On one of the blogs someone [a rabbi] wrote a post asserting that the Torah does not identify with any one political party - not democrat, not republican, not anything. So why is it that so many frum Jews and Rabbonim seem to side with one of the two parties? [Note: During the nine days it is ASSUR to side with EITHER party because this is a period where "parties" are strictly forbidden. So our discussion pertains to after the nine days].
One of the comments said as follows:
The article is fine and not wrong in anything it says, but essentially comes to knock down a straw man position that no one holds and no one says. Does ANYONE think Torah and Judaism is wholly identifiable with any one single political party? Of course not. The Jewish papers you mention certain don’t say that. And any Christian will tell you the same thing about Christianity. Indeed, leave aside religion – most voters, period, of any stripe, do not fully subscribe to everything their party leaders do or say. The question is only which party MORE closely adheres to those items or religious issues MOST important and relevant.
In 2019 its not hard to answer that question, and to call it even “close” is dishonest. At best, died-in-the-wool democrats of a forgotten era might still argue that social legislation is featured in the Torah, that concern for the disabled is akin to the command not to put a stumbling block for the blind, etc. But the fallacy of such claims and comparison to today is obvious on its face. And of course concern for the “working man” is in any event no longer the concern of that party, if it ever was. Orthodox support for the GOP does not mean that we automatically agree with everything its leaders say or do. At the same time, we don’t need to feel compelled constantly to prove our “bona fides” by carping or criticizing, (including pointless moral bromides overtime the president tweets) just to demonstrate that we’re not in somebody’s pocket. That’s exactly what democratic strategists want us to do.
No thank you. I personally have criticized (privately and respectfully) GOP political figures at various fundraisers or meetings I’ve attended. I don’t agree with everything they do. But I’m also proud to support them, solidly. Because that party is without doubt the only correct answer to the question posed above.
