How to talk to your Jewish family members who are voting for Trump

In light of the "See! She didn't pick Shapiro!" texts

Hi, Jews!! (If you’re not Jewish please ignore! Go…river rafting? Make yourself a sandwich with mayonnaise on it? No idea.)

Ok.

Shalom. Natalie Hershlag. Hello.

Trump has repeatedly and racistly said Jews who vote for Democrats are disloyal to their mothership Israel and a lot of our family members are buying the bullshit he is very convincingly selling. I am here to help you tell your Republican and Trump-supporting Jewish relatives the opposite. Even if they are a single-issue voter and that issue is making sure Israel nukes any country or child who remotely looks at it funny.

Here’s the email:

Hi, Uncle Jerry/Aunt Susan/Weird And Intense Cousin Eli!

I know you think Harris not picking Shapiro means she, not the entirety of all polled swing state voters, is antisemitic.

And I know you think I am self-hating and weak willed, but I actually do love myself very much. Just last week, I considered doing yoga. Also, my blood is your blood. Now you’re listening!

I know we have different political opinions, but this is not about politics. This is about a clear bridge-building consensus for our small tribe at this crucial moment in history.

And I know family and politics shouldn’t mix, but we are Jewish, and what’s more important than fighting with family?

Because as unseemly and impolite as the topic is, I am not really talking about policies or a political party. This is not about a typical Republican vs. a typical Democrat, or endorsing a platform. 

It’s about the most important thing to you in your entire worldview and the lens through which you have seen anything that has unfolded since last year: Antisemitism.

So let’s talk about antisemitism, which we both agree is unambiguously horrible.

Part of our survival is knowing who is on our side and who is an antisemite and wants us mostly if not completely dead.

Donald Trump unfortunately is a documented antisemite by the ADL.

I know. I know. “But he has a Jewish daughter.”

Sure. But you and I both know that he ultimately sees that as a sacrifice she had to make for a dynastic real estate merger to go through? And he also openly called Ivanka and his grandchildren bait to get Jewish votes. Bad!

And no. This isn’t about championing essentially Jewish values like women’s reproductive healthcare, or funding education, or preventing gun deaths, or championing science, or or protecting the environment and all its various trees American synagogues for whatever reason planted in Israel when we got bat mitzvah’d.

This is about an antisemite running for office. Full stop. He called the country a "Unified Reich" if he wins. 

When the Nazis in Charleston chanted “JEW WILL NOT REPLACE US,” he called them “Very fine people.”

When his supporters wore swastikas as they stormed the capitol, he called them “Great patriots.”

This all happened in public. We cannot imagine what he says behind closed doors. Actually, we don’t have to.

And you continue to post about antisemitism on social media and talk about antisemitism as if it’s something you care about, while championing a known Jew-hater’s candidacy for the most powerful job on earth.

So we need to address the elephant in the synagogue.

My question is:

A documented antisemite is asking for your vote. I’m asking you not to give it to him.

And if you would consider it, if you’re still listening: There is another option.

And I happen to know she loves Jews so much she married one. Better than [Cousin Allie/my mom/me/disappointing family member who married outside the tribe] haha!

So I’m asking if it’s possible you turn your head slightly to the left and see the woman who stood nicely next to war criminal Bibi, and has actually condemned the acts of antisemitic protests that Trump never even mentioned?

Also, to be explicit, Doug Emhoff would bring Shabbat to the West Wing.

See you at Break the Fast. I’ll bring this up again. And again. And again. Until you break. Because if there’s one thing I’ve learned how to do from our people, it’s not let something go.