'Obama's rabbi': Support for Israel doesn't mean blanket approval

[Scurrilous]

'If I see my brother or sister doing something I believe is truly harmful to them - I'm going to say something.'

<snip>

"After Rabbi David Saperstein was appointed by U.S. President Barack Obama to a White House volunteer advisory council of religious and secular leaders and scholars, some called him "Obama's rabbi."

Saperstein, however, is more cautious with definitions. Named America's top rabbi by Newsweek, Rabbi David Saperstein is quick to supply a disclaimer: "They have my mother on the committee."

Saperstein has served for more than 30 years as a leader of the Union for Reform Judaism's Religious Action Center and is the leader of the Washington D.C.-based lobbying arm of the North American Reform movement.

This week, he sat down to speak with Haaretz on Israel, the peace process, Iran, gay marriage and spirituality.

While he stressed the importance of the connection between U.S. Jews and Israel, the rabbi said he didn't feel support for the country necessarily meant blanket approval of its actions.

"If I see my brother or sister doing something that I believe is truly harmful to them - I'm going to say something even if they are adults that make their own decisions," he said.

"You don't really show your love to someone by remaining silent when they're doing something counterproductive or might harm someone else - if you will say that in order to be supporter of Israel you must agree with all its policies - you're going to alienate millions of people who think of themselves as active Israel supporters."

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[villager]

1. Good for him. As a Jew, I've always held this view toward Israel - likewise, as an American, toward

...my own government...

[IndianaGreen]

2. K&R

Saperstein added a warning about global warming, which he said "threatens to destabilize the whole world, and there is no Noah's Arc to protect the Jewish community if global warming erodes the earth's environmental infrastructure - it's up to us to do something about it now.

http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1081188.html

:kick:

[azurnoir]

3. Just had a vision of boat building becoming

very popular in some settlements