New Hampshire rabbis, Jewish community weigh in on primaries

CONCORD, New Hampshire – When it comes to the most important issues for his community, “Israel is not at the top of the list,” says a reform rabbi from Derry, New Hampshire.“Probably the economy,” Rabbi Peter Levy from Etz Hayim Synagogue tells the The Jerusalem Post. “Maybe climate change, maybe gun control.Levy estimates that there are 13,000 Jews in New Hampshire, which is a little under 1% of the population. He says that while he holds progressive views, in his synagogue, politics are checked at the door.“My congregation is very split in many different ways. I have congregants that vote for [President Donald] Trump and congregants that vote for [Democratic candidate] Bernie Sanders and everywhere in between.”As voters in New Hampshire were heading to the polls, members of the local Jewish community talked with the Post about their views and weighed in on the issues that are the most important to them.Jon Spira-Savett, rabbi at the conservative Beth Abraham Synagogue in Nashua, guesses that there are about 10,000 Jews in New Hampshire.“We don’t know for sure, but maybe half are not connected to any movement. Probably most are Reform. But there are some Conservative, Orthodox and Reconstruction. We’ve got about a dozen synagogues in the whole state.” About 270 families are members of his congregation.Recently, he posted an open letter in support of Democrat Amy Klobuchar.“I am looking for someone who is looking to take care of people who are economical, in challenging circumstances,” he says. “I am looking for someone who is going to be able to argue and debate but not demonize and insult other people.”“She is very good on support of Israel and Israel’s security and also other issues related to the Jewish community, and she’s been very effective as a person who’s accomplished things and not just spoken about them.”Spira-Savett said the support for Israel is very important for him.“I would say that our community is very active in terms of advocating – we got very strong support for Israel even though we’re a small Jewish community in the state. We want to make sure that when people talk about the conflict with the Palestinians, that people are fair about describing who is just [and] why the situation is not solved. The blame can’t be all assigned to Israel, even if there are things that Israel could be doing better.”Andru Volinsky, a member of the Reform Temple Beit Jacob, is running for governor of New Hampshire.“I’ve also endorsed and [have] been endorsed by Bernie Sanders,” he says. “I think that the Jewish community is important on a couple of levels. There are strong feelings about economic justice in the Jewish community. There are strong feelings about remembering that we were strangers and dealing with immigrant justice. Those are all important issues, and we bring certain attention to it. Many people who share our heritage believe in education and Sen. Sanders, and then some of the others have strong policy proposals to improve not only K-12 but college and university access.”Asked about his views on Israel, and Sander’s comments about a possible move of the US Embassy back to Tel Aviv, he said: “I believe firmly in a two-state solution. I think in the long run, it’s the most protective of Israel and the Palestinians and world peace. I think the senator is looking to protect Israel’s place in the world by his policy decisions.”