Village Herald -- First Lady speaks at Temple Emanu-El

By Lee Kolinsky
The Sisterhood of Temple Emanu-El of Lynbrook hosted guest speaker, First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, at their Shabbat Service on Friday, February 11.
Making her way into Saperstein Plaza in Lynbrook after speaking at Adelphi University and C.W. Post about lowering tuition costs, entered the temple sanctuary and walked down the aisle towards the Bima while over 1000 congregants waited in anticipation for her speech. Several minutes before Hillary Clinton, a New York State Senate candidate, would even utter a single word she was greeted by a wave of applause. As the service ended and Rabbi Stuart Gellar acknowledged the First Lady's presence, a timid applause rose from the rear and quickly spread throughout the hundreds of men and women in attendance. During his introduction, Rabbi Geller referred to Ms. Clinton's keynote address at a convention of the Union of American Hebrew Foreign Nations in 1993 in San Francisco, California. He said that 5000delegates attended the event where she spoke on the health care crisis the nation was facing.
"Mrs. Clinton is not the first candidate to address this congregation from this pulpit," Rabbi Geller said. "We feel that in bringing a political candidate to our congregation we educate ourselves and in away we educate the candidate about what we are thinking. "Although Ms. Clinton said she was not going to talk about politics, she did say a few words about community values, religion, healthcare and the educational need of children.
"I have always made it a point to speak out about the importance of religious tolerance," Ms. Clinton said. "I think that the important value of religious freedom and religious tolerance is one that we in America constantly must speak out about."
Because many parts of the world do not have such a freedom, Ms. Clinton feels that Americans should not take religious freedom for granted. She stated her belief that we should honor and value the tradition from which we all come from and respect one another's faith as well as speak out against anti-semitism and religious bigotry where ever it rears its head. Ms. Clinton added that we should make sure that the United States always remains a place where religion flourishes because religious freedom is respected and protected.
"I believe that the values that we find in our religious traditions...not only gives depth to our personal lives, but inspire us in our work on behalf of our community, and our country and our world," Ms. Clinton.
"It is in that spirit that I come to speak, particular about the needs of our children."
According to Ms. Clinton, for more than thirty years she has worked as an activist, a volunteer, a lawyer and a citizen, where she has seen the different challenges that people confront.
"I have seen what can happen when children are abused or abandoned or forgotten," Ms. Clinton said. "I have been in courtrooms fighting for the rights of foster children or working to permit a family to adopt a child who has been neglected."
Ms. Clinton reminded her audience of her previous work supporting healthcare for children. "I have been in and out of schools that I would not have left my daughter in," Ms. Clinton said. "Yet everyday little boys and girls with a bright look on their eyes... go through the doors where the paint is peeling off or the plaster is falling down to sit in classrooms where lessons are taught with textbooks that haven't been changed since the collapse of the Soviet Union...I believe that every child counts and that raising children is not only the most important job of any parent, but the most important job of any community. "As we move forward in this new century we should look inside ourselves and take the responsibility to assist families in need, according to the First Lady. In order to assist families, Ms. Clinton believes we should begin by recognizing that the family base should be strengthened and that there are a lot of stresses in raising children today. She added that providing better public education and addressing teacher shortages as well as placing qualified staff in the schools are issues we should be concerned with.
Working for the day when the country will provide pharmacy healthcare to every single American was also a concern for Ms. Clinton. Health insurance has been provided for two million children and has made it possible for those who lose their jobs or are retired to take their insurance with them.
"We must also need to make sure that doctors, nurses and professionals make decisions about our and our children's health care," Ms. Clinton said. "I also think we need to provide prescription drug coverage for people on medicare."
Ms. Clinton added that too many guns are in the hands of criminals and children, noting that 13 children a day die of gun violence. "We have too many children who accidentally find a gun and use it against themselves or their playmates," Ms. Clinton said. "We have to do everything possible to save children from guns. And we also need to continue to work to save our children from tobacco, drug and alcohol abuse."
While many seemed to embraced Hillary Clinton's visit as a gesture of sincerity, rather than an unofficial campaign event, others remained more skeptical of her appearance. "I'm a little suspicious," said Amy Kashman of Woodmere. "She sounded sincere but I can't help feeling that she was only here for our votes. "Ms. Clinton repeatedly emphasized the importance of tradition and faith as a means to fortify family and trust in our country today. She voiced her philosophies of nurturing and commitment in accordance with the temple's service that preceded her speech, making references to the Torah portion read that evening. By intertwining her own philosophies with the Jewish faith's, Ms. Clinton appeared to impress many members of her audience.
"She was very well prompted in Jewish law and Jewish life," said Diane Hirsch of Woodmere. "Especially in the way she discussed the role of family...she seemed very comfortable."
Ms. Clinton acknowledged the efforts of Temple Emanu-El and its long and great tradition of caring about many important issues and concerns in the community, throughout the state and the world.
"I wish to thank Rabbi Geller who time and time again has stood up for human rights, for freedom of choice and particularly for a woman's right to choose, for the unemployed and for those who are often left on the outskirts of opportunity," Ms. Clinton said. "He has set an example for people far beyond this congregation."
Ruth Goldenberg, a member of the Temple's Sisterhood and chorus, was particularly impressed with the level of respect that Ms. Clinton held in regards to the temple. "I thought it was very appropriate, said Mrs. Goldenberg. "The way she alluded to the evening's Torah portion, and that it wasn't interruptive of the service...I liked her before and now I just think she's so cool...Forgetting that she's running for the Senate, she's the First Lady. I felt so proud to be able to share our bema with her."
The same respect that Ms. Clinton granted her audience was recognized and reciprocated by all of those on-hand last Friday evening. "With so many children in there, you could still hear a pin drop," Ms. Goldenberg noted. “I feel very much at home being here in Saperstein Plaza," Ms. Clinton said. "The Saperstein family has brought so much, not only to the congregation and the community, but has been a source of friendship and inspiration certainly to my family and to me personally.” According to Ms. Clinton, Rabbi David Saperstein, who's father Rabbi Harold Saperstein who lead the congregation from 1933 to 1980 is a close friend and is someone she and President William Clinton often turn to for information about issues of importance to the Jewish community. She added that Rabbi David Saperstein and his father are leaders who breath life into the ideals so many share.
Many members of Temple Emanuel appeared grateful that Ms. Clinton addressed the congregation as a humanitarian, voicing her concerns as a mother and wife, despite being amidst an heated Senate race against Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
"I didn't think her speech was particularly political; it seemed specific to our congregation," said Laurie Lucks, member of the Temple's Sisterhood. Ms. Lucks noted that the First Lady's references to her friendship with David Sapertstein helped to personalize and transform Mrs. Clinton's speech into a "conversation" with the congregation. "I really was quite impressed with her," said Ms. Lucks. "I didn't go in there thinking that I would be, but I just like the way she handled the whole situation. I thought she kept it low-key. And I don't know what other people were expecting, if they wanted her to address controversial issues, and certainly this wasn't the forum to do it...I felt that it was more of a 'First Lady' type of speech than it was Senatorial. "Rabbi Geller had told the congregation he wrote a letter to invite Mayor Giuliani in hopes that he would be a guest speaker at the Lynbrook temple, but has not heard a response as of yet.