Melanie Phillips is a highly respected, conservative-leaning journalist in the UK. She had a very Jewish background, though not Orthodox, to the best of my knowledge. She has written for The Guardian, the New Statesman, The Times of London, and is periodically featured in The Jerusalem Post.
On June 21, in a blog called Substack, Ms. Phillips wrote a scathing article regarding the directive of British Chief Rabbi Ephraim Yitzchak Mirvis to parents and teachers dealing with children with various psychological disorders who figure transitioning to a new gender is the cool way to overcome their anxieties. In a position paper issued by the chief rabbi five years ago, schools are advised not to inform parents about their child’s struggles, as this would be a harmful breach of confidentiality.
Phillips engaged Rabbi Mirvis’ assistant via email to see if the position of the chief rabbi has changed in today’s climate. In short, the answer she received was that the statements were taken out of context. Ms. Phillips went on to show that was rubbish! She printed the entire statement of the chief rabbi, which made it quite clear that if Jewish teachers are to adhere to the chief rabbi’s instructions, they are advised not to inform parents.
Ms. Phillips rightfully bemoans the fact that even some Orthodox rabbis have fallen into the social trap and have traded in family and Torah values for woke values. If we can’t count on the Orthodox rabbinate to uphold normalcy, then whom can we count on?
She is equally disturbed by the Church of England abdicating to the social warriors of today. In the past, they were reliable allies to fight the moral fight, but now they are reduced to utter silence.
Last week, I had the honor of meeting Speaker of the House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy [California Republican] in his Washington office together with Rabbi Yaakov Menken, both of us representing the Coalition for Jewish Values (CJV). We spent a half hour in his office, speaking with him and several aides. In the brief time we were there, we managed to talk about the scourge of anti-Semitism on college campuses, especially CUNY Law.
We brought to his attention Republican Congressman Mike Lawler from Upstate New York, who is submitting legislation that will bar any federal funding for institutions that tolerate anti-Semitism from its staff or graduates. Mr. McCarthy was so rattled at the thought of anti-Semitism today. “It is unbelievable,” he said. “We will have to do everything to fight it.”
Melanie Phillips is 100 percent correct. There is no Orthodox Jewish leadership. Not in the organized lay organizations. Not in the rabbinic organizations. Can you name the last time you saw a rabbinic organization issuing any meaningful statement about CUNY or transgender/LGBTQ issues? Anything about terrorism without politically correct additives? Only the CJV, which I am honored to serve as president, tells it like it is.
How about the lay organizations? Besides the Zionist Organization of America, have you seen any of them issue forceful statements, other than an occasional hit and run?
Besides the CJV, have any of them pointed to the flawed anti-Semitism initiative of the Biden/Lipstadt statement? One very frum organization applauded the statement, much to our surprise. When I asked them why they did that, the answer was that we must welcome the effort.
What effort? It made matters worse! Witness the CUNY Law School graduation and the Nazi gatherings in front of shuls in Florida. According to the Biden/Nexus platform, nothing legally can be done.
It emerges that we have no leadership, which is nothing new for me to say. But, alas! We have no rabbinic leadership in the Orthodox community either. Thus, was the CJV created. And we are doing our utmost to fill the void.
So, whom must we count on to help us? Politicians! That’s who. People like Republicans Speaker Kevin McCarthy and Congressman Mike Lawler, as well as Senators Ted Cruz (Texas) and Marco Rubio (Florida). Mention must also be made of former State Assemblyman Dov Hikind, who does heroically speak up. The same goes for New York City Councilwoman Inna Vernikov (Brooklyn Republican) and Democratic Congressman Ritchie Torres (the Bronx). We are in the position now of having to adopt political leaders in place of our lay and religious leaders to fight our battles. Yes, Rabbi Kevin McCarthy.
Before I sign off, I plead with you to reach out to our State Senator Toby Ann Stavisky. Remind her, that she so “bravely” wrote an open letter to Yeshiva University together with another Jewish colleague threatening to remove state funds from YU due to their alleged intolerance of LGBTQ. Has she written anything public about the CUNY outrage? I tried calling her and emailing her. No response to date. The same can be said of our Jewish NYC Comptroller Brad Lander, who followed the footsteps of Stavisky. Her phone numbers are: 518-455-3461 (Albany) and 718-445-0004 (Flushing), and her email address is This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Rabbi Yoel Schonfeld is the Rabbi Emeritus of the Young Israel of Kew Gardens Hills, President of the Coalition for Jewish Values, former President of the Vaad Harabonim of Queens, and the Rabbinic Consultant for the Queens Jewish Link.