After testing positive for COVID-19, President Donald Trump leaves the White House for Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on October 2, 2020 (Drew Angerer\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Writing on Alma, Zemel, a former synagogue administrator and current writing student, said he was comfortable wrestling with his feelings and didn\u2019t feel the need for rabbinic guidance. But our tradition offers a rich literature, and indeed debate, about how and when to pray for government leaders and for the health of those whom we do not like \u2014 relevant for the majority of American Jews who are not fans of Trump.<\/p>\n
The Jewish Telegraphic Agency asked rabbis to share the advice they would give a congregant seeking guidance about how to feel about Trump\u2019s illness. Here\u2019s what they told us.<\/p>\n
Rabbi David Wolpe of Sinai Temple in Los Angeles<\/strong>: Rabbi Jason Nevarez of Beth Israel of San Diego<\/strong>: Rabbi Emily Cohen of West End Synagogue in New York City<\/strong>:\u201cBeing a rabbi, I made a study sheet, asking colleagues on Facebook to recommend texts and peppering screenshots of tweets from today\u2019s sages amidst the traditional sources.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe short answer? As usual, Torah is divided on exactly the correct approach, but it seems fairly clear that wishing for harm to befall another has the potential to harm the wisher on a moral level.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are all capable at every moment of listening to our yetzer hatov or yetzer hara \u2014 our instincts for good or for evil. Our sacred texts ask us to choose life. So let\u2019s focus on life \u2014 on acting to preserve and improve life for ourselves and for all who dwell within our borders. Let\u2019s not sully that choice by diverting energy into wishing for or celebrating somebody else\u2019s brush with death.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rabbi Sara Zober of Temple Sinai in Reno, Nevada<\/strong>:I also discussed with a colleague the message it sends to those in marginalized communities to put his name on our list, especially when he is so directly responsible for so much suffering (in a way that has made others\u2019 lives needlessly difficult). I didn\u2019t get any real consensus about that one. We do definitely allow congregants to add names as we recite the Mi Sheberach prayer, and somebody did add the president\u2019s name at that time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rabbi Zach Fredman, formerly of The New Shul in New York City<\/strong>:\u201cDiscussing that question with a friend, I was reminded of a midrash that appears in the commentaries on the Book of Esther, where Haman, the fascist villain, is the archetype of pure evil in the Judaic tradition.<\/p>\n
\u201cTwo variants of the commentary appear. In one, all the trees of the world \u2014 the apple tree and the oak, the willow, the cedar, the olive and the palm \u2014 come before God and beg to be the vehicle for Haman\u2019s death. They want to be the tree that Haman will hang from. In the other variant of the story, all the trees come before God, the same trees, and none wishes to be the tree upon which Haman will be hung. They don\u2019t want to be proximate to evil, they don\u2019t want to be contaminated by his vileness. In the end of both stories, the thorn bush is chosen to be the tree upon which Haman hangs.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are two instincts regarding evil \u2014 the desire to destroy it, and the inclination to flee its reign. Both live in us, and both yearnings have their place. If no one comes to fight Hitler, to protest Trump and the Proud Boys, evil thrives. If we come at him untethered to the wisdom that fighting evil carries the risk of being tainted by it, we are already undone. The line between these two yearnings is flimsy as a thorn. And living one without the other does not leave us whole.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo yes, you can pray for his demise, but you will be changed by that prayer, and maybe not for the better.\u201d<\/p>\n
This piece was lightly adapted from Fredman\u2019s email newsletter.<\/p>\n
Rabbi Jonathan Singer of Congregation Emanu-El in San Francisco<\/strong>: Rabbi Yosie Levine of The Jewish Center in New York City<\/strong>:\u201cBut we pray for more than his recovery. Because penitence is central to our faith, we believe that even those who may have acted badly are capable at any moment of repenting sincerely. In this particular case, it may be too much to hope that a brush with mortality will leave Mr. Trump chastened. He may not return to the oval office having undergone an epiphany about the gravity of this pandemic. And he may not drastically alter his view of mask-wearing. But when it comes to the health and safety of the American people, even the most modest change could save thousands of lives. As we do every Shabbat, we pray that God bless the president and \u201cset in his heart a spirit of wisdom and understanding.\u201d<\/p>\n
“Sometimes a little wisdom can go a long way.\u201d<\/p>\n
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