Obama’s Choice of Rahm Emanuel as Chief of Staff: Good for the Jews?

Yesterday, Liverpool was playing Madrid in soccer (European football). My officemate, who follows this because he's a Brit, was upset because Liverpool was behind in the game. (He was surreptitiously following it on the Internet at work.) I had only one question: Was this good for the Jews or bad for the Jews?

While it's an old joke, the truth is that Jews living in the diaspora, in lands where we are a minority among the non-Jews, tend – or tended – to see everything through the prism of that question, especially the latest in news and politics: Will this help or hurt our standing in this country? Will this be a cause for more acceptance or more anti-semitism?

I’d like to think that our generation has matured in its priorities - certainly many of us do not vote for a president only because of his position (real or imagined) on Israel. But although we are also concerned about the economy, global warming, etc. - we still tend to come back in the end to that ultimate question: Good for the Jews or bad?

I did not vote for Barack Obama. But I chose to do so not because of all the e-mails I received claiming, falsely, that he is a Muslim, anti-American, unpatriotic, a non-citizen of the United States, that his Harvard education was paid for by Arabs who support terrorism, etc. I did not vote for him because I do not believe that his policies and politics are good for America – and me.

To be honest, I also was nervous about his stance on the Middle East. While I believe he will continue the 60 year tradition of support of Israel, there is SUPPORT and there is support. I believe that his naïve approach to Middle East diplomacy – his statement that he would meet with lunatic Iranian President Ahmadinejad, without any pre-conditions, is dangerous to AMERICAN interests in the Gulf.

All that said, I tend overall to be an optimist. Yes, there are times I get down, but they are few and far between. I generally see cloudy, rainy days as good for the flowers and trees, rather than tough on my commute.

And I also tend to get emotional, choked-up and teary-eyed at the drop of a hat. (My wife likes to call me “a little girl” at those times, whether or not I’m wearing my jumper.)

And so, as I watched television around midnight on Tuesday night, my eyes welled up a bit in tears. I was overcome by the historic significance of the moment. I was moved by the tears of the half million people gathered to congratulate our 44th President. Maybe – just maybe – Obama’s election was a good thing for America, I thought, maybe he would rise to the occasion and lead us well. Maybe he would surround himself with good advisors, with a staff that will temper the rhetoric with reason. Maybe, like all Presidents do, he will realize that despite his campaign promises, he must move towards the middle in order to get anything done. (For sure, this will disappoint and anger his most fervent supporters, but more on that in a later rant.)

And I went to bed a bit less disappointed, and a lot more calm and even optimistic.

And when I awoke on Wednesday morning, things got even better.

Rahm Emanuel is a name that was, until Wednesday, unfamiliar to 99% of America and probably 95% of American Jews. But as a political junkie, I not only knew who he was, I have been following his career for two years now and consider myself a bit of a fan.

I will dispense with the majority of his resume, which is fascinating, and focus on a few of the highlights that I consider more salient. Rahm Emanuel is a member of a very prominent and important family. His father, Benjamin, is a pediatrician; his brother, Ezekiel, is a noted oncologist and bioethicist; his other brother Ari, is a powerful and famous talent agent and the inspiration for the Jeremy Pivens character, Ari Gold, in “Entourage;” and he has a younger sister, Shoshana (occupation unknown).

Rahm has been variously described as a committed Jew, an Orthodox Jew and an observant Jew, although his level of shmiras hamitzvos (adherence to Jewish law) is unknown. He has also been described as belonging to an Orthodox synagogue in Chicago and a Conservative synagogue. He attended a Jewish Day School, the same one his three children, Zacharia, Ilana and Leah, attend today.

His political career is nothing short of spectacular. He worked in Bill Clinton’s campaign for the White House in 1991, and served him in the White House from 1993 to 1998. He was elected to the House in 2002 and became so well-liked and so respected as a political strategist and organizer, that he was named the Chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in 2005. He was extremely successful in that position and has been the fourth highest ranking Democrat in the House since the election of 2006. As a fellow Chicagoan and fellow Democrat, he has acted as an advisor to Obama throughout his campaign. On Tuesday night he handily won re-election to the House only moments before being offered – and, apparently, accepting – the position of Chief of Staff for President Barack Obama in the White House.

The significance of the position – and the symbolism of this being the very first appointment to his staff – cannot be overstated. Rahm Emanuel will be asked to help select the rest of the team – from cabinet positions, to advisors, to senior staff members. As Chief of Staff, he will have the president’s ear and advise him in determining policy, priorities, strategy and message.

Rahm’s Jewish heritage and family history speaks well of his interests and values. His father was born in Jerusalem and was a member of the Irgun. Shortly after joining the Clinton campaign, Emanuel left to volunteer as a civilian volunteer in the Israel Defense Forces during the 1991 Gulf War, serving in one of Israel's northern bases, rust-proofing brakes. His commitment and ties to Israel seem very strong. (Rumors spread on the internet that he has dual citizenship and served in the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) turned out to be false and promoted by anti-semites looking to question his loyalty to America.)

It appears that his family name, which seems Sefardic, was really Auerbach until changed to honor an uncle, Emanuel, who died in defense of the Jewish population in Palestine in 1933. His mother’s maiden name is Smulevitz, giving him two prominent Ashkenazic family names as his genetic make-up. Those two last names are also associated with two of the most prominent Rabbis of our time, although Benjamin Emanuel has reportedly said that he is not related to either of those rabbinic luminaries.

In any case, if it is true that he has accepted Obama’s offer, the first Black President in the United States will have a Jewish Zionist as his Chief of Staff, not too shabby a position for either minority to have achieved, and a revival of sorts of the partnership that Jews and Blacks formed in the 1950’s and 1960’s in the civil rights movement, but had deteriorated, of late, into a strained relationship.

How much influence Emanuel will have on the President and how he wields his power, remains to be seen. As a friend said to me this morning, “Let’s hope he doesn’t turn out to be a Casper Weinberger.” Yes, some Jews in office/power bend over backwards to show how un-Jewish they are. But I don’t think Rahm Emanuel is that kind of person, although only time will tell. I remain an optimist.

If there was elation, as was rumored, in the Arab/Muslim world on Tuesday night over Obama’s election, in the belief that (as was the headline in Avriani, a mainstream daily newspaper in Greece,) “The anticipated victory of Obama in the U.S. elections signals the end of Jewish domination,” the mood should have changed with the announcement of Emanuel’s appointment.

In the end, let’s hope (and pray) that Emanuel’s appointment – and the entirety of President Obama’s administration and tenure – turn out to be good for the Jews, good for America and good for the World.