Eilu v’Eilu – A Debate on Jewish Values and American Politics

A hybrid event (in-person and virtual) by Rabbi David Saperstein & Dr. Tevi Troy

The event was co-hosted by Temple Chai

About the Event: 

As the 2024 elections loom, America and the Jewish community have rarely felt as divided over politics and policies as it does today. Are Jewish interests better served by conservative or liberal approaches to America’s domestic and global challenges? Are the values and lessons of Jewish tradition and history more resonant with the approach of conservatives or liberals to today’s issues? Are the interests of Jews in the U.S., Israel, and the world better served by the Republican Party or the Democratic Party?

On issues like abortion, church-state relations, civil rights claims v. religious freedom claims, climate change, economic justice v. economic freedom, autocratic countries that support Israel, immigration, and religious freedom — what are the merits of their respective views? Are bipartisan/cross-ideological comity, compromise, and common ground possible?

Dr. Tevi Troy (best-selling presidential historian, former senior Bush White House aide, Deputy Secretary of HHS, and former White House Liaison to the Jewish Community) and Rabbi David Saperstein (former Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism and President of the World Union for Progressive Judaism, U.S. Ambassador for International Religious Freedom in the Obama Administration) will debate these issues and model how even political protagonists with differing political, religious, and ideological views can debate respectfully and constructively.

About the Speakers: 

Rabbi David Saperstein

For 40 years, Rabbi Saperstein directed the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, representing the Reform Jewish Movement, the largest segment of American Jewry, to the U.S. Congress and Administration. 

Designated by Newsweek Magazine as the most influential rabbi in America and by the Washington Post as the “quintessential religious lobbyist on Capitol Hill,” during the second term of the Obama administration, Rabbi Saperstein served as the U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, carrying out his responsibilities as the country’s chief diplomat on religious freedom issues. Since leaving government, he has served as the Senior Advisor on Policy and Strategy to the Union for Reform Judaism. Also an attorney, he taught seminars on Church–State law and on Jewish Law for 35 years at Georgetown University Law Center and later at the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service and Center for Jewish Civilization.  A member of the Council on Foreign Relations he also serves as a “Distinguished Fellow” at the PM Glynn Center at the Australian Catholic University. 

Rabbi Saperstein served in 2019-20 as the President of the World Union for Progressive Judaism, the international arm of the Reform Jewish Movement. 

Dr. Tevi Troy

Tevi Troy is a best-selling presidential historian and a former senior government official. His latest book is Fight House: Rivalries in the White House, from Truman to Trump.

On August 3, 2007, Dr. Troy was unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate as the Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. As Deputy Secretary, Dr. Troy was the chief operating officer of the largest civilian department in the federal government, with a budget of $716 billion and over 67,000 employees.

Dr. Troy has extensive White House experience, having served in several high-level positions over five years, culminating in his service as Deputy Assistant and then Acting Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy. Dr. Troy has held high-level positions on Capitol Hill as well. From 1998 to 2000, Dr. Troy served as the Policy Director for Senator John Ashcroft. From 1996 to 1998, Troy was Senior Domestic Policy Adviser and later Domestic Policy Director for the House Policy Committee, chaired by Christopher Cox.

In addition to his senior-level government work and healthcare expertise, Dr. Troy is also a presidential historian, making him one of only a handful of historians who has both studied the White House as a historian and worked there at the highest levels. He is the author of the best-selling book, What Jefferson Read, Ike Watched, and Obama Tweeted: 200 Years of Popular Culture in the White House, as well as Intellectuals and the American Presidency: Philosophers, Jesters, or Technicians?, and Shall We Wake the President? Two Centuries of Disaster Management in the Oval Office. He has written over 250 published articles, for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The New Republic, Commentary, National Review, Washingtonian, The Weekly Standard, and other publications. He is a frequent television and radio analyst and has appeared on CNBC, CNN, C-SPAN, Fox News, Fox Business, and The NewsHour, among other outlets. 

Dr. Troy’s many other affiliations include adjunct fellow at Hudson Institute; contributing editor for Washingtonian magazine; member of the publication committee of National Affairs; member of the Board of Fellows of the Jewish Policy Center; a Senior Fellow at the Potomac Institute; and a member of the Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense.

Dr. Troy has a B.S. in Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University and an M.A. and Ph.D. in American Civilization from the University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Troy lives in Maryland with his wife, Kami, and four children.

The event was presented in loving memory of Gloria & Herb Zeichick