TRIBAL LEADER

A Very Mixed Marriage (HOWARD FINEMAN AND TAMARA LIPPER, NEWSWEEK)

It's a landmark in the history of strange bedfellows: Tom DeLay says kaddish. It happened last February, the day the space shuttle Columbia fell apart. Among the dead astronauts was an Israeli, Ilan Ramon. In Florida, at the Boca Raton Resort, some big machers had gathered to hear a speech by House Republican leader DeLay, an evangelical Christian from Sugar Land, Texas. Mixing Churchill and the Bible, DeLay talked of a destiny shared by America and Israel. He asked for "divine assistance" in protecting both. In closing, to the astonishment of his audience, he recited--in Hebrew--the last lines of the Jewish prayer for the dead. The crowd, many in tears, joined in. (DeLay had been coached by a Jewish former staffer.) "It was quite a moment," said Jack Abramoff, a lobbyist who was there.

QUITE AN UNDERSTATEMENT. Though they welcomed him as an ardent supporter of Israel, many in the audience at the Republican Jewish Coalition conference were wary of DeLay's view on a host of social issues--he's pro-life, anti-gay-rights, pro-voucher, pro-gun, pro-school-prayer. Nor are they fond of his occasional declaration that what America needs most is more Christians in office. "Some would argue that it's a mistake for Jews to get into bed with the religious right," said Jess Hordes of the Anti-Defamation League.

Too late.

There's something inherently strange in a religious group that would be offended that their allies are "pro-life, anti-gay-rights, pro-voucher,...pro-school-prayer". Posted by Orrin Judd at May 25, 2003 8:25 AM