By PETER EPHROSS
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
August 21, 2000
NEW YORK—It's not easy working for a Jewish vice-presidential candidate.
Early last week, Joseph Lieberman’s campaign scheduler was already scratching
his head: How could he find a synagogue in the rural Midwest where the vice
presidential candidate could pray on Shabbat and still make it to Tipper Gore’s
birthday party on Saturday night?
Young, non-Jewish Ryan Montoya found his answer with the help of some Democratic
Jewish consultants and a small-town Wisconsin synagogue.
The campaign first contacted the major Jewish rabbinical organizations for
synagogues in Wisconsin and Iowa--and close-by hotels--located along the Mississippi
River route where Democratic candidates Al Gore and Lieberman campaigned over
the weekend.
But the search wasn’t simple.
A synagogue in Clinton, Iowa, closed down 10 years ago. A combined Reform and
Conservative shul in Dubuque, Iowa, was too far away, while a Reform temple
in Davenport, Iowa, doesn’t hold Saturday morning services.
Then the campaign discovered Congregation Sons of Abraham in La Crosse, Wisc.,
where Gore and Lieberman campaigned last Friday.
Rabbi Saul Prombaum, who leads the 45-family Conservative shul, originally
founded in 1905, was delighted to welcome the vice-presidential entourage.
“When you live in a small town, you’re very grateful for the opportunity
to interact with the larger Jewish world,” said Prombaum.
His wife baked some kosher food for Lieberman, and additional provisions were
brought in from Postville, Iowa, where the Lubavitch movement has a kosher slaughterer.
Prombaum was even more delighted when the service attracted 75 people, about
double the normal number. All of the attendees were screened outside the synagogue.
Lieberman attended the service with his wife, Hadassah, his 33-year-old son,
Matthew, 31-year-old daughter, Rebecca, and their 12-year-old daughter, Hana.
When Prombaum asked the congregants for the names of sick relatives and friends,
Lieberman offered three--including that of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who was
recently diagnosed with a recurrence of skin cancer.
The Connecticut senator even gave an interpretation of the week’s Torah
portion, Ekev, in which he argued that people kept Shabbat not just because
they fear God, but for themselves as well, said Prombaum.
“It was a magic moment for us. We don’t have things like this,”
the rabbi said.
The campaign now has a comprehensive list of synagogues across the United States
for the estimated eight upcoming Shabbats during the campaign season when Lieberman
will find himself in similar circumstances.
As for Tipper Gore’s birthday party?
According to sources, Lieberman, who flew to Iowa after Shabbat ended, was
a half-hour late.
