The Forward: “Treasury Pick Learned Value of Both Shul and Government”

David Streeter — January 17, 2013 – 3:03 pm | Democrats Comments (0) Add a comment

The Forward reported on how President Barack Obama’s nominee for Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew’s life has been shaped both by Jewish values and public service. According to The Forward:

Lew has become the standard-bearer for integration of observant Jews in the highly demanding world of top-level politics and government service. Stories of Lew’s shutting down his telephone for the Sabbath or getting the White House cafeteria to add kosher sandwiches to the menu have become a part of Washington’s folklore.

For the first Orthodox Jew to assume a Cabinet position, Jewish values and family history go beyond a decent pastrami on rye. They helped shape a worldview that puts equal opportunity and the social safety net front and center. If confirmed as expected by the Senate, those are the values Lew will take with him as he becomes America’s next Treasury secretary.

‘The idea that you have the responsibility to help those who are less fortunate is something that resonated in Jack’s commitment both in the political attitude and in his religious approach,’ said Ari Weiss, a close friend of Lew.

Lew’s passionate - critics might say knee-jerk - devotion to the social safety net has at time been controversial, notably when he played a key role in trying to resolve the so-called “fiscal cliff” stand-off between the White House and Congressional Republicans….

Weiss met Lew in the mid-1970s, when Lew first arrived in Washington. Both responded to an ad posted on the George Washington University Hillel House bulletin board seeking a kosher roommate. With time, Lew and Weiss, two young congressional staffers, began to host weekly Saturday minyans in their shared house on Nebraska Avenue in Northwest Washington. Lew would help out with reading the Torah….

Lew’s worldview was probably shaped even earlier. Growing up in the Forest Hills neighborhood of Queens to parents who emigrated from Poland gave Lew a strong sense of appreciation of the opportunities the government can offer its citizens in need. His mother, Ruth Lew, worked as an office manager from the age of 15 to help her family. Irving Lew, his father, was a lawyer and a dealer of rare books who had arrived in America in 1916 and learned to speak English while attending a Brooklyn public school.

‘This is very much part of my understanding of what government is,’ Lew said in a 1999 interview with The New York Times. ‘What would have become of my father if he hadn’t been able to learn English in the public schools?’...

Last December, speaking at Yeshiva University’s annual dinner, Lew reflected on the mixture of faith and public service he began to shape in his years on [Tip] O’Neill’s staff.

‘As an observant Jew, I honor the practices of my faith and the rights, credos and responsibilities it stands for. As a proud citizen, I believe in working to make sure that this is a world full of opportunity where you can achieve anything if you’re willing to work for it. And as a public servant, I believe that these values, both religious and secular, inform, inspire and elevate the impact that each of us has on our homes, community and the world,’ he said….

As Obama’s chief of staff since 2011 and in his former capacity as Office of Management and Budget director, Lew chose to split his time between Washington and New York, where his family now resides. On weekends he tries to get back to New York to be with his wife and with his baby grandson. As sundown approaches on Fridays, Lew told the Forward in an October 2012 interview, the president gently reminds Lew that it is time to leave, before the Sabbath. The reason, Lew said, is ‘to remind me that it’s important to him, not just to me, that I be able to make that balance.’

For Jewish groups, especially the Orthodox Union, Lew became a frequent speaker. His tzimmes recipe was featured on the White House website. And Chabad-Lubavitch honored him twice with the lighting of the National Menorah on the Ellipse behind the White House.

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