Say hi to Hartman Institute at the UJC General Assembly in Washington, Nov. 8-10, 2009

President Obama to appear at Jewish Communities General Assembly, Washington, DC, Nov. 9, 2009

Shalom Hartman Institute will be at the United Jewish Communities (soon to be Jewish Federations of North America) annual General Assembly from November 8-10, 2009, in Washington, D.C. (Booth 311). First, and foremost, I invite you to stop by for a chat. I plan to have some goodies from Israel with me to entice people – if the marketing materials and flyers, and books, and magazines, and videos featuring Hartman Institute scholars aren’t enough!

As I said on Twitter (@alanabbey) I will give an extra piece of whatever I end up bringing if you tell me you heard about it on this blog or my Twitter page.

But seriously, I will be there to present the amazing programs of the Hartman Institute and to offer our new DVD Series of lectures on “Crisis and Leadership,” which is a special program now available for purchase by synagogues, community centers, adult education programs, Hillels, and private individuals tailored for adult education courses,  private study, leadership development and more.

By the way, Hartman Institute is not the ONLY draw at the GA. President Obama is scheduled to make his first speech to a Jewish group since becoming POTUS 44, as is Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Sensitive to the times, Netanyahu – who, unlike Obama, does not have his own airplane, is flying “economy” to the U.S. Obama will take the short drive from the White House to the conference hotel in NW Washington.

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Obama’s ‘tough love’ for Israel: Did he read Donniel Hartman column?

Did Barack Obama read a letter from Donniel Hartman?

Last November, a few days before the 2008 election that brought Barack Obama into the White House as the 44th US President, Rabbi Dr. Donniel Hartman wrote what we called a “Letter to the new American President.” We didn’t know who would be elected, Obama or Sen. John McCain, but Donniel wanted to write the note to whichever of them won the election. In it, however, Donniel placed a sentence that makes me wonder, at least, if the column found its way to Obama’s desk recently.

Donniel wrote:

The job of a friend is not always to support by agreeing; sometimes, it involves support that challenges, pushes, and prods. You are going to have to be that type of friend. At times I might find it painful and disagree with you, but I will never question your motives.

To me, that sounds a lot like the so-called “tough love” Obama was indicating in an interview he gave to National Public Radio in Washington a few days ago, just before his trip to the Arab Middle East, which will include stops in Saudi Arabia and Egypt, but, pointedly, none (scheduled, at least) to Israel. Here’s what President Obama said:

Part of being a good friend is being honest. And I think there have been times where we are not as honest as we should be about the fact that the current direction, the current trajectory, in the region is profoundly negative, not only for Israeli interests but also U.S. interests. And that’s part of a new dialogue that I’d like to see encouraged in the region.

Both NPR and the New York Times, as well as many other news media outlets in the U.S, Europe, and Israel repeated the “tough love” phrase (which the President did not use himself, by the way).

You should know that we sent the column to several people we were assured had access to then President-elect Obama. I’m sure the man was bombarded in the days after the election, and I never heard back from anyone about whether he was shown the column. But it sure seems that way, doesn’t it?

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Donniel Hartman’s letter to the new U.S. president

Barack Obama and family celebrate Presidential victory

Even before the U.S. election concluded Tuesday night with the victory of Barack Obama over John McCain, Rabbi Dr. Donniel Hartman was thinking about how the new U.S. president should address Israel in his incoming administration. His “Letter to the New U.S. President” is receiving a strong response from readers. Read the letter in Hebrew. קרע את המכתב בעברית

Donniel asked the new U.S. president one key thing: to take his time and to really learn about the situation here before jumping in. At the same time, he also asked that the president not wait until the end of his administration, as has happened with many presidents, to seek a high-profile event that doesn’t necessarily lead anywhere substantive.

Here’s how the letter opened:

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What kind of US president does Israel need?

What kind of new American president does Israel need? And can either of the two candidates provide it? It’s a topic under much discussion these days among the Jewish community here and abroad.

Singer/actor/director Barbra Streisand says Barack Obama is committed to Israel’s safety (hat tip to the Forward for bringing this to our attention.

See this interesting discussion among a group of metro New York rabbis on a cable TV show about the upcoming U.S. elections: there is fear in some Orthodox quarters in northern New Jersey over Illinois Sen. Barack Hussein Obama, but the UWS liberals at Stephen Wise Free Synagogue have no such fears.

See Donniel Hartman‘s take on the kind of American president Israel really needs:

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