O pinion
An Election on a Jewish Holiday: A Challenge to Overcome
BY ARIELLE FRANKSTON-MORRIS
WHEN I LEARNED that the
Pennsylvania Primary Election
would be held on May 18, I was
frustrated. A quick glance at a calendar
won’t sound alarms for the vast
majority of Pennsylvanians.

That’s because many calen-
dars miss the Jewish holiday of
Shavuot. For Orthodox and tradi-
tionally Sabbath observant
Jews like myself, May 18, the
second day of Shavuot, means
no writing, no driving or
taking buses, no working. And
that means no travel to the
polls. No careful darkening
of ovals with blue or black
ink. Instead, thousands of
Pennsylvanians will be swaying
in holiday prayer, enjoying
festive meals with family
and celebrating the giving of
the Ten Commandments on
Mount Sinai.

The calendar clash was
actually brought to my atten-
tion by a synagogue rabbi
many months back. With a
most admirable commitment
to voting and civic engage-
ment, he was distressed. I have
worked with this rabbi on
fruitful advocacy activities and
get out the vote campaigns and
he was entitled to his disap-
pointment and subsequent
musings: How do we feel about
the selection of this date? And
the operative question, what
do we do?
My years working as the
executive director of Teach PA
prepared me for this. Teach PA
organizes Jewish day schools
and their communities,
advocating for resources and
programs so these schools can
be safe, affordable and good
quality. Preserving Jewish commu-
nities and Jewish heritage
through education under-
lies our mission. We work
to strengthen our voice and
then exercise it, by voting and
engaging our legislators.

As a nonpartisan organi-
zation, we educate our
constituent communities
across the commonwealth
about registering
with whatever party they’d like and
voting however they’d like …
but to register and vote. Stop
kvetching, start voting, we
scream from carpool lines and
on robocalls!
But what happens when
barriers exist,
making exercising your voice harder?
We educate.

We are lucky in Pennsylvania
to have a safe and efficient way
to make your voice heard when
you can’t get to the polls. All
Pennsylvanians can vote by
mail and your vote will count.

So, is an election on a Jewish
holiday, when many cannot go
to the polls, frustrating?
Yes, it is. But we’re up for
this challenge: The challenge to
get our friends and family and
school and synagogue commu-
nities to take these extra steps:
Go online, request a mail-in-
ballot and when you receive it,
vote safely and efficiently from
your own home.

Or if you savor the in-person
voting experience, go to your
county elections office before
Election Day, request your
mail-in ballot in person, and
fill in those ovals with blue
or black ink right there on
the spot.

We’ll work in the future
to reduce conflict between
religious practice and voting
in-person. A safe polling place
voting experience is treasured
by so many individuals and
families and is an incredible
way to model voter responsi-
bility and excitement.

With strong voter engage-
ment, more Pennsylvanians
have a voice. We must take
this opportunity to show, that
despite challenge, we are up
to the task. A calendar might
miss our holiday, but there’s
too much at stake to miss this
election. Request your mail-in ballot
at pavoterservices.pa.gov/
OnlineAbsenteeApplication/#/ OnlineAbsenteeBegin l
Arielle Frankston-Morris is the
executive director of Teach
PA. For more information, visit
teachcoalition.org/pa. House Bill on Israel Is Flawed, But Our Jewish Civil War Is Worse
BY YEHUDA KURTZER
IN THE PARTISAN change-
over that resulted from the
2020 U.S. elections, there
were bound to be some tests
and challenges for those of us
who identify within the broad
spectrum of “pro-Israel.” The
first is now upon us: a proposed
bill emerging in the House of
Representatives that places a
set of limitations on how U.S.

aid to Israel is used.

The bill, introduced by Rep.

Betty McCollum (D-Minn.),
and endorsed by a growing
number of progressives, would
prohibit American dollars
from being used for actions by
Israel that involve the detaining
of Palestinian children, the
appropriation or destruction
of Palestinian property, the
forcible removal of Palestinians
or toward unilateral annex-
ation. The measure would put
in place a new level of oversight.

There is reason for the pro-Is-
rael world to be concerned
about this legislation. The bill’s
principal authors and its first
sponsors are lawmakers with
a track record of outspoken
criticism of the state of Israel
that at times has trafficked
in anti-Semitism. Some of
us who identify as progres-
sive Zionists would support a
good-faith attempt to criticize
Israeli policy while genuinely
supporting its security. This bill
does not strike that balance.

Moreover, the bill takes
some of the most extreme and
egregious moral failures of the
occupation — the detention
of minors, for instance — and
makes them emblematic of Israeli
policy rather than exceptional.

In this context, some Israel
advocates fear that even a bill
with limited scope and no
chance of passing represents a
slippery slope — namely toward
conditioning U.S. aid to Israel, as
some lawmakers are proposing,
or even eventually cutting the
aid entirely. Israeli government
policy has been shifting right-
ward, and American political
attitudes are changing. The
consensus bipartisan support
that Israel enjoyed for two gener-
ations is eroding. If Congress is
willing to question the histori-
cally sacrosanct commitment to
Israeli military aid based on the
question of home demolitions,
will this pave the way toward
more grievous sanctioning?
Meantime, on the other side
of the aisle, some progressives
view these legislative efforts
as the only available lever.

Frustrated with Israeli policy,
and believing that the status
quo entrenches unsustainable
injustices, they are grasping at
an obvious tool — even if this
change in policy challenges a
deeply held orthodoxy.

Now some of this divide —
AIPAC opposes, J Street supports
— is just reflective of partisan
instincts. Some of it is just good
old politics, using legislation that
is not likely to pass in order to
plant a flag. Besides, the Jewish
community likes a good public
fight, especially as it relates to
Israel. Our controversies are
witnesses to our values.

But beyond the political
theater, two separate issues about
the future of support for Israel
are being conflated. The first is
the importance of this particular
legislation and the “red line” it
appears to cross, and the second
is whether or not we can brook
legitimate dissent on Israeli
policy within the framework of
our community. Unfortunately
See Kurtzer, Page 22
14 APRIL 29, 2021
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