Open Letter to Jewish American Democrats
By Gene Eydelman | August 2, 2024
Dear American Jews and all Americans,
As a Russian American Jew born in Minsk, Belorussia I have had family who have died in the Holocaust. My grandmother lost both her parents and three sisters and one brother. She survived till 94 and I was able to hear all the stories. My Grandfather Hershel Liberman was a hero at the age of 18 fighting for Russia but was left half paralyzed the rest of his life. He would go on to be a major advocate for Russian Jews coming to the United States. In 1970 he was able to get a visa and came to the US to visit his sister. At that time, he traveled and gave countless speeches in Yiddish on why it’s important to help Russian Jews immigrate to the United States.
In a meeting with the Lubavitcher Rebbe in Crown Heights, he was told that in the coming years Russian Jews will be coming to America and Israel. His efforts were one of the main reasons my family was able to get out in 1979 along with a couple hundred thousand Russian Jews. I am sure you know some Russian Jewish families who came at that time.
As a Russian Jewish American, I have never been more excited by any election. I grew up in Orthodox private schools and went to a very diverse High school in Evanston Township in a suburb of Chicago where I was respected as a good wrestler. I learned to respect others for their merits and the PC movement had become very unnatural to me because I just saw things the way they are. Over the last 8 years I feel the Democratic movement has almost taken us down a path of no return.
When Alan Greenspan was asked about the causes of the financial crisis and if he felt responsible, he answered that he could not foresee the inherent greed of people. This was a man who’s every word moved markets. How could he get it so wrong? Was he too far removed from generations of greed? Perhaps so.
So, to at this time if there was no Donald Trump and the US would continue with a Kamala Harris extending Barack Obama’s and Joe Biden’s polices. Kamala, a woman who appeases all the vicious antisemitism there is today to appease her pro Hamas base. What would History ask the democratic leaders when 20 or 30 years from now it is evident that their policies failed in a major way? What would their answers be?
We did not think that Iran really wanted to destroy Israel especially after all those concessions we provided. We didn’t think that an Iranian nuclear weapon would force the Saudis to get one as well. We didn’t realize putting all this pressure on Russia would force them to fight like they had nothing to lose and wreak havoc on the world. We didn’t understand that by releasing sanctions on Iran during Biden’s first day in office would help Iran finance the Houthis, Hamas, and Hezbollah and there could ever be an October 7th. A day that is proportionally 20 times bigger in damage to Israel then September 11 was to the United States. We didn’t think that the open US border would bankrupt our country and provide terrorists easy entry. We didn’t think China had a long-term plan of creating the biggest army in the world and most credible financial system built on the back of the United States?
If German Jews woke up to the fate that was about to encircle them in the late 30’s they would have fought like hell to preserve their lives, their religion, and their country. They were blinded by a good life of opportunities and success just like American Jews are today. They were blinded just like Alan Greenspan was by his math brain that inherit greed can break his mathematical models.
As Benjamin Netanyahu spoke in our capital on July 23rd with strength, courage, and the mastery of the oratory art he echoed the same tone Winston Churchill had before England entered the war against Nazi Germany. We all know now Churchill was correct and Netanyahu will be correct in his fight. We must wake up to the fact this is our fight as well. These words Netanyahu spoke to roaring applause ring true today, ring true tomorrow, and many years from now just as Churchill was calling out Hitler and the Nazi regime for what it was. Chamberlin appeased Hitler and that is why he lost.
“OUR ENEMIES ARE YOUR ENEMIES
OUR FIGHT IS YOUR FIGHT
OUR VICTORY WILL BE YOUR VICTORY”
Jared Kushner wrote on Op-ed called “The defense of Donald J. Trump” and it brought something to light that is very important. It is the fact that the PC movement has gone so far unchecked that we lose perspective of History and its lessons. The PC movement is opening doors for terrorists, anti-Semites, and racists and if the liberal media is not held in check, we are headed to repeat History.
The defense of Donald Trump as someone who is not anti-Semitic and racist and the recollection of the suffering of Kushner’s family during the Holocaust is poignant. The further any generation or people move from direct suffering of any kind the more laid back they become, and this allows them to forget the lessons of history. Now do you understand why antisemites like to rewrite history?
I do believe Donald J. Trump has the ability to call things the way they are. He is a man at the twilight of his career who does not need to count his money as much anymore and really thinks he can make a difference. It is interesting that in the Torah, or first testament, there is one man that is mentioned more than anyone and he is King David. David was a man who was not perfect by any means. He even married a beautiful woman Batsheva whom he saw from his roof top. He sent Batsheva’s husband to die in battle so he could marry her.
Why is he mentioned so much? The Torah wants to emphasize and put credence to the fact that men are not perfect, but the ones who can repent privately, influence a nation, and direct history for their people in the right direction have brilliance, charisma, and spiritual greatness.
I would like to wish Donald Trump and all the great people who work for his campaign much luck and success. I do believe the United States is an amazing place and this is the time to protect its sovereignty and greatness. I thank God for the miracle that happened on a failed assassination attempt on Donald Trump’s life.
I would also like to wish all American Jews who are voting Democrat this November to wake up as German Jews did not have the foresight to do before the Holocaust. May the United States continue to be a light on to the world and have the strength and foresight to guide our world economically, militarily, and ethically to the best of our ability. God Bless the United States and God Bless Israel.
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About the Author: I was born in Minsk, Belarus in 1978 and my family immigrated to Chicago in 1979. Growing up in Skokie, I attended Solomon Schechter Hebrew day school, and then went to Evanston Township High School. I graduated from Indiana University in 2001 with a degree in Finance. I represented the United States in Judo at the Maccabi Games in Israel 3 times. That is where I met my wife at the opening ceremony.
Comments 24
From your lips to God’s ear, young man!
May your very reasoned words wake up the souls of all Americas.
good piece. it was my privilege and honor to publish this by my friend Gene Eydelman
As someone of Polish ancestry who is not Jewish I am not understanding why Americans of Jewish ancestry and creed wuld support, much less finance the Demoncrats. Perhaps it’s for short term gains but don’t they recognize their grandchildren and beyond will be harmed by the discrimination against today’s American Jewish population? It is appauling to me, a 77 year old person who realizes this type of discrimination, hatred, and irrational anger against one group can suddenly turn and seek destruction against another, and another, and another group… The Holocaust killed millions of Jews but the same “sanitization” methods were used against non-Jewish persons – professors, priests, activists. And, as a simple “Gentile” do Jews supporting Demoncrats, especially with money, not see they are being used? Enabling?
Thank you for the perspective. As a non Jew I wonder constantly at Jewish friends who are so lockstep democrats, hate Trump and don’t look at their own History. I’m a boomer so we had a semblance of history classes all thru grade, high and college and I was not a history major. My father crossed the. Beach in Normandy on D+1/2 to treat the wounded. He never spoke of it. Other uncles would fight other European battles or hop pacific islands to defeat the Axis partner in the far east.
The kumbayah attitude today in the face of the same evil by people who should know better is appalling. You cannot have the jackal at your doorstep. Peace comes from strength. Hamas and Hezbollah don’t care about their citizens. Ideology is all that matters. Millions of civilian lives were lost in WWII. The snowflakes don’t get it. The Dems need the votes in MN and MI to win so they try and play both sides. That is immoral. Another example of their double standard. The open border policy has devastated our country. Teachers unions demand higher pay and Bennie’s yet fail to deliver literate graduates. Just today a headline of a sex offender released in an adjacent county victimized two more innocent women. We need a course correction. Kamala is not it. For all his faults Trump I believe loves the USA.
Those who do not learn from history are condemned to repeat the same mistakes over and over again. Those who do not listen will pay the price. Many Jews and innocent people paid the price for Chamberlin willfully ignoring history. This has happened many times in history, and it is happening again. There is a reason the Left does want history taught in school, and the reason should be apparent – education such as history is dangerous to their goals. Get out and vote, even if you have to hold your nose. To vote without thinking is to repeat history and insure one party rule, with predictable results. Didn’t anyone learn anything from the Chicago mayoral election and the Cook County state’s attorney election?
Correction: Add the word “not” before want in line 5. My typing speed does not match my thought speed, which is probably a good thing.
I hope this column is picked up by RealClear Politics.
Thank you. My prayers go out to those who can not see. I wish, hope, and pray our media written and spoken will see the truth and report it accordingly.
I’m a second generation immigrant from elders who escaped.
How I wish I written their stories.
One day many years ago I was watching The Sound Of Music with my grandma.
She told me of her and her family walking through the Swiss Alps in their escape.
By the way she said it was nothing like the movie depicted. It was a long hard journey.
Beautiful Column, as par always here.
I had the extreme pleasure of getting to know a first generation Jewish lady, a Mediterranean Jew, who told me flat out that Democrat/Leftist Jews are not Jews. She would force her kids to watch Fox News. Fun girl too. Agree that Israel’s fight is our fight. Could be Russia’s fight too, were they not attacked by radical Islamists. I do NOT agree that Ukraine’s fight is our fight, except that its our fight to end, since we more or less started it – we being “He the People” – Obama. We can clean up Obama’s mess, then strip him of his right to vote, if not his citizenship.
I am on board with Professor Dershowitz, eventually we will need to take out the “head of the Octopus” – somehow.
One way to take out the head, is by the United States getting all the way back to its roots, and setting the best example possible for the rest of the world. Please see my ancestral first cousin’s letters to the Hebrew Congregations at Newport Rhode Island, and the oldest Jewish Congregation in the US, Charleston South Carolina – from 1790. All the way back – to the future.
Welcome sir!!
Well said! I so hope and pray those who do not understand, will read this and pay attention.
Well stated.
Marxist, Obama-directed Democrat policies all bet on the ignorance and anger of the American people of select ethnicities.
I pray your excellent observations contributes to proving them wrong.
Extraordinarily well said. Shalom!
Thank you,Gene.
Wonderful, insightful, and poignant article Gene Eydelman. Everyone should read it,…not just for American Jews. Even though it applies to them, in their historical Democrat leanings.
Thank you. Donald Trump is the only true friend of Israel in the mix. How Jewish people stay with Democrats is puzzling. Picking Shapiro should be interesting
Why do so many other groups stay with the Democrats? Because they are incapable of thinking for themselves or about their own best interests. Because it is easier to do what they have been conditioned to do for years, and rather than look around and see how they are being used by the Democrats, they put their heads in the sand and blame somebody else and vote for the same people that put them in this spot. If they ever do wake up, it will be too late.
Here! Here! Mr Edelman. You are so so spot on, keep reminding all of what has happened in the past and what is happening in the present, not just for the Jewish people, but all people that love America. G-d bless the USA AND Israel!! Phil Callozzo CPD ret. AND huge fan of BeBe Netanyahu!!
Any Jewish people who still vote for the Democrats in the upcoming election, especially in light of the political flip-flopping of Biden and Harris are, to use Netanyahu’s analogy, like chickens for KFC or Gays for Gaza.
Trump’s not a smooth talker like St. Barack. He puts his foot in his mouth practically every time he speaks, but I have no doubt that he has this country’s best interest at heart.
It’s sad to see our fellow Americans hatred for Trump winning over love of country.
Because hating Trump is easier than thinking about how America got to this point. Besides, Big Brother is telling the “truth” and it requires too much brainwork to look behind the curtain.
Love the columnists that Submit their honest opinions on your website. Thank you Gene for trying to help America see the truth. God Bless America and God Bless our Jewish Brothers and Sisters.
Gene and Yianni,
I wish there was a media platform that we could use to herald this down to earth piece across the land, so all Americans could be reminded of Israel’s plight as one of allies. It’s never been more dificult to be a friend of the US, that seems able to turn its back on you, in a heartbeat, depending on which way the leftist winds are blowing. Leftists in charge! Such a tragedy. And now with Erdogan of Turkey threatening to attack Israel, how do we reconcile these two allies going at one another? Not sure simple diplomacy will do the job. But letting Israel defend itself against Hamas and Hezbollah, once and for all, might encourage Turkey to stand pat, and let Bibi do the job others have shirked – instead of calling for a worthless “cease fire,” which only helps Hamas re-arm and reposition missiles. But that’s just me….
Just to shed some light on David’s reason to ensure Bathsheba’s husband would be killed in battle. Bathsheba was pregnant by King David, his punishment was the babies death. But she would have been put to death for adultery, since she was widowed everything changed.
I agree with Mr. Eydelman. Jews outsourcing their protection to others did not work out well in Germany and will likely not work out well here in the USA. Rather than spend years learning to play a musical instrument, Jews should routinely do what Mr. Eydelman did: learn and be proficient in a combat art. He chose the foundational combat art to all – the hardest and most demanding of all – wrestling – and then branched out from there. I would only suggest that Jews become full throated supporters of the 2nd and take advantage of the 2nd by becoming proficient in small arms. The fact that many Jews fully support those that want to annihilate them, a political party that despises them, and an psychopathology of self guilt and self loathing is indeed a cause for alarm.
Very well said Gene Eydelman. I remember driving thru the Skokie/Lincolnwood area years back and seeing signs on many a Temple, “Save the Soviet Jews”. I am not a Jew, but a Christian. I was taught both in church & by my parents that the Jews were God’s chosen. They have an everlasting covenant with God Almighty! Though Abraham sired both Isaac & Ishmael, Ishmael side would always be wild & against both Jew & his own brothers as we still see to this day. Thank you for your honesty & to John Kass for having such great contributors.