Profiles in Courage: 340 Rabbis Petition Congress to Pass Historic Nuclear Arms Pact

340 Rabbis from all denominations of Judaism, from every corner or the United States, sent a letter to all Members of Congress urging that they support the agreement between the international community and Iran on the Iranian nuclear program.

This action, taken in the face of a multi-million dollar ad campaign by AIPAC and opponents of the Nuclear Arms Agreement, is a profile in courage and international leadership and deserves to be applauded by Jews and non-Jews alike.

As a Jew by choice, who converted to Judaism 35 years ago, I am proud to turn over my blog “Radical Correspondence” to reprint the letter in its entirety, along with the locations of the congregations of all 340 Rabbis. A press release accompanying the letter appears first:

“We commend the U.S. and the other negotiating teams for their dedication to reaching an agreement to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.  This deal is good for the United States and our allies in the region, and is the best arrangement possible given current international realities,” declared Rabbi Steven Bob of Glen Ellyn, IL.

Rabbi Rachel Mikva of Chicago added, “A wide array of views about the nuclear deal exist among American Jews, as demonstrated in the recent Jewish Journal poll that showed 49% approving of the agreement (31% opposed) and 53% wanting Congress to approve it (35% opposed). However many Jewish Federations, AIPAC and other leading national Jewish organizations are campaigning in opposition, which is being interpreted to mean that American Jews want to see the deal scrapped.  This is a false and dangerous message that we as rabbis hope to counter with our letter to Congress.”

“If Congress ultimately rejects the deal, the consequences for the United States, Israel, the Jewish community and the world will be significant.  We fear that the outcome will be the collapse of the international sanctions regime, an Iranian race for nuclear weapons and an associated arms race in the Middle East and isolation of Israel and the United States from international partners,” said Rabbi Samuel Gordon of Wilmette, IL.

Rabbi Burton Visotzky of New York City concluded, “While we believe the deal is a positive approach to the Iranian nuclear issue, we remain gravely concerned about Iranian support for terrorist groups and other destabilizing actions in the region.  These threats must be countered aggressively by the international community.  The misguided campaign to scuttle the nuclear deal harms the ability of Israel to join with the United States and regional allies to create a powerful coalition against Iran.”

The letter to Congress with signatures is included below. 

August 17, 2015

Members of the U.S. House of Representatives

Members of the U.S. Senate

As rabbis, we support the agreement between the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, China, Russia and Iran– The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. We encourage the members of the Senate and the House of Representatives to endorse this agreement.

The Obama administration has successfully brought together the major international powers to confront Iran over its nuclear ambitions. The broad international sanctions moved Iran to enter this historic agreement. Should this agreement be rejected by the U.S. Congress, those sanctions will end. There will be no new negotiations, as the other member countries are fully in favor of this agreement and have no desire to re-negotiate.

We understand that while this agreement blocks Iran’s path to a nuclear bomb, we recognize it does not deal with Iran’s support for terror, but that was never the purpose of these talks. Now that a nuclear agreement has been reached, we call on the United States and its international partners to strengthen their resolve and dedicate additional resources to confront Iranian threats to Israel and other states.

Most especially, we are deeply concerned with the impression that the leadership of the American Jewish community is united in opposition to the agreement. We, along with many other Jewish leaders, fully support this historic nuclear accord.