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Is the sacred becoming political?

JL;DR SUMMARY Daniel Elbaum, the executive director of IDF Widows and Orphans USA, discusses an unexpected trend where support for the non-political mission of his organization seems to increasingly align with political leanings. A way out west there was a fella, fella I want to tell you about, fella by the name of Jeff Lebowski. At least, that was the handle his lovin' parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself. This Lebowski, he called himself the Dude. Now, Dude, that's a name no one would self-apply where I come from. But then, there was a lot about the Dude that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. And a lot about where he lived, likewise. But then again, maybe that's why I found the place s'durned innarestin'.

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Tags

Jewish IdentityAmerican JewryPhilanthropyJewish UnityIsrael SupportPoliticizationCommunal ResponsibilityPolitical DividesIdf Widows And OrphansPartisan Lines

Places mentioned

Haifa, Haifa District, Israel
"If we begin to decide which parts of the Jewish story belong to us based on our politics, then we are in danger of something far more serious than a dip in donor diversity. We risk fraying the very fabric that has held us together through centuries of exile, struggle, return, and renewal. I dont pretend to know exactly where this trend leads. But I know this: The moment we allow the politics of the hour to determine which Jewish obligations feel like ours, we lose more than unity. We lose something essential to who we are. And when I think back to that interview question Do you expect most of your donors to come from the political right? I realize that maybe it wasnt really about donors at all. Maybe it was about us. Daniel Elbaum is the executive director of IDF Widows and Orphans USA. The post Is the sacred becoming political?"
Beer Sheva, Southern District, Israel
"It is a question of whether the pain of a widow in Haifa or a child in Beer Sheva still feels like our pain, not the responsibility of someone elses side."
Israel
"In Israel, IDF Widows and Orphans may be the closest thing the politically fractious nation has to a civic consensus institution."
United States
"But in the United States, even responsibilities that once united us appear to be sorting themselves along partisan lines."

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Retrieved 2025-12-16 05:30:39 UTC
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