Candidates court Jewish leaders

Obama wishes 'Shana Tova' to 900 rabbis in conference call.

By HILARY LEILA KRIEGER, JERUSALEM POST CORRESPONDENT
Obama smiles and waves 224.88 (photo credit: AP)
Obama smiles and waves 224.88
(photo credit: AP)
Both presidential campaigns reached out to Jewish leaders Wednesday, with Democratic nominee Barack Obama holding a conference call with more than 900 rabbis ahead of Rosh Hashana. "I want to wish everybody a Shana Tova and I hope that you will convey my wishes to all of those you pray and celebrate with this Rosh Hashana," Obama told the rabbis representing a spectrum of major denominations. "The people in every community across this land join our campaign and I like to think that they are sounding that shofar and to rouse this nation out of its slumber and to compel us to confront our challenges and ensure a better path." Obama also stressed strong support of Israel. The Orthodox Union put out a statement following the conversation, in which issues of faith-based education and religious freedom were addressed, praising Obama for his "defense of religious organizations' right to maintain their principled beliefs - even if those beliefs differ from the public opinion," in the words of OU public policy director Nathan Diamant. He said that Obama said during the call that faith and the language of faith had a real and needed place in our public discourse, referring to the use of biblical language by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and president Abraham Lincoln to move people to do good. Also Wednesday, Sen. John McCain's campaign held a meeting with Jewish leaders in Virginia, where the campaign is headquartered, on the heels of a conference call McCain held with 55 Chabad rabbis last month from 47 states, including Alaska, home to the Republican vice presidential nominee, and a meeting with 75 Jewish leaders, among them many rabbis, in New York. The 35 participants at Wednesday's forum were briefed by top McCain foreign policy advisers on the candidate's national security positions and communications outreach strategy. The glatt kosher-catered event featured a heavy Orthodox and ultra-Orthodox presence - including spiritual leaders from the Satmar, Bobov and Skverre hasidic sects, Agudath Israel and the Orthodox Union - as well as representatives of major Jewish organization such as the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the American Jewish Congress, the American Jewish Committee and the Zionist Organization of America.