It’s common knowledge to those following the Abramoff lobbying scandal that Jack Abramoff’s rabbinic confidant was Rabbi Daniel Lapin. Lapin was the fellow how first introduced Abramoff to Tom Delay and we all know what beautiful music–and money–they made together.
Rabbi Daniel Lapin: Jack Abramoff’s “go to” JewA little of Lapin’s background is in order here. After leaving (or being booted out) as pulpit rabbi of the Pacific Jewish Center, a Modern Orthodox, celebrity-oriented shul near the Venice boardwalk, The New Republic reports in Torah Cover–Rabbis to the Right (June 20, 2005, no link unfortunately) that Lapin tossed around ideas of how he could earn a living:
“…On a previous road trip across the United States, he had noticed 19 towns named Salem. “I also started seeing all these Jerichos, Hebrons, and Zions, and a slew of other Hebrew names. I called home…and I said, ‘It’s amazing.'” He couldn’t believe the philo-Semitism of Middle America–evangelicals who didn’t just tolerate Jews, but actually adored them. (“The Bible Belt is the Jewish safety belt” is one of his mantras.) So why, he wondered, did Jews ungratefully persist in complaining about prayer in schools and crèches in public squares?
Around the time he left Los Angeles, he started a group called Toward Tradition–turning the title of Michael J. Fox’s Back to the Future on its head. Although he says it promotes “practical Torah solutions to modern American problems,” it really intends to broker an alliance between Jews and evangelical Christians over social issues. (Lapin, who considers Israel to be founded by “secular Bolsheviks,” has mostly steered Toward Tradition clear of foreign policy.) Toward Tradition emerged at a propitious moment, just as evangelicals carried the Republicans to their 1994 victory. And the group soon had as much cachet as his Venice Beach temple. Its inaugural conference drew Irving Kristol, Norman Podhoretz, and other luminaries. Many of them lent their names to an ad Lapin placed in The New York Times, offering Newt Gingrich a hearty “Mazel Tov” and saying of the Contract with America, “We know all about ten point contracts.”
But apparently, Lapin must’ve missed the part of his South African rabbinic training related to Jewish ethics. Because the New York Times reveals today that among the Abramoff transactions being investigated by the Justice Department is a $25,000 “donation” he directed the Magazine Publisher’s Association (this is the name the Times reporter uses but the group’s actual name is Magazine Publishers of America according to its website) to make to Toward Tradition. While the publishers no doubt thought they were supporting Abramoff’s favorite charity (in a sense they were because the money went to his “rov”), in reality the funds went directly to the wife of a former top Tom Delay staffer:
In 2000, the association made a $25,000 contribution to a nonprofit group called Toward Tradition, an alliance of Jews and evangelical Christians, based on what Mr. Rubenstein called a directive from Preston Gates. People involved in the investigation have said that Mr. Abramoff funneled money through Toward Tradition to the wife of his associate, Tony C. Rudy, a former top aide to Representative Tom Delay, Republican of Texas.
“They had absolutely no knowledge of how that money would be used, and if it turns out that it was used for an improper purpose, the M.P.A. would be, quite frankly, outraged,” Mr. Rubenstein said.
Genevieve Woodard, a spokeswoman for Preston Gates, said, “neither the firm nor the M.P.A. knew that Jack was diverting payments to the Congressional staffer’s wife.”
This of course begs the question…why would a lobbying client accept a “directive” to make such a large donation to their lobbyist’s charity? And why wouldn’t the client ask questions about the expenditure to ensure it was kosher?
But let’s go back to the good rabbi. He apparently allowed Abramoff to use Toward Tradition’s charitable status to launder contributions to his stable of lobbying cronies. By doing so, Lapin not only endangered his group’s 501c3 status, he threatened the very existence of the organization. Few non-profits can afford to engage in such ethically dubious shenanigans and retain their reputation intact. And a non-profit tainted by scandal may not BE a non-profit for long. Though with Lapin, all he has to do is persuade his evangelical patrons that he’s kosher. I don’t know whether he can do that or not, but I doubt it. Finally, Lapin’s actions violate a whole host of Jewish ethical laws.
There is little love lost between Lapin and most American rabbis. Lapin has chosen to make his bed with evangelical Christians so it’s their support he needs. But if there was a last shred of credibility for him within the Jewish and rabbinic community I certainly hope that was lost with this news.
I’d like to ask what Lapin and Toward Tradition gained from allowing Abramoff to launder such donations? Was Lapin just doing him a favor or were their pecuniary advantages from the transaction? Also, I wonder what Lapin is now saying to FBI investigators who must’ve been beating down his door? Is he singing a song? Or is he staying true to his true blue pal, Jack?
Good post. Lapin’s actins have violated alot of things, and the guy needs to be publicly monitored. Good on ya! It’s about time someone called him on the carpet.
By the way, Richard, talking about JA….
Does this new nickname …. ”Abramoffukkah”…coined on Wonkette……..for the Abramoff scandal in DC sound a bit on the anti-sem side? or is it just funny? or am I missing something.
what’s the JOKE HERE? i don’t get it. I don’t LIKE it. but here it is all over the web and blogs now. Google the term and you will see. Is this the new hip, cool PC antisem of today, or it is just funny and some people just don’t GET it? Okay, then enlighten me: why give the scandal a Jewish sounding nickname playing on Hannukkah?
Why not the usual ……”Abramoffgate”……I know: BORING!
….to call the scandal by a Jewishish nickname, that is scandalous! OICH!
What is happening to America?
Well, if it was coined by Wonkette doesn’t that tell you something? It’s gotta be glib, it’s gotta be cute, it’s gotta be empty-headed. I prefer blogs & media which tell it straight without trying to gussy up a story with needless powder puff stuff like that.
The term doesn’t bother me as much as you. I don’t think whoever created it did so with anti-Semitic intent. I don’t take it as anti-Semitic though that’s just my opinion. But you’re entitled to feel as you do about it if it offends you.
Yes, I agree, the term itself is not antisem, probably even coined by a Yiddisher bocher, but look at the Googles already!
Web Results 1 – 10 of about 17,100 for abramoffukkah. (0.12 seconds)
Holiday Season of Scandal to be Fortified with Chutzpah – Wonkette
Time to get ready for Abramoffukkah!— DCEIVER. Abramoff May Plead Guilty in Fraud
Case Next Week, Person Says [Bloomberg.com] …
http://www.wonkette.com/politics/top/ holiday-season-of-scandal-to-be-fortified-with-chutzpah-144751.php – 17k – Cached – Similar pages
Wonkette – abramoffukkah
From Washington DC, politics for people with dirty minds.
http://www.wonkette.com/politics/abramoffukkah/index.php – 45k – Cached – Similar pages
[ More results from http://www.wonkette.com ]
Language Log: Happy Abramoffukkah!
Happy Abramoffukkah! Another legal brouhaha, another celebratory blend. …
It showed up on Ed’s Daily Rant the same day with the “Abramoffukkah” spelling. …
itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/ languagelog/archives/002746.html – 10k – Cached – Similar pages
Abramoffukkah: It’s On – Yahoo! News
We’ve been following the news that, as of today, Jack Abramoff is poised to plead
guilty to charges of tax evasion, fraud and corruption, thus marking the …
news.yahoo.com/s/wonkette/ 20060103/en_wonkette/abramoffukkahitson – 25k – Cached – Similar pages
Daily Kos: Happy Abramoffukkah! Jack Could Implicate 20 Lawmakers …
Happy Abramoffukkah! It now looks like 2006 could be worse for Bush and the GOP
than 2005 was:. WASHINGTON – Federal prosecutors and lawyers for Republican …
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/12/30/182533/56 – 10k – Cached – Similar pages
Daily Kos: Happy Abramoffukkah! Jack Could Implicate 20 Lawmakers …
Happy Abramoffukkah! It now looks like 2006 could be worse for Bush and the GOP
than 2005 was: … I expect at least 8 good things for Abramoffukkah. …
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/12/30/182533/56 – 219k – Cached – Similar pages
Maximum America » abramoffukkah
Abramoffukkah Comes to Montana. Wednesday, December 28th, 2005 … You are
currently browsing the archives for the abramoffukkah category. …
maximumamerica.com/?cat=5964 – 147k – Cached – Similar pages
I can’t believe it’s not a democracy!: Happy fucking Abramoffukkah!
Happy fucking Abramoffukkah! Sherlock Google, a diarist at Kos, has a fabulous
diary up that, among other things, cites to an AP article that says that …
icantbelieveitsnotademocracy.blogs.com/ weblog/2005/12/happy_fucking_a.html – 20k – Cached – Similar pages
Abramoffukkah: It’s On
Abramoffukkah: It’s On. … Continue to Abramoffukkah: It’s On on Wonkette. …
Abramoffukkah Comes to Montana · Wonkette 28/12/05 15:15 …
http://www.12blogs.com/abramoffukkah-it-s-on,86737.html – 7k – Cached – Similar pages
Abramoffukkah Comes to Montana
Abramoffukkah Comes to Montana. … Abramoffukkah Comes to Montana. Head-to-head
matchups between Burns and his two main Democratic adversaries have …
http://www.12blogs.com/ abramoffukkah-comes-to-montana,86608.html – 8k – Cached – Similar pages
Try your search again on Google Book Search
This nickname for the scandal around Jack Abramoff, rather than Abramoffgate or something, has been coined as Abramoffukkah, and although this term appears first on Wonkette’s blog, coined by someone going by the name of DCver, it has appeared so far only online in blogs and yahoo-related search results for blog. It has never appeared in print yet, but my guess is soon. Soon.
According to those who think they know the genesis of this possibly offensive nickname and then maybe just post-Hannukah funny with no ethnic slur intended, this being post-Jon Stewart America…..
[ the ”portmanteau” (look it up!) ”Abramoffukkah” is playing off the Patrick Fitzgerald grand jury thing. The day Scooter Libby was indicted was called the First Day of Fitzmas. So, from Fitzmas to Abramoffukkah. When they slap Ken Lay in irons, that day will be called Enronzaa.
So, in short. It *IS* funny; and some people don’t get it.. ]
PS – For the slower kids in the class: (I was told, again, by those who seem to think they know)
Patrick Fitzgerald + Christmas = Fitzmas :: Jack Abramoff + Hanukkah = Abramoffukkah
Questions to posters here:
1. Will this ”term” ever appear in PRINT versions of our newspapers or magazines?
2. Is it funny?
3. Is it ethnically slurry? Holidayishly unholidayishy?
4. Or was it only good for a short post-holiday FirstWeek after New Year’s Day run on the blogosphere?
5. Will it stick?
ANSWER ONE:
I’m a poster here, so these are my answers:
1. I hope not.
2. No.
3. Yes.
4. No, it wasn’t.
5. Not for love or money.
ANSWER TWO:
Good G-d, that is simply awful.
I agree on all counts except 3. I’m not sure it’s necessarily a slur. When I saw the thread name, a connection to Hanukkah was not what came to mind but rather a raplike play on mother-you-know-what. Still, it’s ugly as all get-out,
Never encountered Fitzmas anywhere, either. If I had it probably would have made me laugh. But here, too, there’d be no reason for us to propagate it.
ANSWER 3
Nope. Wouldn’t print it, wouldn’t laugh at it, would cudgel anybody who tried to put it in the paper.
There’s a really simple reason it doesn’t work. “Fitzmas” (and the equally cool “Kitzmas,” from a clipped version of the Dover intelligent-design case) is a trochee, like “Christmas.” “Hanukah” is a dactyl. “Abramoffukkah” (there really isn’t an inoffensive way to write it, is there?) is a clusterf***. It doesn’t sound like what it’s supposed to represent.
That means, among other things, that you have to explain why your joke is funny, and if you have to explain why a joke is funny, you shouldn’t tell it. That’s even truer in print, since you don’t get to pick your audience. And if you then have to explain why it isn’t really offensive either, you’ve wasted a lot of time and space on a stupid semi-pun, haven’t you?
FOUR:
I first read it as a curse. Only after the explanation did I decide it was ethnically offensive. And of course fev is right that an explanation should be unnecessary. If you explain it, it’s a religious slur. If you don’t, it’s just crude.
FIVE ANSWER MAN:
1. Will this ”term” ever appear in PRINT versions of our newspapers or magazines?
1. Yes, because one reason people buy newspapers and magazines is to receive explanations of what’s going on in the world, and that includes the world of Internet language.
2. Is it funny?
2. Like any joke: less and less funny the more times one hears it.
3. Is it ethnically slurry? Holidayishly unholidayishy?
3. I find any reference to anyone’s religion offensive when the religion has nothing to do with the reason that person’s in the news, including the Orthodox Jewish Abramoff’s hat and jacket being compared to gangster garb.
4. Or was it only good for a short post-holiday FirstWeek after New Year’s Day run on the blogosphere?
4. Thank goodness for the mayfly life cycle of most of this nonsense.
5. Will it stick and would you print it?
5. I would print it if I had to explain a direct quotation containing it. Else why waste the space?
Rabbi Lapin has provided an explanation of his relationship with Jack Abramoff. That explanation can be found at: http://beartotheright.blogspot.com
Thanks for the link.