A Yiddish word meaning to pull, yank or tug, schlep is a good way of describing what it took for Mike Bender to persuade his grandparents to vote for Sen. Barack Obama for president.
Bender's grandparents, Kenny and Selma Furst, 90 and 87 years old, should have been an easy sell to support the Democratic nominee for president.
Like many of the estimated 650,000 Jews living in Florida, the Fursts are lifelong, passionate Democrats and a crucial vote for any Democratic candidate hoping to win the battleground state.
But when Bender -- who is not affiliated with Obama's campaign but supports him -- brought up the idea of voting for Obama over Thanksgiving dinner last year, he was met with an uncharacteristic silence.
"Their reaction was, as they said, 'I'm a little meschugah,' " Bender said, adding that the expression meant "crazy."
For Selma Furst, voting for an African-American for president seemed unthinkable. 
Watch a "few little known Jewish facts" on Obama »
"I grew up with Jewish people and Italian people, but I never lived in a neighborhood that was black," she said. "Somebody said to me, 'What do you object to about him?' I said, well, truthfully, our colors are different."
Overcoming the prejudices of his grandparents' generation would be difficult, Bender realized. But he was not going to be alone.
Ari Wallach, co-executive director of Jews Vote, a Jewish advocacy group, also said he saw reluctance among some older, traditionally Democratic Jews to support Obama.
But Wallach said it wasn't just a question of race. He cited a months-long misleading Internet campaign that aimed to convince voters that Obama is a Muslim or that he would reverse the United States' policy of supporting Israel. Obama is Christian and says he backs a strong U.S.-Israel relationship."The older demographic particularly were being hit with tons and tons of Obama smear e-mails," Wallach said. "If you really want to talk to them in a way that will bring them over to the Obama side, you want to do it one to one, ideally with people they love. And grandparents love no one more than their grandkids."
And so the Great Schlep was born. The idea was that young, Jewish Democrats would flood Florida and convince their elders that voting for Obama was OK. To get the word out about the Great Schlep, Wallach and his colleagues turned to comedian Sarah Silverman. Silverman makes the case for Obama in a Web video in which she attempts to show similarities -- some tenuous -- between an African-American man and an older Jewish woman. She raves about the Democratic candidate's brisket and points out that Barack comes from the Hebrew word for "lightning." Watch the Great Schlep »
The video ends with Silverman advising Obama supporters to let their grandparents know that should they fail to vote Democratic in the presidential election in November, maybe they shouldn't expect many more family visits. [...]
It is a shame when a person's skin color is has to also color a person's talent, intelligence, social status, and ambitions. Barack Obama's story should serve as a window into not only what it means to be a person of color but also what it means to be a multiracial person. Because his name isn't Freddie Johnson, it serves to conjure up images of the exotic and unknown. Although he has been raised by white people in mostly white environments, his color brings along stereotypes of the possibility of being an "angry black man," or the perfect example of those spoken of in "the bell curve."
ReplyDeleteThere really should be a better relationship between most blacks and Jews being that we tend to go hand in hand when it comes to being hated.
This article is part of an ongoing media campaign attempting to portray anyone who doesn't intend to vote for Obama as either racist or ignorant.
ReplyDeleteWhile there may be some such cases, the attempt to portray the bulk of older Jews in this light is offensive. To use such a claim to justify engaging in coercive campaign of emotional blackmail is inexcusable.
Sarah Silverman broke up with her Gentile boyfriend, Jimmy Kimmel very publicly last Pesach. She encouraged other Jews contemplating intermarriage to think about it good and hard. She has my vote for fighting the war against assimilation and intermarriage. And that is the most critical issue facing American Jews today.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the upcoming election goes, both McCain and Obama hate Jews. Both of their pastors, Hagee and Wright hate Jews. Both of their running mates also hate Jews. Biden wants to stop supporting Israel and Palin thinks that Israelis deserve to die in terrorist attacks because they don't accept Jesus.
What is really the difference?
America ranks #42 in life expectancy, #44 in infant mortality despite the fact that we spend double per capita of any other nation on health care.
An unhealthy nation is an unproductive nation.
Obama's shadow looms...what will it mean for Jews if he were to win?
ReplyDeleteSarah Silverman is the ultimate toilet mouth and frankly it is surprising that such a walking chillul Hashem like she is should even get mentioned on this honorable blog. But since Rabbi Eidensohn/da'as torah has seen fit to drag this onto his blog, it is only fair that readers be made aware of a couple of important rejoinders:
Firstly, see the short video rebuttal at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bKWdMwAnY0 that Jackie Mason made against Sarah Silverman's foul-mouthed rant that encourages Jewish kids to blackmail and threaten their own grandparents.
Secondly, not to mention the well-known fact that Obama joined and for TWENTY years that Obama belonged to a liberationist church run by his spiitual leader Rev Wright, who married him to his juts as radical wife (only when the virulent videos of Wright cursing America did Obama quit) and had him baptised as Christian after Obama was definitely raised as a Muslim and is probabaly not even a US citizen, see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gA6_k3NtXZs and http://docs.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/pennsylvania/paedce/2:2008cv04083/281573/13/ (a pdf version of the case pending against Obama that proves he was probably born in Kenya and definitely became an INdonesian citzen), and even more alarming he has been endorsed and praised by none other than the worst anti-semite in America, Louis Farrakhan who has publicly described Obama as "the MESSIAH" see it for yourself at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OowxMcVTjTE
Thirdly, at the same time, the attacks against McCain running mate Governor Sraha Palin of Alaska have been unrelenting by Obama supporters. Some throw up worry that McCain is too old, but ANY president can die in office and one cannot go around thinking like that. President Kennedy was very young when he was assassinated and he was succeeded by an older man. Ronald Reagan was 70 when he became president and he survived an assassination attempt and served two full terms till he was 78. So age is NEVER the key to Presidential elections or the fate of presidents in the age of excellent health care and longevity. John McCain's mother is already 98, yes NINETY EIGHTY, and alert and full of life, so he has a long way to go! Nor do vice presidents matter all that much, regardless of their personal views.
The important thing is to focus on the main contenders for the presidency and unfortunately Obama is a total unknown (did people know he is still a heavy smoker, but his image people and the media hide it!) and he very wet behind the ears, he has NO executive experience, and he has associated with his racist "pastor" Wright for TWENTY years http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mk3LXvVlsI4 of "God damn America" notoriety , who also gave him the title for his book "Audacity of Hope" -- why does he have to rely on "audacity" in any case? Obama's wife Michelle http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4pSFrHfMWs&NR=1 admitted to not being proud of America till her husband got to run for president. She is an ingrate and Obama did not become a Christian till he met her. Before that, his mother was an anarchist-atheist and both his biological father (from Kenya who abandoned him when he was 2) and his step-father (from Indonesia that his mother later divorced) were both Muslims http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSemkPChvHo (MEMRI video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mk3LXvVlsI4 ) and eventually Obama was raised by his grandparents (mom's parents) while she ran around Asia (in Islamic countries) for the UN doing who knows what, but he still has sympathy for his Muslim heritage, it seems to be on his mind http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMUgNg7aD8M&NR=1 (Obama's slip on live TV about "My Muslim faith").
If all that does not worry Jews and Americans, it is a lot scarier then what Governor Sarah Palin thinks or does. After all what she does is the typical frontier story of how America was settled, and Alaska is the last frontier in many ways so why the surprise that she hunts and wants to drill for oil, since when is that not patriotic? And Governor Sarah Palin was approved by the Chabad rabbi of Alaska who knows her well http://www.vosizneias.com/19873/2008/08/31/alaska-chabad-rabbi-sarah-palin-a-great-friend-the-jewish-community/ and she has a special magical touch that noone in this campaign has shown, see this interesting article: http://blog.thejewishweek.com/post/Sarah_Palin_Shliach.html
By the way, it is considered to be highly derogatory and racist to call someone a "red-neck" in America especially coming from a supposed "highly educated woman" who should know better.
In the meantime, look at this informative talk (already viewed about 400,000 times already) on YouTube by Jackie Mason http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZ5c6hxqXq4 who says a few interesting things about Obama's lies.
Finally, I have just received the following Email from a concerned hard-working Jewish mother with young children, that is whorthwhile reading, noting and disseminating:
"GLOBAL BLINDNESS??
To All My Friends, this is long, but very important, please take the time to read it.
This election has me very worried. So many things to consider.. About a year ago I would have voted for Obama. I have changed my mind three times since than. I watch all the news channels, jumping from one to another. I must say this drives my husband crazy. But, I feel if you view MSNBC, CNN, and Fox News, you might get some middle ground to work with. About six months ago, I started thinking 'where did the money come from for Obama'. I have four daughters who went to College, and we were middle class, and money was tight. We (including my girls) worked hard and there were lots of student loans. I started looking into Obama's life.
Around 1979 Obama started college at Occidental in California. He is very open about his two years at Occidental, he tried all kinds of drugs and was wasting his time but, even though he had a brilliant mind, did not apply himself to his studies. 'Barry' (that was the name he used all his life) during this time had two roommates, Muhammad Hasan Chandoo and Wahid Hamid, both from Pakistan. During the summer of 1981, after his second year in college, he made a 'round the world' trip. Stopping to see his mother in Indonesia, next Hyderabad in India , three weeks in Karachi , Pakistan where he stayed with his roommate's family, then off to Africa to visit his father's family. My question - Where did he get the money for this trip? Nether I, nor any one of my children would have had money for a trip like this when they where in college. When he came back he started school at Columbia University in New York. It is at this time he wants everyone to call him Barack - not Barry. Do you know what the tuition is at Columbia? It's not cheap to say the least. Where did he get money for tuition? Student Loans? Maybe. After Columbia, he went to Chicago to work as a Community Organizer for $12,000. a year. Why Chicago? Why not New York ? He was already living in New York.
By 'chance' he met Antoin 'Tony' Rezko, born in Aleppo Syria , and a real estate developer in Chicago . Rezko has been convicted of fraud and bribery this year. Rezko, was named 'Entrepreneur of the Decade' by the Arab-American Business and Professional Association'. About two years later, Obama entered Harvard Law School. Do you have any idea what tuition is for Harvard Law School? Where did he get the money for Law School? More student loans? After Law school, he went back to Chicago. Rezko offered him a job, which he turned down. But, he did take a job with Davis, Miner, Barnhill & Galland.. Guess what? They represented 'Rezar' which is Rezko's firm. Rezko was one of Obama's first major financial contributors when he ran for office in Chicago. In 2003, Rezko threw an early fundraiser for Obama which Chicago Tribune reporter David Mendelland claims was instrumental in providing Obama with 'seed money' for his U.S. Senate race. In 2005, Obama purchased a new home in Kenwoood District of Chicago for $1.65 million (less than asking price). With ALL those Student Loans - Where did he get the money for the property? On the same day Rezko's wife, Rita, purchased the adjoining empty lot for full price. The London Times reported that Nadhmi Auchi, an Iraqi-born Billionaire loaned Rezko $3.5 million three weeks before Obama's new home was purchased. Obama met Nadhmi Auchi many times with Rezko.
Now, we have Obama running for President. Valerie Jarrett, was Michele Obama's boss. She is now Obama's chief advisor and he does not make any major decisions without talking to her first. Where was Jarrett born? Ready for this? Shiraz, Iran ! Do we see a pattern here? Or am I going crazy?
On May 10, 2008 The Times reported, Robert Malley advisor to Obama was 'sacked' after the press found out he was having regular contacts with 'Hamas', which controls Gaza and is connected with Iran . This past week, buried in the back part of the papers, Iraqi newspapers reported that during Obama's visit to Iraq, he asked their leaders to do nothing about the war until after he is elected, and he will 'Take care of things'...
Oh, and by the way, remember the college roommates that where born in Pakistan ? They are in charge of all those 'small' Internet campaign contribution for Obama. Where is that money coming from? The poor and middle class in this country? Or could some of it it be from the Middle East ?
And the final bit of news. On September 7, 2008, The Washington Times posted a verbal slip that was made on 'This Week' with George Stephanapoulos. Obama on talking about his religion said, 'My Muslim faith'. When questioned, 'he make a mistake'. Some mistake!
All of the above information I got on line. If you would like to check it - Wikipedia, encyclopedia, Barack Obama; then search: Barack Obama and Tony Rezko; and again search Barack Obama and Valerie Jarrett. Each time these are separate searches. Here's another one Daily Times - Obama visited Pakistan in 1981; The Washington Times - September 7, 2008; The Times May 10, 2008.
Now the BIG question - If I found out all this information on my own, Why haven't all of our 'intelligent' members of the press been reporting this?
A phrase that keeps ringing in my ear - 'Beware of the enemy from within'!!!"