An influential Washington, D.C., synagogue is facing backlash from furious congregants after its rabbi claimed Jews "need to elect Vice President Kamala Harris" in order to comply with "sacred texts."
Adas Israel, whose membership has included Supreme Court justice Elena Kagan and the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, is one of the oldest and largest synagogues in Washington, D.C. But members have become increasingly frustrated with the leadership’s "insulting" left-wing advocacy that has left congregants "dreading the upcoming high holidays," the Washington Free Beacon has learned.
The controversy came to a head at a Jewish Democratic Council of America event earlier this month, when Adas Israel Co-Senior Rabbi Lauren Holtzblatt cited Jewish scripture as a basis for why Jews must vote for Harris.
"I could tell you that we need to elect Vice President Kamala Harris because as Jews our sacred texts tell us we need to build a world where we feed the hungry, where we care for the sick, where we love the stranger, where we guard and nurture this planet," said Holtzblatt on the JDCA Zoom call with Harris supporters. "Those are her values. That is what her policies seek to achieve."
Holtzblatt, who officiated Ginsburg’s funeral and has appeared on The Forward’s "Forward 50" list, is a vocal supporter of Harris and led a Passover seder at the vice president’s home last spring. She did not respond to a request for comment regarding which Jewish texts support her assertion that Jews "need to elect" Harris.
Holtzblatt’s comments drew criticism from some Adas Israel congregants, who said the synagogue’s political bias has become "insufferable."
"[T]o be lectured that as Jews we are compelled to vote a certain way is frankly insulting," wrote a longtime congregant in an email to Adas Israel’s rabbinical leaders. Two other Adas Israel congregants independently shared the exchange with the Free Beacon.
"[T]ying ‘our sacred texts’ to a political candidate in this way is, at best, simplistic. And easily rebutted with myriad other examples from scripture," wrote the members. "The reality is that Adas has become borderline insufferable for anyone who doesn't share what is assumed by leadership to be the universal point of view. It's politics all day everyday; politics always from the same direction—no balance."
Members are also reportedly irked by Adas Israel’s decision to have Hamilton director Lin-Manuel Miranda, a non-Jewish Democratic activist, headline the synagogue’s Yom Kippur programming in October.
"[T]here are many more Adas members than you might realize, who are put off as well (some of whom are BCC'd here)," wrote the congregants. "I have spoken with a number who are dreading the upcoming high holidays, headlined bizarrely by father and son Miranda (hawking his book no less!)."