In tribute to Sen. Bob Casey
Sen. Casey has exhibited derech eretz time and again
This week, 19 years ago, I had the privilege of traveling with then state Treasurer Bob Casey and his wife to Israel.
I was honored to come aboard the election campaign in its formative days, not realizing my time working with the senator would last eight wonderful years.
During that time, we traveled together to and through all 67 counties. As a member of the Agriculture Committee, Casey and I would visit counties with more livestock than Jewish residents. As a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, we visited countless functions not just in the Jewish community — simchas, parlor meetings, funerals and shivas — but also eye-opening visits with many diverse communities with heritage from around our globe.
One of my first assignments in 2005 was working with diverse leaders of the Jewish community to design the most informative and memorable Israel itinerary for the future senator. I picked the days preceding Thanksgiving as the most opportune time to leave the campaign trail.
Little did I know how impactful that four-day trip would be.
I learned the transformative power of visiting the Galilee with someone who attended parochial school, Holy Cross and Catholic University Law School.
This emotion was compounded by accompanying the dad of four young daughters to a kindergarten comprised of the children of Ethiopian immigrants.
I wrote a summary memo somewhere over the Atlantic and shared it post-Thanksgiving with not only the Caseys, but also the rest of the campaign team. It ended with the immortal wisdom of King Solomon in Psalm 137: “If I forget Jerusalem, may I lose my right hand.”
The cobblestoned alleyways of the Old City touched the future senator so much that for years he often repeated the vision of the Prophet Zechariah as we all yearn for a lasting peace: “The old men and women will sit in streets of Jerusalem…and the streets will be filled with boys and girls playing.”
At the end of this historic campaign season, the Jewish community and the broader Pennsylvania electorate are exhausted and divided. Thanksgiving table conversations will inevitably turn back to partisan politics and, in too many instances, grow heated.
Passions have been inflamed across the Jewish community as the sophisticated data modeling and microtargeting led to a barrage of negativity. Lost in the blast text messages, 30 second ads, robocalls and social media misinformation is that the candidates are actual human beings with emotion and innate attributes.
This past month, we read about the kindness and hospitality that defined Abraham, our forefather. Tradition teaches that these attributes stemmed from Abraham’s humility and self-effacement.
Because of Sen. Robert Patrick Casey, a proud Irish American, I took it upon myself on those road trips crisscrossing the commonwealth to read William Butler Yeats and other Irish writers.
When traveling with him, I would often smile and think to myself this is what Yeats meant when he wrote, “There are no strangers here; Only friends you haven’t yet met.”
In Judaism, the attribute of innate decency and consistent kindness is referred to as derech eretz. The literal translation for this public exhibition of kindness is “the way of the land.” In a Washington and a body politic where kindness is an endangered species, Sen. Casey has exhibited derech eretz time and again. It is in his DNA.
I would see this weekly during engagements with everyday Pennsylvanians — workers on the late-night shift at a Sheetz or Wawa, doormen in the lobbies of the premier buildings on Grant Street in Pittsburgh or the wait staff at elegant galas.
The hate-fueled venom and violence that has engulfed our politics, our campuses and big city streets cannot be the story of our time.
Evil acts of hate from the hard left and the extreme right cannot be part of the fabric of our country as we approach our 250th birthday.
Crushing antisemitism is an American issue that we all have a responsibility to address. Sen. Casey has led on this and I am confident his voice will not diminish as a private citizen.
I am reminded of the sage advice of another Irishman, Seamus Heaney: “Even if the hopes you started out with are dashed, hope has to be maintained.” This campaign certainly did not end the way Sen. Casey had hoped, but I am hopeful his uniquely humble, self-effacing and kind voice will not retreat from the public square. PJC
Ari Mittleman resides in Pikesville, Maryland. He is a native of Allentown and is the author of “Paths of the Righteous” by Gefen Publishing. He worked with Sen. Bob Casey in a variety of senior advisory capacities starting in 2005.
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