President Bush recently spoke to all Europeans:
"We cannot carry the message of freedom and the baggage of bigotry at the same time. We must reject anti-Semitism from any source, and we must condemn violence such as we have witnessed in the Netherlands. All our nations must work to integrate minorities into the mainstream of society, and to teach the value of tolerance to each new generation." This quote comes from the Wall Street Journal.
President George W. Bush has been the greatest friend the Jews have had in 2,000 years. No other leader in history has any claim to that title. The only pretender to that title is Napoleon who gave Jews citizenship in Europe, along with other groups. There can be no evading or denying the extraordinary historical importance of George W. Bush in the history of Jews.
Bush made his statement attacking
anti-Semitism in Europe a week and a half ago. He is not running
for election, he has been saying this now for several years, and the
Jews of America gave him less him 30% of their vote. The man is
clearly acting out of his personal moral authority. I believe this
makes him as great a president as A. Lincoln.
There can be no reason for Jews anywhere to withhold their gratitude. Rabbis everywhere should be extolling the greatness of President Bush; the failure of so many American rabbis to recognize moral greatness when it happens is a stab at the heart of Jews who believe the Jewish people have some claim to moral authority. American Jews certainly don't have any claim to moral authority today; they have demonstrated a tragic depth of moral failure.
My father was a rabbi, a lifetime lefty
who left the country when President Nixon was elected. Yet I believe President
Bush's refusal to tolerate Adolph Arafat and the Palestinians'
continual murder of Jews, along with my father's love of Israel,
would have helped him see Bush as a savior.
I continue to be ashamed of American Conservative and Reform Jews who have not recognized or appreciated the generosity and importance of this leader. As a result I no longer call myself a Jew, I am an Israeli-American.
When history finally helps the deluded Jews among us to appreciate President Bush, I expect the story of Bush to be added to the Passover service. The first leader to befriend and defend the Jews is an exciting and historic story.