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Josh Shapiro
Showed Jewish Pride
AT GUBERNATORIAL INAUGURATION
t’s hard to dispute that we’re living in a time of rising
antisemitism. Antisemitic incidents of assault, harassment
and vandalism have steadily risen nationwide since 2015,
according to the Anti-Defamation League.

Some of those incidents, like the 2018 Tree of Life synagogue
complex shooting in Pittsburgh and the 2022 synagogue hostage
crisis in Colleyville, Texas, were shocking. In response, synagogues
across the country are spending millions of dollars on security
measures like locks and guards.

But into this moment steps new Pennsylvania Gov. Josh
Shapiro, who wears his Judaism on his suit sleeve. Shapiro is also
a politician who in the 2022 governor’s race beat an opponent,
Republican Doug Mastriano, who openly fl irted with antisemites.

And the Montgomery County resident beat Mastriano by more
than 700,000 votes and almost 15 percentage points.

18 JANUARY 26, 2023 | JEWISH EXPONENT
On Jan. 17 outside the statehouse in Harrisburg, Shapiro — the
open, proud and victorious Jewish governor — was on full display.

He took the oath of offi ce from Pennsylvania Chief Justice
Debra Todd with his hand on a stack of three Jewish bibles. One
was his, and the good book on which he has taken the oath for
every offi ce he has held since becoming a state rep representa-
tive in 2005; another was from the Weitzman National Museum
of American Jewish History and belonged to a Jewish World War
II veteran; and the third was a bible that survived the Tree of Life
shooting in October 2018.

During a 23-minute speech after his swearing-in, Shapiro
made implicit and explicit Jewish references to the crowd of
former governors, current General Assembly representatives and
state Supreme Court justices and voters/residents who drove
from across the commonwealth to watch the transfer of power
Photos by Jarrad Saff ren
Jarrad Saff ren | Staff Writer
Josh Shapiro Headshot: Courtesy of Josh Shapiro
I Josh Shapiro steps to the podium
to deliver his inaugural address.