Though I am not American, I was glued to the television watching the Kavanaugh hearings in the U.S. Senate.
In hindsight, I offer a retrospective analysis, including the role of Jews.
Let me first state emphatically: I consider rape to be almost equivalent to murder. Violators must be punished with the full rigor of the law.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh is a conservative whose elevation to the Supreme Court was understandably opposed by liberals. However, in the American system, unless a Supreme Court justice nominee is wholly unqualified, confirmation is almost assumed, particularly when the president's party has a majority in the Senate. The Democrats were powerless to block the appointment unless they could persuade some Republicans that Kavanaugh was either too conservative or unfit for office.
Regardless of one's views on Kavanaugh's judicial philosophy, there is no disputing that he is an outstanding jurist and has led an exemplary public life as a judge and White House staff secretary under George W. Bush. He passed six FBI background checks, is a devout Christian and family man, and had hundreds of references of good character.
Four days prior to a planned preliminary vote on Kavanaugh's appointment, The Washington Post revealed that Professor Christine Blasey Ford had accused him of molesting her 36 years previously, while in high school. Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein had a letter containing this allegation in her possession two weeks earlier, but to make maximum impact, it was deliberately leaked just prior to his confirmation.
Ford gave impassioned testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee describing her ordeal, but she was vague on details, location and exact date. People she named as witnesses failed to confirm what she said. Not even one charge was corroborated.
Skeptics concluded that she may have confused Kavanaugh with another person or could be engaged in a smear campaign.
Several other women then lodged additional sexual misconduct complaints. A further FBI investigation found no evidence of wrongdoing and Kavanaugh was finally confirmed by a 50-48 vote.
But the Democrats have repeated the claims, called for further investigations, and threatened that if they gained a majority in the forthcoming congressional elections, they would impeach Kavanaugh (an empty threat as two-thirds of the Senate would be required to remove him from office).
The #MeToo movement has made a major contribution in exposing outrageous abuses by powerful men. But the accusations against Kavanaugh without evidence aside from a woman's hazy recollections of 36 years earlier were unconscionable.
Destroying the reputation of an honest man based on hearsay and presumption of guilt is reminiscent of accusers in the Salem witch trials. If such attitudes prevail, anyone accused of molesting would be irrevocably defamed, regardless of the truth. This undermines the legitimate objectives of the #MeToo movement and the beneficial strides it has achieved in inspiring aggrieved women to speak up.
Law professor Alan Dershowitz, a traditional Democratic voter, described the defamation of Kavanaugh as reminiscent of McCarthyism.
Most liberal Jews legitimately opposed Kavanaugh's conservatism, but many were also at the forefront of the smear campaign.
The Jewish community should never have become engaged in this partisan fracas. But many leaders have dragged the community into this nasty brawl.
Worse, progressive rabbis who should have known better became involved at both levels. For example, Reconstructionist Rabbi Mira Wasserman distorted a passage of Talmud to conclude that "serious allegations – even in the absence of evidence – suffice to exclude the accused from a respected office of leadership."
Liberal Jews were concerned that Kavanaugh's appointment threatened issues such as reproductive rights, same-sex marriage and immigration. But why turn these into formal Jewish issues?
Increasingly, Orthodox communities justly seek to accommodate and engage gays and lesbians, but Jewish tradition intractably opposes same-sex marriage.
In addition, although 80% of American Jews are said to support a right to terminate an unwanted pregnancy, Jewish tradition opposes abortion unless the fetus endangers the mother.
Finally, Jews who compare Muslim refugees today to Jews during the Shoah are making terrible analogies. In contrast to Shoah survivors, a substantial proportion of these Muslims hold anti-democratic and anti-Semitic views and refuse to integrate into their host communities. A few have even become terrorists.
Liberal Jews may reject traditional views on homosexuality and abortion and may oppose restrictions on immigration. But they should promote their views as American citizens, not on behalf of the Jewish community.
And they should know better than to defame Kavanaugh for the purpose of disqualifying him.
I was disgusted when Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senator Dianne Feinstein, both Jews, continued to defame Kavanaugh even after the seventh FBI inquiry found no incriminating evidence. As Jews, we have a vested interest in the rule of law and the presumption of innocence. For over 1,000 years, Jews were burned at the stake and faced murderous pogroms because of blood libels. The Jewish media should have highlighted this but remained silent, neutral or anti-Kavanaugh, fearing the wrath of the powerful liberals.
