Lysol Comes to SY Deal Addendum: Rabbi Eli Mansour Demands that We Bless the President!
David Shasha
Lysol Comes to SY Deal Addendum: Rabbi Eli Mansour Demands that We Bless the President!
Just two days before the Murderer-in-Chief was scheduled to visit the SY community, we received the following post from the popular Haredi Rabbi Eli Mansour:
Here is the summary of his Halakhic discussion on whether Jews are required to bless the president:
One who sees the President of the United States accompanied by great honor – such as with his entourage and the usual fanfare of presidential functions – recites the Beracha, "Baruch Ata Hashem Elokenu Melech Ha’olam She’natan Mikebodo Le’basar Va’dam." Those who have the opportunity to see the President of the United States should make an effort to do so.
I was not aware that Mansour had ever dealt with the issue before, so I decided to search his website for the words “King” and “President,” but did not come up with anything like what he is demanding now.
It seems pretty clear that this is something specific to Trump, who remains beloved not only in the Ashkenazi Orthodox community, but in the SY community as well, particularly with the pro-Settler YU faction:
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/Davidshasha/uNq0KgEOO9k
We should note the larger liturgical context of the question Mansour is addressing:
https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/praying-for-the-government/
Each Sabbath and holiday, when the Torah scroll is on the reading table, the rabbi makes a prayer for the government.
Jonathan Sarna has discussed the issue and its American history in more detail:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cUsCL3PDGZn6DgMGGbpfGKKiCJcSAmJf/view?ths=true
It is interesting to note that Sabato Morais withheld this prayer over moral concerns related to the Edgardo Mortara affair:
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B1NQdm28qvvXQzRrWHNFMW0wTjA/edit
Arthur Kiron makes note of his refusal in that article:
Morais had defiantly refused to recite the prayer for the nation in protest over President James Buchanan's indifferent response to the abduction and baptism of an Italian Jewish child named Edgardo Mortara, a scandal known as the Mortara Affair.
Mansour may not be aware of this refusal and its implications for the Halakha and for democratic Free Speech principles in the Jewish tradition.
That said, it is shameful that not only does Mansour – as is the case with the vast majority of Orthodox Jews – not criticize Trump and his criminal barbarity, but that he has the abject temerity to issue a legal ruling that he must be blessed by all Jews.
As the Orange Pig makes his way to the SY enclave in Deal, with Mansour and his supporters likely to be in attendance, he is formally signaling to all attendees that they are Halakhically required to pay obeisance to the New Duce.
It is a truly despicable action that marks a new low for the SY community and its corrupt bagmen clergy.
David Shasha