Leading US Reform rabbi in Yom Kippur sermon: Unhinged, obsessive loathing of Israel is corrupting US values
Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch, a leading US Reform figure, used his Yom Kippur sermon to warn that hatred of Israel is corrupting American values. He urged Jews to support only politicians who back them, called on young Jews to take leadership roles amid rising hostility, and cautioned against being enslaved to political tribes, noting hatred exists on both right and left.
Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch, a leading voice in the US Reform community and senior rabbi of the Stephen Wise Free Synagogue in Manhattan, delivered a Yom Kippur sermon on Monday calling on Jews to hedge their support for politicians and warning that hatred of Israel is corrupting the US. He urged the Jewish community to support only politicians who support them and their liberal vision for America, and not to give to organizations that betrayed them after October 7. Hirsch warned that unhinged and obsessive loathing of Israel is corrupting American values, and if allowed to spread, it is not only Jews who will pay the price, but America too. He called on Jews to stay and fight through protesting, advocacy, lobbying and political activity, and cautioned against being enslaved to political tribes, noting hatred exists on both the right and the left. The speech came amid a fraught political season for centrist Jews, with the Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed unnerving Jews with his harsh criticism of Israel and alliance with extremist streamer Hasan Piker, and anti-Zionist politicians winning elections in New York. Hirsch drew a continuity between historical persecution and contemporary discrimination, saying to be a Jew is to be part of a nation that others seek to harm.