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Celebrity Rabbi, Asked to Pray for GOP, Picks Mourner’s Prayer

Long Tradition: When rabbis Meir Soloveichik and David Wolpe gave invocations at this year?s political conventions, it may have seen like a novelty. In fact, rabbis have been addressing the gatherings for more than a century. Image by getty images

By Nathan Guttman September 20, 2016

They tried to support other candidates, then they did their best to block him. But nothing helped.

So what else can Jewish Republican critics of Donald Trump do? Well, they can laugh.

And that’s exactly what many of them did Monday when they gathered in New York to a roast of former Mitt Romney adviser and top Jewish Republican Dan Senor.

The event, organized by Commentary Magazine, brought together many of Senor’s Republican buddies, all willing to poke some fun at the former political strategist who is now one of Trump’s leading Republican critics. And all feeling quite depressed about the state of their party.

Dan Senor Image by getty images

“Dan and his friends from Romney’s last campaign are spending a lot of time trying to prevent Trump from becoming President, and if they are good at one thing, it is preventing someone from becoming President,” said Senor’s wife, TV anchor Campbell Brown.

Romney and his former running mate Paul Ryan prepared, according to the New York Post ) account of the event, a video sketch in which they jokingly try to rid themselves of Senor’s services.

“I think he should be back on the road working with you,” Ryan tells Romney, who replied: “He was a gift from me to you, and I hate re-gifting.” In another round, Romney adds: “Let’s cut to the chase, I’ll give you $10,000 if you keep him with you,” to which the former VP candidate and current House Speaker replies: “For God’s sake Mitt, I have a future!”

There was no shortage of Jewish guests and Jewish shtick at the gathering. Among the invitees were Senor’s current boss and Republican mega donor Paul Singer, William Kristol, John Podhoretz and many others.

When Rabbi Meir Soloveichik was called to offer his roast, he chose to provide a broader perspective on the current situation of the Republican Party. Telling the audience he was looking for the right Jewish prayer for the moment, the young rabbi began reciting the mourner’s kaddish.

Contact Nathan Guttman at [email protected] or on Twitter @nathanguttman

Nathan Guttman, staff writer, was the Forward’s Washington bureau chief. He joined the staff in 2006 after serving for five years as Washington correspondent for the Israeli dailies Haaretz and The Jerusalem Post. In Israel, he was the features editor for Ha’aretz and chief editor of Channel 1 TV evening news. He was born in Canada and grew up in Israel. He is a graduate of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

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