Open Letter to Jewish Leaders in Kentucky and the Nation

To Jewish Leaders and Opinion Makers,

I have just arrived in Louisville as a volunteer with the Hillary Clinton campaign and spent a lovely shabbat morning at Congregation Adath Jeshurun.  On the occasion of ISRAEL60, I am pleased to reach out to you on behalf of her campaign and feel privileged to do this as I have worked for many years in the Jewish world, and Hillary has been my Senator for 8 years.  As Senator from New York, and in her many years of public service, she has a distinguished record on social and international issues traditionally important to Jewish communities.  This was recognized in the recent New York primary where she received 65% of the Jewish Democratic vote.  

I will be glad to answer any questions you have about her positions and the importance of her election as President to the work we all do.  Hillary is a proud practitioner of tikun olam!

I also wanted you to see this Open Letter from a campaign volunteer:

AN OPEN LETTER TO KENTUCKY'S JEWISH VOTERS    from Aaron Guldenschuh, a campaign volunteer

I am voting for Hillary Clinton on May 20 and I invite you to join me. There are so many compelling reasons to back her candidacy, reasons that have their genesis in the traditional social and economic concerns of the Jewish community along with her deep understanding of, and passion for Israel as a democratic ally.

Hillary Clinton is a known quantity to the Jewish community.  As Senator from New York, we know that she has the overwhelming support of Jews throughout New York State where she twice pulled together strong winning coalitions of Democrats, Republicans and Independents to convincingly beat back well-financed, aggressive Republican campaigns. We know that she won 64% of Jewish votes in the PA primary last month.

We know that her health care plan is affordable and will cover every American.  We know that she has a specific remedy for the dreadful wave of housing foreclosures that are devastating families and communities across our state.

We know that she has worked hard for decades on behalf of women and children, and advocates universal pre-kindergarten as a way of giving all children an opportunity to realize their full potential.  We know that she supports greater financial aid to make college a reality for all students who qualify.  We know that she is known, loved and respected around the world where we need so badly to restore our credibility and leadership.

We know that former Ambassador to Israel Martin Indyk has said that, given the complexity of the region and the small margin of error for Israel, Senator Clinton is the only person to be President.  We know that she has a deep and abiding commitment to a strong US-Israel alliance rooted in our shared traditions of democracy, free expression, women's rights, the rule of law, and our joint commitment to peace, freedom, and regional prosperity.  We know she believes that this unbreakable bond, which has been a hallmark of American foreign policy for 60 years, must continue to be the cornerstone of America's Middle East policy.

We know she recognizes that Israel is a most important strategic ally against the scourge of terrorism and radicalism, and that she has proven this commitment by consistently leading the way in support of legislation that strengthens the relationship between Israel and the United States.  We know that she is a leading spokesperson for energy independence and developing green jobs for millions of Americans.

We know that Barack Obama gives a good speech. We know that he has spoken out on behalf of Israel as an important ally in the Middle East.  We know, however, that until it became politically inconvenient, he proudly took his inspiration from a pastor who has often made racist, divisive and anti-semitic pronouncements, and we question his judgment in willingly exposing his children to that pastor's brew of hate.

We know his health care proposals diverge from the traditional Democratic commitment to cover every American.  We know that we do not know many of his foreign and domestic policy issues in depth.   

We know that while he claims to have consistently opposed the Iraq war, he has actually voted identically to Senator Clinton on every Iraq vote and told the New Yorker in October 2006 that he did not know how he would have voted on the 2002 Iraq Resolution if he had been in the Senate at the time.  We know that he bought his house for way below market rate and then bought land next door from his good friend and indicted donor, Tony Rezko.

We know that he asks us to judge him on his values, judgement and experience, and many of us have come to understand that he disappoints deeply on each of these counts.

We have a historic opportunity to choose the best person for President in 2008. That person, by everything important to the Jewish community, is Hillary Clinton. 

Shavua tov,

Ricki Lieberman

917-301-4407