On October 29, Vice President Mike Pence held a political rally in Michigan in an effort to galvanize Republican voting. Because of the mass shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue, Pence invited a “rabbi” to give a prayer and statement from the stage.
The problem: The speaker is Loren Jacobs, a Messianic Jew. This is a fringe group of Judaism which believes that Jesus Christ is the Messiah and savior… in other words, Christians. Most Messianic Jews are culturally and ethnically Jewish but they are technically considered one of the Protestant religions.
The decision to have a Messianic Jew speak as a representative for the Jewish community has not been well received.
The Times of Israel, a paper that typically strongly supports President Trump, noted the discord:
Outrage as Pence brings out Messianic ‘rabbi’ to pray for synagogue victims https://t.co/fjXE5TqNWY
— The Times of Israel (@TimesofIsrael) October 30, 2018
An example of the outrage is the energy given to a Twitter thread by a prominent US Jewish activist:
In 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
Then, 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
The tweets are incorrect about one thing: Loren Jacobs is no longer officially a Rabbi, having been stripped of his title by the Union of Messianic Jewish Congregations, the primary Messianic Jews organization.
NBC News inquired with Monique Brumach, the executive director of the UMJC:
“Loren Jacobs was stripped of his rabbinic ordination by the UMJC in 2003, after our judicial board found him guilty of libel,” Monique Brumbach said in an email.
Representative Lena Epstein, one of the candidates Pence was promoting during his rally, has been named by Vice President Pence’s office as the person who arranged Loren Jacobs’ presence. As she is a prominent member of the local Jewish community and the only Republican Jewish woman in Congress, there are questions as to why she would have been unfamiliar with the disparity between a Christian Rabbi and a Jewish one, and why none of the leaders with whom she was familiar would have been present on the stage instead.
She has issued a statement via Twitter:
Statement on Jewish Faith and Religious Tolerance: pic.twitter.com/QUxYG3ZIh5
— Lena Epstein (@LenaEpstein) October 30, 2018
