Is Obama the Tikkun Olam Candidate?
What does it mean that we are now seeing the language of Tikkun Olam pop-up in mainstream political discourse?
Does this make Obama our messiah? ; )
Hat-tip to Aliza for the link.
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Maybe _a_ messiah, but not _the_ Messiah?
—Ayrkain · March 13th, 2008 at 12:24 pm
Sort of like how he can be “a” Rebbe, but not “the” Rebbe.
Hey, someone should tell him to use that when he campaigns in NY. “Obama: A Rebbe you can Trust.”
—Friar Yid · March 13th, 2008 at 12:52 pm
This was on Mobius’s blog the other day, but…
godhatesobama.com
—themicah · March 13th, 2008 at 2:42 pm
Im an Obama supported, but this all is starting to become some weird cult of personality once you start bringing the messianic factor into this.
—Jay Diamond · March 14th, 2008 at 1:17 pm
of course you know I meant to spell that the correct way. Supporter.
—Jay Diamond · March 14th, 2008 at 1:28 pm
Let’s see… between Bush, Obama, Sharon, and The Rebbe, we’re just awash in potential meshuchim these days, hm?
Maybe this serves a feather in the hats of apikorsim like me when we say that the Tanakh doesn’t limit its messianic prophecies to just one single messiah, but maybe an entire nation (or world) of people consecrated to the ideals of Torah.
(crickets)
Or maybe not.
Obama definitely has the rhetoric of tikkun olam down: cooperation, altruism, repairing corruption, etc. I worry of course that this is demagoguery, plain and simple. Corruption allegations of his own, possible political allegiances with self-described enemies of Klal Yisrael — we see this stuff in the background, and we wonder which one is the /real/ Obama.
Of course, maybe neither one is. Maybe the best way to look at it is just that nobody’s perfect, and no one knows what the future holds. We do the best with what we’ve got. If we throw ourselves into full hero-worship mode, we lose sight of our own values, confusing them with those of this or that political organization. And maybe we commit avodah zarah too.
—Goyisher Yid · March 16th, 2008 at 11:00 am
When a candidate fits into the language of the social-left, and “tikkun olam” is definitely that, we can be reasonably assured that he us unelectable. The norms of Jewschool are simply not appropriate for this country. Hey, you like fringe and marginal status, right? So let’s keep it that way!
So you and your “mashiach” move on over, and let an electable moderate like Clinton rule.
—DK · March 16th, 2008 at 1:50 pm
An electable moderate who… voted for the blank check for Bush to invade Iraq. Hmmm.
Hillary has blood guilt. Obama doesn’t.
—Jew Guevara · March 17th, 2008 at 9:54 pm