Dear Ivanka --
From what I’m told, you and your husband, Jared, strictly observe Shabbat each week. I’ve read that from sunset on Friday to havdalah on Saturday, you turn off the phones and computers, do no work, hang out with one another, take walks and play with your children - Arabella, Joseph, and baby Theodore. You clearly understand God’s commandment to guard and remember the Shabbat.
I’m sure you also understand that when lives are at risk - like if one of your kids was sick and needed to get to a hospital - the laws of Shabbat must be disregarded because saving a life - actually, the lives of all humans - takes precedence over rules and regs. For that matter, the laws of Shabbat may also be violated in anticipation of a potential life-threatening situation, provided that it’s highly reasonable to assume there is an immediate concern.
So here’s the thing, Ivanka. In the days since your dad was elected president, lots of people have felt really sick. And many others are concerned and more-than-reasonably certain that their lives are in a potentially life-threatening situation. So I hope you and Jared violated the Shabbat this week. I hope you didn’t chill blissfully in your apartment but were, instead, at Trump Tower with your father, begging him to denounce the anti-black, anti-Muslim, anti-LGBTQ hate speech, the swastikas spray painted on shop windows and school lockers. Your father listens to you, Ivanka. He respects your opinion, Ivanka. Of course, today even you may be at a loss for words, so show him these by Jessica Shortfall from the Huffington Post:
You can demand - publicly, not just on your Facebook feed or just to friends - that the president-elect make a public statement disavowing and condemning every single act of violence, intimidation, bigotry, misogyny, and hatred that is being done in his name and in the name of his movement. He should just say it. “This is disgusting, it’s un-American, and I will not allow it to be done in my name or in celebration of my Presidency.”
Your dad says you’re the smartest, Ivanka. His favorite. Pundits describe you as calm, focused, articulate - the very opposite of your father. Those in the know say you’ll be the real power behind the throne. If anyone can get through to Donald J. Trump it’s you. Ivanka, be our voice.
I read that when Shabbat was over last week - just a few days before the election - you and Jared visited the Old Montefiore Cemetery in Queens, New York, the grave-site of the Lubavitch Rebbe, Menachem Mendel Schneerson, who died in 1994. To this spot come hundreds of thousands of pilgrims from around the world every year - pilgrims who pray, recite Psalms and bring handwritten requests for blessings from the Rebbe.
I have no idea what you asked for in your blessing, Ivanka, but I can guess.
So. The first post-election Shabbat is now over. Let these words from the Rebbe guide you, your father, his advisors and all of us into the new week.
Intolerance lies at the core of evil. Not the intolerance that results from any threat or danger. But intolerance of another being who dares to exist. Intolerance without cause. It is so deep within us, because every human being secretly desires the entire universe to himself. Our only way out is to learn compassion without cause. To care for each other simple because that 'other' exists.
As I was finishing this letter, you tweeted, “Thank you, America, for the trust that you placed in my father. He will never let you down.”
Oh, how I want that to be true, Ivanka. Please remind your dad that if he does let us down, he will also let down your children - Arabella, Joseph and Theodore. If you want them to be proud of their Zeyde, be our voice.
May the God who separates between the holy and the profane, between the light and dark, bring you a sweet week, Ivanka.
All the best.
Ozzie
copyright 2016 Ozzie Nogg
From what I’m told, you and your husband, Jared, strictly observe Shabbat each week. I’ve read that from sunset on Friday to havdalah on Saturday, you turn off the phones and computers, do no work, hang out with one another, take walks and play with your children - Arabella, Joseph, and baby Theodore. You clearly understand God’s commandment to guard and remember the Shabbat.
I’m sure you also understand that when lives are at risk - like if one of your kids was sick and needed to get to a hospital - the laws of Shabbat must be disregarded because saving a life - actually, the lives of all humans - takes precedence over rules and regs. For that matter, the laws of Shabbat may also be violated in anticipation of a potential life-threatening situation, provided that it’s highly reasonable to assume there is an immediate concern.
So here’s the thing, Ivanka. In the days since your dad was elected president, lots of people have felt really sick. And many others are concerned and more-than-reasonably certain that their lives are in a potentially life-threatening situation. So I hope you and Jared violated the Shabbat this week. I hope you didn’t chill blissfully in your apartment but were, instead, at Trump Tower with your father, begging him to denounce the anti-black, anti-Muslim, anti-LGBTQ hate speech, the swastikas spray painted on shop windows and school lockers. Your father listens to you, Ivanka. He respects your opinion, Ivanka. Of course, today even you may be at a loss for words, so show him these by Jessica Shortfall from the Huffington Post:
You can demand - publicly, not just on your Facebook feed or just to friends - that the president-elect make a public statement disavowing and condemning every single act of violence, intimidation, bigotry, misogyny, and hatred that is being done in his name and in the name of his movement. He should just say it. “This is disgusting, it’s un-American, and I will not allow it to be done in my name or in celebration of my Presidency.”
Your dad says you’re the smartest, Ivanka. His favorite. Pundits describe you as calm, focused, articulate - the very opposite of your father. Those in the know say you’ll be the real power behind the throne. If anyone can get through to Donald J. Trump it’s you. Ivanka, be our voice.
I read that when Shabbat was over last week - just a few days before the election - you and Jared visited the Old Montefiore Cemetery in Queens, New York, the grave-site of the Lubavitch Rebbe, Menachem Mendel Schneerson, who died in 1994. To this spot come hundreds of thousands of pilgrims from around the world every year - pilgrims who pray, recite Psalms and bring handwritten requests for blessings from the Rebbe.
I have no idea what you asked for in your blessing, Ivanka, but I can guess.
So. The first post-election Shabbat is now over. Let these words from the Rebbe guide you, your father, his advisors and all of us into the new week.
Intolerance lies at the core of evil. Not the intolerance that results from any threat or danger. But intolerance of another being who dares to exist. Intolerance without cause. It is so deep within us, because every human being secretly desires the entire universe to himself. Our only way out is to learn compassion without cause. To care for each other simple because that 'other' exists.
As I was finishing this letter, you tweeted, “Thank you, America, for the trust that you placed in my father. He will never let you down.”
Oh, how I want that to be true, Ivanka. Please remind your dad that if he does let us down, he will also let down your children - Arabella, Joseph and Theodore. If you want them to be proud of their Zeyde, be our voice.
May the God who separates between the holy and the profane, between the light and dark, bring you a sweet week, Ivanka.
All the best.
Ozzie
copyright 2016 Ozzie Nogg
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