New York magazine aside, Obama is far from the first president to offer a Rosh Hashanah greeting. While Obama’s holiday note does seem to have eye on the upcoming elections, most presidential statements on the holiday seem to stear clear of explicit politics and mentions of Israel. Here was George Bush’s in the year 5764 (aka 2003):
I send greetings to those observing Rosh Hashanah. For the Jewish community in the United States and around the world, this holiday marks the beginning of the New Year and the onset of the Days of Awe. Rosh Hashanah is a time to seek the mercy and forgiveness of the Almighty and your fellow man, to reflect on past actions, and to demonstrate renewed commitment to faith and family. May you find inspiration for the days ahead as you remember the devotion of Abraham and Isaac and their willingness to sacrifice everything to do right.
During this holy time, I encourage you to pray for peace and mutual understanding throughout the world. May we build a future of promise and compassion for all, and may the coming year be filled with hope and happiness.
Appropriately for once, it sounded downright biblical.
The LA Times have gathered other presidential messages on Rosh Hashanah. My favorite is Herbert Hoover’s, mainly for its total old schoolness:
Sept. 12, 1929: “Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year, is an occasion upon which all citizens of our country may well recall with admiration and gratitude the whole-hearted loyalty and high-minded ideals of the Jewish element of our population. I felicitate them not only upon these qualities, so valuable to our civic life, but also upon their steadfast policy of furthering the cause of mutual respect and regard.”
c’mon, Clinton was our first Jewish president, and black president for matter.
L’shana tovah Horowitz, I hope this year we get closer to a full and just peace for all countries in the ME.
A little tacky Obama brought up Israel though, it looks like he might be the first president to do it. This is a Jewish holiday, not an Israeli one, I wish my religion would stop being politicized.
“I felicitate them not only upon these qualities, so valuable to our civic life, but also upon their steadfast policy of furthering the cause of mutual respect and regard.”
I do not know if Fight Club israel has a national anthem.
They probably do.
Could this be it?:
The mutual respect song:
I’ve paid my dues
Time after time
I’ve done my sentence
But committed no crime
And bad mistakes
I’ve made a few
and I’ve had my share of sand
Kicked in my face
But I’ve come through
And I need to go on and on and on and on
We are the champions – my friends
And we’ll keep on fightin’ till the end
We are the champions
We are the champions
No time for losers
‘Cause we are the champions of the world
I’ve taken my bows
And my curtain calls
You’ve brought me fame and fortune
And everything that goes with it
I thank you all
But it’s been no bed of roses no pleasure cruise
and I consider it a challenge before the whole human race
That I ain’t gonna lose
And I need to go on and on and on and on
We are the champions – my friends
And we’ll keep on fightin’ till the end
We are the champions
We are the champions
No time for losers
‘Cause we are the champions of the world
We are the champions – my friends
And we’ll keep on fightin’ till the end
We are the champions
We are the champions
No time for losers
‘Cause we are the champions
#1 – The first rule of Fight Club is, you do not criticize Fight Club.
#2 – The second rule of Fight Club is, you DO NOT criticize Fight Club.
#3 – If Arabs says stop, goes limp, taps out, kill them.
#4 – IDF will fight against unarmed people.
#5 – Fight the entire world all the time.
#6 – No mercy, shoot unarmed people in the head.
#7 – Fights will go on as long as we want them to.
#8 – If this is your first night at Fight Club, you have to fight for the rest of your life.
If you break the rules then you are anti-Fight Club.
When my President (arguably the most powerful man in the world) tries to remind israel that the tail cannot wag the dog for too long, the Israelis snicker because they know that the US Congress is still an israeli-occupied territory. Right after the Israeli prime minister proverbially spits in the face of my President before a cadre of journalists (and while the world is watching), the conniving Netenyahu can deliver a speech to Congress and receive twenty-nine standing ovations from the spineless politicians.
What the israelis do not yet realize that the decision-making bodies in America have started to realize that israel has become the biggest burden, nay, the biggest parasite on America’s back. More and more Americans are reading Mearsheimer and Walt; more and more (like the true patriots Petraus and Gates) are speaking out against israel. US Congress will follow (yes, there will be a lag).
Enjoy the lag while it lasts.
For many reasons, I dislike this sort of rhetoric “the Jewish President”. Your actually arguing that there’s something inherently supportive of Israel in being Jewish, and that supporters of Israel are all Jewish. I don’t think that’s what you mean to imply. Furthermore, there are some domestic issues of ethnicity you’re wading into by tacking yet another ethnicity onto the first non-white President, who is already called an Islamic radical and unamerican Kenyan.
Besides that, yes, this is a repugnant vid. The bright side, I think will be the “Joe the Plumber” effect. When you force-feed Americans a kind of jingo that doesn’t come naturally, they’ll rebel. If you tell them they love America, that’s fine. If you tell them they have unshakeable bond with Israel, or that today we are all [insert nation here], they’ll question it. A lot of the time, at least.