Rabbi Jack Moline was the long-time leader of Agudas Achim Synagogue (Conservative but egalitarian) in Alexandria Virginia, who has held leadership positions in Jewish and Interfaith organizations. I attended that synagogue at the time my father died in 1993. During my tenure there I taught confirmation classes, participated in musical performs, and participated in the liturgical life of the synagogue. Most of all I learned from Jack, not just from his sermons, but from his living.
Jack has always been interested in politics, flowing from his dedication to his Judaism. You will get some impact of that reading the Wiki bio linked to above. I note that while I attended (before I moved on to the Society of Friends) so did Rahm Emanuel, who was kind enough to let me bring a group of middle schoolers to talk with him at the White House.
Jack Moline has a column up in Ha’aretz, an important Israeli newspaper. It is titled I Have Known Tim Kaine for Years. He Is a True Friend of Israel and the Jewish People and has the subtitle “Hillary Clinton's running mate is not just a nice guy: He lives out commitments with a sense of personal responsibility that has made him a role model for me as a rabbi.”
It is worth noting that there is a personal connection beyond the fact of Jack's prominence as a rabbi. His daughter Jenny was a staffer for Tim Kaine for a while. Here, as a side note, the synagogue was under renovation when she had her bat mitzah, and so many people wanted to come it was held in a nearby church, where among the attendees was the Congressman and several other political figures, whom Jack knew personally.
Here is a paragraph that will give a sense of Tim Kaine and the respect in which Jack Moline holds him:
My wife and I were invited to dinner at the Virginia Governor’s Mansion in Richmond for a farewell dinner that Gov. Kaine hosted for retiring Israeli Ambassador Sallai Meridor. The two men had worked very closely with each other (yes, hummus was a part of it) as the governor sought to deepen his understanding of the strategic partnership between Israel and the United States. The evening began with all of the guests standing in a circle outside of the dining room. The governor, without notes, introduced every person in the room with a personal anecdote and why it was important that they were there to pay tribute to the deepening relationship between Israel and the Commonwealth of Virginia. That close relationship with Israel continued during his tenure as chair of the Democratic National Committee – this time Ambassador Michael Oren hosted the private dinner of appreciation as he finished his term.
As I read that this morning, I thought back to the remarks last night at the Convention where people would note that Hillary Clinton would remember details about them as well. It is something I have seen in Tim Kaine, and something I have heard is equally true of his wife Anne Holton.
But many politicians are good at remembering names and details, but do not necessarily pay attention to people.
So consider this:
But the quality of Tim Kaine’s leadership is as much about his character as his accomplishments. My daughter was part of his policy team working on the universal pre-K initiative that became a signature accomplishment. Her time on his staff coincided with the tragic Virginia Tech massacre. The governor was on a trade mission to Japan when the shooting happened. Having just arrived in Japan, on just a few hours’ rest, he flew back another 14 hours to comfort the victims’ families and the survivors. His entire staff – my daughter included – many of them recent college graduates inspired by his vision, turned out to meet his arriving plane. He stepped off his jet and realized that his first responsibility was to them. They had come to offer their love and support and found themselves without words. Somehow, he found the words for them.
He knows the importance of tending to the broken-hearted as well as working to prevent more broken hearts.
You should follow the link in that blockquote. It will take you to another Ha-aretz story which discusses the remarks Kaine made in Miami last Saturday, and I quote from that story:
Without naming him, Kaine said he was especially moved by the story of Liviu Librescu, an engineering professor who died blocking the door as the killer attempted to enter his classroom.
Librescu, “who could survive the Holocaust, who could survive the Soviet takeover of his country, but who fell victim to gun violence and told his students to climb out the window as his body was being riddled with bullets,” Kaine said, stopping to gather his emotions.
That speech was not the first time I have seen Tim Kaine discuss Librescu, and he never fails to tear up.
Those who did not know Tim Kaine the way those of us in Virginia do may well have been pleasantly surprised both by what he said at Florida International University and on 60 minutes. I suspect you will continue to be impressed when he makes his acceptance speech, and then as he and Hillary Clinton — as did her husband and Al Gore in 1992 — embark on a bus tour, this time through Western Pennsylvania and Ohio.
Last night we heard about Hillary Clinton’s long time commitment to service, her caring for individuals she encountered. While I knew much of that history, I did not know the depth of detail. The picture you got from that is very similar to what I know about Tim Kaine, and why I think they will be such a wonderful partnership, both during the campaign and in governing.
I hope you find Jack Moline’s piece on Tim Kaine informative. You will learn that Kaine pushed to get a statue of Lincoln with his son in Richmond — where Monument Avenue is full of Confederate heroes, and where when a proposal was made for a statue to native son tennis great Arthur Ashe it was quite controversial. The Lincoln statue is there.
To use the appropriate Yiddish word in its broadest sense, Tim Kaine is a real mensch. Which perhaps is why a man I greatly respect, an eminent Rabbi, a man committed to social justice, Jack Moline, ends his piece with these words:
I have joked that when I grow up, I want to be Tim Kaine. He is, after all, one of the best people I know.
Peace.