva - Israel National News Jerusalem Conference in New York City, a special tribute was held for former Senator Joe Lieberman, who passed away just a short while ago on March 27th. Hadassah, his wife, and Matt, his son, joined the conference to speak about the late Senator.
‘’We were amazed at how many people he had influenced,’’ Haddassah said. ‘’Joey loved Israel, and we knew how much you meant to him.’’
‘’One of the great things about growing up in our family was that you had the opportunity to be engaged,’’ Matt recalled. ‘’Our dad was engaged in the most persistently constructive way all the time and was a role model for all of us.’’
Hadassah talked about his approach to politics. ‘’Joe taught us that people have to compromise to work together and have results, and we've continued in that effort as much as we can.’’
Matt said that Joe had a special devotion to Shabbat. ‘’Amongst my earliest memories are walking to synagogue. A part of him was poured into it. The first Shabbat that he wasn't there he wasn't there to put his blessing on us, we missed him. I'll think about him every Shabbat uh the rest of my life.’’
‘’He arranged his life around Shabbat,’’ Hadassah added. ‘’He would walk to the Senate to have his vote if it happened on Shabbat. Al Gore would help him - turning on lights or other things forbidden on Shabbat. One of the nights that we were at the Senate, I had to put a tablecloth on his Senate desk and put all the food down, and some of the Senators were upset that they hadn't been invited because they all wanted to come in and eat some food for Shabbat and have some Kiddush wine. The staff, who was not Jewish, were saying Shabbat Shalom.’’
Hadassah also discussed Joe’s interest in noted Israel advocate Alan Dershowitz. ‘’He constantly involved himself in what he felt were important writings, and he felt Dershowitz was an important writer. I found Dershowitz’s books in his files.’’
Matt said there was one lesson he hoped everyone took from his father. ‘’He demonstrated the unbelievable power of being polite. He was just such a mensch, a good man, in a brutal profession, under the harshest of circumstances, and he stayed straight.’’
Hadassah summarized her husband’s approach to life. ‘’He wasn’t a dual personality like some. He did exactly what he believed in no matter who he alienated at the moment. He was a very good guy, but he was a tough son of a gun.’’
After the interview, the family was presented the Jerusalem Award in honor of Senator Joe Lieberman’s work for Israel.
