It was inevitable. As things took an overheated turn in Minnesota, the familiar chorus of Rabbis rose in unison to invoke the Torah in support of their preferred partisan outcome. Once again, instead of prioritizing authentic Torah learning, these communal leaders decided to invoke nebulous “Jewish values” to express their personal political opinions. This is not the way.

Immigration is a highly complex issue, fraught with conflicting policy considerations as our country balances national security with civil rights and a proud history of welcoming those less fortunate to our shores. Although I spent years representing clients pro bono in political asylum cases, this article is not the place to offer a solution to this perpetual hot button issue – other than to acknowledge that both Republicans and Democrats have exploited it for their own selfish purposes.

As for what happened in Minnesota, I think it’s safe to assume that most reasonable-minded people would agree that it is inherently tragic for American citizens to die at the hands of a law enforcement officials – i.e., things went too far. But most Americans are also sophisticated enough to recognize that we should not forget how we got here in the first place, including the previously porous borders which led to the equally tragic (and avoidable) deaths of American citizens at the hands of criminals who entered our country illegally. As I said, this is a complex issue.

With respect to the dozens of almost exclusively non-Orthodox Rabbis who leapt enthusiastically into the Minnesota fray, often without any recognition of nuance, I maintain that they would be better served spending that time investing in their congregants’ Judaism – especially when a troubling majority of their congregants are assimilating or intermarrying.

Hashem has........

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