Opinions

On Aug. 30, 2018, I received an email from the Acting Majority Floor Leader informing the legislature and staff that Missouri Gov. Mike Parson was expected to call an Extraordinary Session of the Legislature beginning on Sept. 10.
Sept. 10.
Rosh Hashanah.
Reading that email, my heart sank.
For most of us, it is second nature to make plans to be absent from work for two or three days during the High Holidays.
Most of us don’t live or work in Jefferson City. I do. 
I knew I had to do something.
One of the best parts of my work as a legislator comes in the form of opportunities to learn about so many topics, areas of the state, and the people who live here. 
These conversations are important for education, understanding and appreciation of one another.
I immediately emailed the Acting Majority Floor Leader, then sent a letter to Gov. Parson alerting them both of this conflict. My letter included the position Jewish lawmakers and government employees were required to make to either participate in prayer and celebration during this holy time, or to work and be present in Jefferson City.
I likened the sacred nature of the Jewish Holy Days to the Christian celebrations of Easter and Christmas. I assured them should the need arise, I would be standing up to defend their days needed for celebration and prayer. 
It was also painfully obvious that should Special Session extend beyond its expected week (which has happened before), there could again be Special Session during Yom Kippur. (Editor’s note: That scenario did not occur.)
At noon on Monday, Sept. 10, Special Session began.
It began without me.
I spent Rosh Hashanah at Congregation Shaare Emeth with my family, including a beautiful dinner that night. My family has always celebrated the first day of the holiday. The next day, when the gavel fell and opened the second day of Special Session, I was in my seat, proudly representing the people of my district in the State Senate.
As we went about the day’s business, the situation continued to weigh on me. I needed to make a choice: Would I be alone in frustration? Or, would I work to help my colleagues understand and appreciate the significance of what had transpired?
I hope to always work for understanding.
The next day I filed Senate Resolution 16, urging all future governors and legislative leaders to refrain from scheduling Special or Extraordinary Sessions of the Missouri General Assembly on any important religious holidays, including the Jewish High Holy Days.
My resolution stated, in part: “… the decision to begin this extraordinary session during Rosh Hashanah could, unfortunately be viewed as sending a message to the Jewish community throughout this great state that Jewish High Holy Days are not important or deserving of consideration …” and that “… it is probable that the date of Sept. 10, 2018, was chosen without knowledge of the holiday or its significance when this extraordinary session was called.”
I do not believe the governor’s mistake was intentional, but I do know it was avoidable.
I have since spoken with Gov. Parson’s office as well as on the Senate floor to convey the seriousness of the matter. My words were warmly welcomed by many. 
Going forward, I am reminded that even in 2018, people of the Jewish faith still have a lot of work to do to facilitate awareness and understanding of our holidays and traditions.
I hope that by sharing my story with each of you, you, too, will be comfortable heeding Hillel’s words:
“If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If I am only for myself, what am I?  If not now, when?” 
Our faith matters.
Our holidays matter.
We matter.
Wishing you a peaceful and healthy New Year.

Jill Schupp is a Missouri state senator, representing part of St. Louis County, and a Democrat.

Jewish immigration was important to our survival

I recently came across an immigration document: “Alien Immigrants Arriving at the Port of Baltimore,” 1892. Listed on the document are my great-grandmother, Chieh Berman; my grandfather, Alexander Berman; and his sisters. Their origin is “Grosen Russland” (Great Russia), which included Lithuania, their home.
This document is from familysearch.org, a free genealogical service from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
I wondered about the alien immigrants: were they legal or illegal? In those days, illegal aliens were not much of a problem. The first time the United States restricted immigration from an ethnic group was the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. Such restrictions culminated in the Immigration Act of 1924, which virtually excluded Jews, Asians and others deemed inferior. North and South Americans had largely free rights to immigrate here until 1965.
If my ancestors had not immigrated here before those restrictions took effect, they probably would have died in the pogroms and Holocaust.

Elizabeth B. Appelbaum, Ph.D.
Overland Park, Kansas

Thank Israel for providing useful technologies

In today’s age of “instant fake news” much of which involves the BDS and other anti-Israel and anti-Semitic slants (some hidden and some not), the media seems to not report, or conveniently forget, what Israel is doing for the world.
For instance, go to your computer (don’t forget Israel was responsible for the Windows operating system) and Google “Superman’s Got Nothing on Israel.” That YouTube video shows what tikkun olam is all about. Another video example is “The Operating Room of the Future — InSightec,” presented by Technion alumnus Dr. Kobi Vortman. This amazing marriage of MRI with ultrasound appears to be revolutionizing what can be done without cutting our bodies. Women with ovarian cysts no longer need to have surgery but can have the cysts dissolved with targeted ultrasound. People with essential tremors can have this affliction removed, again without cutting on their bodies. This incredible technique is even now being used with brain tumors (and appears to now be in the U.S. and FDA approved).
Don’t forget the medical strides being made by Hadassah hospitals or Teva Pharmaceutical Industries. Instead of focusing upon what Israel is doing, in their opinion, wrong, the world needs to stop and thank Israel for providing it technologies we use every day.
Shanah Tova! May this year see peace for all of us!

Joe Pfefer
Overland Park, Kansas

“Rising, The Book of Challah” by Rochie Pinson. (Feldheim Publishers, August 2017)

If I wrote that I had been trying to get a review copy of this book since November 2017, readers would find that hard to believe, but the book arrived at my door recently.
If I wrote that Rebbetzin Pinson has written 352 pages about challah, you would ask — are those recipes?
Well, yes and no. This is truly her philosophy, spirituality, history and everything you wanted to know about challah, including 38 recipes.
“The intent of challah,” writes the rebbetzin, “is to reveal our innate power to nurture and nourish, and reclaim our mothering potential in all the forms it can take.”
Section I, the Story of Challah, explains how this young rebbetzin bride arrived in Kobe, Japan, with no kosher bakery, soon got into making 40 challot for the Jewish community.
The rebbetzin then expands to other information about challah and her connections, a detailed examination of each ingredient and information on rising.
Section II is the Cookbook with reviews and details of ingredients and equipment and troubleshooting.
There are eight classic recipes including her own classic challah recipe, gluten free challah and vegan challah; eight holiday specialties like apple and honey challah and pretzel challah; six recipes from around the world such as Moroccan challah, Yemenite challah and Bukharian challah; nine challah embellishments including “fishy” (a challah shaped like a fish with salmon, tuna, mushrooms and other vegetables; deli challah (yes, with deli meats!) and rainbow challah using food coloring; eight recipes for leftover challah like babka, cinnamon bars and French toasts; and seven challah toppings and accompaniments, such as cream cheese frosting, challah stuffing, and challah croutons.
Section III are Laws and Customs such as “separating challah,” challah customs and challah meditations.
The book concludes with a glossary and index.
Besides the recipes, there are 108 color photographs (and I might have missed a few!) and many sketches such as 37 ways to braid and shape a challah.
This book is really everything you ever wanted to know about challah written with love and nurturing. It is filled with a huge amount of information including the story of the rebbetzin’s life “as realized through challah baking, and challah baking as a metaphor for balanced, integrated nurturing of our self and our loved ones.”
Rebetzin Rochie Pinson, who grew up in Vancouver, British Columbia, cofounded the IYYUN Center for Jewish Spirituality with her husband, Rav DovBer Pinson, 10 years ago, in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, New York. They have four children. She mentors women and teaches classes including the challah baking workshop, which she teaches worldwide.
Is this the book to give to anyone who bakes challah? Absolutely and to anyone else who might be contemplating it.

Sybil Kaplan is a journalist, author, compiler/editor of nins kosher cookbooks and food writer for North American Jewish publications, who lives in Jerusalem where she leads weekly walks of the Jewish food market, Machaneh Yehudah, in English.

One of the first memories of religious learning I can recall involves “circle time” at the Jewish Day School from which I recently graduated. Before delving into all the intricacies and complexities of our religious heritage, culture and texts, a teacher summarized it all with the story of the great scholar Hillel, who was confronted by a curious stranger who demanded he explain the entire Torah while standing on one foot. His response was simple yet powerful: “Do not treat your neighbor with unkindness. This is the entire Torah, the rest is interpretation. Now go and learn.” (Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Shabbat, Page 31a). Years later, after countless hours studying everything from theology to Jewish tort laws, I still remember that message: my Jewish identity is founded in a religion of love and compassion, and that my individualism is inherently and powerfully intertwined with my relationship to everyone else around me. This aphorism, echoed in nearly every religion, inspires me to fulfill the promise of building bridges of trust, support and empathy with all of my non-Jewish neighbors.
I began to visualize the impact of this story — not only personally, but also in the nation and world — when I joined my Jewish high school’s community justice partnership with University Academy and its largely Christian, African-American student body. Together, we learned about the Civil Rights movement before journeying to the South on a learning experience like no other. United as a group of kids of all colors, creeds and cultures, our connections echoed the partnership of Abraham Joshua Heschel and Martin Luther King Jr. Like those incredible forces of positive change, our friendships grew into commitments to each other — to protect our rights and advocate for love over hatred. As Heschel affirmed, “When religion speaks only in the name of authority rather than with the voice of compassion, its message becomes meaningless.” (“God in Search of Man: A Philosophy of Judaism”) Again, the message of Hillel — the message of coexistence and mutual care — resounded true.
As studying the Civil Rights movement elucidated the monumental possibilities catalyzed by interfaith dialogue, I was quickly galvanized to take action in my own life. Last summer, I applied as a delegate for Anytown, a weeklong youth leadership institute sponsored by the National Conference for Community and Justice (founded as the National Conference for Christians and Jews). I was hooked by the “social justice” and “diversity” descriptors on its website, so I dove in, even though I had never heard of it, let alone knew anyone who had previously attended. On the first day, I cautiously joined a circle of teens singing about a moose. Soon, however, I looked around the lawn and realized I wasn’t alone in my trepidation. We were all completely unfamiliar not only with each other, but with the religions, cultures and backgrounds we all represented. The song was unavoidably hilarious, though, and our skeptical smiles quickly turned into laughter. Just like that, we had broken the ice.
The next morning, I found myself standing in a line, holding hands with the other delegates. To grapple with that day’s topics, racism and classism, the staff began to ask us questions and prompt us to step forward or backward depending on our answer. “Step backward if you have wished to see more people of your race in TV and media.” “Step forward if you have never been afraid of calling or encountering a police officer.” I moved forward again and again and again. Finally, we were asked to look around. Immediately, I noticed one Hispanic boy who, at the beginning of the activity, had been holding the hand of the white counselor next to him. They fruitlessly tried to stay connected as they moved one step, two steps, three steps apart, attempting to bridge the gap that separated them, which was now more than 30 feet wide.
It hit me then. I knew why I needed to be there. By throwing myself into an honest exploration of privilege and discrimination, I was jolted awake to injustices I hadn’t fully internalized.
During the next day, focused on sexism, I found myself on the other side of the 30 foot chasm. Again, I felt depressed and angered, and felt a renewed sense of urgency. These recurring painful and powerful moments fostered a much deeper motivation to make my own impact and actualize the kindness Hillel emphasized. At Anytown we grew to love ourselves and each other for characteristics too often used to compartmentalize and divide us. Experiencing both sides of that stepping activity widened my eyes to the consequences of hatred and the urgent need of taking steps toward those different than us. As we joined together, the teen delegates of Anytown and I fostered a deep and lasting acceptance, appreciation and ardor for each other, not despite but because of our differences. No matter where we came from, we all wanted to hold on to each other through every activity and experience we’d be faced with. If those unbreakable bonds could be built from scratch in under a week, I realized, the potential connections to everyone I may encounter are wonderful and infinite.
Though Hillel’s message has remained a constant source of inspiration, its message continues to expand. What I once held onto as a sweet parable promoting “kindness” has evolved into a multifaceted responsibility to bring goodness to all of my neighbors. Further, I take the word “neighbors” not as a community of my friends, peers or geographical acquaintances; it is the assertion that I must explore and interact with everyone with the mindset that they are not strangers but rather world neighbors. I will continue to search for new meaning within the interpretations and details of my religion and others, knowing that our shared foundation of lovingkindness can ignite positive change worldwide. I will welcome and seek out new sparks of dialogue, connection and action. I believe that with this outlook of open-mindedness, kindness and coexistence, we can all make the world a better place. “Do not treat your neighbor with unkindness. This is the entire Torah, the rest is interpretation.” Whether I am beginning kindergarten, college or any other phase of my life, I will devote myself to these words and ready myself for action. “Now go and learn.”

Haidee Clauer is the the winner of the 2018 Margolis Memorial Essay Contest sponsored by Kansas City Lodge #184 B’nai B’rith.  She  is a 2018 graduate of the Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy and is a freshman at Pomona College in Claremont, California. Haidee  is the daughter of Mira Klausner and Todd Clauer.

We had a beautiful life. My husband and I are both physicians. Neither of us grew up privileged, and we were living the “American Dream” with a beautiful, brilliant son and daughter and house in the suburbs. But the disease of depression and the scourge of suicide changed all that. Our sweet boy, Jason, took his life at the tender age of 20 after at least eight years of battling this dark beast. His brain kept telling him that he wasn’t enough, that he was burden. He was an Eagle Scout, a National Merit Scholar, a consummate perfectionist and a tender soul. We were able to identify this villain and seek treatment. But his brain was telling him that he wasn’t worth it. And eventually, after years of torment, he believed it.

Too many beautiful young souls are dying by suicide. Jason was always at the head of the class, seemed to accomplish things so easily, but could never recognize the gifts that he was given. The black plague of depression would never even let him feel “average.”

Depression and suicide are on the rise among school-aged children, from middle school on, and the tidal wave of technology inundating their lives seems to be in part responsible for fueling this. It is not clear whether due to the illusion of happiness we see on other people’s social media feeds or the invisible radiation that this technology exposes us to is causing mental health issues to skyrocket. 

More than one in 10 high school students today report having attempted suicide and nearly one in six report having seriously considered it. It is an epidemic, and sadly the second leading cause of death in young people aged 10-17. Every day in our nation, there are an average of 3,041 attempts by young people in grades nine-12. We hear about homicides and mass shootings, and have mandating school trainings and “shooter drills,” but suicide prevention is left in the dark. There were 61 percent more gun deaths to suicide annually than homicide in 2010, and more police deaths by suicide than homicide, but these do not garner headlines.

Out of this great sorrow, Steve and I, along with our dear friend Allie Doss, who lost her beautiful Sara at the tender age of 16, banded together to start a nonprofit organization, SPEAK UP. This is an acronym for Suicide Prevention Education and Awareness for Kids, United as Partners. Our goal is to lessen the stigma associated with mental disorders, promote mental wellness and provide school and community education free of charge to prevent suicide. More lives have been lost and sadly, more parents have joined this unfortunate club.

On Sunday morning, Sept. 16, join Steve and I, Allie and hundreds of others at the Garmin Campus in Olathe as we walk together to prevent this tragedy from befalling another family.

The SPEAK UP walk is only 0.3 miles but goes a long way in countering the stigma associated with suicide. We will have an amazing emcee and new mom Abby Eden from WDAF FOX 4 news — who has grappled with depression herself — will be on hand lending her support. Our program will include a teen speaker sharing his personal story. There will be refreshments and mental health organizations providing resource information. But most importantly, we will gather together to fight the common enemy of teen suicide and shed light on the many people, programs and resources to help young people move toward mental wellness

Please join us on Sept. 16; go to SPEAKUP.us to register for the walk or to donate. Your support can help make the difference in a depressed teen’s world and help them move toward a beautiful life.

When I was exploring the history of American labor, I read about the life of an extraordinary woman, Pauline Newman, a union organizer. Pauline had an inauspicious start as a child worker. Upon arriving in America, her parents had Pauline placed in a hairbrush factory to work. To avoid detection for breaking child labor laws, the foremen would hide her and the other children in barrels when inspectors came on site. For Pauline hopes for a new beginning, to attend school and to study were dashed from a tender young age.
She continued to “slave “ in factories as she put it years later, but began a lifelong commitment at an early age to improve the lives of American workers. When she was still a teenager, she helped to organize women workers in what became the largest strike of 20,000 workers at that time in 1909. Pauline Newman was a Jewish immigrant who overcame the prejudices of the male dominated unions to be the first woman general organizer of the International Ladies Garment Workers Union (ILGW). She continued to work as a union organizer, legislative expert, factory worker and mentor for 70 years. Along the way she helped to advance workers’ lives by fighting for fair wages, job protection, healthcare and worker safety.
She and more union leaders including another Jewish immigrant, David Dubinsky, and their defenders helped immeasurably throughout many years to build a solid foundation for the rights of workers. During this Labor Day weekend we remember that this public holiday was created in 1894 to honor “the equality and dignity of labor.” 
Instead of honoring American workers, though, recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings and a presidential executive order have acted against them. Many American workers are having their livelihoods wrecked. A steady weakening of unions has resulted in workers not receiving needed salary increases and benefits, rather making due by trying to “make ends meet” as recounted by one worker. Paychecks lag behind, not even growing 3 percent, while corporate profits have continued to increase by twice that number every year since the recession.
Self-serving deep pocket donors have managed to make sure that tax laws favor big business. Despite soaring corporate profits, in part due to the permanent tax cuts, employers whine that they are still short of workers but they stop at paying higher wages. They use unfair practices, too, to avoid hiring full-time workers by employing part-time and temporary help, which also don’t require offering benefit packages. Too many elected officials seem to forget that their responsibilities to American workers should surpass any agenda grounded in self-interest.
We have more low-wage workers than nearly every other major developed country. In our daily routines, we bring food into our kitchens like meats and vegetables, which are already cleaned, trimmed and wrapped in plastic ready to be cooked. These like many other daily comforts are made possible by nameless and faceless workers — workers at the mercy of corporate office decisions.
On Labor Day we celebrate the conscientious efforts of American workers. This public holiday also marks the final weeks before the mid-term elections. I can imagine how Pauline Newman would respond to the current disadvantages faced by employees. She would expect each of us to move forward with fresh energy to make deeply needed changes — in other words, by becoming activists. There are many options for taking concrete actions; go out and listen to the candidates first hand, find an organization to support, volunteer to go door to door to get out the vote, become a poll observer to ensure that eligible voters are allowed to cast their votes and most importantly, vote. We should vote for competent and energetic candidates who support the core values of our democracy, which include the means for success and prosperity for everyone. We can and must take firm actions to safeguard each other and our beloved country.

Mary Greenberg, Ph.D. serves on the State of Kansas Holocaust Commission. Her speaking engagements on preventing anti-Semitism, and the link between anti-Semitism and leadership are based on her research that advances the study of the Jewish people in the Diaspora.

“Pogrom: Kishinev and the Tilt of History” by Steven J. Zipperstein, Liveright Publishing, 2018, 261 pages, $27.95
In April, 1903, following Easter services, a riot broke out in Kishinev, a city in the Moldavian Province of Czarist Russia. In the following two days 49 Jewish men were murdered and many more Jewish women were raped. Jewish homes and businesses were ransacked throughout Kishinev. Jewish life in this community would never be the same.
Historian Steven Zipperstein uses all his scholarly ability to determine what actually occurred in Kishinev and explains how it became the turning point in Jewish history for many events, including the founding of Israel, the Shoah and mass emigration from Europe to the United States. He examines the accounts of reporter Michael Davitt whose newspaper articles captured the minds of his American readers at the beginning of the 20th century. He studies the account the poet Chaim Nahum Bialik whose poem “In the City of Killing” became required reading for students in Palestine and then in the state of Israel. Zipperstein also looks at the accounts of noted Russian anti-Semites like Pavel Krushevan who was in all likelihood one of the main authors of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a toxic anti-Semitic forged document that inspired endless years of hatred for the Jews.
Zipperstein describes how the news of the Kishinev pogrom sparked Zionist activity. It also encouraged American Jews to help in the founding of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. The news of the pogrom was also a factor in Lenin’s desire to overthrow the czar and create the Russian Communist state.
This book is amazing for its scholarship. As a granddaughter of a survivor of the pogrom, the history has a great resonance for me personally. To learn how a pogrom in a small community in Russia could become the spark for emigration, Zionism and Hitler’s horrible deeds was shocking and fascinating. Given its bloody details, “Pogrom” cannot be described as a page-turner that a reader cannot put down. However, it is a very important book for anyone who wants to know 20th century Jewish ­history.

Andrea Kempf is a retired librarian and award winning book reviewer who speaks throughout the community on various topics related to books and reading.

For the first five years of my life, I was blessed with a unique and truly amazing friendship. My best friend gave me the sweetest chocolates, made me laugh with pure happiness, and provided the most genuine love I have ever received. He did all of these things and gave all he could to those around him despite having everything taken from him when he was just a young boy.
This best friend is my zayde, of blessed memory. My bubbie and zayde were two of very few Jewish people from their communities in Poland who survived the atrocities of the Holocaust. Despite all of the torture, fear and starvation that he experienced firsthand, the first words that my zayde said upon his rescue from Buchenwald concentration camp on the afternoon of April 11, 1945, were, “We have to find my little brother, Jack.” Weighing less than 60 pounds at the time, he was barely able to move or think; yet his innate capacity to care for others had not been diminished in the slightest.
Where did this come from? How did my beloved grandfather miraculously possess this superhuman courage and faith amidst the darkest of times in his life?
I know the answer and I feel it in my soul: It was his steadfast commitment to the Torah and the mitzvot. It was the light of the Torah and the spirit of the mitzvot that carried him on and helped sustain and nourish his soul to survive, to strive for another day, and to eagerly lend a helping hand to a fellow Jew whenever he had an opportunity to do so.
Growing up I have heard these stories about my zayde and his remarkable faith and courage. And while I admired his stories so greatly, it seemed to me that there may have been a gap between the life that I was living, and the kind of lifestyle that my zayde lived and breathed each day. His life, like many Jews living in Poland prior to the Holocaust, involved committed study of Torah, observance of the mitzvot, and day-to-day life being enriched with Jewish observance. Judaism is what he woke up to, what he did throughout the day, and what he did before bed.
But then in every generation we lose more and more elements of our heritage, and we stray further and further from whom we are meant to be in this world. This happens to many of us, and it happened in my life too.
But surely my dear zayde must have been watching very closely from on high, as it was in college that things were set into motion that brought me to a new place — a place that was so close to him and a place where he surely really wanted me to be.
It was during my first week of college as a new freshman when I walked into the Chabad House. As I entered this space, I met the rabbi with his glowing smile and I felt his warmth —both the warm embrace of his giant hug, and the tangible warmth of love that radiates from his genuine fervor for meeting a fellow Jew. Noting the large beard, I asked myself in this moment, why is this very hairy stranger so excited to see me?
After this meeting I attended a Shabbat dinner. After a few of those I signed up for Sinai Scholars, a select group that studies classic Jewish texts and offers  social programming. And three years later, I look back to see that the hairy stranger I met when I first got to college has changed my life.
Because of my involvement with Chabad at KU, I have been blessed to be in Israel five times for Jewish learning opportunities, in New York twice for college Shabbatons, and the National Jewish Learning retreat for three years in a row. I have also increased my mitzvah quotient to an all-time high by putting on tefillin daily, placing a mezuzah on my doorposts, and loving, cherishing and looking forward every single week to Shabbat — the day on which I most strongly connect with God, myself and those around me.
What is it about Judaism, what about Chabad on Campus, and about Sinai Scholars that made them such transformative experiences for me? What is the root of its potency and strength?
The reason is simple. It was simply bringing me back home. Reconnecting me with who I really am, linking my loop in the chain directly to my zayde’s and to those before him, this is a journey that is such a seamless and natural course to take.
Zayde, today I have come to cherish so dearly that which was of such vital importance to you growing up in Poland. Zayde, I have now come back home.
Thank you to Rabbi Zalman and Nechama Tiechtel of my beloved Chabad House at KU, and thank you to Sinai Scholars. Thank you to my family for enriching my life with constant love and appreciation for our Jewish roots. Most importantly, thank you Zayde for planting the seeds for me to keep carrying on the torch of Torah, mitzvot and Yiddishkeit for my children, my grandchildren, and many generations of passionate Jews to come.

KU senior Joel Gutovitz shared these words as a guest speaker at the National Jewish Retreat earlier this month in Rhode Island. More than 1,000 students from all over the globe, including seven from KU, gathered for Jewish discussion, lectures and insight from teachers and scholars.

At this month’s march in Washington called to mark the anniversary of last year’s deadly event in Charlottesville, Virginia, one of the counter protesters — who greatly outnumbered the paltry crowd of marchers — carried a sign with this message:
“I can’t believe I have to protest Nazis in 2018.”
Sadly, anti-Semitism and admirers of Adolf Hitler are not only still around, they are winning at the ballot box. That’s what happened in the Aug. 7 GOP primary in the 15th Missouri House district near Kansas City, where Steve West overwhelmed three opponents, winning by 25 points.
The problem: West believes that “Hitler was right about what was taking place in Germany. And who was behind it.” That’s what he had to say on his radio show last year, according to the Kansas City Star.
West also has a YouTube channel where he takes on the persona of “Jack Justice,” wearing a wig and fake beard, and has unleashed what The Star calls “an array of bigotry including homophobia, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and outright racism.”
Such a successful race by such a despicable candidate raises all sorts of questions:
How can he run a campaign for a state House seat without drawing needed scrutiny? How can the Republican Party let such a candidacy go unchallenged until it’s too late? And how can nearly 1,500 voters cast their ballot for someone who holds such hateful views?
It’s not like since his victory, West has disavowed his earlier comments. He has followed the typical route of people in such situations, claiming his words have been taken out of context. But it’s impossible to come up with any context where such sentiments would be considered acceptable — particularly when his comments to The Star did nothing but compound his negative views.
Asked about the opinions he expresses on the air, West’s reply was weak: “I’m not running as a radio show host, I’m running for state representative.”
Well, on his campaign website (https://www.stevewest4missouri.com/), he has statements like “Islam is antithetical to everything this country was founded on.” And his defense of his extremist point of view sounds very familiar:
“These assaults on my character coming from the main stream media and social media are an attempt to distract you from real solutions I am proposing for Missouri. This is typical of liberal strategies for personal destruction and distraction from issues they don’t want to be discussed.”
West also told The Star, “Jewish people can be beautiful people, but there’s ideologies associated with that that I don’t agree with. Jews today are a remnant of the tribe of Judah that rejected Christ.”
When The Star asked him about the effect of his comments on Jews in his district, West simply said, “Well, maybe they shouldn’t vote for me.”
That challenge should be reflected when results are tallied in November, when West will run against Democratic incumbent Rep. Jon Carpenter. Carpenter’s response to the GOP winner was forthright and welcome:
“It is my hope that folks who voted for Steve West in the Republican primary weren’t aware of any of this stuff. I sincerely hope that’s true,” he wrote in an email to The Star. “I can’t think of a single American political candidate in the 21st century who has engaged in this level of hate speech and unhinged conspiracy-mongering who actually won a primary election.
“I just want everyone who lives in this community to know that they’re welcome here. Muslims, Jews, Catholics, the LGBTQ community, people of all races and national origins, and everyone else Steve West has targeted with hate. His views do not reflect our values. We’ll stand together and love will conquer hate, as it always does.”
After West’s victory, the state Republican Party lurched into damage control mode, calling the candidate’s views “disgusting,” adding:
“Steve West’s shocking and vile comments do not reflect the position of the Missouri Republican Party or indeed of any decent individual. West’s abhorrent rhetoric has absolutely no place in the Missouri Republican Party or anywhere. We wholeheartedly condemn his comments.”
But the question of how West ran such a strong race remains a mystery. Karen Aroesty, regional director of the Anti-Defamation League, said that unfortunately, his candidacy is being replicated elsewhere.
“There is a level of political rhetoric and anger out in the world today that is providing people with more extremist views a comfort to come forward and share those extremist views,” she told The Star.
“The fact that Mr. West won the primary should highlight to people — did they really know what they were voting for? One thing I’ve said for years about extremists is that they’re out on the fringe and we should keep them there.”
Last week, a coalition of Jewish organizations and officials in Missouri joined the chorus against West, saying in a statement:
“We expect all parties to closely monitor their candidates throughout the state and to demonstrate swiftly and in the strongest possible terms that our Missouri leadership finds all forms of bigotry unacceptable. The custom of parties not intervening in primaries should not extend to those who proudly proclaim discriminatory beliefs.
“Our Jewish values make clear our obligation to speak out against all forms of discrimination. As a minority community intimately acquainted with the dangers of bigotry and scapegoating, we recognize that our own security is inexorably tied to the security of all minorities.”
The weak showing by neo-Nazis at their Charlottesville anniversary march is heartening. Sending a strong message at the ballot box in November will reinforce the view that hatred has no place in public office. Voters can’t let their guard down, or let candidates say one thing and claim they really believe something else. Democracy is too important — and too fragile — to go untended.

This editorial was originally published in the St. Louis Jewish Light. Visit the St. Louis Jewish Light online at stljewishlight.com.