Obama’s Chief of Staff Reflects On Serving POTUS While Being Shomer Shabbat

Sari Weintraub — October 25, 2012 – 11:22 am | Barack Obama Comments (1) Add a comment

In an interview with the Jewish Daily Forward, President Obama’s Chief of Staff Jack Lew discussed balancing his religious observances and his demanding position - something he is able to accomplish, he says, because he has the full support of the President. In fact, the President makes Lew’s Jewish observances a priority:

‘I saw the president on many occasions on Friday afternoons look at his watch, and ask: “Isn’t it time for you to get going?”’ Lew said, ‘or, “Why are you still here?”’ The president was not checking the clock ‘because he doesn’t think I can keep time,’ Lew said. Rather, the extra care on this issue reflects the President’s wish ‘to remind me that it’s important to him, not just to me, that I be able to make that balance.’

Lew, who is Orthodox, revealed the details about his keeping Shabbat in an extraordinary interview with the Forward that touched on his need to observe the Jewish holy day.

‘And he’s respected that time and again,’ the chief of staff said of Obama.

The chief of staff noted it was Obama who brought up the issue of Shabbat when first offering Lew the job.

‘He raised it with me saying: “I know that things are going to come up where there’s an emergency on Saturday or that you need to be here. I know you well enough to know that this is not an issue. I want you to know that I’m never going to ask you to work on Saturday if it’s not really necessary. It’s important for me that you know that.”’

On his behalf, Lew provided the President with his own assurances.

‘I’ve made it clear,’ Lew said, ‘that you don’t have to wonder if there’s a crisis whether I’m available. If you need me, I don’t even consider it a violation of my faith to be doing the things I need to do to make sure people are not in harm’s way’...

Lew had dealt with the potential conflicts between observing Shabbat and working in top level positions under President Bill Clinton, when he served as the White House budget director. Clinton made sure not to have his top budget adviser busy from sundown Friday to the end of Saturday, and Lew made himself available when emergencies occurred.

‘I have found that if you are true to your own beliefs, people respect it,’ Lew said. ‘I’ve found that President Obama considers it a sign of strength and value that there is something in my life that reflects principles that I adhere to.’

Click here to read the entire interview.

 

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