February 15, 2020

Deutch, who is Jewish, also will serve as co-chair of the United for Mike Leadership Council, which does outreach to Jewish voters.

His endorsement of the former New York City mayor and billionaire media mogul stems from their shared opposition to gun violence, according to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Bloomberg has poured tens of millions of dollars into gun control activism through a nonprofit he founded, Everytown for Gun Safety, and has made it one of his presidential campaign’s signature issues.

Deutch has likewise been a longtime proponent of gun control measures, and has spoken out on the issue repeatedly since the high school shooting in Parkland almost exactly two years ago. Wednesday, he and two colleagues introduced a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives that would require gun owners to report within 48 hours if their guns are lost or stolen.

“While states across the country have taken steps to strengthen gun laws, America continues to fall victim to gun violence,” Deutch said in a statement, according to the Sun-Sentinel. “We need to take immediate action before another mass tragedy unfolds, and tomorrow is too late to start. Mike Bloomberg will make gun safety a national priority and he has a plan that could actually prevent these atrocities from happening.”

The article by the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism in the February issue of its Journeys publication featured five rabbis who “meet people where they are.” Among other things, the rabbis organized events in cafes and ice cream shops to engage Jews outside of the synagogue.

But the article, which is no longer available online, quickly drew criticism on social media for its lack of gender diversity.

One of the rabbis on the list, Jesse Olitzky of Congregation Beth El in South Orange, New Jersey, even wrote in a comment Wednesday on his Facebook page that he was “embarrassed and ashamed” that he hadn’t asked about who else was being featured on the list and “that only male rabbis are represented.”

Another Conservative rabbi, Daniel Novick, posted his own list on Facebook of five female rabbis “meeting people where they are.”

On Thursday, United Synagogue addressed the article in a Facebook post.

“We apologize and take full responsibility,” the organization wrote. “We understand the kind of message this type of omission can send, and we are profoundly sorry. ”

United Synagogue also noted the many female speakers at its recent conferences and “will continue to use this as an opportunity to look inward to further examine our internal processes for engaging, gathering, and sharing stories of our community.”

The Conservative movement has been ordaining women as rabbis since 1985.