April 17, 2024

For roughly half a century, Jewish-American participation in this country’s politics has been defined by essentially two issues: Israel and abortion. Both Middle Eastern geopolitics and domestic U.S. social and cultural issues had been of significant importance to Jewish voters for many years previously, but the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision in January of 1973 and the Yom Kippur War between Israel and coalition of Arab states nine months later introduced a new era in how American Jews cast their ballots in U.S. elections. 

But never have those two issues played such a dominant role in a presidential election as both are poised to do in this year’s campaign. As Joe Biden and Donald Trump continue to push forward in what will be the longest general election campaign in our history (featuring the two oldest and the two least-liked candidates of all time to boot), there is no shortage of issues that both will attempt to use to their benefit. But it is only slightly oversimplifying an exceedingly complicated race to say that one or both of these two matters will determine the election’s outcome.

If Biden defeats Trump, it will be because of abortion. If the president is beaten by his predecessor, it will be a direct result of the events that have roiled Israel since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack.

Let’s start with American politics. Large majorities of Jewish voters in this country have always leaned Democratic, primarily on the basis of preferring a more liberal path on a range of social and cultural issues, from civil rights to gun control to same-sex marriage. But no matter of public policy has catalyzed domestic political engagement more than the issue of abortion rights. When Republicans have argued over the years that their more aggressive support of Israel should earn them more support from Jewish voters, they often learn that many American Jews place a higher priority on these domestic policy matters than on Middle Eastern concerns.

Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe two years ago, Democrats have leveraged the threat of a ban on legal abortions into an extremely effective motivational tool to motivate their most loyal supporters, The majority of American Jews are among those Democratic base voters who have rallied on behalf of reproductive rights, first in the 2022 midterm elections and then in several statewide ballot initiatives around the country. Despite the large numbers of progressive voters who remain uninspired by Biden, the abortion issue (along with distaste for Trump himself) is by far the most effective way for the president to excite his party base. If he is reelected in November, voter support for legal abortion will be the chief reason.

As we are all painfully aware, the broad bipartisan support for Israel that characterized most of the first several decades of the Jewish state’s modern existence is no more.

The question of Israel and its future has disrupted the political landscape in a much less expected fashion. As we are all painfully aware, the broad bipartisan support for Israel that characterized most of the first several decades of the Jewish state’s modern existence is no more. And while nationalists on the extreme right pose an increasingly menacing antisemitic threat, it is the anger from the far left toward Israel in the wake of the Oct. 7 massacre that has the potential to upend this election. 

Biden had already been facing significant unrest from his party’s base on issues such as climate change, police reform and student loans long before the Hamas attack. But Gaza has become a catalyst for progressive dissatisfaction on any number of foreign and domestic policy matters. Most of these voters would never dream of casting a ballot for Trump, but their willingness to support a third party candidate or sit home altogether represents what may be the greatest danger to Biden’s reelection hopes. The White House would like nothing more than to have Gaza off the front pages before November, but their continuing difficulty in achieving even a temporary ceasefire and the rapidly changing hostilities between Israel and Iran suggest the immense difficulties in achieving that goal. 

Abortion is the issue that can reelect Biden. Israel is the issue that can defeat him. It’s no more complicated than that.

Dan Schnur is the U.S. Politics Editor for the Jewish Journal. He teaches courses in politics, communications, and leadership at UC Berkeley, USC and Pepperdine. He hosts the monthly webinar “The Dan Schnur Political Report” for the Los Angeles World Affairs Council & Town Hall. Follow Dan’s work at www.danschnurpolitics.com.

It’s been a strange week for Jews worldwide. For those who have seldom suffered from anxiety before (do such Jews even exist?), this week proved the right time to begin reading Yelp reviews for local psychiatrists. Somehow, a direct Iranian attack against Israel has a way of turning even the calmest Jew into an anxious, smartphone-clutching wreck.

I almost didn’t write this column, which is a continuation of last week’s column on the imperative for Jews today to take better care of themselves physically, emotionally and spiritually. Ironically, while imploring fellow Jews to engage in radical self-love, I fell into a spiral of anxiety and deep concern over the prospect of war between Iran and Israel, because Iranian Jews like myself have a deeper understanding of the unimaginable capabilities of the regime in Tehran. 

I enjoyed a few hours of peace after Shabbat ended and I learned that miraculously, 99% of the Iranian missiles and suicide drones were intercepted. But then, I had another thought: What if Iran merely treated the attack as a test to see if and how its weapons could reach Israel? You know, the same Islamic Republic of Iran that is currently Chair of the U.N. Conference on Disarmament? It would have been a near-perfect opportunity for a weapons test disguised as retaliation against Israel.

Naturally, I haven’t been myself this week. “Whenever people see or experience hate, discrimination, or violence, it shakes up their sense of safety and well-being, leading to an increase in stress, anxiety, and general hypervigilance,” Suri Nowosiolski, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and owner and founder of Cognitive Connections Plus, Inc., told me. “When we live in that heightened emotional state for an extended period, it creates emotional vulnerability — you might find yourself more sensitive to things that might not otherwise have bothered you before.”

In my case, that oversensitivity resulted in waking up in the middle of the night this weekend and believing my Pico-Robertson neighborhood was under Iranian ballistic missile attack. The loud sounds turned out to be fireworks. 

I asked Nowosiolski, who is particularly skilled at working with youth, for some tips for self-soothing, because I believe that a radically self-loving Jew, or any self-loving person, for that matter, should know how to soothe themselves. Nowosiolski told me about Dr. Marsha Linehan, founder of Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), who offers various tools that help reduce emotional vulnerability during periods of chronic stress. “Among the ones that I try to adhere to are eating well, sleeping well, avoiding drugs and alcohol, getting enough exercise, and doing at least one thing that I enjoy every day,” Nowosiolski said.

Research has proven the effectiveness of these tools, which professionals call “ABC PLEASE.” Nowosiolski was kind enough to share these tools with me, based on a worksheet that she uses with her clients. The tools are as follows: 

Accumulate Positive Experiences: “Engage in activities that bring you joy and fulfillment in the short term and build a life that you find meaningful and satisfying in the long term. This helps create a buffer against negative emotions.”

Build Mastery: “Do things that make you feel competent and in control. Engaging in activities where you can see your progress or success helps boost confidence and reduces feelings of helplessness.”

 Cope Ahead: “Prepare for potential emotional situations by thinking about how you can cope effectively. Plan how you might handle a difficult situation and practice your coping strategies in advance.”

As for “PLEASE,” it is an acronym that stands for taking care of your Physical ILlness, Eating balanced meals, Avoiding mood-altering substances, Sleeping well, and Exercising regularly. “This skill emphasizes the importance of taking care of your physical health as a foundation for emotional well-being,” said Nowosiolski.

I asked three Jewish colleagues how they have managed to practice radical self-love. “The greatest and most radical response to a post-Oct. 7 world is to do Jewish — what this means demands a deepened and self-reflective reckoning,” Rabbi Lori Shapiro, founder of The Open Temple in Venice, CA told me. “Doing Jewish in a post-Oct. 7 world is a call for Jewish innovation, risk-taking and creativity. A spiritual, alchemical innovation inflection point of the Jewish heart, mind and soul transforming both what it means to be Jewish as well as what it means to be.” 

At Open Temple, Shapiro said, community members “continue to engage in radical ritual, filled with collaborations of music, performance art and community gatherings.” Shapiro invites Jews worldwide to “Join the Jewish Renaissance. From the tears of the Second Temple, rabbinic Judaism was born,” she said. “From the tears and ashes of this time, we will create something more urgent and meaningful together.”

Yael Swerdlow, the Los Angeles-based CEO/founder of Maestro Games, SPC, said that she is “holding even more passionately to my staunch belief in my purpose — why I am here: Tikkun Olam, to repair the world.” Maestro Games offers a groundbreaking virtual reality platform that helps everyone from first responders to those with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) access nonpharmaceutical intervention and healing. 

Swerdlow told me that she is “speaking even more publicly about being actively involved in Jewish and Israeli humanitarian causes.” She serves on the board of Shelters for Israel and, in late January, traveled to Israel “to begin deploying” her company’s trauma healing technology to the country. She also wears her Magen David proudly. “This does not mean I am not worried, or scared,” she said. “I am. It means I will not give in and am fighting back as much as I can against the hate.”

And then, there is Rabbi Daniel Bouskila, the international director of the Sephardic Educational Center who, with his wife, Peni, recently made aliyah. He shared one of the most endearing stories I have heard about unabashed self-love and taking care of oneself on one’s own terms: “On Oct. 9, I went to my local Steimatzky book store in Ramat Hasharon, and decided upon a new form of self-care,” Bouskila said. “I chose a pile of classic Israeli children’s books. When paying, here’s how the conversation went: ‘For your kids?’ ‘No, for me.’ ‘You know what, you’re absolutely right; smart decision.’”

Despite so many grueling (and expensive) preparations, Passover, which begins Monday night, is an excellent time to love ourselves as Jews. 

Despite so many grueling (and expensive) preparations, Passover, which begins Monday night, is an excellent time to love ourselves as Jews. The holiday is, in fact, a love letter from ancient Jews to modern Jews, and I believe that any act on behalf of Passover, from hiding a box of chametz-filled cereal in a closed cupboard to cleaning our cars or refraining from enjoying our favorite condiment for just one week, is also an act of self-love, because there is much self-love to be found in self-discipline. 

Rabbi Dov Wagner of Chabad at USC reminded me that even in one of the “darker” Torah portions, such as the recent “Tazria” (to give birth”), the focus is on life. Tazria, said Wagner, begins with a brief mention of a woman giving birth — the Brit Milah on the eighth day and some of the attendant rules that follow. “And there seems to be a message there,” he wrote in an email to the USC Chabad listserv: “On positivity. On finding the light and the joy, even as we know that not everything is rosy. That trait has kept our people going for millennia, and I have no doubt that it will continue to keep us growing and thriving until the next celebrations to come.”

Wagner’s words reminded me of Rabbi Tzvi Freeman’s response on chabad.org to someone who asked him why he saw so many clips of Jews in Israel, from IDF soldiers to protesters at rallies to passengers at airports, dancing. “I don’t get it,” the person asked. “The situation is so dire. Why is everyone dancing?”

“If you can express the joy in your heart at seeing the wondrous and eternal togetherness of the Jewish People once again rising to the surface, sing it out loud and let the world know,” Freeman responded. “It’s not mindless. It’s not frivolous. It’s serious joy.”

May we experience a deeply meaningful, eye-opening Passover filled with gently-deflated egos, freedom through self-compassion and the ubiquity of some very serious joy.

Tabby Refael is an award-winning writer, speaker and weekly columnist for The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles. Follow her on X and Instagram @TabbyRefael.