I was Stephen Miller’s rabbi. Here’s why I’m voting for Kamala Harris

In 2018, I delivered a High Holy Day sermon that received some notoriety, because in it, I spoke out against one of my former congregants. I had something to say to my congregation about a policy the immorality of which I felt needed a vigorous Jewish American response — especially, in my opinion, because it was being championed by a Jewish American.

That Jewish American was Stephen Miller, a senior advisor to then-President Donald Trump. Miller initiated and directed the Trump administration’s policy that forcibly separated young children from their undocumented parents, along with a score of other anti-immigrant proposals. I felt embarrassed and ashamed that a Jew in a leadership role could give voice and support to such inhumanity. And I felt further compromised because, for a couple years in Stephen Miller’s childhood, his family belonged to my synagogue.

I had hoped that I might help remind Miller of the humanitarian values that our synagogue teachers and I tried to teach him in Hebrew school, and perhaps reconsider his extremism. In my sermon, I offered many examples from Jewish tradition of how Jewish tradition prioritizes care for the stranger and immigrant, trying to demonstrate how far his actions and rhetoric had departed from our tradition.

Now Miller and Trump are back, continuing to champion racist and xenophobic laws should they win a second term. Just this past weekend, Miller drew outrage for saying, at Trump’s now  notorious rally at Madison Square Garden, that “America is for Americans and Americans only.” That is why I feel compelled to speak out against him once again, and to call on all Jewish Americans who feel similarly — knowing our heritage and commitment to justice — to vote for Vice President Kamala Harris.

My family’s story would sound familiar to many Jewish Americans. My grandparents, like Miller’s great-grandparents, came to the United States to escape the economic, educational, and social bigotry of European antisemitism. Our ancestors were among the millions of Jews — like Americans of all faiths and backgrounds — who came here to build better lives for themselves and their children in the land of the free.

Look, now, at how Miller and Trump want to treat this generation’s immigrants and their children. They are willing and eager to victimize the most vulnerable among us — even though the Book of Exodus demands, “There shall be one law for the citizen and for the stranger who dwells among you.” And the Book of Leviticus clearly states: “The strangers who reside with you shall be to you as your citizens; you shall love each one as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.”

In recent days, Trump and Miller’s declarations have only become more threatening, volatile and venomous. In them, I hear echoes of ominous promises that Jews have heard throughout history. Promises that, too often, have come true.

I’m casting my Jewish American vote for Kamala Harris because she knows firsthand that despite our progress, we have a long way to go before we treat all citizens equally and fairly. She is the daughter of immigrants. She experienced growing up as a multi-racial child in America. She has the empathy for the most vulnerable among us that Trump and Miller lack.

It is clear from Harris’ words, as well as from her record as a district attorney and attorney general, that she champions a society built on law — a core value of Judaism. As a true leader, she also believes that adherence to the law must be tempered by kindness and compassion, a principle Jews call chesed.

Harris also recognizes the importance of the Jewish value of lovingkindness in America. She has advanced it by supporting affordable and quality education for all, and by working to ensure that medical care is available and affordable to everyone. She advocates for giving dignity to our seniors, guaranteeing respect for individual and group spiritual expressions, and making peace within our nation and engendering the same for the world.

And President Joe Biden’s administration has stepped back from the inhumane policies advanced by their predecessors. Their move to do so is a reminder of the importance of welcoming the stranger, rather than throwing them back into the river they forged to get here — or ripping their children from their arms.

My Jewish values guide me in every aspect of my life. Now, they’re guiding me toward the ballot box. This year, I am going to vote against the candidate advanced by my former congregant, and for a candidate who I believe shares one of my most central Jewish values: that of honoring, learning from, and building upon the lessons of our past.

Kamala Harris is the only candidate in this election who represents these and other critical Jewish American values. I am proud to vote for her — and I hope you will be, too.

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