Friday, January 16, 2004

 
Trying to heal the lame excuse?

[I'll finish the previous blog if I er, get around to it.]

While the Dean's Bike Path of Righteousness has been covered elsewhere, some statements from the article "Howard Dean is at home with Jews and Judaism by Matthew E. Berger in *The American Jewish World January 16, 2004* may be worth noting: "Dean never considered converting to Judaism, but he says the family did ponder the prospect of joining the Reform synagogue in Burlington , Vt., though they 'never got around to it.'"
Near the end of the article Berger writes, "When he attended political events at the synagogue, Dean would remark that he felt very comfortable[sigh, from what I've seen of a Reform Temple around here, I don't doubt that he was comfy indeed], Glazier[Burlington's Reform Temple Rabbi] said he would like to join the temple. Dean said he left the decision about joining the temple to his wife, and that the family did not get around to affiliating. Berg[an old friend of Dean's and whose daughter "is a staffer on the campaign"]suggested that, as a mixed-faith family, the Deans were not made to feel particularly welcome at the synagogue. Glazier said that about half the members of his congregation were not born Jewish, and that his synagogue does extensive outreach to interfaith couples[I don't doubt that either]. 'How much more welcoming can we be?' he asked, concerned that Dean's campaign was badmouthing his congregation to justify the candidate's lack of public displays of faith."
Not much here, perhaps and Ronald Reagan was chastised for invoking the Big Guy without being much of church-goer himself. It could be taken as further evidence that unlike Bill Clinton, Howard Dean doesn't light up a room, and perhaps the Reform Temple wasn't welcoming to a "mixed" couple; one Judith Steinberg and one arrogant jerk.