Talk about adding insult to injury.
At a campaign stop in Michigan on October 30, Vice President Mike Pence asked a “leader in the Jewish community” to offer a prayer for the victims of the recent mass shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue.
The prayer was delivered by Loren Jacobs, senior rabbi at a nearby Messianic Jewish temple. Messianic Jews are commonly known as Jews for Jesus or people from a Jewish background that have accepted Jesus Christ as their lord and savior.
So, basically, he’s a born-again Christian.
“Judaism itself is a multi-denominational religion that encompasses multiple forms of expression and belief,” the Rabbinical Assembly said in a statement. “Nonetheless, so-called ‘Messianic Judaism’ is not a Jewish movement, and the phrase ‘Jews for Jesus’ is a contradiction in terms, insofar as Judaism does not recognize Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah.”
To go even further, Jacobs hasn’t been a Messianic Jewish rabbi for over 15 years. “Loren Jacobs was stripped of his rabbinic ordination by the UMJC in 2003, after our judicial board found him guilty of libel,” Monique Brumbach, a spokeswoman for the Union of Messianic Jewish Congregations, said in an email to NBC.
At the end of the event, Jacobs came out and said a prayer for the 11 victims of the Pittsburgh shooting, which included a shout-out to Jesus Christ.
“God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob, God and father of my lord and savior Yeshua, Jesus the Messiah, and my God and father, too,” Jacobs began his prayer.
In Hebrew, Yeshua means Jesus.
Calling on a Messianic Jew to say a prayer for victims of an anti-semitic attack was an unbelievably tone-deaf move by Pence, and Lena Epstein, the Republican congressional candidate for which he campaigned.
It could even be seen as a slap in the face.
Rafael Shimunov, founder of the Working Families Party and self-procialmed member of the Jewish Resistance, perfectly explained why Pence’s careless decision was insulting to those affected by the tragedy in Pittsburgh.
\nIn response to antisemitic white nationalist attack, Vice President Mike Pence opens campaign event with a Christian Rabbi. pic.twitter.com/5iMLx1V3NH
— Rafael Shimunov (@rafaelshimunov) October 30, 2018\n
\nHe begins by promoting that people in power are ordained by Jesus to wield power.
— Rafael Shimunov (@rafaelshimunov) October 30, 2018\n
\nThen, rather than praying for the victims and survivors of the Pittsburgh synagogue attack, Mike Pence's Christian Rabbi prays --by name-- for each Republican candidate on a list given to him. pic.twitter.com/nZ5Vj6MQs8
— Rafael Shimunov (@rafaelshimunov) October 30, 2018\n
\nThis is no mistake. It's a message.
— Rafael Shimunov (@rafaelshimunov) October 30, 2018\n
\nNormally, a Rabbi would open with Kaddish, a prayer for the dead - and list names of those taken. And blessings to the community at risk, Jews, immigrants, etc. Here, it is instead a prayer for Republican candidates to win on November 6 and a blessing for Mike Pence.
— Rafael Shimunov (@rafaelshimunov) October 30, 2018\n
\nYou see, they need to placate Jews and allies who support them without alienating their white nationalist base.
— Rafael Shimunov (@rafaelshimunov) October 30, 2018\n
When Trump first spoke about the synagogue attack, he opened with a joke about how he almost cancelled cause his hair got wet. Then tweeted all night about baseball.
\nYou see, they need to placate Jews and allies who support them without alienating their white nationalist base.
— Rafael Shimunov (@rafaelshimunov) October 30, 2018\n
When Trump first spoke about the synagogue attack, he opened with a joke about how he almost cancelled cause his hair got wet. Then tweeted all night about baseball.
\nNow, even in inviting this speaker - they literally use it to coopt our holiest traditions - things Jews have been murdered for practicing - and using it to step on the dead. This is no mistake, it's a message to their base. Their intention is a Christian nation by any means.
— Rafael Shimunov (@rafaelshimunov) October 30, 2018\n
\nIf you read the killer's messages on social, he thought Trump was giving into Jews too much, and other white nationalists comforted him that Trump had to string along Jews for a while in order to do it right. This is history again.
— Rafael Shimunov (@rafaelshimunov) October 30, 2018\n
\nSo, after the event, Pence was forced to bring the "Rabbi" out to actually pray for #TreeOfLife victims and not just Republican candidate elections. He did. To Jesus Christ. And @VP Mike Pence thanked him while pushing him off stage. pic.twitter.com/MwLygXX0Uj
— Rafael Shimunov(@rafaelshimunov) October 30, 2018\n
\nThis clip now disproves @VP Mike Pence's claim that he had no idea and his attempt to blame it on a Jewish Republican. The video shows them praying to Jesus Christ.https://t.co/YAXeXe05e7
— Rafael Shimunov (@rafaelshimunov) October 30, 2018\n
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