C.Martel
1st June 2025, 01:51 PM
Trump appointed four Orthodox rabbis to the Commission on Religious Freedom
Four orthodox rabbis were among the 26 people appointed by U.S. President Donald Trump as consultants to his newly established Religious Freedom Commission, JTA reports. Two more Jewish activists from right-wing human rights groups will also join the commission, as Trump announced earlier this month.
Critics of the commission claimed that it meets the needs of evangelical Christians and reflects the Trump administration's extensive efforts to undermine the separation of church and state. Trump expressed skepticism about the principle itself, including at an event in the Rose Garden of the White House on the National Day of Prayer, where he announced the creation of the organ.
"Separation? Is it good or bad? I'm not sure," he said, adding: "We are returning religion to our country. It's a big deal."
At the same time, Trump appointed several people to the commission, including many Christian leaders and influencers, as well as former Miss USA finalist Carrie Prejean Boller and TV presenter Dr. Phil.
The appointees also included one Jewish leader, Rabbi Meir Soloveychik, a senior fellow at the Tikva Foundation, a politically conservative Jewish think tank, and a rabbi of the Shearit Israel community, an Orthodox synagogue that is the oldest Jewish community in the United States.
Last week, Trump announced the creation of three advisory committees to assist the work of the commission. They included four other rabbis and two Jewish leaders.
All rabbis are associated with the Orthodox Jewish community, which makes up 8% of American Jewry, but makes up a significant part of Trump's Jewish support. While the vast majority of American Jews do not approve of Trump's activities as president, Orthodox Jews have shown him strong support: more than 71% approve of his work, while less than 20% do not approve, according to a recent survey.
Among the Jews appointed to the advisory committees of the Commission on Religious Freedom is Jason Bedrick, the first Orthodox Jew elected to the New Hampshire legislature. Now he is a researcher at the Center for Educational Policy at the Heritage Foundation, and in his X account he describes himself as a "stubborn Jew" advocating the choice of a school for education.
Rabbi Mark Gottlieb is the chief educational director of Tikva and founder of the Tikvah Scholars program. He was also one of the signatories of the Phoenix Declaration, which calls for parental choice in American education and educational education "the fundamental principles and roots of America in broader Western and Judeo-Christian traditions". The declaration was prepared by the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank.
Aliza Levin is the president of the Louis D. Human Rights Center. Brandeis, a pro-Israeli legal group conducting litigation on campuses, as well as co-founder and partner of the law firm Lewin & Lewin. In 2014, Levin advocated in the Supreme Court for the recognition of Israel as the birthplace in U.S. passports, which the Trump administration approved in 2020.
Rabbi Yaakov Menken is the executive vice-president of the Coalition for Jewish Values, a very conservative group that claims to represent more than 2,500 "traditional Orthodox rabbis" and opposes progressive values.
Menken said in his statement that his group "actively advocated for the protection of religious freedom of Christian and other groups, realizing that any threat to their religious freedom can be easily used against our freedoms".
Rabbi Eitan Webb is the founder and director of HABAD in Princeton and the Jewish chaplain of Princeton University since 2007. In 2017, Webb acted as a host of the right-wing Israeli lawgrer after Princeton's "Hilel" canceled his speech due to accusations of racist statements.
Rabbi Chaim Dovid Zweibel is the executive vice president of Agudath Israel of America, an umbrella group of Haredim. In April, Zweibel went to Washington to lobby members of the Senate and the House of Representatives in support of the bill on tax benefits, which will help parents pay for their children's education in private schools. The version of this bill is included in the budget legislation proposed by Congress.
"At a time when many segments of American society are moving away from religious practices and identity, it is especially important that we remain vigilant and protect our first freedom - religious freedom," Zweibel said.
Trump announced the appointment on the same day when the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom announced the withdrawal of Susie Gelman, a long-time Jewish philanthropist and pro-Israel activist who until recently headed the council of the Israeli Political Forum, a centrist human rights group lobbying for the two-state solution. In 2016, Gelman expressed concern about the position of the new Trump administration towards Israel.
"Her invaluable contribution and knowledge gained over the years of working with religious communities, in particular with the Jewish community, made a significant contribution to the work of the Commission," Commission Chairman Stephen Schneck said in his statement.
Among the seven remaining commissioners tasked with monitoring the observance of religious freedom abroad, two Jews remained. These are Soloveychik and Ariela Dubler, a lawyer and head of the Abraham Joshua Heschel School in New York.
https://fitzinfo.net/forum/topic/trump-appoints-four-chhabad-noahide-rabbis-to-commission-on-religious-freedom/
Four orthodox rabbis were among the 26 people appointed by U.S. President Donald Trump as consultants to his newly established Religious Freedom Commission, JTA reports. Two more Jewish activists from right-wing human rights groups will also join the commission, as Trump announced earlier this month.
Critics of the commission claimed that it meets the needs of evangelical Christians and reflects the Trump administration's extensive efforts to undermine the separation of church and state. Trump expressed skepticism about the principle itself, including at an event in the Rose Garden of the White House on the National Day of Prayer, where he announced the creation of the organ.
"Separation? Is it good or bad? I'm not sure," he said, adding: "We are returning religion to our country. It's a big deal."
At the same time, Trump appointed several people to the commission, including many Christian leaders and influencers, as well as former Miss USA finalist Carrie Prejean Boller and TV presenter Dr. Phil.
The appointees also included one Jewish leader, Rabbi Meir Soloveychik, a senior fellow at the Tikva Foundation, a politically conservative Jewish think tank, and a rabbi of the Shearit Israel community, an Orthodox synagogue that is the oldest Jewish community in the United States.
Last week, Trump announced the creation of three advisory committees to assist the work of the commission. They included four other rabbis and two Jewish leaders.
All rabbis are associated with the Orthodox Jewish community, which makes up 8% of American Jewry, but makes up a significant part of Trump's Jewish support. While the vast majority of American Jews do not approve of Trump's activities as president, Orthodox Jews have shown him strong support: more than 71% approve of his work, while less than 20% do not approve, according to a recent survey.
Among the Jews appointed to the advisory committees of the Commission on Religious Freedom is Jason Bedrick, the first Orthodox Jew elected to the New Hampshire legislature. Now he is a researcher at the Center for Educational Policy at the Heritage Foundation, and in his X account he describes himself as a "stubborn Jew" advocating the choice of a school for education.
Rabbi Mark Gottlieb is the chief educational director of Tikva and founder of the Tikvah Scholars program. He was also one of the signatories of the Phoenix Declaration, which calls for parental choice in American education and educational education "the fundamental principles and roots of America in broader Western and Judeo-Christian traditions". The declaration was prepared by the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank.
Aliza Levin is the president of the Louis D. Human Rights Center. Brandeis, a pro-Israeli legal group conducting litigation on campuses, as well as co-founder and partner of the law firm Lewin & Lewin. In 2014, Levin advocated in the Supreme Court for the recognition of Israel as the birthplace in U.S. passports, which the Trump administration approved in 2020.
Rabbi Yaakov Menken is the executive vice-president of the Coalition for Jewish Values, a very conservative group that claims to represent more than 2,500 "traditional Orthodox rabbis" and opposes progressive values.
Menken said in his statement that his group "actively advocated for the protection of religious freedom of Christian and other groups, realizing that any threat to their religious freedom can be easily used against our freedoms".
Rabbi Eitan Webb is the founder and director of HABAD in Princeton and the Jewish chaplain of Princeton University since 2007. In 2017, Webb acted as a host of the right-wing Israeli lawgrer after Princeton's "Hilel" canceled his speech due to accusations of racist statements.
Rabbi Chaim Dovid Zweibel is the executive vice president of Agudath Israel of America, an umbrella group of Haredim. In April, Zweibel went to Washington to lobby members of the Senate and the House of Representatives in support of the bill on tax benefits, which will help parents pay for their children's education in private schools. The version of this bill is included in the budget legislation proposed by Congress.
"At a time when many segments of American society are moving away from religious practices and identity, it is especially important that we remain vigilant and protect our first freedom - religious freedom," Zweibel said.
Trump announced the appointment on the same day when the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom announced the withdrawal of Susie Gelman, a long-time Jewish philanthropist and pro-Israel activist who until recently headed the council of the Israeli Political Forum, a centrist human rights group lobbying for the two-state solution. In 2016, Gelman expressed concern about the position of the new Trump administration towards Israel.
"Her invaluable contribution and knowledge gained over the years of working with religious communities, in particular with the Jewish community, made a significant contribution to the work of the Commission," Commission Chairman Stephen Schneck said in his statement.
Among the seven remaining commissioners tasked with monitoring the observance of religious freedom abroad, two Jews remained. These are Soloveychik and Ariela Dubler, a lawyer and head of the Abraham Joshua Heschel School in New York.
https://fitzinfo.net/forum/topic/trump-appoints-four-chhabad-noahide-rabbis-to-commission-on-religious-freedom/