President George W. Bush puts his money where his mouth is. He has me convinced.
Erev Shabbos Chanukah I received an envelope from a Texas accountant. Having no business in Texas, I was immediately curious. Inside was a generous contribution to the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty, the organization I have run for the last decade, from George and Laura Bush.
Shocked would be a mild description of how I felt holding that check. Don’t get me wrong – Met Council receives generous contributions from scores of New Yorkers. And we’re grateful for each and every dollar we receive on behalf of needy Jews in New York. But this was a personal check from the president of the United States. I almost didn’t believe it.
To put this into some perspective, I have met President Bush several times since his election three years ago. During the last two years the president, Attorney General John Ashcroft and other Bush administration officials have singled out Met Council in their speeches as an example for community-based organizations to follow.
This began a year and a half ago. In a speech about welfare reform at a Milwaukee church, the president said, “The Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty out of New York… [is] a group of people who want to help; they feed the hungry for their community. They feed the hungry regardless of somebody’s religion. They don’t ask, what is your religion; they ask, are you hungry.”
I met with the president several days later and we chatted about his remarks, his strong support for Israel and our mutual interest in baseball and running. When I told him that I aspired to run better than a seven-minute-mile like he did, he put his hand on my shoulder and told me, “Don’t worry, just keep running.”
A year ago, the White House asked me to speak at a conference in Philadelphia. I was glad to learn that the president would be there, but I was surprised to hear him again mention Met Council’s work in his remarks. After his speech, he was shaking hands and came over to ask me how he did in describing Met Council. I was touched that the president’s private moments matched his public words. I remember thinking, “This president is a real mentsch.”
Jim Towey, the president’s assistant and director of his Office of Faith and Community Based Initiatives, has been a consistent friend, advocate and supporter of our work and has spoken of Met Council in news interviews. Other White House staffers have been equally supportive of our mission to combat Jewish poverty.
Merryl Tisch, the chair of my board, and her husband James, the chair of the Presidents’ Conference, are friends of the First Family and have been important advocates for the Jewish community, and particularly the poor. In a few weeks, Met Council and UJA-Federation of New York will release a joint report showing a dramatic increase in Jewish poverty in New York. Indeed, while there is poverty in Jewish communities throughout America, most poor Jews live in our midst. The president’s contribution serves as a recognition of that need and his appreciation of our motto, Tzedakah U’gemilos Chasodim: Acts of Charity, Deeds of Kindness.
In our conversations, the president was moved by the sheer number of people served by our crisis intervention staff, the housing we created for the elderly, the home health care we provide to the frail, the job training and counseling, the kosher food programs and our extensive network of Jewish Community Councils around New York.
It is intriguing to imagine that the president of the United States places the issue of Jewish poverty on his radar screen, and backs his words up with his personal financial support. Certainly, few would have imagined that the president would donate to a Jewish charity from New York.
President Bush’s commitment to helping the needy qualifies him for the mantle of Joseph the Righteous, about whom we read in Parshas Vayigash. Joseph reunites with his brothers who sold him into slavery. He tells them not to fear his new role as viceroy of Egypt because he is rescuing the region from famine. Likewise, our president found himself in a unique role post-9/11 to lead the free world against terrorism. But he has not strayed from his domestic agenda of helping the less fortunate.
By noting the needs of poor Jews – with all that is on his plate ? President Bush has endeared himself to our community and truly follows the lead of Joseph.
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